Tuesday, September 7, 2004

Searching on Feedster An example search on Feedster. 7:55:41 PM

The American Republic vs. Dick Cheney --- Appointed to another powerful position, Cheney promptly went about screwing it up. He pushed to turn many military duties over to private companies and began moving "defense intellectuals" with no military experience into key posts at the Pentagon. Most notable among them was Paul Wolfowitz, who later masterminded much of the disastrous strategy that George W. Bush has pursued in Iraq. In 1992, as undersecretary of defense, Wolfowitz turned out a forty-page report titled "Defense Planning Guidance," arguing that historic allies should be demoted to the status of U.S. satellites, and that the modernization of India and China should be treated as a threat, as should the democratization of Russia. "We must maintain the mechanisms for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role," the report declared. It was nothing less than a blueprint for worldwide domination, and Cheney loved it. He maneuvered to have the president adopt it as doctrine, but the elder Bush, recognizing that the proposals were not only foolish but dangerous, immediately rejected them. --- "Rolling Stone takes Dick Cheney and throws him up against the wall — hard!" [Daypop Top 40] 7:43:06 PM

Mediaburn & MyFeedster No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster 6:41:30 PM

'...to practice their love with women all across this country' Bush vs. The English Language. George Bush lost another battle with the English Language the other day, the second of the Labor Day weekend. Monday, he complained that "too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." Apparently the the President was never briefed on a gynecologist's job description. Earlier in the weekend President Bush made a Freudian slip during a speech in Erie, Pennsylvania, when he explained last year's $87 billion appropriation for "armor and body parts and ammunition and fuel." It was the third such telling slip in a month. On August 9th, Bush pronounced the following. "Let me put it to you bluntly," he said. "In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life." This followed the statement on August 5th that "our enemies never stop thinking about new ways to hurt our country, and neither do we." [Blog for America] 6:38:25 PM

Economic Underperformance Hot air on the ballooning deficit. The Bush White House has long exhibited a penchant for Orwellian rhetoric, but its perversely cheerful reaction to recent gloomy economic news is remarkable even by its own standards. Last week, when the Labor Department reported that only 144,000 jobs were created in August -- far fewer than the 300,000 that the White House had earlier predicted -- administration officials appeared quite pleased by the news, concluding from the number that the economy is now moving "in the right direction." And they were happy once again today, when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced that the 2004 federal budget will hit a record $422 billion in deficits. Because the CBO's estimate is $56 billion lower than the prediction the agency made in March, a Bush campaign spokesman told reporters that the new data is "a sign of the economic growth that is a result of President Bush's leadership on tax relief." [Salon.com] 6:34:03 PM

Hippos Dying Mysteriously Dozens of hippos die mysteriously. KAMPALA, Uganda - Some 60 hippos have died from an unknown cause in the past two months in one of Uganda's national parks, an official said Tuesday. [azcentral.com | thebuzz] 6:29:10 PM

Around the Blogosphere - Daypop Top 40 Mirror.co.uk - BUSH 'TOOK COCAINE AT CAMP DAVID' [Daypop Top 40] 7:50:25 AM

A Letter From Camp Dear Mom and Dad, Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and are worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened. Oh yes, please call Adam's mother and tell her he is okay. He can't write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps. It was neat.. We never would have found Adam in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Keith got mad at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will blow up? The wet wood didn't burn, but one of the tents did and also some of our clothes. Mathew is going to look weird until his hair grows back. We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Keith gets the bus fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked okay when we left. Scoutmaster Keith said that with a bus that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance. We think it's a neat bus. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the fenders. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in a bus. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrol man stopped and talked to us. Scoutmaster Keith is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Jessie how to drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks. This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Keith wouldn't let me because I can't swim, and Adam was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Keith isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the bus so we are trying not to cause him any trouble. Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Andrew dived into the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Steven and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Keith said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. He said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. By the way, what is a pedal-file? I have to go now. We are going to town to mail our letters and buy some more beer. Don't worry about anything. We are fine. Love, Chris 6:28:00 AM