DECEMBER 31, 2004
MAYBE THIS IS POETIC JUSTICE
Corporations love to support Republicans and George W. Bush. But it appears the bad karma may be catching up. Anti-Americanism is on the rise around the world, and it's beginning to hurt business. This story is from news.yahoo.com:
The Bush administration's foreign policy may be costing U.S. corporations business overseas--according to a new survey of 8,000 international consumers released this week by the Seattle-based Global Market Insite (GMI) Inc.
Brands closely identified with the U.S., such as Marlboro cigarettes, America Online (AOL), McDonald's, American Airlines, and Exxon-Mobil are particularly at risk. GMI, an independent market research company, conducted the survey in eight countries December 10-12 with consumers over the internet.
SOME PEOPLE ARE TRULY DISGUSTING
After the death and devastation caused by the tsunamis, some tourists in Thailand apparently felt it was time to go on with tourism as usual. They donned bathing suits, broke out the beach towels, and basked in the sun, ignoring the sorrow all around them. There are times it's hard to be proud of being a member of the human race. This story is at www.nydailynews.com:
While volunteers struggled to collect bodies washing up on the once-pristine beaches of this upscale resort isle, ghoulish tourists rolled out their towels yesterday, doffed their bikini tops and vacationed like nothing had happened.
On Patong Beach and Kata Beach - where hundreds died or disappeared four days ago - the smell of suntan lotion wafted from the shore as a new influx of tourists determinedly ignored the carnage around them, frolicking in the surf or reading under umbrellas.
An indignant Russian who arrived at the Novotel Phuket Resort on the day after the tsunami loudly complained that there was no champagne reception.
CLARENCE THOMAS IS UNWORTHY TO BE ON SUPREME COURT
I never thought Clarence Thomas belonged on the Supreme Court. During his confirmation hearings it was disclosed that Thomas acted highly inappropriately with Anita Hill, but Anita Hill became the villain and Thomas complained about a "high tech lynching." The guy isn't intellectually or morally qualified to be on the Court. He has been nothing but a lapdog for Antonin Scalia since he was confirmed. Now comes the news that Justice Thomas has been offered and has accepted some pretty pricey gifts, some from people appearing before the Court. We know that both Thomas and Scalia were guilty of massive conflict of interest when they didn't recuse themselves in the Gore v. Bush decision in 2000, and the conflict of interest just goes on. These guys should be impeached. This story is at www.boston.com:
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts since joining the Supreme Court, from $1,200 worth of tires to valuable historical items and a $5,000 personal check to help pay a relative's education expenses.
The gifts included a Bible once owned by the 19th-century author and abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass, which Thomas valued at $19,000, and a bust of President Lincoln valued at $15,000.
BRIEF YEAR IN REVIEW
The end of year media tradition is to do a year in review. I don't intend to get into the celebrity deaths and the other pablum the media dishes up. We know that democracy, justice, and decency took backward steps in 2004. George W. Bush probably got back into the White House by nefarious means. We know without a doubt there was no justification for the war against Iraq, but hundreds of thousands have died or been maimed. We know the earth's ecosystem is in jeopardy and it's time to acknowledge the reality of global climate change, and time to do something about it. We've seen the disturbing resurgence of religious fundamentalism in all the major religions. Religious fundamentalism with its uncompromising, superstitious, bigoted, and fanatical view of the world is a danger to all humanity. The human race has faced dark times before, so let us not yield to despair, but resolve to fight on the way great people in the past fought on and ultimately prevailed.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
DECEMBER 30, 2004
BUSH IS MISERLY IN GIVING AID TO TSUNAMI VICTIMS
George W. Bush and Colin Powell didn't like being described as "stingy" in their response to providing aid to the victims of the tsunami tragedy. But, as The New York Times points out, the initial pledge of $15 million was less than half of what is being spent on Bush's coronation on January 20. This editorial is at www.nytimes.com:
We beg to differ. Mr. Egeland was right on target. We hope Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when, two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate, he held a press conference to say that America, the world's richest nation, would contribute $15 million. That's less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities.
THE HYPROCRISY OF U.S. MEDIA
One article on the Internet described the escalating death figures from the tsunami as a kind of pornography. I don't know why over 100,000 deaths are more appalling than 50,000 deaths, or 50,000 deaths more appalling than 20,000 deaths. It isn't the numbers that should be important; it's an incredible tragedy regardless of the numbers. What is almost incomprehensible now is our inadequate way of dealing with disasters like this. We're in the 21st century. We should be so much farther along in our social evolution than we are. That, in part, is what this article is about. It talks about how the major media in the U.S. haven't been so quick to point out the death toll in Iraq. If numbers are as important as we've seen the past few days, then 100,000 innocents killed in Iraq should be important. This article is at www.commondreams. org:
The US corporate media has published Pentagon statements on civilian deaths in Iraq as unknown and dismissed the Lancet Medical Journal study. It seems US media concerns are for victims of natural disasters, while the man-made disasters, such as the deliberate invasion of another country by the US, are better left unreported.
FINANCIAL MARKETS GLAD DISASTER HAPPENED IN POOR COUNTRIES
There are many things humans can't control. There are natural laws of physics, for instance. But markets are man-made. The markets have just kept rolling along, though, totally indifferent to the tragedy in the Indian Ocean. The writer of this article points out that because the tragedy occurred in poor countries the economic impact doesn't have much effect on the "markets." So they go merrily on. This article is also at www.commondreams.org:
Finally, the sad truth is that the affected countries aren't rich. They don't have a huge command over the world's economic resources. Even if everyone can see the human tragedy, financial markets can tell relatively quickly that, apart from those most directly affected, there is not going to be a major economic tragedy. It's almost as if investors have said: "Thank God it wasn't New York or London".
BUSH IS MISERLY IN GIVING AID TO TSUNAMI VICTIMS
George W. Bush and Colin Powell didn't like being described as "stingy" in their response to providing aid to the victims of the tsunami tragedy. But, as The New York Times points out, the initial pledge of $15 million was less than half of what is being spent on Bush's coronation on January 20. This editorial is at www.nytimes.com:
We beg to differ. Mr. Egeland was right on target. We hope Secretary of State Colin Powell was privately embarrassed when, two days into a catastrophic disaster that hit 12 of the world's poorer countries and will cost billions of dollars to meliorate, he held a press conference to say that America, the world's richest nation, would contribute $15 million. That's less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities.
THE HYPROCRISY OF U.S. MEDIA
One article on the Internet described the escalating death figures from the tsunami as a kind of pornography. I don't know why over 100,000 deaths are more appalling than 50,000 deaths, or 50,000 deaths more appalling than 20,000 deaths. It isn't the numbers that should be important; it's an incredible tragedy regardless of the numbers. What is almost incomprehensible now is our inadequate way of dealing with disasters like this. We're in the 21st century. We should be so much farther along in our social evolution than we are. That, in part, is what this article is about. It talks about how the major media in the U.S. haven't been so quick to point out the death toll in Iraq. If numbers are as important as we've seen the past few days, then 100,000 innocents killed in Iraq should be important. This article is at www.commondreams. org:
The US corporate media has published Pentagon statements on civilian deaths in Iraq as unknown and dismissed the Lancet Medical Journal study. It seems US media concerns are for victims of natural disasters, while the man-made disasters, such as the deliberate invasion of another country by the US, are better left unreported.
FINANCIAL MARKETS GLAD DISASTER HAPPENED IN POOR COUNTRIES
There are many things humans can't control. There are natural laws of physics, for instance. But markets are man-made. The markets have just kept rolling along, though, totally indifferent to the tragedy in the Indian Ocean. The writer of this article points out that because the tragedy occurred in poor countries the economic impact doesn't have much effect on the "markets." So they go merrily on. This article is also at www.commondreams.org:
Finally, the sad truth is that the affected countries aren't rich. They don't have a huge command over the world's economic resources. Even if everyone can see the human tragedy, financial markets can tell relatively quickly that, apart from those most directly affected, there is not going to be a major economic tragedy. It's almost as if investors have said: "Thank God it wasn't New York or London".
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
DECEMBER 29, 2004
BUSH IS REALLY SOME CHRISTIAN
One of the worst humanitarian disasters in human history is unfolding in the Indian Ocean region as a result of the massive tsunami. Estimates indicate that as many as 50,000 (and counting) people may already be dead. Where is that great Christian, George W. Bush? He's "vacationing" on his "ranch," we're told, and the offers of aid to the people affected by this catastrophe are niggardly at best. This story is at www.washingtonpost.com:
The Bush administration more than doubled its financial commitment yesterday to provide relief to nations suffering from the Indian Ocean tsunami, amid complaints that the vacationing President Bush has been insensitive to a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.
As the death toll surpassed 50,000 with no sign of abating, the U.S. Agency for International Development added $20 million to an earlier pledge of $15 million to provide relief, and the Pentagon dispatched an aircraft carrier and other military assets to the region. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in morning television appearances, chafed at a top U.N. aid official's comment on Monday that wealthy countries were being stingy with aid. "The United States is not stingy," Powell said on CNN.
INSURANCE COMPANIES NOT HIT HARD BY TSUNAMI
It just warms the cockles of your heart that global insurance companies aren't being hit hard by the devastating tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Somehow it strikes me as gauche to worry about paying insurance claims, or escaping paying insurance claims, when there is so much death and misery. This story is from seattletimes.nwsource.com:
Losses for the global insurance industry from the devastating earthquake and tsunami waves in Southeast Asia are likely to be sharply below claims from the hurricanes in Florida earlier this year, as the regions hit over the weekend are generally underinsured, analysts said yesterday.
SAN FRANCISCO COULD BE HIT BY TSUNAMI
As if there's not enough to worry about, now we learn that San Francisco could also be hit by a tsunami, and residents in parts of San Francisco would have just minutes to flee. Wouldn't developing a warning system for tsunamis be a better way to spend money than, say, Star Wars? This story is at www.sfgate.com:
California faces a serious threat from the sort of tsunami that devastated South Asia, a top state emergency official says, and residents on the west side of San Francisco could have only minutes to flee a potential disaster even though a new warning system will be installed by next month.
BUSH IS REALLY SOME CHRISTIAN
One of the worst humanitarian disasters in human history is unfolding in the Indian Ocean region as a result of the massive tsunami. Estimates indicate that as many as 50,000 (and counting) people may already be dead. Where is that great Christian, George W. Bush? He's "vacationing" on his "ranch," we're told, and the offers of aid to the people affected by this catastrophe are niggardly at best. This story is at www.washingtonpost.com:
The Bush administration more than doubled its financial commitment yesterday to provide relief to nations suffering from the Indian Ocean tsunami, amid complaints that the vacationing President Bush has been insensitive to a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.
As the death toll surpassed 50,000 with no sign of abating, the U.S. Agency for International Development added $20 million to an earlier pledge of $15 million to provide relief, and the Pentagon dispatched an aircraft carrier and other military assets to the region. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in morning television appearances, chafed at a top U.N. aid official's comment on Monday that wealthy countries were being stingy with aid. "The United States is not stingy," Powell said on CNN.
INSURANCE COMPANIES NOT HIT HARD BY TSUNAMI
It just warms the cockles of your heart that global insurance companies aren't being hit hard by the devastating tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Somehow it strikes me as gauche to worry about paying insurance claims, or escaping paying insurance claims, when there is so much death and misery. This story is from seattletimes.nwsource.com:
Losses for the global insurance industry from the devastating earthquake and tsunami waves in Southeast Asia are likely to be sharply below claims from the hurricanes in Florida earlier this year, as the regions hit over the weekend are generally underinsured, analysts said yesterday.
SAN FRANCISCO COULD BE HIT BY TSUNAMI
As if there's not enough to worry about, now we learn that San Francisco could also be hit by a tsunami, and residents in parts of San Francisco would have just minutes to flee. Wouldn't developing a warning system for tsunamis be a better way to spend money than, say, Star Wars? This story is at www.sfgate.com:
California faces a serious threat from the sort of tsunami that devastated South Asia, a top state emergency official says, and residents on the west side of San Francisco could have only minutes to flee a potential disaster even though a new warning system will be installed by next month.
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
DECEMBER 28, 2004
WORD OF THE DAY: "RENDITION"
"Rendition" is the word being used to describe the transport of hooded and handcuffed prisoners from the United States for interrogation and detention in other countries. It's such a vague word, isn't it, when you consider the "interrogation" is probably torture. The story about another new low for the Bush administration is at www.washingtonpost.com:
The airplane is a Gulfstream V turbojet, the sort favored by CEOs and celebrities. But since 2001 it has been seen at military airports from Pakistan to Indonesia to Jordan, sometimes being boarded by hooded and handcuffed passengers.
The plane's owner of record, Premier Executive Transport Services Inc., lists directors and officers who appear to exist only on paper. And each one of those directors and officers has a recently issued Social Security number and an address consisting only of a post office box, according to an extensive search of state, federal and commercial records.
LIBRARIES CLOSE IN STEINBECK'S HOME TOWN
In the age of "no child left behind" centers of knowledge like universities and libraries are becoming more and more inaccessible for many of us. John Steinbeck is one of my favorite writers, one of the best American writers, and the libraries in his hometown of Salinas, California, are closing for lack of funding. The story by Rachel Konrad is at seattlepi.nwsource.com:
Mary Jean Gamble organized the John Steinbeck historical archives, supervised the Steinbeck literature collection and ranks as an authority on Salinas history and genealogy.
After nearly 23 years with the Salinas Public Library, she may know more about the "Grapes of Wrath" or "Cannery Row" than anyone else in the author's hometown.
So how would Steinbeck have reacted to the news that the cash-strapped city is closing its libraries in the spring?
"He'd obviously be upset. He knew that literature can lift and elevate the spirit and enable humans to rise above any situation," Gamble said. "He probably even read some of the great literature at the Salinas library."
CONSERVATIVE PROPAGANDA AGAINST LIBERAL EDUCATION
In this article Dr. Teresa Whitehurst talks about a conversation she overheard at a Starbucks between two college students. The two students were apparently going to a religious school and were horrified at the idea of getting exposed to "liberal" ideas. Exposure to such ideas, they feared, would cause them to lose their "values." It's almost surreal. The article is at www.commondreams.org:
I found it hard to concentrate after that, my mind returning again and again to one question: "What would happen to higher education in America if this fear of "too much education", and this presumption that liberal views are the devil's snare rather than the logical consequences of exposure to science, philosophy, literature and diversity, became widespread?"
WORD OF THE DAY: "RENDITION"
"Rendition" is the word being used to describe the transport of hooded and handcuffed prisoners from the United States for interrogation and detention in other countries. It's such a vague word, isn't it, when you consider the "interrogation" is probably torture. The story about another new low for the Bush administration is at www.washingtonpost.com:
The airplane is a Gulfstream V turbojet, the sort favored by CEOs and celebrities. But since 2001 it has been seen at military airports from Pakistan to Indonesia to Jordan, sometimes being boarded by hooded and handcuffed passengers.
The plane's owner of record, Premier Executive Transport Services Inc., lists directors and officers who appear to exist only on paper. And each one of those directors and officers has a recently issued Social Security number and an address consisting only of a post office box, according to an extensive search of state, federal and commercial records.
LIBRARIES CLOSE IN STEINBECK'S HOME TOWN
In the age of "no child left behind" centers of knowledge like universities and libraries are becoming more and more inaccessible for many of us. John Steinbeck is one of my favorite writers, one of the best American writers, and the libraries in his hometown of Salinas, California, are closing for lack of funding. The story by Rachel Konrad is at seattlepi.nwsource.com:
Mary Jean Gamble organized the John Steinbeck historical archives, supervised the Steinbeck literature collection and ranks as an authority on Salinas history and genealogy.
After nearly 23 years with the Salinas Public Library, she may know more about the "Grapes of Wrath" or "Cannery Row" than anyone else in the author's hometown.
So how would Steinbeck have reacted to the news that the cash-strapped city is closing its libraries in the spring?
"He'd obviously be upset. He knew that literature can lift and elevate the spirit and enable humans to rise above any situation," Gamble said. "He probably even read some of the great literature at the Salinas library."
CONSERVATIVE PROPAGANDA AGAINST LIBERAL EDUCATION
In this article Dr. Teresa Whitehurst talks about a conversation she overheard at a Starbucks between two college students. The two students were apparently going to a religious school and were horrified at the idea of getting exposed to "liberal" ideas. Exposure to such ideas, they feared, would cause them to lose their "values." It's almost surreal. The article is at www.commondreams.org:
I found it hard to concentrate after that, my mind returning again and again to one question: "What would happen to higher education in America if this fear of "too much education", and this presumption that liberal views are the devil's snare rather than the logical consequences of exposure to science, philosophy, literature and diversity, became widespread?"
Monday, December 27, 2004
DECEMBER 27, 2004
STRANGE RATIONALE FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION
Republican David Drier says African-Americans should welcome Social Security privatization because of their "shortened lifespans." There's more of that logical, concise, and compassionate conservative "thought." This item is from www.crooksandliars.com:
Dreier: African American's are..would be the greatest beneficiaries of this as they would be able with a shortened life span, they would be able to pass this on....
Rangel: So we die earlier we should invest....
It's nice to see how republicans are looking out for African American's shortened life span.
WONDER IF BUSH CAN SEE INSIDE PUTIN'S SOUL NOW?
One time, many ludicrous statements ago, George W. Bush said he could see inside Vladmir Putin's soul. Now Putin is becoming increasingly critical of the Bush administration. The story is at www.smh.com.au:
Moscow: The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, used a year-end news conference to sharply criticise a range of US actions and attitudes on Ukraine, Chechnya, the Yukos oil company and democracy within Russia.
Mr Putin stressed good relations with the US but questioned the US and European position on the Ukraine presidential elections, where the Russian-backed candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, had been declared the winner. Ukraine's Supreme Court invalidated the result and a new election began yesterday.
THE BURGEONING PRISON POPULATION
Conservatives like to beat their chests and proudly proclaim that we're the greatest country on earth and we believe in freedom. That makes you wonder why we have the largest percentage of our population in prison of any country on the face of the earth. This story by Paul Craig Roberts is at www.counterpunch.org:
While enjoying Christmas, good food and drink with family and friends in the warmth and comfort of your home, take a moment to remember the falsely imprisoned. Think about how your own family would handle the grief, because wrongful imprisonment can happen to you.
In a just published book, "Thinking About Crime," Michael Tonry, a distinguished American law professor and director of Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology, reports that the US has the highest percentage of its population in prison than any country on earth. The US incarceration rate is as much as 12 times higher than that of European countries.
SOCIAL SECURITY CAN OUTPERFORM PRIVATE INVESTMENTS
Part of the snake oil being offered by George W. Bush is that private investments will provide a greater return than Social Security. The Christian Science Monitor has at least one instance where that isn't true, and you suspect the Bush plan is largely flim-flam. This story by David R Francis is at www.csmonitor.com:
At the heart of President Bush's plan to sell Social Security private accounts is a simple notion: You're always better off investing your retirement money than letting the government do it.
By doing it yourself, you can stow some money in the stock market, and over the long run will get a better return on that investment than today's Social Security system offers.
BUSH GOES AFTER MIDDLE CLASS AND LOW INCOME PEOPLE AGAIN
To help keep his tax cuts for the rich, George W. Bush is looking to raise money by taking away the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes for people in New York. Taking away this deduction will hurt middle class and poor people the most. I'm glad Bush has his priorities straight. This story is from www.nytimes.com:
As the Bush administration looks to revamp the tax code, New York officials say they are particularly worried about one idea being considered: eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes.
If the president pursues this plan, New York State would lose about $37 billion per year in federal tax deductions, more than almost any other state, according to Internal Revenue Service data. The change would affect about 3.2 million households in New York, three-quarters of which are middle- and low-income, tax records indicate.
STRANGE RATIONALE FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION
Republican David Drier says African-Americans should welcome Social Security privatization because of their "shortened lifespans." There's more of that logical, concise, and compassionate conservative "thought." This item is from www.crooksandliars.com:
Dreier: African American's are..would be the greatest beneficiaries of this as they would be able with a shortened life span, they would be able to pass this on....
Rangel: So we die earlier we should invest....
It's nice to see how republicans are looking out for African American's shortened life span.
WONDER IF BUSH CAN SEE INSIDE PUTIN'S SOUL NOW?
One time, many ludicrous statements ago, George W. Bush said he could see inside Vladmir Putin's soul. Now Putin is becoming increasingly critical of the Bush administration. The story is at www.smh.com.au:
Moscow: The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, used a year-end news conference to sharply criticise a range of US actions and attitudes on Ukraine, Chechnya, the Yukos oil company and democracy within Russia.
Mr Putin stressed good relations with the US but questioned the US and European position on the Ukraine presidential elections, where the Russian-backed candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, had been declared the winner. Ukraine's Supreme Court invalidated the result and a new election began yesterday.
THE BURGEONING PRISON POPULATION
Conservatives like to beat their chests and proudly proclaim that we're the greatest country on earth and we believe in freedom. That makes you wonder why we have the largest percentage of our population in prison of any country on the face of the earth. This story by Paul Craig Roberts is at www.counterpunch.org:
While enjoying Christmas, good food and drink with family and friends in the warmth and comfort of your home, take a moment to remember the falsely imprisoned. Think about how your own family would handle the grief, because wrongful imprisonment can happen to you.
In a just published book, "Thinking About Crime," Michael Tonry, a distinguished American law professor and director of Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology, reports that the US has the highest percentage of its population in prison than any country on earth. The US incarceration rate is as much as 12 times higher than that of European countries.
SOCIAL SECURITY CAN OUTPERFORM PRIVATE INVESTMENTS
Part of the snake oil being offered by George W. Bush is that private investments will provide a greater return than Social Security. The Christian Science Monitor has at least one instance where that isn't true, and you suspect the Bush plan is largely flim-flam. This story by David R Francis is at www.csmonitor.com:
At the heart of President Bush's plan to sell Social Security private accounts is a simple notion: You're always better off investing your retirement money than letting the government do it.
By doing it yourself, you can stow some money in the stock market, and over the long run will get a better return on that investment than today's Social Security system offers.
BUSH GOES AFTER MIDDLE CLASS AND LOW INCOME PEOPLE AGAIN
To help keep his tax cuts for the rich, George W. Bush is looking to raise money by taking away the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes for people in New York. Taking away this deduction will hurt middle class and poor people the most. I'm glad Bush has his priorities straight. This story is from www.nytimes.com:
As the Bush administration looks to revamp the tax code, New York officials say they are particularly worried about one idea being considered: eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes.
If the president pursues this plan, New York State would lose about $37 billion per year in federal tax deductions, more than almost any other state, according to Internal Revenue Service data. The change would affect about 3.2 million households in New York, three-quarters of which are middle- and low-income, tax records indicate.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
DECEMBER 26, 2004
EASY, STOMACH
One of my all time favorite lines came from the cartoon character Daffy Duck. Daffy, who was intensely jealous of Bugs Bunny, is watching Bugs get an award. After hearing the praise for Bugs, Daffy says, "Easy, stomach." It is a summation of hearing something incredibly nauseating. Which brings us to George W. Bush. Mr. Bush in his radio address on Christmas day called for "compassion." This is a guy responsible for countless deaths, homelessness, poverty, torture, maiming, and environmental destruction. How dare he call for compassion. This article from the Associated Press is at www.fresnobee.com:
President Bush on Saturday urged Americans to help the neediest among them by volunteering to care for the sick, the elderly and the poor in a Christmas day call for compassion.
"Many of our fellow Americans still suffer from the effects of illness or poverty, others fight cruel addictions, or cope with division in their families, or grieve the loss of a loved one," he said in his weekly radio address.
SOME OF THE WORST EMPLOYERS
This list of bad employers is limited. I know from personal experience there are employers who belong on this list. But it's an interesting start. The list is at http://www.jwj.org/Grinch/2004Vote.htm:
Wal-Mart is the largest private in employer in the United States. Wal-Mart makes billions in profits while Wal-Mart employees, most of whom are not permitted to work full-time, typically gross less than $11,000 per year. Low wages and high healthcare costs mean most employees are forced to go without insurance. Wal-Mart stores throughout the country maintain an outdated culture which fosters discrimination against women, people with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals. Intimidation, coercion, worker firing, and threats poison the union election process in Wal-Marts nationwide. One-on-one intimidation sessions and forced anti-union meetings are just a few of the tactics that have been employed by their squadron of union-busters to thwart efforts to organize Wal-Mart workers. Because of their frequent violations of workers' rights, Wal-Mart faces lawsuits in almost half the states in the country.
BRAZEN CORPORATE GIVEAWAY IN CALIFORNIA
There's an old saying that there's no free lunch. That's not true, apparently, if you're a corporation in California that didn't pay any income tax. You're still entitled to a refund according to bureaucrats in Sacramento. This story is at www.latimes.com:
A small group of companies that paid no California income tax has begun receiving millions of dollars in refunds after a powerful state board ignored its staff and ordered the checks issued.
The move has outraged critics, who call it an $82-million corporate giveaway at a time when the state has no money to spare. The dispute has revived calls from some to abolish the agency that issued the ruling: the state's five-member Board of Equalization.
IRAQ WAR IS DIFFERENT: PARENTS ARE DYING
As this article points out, most of the military deaths in Vietnam were of single men. Iraq is different. Many of the dead leave behind children. It's just one more despicable result of George Bush's war. This article is at fairuse.1accesshost.com:
I don't want to be a daddy because daddies die," said Jack Shanaberger, age four, following the death in Iraq of his father, Staff Sergeant Wentz "Baron" Shanaberger, a military policeman from Louisiana. With his four brothers and sisters, Jack is among the nearly 900 American children who have lost a parent in Iraq. According to experts cited by Lisa Hoffman and Annette Rainville in a moving story for the Scripps Howard News Service, "The proportionally higher number of American children left bereaved by the Iraq war is unprecedented." Past U.S. wars were mainly fought by single men, but 40 percent of the 1,256 GIs killed in Iraq as of November were married, and 459, including six women, had children. Shana Corey tells her children that while "[you] might forget what your daddy looks like ... [you should] always remember his hugs, always remember his kisses, always remember his love." They have felt their father's touch. Not so the children of the forty men who died while their wives were pregnant.
NEOCON ECONOMICS CLOBBERING IRAQ
If you need to see the results of neocon economics, George Bush style economics, look at Iraq. The neocons have used Iraq as a kind of laboratory to test out their whacked out ideas, and the results have been disastrous. The story is at www.truthout.org:
It would be bad enough if the coalition had simply done nothing to reflate and re-energize the Iraqi economy. Incredibly, the truth is even worse: they have imposed on Iraq a program of ultra-neoliberal reforms that have brought economic collapse to every country they have been inflicted upon. Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel prize-winning economist and dissident former chief economist at the World Bank, describes the economic policies of the coalition as "a proven and predictable catastrophe". They imposed a form of capitalism more extreme than anything tried in a democratic country: immediate privatization of almost all services (without any debate), non-competitive contracts, and a 15 per cent flat tax. This is not democracy. It is market fundamentalism.
EASY, STOMACH
One of my all time favorite lines came from the cartoon character Daffy Duck. Daffy, who was intensely jealous of Bugs Bunny, is watching Bugs get an award. After hearing the praise for Bugs, Daffy says, "Easy, stomach." It is a summation of hearing something incredibly nauseating. Which brings us to George W. Bush. Mr. Bush in his radio address on Christmas day called for "compassion." This is a guy responsible for countless deaths, homelessness, poverty, torture, maiming, and environmental destruction. How dare he call for compassion. This article from the Associated Press is at www.fresnobee.com:
President Bush on Saturday urged Americans to help the neediest among them by volunteering to care for the sick, the elderly and the poor in a Christmas day call for compassion.
"Many of our fellow Americans still suffer from the effects of illness or poverty, others fight cruel addictions, or cope with division in their families, or grieve the loss of a loved one," he said in his weekly radio address.
SOME OF THE WORST EMPLOYERS
This list of bad employers is limited. I know from personal experience there are employers who belong on this list. But it's an interesting start. The list is at http://www.jwj.org/Grinch/2004Vote.htm:
Wal-Mart is the largest private in employer in the United States. Wal-Mart makes billions in profits while Wal-Mart employees, most of whom are not permitted to work full-time, typically gross less than $11,000 per year. Low wages and high healthcare costs mean most employees are forced to go without insurance. Wal-Mart stores throughout the country maintain an outdated culture which fosters discrimination against women, people with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals. Intimidation, coercion, worker firing, and threats poison the union election process in Wal-Marts nationwide. One-on-one intimidation sessions and forced anti-union meetings are just a few of the tactics that have been employed by their squadron of union-busters to thwart efforts to organize Wal-Mart workers. Because of their frequent violations of workers' rights, Wal-Mart faces lawsuits in almost half the states in the country.
BRAZEN CORPORATE GIVEAWAY IN CALIFORNIA
There's an old saying that there's no free lunch. That's not true, apparently, if you're a corporation in California that didn't pay any income tax. You're still entitled to a refund according to bureaucrats in Sacramento. This story is at www.latimes.com:
A small group of companies that paid no California income tax has begun receiving millions of dollars in refunds after a powerful state board ignored its staff and ordered the checks issued.
The move has outraged critics, who call it an $82-million corporate giveaway at a time when the state has no money to spare. The dispute has revived calls from some to abolish the agency that issued the ruling: the state's five-member Board of Equalization.
IRAQ WAR IS DIFFERENT: PARENTS ARE DYING
As this article points out, most of the military deaths in Vietnam were of single men. Iraq is different. Many of the dead leave behind children. It's just one more despicable result of George Bush's war. This article is at fairuse.1accesshost.com:
I don't want to be a daddy because daddies die," said Jack Shanaberger, age four, following the death in Iraq of his father, Staff Sergeant Wentz "Baron" Shanaberger, a military policeman from Louisiana. With his four brothers and sisters, Jack is among the nearly 900 American children who have lost a parent in Iraq. According to experts cited by Lisa Hoffman and Annette Rainville in a moving story for the Scripps Howard News Service, "The proportionally higher number of American children left bereaved by the Iraq war is unprecedented." Past U.S. wars were mainly fought by single men, but 40 percent of the 1,256 GIs killed in Iraq as of November were married, and 459, including six women, had children. Shana Corey tells her children that while "[you] might forget what your daddy looks like ... [you should] always remember his hugs, always remember his kisses, always remember his love." They have felt their father's touch. Not so the children of the forty men who died while their wives were pregnant.
NEOCON ECONOMICS CLOBBERING IRAQ
If you need to see the results of neocon economics, George Bush style economics, look at Iraq. The neocons have used Iraq as a kind of laboratory to test out their whacked out ideas, and the results have been disastrous. The story is at www.truthout.org:
It would be bad enough if the coalition had simply done nothing to reflate and re-energize the Iraqi economy. Incredibly, the truth is even worse: they have imposed on Iraq a program of ultra-neoliberal reforms that have brought economic collapse to every country they have been inflicted upon. Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel prize-winning economist and dissident former chief economist at the World Bank, describes the economic policies of the coalition as "a proven and predictable catastrophe". They imposed a form of capitalism more extreme than anything tried in a democratic country: immediate privatization of almost all services (without any debate), non-competitive contracts, and a 15 per cent flat tax. This is not democracy. It is market fundamentalism.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
DECEMBER 25, 2004
IRAQ IN A NUTSHELL
Bob Herbert of The New York Times has become one of my favorite writers. In his quiet eloquence he says it all about what is happening in Iraq. This column is at www.nytimes.com:
This week's hideous attack in Mosul reminded me of those long ago days. Once again American troops sent on a fool's errand are coming home in coffins, or without their right arms or left legs, or paralyzed, or so messed up mentally they'll never be the same. Troops are being shoved two or three times into the furnace of Iraq by astonishingly incompetent leaders who have been unable or unwilling to provide them with the proper training, adequate equipment or even a clearly defined mission.
THE DESTRUCTION OF GARY WEBB
I have to wonder what will happen if the American people ever face up to the dark side of our government: the overthrow of other governments, the assassinations, the torture. It's like a room down the corridor whose door you don't want to open because all manner of horrors will come screaming out. The late Gary Webb opened that door when he wrote a series of articles about the connection among the CIA, the Contras, and the importation of cocaine to the United States to finance the Contra war in Nicaragua. The hypocrisy of it all is stunning. On the one hand we have a government prosecuting and imprisoning drug offenders, and on the other hand we have the government profiting on the illegal drug trade. This article by Charles Bowden talks about the systematic destruction of Gary Webb after he opened the forbidden door. The article is at www.esquire.com:
HE TELLS ME I'VE GOT TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT WHEN THE BIG DOG GETS OFF THE PORCH, and I'm getting confused here. He is talking to me from a fishing camp up near the Canadian border, and as he tries to talk me about the Big Dog, I can only imagine a wall of green and deep blue lakes with northern pike. But he is very patient with me. Mike Holm did his hard stints in the Middle East, the Miami station, and Los Angeles, all for the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, and he is determined that I face the reality he knows. So he starts again. He repeats, "When the Big Dog gets off the porch, watch out." And by the Big Dog, he means the full might of the United States government. At that moment, he continues, you play by Big Boy rules, and that means, he explains, that there are no rules but to complete the mission.
FOUR MORE YEARS OF DECLINE
This article by Peter Preston is an interesting look at the mediocre people who surround George W. Bush, not to mention Mr. Bush himself. An interesting point is that Dick Cheney will not be a presidential candidate in 2008, which breaks a sort of precedent. Nixon ran after Eisenhower, George H. W. Bush ran after Reagan, Gore ran after Clinton, but Cheney won't be running. It means that any Republicans who have Oval Office dreams are freer to disagree with Bush. It diminishes the benefits of incumbency. The article is at www.guardian.co.uk:
None of this makes the next four years a kinder, gentler time; least of all a more competent one. But it isn't the irresistible force of instant legend; it isn't a masterful George and obedient servants. It is Donald and Dick and Johnny and Condi (just like Tony and Gordon and David). It is a curse beyond nanny, the curse of exhaustion and ambition and greed and hard calculation.
SUPPORT THE TROOPS BY BRINGING THEM HOME
You think of the old folk song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" In the song the refrain rings out, "When will they ever learn?" In human history there have been too many wars, pogroms, persecutions, tortures, and deaths. I don't know when human consciousness will evolve to the point that we reject killing as a means of solving disputes, but as President Kennedy once said, "Let us begin." It's time to hold George W. Bush and his administration responsible for the bloodbath in Iraq. This article by Andrew Greeley is at www.commondreams.org:
One must support the troops, I am told. I certainly support the troops the best way possible: Bring them home, get them out of a war for which the planning was inadequate, the training nonexistent, the goal obscure, and the equipment and especially the armor for their vehicles inferior. They are brave men and women who believe they are fighting to defend their country and have become sitting ducks for fanatics. Those who die are the victims of the big lie. They believe that they are fighting to prevent another terror attack on the United States. They are not the war criminals. The ''Vulcans,'' as the Bush foreign policy team calls itself, are the criminals, and they ought to face indictment as war criminals.
IRAQ IN A NUTSHELL
Bob Herbert of The New York Times has become one of my favorite writers. In his quiet eloquence he says it all about what is happening in Iraq. This column is at www.nytimes.com:
This week's hideous attack in Mosul reminded me of those long ago days. Once again American troops sent on a fool's errand are coming home in coffins, or without their right arms or left legs, or paralyzed, or so messed up mentally they'll never be the same. Troops are being shoved two or three times into the furnace of Iraq by astonishingly incompetent leaders who have been unable or unwilling to provide them with the proper training, adequate equipment or even a clearly defined mission.
THE DESTRUCTION OF GARY WEBB
I have to wonder what will happen if the American people ever face up to the dark side of our government: the overthrow of other governments, the assassinations, the torture. It's like a room down the corridor whose door you don't want to open because all manner of horrors will come screaming out. The late Gary Webb opened that door when he wrote a series of articles about the connection among the CIA, the Contras, and the importation of cocaine to the United States to finance the Contra war in Nicaragua. The hypocrisy of it all is stunning. On the one hand we have a government prosecuting and imprisoning drug offenders, and on the other hand we have the government profiting on the illegal drug trade. This article by Charles Bowden talks about the systematic destruction of Gary Webb after he opened the forbidden door. The article is at www.esquire.com:
HE TELLS ME I'VE GOT TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT WHEN THE BIG DOG GETS OFF THE PORCH, and I'm getting confused here. He is talking to me from a fishing camp up near the Canadian border, and as he tries to talk me about the Big Dog, I can only imagine a wall of green and deep blue lakes with northern pike. But he is very patient with me. Mike Holm did his hard stints in the Middle East, the Miami station, and Los Angeles, all for the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, and he is determined that I face the reality he knows. So he starts again. He repeats, "When the Big Dog gets off the porch, watch out." And by the Big Dog, he means the full might of the United States government. At that moment, he continues, you play by Big Boy rules, and that means, he explains, that there are no rules but to complete the mission.
FOUR MORE YEARS OF DECLINE
This article by Peter Preston is an interesting look at the mediocre people who surround George W. Bush, not to mention Mr. Bush himself. An interesting point is that Dick Cheney will not be a presidential candidate in 2008, which breaks a sort of precedent. Nixon ran after Eisenhower, George H. W. Bush ran after Reagan, Gore ran after Clinton, but Cheney won't be running. It means that any Republicans who have Oval Office dreams are freer to disagree with Bush. It diminishes the benefits of incumbency. The article is at www.guardian.co.uk:
None of this makes the next four years a kinder, gentler time; least of all a more competent one. But it isn't the irresistible force of instant legend; it isn't a masterful George and obedient servants. It is Donald and Dick and Johnny and Condi (just like Tony and Gordon and David). It is a curse beyond nanny, the curse of exhaustion and ambition and greed and hard calculation.
SUPPORT THE TROOPS BY BRINGING THEM HOME
You think of the old folk song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" In the song the refrain rings out, "When will they ever learn?" In human history there have been too many wars, pogroms, persecutions, tortures, and deaths. I don't know when human consciousness will evolve to the point that we reject killing as a means of solving disputes, but as President Kennedy once said, "Let us begin." It's time to hold George W. Bush and his administration responsible for the bloodbath in Iraq. This article by Andrew Greeley is at www.commondreams.org:
One must support the troops, I am told. I certainly support the troops the best way possible: Bring them home, get them out of a war for which the planning was inadequate, the training nonexistent, the goal obscure, and the equipment and especially the armor for their vehicles inferior. They are brave men and women who believe they are fighting to defend their country and have become sitting ducks for fanatics. Those who die are the victims of the big lie. They believe that they are fighting to prevent another terror attack on the United States. They are not the war criminals. The ''Vulcans,'' as the Bush foreign policy team calls itself, are the criminals, and they ought to face indictment as war criminals.
Friday, December 24, 2004
DECEMBER 24, 2004
MOVIE ABOUT RWANDA MAKES US THINK OF SUDAN
The 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history, and it's looking as though the 21st century is trying to catch up. We have the ongoing slaughter in Afghanistan and Iraq, and something approaching genocide in Sudan. The United States and the West stood by in the mid-90s and let genocide happen in Rwanda. We're not doing nearly enough to stop the bloodshed in Sudan. This column by Margaret Carlson is about a new movie dealing with Rwanda called "Hotel Rwanda." The column is at www.latimes.com:
I don't go to the movies to feel guilty. If I stumble into one that leaves me feeling that way, I generally don't recommend it to friends.
I like my movies soft, entertaining and message-free. I wanted to wring James Brooks' neck for "Spanglish." The director of "Terms of Endearment," which my daughter and I have watched a hundred times, has no business serving up "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" without a warning label stamping it as unsuitable for romantics.
WASHINGTON POST: "WAR CRIMES"
Did you feel the earth move? It's significant that a major media outlet like The Washington Post has finally used the phrase "war crimes" in connection with the Bush administration and the torture that has occurred at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo in Cuba. The editorial is at www.washingtonpost.com:
THANKS TO a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, thousands of pages of government documents released this month have confirmed some of the painful truths about the abuse of foreign detainees by the U.S. military and the CIA -- truths the Bush administration implacably has refused to acknowledge. Since the publication of photographs of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in the spring the administration's whitewashers -- led by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld -- have contended that the crimes were carried out by a few low-ranking reservists, that they were limited to the night shift during a few chaotic months at Abu Ghraib in 2003, that they were unrelated to the interrogation of prisoners and that no torture occurred at the Guantanamo Bay prison where hundreds of terrorism suspects are held. The new documents establish beyond any doubt that every part of this cover story is false.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN COMPASSION AND "THE MARKET"
Despite all the foot stamping about "Christ being taken out of Christmas," the real "meaning of Christmas" has become buy, buy, buy. It's "The Market" that is king, not only at Christmas, but all year round. In this article at www.onlinejournal.com the writer talks about the guy who really stole Christmas, Adam Smith, the creator of free market capitalism:
The economist Karl Polanyi was the first to notice the crime back in the 1940's. In his classic work, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time, Polanyi drew attention to a remarkable event without historical precedent that discarded everything that had gone before. This was the emergence in the nineteenth century of the market as the central institution in our society, making the exchange of goods and services the key feature of human life, bordering on becoming the very reason for living. Understanding the nature of this transformation is the key to unlocking the crime.
REPUBLICANS KNOW HOW TO CREATE POVERTY
It's no coincidence that when Republicans are in charge that wealth gets concentrated at the top and that poverty increases at the bottom. I have to wonder how anyone with a conscience can be a Republican. This story is at money.cnn.com:
Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
MOVIE ABOUT RWANDA MAKES US THINK OF SUDAN
The 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history, and it's looking as though the 21st century is trying to catch up. We have the ongoing slaughter in Afghanistan and Iraq, and something approaching genocide in Sudan. The United States and the West stood by in the mid-90s and let genocide happen in Rwanda. We're not doing nearly enough to stop the bloodshed in Sudan. This column by Margaret Carlson is about a new movie dealing with Rwanda called "Hotel Rwanda." The column is at www.latimes.com:
I don't go to the movies to feel guilty. If I stumble into one that leaves me feeling that way, I generally don't recommend it to friends.
I like my movies soft, entertaining and message-free. I wanted to wring James Brooks' neck for "Spanglish." The director of "Terms of Endearment," which my daughter and I have watched a hundred times, has no business serving up "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" without a warning label stamping it as unsuitable for romantics.
WASHINGTON POST: "WAR CRIMES"
Did you feel the earth move? It's significant that a major media outlet like The Washington Post has finally used the phrase "war crimes" in connection with the Bush administration and the torture that has occurred at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo in Cuba. The editorial is at www.washingtonpost.com:
THANKS TO a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups, thousands of pages of government documents released this month have confirmed some of the painful truths about the abuse of foreign detainees by the U.S. military and the CIA -- truths the Bush administration implacably has refused to acknowledge. Since the publication of photographs of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in the spring the administration's whitewashers -- led by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld -- have contended that the crimes were carried out by a few low-ranking reservists, that they were limited to the night shift during a few chaotic months at Abu Ghraib in 2003, that they were unrelated to the interrogation of prisoners and that no torture occurred at the Guantanamo Bay prison where hundreds of terrorism suspects are held. The new documents establish beyond any doubt that every part of this cover story is false.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN COMPASSION AND "THE MARKET"
Despite all the foot stamping about "Christ being taken out of Christmas," the real "meaning of Christmas" has become buy, buy, buy. It's "The Market" that is king, not only at Christmas, but all year round. In this article at www.onlinejournal.com the writer talks about the guy who really stole Christmas, Adam Smith, the creator of free market capitalism:
The economist Karl Polanyi was the first to notice the crime back in the 1940's. In his classic work, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time, Polanyi drew attention to a remarkable event without historical precedent that discarded everything that had gone before. This was the emergence in the nineteenth century of the market as the central institution in our society, making the exchange of goods and services the key feature of human life, bordering on becoming the very reason for living. Understanding the nature of this transformation is the key to unlocking the crime.
REPUBLICANS KNOW HOW TO CREATE POVERTY
It's no coincidence that when Republicans are in charge that wealth gets concentrated at the top and that poverty increases at the bottom. I have to wonder how anyone with a conscience can be a Republican. This story is at money.cnn.com:
Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
According to the most recent Census Bureau statistics, nearly 36 million Americans lived in poverty in 2003, an increase of 1.3 million from 2002. And since 2000, 4.4 million more people in this country are living in poverty. The Census Bureau defines poverty as an individual earning $9,393 or less and $14,680 or less for a family of three.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
DECEMBER 23, 2004
HIT 'EM IN THE POCKETBOOK
We're learning which major corporations give most of their campaign contributions to the Dark Side, and which give to our side. If there's a proven way to sock it to corporations, it's to take your spending money somewhere else. Mark Morford writes about the alternatives in his column at www.sfgate.com:
Do you care much that greasy ol' Pizza Hut gave tens of thousands in PAC money to the GOP last year? How about the fact that Taco Bell stopped pumping out their happily toxic semirancid meatlike substances just long enough to write a fat check to the conservative Right? Isn't that weirdly fascinating, in a depressing and indigestible sort of way?
DUMP GREENSPAN
Sometimes as one who has never had any money I'm reminded of the Elephant Man. You remember when with pain and frustration he finally shouted out, "I am not an animal! I am a human being." That's the way it is with being at the bottom of the economic heap in the United States. You don't count. Being poor is your fault. You don't work hard enough, you're not thrifty enough, you're not virtuous enough, whatever. It doesn't matter that you work hard every day and do your little bit to contribute to society. You don't deserve any better because you don't have a big bank account. This column, although tongue in cheek, has a good suggestion. Dump Greenspan. The column by Patt Morrison is at www.latimes.com:
He is an immensely powerful man, especially these days, when tens of millions want to get his ear, and in turn to hear what he has to tell them.
SKEPTICISM ABOUT BUSH'S ATTACK ON SOCIAL SECURITY
You keep hoping the people of this country will see through the fog of the Bush administration. Maybe there is a tipping point for lies after all. This story deals with Bush's plans to "reform" Social Security. The story is at www.washingtonpost.com:
President Bush has wide support for his argument that Social Security needs dramatic change to meet its obligations to future retirees, but there remains considerable skepticism about his plan to let people invest a portion of their contribution to the program in the stock market, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Since his Nov. 2 reelection victory, Bush has frequently said the results were an endorsement by voters of the most dramatic revision of the retirement program since its inception nearly 70 years ago. But the survey shows that his efforts to educate the public about the idea and convince them of the merits are at best incomplete.
NEW REPORT: U.S. DIDN'T ASSESS INSURGENCY IN IRAQ
A report from a think tank called the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the United States didn't adequately assess the insurgency threat in Iraq. That's probably an understatement. I'm not sure the Bush administration wanted an honest assessment. They wanted this war, no matter what the facts were. It didn't matter that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction and that it didn't pose a threat to us. It didn't matter that the Iraqis would fiercely resent an occupation by the United States. It was what Bush wanted. This story is at www.commondreams.org:
The United States is facing increasingly deadly attacks in Iraq because, as in the Vietnam war, it failed to honestly assess facts on the ground, according to a new think tank report.
The report, prepared by Anthony Cordesman, senior fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said administration spokesmen had appeared to live "in a fantasyland" when giving accounts of events in Iraq.
Cordesman, a former Pentagon official who has made several trips to Iraq, said Iraqi spies were a serious threat to U.S. operations and that there was no evidence insurgent numbers were declining despite vigorous U.S. and Iraqi counterattacks.
HIT 'EM IN THE POCKETBOOK
We're learning which major corporations give most of their campaign contributions to the Dark Side, and which give to our side. If there's a proven way to sock it to corporations, it's to take your spending money somewhere else. Mark Morford writes about the alternatives in his column at www.sfgate.com:
Do you care much that greasy ol' Pizza Hut gave tens of thousands in PAC money to the GOP last year? How about the fact that Taco Bell stopped pumping out their happily toxic semirancid meatlike substances just long enough to write a fat check to the conservative Right? Isn't that weirdly fascinating, in a depressing and indigestible sort of way?
DUMP GREENSPAN
Sometimes as one who has never had any money I'm reminded of the Elephant Man. You remember when with pain and frustration he finally shouted out, "I am not an animal! I am a human being." That's the way it is with being at the bottom of the economic heap in the United States. You don't count. Being poor is your fault. You don't work hard enough, you're not thrifty enough, you're not virtuous enough, whatever. It doesn't matter that you work hard every day and do your little bit to contribute to society. You don't deserve any better because you don't have a big bank account. This column, although tongue in cheek, has a good suggestion. Dump Greenspan. The column by Patt Morrison is at www.latimes.com:
He is an immensely powerful man, especially these days, when tens of millions want to get his ear, and in turn to hear what he has to tell them.
SKEPTICISM ABOUT BUSH'S ATTACK ON SOCIAL SECURITY
You keep hoping the people of this country will see through the fog of the Bush administration. Maybe there is a tipping point for lies after all. This story deals with Bush's plans to "reform" Social Security. The story is at www.washingtonpost.com:
President Bush has wide support for his argument that Social Security needs dramatic change to meet its obligations to future retirees, but there remains considerable skepticism about his plan to let people invest a portion of their contribution to the program in the stock market, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Since his Nov. 2 reelection victory, Bush has frequently said the results were an endorsement by voters of the most dramatic revision of the retirement program since its inception nearly 70 years ago. But the survey shows that his efforts to educate the public about the idea and convince them of the merits are at best incomplete.
NEW REPORT: U.S. DIDN'T ASSESS INSURGENCY IN IRAQ
A report from a think tank called the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the United States didn't adequately assess the insurgency threat in Iraq. That's probably an understatement. I'm not sure the Bush administration wanted an honest assessment. They wanted this war, no matter what the facts were. It didn't matter that Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction and that it didn't pose a threat to us. It didn't matter that the Iraqis would fiercely resent an occupation by the United States. It was what Bush wanted. This story is at www.commondreams.org:
The United States is facing increasingly deadly attacks in Iraq because, as in the Vietnam war, it failed to honestly assess facts on the ground, according to a new think tank report.
The report, prepared by Anthony Cordesman, senior fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said administration spokesmen had appeared to live "in a fantasyland" when giving accounts of events in Iraq.
Cordesman, a former Pentagon official who has made several trips to Iraq, said Iraqi spies were a serious threat to U.S. operations and that there was no evidence insurgent numbers were declining despite vigorous U.S. and Iraqi counterattacks.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
DECEMBER 22, 2004
THEY'RE ABSOLUTELY SHAMELESS
Executives in the Bush administration have gotten authorization to raise their salaries to about $160,000 a year. This is at a time of record deficits. This is at a time when millions of Americans are jobless. This is at a time when the Bush administration does nothing about raising the minimum wage or stopping the outsourcing of American jobs. This is at a time when the Bush administration doesn't even provide adequate armor for the military in Iraq. This story is at www.govexec.com:
Eight more federal agencies have received certification from the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget for their performance evaluation systems for senior executives. Those agencies can now raise executive salaries to nearly $160,000 a year.
LOOK OUT FOR "CENTRISTS" IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Some of the leaders in the Democratic Party think the way we can win is by being lightweight Republicans. I think the way we win is going back to the principles of the New Deal and subsequent Democratic administrations. This article is about the Republicans in Democrats Clothing. The article by David Sirota is at www.thenation.com:
Looking out over Washington, DC, from his plush office, Al From is once again foaming at the mouth. The CEO of the corporate-sponsored Democratic Leadership Council and his wealthy cronies are in their regular postelection attack mode. Despite wins by economic populists in red states like Colorado and Montana this year, the DLC is claiming like a broken record that progressive policies are hurting the Democratic Party.
BUSH ADMINISTRATION NOW THREATENING SYRIA
It's almost another year, so it's time for some more saber rattling from the Bush gang. Now they're threatening Syria. Yeah, that's a great idea. Let's alienate the Muslim world a little more. They're really making us safer, aren't they? This story is from news.yahoo.com:
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage warned Syria that Washington was prepared to impose new sanctions if it failed to clamp down on fugitive Iraqi officials and end its involvement in Lebanon.
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION IS JUST A BIG ADVENTURE
Do you like living on the edge? You must love the Bush administration. Life under this administration puts the TV show "Fear Factor" to shame. You get to worry about terrorist attacks. You get to worry about losing your job, or breathing the air, or losing your Social Security, or drinking the water, or buying over the counter or prescription drugs. In this article Robert Reich talks about the interesting relationship between "tort reform" and the unsafe drugs the FDA is allowing to be sold to us adventurers. The story is at www.tompaine.com:
The White House says the Food and Drug administration is doing a "spectacular" job. Really? The FDA didn’t respond to warning signs that block-buster painkillers like Celebrex and Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks. Worse yet, its own drug-safety officer says the agency suppressed his research showing the apparent dangers of Vioxx. Belatedly, the FDA is now looking into the potential risks of Naproxin, an ingredient in many over-the-counter pain relievers. The FDA also failed to warn the public that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide among children who take them.
THEY'RE ABSOLUTELY SHAMELESS
Executives in the Bush administration have gotten authorization to raise their salaries to about $160,000 a year. This is at a time of record deficits. This is at a time when millions of Americans are jobless. This is at a time when the Bush administration does nothing about raising the minimum wage or stopping the outsourcing of American jobs. This is at a time when the Bush administration doesn't even provide adequate armor for the military in Iraq. This story is at www.govexec.com:
Eight more federal agencies have received certification from the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget for their performance evaluation systems for senior executives. Those agencies can now raise executive salaries to nearly $160,000 a year.
LOOK OUT FOR "CENTRISTS" IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Some of the leaders in the Democratic Party think the way we can win is by being lightweight Republicans. I think the way we win is going back to the principles of the New Deal and subsequent Democratic administrations. This article is about the Republicans in Democrats Clothing. The article by David Sirota is at www.thenation.com:
Looking out over Washington, DC, from his plush office, Al From is once again foaming at the mouth. The CEO of the corporate-sponsored Democratic Leadership Council and his wealthy cronies are in their regular postelection attack mode. Despite wins by economic populists in red states like Colorado and Montana this year, the DLC is claiming like a broken record that progressive policies are hurting the Democratic Party.
BUSH ADMINISTRATION NOW THREATENING SYRIA
It's almost another year, so it's time for some more saber rattling from the Bush gang. Now they're threatening Syria. Yeah, that's a great idea. Let's alienate the Muslim world a little more. They're really making us safer, aren't they? This story is from news.yahoo.com:
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage warned Syria that Washington was prepared to impose new sanctions if it failed to clamp down on fugitive Iraqi officials and end its involvement in Lebanon.
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION IS JUST A BIG ADVENTURE
Do you like living on the edge? You must love the Bush administration. Life under this administration puts the TV show "Fear Factor" to shame. You get to worry about terrorist attacks. You get to worry about losing your job, or breathing the air, or losing your Social Security, or drinking the water, or buying over the counter or prescription drugs. In this article Robert Reich talks about the interesting relationship between "tort reform" and the unsafe drugs the FDA is allowing to be sold to us adventurers. The story is at www.tompaine.com:
The White House says the Food and Drug administration is doing a "spectacular" job. Really? The FDA didn’t respond to warning signs that block-buster painkillers like Celebrex and Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks. Worse yet, its own drug-safety officer says the agency suppressed his research showing the apparent dangers of Vioxx. Belatedly, the FDA is now looking into the potential risks of Naproxin, an ingredient in many over-the-counter pain relievers. The FDA also failed to warn the public that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide among children who take them.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
DECEMBER 21, 2004
ACLU: BUSH ISSUED TORTURE ORDER
How "Christian" is the use of torture? How constitutional is the use of torture? Is authorizing torture an impeachable offense? The ACLU has uncovered evidence suggesting that George W. Bush signed an executive order authorizing the use of torture against detainees in Iraq. If soldiers there can be tried, why not Bush? The story is at www.aclu.org:
A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.
CONCEPTUAL GUERILLA ON RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
I guess I should say Christian fundamentalism. One of my favorite websites is www.conceptualguerilla.com. He does a devastating analysis of the contradictions inherent in Christian fundamentalist "thought." The commentary is at www.conceptualguerilla.com:
And that is just looking at some rather obvious empirical evidence. It is at the level of "pure reason" that the Genesis story falls apart -- at least in so far as its "literal truth" is concerned. Consider a few simple claims made by religious fundamentalists. God is omniscient, they tell us. He knows everything. He is also omnipresent -- everywhere that is. Yet in the Genesis story of the fall of humanity, God was off somewhere while Eve was being tempted. Perhaps he stepped into a back corner of the Garden of Eden to take a whiz. When he came back, he was calling for Adam and Eve, and actually had to look for them. This from an "omniscient" god, who should have known where they were, indeed should have been right there with them. He should have been watching the serpent tempt Eve -- allowing it to happen, whatever implications that might have.
In short, something's got to give. Either God was neither omniscient nor omnipresent, or the Genesis story is inaccurate. Either way, the fundamentalists are wrong about one or the other of their fundamental beliefs. I'll leave it to them to figure out which one. The point is that I have found a logical inconsistency that wipes out at least one of their major beliefs -- just three pages into the first book of their bible.
AT THE MERCY OF FOREIGN INVESTORS
George W. Bush's massive deficits have made us less secure. We now have to depend on foreign investors to keep the government solvent. According to this article, 90% of the money to keep the government running is coming from foreign investors. And conservatives have had the gall to call Social Security a "Ponzi scheme." This article is at pittsburghlive.com:
Foreigners put up 90 percent of the $2 billion required every day to make sure Uncle Sam's checks don't bounce.
The profligate uncle thus can write checks that are accepted as payment as long as they are never cashed. This sleight-of-hand shell game is what keeps the international monetary system from imploding. Shakedown rackets and Ponzi schemes are usually less transparent.
The United States' foreign creditors hold an estimated $11 trillion in U.S. "paper," or 43 percent of the superpower's privately held national debt, up from 30 percent since George W. Bush became the 43rd president. China, Japan and Saudi Arabia are among the biggest dollar stakeholders, and they have seen their assets fall 35 percent against the euro and 24 percent against the yen.
CHRISTMAS NOT ENDANGERED
Big name conservatives are hypocrites. That's a given. There's His Holiness Bill O'Reilly making obscene phone calls to a woman. There's Bill Bennett, the Virtues Czar, who is addicted to gambling. There's Blowhard Rush Limbaugh who is drug addicted. There's Newt Gingrich, Mr. Sexual Purity, carrying on an affair. The list goes on and on. The Legion of Non-Decency has been caterwauling about the "attack" on Christmas. The Los Angeles Times takes a merry look at the controversy in this editorial at www.latimes.com:
If the people who run Hollywood hate Christmas, they hate it all the way to the box office. Christmas is huge for Hollywood, this year as always, and there is no lack of pious seasonal sentiments. Watching "Finding John Christmas" ("a heartwarming holiday drama," according to CBS) or the Walt Disney World Christmas Day parade (on ABC, hosted by Regis Philbin) may not be Christmas as Bill O'Reilly celebrates it - no doubt alone with his Bible when he is not out washing the feet of the poor. But it is Christmas, American style.
BUSH WITH HISTORICALLY LOW POLL NUMBERS
Unless he gets real popular real fast, George W. Bush will have the lowest approval ratings at his inauguration of any president in the past 80 years. The story, after a commercial, is at www.salon.com:
Republicans like to brag about the sweeping mandate that President Bush received on Election Day. But as he prepares for his second term, Bush approaches Inauguration Day with historically weak job-approval ratings, according to a series of new opinion polls. Unless there's a dramatic turnaround in public sentiment between now and Jan. 20, Bush will be sworn into office with the lowest job-approval rating -- barely 50 percent -- of any president in the last 80 years, or since modern-day presidential polling began.
ACLU: BUSH ISSUED TORTURE ORDER
How "Christian" is the use of torture? How constitutional is the use of torture? Is authorizing torture an impeachable offense? The ACLU has uncovered evidence suggesting that George W. Bush signed an executive order authorizing the use of torture against detainees in Iraq. If soldiers there can be tried, why not Bush? The story is at www.aclu.org:
A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.
CONCEPTUAL GUERILLA ON RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM
I guess I should say Christian fundamentalism. One of my favorite websites is www.conceptualguerilla.com. He does a devastating analysis of the contradictions inherent in Christian fundamentalist "thought." The commentary is at www.conceptualguerilla.com:
And that is just looking at some rather obvious empirical evidence. It is at the level of "pure reason" that the Genesis story falls apart -- at least in so far as its "literal truth" is concerned. Consider a few simple claims made by religious fundamentalists. God is omniscient, they tell us. He knows everything. He is also omnipresent -- everywhere that is. Yet in the Genesis story of the fall of humanity, God was off somewhere while Eve was being tempted. Perhaps he stepped into a back corner of the Garden of Eden to take a whiz. When he came back, he was calling for Adam and Eve, and actually had to look for them. This from an "omniscient" god, who should have known where they were, indeed should have been right there with them. He should have been watching the serpent tempt Eve -- allowing it to happen, whatever implications that might have.
In short, something's got to give. Either God was neither omniscient nor omnipresent, or the Genesis story is inaccurate. Either way, the fundamentalists are wrong about one or the other of their fundamental beliefs. I'll leave it to them to figure out which one. The point is that I have found a logical inconsistency that wipes out at least one of their major beliefs -- just three pages into the first book of their bible.
AT THE MERCY OF FOREIGN INVESTORS
George W. Bush's massive deficits have made us less secure. We now have to depend on foreign investors to keep the government solvent. According to this article, 90% of the money to keep the government running is coming from foreign investors. And conservatives have had the gall to call Social Security a "Ponzi scheme." This article is at pittsburghlive.com:
Foreigners put up 90 percent of the $2 billion required every day to make sure Uncle Sam's checks don't bounce.
The profligate uncle thus can write checks that are accepted as payment as long as they are never cashed. This sleight-of-hand shell game is what keeps the international monetary system from imploding. Shakedown rackets and Ponzi schemes are usually less transparent.
The United States' foreign creditors hold an estimated $11 trillion in U.S. "paper," or 43 percent of the superpower's privately held national debt, up from 30 percent since George W. Bush became the 43rd president. China, Japan and Saudi Arabia are among the biggest dollar stakeholders, and they have seen their assets fall 35 percent against the euro and 24 percent against the yen.
CHRISTMAS NOT ENDANGERED
Big name conservatives are hypocrites. That's a given. There's His Holiness Bill O'Reilly making obscene phone calls to a woman. There's Bill Bennett, the Virtues Czar, who is addicted to gambling. There's Blowhard Rush Limbaugh who is drug addicted. There's Newt Gingrich, Mr. Sexual Purity, carrying on an affair. The list goes on and on. The Legion of Non-Decency has been caterwauling about the "attack" on Christmas. The Los Angeles Times takes a merry look at the controversy in this editorial at www.latimes.com:
If the people who run Hollywood hate Christmas, they hate it all the way to the box office. Christmas is huge for Hollywood, this year as always, and there is no lack of pious seasonal sentiments. Watching "Finding John Christmas" ("a heartwarming holiday drama," according to CBS) or the Walt Disney World Christmas Day parade (on ABC, hosted by Regis Philbin) may not be Christmas as Bill O'Reilly celebrates it - no doubt alone with his Bible when he is not out washing the feet of the poor. But it is Christmas, American style.
BUSH WITH HISTORICALLY LOW POLL NUMBERS
Unless he gets real popular real fast, George W. Bush will have the lowest approval ratings at his inauguration of any president in the past 80 years. The story, after a commercial, is at www.salon.com:
Republicans like to brag about the sweeping mandate that President Bush received on Election Day. But as he prepares for his second term, Bush approaches Inauguration Day with historically weak job-approval ratings, according to a series of new opinion polls. Unless there's a dramatic turnaround in public sentiment between now and Jan. 20, Bush will be sworn into office with the lowest job-approval rating -- barely 50 percent -- of any president in the last 80 years, or since modern-day presidential polling began.
Monday, December 20, 2004
DECEMBER 20, 2004
SEE THE FUTURE IF ABORTION IS BANNED
With George W. Bush and his merry band of right-wingers in charge you have to wonder if legal abortion will be overturned in the United States. Sometimes I wonder because it would take away an issue to fire up the right-wing "base." As long as abortion is legal and Republicans hint they can ban it with one more election, it gets out the true believers. This article shows how the consequences of illegal abortion in Latin America. Let's hope we don't go this route. This article is at www.utne.com:
Abortion is all but universally illegal in Latin America. In Chile, for example, having the procedure can land a woman in jail for up to five-years. Yet, the region has one of the highest abortion rates in the world and, consequently, an equally staggering rate of failure. Each year, an estimated 5,000 women die as a result of clandestine abortions, and another 800,000 are hospitalized (all totaled, that means about one-fifth of those who pursue the procedure suffer complications).
U.S. IRRESPONSIBLE ON GLOBAL WARMING
The United States is behaving selfishly and shamelessly in fighting measures to stop global warming. The Bush administration keeps making the claim that the science isn't sound enough. That's just more baloney. Remember that Bush and Cheney are tied in a knot to the energy industries, and they don't want restrictions on their profits. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
Two weeks of negotiations at a United Nations conference here on climate change ended early Saturday with a weak pledge to start limited, informal talks on ways to slow down global warming, after the United States blocked efforts to begin more substantive discussions.
The main focus was to discuss the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, which goes into force on Feb. 16 and will require industrial nations to make substantial cuts in their emissions of so-called greenhouse gases. But another goal had been to draw the United States, which withdrew from the accord in 2001, back into discussions about ways to mitigate climate change after 2012, when the Kyoto agreement expires.
IRAQ: LOUSY TREATMENT OF TROOPS AND INCOMPETENCE
In this column Bob Herbert writes about the Bush administration's "war on the cheap" in Iraq where there aren't enough troops or adequate supplies for the troops. People are being required to go back to Iraq after serving their tours of duty. The Bushies have handed us a nightmare. The column is at www.nytimes.com:
From the earliest planning stages until now, the war in Iraq has been a tragic exercise in official incompetence. The original rationale for the war was wrong. The intelligence was wrong. The estimates of required troop strength were wrong. The war hawks' guesses about the response of the Iraqi people were wrong. The cost estimates were wrong, and on and on.
CHRISTMAS SALES STILL SLOW
Retailers were hoping that the final weekend before Christmas would produce a surge in buying in a season that has been disappointing so far. No such luck. Bush is still in office. The economy is still lousy. If you supported Bush, this is the ghost of Christmas past and the ghost of Christmas present come to visit. This story is at www.sfgate.com:
The nation's retailers remained on edge, as the much-hoped for sales bonanza appeared not to materialize on the last weekend before Christmas, despite an abundance of deals on toys and apparel.
Merchants needed a hefty sales surge this past weekend to recoup lost business after seeing a slow start to a holiday selling season that never gathered steam. Now, they'll have to rely even more heavily on the final days before and after Christmas to meet their holiday sales forecast.
BUSH'S HOOEY ON SOCIAL SECURITY
There was George W. Bush, the Little Emperor, at his press conference today at his arrogant and condescending best. You can't believe Mr. Bush on anything, much less the Social Security "crisis." This analysis comes from James N. Morgan at www.mlive.com:
Most economists are irritated at the palpable nonsense being circulated about Social Security.
Start with a basic fact - it is not broken and does not need fixing.
Sticking with outdated pay-as-you-go rationalizations used during the Depression to justify bringing in beneficiaries who had contributed little, people talk about surpluses and deficits as though the contributions of the working generations at any year should equal the benefits to the retired.
SEE THE FUTURE IF ABORTION IS BANNED
With George W. Bush and his merry band of right-wingers in charge you have to wonder if legal abortion will be overturned in the United States. Sometimes I wonder because it would take away an issue to fire up the right-wing "base." As long as abortion is legal and Republicans hint they can ban it with one more election, it gets out the true believers. This article shows how the consequences of illegal abortion in Latin America. Let's hope we don't go this route. This article is at www.utne.com:
Abortion is all but universally illegal in Latin America. In Chile, for example, having the procedure can land a woman in jail for up to five-years. Yet, the region has one of the highest abortion rates in the world and, consequently, an equally staggering rate of failure. Each year, an estimated 5,000 women die as a result of clandestine abortions, and another 800,000 are hospitalized (all totaled, that means about one-fifth of those who pursue the procedure suffer complications).
U.S. IRRESPONSIBLE ON GLOBAL WARMING
The United States is behaving selfishly and shamelessly in fighting measures to stop global warming. The Bush administration keeps making the claim that the science isn't sound enough. That's just more baloney. Remember that Bush and Cheney are tied in a knot to the energy industries, and they don't want restrictions on their profits. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
Two weeks of negotiations at a United Nations conference here on climate change ended early Saturday with a weak pledge to start limited, informal talks on ways to slow down global warming, after the United States blocked efforts to begin more substantive discussions.
The main focus was to discuss the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, which goes into force on Feb. 16 and will require industrial nations to make substantial cuts in their emissions of so-called greenhouse gases. But another goal had been to draw the United States, which withdrew from the accord in 2001, back into discussions about ways to mitigate climate change after 2012, when the Kyoto agreement expires.
IRAQ: LOUSY TREATMENT OF TROOPS AND INCOMPETENCE
In this column Bob Herbert writes about the Bush administration's "war on the cheap" in Iraq where there aren't enough troops or adequate supplies for the troops. People are being required to go back to Iraq after serving their tours of duty. The Bushies have handed us a nightmare. The column is at www.nytimes.com:
From the earliest planning stages until now, the war in Iraq has been a tragic exercise in official incompetence. The original rationale for the war was wrong. The intelligence was wrong. The estimates of required troop strength were wrong. The war hawks' guesses about the response of the Iraqi people were wrong. The cost estimates were wrong, and on and on.
CHRISTMAS SALES STILL SLOW
Retailers were hoping that the final weekend before Christmas would produce a surge in buying in a season that has been disappointing so far. No such luck. Bush is still in office. The economy is still lousy. If you supported Bush, this is the ghost of Christmas past and the ghost of Christmas present come to visit. This story is at www.sfgate.com:
The nation's retailers remained on edge, as the much-hoped for sales bonanza appeared not to materialize on the last weekend before Christmas, despite an abundance of deals on toys and apparel.
Merchants needed a hefty sales surge this past weekend to recoup lost business after seeing a slow start to a holiday selling season that never gathered steam. Now, they'll have to rely even more heavily on the final days before and after Christmas to meet their holiday sales forecast.
BUSH'S HOOEY ON SOCIAL SECURITY
There was George W. Bush, the Little Emperor, at his press conference today at his arrogant and condescending best. You can't believe Mr. Bush on anything, much less the Social Security "crisis." This analysis comes from James N. Morgan at www.mlive.com:
Most economists are irritated at the palpable nonsense being circulated about Social Security.
Start with a basic fact - it is not broken and does not need fixing.
Sticking with outdated pay-as-you-go rationalizations used during the Depression to justify bringing in beneficiaries who had contributed little, people talk about surpluses and deficits as though the contributions of the working generations at any year should equal the benefits to the retired.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
DECEMBER 19, 2004
COMPANIES CUTTING HEALTH CARE BENEFITS
This story resonates with me because the place where I work just announced that employees have to increase their "contribution" for health care. What it amounts to is a pay cut. It's also a dramatic illustration of why we need a national health care system. No one in the United States should have to do without health care because they can't afford it. This story is at www.sanluisobispo.com:
Many companies are dropping their promise of health benefits for future retirees, who now might have to stay on the job longer and rely on government health care in their old age.
Eight percent of employers with at least 1,000 workers said they had eliminated subsidized retiree health benefits for some workers this year, and 11 percent more said they probably would do so next year, according to a study released Tuesday by the benefits consulting firm Hewitt Associates and the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.
STARK VIEW OF BUSH'S ECONOMY
If you didn't know better, you'd think we were back in the Gilded Age, that time when some of the biggest fortunes in America were built and most people lived in poverty or near-poverty. It took FDR and the New Deal to create conditions favorable to the growth of a middle class, and now George W. Bush is trying to roll us back into the Gilded Age. If you need proof, just look at the disparity in Christmas this year. This story is from www.cbsnews.com:
High-end retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Tiffany are thriving, while discount chains such as Wal-Mart are suffering, reports CBS News Correspondent Trish Regan.
Recent sales figures from the nation's largest retailers underscore the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Wal-Mart missed its November sales numbers, posting a meager seven-tenths-of-a-percent gain over November, 2003. The company had expected 3 to 4 percent sales growth. City saw a 3 percent decline in sales last month, and K-Mart's sales are likely to drop 10 percent.
BIN LADEN WANTS TO BANKRUPT U.S.
It appears that one of Osama bin Laden's strategies is to bankrupt the U.S. George W. Bush and his gargantuan deficits are playing into bin Laden's hands. This analysis is at www.usatoday.com:
Osama bin Laden claims to have bled the Soviet Union into bankruptcy as an Islamic guerrilla fighter in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Could he do the same to another hated superpower - the United States?
The al-Qaeda leader's latest purported communication drove home the point by calling on militants to stop the flow oil to the West and praising a Dec. 6 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer.
H. L. MENCKEN DESCRIBES REPUBLICANS
Thanks to Corrente for posting this quote from H. L. Mencken. Mencken wasn't specifically describing the Republicans of his day, but it fits Republicans today. The quote is:
...He likes money and knows how to amass property, but his cultural development is but little above that of the domestic animals. He is intensely and cocksurely moral, but his morality and his self-interest are crudely identical...He is a violent nationalist and patriot, but he admires rogues in office and always beats the tax-collector if he can. He has immovable opinions about all the great affairs of state, but nine-tenths of them are sheer imbecilities. He is violently jealous of what he conceives to be his rights, but brutally disregardful of the other fellow's...Thus man, whether city or country bred, is the normal Americano - the 100 percent...He exists in all countries, but here alone he rules... - HL Mencken.
COMPANIES CUTTING HEALTH CARE BENEFITS
This story resonates with me because the place where I work just announced that employees have to increase their "contribution" for health care. What it amounts to is a pay cut. It's also a dramatic illustration of why we need a national health care system. No one in the United States should have to do without health care because they can't afford it. This story is at www.sanluisobispo.com:
Many companies are dropping their promise of health benefits for future retirees, who now might have to stay on the job longer and rely on government health care in their old age.
Eight percent of employers with at least 1,000 workers said they had eliminated subsidized retiree health benefits for some workers this year, and 11 percent more said they probably would do so next year, according to a study released Tuesday by the benefits consulting firm Hewitt Associates and the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation.
STARK VIEW OF BUSH'S ECONOMY
If you didn't know better, you'd think we were back in the Gilded Age, that time when some of the biggest fortunes in America were built and most people lived in poverty or near-poverty. It took FDR and the New Deal to create conditions favorable to the growth of a middle class, and now George W. Bush is trying to roll us back into the Gilded Age. If you need proof, just look at the disparity in Christmas this year. This story is from www.cbsnews.com:
High-end retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Tiffany are thriving, while discount chains such as Wal-Mart are suffering, reports CBS News Correspondent Trish Regan.
Recent sales figures from the nation's largest retailers underscore the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Wal-Mart missed its November sales numbers, posting a meager seven-tenths-of-a-percent gain over November, 2003. The company had expected 3 to 4 percent sales growth. City saw a 3 percent decline in sales last month, and K-Mart's sales are likely to drop 10 percent.
BIN LADEN WANTS TO BANKRUPT U.S.
It appears that one of Osama bin Laden's strategies is to bankrupt the U.S. George W. Bush and his gargantuan deficits are playing into bin Laden's hands. This analysis is at www.usatoday.com:
Osama bin Laden claims to have bled the Soviet Union into bankruptcy as an Islamic guerrilla fighter in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Could he do the same to another hated superpower - the United States?
The al-Qaeda leader's latest purported communication drove home the point by calling on militants to stop the flow oil to the West and praising a Dec. 6 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer.
H. L. MENCKEN DESCRIBES REPUBLICANS
Thanks to Corrente for posting this quote from H. L. Mencken. Mencken wasn't specifically describing the Republicans of his day, but it fits Republicans today. The quote is:
...He likes money and knows how to amass property, but his cultural development is but little above that of the domestic animals. He is intensely and cocksurely moral, but his morality and his self-interest are crudely identical...He is a violent nationalist and patriot, but he admires rogues in office and always beats the tax-collector if he can. He has immovable opinions about all the great affairs of state, but nine-tenths of them are sheer imbecilities. He is violently jealous of what he conceives to be his rights, but brutally disregardful of the other fellow's...Thus man, whether city or country bred, is the normal Americano - the 100 percent...He exists in all countries, but here alone he rules... - HL Mencken.
Saturday, December 18, 2004
DECEMBER 18, 2004
KRUGMAN: PRIVATIZATION HASN'T WORKED
People need to get educated about the changes George W. Bush wants to make to the Social Security system. This "reform" will clobber all segments of U.S. society except the very wealthy and the brokers who will earn huge commissions from "investing" the retirement money. I thought Mike Malloy made a great point on his program. He said that Social Security is an insurance program, not an investment plan. How many times have you heard someone say they would cancel their insurance--life, term, health--because they could get a better return on their investment? The column by Paul Krugman is at www.nytimes.com:
Decades of conservative marketing have convinced Americans that government programs always create bloated bureaucracies, while the private sector is always lean and efficient. But when it comes to retirement security, the opposite is true. More than 99 percent of Social Security's revenues go toward benefits, and less than 1 percent for overhead. In Chile's system, management fees are around 20 times as high. And that's a typical number for privatized systems.
U.S. DEALS WITH "MERCHANT OF DEATH"
This article is about an arms trafficker named Victor Bout, known as the "merchant of death." Bout has supplied arms to all kinds of people, including people we don't want to get arms, and has been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury from doing business in the United States. That hasn't stopped the Bushies from doing business with a company tied to Bout. This story is at www.motherjones.com:
But now the Bush administration has hired at least one company tied to Bout's network for the war effort in Iraq. Records obtained by Mother Jones show that as recently as August, Air Bas, a company tied to Bout and his associates, was flying charter missions under contract with the U.S. military in Iraq. Air Bas is overseen by Victor Bout’s brother, Serguei, and his long-time business manager, Richard Chichakli, an accountant living in Texas; in the past, payments for Air Bas have gone to a Kazakh company that the United Nations identifies as "a front for the leasing operations of Victor Bout’s aircraft."
CHRISTIE TODD WHITMAN WORRIES REPUBS ARE TOO RIGHT WING
Former New Jersey Governor and head of the Bush Environmental Protection Agency Christie Todd Whitman worries now that the Republican party has been seized by right-wing wackos (my words). I have to wonder why "moderates" such as Ms. Whitman haven't been more aggressive in taking their party back, though. If they're truly concerned about the right-wingers, truly concerned about the country, and want to regain control of the party, they may have to form an alliance with those of us on the liberal side to stop Bush. This article is from the Associated Press:
Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Bush environmental official, says in an upcoming book that Republican moderates must speak up or the party could move so far to the right that it will lose its influence and strength.
Whitman, who led the Environmental Protection Agency for President Bush from 2001 until May 2003, also says in the book that she was often at odds with the White House on issues such as setting limits on air pollutants and power plant emissions and in the debate over global warming. Her tenure was marked by complaints from conservatives that she was too moderate.
KRUGMAN: PRIVATIZATION HASN'T WORKED
People need to get educated about the changes George W. Bush wants to make to the Social Security system. This "reform" will clobber all segments of U.S. society except the very wealthy and the brokers who will earn huge commissions from "investing" the retirement money. I thought Mike Malloy made a great point on his program. He said that Social Security is an insurance program, not an investment plan. How many times have you heard someone say they would cancel their insurance--life, term, health--because they could get a better return on their investment? The column by Paul Krugman is at www.nytimes.com:
Decades of conservative marketing have convinced Americans that government programs always create bloated bureaucracies, while the private sector is always lean and efficient. But when it comes to retirement security, the opposite is true. More than 99 percent of Social Security's revenues go toward benefits, and less than 1 percent for overhead. In Chile's system, management fees are around 20 times as high. And that's a typical number for privatized systems.
U.S. DEALS WITH "MERCHANT OF DEATH"
This article is about an arms trafficker named Victor Bout, known as the "merchant of death." Bout has supplied arms to all kinds of people, including people we don't want to get arms, and has been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury from doing business in the United States. That hasn't stopped the Bushies from doing business with a company tied to Bout. This story is at www.motherjones.com:
But now the Bush administration has hired at least one company tied to Bout's network for the war effort in Iraq. Records obtained by Mother Jones show that as recently as August, Air Bas, a company tied to Bout and his associates, was flying charter missions under contract with the U.S. military in Iraq. Air Bas is overseen by Victor Bout’s brother, Serguei, and his long-time business manager, Richard Chichakli, an accountant living in Texas; in the past, payments for Air Bas have gone to a Kazakh company that the United Nations identifies as "a front for the leasing operations of Victor Bout’s aircraft."
CHRISTIE TODD WHITMAN WORRIES REPUBS ARE TOO RIGHT WING
Former New Jersey Governor and head of the Bush Environmental Protection Agency Christie Todd Whitman worries now that the Republican party has been seized by right-wing wackos (my words). I have to wonder why "moderates" such as Ms. Whitman haven't been more aggressive in taking their party back, though. If they're truly concerned about the right-wingers, truly concerned about the country, and want to regain control of the party, they may have to form an alliance with those of us on the liberal side to stop Bush. This article is from the Associated Press:
Christie Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Bush environmental official, says in an upcoming book that Republican moderates must speak up or the party could move so far to the right that it will lose its influence and strength.
Whitman, who led the Environmental Protection Agency for President Bush from 2001 until May 2003, also says in the book that she was often at odds with the White House on issues such as setting limits on air pollutants and power plant emissions and in the debate over global warming. Her tenure was marked by complaints from conservatives that she was too moderate.
Friday, December 17, 2004
DECEMBER 17, 2004
BRITISH COURT SAYS DETAINEES CAN'T BE HELD INDEFINITELY
It's good to know that justice exists somewhere in the world today. While the U.S. rips apart the Geneva Conventions and civil liberties, the British have decided that indefinite detention of "terrorism" suspects isn't right. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
Britain's highest court ruled Thursday that the government could not continue to indefinitely detain foreigners suspected of terrorism without charging or trying them, saying the practice violated European human rights conventions.
A special panel of nine law lords of the House of Lords, England's rough equivalent to the Supreme Court, ruled 8 to 1 in favor of nine foreign Muslim men, at least one of whom has been in detention for three years. Most of the men are being held in Belmarsh prison in London, which has been called "Britain's Guantánamo" by human rights groups.
SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF REALITY
I can't decide if George W. Bush is just a callous thug, or someone who has totally lost any grip on reality. Iraq is a prime example. We know that he lied about the reasons for the war and we know the war was totally unnecessary. Thousands of people have been killed or maimed and the situation is getting worse. Bob Herbert writes about it at www.nytimes.com:
By anyone's standards, terrible things are happening in Iraq, and no amount of self-congratulation in Washington can take the edge off the horror being endured by American troops or the unrelenting agony of the Iraqi people. The disconnect between the White House's fantasyland and the world of war in Iraq could hardly have been illustrated more starkly than by a pair of front-page articles in The New York Times on Dec. 10. The story at the top of the page carried the headline: "It's Inauguration Time Again, and Access Still Has Its Price - $250,000 Buys Lunch With President and More."
WHY DID BUSH,GIULIANI, AND KERIK GET PASS ON 9/11?
It was conventional wisdom after the attacks on 9/11 that Rudy Giuliani was a "hero" and a "leader." George W. Bush has been given credit for his "leadership" after the attacks, and Bernie Kerik, recently nominated as head of Homeland Security before scandals caught up with him, also didn't get close scrutiny from the national media. It was the incompetence and negligence of these guys that helped make 9/11 happen. This is a commentary by Margie Burns at www.baltimorechronicle.com:
In any previous administration, the highest-placed officials would have been held immediately responsible for anything even remotely like the events of that fateful day. Instead, we have an administration that has most recently awarded the highest civilian honors to officials in the most tainted sectors of GWBush policy: “intelligence,” the Iraq invasion, and war profiteering. We will be fortunate indeed if the medal itself is not tainted in future by this award.
OLD PHOTOS OFFER PROOF OF SHRINKING GLACIERS
In right-wing land there's no such thing as global climate change. It's all just a figment of the imagination of environmental extremists, or those people who want to "destroy" the U.S. economy. Well, not quite. Old photos taken on expeditions 100 years ago show a definite shrinking in the size of glaciers. This story is at www.commondreams.org:
Glaciers throughout Alaska are shrinking more and more rapidly, and scientists comparing old photos taken up to a century ago with digital images made during climbing expeditions today say the pictures provide the most dramatic evidence yet that global warming is real.
And it's not only the glaciers reflecting the climate change. Everywhere on the treeless tundra north of the jagged slopes of Alaska's Brooks Range, explosive bursts of vegetation -- willows, alders, birch and many shrubs -- are thriving where permafrost once kept the tundra surface frozen in winter.
POLL SHOWS ANTI-ISLAM SENTIMENT
In Hitler's Germany it was the Jews who were scapegoated for that country's troubles. Now it is becoming fashionable to blame all Muslims for the actions of nineteen terrorists on 9/11. In a new poll 44% of the respondents favor restricting the rights of Muslim Americans. It makes you wonder who is next on the hit list. This story is from www.sfgate.com:
Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim Americans, according to a nationwide poll.
The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.
BRITISH COURT SAYS DETAINEES CAN'T BE HELD INDEFINITELY
It's good to know that justice exists somewhere in the world today. While the U.S. rips apart the Geneva Conventions and civil liberties, the British have decided that indefinite detention of "terrorism" suspects isn't right. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
Britain's highest court ruled Thursday that the government could not continue to indefinitely detain foreigners suspected of terrorism without charging or trying them, saying the practice violated European human rights conventions.
A special panel of nine law lords of the House of Lords, England's rough equivalent to the Supreme Court, ruled 8 to 1 in favor of nine foreign Muslim men, at least one of whom has been in detention for three years. Most of the men are being held in Belmarsh prison in London, which has been called "Britain's Guantánamo" by human rights groups.
SLIPPING THE SURLY BONDS OF REALITY
I can't decide if George W. Bush is just a callous thug, or someone who has totally lost any grip on reality. Iraq is a prime example. We know that he lied about the reasons for the war and we know the war was totally unnecessary. Thousands of people have been killed or maimed and the situation is getting worse. Bob Herbert writes about it at www.nytimes.com:
By anyone's standards, terrible things are happening in Iraq, and no amount of self-congratulation in Washington can take the edge off the horror being endured by American troops or the unrelenting agony of the Iraqi people. The disconnect between the White House's fantasyland and the world of war in Iraq could hardly have been illustrated more starkly than by a pair of front-page articles in The New York Times on Dec. 10. The story at the top of the page carried the headline: "It's Inauguration Time Again, and Access Still Has Its Price - $250,000 Buys Lunch With President and More."
WHY DID BUSH,GIULIANI, AND KERIK GET PASS ON 9/11?
It was conventional wisdom after the attacks on 9/11 that Rudy Giuliani was a "hero" and a "leader." George W. Bush has been given credit for his "leadership" after the attacks, and Bernie Kerik, recently nominated as head of Homeland Security before scandals caught up with him, also didn't get close scrutiny from the national media. It was the incompetence and negligence of these guys that helped make 9/11 happen. This is a commentary by Margie Burns at www.baltimorechronicle.com:
In any previous administration, the highest-placed officials would have been held immediately responsible for anything even remotely like the events of that fateful day. Instead, we have an administration that has most recently awarded the highest civilian honors to officials in the most tainted sectors of GWBush policy: “intelligence,” the Iraq invasion, and war profiteering. We will be fortunate indeed if the medal itself is not tainted in future by this award.
OLD PHOTOS OFFER PROOF OF SHRINKING GLACIERS
In right-wing land there's no such thing as global climate change. It's all just a figment of the imagination of environmental extremists, or those people who want to "destroy" the U.S. economy. Well, not quite. Old photos taken on expeditions 100 years ago show a definite shrinking in the size of glaciers. This story is at www.commondreams.org:
Glaciers throughout Alaska are shrinking more and more rapidly, and scientists comparing old photos taken up to a century ago with digital images made during climbing expeditions today say the pictures provide the most dramatic evidence yet that global warming is real.
And it's not only the glaciers reflecting the climate change. Everywhere on the treeless tundra north of the jagged slopes of Alaska's Brooks Range, explosive bursts of vegetation -- willows, alders, birch and many shrubs -- are thriving where permafrost once kept the tundra surface frozen in winter.
POLL SHOWS ANTI-ISLAM SENTIMENT
In Hitler's Germany it was the Jews who were scapegoated for that country's troubles. Now it is becoming fashionable to blame all Muslims for the actions of nineteen terrorists on 9/11. In a new poll 44% of the respondents favor restricting the rights of Muslim Americans. It makes you wonder who is next on the hit list. This story is from www.sfgate.com:
Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim Americans, according to a nationwide poll.
The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
DECEMBER 16, 2004
THAT GREAT MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM
We're continuing to spend billions on a "missile defense" system that is joke. The latest test was a major failure. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
An important test of the United States' emerging missile-defense system ended in an $85 million failure early today as an interceptor rocket failed to launch as scheduled from the Marshall Islands, the Pentagon said.
A target rocket carrying a mock warhead was successfully launched from Kodiak, Alaska. But the interceptor, which was to have gone aloft 16 minutes later and picked off the target 100 miles over the earth, automatically shut down instead because of "an unknown anomaly," the Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency said.
BUSH WANTS TO TAKE LEGAL POWER AWAY FROM US
In the classic Orwellian style he usually employs, George W. Bush wants to blame our lousy economy on "frivolous lawsuits." Those are the lawsuits brought against big corporations for doing God knows what. Any time a Republican cries "reform" you know something is amiss. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
President Bush said today he would send proposed legislation to Congress to limit "frivolous lawsuits" as a way to help the economy grow.
Mr. Bush, speaking at a two-day White House-sponsored economic summit, said the legislation would curb class-action litigation, lawsuits seeking damages for exposure to asbestos and medical malpractice suits.
GREAT QUOTE FROM HOWARD STERN
I don't really like Howard Stern's version of entertainment, but I do admire his intellect and his ability to speak his mind. This is a great quote about the very strange dichotomy of FCC Chairman Michael Powell, the policeman of "indecency" on the airwaves and son of a man largely responsible for the bloodbath in Iraq. The story is at www.usatoday.com:
FCC Chairman Michael Powell. "He claims it's his mandate to determine what is indecent on the airwaves. If he thinks it's indecent, let's go to court. I want to ask him, 'How are you qualified for this? You're the son of Colin Powell; how are you qualified to decide what's indecent in America?' "
PAYDAY LENDERS: LEGALIZED LOAN SHARKING
There are any numbers of industries that prey on the poor. One of the most insidious is the payday lending industry, which can charge rates up to 780 percent, according to this story. It's like sinking in the proverbial quicksand. You can never get out from under because of the horrendous rates. This type of lending should be illegal. This story is at quote.bloomberg.com:
Payday lenders' fees typically run at an annual percentage rate of 390 percent or higher compared with about 18 percent for cash advances drawn on a credit card.
Such high rates trap borrowers in a cycle that few can break without defaulting and facing legal judgments, Fox says. To skirt usury laws, the payday loan industry has persuaded 36 states to legalize its lending practices.
WAL-MART EXPLOITS POVERTY
You probably remember the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. Imagine there were no Wal-Marts, no union-busting, low-paying, greedy, soulless companies. This article shows just how Wal-Mart benefits from poverty, both in the way it mistreats its workers and in the economic demographic it exploits. If possible, don't buy at Wal-Mart. This story is at www.thenation.com:
To make this model work, Wal-Mart must keep labor costs down. It does this by making corporate crime an integral part of its business strategy. Wal-Mart routinely violates laws protecting workers' organizing rights (workers have even been fired for union activity). It is a repeat offender on overtime laws; in more than thirty states, workers have brought wage-and-hour class-action suits against the retailer. In some cases, workers say, managers encouraged them to clock out and keep working; in others, managers locked the doors and would not let employees go home at the end of their shifts. And it's often women who suffer most from Wal-Mart's labor practices. Dukes v. Wal-Mart, which is the largest civil rights class-action suit in history, charges the company with systematically discriminating against women in pay and promotions [see Featherstone, "Wal-Mart Values: Selling Women Short," December 16, 2002].
HOME OWNERSHIP IS NOT A PANACEA
Home ownership is often cited as being a big part of the American Dream. It's one of the things being touted by George W. Bush, which should immediately make it suspect. This article explores whether home ownership is really all that's it's cracked up to be. The article is at www.motherjones.com:
Over the past few years, a growing number of academics and policy wonks of various ideological stripes have quietly begun questioning the American Dream of homeownership. Few of them say that owning a home, in itself, is bad; rather, they note that owning a home may not be right for everyone at every point in time, and that policy should proceed cautiously -- more cautiously, certainly, then Bush has done. Until the late 1990s "there simply wasn't very much research on the actual benefits of homeownership," says Anne Shlay, director of the Center for Public Policy at Temple University. "You had these unquestioned assumptions that homeownership was a perfect way to create wealth for low-income families, that it would create stable families, better students. But it was essentially ideology driving policy."
THAT GREAT MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM
We're continuing to spend billions on a "missile defense" system that is joke. The latest test was a major failure. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
An important test of the United States' emerging missile-defense system ended in an $85 million failure early today as an interceptor rocket failed to launch as scheduled from the Marshall Islands, the Pentagon said.
A target rocket carrying a mock warhead was successfully launched from Kodiak, Alaska. But the interceptor, which was to have gone aloft 16 minutes later and picked off the target 100 miles over the earth, automatically shut down instead because of "an unknown anomaly," the Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency said.
BUSH WANTS TO TAKE LEGAL POWER AWAY FROM US
In the classic Orwellian style he usually employs, George W. Bush wants to blame our lousy economy on "frivolous lawsuits." Those are the lawsuits brought against big corporations for doing God knows what. Any time a Republican cries "reform" you know something is amiss. This story is at www.nytimes.com:
President Bush said today he would send proposed legislation to Congress to limit "frivolous lawsuits" as a way to help the economy grow.
Mr. Bush, speaking at a two-day White House-sponsored economic summit, said the legislation would curb class-action litigation, lawsuits seeking damages for exposure to asbestos and medical malpractice suits.
GREAT QUOTE FROM HOWARD STERN
I don't really like Howard Stern's version of entertainment, but I do admire his intellect and his ability to speak his mind. This is a great quote about the very strange dichotomy of FCC Chairman Michael Powell, the policeman of "indecency" on the airwaves and son of a man largely responsible for the bloodbath in Iraq. The story is at www.usatoday.com:
FCC Chairman Michael Powell. "He claims it's his mandate to determine what is indecent on the airwaves. If he thinks it's indecent, let's go to court. I want to ask him, 'How are you qualified for this? You're the son of Colin Powell; how are you qualified to decide what's indecent in America?' "
PAYDAY LENDERS: LEGALIZED LOAN SHARKING
There are any numbers of industries that prey on the poor. One of the most insidious is the payday lending industry, which can charge rates up to 780 percent, according to this story. It's like sinking in the proverbial quicksand. You can never get out from under because of the horrendous rates. This type of lending should be illegal. This story is at quote.bloomberg.com:
Payday lenders' fees typically run at an annual percentage rate of 390 percent or higher compared with about 18 percent for cash advances drawn on a credit card.
Such high rates trap borrowers in a cycle that few can break without defaulting and facing legal judgments, Fox says. To skirt usury laws, the payday loan industry has persuaded 36 states to legalize its lending practices.
WAL-MART EXPLOITS POVERTY
You probably remember the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. Imagine there were no Wal-Marts, no union-busting, low-paying, greedy, soulless companies. This article shows just how Wal-Mart benefits from poverty, both in the way it mistreats its workers and in the economic demographic it exploits. If possible, don't buy at Wal-Mart. This story is at www.thenation.com:
To make this model work, Wal-Mart must keep labor costs down. It does this by making corporate crime an integral part of its business strategy. Wal-Mart routinely violates laws protecting workers' organizing rights (workers have even been fired for union activity). It is a repeat offender on overtime laws; in more than thirty states, workers have brought wage-and-hour class-action suits against the retailer. In some cases, workers say, managers encouraged them to clock out and keep working; in others, managers locked the doors and would not let employees go home at the end of their shifts. And it's often women who suffer most from Wal-Mart's labor practices. Dukes v. Wal-Mart, which is the largest civil rights class-action suit in history, charges the company with systematically discriminating against women in pay and promotions [see Featherstone, "Wal-Mart Values: Selling Women Short," December 16, 2002].
HOME OWNERSHIP IS NOT A PANACEA
Home ownership is often cited as being a big part of the American Dream. It's one of the things being touted by George W. Bush, which should immediately make it suspect. This article explores whether home ownership is really all that's it's cracked up to be. The article is at www.motherjones.com:
Over the past few years, a growing number of academics and policy wonks of various ideological stripes have quietly begun questioning the American Dream of homeownership. Few of them say that owning a home, in itself, is bad; rather, they note that owning a home may not be right for everyone at every point in time, and that policy should proceed cautiously -- more cautiously, certainly, then Bush has done. Until the late 1990s "there simply wasn't very much research on the actual benefits of homeownership," says Anne Shlay, director of the Center for Public Policy at Temple University. "You had these unquestioned assumptions that homeownership was a perfect way to create wealth for low-income families, that it would create stable families, better students. But it was essentially ideology driving policy."
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
DECEMBER 15, 2004
PROTEST SINCLAIR BROADCASTING
Sinclair Broadcasting planned to air a smear of John Kerry just before the election, but backed down under pressure. But Sinclair, like much of the corporate media, is a Republican mouthpiece. In the Central Valley we have Pappas Broadcasting, which was so flagrant it wanted to give free airtime to Republican candidates. It's time to hit these big media companies hard over their bias. This story is at www.latimes.com:
A coalition of liberal political groups is launching a nationwide protest against Sinclair Broadcast Group, charging that the 62-station TV broadcaster, which was also the target of intense criticism during the presidential campaign, is misusing public airwaves with partisan news programming.
The groups, led by Media Matters for America, today will announce a campaign to pressure Sinclair's advertisers with letters. The groups, however, are stopping short of demanding an advertiser boycott.
ANTI-WORKER GROPER AT IT AGAIN
I dislike George W. Bush intensely and I'm putting our Governor Groper on the same list. This guy is a phony, posturing, anti-woman, anti-worker creep. He has consistently worked for the interest of big business since he got into office in what essentially was a coup. This latest example is an attack on the right to lunch breaks for working people. The story is at www.sfgate.com:
The Schwarzenegger administration is seeking an emergency rule that would weaken a Gov. Gray Davis-era law that protects the rights of workers to take lunch breaks.
The unusual move by the governor's labor officials is aimed, they say, at limiting lawsuits by employees against their employers and clearing up confusion among employers about their responsibility to provide breaks.
But critics of the order, including labor groups and some Democratic lawmakers, accuse Schwarzenegger of trying to undo a long-standing right to lunch periods that was strengthened by Davis in 2000 to allow employees ranging from farmworkers to bus drivers to sue employers who denied them breaks and recover years of lost wages.
CANADA LOOKS THE WAY U.S. SHOULD LOOK
In Canada they weren't foolish enough to give the reins of power to right-wing ideologues. In Canada you can actually get health care. In Canada they don't blow federal surpluses on tax cuts to the rich, who need them the least. This story is from www.thestar.com:
An influential Commons committee will advise Finance Minister Ralph Goodale to reject personal income tax cuts in his upcoming budget despite the federal government's substantial surplus, sources told The Canadian Press.
In a report to be made public next week, the Commons finance committee calls on Goodale to look for ways to ease the tax burden on the most modest-income earners in future budgets.
FOR PROSPERITY, DO THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT BUSH WANTS
Everything George W. Bush has touched has turned into a disaster. Prior to being selected president, Mr. Bush was a lousy businessman who was bailed out by his daddy's rich friends over and over again. He was mostly a figurehead Governor of Texas, but what he did accomplish was toxic. His policies made Houston one of the most polluted cities in the country. His school "reforms' made things worse. And we can see what has happened since he went into the White House. In this story Mr. Bush is hyping his lousy ideas for the economy and Social Security. The story is at news.yahoo.com:
An economy with blue skies, happy workers and prosperity for all, just around the corner. That's the sunny picture painted Wednesday at President Bush economic conference, where nary a discouraging word was uttered and Bush's second-term priorities were resoundingly praised. In reality, Bush will have a hard time getting any of his major proposals through a skeptical Congress.
Bush's plans to overhaul the tax code and Social Security and to limit lawsuit liability awards are generating stiff opposition, even among some groups that supported his earlier economic endeavors.
THE WINGNUTS JUST GET NUTTIER
From time to time you see a letter to the editor claiming that "Christians" are "persecuted" in the United States. There's just that awful "political correctness" at work, you see, and these poor Christians are having their faith trampled on. When they speak of "Christians," of course, they're speaking of the evangelical crowd who think they have a monopoly on truth. The latest screeching from these fools concerns Christmas. It's just terrible--TERRIBLE--that corporate entities don't say "Merry Christmas." They say "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" and the sky is falling. All I can say is that these evangelicals don't seem to have much faith if something as innocuous as "Seasons Greetings" can send them into a tizzy. This story is at www.boston.com:
''There is a revival taking place in our nation that is causing Christian and right-minded people to say, 'Wait a minute. We've gone too far,' " says the Rev. Patrick Wooden Sr., pastor of the Raleigh church. ''We're not going to allow the country to continue this downward spiral to the left."
PROTEST SINCLAIR BROADCASTING
Sinclair Broadcasting planned to air a smear of John Kerry just before the election, but backed down under pressure. But Sinclair, like much of the corporate media, is a Republican mouthpiece. In the Central Valley we have Pappas Broadcasting, which was so flagrant it wanted to give free airtime to Republican candidates. It's time to hit these big media companies hard over their bias. This story is at www.latimes.com:
A coalition of liberal political groups is launching a nationwide protest against Sinclair Broadcast Group, charging that the 62-station TV broadcaster, which was also the target of intense criticism during the presidential campaign, is misusing public airwaves with partisan news programming.
The groups, led by Media Matters for America, today will announce a campaign to pressure Sinclair's advertisers with letters. The groups, however, are stopping short of demanding an advertiser boycott.
ANTI-WORKER GROPER AT IT AGAIN
I dislike George W. Bush intensely and I'm putting our Governor Groper on the same list. This guy is a phony, posturing, anti-woman, anti-worker creep. He has consistently worked for the interest of big business since he got into office in what essentially was a coup. This latest example is an attack on the right to lunch breaks for working people. The story is at www.sfgate.com:
The Schwarzenegger administration is seeking an emergency rule that would weaken a Gov. Gray Davis-era law that protects the rights of workers to take lunch breaks.
The unusual move by the governor's labor officials is aimed, they say, at limiting lawsuits by employees against their employers and clearing up confusion among employers about their responsibility to provide breaks.
But critics of the order, including labor groups and some Democratic lawmakers, accuse Schwarzenegger of trying to undo a long-standing right to lunch periods that was strengthened by Davis in 2000 to allow employees ranging from farmworkers to bus drivers to sue employers who denied them breaks and recover years of lost wages.
CANADA LOOKS THE WAY U.S. SHOULD LOOK
In Canada they weren't foolish enough to give the reins of power to right-wing ideologues. In Canada you can actually get health care. In Canada they don't blow federal surpluses on tax cuts to the rich, who need them the least. This story is from www.thestar.com:
An influential Commons committee will advise Finance Minister Ralph Goodale to reject personal income tax cuts in his upcoming budget despite the federal government's substantial surplus, sources told The Canadian Press.
In a report to be made public next week, the Commons finance committee calls on Goodale to look for ways to ease the tax burden on the most modest-income earners in future budgets.
FOR PROSPERITY, DO THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT BUSH WANTS
Everything George W. Bush has touched has turned into a disaster. Prior to being selected president, Mr. Bush was a lousy businessman who was bailed out by his daddy's rich friends over and over again. He was mostly a figurehead Governor of Texas, but what he did accomplish was toxic. His policies made Houston one of the most polluted cities in the country. His school "reforms' made things worse. And we can see what has happened since he went into the White House. In this story Mr. Bush is hyping his lousy ideas for the economy and Social Security. The story is at news.yahoo.com:
An economy with blue skies, happy workers and prosperity for all, just around the corner. That's the sunny picture painted Wednesday at President Bush economic conference, where nary a discouraging word was uttered and Bush's second-term priorities were resoundingly praised. In reality, Bush will have a hard time getting any of his major proposals through a skeptical Congress.
Bush's plans to overhaul the tax code and Social Security and to limit lawsuit liability awards are generating stiff opposition, even among some groups that supported his earlier economic endeavors.
THE WINGNUTS JUST GET NUTTIER
From time to time you see a letter to the editor claiming that "Christians" are "persecuted" in the United States. There's just that awful "political correctness" at work, you see, and these poor Christians are having their faith trampled on. When they speak of "Christians," of course, they're speaking of the evangelical crowd who think they have a monopoly on truth. The latest screeching from these fools concerns Christmas. It's just terrible--TERRIBLE--that corporate entities don't say "Merry Christmas." They say "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" and the sky is falling. All I can say is that these evangelicals don't seem to have much faith if something as innocuous as "Seasons Greetings" can send them into a tizzy. This story is at www.boston.com:
''There is a revival taking place in our nation that is causing Christian and right-minded people to say, 'Wait a minute. We've gone too far,' " says the Rev. Patrick Wooden Sr., pastor of the Raleigh church. ''We're not going to allow the country to continue this downward spiral to the left."
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
DECEMBER 14, 2004
NO DECISIVE REASON TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY
There simply are no good reasons to "privatize" Social Security the way George W. Bush is advocating. Mr Bush is lying about the problems with the current system the way he always lies. The only real beneficiaries from the changes he proposes will be the people collecting broker's fees. This column is from Sebastian Mallaby at www.washingtonpost.com:
The debate about Social Security has started off on the wrong foot. To privatize or not to privatize should not be the main question. The problem with this administration is not that it wants private accounts, which have pluses as well as minuses. The problem is that it wants private accounts as an end in themselves, and so may lose sight of the Social Security issues that actually matter.
Why shouldn't private accounts be the central issue? Because none of their advantages is big enough to be decisive.
CHRISTMAS SALES SLUGGISH SO FAR
Retailers are nervous about the slow pace of Christmas sales so far. To me, the most illuminating part of this story talks about how middle class and poor people just don't have the resources to buy this year. Those Bush tax cuts have sure trickled down, haven't they? This story from USA Today is at news.yahoo.com:
Luxury retailers have seen booming sales. But dragging down overall sales growth is the key holiday gift category of apparel - particularly at low and moderate price levels - as low- and middle-income consumers struggle.
DEMOCRATS NEED TO GO BACK TO BEING LIBERALS
I'm tired of Republican Lite. Democrats will not recapture Congress or the White House by being pale imitations of Republicans. The most successful coalition we ever had was built on the accomplishments of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society. Walking in lock step with Republicans will disenfranchise more and more voters, send many of us to a third party, and result in more devastating losses in the future. Michael Moore has an interesting commentary featured at www.commondreams.org:
The days of trying to move the Democratic Party to the right are over. We lost a very close election (a one-state difference) by running the #1 liberal in the Senate. Not bad. The country is shifting in our direction, not to the right. But the country was attacked and people were scared. They were manipulated with fear. And America has never thrown a sitting president out during wartime. That’s the facts. Oh, and our candidate could have run a better campaign (but we’ll have that discussion another day).
OUR GOVERNMENT IS OWNED BY BIG MONEY
In this article retiring Senator Fritz Hollings talks about the reality of being in the Senate these days. It's a constant chase for money, instead of working for the benefit of your constituents. And guess who gets the most attention in getting legislation passed? It isn't the ordinary man and woman. This article is at www.cbsnews.com:
South Carolina Sen. Fritz Hollings has long been known as the tartest tongue in the Senate. But now, this feisty senator is giving up his seat. He didn't lose it, and a younger Republican didn't defeat him. But after 38 years, he just decided enough's enough.
He says the Senate has changed – and not for the better. "I'm sick of raising money to get re-elected, so I'm going home to Charleston," says Hollings.
RELIGION CAN HAVE A COMPASSIONATE SIDE
We're not talking about the phony compassion enunciated by George W. Bush, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, or Pat Robertson, but the kind of compassion demonstrated by the Jesus Christ we meet in the New Testament. Addressing poverty should be much more of a "moral value" than demonizing gays or abortion. This article is at www.sfgate.com:
"Shame on us,'' said Bobo, executive director of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, a Chicago-based advocacy group. "Those of us who work with the religious community have not adequately made the connection between economic disparity and moral values."
In the aftermath of an election in which President Bush solidified his hold on white evangelical voters, Bobo and other left-leaning religious activists are struggling to broaden the "moral values" debate in American politics.
NO DECISIVE REASON TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY
There simply are no good reasons to "privatize" Social Security the way George W. Bush is advocating. Mr Bush is lying about the problems with the current system the way he always lies. The only real beneficiaries from the changes he proposes will be the people collecting broker's fees. This column is from Sebastian Mallaby at www.washingtonpost.com:
The debate about Social Security has started off on the wrong foot. To privatize or not to privatize should not be the main question. The problem with this administration is not that it wants private accounts, which have pluses as well as minuses. The problem is that it wants private accounts as an end in themselves, and so may lose sight of the Social Security issues that actually matter.
Why shouldn't private accounts be the central issue? Because none of their advantages is big enough to be decisive.
CHRISTMAS SALES SLUGGISH SO FAR
Retailers are nervous about the slow pace of Christmas sales so far. To me, the most illuminating part of this story talks about how middle class and poor people just don't have the resources to buy this year. Those Bush tax cuts have sure trickled down, haven't they? This story from USA Today is at news.yahoo.com:
Luxury retailers have seen booming sales. But dragging down overall sales growth is the key holiday gift category of apparel - particularly at low and moderate price levels - as low- and middle-income consumers struggle.
DEMOCRATS NEED TO GO BACK TO BEING LIBERALS
I'm tired of Republican Lite. Democrats will not recapture Congress or the White House by being pale imitations of Republicans. The most successful coalition we ever had was built on the accomplishments of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society. Walking in lock step with Republicans will disenfranchise more and more voters, send many of us to a third party, and result in more devastating losses in the future. Michael Moore has an interesting commentary featured at www.commondreams.org:
The days of trying to move the Democratic Party to the right are over. We lost a very close election (a one-state difference) by running the #1 liberal in the Senate. Not bad. The country is shifting in our direction, not to the right. But the country was attacked and people were scared. They were manipulated with fear. And America has never thrown a sitting president out during wartime. That’s the facts. Oh, and our candidate could have run a better campaign (but we’ll have that discussion another day).
OUR GOVERNMENT IS OWNED BY BIG MONEY
In this article retiring Senator Fritz Hollings talks about the reality of being in the Senate these days. It's a constant chase for money, instead of working for the benefit of your constituents. And guess who gets the most attention in getting legislation passed? It isn't the ordinary man and woman. This article is at www.cbsnews.com:
South Carolina Sen. Fritz Hollings has long been known as the tartest tongue in the Senate. But now, this feisty senator is giving up his seat. He didn't lose it, and a younger Republican didn't defeat him. But after 38 years, he just decided enough's enough.
He says the Senate has changed – and not for the better. "I'm sick of raising money to get re-elected, so I'm going home to Charleston," says Hollings.
RELIGION CAN HAVE A COMPASSIONATE SIDE
We're not talking about the phony compassion enunciated by George W. Bush, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, or Pat Robertson, but the kind of compassion demonstrated by the Jesus Christ we meet in the New Testament. Addressing poverty should be much more of a "moral value" than demonizing gays or abortion. This article is at www.sfgate.com:
"Shame on us,'' said Bobo, executive director of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, a Chicago-based advocacy group. "Those of us who work with the religious community have not adequately made the connection between economic disparity and moral values."
In the aftermath of an election in which President Bush solidified his hold on white evangelical voters, Bobo and other left-leaning religious activists are struggling to broaden the "moral values" debate in American politics.
Monday, December 13, 2004
DECEMBER 13, 2004
MOURNING GARY WEBB
The devastating news that investigative reporter Gary Webb is dead hits you like a rock. We need more dedicated investigative reporters, who have become almost an extinct species. Webb broke the story of the CIA-crack-Contra connection back during the Reagan years. He was roundly criticized, but is it really so farfetched, knowing what we know now, that the CIA would indulge in such skullduggery? This story is at www.latimes.com:
"The guy had a fierce commitment to justice and truth. He cared deeply about the people who are forgotten, that we try to shove into the dark recesses of our minds and world," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for the California attorney general's office who worked with Webb on the Oracle investigation.
REPORTS OF SOCIAL SECURITY'S DEATH GREATLY EXAGGERATED
George W. Bush and his buds on Wall Street want to create a crisis in Social Security. They are insisting the program isn't viable and will go bankrupt. The fact is that Social Security is viable for decades and even then minor adjustments can insure the success of the program. The "overhaul" proposed by Bush and his cohorts will require the borrowing of billions of dollars, once again passing on huge debt to future generations, and the privatized system they propose will be far more risky than Social Security. This article is at www.latimes.com:
So, even if Congress did not touch Social Security's benefit formula through 2042, a 25% benefit cut when the surplus ran out would still leave benefits slightly higher than they were now - even after adjusting for price inflation.
That, according to opponents of private accounts, is not exactly a formula for disaster. On the revenue side of the ledger, the Social Security payroll tax rate - 6.2%, matched by an equal tax on the employer - has not changed since 1990. But the maximum wage on which the tax is levied, $87,900 in 2004, rises annually with wage inflation.
ONE OF THE DANGERS OF RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM:
ADHERENTS IGNORE FACTS
This is an excerpt from a speech by Bill Moyers where he talks about the delusional fundamentalists who are now running things in the United States. They're the kind of people who claim that deficits don't matter because the "free market" will magically make them go away. Ousting Saddam Hussein was righteous because he was a bad man, even though the justification originally used was that he was a threat to us. The global environment isn't warming due to human activity. It's part of the natural cycle of things and besides global warming could be "good." This speech can be found at www.tompaine.com:
As difficult as it is, however, for journalists to fashion a readable narrative for complex issues without depressing our readers and viewers, there is an even harder challenge—to pierce the ideology that governs official policy today. One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the oval office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts.
THE STUPID WASTEFUL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM
Why are we still spending billions of dollars on a ridiculous idea like a "Star Wars" defense system? As has been stated before, it's like trying to shoot down a bullet with a bullet. It is, however, a tremendous money maker for defense contractors. In this article Philip Coyle, the chief weapons inspector under President Clinton, nicely summarizes just how stupid this is. The article is at www.myway.com:
Coyle said the tests so far and the coming one gave him no such confidence.
"The target launch time and location, the flight trajectory, the point of impact, what the target looks like, and the make-up of other objects in the target cluster have all been known in advance to plot the intercept," he said. "No enemy would cooperate by providing all that information in advance."
TEN YEAR OLD CUFFED, ARRESTED, FOR HAVING SCISSORS
I'm not a fan of authoritarianism and this story is about authoritarianism at its most absurd. A ten-year-old girl had a pair of scissors in her book bag and got arrested and taken to the police station in handcuffs. She wasn't doing anything at all improper with the scissors. Defenders of the police said they acted in "good faith." They acted like bullies and jackasses. This story is at www.philly.com:
A 10-year-old fourth-grade girl at Holme Elementary School in the Far Northeast was pulled out of class, handcuffed, and taken to the local police station in the back of a police wagon earlier this week after a pair of 8-inch scissors were found in her book bag, according to authorities and her angry mother.
MOURNING GARY WEBB
The devastating news that investigative reporter Gary Webb is dead hits you like a rock. We need more dedicated investigative reporters, who have become almost an extinct species. Webb broke the story of the CIA-crack-Contra connection back during the Reagan years. He was roundly criticized, but is it really so farfetched, knowing what we know now, that the CIA would indulge in such skullduggery? This story is at www.latimes.com:
"The guy had a fierce commitment to justice and truth. He cared deeply about the people who are forgotten, that we try to shove into the dark recesses of our minds and world," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for the California attorney general's office who worked with Webb on the Oracle investigation.
REPORTS OF SOCIAL SECURITY'S DEATH GREATLY EXAGGERATED
George W. Bush and his buds on Wall Street want to create a crisis in Social Security. They are insisting the program isn't viable and will go bankrupt. The fact is that Social Security is viable for decades and even then minor adjustments can insure the success of the program. The "overhaul" proposed by Bush and his cohorts will require the borrowing of billions of dollars, once again passing on huge debt to future generations, and the privatized system they propose will be far more risky than Social Security. This article is at www.latimes.com:
So, even if Congress did not touch Social Security's benefit formula through 2042, a 25% benefit cut when the surplus ran out would still leave benefits slightly higher than they were now - even after adjusting for price inflation.
That, according to opponents of private accounts, is not exactly a formula for disaster. On the revenue side of the ledger, the Social Security payroll tax rate - 6.2%, matched by an equal tax on the employer - has not changed since 1990. But the maximum wage on which the tax is levied, $87,900 in 2004, rises annually with wage inflation.
ONE OF THE DANGERS OF RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM:
ADHERENTS IGNORE FACTS
This is an excerpt from a speech by Bill Moyers where he talks about the delusional fundamentalists who are now running things in the United States. They're the kind of people who claim that deficits don't matter because the "free market" will magically make them go away. Ousting Saddam Hussein was righteous because he was a bad man, even though the justification originally used was that he was a threat to us. The global environment isn't warming due to human activity. It's part of the natural cycle of things and besides global warming could be "good." This speech can be found at www.tompaine.com:
As difficult as it is, however, for journalists to fashion a readable narrative for complex issues without depressing our readers and viewers, there is an even harder challenge—to pierce the ideology that governs official policy today. One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the oval office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts.
THE STUPID WASTEFUL MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM
Why are we still spending billions of dollars on a ridiculous idea like a "Star Wars" defense system? As has been stated before, it's like trying to shoot down a bullet with a bullet. It is, however, a tremendous money maker for defense contractors. In this article Philip Coyle, the chief weapons inspector under President Clinton, nicely summarizes just how stupid this is. The article is at www.myway.com:
Coyle said the tests so far and the coming one gave him no such confidence.
"The target launch time and location, the flight trajectory, the point of impact, what the target looks like, and the make-up of other objects in the target cluster have all been known in advance to plot the intercept," he said. "No enemy would cooperate by providing all that information in advance."
TEN YEAR OLD CUFFED, ARRESTED, FOR HAVING SCISSORS
I'm not a fan of authoritarianism and this story is about authoritarianism at its most absurd. A ten-year-old girl had a pair of scissors in her book bag and got arrested and taken to the police station in handcuffs. She wasn't doing anything at all improper with the scissors. Defenders of the police said they acted in "good faith." They acted like bullies and jackasses. This story is at www.philly.com:
A 10-year-old fourth-grade girl at Holme Elementary School in the Far Northeast was pulled out of class, handcuffed, and taken to the local police station in the back of a police wagon earlier this week after a pair of 8-inch scissors were found in her book bag, according to authorities and her angry mother.
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