what the fuck is our pentagon putting their dirty criminal fingers in state matters??
Defense officials from Russia and the United States last week helped block a new demand for an international probe into the Uzbekistan government's shooting of hundreds of protesters last month, according to U.S. and diplomatic officials.
--WaPo
"This is going to be a case where we trade away the democracy interest for security interests, and as a result pay a price in credibility, in the Muslim world and elsewhere, in terms of our democracy policy."attribution
--Thomas Carothers, who specializes in democracy promotion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
All I read is how payday loan stores take advantage of poor people. Why pick on them? They are nothing compared to the "legal fees" charged by some banks.
I deposited money into my US Bank account after 4 p.m. on May 31. It was not credited to my account until June 1, understandable. They credited me only with depositing $100 and held the rest of my deposit until June 2. According to the bank that's legal, and that's the bank's policy.
This caused two checks to bounce even though the money was there. The bank charged me $30 for each check for a total of $60. This is not a new account. It was opened in 2001.
I could have gone to a payday loan "shark" and gotten a $300 loan for only $40. Banks shouldn't be allowed to release only $100 then bounce checks so they can benefit financially by charging ridiculous non-sufficient funds' fees "legally." When I complained to the bank I was quoted the federal regulation that allowed this type of legal fraud.
-J. L. Miller,
Des Moines.
Keith Hanson, Clear Lake, wrote, "What astonishes me most is the number of people who think ‘not guilty' and ‘innocent' are synonyms."i can't WAIT to see some redneck son of a bitch found not guilty of some crime. he'll change his tune in a heartbeat.
--attribution
no no no huney.we report
you decide.
you report
we decide
Speaking on Fox News yesterday, Dick Cheney said about Governor Dean, "Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does." Leave it to Cheney, who while on a stage called a reporter an "a—hole" and while on the floor of the U.S. Senate told a Senator to "go f—-" himself, to start talking about the Governor's mother.
Besides his trash talking, Cheney also lied about Governor Dean's record during his tirade. The same man who lied about the al Qaeda-Iraq connection being "well established" (and then lied about lying about it) said that Governor Dean "has never won anything".
In fact, leaving aside his unanimous election as DNC Chairman in February, Howard Dean has won more elections than Dick Cheney — including five terms as Governor in a state 20% larger by population than Wyoming, where Cheney was elected to the U.S. House.
And don't look for Cheney to be winning any more elections anytime soon — polls show his lame duck administration to be one of the most unpopular in history, and Democrats to be the party that shares the values (PDF) of more Americans. This administration's time is clearly up — don't expect Cheney at the top of any ticket next time around, because the American people have had enough.
The Governor, for his part, responded to the comments as such: "My view is Fox News is a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and I don't comment on Fox News."
--source
IT'S ABOUT FUCKN TIME DEMOCRATS GOT SOME ASS KICKING DONE.
"We need to get the American people to accept SS reform. If we get them into personal accounts, they will no longer be a LIABILITY to Social Security."
--source
Responding to comments by Vice President Dick Cheney on a Fox News telecast Sunday morning, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told a Chicago audience Sunday afternoon, "My view is Fox News is a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and I don't comment on Fox News." Dean's comments came at the Rainbow-PUSH coalition conference after he was strongly criticized earlier in the week by Democratic strategist David Axelrod, who said that the party was unlikely to lure Republican voters "if the chairman of the Democratic Party is out there gratuitously characterizing all Republicans in a truly nasty way."
things like this make me cringe, jus knowing that there are people in this world still so ignorant and bigoted. pathetic.
(New York City) The leader of a conservative Christian lobby group says that gays should be required to wear warning labels.
"We put warning labels on cigarette packs because we know that smoking takes one to two years off the average life span, yet we 'celebrate' a lifestyle that we know spreads every kind of sexually transmitted disease and takes at least 20 years off the average life span according to the 2005 issue of the revered scientific journal Psychological Reports," said Rev. Bill Banuchi, executive director of the New York Christian Coalition.
--source
i think the last time they tried this, it didn't turn out too well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that between 1,039,000 and 1,185,000 people in the United States were living with HIV in December 2003. The previous estimate from 2002 showed that between 850,000 and 950,000 people had the AIDS virus.NO SHIT SHERLOCK.
The challenges include overcoming a failure by the government to meet its 2005 goal of cutting in half the estimated 40,000 new HIV infections that have occurred every year since the 1990s. Then, Dr. Robert Janssen of the CDC pledged the government campaign would "break the back" of the epidemic.
CDC officials previously have said the country's HIV infection rate has been "relatively stable" and without change. As the National HIV Prevention Conference was set to begin this week, Valdiserri said no new infection data will be available until next year.
However, recent outbreaks of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases in major cities around the country offer a hint that new infections may be as high as 60,000 cases a year, rather than the government estimate of 40,000, said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an Emory University professor of medicine.
He added that the higher number is not as surprising as why the country has not been able to curb new infections. He said the CDC hasn't been given adequate resources to tackle HIV prevention and that experts have focused too much on whether it's better to promote abstinence or condom use to stop the spread of the virus.
"We're debating too much what to do and are not doing enough," he said.
"(Bush) used fear, the fear of the American people to take us into a war that was purely elective."
--General Wesley Clark
On the classic phenomenon of dehumanizing the enemy via language. Haji:
"In English, or in army usage it has the exact same meaning or connotation as 'gook' or 'charlie' or 'nigger.' it's very very prevalent in the military. only on a handful of occasions did i every hear iraqis referred to as iraqis. The rest of the time it was haji this and haji that...and all of this contributed to an atmosphere that brutalizes civilians and ultimately brutalized the prisoners that we had under our thumb at Abu Ghraib."
On Abu Ghraib:
"when i arrived there i kind've had the opinion that most guys did; you know, that these are the most dangerous people in Iraq, the most deadly criminals...they deserve all this harsh treatment they're receiving. That's what i thought when i got there. but serving at Abu Ghraib i got a chance to find out differently."
As a result of the duty he'd been put on as punishment for filing for Conscientious Objector status he was privy to prisoner paperwork even guards hadn't seen:
"What i found was absolutely stunning. I found that the majority of prisoners at Abu Ghraib hadn't committed any crimes against the coalition -- they hadn't committed violent crimes. They were at Abu Ghraib for petty theft, public drunkenness, forged coalition documents, impersonating a coalition officer, petty nonviolent offenses and they were inside Abu Ghraib with real murderers, real rapists, real insurgents. In addition, a large percentage of those at Abu Ghraib hadn't committed any offense at all. The military had a policy of random sweeps..."
That brings us to Number One. A day after the Post broke word of another pre-war British memo, the NYT hops on board. Presumably not content to simply repeat the WP's angle—"MEMO: U.S. LACKED FULL POSTWAR IRAQ PLAN"— the Times gets creative: "PREWAR BRITISH MEMO SAYS WAR DECISION WASN'T MADE." That headline hangs on a single clause of a single sentence in the 2,300-word memo:
Although no political decisions have been taken, US military planners have drafted options for the US Government to undertake an invasion of Iraq.
As it happens, the memo was first obtained by the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times (U.K.). Its headline: "MINISTERS WERE TOLD OF NEED FOR GULF WAR 'EXCUSE'."
--source
this whole downing street memo: when have you EVER heard the bushites EVER own up to a mistake they've made? i'll tell you: NEVER.
So now the media is beating up Howard Dean because he said the Republican Party is "primarily white Christians." What's next, will he be attacked if he says the sky is blue or the grass is green?
-Jack Rivers,
Polk City.
After reading the about the displeasure of some of our state officials ("Federal Meth Act Would Overrule State Law," June 8), I have to wonder what these state officials think about last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that federal marijuana laws overrule state laws protecting the use of marijuana by medical patients. (Iowa has had a medical marijuana law on the books since 1979.)
Do these state officials support state laws that are less restrictive than federal laws, or just state laws that are more restrictive?
I was proud of the three U.S. Supreme Court justices who said the decision on whether to allow medical marijuana should be decided by the states and not the federal government.
If politicians could maintain a consistent, rational approach to drug policy, it might get them further than crying crocodile tears whenever something doesn't go their way.
-Carl Olsen,
Iowans for Medical
Marijuana, Des Moines.
***Thank you for urging Congress to take action to protect medical marijuana patients ("Doctor or No, Cannabis Is Out," June 7 editorial). However, the Supreme Court did not "strike down" state laws allowing medical use of marijuana. All the court did was maintain the status quo: Patients protected under state law are not free from the possibility of arrest by federal authorities.
However, Congress can change that as soon as this week, when the House considers the Justice Department's appropriations bill. Representatives Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) will propose an amendment barring federal attacks on patients in states where medical use of marijuana is legal.
This humane, common-sense proposal deserves immediate passage.
-Bruce Mirken,
director of communications, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, D.C.
The most obvious example is the compensation of corporate CEOs. Their obscene pay packages cannot be attributed to the invisible hand of the marketplace. If there were a free market in executives, CEOs would be bidding against one another to see who would work for the lowest salary, just as ordinary workers are pitted against one another to hold down wages. CEO salaries are not set by the marketplace. They are set by compensation committees made up of fellow insiders who have a vested interest in keeping all executive compensation far above what a free market would set.
Socialism for the CEOs. Capitalism for the workers.
WASHINGTON - A closed-door vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee to expand law enforcement powers under the USA Patriot Act is prompting sharp criticism from some conservative leaders who are otherwise among the most vocal allies of President Bush and the Republican leadership.While the conservatives have been long-standing critics of the anti-terror law, they lashed out with particular force last week at the White House, members of Congress and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, saying that they expected a more open review of the Patriot Act in which lawmakers would consider limits on some provisions in order to safeguard civil rights.
Instead, they complained, the Senate panel had moved in secret to expand the act. They are particularly upset about the proposed addition to the law authorizing "administrative subpoenas," under which the FBI would be able to obtain a person's medical, financial and other records in terrorism cases without seeking a judge's approval.
Their criticism gathered force as President Bush pressed Congress last week to renew parts of the act that are due to expire at the end of this year.
"It is a slap in the face to the Constitution," said Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, who leads a bipartisan coalition of groups calling for limits on the act, which was passed six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
--source
we can not allow our government to act in secret. it belies everything the constitution stands for. dictatorships operate in secret.
Saturday afternoon during their annual State Convention at the Park Plaza in downtown Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin adopted the following resolution:CALLING ON THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO INITIATE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST PRESIDENT BUSH, VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY AND DEFENSE SECRETARY RUMSFELD FOR HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
YEEEEE HAWWWWW
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican congressman called for a deadline to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, while some other members of President Bush's party urged on Sunday that his administration come to grips with a persistent insurgency and revamp Iraq policy.--REUTERS
There were millions saying the reasons for war were bogus back in February of 2003. Where were these conservatives then? Waving their limp little freedom fries around and calling us treasonous-that's what they were doing. The blood of our soldiers and of those tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis's is on their hands.
"I think the more accurate way to approach this right now is to concede that ... this insurgency is not going to be settled, the terrorists and the terrorism in Iraq is not going to be settled, through military options or military operations," Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said last week, in a comment that echoes what other senior officers say. "It's going to be settled in the political process."--source
Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, expressed similar sentiments, calling the military's efforts "the Pillsbury Doughboy idea" - pressing the insurgency in one area only causes it to rise elsewhere.
"Like in Baghdad," Casey said during an interview with two newspaper reporters, including one from Knight Ridder, last week. "We push in Baghdad - they're down to about less than a car bomb a day in Baghdad over the last week - but in north-center (Iraq) ... they've gone up," he said. "The political process will be the decisive element."
"But there is some mix of grim appropriateness and shameful symmetry to the fact that we've chosen the one piece of territory in the Americas free of free elections, civil rights and civil liberties to build our own human rights free zone."
--josh marshall
GAY PRIDE SPECIAL EVENT: The Backdoor to Oz at crobar Alan Cumming hosts CUMMING: the Fragrance launch The premiere of our new Friday night industry party: PLAY Daniel Nardicio and crobar ask on Friday, June 24th: are you a Good Bitch or a Bad Bitch? Welcome to the Backdoor to Oz; a glamorous and sexy exploration of the seedier side of Oz. Flying Monkey Go-Go Boys, Trannie witches, guest appearances by legendary lovers of Oz and nightlife icons, and music keep you dancing till you cross far, far over the rainbow. Don’t miss this legend-in-the-making with Kevin Aviance, Sophia Lamar, Amanda Lepore, The Ones, Harry* and one very special surprise guest! Costumes and stage shows by Jackie 60’s Incredible Chi Chi Valenti. The Reed Room will become the Kansas Kiki Room with music by Lina (formerly Girlina), special guest Michael T, and all your favorite Kansas City hoe…downs. In the Main Room Steve Travolta, DeMarko and Eddie Baez will take turns on the decks for a 12 hour music marathon and production even the Wizard would gag over! Late night hosts Mark Nelson, JR, and the Gay Pimp Johnny McGovern keep the party going all night long. Production by Jackie 60’s Chi Chi Valenti and Joshua Brandt. Don’t forget Chip Chop holding down the Prop Room with the launch of Alan Cumming’s new fragrance: CUMMING and the new, hip PLAY party where fashion collides with music and the denizens of New York City nightlife frolic.
WASHINGTON - Howard Dean is "over the top," Vice President Dick Cheney says, calling the Democrats' chairman "not the kind of individual you want to have representing your political party."--source
Attempts to input words in Chinese such as "democracy" prompted an error message from the site: "This item contains forbidden speech. Please delete the forbidden speech from this item." Other phrases banned included the Chinese for "demonstration", "democratic movement" and "Taiwan independence".
--source
There is no centralized procedure for monitoring scores of contracting firms rebuilding Iraq with U.S. funds, according to the military. The controls that do exist have been criticized for failing to keep track of millions.--source
Instead, most contracts are monitored by the individual agencies that award them. The Army Corps of Engineers, for example, which issues the bulk of reconstruction work, has its own inspectors and quality assurance monitors. The U.S. Defense Contract Management Agency provides oversight on behalf of the Army for troop support contracts — private firms that do everything from serving meals to washing combat fatigues.Congress has set aside $18.4 million to help Iraq rebuild its roads, water systems, airports, rail lines, seaports, housing and other needed projects. The total cost of reconstruction has been estimated at $150 billion.
...
Last month, investigators said incompetence and "indications of fraud" was responsible for nearly $100 million in cash not being accounted for by the CPA. That amount included more than $7 million that simply vanished, according to the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, appointed in January 2004 to serve as a U.S. government watchdog for Iraqi reconstruction.
The CPA, predominantly run by Americans, has provided a poor example for reconstruction, critics say. Millions handed out to contractors including Custer Battles has not been accounted for, auditors said.
KARABILAH, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqis inspecting the damage of U.S. air strikes in western Iraq on Sunday challenged American assertions that the raids had killed 40 insurgents, saying there were no guerrillas in the area.
"There were no mujahideen (fighters) or armed men in the area. The planes attacked indiscriminately," said one man, who did not give his name, as he inspected the rubble of a house.
looks like THEY LIED again. there were childrens' clothes found at the scene.
"This is not an American puppet government anymore. It's standing up to the United States because it feels it has been elected and has legitimacy."
-A Western diplomat with extensive contacts in Iraq
why that diplomat had no name, is beyond me, especially when using unnamed sources is severely frowned upon by so many reich-wing nuts.
The WP off-leads with a report that according to its own investigation, although the Bush administration claims that federal terrorism investigations have resulted in charges against more than 400 suspects and half as many convictions, only 39 people have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes. The WP analyzed the Justice Department's list of terrorism prosecutions and concluded that most people on the list had been convicted of minor crimes that had nothing to do with terrorism—making false statements and violating immigration law. According to the WP, among the 361 people charged as a result of terrorism probes in the three years after the 9/11 attacks, there was no found connection to terrorism or terrorist groups for 180 of them, and of the 39 convicted of terrorism-related crimes, only 14 had clear links to al-Qaida. The chief of the Justice counterterrorism unit explained that prosecutors often use lesser charges when they are not confident they can prove larger crimes, and that many defendants who were prosecuted for minor crimes provided valuable, nonpublic information. Watch this space as President Bush pushes for renewal of the Patriot Act.ya, watch this space as i will endeavor to keep you abreast of all the latest regarding this Act.
"It's unethical to end one life in pursuit of helping others," writes U.S. Rep. Steve King (June 5 opinion).
The life King is writing about is a clump of cells that would be the size of the period at the end of this sentence. I am not taking either side on this debate, but I would like King to explain how he arrives at whose life should not be sacrificed.
He is among the many who see nothing wrong with sending a loving son, father or husband to "end their life in pursuit of helping others" in Iraq. The president has sent almost 2,000 Americans to die to help people who don't appear to want our help. How many cures for dreaded diseases will be found from those lives sacrificed in Iraq?
These were not 2,000 tiny clumps of cells. These were adults in the prime of their lives with wives and children who needed them. These were young men who were in their early years of adulthood, leaving parents who will never see what their son or daughter might have grown to be.
King says it is wrong to search for a cure with a tiny cluster of cells. But he is not against sending men and women to die in search of land that contains oil.
-Anna Louise Woods,
Ankeny.
U.S. Rep. Steve King's opposition to stem-cell research for possible cures of physical disorders because it might destroy potential life is proof that the right-to-life movement is interested only in the well being of the unborn and cares little about the well being of lives already born.--attribution
-Merlin Ackerson,
Keokuk.
The Register needs a new dictionary. The newspaper doesn't know that a subsidy ("Tax Breaks' Costs, Benefits Elusive," June 5) is defined as "a grant or a gift." The story confused tax breaks for businesses in Iowa with a grant extended by the state at the taxpayers' expense. Allowing people to keep their own money is not the same as giving them a present.
-Bret A. Bartz,
Altoona.
doesn't bret understand that being a citizen has responsibilities, such as paying taxes. in so doing, taxes are no longer 'his' money.
Flanked by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Bush said that "federal terrorism investigations have resulted in charges against more than 400 suspects, and more than half of those charged have been convicted."--source
Those statistics have been used repeatedly by Bush and other administration officials, including Gonzales and his predecessor, John D. Ashcroft, to characterize the government's efforts against terrorism.
But the numbers are misleading at best.
Three Democratic lawmakers say the refusal of the White House and the Secret Service to disclose the identity of the man who booted three Denverites out of one of President Bush's town-hall meetings smacks of "disinterest or a cover up."
"The American people have an interest and deserve to know what transpired at the president's March 21, 2005, event in Denver and if someone impersonated a law-enforcement official," U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Reps. Mark Udall and Diana DeGette wrote in a letter Thursday to Secret Service Director M. Ralph Basham.
The lawmakers criticized the Secret Service and the Bush administration for "unresponsiveness" to requests that they hand over details of an investigation of the incident at Denver's Wings Over the Rockies museum, where Bush held a public forum plugging Social Security reforms.
Before the event started, three Denverites who arrived in a car with a "No Blood for Oil" bumper sticker were booted from the museum by a man they believed was a Secret Service agent.
The White House has said the man - whom it refuses to name - was a volunteer who rightly kicked out the "Denver Three" to avoid disruption.
Likewise, the Secret Service won't comment on its investigation or say who booted the three from the event.
doesn't it make sense to see that whatever it is that the bushites don't want known, is important enough that if you knew, you'd be causing a national security event?
/sarcasm
Ministers were told of need for Gulf war
‘excuse’
The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair’s inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was “necessary to create the conditions” which would make it legal.
--source
what can i say about this other than, had it been in any other point in history, we would be seeing war crimes trials by now. drip drip drip. all according to plan, aintit henry.
WASHINGTON - When it comes to public approval, President Bush and Congress are playing "how low can you go." Bush's approval mark is 43 percent, while Congress checks in at 31 percent, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found. Both are the lowest levels yet for the survey, started in December 2003.
DEMOCRATS ARE running against Howard Dean instead of George W. Bush and the GOP -- or, better yet, running for principles that matter to the country.
It makes little sense, unless the intent is to destroy what's left of their shell of a political party.
Dean, the head of the Democratic National Committee, is under attack by fellow Democrats who are allegedly upset at his partisan rhetoric. Critics such as Senators Joseph Biden of Delaware and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina are taking their shots at Dean, just as if they were sitting next to him during a debate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, or Manchester, N.H. They sound like they are positioning themselves for a future presidential campaign rather than working together to rebuild a party with a message for the future.
How shocking: Dean said, ''I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for" and defined the political landscape as ''a struggle between good and evil." Is that any worse than the comment by Harry Reid, the Democrats' Senate leader, who said of Bush, ''I think this guy is a loser." (Reid later apologized.) Is it worse than Senator Hillary Clinton of New York saying: ''There has never been an administration, I don't believe, in our history more intent upon consolidating and abusing power to further their own agenda."
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Dean's predecessor, Terry McAuliffe, was famous for personal attacks against President Bush. He described Bush as being AWOL, or absent without leave, during his stint in the National Guard and declared that ''George Bush continually lies."
But Democrats never cared what McAuliffe said; all that mattered was the money he raised, compliments of his vaunted schmoozing skills. Now a few hot-shot donors are upset that Dean isn't stroking them as constantly as McAuliffe, and suddenly he's a failure. According to a recent report in ''The Hill," during the first three months of this year, the DNC raised $14.1 million, ahead of the pace McAuliffe set in 2001. Dean is focusing on fund-raising in small increments through the Internet, as he did during his 2004 presidential bid, which revolutionized presidential campaign fund-raising. That's the big picture Democrats should focus on. Broadening the donor base from the bottom up is good for the Democratic Party.
If Democrats want to get outraged, why not get outraged over daily efforts by the Republican National Committee to marginalize Democratic opposition? The RNC dubbed Democrats ''the Party of No." The RNC is constantly spewing out press releases accusing Democrats of ''hypocritical and obstructionist" comments and ''baseless attacks." When liberal Democrats stand up to conservatives in Congress, they are derided as ''the Michael Moore branch of the Democratic Party."
Yesterday the RNC put out a ''Democrat Leaders' Report Card" which gave the Democrats an ''F" in communication skills, civics, and unity and an ''A" in obstruction. It is hard to argue with the assessment, and that -- not Howard Dean -- is the Democrats' problem.
Congress is a place where voters expect partisanship to yield to compromise. And Congress is where the Democrats have failed to convey a sense of mission and purpose, probably because too many are running around the country running for president.
For Democrats, running for president in 2008 apparently means running against Dean in 2005. It is so much easier to run against the former Vermont governor than to fight for real principles. Bush meets with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the two are finally forced to address a 2002 memo written by a British official suggesting that the United States had ''fixed " intelligence to justify the impending invasion of Iraq. Both leaders deny that the memo accurately reflects events. Case closed? Where are the Democrats brave enough to press the president on that issue?
General Motors announces it will eliminate 25,000 jobs, and its CEO complains that health benefits reduce profits. Where are the Democrats brave enough to say the burden falls on GM to design fuel-efficient cars people want to buy rather than on workers who produce those cars? Where are Democrats brave enough to say that the Bush mentality -- don't start thinking about tomorrow -- is wrong for the environment and the country's economic future?
If Democrats in Congress did their job, Dean would be the chorus. Now he's the whole act. Dean's fellow Democrats would rather boo him than themselves.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Special Operations Command has hired three firms to produce newspaper stories, television broadcasts and Web sites to spread American propaganda overseas.--source
The Tampa-based military headquarters, which oversees commandos and psychological warfare, may spend up to $100 million for the media campaign in the next five years.
The Pentagon backed away from a similar campaign in 2002.
The use of contractors in psyops is a new wrinkle. But psychological warfare expert Herb Friedman said he is not surprised.
With only one active-duty and two reserve psyops units remaining, Friedman said, "The bottom line is, they don't have the manpower."
Federal law prohibits sending propaganda to Americans, and some experts worry that psychological warfare messages, especially disinformation efforts, might blow back to American audiences via the Internet and satellite news channels.
"In this age of the Internet and instant access, it's of great concern," said Nancy Snow, a propaganda expert at California State University-Fullerton. "If you plant false stories, how can you control where that story goes? You can't."
Others question whether the money could be better spent.
So far, said defense analyst William Arkin, American propaganda efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have "produced nothing positive and nothing negative." He suggested the $100 million might be better spent on guns and bullets.
"Satire is protected free speech, even when the object of that satire doesn't get it."--al franken
WASHINGTON - The Republican chairman walked off with the gavel, leaving Democrats shouting into turned-off microphones at a raucous hearing Friday on the Patriot Act.Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the panel, abruptly gaveled the meeting to an end and walked out, followed by other Republicans. Sensenbrenner declared that much of the testimony, which veered into debate over the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, was irrelevant.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., protested, raising his voice as his microphone went off, came back on, and went off again.
"We are not besmirching the honor of the United States, we are trying to uphold it," he said.
...
Nadler said Sensenbrenner, one of the authors of the Patriot Act, was "rather rude, cutting everybody off in mid-sentence with an attitude of total hostility."
...
Tempers flared when Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., accused Amnesty International of endangering the lives of Americans in uniform by referring to the prison at Guantanamo Bay as a "gulag." Sensenbrenner didn't allow the Amnesty representative, Chip Pitts, to respond until Nadler raised a "point of decency."
Sensenbrenner's spokesman, Jeff Lungren, said the hearing had lasted two hours and "the chairman was very accommodating, giving members extra time."
--source
you can watch for yourself if sensenbrenner's mouthpiece was lying or not.
"Lodi is historically a strong conservative God-fearing church-attending community," said Larry Hanson, a city councilman and former police chief who arrived in Lodi in 1970.--attribution
Regardless, the probe has brought two Lodis face to face. Although police officials report no hate crimes, there has been plenty of name-calling. As shopkeeper Mohammad Shoaib stood near his store talking to a reporter this week, a woman walked by and loudly sniffed: "Must be Al Qaeda."
