Let it be My Pal Joey

Pawlenty, Romney VP chances dim

Two of the leading candidates to be John McCain's vice presidential pick — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — appear to be out of the running, NBC News reported Friday.
Pawlenty has been told he won't be chosen by McCain, according to NBC's David Gregory. And Romney won't be at today's Dayton, Ohio, rally with McCain, NBC's Chuck Todd reported. Romney spent Thursday courting donors in California.
Earlier in the day, Pawlenty downplayed his chances.
Friday's developments raised the possibility that others, such as former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge or Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, could be named, or that McCain could choose a wild card candidate from any number of prospects.

Oh pleeeaaasssseeee let him announce Joey as his pick. The two deserve each other.

All I can picture is Joey arriving at the McCain event in Fairfield a few months ago flashing his fingers in a peace sign to the crowds protesting the war. I think Joey needs to be brought into the sunshine so everyone can see the "wild and crazy guy" that he really is. Both will bomb Tehran at the drop of a hat.

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It's all about the mighty $

Making Money on a New Cold War

The Russia-Georgia clash has generated heated anti-Moscow rhetoric from John McCain and U.S. neoconservatives about a new Cold War, a prospect that most people might see in a negative light but which many military contractors surely view as a financial plus.
One unstated reality about revived tensions between Washington and Moscow is that it will mean a bonanza in military spending – billions of additional dollars for anti-missile weapons systems, larger armies, construction of new bases in Eastern Europe, etc. Indeed, the spending on Cold War II could dwarf what military contractors are now making on the “war on terror” – and the prospect of spending on both conflicts simultaneously should make arms industry executives drool.

That is the bottom line. Our "wars" are now for oil or the greenbacks to benefit a few. I have a great idea: let the CEOes and politicians fight the next war.

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A third option?

I know Roseanne is a comic, artist, actress... but she is right about what we voters want:

I would like to see the five percent come from people who are not going to vote dem or rep, because they have lost all faith and hope in politics, who know that neither party addresses anything that seems relevant to real life at all. I hope the five percent doesn't come from the dems...they all need to vote for barack and try to get him elected...it's very close, which is unbelievable! But still, there are many of us who want a deeper change than either party can ever offer. We want a fundamental change and not a cosmetic one. We want a change in the way business is done in the world. We want a rehaul of this entire system from top to bottom based on democratic principles and not on corporate ones. We want a maximum wage, and no income tax. We want increased inheritance and profit taxes instead.

Maybe a Dem (Barrack) is our hope for this year (as long as he sticks with his ideals and strives for true peace - no war with Iran, Russia, Pakistan, end the wars). But it would be great if in the next elections we have a viable choice beyond the two parties controlled by moneyed interests.

So you Clintonites - rather than throw your disgruntled vote to Bombing McCain, vote GREEN.

Thanks Roseann for a great idea. And a great evaluation of the Green Party:

It's platform is far more to the liking of working people than is the democratic party, and it has clout all over the world, unlike any other american party. It also is based on taking care of the environment before making profit, and also based on justice rather than nationalism

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What will the future be?

At Conference on the Risks to Earth, Few Are Optimistic

More than 120 scientists, engineers, analysts and economists from 30 countries were hunkered down here for the 40th annual conference on “planetary emergencies.”
The participants were not particularly optimistic. They presented data showing that the boom in biofuels was depleting Southeast Asian rain forests, that “bot herders” - computer hackers for hire - were hijacking millions of computers, and that the lack of progress over handling nuclear waste was both hampering the revival of nuclear energy and adding to terrorism risks.

They were determined to "look for answers" to the problems.

As they are looking for answers, as we hope for a new administration to lead us back to a better path...daily life still goes on. Still get up and go to work, struggle to make ends meet, try to create a more sustainable life (as others blatantly go about wasting too much)...hope they find those answers soon. Hope the answr includes a change in culture - away from our consumer based drive to own the biggest, the best, the first...

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The Colder War

US warship sails through straits, Russia suspicious

In a move likely to heat up tensions between the United States and Russia over a conflict in the troubled Caucasus, a US Navy warship sailed through the Turkish Straits yesterday to take relief supplies to Georgia.

The guided missile destroyer USS McFaul passed through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, and two other ships, the US Coast Guard cutter Dallas and the command ship USS Mount Whitney, will follow in the coming days.

Sure relief aid...but we know the area is an oil hotbed.

Iran is taking a back seat lately. More oil and gas in Russia.

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Obama/Biden

Let us pray they win in November. Then we hold them to the same standards we have held others to: end war, green the nation, restore the Constitution...

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Regime change

President has 24 hours to quit

...the president may resign today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow but if he does not do so, the impeachment proceedings will start and continue till its logical end.
...said the prevalent atmosphere of uncertainty is causing political and economic instability, so it will be in the fitness of things if the president opts to relinquish the Presidency so that stability is revived.
He said the impeachment move was decided after consultations with the coalition partners and to attain stability in the country which is very dear to the nation and was thought necessary to safeguard its vital interests. He said the ultimate gain would be the strengthening of democratic institutions.
...resign so that the economic instability could end.

Is this about W? Wishful thinking. We know it is about our former friend in Pakistan. Are we involved?

To a question, he said no foreign pressure is being exerted on the government regarding the impeachment move and several countries have already expressed that they honour the Pakistani law and its constitution as the impeachment proceedings are being pursued within the ambit of the constitution.

Yeah, right.

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Oil globs as sun tan lotion?

Pelosi Says Open To House Vote On Offshore Drilling

Reversing her position, Pelosi said she was willing to schedule a vote in the House of Representatives on legislation to expand offshore drilling, if the bill addressed other energy issues, such as extending tax credits for solar and wind energy and releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Pelosi’s new position mirrors that of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who says he now could support legislation boosting offshore drilling, if the bill helped solve other U.S. energy problems. As the November election approaches, Democrats are moving closer to the views of the American public on expanded offshore drilling, which polls show a majority of voters favor.

Sure theywant it. They are listening to the media and the lobbyist talking about the vast stores of oil readily available. But for how long will we prolong the inevitable? How long will it take to open those new fields? And what safeguards that the environment, creatures and shores are not endangered?

Oil is not renewable.

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Anthing is possible

Georgia War a Neocon Election Ploy?

Is it possible that this time the October surprise was tried in August, and that the garbage issue of brave little Georgia struggling for its survival from the grasp of the Russian bear was stoked to influence the U.S. presidential election?
Before you dismiss that possibility, consider the role of one Randy Scheunemann, for four years a paid lobbyist for the Georgian government who ended his official lobbying connection only in March, months after he became Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser.
Previously, Scheunemann was best known as one of the neoconservatives who engineered the war in Iraq when he was a director of the Project for a New American Century. It was Scheunemann who, after working on the McCain 2000 presidential campaign, headed the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which championed the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
There are telltale signs that he played a similar role in the recent Georgia flare-up. How else to explain the folly of his close friend and former employer, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in ordering an invasion of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, an invasion that clearly was expected to produce a Russian counterreaction?
McCain gets to look tough with a new Cold War to fight while Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, scrambling to make sense of a more measured foreign policy posture, will seem weak in comparison. Meanwhile, the dire consequences of the Bush legacy that McCain has inherited, from the disaster of Iraq to the economic meltdown, conveniently will be ignored. But the military-industrial complex, which has helped bankroll the neoconservatives, will be provided with an excuse for ramping up a military budget that is already bigger than that of the rest of the world combined. What is at work here is a neoconservative, self-fulfilling prophecy in which Russia is turned into an enemy that expands its largely reduced military, and Putin is cast as the new Josef Stalin bogeyman, evoking images of the old Soviet Union. McCain has condemned a “revanchist Russia” that should once again be contained.

So that's the reason Iran is now on a back burner. They realize that the public would not necessarily accept an Iranian invasion. So let some other patsy do the dirty work and spill their blood.

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John "666" McCain?

McCain the Antichrist?

Biblical scholars in Colorado Springs have uncovered startling evidence that Senator John McCain may be the Antichrist. Their conclusions, while highly controversial, may have a dramatic impact on the 2008 elections, since many Bible-believing Christians have already expressed doubts about McCain’s fealty to Christianity. The analysis was conducted by the respected True Bible Society, and it will be published next month in the End Times Journal.
“What started us looking at this issue is the fact that Senator McCain has declared his intention to maintain US forces in Iraq for a hundred years,” said David Jenkins, a leading Biblical scholar. “That means that McCain wants to control Babylon for at least a century.” According to many scholars of the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist will try to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon in order to use it as a springboard for an international effort at world domination. Ultimately, the Antichrist will marshal forces from Babylon to spark a showdown with Christian and Jewish-led forces in the battle of Armageddon.
“We believe that the End Times is near, based on the pattern of wars, earthquakes. and other strange phenomena we’ve been witnessing since the start of the New Millennium,” said Jenkins. “Given that it may be imminent, the person who controls Babylon must be the Antichrist.” Until 2003, many Christians believed that Saddam Hussein might be the Antichrist, since he started excavations to restore Babylon in the mid 1970s. But Hussein’s death meant that the Antichrist is someone else. Since Obama wants to get out of Iraq, he can’t be the Antichrist either, concluded Jenkins.
Jenkins said his teams suspicions were further heightened when genealogical research showed that McCain’s great-grandfather was actually not John McCain, but John Mihai. Mihai is an ancient Romanian name, and according to Bible-believing Christians, the Antichrist is likely to be a Romanian. “What clinched it for us was that the name Mihai means ‘who is like the Lord,’” said Jenkins. “As far as we’re concerned, that was enough. It means that McCain might easily pretend to be the Redeemer.”
McCain’s geniality and folksiness are consistent with his being the Antichrist, Jenkins said. “Many people think that the Antichrist will be a evil-seeming leader, but in fact the Bible tells us that he will be charming.”

Hysterical. I know I fear the road our world would go down under McCain - continue on the path of W's regime - but this analysis is ridiculous. But if it keeps him out of the White House - GREAT!

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Georgia on my mind...

Getting Georgia’s War On

The outbreak of war in Georgia on Friday offers a disturbing and somewhat surreal taste of what to expect from John McCain should he become our nation’s Commander in Chief. As the centuries-old ethnic animosities between Georgia and Ossetia boiled over into another armed conflict, drawing in neighboring Russia, McCain issued a stark-raving statement from Des Moines that is disturbingly reminiscent of the language used in the lead-up to NATO’s war against Yugoslavia in 1999, a war McCain zealously pushed for:
“We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia’s security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation,” McCain said.
...the United States and Britain are backing Saakashvili’s invasion. Why would we back Saakashvili’s reckless war, when last year even Bush was denouncing the Pinochet-wannabe’s violent attack on his own people during a peaceful opposition protest in Georgia’s capital, as well as shutting down the opposition media and exiling of political opponents? That would be a brain-teaser if the last seven years hadn’t answered this question so many painful times already.
Meanwhile, Georgia has been on a massive, successful, multi-layered PR offensive in the West, helped by years of cultivating people like John McCain as well as the army of neocons and old cold warriors who naturally gravitate to a fight with Russia.

Bringing back some "enemies of old." How many times can the threat of "sticks" work?

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End the insane nuke race!

Hiroshima Marks Bomb Anniversary With Hope For US Change

The mayor of Hiroshima on Wednesday urged the next US president to work to abolish atomic weapons as the city marked the 63rd anniversary of the world’s first nuclear attack.
Some 45,000 people, including Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, gathered at a memorial to the dead within sight of the A-bomb dome, a former exhibition hall burned to a skeleton by the bomb’s incinerating heat.

They stood up and offered silent prayers at 8:15 am, the exact moment in 1945 when a single US bomb instantly killed more than 140,000 people and fatally injured tens of thousands of others with radiation or horrific burns.
“We can only hope that the president of the United States elected this November will listen conscientiously to the majority, for whom the top priority is human survival,” he said.

We know Johnny would use the bomb. When asked about using nukes he responded:

It’s naive to say that we will never use nuclear weapons.

Obama, in July said:

"It's time to send a clear message to the world: America seeks a world with no nuclear weapons," the White House hopeful said.

"As long as nuclear weapons exist, we'll retain a strong deterrent. But we'll make the goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons a central element in our nuclear policy."

At least one is close to the mayor's hope and dream.

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Four degrees - so what?

Climate Change Catastrophe by Degrees

Bob Watson rightly warns us to prepare for 4C global warming. To avoid that, we must make drastic CO2 cuts now

Who is Watson?

...he is the former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but was kicked out at the behest of the Bush administration for being too vocal about the threat presented by global warming.

Four degrees? no problem, right?

By the time global temperatures reach four degrees, much of humanity will be short of water for drinking and irrigation: glaciers in the Andes and Himalayas, which feed river systems on which tens of millions depend, will have melted, and their rivers will be seasonally running dry. Whole weather systems like the Asian monsoon (which supports 2 billion people) may alter irrevocably. Deserts will have spread into Mediterranean Europe, across most of southern Africa and the western half of the United States. Higher northern latitudes will be plagued with regular flooding. Heatwaves of unimaginable ferocity will sear continental landscapes: the UK would face the kind of summer temperatures found in northern Morocco today. The planet would be in the throes of a mass extinction of natural life approaching in magnitude that at the end of the Cretaceous period, 65m years ago, when more than half of global biodiversity was wiped out.

Four degrees of warming would also cross many of the “tipping points” which so concern climate scientists: the Amazon rainforest would likely collapse and burn, as part of a massive further release of carbon from terrestrial ecosystems - the reverse of the current situation, where trees and soils absorb and store a good portion of our annual emissions. Most of the Arctic permafrost will lie in the melt zone, and will be steadily releasing methane, accelerating warming still further. The northern polar ice cap will be a distant memory, and Greenland will be melting so rapidly that sea level rise by the end of the century will be measured in metres rather than centimetres.

Frightening.

And since four degrees would be a catastrophe that many of us, or our children, would not survive, it is surely our absolute duty to do everything in our power to avoid it.

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2011?

Initial agreement reached on withdrawal of US troops from Iraq

Iraqi and US teams negotiating a controversial security pact have reached an initial agreement that states that US troops will withdraw from Iraq between 2010 and 2011, the pro- government Iraqi Al-Sabah newspaper reported Monday.
The newspaper reported that 'the Iraqi and American technical teams have already reported the outcome of their negotiations to their political leaders during the past days.

Don't they listen? Out now not later!

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Do we have any friends?

US Vilifies Faithful Old Ally

It’s blame Pakistan week. As resistance to western occupation of Afghanistan intensifies, the increasingly frustrated Bush administration is venting its anger against Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s military intelligence agency. The White House leaked claims ISI was in cahoots with pro-Taliban groups in Pakistan’s tribal area along the Afghan border. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said the White House accuses ISI of warning Pashtun tribes of impending U.S. air attacks. President George W. Bush angrily asked Pakistan’s visiting Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani, “Who’s in charge of ISI?”

Are we now adding Pakistan to the Hit List? Or should we really look closer at the reaction/action of Pakistan?

Violence and uprisings in these tribal areas are not caused by “terrorism,” but directly result from the U.S.-led occupation of Afghanistan and Washington’s forcing the hated Musharraf regime to attack its own people. ISI is trying to restrain pro-Taliban Pashtun tribesmen while dealing with growing U.S. attacks into Pakistan that threaten a wider war. India, Pakistan’s bitter foe, has an army of agents in Afghanistan and is arming, backing and financing the Karzai puppet regime in Kabul. Pakistan’s historic strategic interests in Afghanistan have been undermined by the U.S. occupation. The U.S., Canada and India are trying to eliminate Pakistani influence in Afghanistan. ISI, many of whose officers are Pashtun, has every right to warn Pakistani citizens of impending U.S. air attacks that kill large numbers of civilians. But ISI also has another vital mission. Preventing Pakistan’s Pashtun (15% to 20% of the population of 165 million) from rekindling the old “Greater Pashtunistan” movement calling for union of the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan — divided by British imperialism — into a new Pashtun nation. That would tear apart Pakistan and invite Indian military intervention. Washington’s bull-in-a-china-shop behaviour pays no heeds to such realities. Instead, Washington demonizes faithful old allies, ISI and Pakistan, while supporting Afghanistan’s communists and drug dealers, and allowing India to stir the Afghan pot — all for the sake of new energy pipelines. As Henry Kissinger cynically noted, being America’s ally is more dangerous than being its enemy.

As we have always seen (especially lately) - today's friends are tomorrow's enemies. Remember the Iran-Iraq war? Remember our helping the Afghani's throw out the Soviet occupiers? Will we ever listen to history's lessons?

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