cbacon

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4122814.stm What the FUCK.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050616/D8AONQMO0.html

And as bad as the Liberals are, they are making progress towards paying off the debt. The problem is that they piss away the rest of their surpluses with more and more tax cuts instead of more transfer payments to the provinces for things like health care and education

Also, here's an excerpt from the article Justice failed to bold: ""Bush declared the detainees ''enemy combatants,'' affording them fewer rights than prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Some detainees have been held for three years without being charged with any crimes."

(sigh) If you'd read the first report, you'd see that the members of the inspection team included house Democrats who used to be highly critical of Gitmo and changed their minds after seeing firsthand what the place was actually like. The differences between the Democrats and the Republicans are so minor that most outside the US don't even consider them different parties. If the UN or Amnesty are allowed to survey the facilities and report the same thing, then there will be nothing to worry about. It's not supposed to be paradise. It's supposed to be a prison for enemy soldiers and terrorists who tried to kill us. Sarcasm.

Sad, but true.

Really?

In related news : Countdown to same-sex marriage legalization, in Canada. Apparently Bill C-38 is going to be voted on in like ten minutes.

Last time I checked, bombing a country to the ground wasn't "helping them". Giving Saddam WMDs in the first place wasn't helping anyone either, except Saddams regieme of course. Not to mention placing sanctions on Iraq that led to the starvation of millions. Things were all chummy-chummy with Saddam till he invaded Kuwait, after his worst atrocities were behind him and nobody cared (gassing the Kurds for example). Yup, helping people alright. And yeah, everything else CheesalaIsGood covered. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> C-Bacon. This is really nothing new. Saddam was fighting a proxy war for us against Iran. We did it in Afganistan as well against the Solviets. Often times its like picking the lesser of two evils. So there were definatly reasons for selling weapons to Saddam. Not GOOD reasons, but reasons nonetheless. It's like thinking: "Hey, he's a thug. Maybe he'll kick their ass for ruining that SHAH thing on us!" Instead these types of policies have come back to bite us in the ass. If the Pentagon wasn't so determined to play RISK from puppet strings we wouldn't be in this quagmire to begin with. You think with positions in Iraq AND Afganistan the Russians aren't sweating just a bit? Especially in these days of Pre-emptive strikes? You know those conservatives sure do seem really concerned about those commie types. Regardless, we ARE there. And we need to insure that as many of the soldiers come home safe as we can. THIS is the real prize to keep an eye on from now on. EXIT PLAN! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The point I was making was in response to the notion Jingus made regarding the war 'helping people'. Regardless of the reasons why the US helped aid Saddam, using an argument like that really dosen't hold ground after all the strife the Iraqi's have been put through during the war and years before it. War apologists can use the 'protecting America' excuse to justify it, but implying that the betterment of the Iraqi citizens was of major concern to the Bush Administration is a much more ludicrous claim.

Last time I checked, bombing a country to the ground wasn't "helping them". Giving Saddam WMDs in the first place wasn't helping anyone either, except Saddams regieme of course. Not to mention placing sanctions on Iraq that led to the starvation of millions. Things were all chummy-chummy with Saddam till he invaded Kuwait, after his worst atrocities were behind him and nobody cared (gassing the Kurds for example). Yup, helping people alright. And yeah, everything else CheesalaIsGood covered.

This article makes some good points

U.S. Congress says conditions have improved! Well, if the U.S. government says the U.S. government is doing a good job who am I to argue?!? Oh man, sounds like paradise to me. Interestingly enough, besides the ICRC (which don't publish their findings), the UN or various human rights groups have yet to investigate Gitmo: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4123200.stm

...alright then. re: Justice let me oversimplify. If you're going to bomb the fuck out of a country based on the fact that they might be going for weapons of mass destruction, you better have the balls to do it to every country that be doing the same thing. Or just stop with the lying. Because otherwise, your apparent righteousness disappears in a wash of easy. Easy being if you attack Iraq, things suck for a bit, if you were to attack Saudi Arabia (based on the exact same convictions) you would be at the business end of a war that would make vietnam look like a picnic. With pie. And for the record, I'm completely against any sort of "police action" against a sovereign state. They didn't have anything, you know it, I know it, and a shitload of innocent people (on both sides) have died and will continue to die to prove that point. And finally, I'm trying to create a wmd, come and get me. Cause you know I've said that now, and given a few heavily biased months I'm sure the reports will agree. Cause if a UN sanctioned report said otherwise, I'm sure you would disagree with it. Inconvienience and all. Do your research and stop waving your flag.

In regards to the bashing of the US, the logic is simply that the states went into a country on the grounds that it was trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. Everyone knows that's bullshit now, but the fact that one of their close friends has shown an interest in the exact same thing, and that said state has more to do with supporting terrorism than Iraq ever did is pretty revealing. And really, I would like to know how "pressure" is defined.

That line-up is pretty underwhelming. Like Curry said, there needed to be a second stage for bands like BSS and Arcade Fire. Hell, they could have got Matt Good and k-os who have stated they would have gladly played. BTW Curry, are you coming to the BSS/Modest Mouse/Metric show on Sunday?

Yeah, because the U.S. is well known for its hard-line stance with Saudi Arabia . . .

Friday at 11 in the Eaton Center

Is Austin/Bret or Bret/Piper on any existing DVDs?

I'd put WM19 in my top 3. Fun show all around.

Death Cab For Cutie - The New Year

Matthew Good Band - Beautiful Midnight Giant - 10 Hello Time Bomb - 8 Strange Days - 9 I Miss New Wave - 7 Load Me Up - 8 Failing the Rorschach Test - 8.5 Suburbia - 10 Let's Get it On - 7.5 Jenni's Song - 8 Going All The Way - 8 A Boy And His Machine Gun - 9.5 The Future is X-Rated - 8 Born To Kill - 9.5 Running For Home - 10 Modest Mouse- Good News For People Who Love Bad News Horn Intro - N/A World At Large - 9.5 Float On - 10 Ocean Breathes Salty - 8.5 Dig Your Grave - N/A Bury Me With It - 8.5 Dance Hall - 5 Bukowski - 8 The Devil's Workday - 4 The View - 9 Satin in a Coffin - 6 Interlude - N/A Blame it on the Tetons - 7 Black Cadillacs - 8 One Chance - 6.5 The Good Times Are Killing Me - 7.5 Arcade Fire - Funeral Neighbourhood #1 - 9.5 Neighbourhood #2 - 7 Une Année Sans Lumière - 8 Neighbourhood #3 - 8.5 Crown of Love - 7.5 Wake Up - 7.5 Haïti - 8 Rebellion (Lies) - 9.5 In The Backseat - 7 Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American Bleed American - 8 A Praise Chorus - 10 The Middle - 7 Your House - 8 Sweetness - 8.5 Hear You Me - 9 If You Don't, Don't - 9.5 Get It Faster - 7.5 Cautioners - 9 The Authority Song - 7.5 My Sundown - 7

I'm so fucking sick of that finish.

PWtorch.com

Did I imagine the "Fuck John Cena" chant during Storm/Jericho?