Genetically Modified Cropshttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

From Common Dreams:

WASHINGTON - November 7 - The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has decided to expand a controversial give-away in which local farmers grow genetically modified soybeans and corn on Delaware’s at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) today released a letter protesting the move as wreaking ecological havoc and violating the Service’s own policies.

People who follow this know what is happening here. The acreage is relatively minute, but the symbolism is huge. This is a signal to the corporate purveyors of genetically modified organisms saying "we support you." There is absolutely no need for this ecologically or scientifically speaking. It's only use is to push the conservative agenda a little further and keep the government moving on its slippery slope. Public land should not be for private use without just compensation, and here the trespassing is even more dastardly because the likes of Monsanto and ADM are using farmers to further their corporate agenda.

Revue de Presse: Haiti / Press Review Haiti

Une semaine d'action au Canada / Canadian Action Wee
http://www.newsocialist.org/index.php?id=561

The U.S.-led shakedown continues:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=55&ItemID=9059

Old news, new news: Texas Creole
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/11/02/uproar.shtml

Disney

Well, Disney certainly was a magic place yesterday. We went there with students studying gender, race, and class. As usual, there's nothing like going into the beast. It was fun riding the rides, and also the critiques.

The commercialization is absolutely astounding. To the left is a "Kodak picture Spot" near Thunder Mountain (I think that's the ride, you know, the hommage to mineral extraction).

Once you start paying attention to it, it can drive you a little crazy. There's the Brawny-sponsored horse show, home to the "happiest horses on earth." There's the Minute-made-sponsored café. The list is long. I suppose that's why the trash cans have the very ambiguous phrase "waste please" on them. What the hell?

Haven't I seen you here before?

She's gone, I'm back

Well, Sandra of the Supreme Court has just resigned. First of all, we should all know that the Bush administration has been planning for this since before 2000. This is their dream. While abortion rights will be the media battle most Americans see, this is only half the story.

1. Republicans do not want to really repeal Roe vs. Wade. This is an election issue that has served them all too well. What they want is a fight, then lose it and blame it on "crazy liberals." This "loss" will provide fodder for years to come and motivate anti-abortion activists for years to come while...

2. In through the backdoor comes a well-heeled corporatist who will defend at all costs corporations against the rights of consumers. This is the true story.

The right will present a right-wing, anti-abortion nut, lose, then get a seemingly moderate person on abortion through who is actually a radical corporation-rights person.

Out of town..

I'm outta here. Graduation is over and now I'm off to see friends and family. I'm taking a little work with me, for sure, and hopefully I'll blog a little too.

See you June 21.

This is the best link of the day...

How to lose your country in 7 easy steps: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7954027/#050526

Corporations and War and Profits

Halliburton is under investigation in at least 12 different areas according to Corpwatch:

• The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating allegations by an Army official claiming that the Army Corp of Engineers illegally excluded Halliburton’s competitors from bidding on Iraq contracts.Bunnatine Greenhouse, an Army whistleblower, says the line between government officials and Halliburton had become so blurred that a conflict of interest exists.The conduct appears to have violated specific federal contract-related regulations and calls into question the independence of the contracting process.

• The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is conducting a criminal investigation into Halliburton’s admission that it “may have paid” $180 million in bribes to officials in the Nigerian government to win a multibillion dollar construction con-tract. Some of the bribes were paid during Dick Cheney’s tenure as chief executive officer. Halliburton terminated its relationship with former KBR chief Albert Jack Stanley after discovering that $5 million of the bribe money was allegedly deposited into his Swiss bank account.

• 
  The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investi-gating a second bribery case involving Nigeria. Halliburton admitted that its employees paid a $2.4 million bribe to a Nigerian government official for the pur-pose of receiving favorable tax treat-ment. As the Houston Chronicle points out, “left unanswered is how a ‘low-level employee’ could channel that much money from the company to the pockets of a corrupt official.”

• 
  The DOJ has opened a criminal investigating of Halliburton’s business dealings in Iran.The company sells goods and services to Iran through a Cayman Islands sub-sidiary. The sales appear to have violated the U.S. trade embargo against Iran.

• 
  The criminal division of the DOJ has issued a subpoena to a former employee of KBR to determine whether the company criminally over-charged for fuels imported into Iraq.Meanwhile Pentagon auditors investigating the same matter found that KBR and its Kuwaiti subcontractor, Altanmia Commercial Marketing Company, had overcharged the military by $174 million for importing fuel into Iraq under the Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO) infrastructure contract. Other alleged over-charges under the same contract (not fuel imports) add up to another $38 million, bringing the total overcharges to at least $212 million. The Kuwaiti government, which has also been investigating the fuel overcharging, recently com-plained about the “lack of cooperation” by KBR and the U.S. military.

• The DOJ indicted Jeff Alex Mazon, a former KBR manager, and a Kuwaiti businessman on charges of defrauding the U.S. government of $3.5 million over a fuel supply con-tract. The two men are charged with rigging bids to favor KBR subcontractor LaNouvelle over other subcontractors and then with overcharging the U.S. military for fuel trans-port services at a Kuwait airport. The alleged fraud cost the U.S. military $5.5 million for services KBR initially estimated would cost only $685,000.

• The Pentagon’s Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) has issued several audit reports related to task orders under KBR’s RIO contract that reported $212 million in questioned and unsupported costs. The Pentagon fired Halliburton from its gasoline importation con-tract and assigned it to an office within the Pentagon known as the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC). The result was a 50 percent reduction in gasoline prices charged to U.S. taxpayers.

• The DOJ is investigating possible over-billing for government service work done in the Balkans between 1996 and 2000. The charges stem from a General Accounting Office (GAO) report that found Halliburton billed the Army for questionable expenses for work in the Balkans, including charges of $85.98 per sheet of plywood that cost them $14.06. A follow-up report by the GAO in 2000 also found inflated costs, including charges for clean-ing some offices up to four times a day.

• 
  The International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), a watchdog established by the United Nations, is investigating the management of Iraqi finances by the now-disbanded U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The Bush administration refused numerous IAMB requests for U.S. government audits about the payment of approximately $1.66 billion in Iraqi funds to Halliburton, which is the single largest private recipient of Iraqi oil proceeds. In October 2004, after failing to cooperate for months, the Pentagon finally sent the IAMB six of its audits. It was later found that portions of the audit were withheld from the IAMB to conceal damning evidence about KBR, including $212 million in overcharges and “unreasonable costs” associated with importing fuel into Iraq. The evidence was concealed from the public at KBR’s request.

• 
  In March 2005, the DOJ opened a criminal inquiry into possible bid-rigging on foreign contracts by Halliburton. The company admitted it “may have” criminally rigged contract bids and said “information has been uncovered” that former employees of KBR “may have engaged in coordinated bidding with one or more competitors on certain foreign construction projects and that such coordination possibly began as early as the mid-1980s....”
  

• “Coordinating” with competitors to secure contracts with foreign governments is anticompetitive and a violation of U.S. antitrust law. The practice, known as “bid rigging,” is punishable by criminal fines and denial of future contracts with the U.S. government.

The EPA is investigating complaints by Wes Wilson, one of its senior engineers, who said the agency distorts sci-ence in order to shield Halliburton from pollution laws. The engineer said the Bush administration purposely tam-pered with environmental science in order to shield a lucrative drilling technique, known as hydraulic fractur-ing, from all regulations. He believes the technique, pioneered by Halliburton, is harmful to drinking water sup-plies. Halliburton has spent years trying to get the federal government to exempt the technique from environmental regulations

Freedom, Fries, and Lies

French Fries Protester Regrets War Jibe
by Jamie Wilson in Washington
It was a culinary rebuke that echoed around the world, heightening the sense of tension between Washington and Paris in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. But now the US politician who led the campaign to change the name of french fries to "freedom fries" has turned against the war. Walter Jones, the Republican congressman for North Carolina who was also the brains behind french toast becoming freedom toast in Capitol Hill restaurants, told a local newspaper the US went to war "with no justification". Mr Jones, who in March 2003 circulated a letter demanding that the three cafeterias in the House of Representatives' office buildings ban the word french from menus, said it was meant as a "light-hearted gesture". But the name change, still in force, made headlines around the world, both for what it said about US-French relations and its pettiness. Now Mr Jones appears to agree. Asked by a reporter for the North Carolina News and Observer about the name-change campaign - an idea Mr Jones said at the time came to him by a combination of God's hand and a constituent's request - he replied: "I wish it had never happened." Although he voted for the war, he has since become one of its most vociferous opponents on Capitol Hill, where the hallway outside his office is lined with photographs of the "faces of the fallen". "If we were given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration, to commit the authority to send boys, and in some instances girls, to go into Iraq, that is wrong," he told the newspaper. "Congress must be told the truth."

We must burn them

The stem cells. We must burn them. They must not be used. Burn! Burn! Burn! Too dangerous! Too usefule to the people! Burn! Burn! Burn! Bad idea! Dangerous! Burn!

It's what's for dinner!!!!!

What is for dinner? Not the truth, anyway. Read this latest in corporate-owned government:

May 23, 2005 Beef Makers Can Be Forced to Pay for Ads By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 6:07 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government can make cattle ranchers pay for ads proclaiming ''Beef: It's what's for dinner,'' the Supreme Court ruled Monday. Some ranchers object to paying for the ad campaigns because they don't like the generic message that all beef -- American or foreign -- is good. But the court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the beef program amounts to government speech that is shielded from First Amendment challenge. The government is allowed to promote its own message and compel producers to pay fees, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote. ''The message of the promotional campaigns is effectively controlled by the Federal Government itself,'' Scalia wrote in an opinion joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Clarence Thomas and Stephen G. Breyer. The agriculture secretary, a public official, controls the program, appoints and dismisses key personnel and has ''absolute veto power'' over the ads, even when it comes to their wording, Scalia wrote. At issue is a program passed by Congress in 1985 requiring cattle producers to pay $1 for every head of cattle sold in the United States for industry advertising and research. The Agriculture Department collects the ''checkoff'' fees, which total more than $80 million annually, and distributes the money to an industry group appointed by the department to run the program. The program is intended to boost demand for beef and boost profits for producers, said Monte Reese, chief operating officer of the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the group that runs the program. ''We have seen a 25 percent increase in our demand in just the last few years,'' Reese said Monday. ''We're enjoying record high prices. We've been able to make strides in beef safety. '' Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns called the ruling ''a win for the many producers who recognize the power of pooled resources.'' Similar programs run by federal and state authorities promote pork, milk, eggs, soybeans and cotton. Lower courts have struck down the ''Got Milk?'' dairy promotion and pork ads promoting ''the other white meat.'' An appeal of the pork decision is pending now before the Supreme Court. ''We'll be extremely surprised and disappointed if the judgment is not applied to the pork case as well as the beef case,'' said Dave Culbertson, president of the National Pork Board. Opponents of the fees argued the program is not government-run. The government speech defense is ''news to me,'' said Mabel Dobbs, an Idaho rancher and member of the Montana-based Western Organization of Resource Councils. ''We've long been told that the beef checkoff is producer-run, producer-driven and producer-funded,'' Dobbs said. In a dissenting opinion, Justice David H. Souter argued that the beef campaigns are not government speech. If the government wants to use targeted taxes to fund speech, it must be accountable for indicating the speech is a government message, he wrote. ''No one hearing a commercial for Pepsi or Levi's thinks Uncle Sam is the man talking behind the curtain. Why would a person reading a beef ad think Uncle Sam was trying to make him eat more steak?'' Souter wrote in a dissent joined by Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy. The government was sued by ranchers in South Dakota and Montana, and an appeals court ruled that the program violated the First Amendment. The government and Nebraska cattlemen appealed to the high court. The court has gone both ways in earlier cases, upholding advertising programs for California fruit in 1997 and striking down a campaign for the mushroom industry in 2001. But the court had never ruled on whether those programs were government speech. The cases are Johanns v. Livestock Marketing Association, 03-1164, and Nebraska Cattlemen v. Livestock Marketing Association, 03-1165.

While I cannot argue one way or the other as to the constitutionality of the decision, what I can say is what this means: large agribusiness firms (the "industry group" referred to in the article) will continue to make huge profits (look at the sidebar for campain contributions...), we will continue to have little testing compared to Europe for Mad Cow (BSE), the American consumer will not see any serious accross-the-board labeling campaign for organic or grass-fed beef, and the government will continue to promote (free speech?) a generic beef PRODUCT with dubious environmental and health consequences.

Now, before anybody hate-mails me, I eat beef. I love steak. I just think that a local rancher who raises high-quality beef should be able to identify his product and get promotion for it that distinguishes it from the sickly hormone infested meat we otherwise relish. But, you see, our government acquisitions this 1$ per head and gives it right back to an industry group controlled by the largest and most powerful ranchers and meatpackers.

Some places are getting smart (and making schools better):

Connecticut Nears Strict School Junk Food Ban

by Noreen Gillepsie

Lawmakers want to make sure Connecticut students aren't part of the Pepsi Generation. Connecticut is on the verge of adopting the most far-reaching ban in the country on soda and junk food in public schools, in an effort to curb rising rates of childhood obesity. Similar but weaker proposals have been introduced in at least 17 states this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Policies are on the books in a few states, such as Arkansas and California. Advocates say Connecticut's ban would be the strongest because it is so broad, applying to all grades and all school sites where food is sold. "Connecticut would be the first state to apply those standards to high schools," said Margo Wootan, director of nutritional policy for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Most of the recently passed policies are limited in that they only apply to elementary and middle schools."

Genetically Modified Food = Bad.

Monsanto cries foul but...

Rats fed on a diet rich in genetically modified corn developed abnormalities to internal organs and changes to their blood, raising fears that human health could be affected by eating GM food.

The Independent on Sunday can today reveal details of secret research carried out by Monsanto, the GM food giant, which shows that rats fed the modified corn had smaller kidneys and variations in the composition of their blood.

According to the confidential 1,139-page report, these health problems were absent from another batch of rodents fed non-GM food as part of the research project.

Worker Victory

I heard about this a while ago, but it's worth mention because victory is so rare--and so sweet:

This from Common Dreams quoting the AP:

IMMOKALEE, Fla. - Tejano music bounced off the one-story buildings of this farming town and the smell of tamales filled the air as scores of revelers danced into the night outside the headquarters of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

The celebration marked a hard-fought, unlikely victory by the workers, a coalition of mostly Guatemalan and Mexican tomato pickers, over one of the nation's fast-food giants, Taco Bell.

They led a four-year boycott against the chain until it agreed in March to pay a penny more per pound for Florida tomatoes and to adopt a code of conduct that would allow Taco Bell to sever ties to suppliers who commit abuses against farmworkers.

With that triumph, the farmworkers group is turning to a larger target: the rest of the fast-food industry. The coalition has sent letters to executives at McDonald's, Subway and Burger King asking them to follow Taco Bell's lead.

End of Suburbia...

As a follow to my last post on the various links between economy, religion and space--particularly suburban space--I thought I just might bring you a picture from my neighborhood.




Yes, there are a couple of oil wells down the street from me and, yes, Virginia, they blow up. So, according to the Whittier Daily News, "One of the workers, a 49-year- old man, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body. He was taken to a local hospital and later transferred to a burn center in Sherman Oaks."

I guess that's another argument for driving your car on vegetable oil, huh?

To get back to the larger point, the fire I saw bellowing from the well the other day reminded me of the real economy of the suburban "dream," which is built on fire and oil. Usually we are able to hide it, usually we ignore its costs (wars, pollution, etc.). What are those costs? As I was driving in to work, I saw yet again one of those magnetic ribbon car stickers with the American Flag on it and the words "The Price of Freedom." Well, if people really knew what the "price of freedom" was, they would understand that the real price of that oil burning in their--my!!!--backyard.

So, I decided to do a little calculation, just for fun. (Don't laugh, I'm not an economist or a mathematician).

According to Nationmaster we use 19.7 million barrels of crude per day in the United States. That comes out to 7.19 billion barrels per year. According to the Energy Department, "One barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil , when refined, produces approximately 19.9 gallons of finished motor gasoline." That means about 47% of a barrel of oil is use for gasoline. That means we burn about 3.3 billion "barrels" of gas, or 138.6 billion gallons.

So, now let's trot on over to Cost of War.

So far we have spent at least 171 billion dollars on the war, and that's not counting our annual defense bugdet.

So, let's just calculate this over a two year period (171/2) to make things simple (March 2003-March 2005).

138.6 billion gallons of gas per year / 85.5 billion dollars per year in Iraq= .61 cents per gallon surcharge per year.

So, we should add at least 61 cents per gallon to our gas to pay just for this war. This is just a rough calculation, of course, and I'm not counting increased disability payments, family services, manpower lost in many communities, harm to families, on-going mental health issues....

And, yet, the economic-religious-political triumvirate of the Right marches on, self-reinforcing, self-centered, hell-bent on securing power at home and abroad--no matter how disengenuous their leaders are, now matter how many fabrications proffer to the media.

And now a link to: End of Suburbia

Fast Food Nation--THE MOVIE

Hmmm... I wonder what this will be like?

This from the CBC:

LOS ANGELES - Director Richard Linklater, the filmmaker behind Dazed and Confused, is set to make a big-screen version of the book Fast Food Nation.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/05/20/Arts/ffnation050520.html

How Chain Restaurants Win the War

The connection between space and psyche are well-known, but little are they employed (by the mainstream media) to help us understand the predicament of America. This month's Harper's deserves widespread dissemination. Its portrait of the modern-day conservative movement and religion is insightful and scary without casting its characters as moronic. What they are, and this is what is scary, is different. Their otherness comes through and every page. What becomes apparent is that this difference is played out over and over again, not only in their beliefs, but in their economic choices. The authors could not have captured the strange marriage of religiosity, economy, politics and human feeling that feeds the Religious Right any more accurately. Take the following passage:

...[Linda] opened her eyes and explained the process she had undergone to reach her refined state. She called it "spiritual restoration." Anyone can do it, she promised, "even a gay activist." Linda had seen with her own eyes the sex demons that make homosexuals rebel against God, and she said they are gruesome; but she did not name them, for she would not "give demons glory." They are all the same, she said. "It's radicalism."

She reached across the table and touched my hand. "I have to tell you, the spiritual battle is very real." We are surrounded by demons, she explained, reciting lessons she had learned in her small-group studies at New Life. The demons are cold, they need bodies, the long to come inside. People let them in in two different ways. One is to be sinned against. "Molested," suggested. The other is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could walk by sin--a murder, a homosexual act--and a demon will leap onto your bones. Cities, therefore, are especially dangerous.

It is not so much the large populations, with their uneasy mix of sinner and saved, that make Christian conservatives leery of urban areas. Even downtown Colorado Springs, presumably as godly as any big town in America, struck the New Lifers as unclean. Whenever I asked where to eat, they would warn me away from downtowns neat little grid of cafés and ethnic joints. Stick to Academy, they'd tell me, referring to the vein of superstores and prepackaged eateries--P.F. Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen, et al.--that bypasses the city. Downtown, they said, is "confusing."

What is fascinating and brilliant about Jeff Sharlett's "Soldiers of Christ" (Harper's May 2005) is that he brings out the elisions of belief and action at the most automatic of levels. It is not the "mission" and the overt behaviors that is most revealing of the right-wing religious movement, it's the nearly invisible shift in behavior that define them. The fear of a demon entering one's body renders downtowns "dangerous" while consuming processed food from a corporate entity is considered "normal," "safe," "good." The economic spaces of division are the echoes of a hyper-fundamentalist religion. The the need to eat is coupled with, on one hand, the desire to remain "pure" and, on the other, the fear of the other's race, gender or sexuality.

While one might argue that religion and food have often looked to each other for definition--strict Kosher practices, for example--what is most interesting and historically contradictory about the Religious Right's iteration of this practice is that the content and preparation of food remain unimportant. What is important is where one eats and with whom, and the food itself is neither pure nor impure, save drugs or alcohol. Fundamentalist Christian food practice is not about the body or the incorporation of belief systems in food (the substance), but, rather, it focuses on an implicit "corporate cleansing" of food. (This is radical. If one looks at Jewish Kosher practices, Sharia or Transubstantiation--the Catholic practice of Communion--ingesting or refusing specific foods is tightly wound with absorbing something more than the food itself, such as the body of Christ.) Fundamentalist Christians must embrace the chain restaurant not only as a "neutral" food substance, but as a spatial embodiment of its racism. Moreover, "Corporate Cleansing" (processing) of food is an extension of power, of dominion; it is a reminder that humans, master of plants and beasts, retain control and have no moral obligation to think about sustainability, the environment, or other terms that would imply humans' less-than-central role on the planet.

Dear Day to Day

Here's what I sent to NPR this morning.


Dear Day to Day: I have no problem that Jonathan Last did not like Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. In fact, I agree. The wooden acting, the hackneyed dialogue and the silly plot are, at best, irritating. However, his review made me, well, uncomfortable. I understand that Mr. Last found the transformation of Darth Vader more interesting than the a light-saber-weilding-pseudo-philosophizing Yoda. However, we should separate falling in love with the character from falling in love with what that character means. Mr. Last's review, which lauds the Empire's order, strength and ability to effectively suppress those that disagree with it is, quite simply, praise for fascism and despotism--yes, the same fascism and despostism that can be associated with Hitler and Mussolini. While I hesitiate to convict by association, Mr. Last's employment at the Weekly Standard only reinforces the idea that his review of Star Wars III was a thinly-veiled piece of propaganda that could have emerged from his magazine. Take for example "The Case for American Empire" in which the Weekly Standard's Max Boot argues that "The most realistic response to terrorism is for America to embrace its imperial role" (10/15/2001, Volume 007, Issue 05). Mr. Last's review was not about the politics in George Lucas' movie, but rather those of today and his own vision of political utopia--one where "messy" civil liberties are less important than order, one where the inherent disorder of any democratic republic (read filibuster) make it somehow less desirable than goose-stepping our way to a well-organized, smoothly operating and, ultimately, despotic empire.

Fertilizer

The London Observer, November 18, 1822:

It is estimated that more than a million bushels of human and inhuman bones were imported last year from the continent of Euope into the port of Hull. The neighborhood of Leipzig, Austerlitz, Waterloo, and all of the places where, during the late bloody war, the principle battles were fought, have been swept alike of the bones of the hero and the horse on which he rode. Thus collected from every quarter, they have been shipped to the port of Hull and thence forwarded to the Yorkshire bone grinders who have erected steam-engines and powerful machinery for the purpose of reducing them to a granularly state. In this condition they are sold to the farmers to manure their lands. (War is a force that gives us meaning 31)

I'm now wondering about Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Guatemala... Wars

Gingerbread Hearts anyone? (Don't get it? Read Hedges' book.)

I am sure, in America, we are consuming more mint tea, more couscous, more hummus than ever before. Is the fruit of trade, of open-mindedness, goodwill? No, it is the ancient way of the cannibals, their desire to incorporate the other and the other's power into one's own body in order to grow stronger.

Chris Hedges

I'm just reading Chris Hedges' book, War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, and just wanted to post some quotes:

War is a crusade. President George W. Bush is not shy about warning other nations that they stand with the United States in the war on terrorismor will be counted with those that defy us. This too is jihad. Yet we Americans find ourselves in the dangerous position of going to war not against a state but against a phantom. The jihad we have embarked upon is targeting an elusive and protean enemy. (4)

I don't know why I'm quoting that. It's so well-known, so repeated, almost cliché, but, still, it is so true and so important. He goes on to tell of war's narcotic effects, its thrills, its sense of purpose--the very one it conveys to societies--like ours--that fall under its spell. "Even with its destruction and carnage it can give us what we long for in life. It can give us purpose" (2).

I am often amazed, as I drive down the street, as I purchase food, gas, clothes and other things we call necessities, at how the spell of war and of capital flowing through me and endowing me with something I don't intrinsically have. War is the ultimate form of branding: live or die, win or lose, right or wrong. Our brutish, wanna-be dictator that we call The President is sucessfully branding himself and pulling all into his manichean system in which our daily actions allow us to portray ourselves as patriotic ("Let's buy a car!" "Support our troops!") because of what we say, wear or worship. But, don't worry. We still have our imagination, right?

"It’s a strange thing when a letter from the school principal arrives on lime green and aqua stationery. Stranger still when the postmark is Burbank, California, and the return address reads “Imagineer That!” But it was real. The communique trumpeted “Disney Channel is coming to our school to help spark our creativity”—in a pre-packaged 90-minute assembly.

“Imagineer That! The Creativity Adventure” is designed to “help empower students to unleash their creative powers.” It folds “an imagination skills building workshop” and a sighting of Disney Channel star Ricky Ullman into the middle-school day, and follows up with a celebratory evening “wrap party.” Full participation is guaranteed by a chance to win a family vacation to (where else?) Walt Disney World. The principal described this hoopla as “a fantastic opportunity.”

(From In These Times)

I'm back

I've taken a hiatus from writing here and now I'm back. Whatever. I'm gonna start talking about my car now.

I have a '77 Mercedes 240D. Yes, it's kinda slow. However, it runs on vegetable oil and I thought it might be interesting to chronicle some of its adventures since, as you may know, one of my main interests is food. Oil (vegetable oil) is food. It has caloric content. It is also combustible, especially at high pressure. It therefore works in a diesel engine. So, I'm telling you, as will every other "Greasel" owner, that every drop of vegetable oil we burn (either as straight veggie oil or thinned out into biodiesel), in our car is a good thing. It is a very good thing.

Don't believe me? Well, read about biodiesel here:

Journey to Forever
Energy loss or gain of fuesl at the University of Minnesota
Biodiesel Now

Enough about biodiesel. I don't want to have to brew my own. Like for my beer, I just want to pour and go! Read this from the boys at Greasel. See what I mean? waste vegetable oil is cheap, much better for the environment, and easy to use in your diesel engine.

Better yet, we're not spending our money supporting Bush's wars, his businesses or his friends' businesses. Can't afford a Prius? you can still be good.

More postings and pictures to come, but, for the meantime, let's stop here.

Andy

The Nascar Nightly News: Anchorman Get Your Gun

Sorry I've been away! Read this by The New York Times > Arts > Frank Rich

I don't always agree with FR, but this has some good insights.

Fresh (Mad) Cow!

Get your prions here! America has just found its second case of Mad Cow Disease. But, Dear Consumer, do not be alarmed. Your government is taking care of you!

That's right, thanks to Republicans, we have:

-Less testing of meat for BSE (Mad Cow)
-Less testing for E. Coli
-Little or no label of meat origins
-Legislation in favor of giant meat processors that slaughter 400 000 lbs of semi-fresh cow per day
-Legislation to keep those slaughterhouses moving fast so that more and more workers can be maimed
-Legislation favor union-busting activities

That's right, even though farmers and ranchers are overwhelmingly in favor of telling you the origins of their fine products, ConAgra, IBP, etc., are getting their way. But, Dear Consumer, you voted for Bush! What he knows so well is that even people whose brain begins to turn into a sponge, who lose coordination and cannot walk, who go into convulsions and turn catatonic in the months preceeding their inevitable death, well, these people will vote Republican because, perhaps, having a spongy brain makes that more, not less, likely.

You think that last statement is underhanded, don't you? You are right. My apologies to anyone with Mad Cow Disease who voted Democrat. Please contact me, if you are still alive.

Moral Values

Working at an institution that has a strong religious tradition, even if it is no longer affiliated to any religious entity, has become important to me, especially since we are formerly Quaker. Say what you will about it, the Society of Friends is commited to a global view of moral values. Got an email from a former student today for this meeting in Pasadena. GO!
Go, even if you are not a member of Quaker church, or any church for that matter.

Here's the email I got:

American Friends Service Committee
980 N. Fair Oaks Avenue
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In this past election, we saw "morality" redefined to be little more than opposition to abortion and gay marriage.
But, what about war's cost to civilians and society? What about taxes being cut for the wealthy while poor and working poor people were forced out of social programs that support basic needs?  What about the pollution of our environment?  What about spreading fear against GLBT and immigrants?  What about the death penalty?These are moral values and we cannot allow morality to be defined to not include them.

Please join faith-based and other activists for a meeting to design a strategy for speaking the truth about our broader agenda and definition of morality through the media, our places of worship and other organizing.Sign up online to attend, or to receive information on future events.

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Today: Cyclopsis...

I only heard a story about the ravages of depleted uranium (DU) today. It noted the increase of children in Baghdad born with no ears, without eyes, and, yes, some are born with one eye in the middle of their forehead. Of course, government lawyers, like Gonzales, are poised to fight establishing any link between DU and the increased rates of deformities or leukemia at birth. This is exactly what they have done with Gulf War Syndrome, also thought to be related to DU. While the ultra hard DU warhead penetrates enemy tanks with ease and immediately kills those near the explosion, the particles released by the impact kill indescriminately.

Half life: 4.5 Billion years.

So, of course, the Sun will swell and die, and so will the human race before any of these particles loose their radioactive properties. I am assuming that will be the moment people in this administration will look up from Hell and admit they were wrong for the first time.

Here is a link These images are horrendous.

Of course, I could put images like these on street signs and I would be called an unpatriotic SOB by the very pro-lifers that supported Bush.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, W is clearing brush....clearing brush...clearing brush. It is beautiful to see the hypocrisy, the lies, the smirk, the demeanor. Save these babies, George.

Chirac Says War in Iraq Spreads Terrorism

Common sense?
Chirac Says War in Iraq Spreads Terrorism

Jacques Chirac

Those savvy French......Je ne suis pas sûr que ce soit dans la nature de nos amis américains, en ce moment, de rendre systématiquement des faveurs." C'est aussi ce que pensent aujourd'hui la majorité des Britanniques.

Translation: I am not sure that, presently, it is in the nature of our American friends to systematically return favors.

Translation of the translation: Cher Tony [Blair], I think you have been royally screwed and will get nothing for it. Of course, I could have told you that. In fact, I did. Not that I am rubbing it in, I have my own problems. Colin was a good chap, wasn't he. We'll miss him...

etc., etc.

Why Dems are running scared

There is something too cerebral to all this talk about Dems "standing" their ground. Though I have to say that I strongly believe Dems should be more fervent in their critiques of the Right and more deeply rooted in their own political philosophy, I have to remind myself everyday that there are serious financial circumstances involved in political life.

This article in The Hill says it all, though it doesn't speak broadly to the issue, only hints at it in its title "Dems fear lobbying blacklist"

...Several Democratic aides said that a midsize Washington lobbying firm, the Alpine Group, declined last week to hire a Daschle staffer with whom the group had been in long-standing discussions about a possible job. They said the Daschle aide, who The Hill agreed not to name, believed he would get the job based on conversations with the firm about three months before the election.

According to one Senate aide familiar with the situation, the firm told the Daschle aide, “This is a cold town for Democrats. It’s especially cold for Daschle’s staff.” Asked whether DeLay or any of his associates had specifically conveyed a message to the firm, the Senate aide said, “The implication was that DeLay had put the word out that Daschle staff should not be hired.”

Now, I think Washington had a LOT of problems when a certain bonhomie reigned, when Senate rules of engagement actually reflected certain polite beliefs. But in some ways, those days also meant survival of those who disagreed with you and survival of their ideas. Those days are gone, and they are gone for the political underclass as well.

The Repubs are remaking the town in their own image. It is scary.

No wonder Democrats seem so timid. They are afraid for their livelihood.

How to Be an Opposition Party

Great comments by Matt Stoller in How to Be an Opposition Party.

Quote:
Currently, the pitiful candidate Kerry is busy setting himself up for 2008 by shitting on the base operatives striving to have every vote count.  This is a mistake.  When you are in opposition, every ally is important, and you do not sacrifice allies to stay in game, because you are not in the game.  Kerry and many Senate Democrats do not understand this.  They are not players anymore.  

Kevin Brennan and Ian Welsh, two brilliant Canadians who have a deep interest in American politics, lay this out.  In Learn How to Lose, Kevin shows that there is a right way to lose that scores you points in later elections, and a wrong way to lose that just fosters the perception of ineffectiveness.  In The Bright Red Line, Ian talks about the battles that need to be fought and filibustered, the things upon which we cannot compromise or we lose the American polity for a generation.

In other words, being an effective opposition is about resisting structural changes that tilt the playing field away from you while allowing the governing party to enact policies you do not agree with, all the while proposing clear alternatives and publicizing them.  Meanwhile, at the state and local level, governing well is essential to showcase how effective the Democratic alternative really is.  At the federal level, though, we have no power, so we can be honest, like Al Sharpton in the primaries.  Imagine that, a party of Sharptonian rhetoric.

Messaging The Mossad, clearing brush...

As America begins to straddle one-party rule and one-party ruled government institutions , Steve Clemons gives us a glimpse of the model: Isreal's Mossad. Sharon executed his purge. Now Bush is doing his.

As I said yesterday, the world is becoming our West Bank. Now we are becoming Israel, and more than just metaphorically. I am pro-Israel, but I am 100 percent anti-Sharon and anti- theocracy.

Clearing brush, clearing brush, clearing brush...

Fallujah in Pictures, Clearing Brush, Pharma-gov

As I'm going through the day's news, trying to forget them long enough to plan class, to grade some papers, to find some distance from everything that is going on, I inevitably fall on something like this: Fallujah in Pictures

Look at it. Think about it.

I don't know what's going to happen. I can't pretend to. But we are making enemies faster than we are making friends and, unless the Bushites get lucky and the Iraq election leads to a request for America to leave, we're in Iraq for a long time to come. Regardless, we have given the Muslim world ammunition for decades. Welcome to America's West Bank. I guess everybody knows that.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, Holy George, is purging the ranks of the CIA. Like Homeland Security, he's setting it up to be a publicity apparatus, a research institution whose findings are guaranteed to be 100% in line with administration doctrine, or should I say dogma. This is ritual. This is like clearing brush. What are these darn weeds doing here? That's not the landscape I'm after. By golly, this here needs to be a golf course where I can drive the ball 250 yards without any water obstacles. That is my right. That is my priviledge. Serve me. Watch this drive.

Yes, clearing weeds.

It dawns on me that the administration is actually modeling itself not on the energy companies (though that is true to a certain extent as well), but on the drug companies. They do their own self-serving research, they spend luxuriously on advertisement and sell a lifestyle that finds its potency in a balance of fear (of death, of illness, of impotence) and often ambiguous results riddled with side-effects. Think Vioxx.

But hey, these manly men are tough right? They've got hard-ons that would make a mule blush. WEll, that's what they would like you to think. I think they are first-class sissies, policy hacks, and, unfortunately, politicians.

I'm depressed today.

Howard Dean for Chair.

Signing off.

King James Speak

I've been keeping up with Bob Jones's letter to the president, the one the Josh Marshall keeps coming back to.

My own take on this, besides the scary thought that Bush might actually think like this rather than just be playing the role of someone who thinks like this, is that the whole Red-Blue divide is increasingly an aesthetic and linguistic choice.

As I read Bob Jones's [Jones', if you prefer] letter, I can help but to keep coming back to the language:

Dear Prez:

The media tells us that you have received the largest number of popular votes of any president in America's history. Congratulations!

In your re-election, God has graciously granted America—though she doesn't deserve it—a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly.

Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you.

Had your opponent won, I would have still given thanks, because the Bible says I must (I Thessalonians 5:18). It would have been hard, but because the Lord lifts up whom He will and pulls down whom He will, I would have done it. It is easy to rejoice today, because Christ has allowed you to be His servant in this nation for another presidential term. Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years—a brief time only—to leave an imprint for righteousness upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God.

Christ said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my father honour” (John 12:26).

The student body, faculty, and staff at Bob Jones University commit ourselves to pray for you—that you would do right and honor the Savior. Pull out all the stops and make a difference. If you have weaklings around you who do not share your biblical values, shed yourself of them. Conservative Americans would love to see one president who doesn't care whether he is liked, but cares infinitely that he does right.

Best wishes. Sincerely your friend,
Bob Jones III
President


This whole "king-james" speak reeks of the Old Testament to me.
What's funny, is that the evangelicals that I know, use this phraseology all the time in their normal speaking. Last year we had a family of missionaries staying in our house. I spare you the whole story: very nice people, 26 years old, 4 young boys, living in beat-up RV until they moved to Madgascar to setup a charity school to teach english AS IT IS SPOKEN IN THE KING JAMES VERSION of the bible. Yes, they actually consciously or unconsciously adopted the same rhetorical figures. On some level, it sounded absurd. It was absurd. On the other, it was chilling.

The problem is not that we're going back linguistically to the late Middle Ages/Early-Modern period--I don't beleive in linguistic progress, only linguistic change. The problem is that we're going back to the the same friggin' mentalities of that enlightened time. The linguistic codes mirror this and seem to be a trait of recognition among the "beleivers."

The world is getting stranger. Teaching King James's English is both a symptom of these groups' subjugation (mental, linguistic...) to thier cause and a trope for recognizing the knowing.

Amen.

Andy

Ivory Coast...

La Côte d'Ivoire is going to hell in a handbasket. Not many resources, but a vital rail line into Burkina Faso's gold and magnesium. I don't think this will make the administration's radar, so the French will maintain a foothold.

Oh, Thank you, mighty Howler

The Daily Howler

It is time for some class "warfare" of the reality-based type.... From The Daily Howler.

CONTEMPTUOUS VALUES: Many readers—many readers—sent us the Tax Foundation tables which show which states are federal free-loaders. And yes, the “red states”—the states whose denizens love to preach that bracing self-reliance—routinely take in more federal money than they submit in taxes. Meanwhile, who subsidizes these free-loading states? Who else? “Contemptuous” “elitists” from northeastern blue states, whose troubling values red-staters love to ponder! In 2003, for example, blue-state New Jersey received only 57 cents in federal spending for every dollar submitted in taxes. But then, the top ten states whose pockets are picked include eight which are nominally blue:
1) New Jersey: 57 cents
2) New Hampshire: 64 cents
3) Connecticut: 65 cents
4) Minnesota: 70 cents
5) Nevada: 70 cents
6) Illinois: 73 cents
7) California: 78 cents
8) Massachusetts: 78 cents
9) New York: 80 cents
10) Colorado: 80 cents
Eight of the ten donor states are “blue,” including Massachusetts, New York, California and Illinois—home base to the contemptuous elitists whom red-states denizens love to scold. Throughout the campaign, George Bush mocked the troubling values of liberal Massachusetts voters—people who send big bags of money to support Bush’s red-state supporters.

Is this a silly, pointless critique? In some ways, yes, as one e-mailer claimed in a semi-spot-on analysis:
E-MAIL: Here is the source of those tax numbers. I have to say that, while I generally agree with you and am also a bit tired of the whining, your prejudices are showing here. Most of the "red states" (other than those in the Midwest) have extractive economies and many are in effect internal colonies. Their current poverty is historically constructed by these facts and the relative prosperity of the “blue states” has created and

is dependent on their continued poverty (the existing economic development of the blue states in effect inhibits the red states from developing). The relationship here is essentially the same as the relations between the first world and the third world. There is a general correlation here between relative prosperity (even within red and blue states) and voting patterns. I think what the red states have in common is economic deprivation and a sense (justified) of a lack of control over their future. Unfortunately, they have wrongly identified "liberals" as the cause of their problems—in part because, as Thomas Franks points out, we have stopped talking about economic and class issues while still pushing for minority and gender enfranchisement.

Keep up the good work, but try to have a little sympathy for the unlovely lot of those red staters (if not for their infernal and unseemly whining).
But the mailer misconstrues our incomparable fairness. It’s that infernal whining we have specifically criticized—and the bogus attempt to blame “elitist liberals” as the source of red-staters’ problems. We’re not economists, and the e-mailer surely knows more than we do about red-state status as internal colonies. But, as Michael Lind discusses in Made In Texas, Southern red states became “internal colonies” with “extractive economies” because of the choices and values of Southern elites—the same Southern elites who feed their boo-hooing red-state voters their phony grievances against “contemptuous eastern liberals.” Historically, Texas elites helped make Texas an “extractive economy,” and blubbering Texans need to be told that, even as they stick their hands deep into northeastern pockets.

Eschaton

Atrios puts up some interesting Ohio numbers....

Highland Heights: 1385
Mayfield Village: 1385
Seven Hills: 2147
Broadview Height: 2540
Berea: 3146
Olmstead Falls: 3146
North Royalton: 4009
Maple Heights: 4744
Brook Park: 5295
Oakwood Village: 5460
Euclid: 5724
South Euclid: 5724
Cleveland Heights: 6007
East Cleveland: 6007
Garfield Heights: 6170
Lakewood: 6226
Middlebury Heights:
Parma: 7284
Bedford: 8553
Bedford Heights: 8553
Warrensville Heights: 8553
Bay Village: 9948
Fairview Park: 9948
North Olmstead: 9948
Rocky River: 9948
Westlake: 9948
Cleveland: 49324

http://haloscan.com/tb/atrios/110003866197985353

Jeffersonians unite

If--and it's a big 'if'--we are going to really talk about injection religion even deeper into our PUBLIC lives, well, listen to
Gary Hart

"If we are to insert 'faith' into the public dialogue more directly and assertively, let's not be selective. Let's go all the way. Let's not just define 'faith' in terms of the law and judgment; let's define it also in terms of love, caring, forgiveness. Compassionate conservatives can believe social ills should be addressed by charity and the private sector; liberals can believe that the government has a role to play in correcting social injustice. But both can agree that human need, poverty, homelessness, illiteracy and sickness must be addressed. Liberals are not against religion. They are against hypocrisy, exclusion and judgmentalism. They resist the notion that one side or the other possesses 'the truth' to the exclusion of others. There is a great difference between Cotton Mather and John Wesley.

There is also the disturbing tendency to insert theocratic principles into the vision of America's role in the world. There is evil in the world. Nowhere in our Constitution or founding documents is there support for the proposition that the United States was given a special dispensation to eliminate it. Surely Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator. But there are quite a few of those still around and no one is advocating eliminating them. Neither Washington, Adams, Madison nor Jefferson saw America as the world's avenging angel. Any notion of going abroad seeking demons to destroy concerned them above all else. Mr. Bush's venture into crusaderism frightened not only Muslims, it also frightened a very large number of Americans with a sense of their own history."

CIA, Inauguration

It was announced today that the security level for this year's inauguration is going to be the very highest possible. Read: we will do everything to exclude protesters from the scene. Of course, it is highly likely for the networks to oblige. What interest does GE have in curbing the president's enthusiasm?

None.

What are we going to do about this inauguration? Hopefully nothing since, in some ways, I don't think we should protest. It takes our eye off the ball--namely, the Senate and Congress, whose members will be attempting hijinks previously unseen in Washington now that they seem to beleive they have a "mandate."

Le Monde.fr : Mais o? sont pass?s les votes d?mocrates de Floride ?

Le Monde is asking about missing votes in FLA according to the GAO Heres the article...

Fallujah

1.
Well, we're attacking Fallujah, which is what we should have done a long time ago. Or, if the invasion had been done properly, perhaps we wouldn't have to be doing it at all... But, hey, it'll make for some exciting TV! Blood, explosions, RUmsfeld. It'll be great, I promise. Just watch your LOCAL news and see how much they talk about it.

Let's not be too coy. We're there and be have to do it now....

2.
I'm feeling a bit depressed today as I look across the Democratic board and see the same old actors doing the same old thing. We're not going to win unless there is a major shake up/shake down of the self-loving, pandering folks.

More later.

As I thought on Wednesday without even

looking at the results. Things are not as bad as they may seem for Dems. Yes, the national party is, as it has been, in need of inspiration, new blood, etc. I firmly believe however that there is a liberal message and that it is getting out that the bottom of the ticket. The problem is the communication alleys between top and bottom. We have got to quit playing the Republican's game and create a coherent elevator message for the party. Unfortunately, I'm talking about branding it. We need persistent messages sent out, we need them starting yesterday. We must attack Frist and co.

MyDD (Chris Bowers) looks at all the stats and sums it up nicely:

"Democrats also made state legislature gains in Michigan and Ohio, and in both cases are now within only three seats of taking at least one of the two branches of the legislature. Vermont saw notable Democrats gains in the state legislature as well. Finally, Republicans wrested the Missouri and Indiana governorships from Demcorats, while Democrats wrested the Montana and New Hampshire governorships from Republicans.

Do I need to go on? The pattern is clear. We have been thoroughly routed out of the South, but are making significant gains in virtually every other part of the country. We are well on our way toward building a new post-Dixiecrat, and entirely post-New Deal majority coalition. If we cling to some foolish believe that our problems in the South can be fixed by nominating a conservative Southern governor who talks faith, we might as well fold up our tents right now. It has taken us twenty years to come close to building a national majority since the fracturing of the Democrat-Dixiecrat coalition in the early 1980's, but we are finally close. For a long time we were propped up by the false impression that the Southern wing of the Democratic Party was not completely dead, but after Tuesday it is time to put that false hope out to pasture. I'm not saying we should not keep trying in the south, as I believe we should keep trying everywhere. However, it is time to stop believing that just having a southerner on the ticket, or talking a little faith is somehow going to turn our fortunes around in the region. For that matter, we should not even believe that doing these things would even make us competitive in the region anytime soon. The Blue-Gary divide in the country is once again rearing its ugly head, and the Mike Easley's, Wesley Clark's, Mary Landrieu's and Phil Bredesen's of the party are not going prevent that from happening.
MyDD :: Due Diligence of Politics, Election Forecast & the World Today

This is essentially what I said the other day. This is about belief in the system, in progress. If the Republicans have gotten this far it is because they have a core base of believers integrated into a cynical political machine. The democrats have never been nor will they ever be as cynical or as manipulative as the Repubs. The Dems have realists. Now these folks must coordinate with the believers--who are very different from the glossy-eyed Republican ones.

There is a realignment going on and we must catch this wave with our own coherent ideology that is based neither on hate nor exclusion, but belief in a better, fairer America. Forget gay marriage--propose civil unions for everybody. Talk about debt-relief--this makes more sense to most folks than tax-relief. Talk about good, well-paying jobs. Talk about health care. Talk about family, food, property. Talk about MORALITY--There has b een an increase in abortions since the Bushite coup of 2000. What does that mean? What does that say about this administrations dedication to family? I say that we must learn to hear and speak of a moral truth that goes beyond us while not preaching or sounding haughty, which has been the case for so many righteous Dems in the past.

The Dems are well-positioned for this, but will the national party learn or will it be an eat-your-child-power-grabbing party? Folks, we need some vision.

Andy

The new t-shirt I'm making

Here's what I'm putting on a shirt

We are fucked

Speaks for itself

Michael Moore gives me hope

You know, you can criticize him but you can't criticize his enthusiasm. He sent me a personal ;-) this morning:

1. It is against the law for George W. Bush to run for president again.

2. Bush's victory was the NARROWEST win for a sitting president since
Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

3. The only age group in which the majority voted for Kerry was young adults
(Kerry: 54%, Bush: 44%), proving once again that your parents are always
wrong and you should never listen to them.

4. In spite of Bush's win, the majority of Americans still think the
country is headed in the wrong direction (56%), think the war wasn't worth fighting (51%), and don't approve of the job George W. Bush is doing (52%). (Note to foreigners: Don't try to figure this one out.  It's an American thing, like Pop Tarts.)

5. The Republicans will not have a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the
Senate. If the Democrats do their job, Bush won't be able to pack the
Supreme Court with right-wing ideologues. Did I say "if the Democrats do
their job?" Um, maybe better to scratch this one.

6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of
our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West
Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that's a start. We've got most of the fresh water,
all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in
lava. And no more show tunes!

7. Once again we are reminded that the buckeye is a nut, and not just any
old nut -- a poisonous nut. A great nation was felled by a poisonous nut.
May Ohio State pay dearly this Saturday when it faces Michigan.

8. 88% of Bush's support came from white voters. In 50 years, America will
no longer have a white majority. Hey, 50 years isn't such a long time! If
you're ten years old and reading this, your golden years will be truly
golden and you will be well cared for in your old age.

9. Gays, thanks to the ballot measures passed on Tuesday, cannot get married
in 11 new states. Thank God. Just think of all those wedding gifts we won't
have to buy now.

10. Five more African Americans were elected as members of Congress,
including the return of Cynthia McKinney of Georgia. It's always good to
have more blacks in there fighting for us and doing the job our candidates
can't.

11. The CEO of Coors was defeated for Senate in Colorado. Drink up!

12. Admit it: We like the Bush twins and we don't want them to go away.

13. At the state legislative level, Democrats picked up a net of at least 3
chambers in Tuesday's elections. Of the 98 partisan-controlled state
legislative chambers (house/assembly and senate), Democrats went into the
2004 elections in control of 44 chambers, Republicans controlled 53
chambers, and 1 chamber was tied. After Tuesday, Democrats now control 47
chambers, Republicans control 49 chambers, 1 chamber is tied and 1 chamber
(Montana House) is still undecided.

14. Bush is now a lame duck president. He will have no greater moment than
the one he's having this week. It's all downhill for him from here on out --
and, more significantly, he's just not going to want to do all the hard work
that will be expected of him. It'll be like everyone's last month in 12th
grade -- you've already made it, so it's party time! Perhaps he'll treat the
next four years like a permanent Friday, spending even more time at the
ranch or in Kennebunkport. And why shouldn't he? He's already proved his
point, avenged his father and kicked our ass.

15. Should Bush decide to show up to work and take this country down a very
dark road, it is also just as likely that either of the following two
scenarios will happen: a) Now that he doesn't ever need to pander to the
Christian conservatives again to get elected, someone may whisper in his ear
that he should spend these last four years building "a legacy" so that
history will render a kinder verdict on him and thus he will not push for
too aggressive a right-wing agenda; or b) He will become so cocky and
arrogant -- and thus, reckless -- that he will commit a blunder of such
major proportions that even his own party will have to remove him from
office.

16. There are nearly 300 million Americans -- 200 million of them of voting
age. We only lost by three and a half million! That's not a landslide -- it
means we're almost there. Imagine losing by 20 million. If you had 58 yards
to go before you reached the goal line and then you barreled down 55 of
those yards, would you stop on the three yard line, pick up the ball and go
home crying -- especially when you get to start the next down on the three
yard line? Of course not! Buck up! Have hope! More sports analogies are
coming!!!

17. Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the
candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total
number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore.
Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan. If the media are looking for
a trend it should be this -- that so many Americans were, for the first time
since Kennedy, willing to vote for an out-and-out liberal. The country has
always been filled with evangelicals -- that is not news. What IS news is
that so many people have shifted toward a Massachusetts liberal. In fact,
that's BIG news. Which means, don't expect the mainstream media, the ones
who brought you the Iraq War, to ever report the real truth about November
2, 2004. In fact, it's better that they don't. We'll need the element of
surprise in 2008.

Feeling better? I hope so. As my friend Mort wrote me yesterday, "My
Romanian grandfather used to say to me, 'Remember, Morton, this is such a
wonderful country  -- it doesn't even need a president!'"

But it needs us. Rest up, I'll write you again tomorrow.

Yours,

Michael Moore

Stupid Dems

Here's another Dem who is a Dem-basher and who does NOT know his ass from a whole in the ground.

Politics News Article | Reuters.com: "For Democrats, Sen. John Kerry's White House loss and setbacks in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives created a mood of despair, jolted the potential field of 2008 candidates and set off a spirited round of second guessing.

Debate raged about whether the party needed a major overhaul or a little fine-tuning, with some Democrats warning against overreaction and others saying the reality of two consecutive lost elections required a change.

'If Democrats are going to be a national party, we have to fundamentally change our message and philosophy,' said Democratic consultant Doug Schoen, the pollster for former President Bill Clinton.

'We have to move to the center on fiscal issues, cultural issues and defense issues, and develop specific programs to balance the budget and recognize the importance of family,' he said. 'And if we don't, we'll lose again.'

Republicans savored the success of a strong voter turnout operation that trumped more publicized Democratic efforts and the victory of a values-based, conservative message. "


The Left Coaster gets it exactly right. See me email below. I am from the most red of red states, Georgia. I know the south. The way back to popularity is not becoming "more centrist" since that indicates we are way off the the left, which is totally false. "More centrist" refers to political games, not ideology or beliefs. "More centrist" means adopting the codes and implicit (and false) logic of the Right. We must believe in ourselves. We must kick ass. We must be proud. See my letter below....

How I feel--post election excitement

here's an email I sent to a friend.

Dear Paul, just a quick email response because I could go on for hours.

The election was a real disappointment on many levels. Surprisingly, blame is not being cast that widely or that vociferously. The mood I am getting from most people in the world of Liberals is one of determination. It is believed that Kerry ran a good race, that there is little back-biting to be done. Many feel Dean should head the Democratic party. Voter turnout was VERY high, and, contrary to what is reported, the youth vote made it out in large numbers. That the latter’s effect was limited is due to high turnout of typical Republican non-voters: very poor white Christians. The gay-marriage ballots in Ohio and Michigan brought them out in droves to the point of smothering high turnout in Cleveland, Columbus, and, almost, Detroit, etc. Such a ballot still was not enough to get a Bush win in Michigan and Oregon. Pennsylvania, which did not have such an amendment, went overwhelmingly Kerry.

Yes, there was unfairness. Were votes electronically manipulated, however? Hard to say because in Florida and Ohio, such things are impossible to know because there is no paper trail. More importantly, the unfairness made this an uphill battle no matter what. Republican-controlled districts limited or cut back polling places and voting machines in traditionally democratic areas of Ohio and Florida. This resulted in five-hour or even six-hour lines in some pro-democratic areas. It was amazing to see lines of people in ponchos, with umbrellas in the cold rain who insisted on staying until their votes were cast. That high turnout seemed so good during the day. The exit polls seemed so positive. On the morning news, Bush looked like he had just swallowed a quart of Maalox and chased it with whisky sour. I was hoping, naively, for a 280+ kerry victory... But then there was voter intimidation too, such as people following Native Americans home from the voter-registration tables in South Dakota and taking their license plate numbers. The list is very, very long and only in America does this not make it to the surface because of our lazy media. To sum it up, Kerry nearly won Ohio with only 6 months to prepare. The Republicans have had a strategy and the political offices to fertilize and cultivate a Bush victory for the last four years. MoveOn and ACT did brilliant jobs—they turned a 58%-42% landslide into a 51-49% near victory. I know people in Florida, in Erie who did the work. Philly was a democratic madhouse slamming the Republicans into nothingness.

There are many people I know who are madder than ever, but they are not mad at Kerry. If anyone did not deliver, it is Edwards, who couldn’t bring in a single southern state. So people are mad and are already getting ready to fight for the supreme court. I am putting an American flag on my house and car because I am sick of pseudo-patriots claiming that real Americans only live in the Midwest, that Californians and New Yorkers are somehow less in touch, that patriotism is a solely Republican value. I’m doing it in homage to a former idea of America and democracy that seems to have disappeared. I’m doing it to water down the symbol they want to appropriate. Andrew Sullivan, whom you may know of, said Bush “deserves a fresh start, a chance to prove himself again, and the constructive criticism of those of us who decided to back his opponent. He needs our prayers and our support for the enormous tasks still ahead of him." Well, frankly, no fucking way. This is not about a fresh start, the next four years will be about holding these people accountable. Today the LA Times has the first interviews with soldiers who watched as looted dragged away those high-grade explosives from the al Qaqaa munitions complex. Responsibility for this cannot be passed off and many are motivated to keep the media on the ball. The L.A. Times has become a truly great paper this year, while the New York Times has become lazy. Today, in the NYT, there was something to the effect that the Dems were out of touch. Well, sorry, 49% is not out of touch and I’m prouder than I ever have been to be liberal.

That is my mood. I think it is shared by a lot of folks, at least nearly sixty million of us anyway.

I apologize for any grandiloquence or shrillness. Greetings to the family.

Andy

Sex in France

Whatever. I mean good. I mean whatever. I mean...

What a surprise.

I'm overwhelmed. I can't beleive it. Halliburton? Special interests? Favors? never... It's not possible.

The Army Corps of Engineers' top contracting official has demanded an investigation into contracts given to Halliburton , citing "improper action" that favored Vice President Dick Cheney's old company.

WolfpacksforTruth.org:

I love it!

WolfpacksforTruth.org: The Real Story on George Bush's "Wolves" Commercial

Is that all you got?

Wolves?


George Bush, is that all you got?

Bring it on.

Andy

Daily Kos :: Diaries

Ok, I'm leeching my own thoughts... go here...Daily Kos :: Diaries

The Washington Note Archives

Middle Ages vs. Enlightenment....That's Steve Clemmons' argument when whe quotes Suskind's work in the NYT magazine.


"Just in the past few months," Bartlett said, "I think a light has gone off for people who've spent time up close to Bush: that this instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told him to do." Bartlett, a 53-year-old columnist and self-described libertarian Republican who has lately been a champion for traditional Republicans concerned about Bush's governance, went on to say: "This is why George W. Bush is so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them, because he's just like them. . . ".

Perhaps, though I think that oversimplifies things. Perhaps it is New Ageism, as William Gibson suggests over in his blog. I'm not sure. I am increasingly aware that our media is, as Gibson says, "narrowing the creativity gap" (or something to that effect). Indeed, dogmatic rulers are both a product and a user of our paralyzed media. As the audience cheers John Stewart, Fucker Carlson and Paul Begs-a-lot retained their veneer of "decency" while they spewed the pornography of their respective parties. This nation is addicted to junk food, junk politics, junk journalism, myself included. At least I know it and do something about it. Are there any watchdogs? Are there any standards. Just capitalism--wait--no, not even that. We are no longer a primarily capitalist society except at the local and small-scale level--the major players of the economy are post-capitalist marriages of state and economic empires that say "screw you, workers" more often than not. It's amazing to me that we've let democracy slide this low. Hello, 19th century, here we come... Seriously, somewhere in this mess is democracy and economic system, and they are SEPARATE entities. Maybe it's because I study France, maybe it's because I've lived overseas and seen how successful other models can be. The American economic-poliltical system no longer works for democracy or many of its citizens budgets, health or happiness. When are we going to start questioning ourselves.

I dunno. Fogive me for some of this incoherency.

Andy

The Left Coaster: The GOP Money Behind The Flu Vaccine Crisis

I hope that someday the media will learn to follow the money.

Frankly, it's quite obvious that this whole flu vaccine is related to two administration-related faultes:

1) HHS is relatively unconcerned with national issues. Tommy Thompson is a wingnut and a watercarrier with little policy interest.

2) Chiron is a rather a-political drug company with second rate standards--hence the cheap vaccine. The problem, as LeftCoaster points out, is that companies cannot afford NOT to contribute to the Bushites. Heresy will be punished...

Yours Truly,

The Left Coaster has it right about the Flu vaccine

Read this...

Follow the money...follow the money...follow the Monkey...

Faith-based food energy

It's all connected....

"Bush said: ''I'm going to push nuclear energy, drilling in Alaska and clean coal. Some nuclear-fusion technologies are interesting.'' He mentions energy from ''processing corn.''


It's all connected....

Let's subsidize big business...

Fuck.

Andy

Our National Eating Disorder

The New York Times > Magazine > Our National Eating Disorder
MICHAEL POLLAN
"Carbophobia, the most recent in the centurylong series of food fads to wash over the American table, seems to have finally crested, though not before sweeping away entire bakeries and pasta companies in its path, panicking potato breeders into redesigning the spud, crumbling whole doughnut empires and, at least to my way of thinking, ruining an untold number of meals. America's food industry, more than happy to get behind any new diet as long as it doesn't actually involve eating less food, is still gung-ho on Low Carb, it's true, but in the last few weeks, I can report some modest success securing a crust of bread, and even the occasional noodle, at tables from which such staples were banned only a few months ago. "

Everybody knows that Atkin's dieters are eaters in search of an addiction that will make them "healthier."

Food, I beleive, is a concentration of culture, energy, resources and social meanings. It's importance, beyond simple nutrition, is, at most, only alluded to: "comfort food," "home-cooked," etc. America's food choices are based neither on cultural or gustatory richness, but on concentrations of energy--in the form of money. We choose what media and advertisers tell us to, starting at a very early age.

The system is screwy, biased and therefore we are screwed.

Andy

They have given up!

WTF? They really have abandoned hope!!!!


Yahoo! News - Bush to Skip AARP Gathering of 25,000

Bush Drunk? Maybe not! Stroke? Health?

Dear Fan(s):

Well, maybe my search over the last few days for revealing video was all in vain, however, in spirit, I'm feeling better. Bush went over to Kerry last night and ominously asked him where Kerry could be reached. Weird. Conspiracy theories are coming to the fore over at Daily Kos. I think it is either:

1. A health-related issue (stroke, nerves, etc.)
2. An october surprise (Osama, invasion, etc.)
3. A pre-win congratulations/I'm outta here remark.
4. I'm gonna tell Dick what you said and you're gonna be sorry...

Enjoy.

The Rude Pundit

My favorite debate response:

If, at tonight's "debate," when Kerry is asked, "How do you answer the charge that you are one of the most 'liberal' members of Congress?", he doesn't answer, "Bob, let me begin by saying that what you are asking is a stupid goddamned question that only has meaning if you've been busy wolfing down chowder from Karl Rove's boner. Holy shit, what the fuck does that mean? No, seriously, ask anyone in the audience if they even understand what it means, 'liberal.' And you know what? Not a motherfuckin'....

Hot Saucing

Remeber "The Facts of Life"? Lisa Whelchel, is an adherent of the hairsuit and other bizzare forms of discipline.

What you talkin' 'bout?

I think this made into the No Child Left Behind act too...

Andy

The Gadflyer: Swatting Lies

Sean Aday, over at the Gadflyer makes some astute comments on what Kerry should say tonight.what Kerry should say tonight

I have to say that Bush will use the word liberal more times than we want to imagine. I have to believe, however, that this word has lost a great deal of its potency in the wake of Bush's record. Yes, the L-word will get the hard-core folk all fired up, but it will not do that for everyone. This attack is part of Bush's strategy to motivate their troops, not convince the swing folk, as many have already noticed. It shows, in fact, that they are either desperate or counting on high True-Believer turnout, or both.

That the Republicans now own this word is common knowledge, that it is effective is less and less true except for these hardcore believers. As I wrote yesterday about Derrida, words are subject to inflation to the point where the currency is worth very little...

Bush Drunk--continuing investigation...

Admittedly, this might be a little silly--except that Bush has made such a fuss about abstaining from alcohol.

Here's a link Christa sent me...





Send me info!!!

Thanks.

Here we go again...

What the F? They are afraid, stupid...and dangerous


Mystery Surrounds Kerry's Navy Discharge - October 13, 2004 - The New York Sun: "An official Navy document on Senator Kerry's campaign Web site listed as Mr. Kerry's 'Honorable Discharge from the Reserves' opens a door on a well kept secret about his military service."

Segregation

As a native of Georgia, I have always loved Alabama because it made us look light years ahead. I guess that's how Alabamians feel about Mississippi...

Alabama to vote on segratation language...

Let's keep the 10 commandments too, and no taxes and no "folks of the colored persuasion," and no science in the classrooms, and no abortions...

WTF? I really have a problem with this

Derrida, usury, neo-cons

It dawned on me today, a few days after Derrida's death that maybe he can help explain why some of the Right's propaganda is working less effectively than it has: usury. Words, he says, are like money, they gain in interest, accumulate meanings. By so doing, a certain wealth of meanings is created, but, conversely, so is a certain dissolution of meaning. Economically, this is like inflation. Terms like "liberal," "left-wing" have begun to loose some of their potency precisely because of their power.

However, I do not want to explain away the danger that still lurks within the Rush Limbaughs, the Falwells and the Bushites. It is great, and their command of the media machine, either through direct ownership or astute manipulation of its hot buttons, remains practically unchallenged.

Kerry is winning not because they--the Repubs--are losing the media war or their edge in controlling it, but because power has corrupted their leaders to the point where their hypocrisy is too blatant. In other words, people still like their message, but they are ever more concerned with the messengers. In fact, Kerry, in many ways, is an able messenger for their side in the sense that he is running on a bellicose stance and significantly allied with corporate interest.

Fast for George W. Bush

Thanks to George, thousands of kids get to fast everyday--whether they want to or not. Funny how prayers get answered.

Fast for George W. Bush

Facism Anyone...

It is interesting that today, managers of Sinclair Broadcasting are using the Holocaust to describe liberals. Ugh. I hate it. We are becoming a fascist country.

Keywords ? Fascism: "We do ourselves a disservice by turning the perpetrators of the Holocaust into inhuman monsters whose actions are beyond comprehension. Certainly the means by which the Bush administration secured its shaky legitimacy through the use of war and nationalism has something to do with what happened in 1933. How is saying so a trivialization? There might also be important differences between then and now - but these should be a matter of debate, not something that even discussing would be a sin against the past."

Seriously, Folks

Can anyone doubt that Homeland Security Dept is merely a political, pork-barrel agency right now? The New York Times says it all. Grants are going to rural states with low risk while the major ports remain unsafe. Unbelievable.

Andy/André

Sinclair Broadcasting's David Smith Busted In Prostitution Sting

portland imc - 2004.05.01 - Sinclair Broadcasting's David Smith Busted In Prostitution Sting

Thinking about the next debate...

As I ponder the last debate, and the next one, I feel, as I have always felt, that Bush is of two minds, not only two faces. Part of him is extremely cocky, confident, self-serving, and spoiled. The other part of him is the Yale man who must put extra swing in his swagger to fit in with the big boys. Little W wants soooo much to be a big boy. He wants to play with them. He wast to be a Texan, a Bidnessman, a Man, a Man's Man. Yet, in spite of it all, he is childish and often child-like (only without the playfulness and imagination). When Bush said "The enemy attacked us," he showed not only the conflation of highly divergent intelligence reports (Al Qaeda attacked us---not Saddam), he was confusing his personalities. How do we know this about his confused sense of self? All one had to do was look. Bush didn't know how to act, how to react, what role to play. For the first time in 4 years, Truth was more powerful than Fiction--even within the president's own body. And I mean that in every sense possible. Bush's own body language is an extension of his thought processess, ones which were obviously malfunctioning on Thursday night.
Pschologists say EVERYTHING eventually gets expressed either through words or through actions. For Bush, all the wincing and writhing was "wrong time, wrong place." It could not have come at a better time or a better place for America, however.
The question about this Friday's debate is not who will win the policy question, but will Kerry be able to shake the president to the core, to bring out those twitches. The answer to that is: unlikely. The president will be more exposed and thus more aware of his exposure to a public, and will thus ACT more of one body and one mind. Of course, it is still possible his physical discomfort/discomfiture will appear as well, I just beleive it to be unlikely, which is, in turn, unfortunate, because America will again be blind to this President's ways.

Read this: Bush's costly gaffe: "pseudo-confident"

Once out of Baghdad, hope trumps the doubts

I love Repub propaganda...

Once out of Baghdad, hope trumps the doubts - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - October 04, 2004: "But amid the violence, a series of positive developments unfolds daily, including the United Nations' sponsoring of an interim government led by Iyad Allawi. The top commander in the region, Gen. John Abizaid, says Washington critics and the press have it wrong."


Right.

Iraq: Politics or Policy?

Like it or not, this is the Truth.

Iraq: Politics or Policy?

I don't always agree with Friedman, but here he is stating the obvious truth that the Repub pols refuse to face.

Those French

Who would of thought? Those Frenchies are arresting terrorists not just talking about it. France Joins Spain to Catch Pair Suspected of Terrorism

Will Kerry?

The New York Times > Week in Review > The Draft Card: The Option Nobody's Pushing. Yet.