White House Holding Notes Taken by 9/11 Commission (washingtonpost.com)

"The White House, already embroiled in a public fight over the deadline for an independent commission's investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is refusing to give the panel notes on presidential briefing papers taken by some of its own members, officials said this week. "

To paraphrase John Kerry, between the citizens and the President of the US, there should be some trust. I understand that what Kerry means is that there should be "at least a little" trust. Instead, what we are seeing is that the Bubba administration is giving well-intentioned individuals every reason to distrust him entirely.

Karzai: U.S. Airstrike Killed 10 Afghans (washingtonpost.com)

"President Karzai said Interior Ministry officials who traveled to the region some 250 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, established that 10 civilians had died. At the time of the raid, local officials had said that 11 civilians were killed: four men, four children and three women.

'There are casualties unfortunately, according to the report that I have received, of civilians, of children and men and women,' Karzai told reporters at his palace."

Winning hearts and minds? Winning the WOT? Think again, Bubba.

Krugeman: Where's the Apology?

"These people politicize everything [...] . If you're with them, you pay no penalty for being wrong. If you don't tell them what they want to hear, you're an enemy, and being right is no excuse. "

This sort of "politicization" is, unfortunately, everywhere.

FT.com | US deaths rise in wake of Saddam capture

"US combat deaths in Iraq have risen sharply during January despite a drop in the number of attacks and the capture of former dictator Saddam Hussein over a month ago.

As of Thursday, 33 American soldiers and one civilian had been killed by hostile fire during the month. That compares with 24 US combat deaths in December, and a total of 32 coalition combat deaths."

Of course, it was ludicrus of Dean to suggest that Americans were not safer after the capture of Saddam Hussein, wasn't it? But, if that is indeed the case, shouldn't we be seeing an improvement in security in Iraq? Or is this another "No Child Left Behind" in which we are to accept the official line without examining the consequences?

But the real joke is this paragraph from the article:

The US military on Thursday declined to confirm or deny the figures for combat deaths in Iraq this month, which were calculated from press releases from US Central Command in Florida. A US military spokesman in Baghdad said figures were only kept for two-month periods, and a computer malfunction made it impossible to calculate an official casualty count for separate months.

How convenient!

USATODAY.com - Pre-emption is effective tool

"The concept of pre-emption, hitting an enemy before he hits you, has been integral to U.S. foreign policy for four decades. During the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, President Kennedy said: 'We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation's security to constitute maximum peril.'"

This is, at best, a specious argument. Pre-emption is also known as "aggression" or as an "act of war". International law is very specific about "acts of war", however the US has consistently ignored international law, considering itself as having a "get-out-of-jail-free" card in this respect. It's perhaps this ignorance of international law that has been a part of foreign policy for 4 decades but it is not a justification for Iraq War II and not a justification for lying to Americans and Congress.

But aside the lying, what is interesting about this article is that it underlines, justifies and exemplifies one of the three pillars of Orwell's 1984: WAR IS PEACE.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Chen blasts Chirac's 'meddling'

"'I just don't understand why such a national leader (Chirac) would interfere in the internal affairs of another country,' Mr Chen said.

'A referendum is not only a universal value but a human right that no country, government or individual has reason to stop, block or deprive.' "

I have to agree with Chen.

In fact, I really don't understand Chirac's message to the world, except perhaps to accept that it is a cynical caving-in to the PRC presdient Hu Jintao. Amazing to see that Chirac would stand so firmly against US unilateralism but to cave-in so willinging in front of China's. Maybe it's a desperate attempt to find some friends out there -- and China is a weighty friend to have.

LeOuest France : John Kerry a un cousin en France

"John Kerry a un cousin en France : Brice Lalonde, le fondateur de Génération Ecologie."

I have yet to see this in the US press. But considering the current dismal state of affairs, this is going to be bandied about soon.

Anyway, Kerry has important family ties to France. His grandmother lived there, he has spent summers in France, and he has a cousin who is a well-known politician in France: Brice Lalonde.

Now it seems that Brice Lalonde is reasonably well-respected in France. He's head of a small opposition party, Ecology Generation, and he's been that for a long time now. He's also the Mayor of his small town: Saint-Briac-sur-Mer.

Interestingly enough, Brice Lalonde seems to feel, himself, that Americans are justified in being felt "dumped" by France during the Iraq conflict. In any event, Lalonde seems to think that Kerry would be the candidate for reconciling the US with the rest of the world.

French cabinet approves headscarf law

"The French cabinet approved a controversial bill to ban the Islamic headscarf from schools, opening the way for its passage through parliament and adoption by the start of the next school year.
Stating that in schools 'the wearing of signs or clothes which conspicuously display a pupil's religious affiliation is prohibited,' the bill will be presented next Tuesday to the National Assembly, parliament's lower house, which will cast its first vote on February 10."

I originally agreed with this bill, the so-called "headscarf ban", but since then I've changed my mind. It's not that the idea isn't good -- because I would like to see veils banned in school. (Headscarf is a truly stupid translation.)

And the idea of religious freedom is bogus in this case: it's a question of dress code. When I think back at the rigid dress code of my school years in Victoria, Texas! No shorts for anyone, no short skirts for the girls (except, of course, the cheerleaders). No beards, no mustaches, no long sideburns. No plunging necklines. The list of "nos" was pretty long.

Can you imagine allowing headscarves in these conditions? I dunno, maybe they do in Victoria these days since there is a Mosque in town. But I can't imagine anyone doing it because he/she would be the subject of so much directed anger.

So now back to France where Muslim girls run around in headscarves all of the time. I've even seen "women" wearing Burkas in the supermarket. (You know the burkas, like a shroud completely covering the head and shoulders and you don't even see the eyes of the women wearing them.) The separatism of these symbols is so strong that it is truly shocking. To the same extent, the kippa is shocking when you put it into a secular environment. What if everyone left these "symbols" at home and came to school to be, like, you know, sorta, kinda like, you know, together? Can you imagine it?

But the return tournures of the bill have left me less optimistic about its utility. Luc Ferry has been going on about "If earrings or colors or other signs become religious symbols, we'll outlaw them, too." Plus, old Luc wants to give a lot of lattitude to schools on choosing their symbols, which puts the schools in the same quandry that they are now: having to make local decisions and defend them in front of local parents.

HoustonChronicle.com - Clear Channel faces $755,000 indecency fine

"The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday proposed a $755,000 fine against Clear Channel Communications for broadcasting a sexually explicit radio show on four Florida stations -- the highest levy ever imposed at one time for indecency violations.
The FCC said the four stations aired episodes of Bubba the Love Sponge 26 times."

Clear Channel is the best representation of a Goebbels-style takeover of news and entertainment -- even more so than Murdoch's News Corp. But in what is probably a case of 1st amendment rights, I hate to see that the defendant might be Clear Channel. Will we see the ACLU fight for Clear Channel's rights? Shudder the thought.

The name of their show seems to follow a certain Bubba logic!

Squeaky Clean? Not Even Close

"'The basic reality is that the risks that scare people and the risks that kill people are very different,' said Dr. Peter M. Sandman, a risk communication consultant in Princeton, N.J. 'Risks that you control,' Dr. Sandman said, 'are much less a source of outrage than risks that are out of your control. In the case of mad cow, it feels like it's beyond my control. I can't tell if my meat has prions in it or not. I can't see it, I can't smell it. Whereas dirt in my own kitchen is very much in my own control. I can clean my sponges. I can clean the floor.'
Dread is another factor, Dr. Sandman said. People can deal with sick stomachs, but they absolutely dread the idea of rotting brains. "

My wife has often said this about her fellow students who worked in chemical laboratories -- that because they "knew" the risks that they were willing to take them. This article would seem to go along these lines -- but in the kitchen.

Of course, a lot of people probably don't know the risks. But even if they did, they probably wouldn't change their habits very much.

HoustonChronicle.com - Teen group charged with SUV vandalism

"A former Cy-Fair High School student serving five years' probation for felony arson in a flag-burning case headed a group of self-described environmental guerrillas who vandalized almost 50 sport utility vehicles, officials said Tuesday.
Precinct 4 deputy constables said the group, led by Randall W. Heinrichs, 18, smashed windows and slashed tires on SUVs in north Harris County from October through December. "

5 years for burning a flag? Is this the US of A that I know and love?

As far as vandalizing SUVs, some might consider this a public service. (OK, "some" is a weasel word. The truth is that SUVs are, in essence, instruments of agression themselves and I think that SUV owners need some feedback on this.)

U.S. Gains Libyan Nuclear Gear and Flies It to Knoxville, Tenn.

"As part of an agreement to rid Libya of unconventional weapons, the United States on Tuesday took possession of 55,000 pounds of equipment and documents from Libya's nuclear and missile programs, including centrifuge parts used to enrich uranium.
A transport plane containing the equipment from Tripoli, Libya's capital, arrived Tuesday at an airport outside Knoxville, Tenn. The contents were then moved to a secure site within the state for analysis"

Are you flying that to South Knox, Bubba?

("Whatcha got in the trunk?" ... "Oh... You don't wanna look in there.")

CNN.com - Citing fire risk, U.S. to quadruple California logging - Jan. 27, 2004

"U.S. forestry officials announced that they would significantly expand the amount of logging allowed in California's Sierra Nevada mountains in what they described as an effort to curb wildfires.
Environmental groups and a California state official attacked the plan as showing disregard for the environment. "

The Forest Service also seems to be running into an intelligence problem.

HoustonChronicle.com - TV's Captain Kangaroo Bob Keeshan dies

"The format was simple: Each day, Captain Kangaroo, with his sugar-bowl haircut and uniform coat, would wander through his Treasure House, chatting with his good friend Mr. Green Jeans, played by Hugh 'Lumpy' Brannum.
He would visit with puppet animals, like Bunny Rabbit, who was scolded for eating too many carrots, and Mr. Moose, who loved to tell knock-knock jokes. "

Sure, I always thought that he was corny, but I still watched a lot of him. Good bye, Captain.

NEWS.com.au | Fine over plane bomb hoax (January 27, 2004)

"A FRENCH national who was charged and held in New York after he made bomb hoax claims during a flight is set to be released after paying a fine.
...
Moulet, a student from Bouches-du-Rhone in southern France, was questioned by a steward on an American Airlines flight from Santo Domingo on January 10 on concerns that he had been locked in the restroom too long."

Here's another one that you didn't hear about in the US press and another reason to worry about the image projected by the US in the world. Problem is, of course, if you never hear about it, you don't know how nasty it gets. Maybe this posting is just another tree falling in a deserted forest, but maybe that's what blogs are for.

As the story goes, Franck, a French student on a dream vacation to the US, is on an American Airlines flight from San Domingo to New York and he's spending a little too long in the toilets so the stewardess asks him why. I don't know why you would ask someone that, since the response would only have to do with one's bodily functions or disfunctions and these things are pretty personal, but the stewardess somehow felt compelled to ask him.

So Franck gives her a flippant reply. There are two stories about the text of his reply. Franck says that he told the stewardess "I wasn't placing a bomb" and the stewardess says that he told her "Merde, the bomb didn't explode".

I wonder what the difference is, really, between these two responses, given the context. After all, the stewardess shouldn't be asking you why you are in the toilet so long, at least not so indelicately. I'm given to believe, and this is only a personal conclusion, that this stewardess must have crossed the boundaries of polite, asking a question that presumes some sort of guilt. So the flippant reply is de rigueur.

The rest has been forgotten in this Australian article. Two weeks detention in the US under extremely hostile conditions: not allowed to talk to his family, court-appointed lawyer who didn't speak French, no money, little to eat, no clothes because he wasn't allowed to recover his baggage. Not allowed to have even a book to read in his little cell. No notes from his family. Two weeks of total bullshit. And to top it off, menacing him with 7 years prison for "false alert" when, really, American Airlines should be apologizing to him instead.

Surprisingly, this article appears nowhere in the US press, according to the reputable and inestimable Google news. The only two articles that I found were short, incomplete, even silly, in UK and Australian online newspapers.

In France, you can imagine that the story was treated differently. Franck's plight was described, his mother was interviewed, the mayor of his town said that calls from all over France were received to ask how people could help the family. Franck comes from a poor family and his folks don't have the money to hire a fancy lawyer, so the town managed to get together a delegation for him.

Today there is some good news: Franck is being released with a small fine (less than $1000) . Franck's French lawyer says, and this is my translation, "If efficiency requires that he kneel down and admit to a crime that he didn't commit in order to recover his dignity, so be it. Then, once he's back in our country [France], he'll be able to say what he thinks about these methods, which are the methods of another time." Think Middle Ages.

I'm happy that the charges were lowered from "false bomb alert" to "incorrect behavior" even if I'm not sure that I agree with the assessment. It seems that in an increasingly antagonistic society that we can no longer employ absurd humor. As the French Secretay of Foreign Affairs noted: "Any act of humor must be suppressed." If Lenny Bruce were alive today, he probably wouldn't find that things had changed much, at least not to the better.

Intelligence failure helped persuade Bush to invade Iraq

"The United States is paying a high price for that failure of intelligence. We must find out how and why it happened to ensure that it does not happen again."

Once again an attempt to make us believe the unbelievable: that Bubba Bush was persuaded by bad intelligence to do a preemptive war on Iraq, a war decision made in spite of the caution of pretty much the entire world, including, prior to the invasion, a majority within the US. So many reports leading up to the war noted that the Bubba Bush administration's claims were not backed-up by intelligence, that he was leading the CIA in its conclusions, that his SOTU for 2003 included statements that had been previously disclaimed by the CIA but added in by Bubba Condie.

And now the Charlotte Perverser wants us to believe that Bubba Bush was acting in good faith and, by golly, just doin' his lil' ol' job the best he knew how. Who could blame a god-fearing, good-faithing, good ol' boy for that?

In the end, I agree with the wording of this article but a contrario to its meaning: this is indeed an intelligence failure in that Bush failed to be intelligent, the media failed to be intelligent enough to hold him to it, and the US population failed to be intelligent enough to give a hoot.

CBC News: No evidence of WMDs in Iraq: chief U.S weapons inspector

"When asked whether Bush owes the U.S. an explanation following Kay's findings, Kay said: 'I actually think the intelligence community owes the president, rather than the president owing the American people.' "

Amazing demabubbery! Under the Patriot Act, the US can jail you without charge and without owing an explanation to anybody, this now being a practice sanctioned by the US Supreme Court.

In the Bubba Bush administration, we can put outrageous and dubious claims in the SOTU address and we still don't owe anyone an explanation. What happened to our "government of the people, by the people, for the people"? What happened to accountability? This is truly the Enron presidency, except even Enron officials are finally being held accountable.

Boston.com | Infiltration of files seen as extensive

"Democrats now claim their private memos formed the basis for a February 2003 column by conservative pundit Robert Novak that revealed plans pushed by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, to filibuster certain judicial nominees. Novak is also at the center of an investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA agent whose husband contradicted a Bush administration claim about Iraqi nuclear programs.
Citing 'internal Senate sources,' Novak's column described closed-door Democratic meetings about how to handle nominees.
Its details and direct quotes from Democrats -- characterizing former nominee Miguel Estrada as a 'stealth right-wing zealot' and describing the GOP agenda as an 'assembly line' for right-wing nominees -- are contained in talking points and meeting accounts from the Democratic files now known to have been compromised.
Novak declined to confirm or deny whether his column was based on these files.
'They're welcome to think anything they want,' he said. 'As has been demonstrated, I don't reveal my sources.'"

Amazing, really! It should be bigger than Watergate.

Hacking, even casual, is a federal crime that has commanded severe penalties (e.g. Kevin Mitnick). Shouldn't hacking for political gain be even more punishable? Maybe not when it is perpetrated by criminals close to the administration. Isn't there some surprise that these illegal acts were performed by GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee?

I wonder if Novak would stand up to the Kenneth Starr treatment -- say a year in jail to think about why he won't reveal his sources and why he was an accomplice, even instrumental, in breaking federal law twice (Valerie Plame and now the GOP Trollgate).

Thanks to this modern world.

BBC NEWS | Mars seen in unprecedented detail

"The European Space Agency has released the early results from its Mars Express probe now orbiting the Red Planet.
The data include a batch of remarkable pictures taken at very high resolution. "

The Beagle hasn't worked out yet, but Mars Express, the orbiting probe, has been fantastic. The US press has completely ignored this achievement, probably because it it European!

Charlotte Observer | White House Victories

Amongst other "victories" (pushing back food labeling to 2006, allowing companies to stop paying overtime to while collar workers, limiting record-keeping on gun purchasers) to put a chill up your spine:

"MEDIA OWNERSHIP

The bill permits media conglomerates to own local television stations that, combined, reach up to 39 percent of viewers in the nation. The Federal Communications Commission had voted to allow companies to reach 45 percent of viewers, but Congress then voted to keep the current 35 percent limit. Under a veto threat from President Bush, lawmakers agreed to the 39 percent cap. The bill also takes the power to change the cap away from the FCC."

The NY Times didn't cover this in their online edition and the WashPost put it in the Technology News section. Shouldn't most Americans be worried about this?

Senate Adopts TV Station Limit (TechNews.com)

"The rollback from 45 percent has been seen by some as a rebuke to FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell, chief architect of the new rules. But he scoffed at the notion during a speech last week at the National Press Club, saying Congress has the right to set ownership limits in law, superseding the FCC's ability to set it in regulation.
'If 39 percent is where democracy survived and 45 is where it died, so be it,' Powell said."

Funny that the Washington "Bubba" Times decided to place this article in Technology News. It has nothing to do with Technology and everything to do with Democracy, or lack of, in the US.

It essentially ups the ownership allowance so that neo-nazi corporations like ClearChannel can continue their ravages without being bothered by the FCC.

BTW: If you think that I'm using the word neo-nazi lightly, you haven't been following ClearChannel. There is strictly no difference between this company's "Big Hate" manifestations against France (examples: destroying French articles at hate rallies) and the Nazi-organized book-burnings under Hitler. The concentration of local news under ClearChannel is no different from Goebbels control of "official" information (although ClearChannel is obviously much better equipped today than way Goebbels). Censure of the Dixie Chicks goes along these lines as well.

Using the word "Nazi" usually qualifies you as a "rant". But it should be clear that I'm using "Nazi" in the strictest, most qualified, sense of the word!

Op-Ed Columnist: Democracy at Risk

"Internal e-mail from Diebold, the most prominent maker of electronic voting machines (though not those in the Florida and Virginia debacles), reveals that programmers were frantic over the system's unreliability. One reads, 'I have been waiting for someone to give me an explanation as to why Precinct 216 gave Al Gore a minus 16022 when it was uploaded.' Another reads, 'For a demonstration I suggest you fake it.'"

What is surprising to me is that all of these "Voting Rights" problems are not followed up by concrete actions. Does anyone care about elections anymore? Then again, seeing who is governor of California, the response may well be "no".

TheStar.com - RCMP raid sparks outrage

"The RCMP launched a massive and highly unusual search of the home and office of an Ottawa reporter yesterday in a bid to find leaked material in the Maher Arar case.
The raid was condemned by organizations representing journalists.
'I think this is a black, black day for freedom in this country, and I'm absolutely outraged,' said Scott Anderson, editor-in-chief of the Ottawa Citizen.
...
"I have never heard of a reporter's home being searched in this country. It seems an extreme step to take in circumstances where the evil is the leaking of information that turned out to be of great public importance."

This is a very scary article, which suggests a high level of collusion between the Canadian administration and the US administration to the detriment of civil rights. The Maher case is that of a Canadian citizen who was refused entry to the US and was subsequently sent to Syria by the US -- a country that US itself acknowledges as a source of human rights abuses including torture.

This reminds me a lot of the Paul O'Neill "inquiry" in which state-sponsored measures are used against the whistle-blowers, all in the name of "public security".

Thanks to cursor.

An Address Worthy of Enron (washingtonpost.com)

"Thus we got Bush's pledge to support the institution of marriage (think Britney Spears) and to ban gays from enjoying it (think Britney Spears again) and the promise to trifle with the Constitution so that love will not, as we are told, triumph."

Good mister Cohen seems to have taken a page from my friend Anne Pellegrini's recent book "Love and Sin". Good for him.

Democrats Won't Get Justice Memo (washingtonpost.com)

"The Justice Department notified the Texas lawmakers last week that it would not release internal documents on the case because they contain 'predecisional deliberative material' that is exempt from public information laws, according to a copy of the letter.
...
'Clearly the Department of Justice is stonewalling this request to avoid the embarrassment that will surely ensue when the memorandum is made public,' Hebert wrote in his appeal, which was filed with the department's Office of Information and Privacy. 'Unfortunately, the political appointees of the Justice Department appear committed to dismantling the Voting Rights Act. They are hiding this report, because it will make their intentions clear.' "

More skullduggery in Texas!

Canadian Held For Alleged Al Qaeda Ties (washingtonpost.com)

"A Canadian man of Somali descent was accused in a federal indictment unsealed in Minnesota yesterday of conspiring to aid al Qaeda. "

Lucky for this man that he was in Minneapolis. Canadians in Afghanistan or on return flights from foreign countries have fared less well.

Making Way for Designer Insects (TechNews.com)

"A new report scheduled for release this morning warns that the issues posed by gene-altered insects are so complex that unless federal agencies begin now to design methods of oversight, the necessary rules may not be in place when scientists are ready to start releasing insects into the environment. "

These sorcerors apprentices must be stopped, controlled, regulated, before they destroy the planet. Why can't these people be modified into thinking, respectful individuals instead of the equivalent of children playing with matches?

Report Finds Risks in Internet Voting by Americans Overseas

"A $22 million system to allow soldiers and other Americans overseas to vote via the Internet is inherently insecure and should be abandoned, according to a report by computer security experts asked to review the new program.

The system, the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment, or Serve, was developed with financing from the Defense Department and will first be used in the primaries this year."

I'd been reading the hype on this new system and it sounded typically "dot-com"ish: convenient, revolutionary, but not sound. Thanks to the NY Times to point this out -- I'm going to prefer a written ballot.

South Knox Bubba : The only Logical Bubba

"CNN reported that they had been working on this speech since October. If this is the best they could come up with no wonder we are screwed. If anyone needs any more evidence that Bush should be sent back to Crawford this November, this was it."

When Bubbas in Knoxville start knocking Bubba Bush, watch out Rebubbalicans!

Toronto Sun: - 5 million on terrorism list

"U.S. security agents have a master list of five million people worldwide thought to be potential terrorists or criminals, [Canadian] officials say. "

Stick that statistic right up there with 57 card-carrying communists and 1.4 million jobs created. Does the WOT make you feel safer with these extensive "lists" so well maintained? All you have to have, Bubba, is a homonym (for you Bubbas, that's a guy with the same name as you) and you're in trouble. That's not guilt by association, it's guilt by bad data, or, as computer professionals know it, GIGO (Garbage In -- Guilt Out).

Perhaps the new rage will be to check candidates for childrens' names against these list to make sure that you don't hit on one accidentally. And Mr and Mrs Rowe, be sure not to name your child Mike.

Thanks to cursor.

The Victoria Advocate

"Nancy Hewitt, who lives on East Murray Street, said she came home one night and saw a car parked on her property. She said that when she pulled up behind it, not knowing who it was, it drove off.

But she said while walking to her house, the car came by again and the passenger stuck his head out the window and gave her an intimidating look. Hewitt said two rounds were then fired off apparently from the car."

Scary.

Who's Winning the WOT? Think again

The hysteria and hype surrounding terrorism is creating a bigger prejudice on American society than terrorism itself, as witnessed by these articles from today's news:

Sun Sentinel

"Miami · An off-the-cuff comment about bombs to airport security screeners landed a 21-year old British traveler in jail.

Miami-Dade Police say Samantha Marson placed her carry-on bag on the belt at a security check at Miami International Airport on Saturday evening and told a federal Transportation Security Administration screener, 'Hey be careful, I have three bombs in here.'"

NYTimes

"WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn., Jan. 20 - A concourse at Bradley International Airport was evacuated Tuesday for more than an hour after a utility knife that had been slipped through a security checkpoint was found in a bathroom trash can

Add to this the increased "security" for US visitors and you've got a regular recipe for mass hysteria. Orwell's 1984 detailled these tactics as means of keeping a public cowering in fear, something that also kept them from questioning "our great leader". I believe that the state of the US has already passed Orwell's description. Add to this the "big hate" with France in the lead and voila!

EE Times - Lie-detector glasses offer peek at future of security

"Nemesysco's patented Poly-Layered Voice Analysis measures 18 parameters of speech in real-time for interrogators at police, military and secret-services agencies. According to Nemesysco, its accuracy as a lie detector has proven to be less important than its ability to more quickly pinpoint for interrogators where there are problems in a subject's story. Officers then can zero in much more quickly with their traditional interrogation techniques. "

The lie detection part sounds great for listening to Bubba Bush's speeches. Anyone care to go over Colin Powell's presentation to the UN with this baby? I shudder at the mention of "traditional interrogation techniques" since it seems that the US has been very tradition just recently.

London Free Press: News Section - Microsoft won't go soft on Mike Rowe
"'Since my name is Mike Rowe, I thought it would be funny to add 'soft' to the end of it,' the Victoria Grade 12 student said.
But the folks at the world's biggest software company aren't smiling. They've demanded he give up his domain name. "

That anti-trust stint in Washington doesn't seem to have encouraged Microsoft to develop less agressive tactics -- or even a sense of humour!

Reuters : U.S. Soldiers Seek Congress Probe of Discharge

"Three U.S. soldiers who were discharged this month for punching and kicking Iraqi prisoners of war said on Friday they would appeal the decision and want Congress to investigate the incident.

Army Master Sgt. Lisa Girman, 35, Staff Sgt. Scott McKenzie, 38, and Spec. Timothy Canjar, 21, told a news briefing they planned to rejoin the army but wanted first to clear their names of charges they said were blown out of proportion by commanders with a grudge against Girman.

'We are soldiers, good soldiers with spotless records,' Girman said. 'To accept it -- it's just not in our hearts.' "

This blog has been following this still under-reported story. The REUTERS wire story has yet to be reported. There was a line about them in a CNN article, but this line seems to have been scrubbed from the article since.

Thousands Protest France Head - Scarf Ban

"Waving the French flag or wearing it as a head scarf, thousands of Muslim women marched through Paris, the center of a worldwide protest against France's plan to ban head coverings from public schools."

Now here's another story that has been widely reported but with little or no balance. Yes, a few thousand (between 3000 and 10000 ïn Paris) protested the new head-scarf ban. But did anyone to put this into perspective?

For example, on that same Saturday in Paris, police estimated that 6000 people marched to protest the opening of new nuclear plants. This went practically unreported outside of France. If numbers were important, this would have been the more reported story.

Furthermore, the muslim population in France is estimated at 5 million or around 8 percent of the population. Now what percentage protested? Compare this to the hundreds of thousands who protested the US invasion of Iraq. What we can see is that there is very little resistance to the new law.

Finally, there is mention of the makeup of the protestors: mostly muslim girls, but no analysis of this makeup, other than what I heard on France Inter this morning. If you consider that headscarves are often imposed upon muslim women by their families, especially fathers, then you can consider that many of these girls were obligated by their families to attend the protest. So take away half the numbers to get a real feeling.

Seriously, these numbers are so small as to be ridiculous, yet this story became headline news around the world. How can that be, unless you are looking for any pretext to trash talk France?

For my part, I support the headscarf ban, not because I fear Islam, but because I fear fundamentalism in all of its forms. In the same way, I believe that the president of the US should not be allowed to turn over funds to "faith-based" organizations. And he should be forbidden to ever finish his speeches with the blasphemous, divisive and sectarian "God bless America".

HoustonChronicle.com - French Muslim prefect targeted in car blast

"An explosion destroyed the parked car of a newly appointed French prefect of Algerian origin today in an apparent attack on efforts to integrate France's minorities. "

Funny that the article does not mention the 'R' word. And yet, if the object of the attack had been Jewish, there would have been Anti-semitism in the headline!

North Coast Journal - Jan. 8, 2004: COVER STORY - Unsanitary Acts: Former HSU student tells of unsafe food practices on U.S. military bases in Iraq

"But the next evening, when Yarbrough started her first 12-hour overnight shift, she was shocked at conditions in the kitchen. Freezers and refrigerators weren't working. Food was spoiling. The kitchen workers were exhausted, and some of them weren't following basic sanitation practices. 'It became apparent to me that much of the food served at the banquet the night before was ... possibly dangerous,' she wrote."

Is this how Halliburton supports the troops?

Food Navigator - Scottish salmon safe to eat, says EU
"But according to the CORDIS report, a spokesperson for EU Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne said:'We agree with the assessment made by the UK food standards agency that the levels [of chemicals] in our European salmon do not exceed EU limits.'
The UK Food Standards Agency had earlier stressed that the levels of dioxins and PCBs found in farmed salmon during the US led study were within World Health Organisation and EU guidelines. Those guidelines, which are based on scientific advice, were 'accurate and valid,' added the Commission spokesperson.
The Scottish salmon industry has accused the American researchers of being 'deliberately misleading'."

Here's the twist in the story. The EU says that the story from US researchers was "hype" and that PCB and dioxin levels in farmed Salmon were within acceptable limits. This begs the question of "what was the origin of the US recommendations of no more than 2 oz. of Scottish Salmon per month"?

Nonetheless, it appears that farmed fish are less healthy than free-running fish. It's just that not all fishmongers label the fish origin.

GROKLAW

"21. Once access to the missing source code is granted, SCO will continue to analyze the code to determine improper contributions of UNIX code to Linux and any additional discovery that may be necessary. Given the volume of the expected disclosure by IBM [1], it is expected that SCO and its engineers and consultants will be able to provide further answers to IBM's interrogatories within 90 (ninety) days after the delivery of the missing versions of software and accompanying documentation and programmer notes related to the requested source code."

Amazing! SCO makes all sorts of claims, but when push comes to shove they say "we don't have enough source to prove it, give us the source and 90 days". Seems like SCO goes to court like the Bubba Bush administration goes to war!

TheStar.com - Protest greets Bush in Atlanta

"U.S. President George W. Bush campaigned in Louisiana and Georgia on a message of faith-based social service, drawing protests in Atlanta over his economic and foreign policies.

'The government should not fear faith-based programs,' he said yesterday at a historic black church in New Orleans that provides day-care, health-care and rental assistance to the poor. 'We ought to welcome faith-based programs, and we ought to fund faith-based programs.'

...

"For President Bush to come to Martin Luther King Jr.'s crypt is the height of hypocrisy," the Reverend Tim McDonald of Concerned Black Clergy said in an e-mailed statement.

"President Bush's policies have, with deliberate intent, reversed decades of progress and increased racial inequality, job loss, poverty rates and global insecurity."
"

Bubba Bush continues his assault on every fundamental value espoused by the founding fathers. Are there any Americans left who will decry this villainy?

New American Beachhead in France: Starbucks

"We were told the French would never drink coffee out of paper cups,' said Philippe Bloch, co-president of Columbus Café, 'wouldn't take them to go, wouldn't drink anything other than espresso, and certainly not coffee beverages with a high added value like cappuccino or iced coffees. And that is not true.'"

People everywhere trade convience for quality.

I'd say that in the US that Starbucks offers a higher-quality coffee than most places, but that's really a remark on the dismal quality in general of coffee in the US.

France will probably work for Starbucks not because it's better quality but because it's new and different and, sometimes, more convenient. The different will come from the Lattes, the Cappucinos, the iced coffee. And, yes, Frenchies are ready to dumb-down like everyone else. Fat, dumb and happy we will all be!

WYOU : Soldiers Tell Their Side


"Three soldiers [Lisa Girman, Scott MacKenzie and Tim Canjar ]from the 320th military Police Battalion out of Ashley are home from their ordeal now. They still claim they`re innocent and want to clear their names. They came to us because they want you to hear their story."

If this is true, the Lisa Girman story is even stranger than I suspected.

I blogged this story that was virtually ignored by the US press but largely reported in the Asian and European press, especially UK. I was surpised by this and had concluded that the US press was shying away from bad news from Iraq that may be construed as not "supporting the troops".

But this news, on a local radio station, turns the story on its head. Instead of individual soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners, this story is about military commanders abusing soldiers. What is particularly chilling is the seemingly arbitrary treatment by "military justice". (If this is true, the lawyers who are arguing the case for the Guantanamo prisoners could find themselves in real trouble.)

Op-Ed Columnist: Who Gets It?

" [T]he Bush people really are Nixonian. The bogus security investigation over Ron Suskind's 'The Price of Loyalty,' like the outing of Valerie Plame, shows the lengths they're willing to go to in intimidating their critics. (In the case of Paul O'Neill, alas, the intimidation seems to be working.)"

And with the Total Information Awareness system in place, the government doesn't even have to explain its wiretaps! No need for plumbers, we're working for the security of the country!

Political Barbs Welcome an Iranian Visiting France

"Mr. Rowhani, who is on a three-day visit to France, strongly defended Iran's electoral process, saying, 'In the course of the last 25 years, Iran has accumulated enough experience concerning the democratic process.'

Without singling out France, he rejected what he called 'the interference of any country in the internal affairs of our county.'

He was specific, though, about criticism coming from Washington. 'The United States never speaks uniquely out of its concern for the future of the Iranian people,' Mr. Rowhani said. 'It pursues its own interest and tries to show hostility toward the Iranian people.'

He added, 'The last American presidential elections, which took place in truly catastrophic and dramatic conditions, do not allow the United States to talk about elections in other countries.'"

Has this Iranian government member been reading my blog?

The Globe and Mail : Ottawa seeks trade sanctions against U.S.


"'It is our view that it effectively provides a distorting double advantage to U.S. industry and, if left in place, could lead to billions of dollars in Canadian-paid duties being handed over to U.S. companies,' International Trade Minister Jim Peterson said.

'I call upon the U.S. to preserve the integrity of the global trading system by moving expeditiously to repeal the Byrd Amendment.'

Reuters reports that the U.S. Trade Representative office is saying that Washington will fight the action.
Joining Canada are WTO members Brazil, Chile, the European Union, India, Japan, Mexico and South Korea."

Looks like Canada did not return the favor accorded by Bubba Bush over the Iraq contracts.

Reporters With Borders - Two murders and a lie


"Reporters Without Borders called today for the reopening of the enquiry into who was really responsible for the US Army's "criminal negligence" in shooting at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 8 April 2003 and causing the death of two journalists - Ukrainian cameramen Taras Protsyuk (of Reuters news agency) and Spaniard José Couso (of the Spanish TV station Telecinco).

The call came in a report of the press freedom organisation's own in-depth investigation of the incident, which gathered evidence from journalists in the hotel at the time, from others "embedded" with US Army units and from the US military soldiers and officers directly involved.

The report said US officials at first lied about what happened and then, in an official statement four months later, exonerated the US Army from any mistake or error of judgement. The report provides only some of the truth about the incident, which needs to be further investigated to establish exactly who was responsible.

Pentagon spokespersons said right from the start that an M1 Abrams tank opened fire on the hotel in legitimate self-defence in response to 'enemy fire' coming from the hotel or the area around it. This line was maintained and emphasised at the highest official level in the days that followed. "

Sure, it's old news. But remember, Bubba, that some people remember.

TheStar.com - Bush to push couples to altar

"For months, administration officials have been working with conservative groups on the proposal, which would provide at least $1.5 billion for training to help couples develop interpersonal skills that sustain 'healthy marriages.'"

Bubba Bush is vying with Kim Jong Il for the title "our benevolent leader" with this fantastic twist. Can't spend money on medicare, ecucation, national parks, environment ... but OK to to put money into stupid projects.

HoustonChronicle.com - Alternative tax tops among IRS hassles

"In her annual report to Congress detailing the difficulties confronting taxpayers, Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson called the alternative minimum tax 'a time bomb on a short fuse.' Originally intended to stop the wealthy from sheltering their income from taxes, the alternative minimum tax now catches more middle-income families.

Millions of taxpayers will fall into the parallel tax system this year. The problem stands ready to explode in 2005, when 65 percent of married couples with two children and a combined income between $75,000 and $100,000 will pay the alternative minimum tax."

Indeed, the AMT is a growing burden to the middle class. It's a true disaster for overseas tax payers!

HoustonChronicle.com - U.S. pilot is fined $12,750 in Brazil

"An American Airlines pilot was fined nearly $13,000 Wednesday on accusations that he made an obscene gesture when being photographed at the airport as part of entry requirements for U.S. citizens, officials said.

Brazil imposed the new rules that Americans be fingerprinted and photographed at entry points in response to the similar rules in the United States for citizens of Brazil and other countries whose citizens need visas to enter.

The pilot, Dale Robin Hersh, lifted his middle finger while undergoing the new security process at Sao Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport. "

I understand how this airline pilot feels. Does anyone understand that this applies equally well, perhaps even more so, to the treatment received by non-US citizens visiting the US?

United Press International: Military lawyers criticize tribunal

"'I don't know of any case in which uniformed defense counsel have participated in friend of the court brief in a civilian court other than the court of appeals for U.S. military justice,' said Eugene Fidell.
The 30-page brief pulls no punches in its criticism of the legal issues surrounding the more than 600 detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, ostensibly outside the reach of civilian courts.
'If there is no right to civilian review, the government is free to conduct sham trials and condemn to death those who do nothing more than pray to Allah,' the brief states."

These fine folk (no sarcasm) are braving the worst kind of career backlash. Unlike Bubba Bush, they are really protecting, upholding and defending the Constitution.

Academy of Sciences Calls for Universal Health Care by 2010

"Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, said that universal coverage by 2010 was 'not realistic.'
At a meeting with reporters on Monday, Mr. Thompson said: 'I just don't think it's in the cards. I don't think, administratively or legislatively, that it's feasible.'

On Wednesday, Mr. Thompson added that the Bush administration was 'committed to helping as many Americans as possible, as quickly as possible.'

Bob Dole, the former Republican leader of the Senate, endorsed the academy's call to action.
'If properly framed, the lack of coverage for 43 million Americans can be one of the big, big issues in the election' this year, Mr. Dole said. "

Works for France, works for Canada. Why wouldn't it work for the US? Should the Rebubbalican ticket of mean-spiritedness and cynical contriving be the mainstay for the world's "best" democracy?

Star-Telegram.com : How credible is the criticism?:

"The people who have made it their quest to find reasons to speak ill of our war on terror are not stupid.

Whether journalists or professors or Hollywood stars, the people who lie in wait for reasons to play 'gotcha' with the Bush administration are a fairly smart lot -- which proves that the ability to do well on Jeopardy! does not necessarily translate to analytical skill when the politics of war kick in.

How else to explain two phenomena of January: the ridiculous overhype of the accusations leveled by fired Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and the gasps over Secretary of State Colin Powell's assertions about Iraq and al Qaeda."

Bubba Davis has shown that content-less polemical punditry is still all the rage in Texas. Search this article for any shred of real information, fact checking, counterpoint, motivated conclusion, and you'll come up short. In brief, this is nothing but a rant by an intellectual runt.

What is perhaps the most telling in the O'Neill story is the lack of factual rebuttal to his book. He's been smeared plenty, including by Bubba Davis, but no one has come out with a credible "no that's not true" for the facts.

Which goes to show that, for Bubba Davis, people who play Jeopardy! well and have a good head for historical detail are not good Americans! Only those who turn a blind eye to detail, policy, law, the US Constituion, Christianity, human rights and some basic sense of decency -- only these folks are good Americans to Bubba Mark Davis and the Fort-Worth Star Telegram.

FT.com : Rumsfeld warned of US war crimes

"US military forces in Iraq 'appear' to have committed war crimes by detaining relatives of suspected insurgents or wanted former officials, and demolishing their homes, the US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch has warned."

Bubba Rummy has already shown his disdain for claims of "war crimes" by bashing Belgium on its particular war crimes laws, threatening to push for a migration of the NATO command center. Will these new allegations be noted?

Guardian | US military 'brutalised' journalists

"Although Reuters has not commented publicly, it is understood that the journalists were 'brutalised and intimidated' by US soldiers, who put bags over their heads, told them they would be sent to Guantanamo Bay, and whispered: 'Let's have sex.'
At one point during the interrogation, according to the family of one of the staff members, a US soldier shoved a shoe into the mouth one of the Iraqis.
The US troops, from the 82nd Airborne Division, based in Falluja, also made the blindfolded journalists stand for hours with their arms raised and their palms pressed against the cell wall.
'They were brutalised, terrified and humiliated for three days,' one source said. 'It was pretty grim stuff. There was mental and physical abuse.'
He added: 'It makes you wonder what happens to ordinary Iraqis.'
The US military has so far refused to apologise and has bluntly told Reuters to 'drop' its complaint."

It's been a bad year for reporters, especially those captured or killed at the hands of the US military in Iraq (count is $ or 5 killed). The attack on the Palestine Hotel by the US military was clearly illegal.

VOANews.com : Bush Declares Canada Eligible to Bid on Iraq Contracts

"U.S. President George Bush says Canada will be eligible to bid on a second round of major reconstruction contracts in Iraq. The move is apparently aimed at mending relations between the North American neighbors.

Mr. Bush made the surprise announcement Tuesday, following a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on the sidelines of a regional Americas' summit in Monterrey, Mexico."

Just goes to show how far Bush holds a grudge. Bush waited for Chretien to leave office before giving a show of "cameraderie".

Funny to see that Wolfowitz had excluded Canada for "security reasons" but now Bush gives Canada the presidential (if not royal) pardon.

Newsday.com - Dean Counterattacks

"At a college in southeastern Pella, Dean said his plan for universal health insurance would cost the same as the $87 billion Bush requested to rebuild Iraq, a war he stressed Kerry, Gephardt and Edwards backed. 'I think this war was a mistake and I wasn't afraid to say so a year ago,' he said."

How 'bout that, Bubba? Health care and Foreign policy just like what we have right here in France! Sounds pretty good to me.

Herald Sun: Tennis drug crisis deepens :

"In another startling development, John McEnroe yesterday admitted he had unwittingly taken steroids for much of his glorious career.
The 43-year-old former world No. 1 also challenged the ATP to appoint an independent commissioner in a bid to improve the tarnished image of men's tennis.
'For six years I was unaware I was being given a form of steroid of the legal kind they used to give horses until they decided it was too strong even for horses,' McEnroe said."

Here's another story that is all over the world press but virtually unreported in the US.

Military Lawyers Question Tribunal Rules (washingtonpost.com)

"'The Constitution cannot countenance an open-ended presidential power, with no civilian review whatsoever, to try anyone the president deems subject to a military tribunal, whose rules and judges have been selected by the prosecuting authority itself,' according to the legal brief, which the lawyers said will be filed with the Supreme Court on Wednesday. "

In essence, these military lawyers are Bubba Bush has broken his vow to uphold and Constitution. What seems to be more import to Bush than the basis of American democracy is the promise to spoils to his neocon buddies.

Scotsman.com News - Latest News - New Blow to Blair over Iraq
"George Bush was planning the invasion of Iraq from the moment he became US President, Mr O'Neill said.

His claims have been dismissed as the bitter attack of a sacked man by President Bush's supporters.

But they were backed today by Greg Thielmann, director of the Strategic Proliferation and Military Affairs Office at the US State Department until his retirement last year.

Mr Theilmann told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I'm afraid I think the American public was seriously misled.'"

Greg Thielmann does not appear in the US press. Curious. All I found in google was this.

FT.com : White House calls for probe into ex-Treasury chief

"The Bush administration on Monday called for an investigation focused on Paul O'Neill (pictured) after apparently classified documents were aired in a television interview in which the former US Treasury secretary lambasted the leadership of George W. Bush.

The Treasury asked the Inspector-General's office to undertake an investigation into how government documents branded 'secret' came to be screened on CBS television as part of a 60 Minutes interview with Mr O'Neill on Sunday evening ."

Quite interesting that the Bubba administration calls immediately for an investigation into Paul O'Neill, whereas it still hasn't gotten its act together in the outing of Valery Plame. Understandable, perhaps, in practice since it was, according to the Washington Post reporter Robert Novak, a highly-placed administration official who outed Valery Plame. Bush is not going to demand an investigation into his own administration's illegal actions. This was excruciatingly clear as Ashcroft refused until just recently to recuse himself from the so-called investigation.

But the Valery Plame affair was the case of putting a CIA operative in mortal danger, something that Bush Senior descriped as the most heinous crime. In contrast, the O'Neill affair, if there is one, is that of showing to what extent that the administration has lied to Americans. No one is put into danger. The only real danger is that the truth may come out, something that this Bubba administration wants to avoid at all costs.

Justices Refuse to Review Case on Secrecy and 9/11 Detentions

"In a significant victory for the Bush administration, the Supreme Court declined today to review the government's refusal to release information about foreigners held after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

Can anyone believe in the Supreme Court these days? After its extremely interventionist decision on the Florida recount, it follows up with a "pass" on a question of constitutional importance.

European Union to seek sanctions over U.S. failure to repeal trade law

"The law provoked formal complaints from the EU, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Mexico. They claimed that the law punishes exporters to the United States twice because first they are fined and then those fines are passed on to their competitors.

...

Byrd continues to defend the law that bears his name and has called on the administration to fight harder to retain it.

'The United States should not and will not be bullied into adopting the views of foreign countries that would abolish America's trade remedy laws and put U.S. companies and their employees at risk,' he said in a statement on the day the deadline expired. "

In essence, Byrd does not recognize the rules of the WTO, which is a common nationalist sentiment. But if the US doesn't recognize the WTO, who will? Why talk about restarting the "Doha round" if the US takes a blatantly anti-WTO stance?

US part of station sealed off

"'The crew will isolate the American Destiny module for a period of time on Wednesday from other sections of the craft to make sure that it is hermetic,' he added. "

Sounds a lot like what the Bubba Bush administration is doing to the US!

Study Published by Army Criticizes War on Terror's Scope (washingtonpost.com)

"A scathing new report published by the Army War College broadly criticizes the Bush administration's handling of the war on terrorism, accusing it of taking a detour into an 'unnecessary' war in Iraq and pursuing an 'unrealistic' quest against terrorism that may lead to U.S. wars with states that pose no serious threat.

The report, by Jeffrey Record, a visiting professor at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, warns that as a result of those mistakes, the Army is 'near the breaking point.' "


No comment necessary. Thanks to cursor.

Reuters | Iran reformers protest at election ban on liberals

"Solana told a news conference that Iran was facing international scrutiny after only about half of the 8,200 aspiring candidates were approved to run. Those disqualified include 80 members of the 290-seat parliament, currently dominated by reformists.

'It is very difficult for me to explain to the EU how people already in parliament may not be able to run for re-election,' Solana said. 'The fairness of an election is not only (a matter) for election day.'"

Good thing that it was the EU and not the US that broached the subject. If the US tried to make remarks about election improprieties in Iran, there would be lots of cases of people dying of laughter.

Going further, one could comment that in the US there is no law against "liberals" running but the US mainstream media will do everything to make "liberals" look illegal.

News

"The EC move follows the furious row last week after scientists claimed that Scottish farmed salmon was so toxic that consumers should only eat it three times a year.

Salmon sales slumped after the study - published in the respected US journal Science - said high levels of carcinogenic poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins were found in samples of Scottish farmed salmon and fish feed.

The report's health warnings were dismissed by the Food Standards Agency and retailers as inaccurate and based on poor science. The FSA insisted that Scottish salmon, including smoked salmon, is still safe to eat."

I've been shying away from Salmon for the last few years. I see it a lot in the company cafeteria and it's this overabundance of a once rare meat that has kept me away. Seems unnatural to see too much of a good thing. My intuition is vindicated again. Hope that the kids haven't been getting too much of this in school.

39% See Bias In Reporting On Campaign (washingtonpost.com)

"The more ideological people are, the more likely they are to feel strongly about media bias. Conservative Republicans, by 47 percent to 8 percent, say the media lean toward Democrats, while liberal Democrats, by 36 percent to 11 percent, say coverage tilts the other way. "

Color me an ideologue! But it's one thing to resort to polls and another thing to perform studies. Now the fine folk (note the sarcasm) of Media Research would have you believe that that since media people by-and-large vote Democrat that there is a so-called "liberal bias". That presupposes that since you vote Democrat that you will report and portray a partisan pro-Democrat line. This study seems to ignore entirely the big money behind big media.

Lots of problems with this studies. But anyone with the faintest familiarity with the BBC or any Europe press knows that:

-- journalistic standards are much higher in Europe
-- there is a liberal press in Europe, as well as a conservative press (Murdoch and Berlusconi are there, of course)
-- there is a thriving, widely-read outlet for political humor
-- there is a debate about the level of media bias that is carried out by the media themselves

Every Saturday afternoon, on France 2 television, the television ombudsman appears with representative viewers and they hash out the stories of the week on France 2 and its partner France 3. They publish letters to the editor, discuss them with the guest viewers and talk about what France 2/3 should do to eliminate bias. The reporters themselves are sometimes present. Can you imagine this sort of participatory press in the US? And don't tell me that the O'Reilly factor is just this!

In any case, FOX bias is so blatant that no one will argue with it. Just take a look!

U.S. Soldiers Kill 2 Members of Iraqi Police in Gun Battle

"The soldiers did not realize they were firing on police officers, said Maj. Gordon Tate, a spokesman for the Fourth Infantry Division, which controls much of the area. It is the second time in three weeks that American soldiers have killed Iraqi police officers in the area."

Still winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis!

FOXNews.com - Plane Diverted Because of Security Threat

"CHANTILLY, Va. An American Airlines commuter flight was diverted Saturday after a passenger passed a note to the crew demanding to be taken to Australia, the FBI said. The plane landed safely at Washington's Dulles International Airport and the passenger was in FBI custody."

Hey Bubba, did you notice that Chantilly is the name of a French town? No wonder the crew was so suspicious!

When was the last time that you took a commuter plane to Australia? I usually take the bus.

Boston.com -- Families frustrated by delayed releases

"BAGHDAD -- Hundreds of Iraqis waited for hours outside a Baghdad prison yesterday in hopes their relatives would be included in a much-publicized release. About 80 men were freed, but US officials said they weren't part of the amnesty, and most Iraqi families left disappointed and angry at America.

'Liars! Liars! They won't let them out!' one woman screamed in dismay before fainting. A coalition spokesman insisted the prisoner release was on track, but would be done quietly for reasons of 'security and privacy.'

US administrator L. Paul Bremer III announced Wednesday that US occupation forces would free 506 of some 12,800 Iraqi detainees. The first 100 were to be released yesterday from Abu Ghraib prison, Bremer said."

Is this winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis?

HoustonChronicle.com - Health care gains a record share of economy

"Health spending accounts for nearly 15 percent of the [US] economy, the largest share on record, the Bush administration said Thursday.

...

Even though more than 43 million Americans are uninsured, the United States devotes more of its economy to health care than other industrial countries. In 2001 -- the last year for which comparative figures are available -- health accounted for 10.7 percent of the gross domestic product in Germany, 9.7 percent in Canada and 9.5 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development."

Now who's complaining about socialized medecin?

HoustonChronicle.com - French police don't believe bomber on the loose

"'French intelligence services in constant touch with American partners conducted additional investigations that produced no new indications that could confirm the theory put forward by American media,' said a police spokeswoman, who declined to be named.

'The investigations turned up nothing to show that there was somebody with al-Qaida links carrying a bomb,' she added. 'There is nothing, nothing, nothing at this time that suggests something is amiss.' "

So we're back to the original question: was it just more bad US intelligence or was it politically motivated?

South Knox Bubba:

"'We owe our president our loyalty, and he owes us a chance to be heard. By choosing to exclude himself from those who dissent, he strikes at the very fabric of what our country represents.'

Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said people with signs - whether for or against the president - will be restricted to designated areas. Anyone who ignores officers' commands to honor those restrictions will be subject to arrest. "

Censorship, stifling dissent, right here in K-ville.

US urged to extend visa deadline

"Homeland security secretary Tom Ridge said the US aimed to be 'open to visitors but closed to terrorists'.

About 15.1 million tourists entered the US under the visa waiver programme last year, accounting for two-thirds of spending by foreign visitors."

Tom Fridge leaves me cold! The US has a thriving tourist industry with Europe and Asia, but all it takes is a pompous moron like Bubba to screw things up. How many potential tourists will change their minds because of the added inconvenience and cost of applying for a visa. Sure, it doesn't change anything for my Morrocan friend Mehdi, since he has to get a visa just about anywhere he goes. But for the rest of us, it's gonna make us rethink the trip.

The US seems to be turning into the new old Japan!

Connect the Dots for Iraq

Here we have a series of news, coming out today, that should bother those who believe that the Bubba Bush administration has done or is doing a good job in Iraq.

First off: Bubba Bush quietly and tacitly concedes defeat in the search for Iraqi WMDs:

The Bush administration has quietly withdrawn from Iraq a 400-member military team whose job was to scour the country for military equipment, according to senior government officials.

Second, a Carnegie report slams Bubba's "distortions" on the Iraqi threat:

Bush administration officials "systematically misrepresented" the threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to war, according to a new report to be published on Thursday by a respected Washington think-tank.

These distortions, combined with intelligence failures, exaggerated the risks posed by a country that presented no immediate threat to the US, Middle East or global security, the report says.

And now, just in case you thought that things were calming down in Iraq after catching our old US agent, Saddam Hussein, here's a new event:

Thirty-five U.S. soldiers have been wounded in a mortar attack west of Baghdad, as Washington planned to launch a carrot-and-stick peace drive that involves freeing hundreds of prisoners.

An estimated six mortar rounds struck in or near Logistical Base Seitz on Wednesday night, said a U.S. military statement, adding the wounded troops had been given first aid and evacuated for medical treatment.

No further details were immediately available of the attack or the seriousness of the injuries and where the soldiers were being treated. The soldiers belonged to the 541st Maintenance Battalion of the U.S. 3rd Corps Support Command.

The mainstream US press does not deliver a tone of seriousness for these events, but the world press certainly does.

And, oh yeah, for those who follow this blog, the Lisa Girman news alerts have died away entirely. This is a non-event.

Fort-Worth Star-Telegram.com

"A walk through the Deanisms of just the last few weeks reveals a litany of bizarre and indefensible moments that might have sunk anyone else. Dean has:
• Given credence to the wacko theory that President Bush knew 9-11 was going to happen.
• Said that the world is no safer after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
• Said that Saddam was never a threat.
• Claimed to be the only candidate from a farm state.
• Claimed to be the only anti-war candidate.
• Whined that party leaders should call on his rivals to go easy on him after months of savaging them.
• Said that we did not seek U.N. sanction for invading Iraq.
• Threatened that Democrats will not vote for the party's nominee in November unless he is the man.
• Suggested he would easily beat Bush.
That's quite a collection."

What's bizarre is this reporter's article. Far from being indefensible, most of these statements are simple truisms.

The Herald: "UK Herald: Army under fire over abuse investigations"

"Of the American soldiers who had maltreated prisoners, one of them, Master Sergeant Lisa Marie Girman, 35, was said to have knocked a prisoner to the ground, "repeatedly kicking him in the groin, abdomen, and head, and encouraging her subordinate soldiers to do the same".

Still little reporting of this in the US.

GOP Remap Of Districts In Texas Can Stand (washingtonpost.com)

"'While heavily aware of the long history of discrimination against Latinos and Blacks in Texas . . . we are compelled to conclude that this plan was a political product from start to finish,' wrote Judge Patrick Higginbotham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, a Reagan appointee, and Judge Lee Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, an appointee of the first President Bush. "

It's just partisan, so it's OK!

U.S.-Paris Flight Lands After False Alarm


"One U.S. official said a young woman was denied boarding in Paris because she was wearing a jacket with wires and a battery connected to it apparently for heating the coat.

'It looks like a young lady with an unusual jacket,' the official said, adding that she was not believed to be a terror risk. It was unclear if her luggage had been removed from the flight.

A French Interior Ministry spokesman said the woman was stopped at Charles de Gaulle airport after a security search found the jacket but bomb disposal experts confirmed the wires were for a warming device and the woman was not a terror suspect. "

Can you really believe that you're winning the WOT when you have the entire country in a panic everytime something "unusual" happens at an airport? Sounds to me like the terrorist have won.

Lisa Girman & Co

"The general found that Master Sgt. Lisa Marie Girman, 35, of Hazelton, Pa., knocked a prisoner to the ground, 'repeatedly kicking him in the groin, abdomen, and head, and encouraging her subordinate soldiers to do the same,' Harris said. Others found guilty of abuse are Staff Sgt. Scott A. McKenzie, 38, of Clearfield, Pa., and Spc. Timothy F. Canjar, 21, of Moscow, Pa."

Here's one article on the Girman & Co discharge from Dallas-Fort Worth. Also something in the LA Times. But no barrage of articles in the US. This is a non-reported scoop in the US.

News - Montreal - canada.com network

"[I]t was revealed that DNA tests in Canada and the U.S. confirmed that a Washington state Holstein that tested positive for mad cow disease was born on an Alberta ranch. "

Yes that mad cow was Canadian. What burned me about the earlier treatment of this story was that the mad cow was only possibly Canadian, yet the press went after it with a feeding frenzy. Suddenly all of Canada was under pointed suspicion.

This kind of treatment reminds me of the Carol Stuart murder when I lived back in Boston. The newspapers all but hanged a black man accused of murdering Carol Stuart, but in the end it was her husband and brother in law who set up the whole thing to collect on insurance. Sometimes, maybe even often, newspapers and news agencies do not show the kind of restraint that they need to. I include in this conclusion the recent announcement of the "suspicion" that the mad cow was from Canada.

Police to Guard 12 City Schools Cited as Violent

"Edwin Diaz, 14, a freshman at one of the 12 schools, Washington Irving High School in Manhattan, said he and other students were called into an auditorium yesterday and were informed of the new security measures by a school safety officer.

'He said it's going to be like a police precinct in here from now on,' Edwin said. He did not object.

'It's necessary because there are people who bring weapons to school,' he said. 'It's not a safe environment.' "

How would you like to send your kids to this school?

BBC NEWS | Americas | US army battles to keep soldiers

"Ted Carpenter, a defence analyst with the Cato Institute think tank, said the stop loss decision went against the concept of volunteer military service.

'Clearly, if large numbers of personnel have their terms extended against their will, that violates the principle of volunteerism,' he said.

'It also suggests just how strained the military is in trying to provide for the Iraqi occupation plus all the other US obligations around the world.' "

Signs of strain is a very mild way to put it. No mention of the long-term effects this will have on the US "volunteer" army.

Yahoo! News - Two French nationals killed, third wounded in Iraq

"The French nationals, who were in Iraq working for US companies tasked with rebuilding infrastructure in and around the capital Baghdad, were driving in a convoy near Fallujah when their car broke down, diplomats said.

The occupants of a passing vehicle shot at the French men, killing two and wounding the third, the diplomats said."

So much for working in Iraq, especially for US companies.

No mention of the nationalities of the occupants of the passing vehicle. Could they have been US?

BBC NEWS | Protests spread over sky marshals

"More countries have joined the protests against American proposals to place armed guards on US-bound flights.

Portugal is the latest nation to voice concern, as its civil aviation authority said that putting loaded guns aboard an aircraft could endanger it.
In Britain, the pilots' union said that if the security risk to a flight is great enough to warrant an armed guard, the plane should not fly at all.

Denmark and Sweden have also rejected demands for armed guards on aircraft. "

For once, it's not France who is protesting an extra-territorial US policy. I guess that it's a case of "choose your battles wisely".

South Knox Bubba

"Why is KNS obsessed with Healthy Forests spam?"

Now here's a Bubba that I find quite logical. Hats off to Knoxville!

HoustonChronicle.com - Neglect threatens historic Goliad as plans gather dust

"GOLIAD -- This shrine of the Texas revolution, with one of the oldest standing forts west of the Mississippi River, is threatened by neglect and the ravages of time, state officials say.
A plan by state agencies, local governments and private groups called for building two sites for visitors at Goliad -- a Tejano history center to focus on the Hispanic history of Texas and a ranching heritage center to explain the evolution of that centerpiece of Texas identity. But five years after the concepts, neither has been built or even seriously discussed. "

I visit Goliad at least once a year with my family. It's one of my favorite visits because of the beauty of the sites, their witness to history, the magnificent sunsets. There's a nature trail featuring a vast variety of local flora. On a recent trip my son and I fount two turtles crawling on the horizontal trunk of a tree lying in the San Antonio river.

So it's perhaps easy to discard my interest in this marvelous site as strictly personal, but really I think it's a lot more than that. Goliad is a beautiful town and is one of the remnants of authenticity in this strip-shopping-center state. And yet it is the subject of budget cuts, when really there should be an increase in investment.

I blame Bubba Bush for this. There are countless Goliads across our nation and Bush is doing his damnedest to destroy them.

HoustonChronicle.com - 15-nation study says U.S. teens more obese

"U.S. teens were more likely than those in other countries to eat fast food, snacks and sugary sodas, and were more likely to be driven to school and other activities, contributing to a more sedentary lifestyle, said co-author Mary Overpeck of the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau. "

More reason to support José Bové!

BTW: the study puts US 15 year olds at 14-15% obese. The same age in France is 3-4% obese. I'm sorry to say that, here in France, the advent of 0% fat yogurts, sugarless drinks and, yes, fast food, will probably narrow that gap dramatically in the next few years.

Guardian Unlimited : US soldiers sent home for beating prisoners of war

"Three American soldiers have been discharged after being found guilty of viciously beating and harassing Iraqi prisoners of war, some of whom were already injured, a US military spokesman said last night.

Master Sergeant Lisa Girman, 35, was the most senior person in charge during the incident at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. She knocked a prisoner to the ground and repeatedly kicked him in the groin, abdomen and head, encouraging subordinate soldiers to do the same. "

Seen this in the US press, Bubba? Or maybe you prefer this interepretation.

The mentality of being more concerned with the enemy's well being than that of our own military personnel or the success of our military mission is already having its effect. In late June the brother of another one of the four Camp Bucca MPs, MSgt. Lisa Girman, wrote that his sister had told him ''Over this past weekend, four Iraqi prisoners escaped from their compound [at Camp Bucca]. When the MP on duty was asked why he did not attempt to prevent the escape, either by physical contact or firing a shot, the MP replied that he was in fear of being charged with a crime."

USATODAY.com - Britney's Vegas vacation: Stunt or screw-up?

"The fateful day began, according to Alexander, 22, as the couple sat in their Vegas hotel room watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Contrary to reports, he said they weren't drunk.

'We were just chilling in the room, about 3:30, and we had so much fun, just looking out at the city and the lights, and we were, 'We're in Las Vegas, let's do something. Let's go get married,' ' he told Inside Edition."

Yeah, Bubba, that's only in America!

Effective Assignments, From DNA to Dracula (washingtonpost.com)

"In a little biotechnology unit I've developed with the support of [Montgomery] County, my kids extract DNA from a variety of sources, including fruit, animal tissue and even their own cheek cells. . . . "

GATTACA welcomes this 7th grade class!

“Free-Speech Zone”
"Police have repressed protesters during several Bush visits to the St. Louis area as well. When Bush visited on Jan. 22, 2003, 150 people carrying signs were shunted far away from the main action and effectively quarantined. Denise Lieberman of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri commented, “No one could see them from the street. In addition, the media were not allowed to talk to them. The police would not allow any media inside the protest area and wouldn’t allow any of the protesters out of the protest zone to talk to the media.” When Bush stopped by a Boeing plant to talk to workers, Christine Mains and her five-year-old daughter disobeyed orders to move to a small protest area far from the action. Police arrested Mains and took her and her crying daughter away in separate squad cars."

Here's where things get really scary: the American Conservative offers a richly factual article about Bubba Bush's drive to suppress dissent in the US and elsewhere (London, Sydney). The message of this article is very clear: Bush's anti-dissent activities are highly un-American.

Thanks to cursor.

British pilots see BA flight holdups as "warning shot" by US

"Jim McAuslan, Balpa's general secretary, told The Times: 'There is a growing feeling among our members that Flight 223 was grounded as a shot across the bows by the Americans.

'We are concerned it was a political decision to get BA to accept air marshals. Until it does, the US may make life so difficult that the passengers start switching to other airlines.'"

With friends like Bubba Bush, does British Airways need enemies?

South Knox Bubba ranked no. 3

"National Enquirer ranked as 2nd most trusted print news source in Knoxville"

The South Knox Bubba blog came in third. Where does the Weekly World News stand? Enquiring Bubba minds want to know.

TheStar.com - Democratic frontrunner Dean pummelled by rivals in debate

"Dean, who shot to the top of Democratic polls with his unbending opposition to the war in Iraq, repeated his charge yesterday that the capture of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has not made the U.S. safer. He pointed to the 23 American deaths in Iraq since Saddam was found at the bottom of a spider hole last month and the chaos in U.S. travel where fighter jets are escorting transatlantic flights.

Lieberman went after Dean on that claim. 'I don't know how anybody could say that we're not safer with a homicidal maniac, a brutal dictator, an enemy of the United States, a supporter of terrorism, a murderer of hundreds of thousands of his own people ... in prison instead of in power,' he said."

Bubba Lieberman should run as VP for Bubba Bush! What's he doing in a Democrats' debate, anyway?

Reservist Returns to Iraq for military duty
"Acree spent a month and a half in Kuwait before moving up to the Iraqi border just in time for the start of the war. He stayed there until mid-May.

When his four years of duty were up in June and he decided against re-enlisting, he moved back to Victoria and instead got a job as a correctional officer at the Goliad County Jail.

A short six months after arriving home, Acree got a call informing him that he was being sent back to Iraq as a reservist."

As a counterpart to the never-ending war, we have the never-ending tour of duty (pardon my French!). As this reservist says in the article, he was very surprised to be called back into Iraq. It's this kind of surprise that is going to weaken significantly the supposedly all-volunteer US army.

Dean Now Willing to Discuss His Faith
"At a breakfast here Saturday, Dean had an opportunity to discuss his faith when an Iowan asked what sustains the front-runner when his rivals are relentlessly criticizing him. Instead, Dean shared a secular belief in the power of people to change government. "

I've written before that you've got to do Bubba things to appeal to Bubba voters. Here we see proof of it: the WashPost even complains that Dean is not being "Bubba" enough!

Detroit Tops List of Fattest U.S. Cities

"But despite Houston's small step downward [ from No. 1 to No. 2 ]on the list, Dallas, San Antonio and Fort Worth moved up.
Dallas ballooned from last year's ninth fattest city to third; San Antonio went from No. 13 to No. 4; and Fort Worth jumped from 16th to sixth."

All Bubbas know that everything is bigger in Texas, especially those big ol' Bubba butts!

AEI - Publications: Richard Perle "An End to Evil"

"This world is an unsafe place for Americans--and the U.S. government remains unready to defend its people. In An End to Evil, David Frum and Richard Perle sound the alert about the dangers around us: the continuing threat from terrorism, the crisis with North Korea, the aggressive ambitions of China. Frum and Perle provide a detailed, candid account of America's vulnerabilities: a military whose leaders resist change, intelligence agencies mired in bureaucracy, diplomats who put friendly relations with their foreign colleagues ahead of the nation's interests. Perle and Frum lay out a bold program to defend America--and to win the war on terror.

Among the topics this book addresses:

--why the United States risks its security if it submits to the authority of the United Nations
--why France and Saudi Arabia have to be treated as adversaries, not allies, in the war on terror
--why the United States must take decisive action against Iran--now
--what to do in North Korea if negotiations fail
--why everything you read in the newspapers about the Israeli-Arab dispute is wrong
--how our government must be changed if we are to fight the war on terror to victory--not just stalemate
--where the next great terror threat is coming from--and what we can do to protect ourselves"

Richard Perle shows that the Bubba Bush administration embraces the most un-American philosophies in US history. This is the true evil.