bruhinb

I'm not sure why they are doing this now just before the holidays but Wikileaks plans to release and publish in chronological order 500,000 text pager messages sent on 9-11 before and after the attacks.

9/11 Text Messages Released: Wikileaks Publishes Intercepted Government Pager Texts As They Were Sent

Government employees sent more than 500,000 text pager messages In the hours before and after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. At 3 a.m. (EST) Wednesday, November 25, those intercepted messages will be published online at Wikileaks. The messages will be published at the same times that they were originally sent on 9/11.

Wikileaks, a journalistic endeavor that promotes better government through transparency , says that the messages were intercepted by a organization that has been archiving US telecommunications prior to 9/11. Wikileaks says that the sources of the messages range from Pentagon employees to messages sent by the NYPD, and even automated messages relayed by computers to their operators.

Below are examples of what Wikileaks will publish. Visit their site for more information.

( sample of messages below )

So what do you guys think? Too soon? Not soon enough? Think we will find anything surprising in this? Do you think the Govt will try to shut this down? It starts in one hour. It has already started. I have to say, I'm interested in what they are.

Palin Univision Interview Was Cancelled Because She Was Uninformed On Hispanic Issues: McCain Adviser

A top adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign revealed that a joint interview with McCain and Sarah Palin planned for Univision last fall had to be canceled because Palin wasn't prepared.

"She did not feel comfortable speaking about issues regarding Hispanics and Latin America," GOP consultant Ana Navarro said. "Those are not topics that come up frequently in Alaska. So she asked to cancel the interview and, unfortunately, you were already there."

Jason Recher, a senior campaign adviser to Palin now working on her book tour, dismissed the story and took a shot at Navarro for dwelling on last year's news. According to Recher, Palin was ready to talk about Hispanic issues. But McCain's advisers canceled the interview because she was not familiar with McCain's complicated record in the area.

"Nobody's sitting around talking about the 2008 campaign except for the people who lost it," he said.

But Navarro isn't the only person who worked with Palin speaking out this week. Ex-aide John Bitney said Palin turned him into a "fictional character" in her book and compared his former boss to a "sociopath."

More Than Half Of Teachers Report Buying Hungry Students Food With Their Own Money

We often hear about U.S. teachers being paid poorly for all the work they do to educate children. But did you know that 63 percent of teachers report buying food for the classroom each month with their own money? That's just one statistic from a report put out by Share Our Strength, which surveyed teachers across the country about hunger in America's classrooms.

You can download the full Teachers report and learn more surprising facts about hungry kids and the teachers trying to help them at the Share Our Strength site.

Share Our Strength also interviewed two teachers in New York City about their personal experiences with students who have come to depend on them for enough food to get them through the day.

From CNN.com:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi kept the door open Tuesday to a proposal by several senior House Democrats to impose a graduated surtax on American taxpayers to finance the war in Afghanistan.

While Pelosi wasn't pressed about the details of the new war tax, she pointed to strong reservations among Congressional Democrats about the costs of the war during a conference call Tuesday with several economic writers and bloggers.

"But let me say that there is serious unrest in our Caucus about can we afford this war?" Pelosi said.

Two years ago when House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, floated a similar war tax to pay for the war in Iraq, Pelosi quickly rejected it. But on Tuesday Pelosi said the costs of the war and the impact they will have on other domestic priorities should be part of the discussion over U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

In addition to Obey, several senior Democrats close to Pelosi have signed on as co-sponsors of the "Share the Sacrifice Act." These include Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-New York, Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, and the third ranking House Democrat John Larson, D-Connecticut. Obey projects that an escalation of significantly more U.S. troops to Afghanistan will cost about $1 trillion over the next ten years.

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First of all, let me say that "David Obey" is either the best or the worst name for a politician ever.

Secondly, I think there should be some sort of exemption for servicemen and -women and their families (who are ALREADY sacrificing more than the rest of us for these wars). Also they need to make DAMN SURE that none of this money gets diverted to anything but the war effort, and that it gets repealed as soon as the war is over.

Thirdly, I kind of feel like if every war America got into included a mandatory temporary tax hike to pay for it, we would get into a lot fewer wars. Heaven forbid the average American have to sacrifice for a war beyond paying a few bucks for a "Support the Troops" bumpersticker or a yellow ribbon car magnet.

In any case, I am curious to see how the Republican leadership will rule in Stay The Course v. No New Taxes

Source

in which I ruthlessly squashed 'Peach Bottoms' and 'Juicy' *anything*, it has been decided that, should I ever decide to drop my entire life, lifestyle and run away to join a burlesque circus, my name will be changed to Delilah De Rière.

Not a huge chance of that happening, but if it does, having the name picked is *totally* a load off my mind.

Woo hooo! New eggs!
Piksel!

It occurs to me that I might have better luck if I put my scroll- link out here...
http://dragcave.net/user/Lady_starpaws

In an interview with Katie Couric, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said he would "absolutely" vote for Sarah Palin over Barack Obama.

In the primary, it would depend on the other candidates, Huckabee said. But "she has more management experience and executive experience than Barack Obama," he argued.



Huckabee also compared gay marriage to polygamy.

"Can we change it to multiple spouses?" he asked. "If not, why not? You know, I hear people say, 'Well, what would be wrong?' What would be wrong, then, with a man having two or three or six or seven wives? Or a woman having six or seven husbands all at the same time? Other than the financial challenge of doing that."

source

Oh I see.

first time posting

From the mothership & Gawker: A tipster sent us these photos after finding them in a Facebook photo album called "Four Martini Mimimum" and says they were shot in 2006. These are from the after-party celebrating Couric's debut as anchor of the CBS Evening News.

( Read more... )

Get it gurl.

Gawker & ONTD

October 22, 2009 continued...

As fine as it felt to finish on the first day, it felt even finer to have walked across the finish line that day. When I worked it out later, I figured that I had walked approximately 52.6 miles out of 60. kimberlogic told me that someone in the know had said the average completion is 38 miles. Not bad at all for a first-time walker!

My folks proceeded to the closing ceremony over at the reflecting pool by the Lincoln Memorial while all of us walkers and crew waited in the holding area. After a half hour or so we lined up to proceed to the reflecting pool ourselves. Friends and family members cheered us as we made our way down to the front of the pool. I high-fived a whole bunch of folks on the way and took a little movie clip of it all with my camera.

Finally, the ceremony began. The 3-Day national spokeswoman gave a speech; the part that really stuck out for me was her reminder that going back into the regular world would be a bit of a shock. No one would be cheering us on just for crossing the street, you know? :) The 3-Day world is a bit of a bubble -- a really nice one, filled with instant camaraderie, goodwill, and sense of purpose, but a bubble nonetheless. There were some poignant moments when we all acknowledged the crew, chanting, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" and when we honored the survivors and patients for whom we walked by all raising a shoe high into the air.

Eventually, the ceremony concluded, we scattered to find friends and family in the crowd. After some photo ops in front of the pool, my parents went off to retrieve their car while trowa_barton, taura_g, and I went back to the holding area with my brother and sister-in-law so we could claim our luggage, then all piled into the car so we could meet my parents at a Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Sitting down for a good while over dinner was much appreciated and desperately needed. Figuring we'd earned a couple of cocktails, we ordered some fruity, foofy drinks. I ordered a Suffering Bastard -- quite appropriate, I thought!

My brother and sister-in-law took taura_g back to her hotel room after dinner, while trowa_barton and I went home with Mom and Dad. We slept quite hard that night, though for some reason I didn't just fall into bed immediately. I just needed a little time to unwind, I suppose.

Chile To Have Been Targeted After 1982 Falklands Invasion, Says Argentine General

The last Argentine dictatorship, which was headed by Gen. Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, had plans to attack Chile following the invasion and recovery of the disputed Falklands/Malvinas Islands in 1982, revealed former Argentine Air Force Gen. Basilio Lami Dozo on Sunday.

“Following the Malvinas, there were plans to attack Chile,” said the retired brigadier in an interview with Buenos Aires daily Perfil.

( Read more... )

SOURCE
(Santiago Times is really awesome, cause its an English-language news website in Chile. They also have some pretty good editorials about US politics as well.)

Two observations:
1. The Falklands/Malvinas War has to be one of the most epic fail wars (on the part of Argentina) OF ALL TIME.
2. WTF @ Argentina thinking they could invade Chile AND WIN. Srsly? I knew the Argentine juntas of 1976-1983 were fucknuts crazy, but not *that* fucknuts crazy

The Bennett School For Girls








Built in 1890 as a resort, this building was quickly changed to the
"Bennett Finishing School For Young Women" in 1900.
Constructed primarily in wood and stone, the structure has an elegant Victorian style.
Ornate wood still adorns the corners and peaks,
reminding passers by that it once stood with dignity upon it's hilltop.







The Bennett School specialized in the teachings of fine arts
and language for young women, most of which were the daughters of industrialists,
bank presidents, and other "well-to-do" people of the time.
The kind of school that had afternoon tea...











In the 1950's the school expanded from a 2-year, to a 4-year university.
These additions and expanded curriculum only delayed the inevitable,
and Bennett closed it's doors for good in 1977.
A victim of the times perhaps, and thus a victim of itself.







*The following photos were taken during both summer and autumn*







( Still much to learn... )