Quote of note:

We have specific fears about what would happen in a second Bush term, particularly regarding the Supreme Court. The record so far gives us plenty of cause for worry. Thanks to Mr. Bush, Jay Bybee, the author of an infamous Justice Department memo justifying the use of torture as an interrogation technique, is now a federal appeals court judge. Another Bush selection, J. Leon Holmes, a federal judge in Arkansas, has written that wives must be subordinate to their husbands and compared abortion rights activists to Nazis.

Mr. Bush remains enamored of tax cuts but he has never stopped Republican lawmakers from passing massive spending, even for projects he dislikes, like increased farm aid.

If he wins re-election, domestic and foreign financial markets will know the fiscal recklessness will continue. Along with record trade imbalances, that increases the chances of a financial crisis, like an uncontrolled decline of the dollar, and higher long-term interest rates.

KOS member gets secret hidden agenda FOI doc on draft
-- Posted on Rock the Vote Blog
by RegenerationMan
Sat Oct 9th, 2004 at 16:00:32 GMT

Hidden Draft Agenda Memo Recovered through FOI ACT by KOS MEMBER Regeneration Man:
http://www.blatanttruth.org/selective_service091304.pdf

The President said: "Forget all this talk about the DRAFT". Here's why you shouldn't.

…The truth is that any President can go to Congress under the Military Selective Service Act, the current registration law, and ask for re-authorization of the Combat Draft. All Congress need do is pass a 1-page "trigger resolution" and the Combat Draft for men 18-25 is back. At the same time, the Medical Draft is automatically activated for men and women, 18-44, with no deferments for health reasons.

The Institute for Research in African–American Studies
At Columbia University Presents
An Interdisciplinary Conference

THE BLACK PRESENCE IN THE IVY LEAGUE
Where Do We Go From Here?
An Inter-Disciplinary Conference

In light of the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and the recent challenges to Affirmative Action, the Institute for Research in African American Studies is hosting this inter-disciplinary conference. African Americans began to enter Ivy League institutions in unprecedented numbers following the social unrest of the 1960s and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. This conference will not be a self-congratulatory occasion; instead it will provide us with the opportunity to engage in reflective, critical, and forward-thinking analysis.

Quote of note:

Keyes has already managed to offend some in his own party with a few of his pronouncements: Jesus Christ would not vote for Obama because of his stance on abortion rights and Vice President Dick Cheney's gay daughter and other homosexuals are "selfish hedonists" for having sex without procreating.

"If Barack Obama suddenly became a mime and couldn't speak until the election he would still win," said Roosevelt University political analyst Paul Green. "Just give Keyes all the time in the debates to open his mouth."

Illinois Democrat Set to Win All-Black Senate Race
Fri Oct 15, 2004 12:05 PM ET
By Andrew Stern

I gotta link David because I don't want to run afoul of the Progressive Blog Strike Force Alliance…I'd have to hurt someone and they're too useful a crew to damage.

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Trade Mike is back from vacation in Rio. Closest I get to Rio is watching City of God.

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The Mac Diva photoblogged a Portland appearance of John Edwards. Somehow everyone looks as concerned and patriotic as all the right-wing guys look at their rallies. Only no one had to sign a loyalty oath.

Bush criticizes Kerry on education, jobs
By Pete Yost, Associated Press Writer | October 16, 2004

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa --Campaigning in a swing county in Iowa that he lost four years ago, President Bush criticized Sen. John Kerry on education and jobs Friday, saying the Democrat fails to understand the connection between the two.

"In the final debate I talked about the vital link between education and jobs; the senator didn't seem to get it," Bush told thousands of supporters in the heart of the biggest media market in Iowa that covers some 30 counties in the eastern part of the state.

Bush said good jobs begin with education and that Kerry "failed to recognize the changing realities of today's world and the need for reform."

Iran Rejects Any Deal to End Uranium Enrichment
October 16, 2004

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Saturday it would reject any proposal to drop uranium enrichment, a step European Union diplomats are proposing to end a row over whether Iran is seeking atomic weapons.

EU diplomats have said they are seeking U.S. and Russian support for a deal that would ask Iran to give up uranium enrichment in return for technical and economic assistance.

"Any proposal which deprives Iran of its legitimate right to a fuel cycle is not acceptable," Hossein Mousavian, Iran's head of foreign policy on the Supreme National Security Council, told state television.

Violence Returns to Afghanistan After Election Lull
By Simon Cameron-Moore | October 16, 2004

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan children and U.S. soldiers were among six people reported killed in Afghanistan on Saturday, a week after millions voted in a landmark election they hope will bring peace back to their war-ravaged nation.

The fresh violence came as vote counting in the historic presidential election resumed after a break on Friday to mark the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

A high turnout in last week's poll, which President Hamid Karzai is expected to win, was celebrated as a turning point in Afghanistan's political transition to some sort of democracy.

'Get tough' programs for youths criticized
Tactics may worsen problem, panel says
By Laura Meckler, Associated Press | October 16, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Boot camps and other ''get tough" programs for adolescents do not prevent criminal behavior, as intended, and may make the problem even worse, an expert panel concluded yesterday.

Further, laws transferring juveniles into the adult court system lead these teens to commit more violence, while there is no proof they deter others from committing crime, the panel said.

Programs that offer intensive counseling for families and young people at risk, however, are more promising, it said.

Iraq audit can't find billions
Gaps found in spending for reconstruction
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | October 16, 2004

WASHINGTON -- About half of the roughly $5 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds disbursed by the US government in the first half of this year cannot be accounted for, according to an audit commissioned by the United Nations, which could not find records for numerous rebuilding projects and other payments.

One chunk of the money -- $1.4 billion -- was deposited into a local bank by Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq but could be tracked no further: The auditors reported that they were shown a deposit slip but could find no additional records to explain how the money was used or to prove that it remains in the bank.

I do check the referral logs at random intervals for new-to-me sites. Today I found out I'm on the sidebar of a site name named Right Wing News. Being "openly" progressive that sort of this always surprises me. It also surprises me when someone with what appears to be an unhealthy attraction to The CoulterThing turns out to be a reasoning being.

Add to that this advertisement (no link because I ain't the one getting paid)

which I find amusing because I swear the first time I saw Kerry I said to myself "Herman Munster!" and I may have found a readable rightie.

AFTER his upcoming interview with The CoulterThing falls off the front page.

THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
A Translation With Commentary.
By Robert Alter.
1,064 pp. W. W. Norton & Company. $39.95.

'The Five Books of Moses': From God's Mouth to English
By JUDITH SHULEVITZ

DON'T be deterred by the unfamiliar name. If you've never heard of the Five Books of Moses (not actually composed by Moses; people who believe in divine revelation see him as more secretary than author), you've heard of the Torah and the Pentateuch, the Hebrew and Greek names, respectively, for the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The story starts with the creation of the world, and ends with Moses dying on the wrong side of the Jordan and being buried in an unmarked grave. In between these extremes of possible experience, between the magnificent birth of the universe and the anonymous death of the human being, lies a tale that still has the power to astonish: "The encounter between a group of people and the Lord of the world in the course of history," in Martin Buber's phrase.

Quote of note:

In their letter to the agency, the senators wrote that the contract represented "an illegal use of taxpayer funds."

"A comprehensive, nationwide media study identifying journalists and news organizations writing favorable stories on President Bush and his political party's commitment to education has only a political purpose," they wrote.

The articles were ranked by how frequently and favorably they mentioned 11 features of the new law, and according to the company's written description, whether or not they portrayed "the Bush administration/the G.O.P. as committed to education."

Study for U.S. Rated Coverage of Schools Law

Quote of note:

Things are getting worse by the day, thanks to ideologues in the Bush administration who prefer a laissez-faire approach, regardless of the social costs. Unable to dismember the Section 8 program directly, HUD has chosen to destabilize it with a series of rule changes and budget maneuvers that are being felt from coast to coast. The current HUD secretary, Alphonso Jackson, has settled on a particularly destructive strategy involving misdirection and sleight of hand. He releases poorly explained policies that include hidden, but draconian, cuts. After an outcry from Congress, he retreats to lesser cuts that leave the program diminished, housing authorities confused and the general public mistakenly believing that the status quo has been regained.

What bothers me most about Republicans is that they, like all of us, know that if you sneak your way into something, you KNOW you're not supposed to be doing it. And they keep on sneaking.

But

It's hard to believe that Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards are trying to paint the Republicans as "the gay party," though it's worth noting that if the tables were turned - with Mr. Cheney and President Bush referring frequently to the gay daughter of Richard Gephardt - the Democrats would cry foul.

This point is absurd. In the context of the Republican platform, any acknowledgement that someone is gay is an attack: on their nature, on their humanity, on their rights. This is why Republicans are making so much noise: they use themselves as the standard. The situations simply aren't equivalent.

Play It Straight

Then.

Mosholder had been asked by the agency to perform a safety analysis of antidepressants after reports emerged this summer of high rates of suicidal behavior among children enrolled in clinical trials for Paxil, Effexor and other antidepressants.

Mosholder, a child psychiatrist, reviewed data from 20 clinical trials involving more than 4,100 children and eight different antidepressants. His preliminary analysis, according to two FDA sources familiar with the report's contents, concluded that there was an increased risk of suicidal behavior among children being treated for depression with Paxil and several other antidepressants.

An initial agenda for Monday's hearing listed Mosholder and his findings, but his presentation was removed from a revised agenda, and Mosholder was told that he could not present his findings at the hearing, one FDA official, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Chronicle.

According to the official, in early January, Russell Katz, director of the division of neuropharmacological drug products, called Mosholder in for a meeting. "He told him that he was sorry, but he wasn't going to be able to present (his report) because he had reached a conclusion and therefore was biased," the official said.

Now:

F.D.A. Toughens Warning on Antidepressant Drugs

Quote of note:

Discussing any form of prison rape is difficult. It makes many people uncomfortable. Some find it amusing.

"It has been the subject of mockery and almost sadistic glee," said Margaret Winter, associate director of the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. "But Roderick is a human being who doesn't deserve this, not in a civilized society."

And another:

Mr. Johnson's suit says he begged prison officials to move him to a unit called safekeeping, where white and Hispanic homosexuals, former gang members and convicted police officers lived. He asked seven times, in writing.

The officials did nothing, saying Mr. Johnson's claims could not be corroborated. At prison hearings, Mr. Johnson said, officials would take pleasure in his plight. They suggested that he was enjoying the rapes, he said.

Pfizer Warns of Risks From Its Painkiller
By REED ABELSON

Pfizer warned doctors yesterday that one of its best-selling painkillers, Bextra, might increase the risk of heart attack or stroke in coronary artery bypass surgery patients. The announcement comes just two weeks after Merck removed from the market its painkiller, Vioxx, which is in the same class of medicines as Bextra, because a study showed that the risk of heart attacks doubled for patients who had taken Vioxx 18 months or longer.

Pfizer said a clinical study involving more than 1,500 patients showed that those who had undergone bypass surgery and had taken Bextra intravenously and orally were at higher risk for heart attacks. An initial study last year raised similar concerns in the same kinds of patients.

I've written about pharmaceutical pricing and the attempt to justify them by misrepresenting the development costs of new drugs.
Pharmaceutical prices
Pharmaceutical prices II
Hello, folks from Corante's "In The Pipeline"
Charging what the market will bear
The price of medicines CAN be moderated

I've posted about how Big Pharma manipulates the patent system.
See, I told you!

Quote of note:

Some scholars and political combatants believe a second contested election could open lasting fissures in American society. They fear that the red-blue political geography of the country could become imprinted on the national psyche for years to come, squelching hopes for bipartisan cooperation in governing the country.

Imagining the Danger of 2000 Redux
By JOHN M. BRODER

AMERICA could very well wake up on Wednesday, Nov. 3, not knowing who won the presidential election. Judging by the latest polls, the race is close enough in a number of key states that human error, technical foul-ups and the inevitable legal challenges could delay the results for days or weeks, in an unwelcome replay of 2000.

If you, like I, stopped watching Crossfire out of sheer annoyance

1. You are in good company
2. You missed John Stewart Ripping Crossfire, and Tucker Carlson in particular, a brand new asshole with a five year warranty.

Here is a link to the whole show. You. Must. Watch. No excuses, they have free versions for dial-up (56k) and broadband (200k) users, and all three major players are supported.

Stewart was the only guest and I'm sure they regret that decision. Stewart is not Don King. He was NOT going to be the comedy relief, and I quote: "I'm not going to be your monkey."

Here is a link to the whole show. You. Must. Watch. No excuses, they have free versions for dial-up (56k) and broadband (200k) users, and all three major players are supported.

But if you're a Christian and interested in politics as opposed to political parties, The Cross is a good site for you.

This is a blog for Christians who note that the Apostle Paul's mission was not for the Church to become a political party under the Roman Empire. Cross. From right to left and left to right, joined in the middle.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

Evangelical Christians and the Iraq war: Unilateral action isn't as popular among God followers in Europe, elsewhere in the globe

Sojourners Magazine has an interesting piece about how evangelicals outside the United States largely oppose the war in Iraq.

Quote of note:

If someone can help me understand these black gay Republicans’ reasoning, I’m all ears.

If you find someone that understands, please, please, PLEASE cc me on the memo.

Anyway…

Black, gay and backing Bush
It must be tough to be black, gay and Republican, but it’s even tougher to explain endorsing President Bush.
By REV. JIM WEBB
Oct. 15, 2004

WHEN I WAS 8, I tied a towel around my shoulders and attempted to jump off the second floor balcony like Superman. My mother screamed, “Have you lost your natural mind?”

When a black gay Republican group recently endorsed George Bush, I had the same reaction. Have they lost their natural minds?

I'm not. I'm making a point.

Alan Keyes’ gay daughter
The man who said Mary Cheney was a ‘selfish hedonist’ has one in his own family. Why are we not surprised?
By JENNIFER VANASCO
Oct. 15, 2004

My point is, where was OpinionJournal when Keyes said this?

This reminded me of Keyes’ remarks in late August, when he said that homosexuality was based “on the premise of selfish hedonism,” because gay and lesbian couples can’t have children except through adoption or insemination.

Asked if that meant Keyes would call Mary Cheney a selfish hedonist, Keyes replied, “Of course she is. That goes by definition. Of course she is.”

I feel the need to comment on this, but I won't other than to say I guarantee you will not want to believe it.

http://p-mm.com/pentagon.html

I said my Fridays would be occupied by this series. This is the third one I've attended

Professor Jonathan Kahn (who is still bugging over being called "Professor") shared a work in progress of his called "W.E.B. DuBois & the Discourse of Sacrifice." He's looking at two aspects of DuBois' writing: the fiction wherein lynched Black folks are symbolic Christ figures, and his stuff exhorting Black folks to sacrifice (his word, and apparently the one most of academia has settled on) for the sake of the Black community.

This was interesting because he (and, it would seem, much of academia) is trying to understand DuBois' intent by examining the words he left behind, all the while recognizing that DuBois was working the symbolism, riding it toward a goal that was other than the mainstream's. This is useful; for instance Professor Kahn pointed out that lynching was a deep and important part of the American ritual and actually instantiated a deep religious impulse (and at this very point I would LOVE to see the physical image you have of the good professor).

I don't do all that much reading or Conservative propaganda…I have my own to distribute thankyouveryindeed. But on a whim I signed up for OpinionJournal's daily mailing—their own editorials and what they call "best of the web."

re: best of the web: GGGAaaaaaAAahhgh!

Let me share what they've got going on and, of course it's all about the Daughter of Darth.

As the election
gets closer, the Republican Party has turned to voter suppression
efforts to try to sway the election, by keeping voters "off of the rolls and away from the polls." (Paul Krugman has the latest rundown on Republican efforts to block the vote.) The Center for American Progress joined 23 concerned parties in a joint statement on how to protect the vote and uphold democracy
in the upcoming election. Voters should not be intimidated by fears of
a stolen election. If voters don't get out and vote, the election will
not be stolen but given away. Instead, everyone should get out and
vote, vote early, and – to be safe – bring an I.D. Also, any voter
experiencing problems on Election Day should call the Election
Protection hotline, at (866) OUR-VOTE.  

Greenspan Not Worried by Rising Energy Prices
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:15 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- This year's surge in energy prices is likely to have far less of an impact on the economy than the oil shocks of the 1970s, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday.

Greenspan predicted that the global economy will adjust to the recent surge in prices, which has seen oil topping $50 per barrel, by boosting energy exploration and production and by increasing fuel efficiency. But he conceded that the transition period could feature unexpected bumps.

``We and the rest of the world doubtless will have to live with the uncertainties of the oil markets for some time to come,'' Greenspan said in remarks to the National Italian American Foundation in Washington.

Amtrak Pays Millions for Others' Fatal Errors
By WALT BOGDANICH

It is no mystery why, one spring day two years ago, an Amtrak passenger train jumped the tracks near Crescent City, Fla., and skidded to a stop on its side, killing 4 people and injuring 142.

Investigators concluded that the track, owned by the big freight railroad CSX, had not been properly stabilized and that management's oversight of maintenance had been lax. But when millions of dollars in damage claims arose from the crash, it was not CSX, a multibillion-dollar corporation, that paid them. It was Amtrak, the perennial money loser that survives only with regular infusions of cash from American taxpayers.

Quote of note:

Whose applications get rejected? A Washington Post examination of rejected applications in Duval County found three times as many were from Democrats, compared with Republicans. It also found a strong tilt toward rejection of blacks' registrations.

Block the Vote
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Earlier this week former employees of Sproul & Associates (operating under the name Voters Outreach of America), a firm hired by the Republican National Committee to register voters, told a Nevada TV station that their supervisors systematically tore up Democratic registrations.

The accusations are backed by physical evidence and appear credible. Officials have begun a criminal investigation into reports of similar actions by Sproul in Oregon.

I actually wouldn't have minded the linked post had the author kept the theology separate from the political positioning.

Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit

The problem with liberal theology is that it’s liberal theology. By that I mean loose interpretations of the Bible as opposed to a fundamental belief in the Bible’s inerrancy and infallibility. Liberal theology is empty chatter which seeks to deny man’s spiritual condition and focus instead on social causes.

I would LOVE to have an example of someone teaching a theology that denies man's spiritual condition.

The Bible is not a book for the materially poor or rich or those with special knowledge. It is written for the ordinary person who recognizes a Creator in God and salvation through his son Jesus Christ. It is not a manual on how to lobby for government programs or a step-by-step guide on pitting race against race, class against class.

There's too many interesting things happening at the same time.

And sometimes an interesting old story just pops up and hits you, reminds you of exactly who the other guys find acceptable…no, desireable as allies.

Quote of note:

Mr. Nader repeated this week that he had no intention of leaving the race. He said no one from the Kerry campaign or Democratic National Committee was pressing him behind the scenes to quit, and he said he thought that Mr. Kerry would not make a good president anyway.

"He's not his own man," Mr. Nader said on Tuesday in a telephone interview from California. "Because he takes the liberals for granted, he's allowing Bush to pull him in his direction. It doesn't show much for his character." [P6: This is like the pot calling the bone china place settings black]

That is a change from May, when Mr. Nader met Mr. Kerry at his campaign headquarters and afterward praised him as "very presidential."

Sun Reports Smaller Loss and Calls It a Turnaround
By JOHN MARKOFF

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 14 - As it struggled to increase sales and cut costs, Sun Microsystems managed to reduce its net loss in the first quarter to $174 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $286 million, or 9 cents a share, in the quarter a year ago.

Revenues rose 3.6 percent to $2.63 billion, compared with $2.54 billion a year ago. The modest growth in sales fell short of analysts' forecast of $2.71 billion.

Quote of note:

The results - to be published tomorrow in the British medical journal The Lancet - were comparable to or better than other methods of preventing infection in African villages, like distributing mosquito nets and insecticides, she said.

So if they add the vaccine to the mix instead of using it to replace something we should see some progress.

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Malaria Vaccine Proves Effective
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: October 15, 2004

For the first time, researchers say, a vaccine against malaria has shown that it can save children from infection or death.

The vaccine, tested on thousands of children in Mozambique, was hardly perfect: It protected them from catching the disease only about 30 percent of the time and prevented it from becoming life-threatening only about 58 percent of the time.

Intelligence Reform May Be Stalled
9/11 Panel Chief Fears Momentum Loss; Victims' Kin Critical

By Dan Eggen and Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page A12

The chairman of the Sept. 11 commission warned yesterday that Congress is moving too slowly to negotiate a compromise intelligence reform package, and relatives of Sept. 11 victims said a White House official raised doubts about the fate of the legislation.

Alberto R. Gonzales, the chief White House counsel, told several relatives of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks yesterday that the administration is not sure an intelligence bill can be signed into law before the end of the year, according to one relative who attended the closed-door meeting.

Real, Enlightening TV
By David Ignatius
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page A23

The presidential debates have been the ultimate reality TV. They freed a canned campaign from the spinmeisters and attack-ad manipulators and put it in the nation's living rooms, where people could make up their own minds.

…What Kerry won in these debates was the ability to define himself in his own terms. A month ago, Bush supporters could trash Kerry almost at will. They could charge that he was a coward who had deliberately wounded himself in combat to get a medal, and the media would weigh the pros and cons as if it were a serious campaign issue. That's much harder now that we've seen Kerry for ourselves. [P6: You, too, are the media, bub. And you guys saw Kerry for yourselves a long time ago…unless you just weren't looking.]

Privacy Eroding, Bit by Byte
By Robert O'Harrow Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page E01

First there were security cameras, sprouting like mushrooms on street corners and buildings. Then came shopper cards, offering discounts in exchange for details about buying habits.

In recent years, we've seen the emergence of electronic tags or "cookies" on the Internet, software that monitors e-mail, GPS devices that pinpoint our position on the planet, and a growing number of machines that capture finger- and face-prints.

Now comes the news that federal regulators on Wednesday approved the injection of microchips under the skin, enabling physicians with the right gear to know who someone is without having to ask. And yesterday, the omniscient-seeming search engine Google bested itself by announcing a service to probe for information both online and in your own machine. One company official called it a "photographic memory for your computer."

Study Links Mobile Phones, Benign Tumors
By Matt Moore
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 14, 2004; 12:57 PM

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A new Swedish study suggests that people who use a mobile phone for at least 10 years might increase their risk of developing a rare benign tumor along a nerve on the side of the head where they hold the phone.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, one of the researchers behind the preliminary study, Anders Ahlbom, said the results were surprising and need to be confirmed by more research.

Over the last few years, several studies have investigated whether the use of cellular phones is linked with an increased risk of brain tumors, but experts say the right studies have yet to be done.

U.S. Hits Debt Limit After Senators Put Off Raising Ceiling
Leaders Promise Action After Election; Snow Withholds Contributions to Federal Pension Plan
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page A14

The federal government reached its $7.4 trillion debt ceiling yesterday, forcing Treasury Secretary John W. Snow to delay contributing to one of the federal employees' pension systems to avoid running out of cash and possibly defaulting on government debt.

The situation will probably be temporary, as it has in the past. Congressional leaders said that when they return for a lame-duck session after the election, they will raise the debt ceiling to allow the government to borrow the money it needs to pay its bills. At that point, any overdue contributions to the pension fund would be paid, with interest.

Inspired by Dick Cheney I've decided to become evil.

Why? Well, there's a lot of perks:

For being evil is truly a lifestyle unto itself. By embracing the forces of evil you can gain power beyond your wildest dreams. You can become one of the richest people on earth and then use that wealth to bring about the misfortune of others. You can crush your enemies in the most ruthless and vile of ways all the while unhindered by such weaknesses as remorse or guilt. You can be a ray of darkness in an otherwise unbearably sunny day.

Those are not the only benefits, however. By becoming a servant of darkness you can also engage in widespread plans of world domination. You can destroy the world with the method of your choosing and then jump up and down on its corpse. You can tie damsels in distress to railroad tracks and then twirl about in your moustache and black cape. Yes, by choosing evil you can truly walk down the street with pride, and watch small children run screaming from your presence.

Good news for George Bush. We found the job he's perfectly qualified for: spokesman for Blackcurrant Tango.

WARNING: It's a 12.5 meg Quicktime in the page on the other side of the link. But if you have broadband, it's worth it.

Quote of note:

"Whatever's doing this to the fish may be the canary in the mineshaft," said Margaret Janes, a West Virginia activist with the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment.

Scientists say it's still too early to tell what these findings will mean for the bass population in the South Branch; they aren't sure whether the affected males are still able to reproduce. And no one is aware of any effects on human health in the Potomac watershed.

But scientists believe that fish might be the first to absorb any dangerous chemicals that might later affect humans.

Male Bass in Potomac Producing Eggs
Pollution Suspected Cause of Anomaly in River's South Branch

Quote of note:

After the vice president's morning remarks, Kerry issued a three-sentence statement that the campaign said was not an apology. "I love my daughters. They love their daughter," he said. "I was trying to say something positive about the way strong families deal with this issue."

Cheneys Steamed at Kerry Reference to Daughter
Republicans Jump on Statement in Final Presidential Debate; Democrat Issues a Clarification
By Michael Laris and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page A08

FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 14 -- Vice President Cheney said Thursday that he is "an angry father" after his daughter Mary was singled out as a lesbian by John F. Kerry in the final presidential debate. The Massachusetts senator issued a statement of clarification but not regret.

Voting Rights Machinery Doubted
GAO Says Justice Is Unprepared for a Flood of Complaints
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page A07

The Justice Department is ill prepared to handle a large influx of complaints about voting rights violations in the Nov. 2 presidential election, according to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office.

Campaign experts predict that the department's voting rights section will be flooded with calls and complaints about poll access and other irregularities in the face of a close race between President Bush and Democrat John F. Kerry and uncertainty over the effects of changes in election law and procedures. Some fear a repeat of the 2000 deadlock over the presidential election results in Florida.

Israel to restrict holy site
Says collapse of mosque feared
By Karin Laub, Associated Press | October 14, 2004

JERUSALEM -- Israel said yesterday it would severely limit the access of Muslim worshippers to Jerusalem's holiest site during the holy month of Ramadan, fearing it could collapse.

Angry Muslim clerics dismissed that premise, saying that Arab engineers have assured them the Al Aqsa Mosque compound is stable. They accused Israel of exaggerating the danger in hopes of increasing its control over the site, which is administered by the Islamic Trust.

Israeli police and archeologists warned that because of a recent earthquake, part of the compound, Islam's third holiest shrine, might collapse under large crowds of believers during Ramadan, which begins this weekend.

Quote of note:

Democrats have criticized Burdish, accusing him of trying to influence the hotly contested congressional race between Republican Representative Jon Porter and his Democratic challenger, former casino executive Tom Gallagher, in the Third District.

State Republican officials have also distanced themselves from Burdish.

Officials block effort by former GOP official
By Adam Goldman, Associated Press | October 14, 2004

LAS VEGAS -- Elections officials have rebuffed an attempt by a former GOP operative to purge about 17,000 Democrats from the voter rolls in the battleground state of Nevada, where the two presidential candidates are in a dead heat.

2d journalist held in contempt in leak probe
By Curt Anderson, Associated Press | October 14, 2004

WASHINGTON -- A second reporter was held in contempt yesterday by a federal judge for refusing to reveal confidential sources before a grand jury investigating the leak of an undercover CIA officer's identity.

US District Judge Thomas F. Hogan ordered Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper jailed for up to 18 months and the magazine fined $1,000 a day for refusing to comply with a grand jury subpoena seeking the testimony. Hogan suspended the jail time and fine pending the outcome of an appeal.

The ruling was nearly identical to one issued last week by Hogan in the case of Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times who is also refusing to name her sources. Miller and Cooper, both represented by lawyer Floyd Abrams, are expected to join together in appealing their cases on First Amendment grounds.

Newspaper editorials leaning toward Kerry
By Washington Post | October 14, 2004

WASHINGTON -- This just in: John Kerry is popular with editorial writers.

The Democratic presidential nominee has jumped out to an early lead in the race for newspaper endorsements, especially from those in the all-important swing states.

Kerry has won the support of nine papers in closely contested states, while four are backing President Bush. Both of Philadelphia's major newspapers -- the Inquirer and the Daily News -- have endorsed Kerry. So has the Oregonian, which backed Bush in 2000. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Detroit Free Press, the Daily Star in Tucson, Ariz., the Portland Press Herald in Maine, and both of the big papers in Seattle -- the Times and the Post-Intelligencer -- have announced their support for Kerry.

I'd give you a link direct to the WMF file but it's in a pop-up and I don't feel like scraping together a URL out of the code in the page.

Accounting for Small Business in an Election Year

from All Things Considered, Thursday , October 14, 2004

The debate over taxes has been a constant throughout the presidential campaign. President Bush says his opponent's tax policies will hurt more than 900,000 small business owners. Sen. John Kerry counters that only a small fraction of those small business owners make enough to be affected by Kerry's plan to roll back some of Bush's tax cuts. NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.

The page is definitely worth a visit.

NPR has two poets on call, writing political poetry. They're streaming Windows Media Format.

The poems are really bad.

Quote of note:

But five years later, Southern lawmakers are still meeting with the CCC — and still pleading ignorance. According to an Intelligence Report review of the Citizens Informer, no fewer than 38 federal, state and local elected officials who are still in office today have attended CCC events since 2000, most of them giving speeches to local chapters of the hate group.

Another 38 former elected officials and candidates for office have addressed CCC groups during the past four years. Of the 38 current office-holders who've attended CCC events, 26 are state lawmakers — most of them, 23, from Lott's home state of Mississippi (see See No Evil).

…Though the vast majority of these politicians are Republicans — 23 of the 26 current state lawmakers, to be exact — the Republican National Committee, so forthright five years ago, now declines to condemn the CCC. No member of either party has been sanctioned or reprimanded for maintaining ties to the Council.

I just watched the first ten minutes of this thing (don't ask how). I can see I'll be buying at least one copy when it hits the video stores.

Spitzer Accuses Insurance Industry of Rigging Bids
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 14, 2004

Filed at 4:20 p.m. ET

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued insurance giant Marsh & McLennan and implicated American International Group and several others Thursday, alleging brokers have been taking payoffs from insurance companies to steer corporate clients their way rather than get the best prices for policies, as they are required.

Two AIG executives pleaded guilty to participating in the illegal conduct and are expected to testify in future cases, Spitzer said in announcing the broader investigation into whether brokers and companies violated fraud and antitrust laws and regulations.

Quote of note:

"I am compelled to emphasize that this signature-gathering process was the most deceitful and fraudulent exercise ever perpetrated upon this court," wrote James G. Colins, the president judge of the Commonwealth Court, who noted that he had served longer, and reviewed more nominating papers, than any judge in the court's history.

He said, "In reviewing signatures, it became apparent that in addition to signing names such as Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone, John Kerry and the ubiquitous Ralph Nader, there were thousands of names that were created at random and then randomly assigned either existent or nonexistent addresses by the circulators."

Court Strikes Nader From Pennsylvania Ballot

Pension System Recognizes Gay Spouses
By MICHAEL COOPER

ALBANY, Oct. 13 - New York State is moving to officially recognize same-sex marriages from Canada for the first time, at least in one limited area: State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi has ruled that the state's pension system will treat gay couples with Canadian wedding licenses the same way it treats other married couples.

The decision came after Mark E. Daigneault, a state employee seeking to wed his male partner in Canada, wrote the comptroller's office asking what the financial implications of the marriage would be. After studying the issue, Mr. Hevesi wrote back last week that the state's $115 billion pension funds, which he oversees, would "recognize a same-sex Canadian marriage in the same manner as an opposite-sex New York marriage.''

The Final Debate

The mission of last night's presidential debate was to engage George Bush and John Kerry in a discussion of "domestic issues" - a grab bag of topics that included both questions of money, like taxes and trade, and matters of morals, like abortion and gay marriage. Mr. Bush, however, tends to regard even policy choices as matters of faith. The numbers on his Social Security plan may never add up; last night, when asked about the $2 trillion hole in the proposal, he simply ignored the question. But to the president, all of his initiatives are success stories, and the devil take the details.

…Mr. Bush was passionate in his discussions about his No Child Left Behind program - so much so that, as Mr. Kerry pointed out, the president tended to talk about that even when the question was about the economy, illegal immigration, unemployment or affirmative action.

Trade Deficit Surges; Jobless Claims Up
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 12:53 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. trade deficit, propelled by a record foreign oil bill, surged to $54 billion in August, the second highest level in history. The politically sensitive deficit with China hit a new high as American retailers upped their orders for cell phones, toys and televisions.

The Commerce Department said the August trade deficit in goods and services was 6.9 percent higher than a $50.5 billion imbalance in July. A small 0.1 percent rise in exports was dwarfed by a 2.5 percent jump in imports.

For the year, America's trade deficit is running at a record annual rate of $590 billion, 19 percent higher than the previous record, last year's $496.5 billion imbalance.

Iraq Nuke Sites Were Stripped by Experts-Diplomats
Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:51 AM ET

By Louis Charbonneau
VIENNA (Reuters) - The removal of Iraq's mothballed nuclear facilities took around one year and was carried out by experts with heavy machinery and demolition equipment, diplomats close to the U.N. said on Thursday.

…"This process carried on at least through 2003...and probably into 2004, at least in early 2004," a Western diplomat close to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Reuters.

…several diplomats close to the IAEA said that this was not the result of haphazard looting.

They said the removal of this dual-use equipment -- which prior to the war was tagged and closely monitored by the IAEA to ensure that it was not being used in a weapons program -- was planned and executed by people who knew what they were doing.

Learning 2nd Language Changes Brain Anatomy -Study
Wed Oct 13, 2004 02:18 PM ET

By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Being bilingual produces changes in the anatomy of the brain, scientists said on Wednesday in finding that could explain why children are so much better than adults at mastering a second language.

They found that people who speak two languages have more gray matter in the language region of the brain. The earlier they learned the language, the larger the gray area.

"The gray matter in this region increases in bilinguals relative to monolinguals -- this is particularly true in early bilinguals who learned a second language early in life," said Andrea Mechelli, a neuroscientist at University College London.

Quote of note:

…task force member James X. Dempsey, director of the Center for Democracy & Technology, says the commercial records involved are more limited public records, such as home ownership data, not information about what mosque someone belongs to.

He said he believes it's "absurd" to prohibit the FBI from using a commercial database like ChoicePoint to find a suspected terrorist's home address (though the FBI currently can and does do this). On the other hand, he asked, "Should they be able to go to ChoicePoint and ask for all the subscribers to Gun Owners Monthly? No, I don't think so."

Senate Wants Database Dragnet
By Ryan Singel
02:00 AM Oct. 06, 2004 PT

The Senate could pass a bill as early as Wednesday evening that would let government counter-terrorist investigators instantly query a massive system of interconnected commercial and government databases that hold billions of records on Americans.

Overall, a Convincing Winner
President Bush's handlers tried to minimize the significance of his three debates with Sen. John F. Kerry, exaggerating Bush's lack of debating skills while insisting that he is the stronger leader. The trouble with this spin is that tens of millions of Americans watching the debates didn't feel they were watching a mere academic exercise. Stitched together, these three extraordinary exchanges amounted to a powerful indictment of the president's leadership.

Arrest That Governor!

I'm not getting stupid hitting FactCheck.org's post debate analysis point for point. I'll just note their presentation of George Bush's claims on taxation…the support beam of his platform…could have been stronger.

Bush: He talks about middle-class tax cuts. That's exactly where the tax cuts went. Most of the tax cuts went to low- and middle-income Americans. And now the tax code is more fair. Twenty percent of the upper-income people pay about 80 percent of the taxes in America today because of how we structured the tax cuts.

which I quote because of this:

Wrong on Tax Cuts

Bush could hardly have been farther off base when he said most of his tax cuts "went to low- and middle-income Americans." That's just not true.

CNN Political Unit debate fact check
Bush, Kerry and the truth

From the CNN Political Unit
Thursday, October 14, 2004 Posted: 3:59 AM EDT (0759 GMT) Claim: Kerry said Bush blocked Canadian drug reimportation.

CNN Fact Check: Kerry is correct that Bush opposed a measure to import inexpensive prescription drugs from Canada, but he doesn't mention that the Clinton administration killed a similar measure in December 2000.

That's not an error. Nor is it relevant to judging George Bush. -1 for CNN, not a good start.

Early poll gives Kerry the edge in final debate

TEMPE, Arizona (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry appeared to gain more momentum heading toward November 2, easily beating President Bush in the third and final debate, a poll taken late Wednesday night suggests.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup snap poll taken immediately after the presidential debate found that respondents gave a significant edge to Kerry over Bush, 52 percent to 39 percent.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The numbers were similar to the results of a poll taken the night of the first debate September 30 in Miami, Florida. That night Kerry was favored by a 53 percent to 37 percent margin.

Never check your email on the way to the bed.

Don't come here whining about John Kerry mentioning Darth Vader's daughter. He didn't disrespect her or Cheney. You want something to worry about, worry whether th epress will make a big deal over George Bush avoiding the question of whether he personally would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned.

Question: Scott, would President Bush, as a matter of personal conviction, like to see Roe v. Wade overturned?

McClellan: What you're asking is, will he have a litmus test for judges blahblah.

Question: Noooo, that's not what I'm asking…I'm asking if he would like to see Roe v. Wade reversed. I'm asking his personal preference.

McClellan: That really has no bearing on anything. President Bush has stated he doesn't think personal opinion should substitute for jurisprudence.

This was George Bush's best performance. But he was considerably more constrained rhetorically than the last two debates or any of the three in 2000. The falsetto tone George Bush used was a good decision.

Over the next few days the debate will continue, because these three debates just seeded a national discussion that needs to take place. It needs to take place now because we're in a transition state with any number of things and we don't want to make choices we'll regret if we can avoid it.

We get to see if we're choosing "heart" or our intelligence. We get to decide if we're being driven by labels or if we're looking underneath them at the real things Republicans want to fit Procrustean-style into their vocabulary. We get to decide if we're living in the real world with real humans, real self-interests and potential to help or hurt us, or if we're living in a semantic fantasy world where the only thing we have to do to get our pyrrhic victory is outlast our opponents…never mind that we'll have to give up more and wind up weaker to win than we would by intelligent negotiations.

We don't get to hear that line. I like the minimum wage answer so far. That's why Bush is spinning jobs as a by-product of his issues.

Asked directly if the President wants to overturn Roe v Wade, he ducked immediately. Kerry will not appoint a judge that is willing to undo a constitutional right.

This is the actual debate that should have taken place from the beginning.

Most of the tax cuts went to the lower and middle class!

Bob, ya gotta refuse to let Bush decide when to speak.

Talking health care now. I hope everyone has good color balance on their TV. George is looking flushed.

Social security. George Bush was asked where he'll get the money to privatize social security. No answer, just spin.

John Kerry is handling this one well. Three trillion in unpaid mandates PLUS social security privatization, and George Bush hasn't said how any of it will be paid for.

But there's nothing new here. Boooooooring.......

Though his transitions are choppy. Quick tie of the contaminated flu vaccines to Canada.

A lot of self-touching, which is a sign of, um, prevarication. And the cheesy smile.is already fading.

Trade adjustment money to go to college? A perfect example topic shifting.

AND JOHN KERRY POINTED OUT HE DIDN'T ANSWER THE QUESTION!

I got CSPAN with the split screen And George Bush looks smirky already. Asked if we will ever feel safe again, Bush looked like, "What? A question about peace??"

Both of them are soliloquizing.Hopefully this five munites is all we need to hear about Iraq tonight.

I wonder if Bob will have the balls to cut off one of these guys when he interrupts?

Using the word "enormity" to say "really, really big" is one of my pet peeves.

Subsidiary of network airing anti-Kerry film awarded ‘war on terror’ contract

By John Steinberg | Special to RAW STORY

Sinclair Broadcasting Group, under fire for ordering its 62 networks to
broadcast a film sharply critical of John Kerry’s opposition to the
Vietnam War, is a major investor in a company recently awarded a
military contract by the Bush Administration, RAW STORY has learned.

Jadoo Power Systems, Inc., a producer of portable power systems, announced Sept. 28
that it had been awarded a contract to supply its products, which are
used for covert surveillance operations, to US Special Operations
Command. According to the SOCOM website, SOCOM “plans, directs, and
executes special operations in the conduct of the War on Terrorism.”

…with Steve Gilliard and Ezra Klein, I will point out that Mr. Murray's questions have answers:

• Five percent of Americans pay 54 percent of all personal income taxes. They do not use more government services than other Americans; they use fewer. Why is this fair?

  Because that 54 percent DOES use more government services than other Americans. They own more and so get more value from the general protection of property. They have more access to everything from national parks to politicians. They are more able to shift their money from income to capital investments, providing the unearned income we subsidize with lower tax rates. And there is a strong correlation between income and tax credits and deductions taken. For instance, the mortgage tax deduction on a million dollar mansion will be greater than that on a $200,000 hose in the suburbs.

Top 10 (bad) excuses for not voting
By Diana J. Wynne

MIAMI BEACH, FLA. - What do the Maltese, the Uzbeks, and the Cambodians have in common? In the 1990s, they voted at nearly twice the rate of Americans. In a survey of turnout in 163 countries, the United States came in 140th.

According to the Federal Election Commission, out of 205 million eligible voters in 2000, 156 million were registered but only 105 million actually cast a ballot. If the same holds true this year, 100 million Americans might not get to the polls - unless they overcome whatever is holding them back. Since people of all political stripes agree this is a crucial election, why don't more Americans vote?

UN issues child poverty warning
By Imogen Foulkes
BBC News, Geneva

The United Nations children's fund Unicef says millions of children in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are living in poverty.

A report by Unicef's research centre found that key indicators of children's welfare were not improving at all despite economic growth in the region.

Among these were infant mortality and numbers of youngsters in institutions.

The Unicef report looks at the lives of children in 27 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In some countries the report found an alarming increase in the number of children not going to school.

It finds that millions have been bypassed by the economic upturn.

Demand For Oil Exceeds Forecasts
Report Cites Surge Led by U.S., China
By Alex Lawler
Bloomberg News
Wednesday, October 13, 2004; Page E03

Oil demand is rising faster than predicted this year as OPEC pumps more low-quality oil in a failed bid to reduce record prices, according to International Energy Agency, an adviser to 26 industrialized nations.

Demand this year will jump 3.4 percent, to 82.4 million barrels a day, the Paris-based IEA said in a monthly report. The agency cut its forecast for growth in consumption next year by almost one-fifth as record prices restrain economic growth and China turns to other fuels, such as natural gas.

"There's a substantial increase in the 2004 demand forecast," said Bruce Evers, an analyst at Investec Securities in London. "The industry has been badly caught out by the surge in demand, as a result of which there's no spare capacity. Prices are not coming down in a hurry."

Will Terror Alert Level Show Its True Colors?
By Al Kamen
Wednesday, October 13, 2004; Page A19

A Cornell sociologist says he has found scientific evidence that, whenever the government issues a terrorism alert, President Bush's approval ratings go up, even on domestic issues, such as his handling of the economy. [P6: I'd have never guessed…]

Robb Willer, assistant director of the Sociology and Small Groups Laboratory at Cornell -- someone else runs Large Groups? -- tracked about 26 occasions since 2001, including the major Code Orange alerts by the Department of Homeland Security, when some agency -- the FBI, the State Department or someone else -- announced a potential threat to Americans.

Because we've seen Republicans go out of their way to get their constituents counted. This guy says "It's the law," but the same law was ignored for incorrectly mailed military ballots. And no one is saying the soldiers shouldn't have had a voice. We're saying the civilians should be shown equal concern.

Pushing to Be Counted in Fla.
Groups Say That Blacks May Not Be Heard at Polls
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 13, 2004; Page A01

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Nearly a dozen African American ministers and civil rights leaders walked into the Duval County election office here, television cameras in tow, with a list of questions: How come there were not more early voting sites closer to black neighborhoods? How come so many blacks were not being allowed to redo incomplete voter registrations? Who was deciding all this?

Census Says Impasse Over Funds Threatens Survey
By D'Vera Cohn
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 13, 2004; Page A02

The Census Bureau will have to abandon years of work it has conducted on a household survey that is intended to replace the long form in the 2010 census unless Congress acts soon to provide adequate funding for the project, the agency's director said yesterday.

The American Community Survey is designed to offer neighborhood-level numbers every year, in contrast to the once-a-decade portrait from the census.

The Bush administration's budget requested $165 million for the survey this fiscal year. The House appropriations bill that funds the Commerce, Justice and State departments provided $146 million. A bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee gave it $65 million.

CIA Holds Top Al Qaeda Suspects in Jordan - Paper
Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:56 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is holding top al Qaeda suspects in a secret Jordanian jail where they are subjected to interrogation methods banned in the United States, an Israeli newspaper said on Wednesday.

But a Jordanian security official dismissed as "totally baseless" the story in the Haaretz daily, which attributed its information to international intelligence sources. A CIA official in Washington declined to comment.

The newspaper said at least 11 men held incommunicado in Jordan include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington, and Hambali, accused of being al Qaeda's ally in southeast Asia.

Bush Health Savings Accounts Slow to Gain Acceptance
By MILT FREUDENHEIM

Published: October 13, 2004

President Bush has made health savings accounts one of his central campaign remedies for the nation's health care problems, but so far employers and workers have been slow to accept the accounts as an alternative to conventional health insurance.

People around the nation are now taking part in the annual enrollment season for health care plans, but only a tiny fraction of employers are offering the new plans. The plans let workers create tax-free savings accounts to use for medical costs, combined with lower-cost, high-deductible insurance to cover major medical care. Most employees who already have health benefits said in an insurance industry survey that they would be reluctant to switch even if they were offered one of the new plans.

If the Bush camp sounds familiar, they should. Everyone believes George Bush is a debating idiot, just like before the first debate. They have to raise hopes without raising expectations.

Tightening Race Increases Stakes of Final Debate
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - President Bush and Senator John Kerry meet in their final presidential debate on Wednesday night after two encounters that polls suggest weakened Mr. Bush and fortified Mr. Kerry, leaving some Republicans concerned that the final 20 days of the contest would be more competitive than they had expected.

Just like George Bush's administration: Pork for corporations, chitlins for us.

---

How Tax Bill Gave Business More and More
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - Senator Charles E. Grassley needed every possible vote to pass his mammoth corporate tax bill. So he was more than willing to accept Zell Miller's plea on behalf of imported ceiling fans.

Senator Miller, the Georgia Democrat who became a Republican hero at the party's convention with his impassioned denunciation of Senator John Kerry, was determined to help Home Depot, the home-improvement chain based in Atlanta. And Home Depot, which sells about half of all ceiling fans in the United States, wanted an end to the tariff on imported fans, most of them from China.

Huey shows the Conservative worldview is more widespread in the Black community than you'd think.

Tom Toles shows what happens when you remove the special effects from the evening news.

Pat Oliphant has located the Official George Bush Debate Cheerleading Team.

Ben Sargent found out George Bush is writing his memoirs.

Jeff Danziger on absentee voting.

New Campaign Issue: Hiding Bush's Civil Rights Record
- Emil Guillermo, Special to SF Gate
Tuesday, October 5, 2004

George Bush's record on civil rights is so abysmal that his supporters are already pushing to censor a damning report card from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Hardly the "gentleman's C" that sufficed at Yale, Bush's grade from the independent, bipartisan commission on race matters is an indictment worthy of an outright F.

That's F, for the failure to have a "clear agenda" or to make "civil rights a priority," according to the commission staff's broad report.

The document, still in draft form and awaiting approval, found the Bush administration lacking in support for civil rights, stating that effects of past segregation and discrimination still "persist and hamper equal opportunity in education, employment, housing, public accommodations and the ability to vote."

Quote of note:

What was so horrible about the National Standards for History that any reference to them would merit the mass destruction of several hundred thousand volumes of knowledge? According to Cheney, the standards failed to recognize the achievements of America's traditional heroes and focused instead on the accomplishments of women, minorities and radicals such as Harriet Tubman, the former slave who helped found the Underground Railroad. As Cheney wrote in 1994, "We are a better people than the national standards indicate, and our children deserve to know it."[P6: Who you gonna believe, me or your lying history?]

Cheney insisted that the standards focused too much on the negatives of the past, on the presence of such stains on our democratic legacy as the Ku Klux Klan and McCarthyism, and not enough on great heroic figures such as Paul Revere, Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Wright brothers.

21st Century Book-Burning
Mrs. Cheney, there's more to U.S. history than heroes.

Alabama to Vote on Segregation Language
By PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press Writer

1:48 AM PDT, October 13, 2004

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Fifty years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing school segregation, an Alabama law mandating racially separate classrooms is still on the books.

Gov. Bob Riley and others concerned about the state's image are urging voters to approve a constitutional amendment on Nov. 2 to strike the long-unenforceable language from the state constitution. They say such laws are a painful reminder of the South's divisive past, and make Alabama look bad when it comes to drawing in new businesses.

But the amendment ballot has opponents, including former Chief Justice Roy Moore, who is suspicious of possible hidden agenda: a huge tax increase.

Kevin Hayden at The American Street pulled together a bag of links on the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Sinclair is scummy but they're a non-issue to me, like most television, so I'm just now getting around to folk's reactions.

Josh Marshall picked up the story early Saturday, about when our Echidne mentioned it here. Like others, he discovered the background of the moviemaker, with more yesterday.

He then discovered the chair of the FCC had already sent a memo to Sinclair executives, specifically mentioning license renewal.

By late afternoon, he’d dug up more and summarized it succinctly as election fraud.

By late last night, a reader described how Sinclair shareholders could fight this and an insider wrote, indicating Steve Soto’s plan would be inefficient and the way to pursue it was to go after Sinclair’s advertisers. This is similar to what I’d suggested, though I suggested the 9-10 pm primetime ads. The insider says their big cash comes in on the 5pm-6 pm newscast, making it the better target. Josh wisely notes it’d be best to go after them with ALL of these suggestions.

Cheney Vows To Attack U.S. If Kerry Elected

GREENSBORO, NC—In an announcement that has alarmed voters across the nation, Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he will personally attack the U.S. if Sen. John Kerry wins the next election.

"If the wrong man is elected in November, the nation will come under a devastating armed attack of an unimaginable magnitude, one planned and executed by none other than myself," Cheney said, speaking at a rally in Greensboro, NC. "When they go to the polls, Americans must weigh this fact and decide if our nation can ignore such a grave threat."

Added Cheney: "It would be a tragedy to suffer another attack on American soil, let alone one perpetrated by an enemy as well-organized and well-equipped as I am. My colleagues and I urge voters to keep their safety in mind when they go to the polls."

A Sinclair Broadcasting guy made the rounds today. The news anchors around the nation were not unkind, but they weren't kind either. They looked like they wanted to keep a neutral but disapproving face.

"Likely could have"? Didn't they learn anything from "weapons of mass destruction related program activities"?

Anyway…

Cheney: Iraq could have been arms source
By Mike Glover, Associated Press Writer | October 12, 2004

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Vice President Dick Cheney, who acknowledged last week that Iraq had produced no weapons of mass destruction after 1991, said Tuesday that under Saddam Hussein the country likely could have served as a source of weapons for terrorists.

War said to give momentum to terrorists
By Mark Lavie, Associated Press | October 12, 2004

TEL AVIV -- The war in Iraq did not damage international terror groups, but instead distracted the United States from confronting other hotbeds of Islamic militancy and actually "created momentum" for many terrorists, a top Israeli security think tank said in a report released yesterday.

President Bush has called the war in Iraq an integral part of the war on terrorism, saying that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hoped to develop unconventional weapons and could have given them to Islamic militants across the world.

But the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war "has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly Al Qaeda and its affiliates."

I'm going through the referrer logs because I seem to have been discovered by someone the last few days and I've been trying to figure out what I did right so I can do it some more.

In the process I ran across this missive titled "I used to buy LSD off of this possible future Senator..." on a message board.

People who remember the spin off discussions around my last intense conversation with Baldilocks will understand when I say, "BWWWWAAAAAAAhahahhahhahahahaha!"

I can't use it, so I'm passing it along

---

IYLI OPEN HOUSE

(International Youth Leadership Institute) Meet Students Who Have Traveled *Get Applications *

Find Out More About Seminar And Travel Programs

http://www.iyli.org

Thursday, OCTOBER 14, 2004
From: 5:30pm-8:00pm

Location:
New York University: Pless Hall
82 Washington Square East
Bet. Washington Place and West 4th St
Manhattan, NY

Trains: 6 to Astor Place, N or R to 8th St., A to West 4th St

What We Do

IYLI helps to prepare students to become leaders in their communities and the world through our seminars and travel programs.

Our seminars program helps students to understand and analyze situations in the community and around the world.

Our travel programs explore countries in Latin America and Africa.

Short notice, I know, but it's not my fault. I get a lot of this sort of stuff and too much of it is on 24-48 hour notice. This one has enough lead time that interested locals can still make it.

Subject: Toni Morrison is Keynote for Free Symposium

Hello Everyone,

I am writing to let you know that on Friday and Saturday this week, October 15th and 16th, Columbia's Center for Jazz Studies will be hosting "The World of Romare Bearden," a major symposium on the life and art of the American painter. Our symposium, held in conjunction with the Whitney Museum's Bearden exhibition that opens this week, will bring to the Columbia campus some of the nation's most insightful Bearden scholars along with artists who worked with him or were influenced by him. The highlights of the symposium include a dramatic performance by S. Epatha Merkerson and Charles Dutton, both of whom performed regularly in plays by August Wilson that had a strong Bearden influence, an interview with the Dianne McIntyre (who will discuss Bearden's influence on her as a choreographer), a talk by jazz pianist Dr. Billy Taylor, and a keynote address by the writer Toni Morrison.

Supreme Court to Hear Case on Display of Ten Commandments
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:38 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up the constitutionality of Ten Commandments displays on government land and buildings, a surprise announcement that puts justices in the middle of a politically sensitive issue.

Justices have repeatedly refused to revisit issues raised by their 1980 decision that banned the posting of copies of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

In the meantime, lower courts have reached a hodgepodge of conflicting rulings that allow displays in some instances but not in others.

Quote of note:

New Arabic-language radio and TV from the US, while a good idea, cannot be more credible than the government funding them.

Force Alone Will Not Curb the Terror Threat
Financial Times, October 05, 2004
Michael E. O'Hanlon, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies

Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, and Donald Rumsfeld, the secretary of defence—supposedly kindred ideological spirits—have revealed that they see the struggle against terror in very different ways. This is a political opportunity for the campaign of John Kerry and John Edwards and a reminder that America needs a much fuller debate about how to defeat terrorism.

The dichotomy between the vice-president and the defence secretary is becoming too obvious to dispute. In a leaked memo to other Bush administration officials, dated October 2003, Mr Rumsfeld asked sceptically how we could be sure that second-generation al-Qaeda operatives were not being recruited and trained more quickly than we were killing and arresting first-generation members. In Singapore, in June this year, he admitted that the US lacked a coherent long-term strategy to prevail in the war on terror. Mr Rumsfeld's ruminations foreshadowed the often-overlooked arguments on the same subject of the commission on September 11 2001.

I found a bag of new quotes for my random quote thingie. It was on a Pakistani newspaper's web site in a pretty amazing anti-George Bush rant. It wasn't what I was looking for so I ain't linking, but some of the quotes are too good to let pass.

Marshall’s First Law of the Legislature: Never let the facts get in the way of a carefully thought out bad decision.

Adler’s Rule: It is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them.

Main’s Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite government programme.

Lyndon Johnson’s Law: If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that only one of them is doing the thinking.

Heine’s Law: One should forgive one’s enemies, but not before they are hanged.

Checking the Facts, in Advance
By PAUL KRUGMAN

t's not hard to predict what President Bush, who sounds increasingly desperate, will say tomorrow. Here are eight lies or distortions you'll hear, and the truth about each:

Followed by the details, which readers are actually very familiar with. I just wanted to bring this point into the discussion.

By singling out Mr. Bush's lies and misrepresentations, am I saying that Mr. Kerry isn't equally at fault? Yes.

Mr. Kerry sometimes uses verbal shorthand that offers nitpickers things to complain about. He talks of 1.6 million lost jobs; that's the private-sector loss, partly offset by increased government employment. But the job record is indeed awful. He talks of the $200 billion cost of the Iraq war; actual spending is only $120 billion so far. But nobody doubts that the war will cost at least another $80 billion. The point is that Mr. Kerry can, at most, be accused of using loose language; the thrust of his statements is correct.

Security Grants Still Streaming to Rural States
By DEAN E. MURPHY

ANCHORAGE, Oct. 10 - In the nationwide scramble for domestic security dollars, officials in Alaska are in a predicament that would be the envy of most other states. They must figure out how to spend $2 million in federal money.

The Department of Homeland Security rejected a proposal by Alaska to use the money to buy a jet, but indicated it would be "happy to entertain" further proposals for the $2 million. Officials are now obliging.

One of the nation's least populous states, Alaska is flush with domestic security grants, on a per-resident basis second only to Wyoming and about three times the amount allocated to New York over the past two years.

Quote of note:

He might fare better when the actual vote on his Gaza proposal is held. Monday's informal ballot allowed the legislators in the fractious Parliament to express opposition when nothing of substance was on the line.

Israeli Parliament Votes Its Displeasure With Sharon's Plan for a Gaza Pullout
By GREG MYRE

JERUSALEM, Oct. 11 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip suffered a symbolic setback on Monday when Parliament voted to reject the speech in which he raised the proposal. The vote was nonbinding, but demonstrated the tough opposition he is facing.

The whole blogosphere trembles in fear at the prospect of such a judgment.

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Bush's Domestic Policy Gap
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; Page A21

President Bush, going into tomorrow night's debate over domestic issues with the Democratic challenger, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), will be defending the smallest domestic agenda a first-term president has had in at least 44 years.

That's the conclusion of a new Brookings Institution study by Paul C. Light, a professor at New York University's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. Light, comparing Bush with his eight most recent predecessors going back to John F. Kennedy, finds that the incumbent ranks last in the number of "major legislative proposals" on his agenda.

Payback on K Street

THE CORPORATE tax bill that Congress has sent to the White House rewards just about every special interest that retains a lobbyist in Washington. Makers of sonar fish finders stand to gain, as do importers of Chinese ceiling fans, dog-track operators who cater to foreign gamblers, and Native Alaskan whaling captains. But one lobby did not do so well, and its identity is revealing. The Motion Picture Association of America, Hollywood's trade group, had been hoping for $350 million a year in subsidies, which were written into the Senate version of the bill as partial compensation for the loss of a bigger export subsidy that the bill repeals. But the Senate's

Righting Old Wrongs
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; Page A22

INMATES WHOSE wrongful convictions are reversed in Alabama on the grounds that they are innocent are lucky in more ways than one. In addition to regaining their freedom, state law requires that they be awarded at least $50,000 for each year of their incarceration. But pity those whose wrongful convictions are dismissed on the basis of innocence in Texas. Before they can collect a dime from the state, they will need the endorsement of the very same district attorney's office that prosecuted them in the first place. Advocates for the wrongfully convicted, who only recently noticed that this provision had been slipped into the law, doubt that Lone Star prosecutors will be eager to publicize their errors.

Quote of note:

FARLEY: Mr. President, since we continue to police the world, how do you intend to maintain our military presence without reinstituting a draft?

BUSH: Yes, that's a great question. Thanks.

…In Europe, we have massed troops as if the Soviet Union existed and was going to invade into Europe, but those days are over with. And so we're moving troops out of Europe and replacing it with more effective equipment.

Since those days are over, why are we still pointing nukes that way? More importantly, why are we still paying so damn much to address a threat whose days are over?

The Pentagon is spending $7.8 billion to maintain 6,000 strategic nuclear weapons and delivery systems, including 800 targeted on the Soviet Union -- oops, I mean, Russia. Why keep all these weapons at a time when the country can't afford and doesn't need them?

Pension Promise No Guarantee of Security
Bankruptcies Can Mean Sharply Reduced Payouts
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; Page A06

With just eight years to go, Steve Derebey had been eyeing his mandatory retirement age with something close to relief.

A commercial airline pilot, the 52-year-old would not be worrying "about guys behind [him] with box cutters," he said. Just as important, his $66,000-a-year pension would leave him and his wife, Jeane, free to travel from their home in Gig Harbor, Wash., to visit the grandchild in Crystal Lake, Ill., who is due in January.

But last month, in a Chicago bankruptcy court, United Airlines almost certainly changed the rest of the Derebeys' life, warning that it will likely dump its pension plan onto the federal government. Under the rules of the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), Derebey would be left with $22,000 a year, a third of his expected benefit. Now, he and his wife are hastily planning a second career, a long one, they say, maybe running their own public relations shop in Seattle.

Starbuckless Syndrome?
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; Page HE02

What's Brewing Caffeine withdrawal syndrome -- that short-lived collection of miserable symptoms caused by skipping too many doses of joe or cola -- may soon become a bona fide mental disorder, thanks to research in the journal Psychopharmacology.

The Grounds Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Laura Juliano of American University reviewed 66 studies to determine whether caffeine withdrawal symptoms met criteria for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the American Psychiatric Association's bible of mental disorders. They found that 10 symptoms -- "headache, fatigue, decreased energy/activeness, decreased alertness, drowsiness, decreased contentedness, depressed mood, difficulty concentrating, irritability and [feeling] foggy/not clearheaded" -- clearly fit the bill.

Van Hollen Is Caught Off Guard; Name Is Used by Foe's Web Sites

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; Page B01

The GOP candidate for Congress from Maryland's 8th District says it was an opportunity he couldn't let pass. But incumbent Rep. Chris Van Hollen said Charles R. Floyd's Web sites represent "a new low for politics in this area."

Repeating a tactic he used against his Republican primary opponent this year, Floyd bought three Internet domain names with Van Hollen's name and turned them into Web sites carrying unflattering comments about the freshman congressman's record.

One site, [REDACTED], features a picture of a man in a chicken costume challenging Van Hollen (D) to a debate and outlines Floyd's campaign themes: that Van Hollen is weak on defense and a supporter of wasteful government programs.

Quote of note:

But Heritage Foundation media analyst Mark Tapscott called it a free speech issue, saying: "Why are we even thinking about limiting what a media organization can publish? There are lots of things in the world that are unfair."

…and we Americans simply don't have our fair share of unfair things. The Sinclair Broadcasting Company is simply doing it's patriotic duty by helping close the unfairness gap. In fact, due to David. D. Smith, we may actually have reversed the imbalance.

Family's TV Clout In Bush's Corner
Sinclair Orders 62 Stations to Air Anti-Kerry Film
By Howard Kurtz and Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; Page A01

It's a subscription service of course, not a software product. Yet.

Orb Networks Introduces Groundbreaking 'Personal Media Portal'
Monday October 11, 7:31 am ET
Streaming Media Company's Debut Product Provides Consumers Access to Digital Home Media From Anywhere in the World

UNION CITY, Calif., Oct. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Orb Networks, Inc., a developer of streaming media software and services, today introduced a breakthrough service that provides a simple way for consumers to view, hear and control all kinds of their digital content from virtually any Internet- enabled device, from anywhere in the world. Today's connected population is demanding media mobility and convenience to meet its fast-paced lifestyle. Orb's solution provides spontaneous access to a person's music, live television, videos, photos and other digital content from any device that can connect to the Internet, such as a cell phone, PDA, or notebook, allowing users to create their own "personal media portal."

With the technology I've seen introduced over the last two years I figure we could go full Borg in a generation, maybe two. Check it, these links are internal because some of the background articles have hit the bit bucket.

Brain enhancement via magnetism

I just watched Bill O'Reilly's appearance on The Daily Show. Ten minutes of Windows Media.

O'Reilly did the "us rich guys" thing, which I find somewhat smug no matter who does it. And he ran a variant of the "no difference between them" thing, which benefits incumbents while allowing the spinner to spin himself as neutral. But he did it well, with intelligence and humor. Which means he's sneaky as well as dangerous.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Bush's Iraq Statistics
The security forces are inadequate, the coalition is a joke, and reconstruction has barely begun.
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Thursday, Oct. 7, 2004, at 3:28 PM PT

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have lately been touting three sets of statistics to justify their claims of great progress in Iraq. First, they say, we've trained 100,000 Iraqi security forces. Second, 31 other countries are contributing troops as part of the vast international coalition. Third, Iraqi reconstruction is moving along on schedule, thanks to the $18.4 billion in U.S. economic aid.

Yet the U.S. State Department's most recent Iraq Weekly Status Report, dated Oct. 6, reveals that all three of those claims are either false or so misleading that they might as well be.

First, it's true there are 100,000 Iraqi security forces, about three-quarters of whom are police, army troops or National Guardsmen. But that falls far short of the 272,000 forces that the report calculates are required. (For a breakdown of how many trained security forces exist and how many are needed, by category, click here.)

Opinion: Canadian self-haters grow shrill (11 Oct 04)
The extremism of the Bush administration has left us, according to polls, more wary than ever of American power and more determined to stick to our way of doing things.
LINDA MCQUAIG

…But I'm struck by the increasingly fierce attempts to disparage Canada, or at least to disparage the pride many Canadians take in the way we do things — a way that's sometimes different than the way Americans do things.

These attacks are coming from a small but influential group of right-wing Canadian academics and media commentators. Their theme song is that Canada is in decline.

Quote of note

But while the neo-cons may be down, they are by no means out. As more than one foreign-policy analyst has noted, no neo-con within the administration has resigned or been fired, despite their responsibility for the Iraqi quagmire and public calls by even some senior Republican lawmakers and retired military officers that they be ousted.

…But a growing number of observers, particularly in the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), are coming to the conclusion that the neo-cons may actually enjoy greater influence if Bush wins re-election.

Sidelined Neo-Cons Stoke Future Fires
Analysis - By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (IPS) - Sidelined by their failed predictions for Iraq and U.S. President George W Bush's efforts to reassure voters he is not a warmonger, prominent neo-conservatives and their Christian Right allies are nonetheless trying hard to prepare the ground for future U.S. adventures in the Middle East.

Don't judge Thomas unfairly
By Ken Foskett

ATLANTA - In researching my biography of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, I was continually struck by the ferocity of attacks against him by black intellectuals, academics, and politicians. Justice Thomas has been called a Judas, a traitor to his race, and a white man masquerading in black skin.

A common ingredient of the vitriol is that Thomas, descended from Georgia slaves, has sold out the interests of black Americans. Having benefited from programs such as affirmative action, Thomas has voted to eradicate them. Critics see a craven self-interest in Thomas's behavior on the Supreme Court: He got to the top but wants to keep everyone else off the hill.

The criticisms raise a good question: Does the court's lone black jurist have a responsibility to his race? The question is all the more timely because White House lawyers, as I learned in my reporting, have consulted Thomas about succeeding Chief Justice William Rehnquist should Mr. Rehnquist, who turned 80 on Oct. 1, step down. Based on my conversations with Thomas, I believe he would answer the race responsibility question strongly in the affirmative. But Thomas has chosen to fulfill that obligation in a way that differs dramatically from that of his predecessor, Thurgood Marshall, and many of his contemporaries who came of age during the civil rights activism of the 1960s and 1970s.

Much like foreign nationals, you must register to see the whole article.

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New program raises stakes for foreign nationals
A controversial program that places certain immigrants in court proceedings in immediate detention will soon take effect in Miami.
By ALFONSO CHARDY
[email protected]

An immigrant seeking to stay in the United States could face a big gamble in the coming days or weeks: Plead your case in immigration court and face almost immediate detention -- even before all appeals are exhausted.

Immigration judges frequently rule at the end of a person's trial -- often an hours-long affair during the immigrant's second court appearance. Veteran Miami immigration lawyer Ira Kurzban said the new program could affect dozens of people every week.

Permanent Job Proves An Elusive Dream
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 11, 2004; Page A01

CYNTHIANA, Ky.

Phillip Hicks had loaded his rusting pickup and was heading to work one afternoon last year when his tearful daughter called from a pay phone. She had been pulled over for speeding, she told her father, and worse, she was driving with a suspended license. The police had impounded her car and left her by the side of a dusty highway.

To most workers at the sprawling Toyota plant where Hicks works, the detour to pick up his daughter would be a headache, no doubt. To Hicks, 40, it was considerably more. He called his employer to say he would be late for the swing shift. But since Hicks is a temporary worker, his daughter's brush with the law became a permanent blemish on an already shaky employment record. Temps are allowed only three days off a year, and Hicks was coming up against that.

Jurist Embraces Image as a Hard-Line Holdout
By Michael A. Fletcher and Kevin Merida
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, October 11, 2004; Page A01

Second of two articles

…Thomas's take on Plessy says much about how he sees his own role on the nation's highest court: a lonely holdout for principle. Since his elevation to the Supreme Court 13 years ago, Thomas has methodically built a record notable for its unwavering conservatism and aggressive challenges to long-standing legal precedents in areas from church-state separation to voting and prisoners' rights.

Congress Close to Establishing Rules for Driver's Licenses
By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: October 11, 2004

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 - Following a recommendation of the Sept. 11 commission, the House and Senate are moving toward setting rules for the states that would standardize the documentation required to obtain a driver's license, and the data the license would have to contain.

Critics say the plan would create a national identification card. But advocates say it would make it harder for terrorists to operate, as well as reduce the highway death toll by helping states identify applicants whose licenses had been revoked in other states.

Quote of note:

…the largest source of money from unreported oil sales was from Iraq's illicit sale of oil to neighboring Turkey and Jordan. Neither the United States nor Britain objected to these sales to staunch Middle East allies until Mr. Hussein's government began making similar oil shipments to Syria. Only then did Washington protest the deals, the experts said.

Regardless of the route through which this oil reached world markets, the United States was the single largest importer under the United Nations program, with as much as half the oil in certain periods processed at American refineries for sale in this country.

New Scrutiny of the Flow of Iraqi Oil to American Consumers

I would say the Black constituencies are sending a message.

I wonder what that message might be?

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Among Black Voters, a Fervor to Make Their Ballots Count
By JIM DWYER

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Her bus was coming, but Charlotte Marshall had not yet finished talking about what mattered to her in the election. Social Security and health insurance, definitely. The Vietnam War, absolutely not. And she had still more to say.

The campaign for president has entered its final leg crackling with rare energy on the streets, in workplaces and in homes, perhaps with no greater vigor than among black Americans like Mrs. Marshall, who works for Stein Mart, a discount store.

Sharon Rejects Army Bid to Wind Down
Gaza Offensive
Mon Oct 11, 2004 07:46 AM ET

By Matt Spetalnick
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's Ariel Sharon has rejected his army's request to scale back its Gaza offensive, seeking to avoid any show of weakness after deadly bombings in Egyptian resorts crowded with Israelis, security sources said.

The prime minister decided a pullout from the besieged Jabalya refugee camp would encourage Palestinian militants to resume rocket fire into Israel and "send the wrong message" so soon after the Sinai bombings, a source said on Monday.

Has anyone noticed how much more intense disputes have become since we've become more concerned with the message an action sends than the impact it has?

Quote of note:

All this suggests that Blair's Atlanticism may represent the special relationship's last gasp. For a strategic partnership needs more to sustain itself than an affinity between the principals and the self-interest of a few professional elites. It requires a congruence of national interests. It also needs some convergence of popular attitudes.

The Breakup
The Iraq war is isolating the U.S. and killing the American-British 'special relationship'
By Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson is professor of history at Harvard University and a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford. His latest book is "Colossus: The Price of America's Empire."

Quote of note:

Bush's "owners" can seem just an oblique synonym for "haves." The problem with big-tent words such as "ownership" is that they obscure the discord among their meanings; it can take a while to realize that one sense of ownership can work to the detriment of another. Younger workers may derive a psychological satisfaction from controlling their own retirement accounts. As investors, we all like to think we're a bit smarter than average. But if these workers make the wrong choices, they could wind up owning less, and might ruefully recall why it was called "social security" in the first place.

But "the ownership society" deftly obscures those trade-offs, conflating personal control and financial well-being. In the midst of an electoral campaign, Republicans aren't about to point out that ownership can come down to saying you're on your own.

I just overwrote The Niggerati Network with a backup that's just short of a month old. That sort of shit only happens when I overextend.

Bush's Civil Rights Record Is Criticized, Silently
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (AP) - The United States Commission on Civil Rights voted on Friday to wait until after next month's election to discuss a report critical of the Bush administration's civil rights record. Republican members had objected to the report's timing.

The report remains posted on the commission's Web site, despite objections from Republican commissioners.

The report says Mr. Bush "has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words" on the subject. It finds fault with Mr. Bush's funding requests for civil rights enforcement; his positions on voting rights, educational opportunity and affirmative action; and his actions against hate crimes.

I had a further thought on what the fuck people mean by "leader" nowadays.

I did a little follow-up.

I mentioned in the post just prior to this one that I immediately leaped to slavery/human rights considerations on the mention of the Dred Scott case. And I mentioned three things that should have made me consider it from the political aspect. There's actually another couple of clues available, primary among which is that the issue, though powerfully symbolic to Black folks, just doesn't mean the same thing to the mainstream. Therefore any manipulation of the symbol is not intended to attach to the meaning Black people derive from history.

The other strong clue is the existence of Alan Keyes. Mr. Keyes is credited with inventing the abortion-as-slavery meme.

Dubya's Dred Scott comment the other day struck everyone else as strangely as it did me. I've discovered it struck my political interpretational biases right between the eyes.

Between Shanikka's comment the other day and this from Mark via email

If I recall my grad school days correctly, Taney was an *activist*, not a *strict constructionist* because the Court could have easily and with precedent declined to hear the case on technical grounds or remanded Dred Scott back to lower courts.

Instead Taney elected to write the most sweeping opinion imaginable with the intent of invalidating the Missouri compromise - a tresspass on the legislative power of Congress which has the *sole authority* under the Constitution to determine the conditions or requirements for admission of states to the Union. The Court had no Constitutional basis to overrule the Missouri Compromise and later in the 19th century the Congress attached unusual requirements to Utah's admission. If you can constitutionally ban polygamy as the price of admission to the Union you can ban slavery as well.

Taney also, if I recall correctly, had such an view prior to hearing oral arguments in the case which he recorded in a diary or letter - a breach of judicial ethics - but that I would need to check with a field specialist on that one.

I've got some good new information.

But on the topic of my biases. Me, Black guy, hears "Dred Scott" and it's suddenly a discussion of slavery, racism, and an interpretation of the Constitution. Intellectual stuff.

I forgot that

• Every word George Bush says is focused on appealing to his base
• George Bush and the Neocons are extremists. I needed to apply something I myself pointed out…that he would point at something along the general path to his true goals and claim that half-way point is his destination, confident that momentum would carry him all the way home
• The Vision Thing is NOT about being intellectual

So when Cyndy from MouseMusings dropped this in the comments:

Here is another perspective on the Dred Scott reference. I just saw this before coming here, quite interesting how little code-words work.

…which led to this:

Dred Scott = Roe v. Wade

Some people seem to be a bit boggled
by Bush's Dred Scott remark last night. It wasn't about racism or
slavery, or just Bush's natural incoherence. Here's what Bush actually
said:

Quotes of note:

In the wake of the report, President Bush has reframed the way he characterizes his rationale for the launching the war. A review of his public statements before the war and this week shows how broadly his public argument has shifted, away from warnings that Hussein actually possessed horrible weapons in favor of talking almost exclusively about the dictator's intent.

and

All these assertions were disproved or rejected by the Duelfer report. Not only did Duelfer say Iraq had no weapons, but he said Hussein was interested in acquiring weapons because Iran, Iraq's longtime enemy, had its own weapons programs -- not because it wished to attack the United States.

Bush Recasts Rationale For War After Report

Lies and the Lying C.E.O.'s Who Tell Them

To the casual observer, Oracle v. PeopleSoft, the case unfolding in Delaware Chancery Court, is just the latest round in an ugly and long takeover fight between two software giants. Ho-hum.

But sometimes a small detail in such a case can speak volumes about the times we live in. And that is precisely what happened last week, when testimony turned to the issue of corporate lies, the executives who tell them and the companies that help to paper them over.

…Playing down the bid's effects, Mr. Conway said: "I think people have lost interest in it. The last remaining customers whose business decisions were being delayed have actually completed their sales and completed their orders." In other words, not a disruptive factor, in Mr. Conway's view.

Rumsfeld Says U.S. Faces Test of Wills in Iraq
Sun Oct 10, 2004 07:12 AM ET

By Will Dunham
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday the United States and its allies were engaged in a test of wills with insurgents in Iraq and would have to overcome the "pain and ugliness" of the conflict.

"They know they cannot defeat us militarily," Rumsfeld told about 1,500 marines gathered at an airbase in Iraq's western desert, where he arrived for a brief visit.

"But they are hoping they can win the test of wills.

"It's a battle of perception. They are hoping to cause members of the coalition to decide that the pain and the ugliness and the difficulty of the task is simply too great."

Blogs Abuzz with Gossip in Caustic U.S. Campaign
Fri Oct 8, 2004 04:46 PM ET

By Mark Egan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. presidential campaign between George W. Bush and John Kerry has prompted a frenzy of gossip and conspiracy theories among Internet bloggers, hybrid online sites that blend news, gossip and opinion.

As Bush and the Massachusetts Senator slug it out in a neck-and-neck race ahead of the November 2 election, partisan bloggers have flooded the Internet with alternative views about both candidates, which they hope will help sway voters.

Experts say much of the gossip on the Internet is as loony as supermarket tabloid stories claiming Elvis Presley lives, but that it still has a role to play in the campaign.