Robert Craig 'Evel' Knievel (October 17th, 1938 -- November 30th, 2007

"Women are like buses. Good to ride on for 15 minutes. But they forget that if you get off, there will be another one along in 15 minutes. And another one, and another one. ...You know, women are the root of all evil. And I know, I am Evel." --Evel Knievel, as told to journalist Kevin Smith, September 1998.

USSA--It's amazing that Evel Knievel lived to be 69, it really is. It's known from the journalistic work of Kevin Smith (no, not that one) on Knievel in 1998 that his long-term ailment was Hepatitis-C.

On September 9th, 1974, my fellow first grade classmates and I watched the stunt driver ready his 'Skycycle' for liftoff, ostensibly, to cross the Snake River Canyon in Ohio. This was just a little over a month after Republican President Richard Nixon (another crook from another time, proving nothing changes fundamentally) had resigned in disgrace.

Rumor had it that Evel had attempted to get permission to jump the Grand Canyon itself, but the Department of the Interior wouldn't let him, which was understandable: who would want to be responsible for a nut like Knievel if he crashed and died on live television? What waiver or insurance contract could cover that? None of us watching that day thought he would make it, and he didn't. That was the mood then.

Americans were in weird place at that time, being stunned into numbness by the violence of the 1960s--the urban uprisings, the generational strife, the burning cities, the violent reaction to a basically nonviolent civil rights movement, widespread government surveillance and repression, the war in Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia, the assassinations, the cultural clashes, and-on-and-on. Kinda sounds like now, doesn't it? Nothing much made sense in 1973-1974 either, and into that vacuum came Evel Knievel of Butte, Montana, and he was possibly the greatest embodiment of American wrongheadedness, depravity, and mindless insanity and recklessness that defines this peculiar nation.

While Philip K. Dick was reeling from his yearlong visions of a Roman America, the CIA was murdering people in other countries, and while Patty Hearst was running around with the SLA robbing banks, the rest of us were listening to Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, Queen. We were watching endless jokes at Nixon's expense on television, and basically witnessing the world's largest tailgate party unfold in-the-wake of Watergate. It was time to party, Nixon was gone. At that time, nobody saw Reagan coming, Gerald Ford (still dead) and Jimmy Carter being incidental non-entities. There was a healthy anti-authority attitude in-the-air. Though he was really arch-conservative, Evel Knievel seemed to fit into this cultural environment. But he wasn't exactly a hero...

For Knievel, being the son of a car salesman couldn't have helped much, and it's likely that his father beat him regularly. A promotional-record that I own a copy of has him smacking a young boy's hands over-and-over, asking him: 'Does that hurt? Does that hurt?' It was part of a strange lesson in heroics and endurance, but it really just sounded like a sick and depraved bully. That was Evel. American culture is barbaric nowadays, but during the 1970s it was truly barbaric and violent.

His parents divorced when he was very young, and Knievel was raised by his grandparents. How did Robert become 'Evel', you might ask? Yes, it really did begin with other children calling him 'Evil,' it's true. He lived-down to this epitaph, working as a safecracker, bank robber, and more. Somehow, he was never busted. We Americans have a bad-habit of making badmen into heroes. Evel was no-exception.

Eventually Knievel quit his life of crime and sold shoddy-cars, just like his father. Arthur Miller couldn't have invented Evel Knievel, only America could. By the mid-1960s he was running with motorcycle stunt gangs, through which he built a name as a 'skilled' daredevil. This was something he really did excel at, and he made a number of world record jumps during his run as a stunt rider. But is Evel remembered for all of the record jumps, or the fact that he broke most of the major bones in his body (making the Guinness Book of World Records a few times)?
No, it was because of his exploits out of the arena of stunts, and into the world of his private life. He'll be remembered for his addictions to alcohol and painkillers and his violence. Another thing he should be remembered for is how unimaginably sexist he was (even for the 1970s), so it's likely that he didn't like his mother very much. Feminists at that time absolutely reviled the man, and his mouth did a great deal of harm to his image as a hero. I come not to praise Evel, but to bury him.

In 1977, Knievel was bigger news than ever: he'd attacked his former publicist Sheldon Saltman with an aluminum baseball bat for allegations in Saltman's book, 'Evel Knievel on Tour.' Knievel would be sentenced to a huge fine and six-months in prison. He was the talk of the town again. In 1979, he claimed he was going to be dropped from 40,000 feet from the bomb bay doors of a B-29 onto a haystack. For those who don't know what a B-29 was, it's the same model of aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It seemed appropriate that Knievel would represent America's impotence at the time: He chickened-out. By 1981, he'd done his last jump. At the end, his riches were spent, as was his body and mind. Fame isn't what you might think it is. Welcome to the American Dream. Sleep well, Evel, you earned it. You were a daredevil alright, you cheated death for a very long time, and that's your redemption. And that's the last thought for the now-deceased month of November, 2007.

UK journalist Kevin Smith's original 1998 article (published in 2000): http://www.the-vu.com/Evel.htm

Call me paranoid, but it's just a thought... (Lori Price Au-Go-Go)

WWW--Don't you think one of the best ways to disrupt a genuine grassroots movement is to have a bunch of dummy groups (like, say, Moveon.org) disrupting the focus from the real players (like Public Citizen or FAIR), eating-up donations, and basically causing division amongst the rest of us? Not that they even need to really be working for the government, mind you. I'd say they accomplish the same things anyway.

Take CLG, or 'Citizens for Legitimate Government.' Sounds similar to CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), doesn't it? Never heard of em' before 'hookergate,' not-a-peep. Neither had some prominent activists and writers I've corresponded with over the last year. One of them referred to them as 'Citizens for Illegitimate Government,' and this was from a former board member of Common Cause.

They had never heard of them before. I won't quote from my correspondence with the nefarious Lori Price, but her side was pretty juvenile, and bizarre, and it surrounded my research into the so-called 'DC Madam's' phone records--the person-in-question was Ret. Colonel Ronald Roughead of SAIC, and brother of CNO Read Admiral Gary Roughead.

The issue was over plagiarism, as I'm the first to publish any meaningful research on his significance in the phone records, and it all began thanks to an omission of credit in a Palfrey defense newsletter sent-out by her counsel. What Price glory? All these anagrams start sounding like that song from 'Hair'...

I grant that my original e-mail was extremely-blunt (I didn't let-up that she was probably engaged in plagiarism), but then the childishness began with Ms. Price gloating over her site's hits-and-readership, then it devolved (on her end, not mine) into personal attacks and a flat-denial that: a) I was the original source, yet b) she had done her homework, and the article was solid...something in that (dis)order, wafting from her general direction.

Rather than listen to a story that I feel is urgent--that the information on Roughead must be disseminated far-and-wide, and that numerous others need to bear witness to it and do more research where mine has left-off, the exchange ended with Price calling me a Republican, which is truly price-less. She also called me a 'sociopath,' which was hurtful. ;0) Maybe she's the same Moveon woman that assaulted me at the stage-managed 'protest' that I was at last June.

Never mind that I explained ad infinitum to Price that the story appears to be very important, and that many mainstream media outlets won't even acknowledge receipt of any of it, this was all about fame and exposure for Lori, yet she accused me of the same. Hopefully, the rest of the internet and 'progressive' world will 'price-less' too, and she can take Eli Pariser and a number of other human problems in the 'progressive' community with her for good measure.

Nah-h-h-h-h-h-h, I think I will publish those e-mails at some inopportune (for Price) moment. And to Rob Capriccioso: there is no story regarding Sam Donaldson in the phone records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Now, that you've gotten into even deeper trouble with this silly-ass story about Trent Lott and a male escort, maybe you can fess-up about the Donaldson one being hot air. Doubtful.

Just because we want to believe something is true, don't make it so. I keep wondering if Price has done any additional research on Roughead and others in the phone records, but when I've looked at CLG's site, all it appears to be is the same as Huffington Post: some cutting-and-pasting of articles off the wire services with a splash of short-sighted opinion. That's OK to-a-point, but I detect no 'analysis,' Captain. Hardly anywhere. OK, almost nowhere.

Opinions are great, but do some research, do some analysis and interact with the information and data sometime. Find something new. Do something, ferchrissakes. This was your constructive moment. Enjoy it. Why didn't Palfrey's counsel credit me in the newsletter? I'm only worried about some of the scuffles it caused. You'd have to ask them. It probably has something to do with mounting a defense, but Roughead's in public court documents now. [Ed., 08.23.2008--Or fame and fortune.] You're welcome.

'Producers Make New Offer to Writers'

1968--Imagine if Hollywood had writers like the characters in the original 'Producers' did, with the same scheme! Oh wait, they are good at creating bombs-galore in Hollywood, sorry. 'Bialystok and Bloom! Good dag for day!' Sorry Mel, I loved the original, but you're a very nice man in-person, and you are loved by so many for making us all laugh so hard that pop and milk was streaming out of our noses. God rest Anne Bancroft, she was a mensch too, perhaps one of the most beautiful and talented actresses in the history of American film, and that's saying something. When I saw 'Young Frankenstein' (a classic) as a kid, that opening-prologue scared me though, but then I was five. It was so close to the original imagery of the 1931 Frankenstein that it really freaked-me-out--even the van der graf generators were the originals! It must be strange to have been a writer on the 'Show of Shows,' live through the horrors of the 1960s-to-now, and finally see the damage being wrought by Bush II. But it's good to get old and wise, yes it is. What makes it good is that we can tell the kids what we've learned living this condition called 'human,' and Mel Brooks is probably the warmest, most human being in the public sphere that this era will ever know. Thanks Mel, you're appreciated. It's good to be King, yes.

Babs Streisand Bullish on Billary Clinton, as Lilli Marlene was for Adolf Hitler

NYC--Ever notice you can take the prose from Poe's 'The Raven,' and put it to the melody of 'Superman'? Try it, it works. Right, not all Jews are Noam Chomsky, Karl Marx, David Cronenberg, or Jesus. Some are wrongheaded turds like everyone else, happily helping shovel the bodies into the ovens. Babs is no exception to this kind of insensate human being, and she loves parading her iniquities everywhere she can.

Gay men: stick with Judy Garland, she was the best. But we knew this, or why would you have rioted over her memory at Stonewall? That was a real woman--a mother--with genuine class. She suffered so much in her life. Babs is a far-cry from Judy, more like the groveling, fawning Lilli. But there's a certain kind of woman who claws-her-way to the tyrants, those strongmen who display (b)absolute certainty at every turn.

Let's not forget about Waco in 1993, or the fact that it was Bill Clinton who authorized and pushed for most favored trading status with China. He was just finishing the work that began with Nixon, carrying over from Ford, Reagan, Bush, and finally Bubba. Sure, he's our first 'Black President' alright--black as the eyes of a lion before it sinks it teeth into the flesh of a gazelle. Forget Babs, forget the schnoz, and the ridiculously high tickets prices for the so-so shows of a terminally spoiled psychotic.

Retire Babs, you always sucked. You just hate actually paying your share, you tax cheat. We should also remember that Bill Clinton ordered the destruction of Iraqi-infrastructure during the 1990s during the 'no-fly zone' period, bringing about the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children.

That's genocide, Babs, that's what you're supporting. You don't care, you spoiled, evil bitch. The Clintons also bombed Kosovo in 1999, causing over 200,000 Eastern Orthodox Serbs to flee. That's ethnic cleansing, but our crimes never happened. Barbara Streisand is our era's Lilli Marlene, a singing whore for neo-Nazis.

Perhaps we can conduct the killing of our victims with Barbara's songs blaring in-the-background. Hey, they played music at Auschwitz, so why not her crappy singing? That would be torture enough.

It would make a lot of sense for those interned at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to have to listen to her drivel all-the-time. Marlene Dietrich knew a fascist when she saw one--what's your excuse you walking parody of humanity? What a moral imbecile, that Babs.

Truly A Quiet Riot: Lead Singer Kevin Dubrow, dead at 52

Las Vegas, Nevada--You know, I'm certain there are a lot of really mean things being said about this man right now, and as far as I can tell, it's probably unfair. Granted, Quiet Riot were not a particularly good band, and they were part of a pungent wave of truly lousy heavy metal during the 1980s, but they were pretty funny and entertaining. I miss the fun of that period, even as bad as it was, and it was pretty bad. But at least it wasn't the way things are now. It's going to sound cliched, but things really were simpler during the eighties, and even if they didn't make much sense there was a fun to the dumbness of the decade.

There was more than wink and a nudge to Quiet Riot, I saw them at the age of 16 (yes, I was THAT bored), and by far, the worst band at that festival I attended in Michigan (circa 1984) was the truly wretched Europe. There is no worse song than 'The Final Countdown,' making anyone with a clue who's heard it wish that the entire band was strapped-to-a-rocket (no helmets) destined for the sun. The opening synth-melody has to be the dorkiest musical inexpression and was a waste of studio time, but at least it was funny on 'Arrested Development.' It was worth it for that. Even the late Frank Zappa made fun of Quiet Riot, and so did a whole lot of people. But really, compared to so many others, they were pretty innocuous, tame. What most didn't notice is that they were making it clear they thought all of it was goofy too, they got the joke that rock had become by the early-1980s. I'm certain they understood the humor of 'This is Spinal Tap.'

What is interesting about them, however, is that Randy Rhodes played for the group for a short time--well, he played for everyone for a short time, but that's not important now. And yes, the original Slade songs were done better by Slade, it's just true. I won't make excuses for Mr. Dubrow, but as a kid, I was entertained briefly by him and his death sounds unfortunate. If he died of an overdose, it's his own fault, death by misadventure, but it doesn't sound likely. Dubrow was known to take care of himself, especially in these later years. All said, he'll be missed, even if I really never liked the music of Quiet Riot for more than a few months when I was half-mad--as we all are as teenagers--from raging hormones. Yes, I owned the picture disc of 'Metal Health,' satisfied? Hey, I liked the Sex Pistols, DEVO, and the Talking Heads then too, so gimme a break... ;0) There was much worse then, much worse.

[Ed.-Breaking news, the Vice President's heart rhythm is now normal, running at a steady 'bossa nova.' Tah-dah!]

NATO's Back: Out THIS, David Corn, Arianna Huffington, and Larisa Alexandrovna (and Eli Pariser for good measure)

SITE METER--There are days, and then there are days. When's NATO having another outing at some military convention around D.C.? They have to get laid somehow. Look at these visits, they're common to this site, and all within 24 (pun-intended) hours.

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And then there's these clowns again. Obviously, there's nothing to my research whatsoever, it's just all wrong. Clearly [snigger!]:

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And these clowns again, reading their favorite article on D.C.'s U.S. Attorney, Jeffrey A. Taylor (PS: they don't have to read long, their software is better than yours and can capture a page and store it for later):

Domain Name		usdoj.gov ? (U.S. Government)
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'ELIZABETH! THIS IS THE BIG ONE!': Cheney Resigning?

Dick Cheney's Secret Bunker Complex/Washington D.C.--'Wolf! Wolf!' screamed the vice president. But everyone in the nation knew in their heart-of-hearts that it didn't even matter if the imbecile was telling the truth or not. He'd lied almost every waking moment of his pathetic dry-drunk life, being perhaps one of the most burdensome human beings since Hitler or Stalin, or maybe even Mao. It's hard to think of a better argument for abortion than people like Dick Cheney. If babies grow-up to be monsters like Dick Cheney, why reproduce at all? Pity? He deserved none. Wrath? He'd earned everyone's share, it being a good kick square up his half-decayed ass. Honor? He never knew the meaning of the word, so 'go fuck yourself.' Indeed, go fuck yourself, asshole.

No, the rewards of being Darth Vader (TM, Lucasfilm) are meager. What's true is that the vice president/president knows that we--the natives--are restless and that somewhere, someplace, there's a chink in the armor coming soon. Not even the corrupt American Congress can save him much longer, there being over a year left in his and dumbo's term. Maybe not all of us know it yet, but it's there, waiting to be hit over-and-over-and-over again with malicious force. It's not unlikely that I've found some of it and published it ad infinitum on this very site (thanks Mr. Corn). Our first cybernetic president is finished, he's done, now turn him over so he browns more evenly. Just wait, his lordship is going to state that he's going to be 'leaving office soon, for health-related reasons.' Whatever works, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. By-the-way: we're still coming after you even when you aren't in office, subpoenas in-hand.

Congress can pass all the retroactive immunity statutes they want, and they'll need to pass a gaggle of them--and by doing so, they'll be removing any respect for their system of law-and-order. Be careful what you wish for, especially when there really isn't any way out. That's when things really get ugly. Remember the last time President Cheney decided he might be resigning? It was in those dark days of 2004 and late-2005 when we belatedly learned of the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens and the acting president's (Cheney) role in the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. That's treason, a high crime among many committed by the dumb squad at the WHite House who got their understanding of law from Jack Webb's 'Dragnet,' perhaps the worst show in television history (though good as a drinking game, so it was ON). As we all know, The New York Times sat on the wiretapping story for a year so the GOP could have enough of a margin to steal the elections again by not allowing Blacks and veterans to vote (again). Support this, pig-shit. But the VP/P knew otherwise, and he wouldn't take kindly to no horsin'-off on his watch unless it was his own...

Just wait, he's going to let the rumors fly that he's leaving office. It's coming. Realistically, he can't threaten to quit when only a margin of mental incompetents still want him in there. He's hiding in his bunker at an undisclosed location (Nebraska, underneath a farm coop). Eventually, he has to go for the sympathy-fuck, the grab-ass for pity that the foolish sometimes stupidly feel for people like Hitler or Stalin, Pinochet, Pol Pot, Suharto, Ferdinand Marcos, and all the puppet dictators America's power structure has supported openly. They express it when these scum begin to reach the point of their fall, the end. You know, it's that kind of wrongheaded pity for human monsters which only a sucker or a moronic asshole would express openly, things that people do when they've sucked on too-many joints, crack-pipes, bottles, or a priest's, boss's, or politician's member (and in every sense). Damn the schmuck who has an excuse for everyone. Feeling sorry for a self-destructing scoundrel is the true mark of a fool. Now is a time of scoundrels...at every level of human society.

It's Time to Remove House Speaker Pelosi (and Joe Donnelly)

A recent commenter has been talking this option up, and so has Cindy Sheehan for several months. Do a search, I believe she's still going to run against Pelosi in the coming elections of 2008. Believe me, if I lived in her district, she would be gone. However, I'm voting against my so called representative Joe Donnelly who has made the same ludicrous assertions against impeachment as the Speaker. This is unacceptable, and since he's not showing any sign of budging, he's lost my vote forever. I enjoin all residents of Michiana who have found this site to help in removing Representative Donnelly from office next year.

No, I'm not suggesting replacing him with something worse, like a Republican. I'm suggesting some real candidates come forward. You veterans, you solid pillars of our community who have thought about it for years--we need you now, our nation needs you now. The only solution is to remove these clowns from office. They've been given every-single-chance since January of this year, and they have not only failed the American people, they have betrayed us all in every respect. The American people have spoken on the war, and on impeachment of the vice president and the president. We want them out. Let's roll.

A good start: http://ladybroadoak.blogspot.com/2007/11/impeachement-update-i-have-said-for.html

And Just When I Thought the Site Meter Was Getting Boring...The Return of the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate

Washington D.C.--It should be noted here that at one time the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate once ran the stables for Congress. Now, the mode of transportation is the automobile. Did this office of the Senate ever have any knowledge of escort pick-ups by sitting-congressmen (and women?)? One never knows in that New Sodom-on-the-Potomac. It should be noted here that the Sergeant-at-Arms of each House of Congress investigates representatives on ethics violations. Senator Vitter and all the other crooks on the Hill had best keep this in-mind. Why should anyone think that David Vitter is going to stop chasing women who aren't his wife? Since he's not being punished for his illegal behavior(s), he has that proverbial blank-check.

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Bush Loses Another Key Ally in Australia as Labor Also Wins Majority in Parliament

Sydney, Australia--Today, belatedly, after 11 years of misrule, conservative Prime Minister John Howard is gone. Just as in Spain, Italy, Great Britain--and coming soon--the ending of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's time in office, the rollback of conservative excesses is unfolding globally. After passing legislation with his own party that limited workers' rights in the industrial sector, and for being a 'staunch supporter' of the administration of American President George W. Bush, Howard has paid that highest price and lost resoundingly. His party has also been profoundly marginalized in the Australian Parliament, which takes-effect after July in their senate, the last stage in the changeover of power. The Liberal/National Party's defeat is stunning:

Using those figures, an Australian Broadcasting Corp. analysis showed that Labor would get at least 81 places in the 150-seat lower house of Parliament — a clear majority. It was an embarrassing end to the career of Howard, Australia's second-longest serving leader. As little as a year ago, Howard had appeared almost unassailable. But on Saturday he was in real danger of becoming only the second sitting prime minister in 106 years of federal government to lose his own seat in Parliament. ('Labor Party wins big in Australia,' AP, 11.24.2007)

It wasn't simply Iraq, and it wasn't just Howard's refusal to sign-on to the Kyoto treaty to curtail carbon emissions, nor was it his general coddling of George W. Bush's global criminality--the reaction came when Australian workers started feeling the pinch at home, and it's a natural reaction without much parallel in the United States. Americans will tolerate far more than the citizens of the rest of the developed world's democracies. Whether Labor will deliver in Australia is another question altogether, but they hold a clear majority that even the Democratic Party in America does not enjoy. This gives them a very solid mandate.

If they won't deliver reforms in-favor of the average Australian citizen, there won't be anyone to blame as the conservatives won't be able to obstruct them as they do in the American Congress. That said, in America, the Democrats have been all-too-willing to pass legislation that would thrill any conservative in virtually any developed nation. Say hello to Labor's Kevin Rudd (and the lead singer of Midnight Oil!), who has no federal-level ruling experience, since the left party has been out of power for over 11 years. Nonetheless, Rudd has diplomatic experience with China and promises to sign the Kyoto Protocol shortly, which would have never been accomplished under Howard. While Rudd has said he will act as an 'economic conservative' (which is easy to believe in this era), he's dealing a very significant blow to the Bush administration on the world stage, and it's more than a symbolic one.

Unlike his rival, Mr. Rudd promised to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international accord aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Doing so will deprive the U.S. of one of its key supporters on climate change issues and put new pressure on the Bush administration ahead of an important meeting next month (DEC 3-14) in Bali, Indonesia, where world leaders will discuss what to do when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The Bush administration has so far refused to ratify the Kyoto plan. Mr. Rudd's party has also pledged to set tough new targets for carbon emissions and renewable energy, and has promised to roll back parts of a Howard government reform giving Australian employers more power to set employee wages and benefits. ('Howard Government Suffers Defeat In Australian Parliamentary Election,' Wall Street Journal, 11.24.2007)

Wouldn't this be great if it happened in America? But it didn't, even with the GOP losing its majority in Congress, since the Democrats are hardly any better. The public has spoken about ending the war in Iraq--and the Democrats keep funding it. The public is growing increasingly vocal about impeachment proceedings--and the Democrats won't allow it (with a lot of help from sexually-impaired GOP incumbents like Larry Craig and David Vitter). The answers aren't simple, but there is one obvious route that Americans must take: creating their own candidates, and perhaps their own parties in-the-face of a two-party system that refuses to represent their wishes and interests.

Whether things will improve for the average Australian after Rudd's election is another 'what if.' Will he walk-the-walk, or just service concentrated international capital like Harold, smiling like the Janus-faced Bill/Hillary Clinton? Granted, Australia's belated signing of the Kyoto Protocols won't fix the climate change problem, but it's a beginning, and not an end unto itself. A related point: at this political moment, Canada is now isolated in the community of commonwealth nations (former British colonies) on climate change. Canada isn't one of the worst offenders in fossil fuel emissions--that would be China, India, and the United States--but stands to become nearly as bad with plans of expanding energy production to feed American energy overconsumption. Canada has been moving for decades in the direction of being an energy colony of the U.S..

Sandra Buckler, spokesperson for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, denied Canada was standing in the way of a Commonwealth resolution. She said the world's biggest polluters will need to be part of any climate agreement, but did not mention India, China or the U.S. by name. "We would not support a binding target only for some emitters, especially if that excludes major emitters," Buckler said. "We are not blocking a binding target. We are, however, looking for a declaration that is as strong as the APEC declaration (which was agreed to by China and the United States) in terms of the importance of comprehensiveness – that all countries, notably major emitters, must contribute to reducing (greenhouse gas) emissions," she said. ('Canada Isolated on Climate,' The Toronto Star, 11.24.2007)

For those desiring a rapid move towards climate change control, the Labor win is a 'baby-step,' but it could be one of the crucial ones. As it stands, international capital is still steering human society and much of the world's natural habitat towards annihilation for the sake of power and wealth. While it's unlikely that Rudd will be significantly different than Howard in Australian politics and the running of their economy, we'll always do worse with the conservatives in power, no matter what nation.

There is a real hope here: even with 14 years of continual prosperity, a strong dollar, almost no remaining national debt, and a compulsory pension program that has kept their economy much stronger than that of the United States, Australians wanted the conservative Howard out. Rudd is unlikely to limit so-called 'market reforms' that were touted so strongly under Howard, but as the leader of a nation that provides crucial mineral resources to China, he has significant leverage to move the climate change issue in a constructive direction. Whether he will rise to the occasion is up to him and the people of Australia. What's George W. Bush going to do once he's run out of allies around the world? Sarkozy's rise in France is mitigated by a coalition-led cabinet. Harper is embattled in Canada and the door out is beckoning. But at least George W. Bush will always have friends in the Democratic Congress, especially in Nancy Pelosi and peers in his own party. It's time that they explained why this is so.

Middle East Peace Conference Next Week in Annapolis Raises Questions

Annapolis, Maryland--Will Ed Norris and Ronald Roughead be providing the women for the Saudi contingent (nah, they want 13-year-old boys), or the Naval Academy itself through Ron's brother CNO Gary Roughead? Will football players be raping anymore midshipmen for shits-and-giggles, and will their football team ever recover from the sex scandals? Will the indefatigable Mark Capansky ever be playing for them, or just procuring?

Will the 'supply officer' [Ed., 07.03.2008-Rebecca Dickinson] ever swap her ass for privileges again? Is the Naval Academy really a giant experiment by the Kinsey Institute in simian sex-patterns? Can I think of anything else they might be up to, like the instructor at Annapolis who made commemorative DVDs of his sexploits with coeds? Walk that plank. Piracy is alive-and-well, and it has moved inland.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, SENATOR VITTER ('Viddy well brother, viddy well!')

Washington D.C./Metarie, Louisiana--Yes David, you have a lot to be thankful for tonight, and not the wife's constant nagging that she's earned thanks to your serial misbehavior. But don't thank God, thank Judge Kessler and whomever whispered into her ear. Wouldn't we all like to know who it was and what they said? Don't thank your false patriarchal desert god, however, thank a more temporally-based force: human pressure and intimidation behind-the-scenes. And President Bush should be thankful that Leola McConnell is currently missing or in-hiding--she was about to do some talking and had an impending tell-all book coming-out that revealed he's not the man we thought he was, but shares a lot with bi-curious young men in their twenties.

Be thankful that the rest of us are so apathetic, so numb to all your criminality, and so overworked by employers just to get by, and thank television for aiding in the destruction of the imagination required to adequately comprehend and deal with your corruption. Be very thankful, for that time is ending soon with the demise of comfort and rampant consumerism for most Americans. They're all going to be very angry at all incumbents in Washington very soon, and for so very many reasons. It would be best to leave office now, and be thankful that one got out before the tidal wave that crushed everyone else who was too stupid to resign came. It's coming. Without the carrot, what do you have but a stick? That's when the biggest groundswell America has ever witnessed will wash you all away.

So be thankful, turkeys, and give him hell Wendy. Better yet: tell us everything you know about him and his own sordid past. You were a prosecutor once, so you know what to do. Call-up those private investigators and all those lawyers you've known over-the-years that he doesn't know about. Collect evidence...good, you've already done that since before you both got married, solid. Then, strike when the time's right, since your children deserve a stable father figure, and the dumbo Rhodes scholar (no, not Bill Clinton) isn't the on. Be thankful David Vitter, it could be much worse. Maybe it still will be. One can only hope so for the sake of all of our cherished liberties. What did you do for thanksgiving? It appears Judge Kessler was cowering in a corner, unable to summon her appetite, so be thankful. Most of us would be talking to the police right now if we'd done what you've done (soliciting prostitution, and worse, while holding public office). Republicans are criminals, but then, so are most of the Democrats also holding office.

Federal District Judge Gladys Kessler: Unwilling Unitary Executrix?

"I know it's a sad day when a federal judge has to ask a DOJ attorney this, but I'm asking you -- why should I believe them?" --Federal District Judge Gladys Kessler, March 2nd, 2006. (Washington Post, March 3rd, 2006)

Washington D.C.--With the recent shuttering of any due process in the pretrial proceedings of Deborah Jeane Palfrey (labeled the 'DC Madam' by a preemptively biased press), a brief overview of Judge Kessler's past rulings and judicial behaviors is in order. It should be remembered that Kessler was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

In all fairness, her rulings run-the-gamut, but she shows a great deal of deference towards the executive branch in general in a number of key decisions. Her most questionable rulings relate to the release of sensitive government documents, and Palfrey's case is no exception. Ironically, Kessler has repeatedly argued for disclosure in the Bush administration's execution of arrests and detentions in the storied 'war on terror, virtually from its inception.

The Bush administration contends that it cannot protect national security and also meet a judge's deadline to reveal names of those held in the investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled Aug. 2 that the Justice Department has not proven the need for a blanket policy of secrecy about more than 1,000 people picked up since the jetliner attacks. She gave the government 15 days to provide the names. ('Bush administration condemns order to release detainee names,' AP, 08.05.2002)

Judge Kessler applied no enforcement 'teeth' in the ruling to 'allow for appeal' by the government (the DOJ). But by June 17th of 2003, the Bush administration successfully appealed the limp ruling, and even utilized an aspect of its original logic by homing-in on FOIA-provisions that pushed the appeals decision in their favor. By all appearances, Kessler showed them the way through the FOIA-loophole door. In early-April 2003, she ruled predictably to quash a request to allow the release of documents surrounding Clinton's 177 pardons his last day as president:

Then, Tuesday the Bush Justice Department won a victory in federal court. It persuaded U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler to stymie a request from the watchdog group Judicial Watch to release a batch of documents relating to former President Clinton's 177 "midnight pardons" issued on his last day in office. The fact that the Bush administration would go to court to protect the secrecy of the Clinton administration seems to validate the charge by Judicial Watch chairman Larry Klayman that the action was politically motivated - to keep the Bush administration from having potentially embarrassing documents made public after the current president leaves office. ('Obsessive Secrecy/Bush Administration Plays Politics With,' The Colorado Springs Gazette, 04.07.2003)

But Kessler has also ruled in favor of America's unions, forcing an injunction against new financial filing rules that would have cost all of them $1 billion-per-year due to new filing regulations pushed by Bush's then Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. Kessler's ruling is likely due to her time during the 1970s as a low-level employee of the National Labor Relations Board, and she appears to understand the concept of the public interest, which is commendable. But she has a strange way of applying it in other areas of law, and in other cases.

District Judge Kessler has displayed a consistency in this area of the common good, and could be applying this understanding to her rulings over Palfrey's motions for discovery and the calling of particular individuals for testimony: 'Is the public being served by this?' appears to be her primary concern in the majority of her rulings. But Kessler has also been known for backtracking on some of her decisions and her about-face and credulity towards the prosecution in the Palfrey case is not entirely in-character for her. Night is day when it comes to the case of the so-called 'DC Madam.' Nonetheless, the Wednesday ruling's language canceling the November 28th hearing over whether to end the temporary restraining order in Palfrey's civil case against Paula Neble is instructive--Kessler's contends that she's showing judicial independence and also applying the federal trial procedures (presumably dictated by Congress).

The answers might be related to the particulars of the case--facts not allowed to be presented to the defendant at any point of pretrial proceedings--and there is the appearance that Judge Kessler may have already formulated opinions of her own on Palfrey's innocence or guilt a priori. [Ed., 08.28.2008-I no longer believe most of this. I think that Judge Kessler knew Palfrey was suicidal and was removed for this and other, darker reasons.] What's potentially disturbing is that Kessler has made statements condemning the treatment of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base prisoners, and even quashed motions by the government to continue stays (delays) on their motions for complaint hearings...but little resulted from any these criticisms coming from the bench in any substantial sense up to late-2006 and 2007.

Opinions are fine, but they don't accomplish much without enforcement teeth. The wheels of justice turn slowly in the chambers of Judge Kessler, yet she's facilitated this slowness in Palfrey's case while simultaneously complaining about it. There are other problems in her legal logic. The November 21st cancellation of the hearing that would have brought Senator David Vitter, Paula Neble, and others into the sunlight (being that best disinfectant) rests on some shaky contentions:

7. In granting the original request for a Temporary Restraining Order, the Court found that "it is apparent that Defendant is pursuing the Neble [underlined] case in order to obtain from those civil defendants discovery to which she would not be entitled in her criminal case." [Dkt. #12]. ('United States of America v. Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Defendant. Memorandum Order,' November 21st, 2007)

Yet Kessler allowed the hearing earlier this month, irregardless of this previous observation that she's selectively trotted-out in a new, but substantially similar context. There is no detailed summary of what evidence is and is not allowable under federal criminal trial procedure anywhere in the new order. According to what has already occurred in proceedings, it must mean that virtually no discovery is necessary under current federal law in a criminal trial. How can this be constitutional? Where was the assertiveness required for a genuine flexing of constitutional checks-and-balances?

In another case, we have a surprise turn: on October 9th of this year, her unsealed decision to block the transfer of Mohammed Rahman to his home country of Tunisia came in the form of an injunction--it was unprecedented. A week earlier, she blocked the transfer of an Afghani-detainee without a 30-day notice to the individual's lawyer. That's fairly aggressive, but there's no sign of this in Palfrey's proceedings. The Afghani detainee opinion seems to be a more important ruling than the one over Rahman, as it injects direct judicial supervision in a more substantial sense over the processing of foreign detainees and their access to legal representation in the so-called war on terror. ' “It is the only time a court has said the government does not have the unfettered right to do what they will with these people,” ' said an attorney for Rahman, Joshua W. Denbeaux. ('Judge Halts Transfer of Guantanamo Detainee,' New York Times, 10.10.2007) So why all the acquiescence in the pretrial proceedings of Ms. Palfrey?

You can't say Judge Kessler hasn't acted with reasonable independence against the Bush administration as she is directed to under the Constitution of the United States of America, but has it been aggressive enough overall, or has it all just been window-dressing? There are a gamut-of-opinions on this issue which cannot begin to be covered by the space and format of this site (and also thanks to Google's glitchy layout software), but this writer believes Kessler's constitutional vigilance simply lacks enough teeth. Federal Judges are only allowed to overrule the decisions and behavior (law or statutes, and administrative code and actions) of the other branches of our government (the legislative and executive) when there is a constitutional issue, but what could be more obvious than the lack of due process in Ms. Palfrey's pretrial proceedings?

An aside in Kessler's cancellation of the November 28th hearing: she doesn't contend at any point that she believes prosecution's witnesses are being 'harassed,' yet claims the right to continue what is now deemed a 'protective order.' It's just one example of many in the November 21st court order that contradicts other areas of the document, making for a painful read. Judge Kessler isn't wrong that the defendant is attempting to achieve discovery (the exchange of evidence and information between the plaintiff/prosecution and defendant), because she isn't getting any in either her civil or criminal proceedings. Kessler's take on it, however, is selective and appears forced. The fact is: Palfrey's not getting any discovery process, and Judge Kessler originally allowed the hearing to proceed.

She has now abruptly canceled it with a statement that is rife with legal gymnastics that would make anyone's head spin. According to my first year law textbook, Federal District Judge Gladys Kessler has more leverage in her interpretation of federal criminal trial procedure than she's letting-on. What happened before Wednesday of this week? Was it a dramatic ex parte (a decision where not all of the parties need be present) confrontation by the prosecution? What's going on here? Defendants are supposed to be able to avoid a legal ambush in court through genuine due process. By all appearances, this is not America.

Putin Accurately Slams the West's Power Structure

Москва, Russia--Elections in America and Russia are showing some interesting parallels lately, particularly in the realms of nationalism, territorial integrity, expansionism, control of energy resources, and the fate of what's left of democracy in both nations. This isn't surprising as there are some interesting similarities in both nation's storied histories, the story of empires. Russian President Vladimir Putin is hardly a saint, and he has Chechen blood on his hands just as George W. Bush has the blood of tens-of-thousands of Iraqis and Afghanis on his own. This isn't a debate over who's the worst, but with the recent massing of NATO (visitors to this site) forces along the Russian frontiers, something is certainly afoot.

Morality is inapplicable in geopolitics, though it is used as a wedge in swaying the opinions of the domestic populations of all international parties. This can be presumed to be the impetus behind the Litvinenko affair, being a patently obvious case of manipulation when one considers his close relationship with former energy oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, and MI6. Also presumably working for MI6 is one Shaha Ali Riza, former beu of deposed World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz. Ms. Riza had access to very important geopolitical information with her Pentagon and State Dept. clearances, even though she is known to be a British subject of Libyan extraction. That's quite a trick. It's also well known that Riza worked at one time for military and intelligence contractor SAIC.

At present, Scotland Yard and the British Home and Foreign offices appear to be standing by the questionable story that Litvinenko was likely murdered by the FSB-connected Andrei Lugovoi who is running for Russia's Duma (parliament) on December 2nd. His chances are very good indeed in the present context, with Russians feeling very threatened by recent events and actions on-the-part of the U.S. (in Iraq and Afghanistan), and the EU (massing along her borders). This fact will likely lift nationalists like Lugovoi into office. It's unlikely he will ever be extradited in any living person's lifetime, and will be a man to contend with in the future. He's not going to forget his treatment at Western hands anytime soon.

As most of us know by now, former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko was killed by a lethal-dose of radioactive polonium-210 around this time last year--just three weeks after he was granted his status as a British subject. Recent developments appear to be pointing solidly in the direction that Litvinenko was working as a paid operative for MI6 at the time of his death, and Lugovoi contends that the deceased personally attempted to recruit him into the ranks of MI6. At this point, who killed Litvinenko is an unknown in its specifics. Whomever had the most to gain from his death should be viewed with great suspicion, and that onus appears to be on the British Foreign office. The multimillionaire private security mogul Andrei Lugovoi has good reason to believe he will never be extradited to Britain, having won a defamation suit against a Russian newspaper this week. He had some other entertaining barbs this week:

"Several times, Russia's law enforcement system and I have asked the British to provide proof and the evidence against me," he said. "So far, they have no proof of any kind, and everything about the Litvinenko case is politicized. I'm sure they will not provide anything to anyone, and will keep the issue hot to further discredit Russia on the international scene." Lugovoi also alleged the British were being egged on by fugitives wanted in Russia who are living in London, including billionaire Boris Berezovsky. "Britain has always been a country that allows all sorts of bastards to seek refuge on its territory," he said. As he has in the past, Lugovoi insisted he would have returned to Britain to discuss the allegations against him if he had been invited. He said the case against him had essentially collapsed. "I congratulate MI6 and all British secret services with the loudest flop in their history," he said. ('Suspect in Radiation Poisoning Mocks MI6,' AP, 11.21.2007)

The game that is afoot unquestionably involves who controls access to Central Asia's natural gas and oil deposits. Similar actions are occurring in African at this time, and for the same reasons. The construction of radar installations in the Czech Republic are also a good cause for Russia's sense of alarm towards American and NATO actions. What we are seeing is part of an obvious drive into Central Asia, played partly by the meddling of MI6--and it could be safely presumed--American, and other sundry EU-backed activities within the breakaway republics, some closest to the Caucasus mountains and the Baku oil and natural gas fields (in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea). It could also be safely presumed that China has operatives in the region, and a Russian intelligence presence is a given. From all appearances, each faction has its own agenda with little cooperation going on.

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and all the other breakaway republics of the region figure prominently into what is a coveted part of the world necessary in the recovery of fossil-based energy resources that we know should already be in the early-stages of phaseout. What's also clear is that whomever controls the region controls the prices of petrochemicals on the world market, with the added prize of limiting Russia's influence in-general. This is the same region coveted by Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, now desired by the Western Powers, China, and the remnants of the old Russian Empire. The imperial game never ends, and Russia is that eternally coveted land-mass.

However, Central Asia's natural gas reserves are significantly wider-in-scope than her oil, and coveted by the EU, the U.S., and the Kremlin. The EU's strategic interests in natural gas are pronounced, getting 25% of their supply from Russia. As recently as 2005, America has attempted to increase its presence in Azerbaijan in the form of military bases, but with very vocal response from the Kremlin in the negative. Also in this context are the desires of the EU in the creation of a trans-Caspian pipeline, causing a sudden silence on human rights violations by the region's governments, just this week. And for all the aforementioned reasons, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Turkey, and all the other bordering countries, there is an increased significance for all of these tiny states...and the cause of Russia's alarm.

President Vladimir Putin accused NATO of "muscle-flexing" near Russia's frontiers Tuesday and promised that Moscow would suspend its obligations under a key European arms treaty. Putin's angry statement came amid tensions between Russia and the West, and it reflected the increasingly assertive posture taken by the Kremlin ahead of Dec. 2 parliamentary elections. "In violation of previous agreements, military resources of NATO members are being built up next to our borders," Putin told a meeting of military officials. "Of course, we cannot allow ourselves to remain indifferent to this obvious muscle-flexing." ('Putin: NATO Flexing Muscles at Border,' AP, 11.20.2007)

Yet the Western press has focused the onus on Putin--admittedly, not a "nice guy." But what would any statist leader's reaction be if they felt their nation's territorial integrity were being challenged? That's not supposed to matter to those of us in the West, but it's an important point, and Putin is substantially correct in feeling that the West is closing-in on Russia, making a very vigorous attempt at encircling and penetration into Central Asia. Russia would surely be next, with a more southerly route than that taken by German forces 66-years-ago by the United States. We all know how that ended. It doesn't take a genius to understand that both the United Kingdom and the United States would be attacking Russia and the rest of Central Asia from bases being constructed in Afghanistan and Iraq right now.

The NATO military exercises come at an interesting moment--at the exact moment as the trans-Caspian pipeline's inauguration on November 19th, this week.

The leaders of Greece and Turkey opened a gas pipeline project Sunday that will ease Russia's hold on Europe's energy supplies. Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayip Erdogan met on their country's heavily militarized border to underscore the significance of the venture in boosting ties between the rival nations. The 300-kilometer (186-mile) pipeline will provide the European Union with its first supply of gas from the Caspian region, bypassing Russia and the volatile Middle East. It will link the Greek and Turkish networks, and eventually carry gas from Azerbaijan to Italy. US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman attended Sunday's inauguration, signaling Washington's backing of efforts by some European nations to wean themselves off Russian oil and gas dependency. ('Greek, Turkish premiers open taps on Europe's first supply of Caspian gas,' AP, 11.19.2007)

But, there's a possible hitch in the plans:

"To be able to put 11.6 billion cubic meters into this pipeline alone, Azerbaijan - which has other commitments and must retain quantities for domestic use - must more than double production in the next four or five years," he said. "At this point, I do not think that is particularly likely."In that case, [Greek energy analyst Constantinos] Filis said, the project might have to fall back on Russian gas. "If that happens, then European energy dependency on Russia will grow to a worrying degree," he said. (ibid)

This has to be music to the ears of the U.S. State Department and American petrochemical corporations, rivals of British and Dutch petroleum-interests for over a century. The imperial game has not ended by any means. Russia stands to control these resources, which is why we're hearing all the braying moralism emanating from the Western media. It isn't that all of it is untrue, it's that there's no genuine concern behind it for the oppression occurring in nations once part of the traditional Russian Empire. This is what makes it all sky-high rhetoric--propaganda.

Old rivalries are reemerging, and our lives are being gambled with as they were a century ago. The problem is, the stakes are higher, and any cataclysm will have a greater potential for annihilation. But the opportunities for liberty--to those who have for so long dreamed of it--are also great in the region. Ironically, some of it will be due to the administration of George W. Bush, though inadvertently. Events such as the murder of Alexander Litvinenko aren't accidents, and neither are the twists-and-turns in their coverage. While the UK is certainly an ally-of-sorts of the U.S., no nation state has ever been known to ignore her own interests. On that we can rely.