The hearts and Minds of North Americans: Win a Few, Loose a Few

Today George W. Bush makes his first foray into Canada, with the aim of smoothing relations damaged by the war in Iraq and trade disputes over Canadian beef and softwood lumber. Even though he's occupied the Office of the President for nearly four years now, this is his first trip to Canada, his country's largest trading partner which shares its longest international border.



In light of Bush's blustering ugly-American show in Chile, we have an idea of what to expect. Ottawa's airspace has been closed as police helicopters patrol the skies and a number of main streets will be blocked off as the heavily armored Bush motorcade speeds through the city. Many businesses are simply shutting down and giving their employees a day off. Thousands of anti-Bush protests are expected in a number of Canadian cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax, where demonstrators will picket near Bush's speech on the city's waterfront.



As we all know, it's hard work being the leader of the free world ... especially when so few are willing to follow.



Nevertheless the resolute Bush can be expected to make a patriotic speech thanking Canadians for their commitment to the war on terror (700 troops in Afghanistan (but none in Iraq) and allowing U.S. passenger planes to land in Nova Scotia after U.S. airspace was closed on September 11), but more substantive discussions on difficult issues (ordering the U.S. borders closed to Canadian beef which has cost Canadian ranchers $5 billion and boosted profits for Texas cattlemen, accusing Canadian lumber companies of dumping lumber in the U.S. even though the World Trade Organization has consistently ruled in favor of Canada) will take place behind closed doors.



No doubt Bush, and most Americans, missed what turned out to be a remarkable bit of television last night on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program "The National" (carried on C-SPAN stateside where you might find a re-run of the 11/29/04 program) which featured a segment where U.S. citizens who've decided to move to Canada spoke directly with Bush supporters who are, of course, staying the course. What was remarkable was not the jingoist attitude of the loyal Americans, vintage "love it or leave it" stuff, but rather the utter disbelief on the part of the Bush supporters. They simply could not fathom that there might be anything "wrong" with the direction America has taken (eerily reminiscent of their leader's inability to recall any mistakes he's made) and were completely dumbfounded as to why anyone, especially an American citizen, would actually believe that America is a threat to world peace.



CBC (Canada) - Security, trade on agenda for Bush visit

The hearts and Minds of North Americans: Win a Few, Loose a Few

Today George W. Bush makes his first foray into Canada, with the aim of smoothing relations damaged by the war in Iraq and trade disputes over Canadian beef and softwood lumber. Even though he's occupied the Office of the President for nearly four years now, this is his first trip to Canada, his country's largest trading partner which shares its longest international border.



In light of Bush's blustering ugly-American show in Chile, we have an idea of what to expect. Ottawa's airspace has been closed as police helicopters patrol the skies and a number of main streets will be blocked off as the heavily armored Bush motorcade speeds through the city. Many businesses are simply shutting down and giving their employees a day off. Thousands of anti-Bush protests are expected in a number of Canadian cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax, where demonstrators will picket near Bush's speech on the city's waterfront.



As we all know, it's hard work being the leader of the free world ... especially when so few are willing to follow.



Nevertheless the resolute Bush can be expected to make a patriotic speech thanking Canadians for their commitment to the war on terror (700 troops in Afghanistan (but none in Iraq) and allowing U.S. passenger planes to land in Nova Scotia after U.S. airspace was closed on September 11), but more substantive discussions on difficult issues (ordering the U.S. borders closed to Canadian beef which has cost Canadian ranchers $5 billion and boosted profits for Texas cattlemen, accusing Canadian lumber companies of dumping lumber in the U.S. even though the World Trade Organization has consistently ruled in favor of Canada) will take place behind closed doors.



No doubt Bush, and most Americans, missed what turned out to be a remarkable bit of television last night on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation program "The National" (carried on C-SPAN stateside where you might find a re-run of the 11/29/04 program) which featured a segment where U.S. citizens who've decided to move to Canada spoke directly with Bush supporters who are, of course, staying the course. What was remarkable was not the jingoist attitude of the loyal Americans, vintage "love it or leave it" stuff, but rather the utter disbelief on the part of the Bush supporters. They simply could not fathom that there might be anything "wrong" with the direction America has taken (eerily reminiscent of their leader's inability to recall any mistakes he's made) and were completely dumbfounded as to why anyone, especially an American citizen, would actually believe that America is a threat to world peace.



CBC (Canada) - Security, trade on agenda for Bush visit

A Cold Dark Place

The Bush administration has long made clear America's position on the environment: God put it here for us to exploit. In fact, god expects us to exploit the environment for his glory. And, besides, since the end-times are nigh, we won't be around long enough to suffer any nasty consequences ... like when a continent sized chunk of ice breaks off of the polar ice cap and causes sea levels to rise to catastrophic heights overnight.



And now, thanks to the sponsorship of the U.S. petroleum industry, the Bush administration will soon be able to tout a "scientific" study concluding that global warming is actually good for human beings.



(As a side note, apparently most Britons agree with Americans: we're all for the environment, but not if it means sacrificing uncontrolled growth in our economy or our right to spend each and every day burning 7% of the world's output of oil in our cars.)



The Observer (London) - Greenhouse Effect "may benefit man" Claims by pro-Bush think-tank outrage eco-groups

A Cold Dark Place

The Bush administration has long made clear America's position on the environment: God put it here for us to exploit. In fact, god expects us to exploit the environment for his glory. And, besides, since the end-times are nigh, we won't be around long enough to suffer any nasty consequences ... like when a continent sized chunk of ice breaks off of the polar ice cap and causes sea levels to rise to catastrophic heights overnight.



And now, thanks to the sponsorship of the U.S. petroleum industry, the Bush administration will soon be able to tout a "scientific" study concluding that global warming is actually good for human beings.



(As a side note, apparently most Britons agree with Americans: we're all for the environment, but not if it means sacrificing uncontrolled growth in our economy or our right to spend each and every day burning 7% of the world's output of oil in our cars.)



The Observer (London) - Greenhouse Effect "may benefit man" Claims by pro-Bush think-tank outrage eco-groups

Eyewitness to Life in Wartime

According to reports from eyewitnesses in the streets of Fallujah, U.S. troops committed all manner of atrocities including opening fire on Iraqi citizens who were carrying white flags and attempting to surrender, running over the wounded with tanks, and dumping bodies into the river.



Of course, the sources of these reports are not considered to be credible. They are not embedded reporters working alongside U.S. forces and the Pentagon has refused to release any official reports and the city remains closed to outside observers or international relief organizations.



We have no way of really knowing what is going on in Fallujah. We can only guess. We might simply accept at face value the mainstream media stories of American valor. But then there are the puzzling stories like the two below ... and there was that video of U.S. soldiers executing a wounded Iraqi in a mosque ... and a few months back we were shocked by those photos from the prison at Abu Gharib showing torture that was first denied and then admitted by the Pentagon (and, it turns out, sanctioned by Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales).



Fortunately we can get a glimpse of what life is like in Fallujah through independent reports like the blog of Kevin Sites (the photographer who caught the execution shooting on video) and the dispatches of Dahr Jamail, an independent U.S. correspondent in Iraq.



However, even though we could learn about the horrors we are inflicting on the people ever day, it's a lot easier to stop with the published reports that the Iraq will hold free elections, as scheduled, in January.



Twenty years ago Jackson Browne wrote:

On the radio talk shows and the T.V.,

You hear one thing again and again,

How the U.S.A. stands for freedom,

And we come to the aid of a friend.

But who are the ones that we call our friends--

These governments killing their own?

Or the people who finally can't take any more,

And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone.



There are lives in the balance,

There are people under fire.

There are children at the cannons,

And there is blood on the wire.

And it hasn't really changed much.



Inter Press Service (Italy) - "Unusual Weapons" Used in Fallujah



Bay View (CA) - Fallujah refugees: "Old ladies with white flags were killed by the Americans!"

Eyewitness to Life in Wartime

According to reports from eyewitnesses in the streets of Fallujah, U.S. troops committed all manner of atrocities including opening fire on Iraqi citizens who were carrying white flags and attempting to surrender, running over the wounded with tanks, and dumping bodies into the river.



Of course, the sources of these reports are not considered to be credible. They are not embedded reporters working alongside U.S. forces and the Pentagon has refused to release any official reports and the city remains closed to outside observers or international relief organizations.



We have no way of really knowing what is going on in Fallujah. We can only guess. We might simply accept at face value the mainstream media stories of American valor. But then there are the puzzling stories like the two below ... and there was that video of U.S. soldiers executing a wounded Iraqi in a mosque ... and a few months back we were shocked by those photos from the prison at Abu Gharib showing torture that was first denied and then admitted by the Pentagon (and, it turns out, sanctioned by Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales).



Fortunately we can get a glimpse of what life is like in Fallujah through independent reports like the blog of Kevin Sites (the photographer who caught the execution shooting on video) and the dispatches of Dahr Jamail, an independent U.S. correspondent in Iraq.



However, even though we could learn about the horrors we are inflicting on the people ever day, it's a lot easier to stop with the published reports that the Iraq will hold free elections, as scheduled, in January.



Twenty years ago Jackson Browne wrote:

On the radio talk shows and the T.V.,

You hear one thing again and again,

How the U.S.A. stands for freedom,

And we come to the aid of a friend.

But who are the ones that we call our friends--

These governments killing their own?

Or the people who finally can't take any more,

And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone.



There are lives in the balance,

There are people under fire.

There are children at the cannons,

And there is blood on the wire.

And it hasn't really changed much.



Inter Press Service (Italy) - "Unusual Weapons" Used in Fallujah



Bay View (CA) - Fallujah refugees: "Old ladies with white flags were killed by the Americans!"

U.S. Supports the Continued Use of Landmines

The rest of the world might conclude that we Americans believe that blowing up Army trucks and tanks is bad but blowing up human beings, including thousands of children and other civilians each year, is okay.



U.S. troops in Iraq have suffered at the hands of insurgents using so-called "Improvised Explosive Devices" (essentially, home made land mines) to blow up Humvees, trucks and other military vehicles killing and wounding hundreds of U.S. soldiers. And so it's understandable that the U.S. has urged the international community to ban all sales of antitank and other heavy landmines.



But why is the U.S. is refusing to participate in an international effort to eliminate mines designed to hurt primarily people?



More than 140 nations have signed on to the accord, which bans the manufacture, sale, and use of anti-personnel mines. But the U.S. has refused to endorse the ban on landmines that kill and maim between 15,000 and 20,000 people around the world every year.



Dismissing the international effort, Deputy State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said, "Eliminating civilian landmine casualties requires a comprehensive approach addressing landmines of every type that remain hazardous after a conflict has ended, including the larger antivehicle landmines that are not covered by the Ottawa Convention."



In an extreme example of doublespeak, Assistant Secretary of State Lincoln Bloomfield said that the U.S. was a "strong partner" in trying to prevent humanitarian tragedies caused by landmines, but affirmed U.S. decision to stay out of the convention because the Pentagon deems it necessary to have landmines at its disposal "either to save U.S. forces in the field or to save allied forces or to save a population that we are protecting."



And the whole world is watching.



Manila Times - U.S. won't attend international conference on land mines

U.S. Supports the Continued Use of Landmines

The rest of the world might conclude that we Americans believe that blowing up Army trucks and tanks is bad but blowing up human beings, including thousands of children and other civilians each year, is okay.



U.S. troops in Iraq have suffered at the hands of insurgents using so-called "Improvised Explosive Devices" (essentially, home made land mines) to blow up Humvees, trucks and other military vehicles killing and wounding hundreds of U.S. soldiers. And so it's understandable that the U.S. has urged the international community to ban all sales of antitank and other heavy landmines.



But why is the U.S. is refusing to participate in an international effort to eliminate mines designed to hurt primarily people?



More than 140 nations have signed on to the accord, which bans the manufacture, sale, and use of anti-personnel mines. But the U.S. has refused to endorse the ban on landmines that kill and maim between 15,000 and 20,000 people around the world every year.



Dismissing the international effort, Deputy State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said, "Eliminating civilian landmine casualties requires a comprehensive approach addressing landmines of every type that remain hazardous after a conflict has ended, including the larger antivehicle landmines that are not covered by the Ottawa Convention."



In an extreme example of doublespeak, Assistant Secretary of State Lincoln Bloomfield said that the U.S. was a "strong partner" in trying to prevent humanitarian tragedies caused by landmines, but affirmed U.S. decision to stay out of the convention because the Pentagon deems it necessary to have landmines at its disposal "either to save U.S. forces in the field or to save allied forces or to save a population that we are protecting."



And the whole world is watching.



Manila Times - U.S. won't attend international conference on land mines

Coming Soon: Tanks in the Streets of Your Hometown

It's time to merge the U.S. Army and your local police department according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.



In in a meeting with Latin American defense ministers that was scarcely covered by U.S. media, Rumsfeld said that, given the challenges posed by 21st-century threats, it is time to re-think the separation of the armed forces from the police. It was an interesting audience given that separation of the military from domestic police has been a major reform pursued by U.S. and Latin American human-rights organizations as a way of asserting civilian control over the military and reducing abuses, but that didn't deter Rumsfeld:

"Since September. 11, 2001, we have had to conduct an essential re-examination of the relationships between our military and our law enforcement responsibilities in the U.S.," asserted Rumsfeld, who never let the phrase "human rights" pass his lips. "The complex challenges of this new era and the asymmetric threats we face require that all elements of state and society work together." He went on to include under the rubric of "enemies" faced by the armed forces a number of actors who normally would come under the jurisdiction of the civilian authorities. "Terrorists, drug traffickers, hostage takers and criminal gangs form an anti-social combination that increasingly seeks to destabilize civil societies," he declared.

So, apparently our neighbors to the south are encouraged to blur the line between the roles of the military and the police ... but in America there's no need to worry about becoming a military police state, right? Our local police are there to "protect and serve" and we would never really let the Army take over the cities and towns in America, right?



Wait! Better do a little research before you answer. To start, Google the phrase "posse comitatus" which is the 19th century law that prohibits U.S. military involvement in local police affairs.



And, lest you think it's just a bunch of black helicopter militia nuts, check out some of the surprisingly mainstream groups like "The Homeland Security Institute" which features a lengthy essay entitled The Myth of Posse Comitatus written by a U.S. Army Major arguing that the posse comitatus law has been misinterpreted all these years and that there's no reason why the Army should not be policing the streets of your city today.



ZNet (US) - Rumsfeld's 'Dirty Wars'

Coming Soon: Tanks in the Streets of Your Hometown

It's time to merge the U.S. Army and your local police department according to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.



In in a meeting with Latin American defense ministers that was scarcely covered by U.S. media, Rumsfeld said that, given the challenges posed by 21st-century threats, it is time to re-think the separation of the armed forces from the police. It was an interesting audience given that separation of the military from domestic police has been a major reform pursued by U.S. and Latin American human-rights organizations as a way of asserting civilian control over the military and reducing abuses, but that didn't deter Rumsfeld:

"Since September. 11, 2001, we have had to conduct an essential re-examination of the relationships between our military and our law enforcement responsibilities in the U.S.," asserted Rumsfeld, who never let the phrase "human rights" pass his lips. "The complex challenges of this new era and the asymmetric threats we face require that all elements of state and society work together." He went on to include under the rubric of "enemies" faced by the armed forces a number of actors who normally would come under the jurisdiction of the civilian authorities. "Terrorists, drug traffickers, hostage takers and criminal gangs form an anti-social combination that increasingly seeks to destabilize civil societies," he declared.

So, apparently our neighbors to the south are encouraged to blur the line between the roles of the military and the police ... but in America there's no need to worry about becoming a military police state, right? Our local police are there to "protect and serve" and we would never really let the Army take over the cities and towns in America, right?



Wait! Better do a little research before you answer. To start, Google the phrase "posse comitatus" which is the 19th century law that prohibits U.S. military involvement in local police affairs.



And, lest you think it's just a bunch of black helicopter militia nuts, check out some of the surprisingly mainstream groups like "The Homeland Security Institute" which features a lengthy essay entitled The Myth of Posse Comitatus written by a U.S. Army Major arguing that the posse comitatus law has been misinterpreted all these years and that there's no reason why the Army should not be policing the streets of your city today.



ZNet (US) - Rumsfeld's 'Dirty Wars'

Secret Service investigates Boulder High School band

In Boulder Colorado the Secret Service investigated a band made up of high-school students after reports of death threats against U.S. President George W. Bush. The group, which now calls itself "Coalition of the Willing," was formerly known as the "Taliband."



Secret Service agents carried out an investigation at the high school after they received reports that the band had changed the lyrics of the 1963 Bob Dylan song Masters of War to include a threat against Bush.



One line in the song, which is an attack on arms dealers, goes "And I hope that you die/And your death'll come soon." However, an anonymous caller reported to the secret service that during a rehearsal the line was changed to "George Bush, I hope you die soon."



"I know that people have made accusations and allegations about people and kids that are unfounded and untrue," Principal Ron Cabrera told the Associated Press. "I talked to many people who were [at the practice], including teachers, students and other faculty and no one altered the lyrics or expressed any ill will or any reference to President Bush or anyone dying."



CBC News: Secret Service investigates high-school band

Secret Service investigates Boulder High School band

In Boulder Colorado the Secret Service investigated a band made up of high-school students after reports of death threats against U.S. President George W. Bush. The group, which now calls itself "Coalition of the Willing," was formerly known as the "Taliband."



Secret Service agents carried out an investigation at the high school after they received reports that the band had changed the lyrics of the 1963 Bob Dylan song Masters of War to include a threat against Bush.



One line in the song, which is an attack on arms dealers, goes "And I hope that you die/And your death'll come soon." However, an anonymous caller reported to the secret service that during a rehearsal the line was changed to "George Bush, I hope you die soon."



"I know that people have made accusations and allegations about people and kids that are unfounded and untrue," Principal Ron Cabrera told the Associated Press. "I talked to many people who were [at the practice], including teachers, students and other faculty and no one altered the lyrics or expressed any ill will or any reference to President Bush or anyone dying."



CBC News: Secret Service investigates high-school band

Voting for Irony

Irony. You know, when somebody uses words that mean one thing but what the person really means to say is something else entirely. Irony can be a highly effective way to point out differences between, say, official policy and reality. And sometimes irony can be very funny when used to express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.



We already know from experience that George W. Bush has no sense of irony. He's far too serious for that. But who knew that Colin Powell has a marvelous sense of ironic wit? Look at these two stories from today:

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said that the voting in Ukraine's presidential election was riddled with fraud and that the United States could not accept a victory by Victor F. Yanukovich as legitimate, warning that there would be "serious consequences" to the American-Ukraine relationship if allegations of fraud were not cleared up. "We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," he said. "It is still not too late for Ukrainian authorities to find a solution that respects the will of the Ukrainian people."

That from the Secretary of State on the same day that the Government Accountability Office (You might remember the "GAO" by its old name, the "Government Accounting Office" which it was called until those ironic fellows in the Republican controlled House renamed it a couple of years ago.):

Congress' investigative agency, Government Accountability Office, responding to complaints from around the country, has begun an investigation of the Nov. 2 vote count. The probe will cover voter registration, voting machine problems and handling of provisional ballots, which were given to voters who said they were eligible to cast votes although their names were not on the rolls. The GAO usually begins investigations in response to specific requests from Congress, but the agency's head, Comptroller General David Walker, said the GAO acted on its own because of the many complaints it received about ballot counting. He noted, however, that the GAO noted cannot enforce the law if voting irregularities are found.

Now that's irony for you: "the GAO acted on its own because of the many comments it received about ballot counting ... the GAO cannot enforce the law if voting irregularities are found."



New York Times - Powell Says Ukraine Vote Was Full of Fraud



Star Tribune (MN) - GAO opens review of voting in response to complaints

Voting for Irony

Irony. You know, when somebody uses words that mean one thing but what the person really means to say is something else entirely. Irony can be a highly effective way to point out differences between, say, official policy and reality. And sometimes irony can be very funny when used to express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.



We already know from experience that George W. Bush has no sense of irony. He's far too serious for that. But who knew that Colin Powell has a marvelous sense of ironic wit? Look at these two stories from today:

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said that the voting in Ukraine's presidential election was riddled with fraud and that the United States could not accept a victory by Victor F. Yanukovich as legitimate, warning that there would be "serious consequences" to the American-Ukraine relationship if allegations of fraud were not cleared up. "We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," he said. "It is still not too late for Ukrainian authorities to find a solution that respects the will of the Ukrainian people."

That from the Secretary of State on the same day that the Government Accountability Office (You might remember the "GAO" by its old name, the "Government Accounting Office" which it was called until those ironic fellows in the Republican controlled House renamed it a couple of years ago.):

Congress' investigative agency, Government Accountability Office, responding to complaints from around the country, has begun an investigation of the Nov. 2 vote count. The probe will cover voter registration, voting machine problems and handling of provisional ballots, which were given to voters who said they were eligible to cast votes although their names were not on the rolls. The GAO usually begins investigations in response to specific requests from Congress, but the agency's head, Comptroller General David Walker, said the GAO acted on its own because of the many complaints it received about ballot counting. He noted, however, that the GAO noted cannot enforce the law if voting irregularities are found.

Now that's irony for you: "the GAO acted on its own because of the many comments it received about ballot counting ... the GAO cannot enforce the law if voting irregularities are found."



New York Times - Powell Says Ukraine Vote Was Full of Fraud



Star Tribune (MN) - GAO opens review of voting in response to complaints

The Ugliest American

George W Bush made a shambles of a state visit to Chile which was intended to counter Latin American talk of American "arrogance."



The Chilean security guards had been stationed at the door for Bush's security, but that didn't deter Bush from shoving his way through the guards and then pushing them out of the way to pull his own armed body guard through. Then, while cameras rolled for a worldwide audience, he made a show of strutting across the foyer, dusting off his sleeves and straightening his shirt.



For an encore Bush haughtily cancelled a state dinner in his honor when Chilean authorities refused U.S. demands that each and every one of the 300 guests, including the president of the Chilean senate, the head of the Chilean supreme court, the top commanders of each branch of the Chilean military and their wives, pass through metal detectors and submit to searches before they being permitted to dine near Bush at the presidential palace in Santiago.



Tell me again: they hate us because we love freedom, right?



Telegraph (UK) - Bush scuffles with Chilean guards at summit



News 24 (South Africa) - Bush cancels dinner date

The Ugliest American

George W Bush made a shambles of a state visit to Chile which was intended to counter Latin American talk of American "arrogance."



The Chilean security guards had been stationed at the door for Bush's security, but that didn't deter Bush from shoving his way through the guards and then pushing them out of the way to pull his own armed body guard through. Then, while cameras rolled for a worldwide audience, he made a show of strutting across the foyer, dusting off his sleeves and straightening his shirt.



For an encore Bush haughtily cancelled a state dinner in his honor when Chilean authorities refused U.S. demands that each and every one of the 300 guests, including the president of the Chilean senate, the head of the Chilean supreme court, the top commanders of each branch of the Chilean military and their wives, pass through metal detectors and submit to searches before they being permitted to dine near Bush at the presidential palace in Santiago.



Tell me again: they hate us because we love freedom, right?



Telegraph (UK) - Bush scuffles with Chilean guards at summit



News 24 (South Africa) - Bush cancels dinner date

Red Neck Nation

First there was that awful moment when that white lady stripped naked and then jumped into that black man's arms on national TV. Sure it was supposed to be only a spoof, but there are some things you just don't joke about, especially on TV when the children are watching!



Then there was George W. Bush, who had to wade in and rescue his bodyguard from that crowd of scruffy little brown people in South America, then strutting away straightening his shirt and dusting off his sleeves only to boycott a state dinner later that evening because the locals wouldn't let the U.S. Secret Service search each one of the foreigners who planned to attend.



That was followed by the upstanding good old boy who threw his beer at one of the black gladiators on the basketball court. The ensuring melee resulted in the suspension of a number of black men from the team but no consequences for the white beer-thrower because, after all, he paid for his court-side seats.



And then there was the Hmong man who shot eight white deer hunters and killed six, after the white people harassed the foreigner (a U.S. citizen and a veteran) and tried to drive him from "their" land.



What is it that these people don't understand about supremacy?



Pioneer Press (MN) Collision of Cultures: Hmong and white hunters have had disputes in the woods

Red Neck Nation

First there was that awful moment when that white lady stripped naked and then jumped into that black man's arms on national TV. Sure it was supposed to be only a spoof, but there are some things you just don't joke about, especially on TV when the children are watching!



Then there was George W. Bush, who had to wade in and rescue his bodyguard from that crowd of scruffy little brown people in South America, then strutting away straightening his shirt and dusting off his sleeves only to boycott a state dinner later that evening because the locals wouldn't let the U.S. Secret Service search each one of the foreigners who planned to attend.



That was followed by the upstanding good old boy who threw his beer at one of the black gladiators on the basketball court. The ensuring melee resulted in the suspension of a number of black men from the team but no consequences for the white beer-thrower because, after all, he paid for his court-side seats.



And then there was the Hmong man who shot eight white deer hunters and killed six, after the white people harassed the foreigner (a U.S. citizen and a veteran) and tried to drive him from "their" land.



What is it that these people don't understand about supremacy?



Pioneer Press (MN) Collision of Cultures: Hmong and white hunters have had disputes in the woods

"Democratically Elected" Bush Regime Overthrown in Military Coup

In the waning hours of the 108th Congress, the democratically elected government of George W. Bush was overthrown in a military coup lead by a coalition including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon.



Ignoring the outpouring of public support for the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and overcoming the strong support of the Bush Administration, the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Pentagon Coalition killed landmark legislation that would have forced the Pentagon, which controls an estimated 80 percent of the government's $40 billion intelligence budget, to cede much of its authority on intelligence issues to a national intelligence director.



The decision to block a vote on the bill, which would have created the job of a cabinet-level national intelligence director to oversee the C.I.A. and the government's other spy agencies, came after what was described as a near-rebellion by a core of highly conservative House Republicans aligned with the Pentagon who were emboldened to oppose their leadership and the White House.



The coup occurred while the recently elected President of the U.S., George W. Bush, was in Chile at a meeting with world leaders where he was seeking support for his planned expansion of U.S. military action against the sovereign governments of Iran, North Korea and Syria.



New York Times - House Leadership Blocks Vote on Intelligence Bill

"Democratically Elected" Bush Regime Overthrown in Military Coup

In the waning hours of the 108th Congress, the democratically elected government of George W. Bush was overthrown in a military coup lead by a coalition including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon.



Ignoring the outpouring of public support for the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and overcoming the strong support of the Bush Administration, the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Pentagon Coalition killed landmark legislation that would have forced the Pentagon, which controls an estimated 80 percent of the government's $40 billion intelligence budget, to cede much of its authority on intelligence issues to a national intelligence director.



The decision to block a vote on the bill, which would have created the job of a cabinet-level national intelligence director to oversee the C.I.A. and the government's other spy agencies, came after what was described as a near-rebellion by a core of highly conservative House Republicans aligned with the Pentagon who were emboldened to oppose their leadership and the White House.



The coup occurred while the recently elected President of the U.S., George W. Bush, was in Chile at a meeting with world leaders where he was seeking support for his planned expansion of U.S. military action against the sovereign governments of Iran, North Korea and Syria.



New York Times - House Leadership Blocks Vote on Intelligence Bill

A world-wide economic meltdown, but by god we've got our moral values

It's the economic nightmare scenario: foreign investors suddenly decide to invest in fewer U.S. assets and begin to sell-off those that they already own. Under this scenario the dollar would plummet, stock prices would plunge and U.S. interest rates would soar. Eventually, as the U.S. becomes unable to afford to buy all those imports, global economic growth stalls plunging the world into an economic depression.



Who dat trash talkin the U.S. economy? Why it's Alan Greenspan, that's who.



Meanwhile, Congress increased the Federal debt ceiling and passed a record Federal spending bill.



But before passing the spending bill they first attached a rider that would make it easier for doctors to refuse to perform abortions for their patients. The abortion language, completely unrelated to the spending bill, bars federal, state and local agencies from withholding taxpayer money from health care providers that refuse to provide or pay for abortions or refuse to offer abortion counseling or referrals. Current federal law, aimed at protecting Roman Catholic doctors, provides such "conscience protection'' to doctors who do not want to undergo abortion training. The new language would expand that protection to all health care providers, including hospitals, doctors, clinics and insurers.



I could not make this stuff up.



The Economic Times (India) - Greenspan joins IMF in urging US to live within its means

A world-wide economic meltdown, but by god we've got our moral values

It's the economic nightmare scenario: foreign investors suddenly decide to invest in fewer U.S. assets and begin to sell-off those that they already own. Under this scenario the dollar would plummet, stock prices would plunge and U.S. interest rates would soar. Eventually, as the U.S. becomes unable to afford to buy all those imports, global economic growth stalls plunging the world into an economic depression.



Who dat trash talkin the U.S. economy? Why it's Alan Greenspan, that's who.



Meanwhile, Congress increased the Federal debt ceiling and passed a record Federal spending bill.



But before passing the spending bill they first attached a rider that would make it easier for doctors to refuse to perform abortions for their patients. The abortion language, completely unrelated to the spending bill, bars federal, state and local agencies from withholding taxpayer money from health care providers that refuse to provide or pay for abortions or refuse to offer abortion counseling or referrals. Current federal law, aimed at protecting Roman Catholic doctors, provides such "conscience protection'' to doctors who do not want to undergo abortion training. The new language would expand that protection to all health care providers, including hospitals, doctors, clinics and insurers.



I could not make this stuff up.



The Economic Times (India) - Greenspan joins IMF in urging US to live within its means

Not again!

So let's see: they cheated by rigging the vote tabulators to give Bush extra votes, but it doesn't matter because they didn't steal enough votes to alter the outcome of the election, so who cares?



A quarter of a million "ghost" votes tallied for Bush on the Diebold electronic voting machines. But there's no paper trail and no need to worry.



Oakland Tribune - Study finds Florida. "ghost" e-votes

Not again!

So let's see: they cheated by rigging the vote tabulators to give Bush extra votes, but it doesn't matter because they didn't steal enough votes to alter the outcome of the election, so who cares?



A quarter of a million "ghost" votes tallied for Bush on the Diebold electronic voting machines. But there's no paper trail and no need to worry.



Oakland Tribune - Study finds Florida. "ghost" e-votes

We want you ... to be one of us!

"When you captured Saddam Hussein, I was very happy, and not fighting Americans, but you used your guns, and your military debased me. I am very angry. I hate all Christians, because you killed my family, my city, and my mosques."



Mahmoud al-Samarrai was irate. After all he'd been through, now he had learned that, having been invited to his Mosque to be given food for what is left of his family, the U.S. soldiers there had secretly taken a swab of his hands to test for the presence of explosives.



The swab process, much like the one in use at U.S. airports, will detect minute traces of explosives left on a terrorist who has handled explosives or fired a gun during the last few days. However, it also will detect those, like Mahmoud, who have merely been trying to clear away the mounds of shells and other debris left over after the U.S. attacked his city and invaded his home.



Forty-seven men were arrested as a result of the tests. Forty-one were eventually released. Six were held for an as yet to be determined period of time on as yet unspecified charges.



Seems like a banner day for al Quaeda recruiters. Wonder how it's going for National Guard recruiters here?



USATODAY - Test nets suspects and enrages Fallujah residents

We want you ... to be one of us!

"When you captured Saddam Hussein, I was very happy, and not fighting Americans, but you used your guns, and your military debased me. I am very angry. I hate all Christians, because you killed my family, my city, and my mosques."



Mahmoud al-Samarrai was irate. After all he'd been through, now he had learned that, having been invited to his Mosque to be given food for what is left of his family, the U.S. soldiers there had secretly taken a swab of his hands to test for the presence of explosives.



The swab process, much like the one in use at U.S. airports, will detect minute traces of explosives left on a terrorist who has handled explosives or fired a gun during the last few days. However, it also will detect those, like Mahmoud, who have merely been trying to clear away the mounds of shells and other debris left over after the U.S. attacked his city and invaded his home.



Forty-seven men were arrested as a result of the tests. Forty-one were eventually released. Six were held for an as yet to be determined period of time on as yet unspecified charges.



Seems like a banner day for al Quaeda recruiters. Wonder how it's going for National Guard recruiters here?



USATODAY - Test nets suspects and enrages Fallujah residents

A Neocon Definition of Victory

The neocons are flushed with victory:

"Bush has never moved away from his policy agenda and since winning reelection has asserted it again. He thinks success is possible in Iraq and he has no intention of allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons."



"Bush regards the election as a vindication of his Iraq policy. All the nay-sayers, the doubters, the defeatists have emerged as losers."

Meanwhile in Iraq, days after George W. Bush announced another "mission accomplished" saying that the U.S. had destroyed rebel control of Fallujah, U.S. artillery pummeled the city while American troops hunted guerrillas door-to-door. Further north, where violence has surged since the U.S. assault on Fallujah began, 15 Iraqis were killed and 22 wounded in the oil refining town of Baiji and a suicide car bomber rammed a U.S. convoy, prompting troops to open fire.



Far from facing off in a decisive battle against the resistance fighters, it seems the more Americans squeeze Falluja, the more the violence explodes elsewhere. Scott Ritter, former U.N. inspector describes the U.S. strategy as, "exercises in futility, akin to squeezing jello. The more you try to get a grasp on the problem, the more it slips through your fingers."



Aljazeera (Qatar) - Squeezing jello in Iraq



New York Times - Neoconservatives Gain Strength in New Bush Team

A Neocon Definition of Victory

The neocons are flushed with victory:

"Bush has never moved away from his policy agenda and since winning reelection has asserted it again. He thinks success is possible in Iraq and he has no intention of allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons."



"Bush regards the election as a vindication of his Iraq policy. All the nay-sayers, the doubters, the defeatists have emerged as losers."

Meanwhile in Iraq, days after George W. Bush announced another "mission accomplished" saying that the U.S. had destroyed rebel control of Fallujah, U.S. artillery pummeled the city while American troops hunted guerrillas door-to-door. Further north, where violence has surged since the U.S. assault on Fallujah began, 15 Iraqis were killed and 22 wounded in the oil refining town of Baiji and a suicide car bomber rammed a U.S. convoy, prompting troops to open fire.



Far from facing off in a decisive battle against the resistance fighters, it seems the more Americans squeeze Falluja, the more the violence explodes elsewhere. Scott Ritter, former U.N. inspector describes the U.S. strategy as, "exercises in futility, akin to squeezing jello. The more you try to get a grasp on the problem, the more it slips through your fingers."



Aljazeera (Qatar) - Squeezing jello in Iraq



New York Times - Neoconservatives Gain Strength in New Bush Team

US Marine Shoots Dead an Unarmed and Wounded Iraqi Prisoner in a Mosque in Fallujah

Perception is everything.



While Right-wing talk radio in America is excusing it as an "inevitable consequence of war," much of the rest of the world is reporting the facts: a day after mortally wounding and then leaving them for dead, a group of U.S. Marines returned to the Mosque and finished the job by shooting the Iraqis in the head.



It kind of makes you wonder, if some Americans in a church had been wounded and then shot execution style a day later, under what conditions would we call it a consequence of war?



Aljazeera (Qatar) - Marine filmed killing Iraqi prisoner

US Marine Shoots Dead an Unarmed and Wounded Iraqi Prisoner in a Mosque in Fallujah

Perception is everything.



While Right-wing talk radio in America is excusing it as an "inevitable consequence of war," much of the rest of the world is reporting the facts: a day after mortally wounding and then leaving them for dead, a group of U.S. Marines returned to the Mosque and finished the job by shooting the Iraqis in the head.



It kind of makes you wonder, if some Americans in a church had been wounded and then shot execution style a day later, under what conditions would we call it a consequence of war?



Aljazeera (Qatar) - Marine filmed killing Iraqi prisoner

What is it about right-wingers and Homos?

For years a small school in Texas has held a day each year when girls dress as boys and vice versa. Nobody seems to be able to remember how it got started or why, but it was all in fun ... until this year.



"It's like experimenting with drugs," said a mother. "You just keep playing with it and it becomes customary. ... If it's OK to dress like a girl today, then why is it not OK in the future?"



"I don't think it was a liberal agenda," said another parent, a 35-year-old mother of eight biological and foster children. "I think it was just foolishness, just being funny, being silly, but it opens the door for other things to happen."



And so the school is now allowing the children to dress in military camouflage instead.



As Woodburydadd's West Coast correspondent noted, as hard as it may to believe, this is not from The Onion.



Houston Chronicle - Texas school district nixes 'cross-dressing day'

What is it about right-wingers and Homos?

For years a small school in Texas has held a day each year when girls dress as boys and vice versa. Nobody seems to be able to remember how it got started or why, but it was all in fun ... until this year.



"It's like experimenting with drugs," said a mother. "You just keep playing with it and it becomes customary. ... If it's OK to dress like a girl today, then why is it not OK in the future?"



"I don't think it was a liberal agenda," said another parent, a 35-year-old mother of eight biological and foster children. "I think it was just foolishness, just being funny, being silly, but it opens the door for other things to happen."



And so the school is now allowing the children to dress in military camouflage instead.



As Woodburydadd's West Coast correspondent noted, as hard as it may to believe, this is not from The Onion.



Houston Chronicle - Texas school district nixes 'cross-dressing day'

Cross Purposes

A suburban fellow, who voted for Kerry, was wondering why people had been befuddled by the "Christians for Kerry" bumper sticker that he was now anxiously peeling off of his SUV. "Not all Christians believe abortion and embryonic stem-cell research are murder. Not all Christians believe marriage is limited to the union of a man and a woman. Not all Christians believe a commander in chief who prays should never change his mind or admit a mistake. Not all Christians believe the only thing that matters ultimately is an individual's personal relationship with Jesus," he complained.



Oh really? Then perhaps you can explain the letter Bob Jones III, president of the private, fundamentalist Bob Jones University sent to George W. Bush:

"In your re-election, God has graciously granted America -- though she doesn't deserve it -- a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly."

Or maybe you've noticed the instant and intense attack on Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), an abortion rights supporter and likely Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, by Christians intent on packing the courts with judges who will represent "Christian values."

"He (Senator Specter) is a problem, and he must be derailed," said Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family. And what about Patrick Leahy (D-VT), former Chair of the Judiciary Committee? Dobson told The Daily Oklahoman that "Patrick Leahy is a 'God's people-hater.'" When it was pointed out that was not a particularly Christian thing to say about the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Dobson shot back, "I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people. Do you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about?"

It is a fact that most Americans attend church with some regularity. And it certainly seems that most Americans would really like to believe what they hear there. But if they are honest, most Americans would admit that they have their doubts. They notice that what they hear from the pulpit does not square with what they see on the street and in their lives. And they wonder when they learn that in the "Red States" teenage pregnancy rates are about double those of the "Blue States" despite the high priority placed on religious values in the "Red States." But while they wonder and seek answers, they continue to attend church, or at least send their children to church, because it's "the right thing to do," even though they really cannot tell you exactly why.



Time to wake up to a harsh new reality: America has become a place where you are no longer allowed to have doubts or nuanced beliefs about religion. Where once you had a guaranteed right to thoughtfully determine your own beliefs, now you are either saved or damned, the choice is yours. Indeed, god has a plan for you, the Christians are all too eager to tell you what god's plan is, and then you can accept it or go, literally, to hell.



If you want to call yourself a Christian these days, then you'd have to deal with this new fact: the likes of James Dobson and Bob Jones are your people.



But, consider this: if you can't bring yourself to buy into the bible thumping fundamentalist Christian view of the world, then perhaps you are not a Christian. After all Christians say that in order to use the name of their lord you must buy into their whole story, not just the parts that seem innocuous and comfortable on Sunday morning.



Sadly, in the new America it's not enough to believe in and work for "the ideals of Jesus." And, after all that has been done in the name of Christianity, if you still insist on calling yourself a Christian you'd better be willing to heed your brethren because if you don't they have a plan for you that's the same as their plan for the rest of us Pagans.



The Day (CT) - After A Hard-Fought Election Victory, Evangelicals Want Faith Rewarded

Cross Purposes

A suburban fellow, who voted for Kerry, was wondering why people had been befuddled by the "Christians for Kerry" bumper sticker that he was now anxiously peeling off of his SUV. "Not all Christians believe abortion and embryonic stem-cell research are murder. Not all Christians believe marriage is limited to the union of a man and a woman. Not all Christians believe a commander in chief who prays should never change his mind or admit a mistake. Not all Christians believe the only thing that matters ultimately is an individual's personal relationship with Jesus," he complained.



Oh really? Then perhaps you can explain the letter Bob Jones III, president of the private, fundamentalist Bob Jones University sent to George W. Bush:

"In your re-election, God has graciously granted America -- though she doesn't deserve it -- a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly."

Or maybe you've noticed the instant and intense attack on Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), an abortion rights supporter and likely Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, by Christians intent on packing the courts with judges who will represent "Christian values."

"He (Senator Specter) is a problem, and he must be derailed," said Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family. And what about Patrick Leahy (D-VT), former Chair of the Judiciary Committee? Dobson told The Daily Oklahoman that "Patrick Leahy is a 'God's people-hater.'" When it was pointed out that was not a particularly Christian thing to say about the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Dobson shot back, "I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people. Do you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about?"

It is a fact that most Americans attend church with some regularity. And it certainly seems that most Americans would really like to believe what they hear there. But if they are honest, most Americans would admit that they have their doubts. They notice that what they hear from the pulpit does not square with what they see on the street and in their lives. And they wonder when they learn that in the "Red States" teenage pregnancy rates are about double those of the "Blue States" despite the high priority placed on religious values in the "Red States." But while they wonder and seek answers, they continue to attend church, or at least send their children to church, because it's "the right thing to do," even though they really cannot tell you exactly why.



Time to wake up to a harsh new reality: America has become a place where you are no longer allowed to have doubts or nuanced beliefs about religion. Where once you had a guaranteed right to thoughtfully determine your own beliefs, now you are either saved or damned, the choice is yours. Indeed, god has a plan for you, the Christians are all too eager to tell you what god's plan is, and then you can accept it or go, literally, to hell.



If you want to call yourself a Christian these days, then you'd have to deal with this new fact: the likes of James Dobson and Bob Jones are your people.



But, consider this: if you can't bring yourself to buy into the bible thumping fundamentalist Christian view of the world, then perhaps you are not a Christian. After all Christians say that in order to use the name of their lord you must buy into their whole story, not just the parts that seem innocuous and comfortable on Sunday morning.



Sadly, in the new America it's not enough to believe in and work for "the ideals of Jesus." And, after all that has been done in the name of Christianity, if you still insist on calling yourself a Christian you'd better be willing to heed your brethren because if you don't they have a plan for you that's the same as their plan for the rest of us Pagans.



The Day (CT) - After A Hard-Fought Election Victory, Evangelicals Want Faith Rewarded

It's too late! This religious zealot has already been appointed.

The e-mail, currently making the rounds, conveys real urgency:

Important Women's Health Issue



Whether you're Right or Left on the issue of women's reproductive rights, please consider the following...



President Bush has announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two years, during which time its charter has lapsed. As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members. This position does not require Congressional approval.

Dr. W. David Hager, an obstetrician-gynecologist, is indeed an extreme zealot. He is author of a book entitled As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now, as well as another, Stress and the Woman's Body, which puts "an emphasis on the restorative power of Jesus Christ in one's life" and recommends specific bible readings and prayers for such ailments as headaches and premenstrual syndrome. Dr. Hager also routinely refuses to write prescriptions for birth control pills for his unmarried patients.



The problem is Bush has already appointed Hager, in December 2002, and re-appointed him in June of 2004.



Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (W. David Hager)

It's too late! This religious zealot has already been appointed.

The e-mail, currently making the rounds, conveys real urgency:

Important Women's Health Issue



Whether you're Right or Left on the issue of women's reproductive rights, please consider the following...



President Bush has announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two years, during which time its charter has lapsed. As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members. This position does not require Congressional approval.

Dr. W. David Hager, an obstetrician-gynecologist, is indeed an extreme zealot. He is author of a book entitled As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now, as well as another, Stress and the Woman's Body, which puts "an emphasis on the restorative power of Jesus Christ in one's life" and recommends specific bible readings and prayers for such ailments as headaches and premenstrual syndrome. Dr. Hager also routinely refuses to write prescriptions for birth control pills for his unmarried patients.



The problem is Bush has already appointed Hager, in December 2002, and re-appointed him in June of 2004.



Urban Legends Reference Pages: Politics (W. David Hager)

The Victorious Exterminators of Fallujah

It is not the first time that genocide has been the unofficial policy of the U.S. government, nor is it the first time that we haven't given a thought to the toll on the soldiers who eventually return to try to lead "normal" lives here at home. Nevertheless, we are about to declare victory in Fallujah.



Of course, George W. Bush will argue that he is merely "fighting the terrorists there instead of here." And while he may really believe that, he's missing two critical points.



First, the "terrorists" (or "insurgents," or "revolutionaries," or "guerrillas" -- we've used different labels depending upon the circumstances) this time are much more mobile and, frankly, have got much better information than ever before, which makes it foolish to believe that distance alone will keep them from us. In the past it was simply not possible for a Vietcong cell to arrange travel to the U.S., and there wasn't much chance that freedom fighters in the Congo would envision bringing their battle to Omaha.



And, second, realistically we will never be able to kill or imprison all of our enemies, which means we've got to find another way.



But why seek another way when victory is ours!?!



And so, instead of looking for lasting solutions we're treated to what has been unfolding in Fallujah these last few days: "Hey! There's nobody here! Wonder where they went? Oh, but look, here are "torture rooms" and other paraphernalia (never mind the suspicious looking piles of the exact same weapons that we gave to the "loyal" Iraqis just a few weeks ago). So see, it was good that we liberated this city," ... while the reality is that "they" have blended back into "their" society to live and fight another day.



Nevertheless, we'll celebrate another glorious victory in George W. Bush's War on Terror.



And those Americans who aren't killed first will return home eventually. And the ones who don't have their legs amputated on the way will walk among us for the rest of their lives trying to shake off the nightmares of the things they did in Iraq ... like first taking over the hospitals and then exterminating every living thing in a city ... things they did because we told them to.



Sydney Morning Herald (AU) - Victories Rooted in Barren Ground: The forthcoming election in Iraq will be as hollow as the latest US triumph there



Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Attack on Fallujah Can't Be Justified

The Victorious Exterminators of Fallujah

It is not the first time that genocide has been the unofficial policy of the U.S. government, nor is it the first time that we haven't given a thought to the toll on the soldiers who eventually return to try to lead "normal" lives here at home. Nevertheless, we are about to declare victory in Fallujah.



Of course, George W. Bush will argue that he is merely "fighting the terrorists there instead of here." And while he may really believe that, he's missing two critical points.



First, the "terrorists" (or "insurgents," or "revolutionaries," or "guerrillas" -- we've used different labels depending upon the circumstances) this time are much more mobile and, frankly, have got much better information than ever before, which makes it foolish to believe that distance alone will keep them from us. In the past it was simply not possible for a Vietcong cell to arrange travel to the U.S., and there wasn't much chance that freedom fighters in the Congo would envision bringing their battle to Omaha.



And, second, realistically we will never be able to kill or imprison all of our enemies, which means we've got to find another way.



But why seek another way when victory is ours!?!



And so, instead of looking for lasting solutions we're treated to what has been unfolding in Fallujah these last few days: "Hey! There's nobody here! Wonder where they went? Oh, but look, here are "torture rooms" and other paraphernalia (never mind the suspicious looking piles of the exact same weapons that we gave to the "loyal" Iraqis just a few weeks ago). So see, it was good that we liberated this city," ... while the reality is that "they" have blended back into "their" society to live and fight another day.



Nevertheless, we'll celebrate another glorious victory in George W. Bush's War on Terror.



And those Americans who aren't killed first will return home eventually. And the ones who don't have their legs amputated on the way will walk among us for the rest of their lives trying to shake off the nightmares of the things they did in Iraq ... like first taking over the hospitals and then exterminating every living thing in a city ... things they did because we told them to.



Sydney Morning Herald (AU) - Victories Rooted in Barren Ground: The forthcoming election in Iraq will be as hollow as the latest US triumph there



Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Attack on Fallujah Can't Be Justified

College Republicans: Eat the Elderly

Picture the young College Republicans. Clean shaven. Upstanding. Serious. Every mother's pride and joy. The sort of young American who might wear a tie to a street demonstration. The future leaders of the Compassionate Conservative movement in America.



And what a great start! This year the College Republicans discovered a new and highly lucrative fund raising opportunity: elderly and vulnerable adults.

An 88 year-old window proved her party loyalty when she got a stream of fundraising letters from the National College Republicans by sending in 91 checks totaling $42,985.



An 87 year-old wrote 256 checks totaling $10,789 this year, sometimes making several donations on the same day.



Another senior citizen agreed, when solicited by phone and mail, to "lend" nearly $60,000 to the group, but hasn't gotten her money back. "They were supposed to give it back, and I haven't heard nothing," she said.

Eric Hoplin, a graduate of St. Olaf College in Minnesota, who chairs the College Republican National Committee, a job was once held by top White House strategist Karl Rove, noted that the group had a record breaking year, raising more than $8 million, but said that he would "look into" the accusations.



"We've come to discover that there are a few donors who have been confused, a few donors who have some form of dementia, who aren't entirely sure of the amount of money that they're giving -- and how often they're giving," Hoplin said this week. He also acknowledged one source of that confusion: The College Republicans raise funds "using a lot of project names" in letters that neglect to mention his group at all.



In fairness, it should be noted that the College Republicans also support other less direct methods of fleecing elderly Americans like privatizing Social Security, limiting Medicare coverage while increasing premiums, and prohibiting the importation of low-cost prescription drugs.



Star Tribune (Minnesota) - College Republicans' tactics raise questions

College Republicans: Eat the Elderly

Picture the young College Republicans. Clean shaven. Upstanding. Serious. Every mother's pride and joy. The sort of young American who might wear a tie to a street demonstration. The future leaders of the Compassionate Conservative movement in America.



And what a great start! This year the College Republicans discovered a new and highly lucrative fund raising opportunity: elderly and vulnerable adults.

An 88 year-old window proved her party loyalty when she got a stream of fundraising letters from the National College Republicans by sending in 91 checks totaling $42,985.



An 87 year-old wrote 256 checks totaling $10,789 this year, sometimes making several donations on the same day.



Another senior citizen agreed, when solicited by phone and mail, to "lend" nearly $60,000 to the group, but hasn't gotten her money back. "They were supposed to give it back, and I haven't heard nothing," she said.

Eric Hoplin, a graduate of St. Olaf College in Minnesota, who chairs the College Republican National Committee, a job was once held by top White House strategist Karl Rove, noted that the group had a record breaking year, raising more than $8 million, but said that he would "look into" the accusations.



"We've come to discover that there are a few donors who have been confused, a few donors who have some form of dementia, who aren't entirely sure of the amount of money that they're giving -- and how often they're giving," Hoplin said this week. He also acknowledged one source of that confusion: The College Republicans raise funds "using a lot of project names" in letters that neglect to mention his group at all.



In fairness, it should be noted that the College Republicans also support other less direct methods of fleecing elderly Americans like privatizing Social Security, limiting Medicare coverage while increasing premiums, and prohibiting the importation of low-cost prescription drugs.



Star Tribune (Minnesota) - College Republicans' tactics raise questions

Ashcroft Declares an End to the Domestic War on Terror

In his five-page hand-written resignation letter, submitted on election day but withheld from the public for a week, John Ashcroft said, “The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved.”



Does that mean I can have my civil liberties back?



“I believe that my energies and talents should be directed toward other challenging horizons,” Ashcroft said.



Nope, I guess not.



Scotsman News (Scotland) - Bush Cabinet Resignations Prompt Speculation

Ashcroft Declares an End to the Domestic War on Terror

In his five-page hand-written resignation letter, submitted on election day but withheld from the public for a week, John Ashcroft said, “The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved.”



Does that mean I can have my civil liberties back?



“I believe that my energies and talents should be directed toward other challenging horizons,” Ashcroft said.



Nope, I guess not.



Scotsman News (Scotland) - Bush Cabinet Resignations Prompt Speculation

Demolishing Fallujah to Bring Democracy to Iraq

Guess that didn't work so well...Does anyone know if we have a Plan B?

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) A powerful group of Sunni Muslim clerics called Tuesday for a boycott of national elections set for late January to protest the U.S.-led attack against the Sunni insurgent stronghold Fallujah. The group's director, Harith al-Dhari, said the election was being held 'over the corpses of those killed in Fallujah and the blood of the wounded.'



"In the past weeks, al-Dhari's Association of Muslim Scholars has been warning it would call such a boycott if a Fallujah offensive took place. The association is influential among Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority, and U.S. and Iraqi officials have expressed concern that a lack of Sunni participation would raise question about the legitimacy of the vote."

Demolishing Fallujah to Bring Democracy to Iraq

Guess that didn't work so well...Does anyone know if we have a Plan B?

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) A powerful group of Sunni Muslim clerics called Tuesday for a boycott of national elections set for late January to protest the U.S.-led attack against the Sunni insurgent stronghold Fallujah. The group's director, Harith al-Dhari, said the election was being held 'over the corpses of those killed in Fallujah and the blood of the wounded.'



"In the past weeks, al-Dhari's Association of Muslim Scholars has been warning it would call such a boycott if a Fallujah offensive took place. The association is influential among Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority, and U.S. and Iraqi officials have expressed concern that a lack of Sunni participation would raise question about the legitimacy of the vote."

"We ain't got time to bleed."

The body of 25 year old has been found inside the "Ground Zero" site in New York City with a shotgun nearby. A friend says she believes the suicide was a protest to the election results.



To paraphrase the one-time Governor of Minnesota, "We ain't got time to bleed." This is a fight to the finish for the heart and soul of America. We will define what it is to be an American and we will not allow narrow and fearful people to take our country away. Self inflicted shotgun blasts to our own heads won't accomplish anything.



Sure, it was hard watching watching Kerry concede. And while Bush's gloating acceptance speech an hour later was about what you expected, the bleepin' press conference the next day was designed to put all of us right over the edge! "I've earned some political capital and now I'm going to spend it because that's who I am," as if George W. Bush ever devoted any effort to introspection or reasoning!



George W. Bush has also earned some political anger, and we need to capitalize on that. The first step is to tell ourselves that the American people aren't really greedy, fearful, and unthinking like they seem to be, but rather just ignorant of what's really going on. And we need to believe that once they figure it all out, there will be hell to play. (Have you yet talked to anyone who is proud to say "I voted for Bush?" In a few years, like Nixon, no one will admit having committed this atrocity.)



Is that rationalization? Sure. But there's real hope in the fact that 56 million others are, in varying degrees, as angry as you are.



And we've got to keep in mind that if the result had been just the reverse, no one would be saying that a 3 point margin gives Kerry a mandate or that it spells the death of conservativism.



Maybe it's just the bargaining phase that Kubler-Ross talked about, but there are really hopeful signs. It's like we're gradually awakening from a long trance. These last months there were legions of strangers working on political organizing who hadn't done that in decades. We've each found out that many of our neighbors share our beliefs, but they've been too fearful to speak up.



We should have been doing this all along. Shame on us for not getting started sooner. But the baby boom generation has always been slow to start and unstoppable one we get rolling.



Daily Breeze (Los Angeles) Young man shoots himself at ground zero in New York

"We ain't got time to bleed."

The body of 25 year old has been found inside the "Ground Zero" site in New York City with a shotgun nearby. A friend says she believes the suicide was a protest to the election results.



To paraphrase the one-time Governor of Minnesota, "We ain't got time to bleed." This is a fight to the finish for the heart and soul of America. We will define what it is to be an American and we will not allow narrow and fearful people to take our country away. Self inflicted shotgun blasts to our own heads won't accomplish anything.



Sure, it was hard watching watching Kerry concede. And while Bush's gloating acceptance speech an hour later was about what you expected, the bleepin' press conference the next day was designed to put all of us right over the edge! "I've earned some political capital and now I'm going to spend it because that's who I am," as if George W. Bush ever devoted any effort to introspection or reasoning!



George W. Bush has also earned some political anger, and we need to capitalize on that. The first step is to tell ourselves that the American people aren't really greedy, fearful, and unthinking like they seem to be, but rather just ignorant of what's really going on. And we need to believe that once they figure it all out, there will be hell to play. (Have you yet talked to anyone who is proud to say "I voted for Bush?" In a few years, like Nixon, no one will admit having committed this atrocity.)



Is that rationalization? Sure. But there's real hope in the fact that 56 million others are, in varying degrees, as angry as you are.



And we've got to keep in mind that if the result had been just the reverse, no one would be saying that a 3 point margin gives Kerry a mandate or that it spells the death of conservativism.



Maybe it's just the bargaining phase that Kubler-Ross talked about, but there are really hopeful signs. It's like we're gradually awakening from a long trance. These last months there were legions of strangers working on political organizing who hadn't done that in decades. We've each found out that many of our neighbors share our beliefs, but they've been too fearful to speak up.



We should have been doing this all along. Shame on us for not getting started sooner. But the baby boom generation has always been slow to start and unstoppable one we get rolling.



Daily Breeze (Los Angeles) Young man shoots himself at ground zero in New York

The Next Holy War: Evangelical Marines Prepare to Battle Barbarians

"What it really comes down to is this: Are the American voters going to sit still for this? Are we going to treat our democracy like some sort of spectator sport, like watching the Super Bowl, or are we going to ask a little more of ourselves this time? Are we going to explore the Bush Administration's claims? Are we going to look at the details of what this administration has actually done?" — William Hartung, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute



Some answers are emerging...



More Americans believe in the virgin birth of Christ than believe in evolution.



Most of those who voted for George W. Bush still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that we just haven't been able to find them and that Saddam Hussein directed the attacks on 9/11.



And American Marines are being anointed with oil and assured that god wants them to vanquish the Philistines.



You don't any additional commentary, you just need to click on the link below.



Agence France Presse - Holy War: Evangelical Marines Prepare to Battle Barbarians

The Next Holy War: Evangelical Marines Prepare to Battle Barbarians

"What it really comes down to is this: Are the American voters going to sit still for this? Are we going to treat our democracy like some sort of spectator sport, like watching the Super Bowl, or are we going to ask a little more of ourselves this time? Are we going to explore the Bush Administration's claims? Are we going to look at the details of what this administration has actually done?" — William Hartung, Senior Fellow, World Policy Institute



Some answers are emerging...



More Americans believe in the virgin birth of Christ than believe in evolution.



Most of those who voted for George W. Bush still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that we just haven't been able to find them and that Saddam Hussein directed the attacks on 9/11.



And American Marines are being anointed with oil and assured that god wants them to vanquish the Philistines.



You don't any additional commentary, you just need to click on the link below.



Agence France Presse - Holy War: Evangelical Marines Prepare to Battle Barbarians

Takin' it to the Streets

The police are already preparing for the Bush inauguration. Sources familiar with law enforcement planning said a Bush win means that the D.C. Police Department will beef up its security presence much more significantly than if Kerry were the one taking the oath of office. A Bush inauguration means many more demonstrations and protests that require policing. More demonstrators equal more cops on-duty and more crowd-control measures in place.



The Hill (Washington, D.C.) - Man the barricades, it's Bush again

Takin' it to the Streets

The police are already preparing for the Bush inauguration. Sources familiar with law enforcement planning said a Bush win means that the D.C. Police Department will beef up its security presence much more significantly than if Kerry were the one taking the oath of office. A Bush inauguration means many more demonstrations and protests that require policing. More demonstrators equal more cops on-duty and more crowd-control measures in place.



The Hill (Washington, D.C.) - Man the barricades, it's Bush again

The Ten Commandments Condemn "Lying" but Fortunately They are Silent on "Concealing Information"

A Moral Man, like George W. Bush, wouldn't lie, right? Unlike President Clinton, who quibbled over the definition of "is," a Moral Man, like George W. Bush, can be counted upon to be honest and forthcoming, can be trusted, right?



What if there was an investigation, completed last summer by the CIA, that named the individuals responsible and pinpointed major national security lapses that led to our nation being asleep at the switch on 9/11? Wouldn't that be a helpful bit of information that all Americans ought to have when deciding who should be president? And a Moral Man would want to ensure that Americans have the information they need to make a reasoned decision, right?



As it happens, there is just such a report. But under pressure from George W. Bush it was been withheld until after the election.

"It is infuriating that a report which shows that high-level people were not doing their jobs in a satisfactory manner before 9/11 is being suppressed," an intelligence official who has read the report said, adding that "the report is potentially very embarrassing for the administration, because it makes it look like they weren't interested in terrorism before 9/11, or in holding people in the government responsible afterward. What all the other reports on 9/11 did not do is point the finger at individuals, and give the how and what of their responsibility. This report does that."



According to the intelligence official, release of the report, which represents an exhaustive 17-month investigation by an 11-member team within the agency, has been "stalled" by Porter J. Goss, the former Republican House member (and chairman of the Intelligence Committee) who recently was appointed CIA chief by President Bush. The official stressed that the report was more blunt and more specific than the report produced by the 9/11 Commission.



By law, the only legitimate reason the CIA director has for holding back such a report is national security. Yet Porter Goss has not invoked national security as an explanation for not delivering the report to Congress. "It surely does not involve issues of national security," said the intelligence official. "The agency directorate is basically sitting on the report until after the election," the official continued. "No previous director of CIA has ever tried to stop the inspector general from releasing a report to the Congress, in this case a report requested by Congress."

And remember, one in five voters said they chose George W. Bush because of his strength on "moral issues."



Los Angeles Times - The 9/11 Secret in the CIA's Back Pocket

The Ten Commandments Condemn "Lying" but Fortunately They are Silent on "Concealing Information"

A Moral Man, like George W. Bush, wouldn't lie, right? Unlike President Clinton, who quibbled over the definition of "is," a Moral Man, like George W. Bush, can be counted upon to be honest and forthcoming, can be trusted, right?



What if there was an investigation, completed last summer by the CIA, that named the individuals responsible and pinpointed major national security lapses that led to our nation being asleep at the switch on 9/11? Wouldn't that be a helpful bit of information that all Americans ought to have when deciding who should be president? And a Moral Man would want to ensure that Americans have the information they need to make a reasoned decision, right?



As it happens, there is just such a report. But under pressure from George W. Bush it was been withheld until after the election.

"It is infuriating that a report which shows that high-level people were not doing their jobs in a satisfactory manner before 9/11 is being suppressed," an intelligence official who has read the report said, adding that "the report is potentially very embarrassing for the administration, because it makes it look like they weren't interested in terrorism before 9/11, or in holding people in the government responsible afterward. What all the other reports on 9/11 did not do is point the finger at individuals, and give the how and what of their responsibility. This report does that."



According to the intelligence official, release of the report, which represents an exhaustive 17-month investigation by an 11-member team within the agency, has been "stalled" by Porter J. Goss, the former Republican House member (and chairman of the Intelligence Committee) who recently was appointed CIA chief by President Bush. The official stressed that the report was more blunt and more specific than the report produced by the 9/11 Commission.



By law, the only legitimate reason the CIA director has for holding back such a report is national security. Yet Porter Goss has not invoked national security as an explanation for not delivering the report to Congress. "It surely does not involve issues of national security," said the intelligence official. "The agency directorate is basically sitting on the report until after the election," the official continued. "No previous director of CIA has ever tried to stop the inspector general from releasing a report to the Congress, in this case a report requested by Congress."

And remember, one in five voters said they chose George W. Bush because of his strength on "moral issues."



Los Angeles Times - The 9/11 Secret in the CIA's Back Pocket

National Guard Opens Fire on N.J. School, Young Girl Looses Leg

A supersonic F-16 jet fighter fired 25 rounds into Little Egg Harbor Middle School in New Jersey. Officials would not confirm rumors that the public school had failed to make "adequate yearly progress" as required under No Child Left Behind, however observers noted that New Jersey was a blue (Democratic) state in the hotly contested Presidential election.



Robert Brown, whose twin daughters attend the school, about a quarter-mile from their home, said, "Twenty five rounds? Wow! That can be dangerous. That kind of scares me." Brown said planes sometimes fly so low while approaching the nearby military practice range that he can see the pilots' heads. "It's kind of like an air show when they're out there."



Fortunately the attack on the middle school occurred at night when the building was unoccupied except for a custodian.



Meanwhile, half a world away, AC-130 gunship aircraft and tanks bought by American citizens and dispatched on the orders of George W. Bush, who declared that he had a mandate from the voters, dropped bombs and shot shells into a city called Fallujah. "Marine Expeditionary Forces will continue to conduct operations and will not cease until Fallujah is free of foreign terrorists and insurgents," read an official military statement.



Issam Mohammad, spokesman for the Fallujah hospital, said that a woman was "badly wounded" and a young girl lost her leg.



Washington Post - D.C. Guard Jet Fires, Hitting N.J. School

National Guard Opens Fire on N.J. School, Young Girl Looses Leg

A supersonic F-16 jet fighter fired 25 rounds into Little Egg Harbor Middle School in New Jersey. Officials would not confirm rumors that the public school had failed to make "adequate yearly progress" as required under No Child Left Behind, however observers noted that New Jersey was a blue (Democratic) state in the hotly contested Presidential election.



Robert Brown, whose twin daughters attend the school, about a quarter-mile from their home, said, "Twenty five rounds? Wow! That can be dangerous. That kind of scares me." Brown said planes sometimes fly so low while approaching the nearby military practice range that he can see the pilots' heads. "It's kind of like an air show when they're out there."



Fortunately the attack on the middle school occurred at night when the building was unoccupied except for a custodian.



Meanwhile, half a world away, AC-130 gunship aircraft and tanks bought by American citizens and dispatched on the orders of George W. Bush, who declared that he had a mandate from the voters, dropped bombs and shot shells into a city called Fallujah. "Marine Expeditionary Forces will continue to conduct operations and will not cease until Fallujah is free of foreign terrorists and insurgents," read an official military statement.



Issam Mohammad, spokesman for the Fallujah hospital, said that a woman was "badly wounded" and a young girl lost her leg.



Washington Post - D.C. Guard Jet Fires, Hitting N.J. School

An American Caliphate

Don't run for the dictionary! A caliphate is form of government headed by a man believed to be a direct descendant of god -- and it is the form of government that American voters seem to prefer.



Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the election of is that so many Americans cited "moral values" in their decision to ignore reason and vote for Geroge W. Bush. He won because of an outpouring of people who don't just favor different public policy -- that would be well within the tradition of American democracy -- these people favor a whole different definition of America.



As Tom Friedman wrote in his New York Times column, we disagree on the answers to fundamental questions that define what America is:

Is it a country that does not intrude into people's sexual preferences and the marriage unions they want to make? Is it a country that allows a woman to have control over her body? Is it a country where the line between church and state bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers should be inviolate? Is it a country where religion doesn't trump science? And, most important, is it a country whose president mobilizes its deep moral energies to unite us - instead of dividing us from one another and from the world?

Bush was able to construct a mandate by cobbling together votes from two groups, the evangelical and the fearful, in support of the greedy. Bush won majority votes of whites, married women, white born-again Christians, military families, and regular church goers. By contrast, Kerry was supported by single women, working women, blacks, youth, gays and lesbians and those who rarely or never attend religious services.



The foreign newspapers headlined it as "Divided States of America" and "Torn in the USA." Their editorial writers warned that the newly elected George W. Bush will use his mandate to consolidate his conservative and militaristic platform. The Guardian of London issued a two word editorial, "Oh God!"



Last month tax policy expert David Kay Johnston warned an audience in Minneapolis that twenty years from now the United States is in danger of being a "fascist theocracy," and predicted that, "it could happen sooner if George W. Bush is elected."



He may be right. The largest economy the world has ever known, with the mightiest military in the history of humankind, is now firmly under the control of a man who many voted for in the hopes that he would carry out a religious mandate.



The Times of India - Why George Bush won the poll: God, Gays and Guns



Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) - What We Call Peace is Little Better Than Capitulation To a Corporate Coup