Buddy Guy
“Feels Like Rain”

This is for Buck……I hope it rained there today.

These images of Chicago really get me. I can’t wait to get back home next month…..back to people with brains, and manners!….a pizza that actually looks and tastes like a pizza should……Chicago beef sandwiches……Maxwell polish……some actual culture……Navy Pier….Lake Michigan…..Shedd Aquarium…..The Art Institute…….shopping on the Miracle Mile……people who know how to drive…… yep, I can’t wait!!!! Can you tell I’m homesick?

What a week so far. Iraq has met no benchmarks, the Senate argues all day regarding the Webb amendment to support troops having enough time between deployments, Fredo is again shown to be a total liar and nothing is done about it, Michael Moore bitchslaps CNN, former surgeon general says he was muzzled, the White House is in panic mode, Liebermann says Iran has all but declared war on the U.S., McCain is as delusional as ever, we send another carrier to the Gulf, U.S. troops continue to die, a Republican senator uses the services of hookers but found God and was forgiven and Chertoff gets gas and thinks it’s a sign we’re going to be attacked by terrorists. And it’s only Tuesday.

From Reuters:

The U.S. Navy said on Tuesday it had sent a third aircraft carrier to its Fifth Fleet area of operations, which includes waters close to Iran, whose row with the West over its nuclear plans has stoked regional tensions.

The carrier will join two aircraft carriers already in the area, which recently gave the U.S. Navy its biggest presence in the Gulf since the Iraq war in 2003, a Navy spokeswoman said.

“(The carrier) Enterprise provides navy power to counter the assertive, disruptive and coercive behaviour of some countries, as well as support our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan,” a U.S. Navy statement said.

In May, a flotilla of U.S. warships sailed through the narrowest point in the Gulf to hold exercises off Iran’s coast in a major show of force.

Tension over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions has raised regional fears of a military confrontation.

“These operations are not specifically aimed at Iran … We consider this time unprecedented in terms of the amount on insecurity and instability in the region,” Navy spokeswoman Denise Garcia said, citing Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of the Fifth Fleet’s carriers was moored off the coast of India earlier this month. The Navy does not comment on its ships’ future movements.

The Fifth Fleet’s area of operations includes the Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.

Michael Moore with Wolf Blitzer, aka Ron Burgandy, Day II

The Oversight Committee holds a hearing, “The Surgeon General’s Vital Mission: Challenges for the Future.” The hearing focuses on the importance of the Surgeon General’s Office, the need to preserve the Surgeon General’s independence, and recent limitations on the Surgeon General’s ability to carry out its public health education mission. Richard Carmona, who resigned as Surgeon General in 2006, testifies about what he viewed as political and partisan pressure.

Now we hear why Richard Carmona resigned.

This is unthinkable. One of the richest counties in the country. Where rich people live and relax. Where politicians come to raise millions and millions of dollars in campaign funds. This just makes me sick. Read this whole article and ask why congress took away security funds for housing projects. Ask where’s the justice department to stop the horrible crime problems in housing projects around the country. My heart goes out to this Mother and son.

WEST PALM BEACH — Mother and son huddled together, battered and beaten, in the bathroom — sobbing, wondering why no one came to help.

Surely the neighbors had heard their screams. The walls are thin, the screen doors flimsy in this violence-plagued housing project on the edge of downtown.

For three hours, the pair say, they endured sheer terror as the 35-year-old Haitian immigrant was raped and sodomized by up to 10 masked teenagers and her 12-year-old son was beaten in another room.

Then, mother and son were reunited to endure the unspeakable: At gunpoint, the woman was forced to perform oral sex on the boy, she later told a TV station.

Afterward, they were doused with household cleansers, perhaps in a haphazard attempt to scrub the crime scene, or maybe simply to torture the victims even more. The solutions burned the boy’s eyes.

The thugs then fled, taking with them a couple of hundred dollars’ worth of cash, jewelry and cell phones.

In the interview with WPTV, the mother described how she and her son sobbed in the bathroom, too shocked to move.

Then, in the dark of night, they walked a mile to the hospital because they had no phone to call for help.

Two teenagers — a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old — have been arrested. Eight others are being sought.

Welcome to Dunbar Village, a place residents call hell.

Continue reading at the Sun Sentinel

By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - U.S. counterterror officials are warning of an increased risk of an attack this summer, given al-Qaida’s apparent interest in summertime strikes and increased al-Qaida training in the Afghan-Pakistani border region.

On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune that he had a “gut feeling” about a new period of increased risk.

He based his assessment on earlier patterns of terrorists in Europe and intelligence he would not disclose.

“Summertime seems to be appealing to them,” Chertoff said in his discussion with the newspaper about terrorists. “We worry that they are rebuilding their activities.”

Other U.S. counterterrorism officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, shared Chertoff’s concern and said that al-Qaida and like-minded groups have been able to plot and train more freely in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border in recent months. Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, are believed to be hiding in the rugged region.

“The threat coming out of there is very real, even if there aren’t a lot of specifics attached to it,” one of the officials said.

Chertoff’s department has not made any move to increase the nation’s color-coded terror alert system. Now, airlines are under orange - or high - alert, which is the second most serious level on a five-point scale. The rest of the country remains a step below at yellow, or elevated.

Chertoff said he is convinced that terrorists are regrouping. “Our edge is technology and the vigilance of the ordinary citizen,” he said.

read more at YAHOO! NEWS

Both in his perverse Iraq war steadfastness and in his mental abilities.

Bush Stands Behind Current Iraq Policy

(BEN FELLER, AP)

CLEVELAND (AP) – President Bush, facing new pressure to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq, said Tuesday he won’t consider it until hearing a fresh assessment from his top commander there this fall.

“That’s what the American people expect. They expect for military people to come back and tell us how the military operations are going,” Bush said. “And that’s the way I’m going to play it as commander in chief.”

Gen. David Petraeus is due in September to present a progress report to Congress on the effects of the recently completed troop buildup in Iraq. Frustration in Congress - among leaders of both parties - has led to calls for changes in strategy before then.

Bush, though, said he won’t be swayed.

And, from the same GazetteOnline article:

The nightmare doesn’t end for another year-and-a-half.

Who does McCain think he’s kidding? Stick a fork into his campaign… it’s done!

McCain Campaign Suffers Key Shake-Ups

(LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer)

Republican Presidential hopeful, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 10, 2007, to discuss changes to his presidential campaign staff.

WASHINGTON (AP) – John McCain’s campaign manager, chief strategist and other senior aides quit Tuesday, the second major staff shake-up in a week for the Republican presidential candidate who trails his rivals in money and polls.

In a statement, the Arizona senator said Terry Nelson and John Weaver offered their resignations, “which I accepted with regret and deep gratitude for their dedication, hard work and friendship.”

Nelson, a veteran of President Bush’s successful 2004 re-election effort, said he stepped down as campaign manager and Weaver, a longtime aide who was a key player McCain’s failed 2000 presidential bid, said he left his post of chief strategist. Both resignations were effective immediately.

Following the two out the door were political director Rob Jesmer and deputy campaign manager Reed Galen, officials said.

At the Capitol, McCain said he would “of course” remain in the presidential race, and disputed the idea that the staff changes marked a major shake-up that reflects his campaign’s recent troubles.

“People are free to make their own assessments. I think we’re doing fine,” McCain said. “I’m very happy with the campaign the way it is.”

The Buffalo News

The TV blitz is part of a Democratic strategy to target opposition candidates in 2008.

By Kevin Diaz, Star Tribune

WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats, poised for a fresh legislative battle over Iraq, are mounting a new television ad campaign today targeting Sen. Norm Coleman’s past votes supporting President Bush on the war.
The new ad completes a one-two punch against the Minnesota Republican, who is already the target of a separate TV ad this week sponsored by the national antiwar group Americans United for Change.

The escalating ad buys are part of a national strategy keying on Democrats’ major targets in the 2008 congressional elections in a time of declining public support for the war.

The ad blitz also coincides with votes in the House and Senate on a defense policy bill that Democrats intend to turn into a forum for a series of troop withdrawal measures

More at the Star Tribune

They’ve been blah blah blahing about this amendment and debating Iraq policy in the Senate today. The Republicans are trying to block any movement in the right direction. They are going to sink their ship in 08 with this behavior. (no complaints from me on that one) People are going to go to the polls with eyes wide open…..well aware of their bullshit. Three years ago 60% of military polled by Military Times were Republicans. Today, that number is down to 46%. Why do you think that is? Why do you think military recruitment is down? Because people are sick of this shit, and like we did in 06, we’ll do again in 08. Clean house of all you useless Republicans. It will be interesting to see what the Republican military numbers are by the 08 election. I imagine with the way Republicans “support the troops”, it will be even lower.
From AllAmericanPatriots:

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