and this is why the times has become just another rag

Both USAT and NYT emphasize the military's position. "U.S. Hits Suspected Militants in Western Iraq," announces USAT. But what's interesting is that the Times, while weighting its story toward the military, is also the only paper with a Ramadi dateline. Given that the NYT quotes only a U.S. commander—and no Iraqis—TP suspects the reporter was traveling or embedded with the military. Nothing wrong with that. But if it's the case, the reporter should tell readers.

the new york times has lost her glory as a shining beacon of hope, truth, and the American way. she has become a whore to war, lies, and terror.

who would you believe?

BAGHDAD, Oct. 17 -- A U.S. fighter jet bombed a crowd gathered around a burned Humvee on the edge of a provincial capital in western Iraq, killing 25 people, including 18 children, hospital officials and family members said Monday. The military said the Sunday raid targeted insurgents planting a bomb for new attacks.

The U.S. military said it killed a total of 70 insurgents in Sunday's airstrikes and, in a statement, said it knew of no civilian deaths.

--WaPo

i know who i would believe. the very fact that there's video of the children in their coffins, proves that the pentagon has run amok, and afoul with their intended purpose. this terrorism of innocents must stop.

and finally, this one gets it

Does anyone else find it frustrating, perhaps cynical, that one of the qualifications for a Bush-administration Supreme Court nominee is the absence of a history of judicial decisions?

-Neil Hernan, Osage.

attribution

Letter of the WeeQ

did we have a winner yesterday? i can't remember. either way, this one's also a winner.

In Robert F. Anderson's Oct. 10 letter, "Favorite Myths," he opines about alleged inaccuracies in the Register's reporting on the Iraq war. Anderson pleads with us to check the facts. I did.

1. Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction. Truth: In August 1995, Gen. Hussein Kamel, the former director of Iraq's weapons program, defected and was interviewed by U.N. weapons inspectors. He stated categorically that Iraq destroyed its WMD after the first Gulf War.

On three separate occasions President Bush and members of his administration cited this same source as confirming the existence of WMD in Iraq. Not exactly honest.

2. It's about oil. Truth: Anderson claims that if it were really about oil, we could have just done business with Saddam Hussein. Well, we did. Vice President Dick Cheney, as president of Halliburton, sold $73 million of oil equipment to Saddam using shady subsidiaries. Now, after the war, Halliburton doesn't just get to sell equipment to the Iraqi oil industry, it gets to run the whole show.

3. Tax cuts cause deficits. Truth: In government accounting, it's budget imbalances that cause deficits, not just spending. Tax cuts are properly thought of as tax expenditures. Forgone revenue is functionally equivalent to an equal amount of spending.

The idea that massive tax cuts will in the long run create more economic growth relies on highly dubious voodoo economics.

I suggest we all take a more critical view of the "facts."

-Lucas Forte, Iowa City.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

Richard Doak, referring to the Swift Boat Veterans ads attacking John Kerry's Vietnam War service, asked if anyone knows any mechanism that might be used to penalize campaign falsehoods other than an occasional libel suit? I do. It's called a free press.

Newspapers such as the Des Moines Register have a responsibility to the American people to investigate and expose the smear campaigns, the half-truths and the distortions that come from both the left and the right that are polarizing American politics.

Doak resents the fact that there is no mechanism for punishing a campaign liar. How about the Register doing its job by printing the truth on its front page and in bold headlines rather than mindlessly repeating baseless allegations as if the allegations were news?

If the American media were doing its job, the smear campaigns of these groups would backfire because the truth would be reported rather than the allegation.

I agree with Doak that something is needed to raise the level of political discourse. How about a media that has the courage to use its power to expose the lies, half-truths and innuendoes before the election is over?

-Rodney Drenkow, Waverly.

attribution

finally got it

a way of expressing how i feel without being a bitch.

take aol. we all hate aol, dont we.
but last week i decided to try the 3 month free trial, which God willing, will not end up being a 6 month nightmare. that AOL would continue to put 'try aol' icons on my desktop everytime i install one of their tools, pretty much tells you how good aol software is.

i really am going in this with an open mind. just as i did with msn premium. which i run side-by-side with you-know-what.

i shuld hunt down trillian. i had a pd version at one time, but gave up on it simply because i don't use IM. but i spoze i can give it a shot for the winter and see what happens. and i really do wanna keep an open heart when it comes to evaluating the two top services on the planet. i'll be sure to share my feelings.

what does that say about the scandal that wasn't?

THE Army officer in charge of investigating abuse of civilians by British forces in Iraq has been found dead, it was revealed yesterday.

Royal Military Police Captain Ken Masters, 40, is believed to have killed himself. His body was found on Saturday evening.

[i always get a kick out of the military declaring 'believed to have killed himself' so early. can't they tell for sure right away or do they really need that 48 hour window they ususally attach to cases like this?]

An army colleague is said to have made the grim discovery in Waterloo Lines camp within the main British military base at Basra airport.

Ministry of Defence sources said last night it is not believed Capt Masters had left a suicide note and it is not yet known how he died. No firearms are believed to have been involved.

[so the subject just gets dropped.]

The married father-of-two is not believed to have been suffering from depression, mental illness or physical injury and had not been due to appear as a witness in any cases relating to mistreatment.

Capt Masters, who had served with the Royal Military Police since 1981, was commissioned from the ranks in 2001.

--source

think it was just a coincidence?

i would ask that you think again. why are they keeping ther cause in such a cloud? who benefits most from a cloudy death? especially one surrounding one of the dirtiest scandals to have ever hit the United States of America.

little by little, they are finding out

what we knew allll along, that bush is bad for America. period.

Pessimism over the war in Iraq and skepticism about the economy at home have cost President Bush support among the most reliable segments of Illinois Republicans, a Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows, and now nearly 6 out of 10 voters statewide disapprove of his job performance.

The government's tepid response to Hurricane Katrina and a summer-long spike in gasoline prices also have helped drive Bush's job-approval rating down to 33 percent in the state, the lowest point among Illinois surveys involving his administration. A similar poll in May showed Bush's approval rating at 41 percent.

Support for Bush has dropped 14 points in the last year among Republicans, and GOP officials fear that could complicate their efforts in next year's races for Congress and governor. For the first time in his presidency, half the voters in Chicago's Republican-rich collar counties disapprove of Bush's job performance, a departure from last fall when he carried all five suburban counties.

attribution

to get an idea of how corrupt washington has become

under republican control:

Abramoff quietly arranged for eLottery to pay conservative, anti-gambling activists to help in the firm's $2 million pro-gambling campaign, including Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition, and the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition. Both kept in close contact with Abramoff about the arrangement, e-mails show. Abramoff also turned to prominent anti-tax conservative Grover Norquist, arranging to route some of eLottery's money for Reed through Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform.

--WaPo

on PLAME-GATE

this blurb from today's papers pretty much sums up all i know of the case:

The NYT off-leads, the WP fronts, and the LAT goes inside with the latest on Judith Miller's grand jury testimony. The NYT published two stories on Miller (the stories went up on the paper's Web site on Saturday)—one written by three staff writers (the off-lead) and one written by Miller herself (stuffed). As the WP and LAT note, the NYT off-lead is less than kind to Miller. According to her own paper, Miller was a "divisive newsroom figure" who many refused to work with, and who was permitted to run "amok" with littler editorial supervision. As the WP also notes, the NYT article and Miller's piece contain "conflicting accounts" of why Miller never wrote a story about the outing of CIA covert operative Valerie Plame. Miller claims she strongly recommended pursuing the story to her editor but was told not to write one. The NYT Washington bureau chief at the time said Miller made no such recommendation. When asked by another editor if she was one of six reporters who'd gotten leaked info from the White House on Plame, Miller said no. According to the NYT off-lead, by backing Miller's refusal to name her source, the paper turned the Miller case "into a cause," incurred whopping legal fees, and limited "its own ability to cover aspects of one of the biggest scandals of the day." An article on the leak by other reporters never ran, and a memo on the leak's coverage "went nowhere"—possibly to protect Miller.

As for Miller, although the words "Valerie Flame" showed up in the same notebook she used when interviewing Scooter Libby two days after Plame's husband publicly denounced the White House, Miller maintains Libby never revealed the agent's name; she doesn't recall who gave her Plame's name. Miller did testify that Libby told her Wilson's wife was an operative for Winpac—the CIA bureau for weapons intelligence, nonproliferation, and arms control.

one has to not be a mind-reader to get that this stool-pigeon for the bushites, judith miller, was a bushite herself through and through. nobody got along with her, which speaks volumes about her credibility. that the new york times turned her into a cause celeb shows just how off-track from being a beacon of freedom the grey lady has become.

Letter of the WeeQ

Having read the Register's Oct. 9 editorial, I'm not sure who is more irresponsible, Congressman Steve King or The Des Moines Register.

To suggest that King has morphed into an ultra conservative ideologue is not only fiction, it is irresponsible journalism. King has and I suspect will always be a right-wing conservative who has consistently put his persona and ego before the needs of the district he is supposed to represent. To his credit, King has changed very little. He just has a bigger stage to espouse his tiresome and unproductive political rhetoric.

Notwithstanding this, the Register should be ashamed of itself for endorsing King in the first place. Moreover, to suggest that King turned out to be "a different guy than we endorsed" begs the question: What kind of due diligence was conducted to endorse him in the first place? One would hope that the editorial staff would carefully scrutinize the credentials, political leanings and ultimately the potential for effectively representing his or her district as well as the state of Iowa. Apparently not.

Although I cannot argue with the theme of the editorial - King should in fact be replaced — the broader question for me is what the Register is doing to examine its own process for making an endorsement. Perhaps there should be an equally compelling call to replace the people who made the endorsement in the first place.

Finally, I hope it has not gotten lost on the editorial staff, that by clearly ignoring your responsibility as a fact-finding and reporting entity, you have not only undermined the value (if any) of your endorsements but the overall credibility of the paper itself.

-Christopher P. Covill, Van Meter.

attribution

well, i couldn't have said it better myself. thank you chris!

Letter Of The Day

comes from my hometown newspaper.

By EDGAR DOROW, Osage

The U.S. Senate is set to cut $574 million from the food stamp program as a cost-saving measure, taking critical nutrition support from thousands of families, many of them working. The Senate is also set to pass $70 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans,which is 122 times as much as the food stamp “savings.”

Who is at the public trough here?

I can’t believe that our senators would support either measure; if they do, it is further evidence that wealth runs the government for its own benefits, not for the majority of the people in this democracy.

attribution

radio paradise

wanna listen to some really good music? stuff that doesn't fit in that mold the other stations have?

take a listen to these guys over at paradise radio.

new interface test

i gotta get to learning about trackback.

i think i found a new friend

over at mediacitizen:

That some in mainstream media are no longer giving this president a free pass to the front page is news in its own right. Bush's plummeting approval rating might have something to do with their newfound skepticism, which raises another issue altogether: It seems our media eagerly pile scorn upon a president when his numbers are down, but give him the benefit of the doubt when they're up.

This would suggest that mainstream media don't inform the public based upon the objective merits of a story, but merely tailor their reporting to respond to the flux and flow of popular opinion.

I'll leave that frightening theory to be sorted out by the media analysts at Pew and PEJ. For now, let's look at the propaganda at hand:

you'll not regret reading the rest of the story

hey john

looks like you're doing your job! you fool.

John Carlson reports a Pentagon official says people attacking them are motivated by the opportunity to make money ("Outside Money Fuels Insurgency," Oct. 7). This is why some young people tell me they join the military, too.

Gee, if all this killing and dying is for subsistence, why not redirect resources away from a culture of death to embrace jobs that promote life? We can use more teachers who love children and doctors to heal the sick, transform thousands of acres of military bases into public parks for families.

-Jeffrey J. Weiss, Des Moines.

If John Carlson is correct, then most of the insurgents busy trying to kill our troops are in it for the money, not the love of Islam or an independent Iraq. Which then begs the question: Why on Earth are we fighting these guys rather than just buying them off? Or maybe Carlson just accepted the party line offered by his military hosts without any real reflection?

-John Rovers, Des Moines.

The last time John Carlson visited Iraq he had some encouraging words about the good work our soldiers were doing — working to rebuild schools and assisting Iraqis to rebuild their lives and country. This time we hear the soldiers are dodging bombs, protecting and helping each other, destroying enemy hideouts.

Obviously nothing is being accomplished. The soldiers need to come home before another U.S. soldier dies a meaningless death.

-Karen Parrott, Coralville.

attribution

Letter of the Year

boy, the register is full of 'em today.

Can Bob Uetz in his Oct. 7 letter, "Should Forgo PAC Money," really be serious? If the legislators were not being paid for their votes, how would they know which side to vote for?

I remember, however, once living in a country where "payola" was the unusual, not commonplace. In that country, one of the leaders, President Eisenhower, warned the country to be on guard against a takeover by a military-industrial complex. Of course, who listened to him?

Can you imagine what such a country was like? Legislators actually representing the majority of people, not writing laws making it easier for a small percentage of big-money interests to pollute the environment and drive competitors out of business, not to mention having a leader voted in by the people rather than being put in office by a friendly court?

-Richard Bird, Keosauqua.

attribution

Letter Of The WeeQ

Regarding the Oct. 10 advertisement by Stop Planned Parenthood of Iowa, the Iowa Right to Life Committee and Iowans for Life:

Planned Parenthood spends less than 2 percent of its resources on providing abortions. Its records prove this if people would only take the time to check the facts.

The other 98 percent is spent on providing rural and urban women reproductive health care. That is, mammograms, pap tests, providing birth control (which prevents abortions) to women who cannot afford decent health care because of the cost.

Planned Parenthood is not an adoption agency. Again, an apples-and-orange comparison to try to make the case against Planned Parenthood. Have any of those listed in the Oct. 10 Stop Planned Parenthood of Iowa paid advertisement in the Register adopted children whose mothers could not take care of them for a variety of reasons, i.e. poverty, youth, addiction, etc.?

I'll bet not. This country has left the poor and women out of health-care provisions. Thank God for Planned Parenthood. Keep up the good fight.

-Fran Koontz, Des Moines.

attribution

Letter Of The Day

I was disappointed with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's talk at Drake University Oct. 6. His view that the Constitution was written to keep democracy on track is callous.

It's easy for rich elitists to see democracy as working. I'm of the opinion the document was written with the intent of establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, promoting the general welfare and securing liberty for everyone who wishes to promote the common good of all people.

Government, at all levels, is failing miserably at achieving these ideals. It seems to be devoted to protecting the life, liberty and happiness of elitists who don't make trouble for fellow elitists.

Laws are being passed and interpreted in such a way as to guarantee that more and more people will fall into poverty. While democracy is on a track of kill, incarcerate, punish and torture them "before they destroy us," this isn't assuring us of tranquility, general well-being and liberty for the millions of poor and disadvantaged.

-Robert Lay, Des Moines.

attribution

well, DUH

what else would you expect from hypocrites?

It is jarring to hear demands from the right that Miers be scuttled, after Democrats were scolded when they did not blindly support a president's nominee. No more jarring, however, than to hear President Bush urge confidence in Miers because of her strong religious views, just weeks after Republicans were shocked, shocked! to think anyone would dare bring up John Roberts' Catholic heritage.
--source

i wouldn't go jumpin up and down just yet

but just take a look at these headlines.....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=102

i'm sure no matter when you click, it'll be full of really sweet juice.

Letter Of The Day

it was a tough call today, but the winner is...

John Carlson brings us warm stories of Iowans stationed in Iraq. Without denigrating this angle, I would remind the Register that "Iowans in Iraq" isn't exactly what we don't understand about the war. Where we desperately need insight is about what is happening in Iraq. That is what the war is supposed to be about, and that will tell us whether we are achieving our goals. Is civil society actually too dangerous to report?

-Deborah Fink, Ames.

attribution

the insurance game

"Suppose you walk into a restaurant," he said, "and you don't get a menu, you don't get any choice of what food you'll eat, they don't tell you what it is when they're serving it to you, they don't tell you what it's going to cost. … Although you [eventually] get the bill, you still can't figure out what you really owe."
--nytimes

disconnected from reality

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unscheduled stop in Kabul yesterday. She emphasized electoral progress at a press conference with President Hamid Karzai, who warned that if the opium trade is not brought under control, "we will fail as a state and eventually will fall back into the hands of terrorism." Six aid workers and six Afghan police were killed in the 12 hours or so before Rice's arrival. The Post mentions that foreign reporters traveling with Rice were forced to wear bulletproof vests, "unlike on previous trips to the country."

--today's papers

the bush administration hasn't got a clue as to what is really going on. not a clue.

good news? or bad news?

you decide:

Federal drug regulators have agreed to consider allowing a Pennsylvania company to sell the first rapid, at-home AIDS test that would make testing for the virus about as easy and accessible as a pregnancy screen. The move could put to rest 18 years of controversy.

--source

Letter Of The Day

Cal Thomas' Oct. 5 column, "Trust, but Verify," contains a remark that an earlier Supreme Court appointee (David Souter) is viewed as "a squandered opportunity to end liberal judicial activism." It would be easier to take such complaints seriously if they showed an equal concern about ending conservative judicial activism, but that kind of judicial activism is apparently OK.

Judicial activism is fine as long as it allows the Supreme Court to decide state election results in Florida, providing the result is election of a conservative president. Judicial activism is fine when it allows the Justice Department to attack a state decision by Oregon to decide so-called right-to-die issues.

States' rights used to be a conservative value; no more. Judicial activism is great when it allows the Patriot Act to deny constitutionally guaranteed rights to a speedy trial, due process, etc.

In short, judicial activism is acceptable only insofar as Thomas agrees with its results. Perhaps President Bush should have considered appointing Thomas to the Supreme Court.

-Charles L. Johnson, Fort Dodge.

attribution

a pathetic fact

USAT does the math (counting the homeless) on its own and comes up with 727,304 homeless; 42 percent are families with children.

42%?? that should put tears on a few faces.

a king without a crown

While Mr. DeLay is officially out of his position as majority leader because of his indictment on criminal charges in Texas, he remains the go-to guy for many House Republicans. They say he is virtually indispensable as the party faces the daunting prospect of delivering $50 billion or more in spending cuts as well as an immigration measure in the coming weeks.
--nytimes

if the GOP is sooo dependent on someone like delay, are they really THAT worthy of being in congress to begin with?

Letter Of The Day

david yepsen has won the Poopyhead Of The WeeQ award more times than i can count.

David Yepsen's Sept. 27 tribute to Minnette Doderer was touching ("Remember Doderer's Contributions, Live By Her Example").

But Yepsen, the minister of Republican propaganda, just couldn't find it in his ice-cold heart to mention that this great woman was a Democrat. How sad.

-Jake Blitsch, Oelwein.
David Yepsen's Sept. 27 tribute to Minnette Doderer was touching ("Remember Doderer's Contributions, Live By Her Example").

But Yepsen, the minister of Republican propaganda, just couldn't find it in his ice-cold heart to mention that this great woman was a Democrat. How sad.

-Jake Blitsch, Oelwein.

attribution

Quote of the Day

"I've made do with used furniture and have my staff come in on the weekends with their own Pledge and paper towels to make this place presentable, and he was off spending all that money on himself. I can't believe it."

--Lori Parrish, who succeeded Rocky Rodriguez as Broward County's interim property appraiser

attribution

this is exactly why i'm ashamed to be an American

A top U.N. envoy returning from Sudan's Darfur region and concluding that the government-sponsored violence is actually getting worse.
"I found the situation much more dangerous and worrisome than I expected it to be," he said. "Until last week, there have never been concerted, massive attacks of an indiscriminate nature against civilians" in camps in Darfur. The envoy was going to brief the Security Council but according to the Post was blocked "by the United States and Sudan's three closest allies on the council, Russia, China and Algeria." The Post suggests the block might have something to do with the U.S.'s opposition to the International Criminal Court, though a "senior U.S. official" denied that.

whenever a US official denies something, you can rest assured, he's lying.

cronyism to the fullest

the bush legacy will be that he took care of his friends at the expense of the United States of America.

The list of Bush appointees who seem to be rising on political connections rather than expertise continues to grow. A recent example is President Bush's choice to head a key office at the State Department that coordinates the delivery of life-sustaining emergency aid to refugees of foreign wars, persecution and natural disasters. The nominee is Ellen Sauerbrey, the former Maryland state legislator and twice-defeated Republican candidate for governor who was state chairman of Mr. Bush's 2000 campaign.

--nytimes

Quote of the Year

"Government? We have given up on it. Now it is up to God to save us."
--survivor of the earthquake in kashmir

--attribution

Quote of the Day

"(Candidates) aren't stupid, They see the political landscape. You are asking them to make a huge personal sacrifice. It's a lot easier to make that sacrifice if you think there's a rainbow at the end."
--Tony Fabrizio, a republican pollster

--attribution

the latest on PLAMEGATE

The latest twist in the Plame Affair only deepens the mystery: What's in the suddenly uncovered notebook that documents the previously unknown Judith Miller/Scooter Libby chat of June 25, 2003? Who told the prosecutor about it? And why, exactly, does he want to talk to Miller again?
--EDITOR & PUBLISHER

will karl rove ever be held accountable for what he did to ambassador wilson?

we have a plan, do the republicons?

IRAQ ~ A Progressive Exit Strategy

1,934 U.S. soldiers have died and at least 14,755 soldiers have been wounded in Iraq. Suicide car bombers continue to terrorize Shiite civilians. Sixty-seven percent of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the war, and 63 percent say they want some or all U.S. troops taken out of Iraq. Yesterday, General George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told senators that the number of combat-ready Iraqi battalions has dropped from three to one. Sixty-five percent of Americans think we are spending too much in Iraq, while 64 percent are not confident the money in Iraq is being spent wisely. Despite the bad news, the White House continues its public relations push to keep the American people "updated about the progress" in Iraq. It's time for a new direction. Rather than debate the false choice between “stay the course” and immediate withdrawal, American Progress Senior Fellow Lawrence Korb and Director of Democracy and Public Diplomacy Brian Katulis have developed a progressive exit strategy that would culminate in the withdrawal of most forces by 2007. Their report also calls for an immediate strategic redeployment of existing forces; "a global communications campaign to counter misinformation and hateful ideologies; new regional diplomatic initiatives; and smarter support for Iraq’s renewal." Read more about the problems with the Bush administration's approach and the stronger, progressive alternative.

PRESERVE THE ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY AND REFOCUS ON REAL THREATS: The United States currently has 149,000 troops in Iraq. When asked yesterday if plans for "fairly substantial reductions" in troop levels were going forward, General Casey told reporters, "It's too soon to tell." If we don't bring troops home soon, the Pentagon will "send many units back to Iraq for a third time and to activate Reserve and Guard forces a second or third time." This move would seriously compromise the all-volunteer Army. Rather than keeping our troops in Iraq indefinitely, the progressive exit strategy calls for the U.S. to "begin a slow and irreversible drawdown of military forces in order to preserve our all-volunteer Army and refocus all elements of American power on the real threats our country faces."

A PLAN FOR SUCCESS: The progressive exit strategy consists of two phases. Phase one would occur in 2006 with the drawdown of 80,000 troops out of Iraq by December 31, 2006. The 60,000 remaining U.S. troops would spend 2007 focused on top priorities such as the training of Iraqi security forces, the tightening of Iraq's border, and the tracking down of insurgents with small Special Forces units. The reduced U.S. troops presence "would be more effective in rooting out the insurgents and terrorist networks." Phase two of the drawdown would begin in 2007, and would leave behind a much smaller military force just sufficient enough "to deal with any major external threats to Iraq."

A PROGRESSIVE EXIT STRATEGY MAKES US SAFER: We need to get our troops out of Iraq for one simple reason - it will make Iraq and our troops more secure. A progressive exit strategy is necessary because "keeping our troops in Iraq is actually attracting and motivating America’s terrorist enemies" and the large presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is "making the difficult compromises necessary to complete Iraq’s political transition." Also, Iraqi security forces will never be able to work alone unless we hand them more responsibility for their own security.

BRING THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE HOME: The progressive exit strategy would bring the 46,000 Guard and Reserve troops back home to "focus on shoring up gaps in homeland security." They should no longer be stretched thin by their foreign and domestic duties.

--source

sounds good to me. how 'bout you?

Letter of the WeeQ

Bill Webb (Oct. 2 letter) thinks anti-war protesters are caught in a '60s time warp and that the war is OK because the forces are volunteers. He misunderstands.

We protest because we think American foreign policy toward Iraq is misguided. We protest because it is our tax money being spent to kill Iraqis. We protest because Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction. We protest because there have been abuses and torture committed in our name. We protest because the war is about oil. We protest because "volunteers" could opt out if they thought the war was immoral and wrong. We protest because recruiters target our children with outrageous lies. We protest because America should stand for human rights and rule of law, not might makes right. We protest because the vision of our leaders is guided by religious fanaticism. We protest because America forgot all the lessons it learned from the errors of Nixon and Kissinger in the '60s.

-Rick Whitten, Madrid.
--attribution

Letter Of The Day

David Yepsen is correct when he speaks of repealing the two-term limit on presidents. Just think about it. If there had been no limit for the 2000 election, Bill Clinton would have handily won a third term and the country would have avoided the terrible situation we are currently in.

-Gene Watson, Des Moines.
--attribution

the lied (again)

WASHINGTON — In the spring of 2003, Los Angeles police officials were summoned to a briefing with the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force and told that the 73-story Library Tower might have been the target of a terrorist plot similar to that of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.

When the plot was disclosed last year, authorities said publicly that they had viewed the claims by captured Al Qaeda chieftain Khalid Shaikh Mohammed with skepticism. They said that, at best, the alleged plot was something that had been discussed but never put into action.

...

On Friday, the White House responded to questions seeking clarification on the potential attacks by referring inquiries to the FBI or other counter-terrorism agencies. The FBI referred the questions to the White House.
--WaPo

that's right, they get caught in a lie, and they brush it off knowing the media won't dare ask any serious questions.

the FARPOINT FACTOID

According to one study, 26 percent of all fraud victims knew the person who took their information, and as much as 50 percent of those who commited debit card fraud are a family member or friend. Computer viruses or hackers only accounted for 2.2 percent of all identity theft.

--source

so the old adage is true then. keep your enemies close, but watch your friends even closer.

an interesting point i ran across today

in today's papers on slate. in

Recent studies paid for by the government have shown shortcomings in the early drug company results. The WP quotes a pharmaceutical company lobbyist saying these studies should be paid for by the government because they're too expensive and would "probably bring drug development to a halt." This claim is left unexplored by the Post even though widely available data could raise questions about the assertion. In an article published by the New York Review of Books last year, Marcia Angell wrote that the combined profits of the 10 drug companies in 2002, listed in the Fortune 500, was $35.9 billion, which was more than the profits of all the other businesses in the list put together. Also, on average, the 10 biggest drug companies spent 14 percent of their total sales on research and development in 2000, compared to 36 percent on marketing and administration.

the drug companies are making a killing and they want us to believe that they need the government to pay for studies they should pay for because it's too expensive. how can you still have a straight face and say that is beyond me.

Letter Of The Day

The Republican House majority leader has been indicted, the Senate majority leader is under investigation for illegal insider trading, the deputy chief of staff and others are under investigation for blowing a CIA agent's cover, the top federal procurement officer was arrested, the former attorney general is being called to testify about torture abuses and who knows what happened in the secret energy-policy meetings Dick Cheney held before the sudden California energy crisis appeared just long enough to drain tens of billions of dollars from California to Houston and then, nearly as fast, disappeared. And on and on and on.

Republicans are so efficient, it took them only 10 years in power to become as bloated and corrupt as Democrats had become after 40 years in control.

-William C. Stosine, Iowa City.
--attribution

put 2 and 2 together and whaddaya get?

USAT fronts an in-house analysis showing that most nursing homes have been cited for some form of fire-code violations, but with weak federal and state regulations only a tiny fraction of homes are ever fined. Moreover, Congress has declined to mandate that all nursing homes have fire sprinklers. The nursing industry argues that installing them would cost too much. The industry has also donated $11 million to congressional campaigns since 1999.

too bad USAT didn't bother to find out how much it would cost to put those sprinklers in, because i'll betcha a nickel it could be done for 11 mil.

on the katrina handouts to the corporate thieves

A FEMA spokeswoman later said the new bidding process affects only the four largest no-bid deals. Those are $100 million contracts awarded to the Shaw Group, Bechtel Corp., CH2M Hill Inc. and Fluor Corp. to find and engineer sites for temporary housing for displaced residents.

--WaPo

if you care to know, those companies made out like bandits on the iraqi mess too.

thank you LA Times

The White House later issued a list of the foiled plots, citing potential Sept. 11-style airliner attacks on both coasts, a plan to blow up apartment buildings and surveillance of gas stations, bridges and tourist sites nationwide. But several senior law enforcement officials interviewed later questioned whether many of the incidents on the list constituted an imminent threat to public safety and said that authorities had not disrupted any operational terrorist plot within the United States since the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
--source

why does he continue to make such radical statement that are clearly not true?

who the hell is ronnie earle?

he's the man who i really think has his man.
esquire's got a bit on him. i suggest reading it, then listening to one of delay's whining sessions about some 'rogue prosecutor' is on his butt.

http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2005/050928_mfe_earle_1.html

you'll just fall in love with 'rogue prosecutors' after that.

i have now so many telephone numbers

i dont know if i'm just on one of these compulsive behavior panic trips or what, but i now have the following numbers:

• 641.226.5205 (vonage)
• 347.733.8430 (virgin mobile)
• 989.785.0243 (skype)
• 641.201.3091 (mediacom)

really. mediacom's giving me 3 months free AND $50 credit on my bill for beta testing their entry. skype was something i had before i switched from qwest to vonage.

my conclusion as to which is better? not yet. soon.

from the Good News department

RNKVoIP, a division of full-service CLEC and telecommunications company RNK Telecom, based in Dedham, Mass., today announced it is working with the Freedom Calls Foundation to provide free VoIP calls to U.S. service men and women, from three locations Iraq.

"U.S. troops want to reach out and touch their families and friends," said RNK Telecom president Richard Koch "With RNKVoIP, U.S. soldiers can make unlimited alls to anywhere in the U.S. free of charge," he added.

Koch noted that the three locations served are 'transfer points,' with large numbers of military personnel passing through each day. At Camp Taji, 23 miles northwest of Baghdad, some 1,500 troops on an average day, have an opportunity to stop in at RNK's IP phone stations and call home to the U.S. Did we mention that calls are totally free of charge? They are, and the phone facilities are open 24x7. Similar facilities are in operation at Camp Fallujah, and at Al Asad airbase.

--source

now THIS is what America is about.

informational article on democrats and their future in politics

brought to light some 'myths' that i have never heard of, but maybe you have.

The belief Democrats can win if they just do a great job of mobilizing their base. Republicans have improved at mobilizing their own base, so Democrats need to do more than that.

does this mean that doing a great job at mobilizing your base isn't important any more?

The theory demographic changes over time will make Democrats a majority, a questionable concept with the Hispanic vote increasingly up for grabs.

i have never heard such a thing, but isn't it true regardless?

The belief Democrats can succeed politically if they simply learn to talk more effectively about their positions.

now THAT i believe is hitting the nail on the head.

The strategy of avoiding cultural issues, playing down national security and changing the subject to domestic issues. National security is too dominant a concern now.

it is because the 'democrats' allowed republicons to make it a high priority.

The report noted Republican gains among married people, Catholics, Hispanics and women during the last presidential election.

as if democrats didn't make inroads into traditional right-wing demographics.

Democrats must choose to appeal to a broader majority that includes many moderates, said Galston, a political scientist at the University of Maryland.

a classic "me-too" strategy never worked for me.

The Democrats also must develop a coherent foreign policy because "we just don't have one," said Kamarck, a political scientist at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

how in the fuck can you sit there and tell me that 'we just don't have' a coherent foreign policy. democrats aren't running around creating wars with everybody like republicons, and you're saying we don't have a coherent foreign policy???

--source

obviously this interview was with a man who strokes his ego more times than harry longdong stroked his dick.

unbelievable

from the BBC

President George W. Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.

In Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, a major three-part series on BBC TWO (at 9.00pm on Monday 10, Monday 17 and Monday 24 October), Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.

Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"

proof that george bush junior is in serious need of professional mental help.