Friday, October 17, 2003
( 12:29 PM )
Well, At Least There Was No Barfing
Bush had dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi tonight (it's already tonight in Japan) and managed to get through it without any regurgitation episodes. So that's one up from his dad. Bush is on an Asian Mission: strong arm the countries into helping us by cripling their own economies. I think it may work - Bush is such a sweet and persuasive guy, after all.
Bush himself made no public comment on
the touchy topic of Tokyo's policy of intervening
in foreign exchange markets to stem the
yen's recent rise against the dollar.
But a senior U.S. administration official told
reporters later: "The president once again
reiterated his support for a strong dollar and
for market-determined exchange rates."
In other words, Bush went over to strong-arm Japan into complying with our economic wishes. It's an interesting tactic, considering Japan is one of the only countries to actually give a LOT of money to our Iraq "problem."
Tokyo spent a record 13.5 trillion yen
($123 billion) in the first nine months of the
year to try to stem the rise of the currency,
which recently hit three-year highs against
the dollar.
U.S. manufacturers say a weak yen threatens
their competitiveness. Japan is worried that a
strong yen could hurt its rebounding economy
by making exports too expensive.
This is unacceptable to Bush. He and his cronies are determined that the "markets" must rule - and so any country that attempts to intervene to protect its own currency is just asking to get on our enemies list right now. Funny thing, how Bush insists that other economies do what we want, even if it means their own struggling countries are hurt by it. Way to make friends and influence people!
"We need a level playing field when it comes
(to) trade and a level playing field will help us
create jobs here in America," Bush said in
California before leaving for Japan on the first
leg of a trip that will also take him to the
Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia
and Australia.
It's all about a "level playing field," which means fair for the U.S., not for anyone else. But this is somewhat confusing. Bush is saying that these countries should make it easier for us to create jobs in our country. But Bush also lauds US corporations that continue to send factories and outsource staff to other countries. So he says one thing but does another? What is this? Oh, wait a minute... this is the Bush administration. It's not about what they do, it's about how well they can obfuscate. Sorry, lost my place on the hymnsheet for a second there.
( 11:32 AM )
Okay, Who's The Wise Guy
This news just on the wire over at Reuters: Two separate Southwest Airlines planes had bags containing boxcutters and bleach in their lavatories last night (in Houston and New Orleans), which were discovered during maintenance today. So now ALL airplanes are going to be searched. What is going on? Here's the cryptic part:
A note in both packages indicated the items
were intended to challenge the TSA checkpoint
security procedures, Southwest said. It
immediately turned over the items to authorities.
Hmmm. Well, in terms of showing the sad state of TSA's "security," the stunt worked. In terms of being stupid and being really, really, REALLY stupid - I wonder if the guy knew enough not to leave fingerprints.
This is just one incident. But it seems like a lot of things are piling up lately to show that all those promises about how we are safer now and that something like 9/11 will never happen again are pretty empty as far as promises go. I just pray something like 9/11 does NOT happen again - and if it does, it better damn well not be something our government could have prevented but for not having enough money to cover all the homeland security needs because of the money needed for Iraq.
( 10:55 AM )
Friday is For Fathers
I know I skipped last Friday - but I'm trying to keep up! I try as much as possible to support the Dad blogs, and especially the Stay-at-Home-Dad blogs since that is a subject close to my heart (and home). I enjoy them all and encourage you to take a look if you get the chance. Here's an update of our Dads-About-Town and what they are up to lately!
Being Daddy celebrates his daughter's first songwriting achievement! And it's a fantastic song! (I especially like it since I always wanted to be on the moon too). Over at Rebel Dad, he's keeping us up with all the links we need - especially regarding how moms in the workplace depend on their stay-at-home hubbies. David, over at Daddy Make a Picture has a fresh new look (and I love his stuff, despite the fact that he's a Yankees fan) - and he has a great post up about the dreadful commercials that I always scream and yell about myself.
One of my favorites, Laid-Off Dad (also a Yankees fan), is enjoying a well-deserved mini-holiday right now. But read his stuff, it's legendary! Over at Frenzied Daddy (also a fellow Oregonian) Russ is dealing with the crap corporate world. But his job as Dad never gets downsized.
Fulltime Father has a great post up about the gender thing - and I like what he has to say, except I think that if a boy wants to wear a dress, well then, a dress it is. Really, can a dress be that much worse than superman tights and a cape?
Over at Fishyshark, our About-To-Be-Dad hasn't posted in a while, but he does have a gorgeous picture of the woman he most likely doesn't deserve (just kidding, Kos!). Elisa looks gorgeous, but I know she's ready to go - I believe the due date is any time now. The next few months are going to be nothing like what Kos expected - but better than he ever dreamed.
Other Blogging Dads that I love to read (that don't necessarily blog about Daddy-dom) are Tom Burka and TBogg.
Finally, a Kudos to my own Dad, who has always been there for me no matter what. He's literally driven thousands of miles to rescue me, he's defended me endlessly, protected me and he even changed his entire life to move across the country and be an on-site Grandad. If you read the post earlier about Dad's fantastic blog (I've taken it down now since it seemed a little negative and I want to be nice - today) you knew how frustrated I was for him earlier, but in the end, it's going to work out (he is now linked from the Blog for America, so that's great), I'm sure. Webpages aside, I'm more proud than anything that he's my Dad. The college kids he teaches, the people he comes into contact with and my entire family are better because of him. I think any political campaign would also be. That's probably why I'm feeling so defensive of him. Well, I'm sure things will work out okay.
Check out these dads - they are awesome, hardworking and very, very cool... In this mama's book anyway.
Thursday, October 16, 2003
( 4:30 PM )
Going Home Early to Torture Myself
At least Dad is coming over to watch the game with me. So I won't be alone in what, based on the karma created last night, will inevitably be misery. Go Sox (sigh).
UPDATE: Yup. I was right. It was the most torturous game ever. Well, on the bright side, Armageddon is on hold for at least a year....
( 3:44 PM )
My Favorite Quote of the Week
...so far:
Bush told his senior aides Tuesday that he
"didn't want to see any stories" quoting
unnamed administration officials in the media
anymore, and that if he did, there would be
consequences, said a senior administration
official who asked that his name not be used.
You can't help but wonder after reading that bit ... Did Tom Burka write that story? (more indepth on the actual story over at Kos.)
( 3:31 PM )
In Case You Couldn't Find Anything
To Make You Angry This Week
Reading one of my favorites today, I came across this article in Guerilla News Network. Looks like while Bush is asking us for $87billion to modernize Iraq's infrastructure, he's once again giving us... the shaft.
Talk about sticker shock. The condition of the country
was far worse than anyone dared imagine. Engineers
released their findings this September and, using a
grammar school grading system, they assigned grades
to describe the state of disrepair they found.
The country's roads got a D+. Aviation infrastructure
got a D. Schools a D minus. Wastewater treatment
facilities, a D. Dams, a D. Hazardous waste storage
a D+. And, even though the nation is a major oil
producer, the energy sector got a D+.
In all, the experts said it would take more than
$1.6 trillion over the next five years to bring the
country's infrastructure up to modern standards.
Oh, wait. I bet you thought I was talking about Iraq.
No. The report I am citing was released this
September by the American Society of Civil Engineers
and it described the condition of America's infrastructure.
In it, the ASCE warned that America's critical
infrastructure was "crumbling" and ongoing neglect
would add $300 billion a year to the repair bill.
Bush made a big deal in his campaign about how it's not our job to fix the problems of the world. He swept into office on what seemed like a very isolationist viewpoint and lots of people thought he would do a lot of work on domestic issues. But that wasn't the PNAC's plan. So here we are. Our government is using taxpayer dollars to award multi-million contracts exclusively to American companies to improve the infrastructure of Iraq:
So, as you bump your way to work today on
pothole-studded streets understand that the
cost of your new suspension is a small price
to pay for the smooth 1,200-kilometer highway
being built in Afghanistan on a $300 million
contract to U.S. engineering firm Louis Berger
Group.
Then there's the $240 million earmarked to
improve Iraq's roads and bridges. And, even
as the Bush administration fights subsidies
for Amtrak, another $303 million in U.S. funds
is going to upgrade Iraq's railroads. Bechtel
will oversee much of this work.
But wait! It's not just roads and bridges where we aren't getting improvement and Iraq is - its in our general safety and security too!
Ten years ago, President Bill Clinton pushed
legislation to put more cops on the street. The
Bush administration has since eliminated all
direct funding for street cops. Now, with money
short and so many military reservists—many of
whom are cops in civilian life—on active duty,
cities and counties find themselves dangerously
short of police, fire and other first responders.
Nevertheless, while American law enforcement
goes begging, the administration has been
generous in letting contracts to rebuild Iraq's civil
and military policing. There is the $2 billion to
build a new Iraqi army and another $470 million to
fund civilian police, judges, courts and related law
enforcement services. U.S.-based DynCorp and its
parent company, Computer Sciences Corp., are the
prime contractors here.
The irony here isn't necessarily that Iraq is getting our money. It's larger than that, this is about the very core issues we as a country are facing right now. Namely, our economy and the basic survival of working people in this nation:
And so we are left to ponder. America's
infrastructure is a mess and getting worse.
Instead of spending the additional $25 billion
needed to repair it, the administration is
handing nearly the same amount in contracts
out to a small number of U.S. companies to
repair Iraq's infrastructure instead. Had that
money been allocated for U.S. infrastructure
the contracts would have been, by law, subject
to open bidding and would therefore have been
divvied up among hundreds of companies, small
and large, across the country. In the old days,
they called that a domestic economic stimulus plan.
So much for this president caring about creating jobs... or caring about this country, period.
( 11:46 AM )
Oregon Fights for Power
...Electrical Power, that is. I've posted on this subject previously, but it's becoming a hotter issue as election day gets closer.
If you're interested, there is a fantastic debate about it on Portland Indymedia . As I've noted before, I am much more inclined towards a publicly owned utility district here for the various reasons that a) I'm basically a socialist, b) Enron has screwed us royally and they're only about to do it again because of the bankruptcy, c) Portlanders will be MUCH better off in terms of rates (PUDs are proven to have lower rates, even here in Oregon), responsivenes, control over their own utility company and in the not-getting-a-corporate-screwing department, and finally, d) I'd just ONCE like the people to win over the corporations!!
Now, all that being said, it's going to be a hard battle. The disinformation swirling around out there about how we're all going to go down in flames if we own our own utility is thick, massive and everywhere. PGE and Pacific Power are spending millions in tv ads (I can't get through an entire episode of Angel without at least two ads per segment from a power company!), print ads, billboards and letters to the editor of the newspaper that are either from PGE executives, or sound like they are from PGE executives. (PGE is going under the astroturf name "Citizens Against the Government Takeover") - funny, huh? The Oregonian's own editorial board (read: "we want to be just like the WSJ Editorial Board!") is against the PUD.
The two biggest arguments from the corporate powers are that: 1) YOUR TAXES WILL GO UP!!! if we own our utility and 2) YOU'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH ANOTHER CORRUPT LAYER OF GOVERNMENT!!!
Let's review: PGE does not exist anymore - it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron. Enron is in bankruptcy and wants to sell off bits and pieces of PGE to the highest (non-regulated) bidder as soon as possible, which will be nice for Enron, but will soak the local customers. Pacific Power is owned by, I think, a Scottish company, so really, they are invested in our local quality of life for sure. The whole argument about taxes going up is about property taxes. PGE screams at us that with a PUD, our property taxes may rise up to "30 percent!" This is a total misrepresentation (a lie). The levy that will be needed to support the PUD will amount to 30 cents on a $100,000 home, 45 cents on a $150,000 home. OUCH! Boy, that's a price to pay for not being under the thumb of Enron or an Enron clone!
Next, that "layer of government" problem. Hmmm. Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver and Eugene all have public utility companies and they all have run well for many years and at a substantially lower rate for their customers than the Enron-owned variety. The PUD is not going to suddenly emerge as some monster beaurocracy that doesn't know what its doing. Obviously, the current employees of PGE and Pacific Power are who will be hired by the PUD and the PUD will take every effort to make it a smooth transition. The entire point of a PUD is that we have a say in it, it is accountable to us through our government. We are not left voiceless and hanging on an electrical wire by a corporation that isn't invested at all in us.
Let's look at some numbers:
$5 million: amount of ratepayer money PGE used to defeat 1992 ballot measure that would have closed the Trojan Nuclear plant at no cost to ratepayers.
1: number of weeks after the measure's defeat that PGE closed Trojan permanently at ratepayer expense.
$569 million: amount PGE has collected from ratepayers for federal and state income tax payments since 1997.
$0.2 million: amount of these collections Enron/PGE has actually paid in income taxes (it kept the other $568.8 million for itself).
$100 million: amount PGE employees lost due to Enron's stock fraud.
$80 million: amount Oregon PERS lost due to Enron's stock fraud.
5: number of pages in Enron reorganization plan needed to list all lawsuits against PGE, most for fraud.
Undetermined: amount these suits may cost PGE ratepayers.
30: number of "restructuring specialists" Enron has hired to help it sell PGE for the best return.
$860,000: amount each "specialist" is paid per year in salary alone.
$300 million: yearly increased cost to ratepayers if sale to an unregulated buyer happens.
0: number of reasons Enron's creditors, the Wall Street banks, have not to dismember PGE in the bankruptcy proceeding.
As someone once said, can you hear me now? Portlanders have a very important decision in their hands this election. PLEASE vote and please consider that voting for a PUD will be better for you and your family in the long run than sticking with the catastrophe of a power system that we now have. We have got to start taking back power out of the hands of greedy corporations that want nothing to do with regulating their outfits to benefit our safety, our pocketbooks or our quality of life. "Free Enterprise" is not at stake here, those of you who worship the Invisible Hand. This is about citizen ownership. You not only have the right to own your own power company, you have a responsibility to do so because otherwise you are ceding your position as a citizen of this city and state and you are not preserving the benefits that are possible for the next generation. That's really what it's all about.
( 8:57 AM )
Regarding the Previous Post
I don't want to talk about it.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
( 3:51 PM )
Arrgghhh!! I Can't Stand the Tension!!
Come ON Sox!
UPDATE: Darn it - I have to catch the bus home so I'm probably gonna miss the end of the game (I'm only watching the ESPN box scores online and that's stressful enough). As of 4:53 pm pst, the Sox are ahead by one. Maybe it's best I leave now anyway.
--------------------------
~~~~Mama sending pre-game good vibes to Kerry Wood~~~~
Cubs game starts in 1 hour. Mama's warning: Go to the bathroom before it starts, there will be no stops.
( 3:35 PM )
What??!! They LIED??!!
In case you are new to the world, here's a short recap: since George W. Bush was appointed president, almost every word out of his mouth has been a downright lie. Okay, you're caught up. Now you might be forgiven for not realizing this since the American media has done uber-squat to delve into the truth itself. They maybe be picking up speed reporting Bush's falling numbers lately, but I have yet to see ongoing headlines screaming about the misdeeds of this President (which, by the way, don't even require much digging to find). Thus, I'm not feeling all that sorry for them as they go on the defense against the new "GOOD NEWS!" PR assault from the White House this week (see below). Something that might help them is to pay a little attention to this report being circulated by Ambassador Wilson (yes, that guy).
I actually printed out the entire report and read it on my busride home last night (it's an easy 56 pages to get through as most of it is charts and short paragraphs). I will preface my analysis (and sorry if it's a bit long, but the report was pretty detailed) of the report by saying it is HORRIBLY edited. It reads like the first draft of a college paper that hasn't even had its first read-through. It is organized badly and not all that well written - and as I just said, badly needs editing. However, if you can make it through these asthetic issues, I think you might find it very worth reading.
It's called "The Truth from These Podia" and it is written by Retired USAF Col. Sam Gardiner, who has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, the Air War College and the Naval War College. It is a run-down of the calculated strategy by the US and UK governments to purposefully mislead their citizens in order to gain support for a war they intended to conduct long before they admitted it. Here is a summary of the report from the author:
The United States (and UK) conducted a strategic influence campaign that:
- distorted perceptions of the situation both before and during the conflict
- caused misdirection of portions of the military operation
- was irresponsible in parts
- might have been illegal in some ways
- cost big bucks
- will be even more serious in the future.
He also ads in his summary:
- Clearly the assumption of some in the government is the people of the United States and the United Kingdom will come to a wrong decision if they are given the truth.
- We probably have taken "Information Warfare" too far.
- We allowed strategic psychological operations to become part of public affairs.
- We failed to make adequate distinction between strategic influence stuff and intelligence.
- Message became more important than performance
Gardiner then goes on to show the chain of stories constructed and or molded and then given to the press (who voraciously and unquestioningly devoured them) that made up the molding of the American impression:
• Terrorism and 9/11
• Lt. Commander Speicher
• Drones
• Mohammad Atta meeting with Iraqi
• Ansar al-Salm
• Chemical and biological weapons
– Quantities
– Location
– Delivery readiness
• Weapons labs
• WMD cluster bombs
• Scuds
• Cutting off ears
• Cyber war capability
• Nuclear materials from Niger
• Aluminum tubes
• Nuclear weapons development
• Dirty bombs
• Humanitarian operations
• Attacking the power grid
• Russian punishment
– Signing long term oil
contracts
– Night-vision goggles
– GPS Jamming equipment
– Saddam in embassy
• German punishment
• Surrender of the 507th
He goes on to detail this chain of stories and how the governments of the US and the UK, in almost identical styles and even words, used them to deceive their populations.
In addition to the lies and planted stories, the public statements to the American people were psychological operations themselves. The planning for the entire war came out of several sources, and all built upon one central theme: we must deceive to achieve (thanks, I made that one up myself):
In the Pentagon, in addition to the normal public
affairs structure, the Special Plans Office was deeply
involved in this effort, supported (with information)
by the Iraqi National Congress. There was the
Rendon Group, headed by John Rendon who gave
media advice to OSD, the Joint Staff and the White
House. Finally, there were connections to large
PSYOPS activities.
[...]
The Rendon Group worked for the Government of
Kuwait during the Gulf I. John Rendon proudly
tells that it was he who shipped small American
flags to Kuwait for the citizens to wave as troops
entered Kuwait City. He suggested the same
technique for this war, but the Joint Staff information
operations office turned down the idea.
The Rendon Group worked for both OSD and the Joint
Staff during this war. John Rendon says he was part
of the daily 9:30 phone calls with the key information
players to set themes.
The main thrust of the entire report focuses on this: For the first time in our government and military history, the strategic goal of the military commanders was part and parcel of the government's goal to achieve what it wanted (take over of Iraq) and to manipulate evidence, people's opinions and even the truth in order to achieve that goal:
As far as I am aware, this is the first time a military
commander was given objectives that were about
justifying the war.
And, as I noted earlier, the press was the willing playmate.
I think the materials point to problems in the way
newspapers did their job during the war. Why don’t
they react immediately that they need to do some
self-appraisal? I think one could take the stories
I have highlighted and ask some direct questions. How
was it that the Washington Post took classified
information on the Jessica Lynch story and published
it just the way the individual leaking it in the Pentagon
wanted? Why did the New York Times let itself be
used by “intelligence officials” on stories? Why did the
Washington Times never seem to question a leak they
were given? Why were newspapers in the UK better
than those in the U.S. in raising questions before and
during the war?
I’ve not heard any self-criticism from reporters to
whom I have talked. When I’ve talked to television producers
and reporters my sense is they believe the whole
story is just too complex to tell. That’s sad but probably
true.
We can only conclude that these efforts will be improved on even further by this administration for its next conquest. If anyone stands in its way, watch out.
He (General Gerald Mauer) described a paper called
the Information Operations Roadmap that was being
coordinated in the Pentagon. He said when the paper
was drafted by his office it said that information
operations would be used against an “adversary.”
He went on to say that when the paper got to the
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
(Feith), it was changed to say that information
operations will attempt to “disrupt, corrupt or usurp
adversarial…decision making.” Adversarial…decision-
making will be disrupted. In other words, we will
even go after friends if they are against what we
are doing or want to do.
Pretty damning report. But will anyone read it? After all, we're just a bunch of idiots that would rather be lied to because we can't handle the truth, and even if we could, we would get in the way of our unelected leaders' plans. Better to just let it go.
Now that's what I call democracy!
( 2:49 PM )
Everything Is Going Great,
They Just Aren't Reporting It
The new WH talking points this week are:
1. There are GOOD THINGS happening in Iraq
2. People don't know about them because the Press isn't reporting them
3. People would be more supportive of the President if they knew how great things really were
It's been repeated so many times in the last few days by pundits that it's obvious they all got the same fax from the White House. The blame is once again being pinned on the messengers because the White House can't find anyone else to throw on the fire to distract news watchers.
The Congressional Republicans are getting in on the act as well.
On returning from a trip to Iraq and
Afghanistan, a group of Senate
Republicans said yesterday that the
Bush administration deserves a lot
more credit for successful reconstruction
efforts in those war-torn nations.
[...]
As Congress prepares to vote on the
administration’s $87 billion supplemental
request for Iraq, Republican Sens. Mitch
McConnell (Ky.), Conrad Burns (Mont.)
and Craig Thomas (Wyo.) renewed the
argument that despite critical Democrats
and what the Republicans view as
excessively negative press, significant
progress has been made. They cited the
smiles, claps and thumbs-up gestures of
Iraqi youth among other indications that
the reconstruction process is gathering
momentum.
But evidently, Democrats aren't allowed to go and see for themselves:
Meanwhile, several Senate Democrats complained
that they were denied access to a plane for a
inspection tour of their own.
“For whatever reason, Sens. [Chris] Dodd [D-Conn.]
and others who requested the opportunity to travel
were prohibited from doing so, and I think that
requires a better explanation that the one I’ve been
given so far,” Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said.
The new PR plan launced last week by the White House seems to be going forward full-blast. The GOP has joined with its shills in the non-news and is making enemies of the very people ("journalists") who have so far not kicked up a molecule of investigative dust on this presidency. The PR plan isn't so much more speeches to tout the goodness and sweetness of our occupation of Iraq, but more of an attack on those who no longer are falling in line.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT:
Well, Lou, now the White House is on the
offensive about its public relations offensive.
It was just yesterday that President Bush
complained about his story about the progress
in Iraq was not getting out. He also has said
that the Americans are not getting the truth
when it comes to this story. That's why the
White House went around and bypassed what
he called the national media filter to give
exclusive interviews to five reporters of regional
outlets who normally don't cover the White House.
What has happened now, well, it's opened
an active debate whether the blame-the-media
aspect of this White House strategy is going to
be effective. The White House today made no
apologies about it, White House spokesman Scott
McClellan defending the administration, saying
it's absolutely necessary.
[...]
KAREN TUMULTY, "TIME": Well, I must say,
I do find it ironic that the White House was
not complaining about the national media
when they were giving glowing coverage of
our actual -- of our progress during the war itself.
The fact is that the White House laid down
some expectations of what this war would
produce. They suggested we would be in and
out of Iraq within three months. They suggested
that the oil revenues would pay to fix the
damage. None of that has happened. And so I
think the media's doing its job, which is measuring
them against what they, themselves, had promised.
Well, while Bush goes on the offensive against a press that really has hardly done him wrong since he got into office, and the press goes on the defensive trying to 'splain that they are just "reporting the facts, ma'am" -- We can be assured that our elected representatives are getting the story straight for us:
Rep. George Nethercutt said yesterday that
Iraq's reconstruction is going better than is
portrayed by the news media, citing his recent
four-day trip to the country.
"The story of what we've done in the postwar
period is remarkable," Nethercutt, R-Wash.,
told an audience of 65 at a noon meeting at the
University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans
School of Public Affairs.
"It is a better and more important story than
losing a couple of soldiers every day."
Uh, George? Did you seriously mean that? Because if that's how the White House and Republicans in Congress feel, then I think the voters might have something to say about that.
So, in summary: Several soldiers are getting killed per day in Iraq, we don't even know the number of severely wounded there are, bombs are going off every day, and we are making things better by sending Turkish troops in soon. BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER because people are happy and smiling and they don't even mind that they don't have jobs or money or food - because EVERYTHING is better when the Americans take over!
Did I get that right, Mr. President?
( 2:08 PM )
One for the "We're Making You Safer Every Day!" File
Missing: Secret Information About US Airports
(or "Have You Seen My Laptop?")
Yes, that's right:
The search goes on for a stolen laptop
computer, a computer that contains sensitive
information about security at all the
commercial airports in the U.S. It happened
during an airport security training seminar
at the Embassy Suites near Philadelphia
International.
Police and the FBI have not located that
computer nor have they made any arrests.
I am told it contains sensitive information
about security at the nation's 429 airports.
A source tells Action News they do not believe
this was the job of a professional who knew
what was on the computer, but someone who
thought they might be able to get some
good cash for it at a pawnshop.
Evidently, they were using the computer for training and when they broke for lunch, they left it behind. Nice one. I feel safer already. Thanks, TSA!!
(Thanks to Maru for the link)
( 1:43 PM )
Congratulations
To Daily Kos on his new format - a brilliant switchover, with little pain to the masses and an even more glorious commenting system for all. If only government could be as cool as Kos.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
( 3:30 PM )
The Supreme Court Pledges its Allegiance
Well, it appears that SCOTUS is set to hear the Ninth Circuit Court case about the "under God" words in the Pledge of Allegiance. But from this article, and from this one as well, it appears they may be specifically planning to rule on the technicality of whether the father even had a legal standing to bring the case in the first place, rather than the substance of the "under God" issue. Also of note, Antonin Scalia has recused himself because of the obviously prejudiced remarks he made earlier this year in a speech where he denounced the Ninth Circuit Court's decision.
So without Scalia, there is a real possibility the Court could rule that the "under God" phrase should be taken out. I personally think that either way it goes will be bad for the Democratic candidate next year. If the Court waits until the June deadline to rule, that will make it especially worse. Either way it is set to be a press bonanza for the GOP conservative right. A ruling for the phrase will set them up as announcing the government being rightfully under a Christian God, and a ruling against the phrase will unleash the dogs of war and the conservative right will pummel democrats and liberals as godless and inhumane. While in my heart of hearts, I hope the court will not uphold the phrase that was not part of the original pledge, I tend to agree with other liberals on this issue: let it lie. It's not a big enough issue for us to chance the presidency over. It does bring up a broader issue though, that I think is important for all parents and people interested in the education of our children.
That there is a "Pledge of Allegiance" at all in our public schools strikes me as a little creepy. And before you go and label me unpatriotic and all that, let's just look at this from a bigger picture. I have several thoughts on this issue:
1. I am not aware of any other free, democratic society that imposes this sort of Pledge or Loyalty Oath on its children. Dictatorships and Theocratic monarchies indeed do impose indoctrination upon their citizens. But a nation that is supposed to be (in theory) run by the people? Does anyone know if other democratic countries impose a pledge? This practice seems more to me like a forced genuflection and not a true representation of what this country is meant to stand for. That being said, public school itself is mostly for indoctrination, so the pledge isn't exactly a non-sequitur there.
2. Why must the children pledge to a flag? If you're going to have an oath of loyalty that children must say, why not to the Constitution? Or better yet, to the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights..." The latter seems much closer to a declaration of what this country stands for (and it even has a nod to the Creator, which might satisfy the conservative right). It also puts the rights of humanity at the forefront of the saying, rather than a symbol (the flag). It is loyalty to a nation-state or some other form of theocratic government that has been the cause of so much trouble and strife in our history - putting the rights of humanity at the forefront of our minds can only serve to give us pause when we are urged to heed the call to state-sponsored war.
3. Saying that the pledge is "voluntary" for children belies the fact that it is in practice required in most school districts and that the child must face terrible peer and teacher pressure if he or she chooses to opt out of the pledge to a flag. It is unrealistic to assume that the "volunteerism" of the pledge of allegiance is anything but coordinated social pressure to do what the state wants you to do.
4. The "Under God" phrase was added in 1954, during the McCarthy era of rooting out all the "godless Communists" that were subverting our pure and good American society. (The pledge itself wasn't even officially recognized by the government until 1924, so this is not exactly a founding fathers kind of thing) The "under God" phrase was NOT part of the original pledge and the law that Congress passed putting it into a pledge that was at the time required in public schools itself was unconstitutional. It reminds this blogger of times very close to home right now when our civil rights are being conveniently put aside in the name of "protecting us" from outside evil that has crept into our midst. Whatever your view on what the Constitutional framers intended by the "separation" clause, having a pledge that requires a child to acknowledge a God in a public school in relation to the symbol of the nation-state is the establishment of a religion.
Now, if the Supreme Court were to declare that the "god" in the pledge is only a symbol, that it does not refer to the "God" (ie, the Christian God), then what is the point of it being in there in the first place? The conservative right would not stand for that interpretation either.
The founding fathers recognized non-Christian beliefs and did in fact write about the need to equally protect the rights of those believers. Most of them were deists who did not believe what today's Christian Conservative Right movement believes, and I don't believe they would agree with the not-subtle slide this country is making towards a theocracy.
The pledge itself is dumb, in my estimation. Kids don't pay attention to what they're saying, it's a very ill-conceived form of indoctrination into patriotism, and there is no true allowance for kids who do not wish to participate. It has nothing to do with a person's loyality, it requires a fidelity to one version of what this country is to its citizens, and it puts an emphasis on a symbol that means nothing more than the representation of the separate parts of this nation (states) that have chosen to come together to govern themselves. It does not belong in our public schools.
That being said, don't make a big deal out of it now - this isn't the time, we have bigger fish to fry in the next 13 months.
P.S. In better news, the Supreme Court has chosen to not take up Bush's attempt to imprison doctors who discuss the benefits of medical marijuana with their patients in states where it is legal. Chalk one up to the good side!
( 2:01 PM )
Dean Desertion
I read with interest Billmon's post yesterday about why he is un-endorsing Dean. I also read the comments there. I've heard from several other sources sentiments like Billmon has expressed. I thought I'd just comment on it briefly since I have publicly endorsed Dean on this blog.
As I have explained many times before, my endorsement of Dean isn't so much based on Dean himself, but rather the process he is using to run his campaign and the issues that are being raised because of it. I have said it before, I'll say it again, my vote is with whatever Democrat wins the candidacy. But I do read the position papers of the various candidates, I do watch the debates and I do read the press, what little of real reporting there is out there. My support of Dean also exists because while I acknowledge he is far more centrist than I ever would be personally, I do believe he has taken a stand on some pretty progressive social plans he wants to put into action. I very much like his plan for children, his healthcare plan seems to be the most realistic in terms of having success AND giving at least all children universal health care in the near future. I agree with the banning of assault weapons and closing the loopholes on the trade shows, but after that making the gun issue up to the states. That is probably the one issue I am not as "progressive" on.
But the reason Billmon and others I've spoken with have fallen out of support for Dean is his stance on foreign policy as it applies to the middle east. Dean's quasi-luke-warm response to Judy Woodruff on the Syria question was definitely not an exuberant, progressive stance. It looked and smelled like another Democrat bowing to AIPAC's power. But after a lot of thought, I've considered the broader picture. I saw, like everyone else, how Dean got beat to a pulp the last time he intimated that the US should treat Israel and Palestine as an even-handed mediator. He saw the writing on the wall, and thus his not-so-strident remarks since then. From his past comments, his stance on the war, and from his original response about Israel that he got so much heat for, I don't think that he is suddenly caving or selling out. I think he knows what he has to do to win the presidency, but I also don't think he or any democrat will allow Israel the wide berth that's been handed down from Bush.
I don't agree with all of Dean's stands on things. There isn't a candidate I DO agree with about all the issues. That would be impossible. But I do believe he can win because he's shown a populist approach and appeal, he can be both progressive in plan but centrist in speech and he has also shown an ability to look at the facts when presented to him and change his mind and move forward in his education and opinions. I admire that and I do not fault a politician for learning and growing and changing.
He does terribly in the debate formats so far. He needs to perk up his presentation with the press. I hope he will avoid going negative as the primaries approach, though I'm sure he'll get some of that advice. But I think he would fare much better if he tried to remain above the fray. I think his realistic lead is still strong enough. The press don't like him, and if they are allowed the leeway of lies they were with Gore, then he's done with. But if the popular support he and his campaign has worked so hard over the last 6 months to build proves anything, it's that word of mouth and the mobilization of people who are sick and tired of the status quo DOES mean something. And Gore never had those things, so I think Dean is still ahead of the pack in my opinion. What I most hope is that he will be able to show that a president can acheive that office without the helping hand of corporations that want to control him. Now THAT would be refreshing.
Monday, October 13, 2003
( 2:09 PM )
It's all in the Percentages
I was reading October's Harper's today during lunch. A few items on the Index jumped out at me (unfortunately, October's index isn't available on line yet):
Percentage of Americans that believe George W. Bush was legitimately elected president: 54
Percentage who believed this in March 2001: 56
Percentage of Americans who will save less than $100 on their 2006 federal taxes as a result of this year's tax cut: 88
Average amount these Americans will save: $4
Number of U.S. troops who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last two years: 354
Number who died in Vietnam in 1963 and 1964: 324
Number of states that require energy companies to derive a percentage of their output form alternative sources: 13
Number of U.S. senators last year who voted against creating a similar federal requirement to take effect in 2020: 70
Number of Democratic legislators absent for this year's 213-210 vote restricting workers' overtime-pay eligibility: 7
Number of Virginia Republican Party officials fined this year for eavesdropping on Democratic Party conference calls: 3
Years after the Watergate break-in that deputy campaign director Jeb Magruder admitted hearing President Nixon order it: 30
Year in which Donald Rumsfeld gave Saddam Hussein a pair of golden spurs: 1983
But on the positive side:
Estimated market value of the usable body parts of an adult human: $46,000,000.
( 12:10 PM )
Monday Round Up
I'm having a tough time getting started on everything today. But if you're looking for a good round up of news and comment, and downright great blogging, I recommend you start with Tom Burka (it's always good to get the right perspective before reading the news) and move on to Maru's always unique comments on today's stories. Top that off with a visit to the Vet and his list of sound bites from the Administration (hint: the WH has an ever-decreasing enthusiasm for finding those folks they've lost), Daily Kos' thoughts on the very-near primaries, Josh Marshall at TPM on the identical letters to the editor that are popping up everywhere, and finally, Billmon, who explains in detail why he is now un-endorsing Howard Dean (my reaction later).
Now you should be ready to go!
Friday, October 10, 2003
( 3:30 PM )
Poetry Friday
Maru reminded me that today is National Poetry Day in the UK. To mark the holiday, and because it's Friday, I'm in a rhyming mood:
It's hard to ignore the confession
Of a man with such high moral obsession
But my, poor old Rush;
His brains are such mush;
The pills prob'ly helped his profession
Who leaked the i.d. of Ms. Plame?
Who IS the rascal to blame?
Could it be, maybe
That it was Cheney?
Oh that would be SUCH a shame!
I do, however, recognize that the limerick is not a widely-recognized form of "poetry." So I'll conclude with haiku:
Many men have tried
To lie to me about war
But I am too smart
We are ask'd: believe
We are told: it's true, just wait
Faith does not make truth
This fall seems so sad
Next fall will be much more fun
More than leaves will change
And, just to end the day on a high note:
Roses are red
This week was so bad
Thank God it's Friday
I almost went mad
Oh well, I tried. Have a great weekend.
( 2:09 PM )
Rush Confesses
This just in. Rush announces to his radio audience that he is, indeed, addicted to pain killers. P just called to tell me that maybe it's now been proven:
Stupidity is Painful.
( 11:07 AM )
Celebrating Women in Sports
You GO Casey!!
Thursday, October 09, 2003
( 4:19 PM )
Clear Your Name Now
MoveOn.org has a new campaign that everyone should be aware of - it's the Help President Bush campaign. If we all send in the letters testifying that we were not the source of the highly criminal leak of the name of Ambassador Wilson's wife to the press, then we can help the President to narrow the search. After all, he's declared publicly that he has no idea who in his administration perpetrated the leak. Let's help him out!
It's a simple process and you can pass it on to your friends and family so they can clear their names too!
I, Bohemian Mama, do hereby attest that on or about the dates of June 1, 2003, through July 14, 2003, I did not contact, whether by telephone, facsimile, e-mail, in person, or by any other means, any reporter, correspondent, journalist, or any other member of the media, with the intent to or purpose of naming former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as an operative for the Central Intelligence Agency.
2. I, Bohemian Mama, further attest that on or about the dates of June 1, 2003, through July 30, 2003, I did not have any conversation, whether by telephone, e-mail, in person, or by any other means, with any reporter, correspondent, journalist, or any other member of the media, during which the employment of Valerie Plame was discussed in any way.
I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the foregoing is true and correct.
There. That's done. Now, how else can I help my poor President who can't seem to tell which way is up... oh! I know! Help him find the door and boot his arse out!
( 3:08 PM )
Iraqi Children Lose Head Start
Looks like Bush gives equal time to all children - while our own lose necessary meals from Head Start, he's decided that the children in Iraq are eating too much as well. In truth, the poor Iraqi children who have been benefitting from the food distribution system provided after our invasion are going to have to find their nourishment elsewhere.
A more substantial assault on Saddam's
legacy is under way in the Republican
Palace, where the occupation authority is
making preparations to dismantle the food
distribution system which gave free rations
of flour, rice, cooking oil and other staples
to every Iraqi.
Described by the UN as the world's most
efficient food network, the system still
keeps Iraqis from going hungry. But the US
civilian administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer,
views it as a dangerous socialist anachronism.
The coalition provisional authority (CPA) is
planning to abolish it in January, despite
warnings from its own technical experts that
this could lead to hunger and riots.
But evidently, that doesn't go far enough. We need to rub in their faces that we're no longer going to feed them after invading their country, killing their family members and causing massive job losses everywhere. Nope. We need to teach them a lesson.
Behind the mosque five American military
vehicles rumbled through a narrow lane,
scattering children and women, and
announcing through loudspeakers that
demonstrations in support of Saddam were
banned. Leaflets fluttered to the ground
behind them. "Freedom = Responsibility",
the headline said.
Beautiful. If that's not patronizing condecension, I don't know what is. It seems, however, that the leaflets aren't working that well:
A man with a baby in his arms stooped to
pick one up and, staring straight at the US
troops, ripped it in half.
I wrote below about this administration's callous treatment of our own children. So I realize my expectations are far too high if I thought it would treat Iraqi children any better. It only follows, I suppose that Bush's people would use some sort of weird neo-con phobia about socialism to justify not feeding children in Iraq, when it is obvious it is one thing we're doing well at this point. They're not even using the excuse of cost. Nope, it's just not "responsible" to allow the Iraqis to think they can just get free food whenever they want it. Who do those moochers think they are anyway?
(Thanks to Billmon for the heads-up on this topic. And also, check out Not in My America for some more good commentary on it)
( 10:51 AM )
The Path of Destruction Includes our Children
I blogged earlier this week about how the Bush Administration is, indeed, leaving children behind. The "reforms" this president intends wreak upon the education system of this country will not help schools or children and will only further chip away at the opportunities for the most vulnerable of our society. In addition to his uber-force-testing, un-funded Leave No Child Behind mandate, he also intends to dismantle Early Head Start.
Why is Head Start so successful and so important? The Nation article by Jennifer Niesslein gives us good insight.
Those familiar with Head Start attribute its
effectiveness to just how comprehensive it is. A
child in Head Start benefits not only from time in
the classroom but also from required parental
involvement, healthcare screenings and follow-ups
(including vaccinations and dental care), nutritious
meals and help with special needs.
This is an incredible need in this country, especially with the amount of children in poor families, and children without health coverage (a crime, in my estimation, that the government should have to pay for by each and every elected official going without health care coverage until all Americans, at least all children, have it). Head Start is unique because it is so well-rounded and prepares children not only for school, but gives them social nurturing, and sometimes their only solid meals in a day. But George Bush thinks that's dumb. What three year olds need is to READ. All this "taking care of their needs" crap has got to go.
Bush isn't giving up the I-love-the-kiddies rhetoric;
in fact, he insists, his heart is downright bursting with
love and hope for them. "We want Head Start to set
higher ambitions for the million children it serves....
There hasn't been a proper focus on the little children,"
he said. "In my line of work, you see a problem, you
address it."
But what problem does George Bush see with Head Start? Could it possibly be a politically motivated bend in the statistics to prove his corporate handlers' case?
John Boehner, chair of the House education
committee, seems to think so. "Head Start's
graduates beginning kindergarten are more than
25 percentile points below in average skills like
recognizing letters, numbers, shapes and colors.
Too many children in Head Start are being left behind."
But if you ask, "Below what? Behind whom?" you'll
find a statistical sleight of hand. While Head Start
grads are not scoring as well as their more affluent
counterparts, they do score higher than kids who
come from the same socioeconomic background
but who didn't participate in Head Start. Simply put,
the program works. And if kids from low-income
families aren't scoring as high as kids in the suburban
middle class, it's because teachers and other services
can only do so much.
The conservatives/republicans in Congress and the White House talk a good game about taking care of this nation's children and finding homes for the homeless kids and food for the hungry kids. But where is the legislation making it easier for homeless families to find homes? Where is the legislation mandating and funding food for all children? Where is the provision for the health care for these vulnerable ones who are our future?
It's double talk at its worst because it hurts the ones who can't fight back. The President has decided unilaterally that it is not the federal government's job to provide services and aid to our children. He has put financial burdens on states until they are almost all bankrupt from the unfunded mandates that have come out of this White House. And yet, he proposes to do the same with Head Start.
A Head Start bill supported by the White House
would essentially do away with comprehensive
services by eliminating the federal role in
administering the program. Through a block grant,
it would give eight states control of running early
childhood programs... Moreover, the language
about what range of services the states need
to provide is vague.
So already struggling states, who are taking away money from the k-12 kids and from the state colleges are going to pay for 3 year olds? Who do you think will get cut first? But all these comprehenisive services and care for children aren't important to Bush. No, what's important is SCHOOL READINESS (translate: STANDARDIZED TEST READINESS). He thinks that three year olds should instead be learning to read and do other educational skills so that they are prepared for kindergarten (where, likely he feels that the 5 year olds should be ready for their first standardized test by then). Literacy for three year olds. That is the goal of dismantling a program for that for years has given children who wouldn't otherwise have had a chance the opportunity to go further than they or their parents could have dreamed. Sure, Head Start like any beaurocratic organization, could use some streamlining and some new and modern operations changes. But do away with it? If this were a logical government or country, we would be doing everything we could to make it better and EXPAND it for all young children who need it (currently it can only support 60% of qualified children).
Niesslein concludes:
The real issue here is that despite all the talk
about accountability, Bush conservatives don't
want the federal government to be accountable
for anything, especially anything related to poverty.
About time we changed that, isn't it? I urge you to write to your congressperson or senator and tell them, plead with them, not to pass this Head Start legislation. It will do so much more harm to our neediest of children. It doesn't take long to write a letter or send an email. We are the only ones who can stand up for this issue. The children have no voice. We have to be the voice for them, or what legacy are we leaving our own children?
( 9:02 AM )
Back at the Podiums
Well, tonight is the first Dem Debate in a while (on CNN), minus one of the candidates. Bob Graham dropped out of the race. In other shake-ups, Clark's campaign manager quit yesterday. I don't know how signficant that is for the Clark campaign, though Kos has some good insight into what it may all be about.
I hope in this debate that the candidates will start to really distinguish themselves as leaders and also creative, thoughtful and inventive people who have new and fresh ideas to share with the country. I'm hoping that some of the stump speech stuff will go away in the debate forum as well. I don't have any sense about whether Dean is still going to be the punching bag, but I think now would be a good time for him to regroup and focus on his goals - sort of less Bush-bashing (though leave some of it in there) and more of what he would do as president. I think that some of the key differences between these candidates are trade, healthcare plans and budget goals. The trade question is an especially interesting one because the AFL/CIO is still withholding its endorsement.
Most of all, it will be nice to get back to REAL politics and debate about issues. I would prefer that focus return to the Dem candidates and the Bush white house screw ups so that the voters in this country can begin to form some cogent opinions and thoughts about next year's election. California can deal with its own mess right now. Let's get back to business.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
( 3:19 PM )
Lowering the Bar Even Further
Subtitle: Come On, Drink the Kool-Aid!
You thought it couldn't be done - finding an even weaker reason to go to war. But alas, we must do away with our expectations of logic from this administration. We now have the most stupid excuse ever for Iraq, via Condoleeza Rice today:
"And let there be no mistake, right up to the end,
Saddam Hussein continued to harbor ambitions to
threaten the world with weapons of mass
destruction and to hide his illegal weapons activity,"
she told the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.
He harbored ambitions to threaten the world??!!! THANK GOD we're sacrificing two soldiers a day to maintain the chaos of military occupation in that country! It is SOOOO worth it!
Sigh.
For greater insight and much better commentary on this, please see Billmon and Daily Kos.
( 12:32 PM )
Freeway Blogger
Who needs computers?
( 12:29 PM )
Of Frogs and Ants
Martin turned 16 months last week and to celebrate has decided to enter puberty early. What is going on? He suddenly bursts out into these emotional wailing and drama-filled attacks at the slightest problem. If he is caught suspended from the third shelf of the bookcase on his attempt to scale the entire 12-foot peak and told very firmly "No Ups on the Bookcase!" and is pulled unceremoniously to solid ground, he does not get angry, no - he bursts out crying like his heart will break. If he cannot have "Mo" edamame as a snack, it's like his best friend died. If the "blo flowa" (that's the dandelion) isn't allowed to be blown inside the house, scattering its seeds everywhere, it's like the worst tragedy of humankind. He hardly ever has anger tantrums or that sort of thing, no, his new thing is DRAMA.
He's going to be a frog for halloween. He knows what they are, so will be able to identify himself (maybe). Also, we didn't have to pay for the costume.
We have ants. P read online that a natural way to get rid of ants without using toxic repellants (not helpful when the house contains a child that likes to lick everything) was peppermint, saffron and catnip. I came home last night and our house smelled like a candy cane. Not unpleasant, but somehow sort of sticky feeling. Amazingly it works. The random ant can now be found trying desperately to flee from Martin as he puts his finger down to try to get it to crawl on to him so he can run around yelling "An! An!" as it crawls up his arm.
Oh, and yesterday he looked at the tv and a picture of Bush came on and Martin said "boob!" He didn't even breastfeed. How could one child be so brilliant?
( 10:29 AM )
Meanwhile In Iraq: BYOB (Bring Your Own Body Armor)
Everyone is talking about California, so I thought today I'd let that subject lie and look over to an ongoing little issue known as Iraq. Lost amongst all the star-gazing and media frenzy over Ahnold these last weeks, is the fact that our soldiers are still getting killed on average of two per day. Just yesterday, three soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed, not to mention the others that were injured in those attacks, the two helicopter crashes and other violet upsurges in Baghdad. That was just yesterday.
On Sunday, I read an editorial in our local paper. Its original dateline was September 29. But I haven't seen much mention of this issue - the fact that our soldiers not only have outmoded gear, they are actually buying their own stuff to make up for what they're not being issued. Jonathan Turley wrote the article.
Suzanne Werfelman is a mother and a teacher
who has been shopping for individual body armor.
This is not in response to threats from her
elementary-class students in Sciota, Pa.; it's a
desperate attempt to protect her son in Iraq.
Like many other U.S. service members in Iraq, her
son was given a Vietnam-era flak jacket that cannot
stop the type of weapons used today. It appears
that parents across the country are now purchasers
of body armor because of the failure of the military
to supply soldiers with modern vests.
[...]
The greatest shortfall in vests and plates appear
to be National Guard and reserve units, though full-
time soldiers like Byrd also have reported shortages.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, confirmed last week that it would not be
until December before there were enough plates
for all of our people in Iraq.
Murphy's reserve unit, which initially had no modern
jackets, was eventually given some Interceptor vests
weeks after they arrived in Iraq, but even then the
new vests were missing the essential ceramic plates.
That is when Werfelman went out and bought some
plates for $650 - more than her weekly salary - and
sent them to her son so he'd have basic protection.
Workers at one armor company she called said that
they had been deluged with calls from parents trying
to buy vests and plates for their sons and daughters
overseas.
Of course, many soldiers do not have even empty
Interceptors. When they have received plates from home,
they have reportedly used duct tape to attach them to
the backs of their flak jackets.
Ahem. I was just wondering, where is that $87 billion going? Bush has said time and again that our soldiers are getting the best support possible - yet many of them are not even getting basic protection.
[Bush said] "My attitude is, any time we put one of
our soldiers in harm's way, we're going to spend
whatever is necessary to make sure they have the
best training, the best support and the best possible
equipment." When Bush later taunted gunmen in Iraq
to "bring it on," many GIs must have nervously
tugged at their obsolete flak jackets.
So just what IS this administration spending its defense money on?
the Air Force announced that it had cut a deal with
Boeing to lease airplane tankers for billions more
than it would cost to buy them outright. According to
the Congressional Research Service, the Air Force will
waste almost $6 billion by leasing the planes rather
than buying them. Congress is looking into the deal.
By comparison, outfitting all of the 150,000 soldiers in
Iraq with Interceptor vest plates would cost less than
$97 million at retail prices. Because many have already
been outfitted, the actual cost would be a small fraction
of this amount.
This is frightening and not a little infuriating considering this administration's continued tough-talk. But just a little research shows us that flak jackets aren't our soldiers only liabilities out there in the desert.
Soldiers for the Truth has a long list of equipment that have failed our soldiers. Hackworth's effort to give soldiers voices is providing a new insight for us civilians into what things are really like. It's not so easy for the government to censor the soldiers these days. After action reports coming in list a unconscionable amount of uneccessary dangers that are facing our troops due to inadequate weaponry and provisions. Here are just a few comments from the soldiers on their equipment:
The Army
-- The flip-up sight on the M-4 allowed the soldier to engage targets out to 600 meters. However, the plastic grommet that formed the small aperture was prone to falling out. Soldiers "super-glued" the aperture to the sight.
-- Vehicle crewman purchased hand-held laser pointers to orient the fire of more than one platform weapon.
-- Lubricant: Soldiers provided consistent comments that CLP was not a good choice for weapon's maintenance in this environment. The sand is as fine as talcum powder here. The CLP attracted the sand to the weapon. Soldiers considered a product called MiliTec to be a much better solution for lubricating individual and crew-served weapons.
-- Commercial GPS: As is widely known, many soldiers purchase their own GPS systems rather than use the PLGR. The Rhino was provided to the 82nd as part of the rapid fielding initiative. Overall, soldiers were very appreciative of this addition to their MTOE. The Rhino was a vast improvement over the PLGR because of the weight, volume, power consumption and performance - the Rhino consistently acquired satellites faster than the PLGR.
-- Soldiers have no confidence in the ICOM radios. The range was unsatisfactory. Everyone had a Motorola-type hand-held radio that had vastly better range and power performance. Soldiers purchased handsets and longer antennas for their ICOM radios.
-- Boots: Soldiers were generally dissatisfied with the performance of the Desert Combat Boot. The soles were too soft and were easily damaged by the terrain. This seemed to be more of a problem for the boots manufactured by Altima. Many spent their own money to have the boots resoled with Vibran soles with mixed success.
-- Slings: Soldiers are purchasing their own slings because the issued variant does not provide the flexibility or comfort they require. Soldier purchased or fabricated tactical slings for the M-4/M-203 that allowed the weapon to be slung on their back or hung on their chest so they could respond to contact faster.
-- Desert Camouflage Uniform: The most prevalent comment on the DCU was the need for pockets on the sleeves. Soldiers realize they will wear IBA in almost all environments from now on. The pockets on the front of the DCU are all but useless. Many soldiers have already had a tailor sew pockets on their sleeves. A similar suggestion was made for the pant pockets. The current pockets are frequently blocked by the protective mask carrier and the thigh holster. Soldiers suggested moving the pants pockets to the front of the leg. The durability of the uniform was questioned due to the propensity of the thread to give away especially in the crotch area. Soldiers felt that dirt was to blame for the high failure rate. Soldiers did not receive an opportunity to have their uniforms laundered for over 30 days of combat.
--Socks: A very important item of equipment that generated a good deal of discussion especially among the light fighters. Many received the black wool/poly pro blend which were too hot for this environment. Some received the Wright sock (tan outside/white inside), which shrunk too much after washing. Soldiers within 3ID had received the dark green sock that was selected and continued to judge it as superior. Again, soldiers felt if they could just keep their socks clean they could better protect their feet.
-- Gloves: The nomex gloves provided with the rapid fielding initiative were too thick and warm for this environment. Soldiers preferred the air crewmen or mechanic style nomex. Other popular gloves include moto-cross or batting style gloves. Some soldiers purchased HellStorm gloves from Blackhawk.
-- Neck Gator: Many light soldiers told us that this was the single best piece of gear for the desert environment. Unfortunately, it is not flame retardant so the vehicle crewman cannot use it.
--Magazines: Soldiers carried as many as 15 magazines with them for this operation. They local purchased two items to facilitate their ability to manage this amount of ammunition. They purchased several commercial variants of devices to allow for quick magazine changes...They also purchased commercial bandoleers for wear of additional magazines on the chest and upper leg.
* Survivability: Combat identification still relies on methods and technologies used 10 years ago. Our army is extremely lethal - we rely too greatly on the discipline and skill of our soldiers.
* Sustainment: Soldiers still spend too much of their own money to purchase the quality packs, pouches, belts, underwear, socks and gloves they believe they need for mission success and comfort.
The Marines
-- M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) -- the SAW's are worn out and apparently beyond repair. They have far exceeded their service life. Many Marines are duct taping and zip tying the weapons together.
-- M203 Load Bearing [harness]:Grenade bearing vests don’t hold enough ammunition. Rounds don’t fit into many of the pockets, so grenadiers aren’t able to carry as many rounds as the vest is designed to carry. They aren’t able to fit rounds into all of the pouches. Granadiers are coming up with several different “band-aid” solutions to carry enough ammunition, most of which aren’t working.
-- Drop Holsters and phone dummy chords: Many Marines purchased these items from their own personal funds. Drop holsters …cost approximately $65. Marines would like to see these holsters issued with their pistols. Also, Marines fashioned pistol lanyards from phone chords.
Is this right? As a mother, I probably think about things a little differently sometimes, but come on. Can we truly need $500 million dollars for more weapons inspections when our soldiers can't even get wearable uniforms, workable weapons and dry socks?
Bush and his cronies like to harp on about how pro-military they are, but they are again lying out their teeth. There can be no true support of our soldiers unless we are actually supporting them with the practical items that will help them survive. That they shouldn't have to be in this situation at all seems almost moot to this argument. But if we're going to put them in them in the middle of this dangerous environment, the least we could do is use some of those millions of tax dollars to actually provide for them.
We can talk about getting them practical R&R, not burning them out and actually paying them what they're worth in a different post.
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
( 3:48 PM )
One of Those Days
Ugh. Much posting will be had tomorrow... today, just trying to keep my head above water!
( 12:30 PM )
Politics Catch-Up
Before I begin my ranting and raving today, thought I'd do a bit of catch up on the 2004 campaign.
It looks like the Bush/Cheney Campaign has got a blog! It's a little frightening, and not really a blog, but I suppose times are changing. Here's what the leader of Political Campaign Blogs has to say:
Mr. President, I'm a blogger. I know blogs.
Bloggers are friends of mine. And your site,
sir, is not a blog.
We welcome all readers of this new somewhat
blog-like site to use this as an open thread to
discuss what you think of it, because the Bush
folks aren't interested in letting anyone comment.
In other news, Bob Graham has dropped out of the race. According to Dkos, Graham only had $1 million in the bank. Most figured him for the first drop out. While I'd like to see a leaner field of competition, I also don't want to see the likes of Kucinich, Mosely Braun or Sharpton drop out because they provide a much needed pull to the left for the party. Especially now that the Clintons'/DLC's pick is in the race.
Senator Judd Gregg's (R-NH) wife was a victim of abduction and violent robbery this morning, but it appears she is safe. They haven't caught the suspects yet.
It's up to the Californians now. Please don't let that ever be a phrase that is used with regard to anything actually important to the rest of us (just kidding, Californian friends!!).
And once this Californian thing is over, we can all re-focus on the REAL recall, in 2004. There is a Democratic Debate coming up this Thursday. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics are playing out now.
Monday, October 06, 2003
( 4:18 PM )
Please Let it All End Now!
Pat Robertson, who doesn't understand why what Rush said was so wrong:
"He started off playing a chauffeur in 'Driving Miss Daisy,'
and then they elevated him to head of the CIA, and then
they elevated him to president and in his last role they
made him God. I just wonder, isn't Rush Limbaugh right to
question the fact, is he that good an actor or not?"
-- [uttered] on his "700 Club" television show,
using the example of black actor Morgan Freeman to
defend Limbaugh's jab at Philadelphia Eagles
quarterback Donovan McNabb.
And this is one of the major "moral" influences on our president. Aaaaarrrgggghhh!
( 2:59 PM )
A Leap from Mere Hypocrisy to Outright Repulsiveness
The Bush administration has once again pulled one of its "funny coincidences" in timing again. Just like George W. using Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday to announce his non-support of affirmative action at the University of Michigan earlier this year, just like when George W. announced on Mother's Day a bill that he called "family flex leave," but which actually intended to rob working mothers and fathers of overtime pay, he's gone and done it again.
Per the white house's website, Bush has declared "Marriage Protection Week" to start on October 12.
October 12 is the anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shephard. Coincidence? I don't think so. The white house is clear in its intention:
Marriage is a sacred institution, and its protection
is essential to the continued strength of our society.
Marriage Protection Week provides an opportunity to
focus our efforts on preserving the sanctity of marriage
and on building strong and healthy marriages in America.
Marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and
my Administration is working to support the institution of
marriage by helping couples build successful marriages
and be good parents.
Matthew Shephard's death horrified the country. Most of us asked ourselves: what have we become? But the lesson was short lived for some, I guess.
It is not just an attempt at erasure of Matthew Shephard's memory, but it is an intentional acknowledgment of absolute insensitivity and non-caring toward his parents and family and the community that is most threatened by the exact actions that killed Matthew. And still, some Bush supporters want to go even further.
Bush and his conservative right empowerers have been very blunt about their intention to try to outlaw civil unions for gay couples. They swear upon the holiness and sanctity of marriage and that marriage is only between a man and a woman and it must be protected at all costs.
So my question is simple. If it's that important to the fabric of our society, why isn't divorce outlawed? Over 50% of marriages end in divorce in this country... that's marriages between a man and a woman. Yet, committed gay couples who have shown the same or longer committment and haven't split up are not allowed to adopt children, foster children, visit each other in the hospital, have spousal benefits or any of the same things. Why? Because it offends our sense of sanctity. So why should heterosexual couples be allowed to divorce if marriage is the key ingredient to our society surviving? And, by the way, wouldn't an environment that promoted family commitments for gay couples do more to strengthen a family-oriented society than hurt it?
If Matthew Shephard, RIP, had lived to become an adult, an educated man who contributed to our society and who perhaps loved someone and decided to commit to a lifelong partnership with that person and raise children... he would not have been treated equally in our country. Equality is a standard we proudly claim to the rest of the world, and yet, in truth, it's blatantly ignored when it comes to certain people who evidently don't deserve the same rights. By the terms set by this administration, Matthew's right to marriage, children and family committment would not have been protected. Nor are the rights of any other gay man or woman seeking the same thing.
To start this Marriage Protection Week on the same day as Matthew Shephard's death is like throwing it in the face of all gay people and all gay couples that they are not acceptable. Sort of an oh by the way, we think it's awful when you don't get treated fairly (but not really), or you can't visit your partner of 20 years in the hospital (but not really), or you lose your job in the military that you were really good at (but not really), or that you get beaten to death (but not really) - but god forbid if you try to lead healthy, family-centered lives and think you're going to contribute to our sanctified society!
I don't have words to describe my disgust.
(thanks to Atrios for the heads-up)
UPDATE: Strangechord said more about this a few days ago. And Shock & Awe called it for what it is: National Discriminate Against Gay Couples Week.
A further personal comment: While many people feel strongly in their religious beliefs that homosexuality is unacceptable (and though I disagree, I defend their right to their own beliefs), what I find to be unacceptable is my government is presuming to publicly declare an intolerance of some of my own friends and family, and I have no say in that. This - my - government is also making proclamations in accordance with a set of beliefs adhered to by only some of its constituents, and such proclamations directly discriminate against other of its constituents. This government is taking on the role of the church in this issue, and that is wholly unacceptable. It should be unacceptable to church people because it opens the door to the government being able to dictate the beliefs and moralities of all people, and while they allow this president to do this because he shares their beliefs, what will they do if the next president believes something different? A firm line must be drawn between what the government has the right to interfere in, and it should not be the definition of, or the (meaningless) protection of, its version of what is a "good marriage." I find it utterly reprehensible that some people presume to influence this president in a way that discriminates and insults other American citizens, many of which are just as God-fearing and good, and that, in turn, the president bends to that influence in this way. Okay, I'm done. For now.
Okay, I'm back again: In a further update, I note several people commenting on the article by Jennifer Graham today in the National Review. Pandagon and TBogg get it right - I urge you to read their commentaries. I wish that millions of people didn't read the National Review or listen to Rush Limbaugh, but I know they do. What I find so horrifying is that so many in this nation are willing to allow this subtle form of racist bigotry persist. It's this kind of mentality that makes possible things like proclamations declaring a week that boldly discriminates against citizens of this country. Argghh!!
( 11:03 AM )
Leave No
The Leave No Child Behind Act is terrible in more ways than we can count so far. Here in Oregon, it is hurting our schools far more than it is helping. And now we find out from a teacher who wrote to the paper in yesterday's edition that it's hurting the teachers too:
Last year I was a finalist for Teacher of the Year.
Last year the National Geographic Society awarded
me a $5,000 grant to help build an outdoor classroom
with natural materials. Last year the Portland teachers
association and school board asked me to mentor
new teachers. Last year I trained a group of Portland
teachers in the Tribes process, which nurtures
supportive classroom communities.
Last week letters went home to the parents of my
students telling them I'm not a "highly qualified" teacher.
How can I fall so far in one year? Easy. I've been afflicted
with the No Child Left Behind Curse.
How can a teacher with these kinds of qualifications be labeled as "unqualified"? He explains:
In its push to "leave no child behind" the law disregards
my license, even though it's issued by the state, which
sets some of the toughest standards in the nation. My
'license says I'm qualified to teach English to speakers of
other languages and bilingual education in specified
subjects though grade 12.
But the new law doesn't recognize my qualifications
because I, like other bilingual teachers, was encouraged
to take college courses focusing on bilingual and special
education. That left me without a few teaching methods
courses, but prepared me extremely well for teaching
in both English and Spanish.
As an "under-qualified" teacher I have distinguished
company. One of the few Portland Public School
teachers who reached the highest and most difficult
level of qualification -- a National Teaching Certificate --
also had letters sent home to the parents of her students
informing them of her inadequate qualifications.
This is not even one of the more disturbing aspects of this law. This unfunded mandate, passed with the unthinking bipartisan support of Senate Democrats (who didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything until the last week), is giving schools failing reports based on an arbitrary set of requirements. It forces students to take more standardized (but unequal) tests and labels them as failures too if they don't meet qualifications that have nothing to do with how hard they try, what their potential is and how much they are learning outside of testing questions. And now we find that it's doing the same to our teachers. No wonder the teachers are calling it a Curse.
This is the curse that forces students who haven't
learned to speak and read English as well as students
with severe disabilities to take high-stakes standardized
tests they can't possibly pass. Those scores are then
used to judge school performance.
This is a curse on our public schools. What else can
you call it when arbitrary standards are imposed on
schools, curriculum is twisted and distorted into test
preparation packages, and "failing schools" are subjected
to state takeover and charter status?
The growing emphasis on standardized testing as the measurement of school and student progress and the pin on which school reform turns is not making our schools better or even more accountable. It's in fact hindering true school reform and the ability of teachers to exercise their own, good judgment in teaching their students. In fact, a 1992 study called the Testing in American Schools, done by The Office of Technology Assessment, concluded: "It now appears that the use of these tests misled policymakers and the public about the progress of students, and in many places hindered the implementation of genuine school reforms."
But who continues to push this kind of false "accountability" measures? That's right, the entrenched policy makers and the politicians. Promising a new era for education reform, George W. Bush ushered in the "No Child Left Behind" act, making the motto of the Children's Defense Fund a mockery and hurting, not helping the poorest and most vulnerable schools:
A huge increase in federally mandated testing will not
provide the services and strategies our schools and
students need to improve. Most states and local districts
have already dramatically increased the use of standardized
tests over the past two decades, without solving the
problems of poor schools. Some estimates are that the new
federal law will require states to give more than 200
additional tests at a cost of more than $7 billion.
Not only is the test-obsessed doctrine of Bush harmful, but he's lied to us all with his appointment of Rod Paige as the National director of it all:
He's the Texas miracle man who President Bush
brags turned the Houston schools into a model of
public accountability. The rave was based on the
claim that the dropout rate had fallen to 1.5 percent
in Houston's high schools.
Since Paige became secretary of education, a state
audit of the Houston Public Schools found the school
district under superintendent Paige swapped thousands
of students who should have been listed as dropouts
into other categories such as "transferred" or "moved."
The real dropout rate was nearly 40 percent, which would
have been among the highest in the nation. A New York
Times editorial called this "the educational equivalent of
Enron's accounting results."
It seems this president hasn't just lied to us about national security issues or war. He's made it a habit to mislead us and double talk us regarding our economy, our jobs and the education of our children. I hope that all parents of publicly-educated children will educate themselves about the travesty being wreaked upon our children by the government and not fall prey to the hollow and false calls for fake reform, like vouchers and more testing. Perhaps the accountability for the success of public schools should be on the shoulders of the politicians, not the children. Just an idea.
Friday, October 03, 2003
( 1:55 PM )
She Was a CIA Operative?
OHHHHH! I thought they were all talking about the President's Analyst! Then again, I can't expect the likes of news cable pundits or half-baked journalists to get the facts straight, even about a cult flick ...or a revenge hit ... or hitting the brakes... or yellow cakes....
( 12:41 PM )
Oregon National Guard Called Up
700 members of the Oregon National Guard have been called up for duty in Iraq. Besides the fact that I didn't think we had 700 of them left in the state, this is bad news for them, their families and our state.
The soldiers will depart for training in Fort Hood,
Texas, before likely being deployed to Iraq in
March. The soldiers will likely serve in Iraq through
March 2005, said Major Gen. Alexander H. Burgin,
Oregon's adjunct general.
That means that starting this week, these folks won't likely see their families for a good 18 months. It is a crock that the Guard and Reserves are being called on for year-long duty. That year only starts once they are in-country in Iraq. These families not only have to deal with the sudden call-up, but the fact that they are going to have to fend for a year and a half - at the minimum - without the regular salary of the spouse or parent who must go to Iraq. The other problem is that most of these troops are being called up from our smaller cities and towns (I guess the other ones have already been cleaned out), communities that are more likely to hurt from their absences:
Many of those leaving are public safety officers,
and their departures leave gaps in local police
forces and sheriff's departments.
Philomath High School principal Nels Thompson
said he's hoping that someone will be able to
fill in for one of the mobilized officers, Jeff Hanke,
who has been working as the school's resource
office.
I don't know how many more Guard and Reserves there are in Oregon to call up, but there can't be many (maybe some of my fellow Oregon bloggers might know this number - I can't seem to find a definitive Oregon tally). We hear daily about our various battalions that are over there already. We've had our share of KIA's, and though so far I haven't seen a count, I'm sure our state's wounded sons and daughters number very high as well, considering the average in Iraq lately.
This is going to keep happening across this country. The longer we have to go without international assistance (translated: the longer Bush remains the arrogant snob that he is), more of our own troops are going to have to go over there.
Just a question here: Are we going to run out of back up troops at some point? If there is another major domestic calamaty, the equal of 9/11, will we have sufficient Guard and Reserves here to help, or will that duty then fall in total to our "first responders" and then to us, everyday citizens, who will undoubtedly volunteer to fill spaces that are left empty by our back up troops, which are now in Iraq? Just wondering.
Maybe I'll make a stop at the surplus store this weekend. Never hurts to be prepared in case Oregon has to form its own State Guard to deal with emergencies here at home, and all able bodied folks will have to enlist. Never say that the Mama was hesitant to serve her fellow citizens in times of need.
Of course, this is all hypothetical... situations of such dire circumstance could never happen...
( 9:58 AM )
Why Does Bush Hate America?
"Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."
-Bush, just now.
Nice catch, Atrios.
( 9:43 AM )
Dear Mr. Kay, I Found Your WMDs...
Oct 2, 2003
HERMISTON, Ore. -- Monitoring crews at the
Umatilla Chemical Depot detected a small leak
of vaporized sarin inside a concrete bunker
that stores 750-pound chemical bombs, a depot
spokesman said Thursday.
It was the second leak detected in three days.
Crews found a leak of sarin Monday in a bunker
used to store 155 mm projectiles.
Did you need to read that again? Go ahead, I'll give you some time.
Yep, that's right - in Hermiston, Oregon (that's about 3 hours from Portland), sarin gas is leaking in the Umatilla Chemical Weapons Depot. But not to worry! It didn't escape the bunker this time!
"It's at such low levels. It's very
routine for us," he said.
Now THAT'S comforting! Along with other chemical weapons plants that have been in use in this country since the World Wars, Umatilla is set to have its contents incinerated starting next year. The process is expected to take six years. In 2002, the Depot had to shut down its incineration tests because it was emitting illegal levels of toxins into the air. (Despite the government's insistence, incineration isn't the only way to get rid of these WMDs hiding amongst us. Other states are successfully using a process called neutralization to eliminate their stock of chemical weapons.)
So, in conclusion, Mr. Kay, if you find that you're getting bored in Iraq and you simply can't find enough to keep you busy over there, you're always welcome in Oregon! I'm sure we'd all like to know the full extent of the destructive weapons that are sitting, silently leaking, on our doorsteps. Then again, as our fearless leader proves to us daily, isn't ignorance bliss?
( 9:26 AM )
Double Standards
Drugs. Said to be the biggest criminal problem in this country. There's even a War on Drugs. Attorney General Ashcroft makes it his business to expend millions of dollars and the time of many agents of the Justice Dept. to track down people who sell bongs. Poor people who are caught in the possession of small amounts of marijuana go to jail for years on end. And yet, very rich people who posess and engage in the trade of drugs manage to go free every time.
Example 1. Here in Portland we have the very shameful Portland Trailblazer basketball team - known more for its members' criminal activities off the court than for it skill as a team on the court. A member of that team, Damon Stoudamire, was caught in an Arizona airport in July with a pack of marijuana wrapped in tin foil. Now, if the tin foil thing going through a metal detector isn't stupid enough for you, it was literally his third strike (last year, a pound of it was found in his home, and then last November, he was caught speeding on a Washington highway, high as kite). But he swears he's reformed, and since he went through a program and the team was fined, all should be well and good (not to mention, his attorneys are arguing that TSA didn't have the right to search his packet of tinfoil at the airport). So he's still going to play this season (though he promises to pee in a cup every week).
Example 2. Rush Limbaugh, who has railed for years against drug addicts and thinks they should all be locked up, is now caught up in his own drug scandal. This time it's the illegal trade of prescription drugs (often just as addictive). Limbaugh is being investigated as part of a drug ring in southern Florida. But he will be able to keep his hands clean because
People in these two men's respective audiences will continue to defend them and claim that they are the victims, yadda yadda yadda. Yet poor people remain the true victims of our disproportionate drug laws. Poor people and people of color are most likely to be arrested, convicted and imprisoned for minor drug misdemeanors while rich, influential people can continue to abuse and traffic drugs at their will. Until this country faces up to the sham that is the War on Drugs and the way that our government continues to allow ridiculous laws to imprison the most vulnerable in our society and set free those most likely to have a bad influence on large numbers of people, then things are going to be upside down, as in Texas:
Of the 58,000 drug convictions won by local prosecutors
over the past five years, 77 percent involved less than 1
gram, according to a Chronicle analysis of district court
data. Harris County sent 35,000 of the small-time offenders
to jail or prison.
(1 gram is about the size of an Equal packet of fake sugar)
Drug addiction is terrible and it should be dealt with in an understanding and effective way - so why can't poor people get the same access to treatment and job help and supervision as rich people can? Because when you live in a society where the class division is ignored by those who make the rules, then those in the lower classes will always be fighting to tread water while those in the upper classes will float on by. I hope whomever is the next president (it won't be Bush, I'm confident) will address this subject in a serious and thoughtful way and make decisions with real results for the people of this country and not continue the sham of fake righteousness and maniacal laws that is the "War on Drugs."
Thursday, October 02, 2003
( 2:46 PM )
Boy Scouts Try on Visciousness and Hypocricy for Size
I have not been a supporter of the national Boy Scout organization since it enacted its very short-sighted and, in my view, faulty, decision to not allow gay men to be Scout leaders. The organization allowed itself to fall victim to the ridiculous and insulting assumption that gay men are pedophiles or that they would somehow wrongly influence or hurt the boys they lead. At any rate, the organization has now sunk to the lowest possible level of decision making skill - otherwise known as WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
The Boy Scouts of America’s American Freedom Rally was held as a fundraiser in Georgia on Saturday and the invited guest speakers included traitor, cheat and liar Oliver North and bile-mouthed ranting lunatic Ann Coulter. To a group of boys and their parents, these two paraded their cheap brand of pseudo-Americanism and the Boy Scouts of America condoned the entire event.
I can't understand for the life of me why North is a roll-model parents want their scouting boys to admire and emulate. The man undermined the US government, assisted in the killings of thousands of people in Nicaragua, lied to Congress, was caught lying to Congress, and wore his uniform while lying to Congress. This is NOT a man I would EVER exalt to my son. If my son ever wanted to be in the Boy Scouts, I would have to think twice about allowing him to go if this is the kind of person that that organization would want my son to admire. As for Coulter:
Conservative author and attorney Ann Coulter blasted
liberals during her speech, specifically with regards to
their positions regarding the war in Iraq.
“Let’s just say that this was a war just for oil,” Coulter
told the crowd of about 300. “Why not go to war for oil?
We need oil. What do Hollywood celebrities think fuels
their jets? How do they think their cocaine is delivered?"
This is not only disgusting, it is totally ridiculous! What does a woman like Coulter have to do with Boy Scouts and their ideals anyway? The last time I checked, the Boy Scouts swear an oath to be kind, courteous, trustworthy and brave. How are the likes of Coulter adding any sort of positive perspective on those character traits?
North is neither brave or trustworthy and Coulter is neither kind or courteous or helpful. Not to make too fine a point of it. But these character traits they insist their Scouts uphold in their personal lives didn't seem to matter to the BSA in the planning of this event:
“We thought it was a great idea to bring in people
who are patriotic,” said Cooper. “We had contacts
for Col. North, Ann Coulter and (radio personalities)
Rick (Burgess) and (Bill) Bubba (Bussey) and it kind of
snowballed. We wanted just a really patriotic night.”
If this is how the Boy Scouts of America define patriotic, then something has gone terribly wrong with that organization. It is definitely not a group I would ever encourage my son to be a part of at this point. I want my son to learn about and admire people who are truly brave and truly patriotic. Shame on the Boy Scouts.
( 12:31 PM )
Nope, Still Not There
This is what it's all about... all the lies, all the leaks, all the dirty tricks. All the hubris of this administration may finally lead to its ultimate destruction. And here is one more straw to add: the big search for WMDs in Iraq has officially come up with nothing.
One possibility was that Iraq may have destroyed
many of its weapons before the 1991 Gulf war. More
weaponry and facilities were destroyed by the UN in
the 1990s, after the war.
However, the ISG's lack of any significant discoveries
so far has undermined the credibility of the US and
British governments, which based their arguments for
an invasion of Iraq on the belief that Saddam's regime
possessed illegal WMDs.
The administration may try to deflect attention away from this story now that people are distracted by the California election and other crimes and misdemeanors coming out of the White House. But the fact remains: George Bush lied, Dick Cheney lied, Colin Powell lied, Condoleeza Rice lied, Donald Rumsfeld lied... there is no one in this administration is not personally culpable or responsible for the lives being lost in Iraq this year. And a note to the administration: don't pretend you were fooled by Saddam playing hide and seek with his WMD's. If you can be fooled by Saddam Hussein then we're all in a LOT of trouble because you sure as hell won't be able to protect us. Get your act together and start making like you're actually leading this country. Or get out. Better yet, just get out.
( 12:05 PM )
And on the Other Front...
Digby dissects Novak's role in the whole affair with his usual on-target analysis.
( 11:45 AM )
Do All Signs Point to Libby?
DKos had a bit on Larry Johnson, the former associate of Mrs. Wilson at the CIA. Calpundit also caught his comments when he appeared on The News Hour, and then I saw a tidbit of him on Buchanan & Press yesterday (while I was home sick) - the transcript isn't out yet, but he plainly and clearly pointed to Dick Cheney's staff, and more specifically Scooter Libby as at least one of the sources of the leak. Johnson appears really miffed that this happened and he doesn't want the WH to get away with it, even though he himself is a Republican - on B&P, he seemed very confident that he knew who it was who had tipped off Novak - and then Buchanan got out of him that it was Libby.
Who is Scooter Libby? He is Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff (formerly the attorney for billionaire Mark Rich, who won a last-minute pardon from Clinton). All signs are beginning to point to him as the leaker of Mrs. Wilson's name and occupation to the media. Not only that, but back in July, Slate guessed that Libby was the one who originally insisted the yellow cake lie be kept in the State of the Union address:
Libby is a red-meat Iraq hawk who, according to
U.S. News & World Report, pushed Secretary of
State Colin Powell very hard when Powell was
preparing his speech to the U.N. Security Council
laying out the evidence against Iraq:
The first draft of Powell's speech was written by
Cheney's staff and the National Security Council.
Days before the team first gathered at the CIA, a
group of officials assembled in the White House
Situation Room to hear Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis
"Scooter" Libby, lay out an indictment of the Iraqi
regime—"a Chinese menu" of charges, one participant
recalls, that Powell might use in his U.N. speech. Not
everyone in the administration was impressed, however.
"It was over the top and ran the gamut from al Qaeda
to human rights to weapons of mass destruction," says
a senior official. "They were unsubstantiated assertions,
in my view."
Total Disinformation Awareness seems to think Libby's the guy too.
And it hasn't gone unnoticed that Sen. Chuck Hagel (R) pointed in the direction of the Vice President's office as well. Billmon caught the nod as well. In addition to Johnson, another CIA officer has pointed towards Libby as well.
What does this mean? Well, I'm no political insider, nor do I claim a vast knowledge of understanding - but as an everyday citizen, very interested in politics and what is going on in Washington, it seems to me that this is the top of the house of cards that this administration has been balancing on for a long time. It has been obvious that there has not only been conflict between State and DoD, but there has also been a lot of tension between the WH and the CIA. If Cheney was looking to consolidate his power, then it seems that he wouldn't have had many qualms about overriding CIA recommendations regarding Iraq intelligence. The CIA now appears ready to fight back and not lay on its sword anymore. What remains to be seen, in my opinion, is whether Bush will finally clean house or if he'll just go on as always and pretend that all's well in his little universe that no one else inhabits.
But let's not fool ourselves. This isn't just one little scandal surrounding a leak. This entire episode of revealing Mrs. Wilson as an act of revenge because Ambassador Wilson dared to publicly accuse the White House of using false information as a pretense to war and knowingly using that false information to convince the American public of the righteousness of that war. That false information was one of the cornerstone reasons for invading Iraq. It's not enough to say that this leak is bad (it's horrible- not only a crime but a threat to national security in a very real sense), we have to take it back to the original crime: the Bush Doctrine.
What's really slimy is the continued bashing of Wilson himself. He is not the problem. He didn't start this because of politics. It was the administraiton that made this go bad and they are going to have to stand up for what has happened in the end. This president has knowingly led our country into war on false pretenses, which has lead to the deaths of hundreds of US soldiers, thousands of injuries and maimings, and thousands of civilian deaths in Iraq. The leak was a very poor judgment call based on the desire for revenge. It's not even a cover-up. It's a flat out dirty trick that has gone bad. Accountability HAS to be the name of the game for any of this to ever be righted.
( 9:41 AM )
Sickly Absence
Apologies to my few and far between readers (how grateful I am to you!) - I have been down and out the last couple of days. Am slowly getting back on my feet, though I have a lot at work I have to catch up - I shall soon be back in my regular bloggotific form. Thanks for sticking with me!
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
( 9:49 AM )
Meanwhile, Back in America...
In stories across the country's newspapers today, it was reported that the Census Bureau is reporting that the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 43.6 million people. This is a national, state and local problem. Here in Oregon, our state wide health system, The Oregon Health Plan, which was next to none in its provision for families and people in this state, has had to cut to the bones because of the economy and because the state is having to raise taxes to pay for things the federal government won't pay for because it cut taxes. The republicans seem to think that Americans won't buy a new health care system if it means rolling back the tax cuts. But I would venture to guess that the people who need the health care most are the people who didn't get much out of those tax cuts in the first place. Like most of my friends, I would be happy to go back to the tax levels of the 90's if it meant that a plan was being implemented to slowly nationalize health care so that at least all children are covered universally to begin with.
This is the most powerful and most advanced country in the world. Why is it that we can neither feed or provide medical care to each and everyone of our citizens? What good is it to have a country that can destroy the earth but does not care for its most vulnerable? That is not the kind of country I want to belong to. We must make it better. If we can change this country's priorities to care for the least of us, then it will be a country that does the right thing for all of us. Things have got to change - tax cuts and mumbling about adding prescription benefits to Medicaid do not solve the problem. I think this country is on the cusp of drastic changes, but good ones. We have to move forward - we can't afford to stay in the same place anymore. This country isn't built on money or technology or corporate power, it's built on human beings. And those human beings are ready to take back control. Food, housing and health care are rights that should be afforded to every one of those human beings. They are not privileges, as the current administration seems to think. Time to reclaim our rights as citizens and time to make a change.
( 9:35 AM )
The End of Special Interest Campaigns?
If you'll indulge me, just a short note on the political front today. The Howard Dean campaign is set to announce $15 million as it's Q3 earnings. This not only breaks Clinton's high record of 10.3 million, it blows it away. But the story isn't the money itself, it's how Dean got the money. It wasn't from a few PACs lining up their big time donors, it wasn't from special interest corporate help. Nope, it's been from citizens of the country, giving $20, $50 and $100 bucks to a campaign that they believe is interested in what they think, not what Halliburton thinks. Even Dick Morris concedes:
Howard Dean is also catalyzing the most far-reaching
of reforms in campaign finance. Indeed, the Dean
campaign will likely mark the end of the big money
era in our politics, when campaigns were dominated
by ultra-wealthy donors or special interests
contributing massive amounts of money.
Dean is proving that, through the Internet, he can
mobilize large numbers of relatively small contributors,
whose combined giving can overwhelm that of
wealthy special-interest donors. In so doing, he's also
ending the oligarchy of monied power in the Democratic
Party typified by Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National
Committee chairman whose sole qualification is his
ability to raise big bucks.
I've said it tons of times before, but what excites me about the Dean campaign even more than I could be excited about the candidate himself is the way the campaign is working. In the end, if Howard Dean comes out on top, he will owe US, the American people who put him there, not any big corporate interests, not any huge political power-brokers, but us. He is hated by the old-style, top-down money controlling politicos - that's why the DLC are desperately trying to stop him - he doesn't buy into their power structure. He owes them nothing and seeks nothing from them. And that scares the pants off them. What to do with a man running for president who is accountable to no one but the people voting for him? Dean not only has used the Internet to deal a huge blow to special interest money, he's used it to establish firm bases in all 50 states of hard working, dedicated and organized volunteers who take the place of storefront campaign offices with a few paid employees - these volunteers are out meeting people, organizing events and registering people to vote.
Like I've said before, even if I don't agree with all of Dean's positions, I respect the way he is running for office, I respect that he has allowed the people to continue to direct his path but that he's made wise decisions. And I respect the fact that he can actually win over voters who might be on the fence about Bush. There's no longer any question that Dean can win the national election. And when he does, we will have propelled into office a man who depended on us to get him there. Now, for once, I think that we can all agree that we could live with that kind of precedent.
( 9:13 AM )
Why Can't You Just Stay Dead?
That line is from DKos' post on the unraveling of the Wilson/CIA story. The White House is trying desperately to make the story die, and it just won't. As Kos rightly points out, this story is being led by Josh Marshall and as in the Trent Lott matter, the press has finally followed the lead of the blogs. Marshall is now blowing holes in the White House's and Novak's excuses, and it looks like the leaning house of cards that is this administration is starting to buckle. The media has finally gotten out front on this, though of course it is the print media mostly who is trying to dig into the story. The cable news just continues to blather on mindlessly - but that's their job. There is now an "official" investigation begun.
Of course Tom Burka may have already cracked the code on the whole affair.
Monday, September 29, 2003
( 10:00 AM )
Creating New Jobs for Plumbers
The blogosphere is tightly following the unraveling of the Leak story that started this weekend. As of me writing this entry, so far the press has actually stuck to its guns in trying to investigate, at a press conference this morning, it was suggested it could be Rove that was the leak, but the press secratary emphatically denied it and said that Bush knows it wasn't Rove.
I suggest keeping up with Billmon:
Update 9/29 12:30 PM ET: Boy, I don't know how Josh Marshall gets the stuff so quickly, but he's already got exerpts from today's White House press briefing posted on his site. My favorite bit so far:
McCLELLAN: He wasn't involved. The President knows he wasn't involved.
QUESTION: How does he know that?
McCLELLAN: The President knows.
QUESTION: What, is he clairvoyant? How does he know?
Also the goods are coming fast and furiously over at Josh Marshall's TPM, Eschaton and Daily Kos.
I wonder if the CIA wanted an investigation all along, or if it just now started pushing for it after the DIA's report this weekend that the intelligence provided/used by the Administration regarding Iraq was all crap. My first inclination would be that the CIA has wanted the leak investigated since it came to light since it's a) caused them the loss of a valuable agent; b) compromised other assets and contacts they may have had through her; and c) was ILLEGAL (the last reason being the least problematic for them, I'm sure). But it's obvious that the press is now hounding this issue and though some attention was paid on Sunday to the bad intelligence issue, that's sort of getting swept under the rug right now.
Could this be the straw that broke the mainstream media's cowed back - what I mean is, will they finally start acting like journalists, investigate what's going on and do their jobs instead of being shills for an administration that is most precariously balanced upon its stack of brittle lies? Let's hope so.
Friday, September 26, 2003
( 3:41 PM )
Bubba Ho Tep
The weekend is almost here and we have an evening sans child tonight. So because my husband is a years-long fan of Bruce Campbell (and has converted me into one too!), tonight we are going to the newly released gem Bubba Ho Tep. Here's the story: Elvis (played by Campbell) didn't die in 1977, but switched identities with an Elvis impersonator during the early 1970’s in order to escape the harsh glare of fame. Then the impersonator died and the real Elvis broke a hip and ended up in an East Texas retirement home...where he meets JFK (played by Ossie Davis). There is a soul-sucking mummy using their rest home as a feeding ground and they have to band together to save everyone.
I can't wait!
See you on the other side of Sunday.
( 11:26 AM )
Okay, I'm Really Pissed Off Now
It gets worse and worse. I read a little blurb last night in Dollars in Sense (in their shorts section that doesn't appear online) about the lawsuit filed by Gulf War POWs against Iraq for the torture they endured while held captive. This morning I found more articles that substantiated what I'd read (get ready for it):
U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts of the District of
Columbia awarded more than $959 million to the
ex-POWs and 37 family members.
But money from Iraqi assets has been transferred
to a federal reserve bank, and L. Paul Bremer, the
chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, has told the court
he needs the money to rebuild the country. Justice
Department attorneys have argued that because
Saddam Hussein has been ousted, Iraq is immune
from such lawsuits.
So let me get this straight: The POWs won their lawsuit and were awarded $959 million out of frozen Iraqi assets for them and their families. Under US law, they are entitled to receive that money. But the Justice Department instead moved the money into the Federal Reserve and has decided to hand it over to Paul Bremer to use as he pleases in reconstruction (code word for private contracts). So the POWs get nothing. And Halliburton wins again.
I have two questions (that I can think of right now in the midst of my anger):
1. What right does the Justice Department have over frozen Iraqi assets legally awarded to tortured POWs?
2. How many total frozen Iraqi assets are there that are being used that we don't know about (this is non-tax dollar funds above and beyond the $87 billion being asked from our own pockets)????
I'm so mad I can't even think of what else to say right now.
UPDATE: Uh oh. Dad saw the article. Now he's pissed off. And he's a vet.
( 10:46 AM )
Hate is a Four Letter Word
I heard Juan Williams on NPR this morning interviewing Jonathan Chait and Ramesh Ponnuru regarding their "debate" about "Bush Hatred." (putting aside that I don't see how anyone can actually call the New Republic "liberal" - as for this being a "debate" - give me a break!!) Here's a taste from Chait:
Ramesh,
We agree on a couple things. The main one
is whether Bush hatred is a good political
strategy for Democrats: It's not. Bush
remains personally popular, and most people
don't like angry, bitter candidates anyway.
The question that divides us is: Does Bush
hatred have a rational basis, or is it an
unreasonable prejudice? In other words,
does Bush hatred result from the peculiar
mentality of the Bush haters--as
conservatives have been arguing--or does it
result from Bush himself? I argue that
it's the latter.
They then go off and argue about whether this entire hate-strategy of the Democrats will work or not. Whatever. The interview with Juan Williams was almost surreal, in my opinion. The whole discussion with the two editors boiled down to both of them agreeing that the entire impetus for the Democratic front runner (Dean) is Bush-hatred, and that Dean has based his whole campaign on spewing hate-Bush language. What??! What campaign am I watching then? Because in the pubilc appearances I have personally witnessed to the tv coverage of speeches to interviews and debates, Dean and the other candidates are making very clear arguments against Bush's policies but I have not once heard a hatred for him being pushed on the masses. Have I missed something?
First of all, this meme that the hatred for this president is the most visceral, personal hatred ever expressed in this country for a sitting president is ludicrous! What were those eight years we just went through before Bush? A huge national love fest? I heard this same thing from Hannity yesterday (husband watches for fun, I usually have to stay out of the room) - he even quoted JFK in an argument saying Ted Kennedy's words about the war were offensive and mean. But going beyond Hannity's propensity for the insane, it was as if the entire rightist plan right now is to pretend the right's viscious attacks, disgusting language and political annihilation of Clinton during his presidency didn't exist...and the current dissent is the worst stuff they've ever heard and an affront to political decency!
So building on that theme, they have now decided that there is some vast, sweeping hatred of Bush himself that is driving the democrats and thus the Democratic Party has now made its entire strategy a hate-based plan. Suddenly we all hate him personally? Now, I confess I don't particularly like the guy, he comes across to me as smarmy, sanctimonious, patronizing and not very nice. But I don't know him personally, so I don't hate him. I may be way off here, but I'd venture to guess this is how most people feel. Now his policies, the way he runs the government, the people he listens to, the decisions he makes and what is happening to this country - that I can hold no pretense of happiness - I'm downright angry. I'm angry that he and his cronies have gotten away with so much crap. I'm angry that the citizens of this country seem so apathetic during times like this. I'm angry that the media seems to not care to search for the truth at all in what it reports. Sure. I'm mad as hell. And I'm doing something about it.
Like hundreds of thousands of democrats, progressives, independents, greens, and even conservatives and liberatarians are also doing. Arguing about whether the national hatred for Bush is rational or irrational is like arguing whether that big purple monster in the sky has one eye or two. There is no purple monster.
The right is going to keep trying to come up with codes and talking points to distract from Bush's falling numbers. But they're only fooling themselves. Their whining sounds more hollow every day and while they can argue about how much we hate George W. Bush, we're focusing on how much we like the other options that are in front of us and how we're going to choose one of them of our own free will and then put him in the White House because we know he will be better than what we've got now. It's not hatred. It's Common Sense.
( 10:04 AM )
A Sad Passing
I was very sad to read just now that George Plimpton has died. I most recently saw him last week when we watched When We Were Kings on BET - the documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle. His descriptions of Ali and the event and the way he told the story were riveting. His journalism is an example that most "journalists" today could only wish to live up to. Rest in Peace.
( 9:32 AM )
A Mama's Love
Thanks to HyLo for pointing me to this story. A young man in France died in hospital today after lapsing into a coma. He went into the coma because his mum tried to help him to die, per his wishes. Of course people are calling for her head. I disagree with those people. This issue is long overdue for discussion.
Do people have the right to die if they want to? In France, this young man and his mother have sparked a debate:
Humbert's case has recently been at the center
of a media blitz, programmed by the young man
and his mother. They made no secret that a plan
for a mercy killing was in place, and Humbert
published a book arguing in favor of his right to die.
Humbert, at one point, had written to President
Jacques Chirac beseeching him for the "right to die."
His mother's attempt to end Humbert's life came
on the third anniversary of a car accident that
left him incapacitated. The mother's actions
reopened the debate in France over whether
there should be a law making euthanasia legal.
Here in Oregon, this issue is very prominent. Not once, but twice, Oregon voters have voted for a law enabling doctors to aid in euthenasia for their patients - it's called the Death With Dignity Act. John Aschcroft's Justice Department has taken our state to court to stop us from enacting the will of the people... the case is still in appeal.
It seems to me that cases like Vincent Humbert and his Mama will continue to occur- loving parents and spouses taking things into their own hands. Wouldn't it be better to have a physician assist in this final act of mercy for someone? If we claim to be a moral and just society and to protect the rights of all people to live, to be free, etc. Shouldn't we also protect their right to die if they so choose? Studies have already shown that since the law was enacted here in Oregon, there hasn't been some out-of-control increase in assisted deaths - doctors aren't running around killing people. On the contrary, people who are in such intolerable pain that living is a daily torture have had the right to discuss their situation openly and honestly with their physician, and with the consent of their families and the aid of their doctor, go into a peace that they have longed for.
I cannot imagine being in Mama Humbert's place. Seeing my child suffer so horribly, knowing what he clearly wants and wanting it for him, yet knowing that my act of mercy for him will mean lifelong loss and pain for myself when my son is gone. The process she had to go through to come to the place where she realized that helping her son die was the most loving thing she could have done for him could not have been an easy one for her. But I would like to think that if I were in the same position, I would do the same no matter what the laws said. Above all, we must protect and care for each other. The law here in Oregon does just that. John Ashcroft should leave us alone and let people here in Oregon who are like young Vincent Humbert live AND die in peace.
( 9:11 AM )
This Morning
It was a good morning this morning. The baby spontaneously hugged me and blew kisses to me as I left for work. That was nice.
The other night as I was washing dishes I hear yelling from the other room:
"Da Da! Da Da!"
"What?"
"Da Da!"
"Oh for crying out loud, stop licking the vaccuum cleaner!"
Thursday, September 25, 2003
( 6:30 PM )
A Mama's Relief
Thank God. Amina Lawal, the 32 year old Nigerian mother who was convicted by a Sharia court last year to death by stoning has won her appeal. The case sparked a huge conflict in the country where its northern states have enacted the very fundamental Islamic Sharia laws. Amina was convicted for adultery, though the man who courted her was not charged or convicted of anything. In these laws, she could be sentenced to death - which was to make her stand in a hole in the earth while men threw stones at her head to crush her skull.
I am so thankful that the international pressure put on the Katsina, Nigeria government actually made a difference. I do not profess to know Islamic law, but I do know that any religious authority exercised to an extreme will produce abuse, not justice. I was so afraid that she would face a horrible death and never be able to raise her baby daughter. Amina is exactly my age. I am able to freely raise my child as I see fit, I would not face governmental censure if I did not have a husband, I am able to work to support my family, I am free to speak my mind and teach my child whatever I choose. Amina doesn't have these freedoms. She and the mamas like her in so many places on this earth are neglected, abused, and murdered without a second thought - every day. This is not a right of culture, society or religious belief - there is no belief or law that justifies the treatment of human beings - women and mothers - that way.
I just want to say it again, thank God she has been freed from this death sentence. I know her life will not be easy, but I'm so relieved she will HAVE a life and that her daughter will grow up with a mama who has faced the worst crisis and not only survived but emerged victorious. I just hope that the international attention that was paid to her case will not lose sight of the larger cause of justice and freedom for all women and children and human beings in this world. It's up to us who can grasp that freedom to pursue it for the most vulnerable of our sisters and brothers until it is achieved.
Congratulations Amina. Go home and rest - cuddle your baby and cry as long as you need to. We're here and we won't forget.
( 2:15 PM )
Shhhh.
Don't bother me, I'm "watching" the debate via the comments on Dkos.
( 1:47 PM )
Take Back the Power
Literally. Here in Portland we will have a choice this coming election on whether to publicly own our utility company or let the corporations keep control of it and our money. The full court press is on. Yesterday we received a letter in an 8x10 envelope with a glossy brochure from Pacific Power:
"On November 4, you will be asked to decide if you want
to continue being served by Pacific Power, or create
a new layer of government to run your electric utility..."
This is the new argument being used by the utility corporation - and we saw it again on tv last night in ads featuring a nice elderly lady saying that she didn't want a "new layer of government to operate her electricity." The ads were sponsored by some sort of "responsible citizenship group."
Portlanders need to educate themselves in the next month about this issue. This part of the reason our city and our state are struggling. It's why California ended up in the deep debt it's in. PGE and Pacific Power are all part of the old Enron system of running things. If you need a powerful argument for publicly owned utilities, how about what happened to the grid in the Northeast a few weeks ago?
The issue is so hot, we even got a letter from Greg Palast in our paper to all our citizens:
The parent company of Portland General Electric
corrupted the power markets, flimflammed
regulators, overcharged customers, wiped out
employee pensions and collapsed into
bankruptcy. And now, on the assumption there's
a sucker born every minute, they want you to
still love them.
PGE and Pacific Power want us to believe that our bills will go UP without them in charge (and pray tell how much of my last bill did you use to print this useless crap and pay for these television commercials?).
Palast answers:
Want to know what happens when the public
takes over a private system? First, your bills go
down. Every time. I'm writing this on Long Island,
where the public recently booted out a private
power company bigger than PGE. The outcome?
Every Long Island customer got a $100 refund
check plus a 12 percent cut in rates and a big
boost in reliability.
That's right: People-owned systems rarely black
out. Remember the California power crisis? The
city-owned Los Angeles system kept the lights
on -- and the prices way down. And the Great
Northeast blackout this year? Public systems,
from Niagara to Greenport, stayed lit. Why?
Unlike privateers, the public systems don't profit
from cutting service.
Don't fall for the smooth sell from PGE and Pacific Power, my fellow Oregonians. Now is not the time to cave to corporations again. We now have the chance to get rid of the system that has crippled the west coast power situation. We need to make a statement here. On Nov. 7, vote to take back the ownership of your own power.
( 1:17 PM )
Dixie Chick Strikes Back
Note to Democrats: this is how to have kahunas - take some lessons from the girls.
(thanks to Atrios for the link)
UPDATE: Oh, and it looks like the Brits are up to their usual cleverness
( 10:53 AM )
Political Junkies Unite
Predictions on today's debate.
Opinions on why the Clark campaign is missing the boat.
Bush the Businessman (in uggabugga chart form!)
But actually, it's all about the hair.
( 10:46 AM )
Military Families
... Speak Out. (thanks to a Vet for the link).
( 9:19 AM )
How to ruin a great army? See Donald Rumsfeld
Joe Galloway, one of the most awarded, most respected combat and war correspondents (you may recall he is the author of We Were Soldiers Once...And Young - remade into the movie with Mel Gibson) writes for Knight Ridder.
The title of this post is the title of his editorial today:
It took the better part of 20 years to rebuild
the Army from the wreckage of Vietnam. With
the hard work of a generation of young
officers, blooded in Vietnam and determined
that the mistake would never be repeated, a
new Army rose Phoenix-like from the ashes of
the old, now perhaps the finest Army in history.
In just over three years, Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld and his civilian aides have
done just about everything they could to
destroy that Army.
[...] How do you break an army?
- You can work it to death.
Under Rumsfeld, by next spring 30 of
the Army's 33 combat brigades will either
be in Iraq or on their way home from Iraq.
Some of them will come home from Iraq
and head almost immediately to Afghanistan
or Bosnia or South Korea or the Sinai Desert.[...]
- You can neglect its training and education.
With an operations tempo this high, there's
little time for units to do much more than repair
their equipment and send their soldiers home
on leave with long-neglected families before
it's time to deploy again.
[...] The Army began to break in Vietnam when
the senior NCO's, the grizzled old sergeants
who'd seen combat in World War II and Korea
and survived one or two tours in Vietnam, were
ordered back yet again and chose to retire
instead. Or went back and were killed. In their
place came 90-day wonders - young draftees
selected straight out of basic training, run through
a short course and shipped to Vietnam to be buck
sergeant squad leaders.
- You can politicize the Army promotion system for
three- and four-star generals.
Rumsfeld and his civilian aides such as Paul
Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith and his military
handmaidens have intruded deeply and harmfully
into the way the services promote their leaders.
[...] You can decide that you've discovered a
newer, cheaper way of fighting and winning
America's wars.
Rumsfeld and company have embraced, on
the basis of a fleeting success in Afghanistan
and a flawed success in Iraq, a theory that all
that's needed to win our wars is air power and
small bands of Special Operations troops.
Stealth bombers and snake-eaters.
On the strength of this, they've refused all pleas
for an urgently needed increase in the strength
of an Army that has been whittled down to pre-
World War II levels of 485,000 soldiers.
[...]Because reinforcement would be an admission
that Rumsfeld and company were wrong in their
belief that war would end quickly, their hand-picked
Iraqi exiles would take over and the soldiers
would come home in a few months.
Another defense secretary who could not admit
he'd erred was Robert Strange McNamara, who,
like Rumsfeld, was recruited from corporate
America. By the time he did, it was too late.
This editorial was in our local paper today, where the front page story was that thousands more Oregonian National Guard and Reserves were about to be called up. (for some reason the website isn't showing the article, but here's a version from other local news).
And yet, yesterday Tom DeLay, in a speech to the Heritage Society, continued the same old rightist haranguing that the people who are questioning whether there is any logical plan to what's happening, or exactly what the $87 billion is going to be used for, or how much more over that will be needed, are dividing the country, using hate language, are "blaming America first," and all the other flaming rhetoric right out of Ann Coulter's mouth.
The truth needs to continue to be spoken. The neocons in the government are ignoring even veterans who are calling for a hard look at what is happening. This train needs to be stopped before it's out of control and runs over everyone in its path.
( 8:25 AM )
Bus Stop Conversation
(the following is totally true and happened this morning)
Man with yellow shirt and black tie who is having trouble lighting his cigarette, sees the campaign buttons on my backpack: "'Give 'em Hell Howard' - Who's Howard?"
Me: "Howard Dean, he's running for president."
Man: "So you're not going to vote for Bush then?"
Me: "Nope, no way."
Man: "Isn't Howard Dean that guy that broke into the Watergate?"
Me: "Uh no. You might be thinking of John Dean...but he didn't actually break into the Watergate, he just worked for Nixon."
Man: "Oh, right, that guy was Cuban. But he also helped kill Kennedy, right?"
Me: "Oh look! There's the bus!"
UPDATE: After relaying this story to my workmates, just discovered that: my friend's sister's ex-husband's stepmother's first husband was John Erlichman (verified by email today). Twilight zone, dude.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
( 4:33 PM )
wOOOPS, there it ain't...
The Beeb is reporting that the infamous Kay Report will reveal that indeed there were no WMDs in Iraq to speak of. And even the "programs" were barely there. In fact, it looks like Sadam employed a mass weapon of deception on the US by playing games in his own little way. Shocking really.
No weapons of mass destruction have been
found in Iraq by the group looking for them,
according to a Bush administration source who
has spoken to the BBC.
This will be the conclusion of the Iraq Survey
Group's interim report, the source told the
presenter of BBC television's Daily Politics
show, Andrew Neil.
Downing Street branded the story
"speculation about an unfinished draft of
an interim report".
"And moreover," said the President's spokesperson in response to this revealing news, "it's an interim report from a subsequently unsubstantiated incomplete rendering of unconfirmed factoids that may or may not have been relevant at the time they were inconsequentially revealed. So there." Or something like that.
Where will he move the goalposts now?
( 4:13 PM )
Do You Want the Bad News First?
Or the good? (Maru strikes again.)
( 4:07 PM )
Callback
From Maru today:
A federal judge, Lee R. West, has ruled that the
Federal Trade Commission overstepped its
authority in creating a national do-not-call list
against telemarketers.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by
telemarketers who challenged the list, comprised
of names of people who do not want to receive
business solicitation calls. The immediate impact
of Tuesday's ruling was not clear.
The list was to go into effect Oct. 1. ...
The name again is U.S. District Judge Lee R. West,
Oklahoma, in case anyone would like to give him
a call. Around dinnertime.
Ring. Ring.
( 11:50 AM )
Oh, I Get It Now!
An article in The Hill this morning (thanks to Atrios for the link) discusses a new bill (not really new, just a conglomeration of all the stagnated bills) offered by GOPers that supposedly will "create jobs." One of the ways they are planning to "create jobs" of course is by drilling in ANWR. But that's another post. There is another side to the argument though. No matter how much they posture about wanting to create jobs and help the economy, it may very well be that Bush and his cronies don't really care all that much either way. Even though it's an election year. Puzzled?
I was too, until I read our newly arrived October edition of The Progressive this morning on the bus. On recommendation of my husband, I turned first to the article by James Galbraith (it's not online yet). It's called "Why Bush LIKES a Bad Economy." The first couple of pages were a rehash of how truly stagnant our economy is and how really ugly the job market is going to continue to be. But then he started discussing that while Bush and his administration did not cause things like the dot.com bubble burst and stock decline, he has done nothing practical to help the economy, especially jobs. And then I hit gold:
It may be that the economic stagnation is to their taste.
They don't want a new recession, obviously, and they
look set to avoid that. But do they really want full
employment and strong labor unions and rising wages?
Probably not. The oil, mining, defense, media, and
pharmaceutical firms who form the core of their constituency
rely on monopoly power, patents, and the control of
public resources for their profits. They do not depend,
very much, on strong consumer demand.
[...] Stagnation, moreover, helps to justify more tax cuts.
... As things are going, quite soon, taxes will fall mainly
on real estate, payrolls, and consumption. This is to say
that taxes will be paid mostly by the middle class, by the
working class and by the poor. That is what the
Administration wants, and what - if not defeated - it
is exceedingly likely to get.
[...] Finally, stagnation and the Bush tax policy
promote rightwing plans to cut and privatize essential
services, including health, education, and pensions.
So the reason they appear cool as cucumbers with the election coming is because they are. They really don't care much about votes at this point - they have their constituency well in hand. Even to the point of loud and boisterous support from the head of Diebold, the company that has the contract to make all the new voting machines.
And the fix is in for whoever comes along next:
In the face of this reality, full economic recovery
is going to be hard, even if a Democrat wins the
next election. It cannot be done, certainly, by a
return to policies of the Clinton era. Nor can it
be done by stimulus alone - a simple matter of
spending more and finding the right taxes to cut.
We will need to rewrite - once again - the tax code.
We will need a revenue-sharing program to stabilize
the staes and cities. We will need to reestablish
the rule of law in the corporate world. We will need
to help labor reset minimum fair standards. We will
need a new energy and environmental strategy
consistent with geophysical realities and the dangers
of, among other things, climate change, and
including, as we just learned, a public initiative to
re-regulate power and rebuild the electricity grid....
If it's this bad already, what will another four years with them in power do to us? It's bad enough that the mainstream press refuses to report the truth about what this administration is doing. It's not likely to change anytime soon. I may sound like a banging drum sometimes, but this is why we need a campaign like this one to succeed this year. We have to prove that it can work to bring in a popularly elected president on the time and money of the citizens of this country, and not in the hands of corporate sponsors. If we fail to succeed at this extraordinary effort this year, I fear it will be a very, very, very long time until we can try again.
( 10:02 AM )
Peaking Too Soon
Doubters Beware.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
( 10:17 AM )
II. Bottomless Well of Ineptitude
I can't ignore the interview either. It's absurd to me that this man was even allowed to candidate, much less get the presidency, unless you figure in that he is some sort of puppet. His interview with Fox last night sheds some uncomfortable light on our Leader. He insists that he doesn't need to read the news or get any objective sources of information:
"... the best way to get the news is from objective
sources, and the most objective sources I have
are people on my staff who tell me what's happening
in the world."
Billmon clarifies:
Emperor: Is my new suit not lovely?
Courtier: Yes, my Lord, and the people think so, too!
Not only should this be a "DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!" alarm to citizens of this country, it should be a wake up call to Congressional leaders as well. This president exclusively gets his information and advice from a cabal of people who have proven that they have agendas that supercede the health and welfare of this country. This is not just a matter of aloofness or uninvolvement. This is a president who does not even bother to notice what is being said around the country and the world, except as it is filtered through his yes-men? No wonder he keeps regurgitating the same old lines and excuses as if he is totally unaware we're all on to him! He has no idea we've cracked the code!
So now the question is - is he aware that he's sinking fast and his presidency is holding on by tenterhooks...or will he remain completely unaware just a little longer so that when he is swept out of office on a tide of disapproval that overcomes his faithful servants' attempts to sabotage the election, he will look around, and in a shocked voice with a furrowed brow say, "hey, how did that happen?"
( 9:32 AM )
I. Bottomless Well of Shamelessness
It's like our government knows no shame. There is no concept so foreign to them as compromise or conflict resolution or dialogue or flexibility. There is no sense of shame. I'm not talking about the really bad kind of shame (which they should also feel), but the decent kind of shame - the sort of character trait that marks good leadership: the ability to know when you are out of line and the desire to maintain a sense of decency and dignity in all your conduct. This idea is anethema to this administration. And likewise to the pundits and foot soldiers that do its bidding. Thus, this nation further isolates itself from the rest of the world - and not out of self-defense or self-preservation, but out of imperialstic pride, ego and unwillingness to participate in a coalition of nations whose first goal is the benefit of human life on earth. Shameful.
I listened to the first speeches of the General Assembly of the United Nations this morning on my busride into work. I found that I was encouraged and even inspired by the words of Secretary General Kofi Annan. His speech really dignified the world body and its purpose and while criticizing unilateralism that has threatened world community (that's us, if you didn't catch the implication), he challenged the UN to turn a new corner into a broader recognition of its role in the world and a more urgent deadline for aiding humanity and politically protecting vulnerable people and countries from the ravages of war and violence...the original purpose of the UN. He suggested that a reform of the Security Council was in order too - a not so sly remark on the imbalance of power that now rests there.
President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ("Lula"), spoke next. His speech was also rousing and he emphasized the most pressing issue of the world - and one, that I daresay, might indeed limit terrorism's reign on earth if it were properly addressed: hunger. It is "absurd," he said, that there should be hungry and dying people on earth in the 21st century. There has to be a fairness, an equality amongst the nations of the world. If all the technology and science available today is only used to gain riches and power, then what good is it? This is also a point of shame for the U.S. Why we, the richest nation on earth, which uses more resources than any other, despite our small population, are not able to share technology and science for the benefit of poor nations instead of to take advantage of them is a question that must be answered by this generation. If we wait much longer, it will be even harder for this country to sustain any sense of reliability or respect amongst the nations of the world.
Finally, our own President addressed the Assembly. I've already commented on the lack of shame. Kos has a good rundown of the speech. There's not much more any of us can say that hasn't already been said. Despite the country's and the world's recognition of the lies and misleading, Bush still chose to repeat the same old stupid reasonings for his war - he refused to acknowledge that more diplomacy should have been sought by the US and he as much as suggested that the countries of the world should just forget all that we did and now step in line.
This seems to be the prevailing theme of this administration: Get Over It. They try to say that regarding the stolen election in 2000. They are trying to use this with the world regarding Iraq. Perhaps they should try it with the economy next: "Hey, all you jobless freaks - we gave you a tax cut, get over it!"
Yep, this is all gonna work out just fine.
UPDATE: Tom Burka, Humor King of the Blogosphere, best summarizes the entire attitude:
"I do think it would be helpful to get the
United Nations in to help write a constitution.
I mean, they're good at that," Bush told Fox
News in a taped interview over the weekend.
"And maybe they can mop."
( 8:29 AM )
Shorter Interview
Neal Pollack has the total coverage of Fox's interview with Bush last night - in case you were dying to know what was said. This is all you need.
Monday, September 22, 2003
( 10:25 AM )
Much Ado About ...
There was a huge deal made this weekend about the latest Newsweek poll which showed Clark in the lead amongst Dem voters. However, what the reports failed to discuss were the changes from the last poll, which are more indicative about what's happening than anything else. The July results are in parenthesis:
Clark 14 (*)
Dean 12 (12)
Lieberman 12 (13)
Kerry 10 (10)
Gephardt 8 (14)
Sharpton 7 (6)
Edwards 6 (6)
Graham 4 (7)
Braun 2 (3)
Kucinich 2 (2)
Undecided 19 (23)
Clark seems to have taken a few of the undecides, but has taken none of Dean's or Kerry's bases. The poll also has a +/- of 3, making the three top numbers virtually equal. This poll also shows Lieberman still ahead of Kerry and Gephardt, which doesn't reflect the responses of the democratic base in more narrow polls or at the forum/debates.
The main point of the poll may have not been about the dems, but rather about Bush:
For the first time in a year, Bush’s approval for
his handling of the situation in Iraq has dropped
below 50 percent to 46 percent, a 5-point drop
from last week. Fifty-six percent of Americans say
they think the amount of money being spent in
Iraq is too high. And 57 percent of Americans now
disapprove of how Bush is handling the economy,
an increase of 6 points from only one week ago.
Considering that most voting Dems have committed to getting Bush out of office no matter who the Dem candidate turns out to be, this does not bode well for the GOP. Further, it looks like the White House and its foot soldiers are getting nervous. The entire weekend was plastered with news about a possible Hillary entrance again, this time with the added spice of Bill Clinton making some statement about how New Yorkers would forgive her for going back on her promise to stay in the Senate. This is the Hillary Red Herring again. It seems like the press, no matter who is ahead for the Dems, is unhappy because none of them create the scandalous ratings the media loves so much, so they continue to drag out the Hillary non-story every few weeks. (Besides the fact that Fox knows its viewers just froth at the mouth at the sound of her name).
They report on Dean only because they have to...but they try to ignore him because he's running an unprecedented campaign and the press doesn't know what to do with it. The press doesn't know how to handle a candidate that treats voters like they have brains and trusts them to use those brains on their own. It's easier for the press to deal with a president who considers us all to be nincompoops and treats us that way. And we are nincompoops if we let him get away with it. And the press continues to prove its nincompoop-ness.
An article in the Washington Post today proves the point:
Political strategists say that what began in
January as a quirky, long-shot Internet
strategy to attract online supporters to the
dark-horse candidate could revolutionize
presidential politics by minimizing the importance
of television media and empowering grass-roots
organizers.
For the first time, there is a candidate whose campaign is made up of thousands of new activists, people who have never mobilized before, and voters who are actually excited and feel they can make a difference (the campaign, in a bid to raise $5 million in ten days has already raised 1/2 a million in the first day from over 5,000 people.) What I would most hate is not if Dean doesn't get the candidacy, but if this kind of campaign is not successful - it's this campaign that is important to the American people. It's our comeback, our way of taking the steering wheel back from the corporate interests that have so completely taken over our laws, our leaders and the way we live. It's personal now. We have to prove that We The People are the power in this country - and this campaign is our vehicle to do that.
( 9:04 AM )
More Cover Up
Thanks to DKos for this item. The Census Bureau's report on poverty and household incomes is going to be released on Friday this year. Usually the report is released on a Monday or Tuesday, but it looks like it may be a pretty bad report so the administration is hoping it gets swallowed in the black hole of weekend news. As Kos notes, last year's report was horrible, so this may mean we're in for more bad news:
Last year's reports showed that median
household income in 2001 registered the
first significant decline since 1991 and the
percentage of Americans living in poverty
rose from 11.3% to 11.7%, the first
increase in five years.
"An Owie to One
is an Owie to All"
- as modeled by
Mama's Little Activist
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"If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine."
--Che Guevara
"Democracy is not a state in which people act like sheep." - Gandhi
"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."
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