Clipmarks | Socratoad's 'bush' clips

It Takes a School, Not Missiles

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:44:08 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

It Takes a School, Not Missiles

Since 9/11, Westerners have tried two approaches to fight terrorism in Pakistan, President Bush’s and Greg Mortenson’s.

Mr. Bush has focused on military force and provided more than $10 billion — an extraordinary sum in the foreign-aid world — to the highly unpopular government of President Pervez Musharraf. This approach has failed: the backlash has radicalized Pakistan’s tribal areas so that they now nurture terrorists in ways that they never did before 9/11.

Mr. Mortenson, a frumpy, genial man from Montana, takes a diametrically opposite approach, and he has spent less than one-ten-thousandth as much as the Bush administration. He builds schools in isolated parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, working closely with Muslim clerics and even praying with them at times.

The only thing that Mr. Mortenson blows up are boulders that fall onto remote roads and block access to his schools.

Drilling’s Lure

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:39:13 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Congress should not give into the pressures of a restless public and a campaign by sacrificing long-term environmental protections for short-term political gain.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Drilling’s Lure

President Bush’s decision on Monday to lift the moratorium on offshore oil drilling first imposed by his father 18 years ago is designed to ratchet up the pressure on Congress to do likewise. Congress should resist. Offshore drilling will not bring short-term relief from $4-a-gallon gasoline, nor can it play much more than a marginal role in any long-term strategy for energy independence. The oil companies already have access to substantial unexplored resources.

One was an executive prohibition on offshore drilling in the Lower 48 states, imposed by the first President Bush in 1990 after the Exxon Valdez disaster. This moratorium was later extended by President Bill Clinton, who added protections for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a rich fishing ground. Mr. Bush lifted the Bristol Bay protections last year and has now eliminated the rest.

Nouri al-Maliki: Compliant puppet

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:44:41 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: aka, its the oil stupid

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Chomsky: Bush & Cheney Always Saw Iraq as a Sweetheart Oil Deal

U.S. war planners want an obedient client state that will house major U.S. military bases, right at the heart of the world's major energy reserves.

The deal just taking shape between Iraq's Oil Ministry and four Western oil companies raises critical questions about the nature of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq -- questions that should certainly be addressed by presidential candidates and seriously discussed in the United States, and of course in occupied Iraq, where it appears that the population has little if any role in determining the future of its country.

Last November, the guiding concerns were made explicit when President Bush and Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, signed a "Declaration of Principles," ignoring the U.S. Congress, the Iraqi parliament and the populations of the two countries.

The long journey from denier to delayer

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:30:16 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: I think your reaction depends on whether you are a "glass is 90 percent empty" or "glass is 10 percent full" type of person and whether you judge the president on the relative basis of his dismal, pathetic, unconscionable climate record (in which case what he agreed to at the G8 was a big deal) or on an absolute basis of what needs to be done to avoid catastrophic climate impacts for the next 10 billion people to walk the earth (in which case what the G8 did was give a placebo to a diabetic -- a sugar-coated placebo, that is).

The Guardian online asked for my commentary, "Ignoring the climate change alarm." Here are some excerpts:

Clip Source: gristmill.grist.org

The long journey from denier to delayer

Bush hits the climate alarm snooze button at G8

The NYT's Andy Revkin dissed the G8 climate statement with the blog headline, "Rich and Emerging Greenhouse-Gas Emitters Fail to Set Common Long-Term Goal for Cuts." The headline of the NYT's article on the subject, however, is "Richest Nations Pledge to Halve Greenhouse Gas." The Grist story begins, "world leaders reached a landmark deal: agreeing to cut emissions in half by 2050," calling it a "significant step" for the Bush Administration, whereas NRDC's international climate policy director, Jake Schmidt, blogs, "Yup, Just as I Predicted ... No G8 Leadership!"

What is going on? You can read the "G8 statement on climate change and environment" and decide for yourself.

NIXON vs. BUSH

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:46:30 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.washingtonmonthly.com

NIXON vs. BUSH....Matt Yglesias, riffing off a David Broder column, wonders why the public demanded Richard Nixon's resignation three decades ago but hasn't risen up with the same fury to demand George Bush's:

I wasn't alive in 1973-74. I have a vague sense that at that time America's elites operated with some sense of conscience and dignity, and it was taken for granted even among Republican leaders that one couldn't just break the law. These days, a misleading deposition taken in the course of a frivolous lawsuit aimed at avoiding the revelation of an affair is a grave national crisis, but it's taken for granted that only a lunatic would believe that Bush or any of his henchmen should be held accountable in any way for repeated violations of the law. I don't really know what changed, or why David Broder and other gatekeepers of elite consensus can't see that something's gone wrong here, but I'm not happy about it.

Climate Change? What Climate Change?

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:19:25 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: "Alas, it is not to be; instead, the instructions from the Wall Street Journal are Drill! Drill! Drill! and George Bush, perhaps with an eye towards the fuel riots going on around the world, jumps and proposes the new Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: 1) drilling offshore, 2) drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 3) adding refineries, and 4) extracting oil from shale, which makes the Alberta Tar Sands look environmentally benign."

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Climate Change? What Climate Change?

President Bush calling for offshore drilling

Perhaps we spent too much time watching Monty Python movies and singing "Always look on the bright side of life," but we thought that there was perhaps a good side to high gas prices, that people would change their habits to adapt, and suddenly the world would be filled with small efficient cars, lots of mass transit, all food would be locally grown and every new home would be New Urbanist or multifamily, mainly in reborn Buffaloes or Detroits with a bicycle in every garage and an organic chicken in every pot. Oh, and CO2 levels would drop like a stone in this bucolic New Jerusalem.

Does the E.U. Hate You?

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:35:49 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Does the E.U. Hate You?

There's no need for Americans to take offense or cancel their vacations -- most Europeans are angry at our government, not us.

In Europe, as in nearly everywhere else in the world, the image of the United States has taken a severe battering during the Bush years. Survey after survey shows that negative feelings toward America and U.S. policies have soared. Only 36 percent of Europeans, for example, view U.S. leadership in world affairs as desirable, according to a 2007 German Marshall Fund poll. Markedly lower is their approval of the Bush administration: a dismal 17 percent. In Harris polls since 2003, the majority of Europeans have even cited the United States as the greatest threat to international security -- more so than Iran, North Korea or Russia.

A blast from the past

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:41:01 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Pinocchio, is that you?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

June 28, 2000

Bush Would Use Power of Persuasion to Raise Oil Supply

AYNE, Mich., June 27 -- Gov. George W. Bush of Texas said today that if he was president, he would bring down gasoline prices through sheer force of personality, by creating enough political good will with oil-producing nations that they would increase their supply of crude.

"I would work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply," Mr. Bush, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, told reporters here today. "Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot."

BUSH, USA EXPORTING DEATH AT ALARMING RATE

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:00:15 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: This is a huge amount of weapons of destruction the bastards are giving to all comers. Profiteers are happy, the world suffers.

Clip Source: www.smirkingchimp.com

"In the last six years, Washington has stepped up its sales and transfers of high-technology weapons, military training, and other military assistance to governments regardless of their respect for human rights, democratic principles, or nonproliferation," according to a report in the current(Jan.-Feb.) "Arms Control Today," published online by the Arms Control Association(ACA). "All that matters is that they have pledged their assistance in the global war on terrorism."

You read it right. The Bush regime has been using 9/11 as an excuse for the reckless sale of weapons around the globe, working $16.9 billion in new arms deals in 2006, 41.9 percent of the world's total. This compares to runners-up Russia, $8.7 billion, and Great Britain, $3.1 billion, writes Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information(CDI), which tracks such data.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3137695.ece

USA Empire Ultimately Doomed

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:15:49 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Leading presidential aspirants and Congressional leaders continue to ignore this issue lest the public get a glimpse of the empire without a wardrobe. They enable the naked miscreants of power -- Bush, Cheney and the neo cons -- to continue to bleed the treasury through a capricious war and occupation.

Clip Source: www.zmag.org

George W. Bush has led the United States from a bright dream toward an incipient nightmare.

Look at 2008 symbolically! Some 60 years ago, the United States emerged as the world power. Henry Luce formally announced the arrival of "The American Century" even before the country entered World War II. Luce thought the United States should become the world's missionary, spreading Christian values and democracy. U.S. history had woven together a people with noble purpose, Luce argued, and had "the most exciting flag of all the world and of all history," blowing toward the "triumphal purpose of freedom."

At home, politicians' rhetoric denied the existence of empire as the very context of U.S. life even as the military consumed giant hunks of the budget (some $700 billion) at a time when no nation even remotely threatened U.S. security militarily.

Uh-oh, Bush Talks Peace, Meets Israelis to talk War

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:34:59 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Now I know why he went to the middle east...he wants to get the intel in PERSON ...it probably gets him off, and i don't mean the hook...i mean OFF his nut!

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Israel to Brief Bush on Strike Against Iran

US naval vessels have been performing threatening maneuvers off the shores of Iran for months.

As Bush arrives in Israel today, Israeli security officials will be briefing him on their latest intelligence about Iran's nuclear program... and how to destroy it.

Recent remarks made by President Bush seem to suggest that he is also intent on ignoring the National Intelligence Estimate. "I read the intelligence report carefully," Bush said. "In essence, what the report said was that Iran had a secret plan to develop nuclear weapons." He continued, "I'm saying that a state which adopted a nontransparent policy and had a secret plan for developing nuclear weapons could easily develop an alternative plan for the same purpose. So to conclude from the intelligence report that there is no Iranian plan to develop nuclear weapons will be only a partial truth."

Bush: No Ideology Other than Greed

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:57:27 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: This cracks me up.

So: are right wingers strict-constructionists, decentralizing as much as possible and protecting states rights or big government federalists using consolidated power to engineer their ideal society?

Depends on the issue:

Prohibiting Abortion: Federalist
unless it is a state trying to ignore Roe v Wade, in which case: State's Rights

Integrating Schools: States Rights
Unless it comes to Federal support for segregation: Federalists

Marijuana decriminalization: Federalist
Unless your state institutes ridiculously draconian and probably unconstitutional punishments: States Rights

Gun Ownership: States Rights
Unless unless you are Washington DC and pass restrictive gun control laws: Federalists

Environmental Protection: States Rights
Unless your state actually tries to protect the environment at the expense of big business: Federalist

These guys believe in nothing, they just use any ideology they can to justify whatever it is the want.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

EPA denies California emission's waiver

DETROIT: The Bush administration said Wednesday night that it would deny California's bid to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than federal law required as part of the state's efforts to fight climate change.

Stephen Johnson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said he planned to deny the state's application for a waiver from federal law that the state had sought more than two years ago.

"The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution — not a confusing patchwork of state rules," Johnson told reporters on a conference call. "I believe this is a better approach than if individual states were to act alone."

The E.P.A's decision was a victory for the American auto companies, and came just hours after President George W. Bush signed legislation that will raise fuel economy standards by 40 percent to 35 miles a gallon in 2020.

Tags: bush, greed, states rights, environment, global warming, california, federalism, hipocrisy

Ain't it the truth.

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:44:26 GMT

clipped by: Geshizar

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

Tags: humor, bush, big oil

CIA "Secret War"

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:52:18 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Some depressing sites to visit over a beer on Friday night.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

CIA 'SECRET WAR'

KEY STORIES

US 'ignored' UK rendition protest

CIA rejects secret jails report

CIA jails in Europe 'confirmed'

First CIA rendition trial opens

US accused over 'ghost detainees'

EU states 'knew of CIA flights'

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS

Unresolved
The Euro Parliament report will not end the controversy, writes Stephen Mulvey.

Italy secrets threaten CIA trial

Rendition v individual rights

Bush stands by CIA prisons

Q&A: Bush and CIA prisons

Europe under 'rendition' cloud

Tales of torture

Q&A: Jails claims

Analysis: Legal debate

HAVE YOUR SAY

European report: Your views

Tags: cia, politics

It's Treason

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:21:22 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks:

If their treason continues, then decent and thinking citizens everywhere -- concerned patriots all -- can only weep for their country

What do you reckon folks? Any grand heroes out there in the wings waiting to ride in and save the good ol' US of A from self-destructing? A Democrat? Republican? Elections? Captain America? Superman? Batman? Naaa, Gotham City is doomed . Prepared for life under the eternal rule of Lex Luther and Co. They say you get the government you deserve. Maybe that's true! The politicians, the media and even the people have betrayed the USA and everything She supposedly stood for, by allowing it to happen. Such a shame. The USA had such a bright future once. What a shame to peak so young and throw it all away. A real shame.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

It’s Treason: Dems Stay Silent on Bush White House Crimes

Lying to the people and the Congress was the most despicable violation of the rule of law by Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, but many more followed.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

--Article III, Section 3, United States Constitution (emphasis added)

George Bush and Richard Cheney are literally enemies of the state; long before now and by any measure of constitutional justice, they should have been impeached and removed from office.

Abjectly, continuously and stubbornly refusing to hold them accountable, however, the mainstream Democrats adhere to this criminal president and vice president: Nothing they have asked for has been denied, no barriers placed in their way. That is giving them aid and comfort, and that is treason.

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Failing to hold President Bush accountable for his crimes

the mainstream Democrats are now accomplices.

Tags: war, terror, lies, law. lawlessness, crime, corruption, evil, greed, usa