Left Turn on Bird Street

At least Berry showed up

(Karmic News Service) Los Angles - Showing she has a sense of humor, Oscar winning actress Halle Berry gladly accepted her “Worst Actress” award Saturday night at the 25th annual Golden Razzie Award show.

In accepting her “award” for the box-office bomb and critically panned "Catwomen," the good humored Berry acknowledged advice her mother gave her. "If you could not be a good loser, then there's no way you could be a good winner," Berry said.

While Berry was gracious in “victory,” the recipient for “Worst Actor” for his leading role in Fahrenheit 9/11, George W. Bush, was a no show.

High placed adminstration sources said the President asked former Talon News White House reporter Jeff Gannon to attend the fucntion but Gannon rebuffed the offer. When pressed for an explanation of why Gannon declined, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan would only say Gannon was "booked" for the weekend.

Gannon returns, blames Limbaugh and threatens to sue

By Dan Gougherty

It’s true, you can’t keep a good man down. Excuse the pun, but this really does apply to Gay call boy cum faux journalist Jeff Gannon – James Guckert who recently launched his own web site.

After working for the now defunct faux news agency Talon News and gaining coveted access to the White House on what appears to be a false pretense, Gannon-Guckert has remerged to take up his cause. Gannon-Guckert has vowed to stay the course and fight those insidious lefties.

Great, I can now sleep soundly knowing that the HotMilitaryStud is out there protecting our family values!

“Someone still has to battle the Left and now that I’ve emerged from the crucible I’m stronger than before,” Gannon Guckert boldly proclaims on his site.

Way to go Jeffy-Jimmy. You make it sound as if you were the only one out there to stop the scourge of the Left. Get a clue, there is about a billion of you not to mention the lapdog main stream media. If there was ever a bandwagon to jump on, you have found it.

Whiles he is at it, Gannon-Guckert indirectly blames drugged-addled right wing blow hard Rush Limbaugh for his current troubles. “It wasn’t until Rush Limbaugh drew attention to it [the ‘divorced from reality’ question for Bush] that there was any interest at all,” Gannon-Guckert writes.

Taking it a further step, Gannon-Guckert bravely explains that he will not address any of the allegations of his sexual proclivities “pending the outcome of any legal action I might pursue.”

Wow!

I thought all you conservatives were about being accountable for your own actions. I thought you were against “frivolous lawsuits.”

Hey Jeffy-Jimmy, why don’t you stand up and be a man just like your cock-eyed conservative agenda demands of those whiny limp-wristed tree- hugging plastic-banana phony-baloney goodtime-Rock-and-Roll Liberals-commie-fags you always pillar?

I guess that accountability does not apply to you and your right wing-nut brethren like Bill Bennett, Rush Limbaugh, et al and lawsuits are “frivolous” unless it comes from a conservative. Why don’t you stand up and take it like a man! Otherwise let the door hit you where God split you.

Keep it coming Jeffy-Jimmy, your hypocrisy is amazing.

This anti-Social Security ad ought to play well in Kansas, Alabama and the other "Red" states. A little Gay bashing goes a long way!

Get ready. If you think this one is nasty, just wait! 

‘Talon News’ saying it is ‘temporarily closing shop’ is like a business executive saying they are resigning ‘to spend more time with their family.’ Yeah right, nice try Bobby

The first causality of the Jeff Gannon-James Guckert faux-journalist scandal is none other than the faux-new organization he worked for, Talon News. Funded by Texas Republican activist and Bush financial supporter-fundraiser Bobby Eberle, it is expected Talon will be reincarnated under some other name.

I have a suggestion for you Bobby, why not try a little truth in advertising and use something like lapdognews.com or neocondrone.com. At least you can show readers your complicity with Bush and the neo-cons. - - Dan Gougherty

If nothing else, Gannon-Guckert scandal exposes gulf between old and new media

By Dan Gougherty

Regardless of what your political leanings are, the Gannon-Guckert scandal is exposing major fault lines between the old media – the main stream media, and the new media – the internet, and more specifically bloggers.

The old media is only grudgingly covering this story and appears loath to thoroughly investigating it. Not only have several major media outlets like the Washington Post defended Gannon-Guckert, mainstream liberal publications like The Nation are, up to a point, defending the Gay call-boy turned faux-journalist.

On the other side, liberal bloggers have latched on to this scandal with gusto. Dailykos is exploring the ramifications of a possible Gay-sex scandal with ties to the Whitehouse, while investigative reporter Wayne Madsen is looking at similarities between the Gannon-Guckert scandal and the sex scandal during the George H. W. Bush administration. Even the conservative web site WorldDailyNet is absolving itself of the Gannon-Guckert fiasco.

So while this story continues to unfold, it is certainly worth watching the growing gulf between the old and new media.

Is this professional jealousy or are Right winger realizing the Gannon-Guckert affair could be far-reaching

By Dan Gougherty

Every time the Gannon-Guckert affair seems to be wobbling, the story regains its legs.

First it was the matter of the press credential. Then it was all the Gay porn sites. Then came Ganno-Guckert’s Gay escort service. That was followed by Gannon-Gockert's ties to Whitehouse Press Secretary Scott McClellan. That morphed into accusations about McClellan’s own fondness for cruising the Austin, Texas gay bar scene.

Now one of the most conservative news venues on the internet, The World Net Daily, has jumped on the Gannon-Guckert condemnation bandwagon.

In an editorial posted today, WND founder Joseph Farah condemned Gannon-Guckert saying that “political activists pretending to be journalists never understood – and still do not understand to this day – is that you can't fool everyone.” (Except the mainstream media that is!)

While Farah goes on to be very self congratulatory about WND’s success, this piece is significant in that it is an indicator of how this story is growing and how serious this scandal might become for the Bush administration.

Perhaps WND is simply providing itself some cover should this thing blowup and become a major neo-con scandal. Perhaps it could be a case of professional jealously as Gannon-Guckert easily got press credentials while it took WND two years to get past the bouncer. Hopefully WND’s motivation is that according to Farah, there “mission is to telling the truth – no matter whose ox is gored.”

Whatever their motivation, the conservative voice they have added to this unfolding scandal is signifcant.

Dem. Senators demand investigation into Gannon-Guckert

Rawstory has learned that Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin is ciruclating a letter demanding an investigation into the unfolding Jeff Gannon-Guckert-Scott McClellan Whitehouse Gay prosititue scandal.

Seperately, Gannon-Guckert has started crying the blues. In an interview with lap dog columnist Howard Kurtz, reputed Gay call boy Gannon-Guckert said he desrves a second chance.

"I've made mistakes in my past," he said yesterday. "Does my past mean I can't have a future? Does it disqualify me from being a journalist?"

Hey Jeff, does the name Jason Blair mean anything to you? Do a Google on it and maybe you will understand. Don't forget about all those "family value" websites you were part off. I am sure they would love to have you back.

In addition to wanting a second chance, Gannon Guckert has threatened a lawsuit against those pesky "liberal bloggers." I strongly encourage Gannon-Guckert to pursue this. Can you imagine what will come out in discovery? One can only hope! - - Dan Gougherty

California Nurse Association whacks Governator Arnold: 'Wearing nurses uniform threatening to governor'

All I can say about this is that the next time Arnold has heart problems from his past steroid use he should be glad that nurses are first dedicated to their duty, not an ideology.

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Nurses Association today condemned Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the personal use of the California Highway Patrol as a political police force to harass Registered Nurse critics just one week after the governor's security detail detained an RN for wearing a hospital nurse uniform during a film premiere attended by the governor.

CNA strongly criticized the targeting of RNs by Schwarzenegger for harassment by state police officers for RNs' criticism of his record on healthcare and patient safety.

This morning after a report of the incident appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Kelly DiGiacomo, RN, the Sacramento nurse, who was wrongfully detained at the film event February 15 at which Schwarzenegger spoke, was called by a state security officer. The officer said they were continuing to investigate "any incidents where we feel the governor may have been threatened." The "threatening act," according to the officer was "because I was wearing a nurses uniform," DiGiacomo said.

Last week, DiGiacomo had a ticket to attend the Sacramento premiere of Be Cool: Get Shorty II. While seated in the audience, in her nurses' uniform, DiGiacomo was approached by an undercover officer who demanded to see her ticket and pulled her out of the audience. DiGiacomo was then detained in a small back room where she was interrogated for an hour by an undercover officer while other officers guarded her. She was then held for another 30 minutes before her release.

But the harassment has continued, with the phone call today and the thinly veiled threat that the interrogation and harassment will continue. "How is it that someone can be considered a threat simply for wearing nurses' scrubs?"

"They really treated me like I was some sort of a serious threat or a terrorist," says an outraged DiGiacomo. "I'm sure they will have a file on me now because they really profiled me."

"It's appalling that the highest constitutional officer of our state feels a nurse's uniform is threatening, and is unwilling to allow a working nurse to attend a public event," said CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.

"RNs have a right and a very good reason to protest the governor's rollback of patient care protections to please his corporate healthcare donors. His attempt to suspend First Amendment rights for RNs because they advocate for patients, not for corporate interests, is deplorable," DeMoro said. DeMoro also blasted the governor for "a disgraceful waste of public money to fund his private security detail to harass nurses."

The California Nurses Association is the nation's largest and fastest- growing professional association of nurses, with approximately 60,000 members in 165 facilities.

Source: California Nurses Association

According to DiGiacomo, the law enforcement official who questioned her today was CHP Officer Mark Maynard.

I guess the nurses are showing the Governator is truly a "Girly Man."

Earthquakes, fires, floods, blizzards, drought…now add tornados!

This funnel cloud was seen over Nicolaus, Calif at 2 p.m. on Monday, Feb 21, 2005. Now Calif has it all - earthquakes, fires, floods, drought, blizzards and tornados. 

Never let it be said that California is an undiversified state. And by undiversified state, I am not talking about our ethnicity. Rather I am referring to our diversity of natural calamities.

Just as Southern California is being soaked with rain (it has had more rainfall than even Seattle), Northern California was stuck by a number of tornados today. Above you will notice I captured a funnel cloud near Nicolaus, Calif.

While this aberration from our normal natural disasters is a curiosity, I am sure some of our brethren in the far religious right will view this as another step towards the end times, the coming of the apocalypse. -- Dan Gougherty

Let's make a movie

Life already wrote the script for it.

Looters, mostly American, but also some Italian and Polish, have ripped off hundreds of millions of dollars of art and thousands of years of Iraqi and Babylonian history, furious art experts report.

Think: Three Kings. with more locations.

All we need is $5-$80 million (i.e., few to many special effects).

IPS: What impact has there been on the United States?

IPS: One of its reactions was to rejoin UNESCO, which the US had withdrawn from during the era of [Ronald] Reagan [1981-1989] on the pretext that the UN agency served as "a communist front". Experts at the US State and Defense departments are trying to mitigate the damages. US military police helped Iraqi police track down the Lady of Warka, dubbed the "Mona Lisa of Mesopotamia", (pictured at right) a 5,200-year-old marble sculpture that is one of the earliest known representations of the human face in the history of art.

IPS: How significant are the losses?

IPS: The Lady of Warka may be worth $100 or $150 million. A Sumerian cuneiform tablet or an Assyrian stela can fetch $57,000 at the border. Some Iraqis have been purchasing books at used-book markets in Baghdad to return them to the libraries. But the damage is incalculable. In the Baghdad National Library, around one million books were burnt, including early editions of Arabian Nights, mathematical treatises by Omar Khayyam, and tracts by philosophers Avicena and Averroes. IPS

PS: I'm open to casting suggestions, including DUSTIN Hoffman as the greasy go-between art buyers and Benito del Toro (sp?) as the pissed-off US Army Reserve sargent on extended tour who rounds up the team to pull off the Lady Warka rip-off.

I see a weak-chinned actor playing the computer geek lieutenant in the US forces ech section who willingly subordinates himself to the lesser-ranked sarget, but infinitely craftier, sargent who is only trying to get back at the army and make the whole pain in the butt and dangerous impressment of labor pay off for him, richly.

It would also be nice to have Jeremy Whatshisman doing a turn as a British officer in cahoots with the American gang. He'd give the expert advice on what to steal and where to find it and what the hell a stela is.

He'd be the voice-over narrator uttering the observations and lessons of exactly what history is being destroyed, lost, stolen or strayed in the process, and what it was worth in terms of mankind's cultural patrimony and, more importantly, in cold hard cash.

You know, so the typicalAmerican audience of pathetically uneducated philistines can get the point. Possibly. -- Tom Nadeau

Gonzo, Gidget both gone

What an unlikely pairing.

Hunter S Thompson, the American counterculture writer, has been found dead at his home in Colorado.

Thompson's son, Juan, found his body. He said the 67-year-old shot himself. BBC

Also dead is Sandra Dee, a.k.a., Gidget, Tammy and Mrs. Bobby Darin.

I can’t imagine either of these two polar opposites could have imagined themselves being linked in death.

But, in a odd way, they were always linked, being the two bookends embracing the most vibrant years of a certain generation, now beginning to pass away.

I wonder if she got to see Beyond the Sea, the biopic of Bobby Darin, in which she was portrayed, favorably, really, for all the hints of her life going down hill.

Now the obits and paeans pour in for HST.

Yet, the coincidence of death goes further. This this was also the annuiversary of another generational icon: Malcolm X killed this day 40 years gone.

Something. Something is brewing. -- Tom Nadeau

‘Old Media’ picking up on Gannon-Guckert scandal; did the Whitehouse actually invite a Gay escort to its Christmas Party? Who invited him, Rove or McClellan?

By Dan Gougherty

The Jeff Gannon-Guckert story is getting weirder and deeper by the day. First we heard about all his "family value" sexual proclivities.

Then we heard he was involved in the Valerie Plame case. Now this.

The Raw Story says Gannon-Guckert was invited to a Whitehouse Christmas party. I wonder who he met under the mistletoe.

Next thing you know they will find Gannon-Guckert and Karl Rove pictured having…., ah forget it. Interestingly, Gannon is now being referred by some as Gannon-ewinsky. We’ll leave that one to the “Old Media.”

Meanwhile, it is also being reported that Bush's press secretary and frequent point-man for the administrations anti-Gay agenda, Scott McClellan, was a regular on the Austin Gay bar scene. Could it be that McClellan and Gannon Guckert-ewinsky have something more than a professional relationship? Strike that, given Gannon-Gucket-ewinsky's line of work before entering journalism, the two just might be invloved in a "professional" relationship.

Speaking of the “Old Media,” you really know things are out of kilter when the Wall Street Journal’s opinion page comes to the defense, be it ever so tepid, of Eason Jordan. Actually the WSJ is probably using Jordan for cover when it comes to the defense of Gannon-Guckert-ewinsky.

The red, the white and the blue

Notice that Clinton is in blue, Bush in red and the player to be named later is in white. Red, white and blue. Red states. Blue states. Democratic blue. Republican red.

Coincidence? I think not.

And look at Clinton’s arm around the white innocent person, oh so friendly-like. Does the symbolicially "white" person in the middle represent public to be screwed later?

In the town of Phuket, yet? Oh, the puns. The puns!

Is this all an inside joke by a sly photographer, the presidential handlers, or the two, buddy-buddy politicians themselves?

You be the judge.

-- Tom Nadeau

Run, Arnold run; duck, Arnold, duck: ‘Girly’ nurse spooks the Governator,

By Dan Gougherty

I don’t know about you, but I am really tired of ‘Governator’ Arnold’s dog and pony show.

During the recall election, Schwarzenegger promised to clean up Sacramento and in a proclamation of his own wealth, promised not take any money from “special interest.” No quicker than you can say “I’ll be back,” Arnold arrived in Sacramento and raised so much money from the special interest he pillared that he made former Gov. Davis’ prolific fundraising look impendent.

After failing to move anything substantial through the legislature and employing the same accounting tricks to balance the budget that Davis used, Arnold has been on a perpetual initiative campaign. He has continually promised to “take it to the people” when things don’t go his way. Actually I think what he meant was “put it to the people.”

Even a Republican acquaintance noted his exasperation of Arnold’s overexposure and abandonment of negotiations and the legislative process. “We live in a representative democracy,” my acquaintance said.

It is ironic that many of the targeted state expenditures that Arnold complains about, rightfully so in many cases, are there because of voter initiatives. Yet when things don’t go his way, he continually threatens to “take it to the people.”

Frankly, his act is getting cold real fast and people are getting tired of him.

Beyond this, the public’s fascination with the celebrity ‘Governator’ seems to be wearing thin. This was apparent the other night when Arnold was forced to use the rear entry to downtown Sacramento’s Crest Theatre. Unlike the screaming fans he is used to, Arnold was greeted by several hundred protesters who braved a cold and rainy night to greet the ‘Governator.”

Once inside the Theatre, Arnold was approached by two nurses, both of whom were rightfully in the theatre. Afraid of being confronted, both were escorted out post-haste by CHP officers.

I guess the ‘Governator’ was too much of a “Girly-Man” (see photo of Arnold) himself to deal with the two ladies.

Gannon-Guckert story breaks out of blogs, goes mainstream

By Dan Gougherty

The other night I was talking to an aquaintance who I consider to be well informed when the topic of media manipulation came up. In the course of our conversation, I referenced the current imbroglio over the Jeff Gannon–James Guckert as an example of how news is being manufactured and a compliant mainstream press follows in lockstep.

Much to my surprise, my acquaintance had not heard of the unfolding scandal. I briefly explained the highlights of the Gannon-Guckert affair and all the questions it was raising. I also suggested that the fact that he had not heard about it showed how the mainstream press had abandoned its role in conducting investigative journalism.

Since the Gannon-Guckert was outed, liberal bloggers have latched on to it with the same ferocity conservatives attacked the Bush-CBS 60 Minutes-National Guard papers scandal last fall. The primary difference between the two is that the 60 Minutes scandal involved a major news organization and, more importantly, the mainstream press picked up on the story almost immediately.

Did they latch on to it to cull favor with the Whitehouse? Or where they doing their job for a change?

After bloggers unearthed Gannon-Guckert’s background, which include allegations that he was a Gay male escort, i.e. prostitute (allegations he has not denied), the story has been under the radar of the mainstream press. Gannon-Guckert has also been connected to the Valerie Plame case.

Now this story appears to be getting the traction it warrants, be it well after the fact.

While this scandal once again raises questions about the integrity of the Whitehouse spin machine, which is an oxymoronic statement in itself, it is demonstrative of the the deficiency in the lapdogs known as the mainstream press.

From a conservative perspective, why did it take bloggers to break the story on Bush’s National Guard papers scandal? From a liberal perspective and to refute the often repeated notion of the liberal press, where was the New York Times, home of conservative columnists William Safire and David Brooks or the Washington Post, home of Gannon-Guckert apologist Howard Kurtz?

If nothing else, both of these cases show how the mainstream press has been asleep at the wheel.

Even as this is being posted, there is breaking news on the ties between Gannon-Guckert and the Whitehouse.

A bite here, a nibble there…

and pretty soon the whole sandwich is gone. The problem is those of us who are not the top 2% wealthiest are the sandwich and the neo-cons are the diners.

Bon’ appetite America!

Back to the Future: Double Vision in Central America

By Brian Gougherty
LToBS Contributor

For the past two months I have been traveling Central America in a weary post-college-graduation daze, wondering what the hell to do with my future while putting it off at the same time. It was last week, hunched over a half-page map in a newspaper face-to-face with a short 40-year-old man that I found myself in a classroom again. No professors, no books, this time I was learning straight from the source, and this little man taught me a lesson I’m sure to remember, not to mention one that can be applied to the current politics back home. I learned of the longevity of a revolution.

I was in Nicaragua, a country whose history, like so many countries in Latin America, bears numerous scars left by the U.S., the recent formed just decades ago when after ten years of U.S. military and economic assaults the leftist Sandinista party was forced to abandon their positions in the national government. The Sandinistas had gained power after a popular revolution in 1979 which had expelled the oppressive U.S.-backed Somoza dynasty.

Though they lost power in the late 1980s a majority of Nicaraguans have continued to support the Sandinistas, but so continues a tacit threat from the U.S., who still have military outposts in the country. In the subsequent years since the ousting not one Sandinista has been placed in the National Parliament and the country has yet to see a president who represents the popular views of the people. While some undoubtedly claim this as a U.S. "victory" in Nicaragua over the Sandinistas, for many others the war is far from over.

The man I spoke with, Marvin Benito, was a veteran Sandinista who had participated in the downfall of the Somoza dynasty and now runs a small museum dedicated to the 1979 revolution in Leon, Nicaragua. His museum, a dreary yet spacious cement room, contains nothing more than a small wooden desk surrounded by four yellow walls plastered with newspaper clippings and photographs. It’s no Lourve, but what Benito does have provides for the perfect background for his hour long dissertation on the last hundred years of Nicaraguan history.

After touring the perimeter of the room as he carefully addressed each artifact displayed on the walls, using a long pointed stick to point to the ones out of reach, he guided me to the center of the room. From a wobbly drawer of the small desk he dug out a faded picture of himself. I instantly recognized Benito, much younger, firing a mortar over a large wall. The shot was taken amidst the street fighting that occurred in Leon, the first city to declare freedom from Somoza in `79. I asked him how old he was in the picture, he didn’t remember or care to think about it for too long.

After only a moment he threw the photo aside and pointed down to the newspaper map, which he had also pulled from the desk. The worn cutting showed Nicaragua split into regions or ¨departamentos,¨ each presenting the percentage of votes different political parties had claimed in recent local elections. The illustration that held Benito’s interest much longer than the photo had.

He explained that for years, while national elections have suspiciously kept the Sandinistas out of power, in local elections votes for the Sandinistas out-numbered any other party 4 to 1. A bit older now than he looked in the picture but just as sincere, the man looked up to me with his dark eyes and without faltering told me that next year, if the national elections do not give the Sandinistas more power, there will be trouble.

In the silence that ensued, I studied the numbers on the map. Most regions showed a clear support for the Sandinistas by an average ratio of 70 percent to 30. While headlines concerning Nicaragua and it’s ¨communist threat¨ have long disappeared from U.S. newspapers, it seems clear that whatever victory could be claimed in Nicaragua is fickle. The museums, statues, murals, flags, and especially the people of Nicaragua that continue to boast of their revolution shows that the Sandinistas are in for the long run.

Constantly on the move with distractions a plenty, I have to admit, over my last weeks of traveling keeping up-to-date on Bush’s latest blunders has not been my top priority, in fact, it has not been a priority at all. Anyway, when you are passing through countries like Nicaragua, Panama and Guatemala, there are already enough reminders of our country’s method of dropping freedom and democracy from the sky.

However, in between e-mails and espressos I’ve occasionally built up the will to check out the headlines on the internet. Today was the first time I have done this in a couple of weeks. I was shocked to find the New York Times headline, ¨Bush to request $82 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps I have just been out of the loop for too long, but this number was almost large enough to knock me off of my seat and onto the sticky floor of this internet café.

Yet, for as huge of a sum as $82 billion is, my travels have helped me realize that while a little money can go a long way, it also has its limits. As with Nicaragua, America may have its moment in the sun with Iraq. A disposed dictator, free elections, a new government, democracy, a shiny new embassy, all of this may assure some of those in the U.S. that we are still some righteous defender of freedom across the globe. But, it will take much more to convince the Iraqis. As it happened with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and other revolutionary groups throughout Central America, as the U.S. again tries to unjustly and brutally extend its power, it is conversely fueling further revolutionary movements in Iraq and the Middle East.

Twenty years ago in Nicaragua the Sandinistas were promising and fighting for things such as workers rights, land ownership, and improved education. Today after the U.S. repression of this movement, the growth of Nicaragua has been stunned and it remains trapped in poverty, wadding in the Third World with little progress made towards these still sought Sandinista goals. To no surprise, memory has kept the Sandinistas very much alive, and willing to fight.

Now imagine what memories will remain even after billions upon billions of dollars arrive in Iraq. While Saddam was undoubtedly a ruthless and brutal dictator, those who survived years of his rule may no longer have homes to return to, their entire cities may have been blown to bits, family and friends included. They will look back and see that there is one enemy that all of the death and destruction can be pinned on, us. They will be left to deal with a government not of their own, but one we have chosen for them. For these people, no matter what money we may pour into Iraq, be it to re-build their country or to silence their revolt against us, no amount will be enough to convince them we are the "good guys."

Bad, if not ironic news piles up for Neo-cons

By Dan Gougherty

If nothing else can be said for neo-cons, it is they have had a bad run of it lately in the hypocrisy department. Of course this is nothing we didn’t already know.

First we have the unraveling of Jeff Gannon, Guckert or whatever his name is. Not only is this guy a faux journalist, he is one big hypocrite. It now looks like Gannon-Guckert was deeply involved in Gay porno websites and may have been a Washington D.C. male escort. There is even talk that he may be criminally involved in theValerie Plame case and owes back taxes to boot.

Now I don’t have any problem with Gannon-Gucket’s sexual orientation or for that matter his involvement with porno sites. It is, to use classical Republican economic theory, a free enterprise-lassie faire system we live in. I don’t even really have a problem with his shaky press credential as long as everyone with shaky press credentials is given equal access to the Whitehouse. Who really cares if Gannon-Guckert is a smut-peddling-Gay call-boy mail-order-journalist? This is America after all.

That is all beside the point. The bigger point is that he and all his cohorts lack integrity. How can one bash Gays, promote the so-called family values agenda while at the same time participate in everything that runs counter to it? Only someone totally lacking integrity and thirsty for money and power would be capable of this. It would be no different than Alan Keyes belonging to Lambda.

Come to think of it, maybe Keyes ought to consider joining Lambda. If Keyes is truly in support of family values, he would proudly accept his “selfish hedonism” loving daughter for what she is. Hell, even Dick Cheney got that right.

- - PS With the exception of New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, it looks like the Democrats are lacking testicular fortitude when it comes to connecting the dots between Gannon-Guckert, Plame and the Whitehouse. If there was even a time to act, now is the time.

Kansas creationist demand archeological site be closed, bones turned over

(Karmic News Service) Liberal, Kansas - Several Kansas-based creationists have demanded that a major archeological site be closed to further investigation and that bones unearthed at the site be turned over local clerics. The unusual move came after it was revealed that 12,000 year old bones and tools were found at an archeological dig in Western Kansas.

The Right-Reverend Ken Bob Jessup of the First Church of Righteousness in Liberal, Kansas said reports of what many consider to me one of the North America’s most significant archeological sites are nothing but a hoax by God-hating secularist in California. “This is nothing more than a well-timed hoax by secularist in California to hurt our chances of implementing God’s will in the public schools of Kansas,” Jessup said.

In addition to closing the site, Jessup has demanded that the bones be turned over to local clerics. “These bones are not to be trusted to any liberal colleges,” Jessup said.

As an alternative, Jessup said he and other Kansas clerics would donate the bones to either Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Virginia or Bob Jones University (BJU) in South Carolina. “I know they will be thoroughly and Biblically researched at either Liberty or BJU.”

Although Jessup’s request to get the bones and close the site faces stiff resistance from the scientific community, he said he was undeterred. “You heard that the Hubbel Telescope is being taken out of use haven’t you? You don’t think we were going to let that university hoax search for a source of man’s origins other than in the Book of Genesis in the Bible, do you?”

Cows to replace people in Kansas

By Dan Gougherty

Last week I attended the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif. Let’s get something straight right from the start – yes there are liberals, be it a small numbers involved in the American ag industry.

The World Ag Expo might be best described as the ag industries annual Woodstock. There are products and services for every conceivable ag need. You can buy everything from manure spreaders for diary farms to crop insurance for citrus crops.

For me one of the most interesting aspects of the expo is visiting these vendors. One vendor that was particularly interesting was a civic group from Western Kansas sent to recruit dairy operations away from California.

While California is probably best known for its high-tech and entertainment industries, California is the largest dairy state in the union. Additionally, by some measures California total ag industry is the largest industry in the state.

As with many things, California leads the nation in environmental controls on dairies. When most people think of a dairy they might conjure up an image of a farmer sitting on a stool milking one or two cows. Nothing could be further from the truth.

California dairies are major operations that often have thousands of milk cows. As one might expect, they have the potential to be major polluters. They produce major amounts of manure, dirty water and in all seriousness, are major air polluters because of the methane gas produced by cows.

To protect the air and water, California has very strict environmental requirements for dairy operations. It is these strong environmental protections that the West Kansans see an opportunity to lure operations away from California.

According to the West Kansans, their state offers many advantages to dairy operators willing to relocate from California. Among them are cheaper land, a streamlined permitting process, and the linchpin, less stringent environmental regulations.

Coincidently at them time of the expo, the state of Kansas was getting some national attention. The attention stemmed from efforts to have the so-called “intelligent design” theory of creationism taught in Kansas public schools.

It should be noted that 77 of the 105 counties in Kansas have lost population in recent years. The only growth, and it is tepid at that, has been in the states few urban areas.

While there are several reasons why it is losing population, I can’t help but wonder if this loss stems in part from the lack of economic opportunity for young people. Aside for being a major agricultural state, Kansas is not known for being the home to any other major industries that would retain, let alone attract well-educated people to the state.

Conversely, lack of economic opportunity usually leads to a brain-drain. Furthermore, skilled employers are usually attracted to areas with a well-educated populace. Fewer brainiacs, fewer high paying brainiac jobs.

So while Kansas contemplates a major step backward in their move to establish their own American madrassas and possibly accelerate the brain-drain, there is one hopeful sign for Kansans. If the well intentioned folks I met from West Kansas are successful, at least they will have a lot more cows to pollute their water, dirty their air and of course, to milk.

Is the President in touch with economic reality?

By Virgil “Buck” Weaver
LToBS Contributor

On Dec. 15, 2004 President Bush said “There’s a trade deficit. That’s easy to resolve. People can buy more American products if they’re worried about the trade deficit.”

I don’t think the President is truly in touch with the economic reality of our nation based on that comment. If he had bought (I mean personally) toys, mountain bikes, computers sneakers, clothing telephones or even cowboy boots the President is so fond of during the Christmas shopping season he would know that the overwhelming majority are made overseas in China and elsewhere.

Using Bush’s logic, I would gladly buy American made products to help reduce the trade deficit if there were American made products to buy. Sadly American manufactured products are going the way of the Good Humor man and the soda jerk – a nice memory from a by-gone era.

There are other items to go with the list above including rare-earth magnets used for smart bombs and guided missiles, ten million American flags since 9/11, nearly all Levi Jeans, and of course Christmas decorations.

All of these are made in China and according to Representative Bernie Sanders of Vermont General Motors is planning on buying four billion dollars worth of auto part in China by 2009, up from two hundred million in 2004.

In my opinion, it’s time for our Senators and Representatives to repeal the Permanent Normal Trade Relations act with China and develop policies that protect and create good jobs in America.

With credentials like this, Allen Raymond ought to move right up the ladder

GOP consultant Allen Raymond who plead guilty to one count of making harrasing calls on election day 2002, was sentenced today. Raymond was ordered to pay a $15,600 fine and sentenced to five months in federal prison.

While most people with a criminal record would be disgraced, with a performance like this Raymond will probably move right up the dirt filled GOP campaign machine ladder. Who knows, maybe in five months and a day Raymond will replace stooge Jeff Gannon, or whatever his name is, and be given a daily press pass to the Whitehouse. - - Dan Gougherty

Health care solution easy, but stymied by health care industry

By Virgil “Buck” Weaver

I’ve just read some research from The Harvard Medical School and The Public Citizen that estimates the we were to have (gasp) universal health care like the one proposed former Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, tax payer would save Three Hundred Billion Dollars annually. But don’t hold your breath while you wait for our politicians to any enact any kind of plan.

The reason you ask? Corporate American health care currently funds both of our major political parties. According to the research mentioned above, the Three Hundred Billion would cover all of us and the forty-five million uninsured working poor and would also provide prescription drug coverall as well.

Additionally, according to what I read it would also relieve the stress on State Medicaid programs, charity and public hospitals. Funding could come for an additional 7.7 percent tax on employers which would raise One Trillion Dollars in addition to the One Trillion the government already spends on health care. The 7.7 percent would be a bargain for many small businesses, and according to the research it would take away the advantages large corporations have over them.

That’s my opinion, what do you think?

Threatenin' are they now?

The noted Instapundit blogger Glenn Reynolds seems to be leveling a not so veiled threat at liberal bloggers. Scroll to bottom of this story and read.

It sounds like one of those snotty "Be careful. Be very, very careful" remarks angry people make from time to time. But maybe not. It's brief, and may just have been plucked or pushed out of context.

However, if it is what it looks to be, I'd direct Mr. Reynolds' attention to the esteemed Mr. Karl Rove, who is esteemed in some circles for his advocacy and practice of no-holds barred tactics. Or he might Ask John McCain about it.

No, GOP operators like Gannon-slash-whomever are just now getting the dose of their own they've so richly deserved since 2000. And they don't like it. Which proves, as expected, that they can dish it out, but they can't blah-blah-blah.

Yes, the Reeps' frat-boy thuggishness as displayed in Florida county clerks' offices may be rounding on them. Remember politics is cyclical.

Mr. Reynolds may be right, but in a way he may not recognize.

When this expose-cum-retribution stuff starts, it's hard to stop, or even tone down as it gains momentum. And, as we've just seen, it's pretty easy to gin up a mob on the 'net.

When the blood is up events move swiftly. Snotty remarks, even those casually uttered from the presumed safety of the upper blogistocracy, can bring regrets to all concerned.

We may all of us soon be wishing for teleportation back to a gentler time. -- Tom Nadeau

If the Whitehouse didn’t know ‘Jeff Gannon,' how did he get a security clearance?

Now that the fraudulent journalist ‘Jeff Gannon’ has been properly identified and toe-tagged as James Guckert, there is one question I would like the Whitehouse and conservatives answer.

If we are to believe the Bush and his Whitehouse staff when they say they did not specifically know who Gannon was, how did he manage to get a daily press credentials? How did this tightly controlled and overly scripted administration give someone using an alias direct access to the President?

Even the GOP controlled congress did not recognize Gannon and talonnews.com as a valid news organization and denied him a Congresional press pass.

If there is one thing that can be said about this administration it is they very security conscience. So just how could someone get a Whitehouse daily press credential using an alias?

Now that I think of it, perhaps I could pass myself of as “Frank Grimes” and get a daily Whitehouse press pass. Hey, it’s worth a try. After all if it worked for Gannon, why can’t it work for Grimes? - - Dan Gougherty

An update – What will happen to WCRV

This is an update from our Pennsylvania affiliate, WCRV, 1540 AM. Carl Van Orden regularly updates us on his hassles with local antenna Nazi’s. From the sounds of this update, Carl may be back on the air soon

Well guys, the new lease finally arrived yesterday, and I was especially looking for the clause about "antennas." Sure enough, there was one.

This is where it gets interesting; back in the summer when this fight began, (the park provides cable TV) I asked them what would happen if either local TV was not on cable anymore, or if cable rates skyrocketed. They didn't have an answer.

Two days ago, two of the four local stations (UHF) decided to charge for allowing their signal on cable, or wants off. What will happen is; things revert to the old, and people will be forced to put up antennas.

The clause reads, "NO OUTSIDE ANTENNAS.” Dig the word, “outside.”

My design is specifically for inside, in my case I have chosen to place it inside a wooden shed.

I guess according to this, it will be acceptable. I did not think they would write a clause in there saying "no radio station....” the lawyer, if told to put that in, probably omitted it as being silly.

I may also erect a much smaller shed closer to the studio, and on the ground; I'm thinking about it. If so, this will perform even better!!!!!

I'll keep you posted. - - Carl Van Orden General Manager, WCRV

Jeff Gannon, Part II

The more we learn about the latest journalist on the Whitehouse payroll, in this case Jeff Gannon, the more evident the hypocrisy becomes. You just got to love it.

So many compromised conservative commentators, so little time

Discrediting conservatives in the media is becoming so common and easy, I am surprised betting lines have not been established on who is next. Will it be Michael Medved, or perhaps a replay of someone like Armstrong Williams or Bill O'Reilly.

Well wait no more. The latest conservative to firmly place foot-in-mouth is none other than Ann Coutler. According to a transcript of an interview on Canadian television, Coulter insisted that Canada had sent troops to Vietnam.

Of course she had her facts wrong, Canada did not have troops in Vietnam. Then again, we should not be surprised by this because conservatives of Coulter's ilk do not use facts, but pass them off as such.

The funny thing about this is Canada extended political amnesty to draft resistors during the Vietnam War. Where do pull your facts from Ms. Coulter? I know where, but won't mention it because some kids might look at this blog.

Where did you get your schooling Ms. Coulter? Bob Jones University (also known as BJ. U), or perhaps Liberty University? Wait, I know, you got your primary schooling in Kansas then went on to one of these fine institutions.

There is always...

a silver lining.

First there was Armstrong Williams, now there is 'news' stooge Jeff Gannon

Armstrong Williams was first, then the other two “columnist.” Now comes softball pitcher Jeff Gannon and his neo-con front news organization, talonnews.com

This should make it perfectly clear to even the most vacuous conservatives how testicular-challenged Bush and the neo-cons are.

Oh, for you conservative knuckle draggers out there, here is the definition of vacuous.

BREAKING NEWS…..LToBS trying to scare people in Social Security debate, so says one critic

One of our regular readers has taken a certain liking, if you will, to our blog. He suggests that LToBS is scaring people. The visitor says;

“So do you always deliberately [sic] ignore the facts to make your point? How is it your not scaring people into beliving [sic] your argument [sic]?

No, I do not think we are scaring people. But the Bush administration, on the other hand, is doing just fine in that category! Keep up the good work Dubya!

What about the insurance side of Social Security?

By Dan Gougherty

Three years ago a good friend of ours was sadly widowed. As a 30 year old widowed mother of five young children, one of whom was not yet born at the time of her father’s death, her life was turned upside down.

Although emotionally devastated, there was one thing she did not have to immediately worry about – how she was going to keep her family together and provide for them. Fortunately for her, Social Security is there to help provide for them.

Survivor’s benefits are one aspect of Social Security that is rarely brought into the discussion. Yet according to the Social Security administration own figures, of the 48 million people who collect Social Security, 17 million are either children or adults receiving survivors benefits or disability benefits.

So what are Bush’s plans for survivors benefits?

Bush says survivors could inherit contributions made into the system. What would have happened to our friend who was widowed when she and her husband were in their early thirties? Will they solely be reliant only on contributions made by their parents? What happens if the parentless children had the misfortune of not being born into a wealthy family? Will they be sent off to some sort of Dickens’s type orphanage as suggested several years ago by Newt Gingrich?

So far we have not heard. But if Bush and the neo-cons record is any indication, I am sure it will be mean spirited.

Follow the money to find the root of Bush’s Social Security privatization scheme

By Dan Gougherty

Let me start out by saying that I am not in favor of privatizing Social Security, nor do I believe Bush when he says the system is in a state of crisis. No doubt the program, as with anything this large and important, will need to be tweaked and adjusted from time to time to keep it vital. While Social Security may need some adjustments, logic dictates that you do not kill something to keep it alive.

Opponents have bemoaned Bush’s privatization scheme on several levels. Some have pointed out that his “throw out the baby with the bathwater approach” is too heavy handed for low income families, while others noted the inherent inefficiencies that would drive up administrative cost, lowering the rate of return but still line the pockets of Wall Street investment bankers.

The one aspect that I have not seen or heard discussed if this scheme is implemented is just where are all these trillions of dollars of investment going to be made?

According to reports, funds will be directed to “conservative,” how appropriate, investments. Specifically, mutual funds that invest in high grade corporate bonds and blue chip equities.

If you think about it, what Bush’s scheme really does is divert money from public interest into private equity markets. Your money will now be directed to the biggest of the big multi-national corporations. Just think, you might be able to participate in the next MCI World Com or Enron collapse!

Basically multi-national corporations like Exxon-Mobil, General Electric, Wal-Mart, Chevron-Texaco, Boeing and all the other behemoths of the military-industrial complex will have quick and easy access to cheap capital. Better yet, from what I am reading, if they screw up the government will be there to pick up the tab.

So in my opinion if you are really looking for who is behind Social Security privatization, look beyond just the Wall Street investment bankers who will make a tidy profit administering these accounts and look to the board rooms of corporate America. They are the ones who will gain access to trillions of government mandated funding for their follies.

Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow; Bush tries to cast his on generations

By Dan Gougherty

Sometimes several disparate events happen on the same day that have no connection, yet can be tied together. Today is one such day.

February 2, 2005 marks the annual emergence of Punxsutawney Phil from his hole to predict weather for the rest of the winter season. For our brethren in colder climates, the news was not good. Phil unfortunately saw his shadow indicating six more weeks of cold weather.

Tonight, George W. Bush will also emerge from his hole and will attempt to cast his shadow on the American public, and dare I say, the entire world. Bush is going to talk about the neo-con quest for oil and profits in the thinly veiled “democratic crusade” in the Middle East. Bush is going to talk about so-called “Social Security crisis” and the need to kill it to keep it alive. He may talk about his under-the-radar health care reform scheme that will line the pockets of corporate interest on the back of regular folk. And of course he will bash Consumer attorney and talk about the need for tort reform.

In other words, Bush will be pushing his big-business anti-civil liberties war mongering agenda down the throats of the American public. The sad part is that most people are going to sit idly by and let the disembowelment continue unabated.

While most political junkies of all strips will watch the speech, I will be doing something more important – celebrating the 18th birthday of our son Michael. Although his party happened on Sunday, he was actually born on Groundhogs Day.

It is of no irony to me that when our son celebrates his 18th birthday, there is little to celebrate. As an 18 year old, he is now required to register for the draft which seems increasingly possible to happen. As he enters under funded colleges this fall, he (us) will be financially squeezed.

When he finishes college and hopefully finds work in an ever diminishing job pool, he probably will not have health insurance. It will be replaced by some tax credit that really only helps the very rich. Social safety nets, forget about it, they will be on their own. Were there was once the New Deal, they will have the Screwed Deal.

So as many people tune into Bush’s state of the union address tonight and are conditioned to accept corporate America’s “ownership society” scheme, my family will celebrate our son’s birthday and contemplate the coming cold, dark society that Bush schemes to cast upon us.

Bush administration giving shaft to servicemen

By Virgil “Buck” Weaver

I’ve just read of two more instances where the Pentagon and our government are ill-treating our troops.

In the first instance, Army Specialist Robert Lori of Middletown, New York had his left hand and forearm blown off in an unprotected Humvee in Iraq. You remember those don’t you Secretary “You have go to war with the Army you have” Rumsfeld?

After months of rehab he received a bill from the Pentagon demanding payment of $1,700 for their error in payment for family separation pay and parts for their Humvee, presumably the one he was in when maimed. Only after media and congressional intervention was the matter cleared up.

In the second instance a number of 20 to 30 year career military who had run into financial difficulty were bilked out of their pension pay even though the law states that military pensions may not be signed away. Both the unscrupulous financial corporations and the Pentagon had twisted the wording to make it appear the pension were loans. Now get this, the Pentagon did the actual paperwork which allowed the veterans to be charged as much has 75% interest.

Why should any military person who has sacrificed for our country be treated so shabbily? It makes you wonder how many others were treated this way that we have never heard about.

I am outraged that our military is treated this way and my opinion, so should every citizen of this nation.

A longtime educator and peace activist, Virgil “Buck” Weaver is a World War II Marine combat veteran.