Stump Lane
in the dirt since history began

No WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) were found in Iraq. No shit, I am not making this up.

Also, the CIA report found it “..unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place.” We never said anything about any official transfer. It was most certainly an informal one. And, did we say Syria? We meant Jordan.

Another conclusion of the report:

..Saddam’s programs created a pool of experts now available to develop and produce weapons and many will be seeking work. While most will probably turn to the “benign civil sector,” the danger remains that “hostile foreign governments, terrorists or insurgents may seek Iraqi expertise.”

Hate to say “I told you so,” but, I told you so. But, that was in the haze of a pre-war hysteria binge. Not sure really what to believe now, where does the truth lie? Heheh (nervous laugher.) Are the experts really real, or bogeymen of the imagination? Maybe there are WMD someplace and the report just serves to cover US on our failure to find them. Naah, it’s all too complicated. Maybe Patrick Duffy just dreamed the whole thing.

forced to face the Santa Claus truth
having been suspicious for some time
reflecting on the lies that perpetuated the myth
despite it all, still clutching the notion
perhaps to ease the embarassment at being duped by trusted ones
perhaps to keep some spirit, or sense of comfort alive
perhaps the myth serves another purpose:
to explain, or lend legitimacy, to something altogehter different
something less elegant, more mundane– the truth.

If it comes to a vote, I urge you to preserve filibuster on judicial nominees. There is no compelling reason to believe that this power will be abused. Checks and balances, and separation of powers are vital to our democracy, please do not erode them by ending the filibuster.

May I have your attention please– During this time of heightened security, we ask for your help. If you see any unattended baggage or suspicious behavior, please tell a law enforcement officer or FAA representative.

Update to this post.

Australian in Capitol Standoff Also Went to the White House

Zhao also asked to meet with the president during the episode at the Capitol, authorities said. That incident began about 12:40 p.m., after Zhao rolled two suitcases to a fountain on the west side of the Capitol.

An officer approached Zhao and tried to ask him some questions, but he was not cooperative, police have said. Worried that Zhao might be a suicide bomber, the officer called for help, police have said.

An hour later, heavily armed officers tackled Zhao. Police X-rayed the suitcases and blew one bag apart with an explosive blast. Neither of the bags turned out to contain explosives, police said.

No charges were filed in the incident, which triggered a massive police response and shut down some streets and tours of the Capitol for three hours.

..

U.S. Capitol Police then turned him over to immigration authorities for expulsion proceedings. Zhao was held at an immigration center in Washington pending his removal.

In the post 9-11 world we must err the fuck on the side of caution. Though you’d think the US Capital Police would have at least one officer that could speak enough Australian to talk to this guy down.

Highlights from today’s Progress Report
Pay Cut Hits (Most Of) America Hard

Wage growth in 2004 and the first two months of 2005 trailed inflation, compounding the problems for a middle class already squeezed by higher housing and energy costs and the soaring price of health care. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reports, “corporate profits hit record highs as companies got more productivity out of workers while keeping pay increases down.”

American workers saw a wage increase of just 2.5 percent in 2004(prices rose 2.7 percent)

According to a study commissioned by the Wall Street Journal, “the
median salary and bonus for chief executives in office at least two
years soared 14.5% last year to $2,470,600.” The cash-compensation
upsurge is “the biggest since the study began in 1989.”

..gas prices hit a record high
for the fourth week in a row this week. Research shows CEOs of oil
companies were, as a group, the highest paid executives in 2004, raking
in a median compensation package – not including potentially lucrative
gains from stock options – of $16.6 million. That was a gain of 109
percent over the previous year.

A study by AARP showed wholesale prices for popular brand-name prescription drugs rose by an average 7.1 percent in 2004,
“more than twice the general inflation rate.”

In a study of census data, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
found that “for the bottom 95 percent of workers, after-inflation wages
were flat or down in 2003 and 2004, but for the top 5 percent, wages
rose by an average of 1 percent, with some gaining much more. The
upper-income group enjoyed strong pay increases largely because of
bonuses, stock options and other inducements.”

The Great Machine is built upon violence and exploitation. -M

I am writing to urge you to vote against the bankruptcy bill (HR-685)..
[Text of letter at Dear Senator.]

Found this link, via Baghdad Burning, about protests in Iraq this weekend against the occupation. The protests seem to have been given short treatment in the US media:

• The Sun News
• Chicago Sun Times
• Washington Post
• LA Times

The world has changed. After the tragic and terrifying events of 9-11 it has become obvious that we need to re-evaluate our priorities and ideals. Citizens must never forget how terrifying the landscape has become. Citizens must be vigilant of the terrorist cells that most certainly lurk in our beloved Homeland. Citizens must face the growing threat of the MS-13 gang that, with al-Qaeda, poses a tremendous homeland security challenge. This group has reached it’s tendrils into our cities, suburbs, small towns and remote outposts. They speak Spanish and are extensively tattooed. Their trade is running drugs and illegal people across our borders. They practice high crime and kill indiscriminately, hacking innocents to death with machetes on our streets.

We must remember that it’s our institutions– our governments, churches and corporations, –that make our country great and strong. We must rely on our institutions to guide us through this period of darkness. One needs look no further than the evening news to see that people are easily corrupted. People are capable of committing immeasurable harm. Institutions are benevolent beings; though often relying on people for their day-to-day operations, they remain essentially incorruptible. As higher beings, they are able to weed out the corrupt people that threaten to poison the well.

Patriotic citizens, as the beneficiaries in our civil society, must acknowledge the services and benefits our great institutions provide. In accepting these benefits, they owe an obligation to serve– in the interests of these institutions. At the same time, institutions pledge to protect, comfort and provide for their people in frightening times. In light of these obligations, and in the post 9-11 environment, it has become clear that it is time to reform the way we govern, teach and do business.

Fortunately, thanks to dynamic, forward-thinking, proactive leadership, the transformation is already under way. We have made great strides through media control in homogenizing pubic opinion and marginalizing treason. With the improvements we have implemented in the electoral system, we are now guaranteed appropriate election results that we can trust. Thanks to these two developments, we have built political capital, earned a mandate and established a strong footing in the executive and both houses of congress. We are beginning to be able to provide the kind of uncompromising, strong leadership that our country needs right now.

We need to use this strength and resolve to protect the homeland. We need to also project our might out into the rest of the world to protect our interests abroad. The need for strength demands a look at the source of strength; which is power. Political power and military might are the children of economic power. Economic power is hard earned and always at risk. When evildoers threaten our economic power we need to act swiftly and definitively. Reaction to attack is not advantageous. We need to address threats proactively. We need to preact not react.

Going forward, aware of the necessity to predict dangers, and remain flexible in the capacity to protect the economic power of our institutions, it will be necessary to improve the functioning of our court system. It is time that the courts reflect current reality and the ideals of our religious heritage. Too, the system needs to respect the rights of the benevolent beings that make us great, and allow them to operate unfettered.

We must pay our institutions the respect of protection against litigious, corrupt people with an excessive sense of entitlement. We must allow them to self govern within the natural constraints of the market system without undo influence. We must afford them, and our leaders, the ability to act with impunity to protect our security in the Homeland and our interests in the world. The system needs to preserve life for patriotic citizens victimized by corrupt people. To do these things, we will implement the bold new doctrine of Institutional Immunity and Precedence of Life.¹ Congress and the executive shall provide the appropriate guidance to the courts and intervene as necessary to deal with judicial activism.

Loyal citizens, embrace and support this new doctrine. Rest assured, it will offer you the necessary protection against the uncommon threats you face every day. As long as you are not a terrorist, killer, abortionist, saboteur or otherwise corrupt, you need not be concerned about these changes. As always, remain vigilant. Steel your resolve. Take comfort that our great nation is the hand of God in this world: gentle protector, and stern punisher. Wielding the power of God we will win this war.

`1. Notwithstanding`

ABC News: TV News Icons Leaving at Rapid Pace

“I think it’s more than a changing of the guard,” said Deborah Potter, a former CBS News correspondent and executive director of the think tank Newslab. “That would suggest that the next set of troops that come in would be waging the same battle.”

Out of context, that is a nice quote. Otherwise, not a very good article.

Although not about TV anchors retiring like flies, here is a better article about the state of the media: an editorial in the Seattle Times written by Amy Goodman and David Goodman.
The Seattle Times: Opinion: Why media ownership matters

From today’s Progress Report:

THREATS AGAINST SCHIAVO JUDGES: DeLay’s vague threat against judges
yesterday wasn’t just offensive, it was dangerous, especially given the
serious threats against judges and others involved in the Schiavo case.
Florida Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer has been “under 24-hour protection by two U.S. marshals due to increased threats against his life
by those unhappy with his handling of the Schiavo case.” Last Thursday,
police arrested an Illinois man they said robbed a Florida gun store as
part of an attempt to “rescue Terri Schiavo.” The next day, FBI
officials took into custody a North Carolina man for placing a $250,000
bounty “on the head of Michael Schiavo” and another $50,000 to murder Judge Greer. And police yesterday said they had “logged several bomb threats” to the hospice where Schiavo died and “the circuit and federal courts that refused to order her feeding tube restored.”

And there’s this too.

I’ve got a sick feeling that there is a whole army of fundamentalist zealots blended into the population just waiting for their orders..

“Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms – Oh damn!”

OK, so maybe not the Pope; and maybe not red uniforms..

The inquisition will be televised.

Intelligence Analysts Whiffed on a ‘Curveball’ – LA Times

WASHINGTON — Prewar claims by the United States that Iraq was producing biological weapons were based almost entirely on accounts from a defector who was described as “crazy” by his intelligence handlers and a “congenital liar” by his friends.

The defector, code-named “Curveball,” spoke with alarming specificity about Iraq’s alleged biological weapons programs and fleet of mobile labs.

Curveball. That sounds like the name of ‘that guy’ in the neighborhood who was always hatching some business scheme trying to turn a quick buck. “The fifteen was to mow the front. You’ll have to pay extra if you want me to mow the back too.. I’m a business man after all, I gotta get paid.” His downfall was that he was more concerned with his sales pitch than quality of work.

Maybe, Curveball is that guy in every police movie that the cops shake down for information.
“Hey Curveball–”
“Aww, shit, no.” He tries to run, but the partner has boxed him in.
“Look, Curveball we just need to talk to ya. Where can we find Little Boy Blue?”
“I don’t know nothin’ about no Little Boy Blue or no heroin.”
“Who said anything about any heroin? Listen, you got 24 hours to find out where Blue is and what’s goin down or we’ll take you in. We got enough on you to put you away for a good long time.”
“Ok ok, I’ll find out. Be cool, man. If anybody sees me with you, I’m a dead man.”

Maybe the intelligence gathering went something like this:
“Hey, Curveball we need to talk to ya. What d’you know about Dr. Death?”
“I already told you about Dr. Death.”
“Boss Hogg wants to hear more. And we’re gonna to give it to him, so you’re gonna talk. Start singin’.”
“I’m a business man. This is a business deal. I gave you Dr. Death. I need extra incentive if you want to hear about mobile laboratories. Know what I’m sayin’?”
“Mobile laboratories. Hmmm. We have plenty of incentive.” (Grin.) “Let’s talk.”

Updated the stylesheet again to make the site look better (I hope) and to make it work for screen resoltions down to 800px in width. I may still tinker with the fonts some more.