The Weight
Ronnie Hawkins 60th Birthday Bash, Massey Hall, Toronto

Ok, watch this.

Random selections:

Percentage change since 1999 in the number of consumer complaints about harassment by U.S. debt-collection agencies: +564

Number of Americans whose past-due accounts the IRS will turn over to private debt collectors by 2008: 350,000

Salary of the White House’s new Director for Lessons Learned: $106,641

Percentage change since 2004 in the number of Army recruits admitted despite records of “serious criminal misconduct”: +54

Minimum amount of USDA farm subsidies since 2000 that have been paid out to people who do not farm: $1,300,000,000

Minimum value of “small business” contracts given out by the U.S. last year that went to Fortune 500 firms: $1,200,000,000

Estimated chance, according to new fossil research, that a Tyrannosaurus rex lived to full maturity: 1 in 50

Percentage of volunteers in a four-year psychedelic-mushroom study who said they experienced “strong or extreme fear”: 31

Percentage who described the experience as “among the five most meaningful” in their lives: 67

full index here

Eight House races remain without winners after Tuesday’s election, with Republican incumbents in tight contests to keep their seats and state officials not rushing to end the dispute.

Here are more examples of why the blogs are so important. One extends the readership of another, enlarging the conversation and making us all better informed.

Wayne Madsen Reports has good information of Robert Gates dated November 9, 2006. You will have to scroll way down to get to it, passed the squirmy pic of Rush Limbaugh and just under the photo of the new senator from Virginia. For a less complicated path to the same story, visit Carbon Paper, Out With The Old Boss Same As The Old Boss, and also from there visit the link commenter Steven Rix provides to his fine blog, Pensees sur les USA, and his in-depth analysis: Rumsfeld’s Firing…

This excerpt from the original Madsen post:

“Gates obfuscation on Iran-Contra continues to this day. As President of Texas A&M University, Gates has been the host for the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library. In the bowels of the library are presidential papers that could shine a bright light on the Iran-Contra scandal. However, in November 2001, George W. Bush signed an executive order that upended the 1978 Presidential Records Act and permits the Bush Iran-Contra papers to be kept secret in perpetuity. The executive order also affects 60,000 pages of papers from the Reagan Presidential Library that include details of then-Vice President George H. W. Bush’s role in Iran-Contra. Robert Gates has always been a trusted consigliore for the Bush family. At the Pentagon, he will undoubtedly use his two years to clean up for Dubya and suppress incriminating information on the Iraq debacle — all in a continuing effort to protect the Bush family legacy. His nomination should be rejected.”

There will be no peace in the Middle East until this shit stops.

UNITED NATIONS - The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution Saturday that sought to condemn an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and demand Israeli troops pull out the territory.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Arab-backed draft resolution was “biased against Israel and politically motivated.”

“This resolution does not display an evenhanded characterization of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace to which we aspire and for which we are working assiduously,” he told the Security Council.

Polls polls polls……….

Do you believe President Bush’s actions justify impeachment? * 367794 responses

Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.
87%

No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
4.4%

No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching.
6.5%

I don’t know.
1.9%
Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.

Poll here

Our downunder friend Scottie shares this memory of three Americans in his band of brothers and of bonds that stretch across an ocean and a lifetime.

I’ll be thinking of the American boys I fought beside and there were quite a few. Three of ‘em in particular who I used to refer to as Harry 1, Harry 2 & Duck. Three idiots who knew how to play poker and strip me of my rations, but who would also throw themselves in front of you to keep a man safe so he could get his job done. All of them honourable and steadfast.

My heart goes out to those boys who were never short of cigarettes for God’s sake!

18 YEAR OLD MAYOR ELECTED IN UNION, OREGON

NATIONAL GUARD UNITS FACE 2ND TOUR IN IRAQ

GATES VIEWS COME UNDER SCRUTINY OF SENATORS

VIETNAM SENTENCES 3 VIETNAMESE-AMERICANS IN TERROR TRIAL

MORTARS HIT U.S. OFFICES IN IRAQ

AL QUEDA MAY BE PLOTTING HOLIDAY ATTACKS

VIDEO: KILLER WHALES ENJOY “SPA” TREATMENT

A GULF WAR LINK TO LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE?

49 MILLION U.S. ADULTS NOTIFIED OF DATA BREACHES

26 FALLEN U.S. TROOPS IN 11 DAYS

11/11/06 WaPo: A Soldier’s Struggle to Recover (Photo essay)
Sgt. Nicholas Bennet, gets a helping hand cleaning up from daughter Amanda, 13. (Ashley Wilkerson/Post)
11/11/06 Reuters: Pentagon reviews Iraq war strategy
Top U.S. military leaders have begun a broad review of strategy in Iraq and other crisis areas in the Bush administration’s campaign against terrorism, The New York Times reported in Saturday editions.
11/11/06 LATimes: Decrepit healthcare adds to toll in Iraq
Thousands of Iraqis are believed to have died from shortages of medicine, vital equipment and qualified doctors, despite an infusion of nearly half a billion dollars from U.S. coffers into this country’s healthcare system, Iraqi officials…
11/11/06 Reuters: Roadside bombs kill 2 in Baghdad
A roadside bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad, killing one civilian, Interior Ministry sources said…A roadside bomb killed one motorist and wounded five others in eastern Baghdad, police said.
11/11/06 Reuters: 2 people killed in attack on police station in Zaghinya
A suicide car bomber attacked a police station, killing two people, including one woman, in the town of Zaghinya to the north of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
11/11/06 Reuters: Gunmen kill Iraqi intelligence officer
Gunmen shot dead an intelligence officer in southern Baghdad’s Bayaa district, Interior Ministry sources said.
11/11/06 Reuters: Five bodies found in different parts of Baghdad
Police found five bodies, including a woman, bearing signs of torture and bullet wounds, in different parts of Baghdad, Interior Ministry sources said.
11/11/06 Reuters: Roadside bomb seriously wounds 4 policemen in Kirkuk
A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, seriously wounding four policemen in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police said.
11/11/06 CNHI: New treatment eases war injury pain
a pioneering medical method developed two years ago at the John P. Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute in Johnstown, Pa., is helping wounded soldiers better cope with their suffering than in previous wars.
11/11/06 ynetnews: 2 soldiers killed in Polish-led zone in Iraq
One Polish and one Slovak soldier were killed by a roadside bomb in south-central Iraq late on Friday, Polish officials said on Saturday. The bomb exploded near the town of Al Kut in Wasit province as a multinational convoy was returning to base,
11/11/06 KUNA: Militants shot dead Imam Saeed Mahdi
In other developments, unknown militants shot dead a mosque’s cleric (Imam), Saeed Mahdi, as he came out of the mosque after Maghreb (sunset) prayers.
11/11/06 VOA: Car Bombs Kill 8 at Baghdad Market
Two car bombs exploded among shoppers at a busy market in central Baghdad Saturday, killing at least eight people. Iraq’s Interior Ministry says 20 or more people were wounded when bombs hidden beneath two cars went off at a square…
11/11/06 AP: U.S. Military Offers $50,000 Reward in Search for Missing Translator
The U.S. government offered a $50,000 reward Saturday for information leading to the recovery of an Iraqi-born American Army translator kidnapped in Baghdad almost three weeks ago.
11/11/06 Reuters: Mortars strike U.S. office in Iraq
The U.S. government’s office in central Iraq came under mortar fire early Saturday, an attack that touched off a blaze in part of the complex, Iraqi police said. There was no immediate word on damage or casualties.
11/11/06 Reuters: suicide car bomber kills four Iraqi soldiers in Tal Afar
A suicide car bomber hit an army checkpoint, killing a colonel and four soldiers, and wounding 17 people including 10 soldiers in Tal Afar, about 240 km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.
11/11/06 Reuters: Gunmen abduct police lieutenant colonel in northern Baghdad
Gunmen abducted a police lieutenant colonel in northern Baghdad, interior ministry sources said
11/11/06 Reuters: Gunmen abduct and kill 14 people in Yusufiya
Gunmen in four cars broke into two houses in Kwerisha village, near the town of Yusufiya 15 km (9 miles) south of Baghdad overnight, and abducted and killed 14 people, police said. The bodies were found dumped in a field.
11/11/06 Reuters: Iraqi Army kill Egyptian al Qaeda militant
The Iraqi Army killed an Egyptian al Qaeda militant named Abu Muhaim and his Libyan assistant, Abu Isam, during an operation in Rawa, west of Baghdad, state television Iraqiya said.
11/11/06 MNF: 13th SC(E) Soldier killed in Al Anbar
One Soldier assigned to the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) was killed and another wounded Nov. 10 during a combat logistics patrol when their truck was hit by an improvised explosive device west of Hadithah.
11/11/06 MNF: Marine dies in Western Iraq
One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died today [Nov. 10, 2006] from non-hostile causes while operating in Al Anbar Province.

Source here