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PLAYTIME:
GO HERE.
PULL STRING AND CLICK.
REPEAT.
http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com/shockwave/bushisms.htm
Internet muse.
Daring, bold, never sold.
My daily weblog of politics, humor, philosophy...and a constant and nagging reminder of the existence of universal love....
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
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Transition to an empire
By Ignacio Ramonet
Le Monde Diplomatique
http://mondediplo.com/2003/05/01ramonet
"WHEN General Jay Garner landed in Iraq and arrived in bombed and looted Baghdad he declared: "This is a great day." As if his presence miraculously ended the thousand and one problems afflicting ancient Mesopotamia. What is astonishing is not the obscenity of the statement but the resignation and apathy with which the media covered the installation of the man who should really be called the proconsul of the United States. As if there were no longer international law..."
Transition to an empire
By Ignacio Ramonet
Le Monde Diplomatique
http://mondediplo.com/2003/05/01ramonet
"WHEN General Jay Garner landed in Iraq and arrived in bombed and looted Baghdad he declared: "This is a great day." As if his presence miraculously ended the thousand and one problems afflicting ancient Mesopotamia. What is astonishing is not the obscenity of the statement but the resignation and apathy with which the media covered the installation of the man who should really be called the proconsul of the United States. As if there were no longer international law..."
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A "cherry-picking" of scandalous and monumental proportion
U.S. Intelligence Insiders Say Iraq Intel Deliberately Skewed
Fri May 30, 7:18 PM
By Jim Wolf
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=6&u=/nm/iraq_intelligence_dc
A "cherry-picking" of scandalous and monumental proportion
U.S. Intelligence Insiders Say Iraq Intel Deliberately Skewed
Fri May 30, 7:18 PM
By Jim Wolf
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=6&u=/nm/iraq_intelligence_dc
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PENTAGON IN DENIAL
Ex-Army boss: Pentagon won't admit reality in Iraq
By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-06-02-white-usat_x.htm
"The former civilian head of the Army said Monday it is time for the Pentagon to admit that the military is in for a long occupation of Iraq that will require a major commitment of American troops.
Former Army secretary Thomas White said in an interview that senior Defense officials "are unwilling to come to grips" with the scale of the
postwar U.S. obligation in Iraq."
PENTAGON IN DENIAL
Ex-Army boss: Pentagon won't admit reality in Iraq
By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-06-02-white-usat_x.htm
"The former civilian head of the Army said Monday it is time for the Pentagon to admit that the military is in for a long occupation of Iraq that will require a major commitment of American troops.
Former Army secretary Thomas White said in an interview that senior Defense officials "are unwilling to come to grips" with the scale of the
postwar U.S. obligation in Iraq."
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DAVE BARRY FOR PRESIDENT!!
"Note to senior citizens: I'm not suggesting that your dental benefits are unimportant! As your president, I will take care of your teeth personally.
You can mail them to me at the White House."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/national/barry/story/6772115p-7722937c.html
DAVE BARRY FOR PRESIDENT!!
"Note to senior citizens: I'm not suggesting that your dental benefits are unimportant! As your president, I will take care of your teeth personally.
You can mail them to me at the White House."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/national/barry/story/6772115p-7722937c.html
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BERTRAND RUSSELL
FROM: "THE WORLD AS IT COULD BE MADE "
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=RusProp.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=8&division=div2
"A life lived in this spirit—the spirit that aims at creating rather than possessing—has a certain fundamental happiness, of which it cannot be wholly robbed by adverse circumstances. This is the way of life recommended in the Gospels, and by all the great teachers of the world. Those who have found it are freed from the tyranny of fear, since what they value most in their lives is not at the mercy of outside power. If all men could summon up the courage and the vision to live in this way in spite of obstacles and discouragement, there would be no need for the regeneration of the world to begin by political and economic reform: all that is needed in the way of reform would come automatically, without resistance, owing to the moral regeneration of individuals.
"Experience has proved that few are able to see through the apparent evils of an outcast’s life to the inner joy that comes of faith and creative hope. If the domination of fear is to be overcome, it is not enough, as regards the mass of men, to preach courage and indifference to misfortune: it is necessary to remove the causes of fear, to make a good life no longer an unsuccessful one in a worldly sense, and to diminish the harm that can be inflicted upon those who are not wary in self-defense."
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BERTRAND RUSSELL
FROM: "THE WORLD AS IT COULD BE MADE "
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=RusProp.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=8&division=div2
"A life lived in this spirit—the spirit that aims at creating rather than possessing—has a certain fundamental happiness, of which it cannot be wholly robbed by adverse circumstances. This is the way of life recommended in the Gospels, and by all the great teachers of the world. Those who have found it are freed from the tyranny of fear, since what they value most in their lives is not at the mercy of outside power. If all men could summon up the courage and the vision to live in this way in spite of obstacles and discouragement, there would be no need for the regeneration of the world to begin by political and economic reform: all that is needed in the way of reform would come automatically, without resistance, owing to the moral regeneration of individuals.
"Experience has proved that few are able to see through the apparent evils of an outcast’s life to the inner joy that comes of faith and creative hope. If the domination of fear is to be overcome, it is not enough, as regards the mass of men, to preach courage and indifference to misfortune: it is necessary to remove the causes of fear, to make a good life no longer an unsuccessful one in a worldly sense, and to diminish the harm that can be inflicted upon those who are not wary in self-defense."
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A MUSICAL BREAK :)
http://www.agatello.com/silvia.home/beeth_md.htm
*Sonata, Op. 53, No. 21 in Do
"Waldstein"*
*I love the second movement!*
A MUSICAL BREAK :)
http://www.agatello.com/silvia.home/beeth_md.htm
*Sonata, Op. 53, No. 21 in Do
"Waldstein"*
*I love the second movement!*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A STRONG ALLEGATION FROM BOB GRAHAM
IT'S FAR PAST THE TIME TO DEMAND
ANSWERS ABOUT 9-11
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/5993628.htm
U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.....accused the Bush administration Sunday of overzealous editing of the public version of a report on the causes of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Citing proposed changes in several sections of the report -- which was based on the congressional investigation he helped oversee as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- the Florida senator said on CNN's Late Edition that the administration was trying to hide information submitted in open session and, in some cases, reported in the media.
''That's not being done for any legitimate national security reasons,'' Graham told CNN. ``It's being done because they don't want the American people to see a coherent narrative of what happened.''
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A STRONG ALLEGATION FROM BOB GRAHAM
IT'S FAR PAST THE TIME TO DEMAND
ANSWERS ABOUT 9-11
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/5993628.htm
U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.....accused the Bush administration Sunday of overzealous editing of the public version of a report on the causes of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Citing proposed changes in several sections of the report -- which was based on the congressional investigation he helped oversee as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- the Florida senator said on CNN's Late Edition that the administration was trying to hide information submitted in open session and, in some cases, reported in the media.
''That's not being done for any legitimate national security reasons,'' Graham told CNN. ``It's being done because they don't want the American people to see a coherent narrative of what happened.''
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From Red Pepper:
Neo-conservatism and the politics of paranoia
Max Fraad Wolff
June 2003
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/
"Neo-cons offer a world remade. Media pundits and politicians share and feed off fear, offering neo-con foreign policy as the solution. But rival voices, most on the right, compete fiercely with the neo-cons; the latter do not sit alone at the tables of power. So, conservative Christian and business interests must be accommodated, thus convoluting and complicating policy.."
"Understandings of events and actions, particularly US actions, are increasingly divergent. The coverage of the war in Iraq is only the most glaring example. Where others see US failings, Americans hear of triumph. Neo-cons play a role in this process, but are not the only factor. US mass media offer a narrow range of opinion. Criticism is rare and tends to be dismissed or drowned out by the chorus of voices supporting official action and opinion. Critics are frightened – with increasingly good reason. The rise of an ideology of absolute good engaged in fierce combat with uncivilised and driven forces of evil is aiding the decline of internal debate. It remains to be seen how much further this process can run without provoking greater conflict."
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From Red Pepper:
Neo-conservatism and the politics of paranoia
Max Fraad Wolff
June 2003
http://www.redpepper.org.uk/
"Neo-cons offer a world remade. Media pundits and politicians share and feed off fear, offering neo-con foreign policy as the solution. But rival voices, most on the right, compete fiercely with the neo-cons; the latter do not sit alone at the tables of power. So, conservative Christian and business interests must be accommodated, thus convoluting and complicating policy.."
"Understandings of events and actions, particularly US actions, are increasingly divergent. The coverage of the war in Iraq is only the most glaring example. Where others see US failings, Americans hear of triumph. Neo-cons play a role in this process, but are not the only factor. US mass media offer a narrow range of opinion. Criticism is rare and tends to be dismissed or drowned out by the chorus of voices supporting official action and opinion. Critics are frightened – with increasingly good reason. The rise of an ideology of absolute good engaged in fierce combat with uncivilised and driven forces of evil is aiding the decline of internal debate. It remains to be seen how much further this process can run without provoking greater conflict."
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CONGESSIONAL DEMOCRATS---A WAKE-UP CALL!
"A long string of blatant misstatements"
Paul Krugman tells it like it is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/03/opinion/03KRUG.html?ex=1055611954&ei=1&en=41f31e1d053d1d43
"Yet few have made the same argument in this country, even though "spin" is far too mild a word for what the Bush administration does, all the time. Suggestions that the public was manipulated into supporting an Iraq war gain credibility from the fact that misrepresentation and deception are standard operating procedure for this administration, which — to an extent never before seen in U.S. history — systematically and brazenly distorts the facts."
"It's long past time for this administration to be held accountable. Over the last two years we've become accustomed to the pattern. Each time the administration comes up with another whopper, partisan supporters — a group that includes a large segment of the news media — obediently insist that black is white and up is down. Meanwhile the "liberal" media report only that some people say that black is black and up is up. And some Democratic politicians offer the administration invaluable cover by making excuses and playing down the extent of the lies."
"If that claim was fraudulent, the selling of the war is arguably the worst scandal in American political history — worse than Watergate, worse than Iran-contra. Indeed, the idea that we were deceived into war makes many commentators so uncomfortable that they refuse to admit the possibility.
"But here's the thought that should make those commentators really uncomfortable. Suppose that this administration did con us into war. And suppose that it is not held accountable for its deceptions, so Mr. Bush can fight what Mr. Hastings calls a "khaki election" next year. In that case, our political system has become utterly, and perhaps irrevocably, corrupted. "
WAKE UP, CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS!
SPEAK UP-- OR RISK POLITICAL OBSOLESCENCE!
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF SEEING WHAT IS TRUE!
THE MORE GINGERLY YOU DANCE AROUND THE BUSH LIES, THE LESS RESPECT YOU ENGENDER.
CONGESSIONAL DEMOCRATS---A WAKE-UP CALL!
"A long string of blatant misstatements"
Paul Krugman tells it like it is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/03/opinion/03KRUG.html?ex=1055611954&ei=1&en=41f31e1d053d1d43
"Yet few have made the same argument in this country, even though "spin" is far too mild a word for what the Bush administration does, all the time. Suggestions that the public was manipulated into supporting an Iraq war gain credibility from the fact that misrepresentation and deception are standard operating procedure for this administration, which — to an extent never before seen in U.S. history — systematically and brazenly distorts the facts."
"It's long past time for this administration to be held accountable. Over the last two years we've become accustomed to the pattern. Each time the administration comes up with another whopper, partisan supporters — a group that includes a large segment of the news media — obediently insist that black is white and up is down. Meanwhile the "liberal" media report only that some people say that black is black and up is up. And some Democratic politicians offer the administration invaluable cover by making excuses and playing down the extent of the lies."
"If that claim was fraudulent, the selling of the war is arguably the worst scandal in American political history — worse than Watergate, worse than Iran-contra. Indeed, the idea that we were deceived into war makes many commentators so uncomfortable that they refuse to admit the possibility.
"But here's the thought that should make those commentators really uncomfortable. Suppose that this administration did con us into war. And suppose that it is not held accountable for its deceptions, so Mr. Bush can fight what Mr. Hastings calls a "khaki election" next year. In that case, our political system has become utterly, and perhaps irrevocably, corrupted. "
WAKE UP, CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS!
SPEAK UP-- OR RISK POLITICAL OBSOLESCENCE!
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC IS PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF SEEING WHAT IS TRUE!
THE MORE GINGERLY YOU DANCE AROUND THE BUSH LIES, THE LESS RESPECT YOU ENGENDER.
So much for "free" speech:
Now we have to pay to participate in polls?!
http://www.potuspoll.com/index-GL.htm
Let's face it, public polling means a disproportional lot to those who govern. Not that I think it SHOULD. I don't think poll results should mean as much as
they do to the electorate who represent the people of this country. Polls can easily be manipulated to create a false-nation of opinion.
Poll-results are often exactly (and "miraculously") what potentially-biased pollsters were possibly hoping to "cook up".
At best, a poll is only a sampling of an extremely small segment of American society.
Consideration of the law of large numbers might well drown the accuracy of these poll results.
I gave the above-linked website a look today.
Perhaps I'm naive...but it appears we now have to PAY to voice our opinions so that they may be heard by the electorate as they foolishly govern by POLL.
When the basic democratic system fails...when a letter or call to your Congressperson seems to take a back seat to governing by polls,
the knowlege that expressing that dismally effective
poll-opinion is going to "set me back" economically is doubly disheartening news.
WHERE IS TRUE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now we have to pay to participate in polls?!
http://www.potuspoll.com/index-GL.htm
Let's face it, public polling means a disproportional lot to those who govern. Not that I think it SHOULD. I don't think poll results should mean as much as
they do to the electorate who represent the people of this country. Polls can easily be manipulated to create a false-nation of opinion.
Poll-results are often exactly (and "miraculously") what potentially-biased pollsters were possibly hoping to "cook up".
At best, a poll is only a sampling of an extremely small segment of American society.
Consideration of the law of large numbers might well drown the accuracy of these poll results.
I gave the above-linked website a look today.
Perhaps I'm naive...but it appears we now have to PAY to voice our opinions so that they may be heard by the electorate as they foolishly govern by POLL.
When the basic democratic system fails...when a letter or call to your Congressperson seems to take a back seat to governing by polls,
the knowlege that expressing that dismally effective
poll-opinion is going to "set me back" economically is doubly disheartening news.
WHERE IS TRUE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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