Thursday July 21, 2005 Opening Thread
TOP STORY
How Would Rove Know Valerie Plame's Name Was Supposed to be a Secret? It Said "Secret" Next to Her Name.
UNDERBELLY STORY
Much to the Chagrin of the Entire Muslim World, Republican Tancredo Goes on Talk Show and Proposes Blowing Up Mecca
(Huh, Newsweek-like outrage suspiciously absent...)
FRONT PAGE STORIES
Roberts Update
Grand Theft Auto Gets 'Adults Only' Label While Violently Racist Game Left Alone
Your Safety: Bush Visits a U.S. Port to Promote the Patriot Act.
Ask Yourself:
Does the Patriot Act force ports to screen all cargo containers? No.
Can bombs/nukes/WMD fit into cargo containers? Yes.
What percentage of cargo containers in ports like the one Bush was at are screened? 5%
Does the Patriot Act let Alberto "Torture Guy" Gonzales look at your library records? Yes.
Can bombs/nukes/WMD fit into your library records. No.
PET STORY
Shark Contest Ends in 6 Minute Disappointment
DEVELOPING STORIES
Cheney Attends Theme Team Meeting
Dems Will Hold Own Hearing on Rove
EXTRA CREDIT:
The Violence Policy Center this week released a new study on 50 caliber anti-armor sniper rifles, which are legal to sell to the general public in the US. The study reveals details of a previously secret 1985 report written by US secret service officials that says large caliber sniper rifles pose a threat to the president, to other senior government officials, and to civil aviation. 50 caliber rifles are accurate to over a mile, and can penetrate armor plating. Congress and the White House have followed the NRA's lead on the issue of 50 caliber weapons - they're sold now with fewer federal controls than a standard handgun.
The Army Times reports that the Defense Department quietly asked Congress this week for permission to raise the maximum age for military recruits to... what. What do you think the maximum age is that they want to recruit people. 25? 28? 30? Try 42! Right now the rule is 35. Wow.
Remember hearing about the new weapon the Pentagon was testing, the big gun that shoots microwave beams to heat you up and cause intolerable pain? Well the New Scientist Magazine is now reporting that the gun is due to be deployed in iraq nesxt year - it's mounted on a vehicle and is codenamed Sheriff. If that doesn't weird you out, consider this: according to new scientist, the military tests on this thing required the people participating in the tests? pretending to be rioters? to remove metal objects like coins from their clothing, and to remove their glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes. Think they'll take all those precautions when they fire it at Iraqis next year?
Listen. Stream. Download.
- - Tom Tancredo Colorado
- - Tom Tancredo :roll: Colorado must be so proud :sick: - -
Tancredo's "off-cuff" talk off the wall
By Diane Carman
Denver Post Columnist
Colorado U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo was just talking "off-cuff." It was "an
extremely hypothetical situation." Everybody knows he's the kind of guy who
"thinks out loud."
I was positively dizzy from the spin.
It was as if press secretary Will Adams was channeling Scott McClellan.
"You're talking about bombing Mecca," the WFLA-AM talk-show host in Florida
said to Tancredo on Friday. "Yeah," said the Littleton Republican, who's
never been accused of sensitivity.
Adams tried to equivocate: There's a "widespread misconception about what he
said. Congressman Tancredo is not advocating bombing Mecca or Medina or
anybody's holy site."
Next up: a discussion of what the meaning of "yeah" is. ...
..............................
... But Adams said not to expect an amends anytime soon.
"The statements understood in proper context don't require an apology," he
said, "and we're not going to give one."
It's a rather belligerent stand for a guy who on Thursday, the day before
his "take out their holy sites" remark, issued a press release in which he
"demanded an immediate apology and unequivocal repudiation" from the Chinese
over loose-lipped nuke talk from a government official.
Maj. Gen. Zhu Chenghu, dean at China's National Defense University, had told
a group of reporters: "If the Americans draw their missiles and position-
guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we
will have to respond with nuclear weapons. If the Americans are determined
to interfere ... we will be determined to respond."
Tancredo didn't just criticize the official making the comment, he ridiculed
the whole country.
"For a senior government official to exhibit such tremendous stupidity by
making such a brazen threat is hardly characteristic of a modern nation," he
said.
Next up: a discussion of what the meaning of "tremendous stupidity" is.
http://www.denverpost.com/carman/ci_2869468
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Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for - Will Rogers
- parent
By citizensteveJuly 21, 2005 - 7:17pm