Epidemic of Rightwing Hack Attacks on Internet Newsites that Present REAL NEWS

It says it all about the Bushie rightwingers that instead of having any real strength of convictions and integrity they seek to advance themselves by suffocating dissent, blocking the truth and bolstering their lies. In the past month or so, several sites have been assaulted by hack attacks or massive malicious spamming that targets not just the sites but the readers on the subscription list. Among the sites that have been hit: Buzzflash, the UK Independent (which just won an award for its bold presentation of the WHOLE story on the war in Iraq and other issues), the News Insider, and the UK Indymedia site (which, after Bush's UK visit, began to grow geometrically in terms of hits and hardhitting postings).

I have also noticed in the past week while cruising the Internet for news that when I try to access stories that are extremely unfavorable to the Bushistas, many of them from a variety of sources either load incredibly slowly, come up with an error message, turns out to have been replaced by a different story, or, the minute the story appears, I am bumped offline entirely. The bump-off effect has also been happening with some of the websites that were recently attacked - including News Insider and Buzzflash. This phenomenon is probably achieved by or at least through the server. As I use AOL, that adds weight to the case.. Force of habit only (as well as getting the service for free through a relative) has kept me using AOL. But AOL is well-known as a rightwing propaganda outlet and tool of the corporazis, big time. Reports have been growing among AOL's political discussion posters that messages critical of Bush (and not the obscene ones, either) are routinely disappearing from boards


It will not be long before some sort of legal oversight of servers and how they operate re: news and free speech becomes necessary. Someone better start pushing for it now, before it becomes impossible.

The up side to all this is that through these assaults on free speech, rightwingers are only going to galvanize the progressives to more aggressive action. It only deepens the growing suspicions that more and more people are having that the Bushistas are a bad and oily lot that rely on deceit and stealth attacks to promote their agenda. In fact, these attacks are, essentially, free international advertising of that fact! So I guess we should thank them for aiding in the unmasking of their own modus operandi!

Speaking of oily, dishonest rightwingers.....

Former Texas GOP Fund Raiser Testifies that Tom "Cockroach" Delay Funneled Money Directly into His Own Pocket

There was nothing unrespectable about Tom Delay being a bug exterminator. Somebody's gotta do it. Where Delay went wrong is that he started identifying too much with his victims, the cockroaches. He now scuttles about under cover of darkness (at least euphemistically speaking) scooping up ill-gotten gains from other peoples' financial "pantries," all whilst spreading the diseases he carries with him: greed, sleaziness, dishonesty, and total lack of respect for America and its system. Like a tough cockroach, Delay has developed an amazing resistance to any means used to try to eradicate him. As a result, he has grown bolder and bolder in his assaults on the American people and democracy in general. He has bilked small business owners, doctors, and children's charities and gotten away with it. He has used Homeland Security's precious resources to try to settle personal political scores. He has voted against every measure that might actually benefit American citizens, from a patient's bill of rights to the protection of the environment, while supporting every bill that actively harms citizens - most recently the reviled Medicare "Reform" bill. For a more thorough rundown of Delay's odiousness, see \

Now in Texas, someone has finally come forward with a new can of Raid, in the form of hard proof of Delay's ilegal abuse of the campaign fund-raising process. This is from the Austin "Statesman":

"Texans for a Republican Majority has always offered a simple defense to allegations that it illegally used corporate money to help elect state legislators last year: No corporate dollars directly benefited candidates. However, an Austin fund-raiser hired by the political action committee said that wasn't always so. Consultant Susan Lilly, whom the committee paid with corporate money, confirmed this week that she solicited, collected and distributed campaign donations in the name of individual campaigns for Republican candidates. One-page documents that the committee gave to would-be donors at several fund-raising events, including ones headlined by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, said: "Contributions should be made to TRMPAC or directly to `(name of candidate) for State Legislature' and mailed to: 1005 Congress, Suite 310, Austin, Texas 78701." The address is that of Lilly & Co."

www.statesman.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/friday/news_f32e3a1af63ce14d0052.html

Let's hope this is just the start of an effective anti-Delay fumigation strategy!
NOTE: On Sun., Dec 21, Delay was on Meet the Press - the oilier the rightwinger, the more likely they are to be given such preferential treatment by Tim Russert. Newt Gingrich, second only to Delay in oiliness was a guest of honor last week.


MEDIA NOTES

War Criminal Interviewed by the Darling of War Criminals on ABC

G. W. Bush, war criminal with an estimated 30,000 kills to his name (and rising fast) was interviewed on ABC on Dec. 18 by Diane Sawyer. Sawyer, former aide to Nixon, has also been a close chum of the world's bloodiest living war criminal, Henry Kissinger. Oh, sure, Osama may get more press, but H.K. was instrumental in the bloody overthrows of at least FIVE democratic governments around the world (Chile, Argentina, East Timor, Cyprus, Bangladesh), not to mention initiating the bombing of Cambodia, which killed 300,000-600,000 people and paved the way to the "Killing Fields" slaughter of over one million people later. Diane once gave HK a giggling lap dance at a Washington soiree, and the week Bush was inaugurated, both she and HK were "special guests" at a private celebratory party in D.C. that included the Bushes.

Back in 1989, right before Gulf War I, Sawyer was the first person in the west he granted an interview to Saddam Hussein in over a decade.
www.wchstv.com/abc/primetimethursday/dianesawyer.shtml
Then right as the US troops were massing at the edges of Iraq for Gulf War II, she was responsible for this very ironic (as it turns out) interchange on "Good Morning America" on Feb 10, 2003. She sang “Itsy Bitsy Spider” to Iraqi kids. “I got a song back," said Sawyer, "It is a song about Saddam Hussein, his strength and their desire to protect him.” abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/GoodMorningAmerica/Iraq030212_Sawyer_Baghdad.html

Of course, the "official name" for Saddam's hiding place is the spider hole, hence the irony. Conspiracy theorists could have great fun with that.

For more on HK see "War Criminals in Our Midst."

democrats.com/view.cfm


PREDICTION: If I were a gambler, I'd bet Diane Sawyer, acting under the "tutelage" of Henry Kissinger, will someday be revealed as Deep Throat. HK benefited greatly from Nixon's downfall (the Viet Nam's war's unpopularity was making it hard for HK to concurrently pursue other belligerent global schemes) so I bet he not only somehow induced Nixon to carry through with the disastrous "Plumbers" scheme, he then later arranged to have the debacle exposed and thereby bring about Tricky Dick's downfall. In any case, the year after Nixon resigned, HK was using Gerald Ford to further his bloody international intrigues - in Dec. 1975, he and Ford gave Suharto of Indonesia their blessing for his invasion of E. Timor, which sought to establish a Democratic government. The invasion was launched within hours of HK and Ford's departure, and subsequently funded and armed by the US gov on HK's recommendation. This invasion resulted in the slaughter of one-third of all E. Timorese natives, but kept HK's chief interest in Indonesia (the Freeport McMoran Goldmine of which he is the majority stockholder) from being "threatened" by the possible spread of Democracy through Indonesia.


BUSHINESS ON THE SMALL SCREEN

That network TV is willing to use all its resources to promote the Bush agenda is becoming clearer by the day. Here's the latest example I noticed. On FOX (where else!) I caught a Wal-mart commercial that was touting in a gooey, schmalzy way, a toys for tots drive that the store participated in, apparently giving some kind of discount. As the commercial drew to a close, a voice over says with meaningful emphases: "We call it Choice for Charity." Get it? As in "Charitable Choice," one of Bush's main agendas.

Meanwhile, Home Depot (11th top donor to the Bush campaign) sponsored a recent episode of "24", which I watched for about 20 minutes. In this script, a huge national security scare involving a deadly bioweapon virus turned out to be a huge sting operation - not even the president knew..."We had to lie to you and the American people, Mr. President. It was the right thing to do." TYep, the right thing to do is to lie to and terrorize the American people. In other words, the normalization - no, make that, glorification - of lying to the American people is brought to you by.....Home Depot! The same people who helped bring you the real-life liar in the White House.



THE ASHCROFT FOLLIES CONTINUE

Ashcroft's Own Hometown Rejects Naming a Street after Him After Residents' Object

"The Assemblies of God headquarters withdrew its proposal to rename a street for Springfield native and church member John Ashcroft after some residents criticized the request. Some people questioned whether a church should sponsor such an initiative, said the Rev. Thomas E. Trask, superintendent of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, based in the city. We respect these concerns," Trask said. The church never made an official zoning request but suggested the change in a letter to city leaders Nov. 25. Letters to the local newspaper have expressed concerns about renaming historic streets and honoring a person whose political career is still active. They also cited Ashcroft's support of the USA Patriot Act and its potential impact on civil liberties. "

What people seem to forget is that Ashcroft LOST his senate race in 2000. In other words, the people in his own state had had quite enough of him and were happy to say bye bye. The last thing the majority wanted was to see his sour, Cotton Matheresque mug leering from their TV screens every time a new bogus terror alert is enacted or a yet another civil liberty revoked.



story.news.yahoo.com/news


Ashcroft, Trampler of Everyone Else's Civil Rights, Gets Kid Glove Treatment in Illegal Campaign Fund Scheme

"During more than two years of investigating two campaign committees that Attorney General John D. Ashcroft maintained when he was in the Senate, the Federal Election Commission never directly questioned Ashcroft or obtained a sworn statement from him even though the issue of his personal ownership of a mailing list and the income it produced were central to the inquiry." reports the Washington Post. Note how the Washington Post delicated puts it as "queried"! That makes it sound like someone wanted to ask him some inocuous question on a legal point - it certainly avoids the sound of the more accurate headline: ASHCROFT ESCAPES QUESTIONING IN ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN FUND CASE.

Anyway, Ashcroft wasn't questioned because the wimpo wonders on the FEC (cowardice is a bipartisan trait - there are three Dems and three Repugs on the commission) "didn't want to bother" Ashcroft. This is worse than pitiful. It is cringingly embarrasing. Who do these people think they are supposed to be? The FEC or the D.C chapter of "Hopeless Codependents Anonymous?" Of course the Repug cowards on the FEC invoked their usual "double standard of justice" to justify their pathetic performance: Stealing $112,000 wasn't really a big deal. Quite routine. Really!"

"On Tuesday," the Post continues, " the FEC announced a "conciliation agreement" under which the complaint was settled when the Spirit of America PAC and Ashcroft 2000 agreed to pay a $37,000 fine for what the FEC said was $112,000 in illegal contributions to the Senate campaign committee." Not a bad profit - a slick $75,000 profit after a little "cost of doing illegal business" fine. Must be nice to keep two sets of "legal books", eh Bushies? One for yourselves, and one for the rest of America.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16412-2003Dec19.html


Ashcroft Aids and Abets Tom Delay's Attempted Theft of Seven House Seats

We're not surprised Ashcroft's Justice Dept. have backed Tom Delay in Delay's scheme to redistrict Texas to shut out minorities and steal seven House seats for the white rightwing "ruling party." Afterall, Ashcroft, who was just found guilty by the FEC of scooping up $112,000 in illegal campaign contributions to his failed 2000 election campaign through a PAC, probably hopes to win some juicy pointers from Delay on stealing from the public. He probably figures it could come in useful in 2004! And, in any case, cockroaches are social insects that stick together.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16465-2003Dec19.html


BIZARRO NEWS CLIPS

"And now for something completely different..." - Monty Python
(Thanks, Ananova.com)



81-Year Old Norwegian Cruises Three-lane Freeway in Wheelchair in Quest of Hair Cut

"An 81-year-old Oslo man driving an electric wheelchair was stopped by police on Thursday afternoon in heavy traffic on a three-lane highway on route 190. The man explained that he was on his way to get his hair cut.

"The man was driving on the right side of the highway. He said that he was going to the hairdresser's," police at the scene told Aftenposten's online edition.

Police were called to the scene by motorists shocked by the appearance of the elderly man driving his wheelchair in heavy traffic.

The 81-year-old left the scene in his vehicle."


www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article.jhtml


McOrgansm? Doctor Dreams of Instant Electronic Orgasm Franchise Empire

"Some time after the snickers have subsided, when fewer people wink knowingly about the new meaning of "O! Winston-Salem," Dr. Stuart Meloy sees in his so-called "Orgasmatron" a promising future -- as a business.

"Meloy's device, which he has already patented and is indeed trying to trademark under the name Orgasmatron, has the power to give women a sexual climax. It's Woody Allen's "Sleeper" come to life, only instead of a walk-in booth, a tiny spinal cord stimulator delivers the pleasure. He thinks that just as women dig into their own savings to pay for face lifts and breast implants, they likewise would fork over the estimated $17,000 to have an Orgasmatron, not unlike a pacemaker in size and function, permanently embedded in their lower backs. A hand-held remote control turns the device on and off. Then maybe 1,000 women would flock to his Winston-Salem clinic each year for such a procedure. And if demand escalated, then the business could be franchised to locations throughout the world, Meloy believes. "

triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2003/12/15/story4.html

Maybe while he's at it, Dr. Meloy can do something about this....

Four out of 10 Women's Armpits Sweat while Trying to Parkc

"Four out of ten women break into a sweat when parking a car in a tight spot when there's a long line of cars waiting behind.According to the new Dutch survey, only one in 10 male motorists suffer from damp armpits while engaged in the same manoeuvre."

www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_848533.html


TWISTED PHOTO SECTION

"And don't forget! A vote for me is a vote for George Bush!"
news.yahoo.com/news

While acting as Deep Throat under Henry Kissinger's direction, Diane Sawyer was never suspected due to her knack for ingenious disguises

www.stupid.com/images/sawyer-crab-title.jpg


Lured by legends of the "ideal employee" who can work at least four times harder for less money than any American, US corporations have flocked to India
www.artoflegendindia.com/productimages/PBABE008sm.jpg

Don't worry! For every two jobs lost in the USA, corporate America is finding new jobs for FIVE WORKERS!!

www.geraldoar.com/india-workers.jpg

Blair and Bush
www.stampscapes.com/alice4.jpg


CAPTURE OF SADDAM:

Take One:
The Pentagon reviewed, then tactfully rejected Bush's original screenplay for the "Capture of Saddam"
clantongang.com/oldwest/twang15.jpg

Take Two:
Donald Rumsfeld's Flash Gordon-style treatment in which he himself comes unexpectedly upon 'Saddam
flashgordon.ws/images/gordon.jpg

Take Three:
Pentagon script consultant (on left): "Er, Interesting concept...but I think we're looking for something....er, more contemporary" .
www.brmovie.com/Images/PMS_Arnold_Conan.jpg

Take Four
"Saddam emerges from prison cell" scene as played by actor chosen by Bush to play Saddam until hasty recasting by Pentagon
www.texaschapbookpress.com/images/frankenstein.jpg


Take Five:
"Saddam checkup"
"Open wide....this won't hurt at all!"

www.baxter.co.za/horrors.jpg


Saddam's Henchmen, as cast by Bush and Rumsfeld
www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues97/nov97/images/henchmen.jpg

Poster Boy for Bush Tribunal Court?
www.danwashburn.com/kangaroo2.jpg