Do you hear the people?

77 percent believe Iraq going poorly, CBS poll to reveal

The poll found the highest-ever percentage of Americans -- 77 percent -- who say the war in Iraq is going badly. Just 52 percent of Republicans continue to hold on to the idea that the war is going at least somewhat well, while 90 percent of Democrats and 80 percent of independents say it is going poorly. Two-thirds of Americans want to decrease or remove US troops from Iraq, according to the poll, and 51 percent of Americans think our occupation is creating more terrorists. President Bush's approval rating slips to its lowest rating in the new poll, to 27 percent. That makes him less popular that his Vice President Dick Cheney, who had a 28 percent approval rate in the new poll.

A few questions:

1. What are those who want this war to continue or expand drinking or smoking?
2. Do we have to wait until 99% are against this war until the politicos listen and end the fiasco?
3. Where do those 27% who like W live? I didn't realize that the Federal Government was so large! Who else would vote this way unless related to him or working for him.

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Then act fast!

Rep. Pelosi Reminds the Left that She’s on its Side

She is also going out of her way to reassure opponents of the war that she is on their side. Not only has Pelosi restated her calls to end the war in Iraq, she has made passage of an energy and climate change bill a staple of her Speakership. Speaking last week to the liberal pressure group Campaign for America’s Future, she repeated her previous comments that the Iraq war was a “grotesque mistake” and a “tragedy.”

You missed a great chance already. Let's get moving and end this war!

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Deja Vu all over again!

Iran helping to plan attacks in Iraq - US

Iran is training fighters in Iraq and helping to plan attacks there despite diplomatic pressure for change, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, while violence around the Arab state killed at least 19 people.
The latest accusation levelled against Iran by the U.S. military followed rare diplomatic talks in Baghdad last month between the two old adversaries to discuss Washington's concerns in Iraq.
"There absolutely is evidence of Iranian operatives holding weapons, training fighters, providing resources, helping plan operations, resourcing secret cells that is destabilising Iraq," said chief military spokesman Brigadier General Kevin Bergner.

Hmmm - remember the evidence of WMDes and those mobile chem labs in Iraq before we invaded?

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Arms supplied by...

Soviet-Era Caches, Not Iran, Arming Taliban

While United States officials accuse Iran of arming a resurgent Taliban, officials here say the weapons are actually part of vast caches left behind by the Soviet army that fought a nine-year war in Afghanistan before withdrawing in 1988.

Let's not forget the arms supplied by the CIA so many years ago. Back then we were fighting the "Red Menace" and viewed the Taliban as freedom fighters.

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On the road to Tehran?

Another classic from Mr. Fish.

We know this is a perfect "bubble" for W. With the way the Dems are handling the Iraq war, it may be accurate for them as well.

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Kucinich at Take Back America

Kucinich Sings of the Centrality of Peace

“It is our job to heal this planet,” he said, “and to bring this planet together as one people.”

“I see peace as being the central issue and concern of our time,” Kucinich said. “In a Kucinich Administration we would begin with an understanding of the centrality of peace. We would begin with policies that reject war as an instrument of policies.”

“People are waiting for Democrats to tell President Bush: ‘No more money.’ We shouldn’t be offering the President another bill.” Kucinich said he had a straightforward plan: “The occupation will come to an end. The troops will come home. The contractors will be brought back.”

Kucinich summed it up best when he said:

“Life on the planet is threatened by global warring and by global warming”

We're killing each other. We're killing the planet. Time to stop - if it is not too late already.

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Almost as low as Nixon - that's low!

Bush registers the lowest approval rating of his presidency

In the new (Newsweek) poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday nights, President Bush’s approval rating has reached a record low. Only 26 percent of Americans, just over one in four, approve of the job the 43rd president is doing; while, a record 65 percent disapprove, including nearly a third of Republicans.
In fact, the only president in the last 35 years to score lower than Bush is Richard Nixon. Nixon’s approval rating tumbled to 23 percent in January 1974, seven months before his resignation over the botched Watergate break-in.

Nearing Tricky's record? Such an accomplishment. Sure I know what you're saying - it's only a poll by the left leaning media. Tell that to the Repugs who are quickly abandoning ship and rowing away from W. Now let's get them to row out of Iraq and away from Iran.

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Greening the world...

or greening the wallets of a few?

Thanks to Mark Fiore for "Innovations in Energy"

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September 21

Iraq Moratorium

The slow motion train wreck that is the occupation of Iraq grows more nightmarish by the day. In 2006 the American people voted to bring it to an end. But the political process is moving glacially at best. We must force the media and the politicians to recognize just how angry and how massive anti-war sentiment in this country has grown. It's time for the Iraq Moratorium. The Iraq Moratorium will be an escalating, monthly expression of determination to end the war. Commencing Friday, September 21st and continuing the Third Friday of every month thereafter, we will encourage people to make a break with business as usual. Join with millions to: * Wear and distribute black ribbons and armbands * Refrain from buying gas * Pressure politicians and the media * Hold vigils, pickets, rallies, and teach-ins * Hold special religious services * Coordinate events in music, art, and culture * Host film showings, talks, and educational events * Organize student actions: Teach-ins, school closings, etc.

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They're behind the closet door

Suicide Bombers On Their Way

Large teams of newly trained suicide bombers are being sent to the United States and Europe, according to evidence contained on a new videotape obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
Teams assigned to carry out attacks in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Germany were introduced at an al Qaeda/Taliban training camp graduation ceremony held June 9.
The tape shows Taliban military commander Mansoor Dadullah, whose brother was killed by the U.S. last month, introducing and congratulating each team as they stood.
"These Americans, Canadians, British and Germans come here to Afghanistan from faraway places," Dadullah says on the tape. "Why shouldn't we go after them?"

Interesting logic - if we go there, why can't they come here. And there is the heart of the matter.

Is it do as I do or do as I say?

Now let's talk about is this real, bravado or sabre rattling (and from which side)?

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Q:Who attacks Syria?

A:Israel

The U.S. administration opposes a renewal of Israeli-Syrian negotiations and believes efforts should be focused on the Palestinian track, Tom Casey, State Department deputy spokesman, told a media briefing on Friday.

So that's the plan. We stay in Iraq. We bomb Iran. Israel goes after Syria.

I have said all along that either Syria or Iran are next. This plan solves the question of who is attacked first. Let's attack them at the same time!

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Our Plans to Attack Iran

Sometimes we habve to look outside our media to get the truth about our plans. This from The Jerusalem Post via Watching America.

Predicting that Iran will obtain a nuclear weapon within three years and claiming to have a strike plan in place, senior American military officers have told The Jerusalem Post they support President George W. Bush's stance to do everything necessary to stop the Islamic Republic's race for nuclear power.
Predictions within the US military are that Bush will do what is needed to stop Teheran before he leaves office in 2009, including possibly launching a military strike against its nuclear facilities.

The wheels are in motion?

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Let's Have Some Fun...

Add your voice. Add your events. Add your comments to this site's Wiki.

Add your ideas and hopes for a more peaceful and greener world.

Click above, or on the logo to the right.

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Saintly W?

Do Not Seek Anything Else

here is a simple way to become a buddha: When you refrain from unwholesome action, are not attached to birth and death, and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, not excluding or desiring anything, with no designing thoughts or worries, you will be called a buddha. Do not seek anything else. --Zen Master Dogen, Moon in a Dewdrop, edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi

Based on the first step, clear that W is not on his way - unless you call invasions, lies, etc. "wholesome acts."

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S.F.B Award Nominee

The first nominee for Peace Garden's S.F.B. (Shit for Brains) Award is Joey Lieberman

"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman told Bob Schieffer. "And to me, that would include a strike into... over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."
"I think you could probably do a lot of it from the air, but they can't believe that they have immunity for training and equipping people to come in and kill Americans," Lieberman said.

Thanks Joey. For not only wanting us to stay in Iraq but to expand our mission and front - you are the one of the favorites to win the prestigious S.F.B. award. We know you'll keep trying to add to your portfolio to sway the judges.

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Don't blame the stork...

Human activities are wiping out three animal or plant species every hour...

and the world must do more to slow the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs by 2010, the United Nations said on Tuesday. Scientists and environmentalists issued reports about threats to creatures and plants including right whales, Iberian lynxes, wild potatoes and peanuts on May 22, the International Day for Biological Diversity. "Biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. Global warming is adding to threats such as land clearance for farms or cities, pollution and rising human populations. "The global response to these challenges needs to move much more rapidly, and with more determination at all levels - global, national and local," he said.

Add to that the "species" being killed in our wars and the outlook is pretty bleak.

But stopping the storks is not the answer!

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Unnoticed or "don't really care?"

Withdrawal Won’t Happen -The US plans permanent military bases in Iraq

Almost unnoticed, the war in Iraq entered a new phase last week. Laconic statements from the White House and the Pentagon confirmed what had long been suspected - the US is planning a long-term military presence in Iraq. This is a geopolitical development of the first importance. In spite of current difficulties - May was the most lethal month for American soldiers since 2004, with 119 killed - the United States firmly intends to maintain control of Iraq and its vast oil reserves. Iraq’s neighbours, and energy-hungry states and oil companies, will take note. On a visit to Honolulu on May 31, Robert Gates, the defence secretary, said that the United States was looking for a “long and enduring presence”, under an arrangement with the Iraq government. “The Korea model is one, the security relationship we have with Japan is another,” he said. US troops have been in South Korea since the end of the Korean war and in Japan since 1945. Last week the White House spokesman Tony Snow confirmed that President Bush wanted a lengthy troop presence in Iraq. “The situation in Iraq, and indeed, the larger war on terror, are things that are going to take a long time,” he said.
Such statements, and the planning that goes with them, make nonsense of the current debate - in Congress, the press and the public - about a date for withdrawal from Iraq, and whether the surge is producing results. The administration is looking way beyond that.

Where is the outrage? Where are the protests? Where are the bills in Congress to stop this travesty?

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Sounds like a plan?

If You Think Bush Is Evil Now, Wait Until He Nukes Iran - by Paul Craig Roberts

Bomb Iran. Vice President Dick Cheney is spearheading the neocon plan, and Norman Podhoretz is the plan's leading propagandist with his numerous pleas published in the Wall Street Journal and Commentary to bomb Iran. Podhoretz, like every neoconservative, is a total Islamophobe. Podhoretz has written that Islam must be deracinated and destroyed, a genocide for the Muslim people.
The neocons think that by bombing Iran the U.S. will provoke Iran to arm the Shi'ite militias in Iraq with armor-piercing rocket propelled grenades and surface-to-air missiles and unleash the militias against U.S. troops. These weapons would neutralize U.S. tanks and helicopter gunships and destroy the U.S. military edge, leaving divided and isolated U.S. forces subject to being cut off from supplies and retreat routes. With America on the verge of losing most of its troops in Iraq, the cry would go up to "save the troops" by nuking Iran.
Five years of unsuccessful war in Iraq and Afghanistan and Israel's recent military defeat in Lebanon have convinced the neocons that America and Israel cannot establish hegemony over the Middle East with conventional forces alone. The neocons have changed U.S. war doctrine, which now permits the U.S. to preemptively strike with nuclear weapons a non-nuclear power. Neocons are forever heard asking "what's the use of having nuclear weapons if you can't use them?"
Neocons have convinced themselves that nuking Iran will show the Muslim world that Muslims have no alternative to submitting to the will of the U.S. government. Insurgency and terrorism cannot prevail against nuclear weapons.
Many U.S. military officers are horrified at what they think would be the worst-ever orchestrated war crime. There are reports of threatened resignations. But Dick Cheney is resolute. He tells Bush that the plan will save him from the ignominy of losing the war and restore his popularity as the president who saved Americans from Iranian nuclear weapons. With the captive American media providing propaganda cover, the neoconservatives believe that their plan can pull their chestnuts out of the fire and rescue them from the failure that their delusion has wrought.
The American electorate decided last November that they must do something about the failed war and gave the Democrats control of both houses of Congress. However, the Democrats have decided that it is easier to be complicit in war crimes than to represent the wishes of the electorate and hold a rogue president accountable. If Cheney again prevails, America will supplant the Third Reich as the most reviled country in recorded history.

If Congress won't stop them, who will? I think it is time fellow citizens.

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Any Provocation (real or imagined)...

Could an al-Qaeda Attack Trigger War With Iran?

Following revelations of a George W. Bush administration policy to hold Iran responsible for any al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. that could be portrayed as planned on Iranian soil, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski warned last week that Washington might use such an incident as a pretext to bomb Iran.
Brzezinski, the national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 through 1980 and the most senior Democratic Party figure on national security policy, told a private meeting sponsored by the nonpartisan Committee for the Republic in Washington May 30 that an al-Qaeda terrorist attack in the United States intended to provoke war between the U.S. and Iran was a possibility that must be taken seriously, and that the Bush administration might accuse Iran of responsibility for such an attack and use it to justify carrying out an attack on Iran.

Hmmmm - or how about a "planned" attack on JFK airport or Fort Dix? Can't you just see Uncle Dick salivating at the idea?

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Another front?

Turkish forces shell northern Iraq

Iraq said Turkish forces shelled a mountain stronghold of Turkish Kurd rebels in the north of the country on Sunday, a day after it urged Turkey to use diplomacy to resolve rising tensions in the region.
While residents say Turkey shells the area almost daily, the latest attack came days after Turkey moved tanks to its border and speculation mounted that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government is planning a military incursion.
"There were some strikes from Turkish forces on areas next to the Turkish border, but until now there has been no Turkish military invasion of Kurdish lands in Iraq," Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, told a news conference.
Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd, told the same briefing that "we do not accept interference in others' affairs and we do not accept interference in our affairs".

I assume he doesn't like our "interference."

The Kurdish areas were always pointed out as the quiet areas. Now it doesn't seem so. Another front for our troops?

Only one way to avoid another front - get out now!

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