"If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn't be any goddamn wars in the first place."
---Sally Field


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TIMETRAVEL
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TIMETRAVEL is possible? --This subject fascinates EVERYONE! It's no longer SCIENCE FICTION.
I offer my own personal thoughts with a complete essay. I concentrate on the only possible circumvention of PARADOX; the "Many Worlds" interpretation first postulated by Hugh Everett III in the year of my birth.
I hope you will find healthy speculations with my self educated considerations of the steadfast necessity in quantum physics, "anything that can happen, does happen".
Read it with an open mind. I guarantee it to be A TEMPORAL BRAIN DRAIN!
TIMETRAVEL RESPONSES
RESPONSES TOO

They're all here! 48 pages currently - spanning over 8 years!
There are no answers, only very good questions, which reflect the speculative nature of the possibility of timetravel.
I take on the tough questions FROM ALL OVER THE PLANET as this site evolves.
I argue strongly for the cumulative and SUBJECTIVE experience that TIMETRAVEL would certainly have to be.



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Winner 2007



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"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

"I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."

"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said, "There's a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."

"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"

-Reported by Doug Thompson re an 11/05 meeting with congressional leaders on the Patriot Act.
THAT PESKY 4TH AMENDMENT TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION


"A bush Man"






When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.
Sinclair Lewis


Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator



"Unlike other two-term presidents, Bush hasn't grown in office.... He's demonstrably diminished, dwarfed by the reality that he continues to deny and repeating himself in press conferences like a robot whose wiring is on the fritz, for whom words and phrases are nothing more than pre-programmed units of sound. He's more irritating and dangerous than ever before, because he doesn't know anything, doesn't know or care that he doesn't know anything, and yet persists in a path of destruction as if it were the road to salvation. It's finally dawned on responsible minds that Bush could take all of us down with him before he and the neocons are through."
---James Wolcott


I will not comment on an ongoing investigation.

I'm commuting Libby's prison sentence. It's too harsh.

I'll no longer discuss Libby's commute. Its time to move on.




"I think that basically the price is determined by the marketplace and that's the way it should be... Consumers socked with soaring energy costs should not expect price breaks..."
--george W. bush, February 2006


There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.

John Adams



"Start a small war. Pick a country where there is justification you can jump on, go ahead and invade."
---Dick "deferment" cheney



"We put in more troops to get to a position where we can be in some other place. The question is, who ought to make that decision? The Congress or the commanders? And as you know, my position is clear -- I'm the commander guy."
---The DECIDER, Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007




"The truth is useless. You have to understand this right now. You can't deposit the truth in a bank. You can't pay rent with the truth. You can't buy groceries with the truth. The truth is a useless commodity that will hang around your neck like an albatross-all the way to the homeless shelter. And if you think that the million or so people in this country that are really interested in the truth about their government can support people who would tell them the truth, you got another think coming. Because the million or so people in this country that are truly interested in the truth don't have money."
---Jeb bush



Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.

Mark Twain


Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country. ---Hermann Goering, Reich-Marshall for Hitler, at the Nuremburg Trials after WWII




"The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him judgement by his peers for an indefinite period, is in the highest degree odious, and is the foundation of all totalitarian governments whether Nazi or Communist."

-------Winston Churchill




"The only difference between [George W.] Bush and [Adolf] Hitler is that Hitler was elected."

-------Kurt Vonnegut


"It's unacceptable to think that there's any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective."
---george W. bush




"The United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example. I call on all governments to join with the United States . . . in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture."
--george W. bush,
JUNE 26, 2003



"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."

Joseph Stalin


bUSH IS A LIAR!!!


The typical bush speech:
The strut:
The crony applause:
The gloating césure for approval:
The suck-up ass kissing session:
And then the lap dog press goes into action...




"I think I'd just commit suicide if Democrats take control of the Senate."

--John McCain
ACTUAL QUOTE


"I was told that they had people ready to tackle me if I tried to get close to [President Bush] ... Republicans can party almost as much as porn stars … I was getting propositions to have threesomes with wives or mistresses, I was offered money from oil tycoons … I am a fully converted Republican now."

---Porn star Mary Carey on attending a Republican fundraiser hosted by President Bush


"Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church's public marks of the covenant -- baptism and holy communion -- must be denied citizenship, just as they were in ancient Israel."

--Gary North, a george W. bush "Reconstructionist Shepherd"


"Theocracies are happy places to which people flock because capital punishment is one of the best evangelistic tools of a society."

--Rev. Ray Sutton, a george W. bush supporting theologian

SEE Bush said he 'preciates folks dyin' for the cause.










Did you know that the 25% of the United States of America's adult population that support the bush regime also support the removal of their own rights and intrusion into the private lives of its citizens, the usurpation of laws of the U.S. Constitution, the illegal occupation and subjugation of other countries and their citizens, the torture of human beings in violation of the Geneva Convention, the mass murder of human beings, the theft of our nation's wealth and believe the constant barrage of LIES, fearmongering and endless warmongering?

THAT is what kind of world we're living in and the kind of people we're forced to be around these days!





bush. Elvis bush.


MURROW->OLBERMANN

The New Voice Of The True Patriots Of America




"THE MONSTERS ARE DUE ON MAPLE STREET"




"...Pain or damage don’t end the world, or despair, or fuckin’ beatings. The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man — and give some back."
---Al Swearengen


WATCH IT:


















"Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it."

"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."

"If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately."

"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. 'Tis dearness only that gives everything its value."

-----Thomas Paine




"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation enlightened as it is if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men."

-------Samuel Adams






There were, by my count, no less than twenty different moments in the last few days where George brought shame and disgrace upon this country. He did not do this by being too tough, or too soft, or too strident. He did this simply by being himself. His head is an echo chamber where very stupid bats roost. He has the intellect of a bag of rocks. Maybe it's impolite to say this, but it has to be said. ----William Rivers Pitt on George Bush's attendance at the G8 Conference, 2006









Find out about the unnecessary TORTURE and CRUELTY by clicking HERE
and then BOYCOTT these M-FERS!


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"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else"
---Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States










"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

-------Ralph Waldo Emerson


Chuck
Name:Chuck
Location:Athens, OHIO











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see his Memorial Day blog entry HERE
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McClatchy Washington Bureau
Progressive Daily Beacon, The
SIBEL EDMONDS OFFICIAL SITE
UNKNOWN NEWS
WTF Is It Now?
zFacts.com


(more external blogs & sites at the bottom)




PART 2 ENTRIES


October 2007

  • October 26 NATIONAL PROTESTING OF bUSH & cHENEY CONTINUES
  • October 25 It's not that we're letting this happen,
  • October 23 WORRY
  • October 20 More. WORSE. Everyday now. With 15 months left.
  • October 18 If It's THREE DIRTY BOMBS (even if they are pretend)...
  • October 14 PIGS STILL DON'T KNOW PIGS STINK
  • October 12 War Crimes, Prizes And Love
  • October 9 HERE'S THE TRUTH: We took the wrong path.
  • October 6 It is TOTALITARIAN: No Wonder We're Upset
  • October 2 BLACKWATER: Pinkertons Of The 21ST Century?
  • October 1 BLACKWATER More And Worse


  • September 2007

  • September 30 Is Edwards Toast?
  • September 28 Dennis Kucinich Blackballed, bush Says TO HELL WITH OUR CHILDREN, Blackwater Still In Iraq
  • September 26 You may not speak of this.
  • September 25 If They Weren't Murdering People
  • September 24 All This And The Dark Lord Too
  • September 23 How's It Going Out There?
  • September 22 Back And Forth
  • September 21 FREE SPEECH IN THE U.S. WILL COST YOU 50,000 VOLTS, A BEATING, AN ARREST AND CASH.
  • September 20 NEWS DELIVERY (this is non-fiction)
  • September 18 Dennis Kucinich would be a great president.
  • September 17 American Gestapo- Coming To A City Near You
  • September 16 I'm guessing the tyranny will continue Monday.
  • September 12 INSULT FARCE OUTRAGE
  • September 10 SIX YEARS LATER
  • September 9 bUSH WILL ADDRESS THE NATION ON SEPTEMBER 13
  • September 9 Roundup Training For Little Pigs
  • September 8 Everything Is RIGHT ON TRACK
  • September 5 Need Some More?
  • September 3 Their Dear Leader
  • September 1 Clinton leads, Edwards battles on.


  • August 2007

  • August 28 Stay The Course...some more
  • August 27 HE'S GONZO
  • August 24 NOT COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU
  • August 22 SPIN THESE
  • August 17 John Edwards can't get a break
  • August 16 OVERLOAD AGAIN
  • August 14 Rove: CONSUMMATE STRATEGIST - BIG LEAKER
  • August 11 10,000 WORDS Part 1
  • August 7 BEWARE THE SAVAGE JAW Part 2
  • August 6 SUMO MERRIMENT! HORROR IN THE CONGO!
  • August 6 The Future Was Yesterday: Unfiltered From The Front
  • August 5 HUMAN PAIN CREATED BY THE INHUMAN DUO
  • August 3 We are now 75%. We have 51% representation in our government. It takes 66% to get ANYTHING done. REMOVE THE REPUBLICANS!!!


  • July 2007

  • July 30 THE "D" WORD
  • July 28 It's A Marathon At LEFT OF CENTRIST!
  • July 26 ANOTHER SUBPOENA Another Investigation
  • July 25 IN THE WORKS
  • July 24 Cindy Sheehan Has Been Arrested Again
  • July 22 NOT ONE MORE MAN
  • July 21 OUTRAGEOUS ABUSE OF THE LAW
  • July 18 To The Bidding Of The "Leaders"
  • July 17 WARMONGERING & FEARMONGERING YEAR 5
  • July 13 DAILY bUSH.cHENEY CARNAGE
  • July 10 Brown Shirts, BLACK HEARTS
  • July 8 WHY I SPEAK OUT AGAINST THESE CRIMINALS
  • July 6 Join John!
  • July 5 Left In Aboite: We, the people, want impeachment NOW#links#links#links
  • July 3 Pardon me, but...


  • June 2007

  • June 27 DOUBLE TAGGED
  • June 23 Will We Get A Real President In 2008
  • June 22 bUSH TANKS! to a new record low
  • June 19 Is There A Connection?
  • June 17 FATHERS DAY 2007
  • June 15 HOW THE OIL & POLITICAL PROFITEERS GOUGE YOU EVERYDAY
  • June 12 UNITARY EXECUTIVE=YOUR NEW DICTATOR
  • June 10 When In Rome...Do As You Always Do
  • June 8 WARMONGERS STEP IT UP A NOTCH. Maybe Congress Will.
  • June 6 bUSH NEEDS TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR
  • June 5 Staying The Course: bush Style
  • June 3 "Drink to the 'men' who protect you..."
  • June 2 Where Do I Start? By Saying Its Not Going To End Soon?


  • May 2007

  • May 31 LAST LIBERTY: Slated for removal May 11, 2008
  • May 29 CREATIONISTS=DUMBASSES
  • May 28 MEMORIAL DAY 2007
  • May 25 Lots Of Observation. Some Questions. NO ANSWERS.
  • May 23 DON'T BLINK - You'll Never Catch Up
  • May 22 BUILDUP AND CAPITULATION
  • May 20 DISCONTENT IN bu$hmeriKa
  • May 17 GREAT GASOLINE GAMES
  • May 11 GRIDLOCK
  • May 10 QUAGMIRE! QUAGMIRE!
  • May 8 OTTO SKORZENY Tempts My Open Mind
  • May 6 OBSCENE GASOLINE PRICES
  • May 3 JOHN EDWARDS Continues To Stand And SPEAK OUT!
  • May 2 John Edwards - GWOT and...GREAT NEWS!


  • April 2007

    ABSENT - NO ENTRIES!

    March 2007

  • March 10 Its Still bush Overload


  • February 2007

  • February 5 BILLIONS & TRILLIONS
  • February 1 MOLLY IVINS HAS PASSED


  • January 2007

  • January 23 UNNECESSARY DEATH...All Day Everyday
  • January 21 Collectively, Babies Know...
  • January 16 THE JOHN EDWARDS CAMPAIGN IS UNDER WAY
  • January 15 EXCUSE ME...
  • January 12 KEITH OLBERMANN: The Patriotic Voice Of America
  • January 10 Now Comes The Latest Prime Time LIE. And It's Going To Be A Big One.
  • January 7 Will The Crowd Get Ugly In 2007? BRING OUT THE GOOD-BYE WEAPON!
  • January 5 bush: More Occupation In Iraq, More Invasion Of Privacy In The U.S.


  • December 2006

  • December 30 VILLAIN OF THE YEAR...george W. bush
  • December 29 In 2007 bush Will Still Be A War Criminal And A LIAR
  • December 23 HOLIDAYS & FAMILY
  • December 22 I can think of a lot more...
  • December 19 John Kerry's 2008 Presidential Campaign
  • December 13 The Decider Is Making Decisions
  • December 7 A Day That Is Living In Infamy
  • December 2 bush's New Iraq Plan - BLAME THE DEMOCRATS


  • November 2006

  • November 30 bush as opposed to decency
  • November 24 CRIMINAL
  • November 22 T Minus 3 hours 45 minutes. HAPPY THANKSGIVING
  • November 20 NO EASY WAY OUT
  • November 18 There Will Be No Cooperation...No Biparisanship
  • November 14 boyking quickly returns to "normal": STRUT, SMIRK, ARROGANCE.
  • November 12 Cindy Sheehan Writes Another Letter To George
  • November 11 Say One Thing. Mean Something Else.
  • November 10 CRIMINAL PROSECUTION: Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld And Others
  • November 10 THE LOYALISTS STILL HATE THE PATRIOTS
  • November 9 CONGRATULATIONS DEMOCRATS! THANK YOU VOTERS!
  • November 7 VOTE! For The Democrats. Against The Regime. Then Relax.
  • November 4 EXPONENTIAL DEGRADATION And The Opportunity For The Cure.
  • November 4 Name The Corrupt Republicans In One Breath - $100
  • November 3 MID-TERM ELECTIONS: In 4 Days We Will Know
  • November 1 Final Entry (I think) On The Mid-Term Elections


  • October 2006

  • October 29 bush And The Good Ole Rubber Stamp Boys
  • October 27 Rove Appears, Polls Turn Inside Out Overnight
  • October 26 bush campaign tools 2006
  • October 25 I'd rather take a break today
  • October 24 Congressional Elections- A REFERENDUM ON bUSH/IRAQ/ECONOMY
  • October 22 mid-term elections in 15 days...VOTE! FOR CHANGE!!!
  • October 21 blood=red / red=republican
  • October 19 GOOD WILL showed goodwill
  • October 17 Unchecked, The Fortunate Son Builds His Empire
  • October 14 bush Campaigns. Ney Pleads Guilty. Baghdad Burns.
  • October 11 The CHAOS That Is The Republican Party
  • October 9 ABRAMOFF - WHITE HOUSE STUNNER (and more)
  • October 8 CONGRESS - bUSH Implosions / The THREE Senate Races
  • October 7 bush And Republicans Tubing In The Polls
  • October 5 WORLD CAN'T WAIT day!
  • October 4 REAL RANT DAY: FoleyGate/School Shootings
  • October 2 SENATE RACE UPDATE
  • October 1 Its Still The CONSTITUTION


  • September 2006

  • September 30 The Latest REPUBLICAN Pedophile
  • September 26 OLBERMANN 4 - bUSH 0
  • September 24 Signs Of The Approaching Mid-Term Elections
  • September 20 Greeted as liberators...
  • September 19 My Predictions For The U.S. Senate Race Of 2006
  • September 16 bUSH - A THREAT TO HUMANITY
  • September 14 Baghdad Under bush - THE LIE CONTINUES
  • September 13 A 9/11 Education Of FACTS & QUESTIONS
  • September 12 The Long And The Short Of It
  • September 11 FIVE LONG AND HARD YEARS ARE BEHIND US...
  • September 10 ONE SICK MONKEY
  • September 9 ABC May Pull Path To 9/11
  • September 8 His Gift Of FAILURE Is For All Of Us
  • September 6 Let The Mud-Slinging, Debates, Lying & Promising Begin!
  • September 3 BULLHORNS AND NATIONALISM Five Years Later
  • September 1 IMPEACH!!!


  • August 2006

  • August 30 Vacation. All I Ever Wanted.
  • August 28 AN ARTICLE YOU WON'T SEE IN THE U.S. MEDIA
  • August 25 IN RETROSPECT Up To This Point
  • August 24 Troops Ordered Back...TO ACTIVE DUTY
  • August 20 STRIKING THE EMPIRE BACK
  • August 18 Republican SUV Humor
  • August 16 MAJOR BREAKING NEWS
  • August 16 U.S. Fighter Jets Ordered NOT To Stand Down Today
  • August 15 REMAIN TERRIFIED! The Failure Of Fearmongering.
  • August 12 Regime. By bush.
  • August 10 TERROR! TERROR! RED ALERT!
  • August 9 ALL RELEVANT. ALL THE TIME.
  • August 7 BEWARE THE SAVAGE JAW
  • August 2 From BAD To WORSE


  • July 2006

  • July 31 "LOCOMOTIVE BREATH"
  • July 27 "America: Freedom To Fascism" TOMORROW
  • July 25 Shame, Death and End Runs Around The U.S. Constitution
  • July 24 duh-bya duh-bya 3
  • July 16 Updated bush Resumé
  • July 15 That Creeping Fascism
  • July 14 Lovin' Every Minute Of It
  • July 13 War Crimes, Explosions and Pigs
  • July 12 ROVE DID IT, but SURPRISE! No charges will be filed.
  • July 11 THE ACTIONS OF A DICTATOR
  • July 9 It Happened Here. Is It Happening There?
  • July 8 NEOCONJOB BACKFIRING
  • July 7 Who's Free? Osama Or You?
  • July 5 OUT OF CONTROL: Kim Jong Il
  • July 4 July 4, 1776: Free From KING GEORGE 1 !
  • July 3 Dominate, Terrorize, Coerce


  • June 2006

  • June 30 bUSH'S PERFECT AMERICA
  • June 29 ABUSE OF POWER - Congress Debates bush Move to Strengthen His Push Towards A Fascist State
  • June 27 bUSH CALLS FREEDOM OF THE PRESS DISGRACEFUL!
  • June 25 More LIES Are Being Uncovered, But Slower Than Your Rights Are Being Removed
  • June 24 Somebody Wants To Be A Dictator. Is It gEORGE W. bUSH?
  • June 23 North Korea's Kim Jong Il. Oh Boy!
  • June 21 THEY'RE DEAD. bUSH ON EUROPEAN TOUR.
  • June 16 AL GORE RESPONDS
  • June 15 SIBEL Still Fights!
  • June 13 HOLIDAZE IN MISERY
  • June 12 I'm Locked Out & (M)Ann Coulter Is Unchecked
  • June 10 Let's Go Back To The ELECTION THEFT(S)
  • June 7 MMM Ann Coulter: Another Hairball From The Husky Throat
  • June 5 THE DECIDER
  • June 4 And So It Goes... WELCOME BACK!
  • June 3 Was The 2004 Election STOLEN?
  • June 1 VOTE FRAUD BREAKING NEWS!


  • May 2006

  • May 31 THE GASOLINE GAME
  • May 29 Hand picked audiences / LIES & PROPAGANDA / DEATH & DESTRUCTION / COVER UPS & SCANDALS
  • May 22 bu$hmeriKan News. All bad. All the time.
  • May 19 Rove Dive
  • May 17 Is this our path?
  • May 15 Spying & LYING With An Ulterior Motive
  • May 12 Pissed Cos I Know The Truth




  • PART 1 ARCHIVES

    Divided States of bu$meriKa 1
    &
    Wake Up America! archives from February 2004 thru March 2005
    (GeoCities & TodaysGraze were not backed up)

    FEBRUARY 2006
    -
    APRIL 2005


  • February 3-February 22, 2006
  • Bikes, Segways, Pretzels & Post-it Notes:

    Year 5 Month 2 Sunday news

    STRUT+SPY+CUT+LIE=bUSH, The War Pretendent

    Halliburton/KBR Taking Over REX 84?

    Abramoff Tells Us bush Is A LIAR

    I've returned...




  • January 16-January 31, 2006
  • GORE BLASTS bUSH!

    Al Gore Pulls No Punches: U.S. In SERIOUS TROUBLE!

    GORE RESPONDS and so does bush...for his wife

    From Where I Watch...Catching Up

    SAME OLD THING: More LIES And Fearmongering From bUSH

    _ _IT CONTINUES

    World Domination

    bUSH REGIME BANGING HARD ON EVERYONE

    bush As SPY, bush As LIAR

    Despite Innumerable Scandals, LIES And Deception, bush AGENDA Moves Forward

    I HAD TO




  • January 1-January 15, 2006
  • And so the New Year begins...

    Bringing In The NEW YEAR With The Latest BLOG-O-RAMA

    ABRAMOFF Pleads Guilty

    IF YOU WANT TO BE INFORMED...

    Now Comes Christiane Amanpour

    GROWING FASCISM: bUSH STYLE

    SIBEL EDMONDS - Director, National Security Whistleblowers Coalition

    FILIBUSTER Time In The D.C. Bunker

    Do you think you had a bad day?

    GRAND JURY: Its Still Karl Rove. We're Busy.

    EMPIRE: The Molding Of bu$hmeriKa Continues

    NAZI? REPUBLICAN? GESTAPO? NEO-CON!

    True PRESIDENT To Beat On PRETENDENT

    DIVIDED: Pitting us against each other. Don't trust them.




  • December 19-December 31, 2005
  • Senator Reid Continues To Stand

    LIES, PROPAGANDA, TORTURE, "SECRET" PRISONS

    There's More. There's ALWAYS More. And That's Still Not All!

    BASHING bUSH: A New Holiday Tradition

    POLITICAL TRUTH = BIG LIE!

    His Imperial Majesty, KING gEORGE

    And Now These IMPORTANT MESSAGES

    Here's Where I Stand:

    2005, A YEAR OF TYRANNY, Draws To A Close




  • December 3-December 18, 2005)
  • WARMONGER HARD SELL (December 3, 2005)

    YOUR I.D., CITIZEN! (December 6, 2005)

    TOM DELAY, et al (December 8, 2005)

    gEORGE THE LESSER'S December LYING Tour (December 13, 2005)

    bUSH: Compounding The LIE (December 15, 2005)

    A Tip Of The SECRECY (December 18, 2005)




  • November 16-November 29, 2005
  • Surprise! bUSH Caught In Yet Another LIE!

    An American Embarrassment, born 11/02/00

    Slapping The "UNTOUCHABLES"

    bUSH DESPERATE, cHENEY STILL SNARLIN'

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO THE CYBER RESISTANCE!

    CESSPOOL CLEANING CONTINUES




  • November 1-November 14, 2005
  • PANDEMIC! And the bush plan - LET IT KILL THE POOR!

    The WORST And Most HATED White House In History

    LIES, Hate, Mistrust, Secrecy, Intrusion, Cover-Ups, Indictments, Corruption, Invasion, Arrogance, Occupation, DEATH

    A GOOD DAY

    30-50 WW1 Veterans Left Alive LLOYD BROWN SALUTE

    BLOGS YOU SHOULD BE FREQUENTING

    COUNTER ATTACK

    STAY INFORMED




  • October 20-October 31, 2005
  • Does A LIAR Feel Pressure?

    FACADE OF COMPETENCE

    bUSH USES AND LOSES YOUR MONEY

    cHENEY From Libby To Tenet, DON'T TELL ME bUSH & rOVE Will Skate!

    ENDLESS WAR, LIES, DEATH AND CONSTANT CORRUPTION

    A Day For The History Books

    HALLOWEEN: A bu$hmeriKan Celebration

    The REAL Weapons Of Mass Destruction




  • October 3-October 17, 2005
  • HURRICANE gEORGE CONTINUES TO POUND U.S.

    Duh-bya: Mr. Humanity

    MOB BOSS? GOD'S CONDUIT?

    Down And Out Of Spin

    NO POSITIVE NOUNS OR ADJECTIVES FOR bUSHco

    DEEP AND WIDE: Scandals And Numbers

    HARRIET ROVE GASOLINE FLAK FLU=bu$hmeriKa

    Is Libby Shaking? Is Rove Still Confident?




  • September 17-September 30, 2005
  • REVOLT IMPEACH OVERTHROW...Anything But This

    A heckuva job BLOWING IT

    Breaking News And More Of The Same

    Sinking Ship?

    BIANCA? SIBEL!

    There's More Than You Know To PROTEST!

    The Aftermath Of DC - bush Is Safe

    It's Almost Funny. ALMOST.

    REPUBLICAN CESSPOOL




  • September 1-September 15, 2005
  • POLICE STATE

    What The Hell Is Going On In NEW ORLEANS?

    THE GULF COAST updating daily...

    GULF COAST COWBOY

    OUTRAGE Grows For The Arrogant Strutter

    Aaron Broussard EMOTION

    Broken...For A Long Time Now

    The 9/11 LIARS Of 2001

    Do You Know What To Do When Your Enemy Is Down?

    Around The Blogs Again!




  • August 18-August 29, 2005
  • TRUTH BLVD. JUST AHEAD

    David Bowie called it...

    The LIES And The Too Late AWAKENING

    I'LL JUST SAY IT --->

    ummm...9/11 uhhh...9/11

    Diversion #500 Coming Right Up

    The Gas, The Ass and The Torture

    PARENTS!

    Instability and Fibber MCLIAR

    PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2008 early thoughts




  • August 2-August 15, 2005
  • rOVE FADES, BOLTON RE-APPEARS, SALARIES INCREASE, DEATH CONTINUES

    MORE DEAD IN OHIO

    STAND

    Doesn't Oatmeal Stretch Hamburger?

    GOLD STAR FAMILIES, CODE PINK, et al

    WHEW!

    MORE SHIT, DIFFERENT DAY

    Let Me Point Out The Obvious

    TAKE A LITTLE MORE (and like it)




  • July 16-July 31, 2005
  • I Got Yer Fascist Pig!

    A Little Fraud Here, A Little Treason There.

    bush VOWS. bush SIDESTEPS. Wordplay.

    MISCELLANEOUS

    James Doohan, THANK YOU.

    SCANDAL. LIE. DIVERT. SMIRK.

    NEW WORLD DISORDER

    The Machine Springs A Leak.

    BUNDLERS, SHAKEDOWNS & Continued Corruption




  • July 8-July 15, 2005
  • RELAX. Republicans Are In Charge.

    Is It Criminal When They Do It?

    Generational Crime Syndicate?

    Pseudo Compassion. Absolute Corruption.

    'Preciatin' The 'MuriKans

    The Fall Of Rome - Part 2

    Credibility DROPPING - TurdGate JUST BEGINNING




  • July 1-July 7, 2005
  • King Of The Americas. Emperor Of The World

    WITHIN. WITHOUT. As I Predicted.

    Blue Resistance. INDEPENDENCE DAY.

    STRAP HIM WITH AN AK-47.

    Desperation & Fluff.




  • June 16-June 30, 2005
  • As The LIAR'S Ratings Sink

    Conyers et al At 1600 BUNKER AVENUE

    Is It A Pre-response To The Downing Street Memo?

    Necessary Pressure, Unnecessary Pain

    Well that's...

    I'm Back In November 2004 - AGAIN!

    Pending OVERT Action!

    Yes, We're HATED Worldwide

    Inform Yourself PASS IT ON

    Pandering To And For The Gullible




  • June 2-June 14, 2005
  • Leaking On The Dynasty, Flirting With Mortality

    A VIEW OF THE PLANET bUSH

    OBSCURITY TO THE FRONT, PLEASE

    duh-bya INTERPRETATIONS, 2005 Timeline B

    Will It Blow Up In His Face (THIS TIME)?

    I Feel A Draft In bu$hmeriKa




  • May 20-May 31, 2005
  • PAUSING For Bits Of Wisdom...

    HOPE Is Realized Today

    WELFARE TRAP: The Poor Stay Poor

    TEMPORARY ABSENCE

    GULAG

    Around The Blogs




  • May 7-May 19, 2005
  • bUSH CHARACTER

    Is It FASCISM When They Support It?

    ZERO TOLERANCE Then & Now

    DIVIDER OF A NATION




  • May 3-May 6, 2005
  • MASSACRE IN MAY

    WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THE COUNTRY

    TWO WORDS FOR bUSH SUPPORTERS




  • April 23-April 28, 2005
  • GASOLINE ALLEY

    WHAT IS THIS??? Have you noticed?

    SIBEL EDMONDS needs our help!

    Then & Now - EMPEROR EVENTS




  • April 19-April 22, 2005
  • Did You Know? TOO LATE ANYWAY.

    Post (S)Election Confusion & PAIN

    Before The WORST Day In U.S. History

    COLLATERAL DAMAGE




  • April 14-April 19, 2005 (TRANSFERS & COMPILATIONS)
  • Election FIASCO: November 2, 2004

    Picture Yourself

    A Quick Update/Recap

    NOTEWORTHY




  • April 15-April 15, 2005 (INTRODUCTION & TRANSFERS)
  • IS A DARK FUTURE EMERGING?

    D.C. Has A Ball ~or! Inaugural Farce #2
    Getting PISSED

    Worst President EVER





    Sunday, February 24, 2008

    We're home and OK

    I abandoned this blog without a word and for that I'm VERY SORRY to my readers and net-friends, but I had good reason. Our grandaughter was born in November with many complications. She was admitted into Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Columbus, OH and that's where we have been "living" this past couple of months- literally ceasing our daily lives. We just returned home with her in January. She is doing better, but will require a lot of continuous care. We've had a few trips back to Columbus since then and many local doctor appointments- 2 to 3 per week. She and her parents (our son and his fiance) will be living with us. All of our lives have been changed by this.

    Right now, I don't know if I'll be able to get back into this blog and this is the first time I've even had the mental opportunity to make this post. Please understand that our nerves are not in the best condition and we're far behind on everything at home.

    I hope to be able to start visiting your blogs again soon. I honestly haven't even read any comments here yet, but I intend to in the next few days. I have been (slowly) catching up on the political scene. Its nice to see bush nearly unmentioned by the media these days...must be tough on an ego like that.

    May the cosmic forces bless you. Thank you all for your net friendships.

    Chuck

    Thursday, November 01, 2007

    Needed: Leadership

    Apologies to my handful of regular visitors. I've been too busy lately to make entries or visit fellow left bloggers. And I have missed a lot. All of it is negative, of course. There is no positive in the world the bush regime has created.

    My topic today is Blackwater again, but first, I'm looking at the "leadership" of the unelected fraud in the Divided States of bu$hmeriKa with an update-a few headlines over the last few days:

    The Dollar plummets to a record low against the Euro. Crude oil breaks $95 a barrel!

    Make that $96/barrel!



    The U.S. dollar is standing at the edge of a cliff, and most people don’t even know it. Data released by the New York Federal Reserve shows that foreign central banks have been net sellers of U.S. treasuries over the past five weeks, with $48 billion having been sold since late July, and $32 billion in just the last two weeks. This past August, two Chinese government officials highlighted China’s massive U.S. dollar holdings (which include treasuries) and how it supports the value of the U.S. currency. They also noted that Beijing could use those holdings as a political weapon to counter congressional calls to revalue the yuan and impose trade sanctions on Chinese goods. Chinese state media referred to the country’s stockpile of U.S. dollars as its economic “nuclear option,” capable of destroying the dollar at will...

    In other words, China has complete control over the United States economy. bush has been borrowing money from them like a man with four arms and empty pockets to the point where they can collapse it at will (as I suspect the Saudis can too). What a great leader the Decider and Commander Guy is. The condition of our country is starting to resemble the condition of his pre-stolen presidency companies he was given to run...into the ground. The only difference is he's taking the entire planet with him this time. MISERABLE FAILURE



    The Democrats consider capitulating to "King George" and giving him $70 BILLION more to fund his wars BEFORE they consider giving him the rest of his additional $191 BILLION he has requested ordered





    The largest diplomatic call up the foreign "service" since Vietnam [to Iraq] has the bush lovers angered and fearing for their lives. Rice becomes cheerleader "for the cause" and basically, threatens them.


    It's apparently OK for poor peoples' kids to risk their lives as bush pawns, but these bush lovers are scared now that they may be among the next ones sent there:




    on to Election 2008- Honestly, instead of saying, "the federal government should" or "this is what I believe" or "what I want to do", a candidate should say, "this is WHAT I WILL DO. Otherwise, it's an easy out; a way to fool people into thinking that the candidate WILL DO THOSE THINGS IF ELECTED. It's not platform if it's observations, suggestions, wishes and beliefs. Edwards does go on to say that there are some things he will definitely do, which is good, but there's no need to add the fluff, in my opinion.




    Edwards plans big for presidency


    Candidate: Sacrifice must be priority, too


    By LAUREN R. DORGAN Oct 26, 2007
    Concorde Monitor staff


    John Edwards says if he's elected president, he'll institute a New Deal-like suite of programs to fight poverty and stem growing wealth disparity. To do it, he said, he'll ask many Americans to make sacrifices, like paying higher taxes.

    Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says ?the federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called "College for Everyone."
    "It is central to what I want to do as president to do something about economic inequality. I do not believe it is okay for the United States of America to have 37 million people living in poverty," he said in a meeting with Monitor reporters and editors this week. "And I think we need, desperately need, a president who will say that to America and call on Americans to show their character."

    At every stop, Edwards said, he tells voters he'll ask them to sacrifice. Asked to describe what he means, he described his plan for increases in capital gains taxes, saying taxes on "wealth income" should be in line with those on work income.

    "I think if we want to fund the things that I think are important to share in prosperity, then people who have done well in this country, including me, have more of a responsibility to give back," he said. Later, he added: "There are no free meals."

    Like other Democrats, Edwards named his top three priorities as ending the war in Iraq, enacting universal health care and overhauling the American energy system. "Those are three things instantly I would do," he said.

    Edwards also ripped fellow Democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton, who leads most polls nationally and in New Hampshire by a wide margin, for taking campaign contributions from federal lobbyists and for her recent vote in favor of naming Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group. Edwards barely mentioned Sen. Barack Obama.

    Both Edwards and Clinton have proposed universal health care plans that mandate insurance for everyone, while Obama has proposed a plan that requires coverage only for children. Edwards, who was first to propose a plan, called Clinton's a "carbon copy" of his but said he is better positioned to negotiate because he has the "clean hands of not taking money from lobbyists."

    "Senator Clinton has over the years has taken millions of dollars from lobbyists and defends the status quo system," he said. "She just basically says the system works and her argument is, 'I'm experienced, I can operate within the system.' "

    Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand questioned the line Edwards has drawn. He takes money from state lobbyists and from a variety of industry groups; according to a Washington Post roundup, he's taken more than $8 million this year from lawyers and law firms, including some that also employ lobbyists.

    "It is disappointing that instead of taking the opportunity to lay out his ideas to New Hampshire voters, John Edwards is consistently choosing to engage in misleading, desperate attacks against Senator Clinton," Strand said.

    Edwards called the Iran vote made by Clinton and others "a signal" to President Bush about what's permissible.

    "Are we going to hear six months from now, Bush invades Iran, 'If only I had known then what I know now?' " Edwards said. "How long does it take to learn this lesson? There's a very hard lesson that I've had to learn from Iraq."

    As a senator, Edwards voted to authorize the war in Iraq, as did Clinton. Since then, Edwards has apologized and called the vote a mistake, while Clinton has not, saying that she "takes responsibility" for her vote and she would end the war. Edwards has often criticized Clinton for stopping short of an apology.

    Edwards said he would pull combat troops out of Iraq within 10 months, while leaving behind a strike force in the region and limited troops in Iraq with missions like protecting the American embassy. He said it's impossible to predict the future of the country.

    "No one knows what's going to happen in Iraq. We're in a bad place, the choices are ugly," he said. And we have to make the best choices under the circumstances to maximize the chances for success, but there are enormous risks in Iraq. And a lot of it is out of our hands."

    Edwards billed himself as a "rare combination": The most progressive of the major candidates as well as "the most electable." He pointed to the fact that he was elected to the Senate from a "red state" and that he comes from a rural area, two factors that he said prove his electability.

    Edwards said the time has passed for "poll-driven, careful, cautious ideas."
    "I think you have to say, 'There's something rotten in Denmark,' " he said. "The system needs to be fixed."






    Finally, on to bush's private army:
    It's good to see that Blackwater is not getting any breaks. It seems as though the pressure is going to be kept up until the truth is found out. One of two things will certainly happen as a result of these so-called investigations- either bush will eventually intervene on their behalf indirectly or he will throw them all under the bus. Even though they're on his payroll (with U.S. taxpayers paying their exorbitant salaries), one has to remember that he is, after all, a temper tantrum throwing little mad"man" and changes his "mind" any time about anything. When they're saying immunity deal here, what exactly are they meaning by that? Rolling on their buds? License to kill? Both?


    There's a lot of media coverage (again) on these "mercenaries":




    Immunity deal hampers Blackwater inquiry


    By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer

    The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.
    The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 killings and could undermine any effort to prosecute security contractors for their role in the incident that has infuriated the Iraqi government.
    "Once you give immunity, you can't take it away," said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.
    State Department officials declined to confirm or deny that immunity had been granted. One official — who refused to be quoted by name_ said: "If, in fact, such a decision was made, it was done without any input or authorization from any senior State Department official in Washington."
    Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd and FBI spokesman Rich Kolko declined comment.
    FBI agents were returning to Washington late Monday from Baghdad, where they have been trying to collect evidence in the Sept. 16 embassy convoy shooting without using statements from Blackwater employees who were given immunity.
    Three senior law enforcement officials said all the Blackwater bodyguards involved — both in the vehicle convoy and in at least two helicopters above — were given the legal protections as investigators from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security sought to find out what happened. The bureau is an arm of the State Department.
    The investigative misstep comes in the wake of already-strained relations between the United States and Iraq, which is demanding the right to launch its own prosecution of the Blackwater bodyguards.
    Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined comment about the U.S. investigation. Based in Moyock, N.C., Blackwater USA is the largest private security firm protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.
    The company has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it opened fire in west Baghdad's Nisoor Square, killing 17 Iraqis. A follow-up investigation by the Iraqi government, however, concluded that Blackwater's men were unprovoked. No witnesses have been found to contradict that finding.
    An initial incident report by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Iraq, also indicated "no enemy activity involved" in the Sept. 16 incident. The report says Blackwater guards were traveling against the flow of traffic through a traffic circle when they "engaged five civilian vehicles with small arms fire" at a distance of 50 meters.
    The FBI took over the case early this month, officials said, after prosecutors in the Justice Department's criminal division realized it could not bring charges against Blackwater guards based on their statements to the Diplomatic Security investigators.
    Officials said the Blackwater bodyguards spoke only after receiving so-called "Garrity" protections, requiring that their statements only be used internally — and not for criminal prosecutions.
    At that point, the Justice Department shifted the investigation to prosecutors in its national security division, sealing the guards' statements and attempting to build a case based on other evidence from a crime scene that was then already two weeks old.
    The FBI has re-interviewed some of the Blackwater employees, and one official said Monday that at least several of them have refused to answer questions, citing their constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. Any statements that the guards give to the FBI could be used to bring criminal charges.
    A second official, however, said that not all the guards have cited their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination — leaving open the possibility for future charges. The official declined to elaborate.
    Prosecutors will have to prove that any evidence they use in bringing charges against Blackwater employees was uncovered without using the guards' statements to State Department investigators. They "have to show we got the information independently," one official said.
    Garrity protections generally are given to police or other public law enforcement officers, and were extended to the Blackwater guards because they were working on behalf of the U.S. government, one official said. Experts said it's rare for them to be given to all or even most witnesses — particularly before a suspect is identified.
    "You have to be careful," said Michael Horowitz, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and senior Justice Department official. "You have to understand early on who your serious subjects are in the investigation, and avoid giving these people the protections."
    It's not clear why the Diplomatic Security investigators agreed to give immunity to the bodyguards, or who authorized doing so.
    Bureau of Diplomatic Security chief Richard Griffin last week announced his resignation, effective Thursday. Senior State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said his departure was directly related to his oversight of Blackwater contractors.
    Tyrrell, the Blackwater spokeswoman, said the company was alerted Oct. 2 that FBI would be taking over the investigation from the State Department. She declined further comment.
    On Oct. 3, State Department Sean McCormack said the FBI had been called in to assist Diplomatic Security investigators. A day later, he said the FBI had taken over the probe.
    "We, internally and in talking with the FBI, had been thinking about the idea of the FBI leading the investigation for a number of different reasons," McCormack told reporters during an Oct. 4 briefing.
    Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered a series of measures to boost government oversight of the private guards who protect American diplomats in Iraq. They include increased monitoring and explicit rules on when and how they can use deadly force.
    Blackwater's contract with the State Department expires in May and there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor for diplomatic bodyguards. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said his Cabinet is drafting legislation that would force the State Department to replace Blackwater with another security company.
    Congress also is expected to investigate the shootings, but a House watchdog committee said it has so far held off based on a Justice Department request that lawmakers wait until the FBI concludes its inquiry.
    SOURCE







    Iraq bill would lift contractor immunity


    By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer

    The Iraqi government on Tuesday approved draft legislation lifting immunity for foreign private security companies, sending the measure to parliament, a spokesman said.
    The question of immunity has been one of the most serious dispute between the U.S. and the Iraqi government since a Sept. 16 shooting involving Blackwater USA guards that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.
    The government's decision followed reports that the State Department has promised Blackwater bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's shooting.
    State Department officials declined to confirm or deny that immunity had been granted. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell has declined comment about the U.S. investigation.
    Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the draft law approved Tuesday would overturn an immunity order known as Decree 17 that was issued by L. Paul Bremer, who ran the American occupation government until June 2004.
    "It will be sent to the parliament within the coming days to be ratified," he told The Associated Press.
    Al-Dabbagh did not single out Blackwater but said: "According to this law, all security companies will subjected to the Iraqi criminal law and must obey all the country's legal regulations such as: registration, customs, visas, etcetera."
    U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said she had not seen the measure and had no immediate comment. The embassy has said it was waiting for the results of investigations.
    Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has promised to push through the measure amid growing public anger over the Blackwater shootings in Baghdad and a series of other Iraqi civilian deaths allegedly at the hands of foreign contractors.
    Three senior U.S. law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that all the Blackwater bodyguards involved — both in the vehicle convoy and in at least two helicopters above — were given the legal protection as investigators from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security sought to find out what happened. The bureau is an arm of the State Department.
    The law enforcement and State Department officials agreed to speak only if they could remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the inquiry into the incident.
    The Moyock, N.C.-based company, which is the largest private security firm protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq, has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it opened fire in west Baghdad's Nisoor Square, killing 17 Iraqis. A follow-up investigation by the Iraqi government, however, concluded that Blackwater's men were unprovoked. No witnesses have been found to contradict that finding.
    An initial incident report by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Iraq, also indicated "no enemy activity involved" in the Sept. 16 incident. The report says Blackwater guards were traveling against the flow of traffic through a traffic circle when they "engaged five civilian vehicles with small arms fire" at a distance of 50 yards.
    The FBI took over the case early this month, officials said, after prosecutors in the Justice Department's criminal division realized it could not bring charges against Blackwater guards based on their statements to the Diplomatic Security investigators.
    Blackwater's contract with the State Department expires in May and there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor for diplomatic bodyguards.
    Congress also is expected to investigate the shootings, but a House watchdog committee said it has so far held off, based on a Justice Department request that lawmakers wait until the FBI concludes its inquiry.
    SOURCE







    US State Dept in furor over reported Blackwater immunity deal


    by Sylvie Lanteaume

    A top US legislator demanded information Tuesday over reports that the State Department offered immunity to Blackwater employees in the wake of a Baghdad shooting that left 17 civilians dead.
    Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to explain whether the private security group, which protects US diplomats in Baghdad under a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars, had been offered protection from prosecution when the State Department investigated the September 16 shooting.
    On Tuesday US media reported that the Blackwater guards were promised immunity during the department's inquiry.
    According to The Washington Post, FBI agents now investigating the shootings are barred from using any of the information obtained in the State Department probe.
    "Press reports today indicate that DS (Department of State) agents offered grants of immunity to Blackwater employees after the September 16 shooting incident in Baghdad. Are these reports accurate?" Biden asked in a statement.
    "If so, who authorized these grants of immunity? Was there consultation with the Department of Justice prior to such grants of immunity?" the Democrat asked.
    State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the department did not have the authority to give someone immunity from federal criminal prosecution.
    "The kinds of, quote, 'immunity' that I've seen reported in the press would not preclude a successful criminal prosecution," he said.
    Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd Tuesday called the reports "inaccurate" but gave no details.
    "The Justice Department and the FBI cannot discuss the facts of the Blackwater case, which is under active investigation. However, any suggestion that the Blackwater employees in question have been given immunity from federal criminal prosecution is inaccurate," Boyd said in a statement.
    If the reports of the immunity offer are accurate, though, it could reignite the controversy in the Iraqi capital over the role of private security firms such as Blackwater USA in the war-torn country, which a recent Defense Department report characterized as out of control.
    The New York Times Tuesday said officials in the State Department's investigative unit, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, made the immunity offer though they lacked authority to do so.
    Most of the guards involved in the shooting were promised they would not be prosecuted for anything they said in interviews as long as their statements were truthful, the Times reported.
    And one law enforcement official told the Washington Post that some Blackwater guards cited the immunity promises in refusing to be interviewed by the FBI, which took over the investigation this month.
    McCormack Tuesday sought to distance Rice from the scandal, emphasizing that her attitude is that "if there are individuals who broke rules, laws or regulations, they must be held to account."
    It was Rice who had asked the FBI to take over the investigation, he added.
    Blackwater guards protecting a State Department convoy opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square on September 16, killing 17 civilians.
    Although Blackwater guards had claimed they were fired on first, most accounts from the scene insisted that no one ever fired on the US convoy.
    Blackwater boss Erik Prince has rejected an official Iraqi report that said the killings were unprovoked, insisting his men were fired upon.
    The Iraqi government has called for Blackwater to be barred from operating in the country.
    On Tuesday the Iraqi cabinet backed a law revoking immunity granted to private security firms operating in the country issued in 2004 by then US administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer.
    "These companies will not get immunity and will be subject to Iraqi law," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP.
    SOURCE







    Democrats blast Blackwater immunity deal


    By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer

    Democrats criticized the Bush administration Tuesday for giving immunity to Blackwater USA bodyguards, calling the move a failure to hold the security contractors responsible for the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians.
    The State Department, whose investigators initially promised to shield the bodyguards' statements in the criminal inquiry of the Sept. 16 shootings, maintained that any lawbreakers "must be held to account" as a result of the inquiry that has since been taken over by the Justice Department and FBI.
    Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, who sits on two Senate panels that oversee the State Department and the Justice Department, called the immunity deal an example of "the amnesty administration."
    The offer for limited immunity has delayed the government's criminal inquiry of the shootings that enraged the Iraqi government, and threatens to derail prosecution as investigators seek other evidence from the crime scene now six weeks cold.
    "In this administration, accountability goes by the boards," said Leahy. "That goes equally for misconduct and for incompetence. If you get caught, they will get you immunity. If you get convicted, they will commute your sentence."
    Sen. Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat running for president, demanded to know whether Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was aware of the immunity offers and agreed with it. In a letter to Rice Tuesday, Obama asked whether the FBI and Justice Department were consulted before limited immunity was offered.
    The White House had little to say about the matter Tuesday. President Bush ignored a question on the arrangement shouted after his meeting with the president of Uganda. And his spokeswoman dodged most questions about it at her daily briefing with reporters, referring them to the State Department.
    "It is under review," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "Anyone who has engaged in criminal behavior will be prosecuted."
    State Department Sean McCormack said Rice has steadfastly supported accountability for anyone involved in the Blackwater shootings found to have broken the law. Rice also asked that the FBI take over the investigation from her department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, McCormack said.
    "Her attitude has been since the very beginning that we need to determine the facts and if there facts lead us to the conclusion that there are those who broke rules laws or regulations, they must be held to account," McCormack said. He declined further comment.
    The immunity deal will not prevent the Blackwater guards from ever being prosecuted. However, it forces prosecutors to prove that they did not use the information gleaned from the bodyguards' statements — or anything related to them — when seeking criminal charges. That means investigators will have to find other credible witnesses or evidence to make their case.
    The FBI has re-interviewed some of the Blackwater employees, and officials have said that at least several of them have refused to answer questions, citing their constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination.
    One official, however, said that not all the guards have cited their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination — leaving open the possibility for future charges. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, declined to elaborate.
    A second senior U.S. official familiar with the investigation said Tuesday that the immunity deal stemmed from a waiver that Blackwater employees signed that banned their initial statements from being used in court. The official said it makes the job harder but does not make prosecution impossible.
    It's not clear why the Diplomatic Security investigators agreed to give immunity to the bodyguards, or who authorized doing so.
    The apparent misstep comes in the wake of already-strained relations between the United States and Iraq, which is demanding the right to launch its own prosecution of the Blackwater bodyguards. The Iraqi government on Tuesday approved draft legislation lifting immunity for foreign private security companies, sending the measure to parliament, a spokesman said.
    Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined comment about the U.S. investigation. Based in Moyock, N.C., Blackwater USA is the largest private security firm protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.
    The company has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it opened fire in west Baghdad's Nisoor Square, killing 17 Iraqis. A follow-up investigation by the Iraqi government, however, concluded that Blackwater's men were unprovoked. No witnesses have been found to contradict that finding.
    An initial incident report by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Iraq, also indicated "no enemy activity involved" in the Sept. 16 incident. The report says Blackwater guards were traveling against the flow of traffic through a traffic circle when they "engaged five civilian vehicles with small arms fire" at a distance of 50 meters.
    The FBI took over the case early this month, officials said, after prosecutors in the Justice Department's criminal division realized it could not bring charges against Blackwater guards based on their statements to the Diplomatic Security investigators.
    SOURCE







    Iraqi witnesses discuss Blackwater shooting


    Some of those interviewed in an FBI inquiry reveal details of the incident and say the agents are focused on whether the security guards were fired upon first.
    By Christian Berthelsen and Raheem Salman
    Los Angeles Times Staff Writers


    October 31, 2007

    BAGHDAD
    — FBI agents investigating the September shooting incident involving security contractor Blackwater USA in which 17 people died appear focused on whether anyone fired first on the American convoy and have been aggressively gathering ballistic evidence, according to witnesses interviewed by the agents.

    In Washington, State and Justice Department officials said the investigation would not be derailed by a reported offer of immunity to the guards. But it remained unclear whether they could be prosecuted under U.S. law for the shooting.

    And as anger continued to simmer in Iraq, the government introduced legislation Tuesday stripping American contractors of the immunity from Iraqi law they were granted in 2004 by the U.S.-led authority set up to govern Iraq shortly after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.

    The FBI team dispatched from Washington this month specializes in investigations outside the United Statessuch as the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, which targeted U.S. military housing in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 American servicemen and one Saudi.

    When its investigation is complete, the FBI will submit evidence to Justice Department officials, who will determine whether to prosecute, said a U.S. official familiar with the investigation.

    Whether the convoy was fired upon or threatened in some way before the guards hired to protect it began shooting in west Baghdad's Nisoor Square on Sept. 16 is likely to be key to that decision, said Scott Silliman, a former military lawyer who is executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University.

    "I think what they're trying to do is build a case showing the use of force by Blackwater was not justified, and they can do that through witness statements to show that Blackwater and the convoy were not fired upon," Silliman said.

    A U.S. source said the FBI team left Baghdad on Sunday after conducting dozens of interviews with witnesses. The FBI declined to comment on the case, as did a spokeswoman for Blackwater. The North Carolina-based security company has said previously that the guards were responding to what they believed to be enemy fire.

    The shooting has prompted an intense debate about the role that foreign private armed security contractors have played in the Iraq war and the ambiguous legal environment in which they operate.

    If the Justice Department decides to prosecute, experts say it would face serious legal hurdles. The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act permits contractors to be prosecuted for actions in foreign lands if they are working in support of a Defense Department mission.

    But prosecutors would have to convince a judge that the act also applies to contractors working for the civilian-led State Department.

    Since the shooting, Congress has passed legislation that would clearly make all security contractors accountable in American courts, and the State Department has issued new restrictions that will subject their operations to more oversight.

    The FBI investigation, undertaken at the request of the State Department, is one of four underway into the shooting, which also wounded 24 people.

    Iraqi police, the Pentagon and a joint panel of the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government have also undertaken inquiries. In a preliminary report, the Iraqi government concluded that the Blackwater