The Just-Nominated Second in Command at the DOJ Helped Bush Steal Florida in 2000 and Clerked Under Scalia.

All you had to know about the newly nominated second in command at the Justice Department, the Deputy Attorney General to AG Mukasey, is the final paragraph of a November 16 Chicago Tribune article: “After clerking for [Antonin] Scalia, [Mark] Filip returned to Chicago rather than stay in Washington and pursue the kind of career track that traditionally leads to a choice government appointment. He did, however, work as a volunteer Republican vote counter in Florida during the 2000 election recount.”

Milo Radulovich, R.I.P.

McCarthy Era Figure Dies
Milo Radulovich was a key figure in the red scare of the 1950s, and his passing marks the end of an American era.

Good idea!

When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001

Goodbye America, Hello Norway

Michael Moore cut this scene from Sicko because no one would believe it

“The End of America”

Fascinating interview with renowned author Naomi Wolf, perhaps best known for her early 1990s feminist classic “The Beauty Myth”, considered by many to be one of the most important works of the 20th century.

Wolf discusses her new book “The End of America”, already on the New York Times bestseller list. The book identifies ten classic steps common to all dictatorships — including those of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin. Alarmingly, Wolf makes the case that each of these ten steps is occurring in post 9/11 America today. The book is a call to action for young and concerned Americans and this interview intimately frames this important discussion.

Former aide blames Bush for leak deceit

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.

Pay It off Later: Debt Is the New American Dream

The U.S. addicted to debt — and the country and millions of its citizens are at the brink of bankruptcy.

Dick Cheney’s Sadistic Passion for Shooting Tame Animals

Dick Cheney just spent a day shooting up pen-raised birds. Some hunters liken the sport — killing tame animals that offer no resistance — to having sex with a blow-up doll.

Battle-scarred ’sub’ in L.A. barrios speaks out

Hi, my name is Migdia Chinea and I’m a recovering LAUSD “substitute.”

Oh, I’m also UCLA-educated with honors, refined, empathetic, college-level Spanish fluent and a Googleable professional screenwriter.

To make ends meet during hard economic times, I became a “substitute teacher” for the Los Angeles Unified School District, or LAUSD – or to put it more kindly, a “guest teacher.” As a guest LAUSD teacher I thought I would be an asset, but the system has never appreciated nor taken advantage of my educational or professional hard-earned accomplishments.

There’s no teaching going on at LAUSD – only confinement of the sort one may find in a penal colony, complete with walkie-talkie-carrying wardens and bullhorns. And I have “confined” at many different schools within central Los Angeles in the last six months. Many students scream “suuuuuuuub” when they see someone like me – a “guest teacher” – in their classroom and trample anyone and/or anything as they push and shove their way inside.

Buffett backs estate tax, decries wealth gap

Billionaire Warren Buffett on Wednesday endorsed the estate tax as a check on wealth accumulation, while two senior U.S. senators said they want the tax repealed.

Revisiting a long-standing debate over the controversial tax, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing where Chairman Max Baucus said he supports ending the estate tax, although he said he did not expect this to happen any time soon.

favourite seventeen

[favourite seventeen, originally uploaded by coexistapart.]

another post secret card

REX 84

[REX 84, originally uploaded by iceblink240. as found on postsecret.com]

Believe it

Study: 1 out of 4 homeless are veterans

Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

Intel Vets Make ‘Waterboarding’ Appeal

Michael Mukasey refuses to acknowledge that “waterboarding” — a simulated drowning technique that dates back to the Inquisition — constitutes torture. Nevertheless, the Democratic-controlled Senate is on course to confirm him as Attorney General. In this memo, 24 U.S. intelligence veterans appeal to the Senate Judiciary Committee to insist on a straight answer from Mukasey.

Iraq’s Early Vietnam Moment

Four years ago — on Nov. 2, 2003 — a U.S. helicopter was shot down over Iraq, killing 16 U.S. troops, an early “Vietnam moment” in what was emerging as a powerful Iraqi insurgency. The incident helped convince a newly organized group of former U.S. ingelligence officers that the Iraq War was unwinnable.

Ray McGovern
November 3, 2007

Time to Apologize to Plame/Wilson

During the scandal known as “Plame-gate,” it became an article of faith in many Washington power centers that CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson wasn’t “covert” and thus there was no “underlying crime” when the Bush administration intentionally blew her cover.

By Robert Parry
October 31, 2007

All You Need Is Love….

All You Need Is Love…., originally uploaded by lat454205 / Lisa.

 

you simply must go and read about this butterfly…