Inhumanity July 14, 2009
Posted by denmick in Uncategorized.trackback
From the NYT:C.I.A. Had Plan to Assassinate Qaeda Leaders In his 2006 book “State of War,” James Risen wrote that the C.I.A. set up paramilitary teams shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks to hunt down top Qaeda operatives. Mr. Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote that the operation was soon disbanded before the C.I.A. carried out any operations. But the spy agency continued to develop plans to focus on Qaeda operatives, and top C.I.A. officials were briefed periodically about the progress of these efforts, the officials familiar with the program said.
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Fast forward to Democracy Now President Obama’s comments follow initial statements from other officials in his administration Friday who said the Department of Defense and the FBI had no jurisdiction over the mass killing by a US-backed warlord, General Abdul Rashid Dostum. A Pentagon spokesman told the Associated Press, “There is no indication that US military forces were there, or involved, or had any knowledge of this, so there was not a full investigation conducted because there was no evidence that there was anything from a DoD perspective to investigate.” The infamous Dasht-e-Leili massacre is back in the news in the wake of new evidence published in a New York Times report last Friday that shows the Bush administration blocked at least three federal investigations into the alleged war crimes. The article by journalist James Risen notes that “American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation because the warlord, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the CIA and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001.” Dostum served as a defense official in the Karzai government. Last year he was suspended for threatening a rival at gunpoint and lived in Turkey in exile. But ahead of the August 20th elections, Karzai has invited him back to the country and reinstated him as military chief of staff. Democracy Now! first covered the massacre six years ago when we aired the award-winning documentary from Jamie Doran Afghan Massacre: Convoy of Death.
And this: JAMES RISEN: Well, basically, what I tried to look at was, I tried not to get caught up in something that I think in the past has slowed down some of the efforts by journalists to look into this. I think in the past one of the mistakes some journalists made was to try and prove a direct involvement by the US personnel in the massacre itself. I frankly don’t believe that any US military personnel were involved in the massacre. And, you know, US Special Forces troops who were traveling with Dostum have long maintained that they knew nothing about this. And, you know, so I tried not to go down that road.
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Too much knowledge is sometimes not a good thing to look at. This is a truly grotesque incident that needs to be explored for no other reason than to ensure it never happens again, to anyone, anywhere.
You won’t believe it! Former rivals Barack Obama and John McCain are working together RIGHT NOW to stop wasting money on weapons we don’t need.
The Senator is offering an amendment to stop wasting money on the F-22 fighter jet AND the President has threatened to veto the bill if those same planes are not removed.
The Senate vote could happen any minute, and nobody knows what’s going to happen. Call your Senators RIGHT NOW and ask them to support Sen. McCain and President Obama by voting to end the F-22 and re-invest in things that make us truly strong.
Call the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
What you can say:
The F-22 is a waste! The plane has never been flown in combat, but recent reports estimate it costs $44,000 per hour to fly, and $351 million per plane to build.
Flying the plane for one hour (to fight a Cold War enemy that no longer exists) costs as much as hiring a new teacher for a year
Even Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz support terminating the F-22 fighter program.
With so many important priorities facing our nation, we simply can’t afford to keep wasting money on weapons we don’t need.
Call your Senators now and tell them the F-22 has got to go!
UPDATE:
According to the Project on Government Oversight the following Senators are undecided on this issue. If your Senator is listed below please call now!
Undecided (31)
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
John Barrasso (R-WY)
Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Roland Burris (D-IL)
Robert Casey (D-PA)
Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
Al Franken (D-MN)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Edward Kaufman (D-DE)
Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
James Risch (R-ID)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
John Rockefeller (D-NY)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Arlen Specter (D-PA)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Done… Like Lindsey’s gonna do anything anti-Military/Industrial…
I saw a News Story…local story even…last night about how some credit card companies are watching for purchases made on their cards in Discount, Consignment and Thrift Stores. They take such spending habits as a sign of “financial distress” and will (perfectly legally) raise rates, lower limits and even cast negative light on CREDIT REPORTS!
I say max ‘em out…get biggest cash advance you can…torch the cards…load up your new shotgun… and smile while you wait for ‘em to show up at the door!
(bill collectors…Them’s GOOD EATIN’!)
-T
My two Senators, Boxer and Fienstein are ONBOARD with a NO vote on the F-22. MICKI thanks for keeping us up to date. In Bend, OR enjoying family. Speaking of spies, went to the new Spy Museum in Washington, DC. Nephews, ages 8 and 12, had heard about it and wanted to visit. I must say in was very interesting as we had to, if we wanted, develop a “cover” to become a spy. So all five of us became “spies” for the afternoon! The museum was a history of the spy wars. If you’re in Washington, DC stop by. Toured the Congress, went to the top of the Washington Monument, the Mall Museums, etc. We had a great time. Sorry no afternoon lunch with the Obama’s. Not even a sighting.
Hey, PAM — glad you’re having a a good time in Bend. Speaking of museums, don’t miss THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM JUST OUTSIDE OF BEND.
It’s a must see.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has appointed a 17-member task force to determine in 60 days how effective the COLOR CODED “TERROR ALERT SYSTEM” IS
17 members? Oy. Why doesn’t she just ask Jon Stewart how effective it is?
House Health Plan Outlines Higher Taxes on Rich
“President Obama, in a statement, praised what he termed “unprecedented cooperation to produce a health care reform proposal that will lower costs, provide better care for patients, and ensure fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry.” What’s “unprecedented cooperation” anyway, and who cares? The Dems own the place, just get busy. IDIOTS!
“Republicans have asserted that the bill would raise taxes for millions of middle-income families. But Democrats said their proposal, which calls for a new surcharge or surtax, would affect “only 1.2 percent of all households in the United States.” So raise the stinkin’ taxes already! BIG BUSINESS ASS-KISSERS, EVIL REPUBLICANS! Raise the taxes on them first.
“The surtax would apply at graduated rates ranging from 1 percent to 5.4 percent to families with annual adjusted gross incomes of more than $350,000 and individuals making more than $280,000.” Waste time creating charts, column A applies to you, B to you and on and on and loopholes, don’t forget the loopholes and all the other bull to complicate things until no one understands anything. Just like our ridiculous tax code!
“Starting in 2011, a family making $500,000 would have to pay $1,500 of additional tax to help subsidize coverage for the uninsured. A family making $1 million would have to contribute $9,000. These taxes would rise significantly in 2013 if the federal government did not achieve specified savings in Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs.” Well, everyone is going to have a conniption over THAT! But go ahead, pick on the wealthy among us. They have no qualms picking on other minorities, like the evil smokers. They rape them without even blinking an eye. Rape the rich! GO AHEAD! DO IT ALREADY!
I’m cranky. Oh, forgot to add this little part of their brilliant idea to do everything but create a single payer system.
“An employer who does not provide health insurance to workers would generally have to pay a fee or penalty to the government equal to 8 percent of their wages, but there would be exceptions. For example, an employer with a payroll less than $250,000 a year would not have to pay any fee and could obtain tax credits to help defray the cost of coverage for its employees.
The fee or penalty would be equal to 2 percent of wages for a company with a payroll of $250,000 to $300,000; 4 percent of wages for an employer with payroll of $300,000 to $350,000; and 6 percent of wages for businesses with payroll of $350,000 to $400,000.
Just what businesses want. Being forced to buy health insurance for their employees. They can’t afford it now. THEY’RE NEVER GOING TO GET THIS RIGHT BECAUSE THEY DON’T WANT TO! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……………….
Soak the rich!
Into their swimming pools with them!
In an ideal world, one that reaps the benefits provided by the society is duty bound to repay the society providing his existence, without which he would have nothing.
It is the honorable thing to do.
Honor?
In an ideal world.
Businesses do not pay taxes. They raise the cost of their products to cover the increase in taxes. Consumers pay and if you think otherwise, take a course in economics 101, from a conservative university, if you can find one.
tytandanmar — Depends upon the elasticity of the product line. Take Econ 101, even at a community college.
The elasitcity will only last until the product is no longer profitable. Take a course in economics down the drain when the company goes under, from whatever school you feel is necessary to learn that instead of just naturally knowing it.
Which brings me to another point. If you can legislate minimum wage, how come Obama hasn’t proposed a $10.00 or $15.00 mininum wage? He has a veto proof congress. No higher education needed to understand that.
There are a plethora of conservative universities. In fact, probably too many for the common good. Just a few come to mind:
Pepperdine U.
Bob Jones U.
Regent U.
Liberty U.
Plus dozens of other colleges and universities with a Christian world view.
Take a course in economics down the drain when the company goes under, from whatever school you feel is necessary to learn that instead of just naturally knowing it.
Can you explain that in English?
You forgot Screw U
tytandanmar still wants to make buggy whips, I fear.
Heard of loss leaders?
Anyway, this is rather silly. Of course a corporatiion, which if treated as human is a sociopath, will attempt to pass on as much of increased costs (plus more profits if they can) as the market will bear.
Don’t even need Econ 101 to know that.
Oh, and then there’s this conservative bastion of higher learning:
AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY — FOUNDED BY THE FORMER CEO OF DOMINO’S PIZZA
What a combo!
Bingo and Pizza!
Do junvenile magpies have a slightly different color scheme than adult magpies?
I graduated with honors from Screw U! Don’t put my U of Screw down.
If a business goes under, no jobs. Kind of what is what is happening with our government owned auto companies. By the way, if the wave of the future of the auto industry is to close dealerships. why are only the government owned dealerships doing this?
Loss leaders drive customers when you have a profitable product that they may be turned to. No profiable product makes you a loss loser period.
Okay, Den. Truth be told, I screwed up in college but still graduated.
Dr. B — scroll thru these magpie photos — there are babies, juveniles, adults
Truth be told, I screwed up in college but still graduated.
Oh, so you have that in common with George W. Bush.
When do you become president?
Bingo and Pizza!
With a side order of penance.
I don’t have the ego to want that job.
States with minimum wage levels higher than the federal minimum wage, have higher employment than those states with a minimum wage below the federal level.
Whenever the minimum wage has been raised, there has been NO study that proves there has been a negative impact on employment or profitability of business.
I don’t have the ego to want that job.
But, other than that, you’re up to the task?
Carol — the vaunted healthcare “reform” is an unfunny joke.
But, the Dems will declare victory no matter what form the debacle takes.
Stay healthy.
No. I have no desire to ask people to give me money to run for office when I believe they are already overtaxed.
You whackos on the right and your mantra that you’re overtaxed is all any of you got. Just keep repeating it. You do that then you don’t have to think anymore, see how things really are, find your humanity, perhaps to give a shit about your country. The only people that can be republican are the selfish and greedy ones, that’s for sure. I’m sick of all of you aiding and abetting this nonsense we call the United States.