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Video: Alternative
Views
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Censured Casualties
features rare footage
of war crimes against the Iraqi people suffered during
and after the Gulf War. The footage is from former Attorney
General Ramsey
Clark in his attempt to document the injustice
of United States military actions in the region.
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Video: Alternative
Views
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Another Unknown
War
features a film on the
struggle of the indigenous people of West Papua to remain
sovereign in the face of an Indonesian invasion backed
by world capital. Footage of Noam
Chomsky on Western involvments in the region and
the relation to East Timor.
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Doug's New Books & Related
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TV/Radio
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Saturday, August 31, 2002
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Earth Summit Protest Updates
Richard Kahn reports:
Just saw CNN graphic describing numbers of protesters as "well below expected"...but they didn't commit to any numbers.
It's aggravating that with all the extant technology that we're still left trying to decipher competing reports from various media sources -- all of which serve some interest right?
I tend to believe the reports coming in from the ground over the CNN figures -- which in my opinion are always greatly deflated. For the WTO
protest in Manhattan post-9/11 for instance, CNN reported a few thousand but people on the ground reported the area covered by the protest and correctly surmised that it had to be tens of thousands at least.
Has anyone written on how the major media reports (or fails to report) on protest activity? Re: democracy this is especially suspect I think!
Anyhow, I've put in questions to try and get updates from press people there about what the reality is...they're saying at least 30,000 so
far -- up to 50. I'm trying to confirm...
****
Another Kahn posting:
South African Press Association has the figures at about 30,000, with 10,000 starting from Alexandria and 20,000 more gathering with them
along the way for the 2nd protest that began later in the afternoon.
The initial protest was apparently slow to start and became dispersed when the various groups couldn't decide who should lead the assembly and in-fighting began, but then they coalesced as the march moved along. Large palestinian presence.
******
Today's demonstrations are over -- no violence reported. The long walk and the hot day seemed to tire most of the protesters by the time they
reached the convention center to be met by heavy security.
Apparently, the police also kept many of the various factions separated and so a larger grouping was prevented from forming. This helped
control energies and also kept the look of the total numbers down for press shots.
It looks like a successful peaceful protest of between 20-30k is the reality. The media are reporting privately that they are unhappy b/c they wanted a riot.
Another big protest to add to the list, but nothing apparently special about this one save its location...
*****
A few different on site sources were reporting that in the entourage of media, fans, etc. that is running from place to place at the event -- sort of like a Cannes film festival -- that reporters for both small and large media venues were "disappointed" that no significant riots ensued and that they didn't have a more major story to report, then they went running off to the "next new thing" trying to scoop each other per usual.
Some demonstrators ALSO must have been upset that more violence didn't erupt -- at least some posts to the Indymedia network were earlier encouraging a violent demonstration and radical socialist groups in the area were using language this past week such as "smash the convention," "take the convention" and in one case even "destroy". But the environmentalists on hand, I don't think, would have had much interest in that b/c even though the Bush camp has labeled radical environmentalists "eco-terrorists," they don't advocate violent exchange
with the state as a form of political transformation. Further, as we've seen in Calgary, New York, Washington D.C., etc. etc., most of the
protesters intend peaceful demonstration as a rule anyhow.
Signing off on this story!
Richard
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Earth Summit Update
Richard Kahn reports:
Word is that upwards of 50,000 people are protesting and have marched on to the convention center from the slums. The center is heavily
fortified. The pace is quickening...
RK
JOHANNESBURG Summit disarray as EU officials walk out; revanchist "Rio Minus 10"
(UK) Times. 31 August 2002. Summit disarray as EU officials walk out.
JOHANNESBURG -- The Earth Summit in Johannesburg approached collapse yesterday when European Union officials walked out of talks after failure to agree with the United States on the 14 pivotal issues, and the coalition of charities involved in the negotiations pulled out.
Tempers among delegations were fraying last night, and there was growing speculation that the summit was in peril.
Developing nations said that they would prefer not to sign any accord rather than agree to what was on offer.
Charities said that the agreement being negotiated was a step backwards, and urged European governments not to sign.
No agreement has been reached on any of the central issues, including access to sanitation, boosting renewable energy, protecting wildlife,
reducing farm subsidies in the developed world, climate change, ensuring that trade and globalisation do not put poor countries at a
disadvantage, and improving human rights.
Increases in aid and debt relief have been ruled out.
****Even principles agreed at the Rio Earth summit ten years ago -- such as that rich countries have more responsibility to tackle global
environment problems than poor ones -- may be dropped in the face of bitter American opposition.****
The only firm agreements reached are to stop over-fishing and the banning of toxic chemicals, but the wordings used are so qualified with
phrases such as "if possible" that the agreements are increasingly seen as meaningless.
The Eco-Equity Coalition, a group of charities including Oxfam and the World Wide Fund for Nature that are involved directly in the negotiations, wrote a letter to ministers explaining their withdrawal: "Although designed and billed as a conference that would serve to put
sustainable development at the heart of international governance, we must squarely face the fact that, overall, no significant progress has
been made -- especially when it is held up to the urgent needs of poverty reduction and environmental protection."
Tony Juniper, director-designate of Friends of the Earth said: "Most of these talks are simply going backwards. Key pledges have been made
meaningless by weasel words. ***Governments can't even agree to reaffirm the principles of the Rio Summit*** ten years ago. This summit could easily be remembered as Rio minus ten rather than Rio plus ten."
Barry Coates, of the World Development Movement, said that if the agreement was not improved, it should not be signed.
"There has been an abject failure of vision. As things stand, not one person's life or the environment will be improved. A bad agreement is as
much a step backwards as no agreement at all."
Victor Menotti, of the International Forum on Globalisation, a US pressure group, said:
"Americans wonder why the world hates us, but the US is arrogant, bullying, selfish, not accepting we're part of the problem. George Bush is unravelling things that even his father agreed ten years ago."
DK responds: I saw Bill Moyers PBS show Now! last night that had a panel of some of the best anti-corporate globalization voices with a vast array of rightwing ideologues who were truly disgusting, raising the question why should Moyers allow completely discredited pro-market ideologues to spout their views. Look at the economy and what deregulation has brought and its the same or worst with the environment--go to Richard Kahn's site for documentation. One of the participants in the Moyers show indicated that the conference center was highly fortified with a vast array of military forces so it is unlikely that demonstrators will get too close but we'll see what happens as the day unfolds.
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Los Angeles Times Iraq Debate
Submitted by Ray McInnis
Review by Doyle McManus and Robin Wright (la times) of the ongoing
public debate among Republicans of whether invading Iraq is the right
thing to do. Robin Wright, respected specialist in Middle Eastern
affairs, is not in byline, but is credited in sources.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-fg-usiraq28aug28005046.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dpolitics%2Dnational
DK responds: The Los Angeles Times is surprisingly good at having a wide array of opinion and debate on key issues and also has a lot of coverage of Middle East and Terror War issues. Yet it is highly curious that a ferocious debate over Iraq is going on when there is no rational pretense for war except that the rightwing of the Bush administration says they want war! The debate is healthy, however, rapidly eroding support for the Bush Iraq hawks with almost everyone in the world coming out strongly against an US attack on Iraq. If Bush does it, the US is a rogue nation and will pay big-time, demonstrating the costs of Bush administration unilateralism. On the other hand, the obsessive focus on Iraq is deflecting attention from Bush-Cheney corporate scandals, the sorry state of the economy, the erosion of civil liberties and the other rotten fruits of Bush-Cheney politics.
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Friday, August 30, 2002
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MadKane Song
Madeleine Kane, a great political satirist, check out her site and her ongoing Dubya's Diary, sends BlogLeft a song=
I enjoy your blog and thought you might like my latest song parody. (Dubya's so enthused about attacking Iraq, he's even written a song about it.)
Iraq, Iraq (To be sung to "New York, New York" from "On The Town")
Iraq, Iraq, I refuse to back down.
Most hawks say yup, but some others just frown.
Hussein belongs in a hole in the ground.
Iraq, Iraq, I refuse to back down
The evil places to target are so many,
Or so my staffers say.
I promised Poppy I wouldn't miss on any,
Cause Saddam's got to pay.
Gonna bomb the whole town.
I'll vanquish that clown, I do pray.
Without delay!
Iraq, Iraq, it's an oil lovers place,
I'll give high-fives when I've conquered that space.
Big bucks are there to be taken posthaste.
Iraq, Iraq, it's an oil lovers place.
The rest is here:
http://www.madkane.com/notable08_02b.html
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
Mad Kane
Madeleine Begun Kane, Humor Columnist
http://www.madkane.com
http://www.madkane.com/notable.html (Weblog)
http://www.madkane.com/bush.html (Dubya's Dayly Diary)
Subscribe to MadKane Humor Newsletter (weekly) here:
http://www.madkane.com/email.html
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U.S. Backs Increase in Peacekeepers for Afghanistan
This is about ten months too late, but better late than never. Since November when the Taliban collapsed the British, Europeans, Afghans, and others begged the US to support UN and other global security forces throughout Afghanistan. The US refused on the grounds it was fighting Al Qaeda and didn't want any interference or hindrance to its efforts, finally relenting early in the year to allow global security forces to patrol and stabilize Kabul. For months, the Afghan government and almost everyone in the world begged the Bush administration to support security forces throughout the country but they resisted until today-- although this story indicates it may not happen for months....
U.S. Backs Increase in Peacekeepers for Afghanistan
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Bush Seeks to Repeal Crucial Environmental Law, Says It Needs "Modernization"
Washington D.C. -- The Bush administration is reviewing a landmark environmental law both reviled and praised because it requires lengthy studies before foresters cut a tree or developers start to dig.
White House officials say they want to modernize the 32-year-old law they blame for bureaucratic gridlock, but environmentalists fear it's a move to roll back crucial protections.
"Given this administration's past record on the environment, it's hard to imagine they are up to any good," said Maria Weidner of Earthjustice, an environmental law firm and advocacy group.
At issue is the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Signed by President Nixon in 1970, the law requires developers, loggers, and others to describe in detail the impact a proposed project will have on the environment and come up with measures to minimize them.
A typical environmental impact statement includes detailed analysis by several federal agencies and extensive public comment.
Environmentalists consider it a fundamental law and rely on it to limit development on public land and block projects that threaten endangered species, including the spotted owl and steelhead trout.
Critics say the law has burgeoned into a swamp of regulations and logistical hoops that stall federal action for years at a time.
"The simple fact is, [NEPA] has been used and abused by those who want to obstruct activities" such as logging in national forests, said Chris West, vice president of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry group.
"As more and more agencies can weigh in and make stipulations and requirements, the process in many cases has become much more costly and has proved to be an obstacle to development," said Darren McKinney, spokesman for the National Association of Manufacturers.
The review was launched last month by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which says the law needs to be updated after three decades of being essentially unchanged. A nine-member task force is accepting public comment through Sept. 23 and expects to issue a report by early next year.
"We're not out to gut" the law, task force director Horst Greczmiel said. "We're out there to try to make it better. In common parlance, we want to cut the fat if there's fat out there and we want to beef up the beef."
 Environmentalists are not convinced. They point to the president's Aug. 22 proposal to step up logging in national forests to prevent wildfires as an example of the kind of changes the administration wants to pursue under a watered-down NEPA. A key element of the plan would make it more difficult for environmentalists to appeal federal decisions that allow logging.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat, pushed a similar measure in July to exempt some logging in his home state of South Dakota from the law to prevent wildfires. Republicans are seizing on Daschle's maneuver to underscore the need for change.
Environmentalists also worry about a recent Justice Department decision that NEPA and other U.S. environmental laws do not apply in waters more than three miles (five kilometers) off U.S. shores. The policy would give less protection to whales, dolphins, and other marine life, environmentalists say. It also could bar lawsuits such as one recently filed over the Navy's use of ocean sonar, which environmentalists say can harm some marine mammals.
"On every level in every area they are taking steps backward instead of forward," said Weidner, citing administration proposals to roll back protections for some endangered species, increase use of public lands and change clean air and water standards.
While the forest plan has attracted more media attention, the NEPA review is potentially even farther reaching, environmentalists say.
"Efforts to waive laws like NEPA are particularly egregious," said Amy Mall, a forest policy specialist for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "NEPA was intended to ... balance competing public needs by increasing public input."
But some Western lawmakers call the review long overdue.
Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig said he hopes the task force "will bring some sanity and common sense back to the process." Environmental review has "come to represent nothing but gridlock in the West," he added.
Environmentalists are gearing up for a fight.
"More people than ever before care about the environment, and people want to get involved in governmental actions that are going to affect environmental quality," said Chris Wood, director of public lands and watershed programs for Trout Unlimited.
By Matthew Daly, Associated Press
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Richard Kahn prophesizes a Big one in Jo'burg at the Earth Summit
RK takes out his crystal ball and writes:It's hard to know for sure being so many thousands of miles away, but all the sources I've been monitoring and people I've been speaking with who are involved are pointing to what could be another Seattle or Genoa in Jo'burg tomorrow. The feeling is that the Summit was given a chance to set a tone that was anything more than bureaucratic and statist but that it has failed to do this and the city of Johannesburg and South Africa as a whole have already proven to be repressive of protesters and desirous of a "clean" big-business event.
People are estimating that tomorrow's protest, which will begin in the slums of Alexandria a few miles down the road from the WSSD, will be
picking up locals along the way and that it could have 20,000-30,000 people by the time it is all said and done. The black brigade is on hand, apparently, and ready to defend protestors if the police show up in riot gear and start violently dispersing people as they did in the days pre-summit.
If the police lay off it could be a startling spectacle in which activists from all around the world join with South Africa's poorest peoples to protest peacefully and loudly outside the halls of the globalized state, whilst the power-brokers sit inside in air conditioned board rooms drinking champagne and eating caviar.
If the police attack, which they very well might, a tragedy could ensue...it will be interesting to watch. Tomorrow is certainly a day for all globalization theorists to be focused on South Africa. Signs are that this is going to be a big one.
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Rushdie, Double Standards and the Bush administration
submitted by Ray McInnis
In 1989, after a "fatwa" issued by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, constitutting a threat
by the Iranian government to assassinate him because of a the
"blasphemous" novel, _Satanic Verses_ , the Indian-born British citizen,
Salman Rushdie, became a cause celebre. Check out his op ed in the
Washington Post on the double standard of 'moral clarity' in US foreign
policy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4544-2002Aug27.html
DK comments: there have been a series of articles the past days on Bush administration double standards where Iraq is taken as the embodiment of evil and the Saudis are our allies; likewise, the US stands for democracy and human rights and allies itself with Pakistan, rapidly dismantling its democratic apparatus (as is the US under the Bush administration). Of course, this has been going on for some time; last night I saw a docudrama on Bobby Kennedy who in a mid-1960s trip to Latin America criticized Lyndon Johnson's support of a military take-over in Brazil (in part to defend US interests) while sanctioning and holding back aid from democratic Peru who dared to challenge US oil interests in the area. The hyprocrisy and double standards of a US administration, however, have arguably never been more glaring than with the Bush administration.
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Thursday, August 29, 2002
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The Consortiumnews.com
Bush shattering all records as worst president in modern history! beats out hoover!
The Consortiumnews.com
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US Already Bombing Iraq
Between the lines of various media reports, one can read that heavy bombing of Iraq has already begun; Richard Kahn posts=
International Action Center
39 W. 14th Street #206 New York, NY 10011 (212) 633-6646 http://www.iacenter.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2002
U.S. ANTI-WAR DELEGATION AT AREAS BOMBED BY U.S. WARPLANES IN IRAQ
*More Bombings in Iraq as U.S.-British Warplanes Hit Mosul and Suburb of Baghdad on Tuesday*
A U.S. anti-war delegation traveling through Iraq has visited areas that have been targeted by this week's U.S. bombing campaign. The delegation -- stationed at Baghdad's Al-Rasheed hotel until the end of the week -- was in Basra on Tuesday. Basra is Iraq's second largest city and suffered a major bomb attack on Sunday morning August 25th. Eight people died and many civilians were injured, some seriously.
The U.S. delegation, which is led by Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general will be inspecting Mosul airport in Northern Iraq tomorrow August 29. The airport and its radar tower that guides civilian air traffic were hit by U.S. missiles on August 27.
On behalf of the delegation, Ramsey Clark issued the following statement:
"We came to Basra to visit the hospitals and interview doctors and patients about the state of health care in Basra. We had planned to come to Basra because the region is suffering stunning cancer rates. This area in Iraq was the site of the greatest use of depleted uranium weapons by U.S. air force in the Gulf War eleven years ago."
"Two days before we arrived in Basra U.S. war planes struck again killing and wounding more than twenty people. We visited one of the wounded at the Basra Training Hospital and we interviewed workers in the area who saw and heard the gigantic explosion at approximately 11:00 am Sunday morning August 25. While we were in Basra, U.S. war planes carried out two more major bombing attacks against the airport in Mosul and against civil and service installations in Al-Nukhayb, located south of Baghdad. We will inspect the airport at Mosul tomorrow.
"People in the United States must recognize that the war against Iraq goes on every day as the Bush administration prepares for a major land and ground war. The economic sanctions are a central part of the decade-long war waged against Iraq by the United States. Bombing and sanctions constitute an integrated strategy designed to overthrow the government in Iraq and replace it with a proxy regime similar to what exists in Afghanistan. The U.S. government falsely declares that its campaign against Iraq is motivated by a concern over Iraq's potential possession of non-conventional weapons. The real goal is to dominate this strategic and oil-rich region and to destroy any government and people that desire to maintain their independence."
"We witnessed in Basra the care provided to the large number of adults and children who are suffering high rates of cancer. Certain childhood cancers, for instance, have increased by a huge factor in the last few years. While they can be treated by combination drug therapy protocols, Iraqi hospitals are unable to effectively import all of the medicines needed for the protocol. As a consequence, almost all the children with these cancers perish. It is the U.S. imposed sanctions that makes access to the full protocol impossible. Deliberately obstructing sick people's access to medicines that would keep them alive otherwise must be understood as murder."
"It is urgent that this country be allowed to trade, buy and sell all the products necessary to sustain and improve life. U.S. imposed sanctions have killed more than a million Iraqis. The near-daily bombing since 1998 has killed hundreds if not thousands of people. The U.S. government is guilty of violating the basic tenets of international law as a wages aggression against Iraq. We are urging all progressive people in the United States and elsewhere to take immediate action to end the criminal campaign against Iraq."
The delegation also includes Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, an attorney and co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice-LDEF and member of the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition steering committee; Johnnie Stevens, co-director of the People's Video Network; Kadouri al-Kaysi, coordinator of the Committee in Solidarity with the Iraqi People; and Brian Becker, co-director of the International Action Center and member of the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition steering committee.
Telephone interviews with Ramsey Clark and other members of the delegation can be arranged through Tony Murphy at 212-633-6646.
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Wednesday, August 28, 2002
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More Halliburton Facts
Halliburton's recent financial disclosure has some interesting info about this global giant.
Its subsidiaries alone take up pages -- the co. is in over 140 nations...almost as many as at the Earth Summit II! The report states that its finances have been hurt by the prolonged US "recession," the 9/11 attacks which hurt its airline gas/oil business, the numerous legal suits against the company for its abstestos-related building and contracting (which it says is unfair and is lobbying congress to prevent), and its long-term investments in deep-water drilling (especially in West Africa and South America). Plusses have come from the military contracts in Kosovo and now war-on-terror business. Also, domestic oil/gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Texas have been delivering unexpected volume.
Also, L. Eagleburger is one of the Directors of the Board -- something, concerning the military-mindedness of this transnational, that doesn't shock me but did come as a surprise...more gov't implosions into big-time corporate power.
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Cheney, Iraq and Halliburton
Forwarded by: r antonio (anto@ku.edu)
Halliburton Iraq ties more than Cheney said
UNITED NATIONS, June 23 (UPI) -- Halliburton Co., the oil company that was headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, signed contracts with Iraq worth $73 million through two subsidiaries while he was at its helm, the Washington Post reported.
During last year's presidential campaign, Cheney said Halliburton did business with Libya and Iran through foreign subsidiaries, but maintained he had imposed a "firm policy" against trading with Iraq....
To read the rest of this article, go to http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/6/24/80648.shtml
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Black men in jail vs school
submitted by Ray McInnis:
Acccording to a report in the New York Times, 8/28/02, "The number of
black men in jail or prison has grown fivefold in the past 20 years, to
the point where more black men are behind bars than are enrolled in
colleges or universities, according to a study released yesterday."
The report was prepared by the Justice Policy Institute, a
Washington-based research and advocacy group that supports alternatives
to incarceration.
Todd Clear, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in
Manhattan, argues that the study's findings are "significant." For
Clear, "These statistics 'tell us there has been a public policy far
overemphasizing investment in criminal justice instead of in education
for this population. .... It tells you that the life chances of a black
male going to prison is greater today than the chances of a black male
going to college, and it wasn't always this way'."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/28/national/28PRIS.html?todaysheadlines
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Tuesday, August 27, 2002
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Kahn on Krugman on Bush on Logging
Richard said: I would say Krugman "mostly" gets it right [on Bush's logging plan]...some failures include:
1) He unapologetically condones clearing small trees and brush because they're just "fuel." However, whether they help produce large wildfires or not, the brush on the forest floor is not just fuel. To call it so is to reproduce the rhetoric used by government and logging companies and so maintaining such language constitutes a minor ideological victory for them.
2) In all the talk about "fuel causes" he never points to the larger cause that is fuel for the quantity and quality of recent fires -- drought and climate change. Again, to not point the finger there let's the Bush administration and other industries they favor off the hook.
3) Finally, to be fair, the Bush plan is generally supported by both parties across the board and is not a uniquely administrative or partisan position. In fact, the Bush plan pretty much is only a re-invoking of the language of the Daschle compromise instituted only weeks prior and top Dems like Dianne Feinstein came out with hard core energy rightwingers to celebrate logging the forests -- in strict defiance of attempts by groups like the Sierra Club to ask her not to do so.
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Krugman on Bush on Logging
Submitted by Ray McInnis
The New York Times' op ed writer, Paul Krugman, gets it right on
exposing the fallacies of President Bush's proposal on logging the
nation's forests:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/27/opinion/27KRUG.html?todaysheadlines
DK responds: Bush uses a serious environmental issue, controlling fires, to open the way for big-time logging, that had been restricted in national forests; another example where Bush uses (pseudo)environmentalism to attack real environmentalism and to turn back the clock on previous regulations and advances.
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Monday, August 26, 2002
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Bush and Language
Ray McInnis said: This is a url that follows Bush\'s infelicities with the English language: http://www.dubyaspeak.com/
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Recent Bushisms
Before September 11, there was a veritable cottage industry in the collecting of Bushisms, mispeaking and double-speaking by the Orwellian president. For a while, the daily collection of Bush's linguistic infelicities was suspended, but collections are returning; see, for instance, see the Slate collection at http://slate.msn.com/?id=2070180
Bushism of the Day
By Bryan Curtis
Posted Tuesday, August 27, 2002, at 8:13 AM PT
"I'm thrilled to be here in the bread basket of America because it gives me a chance to remind our fellow citizens that we have an advantage here in America—we can feed ourselves."—Stockton, Calif., Aug. 23, 2002 (Thanks to Christopher Baird.)
For more, see "The Complete Bushisms."
Here's a recent list=
"There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country."
"The federal government and the state government must not fear programs who change lives, but must welcome those faith-based programs for the embetterment of mankind."—Stockton, Calif., Aug. 23, 2002 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"I love the idea of a school in which people come to get educated and stay in the state in which they're educated."
"There may be some tough times here in America. But this country has gone through tough times before, and we're going to do it again."
"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here."
"I can assure you that, even though I won't be sitting through every single moment of the seminars, nor will the vice president, we will look at the summaries."
"Tommy [Thompson, Health and Human Services secretary,] is a good listener, and he's a pretty good actor, too."
"The trial lawyers are very politically powerful. … But here in Texas we took them on and got some good medical—medical malpractice.""I firmly believe the death tax is good for people from all walks of life all throughout our society."
—Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"There was no malfeance involved. This was an honest disagreement about accounting procedures. ... There was no malfeance, no attempt to hide anything."—White House press conference, Washington, D.C., July 8, 2002
"I also understand how tender the free enterprise system can be."—White House press conference, Washington, D.C., July 9, 2002
"Over 75 percent of white Americans own their home, and less than 50 percent of Hispanos and African Americans don't own their home. And that's a gap, that's a homeownership gap. And we've got to do something about it."—Cleveland, Ohio, July 1, 2002
"Whether you're here by birth, or whether you're in America by choice, you contribute to the vitality of our life. And for that, we are grateful."—Washington, D.C., May 17, 2002
"I'd rather have them sacrificing on behalf of our nation than, you know, endless hours of testimony on congressional hill."—National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland, June 4, 2002
"We're working with Chancellor Schröder on what's called 10-plus-10-over-10: $10 billion from the U.S.,$10 billion from other members of the G7 over a 10-year period, to help Russia securitize the dismantling—the dismantled nuclear warheads."—Berlin, Germany, May 23, 2002
"Do you have blacks, too?"—To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001
"This is a nation that loves our freedom, loves our country."—Washington, D.C, May 17, 2002
"The public education system in America is one of the most important foundations of our democracy. After all, it is where children from all over America learn to be responsible citizens, and learn to have the skills necessary to take advantage of our fantastic opportunistic society."—Santa Clara, Calif., May 1, 2002
"After all, a week ago, there were—Yasser Arafat was boarded up in his building in Ramallah, a building full of, evidently, German peace protestors and all kinds of people. They're now out. He's now free to show leadership, to lead the world."—Washington, D.C., May 2, 2002 (Thanks to M. Bateman.)
"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."—as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002
"I want to thank the dozens of welfare to work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves."—Washington, D.C., April 18, 2002 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours." —Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002
"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber."—Washington, D.C., April 10, 2002
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Prisoners in the US
Submitted by Ray McInnis
The figures on prison population in America continue to be alarming.
Over 6,000,000, when parolees are included in the count. In comparison
with most other nations, the stats are off the charts. Moreover, the
disproportionate numbers of African Americans in that population, and
the disproportionate numbers clustered in Southern states makes one
wonder about whether something else is afoot.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/3937961.htm
''The overall figures suggest that we've come to rely on the criminal
justice system as a way of responding to social problems in a way that's
unprecedented,'' said Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing
Project.
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Earth Summit
European papers full of articles on Earth Summit, and how US is rogue nation on environment, opposing reasonal policies
Independent News
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Sunday, August 25, 2002
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Moral Clarity
submitted by Ray McInnis
As a term, moral clarity is getting much use today in the period of "the war on terror." However, I think that moral clarity, again as a term, has some history. In a JSTOR search I found a likely connection in a book by David Easton in 1955 [no 4], but the phrase was used earlier, too, even though I doubt that, contextually, it would have a meaning related to today's. Have yet to look at text of Easton book. Unsuccesssfully, I searched the Internet with Google for a note that Safire did a history of the term, but maybe I missed. In a search of Proquest, I did find Safire [in an op ed nyt Apr 22, 2002 ] quoting Joe Lieberman:
"Lieberman, as he famously did in another moral matter a few years ago, went against the Democratic leadership. He said Bush's call to stop the counterattack ''muddled our moral clarity '' in the war against terror."
[from a JSTOR search] 4. (in Book Reviews) The Political System: An Inquiry into the State of Political Science. David Easton Review author[s]: Charles D. Farris. The Journal of Politics, Vol. 15, No. 4. (Nov., 1953), pp. 544-547.
How can conservatives believe that this term has crediblity, when so much of American foreign policy has been the polar opposite of "moral clarity"?
DK responds: Indeed, US politicians of all stripes manipulate the terms of "morality" and "good" to legimate policies that are quite the opposite, pointing to the hyprocrisy of much official discourse and the need for critics to have crap detectors to apply to official discourse.
CB speaks: Morality is relative and ..clarity?? clear to whom?--or clear FOR whom? If moral clarity is defined by those in power--it is defined as THEY define it---from situation to situation. Power players are not required to be consistent in definitions--are they?
DK responds: Well, power players are rarely clear and tend to mystify which is why analytical critique is necessary of their discourse and action. And political critique strives for clarification of issues to educate the public -- against the oppressors! Thus, as Herbert Marcuse frequently commented, morality can be an instrument of critique and struggle as well as mystification.
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Saturday, August 24, 2002
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Free Book: How Sustainable is the Internet Anyway?
As the World Summit gears up in Johannesburg and a number of guerilla websites and blogs are up and running there giving everything from real-time reports and critique to on-the-street interviews with statespersons and civillians alike, it seems as good a time as any to begin to consider the question: Bill Gates's dream of a wired-for-broadband planet -- just how sustainable is this vision? My guess is that very few people surfing the net and downloading music on P2P have ever seriously even asked themselves this question much less done the work to try to answer it.
Luckily, the World Wildlife Fund has done it for you and has made it freely available as a well put together 200 page report on the issue. Read more about it and download it from my posting here.
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No Bush Doubletalk on W.S.S.D. -- He Doesn't Even Care Enough to Comment
As Doug points out, Bush will be the only major leader absent from this global conference on poverty, sustainable development and business practices, and the environment. This is hardly shocking because the Bush administration in particular, and the United States in general, has some of the least credibility on these issues in the world. Bush's absence makes a conference that many environmental and social organizations already thought was doomed to be little more than "lip service" a certain dud. For if the United States continues to block and buck global attempts at setting and implementing humane and environmental reforms of the transnational capitalist system, then such reforms (already in the guise of compromise) become virtually meaningless and unimplementable on a wide scale.
As I posted on the 22nd on my Vegan Blog: The (Eco) Logical Weblog, Bush's absence comes the very week when his administration has signed off on yet another neo-liberal deregulation of a major industry -- this time it's timber. Not only has Bush, in typical fashion, allowed the industry to virtually write the governmental policy concerning the logging of U.S. forests, but he has used the issue of wildfires to promote a "healthy forests plan" that amounts to an undermining of the Environmental Protection Act. In one fell swoop of the pen, the new policy sets back and makes void environmental accords that have been painstakingly acheived over the last thirty years and bars civillians and organizations from their legal right to challenge the timber industry and the governmental policy that backs it in court.
As I wrote, the cooptation of a national tragedy by the Bush administration, one that the administration has not only mismanaged but helped to create (in as much as the horrible wildfires are more directly relatable to the drought caused by the industrial heating of the planet that Bush denies and so supports) is typical of how Bush does business and it is the very same strategy that was used post-9/11 to cement a powerful hegemony and further administration aims in a manner that would have been otherwise unthinkable.
So, this is the week of unbelievable Bushspeak. He promotes a common-sense plan for domestic environmental health by rolling back the one strong environmental accord the U.S. does have, he bars environmentalists from any legal recourse in doing so, and he proudly hands the national forest areas over to be "sensibly managed" by the very industry that has the most to gain via practices of ecological mismanagement and a terrible history of doing just this. But then, for an encore, while continuing his nonsense rhetoric of being tough on corporate crooks, he drums up money and support at an elite gala for another corporate criminal, Republican candidate for Governor Bill Simon.
If the consequences of such blather weren't so terrbily threatening and destructive, I'd say that it's time to give Bush his own Comedy Central primetime slot. His recent round of press shots and television appearances being simply laughable and absurd. Sadly, however, there really is nothing funny about shrugging off world poverty and disease, ignoring the destruction of local cultures and traditions in the name of a buck, and furthering an insane policy of unchecked production and consumption that has the planet in the throws of an unprecedented cycle of extinction. In this sense, then, the current Bush lies have never been more sinister and deserving of loud and boisterous dissent.
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Independent News
vigorous demo against Bush yesterday in Oregon, "Drop Bush, not Bombs" Right On! Time for a US regime change!!
Independent News
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David Theroux writes
Here is another article that you might find of interest from our
quarterly journal, THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW:
"Just War? Moral Soldiers?", by Laurie Calhoun:
http://www.independent.org/tii/content/pubs/review/TIR43Calhoun.html
Could I interest you in please adding a link to our sites as follows
under the following headings on your blog home page? We would be
most grateful.
"Online"
The Independent Institute
http://www.independent.org
"Magazines"
The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy
http://www.independent.org/review.html
Thanks again.
Best regards,
David
David J. Theroux
Founder and President
The Independent Institute
100 Swan Way
Oakland, CA 94621-1428
510-632-1366 Phone
510-568-6040 Fax
DTheroux@independent.org
http://www.independent.org
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Independent News
Earth Summit coming, which Bush, almost alone of major world leaders, is not attending. Last night, Bill Moyers on NOW! had a hard-hitting segment on Bush's pathetic environmental policy, interviewing several former government EPA, forestry agency, and other environmental officials who quit in frustration of Bush's allowing industry to write environmental law, basically deregulating and undoing decades of progress.
Independent News
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The Loyal Opposition
While one can agree with Scowcroft's reservations about an Iraq war, it is good Bill Keller points out that Scowcroft has business interests that have constantly driven his political positions. When he was Bush I's National Security advisor and urged him to pursue Gulf war he had a lot of Kuwaiti stocks and connections, as well as military stocks and connections. The same with Kissinger, Eagleburger and others over the years. Their political punitry is often driven by their economic interests.
The Loyal Opposition
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Friday, August 23, 2002
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Submitted by Ray McInnis
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53533-2002Aug23.html?referer=email
Interesting Wash Post claim about a shift in voting behavior of African
American voters, especially affluent ones. If the url doesn't work, try
deleting up to the question mark (?). I'm on the Wash Post email alert
service.
For you California forum members, can you detect similar shift among
African American voters in that state? With Ward Connerly actively
embracing a conserative idelogy, anti-affirmative action, etc., I am
wondering if other California-based African Americans are following.
DK responds: the media tend to promote conservative African Americans (i.e. Larry Elder, Alan Keyes, etc) that may help shift African American voting behavior to the right; on the other hand, in Election 2000 African Americans were one of the strongest Democratic Party constituencies
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More on Kissinger, Bush, and Iraq
Submitted by Ray Mcinnis:
I too read the NYT stuff. Your comments about the aging Kissinger mirror my own, although haven't read either Hersh or Hitchens. This morning when I was cruising the blogs, came over a piece about how -- lately --Bush's Iraq regime change is "in disarry -- they let the discussion get away from them" -- [can't relocate it may have been in the Wash Post]. Interesting. And frightful. Incidentally, who are the conservative pundits who make the claim that, with his reputed weapons of mass destruction, Saddam can hit NY and DC? Read it somewhere but lost it.
****
DK responds: it is encouraging that major political leaders and commentators from all over the world are attacking Bush's impending attack on Iraq, putting conservatives and Bush administration on the defensive, forcing them to construct fantasy claims like Saddam could hit NY or DC. At bottom, Bush knows he needs to take out Saddam to win the election after botching the economy, weakening the polity, and achieving mixed results at best in the Terror War with major Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders still at large, Afghanistan a mess, and Islamists madder at the US than ever.
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Kissinger on Iraq
submitted by Ray McInnis
On Jim Lehrer last night, Madeline Albright and Henry Kissinger were
talking about the wisdom/lack of wisdom of attacking iraq, (ie, "a
regime change"). I found it difficult to follow Kissinger in the
broadcast, but didn't find him overly eager, as some conservative
bloggers are wont to claim.
Here is a report on the broadcast:
http://news.findlaw.com/news/s/20020823/iraqusaeagleburgerdc.html
Be interested in responses
*****
DK responds: Interestingly, a NYT article the other day cited Kissinger as critic of impending Bush administration attack on Iraq; the right made a big deal in bashing the Times that Kissinger did not explicitly condemn an Iraq invasion; I also saw the PBS interview last night and Kissinger evocated and pontificated, saying this and that, and hard to tell what he was suggesting. It is deplorable that he is taken as an authority and allowed to bloviate and pontificate; the guy has lost all moral and political authority after a career of political crime and economic whoring, if you believe the books on Kissinger by Seymour Hersh and Chris Hitchens, which I do. I remember in the 1980s in Austin talking to Hersh who was convinced he had enough on Kissinger to end his career, wrong as it turns out, Kissinger, like Bush Senior, just goes on and on and on
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Usurping the Constitutional Order in Pakistan
Submitted by Ray McInnis
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-pakistan23aug23.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Deditorials
The above url is from the LA Times 8/23/02. It surprises me that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's usurping of constitutional powers --
by his unilateral declaration that is said to basically eliminate democracy from Pakistan -- hasn't resulted in more protests in the press. Using the search engine Rocketinfo, I found 92 articles with the keywords "Musharraf" and "democracy". Check out Findlaw's post: http://news.findlaw.com/politics/s/20020809/iraqbushanalysisdc.html
By Mark Egan CENTRAL POINT Ore. Reuters President Bush on Thursday praised General Pervez Musharraf as a stalwart ally in his war on terrorism a day after the Pakistani leader made constitutional changes that critics say threaten the south Asian nation's return to democratic rule. Bush traveling in Oregon said it was important to promote democracy in Pakistan under Musharraf an army general who took power in a bloodless coup in 1999.
FindLaw Reuters Political News, August 22, 2002
However, I'd like to hear what forum members think.
DK responds: US antiterrorist policy, "you're either with us or against us," gives allies like Pakistan's General Musharraf carte blanche to suppress democracy. It is significantly that Bush rarely says that Terror War is about freedom, not democracy, freedom for Bush and his cohorts to do what the hell they please and democracy be damned. Hence, it's time to speak up for democracy!
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Thursday, August 22, 2002
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Ray McInnis writes:
Mr. Kellner, thanks for the post of the Guardian "dystopia" piece.
The first is the issue of when consumption is overconsumption. Telling consumers in the west that they have to cut back is not relished by politicians. But the Bank wonders whether consumption will become the modern equivalent of the Cold War arms race; will people in the developing world see the norm as patterns of consumption in the west?
For me, the key passage is copied above. How can we persuade the people living in the Western world (myself included) that we are "over-consuming " the world's resources? Any suggestions?
Yours
Ray McInnis
****
Richard Kahn responds:
I should add -- where this key passage's thinking is fallacious, in my opinion, is by putting the emphasis on consumption patterns. It's very true that Western/Northern consumption patterns are far, far too high to be sustained either at the level of global social order or natural environmental resources.
But the idea that seems to be bandied about is that consumption drives production -- the lassez-faire argument -- which is not acceptable. I think it is the other way around and that production drives consumption in the contemporary marketplace -- not necessarily wholly but in the main. The big business of modern advertising is proof enough.
So it is the consumption by producers, not necessarily the consumption by consumers, that is the real culprit. And how do you convince the producers that they are over-producing -- well this has been going on for over a hundred years now with differing effects but clearly no lasting influence. And this must be because it is built into the logic of the current production standpoint that overproduction is an economic necessity in a marketplace where too much can lead to market saturation, brand hegemony, and tax write offs, but too little can only mean loss of market share.
So the question is really twofold: 1) how to convince consumers to change their personal consumption habits, but also 2) how to convince consumers to force producers to change their production habits.
As to evidence for the need for a change in consumption, at whatever level, a good starting place might be to examine the satellite photos of the global forests from 10 or 20 years ago and then the most recent photos -- what is made plain as day is that the Earth is going bald in favor of urbanization and prairization. The loss of forests has a tremendous affect upon habitat for most species on the planet and so staggering numbers of species are going extinct at all-time record rates -- akin to a geologic hiroshima. The loss of forest also drives CO2 levels in the atmosphere higher resulting in global warming. Global warming affects producers and consumers directly by adding significant energy production costs, creating the current situation of extreme weather patterns of drought and flood, turns water into a global cartel commodity, with all this leading to untold suffering in less developed regions and hardship in more developed areas. Further, the rise in temperatures if it continues at this rate could lead to devastation along the costs akin to what is happening in Europe now. As the ice caps melt -- which is clearly and dramatically happening in the north (alaskan glaciers and the artic circle are experiencing widespread melting and unprecedented movement back) and in the south (chunks of Antarctica the size of countries are falling into the sea) -- sea levels rise and cause coastal flooding of staggering proportions. But as CO2 rises, this is also linked to Ozone depletion and this has its own consequences and we could go on and on and on from there...so the pictures of forests (or the lack thereof) is an informative and easy way to gauge consumption and its negative effects.
On the other hand, another way to approach the question is through an analysis of TRASH -- and the amount of WASTED CONSUMPTION. But that's another story for another day.
For species extinction in the last couple decades alone and the threat of global extinction in the next 30 years, see this webpage: http://www.well.com/user/davidu/extinction.html
RK
****
DK responds: It is interesting that the World Bank is addressing issues of consumption, ecology, and the possibility of dystopia but as Richard notes they neglect the issue of PRODUCTION, which would mean, in effect, curtailing the rights of capital to control production. Yet I was also interested to see that Guardian article stressed the theme of the need to build democracy which could result in democratic control over what was produced, how its produced, distribution, and consumption-- this, at least, would be the progressive agenda and usually World Bank rarely mentions democracy. They also mentioned emigration at the end of the Guardian article and here it is interesting that usually global capital stresses freedom of trade, commerce, capital flows, etc but not labor. Indeed, in an era of Terror War there are serious restrictions on immigration. Yet it also struck me how out of synche the World Bank analysis with current Bush administration Terror War agenda and how that agenda could produce dystopia sooner rather than later in which cyberpunk fiction would be the template for the contemporary moment.
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Wednesday, August 21, 2002
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Bush's Tax Evasion
Bob Fertik provides an excellent overview of another Bush tax evasion charge and provides a well-documented account of Bush's activities with Harken energy. The moving finger writes and the skeletons rattle on...
Bush's Tax Evasion
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Officers Say U.S. Aided Iraq in War Despite Use of Gas
Bush I and key members of Bush administration helped arm and provide intelligence to Iraq during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war; Bush I continued to be Saddam's point man into the late 1980s, securing him loans that enabled him to build up his military;
Officers Say U.S. Aided Iraq in War Despite Use of Gas
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OpinionJournal - Featured Article
It is interesting that Brent Scowcroft and many insiders in Bush I administration are warning against an Iraq attack
OpinionJournal - Featured Article
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Tuesday, August 20, 2002
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Salon.com News | Too hot to handle
Firefighters were heros on 911; but a recent report states their communications broke down and many needlessly died, not hearing they were supposed to evacuate one of the Towers; the media are ignoring this report
Salon.com News | Too hot to handle
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Rumsfeld key player in Iraq policy shift
Over the years, the top players in the current Bush administration and Poppy Bush on the sidelines have been major supporters of Iraqi military regime; during the Reagan era, Bush I was Saddam's point man for getting major loans; Cheney did business with Iraq, even though it was illegal, when he was CEO of Halliburton, and now we learn Rumsfeld and others were Iraq supporters!
Rumsfeld key player in Iraq policy shift
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From The Daily Enron
It appears Bush economist knows something that not everyone knows concerning flakiness of the stock market; read on...
Lindsey Undermines Bush on Key SSI Reform.
Bush Hosts 160 W.H. Sleepovers.
Was I the only editorial writer that noticed the remarkable comment by President Bush's chief economic advisor Saturday? Lawrence Lindsey was doing his bit this weekend to put the best possible face on last week's embarrassingly vacuous Waco economic summit. One of his stops was CNN's Novak, Hunt & Shields.
Even though archconservative, Robert Novak tossed Lindsey softball questions that would have embarrassed Larry King it was tough sledding for the normally straight-talking Lindsey.
Towards the end of the program, having apparently exhausted all available spin, Lindsey slipped into candor and, in so doing, making a shocking personal confession:
NOVAK: The Big Question for Larry Lindsey: Mr. Lindsey, you sold all your stock when the Dow was at 8,500 on the way beyond 10,000. It's on the way back now, not much over 8,500. To give a boost to the American economy, a confidence to the American people, would you consider now, just as an act of patriotism, to reinvest in the stock market?
LINDSEY: Well, I sold my stock in part because I have three kids, and at that point I had an ailing mother-in-law who had just moved in with us. I couldn't afford to have money anywhere but where it was safe. I couldn't take any chances.
I still have the three kids, and my pay's gone down now that I work for the government. I would recommend that all Americans ... read the financial press, they do what's in their own self- interest, they look at their own financial condition and they not risk money.
Hellooooo…? Is this the chief economic advisor for the same administration that wants to privatize Social Security and invest retiree's futures in stock?
I suspect that some folks back at the White House sprayed their morning coffee across the room. Here was the President's economic advisor admitting - live, in color and on tape, that he wouldn't touch stocks with a ten foot vaccinated crowbar.
Am I wrong or isn't the centerpiece of the Bush administration's plan for reforming Social Security to privatize a portion of deductions so the money can be invested where? -- the STOCK MARKET.
So, let me get this straight;
- The Bush administration believes the stock market offers the promise of better returns and more security my Social Security savings.
- But, over the past two years stocks have lost nearly $12 trillion in value.
- And, the President's own economic advisor abandoned stocks years ago because he did not believe it was a safe place for his family's savings.
- And, by golly, he turned out to be right about that.
- But, he continues to support the President's plan to put a portion of my Social Security savings into stocks.
Maybe I am making too much of Lindsey's comment. Apparently no one else thought it was strange because I could not find any mention of it in the press this morning. What am I missing? Maybe someone over at the Wall Street Journal can explain it to us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Vacancies at Hotel White House
Remember how Republicans clucked, frowned, and wagged their fingers in disapproval when they discovered that President Bill Clinton had let friends and campaign contributors snooze in the Lincoln bedroom? Why it was "a disgrace," they said. How crass. Just further proof that Bill Clinton was not presidential material. What the nation needed was a president who could return the White House to dignity.
Oh how they carried on about it, too;
"It's now abundantly clear that President Clinton decided to exploit the White House for campaign fundraising," said Rep. Dan Burton, chairman of the House panel." His own handwritten notes confirm that the highly questionable overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom occurred at his direction. At a minimum, this is a highly unethical use of government property for political purposes." (Rep. Dan Burton, R-IN, said in February 1997)
"Is it a criminal violation? It could be." [Joseph DiGenova, a former Assistant United States Attorney and Reagan Appointee (1983-1988, District of Columbia), said in March 1997.]
Well, administration's changed but the “No Vacancy” stayed up. Last week we learned that no sooner had the sheets been changed from the last Clinton houseguests than the first batch of Bush cronies were ringing the White House doorbell suitcases in hand.
During the first 18 months in office the Bush's have played host to over 160 White House sleepover guests. Because of obvious sensitivities (the Lincoln bedroom was most often used by Clinton guests) the Bush White House refused to identify which of the named bedrooms they occupied during their stay.
Among the guests were members of Bush's "Pioneers," - individuals who donated at least $100,000 to his campaign.
And what do Republicans have to say about President Bush's White House guests?
Nothing.
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Monday, August 19, 2002
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Bush's Taxes
This would be rich story if Bush didn't pay taxes on sale of baseball team; his history is one of sleaze and slime; story from=
ANOTHER MAKETHEMACCOUNTABLE EXCLUSIVE:
BUSH MAY HAVE EVADED TAXES ON SALE OF BASEBALL TEAM
By the Anonymous CPA
Published August 19, 2002
A review of George W. Bush’s 1998 tax return reveals that he reported the sale of his share of the Texas Rangers baseball team as a long term capital gain. [Emphasis added.] As a result, he paid a tax on the more than $15 million proceeds at a tax rate of 20%, as opposed to the 39.6% rate on ordinary income. According to a press release dated June 18, 1998 from the Dallas Morning News, Bush paid $606,000 for about 1.8% of the team and became the managing general partner of B/R Rangers Associates, Ltd., a limited partnership that owned the team. Under the terms of the agreement, Mr. Bush was given an additional 10.2% of the proceeds as additional compensation if the team was sold. The incentive compensation became effective if the other partners received their entire investment back plus a 2% return per year…
Mr. Bush earned his additional 10% of the team by adding considerable value to the team because of his political influence. Incentive clauses such as the one granted to Bush are common for managing partners adding value to their partnerships; however, such incentive clauses exercised on behalf of a sitting governor, even if he was not governor when the agreement was written, raises some serious tax questions in addition to the question of public policy conflicts of interest.
According to IRS Revenue Procedure 93-27, “…The receipt of a partnership capital interest for services provided to or for the benefit of the partnership is taxable as compensation.” As most people know, compensation is taxed as ordinary income, subject to the highest tax rates; in this case 39.6%. Mr. Bush treated the incentive portion of his proceeds as long term capital gain, and accordingly reduced his tax liability by at least $2.4 million… [Emphasis added.]
Carolyn Kay
47 West Polk Street, Suite 100-223
Chicago, IL 60605
312-697-0887
MakeThemAccountable.com
“Saddam would be likely to conclude he had nothing left to lose, leading him to unleash whatever weapons of mass destruction he possesses.” – Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser under President Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, Opinion Journal, August 15, 2002
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Saturday, August 17, 2002
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Republicans Pressure Bush Not to Attend Earth Summit
LONDON, UK, August 16, 2002 (ENS) - Less than two weeks before world leaders gather for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, U.S. President George W. Bush has not publicly indicated whether or not he will attend. A letter from Republican Party and conservative lobbyists to Bush made public today by Friends of the Earth UK makes it clear that the President is under pressure not to attend the summit.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/aug2002/2002-08-16-04.asp
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The 9-11 Lawsuit that the Media Isn't Covering...
Stanley Hilton, a San Francisco attorney and former aide to Senator Bob Dole, filed a $7 billion lawsuit in U.S. District Court on June 3rd. The class-action suit names ten defendants, among whom are George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Norman Mineta.
Hilton's suit charges Bush and his administration with allowing the September 11th attacks to take place so as to reap political benefits from the catastrophe. Hilton alleges that Osama bin Laden is being used as a scapegoat by an administration that ignored pressing warnings of the attack and refused to round up suspected terrorists beforehand. Hilton alleges the ultimate motivation behind these acts was achieved when the Taliban were replaced by American military forces with a regime friendly to America and its oil interests in the region.
Hilton's plaintiffs in this case are the families of 14 victims of 9/11, numbering 400 people nationwide. These are the same families that rallied in Washington recently to advocate for an independent investigation into the attacks. The current 9/11 hearings are being conducted by Congress behind closed doors, a situation these families find unacceptable.
Mr. Hilton, by filing his lawsuit, has joined the ranks of an ever-increasing body of Americans who subscribe to what they call the LIHOP Theory. LIHOP stands for Let It Happen On Purpose. The LIHOP Theory puts forward the accusation that Bush and his people allowed the September 11th attacks to take place, despite the fact that they had been repeatedly warned of an impending strike.
Continued at: http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/06.21A.pitt.watchtower.htm
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Thursday, August 15, 2002
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Wednesday, August 14, 2002
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war in Iraq
Samuel Day Fassbinder said: According to Debka, the ground war against Iraq is already on, & has been raging at low intensity since March...
http://www.debka.com/
DK responds: Debka is Israeli source that often scoops Mideast stories; I'm not sure exactly whose behind it, its politics, etc, but it is becoming respected. Anyone have any comments on this?
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Monday, August 12, 2002
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How Al Qaeda Slipped Away
Newsweek story on how failed Bush administration/Pentagon policy in Afghan war allowed bin Laden and top Al Qaeda cadres to escape
How Al Qaeda Slipped Away
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Sunday, August 11, 2002
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washingtonpost.com: Cheney's 'Win-Win' Acquisition As Firm's CEO Became Liability
This is interesting. Today the Washington Post published several articles critical of Bush and Cheney; previously, it was the New York Times that was more critical, maybe the establishment media and thus the establishment itself is turning away from the Repugs?
washingtonpost.com: Cheney's 'Win-Win' Acquisition As Firm's CEO Became Liability
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Thursday, August 08, 2002
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Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Iraq plans urban warfare to thwart US
iraq promises a Big Mess if there's a war
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Iraq plans urban warfare to thwart US
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Independent News
day after day, britain implores bush not to start another Mideast war, british papers having article after article on this
Independent News
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washingtonpost.com: WorldCom Auditors Find More Errors
unbelievable how FICTIVE and corrupt capital has become, who could imagine such things? marxistic critique of capital is too rationalistic, capital itself is just surreal!
washingtonpost.com: WorldCom Auditors Find More Errors
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Wednesday, August 07, 2002
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Guardian | Corporate America feels the heat
Bush forced to go after corporate crooks because of political pressures; who will note similarity to Bush and Cheney's corporate records with the guys getting arrested?
Guardian | Corporate America feels the heat
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Tuesday, August 06, 2002
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Independent News
Very interesting, yesterday in Washington Post there was a leak about Pentagon briefing that Saudis were major US enemy and Pentagon today went out of the way to distance themselves from this report; curious that rightwingers want to go after Saudis, longtime friends and allies of Bush family
Independent News
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Monday, August 05, 2002
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The Memory Hole
Orwellian metaphors are used increasingly frequently to characterize actions of the Bush administration; Paul Krugman has been the best at exposing Bush Big Lies on the economy since the campaign
The Memory Hole
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Sunday, August 04, 2002
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News Story
Bush aides deny Time story concerning getting plan to fight al Queda; this could be a semantic issue: what is a plan?
News Story
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Broken Promises and Political Deception
Al Gore defends populist representing the people against the powerful, attacking forcefully Bush and Cheney for representing corrupt corporate interests against the people on every issue. This bold statement reveals the utter bankruptcy of Joe Lieberman who recently attacked Gore for using populist themes in the campaign. Lieberman should be shunned by decent progressives and pressure should be put on Dems not to put him on their ticket. He is terrible.
Interestingly, Gore realizes that "the future of democratic capitalism" is at stake and that the question "What is good for the whole" needs to be addressed and articulated. Gore suggests, correctly, that Bush merely represents the corrupt and greedy few. Here, though, Gore is making a pitch to capital as a whole, suggesting, correctly, that he represents the interests of capital as a whole and US capital much better than Bush. This is so obvious that I wouldn't be surprised to see Gore go all the way, despite all of the nasty pundit snapping at him for every side. While progressives should recognize that Gore represents capital as a whole while Bush represents merely the most corrupt, reactionary and aggressive sectors, the difference between them is real. It is huge. Gore does represent the people on a lot of key issues and is probably as good as this system will yield so Nader and Lieberman should both go into retirement for the good of the whole.
On the other hand, obviously, Bush and Cheney have not given up and it was horrifying to see young Bush with evil Old Man Bush this weekend and scary to contemplate what monstruous plans they are concocting to preserve their power and agenda. This is a real struggle and we need to be 100% and more anti-Bush and Cheney.
Sunday morning thoughts
Broken Promises and Political Deception
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DRUDGE REPORT 2002®
Time mag claims that Bush administration delayed Clinton administration plan to attack al Qaeda, with possibly disastrous results
DRUDGE REPORT 2002®
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Timing of Iraq Invasion
Samuel Day Fassbinder said: It would seem that the climate of Iraq would have something to say about the invasion as well. Iraq is extremely hot in the summer, as the Romans once discovered while trying to take that part of the world away from the Persians.
DK responds: The Bushites would probably like to strike Iraq this Fall to deflect focus ASAP from Bush-Cheney-Enron etc scandals and the economic crisis they helped cause, maybe to influence the Fall elections. But there seems to be unprecedented opposition from all over the world and growing opposition in US. Nonetheless, they seem obsessed to take out Saddam and will eventually need to to get public opinion on their side again. Of course, if they botch it up this ploy could backfire. Hence, the need to keep Bush opposition closely focused on Iraq
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Saturday, August 03, 2002
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Friday, August 02, 2002
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Independent News
"Friendly fire" deaths in Afghanistan linked to US pilots "on speed"
Independent News
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Thursday, August 01, 2002
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Independent News
Blair backing away from support for Bush attack on Iraq
Independent News
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Salon.com News | The morally bankrupt Congress
Once again, Bush has done the bidding of a major contributor, the credit card and banking industry, and Congress has carried out his agenda...
Salon.com News | The morally bankrupt Congress
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