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friday elfgirl blogging

rosie edition 

friday random ten

Lauren has the instructions.

My Baby Got Dealt the Card of Death - David Garza
Pinhead - Ramones
Who the Fuck? - PJ Harvey
Espabilate - Josephine Baker
She Never Took No for an Answer - John Cale
Love Kills - The Circle Jerks
Bitch - Sincola
Lisa Listen - Lisa Loeb
The Saxaphone Song - Kate Bush
Texas - Boss Hog

"Man: It's What's For Dinner!"

I recently stumbled upon this tasty website:

Hufu - "the healthy human flesh alternative". Hufu is designed to resemble, as humanly possible, the taste and texture of human flesh. If you've never had human flesh before, think of the taste and texture of beef, except a little sweeter in taste and a little softer in texture. Contrary to popular belief, people do not taste like pork or chicken.

Recipes on the site include:

Serano Nanito (Papua New Guinea hufu dumplings)
These native dumplings filled with hufu (or human flesh), sago and yam are prized for their taste as well as their ability to make you fierce and brave in tribal combat.

Aztec Human Stew
You can vicariously participate in one of the great Aztec customs, the human sacrifice festival, as you enjoy this healthy and flavorful stew.

Lechter's Liver with Fava Beans (Fegato alla Lechter con i fagioli di fava)
This is really a treat for the cannibal gourmand. Doctor Lechter famously preferred this dish with a nice Chianti. I have had this dish many times with my perhaps unorthodox choice, Pinot Grigio from the region of Friuli, but I must concur with the good doctor that a high-quality Chianti best complements the subtle taste, texture and aroma of this recipe.

Take action on the Downing Street Memo

UPDATE: Action is still needed so I'm moving this post to the top. Congressman John Conyers now has over 100,000 signatures and has set a goal of 250,000.

Dear Mr. President:

We the undersigned write because of our concern regarding recent disclosures of a Downing Street Memo in the London Times, comprising the minutes of a meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers. These minutes indicate that the United States and Great Britain agreed, by the summer of 2002, to attack Iraq, well before the invasion and before you even sought Congressional authority to engage in military action, and that U.S. officials were deliberately manipulating intelligence to justify the war.

Among other things, the British government document quotes a high-ranking British official as stating that by July, 2002, Bush had made up his mind to take military action. Yet, a month later, you stated you were still willing to "look at all options" and that there was "no timetable" for war. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, flatly stated that "[t]he president has made no such determination that we should go to war with Iraq."

In addition, the origins of the false contention that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction remains a serious and lingering question about the lead up to the war. There is an ongoing debate about whether this was the result of a "massive intelligence failure," in other words a mistake, or the result of intentional and deliberate manipulation of intelligence to justify the case for war. The memo appears to resolve that debate as well, quoting the head of British intelligence as indicating that in the United States "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

As a result of these concerns, we would ask that you respond to the following questions:
1)Do you or anyone in your administration dispute the accuracy of the leaked document?
2) Were arrangements being made, including the recruitment of allies, before you sought Congressional authorization to go to war? Did you or anyone in your Administration obtain Britain's commitment to invade prior to this time?
3) Was there an effort to create an ultimatum about weapons inspectors in order to help with the justification for the war as the minutes indicate?
4) At what point in time did you and Prime Minister Blair first agree it was necessary to invade Iraq?
5) Was there a coordinated effort with the U.S. intelligence community and/or British officials to "fix" the intelligence and facts around the policy as the leaked document states?

These are the same questions 89 Members of Congress, led by Rep. John Conyers, Jr., submitted to you on May 5, 2005. As citizens and taxpayers, we believe it is imperative that our people be able to trust our government and our commander in chief when you make representations and statements regarding our nation engaging in war. As a result, we would ask that you publicly respond to these questions as promptly as possible.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

cuddlefish
Austin, TX 78701

Please add your name to Congressman John Conyers' letter to preznit bush.

AfterDowningStreet.org

Big Brass Alliance

Putas vs. Hellcats

The banked tracked Lonestar Rollergirls next bout is Sunday, June 12th.

The Hellcats will scrap with the Putas.

Sunday, June 12.

At the Thunderdome.

Doors open at 6 pm.

Tickets are $10.

Performances by Honky and Black Novas.

After-bout party at Casino el Camino.

Visit the Lonestar Rollergirls website for more info.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Hellcats, Putas del Fuego, Lonestar Rollergirls

Bruisers vs. Beaters

The flat track Arizona Roller Derby will hold their Championship Bout this Saturday, June 11th.

The undefeated Bruisers will take on the Bad News Beaters.

Saturday, June 11.

Castle Sports Club

Doors open 7 pm, bout at 8 pm.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

Featured entertainment by the Dyno Glides, Rayn Dance Theater and DJ Chris.

Visit the Arizona Roller Derby website for more info.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Bruisers, Bad News Beaters, Arizona Roller Derby

Chicago. Where it all began.

The flat track Windy City Rollers will hold their first exhibition bout this Sunday, June 12th.

The Manic Attackers take on the Hell's Belles in the first match.

The scond match features the Double Crossers vs. The Fury.

Sunday, June 21.

Congress Theatre

Tickets are $15.

Doors open at 5:30 pm, bout at 6 pm.

Visit the Windy City Rollers website for more info.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Windy City Rollers, my kind of town

Corporate Welfare

Pentagon Official Called Proposed Lease of Tankers a 'Bailout,' Report Finds: WaPo.

For the past three years, the Air Force has described its $30 billion proposal to convert passenger planes into military refueling tankers and lease them from Boeing Co. as an efficient way to obtain aircraft the military urgently needs.

But a very different account of the deal is shown in an August 2002 internal e-mail exchange among four senior Pentagon officials.

"We all know that this is a bailout for Boeing," Ronald G. Garant, an official of the Pentagon comptroller's office, said in a message to two others in his office and then-Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Wayne A. Schroeder. "Why don't we just bite the bullet," he asked, and handle the acquisition like the procurement of a 1970s-era aircraft -- by squeezing the manufacturer to provide a better tanker at a decent cost?

[snip]

Besides documenting precisely who was responsible, the new report details the Air Force's vigorous efforts on Boeing's behalf. It also shows how Air Force leaders and Boeing officials jointly manipulated legislation to authorize the deal and later sought to suppress dissenting opinion throughout the Pentagon.

After interviewing 88 people and reading hundreds of thousands of pages of e-mails, the inspector general's office concluded that four top Air Force officials and one of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's former top aides, Undersecretary of Defense Edward C. "Pete" Aldridge, violated Pentagon and government-wide procurement rules, failed to use "best business practices," ignored a legal requirement for weapons testing and failed to ensure that the tankers would meet the military's requirements.

The report also connects Rumsfeld to policymaking on the lease, recounting a statement by former Air Force secretary James G. Roche that Rumsfeld had called him in Newport, R.I., in July 2003 to say "he did not want me to budge on the tanker lease proposal," despite criticism.

[snip]

n the copy of the report obtained by The Washington Post, 45 sections were deleted by the White House counsel's office to obscure what several sources described as references to White House involvement in the lease negotiations and its interaction with Boeing. The Pentagon separately blacked out 64 names and many e-mails. It also omitted the names of members of Congress, including some who pressured the Pentagon to back the deal.

[snip]

... Boeing executives later pressed subcontractors to call the White House, and met with Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, who backed the deal.

early morning reads

The General gets a dishonorable discharge from the Protest Warriors.

Bob Herbert on the Mobility Myth.

Americablog has the latest on "Coin-gate"

It's down to the semifinals for those newspapers vying for the title of "Worst State Capital Local News Coverage" over at PSoTD.