Bob Novak And Leaking CIA Agent's Names --- The columnist Robert Novak, who recently named a CIA agent and her cover company, is an idiot or a traitor, according to former Justice Department official John Loftus. Article, Conspiracy Planet, here. John Loftus writes,

" ...what Novak has done is to name one CIA agent and then go and expose the whole ring. He named the cover operation... Wilson is one of those rare women who was a superspy. She risked her own life by going overseas without official protection, no diplomatic immunity. If she got arrested, she would be shot as a spy... I hope that none of her agents are in countries like North Korea or Iran, because those people are going to be tortured to find out --were you ever an agent for Mrs. Wilson?"

Rush Limbaugh, Dope Fiend --- The rightwing bloviating blowhard recently admitted to being addicted to Oxycontin and having his housekeeper score for him on the streets. Rush, the first guy to point out the flaws in others, the lead jackal baying for Clinton's blood, now appears to be little more than a pathetic hypocrite. The following quotes from Conspiracy Planet explain a little of Rush's philosophy on drug use:

We're going to let you destroy your life. We're going to make it easy and then all of us who accept the responsibilities of life and don't destroy our lives on drugs, we'll pay for whatever messes you get into."
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec. 9, 1993

"I'm appalled at people who simply want to look at all this abhorrent behavior and say people are going to do drugs anyway let's legalize it. It's a dumb idea. It's a rotten idea and those who are for it are purely 100 percent selfish."
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec 9, 1993

"If(Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders) wants to legalize drugs, send the people who want to do drugs to London and Zurich, and let's be rid of them.
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec 9, 1993

"There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.

"What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too."
-- Rush Limbaugh show, Oct. 5, 1995

Okay, Rush, we'll take your advice and give you a 10 year sentence for starters, just so you can continue to be the shining example for the right wing.

Democrat-o-rama! --- Democratic Presidential nominee hopefuls had a televised debate, but you're still in a blissful state of ecstasy over Arnie's ascension to the throne. Howard Dean and Wesley Clark took a lot of heat from their peers, mainly for appearing to be their own men, not yes-men squeezed out of the Party meat grinder. Article, Los Angeles Times. Right now, I've gotta say I don't trust Clark. He was not even registered Democrat when he announced his candidacy. He's a general, more importantly, which means he will likely see things in a militaristic light. The military is our last resort, not our first option. The fact that Clark also voted for Nixon and Reagen scares me, as does his lavish praise in 2001 of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. It's true, a real Democrat would never have voted for Reagan. I think Clark is some kind of Republican Trojan horse, where he's going to slip in and convince the half-asleep voters he's one thing, and in the morning, we'll all realize we let in another Republican!

Elvis Costello --- has a new album, "North," out now. Go buy it and try to redeem your sorry self.

Krugman Deals Bush A Devastating Body Blow! --- New York Times Op/Ed columnist Paul Krugman delivers a one-two punch to that fatuous ass, Bush, here, in his piece "Lessons In Civility."

"It's impolite to say that George W. Bush is the most fiscally irresponsible president in American history, but it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise." Uppercut!

"Surely, then, Mr. Bush's critics have the right to point out that the life story of the man inside the flight suit isn't particularly heroic — that he has never taken a risk or made a sacrifice for the sake of his country, and that his business career is a story of murky deals and insider privilege." Right hook!

"It's impolite to say that Mr. Bush has damaged our national security with his military adventurism, but it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise." And the smashing left cross sends him reeling to the canvas! Knock out!

Pamela Mackey's Soul For Sale --- Sold! Mackey is Kobe Bryant's lawyer, btw, in open court today based the defense's case on smearing the victim. Article, NYT. Let's try to remember, folks, the gravity of this case. It's a rape case. Is it possible that Markey, by asking whether the victim's injuries could also have been caused "...by having sex with 3 different men over 3 days" is so disheartening and terrible for the cause of justice, that one has to wonder how much money Markey sold her soul for. The fact that a woman, a woman, could so callously disregard the seriousness of this case, and so easily leap to blaming the victim, makes me want to spit. What's the statistic now, 1 in 4 American women get raped in their lifetimes. 1 in 4. Could it be that Markey, for using her gender to help soften Kobe's image and then saying horrible things about a teenager who may have been raped, is a little shit weasel ? The prosecution was stunned that the defense stooped so low, attempting to smear the victim in the press, repeatedly mentioning her name for all the reporters to hear, and trying to garner sympathy in the public. Markey, you sold out your gender, your profession, and your country.

Shit Burger --- Anyone care for a germ-infested, shit-encrusted hamburger? Well, you're in luck! With all of the relaxing of inspection rules, you'll get your appetite whetted a lot sooner than you think. Article, from New York Times.

Libertines --- Pete Doherty did his 2 months in jail for burgling Carl's flat, and now he's released. The Libertines reunited and played to a crowd of 200 people on the day of Pete's release. Here's hoping Pete keeps clean. Article from the BBC, here.

Half - Life 2 Stolen --- The sequel to the greatest video game ever made, Half-Life, will not be released before Christmas because a group of assholes stole Valve's code. Valve has been working on the sequel for close to 5 years and recently a concerted attack by a group of hackers succeeded in stealing about 1/3 of the game, including the closely-guarded physics engine. Read about it, here, from the BBC. Read about how rad this game is going to be here, from Planet Half-Life.

Recall Day Of Judgment --- It's finally here (or will be when you read this): the recall. I hope you're all fairly disgusted with the entire enterprise. From start to finish it has been a bad experience. It started as a disgruntled Republican millionaire, Darryl Issa, decided that he was tired of being in the losing party, so why not exploit California's recall law? This he did, investing 2 million of his own dollars, and selflessly put himself forward as a replacement candidate. Fawn, grovel, fawn... Issa's sugarplum dreams of party leadership quickly evaporated when the recall morphed into a circus of shysters. Issa finally, tearfully, bowed out of a race had not a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Goodbye Issa, we hope you feel you got your money's worth, because it will end up costing the taxpayers of California over $70 million. Thanks for sticking us with the bill, asshole. Then Cruz Bustamente, a puffed up blowhard who has risen up the Democratic ranks like a rat up a drainpipe, solely on his ethnicity. Even Davis is fairly disgusted with the grovelling Bustamente. We can give some credit to Tom McClintock. First, we don't agree with any of Tom's political beliefs, but we will give him the thumbs up for this: the Republican Party bosses pressured him to drop out so that Arnold would have an open field for the Republican votes. Tom refused, and rightly so. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE knows McClintock is far more qualified than Schwarzenegger. Even a dumbfuck knows that. Tom rightly pointed out that Arnold's campaign is a shellgame, little more than an extended publicity stunt being fobbed off on the Californian voters as a progressive movement. Tom knows that Arnold doesn't know a goddamn thing about being Governor. Tom stayed in the race, and it would be lovely if he garnered more votes than Arnold because I think he really believes what he's saying and is running on principle. God knows why Arnold is doing this. Legitimacy? Ego? Powertripping? What kind of a dipshit votes for Arnold? Seriously, if you're a Republican, wouldn't you vote for the candidate of your party who can actually do the job? That ain't Arnie, who has released ZERO information on how he would pull off all the miracles he has been promising. Just like if you're a Democrat, you should vote No On The Recall and then vote for the candidate you like, not Bustamente just because he's a Democrat. Bustamente is incompetent, as everyone outside of his campaign recognizes. I do honestly believe that anything besides a Republican would be a good thing, but I will not vote for Bustamente because he is a loathsome entity, Democrat or no. People who value parties so highly are mislead. I think the Republicans deserve to lose this election because they engineered the recall in the first place. The Bush White House is very aware of what's going on and I think it's some kind of payback for Davis' smashing defeat of Riordan in the last election. Bush is paying back Davis for hurting one of his buddies. The whole thing fucking stinks to high heaven, so hopefully we will defeat the recall and can move on.

Some Sobering Information --- Go to this link, here, from the LA Times. It lists each US soldier killed in the Iraq war, has their photo, and some biographical details. Consider those deaths when you think about what we're doing in Iraq.

Last Day Of Recall --- It's almost in the voters' hands. California will either weather this political storm, or will be suddenly under the rule of Arnie. Read about it here, from LA Times. What disturbs you more, the fact that 15 women have come forward saying Arnie sexually assaulted them, or that Gray Davis, a decorated Vietnam war veteran, is being portrayed as some kind of anti-American, or that the very real budgetary woes are being portrayed by the Republicans as the fault of Davis and they want nothing to do with the facts that Bush's disastrous national policies are to blame, or even that 47 other states are also in similar dire straits? This recall is bullshit, vote NO. If you vote YES, then you must also answer these following questions:

1. Do you think the 40 hour work week is bullshit?
2. Do you think over time pay should be abolished?
3. Do you think US companies should be allowed to relocate to avoid taxes?
4. Do you think public education should be dismantled?
5. Do you think the super-rich should avoid paying taxes?
6. Do you think regulating the food, air, and water of all Americans is a bad thing?
7. Do you think corporate CEOs should be paid 640 times the pay of the average worker and should not be held responsible when they allow accounting felonies to occur which drain workers' pensions?
8. Do you think our public lands should be sold to the highest bidder so that a few corporations can make mega profits in the short run, and in the long run our national heritage will be destroyed forever?
9. Do you think the designation of "endangered" animals is some bullshit and should not stand in the way of greedy developers?

If you vote YES on the recall, then you are also voting YES on all those questions. Find out what the Republicans stand for and don't be awed by an actor.

Couldn't Call It Unexpected --- This one almost needs no commentary: Roy of Siegfried & Roy, the Las Vegas flamboyant duo who perform with endangered tigers, was told in no uncertain terms by one of his tigers that he's had enough of his act. The tiger grabbed him by the throat and shook him like a ragdoll, appearing to say, "fuck you, I am not a toy to be played with in the middle of the goddamn desert for a bunch of fat pensioners. I am an endangered animal, you shmuck." Read about it here, from NY Times.