Flight 93 and 175 landed in Cleveland?

If this is true, then we're all in a real mess.
I'm hard pressed to accept this line of thinking, but there's a LOT of hard to refute evidence along this line. I'm still processing it all myself, trying to decide what to make of it.

Snapshot of http://web.archive.org/web/20030103155642/http://wcpo.com/specials/2001/americaattacked/news_local/story14.html

Prison camp pictures spark protests

Not all torture is physical. The sensory deprivation that the US is using against prisoners is considered one of the most insidious forms of torture available today.

The US claims the moral high ground to the world. The excuse for all of the imperialism and abuses is "To bring the American way of life" to those oppressed. Well, it's no wonder people don't want "the gift" of the American way.
America has lost it's way and no longer has the moral high ground and no moral guidance to give.

BBC News | AMERICAS | Prison camp pictures spark protests

After Abu Ghraib

The program at Abu Gharaib was put in place by Sec Def Rumsfeld, after a policy decision by himself and President Bush to ignore the Geneva Conventions in Iraq. A policy now ruled illegal by US Federal Courts.
Here's one account of the crimes committed under that policy.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | After Abu Ghraib

The end of the World as we know it

OK, so now our civilization has eroded to the point that we have pre-made peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, with the crusts cut off mind you. Also they have ready-made grilled cheese sandwiches.
So now, we've become too lazy and stupid to even make the three simplest meals in the world (they already had Easy Mac, microwaveable Macaroni and cheese).

Uncrustables | Snacks & Sandwiches | Smucker's Products | Smucker's

Cheney's Halliburton Paradigm for Fraud

This shouldn't really surprise anyone, but at least now evidence and proof is coming out. Cheney is a crook without a shred of morality. A vampire sucking the life out of this country.

Cheney's Halliburton Paradigm for Fraud

Annals of Outrage

Top ten government scandals (so far) according to the GAO and Inspector Generals office.

Here are the headings.

1. Halliburton's Corruption.
2. Iraq's Decline.
3. Abu Ghraib Prison Torture.
4. The CIA's Pre-9/11 Intelligence Failures.
5. HHS's Deceptive Ad Campaign.
6. HHS's Scully Scandal.
7. Government-wide Accounting Problems.
8. Sex Education Misinformation.
9. CAPPS II's Failures.
10. The Real Costs of War.

Now there's certainly a media slant to this list, and I don't agree with the interpretation of all the facts, but I agree with the jist of the facts.
For example number 4 in my opinion was due to intimidation by the administration and supression of the facts.

Annals of Outrage

Then little W said....

"Gosh darn it dad, I can't find those WMD's you gave Saddam anywhere!"
And he stomped his feet and stuck out his lip, making a pouting face.
Finally poor little George had to satisfy himself with his favorite pass time, taking replica Constitutions out of a large pile in the corner, and cutting paper dolls out of them. Then taking them out in the garden and lighting them on fire and yelling "talk terrorist scum, or I'll torture you more! Muahahaha!"

Snapshot of http://web.archive.org/web/20030601160418/www.cjr.org/year/93/2/iraqgate.asp

The best business ideas: Soybeans that give you gas - Aug. 1, 2006

A better use of crop land than Ethanol corn.
Instead of feeding us all this unhealthy soy* and stuffing it into nearly every food we buy, lets plant it instead of Ethanol corn and make it into biodiesel.

The best business ideas: Soybeans that give you gas - Aug. 1, 2006

*yes yes, I know you all think soy is healthy and great. It's not. No, don't argue, it's crap. It's proteins are formed into too tightly wound molecules for our body to break down and digest so it's not very bio-available at all. Plus it absorbs every kind of pollutant and heavy metal in the soil.

Appetite for destruction - August 21, 2006

The problem with Ethanol.
Ethanol is a terrible use of our crops, and a poor fuel.
We could use those same harvests for biodiesel with a much larger, cleaner return.

Appetite for destruction - August 21, 2006

Wrapping my mind around the (seemingly) impossible

So the other day, I saw a guy on CNN who was talking about a website for a group that believes that 9-11 was some kind of vast conspiracy, CNN was pretty tough on him. Now I certainly believe that this administration is in cahoots with anyone willing to participate, in order to further it's interests. I also believe that they will sell out you, me and their own mother to any other group to get something they want in return. However, the most I was willing to let my mind accept regarding 9-11 was that they had turned a blind eye and stood down everyone who could stop it. This would allow them to use the anger instilled in the public, and the world, to impliment and further their policies and plans in the US and worldwide. In my mind, that's already a pretty big stretch.
However, I will listen to anyone's point of view and weight their arguments accordingly. So I checked this group's website out. The group is called "Scholars for 9/11 truth" and they're quite compelling.
However, compelling isn't enough to make my mind jump the tracks to the idea that 9/11 was an inside job and a hoax. I want hard facts and logic. Well, I finally came to this article link on their site:
"Free-Falling Bodies:
Simple Physics Reveals The Big Lie"
The basic idea of the article is that using simple physics, and Newtonian Physics, you can calculate that the towers fell too fast. It's like this, gravity causes a free-falling object to accelerate at a constant rate, barring external influence. For example, skydivers won't accelerate to 1000 MPH if the fall far enough, even though this is what they would do in a vacuum. Earth's atmosphere slows them down until they fall at a constant rate. The towers, according to the official story, fell in a series of collapses. Each floor failing in turn as the building above fell on it. This should cause quite a bit of resistance no? Even more than mere air. And yet, the towers fell at a speed that indicates there was nearly zero resistance. And you don't need to take my word for it. Go watch a realtime (not slow-motion) video and time it yourself. Then do the simple math yourself. It's not possible that the towers fell in the way stated by the official story.
So what did really happen?
You got me, but it blows my mind to realize the consequences of the fact that the towers fell with no resistance. The facts then demand that there was artificial assistance, even possibly the demolition charges claimed by conspiracy theorists.
I don't know what to think. It leads to such an insidious, and complete conspiracy against the public and the world that even I can't accept it yet.
So then I came across the video this blog entry is linked to. It presents a very complete bit of research and some alternative theories on the whole thing.
Did you know, during the early Cuba crisis years, the CIA came up with a plan to get the world and the citizenry to not only allow, but demand an invasion of Cuba?
The plan included staging attacks on the US Guantanimo Bay Military base. It included protests, bombings, rocket attacks, etc. on the base, by people pretending to be Communist Cuban Military and supporters.
The plan even included, and get this, staged attacks with cargo planes, disguised as airliners, and remote controlled. In fact this was even practiced!
This plan would have gone forward except for one man. John F. Kennedy. He not only stopped it, but he fired the man in charge of the plan.

20 Amazing Facts about Voting in the USA

Lucky for Bush the popular vote means nothing and is completely irrelevant. Lucky for him the Electoral college, or when that fails, the Supreme Court, elect presidents in the US, and not the citizens.
Otherwise the demonstrable fixing of the last two elections might be (yet another) crime in his resume if it was ever actually investigated.

20 Amazing Facts about Voting in the USA

Bush whines about being a criminal (again).

Of course Bush is blasting the federal court ruling that his wiretap program is illegal. Thank God there are still some judges out there that understand, hold to, and defend the Constitution.
I really love this section of Judge Diggs 43-page opinion from her ruling.

"The judge said the government, in defending the program, appeared to be saying the president had the "inherent power" to violate laws of Congress. "It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control," Taylor wrote in a 43-page opinion. "... There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all 'inherent powers' must derive from that Constitution."
This is as you recall, the same Constitution that Bush swore an oath to defend and uphold.

Lycos News

Diesel: Using oil to cut oil use

"The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that if one-third of cars and light trucks, such as SUVs and minivans, had diesel engines, it would save the equivalent of U.S. oil imports from Saudi Arabia."

Want to bring our soldiers home?
Want to stop terrorism and hold ALL* parties accountable for supporting and harboring it?
Want to reduce emissions and save money?

Diesel is the answer.
Once again, I challenge everyone to go to a Mercedes dealer and test drive an E320-CDI. If you don't, you have no business or right to have an opinion on diesel technology. This is what we could all be driving if we demanded it.
Power, speed, room for 6, luxury, and 37+ MPG on the highway and 27+ in the city.
Mercedes will be bringing this amazing diesel engine to the US in an SUV and crossover next year. (the ML and the R classes).
And before the Prius and Honda idiots start blathering about 50mpg claims, first off, those are much smaller, nearly useless vehicles for familes, and the Prius doesn't actually get 50+ MPG. Or haven't you noticed them littering the used car lots, and the steady decline in Prius sales?

Diesel: Using oil to cut oil use

*ie even the Saudi's

Nissan says hybrids too expensive

Nissan says hybrids too expensive
Carlos Ghosn, head of Nissan Motors, breaking ranks with some of his rivals, said building fuel-sipping hybrid vehicles makes little sense in today's world because of their high costs. Separately, GM said they have no plans for a diesel-electric Astra for the European market due to high costs, and intend to focus on high-tech diesels instead. Hybrids add about $3500 in costs.

Canada's Stephen Harper: Tales Of Incompetence and Arrogance » Shoutwire.com

It seems that Bush's little lap dog in Canada is starting to show his true colors.
While I think Harper made a good opposition leader, bringing balance and keeping the liberals from turning Canada into a paradise for homosexual, nihilistic, communist, vegans, he certainly isn't turning out to be much of a leader. He'll probably privatize everything and sell out the rest of Canada to the same corporate bastards running/ruining the US.
Where's Preston Manning when you need him? ;')
Refoooooorm!

Canada's Stephen Harper: Tales Of Incompetence and Arrogance » Shoutwire.com

Test your congressman

Here's a great, simple test you can apply to your elected representatives.
If they truly represent the people, and their best interests, then they are for net neutrality.
Any representative who is against net neutrality must be a sellout to big business.
There is no benefit to the public by not passing net neutrality laws. The only benefit is to corrupt and greedy corporate interests. Period.
There is no in between, no argument otherwise. You are either for the people, and net neutrality, or you are a corrupt servant of big business.

Check which side your officials are on at Save the Internet, and if they are planning to sell you out to big business, let them know you won't tolerate it.

Support net neutrality.

UPDATE - Here's another article on net neutrality and the various players that are trying to screw the public to line their pockets and create an Internet class system and relegate some of us to virtual beggars.

So much for the Republican moral high ground

Rick Santorum probably isn't someone I'd much agree with. And I don't like the attitude of his site, but this is typical of most sources of information. You just need to ignore the noise and pick out the useful information. There are links to a LOT of examples of the depravity that's infiltrated the Republican party. It's sickening. Not to say Democrats are pure. But the Republican party sells itself as a Godly party, representing the moral high ground. This couldn't be further from the truth. They are as corrupt and depraved as the rest.

Rick Santorum's Republican hypocrisy

More on war crimes....

As mentioned before on this blog, the administration is running scared now that it faces the possibility of war crimes charges.
This is evidenced by their current effort to pass law that provides them with retroactive immunity from prosecution. Why would they need this if no violations were committed?
The fact is that this administration purposely and intentionally decided to make ignoring the Geneva conventions and the use of torture a matter of policy. It must be pointed out here that the U.S. signed this treaty (the Geneva Conventions) which makes it a matter of U.S. Law. The Supreme court has, in Hamdan, re-enforced this fact. This makes the Bush/Rumsfeld policy illegal. Any violations of the Geneva conventions, or hague are therefore violations of U.S. Law. The administration's push for immunity law now makes more sense, especially if they already know war crimes were committed. And we already know that they were committed. Here is just one example. A transcription of some testimony in the Abu Garab investigations. Warning, this testimony is graphic and disturbing. Even more disturbing is that there is lots more of it out there.

Pupils will no longer have to be taught the difference between "right and wrong"

They've already done this in the U.S. using the blanket excuse of "Separation of church and state" which is the catch all excuse for removing all morality from society to replacing it with moral relativism.
So we stopped teaching right and wrong in school, and we wonder why this generation has absolutely no concept of honor, respect, and right and wrong. We wonder why there are school shootings, and 10 year olds committing rapes.
Moral relativism is one of the great scourges of our society.

BBC NEWS | Education | 'Right and wrong' lessons to end: "Pupils will no longer have to be taught the difference between 'right and wrong'"

US CODE: Title 18,2441. War crimes

Here's a section of the US Criminal code (US Criminal Code is what is commonly referred to as 'federal law') that talks about war crimes. This is the law of the land, and applies to every person in the country, even the President.
Note this section of the statute:
(c) Definition.— As used in this section the term "war crime" means any conduct-

(1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party;

(2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, signed 18 October 1907;

(3) which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the international conventions signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party and which deals with non-international armed conflict...

Now you'll recall that all along the administration, in particular, the President, VP, and Sec-Def Rumsfeld have tried various excuses as to why the Geneva convention shouldn't apply to the 'war on terror'. However, the Hamdan decision specifically states it does apply and that the administration cannot claim otherwise.
This was already obvious to everyone but the administration, but even they know it now.
They know it now, and they are running scared. As posted here before, they are now open to war crimes charges.
Those involved must believe they may have committed war crimes as they are now trying to pass a law to specifically exempt themselves from prosecution.

Oh, BTW, under this statute, the penalty for causing the death of a detainee is execution.

US CODE: Title 18,2441. War crimes

If you are wondering if war crimes were committed, you've had your head in the sand. This is just one source* of evidence at one location, Abu Garab. The US has (not so) secret detainee prisons around the world.

*Note, contains graphic images, not suitable for everyone.

No wonder there's so many home-schoolers.

There's a lot of these kinds of stories out there if you look for them. As if the blatant liberalism and secular humanism being pushed down kids throats in schools isn't enough...

The Memory Hole > The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Uneducated and Docile

Marshals: Innocent People Placed On 'Watch List' To Meet Quota

As if these fascist programs aren't bad enough.

TheDenverChannel.com - News - Marshals: Innocent People Placed On 'Watch List' To Meet Quota

Bush submits new terror detainee bill - Yahoo! News

Completing the conversion to fascism.

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
- George W. Bush

I'm going to connect the dots for you. I know most people want to deny even the idea that the United States is being taken over, the Constitution shredded, and converted to fascism. But the facts are inescapable.

First, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are being removed in pieces. Read through this blog for more on that.
The main methods of attack on the Constitution so far have been the so called PATRIOT act and PATRIOT act II. But there are many other attacks on as well. Now the Bush administration proposes this Constitution gutting piece of legislation.
The key concept is quoted here:
"U.S. citizens suspected of terror ties might be detained indefinitely and barred from access to civilian courts under legislation proposed by the Bush administration..." and "The administration's proposal, as considered at one point during discussions, would toss out several legal rights common in civilian and military courts, including barring hearsay evidence, guaranteeing "speedy trials" and granting a defendant access to evidence. The proposal also would allow defendants to be barred from their own trial and likely allow the submission of coerced testimony."

So now we know what they'll do. But you say, "hey, that's ok, we need to catch these people, after all, the 9/11 terrorists were in this country for years" and "I don't worry because this won't apply to me, only to terrorists". The problem is, the administration has never defined what a terrorist is. They've left it open to interpretation so they can apply it to anyone they wish.
This has already caused horrible consequences and the label terrorist has been haphazardly applied to many citizens.
Examples:

- On June 3 Brandon Turner Deaton, 21, Bishop, was arrested and charged with terroristic threats and acts after he allegedly rode a lawnmower past another man's house and shot at the man's dog with a bb gun.

- ...Also charged were a 16-year-old Hatfield boy and a 17-year-old Perkasie boy with receiving stolen property, underage drinking, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness and criminal mischief, said police. The Perkasie boy was also charged with terroristic threats.

- Vicki Sims, 67, of North 4th Street, was charged with terroristic threats and harassment on July 26.
Police allege Sims threatened to kill an E Street woman with a hammer during a verbal altercation.

There are many many more examples of this abuse of the term terrorist every day. These people will be on government watch lists forever. No-fly lists, etc.

Now, suppose that someone affiliated with a group you belong to commits a crime and is categorized as a "terrorist" like the people above. For example, some nut claiming to be a Christian bombs an abortion clinic. Or an employee of your company shoots his wife. Next thing you know, your phones, and e-mail etc. are being tapped by the NSA's illegal surveillance programs.

Daily KOS coverage on this fascist Bill.

Bush submits new terror detainee bill - Yahoo! News - (Snapshot save of link)

A hero scorned

I think the editor missed the point here.
From day one, soldiers are broken down, taken apart, and rebuilt into what the military wants them to be. They make them into followers. Trained to follow orders without question and without over analyzing them. They are taught to trust that their superiors are privy to a bigger picture and plan.
These incidents are almost always a failure of leadership, not of individual soldiers.
Many times these days we allow individual citizens to use all manner of excuses for their behavior. Anything but accountability for their own actions. Yet on the contrary, soldiers who are less accountable are held to a higher standard. Either the method of training and indoctrinating military personnel should be changed to allow individuality (probably a bad idea for a fighting man) or leadership needs to be held to a higher standard.
When leadership, from officers up through pentagon officials and ultimately the Commander in Chief fail behave in an honorable way, and hold themselves to a higher standard, then they fail to become a moral compass for their troops. A compass which they have removed through training and indoctrination. They are then responsible for being that compass.
Abu Garab, My Lai, etc. are all examples of this.

Moral relativism will be, and is already becoming, the downfall of our society.

USATODAY.com - A hero scorned