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Motley Crue Concert is CRUE-L and unusual punishment
03.25.06 (8:38 am)   [edit]
HOUSTON CONCERT-MOTLEY CRÜE IS "CRÜE-L" AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT MOTLEY CRÜE...the Houston concert with the original band members. The members were / are: Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee My review. March 24,2006 Those aware of my anti-RIAA band status, would be surprised to find I went to the Motley Crue concert in Houston on 24 March 2006. The reason I went was that my wife, for whatever reason, is a Crue fan (not fanatically so, but a fan). She got tickets for the Houston show last year, but Hurricane Rita washed that one away, so it was rescheduled. So, we drove from Austin to Houston, and due to various intervening events, got to the venue at 9:30, an hour after the band hit the stage. The place was packed, and there was a lot of smoke, coming from the smoke machines to add "effect", from the band members smoking, and audience smoking. As a non-smoker, this was already a "treat", right? We could hear them finishing GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS from the outside as we were trying to get in. We had floor seats, but the place was packed and we ended up in the stadium seating. So, that was complain number one. The idiot usher insisted on seating us in the first four seats near the aisle she was located (there were three ladies with me). The first scene of the "concert" was a scantily clan female in a red , vinyl appearing bikini with a hat on, getting pseudo humped from behind and fondled from in front. Oh yeah, did I mention the dwarfs? Yeah, they were using dwarves as comedy, and in an S and M type skit, had the female hitting the dwarf. Yeah, real musicianship, right? The venue was the TOYOTA center in Houston. 'Nuff said on the venue. So, to continue our review, we had thankfully been spared the first hour, but I sat there just waiting for the band to say goodnight. Unluckily, I would be subjected to another hour of this crap. There were two large screens, one on either side of the stage. The screens appeared to be of poor quality...exceptionally poor quality, and the images were not very imaginative. A giant eye crying a single tear, lips, and some kind of artsy fartsy dissolve of images that, owing to the poor screen quality, never quite told you what they hell they were. Now, I am a rock fan. I liked KISS's farewell tour date in Austin (farewell number one) and have, thanks to my wife's love of '80s hair bands, seen most of that genre. In the past, we've seen a LOT of bands such as Whitesnake, Dokken, Winger, SCORPIONS, NIN (nine inch nails), David Bowie, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Lynnard Skynard , Quiet Riot, Poison, Cinderella,Faster Pussycat, Great White,Skid Row, Slaughter, White Lion, and many more. So, I am not a concert newbie. The concert I saw from Motley Crue was the worst concert I've ever seen. The stage setting was setup as if it were a carnival or a sideshow, and I must admit, THAT would be the proper venue, and not the TOYOTA center. Early on, it was clear that the band has an unhealthy love of the F word in all its incarnations. It was "F" this, MotherF'er, "you F'ers" (I am omitting the "uck" , though they did not). Vince Neil was decidely unremarkable in appearance. He is fat and his attempt to look "cool" was a dismal failure. His beer belly was in start contrast with the rest of the group who LOOKED like street crack addicts. They were extremely thin, for them, black was the color of the day. Apparently, the "CRUE" thinks that if you put enough almost nude women on stage doing suggestive things, and simulating both fellatio and intercourse, that THAT constitutes entertainment. Well, I didn't go to see a Titty show, I went to see a rock show. Alice Cooper ,Bowie, and the Stones, KNOW how to put on an entertaining rock SHOW (as opposing to just having a band play their hits like a live juke box). The audience was treated to seeing girls swing on ropes, swing on giant rings, shoot fireworks out of their asses, and from their sternum (as if they were shooting fireworks from their breasts)...and there was one time where two girls, dressed as nurses with mini skirts and big red crosses on their costume, with nurse caps (which nurses no longer wear anyway) giving Neil a simulated blowjob. Then, of course, you had the audience cam. The camera scanned the audience for attractive young females, trying to pressure them to pull up (or down) their tops and show their breasts. Suprisingly, many did, but when they came across one that didn't, Neil was a bit derisive, and I think at one point, saying "you suck" or something like that, to a girl that refused. The "breast show" was projected onto the already mentioned overhead screens. Now, out of the many people at the event, I was the only one who remained seated most of the time. At one point, Neil was almost making fun of Bon Jovi, and when he wanted people to sit down, said if people remained standing, they were Bon Jovi fans. In what I thought was a moment of courage, one couple (a guy and a girl), who had sit down as Vince requested, stood up to say "Hell yes, we're Bon Jovi fans). He also had everyone jumping up and down and hollering. Excuse me, but when I pay to see a performance, I think I shouldn't have to be told by the performer what the F to do. I pay to see the monkey dance, HE dances, not ME. Needless to say, I didn't jump up and down on command like the other attendees did. The high point was when the drummer, Tommy Lee (of the Tommy Lee and Pam Anderson sex tape fame), came down from the stage, surrounded by several bodyguards, ran to the back of the forum, talking all the way, and got strapped to a flying harness, and ascended up to one of two suspended platformsm, each having a percussion piece setup,and he drummed on one, then went to the other (using the flying harness setup), and finally, while lights dimmed and a big explosion, descended back to the floor and made his way back to the stage. The sound was horrible. I don't call it "music", instead, it was "noise" (unwanted sounds). I was sitting there, trapped because I came in a friends vehicle. But, since I was there, I took the opportunity to watch this fiasco so I could write the review. The whole thing was a mess. They had a honeycomb of speakers as if just sheer volume would make the sloppy guitar playing sound good. Tommy Lee did a workmanlike job on percussion. Actually, of all the band, he was probably the best (like saying that someone is the tallest pygmy in the village, that's not saying much). Near the end, they tried all the gimmicks they could...fireworks, flame pots, women fire breathing, Mick Mars, who looked very ill, busted up the guitar he was playing on purpose. I have always hated senseless destruction of good musical instruments, dating back to when the drummer for the WHO did it. It is stupid. And, when you just toss and electric guitar into the air like he did and let it land wherever, it puts people near the stage at risk. So, my review is this. The group MOTLEY CRÜE , like a boxer that is past his prime, are not a pretty band to watch fizzle out. Their tour dates are found at http://www.concertgroove.com/..., and apparently, Jackson MS is where they went after Houston. I pity those in Jackson MS. Their show should have been an embarrassment to the band. It was loud, distorted by speakers, and ill performed. Now, to be fair, it seemed like I was probably the only one who hated this show. At one point, the band (i.e. Vince Neil) urged everyone to light the place up, and many people complied with cell phones, lighters, etc. Of course, this is about as hackneyed as people listening to Freebird. Not original Neil, but good try. Positive statements...well both Vince Neil and Tommy Lee tried to work the crowd and get them involved. Nikki Six and Mars seemed not to give a sh*t. And, hey, if the band doesn't give a sh*t, why should fans, right? I got up and left while people were waiting for the encore. I told my wife "I've had enough of this sh*t." I should have done that earlier, but there was no where to go. I felt like I was at some strip club. At one point, a "fan" in front of me, one row down, when they were doing one of their simulated sex acts, hollered out toward the stage saying "Suck her titties." Good Lord people. Is this what people think a rock show is nowadays? If I had wanted to see a strip club, I would have gone to one. MOTLEY CRÜE has the same syndrome that a lot of rap groups like 50 cent has. Put buxom, scantily clad women on stage and have them shake their tits and ass, and people will like it. I guess that's their way of dealing with not being able to sing or play well. There's an old saying in law school...when you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have the facts on your side, argue the facts. When you have neither the law nor the facts, talk loud and bang on the table. Well, updating this to rock shows, we have the following. When you have great lyrics, emphasize the singer. When you have great melodies, emphasize the instrumentals. When you have neither, bring on the dancing girls and fireworks. Plenty of girls and fireworks last night. MOTLEY CRÜE concerts...just say NO. ~Code "So it goes." - Kurt Vonnegut
 
HOMELAND SECURITY
04.30.05 (9:01 am)   [edit]
 
BUSH COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET
04.26.05 (5:08 pm)   [edit]

BUSHY COMES OUT OF THE CLOSET
First, the Jeff Gannon Affair...now...well...make your
own decision on this one!


 
Deputy Mark Leubscher , probably best known for his tasering of a
04.10.05 (5:22 am)   [edit]
 

Deputy Mark Leubscher , probably best known for his tasering of a
12 year old girl with her hands handcuffed behind her in a patrol car, strikes again!


====================== Article ========================= =====






http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/ 11356527.htm" title="http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/ 11356527.htm" target="_blank"http://www.tallahassee.com/ml...


Orange County deputy uses stun gun on high schooler





THE ORLANDO SENTINEL


An Orange County deputy sheriff used a Taser on another high-school student this week as a debate continued on whether stun guns belong in schools.


It was the seventh Taser incident at Colonial High during the past two years and the 18th in Orange County schools during that time. All involved deputy sheriffs.


Details of the incident came to light Friday, shortly before a task force appointed by Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary released a report urging more Taser training for deputies but saying they have shown restraint in using the devices.


The deputy working at Colonial High and the student disagree on when the Taser was used during a lunchtime scuffle Thursday outside the cafeteria.


Deputy Mark Leubscher reported that Phillip Planteny, 17, attacked him when he tried to break up a fight. A second deputy held Planteny to the ground while Leubscher gave him two shots with the stun gun, according to the officer's report.


Planteny told his mother he stepped in to break up the fight, which about 300 students gathered to watch. He told her he already was handcuffed when Leubscher used his Taser. She was outraged.


"When you are handcuffed, there is no reason you should be Tased," said Olga Hernandez. "And in school, a Taser is not called for."


Another student, Luiz Ortiz, 15, said he saw the fight and could not understand why the Taser was used.


"They put him in handcuffs, and then they Tased him," Ortiz said.


Leubscher would not comment on the incident Friday, but sheriff's officials spoke in his defense.


"The student lunged at the deputy and pushed him into a picnic table," said Crystal Candy, a sheriff's spokeswoman, who noted that the boy weighs 197 pounds. "He was not handcuffed when the Taser was administered."


Planteny is facing felony counts of battery on a law-enforcement officer, threatening a public official, and violation of probation for a previous offense, as well as a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the school, the sheriff's report said.


Leubscher previously used a Taser on an emotionally handicapped 12-year-old at Gateway School whose hands were cuffed behind his back, and on a 17-year-old boy at Colonial High who had been placed in the back of a patrol car.


Officials said a review of both incidents found the Taser was justified to keep those students from hurting themselves.


 

 
Secondhand smoke causes breast cancer, study says
03.09.05 (8:00 pm)   [edit]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-03-0 8-smoking-breastcancer_x.htm" title="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-03-0 8-smoking-breastcancer_x.htm" target="_blank"http://www.usatoday.com/news/...Secondhand


Second smoke causes breast cancer, study says















SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists at an influential California agency have concluded that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer, a finding that could have broad impact on cancer research and lead to even tougher anti-smoking regulations.

"Overall, women exposed to secondhand smoke have up to a 90% greater risk
of breast cancer, the report says."


Although recent studies have linked smoking to breast cancer, no major public
health group, including the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, has declared it a cause
of the disease that kills 40,000 women each year in the USA.


The finding by scientists for the Air Resources Board — whose early efforts to
regulate auto emissions were a model for the rest of the country — could fuel
workplace smoking bans in more states. And it is likely to refocus the scientific
debate over the link between smoking and breast cancer.
 (Related story: Firestorm could be brewing)


"I have to say without reservation it will stimulate continued and accelerated
scientific evaluation of the smoking and breast cancer issue," says
Terry Pechacek, associate director for science in the CDC's office on
smoking and health.


A scientific review panel is expected to approve the report as early as
Monday and forward it to the Air Resources Board, which has broad state
authority to regulate air pollution.


The 1,200-page report analyzes new data on the extent of Californians'
exposure to secondhand smoke and more than 1,000 studies of health
effects from secondhand smoke.


The conclusion that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer, particularly
in younger women, challenges conventional scientific thinking because most |
studies, until recently, had found no connection between female smokers
and breast cancer.


But California scientists based their conclusion on recent human studies that
they determined had more careful assessments of long-term exposure to
tobacco smoke. The report also gave more weight to toxicology evidence
from animal studies than previous studies by the surgeon general and others.
It's well-documented that chemicals from cigarettes cause breast cancer
in lab animals.


Overall, women exposed to secondhand smoke have up to a 90% greater
risk of breast cancer, the report says. It says secondhand smoke kills as
many as 73,400 a year in the USA.


The report did not estimate the number of additional new breast cancer
cases annually, and scientists did not calculate risk levels based on doses
of secondhand smoke.


Tobacco companies, in public comments filed with the board, say the
report gives little weight to studies that found no breast cancer connection.


A new surgeon general's report on secondhand smoke is expected this year.


"The topic is still under review," says the report's senior scientific editor,
Jonathan Samet, an epidemiology professor at Johns Hopkins University.


"It's controversial," Samet says. "Concluding that passive smoke causes
breast cancer has potentially powerful implications for tobacco control
and breast cancer control. So there has been tension over it."


 


 

 
Order from Chaos
03.03.05 (5:31 pm)   [edit]

Order from Chaos


Those of a more religious bent, are often prone to use the "unseen Watchmaker" argument to argue in favor of there being an invisible intelligence that created the world. They use the analogy of finding a watch in the forest, and argue that it could not just have "evolved", but that there must be an "invisible watchmaker" (GOD?) that created this marvel.


Then of course, they say the human body is far more complex than a watch, and that obviously, something this wondrous and complex, also would demand the existence of an "invisible watchmaker" to explain the creation of something this intricate.


This of course begs the introduction of natural phenomena that has been studied by scientists, in which an apparent higher "order" comes spontaneously from chaotic movement.


One such spontaneous order from chaos is from a " Benard cell ". For more on this, we can look at a web site.


"The Benard cell


The "Benard instabilty" is another striking example of the instability of a stationary state giving rise to the phenomena of spontaneous self-organisation. The instability is due to a vertical temperatire gradient set up in a horizontal liquid layer. The Benard instabilty is a spectacular phenomenom. The convection motion produced actually consists of the complex spatial organisation of the system. Millions of molecules move coherently, forming hexagonal convention cells of characteristic size.


Dissipative Structures


In far from equilbrium conditions, the concept of probability that underlies Boltzmann's order principle is no longer valid in that the structures we observe do not correspond to a maximum number of complexions. Neither can they be related to a minum of the free energy F = E - TS. The tendency towards levelling out and forgetting initial conditions is no longer a general property. In this context, the age-old problem of the origin of life appears in a different perspective. It is certainly tru that life is incompatible with Boltzmann's order principal but not with the kind of behaviour that can occur in far-from-equilbrium conditions.


Classical thermodynamics leads to the concept of "equilibrium structures" such as crystals. Benard cells are structures too, but of a quite different nature. That is why we have introduced the notion of "dissipative structures", to emphasise the close association, at first paradoxical, in such situations between structure and order on the one side, and dissipation or waste on the other. Heat transfer was consdered a source of waste in classical thermodynamics. In the Benard cell it becomes a source of order.


The interaction of a system with the outside world, its embedding in nonequilibrium conditions, may become in this way the starting point for the formation of new dynamic states of matter - dissipative structures. Dissipative structures actually correspond to a form of supramolecular organisation."


Here is another site dealing with such a phenomenon.
http://www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/departments/swo/markus /hp1.php3" title="http://www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.de/departments/swo/markus /hp1.php3" target="_blank"http://www.mpi-dortmund.mpg.d...


" OSCILLATING REACTIONS AND CHEMICAL WAVES


We have investigated periodic and turbulent waves in excitable media and, in particular, in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. We found that turbulence can be induced by high light intesity or low catalyst concentrations (in the Ru-catalyzed reaction) by oxygen, or by methanol.


The different spatiotemporal modes were analyzed by correlation analysis of video images, and they were simulated both by cellular automata (CA) and by partial differential equations. The figure below shows CA-simulations of three-dimensional waves.


There exist conditions for which a short light pulse can cause splitting into a forwards and a backwards running wave. If this is done with a spiral wave, the two resulting spirals  annihilate  each other.


Due to the formal analogy (analogous form of differential equations) between the BZ reaction and heart muscle, BZ-turbulence is comparable to the fatal heart fibrillation. Moreover, considering that light in the BZ-reaction corresponds to electrical current in the heart, the annihilation  of spirals points to a method of controlling heart tachycardia. Formerly, we investigated the physiological clock (of yeast) due to oscillating enzymatic breakdown of sugar. Considering the coupling to membrane transport, one obtains, under certain conditions, chaotic biorhythms.
 
 
 



Examples of 3D waves in an excitable medium (simulations)


"


The  Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction is indeed an interesting and well studied example of this "order out of chaos" phenomenon. Here is an interesting page on it. http://online.redwoods.cc.ca.us/instruct/darnold/depro j/Sp98/Gabe/" title="http://online.redwoods.cc.ca.us/instruct/darnold/depro j/Sp98/Gabe/" target="_blank"http://online.redwoods.cc.ca....


 


Here is a mathematical explanation of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.
http://www.cheng.cam.ac.uk/" title="http://www.cheng.cam.ac.uk/" target="_blank"http://www.cheng.cam.ac.uk/~mkraft/pages/teaching/CE TIIB-StoMo/WebModule/bz/n ode7.html


"


Algorithm for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky system


 



* (1)
Initialize variables $ N_X$, $ N_Y$, $ N_Z$, $ K_i$ for google_ad_client = "pub-0216010750810096";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_channel ="";
google_ad_type = "text";
google_color_border = "003366";
google_color_bg = "F0F0F0";
google_color_link = "0000FF";
google_color_url = "008000";
google_color_text = "000000";
//--


Political Gateway- Feb 11- Dateline New York...
A new strain of HIV has been found in one man in New York. It appears he was infected in December or close to it. He has full blown AIDS and the strain is resistant to treatments.

Scroll down for the actual health department memo.

``We've identified this strain of HIV that is difficult or impossible to treat and which appears to progress rapidly to AIDS,'' said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. ``We have not seen a case like this before. It holds the potential for a very serious public health problem.''

``It is likely there are others infected with this strain and this individual has infected others,'' Frieden said. The case is ``extremely concerning and a wake-up call,'' he said.

``We're talking about a single case, but clearly the fact that we are dealing with such broad resistance of drugs and the rapid clinical progression is quite alarming,'' Valdiserri said.

``In this patient's case, onset of AIDS appears to have occurred within two or three months and at most 20 months after HIV infection,'' Frieden said. The patient, whose name was withheld, has symptoms usually associated ``with someone who has very advanced disease,'' he said.

========================= =================
Press Release

New York City Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene
Office of Communications
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sandra Mullin/Sid Dinsay
Business Hours (212) 788-5290
After Business Hours (212) 764-7667
Friday, February 11, 2005

NEW YORK CITY RESIDENT DIAGNOSED WITH RARE STRAIN OF MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT HIV THAT RAPIDLY PROGRESSES TO AIDS

Highly Virulent Strain Resistant to Three Types of HIV Drugs Is Rare In Patients Not Previously Treated for HIV; Strain Is Also Associated with Rapid Onset of AIDS

Health Dept. Urges At-Risk Groups To Stop Risky Sexual Behavior; Patients Who Are On Treatment For HIV/AIDS And Are Doing Well Do Not Need Susceptibility Testing Unless Advised By Their Physician

NEW YORK CITY - February 11, 2005 - A highly resistant strain of rapidly progressive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been diagnosed for the first time in a New York City resident who had not previously undergone antiviral drug treatment, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). The strain of three-class antiretroviral-resistant HIV - or 3-DCR HIV - does not respond to three classes of anti-retroviral medication, and also appears to greatly shorten the interval between HIV infection and the onset of AIDS.

The patient is a male in his mid-40s who reported multiple male sex partners and unprotected anal intercourse, often while using crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth). He was first diagnosed with HIV in December 2004 and appears to have been recently infected. The diagnosis of 3-DCR HIV was made shortly thereafter at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center. Since then, the patient has developed AIDS. DOHMH is counseling and offering HIV testing to those contacts of the patient who have been identified.

While drug resistance is increasingly common among patients who have been treated for HIV, cases of 3-DCR HIV in newly-diagnosed, previously untreated patients are extremely rare, and the combination of this pattern of drug resistance and rapid progression to AIDS may not have been diagnosed previously. Strains of 3-DCR HIV are resistant to three of the four available types of antiviral drugs that are most commonly prescribed: nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and protease inhibitors. This strain also caused a rapid onset of AIDS, which usually occurs more than ten years after initial infection with HIV. In this patient's case, onset of AIDS appears to have occurred within two to three months, and at most 20 months, after HIV infection.

Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH said, "This case is a wake-up call. First, it's a wake up call to men who have sex with men, particularly those who may use crystal methamphetamine. Not only are we seeing syphilis and a rare sexually transmitted disease - lymphogranuloma venereum - among these men, now we've identified this strain of HIV that is difficult or impossible to treat and which appears to progress rapidly to AIDS. This community successfully reduced its risk of HIV in the 1980s, and it must do so again to stop the devastation of HIV/AIDS and the spread of drug-resistant strains. Second, doctors in New York City must increase HIV prevention counseling, increase HIV testing, obtain drug susceptibility testing for patients testing HIV-positive who have not yet been treated, improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment, and improve notification of partners of HIV-infected patients. Third, the public health community has to improve our monitoring of both HIV treatment and of HIV drug resistance, and we have to implement prevention strategies that work."

The Health Department recently issued a Health Alert to physicians, hospitals and other medical providers asking them to test all previously untreated patients newly diagnosed cases for anti-HIV drug susceptibility. The Department is monitoring laboratories for additional cases of 3-DCR HIV in newly diagnosed persons. DOHMH is also working with New York State to establish a long-term system for monitoring drug resistance in HIV-positive patients who have not yet undergone treatment.

Dr. Frieden added, "Patients who are on treatment for HIV/AIDS and are doing well do not need susceptibility testing unless advised to by their physician."

REMARKS BY MEDICAL AND COMMUNITY LEADERS
Dr. David Ho, CEO and Director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, said "This patient's infection with an HIV-1 strain that is not amenable to standard antiretroviral therapy, along with his rapid clinical and immunological deterioration, is alarming. While this remains a single case, it is prudent to closely watch for any additional possible cases while continuing to emphasize the importance of reducing HIV risk behavior."

"The rapidly growing crystal meth epidemic in New York city continues to play a significant role in facilitating the transmission of HIV. In light of the emergence of this virulent new strain, health care providers must be especially vigilant in not only recognizing and diagnosing HIV infection, but also in recognizing the signs and symptoms of crystal methamphetamine use in their patients," said Dr. Antonio Urbina, Medical Director of HIV education and training, at St. Vincent's Catholic Medical Center.

"Callen-Lorde is deeply concerned about this newly identified case of multiple drug resistant HIV," said Jay Laudato, Executive Director of the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. "We urge all persons, both HIV negative and positive, to only engage in safer sex practices in order to prevent new infections or re-infection. For those persons who don't know their status, we urge HIV testing and obtaining the information and support necessary to reduce their risk for HIV infection. We also ask all gay and bisexual men to become knowledgeable about the dangers of crystal methamphetamine and in particular its relationship to sexual risk taking."

Dr. James Braun, President of the Physicians Research Network, said "We believe that the transmission of treatment-resistant HIV was a disaster waiting to happen, particularly in communities where safer sex is not practiced regularly and in light of people using drugs like crystal meth. All primary care providers in acute care settings need to know how to diagnose HIV in its earliest stages and where to refer people so that new infections are properly worked up and treated."

"HIV prevention is an ongoing process," said Ana Oliveira, Executive Director of Gay Men's Health Crisis. We have to double our efforts and resources to maintain treatment and prevention education for people who are infected as well as for those who are not. New Yorkers must be vigilant and know that infection with resistant strains of HIV can be avoided. People living with HIV can live healthy and satisfying lives by protecting themselves and their partners, regardless of HIV status."

Tokes M. Osubu, Executive Director of Gay Men of African Descent, said, "This is the news we have all been fearing. While the recent advances in HIV treatment have led to the improvement of countless lives, we have always known that many people respond poorly to these therapies and for many others, the side effects are devastating. Continued education about staying safe and avoiding HIV remains our most potent weapon."

Dr. Jay Dobkin, Director of the AIDS Program at Columbia University Medical Center, said, "This case is a striking reminder that the risk of getting infected with HIV has not gone away. In fact, risky behavior may be even more dangerous now since there is a chance of infection with a virus we may not be able to treat."

"This case should drive home the point that substance use can lead to unsafe sex, and unsafe sex can lead to infection with a highly drug-resistant strain of HIV that can be extraordinarily difficult to treat and may cause rapid progression to AIDS," said Roy M. Gulick, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan.

Dr. Jack DeHovitz, Professor at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center said, "This finding supports the need for enhanced availability of HIV testing, as well as preventive interventions, which are effective in reducing subsequent HIV transmission."

Know Your HIV Status
There is an epidemic of HIV and AIDS in New York City: more than 88,000 New Yorkers are known to be living with HIV/AIDS, and an estimated 20,000 more are believed to be living with HIV/AIDS and don't know it.

By knowing your HIV status, you can protect yourself, anyone you are having sex with, and, if you are pregnant or planning pregnancy, your baby. Free and fully confidential STD exams and treatment, as well as confidential or anonymous HIV testing, are available at Health Department clinics throughout New York City. Health insurance, proof of citizenship and/or parental consent are not required to receive these services. Please call 311 or visit http://www.nyc.gov/health" title="http://www.nyc.gov/health" target="_blank"http://www.nyc.gov/health for a list of clinics and hours of operation
 
Marine General Says 'It's Fun to Kill'
02.05.05 (7:53 am)   [edit]

Marine General Says 'It's Fun to Kill'
By JOHN J. LUMPKIN
Feb 4, 2005, 08:15
 


A decorated Marine Corps general said, "It's fun to shoot some people" and poked fun at the manhood of Afghans as he described the wars U.S. troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.



His boss, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said Thursday that the comments reflected "the unfortunate and harsh realities of war" but that the general has been asked to watch his words in public.


Lt. Gen. James Mattis, a career infantry officer who is now in charge of developing better ways to train and equip Marines, made the comments Tuesday while speaking to a forum in San Diego.


According to an audio recording, he said, "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling."


He added, "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."


His comments were met with laughter and applause from the audience. Mattis was speaking during a panel discussion hosted by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, a spokeswoman for the general said.


Thursday, Gen. Mike Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps, issued a statement saying, "Lt. Gen. Mattis often speaks with a great deal of candor. I have counseled him concerning his remarks and he agrees he should have chosen his words more carefully."


Hagee also said, "While I understand that some people may take issue with the comments made by him, I also know he intended to reflect the unfortunate and harsh realities of war."


Among Marines, Mattis is regarded as a fighting general and an expert in the art of warfare. Among his decorations are the Bronze Star with a combat distinguishing device and a combat action ribbon, awarded for close-quarters fighting.


He is currently the commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va., and deputy commandant for combat development.


Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was up to Mattis to address his own comments, but he added, "All of us who are leaders have a responsibility in our words and our actions to provide the right example all the time for those who look to us for leadership."


Pace spoke to a Pentagon press conference. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he had not read Mattis' words and deferred to Pace.


The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties group, called on the Pentagon to discipline Mattis for the remarks.


"We do not need generals who treat the grim business of war as a sporting event," said the council's executive director, Nihad Awad. "These disturbing remarks are indicative of an apparent indifference to the value of human life."


Pace and Hagee praised the general's service.


"His actions and those of his troops clearly show that he understands the value of proper leadership and the value of human life," Pace said.


Hagee called him "one of this country's bravest and most experienced military leaders."


He said the commitment of Marines "helps to provide us the fortitude to take the lives of those who oppress others or threaten this nation's security. This is not something we relish, yet we accept it as a reality in our profession of arms."


Hagee said he was confident Mattis would continue to serve with distinction.


Mattis' comments were reported by the television station KNSD in San Diego, and the audio recording was posted on its Web site www.nbcsandiego.com .


As a lieutenant colonel, Mattis led an assault battalion into Kuwait during the first war with Iraq. During the war in Afghanistan, he commanded the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade and subsequently Task Force 58, which fought in southern Afghanistan as the Taliban fell.


During the second war in Iraq, he commanded the 1st Marine Division during the invasion and also when the unit returned to Iraq for counterinsurgency operations last year.


In a letter to his troops before they redeployed to Iraq last March, Mattis warned them of "hard, dangerous work."


"The enemy will try to manipulate you into hating all Iraqis," he wrote. "Do not allow the enemy that victory. With strong discipline, solid faith, unwavering alertness, and undiminished chivalry to the innocent, we will carry out this mission."


He is not the first senior military officer since the Sept. 11 attacks to stir controversy with his comments.


Lt. Gen. William Boykin, a senior military intelligence officer, was criticized for speeches he made at evangelical Christian churches. He said that America's enemy was Satan, that God had put President Bush in the White House and that one Muslim Somali warlord was an idol-worshipper.


Boykin later issued a written statement apologizing and saying he did not mean to insult Islam.


A Pentagon investigation concluded that Boykin violated regulations by failing to make clear he was not speaking in an official capacity in the speeches beginning in January 2002.


 

 
The Inaugural Parade
01.21.05 (2:58 am)   [edit]

The 2005 Coronation of King George the Cowardly.


Well, our national trip down the Rabbithole of Alice in Wonderland was made complete with the Coronation of King George the Cowardly. As I watched the "parade", it was bizarre to say the least. There were vehicles moving in a V formation like the flying phalanx of ancient Sparta...there were Matrix like guys in dark sunglasses and long, black overcoats flanking the "Presidential limo", and at one point, there was a truck that came rolling along that had armed thugs hanging on the side that a friend watching the procession remarked to me, looked like the Mob, much like something you would see from the Al Capone era, when armed thugs would be festooning a vehicle's exterior, with their feet implanted on the running boards of the truck or car.


It looked less like a Presidential inauguration parade (I've never seen one  of them), and more like Hitler's triumph march into Poland or Paris. Actually, if some of the Men in Black had been sporting the traditional silver SS pins or Death's Head pins, the picture would have been complete....all Bushy would need would be a tiny little moustache (but perhaps, he cannot muster enough testosterone to generate one).


In another portion of the program, Hitler...er, uh, BUSHY, was addressing / commanding people from a large white podium, which was reminiscent of something you saw Il Duce (Mussolini) or Hitler do, in old film reels. His Effete Foppishness was. for all the world, an effeminate version of Big Brother re-enacted for all the world to see.


To say that the Inauguration Parade looked like the New World Order in all its "glory" would be to understate the matter.


As the tanks and troops marched down the road, even the commentators on ABC said it looked like something you would see in a Banana republic, at the direction of some dictator. As they say..."TRUE DAT".


Along the parade route, it was teeming with people, held behind great fences which, for some reason, looked like the fences at Auschwitz . And, we saw the police running along the fences, often spraying pepper spray into the eyes of these law abiding citizens whose only crime was exercising their right of free speech.


While our own citizens are starving, and troops don't have what they need, Marie Antoinette...er...Mrs. Bush, was prancing around in a solid white Oscar de la Renta that costs TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. Talk about letting them eat cake and fiddling while Rome burned...surely, their little pageant needs to reserve a rank in the history books as at least as outrageous as these. Estimates of forty to forty four MILLION dollars for this little debacle, are said to be low.


To me, it certainly adds up to a new definition of an obscene waste of money...but of course, the money is from "private" sources, which is the easy way of saying it oozes from the teats of the Pigopolists, each vying for the ability to muzzle in on the treasure trove which will be available to Bushy's toadies.


So, as Alex in Clockwork Orange might say in Nadsat, "Yes my little droogies, even the melodies of the Glorious Ludwig von....were soured by that scene. Bushy is a baddiwad chelloveck!".


During one scene, the "Presidential Limo" rolled through a tremendous cloud of smoke/fog, coming from a heating vent or something in the road. As it emerged eerily from the grey cloud, it looked like Dracula tooling around Transylvania, with his black coated, black sunglassed Familiars in attendance.


And so, the New Nightmare Begins.


~CodeWarriorz Thoughts

 
ANTI-BUSH ECONOMIC BOYCOTT FOR JAN 20
01.15.05 (5:04 am)   [edit]
"Washington, DC, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- An anti-Bush protest urging no American spend any money on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, is making the rounds on the Internet, USA Today reported Thursday. "
 ============SNIP=== ===============
 Codewarriorz endorses the economic boycott planned for January 2oth. We will personally be avoiding the spending of money on that date to show our opposition and disdain for this corrupt administration, and for the lack of full disclosure of voting irregularities during the last election.
 
US DEFICIT GETS CRITICAL..BUSHY CONTINUES TO LIE
01.13.05 (2:04 am)   [edit]

As Bushy continues to lie and say the economy is doing great....more lies....see below....


http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0" title="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0" target="_blank"http://business.timesonline.c...,,16849-1437665,00.html
















Plea by Snow as US deficit hits monthly record





JOHN SNOW, the US Treasury Secretary, last night renewed demands for Europe and Japan to boost growth to ease global economic imbalances after America’s trade gap surged to a monthly record of $60 billion (£32 billion) in November.

A slump in US exports, blamed on weak demand in key trading partners, combined with a sharp rise in America’s oil imports to trigger the surprise jump in the trade deficit. Wall Street analysts had expected it to decline to $54 billion.







*




The much worse than predicted figures sparked a renewed assault on the dollar on foreign exchanges, sending the US currency tumbling against the yen and the euro.

The dollar’s losses pushed the euro up more than 1 per cent to levels around $1.3292. The pound gained more than a cent and a half to close in London at $1.8932.

Mr Snow blamed the latest jump in the trade deficit on the relative strength of US growth compared with a disappointing performance by the eurozone and Japan. He said: “We are growing faster than our trading partners and we are creating more disposable income than they are. We need Europe to be more of an engine of growth and we need Japan to be more of an engine of growth.”

The Treasury Secretary made clear that he would use next month’s London meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrial economies to step up pressure on the governments of Japan and the eurozone to act to bolster their performance.

The weakness of overseas demand for US goods was underlined by the 2.3 per cent drop in American exports in November, which affected most categories of products. Shipments of industrial supplies and materials, such as plastics and chemicals, were particularly badly affected, while exports of capital goods tumbled by 5.1 per cent.

The deficit was also exacerbated by a 1.3 per cent rise in imports driven mainly by increased US demand for crude oil from abroad, despite cheaper world oil prices. US consumer demand for household products and other goods also helped to boost imports.

Strong demand for advanced technology saw the US deficit on trade in these goods widen to a record $5.8 billion.

Analysts said that the November data left the US firmly on course to register a record trade gap for the year, with the deficit in the fourth quarter set to climb above 6 per cent of GDP for the first time, after a figure of 5.6 per cent in the previous three months.

The US trade shortfall for the first 11 months of last year already totals $561.3 billion — well above the record $496.5 billion set for 2003 as a whole.

Paul Ashworth, of Capital Economics, said that although the dollar’s slide over the past three years had so far failed to boost US exports and cut the deficit, eventually this would happen.

However, he said that “unfortunately, the damage has already been done” to US economic performance, with trade set to subtract 1.5 percentage points from annualised American growth in the fourth quarter. This is now set to come in at about 3 per cent.

 
TREATY OF TRIPOLI OF 1797 SPELLS OUT THE US IS NOT FOUNDED ON CHRISTIAN RELIGION
12.08.04 (7:43 pm)   [edit]

ARTICLE 11.


As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

 
IQ and POLITICS-MAY BE A HOAX
12.03.04 (5:34 pm)   [edit]

MAY BE A HOAX


http://chrisevans3d.com/files" title="http://chrisevans3d.com/files" target="_blank"http://chrisevans3d.com/files.../iq.htm

"IQ and Politics
Wow, what can I say, in the first 24 hours over 540,000+ people viewed
this page! I originally posted this to a few friends on a forum, using
information from a list just like this created after the 2000
election. The list was carried by the St. Petersburg Times and the
Economist, amongst others. The IQ data was originally attributed to
the book "IQ and the Wealth of Nations", though I checked and couldn't
find them in the current edition, I had posted saying such at the
bottom of the table. The tests and data were said to have been
administered via the Raven's APT, and The Test Agency, one of the UK's
leading publishers and distributors of psychometric tests.

I have recently been emailed by someone claiming to have seen a
retraction many issues later on the behalf of the Economist Magazine.
The Economist could not independently verify the IQ data and the
retraction can be found here. I have yet to find any retractions from
the St. Petersburg Times or other publications. Here you can find a
report correlating IQ and income, and their relation to how people
voted in the 2004 election. This IQ data is based on SAT/ACT test
scores. Here you can see the correlation between percentage of college
graduates in a state and whom they voted for in the 2000 election.

I think matching census data to the results of the election reveals
some very interesting things. For instance, there is a direct
correlation that has been pointed out by the Boston Globe between the
divorce rate per state, and who they voted for, as it turns out, the
higher the percentage of people voting for Bush, the higher the
divorce rate. That is very interesting considering many people voted
based on 'values' and 'morality'. I am still scratching my head about
that one, I was a 'values voter' as well, though I value honesty,
compassion, and human life.

I am glad that so many people are so interested in IQ, statistical
correlations, and their relation to politics. I believe such
correlations are increasingly interesting as some candidates this year
funneled more money into biased advertising and partisan propaganda
than has ever been attempted in the history of the world.

 State Avg. IQ  2004
1 Connecticut 113 Kerry
2 Massachusetts 111 Kerry
3 New Jersey 111 Kerry
4 New York 109 Kerry
5 Rhode Island 107 Kerry
6 Hawaii 106 Kerry
7 Maryland 105 Kerry
8 New Hampshire 105 Kerry
9 Illinois 104 Kerry
10 Delaware 103 Kerry
11 Minnesota 102 Kerry
12 Vermont 102 Kerry
13 Washington 102 Kerry
14 California 101 Kerry
15 Pennsylvania 101 Kerry
16 Maine 100 Kerry
17 Virginia 100 Bush
18 Wisconsin 100 Kerry
19 Colorado 99 Bush
20 Iowa 99 Bush
21 Michigan 99 Kerry
22 Nevada 99 Bush
23 Ohio 99 Bush
24 Oregon 99 Kerry
25 Alaska 98 Bush
26 Florida 98 Bush
27 Missouri 98 Bush
28 Kansas 96 Bush
29 Nebraska 95 Bush
30 Arizona 94 Bush
31 Indiana 94 Bush
32 Tennessee 94 Bush
33 North Carolina 93 Bush
34 West Virginia 93 Bush
35 Arkansas 92 Bush
36 Georgia 92 Bush
37 Kentucky 92 Bush
38 New Mexico 92 Bush
39 North Dakota 92 Bush
40 Texas 92 Bush
41 Alabama 90 Bush
42 Louisiana 90 Bush
43 Montana 90 Bush
44 Oklahoma 90 Bush
45 South Dakota 90 Bush
46 South Carolina 89 Bush
47 Wyoming 89 Bush
48 Idaho 87 Bush
49 Utah 87 Bush
50 Mississippi 85 Bush "

 
WALMART SLUGGISH SALES BODE ILL FOR HOLIDAY ECONOMY
11.28.04 (3:47 pm)   [edit]
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/40804c8c-4172-1 1d9-9dd8-00000e2511c8.html" title="http://news.ft.com/cms/s/40804c8c-4172-1 1d9-9dd8-00000e2511c8.html" target="_blank"http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4080...

Fears over recovery as Wal-Mart sales stall


Worries about the sustainability of the US economic recovery were stoked on Sunday after Wal-Mart, the discount retailer that is a bellwether for the country's retail sector, announced that sales grew by only 0.7 per cent in the year to November.


The world's largest retailer had estimated growth of 2 to 4 per cent just 10 days ago. But Wal-Mart revised its estimates down on Saturday evening after disappointing sales on “Black Friday”, the day after Thanksgiving so called because it is traditionally the time retailers move into profit for the year. It is an indicator of spending for the holiday season, when a quarter of annual retail sales are rung up.


Wal-Mart said sales had fallen “below plan” in the last week of November and sales growth was down on the 2.8 per cent annual rate it had reported for October.


The weakness suffered by Wal-Mart, if repeated elsewhere, would add to concerns about the durability of the US economic upturn. Widespread reluctance by consumers to maintain their free and easy spending habits would slow the economy sharply.


In recent years, and in the recession of 2001, US consumers defied predictions that their appetite for new goods would diminish. A slowdown of consumer spending would add to recent international dollar-related concerns about the prospects for exports to the US.


Although Wal-Mart reported strong sales of digital cameras, television/DVD sets, learning toys and video games, it said “customer traffic declined towards the end of the week”.


Bill Beemer, head of America's Research Group, which surveyed 1,000 shoppers every night over the long weekend, said one reason for the slow sales at Wal-Mart could be that it had not discounted as heavily as other retailers.
“This year they did not get nearly as aggressive on the early-bird specials, and it cost them,” he said, adding that rivals such as JC Penney, Best Buy, Sears and Circuit City had discounted more deeply. But Mr Beemer's survey found that shopping levels overall on Friday were flat or down as much as 5 per cent.
However, other snapshot surveys painted a more optimistic picture. Shoppertrak showed sales on Friday grew 10.8 per cent from a year ago to $8bn. Visa USA said spending on its cards had risen 15.5 per cent to $4.1bn, although experts warned that this number may be more a reflection of the increased use of its credit cards.


Wal-Mart's lacklustre sales were partly ascribed to higher energy prices, in particular that of heating gas, which had cut customers' disposable income.
 
YELLING FIRE IN A CROWDED THEATER
11.28.04 (3:49 am)   [edit]

Those who would set limits to free speech , invariably come up with the same hackneyed reference, i.e., "you can't yell fire in a crowded theater".


As others have pointed out, this is a fallacious statement. If there actually IS a fire, you would endanger lives NOT to advise others that a fire is raging. And, if a play is being shown, and hollering "FIRE" is part of the play, of COURSE you can yell fire in a crowded theater.


I've personally been in a crowded theater and seen a character in a movie yell "FIRE" and no one stopped the movie for the yelling of same.


So, when you hear an opponent of free speech making this ludicrous statement, just be aware of the limitations of their knowledge, and the overall incorrectness of what they say.

 
War, what is it good for...absolutely nothing!
11.27.04 (2:34 pm)   [edit]
War...what is it good for...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...
Say it again..."

Several years ago, those words to a popular song, meant something to those of us who lived through the VietNam War. For all the lost lives, ruined countryside, broken promises,
and men, left forever altered for their experiences there..in the end, the North Vietnamese took the country over.


For all the British and German lives lost in the American Revolution, the Americans still won.


The point is, it is very hard to outlast the indigenous population when they don't want occupying forces there. They have the time. Eventually, Rome had to leave Great Britain, and Hadrian's Wall was all that was really there left to mark their passing.


We are now being told that the Iraq War is "winnable"...long after it was supposed to be over. Instead of throngs throwing down roses before our troops, women are throwing down children in front of Humvees, hoping to stop them for an ambush.


We are spending 5.8 BILLION, almost 6 BILLION there A MONTH....and for what? Does anyone seriously think that we are going to have a "democratic government"? Heck, our OWN government is not a democracy....ours is a "constitutional republic".


So, what is our exit strategy? Are we just hanging around until Bushy decides he wants to take his toys and go home? And, in the meantime, how many boys must be killed, how many must be paralyzed, how many must lose arms and legs?

Is this what a conservative "mandate" brings? Those of us in opposition, countered the chants of "Four More Years"... with
"Four More Wars"....how prophetic we turned out to be after all!

~Code

 
dollar drops in value for seventh time in four years
11.24.04 (8:27 pm)   [edit]

The dollar has dropped in value against the Euro again, for the seventh time in four years.


http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/111804/bus_11 1804041.shtml" title="http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/111804/bus_11 1804041.shtml" target="_blank"http://www.thehollandsentinel...
"The U.S. dollar plunged to a new low against the euro Wednesday as markets shrugged off Washington's insistence that it is committed to a strong dollar. And with the causes of the drop -- worries over oil prices and the U.S. trade and budget deficits -- not going away, some economists see the euro soaring to $1.35 or beyond."


I believe this reinforces the message I have been repeating for over a year now...i.e., that this economy in the US, is in great trouble.

 
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS?
11.22.04 (3:12 pm)   [edit]

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/2 2/opinion.poll/" title="http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/2 2/opinion.poll/" target="_blank"http://edition.cnn.com/2004/A...


The majority of Americans feel this creature is doing a good job?????


Now, I usually believe in the inherent good common sense of the American public and am GENERALLY of the opinion that the American public tends to be a reasonable bunch....however, this article just flat out proves me wrong....or at least, the extrapolated results of this poll would cause me to believe that it proves me wrong....

From the article :
"(CNN) -- Fifty-five percent of Americans like the way President Bush is handling his job, while the approval rating for his Iraq policies is slightly lower, according to the first full CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll following the November 2 presidential election.

Forty-two percent of those polled don't believe Bush is doing a good job. Sixty percent have a positive opinion of Bush, versus 39 percent with the opposite view."

WTF????????? Sixty percent have a "positive opinion of Bush"? Look, are you folks on CRACK or something harder?

How can 55 percent of the Americans actually say they like the way Bush is handling his job with a straight face? There is obviously something seriously wrong with 55 percent of the American public, if this poll is to be believed.

You folks obviously didn't wake up before the election, not DURING the election, and are obviously still hallucinating after the election.

The war is costing 5.8 BILLION A MONTH....Bush has asked for a budget of 388 BILLION. Now, if we round it off, that's around 6 BILLION a month, times 12 = 72 Billion a year that we will be spending on this war AT PRESENT LEVELS, which is almost 20 percent of the entire budget. It was noted that, as a result of this 388 BILLION BUDGET, lots of social programs would find their programs cut in funding levels.

Yeah, why the hell should we take care of our own people (as the mandate in the constitution is), when we can bomb the hell out of other people across the world.

Something is seriously wrong here folks...and it's a damn shame the majority is staying blind to that.

 
you vote for bush? read the arrogant asshole's own words!
11.20.04 (7:38 am)   [edit]

YOU VOTED FOR BUSH?


READ THE ARROGANT ASSHOLE'S OWN WORDS !


"Of course not," he said. "I'm the commander. See, I don't have to explain why I say things."


That's his way of reinforcing his message he was sending to you in this snap of a video from him.


 
BUSH IS WORKIN' HARD GIVING HIS NOMINEE FOR SECRETARY OF EDUCATION SOME SUGAR
11.18.04 (3:05 pm)   [edit]

Bush is working hard lovin' his nominee for Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings


 
bush caught in lie
11.18.04 (1:55 am)   [edit]

BUSH CAUGHT IN LIE


Remember the Bush Bulge?


Before the election, this became quite the buzz, and even, prompted Charlie Gibson
during his October 26,2004, interview with Bush on Good Morning America, to ask
about it...


From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6394 9-2004Oct26.html" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6394 9-2004Oct26.html" target="_blank"http://www.washingtonpost.com...
we read...
" This morning, in part two of his interview with Bush on ABC's "Good Morning America," Charlie Gibson spit it out. Brandishing a copy of the photo, he asked: "Final question. What the hell was that on your back, in the first debate?"


Bush chuckled.


Bush: "Well, you know, Karen Hughes and Dan Bartlett have rigged up a sound system -- "


Gibson: "You're getting in trouble -- "


Bush: "I don't know what that is. I mean, it is, uh, it is, it's a -- I'm embarrassed to say it's a poorly tailored shirt."


Gibson: "It was the shirt?"


Bush: "Yeah, absolutely."


Gibson: "There was no sound system, there was no electrical signal? There was --"


Bush: "How does an electrical -- please explain to me how it works so maybe if I were ever to debate again I could figure it out. I guess the assumption was that if I was straying off course they would, kind of like a hunting dog, they would punch a buzzer and I would jerk back into place. I -- it's just absurd."


===========SNIP==========
OK...so Bush himself is saying the "bulge" was, to use HIS WORDS...a :" poorly tailored shirt".


Prior to this, the White House had vehemently denied Bush had anything on under his coat, and did not have a bullet-proof vest on.


WELL...WELL...WELL...


Check this out...apparently, the Secret Service are now making a bald faced LIAR out of Bushy....


http://www.washingtondispatch.com/culture/archives/0007 19.html" title="http://www.washingtondispatch.com/culture/archives/0007 19.html" target="_blank"http://www.washingtondispatch...
"


According to The Hill, the Secret Service is now admitting that the bulge was a result of a bullet-proof vest that is typically worn by the president at all public events.


It is unclear why the Bush team simply did not tell the truth to begin with as it is no large surprise that protective vests are typically worn by the president. Instead, the campaign looked to discredit those who mentioned the subject as conspiracy theorists."


------SNIP--------------- -----------


A lie here, and a lie there, and before you know it....BUSH IS A BONA FIDE LIAR !

 
DID KERRY REALLY WIN ?
11.14.04 (5:40 am)   [edit]

DID KERRY REALLY WIN THE ELECTION?


Greg Palast says Kerry really won. In an article at


http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won_.php" title="http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won_.php" target="_blank"http://www.tompaine.com/artic...


" Kerry won. Here are  the facts.


I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one
more hung chad.  But I don't have a choice. As a journalist
examining that messy sausage called American democracy,
it's my job to tell you who got the most votes in the deciding states. Tuesday, in Ohio and New Mexico, it was John Kerry.


Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry.
At 1:05 a.m. Wednesday morning, CNN's exit poll showed
Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to
47 percent.  The exit polls were later combined with—
and therefore contaminated by—the tabulated results,
ultimately becoming a mirror of the apparent actual vote.
 [To read about the skewing of exit polls to conform to official results, 
click here .] Kerry also defeated Bush among
Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a
third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state.


So what's going on here? Answer: the exit polls
are accurate. Pollsters ask, "Who did you vote for?"
Unfortunately, they don't ask the crucial, question,
"Was your vote counted?" The voters don't know.


Here's why. Although the exit polls show that
most voters in Ohio punched cards for Kerry-Edwards,
thousands of these votes were simply not recorded.
This was predictable and it was predicted.
[See TomPaine.com, 
"An Election Spoiled Rotten,"  November 1.]


Once again, at the heart of the Ohio uncounted vote
game are, I'm sorry to report, hanging chads and
pregnant chads, plus some other ballot tricks old and new.


The election in Ohio was not decided by the
voters but by something called "spoilage."
Typically in the United States, about 3 percent of the
vote is voided, just thrown away, not recorded. When the
bobble-head boobs on the tube tell you Ohio or any state
was won by 51 percent to 49 percent, don't you believe it ...
it has never happened in the United States, because the
total never reaches a neat 100 percent. The television
totals simply subtract out the spoiled vote.


Whose Votes Are Discarded?


And not all votes spoil equally. Most of those votes,
say every official report, come from African-American
and minority precincts. (To learn more, 
click here.)


We saw this in Florida in 2000. Exit polls showed
Gore with a plurality of at least 50,000, but it didn't match
the official count. That's because the official, Secretary of
State Katherine Harris, excluded 179,855 spoiled votes. 
In Florida, as in Ohio, most of these votes lost were cast
on punch cards where the hole wasn't punched through
completely—leaving a 'hanging chad,'—or was punched
extra times.  Whose cards were discarded?
Expert statisticians investigating spoilage for the
government calculated that 54 percent of the ballots
thrown in the dumpster were cast by black folks.
(To read the report from the U.S. Civil Rights
Commission, click 
here .)


And here's the key: Florida is terribly typical.
The majority of ballots thrown out (there will be
nearly 2 million tossed out from Tuesday's election)
will have been cast by African American and other minority citizens.


So here we go again. Or, here we don't go again.
Because unlike last time, Democrats aren't even asking
Ohio to count these cards with the not-quite-punched holes
(called "undervotes" in the voting biz). Nor are they demanding
we look at the "overvotes" where voter intent may be discerned.


Ohio is one of the last states in America to still use the
vote-spoiling punch-card machines.
And the Secretary of State of Ohio, J. Kenneth Blackwell, 
wrote before the election, “the possibility of a close
election with punch cards as the state’s primary voting
device invites a Florida-like calamity.”


But this week, Blackwell, a rabidly partisan Republican,
has warmed up to the result of sticking with machines
that have a habit of eating Democratic votes.
When asked if he feared being this year's
Katherine Harris, Blackwell noted that Ms. Fix-it's
efforts landed her a seat in Congress.


Exactly how many votes were lost to spoilage this time?
Blackwell's office, notably, won't say, though the law
requires it be reported. Hmm. But we know that last time,
the total of Ohio votes discarded reached a
democracy-damaging 1.96 percent.
The machines produced their typical loss—that's 110,000 votes—overwhelmingly Democratic.


The Impact Of Challenges


First and foremost, Kerry was had by chads.
But the Democrat wasn't punched out by punch cards alone.
There were also the 'challenges.' That's a polite word for
the Republican Party of Ohio's use of an old
Ku Klux Klan technique: the attempt to block thousands
of voters of color at the polls.

In Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida, the GOP laid plans
for poll workers to ambush citizens under arcane laws—
almost never used—allowing party-designated poll watchers
to finger individual voters and demand they be denied a
ballot. The Ohio courts were horrified and federal law
prohibits targeting of voters where race is a factor
in the challenge.

But our Supreme Court was prepared to let
Republicans stand in the voting booth door.


In the end, the challenges were not overwhelming,
but they were there. Many apparently resulted in voters
getting these funky "provisional" ballots—
a kind of voting placebo—which may or may not
be counted. Blackwell estimates there were
175,000; Democrats say 250,000. Pick your number.
But as challenges were aimed at minorities,
no one doubts these are, again,
overwhelmingly Democratic.

Count them up, add in the spoiled punch cards
(easy to tally with the human eye in a recount),
and the totals begin to match the exit polls; and,
golly, you've got yourself a new president.

Remember, Bush won by 136,483 votes in Ohio.


Enchanted State's Enchanted Vote


Now, on to New Mexico, where a Kerry plurality—
if all votes are counted—is more obvious still.
Before the election, in TomPaine.com,
I wrote, "John Kerry is down by several thousand
votes in New Mexico, though not one ballot has
yet been counted."


How did that happen? It's the spoilage, stupid;
and the provisional ballots.


CNN said George Bush took New Mexico by
11,620 votes. Again, the network total added
up to that miraculous, and non-existent,
'100 percent' of ballots cast.


New Mexico reported in the last race a
spoilage rate of 2.68 percent, votes lost
almost entirely in Hispanic, Native American
and poor precincts—Democratic turf. From
Tuesday's vote, assuming the same ballot-loss rate,
we can expect to see 18,000 ballots in the spoilage bin.


Spoilage has a very Democratic look in New Mexico.
Hispanic voters in the Enchanted State, who voted more
than two to one for Kerry, are five times as likely to
have their vote spoil as a white voter.

Counting these uncounted votes would easily overtake
the Bush 'plurality.'


Already, the election-bending effects of spoilage are
popping up in the election stats, exactly where
we'd expect them: in heavily Hispanic areas controlled
by Republican elections officials.

Chaves County, in the "Little Texas" area of New Mexico,
has a 44 percent Hispanic population, plus African
Americans and Native Americans, yet George Bush
"won" there 68 percent to 31 percent.


I spoke with Chaves' Republican county clerk before
the election, and he told me that this huge spoilage rate
among Hispanics simply indicated that such people
simply can't make up their minds on the choice of candidate
for president. Oddly, these brown people drive across the
desert to register their indecision in a voting booth.


Now, let's add in the effect on the New Mexico tally
of provisional ballots.


"They were handing them out like candy,"
Albuquerque journalist Renee Blake reported of
provisional ballots. About 20,000 were given out. Who got them?


Santiago Juarez who ran the "Faithful Citizenship"
program for the Catholic Archdiocese in New Mexico,
told me that "his" voters, poor Hispanics, whom he
identified as solid Kerry supporters, were handed the
iffy provisional ballots. Hispanics were given
provisional ballots, rather than the countable kind
"almost religiously," he said, at polling stations when
there was the least question about a voter's
identification. Some voters, Santiago said,
were simply turned away."


============SNIP========= =================
What bothers me is that a group of interested parties,
after the heat of the election of 2000 cooled, did a
massive recount of all votes and concluded that
Al Gore really won. Was anything done about THAT?


NO! Why the hell NOT? From what I can see, in
BOTH elections, the modus operandi of the Bush cartel,
is to get a perceived win, by any means necessary,
and then to try to quash any real effort to find out
who really won the election, primarily by making the
Democrats afraid to look like sore losers if they
demand further investigations.


It further underlines what I have said before.
The Bush Reich, much like the Third Reich, is
corrupt to the core. It is all about creating a perception
that then becomes reality in the mind of the gullible.


As they say, don't look at the man behind the curtain,
the Great and Powerful OZ...why? Because there IS
no magic, just smoke and mirrors.


Bush is the emperor with no clothes, and although
there are plenty of us out here SAYING he has no clothes...


unfortunately, the masses have put stoppers in their ears,
wrapped themselves in their comforters, got a
hot toddy in their hands, and have gone back to
their
Matrix like lives of delusion.


The movie, The Matrix is actually a great metaphor
for real life in America. The people have become
deluded that Bush is a "Christian man", that he
protects them from the Boogeyman Bin Laden,
and the "tare-ists", and if takes all your rights and
all your money in the process, then, well, I guess
it's all right, right? HELL NO IT'S NOT RIGHT!


As we see the rats leaving the ship in staggered
droves, we can say a fond farewell to the
snake handling, "Let the Eagle Soar" singing Ashcroft,
and I suppose, before long,
Donald "There are Known Unknowns" Rumsfeld,
Don "the economy is great" Evans..and we will see
others leave.


They in turn, will be replaced by a new cast of villains.
But, the new villains will not be as high profile or
idiosyncratic as these were.


No, the new folks will be more low key, more faceless,
more subservient.


They will no doubt go through the same
Stepford Wife Transformation Factory that robot Laura
went through. They will be the kind of good automatons
that the Second Infection / Bush Reich term two, demands.


So, Kerry won...Hooray! But, he ain't in the White House.

Someone should look into this! :) 

 
THE NEW BUSH AGENDA
11.13.04 (3:40 am)   [edit]

Odd and scary things are happening. Since Bush has be re-elected, or should I say, allegedly elected, we've seen publishers of textbooks in Texas forced to change the content, such as removing references to contraception devices and to stressing abstinence. We've seen the textbook publishers be forced to change the definition of marriage to be specifically, a "man and a woman", not just two people who live in a committed relationship. We've seen a fighter plane strafe a school with live ammo in New Jersey, and we've started seeing administration personnel leave the White House. We've seen Ashcroft, as a parting shot, attack federal judges because they would DARE to question Bush, and his odd tactics.

We've seen serious questions arise about possible improper preferential treatment of Merck with regard to Vioxx, by the FDA, and most recently, the FDA dismissed a vocal critic, who happens to be an acknowledged critic of COX-2 inhibitor drugs, such as Bextra and Vioxx.

We know that Bush has refused to answer simple questions about the relationship between himself and Ken Lay of ENRON.

So, all this is developing as I write this. The question of course is this. What can we expect from four more years of the Bush Reich?

We will see more of the same. In the first four years, or as I like to call it, "The First Infection", RESIDENT George Bush (I shall from now on call him Resident, because he lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Drive, but, he is not my PRESIDENT, only a RESIDENT), we saw 9/11, we saw the passage of the Patriot Act, we saw the deficit climb to unprecedented highs, we saw unprecedented job losses, he started a war with a preemptive strike on a country that had not attacked us, we saw a convicted FELON, put in charge of a giant program to try to turn citizens into snitches to turn in their fellow citizens, and the establishement of a giant network to keep tabs on everyone (Total Information Awareness, Terror Information Awareness...then renamed...The Beast..
http://www.uncoveror.com/beast.htm" title="http://www.uncoveror.com/beast.htm" target="_blank"http://www.uncoveror.com/beas... ).

So, what can we expect from "The Second Infection"...i.e. the second term of RESIDENT George Bush?

We can expect certain agendas to be promoted. One, we will see an increase in this "faith based" crap. Faith based apparently , is this NewSpeak term for religious. By that, I mean that we can expect to see more money flowig to "faith based initiatives"...hey, the Religious Right played a big part in the "Election" in 2004 , of RESIDENT George Bush, so paybacks will be exptected.

We can expect our personal rights and liberties to be further attacked for the whole of the next four years.

We can also, reasonably expect more WAR. And, yes, during the next four years, I believe we will see the reinstatement of the military draft and involuntary conscription.

For BUSHY, (RESIDENT BUSH), citizens really are just those little green plastic toy soliders we used to play with as children.
People are functionaries to be expended in his "Christian Jihad" against the Moslem world.

Bush is fighting the fire of terrorism, with gasoline. He is making the world catch ablaze with his personal agenda to establish himself as a "war president".

We can expect to see more attacks on file trading, P2P networks. We can expect to see the DOJ become more and more involved in pursuing those alleged to be guilty of "piracy", which is NOT piracy, but merely alleged copyright infringement.

We can also look forward to more and more of the alienation of the United States from the rest of the world.

No country wants to just funnel their precious young people down the fiery chute that leads to an ignominous death in a dirt covered foreign country.

What can we do to oppose that. Well, I don't really know.

You can allegedly thank your neighbor for this. After all, if around one out of two voters voted for Resident Bush, and you didn't vote for him, your neighbor probably did.

~Code