UPS can put thousands of delivery-drivers on the streets everyday each carrying a hand held gadget to track millions of packages but the U. S. Census Bureau failure to build an effective hand-held computer will cost taxpayers an extra for $1.3 billion – no, you are not seeing things that’s a $1,300,000,000,000 boondoogle.

So, it is turning instead to 600,000 temporary workers to do a paper and pencil census in 2010 just like 1910. Another massive federal bureaucracy run amuck. The $1.3 billion hi-tech gadget glitch will add $2.2 to $3 billion to the 2010 census costs that are now expected to total a mind numbing $13.7 to $14.5 billion.

Inarguably, the most seminal event in American history in the last half-century was the September 11 terrorist attacks. On September 13, 2001 President Bush stated, “The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.” We fell into line behind our elected leader, resolute in avenging this horrendous act. We spoke with bravado about how we would return to the American ‘way of life’ because we were determined to live in freedom. We would not let the terrorists win. It matters not that six months to the day Bush made the comment about finding bin Laden, he said, “I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” By then, we had our nationalistic blinders on and President Bush was successfully using the politics of fear to keep Americans in line. With a misguided sense of ‘patriotism’ we gave up our civil rights so that our leaders could keep us safe. And even after the President of the United States proudly stated on the national news that he approved torture and abuse, we cannot summon the stomach to impeach him. Don’t look now, folks, but the terrorists have won.

The nation we have become under George Walker Bush has been shaped in large part by the 9-11 terrorist attacks. After the attacks, there was a great opportunity to bring about unity on a national and international scale. That opportunity was squandered by this administration. From the beginning, George Bush took the position that if certain nations did not do his bidding, they would be considered siding with the terrorists. When the families of those killed on 9-11 started to ask questions and press for an investigation, they were stonewalled for months. The administration finally relented and appointed the supposedly bi-partisan 9-11 commission, and then proceeded to first stonewall it, then lie to it. There are certainly enough holes in the official story to warrant an investigation, but we will never see it while George Bush is in office. The reality that every American has to face is that, at the very least, the Bush administration saw this tragic event as a broad-scale political opportunity and took advantage of our fears. That’s what dictators do.

For all the rhetoric that comes from this administration about democracy and freedom, the fact is that our civil liberties have been significantly curtailed and more are coming under assault every day as a result of 9-11. In October of 2001 our Congress foolishly passed the U.S.A. Patriot Act, giving the government unprecedented power to search telephone, e-mail, medical and financial records in the name of fighting terrorism. This was also the reason the Bush administration used to justify illegally wiretapping American citizens. The Protect America Act of 2007 retroactively legitimizes Bush’s illegal activity. If that isn’t enough, he also wants Congress to authorize retroactive immunity for the telecommunication companies that participated in this atrocious behavior.

If Ronald Reagan was ‘the great communicator,’ then George W. Bush is ‘the great liar.’ In October of 2002, Congress voted to give George Bush the power to unilaterally attack Iraq without so much as taking the time to verify and question the ‘facts’ used to justify the invasion: That Saddam Hussein was somehow involved in 9-11, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that Iraq tried to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger. We now know that President Bush and several members of his administration, including Dick Cheney and Colin Powell, told these and many other lies in order to justify the invasion of Iraq. Had the Congress done its due diligence, the unnecessary death and destruction that this war has wrought could have been avoided.

Then we have the matter of torture. The United States has no business singling out nations like China and Cuba for human rights abuses when our president has violated (and continues to violate) the terms of the Geneva Convention. While the administration would have you believe that what happened at Abu Ghraib was the brainchild of low-level soldiers, we now know where the orders came from. President Bush himself proudly told ABC News just recently that he approved the torture techniques being used on detainees from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The terrorists have won because our government and way of life have become unrecognizable. We need not fear an attack from the outside because we are destroying ourselves from within. The U.S. Constitution, the cornerstone of our democracy, has been repeatedly violated by the Bush administration. Our system of checks and balances, anchored by a free and independent media and a Congress truly acting upon the will of the people, is all but gone. Finally, the American people themselves have become complacent sheep waiting out Bush’s term of office. We are not a stronger nation because of it. We are not a safer nation because of it. And the terrorists know that.

Maybe it’s the cold medicine, but, today’s Ten Post Round-Up has my head spinning:

1: Proof of progress in Iraq: Seatbelts!…

As the Iraqis Buckle Up, We Will Stand Down–Bring It On!

2: Sometimes, doing things the old-fashioned way, really is best…

Exposed: The Great GM Crops Myth–CommonDreams.org

3: Ben Stein’s movie is number 8 with a bullet! On the upside, it should be available in Blu-Ray in a couple of months!…

Expelled’s Weekend Box Office–Friendly Atheist

4: To be sure, it wasn’t just television news that was taken in by the Pentagon’s Propaganda machine…

A Guide to ‘NYT’ Bombshell on Military/Media Propaganda–The Huffington Post

5: In the UK, psychics will have to prove themselves…

New Psychic Law–The J-Walk Blog

6: Mark Fiore has a great ad about the Presidential retirement plan…

White House Life–Mark Fiore.com

7: Another reason Dizzy does not watch game shows: For any number of reasons, I find them highly unpalatable….

Dubya: Game Show Playa–Perez Hilton

8: A draft by any other name would be just as rotten…

No Draft, You Say?–Reconstitution 2.0

9: The truth is, the blogosphere has been suspicious of such things for awhile now…

The Puppetry of the Pentagon–Shakesville

10: Hey! At least they have a seatbelt law now!…

you read it here second–skippy the bush kangaroo

273 días hasta el final de un error…

Peace.

(I like my morning cuppa with a little hypocrisy chaser)

Yes, today’s Ten Post Round-Up is as cold as the Colorado mountains:

1: thepoetryman has something to say about the FLDS Church…

KNOTTED FACE–A Poetic Justice

2: More “supporting the troops” by the Bush Administration…

Family’s Sole Surviving Son Denied GI Benefits–cbs13.com

3: A case where “what happens in Vegas…” won’t be staying in Vegas…

The Las Vegas Economic Downturn Has Started–ECONOMICROT

4: You thought your health care plan was expensive before, wait until you get sick with a serious illness…

Consumers may see higher co-pay costs–keyetv.com

5: Not able to find enough diplomats to volunteer for duty in Iraq, the State Dept. will now start drafting them to go…

State Department warns diplomats of compulsory Iraq duty–Minstrel Boy

6: Another school kid calls out the big dogs on their errors…

German schoolboy, 13, corrects NASA’s asteroid figures: paper–PHYSORG.com

7: Japan has joined in the war against fat people….

Cut Back on the Sushi–Reason Magazine

8: McCain wants to suspend the gas tax for the summer…

McCain’s fix for hard times–The Rocky Mountain News

9: There’s a problem with your cereal and it’s ten years old…

Marler Clark Sees Pattern in Malt-O-Meal Salmonella Outbreaks–Signs of the Times

10: This is so typical of our politicians, these days, it comes as no surprise that they would start off with a bill to help homeowners and end up giving the bulk of the “help” to big business, instead…

Big Tax Breaks for Businesses in Housing Bill–truthout

277 días hasta el final de un error…

Peace.

(I love the smell of hypocrisy in my morning cuppa)

I was watching a BBC broadcast about the protests marking the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq and came to the conclusion that the American public either has ADD or someone, maybe Dick Cheney, is spiking the public drinking water supply with LSD. I found myself becoming infuriated with the fact that the American people actually think the “war is going pretty well right now.” Those were the reporter’s exact words. I made it a point to write them down because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The propaganda about the “surge” working is apparently being bought lock, stock and barrel. I’m trying to understand how this administration could possibly have earned this level of trust, particularly since everything about this war is based on outright lies.

The lies are a matter of public record. A complete summary of the 935 lies manufactured by the Bush administration to justify the Iraq war, which of our public officials told them and when they were told can be seen at www.publicintegrity.org. Let there be absolutely no mistake here. What was done is both illegal and impeachable. George Bush looked the American people and Congress in the eye and lied and his minions, even Colin Powell, followed suit. They lied about weapons of mass destruction. They lied about finding a bio-weapons lab. They lied about Iraq trying to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger. They lied about Saddam Hussein being involved in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. They continue to lie about this war. So, please, tell me again why Americans should believe one word out of our commander-in-chief’s mouth about the surge working. However, beyond the “illegal” aspect, I am ashamed that the American people could buy into a war that is so immoral on so many fronts.

Americans talk about Iraq like it’s nothing more than a mass of land. It isn’t. It’s a country made up of people just as is America. Until we invaded their country, Iraqis got up every day, went to work and took care of their families. While we sat glued to our television sets and reveled in the “shock and awe” of America’s military might, innocent men, women and children were dying for absolutely no good reason at all. More than a million Iraqis have died in this war, and at least two million have been displaced. Of course, Americans can assuage themselves by buying into the lie that the “surge” has resulted in decreased violence. While it’s true that there were fewer deaths in January (20 deaths a day due to political violence), there were increases in February (29 deaths a day) and March (39 deaths a day). While Dick Cheney was spinning his rosy view of the war during his unannounced visit to Iraq earlier this week, one of the deadliest days ever was unfolding in Karbala, where a suicide bombing killed 50 people and injured dozens more. The so-called “surge” is going in the opposite direction of what the administration wants you to believe.

Of course, it’s easy for Americans to look casually at war. We’ve never had a war on our own soil. We’ve not been displaced. We’ve not had a first-hand look at the violence of war and the innocent lives lost for the missteps our leaders take. We don’t worry about going to the market to buy food and perhaps dying in a roadside bombing. Yes, we look at images on a television, but we really only see what the perpetrators want us to see and we can turn it off any time we want. American culture glorifies and romanticizes war. It rarely focuses on its destructive effects. And while our president referred to the 9-11 terrorists attacks as being “at war,” what happened in New York City on September 11, 2001 pales in comparison to what has been going on in Iraq for the past five years.

Lest I’m accused of being a terrorist sympathizer or an unpatriotic citizen, I have not forgotten that we are approaching 4,000 American deaths in Iraq for a war that has had absolutely nothing to do with protecting our nation from attack. This senseless war is not about fighting for freedom or protecting the American way of life. It is not about avenging the terror attacks of 9-11. While some Americans seem to find comfort in the belief that we are fighting the good fight, the facts are that Iraq was not involved in the terrorists attacks and that America was never threatened or in imminent danger from Iraq. Even one American soldier’s death in Iraq would be too high a price to pay for this unjustifiable war.

President Bush has played the “God-is-with-us” card time and time again when justifying the invasion of Iraq, painting himself as God’s freedom warrior. Whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or Protestant, the notion that any “god” would approve of the death and destruction and the not-so-holy-acts of torture and abuse going on in Iraq is repugnant. It is the most immoral position of all for this president to take. And Americans who stand side-by-side with President Bush on the issue of Iraq should be considered immoral as well. It is time for Americans to look beyond their own comfort zone, make the Iraq war an election issue again, and demand an end to it.

Condoleezza Rice’s switch from Democrat to Republican was provoked by two events says Ron Kessler of NEWSMAX. (1.) The endless refrain at 1984 Democratic National Convention (that nominated Walter Mondale) to “women, minorities, and the poor, which basically means helpless people and the poor.” Rice, who grew up during segregation, was turned off deciding she would “rather be ignored than patronized.” (2.) Jimmy Carter’s professed shock at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, demonstrating naivete and spotlighting his feeble approach to national security. The spectacle sickened her.Kessler suggest substituting the name Obama for Carter or Mondale. He raises the specters lurking around Obama including: