Sleep at last

Slept really well last night. Is it possible that something like this only costs you a couple of nights sleep? Then had breakfast this morning with a former colleague. We worked together ten years ago. She's still at the old place and has done very well for herself. And she's very affirming. With my reputation and name recognition she can't imagine I'll have any difficulty. I hope she's right, and I wish I was quite so optimistic.

She's also the first one I've told outside of the organization and my immediate family. But now there's no time to waste, so I start sending e-mails and leaving voice mails for people around the country. Almost nobody is available live when you call them anymore, and it's a blessing. Those few I do manage to talk to are disbelieving and generally critical of my employer for making such a huge mistake. It feels very good.

Peering round the corner

It's odd how you react. I haven't been to Starbucks in two days. In fact, I haven't spent a penny since Monday afternoon. I'm turning the lights off because I can't be sure how long I'll be able to pay the electric bill and I'm thinking two meals a day is doable several days a week. I know, as a rational matter, that these are obsessive reactions, but I think it must be a feeling that at least I'm doing something.

The organization is pissing me off now. It's sure seems like this decision was impulsive. HR has nothing and no one can tell me anything about details like possible severance arrangements, timing of transfers, nothing. If you're going to mess with someone's life like this, you damned well ought to have the details worked out in advance.

Late yesterday I sent an e-mail to our department reiterating what I'd told them at the meeting. As in all organizations, this departmental e-mail has now been circulated far and wide. A few people are calling and e-mailing. It's very nice and affirming. What's awkward are the ones who don't know what to say when they see me. I've taken to just naming the situation and then they're okay talking to me. This must be something like what happens when you've gotten a diagnosis of cancer or something.

This afternoon I'll start calling and e-mailing people on the outside. Sometime pretty quick here I've got to start looking for a job, and there's no sense what-so-ever in keeping this thing a secret.

Done.

Well that wasn't as hard as I'd feared ... that is if you don't mind out-of-body experiences.

My managers and I met this morning and quickly concluded that there was no reason to delay the announcement. Word spreads fast in this organization and rumours would be all over the place by the afternoon. Although I think we all were hoping that if we waited there would be some better reason or explanation, it was better to go with what we know: I'm leaving in a few weeks, most of them are staying for now.

So, we convened the group, three locations, two on conference call, and I just said it: "I met with the new CEO yesterday afternoon and he informed me that my position is being eliminated. March 6th will be my last day with you. The new CEO told me that he has great confidence in the work of our department and will look forward to meeting you as a group sometime next month."

Everyone was great. Most were sad, but they all were quietly relived. I surprised myself at how unemotional I felt.

Telling them the truth

I am ... or was ... or will be for a few weeks still ... responsible for a division with about two dozen employees at our organization. As recently as last summer there were more than thirty but in two rounds of last fall and winter I had to lay-off about ten people.

As hard as that was, each time it was a struggle to keep morale and spirits up for those who were continuing in their jobs. There was no hiding the fear in their faces as they filed in for a hastily called meeting. And then the strange conflicting relief and sadness as they realized it wasn't them but it was their friend in the next cubicle.

"There's nothing to be gained by worrying about what might happen. It's beyond any of our control. The best advice I can give you is to do what I'm trying to do: spend your time doing things to make yourself more valuable to the organization," I'd tell them. "And even that might not be enough."

I didn't realize how true that last part was.

This morning I'll meet with my managers group and we'll figure out what we want to say. Then we'll convene another of those hastily called meetings. And they'll leave with conflciting feelings again.

One of 50,000 laid off this week

Today it happened. To me. I should have known something was up when the Monday afternoon executive team meeting was cancelled with no reason offfered. I only began to get mildly anxious when three of the six Senior VPs, including me, had meetings scheduled one-hour apart in the afternoon with the new CEO. But honestly, I didn't really believe it when the first SVP came into my office with the news, "He's going to sack all three of us, March 6th is my last day."

But he did. Just like that. "I've decided to go forward without you. March sixth will be your last day. Please see HR for the details and let me know when you have." He said other stuff too, but the funny thing is, just like they tell you in manager training, I didn't hear a thing after the first sentence.

So, I've got a lot to do in the next couple of days. But I think I'll try to use this space to keep some sort of running commentary as this new adventure unfolds.

First is my wife of 30+ years. "He's decided to eliminate my position." It seems so matter of fact. I'm so fortunate. I can't imagine what it would be like to go through this alone.

Next a series of phone calls to my "direct reports." They're disbelieving. We make a plan to meet first thing tomorrow morning and decide how to tell the rest of the staff.

The tease for the late news is something about the number of unemployed. Yesterday those headlines were more hypothetical.

Articles of Impeachment

Yesterday on the floor of the House of Representatives, Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced a 35-count impeachment resolution against President George W. Bush. The detailed indictment outlines a litany of high crimes and misdemeanors and shows why George W. Bush deserves to be impeached and removed from office for violating his oath of office and his Constitutional duty that the laws be "faithfully executed."

Kucinich's impeachment resolution comes after revelations contained in the Senate Intelligence Committee's report that confirmed, once and for all, (and with the vote of two Republican Senators), that President Bush lied the American people into war.

Big news, right?

Not according to this morning's newspaper where the front page featured: plans for a suburban minor league baseball stadium; flooding in Wisconsin; poisonous tomatoes (though no cases of illness have been reported ... yet); a continuing series on sexual offenders; and a little piece explaining that it stinks to live next to a cattle feedlot.

Nope. You had to go all the way to Russia to find coverage of the articles of impeachment against George Bush: U.S. congressman moves to impeach Bush - Novosti (Russian news Agency)

Who ya gonna trust?

The United States is holding hostage some $50 billion of Iraq’s money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. We've refused to even consider giving them their money until they agree to three conditions:

1) more than fifty permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq;
2) allow American forces to continue to carry out arrests of Iraqi citizens and conduct military campaigns without consultation with the Iraqi government; and,
3) guarantee legal immunity for American soldiers and contractors.

The Federal Reserve holds Iraq’s financial reserves as result of the international sanctions against Saddam Hussein.

What is more, U.S. negotiators are threatening to permanently remove tens of billions of dollars of Iraq’s money as settlement of outstanding court judgments dating back to the 1980s unless Iraq immediately accepts the highly controversial military deal.

U.S. holding Iraqi funds for security deal - U.P.I.

100% Disabled

John McCain is 100% disabled, according to the U.S. Navy, and collected a U.S. government disability pension of $58,358 (tax free) last year. He's drawn that pension for more than 30 years even though his net worth is in excess of $150 million.

Last week the Presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee voted against veterans' benefits legislation explaining that, because a college tuition benefit would be available after three years of service, the legislation would "encourage more people to leave the military after they have completed one enlistment... at a time when the United States military is fighting in two wars."

Of course none of that was front page news. Instead the big news was the Obama's fist pound, headlined on Fox News as "A terrorist fist jab."

We're all 100% disabled.

I wonder

Like the unfolding of one of those spy thriller novels, I can't help wonder what form it will take.

A plane crash? Dramatic and, initially at least, no one to blame for the sad tragedy. Of course there would be an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board that could drag on for years.

An assassination? What it lacks in subtlety it more than makes up in efficiency and effectiveness. And heaven knows the American people are all too willing to accept lone gunman cover stories.

What about a suicide bomber? Now there's a nice current events twist.

A crazed Islamofascist brings down the young, attractive, and energetic best remaining hope for change in America.

Then there would be a period of unrest, rioting in the streets all across the country.

Strong leadership would be required to restore order, to protect the citizens.

Indeed, the Bush administration's maneuvering to suspend posse comitatus and allow the deployment of military forces in the streets of American cities would seem down right prescient.

And the foresight to contract Halliburton to build detention centers around the country? Sheer brilliance.

But it's only a novel. Thank goodness it can't happen here.

The Power of Ownership

The system is broken. Most Americans understand it's broken. So let's quit wasting time and energy talking about whether or not it's broken. Instead let's get on with the important work of fixing what's broken.

Ah, but can the system be fixed? Are our pleas to those in power to "fix it" going to produce results?

"Please, Senators, could you create some better policies for the poor?"

"Congress, would you please try to create a little more balance between the rich and the poor?"

"Mr. President, sir, could you please stop sending our children to die in a pointless war and instead do something to get a few of our jobs back?"

Guess what. They're not going to do it. It really doesn't matter much whether it's a simple majority of Democrats, or a super majority, or total control. They aren't going to do it because they are a part of the problem. They're all beneficiaries of the way things are. John Edwards dared speak of "two Americas." As a consequence he was ignored and eventually run out of the race.

But even more importantly, even if by some miracle our elected officials did take bold action on these issues, it would not solve the problem. As important they are, the current issues framed by even the most progressive of our public officials are just bandaids.

We need to stop asking for bandaids after the wounds are inflicted. We need to stop being victims. We need to restore power to people. In order to do that we need to take power away from the corporations. The huge inequities of today will be repaired only when human beings make the decisions instead of those seeking only profits for the companies they run.

We need to purge our so democracy of every policy or law that gives more power to one citizen (or corporation) than any other citizen. What's wrong with America comes down to one real issue: Power.

Disowned by the Ownership Society - Naomi Klein

Poppin' Fresh

I wonder what the coverage would have been if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama had said something like this:

"When I was in college, we used to take a popcorn popper - because that was the only thing they would let us use in the dorm - and we would fry squirrels in a popcorn popper in the dorm room."

But instead it was Republican Presidential contender Mike Huckabee, and so there was hardly a mention.

Mike Huckabee plays up charm in S.C.

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

H.R. 1955 creates a government commission to investigate Americans who "adopt or promote an extremist belief system" for the purpose of "planning or threatening the use of force" in order to advance "political, religious or social change."

Sounds reasonable enough, huh? But wait. In other words, you don't actually have to commit a violent act or other crime. Merely thinking about committing a future crime, combined with an ideology that falls outside the mainstream, makes you a criminal under this law.

And this is scary: H.R. 1955 was introduced by California Democrat Jane Harman and promptly passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 404 to 6. Now it's off to the Senate where there is little opposition.

But have you seen any media coverage of this? Not a word. Search the Internet and you'll find only a few mentions on fringe web sites about H.R. 1955. And nobody is talking about this Orwellian thought crime law. Don't kid yourself, the commission created by H.R. 1955 will inevitably be tempted to exaggerate the extent of the homegrown terrorist threat in order to ensure increased funding, and its findings will be used to justify additional laws prohibiting Americans from engaging in whatever is determined to be "extremist" political dissent.

Don't take my word for it. Read the Library of Congress summary.

"The man who murdered Osam Bin Laden"

Watch how quickly this story gets buried over the course of the next few days:

Osama Bin Laden murdered? When did that happen?

In an interview last month with David Frost for the BBC, Benazir Bhutto named "Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama Bin Laden" as one of those conspiring to assassinate her. The interview is available (as of now) on YouTube. The statement is at about 6:10 in the 14:38 minute piece.

Osama Bin Laden murdered? If that's true, why in the world are we still in Iraq?

And hey, murdered by Omar Sheikh?

Isn't that the same guy convicted for murdering Daniel Pearle the Wall Street Journal reporter? And wasn't Pearle said to be investigating the case of Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, and links between Al Qaeda, the Pakistan intelligence agency (ISI), and our very own CIA?

Seems like front page news.

But other than Mike Malloy and a few others dwellers of the lunatic fringe, nobody's talking about this.

"Murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy." That's who President Bush said did this.

No doubt, he's right.

It's absolutely huge

Representative Michele Bachmann on her recent visit to Baghdad:



"It’s absolutely huge! I turned to my colleagues and said there's a commonality with the Mall of America, in that it's on that proportion. There's marble everywhere.

The other thing I remarked about was there is water everywhere. He had man-made lakes all around ... "

Without a single shot

I remember, a couple of years ago, when I came back from dinner with an economist fired of mine who'd scared the willies out of me talking about how easy it would be for the developing nations to launch an economic war on the US and how utterly defenseless we'd be. But my economist friend was an alarmist by nature and, after a few weeks, it was easy to dismiss his ravings about international currency exchange.

But now, this story: OPEC to Consider Non-Dollar Reserves (which, by the way, received little to no coverage by the mainstream media).

What if, let's just say, a couple of nations like, maybe, Iran and Venezuela for example, were feeling threatened by George Bush and the United States? What could they do? Launch a military attack on the US? Not likely. But they might be able to convince the OPEC oil ministers that "They get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper," in the form of US dollars.

And what would happen then if OPEC decides that henceforth it will only accept Euros in payment for oil. Probably nothing. In fact not a problem at all. Just as long as long as my employer also agrees to pay me in Euros instead of worthless pieces of paper.

But I'd still get paid in US Dollars, of course. And the US would be brought to its knees without a single shot fired.

Oh no! Not another story on global warming!

Last Saturday the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a Nobel Prize winning worldwide collaboration of the best earth scientists on the planet, released the culmination of their five-year study of causes, effects, and solutions for climate change.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of college football games on Saturday and the President had already decided to use his weekly radio address to attack various of his domestic enemies for moving too slowly to provide more funding for his war on Iraq and for having the audacity to try to restore some measure of progressivity to the U.S. tax system.

And so the IPCC report got buried on the back pages ... at least in America:

The fair and balanced folks at Fox news didn't cover the IPCC report at all, instead carrying an AP wire story letting its viewers know all they needed to know, that the liberal "
UN Panel Gives Dire Warming Forecast."

Meanwhile, here in what's left of America, that bastion of the liberal media, the New York Times, toned it down for domestic audiences, saying "U.N. Chief Seeks More Climate Change Leadership." (Curiously enough, the NY Times used the same colorful photo of the Greenland ice sheet breaking up as did the Herald Tribune.)

But this headline, "Alarming UN report on climate change is too rosy many say," in the International Herald Tribune (London), was fairly typical of the way in which the rest of the world heard the story.

The report itself is as clear a warning as can be:

1) global warming and the resulting climate change is a fact
2) the primary cause is carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels
3) conditions are getting worse even faster than we imagined
4) only if we start now is there a chance to save the planet

Justice can be black ... or white

Thank heavens they finally indicted Barry Bonds <black man> for lying to Federal prosecutors and a grand jury. It's about time! And, what is more, they released Bonds' trainer <white man> who had been jailed for refusing to testify against Bonds. Barry Bonds Indicted on Perjury, Obstruction Charges (San Jose Mercury News)

Perhaps now we can finally start indicting a few members of the Bush Crime Family <white men> for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Oh, wait! We already tried that, didn't we? And what happened? Yes, that's right, after he was tried and convicted of the same crimes of which Barry Bonds is now accused, Scooter Libby <white man> was pardoned by George W. Bush <white man>.

If convicted, do you suppose George W. Bush pardon the black man? Don't bet on it. Instead there will be a speech about role models and the importance of justice.

But all of this is probably missing point. Between the Bonds story and the pending trial of O.J. Simpson <another black man> there'll be little time for the mainstream media to focus on other news like the spiraling tragedy in Iraq, the meltdown of the credit markets, or the fact that the Bush administration appointed the brother of a Blackwater officer <white men> to investigate Blackwater's fraudulent dealings.

Ignorance is Strength

And now the Bush administration wants you to believe that although "anonymity" is a quaint and old fashioned idea, you can rest assured that your privacy will still be protected because the government and corporations will carefully guard all of your information.

"Too often, privacy has been equated with anonymity, but in our interconnected and wireless world, anonymity - or the appearance of anonymity - is quickly becoming a thing of the past," according to Donald Kerr, the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

If anonymity is no longer an option, then what? Well, according to Mr. Kerr we've got to "take into account national security concerns" first but, after that, we can all rest assured that we'll still have our privacy protected by government and corporations' strong commitment to keep citizens' personal information secure.

Oh. Good. So, not to worry that they are gathering all this information about me, I can count on them to never ever share it with anyone.

But then, I've got to wonder: If they'll never use this information for anything, then why collect it in the first place?

Oh. That's right. We've got to "take into account national security concerns."

Which gets us back to where we started, doesn't it? Someone somewhere is watching.

And it's probably coincidence that this week or next the Democratic controlled legislature is going to pass the Bush administration's bill granting Comcast, Verizon, and all the other telecommunications corporations complete immunity from legal liability for sending customers' private information to the government, thus putting an end to an unknown number of pending lawsuits accusing the companies of doing just that.

But I've nothing to worry about, right? I just need to keep these seditious questions from invading my mind.

Just keep chanting over and over again:

War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength

No More Turning Away

New York Times story House Fails to Override Child Health Bill Veto:

"Representative Pete Stark, the California Democrat who is chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, told Republicans: 'You don’t have money to fund the war or children. But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.' "

White House press briefing:

"We won this round on SCHIP. ... I actually think that -- maybe I'm just -- it's like Alice that's fallen down a rabbit hole, I see the world in a different way. I think Republicans who stayed with the President are actually going to be very protected because of their strong stand about sticking to the principle of, one, poor children first and making sure that we're not raising taxes and that we're not having a program that's supposed to be for poor children be used to expand to government-run health care. I think that that bodes well for Republicans. "

Pink Floyd:

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
Dont accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others suffering
Or youll find that you're joining in
The turning away

Its a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that were all alone
In the dream of the proud

On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
Its not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?

When the Revolution Comes

"When the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV with chicken hanging from our mouths ... Some might even die before the revolution comes"
--Abiodun Oyewole, 1970*

"I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."
--George W. Bush, 2007

* When the Revolution Comes
The Last Poets

When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes some of us will probably catch it on TV with
chicken hanging from our mouths
You'll know its revolution cause there won't be no commercials

When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Preacher pimps are gonna split the scene with the communion wine stuck in
their back pockets
Fagots wont be so funny then and all the junkies will quit their noddin and
wake up when the revolution comes

When the revolution comes
Transit cops will be crushed by the trains after losing their guns and
blood will run through the streets of Harlem drowning anything without substance
when the revolution comes

When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Our pearly white teeth froth the mouths that speak of revolution without
reverence
The cost of revolution is 360 degrees understand the cycle that never
ends
Understand the beginning to be the end and nothing is in between but space
and time that I make or you make to relate or not to relate to the world outside
my mind your mind
Speak not of revolution until you are ready to eat rats to survive

When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes guns and rifles will be taking the place of poems
and essays
Black cultural centers will forts supplying the revolutionaries
with food and arms when the revolution comes

When the revolution comes
White death will froth the walls of museums and churches breaking the lies
that enslaved our mothers when the revolution comes

When the revolution comes Jesus Christ is gonna be standing on the corner
of Lenox Ave and 125th St trying to catch the first gypsy cab out of Harlem when
the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
Jew merchants will give away matza balls and gifilta fish to anyone they
see with afros
Frank Shieffin will give away the Apollo to the first person he sees
wearing a blue dashiki when the revolution comes

When the revolution comes afros gone be trying to straightened their heads
and straighten heads gone be tryin to wear afros

When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
When the revolution comes
But until then you know and I know niggers will party and bullshit and
party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party and bullshit and
party...
Some might even die before the revolution comes

Bush Wants You -- in Jail

George W. Bush has proposed legislation that would give his administration the power to lock-up ordinary Americans in the prison at Guantanamo Bay and throw away the key. In draft legislation prepared in response to last month's Supreme Court decision against the use of military tribunals for US prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Bush proposes to extend the practice of indefinite detention and summary trial by military commissions to include ordinary American citizens.

The Washington Post reports, based on leaks from those with access to the draft, that the bill would legalize military tribunals as decreed by Bush in 2001, and, for the first time, make US citizens subject to such summary proceedings.

The tribunals, "courts" consisting of active-duty military personnel under orders of the President as Commander-in-Chief, would have the power to impose death sentences based on secret evidence and in proceedings from which the defendants could be excluded whenever military judges decided this was "necessary to protect national security."

This morning's front page of my daily news included stories on: the war on Lebanon, the continuing heat wave, a missing Alzheimer's patient, and the news that the local baseball team is switching radio stations after 40-odd years. Oddly, nowhere in the entire paper will you find the news that George Bush wants Donald Rumsfeld to be able to arrest and jail you and then convict you in secret.

White House Proposal Would Expand Authority of Military Courts - Washington Post

But did we at least have a good time doing it?

US National Debt by Presidential Term, Percentage of GDP,1976-2005

Honestly, I expect history will record my generation as the worst stewards since the Gilded Age. No vision, little thought, and, for chrissakes, no responsibility. My first political science professor, Keith Shirey (probably paraphrasing C. Wright Mill), used to say that American Conservatism is based on an "I got mine, up yours" philosophy. He was right. But that was then. Our generation has succeeded in making greed and selfishness into a national obsession.

Take just these three, juxtaposed in my morning's local paper:

"UnitedHealth Moves to Stop Exec Options" A local hero and "philanthropist" has decided that his company should stop awarding stock options, now that he's accumulated $1.5 billion worth of them. Of course he "added shareholder value," (while health care costs became a national embarrassment and crisis) and has given tens of millions to charity (nearly 1%!), so that's the end of it.

"Stadium debate also puts Dome's fate up in the air" The legislature is changing the state tax code so that the sales tax can be increased without a public vote in order to finance three new sports stadia to the tune of a billion dollars. Vikings, Twins, and Gophers will all get new while county social workers have to tell foster parents there's no money to help them care for crack babies.

And, finally, "Editorial: Tobacco fee ruling is needed very soon" Timmy the Boy Governor signed a "no new taxes" pledge and so insisted that we call the new $0.75/pack cigarette tax a "health impact fee" rather than a tax. Big Tobacco (who had previously paid the state billions of dollars (which Timmy spent in his first term in order to avoid raising taxes)) said, "Whoa! We've got a settlement that says that MN will never charge a fee to offset the impact of our product." And, of course, BT is right. They've already won in the lower courts and will again, putting a $400MM/year hole in the state's budget. But not to worry, Timmy is running for VP.

Like Van Morrison, each morning I get my daily brief and stare out at the world in complete disbelief. It's not righteous indignation that makes me complain, it's the fact that I always have to explain.

Do you think it's possible to hide from one's own children? Sooner or later they're going to tire of my playful demeanor and old jokes. First they'll humor me, but when they figure out what a mess I've made--and that it's all going to be left for them to clean up--they'll turn on me for sure.

The Sting

His Government charged him with money laundering -- acting as a conduit for cash sent to terrorists that had attacked his country. As far as he knew, the charges cwere the result of a sting operation involving agents of his Government who pretended to be interested in sending money to terrorists.

Believing in his constitutional right to confront his accusers and review the evidence against him, and assuming that he would be afforded the opportunity for a fair trial, he hired a good lawyer to defend himself in his Government's Federal Courts.

Upon reading a story in the New York Times suggesting that his Government's case was based upon evidence obtained illegally by eavesdropping on his telephone calls, his lawyer asked the his Government's Federal Court to dismiss the charges if his Government had acted illegally.

And then things got really weird.

First his Government held a secret meeting with the Judge of his Government's Federal Court. His Government had evidence, it said, that had to be kept secret in order to protect the people from terrorists. Neither he nor his lawyer were allowed to attend the meeting between his Government and the Federal Judge, and they were prohibited from ever seeing the evidence his Government said it had.

As a result of the evidence that only his Government and the Federal Judge knew about, his motion to dismiss his Government's charges against him was denied and the Federal Judge ordered the trial to go forward. But even the order of the Federal Judge was sealed, preventing the man and his lawyer from ever knowing the reasons why the Federal Judge and his Government denied his request.

Is this America?

Judge Won't Drop Charges in Mosque Sting -- New York Times

Thoughtcrimes

In a crackdown "not seen since the Nixon years," the White House aggressively moves to prosecute journalists. (Nevermind that this is the same administration that exposed a CIA covert agent for its own purposes. They have no sense of irony at all.) The Bush Justice department dispatches agents all over the country to apprehend reporters and journalists suspected of, in Bush's words, "helping the enemy."

Meanwhile, thousands of Federal Court cases are kept secret. The number of Federal cases sealed by the Bush administration has doubled in the last two years. Secret indictments. Secret trials. Secret plea bargains and verdict. And when a journalist asks about the Bush Secret Courts the answer is, "It's a matter of nation security. What's your name."

In 1948 George Orwell wrote what some say was a commentary on post World War II Europe and others say was a remarkably prescient bit of science fiction:

He had committed -- would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper -- the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.

It was always at night -- the arrests invariably happened at night. The sudden jerk out of sleep, the rough hand shaking your shoulder, the lights glaring in your eyes, the ring of hard faces round the bed. In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of the arrest. People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word.

1984, Chapter One

Thank goodness Orwell wasn't writing about the United States in 2006, right? Certainly we're a country that loves freedom far too much to allow something like that to ever happen, right?

Be very... thoughtful... in how you answer.

White House Trains Efforts on Media Leaks
Sources, Reporters Could Be Prosecuted - Washington Post

Thousands of federal defendants' cases kept secret - Grand Forks Herald

Religious Totalitarianism

Tony Blair joins George W. Bush in proclaiming that god told him to invade Iraq.

Violence continues weeks after it became widely known that a Danish newspaper solicited and then published cartoons blasphemous to another's god.

And then twelve internationally renown writers and intellectuals publish a manifesto calling for the rejection of "Islamist Totalitarianism."

At the risk of offending the international intelligentsia, the authors of the manifesto got it only about half right. We stand today at the brink of worldwide crisis brought on by a totalitarian movement, but it is religious totalitarianism of all sorts, not just Islamic totalitarianism, that threatens civilization.

And so, acknowledging the efforts of the wise men who wrote the manifesto and with apologies for presumptuousness, here follows an improved version:

Manifesto: Together facing the new totalitarianism

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: religious totalitarianism.

We, the free-thinking people of the planet earth, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, triggered by the Bush/Blair religious war on Iraq and exacerbated by the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilizations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, religious totalitarianism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. All religious totalitarianism, whether Islamist or Christian, is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man's domination of woman, the religious totalitarian's domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject cultural relativism, which consists in accepting that men and women of a particular religious culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of being "god-less," an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

Blair: 'God will be my judge on Iraq' - Independent (UK)

A Manifesto Against the New Totalitarianism - Jyllands-Posten (Denmark)