Clipmarks | AtlLiberal's 'war' clips

Say It Ain't So Pat

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:32:24 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Pat Robertson, that Nostradamus of the 21st century, has done it again. Although his previous predictions haven't fared all that well there's always a first time. And if his prognostications fail to materialize, there's always the "God works in mysterious ways" get out of jail free card.

In conclusion, I'd like to offer my own Elixir of Health and Life Extender. Just send $4.98 to ...

Clip Source: blog.au.org

Pat’s Problematic Prophecies: Robertson Sees Nuclear War On The Horizon

According to The Virginian-Pilot, the controversial TV preacher is predicting an imminent war in the Middle East that may result in nuclear attacks on coastal cities in the United States.

“In a letter on his Web site, www.patrobertson.com, Robertson said his opinion was that Israel would bomb Iranian nuclear sites between Nov. 4 and the inauguration of the United States’ new president,” the newspaper reported. “Robertson tied his warning to biblical prophesy.”

Russia, Robertson said, will jump into the war, and things will quickly get very out of hand.

“It all will conclude,” he added, “when God has rained fire on the islands of the sea and on the invading force coming against Israel.”

“We have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control,” Robertson wrote. “If there was ever a time for fervent prayer, it is now.”

Protect War Criminals? Say It Ain't So!

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:51:24 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: This is not surprising given that the US is in the habit of protecting war criminals if it is to their advantage to do so. You hear that, Bush! Cheney!

Clip Source: afp.google.com

Karadzic protected by US until he broke 'deal': Belgrade report

The newspaper claims Karadzic was secretly granted immunity in return for keeping a low profile.

"Karadzic, indicted for genocide and war crimes, was under US protection until 2000, when the CIA intercepted his telephone conversation that clearly proved he personally chaired a meeting of his old political party," the daily quoted a "well-informed US intelligence source" as saying.

Karadzic "was personally engaged in all activities of the SDS," the source said.

"In America they went crazy realising Karadzic was making a fool of them," it said, adding that "the Americans and CIA then withdrew the informal protection enjoyed by Karadzic."

Karadzic also was granted immunity from the arrest by other intelligence services, such as the French and British one, as a part of the deal with the CIA, the daily claimed.

Tags: war, crime, genocide, hague, law

Drugs and Crime

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:30:19 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Scraping the insane drug laws which make it profitable for criminals to engage in drugs in the first place would be a great start. Admit it's a medical and not a legal problem. Turn the resources to that end that are now squandered on law enforcement.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Americans Can't Allow McCain to Continue Bush's Failed Policies in the "War on Drugs"

One of the reasons John McCain says he is touring Colombia and Mexico this week is to underscore the importance of the "War on Drugs." Just as McCain wants to continue Bush's failed policies in the "War on Terror," he wants to continue Bush's failed policies in the "War on Drugs" as well.

Of course the central fallacy of the "War on Drugs" is that drug addiction is not essentially a military or law enforcement problem. It is a medical problem.

Today America spends billions of dollars on enforcement, interdiction, eradication and the incarceration of those who sell and use drugs. Yet at the same time there are long waiting lists to get into serious drug rehab programs.

Justice Policy Institute found that investments in drug treatment and education are 10 to 15 times more effective at cutting drug use than the same amount spent on law enforcement aimed at drugs.

Tags: drugs, policy, prohibition

McCain Dusts Off Mushroom Cloud

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:13:34 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Since the republican obviously aren't going to score any points on economic issues or health care, they've decided to trot out the the straw man of the Democratic president waving the white flag of surrender. I guess it's the best they can do. Pretty pathetic...

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

McCain challenges Democratic rivals on Iraq war

NORFOLK, Va., Feb 8 (Reuters) - Sen. John McCain, his victory as Republican nominee for the U.S. presidency virtually assured, turned his sights on his Democratic challengers on Friday, saying they were weak on national security and their Iraq stance would hand al Qaeda a victory.

McCain's remarks, and the response from Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, pushed Iraq war policy back to center stage in the presidential race after weeks of focus on the faltering U.S. economy.

Speaking to reporters after a security round-table meeting in Norfolk, Virginia, the home of a major U.S. naval base, McCain accused Obama and Clinton of wanting to set a date for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

"I believe that would have catastrophic consequences," said the Arizona senator, a former Navy pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Tags: politics, gop, mccain, iraq, terror

Disturbing GI Health News

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 03:46:21 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: This report really troubled me. It should bother others as much.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Pentagon, Big Pharma: Drug Troops to Numb Them to Horrors of War

The DoD is flirting with the idea of medicating soldiers to desensitize them to combat trauma -- will an army of unfeeling monsters result?

In June, the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health acknowledged "daunting and growing" psychological problems among our troops: Nearly 40 percent of soldiers, a third of Marines and half of National Guard members are presenting with serious mental health issues. They also reported "fundamental weaknesses" in the U.S. military's approach to psychological health. That report was followed in August by the Army Suicide Event Report (ASER), which reported that 2006 saw the highest rate of military suicides in 26 years. And last month, CBS News reported that, based on its own extensive research, over 6,250 American veterans took their own lives in 2005 alone -- that works out to a little more than 17 suicides every day.

Tags: iraq, mental health, suicide, war

Time for a Change?

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:05:13 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Obviously, the comparison to the Prohibition Era is called for here. That same mindset is underlying this War on Drugs. This "war" is a fiction. Overuse of recreational drugs is a medical problem, not a legal problem. And underlying the whole concept is the religious based idea of denial of pleasure in this world. I'm afraid this problem will be with us for some time to come.

Clip Source: www.ajc.com

Decades later, war on drugs is still a loser

You don't hear much about the nation's "war on drugs" these days. It's a has-been, a glamorless geezer, a holdover from bygone days. Its glitz has been stolen by the "war on terror," which gets the news media hype and campaign trail rhetoric. Railing against recreational drug use and demanding that offenders be locked away is so '90s.

But the drug war proceeds, mostly away from news cameras and photo ops, still chewing up federal and state resources and casting criminal sanctions over entire neighborhoods. Some four or so decades into an intensive effort to stamp out recreational drug use, billions of dollars have been spent; thousands of criminals, many of them foreigners, have been enriched; and hundreds of thousands of Americans have been imprisoned. And the use of illegal substances continues unabated.

With the nation poised on the brink of a new political era, isn't it time to abandon the wrongheaded war on drugs?

Tags: drugs, law, religion, medicine

Bonito Giuliani

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:56:32 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Fear, fear, fear.

Whatever...

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

The latest issue of American Conservative issue features a cover story titled "Declaring Forever War: Giuliani has surrounded himself with advisors who think the Bush Doctrine didn't go nearly far enough."

The cover image depicts Rudy Giuliani in fascist garb:

Tags: politics, fascism, republican, war, terrorism

Too Little - Too Late

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:55:34 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Chemical prohibition works as well as alchohol prohibition. /addiction it's a medical, not a criminal problem. It becomes criminal because of the profit motive because it's illegal.

Clip Source: www.thenation.com

Some Sanity When It Comes to the "War" on Drugs

In a bold step forward in the campaign to reduce the damage the war on drugs is causing, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously today to make a recent amendment reducing recommended sentences for crack cocaine offenses retroactive. The decision come a day after the US Supreme Court ruled that federal judges can sentence individuals below the guideline recommendations in crack cocaine cases.

The sentencing commission's decision means that up to 19,400 currently incarcerated people will be eligible for early release. "The government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars and incarcerated millions of Americans --disproportionately black or brown Americans--yet drugs are as available as ever," said Bill Piper, national affairs director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "It's time to start treating drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue."

Tags: politics, drugs, prohibition

Strap on Your Sidearms Boys - It's Wartime Again

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:32:25 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: The time is here! Dig those trenches; arm the battlements; the heathens are at the gates!!!!

This is one "War" I find great amusement with. Watching fools act out their paranoid fantasies has great entertainment value.

Clip Source: atheism.about.com

War on Christmas: Appealing to More than Christians is Naughty

Mat Staver, dean of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, has started his annual "naughty" and "nice" list in so-called "War on Christmas." Manufactured and magnified by Christian Nationalists who are upset over the dwindling significance of traditional Christianity in American culture, this War on Christmas helps reveal the priorities, values, honesty, and reasonableness of Christian Nationalists.

So, it's "discrimination against Christians" to not treat them and their holiday as special. It's "censorship" to try to appeal to every potential customer, not just Christians.

Those are pretty broad applications of the concepts "discrimination" and "censorship" — so broad, in fact, that I have trouble accepting that anyone could sincerely believe what Staver is quoted as saying. I'm sad to say, though, that Mat Staver does appear to believe what he is saying.

Tags: christmas, religion, war, humor

Down the Rovian Rabbit Hole

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:46:23 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I wonder if Rove, having lied for most of his life, has bought into his own mythology? Someone should introduce him to the concept of Google.

I'm going to go quietly now and pull all my hair out!!!

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Rove: "Congress Pushed Bush to War in Iraq Prematurely"

You are not going to believe this, well, actually you will... According to Karl Rove (on Charlie Rose), the Bush Administration did not want Congress to vote on the Iraq War resolution in the fall of 2002, because they thought it should not be done within the context of an election. Rove, you see, did not think the war vote should be "political".

Moreover, according to Rove, that "premature vote" led to many of the problems that cropped up in the Iraq War. Had Congress not pushed, he says, Bush could have spent more time assembling a coalition, and provided more time to the inspectors.

It is worth remembering that the Senate in the fall of 2002 was controlled, barely, by Democrats. Get it? George Bush, we are being told, wanted to delay, wanted to hold back, wanted to take the time to build a coalition and let the inspectors finish their job, but that damn Congress just pushed him into it.

Tags: politics, rove, lying, history, iraq

War on Christmas

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:40:34 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I'm considering a tree based on Dante. The lower branches could really be interesting in their ornamentation. Now that's a tree that would be interesting to decorate.

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Have a ticky-tacky Christmas!

Category: Weirdness

It's awfully hard to get into the spirit of the War on Christmas when Christians are so danged tacky. I mean, really…the Jesus loves you sucker is only one comma away from perfect honesty, while the Jesus Tree Topper with the silk gown, gold crown, nail prints in the hands, and built-in light is pure cheese. He really needs a complement, though: Naked Tormented Jesus with Stigmata Squirting Action. Then the kids could battle it out between ascetism and the prosperity gospel right there on the Christmas tree.

Posted by PZ Myers at 1:00 AM • 33 Comments • 0 TrackBacks

Tags: christmas, atheism, war, humor, satire

Stats Humor

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:25:28 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal

Clip Source: cosmicvariance.com

Money spent on energy research vs. the Iraq war. (Via Matthew Yglesias.) Amusingly illustrative graph below the fold.

Tags: humor, war, statistics, graph

Deaf/Dumb/Blind President

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:48:14 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Perino needs to retake a basic math class. She refers to appeasement of radical groups; yeah, like 66% of the country has turned radical. And mouth-breathers still buy this crap.

Clip Source: voanews.com

Iraq-Afghanistan War Measure Faces Bush Veto

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives has approved a measure to provide $50 billion in short-term funding for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. VOA's Dan Robinson reports the legislation, which passed the House by a vote of218 to 203, now awaits a vote in the Senate where Republicans have predicted it will not pass, and also faces a veto threat from President Bush.

But this brought a renewed veto threat from the White House, where press secretary Dana Perino briefed reporters. "Once again they plan to send the president a bill that they know he will veto. This is for political posturing and to appease radical groups," she said.

Tags: politics, iraq, war, bush, law

Payback is Hell

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:55:33 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: A life of hiding and lies catches up with oldster. Some transgressions are too monstrous to ever forget or forgive. I don't suppose his life in Germany is going to be any easier. And don't weep for his wife. She abetted this criminal for decades.

Clip Source: www.ajc.com

Nazi guard returns quietly to Germany

An 85-year-old Gwinnett County man who guarded Nazi concentration camps with attack dogs during World War II has left the United States rather than fight deportation.

"I am not a war criminal," he told a throng of reporters. "I was 19 years old ... Everyone was with the Hitler Youth."

He spoke over the occasional wailings of his wife that afternoon, saying he didn't grasp the sinister purpose of the concentration camps while he was a guard.

"I didn't know what they were doing with these people," he said.

In October, Henss said he did not list his SS service on his U.S. immigration forms.

"I forgot about the war," he said. "I want to leave the war behind me."

Federal authorities said Henss trained dogs to attack prisoners trying to escape from the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps at various times from 1942 to late 1944.

Tags: nazi, justice, law

Poor Christians - Thrown to the Lions Again

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:36:16 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: For all the Liberals out there who have fallen in love with Mr. Paul, I suggest they take another look at the real Ron Paul. Sure he's against the war in Iraq but that's not his entire agenda. This quy is more of a nut than most think.

Clip Source: www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com

Ron Paul sees a war on Christianity?

One of Ron Paul’s selling points as a presidential candidate is his willingness to reject Republican orthodoxy.

But what I did not realize is that when it comes to the religious right’s theocratic worldview, Paul is surprisingly in line with TV preachers like Pat Robertson. An alert reader emailed me this Ron Paul commentary from December 2003, in which the Texas Republican laments “the ongoing war against religion” in general, and Christianity in specific.

Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view. The justification is always that someone, somewhere, might possibly be offended or feel uncomfortable living in the midst of a largely Christian society

Tags: politics, ron paul, theocracy, atheism