Hell, no, George didn't go.





George Wins the Lottery
Hustler, September 2003


George Bush said--2 days before ordering our troops into Iraq--
"There's no certainty in war but the certainty of sacrifice."

That is true, unless your name is Bush and your Poppy has lots of bribe money and enough influence to get some other poor schlepp to take your place in Sacrifice alley. Greg Palast has uncovered another Bush family lie. Do these people EVER tell the truth about anything?

Watch the skies tonight!



see link

Dear God....

"Up to 800 possibly dead"



10/07/2003 19:30 - (SA)

Chandpur, Bangladesh - Hopes were fading on Thursday of finding hundreds of people missing after a ferry sank in a Bangladesh river, as lashing rains and strong currents brought rescue operations to a near standstill....."

The number feared lost is over half of the number lost on the Titanic.
It didn't even make the headlines of the American network news. What is wrong with American journalism? Have they lost their souls? Have we lost ours?

How We Know the Ground is Beginning to Open Under Bush's Feet...and Soon He Will Sink into



the Land of Liar's Consequences

GW Bush:
"There's going to be, you know, a lot of attempts to try to rewrite
history, and I can understand that. But I'm absolutely confident in
the decision I made."
Excerpt from this article


Bush now realizes how history will portray him. He's already defending a history which will someday prove him to be the President who tried to revise history first, the accuse others of doing it later.

Why is John Kerry Telling Us To "Get Over" Selection 2000 (see Buzzflash reader's commentary) When The Stolen Election Is Still In the News? (see July 9th Daily Business Review)

U.S. authorities need to move quickly to either set up a national security system run by Iraqis or bring in international peacekeeping troops from other nations, possibly including Muslim countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh
U.S. Military Scholars Warn of Wider Iraqi Insurgency

``If U.S. forces are still there a year from now, individuals who suggest the United States is there for bad motives will feel more comfortable stirring up problems,'' said W. Andrew Terrill, research professor at the Carlisle, Pa.-based War College's Strategic Studies Institute.

``Even the (Shi'ites) are saying you need to think about leaving, and they're the ones we're getting along with at the moment,'' he added.

SUMMER FUN

SEARCHING FOR A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

RE: Global Internet network Terra Lycos as seen in the Washington Times:

"Politics is wiggling its way up the charts, however, as searches for Vermont Gov. Howard Dean,
a Democratic presidential contender, are up by 250 percent."

Do You Care Enough?



Indifference is evil's bodyguard. Without it, evil would have to do a much better job of hiding.

Wrestling for the Truth of 9/11

Editorial from today's NY Times: (Note the use of the word "allergic" in the first sentence. Well-done.)

"The Bush administration, long allergic to the idea of investigating the government's failure to prevent the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is now doing
its best to bury the national commission that was created to review Washington's conduct. That was made plain yesterday in a muted way by
Thomas Kean, the former New Jersey governor, and Lee Hamilton, the former congressman, who are directing the inquiry. When these seasoned,
mild-mannered men start complaining that the administration is trying to intimidate the commission, the country had better take notice.

In a status report on its work, the commission said various agencies — particularly the Pentagon and the Justice Department — were blocking requests for vital information and resources. Acting more like the Soviet Kremlin than the American government, the administration has insisted that monitors from various agencies attend debriefings of key officials by investigators. Mr. Kean is quite correct in objecting to this as a thinly veiled attempt at intimidation. Meanwhile, the clock is running for the commission to complete a full report to the nation by next May. Too polite to use the word "stonewalling," the bipartisan commission nevertheless warned the nation that thus far the administration had "underestimated the scale of the commission's work and the full breadth of support required."

The White House has repeatedly pledged cooperation while stressing the delicacy of protecting classified secrets. There are techniques and precedents for the commission to be extended access to critical information without compromising security. Two serious areas of dispute that should be quickly settled in the commission's favor are access to the minutes of National Security Council meetings and to the daily briefing memorandums prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency for President Bush.

Mr. Kean assumed the chairmanship after questions were raised about potential conflicts of interest for the White House's initial choice, Henry Kissinger. "The coming weeks will determine whether we will be able to do our job," the commission warned in prodding the administration to protect the nation's future security as passionately as it clings to its past secrets.

THIS WON'T FLY! WE CANNOT ALLOW OUR PRESIDENT TO TAKE US TO WAR ON THE WINGS OF A LIE AND THEN SAY TO TRUST HIM--"HE HAD NO DOUBT IT WAS RIGHT."

FROM NY TIMES ARTICLE: "Saying he had "no doubt" that the United States was right to invade Iraq, President Bush today brushed aside the controversy over his use of faulty pre-war intelligence that said Saddam Hussein had tried to purchase uranium from Africa.

"I am confident that Saddam Hussein had a weapons-of-mass-destruction program," Mr. Bush said during a news conference in Pretoria, South Africa, his second stop on a five-nation tour through sub-Saharan Africa.

OH, NO. NO. WE'RE NOT SO CONFIDENT. NOT AFTER ALL THESE LIES.

BY THE WAY, HOW QUICKLY BUSH'S MACHO-WORDS TURNED AROUND FROM PRE-WAR STATEMENTS ABOUT SADDAM HUSSEIN'S IMMINENT THREAT TO AMERICA WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND HIS LAME TURNAROUND TO "I'M CONFIDENT SADDAM HAD A WMD PROGRAM".

FRANKLY, I'M TIRED OF BEING PLAYED WITH.
I'LL BET YOU ARE, TOO. WAR ISN'T A PLAYGROUND.

WE NEED TO WRITE TO OUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES TODAY-- TELL THEM HOW WE FEEL ABOUT THE LIES WE'VE BEEN FED.
Go here. See "TAKE ACTION-"Where Are The Weapons of Mass Destruction?"




Senator Rick Santorum sounded like an apologist extraorinaire when he said:

"Obviously, when you use foreign intelligence, you — we don't have necessarily as much confidence or as much reliability as you do your own," Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, said on Tuesday. "It has since turned out to be, at least according to the reports that have been just released, not true. The president stepped forward and said so. I think that's all you can expect."

IF IT HAD BEEN SO OBVIOUS, SENATOR SANTORUM, WHY DID THE PRESIDENT (FOR WHOM YOU ARE COVERING) STATE IT WITH SUCH CONFIDENCE TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE IN THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS?

BUSH'S LIES HAVE CAUSED THOUSANDS TO DIE....MANY OF THEM OUR OWN BELOVED TROOPS.

*And you thought Bill Clinton's lie about having relations with "that woman" was offensive?
I've never witnessed such hypocrisy!
How long will the American public stay asleep?
It's utter madness to stand for these lies.

He started out with 'Mom'

Terry Wallis has awakened from a 19-year coma.
Yes.
I said 19 years.
The first word he uttered after the unusual length of silence was the most beautiful word.

'Mom'.

How grateful his family must be for the angels who whispered into Terry's ear
to tell him that they were missing his company.

*The second word was "Pepsi". I'm sure I'd be looking for caffeine after that long sleep, too ;)

From Nasrudin's Tales

A Tale of Nasrudin



"One day the King decided that he would force all his subjects to tell the truth. A gallows was erected in front of the city gates.
A herald announced, "Whoever would enter the city must first answer the truth to a question which will be put to him."
Nasrudin was first in line. The captain of the guard asked him, "Where are you going? Tell the truth---the alternative is death by hanging."
"I am going," said Nasrudin, "to be hanged on that gallows"
"I don't believe you."
"Very well, if I have told a lie, then hang me!"
"But that would make it the truth!"
"Exactly," said Nasrudin, "your truth."

FOR LALEH AND LADAN

FOR LALEH AND LADAN


Iranian twins Laleh and Ladan Bijani were joined at the head for 29 years.
I was deeply saddened to learn they did not survive the brave attempt to
become separated...to have missed an opportunity to look one another in the eye for
the first time...and to pursue individual paths.

..
Like the brave men on the path,
Wash off your hand from this copper-like existence,
So that one day you gain the alchemy of love
And become gold. -Hafiz

Truth Is Strongest Weapon In War
by Jimmy Breslin

June 15, 2003


I was around when Watergate was being called a third-rate burglary. Brilliant minds in Washington said congressional hearings would be ludicrous, cheap and unpatriotic. Then, Sen. Sam Ervin of North Carolina arrived with a lance to start cross-examining White House people, and we were off into history. I don't think he went three days when the first murmurs of impeachment were heard.

Therefore, on Friday I looked through my notebooks and files about the deaths in Iraq of two Marines, Cpl. Marcus Rodriguez and Sgt. Riayan Tejeda.

Rodriguez's funeral was at Blessed Sacrament Church in Cypress Hills. His mother passed out on the sidewalk after the Mass.

Tejeda was buried out of St. Elizabeth's in Washington Heights. After the service, the mother, bent in pain, had to be helped through a crush of grief on the sidewalk.

Today, the two dead Marines are the symbol for everybody who died in a war that was started because of a series of coordinated lies in Washington that said that Iraq had nuclear bombs. "Weapons of Mass Destruction." The Bush administration used the term so much that it turned into initials, WMD.

I use here a 100-page report from "Defense and the National Interest," a publication respected in war colleges and put out by Charles Spinney, a retired Air Force officer who actually put his reports out while working in the Pentagon since 1975. It is now on the Internet -- with whistle-blowers enthusiastically sending him reports.

Here is just one significant part of his 100-page release:

The State Department said on Sept. 12, 2002, "A new report released on September 9th from the International Institute for Strategic Studies -- an independent research organization -- concludes that Saddam Hussein could build a nuclear bomb within months if he were able to obtain fissile material."

In October 2002, the CIA said, "If Baghdad acquires sufficient weapons grade fissile material from abroad, it could make a nuclear weapon within a year. Without such material from abroad, Iraq probably would not be able to make a weapon until the last half of the decade."

It will either rain or it will not rain tomorrow.

The Defense and the National Interest Report states that more than 90 percent of the entire Manhattan Project budget went to fissile materials, less than 4 percent went to the weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M.

A bomb with fissile material or no bomb at all.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that there were no claims of Iraq actually attempting to import fissile material since 1991, and the known fissile material inside Iraq prior to that date has been fully accounted for by the atomic energy agency. In 1981, Iraq tried to import uranium or "yellowcake" from Niger. Twenty-two years later, Niger today cannot export yellowcake without the consent of its three partners, France, Japan and Spain. It has not happened.

The British then excitedly came out with a document with the forged names of half the government of the country Niger, stating that Iraq was buying uranium. One of the signatures was of a dead man. The forgery was sold to an Italian intelligence agent. There was no uranium moved anywhere. Intelligence agencies all over the place are saying that they knew about the forgery.

And then on Jan. 20, George W. Bush announced in his State of the Union address something that had been known to be fraudulent for months and yet he told his country:

"The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon, and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently bought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide."

That's what Bush said. Why he said it is the question. And why Cheney and Rumsfeld kept trying to justify the war with cries of "WMD" must be questioned by today's Sam Ervin. Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Rumsfeld and Powell loved aluminum tubes. If Saddam has them, he's ready to fire. The tubes turn out to be suitable for short-distance missiles and useless for nuclear manufacture.

One reason for your government operating this way could be that the small closed group in the White House sees what they want to see and proceeds from there, even if it is plainly delusional to anybody looking in from outside.

The only one who takes on George W. Bush over the weapons is Sen. Bob Graham of Florida. Graham compared Bush to Richard Nixon. He says the Republican closed-door hearings are shameful and a dangerous display of secrecy.

Aside from delusion, the other reason for scaring the country about nuclear bombs is lying. There is the lie being told that is false but which the teller has taken to be true. They give the president a speech that is a lie and he gives it. Then there is the lie that tells the opposite of what the teller knows to be true.

It leaps out that the reason given to Americans for going into Iraq -- to stop them from blowing us up with nuclear weapons -- was an outright lie. It was told to America by President George W. Bush. And people died because of it. What kind of a lie and why it was told is something that only a full investigation by Congress, full and on television, can tell the public and tell us who lied and why.

And tell the families of these two Marines we lost in Iraq and who stand for all the others who died for a lie.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0615-01.htm
___________ ________________

Is Bush's admission of "error" enough to get him out of a detailed investigation?
I imagine he hopes so.
Then again, there's the business of over 200 dead U.S. troops and the messiest war since Viet Nam.
How much does America care about being lied to in light of the grievous consequences?

White House Backs Off Claim on Iraqi Buy

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Time out for a shameless plug.
My friend Lisa Borders has written a knock-out of a first novel.
It's titled "Cloud Cuckoo Land".

Everyone should read it.



Pat Conroy, author of "The Prince of Tides", has said of the book:
"Cloud Cuckoo Land is an absolute original by a fresh new voice in fiction."

Bret Lott, author of "Jewel", has said:
"...Cloud Cuckoo Land is remarkable for its scope, style, and wonderfully big heart."

Not so coincidentally, a new official fan club for the rock group "Counting Crows" has just been given a name
chosen by the band members themselves... "CloudCuckooLand".
Lisa has many fans....read her and find out why!

Wesley Clark knew the Bush team was wrong-minded about the military well before they stole the election

Wesley Clark knew the Bush team was wrong-minded about the military well before they stole the election

" CLARK: I’ve never really addressed that issue. I’m considering this candidacy because a lot of people have confidence in me and have asked me to consider it. To me, it’s really about the issues. I saw it starting to go wrong before the [2000] election. I met with Condi Rice.
She told me she believed that American troops shouldn’t be keeping the peace—they were the only ones who could kill people and conquer countries,
and that’s what they should be focused on doing. What she was telling me [was] that she, as a potential Republican national-security adviser,
didn’t support our engagement in Europe. So I saw it going wrong from there.
Then, as the administration took office, I saw more and more what I believed were misunderstandings and missed opportunities."

Article here.

Liberalize the Media!

"The media is kind of weird these days on politics," former Vice President Al Gore is quoted as saying in the June 30, 2003 issue of Time Magazine. "There are some major institutional voices that are, truthfully speaking, part and parcel of the Republican Party."

Go here.
Listen or read.

Get to Know Your Neo-Cons--
Michael Ledeen -Part Two-

(Part One is here).

Flirting with Fascism
Neocon theorist Michael Ledeen draws more from Italian fascism than from the American Right."

Excerpt:

"As Ledeen shows, the Italian fascists expressed their desire “to tear down the old order” (his words from 2002) in terms that are curiously anticipatory of a famous statement in 2003 by the Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. In 1932, Asvero Gravelli also divided Europe into “old” and “new” when he wrote, in Towards the Fascist International, “Either old Europe or young Europe. Fascism is the gravedigger of old Europe. Now the forces of the Fascist International are rising.”

Ledeen has his "creative destruction" sights set on Iran.
Think about it.
Get to really know your Neo-Cons.


More reading: The Persistence of Fascist Metapolitics in the Contemporary ‘New Right’

Europe For The Europeans:Fascist Myths Of The New Order 1922 - 1992 Both by Roger Griffin / Professor in History/ Oxford Brookes University Department of History/ Oxford

Can you believe we need to educate ourselves about facism?
It's come to this in America.
A dark day.
More darkness to come if we fail to see the warning signs.

"I think it's pathetic that I'm considered the left-wing liberal," Dean said. "It shows just how far to the right this country has lurched."

I just read a basically informative Washington Post article about Howard Dean with a curiously negative spin..from the title of the article to statements like this:
"Howard Dean was angry. Ropy veins popped out of his neck, blood rushed to his cheeks, and his eyes, normally blue-gray, flashed black, all dilated pupils."

and

"If Dean is the candidate crowds come to hear, he has also become the one pundits have come to watch, for better or worse. They won't soon forget his dour sparring with Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) during the Democratic candidates' first debate in South Carolina in May, or his shaky appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press" two Sundays ago. And that mouth. A product of New York, Dean can speak so fast that words come tumbling out, landing in a messy heap. In recent months he has been called "brusque," "brash," "blunt" and "belligerent"; a few more choice words on his part, and critics will be questioning whether Dean has the diplomatic skills needed to be the leader of the free world."

I'm finding that this is just typical Washington insider-journalist behavior.
Almost as if they are hedging...still not quite "getting it".
Not believing their own eyes and ears...lacking intuition, perhaps lacking courage to come out and admit
they see the forest for the trees.
I often wonder--is it corporate-related career pressure? Influence of some kind?
Why not simply inform us with news articles and cut out the spin?




There was another Washington Post article regarding Tim Russert that was analyzed by Progressive Review's Sam Smith who sees the article itself, by Howard Kurtz, as a spin-platform for Russert and calls Russert "The Establishment's Bill O'Reilly".
Smith brought up an interesting point about the last Meet Ther Press appearance of Howard Dean:

"....Well, you get the idea. Kurtz' log rolling for Russert fails to note a number of interesting questions such as
how much money did Howard Dean raise because voting "outsiders" failed to agree with the assessment of Washington "insiders"
after watching Dean on Russert? Further, Kurtz' paean poops out when he tries to give examples of Russert's excellence in journalism:

"One likely area involves budget deficits and Social Security, a Russert obsession. When he asked Dean about once having called for cutting
Social Security benefits, the former Vermont governor said: 'I don't recall saying that, but I'm sure I did if you have it on your show,
because I know your researchers are very good.' Dean added that Social Security is 'actually in fine shape until, I don't know, 2040 or
something like that.'

"'No, no, no, no, no,' Russert interrupted, adding: 'When the baby boomers retire, we have a real impending crisis.' Dean quickly backed
off.'"

Well, it turns out that Dean was closer to the truth then Russert and Kurtz, probably because the latter spend too much time talking with
politicians and too little looking at the facts.

According to the Social Security trust fund trustees, fund income will fall below fund expenditures in 2024 and will be depleted in 2037.
It should be noted that this figure has been adjusted several times by the trustees; over one four year period that depletion date has been
extended by eight years, which is a deadline that's pretty hard to catch up with.

There are other problems:

- The Social Security fund projections are based on an inordinately dour view of the American economy, essentially predicting
a continuing near recession in the coming decades.

- As the Left Business Observer has pointed out, while there will be a bulge in older Americans, the total ratio of non-working people
(which includes children) to employed Americans will be much better than it has been in the past.

- Finally, the trust fund is an accounting artifice, representing a political and not an economic choice of how money should be spent.
Should it run dry, we might even have to take some money out of the imperial invasion budget of the Pentagon.

But all this would be far too complex for Russert's liking and so he dismisses Dead ex cathedra and Kurtz laps it up. "



He's not the only one spinning..he just makes it incredibly obvious. Establishment spinners know how to hide the rotisserie. Read this entertaining article about Bill from today's Miami Herald.

I read a great editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer Online.
Excerpt: "U.S. soldiers are dying and dodging guerrilla bullets in a hot and hostile country and their commander-in-chief
says, "Bring 'em on"? Mr. President, do you live in a play house or the White House?"

Al Sharpton said of Bush's "Bring 'em on" statement:
"For the president to say, `bring it on,' almost like
daring and provoking Iraqis to kill American soldiers, he sounds more
like a gang leader in South-Central L.A. than one that is trying to
institute a policy of democracy and reconstruction in the world."


If Bush wanted to consider reality, he may want to read these two recent articles...
the first from BBC News
The second from the Christian Science Monitor.




Who knows where this road will lead us? Got a map, George?

The Bush administration likes to make roadmaps. How about a roadmap out of Iraq

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

READ THIS BOOK

Bush wants African Oil

Bush still looking for oil.
This time in Africa.

Bush's trip to Africa is causing him follow a Clintonesque path.
God, I'll bet Bush hates that comparison after saying in 2001 that Africa wasn't on his radar.
(I don't think there were too many blips on that radar at all, frankly).

If you hear Bush telling you he wants to get these poor folks out of poverty so they won't turn to terrorism -while he's concentrating on oil development for US interests- consider this (from the article:)

"The problem is that money going into the oil industry tends to fill the pockets of top politicians who grant access for exploration and drilling. Millions in “signing bonuses” and other concealed perks make a handful of people fabulously rich, but do little for the population at large. Indeed, the inflow of foreign exchange to oil tends to create relatively few jobs and allows countries to import, rather than manufacture, the goods they need. In the end, most developing countries that have oil as their economic mainstay are embroiled in conflict and mired in poverty."

The only way Africa has gotten on Bush's radar is OIL.
It's the same old same old.
At present, the United States imports about 18 percent of its oil from Africa. Iraq isn't panning out. OPEC is holding together and keeping their prices up.
There is no cheering in the Arab streets for what we have wrought in Iraq.
I guess it's time for some good old down-home expoitation of Africa.
Just watch. I'll bet Bush, all hubris and Godspoken, will be bold enough to look for the African-American vote
for all his "humanitarian" effort in Africa. Remember all the good he's doing with promised money for AIDS-curing drugs
for Africa...while sliding an ex-pharmeceutical honcho into the number-one oversight position.

If it's not Big Oil, it's Big drugs. It's always Big sumthin' with Bush and his ilk.
If it ain't Big, it ain't bringin' in the campaign contributions.
Money is the ONLY thing that makes Bush-style Republican policy work.
There is no virtue alone that could make today's GOP policy socially appropriate.
Money is their message. We are the United States of Amoney-ka.
If you ain't got the dime, Bush aint got the time.

If Bush really wants to help the poverty-stricken, perhaps he should look a little closer to home.
See this story from the Guardian.

If the following statement from the story is true and it could be proven, Bush should be promptly impeached and imprisoned.

excerpt: "Democrats believe the Republicans are being encouraged by the White House to cause chaos in the hope this will lead to the recall of the Democratic party governor, Gray Davis, and his replacement with a Republican, possibly Arnold Schwarzenegger."

Talk about being anti-american! Dragging your nation's economy down purposefully for political gain? That, my friends, is criminal.

What's happening to what was once such a great, virtuous, and noble nation?

Howard Dean, Webmaster

From the Howard Dean blog today:

Howard Dean, Webmaster
Adam Nagourney looks back at Howard Dean's Monday numbers and gets the complete picture in the Sunday New York Times' Week In Review :

"Political strategists have become increasingly fascinated with the Internet as a potential new force in political organizing and fund-raising.
But no one seemed to understand how effective the Web could be until Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate,
reported last week that he had raised $7.5 million in the second quarter of this year — with $4.1 million coming from his Web site.
Dr. Dean blew past his competitors, drawing checks and clicks from almost 59,000 people, which he suggested was a record.

It's not just money. Using the Web to get out the vote — replacing telephone banks and doorbell ringing — suddenly seems very real.
Dean supporters organized meetings nationally last week through Meetup.com, drawing 55,000 people in 250 communities.
Is it any surprise that Joe Trippi, Dr. Dean's campaign manager, would be proposing that the Web would transform politics as
much as television did after the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates?"

___________________________

My own comments as posted on the Howard Dean blog:

"Here is the key to it all...this is how Dr. Dean will, as we look back, have come strolling refreshingly on in and surprised them all:

Using Adam Nagourney's astute comment:

"....no one seemed to understand how effective the Web could be until Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate, reported last week that he had raised $7.5 million in the second quarter of this year — with $4.1 million coming from his Web site."

Many in Big Media just don't "get it" yet.
They're a tough crowd. Very slow to come around to reality sometimes.
They are beginning to understand..and voices like Nagourney's are powerful in getting those in journalism who are far too often wobbly and reliant upon "old-school" to come around to the truth of what is happening out here.


I love these music ideas, by the way.
Especially the Billy Bragg.

I've always loved this Peter, Paul, and Mary song..and in this day and age of Patriot Acts, Total Information Awareness, and sunshine patriots, it reminds me of the hope that still lives in our hearts...the hope that Dr. Dean symbolizes, for me:

HOME ON THE RANGE /
DON'T EVER TAKE AWAY MY FREEDOM

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam
And the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Three horses grazing out my window, brown, black and white they stand
Rolling pastures they can wander, free and easy is their land

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

I always thought that I'd see in my own lifetime
An end to poverty, injustice and war
But now I've learned that that job will take a long, long time
So there's one thing that must endure

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

When I am old and thinking over the whole life that I've led
If there's one final wish left to me
I will pray that the children, who are yet to be born,
I will pray that they will always live free

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

There is a time for the singing and the sunshine
There is a time for the thunder and the rain
There is a time for the changing of the seasons my friend
But there is one thing we must never change

Don't ever take away my freedom, don't ever take it away
We must cherish and keep that one part of our lives
And the rest we're gonna find one of these days...
One of these days

Traditional / Peter Yarrow

____________________

Irrelevant Journalism-Part 8941

Heard on the Chris Matthews show today:

Howard Fineman of Newsweek reading a letter from a friend he claims is high-ranking in the US Military.
He states that he had received the letter three weeks ago:

"Have I got news for you!
The reporters have fled and the real stories have just begun...Iraq is a mess."

Why did the embedded reporters disappear?
(The ones supported by so many of our tax dollars)?
Was it because the Bush administration claimed "victory"?
What made it a victory, really? Was it that gigantic statue that was pulled down and stomped upon?


Saddam-Did we really get him? Click here for answer.

Was that the end?

Hardly.

Ask the American families of over 60 men who have died since then.

Where are the embedded reporters now that the real stories have just begun?

They're back in their Bushworld where the big news today is wag-the-dog Liberia.

Carefully crafted Attention Deficit journalism.

The mess in Afghanistan has been all but forgotten (as we once again negotiate with terrorists in the Taliban out of the media-scope).

Will Iraq soon be relegated to the back-burner?

They're already trying..while troops are still dying.

It's Worse Than It Seems

From the blogs:
Is the draft coming soon?

It's Worse Than It Seems
By Steve Gilliard / http://www.DailyKos.com

"...Viceroy Jerry has asked for 50,000 troops to maintain his rule. There's one small problem with that. There aren't 50K to give. The US military is nearly at the end of it's deployable strength and needs to withdraw the 3ID as soon as possible...."

"....didn't we disregard our allies sane, rational, and logical suggestions about how to deal with Iraq? Now, we expect Japanese and Korean troops, forget French and German to help us out?"

"The request for troops is a political minefield and one which places the Army at it's limits. The war was supposed to be over, 50,000 men getting their Iraqi visas puts that to the lie once and for all. It would awaken opposition to the war and not solve the problem..."

"The Shia will determine what happens in Iraq regardless of our desires and will. The Army is stretched to the limits with no clear source of more troops. And there are no simple answers to any of this. Bring it on? We have brought it on, more than we can handle without grim choices..."

TEMPERAMENT WARS

TEMPERAMENT WARS
By James Traub
New York Times Sunday Magazine, July 6, 2003

"Why are the Democrats so much more willing than the Republicans to make political sacrifices in the name of procedural fairness or of good government? Maybe Democrats are just nicer, but a more philosophical view is that liberals are committed to, are in fact bedeviled by, ideals about process that do not much preoccupy conservatives, at least contemporary ones. Liberals put their faith in such content-neutral principles as free speech, due process, participatory democracy. Is that too lofty?"


Bitter charging is all the GOP knows.


"The G.O.P. is making such inroads among younger voters for the same reason that Fox News is making inroads among younger viewers.
We live in a culture that values brazen certainty and loud conviction, no matter how wrongheaded.
Pity the Democrats, stuck with the wrong set of virtues..."

George W Bush- Lies With Lips fully in Gear-Delusions of Granduer Also Spinning Madly

Army Times Editorial Shows the Truth -What the Average Military Man and Woman Are Thinking of George W. Bush's Empty Rhetoric

George W Bush lies with his lips fully in gear---his God-stimulated delusions of granduer apparently alive and intact--
how else could he make so many vacant promises and statements devoid of actuality?

The rhetoric is far more empty than the stuffed "man-area" of AWOL Flop Gun Bush's flight suit on the day he lied on and on about
victory in Iraq-- the combat being over--the mission "accomplished". Does he take active servicepeople and Vets for fools?

Veterans and active servicepeople can tell when a leader is trying to rip away at the social programs that benefit them.

They can see a phony leader feeding them pretty lines-- and they can see when the pretty lines have no substance
to transform 'pretty' to active reality.


A man's own life is important to him. So is his country and his beloved family.
The soldier thinks not about God's bestowal of grandeur upon his leader when following orders of that trusted leader.
The soldier concerns himself not with any glory his leader hopes to attain, but simply hopes for the grace of his God in the face of death.

If you think you aren't happy about the thought of perpetual war (allegedly inspired by God) at the drop of your leader's
war-mongering 'bring-em-on' hat, think about the men and women with their very lives on the line....and the families who love them.

"His name is George W. Bush. He became President of the United States.
So you know if you said to me, name 25 million people who would maybe be President of
the United States, he wouldn't have been in that category."

David Rubenstein, Carlyle managing director

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Poor Rich Little Loser-boy Dubya


He was down on his luck. Needed sumthin' to do. He liked tellin' lots of dirty jokes.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __

David Rubenstein said:

"....when we were putting the board together, somebody came to me and said, look there is a guy who would like to be on the board. He's kind of down on his luck a bit. Needs a job. Needs a board position. Needs some board positions. Could you put him on the board? Pay him a salary and he'll be a good board member and be a loyal vote for the management and so forth.

I said well, we're not usually in that business. But okay, let me meet the guy. I met the guy. I said I don't think he adds that much value. We'll put him on the board because - you know - we'll do a favor for this guy; he's done a favor for us. We put him on the board and spent three years. Came to all the meetings. Told a lot of jokes. Not that many clean ones. And after a while I kind of said to him, after about three years - you know, I'm not sure this is really for you. Maybe you should do something else. Because I don't think you're adding that much value to the board. You don't know that much about the company.

He said, well I think I'm getting out of this business anyway. And I don't really like it that much. So I'm probably going to resign from the board.

And I said, thanks - didn't think I'd ever see him again.
His name is George W. Bush. He became President of the United States. So you know if you said to me, name 25 million people who would maybe be President of the United States, he wouldn't have been in that category.

from an actual tape obtained by freelance reporter Suzan Mazur who recently posted a partial transcript on the Progressive Review website.

See Democracy Now story re: a tape recording of Carlyle managing director David Rubenstein to have "A Look At Why The Carlyle Group Wanted to Drop George W. Bush From Its Board A Decade Ago"

A day to 'begin the world over again'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Fourth of July, 2003
John Nichols: A day to 'begin the world over again'


The Fourth of July falls on a Friday this year, which is great news for the three-day weekend crowd that complains bitterly most other years about having to go to work the day after they "celebrate" the anniversary of the nation's birth.

In a country where just about every national symbol - from the flag to the presidential oath of office - has been bent to serve the interests of commerce and leisure, it is amazing that we still celebrate the Fourth of July on the Fourth.

As long as no one tells John Ashcroft or Dick Cheney that this holiday honors revolutionaries who threw off the chains of colonialism, empire, monarchy and the state-sponsored religion that were - and remain - the primary threats to freedom and human advancement, the Fourth is probably safe from interference from our contemporary King George and his churlish courtiers.

But how should Americans who take seriously the promise of a revolution - "that all men (and women) are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights" and "that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among these men (and women), deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" - go about celebrating this Fourth of July?

Should we raise the red-white-and-blue banner of the Republic? Well, of course. Though it has been dragged through the mud by so-called "patriots" who continue to engage in the sort of military adventurism that both Washington and Jefferson warned against in their farewell addresses to the nation, this remains the flag of the Wisconsinites who marched south to banish the crime of slavery from this country's soil. No flag has yet been associated with a nobler military endeavor than the Stars and Stripes when it flew above those who battled the Southern scoundrels who marched beneath the banner of human bondage.

Should we celebrate the founders themselves? Yes, within reason. It is true that many of the men who made this nation were flawed. The best of them admitted as much at the time. The worst were revealed in time. But no one who cherishes liberty should hesitate to raise a cheer for old Tom Paine, who wrote of Americans in 1776: "We have it in our power to begin the world over again. A situation similar to the present hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of the new world is at hand, and a race of men, perhaps as numerous as all Europe contains, are to receive their portion of freedom from the events of a few months."

As America celebrates the 227th birthday of the new world, however, it is important to recall that Paine also reflected upon the prospect: "If you subvert the basis of the revolution, if you dispense with principles and substitute expedients, you will extinguish that enthusiasm and energy which have hitherto been the life and soul of the revolution; and you will substitute in its place nothing but a cold indifference and self-interest, which will again degenerate into intrigue, cunning and effeminacy."

Paine's warning anticipated this degenerate moment, in which Americans are awakening to the prospect that the president and his advisers intrigued the country into a foreign misadventure that stinks rather too much of the imperialism Americans once associated with the British crown their forebears revolted against.

Should we despair at the realization of Paine's worst fear for the land? Perhaps a bit. But Paine would surely warn against surrendering to that despair. These may, in fact, be the times that try men's souls. But as Tom Paine suggested in 1776, such times are where the false patriots are separated from the true: "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, as definitional a pair of summer soldiers as ever will be found, can lead their sunshine patriots in celebrations of imperialistic conquest and their allegiance with Tony Blair and what remains of the tattered British realm. The sons and daughters of Tom Paine will stand this Fourth of July and honor the revolutionary spirit that revolted against the corruptions of empire.

Copyright 2002 The Capital Times


http://www.madison.com/captimes/opinion/column/nichols/52132.php

Seen on the forums

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

I noticed this on a political forum yesterday--liked it ;)

"Bring 'Em On"

If your aim is to bait the enemy,
You don't have to watch what you say.
You just have to do all your taunting
From a very safe distance away.

By DC Dave

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

Listen to Howard Dean's NPR Interview -- Transcript Now Online

Go here to listen to
Bob Edwards' interview with Howard Dean on July 2.

American Prospect article on Dean campaign

Don't miss this article from American Prospect (link here). They have a good handle on what's really happening with the Dean campaign.

Doonesbury today

See the Doonesbury cartoon for today, July 4.

Bring 'em on?

These were Dr. Dean's comments on Bush's dangerously thoughtless and macho-impulsive Bring 'em on" statement yesterday:

“Today, President Bush provoked Iraqi militants targeting our soldiers in Iraq, saying ‘Bring them on.’ This was incredibly reckless rhetoric.
These men and women are risking their lives every day, and the President who sent them on this mission showed tremendous insensitivity to the dangers they face. This is the wrong message to send to our troops in the field and their families who wish them a safe return. President Bush should focus on encouraging the keeping of the peace, since that is now our mission.”

Friends listen

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



"The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention… "
Rachel Naomi Remen

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

From: Dean's Surge in Fund-Raising Forces Rivals to Reassess Him

July 3, 2003
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MICHAEL JANOFSKY

WASHINGTON, July 2 - Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor making his first bid for national office, raised substantially more money
this quarter than all his more established opponents in the Democratic presidential contest, according to figures released today.

The result forced Dr. Dean's rivals to reconsider how to deal with an opponent they had until now viewed as little more than an irritant..... "

"...many Democratic leaders said they continued to view his candidacy as something of a long shot...."

Jude's comment: What "Democratic leaders"?

"....Dr. Dean's showing was unexpected - even by some supporters - and reflects some of the different approaches he has brought to
campaigning, starting with his clearly effective reliance on the Internet to raise money. His rivals seemed uncertain just what to make
of this turn of events..."

In several campaigns today, there was debate about whether - or, in some cases, when - to begin attacking Dr. Dean directly,
and how to do it without alienating the new voters he has drawn into the political process.

Jude's comment: Attacking Howard Dean? That's no way for the other Dem candidates to score confidence points...
Democrats want to hear a plan for America...not an attack on a fellow party-member.

"..I think most Democrats would prefer not to have Howard Dean as the nominee," Mr. Gephardt's campaign manager,
Steve Murphy, said. "I'll leave it at that....."

Jude's comment: What the hell is that supposed to mean?!

"....An aide to Mr. Lieberman said: "Everyone wants a race against Dean. Everyone has looked at the research, and he
looks easiest to bring down. He's positioned himself as a liberal, and liberals don't win here..."

Jude's comment: Famous last words of a loser. I'm terribly disappointed in Lieberman.

"...What the Democrats want more than anything else in the nominee is someone who can beat Bush - Democrats just want to win,"
this Lieberman aide said....."

Jude's comment: LIKE---HELLO?!?

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Re-Lighting the Torches of America's Soul

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

Re-Lighting the Torches of America's Soul
By Bernard Weiner
Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers



HOPE ON THE HORIZON

In short, the building blocks are almost in place for serious impeachment moves and a possible electoral victory in 2004. The keys to these hopeful developments lie in:



1. MAINTAINING THE PRESSURE. Bush&Co. cannot be permitted to select a scapegoat and thus avoid personal responsibility for the lies told that put American men and women into harm's way in Iraq, and that continue to get many of them killed. (Clinton harmed himself and just a few others as a result of his lying about sex; when Bush lies, people die and our treasury is depleted. Many religiously-oriented folks were deeply upset at Clinton's "immorality"; the connection needs to be emphasized to them that "immoral" behavior can involve something other than sexual liaisons.)
______________________



2. WORKING TO ENSURE A FAIR ELECTION. Demand of your local and state election officials that no computer voting be authorized unless and until it comes with iron-clad ways of checking the ballots, a verifiable paper-trail to ensure that nobody can tamper with the vote and get away with it. Ensure that, unlike Florida in 2000, tens of thousands of voters cannot be purged from the voting rolls by deliberate fiat of supporters of one party or the other. Double-check to make sure that the vote-counting of military personnel abroad is on the up-and-up, with a verifiable paper trail.
_______________________



2. TALKING UP A STORM. Contact your neighbors and associates and friends about what is happening in this country; write letters to the editor, call talk-show hosts, compose articles and blogs for the internet, participate in meetings and political actions, go out and register new voters, etc. etc. -- all these help add to the critical mass necessary for regime change at home. In short, organize, organize, organize!
_____________________



3. CONNECTING WITH THE FAITHFUL. Work with your church or synagogue or mosque to re-fire the moral indignation, to connect one's religiosity to the soul-work of right action in society.
_______________________



4. REVERSING THE SUCTION. Engage in positive, spiritually uplifting actions as often as you can, so that you can escape the immoral suction forces pulling one down into the negativity and fright that pass for policy in the Bush world. Volunteer, aid a soup kitchen, donate money to good causes, become a mentor to at-risk kids, choose a candidate and work for the campaign, immerse yourself in an art project, help oppositional websites and magazines, etc. etc. In other words, see the light guiding one forward, rather than the shadows nipping at your heels. Turn your head away from the propaganda and lies, and towards the sunshine of hope. Let love rule your actions; as your heart opens, so do doors of possibility and courage.
_______________________



5. JOINING THE POLITICAL PROCESS. Elect Greens or whomever on local levels, but once the Democrats select their presidential standard-bearer, do not dwell on the candidate's shortfalls or where you might disagree with him or her on a particular issue or two. Remember that the ONLY point in 2004 is to defeat the Bush juggernaut, so as to move our country away from extremist politics and back toward civil compromise and more centrist (and, we can hope, maybe even some progressive) policies.
________________________

NY DAily News column re: "Treason"

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

The hard right finally dumbs out

Re: The book "Treason" by Coulter:


"I am happy to report that Ann Coulter has lost her mind......"



"When her book reaches the best-seller list, as it surely will, we'll know the conservative movement has cracked up.
Happy days are here again."



http://www.nydailynews.com/07-01-2003/news/story/96978p-87861c.html

Food for Thought

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



http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/070103_beyond_bush_1.html

Now, you may think this borders the
conspiracy-theorist's lawn, but nowadays, I just don't know...
I just...
........don't
......................know.

When you have plenty of facts sliding right on by....and you add a healthy dose of suspicion....

Decide for yourself.

Are you a Pantheist?

Are you a pantheist?

http://www.pantheism.net/

The Fall of Rome

Educate Yourself
*Robert Kaplan--minus intellectualism--equals FEAR

This man...Robert Kaplan...pulls no punches. He gives it to you straight as an arrow.
No moral ambiguity. He has apparently been able to put the sense of morality completely aside
when explaining the U.S. standing in the world. The frightening thing is, he is representing a bitter
truth.
It's what the President doen't tell you, but it's there...silent and sturdy...undereath every word he spins.
America as Empire.
America is Empire.

Robert Kaplan seems to forget something important here....we are still a democracy. American democracy is still breathing.
We, as citizens, have a right and responsibility to watch over the actions of our leader and call him on his lies.
He is not entitled to be Emperor.
We American citizens are responsible for the behavior of George W. Bush in ways that the people of Iraq were never responsible for Saddam Hussein. There is now good reason to believe that GW Bush, in his highly dishonest, personal, irrational, and thoroughly Manichaean campaign against
Hussein, has set the very world on a course toward disaster.

The frightening thing about Robert Kaplan is this:
He sets aside moral clarity to shore up what he considers to be the "necessary Empire"...only to serve a dystopian vision later on:
Robert Kaplan: "....I foresee a global system in a few decades that will very roughly resemble the Han Empire that emerged in China in around the second or third century BC. The Han Empire, which governed much of today's China, was not a dictatorship ruled from a central capital. In the beginning, at least, it represented a grand harmony of diverse peoples and systems that despite all their power struggles found out that it was in their self interest to limit their own power for the sake of the greater whole..."

I would suggest to Mr. Kaplan that he study history with a closer eye on the effects of power upon human nature.
When you start with "ugly", it only gets uglier.....

To his intellectual credit, Kaplan is a proponent of the emulation of 2nd-Century Rome..not that I share his opinion.
Kaplan's Machiavellian idea that armed prophets are the only prophets who truly succeed run counter to my thoughts on
the practice of non-violence. Peace will never be established through violence. Violence will be a cycle that never ends.
You need not be religious to understand the requisite role love plays in the attainment of peace.

When contemplating Rome and considering the direction of the leadership of George W. Bush, I am reminded of Constantine.

My mind turns to the emperor Constantine who, in 313, issued the Edict of Milan, and in my mind, set the stage for Rome's eventual fall.
I am reminded Of George W Bush in his "unifying" us through actions (such as the decision to preemptively strike Iraq) which he admits are "divine" interventions...his attempting to "unite" us in troubled times by giving us a prescribed axis of "evil" (knowing the Empire requires the political conquering of these countries)....and especially Bush's pandering to the Christian fundamentalists in this country.
Constantine, seeking complete political unification of the Roman Empire, set about bringing the religious and ethnic groups who lived under Roman rule into unification. He accomplished this by instilling in Roman citizens a common sense of brotherhood, namely by identifying common enemies of the state. He also claimed he was halting religious persecution, issuing the Edict of Milan. (While at the same time he was was preparing to stamp out religious diversity within Christianity..dividing....and hoping to conquer... through a new and united political "religion").

I see Bush's efforts to unite Americans against a common enemy, which he calls "terror"---a vague description which he is deliberately blurring and blanketing into Iraq, Iran, Syria, and most other unAmericanized desert lands---as glaringly similar to Constantine attempting to unite the divided Church against a common enemy "outside" Christendom (as per Nicea--which watered down true Christianity forever). Bush is a replay of Constantine's efforts to unify the divided Roman Empire by identifying and condemning its common "enemies".

You're either "with us" or "against us".

Long after Constantine helped to politicize what was once a beautiful and pure Christianity, many saw the violent and brutal Crusades as a morally sound effort...
or they simply set aside the moral ambiguity.

*This sounds like the ideological lovechild of Robert Kaplan's philosophy and George W Bush's actual leadership.

We are no better off than Rome in 395, when severe financial problems began to face the Empire.
Let us not forget what happened to Rome.

Study the fall of Rome.
Beware.

Last, a quote from Robert Kaplan:

"Foreign policy, though, operates in a lawless realm. The kind of morality we apply overseas in dealing with our adversaries is a more limited, sadder morality than we apply at home. Realism also means that all moral questions of human rights, democracy, etc. are ultimately questions of power. Realism assumes that sometimes you have to perpetrate a certain amount of evil in order to do a greater amount of good. These are all aspects of realism in foreign affairs. I think the United States, right now, under President Bush, is what I would call a classically realist foreign policy."

For all his talk about the importance of the pagan warrior, Mr Kaplan certainly talks a blue streak about "good" and "evil".
I believe that Mr Kaplan, like many of us, is afraid, plain and simple.
He realizes capitalism is flawed, and populism is his sworn enemy...it scares him to death.
His "realism" stems from his subjective "reality"....and in his world, there is great fear and mistrust of his fellow man.
To Mr Kaplan, the world-at-large is scary and "evil".
Power is the panacea in his dystopian dreams.
This is the same fear that won the election for the GOP in 2002.
The same fear that has afforded Bush popularity in public polls.
The further we play into our fears, the sooner we will destroy ourselves from within.


Resources:

SOCIETY FOR LATE ANTIQUITY
http://www.sc.edu./ltantsoc/


INTERNATIONAL ANCIENT HISTORY SOURCEBOOK
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html

INTERNATIONAL MEDIEVAL SOURCEBOOK
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

BYZANTINE STUDIES
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/index.html


ORB ENCYCLOPAEDIA: scroll down to: 'Early Medieval „ Antecedents': several useful essays on aspects of 'the Fall of Rome'
http://orb.rhodes.edu/index.html

DE IMPERATORIBUS ROMANIS: lengthy, scholarly essays on each of the emperors, to 476 for the West and to 1453 for the East.
http://www.roman-emperors.org/impindex.htm

LACUS CURTIUS: contains an Atlas of the Roman world
http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/home.html

JOHN VANDERSPOEL HOME PAGE:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/

Restoring the American Spirit

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Restoring the American Spirit
—By Jay Walljasper, Utne magazine

I enjoyed this short piece in Utne Reader.
The small things we set our hearts to doing for the America we envision means everything.

Do something.


"How sadly ironic it would be if 9/11, a tragedy that pulled Americans together like nothing since World War II, provided cynical politicians an opportunity to stifle our deep instincts for trying to make things better...."

"..citizens are no longer motivated..... they no longer feel they can make a difference. That may be what’s at the heart of the Bush team’s political strategy: to shovel so much economic and political clout into the hands of corporate executives that the rest of us feel almost powerless to change anything in our country.


".....now that’s the American spirit: citizens growing aware of a problem and then rolling up their sleeves to do something about it. It’s what has always brought out the greatness in us, from 19th-century abolitionists to New York City firefighters. And I don’t believe that the Bush administration, no matter how brilliant its strategists are, will get away with quashing our deeply ingrained American optimism..."

Pakistan is a powderkeg

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

Pakistan is a powderkeg


Did you know that:

Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf warned, prior to his recent trip to Washington, of a possible "non-conventional nuclear war" in South Asia if the West continued to sell weapons to New Delhi while maintaining a patchy arms embargo on Islamabad? Did you know that Musharraf said that, in such circumstances, Pakistan would have no choice but to rely on its nuclear weapons?

Do you find it odd that:

Given the Bush administration's recent high profile public concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation in North Korea and Iran, President George W Bush did not press Pakistan regarding its nuclear weapons program?

Do you worry when you realize:

US officials are concerned that political turmoil in the Kashmir region increases the threat from both insiders and outsiders to nuclear facilities, material and weapons and fear that nuclear weapons and facilities could fall into the hands of terrorists or a hostile government?

Do you better understand the majority of the minds of the Pakistani people when, after hearing Musharraf say in a television interview that 'mainly Muslim Pakistan' must seriously take up the issue of recognizing Israel and avoid dealing with it on emotional grounds, they aver:

"Jerusalem is not just an Arab issue and is linked to the faith of every Muslim," maintained Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, a component party of the MMA (the six-party Pakistani religious alliance Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal). "Presenting Palestine as a sole Arab issue is a heinous conspiracy of the imperialists and colonists aimed at disintegrating the Muslims and shattering the concept of Muslim unity. It is for the same reason the colonist forces are trying to portray every Muslim issue as regional or bilateral," said Qazi, reiterating his support for the Palestinian intifada or uprising.

What do you think about the U.S. getting down in the bloody muck of once again negotiating with the Taliban (as we did in Pakistan this past month)?
Didn't we beat them down? Or have we been grossly misinformed?

Do you know things are getting worse in Afghanistan? That's A-F-G-H-A-N-I-S-T-A-N.......have you forgotten?

Are you aware that it's predicted that an ever-better-organized, equipped and trained resistance movement will intensify its guerrilla attacks,
especially in the rugged mountains and scorching heat of Jalalabad and Kandahar? That the ranks are being swelled by Chechen and Uzbek volunteers,
and some sources even say that suicide bombers are included in their ranks?? It has been said, by observers familiar with Afghan resistance
movements, that the resistance movement that has emerged since Taliban's fall is stronger than the movement that opposed Soviet
invaders for nearly a decade starting in 1979.


Do you know that the re-emergence of the Taliban movement suits some elements in Pakistan, who hanker after the days when Pakistan, through its support of the Taliban, wielded much influence in Afghanistan?


Do you think Pakistan is a virtual powderkeg?

I certainly do.

James Carville quote

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

James Carville on Mahdi from
Bag-hdadi's Old Centrifuges Buried Under the Rosebushes
(From Transcript of Meet The Press June 29, 2003):



"....I suspect that they have a pretty good idea if they had some weapons or not. This unearthing that this guy had something buried in his back yard for 12 years, I swear, it looked like a carburetor some redneck would have in his garage, and they put this thing up and we’re going to get blown up by this? It was buried for 12 years. I mean, they may have—as Vice President Cheney said right here in this chair, they may have a reconstituted nuclear program, but we sure haven’t found anything close to it yet or a nuclear bomb..."

Is Google God?

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



Thomas Friedman asks the burning question.....



Is Google God?

"The key point is not just whether people hate us," says Robert Wright, the author of "Nonzero," a highly original book on the integrated world. "The key point is that it matters more now whether people hate us, and will keep mattering more, for technological reasons. I don't mean just homemade W.M.D.'s. I am talking about the way information technology -- everyone using e-mail, Wi-Fi and Google -- will make it much easier for small groups to rally like-minded people, crystallize diffuse hatreds and mobilize lethal force. And wait until the whole world goes broadband......"

http://politicalwire.com/archives/002349.html

~~~~~~~~~~~


Dean Raises $7 Million For Quarter

See Taegan Goddard's Poliical Wire for more about the good news!

Sen John Warner refuses Iraq investigation

DID YOU KNOW THAT
SENATOR JOHN WARNER HAS REFUSED A REQUEST FOR A SENATE ARMED
SERVICES COMITTEE INQUIRY INTO IRAQ INTELLIGENCE?
article here

Ask yourselves--why wouldn't the good Senator Warner care?
Why would the Armed Services Committee need to wait until the Senate Intelligence Committee
has completed its review, then decide how to move ahead?

When covering asses becomes paramount over an imperative truth (a truth which has taken the lives of over 200 precious U.S. troops
and countless Iraqi troops and civilians), then there clearly IS no Senate bipartisanship and should be no angst about Senate bipartisanship.



SCREW bipartisanship if this is the way of things.

Senator Carl Levin---we Americans salute you!
Thank you.

Foreign Power Detains Mayor of U.S. Southern City

Foreign Power Detains Mayor of U.S. Southern City!



"Foreign troops detained the mayor of this Christian-dominated southern city on Monday, accusing him of kidnapping and corruption, and arrested 62 of his top aides, the foreign military said...."



OK.

This isn't a real story.

Something similar has actually happened, though, in another country.

Imagine it happening here.
Can you?
I wonder.....


...and the nuttiest thing is this: we appointed the guy in the first place.
What the hell are we thinking? What the hell are we doing?!


Democracy? I'm sorry.....did someone say democracy??!?


..with a straight face?!??


Incidentally, the photo above is actually the Addams family's "Cousin It" being taken to the City Zoo.


And, no---this is NOT John Kerry.



But this surely resembles Emperor Bush surveying his conquered lands amidst the vanquished of desert sands..

Bush Misled US Into Iraq War--An Official Finding?

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

David Corn
Bush Misled US Into Iraq War--An Official Finding?


U.S. Representative Jane Harman (ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee) is speaking strongly.
Will Bush's prewar deceptions end up more thoroughly substantiated than was his case for war?


See article here

California State Democrats recall lessons of Florida

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

California State Democrats recall lessons of Florida
Republicans' 2000 tactics serving as model for Davis team


"When the 2000 presidential election melted down in Florida, Democrats were admittedly exhausted, caught off guard and outmaneuvered by Republicans. Now, Democrats are applying the lessons they learned 3,000 miles away to the potential recall of Gov. Gray Davis.

Over the past two weeks, Davis and his supporters have become more organized and focused, and unafraid of ground-level skirmishes. They have settled on a simple message -- that the recall is a right-wing coup attempt -- and started preparing a long-range public relations assault..."

read article here

Top 100 Small Art Towns

Top 100 American Small Art Towns
-Where the towns are small, but the art is always BIG


An image from Le Paradis Musulman
illustrated by F.-L. Schmied

See author John Villani's list of Top 100 Small Art Towns in America
*from his book "The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America: Discover Creative Communities, Fresh Air, and Affordable Living":

See index here

Art reference: http://www.wilsey.net/

The Language of Nonviolence

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

The Language of Nonviolence
By Marshall B. Rosenberg

The path to non-violence begins by considering that:
(from article):
“How are you?” has become ritualized in many cultures, but it’s a profoundly important question, because living in harmony with our nature – which I think is compassion – requires being able to stay connected to one another..."

*Marshall B. Rosenberg travels the globe teaching Nonviolent Communication to diplomats, educators, corporate managers, parents, military personnel, peace activists, and others in over 20 countries.

Natural Child Project
Misc Rosenberg Articles

Newsday Columnist Agrees That Cable News is Swiftly Becoming Irrelevant

Newsday Columnist Agrees That Cable News is Swiftly Becoming Irrelevant

See article here

The Cable News networks may as well be Court TV.

Excerpt:

"I was a little worried about the coming news vacuum now that we've won the war in Iraq. The only thing left is to get Iraqis to like us and stop shooting our nation-builders.

It's a comfort to know that, thanks to TV news, the most trusted source of information, a recent poll found one-third of the American public believes weapons of mass destruction were uncovered in Iraq. Another 22 percent believes Iraq used chemical or biological weapons against coalition forces.

The whole world is in recession. You can get a six-year loan with zero interest on a car, and dealers still can't give the cars away. Ford is seemingly going bankrupt. Still, there is no economic news worth saturation coverage.

You can't do foreign news, because surveys find that Americans are bored by foreign news. So covering the 60 countries where we may have to send our troops to help rebuild is frowned upon."

'Enron Ralph' given senior spot in Conservative Bush campaign

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'Enron Ralph' given senior spot in Conservative Bush campaign

"Mr. Bush has named Ralph Reed, who first rose to prominence as executive director the Christian Coalition, as a senior member of his campaign team. Beyond that, Mr. Rove and Mr. Mehlman are viewed by conservatives as advocates for their point of view in the White House."

...the same "prominent" Ralph Reed who, prior to his recent rise to capaign glory, achieved "prominence" when a cushy job with Enron was bestowed upon him.....thanks to "friends in highhh places..".
Sing a long, Ralph: "Whaaaat a friend we have in Dubya....."

Here's a quote from Edward H. Crane, president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization: "His fiscal record is appalling — spending is out of control... the fiscal record of the Bush administration makes Clinton look downright responsible."

If democracy-loving Americans remain complacent, Grover'Norquist's twisted wish will come true:
"The Republicans are looking at decades of dominance in the House and the Senate, and having the presidency with some regularity," Mr. Norquist said.

Don't just sit there----DO something.

Adam Nagourney/NY Times article here

Britain stirs, America sleeps

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Britain stirs, America sleeps
By William Pfaff TMSI/IHT

Excerpt:

".. A good deal has already been written about corrupting the intelligence services to serve ideological interests. Not so much has been said about plain lies, which travel a long way in an electorate as uninterested in international affairs and as ill-served by press and television as today's American electorate.

Bush convinced the majority of Americans that Saddam Hussein not only had weapons of mass destruction but was about to use them against America. He convinced the public majority that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were linked, and that Iraq collaborated in the Sept. 11 attacks. He has now convinced the public that Iran is a nuclear threat, and 56 percent of American opinion would support military intervention in that country to deal with the claimed danger.

Presidential lies to Congress, strictly speaking, are constitutional ground for impeachment. They really are something more serious. They rupture the relationship of responsibility that is supposed to exist between president and public.

Partisan or personal interest and equivocation are one thing. Lies about matters of state, and about war, are another. To lie to the citizenry is to reject the confidence freely given a president.

It destroys the moral bond that holds a democratic society together."


Another interesting Pfaff article: The long reach of Leo Strauss

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Daddy, Why Did We Have to Attack Iraq?

Sunday, June 29, 2003

Helen Caldicott Video

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SEE THIS VIDEO!


Writer/Pediatrician/Activist Helen Caldicott speaks about depleted uranium weapons and their effect upon both troops and civilians in the Iraq war.
Please, take 5 minutes of your time to review this video. It's worth it.



http://www.freespeech.org/fsitv/fscm2/contentviewer.php?content_id=244

Bush Administration Embraces Facism

Bush Administration Embraces Fascism
A powerful statement enhanced by blogger Anonymoses.

Link here.

Know Your NeoCons- Part 1089

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Get to Know Your NeoCons-
Especially When You Suspect They're Planning Your Country's Next War

Veteran neo-con advisor moves on Iran


Time for a proper introduction.
Meet Michael A Ledeen.



America, this is Michael.



Michael, this is my friend America.

Would it be "one war too far"?

"....judging by the failure to complete the victories won on the battlefield in both Afghanistan and Iraq, the portents for the coming war with Iran are ominous. Both Afghanistan and Iraq now have developing major insurgencies with which US forces are showing few signs of coming to terms, and without doubt Iran will be a much harder nut to crack. The drain on US resources and lives will almost certainly be that much greater. Any one of these campaigns may indeed be winnable, two are a serious problem, however three may well prove to be just one war too far, even for the world's only superpower."

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Iraq 'had no links to al-Qaeda'


Sorry...not linked.

Bush brags while States stumble

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Bush boasts about shrinking the Federal budget while starved States stumble in near-desperation

"The news is pretty bad, and I think it's going to get a little worse," said Ray Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association.."

How long will neo-breadlines soon become?

Breaking News: HUNGER ON THE WAY



Will the misled masses move to recall every governor who will surely be unable to arrest the furious tide of economic failure?


Will bitter partisan efforts to remove fairly-elected officials like this one

be the best idea for hiding the REAL mismanagement in the American economy?

Is THIS the cure-all...the panacea??!?

REALLY??!???

I fear for American democracy....and the result of the great ideological fight for the American mind.

I Never Promised You a Ruse Garden -- A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush

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I Never Promised You a Ruse Garden -- A Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush

OPERATION INFINITE MENDACITY

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OPERATION INFINITE MENDACITY
President George W. Bush's Speech to the Nation after September 11, 2001
by Lester Schonbrun

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-politics-internet.html

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Sour Grapes?
I know, being a participant in the MoveOn.org primary, that this statement is absolutely untrue:

"This was a made-for-Howard-Dean primary,'' Kerry spokesman Robert Gibbs said, adding Kerry saw the poll as a tool to increase interest and build his donor and e-mail lists."
From: NY Times /Reuters
Dean Wins Democratic Online Poll