the/diseased/republik

o the rot within… the time of american hegemony is over. the fractured state of american society and bilateral disfunction of the political apparatus are the main contributing factors. collective guilt, bankrupt corporate ethics and the lack of personal accountability fuel the disease that is killing the amerikan republik. the global neighborhood has caught a whiff of the decay and the buzzards are starting to circle. the potential for increased societal control of a mistrustful and mutually fearing population already divided by class and economics is at hand. fears are carefully and repeatedly created and fed by a mass media who wishes to create a culture of fear, often through the manipulation of words, facts, sources or data, in order to induce certain personal behaviors, justify governmental actions or policies (at home or abroad). a few techniques the fearmonger uses to distract the public’s attention from allegedly more urgent social issues like: * careful selection and omission

"According to a recent poll, nearly four out of every five people believe that oil and gasoline companies have manipulated the supply of gas in order to cause prices to shoot through the roof. Is it still a conspiracy theory if seemingly everyone believes in it?"

An analysis released by a Democratic senator found that Vice President Dick Cheney's Halliburton stock options have risen 3,281 percent in the last year, RAW STORY can reveal. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) asserts that Cheney's options -- worth $241,498 a year ago -- are now valued at more than $8 million. The former CEO of the oil and gas services juggernaut, Cheney has pledged to give proceeds to charity. “Halliburton has already raked in more than $20 billion from the Bush-Cheney Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina contracts," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial ties to Halliburton once and for all.” Cheney continues to hold 433,333 Halliburton stock options. The company has been criticized by auditors for its handling of a no-bid

FTA: The Bush administration has changed the rules over record-keeping to prevent access to visitor records. They've usurped the role of the Secret Service, covered by the Freedom of Information Act. Bush / Cheney claim visitor records are under their jurisdiction, thus exempt from FOIA. CREW is not accepting that determination, hence our lawsuits. The Bush administration has changed the rules over record-keeping to prevent access to visitor records. They've usurped the role of the Secret Service, which is covered by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Instead, Bush and Cheney claim visitor records are under their jurisdiction, thus exempt from FOIA. CREW is not accepting that determination, hence our lawsuits. The first paragraph of the latest AP article sums it up: A newly disclosed effort to keep Vice President Dick Cheney's visitor records secret is the latest White House push to make sure the public does not learn who has been meeting with top officials in t

Wellington, Colorado - Michael Welch II paced frantically across the living room of his parents' farmhouse. His father lay dead in an adjoining room, shot through the heart by the lawmen who had the house surrounded. His terrified wife, Lori Romero, whimpered nearby. Put the gun down, she begged him, so that they could all walk out with their hands up. read the Full Story

Unable to resort to their favoured method for dealing with peaceful political demonstrations - violence - the authorities were going to have to come up with some other means to stop it going ahead. read more | digg story

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.

it seems that the FBI has been busy telling state and local police/law-enforcement what defines a terrorist. there have been a few write ups in Blogland and nary a one in Major Media. it seems that "defenders of the constitution" and "Anti-Nuclear/Anti-War" proponents are to be considered terrorists. "Christian's" are suspect because of their belief that the 10 Commandments are God given, Gay/Animal/Enviromental Right's activist have made the list. anyone with a prior conviction for vandalism may be/become a terrorist. i can not say this enough: "anyone who wants you to surrender your freedom (no matter how small) is not looking out for your best interest." that is a fact. explore the PA terror awareness web page and this counterpoint blog . under the these guidelines- are founding father's were terrorists.

thesmokinggun published the affadavit against the Camden 6. it seems that wanting to produce a DVD expressing their religion (DVD showed 10 young men-"shooting assault weapons at a firing range in a militia-like style while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic 'Allah Akbar' ('God is Great').") the FBI then inserted two undercover guys and then busted them. as i read the papers i became very interested in the footnote 2 that starts at the bottom of the page. not only is the informants credibility called into question, the implications of the DVD maker informing on his customer are scary. are the Camden 6 that ignorant of the Patriot Act and digital media or is a set up.

if you only watch two videos this year...please make them these two....

Tony Snow returns to work and continues the Republican Ruse. He flat out denies that any of the Bush Cabal tried to link 9/11 and Iraq. Transcript: Q. The message is clear– the administration was not straight with Americans, not about W.M.D.’S, not about 9/11. There it is from the former C.I.A. Chief. Is it time for the administration to come clean, Tony? TONY SNOW: Wait a minute, Chris. The president has been saying exactly that all along. I don’t know what the headline is. As a matter of fact, I can remember right after September 11 sitting here when I was a journalist and some of your colleagues, I believe Charlie Gibson may have been there at the time as well. The fact is the president made it clear before the State of the Union in 2002 that there was no link between Saddam Hussein and September 11. So Im afraid what’s happened there is that George Tenet may have been referring to something that has been misreported or at least twisted by people with political motives, but

Bill Kristol is one of the most irresponsible son of a bitch alive today. He has no scruples and has no personal accountability what-so-fucking-ever! I cannot believe the media still calls him an expert on Iraq and the Mid East! Just another treasonous bastard! 'In response to a question on "FOX News Sunday" yesterday about George Tenet's accusation that Bush administration neocons (Cheney, Perle, Feith) were pushing hard for war with Iraq despite Saddam having no links whatsoever to 9/11, Bill Kristol invoked Bill Clinton and said Tenet was not only a "mediocre" DCI, but also a "crybaby." video_wmv Download (2.615 megs) here Of course, comparing Clinton's Iraq policy to Bush's is the height of hilarity. While it's certainly true that Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 that supported regime change, he did not unilaterally invade the country based on false pretense in defiance of world opinion. Nor did he do so in a reckeles

"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.

MOSCOW — The United States is planning to launch a war with Iran with a salvo of cruise missiles against military and other strategic facilities, a Russian official said. A leading Russian analyst close to the government of President Vladimir Putin said the Bush administration has been preparing a major air strike against Iran. The analyst said the Iranian release of 15 British Marines abducted in early April has hampered but not canceled U.S. attack plans. "Preparations to strike Iran's strategic facilities continue," Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy for Geopolitical Problems, said. "Three major groups of U.S. forces are still in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Altogether, they have up to 450 cruise missiles on alert." [On Tuesday, the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily quoted French military sources that projected a U.S. strike on Iran in 2007, Middle East Newsline reported. The sources said Iran could be making a major mistake in unde

The development is also the latest legal setback in civilian attorney efforts to put a spotlight on a series of Guantánamo-related issues in the federal courts. On April 2, the justices decided not to prematurely step into a legal battle over whether captives should be allowed to challenge their confinement in District Court, through habeas corpus petitions -- a power stripped away by Congress. Now, Bush administration lawyers are seeking to further limit attorney-client contacts at Guantánamo. In the latest Supreme Court development, it was Hamdan's military commission case that led to a repudiation of the Bush administration last year in the Supreme Court. The court ruled in favor of Hamdan, declaring President Bush's system of military commission trials violated U.S. and international law. Subsequently, the Bush administration and its Republican allies on Capitol Hill pushed through a law reconstituting the military commissions, giving them the congressional imprimatur that

Recent weeks have brought major changes in the music industry and a major victory in our battle against DRM. First Steve Jobs pledged to drop DRM if major labels would let him. We held his feet to the fire with over six thousand people signing an open letter to Jobs asking him to back his pledge! Apple and EMI then announced that the iTunes Music Store would sell EMI tracks without DRM, and this has been followed by similar announcements from other online music stores and retailers. Call these Criminals TODAY and let them kmow how you feel. The Heroes Behind This Campaign. Make a call today! All the folks listed below work in Warner's New York offices. Try to make your calls in the morning on the East Coast. If your on the West Coast, you might want to wait until around 10AM PDT (after lunch for those on the East Coast). * Laird Popkin , Director of Digital Technology * Alex Zubilaga , Executive Vice President for Digital Strategy and Business Development * Edgar Bronf

...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

The Washington Post has a very informative article on the vast number of people under indictment or facing conflict of interest cases in the Bush administration. It reads like a who's who of power-brokers and Bush croneys. A must read and another reason our political parties must be boycotted in the next election.

Bill O'Reilly is the posterboy for all that is wrong and evil in the media and this country. Never wanting to be held responsible for what he does or says. FOX News should have fired him a long time ago... "In a "Factor Fiction" segment Wednesday night, Keith highlighted how Bill O'Reilly attacks MediaMatters for committing the mortal sin of quoting him accurately. It's hysterical how he seeks to discredit everything MM does when all they do is accurately document what he says. It doesn't matter if he actually said the quote in question; what matters is if it was documented by MM. If it was, then it's immediately invalid — even though they always include the entire context and video/audio." from crooksandliars

The Justice Dept is conducting a probe of a $6 billion reading initiative at the center of Bush's No Child Left Behind law , another blow to a program besieged by allegations of financial conflicts of interest and cronyism, people familiar with the matter said yesterday. The disclosure came as a congressional hearing revealed how people implementing the $1 billion-a-year Reading First program made at least $1 million in deals.