bubbalogic

The Statue of LIberty: A "Demonic Idol" -- sources close to Rick Perry

2011-07-12T23:23:00.000+02:00

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most powerful symbols of the US, both at home and in the world.

So it's scary to see the current governor of Texas, Rick Perry, associate with a "Christian" group that claims that Lady Liberty is a "demonic idol":

The right wing is again riding the "big hate" bandwagon, fanning those old flames: "self-righteousness", "moral superiority", "rampant xenophobia". Still, if you target the very symbol of Liberty itself, aren't you also attaching the very heart of the American Way of Life?

Scary and unfathomable.

Dubya as in "Waterboarding": HRW Calls for an inquiry

2011-07-12T22:24:00.005+02:00

I just saw an excellent interview with Reed Brody of HRW on the French answer to CNN: France 24 (pronounced France vingt-quatre, s'il vous plaît). Brody presented an official report, Getting Away with Torture, recommending investigation and even prosecution of Bush administration offficials and even Dubya himself.

There were a couple of interesting points that I took away from the interview:

1) Under the Bush administration, the practice of "extraordinary rendition" included sending prisoners to Syria, mostly because Syria was known for using torture in interrogation. Very interesting to see that cozy relationship with Syria broken up today in the light of Arab Spring.

2) Brody made the argument that the Obama administration was loathe to prosecute Bush and needed some prodding.

3) Another argument is that the US is today asking Arab states to "respect human rights" in their own countries but that those requests appear as exploiting a "double standard" on human rights: one standard for Arab and African countries and a different standard for the US itself.

4) Finally, Brody argued that the torture campaigns under the Bush administration had created greater insecurity for the US. Photos of Abu Ghraib have turned into recruitment posters for militant islamic groups. The US prosecution of those behind the illegal torture campaign could only improve the image of the US in the Arab world.

Obama has stated previously that he did not want to prosecute the former administration. He may have trouble of his own with the Bradley Manning case, by the UN no less.

I've covered the secret prisons before, including the dismal level of analysis in international media. Happy to see this come to the forefront today.

"Oh, You Mean Those Secret Prisons"

2006-09-07T22:37:00.003+02:00

Back when things were heating up about the Washington Post disclosure of "secret prisons" in Europe where the CIA spirited away "terrorists" for "interrogations", there was a weird sort of double-think going on in the US. On the one hand, "W" announced that there were no secret prisons, while the EU claimed that they believed that there were some although they couldn't name any in particular. On the other hand, "W"'s administration was talking about prosecuting journalists for breaches of national security. Which sort-of meant that "hey, we know that aren't supposed to be secret prisons, but really there are some, but, you know, we can't just say it, and journalists shouldn't either".

W seems to know how to best capitalize on human nature and cognitive dissonance in general. By releasing information in that way, media followers largely bought into the doublethink. Everyone said to himself "No, there aren't any secret prisions, but if there were some, then that would be OK." Which seems to explain the current media reaction on "W"'s declaration today that there are, after all, secret prisons, but they're OK, right?

Most of the articles that I've read in the US suggest that Europe was "comforted" by "W"'s admission.

At least CNN seems to have the real scoop.

The EU parliament's investigation's deputy leader, British Liberal Democrat Sarah Ludford, said Bush's admission "exposes not only his own previous lies. He also exposes to ridicule those arrogant government leaders in Europe who dismissed as unfounded our fears about extraordinary rendition."

Other European MP's are not so "comforted" either:

"Kidnapping people and torturing them in secret, however tempting the short-term gain may appear to be, is what criminals do, not democratic governments," said Rene van der Linden, president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, which conducted the investigation.

"In the long term, such practices create more terrorists and undermine the values we are fighting for," he said.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me ... what, oh nevermind.

Rocky's Full Court Press -- Not Covered by the Press

2006-09-01T00:30:00.000+02:00

If I weren't a regular reader of cursor then I wouldn't have come across this excellent video of Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City giving the Bush administration, the current congress and the American media a sound verbal thrashing. It's a thrilling video to watch. What's amazing is that it's coming from Salt Lake City -- I would never have imagined that the Mormon state would permit such defiant acts of political courage.

Rocky pulls no punches and gives everyone his share of criticism. He is especially critical of the US print media, including the local Salt Lake City journals, for not printing the corrections on their articles about WMD in Iraq until after the Iraqi invasion, at which point it was too late.

While Rocky doesn't ask for it, his speech clearly makes the argument for the impeachment of Bush. He does mention that Bush Sr. and Rumsfeld should be sharing the docket with Hussein for Human Rights Violations because they were complicit with Saddam during his gassing of the kurds. That's a strong note that I'm sure a lot of Americans are not ready to come to grips with.

I'm wishing this man the best ... and I'll have to keep my eyes open for him in the future.

My quick search of "Rocky Anderson" on news.google.com came up with few media stories outside of Utah. Clearly, the US media have not picked up on this, although it is very rare for the Mayor of the capital city to harangue the President while he is staying in the state overnight. It has probably never happened before, quite a powerful story, really, but Americans other than Utahns won't hear anything about it. Instead, they will get to see lots of stories about the arrest of a certain Utah polygamist, as if that were news.

Menez: Iain Blair Must Resign

2006-07-17T19:14:00.000+02:00

The amazing part of the calm, cool statement of "no criminal charges" is just how normal the "error" is made to sound. The CS Monitor writes:

"I concluded that while a number of individuals had made errors in planning and communication, and the cumulative result was the tragic death of Mr. de Menezes, no individual had been culpable to the degree necessary for a criminal offense," said [O'Doherty], senior lawyer from the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime Division.

"The two officers who fired the fatal shots did so because they thought that Mr. de Menezes had been identified to them as a suicide bomber and that if they did not shoot him, he would blow up the train, killing many people," O'Doherty said in a statement read to reporters.

I have several remarks on this finding.

First off, someone made a very big error. Someone said "this guy is a terrorist" without checking his facts. That's the first big mistake and it should be considered criminal because by flagging this guy as a "terrorist" his death penalty was effectively signed by the police. The moment he was considered a "strong suspect", shoot to kill took over. That was the point in time where no one thought of anything else but "clap this guy on the ground and shoot him in the head". That's what they effectively did.

Secondly, someone else made a big error. That someone else said "let's shoot to kill" without checking the first guy's mistake. The "shoot to kill" decision maker (a.k.a. the "decider") should have verified before giving the order. The second person would have caught the first person's mistake.

Clearly, these are two criminal acts: negligence in identifying potential terrorists, which is an effective death sentence in England, and negligence in ordering "shoot to kill". Sure, there must have been some other people involved in the errors, but at the end of the day, these two people should be punished severely for what can only be criminal negligence. They should be tried for their crimes, because this kind of negligence is a crime.

But finally, since the CPS give a clean bill of health to these guys, the real criminal error must reside in the top command. Clearly, if this kind of "error" can occur, the folks at the top made the wrong call, putting into please a murderous new rule, "shoot to kill", without putting in place the proper safeguards. Organizational disaster. This, too, is a crime, or at least should be.

At any rate, any reasonable person of authority would have already resigned if he had any sense of honor whatsoever. Iain Blair clearly doesn't. Known for his high-level organization, having given the green-light for London "shoot-to-kill" death squads, he really should be sacked for his incompentence. But instead, he's given the option to resign on his own, an option he should take if England is ever to enjoy one day any image of justice on the world front.

We can expect that the fate of Iain Blair will be the same as that of Tony Blair: not long for England's political world.

Burt Bacharach and the New York Press "Big Hate" Bubbas

2005-10-22T12:50:00.000+02:00

1984-ish Big Hate "journalism" has become so rampant in the states that I'm more than a little concerned that Americans have forgotten what true journalism is about. Even the op-ed pages, where viewpoints are expressed, the journalistic requirement should be still be "nothing but the facts, ma'am". But America has lost the virtue of facts, left behind the civilities and respect required by dignified discourse, oblitered the notion of reasoned argument.

The examples are legion, but this one strikes me as "funny" because the subject of the "Big Hate" is Burt Bacharach, a songwriter with whom I've gotten re-aquainted recently. I remember Burt singing the charms of "Martini and Rossi" aside heart-throb then-wife Angie Dickinson. Recently, Burt has been the muse-object of the "Austin Powers" films, said to be liked by Bubba W.

Burt is easily part of the "elite". But, careful there ... Burt also has heart, writes about love and about "what the world needs now". It doesn't surprise me to read what Burt has said recently:

"People ask why a man who has been known for writing love songs all of his life is suddenly rocking the boat," Bacharach says. "I had to do it. This is very personal to me, and this is the most passionate album I have ever made.

"I had to express myself, not only musically but lyrically. It was time for me to ask, 'who are these people who are taking control of our lives and how do we stop the violence?' I've got two little kids and a 19-year-old son and I wonder what they're going to do with their lives. It's so personal to me that I even decided to do some of the singing. This is dedicated to my kids and your kids,"

In another quote:

"Instead of pushing the funding up, they took most of it away to fight this stupid war."

So what do the Big Hate Bubbas have to say about Burt?

There were lots of stupid comments in the wake of Katrina, but few more so than those of the previously harmless Burt Bacharach [...].

I was honestly baffled why a legend would put himself in such an embarrassing position. Turns out it was marketing.

[...]

It [the album] all has the shameless dementia of a Cindy Sheehan blog entry.

[...] I'd rather hear that from Burt than from some sad pierced girl handing out anti-Semitic flyers in Union Square.

Any surprise that the initials of this Big Hate Bubba are "J.R."?

We all want accountability -- don't we?

2005-10-21T18:35:00.000+02:00

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded accountability on Friday after a U.N. report said high-ranking Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies were involved in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

'Accountability is going to be very important for the international community,' Rice told reporters as she flew with Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for a tour of Alabama. 'We cannot have the specter of one state's apparatus having participated or having been involved in the assassination of the former prime minister ... in another state.'

In Bubba Rice's terms, the "international community" wants accountability. So what are Americans getting? Who's accountable for lying to Americans about the imminent threat posed by Iraq? Who's accountable for Powell's "blotted" speech to the UN Security Council? (Not Bubba Colin -- he blamed it on bad intelligence!)

So where's the accountability, Bubba Rice? I agree with you, we should have it, now come up with it!

And while you're banging the war drum about "one state can't be involved in the assassination of so-and-so ... in another state", how about the assassination of tens of thousands of Iraqis by the US-UK "coalition"? Is that OK?

Britian imposes BubbaLogic in the European Union

2005-10-04T07:17:00.000+02:00

FT.com: Path clear for Turkey to discuss joining EU

Mr Straw had warned his counterparts that they were on the edge of a “precipice”. Other ministers said that, by pulling back from past promises to begin the talks with Turkey on October 3, the EU would be jeopardising its strategic interests, breaking its word and plunging into a fresh crisis.

The final proposals remained a closely held secret; British officials would not even allow Cyril Svoboda, the Czech foreign minister, to see the text sent to Ankara.

Selling a political agenda by fear has been the hallmark of the Bubba Administration in the United States. While fear didn't work to force the French and Dutch to vote for the ridiculous Constitutional Treaty, fear has been adopted on the European level by the Brits to force in the Turkey agenda.

This sort of action will ultimately work to destroy the European Union. Treaties that are voted "in secret" can only be bad treaties. Democracies with secret agendae are bad democracies.

NY Times: Clinton Criticizes Bush Admin on Katrina

2005-09-19T13:35:00.000+02:00

"'This is a matter of public policy,' [Bill Clinton] said. 'And whether it's race-based or not, if you give your tax cuts to the rich and hope everything works out all right, and poverty goes up and it disproportionately affects black and brown people, that's a consequence of the action made. That's what they did in the 80's; that's what they've done in this decade. In the middle, we had a different policy.' "

Clinton presents, in a pseudo-factual manner, that the Katrina disaster is simply a result of Bubba Bush administration policy. I don't suppose that he'll be getting invited back to fundraising by this administration.

Good to see this administration getting some heat.

Blair critical of BBC's "hatred of America" in Katrina coverage

2005-09-17T22:01:00.000+02:00

"Tony Blair was shocked by the BBC's coverage of Hurricane Katrina, describing it as 'full of hatred of America', Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, said on Friday night."

Dunno if Tony Bliar was shocked or not, since it's Rupert "I defecate on the whole world" Murdoch who says so.

Nonetheless, we can well imagine that Rupie was shocked, as was everyone who watched the Katrina drama and debacle unfold. Shocked and saddened.

Rupie reminds me of what Bill Moyers said recently:

"The more compelling our journalism, the angrier became the radical right [...]
That's because the one thing they loathe more than liberals is the truth. And the quickest way to be damned by them as liberal is to tell the truth."

Clearly what may have shocked Tony Bliar, who probably shocked Rupie, was the simple truth. They are mostly shocked, not to discover it themselves, but by the fact that it is getting out!

Reuters Says Bush Photo Not 'Malicious,' Reports Wide Interest at Home and Abroad

2005-09-17T10:37:00.000+02:00

It's already saturated the blogosphere, but I still can't help including it here for the record.

That's right: Bubba Bush, with bracing, hardy style, reservedly asks Bubba Condi if he can have a bathroom break.

To top off the story, The DailyKos has the gut-wrenching cliché of Bubbas Rice, Bush and Bolten yucking it up at the UN.

Editor And Publisher: Origins of the New Orleans Catastrophe in Bush Administration Budget Cuts

2005-09-17T10:11:00.000+02:00

Here's an article from Editor and Publisher that cites pre-Katrina articles about funding cuts in levee projects.

"When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside."

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle.

On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

The funds necessary for finishing the levee projects are quite meager compared to the estimated at US$200 billion for New Orleans reconstruction. That's BubbaLogic for you!

NY Times: Equality and Preference

2005-09-16T11:11:00.001+02:00

Choice remarks on the new CDC report:

"'One thing that surprised me is that we expected, based on anecdotal evidence, that girls might be more likely to give oral sex and boys more likely to receive it, but we didn't find that at all,' said Dr. Jennifer Manlove, of Child Trends, which, like Ms. Brown's group, released an analysis of the data, 'There's more gender equality than we expected.'"

Tell me, why would one tend to think this? Are we simply propagating the idea that females don't have any sex drive themselves?

"A very significant proportion of teens has had experience with oral sex, even if they haven't had sexual intercourse and may think of themselves as virgins," Dr. Manlove said. "We're not sure whether these teens who have not had sexual intercourse are engaging in oral sex because they view it as a way to maintain their technical virginity or even because they regard it as an easy method of birth control."

Or, just maybe, because they enjoy it!

The Victoria Advocate: Pledge Policy "Compliant" with State Law, but What About Democracy?

2005-09-15T16:18:00.000+02:00

In Victoria, Texas, where I grew up, here's a good example of the "coercive requirement to affirm God".

"The Victoria schools' policy is in compliance with state law concerning the Pledge of Allegiance, communication specialist Diane Boyett said.

The Texas Education Code states: 'The board of trustees of each school district shall require students, once during each school day at each school in the district, to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag.'

The law also requires a minute of silence following the Pledge of Allegiance.

In Victoria schools the pledge is recited daily.

However, Boyett said, a student is not required to participate if a parent or guardian turns in a written request for exemption."

I think that this is quite an interesting case in point. Texas law requires students to "pledge" every day. Yet, doesn't this requirement essentially deprive them of free-will in the matter? Isn't the "written exemption request" a form of "blacklisting"? Why require the "exemption request" from a parent when students should have their own say in the matter?

Clearly, this is a stringent requirement. Is this democracy?

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair throws down gauntlet to UN

2005-09-15T14:59:00.000+02:00

Blair has the gall to say this to the UN:

"It was now widely recognised the UN could intervene when nations failed their own people, he argued. "

Hmm, is he thinking of the Katrina disaster? Or of the British Healthcare System?

Perhaps he's really thinking of the murderous invasion of Iraq.

NPR : Federal Judge Rules Pledge Unconstitutional

2005-09-14T23:51:00.000+02:00

"U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation 'under God' violates school children's right to be 'free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.'"

I'm glad to see this item back in the courts -- and once again scared of the outcome.

I would like to see the "under god" pledge ruled illegal. In fact, most folks in Europe wonder what kinda Nazi state is being put into place in the US when they see that the "pledge of allegiance" is a daily requirement in schools. I even can admit that I admire those Jehovah's Witnesses who refuse to do it -- for religious reasons, of course, but not without backlash.

One nation, indivisible, undivided by "coercive requirements to affirm God', that's the country that I know and love.

BBC NEWS | Powell's Revealing Expression

2005-09-09T15:56:00.000+02:00

"But Mr Powell said so many African-Americans were left unprotected because they were poor, rather than because they were black.

It 'should have been a blinding flash of the obvious... that when you order a mandatory evacuation, you can't expect everybody to evacuate on their own', he said. "

Now here I agree with Colin, that it's not a racist thing, it's a wealth thing. And while it isn't illegal to be poor, it might as well be.

The phrase "blinding flash of the obvious" is quite interesting. A "flash of the obvious" should be convincing, but if it is "blinding", aren't we saying that we will not be convinced, but will turn a "blind eye"? That would seem to be explain why the Bush administration didn't foresee the Katrina damage to New Orleans.

It would also explain why Bubba Colin didn't see that there was no proof of weapons in Iraq.

New York Times : Powell Calls His U.N. Speech a Lasting Blot on His Record

2005-09-09T12:06:00.000+02:00

"'I'm the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world,' [ former secretary of state Colin ] Powell told Barbara Walters of ABC News, adding that the presentation 'will always be a part of my record.'

Asked by Ms. Walters how painful this was for him, Mr. Powell replied: 'It was painful. It's painful now.' Asked further how he felt upon learning that he had been misled about the accuracy of intelligence on which he relied, Mr. Powell said, 'Terrible.' He added that it was 'devastating' to learn later that some intelligence agents knew the information he had was unreliable but did not speak up."

Good points for admitting that your speech was wrong, Colin, and for feeling bad about it.

However, you don't feel bad enough about your own failures in the deal. You put the blame on folks in the CIA, but aren't you forgetting something? Aren't you forgetting that Hans Blix also testified that there was no evidence of weapons? Aren't you forgetting all of the international scrutiny that said that you were wrong? Aren't you forgetting that you didn't obtain a UN resolution to go to war? Aren't you forgetting how you isolated the US in world opinion and generated historically massive protest marches in the US, in the UK and around the world?

Your flimsy excuse of "folks at the CIA didn't give me the info" doesn't cut the mustard, not for you or for Bubba Bush. The info was there, but you chose to ignore it, a willful choice that you should also admit.

What is the difference between willfully ignoring readily available contrary evidence and lying?

When did you apologize to Hans Blix?

The legacy that you leave is not only one of lying to the UN, of failing to generate a real coalition, and of lessening the image of America in the world. No, you've also left the legacy of "blind loyalty" to an idiot and a criminal. You have broken with the American tradition of "self reliance" and "personal integrity" and chosen the path of "cronyism".

These accusations are all the more harsh because I at one time respected you and thought that you might be able to bring some courage and determination to the Bush administration. My naive hopes have been well laid to the wayside now, thanks to you, bubba Colin. In fact, I don't see much difference between you and Bubba Rice.

New York Times: Harlem Pupils Meet Swiss Chard

2005-09-09T11:44:00.000+02:00

"Eating at the Promise Academy is about more than just the food. Children learn to respect where it comes from and who serves it, as well as whom they eat with. They must use tongs to pick up their morning bagels. They may not bang their trays down on the cloth-covered cafeteria tables. No one is allowed to toss out whole peaches or to cut in line.

To make it all work, Mr. Canada relies on Andrew Benson, a young chef with a culinary degree from Johnson and Wales University. Mr. Benson, a veteran of three public school cafeterias in Harlem, said he was defeated by the city's school food bureaucracy. (Actual cooking from scratch is done in less than half of the city's 1,356 schools.) "

This is what I've been wanting for America for a long time now, ever since coming to france almost 15 years ago. I said to everyone "If back in the US they could imagine this kind of life, where the school and work cafeterias are good and you go to the "market" and not to the "supermarket" to buy food, then I think that they would prefer it. And I think that Americans deserve it!"

I'll be watching to see the outcome of "Promise Academy" and their experiment.

US Squandering Foreign Aid Offers

2005-09-08T13:07:00.000+02:00

From a New Zealand newspaper:

"Other assistance unlikely to be accepted is from longtime foe Cuba, which has more than 1500 doctors on standby waiting to come to the United States. The State Department said there appeared to be enough US medical volunteers.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called coordinating the aid offers a 'complicated process.'
'I think that what we have seen is a very effective response from the Department of State, as well as the other US government agencies, to really in a concrete way realize these offers of assistance on the ground,' he said. "

Amazing, amazing. The auto-congratulatory State Department is "very effective"? Is a doctor "very effective" when all of his patients are dying? Is a teacher effective when his students are failing? Is a department effective when there are still bodies decomposing in the streets after days and days?

Are US medical volunteers "enough" when people are dying of dysentery, starving to death and dying of thirst? When old folks with medical conditions are just left to die?

How dare this somber cretin say that his Department is effective? What a cynical attitude, tantamount to "leaving the poor to die is OK by us, we're just doing our jobs!" What a bloodthirsty scoundrel! With the still-countless dead turning the entire southern coast into a plague area, we have a petty, ideological, "let the poor die and rot" spokesman complaining about how difficult it is for him to "realize in an effective way" the many, many offers of real assistance from much poorer countries than the US. If you can't get it together, McCormack, find someone who can!

Once again, squandered good will.
Once again, Americans put in jeopardy by the Bush Administration.

CELINE DION - DION SLAMS US AUTHORITIES OVER KATRINA RESPONSE

2005-09-06T22:51:00.000+02:00

"'How come it's so easy to send planes in another country to kill everyone in a second, to destroy lives? We need to be there right now to rescue the rest of the people.' "

So maybe I'll end up liking the Quebecoise crooner!

I totally agree with her comments. And I noticed that they almost didn't make the US press at all! How telling!

CNN.com - Castro: U.S. hasn't responded to Katrina offer -

2005-09-05T22:23:00.000+02:00

"Castro, a longtime adversary of the United States, initially offered to send 1,100 doctors and at least 26 tons of supplies and equipment, but the Communist leader announced Sunday during a televised speech that he had increased the number of physicians to 1,586. Each doctor would carry about 27 pounds of medicine.

'You could all be there right now lending your services, but 48 hours have passed since we made this offer, and we have received absolutely no response,' Castro said at Havana's Palace of the Revolution"

Dunno if Castro is an adversary. After all, Cuba hasn't tried to invade the US, even if it has been the brunt of a brutal economic embargo.

But here you go: the offer from Cuba to sends lots of doctors. Let's face it: doctors in the states would not make this offer to Cuba. They don't even make house calls! But the Cuban doctors were ready to go and to save lives in the name of "humanity". And Dubya and Condi turned them down, didn't even pick up the phone. How shameful!

Krugman: Killed by Contempt

2005-09-05T14:02:00.000+02:00

"[T]he federal government's lethal ineptitude wasn't just a consequence of Mr. Bush's personal inadequacy; it was a consequence of ideological hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good. For 25 years the right has been denigrating the public sector, telling us that government is always the problem, not the solution. Why should we be surprised that when we needed a government solution, it wasn't forthcoming?"

I'm still surprised, perhaps because I never imagined to what extent that the Bush administration carried out its cynical mathematics.

During lunch, my friend Andrew Boucher told me about some discussions equating the Paris August 2003 heatwave deaths (estimated at 22,000) and the Katrina deaths (in the thousands for the moment) because both situations involved marginalized segments of the population, unimportant for political purposes, with the implications that "natural disasters" of this sort are almost "programmed in", at last factually if not intentionally.

Sadly Surprised

2005-09-04T15:45:00.000+02:00

Even this long-standing Bush denigrator is surprised by the extent of the heartlessness and ruthlessness of the Bush administration's response to Katrina. As much as Bush likes to stick it to the poor, as idiotic as he is to think that killing overseas is going to do anything but exacerbate terrorism, as ruthless as he is in his tax cuts to the rich and his granting of pork-belly contracts to friends, I still never imagined for a second that Dubya was so bloodthirsty and so negligent as to let thousands of Americans in Southern States die in squalor in the aftermath of a totally forseeable disaster, a disaster created by the war in Iraq, by the gutting of funding for basic services and by federal ineptitude. I start to wonder, even, about the sanity of this man and about the groupthink that engulfs his entourage.

After all, what can you possibly think about an administration that is constantly on vacation. Our beloved leader has set the tone: after his 5-week vacation at the ranch where he chose to ignore Cindy Sheehan at his doorstep, Dubya waits 5 days before visiting the disaster area, and then under extremely controlled conditions, we can be sure, although CNN and other media have chosen not to bring to light the details. I saw an interview on CNN of two young black girls in Mississipi who were gushing over see Dubya, about he he reassured them: this well-picked audience said nothing about anger, fear, disappointment, just about how reassured that it was.

The CNN anchor did not ask them what they thought about the Secretary of State who was still on vacation in NY. Condi was not going to be put out by the problems in the South: she spent evenings on Broadway and her days in Fashionable Shopping, expelling dissenters manu militaris.

"Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on 5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars on some nice, new shoes (we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan). A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman."

As much as we may admire Condi and her husband (er, boss) for their cool headedness in the face of such tragedy, it is perhaps their carelessness which comes to mind the most: not caring about the worst natural disaster in recent American history, not caring enough to do the job that they were given, which is to say protecting this country.

This is when I start questioning their sanity and I start wondering if the recent winner of the Faux Faulkner competition wasn't even closer to the truth than we could have imagined.

“You give him that gun back, right this minute,” Condi said. Rummy gave me Saddam s gun back and I held it my hands. It was hot like a horseshoe.

“You got the gun, now you stop that hollering,” Rummy said.

Condi patted me on the back. “It sure is hot in here,” she said. She fanned herself and took off her jacket. She smelled like perfume.

Now Condi is Dubya's trump card when it comes to getting out of the racism stigma that natural follow bloodthirsty faux southerners: in a way, Condi, as was Powell, is Dubya's Ace of Spades that he can pull out to trump critics like Rapper Kanye West who says "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People". However, I confess that I don't believe that Dubya is a racist, only an oligarchist for whom poor whites are just as bad as poor blacks. After all, the Bush clan is able to represent so-called minorities very well, as long as they are fabulously wealthy. Wealthy Jews and wealthy Arabs are all welcome at the Bush table. Bush even likes wealthy Europeans, having a weakness for Germans ever since Granddaddy did good business with the Nazis.

Carelessness and recklessness are more than the hallmarks of this administration: they have become a badge of honor, and this is the heart of bubbalogic. Yes, this is where guys like me who, unlike the faux-Texan commander-in-chief, grew up in the great state and even went to school there. I know that particular bubba mentality that goes along with the marvelous Waylon and Willie song "Mommas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys"

"He ain't wrong, he's just different, but his pride won't let him do things to let you think he's right."

But what's OK for a cowboy is not OK for the president of the USA. We like the cowboy when he's Slim Pickens riding the bomb as it falls from the plane, but we don't want to see that in an ideological psychopath that we happen to have voted as President. Pride is a sin, and Dubya's pride is his downfall: it's the blinders that keep him from seeing the reality of the US situation, perhaps even more than do his "handlers".

The reality that he doesn't see, but which has been made even more clear to the rest of the world, is that the US is already a kind of hell, a deeply depraved state with a violent streak running through to the core. We see that being "evacuated" really means "everyone for himself" with the poor left to die without a thought. We see that being "violent" is a term that is applied to "looters", who are people that have been left to die but have decided to live: survival is the name of the game. These people are "put down" by Police and the Army with a "Shoot on Sight" order that is worthy of the London Police. The situation is so bad that a lot of New Orleans police had "deserted". Watching a segment on CNN, one New Orleans police officer was taunting his "deserter" camarades for cowardice.

This is the legacy for which Dubya will be known: destroying the image of the US abroad and, now, at home as well. This is the beginning of the end of the Bush honeymoon in the media. This is where we realize, finally, that Dubya makes Dick Nixon look like a humanitarian, makes Reagan look like a genius, makes the US press look like the jerks that they are.

I think that this is it for Dubya. If he isn't impeached by this Republican congress, then they will be replaced by Democrats. Not that the Democrats deserve this windfall, being the lapdogs of power and neo-con wannabes in general.

September 11, 2005, will be Dubya roasting day in the press. Four years later, we will celebrate the triumph of BubbaLogic over freedom and dignity. "We won't be fooled again!"

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Rev. Jackson Meets With Venezuela's Chavez

2005-08-29T23:17:00.000+02:00

"The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Monday urged President Bush to strongly condemn a U.S. religious broadcaster's call to assassinate Venezuela's leftist president, saying Washington needs to cool down the rhetoric against this South American nation and major oil producer.
...
``We must make it clear that talk of isolating Venezuela, talk of assassinating its leader, this is unacceptable, and it must be denounced roundly by our president and by our secretary of state,'' Jackson told The Associated Press in an interview shortly before meeting Chavez."

Once again, Jesse Jackson has shown good sense where the Bush administration prefers to act like a bunch of dumb hicks.

Various Shades of the American Spirit

2005-08-24T00:29:00.000+02:00

While Pat Robertson shows what it means to be an American Conservative Christian and a Pragmatist, studies shows that obesity is expanding in America, the concert given by Joan Baez in Crawford is loved and loathed, peace protesters in Pittsburgh get tasered for lying in the steet, and life goes on in this best of all possible worlds.

Two Bliars for the Price of One?

2005-08-22T07:54:00.000+02:00

Mr Menezes' family want Sir Ian to resign for incorrectly linking the shooting to the attempted bombings early on.

On the day of Mr Menezes' death, Sir Ian said the shooting was "directly linked to the ongoing and expanding anti-terrorist operation".

Sir Ian has told the News Of The World it was 24 hours before he learned the Brazilian was wrongly shot dead.

The family's lawyer has expressed "incredulity" that he made statements without knowing facts.

Sir Ian has said he will not step down over the Menezes case

...

[A] spokesman for Tony Blair said he fully backed Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair over his handling of the case.

Ay, there's the rub. The Scotland Yard police chief blunders horribly at the least, lying at the worst, and yet he is not accountable!

The Prime Minister blunders horribly at the least, lying at the worst, and yet he is not accountable.

Perhaps the Brits will finally realize something: that having liars in your government does not advance your image worldwide!

Sir Iain Bliar Should Resign

2005-08-20T00:05:00.000+02:00

Much like Tony, Sir Iain's way of assuming responsibility is by passing the buck or denying the charges. Given the current state of British political depravity, he will probably get away with it, too.

But let's look at the case in an objective manner.

First, we have all these staid Brits explaining about how the "shoot-to-kill" order is necessary and how there will be "accidents". I had thought that the Brits knew better than this, having seen how badly it works in the states.

Second, we have the facts of the case: a nice guy takes the subway, runs for the approaching train, is overpowered immediately by one policeman and then is shot in the head repeatedly by another. Murderous action for no real reason other than the "jitters". These men should be immediately reprimanded and indicted. Oh, and by the way, the "kill him" order was given by a woman, how up-to-date we are!

Third, we have Sir Iain backing these guys to the hilt. Do tell, Sir Iain, are you "justifying" such murderous acts? Then you should resign, good Sir, and take Tony with you.

My naive images of a civilized Britain are forever dispelled.

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | Day in pictures

2005-06-29T00:11:00.000+02:00

I know that this isn't "news" or "bubbalogic", but it's still pretty cool.

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Jeb Bush is a Disgusting Runt

2005-06-18T13:06:00.000+02:00

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush reopened Terri Schiavo's case yesterday by asking a prosecutor to review a perceived delay by her husband in seeking medical help after her collapse 15 years ago.

[...] Michael Schiavo accused the governor of attempting to deflect attention from the autopsy findings, which concluded that his wife was not strangled or beaten at the time of her collapse, as her parents had alleged. Why she collapsed remains undetermined.

Now the Rebubbalicans have been shown wrong, damned wrong and hateful by their Schiavo witch hunt, their only recourse is to turn up the Big Hate machine to eleven.

csmonitor.com | Is 'Downing Street Memo' a smoking gun?

2005-06-18T03:43:00.000+02:00

"Joe Conason of Salon.com writes that Kinsley's response to the memo is just more proof that 'the leading lights of the Washington press corps are more embarrassed than the White House is by the revelations in the Downing Street memo.'

Mooing in plaintive chorus, the Beltway herd insists that the July 23, 2002, memo wasn't news -- which would be true if the absence of news were defined only by their refusal to report it."

This "news" is finally getting to the papers. Maybe there is still hope for James Guckert and Gannongate.

The Bubba-C: French Bashing is OK

2005-06-13T11:23:00.000+02:00

The BBC says that the Congressman who famously requested that "French Toast" and "French Fries" be changed to "Freedom" toast and fries at the House of Representatives cafeteria has now "had a change of heart".

Good to see the BBC covering this kind of info, but too bad to see that the bashing continues.

To see this, first off, you need to realize a little of the history of the change from "French" to "Freedom". The BBC covered it well in an earlier article when they noted that the "freedom" switch originated in WWII with German-labeled items.

The owner [of a restaurant], Neal Rowland, said he got the idea from similar protest action against Germany during World War I, when sauerkraut was renamed liberty cabbage and frankfurters became hot dogs.

So, briefly, the "freedom" tribute was given to the enemy at the time of a bloody war. That same "tribute" was later given to France who, as an ally, tried to keep the US (or rather Bush) from going to war against Iraq on false pretenses, amongst other things. The reasons for which France argued against war have all shown to be justified (no WMD, no imminent threat, occupation doesn't build democracy). Furthermore, France was but a more vocal component of a much larger anti-war movement of historical proportions, especially with Britain itself.

Now back to the BBC article which claims that Walter Jones has made a "U-turn" about the war on Iraq. OK, maybe about the war on Iraq, but not for his French-bashing attitude. That's seems to still be OK as "Freedom Fries" and "Freedom Toast" are still on the menu. And no "apology" has come forth.

Yet the BBC didn't analyze this aspect of things. Why? Because for the BBC, much like the American press, French bashing is OK. The Bubba C, in short.

The US media and the French referendum

2005-06-07T23:17:00.000+02:00

"Thomas Friedman of the Times made perhaps the most contemptuous and ignorant of all these attacks on the French voters in his June 3 column, headlined, “A Race to the Top.” Writing from Bangalore, India, Friedman sneered that “French voters are trying to preserve a 35-hour work week in a world where Indian engineers are ready to work a 35-hour day. Good luck.”

Hailing Bangalore as “the outsourcing capital of the world,” Friedman added, “The dirty little secret is that India is taking work from Europe or America not simply because of low wages. It is also because Indians are ready to work harder and can do anything from answering your phone to designing your next airplane or car.”

Friedman concluded, “this is a bad time for France and friends to lose their appetite for hard work—just when India, China and Poland are rediscovering theirs.”

In the course of Friedman’s absurd depiction of the Indian masses as wildly enthusiastic over the ruling elite’s repudiation of Indian “socialism” and its attack on previously established social protections, with Indian workers chomping at the bit to be super-exploited by native entrepreneurs and global corporations, the Times’ columnist noted in passing: “Sure, a huge portion of India still lives in wretched slums or villages...”

Such casual indifference to the horrific poverty that grips hundreds of millions of Indian people bespeaks a level of intellectual and moral depravity that requires little additional comment. Suffice it to say that Friedman has the same attitude to the conditions facing workers in France, or in the United States."

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who become violently sickened by the articles written by Enduring Friedman.

BBC NEWS | The treaty is dead, long live the treaty

2005-06-06T22:46:00.000+02:00

"'It is important to hear all voices, not just some voices, so all member states should make their decisions on this treaty' said John Palmer of the European Policy Centre. 'What has happened underlines the need for the Union not to develop farther than its democratic polity. It must give ownership back to the people. But we will need another treaty.'

'However,' he went on, 'the next one will have to be built upwards and not delivered downwards. For example, another constitutional convention should be directly elected.' "

In other words, don't try to shove a load of baloney onto the European electorate (again)!

Good and Bad Vision

2005-05-31T13:27:00.000+02:00

Today's CS Monitor offers bad vision on the resulting "non" to France's European Constitional Treaty Referendum. In their editorial When 'Non' Means So Much More:

"If just the Constitution itself had been discussed, it's hard to see how it could have been trounced so thoroughly by French voters in a Sunday referendum. In isolation, it's nothing more than a useful simplification of the European Union's existing treaties - a way to smooth the workings of the cumbersome 25-member EU, and to give Europe as a whole more foreign-policy oomph."

What a poor rendition of the debate around the Constitution and its contents! Sure, that was the "Oui" camp's mantra: "It doesn't change anything", a mantra often coupled with the contradictory "But it's very important!" So which is it: benign or important?

Good vision is to be found elsewhere. The wikinews has the best, most faithful analysis of the referendum that I have come across:

Arguments of the "No" vote

Proponents of the "No" vote, both on the left and right, argued that the proposed constitution enshrined what they claim is an undemocratic Europe, with much of the responsibilities granted to a body of unelected political appointees, the European Commission and not enough checks and balances. They also point out that it vests much legislative power in the European Council, representing the executives of the various countries; this is seen as a bad arrangement with respect to Separation of powers. While the treaty adds supplemental powers for the directly elected European Parliament, many opponents, particularly on the left, consider that they are still insufficient in order to provide checks and balances.

Much criticism was directed at the length of the proposed Constitution. The real treaty submitted to French voters is about 80 pages long, which many argue is too long and complex for a constitution. It is followed by 100 pages of appendices, declarations and protocols, some of them dealing with matters such as oil refining in the Dutch West Indies or specific nuclear power plants in Eastern Europe.

Opponents of the treaty argue that the proposed constitution will largely hamstring the French government and prevent it from leading its own policies in matters as diverse as social services or foreign policy.

Much of the opposition was targeted at Part III of the proposed constitution, which sets the policies of the European Union. Opponents point out that the constitutions of most countries, including France, do not specify policies explicitly, except for a limited number of fundamental rights, but rather are limited to specifying the core principles and procedures of how governmental institutions work. Part III, they argued, sets in stone a number of economic and social choices, while these should be a matter of political choice depending on democratic votes.

That's very much the motivation for my "Non" vote: this treaty doesn't propose a Constitution but the end of public service and social standards, not to mention the end of democracy itself in Europe, installing an oligarchical political system led by the twin evils of the European Commission and the Europe Council, neither required to uphold decisions made in the European Parliament.

BBC News: Giscard d'Estaing's Extreme Modesty

2005-05-31T13:00:00.000+02:00

"'There can be no other constitution for Europe,' he said. 'People know that we have the best treaty possible.' Despite his buoyant predictions in the run up to the referendum, M. Giscard d'Estaing's fears for the eventual outcome became apparent with his interventions in the French 'yes' campaign.
Earlier this year he expressed doubts about the decision of President Jacques Chirac - his political enemy - to ratify the treaty by referendum. 'The French don't know how to vote on texts ... they only answer the question that they want to be asked.'"

That's the usual bureaucratic answer: "we had the best deal, but the people didn't understand it."

Phooey and horse hooey! Not only was the Constitutional Treaty a bad deal but it was far too complicated, far too "interventist". Explicitly forbidding "harmonization", this project was a race to bottom for Europe.

Now, to make sure that the "Non" is not just a parachute that slows Europes tumble into the void, we need a real Constitution!

BBC NEWS | Europe | France 'rejects EU constitution'

2005-05-29T22:30:00.000+02:00

"There were cheers from supporters of the 'No' campaign when the exit polls results were announced just after voting ended at 2100 GMT.

Those who rejected the treaty included Communists, various left-wing groups, dissident socialists and far-right parties."

All right, it's true that the "Non" camp included the contestation camps. But the Non camp also included about 40% of the UMP, the current right-leaning government party. And about 50% of the Socialists were voting "Non". It's a travesty for the BBC to try to paint the "Non" camp as extremists or even "anti-Europe". I think that the majority of the "Non" camp is like me: we voted "Non" because the proposed European Constitution stinks and we want a good one: one that people can read, one that doesn't put market in front of ideals. We want "Liberty, Egality and Fraternity" and not "Commodity, Complicity and Regressivity".

So there, BBC, today you are the "Bubba-C".

Coins Go Missing, and G.O.P. Insider Becomes Outcast - New York Times

2005-05-28T22:34:00.000+02:00

"But this week, Mr. Noe's lawyers said that as much as $13 million of the state's $50 million investment in his two [rare coin] funds could not be accounted for. Mr. Noe, meanwhile, has become the focus of at least six investigations or audits involving either his handling of the coin investments or his campaign fund-raising. Federal investigators are also looking into his contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign as a 'Pioneer,' raising more than $100,000.

And suddenly, Republicans who once stood staunchly at Mr. Noe's side, and at his fund-raising parties, cannot seem to run from him fast enough."

I blogged this style about a month back when I picked it off of cursor. At the time, the story had made no national attention and the Republican blowhards were saying "We all thank Mr. Noe for the wonderful returns we've had on his investments." As you could have expected, these statements proved false.

Now the scary part:

Even the state's highest court has been touched by the case. When a series of lawsuits seeking an inventory of Mr. Noe's coin investments was brought before the Ohio Supreme Court recently, five of seven justices recused themselves. All had received campaign contributions from Mr. Noe.

As a result, the lone Democrat on the court will preside over the cases and has selected five other judges to stand in for her Republican colleagues.

Is there any possibility of Justice in America when the courts are stacked with Rebubbalicans?

BBC NEWS | French media in referendum 'bias' row

2005-05-22T20:06:00.000+02:00

"'Publicly-owned media in France are broadcasting sheer propaganda to the public, and this absence of any pluralism or any attempt to represent and discuss the point of view of those who want to vote No to the Treaty is profoundly undemocratic'"

Interesting to see that the debate regarding "public television" in France is largely the opposite critique of that in the US.

Whereas the new Nixonian CPB chairman claims that PBS is demonstrating a "liberal" (sic) bias, the French public media are claiming a "pro-yes" bias, largely interpreted as a "pro-business" bias.

This is perhaps one of the most flagrant and fundamental differences between French and US culture: the knee-jerk reaction in the US is always towards an ultra-neocon-capitalism and it's usually hard to get voters to think realistically about this attitude. In France, on the other hand, the usual reaction is toward socialism. We see this all the more during the transport strikes which usually are viewed quite favorably by the majority of the population.

New York Times | Bush Speaks to the Calvin College commencement

2005-05-22T08:33:00.000+02:00

"Mr. Bush added: 'Someday you will appreciate the grammar and verbal skills you learned here. And if any of you wonder how far a mastery of the English language can take you, just look what it did for me.'"

Just what is Bubba Shrub making fun of: academia, his own poor level of self-expression, the common belief that he is technically illiterate (i.e. he doesn't read any reports, everything is verbal)? Curious way of getting a laugh.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Barroso warns France over No vote

2005-05-18T22:52:00.000+02:00

"A No vote in the French referendum on the EU constitution would be 'bad news' for the French and European economies, the EU Commission president has warned.

Jose Manuel Barroso urged French voters to vote Yes in the 29 May vote.

Speaking on French radio, he said he agreed with the French prime minister that a No vote would affect the economy by creating uncertainty for investors."

I'm very sure that, if there is any justice at all in any eventual afterlife, that this is a very warm place in Hell waiting for Barroso!

Briton puts senators on defensive on Iraq: printer friendly version

2005-05-18T22:47:00.000+02:00

"'The biggest sanctions busters were not me or Russian politicians or French politicians,' Galloway said. 'The real sanctions busters were your own companies with the connivance of your own government.'"

Give 'em hell, Galloway!

AFP : Democrats point to US role in oil-for-food scandal

2005-05-18T00:04:00.000+02:00

"The Democratic opposition in the US Congress pointed to a US role in diverting funds managed by the regime of Saddam Hussein, arguing that American authorities had facilitated the smuggling of Iraqi oil in early 2003.
'We need to look into the mirror at ourselves, as well as point fingers at others,' said Democratic Senator Carl Levin."

Carl, Carl, Carl! That's not nearly garrulous enough!

Baghdad Burning

2005-05-18T00:01:00.000+02:00

"The last two weeks have been violent. The number of explosions in Baghdad alone is frightening. There have also been several assassinations- bodies being found here and there. It's somewhat disturbing to know that corpses are turning up in the most unexpected places. Many people will tell you it's not wise to eat river fish anymore because they have been nourished on the human remains being dumped into the river. That thought alone has given me more than one sleepless night. It is almost as if Baghdad has turned into a giant graveyard. "

Things are not looking up in the democratic republic of Iraq.

Why has 'Downing Street memo' story been a 'dud' in US? | csmonitor.com

2005-05-17T23:55:00.000+02:00

"There may have been a point at which the US news media would have been all over a story about a British official's report that the Bush administration appeared intent on invading Iraq long before it sought Congress' approval -- and that it 'fixed' intelligence to fit its intention.
But May 2005 is apparently way past that point. "

The CS Monitor notes the demise of the contentious US press, or even the spectacle press. Leaves the Ministry of Information.

Bill Moyers

2005-05-17T10:21:00.000+02:00

Some snippets:

"Moyers said he has come to understand that 'news is what people want to keep hidden and everything else is publicity.'
He said that kind of reporting has never been tougher to do:
'Without a trace of irony, the powers that be have appropriated the news speak vernacular of George Orwell's `1984,' giving us a program, no child will be left behind, while cutting funds for educating disadvantaged children.

'They give us legislation calling for clear skies and healthy forests' while 'turning over public lands to the energy industry.'

Orwell coined "newspeak" and this fits in well with "news speak".

On the recent allegations of "liberal bias" on his PBS show, Moyers said:

Moyers said those in power - government officials and their allies in the media - mean to stay there by punishing journalists "who tell the stories that make princes and priests uncomfortable."
Moyers described those officials as "obsessed with control" of the media. He said they are using the government "to threaten and intimidate."
...
Moyers answered for the first time recent charges that public television in general and he in particular have become too liberal.
Those charges are from Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and, in effect, Moyers' boss at the network.
...
Moyers said he knew his broadcasts have created a backlash in Washington.
...
"The more compelling our journalism, the angrier became the radical right of the Republican Party," he said.
"That's because the one thing they loathe more than liberals is the truth. And the quickest way to be damned by them as liberal is to tell the truth."
...
Moyers compared Tomlinson and other conservatives to Richard Nixon, who he said was another president who tried to take control of public television.
'I always knew Nixon would be back,' Moyers said. 'I just didn't know that this time he would ask to be chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.'"

Thanks to cursor.

The Left Behind Prophecy Club

2005-05-15T00:54:00.000+02:00

"America will still be a powerful nation in the last days, but the Lord simply chose not to mention her specifically.

One of the hardest things for American prophecy students to accept is that the United States is not clearly mentioned in Bible prophecy, yet..."

Talk about nationalism! Even Hitler didn't lament that Germany was not written up in the Bible!

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Nasa firm on shuttle retirement

2005-05-13T22:44:00.000+02:00

"'The shuttle is inherently flawed. It does not have an escape system for its crew,' Nasa chief Michael Griffin told a Senate oversight committee.

'We all know that since human perfection is unattainable, sooner or later there will be another shuttle accident,' he said. 'I want to retire it before that flight can occur.'"

Hail Russia, the true master of space!

New York Times | United Air Wins Right to Default on Its Employee Pension Plans

2005-05-11T22:44:00.000+02:00

"The ruling by Judge Eugene R. Wedoff of Federal Bankruptcy Court came after a lengthy hearing in a crowded Chicago courtroom, near where United is based.

Despite pleas by union lawyers, Judge Wedoff sided with United, which had insisted that it could not emerge from bankruptcy protection with its pension plans in place.

The ruling releases United, a unit of the UAL Corporation, from $3.2 billion in pension obligations over the next five years. The federal agency that guarantees pensions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, will assume responsibility for the plans, which cover about 134,000 people.

Some retirees could see sharply lower pension payments as a result; others will see little change in benefits, depending on a variety of factors. Some retirees at US Airways, which has terminated its plans, have seen benefits drop by as much as 50 percent."

This looks a lot like the kind of performance that we can expect under Bubba Shrub's private accounts fiasco.

New York Times | Rich -- Laura Bush's Mission Accomplished - Gannon Skewered

2005-05-08T22:51:00.000+02:00

"But there's a bigger issue here than Mr. Gannon. The Washington press corps' eagerness to facilitate and serve as dress extras in what amounts to an administration promotional video can now be seen as a metaphor for just how much the legitimate press has been co-opted by all manner of fakery in the Bush years.
...
[T]he mere sight of [Laura Bush] "interrupting" her husband in an obviously scripted routine prompted a ballroom full of reporters to leap to their feet and erupt in a roar of sycophancy like partisan hacks at a political convention.
...
"We create our own reality" is how a Bush official put it to Ron Suskind in an article in The Times Magazine during the presidential campaign. That they can get away with it shows the keenness of their cultural antennas. Infotainment has reached a new level of ubiquity in an era in which "reality" television and reality have become so blurred that it's hard to know if ABC News's special investigating "American Idol" last week was real journalism about a fake show or fake journalism about a real show or whether anyone knows the difference - or cares."
...
You know we're in trouble when Jeff Gannon, asked about his murky past on Bill Maher's show on April 29, moralistically joked that "usually the way it works is people become reporters before they prostitute themselves."

No shame in Bubba land!

Toledo Blade: More on Rebubbalican Quick Change Artists

2005-05-03T18:06:00.000+02:00

Sen. Teresa Fedor and Rep. Peter Ujvagi cited a story in Sunday’s Blade that the number of missing rare coins purchased with state money controlled by Mr. Noe had increased by 119 coins to a total of 121.
...
An accounting firm hired to check the state’s rare-coin inventory found last year that not only were the coins missing, but they may have been stolen by a Colorado coin dealer.

The 119 coins are in addition to two coins worth roughly $300,000 owned by the state that were lost in the mail in 2003.
...
[T]wo Democratic state senators yesterday asked Attorney General Jim Petro, a Republican, to file a lawsuit on behalf of the bureau and seek a receivership to “protect the state’s investment.”

The letter from Sens. Marc Dann of suburban Youngstown and Eric Fingerhut of Cleveland said: “Each day seems to bring new and alarming reports about Ohio’s $50 million investment in rare coins.

With each new allegation it appears increasingly likely the state’s investment may not be worth as much as previously believed.”

Amazing, yet only appears in the local news.

Criminal Investigations into Republican Campaign Contributions

2005-05-03T17:57:00.000+02:00

Federal authorities said yesterday they are investigating local businessman and prominent Republican fund-raiser Tom Noe for possible violations of campaign contribution laws.

Gregory A. White, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, confirmed that his office, in conjunction with the FBI, is looking into Mr. Noe, who was chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in northwest Ohio.
...
Mr. Noe, 50, is a coin dealer and former chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party.

His contract with the state to manage $50 million in two rare coin funds is currently under investigation by the Ohio inspector general.
...
As a regional chairman of the campaign, Mr. Noe had frequent contact with Karl Rove, the architect of the President’s re-election. And Ohio, it turned out, was the pivotal state in the election, narrowly pushing President Bush to victory.

Something rotten in Toledo?

Thanks to cursor.

News Corp: More Gannon fodder

2005-05-03T17:23:00.000+02:00

Alleged gay escort Jeff Gannon (né James Dale Guckert) has been taken a lot of heat passing himself off as a White House reporter.
...

Gannon also hints at doing secret work for which he needed White House security clearance, although he refuses to elaborate: "My history isn't exactly linear."

Hmmm, could this be anything to do with the treasonous act of outing an undercover CIA agent?

Bennett cartoons | The Christian Science Monitor | csmonitor.com

2005-04-19T23:36:00.000+02:00

Clay Bennet's cartoons are incredible!

The New York Times | Gonzo Nights

2005-04-19T23:14:00.000+02:00

"''There was madness in any direction, at any hour. If not across the Bay, then up the Golden Gate or down 101 to Los Altos or La Honda. . . . You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .

''And that, I think, was the handle -- that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting -- on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .

''So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes, you can almost see the high-water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.''"

Yeah, this is it. This is the heart of the book, where it all makes sense and you start to understand HST, the 60s movements, the drug craze and the hippies. It was about prevailing over a depraved established order, letting karma conquer dogma, winning without fighting.

The Bush years are as different from that time as can be. These are the Bubba years!

FT.com | Europe rallies to save French referendum

2005-04-18T07:35:00.000+02:00

The Financial Times usually talks about a "rally" in the market, but this "rally" has to do with a nebulous, opaque entity that it calls "Europe". Just who is "Europe" and where did it "rally"? I didn't happen to see any European ministers in France recently. Barroso passed through a week again and was given the cold shoulder: he was supposed to have 100 minutes prime time to "convince" but this was somewhere vetoed because, as well all know, he isn't really very convincining.

The second part of this title is "to save French referendum", presumably meaning to favor a "yes" vote. I don't myself consider this a "save" because I don't like the European Constitution and think that it is an anti-democratic, neocon piece of trash that will do in the best of French public services with nothing but hollow promises in return.

Most French understand this: that is why the "yes" camp has been attempting to promote the idea that the "no" camp is essentially using the referendum as an opportunity to deliver a no-confidence vote to Chirac on domestic policy. I don't think that French voters are so naive and I am comforted by the notion that the "yes" camp will continue to push on the wrong buttons in this respect.

Finally, the FT is just as bad as any other paper in its misleading articles: it promotes the "yes" vote as simply a way of avoiding "the worst": vote "yes" becase you are afraid and Big Brother Europe will help you. "Europe", if it is going to try to get a "rally", is going to have to understand that Europeans are not Americans.

"Michel Barnier, French foreign minister, said many of his European counterparts were worried about a No vote, "but I am confident in the capacity of French politicians to explain this constitution and finally convince people".

Barnier reminds me of Alain Juppé: just keep saying "I'll explain some more" and hope that folks will cave in. Barnier needs to do less "explaining" and more "listening", but I'm confident that he will not.

Helen Thomas | Who You Calling A Journalist?

2005-04-17T20:34:00.000+02:00

I picked a link to this story off of the Gannon/Guckert site. It had been a while since I had actively followed the Gannongate story and I wanted to get into it again.

Helen Thomas re-iterated the "g-rated" part of the story, but gives it more punch because she puts it into perspective. 'Gannon' wasn't just in the White House press briefings -- he was hand-chosen by Bush for questions during a rare Bush appearance.

"Gannon made news recently after some liberal bloggers began investigating him when he asked President George W. Bush a question that had as its premise the assertion that congressional Democrats were 'divorced from reality.'

Bush comes to his rare news conferences armed with a list of reporters his staff has designated for him to call on. In giving Gannon the nod, he passed over some of the regular White House journalists -- including yours truly -- all with our hands up.

Gannon had attended White House briefings over a two-year period by getting a regular flow of one-day press passes that allowed him to enter the White House grounds. He did not qualify for a permanent White House press pass or a congressional press pass because he failed to meet the accreditation rules, which include the requirement that the applicant work for a news publication or broadcast outlet.

Gannon was known in the press room for asking softball, right-leaning questions. The digging bloggers revealed him to be a Republican operative, employed by the Talon News Web site, run by volunteer GOP activists and linked to GOSPUSA, a Republican consulting group, owned by Bobby Eberle of Houston.

Once that was established, questions arose as to why he was allowed to attend the daily press sessions. Gannon complained that he had been targeted by liberal bloggers who did not like his 'pro-administration' questions and argued that the harsh treatment he was getting in the mainstream media would have a 'chilling' effect on other conservatives in the media."

Gannon definitely does claim to be the target of "liberal bloggers": Gannon's header says:


Jeff Gannon
A Voice of the New Media
So feared by the Left it had to take me down

The headline switch from third person to first is but an example of the journalistic quality of Gannon's blog. Sure, bloggers make mistakes, I certainly do, but then again I have yet to be called upon by the President of the United States during a press conference, so you may understand that my expectations are higher in Gannon's case.

Helen Thomas does not go into the other points that are interesting about Gannon, sticking with the simple "special access, not a journalist", part of GOPUSA, aspects. That's enough to bring this into question already.

What's a lot more interesting about Gannon is what has been discovered about his being a male prostitute. (Yes, a gay male prostitute, but prostitute is the operative part, not gay, lest one falsely accuse me of homophobia.) See my earlier article with links to several on-line resources on the subject.

The inimitable Frank Rich wrote a compelling article about HST and Gannon (that I blogged at the time, since I had also written about HST and Gannon just days before.)

The administration has footdragged on efforts by House members to obtain information about the delivery of day passes to Gannon and, quite seriously, about his purported involvement in the outing of Valery Plame.

[...] Mr. Guckert’s questions clearly reiterated the White House’s policy, and simply asked for concurrence. Finally, Mr. Guckert ’s “articles,” published by a news front for GOPUSA, track White House talking points word for word.

Clearly, Mr. Guckert returned the White House’s favor by advancing the President’s policies with gusto. With such a close relationship between Mr. Guckert and the White House, the conflict of an administration-led investigation is all too apparent.

This is an odd state of affairs, a major hot item, much bigger than Watergate, yet with almost no mainstream media following it, unless you count Frank Rich and Eric Boehlert as mainstream.

The blogosphere, including yours truly, is still bouncing this one around. Recently, there have been some incredibly bizarre stories coming out, very scary and difficult to believe. I get the impression that these stories have been "hoked" up with the sole intention of discrediting the serious claims, which are, themselves, already quite bizarre (prostitution, outing of CIA undercover operatives).

The new stories would have you believe that a) Gannon as a child was kidnapped by a right-wing child prostitution ring furnishing the White House; b) Hunter S Thompson was part of the ring; c) Gannon was trying to out this group as part of his revenge process. The HST part is perhaps the weirdest and the least believable.

PIPA - France Most Widely Seen as Having a Positive Influence in World

2005-04-14T22:56:00.000+02:00

Got this one off of cursor.

Seems that the PIPA poll of citizens of 23 countries found that France had the most positive influence in the world, with Europe right behind it.

The US leads the pack as being the most negatively viewed.

A public opinion poll across 23 countries finds that in 20, a majority (17) or a plurality (3) of citizens think it would be mainly positive for Europe to become more influential than the US in world affairs. Currently, Europe is seen as having a mainly positive influence in the world in 22 countries. Among specific major countries, the one most widely viewed as having a positive influence is France —viewed positively in 20 countries. The countries most widely viewed as having a negative influence are the US (viewed negatively in 15 countries) and Russia (14 countries).

The New York Times | The Continental Dream: Will the French Shatter It?

2005-04-13T23:46:00.000+02:00

"But in a brutal shock to the European experiment, 11 opinion polls in France in the last month have indicated that the French are poised to vote no in the national referendum on May 29 on Europe's first constitution."

The NY Times is the Bubba Times today on this article about the French referendum on the European Constitution Treaty.

The point of the Times, like many papers, is simple, misleading and wrong. Their point: voting "non" on the Constitution Treaty is a vote against Europe. Horse-hooey and poppy-cock.

To start with, you must ask yourself a question: why do you vote yes for a Constitution? The answer should be that you think that it is a good Constitution and that you will benefit more from having this Constitution than not having it.

So what do you do when this Constitution is notoriously bad, threatens to destroy the best public institutions in France, sets up an anti-Democratic politburo, even two, called the European Commission and the European Council? Do you vote it in?

What happens when that Constitution promises "right to life" but not "right to choose"? Do you vote it in?

I won't. I'm voting "non". Not because I'm against a "United Europe" but because it is a very bad Constitution, pitifully bad. Americans are used to having a Constitution that they are proud of. Even when the American administration does everything to trammle it, Americans expect it to be honored by some future administration. We love our Constitution, arm-bearing and all.

The Europe Constitution project has nothing to love. It is a sham, an interventionist rag, a neocon manifest. It should be spat upon.

To hell with those who try to sell this rag on fear: "France will be ostracized." "France will be alone." On the contrary: France will be respected for having made the right decision. That's what France is all about: intelligent, reasoned choice, not fear-mongering.

For a United Europe, vote "non" on the European Constitution Referendum. I've read it, it's not worth it!

BBC NEWS | Americas | Pharmacists 'denying birth control'

2005-04-10T23:30:00.000+02:00

"'More and more pharmacists do not want to hand over the birth control package and feel that it is within their rights to lecture women about their morals,' said Judy Waxman of the National Women's Law Centre in Washington DC.

A very small and very loud minority is trying to thwart women from getting their basic health care needs

'There are many incidences of pharmacists not giving back the prescription so that the women can fill it somewhere else.'

At a Brooks pharmacy in Laconia, New Hampshire, Suzanne Richards, a 21-year-old single mother with a 3-year-old son, was denied the morning after pill because of the pharmacist's religious convictions."

He told Richards he would not fill her prescription because "it would end the fertilisation process of the egg in the embryo" and, based upon his religious beliefs, it was wrong.

It was Saturday night in this rural town - all other pharmacies were closed, leaving Richards without an option.

Richards says she felt "humiliated and traumatised", and was too frightened to approach another pharmacist the next day, allowing the 72-hour limit for taking the pill to pass.

Clearly these pharmacists should be thrown out of the practice for prefessional faults.

And, BTW, this is getting big airplay in Europe. The image of American as a dreamland is just about forgotten over here.

The Gadflyer: Fly Trap

2005-04-04T22:15:00.000+02:00

"[Special Council] Barrett was appointed in May 1995 to investigate allegations that Cisneros lied to the FBI about money he paid to a former mistress. Cisneros pleaded guilty in September 1999 and paid a $10,000 fine and a $25 court assessment. He was later pardoned by President Bill Clinton. By then, Barrett had spent $10.3 million on his investigation, and Congress had allowed the independent counsel law to lapse.

Just so you understand, what this was all about is that Cisneros was not honest to the agents conducting his background check about money he had paid a former mistress (he said the amount was lower than it actually was). Dishonest? Sure. Stupid? Absolutely. But he admitted it and paid the fine. For this, an investigation that lasts for a decade and spends over $20 million of taxpayers' money? And they're still investigating?"

Incredible. Why is anyone still going after Henry Cisneros, you may ask? Because he bucked the war and even presented articles of impeachment against Bush père. He was a good guy, well liked, from Texas, so he had to go!

Thanks to cursor.

Canoe: Dim future for life on Earth - study

2005-03-31T07:34:00.000+02:00

"'Nearly two thirds of the services provided by nature to human kind are found to be in decline worldwide. In effect, the benefits reaped from our engineering of the planet have been achieved by running down natural capital assets.

'In many cases it is literally a matter of living on borrowed time. By using up supplies of fresh groundwater faster than they can be recharged, for example, we are depleting assets at the expense of our children.'"

This story was widely highlighted in the international press but largely ignored in the US.

Scary stuff to have reality thrust upon you but an international group of scientists. And it is entirely believable. We all know, from everyday experience, that it has become all to easy to overconsume. The Brits and the Yanks seem to think that their "economies" depend upon this overconsumption and thus one should simply ignore that it is for a limited time only at current levels.

Bubba Bush won't let Kyoto get in the way of the American economy. Blair doesn't want to have to pare back the 48 hour workweek in Britain (contrast to 35 hours in France). Bush wants to drill in ANWR, destroying an entire and rare ecosystem for a few days' oil.

This state of affairs seems to lend more credence to the Bush strategy, which reminds me enormously of former Interior secretary James Watts (under Reagan, yeah it's been a while). James Watts was a proponent of industrializing the forests. Part of his argument was "The world is coming to an end soon, anyway."

The Bush administration is fairly close to another group of this sort, the "Left Behind" group. These folks are also proponents of the end of the world and they are making a mint selling this "upbeat" vision. The idea, much like the Social Security privitization scam, is that "you" can go to heaven after the end of the world even if everyone else is going to hell. And what better way? But the "Left Behind" series of books. And believe! (And pay, of course!)

The Victoria Advocate | Foreign Students in La Grange

2005-03-28T17:34:00.000+02:00

The Victoria Advocate put a local piece in today's paper about visiting students from Germany.

Some interesting commentarty:

"What surprised the German students was that America's reputation for free speech didn't extend to the classroom.

'I thought in America you can have more of your own opinion,' Feineb Hamdi said. 'We seem to have more freedom in Germany.'

...

Other students said school dress codes is another way U.S. students are denied freedom of expression."

That's right: more freedoms in Germany. Not to mention France. But now that fundamentalism has become so rampant here in France, the "no overt religious symbols in public schools" law has been passed in an attempt to keep public institutions secular. So in France you can wear a miniskirt to school but no headscarves, while in Texas you can't wear the miniskirt but the religious symbols are fine. Go figure.

A chilling sidebit in the Advocate:

The church activities in particular surprised the German students who explained that most of them rarely attend services other than for the major church holidays. And at least one admits to being essentially agnostic.

The way the Advocate tells it, it'd be fine for these "jungen" to be neo-nazis as long as they are "good Christians". Imagine that: an agnostic! Horror!

And of course it's also an interesting sign of the times that these students are from Germany whereas "La Grange" is named after the chateau of the famous Marquis de La Fayette, who also gave his name to "Fayette County". (But, of course, we just choose to ignore those french guys that helped out America way back when.)

The New York Times | Frank Rich: The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay

2005-03-27T20:13:00.000+02:00

"The president was not about to be outpreached [...] . The same Mr. Bush who couldn't be bothered to interrupt his vacation during the darkening summer of 2001, not even when he received a briefing titled 'Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.,' flew from his Crawford ranch to Washington to sign Congress's Schiavo bill into law. The bill could have been flown to him in Texas, but his ceremonial arrival and departure by helicopter on the White House lawn allowed him to showboat as if he had just landed on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Within hours he turned Ms. Schiavo into a slick applause line at a Social Security rally. 'It is wise to always err on the side of life,' he said, wisdom that apparently had not occurred to him in 1999, when he mocked the failed pleas for clemency of Karla Faye Tucker, the born-again Texas death-row inmate, in a magazine interview with Tucker Carlson."

The horse-hooey is getting pretty deep in Christland. Founding fathers rolling over in the graves and all that.

The New York Times | Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News

2005-03-13T22:53:00.000+01:00

"Local affiliates are spared the expense of digging up original material. Public relations firms secure government contracts worth millions of dollars. The major networks, which help distribute the releases, collect fees from the government agencies that produce segments and the affiliates that show them. The administration, meanwhile, gets out an unfiltered message, delivered in the guise of traditional reporting."

This sounds pretty much as if it were straight out of "Manufacturing Consent".

The New York Times | Bush Ends Southern Tour Promoting Private Accounts

2005-03-12T14:56:00.000+01:00

"Hecklers tried to interrupt Mr. Bush four times during his appearance in Memphis. This was the second consecutive day in which the White House let opponents slip through its normally tight control over crowds at presidential events. But the dissenting voices on Friday - each raising an objection to a point Mr. Bush was making about Social Security - could barely be heard. "

Bubba Bush prefers a crowd full of Gannons -- he can't take the scrutiny of thinking Americans.

"You Are the Un-Americans, and You Ought to be Ashamed of Yourselves": Paul Robeson Appears Before HUAC

2005-03-12T12:47:00.000+01:00

"Many African-American witnesses subpoenaed to testify at the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings in the 1950s were asked to denounce Paul Robeson (1888 --1976) in order to obtain future employment. Robeson, an All-American football player and recipient of a Phi Beta Kappa key at Rutgers, received a law degree at Columbia. He became an internationally acclaimed concert performer and actor as well as a persuasive political speaker. In 1949, Robeson was the subject of controversy after newspapers reports of public statements that African Americans would not fight in 'an imperialist war.' In 1950, his passport was revoked. Several years later, Robeson refused to sign an affidavit stating that he was not a Communist and initiated an unsuccessful lawsuit. In the following testimony to a HUAC hearing, ostensibly convened to gain information regarding his passport suit, Robeson refused to answer questions concerning his political activities and lectured bigoted Committee members Gordon H. Scherer and Chairman Francis E.Walter about African-American history and civil rights. In 1958, the Supreme Court ruled that a citizen"s right to travel could not be taken away without due process and Robeson's passport was returned. "

Got this off of cursor.

It was not so very long ago that the most horrific, anti-democratic, anti-constitutional, un-American procedings were taking place in full daylight with a full following within the US.

These things have continued to some extent to this day. Guantanamo is such a case, for instance. The press has not shed much light on these current-day activities so there is no uproar. Gannongate goes unnoticed. HST's death is more than symbolic -- we are seeing the worst sort of Fear and Loathing in the current administration.

Bubba Bush and the Christian Coalition (sic) are bringing back the glory days of McCarthy. America is getting HUACed-up!

washingtonpost: Differences in Information in Shooting of Italian Journalist/Security

2005-03-12T10:03:00.000+01:00

"The day after the shooting, a spokesman for the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad said the checkpoint was a temporary one and may have been difficult to see at night.
...
According to the Italian government's version of events, given earlier this week by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, the Italians drove to the airport at a moderate speed of less than 40 mph because it was raining. During the drive Calipari had the light on in the car so he could make calls informing his superiors and U.S. military authorities of their travel to the airport, Italian officials said.
...
As the car emerged from a half-flooded underpass, it slowed down to make a sharp right around blocks of concrete, they said. Halfway through the turn, a sharp beam of light hit the car from some 30 yards away from the right side of the road. 'As the driver consequently put on the brakes, bringing the vehicle almost immediately to a halt, fire from probably two automatic weapons opened up and lasted approximately 10 to 15 seconds,' Fini told the Italian Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. "

That's from the WashPost.

Associated Press had some coverage from Italy yesterday. The title makes it sound like a Human Interest piece: "Hostage's Joy Quickly Turned to Disaster". But the article is much scarier:

"Fini [Italian Foreigh Minister] says photos of the vehicle show the shots "reached the right side of the car," where both windows are shattered and bullet holes are visible.

RAI TV shows photos of the car, saying there's no evidence of bullet holes in the engine block. Sgrena says the fire was coming from "the right-hand side and from behind."

"It's not true that they shot into the engine," she says."

So the US story is nowhere confirmed. The car was not speeding, it did not refuse to stop, the US checkpoint did not shoot into the engine.

And about that checkpoint, from CNN:

"The fact that shooting apparently occurred at curve in the road raises questions about visibility -- from the perspective of both the temporary checkpoint and from the car, the official said on Friday."

This is not going to go away, not like Gannongate. Bubba Bush has lost a toehold in old Europe.

New York Times | Gonzo Gone, Rather Going, Watergate Still Here

2005-03-05T11:44:00.000+01:00

"Read 'Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72' - the chronicle of his Rolling Stone election coverage - and you find that his diagnosis of journalistic dysfunction hasn't aged a day: 'The most consistent and ultimately damaging failure of political journalism in America has its roots in the clubby/cocktail personal relationships that inevitably develop between politicians and journalists.'
...
But even Thompson might have been shocked by what's going on now. "The death of Thompson represents the passing from the Age of Gonzo to the Age of Gannon," wrote Russell Cobb in a column in The Daily Texan at the University of Texas.
...
Though a few remain on the case - Eric Boehlert of Salon, mediamatters.org, Joe Strupp of Editor and Publisher - the Gannon story is fast receding. In some major news venues, including ABC and CBS, it never surfaced at all."

You read it here first!

CNN.com | U.S. sorry over Italian hostage shooting

2005-03-05T11:12:00.000+01:00

"U.S. President George W. Bush has phoned the Italian prime minister to express his regrets after American troops opened fire on a car carrying a freed hostage, killing one of her bodyguards.

Bush's call came after Silvio Berlusconi demanded the U.S. ambassador to Italy explain what happened. U.S. military officials said the incident is being investigated.

Italian secret service agent Nicola Calipari was killed when he tried to shield 56-year-old former hostage Giuliana Sgrena from gunfire as they approached a military checkpoint near the airport in Baghdad.

Calipari, who has worked to release other Italian hostages, died when he threw himself over Sgrena to protect her."

This is hardly a unique or isolated incident. The number of killings of Iraqi families in cars that have made the news is countless -- and is probably a thin proportion of the real number of such incidents. Remember: no press was in Fallujah. We don't know what happened there, although the few stories to get out are horrifying.

Eason Jordan was fired from CNN for suggesting that the US Army targetted reporters. Many reporters have been killed in Iraq by US forces, including these (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

Perhaps it is not so much that reporters are targetted but that anything that moves is targetted. Shoot 'em up and let Allah sort 'em out!

This strategy clearly backfires for all intents and purposes. Since Iraq, the US is renowned for being a ruthless, reckless killer, at least outside the US. Insurgents feel justified in their bombings because they are attacking the great Satan. Nothing gets better.

But no apologies arise unless, oh my, a "friend" is hurt. In this case, the "friend" was Italy. An Italian secret service member was killed while saving the Italian reporter who had just been released as a hostage. We are given to understand that being a hostage is perhaps "safer" than being at the business end of US Army weapons.

Hostility to the Berlusconi government is on the rise in Italy and this case will certainly bring on more heat. We may soon witness in Italy a reenactment of the Spanish regime change. Keep it up Bubba Bush, you will have alienated your administration from the entire world!

Lawmakers get an earful about Social Security plan

2005-02-27T12:18:00.000+01:00

"When [U.S. Rep. Chris] Chocola, R-Ind., asked Cass County residents what they thought Washington should do about the fact that the [Social Security] program will not collect enough in taxes to pay out all its promised benefits to retirees, the answers were not what he -- or President Bush -- would like to hear.

One man called for rolling back the tax cuts Bush enacted.

Several women said the United States should stop spending so much on wars and disaster aid in other countries.

Others argued that if U.S. companies stopped moving jobs overseas, there would be more workers paying into the Social Security system.

As for Bush's main proposal -- allowing younger workers to divert some of their Social Security taxes into personal investment accounts -- the applause came when Camden resident Pete Wagoner told Chocola: "It's the entirely wrong way to go.
...
At a Muncie meeting Thursday, when Rep. Mike Pence tried to talk about other governments -- such as Chile -- that have adopted private accounts, a constituent shouted out: "Oh, Chile! There's a good model!""

As the Indiana paper covers the skepticism with which consituents greet the Bubba Bush plan for gutting Social Security, they also cover the reactions from the Republican snake-oil salesmen:

"[Pence said] 'Clearly, public understanding and comprehension of what the president is proposing has got to grow significantly for us to move legislation in Congress this year.'

In other words, people need to suddenly get a lot stupider over night and believe the Republican horse-hooey. But with the Bush track record of deceit, the Bubba administration has lost the benefit of the doubt several times over. Fool me three times ...

The New York Times > Week in Review > Putting God Back Into American History

2005-02-26T20:57:00.000+01:00

"'Isn't it interesting that we have all been trained to recognize the two least religious founding fathers?' Mr. Barton asked, pointing to Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in a painting on the wall. 'And compared to today's secularists these two guys look like a couple of Bible-thumping evangelicals!' Even Jefferson signed letters 'in the year of Our Lord Christ,' Mr. Barton told the group. 'What would happen if George Bush did that? They'd rip his head off!'"

The hooeey is poured on thick by Bubba Barton and his Christian cretinism. Who is he kidding? W finishes every speech with "God bless America", W's Uhmerican version of "Deutschland Uber Alles" and no one calls him to task. He pushes "faith-based initiative" funding and no one calls him to task. The man stomps on the Constitutional separation of church and state and gets away with it.

But no! Bubba Barton wants more!

Democracy Now! | Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) on the Iraq War & the Bush Presidency

2005-02-24T23:07:00.000+01:00

HUNTER S. THOMPSON:

I don't really know Iraq. I made a point of getting to know it a lot better. It was a very advanced, progressive country, had, what, 90% literacy, health care for the whole entire population. They were doing well, prosperous, high literacy. Many more book stores per capita in Iraq than there are in this country. Many. No more. We bombed their children. We killed their husbands and wives and we bombed them, and we saw her, and we're going to do it again. Just random killing like that, mass killing to force a population to get rid of Saddam so we can move in and take over and control the oil, God damn it, if that's not evil, I don't know what would be. You know, Bush, he’s really the evil one in here. Well, more than just him. We're the Nazis in this game, and I don't like it. I'm embarrassed and I'm pissed off. Yeah. I mean to say something and I think a lot of people in this country agree with me. A lot more never say anything. We'll see what happens to me if I get my head cut off in the next week by -- it's always unknown Bush [inaudible] strangers who commit suicide right afterward. No witnesses. They have a new kind of crime.

Mark Crispin Miller Examines Mainstream Media's Blind Eye Towards the Gannongate Sex Scandal

2005-02-23T20:37:00.000+01:00

"Clinton's sex life was fair game.... Although it wasn't all that interesting, let's face it--it was a consensual affair with Monica.... It made Mike Isikoff's career, gave Maureen Dowd innumerable columns, and pushed the likes of Matt Drudge and Lucianne Goldberg into prominence.

Now Bush's White House is embroiled in a sex scandal that is both more sordid and more serious.... This involves not just a huge security lapse, but what appears to be yet one more case of the Bush White House illegally deploying propaganda tactics through the institutions of the Fourth Estate.

Now Bush's White House is embroiled in a sex scandal that is both more sordid and more serious than anything involving Clinton's infamous libido. This involves not just a huge security lapse, but what appears to be yet one more case of the Bush White House illegally deploying propaganda tactics through the institutions of the Fourth Estate."

So where's the media hype. I know that this is the wrong reason to impeach Bush -- I know that he should be dragged in front of US courts for lying to the country -- but this error is still stronger than Watergate and has the extra gay-prostitution bait to fire up the unrighteous right.

Anyone seen any liberal press lately?

Good-bye Hunter S.

2005-02-21T21:53:00.000+01:00

I was just breaking into a semi-cognitive waking state this morning when the news hit me: Hunter S. shot himself at his home in Aspen. The news was in French but the feeling was very American, the feeling that one more symbol of excellence, of freedom, of revolt, of life/liberty/happy pursuit of craziness had just gone dark. Hunter, how could you? You'll be missed.

The big question for me is still looming: at what age do I tell my son and daughter that I adore his books? Can I explain this to them? I know that my folks couldn't understand it. Is this part of my schizophrenia, of my role-playing?

So many things that Hunter stood for were reprehensible: he certainly wouldn't make a very good neighbour. Just imagine shotgun golf in the backyard next door!

Yet Hunter knew how to put into vivid words the angst, the fear and loathing that the established order inspires in *everyone* -- 'cept that *everyone* has been conditioned to ignore the fear and loathing. Hunter shocked us out of the conditioning, shocked us into seeing truth and sometimes beauty in the struggle against the established hypocrisy. He made us feel of the power of the individual. A modern-day Thoreau, a hip-hop Kerouac, Hunter S. made us feel the trends of the day and put them into the repugnant perspective that they deserved.

The Gannongate story shows us just how much today's press has become a whipping-boy to corporate and political greed. The text of the story reads like a Hunter S. screed: imagine the gay-prostitute-ridden presidential press corps gone amuck with a list of CIA undercover operatives for political gain! Even Hunter couldn't have imagined such a twisted story at the highest levels of the US government. Maybe that's what did Hunter in: the truth had gotten even crazy than Hunter's embellishments and yet nobody cared! (I sure the hell left the US for the same reasons: for me, it was either get out or scream bloody murder reading the NY Times every morning.)

Hunter's demise seems to steepen that slippery-slope down a soapy plank into totalitarian everyday life. Have a nice big-brother day!

Reuters.com | New Tapes Say Bush May Have Smoked Marijuana

2005-02-21T00:58:00.000+01:00

"President Bush indicated in interviews secretly taped by a friend before he became president that he had used marijuana but would not admit it for fear of setting a bad example for children."

Reuters isn't afraid to put the dirt in the headline. Bill Clinton and Bubba Bush have more in common that they like to talk about.

The Nashua Advocate | Gannongate Scenario

2005-02-21T00:26:00.000+01:00

The Nashua Advocate has a scenario that, if true, would probably be the end of the Bush Administration. If not outright impeached, he'd at least be disowned by the so-called Christian coalition.

A Plausible Scenario: Gay Prostitute Guckert Used Ties To/Dirt On White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan to Gain Unprecedented White House Access

Other folks are putting the links together:

Was the "outed" fake journalist the real "outer" of Valery Plame?

2005-02-21T00:06:00.000+01:00

Interesting request by Louise Slaughter and John Conyers:

Rep. Slaughter Calls on Special Prosecutor to Investigate Gannon's Role in Plame CIA Document Leak Scandal

The outing of Valery Plame is one of the most severely punishable federal crimes, close to treason, decried by Bush Père.

He may not be the outer, but he was certainly "outed" himself:

The scoop is in Scoop, a New Zealand journal.

A Gay Prostitute Inside Bush's Inner Media Circle

Truth is so much stranger than fiction.

Conservative Voice | Jeff Gannon Highlights

2005-02-20T23:54:00.000+01:00

Pretty interesting read about Jeff Gannon (Jim Guckert) and his journalism.

Headlined highlights:

"Kerry's Alleged Intern Identified" (gratuitous rumor claiming extramarital affair)

"Kerry Could Become First Gay President" (gratuitous ad hominem)

"Put Abu Ghraib 'in proper perspective'" (why is this such a big deal?)

nytime.com | The White House Stages Its 'Daily Show'

2005-02-20T23:20:00.000+01:00

"By my count, 'Jeff Gannon' is now at least the sixth 'journalist' (four of whom have been unmasked so far this year) to have been a propagandist on the payroll of either the Bush administration or a barely arms-length ally like Talon News while simultaneously appearing in print or broadcast forums that purport to be real news. Of these six, two have been syndicated newspaper columnists paid by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote the administration's 'marriage' initiatives."

The uncovering of the covert "Ministry of Information" is showing an operation even bigger than I had expected. Is anyone up in arms about this?

Add this to the recent findings that most high-school students in the US believe that newspapers should clear reports through the government and you have the makings of a full-flown totalitarian administration. At least the Russians knew that they were being lied to: Americans seem to prefer to say "lie to me, Bubba Bush, we feel better than way."

Later on, in the "things may be worse than they seem" department:

The money that paid for both the Ryan-Garcia news packages and the Armstrong Williams contract was siphoned through the same huge public relations firm, Ketchum Communications, which itself filtered the funds through subcontractors. A new report by Congressional Democrats finds that Ketchum has received $97 million of the administration's total $250 million P.R. kitty, of which the Williams and Ryan-Garcia scams would account for only a fraction. We have yet to learn precisely where the rest of it ended up.

Hoping that the NY Times will find out. Like going to war on false pretenses, this story is so much bigger than Watergate. We may not have to wait four more years after all. With Cheney as president, would things be better? At least no one would believe his lies, not like they do with the "village idiot".

The New Yorker | Beneath the Veil

2005-02-19T11:46:00.000+01:00

"Q: [...]as you say in your piece, American reactions were strange [to the French law against overt religious symbols in schools].

Q: Two weeks after the law was passed, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote a dissent in a Supreme Court decision that upheld the rights of states to refuse public money to Bible students. His dissent said, basically, that the decision of the court to refuse this money was no less benign than the French way of thinking. He and Clarence Thomas were the only dissenters. About a month later, John Ashcroft filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a veiled Muslim schoolgirl who had been suspended from elementary school in Oklahoma, citing very specifically the godless example of the French. So there are two ends of the seesaw, clearly, in terms of what the obligations of a republic are to the religious beliefs of its citizens."

And there you have it, folks. Instead of the Attorney General defending the US Constituation, instead of the Supreme Court interpreting the US Constitution, we have these men arguing against the US Consitution. And how do they argue this? By decrying French.

Which goes to say that France is exemplary in its upholding of democratic principles and separation of church and state. France is the bad example -- France must be hated!

The New York Times > Washington > Administration Is Warned About Its 'News' Videos

2005-02-19T11:09:00.000+01:00

"The comptroller general has issued a blanket warning that reminds federal agencies they may not produce newscasts promoting administration policies without clearly stating that the government itself is the source.

Twice in the last two years, agencies of the federal government have been caught distributing prepackaged television programs that used paid spokesmen acting as newscasters and, in violation of federal law, failed to disclose the administration's role in developing and financing them.

And those were not isolated incidents, David M. Walker, the comptroller general, said in a letter dated Thursday that put all agency heads on notice about the practice.

In fact, it has become increasingly common for federal agencies to adopt the public relations tactic of producing 'video news releases' that look indistinguishable from authentic newscasts and, as ready-made and cost-free reports, are sometimes picked up by local news programs. It is illegal for the government to produce or distribute such publicity material domestically without disclosing its own role."

The undeclared Ministry of Information is here!

csmonitor.com | Did US military target journalists in Iraq?

2005-02-18T22:57:00.000+01:00

"While media organizations say reporters not targeted, they charge US troops are killing journalists 'because of negligence or indifference. ... And when journalists are killed, the military often seems ... unwilling to launch an adequate investigation or take steps to mitigate risk.'"

The CNN head was fired for suggesting that the US Army targeted journalists. Yet most of the world, outside of the US, knows that far too many journalists have been killed under suspicious circumstances by the US Army.

Reuters.com | Ocean, Arctic Studies Show Global Warming Is Real

2005-02-18T19:22:00.000+01:00

"'The debate over whether or not there is a global warming signal is now over, at least for rational people,' he said.

The report was published one day after the United Nations Kyoto Protocol took effect, a 141-nation environmental pact the United States government has spurned for several reasons, including stated doubts about whether global warming is occurring and is caused by people.

Barnett urged U.S. officials to reconsider.

'Could a climate system simply do this on its own? The answer is clearly no,' Barnett said.

But then no one has accused the Bush administration of being rational.

Le Monde.fr : Le jubil� de la Citro�n DS

2005-02-13T14:20:00.000+01:00

Le Monde.fr : Le jubil� de la Citro�n DS

50 years ago that the Citroen DS made its first appearance. The DS, the "goddess", that sleak aerodynamic beauty with hydraulic suspension, self-adjusting headlights (over bumps and around corners), that feel of riding on a cloud. That break with tradition, that image of modernity.

Seen in many movies, recently used as a car of the future in "Gattaca".

Still a reference in the matter. A final holdout for grace against the bestial SUVs.

Chicago Tribune | CNN exec quits after comments on killings

2005-02-12T21:41:00.000+01:00

CNN's top news executive resigned Friday following weeks of scrutiny over comments he made that have been interpreted as an accusation that the U.S. military deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq.

[...]

At Davos, Jordan said he knew of at least 12 journalists who had been killed deliberately by U.S. troops in Iraq, according to accounts by observers published in The Wall Street Journal and a Web log devoted to the World Economic Forum. (The session was taped, but no transcript has been released.) Though Jordan quickly backpedaled from the accusation in the face of challenges from others present, including Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), his comments were almost immediately seized on by critics of CNN.

Jordan was only repeating a "fact" that many folks are already aware of. However, in the fantasy-based political world of the United States of America, facts are not important, only ideology. Another lesson by an American newsman and journalist. Others will be sure that they don't make the same mistake.

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Your Money or Your Life

2005-02-09T22:49:00.000+01:00

"The Health Affairs study [...] concluded that the average medical debtor was a 41-year-old homeowning woman, with children and at least some education. The study also found that a majority of middle-class debtors had health insurance both when they first grew sick and at the actual time they filed, another surprise. Insurance alone, it turns out, doesn't prevent medical bankruptcy, because it is often too porous to provide a real buffer against the financial burden of a serious illness.

'A lot of people were bankrupted because of co-payments, deductibles or uncovered services, which added up to thousands of dollars in bills,' says Steffie Woolhandler."

The real story in the US health care system: work-related health insurance doesn't work. It's time for universal health coverage in the US. Works great here in France.

NewsFromRussia.Com Bankruptcy in return for health

2005-02-07T00:22:00.000+01:00

"Illness and medical bills contributed to roughly half the personal bankruptcy filings in 2001, affecting as many as 2.2 million Americans, a new Harvard study says.
More than 75 percent of the filers had insurance, but many of them lost coverage during their illness, the research showed.
The study, which appears in the Feb. 2 issue of Health Affairs, provides a rare -- and stark -- glimpse into the medical causes of bankruptcy in the United States.
People who succumb to medical debt are mostly middle-class or working-class people who own their own homes and have at least some college education, the study found.
With the cooperation of bankruptcy judges in five federal districts, the study authors distributed questionnaires to debtors at their mandatory meetings with court-appointed trustees. A total of 1,250 questionnaires -- 250 per district -- were collected, providing data on demographics, housing and specific reasons for filing bankruptcy, reports the Forbes.
According to ABC News, Half of all U.S. bankruptcies are caused by soaring medical bills and most people sent into debt by illness are middle-class workers with health insurance, researchers said on Wednesday.
The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, estimated that medical bankruptcies affect about 2 million Americans every year, if both debtors and their dependents, including about 700,000 children, are counted.
'Our study is frightening. Unless you're Bill Gates you're just one serious illness away from bankruptcy,' said Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who led the study.
'Most of the medically bankrupt were average Americans who happened to get sick. Health insurance offered little protection.'
The researchers got the permission of bankruptcy judges in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas to survey 931 people who filed for bankruptcy.
NR"

In the US, the unacknowledged truth is much scarier than fiction.

The Nation | Worry, Alfred Dubya

2005-01-30T16:25:00.000+01:00

"What, Me President?"

Believable.

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

2005-01-27T22:28:00.000+01:00

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!

2005-01-26T23:12:00.000+01:00

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

2005-01-26T22:45:00.000+01:00

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!

2005-01-26T12:00:00.000+01:00

"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

2005-01-24T16:38:00.000+01:00

"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

2005-01-24T10:25:00.000+01:00

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

2005-01-24T09:12:00.000+01:00

"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'

2005-01-23T15:52:00.000+01:00

"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'

2005-01-21T23:39:00.000+01:00

"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

2005-01-18T22:33:00.000+01:00

"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

2005-01-18T22:30:00.000+01:00

"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.