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Fourth Quarter of 2004 October 2004 ... November 2004 ... December 2004
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10/02/04 Election, not selection: Gallup Polls, well, uh, let's see, their own
information provides grist for the bias mill. Don't
have to believe me, read the story here.
(100104c) Dan
Rather, CBS, the Bush files, Burkett, Rove, Bush and how
lying is the norm it seems. (092304d) Ohio, lots
of pre election hoopla over voters' confusion, lists
being processed and, oh yes, chaos. (092304a)
Here is a story from a "staunch
republican" blasting Bush on environmental
policy, the main complaint foxes in charge of the
henhouse. (092605a) The
elections, American, Iraqi, and the facts that are being
fudged to us are costly on the ground, fact
checking Bush. (092704e) Dare I offer a hint of hope? Dems
increase registration of new voters in battle ground states
of Ohio and Florida. (092704b) However that must
be tempered with the fact that, Florida's
system does not meet standards that we set for other
nation's "free and fair" elections.
(092704c) Hints are a' rumblin' from the "Old Dominion".
Yessireeboberino,
Virginnny seems to have "somethin' goin' on. Kerry activists
are making waves, now O'l Ginny aint gone demmicratik for
some time, pert near 40 years, but it is not cut and dried
Bush country. (092904a) A
Michael Moore retrospective of Team Bush's explanations of
how we handled Iraq. It is a bit funny, but
includes some worthy quotes that team Bush would rather be
forgotten. (092604b) And get a laugh at long last, The
Iconoclast, the "hometown paper" of Bush in Crawford Texass
has endorsed Kerry with good reasoning.
(092904c) Here is monumental Bush flip flop, or the sending of
mixed messages: First,
get Osama Dead or Alive (100104a) and then:
"You
know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be
honest with you." Which is the real message and
which is the mixed one? (100104b) Global Warming: Scientists
are getting on the campaign bandwagon touring the
"battleground zones" and providing voters with data they
might need. (092904d) The wars: Does
anyone feel a draft. From time to time hints appear that
"its baaaaack!" (092304b) In the war on terrorism
you would think that Bush wouldn't hesitate to pull the
trigger on some one credited, now, with hundreds of
killings, US troops included, but
it seems that he, inexplicably didn't pull the trigger, not
just once but a few times. (092304c) Bush and
Allawi both talk about how nice things are in Baghdad,
would
that our own data supported that claim, attacks are up since
the hand over, and spreading over a wider area, it seems.
(092704a) Yes, attacks are up, higher in
"quality" quantity, and spreading over a wider area
...
maybe Bush is right, there is steady progress.
(0982704f)
Civil Rights, Human Rights, technology, surveillance
and some thoughts: You know it is the little things that hardly get
covered that sometimes are big news. Take this,
Implantable
Medical ID Approved By FDA (101414c) This story
details how we humans can be "chipped" and, as the Post put
it, "scan patients like cans of soup at a grocery store."
This would allow a person to be scanned at distance say, as
they pass near a store's security camera, walk through an
airport, enter a company's parking lot, check out a book,
buy groceries, in short lots of places. The technology has
good uses to be sure but how many of us want that kind of
power in the hands of well, just about any agency, company,
organization or party? Election, not selection: A few items that are hopeful: The
Band of Sisters, the loved ones of those in Iraq,
goes on campaign (100304b) Then too a
group of military families whose relatives died in Iraq are
also going on tour. (100304c) Even
more
data on the upcoming Ohio voter fraud and action you can
take.(100304d)
And voter registration drives, they are impressive this
year, and potentially influential since newly
registered voters are not usually polled, another random
factor in a wild and woolly election (100304e) More trouble with touch screen voting machines. One of
three voters will be using these machines, so they say, and
the system crashed in a public test recently made in, you
guessed it,
West Palm Beach Florida the site of the famous hanging and
pregnant chads of the 2000 election. Absentee voting anyone?
(101304g) Are we safer now? According to this story while we've
been in Iraq great
amounts of equipment, whole buildings even which could be
used to make of nuclear weapons, have
disappeared. (101204l) And this report shows that
the resistance is after chemical and biological weapons;
we
know this because we've stopped one groups rather extensive
and worrisome preparations. (101204m) The CIA seems to be at odds with our man Bush.
The
leaking of information, documents and so forth is well
underway and there are promises of more embarrassment to
come. (101204d) Not only that but Israel seems to
get in on the bandwagon criticizing the
effect of the Iraq war, they say it was/is a distraction
from the war on terror, made it harder, and provided the
enemy with recruits. (101204a) Conservatives abandoning Bush? Horror
of horrors that it might be, it could come to
pass and Bush has no one to blame but himself and those he
and his daddy surrounded him with. (101204h) Edwards and
Cheney's debate, fact checking Cheney: what didn't he lie
about? (101204i) Georgie Porgie managed to set a record, the
first president in some 70 plus years to have a net loss of
jobs during his occupation of the office of president. And
he wasn't small about it either, some 821,000 jobs were
lost. (101204c)
Also, check this out, Bush is 4 for 4, each and
every year he's been in office the deficit has grown each
time, a first since about WW2. (101204k) Georgie and Ralphie sitting in a tree K - I - S - S -
I - N - G, that is the long and short of it; Nader
vows to campaign and seems to be focusing on "battleground"
states where polling shows statistical dead heats between
Bush and Kerry. (101204) What was Georgie wearing during the debate?
There
is photographic evidence that he could have been wearing a
communications device which would have allowed the use of a
small ear implant to transmit a voice to him.
There is some evidence that he has used such a
device in the past, can anyone recall Milli Vanilli?
(101204f) Diebold is in the news again. This
article describes how a simple operation can switch the
totals of millions of votes. Sound easy? It is! Has security
been upgraded? No! Why would that be? Good question.
(101204j) Onward and upward more voter fraud
there are two stories, similar, a private organization sets
about registering voters, however, the forms filled out by
democrats are torn up, hows about that my friend,
one
story is from Oregon (101304b) and
one is from Las Vegas. (101304c) and
then there is this one from Florida.
(101304f) A note on the third debate: At last night's debate President Bush claimed that,
contrary to Sen. John Kerry's assertion, he never said he
was "not that concerned" about Osama Bin Laden. Bush
chastised Kerry saying, "Gosh, I don't think I ever said I'm
not worried about Osama bin Laden. That's kind of one of
those exaggerations. "Bush was completely wrong. At March
13, 2002 press conference, Bush said "So I don't know where
he [Osama Bin Laden] is. You know, I just don't
spend that much time on him... I truly am not that concerned
about him." Watch
the video of Bush's remarks: Global Warming/Environment: How can he say it with a straight face: "I am a
steward of the land." George
seems to have forgotten the nearly 400 proposed rollbacks of
environmental law and or regulations that his administration
has pushed for. (101204g) Some time ago there was a spate of stories about a
decline in the population of various frog species, now in a
belated follow up there is this story outlining the decline
in similar species such as newts and other amphibians, some
32% of such species are endangered,
disturbingly there is a lack of understanding as to why this
is so. (101404b) The Wars: Seymore Hersh reports during a talk in Berkeley that
he's been told of a massacre perpetrated by US troops,
witnessed by US troops. Two
units, one which knew the Iraqis who were slaughtered, they
were guarding some granaries, and the others who insisted
that they were the enemy and were counted as such. Shades of
Vietnam. I wonder if we'll hear more of this.
(101304a) Terrorists
threats increasing for South Korea? Say it aint so! But it
is. Though they've yet to "make a splash" as they
did in Spain, South Korea is allocating impressive resources
to circumvent "newsworthy or noteworthy events"
(101404a) Afghanistan's Election and fraud, massive,
pervasive: Just one person's viewpoint here, but
the article is troubling in that it provides widespread
evidence that the election was not valid. It is just another
example of how we've just soldiered on no matter the
reality, no matter the cost. (101304d)
and
another report in the same vein.
(101304e) Atomic Terror? We are shipping tons of weapons grade plutonium to
France so they can process it and send it back. Russia is
set to engage in a similar set of feats,
what's troubling is that I know about it, others were able
to follow the shipments and the described security was,
well, not as good as one might think. I mean
think AQ, think Osama. Then ask, what are we doing putting
enough plutonium for hundreds of bombs out where someone
could grab it? (100304f) World Opinion: How is world opinion effected when US
groups petition to the UN for election monitors for
November? How embarrassing. (101204b) If the
world could vote in our election Bush would be OUT OUT OUT.
Read
the story here. (101404d) It seems that we do not enjoy the reputation that we
once did. The
picture is not completely bleak, but it is certainly not at
all what it once was. (100304a)
Civil Rights, Human Rights, technology, surveillance
and some thoughts: You know it is the little things that hardly get
covered that sometimes are big news. Take this,
Implantable
Medical ID Approved By FDA (101414c) This story
details how we humans can be "chipped" and, as the Post put
it, "scan patients like cans of soup at a grocery store."
This would allow a person to be scanned at distance say, as
they pass near a store's security camera, walk through an
airport, enter a company's parking lot, check out a book,
buy groceries, in short lots of places. The technology has
good uses to be sure but how many of us want that kind of
power in the hands of well, just about any agency, company,
organization or party? If 50 million people vote and there is a 1% difference
between Kerry and Bush that translates into a numeric
difference of only 500,000 votes nationwide. If each state
had an equal share in that number then the margin of victory
in any given state would be 10,000 votes. A slim margin
indeed. Election, not selection: Did you know that November second is "National
Celibacy Day"? That's correct, no bush and no dick. I am picking up stories about long time Republicans
lambasting Bush. Here is one that is a worthy read. This man
was twice asked to run against Bill Clinton in Arkansas, is
a long time Republican, of course, and a well known
fundraiser for the party. Yet,
despite this he does take Mr. B. to task, and rake him over
the coals of righteous indignation. (101904a)
Then
there is this: former Republican Gov. William Milliken of
Michigan endorsed Democratic Sen. John Kerry for president
on Monday, saying President Bush has pursued
policies "pandering to the extreme right wing."
(101904b) Speaking of endorsements the Tampa Tribune supports
Kerry and this
article explaining that choice reads as a concise litany of
the error of Mr. Bush's ways. It is a great read and useful
for a debater's "talking points"
(101904c) Speaking
of endorsements, this story from Teheran, Iran has it that
the Iranian's see Bush as their best bet. The
reasons presented would be humorous, the stuff of comedy it
it were a real report (102004a) Karl Rove has pulled off elections before 2000's
Florida theft, just
check out this one story to see how he operates.
(101604c) With "artisans" such as Rove and the
voter fraud already reported in the last newsletter
it
is unsettling that we are not prepared to manage the
probable flood of fraud that this election might
produce. (101604e) Would
you like an overview of some of the voter fraud stories not
yet covered? Here it is (101604f) And
here is the update on the Florida voter list purge.
(101904d) Voter
fraud in Wisconsin, just the latest in a series of reports.
(101604i) And
there is this story from Ohio (101604j)
And
an update on the Nevada story as well (101604k)
And
there is involvement/connections between the Nevada story
and Bush/Cheney (101604m) And
let us not forget Florida (101704a) Good news on the voter rights front, this article
describes the public release of The Civil Rights Record of
the George W Bush Administration - the official staff report
prepared by the US Civil Rights Commission - whose
submission is required by federal law, was blocked by the
Republican commissioners: guess why ... its portrayal of
Bush is not at all flattering, it is flattening instead.
(102104a) This article is especially
for the 22 million young women who did not vote in 2000, who
are unlikely voters in 2004, Oprah says, publicly
and for the record to "get off your butts and vote"
(101604l) One sometimes wonders why George Bush is "still
standing" well
this well written article gives several reasons, illuminates
the nature of the beast, and while it does not provide a
recipe for reducing his threat, it does allow us to look at
Georgie in such a way as to clarify the largess of the
threat he poses and might well explain why he'll do so well
in the polls, all cheating aside.
(101704b) Here is a twist, The Guardian, a center - left paper
in England, is
organizing people in other countries to contact undecided
voters in Ohio, how unusual is that?
(101804b) Let's pick apart a wonderful little set of Bush lies.
I am not going to archive these two stories, they're here
just for fun: During the debates the flu vaccine shortage came up.
President Bush has tried to avoid any responsibility for the
flu vaccine shortage by making misleading statements. During
the presidential debate last Wednesday, President Bush said
the problem was that "we relied upon a company out of
England." That
isn't true. Chiron Corp., the company whose vaccine plant
was contaminated, is a California company - subject to
regulation by the U.S. government - that operates a factory
in England. During the debate, President Bush also said, "we took
the right action and didn't allow contaminated medicine into
our country." adding in effect that by June 2003, the United
States Food and Drug Administration inspected the Chiron
plant.[5] Initially, the FDA found that the plant
was contaminated with bacteria but later announced, "the
problems were corrected to their satisfaction," and allowed
the plant to continue to operate. That
isn't true either. It was the British authorities who, after
inspecting the plant, revoked the factory's license on
October 5th. A nice article here lets us know that the
Global
Warming is "just the tip of the proverbial
iceberg" it is an interesting read
(101604d) The Wars: Unprecedented that 500 national security specialists
simply say
that the Iraq war has been, is and will be a big negative
for the US and its interests. (101604g)
Cheney,
Halliburton, Saddam, Iraq, and the UN oil for food program
is again in the news, more bad news for Mr.
Cheney who was in charge of Halliburton during the "kickback
days." (101604h) The
first report of US troops refusing to follow an
order? It gets no coverage as of yet. (101604a)
And
here is a follow up story. (101604b) We did not do the war in any way that could be
considered correct, from
beginning to end according to Knight Ridder's Washington
office. (101704c) So maybe I shouldn't put this story in this section,
but
I think I'd like to know where he was going with the Cesium
137. And I ask you to consider "the
possibilities. (101804a) When Wars Collide, Afghanistan and Iraq: a criticism
of the policy that robbed the first to fight the second.
how
it was done, opportunities missed, and the details, a worthy
read. (102204a)
Civil Rights, Human Rights, technology, surveillance
and some thoughts: You know it is the little things that hardly get
covered that sometimes are big news. Take this,
Implantable
Medical ID Approved By FDA (101414c)
And
a test of the electronic voting machines fails
(102704b) Election, not selection: Well, here it is Al Qaida's "endorsement" of
Bush. It came out of the Madrid bombing. We heard
about the threats but did not get to hear the part
where AQ stated a preference for Bush over Kerry,
read
from this article from Al Jazzera:
(103104a) "A word for the foolish Bush. We are very
keen that you do not lose in the forthcoming
elections as we know very well that any big attack
can bring down your government and this is what we
do not want. "We cannot get anyone who is more foolish
than you, who deals with matters with force instead
of wisdom and diplomacy. "Your stupidity and religious extremism is
what we want as our people will not awaken from
their deep sleep except when there is an
enemy. "Kerry will kill our nation while it sleeps
because he and the Democrats have the cunning to
embellish blasphemy and present it to the Arab and
Muslim nation as civilization. "Because of this we desire you [Bush]
to be elected." The pollsters seem to want us to believe that the
numbers are different from what they really are,
Gallup
and others have skewed methodology leading to misleading
figures that don't figure. (103040b) 58,000
absentee ballots disappear in Florida's Broward
County. Now, they may be found and may be
delivered but what happens if they are not?
(102704a) In Florida #1) about half the voters are going to be
using electronic
voting machines, the kind with no paper trail and the sort
that have security flaws big enough to drive a presidential
election through (102504g) Florida #2) A secret
document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in
Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law -
to
disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting
districts, a BBC News night investigation
reveals. (102804a) Florida #3) MIAMI, Oct. 26 -
A
federal district judge here dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that
was filed on behalf of more than 10,000 new voters whose
registration forms had been rejected as incomplete.
(102804b) and Florida #4 Early-voting advocates
are angry that outgoing Supervisor of Elections Theresa
LePore neglected
to put booths in the largely black communities in central
Palm Beach County (102804e) What does George Bush do when employment is down, Wall
Street is down, oil is up, the economy stalls, the wars,
both of them, are faring quite poorly? Well he certainly
doesn't run "on his record"
repressing voters rights is the course of choice, Ohio is
the "star state" in this effort.
(102504d) This would be funny if it were not so true,
100
facts (about the Bush administration) and one
opinion. It is a devastating read for any who
care to debate a Bush supporter. (102304g) I guess we have had it made clear that voter fraud
doesn't have to wait until the votes are counted, not when
you can tear up, invalidate or otherwise remove voters from
the rolls. Now
it seems that in Ohio there will be people at polling
stations who can and will challenge voters they believe are
challengeable. (102304a) Here
is as follow up on that story from Ohio like the
article says, something is terribly wrong (102804d) Twelve ways Bush is now stealing the Ohio vote,
The
Republican "November Surprise" to steal the 2004 election is
in full force here in Ohio by Bob Fitrakis and
Harvey Wasserman (103004a) Polling
is a science and, as it appears on CNN, an art form as
well: selectivity, editing, and bias prevail
where numbers should rule. (102304e) In 2000 is was mainly Florida that people focused on,
most all forgot about St. Louis where thousands of voters
couldn't vote because there was a lack of ballots and
Republican's disallowed an extension of the polling hours to
allow time for ballots to be delivered. Well,
shades of the past, with electronic voting coming to the
fore we have potential "Floridas" in several
states. (102304f) An overview of how the middle east sees benefits of
Bush. But
how the opinion is more diverse in the wider region and the
"Arab world" in general, writes Brian Whitaker
(102904a) The Wars: Here is an interesting analysis of what Bush
supporters believe being contrasted with the facts as they
are known. Surprise:
they believe contradicting items but it does not seem to be
a problem. (102304c) What
does the CIA think? Bush et al does not want you to know
about a report just out, well it was out in June, but the
congressional committees who mandated it have not seen it
yet. We may see it after the election, then again
we may not. 102304d) Some months ago I posted reference to an article which
detailed how the 101st Airborne had made successes in the
Iraqi territory it was responsible for. Here, again, is
another similar story, the
sad part is their success is not being copied and the unit
is due to be replaced and who knows if their operational
style will be continued. (102304h) Mr. Bush made a comment during the debates and during
the campaign that
Kerry has not done much as a senator, but perhaps he forgot
about his daddy and the BCCI scandal. For those
who do not recall this huge, landmark investigation which
did strike at the terrorist financial infrastructure, here
is an article that provides the basics of the story.
(102304b) Hints
of war or an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and other
targets? This is the most recent of these
stories. I would suspect that a true "October
surprise" would include a precipitating event however,
meaning, in my mind, an attack of some sort for which Iran
would be blamed, then the plan stated in this article would
be unleashed. Speculation? Probably. Probability of such an
even, low, or so we hope. (102404a) London: Researchers
have estimated that as many as 100,000 more Iraqis -- many
of them women and children the results of a
research study. From what I read I wonder how many more
indirect casualties could be estimated (102904b) These two stories dovetail nicely: "There
about 900 ammo dumps around the country and a bunch of these
places still aren't guarded." (102904c) And a
senior U.S. military official as says al Qaqaa "was
one of numerous times when Iraqis warned us that ammo dumps
and other places were being looted and we weren't able to
respond because we didn't have anyone to send,"
(102904d) Pakistan: Our
ally in the terrorism war seems to be slowly "slip sliding
away..." and our policies help this nuclear armed
Moslem nation on its way. It's not gone yet, but shouldn't
we be doing more about it? (103004c) Terrorism: We believe we
let Bin Laden slip out of the Bora Bora loop,
(102504b) As the toll of mayhem inspired by
terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi one
wonders why we did not go after him when we had the chance?
(102504c) Then too we shouldn't let "whoever"
get
their hands of hundreds of tons of very high explosives.
(102504e) Then also one would not want to
leave
500 million dollars around somewhere for "someone" to get
away with and use. (102504f) Then again, another story reporting how we could have
gotten Mr. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi our
most sought after terrorist, at least at this moment, but
did not. Mr. Bush didn't pull the trigger and so
much more in the article (102804c) If we do ever see nuclear weapons in the hands of
"stateless terrorists" this
5 page article from the Washington Post will be illuminate
how Bush mishandled this aspect of his charge "... to serve
and protect ..." (102604a, 102604b
, 102604c
, 102604d,
102604e.) That article talks mostly about the past,
this one is the update for today. It seems some important
things are missing, in fact, lots of important stuff is
missing and Pakistan, or rather, Dr. Khan is not talking
overmuch it seems. 9102604f) Ecology, Iraqi farmers and farming, and "protecting
patented plants" We have had this sort of thing in the US and
now we
"export" this dubious practice to Iraq, how
wonderful. (102304h) DEMOCRATS: Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71
... David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force1968-72 ...
Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72 ... Al
Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971
as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade ...
Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor,
Vietnam ... Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-'47; Medal of
Honor, WWII ... John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70;
Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V Purple
Hearts ... John Edwards: did not serve ...
Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52;Bronze
Star, Korea ... Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68;
Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam ... Ted
Kennedy: Army, 1951-1953 ... Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy,
1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74 Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979 Captain,
Army Reserve 1979-91 ... Fritz Hollings: Army
officer in WWII, receiving the Bronze Star and 7
campaign ribbons ... Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col.,
Army 1956-76; Vietnam, Bronze Stars, Soldier's
Medal ... Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW.
Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit ...
Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne,
Purple Heart ... Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla
Governor Marine in Vietnam; Bronze Star with Combat
... Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze
Star. Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57 ... Chuck Robb:
Vietnam ... Howell Heflin: Silver Star ... George
McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII ...
Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments.
Entered draft but received 311 ... Jimmy Carter:
Seven years in the Navy ... Walter Mondale: Army
1951-1953 ... John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs
and Air Medal with 18 Clusters ... Tom Lantos:
Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by
Raoul Wallenberg ... Wesley Clark: U.S. Army,
1966-2000, West Point, Vietnam, Purple Heart Silver
Star. Retired 4-star general ... John Dingell: WWII
vet ... John Conyers: Army 1950-57, Korea REPUBLICANS: Dennis Hastert: did not serve ... Tom Delay: did
not serve ... House Whip Roy Blunt: did not serve
... Bill Frist: did not serve ... Rudy Giuliani:
did not serve ... George Pataki: did not serve ...
Mitch McConnell: did not serve ... ... Rick
Santorum: did not serve ... Trent Lott: did not
serve ... Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several
deferments, the last by marriage ... John Ashcroft: did not serve. Seven deferments
to teach business ... Jeb Bush: did not serve ...
Karl Rove: did not serve ... Saxby Chambliss: did
not serve. "Bad knee."He's the "man" who attacked
Max Cleland's patriotism ... Paul Wolfowitz: did
not serve ... Vin Weber: did not serve ... Richard
Perle: did not serve ... Douglas Feith: did not
serve ... Eliot Abrams: did not serve ... Richard
Shelby: did not serve ... Jon Kyl: did not serve
... Tim Hutchison: did not serve ... Christopher
Cox: did not serve ... Newt Gingrich: did not serve
... Don Rumsfeld: served in peacetime Navy
(1954-57) as aviator and flight instructor ...
George W. Bush: six-year Nat'l Guard commitment
(incomplete) ... Ronald Reagan: due to poor
eyesight served in a non-combat role making movies
... Gerald Ford: Navy, WWII ... Phil Gramm:
did not serve ... John McCain: Silver Star,
Bronze Star, Legion of Merit ... Purple Heart and
Distinguished Flying Cross ... Bob Dole: an
honorable veteran ... Chuck Hagel: two
Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, Vietnam ...
Jeff Sessions: Army Reserves, 1973-1986 ... C
Watts: did not serve ... Lindsey Graham: National
Guard lawyer ... G.H.W. Bush: Pilot in WWII.
Shot down by the Japanese ... Tom Ridge:
Bronze Star for Valor in Vietnam ... Antonin
Scalia: did not serve ... Clarence Thomas: did not
serve ... PUNDITS AND PREACHERS: Sean Hannity: did not serve ... Rush Limbaugh:
did not serve (4-F with a 'pilonidal cyst) ... Bill
O'Reilly: did not serve ... Michael Savage: did not
serve ... George Will: did not serve ... Chris
Matthews: did not serve ... Paul Gigot: did not
serve ... Bill Bennett: did not serve ... Pat
Buchanan: did not serve ... Bill Kristol: did not
serve ... Kenneth Starr: did not serve ... Michael
Medved: did not serve.
10/15/04
10/23/04
10/31/04
11/12/04 Just a word on the name change. I changed the name to
the weather report because, well, it seemed like we "like
t'be in fer a long and bad spell of it" as Vermonters like
to say. As to the news, well, of course with radical
conservatives in charge of all three branches of the
government, completely dominating the media and with the
acceptance of touchless screen voting there would seem to be
nothing much for me to say. Folks we're on a new road now, an uncharted path. I
believe we've lost our democracy and that is truly
spectacular. After the Election: So let's get on with a post mortem: Is it not a sorry
state of affairs when those who would resist Bush accept the
voting as if there were no problems whatsoever? But there
was: one third of the electorate used touchless, traceless,
can't be verifiably double-checked, corruptible and
unreliable systems. All during the night I heard news
reporters repeating: "there does not seem to be any problems
... the machines seem to be working perfectly. Unfortunately we may well never know just how this
election played out, all we have are hints such as these:
The hot story in the Blogosphere is that the "erroneous"
exit polls that showed Kerry carrying Florida and Ohio
(among other states) weren't erroneous at all -
it
was the numbers produced by paperless voting machines that
were wrong, and Kerry actually won (110604d)
Or
this story from Bev Harris Executive Director of Black Box
Voting.(110604e) Just for the curious, here is an analysis of the
election given as if its results were in line with reality.
It asks the question: did the gay marriage issue provide the
impetus for republican victory, the
answer, of course, is not it did not.
(110604j) Then check these out: the
loss was not due to their candidate's personality, the flaws
of this or that advisor or the party's platform
(110604a) "It simply boggles the mind: we've
already had four years of some of the most appalling and
abusive foreign and domestic policy in American history,
some of the most well-documented atrocities ever wrought on
the American populace and it's all combined with the biggest
and most violently botched and grossly mismanaged war since
Vietnam..." so
this person says, (110604b) An optimist opines: progressives, who were on the
defensive two years ago, added millions of new voters and
tapped a new energy and activism that will last far beyond
November 2nd, says
this person (110604c) Hints of trouble from Ohio: A database of voter
irregularities is reportedly being assembled, and
hopefully there will be web sites devoted to documenting
what really happened. (110604f) Do
we hear about the protest in Ohio? Not a word it seems, not
one. (110604g) Do we hear about the exit polls
which were accurate for the senatorial races but inaccurate
for the presidential one? A
fairly inexplicable contradiction I would say.
(110604h) And some say it was the imbalance in the "media world"
that
provides the masses with the daily news and, more
importantly, the analysis of that news.
(110604i) Some of "Scandal 2004" seems to have surfaced in Ohio
and Florida: Ohio:
apparently in Auglaize County someone was allowed access to
the computer system that provided ballots and compile
results contrary to protocols and illegal
(110704a) In Gahanna Ohio there were exactly
0 votes cast in a local election, according to an e-voting
machine. (110704d) Then here is the overview of
some of the stories from Ohio, suspicions
mounting? (110704e) In Florida: Jeff Fisher, the Democratic candidate for
the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 16th
District said he was waiting for the FBI to show up. Fisher
has evidence, he
says, not only that the Florida election was hacked, but of
who hacked it and how (110704b) Oh, yes, if you
want to see tables and charts which show discrepancies in
Florida, check
this web page out. (110704c) Overview of Changes to Legal Rights By The
Associated Press September 5, 2002 (original
article; (References
to: B.O.R.D.C.) (103104b) Some of the fundamental changes to Americans'
legal rights by the Bush administration and the USA
Patriot Act following the terror attacks: * FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Government may
monitor religious and political institutions
without suspecting criminal activity to assist
terror investigation. * FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Government has
closed once-public immigration hearings, has
secretly detained hundreds of people without
charges, and has encouraged bureaucrats to resist
public records requests. * FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Government may prosecute
librarians or keepers of any other records if they
tell anyone that the government subpoenaed
information related to a terror investigation.
* RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Government
may monitor federal prison jailhouse conversations
between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to
Americans accused of crimes. * FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES:
Government may search and seize Americans' papers
and effects without probable cause to assist terror
investigation. * RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL:
Government may jail Americans indefinitely without
a trial. * RIGHT TO LIBERTY: Americans may be jailed
without being charged or being able to confront
witnesses against them. Prior to the Election: This you may read by the time the election has been
held, though it may not be over. There is an argument,
cogent enough, being put forth that since many in the world
are greatly effected by what happens in our elections that
it shouldn't be too surprising that this time around, with
so much at stake, that they are making their preferences
known and have a right to do so. Well,
this article goes abroad and reports on the "pockets of
support" Bush has overseas. (103104c) Does Bush
have "strange and even estranged bedfellows?" the answer
seems to be, "yes." It's not even Election Day yet, and the Kerry-Edwards
campaign is already down by a almost a million votes.
That's
because, in important states like Ohio, Florida and New
Mexico, voter names have been systematically removed
(110104a) Keeping them from the polls, here is one of the older
tricks used, in the old south: some group is South Carolina
is circulating a phony letter, purporting to be from the
NAACP, alerting
voters that they'll be arrested at the polls if they have
unpaid parking tickets or are behind in child
support (110104b) War on Terror: Bush wanted Bin Laden, apparently he was offered up to
us, put on ice as it were for a time, by the Taliban and
long before 9/11 happened, so what went wrong when
he could have had Osama bin Laden's head handed to him on a
platter on his very first day in office, and the offer held
good until February 2 of 2002. (110204a) Oh, yes, Iraq: Well the military says that they cannot "run a war"
with a force as small as ours and that's why we outsource to
private company for guards or "armed personnel"
But
who gets hired is alarming. (110704f)
The "election" First you could ask for your personal copy of a PDF
file titled: Unexplained Exit polls. (111604e) Here is a set of links for those believing that
election 2004 was hijacked: No
Stolen Election (111404a) If you believe that
George Bush won last nights election fair and square;
then
forget about reading this article. (111404b
And
here is a nice piece by Greg Palast who did
uncover the voter fraud in Florida in 2000, its just no one
listened. (111404c) The case for nationwide problems with
voting
is briefly outlined here from a number of states
(111404d) A more radical viewpoint is expressed here
at stolenelection2004.com
(111404e) One of the epicenters for investigating the count and
fraud is Black
Box Voting (111404f) There are updates on fraud
investigations in several states New Hampshire, Ohio,
Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and of course, our favorite,
Florida. And speaking of Florida, Greg Palast illuminates
the problems faced in 2000 are similar to the problems faced
in 2004. Read this to see, "How
dey dun did it agin' woikin ohber dese po' foks who ain't
did nuttin' t'nobody, cept vote dat is."
(111404i) And
here is some back up for that viewpoint.
(111404j) And just in case you have not had
enough there is this story that details how Bush's vote
tallies exceeded the number of registered republicans in
2/3s of Florida counties, talk
about that magic feeling. (111404k) An update on the Florida
polling tapes being trashed but found none the less.
112104b) UC Berkeley enters the Florida Fraud
Fray with statistical analysis that challenges the result
differential
between polling places with e-voting machines as opposed to
"ordinary balloting means. (112104a) Getting Kerry to Unconceed in Ohio and perhaps
elsewhere? Interested? Here is an email address to send info
to Cameron KERRY, John Kerry's brother at his law firm at
the address CKerry@Mintz.com,
In Florida there are puzzling results that, well, simply
don't add up. Also
the article mentions that Kerry's folks are involved with
recount activities in two states, one of them is
Ohio. Something the mainstream media flatly
ignores. (111404h) Another Ohio story: They
might have conceded - but we haven't conceded our right to
have our votes count. from the League of Pissed
off Voters (111404f) The Ohio hot seat gets hotter
and hotter, will GW get burned, singed, or have a hot
flash? The people tell their stories.
(112104c) Media
is not interested in voting fraud stories rumors of a "lock
down" on such stories circulate.
(112104f) The recounts are on: First we hear of an investigation into fraud by
A
businessman in Nevada (111704a) As to Florida et
al, there are some tantalizing tidbits of a fraud audit in
several jurisdictions in Florida, Georgia, New Mexico,
Nevada and Arizona,while the Greens and Libertarians are
going for it in Ohio, see: BlackBoxVoting
(111704b) for stories dated, 11/13/04, see the
one about Florida's Volusia County where voting "paper
trails" were being trashed, literally and the police had to
break up a fight over plastic bags full of the stuff.
Why recounts and fraud audits? Because of the math,
the recount/audit mantra should be "It's the math, stupid."
And it is. Here is a mathematician's view point
that
anomalies, well, just don't add up - the odds seem to be
against that, interesting no? (1`11704c)
So
here is a bit more math on the equation of this
election (111704d) A word on exit polling, how could it go so wrong? Last
week in an analysis of a similar, but incomplete set of
data, Dr. Stephen F. Freeman from the University of
Pennsylvania calculated that the odds of just three of the
major swing states, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania all
swinging as far as they did against their respective exit
polls were 250 million to 1. Dr. Freeman's academic paper
contains a thorough description of why and how exit polls
are conducted (in some countries they use them to prevent
against vote fraud), and
considers a number of hypotheses for why this year's polls
could have been so dramatically wrong. He concludes that the
reasons are unknown. (112104d ) and
this further update verifying the "puzzling
results" (112104e) The Intel War: Take a look at these stories, if this is the tip of
the iceberg then we'll have no more of the intelligence
community second guessing Bush, or, more importantly
defending itself against Bush's own errors. CIA
Purge by White house (111504a) So we are seeing
resignations of the more prominent, meaning those that are
newsworthy, who
else is going? Not much on that (111504b) Of
course, Republicans
are in favor of the action and here is a bit on
that party's perspective. (111504c) The Draft: The
way they can do it this time around, Louisiana is showing
the way Registering for a driver's licensee gets
you your draft registration at the same time, sounds
efficient doesn't it? 111704e) The Mess in Iraq: I can't call it a war anymore, it is a chaotic mess:
Iraqi
forces joint the "enemy" (111604a) Another lie:
Fallujah
was under control of foreign insurgents, not
(111604b) And here is corroboration
of that story from the LA times (111604c)
And who would want to go there? Not many that seems sure.
In
fact about 2,000 former soldiers ordered to go are fighting
that order. (111604d) How is Vietnam compares to Iraq? In the eyes of
observers both here and abroad and to those who have
experience with them both? This article ends with an unhappy
set of paragraphs and concludes with a horrifying quotation
from a child in Iraq, Falloujah, as a matter of fact,
talking about how they play with guns, what else, the child
says:
'We divide ourselves into two teams,' he said, 'the
mujahedeen versus the American forces.'' And in their
battles, he said, the mujahedeen always win."
(112104g) The future of the US? Here is a story getting some play. It seems that
for
the first time since 1971 the number of foreign students
coming to the us is in decline. Were this trend
to continue we could see an end to the "proverbial brain
drain" of which the US was the global benefactor.
(111504d) Tom Delay a Republican leader stands to be indicted,
if
he is it will cost him in the Senate, big time, so the
Repubs are planning ahead, just change the rules so he
doesn't get harmed. Don't misunderstand me, this
is not just a "Republican thing" but exemplifies what has
gone wrong wholesale in our government. Small story, large
principle. (111804a) Stephen J. Hadley, selected to be the next national
security advisor is hawkish: in one paper, he wrote that it
was often "an
unstated premise" in nuclear arms debates that such weapons
may only be used for deterrence. But he added: "I am not
sure this unstated premise is true." (111804b)
And then we've Colin Powell claiming that Iran is pursuing
nuclear weapons and developing the missiles to deliver them,
maybe
it wants to be a player too? (111804c) Anymore
Nukes anyone? To that question Russia's Putin has a hearty
"Da!" Apparently they want back on the world
stage, gee I wonder what might be motivating them?
(111804d) Protest at the White House? This is the second story involving suicide, the first
was a suspected protest against Bush's reelection, a shotgun
suicide at the "ground zero" site and
now a man sets himself afire at the White House
(111504e) The trouble with ecology: There is a saying, "voting with ones' feet" meaning
that if you don't like a place you walk away from it and
"vote" so to speak. Well, animals do that too and they also
go extinct when circumstances prevail against them or their
environment. At
this point 15,000 species are "trying to tell us something -
but will we listen? (112204a)
The "election" Litigating the election, this story gives an
overview
of the efforts in Ohio and Florida and a few other places as
well. (112204a) My personal opinion? And how
cares to hear it? Nothing will come of it. The giant purple
elephant having grand mal seizures in the living room is the
simple fact that millions of votes were tallied on machines
that leave no trace of a voter's original intent, cannot be
truly audited, have security problems, and are manufactured
by a die hard supporter of Bush. The
pot in Ohio keeps bubblin up, suspicions firm into evidence,
complicity is suggested and the list of petitioning
claimants grows longer. (112304a) Then there are these would be headlines, were the news
media interested: Ohio
Presidential Results to be Challenged (112304c)
and Litigating
the Election (112304d) Widespread
Election Fraud in Cleveland? (112304e) And this
one, which might be titled: Why
did the touchless computers in Florida begin counting
backwards? (112304f) Even
in Maryland there were problems with the e voting
machines (112304g) The coverage of the media's coverage of the election
makes for interesting reading, explains,
once again, how biased news has biased American's opinions
regarding the war, Bush, and terrorism
(112304b) It is obvious that our exit polling must be faulty
just as it is obvious that the Ukraine's is not.
Wouldn't
one expect the opposite to be true, after all, we're the
professionals, a more stable government, greater access to
freedom and so forth and so on...so what is
wrong? Is it exit polling itself or the fact that
in the US it just doesn't favor who was favored? (112704a)
Yet our media do not cover the stories, several states are
involved with challenges of one kind or another to the
elections results, that is unprecedented, but like so many
other stories placed here and elsewhere on the web the
people just don't get to see them. Perhaps
this story will explain just how and why that is so.
(112704c) In Europe it is wondered just how could so many
Americans be so stupid? Well part of the answer is found
in
how our opinions get formulated, and it seems that they are,
in as much as surreality has taken place of the
real. (112704b) The Mess in Iraq: The
influence of the media on the public's perception of Iraq
and how this played into the election. The media
played a role, but this article evidences only enough to
show the tip of the proverbial iceberg. (112204b) Then there
is this story, after we've declared Fallujah occupied,
the
fighting continues and this report says we control less than
half the city, while air strikes, artillery attacks and
insurgents still cause casualties. (112204c) This
more optimistic view from the LA times is closer to reality,
but
even here bullets fly and the task described is
daunting (112204d) The future of the US: These stories are those which indicated effects or
situations that will effect the medium or long term, 4 years
or longer. This is a new category for stories that have to do
with our long term status as a nation. Did yo know that
almost half of Americans believe that God
created human beings "in their present form" about 10,000
years ago, and that only one third think Darwin's theories
are "supported by evidence. (112204e) Here is
another harbinger, WTO
supports EU sanctions against the US. One more
step apart for what were once solid allies (112604a) And do we learn? Well, yes and no. We are still in the
"toppling governments" business,
and business is good by the way, now that we've figured a
way to rig, rerig, or challenge any election in foreign
nations. The technique is to have a truly grass
roots appearing movement "catch fire" and say popular
opinion in the direction we'd most like. Currently we are 3
and 1. I guess you can't have everything. (112604b)
One
of those four attempts is Ukraine and the US and Russia back
opposite sides. The electoral maps I have seen show a
distinct North South split between the two men contesting
the presidency. No one looks like they are giving in any
time soon (112604c) A somewhat wider perspective on the
situation is given in this article which
informs on the regional implications, what's at stake for
Russia, and a bit more. (112604d) In his second term, the President intends to preside
over one big, blended Family of Texas yes-folks, hawkish or
neocon fundamentalists, Congressional fundamentalists, and
fundamentalist fundamentalists ... Beltway is the equivalent
of what was created for the President on the campaign trail
-- those adoring rallies, that moving campaign bubble,
lacking the slightest challenge from reality. In
a sense, what's now being put in place is a full-scale
fantasy regime, armed to the teeth. Inside the castle (or
the bubble, if you prefer) reality will be -- for a while at
least -- what the President and Vice President decide it is.
(112604e)
11/21/04
11/28/04
12/05/04 Red and Blue: Humor in disguise: With the Blue States in hand, the
Democrats have firm control of 80% of the world's fresh
water, over 90% of our pineapple and lettuce, 93% of the
artichoke production, 95% of America's export quality wines,
90% of all cheese production, most of the US low-sulfur
coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy
and Seven Sister schools, plus Stanford, CalTech and MIT. We
can live simply but well. The Red States, on the other hand, now have to cope
with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health
care cost spike), 92% of all US mosquitoes, 99% of all
Southern Baptists, 100% of all televangelists, Rush
Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University
of Georgia. A high price to pay for controlling the
presidency, Ne'ces't pas? ACLU has a refuse to surrender petition online:
Here's
where you can sign on and or do more if you've a mind
to. The Mess in Iraq: Reading this article you begin with a pair of
descriptions of a war, you wonder which, the answer is
interesting. The article compares and contrasts Fallujah
with others,
the eerie similarity gives one pause and the way in which
media coverage and "naming of the enemy" is done likewise
gives one pause. (112904a) Here is a portrait of
what Fallujah
is like right now, a hunting ground, it seems, as fighting
continues. (1120304a) The "election" Stories from Ohio's "election" It seems that tens of
thousands of votes were not counted, thousands more were
tossed out in one instance because the
precinct had 3000 votes for Bush but only 600 or so voters
registered. (120104a) Here is another story
detailing a set of data that suggest that perhaps 100,000
votes went "missing"
or were uncounted and that the touchless voting systems
produced patterns of results distinctly different from those
areas without them. (120104b) I guess it is
useless to say it but this story shows how Gore won in
Florida, talks about how people taking to the streets could
have made a difference and
how the US overturns elections overseas, why not try that
out here? (120104c) Recounts
in Nevada and New Mexico. (120104d) And we hear
from North Carolina, thousands
upon thousands of ballots lost, in some places more votes
than voters apparently, (120104e) And more
news
from Oklahoma, where votes appear and disappear, how
convenient. (120104f) And to revisit a election time fiasco, that of Dan
Rather's story which involved forged documents despite the
fact that the information was "old news", accurate and
impugning Bush's sorry assed war record. Who
lost out? Dan, of course, and Kerry.
(120104e1) The future of the US: These stories are those which indicated effects or
situations that will effect the medium or long term, 4 years
or longer. This story from the LA Times shows that it is possible
to "ship
nuclear factories" in disassembled parts. The find was in
South Africa the destination was Libya, and Pakistan's Khan
was involved, so they say. Questions do come to
mind, how much does such a "factory" cost and does Al Qaida
have that much money? That would be my number one concern.
(112804a) Debt, huge, massive, intrusive, mountainous and no one
seems to be paying attention. With Bush's election there is
movement abroad to use the Euro for example for
international exchanges of large commodities, such as, say,
oil. Our
economic situation, explained in a great overview here, is
frightening. We are skirting the edge of reality
here. (112904b) More on the looming dangers of
our economy, an expert warns that we are treading dangerous
waters, the things to watch for,
the signs: increases in the interest rates, inflation, a
decline in the value of the dollar and, oh yes,
bankruptcies. (120204g) Like the previous
article, this one indicates that there are still exit
strategies for our economy, that
would obviate a crash, but the "medicine" is one that Bush
has not interest in swallowing. (120104h) And here is a story, we have the European Union, and
now, it
seems another competitive block, a 2 billion strong free
trade zone with China at its heart, is forming and quickly
too. (120304b)
The "election" I spell hope, "O-H-I-O"! And that's the best news:
here
is an updated overview (120804a) And another
piece which makes
the salient point that if a recall happens the voting
machine counts have no effective way of being independently
verified. (120904a) Stories from Ohio's "election" continue this one:
protesters
at the state capitol building
(120504a) For example representative
Conyers
to Hold Hearings on Ohio Vote Fraud (120504d) And
then consider this, even if Kerry is shown to be the winner
in Ohio, the
news may come to late to change the outcome foot
dragging by the secretary of state, Blackwell, a Bush
booster, has seen to that (120504e) Then
irregularities being investigated in six states, and guess
what, Florida is one of them. (120504f) Here are 20 reasons, facts really, that
together allow one to doubt the validity of the results that
we had in 2004. (1`20504a) And in this brief
article we see the proverbial tip of the iceberg,
in
terms of voting irregularities (120604b) Then
take a look at this, the graph at the top of the page says
it all, then
the article spells out what it means.
(120604c) Red and Blue: Humor in disguise: With the Blue States in hand, the
Democrats have firm control of 80% of the world's fresh
water, over 90% of our pineapple and lettuce, 93% of the
artichoke production, 95% of America's export quality wines,
90% of all cheese production, most of the US low-sulfur
coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy
and Seven Sister schools, plus Stanford, CalTech and MIT. We
can live simply but well. The Red States, on the other hand, now have to cope
with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health
care cost spike), 92% of all US mosquitoes, 99% of all
Southern Baptists, 100% of all televangelists, Rush
Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University
of Georgia. A high price to pay for controlling the
presidency, Ne'ces't pas? It's the stupid media or it's the media stupid, you
make the call: Here we see another example of how a story was
"buried" during the election and ignored thereafter. The
Task Force on Strategic Communication finds that
the
US is not liked, to say the least, or believed and that this
is because of our policies in the greater middle east
and not because of "our freedoms" gee, is that a
surprise? Oh, well ... (121004b) Despite the fact that the
AP
covered the story but not even a handful of news outlets
seemed to notice. (121004c) ACLU has a refuse to surrender petition online:
Here's
where you can sign on and or do more if you've a mind
to. The Mess in Iraq: Mosul, Iraq, what
remains of our one time showpiece is sobering.
(121004d) Reading this article you begin with a pair of
descriptions of a war, you wonder which, the answer is
interesting. The article compares and contrasts Fallujah
with others,
the eerie similarity gives one pause and the way in which
media coverage and "naming of the enemy" is done likewise
gives one pause. (112904a) Here is a portrait of
what Fallujah
is like right now, a hunting ground, it seems, as fighting
continues. (1120304a) Several articles recently have hinted at the threat of
civil war in Iraq this
is the latest in that vein. (120604d) Then, too,
there are the Kurds in Kirkuk, Iraq who are another
problematical point in any "civil war" equation being
formulated. (120604e) More than you'd want
to hear on Kirkuk, this
article indicates discontent and disaffection on both Kurd
and Arab sides. (120704b) What do you think of this pair: we
hear Syria is helping the Iraqi forces opposing US
occupation(1210804c) and we hear that
Iran
is doing the same. (120804d) If those are true it
is bad enough, if it is not true what are we being told?
Could these be the excuses we'll need next? The future of the US: These stories are those which indicated effects or
situations that will effect the medium or long term, 4 years
or longer. Well here is a story detailing how our "essential
ally" in the "war on terror" Pakistan, has
been all mixed up in the nuclear development of Libya and
Iran and frustrating US attempts to stop their Dr. Kahn's
"nuclear bazaar." (121004a) Perhaps things will never be the same in South
America, Chavez now has independent
confirmation, from us, hat we were involved in the coup
attempt against him, we knew about it, worked with the
persons who, ultimately, tried to oust him.
(120504b) Certainly not with stories like those
involving the School Of the Americas, 16,000 recently
protested there; it
is truly a bloody mess (120504c) And here is a story, we have the European Union, and
now, it
seems another competitive block, a 2 billion strong free
trade zone with China at its heart, is forming and quickly
too. (120304b) And speaking of financial news,
experts
don't want to think about what would happen if the debt held
by, say Japan and or China, was suddenly sold off
(120704) Here the EU is setting up, more and more, its own shop
and doing things its way. With a market of over 450 million
it has muscle to stand on its own and if we want to do
business there we'll have a new set of rules to live by.
The
first page sets out the basic facts.
(120904b) A recent measure of US support in the Arab world has
been given measure. It can be seen by the fact that only
five Arab nations ban Al Jazeera, this implies that the vast
majority of them do not. There
is a more moderate competitor but still Al Jazeera seems to
have the edge and the attention of the Arab
Nation. (120804b)
From Truthout.org we have a viewpoint that Ohio is
restless, the challenges are continuing, evidence
mounts and the media, of course, is mum on the whole
shootin' match (121604e) The ranking Democratic member of the House Judiciary
Committee, Representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan,
plans to ask the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a
county prosecutor in Ohio today to explore "inappropriate
and likely illegal election tampering" in ... Ohio.
(121604f) Ohio: so NOW the lawsuits get in gear! We can only
hope as the Kerry campaign joins Greens and Libertarians in
adding "election
tampering" to a civil suit filed against the state of
Ohio. (121604d) Who says pol's done have a sense of humor: John McCain
gives another no confidence vote to Defense Secretary
Rumsfeld, a Seattle Times op-ed says that it's time to "get
the heat off those risking their lives" and put it on 'The
leaders we have, not the ones we might want.' In Ohio some recounting
began until the secretary of state, Blackwell, ordered "a
lock down" preventing completion. (121104b) and
Greg Palast expands
the coverage in his 12/10 column (121104c) Here
names are named and specifics
cited to provide some insight into who and how computerized
voting was manipulated, and not just in Florida or Ohio.
(121104d) Another report, first from a Blog, then in the Times
and Post: large
scale fraud in Ohio, now as the post goes on to say the
"biggies" came in just after the Ohio delegates announced
how they'd cast their votes. (121504b) In Ohio the Conyers hearings have produced stories of
TriStar
employees tampering with voting tabulators,
(121404a) There is some argument that a full and complete
recount would hand Ohio to Kerry, some
of the links for this can be found, conveniently, on a
weblog here (121404b) Even
when some inspection of the poll records was allowed it was
quickly canceled by Ohio's Blackwell. (121404c)
According to information here there were thousands
of absente ballots received in excess of the number of
actual absentee voters. Wha'happened?
(121404d) Here is an example of voter fraud, verified and
proven, however the election stands in New
Hampshire and no ongoing investigation is even being
suggested, too bad that. (121304c) The New York Times ignores the
Conyers hearings investigating voting fraud in Ohio the
media marches on regardless of reality
(121104a) A month after US military reported occupying Fallujah
but there is obviously fighting there. "We
are still in the combat operations phase," one Marine
spokesman told the Post. (121404f) These stories are those which indicated effects or
situations that will effect the medium or long term, 4 years
or longer. Add Germany to a burgeoning list of nations that have
"difficulties with the US." Seems
we don't like our government people sued by them.
(121604g) Well, can some one sing "Oh Canada"? They don't want
to station new missiles on their territory and don't
deny they'd assist those who resist fighting in Iraq
(121604a) Both civilian and military leaders are
distrusted by the rank and file, thus, as
in Vietnam, the resistance within our military, is reality
based; those in charge don't know what they're
doing. Did you know that 5500 deserters are "on
the loose?" (121604b) Then too, there is this report which
estimates that 100,000 veterans will return and be impaired
so as to require health service and assistance.
Now with Gulf War one the touted figure was that 1/3 of the
troops that served are requiring health service and
assistance for long term needs, but we've already rotated
some 700,000 troops through Iraq, at that rate we should see
233,000 in a long slow train a commin'.
(121604c) Here is a story about how Iran would react/defend
itself, so we think, against a US attack. It
is thought to be impossible to do, really, without ground
forces, which would mean a draft, which, conventional wisdom
has as being politically impossible. Agreed, but
what if someone set off a nuke somewhere? Anywhere? And we
blamed the Iranians. What then? I'd think an invasion would
be a "no brainer" and so would a draft. IMHO.
(121504d) Previous stories posted concerning a new free trade
zone featuring India and China as the "anchors", military or
strategic conferences have spawned an impression of India's
being "willing to play its own hand" however now we see Bush
"engaging"
the new nuclear power in a "strategic partnership" the
battle is on for India, I would think.
(121504c) Sometimes you get a story that, in a nutshell, so to
speak, exemplifies much of what is going on in the world,
meaning what is wrong with it. It is also a David and
Goliath story to boot, and a good one. It seems the Inuit
are taking legal action, against the United States, because
of our policies and activities related to, you guessed it,
global warming. They
put forward the fact that we are threatening their ecosystem
and thus their existence. (121504a) This is in honor of Gary Webb, an investigative
reporter who took on "the powers that be"
exposing connections between the CIA, crack cocaine, and the
contras in Nicaragua. He has been found dead, an apparent
suicide. However this story here is relevant
because of its wide ranging consequences, that of the media
being asleep at the wheel, illegal actions by our government
and, yes, conspiracies that were admitted to. (121`304d)
And
here is an overview of Gary's story, how the "bad guys" got
awards and he "got dumped on" even after the CIA
admitted he was right, "with liberty and justice for all"
(121304e) France
intends to launch its own version of CNN, touted to be an
alternative to the US media's views. Other
nations are mentioned as being of a like mind. I think our
electronic barrier will hold for some time to come, but will
this result in us being even more at odds with the world's
community? (121404e) Another large grouping of nations are discussing
another potential free trade zone or unified super national
organization, in
South America there is promise at the start, despite
problems. (121304b) War games being held, for the first time, by China and
Russia, are
evidence of the old Arab proverb "the enemy of my enemy is
my ally" The story hints that this is the tip of an
iceberg. (121304a) And here is a good 5 part story, providing a
historical perspective on the "four pillars" of US
legitimacy in the world, four of which have been toppled by
the current holder of the presidency, see parts
One,
Two,
Three,
Four
and Five.
(121204b - f) The message is that we've squandered our
legitimacy and, in my humble opinion, ignored the real
threats of say, Iran, North Korea and others.
Kerry
to enter the Ohio recount fray (122304b) In
addition members of the House Judiciary Committee want to
see the major
network's exit polling data, and they want to have such data
secured prior to any investigation. (122304c)
John Conyers continues to
look, pry, peek, investigate, listen, and inquire as to what
happened in Ohio, hear about it in his own words in an
interview with Tim Grieves (122304d) Here is
another story stating, blatantly:
the discrepancies between the exit polls and the actual
results, both in the critical states (OH, PA, and FL) and
nation-wide, are "not credible." (122304e)
And
specific locations of fraud being suspected,
(122304f) A disheartening review of the Ohio recount situation
where
in house bickering may undo those who are trying to prove
"who done it" While a long term solution may be
in the offing. (122204d) The
Columbus Free Press highlights a few of the problems with
the election in Ohio. Fraud is the word,
incompetence is another, widespread is another, together
they spell four more years of a belligerent, incompetent,
self centered and purposefully ignorant White House and we
cannot afford it. (122104b) Fraud
patterns cited for New Mexico, Florida and Ohio in this
article. (122104f) If you have not already transmitted your opinion to
Congress as to whether they should contest the election in
Ohio, you can find the new action page at http://www.thepen.us/contest.html Here is Bill Moyers telling it like it is,
the
media has a slant, it is a right biased slant, it is
important, it is a problem, and he leaves it to us,
he's retiring. (122104g) Sometimes Russian news sources have real interesting
stories: Wild horses, made recently famous by "Hidalgo" are
now to be slaughtered and shipped off as meat.
It seems the cattle "industry" claims that they are using up
too much of the government's pasture land that beef folks
want. A typical Bushism: soon thereafter an annual "National
Day of the Horse" was proclaimed to honor its vital
contribution to our culture and history.
(121904c) Here is a detailed look at the 2000 election in
Florida from Vanity Fair. It is a good read that will take
20 minutes but the "factoids" and general
information cast a shadow on Bush that should have been and
should still be in the news, but then "that's our media,
love it or leave it." (122104e) So why is "whistle blower" Sibel Edmonds still being
silence, why the gag order to "block discovery in a lawsuit
of any information that, if disclosed, would adversely
affect national security" Who
is being protected? Ashcroft? There are 25 other "whistle
blowers" but no one in the media seems interested in this
story. (122104a) How did the media succumb to the inanity that now
passes for the information mainstream? Well
a record year for reporter's deaths, media mergers and
"infotainment" for another. But a systemic problem exists,
it is deep, wide and long term. (122104d) Who will be monitoring the Iraqi elections?
The
only monitors will be Iraqis, adding another layer of
complexity to already-troubled elections
(122304g) In the week that has English headlines state that they
might be in Iraq for 10 years, Fallujah, is also still in
the news, continued fighting, weeks
after it was supposed to be "over" and the purpose was to
clear the town of resistance, move the people back in so
they can vote. (122304a) I report this because,
well, it evidences the ignorance, poor planning and
stubbornness of Bush and his neo-cons. Our soldiers and
civilians are paying the price that George and his buddies
never had to in all their "chickenhawk" lives, the
bastards! Here she blows, Kurdistan has presented a petition to
the UN requesting a referendum for their independence.
Exactly
what this forebodes for the rest of Iraq is anyone's guess
now (122204c) Here we have an overview of the possible outcomes of
the Iraqi election, there
are a lot of problems or "concerns" no matter what
happens. (122204a) The January 30th election in Iraq is a date set in
stone. It
may be that a large percentage of Iraqi's will not be able
to vote, that violence will continue and it is possible that
the election itself will result in divisions being
exacerbated rather than ameliorated. I can say
that I did not vote for Bush either time, protested and
wrote against the war, donated to those who campaigned
against him, but here we are in another fine mess.
(121904b) These stories are those which indicated effects or
situations that will effect the medium or long term, 4 years
or longer. Well it is the little things that show up first, if
they are noticed. Well a small animal, the pika, a relative
of the rabbit is disappearing from habitats, the likely
culprits: higher
temperatures and a decrease in rainfall, aka global warming
and team Bush's irresponsibilities.
(122204b) When
China talks about establishing a "strategic partnership"
with Russia we should listen, when they start war
games and other cooperative activities we should be engaged,
concerned etc., but we are not. (122104c) The US fails to "kill off Kyoto" and so takes another
step out of step with the world. Our
regime seems to be determined to be undeterred.
(121904a)
12/11/04
11/28/04
12/25/04