Happy Halloween from Scorpiano!

Happy Halloween Gang!

So here's your "TREAT!!!!!"

Scooter Indicted!

Vice presidential adviser I. Lewis "Scooter' Libby Jr. was indicted Friday on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement and perjury in the CIA leak case. Karl Rove, President Bush's closest adviser, apparently escaped indictment Friday but remained under investigation, his legal status a looming political problem for the White House.
The indictments stem from a two-year investigation by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald into whether Rove, Libby or any other administration officials knowingly revealed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame or lied about their involvement to investigators. The five-count indictment accuses Libby of lying about how and when he learned about CIA official Valerie Plane's identity in 2003 and then told reporters about it. The information was classified. Any trial would shine a spotlight on the secret deliberations of Bush and his team as they built the case for war against Iraq. (courtesy dailykos.com)
It's a START, but personally, I won't be happy until Rove goes down w/Libby and Bush and Cheney are tried for war crimes. Oh, and let's not forget the architect himself, one Donald Rumsfield. Wishing and Hoping and Dreaming and Praying!!!!!!!!!!!

While I'm Away This Weekend, Think About This..

"There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself." Hermann Hesse

and .......

"A nation or world of people who will not use their intelligence are no better than animals who have no intelligence. Such people are beasts of burden and steaks on the table by their own choice and consent."
Unknown

If You Aren't Already Doing So..For God's Sake BOYCOTT WAL-MART!!

Wal-Mart's Walton family now has 771,287 times more money than the median U.S. household. What gives?

It would be one thing if the Waltons got rich by brains, sacrifice and hard work, but instead they did it what has sadly become the American way: by taking advantage of desperate low-income, poorly educated U.S. workers, using slave labor in their Third World factories, and relying on taxpayers to pick up any and all costs.Taxpayers pay billions of dollars per year to subsidize Wal-Mart, paying for health care, food and housing for WM employees. We also offer WM infrastructure assistance, free land, tax exemptions, and outright cash to build. How many local business owners get that kind of assistance? Can you say NONE?The Waltons are in the Top 10 Richest people in the WORLD, yet WM employees can't afford food and shelter. You and I could become filthy rich too, if we had no morals. Here in Oregon, WM locked employees in the stores and forced them to work overtime FOR FREE (The Simpson's did an excellent episode on that; Matt Groening is from Portland). WM hired illegal aliens to clean stores at less than 2 bucks an hour, and fires anyone who even breathes the word "union". In fact, when a store did actually unionize, WM, the poor losers and cheap bastards that they are, immediately closed the store.Yet does the media report any of these truths? Very rarely, except for on the wonderful Alternet. Our main paper, The Oregonian, prints all the fluff pieces that WM's PR dept. puts out, but rarely prints anything mentioning THE FACTS about WM, even though we currently have 4 organzied groups in the Portland area alone trying to save their communities from WM destruction. And if our media is too afraid to tell the truth, how can locals compete against against WM's 4 Million $ per day PR campaign? People need to know the whole picture to be able to make an educated choice on where to shop- or not.Americans need to know the truth, and the truth is, America can't afford Wal-Mart.
(ALL credit for this piece goes to Agent99 on Alternet.org)

Just a Word of Caution....

OK, you citizens of Iran..... you are acting like a certain President of Venezuela! Stop calling attention to yourselves. You know for all your protests against Israel you are painting a big red target for the US to aim at. Stop it already. We don't need another war. Frankly, I can't take another war. I emphathize with your feelings, I really do. And, I can even speak out about them. But I really don't think you can afford to. You're sending a huge "bring'em on" sign to the US (as if they needed one!). Is that what you want? Cause GWB is crazy enough to oblige. Personally, I think the collusion between the US and Israel is the root cause of a lot of the world's ills (not to mention atrocities). So, I'm with you on that. But, another war? Come on. By your actions (Iran) you are giving the Bush administration just what they need to bring to the idiots in the US as a reason to attack your country. Why play into the hands of GWB? How will you benefit from this? If there are any Iranians reading this, please write to me and let me know how you view these visable protests against Israel and what it is that you hope to gain.
I'll listen.

Wow! Someone wants to know who I am.

Where to start? I am a progressive, tenacious political activist with philanthropic leanings. I am a non-fan of organized religion due to the damage it has done historically and is still doing today.
I am a read-aholic. Interested in quantum physics particularly. Also, alternative spirituality.
I'm a double scorpio which can only spell trouble.I study the so-called earth religions and dabble a bit in modern witchcraft (but please keep that under your hat). I love nature, animals, and I'm a literal tree-hugger. I love music and have at least one favorite in every genre (except polka!). I work for a living. I'm single. As you can see from my blog, I'm out to change the world before I leave it. I'm HAPPY! Anything else?

Daydreaming and Wishful Thinking....

Havana, Oct 27 (Prensa Latina) Most US citizens oppose the war, a fact that can be proved with the series of vigils and demonstrations which are taking place today throughout the United States.
"Most see the war as a mistake, predicated on a series of lies spread by the Bush regime," said Bill Koehnlein, member of the Brecht Forum in New York and the US representative of Ocean Press, based in Melbourne, Australia, in an e-mail interview with Prensa Latina.
Current actions are sparked by the fact that more than 2000 United States soldiers have now died in the war against Iraq. "Most demonstrations will also demand that the US withdraw from Iraq and end the aggression against that country," he said.
Protesters across the United States are taking part in hundreds of vigils and rallies on Wednesday to pressure President George W. Bush to end the war and bring American soldiers home.
"Bush and company all seem to be living in a fantasy world, and it's up to the US people to either give them a dose of reality or give them the bum's rush," Koehnlein said.
He considered that "a smaller minority in opposition sees it not as a mistake, but as deliberate US policy intended to extend US hegemony over the Middle East, economically and militarily, thus expanding US control over the world's oil resources."
The Brecht Forum rep said US hegemony throughout the world has been increasingly and more effectively challenged, and the US ruling class has become more desperate.
About the war in Iraq, Koehnlein also talked about the number of Iraqi civilians dead, a murky figure from around 30,000 to over 100,000, as well as the US military deaths.
Most of the US dead were young people from 19 to 30 years old and came from humble, working class backgrounds. Most joined the army or the other services because the military recruiters applied the hard sell, making promises of great educational benefits and more.
But now "there is no hint at all that what the army is all about is killing and getting killed," he said.
"Even just one death would have been one too many. We must place the blame for these deaths firmly where it belongs: at the feet of the United States," he said.
"The Bush regime is, as the whole world knows, totally arrogant and refuses to pay heed to the criticisms of other governments, not to mention popular opinion," he added.
"It ignores protests and dissent in US streets, but with this regime's entire agenda, from attacks on social programs to the governmental failure in New Orleans there is no way it can bury its head in the sand any longer. It seems that the Bush regime is collapsing, and it's about time," Koehnlein said.

Thank You, Stephen Pizzo!

By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real. Posted October 27, 2005.

Ninety percent of Americans believe the Bush administration is guilty of illegal or unethical behavior in the CIA leak case. Where does that leave our president?

For three more years America is going to be led by not just a lame duck president, but a totally discredited president.
In a poll taken yesterday, 90 percent of those asked said they believed top Bush administration officials are guilty of either illegal or unethical behavior in the CIA leak case.
So where does that leave an un-indicted George W. Bush? There really are only two explanations, and neither reflect well on him. First, he can claim his closest aides conspired behind his back while he was otherwise occupied. I call that the "Exxon Valdez Defense" -- the captain was not at the helm when a careless crewman ran the ship of state aground. Unfortunately for Captain Bush, that defense did not wash for the real captain of the ill-fated tanker. Because, you see, the captain is always responsible.
The other explanation is worse: that the President of the United States knew what was going on, maybe even participated in it.
Either way, Bush is finished as a force in American politics. How he ever got to become president in the first place -- not once, but twice -- will remain a subject social scientists will study and debate for decades to come. Because there was plenty of evidence that George W. Bush was a made man. He had accomplished nothing in his adult life on his own -- not one thing.

Nuclear Weapons....

Developing them, disarming them, using them, etc. I realize I am unusual in this aspect, but I STRONGLY believe that if countries like the US and the UK refuse to disarm as they have previously agreed to do, that all is fair in love and war. You know what I mean? The argument used to be that we couldn't "allow" just anyone to have nuclear technology/weapons because the world is chock full of crazed dictators and any one of them could decide to push the button at anytime. Enter GWB and Iraq. If we can let a madman like GWB have "button control" then why not everyone. I mean, really! They don't come much crazier or stupid. So, my approach is the all or none approach. Either the entire world agrees to disarm, oh yea, including the US and the UK, OR anyone who wants nukes should have them. Afterall, how many times can you annihilate one planet? Answer: only once. Who died and made us God? Who are we to allow or disallow countries to have nukes to protect themselves from rogue countries like us?! Come on, boys. Let's play fair. How about it?????

Why the World Hates America - And They DO!

Why the world hates America A problem for US State Department of State think about It is an open secret that anti-American attitudes are gaining steam all over the world. They are quite evidently caused by Washington's pushy foreign policy. The world, probably except for radical Islamic extremists, felt sympathetic toward the USA after the Sept. 11 tragedy. As a result of this sympathy, the White House won incredible support for its plans for a "war on terrorism." This made for such a rapid offensive against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Due to Washington's universal support, countries neighboring Afghanistan agreed to accept contingents of the USA and its NATO allies on their territories. Ruling regimes of these countries expected to receive assistance from the USA and support in their struggle against local radicals, which pose a great threat to the ruling regimes. In fact, the US Army given strong support to authoritarian regimes in the countries neighboring Afghanistan. As the USA proceeds with its anti-terrorism struggle, anti-American attitudes are ever gaining steam. Attempts of Washington to deal with disagreeable countries under the guise of a war against bin Laden and al-Qaeda have caused a strong wave of criticism toward America's policies. Such attitudes are strong, not only in "pariah" countries (this definition is very insulting by the way), but even among America's allies in NATO. The White House often tries to settle its political and economic problems under the guise of "fighting terrorism." The situation in Iraq can serve an example in this case: Iraq is off limits for US companies seeking Iraqi oil. If Hussein is overthrown, the situation is likely to change drastically. However, oil producing companies from other countries will have to leave Iraq in this case (Russia). The rest of the world dislikes the fact that the USA enjoys the status of the world's sole superpower and makes decisions contradicting the norms of international law. Even the opinions of the America's allies are often ignored at that; they are just presented with a fait accompli. However, the White House and the US State Department criticize domestic policies of other countries and become angry when the same is done towards the USA. What is strange is that the US media, which are bragging so much about their "freedom," support the same line as the White House and the US State Department. Popular American TV channels will hardly show unbiased videos about victims of bombings in Afghanistan. Even if some of this footage is shown, the number of the Sept. 11 tragedy victims is sure to be mentioned as well. This is nonsense! Are American pilots who bomb peaceful Afghan settlements better than al-Qaeda terrorists who bring down skyscrapers? Innocent people are victims in both cases. The US government is perfectly aware of the anti-American attitudes or the world, and the problem is being considered. Can Washington solve this problem? A special conference with participation of American and international experts is to be held by the US State Department in Washington on September 5-6. The conference is being organized on the initiative of the US government and will touch upon the causes of anti-Americanism all over the world. Twenty leading experts from the USA and foreign countries and about 50 officials from US governmental institutions will take part in the conference. In Boucher’s words, the US State Department has already investigated the causes of the anti-American attitudes in Europe, Russia, and Muslim countries. The upcoming conference is to be a culmination of the project. The manifestations and causes of anti-American attitudes in the world are to be studied at the conference. This is to be a closed conference; the list of participants won't be published. It is hard to predict what conclusions the conference will come to and whether or not effective methods to stop the increase of the anti-American attitudes will be discovered. The results of the conference will be seen within the several next years. Washington won’t be able to settle the problem by financing regimes loyal to it and cranking out propaganda only. It is time for Washington to understand that there is not only the USA but also other countries, and they shouldn’t be judged by American standards. Vasily Bubnov PRAVDA.Ru

Just Because I Love You

Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start to add up. Not long ago, President Bush sought to instill panic in this country by telling us a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic, but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in this country alone.
This hoax is then used to justify the immediate purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu, a worthless drug that in no way shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick and can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations.
So the U.S. placed an order for 20 million doses of this worthless drug at a price of $100 per dose. That comes to a staggering $2 billion.
We are being told that Roche manufactures Tamiflu and, in a recent New York Times article, they were battling whether or not they would allow generic drug companies to help increase their production.
But if you dig further you will find that a drug was actually developed by a company called Gilead that 10 years ago gave Roche the exclusive rights to market and sell Tamiflu.
Ahh, The Plot Thickens...
If you read the link below from Gilead, you'll discover Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was made the chairman of Gilead in 1997.
Since Rumsfeld holds major portions of stock in Gilead, he will handsomely profit from the scare tactics of the government that is being used to justify the purchase of $2 billion of Tamiflu.

Put a Little Love in Your Heart

Here are just a few of my favorite charities:

http://www.oxfam.org/
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
http://www.unicef.org/index2.html
http://www.womenforwomen.org/index.htm

How about sharing the love today.

¡Viva Presidente Hugo Chavez!

Somos todo uno; hispano, Americano africano, asiático, el Indio Americano, y todos otros. Somos uno en paz y amor.

Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc.

It just so happens that I'm well-read enough to know the basic tenents of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, and at the core of each of these (and most other) religions is something we call the golden rule, which reads something like this: Do Unto Others As You Would Have Others Do Unto You. Personally, I subscribe to the golden rule, the "do what you will but harm none" and the "threefold law" which states that whatever you do to someone else will come back to you threefold. I know that one way or another it does always come back. But I digress....

Being raised a "Christian" I find it very difficult to deal with what is today being passed off as Christianity. Whatever happened to WWJD (What would Jesus do)? So, in response to this new, fanatical, maniacal, and militant variety of "Christianity" I have some opinions to share:

1. Jesus would not fight in a war.
2. Jesus would not support starting or carrying on a war.
3. Jesus would not create "Hell Houses" or "Judgement Houses" to try and scare children to death by telling them the many ways they can go to Hell!
4. Jesus WOULD work for peace around the world.
5. Jesus WOULD feed the poor and hungry and would NOT support those who are trying to line the pockets (money-changers) of the rich.
6. Jesus would not be a Republican today because of the horrible actions the Republican party has taken in the past few years.
7. Hey, and Jesus would NOT be a GWB supporter.
8. Jesus would not plan out his sins on Monday knowing he could "repent" on Tuesday.
9. Jesus would know that intentions do matter.
10. Jesus would NOT support the death penalty. Period.

I'm sure my list will grow, but the many, many hypocrites I know who call themselves Christian's are really getting to me (can you tell?). May I suggest that anyone who wants to see the true vision of Christianity check out http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm

Remember this...... I can call myself a tiger over and over and over again, but in the end I am still a woman. Don't take on a label you can't handle!

2,000 US Troops Dead in Iraq

Many of us peaceniks have been fearing this day. We can remember how horribly upset we were when the body count reached 500. However, this number is misleading. It does not count those who have died here in the US as a result of injuries sustained in Iraq, nor does it count the thousands of troops who have returned to the US so badly injured that their lives can never be the same.
It seems that no one is willing to say that these troops died in vain, so I will. These 2,000 brave, honorable soldiers died in vain. They died for the imperialistic goals of a power-mad administration. They died in an immoral and illegal invasion of a nation. They were led to their deaths by a moron (I.Q. 90) maniac. There, I said it. Every day young people die from accidents, disease, suicide, etc. and we have no problem calling these "needless" and "senseless" deaths. Why should the deaths of the troops be any different?
And, if you have a loved one who died in Iraq, just what do you think they would want you to do? Would they want you to continue to back Bush and send more of their peers to their deaths or would they want you to do EVERYTHING in your power to end this war and to stop those wars that are at this very minute being planned out by the Bush administration? I think they would want you to stop the needless, senseless deaths. What do you think?

Warning! Get Your Passport NOW!

All U.S. passports will be implanted with remotely readable computer chips starting in October 2006, the Bush administration has announced.
Sweeping new State Department regulations issued Tuesday say that passports issued after that time will have tiny radio frequency ID (RFID) chips that can transmit personal information including the name, nationality, sex, date of birth, place of birth and digitized photograph of the passport holder. Eventually, the government contemplates adding additional digitized data such as "fingerprints or iris scans."
Over the last year, opposition to the idea of implanting RFID chips in passports has grown amidst worries that identity thieves could snatch personal information out of the air simply by aiming a high-powered antenna at a person or a vehicle carrying a passport. Out of the 2,335 comments on the plan that were received by the State Department this year, 98.5 percent were negative. The objections mostly focused on security and privacy concerns.
But the Bush administration chose to go ahead with embedding 64KB chips in future passports, citing a desire to abide by "globally interoperable" standards devised by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency. Other nations, including the United Kingdom and Germany, have announced similar plans.
In regulations published Tuesday, the State Department claims it has addressed privacy concerns. The chipped passports "will not permit 'tracking' of individuals," the department said. "It will only permit governmental authorities to know that an individual has arrived at a port of entry--which governmental authorities already know from presentation of non-electronic passports--with greater assurance that the person who presents the passport is the legitimate holder of the passport."
To address Americans' concerns about ID theft, the Bush administration said the new passports will be outfitted with "antiskimming material" in the front cover to "mitigate" the threat of the information being surreptitiously scanned from afar. It's not clear, though, how well the technique will work against high-powered readers that have been demonstrated to read RFID chips from about 160 feet away.
"The shielding in the passport is a physical device that basically, when the passport cover is closed, it's very difficult to read the chip," a State Department official, who did not wish to be identified by name, said Tuesday. The official was unable to provide details about the material's composition. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which has been working to evaluate the chip's vulnerability to skimming, was unable to provide further information on Tuesday.
Privacy advocates told CNET News.com that the anti-skimming device was a decent start. But if the cover of the passport happens to be open, all bets are off, said Bill Scannell, a privacy advocate who founded the site RFIDkills.com. "They've built little baby radio stations into peoples' passports and covered it with concrete," he said, "but when the little hatch is open, you can still hear the music."
"It's better than nothing," Scannell went on, "but why take this risk?"
In addition, the passports will use "Basic Access Control," a reference to storing a pair of secret cryptographic keys in the chip inside. The concept is simple: The RFID chip disgorges its contents only after a reader successfully authenticates itself as being authorized to receive that information.
Computer scientists, however, have criticized that encryption method as flawed. In a recent paper (PDF here), RSA Laboratories' Ari Juels, and University of California's David Molnar and David Wagner, warned that the design of the encryption keys is insufficiently secure. They said that the use of a "single fixed key" for the lifetime of the e-passport creates a vulnerability.
The Bush administration could face an eventual legal challenge. A letter to the State Department from privacy groups (PDF here) says there is "no statutory authority" for the RFID passport because Congress has not authorized it.
"Our point is, whatever Congress may have meant in giving the State Department authority to issue passports was probably to issue passports that were like the old passports," said Lee Tien, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which co-authored the comments. "But at some point you are doing something that is significantly different, which should probably require some sort of additional congressional authorization. The argument is how broadly does that authority go, and honestly, it's something no one knows."

The Original Beavis and Butthead!

This is Who We Are:

Hunger strikers allege 'force feed torture' at Guantánamo

Jamie Wilson in Washington
Friday October 21, 2005
The Guardian


Prisoners on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay have alleged US troops punished them by repeatedly inserting and removing dirty feeding tubes until the detainees vomited blood.
Declassified notes released by defence lawyers for three men being held at the prison camp on Cuba said the prisoners came to view the large feeding tubes - described as the thickness of a finger - as objects of torture. "They were forcibly shoved up the detainees' noses and down into their stomachs," the lawyers reported to a federal judge in August. "No anaesthesia or sedative was provided."

According to their affidavits force feedings resulted in prisoners "vomiting up substantial amounts of blood. When they vomited up blood, the soldiers mocked and cursed at them, and taunted them with statements like 'look what your religion has brought you'."
Yousef al-Shehri, 21, of Saudi Arabia, said guards had removed a nasal feeding tube from one prisoner and reinserted it into another without cleaning it. Another said a navy doctor had put a tube in his nose and down his throat and "kept moving the tube up and down" until he finally "started violently throwing up blood".

Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Martin, a military spokesman for the Guantánamo Bay detention centre, told the Associated Press there was no truth to the allegations: "Detainees are treated humanely. Claims to the contrary are wholly inaccurate and blatantly misrepresent the excellent work being done here by honourable military and civilian professionals."

The prison camp has around 500 inmates. According to Lt Col Martin, 25 detainees are on hunger strike, including 22 being force fed. Defence lawyers who have visited the prison recently say their clients have insisted they will maintain the protest until conditions at the prison camp improve or they are released.

A GOOD PLACE TO START

http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/

Welcome to my new blog.....

While I may post personal information at times, the purpose of this blog is to aid in the awakening of the sleeping sheeple. The atrocities that are being committed in our names this very second need to be STOPPED. We are the only ones who can do that. We no longer have the luxury of "old school" thinking. We all have to wake up. We are reaching a serious tipping point and if you are not at this point a real part of the solution you truly are a real part of the problem. The SUV, the soccer games, the designer clothes, etc. can wait. The fact that GWB is destroying our country cannot wait. Take action to impeach GW on charges of war crimes. If enough of us get together we cannot be stopped. Don't think that what's happening in the Bush administration does not affect you. It affects you in more ways than you may know. We have to end the killing, the torture, and the hatred that this country is spreading and do it now. We will soon become the world's largest terrorist country. Is that where you want to live? Is that how you want to see yourself presented to the world. Doesn't the fact that the US is hated internationally bother you? Do you for one minute think that the US is "right" and the rest of the ENTIRE world is wrong????? What is the likelihood of that???? What are the odds? No..we are dead wrong. We have become the enemy. WE have to fight back before it's too late. I urge you to wake up and fight for morality, love, peace, diplomacy and the ability to mind our own business when things are not our concern. More to follow in my WMD article......