if you're in iowa you need to go to this

http://www.afsc.org/eyes/details/iowa/default.htm

scotty mcclellan gets roasted

read the fun for yourself

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/11/AR2005071100991.html

Letter Of The Day

I am a convicted felon. Now that I have my right to vote restored, I'd like to assure the Republicans and political experts who are crying foul that I will not be voting for any Democratic candidates.

I won't likely vote for a Republican, either, since both parties are fueled by corruption and greed. As far as I'm concerned, Republican and Democrat politicians are nothing more than liars and thieves who deserve to be in jail more than someone who grew a few pot plants.

I will vote for Libertarian candidates, so please don't worry, Mr. Yepsen.
-Ted Grimm,
Des Moines.

--attribution

Letter Of The WeeQ

and our winner for this week's edition goes to:

For too many Americans the phrase "Religious Freedom" means freedom to practice their own special brand of religion as intrusively, coercively, divisively and punitively as they desire.

The most blasphemous of them claim authority from God to do so. The most dangerous of them seek governmental authority to do so.

No theocracy has endured for long.

It is increasingly likely that American citizens striving to make America a Christian theocracy will destroy America in the name of saving it with little further help from outside terrorists.
-Gordon Greta,
Newton.

--attribution

who ever said small town people can't think, had their heads up their asses.

Letter Of The Day

we got two winners today. both deal with the PBS bias issue.

Cal Thomas, in his June 26 column, "Bias Runs Deep at PBS," attempted to further perpetuate his weakly substantiated assertion that PBS and NPR slant "too far to the left and need to be brought into balance." He cited one program, "NOW." Thomas accused the "lefties" of avoiding the bias debate and said that they "have taken to smearing" the current PBS chairman, Kenneth Tomlinson. Thomas then proceeded to do the very thing that he accused the lefties of doing, by attacking PBS journalist Bill Moyers.

I decided to survey some of the programming presented on both PBS and NPR. Later that very morning, I watched and listened to the program "The McLaughlin Group." Moderator John McLaughlin (former Washington political reporter and columnist for the National Review) facilitated a debate over many of the current political problems facing our nation. Opinions from the left, right and center were presented. Next, I tuned into the local program "Iowa Press," where Register columnist David Yepsen (a leftie for sure) interviewed Republican Sen. Jeff Lamberti over many of the issues confronting the Iowa political scene. Finally, on Monday afternoon on my drive home from work, I listened to the NPR news-radio program "All Things Considered," which included a three-minute radio segment titled "This I believe." The segment highlights an author-written piece that is read over the air. On that particular afternoon, conservative Newt Gingrich shared his personal statement on a deeply held belief.

I decided that there definitely is a bias and hidden agenda running deep. However, it's not one to be found at PBS. Rather, it predominates the rhetoric of Cal Thomas and other detractors of PBS and NPR.
-Dennis E. Thompson,
Ankeny.

AND

It seems that Cal Thomas and other conservatives are using the statistic that only four of 19 guests on Bill Moyer's "NOW" were for the Iraq war. Considering President Bush's sub-50 percent approval ratings, did it ever occur to them that perhaps only four of 19 people in the country are actually for the war anyway?

If so, then "NOW" was "fair and balanced," and to put more pro-war guests on the show would have indeed shown bias.
-Eric McLuen,
Des Moines.

--attribution

Letter Of The Day

The relative silence of the Register's news and editorial columns on the politicization of public broadcasting is deafening and disheartening.

The Washington Post and the New York Times reported on the national leadership of the Iowa Public Television Board of Directors in opposing a move by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to place politics ahead of principle.

But Register news columns made no mention of the role of IPTV in what turned out to be a losing fight. Columnist Rekha Basu mentioned it in passing toward the end of her June 17 column on proposed budget cuts for "Big Bird."

Cartoonist Brian Duffy suggested in his June 28 cartoon that the Public Broadcasting System should be renamed GOPBS. The June 26 Potomac Fever column by Jane Norman reported on principled statements by U.S. Rep. James Leach in defense of PBS.

But Register readers had little context for such commentary unless they read about the leadership of IPTV in the Post or the Times. (Local television news was clueless.)

Much attention has been placed on budget cuts for public broadcasting.

Money can be replaced. You can play catch-up when it comes to budgets. But the integrity of public broadcasting has been damaged by the CPB in naming a political operative to - as Duffy suggests - turn PBS into GOPBS.
-Herb Strentz,
chair, IPTV Advisory Committee on Journalistic and Editorial Integrity,
Urbandale.

--attribution

a MUST READ

Sheehan said the June 2004 private meeting with the President went from bad to worse to a nightmare when Bush acted like he didn’t even want to know her name. She said Bush kept referring to her as ‘Ma’ or ‘Mom’ while he "put on a phony act," saying things like ‘Mom, I can’t even imagine losing a loved one, a mother or a father or a sister or a brother.’

"The whole meeting was simply bizarre and disgusting, designed to intimidate instead of providing compassion. He didn’t even know our names," said Sheehan. "Finally I got so upset I just looked him in the eye, saying ‘I think you can imagine losing someone. You have two daughters. Imagine losing them?’ After I said that he just looked at me, looked at me with no feeling or caring in his eyes at all."

Sheehan said what really upset her about the meeting is that Bush appeared to become annoyed and even angry at her daughter Carley, 25, who also attended the White House get-together.

"My daughter said to him directly ‘I wish I could bring my loved one back’ and he said something like ‘so do we.’ Later she told me that after he made his remark he gave her one of the filthiest looks she had ever had gotten in her life.

"I just couldn’t believe this was happening. It was so surreal and bizarre. Later I met with some of the other 15or 16 families who were at the White House the same day and, sure enough, they all felt the same way I did.

"It’s interesting that they put us each in separate rooms. I heard this was done to prevent any type of group outburst and since it’s easier to control a situation when people are separated. Looking back, all I can say is that the meeting with Bush was one of the most disgusting experiences in my life.

--source

if ever there was a true picture of the one they call george bush jr., that would be it.

Quote of the Day

"having the best doctors in the land does not make the best healthcare system in the world"
--quasar

and the winner is......

the media. the more controversial, the more money MSM makes in ad revenues.

The WP notes that many are predicting the fight over the next supreme court justice will be the most expensive nomination in the country's history, with groups slated to spend at least $50 million and as much as $100 million, if the nominee is particularly controversial.

--source

we WILL prevail

aren't these the same folx who brought you the commercials where they showed the hypocrisy of other churches with bouncers at the door?

ATLANTA (AP) - A committee of United Church of Christ representatives approved a resolution Sunday that moves the church one step closer to becoming the largest Christian denomination to endorse same-sex marriage.

--source

was there really ever any doubt?

NEW YORK Now that Time Inc. has turned over documents to federal court, presumably revealing who its reporter, Matt Cooper, identified as his source in the Valerie Plame/CIA case, speculation runs rampant on the name of that source, and what might happen to him or her. Tonight, on the syndicated McLaughlin Group political talk show, Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, claimed to know that name--and it is, according to him, top White House mastermind Karl Rove.
--source

Letter Of The WeeQ

President Bush's speech on the war in Iraq represents yet another chapter in this administration's governing strategy to stem the rising tide of public dissatisfaction through trite imagery that seeks to project strength and resolute "toughness," while ignoring or minimizing the concerns of the public.

Mr. President, the American people are not growing uneasy with this war because they lack patriotism, a sense of duty, or resolute "toughness" in the face of hardship. Our history contains countless examples where "ordinary" people made heroic sacrifices for the sake of the nation and others.

The American people's concerns are based on the administration's shifting justifications for going to war, the apparent lack of proper war preparation and seeming inability to anticipate post-war realities, and an unwillingness to level with the American public regarding the war's direction and potential costs (human and otherwise).

The people, Mr. President, are being asked to sacrifice their blood and precious resources for this war. Surely these sacrifices entitle them to raise hard questions about the direction and strategy of the war with an expectation that they will receive a direct, coherent and comprehensive reply.
- N. Brian Gentry
Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Thank you for an excellent editorial June 24, "Why Debate? Attack the Critic." If these "good Americans" had read any history, or even stopped to think, they would be unlikely to respond in the manner they do.

More than two centuries ago, it was the true Americans who complained (and acted) in response to the behavior and crimes of King George V and his administrators, the rulers at that time, who gained independence for our country. It was not the spineless element who told these patriots they were traitors to their lawful leader, and they should shut up and do as they were told.

It takes more than a bumper sticker or a cheap flag lapel pin, probably imported from China, to make a patriotic American. It takes people who recognize that a government that constructs prison camps and ships people, not even accused of a crime, to the prison camps or to countries that use torture, as being on a totally wrong track.

This country badly needs more people who care about it and are willing to speak out for a return to law and honorable, decent behavior and fewer who try to prove that torture is both legal and proper.
- Richard Bird,
Keosauqua.

--attribution

fuck up? get promoted

this just pisses me to all hell. people who have otherwise been guilty of everything from fraud to downright theft, getting promoted by the bushites. it's almost a requirement that you play evil dictator games.

WASHINGTON, June 28 - The Pentagon has promoted or nominated for promotion two senior Army officers who oversaw or advised detention and interrogation operations in Iraq during the height of the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal.

--source

what a great birthday present

but then again, it's canada.

OTTAWA, June 28 -- The House of Commons voted Tuesday to guarantee full marriage rights to same-sex couples, reaffirming Canada's sharp difference with the United States over the issue of gay rights and promising an alternative destination for American gay men and lesbians to be married.

--source

i'm back

like i really ever left. but i caught this bug that had me wringing in pain that sent me to the E.R. but it's gone now, hopefully.

and so we're back with reviews of the speech last nite by him.

this is somewhat strange, and i wonder if there's something else going on. are journalists just getting in the way, or are they trying to get the truth?

A wire piece in the Journal says an Iraqi journalist was apparently killed by GIs after he didn't pull over as their convoy was passing; it is reportedly the third such killing of an Iraqi journalist in the last week.

--source

whats wrong with this administration?

they're living high on the hog, while on the job.

a victory for America

WASHINGTON — With barely a word about it, on Friday workers at the Justice Department removed the blue drapes that had famously covered two scantily clad statues for the last 3 1/2 years.

"Spirit of Justice," with one breast exposed and her arms raised, and the bare-chested male "Majesty of Law" basked in the late afternoon light of Justice's ceremonial Great Hall.
--ap WIRE

now that john asscroft is gone. the spirit of justice and the majesty of law can be seen in all their beauty. only to john ashcroft, would justice and law be ugly.

Quote of the Day

Businesses can not run this country.
People only can run this country.
--quasar

the difference between democrats and republicons

democrats when they're rich, help the poor.
republicons when they're rich, fuck the poor.

Joke of the Century

this has to be it folx. nothing ever has come this way that has screamed WINNER!! like this one.

Asked if he disputes the memo's claim, Cheney said, "Of course. The memo was written sometime prior to when we actually got involved in Iraq.

"And remember what happened after the supposed memo was written. We went to the United Nations. We got a unanimous vote out of the Security Council for a resolution calling on Saddam Hussein to come clean and comply with the UN Security Council resolution. We did everything we could to resolve this without having to use military force. We gave him one last chance even, and asked him to step down before we launched military operations.

--source

proof is in the pudding they say

and there ain't no pudding on the side of red.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A small group of US lawmakers paid homage to US troops who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan by reading their names aloud on the floor of the House of Representatives.
...
An aide said several Republicans had been asked to take part in the reading, but just one, conservative Walter Jones of North Carolina, had signed on.
...
Some Republican lawmakers reportedly have dismissed the event as a publicity stunt, but Emanuel insisted on US television Wednesday that he was motivated by respect for the service members' sacrifices.

"Republicans may want to say what they want to say. We've invited them to join. There will be people there to support the war, people who don't support the war," Emanuel told CNN television.

"It won't be about the war. It will be about the troops, and that's what we're going to do."

--source

they can't tell the difference, unless THEY are leading the band.

Joke of the Day

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Agence France-Presse) - Vice President Dick Cheney said on Thursday that prisoners at the detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, had everything they could possibly want and were well fed and well treated as they lived in the "tropics."

--source

if ever there was a personification of lucifer himself, it's name would be richard cheney.

the memories of baghdad bob are flashing through my mind

this should also be made JOKE OF THE DAY.

"Any who say that we've lost this war, or that we're losing this war, are wrong. We are not," said Rumsfeld, who appeard with his top military commanders at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

--SOURCE

my ltte made it on the same day

as harold hopp's .... and get this, it concerned the same topic: the DSM. the downing street memo, for you neophytes.

http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2005/06/22/opinion/doc42b8e4444a7a1024620397.txt

i called harold hopp after i got the paper, and talked to him. a nice gent. definitely not a placard carrying activist, but he updates the iraqi war dead daily on a poster in front of his house.

i so wanted to do something like that.

and b back to jack

and for me to remember it and display it proudly:

"I hate to ask you for your help with something so silly but I've been nominated for membership in the Cosmos Club, which is a very distinguished club in Washington, DC, comprised of Nobel Prize winners, etc.," Abramoff wrote. "Problem for me is that most prospective members have received awards and I have received none. I was wondering if you thought it possible that I could put that I have received an award from Toward Tradition with a sufficiently academic title, perhaps something like Scholar of Talmudic Studies?"

[...]

The rabbi, conservative radio host Daniel Lapin, gave his blessing. "I just need to know what needs to be produced," he wrote. "Letters? Plaques?"

--slate's today's papers

did they thinkn iraq would take our mind off of afghanistan?

Nobody has much information on what seems to have been a big battle in Afghanistan. Somewhere between 40 (U.S. said) and 75 (Afghan officials' count) insurgents were reportedly killed along with about 10 Afghan soldiers and police. Five GIs were wounded, and two U.S. choppers were hit but made it back to base. The best dispatch is a lengthy wire piece inside the Post. Meanwhile, a U-2 spy plane that had been over Afghanistan crashed while trying to land in the United Arab Emirates. The pilot was killed; there were no reports of hostile fire.

--source

no wonder they called it "no child left behind"

they are going to know everything they need to know about each and every student in school.

thanks to nclb.

The Defense Department began working yesterday with a private marketing firm to create a database of high school students ages 16 to 18 and all college students to help the military identify potential recruits in a time of dwindling enlistment in some branches.

--WaPo

jack abramoff, jackoff extradordinaire

As the Wall Street Journal describes atop its world-wide newsbox—and others front—a Senate hearing aired details aplenty of super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's bilking of Indian tribes. Among other things, Abramoff and his business partner took millions from the tribes supposedly for lobbying, instead funneled through some bogus non-profits and ultimately used it for such worthy causes as financing "sniper" training for Israeli settlers and footing the bill for a golf trip taken by one Tom DeLay.

It's all a bit complex, but padding billable hours wasn't. "Make sure you are able to track the time on the bill during the month to be sure we hit the $150K minimum," Abramoff wrote to one employee, who replied, "You had only 2 hours. We are not even close to this number." Abramoff answered, "Add 60 hours for me."

As the Journal emphasizes, the uncovered e-mails also suggest that organizations run by conservative All-Stars Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist were also used in Abramoff's apparent laundering scheme.

--source

it's how they operate. they need money, they steal it. business as usual. move along, nothing to see here. move along.

Letter Of The Day II

this is making up for yesterday.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley in the June 16 Register advocates extending the Social Security retirement age to 69. Why stop there? Why not simply have people work until they die?

Instead of extending the retirement age to fix the Social Security "crisis," why not roll back President Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy? Why not raise the cap on Social Security so those sitting in plush offices pay their fair share?

Ending corporate welfare might also put more money back into the public's coffers. Maybe it is time to retire Grassley (on his ample congressional pension benefits). He certainly doesn't sound like a friend of middle- and lower-income Iowans.
-Bruce McCabe,
Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

The U.S. Army is making do with less-than-qualified recruits. The U.S. military has stopped battalion commanders from dismissing new recruits with drug abuse, alcohol problems, poor fitness or pregnancy.

The reality is clear: The U.S. Army managed only 73 percent of its recruiting target in February, 68 percent in March and 57 percent in April and won't release recruiting results for May. Keeping unqualified recruits just to make the numbers look good poses a risk to our national security.

In wartime, we need the best recruits - not the worst. Is this the way to run a war and an army?

Could this worsening recruiting crisis mean there is a military draft on the horizon?
-Frank P. Belcastro,
Dubuque.

attribution

out of the mouths of babes

comes a whole slew of bright and vivacious youngsters ready and eagerly awaiting their turn at governing this country.

an example?

The Wisconsin Assembly passed a ban on the "morning-after pill" at college campuses.

If passed by the state Senate and approved by the governor, the University of Wisconsin Health Care centers would not be allowed to prescribe or distribute the drug. It's absurd that women would be denied a legal contraceptive from one of their health-care providers.

We need to stop confusing morality with legality. If a woman wants to use an emergency contraceptive, the state has no right to restrict her access to it. The question of whether this method of birth control is right or wrong belongs to the individual it affects, not to state lawmakers.

The United States was founded by men who were fed up with a country where the laws were dictated by the morality of a king and his church. Our founding fathers created this great country with laws to ensure that her citizens would not fall victim to moral whims of the few. The Wisconsin Assembly has clearly violated the very thing it was created to protect.
- Sasha Kemmet, Ames

attribution

you should go read the page, it's chock full of examples

an open memo to don imus:

hey i-man, i agree with you a lot of the time, and there's a good amount of time i'm shaking my head wondering just how in the fuck you could do whatever it was that made me shake my head.

but i respect you and your position. and there's not many i can say that about. especially when we're on the opposite sides of so much.

however, your penis-head producer bernie needs a quick swift kick in the butt for being just about the most obnoxious character on tv.

by day, democrats, by night, republicon nazis

god these people make me sick to my stomach. if ever there were a doubt as to the growing nazi camp right here in the united states of america, there won't be after you read this:

Layton changes ordinances regarding residential signs

By Paul Rolly / Salt Lake Tribune

Since Mike Norton, of Layton, began displaying the pictures of American soldiers killed in Iraq on an illuminated sign in his front yard, his home has been vandalized, cars have stopped in front of his home and honked horns in the early morning hours and he has received anonymous harassing phone calls.

Now the city of Layton has gotten into the act.

Norton, who was told by a city official last winter that the sign in his yard did not violate zoning ordinances, received a letter from the Layton City Attorney's Office recently informing him that, upon further review, the sign does violate the ordinance and he would have 10 days to take it down.

The sign currently contains 1,715 postage-stamp-sized pictures of each dead soldier that Norton downloads from CNN's Web site. The number is updated whenever there is a new casualty. Above the pictures is a large bold-faced headline denoting the latest number of Americans killed in Iraq. Next to the sign is an American flag.

Norton says that by day, many people, including veterans, stop by and thank him for keeping the sacrifices of the soldiers and their families in the public eye. But by night he is harassed by anonymous antagonists, including one who shined a spotlight into his 6-year-old daughter's window.

The letter, from Layton Assistant City Attorney Stephen Garside, said the city inspector who told Norton six months ago that his sign was OK used the wrong code section in reviewing the sign.

Norton responded by telling the city to cite him, because he could find nothing in the code to indicate a violation and, he noted, the city code specifically exempts memorials. His sign is a memorial to the soldiers.

Norton has obtained an attorney and is prepared to fight. "I will go to jail before I will pay a fine for displaying a sign that honors the war dead," he said.

--source

the bold-faced type makes QUOTE OF THE DAY.

Letter Of The Day

has to be mine, of course, but there's another one included, because it ran right below mine, and was about the same subject matter (get that feather in your cap, and i'll see you in heaven)

since the words of the first are mine, i will not italicize them.

I'm wondering, would the Globe have endorsed George Bush Jr. had they known the following:

1. That Mr. Bush knew Saddam Hussein was no threat to our country months prior to invading;

2. That Mr. Bush decided to use force to overthrow him regardless; and

3. That Mr. Bush was "fixing" the intelligence to sell the impending invasion to the American public.

Now that we know the truth with the release of the Downing Street Memo, and we continue to lose dozens of soldiers a week in the same war Mr. Bush announced as being mission accomplished over two years ago, is there any doubt to the testament that Mr. Bush suckered half the American population and obviously one small town newspaper?

and now for the second letter:

Truth became war casualty

By HAROLD W. HOPP, Mason City

The Downing Street Memo informed the American public that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had promised President Bush in April 2002 he would join the United States in a war against Iraq.

British intelligence chief Richard Dearlove reported that Bush wanted to remove Saddam Hussein through military action and the intelligence and facts were being "fixed" around that policy. This was nearly a year before the pre-emptive strike was made on March 19, 2003, against Iraq.

The reader might be interested in comments made by Mickey Herskowitz after conversations he had with George W. Bush in 1999, when he was hired to write an autobiography of Bush during his campaign for the presidency.

Herskowitz said Bush was thinking about invading Iraq already at that time. He told Herskowitz: "One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander in chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it."

The horrible events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the resultant support for Americans engendered by them at that time provided an opportunity for the president to be seen as the "great leader and commander in chief."

So to gain support from American people who were not convinced that war was necessary, it became the hallmark of the president's administration to appeal to our fear and our gullibility by lying to us about Hussein's ties to al-Qaida and his weapons of mass destruction. Truth became a casualty of this war, along with the 1,914 American dead and the 12,896 more wounded thus far. What a terrible price to pay for the Napoleonic complex of one man.

-source

huh? can someone explain this to me?

again from today's papers:

The WP goes above the fold with a profile of a booming industry: lobbying. There are now about 35,000 registered lobbyists in D.C., twice the number in 2000. "We're trying to take advantage of the fact that Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House," said Hewlett-Packard's top lobby man "There is an opportunity here for the business community to make its case and be successful."

to "MAKE" it's case? they wasted the last 6 years to "MAKE" their case.

an open message to the NYT:

stuff it. you've lost your grande glamour years ago, and your age is showing as you wimper down journalism lane.

The NYT stuffs word of a classified CIA report that says Iraq is, surprise surprise, serving as Terrorist University for the latest generation of jihadists, some of whom will return home eager to show off their new skills. The Times has no quotes from the report; it was described generally to the paper by officials from three "different government organizations." The latest Newsweek mentions the same report and says CIA analysts refer to the Iraqi alumni issue as the "Class of '05 problem."
--courtesy of slate's today's papers

that iraq would blow up in george bush jr's face is icing on the cake. but this country is in deep shit with all these new terrorists now having something to fight for.

doesn't cbs get it???

that with that 'bone' you so eloquently put it, democrats are obstructionists for not giving the republicons what they want.

can they get any more infantile?

they are going to brand the democrats obstuctionist unless they get their way.

we need to show Joe Blow America that we are PROTECTING THEM from the harm of these republicon proposed actions.

howard, are ya listenin there bud?

his numbers are low, so he appeals to the exciteable

as one guy put it: gays are the new n*ggers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Reviving a major plank of his re-election campaign, President Bush called for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage Tuesday.

The president’s address to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention — the fourth year in a row he has spoken to the conservative evangelical gathering — was crafted to rally the social religious conservatives who make up a crucial part of Bush’s governing coalition. He restated his commitment to issues dear to conservatives’ hearts, notably his opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion and research on human embryonic stem cells — a stance he calls the “culture of life.”

“We will continue to build a culture of life in America, and America will be better off for it,” Bush said by satellite hookup from the White House.

--source

what a pathetic little man. sore about being unpopular, he's gonna have to pick on someone, and it might as well be gays. this is what brats do. they act out.

what the hell is all this missing boy about?

i mean, to get national exposure as THE TOP STORY, well.... just how much money changed hands over this one is beyond me. but you can bet your ass that some did.

FARPOINT:p.s.a.

if you didn't sign john conyer's letter to george bush jr., then you wouldn't understand. this could probably go under DSM:Watch

Thanks to your help, and the more than 560,000 individuals who signed this letter, the mainstream media felt compelled to cover this event. The room was packed with television cameras and there was significant coverage in national newspapers and radio networks. After the hearing I hand delivered the list of signatures along with a letter to the president signed by 122 Members of Congress demanding answers, and led a rally outside the White House.

We still have much more to do to make President Bush answer the questions raised by the Downing Street Minutes. Much work remains for us to bring this issue to the attention of all Americans.
--John Conyers (via email)

hop on over to his website at http://johnconyers.com to find out what additional steps we are taking and how you can help on this issue of vital constitutional importance.

and to prove we're not all about doom & gloom (read: bush)

the feel good story of the weeQ:

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Police say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of Ethiopia.

The men had held the girl for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before her family and police found her, Sergeant Wondimu Wedajo said Tuesday by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, about 560km west of the capital, Addis Ababa.

"They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said, adding he did not know whether the lions were male or female.

'A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub'

News of the June 9 rescue was slow to filter out from Kefa Zone in south-western Ethiopia.

"If the lions had not come to her rescue then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said.

--source

HYPOCRISY ALERT

A researcher retained secretly by the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to monitor the "Now" program with Bill Moyers for political objectivity last year, worked for 20 years at a journalism center founded by the American Conservative Union and a conservative columnist, an official at the journalism center said on Monday.
--source

Letter Of The Day

Roses twice over to Richard Doak for his June 6 and June 13 columns. Both columns should be required reading for Congress and the executive branch.

The June 6 column on Social Security makes a convincing argument that those who cry the sky is falling have their attention focused on the wrong issue. Doak offers three areas where they should focus: federal deficits, education and improving the infrastructure.

The Bush administration and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley are key to getting the national attention on these issues and bringing forth financially sound, fair and meaningful solutions in these areas. As Doak states, take care of the economy and you automatically take care of Social Security. The silence in response to Doak's column by those who cry the sky is falling is deafening. Could it be that they know he is correct, and their agenda is something other than saving Social Security?

The June 13 column was a timely presentation of how we have arrived at socialism for CEOs and capitalism for workers. The Bush administration offers us a tax structure that pushes us farther down this road, a hands-off approach to any regulation of businesses and total silence on the true crisis with Medicare/Medicaid that is breathing down our necks, which for many of the poor and very poor of our country are essential.

For the rich, what happens with Medicare and Medicaid is of little or no concern. President Bush has spent an inordinate amount of time (and self-proclaimed political capital) on the wrong issue.
-Wayne Woodworth,
West Des Moines.

--attribution

the perfect example of the poor feeding the rich

don't see it?

About four evenings a week, L.J. Twyner, a Newton physician, enjoys dinner paid for by drug companies. Other perks have included trips to bars and in at least one instance a visit to a club featuring nude dancers, according to a report in the Des Moines Sunday Register by reporter Clark Kauffman.

After a night of free food and fun with drug-company representatives, he wakes up the next morning and goes to work. His responsibilities include prescribing drugs to patients in his care.

--source

it works this way. poor people pay excessive drug prices, which in turn is used feed doctors.

ahh, the mirror of time

it reflects even the bad past

For Watergate and Deep Throat buffs, the Post fronts a column one feature on "The Two Lives of Mark Felt." The famous Watergate source is shown to be a shrewd careerist bent on taking down the Nixon administration, which he saw as encroaching on the FBI's sovereign territory after the death of J. Edgar Hoover.

again, today's papers gets the nod for the heads up.

why i despise pakistan as much as i despised afghanistan

The new, sleeker terrorist training paradigm has meant increased recruitment for the al-Qaida-associated groups, several of which are tolerated and even relied upon for military support by Pakistan's government. The result, in the words of one senior U.S. official, has been camps that are "flourish[ing] as never before," even while Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been portrayed as an ally in the fight against terrorism. One FBI official said the policing of these groups has become "exponentially harder than it was even just a few years ago."

thanks to slate's today's papers for the heads up.

and now, a Public Service Annoluncement

SUPPORT THIS LEGISLATION:

That the Committee on the Judiciary is directed to investigate and report to the House of Representatives whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach George W. Bush, President of the United States. Upon completion of such investigation, that Committee shall report thereto, including, if the Committee so determines, articles of impeachment.

http://www.usalone.com/downingstreet_np.htm

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Quote of the Day

"for those who believe in creationish - at what point did evolution stop?"

--quasar

Letter Of The Day

today's winner doesn't come from an individual, but rather a group of individuals. those at the des moines register:

Congress scored abysmally low approval ratings in recent polls. It's not hard to see why. Neither lawmakers nor the Bush administration is focused on the problems people care most about.

And when Congress does take up an important national topic, the legislation quickly becomes larded with favors to every special interest in Washington, tucked away in some massive, indecipherable bill.

So it is with energy policy, which the Senate began considering last week. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is helping make the Senate version superior to a version passed earlier by the House, but it remains an open question whether the final bill will be better than having no bill at all. The times demand an unwavering national commitment to achieving energy independence. This hodgepodge isn't it.

So it is with energy policy, which the Senate began considering last week. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is helping make the Senate version superior to a version passed earlier by the House, but it remains an open question whether the final bill will be better than having no bill at all. The times demand an unwavering national commitment to achieving energy independence. This hodgepodge isn't it.

President Bush has been trying to get Congress to pass a so-called energy bill for three years - legislation that was hatched by Vice President Dick Cheney after secret meetings with energy-industry lobbyists. It's called an energy policy, but it's little more than a grab-bag of tax goodies for various segments of the energy industry.

Then there are irrelevant provisions, such as shielding the makers of the gasoline additive MTBE from liability for harm caused by their poisonous product. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas is reported to have vowed the legislation will not pass without that provision, providing protection for the oil companies. So much for putting the national interest ahead of special interests.

The test of whether the legislation can fairly be said to establish a national energy policy is whether the policy is clearly understood and the legislation is focused single-mindedly on its goal. Instead, this legislation is ill-defined, scattering tax incentives hither and yon. It has conflicting purposes of encouraging use of alternative fuels while at the same time expanding the consumption of traditional fuels.

Grassley, as head of the Senate Finance Committee, has shaped the tax provisions in the Senate version of the bill, and his committee has at least improved the focus. The Senate version would provide $16 billion in tax breaks over 10 years, many of them intended to encourage conservation and alternative fuels.

Alternative energy production in Iowa - including ethanol, wind, biomass and energy from manure - stands to benefit.

Still, some of the provisions aren't new. They merely extend existing tax credits. Moreover, it's doubtful that tax credits - especially those scattered widely - are an effective use of public funds.

They will add several more pages of complexity to the tax code at a time when the administration's next big initiative is supposed to be tax simplification. Go figure.

If the goal is U.S. energy independence, the $16 billion could be more effectively spent by concentrating it in a Manhattan Project-type national effort to achieve breakthroughs in promising alternative fuels.

That should be coupled with efforts to cut back on petroleum consumption until the day comes when the nation's motorists can be free of it. The most effective conservation measure would be a market-driven one - a steep tax on gasoline and gas-guzzling vehicles. That would not only encourage more fuel efficiency and less driving-intensive lifestyles, but also provide revenue to cut federal deficits and pay for research into energy alternatives.

An energy tax would be unpopular among motorists already burdened by record gas prices, but as a policy tool for achieving energy independence, it would make far more sense than sprinkling tax favors among the energy lobbyists.

Passing a bunch of tax breaks and calling the result an energy policy doesn't make it so.

--attribution