The Nation | Worry, Alfred Dubya

"What, Me President?"



Believable.

Press Release: Opposing the Nomination of Dr. Condoleezza Rice to become Secretary of State

Thanks to cursor.

"I DON'T LIKE TO IMPUGN ANYONE'S INTEGRITY, BUT I REALLY DON'T LIKE BEING LIED TO REPEATEDLY, FLAGRANTLY, INTENTIONALLY. IT'S WRONG. IT'S UNDEMOCRATIC, IT'S UN-AMERICAN, AND IT'S DANGEROUS. IT IS VERY, VERY DANGEROUS. AND IT IS OCCURRING FAR TOO FREQUENTLY IN THIS ADMINISTRATION. AND THIS CONGRESS, THIS SENATE MUST DEMAND THAT IT STOP NOW."

Nothing new, but for once a Sentaor has stated it publicly. Lying liars.

Salon.com Books | Python swallows Bush!

And now for something completely different!

"Americans may know Terry Jones best as a naked organist and a purveyor of crunchy frog-filled chocolates and 'being hit on the head' lessons, but the founding member of the British comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus has plenty of other talents. "

Crunchy frog ... it brings back memories.

FT.com / International Economy / Davos 2005 - Blunt warning over current levels of CO2

The staid British journal FT says in an article:

"As Tony Blair called on world leaders in Davos to address climate change, UK scientists published the results of the biggest global experiment yet conducted to model climate change predictions.

The research, published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, shows that if our emissions of carbon dioxide continue unabated, the average global temperature could rise by up to 11 degrees Celsius. "

How 'bout summers at 120 degrees fahrenheit in Paris?

Xinhua | Chirac passe à l'ATTAC!

"French President Jacques Chirac is to make some concrete proposals at the annual World Economic Forumof political and economic leaders at the Swiss resort of Davos on Wednesday, his office said Tuesday.
Chirac has not unveiled the proposals, but they would probably be among what were raised by a group of experts in September, notably an international tax over greenhouse gas, financial transactions, passages in straits, air tickets or purchase via credit cart.
The objective of the tax is to gather 50 billion dollars per year to ease by half the world's poverty from now to 2015, as the United Nations promised in 2000. "

This was the lead story on the French radio station France Inter this morning -- Chirac is making an ambitious announcement at Davos.

Chirac is joining the altermondialistes in proposing different global taxes, including, it seems, the Tobin Tax.

Unsurprisingly, this news received no attention in the Western press.

Reuters.co.uk | Israel resumes building West Bank barrier

"Israel has resumed building one of the most controversial parts of its West Bank barrier, deep in occupied land, in a move Palestinians say clouds new President Mahmoud Abbas's efforts to revive peacemaking.
[...]
'How we are going to convince our people and factions that we are trying to end Israeli occupation while Israel is imposing facts on the ground,' Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.

'This will have a deep and negative impact on our efforts to reach a ceasefire.'"

That's Bubba Logic for you. Sharon claims that the suicide bombings are holding off any peace agreements then goes ahead to do everything in his powers to be sure that the bombings continue. And the US in all of this? It's not our fault, of course -- we're just bankrolling the whole deal.

The Seattle Times: | New way to pay for Social Security pursued

In spite of the naively upbeat headline, there is some real info buried in the story:

"Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, a moderate on the Finance Committee who will be at the center of negotiations over Social Security legislation, yesterday became the latest Republican to express reservations about Bush's plans, saying voters are leery and Congress must act cautiously.

'There is a lot of fear among seniors,' Snowe said on CNN's 'Inside Politics Sunday.'

She said that she does not object to the concept of personal accounts but that she is 'certainly not going to support diverting $2 trillion from Social Security' to create them.

Snowe also made it clear she is not convinced that a Social Security crisis has arrived, as Bush maintains, saying there are 'various scenarios and interpretations about that urgency.'"

Politically vague, Snowe tries to appear overly objective in her analysis. She appeals to outside authorities ("fear among seniors") and she suggests calm analysis ("various scenarios").

What you can read from this is: a) Snowe doesn't agree with the Bush administration's actions b) She knows that Americans know that Bush is lying, once again employing Bubba Logic.

FT.com | Central banks shift reserves away from US

"Central banks are shifting reserves away from the US and towards the eurozone in a move that looks set to deepen the Bush administration's difficulties in financing its ballooning current account deficit.

[...]

Any rebalancing of central bank reserve portfolios has serious implications for the global financial system as the US has become increasingly dependent on official flows of funds to finance its current account deficit, estimated at $650bn in 2004."

This is certainly bad news, albeit expected, for the US economy. The current local highs for the USD against the EUR may just be the calm before the storm. It may just all depend upon the US receiving continual bailouts from China and Japan.

BBC NEWS | Schwarzenegger 'damages Austria'

"Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship should be ended over the execution of a convicted killer in the US, a politician in Austria has said.

Peter Pilz, of the Green Party, said the Californian governor broke Austrian law by allowing Donald Beardslee's death by lethal injection on Wednesday.

He said Mr Schwarzenegger, who has dual nationality, had 'heavily damaged the reputation of the republic.'"

The truth is that capital punishment shocks the majority of Europeans and only serves to further alienate Europe and the USA.

That being said, there is a vocal minority in Europe that supports capital punishment; most of these supporters are involved in various neo-fascist movements, including the current Austrian government.

My conclusion: even a country like Austria, with a coalition government including neo-fascist elements, condemns the tendancies of the USA, even those of a "progressive" state such as California. Left is the USA is already far-right in Europe. That's why, to Europe, the Bubba Logic seems so incredible.

The New York Times > National > National Special > Bush, at 2nd Inaugural, Says Spread of Liberty Is the 'Calling of Our Time'

"Rolling slowly along the parade route from the Capitol to the White House in his armor-plated limousine, Mr. Bush was surrounded by a defensive phalanx of trucks, cars, a large bus and dozens of Secret Service agents. Unlike the leisurely strolls along the route by other presidents, Mr. Bush did not get out of the car until he reached the highly secure area near the White House, beyond the protesters."

Bubba president, hiding behind the security officials.

The New York Times | Krugman: That Magic Moment

"According to a Pew poll, on the eve of the election the great majority of voters, of both parties, believed that the Bush administration had asserted that it found either W.M.D. or an active W.M.D. program in Iraq."

That's mazeway reconstruction for you. Take a Bubba electorate, put them in front of proof that they've royally screwed up, and they'll reconstruct a fantasy tale to justify their actions. Institutionalized stupidity in America. Bubba Logic.

Guardian Unlimited | USA: A televisual fairyland

"You can say what you like in the US media, as long as it helps a Republican president. But slip up once while questioning him, and you will be torn to shreds. Even the most grovelling affirmations of loyalty won't help. The presenter of 60 Minutes, Dan Rather, is the man who once told his audience' 'George Bush is the president, he makes the decisions and, you know, as just one American, he wants me to line up, just tell me where.' CBS is owned by the conglomerate Viacom, whose chairman told reporters: 'We believe the election of a Republican administration is better for our company.' But for Fox News and the shockjocks syndicated by Clear Channel, Rather's faltering attempt at investigative journalism is further evidence of 'a liberal media conspiracy'."

The Guardian tells the UK readership the whole story. The divide between the US press and the European press is growing all the larger.

Thanks to cursor.

Canoe | Ancient Babylon's bricks crushed by tanks - Brits

"The British Museum said U.S. and Polish forces in Iraq have crushed part of ancient Babylon's 2,600-year-old brick paved streets with their tanks and used soil containing archeological artifacts to fill sandbags. The museum is concerned U.S.-led troops, including U.S. marines and the Polish force who have occupied the ancient Mesopotamian capital, have inflicted widespread damage to the ancient centre of civilization, said a report released yesterday.
...
Images of dragons on the moulded brick foundations of the famous Ishtar Gate were marred by cracks and gaps where someone tried to remove them, the report said."

Babylon lost to bubbalogic.

The Victoria Advocate | There are no WMDs in Iraq

"The White House acknowledged Wednesday that its hunt for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction - a two-year search costing millions of dollars - has closed down without finding the stockpiles that President Bush cited as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein.

Bush's spokesman said the president had no regrets about invading Iraq."

The emperor has no regrets ... and no clothes. The parade of bubbalogic must go on!

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Union fights for Mexican Simpsons

"'We're not people who like to fight,' said Humberto Velez, who is the voice of Homer Simpson.

'The only thing we know how to do is act. But we will never let people that aren't interested in agreements take away our rights for their own benefit. How am I supposed to take care of my kids?'

He says he only earns about 600 pesos ($28) per episode and felt obliged to stand up for his union."

Hear that, Matt Groening? The Mexican homer only earns $28 per episode for the Simpsons! How megalomerchandising can a guy get?

The New York Times > Washington > White House Fought New Curbs on Interrogations, Officials Say

"But in intense closed-door negotiations, Congressional officials said, four senior members from the House and Senate deleted the restrictions from the final bill after the White House expressed opposition.

In a letter to members of Congress, sent in October and made available by the White House on Wednesday in response to inquiries, Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, expressed opposition to the measure on the grounds that it 'provides legal protections to foreign prisoners to which they are not now entitled under applicable law and policy.'"

That right, Bubba Condi, it uphold the Rights of Man and the Geneva Convention. We can't have that, now, can we?

French Foreign Minister calls for "a new relationship" with US

"French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier called for a 'new relationship' with the United States but warned that a better alliance did not mean allegiance."

But check out the AFP photo!

CBS News | Tsunami: U.S. Military Relief Effort Panned

This from cursor in the "disaster photo-op category" and too cynical to not make you gawk.

"Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a medical doctor and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, visited tsunami-stricken southern Sri Lanka on Thursday, tying up two of the five U.S. Military helicopters presently available, reports CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey."

And is this like a movie set or what?

"A group of homeless men at the camp expressed frustration with government-led relief efforts, complaining that the local Red Cross had only set up their clinic, complete with flags and banners, a few hours before the U.S. senators visited. Red Cross officials said their mobile clinics were treating patients at hundreds of camps."


And then comes the punch line:

Just before his helicopter lifted off, Frist and aides took snapshots of each other near a pile of tsunami debris.

'Get some devastation in the back,' Frist told a photographer. "

The Victoria Advocate | US Army Kills Wrong Insurgents in Iraq

"The United States military said it dropped a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house outside the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, killing five people. The man who owned the house said the bomb killed 14 people, and an Associated Press photographer said seven of them were children."

The Advocate leads with the scandalous quid pro quo: is it 5 or 14?

It then goes on to a near-comic, Brazil-style description:

"The house was not the intended target for the airstrike. The intended target was another location nearby," the military said in a statement.

We imagine the scene from Brazil where the police swoop in on the apartment of Mr. Buttle instead of My Tuttle, a natural mistake. The comedy ends there:

An Associated Press photographer said from the scene that 14 members of the same family - seven children, four women and three men - were killed, and six people were wounded, including another child in the house and five people from neighboring houses. By evening, all 14 victims had been buried in a nearby cemetery, Yousef said.

The U.S. military statement said coalition forces went to the area to provide assistance and said five people were killed. It said there was no other damage.

OK, five people were killed, and then some. Some old intelligence catastrophes. Anyone wonder why the insurgents have so much popularity in Iraq?

Gates taking a seat in your den | Newsmakers | CNET News.com

"No, I'd say that of the world's economies, there's more that believe in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don't think that those incentives should exist."

Why not call them "insurgents", Bill? Then you could just kill them like they do in Iraq!

67TH COMBAT SUPPORT HOSPITAL DOCS

"I have some very unfortunate news. Levels above me have ordered, yes ORDERED, me to shut down this website. They cite that the information contained in these pages violates several Army Regulations. I certainly disagree with this. However, I have made a decision to turn off the site pending further investigation as to whether or not I have violated these Army Regulations."

It's a free country, right Bubba?