Dubya Watch Archive

 

 

 

 

Here's More of Micah's Work:

By the way, the creator of this left art is Micah Ian Wright. He's a film and comics guy and get this: a former Army Ranger. Now, this is what makes America great. Here's some of his great art. The links are here and here.

The link (Must See Propaganda Picture)
is Mysteriously down for "bandwidth" reasons...Censorship anyone?

(Know I haven't Updated in a While But I'm back with a Vengeance)

Another Must Read Justin Raimondo Piece
Somebody Is Watching the Instapundit
Info About Radical Educator Paolo Freire
ICANN Evil Eliminates Net Reps and Adds Online Tax
South Dakota Moves to Legalize Hemp
Quark Soup Has Become Must Reading (Check out Appell's Decimation
of Andy Sullivan and James Hudnall)
Big Pharma Uses Third World Test Subjects
Ted Rall Interview at Pittsburgh Weekly
Great Tom Tomorrow Rant
Scary Piece About the Federalist Society

Must See Propaganda Pictures

Did Bush Encourage 9-11?: To my Trek-trained eye, Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek ever produced. One of the more interesting plotlines involved how the Romulan and Cardassian Secret Services tried to take out the evil Dominion's homeworld. But the Dominion knew about and in fact encouraged them to make the attack because it furthured their own interests. William Pitt-Rivers makes the same allegations against the Bush Administration: that they didn't want to stop 9-11 because the fallout would have so many beneficial outcomes, from record high approval ratings to Unocal getting that pipeline deal. Personally, I feel that this administration does exhibit a kind of anti-christ level of evil. Frankly, I thought a decent president would never accept the presidency on the basis of a vote count that you weren't sure of. Anyway here's a link and a quote and decide for yourselves:

"In the aftermath of September 11th, we were told the terror was brought upon us by people who hate our freedom and resent our way of life. In point of fact, however, it appears the attacks came as part of a broader game. The Bush administration willingly entered parley with the Taliban, despite their care and feeding of wanted killer Osama bin Laden, so as to further the goals on an American petroleum interest. In the process, they watered down American anti-terrorism measures to such a degree that a Deputy Director was compelled to quit in protest, and another has since filed suit against the agency.

Did the threats of war levied against the Taliban on behalf of Unocal spur Osama bin Laden into murderous action on behalf of his host nation? Was his attack made easier because the Bush administration willfully weakened our intelligence apparatus so as to avoid offending potential client states? Is it possible that the dust and ruin in New York and Washington are byproducts of a pipeline deal that was pursued before the attacks, and has been allowed to come to fruition in the aftermath?"

What American Martial Law Would Look Like...?: A very scary story in Counterpunch that details how it could happen here. It would take a completely corrupt presidential administration, a slumbering populace, a bought off congress...Like I said: a very scary story. Here's what they say will happen to humble webmasters, and everyone else with a different opinion, like me:

"In the event of martial law, Draconian censorship laws would be implemented. Even now, the Patriot Act grants authority to obtain an order from the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court requiring any person or business to produce any books, records, documents, or items." That law would undoubtedly be extended to encompass the Internet as well. It should be of little wonder why the Pentagon has brought Iran-contra felon Admiral John Poindexter back from retirement to head the Office of Information Awareness. Coupled with the Office of Information Exploitation, Poindexter's office is seeking ways to identify, block, and determine the sources of seditious material posted on the Internet. Blocked web sites, confiscated computers and servers, and the arrest of non-conforming web site managers would become the rule of the day."

Inspiring Story of Clean Donation Campaigning: This is probably the most effective way that you can take away the influence of big money in politics. If I understand it correctly, it's completely voluntary. So you can choose between the candidate owned by Disney or Microsoft or the candidate owned by you. Tough call...

Public Citizen Takes on Digital Right of Deep Linking
(This is why Ralph Nader is Cool...): I hope Cory Doctorow, who published a piece praising Overlawyered.com which pushes an agenda that would allow the comman man even less access to the courts, pays attention to what Ralph is doing here. Ralph isn't antitech. He converted the entirety of Public Citizen's infrastructure to Linux.

Great Newspeak Piece by Ed Herman: This is a nice updating of how the media slants the news with loaded words and phrases. May you never be called "controversial" by an on air broadcaster.

Nice Profile of Early Upton Sinclair Critique of Big Media:

Apparently, Upton Sinclair's other important book is called the "Brass Check" and it's a critique of the mass media. Even in the 20s and 30s the control that wealthy elites had over newspapers was a problem. It's another insightful piece co-written by Robert McChesney. Here's an excerpt:

"Sinclair, too, more than any previous press critic, zeroes in on advertising and its ignominious implications for a free press. “Everywhere in the world of Journalism, high and low, you see this power of the advertiser,” he writes. “This system of publicity in return for advertising is a fundamentally dishonest one, but it is inseparable from the business of publishing news for profit, and the legitimate and the illegitimate shade into one another so gradually that it would be hard for an honest editor to know where to draw the line”(p. 285). Moreover, to Sinclair, the political biases of advertisers made it vastly more difficult for socialist pro-labor publications to survive in the marketplace. “For some strange reason,” he noted of a magazine that generated a large circulation but still could not generate enough revenue to break even, “the packers of hams and bacon, the manufacturers of automobiles and ready-made clothing, of toilet perfumeries and fancy cigarettes, would not pay money to a Socialist magazine!” (p. 294)"

Here's another excerpt and note Sinclair's argument about how the press' role of propaganda is conscious:

"Sinclair’s genius in The Brass Check is, in part, to sift through much of this entire body of criticism and distill it into a coherent monograph. Combined with his own extensive experience as a journalist and political activist, it makes for a heady brew. There is, for example, the rudimentary basis of a sophisticated critique of the use of propaganda by powerful forces to subvert democracy: “Journalism is one of the devices whereby industrial autocracy keeps its control over political democracy; it is the day-by-day, between-elections propaganda, whereby the minds of the people are kept in a state of acquiescence, so that when the crisis of an election comes, they go to the polls and cast their ballots for either one of the two parties of their exploiters” (p. 222). “You will miss the point of this book,” Sinclair writes later, “if you fail to get clear the perversion of news and the betrayal of public opinion is no haphazard and accidental thing; for twenty five years…it has been a thing deliberately planned and systematically carried out, a science and a technique. High-priced experts devote their lives to it, they sit in counsel with the masters of industry, and report on the public minds, and determine precisely how this shall be presented, and how this shall be suppressed” (p. 262). "

Indy Media's New York Monthly Features:

Global Warming Story
Dwindling Freshwater Story
Eco Terrorist Gets 23 Years

Well, I can see why the Warbloggers really really hate Indy Media. It's starting to produce some good stuff. These links are tied to a print monthly that the New York faction of Indy Media is putting out. It's not bad. Of course, what really needs to be examined by the left is city and state politics. and this is a good start.

Already Great Prospect Blog Gets a Permalink
The American Prospect Blog is already a winner. The first thing it did is it took on the Warbloggers and their attack on David Brock. Andy Sullivan led the charge and he was wrong, which he was slow to acknowledge. Tapped got ahold of the original transmission and they found out that Brock didn't say what Sullivan thought he had. They're also very good at debunking what I've found to be the almost constant lies and innuendo spread by the Republican war blogger crowd about everybody from Chomsky to Mike Moore, but I have to admit they haven't hurt Mike's book sales any. It could even be an agrument that the net might trend left, despite the self-promotion of the War Blogger crowd.

Must Read Fallows/Nader at Slate
Boy, these are two literate guys going at it. Fallows starts by saying that Nader cost Gore Florida and therefore the presidency. Nader's counter that the Greens got the Senate for the dems doesn't sound too convincing. The presidency would make up for senate, but Ralph is still a hero of mine, unless he costs the Democrats another national election.

New MYDD Political Blog
A political log put out by a real politcal wonk and he's a liberal.

Federation of American Scientist's Report on Anthrax
I found this over at Anti War's Justin Raimondo's site. It looks like the anthrax was built in american labs. There's another story about this that appeared in Counterpunch recently.

Wal Mart: The Very Ugly American Corporation
This is a piece by Jim Hightower who really sticks it to Wal Mart. I never realised the company was that evil. I never knew that nobody there makes more than poverty wages. That's alarming and depressing.

Here's an excerpt:

Yes, there is the happy-faced "greeter" who welcomes shoppers into every store, and employees (or "associates," as the company grandiosely calls them) gather just before opening each morning for a pep rally, where they are all required to join in the Wal-Mart cheer: "Gimme a ‘W!’" shouts the cheerleader; "W!" the dutiful employees respond. "Gimme an A!’" And so on.

Behind this manufactured cheerfulness, however, is the fact that the average employee makes only $15,000 a year for full-time work. Most are denied even this poverty income, for they’re held to part-time work. While the company brags that 70% of its workers are full-time, at Wal-Mart "full time" is 28 hours a week, meaning they gross less than $11,000 a year.

Health-care benefits? Only if you’ve been there two years; then the plan hits you with such huge premiums that few can afford it—only 38% of Wal-Marters are covered.

Thinking union? Get outta here! "Wal-Mart is opposed to unionization," reads a company guidebook for supervisors. "You, as a manager, are expected to support the company’s position. . . . This may mean walking a tightrope between legitimate campaigning and improper conduct."

Wal-Mart is in fact rabidly anti-union, deploying teams of union-busters from Bentonville to any spot where there’s a whisper of organizing activity. "While unions might be appropriate for other companies, they have no place at Wal-Mart," a spokeswoman told a Texas Observer reporter who was covering an NLRB hearing on the company’s manhandling of 11 meat-cutters who worked at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jacksonville, Texas.

United States: The Very Ugly America

This is a list of all the international treaties and agreements that the United States has pulled out of over the last year or so. It's why we're so hated so to speak.

Here's one through seven:

1. In December 2001, the United States officially withdrew from the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty, gutting the landmark agreement--the first time in the nuclear era that the US renounced a major arms control accord.

2. 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention ratified by 144 nations including the United States. In July 2001 the US walked out of a London conference to discuss a 1994 protocol designed to strengthen the Convention by providing for on-site inspections. At Geneva in November 2001, US Undersecretary of State John Bolton stated that "the protocol is dead," at the same time accusing Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Sudan, and Syria of violating the Convention but offering no specific allegations or supporting evidence.

3. UN Agreement to Curb the International Flow of Illicit Small Arms, July 2001: the US was the only nation to oppose it.

4. April 2001, the US was not reelected to the UN Human Rights Commission, after years of withholding dues to the UN (including current dues of $244 million)--and after having forced the UN to lower its share of the UN budget from 25 to 22 percent. (In the Human Rights Commission, the US stood virtually alone in opposing resolutions supporting lower-cost access to HIV/AIDS drugs, acknowledging a basic human right to adequate food, and calling for a moratorium on the death penalty.)

5. International Criminal Court (ICC) Treaty, to be set up in The Hague to try political leaders and military personnel charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Signed in Rome in July 1998, the Treaty was approved by 120 countries. Although President Clinton signed the Treaty, he announced that the United States would oppose it, along with 6 others (including China and Russia). In October 2001 Great Britain became the 42nd nation to ratify. In December 2001 the US Senate again added an amendment to a military appropriations bill that would keep US military personnel from obeying the jurisdiction of the proposed ICC. In April 2002 the ICC was scheduled to go into effect after being ratified by the required 60 nations; the Bush administration announced that it might "unsign" the Treaty, something the United States has never before done.

6. Land Mine Treaty, banning land mines; signed in Ottawa in December 1997 by 122 nations. The United States refused to sign, along with Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. President Clinton rejected the Treaty, claiming that mines were needed to protect South Korea against North Korea's "overwhelming military advantage." He stated that the US would "eventually" comply, in 2006; this was disavowed by President Bush in August 2001.

7. Kyoto Protocol of 1997, for controlling greenhouse gas emissions and global warming: declared "dead" by President Bush in March 2001; no other country has chosen to abandon the treaty completely. In November 2001 the Bush administration shunned negotiations in Marrakesh (Morocco) to revise the accord, mainly by watering it down in a vain attempt to gain US approval. In February 2002 Mr. Bush announced a new plan to limit emissions--by measures that are to be strictly voluntary. The United States is the largest single producer of emissions, generating 20 percent of the world's total.

Decent New American Prospect Attempt at Blogging
Completely Terrifying Account of Bioweapons at Counterpunch
(Must reading on biowar, toxic vaccines and American-made Anthrax)
The Real Bias in the Media
Arab Side of Israeli Conflict
Funny Mark Fiore Flash Cartoon (Now at Salon)
Environmental Article Takes on Extropians
Nuke Plants: Great Targets for Terrorists
Journal of Those Being Killed in Palestine (From Great New Tom Tomorrow Blog)
Update on Why Wind is a Winner
Smarter Sustainable Farming (Boing Boing)
Combine Cutting Edge Cures + Not Enough Insurance
Online Reporter Gets Coup Story Right
(Hint: It wasn't the Times or the right wing Blogosphere...)
Why The WTO Doesn't Help The Poor
More Evidence of Global Warming
(If Those Collapsing Antarctic Ice Shelves Aren't Enough For You)
Story About Israeli Attacks on the Press
Bush Administration's War Against Science
US Deepens Ties With Human Rights Violators
Two Stories About Journalistic and Literary Censorship

These are some eye-opening accounts about the reality of the news business, books about "Bias" notwithstanding. I hope that all the reporters who have been censored, or felt that a legitimate look at power wasn't possible at the Old Media, take a shot at the web as a new way to get their messages across.

Here's an excerpt from the Alternet Story:

"Indeed, some of the writers in Buzzsaw say that, before their own experiences, they were among the scoffers. Webb writes, "If we had met five years ago, you wouldn't have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me ... I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests. So how could I possibly agree with people like Noam Chomsky and Ben Bagdikian, who were claiming the system didn't work, that it was steered by powerful special interests and corporations, and existed to protect the power elite?"

But, like most of the contributors to "Into the Buzzsaw," he did his job too well and the powers that be hurled him onto the other side of the looking glass. "And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been," he writes. "The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job ... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress."

The routine maginalizing of media critics is one reason "Into the Buzzsaw" is so important. It might be possible to discredit one erstwhile insider, but to argue that more than a dozen veterans of organizations like CBS News, CNN, The AP, The BBC and The San Jose Mercury News are all crazy in exactly the same way would be to engage in conspiracy-mongering more far-fetched than anything these authors are accused of. And while plenty of lefty writers have excoriated media monopolies, rarely has the precise way that corporate ownership and intimidation warp newsroom values been made quite so explicit. The value of these testimonies is largely in their minute accumulation of detail (which occasionally makes for tedious reading but enhances credibility). Borjesson is especially systematic, laying out every meeting, every conversation, every contradiction in government statements."

Excellent Media Transparency Site (Tracks Right Wing Foundation Grants)
Documents Reveal Bush Bends Over For Energy Industry
(We're Shocked As Cheryl Might Say)
US Secrecy About Detainees Unlawful (No Foolin')
Information About Hightower's Rolling Thunder Tour
Flirting with Fascism
More Death Squad Killings
See The Evil Crypto Fascist Stamp

Despite Great Poll Numbers: Here's a Woman Who Doesn't Approve

I do not approve. Let me state that again — loudly, clearly and emphatically — I do not approve.
I do not approve of George W. Bush or his proposed military budget or the small tax refund that would, compiled, be extremely beneficial to those who have little, but is not enough to pay for the crime that will result.
I do not approve of Bush's simplistic view of the world and how to deal with it, that can be summed up as “Ready! Fire! Aim!”
I do not approve of having this president's questionable critical thinking skills define and determine domestic and foreign policy.
I do not approve of his determination that prisoners of war held in Guantanamo Bay are undeserving of Geneva Convention rights.
I do not approve of George W. Bush's 5th grade vocabulary encapsulating our great country's world view or his arrogant refusal to identify what the $38 billion Homeland Defense Bill (not included in the $380 billion defense budget) would be used for.
I do not approve of his willingness to presume what I, as a woman, may do with my body.

State Attempt To Ban Roe V. Wade
Good Piece on the Perpetual War
Hilarious Satirical Anti-Bush Tunes

We Should Impeach The Bogus King
(Sung to the tune of "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" by The New Seekers)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(instrumental intro)
The leader of the world's a dope.
So tarnished is the Shrub.
He has to please the industries
With rides in Navy subs.

We should impeach the bogus king
Reclaim democracy.
Dislike and hold them in contempt:
George Bush and Company.

The leader of the world's a dunce.
What can he understand?
Just hear the cackles of his shills:
"We'll fleece throughout this land."

That's the song you'll hear...
Let the world see today...
Sleaze from Bush on display...
It's so very clear.

(repeat verses)

The Shady Bunch
(Sung to the tune of "The Brady Bunch")

(instrumental intro)

Dubya's story: you may know already.
Stole the White House, and his gang now runs the world.
Most of them are pretty old; served his father.
Their scandals yet unfurled.

Oratory from the dumb Bush Baby?
He can't say more than three words on his own.
Propped by his men, working all together.
Shrub can't be left alone.

Since Election Day, Republicans still bellow:
"Doesn't matter whose voter card you punch."
'Cause their coup was helped by Bush's family.
Bush and Company are all a shady bunch.
The Shady Bunch!
The Shady Bunch!
Bush's junta is called The Shady Bunch!

Must Must Read Ani Difranco Poem (From Robot Wisdom)

cuz take away our playstations
and we are a third world nation
under the thumb of some blue blood royal son
who stole the oval office and that phony election
i mean it don't take a weatherman
to look around and see the weather
jeb said he'd deliver florida, folks
and boy did he ever
and we hold these truths to be self evident:
#1 george w. bush is not president
#2 america is not a true democracy
#3 the media is not fooling me
cuz i am a poem heeding hyper-distillation
i've got no room for a lie so verbose
i'm looking out over my whole human family
and i'm raising my glass in a toast
here's to our last drink of fossil fuels
let us vow to get off of this sauce
shoo away the swarms of commuter planes
and find that train ticket we lost

(And here's another excerpt)

give the big oil companies the finger finally
and relearn how to rock-n-roll
yes, the lessons are all around us and a change is waiting there
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets
and clear the air
get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand
of someone else's desert
put it back in its pants
and quit the hypocritical chants of
freedom forever

Buzzflash Interview with David Brock: This is a big surprise of course. This means that the Right Wing is hypocritical and evil. Who would've thought.

An Excerpt:

BUZZFLASH: Now let me just ask you a speculative question: most of your book deals with your role as the insider, how you came to see the light after being blinded by the right. To what degree do you think the Democrats understand the tactics of the far right? Because it seems to me the Democrats have been fairly ineffective in coming to terms with the reality of a group of people who will win at all costs.

DAVID BROCK: Yeah, I think that's definitely true. I mean, I think there's no question in terms of message discipline and political strategy and tactics, the Democrats are definitely not up to playing the kind of hardball that the conservatives play. And I think part of that has to do with the culture of liberalism, which is more tolerant and is not hate-filled. It's less disciplined, in general, less organized. They certainly don't have the vast partisan media apparatus that the right has at its disposal to get its message out.

And if you notice, there are very few times where the entire conservative commentary disagrees or takes any independent stands not consistent with the Republican Party line of the day. On the other side, I think liberal commentators actually do try to be more objective, more neutral, and try to judge things more as reporters or on the facts, as opposed to being slavishly devoted to a Democratic line.

And then even in the Democratic political world, I think you just have, again, a lack of discipline in terms of message. You get one line from Daschle, one from Gephardt, one from Kennedy, but they're certainly not all on the same page. That's the democratic process, and I'm not criticizing that. I actually think the culture of the left and liberal circles is a lot more healthy than anything I've seen on the right. But there's got to be a way, with integrity, to more effectively mount their case and get their message out onto the airwaves.

How America Does Propaganda Right
Interesting Theory About Crop Duster Terrorist Use
Frightening Yet Plausible Anthrax Scenario
Interesting Blog About The Mideast Conflict
(Features Counterpoint Views. Good idea for Blogs.)
Funny Bush is AWOL Site
THE PRIVATIZATION OF OUR CULTURE
Our entire culture has fallen into the hands of a few multinational corporations, taking with it our right to tell our stories, our right to exchange our information, even our right to heal our sick. It’s time for us to take back what is ours. by Bret Dawson illustrations by Nacho Peón

Neo-Nazi Tactics of the Israelis
Explosive Greg Palast Expose of IMF
Fact Sheet Against IMF
Hilarious Fiore Counter to Administration's Drug Ads
Official EPA Administrator Resignation Letter
Interesting Political Essay By Sci Fi Phenom Greg Egan
Mildly Entertaining Orwell Site
The Future of Military Weaponry
History and Evolution of Corporate Rights
Ex CIA Chief Says What's Wrong With War on Terrorism

This guy is an ex CIA regional chief so he's not your traditonal commie pinko. Here' s some of what he had to say:

The first and most basic belief I have about the current situation is that military action will never be effective in solving the problem of terrorism against the United States. At best it will only prevent terrorism temporarily. As I've already mentioned, there's little doubt that the U.S. will somehow kill or capture or otherwise neutralize Osama bin Laden and most of his lieutenants. The U.S. has already pretty much pulverized Afghanistan by bombing, and has incidentally killed an unknown number of innocent noncombatants in the process. The U.S. government, by the way, seems uninterested in even estimating how many innocent noncombatants have in fact been killed, but it is possible that the number is as large as or larger than the 3,000 killed in the U.S. on September 11. Whatever the military success of the U.S., however, a couple of years hence new extremists just as clever as bin Laden, and hating the U.S. even more, will almost certainly arise somewhere else in the world. That's why we need to understand the root causes behind the terrorism. If I am right that military action will not prevent future terrorism, but only delay it, we should start working on these root causes right away. We should not wait until the military actions are finished before looking at root causes, as some people would urge us to do.

Terrorism For Dummies (Hilarity Ensues Lemme Tellya...)

Here's a funny excerpt:

Q. Is John Ashcroft a proto-fascist?

A. Yes. If he were an official in the Taliban, he'd feel quite at home. But before going into his record, let us remember that Ashcroft was chosen by Bush. Ashcroft is the lightning rod taking the heat, but it's the Bush Administration that creates and approves his policies. Now to Ashcroft: You may remember that after he lost his Senate re-election bid to a dead man, his appointment to be Attorney General made it through the Senate with one vote to spare. He was villified as a narrow-minded supporter of racist organizations, a hard-line, uptight, puritanical theocrat who would force his right-wing agenda on the country. Ashcroft swore he would do no such thing. He lied. The events of 9/11 gave him the opportunity to fly his far-right, draconian agenda under the political radar by couching everything under the rubrics of "national security" and "homeland defense." He has shredded the U.S. Constitution -- on everything from vitiating attorney-client confidentiality to permitting phone taps and black-bag jobs and computer privacy violations -- and has made it virtually impossible for the press and ordinary citizens to find out what's going on under the Freedom of Information Act. (In addition, Ashcroft has reversed his states'-rights philosophy and is trying to overturn the "death with dignity" act voted into law by Oregon citizens and medical-marijuana laws voted into law by citizens of a number of states.) It's not just his puritanically spending public monies to clothe naked statues; this guy is bad news for the Constitution.

Truly Scary Story of Nuclear Blackmarket in former USSR
Timely Article on the Roots of Conflict
(From British Medical Journal)
New Tom Tomorrow Blog, Undernews Blog

Here's some great lines from Tom's new blog, already a big hit:

Let us pray that our country will stop this war. "To promote the common defense" is one of the formational principles of America. Our Congress gave the President the ability to respond to the tragedy of September the Eleventh. We licensed a response to those who helped bring the terror of September the Eleventh. But we the people and our elected representatives must reserve the right to measure the response, to proportion the response, to challenge the response, and to correct the response.

Because we did not authorize the invasion of Iraq.
We did not authorize the invasion of Iran.
We did not authorize the invasion of North Korea.
We did not authorize the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize permanent detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
We did not authorize the withdrawal from the Geneva Convention.
We did not authorize military tribunals suspending due process and habeas corpus.
We did not authorize assassination squads.
We did not authorize the resurrection of COINTELPRO.
We did not authorize the repeal of the Bill of Rights.
We did not authorize the revocation of the Constitution.
We did not authorize national identity cards.
We did not authorize the eye of Big Brother to peer from cameras throughout our cities.
We did not authorize an eye for an eye. Nor did we ask that the blood of innocent people, who perished on September 11, be avenged with the blood of innocent villagers in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize the administration to wage war anytime, anywhere, anyhow it pleases.
We did not authorize war without end.
We did not authorize a permanent war economy.

Yet we are upon the threshold of a permanent war economy

Evidence of New Death Squad Activity
A Place With A Sane Drug Policy
Do Androids Dream of First Amendment Rights (Great Salon Hed)

Okay, Condy Rice as Xena and Powell as Batman I can buy. But did Rambo fight in the National Guard or get taken down by a Pretzel? What's that "X" for? It certainly can't stand for exceptional...Wasn't Cheney a draft dodger? I don't get it...(From Instapundit Glenn Reynolds...Thank You Son of Satan!)

Insightful Piece From Tom Turnipseed

Here's a snippet:

"Our tax dollars are now being used to kill people who have nothing to do with terrorism against the U.S. and to spread lies and disinformation around the world. At the request of the Karzai interim government, the United States has opened a new phase of the war in Afghanistan by bombing militia groups which are neither Taliban or Al Qaeda and have no connection with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Sources in the Pentagon said that part of the giant increase in the military budget will be used to sway public opinion in both friendly and unfriendly countries by using covert means and lies called "black" campaigns, mixed with the truth known as "white" campaigns. Criticized by the New York Times for "managing the news" and the world media for such a brazen admission of purposeful deceit, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said the new Office of Strategic Influence would "tell the American people and the people of the world the truth". Then Rumsfeld defended the Pentagon's need to conduct secret activities intended to deceive adversaries during these times of conflict."

Libertarian Party Answers Administration's Pathetic Drug Ads
(Drugs is bad, mmmmkay...!?)
(And it supports terrorists, mmmmkay...?!)
(Legalization and/or decriminalization which would eliminate both the profits and forbidden yet seductive allure aspects of the drug trade won't work...mmmmkay!?)

Multinational Monitor Summary Piece on Enron
Anthrax Definitely Homegrown
Peekabooty To Short Circuit Censorship Attempts
Greider Interviews Wealthy NJ Sen. Corzine
Missed Opportunities After 9-11

New Address for Message Board (Angry Pej is back and he's baaaader than eva'...!)
Ten Things We Don't Know About Our Brilliant War Effort
Wacky, Sometimes Brilliant Libertarian Anti-War Site
(Really Zings it to pro war Pravda-like Bloggers like Reynolds and others, also zings Chomsky for being interventionist and even questions our involvement in WWII)
Rise of The Corporate Theocratic State, Or Fascism
The Republican Ten Commandments From Democrats.com

I. Thou shalt talk about Christian principles, but not live by them
II. Thou shalt attack opponents personally when you can't win on policies
III. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, but be in favor of the death penalty
IV. Thou shalt call yourself pro-life, and put guns in the hands of school children
V. Thou shalt give lip service to democracy while taking away civil liberties
VI. Profit is the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not put the people's interest above those of your corporate contributors
VII. Thou shalt make sure fetuses have health coverage, but leave children and babies behind
VIII Thou shalt bear false witness against your opponents and liberals, and demonize them
IX. Thou shalt run on a moderate platform, then enact right-wing policies as soon as possible
X. Thou shalt call the media liberal, so that people forget that the media is owned by corporations with a conservative fiscal agenda

Big Invasion of Iraq Planned Before November Elections
Even Nick Von Hoffmann, Not An Idealogue, Thinks War is Dumb

Von Hoffmann isn't a doctrinaire lefty. But here's what he says about the war effort.

"For decades, those with eyes to see have watched the Israelis, who have all the guns, all the artillery, all the supersonic fighters, etc., pound the crap out of the Palestinians, and what do they have to show for it? There isn't an Israeli in the world-man, woman or child-who can walk down a street anywhere without being afraid someone will jump out at him and slit his throat. The more Palestinians the Israelis kill, the more Israel lives in terror.

For all our armed force has accomplished, we have gained little protection. We're reduced to strip-searching everybody boarding an airplane. We're afraid to leave anything unguarded. Nothing is safe; everybody has the jitters. If this is winning the war, I'd hate to find out what losing it consists of. We'll know that the war against terrorism is won when they put the metal detectors and the bomb sniffers in trucks and cart them away. But George Bush isn't talking about that.

There's a word for a non-winner, and that word is "loser."

Very Timely Enron Owns The GOP Site
Larry Flynt Investigative Reporter Dan Moldea Links To This Site
Very Timely Widening The War Website
Creeping Expansion of Terrorism Definition
Are We Going To Invade The Mideast Before Midterms?
New Politics Site With Lotsa Links
More Stuff About Raise The Fist
Update on Raise The Fist
Alternative Disney Corporate Flags
(Big Shock: Disney Doesn't Like The Corporate Flag)

(My Favorite Alt Version...)

Chomsky In Brazil (Apparently He's Bono when Abroad...)
More Fun With Pakistan's Use of Nukes Scenarios
Roy (She's So Hot) On How Enron Screwed India
Pretty Good Bushwatch Site
Story About Independent Media (Indy Media in particular)
American Death Squads Return

Radical Website "Raise The Fist" Shut Down By Feds
Archived Page At Wayback

Routinely Brilliant Ruben Bolling Comic
Bush Admin Attempting To Bail Out Cheney Employer Haliburton
Dismal Bush Record on the Environment
New Al Martin Raw On Enron
War On Terror Turning Into War on Oil

Online Copy of Federalist Papers
(From Glenn Reynolds...Thank You Son of Satan!)
Speaking of Glenn: How To Understand Propaganda
John Kerry Plan on Replacing Fossil Fuels
Great Buckminster Fuller Site
Excellent Piece At BF Site About Global Investment VS. Terrorism

United States Blocks Aid For Global Poor
(Go USA!)
Must Read Science Fiction for Lefties by Brit Socialist
Candidate/SF Author China Mieville
Groundbreaking BBC Black Like Me Series on Race
Right Wing Militia Clearly Behind Anthrax Attacks
Sensible Alternative to War
Talking Points On War (Above Links From War Resisters)
More Stuff About Evil Enron
Funny Anti War Essay by Monty Pythoner Terry Jones

Has Bush Done Something Right? (I'm Aghast...)
Rundown on Pakistan Nukes
Interesting Perspective on Resources and War
Update on Colombian Drug War (If you're not Depressed Enough..)
Interesting Meeting Between 9-11 Survivors and Afghan Bombing Survivors

Your Basic Nuclear Exchange Between
Pakistan and India Links:

Probable Impacts of a Pakistan/India Nuclear Exchange
Overview of Conflict
Probable Attack Zones
Speculation on Fallout

Negus: What would actually be the effect... what would happen if these two countries with these capabilities... we now know India has definitely got them... we think Pakistan has... if they started slinging this stuff at each other.

Beaver: Environmentally we don't really know, to be honest, because nobody's done it. We know what happened when the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine exploded... it sent radioactive particles into the atmosphere... they came down in places like northern Finland and Norway...even here in the United Kingdom, Welsh hill farmers could no longer sell their lamb because they were contaminated by fallout... That was a nuclear reactor, that was a reasonably small escape of radioactive material. If there was an exchange of nuclear weapons...and the Indian sub-continent.. we don't know what would happen to the climate for a start...El Nino in the Pacific, and the problems that that's caused, I think would be considered to be child's play compared to what would happen. There's not only that, but the huge death toll on both sides, and the risk of bringing in other nations... it could well be something which would start a third world war - any exchange of nuclear weapons is a doomsday scenario because we don't know how controllable it would be.

EU vs. NAFTA In Terms of Environmental Standards
(Quick Guess which entity values higher standards...Go ahead Guess.)
Terrifying Fallout From War Against Terrorism
Insightful McChesney Piece on Media Reform
In Related Note: Ten Biggest Media Cartels
Eye Opening Story About Sexual Apartheid in Saudi Arabia
War Between India and Pakistan (Not a good time...)
22 Reasons Why US Is A Poor Global Citizen
25 Sometimes Depressing Things We Know Post 9-11

We Call This Victory?
More Fun At www.MNFTIU.cc
Detainees May Spread Beyond Arabs (A Good Bet)
Courageous Rall in Afghanistan
(I Get Scared Just Watching It On TV)
Insightful Piece About How Russia Won The War
The Speech We Wish Bush Would Make
Can Citizens Be Tried by Military Tribunals
Interesting Dissection of GOP Hypocrisy on Birth Control
The Return of Cointelpro (If It Ever Went Away..)
What Cointelpro Is
Why the US Constitution Allows For Fascist Behavior
Brilliant Civil Liberties Flash Cartoon (below)

How NAFTA Undermines Democracy
A Truly Patriotic Energy Policy
On Target Piece About Thrashing Gore Would Take If President
AntiWar Trading Cards
Insurance Company Welfare Queens
Very Very Funny War Comics
Great Five Lies About the War Effort
How Patriot Act Turns Dissent Into Crime

Hilarious and Subversive www.gatt.org site
Greider Question's Corporate Patriotism
Dim Prospects for Dems in 2002 (Very Depressing)
More Scary Al Martin Raw on SS Like Homeland Security Agency
Socialist Candidate Fired for Dissenting Views (Some Democracy..)
Bad Things About New Terror Bill That Won't Expire
Devastating Frank Rich Critique on Bush Blunders
Original Scary Al Martin Raw on Homeland Security
List of Censored Sites Since War
Stunning Admission by GE Leader About Nature of Corporate Media
Top Ten Reasons To Stop Bombing
Brilliant High Schooler's Essay Combining Folly of Patriotic Zeal
And Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle
Good Backgrounder on Shaky Pakistan
Original Charles Platt Piece on Terror Acts, Stem Cell Shenanigans
Rifkin on Possible Biotech Plagues
Oddly Funny Reason Piece on Response Definitions
Pundit Talk:
Super Journalist Greg Palast
Super Funny Ted Rall
Journalist Prof Gets In Trouble For Telling It Like It Is
Story About Why We're Hated From....Business Week?
Fearless Onion Comedy
Terrorists Are Surprised They're Not in Hell
(Very Descriptive Hellish Hell by the way...)
How To Talk To Your Child About the Tragedies
Comprehensive List of Peace Groups
Best Piece Yet On Why We're Hated

The Let's Give Peace A Chance Links
Shocked and Horrified
Very On Target Politically Incorrect Transcript
(Assuming Fair Use)
War Criminals In Our Midst
Why We're Hated (I'm Adding the Guardian as a link)
No Dissenting Views Allowed on Big TV Media
(By the way, all the contrary thought I've gotten about what our response
to the bombings should be I've gotten from the net. Even when they ask why they hate us on CNN the answer is always lame like "They're evil" while completely ignoring the very bloody very undemocratic US foreign policy which has caused the death of millions...The net is truly today's counterculture...)
My Favorite Porn Page is Patriotic
Dawkins on the Role of Religion In All This Killing
Nuke Plants Make Nice Targets for Terrorists
Yet Another Nuke Story from Pgh PG
Brilliant Cockburn on Bombing
The Civil Liberties War Begins
Great New Instant Pundit Site
(Lots of commentary about bombings. God this guy is smart
and he types fast...)
Insight About Intelligence Failings
Angry Postrel on the Bombing
(Now thinks Bush Is Unconvincing…Insert Your Own Joke Here)
Good Salon Piece on New Nature of Terrorist War
Jon Katz on the Bombings
Suspicions About The New CBS CIA Show
(What? No Visually Arresting School of Americas Death
Squad Training Shots?)
In Case You've Forgotten Why You Hate Fox News
Lucid Argument for Drug Legalization
Real Deep Marxist Chick
Nice Piece on Role of Corporations in Defining Fascism
New Random Rants
Nice Hamill Piece on Bush Stem Cell Shenanigans
Good Ridgeway Piece on Shrinking World of Henry Kissinger With
(Check Out Funny Tom Tommorow Story in Piece.)
Summary of Many Many Bush Evils
Enlightening Tale of Pro Life Terror Tactics
Death Squad Violence Goes Better With Coke
Very Depressing Stores about Genoa Violence
Story About How Right Wing Judges Are Distorting Laws
EFF's Amicus Brief Filed on Behalf of Narconews
Nice Summary of FTAA Evils at Disinfo
Interesting View of NAFTA's Effect on Canada
More Flash Political Art (Very Cool Trend)
Dollars and Sense Link
Adbusters Corporate Flag Campaign
Handy Dandy List of Right Wing Groups
Evils of NAFTA, Chapter 40003
Does Ethical Investing Work?
Poor Deluded Canada and its Concern For "People"
(When will they be more like us? Screw you if you don't have health care, that's our attitude...)

Spin of The Day (PR Daily Weblog)
Attempts to Censor Greg Palast
Ralph Nader Statement on Microsoft
Corporate Charter Revocation Movement
Funny Radio Ad Concerning College Aid and Drug Question
Stories About Media Conglomeration
Fourteen Views of Fascism (Nice concise summary of our times..)
Fascist Action Hero Judge Scalia: He's a Fascist and he golfs!

Pearl Harbor In Space
Even Republicans Tire of Bush Ineptitude: Other cool tidbits include the fact that they notice that Cheney makes all the policy decisions.
List of Times Where Advertisers Have Influenced Media Outlets: Whenever someone in the working media tells you that they write without fear and favor, point them to this story. Its the most thorough list I have ever seen of where advertisers have influenced the news. It's also why your local tv news is so empty and devoid of content. You can't really write about anything.
Project Blackout: A protest planned against the Bush energy policies on June 21st.
More Anti-Bush Flash Animation
Cover up and double standards for the twins?  I would find this so surprising. The rich kids getting a break. What a shock.
In the Big Shock Department: Amnesty International Says US No Longer a leader in Human Rights: The international community is simply looking at us at the way we are.
Return of Fascist Action Hero Judge Scalia!
Yet another adventure of our least favorite activist strict constructionist judge....
Will Jeffords Switch? (Let us all pray, even us agnostics..)
Of course, with Zell Miller and Breaux, the Dems are still down...
Profile of Sinister Federalist Society
ACLU Sues California Over Punchcard Ballots
ACLU Suit Against Blocking Software
Lie of Liberal Media
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0322-02.htm

Ruben Bolling’s Brilliant Fightin’ Judge Scalia Comics: Probably the funniest commentary that I’ve seen about the Supreme Court’s recent horrific election decision are the comics written by Reuben Bolling concerning Judge Scalia. They’re hilarious and true. For real comics fans only: Note the early Marvel-Style Artie Simek lettering that Bolling uses in the alternate reality segment.  
Online Journal 3 Parter on Goebels and Big Media and PR
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Nation Roundup on Left Sites: Eric Alterman lists a number of his favorite left of center daily sites. Many of those sites are already listed here. It's kind of exciting how much publishing there is of this kind on the net.
Indy Media Site: This is the conglomeration of independent media sites that got subpoenaed over their server logs during the Quebec uprisings against the proposed globalization deals.
Persuasive Pro Wind Piece at Alternet: Nice piece about how wind is the best alt fuel of all.
Funny Flash Cartoon About Bush Environmental Policies: Nice use of flash technology to make a political point. This is happening in other places as well.
AP: ELECTRIC WHOLESALERS OVERCHARGED CALIF. BY $5 BIL SINCE MAY. 3/23
WP: DEMS SAY BUSH IS BLOWING IT POLITICALLY WITH ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES 3/24
CT: BUSH SUSPENDS MORE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION RULES. 3/22/01
CT: BUSH BUILDING U.S. NAME AS "WORLD'S WORST POLLUTER." 3/22/01
Money for Viagra but Not Birth Control?
Funny Ted Rall Written Pieces
100 Days of Bought-Off Bush
Is It News When Jenna Bush Does Pot?

(Borrowed from one of the tabloids. We're assuming Fair Use here.)

All Pictures and Words

Civil Rights, Civil Liberties and Protest

Profile of Sinister Federalist Society
ACLU Sues California Over Punchcard Ballots
ACLU Suit Against Blocking Software
Lie of Liberal Media
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0322-02.htm

China Points To Horrific US Civil Rights Record As Defense: You can go over and check out Inane Ramblings if you’re looking for evidence of my powers of prediction. The Chinese argument is pretty compelling. We have no moral authority to tell anybody what to do in light of our botched electoral process, the fact that our media is owned by a rich and powerful that distorts information, and we’re a violence happy prison building society. 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cover/storydb/2001/02/27/cn-0ushr.227.html

Democrats.com: They’re not affiliated directly with the Democratic Party and you can tell. They’re mean and aggressive and act like they represent an opposition party. So you know that they’re not affiliated with the Democratic Party establishment.

Ruben Bolling’s Brilliant Fightin’ Judge Scalia Comics: Probably the funniest commentary that I’ve seen about the Supreme Court’s recent horrific election decision are the two comics written by Reuben Bolling concerning Judge Scalia. They’re hilarious and true. For real comics fans only: Note the early Marvel-Style Artie Simek lettering that Bolling uses in the alternate reality segment.  

More Reasons to Hate John Ashcroft: Answers to 400 Leahy questions reveals credibility gap. Plus here's the ACLU take on him and his godawful record, which goes 20 years back.

Our Friend John "The Confederacy is Good" Ashcroft: It looks like the Evil One will be confirmed. I'm not so sure that I think that he shouldn't because I do think that presidents should work with the people they want to. Or at least Cheney should be able to work with the people he wants. Or whoever is running things up there.

Bush Files: Yet another link, where they actually pay people to do it, that monitors Fearless Leader.

AP: ELECTRIC WHOLESALERS OVERCHARGED CALIF. BY $5 BIL SINCE MAY. 3/23
WP: DEMS SAY BUSH IS BLOWING IT POLITICALLY WITH ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES 3/24
CT: BUSH SUSPENDS MORE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION RULES. 3/22/01
CT: BUSH BUILDING U.S. NAME AS "WORLD'S WORST POLLUTER." 3/22/01

In the “We Toldja So Department”: It turns out that a number of George Bush’s big energy backers are going to make a bundle from the Californian energy disaster. Public Citizen says that a number of Dubya’s Big Oil pals will make tons. Oh, I’m shocked. Just shocked.

Sierra Club Statement on Californian Energy Crisis: Bush, in his own inarticulate way, is trying to shift the blame for the crisis on those damn environmentalists and their infernal “reglations”.. Here’s the Sierra Club’s counter.

Solid Ridgeway Piece on GOP Plan to Strip Away Abortion Rights: I have to say that this is something that I can see coming. What was interesting about the piece is that it points to an underground abortion movement that could develop if current trends continue. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0110/ridgeway.shtml

Feminist Majority Criticizes GOP Plan to Limit RU486: Predictably angry response to the Republican plan to limit RU486 to women. I guess this is part two of a 2 pronged attack against the pill. I don’t know why they even need a bill. I’m sure Tommy Thompson will trump up some charges concerning women’s safety (despite exhaustive testing in this country and years of use by thousands of European women) and they won’t even need their retrograde bill.

Katha Pollitt Says Pro Choice Movement Has to show More Anger, Passion: She actually suggests that clinics start contacting women who have had abortions in order to mobilize them. It’s a good essay but I think that it hints at a deeper problem for the left. We don’t have institutions like churches where we can rally our own. I guess unions come close but it’s not quite the same thing. How do you create a lasting social institution that’s not based on fear or superstition?

Bush Reinstates Global Gag Rule on Family Planning Services: Fearless Leader has reinstated his dad's thoughtcrime policy on family planning options to health care clinics abroad that receive US Funds.

HHS Flack Already Looking at RU486: Tommy Thompson has already signalled that he'll be reviewing RU486. This is the drug that privatizes a women's right to choose, thus eliminating the meaningfulness of protesting outside of clinics. If the drug is approved, then those self righteous protesters can go straight to homes and apartments. Prediction: Thompson has only said that he'll review the safety of the drug. But short of overturning Roe V. Wade, this would certainly satisfy the GOP's loathsome right wing. Thus, RU486 is probably a goner. Stay Tuned.

General Somewhat Undefineable Evil

Funny Ted Rall Written Pieces

100 Days of Bought-Off Bush

Is It News When Jenna Bush Does Pot?

(Borrowed from one of the tabloids. We're assuming Fair Use here.)

The Public Good That The Tax Cut Could Be Providing: In case you were wondering about all the good things you could do with the money that Bush plans to just give to the rich.

http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2001/03/sobel-l-03-07.html

Public Citizen Files Against Deeply Disheartening United States WTO Claim Against Brazil: Brazil has done a horrible thing you see. Given the choice between saving impoverished AIDs victims in their own country and giving American Drug companies every single cent they’re entitled too, Brazil chose saving their citizens. Of all the nerve. Looks like United States will have to sue them. This is also a quick case study on the evils of the WTO and NAFTA if you didn’t know about it. Brazil, and also India--with its plans of producing a cheap HIV cocktail--are doing humanity a great service by protecting their citizens. And I guess we’re just turning into the Nazis.

Longer Piece About Brazilian Courage: This is a longer piece about what's happening in Brazil, courtesy of the National Lawyer's Guild. You can't link directly to the site, so you have to go to the homepage and search it out.

Scathing Editorial That Reminds Us Why We Hate Bush: In case you had forgotten why you hate Bush, this editorial sort of sums it up nicely: He has no record of accomplishment that seems to self generated without daddy's help; disinterested in policy issues and the world of ideas in general; and lacks any real legitimacy.

Where are the Drudge scoops about the Notorious Bush Daughters?: Our friend Mr. Drudge seems to be laying off of the Bush team. Big shock there. You would think that he would be writing all kinds of salacious stuff about the Bush daughters, rumored to be like the daughter in the hit film Traffic. And why did only oned aughter show up for the inauguration? Was the other one  hiding in the crowd? Or did she have something more important to do? And if she did, what was it?

All Pictures and Words

by

Philip Shropshire

unless otherwise noted

©Philip Shropshire, 1999, 2000, 2001
All rights reserved.
I believe that the Doctrine of Fair Use Covers the use of unoriginal content.
If not, I'm sure I'll hear from your lawyers.

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