Divine Strake

The June 2 test in Nevada has been advertised as "aimed at determining how well a massive conventional bomb would perform against fortified underground targets -- such as military headquarters, biological or chemical weapons stockpiles, and long-range missiles -- that the Pentagon says are proliferating among potential adversaries around the world."
That is pure crap. The explosion due to take place is a huge pile (700 tons) of Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil (ANFO). This detonation is 50 times as large as the most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) bomb in our arsenal.
The test is a simulation of a small size B61 Tactical Nuclear Bomb to fine-tune the bomb size required for use in Iran.
The lies and deceit just keep piling up. 1001 more days of the unitary executive left. The only hope is to elect a Democratic House and/or Senate in November. This will give them subpoena power. The best use of that would be to call Colin Powell and maybe get some truth as to what the hell is going on.

Immigration + H1B

A new issue has suddenly taken over the immagination of the American people. "How to protect our borders and jobs from illegal aliens," really. The laws are on the books from "the 1996 immigration and antiterrorism laws" but the enforcement isn't.

There are civil and criminal penalties for hiring illegal aliens. Sec. 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and 8 U.S.C. 1324a, makes it unlawful for any person knowingly to hire, recruit or refer for a fee any alien not authorized to work. An employer that violates these laws can face penalties of:

· $250 to $2,000 fine for each unauthorized individual;

· $2,000 to $5,000 for each employee if the employer has previously been in violation; or

· $3,000 to $10,000 for each individual if the employer was subject to more than one cease and desist order.

The employer could also be fined $100 to $1,000 for each individual “paperwork” violation.

The criminal penalties for a pattern and practice violation can be up to $3,000 for each unauthorized alien, imprisonment up to six months, or both.

Illegal aliens are here, they are not going to storm the country taking over , as Dubya would say "jobs Americans just wont do."
It would be impossible to put 20 million people on busses and take them back to Mexico, just look at Katrina. We couldn't put 50 thousand people on busses to save there lives, and these people wanted to go.
It would be equally impossible to name them all felons. That would require a court hearing, lawyers, trials, jails and other thing we will not fund.
The present congress, which is owned by business, will never be able to come out with a workable bill. Combine this with Presidents Bush and Fox attempting to solve anything. When each country has an intelligent president, an immigration policy can be worked out along with a plan to help the Mexican economy grow so they can use American immigrants. You think the difference between rich and poor is getting bad in this country, look south.
The real kicker in immigration is not the farm worker trying to make a living for his family, it is the H1B worker that comes into the country for conciderably less compensation than their American counterparts, thus driving down wages from top to bottom (excluding Haliburton and Oil Company employees.)

Senator Arlen Specter wants to double the number of H1B visas with built-in, automatic, no debate, no discussion 20 percent increases every year thereafter that the new limit is reached. Ask your congressmen how H1B visas help the unemployed computer specialists. What cannot be outsourced can be done here with imported labor.

Not familiar with H1B? here is recommended reading.

Naom Chomsky writes again

Naom Chomsky is a professor at MIT and writes. That is like saying Einstein was a scientist. His last book was "Profit over People" in 1999. His new one came out today. "Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy". Excerpts from it and interviews are all over the place. I will quote from a passage here and sent you off to where others have to a greater extent.
I am a new fan of Professor Chomsky. Until 6 months ago, did not know of him at all. The movie "Noam Chomsky - Rebel Without a Pause" changed that. The man thinks, it is a shame more Democrats can't seem to find their own conscious. We, as a Country, are in deep trouble. Time to stop fucking around tweaking the lobbist rules and throw them out of the temple. Quit looking at polls and look toward centure and impeachment . Time to stop pussyfooting before Bushes combined policies bankrupt us fiscally and morally.

"Democracy Now" conducted an interview. They have two halves of the interview recorded for your viewing pleasure. A total of close to two hours. They also have it in audio or printer friendly. 2d half

Tom Dispatch has an introduction to the book as well as excerpts. This was in turn quoted by "Truthout"

Here is a small excerpt concerning the aftermath of Bush's successful second invasion of Falluga.

How to Destroy a City to Save It

Gonzales's legal advice about protecting Bush from the threat of prosecution under the War Crimes Act was proven sound not long after he gave it, in a case far more severe even than the torture scandals. In November 2004, U.S. occupation forces launched their second major attack on the city of Falluja. The press reported major war crimes instantly, with approval. The attack began with a bombing campaign intended to drive out all but the adult male population; men ages fifteen to forty-five who attempted to flee Falluja were turned back. The plans resembled the preliminary stage of the Srebrenica massacre, though the Serb attackers trucked women and children out of the city instead of bombing them out. While the preliminary bombing was under way, Iraqi journalist Nermeen al-Mufti reported from "the city of minarets [which] once echoed the Euphrates in its beauty and calm [with its] plentiful water and lush greenery… a summer resort for Iraqis [where people went] for leisure, for a swim at the nearby Habbaniya lake, for a kebab meal." She described the fate of victims of these bombing attacks in which sometimes whole families, including pregnant women and babies, unable to flee, along with many others, were killed because the attackers who ordered their flight had cordoned off the city, closing the exit roads.

Bush/Blair memos

You have by now heard all about the Downing street memos. Here is a reminder.

The five-page memo, dated 31 January 2003, was written by Mr Blair's then chief foreign adviser, David Manning, the New York Times says.

Summarising the two-hour White House meeting, the memo says: "Our diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning."


A second resolution would give us international cover, especially with the Arabs
Memo paraphrase of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair

Blair 'made secret Iraq pact'

Mr Bush is paraphrased as saying: "The start date for the military campaign was now pencilled in for 10 March. This was when the bombing would begin."

Although the US and UK pushed for a second UN resolution on Iraq, the memo cites Mr Bush saying he did not believe one was needed.

"The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another resolution and would twist arms and even threaten," Mr Bush is paraphrased as saying.

"But he had to say that if we ultimately failed, military action would follow anyway."

Mr Blair is described as responding that both countries must make clear the second resolution was "Saddam's final opportunity".

According to the note, he also told Mr Bush: "If anything went wrong with the military campaign, or if Saddam increased the stakes by burning the oil wells, killing children or fomenting internal divisions within Iraq, a second resolution would give us international cover, especially with the Arabs."

Then came the White House memo which the NY Times kindly brought to our attention. Here is an excerpt on provocation or how to wage war illegally.

Discussing Provocation

Without much elaboration, the memo also says the president raised three possible ways of provoking a confrontation. Since they were first reported last month, neither the White House nor the British government has discussed them.

"The U.S. was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in U.N. colours," the memo says, attributing the idea to Mr. Bush. "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."

It also described the president as saying, "The U.S. might be able to bring out a defector who could give a public presentation about Saddam's W.M.D," referring to weapons of mass destruction.

A brief clause in the memo refers to a third possibility, mentioned by Mr. Bush, a proposal to assassinate Saddam Hussein. The memo does not indicate how Mr. Blair responded to the idea.

Mr. Sands first reported the proposals in his book, although he did not use any direct quotations from the memo. He is a professor of international law at University College of London and the founding member of the Matrix law office in London, where the prime minister's wife, Cherie Blair, is a partner.

Mr. Jones, the National Security Council spokesman, declined to discuss the proposals, saying, "We are not going to get into discussing private discussions of the two leaders."

At several points during the meeting between Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair, there was palpable tension over finding a legitimate legal trigger for going to war that would be acceptable to other nations, the memo said. The prime minister was quoted as saying it was essential for both countries to lobby for a second United Nations resolution against Iraq, because it would serve as "an insurance policy against the unexpected."

The memo said Mr. Blair told Mr. Bush, "If anything went wrong with the military campaign, or if Saddam increased the stakes by burning the oil wells, killing children or fomenting internal divisions within Iraq, a second resolution would give us international cover, especially with the Arabs."

The question now is why don't the Americans give a shit. Saw a movie today. "V for Vendetta". Are we headed there?