Thanksgiving Break

Heading to Albany, New York tomorrow for Thanksgiving with my best friend, my goddaughter, my mom & my sister & her dog. Pecan pies are cooling on the stove.

I'll be off-line for most of the week so I won't post here until next Wednesday.

In the meantime, here are some sites I have been enjoying lately. Something to read while I'm gone.

Murray Waas at the National Journal has been leading the journalistic pack ferreting out the incompetence, corruption and cronyism of the Bush administration. His piece of today, revealing the existence of a heretofore unrevealed Presidential Daily Briefing from September 21, 2001 is a case in point.

Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.

The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders.

Firedoglake is the site for monitoring the Plame case. Great writing, solid legal analysis.

I Blame the Patriarchy (wish I'd thought of that name!). Funny feminist blog by a taco-eating Texan, currently battling breast cancer.


Shakespeare's Sister Another feminist blog, lighter, more popular culture, but with the requisite liberal poliblogging. (Did I just make up that word? I like it. I'm a liberal poliblogger.)

Dependable Renegade, a political photo blog. She posts up 3-5 pics a day with wicked captions.

A Recovered Alcoholic Would Say "No" to Fermented Mare's Milk

But not President Lush. Famously incurious abroad, he managed to try the fermented mare's milk. Fermented mare's milk contains an alcohol percentage of up to 3%.

Mongolia gives Bush taste of nomadic life

ULAN BATOR (Reuters) - U.S.
President George W. Bush heard multi-toned Mongolian "throat singing" and drank mare's milk on Monday as he ended an Asian tour inside a nomadic hut that is a symbol of the country that produced Genghis Khan.

[]

Bush and the rest of the U.S. party were served a variety of traditional foods and drinks. Bush had a taste of fermented mare's milk and nibbled on some cheese curd that one participant said tasted like sour cream.

I guess the way his poll numbers are going, he needed a drink. In public. The wheels are really coming off, aren't they?

More Republican Indictments Coming

Abramoff Partner Pleads Guilty
Scanlon Admits He Conspired to Bribe Lawmaker

A onetime congressional staffer who became a top partner to lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to bribe a congressman and other public officials and agreed to pay back more than $19 million he fraudulently charged Indian tribal clients.

The plea agreement between prosecutors and Michael Scanlon, a former press secretary to then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), provided fresh detail about the alleged bribes. The document also indicated the nature of testimony Scanlon is prepared to offer against a congressman it calls "Representative #1" -- who has been identified by attorneys in the case as Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio).

Together, Abramoff and Scanlon are believed to have stolen over $80 million from the Indian tribes. So he must be happy to only be fined $19 million. He still has enough left over to pay his $600 an hour lawyers and keep his house in St. Bart's.

So he's singing like a canary, and the Bugman Tom Delay is going down. Sweet!

The "Get-Outs" Have It

John Murtha and the American public aren't the only ones who want the US out of Iraq:

Iraqi Leaders Call for Pullout Timetable

CAIRO, Egypt -- Reaching out to the Sunni Arab community, Iraqi leaders called for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and said Iraq's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance.

The communique _ finalized by Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders Monday _ condemned terrorism but was a clear acknowledgment of the Sunni position that insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens.

The leaders agreed on "calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation" and end terror attacks.

Downsville Girls Soccer Team: New York Class D State Champs

Downsville beat New Lebanon at Union-Endicott's Ty Cobb stadium on Saturday, ending their season as state champions, and the only undefeated girls' soccer team in the state! This is the first state championship in the history of the tiny school, boys or girls.


A PERFECT ENDING: Downsville girls win state title, finish 24-0

Some factors to consider when reflecting on Downsville’s 24-0 season:

• Not only did the Eagles go undefeated, they never even trailed this season — that’s one day and eight hours worth of soccer.

• They won the first state championship of any kind in the school’s history.

• They outlasted a talented Tigers team that had won 10 consecutive Section Two Class D titles and won state titles in 1992 and 1994.

• They outscored the opposition this season, 140-12.

Girls Soccer: Hoyt's goals help top Eagles' perfect season
Downsville wins first state Class D title


It must be noted that some of the great Downsville girls soccer teams of the past never had the opportunity to compete for a state title. For example, Downsville girls went 50-0 in 1978, going undefeated in soccer, basketball and volleyball. But there were no state tournaments for the girls then. Many of the players on the field for Downsville this weekend were the daughters of those players who never got the recognition they deserved. They made sure this team got feted. The firemen met the team bus at the town line and paraded them through, sirens blaring. People were standing in their driveways to cheer. The bridge over the creek in the center of town was festooned with purple and white balloons. Fans lined the sidewalks of Main Street, waving Downsville flags and blowing horns.

On to basketball season, where Downsville girls were state runners-up last year and plan to win it all this year.

Congratulations, and good luck!

The Doofus Marches On

I received this in an email this morning:

Battle Hymn of the Republicans

Mine eyes have seen the bungling of that stumbling moron Bush;
He has blathered all the drivel that the neo-cons can push;
He has lost sight of all reason 'cause his head is up his tush;
The Doofus marches on.

Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
His wreckage will live on.

I have heard him butcher syntax like a kindergarten fool;
There is warranted suspicion that he never went to school;
Should we fault him for the policies -- or is he just their tool?
The lies keep piling on.

Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
His wreckage will live on.

I have seen him cut the taxes of the billionaires' lone heir;
As he spends another zillion on an aircraft carrier;
Let the smokestacks keep polluting -- do we really need clean air?
The surplus is now gone.

Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Your safety net is gone!

Now he's got a mighty hankerin' to bomb a prostrate state;
Though the whole world knows its crazy -- and the U.N. says to wait;
When he doesn't have the evidence, "We must prevaricate."
Diplomacy is done!

Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
His wreckage will live on.

Oh, a trumped-up war is excellent; we have no moral bounds;
Should the reasons be disputed, we'll just make up other grounds;
Enraging several billions -- to his brainlessness redounds;
The Doofus marches on!

Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!

THIS...DOO...FUS...MAR...CHES...ON