Thursday, November 24, 2005

"I don't loan my mind to those who've had an extensive and recently and repeatedly proven history of defrauding it."

A friend asked me why I believe what I believe'n'read when it's not what most people believe'n'read.

It's an interesting question.

Who do we trust?


(...)


Analogies are the best teaching tool for simplifying complex issues.

They serve as a reminder that moral principles can always be applied and universalized, and that "lying" is the root of all evil.

I think lying was the original sin.

I'm talking from about 20,000 years ago.

Picture two cavemen, Og and Bog, who've just found two apples, their first food in days. They happily wander to a relatively safe space in order to eat them, when Og says to Bog: "Me have to take crap".

Bog agrees to stay there and watch their two apples until Og gets back.

Og goes to take his crap, and when he comes back both apples are gone. Og asks Bog:

"Where the fuck is my apple?"

(Assuming swearing was in existence in some fashion, I don't believe that it's justifiable as a sin when you're gonna starve, or automatically for any fucking reason. Go ahead, sue me. Or, wait until it's made "illegal" in the "War on Terrible Language", and you can snitch and have me indefinitely detained.)

Anyway, Bog says:

"A mastodon ate it."

Og looks at him strange.

He continues to for a while until they both get eaten by a sabretooth tiger.

They were supposed to watch each other's backs for those pesky sabretooth tigers, but their safety was compromised by their lack of trust as they warily eyed each other instead of their dangerous environment.

Poor bastards.


(...)


Analogically, I'd suggest that a bank would rather loan money to someone with no credit than a horrible history of bad credit, bankruptcy, defaulting on loans, and criminally immoral or illegal behavior.

(Not that banks don't engage in all the above, but hey, I'm just sayin'...)

That seems to make sense: trust those with little history of lying over those who've made a habit of it over a number of millenia.

Or power.

(Is it time to break out the Lord Acton? Oh golly-gumbucks I hope so! It's faster-actin' than "Fast-Acting Tinactin"!)

Ahem, excuse me while I break out an oldie but a goodie:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

- Lord Acton, badass old white dood

See?




So, in terms of credibility, a few things need to be established.

Have those in power screwed up?

And when I mean "power", I don't just mean the Bush Administration, I mean those with the power to tell us how bad they've been.

The answer is yes.

Consistently and horrendously.

Much of it has been admitted, much of it has been apologized for, and much of it has remained unchanged.

And we're not all just "the worse for it" on principle, we're practically feeling the impact of increasing moral compromising and an erosion of trust in society that's leading to tribalism and paranoia.

Next question...

Have those critics of power screwed up?

The answer is no.

Given half the latitude to scew up that we give government or corporate media - and the fact that most of us are unable to singularily identify any screw ups, it has to be "no".

I mean why do they (we) do it?

Why do they (we) risk swimming against the tide to drown in an ocean of derision?

Why don't they (we) play the new X-Box 360 instead?

Is it because the choices they (we) make don't allow us to afford one?

Either way...

I don't loan my mind to those who've had an extensive and recently and repeatedly proven history of defrauding it.


(...)


Besides, if you do want to make money, on the Spectrum of the Left there are those who regularily expose the lies and hypocrisy of the mainstream reality and get paid millions for it. People like Jon Stewart, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Janeane Garofalo, Green Day, Al Franken...

...and the list goes on and on and on and on...

One would guess that these good folks soften our minds up enough to help us eventually understand deeper systemic truths, and that the rabbit hole isn't quite as scary once the first principles have been established:

We're being lied to all the time.

Deal with it.


(...)


In fact, as I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart the other day with a friend of mine, I was curious to study his reaction. He's fairly apolitical, though sympathetic to the potential problems I and others identify, and he marveled at Stewart's abililty to break down the complex geo-political issues of the day into simple humorous truths.

I mentioned that Mr. Stewart knows far more than he says, and I know because I catch him bringing stuff up out of left-field on occasion that speaks to his deeper knowledge base as a result of his research.

Believe me, he learns a lot more than he regularily discusses, and then figures out what his audience can handle.

In fact, I strongly recommend anyone recommend to anyone who doesn't give a crap about any of this stuff, to tell them to watch The Daily Show for a month straight, and learn what he establishes on a nightly basis:

Lies, damned lies, and syllogistics.

(Or, sillogistics.)

He'll get ya, he's that good, and makes it look easy.

He also brings up the most morally corrosive issue of the day: the torture and indefinite (and now secret!) detentions of thousands of arguably innocent muslims around the world, about every third episode, and sneaks in shout-outs to our living-dead-homiez whenever he can.

However, torture ain't funny.

So, he alludes... and trusts that we get it.


(...)


I hope he's right...





(...)


It may be a bit of a leap of faith to go from Jon Stewart to deconstructing the New World Order and their historically racist and evil plans to screw all of us, but hey, it ain't like there aren't a tonne of clues in our face all over the place...


(...)


Yahoo! News

Romania Base Focus of Secret Prison Probe

By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 24, 1:11 PM ET


MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE, Romania - In a weedy field on this wind-swept military base, Romanians in greasy combat fatigues tinker with unmanned drone aircraft near a ragged lineup of rusting MiG-29 fighter jets.

There's not an American in sight, but the sprawling Soviet-era facility has become a key focus of a European investigation into allegations the CIA operated secret prisons where suspected terrorists were interrogated.

Top Romanian leaders and the Pentagon vehemently deny that the Mihail Kogalniceanu base in the country's southeast ever hosted a covert detention center, and the Romanians insist the United States never used it as a transit point for al-Qaida captives.

"It's impossible for something like that to have happened on this base," Lt. Cmdr. Florin Putanu, the base's No. 2 officer, angrily told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

But the compound, heavily used by American forces in 2001-2003 to transport troops and equipment to Afghanistan and Iraq, and scheduled to be handed over to the U.S. military early next year, is under increasing scrutiny.

Ioan Mircea Pascu, Romania's defense minister in 2001-2004, told the AP that parts of Mihail Kogalniceanu were off-limits to Romanian authorities, and the country's main intelligence agency said it has no jurisdiction there.

Pascu said he could not determine whether prisoners were ever held at the installation, but he conceded that planes flying captives to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may have made stopovers in Romania.


On Tuesday, Swiss lawmaker Dick Marty — heading the probe by the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog — said he was trying to acquire past satellite images of the base and Poland's Szczytno-Szymany airport. Both airfields, Human Rights Watch has alleged, were likely sites for clandestine CIA prisons.

Marty has asked the Brussels, Belgium-based Eurocontrol air safety organization to provide details of 31 suspected aircraft that landed in Europe and, according to Human Rights Watch, had direct or indirect links to the CIA.

Several of the flights stopped at the Romanian and Polish sites, the group said, basing its information on flight logs of CIA aircraft from 2001 to 2004. It said one of the alleged CIA flights that transited Mihail Kogalniceanu on Sept. 22, 2003, originated in Kabul, Afghanistan.


Other airports that might have been used by CIA aircraft in some capacity include Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Larnaca in Cyprus and Shannon in Ireland, as well as the U.S. air base at Ramstein, Germany, Marty said. Investigations into alleged CIA landings or flyovers are under way in Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and there have been unconfirmed reports in Macedonia and Malta.


Officials in ex-communist Romania — like Poland, a key U.S. ally in the global war on terrorism — have reacted with outrage to the suggestion that Mihail Kogalniceanu may have been used to transport, hide or interrogate suspected terrorists.

Secret detention centers, the alleged existence of which was first reported earlier this month by The Washington Post, would be illegal in both nations and could deal a huge setback to Romania's drive to join the European Union in 2007.

The CIA has refused to comment on the European investigation.


The U.S. Department of Defense "did not and does not detain enemy combatants in Romania," a spokesman, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter, told AP. He said the Pentagon would not disclose what countries the U.S. military might fly over "or make brief refueling stops in during detainee movements. Doing so would constitute a safety risk to both the detainees and our troops."

Romanian President Traian Basescu said U.S. officials never asked the country to host a so-called "black site" prison. The Defense Ministry said it was unaware of any such site, and Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu said there was "nothing in our dossier" or in documents from the previous government ousted last year.

"In good faith, I have no idea of such a thing," Ungureanu told AP.

AP reporters and a photographer allowed to roam the 790-acre military base found it virtually deserted, with no Americans on the installation and no obvious sign of a detention center among its 104 buildings. They include a U.S.-built gymnasium erected in 2003 and new, wood-paneled and carpeted briefing rooms tucked amid groves of scraggly trees.

Only two Romanian soldiers guarded the front gate of the base, which is surrounded by a fence topped with concertina wire and signs warning passers-by not to take photographs.

Lt. Cmdr. Adrian Vasile, who oversees the base, said U.S. forces — who at one point numbered 3,500 — pulled out in June 2003. About 1,600 American troops returned in July and August for joint training exercises.

In October 2004, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited the installation just inland from the Black Sea port city of Constanta. The Pentagon intends to take it over as part of a strategic shift aimed at placing American forces on "lily pads" closer to potential targets in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Asked whether U.S. officials could have carried out covert activities on the base without his knowledge, Vasile said flatly: "No."

Putanu, his deputy, said he had no knowledge of any American intelligence officers or Muslim prisoners setting foot on the installation.

Romania, which shook off communism in 1989 after decades of repression under the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, developed close ties with the United States in its quest for membership in NATO, which it joined in 2003.

At Washington's request, the country was among the first to sign a treaty exempting U.S. citizens from prosecution by the newly established International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. It has deployed non-combat troops to help U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and has allowed the United States to use its airspace.

Underscoring the friendship between the two countries, the main road leading to the base airstrip has been named George Washington Boulevard.

"Here at Kogalniceanu, we are human," Putanu said. "Really good things are happening here. It's a shame that someone who may not even know where Romania is would throw dirt on what we are trying to do."

___

Associated Press reporters Alison Mutler in Romania and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

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SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051124/ap_on_re_eu/europe_s_dark_secret


(...)


Yahoo! News

Troops Who Burned Taliban Face Discipline

By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 1 minute ago


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Four U.S. soldiers face disciplinary action for burning the bodies of two Taliban rebels, but they will not be charged with crimes because their actions were motivated by hygienic concerns, the military said Saturday.

The military started its inquiry into the incident last month after TV footage showed U.S. soldiers using the cremation to taunt other Islamic militants — an act that sparked outrage in Afghanistan.

Islam bans cremation, and the video images were compared here to photographs of U.S. troops abusing prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.


The U.S.-led coalition's operational commander, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, said two junior officers who ordered the bodies burned would be officially reprimanded for showing a lack of cultural and religious understanding, but he said the men were unaware that what they were doing was wrong.

Kamiya also said two noncommissioned officers would be reprimanded for using loudspeakers to taunt Taliban rebels believed to be lingering in a nearby village after a clash with the troops. The two men also would face nonjudicial punishments, which could include a loss of pay or demotion in rank.

"Our investigation found there was no intent to desecrate the remains, but only to dispose of them for hygienic reasons," Kamiya said.


He added that the broadcasts, while "designed to incite fleeing Taliban to fight," violated military policy.

The video footage threatens to undermine public support for the war against a stubborn insurgency four years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban's repressive regime in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hours after it was broadcast in Australia last month, American commanders promised a full investigation and vowed that anyone found guilty would be punished to the full extent of military law.

Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid, who attended the military's news conference in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, said, "We have confidence in this investigation."

The footage shows about five soldiers in light-colored military fatigues, which did not have any distinguishing marks, standing near a bonfire in which two bodies were laid side by side.

Kamiya said the temperature at the time was 90, and the bodies had lain exposed on the ground for 24 hours and were rapidly decomposing.

"This posed an increasing health concern for our soldiers," Kamiya said. "The criminal investigation proved there was no violation of the rules of war."

The Geneva Convention forbids the burning of combatants except for hygienic purposes.

The bodies were found atop a hill following a firefight, and Kamiya said soldiers, intending to stay on the hill for two or three days for strategic reasons, believed other Taliban had fled into the village below.

Australia's SBS television, which first showed the videotape, said it was taken by a freelance journalist, Stephen Dupont, in hills outside Gonbaz village in the southern Shah Wali Kot district — an area where there is frequent Taliban activity.


Dupont told The Associated Press he took the footage while embedded with the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered his own inquiry into the videotape. That probe has also been completed but officials say it is not clear when its findings will be released.

Though Afghan media have reported the alleged desecration, the videotape has not been broadcast here and there have been no protest rallies.

The last violent anti-American protests in Afghanistan were in May over a report by Newsweek — later retracted — that U.S. soldiers at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility abused Islam's holy book, the Quran.


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SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051126/ap_on_re_as/afghan_bodies_burned


(...)


CNN

Brown to start emergency planning consulting business

Thursday, November 24, 2005; Posted: 9:01 p.m. EST (02:01 GMT)


DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- Former FEMA Director Michael Brown, heavily criticized for his agency's slow response to Hurricane Katrina, is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job.

"If I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses -- because that goes straight to the bottom line -- then I hope I can help the country in some way," Brown told the Rocky Mountain News for its Thursday editions.

Brown said officials need to "take inventory" of what's going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware of how serious a situation is.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, critics complained about Brown's lack of formal emergency management experience and e-mails that later surfaced showed him as out of touch with the extent of the devastation. (Watch Brown is chosen as top 'political turkey' of the year -- 2:58)


The lawyer admits that while he was head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency mistakes were made in the response to Katrina. He also said he had been planning to quit before the hurricane hit.

"Hurricane Katrina showed how bad disasters can be, and there's an incredible need for individuals and businesses to understand how important preparedness is," he said.

Brown said companies already have expressed interested in his consulting business, Michael D. Brown LLC. He plans to run it from the Boulder area, where he lived before joining the Bush administration in 2001.

"I'm doing a lot of good work with some great clients," Brown said. "My wife, children and my grandchild still love me. My parents are still proud of me."


Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SOURCE - http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/24/brown.consultant.ap/index.html



Tuesday, November 22, 2005

The Press Corpse Lies Early With No Delay: "G-G-G-GOP Unit!!!"

Now why the hell is this a story?

Every defense attorney wants the charges dismissed.

Duh.

They basically test the waters with the judge, and let the prosecutor know they're serious about fighting this at every single stage of the process unless a settlement is agreed upon. Plus they are obligated to by law, or by the hundreds of dollars an hour they stand to earn.

Whatever.

This isn't even the first time they've repeated this, so what's the "news" here?

Okay, here's a quote from early in the article that answers that:


"DeLay wants the charges dismissed or resolved in his favor by January or he risks losing his House majority leader position. Under House rules, he was forced to give up his post after he was charged in September with a felony."



So what?

Is this supposed to help?

What next... you want a cookie???


(...)


The link to the web page is rather long and unwieldy, so I'm guessing they don't care if it's passed on. However, I'm also guessing they'll continue to say stuff like this to make it look like Tom "The Hammer" Delay is being victimized by the courts, the press, and the public, and that he deserves our sympathy.

How many other random "Joey Famous Wants Charges Dismissed" stories are there?

How many are blandly repeated again and again and again by the Press Corpse?

How many times will we hear what Tom Delay wants until we want it too?

How many times will we ignore how he's been indicted several times?


(...)


The Press Corpse?

"G-G-G-GOP Unit!!!"


(...)



Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and his wife, Christine, arrive for a court appearance in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005. DeLay is battling conspiracy and money laundering charges. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)




Yahoo! News

DeLay's Attorneys Want Charges Dismissed

By LIZ AUSTIN, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

AUSTIN, Tex., - Rep. Tom DeLay and two Republican fundraisers will likely have to wait for a judge to decide whether to drop conspiracy charges against them without a trial.


Duh.


Defense attorneys and prosecutors presented arguments Tuesday before Senior Judge Pat Priest, who said he wanted to read written responses from both sides before making his ruling. He said he would notify attorneys of his ruling either by e-mail or mail, but he didn't say how long that might take.

DeLay wants the charges dismissed or resolved in his favor by January or he risks losing his House majority leader position. Under House rules, he was forced to give up his post after he was charged in September with a felony.


Why not by Christmas? Happy Holidays!



The Texas Republican declined to talk to reporters as he entered the courtroom with his wife. He and party fundraisers John Colyandro and Jim Ellis are accused of operating a 2002 campaign finance scheme that funneled corporate money to Texas House candidates in violation of state law.

On Tuesday, Dick DeGuerin, DeLay's attorney, said DeLay shouldn't be charged with conspiracy to violate the election code because the law wasn't on the books until 2003, the year after DeLay's alleged offenses occurred.

"We can look at this case much more simply than hundreds of pages of briefs and motions may suggest," DeGuerin said. "There's no such thing in 2002 as conspiracy to violate the election code."

Prosecutor Rick Reed disputed that argument, saying the Legislature was just clarifying the law in 2003, and state law has long defined conspiracy as an agreement to commit any felony.

Ellis' attorney, Mark Stevens, argued that the state's money laundering statute applies only to cash. The campaign contributions in question were checks, he said.


Okay, he's got a point. It's on the top of his head.



DeLay and his co-defendants have acknowledged trying to help get Republicans elected but say they've done nothing illegal.

DeLay founded Texans for a Republican Majority, a political committee that raised $600,000 from corporations during the 2002 elections. Prosecutors say DeLay and his co-defendants sent the corporate money to the Republican National Committee, and then arranged for $190,000 to be sent to seven Texas legislative candidates. Colyandro was the executive director of DeLay's Texas committee. Ellis heads DeLay's national political committee, Americans for a Republican Majority.

"It was basically a negotiated swap," Reed said. "It was done in this manner in order to disguise the fact that this purchase had been negotiated."

State law bans the use of corporate money in campaigns, except for administrative costs. Prosecutors allege DeLay and his co-defendants conspired to work around the ban and launder the money through the RNC.

Prosecutors say DeLay's goal was to help the GOP capture control of the Texas House so Republican lawmakers could pass a new congressional voting district map drawn by DeLay that would guarantee more Republicans in Congress.

The hearing is DeLay's first before Senior Judge Pat Priest, who was appointed to the case after DeLay's attorneys succeeded in having the first judge removed because of his campaign contributions to Democratic candidates and causes.

Oh good. Loyalty is a key to survival.

"G-G-G-GOP Unit!!!"


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SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051122/ap_on_go_co/delay_indictment_10;_ylt=AgZunPaf531_m3KeMgAio_2GbToC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Monday, November 21, 2005

Dick Made Easier! (Do you like playing with your Yahoo?)

[Ed note: And these Yahoo's are from California, I guess that's why they always try to slip-up before getting smacked-down, and they're not as bad as many, many, many, many, many, many, many, others we know and fear...]







Yahoo! News

Cheney Lashes Out at Bush's Iraq Critics

26 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney charged Monday that some Senate Democrats were "dishonest and reprehensible" for suggesting that President Bush lied to the nation about going to war in Iraq and said he strongly disagrees with a battle-tested congressman who advocates a pullout.

Cheney backed away from earlier administration characterizations of Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), D-Pa., as a coward and instead clled him "a good man, a Marine, a patriot."


Murtha, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, roiled the nation's capital last week when he proposed that all of the almost 160,000 U.S. forces in Iraq be withdrawn over six months. Murtha has been one of the biggest
Pentagon boosters in Washington.

Republicans called Murtha's position one of abandonment and surrender and suggested that the decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War and like-minded politicians were acting cowardly.

[cont'd...]

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051121/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_19;_ylt=A0SOwjwBAoJDOSEAzQtX6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl


(...)


Yahoo! News

Cheney: Some Iraq Critics Are 'Dishonest'

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL 49 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday said he strongly disagrees with a battle-tested congressman who advocates quickly pulling all U.S. troops from Iraq, calling such a proposal "a dangerous illusion."

But Cheney stopped short of joining those Republicans who have questioned the patriotism and courage of Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), D-Pa., calling him "a good man, a Marine, a patriot." Cheney's subdued comments about Murtha followed those of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.


At the same time, Cheney pressed the administration's high-voltage attack on war critics, particularly Senate Democrats who voted in October 2002 to give Bush authority to go to war in Iraq and who now oppose his policy, calling them "dishonest and reprehensible."

"The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight. But any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped or fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false," Cheney said in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute.

[Cont'd...]

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051121/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq_24;_ylt=Agnw3h58nnPx69_ZswTrjd1X6GMA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl







BONUS: Lies, damned lies, and head-lies...


Yahoo! News

GM to Cut 30,000 Jobs, Close 9 Plants

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, AP Auto Writer 8 minutes ago


DETROIT - General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world's biggest automaker to start making money again after absorbing nearly $4 billion in losses so far this year.


[Ed: They're just trying to destroy the American economy in order to institute martial law and a police state and then take over the world. No worries, please carry on...]


(...)


Yahoo! News

U.N.: HIV Epidemic Continues to Spread

By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer Mon Nov 21, 6:47 AM ET


LONDON - The global HIV epidemic continues to expand, with more than 40 million people now estimated to have the AIDS virus, but in some countries prevention efforts are finally starting to pay off, the United Nations says.


[Ed: Don't we have a fundraised every day for this? How come 25% of Africa has AIDS 25 years after LiveAID? How come many of them have never had sex nor parents who've had AIDS? Is it in the vaccines? Must be... bastards. And the same people who promise to fix it never do but always say they're close... bastards.]







BONUS: Back From The Dead...


"Straight out the casket, rising up
Open up your eyes, can’t you see me
What the fuck is this madness
Pick up my bones
Erase my name from off the tombstones
Alive and kicking
Breathin’ the air
Call out my name punk
And I’ll be there
No question
My suggestion to the action
Caught smack dab in the middle of the blastin’
Messin with me
You’re messin’ with the best
Blow!
You’re takin’ two shots to the chest...

’cause I’m back from the dead
Everlast’s comin’ back from the dead [Back from the dead!]
You know I’m back from the dead
And I’ll put a friggin’ hole in your head
Back from the dead
Back from the dead..."


- House of Pain, "Back From The Dead"


Infowars.com

Al-Zarqawi believed dead, says Iraqi foreign minister

IOL | November 21, 2005


Al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is believed to have been killed in a military operation in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Iraq’s foreign minister said today.

Hoshyar Zebari told the official Petra news agency during a visit to Moscow that Iraqi authorities were testing DNA samples from several corpses of insurgents killed in a weekend gunfight in Mosul.

“American and Iraqi forces are investigating the possibility that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s corpse is among the bodies of some terrorists who died in the special military operation in Mosul,” he said.

State television carried the urgent news in a scrolling newsbar at the bottom of the screen during regular programming, suggesting that Jordanian officials likely believe the report.

No other details were immediately available.

Earlier today, the White House had said it was “highly unlikely” that al-Zarqawi was among the dead.


REAL SOURCE - http://www.infowars.com/articles/iraq/zarqawi_believed_dead.htm







BONUS: Here Is Something You Can't Understand...



[B-Real]

Poet in the streets, niggas livin' on the edge
We take it to the darkside, gettin' in your head
While you haunt us like a Fed, we twist you like a dreadlock
Has I got to hammer talkin bitches in the bed?
While you fuckin' with the Soul Assassins in the dark town
And all my Latin dog-niggas get to hold it down
Now your violatin' 'cos you haters know i'm waitin'
In the silver stack in the parkin' lot
With the handle cocked...

[Hook 2 - Kurupt {Sen Dog} (repeat 2x)]

Here is something, that I think you just can't understand
{How I could just kill a man!}
And you wonder why and how it is I could just kill a man
{How I could just kill a man!}
You see, in these streets I pack my heat cuz should it be for real
{How I could just kill a man!}
And if you think you wanna come and test me, then come deal with my steel
{How I could just kill a man!}

[Outro - Kurupt]

You just don't understand
How I could just, kill a man (yeah)
La la la la, la la la la-la..."


- Cypress Hill, "How I Could Just Kill A Man"



Infowars.com

Mexican troops attack United States

Infowars.com | November 21, 2005


RELATED:

Texas Civil Rights Review attacks Alex Jones, defends Plan of San Diego

US shuts Mexican border consulate

Arizona governor decares state of emergency along Mexican border

Men who shot Border Patrol agents wore black military-style garb

US-trained Mexican commandos pose threat to authorities

Mexican commandos seek control of border

Violence against Border Patrol increases

Armed Mexican Troops on US Soil


In what can only be called a military attack, Mexican troops brandishing weapons stole contraband worth millions of dollars while holding Border Patrol agents at gunpoint.

The media spins the story as if it were a standoff. A standoff would have been if no one got the dump truck or the drugs. There have now been over 800 killed in the South Texas border zone in the last year. Car bombs in Dallas, machine-gunning deaths on a daily basis, the US Mission has been shut down in Neuvo Laredo because of persistent rocket-propelled grenade attacks.


Months ago, we wrote an article covering the undeclared border war. At that time, only six hundred had died. The State Department has issued three travel advisories warning not to go into areas of South Texas and Mexico, saying that it is more dangerous than the West Bank of Israel.

But still, there is a national news blackout on this developing story. On a weekly basis, US citizens are kidnapped, and Mexican troops shoot and kill Border Patrol agents, Forestry Service workers and Sheriff's Deputies.

In Arizona, what can only be called the Plan of San Diego has been implemented, and some nights, as many as a dozen homes are burned to the ground.


Armed standoff on Rio Grande

Uniformed Mexicans with guns, bulldozer seize drug-bust truck from Border Patrol

WorldNetDaily | November 20, 2005


U.S. Border Patrol agents were backed down this week by armed men, dressed in what appeared to be Mexican military uniforms and carrying military weapons, who seized a captured dump truck filled with marijuana from the U.S. agents and dragged it across the border into Mexico with a bulldozer.

The border incident occurred Thursday evening when Border Patrol agents attempted to pull over a dump truck on Interstate 10 in Hudspeth County, Texas. The driver fled from the agents, exiting the freeway and driving toward the Rio Grande which runs within 2 miles of the interstate in this portion of West Texas.

The driver abandoned the truck after it became stuck in the river bed, escaping into Mexico.

Agents called for reinforcement from the Texas state troopers and Hudspeth County sheriff and began unloading the haul – estimated to have been nearly 3 tons – when everything changed.

Officers "started to retrieve the bundles when the armed subjects appeared," said Agent Ramiro Cordero, Border Patrol spokesman.

According to Hudspeth County Chief Deputy Mike Doyal, the dump truck driver returned with armed men, some of whom drove "official looking vehicles with overhead lights." Some of those armed, Doyal told the El Paso Times, appeared to be Mexican soldiers in uniform with military weapons.

"It's a very serious incident," Doyal said. "We are very fortunate ... no one got hurt. Everyone had the presence of mind not to cause an international incident, or start shooting."

As WorldNetDaily has reported, there are widespread reports of U.S.-trained Mexican commandos, called the Zetas, making cross-border runs into U.S. territory in military-style vehicles, armed with automatic weapons.

The Zetas were trained as elite commandos by U.S. forces to combat the drug cartels, but they have switched sides and are working for the drug smugglers in the border area posing a special hazard to American law enforcement and Border Patrol agents, according to a U.S. Justice Department memo. Under the control of reputed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the Zetas are conducting a bloody war for control of the entire southern border in an effort to secure a monopoly on drug-smuggling and people-smuggling routes.

As both sides faced off, a bulldozer appeared from the Mexico side of the river and was used by the armed men to pull the dump truck – and the two-thirds of the marijuana that had not yet been unloaded – into Mexico. The bulldozer, Doyal said, is believed to be used regularly to make makeshift crossings over the Rio Grande.

The "armed encounter with drug smugglers," as Cordero described it, is under investigation. No confirmation was made as to whether or not the "soldiers" belonged to the Mexican military.

REAL SOURCE - http://www.infowars.com/articles/immigration/border_war_mexican_troops_attack_us.htm



Keep Ya Head Up





Keep Ya Head Up


"A little somethin for my godson Elijah and a little boy named
Corin..."



[Verse One:]

"Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice,
I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots,
I give a holler to my sisters on welfare,
Tupac cares, and don't nobody else care,
And uhh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot,
When you come around the block, brothas clown a lot,
But please, don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up,
Forgive, but don't forget, girl - keep your head up,
And when he tells you you ain't nuttin, don't believe him,
And if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him,
Cause sista you don't need him,
And I ain't tryin to gas ya up, I just call 'em how I see em,
You know it makes me unhappy (what's that?)
When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy,
And since we all came, from a woman,
Got our name from a woman, and our game from a, woman,
I wonder why we take, from our women,
Why we rape our women, do we hate our, women?
I think it's time to kill, for our women,
Time to heal, our women, be real, to our women,
And if we don't, we'll have a race of babies,
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies,
And since a man can't make one,
He has no right to tell a woman, when and where to create one,
So will the real men get up?
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up..."


[Chorus]

"Keep ya head up,
Ooooh child things are gonna get easier...
Ooooh child things'll get brighter..."

[2x]


[Verse Two:]

"Ayo,
I remember Marvin Gaye, used to sing ta me,
He had me feelin like black, was tha thing to be,
And suddenly, tha ghetto didn't seem so tough,
And though we had it rough, we always had enough,
I huffed and puffed about my curfew, and broke the rules,
Ran with the local crew, and had a smoke or two,
I realize momma really paid the price,
She nearly gave her life, to raise me right,
And all I had ta give her was my pipe dream,
Of how I'd rock the mic, and make it to tha bright screen,
I'm tryin to make a dollar out of fifteen cents,
It's hard to be legit, and still pay tha rent,
And in the end it seems I'm headin for tha pen',
I try and find my friends,
But, they' blowin' in the wind,
Last night, my buddy lost his whole family,
It's gonna take the man in me, to conquer this insanity,
It seems tha rain'll never let up,
I try to keep my head up, and still keep from gettin wet up,
You know it's funny, when it rains it pours,
They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor,
Say there ain't no hope for the youth, and the truth is,
It ain't no hope for tha future,
And then they wonder why we crazy,
I blame my mother, for turning my brother, into a crack baby,
We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup,
And even though you're fed up,
Huh, ya got to keep your head up..."


[Chorus]

"Keep ya head up,
Ooooh child things are gonna get easier...
Ooooh child things'll get brighter..."

[2x]


[Verse Three:]

"And uhh,
To all the ladies havin babies, on they' own,
I know it's kinda rough, and you're feelin all alone,
Daddy's long gone, and he left you by ya lonesome,
Thank the Lord, for my kids, even if nobody else want 'em,
Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure,
And if you fall, stand tall, and comeback for more,
Cause ain't nuttin worse than when your son,
Wants to know why his daddy, don't love him no mo',
You can't complain, you was dealt this,
Hell of a hand without a man, feelin helpless,
Because there's too many things for you to deal with,
Dying inside, but outside, you're looking fearless,
While tears, is rollin' down your cheeks,
Ya steady hopin things don't all fall, this week,
Cause if it did, you couldn't take it, and don't blame me,
I was given this world, I didn't make it,
And now my son's getten older, and older,
And cold,
From havin' the world, on his shoulders,
While the rich kids is drivin Benz,
I'm still tryin to hold on, to survivin' friends,
And it's crazy,
It seems it'll never let up,
But, please...
You got to keep your head up."


- 2Pac, "Keep Ya Head Up"







'The 2Pac Collection Vol. 1 (Original Samples)'

(Vinyl LP Double Comp. Disco/ Funk/ Jazz/ Soul)


1. Zapp - 'Be Alright' (Used For 'Keep Ya Head Up') -

2. Five Stairsteps - 'Ooh Child' (Used For 'Keep Ya Head Up')
-

3. Quincy Jones - 'Body Heat' (Used For 'How Do You Want It') -
4. DeBarge - 'A Dream' (Used For 'I Ain't Mad At Ya') -
5. Cameo - 'Candy' (Used For 'All About You') -
6. Joe Sample - 'In All My Wildest Dreams' (Used For 'Dear Mama') -
7. Dennis Edwards - 'Don't Look Any Further' (Used For 'Hit Em Up') -
8. Joe Cocker - 'Woman To Woman' (Used For 'California Love') -
9. Ronnie Hudson - 'West Coast Poplock (Used For 'California Love') -
10. Roger Troutman - 'So Ruff, So Tuff' (Used For 'California Love') -
11. B. Hornsby - 'The Way It Is' (Used For 'Changes') -
12. Strafe - 'Set It Off' (Used For 'Changes') -
13. Herbie Hancock - 'Fat Mama' (Used For 'If My Homey Calls') -
14. Linda Clifford - 'Never Gonna Stop' (Used For 'All Eyez On Me') -
15. The Bar Kays - 'Holy Ghost' (Used For 'Trapped') -
16. The J.B.S. - 'The Spank' (Used For 'Trapped') -
17. Zapp - 'Computer Love' (Used For 'Temptations') -
18. Sly & The Family Stone - 'Sing A Simple Song' (Used For 'Temptations') -
19. Minnie Ripperton - 'Inside My Love' (Used For 'Me Against The World') -
20. Stevie Wonder - 'That Girl' (Used For 'So Many Tears') -
21. The O'Jays - 'Brandy' (Used For 'Life Goes On') -
22. Funkadelic - 'Get Off Your Ass & Jam' (Used For 'Holla If You Hear Me') -
23. Peoples choice - 'Do It Anyway You Wanna' (Used For 'Holla If You Hear Me') -
24. Zapp - 'I Can Make You Dance' (Used For 'I Get Around') -
25. The Sign - 'The Ladder' (Used For 'I Get Around') -
26. Zapp - 'Dance Floor' (Used For 'Wanted Dead Or Alive') -
27. Kool & The Gang - 'Winter Sadness' (Used For 'Picture Me Rollin') -
28. The O'Jays - 'Cry Together' (Used For 'Pour Out A Little Liquor')


SOURCE - http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/store/detail.asp?UPC=SB9816LP







BONUS: Courtesy of The Monk on The Couch...



>Here is a smidgen of the info previously mentioned.
>Enjoy,
>
>http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/85/98753.htm?pagenumber=3

>What to Wear for Your Period
>
>In the early 1990s, women began to be much more aware of products that
>harmed the environment. Menstrual products became the focus of much debate
>when it was learned that plastic tampon applicators are commonly washed up
>on beaches all over North America because the plastic does not break down
>in sewage treatment plants. (Many women flush them even though they are
>meant to be disposed of in the garbage, which just means more garbage.)
>
>Green Periods
>
>Reducing "period trash" can mean two things: reducing back-end garbage or
>improving front-end cleanliness,
>Green menstrual products are also safer for women… and…"clean and white" so
>we feel psychologically cleaner around our periods… There is also the new
>menstrual cup, which is shaped like a small diaphragm that sits just under
>your cervix (no applicator or creams necessary) and catches the flow. The
>Keeper is a cup that you remove and wash.
>
>What You Ought to Know About Bleached Tampons
>
>Women use a lot of tampons… as many as 24,360 tampons in her lifetime… The
>main concern over tampons is the bleaching of the product, which produces
>dioxin, a chemical the Environmental Protection Agency and the
>International Agency for Research on Cancer say probably cause cancer.
>
>What About Asbestos?
>
>Some women's groups have published that U.S. tampon manufacturers add
>asbestos to their products to promote excessive menstrual bleeding in order
>to sell more tampons. This isn't that crazy a claim, considering that the
>tobacco industry added substances to cigarettes to make them more
>addictive.
>
>Who Regulates Tampons?
>
>Tampons are considered medical devices and as such should be regularly
>assessed, tested, and monitored as vigorously as bandages or heart valves.
>But they're not.
The U.S. government has determined that the FDA has not
>adequately investigated the safety of tampons because of the FDA's reliance
>on safety data provided by the tampon manufacturers rather than independent
>peer-reviewed scientific studies on the safety of the products. And tampon
>manufacturers do not make their data available to the public… other
>problems tampons can cause… lead to microulcerations and infection… and
>embed pieces into the vaginal tissue.

>
>Tampon Hygiene Rules
>
>Many women with extremely heavy flows are in the habit of using more than
>one tampon at the same time. If you're among them, get out of the habit…
>
>For Irregular Cycles
>
>First, it's been found that both regular orgasms (through self- or
>partnered stimulation) and pelvic floor exercises can help maintain regular
>periods.
>
>Natural Ways to Deal with Menstrual and Vaginal Odor
>
>…for vaginal odor, sit in a tub! Here are the best oils to have… just use
>them as single "shots" in the tub…
>• Lavender: This is the most useful oil to have on hand as it not only
>nourishes the female reproductive system and improves vaginal health, but
>it is also a natural antidepressant and sleep aid.
>• Geranium: This also nourishes the female reproductive system and has a
>strong floral scent.
>• Ylang-ylang: This nourishes the female system and acts as an
>antidepressant as well as an aphrodisiac! (Try it, you'll like it.)
>• Rose: This nourishes the female system and also acts as an
>antidepressant.
>
>This can be done after bowel movements, too, to keep your rectal area
>nourished and clean.
>