There is only one TestPattern. Pay no attention to Gael Fashingbauer Cooper's "Test Pattern" blog on MSNBC.com. First, she is a professional writer. All of us here are amateurs. Second, you won't catch any of us prattling on about Halloween costumes or the death of Fred “Rerun” Berry, of "What's Happening" fame.
Accept No Substitutes
Lost Hunter Starts Fire; Kills 11
FOXNews reports that the largest blaze currently burning in Southern California, the so-called Cedar Fire, was started by a lost hunter. If the fact that he is a hunter weren't proof enough of his stupidity, he had to go and: 1) get lost, and 2) start a signal fire in high fire risk conditions. Would it be a stretch to assume that the man probably voted for George Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger, too?
Thanks to this man's idiocy, eleven have been killed and more than 150,000 acres have been destroyed. Will the hunter face criminal charges? One can only hope so, but I imagine that the gun/hunter lobby is already making amicus balatro calls on his behalf. And you wonder why the Enron crooks are still not locked up?
In a rich bit of irony, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, said, "Those who start these fires are no better than domestic terrorists and should be dealt with as such."
Why is the TSA Failing Its Mission?
Wouldn't you say that the "complaints" about the "loopholes" are justified? Obviously the folks at the TSA don't know what they hell they're doing. Sure, it's a "massive challenge," but the TSA has a $5.2 billion budget, and some 48,000 "specially trained airport screeners."
Isn't a year enough time to figure things out? How many screeners does it take to prevent a 20-year-old college student from smuggling box cutters and simulated explosives onto commercial aircraft? How long should it take airline personnel to find these items after they've been successfully smuggled onto the aircraft?
Officials at TSA blame human error and lack of funds. I say, let them prove that they're not wasting our money before we give them another penny.
Randal Null, security technology chief for the TSA, said, "There has been progress and a lot is going on. But the key fact is that with any system there is no single silver bullet that will give us 100 percent security." Progress? Like what, letting a woman bring a loaded gun on board in her carry-on? Or letting another peel an apple with her 5-inch knife that the TSA screeners didn't notice?
James Loy told the House Aviation Subcommittee, "We cannot provide world-class security on the cheap."
Maybe too much of the TSA budget is going towards the bomb-sniffing dog program ($6 million), X-ray bag scanners ($750,000 apiece installed at 429 airports), or new biometric devices that scan eyes and hands? Damn, with Loy's sense of budgetting, just be glad he's not in charge of our efforts in Iraq.
I would suggest taking a closer look at what James Loy, a former Coast Guard Admiral, has done so far while at the helm of the TSA.
An article from July ("A man of the sea, keeping trouble out of the skies," U.S. News & World Report, July 28, 2003, Vol. 135 , No. 3; Pg. 28) notes, among other things, that
Sounds like he's running a tight ship, doesn't it? And if that weren't enought to raise a few eyebrows, Loy believes that unions are incompatible with combatting terrorism!?
Should anyone be surprised that a Bush apointee is anti-union, lets contractors get away with larceny and hires convicts? I say, whoever beats Bush next year should fire James Loy and get someone else who is up to the job.
Several media outlets have picked up a story by "MURIEL DOBBIN - McClatchy Newspapers," that might as well have been passed along by someone working for James Loy, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.
The headline reads, "TSA Making Progress, Long Way to Go." Already it reeks of spin, doesn't it? Yeah, we've got a tough assignment, but we're making headway. Give us a break!
Dobbin leads with:
As millions of Americans plan Thanksgiving and Christmas travel, they remain haunted by the question of airplane safety in the age of terrorism.
Complaints about security loopholes still beset the Transportation Security Administration, a year-old agency spawned by the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The TSA is struggling to meet the massive challenge of checking airport passengers - and their billion-plus bags - every year.
Wouldn't you say that the "complaints" about the "loopholes" are justified? Obviously the folks at the TSA don't know what they hell they're doing. Sure, it's a "massive challenge," but the TSA has a $5.2 billion budget, and some 48,000 "specially trained airport screeners."
Isn't a year enough time to figure things out? How many screeners does it take to prevent a 20-year-old college student from smuggling box cutters and simulated explosives onto commercial aircraft? How long should it take airline personnel to find these items after they've been successfully smuggled onto the aircraft?
Officials at TSA blame human error and lack of funds. I say, let them prove that they're not wasting our money before we give them another penny.
Randal Null, security technology chief for the TSA, said, "There has been progress and a lot is going on. But the key fact is that with any system there is no single silver bullet that will give us 100 percent security." Progress? Like what, letting a woman bring a loaded gun on board in her carry-on? Or letting another peel an apple with her 5-inch knife that the TSA screeners didn't notice?
James Loy told the House Aviation Subcommittee, "We cannot provide world-class security on the cheap."
Maybe too much of the TSA budget is going towards the bomb-sniffing dog program ($6 million), X-ray bag scanners ($750,000 apiece installed at 429 airports), or new biometric devices that scan eyes and hands? Damn, with Loy's sense of budgetting, just be glad he's not in charge of our efforts in Iraq.
I would suggest taking a closer look at what James Loy, a former Coast Guard Admiral, has done so far while at the helm of the TSA.
An article from July ("A man of the sea, keeping trouble out of the skies," U.S. News & World Report, July 28, 2003, Vol. 135 , No. 3; Pg. 28) notes, among other things, that
"convicted criminals landed TSA screener jobs ... One contractor's deal somehow ballooned to $ 700 million--nearly seven times the original estimate. And Loy was chastised for using the luxury Wyndham Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa near chic Telluride, Colo., to interview screener candidates. He says the hotel offered government rates and was centrally located to five airports that needed screeners--but not everyone's buying the explanation."
Sounds like he's running a tight ship, doesn't it? And if that weren't enought to raise a few eyebrows, Loy believes that unions are incompatible with combatting terrorism!?
He won't allow TSA screeners to engage in collective bargaining, he says, because it's "not compatible with the flexibility required to wage the war against terrorism." The Fair Labor Relations Authority agrees, but American Federation of Government Employees President Bobby Harnage is livid. Loy "does not appear to fully appreciate the value of the workforce having an input," he complains."
Should anyone be surprised that a Bush apointee is anti-union, lets contractors get away with larceny and hires convicts? I say, whoever beats Bush next year should fire James Loy and get someone else who is up to the job.
Thoughts On Levi's Leaving ...
This coarse betrayal of the long term interest of America and the American People by the businesses that prospered on the efforts of these same American people, with the energetic complicity of various national leaders will, I hope, awaken the sleeping giant as once before and bring about a similar victory.
In the end the challenge to the deceivers who support this travesty should go something as follows, "Are you loyal to money or are you loyal to the American people and the American Nation"?!
Those who have been proclaiming their love of America while operating as agents of its relentless economic, cultural, and ultimately nationalistic erosion have been terrorizing our nation family by family, and town by town...inflicting millions of civilian casualties as the life blood of livelihood and economic security has given way to the corrosive impact of a cult of predatory international capital operators who could care a whit about the long term prosperity and national security of America and its people.
This is terrorism too. If these businesses want to relocate overseas then fine, it's Aloha on the steel guitar, but they should be prohibited from selling the product of their traitorous betrayal to the American people. I believe in Economic Patriotism; loyalty to America, not international capital. Without Economic Patriotism there is no America; no unifying force of ideals and mutual loyalty based on national kinship. Loyalty to capital formation at the expense of our country's culture and cohesiveness has successfully (and sneakily) been asserted as the definition of Patriotism.
My feeling is that a more appropriate definition for the cult of international capital is Parasitism. This will, if allowed to continue, brutally hurt our country and its citizens. It is NOT Patriotic, though it serves the private money interests of various individuals to make believe that it is. It is a cruel and disloyal deception that undermines whatever is left of a unique American culture and a specific American identity. It is treason. These businesses should not be allowed to sell their products in America after having abetted the destruction of the livelihood of American families.
I ask my fellow citizens who posture as bold advocates of Family Values to go a centimeter beyond your transparently facile sloganeering and in the interest of your avowed Patriotism consider the effect of the wholesale evacuation of american businesses from The Homeland to the benevolent precincts of Saipan Island and other points East.
- What does the termination of a man's livelihood do to his family?
- How does losing a job for no fault of your own play out in the hearth and home?
- What does it do to the relationships within that family?
- What does it do to the planning re: college etc?
- What does it do to the health insurance and mortgage obligations?
- What does it do to the children?
This coarse betrayal of the long term interest of America and the American People by the businesses that prospered on the efforts of these same American people, with the energetic complicity of various national leaders will, I hope, awaken the sleeping giant as once before and bring about a similar victory.
In the end the challenge to the deceivers who support this travesty should go something as follows, "Are you loyal to money or are you loyal to the American people and the American Nation"?!
Those who have been proclaiming their love of America while operating as agents of its relentless economic, cultural, and ultimately nationalistic erosion have been terrorizing our nation family by family, and town by town...inflicting millions of civilian casualties as the life blood of livelihood and economic security has given way to the corrosive impact of a cult of predatory international capital operators who could care a whit about the long term prosperity and national security of America and its people.
To them, if the truth be known, there is no such thing as an American. To them, American citizens are merely economic units, insects of labor, to be used as neccessary, and then discarded like any other fungible commodity. In fact, the specific concept of nationalistic fraternity is threatening to these global manipulators who view emotional links to faith, family, and country as irrational, compared to their self-serving paradigm of the uniquely rational movements of capital and the market.
To them, any consideration of the noxious impact of their disloyal maneuverings is considered heresy to market principles.
It's time these Anti-American scourges were brought to heel by an outraged citizenry who, enlightened and emboldened by a dynamic leadership, and annealed by repeated betrayals from the international capital cult, reasserted the defiant primacy of AMERICAN PRINCIPLES over the market trick that has been inflicted on them lo these past twenty-five years.
And then they should start taking names with respect to "the conservatives" who lied to them while cynically betraying the culture and community and future of the country they pretended to love as a ruse to destroy it.
Have a Subversive Weekend!
Enjoy your weekend!
If you're looking for a little subversive diversion this weekend, I have a few suggestions:
- Get motivated! Listen to Michael Moore's speech at San Francisco State University, recorded this Monday. You'll laugh so hard you may just be inspired to stop watching the World Series and do something! (Go Marlins!?)
- Get informed! Subscribe to the FREE email dispatch from TomPaine.com and you'll find out that George Bush has passive solar and geothermal heating and cooling at his Crawford Ranch. If renewable energy is good enough for him, why isn't it good enough for the rest of us?
- Speak out! There are battles being waged in Congress right now. Contact your elected officials and let them know where you stand. Make a phone call or write a letter. Believe it or not, they do pay attention. Just look at the recent passed legislation lifting the travel ban on Cuba. (Let's stop Bush from vetoing this.) Politicians tend to be timid, so hold them accountable and get them to do what's right.
- Put your money where your mouth is! Give your money (and your time) to a non-profit, or a deserving political candidate. Switch your long distance phone service to Working Assets, which donates its profits to charity. Invest in a socially responsible mutual fund. Try spending some of your money supporting local businesses, instead of corporate chains.
Enjoy your weekend!
'We're a Free People.'
Boykin sounds like someone straight out of the Middle Ages - he must feel right at home working for the Bush administration. Here are a few choice Boykin quotes excerpted from a piece by Fareed Zakaria:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has refused to condemn Boykin, stating, "We're a free people." Amen to that, and to women having the freedom to have an abortion, to people having the freedom to die with dignity, and to Americans having the freedom of a government which hasn't been hijacked by radicals like Bush, Brown, Boykin and Rumsfeld.
Howard Fineman is right. Next year's election is looking to be a culture war of the highest order. The best I can tell is that the Republicans have taken the offensive in every single battle so far, and are consistently winning. It's time for the Democrats to not only strike back, but also start a few battles of their own. Here are some examples of recent fights:
- a ban on "partial birth" abortions is passed by Congress
- Florida Governor Jeb Bush signs a one-time only law ordering that tube feeding be resumed for severely brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, who has been in a vegetative state for 13 years
- Republicans nominate to the federal bench Janice Rogers Brown, a conservative idealogue who happens to be black, and accuse Democrats of racism for opposing her
- Gen. William Boykin gives speeches in uniform where he refers to the war in Iraq as a crusade between good and evil.
Boykin sounds like someone straight out of the Middle Ages - he must feel right at home working for the Bush administration. Here are a few choice Boykin quotes excerpted from a piece by Fareed Zakaria:
"I knew that my God was bigger than his God. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol." He has also repeatedly explained that America's enemy was "a spiritual enemy . . . called Satan." The enemy, he added, will be defeated only "if we come against them in the name of Jesus."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has refused to condemn Boykin, stating, "We're a free people." Amen to that, and to women having the freedom to have an abortion, to people having the freedom to die with dignity, and to Americans having the freedom of a government which hasn't been hijacked by radicals like Bush, Brown, Boykin and Rumsfeld.
Michael Moore Energizes Crowd at SFSU
"These people [the Bush administration] are serial liars, and it is incredible that they have gotten away with it for so long. Once people find out the truth, they will respond."
"The American public, when you say that word, the first image that should come into your head should not be one that looks like me. It should look like Oprah."
"You live in a liberal country and we need to start saying it and believing it because it's the truth. The only reason it doesn't look like that is because the liberal leaders have done anything but lead. All they've done is follow or try to be like Republicans."
"If someone who [like Gen. Wesley Clark] voted for Reagan now says, 'I'm joining your team, I don't believe in that anymore,' we have to open up our arms. This is why people don't like the left. This is why people don't like liberals. … That's why nobody wants to join [the Democratic Party]. We're so on our high horse."
Bush Republicans Continue to Play the Race Card:
Contact Your Senators Today
I thought I had seen it all, but watching the Senate Judiciary hearings today for Janice Rogers Brown really took the cake. I saw Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama tossing softballs to a radically conservative black woman being considered for a federal judgeship. (I swear she was made up to look like Anita Hill.) Sessions actually quoted Martin Luther King at one point, to his and Ms. Brown's mutual delight.
And even while they attack those who criticize her as being special interest groups catering to the far-left, they lament that no one is defending her. Thomas Sowell, another black conservative apologist, writes: "The real question is whether the administration that nominated Justice Brown will mount a serious counter-attack or leave her out there, twisting in the wind, the way it did with Miguel Estrada and its other judicial nominees. Have you seen anything by anybody, anywhere, defending Janice Rogers Brown?" Well, duh, I'm reading your column, aren't I?
If the far-right Republicans respected the process, and their colleagues, not to mention their fellow Americans, they would nominate candidates that weren't so aggressively unprincipled and intemperate in their views. Instead of nominating candidates that everyone can agree on, they continue to see how much they can get away with. And it's about time that stopped.
Contact Your Senators Today
"When we opposed Charles Pickering, we were called anti-Southern . . . When we opposed Miguel Estrada, we were called anti-Hispanic . . . When we opposed Priscilla Owen, they were reduced to branding us as anti-woman, a complaint that is so laughable it's hard to even mention it. And in a particularly despicable ploy . . .when we opposed William Pryor, the right stooped to religious McCarthyism."
"Let the right-wing tactic of smears and name-calling subside and disappear. Let us not see the race card dealt from the shameful deck of unfounded charges as some stalwarts of this president's most extreme nominees have come to rely on as they inject partisanship and politics into the appointment and consideration of judges."
--Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT
I thought I had seen it all, but watching the Senate Judiciary hearings today for Janice Rogers Brown really took the cake. I saw Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama tossing softballs to a radically conservative black woman being considered for a federal judgeship. (I swear she was made up to look like Anita Hill.) Sessions actually quoted Martin Luther King at one point, to his and Ms. Brown's mutual delight.
Senators Feinstein, Leahy and Feingold each used Brown's own words to expose her for what she really is: a judicial advocate who gives little credence to legal precedent and is happy to serve the interests of the most radical right wing elements in this country. Not only is she unqualified to judge, I would guess that she is unqualified to interpret the law in any capacity, unless that means reading with blinders and 3-D glasses, where every conclusion is backwards and contrary to a law's intent.
Playing the race card has become a favored strategy of the Bush Republicans lately. They've played it several times with judicial nominations: Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, and now Brown. They claimed that each of these nominations were "highly qualified," which simply isn't true. Republicans had the nerve to accuse Democrats of being racist for filibustering Estrada's nomination. Now they're calling the criticism of Brown a lynch mob.
These people have no sense of decency or irony, it seems. The clearly misguided things that Brown is on the record for saying, they use to defend her.
"Discrimination on the basis of race is illegal, immoral, unconstitutional, inherently wrong, and destructive of democratic society." A conservative firebrand, Brown has defended her opinions against racial preferences by stating that government has been "transformed from a necessary evil to a nanny, or a goody bag to solve our private problems."
As for government intrusion in general, Brown has said, "Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates, and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege, war in the streets … the precipitous decline of the rule of law, the rapid rise of corruption, the loss of civility, and the triumph of deceit."
And even while they attack those who criticize her as being special interest groups catering to the far-left, they lament that no one is defending her. Thomas Sowell, another black conservative apologist, writes: "The real question is whether the administration that nominated Justice Brown will mount a serious counter-attack or leave her out there, twisting in the wind, the way it did with Miguel Estrada and its other judicial nominees. Have you seen anything by anybody, anywhere, defending Janice Rogers Brown?" Well, duh, I'm reading your column, aren't I?
Do a Google search for yourself and you'll find the rightwing rhetoric to be clearly divisive and racist on Brown's nomination. The Democrats have been clear about their objections to Brown, which have nothing to do with race and everything to do with her extremist political philosophy and judicial advocacy. But those on the right continue to accuse the Democrats of racism, as if they are the only ones who notice that Brown is black. Ironic, huh?
Marni Soupcoff writes in the conservative FrontPageMag, "A Brown seat on the Supreme Court would mean one more vote for a jurisprudence of true [her italics, not mine] equal rights, rather than one of forced racial and sex preferences." Here is another example of the kind of disingenuous rhetoric I'm hearing from the right:
They take great pride in telling women, minorities, or those of some "special" classification, that the only political party which adequately addresses their unique needs is the Democrat Party. However, the "needs" of these groups are not what drive the Democrats to clamor for their attention. Rather, it is the fact that these groups have traditionally voted Democrat that earns them the attention of the Democrat Party elite. Take a women or a minority who happens to be a conservative, and the needs of that person are not quite as important as they used to be. In fact, that person now becomes persona nongrata to the Democrats.
If the far-right Republicans respected the process, and their colleagues, not to mention their fellow Americans, they would nominate candidates that weren't so aggressively unprincipled and intemperate in their views. Instead of nominating candidates that everyone can agree on, they continue to see how much they can get away with. And it's about time that stopped.
I'm stating the obvious here, but there is no sign of things improving anytime in the foreseeable future. Nothing will change in Washington until we have a Democrat in the White House and the Democrats back in charge in Congress, either the Senate and the House. Maybe some of them don't deserve our support or our respect, but the alternative has so far been a nightmare that keeps getting worse. There just aren't enough Republicans with the integrity and sufficient power to keep the GOP from being continually hijacked by the likes of Orrin Hatch, Jeff Sessions and other Bush Republicans.
Take a few minutes to make your views known to your senators. We can keep the Bush Republicans from getting away with this.
Nathaniel Heatwole Exposes Lax Airport Security
Homeland Security Arrests Him
Prosecutors aren't buying that Heatwole was performing a public service, mainly because as a result of his actions they've been publicly humiliated, had to search 7,000 commercial aircraft and have faced "questions about the adequacy of airport security two years after the Sept. 11 attacks."
Heatwole told the Greensboro News & Record, "I have a ton of stuff I'd like to say, but now is not the time. I have to work with the government before I work with the media."
Read for yourself what the TSA had to say about this incident. It's almost laughable, if the stakes for this well-intentioned but naive college student weren't so high.
Heatwole faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.
Homeland Security Arrests Him
Nathaniel Heatwole, 20, a student at Guilford College in North Carolina, has been arrested for carrying box cutters, bleach, matches and modeling clay onto domestic passenger airliners to expose security shortcomings. Instead, he should be given a medal.
Several Democrats, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Edward Markey, have said that he should perform community service if it is determined that Heatwole did not have criminal intent. Pelosi told reporters,"I'm not commending him. I'm just saying that he taught us a lesson."
Heatwole planted bags of banned items on Southwest aircraft and notified the Transportation Security Administration in an e-mail last month, providing his name and phone number and explaining what he had done - but the hidden items still went undiscovered for five weeks. One might understand why the TSA is embarassed about this, but does this sound like the behavior of a criminal?
"I can tell you he's a bright, sharp, accomplished young man," said Jack Hammett, president of the Potomac Valley Radio Club, which awarded him a $1,000 scholarship this summer.
The club's August newsletter describes Heatwole as a double major in physics and political science at Guilford College, a liberal arts school, founded by Quakers, with a history of civil disobedience dating to its resistance of Confederate conscription during the Civil War.
Heatwole won a dean's award last year for writing, and a $2,500 school scholarship this year for "outstanding character, intellect and scholarship."
Prosecutors aren't buying that Heatwole was performing a public service, mainly because as a result of his actions they've been publicly humiliated, had to search 7,000 commercial aircraft and have faced "questions about the adequacy of airport security two years after the Sept. 11 attacks."
Heatwole told the Greensboro News & Record, "I have a ton of stuff I'd like to say, but now is not the time. I have to work with the government before I work with the media."
"This young man blew a whistle so that tomorrow, no one can blow up an airplane in the United States," said Rep. Markey.
"He has pointed out a very serious security deficiency. He e-mailed the TSA and said he had put box cutters on planes. And for more than a month, they did not respond to that warning even though he left his phone number with them. So this is, without question, very troubling."
"The Bush administration can't, on the one hand, say that this young man committed a very serious crime and then at the same time say that they didn't respond to the e-mail at the Department of Homeland Security because it wasn't an imminent threat. They can't have it both ways. Either the young man did something that was very serious, or he didn't."
Markey also chastised the agency for cutting 6,000 baggage screeners and for continuing to support the loading of cargo aboard passenger planes without physical screening or inspection.
Markey said the agency has also failed to complete background checks on many of its own employees and has hired convicted criminals.
Read for yourself what the TSA had to say about this incident. It's almost laughable, if the stakes for this well-intentioned but naive college student weren't so high.
Heatwole faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.
Memories of Reagan at Bitburg
Guess who was there at Bitburg the day that Reagan made this grotesquely hypocritical utterance? None other than Michael Moore. He told the story tonight while lecturing to a sold-out audience at San Francisco State University. Not only was the lecture sold-out, there were 700 people who watched a live simulcast in a theater on campus. Moore says he's received enthusiastic receptions everywhere he's been so far, promoting his new book, "Dude, Where's My Country?"
I was in high school at the time, and didn't quite grasp the significance of Ronald Reagan's speech at Bitburg Air Base on May 5, 1985. But I do remember that there was a great deal of controversy surrounding the visit, since an American president visiting a cemetery where many Nazi SS soldiers were buried seemed to send the wrong message about our role in World War II. He did so, despite the protests of many prominent American Jews.
Today freedom-loving people around the world must say: I am a Berliner. I am a Jew in a world still threatened by anti-Semitism. I am an Afghan, and I am a prisoner of the Gulag. I am a refugee in a crowded boat foundering off the coast of Vietnam. I am a Laotian, a Cambodian, a Cuban, and a Miskito Indian in Nicaragua. I, too, am a potential victim of totalitarianism.
The one lesson of World War II, the one lesson of nazism, is that freedom must always be stronger than totalitarianism and that good must always be stronger than evil. The moral measure of our two nations will be found in the resolve we show to preserve liberty, to protect life, and to honor and cherish all God's children.
Guess who was there at Bitburg the day that Reagan made this grotesquely hypocritical utterance? None other than Michael Moore. He told the story tonight while lecturing to a sold-out audience at San Francisco State University. Not only was the lecture sold-out, there were 700 people who watched a live simulcast in a theater on campus. Moore says he's received enthusiastic receptions everywhere he's been so far, promoting his new book, "Dude, Where's My Country?"
It seems that Moore may be right when he says that the United States is essentially a liberal country at heart, although you wouldn't know that from listening to the government or the corporate media. The fact that "Stupid White Men" sold 4 million copies and his new book has already sold a million copies, while "Bowling for Columbine" has been a huge success, makes it pretty obvious that Moore is saying what people want to hear in a way they want to hear it. Next stop: Albuquerque.
Halliburton Robs US Army for Profit
What do you call it when a company contracts with the US government to provide a product or service and then blatantly overcharges them for it? Ask Dick Cheney.
First off, Dick Cheney's former employer was awarded a no-bid contract to extinguish oil fires and restore the oil industry in Iraq. Now Halliburton is overcharging the US Army, though its Kellog Brown & Root subsidiary, between $1.62 and $1.70 per gallon of gasoline, while Iraqis are charged between 4 cents and 15 cents. KBR has been paid $1.4 billion through September, $762.4 million of which went to purchase and distribute gasoline, including diesel fuel, kerosene and propane.
Don't expect the truth out of Halliburton. Spokeswoman Wendy Hall said, "KBR is not responsible for establishing the price Iraqi motorists pay for gasoline at the pump." And don't expect anyone from the US Army Corps of Engineers to blow the whistle on KBR's price gouging. Corps spokesman Scott Saunders said Halliburton's KBR subsidiary is getting "the best price possible."
I hope that integrity might yet prevail in the Corps of Engineers. I expect nothing but lies, fraud and manipulation from a company that used to have Dick Cheney at its helm.
Democrats Stand Up for US and the Military
One can only guess which of the Bush administration's many lies that Senator Graham was referring to.
If this president and his party were serious about supporting our troops, they would support such an amendment in a heartbeat. Obey has proven several times now that they couldn't care less about the American people, even those who serve in our armed forces.
In the reporting of today's House and Senate votes on President Bush's $87 billion request for the military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, one item was nearly lost. Once again, it wasn't the Republicans that stood up for our men and women in uniform, but Democrats like Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.).
The Senate voted 51 to 47 to make half of President Bush's $20.3 billion Iraq rebuilding plan into a loan, thanks to an outbreak of sanity among eight Republican Senators: Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Colo.), John Ensign (Nev.), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), Sam Brownback (Kans.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine). Their votes came despite the fact that four Democrats went the other way: Zell Miller (Ga.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Daniel K. Inouye (Hawaii) and Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.).
"I don't want to give in to a great lie. You can't buy your way out of this problem," said Graham, one of the five Republican co-authors of the Senate's loan provision. "You can't take $10 billion of taxpayer money, [while] people are losing their jobs, to buy your way out of a great lie. It would be terrible if the people of this country who have sacrificed so much wound up not getting a dime back."
One can only guess which of the Bush administration's many lies that Senator Graham was referring to.
This patriot also noticed that Rep. Obey proposed an amendment
that would have shifted $3.6 billion from the Iraq reconstruction fund to the U.S. military to pay for the medical and dental screening of military reservists, for family assistance centers, for pre-paid phone cards for the troops in Iraq, for the transportation of troops on rest-and-relaxation leave, for the construction of more water treatment and power plants for the deployed troops, and for the repair and replacement of damaged equipment. The amendment died, 216 to 209.
If this president and his party were serious about supporting our troops, they would support such an amendment in a heartbeat. Obey has proven several times now that they couldn't care less about the American people, even those who serve in our armed forces.
California Thievin'
Here we go again. Arnold Schwarzenegger, aka Pete Wilson's Austrian he-bitch, hasn't even moved into the Governor's mansion and he's already talking about resurrecting the energy deregulation policies that nearly crippled California two years ago. (Ok, so Arnold won't be living in the mansion, but never mind. Can we send a robot into the future to kill him?)
Don't these guys ever get tired of fraud, abuse and manipulation? Shame on them for lying to us about deregulation the first time, but shame on us for letting them lie to us again. Remember what they promised? Cheaper, more plentiful energy. Remember what we got? Blackouts and soaring energy bills. Remember what they got? $50 billion worth of market-manipulated earnings.
On a related note, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that natural gas rates will go up 30% this winter, just in time for Christmas bonuses! (Don't forget, this is the same company that declared bankruptcy the same year that its parent company reported record profits.)
Geez, how stupid do they think we are? The story about Schwarzenegger's meeting with Enron's Ken Lay won't be a secret for much longer. And we all know that deregulation was a failed experiment. Deregulation didn't fail because it was poorly executed, or not fully executed as some argue, but just because it was plain stupid. And just another chance for some Texas oilmen to get rich at someone else's expense. With Schwarzenegger, they have another movie star to put a smiley face on their thievery.
Suggested Reading:
"Blackout," FRONTLINE.
"California's Energy Crisis," The San Francisco Chronicle.
"How Californians Got Burned," The Sacramento Bee, May 6, 2001.
"PG&E's Propaganda War" San Francisco Bay Guardian, January 3, 2001.
Molly Ivins Is One Of Us
So, I'm at this book signing by Molly Ivins for her book "Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America".
I asked her to sign it "To the testpattern bloggers - the revolution will not be televised."
When she saw that, she laughed and said in that gravelly voice, "I think I'm one of them."
Anyway, if anybody wants to read it when I'm done, let me know.
George W. Bush, Stop Lying!
I've had it up to here with George W. Bush. He lies about practically everything - weapons of mass destruction, tax cuts for the rich to create jobs and grow the economy, the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Fine. But I'm sick and tired of this imbecile lying about Sammy Sosa!
Earth to George! 1) You were not a real managing partner for the Texas Rangers. You just played one on TV. 2) While you were masquerading in this role and your daddy was prepping you to be the next Governor of Texas, the Rangers traded Sosa to the Chicago White Sox. Three years later, Sosa was traded by the Sox to the Cubs. Claiming responsibility for that trade is like, hell I don't know, maybe claiming responsibility for the deaths of all the US soldiers who have died in Iraq since you led us into war. No, you didn't kill them personally, but you acted in a way to make their deaths possible.
What follows is a particulary galling example of Bush lying with almost every breath he takes. Does this guy even know the truth? One has to wonder if he isn't so deluded as to believe the shit he's slinging. It wouldn't suprise me.
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Mayor, thank you. I want to thank the business leaders here from the Chicago area for sharing with me their concerns about our economy. I think it's safe to say most people share the sense of optimism I do, but recognize there's still work to be done, particularly when it comes to job creation.
We talked about good legal policy. We talked about the need for an energy plan. We talked about fair trade for American manufacturers. We talked about the need for China to make sure that China's got a monetary policy which is fair. And I assured the leaders here that I would work to -- I'd represent the manufacturing sector and the -- all sectors of our economy when it comes to world trade.
The thing I'm concerned about is people being able to find a job. We put the conditions in place for good job creation, but I recognize there's still people who want to work that can't find a job. And we're dedicated to hearing the voices of those folks and working hard to expand our economy.
And so I want to thank you all for taking time. Mr. Mayor, I wish the Cubs all the best. (Laughter.) I made a significant contribution to the Cubs, as you might recall --
PARTICIPANT: Sammy.
THE PRESIDENT: -- when I was a -- yes, Sammy Sosa. I'll take great delight when they win.
PARTICIPANT: Thank you for Sammy.
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming.
Let me answer a couple of questions, then we've got to go to Cincinnati. Deb.
Q: Do you think that the Justice Department can conduct an impartial investigation, considering the political ramifications of the CIA leak, and why wouldn't a special counsel be better?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Let me just say something about leaks in Washington. There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive branch; there's leaks in the legislative branch. There's just too many leaks. And if there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.
Couldn't have said it better myself -
From an Ecotecture, www.ecotecture.com email:
"Huffington has done the right thing-back out of the election so those who might vote for her will vote against the recall instead, and, in case the recall succeeds, will likely vote for Democratic Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante who actually has a chance to win should Davis be replaced.
But, once again, the Green Party is holding fast to its "principles," and Peter Camejo, it's candidate for governor, has vowed to fight to the finish. To what avail? So the party can have a little grave marker saying, "we did it our way?"
While there is still time, Camejo should follow in Huffington's footsteps. If he fails to do so, the Green voters themselves should opt for avoiding disaster over "expressing their conscience." There is simply too much at stake. "
Now, Camejo did *NOT* pull out of the race. Neither did Nader. Nader helped Bush get elected, certainly. Ralph vowed not to campaign in battleground states, then proceeded to do so once he was on the ballot.
Nader broke his own campaign pledge. He became a lying politician.
The environment has suffered due to his false pride. Bush has all but declared war on the planet, offering tax breaks for big SUV's, reducing strip-mining limitations which had helped limit toxic runoff into drinking water, and defying any attempt to get the Kyoto treaty going.
His own conservative EPA head, Christine Todd Whitman (who had once paid Afr.Am. preachers in NJ to tell their flocks to not vote - yeah democracy), resigned in disgust.
If Nader pulled out or was not on the ballot in New Hampshire (forget Florida - that one was fixed), Gore would have won.
I give my first honorary John Brown Award For Excellence in the Field of Defending Righteousness to the guy who hit Nader with a pie a little while back.
Too bad there wasn't a turd in the bottom of it.
PS I am a former Green Party member
From an Ecotecture, www.ecotecture.com email:
"Huffington has done the right thing-back out of the election so those who might vote for her will vote against the recall instead, and, in case the recall succeeds, will likely vote for Democratic Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante who actually has a chance to win should Davis be replaced.
But, once again, the Green Party is holding fast to its "principles," and Peter Camejo, it's candidate for governor, has vowed to fight to the finish. To what avail? So the party can have a little grave marker saying, "we did it our way?"
While there is still time, Camejo should follow in Huffington's footsteps. If he fails to do so, the Green voters themselves should opt for avoiding disaster over "expressing their conscience." There is simply too much at stake. "
Now, Camejo did *NOT* pull out of the race. Neither did Nader. Nader helped Bush get elected, certainly. Ralph vowed not to campaign in battleground states, then proceeded to do so once he was on the ballot.
Nader broke his own campaign pledge. He became a lying politician.
The environment has suffered due to his false pride. Bush has all but declared war on the planet, offering tax breaks for big SUV's, reducing strip-mining limitations which had helped limit toxic runoff into drinking water, and defying any attempt to get the Kyoto treaty going.
His own conservative EPA head, Christine Todd Whitman (who had once paid Afr.Am. preachers in NJ to tell their flocks to not vote - yeah democracy), resigned in disgust.
If Nader pulled out or was not on the ballot in New Hampshire (forget Florida - that one was fixed), Gore would have won.
I give my first honorary John Brown Award For Excellence in the Field of Defending Righteousness to the guy who hit Nader with a pie a little while back.
Too bad there wasn't a turd in the bottom of it.
PS I am a former Green Party member
From The Onion ...
Schwarzenegger Running Out Of Movie-Related Campaign Slogans
LOS ANGELES—Two months after he announced his candidacy for the California gubernatorial recall election, Arnold Schwarzenegger is running out of movie-related campaign quips. "Government and special-interest groups should not be 'Twins,'" the actor said during the Sept. 24 debate. At a fundraising breakfast Monday, the actor told a confused group of business leaders, "I will 'Jingle All The Way' to Sacramento!" Breakfast attendee Ken Straus said Schwarzenegger "really hit the bottom of the barrel" minutes later, when the actor announced, "In the movies, I played Hercules going bananas. But it's the tax-and-spend Democrats who are really going bananas."
(No more need to fear Davis and Bustamante suing Enron, like the Red Heat communistst they are. Didn't he also say he would Terminate the Twins in a Total Recall as a GOP Predator who was their Running Man, sick of True Lies? This, coming from a guy who played a pregnant man in a movie. Way to steal an election and bring a Raw Deal, Junior!)
Schwarzenegger Running Out Of Movie-Related Campaign Slogans
LOS ANGELES—Two months after he announced his candidacy for the California gubernatorial recall election, Arnold Schwarzenegger is running out of movie-related campaign quips. "Government and special-interest groups should not be 'Twins,'" the actor said during the Sept. 24 debate. At a fundraising breakfast Monday, the actor told a confused group of business leaders, "I will 'Jingle All The Way' to Sacramento!" Breakfast attendee Ken Straus said Schwarzenegger "really hit the bottom of the barrel" minutes later, when the actor announced, "In the movies, I played Hercules going bananas. But it's the tax-and-spend Democrats who are really going bananas."
(No more need to fear Davis and Bustamante suing Enron, like the Red Heat communistst they are. Didn't he also say he would Terminate the Twins in a Total Recall as a GOP Predator who was their Running Man, sick of True Lies? This, coming from a guy who played a pregnant man in a movie. Way to steal an election and bring a Raw Deal, Junior!)
Gov. Schwarzenegger Will Let Ken Lay & Enron Off the Hook
We all know what's going on with the California Recall. It's about the Republicans being sore losers and using a provision that was meant to be implemented only in cases of criminal conduct to overturn a legal election and unseat the Democratic governor of the largest state in the US. It's an opportunity to get Arnold Schwarzenegger, a rising star in the GOP, into power so that he may someday run for president. It's a move designed to bring more Americans into the GOP - "as Vin Weber, a former member of Congress and occasional adviser to the Bush administration, puts it, 'many people will think, 'If the Republican Party is good enough for Arnold Schwarzenegger, it is good enough for me.'" And it's a dress rehearsal for the 2004 presidential election. If Bush can win California with Arnold's help, who cares about Florida?
But Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, exposes a more sinister motivation for the recall campaign: to get Ken Lay and Enron off the hook for swindling billions from California taxpayers by putting one of their buddies in the governor's mansion. Schwarzenegger met with Ken Lay back on May 17, 2001 to formulate their plan.
You can get involved with the campaign against the recall, even if you don't live in California, by phone banking against the recall http://moveon.org/pac/pb/. You'll receive downloadable phone numbers to call from your personal location. With less than 20 hours before the polls open, there is still a lot that can be done to make sure that democracy is defended in California.
We all know what's going on with the California Recall. It's about the Republicans being sore losers and using a provision that was meant to be implemented only in cases of criminal conduct to overturn a legal election and unseat the Democratic governor of the largest state in the US. It's an opportunity to get Arnold Schwarzenegger, a rising star in the GOP, into power so that he may someday run for president. It's a move designed to bring more Americans into the GOP - "as Vin Weber, a former member of Congress and occasional adviser to the Bush administration, puts it, 'many people will think, 'If the Republican Party is good enough for Arnold Schwarzenegger, it is good enough for me.'" And it's a dress rehearsal for the 2004 presidential election. If Bush can win California with Arnold's help, who cares about Florida?
But Greg Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, exposes a more sinister motivation for the recall campaign: to get Ken Lay and Enron off the hook for swindling billions from California taxpayers by putting one of their buddies in the governor's mansion. Schwarzenegger met with Ken Lay back on May 17, 2001 to formulate their plan.
Once Arnold is Governor, he blesses the sweetheart settlements [2 cents on the dollar] with the power companies. When that happens, Bustamante's court cases are probably lost. There aren't many judges who will let a case go to trial to protect a state if that a governor has already allowed the matter to be "settled" by a regulatory agency.
So think about this. The state of California is in the hole by $8 billion for the coming year. That's chump change next to the $8 TRILLION in deficits and surplus losses planned and incurred by George Bush. Nevertheless, the $8 billion deficit is the hanging rope California's right wing is using to lynch Governor Davis.
You can get involved with the campaign against the recall, even if you don't live in California, by phone banking against the recall http://moveon.org/pac/pb/. You'll receive downloadable phone numbers to call from your personal location. With less than 20 hours before the polls open, there is still a lot that can be done to make sure that democracy is defended in California.
David Corn writes in The Nation how the White House's lies about weapons of mass destruction and the Valerie Wilson leak are catching up to them.
Public statements by Bush seem to indicate that he is blissfully unaware of the ramifications of these lies, and worse, doesn't care.
While Bush makes wisecracks and gloats, I'm waiting for some brave Republicans to stand up for justice and do the right thing by calling for an independent counsel.
So all they have is spin. Bush changes the terms. McClellan, Rumsfeld, Rice insist that before the war everybody knew that Iraq had WMDs. Everybody, that is, except the folks putting together the intelligence assessments chockfull of uncertainties. When it comes to the Wilson affair, the White House ducks and covers, claiming it had no reason to react to the original anonymous-source leak, even though its officials (at the least) considered the leak solid enough to talk up to other reporters. And instead of confronting the ugly (and perhaps criminal) implications of the leak, the White House's allies in Washington lash out at Wilson, in a vicious blame-the-victim offensive, while Mister Change-the-Tone has nothing to say publicly about this. What if Wilson is a Democratic partisan? That does not excuse what was done to his wife.
Leaking and lying--these are not actions easy to explain away. Drip, drip, drip--that's the sound often associated with Washington scandals. But now it may also be the sound of the truth catching up to the propagandists and perps of the Bush White House.
Public statements by Bush seem to indicate that he is blissfully unaware of the ramifications of these lies, and worse, doesn't care.
For over two months, Bush had said nothing about the leak. And on this day, Bush met with reporters for African news organizations and joked about the anti-Wilson leak. When asked what he thought about the detention in Kenya of three journalists who had refused to reveal sources, he said, "I'm against leaks." This prompted laughter, and Bush went on: "I would suggest all governments get to the bottom of every leak of classified information." Addressing the reporter who had asked the question, Bush echoed the phrase that McClellan had frequently used in his press briefings and quipped, "By the way, if you know anything, Martin, would you please bring it forward and help solve the problem?"
While Bush makes wisecracks and gloats, I'm waiting for some brave Republicans to stand up for justice and do the right thing by calling for an independent counsel.
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