Credit: The Atlantic On Line
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....
Sunday, July 27, 2003
Britiain's Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon is looking more like a liar by the day.
Dr Kelly's wife has a diary of his final days....and not trusting Hoon, apparently, she intends to send it to Sir Kevin Tebbit, the Permanent Secretary at the MoD.
We're getting a bit closer to the truth...the truth behind the 16 words and Bush's lies.
"....Dr Kelly spoke to fellow members of his church over his concerns about the way the intelligence used by the Government in its Iraq weapons dossiers had been "interpreted".
Geeta and Roger Kingdon, who follow the same Bahai faith as Dr Kelly, said the scientist gave a talk to fellow worshippers in which he said he was uncomfortable with the way the intelligence material was presented...."
Short blames government 'abuse of power' for David Kelly's death
In the article, Clare Short says:
"We all ended up mesmerised by Alastair Campbell
attacking the BBC. In the course of that, Dr Kelly felt so pressured he
felt the need to take his life. It has got enormous significance." But
she hoped "some good" might yet come out of the tragedy, if the
Government abandons spin and changes the way decisions are made."
To the 21 Victims of the Dongfeng Mine Disaster in Henan Province, China and To Their Loved Ones....
O Great Compassion, we take refuge in you.
This tragedy makes us better appreciate the preciousness of life,
That each of us is like a snowflake: unique, beautiful and fragile;
Therefore, guide us to entrusting faith, Great Parent of all things,
Make us your servant, your breath and your core,
Empowered by Other Power, we dedicate our lives, practice and faith,
To kindle the Light of Dharma in all beings,
For those who have fallen into the gloom of sorrow.
Namo Amida Buddha
I say either get them the hell out of Iraq NOW or get on our knees and beg the United Nations for forgiveness, their help, and a new resolution.
Bush--you were dead wrong.
It's time to admit it.
Jane Eisner asks:
Troops keep dying -- but for what?
"....The ranks of the killed and injured inch upward, toward a time when the whole nation will have to ask itself: How many casualties are too much?"
"U.S. soldiers in Iraq are escaping from Iraq under the guise of Kurdish citizens, wearing the famous Iraqi and Arab al-Dashdasha (loose headdress) which has become mush sought-after recently, Iraqis told IslamOnline.net Sunday, July 27.
However, a U.S. colonel categorically denied that 2,500 U.S. soldiers have escaped from duty so far, noting that it was a rumor propagated by the Baathists and the loyalists to ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein....."
Have a look at this one.
US troops turn botched Saddam raid into a massacre
By Robert Fisk July 28th
"Obsessed with capturing Saddam Hussein, American soldiers turned a botched raid on a house in the Mansur district of Baghdad yesterday into a bloodbath, opening fire on scores of Iraqi civilians in a crowded street and killing up to 11, including two children, their mother and crippled father. At least one civilian car caught fire, cremating its occupants."
Buh-Bye!
Conservative voters had best decide if they wish to continue to support American facism.
Conservative Congressional Representatives had best watch how loyally they cling to facist tactics used by this President and his administration.
Article: A pattern of deception
By WALTER WILLIAMS
Did President Bush lie to the American people in his State of the Union Message when he said: ''The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa''? Technically, no, because ''the statement that he made was indeed accurate,'' said National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on July 13. ``The British government did say that.''
Rice speaks the literal truth, just as her boss does, to distort what is meaningful. Outright lying is not the administration's modus operandi; willful deception is.
DUPING THE NATION
Bush's statement on Iraq shows his telltale MO. Moreover, duping the nation into war is only one case of the pattern of calculated deception that has gone on since the outset of his administration.
We need to go back to Feb. 27, 2001, when Bush introduced his first tax cut proposal in a televised speech to Congress and the nation, to see the early duplicity. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman observed on March 28: ``I can't think of any precedent in the history of American economic policy (when an administration was) quite this shameless about misrepresenting the actual content of its own economic plan.''
I noted in a March 16 Seattle Times column that what stands out in the Bush speech is the use of the ''Big Lie.'' Such a statement is a technically accurate claim that distorts rather than reveals the truth. Looking into Bush's MO in his tax legislation illuminates the pattern of deception as used in Iraq.
In his February address, Bush said: ''People with the smallest incomes will get the highest percentage reductions.'' The literally true assertion hid that the tax cut provided little help for most people and that the big winners were the top 1 percent of the taxpayers.
Tax-savings calculations under the Bush proposal made at the time indicated that a young childless couple earning $20,000 would have its taxes reduced by 41 percent. A middle-aged couple with $1 million in earnings would receive a 15 percent reduction. Just as Bush said, the lower-income couple had its taxes cut by a much larger percentage than the wealthy couple.
But Bush's Big Lie covered up that the young couple would save $410 in taxes, or about $34 a month; the older couple would benefit by $47,114, or about $3,900 a month. The wealthier couple's tax savings would amount to over twice as much as the other couple's total annual income. Suggesting that lower-income families fared better than the wealthiest ones surely qualifies as world-class deception.
The Bush MO used to justify the Iraq invasion finally created a veritable firestorm of criticism directed at the president. Things became so bad that CIA Director George J. Tenet took full responsibility for not warning Bush about the shakiness of the British assertion: ``These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president.''
Tenet's statement accepting responsibility, however, also noted that in the fall of 2002, months before the president's 16 words on the British claim, the CIA ''expressed reservations'' about their validity both to the British and to members of Congress. And the top Bush operatives knew nothing about the uranium story being highly unreliable?
There is much controversy over how the alleged uranium purchase surfaced in the Bush speech. But to me, the strongest candidate is that the 16 words were too tempting to pass up. They fit the president's MO to a T -- unwarranted by the evidence and hence deceptive, yet offering the cover of technical correctness.
USING PROPAGANDA
A hard truth appears to have escaped the notice of the public and received scant attention from the media: Bush is the first president in American history to use deceptive propaganda as his main means of communications in selling his policies. His pattern of deception continues unabated and in direct conflict with the notion of the public's informed consent that is central to American democracy.
Walter Williams is professor emeritus at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs.
2003 The Baltimore Sun
Though The Heavens Fall
"The political fortunes of the Bush administration are never so strong as when people are dying."
The article includes a soldier's thoughts found on an internet sports website chat-area.
I have added photos for emphasis.
"IM STILL ALIVE ! WE GOT A HALF A PEICE OF INTERNET NOW....BOUT DANG TIME...DIGITAL DIVISION MY A**..."
"IVE BEEN IN IRAQ SINCE LATE APRIL.... BEEN SHOT AT TO MANY TIMES TO COUNT..."
"I HAVE SEEN THE DARKSIDE AND THE EVIL MEN DO, GUYS THIS AINT NO JOKE..."
"FOLK GETTIN SHOT UP OVER HERE EVERY DAY..."
"IRAQII'S TRYIN TO INFILTRATE OUR PERIMETERS...VEHICLES GETTIN HIT BY RPG'S ..."
"AND RUMOR HAS IT BUSH IS TELLIN THEM TO BRING IT ON....WHAT THE HELL?!"
"3ID IS GETTIN SCREWED BIG TYME....GOD KNOWS WHAT THEY GOT IN STORE FOR US...."
"ITS A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE AND ALL I WILL SAY IS OUR LEADERSHIP AINT NOWHERE NEAR THAT LINE .."
/ 
"...KNOW WHAT IM SAYIN...THERE ARE SOME HOSTILE INDIVIDUALS OVER HERE....VERY VERY HOSTILE..."
"NO WMD....."
"NO WMD"
"NO NOTHING....."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"....death is a growth stock for George W. Bush. Death gives him political cover to ramrod through his extremist policies. Death makes Americans fear to question him. Death makes for good television. In Iraq, death fills the coffers of corporations like Vice President Cheney’s Halliburton...."
William Rivers Pitt
Baltimore Sun
"....AMONG THE LARGEST 500 companies, more than 300 - and eight of the top 10 - have had policies against discrimination based on sexual orientation. But when one more firm recently adopted such a policy, it was front-page national news. That's because when Wal-Mart speaks - for better or worse - America pays attention.
World-conquering size does that. The 41-year-old firm is now the world's largest corporation and private employer, with more workers in uniform (1.3 million worldwide) than the U.S. Army. It's also the world's largest retailer, grocer, purchaser of manufactured goods, importer, shipper and warehouser.
In just the last decade, Wal-Mart's sales have grown fivefold. Now, with 3,400 U.S. outlets and 1,300 abroad, its sales last fiscal year reached $245 billion - about the size of Switzerland's total economy. ..."
WE ARE WHAT WE CONSUME. AND DO WE EVER CONSUME.
HOW MANY OF THESE DO WE TRULY NEED?
HAVE YOU SEEN THE AVERAGE SIZE OF THE WAL MARTIAN-AMERICAN?
WE ARE A WAL MART NATION.
WE HAVE A WAL MART MAJORITY IN CONGRESS.
HAVING A PRIMAL URGE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR BUSINESS, BELIEF IN THE BOTTOM-LINE OVER AMERICAN QUALITY,
MISOGYNISTIC, UNION-HATING, "FAMILY-VALUED",
CENSOR-WANNABES, QUICKLY ENCROACHING UPON WHAT WAS ONCE GOOD AND RECOGNIZABLE ABOUT AMERICAN COMMUNITY,
LOW-BUDGET, LOW-QUALITY, LOW EXPECTATION ALTHOUGH SOLD CHEAP,
SEAN HANNITY AND JESUS SMILING TOGETHER ON THE BOOKSHELF.....
WE HAVE A WAL MART PRESIDENT.
WE HAVE A WAL MART ATTITUDE.
WE ARE BEING STUCK WITH WAL MART POLITICS.
WILL OUR FLAG SOON BE CHANGED TO THAT HORRIBLY ANNOYING YELLOW SMILEY-FACE?
Meanwhile, In Iraq, We Are ARRESTING Journalists!
I'll start out with a superb article about an excellent investigative journalist-- Greg Palast.
(here)
Excerpts:
.....Palast is disappointed, but not surprised, by what he perceives as US newspapers functioning more as distributors of information that is given to them, rather than aggressively trying to find and pursue leads on their own. "Why aren't papers trying to find that material for themselves?..."
"...For observers of the US since September 11, the compliance of the American media has played a pivotal role in stoking patriotic fervor which has given the Bush administration the benefit of the doubt several times, while failing to represent the voices of Americans who see things differently - including Palast.
For Palast, the state of alarm in the US since the attacks of September 11 is not necessarily unwarranted, but it conveniently serves the interests of the ruling elite. "America was attacked by maniacs. Our president didn't do anything to prevent it and hasn't done anything since. The truth is America is still a safe place - but the administration doesn't like that image because they think it's easier to control people when they're afraid...."
".....Palast is obviously dismayed by American media in the post-September 11 age, characterizing it as "gone to hell in a handbag". Palast views news in the US, television in particular, as being disproportionately affected by the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Fox News. "It's 'Foxification', they've gone from news to viciousness, barely disguised racism and pseudoentertainment intended to be taken as news - and every station is now trying to follow that formula," he said...."
~~~~~~~~~
GAME TIME!
FIND THE LYING FOX....
Is it this guy?
Or Is It This Guy?
~~~~~~~~~
I'm sure you've probably heard about Merle Haggard's new political country song by now.
On his website editorial, Haggard says, in part:
"...I'm suspicious, I'm paranoid, and I'm afraid. And the person who says he isn't has not looked up or around lately.
I don't even know the Dixie chicks, but I find it an insult for all the men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion. It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching. Whether I agree with their comments or not has no bearing...."
Here are some of the lyrics to his new song, "That's The News":
"Suddenly it's over, the war is finally done
Soldiers in the desert sand still clinging to a gun
No one is the winner and everyone must lose
Suddenly the war's over, that's the news."
The song ends with the lines:
"Politicians do all the talking
soldiers pay the dues
Suddenly the war is over,
that's the news."
See related article here
~~~~~~~~~~~
Careless mediafolk who decide to toss glib and meaningless comments about Howard Dean are being called on it each and every time.
They helped to damage Al Gore quite wrecklessly and unfairly before the 2000 Election...and look at the wretch we wound up with as a selected President.
The Dean defenders will not allow slapdash writers go shabbily off at the mouth about political buzzphrases that have no real meaning.
Dean is McGovern Redux, Dean is a leftist, Dean is a liberal, Democrats want Centrists and Dean's not a Centrist,
Dems want someone who'll win/Dean can't win .......blah..blah..blah....BLAH.
None of these labels apply, nor do they have much relevance to current reality. They seem to be no more than lazy lies told by a pliant media refusing to understand or recognize the force of history as it budges them along like the moss-laden stones they've allowed themselves to become. They've come to take themselves far too seriously to even notice the reformation of the political forces all about them.
See this article for an example...Dean Defense Forces: Lobbing E-Mail at the Enemy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today we learn that the US is arresting journalists in Iraq.
It was a complete JOKE to see Britt Hume interviewing Paul Wolfowitz this morning on the Sunday morning Fox news show. Hume asked Wolfowitz what our government planned to do about our obvious unhappiness about the 'biased' journalism in Iraq. Wolfowitz pulled no punches, saying that he was unhappy about the free press in Iraq. (See related article here)
Hume asked Wolfowitz, even if the media SEEMS biased, is that reason to cut off a free press if you're promoting democracy? (All the while you could just TELL that Hume was thinking about the tables turned...and knowing his own network is seen as biased).
See comments regarding Wolfowitz's statements here.
Excerpt:
"..."We know that our coverage in Iraq is balanced and unbiased and we are not instigating any violence,'' Salah Nejm, Al Arabiya's news director told Reuters.
Wolfowitz said in an interview on Fox News Sunday the two channels were guilty of "very biased reporting that has the effect of inciting violence against our troops.''
But Al Jazeera responded by accusing U.S. soldiers of intimidating its staff in Iraq.
"In the past month alone, Al Jazeera's offices and staff in Iraq have been subject to strafing by gunfire, death threats, confiscation of news material and multiple detentions and arrests,'' Al Jazeera said in a statement which it said had been sent to the U.S. embassy in Qatar, where the station is based. .."
".....Al Jazeera, whose critical reporting has managed to win it millions of viewers and raise the ire of most Arab governments during its eight years on air, gained international fame after the September 11 attacks and the ensuing war in Afghanistan.
Shouli said Washington was angered at Al Jazeera's coverage because it ``exposed U.S. activity in Iraq, which otherwise goes unreported by most U.S. media.''
"Americans are irritated that we are clarifying the facts. Arab networks were reporting the news in Iraq as it happens,'' he said.
Wolfowitz said in Sunday's interview Washington was talking to unnamed governments to try to get more "balanced'' coverage of Iraq...."
Read a real-life story about the problems of real Iraqi journalists in US-occupied Iraq. (here) Excerpt:
"...The Iraqi press is neck deep in a news agenda diametrically different to that pursued to by the internationals. While the western media tackles the issues of economic (read oil) development and the increasingly routine assassinations of US soldiers, the Iraqi media is trying to deal with agonising stories of more direct consequence to its readers.
What to do, for example, about the chaotic courts system, which as Amnesty researchers note, can keep a traffic offender in a detention pen with murderers for days before his US and British guards can locate him and deliver him before a judge?
Or the failure of the authorities to stop the unchecked sale of looted medicines in street markets, sold by the illiterate to the desperate, a trade that poisons, maims and claims lives every day? Or the violent outbursts of exhausted US troops, far too long 'in country' for anyone's good?
None of this is on the PAOs' agenda, whose mission is to spread the good news about the US-British presence in Iraq......"
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