Israel to strike Iran?

Oh jeez. It's true - Bush has his rubber stamp congress for 2 months...what kind of shenanigans will he be up to? This could be a peek:

TLO Washington, D.C.,: “ My brother-in-law is a professional military officer, stationed in the Washington area and from him I learned over lunch today that Israel has finally determined to launch what they consider to be a preemptive military strike against Iran’s capacity to manufacture and, most especially, to deliver an atomic weapon against Israel.

I was told that Israel is desolated by the neutering of Bush’s ability to support this attack.

Rush is feeling liberated

Wow. Even the "drug addled" Rushter is abandoning ship:

EIB The way I feel is this: I feel liberated, and I'm going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried. Now, you might say, "Well, why have you been doing it?" Because the stakes are high. Even though the Republican Party let us down, to me they represent a far better future for my beliefs and therefore the country's than the Democrat Party and liberalism does.

Whatevuh, Rush. You're on the wrong side and you know it. Have some fun - join in the liberal party. Live it up!

The Whoppers of 2006

Some fun reading for you....here's the"worst deceptions" of the 2006 election cycle.

FC...The mid-term elections of 2006 brought an unprecedented barrage of advertising containing much that is false or misleading. We found examples of disregard for facts and honesty – on both sides – that would get a reporter fired in a heartbeat from any decent news organization.

Candidates, parties and independent groups have faked quotes, twisted words, misrepresented votes and positions, and engaged in rank fear-mongering and outright fabrication. Here we review some of the worst deceptions we found.

Tricky Dick Morris

Who's using reverse psychology now?

We think that would be Dick Morris, the former democratic advisor-turned-GOP-darling. Dick's out there with doom and gloom for election results for the GOP....and then, voila! if it doesn't go AS BAD AS HE SAID IT WOULD - everyone's happy.

A GOP MASSACRE: A BLOODY TUESDAY

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Allen: Incumbent GOPer under 50 percent — a sign of doom.

November 6, 2006 -- THE latest polls portend disaster for the Republican Party tomorrow. The House appears to be gone; the Senate is teetering on the brink.

John Zogby's polling is tracking 15 swing House districts, and he finds Democratic leads in 13. Since Dems need only 15 to take control - and will doubtless pick up several not on Zogby's list - it seems we're in for several years of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Apologies in the News November 3, 2006

Thailand drops cases against 92 Muslim protestersWashington Post - United States... during the incident was later transferred to a less responsible post in Bangkok ... the first Muslim to lead the Thai army, said the apology demonstrated sincerity .

Do voters get an apology for lack of Iraq debate?Palm Beach Post - FL, United StatesAs October ended with 105 US troops and 1,200 civilians killed in Iraq - the bloodiest month of the year - the loudest "debate" at home was about whether Sen. ...

Confess and Apologize, RepublicansNew York Sun - New York,NY,USA... to my Republican colleagues. The first order of business is to confess to and to apologize to our own voters. The second order, far ...

Onion Sports: St. Louis Cardinals Apologize For Winning World ...CBS SportsLine.com - USABy The Onion Sports. ST. LOUIS -- Calling Friday night's victory on baseball's grandest stage "a terrible mistake," members of the St. ...

Speaking of Apologies: Neo-Cons and the ArmyDemocracyArsenal.org - New York,NY,USA... (did I mention the ranks of the Army being infested with white supremists?) Lots of things to apologize for. ... Who is going to apologize for this?

Kerry right to apologize for his Iraq remarkJackson Sun - Jackson,TN,USASen. John Kerry, D-Mass., was right to apologize Wednesday for his insulting remarks about our troops made earlier this week. Now ..

Because It's Not That Hard To Apologize--So Pass It On.Huffington Post - New York,NY,USAThis past week in response to John Kerry's remarks about our troops in Iraq, White House Spokesman, Tony Snow, stated that Kerry should apologize to the troops ...

Blackwell, DeWine make last-minute trips here todayCincinnati Enquirer - Cincinnati,OH,USA... John Kerry apologize for saying that students should study hard or they'll "get stuck in Iraq," the Senate's top Democrat and veterans are calling on Boehner ...

A Needless ApologyYahoo! News - USA... And Kerry, who just issued a needless apology, would never admit this-- because he'd inevitably be called "anti-troop" again, mostly by people who have never ...

AFL demands Fevola apologySunday Times.au - Perth,WA,AustraliaAFL boss Andrew Demetriou has rejected claims by disgraced Carlton star Brendan Fevola that racial abuse prompted his assault on an Irish barman this week. ...

That's No ApologyNational Review Online Blogs - New York,NY,USAKerry just cannot bring himself to utter an honest apology. ... UPDATE: And by the way, I don't care if Kerry issues a real apology or not. ...

The Long Apology of John KerryAmerican Daily - Stow,OH,USA... His “apology” on November 1 was, of course, an ill-concealed lie which shows how little he truly respects the intelligence of the American people.
\

NO APOLOGIESSan Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA... and that's before it lights out for the nearest highway, the place to show what 425 modern horses will do in a nearly 2-ton car that makes no apologies to the ...

Beyond Kerry: The power of apologiesOrlando Sentinel - Orlando,FL,USASo you think you had a tough day at the office? Imagine being David McKean, chief of staff for US Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. ......

...

Media ignored Bush's pledge to retain Rumsfeld while continuing to ...Media Matters for America - Washington,DC,USA... story ran inside the Post today, not on the front page." But on November 2, an article on Kerry's apology by Post staff writers Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei ...

Don't mention the warGuardian Unlimited - UK... Kerry, claiming he had suggested US soldiers were dumb, and they demanded an apology, which Kerry ... On Thursday, it was the lead story in The Washington Post. ...

GET THE APOLOGY DEMAND COMMERCIALS READY AND RUN 'EM THROUGH ...Huffington Post - New York,NY,USAKerry botches a joke about Bush. Republicans demand an apology to the troops and their families. A problem for Democrats? Only if ...

"Just push the Yellow Button and vote as many times as you want"

Oh, great. So now the secret's out....apparently your "just push the yellow button and vote as many times as you want!"

BB:.....It seems there's a little yellow button on the back every touch-screen computer made by Sequoia Voting Systems, that allows any voter, or poll worker, or precinct inspector to set the system into "Manual Mode" allowing them to cast as many votes as they want.

Concerns about the flaw were first reported some thirty days ago to California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson's office by Ron Watt, a Tehama County, CA precinct inspector who has been a poll worker in the county for the last fifteen years. And yet, as recently as a radio interview last Tuesday, McPherson — who has been crowing about having the country's most stringent security process for voting systems — denied he was aware of any security issues with Sequoia systems.

Election Glitches, My A$$

Get a clue, people! Remember - it's the voting machines, stupid. Is this how the GOP plans to win and why they're not worried.....?

Election Computer “Glitches” - Ha!

When you see weird election results, if it’s not an outright glitch, then it’s programmer intent....

Okay, I’ve been working in computers since 1989, when I was in 7th grade. I’ve been fixing computers for a vast majority of that time. I got halfway through a programming degree before real world economics interfered. I’ve done my share of cracking and a little bit of hacking. I’m no hacker. I’m no software engineer. But I can tell you this much about election software “glitches”.

int main(){
#declarations (#include iostream, #include cstring, etc)
int ballot[27] = 0; // 27 different races, initialize to 0
int i=0;
cout << "Straight Ticket?\n"; cin >> ballot[0]; // 0 for no, 1 for republican, 2 for democrat, 3 for green, 4 for libertarian, etc.
cout << "President?\n" cin >> ballot[1]; // 0 for no, 1 for republican, 2 for democrat, 3 for green, 4 for libertarian, etc.
…
cout << "Underwater Basket Weaver?\n" cin >> ballot[26]; // 0 for no, 1 for republican, 2 for democrat, 3 for green, 4 for libertarian, etc.
// tally votes
if (i=0;i++;i<27)
{
cout << "The outcome for race " << i << " is " << ballot[i] << ".\n";
}
return 1;
}

Now, in this oversimplified C++ code example, here's how easy it is to change the election...

change:
if (i=0;i++;i<27)
{
cout << "The outcome for race " << i << " is " << ballot[i] << ".\n";
}

to:

if (i=0;i++;i<27)
{
if (ballot[i] == 2) then ballot[i] = 1;
cout << "The outcome for race " << i << " is " << ballot[i] << ".\n";
}

Let me pronounce that for you. "If ballot of i is exactly equal to 2, then set ballot of i to one."

Now, it's been years since I programmed in college, and my HyperCard syntax might have just given me compiler errors, but the point is very clear here. One line of code is all the change you need to fix an election, and it CAN NOT be unintentional. However, there are clever ways of hiding it.

You can use a random number generator to only fix a certain percentage of the vote. rand.seed(GMT)%11 will take the time and seed a random number generator, modulating it to numbers between 1 and 10. 10% chance of election fixing. You can do it as high or low as you want. Again, one line of code.

This is not rocket science for people like me. And I haven’t programmed since 1996. That was before the ANSI/ISO standard for C++.

Kerry Apologizes

Who's Apologizing Now?

Sen. John Kerry (D, MA) who almost single-handedly threw the mid term elections for the Dems with his careless remark. Jeez, ARE the Dems Born to Lose?

Breitbart: Thrust into the midst of the midterm election campaign, Sen. John Kerry apologized Wednesday to "any service member, family member or American who was offended" by remarks deemed by Republicans and Democrats alike to be insulting to U.S. forces in Iraq.

Six days before the election, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee said he sincerely regretted his words were "misinterpreted to imply anything negative about those in uniform."...
The White House accepted Kerry's statement as a legitimate apology. "Senator Kerry's apology to the troops for his insulting comments came late but it was the right thing to do," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.

Voting machines in Jefferson County, TX turn the D to R

Who's Sorry Now?

Americans will be very sorry on November 8 if the faulty electronic voting machine pattern continues. Think your vote counts? Can you verify that?

KFDM ... Saturday, KFDM spoke to another voter who says it's not just happening with straight ticket voting, he says it's happening on individual races as well, Jerry Stopher told us when he voted for a Democrat, the Republican's name was highlighted. Stopher said, "There's something in these machines, in this equipment, that's showing Republican votes when you vote for Democrats, and I know Ms. Guidry's a nice lady, and she's working hard, but her theory that my fingernail was somehow over the Republican button is just unrealistic, my fingernail was not. The equipment is not working properly as far as I can tell."

It's The Voting Machines, Stupid

Get a clue. He who counts the votes, wins the election.

First off, the voting machines seem to have a mind of their own....or a mind of the "controlling" party"...

Time: Posted Sunday, Oct. 29, 2006A woman walked into a polling place in Peoria, Ill. last week and proceeded to use one of the new electronic voting machines set up for early voting. She logged on, went through each contest and seemed to be making her choices. After reviewing each race, the machine checked to see if she was satisfied with her selections and wanted to move on. Each time, she pressed YES, and the machine progressed to the next race. When she was done, a waving American flag appeared on the screen, indicating that her votes had been cast and recorded.

But there was a problem. The woman had not made any choices at all. She had only browsed. Now when she told the election judges she was ready to do it again--but this time actually vote--they told her it was too late. Pressing the last button, they said, is like dropping your ballot in an old-fashioned ballot box. There's no getting it back.

And then there's Hugo Chavez' ownership in Smartmatic - and we posted about this yesterday - that if you thought Dubai was bad....the "build the fence" Republicans have just woken up to this one.....

TSC: The federal government is investigating the takeover last year of a leading American manufacturer of electronic voting systems by a small software company that has been linked to the leftist Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chávez. The inquiry is focusing on the Venezuelan owners of the software company, the Smartmatic Corporation, and is trying to determine whether the government in Caracas has any control or influence over the firm's operations, government officials and others familiar with the investigation said.

Is this a false alarm, or does it represent a real threat of foreign meddling in American elections? I suspect it's the former, but I can't be sure -- and, of course, that's the problem with electronic voting. Because you can't tell what's going on inside of the box, voters can't be sure that their votes are recorded, or counted, accurately. And if they can't be sure of that, their faith in the whole electoral system is in danger -- and with it, their faith in our system of government.

ANOTHER voting machine glitch

Get a clue.
Are the voting machines the GOP's secret weapon for the midterms? Check out the first sentence here - the choices touched on the electronic screens were NOT THE ONES THAT APPEARED on the review screen?!? Oh, so my vote doesn't count, afterall? Duh!

MiamiHerald via RS: ...Several South Florida voters say the choices they touched on the electronic screens were not the ones that appeared on the review screen -- the final voting step.

Election officials say they aren't aware of any serious voting issues. But in Broward County, for example, they don't know how widespread the machine problems are because there's no process for poll workers to quickly report minor issues and no central database of machine problems.

In Miami-Dade, incidents are logged and reported daily and recorded in a central database. Problem machines are shut down.

Rumsfield says Fl 93 was "shot down"

What? That's right, folks, here's the clip from last week here.

Sure the conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this one!

Apologies in the News October 30, 2006

James Webb defends novels against attacksChina Post - Taipei,Taiwan
... after winning the endorsement of the National Rifle Association's political action committee ... But Webb made no apologies yesterday for his novels, among which ...

Vodacom awards miss markMoneyweb - Johannesburg,South Africa
... big name musical performers and judges who occasionally fell into Political Correctness, the ... from a recent heart attack, but even so, his apologies might have ...

Hoagland: Bush needs an Iraq czar; I nominate George ShultzHouston Chronicle - United States
... implausibly, that "Tet was a victory for America but a political defeat, and ... if it happens, I will quickly offer Shultz my congratulations, and my apologies. ...

Political reporting isn’t what it used to beThe Delaware County Times - Chester,PA,USA
... Political reporting in general lazily leans to the easy, the dramatic, the seemingly confrontational, and ... Apologies to Susan Monday for making her the scapegoat ...

A day of reckoning looms for Mt. Olive's De La RocheDailyrecord.com - Parsippany,NJ,USA
... "The political chaos in Mount Olive has been such ... De La Roche said he makes no apologies for attempting to make changes that he feels he was elected to make. ...

Shots, eggs, embryos and a big dose of hopektla 5 - Los Angeles,CA,USA
... front in the culture wars might well be gay parenting, and they feared the political tide would ... When Muasher finished his apologies, David looked at his partner ...

In the baguette: The guests in attendance at ACE Bakery's recent ...National Post - Canada
... (In political terms, that ... My abject apologies, I might add, for baking one too many bread metaphors in this particular column. I honestly couldn't help myself! ...

Apology for ignored claimCourier Mail - Australia
By Marg Wenham. THE Child Safety Department has apologised to a man for ignoring claims his children were being sexually abused by their mother. ...

Schumacher owes fans apology - CoulthardFOXSports.com - USA
David Coulthard believes Michael Schumacher owes Formula One fans an apology for some of the things he has done on track during his career. ...

Limbaugh’s phony apology–then attacks MJ Fox againBy John Amato
Poor Rush is complaining that irresponsible charges were brought against him because his ditto cam showed him mocking MJ Fox. LIMBAUGH: We had a call yesterday, and I dealt with this yesterday, and I will deal with it again today as ...

Israel Issues Apology for Military "Misunderstandings"Deutsche Welle - Germany
German Chancellor Merkel spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to clear up "misunderstandings" regarding three incidents between the Israeli air force and ...

IF sorry seems to be the hardest word then at least Julien ...Glasgow Daily Record - Glasgow,Scotland,UK
There is as much chance of Vladimir Romanov issuing a formal apology to his ... as the Belarussian boss barked his way enthusiastically through a post-match press ...

Media Matters’ Attack on The Shadow PartyFrontPage magazine.com - Los Angeles,CA,USA
... We make no apology for citing The National Law Journal as a source. ... Commenting upon this Clinton initiative, EJ Dionne of The Washington Post penned a column ...

KKK to seek permit for Hammonton eventCherry Hill Courier Post - Cherry Hill,NJ,USA
... "I'm here to tell you that you won't get an apology from me ... The group plans to distribute literature outside Town Hall or the post office, Bednarsky said. ...

Defrauded lottery winner finally gets apology -- and moneyLottery Post - Martinsville,NJ,USA
... called the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation to complain that he may have been defrauded out of a winning Super 7 ticket, he has an apology and the right ...

Fox Fires Backabc7news.com - San Francisco,CA,USA... You're just kind of like, "Sorry? ... And so I have to qualify it by saying I'm not qualified to speak on the page-to-page content of the initiative. ...

Valencian GP: Camel YamahaMotorsport.com - Canada... two or three laps I lost the front a couple of times but I'm not really sure ... all their work throughout the year; they've never given up and I'm sorry that we ...

Metrowear’s feminine wilesManila Standard Today - Philippines... fabrics, vibrant colors, tailored cuts, retro classics, glamour and all-together, fashion. ... Escario, for his part, made no apologies nor denials of where the ...

The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: FashionBig Mama on Fashion is the new oxygen: Apologies for my last post, it sounded quite bitchy. Of course fashion is relevant and necessary. ...

Ken Mehlman takes (gay) porn money for the RNC

Who may be gay and takes porn producer money from porn distributors?

That would be Ken Mehlman. Is Ken gay? Some think so.

Did he put the "accepts money from porn producers" line into the Ford "bimbo sex" ad? Yes.

And does the RNC accept money from a GAY PORN distributor who's films include "Fire in the Hole", "Flesh and Boners", even a "Velvet Mafia" series? The correct answer is apparently - YES.

TMP:
It turns out that the Republican National Committee is a regular recipient of political contributions from Nicholas T. Boyias, the owner and CEO of Marina Pacific Distributors, one of the largest producers and distributors of gay porn in the United States. This recent article on Marina Pacific's new marketing campaign form XBiz, a porn industry trade sheet, notes that, in addition to producing its own material, the "company acts as a distribution house to hundreds of lines, mostly gay, 40 of which can be purchased only through MPD."

Michael J. Fox and stem cell research

Who's not going to Apologize Now?

NOT Malkin or Limbaugh, that's for sure....

via Fark: Science Magazine debunks Republican talking point that adult stem cells research has provided therapies for 65 (or 72) diseases. Malkin and Limbaugh can sincerely apologize to Michael J. Fox now.

Will Chavez count your vote?

Who's sorry now?

American voters may be sorry when they realize that Hugo Chavez OWNS the software company that counts their votes...thought the Dubai ports deal was scary....guess this is globalization at it's finest.

NYT here: The federal government is investigating the takeover last year of a leading American manufacturer of electronic voting systems by a small software company that has been linked to the leftist Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chávez....The concerns about possible ties between the owners of Smartmatic and the Chávez government have been well known to United States foreign-policy officials since before the 2004 recall election in which Mr. Chávez, a strong ally of President Fidel Castro of Cuba, won by an official margin of nearly 20 percent.

Opposition leaders asserted that the balloting had been rigged. But a statistical analysis of the distribution of the vote by American experts in electronic voting security showed that the result did not fit the pattern of irregularities that the opposition had claimed.

Lou Dobbs on Lynne Cheney's CNN Interview

You go, Lou! Even though we're not that crazy about Wolf B, we DO like Lou and his take on the state of the nation. Plus, he gets the power angle. That's what's corrupted the GOP so badly - that and their obsession with sex and money.

And Lynne Cheney's got to be as cold hearted as her husband, Dick, no?
Must be TORTURE putting up with him.

Transcript here via HuffPo:
....DOBBS: Terrific interview with Lynne Cheney. And it really, it was very revealing. In terms of the tone and the tact that's being taken. Now we are watching power bridling and truth being spoken to power.

Fortress US in Baghdad

It's the OIL, Stupid.

What is Fortress US? The code name for the mega embassy structure apparently being built in Baghdad by First Kuwaiti (a Lebanese-run company) to give the US diplomats a bird's eye view of the billion dollar oil flow will eventlually go online. (Don't worry, GWB, Cheney, Rice, et al are very patient). Say what?

As we debate mundane things like the pesky civil war underway, which the US is probablly delighted about, because it assures that NO ONE will be looking at things like the US Embassy and it's future...the building forges ahead. Add this to the permanent mega military bases being constructed and you can see why Bush needs to stay the course, of course.

AT: Now, with a highly secretive contract awarded by the US State Department, First Kuwaiti is in the midst of building the most expensive and heavily fortified embassy in the world. Scheduled to open next year, the sprawling complex near the Tigris River will equal Vatican City in size....But scratching the surface is the only view yet available of what may be the most lasting monument to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. As of now, only a handful of authorized State Department managers and contractors, along with First Kuwaiti workers and contractors, are officially allowed inside the project's walls. No journalist has ever been allowed access to the sprawling 42-hectare site with towering construction cranes raising their necks along the skyline.

Altogether, now: We went into Iraq for the oil. Ask Ken Mehlman, the former RNC chair, who said on Meet the Press (May 2006), "...Imagine a failed state on the second largest oil reserves in the world." Transcript here

Voter Vault knows all about you

Get a clue!

America, you know those little supermarket rewards tags you carry on your keychain? Those and your credit card bills provide Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman and the RNC everything they need to microtarget you on voting day.

Is this a bad thing? Maybe not...but what else do they know - and how will they use it in the future?

via RS : The Republican National Committee started developing Voter Vault in 2000, spurred by the success of the union-propelled voting drives the Democrats had mounted in Florida and other states. It was first used in targeted congressional races in 2002, when the party picked up some new seats in both houses. And in 2004, when the GOP hammered swing states with money and people, Voter Vault guided the effort. The Democratic National Committee tried playing catch-up during the 2004 election, morphing its e-mail list into something it called, variously, Datamart and Demzilla, but the system never really got off the ground, and by late 2005 it had been abandoned.

Oh, and PS. The company that manages the Voter Vault is located in......India.

Could the Corker Ad Win Votes for FORD?

Who's (may be) sorry now?
Karl Rove, the entire GOP, and most GOP candidates. Why? Because Rove has groomed a protege who's just proven he has the right stuff, which could turn into the wrong stuff.

That Corker/Ford ad with the white "hooker" asking Harold Ford to call her? Produced by Rove's clone, Scott Howell. What do you think of the ad? Is it working? Will Corker win? Or does it kind of make Ford look like a "player" in a good way? We know the GOP and righties are absolutely obsessed with sex....maybe GOP voters will secretly vote for Harold because they.... admire him? Hmmmmmm??????

(CBS/AP) A protégé of White House political guru Karl Rove produced the controversial Republican National Committee ad targeting Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Harold Ford Jr., that some have called racist, CBS News has learned. The ad, in which a white woman with blonde hair and bare shoulders looks into the camera and whispers, "Harold, call me," and then winks, was produced by Scott Howell, the former political director for Rove's consulting firm in Texas.