inching closer to fascism every day

from TIME:

 

The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations. But for this week's meeting in Guatemala City, politics has barged onto the agenda. At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for the meeting, sources tell TIME, have been bumped by the White House because they supported John Kerry's 2004 campaign.

The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom industry who had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally given a slot, say past participants. Only after the start of Bush's second term did a political litmus test emerge, industry sources say.

The White House admits as much: "We wanted people who would represent the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like those who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent Duffy. Those barred from the trip include employees of Qualcomm and Nokia, two of the largest telecom firms operating in the U.S., as well as Ibiquity, a digital-radio-technology company in Columbia, Md. One nixed participant, who has been to many of these telecom meetings and who wants to remain anonymous, gave just $250 to the Democratic Party. Says Nokia vice president Bill Plummer: "We do not view sending experts to international meetings on telecom issues to be a partisan matter. We would welcome clarification from the White House."

 

Letter Of The Day

George W. Bush's approval rating in Iowa is at an all-time low of 42 percent ("Bush's Ratings in Iowa Reach New Low," April 17). What changed? The Bush administration's policies are the same as his first term. I'm proud to say I voted for John Kerry.

-John R. Stone,
Mason City.

attribution

journalism ON/OFF button

if you dont think rove has his greasy lil' fingers on the 'OFF' button for the media, then explain why we never heard anything more about schiavo after she passed.

 

it was never really about her.

 

it was about seeing how far the right can push America.

 

and it was evident, not very far.  so what does the lapdog media do?  they switch on the crises like lights in a banquet hall.  not working?  no problem, just turn the story off and nobody will make a fuss about it.

 

what a sad bunch of wannabe-journalists we have in this country.

the assault on judges has begun

and i wonder how many people really see what is going on.  this is bad.  very very bad.  as you can read in the new york times

 

and i think the enormity of this action will not be apparent until after it has had time to sink in.

A new federal policy will make it significantly more difficult for Medicare beneficiaries to obtain hearings in person before a judge when the government denies their claims for home care, nursing home services, prescription drugs and other treatments.

and then i see that our own senator is involved, but on the right, er excuse me, correct... side.

Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Finance Committee, and Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the senior Democrat on the panel, said four hearing offices were not enough.

Mr. Grassley and Mr. Baucus were among the principal authors of the 2003 Medicare law. The law, they noted, says Medicare judges are to be distributed "throughout the United States."

Under the new arrangement, hearings for Medicare beneficiaries in New York, New Jersey and all of New England will normally be held by judges in Cleveland. Hearings for people in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska will be held by judges in Southern California.

Judith A. Stein, director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, which has represented thousands of people in hearings since 1986, said: "The videoconferences are one of many changes that will reduce the beneficiaries' ability to get fair, favorable decisions. Sick, old and disabled people can be much more effective in person because the judge can see their illnesses and infirmities - how they walk, how they get up from a chair, how their hands shake with tremors."

The government is still working out details and lining up sites with the necessary videoconference links. Nancy A. Thompson, director of the transition team at the department, refused to answer questions about the new hearing and appeal procedures or the logistical arrangements.

Ronald T. Osborn of Charlotte, N.C., who has been an administrative law judge since 1974 and has specialized in Medicare cases since 1996, said he had no interest in moving to the Department of Health and Human Services.

"Under the department's procedural rules," Mr. Osborn said, "judges will have less freedom to handle individual cases as they see fit."

this is how the assault begins.  in the fine print.  in this case, in the department which low-income people depend on.

 

i'm posting from firefox for linux. installed fedora on the spare.
gonna try and install some packages for blogging. there were a few i wanted to try on krak but joe was going to overhaul krak, then maybe give me cgi privs.

oh well. i'm actually quite tired, and too tired to be doing any of this right now. but suffice it to say that i kinda like the *x world.

understatmenet of the day

Revenues in the print publishing unit—i.e., the Journal—fell 8.8 percent from the year-ago quarter. Advertising linage at the U.S. Wall Street Journal was down 9.9 percent in March alone. Worse, "Print publishing had an operating loss of $7.1 million in the first quarter." In other words, the daily diary of the American dream, the paper designed to help you make money, is probably losing money. And as the flagship drifts on, the captain who guided it into becalmed seas remains firmly entrenched at the bridge.

attribution

the well DUH post of the day

With President Bush telling the Senate to "put politics aside and confirm John Bolton," the NYT and WP both front Colin Powell chatting with some fence-sitting Republican senators and giving a less-than-rosy assessment of Bolton. The chatter was confirmed by a spokesman for Powell. He didn't explicitly call for Bolton's defeat, but Powell didn't have to, purportedly saying Bolton "had problems" with people who disagreed with him.

 

from slate's today's papers

 

bolton has problems with those who disagree with him huh.

what KIND of problems are they?

 

but nontheless, isn't it just like bush to put patsie yes-men (and in the case of condi, yes-women) into positions of power?  that's what dictators DO for chrissake.

see? slate is independent

Slate writers have come out in support of the filibuster and against it.

got lemons? try making lemonade

like this little girl did.

When I was a young girl living on the south side, I could lie in bed listening to the train horns blowing their warnings in the night. I'd pretend that I lived on the ocean and the sounds were ships traveling on a foggy night to faraway places. Maybe the people living down by the river should pretend they own oceanfront property. It worked for me.
-Janet Boggs,
Des Moines.

 

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now THAT's putting it into perspective

a perspective that every man in American should hear:

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to eliminate the federal estate tax - a $290 billion tax break for the richest 1 percent of Americans. The true cost of the tax break over 10 years will be $745 billion.

At the same time as members of Congress voted for the huge tax break for the very rich, they're talking about slashing food stamps and Medicaid.

Kudos to Congressman Jim Leach for opposing this giveaway. Shame on Congressmen Jim Nussle, Tom Latham, Steve King and Leonard Boswell for supporting it.
-Mark L. Smith,
Des Moines.

attribution

ya, i know, a lot of letters in the des moines register were indeed worth repeating.

democrat of republican?

is the letter writer a democrat ... or republican?

 

Now that the judicial system has approved the execution of handicapped individuals, the medical community will have to devise a more humane method than starvation and dehydration, which are too emotionally draining for most observers.

The Schiavo spectacle was so heinous that courts may be willing to accept a simple lethal injection or pill to accomplish the same result.

We can expect that "assisted suicide," like unlimited abortion, will soon be im-posed on all 50 states. Consider how much money can be saved by emptying out the nursing homes and handicapped facilities. It might be the way to save Social Security.
-Ruth Naberhaus,
Scranton.

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understatement of the day

Renewable sources could play a major role in energy self-sufficiency by 2020, while solving our greenhouse-gas emissions problem and the balance-of-payments crisis and providing job creation and energy security. If terrorists hatched a plan to undermine the United States by making it wholly dependent on foreign countries for energy and capital, they would be hunted and destroyed. But we have done it to ourselves.

attribution

WAL-MART Watch

an interesting bit in today's register about wal-mart wanting and obviously getting, a sneaky attempt to skirt the open-meetings law in iowa.  disgusting. and probably nobody had any idea that shit was happening like it is.  which raises two questions:  are the des moines city council members that stupid and ignorant? and why does wal-mart want to do business in secret?

This was not just a routine meeting to discuss a mundane topic, such as parking requirements or sign restrictions. The issue is whether West Des Moines will forbid Wal-Mart from operating its planned Jordan Creek store 24 hours a day. It has divided the council, raised a ruckus with residents near the shopping center and led the Arkansas retail giant to hint about a lawsuit.

West Des Moines officials at least initially had the right idea in proposing the meeting be open to the public. But they backed down when Wal-Mart representatives canceled the meeting and insisted on meeting with council members individually.

Rather than politely decline, council members Loretta Sieman, Bob Parks and Jim Sandager took turns meeting with the visitors. Which raises the obvious question: What did the company have to say in private that it couldn't say in a public meeting?

des moines register

watch out rickie, we're on to you ....

santorum may be in for a ride....  one that will make him wish he had fastened his seatbelts.

 

 A conservative Republican senator who proposed that federal meteorologists be forbidden from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and the Weather Channel, has received nearly $4,000 from AccuWeather's founder and executive vice president since 2000, RAW STORY has discovered.

 

attribution

 

 

i did NOT have .... what was it defined as again?

like it really mattered....

 

 Republican Congressman Henry Hyde made some surprising comments Thursday on the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton. He now says Republicans may have gone after Clinton to retaliate for the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Hyde is stepping down after this term.

attribution

 

*giggle*

Nelson Galloway, fellow poopyhead

i got a call today.

 

from an old old OLD friend, nelson galloway.

the stories i could tell about him are endless, as is this blog of poopy.

however, i will be succinct and suffice it to say it was just the thing i needed today.... so thanks nelson.  i'll email you soon.

 

but for those of you who are just dying to hear the stories, stay tuned.  i'm gonna go get some help and i'll be back with a good post about PITTSBURGH P.A.

what does a bushite sound like when they dont get their way?

waaaahhhhhh

waaaaahhhhhhhh

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush on Thursday urged the Senate to confirm John R. Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as a key Republican senator signaled he is leaning against the nominee accused of mistreating co-workers.

Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., said he is troubled by Bolton's behavior and wants to discuss it with other Republican senators.

nytimes

Quote of the Day

 ``I am sick and tired of a bunch of people trying to tell me that God wants a bunch of conservative judges on the court and that's why we have to change the rules of the United States Senate,'' (John) Kerry (to a group of Bay State residents who traveled to Capitol Hill for U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan's annual legislative seminar)

attribution

i couldn't have said it any better...

WaPo puts this one out of the ballpark,  trying to prove that there are still some in journalism who still have respect for the craft:

Inflation and interest rates are rising, stock values have plunged, a tank of gas induces sticker shock, and for nearly a year, wages have failed to keep up with the cost of living.

Yet in Washington, the political class has been consumed with the death of a brain-damaged woman in Florida, the ethics of the House majority leader, and the fate of the Senate filibuster.

again, at WaPo

amazing that the word DUH doesn't appear in the article.

and then there were ...

one less, it seems.

 

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a leading advocate of the “nuclear option” to end the Democrats’ filibuster of judicial nominees, is privately arguing for a delay in the face of adverse internal party polls.

Details of the polling numbers remain under wraps, but Santorum and other Senate sources concede that, while a majority of Americans oppose the filibuster, the figures show that most also accept the Democratic message that Republicans are trying to destroy the tradition of debate in the Senate.

The Republicans are keeping the “nuclear” poll numbers secret, whereas they have often in the past been keen to release internal survey results that favor the party. David Winston, head of the Winston Group, which conducts Senate GOP polls, did return phone calls seeking comment.

Confirming public disquiet over the “nuclear” or “constitutional” option, Santorum said, “Our polling shows that.” But, he added, public thinking had been muddied by what he called false Democratic arguments that checks and balances were being eroded.

“People see checks and balances as Democrats checking Republicans, not the legislative checking the executive or the judiciary checking the legislative,” Santorum said. Filibustering presidential nominees was not something the Founding Fathers envisioned as a tool for balancing power between the branches, he argued. In other words, Democrats have managed to convince the public of their right to check Republicans in the Senate.

Santorum’s raising of reasons that Republicans should delay the constitutional option may surprise conservative activists who count him as one of the most passionate advocates for the tactic in the Senate.

“There is no doubt that Santorum was the backbone of this from the very beginning, and he continues to be,” said Manuel Miranda, head of the National Coalition to End Judicial Filibusters, an alliance of more than 200 conservative groups working on the judges issue.

thehill.com

DeLayWatch

has it been registered yet?

 

House Republicans yesterday offered to open an investigation into overseas travel and other activities by Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), as part of an effort to resolve a three-month impasse with the Democrats that has kept the ethics committee from functioning.

 

With questions mounting about DeLay's past dealings with lobbyists, ethics committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said he would name Rep. Melissa Hart (R-Pa.), a lawyer who sits on the committee, to head a subcommittee to "review various allegations concerning travel and other actions by Mr. DeLay." Hastings said it would be up to Hart's panel to decide whether to bring in an outside counsel.
 
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said he would welcome a "fair process that will afford me the opportunity to get the facts out." (Melina Mara -- The Washington Post) 
 
But Democrats said the concessions outlined by Hastings did not address their chief objections to rule changes that the Republicans pushed through in January, most notably a new provision that would cause a complaint to be dismissed -- rather than lingering in limbo -- if the chairman and ranking minority party member cannot agree on whether to take up the case.

WaPo

this should be bringing down the republicons

if any issue was able to do it, this should be it.  what an miserable failure.

 

NEW YORK — Tom Burke recently tried to print out a boarding pass from home before one of the frequent flights he takes.

He couldn't. When the San Francisco lawyer got to the airport, he was told the reason: His name, or one similar to it, is now on one of the Transportation Security Administration's terrorist watch lists.

"There was a certain irony to it," says Mr. Burke, a First Amendment expert who is suing the federal government on behalf of others who have found themselves on either the TSA's "no-fly" or "selectee" list.

Almost 3-1/2 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a year and a half after Congress ordered law-enforcement agencies to consolidate and coordinate its terrorist screening processes, the status of the watch lists remains uncertain and is a cause of frustration for thousands of travelers as well as the nation's airlines.

Every day, thousands of people like Burke find themselves unable to do things like print a boarding pass and are pulled aside for extensive screening because their name, or a name that sounds like theirs, is on one of the watch lists. Even well-known lawmakers, like Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts, have found themselves caught in the screening dragnet.

usatoday

brownback is a yellowback

anyone who is afraid of gays is a fish, just waiting to be baited.

A leading Senate Republican warned Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) yesterday that a move to recognize gay marriages in the nation's capital would trigger a sharp backlash from Congress, and the mayor acknowledged that the District could jeopardize its budget agenda and domestic partner benefits if it mishandles the issue.

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (R), the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the District, said he wanted to hear more from Williams but opposed a statement by the city's attorney general that "validly married same-sex couples" may file joint D.C. tax returns.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

I am extremely disappointed that all five of our congressmen followed U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in voting for the bankruptcy bill.

The legislation was opposed by a large number of law professors and bankruptcy judges. Credible studies demonstrate that a majority of bankruptcies result from divorce, death in the family, sudden medical crises and/or job loss.

This bill does nothing to close asset-protection trusts that allow the wealthy to retain their fortunes when filing bankruptcy.

It also does nothing to curb predatory lending practices or make corporations such as Enron more responsible to shareholders. This means the majority of Iowa's elected representatives voted to penalize middle- and working-class families for occurrences beyond their control while supporting corrupt corporations and a double standard for irresponsible wealth.

One can only hope that the next election brings opponents smart enough to cite our current representatives' allegiance to corporate lobbies at the expense of their working- and middle-class constituents.
-Ben Saddoris,
Osceola.

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social security minus the security

a ltte in the globe today from an 18 year old, speaks like it was written by rush limbaugh.  replete with stats that no 18 year old would know by him/herself.

 

but it took that letter to see and understand what the bushite people are doing. 

 

there's no question social security needs tweaking.  it's been tweaked many times in the past, and was built to be tweaked in the future.

 

however, the bushite people are screaming that the 'only way' to tweak it 'this time' is to move to privatize the system, and dump an unearthly sum into the stock market.

Joke of the Day

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin had too much personal power and that Washington was closely watching the trial of oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

attribution

this had better be the straw the breaks the camel's back

 

Washington -- The growing price tag of tax breaks to oil, gas, nuclear, coal and other energy producers in a new House energy bill is raising concerns among White House officials and some conservatives, who say the costly subsidies aren't needed at a time of sky-high energy prices.

Republican leaders had promised a slimmer version of the energy bill the House has passed the last few years to avoid worsening the federal deficit. But a new analysis by a watchdog group showed that lawmakers added $35 billion in the last three weeks since the bill was introduced -- a total of $88.9 billion in subsidies to industry over 10 years in the bill.

attribution

WOO HOOO

(CT) Governor Rell has signed a bill that recognizes same-sex civil unions in the state.

This comes after the Senate quickly passed the revised bill which added a definition of marriage.

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3235885

Letter Of The Day, Part II

seems there's another winner in the register today:

Tax junk food

Raising the tobacco tax for health reasons? Why not increase the tax on beer, junk food, spectator sports and the couch-potato-producing media for health reasons, too?
-Charles Tweed,
North Liberty.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

you're lucky.  today, we have TWO!

 

 

Arrogant GOP creating a new silent majority

The Senate Republican leadership in Washington, D.C., wants to abolish the right of senators to filibuster to block judicial nominations. Just one more example of the extremism and arrogance of the current leadership of the Republican Party.

I used to consider myself a Republican, but that was in the days of former Iowa Gov. Bob Ray. Would Ray even be welcome in the national leadership of the party today with its win-at-all-costs, destroy-all-our-enemies mentality?

What with the debacle of congressional interference in the Terri Schiavo case sending leading Republicans into retreat mode, the failure of President Bush to "sell" his Social Security proposal with the public and now the unpopular Senate proposal to silence the minority in judicial nominations, one wonders whether a new "silent majority" is developing. One increasingly uncomfortable with the extremism and arrogance of today's Republican Party.
-Kim Jones,
Des Moines.

***

Republicans are going for the ultimate power grab by trying to silence the voice of Democrats in the U.S. Senate. They want to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster, which has protected the voice of the minority for more than 200 years.

This abuse of power would eliminate debate and dissent in Congress, giving President Bush a blank check to push the most radical agenda and extreme judges. It would put our most fundamental values at risk by eliminating the checks and balances that keep democracy strong.

I urge our senators to stand up and protect our democracy by opposing the GOP power grab.
-Louise S. Treangen,
Ankeny.

both from the des moines register

what did adolf do?

i'm sure he had his way of coming up with the dubious means to torture his victims.....  we now see how the bush administration did their research.

Army intelligence officials in Iraq developed and circulated "wish lists" of harsh interrogation techniques they hoped to use on detainees in August 2003, including tactics such as low-voltage electrocution, blows with phone books and using dogs and snakes -- suggestions that some soldiers believed spawned abuse and illegal interrogations.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Grocers do not like redeeming empty beverage containers because, they say, the grocery business and the container-redemption business are inherently incompatible for sanitary reasons.

Iowa lawmakers want to address their concerns by giving them 2 cents per container instead of 1 cent.

How is 2 cents a bottle any more sanitary than 1 cent a bottle?

What's really going on?
-Rick Olson,
Indianola.

attribution

the well DUH post of the day

The buck stops elsewhere … President Bush on the new White House-approved policy that will require U.S., Canadian, and Mexican citizens to show passports even for quick cross-border trips: "When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports," he told some editors last week, "I said, 'What's going on here?' "

from slate's today's papers

runners up for Letter of the Day

Looking good where it counts

It's time to add the section "Personal Appearance" to my resume. The April 8 article, " It Pays to be Good-Looking, Fed Analysis Shows," states that my chances of a pay raise increase if I am above-average looking.

My worth as an employee should not rest on whether I am "tall, slender and attractive." As I work at my job, it is my education that gets the job done, not my mascara.

-Hannah Hacker,
Des Moines.

What really needs fixing

Richard Doak is correct in his April 5 column, "Let's Fix Something That Actually Needs It." Health care in this country is in a terrible crisis, and it must be dealt with. But the president ignores it and travels the country to frighten you into believing that we have an emergency with Social Security.

The truth is Social Security needs to be tweaked. We have adjusted it in the past, and we will have to adjust it again. Taking money out of the trust fund to set up private accounts will cause an emergency with Social Security funding levels.

How to fix it? Remove the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes - currently at $90,000. Let those who earn millions per year pay on all their income. They can painlessly afford it and the system will be solvent for decades.

Social Security is not a retirement investment fund, and it never was. It is insurance against abject poverty for our elderly, widows, orphans and disabled.

-JoAnn Hardy,
Mason City.

Who won?

In the last presidential election, Republicans said if voters elected John Kerry gasoline prices would go up. Did Kerry win?

-D. A. Benda,
Toledo.

atribution

letter of the day

Why is it, in a time when crude oil is selling at more than $50 a barrel, our government is encouraging the purchase of gas guzzling SUVs, Hummers, etc., with tax incentives, capital-equipment deductions and minimum tax breaks of $25,000, while the measly (in comparison) $2,000 tax incentive for hybrids is going away next year?

Bad tax breaks are a fiscal waste and send the wrong message. Correcting the current loophole and investing instead in bringing more advanced, economical and environmentally friendly vehicles to market would be far wiser.

-Pat Bowen,
Winterset.

atribution

iowa legislature, a funny klan

couldn't let this one slip by without notice.  an editorial in the local paper, about the legislature voting themselves a raise:

It's also been several years since lawmakers raised Iowa's minimum wage, thanks to Republicans who refuse to debate the issue and Democrats who do little more than talk about the idea every two years.

But Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson argues that's an unfair comparison.

"The minimum wage really isn't a huge issue because I don't know anybody working for that," he said.

Well, some introductions apparently are in order, senator.

According to the non-partisan Economic Policy Institute, 74,000 Iowa workers earn between $5.15, the minimum wage, and $6.65, the threshold reached if lawmakers ever raise the wage floor by $1.50. Most of those workers are adults and 59 percent are women. Many bring home a large chunk of their family's income.

But Iverson's right. There really is no comparison between a raise for 74,000 people toiling for economic table scraps and a pay hike for 150 part-time politicians who struggle to decide which interest group will feed them free food today.

attribution

it's my adoption anniversary. 47 years ago.

my, how time flies when yer havin fun.

divide and conquer... if dean is really a leader, he would take advantage of this.

NEW YORK -- Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a man known for frank talk, offered a blunt description of the state of his party, which broke camp here Friday after nominating President Bush for a second term. "The Republican Party," he said, "has come loose of its moorings."

WaPo

60 minutes tonite - teen parties in KS

cbs 60 minutes... on the teen drinking and parents.  the hypocritical producers are highlighted, somewhat.

 

oh this prosecutor is comparing it with sex.

 

he asked if its ok to have kids consume

that we're saying, we give up.

 

that's probably right.

but i dunno. i support the parent supervision.

let those kids get the consequence of drinking while they're under their parents eye.

 

what better lesson can there be.

clipped segment from slate's Today's Papers

something lost amongst the republicons who are whining that they don't have it all...

Ninety-four of the 162 active judges now on the U.S. Court of Appeals were chosen by Republican presidents. On 10 of the 13 circuit courts, Republican appointees have a clear majority. And, since 1976, at least seven of the nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court have been filled by Republican appointees.

the LAT

to hell with you CBS

watching face the nation, bob schieffer is letting this bitch from the chicago tribune, explain the filibuster, and why democrats are using it.

 

the bitch is lying, and putting forth the 'we're the victims' argument that republicons are using because only 90% of the judges have been approved.

 

FUCK YOU CBS, AND FUCK YOU BOB SCHIEFFER.

Quote of the Day

this is no doubt a bush sympathizer, who listens to rush limpball and ann(thrax) coulter too much.

"The concept of three branches of government is based on the relationship between a little boy and his mother and his father, not a three-legged milk stool."

--David Rader, Urbandale.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

today's winner comes from the local paper:

On the day of this writing, the number of American dead in this administration's war has reached 1,724. With grief and anger, I implore the reader to reflect on this question: For what are they dying?

Throughout history, wars have been fought for conquest and profit. The feudal lords in the Middle Ages did not themselves participate in war any more than presidents and dictators do now.

Presidents and dictators declare the wars, and their citizens are told it is their patriotic duty to go to war and kill others sent by their rulers to do the same. It has always been this way.

The rulers declare the wars; their subjects fight them. The rulers have all to gain and nothing to lose; the people have nothing to gain and everything to lose — especially their lives.

I find cruel irony in the fact that the most bellicose members of this administration never served their country in wartime. In all of history, no war has ever been declared by the people. I long for the day when a president or dictator calls for war — and no people show up for it.

By HAROLD W. HOPP, Mason City

all i can say is .... about friggin time.

it took this long, not using a 'new process' but using an old method, only in a new way.

For more than a century, it has caused excitement and frustration in equal measure - a collection of Greek and Roman writings so vast it could redraw the map of classical civilisation. If only it was legible. Now, in a breakthrough described as the classical equivalent of finding the holy grail, Oxford University scientists have employed infra-red technology to open up the
hoard, known as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, and with it the prospect that hundreds of lost Greek comedies, tragedies and epic poems will soon be revealed.

In the past four days alone, Oxford's classicists have used it to make a series of astonishing discoveries, including writing by Sophocles, Euripides, Hesiod and other literary giants of the ancient world, lost for millennia. They even believe they are likely to find lost Christian gospels, the originals of which were written around the time of the earliest books of the New Testament.

The original papyrus documents, discovered in an ancient rubbish dump in central Egypt, are often meaningless to the naked eye - decayed, worm-eaten and blackened by the passage of time. But scientists using the new photographic technique, developed from satellite imaging, are bringing the original writing back into view. Academics have hailed it as a development which could lead to a 20 per cent increase in the number of great Greek and Roman works in existence.
Some are even predicting a "second Renaissance".

Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford, described the new works as "central texts which scholars have been speculating about for centuries".

from the independent

Last Wednesday, John posted a link to the story about, Eric Berndt, a student at NYU Law School asking Antonin Scalia if he ever sodomized his wife. Thanks to Impeach Bush for pointing us to the student's response to his critics which was posted by Wonkette.Any doubts about whether Scalia should be asked this question will be assuaged by reading his hateful, homophobic dissent in Lawrence v. Texas. And realize that under the theocracy, everyone will be asked these questions, because sodomy is going to be illegal for everyone, not just the homos.

from americablog

the "well DUH" post of the day

WASHINGTON - A top Democratic senator on Friday released formerly classified documents that he said undercut top US officials’ pre-Iraq war claims of a link between Saddam Hussein’s regime and the Al Qaeda terror network.

“These documents are additional compelling evidence that the Intelligence Community did not believe there was a cooperative relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda, despite public comments by the highest ranking officials in our government to the contrary,” said Senator Carl Levin.

The declassified documents undermine President George W. Bush’s administration claims regarding Iraq’s involvement in training Al Qaeda operatives and the likelihood of a meeting between September 11, 2001, hijacker Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in April 2001, Levin said in a statement.

In October 2002 Bush said: “We’ve learned that Iraq has trained Al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gasses.”

But a June 2002 CIA report, titled “Iraq and Al Qaeda: Interpreting a Murky Relationship,” said “the level and extent of this is assistance is not clear.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/April/theworld_April357.xml&section=theworld

 

for a good timeline of our involvement in iraq:

 

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/2003-Invasion-of-Iraq

 

 

is water wet?

 First Senator Boxer, now State Attorney General Bill Lockyer is asking for transcripts of what an oil refinery executive said about limiting supply - comments made in front of our cameras, by one of the country's biggest independent refiners. ABC7's Mark Matthews reports.

 

Bill Lockyer saw our story and now wants a transcript of what oil refinery president Hank Kuchta said to fellow refiners at last month's conference. What that refiner said conflicts with oil company explanations of high prices based on supply and demand.

 

The oil companies tell us high prices are the natural result of demand outstripping supply. This is how President George Bush described it today to a group of newspaper editors.

 

President George W. Bush: "You see, the problem is the supplies are out of balance with demand."

 

Sounds simple enough. But listen to what the president of Premcor refining told a gathering of refiners here in San Francisco.

 

Hank Kuchta, President & COO of Premcor (3/10/05): "If we go in and we start expanding like crazy before the demand gets there, that's the shoot yourself in the foot theory, and we'd all be the opposite of geniuses, you pick the word. They'd kill us, believe me."

 

Hank Kuchta is president of Premcor, an independent oil refiner with the capability of processing nearly 800,000 barrels a day. But Kuchta told his fellow refiners his company doesn't want to produce as much gasoline as it can because that might flood the market and drive down prices.

 

Here's how Kuchta said his company would handle that.

 

Kuchta (3/10/05): "We are going to make sure that we meet the demand that exists and not some theoretical demand."

 

It's a statement that caught the attention of California's attorney general.

 

Bill Lockyer, (D) California Attorney General: "This is the first time that a high executive was recommending, and no one disagreed, that they restrict supply."

 

The attorney general indicates he doesn't see clear evidence of a crime, but he wants to investigate.

 

Yesterday, California Senator Barbara Boxer called the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Premcor.

 

So far, the company won't admit that a copy of the speech even exists.

 

Mark Matthews: "What did Premcor tell you when you called and asked for a opy of the speech?"

 

Lockyer: "Well they told us they'd get back to us."

 

Premcor told us the same thing. We are still waiting for their response. As we reported yesterday, Senator Boxer is asking for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate, and today the FTC called our general manager here at ABC7 to make sure that we preserve our tapes.

ABC

Letter Of The Day

today's winner, again from the des moines register, hits the nail on the head:

 

As an unemployed victim advocate, I understand and sympathize with those non-profit projects that will either be eliminated or merged in Iowa because of state and federal budget cuts. ("Shelter Closings Limit Victims' Options," April 11.)

Once again, rural areas and those of us who live "out here" witness the importance of social issues that is reflected by our legislators and congressmen who voted for these cuts.

How high does a victim have to jump? The "hoops" get smaller and the "fences" get higher for those who struggle on a daily basis with issues of domestic violence. Now we want to make it tougher for those adults and children who are seeking any kind of assistance to protect themselves from violent perpetrators.

These shelters and projects not only provide a safe haven for victims of violence, but advocates also help and empower victims to find employment, housing, legal and medical assistance, education and, most important, self-worth.

Eliminating and merging projects and shelters also reduces the capability of receiving these necessary services in the rural areas because of lack of transportation. Many victims cannot travel the extra miles because they do not have adequate means of getting to shelter. The barrier of adequate transportation for a victim seeking assistance is of considerable importance and is often the decisive component of leaving or staying. And yet we keep asking the same old question, "Why doesn't she just leave?"

How about this for the same old question: "Why do our state and local governments pump billions of dollars into reconstructing other countries and establishing a mega-million dollar rain forest in Iowa when women and children here in Iowa and the rest of the United States suffer?
-Sandra Altman,
Coon Rapids,
former victim-services
coordinator, Partnership for
Violence Free Living.

and speaking of bills

the bankruptcy bill, in my view, shares the same undemocratic flaws as the energy bill. both show that this congress is more concerned about lining their pockets than any congress before it.

and i guess i'm not alone:

The bill, in our view, is flawed, although it is not nearly as dangerous as its critics maintain. But even its staunchest proponents should be embarrassed that it was muscled through the House in this kind of Potemkin-democracy way. This process—or, more precisely, lack of process—is becoming routine.

it's not often TP makes direct comment on the stories they report on, but this takes the cake for being so right on target, it destroys all the rings around it.

correction: my bad, TP was referring to the WaPo in its editorial about the bill. TP didn't comment, and FOP regrets the error.

th doctor of doom

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said the "style, tone" and speed with which the Republican-controlled Congress passed the bankruptcy legislation will be a hallmark of legislation in the months ahead.

 

wow, doesn't that statement show just how salivory these idiots are at the prospect of maintaining power until doomsday?