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First off, I'd like to apologize for the lame joke I dropped in the comments section of "Talk About the Weather." I didn't expect Katrina to cause this type of carnage. My heart goes out to all those Americans stuck in such unbearable conditions. Also I'd like to extend my condolences to the people of Iraq who lost 1000 people, mostly women and children in a stampede today (The group was marching to a shrine for a religious festival when panic spread over rumours of suicide bombers).
One quick note. I noticed that nearly 100% of the people in the tragic photos coming out of New Orleans are black. Now, I know that New Orleans is predominantly black (67% says the web), but even so, I would still expect to see one in three victims being white. Looking just at the pics at the BBC right now, I count 73 black people and 1 white person at the heart of the tragedy (I am not counting the white guy in Alabama assessing the damage to his oil rig or those in Southern Florida).
Why is this? Your thoughts?
Caption on the picture reads: A man dragging a woman on a floating door waves off a rescue boat in flooded New Orleans. Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters
Genuine Praise for President Bush
I will give President Bush credit when credit is due. Yesterday the White House launched their new prescription drug benefit. I have to say that I was pretty surprised since Republicans always lecture me about the benefits of limited government.
President Bush said in his speech: "[Medicare] was a system that was kind of stuck in the past, and I'll tell you why. Medicare would pay for heart surgery, but not a dime for the drugs that could prevent the heart surgeries from being needed in the first place. It would pay $28,000 for ulcer surgery, but not $500 for the prescription drugs that could prevent the ulcer from occurring in the first place. "
"That's not a modern system, that's an antiquated system. And not only that, it was costing the taxpayers more money than necessary. It seems like to me it makes fiscal sense to say, let's spend the $500 to prevent the $28,000 from being needed. It's a wise use of your money, it seems like to me. But we weren't doing it that way."
No words that so truly embody what it means to be a Democrat have ever come out of the President's mouth. Preach on brother!!! Just like the extra $500 per student in public schools helps to insure that we won't be spending $28,000 a year on prison. Just like the extra $500 per child on after school programs like "Head Start" helps insure that they won't be selling $28,000 of methamphetamine when they turn 19.
I'll end with more of the President: "In other words, it's a comprehensive piece of legislation. And it's a good one. It's a good one. I know that you wept, like many of us wept when we heard stories about people having to choose between food or medicine. Those days are gone because of this Medicare legislation. (Applause.)"
He wept. Applause indeed.
Talk About The Weather
Why Katrina will drive up the price of gasoline:
  - Chuck's audio prediction from Sunday Share your thoughts on hurricane Katrina or Chuck's commentary. Click here for some hurricane music.
Conquering at Home
 Thomas Paine was a British author who stood up (against his King and country) in open support of the French and American Revolutions.
In his famous book 'Rights of Man' he challenges the status-quo (hereditary succession) and calls for a representative form of government.
Some of it is tough reading, some boring (especially when he rehashes specific details that go right over the head of a non-history major like myself), BUT it is sprinkled with great jabs and passionately written. It's a good pick-me-up and a great kick in the ass. Paine's writing is at times a perfect combination of rage, poetry, logic and hope.
Here is just one of Mr. Paine's keen observations:
"War is the common harvest of all those who participate in the division and expenditure of public money, in all countries. It is the art of conquering at home; the object of it is an increase in revenue; and as revenue cannot be increased without taxes, a pretence must be made for expenditures.
In reviewing the history of the English government, its wars and its taxes, a bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by interest, would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars were raised to carry on taxes."
This leads me into my question: Why was our War in Iraq raised?
We have now had two and a half years to reflect and reevaluate.
Gimme your best, one-sentence synopsis (Winner gets a cookie).
I'm Done with the Dakotas
South Dakota Senator John Thune (R) avoided a political nightmare today, when a commission decided to keep the Ellsworth Air Force base open. As mentioned before, Thune road in to Senate power on the promise of keeping the base open, so he saved some face. Personally, I now wonder if the whole thing was a political game, orchestrated to make Thune look like a hero.
The base employed 4000 workers, which made it the second largest employer in the state. Two thoughts on that stat: a) 4000 workers makes it the 2nd biggest employer? b) I love it....a Republican state depending on the big-bad Government to maintain employment....just hypocritical right-wingers feeding at the hand of big government welfare.
Finally, in other news from perhaps the most useless part of the country, the (North) Dakota Wizards of the CBA named Dave Bliss its new basketball coach. Dave Bliss is the disgraced former head coach of Baylor. When he was coach of Baylor a player killed another player. Bliss encouraged his team to lie about the victim and falsely portray him as a drug addict. This man has absolutely no business ever coaching again, let alone young men trying to make the NBA.
Protest at Walter Reed: Yesterday, Editor-in-Chief Ben Keeler of The Keeler Report asked us to condemn the protestors outside of Walter Reed Medical Center. We do. Just like those idiots with the NARAL ad, we disassociate ourselves. A hosiptal for war veterans is not an appropriate place for protest. While we disagree with their location, we defend their right to exercise their free speech: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." - 1st Amendment
Ironically, yesterday was the day the Bush administration decided it will close the Walter Reed Hospital, which has treated thousands of injured Iraq war veterans.
Killing 3 birds w/ one rotten banana
ROBERTSON+CHAVEZ SITTING IN A TREE...
When I was in Brazil I remember reading countless articles by the mainstream Brazilian media about how Hugo Chavez is a bastard, and I think his bad rep is well deserved (and not just an example of Americans being distrustful of any leader who dresses in army fatigues). So if the guy gets shot tommorrow, you won't catch me (or most of South America) wearing black.
But this Pat Robertson guy, what a douche bag. Seriously. A 'Christian' Evangelist calling for the assassination of...anybody. Now, I never attended Sunday school, but I'm pretty sure that the 17th Commandment is something like: 'Thou shall not assassinate democratically-elected government officials.'
 However, I did not come here today to talk more about Robertson and Chavez. Let me turn your attention to Rumsfeld instead. His response to the ordeal was that the Pentagon isn't in the business of killing foreign leaders. And it is from this point that we shall launch today's journey into U.S. foreign policy history....
I was reading an article at Time magazine about the Chavez / Robertson controversy when I stumbled onto this sentence (and its attached link):
"Latin Americans have too many vivid and bitter memories of U.S. intervention in their countries—operations that sometimes included brazen assassinations."
When you click on it, you find yourself in the National Security Archive looking at official CIA documents from the 1950s (just recently declassified in 1997, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.)
The documents refer to something called 'Operation PBSUCCESS' which was a plot to assassinate and overthrow democratically-elected President Arbenz of Guatemala. It even includes a 19 page, DIY guide to assassination, full of pointers like:
(1) "...assassination can seldom be employed with a clear conscience. Persons who are morally squeamish should not attempt it..."
(2) "...the simplest local tools are often much the most efficient means of assassination. A hammer, axe, wrench, screw driver, fire poker, kitchen knife, lamp stand, or anything hard, heavy and handy will suffice..."
(3) "...Arson can cause accidental death if the subject is drugged and left in a burning building..."
(4) "...if the blow is very heavy, any portion of the upper skull will do. The lower frontal portion of the head, from the eyes to the throat, can withstand enormous blows without fatal consequences..."
The last part is something titled "The Conference Room Technique"
It is a series of illustrations showing how a four man team can best enter a conference room and kill everyone seated around an oval shaped table!
Back to President Arbenz of Guatemala:
Well there must have been a damn good reason, I thought to myself, for circulating these type of documents with his name on em. What horrible human rights violations was Arbenz committing to deserve a very heavy blow to the upper skull or a screw driver in the neck? In my search for answers, I ended up at worldhistory.com. This is where I found an article about a company by the name of United Fruit Company:
 "The United Fruit Company owned vast tracts of land in Central America, and sometimes the Company was said to be the real power in control of those nations, the national governments doing the Company's bidding. The Company several times overthrew governments which they considered insufficiently compliant to Company will. For example, in 1910 a ship of armed hired thugs was sent from New Orleans to Honduras to install a new president by force when the incumbent failed to grant the Fruit Company tax breaks. The newly installed Honduran president granted the Company a waiver from paying any taxes for 25 years."
Great, Bob but what does this have to do with anything? Keep reading...
"...The Guatemalan government of Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzman was toppled by covert action by the United States government in 1954 at the behest of United Fruit because of Arbenz Guzman's plans to redistribute uncultivated land owned by the United Fruit Company among Indian peasants.. As many as 100,000 people may have died in the ensuing civil war."
The article goes on to show that there were as many connections between the Eisenhower administration and United Fruit as the Bush administration and the Saudi royal family. And the more I read the more I realized that this was just one example on a long list of shady/bloody U.S. interventions in Central and South America.
I'm coming to a point, I promise...Three points actually.
[BIRD #1] Terrorism, in large part, is a result of exactly this breed of U.S. foreign policy.
If after 50 years, files are declassified that show that the CIA had no problem overthrowing a democratically-elected government just to lower the price of bananas, are we really to believe that the invasion of oil rich Iraq (in which WMDs and terrorist ties never turned up) was truly in the name of spreading Democracy?!?
[BIRD #2] You may remember a post titled:
'Imagine if you will a place called Sunshine Bay.'
In the comments, Jeff and I argued back and forth about the regulation that should or shouldn't be put on big business. His view, as I saw it, was that U.S. businesses setting up operations in third world countries are always beneficial, at least over the long run, to the people of those impoverished nations.
I now point to Guatemala: Since the coup, it has experienced a variety of military and civilian governments as well as a 36-year guerrilla war (which left more than 100,000 people dead and had created some 1 million refugees).
All so that our grandparents could save a dime in the fruit aisle.
[BIRD #3] Sorry Rummy, historically speaking, we are in that business.
 A New Blog: Modish Men
"Our site will for the most part focus on what your typical "Maxim" magizine would."
Click the their faces to visit their site. We wish them well and are happy to refer our readers thier way. modishmen.blogspot.com/
Audio Posts From Our Staff
Please listen to each of the following:
- Bob on Pat Robertson
- Chuck on Raphael Palmero
- Kyle on Cindy Sheehan
Share with us your thoughts on each topic or leave an audio post of your own on hello.thechiefsource.com. We will select a few of the messages we receive to be posted here.
- a response to Chuck
America Needs More Costas
That Natalie Holloway girl is still missing in Aruba. Absolutely nothing has changed in this story that dates back to May. However, the pathetic cable news networks continue their insane up-to-the-minute coverage. If you watched FoxNews or Joe Scarborough (essentially, all right-wing hacks) you would think this is real, developing news.
Well, it appears that a few reporters have finally had enough of this waste of airspace. First, CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke out and called the Aruba over-coverage as "downright ridiculous." Then there is Bob Costas, who has been sitting in for Larry King. Last week, CNN wanted Costas to do a Holloway show, but he simply refused to do the show, requiring CNN to find a last minute replacement. For whatever reason, this really caught my attention. Basically, Costas, only a part-time newsperson, showed more decency and journalistic integrity then almost every other reporter that occupy and dominate the American news and media.
Unrelated: Iraq war veterans are showing up at homeless shelters.
Well, actually, I guess it is related, inasmuch that this story will go unreported by the major media.
Big Day On Sunday Talk Shows
I watch Meet The Press and This Week every week, religiously. Yesterday was one of the more interesting days in quite a while. First, MTP featured Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Trent Lott(R-MS) and was moderated by substitute David Gregory, who did a great job. I'm sorry for all the text, but it was a very important day on several issues:
MR. GREGORY: ..."Do you believe that Senator Frist has the character to be president?"
SEN. LOTT: "I think I'd have to think about that."
I think Frist is going to be hung out to dry by the base of the Republican Party. Frist was uninvited to Justice Sunday II and now Trent Lott won't answer a question as to whether Frist has the character to be President.
I have put the rest of the story with comments made by Sen. Feingold and Sen. Hagel in the comments section of this post so I don't take too much room. I'm looking forward to reading what everyone thinks on these remarks.
Bush is trying to kill me
 I have a phobia/hatred of trucks. When driving next to a semi on the interstate, I always think about how they can just swerve by 5 feet, and I am dead. Well, Bush has made my nightmare much more possible.....he has cut truck driver restrictions. Now it is deemed safe for truckers to work 11 hour days and 70 hour weeks. This clearly will provide more tired truckdrivers. My fear of death and hate of Bush just doubled. My only hope of avoiding death is that these truckdrivers have XM radio or do a lot of drugs to stay awake.
And what the hell does Bush know about a 70 hour week. Does he realize that they don't get 5 week vacations, every 3 months? Just more blood on Bush's hands (probably not, it's more on unfettered free market proponents.....I just like claiming Bush kills).
P.S. I'm a Buddist now.
After 2 years living abroad, (and without good old American programming) I returned to the real world this week. Initially, I was shocked by just how smooth a transition it was. Family, friends, and home town were all just as pleasent as I remembered. It was comforting to say the least.
Then late last night I was left alone with a massive TV remote in my hand and returned to channel surfing after my huge leave of absence. It's like riding a bike.
---New weight loss injections (click)
---New blemish hiding facial creams (click)
---New super plant coasters (click)
I flicked on. But after a few laps I always found myself stalled at some home shopping network. I couldn't look away. It was like staring into the abyss. Like lifting open the storm-cellar doors of hell and feeling the sweltering air pass over you...
There was a guy with perfectly waxed eyebrows saying repeatedly how "deeply proud" he was to bring us this product today. It was a gaudy diamond ring on sale for multiple payments of a lot of money. He kept going on about how it was 3 times the price over there and 4 times the price over here. With so many payment options, what were we waiting for?...
...The host was acting like he had just figured out a way of feeding the African continent; like he was the god damn Pope, blessing us all with a 'show stopping' ring (A ring with something called "the IT factor"). And he meant it. He really did. He was so excited his hands were actually trembling.
Then the phones rang and these unbearable women went on and on (to the point of being politely disconnected) about how much joy the ring had brought them. One woman (I shit you not) said that it was exactly like the ring her late husband had bought her, which she'd lost years ago...and that buying the ring was like buying a part of her husband back!!
I returned to flicking, just to find that every single program was a watered down version of the same endless pursuit of beauty. With the exception of sports (men acting like apes)[sorry Chuck] or vicarious fantasy vacations. Only the history channel had yet to sink into the swamp (I'm sure they'll be doing documentaries like 'The History of the Bikini' soon enough though).
I turned off the TV, set down the massive remote and it was decided.
Anyhow, at the risk of being written off as a 'moon maiden' by some high school buddies and that deep sigh of disappointment from my old man, I declare it: I am now a Buddhist.
PSS The images are original work by yours truly.
Does anyone out there know of a job opening in the Akron/Cleveland area for a graphic designer? You can click on the image to view my entire portfolio.
Hey, even a Buddhist has to pay the bills!
Republicans: Hardened Criminals
Michael Wynne: Bush appointed this guy to a high up position. What's his scandal? Some problems with: 1) an illegal deal with Boeing, costing over $20 Billion; and 2) a little rape and sexual harassment. Bush must just do this crap to make the few people in this country that care (myself being one of them) go insane.
Randy "Duke" Cunningham: The Republican congressperson appears ready for a grand jury indictment. He will not seek reelection, but is trying to serve his term. Either way, could you imagine the thought process that brings a person to the point where they want to be called Duke.
Jack Abramoff: The top Republican lobbyist has been indicted on criminal fraud....oh, and maybe some links to a gang-style assassination. No big deal.
Tom Delay: The Republican leader is getting in more trouble, for lying about campaign money. Not to mention, I think Delay and Abramoff bang each other (maybe not, but they are directly linked partners).
Bob Taft: The Republican Governor of Ohio, as we all know by now, is a convicted criminal. However, he is most likely the least culpable, since, by all appearances, he is mentally handicapped.
Who Visits Our Website?
This is soooo sweet. Behold the latest way to see who is visiting The Chief Source.com. The maps above show the locations of the last 100 visitors. Unlike the piece of crap Geoloc, this map includes all of our visitors. You should be able to see your location too. You owe it to yourself to Click here.
Taft Continues to Embarrass Ohio
Portions of this post were quoted by Red State.com - click here
 Ohio Governor Bob Taft pled no contest to ethics violations this morning. The Judge fined him $1,000 per count and required him to issue a letter of apology to be emailed to all media outlets and all state employees. What a joke of a punishment.
Taft apologized in open court prior to sentencing. It will be interesting to see the effect this scandal has on the gubenatorial candidates from within the Taft administration hoping to be the next governor. Kasich would be the Republicans best bet. A frustrating day for all Ohioans as our state continues to be embarrassed by the disgraceful performance of our crooked governor. (Read his official apology)
Sheehan's Protest Continues to Grow
 Bush Summer Break '05 Update: Cindy Sheehan's protest camp in Crawford, TX continues to grow. Yesterday candle light vigils were held across the country in support of Sheehan's efforts to bring our troops home safely. Sheehan told the crowd gathered in Crawford "For the more than 1,800 who have come home this way in flag-draped coffins, each one ... was a son or a daughter, not cannon fodder to be used so recklessly." Moveon.org says there were 1,625 vigils held yesterday in support of her efforts.
I've caught bits and pieces of interviews with her over the past week and Sheehan seems very genuine. Her message creates a real difference between liberals and conservatives in the way each side supports out troops. Conservatives want us to finish the mission and liberals want to bring home our troops. Which side are you on?
Bush Policy: Let the troops die
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stellalafayette, 
Robert, 
