jim's op/ed

Dick Cheney has a book coming out. It seems like every one of the sociopaths from BushCo ( Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice ) has published a book since BushCo piloted this country into a downward spiral. You may have noticed, I don't like Cheney, I think he's evil and I won't be happy until the smug prick is in a real nasty prison or he drops dead.

John Dean comments on Cheney's book "In My Time".
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Pentagon Wasted Billions, Missing Trillions !!!

Let's not forget that it was Dick Cheney as Defense Secretary began "no-bid" contracts for KBR/Halliburton which led to billions in fraud & abuse. There were multiple deaths of our soldiers because of KBR's shoddy contractors.
But would Congress do the responsible thing and pull the plug on their financing? Hell No !

The US government is currently suing Halliburton/KBR for $100 million because of fraud and over spending.


Here is one problem with our stinkin' budget and the deficit that wasn't brought up during the standoff by the posers.
All they talked about was entitilements and that MediCare, MedicAid & Social Security was on the table but that was just a diversion..
It's all Bullshit & Lies !!!

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From Mother Jones' David Corn..
"When it comes to the Bush administration’s signature scandal, the ex-veep is an unreliable source."
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Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert explain "Zombies Stalking the World"...
>>>with more about Cheney

Wow, I feel as if I missed on the boat on the whole Canadian Tar Sands project/assault on the environment. I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about the deforestation of the boreal forests but I had no idea this bullshit has been growing since the late 60's, one mine after another.
I began looking for a timeline for the Keystone XL project and found the horrible truth in Wikipedia.The best parallel here in the US is the way coal companies have been allowed to destroy mountain ranges and shit on the landscape with slurry ponds all the while destroying the water table. Apparently this bitumen is also in Venezuela and here in the US. Oy...

It is difficult to grasp the amoral mindset that pursues the dirtiest oil on the planet and sacrifices a pristine territory, the best carbon scrubbers and clean water.
Once upon a time I got the impression Canada was a better steward than we here in the US but this crap is inexcusable. Put this right up there with asbestos mines and blatant exports that ignore the health risks. Call me stupid but I don't get it.

Tar Sands Oil Extraction- The Dirty Truth

How much oil spilled into the ocean is enough?

How much of the food supply is be to sacrificed and how many critters have to die to feed this obsession with oil?

When will the rational & logical people of the world take control and say "We've had too many offshore oil spills and we've had too many pipeline leaks"?

>In China ConocoPhillips has failed to stop a leak that started in June.
>In Britain Royal Dutch Shell & Exxon/Mobil have a pipeline leaking..."Oil leaked into the sea off the coast of Scotland for a seventh day..."
>"After 12 Oil Spills in One Year, TransCanada says Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline Will Be Safest in U.S."... BULLSHIT!!!

People are going to Washington DC to protest the Keystone XL pipeline.
They will be trying to get Obama's attention (good luck w/that).

"A watershed moment for Obama on climate change..."
"The issue is simple: We want the president to block construction of Keystone XL, a pipeline that would carry oil from the tar sands of northern Alberta down to the Gulf of Mexico. We have, not surprisingly, concerns about potential spills and environmental degradation from construction of the pipeline. But those tar sands are also the second-largest pool of carbon in the atmosphere, behind only the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. If we tap into them in a big way, NASA climatologist James Hansen explained in a paper issued this summer, the emissions would mean it’s “essentially game over” for the climate. "

Stop the Pipeline!
"From August 20th – September 3rd we’re planning a peaceful protest in Washington DC to defuse the largest carbon bomb in North America."

No Pipeline, No Tankers, No Tar Sands
This one on the BC coast.

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Can we expect reason to be employed in the decision to stop the Keystone XL pipeline or will the decision be perverted by corrupted cronyism?

This from Mother Jones...
"Several environmental groups have recently raised concerns about the ties between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the lead lobbyist for the international oil services company TransCanada.

Friends of the Earth, Corporate Ethics International, and the Center for International Environmental Law are seeking a record of all communication between Clinton's office and that of Paul Elliott, who served as the national deputy director in her 2008 campaign and now serves as the director of government relations at TransCanada. The initial Freedom of Information Act request was denied. A new request was submitted in late January.

Clinton raised ire among environmental groups and some senators last fall when she indicated that the pipeline was likely be approved despite the fact that the evaluation of the environmental impact of the proposal is still underway."

Let's get ready to rumble!
Foxed hosted the first of what will surely be a series of circus events ( they are called debates but whether it's really a debate is debatable ) that will provide ample fodder for pundits & comedians. This is a who's who of Republicans seeking the presidency and stranger yet on the campus of Iowa State University, a bunch of cheering students.
I don't know what the criteria for candidates are but some of these people are polling at about 1% or less. A fine group of... well the terms disingenuous posers, crazy and histrionic neocons comes to mind.
The rhetoric is as well rehearsed as any stand-up routine. The mods ask a question and sometimes the candidates actually answer that question.
Common words and phrases - cutting taxes, ObamaCare, opposed raising the debt ceiling, cut cap & balance, reform SS, Medicaid, Medicare...
>link to debate

The players...

Mitt Romney (disingenuous poser)

Michele Bachmann (batshit crazy)

Herman Cain (pro business book tour)

Ron Paul (the wacky Libertarian)

Tim Pawlenty (kinda weak )

Newt Gingrich (the only Speaker of the House to have been disciplined for ethics violations)

Rick Santorum (twisted religious freak)

Jon Huntsman ( also kinda weak and a butt kisser)

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UPDATE

Tim Pawlenty drops out after Iowa straw poll.
Some think he may have conceded too soon.... Nah..

Michelle Bachmann eats a foot-long corndog .. Oy this is priceless...


"as visions of sugarplums dance in my head"

I'm bad, I know...