the/diseased/republik

Russia's Cold War rhetoric is set to disrupt an otherwise carefully orchestrated G-8 summit this week in Germany where Bush had planned to highlight global development efforts, a new climate change program and trade negotiations. It also threatens to fracture already weak European support for missile defense. Bush will meet Putin Thursday in Germany, and again early in July at Kennebunkport as part of the effort to reassure the Russians that missile defense is aimed not at undermining Russia's deterrent capability but at combating regimes like Iran's that are developing missile arsenals and are hostile to the U.S. MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia's test-firing of new missiles this week was a response to U.S. plans to build missile defense sites across Europe, and suggested Washington is pursuing an imperialist policy that has triggered a new arms race. In a clear reference to the United States, Putin harshly criticized "diktat and impe

The Republican Party’s only anti-war candidate (so far) tells Jon Stewart it’s the other candidates who have lost touch with conservative values. As Stewart points out, that could be a problem: “You appear to have consistent, principled integrity. Uh ... Americans don’t usually go for that.” Watch it here .

A few years ago, I heard someone call into a right-wing radio show to rail against the feminists, the homosexuals, the atheists, and other usual suspects. The host enthusiastically agreed. The caller then voiced the hope that the host would join him in supporting the establishment of Islamic law in America, a twist that left the host sputtering incoherently. 'These days, the idea of conservative Christians aligning themselves with radical Muslims is not a prank caller's gag but the subject of heated debate on the right. Dinesh D'Souza sparked the argument with his controversial book The Enemy at Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 (Random House).' (Reason article ).

Ron Paul says Osama bin Laden is delighted we invaded Iraq. Does the man not have a point? The United States is now tied down in a bloody guerrilla war in the Middle East and increasingly hated in Arab and Islamic countries where we were once hugely admired as the first and greatest of the anti-colonial nations. Does anyone think that Osama is unhappy with what is happening to us in Iraq? Of the 10 candidates on stage in South Carolina, Dr. Paul alone opposed the war. He alone voted against the war. Have not the last five years vindicated him, when two-thirds of the nation now agrees with him that the war was a mistake, and journalists and politicians left and right are babbling in confession, "If I had only known then what I know now ..."

MSNBC has an update on the six foreign nationals who were arrested for plotting to attack Fort Dix Army base and it looks like they might have been a bunch of bumblers egged on by over-aggressive FBI informants -- leading to speculation that an entrapment defense is upcoming . the might-a-been plotters: "The FBI learned of the alleged plot when the men went to a Circuit City store and asked a clerk to transfer a jihad training video of themselves onto a DVD." the would-be informants: "One of the [accused plotters]... called a Philadelphia police officer in November, saying that he had been approached by someone who was pressuring him to obtain a map of Fort Dix, and that he feared the incident was terrorist-related, according to court documents." one of the informants actions: "He railed against the United States, helped scout out military installations for attack, offered to introduce his comrades to an arms dealer and gave them a list of weapons he could pr

"It's not that money buys votes," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the lone vote against the bill. "But you have a culture in which big money has significant influence. Big money gains you access, access gives you the time to influence people." Is this guy dense or what?! The money bought the vote, it mattered not what the person said after the money changed hands. Politicians are bought and sold, period.

big Dick Cheney says that " all is well " (video) in Iraq as mortars and rockets slammed the 'green zone' in Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. counterterrorism officials beg to differ. the washingtonpost describes a 91% rise in terror in Iraq. i wonder if iran was ever considered when the U.S. Gov. decided to destabilize her eastern and western borders. also, the post cites concerns by Turkey as to the weakening of her common border with Iraq: " Turkish leaders expressed increasing frustration at what they viewed as Iraq's inaction against the PKK" -- the abbreviation for the Kurdistan Workers Party, which launches attacks into Turkey from Kurdish areas of Northern Iraq. Dick, if you mean it is going well for you and the corporate whores you represent; i have to agree with you. your world is rosy, indeed. however, if it is all well for the Mid East, Iraqi and American citizens, or the world; i beg to differ. at least, stop lying to me.

"But the true threats to stability and peace are those nations that are not very transparent, that hide behind the --- that don't let people in to take a look and see what they're up to. They're very kind of authoritarian regimes. The true threat is whether or not one of these people decide, peak of anger, try to hold us hostage, ourselves; the Israelis, for example, to whom we'll defend, offer our defenses; the South Koreans." - George W. Bush March 13, 2001 Speaking to the media in Washington, D.C. I truly wonder if George takes his own words to heart. His Treasonous Administration does nothing but use double speak and lies to cloud their intentions and actions. Again, most Democrats fall into this mode of operation too.

g.ho.st is a virtual computer service that has recreated the desktop in your browser window. With g.ho.st, you can do pretty much anything you can do on your computer’s desktop, from document management to playing games. The service is obviously great for people that travel a lot, or students that frequently use community computers. Of all the virtual computer services I’ve seen, this one is among the ones that look and feel the most like a computer desktop. g.ho.st is still a work in progress, in their very early beta, so it can be a bit slow at times. But g.ho.st has some potential. i tried (still trying) this out and it seems like a great idea. so far the usability is pretty limited but hey, its in alpha now. otherwise, i cant wait for more new features to be implemented. i am a portable app junkie and this makes life alot easier with public computers and its powered thru the web browser (firefox and IE) so its crossplatform ability is a huge plus! Mashable has a great review of t

...why the hell didn't they do something. Now that we have intelligence experts, the military community, present and former administration, a Senator, and the media saying that they all knew the evidence was bullshit. Durbin's excuse is that he was sworn to secrecy . I don't know about Dick, I was taught that you call bullshit when you see (or hear) it. If he thinks that he is a good American for not ratting out his politico brethren, he is sadly mistaken. Questioning the status quo is what America and being a patriot is all about. In my opinion, not only is the Bush Administration guilty of treason , so are the Democrats, with very few exceptions. I keep hearing that the Democrats should impeach Bush or Cheney or some other Republican slob and the first thing that comes to mind is that the American People should be rounding up the whole lot. The Democrats are just as guilty as enablers ( Patriot Act amongst other crimes against the American People) in this whole fiasco an

'Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she does not rule out a meeting with her Iranian counterpart at a conference on Iraq's security in Egypt.' I don't see why this is not a requirement. I would want every neighboring country involved. What we have done to the power balance within the Middle East (Iraq and Afghanistan) is criminal. The vacuum it will leave when we pull out of these countries effects the whole region and they should have been consulted before the invasions and during the ongoing conflicts. It is both arrogant and negligent that we (the USA)went to someone else's neighborhood and completely trashed it. We have the Monroe Doctrine , which is pretty much a big FUCK YOU to the rest of the world about meddling in the affairs of our neighborhood. Sweet Condi has also been back pedaling (video and transcript) on the "imminent threat" put out about Iraq and its nuclear/chemical/biological programs. In my opinion the Bush Administration is w