] Texas Safe Voting reviewed the videotapes of the January
] 2004 closed meetings used to review voting systems for
] certification (the videos were acquired by open records
] requests).
]
] What we saw may shock you. Here's a two minute clip, in
] Windows and Quicktime format. The clips show how the
] state of Texas examines voting machines for
] certification.
]
] A group of examiners reviews voting systems, and makes
] certification recommendations to the Secretary of State.
] You might think that these examiners would conduct a
] comprehensive testing process, assessing the voting
] machines against a set of detailed critieria and
] discussing the underlying code.
]
] But there was nothing on the videotapes that resembled a
] testing process. The examiners didn't start with a set of
] criteria to test against. They didn't even start with a
] comparison the new machines to the older versions.
] Instead, the Diebold representatives gave a demo.
] Reviewers voted on the machines and looked at the final
] output. A few of the committee members watched closely,
] while others chatted together.

This is a _must_ see.

Texas Safe Voting - Leaked Video of Texas Certification of Diebold Machines

] Y'see, Dennis Miller isn't the genius he pretends to be,
] he's that asshole you see at parties who's always making
] obscure references in the hopes that nobody every calls
] him on it. He's the guy who quotes poetry to girls and
] then feigns embarrassment for showing his "sensitive
] side". He's the guy who reads the Cliff's Notes and
] pretends he read the whole book. Miller knows that 98% of
] the time, he can confuse people with "witty" remarks that
] mean nothing like "Howard Dean reminds me of what happens
] when Steve from Blue's Clues pulls an all-night Red Bull
] and absinthe binge with the Marquis de Sade and Snoop
] Doggy Dog." Miller's shtick worked well when we was
] giving softball interviews to celebrities once a week,
] but now that he's got five hours of per week to fill on a
] news channel, he's clearly out of his league.

You should actually go to this site and click the link to Eric Alterman (liberal writer) wrecking Dennis Miller on his new show.

The Talent Show:

There were, no doubt, other mishaps that did not come to light because of the stunning lack of transparency around voting in the state. When a Times editorial writer dropped in on one Palm Beach precinct where there were reports of malfunctioning machines, county officials called the police to remove him.

[ Problems were reported in MD, CA and GA as well, and that's just from major media. eVoting systems are broken. Period. -k]

Florida as the Next Florida

] The government's top expert on Medicare costs was told
] not to tell key lawmakers about cost estimates that could
] have torpedoed the White House-backed Medicare
] prescription-drug plan.
]
] Richard Foster, the chief actuary for the Centers for
] Medicare and Medicaid Services, told colleagues last June
] that he would be fired if he revealed a number higher
] than some lawmakers said they would approve.
]
] When the House of Representatives passed the
] controversial benefit by five votes in November, the
] White House was embracing an estimate by the
] Congressional Budget Office that it would cost $395
] billion in the first 10 years.
]
] But for months the administration's analysts in the
] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had concluded
] that the drug benefit could cost upward of $100 billion
] more than that.

[ So, they lied. Again. And not in a pseudo-mistruth, beating-around-the-bush kind of way. In an outright, unprincipled, we-need-this-political-victory-at-all-costs kind of way. The bill passed by 5 votes. More than 5 people would have jumped ship had they known the number was closer to $500 B than $400 B. It's stunning how much total bullshit this administration is willing to shovel.
Also, on the heels of all this indignation over Kerry calling them a bunch of liars, this couldn't be better timing. See, dammit, you *are* liars. Bush's people lied, conspired to get a bill passed under false cost estimates, all while the main administrator was interviewing for private sector jobs (which he eventually got, jumping the HHS ship). Completely outrageous. -k]

Charlotte Observer | 03/12/2004 | Medicare cost expert muzzled

] "I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I
] don't need to explain why I say things. That's the
] interesting thing about being the President. Maybe
] somebody needs to explain to me why they say something,
] but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
]
] - George W. Bush, Washington Post, 11-19-02

[ That about sums it up right there. There are quite a few excellent (enraging) quotes from hypercons in here. For the sake of balance, i'd like to see what the conservatives would come up with if they tried a similar list. If only to confront the possibility of my own hypocracy, it'd be interesting to see what quotes they could find to demonize the liberals. I'd like to think they don't exist, because most liberals in positions of power aren't quite as insane. -k]

t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | Fish. Barrel. Boom.

QUOTE: On April 24, 2003, President Bush traveled to Timken Company’s Canton plant to promote his tax plan. In a speech to workers, he promised that the tax cut plan “means more money for investments, more money for growth and more money for jobs.”

Numerous studies have refuted that claim, showing that while the President's tax cuts rewarded wealthy Americans with tens of thousands of dollars in tax windfalls, the rest of America actually received relatively little. The average Bush tax cut for the wealthiest one percent of Americans is $938,000, reports Citizens for Tax Justice.

According to Reuters, the Chairman of Timken Company, W.R. Timken, made $2.62 million in 2003, clearly placing him in the wealthiest one percent of Americans.

Two months later, W.R. Timken co-hosted a fundraiser for Bush’s campaign in Akron which raised $600,000, and earned Timken ‘Ranger’ status (for those who raise more than $200,000 for the campaign).

Then, in September last year, Timken Company announced it was laying off 700 workers, adding more pain to one of the jobless recovery's most hardest-hit states.

[ Dude, trickle down works. That $600,000 will support at least a dozen people in the dirty-campaign-ad industry. Um, maybe one or two of those 700 unemployed plant workers can get in on the action -- sweeping the studio floor, taking out the trash, etc.

Campaign Money Watch

] The Republican National Committee is warning television
] stations across the country not to run ads from the
] MoveOn.org Voter Fund that criticize President Bush,
] charging that the left-leaning political group is paying
] for them with money raised in violation of the new
] campaign-finance law.

As if the FCC hasn't screwed up enough this administration.

[ yeah, that's some serious shit right there. i'm not gonna claim they're wrong, but it seems pretty sketchy to me. Maybe Soros should just run the ads out of pocket... "Paid for by George Soros" -k]

RNC tells TV stations not to run anti-Bush ads

] Its a sad day for Martha Stewart, her family, her company
] and her fans. We are shocked and saddened by the verdict,
] guilty on all counts. But this fight is not over. Martha
] will appeal, and we hope her fans will stand up to the
] tempest in a cuisinart which has now exploded, causing
] enormous collateral damage to her company and it's
] shareholders. Hundreds of jobs are at stake, and Martha's
] life is on the line for a crime that is rarely prosecuted
] in this manner.
]
] Martha Stewart was convicted for being Martha Stewart.
] This trial was death by a thousand papercuts as her
] entire lifestyle was put on trial with thousands of phone
] records, e-mails, expense reports and press clippings.
] While we respect the jury's verdict, we do not agree with
] the outcome. How is it that OJ Simpson was found innocent
] of murder, and Martha Stewart was found guilty of lying
] about a crime she was not even charged with?

[ God, is this the biggest non-issue on the planet right now? For fucks sake, man, i have no animosity towards Martha Stewart, i've watched her show, and she makes some pretty sweet food, you know, so that's cool. But what the fuck, she got convicted, by a jury. So, she'll appeal, and maybe win. Either way, people take this shit all personally... I think she did some great stuff, and i think we're seeing that she did some shady, ruthless stuff too. I just don't see the emotional investment in it... -k]

Save Martha! For Martha Stewart fans

] Jean-Bertrand Aristide, ousted as Haitian president on
] Sunday, told U.S. lawmakers and other contacts by
] telephone on Monday that he was abducted by U.S. soldiers
] and left his homeland against his will.
]
] Washington immediately denied this, saying Aristide had
] agreed to step down and leave his country. "It's complete
] nonsense," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told
] reporters.
]
] "We took steps to protect Mr. Aristide, we took steps to
] protect his family and they departed Haiti. It was Mr
] Aristide's decision to resign," he said.
]
] U.S. officials said that after intensive consultation
] between U.S. officials and Aristide on Saturday, he had
] signed a letter of resignation.

[ Hm. One wonders how much of that "consultation" involved the U.S. saying "So, um, sign this fucking letter, now." I can't say i know enough about Aristide or Haiti to know if it was good or bad for him to leave, but i certainly don't want to be lied to about it, either way. -k]

Aristide Tells U.S. Contacts He Was Abducted

Is this story true? Its central assumptions have never been seriously tested. There are numerous red flags in the official story, which requires a long series of highly improbable coincidences. Questioning that story is an act of responsible citizenship.

...

The WTC collapses looked suspect to me from day one. This site is a great referrence with movies and pictures to go with the analysis. Lots of eye witness accounts as well.

My thoughts: There's a photo of people walking up to the entry hole in the North Tower and looking out:

http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/evidence/photos/wtc1hole1.html

This makes me wonder how hot the temperatures were pre-collapse. Was the temperature hot enough to melt steel? And why didn't the 1975 fire, set on the 11th floor, which spread to 6 other floors and burned for 3 hours, cause a collapse?

Also of note is the antenna. It was 352 feet long, weighing 353 tons. If you notice watching the collapse video here:

http://911research.wtc7.net/wtc/evidence/videos/docs/n_tower_1st24.mpg

The antenna begins it's collapse before any other part of the building. This indicates the core failed above the impact floor first (the antenna's weight was primarily supported by the core.) A few moments later the collaps starts to manifest in the top floors, then the impact floor.

For these buildings to completely collapse in 10 to 15 seconds means everything fell virtually unimpeded, only encountering air resistance. Seismic records more or less match up with observed free fall times. Also, the symmetry of the debris cloud as the building collapsed and the symmetric distribution of debris on the ground (as indicated in the FEMA report) are hallmarks of controlled demolition.

A progressive, floor by floor collapse would not have been as clean as these falls were. Here's an enlightening passage from the Albequerque Journal:

"Televised images of the attacks on the World Trade Center suggest that explosives devices caused the collapse of both towers, a New Mexico Tech explosion expert said Tuesday. The collapse of the buildings appears "too methodical" to be a chance resul... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

9-11 Research