I'm starting to think Alan Greenspan is anti-American
* while definitely 'Pro-Dough' *
Fed chief Alan Greenspan said a "new round of protectionist steps" represented "alleged cures" which he said "would make matters worse rather than better."
First, there is no substantial "uber-protectionist" constituency existing today. There are only those who are conscious that we have a very big problem here in America right here and right now. Greenspan's job is to keep Wall Street afloat. That he would see American middle class Main Street opportunities pissed away in favour of Wall Street pocket-stuffing runs contrary to the "American dream".
"As our economy exhibits increasing signals of recovery, jobs loss continues to diminish," [Alan Greenspan] said in testimony to the House Education and Workforce Committee. "In all likelihood, employment will begin to increase more quickly before long."
Dear Mr. Greenspan:
Who are you kidding?
How long is long?
Who benefits in this economic recovery?
What kind of employment opportunity is coming?
More WalMart than professional, we'd bet.
Bottom line--we need to write a dirge for the American classic known as middle class opportunity and upward mobility.
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....
Thursday, March 11, 2004
"No more bombs, no more dead."
AP Photo
--Patrick Cox, European Parliament President, before a hushed legislature in Strasbourg, France
"It is an outrageous, unjustified and unjustifiable attack on the Spanish people and Spanish democracy," Cox said of the terrorist attack in Madrid, Spain this morning which left 190 dead and over 1200 wounded.
AP Photo
--Patrick Cox, European Parliament President, before a hushed legislature in Strasbourg, France
"It is an outrageous, unjustified and unjustifiable attack on the Spanish people and Spanish democracy," Cox said of the terrorist attack in Madrid, Spain this morning which left 190 dead and over 1200 wounded.
LA Times: Patrick J. Kiger on 'The Golden Age of Mediocrity'
With so Many Artistic Geniuses Among Us, Why Is Most of Their Work so Disposable?
With so Many Artistic Geniuses Among Us, Why Is Most of Their Work so Disposable?
We ought to consider ourselves blessed....We live in an age peopled by more artistic geniuses than in any other moment in history, though the bar is set considerably lower than in the past.... Though we have more supposed artistic geniuses than ever, their output, oddly, is increasingly middling. What's happened in the last couple of decades is that puffery seems to have surpassed prodigy.....today—with the Internet, blast faxes, hundreds of cable channels and 750-square-foot video screens that can turn anyone, regardless of talent, into a giant looming over Times Square—it's possible for would-be greatness to be hyped to an extreme that even Dali would have a hard time imagining. Given the pervasive crudeness and disdain for subtlety in postmodern society, it's now perfectly acceptable to proclaim one's genius as loudly and raucously as professional wrestlers threaten one another with mayhem....maybe mediocrity is the new genius....
From the Cato Institute/Gerald P. O'Driscoll, Jr
*an updated version of a talk given at the Dedication of the F. A. Hayek Auditorium, May 9, 1995*
'The Road to Serfdom' Today
*an updated version of a talk given at the Dedication of the F. A. Hayek Auditorium, May 9, 1995*
'The Road to Serfdom' Today
Frederich Hayek is best known for his most widely read work, The Road to Serfdom, first published 60 years ago yesterday...As he made clear, classical liberalism's conflict with central planning was not over the shared goal of enhancing the well-being of the greatest possible number of people but over the way to achieve that goal.....Hayek argued that, in the interventionist dynamic, liberty is lost piecemeal, one freedom at a time, always in the name of necessity and expediency. Hayek echoed the words of Lord Acton: "Liberty is not the means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end."Gerald P O'Driscoll, Jr. is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute
Commentary by Shlomo Avineri
A Field Guide to Israeli Hawks
A Field Guide to Israeli Hawks
Despite the way it often looks to outsiders, debates in Israel about the future of the occupied territories have never been confined to hawks and doves. Like everything in Israel, the process is more complicated, especially where the hawks are concerned..Shlomo Avineri is Professor of political science at the Hebrew University and former Director-General of Israel's Foreign Ministry in the Labor-led government of Yitzhak Rabin
From India Times
Mind-Matter Divide in Science, Philosophy
Vedantic philosophy and modern science share common features
I am personally enchanted by this statement:
"The search for a fundamental theory lifts human life above the level of farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy."
--Steven Weinberg
How could the application of quantum theory unify East and West, mind and matter?
This article discusses how all schools of Indian philosophy have accepted perception as a means of knowledge. It also discusses the debate on the nature of reality and the ability of our concepts to represent reality. Within the scope of the mystery of the self (or consciousness), we see how modern science still lacks an adequate accounting of the mind. The causality of Descartes' philosophy on the material world is challenged and maya (consciousness is a separate element, added to physical systems) is seen as a concept often overlooked by the physicists.
Mind-Matter Divide in Science, Philosophy
Vedantic philosophy and modern science share common features
I am personally enchanted by this statement:
"The search for a fundamental theory lifts human life above the level of farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy."
--Steven Weinberg
How could the application of quantum theory unify East and West, mind and matter?
This article discusses how all schools of Indian philosophy have accepted perception as a means of knowledge. It also discusses the debate on the nature of reality and the ability of our concepts to represent reality. Within the scope of the mystery of the self (or consciousness), we see how modern science still lacks an adequate accounting of the mind. The causality of Descartes' philosophy on the material world is challenged and maya (consciousness is a separate element, added to physical systems) is seen as a concept often overlooked by the physicists.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
A blog conversation reveals just how many female political bloggers are out there!
A sampling:
Anne Zook, Mahablog-Barbara O'Brien, Bittershack-Brooke Biggs, Nitpicker-CJ Finis, The Duchess (Charlene), Cyndy Roy, Different Strings-Kryselda Jarnsaxa, Ana Marie (Wonkette), Laura Poyneer aka al-muhajabah, Madelein Begun Kane, Marla Caldwell, Echidne, Iddybud-Jude Nagurney Camwell, Lis Riba, Laura Gjovaag, Maru Soze, Natalie Davis, Shari, PG, Alasablog, Crescat Sententia, Eve Tushnet , Suburban Guerrilla, Collective Sigh, Elayne Riggs, Blog or Not, Amy Sullivan, World O'Crap, Just a Bump in the Beltway (Melanie), Wampum (Mary Beth Williams), Assymetrical Information(Jane Galt), Respectful of Otters (Rivka), Ruminate This (Lisa English), Julia, Avedon Carol, Making Light (Teresa Nielsen Hayden), Rebecca's Pocket, Breaching the Web, Ladida, Xeney, Fusion Reaction, Parenthetically Speaking, Divinest Sense, Girlhacker, Backup Brain (Dori's half) , Megnut, Netwoman, 12 Frogs, Burningbird, ValueJudgment (J's half) , Yourish, Veralynne-ACT, Sisyphus Shrugged
Blog on, sweet sisters..blog on.
*Kevin Hayden provides an additional tribute to women of blogging: "Wimminz Get their Day, but that ain't enough.."
This blogstress was gifted with the highlighted word "many" sandwiched in between my gurlfellow blogkind. It reminds me of the saying "From one-- many and from many--one." All these female blogstress spirits represent separate parts linked to the entirety of "blogstress-consciousness".
MANY thanks to Kevin!
A sampling:
Anne Zook, Mahablog-Barbara O'Brien, Bittershack-Brooke Biggs, Nitpicker-CJ Finis, The Duchess (Charlene), Cyndy Roy, Different Strings-Kryselda Jarnsaxa, Ana Marie (Wonkette), Laura Poyneer aka al-muhajabah, Madelein Begun Kane, Marla Caldwell, Echidne, Iddybud-Jude Nagurney Camwell, Lis Riba, Laura Gjovaag, Maru Soze, Natalie Davis, Shari, PG, Alasablog, Crescat Sententia, Eve Tushnet , Suburban Guerrilla, Collective Sigh, Elayne Riggs, Blog or Not, Amy Sullivan, World O'Crap, Just a Bump in the Beltway (Melanie), Wampum (Mary Beth Williams), Assymetrical Information(Jane Galt), Respectful of Otters (Rivka), Ruminate This (Lisa English), Julia, Avedon Carol, Making Light (Teresa Nielsen Hayden), Rebecca's Pocket, Breaching the Web, Ladida, Xeney, Fusion Reaction, Parenthetically Speaking, Divinest Sense, Girlhacker, Backup Brain (Dori's half) , Megnut, Netwoman, 12 Frogs, Burningbird, ValueJudgment (J's half) , Yourish, Veralynne-ACT, Sisyphus Shrugged
Blog on, sweet sisters..blog on.
*Kevin Hayden provides an additional tribute to women of blogging: "Wimminz Get their Day, but that ain't enough.."
This blogstress was gifted with the highlighted word "many" sandwiched in between my gurlfellow blogkind. It reminds me of the saying "From one-- many and from many--one." All these female blogstress spirits represent separate parts linked to the entirety of "blogstress-consciousness".
MANY thanks to Kevin!
Today as the news from Selma and Saigon
poisons the air like fallout,
I come again to see
the serene, great picture that I love.
Here space and time exist in light
the eye like the eye of faith believes.
The seen, the known
dissolve in iridescence, become
illusive flesh of light
that was not, was, forever is.
O light beheld as through refracting tears.
Here is the aura of that world
each of us has lost.
Here is the shadow of its joy.
Robert Hayden
CIA chief George Tenet says he's corrected VP Dick Cheney privately. Let's correct him publically while we're at it.
Mr. Tenet, testifying before a Senate committee yesterday, did not go as far as to say he thought the Bush administration had misrepresented facts to justify going to war.
However, Mr. Tenet said he planned to call Mr. Cheney's attention to a recent misstatement, in a Jan. 9 interview, when the vice president recommended as "your best source of information" on links between Iraq and Al Qaeda the contents of a disputed memorandum by senior Pentagon official, Douglas J. Feith. That memo was sent last October to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and information from the memo was used last November in an now-infamous article titled "Case Closed" published in the Weekly Standard. In my opinion, the article seemed an attempt to convince readers that there was conclusive evidence of collaboration between Saddam Hussein's government and Al Qaeda. The article's writer, Stephen Hayes, failed to mention that intelligence agencies objected to Mr. Feith's findings.
How do these stories affect public perception/public opinion?
Last December, the "Case Closed" article played well in the business-as-usual right-wing media circles, but never got much farther due to its fact-challenged and innuendo-flavoured nature. Inside the mainstream media loop, questions about the actual facts continued. I recall, at that time, being disturbed about the misinformation floating around and the press' seeming incompetence or unwillingness to ask the tough questions in order to "get it right". It was a frustrating experience for citizens like me who appreciate the most honest and straightforward methods of disseminating information.
In a NYT column titled "Telling It Right" dated December 19, 2003 (after the capture of Saddam Hussein), Paul Krugman wrote:
I think it's time we correct VP Cheney publically.
Professor Rodger Payne discusses the misleadings
Blogger Rodger Payne (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Louisville KY) has contributed some updated information about Salman Pak-an alleged terror camp in Iraq that was the proving-ground centerpiece of the "Case Closed" article. (See Professor Payne's entry titled Al-Qaida-Iraq Link Further Debunked). You may safely look at the official facts available today and rationally assume it's possible that Salman Pak never existed at all. Knight-Ridder reporters have been told by a lot of senior people in the intelligence community that "The U.S. military has found no evidence of such a facility."
Regarding the disturbing lack of evidence, Professor Payne says:
Mr. Tenet, testifying before a Senate committee yesterday, did not go as far as to say he thought the Bush administration had misrepresented facts to justify going to war.
However, Mr. Tenet said he planned to call Mr. Cheney's attention to a recent misstatement, in a Jan. 9 interview, when the vice president recommended as "your best source of information" on links between Iraq and Al Qaeda the contents of a disputed memorandum by senior Pentagon official, Douglas J. Feith. That memo was sent last October to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and information from the memo was used last November in an now-infamous article titled "Case Closed" published in the Weekly Standard. In my opinion, the article seemed an attempt to convince readers that there was conclusive evidence of collaboration between Saddam Hussein's government and Al Qaeda. The article's writer, Stephen Hayes, failed to mention that intelligence agencies objected to Mr. Feith's findings.
How do these stories affect public perception/public opinion?
Last December, the "Case Closed" article played well in the business-as-usual right-wing media circles, but never got much farther due to its fact-challenged and innuendo-flavoured nature. Inside the mainstream media loop, questions about the actual facts continued. I recall, at that time, being disturbed about the misinformation floating around and the press' seeming incompetence or unwillingness to ask the tough questions in order to "get it right". It was a frustrating experience for citizens like me who appreciate the most honest and straightforward methods of disseminating information.
In a NYT column titled "Telling It Right" dated December 19, 2003 (after the capture of Saddam Hussein), Paul Krugman wrote:
By now, we've become accustomed to the fact that the absence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction — the principal public rationale for the war — hasn't become a big political liability for the administration. That's bad enough. Even more startling is the news from one of this week's polls: despite the complete absence of evidence, 53 percent of Americans believe that Saddam had something to do with 9/11, up from 43 percent before his capture. The administration's long campaign of guilt by innuendo, it seems, is still working.In retrospect, this news should not have been startling. Officials such as VP Dick Cheney were making public statements which were misleading Americans (whether intentional or unintentional, they were misleading just the same).
I think it's time we correct VP Cheney publically.
Professor Rodger Payne discusses the misleadings
Blogger Rodger Payne (Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Louisville KY) has contributed some updated information about Salman Pak-an alleged terror camp in Iraq that was the proving-ground centerpiece of the "Case Closed" article. (See Professor Payne's entry titled Al-Qaida-Iraq Link Further Debunked). You may safely look at the official facts available today and rationally assume it's possible that Salman Pak never existed at all. Knight-Ridder reporters have been told by a lot of senior people in the intelligence community that "The U.S. military has found no evidence of such a facility."
Regarding the disturbing lack of evidence, Professor Payne says:
...this is a particularly egregious finding, first because DoD still lists the capture of the camp as one of its war accomplishments and second because the current head of the Iraq Survey Group (Charles Duelfer, who took over from David Kay) claimed that he saw the camps when he was a UN weapons inspector. Dunlop points out that no such claim is reported in the UN reports about Iraqi weapons.I think it's time the press corrects VP Cheney publically. An informed public is necessary in order for a healthy American democracy to exist. Case definitely NOT closed.
The media could play a central role in assuring public accountability. Dunlop notes that someone should ask Duelfer about Salman Pak.
After 9-11, old statistics and predictions went out the window and the changed world demanded a new direction
I was reading a series of discussions between Harvard's Steven Pinker (Dept. of Psychology) and Clark R. Chapman/Alan W. Harris (research scientists at Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado) about terrorist risk calculations in the aftermath of 9-11. I found it interesting...it makes you think twice about the way we saw the world before 9-11...and the way we see it today. What is most interesting is how our deepest thinkers still see things in respectively differing perspectives.
First in the series is an article by Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris in Skeptical Inquirer- Sept/Oct 2002- A Skeptical Look at September 11th
How We Can Defeat Terrorism by Reacting to It More Rationally
Next is Steven Pinker's letter to Skeptical Inquirer (2003)
Last is the Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris Response.
In abbreviated fashion, I'll summarize the discussion:
CHAPMAN/HARIS- Why does 9/11 remain our focus rather than the equally vast carnage on the nation's highways or Indian earthquake victims?
PINKER- ...one cannot use the rate of major terrorist attacks in, say, the past 10 years to estimate the rate in the next 10 years. Wahabism and anti-Americanism may be more widespread, nuclear weapons more available, copycats more emboldened, and so on. Because of these uncertainties, anyone who claims to have calculated the mathematically correct probability that a horrendous terrorist attack will take place in the next year would be talking through his hat......Nonhuman causes of deaths (such as sharks, airplane part failures, and carcinogens) don't take into account how people react to them. Human causes of deaths (such as terrorists) do. Bin Laden had no negotiable demands, but thought that Americans society was so decadent and spiritually bankrupt that a few easily inflicted humiliating blows would lead to its collapse. A public response of defiance and solidarity, and the implementation of extensive preventive security measures, could change such calculations in the minds of future terrorists....dealing with terrorists is a problem in game theory, not just a problem in risk estimation...
CHAPMAN/HARRIS- ..Recent polls show that about one-quarter of American respondents regard themselves as being personally at risk from terrorists. It is fair to note that with respect to the recent past, including the September 11, 2001, attacks, this perception is orders of magnitude off. Looking to the future, for this perception to be correct would require a World Trade Center-level terrorist attack somewhere in the U.S. roughly every week, for life. Lacking some realistic expectation that the level of terrorism will soar by factors of thousands, we must ascribe this disparity to twisted perceptions--driven, of course, by news-inspired fears, as the terrorists intend-about the real dangers....We don't agree that the terrorist attacks provided much new information about the willingness of terrorists to co-opt our modern technologies to kill and terrorize as many people as possible. It may be, as Pinker suggests, that "defiance and solidarity" will deter terrorists. That was surely President Bush's view before he attacked Iraq, though his critics believe the opposite. Perhaps a diminution of American arrogance in the international arena, and examining and addressing the root causes of terrorism, would be more effective. Time will tell if Bush's approach worked or not. Meanwhile, it is imperative that Americans continue to ask themselves whether the terrorists' objectively modest attacks aren't succeeding beyond Osama bin Laden's wildest dreams through our capitulation to fear, which causes us to distort our national values and comportment in the world community...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today I read Nicholas Kristof and I wondered if I should listen more to Pinker or to Chapman/Harris. Although I saw great wisdom in both points of view, I decided, in the case of what I believe is a potentially devastating and out-of-control nuclear threat, to go over to Pinker's corner in the case of Russian states and North Korea. The problem lies in the game theory. The Bush administration is not at the top of this game. As a matter of fact, I fear they've thrown the gaming aside for the temporary thrill of conquering a tin-pan dictator or two.. bombs and snake holes enough to excite the GOP base into thinking we're tough, safe and secure. This could prove fatal to many, many people...and this is by no means a Chicken-Little warning. We'd best get our priorities straight before it's too late.
From the Kristof column:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bush finally put pressure on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to cashier Khan. But when Musharraf then pardoned Khan in an elaborate charade that shielded the Pakistani government from blame, Bush did not utter a word of criticism, even though Musharraf is not letting Washington ask Khan who his nuclear customers were.
This is irresponsibility of the highest order, and it undermines Bush's claim that he is keeping the United States safe from nuclear terror.
-- Matthew Rothschild
I was reading a series of discussions between Harvard's Steven Pinker (Dept. of Psychology) and Clark R. Chapman/Alan W. Harris (research scientists at Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado) about terrorist risk calculations in the aftermath of 9-11. I found it interesting...it makes you think twice about the way we saw the world before 9-11...and the way we see it today. What is most interesting is how our deepest thinkers still see things in respectively differing perspectives.
First in the series is an article by Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris in Skeptical Inquirer- Sept/Oct 2002- A Skeptical Look at September 11th
How We Can Defeat Terrorism by Reacting to It More Rationally
Next is Steven Pinker's letter to Skeptical Inquirer (2003)
Last is the Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris Response.
In abbreviated fashion, I'll summarize the discussion:
CHAPMAN/HARIS- Why does 9/11 remain our focus rather than the equally vast carnage on the nation's highways or Indian earthquake victims?
PINKER- ...one cannot use the rate of major terrorist attacks in, say, the past 10 years to estimate the rate in the next 10 years. Wahabism and anti-Americanism may be more widespread, nuclear weapons more available, copycats more emboldened, and so on. Because of these uncertainties, anyone who claims to have calculated the mathematically correct probability that a horrendous terrorist attack will take place in the next year would be talking through his hat......Nonhuman causes of deaths (such as sharks, airplane part failures, and carcinogens) don't take into account how people react to them. Human causes of deaths (such as terrorists) do. Bin Laden had no negotiable demands, but thought that Americans society was so decadent and spiritually bankrupt that a few easily inflicted humiliating blows would lead to its collapse. A public response of defiance and solidarity, and the implementation of extensive preventive security measures, could change such calculations in the minds of future terrorists....dealing with terrorists is a problem in game theory, not just a problem in risk estimation...
CHAPMAN/HARRIS- ..Recent polls show that about one-quarter of American respondents regard themselves as being personally at risk from terrorists. It is fair to note that with respect to the recent past, including the September 11, 2001, attacks, this perception is orders of magnitude off. Looking to the future, for this perception to be correct would require a World Trade Center-level terrorist attack somewhere in the U.S. roughly every week, for life. Lacking some realistic expectation that the level of terrorism will soar by factors of thousands, we must ascribe this disparity to twisted perceptions--driven, of course, by news-inspired fears, as the terrorists intend-about the real dangers....We don't agree that the terrorist attacks provided much new information about the willingness of terrorists to co-opt our modern technologies to kill and terrorize as many people as possible. It may be, as Pinker suggests, that "defiance and solidarity" will deter terrorists. That was surely President Bush's view before he attacked Iraq, though his critics believe the opposite. Perhaps a diminution of American arrogance in the international arena, and examining and addressing the root causes of terrorism, would be more effective. Time will tell if Bush's approach worked or not. Meanwhile, it is imperative that Americans continue to ask themselves whether the terrorists' objectively modest attacks aren't succeeding beyond Osama bin Laden's wildest dreams through our capitulation to fear, which causes us to distort our national values and comportment in the world community...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today I read Nicholas Kristof and I wondered if I should listen more to Pinker or to Chapman/Harris. Although I saw great wisdom in both points of view, I decided, in the case of what I believe is a potentially devastating and out-of-control nuclear threat, to go over to Pinker's corner in the case of Russian states and North Korea. The problem lies in the game theory. The Bush administration is not at the top of this game. As a matter of fact, I fear they've thrown the gaming aside for the temporary thrill of conquering a tin-pan dictator or two.. bombs and snake holes enough to excite the GOP base into thinking we're tough, safe and secure. This could prove fatal to many, many people...and this is by no means a Chicken-Little warning. We'd best get our priorities straight before it's too late.
From the Kristof column:
"...It's mystifying that the administration hasn't leaned on Pakistan to make Dr. Khan available for interrogation to ensure that his network is entirely closed....Another puzzle is why an administration that spends hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq doesn't try harder to secure uranium and plutonium in Russia and elsewhere. The bipartisan program to secure weapons of mass destruction is starved for funds — but Mr. Bush is proposing a $41 million cut in "cooperative threat reduction" with Russia......The steps that are needed, like negotiating seriously with North Korea and securing sites in Russia, aren't as dramatic as bombing Baghdad. But unless we act more aggressively, we will get a wake-up call from a nuclear explosion or, more likely, a "dirty bomb" that uses radioactive materials routinely lying around hospitals and factories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bush finally put pressure on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to cashier Khan. But when Musharraf then pardoned Khan in an elaborate charade that shielded the Pakistani government from blame, Bush did not utter a word of criticism, even though Musharraf is not letting Washington ask Khan who his nuclear customers were.
This is irresponsibility of the highest order, and it undermines Bush's claim that he is keeping the United States safe from nuclear terror.
-- Matthew Rothschild
Meet Ellen Mariani
Meet Ellen. She's the one on the left.
Ellen's webpage
the actual lawsuit
video of Ellen and Phil KGO interview
Ellen's Open Letter to Bush
outrage over lack of coverage
The only coverage of the press release
http://www.yuricareport.com/Corruption/RICOprosecutionGoingFullSteamAhead.htm
Alex Jones interviews Ellen and Phil
Eagle Tribune story
Latest News 9/11 Director Gave Evidence to Own Inquiry
CBS RADIO - KIRO 710 AM -Seattle Washington -The Mike Webb Show 10pm
9/11 Chair: Attack Was Preventable
Mariani seeks deposition of Saddam Hussein to support RICO action
Mariani vs. Bush - Amended Complaint
Mariani vs. Bush - Notice of RICO suit
Response to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss
Memorandum in Oppostion to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss
Media Coverage
ARCHIVE Ellen Mariani on the Ila Swan Show: 9-11 RICO LAW SUIT Tuesday January 6th
ARCHIVE Ellen Mariani and Phil Berg interview on Highway to Health
Foreign Press
Meet Ellen. She's the one on the left.
“I’m not a Democrat and I’m not a Republican. I’m just a woman who has lost her husband and I want to know why and how it happened. I want my questions answered."Video footage of the press conference
Ellen's webpage
the actual lawsuit
video of Ellen and Phil KGO interview
Ellen's Open Letter to Bush
outrage over lack of coverage
The only coverage of the press release
http://www.yuricareport.com/Corruption/RICOprosecutionGoingFullSteamAhead.htm
Alex Jones interviews Ellen and Phil
Eagle Tribune story
"I am a person who wants to know what happened. Money is great, but not when it comes to a loved one being murdered."Transcript of our appearance on MSNBC's TV's Scarbourough Country from January 28, 2004
Latest News 9/11 Director Gave Evidence to Own Inquiry
CBS RADIO - KIRO 710 AM -Seattle Washington -The Mike Webb Show 10pm
9/11 Chair: Attack Was Preventable
Mariani seeks deposition of Saddam Hussein to support RICO action
Mariani vs. Bush - Amended Complaint
Mariani vs. Bush - Notice of RICO suit
Response to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss
Memorandum in Oppostion to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss
Media Coverage
ARCHIVE Ellen Mariani on the Ila Swan Show: 9-11 RICO LAW SUIT Tuesday January 6th
ARCHIVE Ellen Mariani and Phil Berg interview on Highway to Health
Foreign Press
From Daily Kos:
Bush's Flip-Flops
Last June 10, I posted a recommendation to see this Jon Stewart/Comedy show video. It means more now than it EVER did! Go see it!
It's very timely! It's 'flip-flop extraordinaire'! It's Gov. Bush vs. Prez Bush!
Bush's Flip-Flops
Last June 10, I posted a recommendation to see this Jon Stewart/Comedy show video. It means more now than it EVER did! Go see it!
It's very timely! It's 'flip-flop extraordinaire'! It's Gov. Bush vs. Prez Bush!
Chicago Tribune
Harvard eliminates tuition for some
Harvard eliminates tuition for some
"Too often, outstanding students from families of modest means do not believe that college is an option for them, much less an Ivy League university. Our doors have long been open to talented students regardless of financial need, but many students simply do not know or believe this. We are determined to change both the perception and the reality."
--Lawrence Summers, Harvard President
Here Comes AIR AMERICA
Drudge reports the new talk radio network will launch March 31st with the following schedule:
Monday-Friday
Uprising: 6:00-9:00am
This is a fast paced morning show that will entertain and engage audiences with wit and political satire. It will feature the latest news, offering up to-the-minute interviews with newsmakers, analysis and strong opinions.
Host: Marc Maron
Co-host: Sue Ellicott
Co-host: Mark Riley
Unfiltered: 9:00am- 12:00pm
Air America’s midmorning program is a showcase for conversation about the political and cultural state of the union. Unfiltered introduces listeners to fresh new voices not available in mainstream media today.
Co-host: Lizz Winstead
Co-host: Chuck D
Co-host: Laura Flanders
The O’ Franken Factor: 12:00-3:00pm
Relentless, pure satire, delivered by the leading political humorist of this generation. With his partner, longtime radio host Katherine Lanpher, this will be three hours of fearless barbs, sketches, and interviews with newsmakers and characters who have lived, up until now, only in Al’s fertile imagination. He’s no policy wonk, but this best-selling author and veteran of Saturday Night Live, is devoting his energy to fighting back against rightwing propaganda with hard evidence and facts.
Host: Al Franken
Co-host: Katherine Lanpher
Producer: Billy Kimball
The Randi Rhodes Show: 3:00-7:00pm
Randi Rhodes has spent the last 20 years burning up the airwaves in southern Florida with her pointed and provocative brand of talk radio. Combining live interview, call-in and commentary, Randi engages her audience with a passionate presentation.
Host: Randi Rhodes
So What Else Is News? : 7:00-8:00pm
Based in Los Angeles, this is a one-hour program showcasing the intersection of politics, media and popular culture. This program will feature analysis and reports from the presidential campaign, as well as a daily reporters’ roundtable on how the news of the day is affected and reflected by the media. Marty will also cover the spinning of the news with a regular segment called “The Corrections.” This is also the place to hear the political voice of Hollywood, with celebrity guest interviews from the entertainment industries.
Host: Marty Kaplan
The Majority Report: 8:00pm-11:00pm
This program will introduce new, younger voices and opinions, with live guests from the world of politics, the arts and entertainment. Host: Janeane Garofalo
Co-host: Sam Seder
Saturday and Sunday
Air America Radio’s weekend line-up will offer more original programming, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Mike Papatanio’s “Champions of Justice,” a program that brings a fresh and entertaining perspective to talk radio from the top legal and social issues focused minds in the country. Additional programming will include Best-of Air America Radio and Best-of-O’Franken Factor as well as other original programming to be announced soon.
Drudge reports the new talk radio network will launch March 31st with the following schedule:
Monday-Friday
Uprising: 6:00-9:00am
This is a fast paced morning show that will entertain and engage audiences with wit and political satire. It will feature the latest news, offering up to-the-minute interviews with newsmakers, analysis and strong opinions.
Host: Marc Maron
Co-host: Sue Ellicott
Co-host: Mark Riley
Unfiltered: 9:00am- 12:00pm
Air America’s midmorning program is a showcase for conversation about the political and cultural state of the union. Unfiltered introduces listeners to fresh new voices not available in mainstream media today.
Co-host: Lizz Winstead
Co-host: Chuck D
Co-host: Laura Flanders
The O’ Franken Factor: 12:00-3:00pm
Relentless, pure satire, delivered by the leading political humorist of this generation. With his partner, longtime radio host Katherine Lanpher, this will be three hours of fearless barbs, sketches, and interviews with newsmakers and characters who have lived, up until now, only in Al’s fertile imagination. He’s no policy wonk, but this best-selling author and veteran of Saturday Night Live, is devoting his energy to fighting back against rightwing propaganda with hard evidence and facts.
Host: Al Franken
Co-host: Katherine Lanpher
Producer: Billy Kimball
The Randi Rhodes Show: 3:00-7:00pm
Randi Rhodes has spent the last 20 years burning up the airwaves in southern Florida with her pointed and provocative brand of talk radio. Combining live interview, call-in and commentary, Randi engages her audience with a passionate presentation.
Host: Randi Rhodes
So What Else Is News? : 7:00-8:00pm
Based in Los Angeles, this is a one-hour program showcasing the intersection of politics, media and popular culture. This program will feature analysis and reports from the presidential campaign, as well as a daily reporters’ roundtable on how the news of the day is affected and reflected by the media. Marty will also cover the spinning of the news with a regular segment called “The Corrections.” This is also the place to hear the political voice of Hollywood, with celebrity guest interviews from the entertainment industries.
Host: Marty Kaplan
The Majority Report: 8:00pm-11:00pm
This program will introduce new, younger voices and opinions, with live guests from the world of politics, the arts and entertainment. Host: Janeane Garofalo
Co-host: Sam Seder
Saturday and Sunday
Air America Radio’s weekend line-up will offer more original programming, like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Mike Papatanio’s “Champions of Justice,” a program that brings a fresh and entertaining perspective to talk radio from the top legal and social issues focused minds in the country. Additional programming will include Best-of Air America Radio and Best-of-O’Franken Factor as well as other original programming to be announced soon.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
From the NY Post
Dick Morris on "the Bush offensive" campaign strategy
According to Morris:
Dick Morris on "the Bush offensive" campaign strategy
According to Morris:
By showing Kerry to flip-flop, Bush sets him up for the real charges - that he is too weak and too liberal to be president.
Conventional wisdom says that this election is going to be close, a replay of 2000. It need not be so. If Bush runs aggressive national advertisements, hammering at these themes, he can put this race away by the end of the spring...
From: Guardian/UK
Juan Cole: "Conquering the divide"
Can Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims get on? Juan Cole examines a fraught relationship that is crucial to the future of the country
Juan Cole: "Conquering the divide"
Can Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims get on? Juan Cole examines a fraught relationship that is crucial to the future of the country
"As big a threat as the bombs posed to communal harmony in Iraq, any inability to make the necessary political compromises would be far more fatal."In order to comprehend the true scope of the problems in Iraq, you need to understand the region's history. Professor Cole consistently provides the best information to help us understand what has led to the troubles the region faces today. It is only through education that can we have an informed opinion on the role of the United States in the affairs of the nation of Iraq. This will lead to doing our part as citizens to guide our governmental representatives to what we believe are the right decisions for our own country. Please read Professor Cole's article.
From Axis of Logic
Leave no man behind-unless he speaks out
How the 176th Maintenance Battalion's "Soldier of the Year" in 2001 has turned to "Outcast of the Year" in 2004.
Haiti- the coup d'état
The military coup in Haiti by the United States and France, aided and supported by Canada did not come as a last minute decision to prevent a bloodbath. Rather, it was carefully planned more than a year in advance at a meeting held in Ottawa at the initiative of the Canadian government and at the insistence of the United States.
Leave no man behind-unless he speaks out
How the 176th Maintenance Battalion's "Soldier of the Year" in 2001 has turned to "Outcast of the Year" in 2004.
Haiti- the coup d'état
The military coup in Haiti by the United States and France, aided and supported by Canada did not come as a last minute decision to prevent a bloodbath. Rather, it was carefully planned more than a year in advance at a meeting held in Ottawa at the initiative of the Canadian government and at the insistence of the United States.
Around the Blogs
A blog conversation reveals just how many female political bloggers are out there!
A sampling:
Anne Zook, Mahablog-Barbara O'Brien, Bittershack-Brooke Biggs, Nitpicker-CJ Finis, The Duchess (Charlene), Cyndy Roy, Different Strings-Kryselda Jarnsaxa, Laura Poyneer aka al-muhajabah, Madelein Begun Kane, Marla Caldwell, Echidne, Iddybud-Jude Nagurney Camwell, Lis Riba, Laura Gjovaag, Maru Soze, Natalie Davis, Shari, PG, Alasablog, Crescat Sententia, Eve Tushnet , Suburban Guerrilla, Collective Sigh, Elayne Riggs, Blog or Not, Amy Sullivan, World O'Crap, Just a Bump in the Beltway (Melanie), Wampum (Mary Beth Williams), Assymetrical Information(Jane Galt), Respectful of Otters (Rivka), Ruminate This (Lisa English), Julia, Avedon Carol, Making Light (Teresa Nielsen Hayden), Rebecca's Pocket, Breaching the Web, Ladida, Xeney, Fusion Reaction, Parenthetically Speaking, Divinest Sense, Girlhacker, Backup Brain (Dori's half) , Megnut, Netwoman, 12 Frogs, Burningbird, ValueJudgment (J's half) , Yourish...
Blog on, sweet sisters..blog on.
*Kevin Hayden provides an additional tribute to women of blogging: "Wimminz Get their Day, but that ain't enough.."
This blogstress was gifted with the highlighted word "many" sandwiched in between my gurlfellow blogkind. It reminds me of the saying "From one-- many and from many--one." All these female blogstress spirits represent separate parts linked to the entirety of "blogstress-consciousness".
MANY thanks to Kevin!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From The American Street/Jay Bullock
We Are All Spalding Gray
From The Invisible Library
Battlefields of the Mind: Looking at the Culture War from Afar
Part One: A Reasonable Madness
Keith provides a look at the Culture War, but from a Big Picture perspective, employing Robert Anton Wilson's characterisation of two sides of the attitudinal coin - Infophobes and Infofiles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Echidne of the Snakes:
The International Women's Day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RELIGION AND POLITICS
Amy Sullivan:
Religion on the Run
"Democrats don't have to beat their Bibles and out-Jesus the president. They just have to point out the enormous gap between his rhetoric and his actions. This is a good start...."
Pen Elayne
Slime and Pretend
The Whole Megillah
Elayne's colorful thoughts on the Book of Esther at the start of Purim...including an idea for a comic book I hope she creates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Political Dish--The Mad Kane Crossword Challenge
It's great fun---try it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Latest at Orcinus
-- Allen Brill has an op-ed in today's Charlotte Observer that he reproduced at The Right Christians that everyone should read: Sexual Mores and the Bible
-- I see that Republicans are rushing to defend the Bush campaign's use of footage from Sept. 11 in television ads by arguing that it's only natural to display dead bodies from a national tragedy in a campaign ad. The latest is Rudy Giuliani, who seems to have gotten this week's talking points down pat.....
-- The press: Still missing on AWOL---It seems apparent that, to the press corps at least, the questions about George W. Bush's military record have been at least mollified if not answered. Problem is, nothing has been answered.
A blog conversation reveals just how many female political bloggers are out there!
A sampling:
Anne Zook, Mahablog-Barbara O'Brien, Bittershack-Brooke Biggs, Nitpicker-CJ Finis, The Duchess (Charlene), Cyndy Roy, Different Strings-Kryselda Jarnsaxa, Laura Poyneer aka al-muhajabah, Madelein Begun Kane, Marla Caldwell, Echidne, Iddybud-Jude Nagurney Camwell, Lis Riba, Laura Gjovaag, Maru Soze, Natalie Davis, Shari, PG, Alasablog, Crescat Sententia, Eve Tushnet , Suburban Guerrilla, Collective Sigh, Elayne Riggs, Blog or Not, Amy Sullivan, World O'Crap, Just a Bump in the Beltway (Melanie), Wampum (Mary Beth Williams), Assymetrical Information(Jane Galt), Respectful of Otters (Rivka), Ruminate This (Lisa English), Julia, Avedon Carol, Making Light (Teresa Nielsen Hayden), Rebecca's Pocket, Breaching the Web, Ladida, Xeney, Fusion Reaction, Parenthetically Speaking, Divinest Sense, Girlhacker, Backup Brain (Dori's half) , Megnut, Netwoman, 12 Frogs, Burningbird, ValueJudgment (J's half) , Yourish...
Blog on, sweet sisters..blog on.
*Kevin Hayden provides an additional tribute to women of blogging: "Wimminz Get their Day, but that ain't enough.."
This blogstress was gifted with the highlighted word "many" sandwiched in between my gurlfellow blogkind. It reminds me of the saying "From one-- many and from many--one." All these female blogstress spirits represent separate parts linked to the entirety of "blogstress-consciousness".
MANY thanks to Kevin!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From The American Street/Jay Bullock
We Are All Spalding Gray
"....we too, at heart, are minimalists, we bloggers. Like Gray, we don't need much--nothing more than some blogging software and perhaps a blogonym. Many of us even have that calculated sip of water (anyone for "Heh!" or "Indeed!"?) Gray was famous for, that notebook open on the table. No, we generally don't have the kind of immediate audience Gray had, though occasionally we are blessed with comments. And no one would even think about calling most of us avante garde.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the most powerful and touching and thought-provoking posts I have read of late have not been of the political diatribe type, nor of the news analysis type, but of the personal..."
-- Jay Bullock
From The Invisible Library
Battlefields of the Mind: Looking at the Culture War from Afar
Part One: A Reasonable Madness
Keith provides a look at the Culture War, but from a Big Picture perspective, employing Robert Anton Wilson's characterisation of two sides of the attitudinal coin - Infophobes and Infofiles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Echidne of the Snakes:
The International Women's Day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RELIGION AND POLITICS
Amy Sullivan:
Religion on the Run
"Democrats don't have to beat their Bibles and out-Jesus the president. They just have to point out the enormous gap between his rhetoric and his actions. This is a good start...."
Pen Elayne
Slime and Pretend
The Whole Megillah
Elayne's colorful thoughts on the Book of Esther at the start of Purim...including an idea for a comic book I hope she creates!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Political Dish--The Mad Kane Crossword Challenge
It's great fun---try it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Latest at Orcinus
-- Allen Brill has an op-ed in today's Charlotte Observer that he reproduced at The Right Christians that everyone should read: Sexual Mores and the Bible
-- I see that Republicans are rushing to defend the Bush campaign's use of footage from Sept. 11 in television ads by arguing that it's only natural to display dead bodies from a national tragedy in a campaign ad. The latest is Rudy Giuliani, who seems to have gotten this week's talking points down pat.....
-- The press: Still missing on AWOL---It seems apparent that, to the press corps at least, the questions about George W. Bush's military record have been at least mollified if not answered. Problem is, nothing has been answered.
Monday, March 08, 2004
Today in history..
Susan B. Anthony
photo credit: tcnj.edu
1884- Susan B. Anthony Supports Women's Suffrage Amendment
"Liberty for one's self is a natural instinct possessed alike by all men, native and foreign, black and white; but to be willing to accord liberty to another is the result of education, of self-discipline, of the practice of the golden rule-- "Do unto others as you would that others do unto you." Therefore we ask that the question of equality of rights to women shall be arbitrated upon by the picked men of the Nation in Congress, and the picked men of the several States in their respective Legislatures...
--Susan B. Anthony, March 8, 1884
Susan B. Anthony
photo credit: tcnj.edu
1884- Susan B. Anthony Supports Women's Suffrage Amendment
"Liberty for one's self is a natural instinct possessed alike by all men, native and foreign, black and white; but to be willing to accord liberty to another is the result of education, of self-discipline, of the practice of the golden rule-- "Do unto others as you would that others do unto you." Therefore we ask that the question of equality of rights to women shall be arbitrated upon by the picked men of the Nation in Congress, and the picked men of the several States in their respective Legislatures...
--Susan B. Anthony, March 8, 1884
The Heart and Soul of Globalization
In 2002, I accompanied Kooperkamp and members of his church to an anti-globalization demonstration outside the Park Avenue hotel hosting the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of global business and political elites. “We in the church tend to spiritualize power, like talking about the power of the Holy Spirit,” he told me. “But globalization is often about down-and-dirty politics, and that means going downtown and protesting when the opportunity presents itself.”
The Israeli-Palestinian issue/Haaretz
Disengaging from the disengagers
By Akiva Eldar
If there aren't any stunning surprises, U.S. President George W. Bush's blessings for the disengagement plan will, in the blink of an eye, become the kiss of death for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government....
Disengaging from the disengagers
By Akiva Eldar
If there aren't any stunning surprises, U.S. President George W. Bush's blessings for the disengagement plan will, in the blink of an eye, become the kiss of death for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government....
There is another possibility - that Bush and his team don't really know what they are doing. That's ......
The scariest idea of all
By Walter Cronkite
The scariest idea of all
By Walter Cronkite
It is the contention of President Bush and his economic advisers that a rising economy will grow us out of the problem by increasing revenues and dispelling those dire predictions.
That seems to be what happened when President Reagan raised the deficit to then-historic levels. But there is a rising chorus of critics today - conservatives as well as liberals - who warn that history is not about to repeat itself. The very conditions that produced recovery then are conspicuously absent today.
"People are poor because they are lazy."
--G.W. Bush
--G.W. Bush
At Harvard Business School, thirty years ago, George Bush was a student of mine. I still vividly remember him. In my class, he declared that "people are poor because they are lazy." He was opposed to labor unions, social security, environmental protection, Medicare, and public schools. To him, the antitrust watch dog, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Securities Exchange Commission were unnecessary hindrances to "free market competition." To him, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was "socialism." Recently, President Bush's Federal Appeals Court Nominee, California's Supreme Court Justice Janice Brown, repeated the same broadside at her Senate hearing. She knew that her pronouncement would please President Bush and Karl Rove and their Senators. President Bush and his brain, Karl Rove, are leading a radical revolution of destroying all the democratic political, social, judiciary, and economic institutions that both Democrats and moderate Republicans had built together since Roosevelt's New Deal.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Slate/William Saletan
Confidence Man
The case for Bush is the case against him.
Article highlights:
Confidence Man
The case for Bush is the case against him.
Article highlights:
How can Kerry persuade moderates to throw out Bush? By turning the president's message against him....
....President Bush. Strength and confidence. Steady leadership in times of change. He knows exactly where he wants to lead this country. And he won't let facts, circumstances, or the Constitution get in his way...
....he couldn't tell the difference between the two threats. He figured that since both Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden were evil, they had to be connected...
....Again and again in 2001 and 2002, U.S. intelligence agencies sent signals that Bush was wrong..Bush ignored every one of these warnings. They couldn't be true, because they didn't fit his theory. He couldn't stand the complexity of the facts or the ambiguity of intelligence...
....everything changed. The stock market tanked, and the economy slowed. Sept. 11 shook the nation's confidence and drastically altered military budget projections. Bush didn't need to drain a surplus anymore. He needed to fund national defense and stimulate the economy...Bush claimed that his original tax-cut elixir was just as good for the new malady as for the old one. The deficit exploded, the economy failed to recover the jobs it had lost, and much of the country remained unprotected from terrorism. The world changed, but Bush couldn't....
....Bush prefers to circumvent the court system and local democracy by reopening the nation's founding document. He seeks to impose a permanent federal definition of marriage on "any state or city," regardless of what the voters in Boston or San Francisco want......
Holbrooke says Kerry's Iraq resolution decision was based upon experience, trust in Bush, and politics
I didn't understand Sen. Kerry's decision back then. Because he hasn't firmly clarified his decision to my satisfaction, I still do not understand it today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We get who we deserve
A letter to the Editor of The Bersksire Eagle:-
"In the political realm, no life-and-death decision has haunted Kerry more than his October 2002 Senate vote in favor of a resolution authorizing Bush's use of force in Iraq. Those who worked with him called the decision "agonizing."Why doesn't this sit right with me?
Richard C. Holbrooke, one of the many foreign policy experts Kerry consulted, said three things made it difficult: "One, he knows that war is hell from firsthand experience. Two, he didn't know if you could trust Bush to pursue war as a last resort. Three, he was starting a presidential campaign and knew where a bulk of the primary voters would be...."
[Kerry's] sister urged him to vote no, his friends lobbied him to vote no, his office received 20,000 e-mails in one week against U.S. military action.It didn't sit right with them, either.
I didn't understand Sen. Kerry's decision back then. Because he hasn't firmly clarified his decision to my satisfaction, I still do not understand it today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We get who we deserve
A letter to the Editor of The Bersksire Eagle:-
There has been a war cry of "anybody but Bush in 2004." Rallying passionately behind the chosen candidate after a meaningful comparison of ideas, philosophies and, easiest and most importantly, voting records has been forfeited for speculation about who is most likely to beat Bush. Sadly, this has taken the form of desiring the candidate who is enough like Bush to compete against him which is in effect the single party theory of change...
Sen. Kerry claims to have gone into politics in response to the horrors of Vietnam. He then abdicated his right to decide whether this generation of young soldiers would be sent to their Vietnam. I feel this is a more telling indicator of leadership qualities than [Howard] Dean's impassioned thank you and call to arms to his supporters. However, the media claimed Dean to be unworthy and so voters sheepishly moved across field.
Only two things have ever brought meaningful change in our world: inspiration or crisis. I fear that if we say no to the few inspirational leaders we have in favor of glossy strategists we condemn those who follow us to change through crisis..."
Robert Novak Nauseates Me
"In the most unusual turn of this year's satirical script, syndicated columnist Robert Novak - who sparked a federal investigation by printing the name of an undercover CIA officer - was taking the stage as that CIA officer's disgruntled husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson..."
Novak used a secret White House source to reveal that Joseph Wilson's wife was an undercover CIA officer. Would I have done the same? I doubt it..seriously. Over the past year, I have known information which never made the presses and very well could have made for interesting stories and could have made me "somebody" out here in the journalism world. I didn't choose my potential "fame" at the expense of someone's life and dignity. I'm no Robert Novak--and perhaps I'm proud of that fact because of my heightened sense of responsibility to real people. Novak not only damaged a woman's career; he endangered her life.
There is a proper place for satire in our society. This particular satirical incident is glaringly nauseating. In the case of Novak dressing up and strutting merrily as the victim of his own journalistic indiscretion , he serves to make a magnification of his pathetic disregard for ethical responsibility. I consider him a grub who feeds off the bottom-of-the-stinking-barrel.
"In the most unusual turn of this year's satirical script, syndicated columnist Robert Novak - who sparked a federal investigation by printing the name of an undercover CIA officer - was taking the stage as that CIA officer's disgruntled husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson..."
Novak used a secret White House source to reveal that Joseph Wilson's wife was an undercover CIA officer. Would I have done the same? I doubt it..seriously. Over the past year, I have known information which never made the presses and very well could have made for interesting stories and could have made me "somebody" out here in the journalism world. I didn't choose my potential "fame" at the expense of someone's life and dignity. I'm no Robert Novak--and perhaps I'm proud of that fact because of my heightened sense of responsibility to real people. Novak not only damaged a woman's career; he endangered her life.
There is a proper place for satire in our society. This particular satirical incident is glaringly nauseating. In the case of Novak dressing up and strutting merrily as the victim of his own journalistic indiscretion , he serves to make a magnification of his pathetic disregard for ethical responsibility. I consider him a grub who feeds off the bottom-of-the-stinking-barrel.
NY Times interview with Sen. John Kerry on foreign affairs
Excerpts of an hour-long interview about foreign affairs with Senator John Kerry aboard his campaign plane on Friday, as recorded by The New York Times.
Excerpts of an hour-long interview about foreign affairs with Senator John Kerry aboard his campaign plane on Friday, as recorded by The New York Times.
Saturday, March 06, 2004
3000 did not die to be exploited by Bush's re-election campaign.
3000 should never have perished on that morn.
The same one who throws the images of that day in your face
Refuses to cooperate with American families who lost loved ones that same morning.
3000 innocent Americans were killed on September 11th Leaving behind families and loved ones.
Too many lost opportunities. Too many lost futures.
It is our responsibility as a nation to turn the dark events of September 11th
Into something from which we can all learn and grow
Instead of running from the tough questions and exploiting the dead
Heed the words of those who did not share in your relief on that day
To go home to your families and hug them for dear life
Do not forget the ones who did not share your good fortune
They were black, white, man, woman, Independent, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green.
They represented many countries from around the globe.
They did not pay with their lives so they could be used in a GOP re-election campaign.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In his first campaign commercial, George Bush reached down and molested the dead.
--Jimmy Breslin
Silence is most eloquent
*so why doesn't iddy shut up already?!?*
May I recommend Ultimate Subject?
I wanted to share this website discovery with you. I found it quite lovely and pregnant with truth.
*so why doesn't iddy shut up already?!?*
May I recommend Ultimate Subject?
I wanted to share this website discovery with you. I found it quite lovely and pregnant with truth.
out of office."
"--Radio shock jock Howard Stern, urging listeners not to support Bush in the presidential election
From the pages of American political thought..
Thoreau
"..The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgement or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others--as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders--serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few--as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men--serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be "clay," and "stop a hole to keep the wind away," but leave that office to his dust at least:
"I am too high born to be propertied,
To be a second at control,
Or useful serving-man and instrument
To any sovereign state throughout the world."
He who gives himself entirely to his fellow men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist."
-- Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
Thoreau
"..The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgement or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others--as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders--serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few--as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men--serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be "clay," and "stop a hole to keep the wind away," but leave that office to his dust at least:
"I am too high born to be propertied,
To be a second at control,
Or useful serving-man and instrument
To any sovereign state throughout the world."
He who gives himself entirely to his fellow men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist."
-- Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
GO FIND ME A WAY TO DO THIS
How Bush And Blair Chose War And Then Chose The Justification
By David Cromwell and David Edwards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hans Blix, former chief UN weapons inspector quote:
"Perhaps Blair and Bush, both religious men, felt strengthened in their political determination by the feeling they were fighting evil, not only (arms) proliferation."
.....Blair and Bush have both seen their popularity plummet over the unpopular war and its bloody aftermath.
On Friday Blair raised the prospect of a rethink of international law and the United Nations to legalize pre-emptive strikes by foreign forces against so-called rogue states....
From Independent/UK:
Blix claims Iraq War was illegal; Blair's defense bogus
How Bush And Blair Chose War And Then Chose The Justification
By David Cromwell and David Edwards
We are to believe that after a major conflict in which 88,500 tons of bombs were dropped in 1991, after eight years of inspections, and after more than a decade of continuous bombing raids, and of crippling sanctions imposed under the most intensive and sophisticated surveillance operation in history, both Blair and Bush received intelligence suggesting that Iraq was a "serious and current threat".
As we now know, this alleged intelligence is said to have been related to WMD and links with al-Qaeda that did not exist. We are to believe, then, that a rush of terrifying information relating to non-existent perils - a rush so overwhelming that long-standing policy was abandoned - suddenly emerged to lead Bush and Blair to believe that nothing less than war was required to avert the danger.
This truly is remarkable.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hans Blix, former chief UN weapons inspector quote:
"Perhaps Blair and Bush, both religious men, felt strengthened in their political determination by the feeling they were fighting evil, not only (arms) proliferation."
.....Blair and Bush have both seen their popularity plummet over the unpopular war and its bloody aftermath.
On Friday Blair raised the prospect of a rethink of international law and the United Nations to legalize pre-emptive strikes by foreign forces against so-called rogue states....
From Independent/UK:
Blix claims Iraq War was illegal; Blair's defense bogus
Mr Blix, speaking to The Independent, said the Attorney General's legal advice to the Government on the eve of war, giving cover for military action by the US and Britain, had no lawful justification. He said it would have required a second United Nations resolution explicitly authorising the use of force for the invasion of Iraq last March to have been legal.
Good reading at Anonymoses Blog
Anonymoses
I found many interesting tidbits at the Anonymoses blog today and March 5th, such as: "Is Bush's hateability going to be an election year issue?" Rather than reiterate them here, go...go...go now!
Anonymoses
I found many interesting tidbits at the Anonymoses blog today and March 5th, such as: "Is Bush's hateability going to be an election year issue?" Rather than reiterate them here, go...go...go now!
Friday, March 05, 2004
BUH-BYE, JOBS
China plans to create nine million jobs in 2004
Wall Street predictions economy would add 130,000 jobs blown apart as U.S. Labor Department reports gain of just 21,000
Calls about food stamps from needy NYers, unable to find enough work to support families are outsourced to workers in India and Mexico
China plans to create nine million jobs in 2004
Wall Street predictions economy would add 130,000 jobs blown apart as U.S. Labor Department reports gain of just 21,000
Calls about food stamps from needy NYers, unable to find enough work to support families are outsourced to workers in India and Mexico
IRAQ UPDATES
From TomPaine.com
Constitution-signing failed/Chalabi Power Play?
Faltering Neo-Cons Still Dangerous-How They Might Influence the Election
Knight-Ridder Questions Saddam-al-Qaeda Links
From TomPaine.com
Constitution-signing failed/Chalabi Power Play?
Ahmad Chalabi, the secular Shiite who's suddenly rediscovered his religious roots, pulled the plug...From Counterpunch.org
Faltering Neo-Cons Still Dangerous-How They Might Influence the Election
If Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Karl Rove come to believe, around September or October, that they are likely to lose the election, it is not by any means beyond belief that they would, in desperation, undertake some new aggressive and "preemptive" military action against Syria, Iran, North Korea, or someplace else we cannot now even anticipate....They have used lies to instill fear and advance their ill-considered doctrine of preemption once, and it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they might do so again.From InformedComment.com
.....most likely, a Democratic administration would be almost as beholden to the nation's military-national security-corporate complex for campaign funding as the present Republican administration. There would be changes of tone in U.S. foreign policies, but very likely only limited changes in the policies themselves. The close ties between the U.S. and Israeli military-industrial complexes that I described would continue, and changes in U.S. policies toward the Middle East would be minimal.
Knight-Ridder Questions Saddam-al-Qaeda Links
Warren Strobel et al. of Knight Ridder have looked at the case for Saddam-al-Qaeda links and found them lacking.
1. Although it is true that Abdul Rahman Yasin, a suspect in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was attempting to hide out in Iraq, Saddam offered to turn him over to the FBI in 1998 in return for US acknowledgment that Iraq was not involved in that incident. The Clinton administration declined the deal. Cheney cited the continued "harboring" by Iraq of Yasin as one "proof" of an Iraq-al-Qaeda connection. Yeah, Saddam and Yasin were obviously really tight.
2. Bin Laden is said to have refused an offer in 1998 to go to Iraq, made by Iraqi intelligence officer Farouk Hijazi. A report made available to the CIA, however, said that Bin Laden declined the offer because he did not want to have Saddam's agenda dictated to him. The Knight-Ridder team does not point this out, but if you read this item in conjunction with # 1 above, it seems entirely possible that Saddam thought the US wouldn't deal for Yasin because he wasn't a big enough fish, and went looking for a more important terrorist to trade them for the US favors he wanted.
3. Cheney tried to tie Saddam to Abu Mus`ab Zarqawi. Such ties haven't been proven, but even if they were, it seems clear from the Zarqawi letter that he was not part of Bin Laden's group and only lately tried to get money from Bin Laden.
4. The US charged that Saddam was training terrorists at Salman Pak. The US military has found no evidence of such a training facility at Salman Pak, according to Seymour Hersh. There certainly were no chemical weapons there.
5. Then there was the canard about Iraqi intelligence offical al-Ani meeting with Muhammad Atta in Prague. CIA director George Tenet has flatly denied this report, and the FBI discounted it long ago.
6. Bin Laden/Iraq contacts in Sudan in the early 1990s, even if they did occur, led to no operational cooperation whatsoever.
NY Times(reg req)
Iraq Threat Deliberately Inflated, Kennedy Says
"The most important decision any president makes is the decision on war or peace. No president who misleads the country on the need for war deserves to be re-elected. A president who does so must be held accountable. The last thing our nation needs is a sign on the desk in the Oval Office in the White House that says, 'The buck doesn't stop here anymore.' "
--Sen. Edward Kennedy March 5, 2004
Their best excuses aren't good enough to explain away their deliberate misleadings:
--President Bush has said that he acted on the best intelligence available, and that previous administrations had also considered Saddam Hussein a threat.
-- ...two Republican senators, John Kyl of Arizona and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, circulated a letter noting that Democratic lawmakers as well as Republicans had made prewar statements that portrayed Iraq and its alleged weapons stockpiles as presenting an urgent threat to American security.
Iraq Threat Deliberately Inflated, Kennedy Says
"The most important decision any president makes is the decision on war or peace. No president who misleads the country on the need for war deserves to be re-elected. A president who does so must be held accountable. The last thing our nation needs is a sign on the desk in the Oval Office in the White House that says, 'The buck doesn't stop here anymore.' "
--Sen. Edward Kennedy March 5, 2004
Their best excuses aren't good enough to explain away their deliberate misleadings:
--President Bush has said that he acted on the best intelligence available, and that previous administrations had also considered Saddam Hussein a threat.
-- ...two Republican senators, John Kyl of Arizona and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, circulated a letter noting that Democratic lawmakers as well as Republicans had made prewar statements that portrayed Iraq and its alleged weapons stockpiles as presenting an urgent threat to American security.
"CNN Presents" this Sunday, 8pm:
True Believers-Life Inside the Dean Campaign
The soaring rise and flaming crash of Howard Dean's presidential campaign from the inside looking out
No one knows if this will be truth, all-out fiction, or somewhere in-between. It should be interesting. As one of my fellow local Dean-team members has said, "It's amazing that no one has done this with the Lieberman or Gephardt campaign... coulda sworn they all withdrew before us."
*I think it's because we were far more interesting.*
True Believers-Life Inside the Dean Campaign
The soaring rise and flaming crash of Howard Dean's presidential campaign from the inside looking out
No one knows if this will be truth, all-out fiction, or somewhere in-between. It should be interesting. As one of my fellow local Dean-team members has said, "It's amazing that no one has done this with the Lieberman or Gephardt campaign... coulda sworn they all withdrew before us."
*I think it's because we were far more interesting.*
Thursday, March 04, 2004
"The Door" presents...
Also from "The Door":
Surprised by Joy-
the Last Word
photo credit: beatitudehouse.org
"..Joy can endure through the worst adversity but can evaporate with the merest moment of self-reflection...
..The beatitudes, after all, were not a collection of "how tos" for achieving happiness, but a mind-boggling exaltation of the very conditions that we spend our lives fleeing from. Only desperate people can really hear that kind of talk.
The truth is, we've got to give up on happiness before we can be apprehended by joy.
I pray that God makes us desperate enough to see through the illusion."
Also from "The Door":
Surprised by Joy-
the Last Word
photo credit: beatitudehouse.org
"..Joy can endure through the worst adversity but can evaporate with the merest moment of self-reflection...
..The beatitudes, after all, were not a collection of "how tos" for achieving happiness, but a mind-boggling exaltation of the very conditions that we spend our lives fleeing from. Only desperate people can really hear that kind of talk.
The truth is, we've got to give up on happiness before we can be apprehended by joy.
I pray that God makes us desperate enough to see through the illusion."
Talk about terminators!
Look out Coll-ee-foh-nee-a and beyond!
Ahnold iz zee anti-christ!?!
muhahahaha!
Look out Coll-ee-foh-nee-a and beyond!
Ahnold iz zee anti-christ!?!
muhahahaha!
Reason Online/Jodie T. Allen, managing editor at U.S. News & World Report
The People in Nod
God the Father meets Professor Irwin Corey
David and Bathsheba
photo credit: Reason.com
...Our sermon for today will take as its text the Congressional Record, chapter 2-24-04, verse H596:
It came to pass that in those days all branches of government were under the guidance of a single party whose name was Republican. The leader of that party was a prayerful man who had, by his own testament, been sent on a mission by God to spread the gospel of the GOP to all lands. Yet even as he sought to bring the revealed message of the Almighty to foreign infidels, a challenge to those sacred truths arose within his native country from the judiciaries of Massachusetts, California and other regions....
The People in Nod
God the Father meets Professor Irwin Corey
David and Bathsheba
photo credit: Reason.com
...Our sermon for today will take as its text the Congressional Record, chapter 2-24-04, verse H596:
It came to pass that in those days all branches of government were under the guidance of a single party whose name was Republican. The leader of that party was a prayerful man who had, by his own testament, been sent on a mission by God to spread the gospel of the GOP to all lands. Yet even as he sought to bring the revealed message of the Almighty to foreign infidels, a challenge to those sacred truths arose within his native country from the judiciaries of Massachusetts, California and other regions....
International Peace Park for the Balkans
A park linking wilderness areas in three countries may also serve to bring reconciliation
Nick Oliver of the Bradford University School of Peace Studies believes depopulated land is conducive to cross-border criminal activity. He'd like to see these three national entities-Kosovo, Montenegro, and Albania- create the park. It would show that security in the middle of the Balkan region does not consist of closed borders and separation between people, but of collaboration on projects that are in everyone's best interest.
A park linking wilderness areas in three countries may also serve to bring reconciliation
Nick Oliver of the Bradford University School of Peace Studies believes depopulated land is conducive to cross-border criminal activity. He'd like to see these three national entities-Kosovo, Montenegro, and Albania- create the park. It would show that security in the middle of the Balkan region does not consist of closed borders and separation between people, but of collaboration on projects that are in everyone's best interest.
Empathy and open minds required- how would you feel?
9-11 families say Bush campaign ads take advantage of 9-11 victims while cooperation with investigation has been less than satisfactory.
Video image from Bush campaign ad. (AP Photo) Mar 4, 2004 Credit: Newsday
The new Bush campaign ads have outraged 9/11 victims' families.
How one wife feels:
Kristen Breitwieser of Middletown Township, N.J., whose husband, Ronald Breitweiser, 39, died in the World Trade Center has said that, until Bush cooperates with the federal commission that is investigating the nation's preparedness before the attacks and its response "by testifying in public under oath ... he should not be using 9-11 as political propaganda."
Christian Regenhard FDNY Ladder 131 Engine 279
How one mother feels:
From the Newsday report: "I oppose anyone using it to promote their personal agenda," said Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son, Christian Regenhard, 28, died on Sept. 11, 2001. "While I certainly oppose the commercialization of ground zero, I have to say he's not the only one to further his political goals or to make money off it."
9-11 families say Bush campaign ads take advantage of 9-11 victims while cooperation with investigation has been less than satisfactory.
Video image from Bush campaign ad. (AP Photo) Mar 4, 2004 Credit: Newsday
The new Bush campaign ads have outraged 9/11 victims' families.
How one wife feels:
Kristen Breitwieser of Middletown Township, N.J., whose husband, Ronald Breitweiser, 39, died in the World Trade Center has said that, until Bush cooperates with the federal commission that is investigating the nation's preparedness before the attacks and its response "by testifying in public under oath ... he should not be using 9-11 as political propaganda."
Christian Regenhard FDNY Ladder 131 Engine 279
How one mother feels:
From the Newsday report: "I oppose anyone using it to promote their personal agenda," said Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son, Christian Regenhard, 28, died on Sept. 11, 2001. "While I certainly oppose the commercialization of ground zero, I have to say he's not the only one to further his political goals or to make money off it."
The benefit of finding our civic commonality emanates from President Lincoln's words in today's history
photo: www.loc.gov
".. I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature...."
- President Abraham Lincoln's 1st inauguration March 4, 1861
Washington, D.C.
1861- Lincoln's first inauguration
1863 -President Lincoln signed an act creating Idaho Territory.
Part of the Louisianna Purchase, Idaho was visited by Lewis and Clark in 1805. At that time, approximately 8,000 Native Americans lived in the region. Originally part of Oregon and Washington territories, fur trading and missionary work attracted the first settlers to the region.
photo: www.loc.gov
".. I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature...."
- President Abraham Lincoln's 1st inauguration March 4, 1861
Washington, D.C.
1861- Lincoln's first inauguration
1863 -President Lincoln signed an act creating Idaho Territory.
Part of the Louisianna Purchase, Idaho was visited by Lewis and Clark in 1805. At that time, approximately 8,000 Native Americans lived in the region. Originally part of Oregon and Washington territories, fur trading and missionary work attracted the first settlers to the region.
The Kerry Running Mate question-
Who will it be?
Consider this a resource on the internet news speculation.
Who will be Kerry's running mate? -Independent (UK)
Edwards touted as Kerry running mate - Calgary Herald
Kerry Mulls Running Mate; Edwards Appears Willing - NBC5.com
Edwards makes nice with Kerry as running-mate search is launched - Salt Lake Tribune
Could President Clinton be Kerry's running mate? -Seattle Times
Kerry Opens Search for A Running Mate -Scotsman UK
Kerry to Seek Running Mate -Mirror UK
'Ideal Democrat' to Vet Vice President Hopefuls- LA Times (subsc/reg req)
Dale McFeatters: Run, run, run for vice president- Naples News
Could Kerry Pick McCain for VP? -Slate
Dems checking 'vice squad' for Running Mate -New York Post
John Kerry announces "VeePee Apprentice" as "reality" TV show to select VP running mate in style of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice." - (satire)
DNC Rules for the National Democratic Convention
Who will it be?
Consider this a resource on the internet news speculation.
Who will be Kerry's running mate? -Independent (UK)
Edwards touted as Kerry running mate - Calgary Herald
Kerry Mulls Running Mate; Edwards Appears Willing - NBC5.com
Edwards makes nice with Kerry as running-mate search is launched - Salt Lake Tribune
Could President Clinton be Kerry's running mate? -Seattle Times
Kerry Opens Search for A Running Mate -Scotsman UK
Kerry to Seek Running Mate -Mirror UK
'Ideal Democrat' to Vet Vice President Hopefuls- LA Times (subsc/reg req)
Dale McFeatters: Run, run, run for vice president- Naples News
Could Kerry Pick McCain for VP? -Slate
Dems checking 'vice squad' for Running Mate -New York Post
John Kerry announces "VeePee Apprentice" as "reality" TV show to select VP running mate in style of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice." - (satire)
DNC Rules for the National Democratic Convention
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Exclusive: California Libertarian Judge James P. Gray wins slot to oppose Sen. Barbara Boxer
I participated in an on-line press conference the night before the California primary with Judge James P. Gray, also known as Judge Jim Gray, Orange County Superior Court Justice. He was about to face frequent candidate Gail Lightfoot of Oakland to become the Libertarian Party challenger for incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's seat, a position he won last night.
The California Senatorial race has been eclipsed in the media by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's pitch for his two ballot initiatives (which also passed last night). I felt it was important to get information out about lesser-publicized candidates who choose to run in alternative parties. We just don't hear enough about them in the mainstream press.
Judge Gray, a colorful public figure, has written a book addressing the most controversial elements of "the drug war". In their review of the book, Publishers Weekly has said :
During our interview (facilitated by Kevin Connors of the SSDB blog), Judge Gray asserted that Republicans only talk about reduced government and Libertarians would actually do it, causing everyone to be better off. He gave an example, for those who believe in low cost housing, that a full 30% of the cost of a new house is consumed in attempting to comply with government regulations. Judge Gray said, "Get rid of the bureaucracy, and the costs come down."
Judge Gray was asked if he would eliminate federal housing subsidies. "Subsidies actually hurt even the people who receive them in the long run," Judge Gray said. "They do nothing for anyone else. And, by the way, they are expensive."
Here are questions I asked of Judge Gray:
Jude Nagurney Camwell: Judge Gray, you've been quoted as saying, "If you're going to wait for any real change to come from the Democrats or Republicans in the next 20 years, you're dreaming." Many Americans want change and are tired of dreaming. We witnessed the recent groundswell of citizens desiring change in California with the recall of Governer Davis. My question to you would be--how do you believe you can motivate Californians to come out to the polls on your behalf? How will you convince them you're the best catalyst for change?
Judge Gray: Good question. I have a record as a judge for the past 20 years in not only working for justice, but also designing and implementing programs that work. In addition, having written a book about the failure and hopelessness of the war on drugs that was endorsed by people like Walter Cronkite, George Shultz and Milton Friedman, I believe I bring a credible and viable alternative to professional politicians, with all of their "spin" and ugly partisanship. People are anxious for a positive choice, and I will give it to them. But I need people who understand what we are doing to take it to heart, and get involved actively.
Jude Nagurney Camwell: As in many states, California has lost a number of jobs to the business-practice of outsourcing. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently made the comment: "It's bad economics to pretend that free trade is good for everyone, all the time." The momentum of globalization is bound to produce losers as well as winners. If the job gap doesn't start closing soon, protectionist pressures will surely come. What are some of your ideas on how to handle this issue?
Judge Gray: Another good and timely question. Unfortunately, artificialities in the market place simply do not work. I believe that the U.S. can compete favorably on a level playing field with anyone. Put it this way. What if California were concerned (as it should be) with the loss of jobs to Nevada. Should we put a tariff upon goods manufacturing in Nevada? One way or the other, each side would lose. Same with regard NAFTA. In addition, many countries are losing these low-paying jobs. Even Mexico is losing them. So what all of should do is accent the things that work, which are reduced government meddling in the market place, and leave more money in the pockets of the people.
You can listen to more about Judge Gray's views as he approached the time of the California primary at E-The-People.
I participated in an on-line press conference the night before the California primary with Judge James P. Gray, also known as Judge Jim Gray, Orange County Superior Court Justice. He was about to face frequent candidate Gail Lightfoot of Oakland to become the Libertarian Party challenger for incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer's seat, a position he won last night.
The California Senatorial race has been eclipsed in the media by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's pitch for his two ballot initiatives (which also passed last night). I felt it was important to get information out about lesser-publicized candidates who choose to run in alternative parties. We just don't hear enough about them in the mainstream press.
Judge Gray, a colorful public figure, has written a book addressing the most controversial elements of "the drug war". In their review of the book, Publishers Weekly has said :
"Following his career as a federal prosecutor and a trial judge, Gray, now a California Superior Court justice, is struck by the revelation that the so-called war on drugs was "wasting unimaginable amounts of our tax dollars, increasing crime and despair and severely and unnecessarily harming people's lives... the worst of all worlds."Judge Gray ran as a Republican in the California Primary Election against Bob Dornan in 1998, and he says he has the scars to prove it.
During our interview (facilitated by Kevin Connors of the SSDB blog), Judge Gray asserted that Republicans only talk about reduced government and Libertarians would actually do it, causing everyone to be better off. He gave an example, for those who believe in low cost housing, that a full 30% of the cost of a new house is consumed in attempting to comply with government regulations. Judge Gray said, "Get rid of the bureaucracy, and the costs come down."
Judge Gray was asked if he would eliminate federal housing subsidies. "Subsidies actually hurt even the people who receive them in the long run," Judge Gray said. "They do nothing for anyone else. And, by the way, they are expensive."
Here are questions I asked of Judge Gray:
Jude Nagurney Camwell: Judge Gray, you've been quoted as saying, "If you're going to wait for any real change to come from the Democrats or Republicans in the next 20 years, you're dreaming." Many Americans want change and are tired of dreaming. We witnessed the recent groundswell of citizens desiring change in California with the recall of Governer Davis. My question to you would be--how do you believe you can motivate Californians to come out to the polls on your behalf? How will you convince them you're the best catalyst for change?
Judge Gray: Good question. I have a record as a judge for the past 20 years in not only working for justice, but also designing and implementing programs that work. In addition, having written a book about the failure and hopelessness of the war on drugs that was endorsed by people like Walter Cronkite, George Shultz and Milton Friedman, I believe I bring a credible and viable alternative to professional politicians, with all of their "spin" and ugly partisanship. People are anxious for a positive choice, and I will give it to them. But I need people who understand what we are doing to take it to heart, and get involved actively.
Jude Nagurney Camwell: As in many states, California has lost a number of jobs to the business-practice of outsourcing. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently made the comment: "It's bad economics to pretend that free trade is good for everyone, all the time." The momentum of globalization is bound to produce losers as well as winners. If the job gap doesn't start closing soon, protectionist pressures will surely come. What are some of your ideas on how to handle this issue?
Judge Gray: Another good and timely question. Unfortunately, artificialities in the market place simply do not work. I believe that the U.S. can compete favorably on a level playing field with anyone. Put it this way. What if California were concerned (as it should be) with the loss of jobs to Nevada. Should we put a tariff upon goods manufacturing in Nevada? One way or the other, each side would lose. Same with regard NAFTA. In addition, many countries are losing these low-paying jobs. Even Mexico is losing them. So what all of should do is accent the things that work, which are reduced government meddling in the market place, and leave more money in the pockets of the people.
You can listen to more about Judge Gray's views as he approached the time of the California primary at E-The-People.
Fallen Angel
a poem by E. W. Camwell
fallen angel
sitting alone
in a cold dark alley
wings crumpled up
wondering why they don't help me
just a poor fallen angel
a small amount of kindness
that's all it takes to help me
will you be that person
to help me up from my pathetic state
nurse me to health
so i may soar on the air again
just a poor fallen angel
a small amount of kindness
that's all it takes to help me
that person of kindness hasn't come
so will you help me up
this poor fallen angel
a poem by E. W. Camwell
fallen angel
sitting alone
in a cold dark alley
wings crumpled up
wondering why they don't help me
just a poor fallen angel
a small amount of kindness
that's all it takes to help me
will you be that person
to help me up from my pathetic state
nurse me to health
so i may soar on the air again
just a poor fallen angel
a small amount of kindness
that's all it takes to help me
that person of kindness hasn't come
so will you help me up
this poor fallen angel
Howard Dean speaks about where the 700,000 believers go from here
It's fairly clear that Senator Kerry will be the Democratic presidential nominee. There are some who wonder what happened to those enthusiastic Americans who clearly heard Howard Dean's call for change in Washington, D.C.
Listen to former VT governor Howard Dean speak in this interview with NPR's Bob Kinzel. (Windows Media)
Dean says the Democratic party has had a "bad couple years" and they've "lost their way". He suggests that new people need to get involved to invigorate the party..to "help it find its way again". Dean's new political organization will be announced this March 18th. He stresses that real values are found in grassroots activism. He believes the people are great in this nation, but our "governments are not so great". He found Alan Greenspan's statements about Social Security appalling and cannot believe he was allowed to get away with it.
The new grassroots group Truth and Hope is mentioned by Dean. On their website, they state, in part that they: "have a specific mission within & beyond Governor Dean's campaign. First, to consolidate the many supporters of this message for the purpose of effecting elections & legislation on state & local as well as national levels. Also to take this message to the Democratic national convention so that our voices are heard & our influence is felt in the party platform."
It's fairly clear that Senator Kerry will be the Democratic presidential nominee. There are some who wonder what happened to those enthusiastic Americans who clearly heard Howard Dean's call for change in Washington, D.C.
Listen to former VT governor Howard Dean speak in this interview with NPR's Bob Kinzel. (Windows Media)
Dean says the Democratic party has had a "bad couple years" and they've "lost their way". He suggests that new people need to get involved to invigorate the party..to "help it find its way again". Dean's new political organization will be announced this March 18th. He stresses that real values are found in grassroots activism. He believes the people are great in this nation, but our "governments are not so great". He found Alan Greenspan's statements about Social Security appalling and cannot believe he was allowed to get away with it.
The new grassroots group Truth and Hope is mentioned by Dean. On their website, they state, in part that they: "have a specific mission within & beyond Governor Dean's campaign. First, to consolidate the many supporters of this message for the purpose of effecting elections & legislation on state & local as well as national levels. Also to take this message to the Democratic national convention so that our voices are heard & our influence is felt in the party platform."
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Super Tuesday Results
John Kerry has cemented the Democratic presidential nomination tonight with a string of Super Tuesday wins that leaves him the one standing alone to face President Bush. In all, Kerry has won 24 of 27 primary elections representing every region of the country. Senator John Edwards, the freshman senator from North Carolina, stopped just short of conceding, but two Democratic officials said on condition of anonymity that Edwards would step aside Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C.
[Ref: Yahoo news 9:30 pm]
Here are the latest results:
CA | CT | GA | MD | MA
MN | NY | OH | RI | VT
[Ref: Yahoo news]
Nomination in Kerry's Grasp; Edwards Departure Near
at LA Times (registration req'd) (Mar 2, 2004)
Edwards to quit race
at CNN (Mar 2, 2004)
Big Victories in Key States Assure Kerry the Nomination
at NY Times (registration req'd) (Mar 2, 2004)
Fox: Kerry takes Georgia; CNN says too close to call
at Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Mar 2, 2004)
Kerry scores a knockout on ‘Super Tuesday’
Edwards to quit presidential race after losing badly in most states
MSNBC news 3-2-04
BBC News: Kerry bags 'Super Tuesday' states
March 2, 2004
Kerry Wins Five States; Edwards Plans to Withdraw
Ga. Race Tightly Contested ; Dean Wins Vt.
March 2, 2004
HOWARD DEAN TAKES VERMONT
Governor Dean issued the following statement tonight in response to the results of Vermont's presidential primary:
"I want to thank the great people of Vermont tonight who overwhelmingly endorsed our campaign for change. This win means so much to me. Two years ago, I entered this race to talk about health care, children, and to demand change and leadership in our Party. This Party and this country still needs change, and tonight you have helped further that process.
"While I ran for president I often said that America would be a better place if it was more like Vermont. I still firmly believe that to be true: We still need health care for all children, affordable prescription drugs for seniors, and equal rights for all Americans.
"Throughout this campaign, I have appreciated the strong support from the people of Vermont. Our campaign owes a huge debt to the hundreds of Vermonters who worked at our headquarters--answering phones, stuffing mailings, and responding to emails--as well as to all of those who canvassed on our behalf in New Hampshire and elsewhere. I will never forget the work and the heart that you put into our campaign. Thank you.
"I look forward to continuing the energy and the campaign for change that our movement began. We will be announcing more details of that effort on March 18th."
John Kerry has cemented the Democratic presidential nomination tonight with a string of Super Tuesday wins that leaves him the one standing alone to face President Bush. In all, Kerry has won 24 of 27 primary elections representing every region of the country. Senator John Edwards, the freshman senator from North Carolina, stopped just short of conceding, but two Democratic officials said on condition of anonymity that Edwards would step aside Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C.
[Ref: Yahoo news 9:30 pm]
Here are the latest results:
CA | CT | GA | MD | MA
MN | NY | OH | RI | VT
[Ref: Yahoo news]
Nomination in Kerry's Grasp; Edwards Departure Near
at LA Times (registration req'd) (Mar 2, 2004)
Edwards to quit race
at CNN (Mar 2, 2004)
Big Victories in Key States Assure Kerry the Nomination
at NY Times (registration req'd) (Mar 2, 2004)
Fox: Kerry takes Georgia; CNN says too close to call
at Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Mar 2, 2004)
Kerry scores a knockout on ‘Super Tuesday’
Edwards to quit presidential race after losing badly in most states
MSNBC news 3-2-04
BBC News: Kerry bags 'Super Tuesday' states
March 2, 2004
Kerry Wins Five States; Edwards Plans to Withdraw
Ga. Race Tightly Contested ; Dean Wins Vt.
March 2, 2004
HOWARD DEAN TAKES VERMONT
Governor Dean issued the following statement tonight in response to the results of Vermont's presidential primary:
"I want to thank the great people of Vermont tonight who overwhelmingly endorsed our campaign for change. This win means so much to me. Two years ago, I entered this race to talk about health care, children, and to demand change and leadership in our Party. This Party and this country still needs change, and tonight you have helped further that process.
"While I ran for president I often said that America would be a better place if it was more like Vermont. I still firmly believe that to be true: We still need health care for all children, affordable prescription drugs for seniors, and equal rights for all Americans.
"Throughout this campaign, I have appreciated the strong support from the people of Vermont. Our campaign owes a huge debt to the hundreds of Vermonters who worked at our headquarters--answering phones, stuffing mailings, and responding to emails--as well as to all of those who canvassed on our behalf in New Hampshire and elsewhere. I will never forget the work and the heart that you put into our campaign. Thank you.
"I look forward to continuing the energy and the campaign for change that our movement began. We will be announcing more details of that effort on March 18th."
U.N.: Iraq had no WMD after 1994
The common findings:
Iraq's nuclear weapons program was dormant.
No evidence was found to suggest Iraq possessed chemical or biological weapons. U.N. officials believe the weapons were destroyed by U.N. inspectors or Iraqi officials in the years after the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraq was attempting to develop missiles capable of exceeding a U.N.-mandated limit of 93 miles.
Demetrius Perricos, the acting executive chairman of the U.N. inspection teams, said in an interview that the failure to find banned weapons in Iraq since the war undercuts administration criticism of the U.N.'s search before the war.
"You cannot say that only the Americans or the British or the Australians currently inspecting in Iraq are the clever inspectors — and the Americans and the British and the Australians that we had were not," he said.
[USA Today 03-02-04]
Monday, March 01, 2004
Independent.co.uk
The Terry Nichols/Oklahoma City bombing Trial
"...what is intended to be an exercise in judicial "closure" for bereaved Oklahomans could end up demolishing the FBI's theory of how the worst peacetime atrocity on American soil before 11 September 2001 happened..."
The Terry Nichols/Oklahoma City bombing Trial
"...what is intended to be an exercise in judicial "closure" for bereaved Oklahomans could end up demolishing the FBI's theory of how the worst peacetime atrocity on American soil before 11 September 2001 happened..."
World Net Daily headline attacks John Kerry for refusing to employ zealot's rhetoric!
On their front page today, it reads:
On their front page today, it reads:
Kerry unsure God on America's side?
'I don't believe, the way President Bush does, in invoking it all the time in that way'
--Drudge Report
NY Times Op-ed page- The Candidates Speak
A Trust Worth Winning
By JOHN EDWARDS
This Soldier’s Story
By JOHN KERRY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NY Times Thomas Crampton
New Paltz, N.Y. at the center of controversy
Same-Sex Weddings Bring Division to an Upstate Village
A Trust Worth Winning
By JOHN EDWARDS
This Soldier’s Story
By JOHN KERRY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NY Times Thomas Crampton
New Paltz, N.Y. at the center of controversy
Same-Sex Weddings Bring Division to an Upstate Village
Sunday, February 29, 2004
CONGRATULATIONS TO ERROL MORRIS ON HIS ACADEMY AWARD!
American Amnesia interviews documentary filmmaker Errol Morris
Following his recent blog-interview success with Noam Chomsky, Kirk has interviewed Errol Morris about his latest documentary, Fog of War. The documentary covers the life and lessons of Robert S. McNamara. The interview also discusses the nature of history.
American Amnesia interviews documentary filmmaker Errol Morris
Following his recent blog-interview success with Noam Chomsky, Kirk has interviewed Errol Morris about his latest documentary, Fog of War. The documentary covers the life and lessons of Robert S. McNamara. The interview also discusses the nature of history.
HEADLINES
The Junk Science of George W. Bush
By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Open Secret - Dick Cheney's dubious history and unprecedented role are hidden in plain view. Luckily, it's becoming an issue in the election.
By Robert Kuttner
Who's A Terrorist? - Politics, not actions, determine who gets labeled a terrorist by the U.S. government
By John Feffer
Depleted uranium: the war crime that has no end
By Paul Rockwell
The Trade Tightrope
By Paul Krugman
The good doctor - Thank you, Howard Dean
by George Ochenski
The Junk Science of George W. Bush
By Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Open Secret - Dick Cheney's dubious history and unprecedented role are hidden in plain view. Luckily, it's becoming an issue in the election.
By Robert Kuttner
"...Dick Cheney is the most powerful Vice President in US history. Indeed, there is fair amount of circumstantial evidence that Cheney, and not Bush, is the real power at the White House, and Bush the figurehead.
The true role of the shadowy Cheney is finally becoming an issue in the election, and it deserves to be.."
Who's A Terrorist? - Politics, not actions, determine who gets labeled a terrorist by the U.S. government
By John Feffer
"...People in the business of conflict resolution routinely intervene in bloody, horrific wars and, by talking to all sides involved, try to guide the actors toward a more peaceful conclusion. Sounds like noble work, right? Not always, according to the USA PATRIOT Act. It all depends on whether the peace professionals are talking with terrorists, and "terrorism" is very much in the eye of the (U.S.) beholder."
Depleted uranium: the war crime that has no end
By Paul Rockwell
"..Of all the violations of the laws of war by the highest officials of our country, none is more alarming or portentous than the widespread, premeditated use of depleted uranium in Iraq..."
The Trade Tightrope
By Paul Krugman
"...it's bad economics to pretend that free trade is good for everyone, all the time.."
The good doctor - Thank you, Howard Dean
by George Ochenski
Divide and Bicker?
Howard Kurtz writes an expose on the conflicts experienced within 'the other Howard's' campaign.
Howard Dean's e-mail response to supporters:
A Message from Howard Dean
The quotes attributed to me by others in Howard Kurtz's gossipy rendition of the divisions in the Dean for America campaign are entirely false, as is the description of my reaction after losing the Iowa caucuses, before the famous speech.
The danger of using unattributed sources as Kurtz and so many others do, is that the veracity of the informants can not be evaluated. In this case Kurtz included a significant amount of material which was not true, and produced a story which was greatly exaggerated.
There have been many inquiries about the relationship between Dean For America and the Change for America website. The answer to the question is that there is no relationship. We intend to form a progressive grassroots organization based on the Dean for America campaign, and we will work with other organizations after we get set up. We will announce the set up on March 18.
In the meantime, my deepest thanks to all of you who worked so hard to change America. We are not giving up, and we have an outline about what we intend to do on the DFA website.
Many thanks,
Howard Dean
Howard Kurtz writes an expose on the conflicts experienced within 'the other Howard's' campaign.
Howard Dean's e-mail response to supporters:
A Message from Howard Dean
The quotes attributed to me by others in Howard Kurtz's gossipy rendition of the divisions in the Dean for America campaign are entirely false, as is the description of my reaction after losing the Iowa caucuses, before the famous speech.
The danger of using unattributed sources as Kurtz and so many others do, is that the veracity of the informants can not be evaluated. In this case Kurtz included a significant amount of material which was not true, and produced a story which was greatly exaggerated.
There have been many inquiries about the relationship between Dean For America and the Change for America website. The answer to the question is that there is no relationship. We intend to form a progressive grassroots organization based on the Dean for America campaign, and we will work with other organizations after we get set up. We will announce the set up on March 18.
In the meantime, my deepest thanks to all of you who worked so hard to change America. We are not giving up, and we have an outline about what we intend to do on the DFA website.
Many thanks,
Howard Dean
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)