Just another left-wing crackpot conspiracy theorist

No, not me.

Halliburton Contract Critic Loses Her Job
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800881.html
"(Bunnatine H. Greenhouse) said the independence of the Corps' contracting process was compromised in the handling of the contact. "I observed, first hand, that essentially every aspect of the [Restore Iraqi Oil] contract remained under the control of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. This troubled me and was wrong."

Who is Hugo Chavez?

Who, you say? No, Hugo.
Seeing as this guy will be helping shape US foreign policy into the next decade, we might as well find out who he is.

WHY DICK CHENEY WON'T PLAY IN HUGO CHAVEZ' BAND
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=452&row=0
"...77% of Venezuela's farmland is owned by 3% of the population, the 'hacendados.'...That week, Chavez himself handed me a copy of the "socialist" manifesto that so rattled the man in the Jag. It was a new law passed by Venezuela's Congress which gave land to the landless. The Chavez law transferred only fields from the giant haciendas which had been left unused and abandoned..."

Mattie Weiss: Robertson's not alone in his dislike of Chavez
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5581661.html
"What I saw, in the enormous city of Caracas and the rural towns of Monagas state, were huge numbers of people who, for the first time in their lives, have free and adequate health care, the opportunity to attend university, access to land grants and work contracts, constitutionally assured rights for women and indigenous people, and free breakfast programs for children. And with all this, a sense of dignity and ownership over their lives."

Don't believe the hype. Find out the truth.

Oh, and if you read Greg Palast's article, you'll see why our gas prices are so high.

- Vox

Maybe this is why we formed our own country

You can use the f-word in class (but only five times)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=360685&in_page_id=1770
"Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score," he wrote in the letter."

THE NEW COLD WAR

Take note.
War games seen as 'message'
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050817-122515-2218r.htm
"A joint Chinese and Russian military exercise set to begin tomorrow is meant as a political signal to the United States..."

Russia says opposes use of force against Iran
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081700383_pf.html
"We favor further dialogue and consider the use of force in Iran counter-productive and dangerous, something which can have grave and hardly predictable consequences," said a statement posted on the ministry's Web site www.mid.ru."

Remember my post from 3/12/05, "Syria-Iran-Russia-Venezuela: The New Cold War" (middle of the page). I hope it's just a cold war, not a hot one.

- Vox

The Martial Law Plan

War Plans Drafted To Counter Terror Attacks in U.S.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/07/AR2005080700843_pf.html
"The U.S. military has devised its first-ever (yeah, right. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn - Vox) war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States..."

"According to military lawyers here, the dispatch of ground troops would most likely be justified on the basis of the president's authority under Article 2 of the Constitution to serve as commander in chief and protect the nation. The Posse Comitatus Act exempts actions authorized by the Constitution."

Now THIS is scary! By this logic, the president can install himself as dictator-for-life or suspend the Constitution in favor of martial law under constitutionally-granted authority to serve as commander in chief and protect the nation.
"Military Lawyers". Somehow that seems like an oxymoron to me (I know it's a stretch, but just a bit of mental gymnastics). - Vox

Remember what General Tommy Franks said.

Men of Principle

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2127192
"There's no way to apologize for such a sin.", "...I am a man of principle..."
— Giants manager Felipe Alou

The quote:
"I just cannot watch this brand of baseball any longer," (KNBR's Larry) Krueger said. "A truly awful, pathetic, old team that only promises to be worse two years from now. It's just awful. It really is bad to watch. Brain-dead Caribbean hitters hacking at slop nightly."

Still not quite sure if Felipe is blowing the above quote out of proportion or not, but I definitely support his hard-line stance.
It seems that in our society today, you have the choreographed dance of offensive remark/action leading to soft-shoe response of faux shock and alarm leading to well-scripted apology/show of contrition (maybe) leading to the offended party's well-scripted acceptance (chest pumped out like they just accomplished something) leading to the offense being forgotten, only for the dance to be repeated again and again from the beginning.

Don't let it slide Felipe. We need more men of principle.

- Vox

On Profiling Arabs

2 NY Officials Back Terror Check Profiling
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201625_pf.html
"Arabs should be targeted for searches on city subways, two elected officials said..."
""They all look a certain way," said (Dov) Hikind, a Democrat from Brooklyn."
"(James) Oddo commended Hikind for "rushing headlong against the strong undertow of political correctness.""

These are 2 bigoted-ass elected officials who should be UNelected once their terms are up. It's a disgrace that they find the concept of equal-protection and just plain fairness to be merely "politically correct".

Profiling Arabs will make us safer? Hmmm, Let's see...
Baruch Kappel Goldstein (Where ya at, Dov?) - "who was responsible for killing 29 Muslim civilians and injuring approximately 100 in a 1994 mass shooting attack"
Timothy McVeigh - Oklahoma City bomber, "hundreds were injured and 167 men, women and children died..."
Eric Robert Rudolph - The Olympic Park bomber, "...who committed a series of bombings across the southern United States, resulting in the deaths of three people and injuries to at least 150 others.
Theodore John Kaczynski - the Unibomber, killing three and wounding 29

Yeah, right.

- Vox