ARE WE DROWNING IN BLACKWATER?

Bad Day at Blackwater, or Drowning in Scandal

Blackwater stirs political furor - Democrats blast `limited immunity' for security contractors accused in slaying of 17 Iraqi civilians

Has Blackwater Escaped Justice With FBI's Help? 10/11

This is a story that should outrage anyone who considers themselves to be human. It's loathsome, asinine and chilling. Not only did Blackwater's employees commit a heinous crime, it looks as though they are now going to get away with it, but that isn't the most scandalizing peculiarity of this despicable mercenary episode. It now looks as though they will get away with this unlawful act... thanks to, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S HELP! Can what happens during an unnecessary war, get any more troubling? Will it ever end? thinkingblue

PS: Below is a short article that says it all...

As Election '08 Nears, We Need Straight Answers to a Simple Question

By Nancy Scola on October 30, 2007
The hits just keep on coming. Blackwater has been given immunity by the State Department. Whatever has been learned thus far in the inquiry into its violence in Iraq can't be used by the
FBI in its investigation.

Keeping in mind that the failings of one private security company are less concerning than the fact that a bastion of U.S. government thought it wise to unleash uncontrollable forces out into the world, this sure smacks of self-protection. Is this the America we want?

Well, the trouble is, we're not getting the information we need to chose a different path. Just 1 percent of Election '08 news stories thus far have focused on candidate records. Just 15 percent concerned public policy. That's troubling in any election. But when the governing style of those in
power is to wreak global havoc, it's downright scary.

And so to see today's political landscape clearly, even skilled commentators like the New York
Times's Paul Krugman have to dig into their bags of Lord of the Rings world-domination imagery. While progressives have been debating the finer points of trade law, "Sauron was gathering his forces in Mordor." Indeed, some political leaders indeed do have a world view that's perfectly comfortable with Blackwater roaming free in Iraq and being absolved of guilt when 17 Iraqi civilians die.

The question then to put to presidential candidates then is simple: what exactly does America mean to you? If it jibes with your view of her to outsource a war to private interests and then cover-up when those interests commit horrible wrongs, that's all well and good. We just don't want you in
the White House. Rest assured though, lucrative consulting and lecture gigs await you.

We desperately need to know how our presidential candidates honestly see this American experiment turning out. Today, getting a straight answer to even that simple question would be a great start.

FIRST WATCH THIS VIDEO ON BLACKWATER

THEN WATCH THIS SAD VIDEO OF THE FAMILIES INVOLVED


PHONEY SOLDIERS by Rush Limbaugh

COMMENT ON ORIGINAL PHONEY SOLDIERS

CHENEY KNEW THE IRAQ WAR WOULD BE A MISTAKE IN '94

BRING THEM HOME NOW

CAROLYNCONNETION - I've got a mind and I'm going to use it !
thinkingBlue blogspot

YOU CAN BEAM ME UP NOW, SCOTTIE.Thinkingblue

SUPREME COURT AND DEA AGENTS MURDER MED MARIJUANA ADVOCATE!

This is a very sad story that did not need to happen.

Robin Prosser, suffered from an autoimmune disease that gave her allergic and dangerous reactions to most pharmaceutical painkillers. So she turned to marijuana.

In late March, when DEA agents seized less than a half ounce of marijuana sent to her by her registered caregiver in Flathead County.

When that (MM) was no longer available she had no where else to turn. “She just said she couldn't take it all anymore,” Byard said. In her guest opinion, Prosser wrote that: “I'm 50 years old, low-income and sick. I spend most days in my apartment in bed, with no air conditioning, unable to go outside because I can't tolerate the sun.” Beset by financial problems, troubled by depression, unable to find a reliable source of pain relief, she took her own life three months after the piece was published. “Give me liberty or give me death,” she wrote in July. “Maybe the next campaign ought to be for assisted-suicide laws in our state. If they will not allow me to live in peace, and a little less pain, would they help me to die, humanely?” Before being disabled by her disease, Prosser was a concert pianist and a systems analyst. After the disease hit her, she became a tireless advocate for legalized use of marijuana in medical situations. “She had so many difficulties, but she was a wonderful person,” Byard said. “She was kind and funny and just as smart as a whip. She was a very good friend to me, and it's a very sad story what happened to her.”

CLICK BELOW LINK TO READ MORE:

Medical marijuana advocate kills herself

This story should have a different title. It should read "SUPREME COURT AND DEA AGENTS MURDER MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE!" When I think of people living a life of pain, it saddens me to no end. It seems, for most of us, life flashes by so quickly... Hours turn to days, days to weeks, weeks to years but not for those who wake to one miserable long day after another... nothing but unending pain to look forward to. It's so easy to judge but try living in their shoes. It's beyond comprehension, that something is available to help them achieve some sort of pleasure while taking each breath and they can't reach for it? WHY THE HELL NOT? Equally disgusting is the fact that we have a Supreme Court stacked with people who have scripted mentalities and refuse to see into the lives of those who suffer unnecessarily. People have testified under oath that mm helps them get through a day, pain free, still the $$$ worshipers who dominate over us say NO! It's mortifying!

There are battles going on to try and change this pathetic law but when you are up against powerful monsters such as lobbyists whose masters would probably lose money if cannabis were to become legal, it's nothing but a steep uphill battle. I swear, we are in the midst of a DARK AGE, we need another Renaissance! thinkingblue

Read this: MARIJUANA GAINS WONDER DRUG STATUS

By Lester Grinspoon, Boston Globe. Posted March 3, 2007.
A new study reveals that pot relieves pain that narcotics like morphine and
OxyContin have hardly any effect on, and could help ease suffering from
illnesses such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes

A new study in the journal Neurology is being hailed as unassailable proof that
marijuana is a valuable medicine. It is a sad commentary on the state of modern
medicine -- and US drug policy -- that we still need "proof" of something that
medicine has known for 5,000 years. READ MORE HERE: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/48749/

http://americanmarijuana.org/

BRING THEM HOME NOW

CAROLYNCONNETION - I've got a mind and I'm going to use it! thinkingBlue
blogspot

YOU CAN BEAM ME UP NOW, SCOTTIE. Thinkingblue

YOU'RE ON THE AIR WITH RUSH LIMBAUGH

I received this email from youtube today...

After being flagged by members of the YouTube community and reviewed by
YouTube staff, the video below has been removed due to its inappropriate nature.

PHONEY SOLDIERS by Rush Limbaugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7kXEftfAu0

The YouTube Team

~~~~~~~~~~~

This was my response back to them:

I was very saddened to receive an email telling me you removed a video I uploaded... You did not tell me why, just a vague reference that it was flagged by members as being inappropriate. Did you read the comments on that particular video? The negative ones were all Rush Limbaugh supporters but there were many positive ones also. I know it is your server and you can do as you please with any video but it sure seems unfair that members can flag a video that doesn't agree with their ideology as inappropriate and thus its removed, without rebuttal. Sad but true fact of life in what we think is a democracy. Thanks, thinkingblue

YOU'RE ON THE AIR WITH RUSH LIMBAUGH

On the website http://www.thethinkingblue.com/limbaughcomments.html is a remake of the Rush Limbaugh video from YOUTUBE (also you can view it above) The only changes I made were less pictures and no music. The original film had images of the devastation of war, on all people involved, the men, women and children caught in the horrors of war. I don't know why YOUTUBE pulled the video but I thought perhaps it was because of those sad pictures. We Americans get a WHITEWASHED version of the war and maybe YOUTUBE wanted to keep it that way. But if it was because of what Rush Limbaugh said on the uncut audio of his show and YOUTUBE was protecting him... THE SHAME IS ON YOUTUBE, who like so many on the right, spin, twist and cajole TRUTH until it no longer resembles actuality, just so it will fit their account of reality.

Below are some comments I managed to copy and paste before they disappear from YOUTUBE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COMMENTS FROM YOUTUBE BEFORE THEY PULLED THIS VIDEO.

PHONEY SOLDIERS by Rush Limbaugh Added: 3 weeks ago

From: thethinkingblue
Views: 5,410
oohnoobird (3 weeks ago)

Another leftist, socialist, liberal propaganda video.

1984or2007 (3 weeks ago)

Your an Idiot

1984or2007 (3 weeks ago)

Rush Limbaugh cares more about the troops than most people care
about there Children.

Dem's are two faced hypocrites who are only for choice if they
agree with you. If not then they smear you. Never fails and if you
can't see this your blind with a closed mind.

lostmanco1965 (3 weeks ago)

rush is a draft dodger so saying he supports the milatery is an
oxymoron

killinghours (3 weeks ago) So if you make a mistake in your lifetime... you should always be persecuted for it? I robbed a store when I was younger... did my time, payed for the damages but since I did that... I guess I'm ALWAYS going to be a person to watch for. Even though I live a Christian lifestyle now and walk the straight and narrow.

MontySlab (3 weeks ago)

If any fucking Right Wing idiot mentions ABC's Phoney Soliders
story I will kill them personally. ABC's story was about men and
women who NEVER SERVED IN THE MILITARY BUT CLAIMED FAKE HONORS;
Rush called REAL SOILDERS who fight and die in Bush's illegal war
PHONEY. If you right wingers can't understand the difference we
REALLY DO NEED TO KILL YOU ALL TO SAVE AMERICA.

cupera1 (3 weeks ago)That is the whole point of Media Maters is to silence any and all opposition to the left. MM is willing to do or say any lie to get rid of any one that oppose the libs.

tropic16 (3 weeks ago)

Why all the anger? Has a nerve been struck? Are you telling me that MacBeth is not a phony? PS: everyone knows by listening that the 1st caller was never a republican - he had to lie... he, like all libs, just could not help himself.

thelawguy666 (3 weeks ago)

wow... the rage and stupidity here is palpable. and internet
threats? what are you going to do come through the modem and start
a fight? just so pathetic.

killinghours (3 weeks ago)

Reply back and I'll give you my address. I pray that you have
balls to backup your wild dumbass left wing ideas. Bring your
punkass to my doorstep with that crap and I promise you, you won't
have to worry about the country anymore after that. Look forward
to hearing from the "True" Hate Monger. Let me guess.. liberal are
ya?

Pawnthief (3 weeks ago)

The Caller said They (the media) never talk to real soldiers. They
elect to pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue. Rush
then responded "The phony soldiers". MacBeth was never mentioned.
It was clear that he thought real soldiers support the war, phony
soldiers do not.

Will somebody please help me find an honest Republican?!?

Prove me wrong if you can. I won't hold my breath waiting.

john135246 (3 weeks ago)

i guess i'm a phoney soldier served in afghan and iraq and against
iraq

lostmanco1965 (3 weeks ago)

thank you for your service and bless you for your honesty

ecophotos (3 weeks ago)

About that Rush comment, it offends me to the point of wanting to
push in his face and tear out his eyes..

I am speaking, of course, about my daughter who is in Iraq right
now (third time), who is a liberal democrat, who opposes the war,
yet does her job regardless, who has earned two bronze stars and
seven distinguished service citations for her performance. "Phoney
soldier" indeed.

I think you can well understand my rage over this remark.

MORE COMMENT HERE: http://www.thethinkingblue.com/limbaughcomments.html

OR HERE IF YOUTUBE DIDN'T TAKE DOWN THE COMMENT PAGE: http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=_7kXEftfAu0

ONE BRAVE MAN - Video Interview with Garry Kasparov

I caught this amazing interview on "Real Time With Bill Maher" the other night. I can tell you I was glued to my TV set, hanging on every intellectual word that came from the brilliant mind of Garry Kasparov the world's chess champion, who is running against Putin in Russia. It was enlightening but also a bit depressing, because there aren't many leaders in this world that could reach the genius of this man. Especially, here in the USA, where, as Chris Mathews (a guest on that particular segment of "Real Time") said after the interview "that was so sophisticated, and this audience was listening to (Kasparov's) every word. Our guys here talk down to us!"
I started thinking about that statement by Hardball's Chris Mathews ... Why do they talk down to us? The answer is clear because I really believe that so many in the voting block seem to want and NEED their leaders to talk down to them. They, like small children, want the protection of a BIG DADDY who will tell them "Don't you worry, I'm here to protect you." and so they go on talking down, just to appease the constituency in order to get their votes. Depressing is too light a word for how this makes me feel. thinkingblue
PS: Just for your information, it may sound like Kasparov is saying "Jew political but that is his accent he is really saying geopolitical ...

GEOPOLITICAL - a -The study of the relationship among politics and geography, demography, and economics, especially with respect to the foreign policy of a nation. b - A Nazi doctrine holding that the geographic, economic, and political needs of Germany justified its invasion and seizure of other lands.

clipped from www.youtube.com Garry Kasparov interview on Real Time with Bill Maher Kasparov displays an intelligence and wit you won't find in any american candidate.

AMERICAN FAMILY ATTACKED BY FOREIGN MERCENARIES.

Imagine if this was an American Family who was attacked by Mercenaries from a foreign land.

After watching the video, just Imagine this, would it not shed a different light upon the horrible events perpetrated by Blackwater on September 16, 2007, bring it more into a more reality based spotlight.


Blackwater, is probably just the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to the secrecy that goes on beyond scrutiny within the neocon Whitehouse. (Cheney quote in Sept 2001 - "The dark side, we'll spend time in the shadows and in the intelligence world... a lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies.")

I wonder what he meant by that..? Perhaps the wheels turning inside the head of Dick Cheney, gave him visions of TELEPHONE TAPPING OF US CITIZENS, TORTURING THOSE WHO GOT CAUGHT IN HIS WEB OF TYRANNY, BUILDING POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMIES PAID FOR BY, WE THE TAX PAYERS AND CHERRY PICKING INTELLIGENCE IN ORDER TO STRIKE PREEMPTIVELY, ON SOVEREIGN NATIONS WITHOUT THE PESKY QUESTIONS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED BY A CONGRESS IN A FREE SOCIETY.

It seems, only when a well witnessed catastrophic event occurs involving many deaths of innocent victims, (as in the Blackwater attack of Sept. 16, 2007), do we get to peek inside this great wall of surreptitiousness that Bush but mainly Cheney has contrived. A few years back Cheney would actually boast about what was needed to PROTECT the people of America (In his mind I am sure he thinks of "we the people" as the pathetic scared little masses )

A Dick Cheney quote (2004) "If we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again--that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the U.S... And then we'll fall back into the pre-9/11 mindset, if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts and that we're not really at war. I think that would be a terrible mistake for us." - -

To this day, no one has revealed that the 9/11 attacks were anything but criminal acts and not acts of war, warranting the U.S. to go to war on a sovereign nation. America has suffered a great deal since Bush/Cheney was handed the presidency by the Supreme Court in 2001, I hope they haven't taken us to a place where we will not be able to return to the free nation we are suppose to be. Let us all hope it is not too late. thinkingblue

Read more about the Blackwater attack on innocent people in Iraq by clicking the link below: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/world/middleeast/03firefight.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

PS: I still can't help but question... WHY THE HELL WASN'T CHENEY IMPEACHED AND CONVICTED OF WAR CRIMES AND WHY IS HE STILL ALLOWED TO GO ON LYING TO US ABOUT HIS MOTIVES? BHOM!! :mad:

HOW MANY REPUBLICANS TO SCREW IN A LIGHT BULB

Finally some clever person put Republicans in the middle of the light bulb screwing joke and IT JUST HITS THE OLD PROVERBIAL NAIL ON IT'S OLD "IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT'" BLOCKHEAD! The only screwing light bulb joke EVER without humor!

clipped from downwithtyranny.blogspot.com HOW MANY REPUBLICANS DOES IT TAKE TO SCREW IN A LIGHT BULB? 1. One to deny that the light bulb needs to be changed 2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed. 3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb. 4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either for changing the light bulb or for darkness. 5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid/cost-plus contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb. 6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a stepladder under the banner: "Light Bulb Change Accomplished." 7. One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally in the dark. 8. One to viciously smear #7. 9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light bulb changing policy all along. 10. Finally, Joe Lieberman to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing the light bulb and screwing the country.

CONVOLUTED LOGIC OF BUSH'S RIGHT-WING

I am so thankful, I possess the ability to be a liberal. I can't imagine what it would be like to look at the world with a conservative mind. There is so much hatred within their brain cells, I almost can feel sorrow for their lot in life. To hate and not have the capacity to feel sympathy towards another human being is just too sad an existence. It appears, the only compassion they can muster is conditional. If you don't have your ducks in a row, according to their arrangement of ducks, you are scorned. You aren't suppose to have children if you can't afford health insurance. It's your own fault if you wind up in a low paying job that doesn't give you health coverage. They want abortion to be illegal but their convoluted logic has already warned you ... YOU BETTER NOT HAVE KIDS IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE! Government is not there to lend a helping hand, their only functions are to spy on you and put you in jail or put you to death by execution or send you into a war, they've contrived. Life is not like that! If we could plan our every move, our every function, every event, in a way that will exclude peril, we wouldn't even need a government. But the very state of life itself cannot be formulated into a scripted scenario. There are elements happening all the time, preconditions that are not under anyone's control. I feel lucky I can see this and fortunate I can feel empathy. Like I said, I can almost feel sorrow, for those who cannot. I say almost, but the hate they've been pitching around lately, is even too much for this long termed liberal to stomach. I've got to believe they will all get their comeuppance some day. WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND! Meaning: when you do hurtful things something hurtful will happen to you, in time. It's like KARMA. thinkingblue

Save SCHIP Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/save_schip.php

NOW READ SOME OF THE COMMENTS FROM THE YOUTUBE POST:

Maxwedge12000 Totally hillarious. Any time the left roles out some talking head or a poster child for one of their silly causes, the truth about them eventually comes out and then left wingnuts whine, "they are attacking/sliming them". Too funny. Keep the attacks/slime coming.
giosigdo some research this schip is bullshit

giosig do some research this schip is bullshit

JazztheFox09 So giosig is saying that the SCHIP is bullshit, but viciously attacking children is apparently kosher. Gotta love that good ol' Republican logic.

skhan1943 giosig; "do some research this schip is bullshit"Giosig, you're very good at throwing out sound bites like this one, not so good at explaining your position and WHY you throw the sound bite.WHY is SCHIP bullshit?

skhan1943 Great video, thethinkingblue! You've said it all, you've said it well, and I can't think of a single thing I would add. (Which, in my case, is saying something!)
ProudMamaTeddi Watched Rachel Maddow on Olbermann (Countdown, MSNBC). This, as well as the ad about Bethany, the 2-year old girl whose life was saved by a heart operation, thanks to the SCHIP program. She, too, was slimed. Her parents accused of having a child whose health insurance they couldn't afford. They call themselves "Pro-Life"? They are pro-wealthy life, anti-poor, anti-choice, anti-humanity. The most dangerous kind of hypocricy imaginable.
schreibe Well put together. Apparently, the last statements were from "ThinkingBlue"...including the audio and video background to the words. Well done! View all 6 comments ---
My reply to the right wingers on this youtube entry...

So typical... how right wingers couldn't feel compassion if it landed on their unconscionable dead-heads. Here’s a suggestion for you dims... Go to Iraq, you could laugh your empty-heads off all day long. Or, maybe Darfur where 100’s of 1000’s of innocent civilians have been raped, maimed and murdered since 2002. What a ball... laughing so hard you might even beg for them to stop. Which would be so against your "principles" of whoopee. Your hate rhetoric is so ho-hum! One big yawn! thinkingblue

PS: Now watch this youtube video NOTHING TO HIDE

Save SCHIP Action Page: http://www.usalone.com/save_schip.php

AN IRAQ WAR VETERAN, IN HIS OWN WORDS.

An Iraq War Veteran, in his own words, tells us what it felt like to fight in an unjust war. To come home and feel shame at what his government ordered him to do. Ashamed of wearing the uniform that stood for imperialism. Then explaining the feeling of wearing this same uniform again and finally, feel pride at trying to bring about peace instead of war. At long last, to have a sense of his own dignity or value even though, being arrested as a war protester.

How pathetic is this, lopsided logic of the neocon gods? When a soldier goes to battle for peace he's considered a nuisance but when forced into combat for an illegal land grab, orchestrated by armchair hucksters of war, he's deemed brave. BHOM!!!

clipped from answer.pephost.org An Iraq war veteran reflects on the Sept. 15 march ‘The first time I put on that uniform I hoped I would wear it with honor. On Sept. 15, I finally did.’ The writer is an Iraq war veteran. The writer was arrested at the Capitol on Sept. 15 along with 195 others. Photo: Stanley Rogouski a uniform that was issued to me nearly five years ago. I remembered the first time I held it, wondering if I would ever wear it home, wondering if it would be stained by blood or shredded by bullets. it is faded from 12 months of desert sand and sun. For so many years, that uniform has not stood for justice and freedom It is the uniform that drove humvees and manned machine guns. the uniform that dragged people from their homes and interrogated them in prison camps. But on the streets of Washington, D.C., the uniform took on new meaning. no longer worn with the intention of fighting for the government, but fighting against it. 2003 government ordered us march into a foreign land and take i This war will end

Is The US Government Using Dragonfly Robots To Spy On Us?

All dragonflies will be suspect from now on. It's no joke, since reading this article I will look at dragonflies differently. Poor little critters, they will probably be swatted in droves. As a matter of fact, why stop at dragonflies? Technology is growing faster than our own imaginations. I am sure they are working on a housefly prototype or maybe even a mosquito. Just imagine they will be able to take samples of your blood type without your knowledge. Hey, wait a minute, they will even be able to inject you with some mind altering medications via mosquito robot... and we just thought it was our telephones that were being tapped, silly us! thinkingblue

PS: Do you think maybe, Tom (THE BUG MAN) Delay had anything to do with this idea. Hmmm, I wonder.

clipped from answer.pephost.org Is the government using small flying surveillance devices on the antiwar movement? Washington Post reports on: Flying surveillance devices at Sept. 15 Mass March and Die-in Post carries a major article about the government's creation of small flying surveillance devices that look somewhat like dragonflies. As the article below discusses, there have been credible independent reports about sightings at ANSWER's recent September 15 mass March on Washington of 100,000 people. According to the article, the government has been working through many agencies to perfect this spy technology. that the strange-looking devices were hovering above the backstage area where speakers were waiting to take the stage and organizers were holding meetings in preparation for the mass march and die-in. Others reported that they saw the devices elsewhere at the demonstration. The government's efforts to surveille the growing movement against the war

SEE IT HERE:

Join Wes Clark and Tell Congress to Dump Rush

Please join General Wes Clark's petition to remove the bigotry of Rush Limbaugh from military radio. Our troops deserve better, they should not be subjected to the lies, distortions and prejudice of this demagogue who's self interest and lack of concern for anyone but himself is beyond belief.

clipped from ga4.org Tell Congress to Dump Rush Today, I am asking you to join 34,094 other Americans and email Congress urging them to take Rush Limbaugh off Armed Forces Radio. Last week, Rush Limbaugh labeled American servicemembers who support an end to the war in Iraq  "phony soldiers."     We're going directly to Congress to take him off the Armed Forces Radio airwaves.  Elected officials in Congress have the power to prevent Limbaugh from using taxpayers' money to disrespect and censure the voices of our soldiers.  Join us and hold Rush Limbaugh accountable for his offensive and outrageous comments -- tell your member of Congress to Dump Rush From Armed Forces Radio today! Subject: name=subject> Dear [ Decision Maker ], (Edit Letter Below)

What kind of people have we become?

I came across this song from the political activists, The jKirks, who use music to send a message of peace. Why should Peace take a backseat to the ugliness of Torture, what kind of people have we become? thinkingblue

clipped from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrjYJY7wOic EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION Extraordinary Rendition - is a term used to describe the extrajudicial transfer of a person from one state to another. Critics of the practice have alleged the use of torture has occurred with the knowledge or acquiescence of the United States. The US program has raised a series of moral, judicial, and political issues, prompting several official European Union investigations. A June 2006 report from the Council of Europe estimated 100 people had been kidnapped by the CIA on EU territory and rendered to other countries, often after having transited through secret detention centers ("black sites") used by the CIA in cooperation with other governments. According to the European Parliament report of February 2007, the CIA has conducted 1,245 flights, many of them to destinations where suspects could face torture, in violation of article 3 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

FOX NEWS and the Gullible who watch!

This is so prototypical of a typical FOX NEWS broadcast. Whenever, I stumble upon a video of a Fox news item ... (Stumble, because I can't stomach even a few minutes of the so called News Source on my TV, since I've CONTRACTED THE BAD HABIT OF "THINKING") I can't help but think... (Darn, there I go again THINKING) WHO ARE THE IGNORAMUSES WHO NEED A DAILY DOSE OF THIS B.S. EVERYDAY? They must not listen or watch anything else but Fox, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Michelle Malkin and slanderous of all, ANN COULTER who recently said "U.S. is a 'Christian nation' and Jews needed to 'perfect' themselves into Christians" or the many other right-winged noise makers, to believe ANYTHING they have to say. Because if they would pick up a legitimate magazine or newspaper and glance at it or maybe even, "cringe", look at a different channel like... "OH NO", Link TV, FreeSpeech TV or PBS, they might develop that annoying habit of THINKING FOR THEMSELVES, too! Please watch the video below... thinkingblue

Fox News calls liberal "son of a bitch"

Fox News' lack of professionalism marches on.
Typical of Fox News, when, the Council Member Charles Barron from NY gets attacked by right-wing Neil Cavuto who calls in a so-called reporter who's on the scene. The reporter quickly gets angry at the liberal as well. Enjoy the fireworks. http://www.nyccouncil.info/constituent/member_details.cfm?con_id=69

KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM, KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM...

This is a well written remarkable story of how our military is showing signs of...

("You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run." The reference to his hit song, "The Gambler," is not facile. The Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz wrote that war, in its complexities and uncertainties, most resembles a game of cards -- let's say Texas Hold'em in honor of the President's adopted state. Over the last four-plus years, we've shoved hundreds of billions of dollars into the Iraqi pot, suffered sobering losses in killed-in-action/wounded-in-action, yet we're still holding losing cards dealt from a stacked deck. Even so, the Bush administration has recently doubled-down instead of folding, hoping to hit an inside straight despite long odds.)

I have long compared the Bush cabal's endlessly planning, (or should I say ad-libbing) their war, to a game of chess but this game of cards parallel is much closer to the reality of it. Maybe with this analogy, the next time we look at Bush's sorry-ass face when he, once again, hubristically appears on our TV screens sputtering out how we are going to WIN in Iraq (he doesn't seem to mention Afghanistan too often) instead of seeing the little president, before us, we will see a GAMBLER, gambling with our life, liberty and justice. Do you think maybe then, the Dems will want to IMPEACH and convict before it is too late. Don't hold your breath!

clipped from www.tomdispatch.com Tomgram: Robert Lipsyte, The Endless Summer of Distraction the Mets, my team of choice, hit the skids before the season ended and disintegrated in a way we only wish the Bush administration would -- to knock out a quick intro. Distracted? Who me? the Bush administration, with 25,000 troops 25,000 NATO troops more than three times the number in 2003, when the Taliban heading for the Afghan past is digging in for the long haul Bagram Airbase is being href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071006/ap_on_re_as/afghan_six_years_later">rapidly expanded as are our href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174842/karen_greenberg_guantanamo_forever">prison facilities And, it seems, some of the blood sports are taking place among American troops. Take the strange case of thirty year old Ciara Durkin, href="http://patriotledger.com/articles/2007/10/03/news/news01.txt">href="http://patriotledger.com/articles/2007/10/03/news/news01.txt">a specialis She also told her family "If something happens to me in Afghanistan, don't let it go without an investigation." Three weeks later she had been found dead on Bagram Airbase, shot once in the head. Shades of Pat Tillman When, in mid-September, General David Petraeus testified before Congress on "progress" in Iraq tough bird. a superpower in distress

WHY THE HELL IS MEDICAL MARIJUANA AGAINST THE LAW?

VIEW THIS VIDEO: SPECIAL REPORT -MEDICAL MARIJUANA

One of the most despicable, asinine dilemmas facing our freedoms today. Why can't people who live their lives in pain get a drug that helps them to live comfortably and pain free? It absolutely makes no sense at all! It must be a matter of money... most things in our government that make no sense seems to have a money condition tied to it. No one can tell me that the pharmaceutical lobbies are not pressuring Congress to ban legalization of medical marijuana... We are not a nation of freedoms, we are a nation of lobbies and they dictate what we can or cannot do under the law. How very sad! thinkingblue

PAIN-IN-THE-ASS PAIN MANAGEMENT
Thank goodness chronic pain is covered by the Oregon medical marijuana law. So many of us suffer chronic pain, pain management has become an industry, a specialty unto itself & highly lucrative to Big-Pharma.
But a rebellion has begun by pain patients with too many years experience with Vicodin, Phentenal patches, Oxycodone-Oxycontin, morphine pumps and the most insidious, in my opinion, possibly the most addicting pain management pill, Methadone. Methadone is the favored (cheapest at about 5 cents a pill, vice Oxycodone $4 bucks a pill) addictor-pain manager available.
I talk to patients every day that say these drugs, are ruining their lives with the lousy side effects, causing problems in their family relationships, ruining their bodies, having to process the chemicals. Then they tell me the drugs are not working, or no longer working. They tell me they don't want to put chemicals in their bodies anymore or ever again. They tell me that their doctors won't seem to listen when they say, "No more vicodin. It makes me sick." "No more morphine or methadone, I don't want to be addicted any more." http://dondupay.typepad.com/my_weblog/medical_marijuana_issues/index.html
AND:
The New England Journal of Medicine has called the federal ban on medical marijuana "misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane." A 1999 report by the federal Institute of Medicine concluded, "Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation."

It's true that actual arrests of patients are rare. But that's often little consolation. Consider the case of Angel Raich, a California cancer victim whose marijuana was confiscated in a federal drug raid.

When she challenged the federal law, an appeals court ruled against her. But the court also had to acknowledge, "Raich's physician presented uncontroverted evidence that Raich 'cannot be without cannabis as medicine' because she would quickly suffer 'precipitous medical deterioration' and 'could very well die.' " Said the court, "All medical evidence in the record suggests that, if Raich were to stop using marijuana, the acute chronic pain and wasting disorders would immediately resume." http://www.propeller.com/viewstory/2007/10/08/the-truth-about-medical-marijuana/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.reason.com%2Fnews%2Fshow%2F122861.html&frame=true

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A response to Barry who is featured in the video http://rl.tv/OurShows/Viewpoint/tabid/598/Default.aspx

Thanks Barry, for sending me that video... I want to try and circulate the information about medical marijuana and try to spread the word how ridiculous this law is... Please go to this link http://clipmarks.com/clipper/thinkingblue/ and view my clipmark WHY THE HELL IS MEDICAL MARIJUANA AGAINST THE LAW? and my comments. Let's hope more and more people will become outraged at this restriction our government places on people who are suffering and in need of relief. An antidote for their pain, that is available but laws prevent them from obtaining this relief legally turning them into criminals. thinkingblue

Now view Mitt Romney's coldness towards a constituent who uses Medical Marijuana; OCTOBER 07, 2007 CNN
HOW PATHETIC TO PLAY POLITICS ON A SUBJECT SUCH AS THIS. thinkingblue

clipped from rl.tv Viewpoint investigates the relationship between seniors living with chronic pain and their choice to use medical marijuana to alleviate their constant discomfort. We hear from voices on all sides of this issue - seniors who smoke marijuana to ease their pain; a medical marijuana dispensary in California; the White House office of drug control policy; and a prominent member of Congress - all of whom agree that when it comes to the issue of medical marijuana, there are no easy answers. UPDATES: August 7, 2007 Poll update. After one week, 65 people have responded to our poll. Of those 65 people, only one did not support the legalization of medical marijuana. July 30, 2007 Don, the operator of the legal California medical marijuana dispensary profiled by Viewpoint, has been forced to close his facility. You can see pictures of the raid here. Click here for full story