Howard Dean will officially announce his new advocacy group Democracy for America tomorrow.

A great Central New York resource for information on Howard Dean is at NYCO's blog.

Seen Shakespeare's Will? Want to?

HERE

Are there any descendants of Shakespeare alive today?

Shakespeare had three children: Susanna (1583), twins Hamnet and Judith (1585). Hamnet died in 1596, aged eleven. Susanna married John Hall in 1607, and had one child, Elizabeth, born in 1608. Elizabeth was married twice, to Thomas Nash in 1626, and to John Bernard in 1649. However, she had no children by either husband. In 1616 Judith married Thomas Quiney, by whom she had three sons, Shakespeare Quiney, who died in infancy, and Richard and Thomas, who both died unmarried, early in 1639 within a month of each other. Legitimate descent from Shakespeare is therefore impossible. It is possible, however, to claim a relationship through his sister, Joan. She married William Hart some time before 1600 and there are many descendants of this marriage alive today, in both male and female lines.

Donald Rumsfeld-
Caught on tape

A year ago today, the Bush Administration was making its final push toward war in Iraq. We know now that much of what we were told about the threat that Iraq posed was untrue. And rather than own up to their distortion of the facts, Bush administration officials are denying they ever said such things. But this Sunday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got caught blatantly contradicting his past statements, and MoveOn.org has the video clip. Click the link on the title above in order to see it.

ONE Year Ago--
TWO Views Ago on IDDYBUD..

Read these two points of view. Consider all that has occurred over the past year. Draw your own conclusions.


"We will not defeat or even contain fanatical terror unless we can carry the war to the territories from which it is launched. This will sometimes require that we use force against states that harbour terrorists, as we did in destroying the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

The most dangerous of these states are those that also possess weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is one, but there are others. Whatever hope there is that they can be persuaded to withdraw support or sanctuary from terrorists rests on the certainty and effectiveness with which they are confronted. The chronic failure of the security council to enforce its own resolutions is unmistakable: it is simply not up to the task. We are left with coalitions of the willing. Far from disparaging them as a threat to a new world order, we should recognise that they are, by default, the best hope for that order, and the true alternative to the anarchy of the abject failure of the UN."

--Richard Perle
NeoConservative, former Pentagon warhawk (was chairman of defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board). Mr. Perle was the who said last November to an audience in London:
"I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing."
Mr Perle is the co-author of "An End to Evil-How to Win the War on Terror"
[ American Conservative Review HERE ]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Many of you believe this must happen because you have been told, time and again, that Saddam Hussein possesses an awesome arsenal of mass destruction weapons that he will gladly give to terrorists for use against us. Your belief that this is so stems from your loyalty – the President has told you it is true, and so it must be true. It is fearful indeed to consider weapons like this in the hands of terrorists.
You must know, however, that no proof of either prohibited weapons possession or connections to terrorism on the part of Saddam Hussein has been offered by the administration. They have made many accusations, and offered chunks of evidence, but over the last weeks and months each and every bit of evidence put forth has been debunked. Sometimes, the press has proven them wrong, sometimes the weapons inspectors in Iraq proved them wrong, and sometimes our own intelligence services proved them wrong. No proof offered by the Bush administration has stood up.
None."

--William Rivers Pitt, columnist, addressing Americans who may have been "on the fence" about the right and wrong of the just-begun pre-emptive war on Iraq.


TODAY'S HEADLINE: Bush warms to new UN resolution on Iraq
*would Mr. Perle see this as 'giving in'
to the terrorists?*

In the news

-> Bomb Destroys Baghdad Hotel, Kills Dozens



-> On St. Patrick's Day:
'Religion and Politics - Separate or Inseparable' - John Bruton

Politics, therefore, involves compromise in a way that religious teaching never does. But at what point must the necessity of compromise be made subject to principle, principle based on religious belief? My own view is that matters involving the taking of life are ones where politicians should always vote on principle, principles that for many politicians will derive from their religious beliefs. Other less serious, less irreversible, matters of social and economic policy are ones where the necessity for compromise can be given equal or even greater weight...

-> Bush aide disclaims 2 GOP lawmakers' remarks on Cuba

-> "NBC News has obtained, exclusively, extraordinary secret video, shot by the U.S. government...."


Video here

**OK---How did they they obtain this "exclusively, extraordinary secret
video"?? I wonder if it's as authentic as this one was?

-> Reuters: Democrats Tally 'Misleading' Iraq Statements

-> ThousandReasons.org Opinion re: Presidential Campaign: George Bush: Liar

-> NYT: Powell Reassures India they'll keep getting American jobs.

-> Bank of America Plans Job Cuts of Up to 13,000

-> Washington Post: Spain Campaigned to Pin Blame on ETA
Despite Evidence to Contrary, Basque Group Was Focus in Blasts
*You cannot get caught in a lie of this magnitude on an issue of this importance, and expect to get reelected.*

-> "SPAIN"- Dave Ross Commentary/Seattle, WA

Al Qaeda wants to scare Europe into keeping its distance from the United States.

But that's crazy! You can't give into terrorists! Spain should know that -- heck, Spain DOES know that - they've been fighting Basque terrorists for years.

So how is it that the United States, a victim of terrorism itself, is suddenly like Kryptonite?

We won the war in Iraq! We continue to rebuild the place! We killed Uday and Qusay! We captured Saddam! A new poll in Iraq says 70% of Iraqis expect things to be better off a year from now! By any definition that is a victory!

The only possible explanation is... that the people of Spain decided winning in Iraq ... has nothing to do with stopping terrorism.

And saw last week's attack as the final proof.

-> Judge Denies Al-Arian Free-Speech Claims

A Florida Federal district judge says fund-raising does not have constitutional First Amendment protection and rejects defense motions to strike the words "terrorism" and "terrorist" from Professor Sami Al-Arian's indictment. In a case where an American citizen gives to a charity, do the very words "terrorist" not ring loudly of wildly prejudicial treatment? I can see this one going to the Supreme Court. I have observed shades of similar questionable judicial treatment given to a highly-respected and beloved oncologist here in upstate New York, Dr.Rafil Dahfir, who chose to give to Iraqi charity...certainly no terrorist.

-> Electronic (ES &S) Voting Machines are sure to bring about a democratic disaster this fall
*Even if Bush (or Kerry) lose by narrow margins in any given district in the nation, think about how the GOP (or the Dems) may use information like this to contest voting results. Look at what happened in just two parishes in Louisiana in the most recent (November 5, 2003) elections..

In Louisiana, the two parishes (counties) that paid more than $3 million for 700 ES&S Votronic touch-screen voting machines suffered “countless problems” with the new machines, ac cording to The Advocate of Baton Rouge. The ES&S machines “plagued voters and the clerks of court staffs in Ascension and Tangipahoa, the only parishes that use the new machines other than for absentee balloting.”

Ascension Parish Clerk of Court Hart Bourque said Wednesday that more than 200 machine malfunctions were reported.

“A mechanic would fix a machine, and before he could get back to the office, it would shut down again,” Bourque said. “Unless we find a solution, next fall there’s no way we can vote.”

Tangipahoa Parish Clerk of Court John Dahmer said: “I can’t say every precinct had a problem, but the vast majority did.” Dahmer said at least 20 percent of the machines malfunctioned.

-> David Corn/The Nation: The Best--or Worst--of Bush's Iraq Whoppers

-> AP: 9/11 Panel Calls Bush, Clinton Officials
Hell, no..Condi won't go.

-> AJC: Trust in U.S. erodes abroad
Survey of foreign nations shows many doubt intent of anti-terror campaign