VirusHead

This satirical site is hilarious! Find a local billionaires chapter, read the manual, join the action network, get campaign materials, read the blog, learn how to spin the issues, and more. There are lawn signs, ads, a photo gallery. Read position papers on such topics as legislation as a lucrative investment – see the actual numbers for investment and return! Leave no billionaire behind! Hands off Hilliburton! Blood for Oil! Small Government, Big Wars! Bomb the Arabs and Steal their Oil!

A sample quotation:

"Now there are some, even among billionaires, who criticize George’s fiscal policy as dangerous. They say you can’t cut taxes during a war and a recession, and simultaneously massively increase spending on weaponry and corporate subsidies in the Medicare and energy bills. They point to our huge deficit and massive future debt. But these people miss the point. We have nothing to fear from debt and deficit — it’s all owed to us! The government has borrowed money from us to give back to us in tax cuts and subsidies, and now it will be the joe-taxpayer who will owe us big for the next 30 years. The icing on the cake — we can now use the debt and deficit to justify slashing spending on social security, health care and all those other terrible New Deal programs that put people before corporations."

Billionaires for Bush! Government of, by, and for the corporations.

Title 18 Chapter 118

Just a reference for those of you unfamiliar with how we in the United States formally define war crimes.
‘War Crimes Act of 1996′
Chapter 118 – War Crimes
CITE 18 USC CHAPTER 118 – WAR CRIMES
EXPCITE TITLE 18 – CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I – CRIMES
CHAPTER 118 – WAR CRIMES
.
TEXT CHAPTER 118 – WAR CRIMES
NOTES Sec.
2441. War crimes.
AMENDMENTS
1996 – Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Sec. 605(p)(2), Oct. 11, 1996,
110 Stat. 3510, redesignated item 2401 as 2441.

CITE 18 USC Sec. 2441 01/26/98
EXPCITE TITLE 18 – CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I – CRIMES
CHAPTER 118 – WAR CRIMES
TEXT Sec. 2441. War crimes
(a) Offense. – Whoever, whether inside or outside the United
States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described
in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned
for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the
victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.
(b) Circumstances. – The circumstances referred to in subsection
(a) are that the person committing such war crime or the victim of
such war crime is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States
or a national of the United States (as defined in section 101 of
the Immigration and Nationality Act).
(c) Definition. – As used in this section the term ”war crime”
means any conduct -
(1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international
conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to
such convention to which the United States is a party;
(2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the
Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on
Land, signed 18 October 1907;
(3) which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the
international conventions signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949, or
any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a
party and which deals with non-international armed conflict; or
(4) of a person who, in relation to an armed conflict and
contrary to the provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or
Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices
as amended at Geneva on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as amended on 3
May 1996), when the United States is a party to such Protocol,
willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.
SOURCE (Added Pub. L. 104-192, Sec. 2(a), Aug. 21, 1996, 110 Stat. 2104,
Sec. 2401; renumbered Sec. 2441, Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Sec.
605(p)(1), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3510; amended Pub. L. 105-118,
title V, Sec. 583, Nov. 26, 1997, 111 Stat. 2436.)
NOTES REFERENCES IN TEXT
Section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, referred to
in subsec. (b), is classified to section 1101 of Title 8, Aliens
and Nationality.
AMENDMENTS
1997 – Pub. L. 105-118 which directed amendment of section 2401
of this title by substituting ”war crime” for ”grave breach of
the Geneva Conventions” in subsec. (a) and for ”breach” in two
places in subsec. (b) and by amending subsec. (c) generally, was
executed by amending this section to reflect the probable intent of
Congress and the amendment by Pub. L. 104-294. Prior to amendment,
subsec. (c) read as follows:
”(c) Definitions. – As used in this section, the term ‘grave
breach of the Geneva Conventions’ means conduct defined as a grave
breach in any of the international conventions relating to the laws
of warfare signed at Geneva 12 August 1949 or any protocol to any
such convention, to which the United States is a party.”
1996 – Pub. L. 104-294 renumbered section 2401 of this title as
this section.
SHORT TITLE
Section 1 of Pub. L. 104-192 provided that: ”This Act (enacting
this chapter) may be cited as the ‘War Crimes Act of 1996′.”

Well, that was very smooth! However we’re defining "sovereignty" these days, we’ve symbolically handed it over in Iraq. It was done nicely, fairly quietly, and a bit early.

In some regions of the world, such as Quebec, the word "sovereignty" has become the preferred synonym for national independence. With our our independence day approaching, I think they had to find another word.

The etymology of the word "sovereignty", with origins in the Latin "super", conveys the idea of "overness". For future reference, here is the way the term is traditionally defined:

Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state.
Royal rank, authority, or power.
Complete independence and self-government.
A territory existing as an independent state.
(American Heritage Dictionary)

1 a : supreme power esp. over a body politic b : freedom from external control : AUTONOMY
2 : one that is sovereign; especially : an autonomous state
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law)

The quality or state of being sovereign, or of being a sovereign; the exercise of, or right to exercise, supreme power; dominion; sway; supremacy; independence; also, that which is sovereign; a sovereign state; as, Italy was formerly divided into many sovereignties. "Woman desiren to have sovereignty As well over their husband as over their love." (Chaucer)
(Webster’s)

n 1: government free from external control 2: royal authority; the dominion of a monarch [syn: reign]
(World Net)

of God, his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure
(Dan. 4:25, 35; Rom. 9:15-23; 1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 4:11).
(Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary)

Thesaurus
Entry: sovereignty
Function: noun
Definition: domination
Synonyms: ascendancy, ascendant, dominance, dominion, jurisdiction, kingship, masterdom, preeminence, prepotence, prepotency, primacy, supremacy, supreme power, sway
Concept: controlling
(Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition)

Julia Preston at the New York Times has this to add for tomorrow’s publication of "Defining Transfer of Formal Sovereignty" in The New York Times:

"The notion of sovereignty arose in 16th-century France, when the sovereign was a monarch, not a country. But over time, sovereignty became an attribute of nations that created their own governments and were in charge of their own affairs.

According to its charter, the United Nations is founded on the principle of the "sovereign equality" of its member countries; they pledge to "refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state." But the charter does not neatly spell out what sovereignty is or should be.

Therein lies the challenge for Iraq. While the United States and its military partners retain control over security, difficult legal and political questions will persist as to whether Iraq’s restored sovereignty can be called complete."

Religious News Online – World’s funniest joke comes from a UK Indian

British Psychiatrist/Psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman created the "largest study of humor ever," and claims to have found the most universally funny joke. It also identified the brain’s laughter center in a region near the back of the frontal lobes.

The study was conducted in the so-called laughlab on the Internet, inviting entries and then securing worldwide ratings for them on a five-point Giggleometer. Two million ratings came in. The ‘laughter centre’ was found after MRI scans of people’s brains while being told a joke.

Gurpal Gossal, 31, a second-generation Indian immigrant from Manchester via Punjab submitted winner of the funniest of 40,000 jokes from a staggering 70 countries.

Where’s the joke, I hear you ask…

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his cellphone and calls the emergency services.

He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"

Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War

Here are just some of the compelling statistics – click on the title above for access to the full report from the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus.

Total number of coalition military deaths between the start of war and June 16, 2004: 952 (836 U.S.)
Of those 952, the number killed after President George W. Bush declared “an end to major combat operations” on May 1, 2003: 693

Number of U.S. troops wounded in combat since the war began: 5,134 (Number ill or injured in “non-combat” incidents estimated to be over 11,000)

Number of U.S. troops wounded in combat since President George W. Bush declared “an end to major combat operations” on May 1, 2003: 4,593

Number of civilian contractors, missionaries, and civilian workers killed: 50-90

Number of international media workers killed: 30

Iraqi civilians killed: 9,436 to 11,317

Iraqi civilians injured: 40,000 (est.)

Iraqi soldiers and insurgents killed prior to May 1, 2003: 4,895 to 6,370

The bill so far: $126.1 billion

Additional amount to cover operations through 2004: $25 billion

What $151 billion could have paid for in the U.S.:

Housing vouchers: 23 million

Health care for uninsured Americans: 27 mil.

Salaries for elementary school teachers: 3 mil.

New fire engines: 678,200

Head Start slots: 20 million

Estimated long-term cost of war to every U.S. household: $3,415

Amount contractor Halliburton is alleged to have charged for meals never served to troops and for cost overruns on fuel deliveries: $221 million

Kickbacks received by Halliburton employees from subcontractors: $6 million

Percentage of Americans who now feel that “the situation in Iraq was not worth going to war over.”: 54

Percentage of Iraqis who said they would feel safer if U.S. and other foreign troops left the country immediately: 55

Percentage of U.S. soldiers in Iraq reporting low morale: 52

Percentage of soldiers who said they would not re-enlist: 50

Percentage of wounded unable to return to duty: 64

Number of soldiers whose tours of duty have been extended by the Army: 20,000

Percentage of reserve troops who earn lower salaries while on deployment: 30-40

Fraction of National Guard troops among U.S. force now in Iraq: 1/3

Percentage of U.S. police departments missing officers due to Iraq deployments: 44

Effect on al Qaeda of the Iraq war, according to International Institute for Strategic Studies: “Accelerated recruitment”

Estimated number of al Qaeda terrorists as of May 2004: 18,000 with 1,000 active in Iraq

Percentage of Iraqis expressing “no confidence” in U.S. civilian authorities or coalition forces: 80

Iraq’s oil production in 2002: 2.04 mil. barrels/day

Iraq’s oil production in 2003: 1.33 mil. barrels/day

Price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. in May 2004: more than $2