John Cole: Not Much Of a Conspiracy When the Whole State's in on It

"Teacher says every time John Cole says "Fuck", another
dead guy in Mingo County gets to vote straight Democrat."

Somewhere on the road to Doddridge County, John Cole saw a donkey and converted to the Democrat party. Whether he ever completed his journey, he doesn't say because apparently Balloon Juice was having an overstock sale on "Fuck", so they rented him a carnival barker's outfit and let him have at it.

More on his catharsis from Balloon Juice:

I had meant to re-register independent (or as it is known here in West Virginia, “No Party Affiliation”) for the past two weeks after I had finally had enough of the bullshit during the Graeme Frost escapade, but never got around to it (and it really was not that big of a deal, I had made the mental commitment, which is what matters).

This last bit leads one to believe that Cole will make a fine Democrat. And by the way, in the Northern part of West Virginia, Independents are also known as "Closet Republicans". His journey continues.

Long story short, I got up there to register as an independent, said “Fuck it,” and now I am a Democrat. I certainly don’t agree with all their positions, but they are not bat-shit crazy like the GOP.

John finishes with one more "fuck" as evidence his eighth-grade English teacher hadn't failed completely in her educational endeavors.

Joining West Virginia's Democrats (who constitute roughly two-thirds of the state's voters) is a real gesture of defiance for John Cole. Halloween is the perfect time to announce such a move, as he now joins the legions of dead Mingo County Democrats that have been masquerading as Democrats voting the straight ticket there for decades.

It's a hard life being a Republican in the Mountain State. It's even harder to criticize a fellow West Virginian for switching their party affiliation. Especially one who speaks so eloquently as John Cole.

by Mondoreb



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Dennis Kucinich: The Troof is Out There

"And if elected, I can promise you a UFO in every pot..."


Dennis Kucinich, The Progressive Candidate

by Little Baby Ginn

Dennis Kucinich has been a busy guy, a busy guy indeed. Since 2004 the Democrat Congressman from Ohio has thrown his hat into the Presidential race, married a woman 31 years his junior, introduced legislation to impeach Vice-President Cheney, made calls to impeach President Bush. He introduced another piece of legislation to form a new bureaucracy, The Department of Peace, and was forced to reveal he had an encounter with a UFO.

A visit to the dennis4president website one can contribute twenty bucks to the Dennis Kucinich Grassroots Raffle and win one of their “amazing prizes.” Get a special Edition pocket copy of the US Constitution, or find out how to throw a Dennis Kucinich “House Party!”

A trip to the Official Campaign Store and for twenty three bucks you can purchase a Kucinich for President “Strength Through Peace” Home/Party Kit which includes ten buttons, ten bumper stickers, 10 rally signs, 10 balloons, and 10 lapel stickers.

Times must be hard: didn’t politicians running for office used to offer these things… for free?

From Kucinich’s bio on the webpage:

The oldest of seven children, Dennis was born in 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio to Frank and Virginia Kucinich. The family lived in 21 places, including a couple of cars, by the time he was 17 years-old. One of his most vivid memories was watching his family count out money on an old white counter top to see if they had enough for their bills. He attended Catholic grade and high schools.

Kucinich’s public service life began after graduating from Case Western University. He served as a councilman and later Clerk Of Courts. Elected as Mayor of Cleveland at the tender age of 31 his bio relates how he ran on the promise to save the city’s municipally owned electric system.

He was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1977 on the promise to save the city’s municipally-owned electric system which offered customers significantly lower rates than the private utility. A year later, Cleveland’s banks demanded that he sell the city’s 70 year-old municipally-owned electric system to its private competitor (in which the banks had a financial interest) as a precondition of extending credit to the city.

The attempted political blackmail failed as did several assassination attempts. He remembered his parents counting out coins on the dresser and refused to sell the people’s power. In an incident unprecedented in modern American politics, the Cleveland banks plunged the city into default for a mere $15 million despite being offered triple collateral to protect the loan.

Huh?

“The attempted political blackmail failed as did several assassination attempts?”

More from Kucinich’s Political Bio:

The principled stand destroyed his political career. He lost his reelection bid. He was demonized as the mayor who threw Cleveland into default.† Fifteen years later, the citizens of Cleveland - recognizing† he had saved them hundreds of millions of dollars in municipal power bills and also forced the private utility to keep bills low to compete – voted him into the Ohio Senate.†† His campaign signs featured† a light bulb and the expression “Because he was right.”† In 1998 the Cleveland City Council honored Dennis for “..having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city’s municipal electric system.”

In 1996 Kucinich’s political career and reputation as a Progressive was back on track. He was elected to the House Of Representatives.

More from the Kucinich Bio:

In 2002 the second great challenge of his elected career occurred.† After analyzing the “evidence” presented by the Administration in its rush to folly in Iraq and actually reading the National Intelligence Estimate, he stepped forward to help lead 125 Democrats in voting against the blank check for the President to wage an illegal, immoral and ineffective war.

Speaking from the floor of the House some 140 times against the war and appearing on over 100 radio and talk shows was a risky political move.† But it did not stop him.† The neo-cons and their complicit friends in media engaged in a frenzy of caustic name calling.

Wait a sec? “The neo-cons and their complicit friends in the media?” So far Kucinich is making Ron Paul look positively… normal. Kucinich’s bio is reading like a melodrama.

More from the Kucinich Bio:

On July 11, 2001, inspired by the strength, leadership and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Christ, Dennis authored and introduced legislation to create a Cabinet level Department of Peace and Nonviolence. Domestically the Department will create programs to deal with domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, racial violence, gang violence and the root causes of all violence in our society. The legislation is now backed by a national movement.

An extremely ambitious endeavor all these new programs ranging from “domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, racial violence, gang violence, and the root causes of all violence in our society.”

Of course, someone should point out that yet another Department added to our already bloated bureaucracy funded by strapped taxpayers which addresses problems which are already addressed at the federal, state, and local levels with hundreds of thousands of laws on the books…

On February 3, 2003, Dennis co-authored legislation HR 676 which he had previously proposed to the 2000 Democratic Platform Committee, to create a national health care system, Medicare for All.


Of course some might call this “Universal” Healthcare. “Medicare For All,” paid for by a few. Does this include the estimated 12-15 million “undocumented” workers who receive free healthcare without paying one peso out of pocket?

In 2004, Dennis ran for President on a platform of peace, universal single payer not for profit health care and fair trade conditioned on workers rights, human rights and environmental quality principles, only possible through the cancelling of NAFTA and withdrawal from the WTO. For the second time he presented a plan to the Democratic platform committee for Medicare for all.

Then “peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars” and the “dawning of the age of Aquarius. Aquarius!” Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

In 2005, on May 4th, British born Elizabeth Harper went to Washington, D.C. during her second week in America, to discuss monetary policy with legislators. There she had an eight minute meeting with Dennis in his office. Though neither had known of the other prior to their meeting, each instantly knew they had just met their life partner, though they had barely spoken to each other. They met by chance again three weeks later in New Mexico, declared their love and got engaged. Dennis and Elizabeth were married on August 21st, 2005.

The best of luck to the both of them. More about Elizabeth from the Kucinich site:

You will understand Elizabeth Kucinich better if you answer one question. How many 18 year-olds do you know who leave their comfortable homes to travel alone to India to work with Mother Teresa's charity?† Or another? How many 14 year-olds do you know who have lobbied their national legislature? Or a last one? How many 28-year olds do you know who have traveled to five continents to work on and organize humanitarian projects?

The answer to those questions give a sense of who Elizabeth Jane Kucinich and the dedication to service and social justice that drives her.

Elizabeth is also Kucinich’s 3rd wife and thirty one years his junior, but I digress.

The Issues

Kucinich is clearly against the Iraq War. He voted against it and against funding. He believes in diplomacy. His policy is called, “Strength Through Peace.”

How to Emerge From the Neo-Con and Neo-Liberal Nightmare of the Arrogant Use of Power
“We need to understand the connection between peace and the environment. We know that life on our planet is threatened by the twin threats of global warring and global warming. They are linked, and we have to understand that as we cognize the world as being interconnected and interdependent, we know that resource wars are passe and that the focus on sustainability will create peace.”
--Dennis Kucinich

Lovely sentiments altogether and makes one wonder about Kucinich, that perhaps he’d be better off shaving his head and donning Ghandi robes. Kucinich obviously suffers from a rather blatant Messianic Complex where if one could only teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…

Kucinich on Terrorism:

We cannot hope to end terrorism by killing terrorists. Hatred feeds on violence and killing. I understand this and am here to offer a more practical approach: to reduce poverty worldwide with bold changes in current U.S. policy. NAFTA and the World Trade Organizations have only served to increase global poverty, thus deepening one of the most virulent causes of terrorism.

Yes, of course, it was poverty that drove those men to the acts of 9/11. Well, no, it wasn’t. Bin Laden was never poor and neither were the men who flew those planes into the World Trade Towers. But no one must burst Kucinich’s Progressive Bubble on how to solve terrorism through misconceptions.

Kucinich and Impeaching Bush And Cheney

Kucinich introduced House Resolution 333 to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney.

RESOLUTION

Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United
States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of
the United States, is impeached for high crimes and mis-
demeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment
be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of
Representatives of the United States of America in the
name of itself and of the people of the United States of
America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the
United States of America, in maintenance and support of
its impeachment against him for high crimes and mis-
demeanors.

Kucinich’s Encounter With A UFO

Shirley McClaine, the women with more past lives than a Cat revealed in a book yet to be released that on a visit to her home back in the 80’s Kucinich had spied a “gigantic triangular craft, silent and observing him. It hovered for about 10 minutes or so and sped away with a speed he couldn’t comprehend. He said he felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."

How nice of McClaine to put this information out during a crucial time of Kucinich’s bid for the office of President.

To sum up Kucinich’s views on issues, Kucinich is against the Iraq War, believes terrorism can be solved by pointing the finger of blame squarely at the United States. Bush and Cheney need to be impeached and everyone should have peace.

Sources:
Dennis4President
Impeach Bush



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Things That Go Bump in the West Wing

[image:RidesApaleHorse]

"I tried my best to find a really scary pic for Halloween............THIS one scared the HELL out of me......."
--RidesAPaleHorse

Boo!



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Spooky Halloween Political Pictures:PIXELANEOUS #15

A trick-or-treat break on Halloween. Here's the spookiest pictures of people in the news we could find. From Jason bin-Laden to Evil Dick Cheney to Evilly Clinton, if you don't find one of these that scare you, you aren't paying attention to the news.


Maureen Dowd's next New York Times column?


Frankindinejad?


To her opponents, she's Evilly Clinton


No wonder they can't find Jason bin-Laden


Palestinians and Israelis alike fear the Condi Witch


Three famous witches prepare toil and trouble for a favorite foe


Everyone's favorite Nobel Prize-winning Enviromentalist

by Little Baby Ginn
& Mondoreb

See more great Halloween Spookies at Freaking News.
Yesterday's PIXELANEOUS:
Contented Cows?



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Breaking--Madrid Bombers Guilty

Madrid bombers look concerned in their glass cage

For democracies, the wheels of justice grind slowly. For terror victims as well.

The three main suspects in the 2004 Madrid bombings have been found guilty. It's taken over three years, but the murderers have been found guilty. All of the defendants proclaimed their innocence and face long, long sentences--almost 39,000 years behind bars.

More from CNN:

A Spanish court has found three prime defendants guilty of mass murder in the 2004 Madrid commuter train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800.

Five of the eight primary defendants, however, were found not guilty on the mass murder charges. Several of the five were convicted on lesser charges, including belonging to a terror group. .

One of those acquitted, according to The Associated Press, was Rabei Osman el Sayed Ahmed, also known as Mohamed the Egyptian.

Italian police provided recorded wiretaps of Ahmed in the months before the bombings in which he allegedly boasted the attacks were his "project." On the stand he condemned the attacks, denied any link and said the voice on the tapes was not his.

Each of the primary defendants found guilty of mass murder faces sentences of nearly 39,000 years -- calculated at 30 years for each of the 191 people killed in the bombings and 18 years, for attempted murder, against each of the wounded.

A good Spanish attorney may get the principles released sometime in 40,000 A.D.

by Mondoreb
[photo:CNN/AP]



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Spitzer No Stranger to Spewing Venom

An unusual source for us, but Crooks and Liars has a post on Eliot Spitzer calling Lou Dobbs someone who "spews venom".

SPITZER: Look, I’m not going to demean myself by getting into a back and forth with somebody who on TV spews venom, hate and fundamental misinformation. Of course not. He knows it.

As I said, it’s beneath me, it’s beneath my office, to, in any way, involve myself with Lou Dobbs. And I think his knowing spread of venom is beneath CNN as well.

As someone whose favorite tactic was releasing items about companies he was prosecuting to reporters, Spitzer should know a thing or two about spewing venom in the media. As NY Attorney General, Spitzer leaked information that could be spun unfavorably against the defendants by his office. He then browbeat companies into taking plea bargains to pad his kill record. His record against companies which stood up to his bullying tactics was less impressive.

As NY Governor, Spitzer is finding out that others are harder to bully.

by Mondoreb
[photo:msnbc]



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Energy Vampire: Sucks Your House's Electricity

Just in time for Halloween comes the news that homeowners have a vampire-like threat to their electric bills looming within their homes. And, like the fictional vampires, this threat has to be invited into the home by the homeowners themselves.

More on the electronic Dracula residing in your house from CNN:

A force as insidious as Dracula is quietly sucking a nickel of every dollar's worth of the electricity that seeps from your home's outlets.

Insert the little fangs of your cell phone charger in the outlet and leave it there, phone attached: That's "vampire" electronics.

Allow your computer to hide in the cloak of darkness known as "standby mode" rather than shutting it off: That's vampire electronics.

The latest estimates show 5 percent of electricity used in the United States goes to standby power, a phenomenon energy efficiency experts find all the more terrifying as energy prices rise and the planet warms. That amounts to about $4 billion a year.

The percentage could rise to 20 percent by 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

No garlic, wolfbane or crosses are needed to combat this menace. Just pull the plug. Whew! As usual--for better or worse--California was the first state to act on this threat.

In California, lawmakers passed a proposal last year -- dubbed the Vampire Slayers Act -- to add vampire electronics labels to consumer products, detailing how much energy a charger, computer, DVD player, PlayStation, microwave or coffee maker uses when on, off or in standby mode.

What else can one say? Electric boo?

by Mondoreb



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Democrat Debates:Unwatchable for a Reason

Duane Patterson, on the Hugh Hewitt blog at Town Hall must have the ability to read minds. He puts pixels to what millions were thinking:

Tuesday evening, virtually no one watched the Democratic presidential debate on MSNBC, because by and large, it was virtually unwatchable. But there was one section that caught my eye, and if you are someone who cares about the continued existence of the state of Israel, regardless of which political party you belong to, it should have caught your eye as well.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is well known for his apocalyptic speeches about how the Zion state cannot continue, how they must be wiped off the map, etc. So when a Holocaust-denying, religious zealot is in a position of importance in a country who is trying to obtain nuclear weapons capabilities, when that same country is supplying or training many of the main terrorist organizations in the world today, when that country is interfering in the metamorphasis of Iraq by supplying weaponry that has killed our troops, you would naturally conclude that Iran is a growing threat, is not showing any signs of cowering to international sanctions, and could indeed grow into a threat that will require a military solution to stop an unthinkable genocide.

Exactly. When military options are ruled out, the only options left are nagging and hand-wringing. Admittedly, the Democrats are proficient at both, but that doesn't mean either will slow down the Iranian mullahs on their way to turning the Zionist Entity into a nuclear-tinged parking lot for Syria.

For example, Democrat candidate Bill Richardson called for a "diplomatic Surge" after a speedy American troop withdrawal. Diplomatic surge? Only in a Democrat war room could such a phrase be uttered without everyone present collapsing in laughter.

What's this "diplomatic surge" going to offer the Iranians that would make them pause in their nuclear ambitions? Royalty rights to Richardson's next UFO paperback?

The Democrats are all dancing on the head of a defeatist pin.

If the other side doesn't think there's any consequences to behavior that might offend, then offensive behavior carries no penalties for them. Somehow, one guesses that Tehran will survive both a diplomatic surge and the next Dem hand-wringing offensive. Iraqi and Israeli citizens won't be so lucky.

As Patterson puts the Clintonesque "stand/clarification/waffle/today's position":

Standard Clintonian double-speak. She will only pledge to try. But if they do become a nuclear power, well, Israel, it sucks to be you.

The Democrat debates were unwatchable. In Israel and most of Iraq, they were unthinkable.

MORE ON THE DEBATES:
The Democrats debate firm stands on military options.
Edwards' take on Clinton's stand on her Iran war vote:

Asked whether he stood by his characterization of Clinton’s rhetoric as “doubletalk,” Edwards replied firmly, “I do.”

by Mondoreb



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Trackback

Michael Ramirez:What Nuclear Proliferation?

[Click to enlarge]
Michael Ramirez at IBD.

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12 All-time Great Dennis Kucinich Quotes To Start Your Morning Right

The Gipper's likely reaction to the latest Kucinich pronouncement?

Who doesn't like a good Dennis Kucinish quote? Congressman and Democrat presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's latest statement on the mental health of President Bush is just the latest in a long line of memorable quotes. We present, for your edification, a dirty dozen.

"We cannot hope to end terrorism by killing terrorists."
--On Dennis 4 President website.

"I am running for President of the United States to enable the goddess of peace to encircle within her reach all the children of this country and all the children of the world.
--Speech, Cleveland City Council (13 October 2003)

"Everyday this Administration sits on the sidelines the chance for a peaceful resolution becomes less likely. Every day this Administration sits on the sidelines more innocent civilians on all sides are dying. Every day this Administration sits on the sidelines America's already poor reputation in the world community gets worse.
The Administration seems content to sit on the sidelines as a full-blown regional war breaks out. What are they waiting for, the Apocalypse?
--On Kucinich For Congress website

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health."
"There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."
--interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board, 10-30-07.

ON SEPTEMBER 11:
“I believe the best way to honor the memory of those who died on Sept. 11 is to tell the truth of what the administration did in the wake of Sept. 11,” Kucinich said in a statement. “The Bush administration launched a war against Iraq, conflating the true tragedy of September 11 with lies about weapons of mass destruction.”
--on Kucinich for Congress website.

ON THE PATRIOT ACT:
"The "Patriot Act" is not what American patriots have fought and died for. To allow our Bill of Rights to be nullified without judicial supervision invites tyranny. The Attorney General has been handed unfettered power to wiretap, search, jail, and invade our most sacred right to privacy. The government must not be allowed, without probable cause or warrant, to snoop on our communications, medical records, library records, and student records.
--On Kucinich for Congress website.

KUCINICH's SOURCE OF INSPIRATION:
"After I lost the [mayoral] election in Cleveland in 1979, I moved to California for a while. I actually remember walking in the area around L.A. known as MacArthur Park, and I was thinking of that song and thinking of the lyrics where they talk about 'Someone left the cake out in the rain. It took so long to make it.' And it goes on, raising the question of whether I'll ever have that recipe again."
–-Real Change.org

"Mr. Speaker, the administration, through senior Air Force officials, wants the U.S. to achieve military supremacy in outer space. Dominating all earth from outer space will have an out-of-world price tag, perhaps more than $1 trillion."
--Speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressional Record (19 May 2005)

DENNIS KUCINICH, WORLD LEADER:

Furthermore, I'm also a board member of Parliamentarians for Global Action, which is one of the largest group of parliamentarians in the world, and I meet regularly with world leaders from countries throughout... around the globe.
--Real Change.org

On HILLARY and JOHN EDWARDS' ELECTION-FIXING ATTEMPTS:

"Whispering, trying to rig an election, then denying what's going on and making excuses. It all reflects a consistent lack of integrity."
--Telephone interview with CBS News
July 13, 2007
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D. OH) - 7-13-07 - speaking of Edwards' (and Hillary's) attempts to exclude candidates from the televised debates

Dennis Kucinich remarks about the open Microphones on Hillary and Silky Pony.
“Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not,” said Kucinich.

“Imperial candidates are as repugnant to the American people and to our Democracy as an imperial President.”
--From Hillary.com
July 17, 2007

Collected with love by Little Baby Ginn



DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

5.6 Quake Shakes San Francisco

It wasn't the "big one", but every time the dishes shake in California, people in the Golden State are a little uneasy. A 5.6 magnitude quake shook the San Francisco area last night.

Many Californians still have vivid memories of the San Francisco 1989 'World Series Quake' which disrupted life in the Bay area. More on this earth-shaking news fromCNN:

A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 struck Northern California Tuesday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake's epicenter was about five miles north-northeast of Alum Rock, California, and nine miles northeast of San Jose's City Hall, the USGS said. It hit at 8:04 p.m. (11:04 p.m. ET).

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

Rafael Abreu of the USGS said that a 5.6 quake was considered moderate but could provide "a pretty strong jolt."

Not much was disrupted; the trains suffered only a hiccup.

Bay Area Rapid Transit said trains were stopped for five minutes after the quake, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. reported no power outages, according to affiliate KTVU.

Another quake and life goes on in California. What else should it do?

by Mondoreb
[image:eqseis]



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Jesus 1, ACLU 0

Jesus won one.

The American Civil Liberties Union took one on the chin after a U.S. District Court ruled that prayer could return to the Indiana statehouse. The news of the ACLU's slapping-down by the Indianapolis Star:

Sectarian prayers, including those to Jesus Christ, could return to the front of the Indiana House chamber after a court ruling Tuesday, but opponents warned of a legal challenge if that happens.

The ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a defeat for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, overturned a lower court’s decision that sectarian prayers on the floor of the House violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
But Tuesday’s decision didn’t center on whether the prayers should be allowed. It focused more narrowly on whether the plaintiffs, a group of four taxpayers, had the legal standing to sue.

So the ACLU can go back to planning its next attack on issues which threaten the Republic: prayers before legislators take more from tax payers, taxpayer prayer that legislators will get tax amnesia, and prayers in general, mostly from Christians hiding under their beds planning their takeover of America from the ACLU.

The U.S. District Court ruled prayers in the Indiana statehouse are okay. And the ACLU shudders about this next step in the journey towards Fascist America. Christians, meanwhile, rejoice.

Now go out there and win another one for Jesus.

by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn
[image:Kendra Burton]



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Dennis Kucinich: "...And For My Next Trick"

"Did I ever tell you about the time the UFO..."

Kucinich Sees UFO!

More on Kucinish UFO Sighting!

Kucinich Questions Bush's Mental Health?

What's wrong with this picture?

One week after the headlines talked about how Dennis Kucinich achieved a mental connection with space aliens, Kucinich talked about the President tenuous grasp on reality? Apparently, Kucinich is trying out pilot plots for a TV movie--work he can do after his constituents tire of the "Pride of Cleveland".

When the one of the highlights of the Democrat Debate is Kucinich take on mental health, made before the debates even started, you know the pickin's are slim. They were. But the Ohio Congressman was in rare form.

The 'Mistake by the Lake'--take your pick whether it refers to Kucinich or Cleveland--returned to a height of absurdity not seen since the Cuyahoga River caught fire a couple times in the 1960s. The AP has the money quote.

"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact."

Coming from a man who communes with messengers from Outer Space, this is some condemnation.

But Kucinich has to attract attention somehow: his poll numbers seem to be stuck in the 1-2% range. That won't win Ohio even if every ward heeler on the Democrat payroll gets every dog in Greater Cleveland to vote. Next week, expect Dennis to join a seance with gypsies to ask advice on the War in Iraq from some dead Civil War general.

Kucinich asking questions about your mental health is like Elmer Fudd questioning your hunting ability.

by Mondoreb
[image:spinadelic]



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PIRATES! U.S. Navy Saves N.Korean Ship off Somalia

Pirates!

Admit it! Just the word makes blood quicken and the keys type a bit faster. Pirates are back in the news: the U.S. Navy played the part of the British Navy during the 17th and 18th centuries and rescued a ship from--Pirates!

While crew members battled pirates hand-to-hand on the ship, the U.S. also played the part of the U.S. Cavalry and came to the rescue from--Pirates!

CNN had the best lead paragraph, so we'll start there.

The crew members of a North Korean freighter regained control of their ship from pirates who hijacked the vessel off Somalia, but not without a deadly fight, the U.S. Navy reported Tuesday.

When the battle aboard the Dai Hong Dan was over, two pirates were dead and five were captured, the Navy said.

Three wounded crew members from the cargo ship were being treated aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams.

The captured pirates were being held aboard the North Korean vessel, the Navy said.

The bandits had seized the ship's bridge, while the crew kept control of the steering gear and engines, the Navy said.

Pirates!

We get the background story from The AP:

A U.S. Navy destroyer helped sailors who retook control of their vessel Tuesday in a deadly battle with pirates after the North Korean-flagged ship was hijacked in the piracy-plagued waters off Somalia, the American military said.

The Navy also confirmed that other American warships sank two pirate skiffs late Sunday after answering a distress call from a hijacked Japanese chemical tanker and said U.S. ships were still monitoring that vessel.

In Tuesday's incident, a helicopter flew from the destroyer USS James E. Williams to investigate a phoned-in tip of a hijacked ship and demanded by radio that the pirates give up their weapons, the military said in a statement.

The crew of the Dai Hong Dan then overwhelmed the hijackers, leaving two pirates dead, according to preliminary reports, and five captured, the military said.

Three seriously injured crew members were taken aboard the Williams, the statement said. The captured pirates remained on the Dai Hong Dan, which the crew was returning to the port of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.

"When we get a distress call, we help," said Cmdr. Lydia Robertson, spokeswoman for the U.S. 5th Fleet, told The Associated Press by telephone from Manama, Bahrain.

It's hard to concentrate on the wrap-up here; must be the schoolboy coming out. When one played Cowboys and Indians, Hide-and-Seek and--Pirates!

by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn
[image:myspace]



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Wile E. Pelosi and the Acme Tax Plan

RidesAPaleHorse read the story in The Hill and exclaimed, "Huh? What'd she say?"

[image & exclamation: RidesAPaleHorse]



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Mosques Sell Hate LiteratureThe UK Government is Confused Neo-Nazi Groups on the Rise?Related Stories in Great Britain

Troubling news in the air from Europe and particularly Great Britain.

Two articles are published on the same day in Great Britain. One details how the vilest of hate literature is being sold in mosques in England. The other relates the UK government's indifference or ignorance or both to some suspicious related activities. Neo-Nazi groups are on the move in Europe. Could their rise in England be far behind?

First, reporting on the hate literature distributed in English mosques from the Times Online:

Books calling for the beheading of lapsed Muslims, ordering women to remain indoors and forbidding interfaith marriage are being sold inside some of Britain’s leading mosques, according to research seen by The Times.

Some of the fundamentalist works were found at the bookshop in the London Central mosque in Regent’s Park, which is funded by the Saudi regime and is regularly visited by government ministers. Its director, Ahmad al-Dubayan, is also a Saudi diplomat and was among those greeting King Abdullah when he arrived in Britain last night for his official state visit.

Extremist literature, including passages supporting the stoning of adulterers and waging violent jihad, was also found on sale at many other mosques regarded as mainstream institutions.

Next, Member of Parliment, Paul Goodman writes about the confusion in the ranks of those watching out for the U.K.'s security here:

Tablighi Jamaat is a controversial organisation which wants to build a large mosque close to the site of the 2012 Olympic stadium. Its critics claim that it’s associated with extremism and terrorism. Ministers may have a view on these claims – but, if so, won’t say what it is.

After relating his experiences with trying to obtain some answers to the government's policy--or lack of it--he comes to a few conclusions.

First, that Ministers may nor may not have a view on whether Tablighi Jamaat is associated with extremism or terrorism.

Second, that if they believe that Tablighi Jamaat is associated with either or both, they’ve none the less not proscribed it.

Third, that they won’t say anything about anything.

And fourth, that no inference is to be drawn from the fact that they won’t say anything about anything.

Both present a troubling view: both for those practicing the commerce in hate and those who are supposed to be policing this sort of thing. It also ought to give pause to the legions who rush to condemn anyone asking questions about this sort of thing. But it probably won't.

The rise of hard-core reactionary parties throughout Europe is one result of political elites not addressing the problem of immigrants who refuse to assimilate in the societies they've chosen to live in. As long as the elites refuse to address these problems, there will be those who fill the void. This helps explain the resurgence in popularity in European White Supremacist and Neo-Nazi groups recently. Look for a similar rise in unsavory groups in Great Britain to fill the leadership void on this issue.

Meanwhile, the steady stream of British who choose to leave the island and emigrate to saner, hopefully-safer climes, continues.

Who can blame them?

by Mondoreb
[image: Times Online]



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View From the Cheap Seats: The Second Tier--How Paul, Kucinich, Richardson, Hunter, Dodd, et al. Are Doing

Elections are colorful, whether in Turkey or the USA
The view from the cheap seats: or how the lower echelon in both parties are doing these days. The new Rasmussen Poll offers little change among the second-tier candidates of both parties.

According to the Democratic poll, the second ranks look like this.

Bill Richardson attracts 4% while Dennis Kucinich is at 2% along with Joe Biden. Chris Dodd earns 1% and Mike Gravel is below that level while 12% of Likely Democratic Primary Voters are undecided.

Meanwhile, the backbench of the Republican side look like this:

Ron Paul is at 2%, Tom Tancredo at 2% and Duncan Hunter’s support rounds up to 1%. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided.

The front-runners ebb and flow with the times. No matter how much each candidates' spinners spin, little is likely to change, barring some unforeseen events, until the primaries. For Republicans:

For the seven days ending October 28, 2007 show that Rudy Giuliani earns 21% of the vote while Fred Thompson attracts 18%. John McCain is the favorite for 14% while Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are tied at 12%.

The Big Three threatens to turn into the Big Two. Or maybe just the Big One.

For the seven days ending October 28, 2007, Hillary Clinton earns 44% of the vote. Barack Obama is second at 20% followed by John Edwards at 14%.

For the second tier, hope rests in someone else dropping out, raising more money than expected or picking up a powerhouse endorsement. Anything that can help build a little momentum and keep supporters flush with hope.

If Richardson, Kucinich, Biden, Dodd and Gravel pooled their poll supporters at this point, they'd ring up less than 10%--not as much as Undecided.

If Paul, Hunter and Tancredo joined forces they'd command about 6%. Of course, Mike Huckabee's recent jump to 12% would have helped. And it did: it gives them hope that they can make the jump also.

Sam Brownback dropped out and no one in the second-tier seemed to be the beneficiary.

There's a long way to go yet. The elections are still more than a year in the future. That there's that much time left is reason for the second stringers to hope all by itself.

by Mondoreb
[image:hsingy]



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Lion Loose in West Virginia? Better Feel Sorry for the Beast

West Virginia is known for it's scenic mountain roads, its moonshine and it's lions.
Lions?
News of a new king of the wild frontier from the Houston Chronicle:

Using a video camera and raw chicken, state officials hope to learn whether the king of the jungle is prowling the woods of West Virginia.

Bow hunter Jim Shortridge believes he saw a full-grown, male African lion weighing between 250 and 300 pounds at the foot of Cold Knob Mountain earlier this month. The state Division of Natural Resources confirmed that at least one other person has reported seeing the lion.

Using a camera normally employed to catch people dumping trash illegally, the state Department of Environmental Protection has joined with Greenbrier County Animal Control Officer Robert McClung and exotic animal expert Jim Forga to see if they can substantiate the sightings.

Twenty pounds of raw chicken left on the site last week were devoured, but McClung said that doesn't prove the lion's existence.

"Anything could have eaten that," he said.

If officials do spot the lion on videotape, they may set a bear trap for the animal. If caught, it would be turned over to Forga, who runs Tiger Mountain Refuge in Rainelle, a shelter for exotic animals.

Having went to 1st Grade in Dallas, TX and lived in WV most of my life, it's easy to draw comparisons between the two locales. One of the similarities is that in either place, it's the lion that had better be afraid here.

Lots of people in both places both own guns and know how to use them. Lots of people in both places are also looking for that next can't-miss Barbeque Recipe to try on the grill.

by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn



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"Zero Tolerance" Still Means Zero Sense

The American Thinker has a post with which we are in complete agreement: the argument against "zero tolerance" policies. Zero Tolerance scores a zero, whether it's guns, drugs or whatever the subject may be.

The increasing enactment of these zero-thinking policies for 7-year-olds and other students are another sign that those in charge of education are in need of one that includes thinking skills. Examples are provided by the Thinker:

Just ask the 7-year-old in New Jersey who was suspended for drawing a smiling stick figure shooting another smiling stick figure with a gun. He reportedly also drew pictures of a skateboarder, a ghost, King Tut, a tree, and a Cyclops. These are still apparently not yet illegal acts of art.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, high school student Amber Dauge faced expulsion for accidentally taking a butter knife to school. She says that she ran out of the house to meet the bus while making a sandwich and when she realized she had the knife, she put it in her bookbag, and later left it in her locker at. A few weeks later, the butter knife fell out, fellow students saw it, a teacher intervened, and the over-reaction commenced. The knife was seized, Amber was suspended, and the process of expelling her from high school began.

Supposedly, the reason education administrators get the big bucks is because they have to exercise judgment. Zero-tolerance policies are like a color-by-numbers for those running the schools; i.e., there's not a lot of thinking involved. The losers? The usual ones, the kids.

Zero-tolerance policies haven't prevented one outbreak of violence in American schools. The policies have kept schoolchildren amazingly safe from butter knives, stick figures, plastic army men, and other kids who might make "bang" sounds while waving their fingers about on the playground. What they have also prevented is any outbreak of common sense among education honchos in charge of our schools' safety.

Zero tolerance continues to equal zero sense. It's something that administrators will talk about while deciding what traditional subjects to next chop from the curriculum. What's the chance zero tolerance policies will see a downturn in popularity among the educational elite without strong parental outrage?

About zero.

by Mondoreb
[image:imageandconcept]



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Canadian Justice? Police Shoot Family's Dogs in Front of Them

Police break in the door and shoot a family's dogs as they watch. A story of Canadian justice north of the border, from the Ottawa Citizen:

Joanne Charlebois said she was spending the evening packing for a move with the help of friends, and her daughters, aged 16 and 19, were studying with a pal, when men in helmets broke down the door of her McArthur Ave apartment.

Charlebois claims officers gave no warning before shooting the dogs, whom she says were gentle mutts who were running away in fear. They left bullet holes in the floor and a casing under the sofa.

"I heard bangs at the front door, they knocked the door in," a weeping Charlebois said. "I thought it was a joke for Halloween.

What happened next is the fear of every person who ponies up money on the American side of the border for the ACLU.

"Then click, boom, boom. My dog (Daisy) was in the air, her legs shaking. Then my dog Maxine came running to me and they blew her head off right next to me.

"They came in and terrorized my household. They killed our dogs ... I'm traumatized, my daughters are traumatized."

The officers kept asking where the cocaine and guns were hidden and tore the place apart.

Maybe it's the libertarian streak, but sometimes, you agree that maybe the ACLU is needed--even if this story did take place in Canada. Even if the ACLU's actions sometimes make you flinch.




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Count Rangula: Scary Halloween Tax Thoughts

Yesterday, we commented on the back-breaking taxing ways of Charles Rangel. And today an article by Cal Thomas confirms what RidesAPaleHorse already knew: Rangel is a scary tax bloodsucker.

Cal Thomas at Town Hall on Rangula.

Just in time for Halloween comes House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel - henceforth known as Count Rangula - with a bill that would suck more blood from the American taxpayers.

It's worth another look at RAPH's take.
As RAPH put it: We're in pretty good company.

Our original story:
10 More Reasons To Grasp Your Pocketbook More Tightly

by Mondoreb
[image:RidesAPaleHorse]

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Sugar Daddy Murtha Never Met Johnstown Pork He Didn't Like

A not-so-surprising article by the Wall Street Journal might alter vacation plans next year. Instead of Disney World, families might want to head to Johnstown--America's Pork Palace. John Murtha dishes it out and the Wall Street Journal scoops it up.

If John Murtha were a businessman, he'd be the biggest employer in this town.

The powerful U.S. congressman has used his clout on Capitol Hill to create thousands of jobs and steer billions of dollars in federal spending to help his hometown in western Pennsylvania recover from devastating floods and the flight of its steelmakers.

Johnstown's a friend in need and John Murtha's surely a friend indeed. Murtha might think about moonlighting as a spokesman for the "Other White Meat".

More is on the way. In the massive 2008 military-spending bill now before Congress -- which could go to a House-Senate conference as soon as Thursday -- Mr. Murtha has steered more taxpayer funds to his congressional district than any other member. The Democratic lawmaker is chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which will oversee more than $459 billion in military spending this year.

John Murtha might switch sides in his campaign against the War in Iraq--if the conflict could be moved to central Pennsylvania. Outspoken war critic Murtha has railed against expenditures in Iraq. Apparently, he'd much rather that more of America's interests be fought and funded in Johnstown.

A review by The Wall Street Journal of dozens of such contracts funded by Mr. Murtha's committee shows that many weren't sought by the military or federal agencies they were intended to benefit. Some were inefficient or mismanaged, according to interviews, public records and previously unpublished Pentagon audits. One Murtha-backed firm, ProLogic Inc., is under federal investigation for allegedly diverting public funds to develop commercial software, people close to the case say. The company denies wrongdoing and is in line to get millions of dollars more in the pending defense bill.

So Murtha is delivering the bacon. While he slanders Marines in Iraq, he ladles out federal slop to military projects that don't benefit anyone but those working in his 12th District.

The Marines Murtha leaped to attack at Haditha might have gotten a fairer hearing if they'd strapped pork chops onto their backs.

by Mondoreb



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Contented Cows? PIXELANEOUS #14

Take a mid-morning break and peruse these images from the rural life.


Cow pie Bingo.


Man's best friend?


Advertisement for cow tatoos?


A non-contented bovine.


Cow Amooore?

Contented?
Okay, back to the grind.

by Mondoreb
Yesterday's PIXELANEOUS
Forces of Nature!
[images #5:wmwhittaker]



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