As a huge fan of the X-Files and with the new movie coming out I decided that a fun thing to write about would be real life government conspiracies.

If you've never seen the X-Files you're missing out! It will take the normal, every day person and turn them into a paranoid questioner reciting "Trust No One!" Most times when you hear about government conspiracies they are wrapped in myths about martian rays, the tin-foil hats that protect you from them, government mind control, black helicopters, aliens in Roswell, New Mexico, the JFK Assassination, the list could go on forever.

We come together today to discuss one of the more disturbing things that the Administration has done recently…and for a President who claims he “supports the troops”, this story is even more disturbing than usual.

It has his fingerprints all over it, however: laws ignored, rules rendered irrelevant, secrets kept from those who need to know—and ultimately, the cost of his bad decisions are being borne by those who have already paid about a high a price as could be possible in the service of this Nation.

Follow along, my friends, and I will treat you to a magic trick: one in which “Support The Wounded Troops” magically becomes “Screw The Wounded Troops” right before your very eyes…and while you probably won’t feel like applauding at the end, it’s nonetheless a trick you don’t want to miss.

We've been having this ongoing conversation about better access to our government both as a form of transparency and as a way to connect with our Representatives who both serve and ... represent us in Congress. We've even watched as John Culberson (R-TX) and Tim Ryan (D-OH) battled it out in real time over the Energy Bill on Twitter.

This week Culberson has waged his own mini-war against the House for shutting down his twitter activity.

On July 8th Culberson Tweeted

1. " I just learned the Dems are trying to censor Congressmen's ability to use Twitter Qik YouTube Utterz etc - outrageous and I will fight them."

A few times this year bloggers got the wild hair to start talking about the potential we have to bring more people to our government by making Congress more 2.0 friendly.

Stoller went off about the Franking Laws that are out of step with reality back in March and I've not stopped thinking about it since then. Well, in reality I had been thinking about it before that back when Obama's campaign announced that it would make the Chief Technology Officer a cabinet position.

Every cell in the human heart has an electrical charge. That is what enables the muscular contractions that pump blood throughout the body. The amazing part is, normally this natural pacemaking ability is conducted by specific bundles of cells. There are 3 of these groups, one primary and two backup systems.

Cross-posted to DailyKos.

The recount announcement from the Bush administration that former Federal judge Michael Mukasey will be their nominee for Attorney General has been met with relief from many in the progressive movement, as well as with praise from the mainstream media, which views Mukasey as a "consensus choice."

However, the fact that Mukasey is, unlike many past Bush nominations, a "consensus choice," does not mean that he's perfect, or even ideal. As of right now, there are plenty of warning signs about Mukasey that should make Senate Democrats, and movement progressives, willing to at least ask questions about his suitability to be Attorney General.

It hasn't been that long ago since the first signs of it started popping up. During the investigation of the Valerie Plume leak, there were a lot of instances of forgetfulness among the White House and the Vice President's staff.

It came up again during the Congressional hearings on the warrentless wiretap when Alberto Gonzales seemed to have short term memory loss and wasn't able to recall a lot.

Now it seems that another member of the Bush administration has been inflicted with the early stages of this condition, prompting my concerns of whether this is becoming a slow moving epidemic.

The collective power of the peace movement helped the Democrats take control of Congress and turn Nancy Pelosi from Minority leader into Madam Speaker. But in May the new Congress turned its back on the peace movement, granting Bush another $95 billion for war with no timetable for withdrawal. While the Speaker of the House herself voted against the war funding, she failed to put pressure on the conservative Democrats to form a united front against another blank check for war. She also failed to effectively use her power to decide what bills would come up for a vote. In the case of both the unrestricted war funding and the expanded FISA wiretapping, Pelosi had the ability to keep the bills off the floor but refused to do so.

David Swanson of AfterDowningStreet.org, PDA and Democrats.com writes: We've reached the impeachment moment for Vice President Dick Cheney. We are now at what Rev. Lennox Yearwood calls the lunch counter moment in the impeachment movement. We've pushed the cosponsor list for H. Res. 333 up to 14. Chairman John Conyers says that if we get 3 more he'll begin the impeachment proceedings. And many Congress Members must be recognizing that there is no other path available.

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

This article first appeared at Troubled Times. I thank Steven Josselson for the opportunity to share what I believe is a vital message.

Who presents a greater threat to American society - international terrorists, or the current caretakers of the federal government?

Neoconservatism hubris, lies and incompetence are not just the lot of our neighbors south of the 49th parallel.

While many have expounded (rightly so) on the great qualities of Canada and Canadians on this 140th anniversary of our country, the speech given by Prime Minister Stephen J. Harper (a.k.a. Mini Leader) on the occasion of Canada Day-related celebrations highlighted the fact that our Canadian principles are being slowly eroded away by him and his neoconservative Harpies.

Cross-posted from the Accountable Strategies Blog and Daily Kos

If we could put a man on the moon, why is it that 38 years later, we can’t create a homeland protection agency that can keep its books straight and its personnel honest?

Cross-posted from the Accountable Strategies Blog and Daily Kos

For the past decade, we’ve been witnessing the rise of the “public-private partnership,” not only in this country, but around the world.