12:32 pm CST
They Live



12:32 pm CST
The New American Civil War

Norman D. Livergood: We Americans are now engaged in a New Civil war, testing whether this nation, conceived and dedicated as we are, will endure ... Take a moment to let this fact register in your mind. This is not a metaphor or a figure of speech--we are currently in a civil war against domestic political and economic forces that are killing us and destroying our nation ... The actuality that a great many Americans are unaware of this new civil war does not change the fact: un-American, power-mad forces are sending thousands of Americans to their death and devastating our nation as we speak ... LINK

11:30 am CST
Dangerous Search Terms

There can be no doubt that the Bush administration's subpoena to obtain search data from Google has nothing to do with pornography. For if it were true that the government wanted to determine how much porn is showing up in searches, it would simply perform a few searches itself.

No, the government is using porn as an excuse to open the door for the scrutiny of search data. And, once that door is open, it can never be closed again, and it will only open wider. Before long the government will want more information; it will want to know who is entering the search terms, and it will shift its interest from porn to search terms such as these:

bush bad

bush stupid

bush moron

bush sucks

bush asshole

bush chimpanzee

bush knucklehead-in-chief

bush fuckhead-in-chief

bush shithead-in-chief

bush drunk

bush finger

bush phony texan

bush victor ashe

bush lies

bush awol

bush chickenhawks

bush war criminal

bush terrorist

bush 9/11

bush murderer

bush body count

bush dictator

bush hitler

bush nazi

bush cia mafia

bush drugs

bush clinton mena

bush bohemian grove

bush skull and bones

bush satanists

bush pedophile

bush jfk

bush new world order

bush junta

Incidentally, Google is alone in its refusal to turn over this information to the Bush administration; AOL, MSN, and Yahoo complied ... LINK

11:45 am CST
Fourth Reich News



The Bush administration has asked a federal judge to force Google to release a "broad range of material," including a request for "1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period." This information is needed, we are told, to protect children from pornography. LINK

We can of course believe this, because the Bush administration never lies and always acts with the noblest of motives. Yes, the wise and honest souls who run our government would never dream of mining the databases of search engines for any other reason. They would never, for instance, use such tactics to identify potential disruptors ...

Welcome to the Panoptican, your prison without bars, where every move is observed, every word is heard, and everything is recorded. Welcome to the Fourth Reich ...

8:09 pm CST
Gore Is Right

Paul Craig Roberts: Conservatives should fear this more than anyone. The separation of powers and our civil liberties are our most precious property rights. They are our patrimony from the Founding Fathers. We are stewards of these rights, which we hold in trust for our descendants. How can any conservative fail to realize that Bush's attack on these rights is the ultimate attack on property? It is astonishing to watch conservatives wave the flag while they are transformed into subjects to be dealt with as presidential authority decides ... Gore challenged the American people to step up to the task of defending the Constitution, a task abandoned by the media, the law schools, and the Democratic and Republican parties. If we fail, darkness will close around us ... LINK

6:29 pm CST
Kurt is Back

It was widely reported over the past few days that, due to a scary harassment campaign (including death threats), Kurt Nimmo had decided to shut down his blog Another Day in the Empire. This news was greeted with great dismay by many, including myself. (I have posted links to Kurt's articles in the past, and had recently begun an enjoyable email correspondence with him.) Well, I am happy to report that Kurt just informed me that he has reconsidered. His blog will continue ...

10:39 am CST
Martin Luther King

Jerry Mazza: We shall overcome -- King and the birth of the nonviolent revolutionary movement

What Really Happened: The Fatal Shot Came from a Different Direction

10:09 am CST
"X" ...



LINK

10:06 am CST
Katrina Aftermath

Angry homeowners screamed and City Council members seethed yesterday as this city's recovery commission recommended imposing a four-month building moratorium on most of New Orleans and creating a powerful new authority that could use eminent domain to seize homes in neighborhoods that will not be rebuilt ...
New Orleans Plan Draws Outrage

Wayne Madsen: Yesterday, two New Orleans journalists, Jason Berry, who writes for New Orleans magazine, and Lolis Eric Elie, columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, spoke at the National Press Club in Washington about the real nature of the situation in New Orleans and surrounding parishes ... The picture they painted of the city is sobering. Only some 100,000 people, out of a total population of 467,000, have returned to New Orleans, just a month and a half before the famous Mardi Gras celebrations. However, the national media and their corporate friends in the urban development business, will paint New Orleans during the next Mardi Gras celebration on February 28 as a city coming back from disaster. Nothing could be further from the truth ...
What the media is not reporting and what Congress and the Bush administration are ignoring

Greg Szymanski: Govt Media Conspiracy: New Orleans Levees Blown Up

10:02 am CST
Not a Normal Mugging

Kurt Nimmo: Was NYT's David Rosenbaum Assassinated?

10:01 am CST
Meanwhile, the borders are wide open ...

U.S. officials are opening personal mail that arrives from abroad when they deem it necessary to protect the country from terrorism, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said Monday ... News of the little-known practice follows revelations that the government approved eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without judicial oversight after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which sparked concern from civil liberties advocates and some lawmakers, who called for congressional hearings ...
U.S. Opening Some Private Mail in Terror Fight

2:15 pm CST
MLK and the Montgomery Story



In recognition of next week's Martin Luther King Day, my good friend and fellow cartoonist Ethan Persoff has posted the above historic 1956 comic book in its entirety on his website. You can read and compare the English and Spanish versions HERE. For information about the comic go HERE

10:39 am CST
That'll Teach 'Em

The Army announced Monday that it will punish reservists who fail to report for active duty by discharging them. LINK

Somehow I don't think that will be a very powerful deterrent. I am reminded of the following memorable exchange from Monty Python's "Meaning of Life": SOUND CLIP