The Road of Bones

Support the troops.

Labels: Iraq

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 30, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Looks like the Mind Police are afoot once again.

This time they're not after the video games, or the rock 'n roll music - its the artists, the writers, and the creators.

God, I so pity today's high school students. They're about to go through something that is 10 times worse than what I experienced in the wake of the Columbine murders.

This is madness.

You don't arrest a kid for writing a freaking essay.

Labels: thought crimes

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Saturday, April 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Through the band Op-Critical, with special thanks to Justice Through Music, John Lennon lives once again.



Happy Springtime - BUSH IS OVER! (if you want it)

Labels: Impeachment

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Saturday, April 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Here you go ...

Labels: drugs

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Friday, April 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Hey campers, I've got some actionable-intel for ya!

None other than Tricky Dick (Cheney) will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma today, at the Double Tree Hotel.

For those of you who are springing into action, picketing signs already in-hand, here's the exact location.

He's in town for a fund-raiser, which begins at 11 a.m.

I bet, if you leave now (like, now), you'll be there before they're through.

Labels: Protest

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Friday, April 27, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Yesterday, something unusual happened at The News Connection.

My Editor and I conducted a drug policy debate between two groups that have never sat down at the table with one another: the D.E.A. and L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition).

Check out Battle of the Badge, online now!

This exclusive was set up by yours truly, and there will be more to come in the following months. Right now it is just a written introduction and an audio recording of the debate, but we were filming, and video will be online tomorrow.

I think you'll dig it.

Labels: drugs

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Thursday, April 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

This is John Bruhns, a featured soldier on VideoVets. Listen to him.



Support the Troops.

Labels: Iraq

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Thursday, April 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

I pray George McGovern is right about this one. In a Los Angeles Times article, McGovern states:

It is my firm belief that the Cheney-Bush team has committed offenses that are worse than those that drove Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew and Atty. Gen. John Mitchell from office after 1972. Indeed, as their repeated violations of the Constitution and federal statutes, as well as their repudiation of international law, come under increased consideration, I expect to see Cheney and Bush forced to resign their offices before 2008 is over.

Don't forget - Saturday is National Impeachment Day. Let's put on a real display for our Congress.

Labels: Impeachment

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

About freaking time.

Labels: lies

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

I have made a decision, and I'm a little unsure how to break the news to you all. Well, here goes nothin' ...

I am going to register as a Republican for the 2008 Texas primary elections. I am going to vote in the Republican primary. I am going to engage my Republican friends in an effort to help them remember what their party was once based upon.

Obama, Edwards and Clinton are, eh ... Okay.

I take that back. Obama is GREAT. The other two are so-so. Clinton, er, less-so, in my opinion. I'm not a fan of ruling by dynasty. It did not work very well for China. I do not wish to try it (again) here. Especially not two dynastic administrations in a row. God. Talk about a flashing, neon invitation for corruption.

I am going to register Republican so that I may vote for Ron Paul. I have been reading Congressman Paul's speech archives on LewRockwell.com, and I must admit, it is influencing my thinking greatly.

Long ago, Conservatism vanished from Washington D.C. It died when Ronald Reagan became President and the NeoConservative movement took hold. Then, in 1994, a push for the re-emergence of Conservatism was co-opted by those same NeoConservatives who've ruled the road since Bill Clinton left office.

It seems as though Congressman Paul has brought the defibrillator. His ethos is Real Conservatism - Goldwater Conservatism - and WE NEED IT BADLY!

Listen to this man speak and immediately you will realize how unlike the typical Republican he sounds. He's even against the war in Iraq. He's especially against the war in Iraq.

Forget this two-faced-coin paradigm. Republicans, Democrats, whateverthehellyouare, we need to look at ideas and people, not ideologies and groups. Focus on the individual candidates, and push our government to focus on individual liberty.

I have traditionally voted Democrat, Green and once or twice, Libertarian. But in 2008, I'll be casting my vote for my first Republican: Ron Paul.

He's The Man.

And as of now, he's my most-sought-after interview subject. I simply must have a conversation with him. Stay tuned.

Further reading:
Ron Paul's MySpace page
Ron Paul's YouTube channel
Ron Paul's Presidential Campaign Committee

Labels: Ron Paul

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Last night on the Dobbster's show ...



Yep.

Labels: Ron Paul

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

My State Rep, Tan Parker of Texas' 63rd representative district, has just made local Democratic precinct chairman Steve Southwell's "shit list".

Parker is the co-author of House Bill 626 which, from what I understand, will force voters to file their birth certificates with their county's elections administration. And if they do not have their certificates, the county will sell them a reprint for $23.

Naturalized citizens must have citizenship papers - $200 - or an unexpired passport - $103.

Again, this is just what I've read so far. I'll be writing about this to some extent, I believe. More research must be done. Its critics call it a poll tax, but its defenders say it will prevent voter fraud. However the bill's principal author, Representative Phil King, claims in the legislation analysis, "there is no evidence of extensive voter fraud in Texas elections".

Why that disconnect exists, I'm not sure.

I would like to have a chat with Mr. Parker. I just do not understand this.

Labels: Voting

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Wake up. The time has come.



Bring the noise, and the awakening.

What are you and your brothers and sisters going to do?

Labels: Music

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

(**Update: Its a dud. His father brought it back from Iraq, and the kid thought it would be great for show-and-tell. Don't you just love militarized society?)

Labels: America the Beautiful

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

The fastest update you'll ever read:

Cheney's in the Hospital.

He's also probably going to be Impeached. (Yay Kucinich!)

Karl is sinking. Quickly. Looks like he's gonna get Hatch-act'd!

And if you think that's hot, just wait 'till Saturday, bi-otches.

Labels: Impeachment

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 24, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

This is the sort of thing you never hear discussed on television. Yet here it is, on CNBC: admission that the North American Union - a borderless North America, united by one currency, the Amero - is real and under way.

Watch it:


Something tells me that Texans will be the most ardent critics of this scheme. I am personally undecided. If the Union nullifies our sovereignty or in any way alters or discounts our Constitution, it'll be mass dissent; chaos in the streets of every major Texas city.

And you bet'cha, buddy-boy, I'll be right there in the thick of it.

But ... We shall see which way this thing goes. Time will tell if this is in fact a mounting threat to our nation, or just the banter of a deluded elite class.

Further Reading:
Dollar collapse would result in 'Amero'
Stop the North American Union!
The Case for the Amero
AmeroCurrency.com

Congressman Ron Paul, a candidate for President in 2008 on the Republican ticket (he's not your typical Republican) had the following to say in an October 2006 speech on the floor of the House of Representatives ...

The real issue is national sovereignty. Once again, decisions that affect millions of Americans are not being made by those Americans themselves, or even by their elected representatives in Congress. Instead, a handful of elites use their government connections to bypass national legislatures and ignore our Constitution – which expressly grants Congress the sole authority to regulate international trade.

The ultimate goal is not simply a superhighway, but an integrated North American Union – complete with a currency, a cross-national bureaucracy, and virtually borderless travel within the Union. Like the European Union, a North American Union would represent another step toward the abolition of national sovereignty altogether.

That superhighway he mentions has its beginnings already under way in Texas. We call it the Trans-Texas Corridor: a highway so expensive that taxpayers cannot cover it, so our Governor made a deal with Cintra, a company in Spain, to finance the project. Once completed, Texans will be paying a foreign entity for the next 50 years, simply for the right to drive.

And that's just the beginning. Read Ron Paul's whole speech here.

(See also: The Perils of Economic Ignorance.)

I think this will become a topic of more frequent bloggings for your Humble Muckraker.

Labels: North American Union

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 23, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Democratic Senator John Kerry, whether he likes it or not, is now a 9/11 Truther. He recently stated that what happened at World Trade Center 7 was a controlled demolition.

This completely contradicts the official story. It even goes against the arguments being made by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Popular Mechanics, among others.

Watch it:


Mad, MAD props to Austin Citizens for 9/11 Truth. Simply amazing.

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 23, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

From the University of Missouri online emergency information center ...

3:45 p.m., April 18, 2007

This is a notification from University of Missouri-Columbia Police that a shooting occurred in the proximity of Grindstone Parkway and Bearfield Road earlier this afternoon in southeast Columbia. Both cars involved in the shooting have been located. In response to those who have made inquiries, the shooting did not occur on campus. The Columbia Police Department is in charge of the case.

Please God ... Not another one.

Labels: mass-murder

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Labels: Abramoff

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

A long time ago, in a city not-so-far away ...




Today, one sits and is forced to wonder ... What ballads will be belted about the sad, sad story of Cho Seung-Hui?

Labels: Virginia Tech

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

At a Denver pit-stop in 2005, President Bush had several of his volunteers eject two members of an audience that had come to see him speak. The reasoning was that the two citizens disagreed with the President's policies, and arrived in a vehicle bearing a bumper sticker that read "No blood for oil!"

So, clearly, they had to be ejected.

Flash-forward to 2007. The civil suit against the volunteers who tossed the citizens out has ended. The U.S. Government - or, at least, the Bush Administration - won.

Casper and Klinkerman's lawyers said the government has the same rights as a private corporation when its officials speak.

"The president may constitutionally make viewpoint-based exclusionary determinations in conveying his own message," the attorneys said in the filing. "So in following the instructions of the White House and carrying out its viewpoint-based exclusions, Casper and Klinkerman did not violate any of plaintiffs' constitutional rights."

"[T]he government has the same rights as a private corporation when its officials speak"???

Great. Awesome. That's just amazing.

The Italian dictator Bonito Mussolini once said "Fascism rightly should be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power."

Draw your own conclusions.

Labels: partisanship

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Blacksburg, Virginia today.

One Three Twenty-two At least 32 (Jesus!) Virginia Tech students are dead after a gunman opened fire in one of the school's largest dormitory buildings.

That's worse than Columbine.

This did not have to happen.

When will we ever find a cure for this horrible disease of loneliness?

**UPDATE(s)
I am sorry to say that the number of dead keeps going up. I'm leaving it at 32 until tomorrow. This is such an awful tragedy, I hardly know what to say ... So I won't say anything further until everything is known.

My thoughts and prayers are in Virginia.

Labels: Virginia Tech

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

In January of 2001, France warned U.S. intelligence agencies of an impending al-Qaida attack that would be carried out through airplane hijackings ... But we failed to act.

Or so says the Paris paper Le Monde.

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

The Dallas Morning News is now, officially, against the death penalty.

I'm pleasantly shocked.

Labels: death

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Great news today: China is finally bending to international pressure and is leaning on Sudan to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force in the country.

China has been the principal reason why the wholesale slaughter of millions has been allowed to continue.

And, oddly enough, we have Steven Spielberg - among others - to thank for this.

Nevertheless, we must continue working to ensure the genocide is stopped.

You may do that right here.

Labels: Darfur

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Friday, April 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

One of my favorite authors - Kurt Vonnegut - is dead today at the age of 84.

"I am, incidentally, Honorary President of the American Humanist Association, having succeeded the late, great science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in that totally functionless capacity. We had a memorial service for Isaac a few years back, and I spoke and said at one point, "Isaac is up in heaven now." It was the funniest thing I could have said to an audience of humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored. And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, "Kurt is up in heaven now." That's my favorite joke."

"During the Vietnam War, Abbie Hoffman announced that the new high was banana peels taken rectally. So then FBI scientists stuffed banana peels up their asses to find out if this was true or not."

Vonnegut will be missed.

Greatly.

**Update
I just had an awful thought.

In the last three years, three of my favorite authors have died. We've lost Hunter S. Thompson, Molly Ivins AND Kurt Vonnegut. Add 9/11, this insane bloodbath of a war, and the maniacal, increasingly-fascist Bush Regime, and you get one hell of a tough decade.

They say bad things happen in three's. Let's hope this is the last of our nation's most treasured writers to pass -- for a while, at least.

Labels: Kurt Vonnegut

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Thursday, April 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul is warning America of the "temptations of a Dictatorship" in a new article published by InfoWars.

Read it.

Ron Paul is The Man.

I'm a Democratic-leaning-Independent. But I would vote for Ron Paul over Barack Obama ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

Here's what he said about 9/11 and terrorism:

"I think freedom's been sliding for a long time and it got a lot worse after 9/11 and I'm always afraid of some concocted event that will scare the American people ... The people in this country need a little bit more reason to go along with the President, but unfortunately our leaders in this country too often have been able to provide the incident that unifies the country behind more militarism."

Here's what he said about the U.S. economy:

"Economically, the consequences will be that there's going to be a wholesale rejection of the dollar, because the world has trusted the dollar, especially since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods in 1971, when the linkage of the dollar to gold was broken, they still trusted the dollar as if it were gold, and therefore we can print the money and we can spend the money and foreign countries take our money, then loan it back to us, so they're getting a bum rap."

He warns of a coming economic meltdown, due to the simple fact that America is flat-broke. He goes on to say:

"They have already trampled on our rights, they talking about putting people in prison today without Habeas Corpus ... If we don't preserve our fundamental freedoms we can't fight back. I'm convinced of one thing: we could all be very very poor tomorrow and have to start from scratch. But if we have our freedoms and we have our sound currency and we have the government off our backs, this country would rebound so quickly."

Ron Paul: Not a Democrat, not a Neo-Conservative, Not an Elitist. 100 percent American. I'm loving it.

Labels: Ron Paul

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Wednesday, April 11, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

'Cause we're counting bodies like sheep.



Thank you, Maynard James Keenan.

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

A28 is almost upon us.



April 28 is National Impeachment Day. It is a project of The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime. You can read more about the national organizing efforts here:


For my people -- Dallas, Denton, Lewisville, Ft. Worth, Arlington; all over North Texas, basically -- the idea is to "Micro Protest". A friend and I met with the 'End the Occupation' committee last night, and funds have been distributed for the purchase of freeway blogging materials. I and a few others will also be hitting up Lower Greenville, Deep Ellum, Oak Lawn, and maybe a few other areas to distribute "Fresh 'M' Peaches".

(Basically, I'm going to buy about 200 peaches, get a few people drunk one night and have them help me draw an 'M' on every single one of them, with nontoxic ink, of course.)

We'll be promoting DallasRally.com in the process. I'm thinking there needs to be a jukebox of anti-war, anti-Bush music nearby while that's going on.

Anyway, just to summarize, I need some people to help make freeway blogs. If you're not familiar with this concept, go to freewayblogger.com. You'll see what I mean.

We'll be doing this progressively over the next few days, and it should all culminate on Saturday, April 28, early in the morning.

We should also talk about picking a number of overpasses that should be blogged.

The 'M' Peaches are another matter. I think it would be best to have an impeachment jam on April 27 - basically, a bunch of you guys are welcome to come to my place. I'll get some alcohol and eats and we can make some activist materials.

For those who cannot come, you are TOTALLY ENCOURAGED to make your own creative expression of why you want to reboot the Administration. Think globally but act locally. There's not going to be a centralized location for this protest. But if we all go out and do something that's visible, far more people will see us.

Labels: Impeachment

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

From The Dallas Peace Center ...

Dr Asma Salam, a Dallas Peace Center Board Member, is currently holding a vigil every Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm in front of the Earl Cabell Federal Building Downtown in support of the Hazahza family.

The Hazahza family's situation in complicated but in a nut shell the familly immigrated legally with visas and applied for asylum, they were denied asylum and ordered deported to either Jordan or Palestine. Both counties denied visas to the familly.
The entire family was arrested, althought the mother and youngest child were released the father and older children remain in the Rolling Plains Detention Facility in Haskell. This facility is run by a private contractor and is notorious for it's deplorable contitions.

The US Magistrate has ruled that the family is being illigaly held. However, recent legislation passed in the name of "National Security" has striped the Magistrate of his ability to force INS to release the family.

Support Dr Salam! She has left her job and committed to bringing attention to this horrific situation. Go to the Earl Cabell Federal Building at 1100 Commerce Street any weekday to keep her company, or bring her food (no pork please). You can help this couragous women, and this family which is being illigaly held, just by showing up!

**UPDATE!
Trish Major of The Dallas Peace Center sends along a few minor corrections to this post. She said ...

"She did not leave her job to do the vigil. She is a research scientist and the funding for her latest contract happened to run out at this time. She does not want people to bring her food. And the department holding the family is ICE, not INS, which was dissolved when Homeland Security was invented and started making things even more complicated."

In sum: Support Dr. Asama Salam! This is an issue of the greatest concern to us all.

Labels: Immigration

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Senator Feingold, in an attempt to counter-act Bush's veto threat against the Iraq supplemental spending bill which calls for redeployment in 2008, has proposed new legislation.

The Congress - Senate especially - is really flexing its muscle on this one. I'm glad to see it.

Specifically, the bill says ...

(a) Transition of Mission - The President shall promptly transition the mission of United States forces in Iraq to the limited purposes set forth in subsection (d).

(b) Commencement of Safe, Phased Redeployment from Iraq - The President shall commence the safe, phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq that are not essential to the purposes set forth in subsection (d). Such redeployment shall begin not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(c) Prohibition on Use of Funds - No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to continue the deployment in Iraq of members of the United States Armed Forces after March 31, 2008.

(d) Exception for Limited Purposes - The prohibition under subsection (c) shall not apply to the obligation or expenditure of funds for the limited purposes as follows:

(1) To conduct targeted operations, limited in duration and scope, against members of al Qaeda and other international terrorist organizations.

(2) To provide security for United States infrastructure and personnel.

(3) To train and equip Iraqi security services.

And it is being sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), along with Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Pat Leahy (D-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

It will get a vote in the Senate soon. I'm wondering what the tally will be.

Labels: Iraq

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

New blog feature: every week, once a week, I will post an Iraq Veterans Against the War video. And you will watch them. Case in point:





Support the Troops.

Mahalo.

Labels: Iraq

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 09, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

[warning: contains shameless self promotion]

The Lone Star Iconoclast was covering the events this past weekend in Crawford. Cindy Sheehan called it "the best Camp Casey we've ever held."

I have to agree.

Iconoclast has photos, podcasts and a couple of stories. Several of the high notes ...

Interviews:
*Debra Sweet, national organizer for World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime
*Cindy Sheehan on 9/11 Truth, MoveOn, and picketing the Democrats
*Rab Bager, a non-profit worker, on the state of "justice" for American Muslims

Features:
*The Code Pink Police deliver a "Peaster egg" basket to the President's ranch
*Crawford Peace House poet lauriet Rick Burnley
*Presentations and speeches from peace & justice groups all around the nation
*The National Hip Hop Cauccus, featuring Reverend Yearwood, Akir and DJ Chela
*Late night campfire songs at Camp Casey 3

And much more.

Check it out.

[/end shameless self promotion]

Labels: Peace

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 09, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

"I support the 9/11 Truth Movement. They have their mission. I have my mission. And I support a valid investigation into what went on, on 9/11, because I think the other investigation was totally bogus. I don't have time to be involved in it, and I don't have time to study it, but the 9/11 Truth Movement knows that I support their work.

"Everyone asks, 'Oh, Cindy, have you seen Loose Change?' Well, yeah I have, and it didn't convince me. You know? Its a lot of drawings, he-said, she-said without putting the people on the camera ... It just didn't convince me. But I know something is wrong with their findings, the 9/11 Commission's findings. When you can have people go and testify and not be under oath, overlook a lot of facts ... That is not a valid investigation."

You can hear her speak those words by clicking here.

Labels: 9/11, Cindy Sheehan

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 09, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

This is bullshit. Disinformation.

Here's what really went down ...

Labels: Peace

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Sunday, April 08, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Face it, people: American TeeVee watchers love a conspiracy, even if they are, after all, the ultimate victims of the crime.

For this reason, Rosie O'Donnel and Diane Sawyer are very smart. And brave. And soon to be extremely well known, even more so than they are now.

As The Philosopher Bono once opined, "Elevation, baby. Elevation."

They're even taking the 9/11 Truth crusade a step further. BYU Professor Steven Jones is going on the show to explain why airplanes alone could not have brought down the twin towers. They'll also be talking about the mysterious collapse of 7 WTC.

I do not watch The View. But I'll make sure to catch this one. You should too.

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Thursday, April 05, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Don't Forget about this weekend in Crawford!

Bush will be in town.

Better yet, the Hip-Hop Caucus will be throwing down the gauntlet on Saturday night. Akir from Immortal Technique's Viper Records - and all his friends with the 'Make Hip-Hop, Not War' tour - will be putting on a concert at Camp Casey, just outside of the Bush ranch, starting at 4 p.m.

BE THERE! (It's free!)

I promise, this is going to be the experience of a lifetime.

(And if you can't be there, read The Lone Star Iconoclast. I'll be providing them with regular updates of the activities. Maybe even some podcasts. Either way, it'll be a hell of a weekend.)

Here's an Immortal Technique/Akir track that will most certainly be performed during the show ...



I dig it.

Labels: Peace

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Thursday, April 05, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

On "conspiracy theories", Faux Noise's Mr. Bill O'Reilly puts up a tuff-front, and denounces anybody who might have doubt as traitorous and nutty.

Such as ... Scholars for 9/11 Truth member Kevin Barret:



But long ago, when he wasn't part of Faux Noise, Mr. O'Reilly seemed to give the "inside job" theorists a lot more credence. Only this time, instead of talking about 9/11, he's talking about JFK on "Inside Edition".



Gosh Bill, you've changed. You used to be interested in digging for truth.

I wonder what would happen if Bill from now met the Bill from then? I don't watch his show, but I'd tune in for that splatter-fest.

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Thursday, April 05, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

As of today -- April 4, 2007 -- 2,001 days have passed since September 11, 2001.

Did you see any headlines in today's papers noting the landmark?

I've got a good headline. It'd be New York Post-style, with the big, bold letters.

It might look something like this ...

HEY BUSH!


2001 days later:


Where


is


Osama?

Mahalo.

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Wednesday, April 04, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Labels: Iraq

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Wednesday, April 04, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

The best International Publication in Texas -- The Lone Star Iconoclast in Crawford -- has a new feature: Blogging from Baghdad.

Jane Stillwater, my new hero, is staying in the Emerald City, blogging regularly on The Iconoclast's Web site.

You are MISSING OUT if you're not reading her every single day.

Her latest report is about Senator John McCain's visit. An excerpt ...

What did I say to Sen. McCain? I gave him my famous "Light Brigade" speech. "I have been so completely impressed," I began, "by the quality, training, competence and skill of our troops here. They represent yet another generation in a long line of competent and capable Americans." McCain smiled and nodded his head, thinking I had finished my speech. Not.

"But," I continued, just getting warmed up, "our troops are also like the heroes of Lord Tennyson's poem, 'The Charge of the Light Brigade.' They are fighting bravely and well in a situation caused by a blunder. So why should we senselessly continue to put our troops in harm's way for a mistake?" Or in order to appease some greedy, immature Lord Nelson wannabe. It doesn't make sense to destroy a whole generation of American soldiers just to support Bush and Cheney.

Then I got down to the heart of my question. Giving McCain that special look that us moms usually reserve for recalcitrant children, I said, "And after this terrible blunder in Iraq, are you then going to go ahead and make that same horrible mistake in Iran?"

McCain's answer was brief. "No comment."

Hell of a Zinger, Jane. Keep it up.

Labels: Iraq

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Wednesday, April 04, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

FaceBook.com is part of the Department of Defense's "Office of Total Information Awareness".

They are gathering information about you, your friends, your family, your habits, your likes, dislikes, pets, political views, reading history, and SO MUCH MORE. All of it is being funneled into a massive government database, archiving the personal details of every American citizen. At the same time, FaceBook is selling your personal information to "responsible partners" for MUCH MORE than mere "market research".

Feed your mind:

Know the Ugly Truth about FaceBook and the Fascist Agenda.

Beware giving up too much information on social networks.

Labels: Fascism

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Wednesday, April 04, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

A San Jose lance corpral who was denied Conscientious Objector status on the basis that he was not a full, practicing Buddhist has been released from military service after a judge reversed the CO status rejection.

23-year-old Robert Zabala is FREE!

From SFGate.com ...

Zabala, a UC Santa Cruz student, began boot camp in June 2003. During a three-month period that summer, one of Zabala's superiors repeatedly gave speeches about "blowing s -- up" or "kicking some f- a-," which caused him to wonder "how someone could be so motivated to kill," he wrote in his court petition in April 2006.

In August 2003, a fellow recruit committed suicide on the shooting range, and the same superior used profanities to belittle him, Zabala wrote, saying he was "abhorred by the blood lust (the superior) seemed to possess."

An instructor showed recruits a "motivational clip" showing Iraqi corpses, explosions, gunfights and rockets set to the song "Bodies," by the heavy-metal band Drowning Pool. The lyrics included "Let the bodies hit the floor," and Zabala said he cried -- his only time while in boot camp -- while other recruits nodded their heads in time with the beat and smiled.

"The sanctity of life that formed the moral center of petitioner's life was being challenged," Collier wrote in a court filing.

After Zabala returned to UC Santa Cruz, he had a conversation with a fellow Marine in May 2004. "I began to think about the thousands of people who died in the past year in war, who didn't die due to just one soldier or suicide bomber, but largely by an organization," Zabala recounted. "This organization trains to kill human life."

And there will be more to follow.

Labels: Peace

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 03, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Apparently, the Brits are asking their flyboys if they'd be willing to fly suicide missions for the War on Terror.

Scary stuff, I kid you not.

Labels: terror

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 03, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

There are two particular photos shown in this video. See if you can spot the difference between them.

This is "news" to me. It should be news to everyone. The National Institute of Standards and Technology appears to be shopping a doctored photo of World Trade Center 7.

Why would they do such a thing?



**UPDATE
After watching the above video several times, I decided to look a little closer. So I read this, this, and this. Watched this, and this. And I baffled over this

One photo, showing the 10-story gash, is attributed to the New York Fire Department. So it would seem as though the NIST is not in the business of manufacturing images. Although ...

It still does not sync with this photo, taken by a nearby citizen. Both towers were already down, so any damage to the structure would have already been done.

Either we're peering into an alternate-but-parallel universe, or one of these images been altered. But which one?

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Tuesday, April 03, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

BREAKING ...

From the AFP wires:

US jets 'violate Iran airspace'

Tehran - US warplanes have violated Iranian airspace in the southwestern oil-rich province of Khuzestan, Al-Alam Arabic language news satellite channel quoted a local military chief as saying on Sunday.

"Two US aircraft trespassed into Iranian airspace northwest of (the southwestern port city of) Abadan before flying southwest into Iraq," a local Revolutionary Guards commander in Abadan identified only as Colonel Aqili was quoted as saying on the channel's website.

"The planes left white vapour trails, attracting the local people's attention," he said, without elaborating on when the alleged incursion took place.

[...]

The incident happened close to Iran's border with Iraq, where the US and British military are deployed in force.

Pray for Peace.

Labels: Iran

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 02, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Not crazy-crazy, like "Damn that chick is craaaaazy," but like crazy as in, "You'd have to be crazy to say that in public."

But if Rosie O'Donnell is doing it, then so will I ...



I come clean! I'm a 9/11 "official story" doubter. Skeptic, even. I admit it. I "confess".

Haul me off to Gitmo now, please. Let's just get it over.

I do not believe that burning jet fuel is able to melt steel. It just doesn't burn hot enough. WTC steel was certified to withstand temperatures of up to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit. Last I checked my periodic table, jet fuel - otherwise known as kerosene - has a low combustion temperature, and sustains a maximum output of 18,500 btu's. It burns at a sustained temperature of 1,500 degrees. By acknowledging this fact of our physical world, the entire story of the "pancake theory" is negated.

I also want to know why WTC 7 fell. Nobody has ever attempted to explain that to me. (**UPDATE** -- except these guys.) Rosie is asking the same questions, and for that her character is being assassinated by the likes of Donnie Bonaduce and Joe Scarborough?

She's not too articulate about her views. She's not as pointed as other, more "learned" members of the 9/11 Truth Movement. But damnit, she's got fans all over.

Anyone who can make Bill O'Reilly, Joe Scarborough AND Glenn Beck have simultaneous coronaries is a friend of mine.

Best thing is, she's not accusing Bush or Cheney or Israel or anyone. She's asking questions, whereas some of the more fanatical like to point fingers at Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld (though he was a shady mothaf***er), Sharon, et. al. That's not the way to go until there's a new, independent investigation.

Assumptions do nothing but degrade the movement as a whole. "Truth" cannot be based on "theories".

Still, Rosie raises valid points.

Why is it that nobody on television wishes to take her points to the mat? I'm sure, if she's so wrong, one of those mighty-mighty brain-men we love to love would be willing to shoot her down on the merits of her argument.

Right?

Labels: 9/11

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 02, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Here's an interesting proposal from our friends across the ocean: reclassify our illegal drugs by merit of the harm and impact to and on individuals and society.

From The Academy of Medical Sciences ...

The drug classification system in the UK is not "fit for purpose" and should be scrapped, scientists have said. They have drawn up an alternative system which they argue more accurately reflects the harm that drugs do. The new ranking system places alcohol and tobacco in the upper half of the league table, ahead of cannabis and several Class A drugs.

The study, published in The Lancet, has been welcomed by a team reviewing drug research for the government.

The Academy of Medical Sciences group plans to put its recommendations to ministers in the autumn. A new commission is also due to undertake a three-year review of general government drug policy.

The new system has been developed by a team led by Professor David Nutt, from the University of Bristol, and Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council. It assesses drugs on the harm they do to the individual, to society and whether or not they induce dependence.

A panel of experts were asked to rate 20 different drugs on nine individual categories, which were combined to produce an overall estimate of harm. In order to provide familiar benchmarks, five legal drugs, including tobacco and alcohol were included in the assessment. Alcohol was rated the fifth most dangerous substance, and tobacco ninth.


Heroin was rated as the most dangerous drug, followed by cocaine and barbiturates. Ecstasy, however, rated only 18th, while cannabis was 11th. The researchers said the current ABC system was too arbitrary, and failed to give specific information about the relative risks of each drug.

It also gave too much importance to unusual reactions, which would only affect a tiny number of users. Professor Nutt said people were not deterred by scare messages, which simply served to undermine trust in warnings about the danger of drugs.

He said: "The current system is not fit for purpose. Let's treat people as adults. We should have a much more considered debate how we deal with dangerous drugs."

He highlighted the fact that one person a week in the UK dies from alcohol poisoning, while less than 10 deaths a year are linked to ecstasy use. Professor Blakemore said it was clear that current drugs' policies were not working.

"We face a huge problem. Illegal substances have never been more easily available, or more widely abused."

He said the beauty of the new system, unlike the current version, was that it could easily be updated to reflect new research. Professor Leslie Iversen, a member of the Academy of Medical Sciences group considering drug policy, said the new system was a "landmark paper". He said: "It is a real step towards evidence-based classification of drugs."

I couldn't agree more. I personally feel our drug policies should sync with our highest and best understanding of the sciences of and pertaining to their use and abuse.

But of course, I'm a humble writer, and not a policy maker. It just makes sense to me ... If it minimizes harm, we should apply our growing knowledge-base to keeping people off the various dopes out there. If we understand them better now than when we first wrote the laws, let's update them to reflect our progress.

That's far more logical than controversial.

Labels: drugs

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 02, 2007 | Permalink | Comments

Artist David Cordero is the second entrant to the "Controversial Jesus Visage" contest this week.

His new display at the Art Institute of Chicago depicts Illinois Senator Barack Obama as Jesus.

Labels: Obama

Posted by The Gonzo Muckraker at Monday, April 02, 2007 | Permalink | Comments