Borders Strike Settled!
Apparently, the workers got quite a bit of what they were asking for. Congratulations!
Apparently, the workers got quite a bit of what they were asking for. Congratulations!
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Monday, December 29, 2003
Dean calls for government support of beef industry
Just a reminder of whose side he's on. An industry that has consistently and systematically put profits ahead of the health of consumers, the rights of workers, and the humane treatment of animals finally gets a well-deserved comeuppance--and Dr. Dean wants to bail them out. Screw them, I say, and Dean too. The death of the American beef industry would be of far greater benefit to the future of the nation and the world than was the capture of Saddam Hussein. This statement by Dean reminds me of Gore's calling for opening up the strategic oil reserve back in 2000 because gas was selling for a little more than its normal planet-destroying price--a clear demonstration of a total lack of principles. If Dean is on the side of the beef industry, he's NOT on your side.
Just a reminder of whose side he's on. An industry that has consistently and systematically put profits ahead of the health of consumers, the rights of workers, and the humane treatment of animals finally gets a well-deserved comeuppance--and Dr. Dean wants to bail them out. Screw them, I say, and Dean too. The death of the American beef industry would be of far greater benefit to the future of the nation and the world than was the capture of Saddam Hussein. This statement by Dean reminds me of Gore's calling for opening up the strategic oil reserve back in 2000 because gas was selling for a little more than its normal planet-destroying price--a clear demonstration of a total lack of principles. If Dean is on the side of the beef industry, he's NOT on your side.
Greetings from Arnoldfornia!
It's been down in the 30's at night, and now it's raining. But I did go down to Point Lobos, south of Monterrey, with my brother yesterday. We saw seals frollicking in the surf and other cool things. Pictures later. My brother was in an accident about a week ago, and his VW was totalled. He's been renting a Toyota Prius hybrid, and is now thinking of buying one.
It's been down in the 30's at night, and now it's raining. But I did go down to Point Lobos, south of Monterrey, with my brother yesterday. We saw seals frollicking in the surf and other cool things. Pictures later. My brother was in an accident about a week ago, and his VW was totalled. He's been renting a Toyota Prius hybrid, and is now thinking of buying one.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Arnoldfornia, here I come!
I'm flying from Detroit to San Jose, via Dallas, tomorrow morning. I'll be staying with my brother in Palo Alto through January 3. Blogging will probably be substantially reduced, although there are rumored to be some primitive Internet connections on the left coast. I will be checking my e-mail from time to time. If you miss your rant fix, I recommend the blogs on the right. I just recently added Big, Left, Outside and Left I on the News to the list.
Happy Holidays, and don't worry, because
I'm flying from Detroit to San Jose, via Dallas, tomorrow morning. I'll be staying with my brother in Palo Alto through January 3. Blogging will probably be substantially reduced, although there are rumored to be some primitive Internet connections on the left coast. I will be checking my e-mail from time to time. If you miss your rant fix, I recommend the blogs on the right. I just recently added Big, Left, Outside and Left I on the News to the list.
Happy Holidays, and don't worry, because
I'll be back.
Army on the attack
Attacking just about anything, apparently, including the Sheraton in downtown Baghdad:
An explosion rocked central Baghdad on Wednesday night, and a U.S. soldier said it was a rocket-propelled grenade that narrowly missed the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel.
A U.S. army spokesman said the explosion occurred during an ongoing American military operation. "That was us," Capt. Jason Beck of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, the unit that controls Baghdad, told the AP. Guests at the Sheraton, called by satellite telephone, said they were fine. -- AP
Attacking just about anything, apparently, including the Sheraton in downtown Baghdad:
An explosion rocked central Baghdad on Wednesday night, and a U.S. soldier said it was a rocket-propelled grenade that narrowly missed the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel.
A U.S. army spokesman said the explosion occurred during an ongoing American military operation. "That was us," Capt. Jason Beck of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, the unit that controls Baghdad, told the AP. Guests at the Sheraton, called by satellite telephone, said they were fine. -- AP
Kucinich champions civil liberties
Good article in the Washington Post.
Good article in the Washington Post.
Froot Loops Launderers and Other Terrorists
Michelle directs me to the Progress Report, which points out that many of the cases the Department of "Justice" touts as victories in the "war on terrorism" (I never used to use so many quote marks!) have, um, nothing to do with terrorism:
The Justice Department has been touting "a list of more than 280 cases that the department cites as evidence that it is winning the war on terrorism." The list has been "regularly highlighted by Ashcroft and other Justice Department officials in speeches and congressional testimony, and even by President Bush." But when the LA Times asked for documentation of the Justice Department claims the "department declined to provide a complete accounting of the terrorism-related prosecutions that Ashcroft and others cite." After the LA Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request they received "a highly redacted accounting covering only about half the number that Ashcroft trumpets." Included in that list were "two New Jersey men, operators of small grocery stores, who were convicted of accepting hundreds of boxes of stolen breakfast cereal, in a crime that occurred 16 months before the terrorist hijackings." A Justice Department spokesman admitted that some of the cases included in the count "don't necessarily involve terrorists or people convicted of terrorism-related crimes."
Michelle also notes some very interesting remarks from Fearmaster Cheney from the same report:
On a visit to Abu Dhabi [in 1996], Cheney criticized U.S. sanctions on Libya saying, "There seems to be an assumption that somehow we know what's best for everybody else and that we are going to use our economic clout to get everybody else to live the way we would like." While many oil CEOs were loathe to attack the U.S. sanctions - especially while visiting foreign nations - Cheney was not. As the Journal of Commerce reported on 5/6/96, "Cheney, Halliburton's chief executive, has publicly slammed the sanctions while others have not."
...
In May of 1997, Cheney criticized the Congress for tightening sanctions on Libya, and specifically said the oil industry had a right to do business in countries with deadly WMD. As Oil and Gas Journal reported, "Cheney said oil and gas companies must explore where the reserves are, and that means doing business in countries that may have policies that the U.S. does not like." Cheney said, "The long-term horizon of the oil industry is at odds with the short term nature of politics."
...
The next year, Cheney ratcheted up his campaign, once again criticizing the U.S. security policy on foreign soil. According the Malaysian News Agency reported, "Cheney hit out at his government for imposing economic sanctions like the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act."
Michelle directs me to the Progress Report, which points out that many of the cases the Department of "Justice" touts as victories in the "war on terrorism" (I never used to use so many quote marks!) have, um, nothing to do with terrorism:
The Justice Department has been touting "a list of more than 280 cases that the department cites as evidence that it is winning the war on terrorism." The list has been "regularly highlighted by Ashcroft and other Justice Department officials in speeches and congressional testimony, and even by President Bush." But when the LA Times asked for documentation of the Justice Department claims the "department declined to provide a complete accounting of the terrorism-related prosecutions that Ashcroft and others cite." After the LA Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request they received "a highly redacted accounting covering only about half the number that Ashcroft trumpets." Included in that list were "two New Jersey men, operators of small grocery stores, who were convicted of accepting hundreds of boxes of stolen breakfast cereal, in a crime that occurred 16 months before the terrorist hijackings." A Justice Department spokesman admitted that some of the cases included in the count "don't necessarily involve terrorists or people convicted of terrorism-related crimes."
Michelle also notes some very interesting remarks from Fearmaster Cheney from the same report:
On a visit to Abu Dhabi [in 1996], Cheney criticized U.S. sanctions on Libya saying, "There seems to be an assumption that somehow we know what's best for everybody else and that we are going to use our economic clout to get everybody else to live the way we would like." While many oil CEOs were loathe to attack the U.S. sanctions - especially while visiting foreign nations - Cheney was not. As the Journal of Commerce reported on 5/6/96, "Cheney, Halliburton's chief executive, has publicly slammed the sanctions while others have not."
...
In May of 1997, Cheney criticized the Congress for tightening sanctions on Libya, and specifically said the oil industry had a right to do business in countries with deadly WMD. As Oil and Gas Journal reported, "Cheney said oil and gas companies must explore where the reserves are, and that means doing business in countries that may have policies that the U.S. does not like." Cheney said, "The long-term horizon of the oil industry is at odds with the short term nature of politics."
...
The next year, Cheney ratcheted up his campaign, once again criticizing the U.S. security policy on foreign soil. According the Malaysian News Agency reported, "Cheney hit out at his government for imposing economic sanctions like the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act."
Do you get the feeling...
That THIS is what the "war on terrorism" is really all about? Turning America into an armed camp?
That THIS is what the "war on terrorism" is really all about? Turning America into an armed camp?
Three more soldiers killed
The online news sources put these stories farther and farther down on the page, but the soldiers are just as dead. The total number of U.S. dead is now approximately 468, although the Washington Post still uses various devices to downplay the death toll:
The deaths brought to 205 the number of U.S. soldiers killed since Washington declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.
To fully understand the actual number of casualties, this site is helpful. The So-Called Liberal Media isn't.
The online news sources put these stories farther and farther down on the page, but the soldiers are just as dead. The total number of U.S. dead is now approximately 468, although the Washington Post still uses various devices to downplay the death toll:
The deaths brought to 205 the number of U.S. soldiers killed since Washington declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.
To fully understand the actual number of casualties, this site is helpful. The So-Called Liberal Media isn't.
Wehrmacht launches "Operation Iron Grip"
Coalition attack helicopters, aircraft gunships and batteries of field guns pounded a southern district of Baghdad early Wednesday in the opening salvo of what the U.S. military has dubbed "Operation Iron Grip." -- CNN
Artillery in a city of five million that you claim to have controlled for eight months. Lovely.
"We have launched Operation Iron Grip. It will be focused on Baghdad and ongoing for the foreseeable future," Capt. Jason Beck of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division told CNN.
The pre-emptive strikes by units of the 1st Armored Division come amid U.S. military intelligence reports that Iraqi guerrillas may be planning a series of strikes on U.S. and coalition forces over the Christmas and New Year period.
"It's very apparent to us that the enemy will probably use the holidays as a means to psychologically make its point. We know that and we're prepared to meet that," Beck said.
I think the point has already been made, Captain. U.S. forces are there to dominate, not liberate.
Coalition attack helicopters, aircraft gunships and batteries of field guns pounded a southern district of Baghdad early Wednesday in the opening salvo of what the U.S. military has dubbed "Operation Iron Grip." -- CNN
Artillery in a city of five million that you claim to have controlled for eight months. Lovely.
"We have launched Operation Iron Grip. It will be focused on Baghdad and ongoing for the foreseeable future," Capt. Jason Beck of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division told CNN.
The pre-emptive strikes by units of the 1st Armored Division come amid U.S. military intelligence reports that Iraqi guerrillas may be planning a series of strikes on U.S. and coalition forces over the Christmas and New Year period.
"It's very apparent to us that the enemy will probably use the holidays as a means to psychologically make its point. We know that and we're prepared to meet that," Beck said.
I think the point has already been made, Captain. U.S. forces are there to dominate, not liberate.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Mad Cow USA
The first apparent case of mad cow disease in the United States has been discovered, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday. -- CNN.
The book Mad Cow USA is available as a free download from the fine folks at PR Watch. I read it a year or two ago. Just one more reason to be a vegetarian.
I'm probably a total jerk for suggesting it, but this may not be bad news overall. Beef consumption is one of the worst things you can do to the planet (along with driving the SUV to McDonalds to buy it), and anything that scares people off from eating beef takes pressure off of the world food supply and the rainforests. Hopefully no humans get infected and not many animals either. Some herds may be pre-emptively slaughtered for protection, but most cattle don't (doesn't?) have long happy lives ahead of them anyway, with an appointment at a slaughterhouse already made. The capitalists whose stock will drop are some of the worst around: Tyson Foods (which owns IBP, the leading beef producer in the country, if I remember my facts correctly), McDonalds, and a bunch of obnoxious J. R. Ewing types down in Texas who gave megabucks to every Bush campaign. Unfortunately, the workers whose jobs are at risk are some of the most vulnerable, especially slaughterhouse employees. (See Fast Food Nation for some of the horror stories.) But I believe that cattle ranching is one of the least labor-intensive enterprises in agriculture, so if beef gets replaced by non-meat foods in a lot of people's diets, it might actually improve the employment situation.
The first apparent case of mad cow disease in the United States has been discovered, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday. -- CNN.
The book Mad Cow USA is available as a free download from the fine folks at PR Watch. I read it a year or two ago. Just one more reason to be a vegetarian.
I'm probably a total jerk for suggesting it, but this may not be bad news overall. Beef consumption is one of the worst things you can do to the planet (along with driving the SUV to McDonalds to buy it), and anything that scares people off from eating beef takes pressure off of the world food supply and the rainforests. Hopefully no humans get infected and not many animals either. Some herds may be pre-emptively slaughtered for protection, but most cattle don't (doesn't?) have long happy lives ahead of them anyway, with an appointment at a slaughterhouse already made. The capitalists whose stock will drop are some of the worst around: Tyson Foods (which owns IBP, the leading beef producer in the country, if I remember my facts correctly), McDonalds, and a bunch of obnoxious J. R. Ewing types down in Texas who gave megabucks to every Bush campaign. Unfortunately, the workers whose jobs are at risk are some of the most vulnerable, especially slaughterhouse employees. (See Fast Food Nation for some of the horror stories.) But I believe that cattle ranching is one of the least labor-intensive enterprises in agriculture, so if beef gets replaced by non-meat foods in a lot of people's diets, it might actually improve the employment situation.
Play the Plame game, John!
Cyndy links to a letter sent by Senators Daschle and Levin to Attorney General John Ashcroft complaining about the lack of action on the leaking of classified information from the White House, particularly the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame as retaliation against her whistle-blowing husband. The concluding paragraph of the letter states:
Your continuing refusal to name a special counsel, despite the possible involvement of senior Administration officials, and the appearance of a conflict of interest, make it even more imperative that the Congress and the American people be assured that this case is being thoroughly pursued free of partisan influence and you are personally committed to achieving a prompt, successful conclusion. Therefore, we request that you provide us an update on your Department=s efforts in this investigation, the steps you have taken to ensure its independence, and any measures you have implemented to stem the tide of leaks of classified information. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
"We look forward to hearing from you soon?" Don't these guys know how to make an ultimatum? Here's my suggestion for how they should have ended the letter:
If we don't get an appropriate response by the end of this year (that's right, John, NEXT WEEK), we'll be by the Justice Department on January 5 to pick you up. We'll be going to the White House, complete with camera crew, and going door to door asking everyone there, including the president and vice president, to sign affidavits stating that they were not involved in any of these leaks. You will be asked to sign too, John. We'll be bringing Mike Wallace and Michael Moore with us, since we already know that nobody in the administration fears mere Democrats anymore.
Oh, and John? Merry Christmas.
Cyndy links to a letter sent by Senators Daschle and Levin to Attorney General John Ashcroft complaining about the lack of action on the leaking of classified information from the White House, particularly the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame as retaliation against her whistle-blowing husband. The concluding paragraph of the letter states:
Your continuing refusal to name a special counsel, despite the possible involvement of senior Administration officials, and the appearance of a conflict of interest, make it even more imperative that the Congress and the American people be assured that this case is being thoroughly pursued free of partisan influence and you are personally committed to achieving a prompt, successful conclusion. Therefore, we request that you provide us an update on your Department=s efforts in this investigation, the steps you have taken to ensure its independence, and any measures you have implemented to stem the tide of leaks of classified information. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
"We look forward to hearing from you soon?" Don't these guys know how to make an ultimatum? Here's my suggestion for how they should have ended the letter:
If we don't get an appropriate response by the end of this year (that's right, John, NEXT WEEK), we'll be by the Justice Department on January 5 to pick you up. We'll be going to the White House, complete with camera crew, and going door to door asking everyone there, including the president and vice president, to sign affidavits stating that they were not involved in any of these leaks. You will be asked to sign too, John. We'll be bringing Mike Wallace and Michael Moore with us, since we already know that nobody in the administration fears mere Democrats anymore.
Oh, and John? Merry Christmas.
Pipelineistan
Or, "Rocky and Bullwinkle continue the battle against Boris and Natasha."
Or, "Georgia on my mind, part MMIV."
The Asia Times has a fascinating article on the intrigue going on in the Caucuses (you know, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Georgia being recently replaced under extremely dubious circumstances, complete with visits from Rummy and Powell and Baker and other assorted criminals):
In May, during a solemn pipe-laying ceremony for the start of the Georgian stretch of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), Georgia oil executive Georgy Chantiurua said: "This was the start of the integration of Georgia into the NATO zone ... this pipeline will become an artery feeding energy to the US and European countries." The US$3.6 billion oilfield and pipeline development project involves a 1,767 kilometer pipeline, the world's longest, snaking from Baku through Georgia to a new terminal at Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
...
Ramzan issues a chilling warning: in 2004 "the war will seize the entire Caucasus from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea. Apart from Ossetia and Ingushetia, this year another guerrilla war has already started in two areas of Dagestan bordering Chechnya. I swear by Allah, this is only the beginning."
Significantly, Ramzan suspects that "Western governments and their security services also secretly finance us through different Islamic funds and organizations. I am convinced that there are Western powers in whose interests it is to keep Russia permanently involved in such a slow-burning conflict as the war in the Caucasus."
...
And there is also little doubt that September 11 provided the ultimate excuse for the US to install its military bases in Central Asia and the Trans-Caucasus - a former Soviet sphere. So the "war on terror" is not about a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West, and not even solely about "terrorism". The name of the game is basically Pipelineistan: monster oil corporate profits to be made by controlling Central Asia-Caspian Sea oil and gas, bypassing both Russia and Iran, and exerting extra pressure on China. As countless watchdogs have stressed, this is a ruthless "do or die" corporate war. As From the Wilderness puts it, it will be carried out "at any cost, no matter the suffering it may bring to human beings or the devastation it unleashes upon the environment. Such are the characteristics of today's imperialism, the source of war and terrorism."
...
So it comes as no surprise that the road map for what will happen in the next few years is Cheney's May 2001 energy report: the strategy is to to gain access, leverage and control of oil and gas from Colombia and Venezuela in South America to Iraq in the Middle East and the Caspian. Thus the American demonization of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, the fight against FARC in Colombia, the war against Iraq, the push for BTC in the Caspian, the courtship of Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov, etc.
It takes an exceptional degree of naivete to believe that the invasion of Iraq had anything to do with liberation or democracy or weapons of mass destruction once you get a glimpse of what's really happening.
Or, "Rocky and Bullwinkle continue the battle against Boris and Natasha."
Or, "Georgia on my mind, part MMIV."
The Asia Times has a fascinating article on the intrigue going on in the Caucuses (you know, the leaders of Azerbaijan and Georgia being recently replaced under extremely dubious circumstances, complete with visits from Rummy and Powell and Baker and other assorted criminals):
In May, during a solemn pipe-laying ceremony for the start of the Georgian stretch of the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), Georgia oil executive Georgy Chantiurua said: "This was the start of the integration of Georgia into the NATO zone ... this pipeline will become an artery feeding energy to the US and European countries." The US$3.6 billion oilfield and pipeline development project involves a 1,767 kilometer pipeline, the world's longest, snaking from Baku through Georgia to a new terminal at Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
...
Ramzan issues a chilling warning: in 2004 "the war will seize the entire Caucasus from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea. Apart from Ossetia and Ingushetia, this year another guerrilla war has already started in two areas of Dagestan bordering Chechnya. I swear by Allah, this is only the beginning."
Significantly, Ramzan suspects that "Western governments and their security services also secretly finance us through different Islamic funds and organizations. I am convinced that there are Western powers in whose interests it is to keep Russia permanently involved in such a slow-burning conflict as the war in the Caucasus."
...
And there is also little doubt that September 11 provided the ultimate excuse for the US to install its military bases in Central Asia and the Trans-Caucasus - a former Soviet sphere. So the "war on terror" is not about a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West, and not even solely about "terrorism". The name of the game is basically Pipelineistan: monster oil corporate profits to be made by controlling Central Asia-Caspian Sea oil and gas, bypassing both Russia and Iran, and exerting extra pressure on China. As countless watchdogs have stressed, this is a ruthless "do or die" corporate war. As From the Wilderness puts it, it will be carried out "at any cost, no matter the suffering it may bring to human beings or the devastation it unleashes upon the environment. Such are the characteristics of today's imperialism, the source of war and terrorism."
...
So it comes as no surprise that the road map for what will happen in the next few years is Cheney's May 2001 energy report: the strategy is to to gain access, leverage and control of oil and gas from Colombia and Venezuela in South America to Iraq in the Middle East and the Caspian. Thus the American demonization of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, the fight against FARC in Colombia, the war against Iraq, the push for BTC in the Caspian, the courtship of Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov, etc.
It takes an exceptional degree of naivete to believe that the invasion of Iraq had anything to do with liberation or democracy or weapons of mass destruction once you get a glimpse of what's really happening.
Bob Harris is traveling the world
Bob Harris is the author/radio guy who sometimes guest-blogs on Tom Tomorrow's blog, turning it from a very good blog to a great one. He's already visited England, South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia, and has been sharing his experiences on the web. Here's one I particularly like from the Malaysia visit:
Inside, there's another four-story staircase leading up to the innermost temple, and when I was there, six guys were moving a house-sized pile of bricks up the staircase simply by throwing them, one-by-one, bucket-brigade style, apparently the only way to accomplish the job in such an enclosed, remote space. Hard work? Definitely. But they were laughing and singing and playing, even as their arms must have wanted to fall off.
Never having been the kind of guy who could laugh and giggle while my arms fall off in a cave, I had to stop and chat. They were all from Indonesia, it turns out, and they had moved to Malaysia for the money -- the brick-slinging option apparently paid way better than anything back home. Thus the whole we-are-Santa's-elves deal.
Keep this in mind, next time you're bummed because somebody cut you off in traffic or whatever. At least you're not so poor that
lifting bricks
by hand
up a four-story stairwell
in the middle of a cave
in Malaysia
would be a step up worthy of singing about.
Bob Harris is the author/radio guy who sometimes guest-blogs on Tom Tomorrow's blog, turning it from a very good blog to a great one. He's already visited England, South Africa, Singapore and Malaysia, and has been sharing his experiences on the web. Here's one I particularly like from the Malaysia visit:
Inside, there's another four-story staircase leading up to the innermost temple, and when I was there, six guys were moving a house-sized pile of bricks up the staircase simply by throwing them, one-by-one, bucket-brigade style, apparently the only way to accomplish the job in such an enclosed, remote space. Hard work? Definitely. But they were laughing and singing and playing, even as their arms must have wanted to fall off.
Never having been the kind of guy who could laugh and giggle while my arms fall off in a cave, I had to stop and chat. They were all from Indonesia, it turns out, and they had moved to Malaysia for the money -- the brick-slinging option apparently paid way better than anything back home. Thus the whole we-are-Santa's-elves deal.
Keep this in mind, next time you're bummed because somebody cut you off in traffic or whatever. At least you're not so poor that
lifting bricks
by hand
up a four-story stairwell
in the middle of a cave
in Malaysia
would be a step up worthy of singing about.
Just around the corner
Al Giordano promises something big, left and outside for the new year; something about breaking the code of the unethical commercial media. Be sure to check his blog on New Year's day between cups of coffee or football games or whatever you're doing that day. Al says:
I've spent much of the past two months studying and contemplating this problem: how to revive ethical journalism, and am very close to uncloaking what I've really been up to of late.
As you head into the holidaze, kind readers and friends, don't get too depressed in the darkest days of the northern hemisphere... If at some point the bastards (including the ones you're related to, heh) get ya down, keep the following in mind: that when you awaken on New Year's morning, January 1, 2004, you are cordially invited to come looking here.
That's when my collaborators and I will uncloak something big. Our biggest assault on the unethical Commercial Media yet. We've cracked a code. And journalism will never be the same again.
Al Giordano promises something big, left and outside for the new year; something about breaking the code of the unethical commercial media. Be sure to check his blog on New Year's day between cups of coffee or football games or whatever you're doing that day. Al says:
I've spent much of the past two months studying and contemplating this problem: how to revive ethical journalism, and am very close to uncloaking what I've really been up to of late.
As you head into the holidaze, kind readers and friends, don't get too depressed in the darkest days of the northern hemisphere... If at some point the bastards (including the ones you're related to, heh) get ya down, keep the following in mind: that when you awaken on New Year's morning, January 1, 2004, you are cordially invited to come looking here.
That's when my collaborators and I will uncloak something big. Our biggest assault on the unethical Commercial Media yet. We've cracked a code. And journalism will never be the same again.
Monday, December 22, 2003
Truer words
Modern cyberspace is a deadly festering swamp, teeming with dangerous programs such as ''viruses,'' ''worms,'' ''Trojan horses'' and ''licensed Microsoft software'' that can take over your computer and render it useless. -- Dave Barry
Modern cyberspace is a deadly festering swamp, teeming with dangerous programs such as ''viruses,'' ''worms,'' ''Trojan horses'' and ''licensed Microsoft software'' that can take over your computer and render it useless. -- Dave Barry
Making travel exciting
I'm planning on flying to California on Christmas day. Might be more exciting than I was planning on, what with orange alerts and earthquakes.
I'm planning on flying to California on Christmas day. Might be more exciting than I was planning on, what with orange alerts and earthquakes.
The Night Before Baghdad, take six
I first wrote this in September 2002; my previous update was back in June. I've just added four more stanzas on the end:
The Night Before Baghdad, by Bob Goodsell
'Twas the night before Baghdad, and through the White House
Not a Bushie was thinking, not even his spouse
The war maps were hung by the table with care
In hopes that Dick Cheney soon would be there.
They'd bribed and extorted, threatened and lied
Not a one of them cared how many would die
Pope's, vets' and citizens' thoughts do not count
When you've an Iraqi invasion to mount.
No weapons were found by those sent to inspect
But all this meant naught to the pres'dent select
It matters not the UN closed the door
Our very own Hitler will have his own war.
People will die by the thousands and more
America's name soiled by blood and by gore
Lying for truth and warring for peace
The whole world suffers from Bush's disease.
The prez he was nestled all snug in his bed
While visions of 2004 danced in his head
With Condi on keyboard and Colin on bass
Rummy on vocals sang "Bush won't lose face!"
When out on the south lawn there rose such a noise
It had to be Rummy's destructive war toys
But astonished we were as our startled eyes fell
On a tall bearded man riding high on a camel.
"Tell me," asked Condi, "is that a llama?"
"No, token black woman! That is Osama!"
He hopped off his camel and gathered his rifle
Clearly this was someone with whom we won't trifle.
He walked to the door and passed in front of us
He asked to be taken to the Oval Office
The Senate had some of its members in there
And when he arrived he gave them a scare.
"Out Daschle! Out Feinstein! Out Smiling Joe Lieberman!
Out Lott! Out Hatch! Out Schumer! Out Clinton!
You're self-serving pawns of the corporate swine
Selling your souls to the Bush-Cheney line.
"I wanted a war 'twixt Islam and West
You've given me everything! Thanks, you're the best!
Thanks Condi, thanks Rummy, and thanks Colin, too!
And when he wakes up, please thank W!"
He went to the warroom and smiled at the plans
"The hated Saddam is soon a dead man!
The world in turmoil will be fertile ground
For radical Islam to be spread around!"
And flipping a finger toward one and all
He laughed so hard that it shook down the wall
It made so much noise that the prez left his sack
And came down to ask "Is it time to attack?"
And back to the garden Osama did go
No chicken hawk stopped him as he walked out the do'
Not Rummy, not Condi, not one of the staff
Stopped Osama bin Laden or his terrible laugh.
Then George Bush the Senior entered the room
By reading his lips we all sensed the gloom
"You've tried your best, George, I'll give you that, son
But make no mistake: the terrorists have won."
Meanwhile in Iraq Saddam slipped away
He'd be nowhere around on the bloody next day
He'd go into hiding and show up no more
'Til another dumb Bush sought another dumb war.
And back in the states with the press all embedded
Comes the crackdown on freedom that we've all dreaded
When ruled by a man who's conscience bereft
The right to be silent is all we'll have left.
***
'Tis three months since Baghdad and throughout the land
Not a weapon's been found in the concrete or sand
The lies they were told so to war we could go
'Bout nukes bought from Niger and 'thrax on the go.
Thousands are dying and millions are crying
As foreign invaders in khaki are trying
To bring back to Baghdad the order destroyed
By their bombs and their guns and their missiles deployed.
They toppled a statue and thought they had won
But now they are finding the war's just begun
The water's polluted and everything's looted
All victims of a mad leader deluded.
There's money for Bechtel and Cheney's old firm
The travesty just has to make Jefferson squirm
The Bushies care nothing for those who are dying
As long as the oil flows down the pipeline.
He flew to a ship sailing ten miles from shore
So that all the dumb freepers could once more adore
A dimwit from Texas who still had the gall
To celebrate war after he went AWOL.
If weapons were there who knows where's their location
Be it Qaeda or Hamas or Aryan Nation
And if they were not then our "president" lied
And for this lie many soldiers have died.
***
Now nine months have passed since the shrub first attacked
Saddam has been found and his bad boys been whacked
No weapons were found as know all with some sense
Still aWol the shrub says "What's the difference?"
Soldiers are dead by the hundreds, what's more
Thousands are wounded, their legs turned to gore
Others "supported" while tours drag on
As the liar in chief tells their foes "Bring 'em on."
Soon the Night Before Christmas will be upon us
Soldiers in Mosul not Indianapolis
Hoping to get home undead and unhurt
While the rest of us go on high terror alert.
Iraq's got no weapons and Saddam's not in charge
But people who hate us are always at large
And as we ponder their plans for the season
We know that Iraq gives them just one more reason.
I first wrote this in September 2002; my previous update was back in June. I've just added four more stanzas on the end:
The Night Before Baghdad, by Bob Goodsell
'Twas the night before Baghdad, and through the White House
Not a Bushie was thinking, not even his spouse
The war maps were hung by the table with care
In hopes that Dick Cheney soon would be there.
They'd bribed and extorted, threatened and lied
Not a one of them cared how many would die
Pope's, vets' and citizens' thoughts do not count
When you've an Iraqi invasion to mount.
No weapons were found by those sent to inspect
But all this meant naught to the pres'dent select
It matters not the UN closed the door
Our very own Hitler will have his own war.
People will die by the thousands and more
America's name soiled by blood and by gore
Lying for truth and warring for peace
The whole world suffers from Bush's disease.
The prez he was nestled all snug in his bed
While visions of 2004 danced in his head
With Condi on keyboard and Colin on bass
Rummy on vocals sang "Bush won't lose face!"
When out on the south lawn there rose such a noise
It had to be Rummy's destructive war toys
But astonished we were as our startled eyes fell
On a tall bearded man riding high on a camel.
"Tell me," asked Condi, "is that a llama?"
"No, token black woman! That is Osama!"
He hopped off his camel and gathered his rifle
Clearly this was someone with whom we won't trifle.
He walked to the door and passed in front of us
He asked to be taken to the Oval Office
The Senate had some of its members in there
And when he arrived he gave them a scare.
"Out Daschle! Out Feinstein! Out Smiling Joe Lieberman!
Out Lott! Out Hatch! Out Schumer! Out Clinton!
You're self-serving pawns of the corporate swine
Selling your souls to the Bush-Cheney line.
"I wanted a war 'twixt Islam and West
You've given me everything! Thanks, you're the best!
Thanks Condi, thanks Rummy, and thanks Colin, too!
And when he wakes up, please thank W!"
He went to the warroom and smiled at the plans
"The hated Saddam is soon a dead man!
The world in turmoil will be fertile ground
For radical Islam to be spread around!"
And flipping a finger toward one and all
He laughed so hard that it shook down the wall
It made so much noise that the prez left his sack
And came down to ask "Is it time to attack?"
And back to the garden Osama did go
No chicken hawk stopped him as he walked out the do'
Not Rummy, not Condi, not one of the staff
Stopped Osama bin Laden or his terrible laugh.
Then George Bush the Senior entered the room
By reading his lips we all sensed the gloom
"You've tried your best, George, I'll give you that, son
But make no mistake: the terrorists have won."
Meanwhile in Iraq Saddam slipped away
He'd be nowhere around on the bloody next day
He'd go into hiding and show up no more
'Til another dumb Bush sought another dumb war.
And back in the states with the press all embedded
Comes the crackdown on freedom that we've all dreaded
When ruled by a man who's conscience bereft
The right to be silent is all we'll have left.
***
'Tis three months since Baghdad and throughout the land
Not a weapon's been found in the concrete or sand
The lies they were told so to war we could go
'Bout nukes bought from Niger and 'thrax on the go.
Thousands are dying and millions are crying
As foreign invaders in khaki are trying
To bring back to Baghdad the order destroyed
By their bombs and their guns and their missiles deployed.
They toppled a statue and thought they had won
But now they are finding the war's just begun
The water's polluted and everything's looted
All victims of a mad leader deluded.
There's money for Bechtel and Cheney's old firm
The travesty just has to make Jefferson squirm
The Bushies care nothing for those who are dying
As long as the oil flows down the pipeline.
He flew to a ship sailing ten miles from shore
So that all the dumb freepers could once more adore
A dimwit from Texas who still had the gall
To celebrate war after he went AWOL.
If weapons were there who knows where's their location
Be it Qaeda or Hamas or Aryan Nation
And if they were not then our "president" lied
And for this lie many soldiers have died.
***
Now nine months have passed since the shrub first attacked
Saddam has been found and his bad boys been whacked
No weapons were found as know all with some sense
Still aWol the shrub says "What's the difference?"
Soldiers are dead by the hundreds, what's more
Thousands are wounded, their legs turned to gore
Others "supported" while tours drag on
As the liar in chief tells their foes "Bring 'em on."
Soon the Night Before Christmas will be upon us
Soldiers in Mosul not Indianapolis
Hoping to get home undead and unhurt
While the rest of us go on high terror alert.
Iraq's got no weapons and Saddam's not in charge
But people who hate us are always at large
And as we ponder their plans for the season
We know that Iraq gives them just one more reason.
Ted Rall previews Saddam's trial
[Ahmed Chalabi, prosecutor]: Um--OK. When did you decide to invade Kuwait?
[Saddam Hussein, defendant]: That was a terrible misunderstanding. Look, the other OPEC guys were leaning on me to do something about Kuwait because they were exceeding production limits and driving down prices. They're your problem, they said. I figured, why not kill three birds with one stone--reunite with a province artificially partitioned by the Brits, sate OPEC and stop the Kuwaitis' nasty habit of drilling sideways into our oilfields? But I was a good CIA employee. I would never have done something like that without talking to my bosses in the Bush Administration first.
AC: This would be George H.W. Bush?
SH: Yeah, yeah, the slightly smarter one. Anyway, I had my intelligence people analyze statements coming out of the White House to figure out whether they'd mind if I invaded. On July 24, 1990, a week before we went in, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said, "We do not have any defense treaties with Kuwait, and there are no special defense or security commitments to Kuwait." On July 31, Representative Lee Hamilton asked Assistant Secretary of State John Kelly, testifying before a House foreign affairs subcommittee, whether it was true that the U.S. would not send troops to defend Kuwait if I invaded. "That is correct," Kelly said. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie--they both told me it was OK to take out Kuwait! Then, when I did, they pretended we'd never talked about it first. It all goes to show, never deal with a middleman. I didn't want to bother President Bush during his August vacation. That's what you get for showing a little consideration. By the way, do you think there's any chance I could get my old job back? Tell Rummy I miss him!
There's more where that came from.
[Ahmed Chalabi, prosecutor]: Um--OK. When did you decide to invade Kuwait?
[Saddam Hussein, defendant]: That was a terrible misunderstanding. Look, the other OPEC guys were leaning on me to do something about Kuwait because they were exceeding production limits and driving down prices. They're your problem, they said. I figured, why not kill three birds with one stone--reunite with a province artificially partitioned by the Brits, sate OPEC and stop the Kuwaitis' nasty habit of drilling sideways into our oilfields? But I was a good CIA employee. I would never have done something like that without talking to my bosses in the Bush Administration first.
AC: This would be George H.W. Bush?
SH: Yeah, yeah, the slightly smarter one. Anyway, I had my intelligence people analyze statements coming out of the White House to figure out whether they'd mind if I invaded. On July 24, 1990, a week before we went in, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said, "We do not have any defense treaties with Kuwait, and there are no special defense or security commitments to Kuwait." On July 31, Representative Lee Hamilton asked Assistant Secretary of State John Kelly, testifying before a House foreign affairs subcommittee, whether it was true that the U.S. would not send troops to defend Kuwait if I invaded. "That is correct," Kelly said. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie--they both told me it was OK to take out Kuwait! Then, when I did, they pretended we'd never talked about it first. It all goes to show, never deal with a middleman. I didn't want to bother President Bush during his August vacation. That's what you get for showing a little consideration. By the way, do you think there's any chance I could get my old job back? Tell Rummy I miss him!
There's more where that came from.
Two soldiers and an interpreter killed,
two more soldiers wounded.
two more soldiers wounded.
Support the strikers!
Politics in the Zeros gives a report from the front lines in the grocery strike in LA. For those of you who, like me, will be enjoying a few days off for the holidays, please remember that people in unions had a lot to do with making those days off possible. If you can do something to support workers who are striking this holiday season, please do so. Join the picket line, bring some food, support and promote the boycotts. To learn how to support the Borders strike, wherever you are, please go to this web site. I'll see if I can find out a list of recommendations for supporting the LA grocery strikers.
Politics in the Zeros gives a report from the front lines in the grocery strike in LA. For those of you who, like me, will be enjoying a few days off for the holidays, please remember that people in unions had a lot to do with making those days off possible. If you can do something to support workers who are striking this holiday season, please do so. Join the picket line, bring some food, support and promote the boycotts. To learn how to support the Borders strike, wherever you are, please go to this web site. I'll see if I can find out a list of recommendations for supporting the LA grocery strikers.
Take my rights--Please!
No, this isn't standup comedy; it's bend-over-and-take-it tragedy. Thank you, Mr. Ashcroft, may I have another?
Lots of Americans are apparently willing to give up liberty for security: probably maximum security. Billmon is saddened by this; me too.
No, this isn't standup comedy; it's bend-over-and-take-it tragedy. Thank you, Mr. Ashcroft, may I have another?
Lots of Americans are apparently willing to give up liberty for security: probably maximum security. Billmon is saddened by this; me too.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Nice little Kucinich plug
from Dave Pollard:
Kucinich remains the progressive standard-bearer
Dennis Kucinich, in an interview with Salon and LinkTV shows why he's the only real liberal in the Democratic race, and brilliantly deconstructs arguments he is 'unelectable'. I'm just more and more impressed with him. I think he'd have a superb relationship with other world leaders as President, and having that kind of collaboration and cooperation, instead of the Bush bullying and unilateralism and confrontation, could make all the difference in the world. Even if 2004 is not his year, watch this guy -- he's not going away and could well turn out to be the best President of the 21st century.
from Dave Pollard:
Kucinich remains the progressive standard-bearer
Dennis Kucinich, in an interview with Salon and LinkTV shows why he's the only real liberal in the Democratic race, and brilliantly deconstructs arguments he is 'unelectable'. I'm just more and more impressed with him. I think he'd have a superb relationship with other world leaders as President, and having that kind of collaboration and cooperation, instead of the Bush bullying and unilateralism and confrontation, could make all the difference in the world. Even if 2004 is not his year, watch this guy -- he's not going away and could well turn out to be the best President of the 21st century.
Feeling safer?
Terror threat level raised to orange. Orange you scared?
What will probably happen is many people will decide to drive instead of fly and end up getting killed in car crashes. Auto accidents kill more Americans every month, on average, than have been killed by terrorists in the past ten years, including 9/11.
Of course, the genuine thrill-seeker will be flying to Columbus, Ohio for the holidays, and spending all day cruising the freeways. Hijackings, car crashes, and snipers: a multi-threat vacation!
Terror threat level raised to orange. Orange you scared?
What will probably happen is many people will decide to drive instead of fly and end up getting killed in car crashes. Auto accidents kill more Americans every month, on average, than have been killed by terrorists in the past ten years, including 9/11.
Of course, the genuine thrill-seeker will be flying to Columbus, Ohio for the holidays, and spending all day cruising the freeways. Hijackings, car crashes, and snipers: a multi-threat vacation!
Think there are holes in the spider hole story?
You're not alone. Michelle has links to several articles from around the world describing a more plausible story behind Saddam's capture.
You're not alone. Michelle has links to several articles from around the world describing a more plausible story behind Saddam's capture.
Pipelines and storage depots attacked in Iraq
From AP:
Insurgents attacked pipelines and an oil storage depot in three parts of Iraq, setting fires that blazed for hours and lost millions of gallons of oil, officials and media reported Sunday, as the country faced a critical fuel shortage.
...
The Oil Ministry introduced rationing on Thursday to overcome shortages that have created mile-long lines of cars at gas stations and waits up to 12 hours. At the same time the U.S. military began to crack down on black marketeers who sell gas for as much as $1.85 a gallon. The official price equates to 5 U.S. cents a gallon.
Baghdad blogger Raed gives some details about the "crack down on black marketeers" that the AP left out (quoted verbatim):
THREE to TEN years behind bars, is what I'll get if "they" got me buying petrol from the "black market"!!!!
I was reading this arabic leaflet (full of grammar mistakes) printed and distributed last week with my eyes opened .. opened very much .. this much >>> OO
YEARS? not DAYS?
Ladies and gentlemen , you either wait for 6 hours in the gas station queue, wondering how to keep theifs and bullets away from your cars, or you'll enjoy our prisons of freedom for the rest of your life.
HOW DARE YOU BUY PETROL FROM THE MASS DISTRACTION MARKET ??
Other unemployed free people, you either stop drinking and selling petrol or you'll be considered as "criminals", and the new Iraqi courts will put you in freedom cells; comfortable beds with free breakfast.
From AP:
Insurgents attacked pipelines and an oil storage depot in three parts of Iraq, setting fires that blazed for hours and lost millions of gallons of oil, officials and media reported Sunday, as the country faced a critical fuel shortage.
...
The Oil Ministry introduced rationing on Thursday to overcome shortages that have created mile-long lines of cars at gas stations and waits up to 12 hours. At the same time the U.S. military began to crack down on black marketeers who sell gas for as much as $1.85 a gallon. The official price equates to 5 U.S. cents a gallon.
Baghdad blogger Raed gives some details about the "crack down on black marketeers" that the AP left out (quoted verbatim):
THREE to TEN years behind bars, is what I'll get if "they" got me buying petrol from the "black market"!!!!
I was reading this arabic leaflet (full of grammar mistakes) printed and distributed last week with my eyes opened .. opened very much .. this much >>> OO
YEARS? not DAYS?
Ladies and gentlemen , you either wait for 6 hours in the gas station queue, wondering how to keep theifs and bullets away from your cars, or you'll enjoy our prisons of freedom for the rest of your life.
HOW DARE YOU BUY PETROL FROM THE MASS DISTRACTION MARKET ??
Other unemployed free people, you either stop drinking and selling petrol or you'll be considered as "criminals", and the new Iraqi courts will put you in freedom cells; comfortable beds with free breakfast.
Iraq was unable to disarm as Bush insisted...
Because it had no weapons of which to disarm itself. Libya apparently has a barrel here and a vial there, and is willing to bring them to a parking lot and destroy them; hence Libya will not be invaded, at least not for a while. There's plenty to be said on this, especially regarding Bushian hypocrisy, and Billmon has said a lot of it. Plus it's 12:30 in the morning. So read Billmon, and check back in the morning!
Because it had no weapons of which to disarm itself. Libya apparently has a barrel here and a vial there, and is willing to bring them to a parking lot and destroy them; hence Libya will not be invaded, at least not for a while. There's plenty to be said on this, especially regarding Bushian hypocrisy, and Billmon has said a lot of it. Plus it's 12:30 in the morning. So read Billmon, and check back in the morning!
Saturday, December 20, 2003
You think they lie to us? Look at what they told the Senate!
"Local" news from Florida's "Space Coast," via Left I:
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Monday the Bush administration last year told him and other senators that Iraq not only had weapons of mass destruction, but they had the means to deliver them to East Coast cities.
Nelson, D-Tallahassee, said about 75 senators got that news during a classified briefing before last October's congressional vote authorizing the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Nelson voted in favor of using military force.
Nelson said he couldn't reveal who in the administration gave the briefing.
The White House directed questions about the matter to the Department of Defense. Defense officials had no comment on Nelson's claim.
Nelson said the senators were told Iraq had both biological and chemical weapons, notably anthrax, and it could deliver them to cities along the Eastern seaboard via unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones. [more]
"Local" news from Florida's "Space Coast," via Left I:
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Monday the Bush administration last year told him and other senators that Iraq not only had weapons of mass destruction, but they had the means to deliver them to East Coast cities.
Nelson, D-Tallahassee, said about 75 senators got that news during a classified briefing before last October's congressional vote authorizing the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Nelson voted in favor of using military force.
Nelson said he couldn't reveal who in the administration gave the briefing.
The White House directed questions about the matter to the Department of Defense. Defense officials had no comment on Nelson's claim.
Nelson said the senators were told Iraq had both biological and chemical weapons, notably anthrax, and it could deliver them to cities along the Eastern seaboard via unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones. [more]
Debt Relief
Only for countries we own.
Only for countries we own.
Think it's bad? No! It's much, much worse than that!
Canadian journalist Naomi Klein recently attended "ReBuilding Iraq 2, a gathering of 400 businesspeople itching to get a piece of the Iraqi reconstruction action." She wasn't reassured by what she heard, as she reports in the Nation:
Bremer's Iraq is, by all accounts, uninsurable.
...
Just when the mood at ReBuilding Iraq 2 couldn't sink any lower, up to the podium strides Michael Lempres, vice president of insurance at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). With a cool confidence absent from the shellshocked proceedings so far, he announces that investors can relax: Uncle Sam will protect them.
A US government agency, OPIC provides loans and insurance to US companies investing abroad. And while Lempres agrees with earlier speakers that the risks in Iraq are "extraordinary and unusual," he also says that "OPIC is different. We do not exist primarily to generate profit." Instead, OPIC exists to "support US foreign policy." And since turning Iraq into a free-trade zone is a top Bush policy goal, OPIC will be there to help out. Earlier that same day, President Bush signed legislation providing "the agency with enhancements to its political risk insurance program," according to an OPIC press release.
...
At the Microsoft-sponsored cocktail reception in the Galaxy Ballroom that evening, Robert Dees urges us "to network on behalf of the people of Iraq." I follow orders and ask Lempres what happens if "the people of Iraq" decide to seize back their economy from the US firms he has so generously insured. Who bails out OPIC? "In theory," he says, "the US Treasury stands behind us." That means the US taxpayer. Yes, them again: The same people who have already paid Halliburton, Bechtel et al. to make a killing on Iraq's reconstruction would have to pay these companies again, this time in compensation for their losses. While the enormous profits being made in Iraq are strictly private, it turns out that the entire risk is being shouldered by the public.
So Bechtel or Halliburton can spend a billion dollars of our money building a port or pipeline or highway in Iraq, something a French firm would probably gladly have done for half as much, or an Iraqi firm for one tenth as much or less. Then, when the inevitable feces hits the inevitable air circulator and said facility gets blown to smithereens and/or nationalized, Bechtel or Halliburton will bill us for another billion dollars to compensate for their loss. Rush Limbaugh and his pals call Kucinich a socialist for suggesting that profit be removed from health care, but the Bushies have removed profit from providing carpetbagger care in Iraq, since insurance companies recognize there's no profit in insuring glass at a rock-throwing festival. By doing so, profits are guaranteed for the crooks at Halliburton, Bechtel, and so on, and losses are guaranteed for you and me and Iraq.
Thanks to Allan in Ottawa for the link!
Canadian journalist Naomi Klein recently attended "ReBuilding Iraq 2, a gathering of 400 businesspeople itching to get a piece of the Iraqi reconstruction action." She wasn't reassured by what she heard, as she reports in the Nation:
Bremer's Iraq is, by all accounts, uninsurable.
...
Just when the mood at ReBuilding Iraq 2 couldn't sink any lower, up to the podium strides Michael Lempres, vice president of insurance at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). With a cool confidence absent from the shellshocked proceedings so far, he announces that investors can relax: Uncle Sam will protect them.
A US government agency, OPIC provides loans and insurance to US companies investing abroad. And while Lempres agrees with earlier speakers that the risks in Iraq are "extraordinary and unusual," he also says that "OPIC is different. We do not exist primarily to generate profit." Instead, OPIC exists to "support US foreign policy." And since turning Iraq into a free-trade zone is a top Bush policy goal, OPIC will be there to help out. Earlier that same day, President Bush signed legislation providing "the agency with enhancements to its political risk insurance program," according to an OPIC press release.
...
At the Microsoft-sponsored cocktail reception in the Galaxy Ballroom that evening, Robert Dees urges us "to network on behalf of the people of Iraq." I follow orders and ask Lempres what happens if "the people of Iraq" decide to seize back their economy from the US firms he has so generously insured. Who bails out OPIC? "In theory," he says, "the US Treasury stands behind us." That means the US taxpayer. Yes, them again: The same people who have already paid Halliburton, Bechtel et al. to make a killing on Iraq's reconstruction would have to pay these companies again, this time in compensation for their losses. While the enormous profits being made in Iraq are strictly private, it turns out that the entire risk is being shouldered by the public.
So Bechtel or Halliburton can spend a billion dollars of our money building a port or pipeline or highway in Iraq, something a French firm would probably gladly have done for half as much, or an Iraqi firm for one tenth as much or less. Then, when the inevitable feces hits the inevitable air circulator and said facility gets blown to smithereens and/or nationalized, Bechtel or Halliburton will bill us for another billion dollars to compensate for their loss. Rush Limbaugh and his pals call Kucinich a socialist for suggesting that profit be removed from health care, but the Bushies have removed profit from providing carpetbagger care in Iraq, since insurance companies recognize there's no profit in insuring glass at a rock-throwing festival. By doing so, profits are guaranteed for the crooks at Halliburton, Bechtel, and so on, and losses are guaranteed for you and me and Iraq.
Thanks to Allan in Ottawa for the link!
They say "abuse," we say "torture."
Let's call the whole thing off.
Al Giordano notes that the video evidence of the torture of people detained after 9/11 at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, N.Y. is being reported as "abuse."
The report concluded that as many as 20 guards were involved in the abuse, which included slamming prisoners against walls and painfully twisting their arms and hands.
...
A federal dragnet after the Sept. 11 attacks resulted in the detention of more than 1,200 foreign nationals, including 762 people who were the focus of Fine's original probe. Most were of Arab or South Asian descent and were held on immigration violations under a directive from Attorney General John D. Ashcroft while authorities attempted to determine whether they were connected to the attack or to terrorist groups. None was ever charged with terrorism-related crimes, however.
Let's call the whole thing off.
Al Giordano notes that the video evidence of the torture of people detained after 9/11 at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, N.Y. is being reported as "abuse."
The report concluded that as many as 20 guards were involved in the abuse, which included slamming prisoners against walls and painfully twisting their arms and hands.
...
A federal dragnet after the Sept. 11 attacks resulted in the detention of more than 1,200 foreign nationals, including 762 people who were the focus of Fine's original probe. Most were of Arab or South Asian descent and were held on immigration violations under a directive from Attorney General John D. Ashcroft while authorities attempted to determine whether they were connected to the attack or to terrorist groups. None was ever charged with terrorism-related crimes, however.
Friday, December 19, 2003
Red meat for the suspicious
Don't believe the Saddam capture story? You'll love this.
Don't believe the Saddam capture story? You'll love this.
From a blog called Xymphora...
Comes this concise summary of the Bush/Blair war crimes case:
Bush says there is no difference between Saddam's having weapons of mass destruction and the possibility that he could move to acquire such weapons. Of course, there is all the difference in the world. The Bush/Blair argument for war absolutely depended on an imminent threat, and for that Saddam actually had to have the weapons in hand and be able to use them. Thinking about getting weapons, pondering getting weapons, planning getting weapons, having the capability to attempt to acquire weapons - none of these is good enough. After the Second World War the world community decided on the sanctity of the sovereignty of nations, and prohibited wars waged on the basis of the various excuses used by people like Hitler. To say that the war was fought as Saddam would be a threat if he acquired weapons is ridiculous, as any war could be fought on that basis. There has to at least be either an imminent threat of attack and no other way to avoid war, or the agreement of the United Nations. Otherwise, the war is illegal, and allowing it destroys the understanding carefully created to ensure that another Hitler couldn't hide behind vague claims of security to wage colonialist wars. Bush in fact may not be smart enough to understand this, but the American attack on Iraq was clearly illegal, and sets a terrible precedent for the world.
David Kay is getting tired of looking for something which he knows isn't there, and wants to quit as the man in charge of dragging the search for WMD out long enough so Bush won't be embarrassed. I assume he believes that Bush no longer needs to pretend that there are such weapons now that a Saddam-like figure is in the bag, and so he can give up the charade. Kay, who has spent much of the last fifteen years mongering for the obscene attack on Iraq, has become a rather pathetic figure, dragging his ass around the desert so he and Bush won't look like bloodthirsty fools.
With Saddam in custody all the war criminals seem to feel comfortable about brazenly admitting that the weapons that provided the excuse for the attack didn't exist. Complex diplomacy and the lessons of the Second World War have been laid waste, and the world is a more dangerous place.
Comes this concise summary of the Bush/Blair war crimes case:
Bush says there is no difference between Saddam's having weapons of mass destruction and the possibility that he could move to acquire such weapons. Of course, there is all the difference in the world. The Bush/Blair argument for war absolutely depended on an imminent threat, and for that Saddam actually had to have the weapons in hand and be able to use them. Thinking about getting weapons, pondering getting weapons, planning getting weapons, having the capability to attempt to acquire weapons - none of these is good enough. After the Second World War the world community decided on the sanctity of the sovereignty of nations, and prohibited wars waged on the basis of the various excuses used by people like Hitler. To say that the war was fought as Saddam would be a threat if he acquired weapons is ridiculous, as any war could be fought on that basis. There has to at least be either an imminent threat of attack and no other way to avoid war, or the agreement of the United Nations. Otherwise, the war is illegal, and allowing it destroys the understanding carefully created to ensure that another Hitler couldn't hide behind vague claims of security to wage colonialist wars. Bush in fact may not be smart enough to understand this, but the American attack on Iraq was clearly illegal, and sets a terrible precedent for the world.
David Kay is getting tired of looking for something which he knows isn't there, and wants to quit as the man in charge of dragging the search for WMD out long enough so Bush won't be embarrassed. I assume he believes that Bush no longer needs to pretend that there are such weapons now that a Saddam-like figure is in the bag, and so he can give up the charade. Kay, who has spent much of the last fifteen years mongering for the obscene attack on Iraq, has become a rather pathetic figure, dragging his ass around the desert so he and Bush won't look like bloodthirsty fools.
With Saddam in custody all the war criminals seem to feel comfortable about brazenly admitting that the weapons that provided the excuse for the attack didn't exist. Complex diplomacy and the lessons of the Second World War have been laid waste, and the world is a more dangerous place.
Clark and Milosevic
Left I has an interesting comparison of various news reports on Wesley Clark's testimony in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic.
Left I has an interesting comparison of various news reports on Wesley Clark's testimony in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic.
Cheney, Drugs, Halliburton
Need I say more to get you to read this article?
Okay, how about this little excerpt:
Dick Cheney's footprints have come closer to drugs than one might suspect. The August Center for Public Integrity report brought them even closer. It would be factually correct to say that there is a direct linkage of Brown and Root facilities - often in remote and hazardous regions - between every drug producing region and every drug consuming region in the world. These coincidences, in and of themselves, do not prove complicity in the trade. Other facts, however, lead inescapably in that direction.
Need I say more to get you to read this article?
Okay, how about this little excerpt:
Dick Cheney's footprints have come closer to drugs than one might suspect. The August Center for Public Integrity report brought them even closer. It would be factually correct to say that there is a direct linkage of Brown and Root facilities - often in remote and hazardous regions - between every drug producing region and every drug consuming region in the world. These coincidences, in and of themselves, do not prove complicity in the trade. Other facts, however, lead inescapably in that direction.
Cheery thoughts from George Monbiot
(with which I totally agree)
Every generation has its taboo, and ours is this: that the resource upon which our lives have been built is running out. We don't talk about it because we cannot imagine it. This is a civilisation in denial.
...
No one with expertise in the field is in any doubt that the global production of oil will peak before long.
The only question is how long. The most optimistic projections are the ones produced by the US department of energy, which claims that this will not take place until 2037. But the US energy information agency has admitted that the government's figures have been fudged: it has based its projections for oil supply on the projections for oil demand, perhaps in order not to sow panic in the financial markets.
Other analysts are less sanguine. The petroleum geologist Colin Campbell calculates that global extraction will peak before 2010. In August, the geophysicist Kenneth Deffeyes told New Scientist that he was "99% confident" that the date of maximum global production will be 2004. Even if the optimists are correct, we will be scraping the oil barrel within the lifetimes of most of those who are middle-aged today.
...
As the price rises, the sectors which are now almost wholly dependent on crude oil - principally transport and farming - will be forced to contract. Given that climate change caused by burning oil is cooking the planet, this might appear to be a good thing. The problem is that our lives have become hard-wired to the oil economy. Our sprawling suburbs are impossible to service without cars. High oil prices mean high food prices: much of the world's growing population will go hungry. These problems will be exacerbated by the direct connection between the price of oil and the rate of unemployment. The last five recessions in the US were all preceded by a rise in the oil price.
...
We seem, in other words, to be in trouble. Either we lay hands on every available source of fossil fuel, in which case we fry the planet and civilisation collapses, or we run out, and civilisation collapses.
...
In view of all this, the notion that the war with Iraq had nothing to do with oil is simply preposterous. The US attacked Iraq (which appears to have had no weapons of mass destruction and was not threatening other nations), rather than North Korea (which is actively developing a nuclear weapons programme and boasting of its intentions to blow everyone else to kingdom come) because Iraq had something it wanted.
(with which I totally agree)
Every generation has its taboo, and ours is this: that the resource upon which our lives have been built is running out. We don't talk about it because we cannot imagine it. This is a civilisation in denial.
...
No one with expertise in the field is in any doubt that the global production of oil will peak before long.
The only question is how long. The most optimistic projections are the ones produced by the US department of energy, which claims that this will not take place until 2037. But the US energy information agency has admitted that the government's figures have been fudged: it has based its projections for oil supply on the projections for oil demand, perhaps in order not to sow panic in the financial markets.
Other analysts are less sanguine. The petroleum geologist Colin Campbell calculates that global extraction will peak before 2010. In August, the geophysicist Kenneth Deffeyes told New Scientist that he was "99% confident" that the date of maximum global production will be 2004. Even if the optimists are correct, we will be scraping the oil barrel within the lifetimes of most of those who are middle-aged today.
...
As the price rises, the sectors which are now almost wholly dependent on crude oil - principally transport and farming - will be forced to contract. Given that climate change caused by burning oil is cooking the planet, this might appear to be a good thing. The problem is that our lives have become hard-wired to the oil economy. Our sprawling suburbs are impossible to service without cars. High oil prices mean high food prices: much of the world's growing population will go hungry. These problems will be exacerbated by the direct connection between the price of oil and the rate of unemployment. The last five recessions in the US were all preceded by a rise in the oil price.
...
We seem, in other words, to be in trouble. Either we lay hands on every available source of fossil fuel, in which case we fry the planet and civilisation collapses, or we run out, and civilisation collapses.
...
In view of all this, the notion that the war with Iraq had nothing to do with oil is simply preposterous. The US attacked Iraq (which appears to have had no weapons of mass destruction and was not threatening other nations), rather than North Korea (which is actively developing a nuclear weapons programme and boasting of its intentions to blow everyone else to kingdom come) because Iraq had something it wanted.
There's a limit to broadband
Comcast, which provides the broadband cable-modem service to my house, has apparently disconnected some customers for downloading too much. I haven't looked at my contract, but according to the article, there are no stated limits on broadband usage. You pay for broadband because you want to access a lot and download a lot. But now if you do, they may cut you off.
Comcast, which provides the broadband cable-modem service to my house, has apparently disconnected some customers for downloading too much. I haven't looked at my contract, but according to the article, there are no stated limits on broadband usage. You pay for broadband because you want to access a lot and download a lot. But now if you do, they may cut you off.
Gag
There's an ad on TV now which shows a seventh-grade class deciding to help a needy family for Christmas. They raise money through odd jobs and bake sales and such, and then they go and buy presents--at Wal-Mart. The same Wal-Mart that has done so much to increase poverty in this country. Heck, the mother of the needy family may actually WORK at Wal-Mart! Or maybe she lost her job at the textile mill because Wal-Mart buys mostly from China.
So Wal-Mart is using the good intentions of school kids to promote their vile brand of commerce. They're also promoting the insidious notion that there's nothing sadder than Christmas without crappy presents. Why not just give the money to the mother and let her pay the rent or buy the food her family really needs?
Bah humbug.
(Warning: Half-formed thought follows)
I'm thinking about Wal-Mart, and about Henry Ford. Henry Ford was an interesting individual, a bizarre collection of great and terrible ideas. He was an innovator, an anti-Semite, a pacifist, a failure, and an amazing success. And while in his later years, during the 1930's, he was vehemently anti-union, he also had some interesting ideas in the labor field. One for which he is best known is the $5 work day, which I believe he introduced around 1914. This was a substantially higher wage than most laborers could get at the time. Ford's reasoning was that his workers had to be paid enough to be able to buy his cars. I'm not sure that the logic was really sound, but it was an interesting concept.
What strikes me now is that Wal-Mart takes the opposite approach. By keeping wages low, they make it so that the only place people can afford to shop is Wal-Mart.
There's an ad on TV now which shows a seventh-grade class deciding to help a needy family for Christmas. They raise money through odd jobs and bake sales and such, and then they go and buy presents--at Wal-Mart. The same Wal-Mart that has done so much to increase poverty in this country. Heck, the mother of the needy family may actually WORK at Wal-Mart! Or maybe she lost her job at the textile mill because Wal-Mart buys mostly from China.
So Wal-Mart is using the good intentions of school kids to promote their vile brand of commerce. They're also promoting the insidious notion that there's nothing sadder than Christmas without crappy presents. Why not just give the money to the mother and let her pay the rent or buy the food her family really needs?
Bah humbug.
(Warning: Half-formed thought follows)
I'm thinking about Wal-Mart, and about Henry Ford. Henry Ford was an interesting individual, a bizarre collection of great and terrible ideas. He was an innovator, an anti-Semite, a pacifist, a failure, and an amazing success. And while in his later years, during the 1930's, he was vehemently anti-union, he also had some interesting ideas in the labor field. One for which he is best known is the $5 work day, which I believe he introduced around 1914. This was a substantially higher wage than most laborers could get at the time. Ford's reasoning was that his workers had to be paid enough to be able to buy his cars. I'm not sure that the logic was really sound, but it was an interesting concept.
What strikes me now is that Wal-Mart takes the opposite approach. By keeping wages low, they make it so that the only place people can afford to shop is Wal-Mart.
Women's Lib
Supposedly beneficiaries of the Bush wars, women in Afghanistan and Iraq are not doing well, according to Juan Cole:
The sad reality is farther from this extended political commercial than even the most hardened cynic could easily imagine. Women have been frozen out of significant political office in Afghanistan and have been silenced with death threats from hardened warlords when they have dared speak out.
...
In Herat, warlord Ismail Khan's policies toward women differ only somewhat from those of the Taliban!
...
Likewise, in Iraq, the US invasion and occupation has certainly been a disaster for Iraqi women.
Supposedly beneficiaries of the Bush wars, women in Afghanistan and Iraq are not doing well, according to Juan Cole:
The sad reality is farther from this extended political commercial than even the most hardened cynic could easily imagine. Women have been frozen out of significant political office in Afghanistan and have been silenced with death threats from hardened warlords when they have dared speak out.
...
In Herat, warlord Ismail Khan's policies toward women differ only somewhat from those of the Taliban!
...
Likewise, in Iraq, the US invasion and occupation has certainly been a disaster for Iraqi women.
Juan Cole on the security situation in Iraq:
Just a personal note. I lived in Beirut during the early years of the civil war there in the mid to late 1970s. When I see correspondents reporting from downtown Baghdad, and hear the repeated gunfire and bombings in the background, I cannot help flash on Beirut then. Apparently Baghdad closes up at 9 pm every night, and people are desperately afraid for their security. It isn't even clear whom the gunmen are fighting. These obvious signs of near-anarchy are visible whenever Wolf Blitzer or some other anchor talks to an American in Baghdad nowadays. It is incredible to me that anyone is optimistic, given this obvious lack of security in the country's capital, which is occupied by thousands of American troops! I mean, this really is an 'emperor has no clothes' scenario, but Wolf and others seem too polite to just say so. -- Juan Cole
Just a personal note. I lived in Beirut during the early years of the civil war there in the mid to late 1970s. When I see correspondents reporting from downtown Baghdad, and hear the repeated gunfire and bombings in the background, I cannot help flash on Beirut then. Apparently Baghdad closes up at 9 pm every night, and people are desperately afraid for their security. It isn't even clear whom the gunmen are fighting. These obvious signs of near-anarchy are visible whenever Wolf Blitzer or some other anchor talks to an American in Baghdad nowadays. It is incredible to me that anyone is optimistic, given this obvious lack of security in the country's capital, which is occupied by thousands of American troops! I mean, this really is an 'emperor has no clothes' scenario, but Wolf and others seem too polite to just say so. -- Juan Cole
Justice for Gitmo?
In another legal setback for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court has concluded terrorist suspects held in secret U.S. custody on foreign soil deserve access to lawyers and the American legal system. -- CNN
I had to search several news web sites to find one (CNN) which actually accorded this important decision its own headline. The NY Times, Washington Post, even the Globe & Mail all simply added it on to the Padilla decision which was delivered earlier yesterday.
Of course, CNN's web site is giving the main headline to the all-important Michael Jackson story, while the attack on Bremer (which has apparently been covered up for two weeks) and another explosion in Baghdad get minor billing. The headline for the Gitmo case was only to be found hiding, for some strange reason, in the "World" section near the bottom of the page.
In any case, no matter how the media tries to hide it, this is great news for justice and bad news for Bush. Win-win.
Billmon has a much more thorough post on the legalities and history behind these decisions. Highly recommended.
In another legal setback for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court has concluded terrorist suspects held in secret U.S. custody on foreign soil deserve access to lawyers and the American legal system. -- CNN
I had to search several news web sites to find one (CNN) which actually accorded this important decision its own headline. The NY Times, Washington Post, even the Globe & Mail all simply added it on to the Padilla decision which was delivered earlier yesterday.
Of course, CNN's web site is giving the main headline to the all-important Michael Jackson story, while the attack on Bremer (which has apparently been covered up for two weeks) and another explosion in Baghdad get minor billing. The headline for the Gitmo case was only to be found hiding, for some strange reason, in the "World" section near the bottom of the page.
In any case, no matter how the media tries to hide it, this is great news for justice and bad news for Bush. Win-win.
Billmon has a much more thorough post on the legalities and history behind these decisions. Highly recommended.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Some day, some of this may matter
Michelle has dug up another bizarre tidbit regarding the 9/11 investigation: Thomas Kean, chairman of the 9/11 commission, has had business dealings with Osama bin Laden's brother in law.
According to a 1998 Senate testimony of former CIA director James Woolsey, powerful financier Khalid bin Mahfouz' younger sister is married to Osama bin Laden. (US Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Federal News Service, 3 Sept. 1998, See also Wayne Madsen, Questionable Ties, In These Times,12 Nov. 2001 )
Bin Mahfouz is suspected to have funnelled millions of dollars to the Al Qaeda network.(See Tom Flocco, Scoop.co.nz 28 Aug. 2002)
Now, "by sheer coincidence", former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the man chosen by President Bush to lead the 9/11 commission also has business ties with bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi.
Thomas Kean is a director (and shareholder) of Amerada Hess Corporation , which is involved in the Hess-Delta joint venture with Delta Oil of Saudi Arabia (owned by the bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans). Delta-Hess "was established in 1998 for the development and exploration of oil fields in the Caspian region...In Azerbaijan Delta Hess is involved in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli PSA (2.72%) and the Garabaghli-Kursangi PSA (20%). It is also an equity holder in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline".
A reminder: The families of 9/11 victims were promised by Bush that they could pick one of the five Republican members of the 9/11 commission. Their choice was former New Hampshire senator Warren Rudman. Instead, Bush appointed Henry Kissinger, who withdrew rather than reveal his conflicts of interest. So Kean was selected. No Rudman. Kean therefore may have the extremely dubious distinction of being one of the few people in the world having fewer scruples than Henry Kissinger (Bush and Cheney are in that select group as well).
Even so, this moral cipher may yet be so appalled by what he finds out that he'll do the right thing.
Michelle has dug up another bizarre tidbit regarding the 9/11 investigation: Thomas Kean, chairman of the 9/11 commission, has had business dealings with Osama bin Laden's brother in law.
According to a 1998 Senate testimony of former CIA director James Woolsey, powerful financier Khalid bin Mahfouz' younger sister is married to Osama bin Laden. (US Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Federal News Service, 3 Sept. 1998, See also Wayne Madsen, Questionable Ties, In These Times,12 Nov. 2001 )
Bin Mahfouz is suspected to have funnelled millions of dollars to the Al Qaeda network.(See Tom Flocco, Scoop.co.nz 28 Aug. 2002)
Now, "by sheer coincidence", former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the man chosen by President Bush to lead the 9/11 commission also has business ties with bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi.
Thomas Kean is a director (and shareholder) of Amerada Hess Corporation , which is involved in the Hess-Delta joint venture with Delta Oil of Saudi Arabia (owned by the bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans). Delta-Hess "was established in 1998 for the development and exploration of oil fields in the Caspian region...In Azerbaijan Delta Hess is involved in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli PSA (2.72%) and the Garabaghli-Kursangi PSA (20%). It is also an equity holder in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline".
A reminder: The families of 9/11 victims were promised by Bush that they could pick one of the five Republican members of the 9/11 commission. Their choice was former New Hampshire senator Warren Rudman. Instead, Bush appointed Henry Kissinger, who withdrew rather than reveal his conflicts of interest. So Kean was selected. No Rudman. Kean therefore may have the extremely dubious distinction of being one of the few people in the world having fewer scruples than Henry Kissinger (Bush and Cheney are in that select group as well).
Even so, this moral cipher may yet be so appalled by what he finds out that he'll do the right thing.
Vote!
MSNBC's got an online poll.
MSNBC's got an online poll.
Weapons found
Saddam's enormous bushy beard contained several mobile bioweapons labs, twelve Scud missiles, some African yellowcake enclosed in a lead capsule, and a dachshund named Mordecai, who had disappeared in early March. -- from Opinions You Should Have
Saddam's enormous bushy beard contained several mobile bioweapons labs, twelve Scud missiles, some African yellowcake enclosed in a lead capsule, and a dachshund named Mordecai, who had disappeared in early March. -- from Opinions You Should Have
I hate to defend Dr. Dean, but...
This Washington Post editorial is, to use their own word, ludicrous:
The argument that this tyrant was not a danger to the United States is not just unfounded but ludicrous.
Maybe Dean was basing his judgment on that of Colin Powell:
He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. -- Colin Powell, Feb. 24, 2001
If the editorial board at the Post thinks former dictators of disarmed nations hiding in spider holes are a danger to the U.S., they must not be getting much sleep. Which would probably explain the utter stupidity of this editorial.
This Washington Post editorial is, to use their own word, ludicrous:
The argument that this tyrant was not a danger to the United States is not just unfounded but ludicrous.
Maybe Dean was basing his judgment on that of Colin Powell:
He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. -- Colin Powell, Feb. 24, 2001
If the editorial board at the Post thinks former dictators of disarmed nations hiding in spider holes are a danger to the U.S., they must not be getting much sleep. Which would probably explain the utter stupidity of this editorial.
Hypocrite!
Of course, calling aWol a hypocrite is like calling Michael Jackson weird. Fish in a barrel, you know. But Michelle reminds us that many months ago, before the bombs and the soldiers started falling, aWol wanted Saddam Hussein to go into exile, presumably escaping the punishment now planned for him:
Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals -- including journalists and inspectors -- should leave Iraq immediately. -- aWol's speech, March 17, 2003.
Michelle, whose paranoid suspicions I deeply respect, and not just because they provide cover for mine, seems to suggest all sorts of fancy intrigue for this offer of exile--secret arms shipments and so on. While there may be something to that, I think the explanation is simpler: Bush was going to start a war, and he wanted some way to blame it on Saddam. He confirms this himself later in the speech:
Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war, and every measure will be taken to win it.
In other words, by not doing something that Bush knew pretty much for sure that he wouldn't do, Saddam was to blame for the war. Still, Michelle has a point. Even as a cynical ploy that he expected, Bush was saying that he was willing to let this tyrant and his sons get away. That sort of puts a chimp wrench into his latest statements about how important it was to remove the threat of Saddam's return to power FOREVER. From aWol's speech on Sunday (emphasis added):
The capture of this man was crucial to the rise of a free Iraq. It marks the end of the road for him, and for all who bullied and killed in his name. For the Baathist holdouts largely responsible for the current violence, there will be no return to the corrupt power and privilege they once held. For the vast majority of Iraqi citizens who wish to live as free men and women, this event brings further assurance that the torture chambers and the secret police are gone forever.
And this afternoon, I have a message for the Iraqi people: You will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again.
That is, the "rise of a free Iraq" is a lot more important to aWol now than it was back in March, when he was offering different excuses:
Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed. And it will not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds power.
Why does anyone believe anything this lying liar says?
Of course, calling aWol a hypocrite is like calling Michael Jackson weird. Fish in a barrel, you know. But Michelle reminds us that many months ago, before the bombs and the soldiers started falling, aWol wanted Saddam Hussein to go into exile, presumably escaping the punishment now planned for him:
Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals -- including journalists and inspectors -- should leave Iraq immediately. -- aWol's speech, March 17, 2003.
Michelle, whose paranoid suspicions I deeply respect, and not just because they provide cover for mine, seems to suggest all sorts of fancy intrigue for this offer of exile--secret arms shipments and so on. While there may be something to that, I think the explanation is simpler: Bush was going to start a war, and he wanted some way to blame it on Saddam. He confirms this himself later in the speech:
Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war, and every measure will be taken to win it.
In other words, by not doing something that Bush knew pretty much for sure that he wouldn't do, Saddam was to blame for the war. Still, Michelle has a point. Even as a cynical ploy that he expected, Bush was saying that he was willing to let this tyrant and his sons get away. That sort of puts a chimp wrench into his latest statements about how important it was to remove the threat of Saddam's return to power FOREVER. From aWol's speech on Sunday (emphasis added):
The capture of this man was crucial to the rise of a free Iraq. It marks the end of the road for him, and for all who bullied and killed in his name. For the Baathist holdouts largely responsible for the current violence, there will be no return to the corrupt power and privilege they once held. For the vast majority of Iraqi citizens who wish to live as free men and women, this event brings further assurance that the torture chambers and the secret police are gone forever.
And this afternoon, I have a message for the Iraqi people: You will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again.
That is, the "rise of a free Iraq" is a lot more important to aWol now than it was back in March, when he was offering different excuses:
Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed. And it will not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds power.
Why does anyone believe anything this lying liar says?
Another soldier killed
and one wounded, along with an interpreter. -- NY Times
And, from the same article:
On Wednesday delegates on the Iraqi Governing Council, the 25-member body appointed by the Americans to help run Iraq, denied reports that Mr. Hussein had been taken out of Iraq, possibly to Qatar, on the Persian Gulf.
"Saddam Hussein is still in greater Baghdad and will remain there to be tried in Iraq," Mowaffak al- Rubaie, a council member, said at a news conference here.
So once again we don't really know where Saddam is.
and one wounded, along with an interpreter. -- NY Times
And, from the same article:
On Wednesday delegates on the Iraqi Governing Council, the 25-member body appointed by the Americans to help run Iraq, denied reports that Mr. Hussein had been taken out of Iraq, possibly to Qatar, on the Persian Gulf.
"Saddam Hussein is still in greater Baghdad and will remain there to be tried in Iraq," Mowaffak al- Rubaie, a council member, said at a news conference here.
So once again we don't really know where Saddam is.
Court orders release of Padilla
President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The decision could force the government to try Padilla, held in a so-called "dirty bomb'' plot, in civilian courts.
In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Padilla's detention was not authorized by Congress and that Bush could not designate him as an enemy combatant without the authorization.
The former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam was arrested in May 2002 Chicago's O'Hare airport as he returned from Pakistan. Within days, he was moved to a naval brig in Charleston, S.C.
The court directed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to release Padilla from military custody within 30 days, but said the government was free to transfer him to civilian authorities who can bring criminal charges. -- AP
Finally a court is trying to show Bush the meaning of America justice.
President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The decision could force the government to try Padilla, held in a so-called "dirty bomb'' plot, in civilian courts.
In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Padilla's detention was not authorized by Congress and that Bush could not designate him as an enemy combatant without the authorization.
The former Chicago gang member who converted to Islam was arrested in May 2002 Chicago's O'Hare airport as he returned from Pakistan. Within days, he was moved to a naval brig in Charleston, S.C.
The court directed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to release Padilla from military custody within 30 days, but said the government was free to transfer him to civilian authorities who can bring criminal charges. -- AP
Finally a court is trying to show Bush the meaning of America justice.
A Mighty, Mighty Union
is what retail workers need.
The best present New York City's retail workers could get this holiday season is a card -- a union membership card, according to a new report issued today by the Economic Policy Institute. "Unionization and Poverty: The Case of New York City Retail Workers" analyzes the 10-year decline in wages and benefits paid to New York's retail workers and reviews the failure of existing public policies to address these declines. It concludes that the surest way for retail workers to improve their lives is by joining a union and the most effective public policy to help them get there would be policies that protect their right to organize.
My brother explained it to me decades ago. During World War Two, millions of working-age Americans went off to Europe or the Pacific, where economically speaking they were strictly consumers and not producers. And even though the quality and quantity of some of the things they consumed, like food and housing, may have declined from their previous standards they were still consuming these, and overall the Americans abroad were far more voracious consumers than before. Ships, airplanes, guns, bombs, ammunition, and so on were being consumed at incredible rates. And not just by American soldiers and sailors. The American "arsenal of democracy" was supplying the British, Soviets, Chinese and several others with whatever they needed to continue fighting the Axis powers. All of this was being produced by a drastically reduced workforce at home. Of course, women and others who hadn't worked in factories before were employed, and many people worked very long hours. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that America could produce goods in amounts dramatically larger than would normally be needed in peacetime with only a fraction of the workforce.
The war ended; the troops came home. Rather than figure out a way to share the work and the wealth in some way that guaranteed nobody would get too much of the former or too little of the latter, it instead became common policy and wisdom that the only economy we could have is one with constant growth and excessive consumption. Not only does this economy destroy the environment, it also concentrates wealth. And wealth is power. When you buy something at a store, the clerk you give your money to has basically no say in how that money is distributed. The CEO sitting at his desk will get a much higher cut than the clerk will; probably hundreds of times as much. And since we have this incredible excess of "productivity," the clerk is easily replaceable if she complains or tries to take a larger cut. Only by organizing do the clerks of the world have a chance at anything like a fair share.
I don't know the answers, but I'm quite sure that things can't continue in the direction they're going now. The goal of the "cheap-labor conservatives" is to continue increasing their share of the pie to as close to 100% as possible, and they're already very close. People deserve to be able to live, but that right is systematically being denied them.
So, in the short term at least, do whatever you can to support unions.
is what retail workers need.
The best present New York City's retail workers could get this holiday season is a card -- a union membership card, according to a new report issued today by the Economic Policy Institute. "Unionization and Poverty: The Case of New York City Retail Workers" analyzes the 10-year decline in wages and benefits paid to New York's retail workers and reviews the failure of existing public policies to address these declines. It concludes that the surest way for retail workers to improve their lives is by joining a union and the most effective public policy to help them get there would be policies that protect their right to organize.
My brother explained it to me decades ago. During World War Two, millions of working-age Americans went off to Europe or the Pacific, where economically speaking they were strictly consumers and not producers. And even though the quality and quantity of some of the things they consumed, like food and housing, may have declined from their previous standards they were still consuming these, and overall the Americans abroad were far more voracious consumers than before. Ships, airplanes, guns, bombs, ammunition, and so on were being consumed at incredible rates. And not just by American soldiers and sailors. The American "arsenal of democracy" was supplying the British, Soviets, Chinese and several others with whatever they needed to continue fighting the Axis powers. All of this was being produced by a drastically reduced workforce at home. Of course, women and others who hadn't worked in factories before were employed, and many people worked very long hours. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that America could produce goods in amounts dramatically larger than would normally be needed in peacetime with only a fraction of the workforce.
The war ended; the troops came home. Rather than figure out a way to share the work and the wealth in some way that guaranteed nobody would get too much of the former or too little of the latter, it instead became common policy and wisdom that the only economy we could have is one with constant growth and excessive consumption. Not only does this economy destroy the environment, it also concentrates wealth. And wealth is power. When you buy something at a store, the clerk you give your money to has basically no say in how that money is distributed. The CEO sitting at his desk will get a much higher cut than the clerk will; probably hundreds of times as much. And since we have this incredible excess of "productivity," the clerk is easily replaceable if she complains or tries to take a larger cut. Only by organizing do the clerks of the world have a chance at anything like a fair share.
I don't know the answers, but I'm quite sure that things can't continue in the direction they're going now. The goal of the "cheap-labor conservatives" is to continue increasing their share of the pie to as close to 100% as possible, and they're already very close. People deserve to be able to live, but that right is systematically being denied them.
So, in the short term at least, do whatever you can to support unions.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
This was not something that had to happen.
September 11, that is. According to Thomas Kean, chairman of the commission investigating 9/11.
"This is a very, very important part of history and we've got to tell it right," said Thomas Kean.
"As you read the report, you're going to have a pretty clear idea what wasn't done and what should have been done," he said. "This was not something that had to happen."
Appointed by the Bush administration, Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, is now pointing fingers inside the administration and laying blame.
"There are people that, if I was doing the job, would certainly not be in the position they were in at that time because they failed. They simply failed," Kean said.
The CBS story gets a little muddled after that, leaving Kean's statements and going to those of 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser. Between the two, it would appear that Condiloser Rice may take the brunt of the blame. She certainly deserves it for incompetence, if nothing else. As Breitweiser points out, nothing so completely convicts her of incompetence at the least as Rice's incredibly stupid (naive, ignorant, duplicitous--choose one or several) statement from May 2002:
I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile.
Maybe, in spite of all that the Bushies have done to cover up what really happened on 9/11 and to thwart any and all investigations of it, the 9/11 commission will still come through with the stunning revelations that will guarantee aWol's defeat next year, if not his impeachment. And, just as with Nixon and Clinton, it won't be the initial crime or failure or blow job that does him in, but that he knew about it and lied in order to cover it up.
September 11, that is. According to Thomas Kean, chairman of the commission investigating 9/11.
"This is a very, very important part of history and we've got to tell it right," said Thomas Kean.
"As you read the report, you're going to have a pretty clear idea what wasn't done and what should have been done," he said. "This was not something that had to happen."
Appointed by the Bush administration, Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, is now pointing fingers inside the administration and laying blame.
"There are people that, if I was doing the job, would certainly not be in the position they were in at that time because they failed. They simply failed," Kean said.
The CBS story gets a little muddled after that, leaving Kean's statements and going to those of 9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser. Between the two, it would appear that Condiloser Rice may take the brunt of the blame. She certainly deserves it for incompetence, if nothing else. As Breitweiser points out, nothing so completely convicts her of incompetence at the least as Rice's incredibly stupid (naive, ignorant, duplicitous--choose one or several) statement from May 2002:
I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile.
Maybe, in spite of all that the Bushies have done to cover up what really happened on 9/11 and to thwart any and all investigations of it, the 9/11 commission will still come through with the stunning revelations that will guarantee aWol's defeat next year, if not his impeachment. And, just as with Nixon and Clinton, it won't be the initial crime or failure or blow job that does him in, but that he knew about it and lied in order to cover it up.
Bush administration embroiled in Boeing scandal
A good analysis from the WSWS.
A good analysis from the WSWS.
Woohoo! I agree with aWol on something!
W: The best day of my presidency was when I was sworn in as President and — because it gave me a chance to assume this high office and implement a strategy that would make the world more peaceful and more free and a country more compassionate. That's so far been the best day of my presidency. -- from the Diane Sawyer interview.
Definitely the best day of his presidency. He was only president for half the day. It's been all downhill ever since.
W: The best day of my presidency was when I was sworn in as President and — because it gave me a chance to assume this high office and implement a strategy that would make the world more peaceful and more free and a country more compassionate. That's so far been the best day of my presidency. -- from the Diane Sawyer interview.
Definitely the best day of his presidency. He was only president for half the day. It's been all downhill ever since.
In case you missed it...
SAWYER: But stated as a hard fact, that there were weapons of mass destruction, as opposed to the possibility that he could move to acquire those weapons still --
BUSH: So what's the difference?
ABC's Diane Sawyer interviewed aWol last night, and actually pressed him on the phantom WMD's. Liberal Oasis has the "highlights," while ABC has the full transcript.
And since there exists the possibility that any of us might move to acquire WMD's, I guess none of us are safe from the whims of W. But you knew that anyway.
SAWYER: But stated as a hard fact, that there were weapons of mass destruction, as opposed to the possibility that he could move to acquire those weapons still --
BUSH: So what's the difference?
ABC's Diane Sawyer interviewed aWol last night, and actually pressed him on the phantom WMD's. Liberal Oasis has the "highlights," while ABC has the full transcript.
And since there exists the possibility that any of us might move to acquire WMD's, I guess none of us are safe from the whims of W. But you knew that anyway.
Ashcrotch sanctioned
Chief Inquisitor John Ashcrotch has been sanctioned by a federal judge for twice violating a gag order. A remorseful Ashcrotch promised not to do it again very often.
Chief Inquisitor John Ashcrotch has been sanctioned by a federal judge for twice violating a gag order. A remorseful Ashcrotch promised not to do it again very often.