Why does Wal-mart want RFID ASAP?
Remember that sci-fi scene where Tom Cruise is walking through a shopping mall and the displays are hawking him, speaking directly to his individual tastes? Someday soon you may be scanned as you enter (and as you leave) a store to get data from the products that you are wearing or carrying in your purse, pockets or wallet. Radio frequency identification, or RFID, is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects.

RFID systems consist of a tag, (smaller than a grain of sand) that contains a microchip with a broadcast antenna... and a reader with an antenna that sends out electromagnetic waves. The tag receives them and converts the waves into power from the reader, using it to light up the microchip circuits. The chip then responds to the reader with its data.

The use of RFID technology is called "spy ware" by groups like CASPIAN, Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering. They fear the following:

• The purchaser of an item will not necessarily be aware of the presence of the tag or be able to remove it;
  
• The tag can be read at a distance without the knowledge of the individual;
  
• If a tagged item is paid for by credit card or in conjunction with use of a loyalty card, then it would be possible to tie the unique ID of that item to the identity of the purchaser; and
  
• Tags create, or are proposed to create, globally unique serial numbers for all products, even though this creates privacy problems and is completely unnecessary for most applications.

Most concerns revolve around the fact that RFID tags affixed to products remain functional even after the products have been purchased and taken home, and thus can be used for surveillance, and other nefarious purposes unrelated to their supply chain inventory functions.

"Supermarket cards and retail surveillance devices are merely the opening volley of the marketers' war against consumers. If consumers fail to oppose these practices now, our long-term prospects may look like something from a dystopian science fiction novel," says Katherine Albrecht in RFID: Tracking everything, everywhere.

OK! Now here's the fun part... if you have $20 to blow.
It seems that RFIDs are already being inserted in the latest US currency. A fellow named Dave says he was recently scanned at a truck stop and his cash set off an alarm. Dave decided to try to deactivate the chips.

"We chose to 'microwave' our cash, over $1000 in twenties in a stack, not spread out on a carasoul. Do you know what exploded on American money? The right eye of Andrew Jackson on the new twenty, every bill was uniform in it's burning... Isnt that interesting?"

Ho, ho, ho! Have a Merry Christmas!

Support the Troops...
This summer Maj. Catherine Kaus and her soldiers commandeered several abandoned Army trucks in Kuwait to compensate for a shortage of their own vehicles. Kaus and her unit, the Ohio-based 656th Transportation Company, used commandeered trucks to fulfill their mission of transporting fuel. For that she and five other soldiers were court-martialed. Kaus, a graduate of Luxemburg-Casco High School was sentenced to six months in prison, fined $5,000 and given a dishonorable discharge. The 46-year-old divorced mother of one also faces the loss of her retirement benefits.

Kaus' sister said family members intend to contact U.S. Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, Wisconsin Democrats, to seek their support for clemency. A spokesman for Feingold confirmed that Kaus' family contacted the senator's office Friday, but he would not comment further.

The transcript of Major Kaus' court martial states that she received the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, the Kuwait Liberation Medal and other awards during her long military career. Testimony also showed that when Maj. Kaus’ unit was ordered to march into Iraq from Kuwait, the company didn’t have enough vehicles to do the job. Darrell Birt – a chief warrant officer with Kaus' unit "found" two tractors and two trailers left in Kuwait.

According to Birt's testimony, "Major Kaus came back from a meeting with higher headquarters, I believe, it was with battalion and/or group ... and she told us that we were not getting any external support. In other words, we were going to have to move all of our assets ourselves, and Chief Parriman, who was there at the time, said, `Hey, I think I can solve that problem. I know where some vehicles are at,' something to that nature."

When asked how Kaus responded, Birt said he could not recall her exact words, but the gist was, "Do what you got to do. I just don't want to know."

Several weeks later, Birt and fellow scroungers also commandeered an abandoned cargo truck and stripped it for parts.

Birt who was later court-martialed for theft, destruction of Army property and conspiracy to cover up the crimes – was decorated not long ago with a Bronze Star for his “initiative and courage” in a combat zone. He too has been dishonorably discharged and stripped of all military benefits.

Col. David H. Hackworth (USA Ret.) is co-founder of Soldiers for the Truth and Senior Military Columnist for DefenseWatch magazine says, "As long as I served in the Army – from 1946 to 1971 – a cunning unit scrounger was one of the most important assets a commander had. From Korea to Germany to Vietnam, my guys were always officially short everything but never lacking in anything. We had hot jeeps, trucks, tents, kitchens, weapons and provisions of all types. I not only encouraged my trusty liberators to bring home anything that wasn’t nailed down, I frequently ordered them to de-nail goodies that were needed – like generators – and haul that stuff home quicksmart, too."

He says, "Make scrounging part of the Patriot Act."

Reaping the harvest...
"In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation.

"The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict fundamentalist code.
From U.S., the ABC's of Jihad: Violent Soviet-Era Textbooks Complicate Afghan Education Efforts

The first day of winter dawns with 8 - 10" of new snow in Door County... off to a good old-fashioned white Christmas with great skiing ahead. I cannot remember a winter that started off this early with such an abundance of snow.

My Soldier is a program that puts politics aside and lets men and women serving in the armed forces know that someone back home cares. The goal of the program is to show support for troops by establishing pen-pal relationships with them.

Support the troops... demand ethical leadership!
"A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq."

"These documents raise grave questions about where the blame for widespread detainee abuse ultimately rests," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "Top government officials can no longer hide from public scrutiny by pointing the finger at a few low-ranking soldiers."

The two-page e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists.

Newly Released Documents Show Possible Interference by Army Commander In Investigation Into Murder of Iraqi Detainee
December 21, 2004

FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order Authorizing Inhumane Interrogation Techniques
December 20, 2004

Hat's off to Dan Egan...
At times he reports on Door County for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and has devoted a great deal of his attention to issues regarding the quality and survival of Lake Michigan. Today I discovered one of his latest works, the second in a troubling three-part series: Sea of change... a host of invasive species is wreaking ecological havoc in Lake Michigan.

I did a search for all of his other works to find part one: Paradise in peril... Lake Michigan is showing signs of vulnerability - or even ecological breakdown.

Thanks Dan, for bringing forth a number of important articles on the biological and geo-political issues that threaten one of the largest bodies of fresh water on Earth.

"I'm going out telling the story that I think is the biggest story of our
time: how the right-wing media has become a partisan propaganda arm of the
Republican National Committee," says Bill Moyers. "We have an ideological press
that's interested in the election of Republicans, and a mainstream press
that's interested in the bottom line. Therefore, we don't have a vigilant,
independent press whose interest is the American people."

"With the holidays upon us, some of us might wish to be mindful of who we patronize relative to their Election Cycle political donations, as reported by the Center for Responsive Politics," says Alan Abramowitz.

ChooseTheBlue.com compiles information from third party sources primarily to show certain reported spending by political action committees connected with a corporation and by that corporation's employees as political contributions, in each case related to recent federal elections.

"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." - George W. Bush

One way to see God... and ask for an opinion from the source, can be found in this interesting Holiday link sent by a Compass reader.

A large shadow looms...
Watch closely. Moving cautiosly, quietly, behind the scenes, a hunter stalks its prey. Using time-tested tactics perfected in communities across the nation, Wal-Mart continues to press for greater corporate profit through growth and expansion. While the debate over building a Sturgeon Bay Supercenter has subsided, it is far from over.

Wal-Mart's efforts to build a Supercenter in Sheboygan have hit some snags. On December 31, 2004 the Town Board refused to issue a conditional-use permit for the 212,000 square foot store. Save Our Sheboygan previously gave the board a petition with more than 500 signatures asking the board to deny the rezoning request. Over 200 people attended the Tuesday night meeting. But it's far from over.

The Town of Sheboygan is a different governing body from the City of Sheboygan. Many people fear Wal-Mart's next tactic - to ask the city to annex the land for the proposed site. The city would benefit in gaining a huge tax base.

The City of Sheboygan has already granted Wal-Mart permission to build one Supercenter, expected to open in late 2005.

“It’s not the need of a Wal-Mart store, it’s the greed of a Wal-Mart store,” said town resident Clarence Weigert. “It only takes 10 minutes to get to the south side.”

Tobusytoblog... lately but I couldn't pass this up:
From the The Daily Cardinal interviewing George Twigg:

DC: What role do you feel you played in Kerry's Wisconsin victory?

George Twigg: My job was really just to get our side of the story out, and, conversely, when Republicans came into the state and made all these claims about the things we were doing, that we did some truth telling and made sure people knew what we felt was their real record on those issues.

DC: By "truth telling," what do you feel you exposed?

GT: One point this fall, George Bush was in Wausau for a campaign rally, and he was talking about how he was going to support this program called MILC, a price supports system for dairy farmers ... Two days later, Republicans back in D.C. killed the program. It was a really clear example of him making these campaign promises out on the trail ... We got this 30-foot tall inflatable dairy cow called "Marathon the Mad Milk Cow," and she followed around Bush and Cheney to a bunch of their events. We had people dressed up in cow costumes, talking about how Bush was, we felt, not being forthcoming on his position.

Michael Moore writes:
"Fahrenheit 9/11" has been nominated by the People's Choice Awards as the American public's "Favorite Film of the Year." The five nominees were chosen from a poll of thousands of Americans in mid-to-late November. The other nominees for best film are "Spiderman 2," "The Incredibles," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (with Jim Carrey), and "Shrek 2." It is the first time ever a documentary has been nominated for best film by the People's Choice Awards.

The People's Choice Awards are considered, among all the awards shows, to be the one which most accurately reflects the "mainstream" public opinion in the United States.

OK, now, here's the best part: YOU get to vote! Online. Now. Just go to http://www.pcavote.com/voting/film/f01.shtml, click on the little circle next to "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the "Favorite Movie" category and press the "vote" button. Voting is going on now and continues only through this coming Monday, December 13, at 3:00pm ET, so send an e-mail to your friends and let them know they can vote, too. Winners will accept their awards live on CBS on January 9.

Now, normally I wouldn't make a very big deal out of something like this. It's nice and I'm honored, but it's not exactly the number one priority on any of our minds these days. In fact, when we found out we were nominated over a week ago, I didn't even think to tell you about it or put it up on our website.

But then a group of top Republicans took out a full page ad in USA Today (and placed a similar one in the Hollywood trade magazine, Variety) proclaiming that "An election is over, but a war of ideas continues." The point of the ad was to say that while they, as right wing conservatives, were proud of getting rid of Kerry, there was still one more nuisance running around loose they had to deal with -- me! They also issued a not-so-subtle threat to the Academy Awards voters that, in essence, said don't even THINK about nominating "Fahrenheit 9/11" for Best Picture. And Bill O'Reilly recently bellowed that if the Oscars recognize my work this year, Middle America will boycott Hollywood.

I promise, if we win, to give a nice and polite speech.


The Backbone Campaign and a growing coalition of grassroots organizations from around the nation have come together to initiate a process to empower citizens to nominate and elect "The Backbone Cabinet, A Progressive Parallel Government."

With the election behind us, progressives must lead the way to reclaim the moral language of our nation. Creating the Backbone Cabinet is an excellent way to put forward individuals capable of communicating our vision, values and expectations.

The success of this endeavor depends on you! Make a nomination, rate and comment on existing nominees. Forward this to your friends and colleages. If you are part of another progressive organization, urge the leadership to join the growing coalition of sponsors. If you lead a group invite your membership to join in the process! Numbers matter! Please advertise this effort on your webpage and in your newsletters, blogs, etc.

Between now and January we will hold a series of secure I.R.V. i.e. Instant Runoff Voting processes through which citizens around the country can select their top choices for each position. Be sure to sign up to be notified when voting begins.

You have one day left to place your bid on a ghost...
A woman, "marys454bb" in Hobart, Indiana is offering the ghost of her father for sale on eBay. So far, the ghost has received more than 80 bids, with a top offer of $14,935.66.

"Ever since my father died my 5 year old son has been afraid to go anywhere in the house alone whether it be day or night! I always thought it was just normal kid fears until a few months ago he told me why he was so scared. He told me "Grandpa died here, and he was mean. His ghost is still around here!" He then brought up the couple of times my dad tapped him with his cane and how mean his grandpa looked when he yelled at him. so up for auction is my dad's ghost along with his cane he used for getting around and hurt my 5 year olds feelings with."

Chris Jordan's current work examines the excesses of American consumerism. In large-format color, this project takes the viewer on a tour behind the shiny façade of the American Dream, into the fearsome industrial infrastructure that underlies our consumer society. There is something fascinating but frightening, evil yet necessary, about shipping ports and rail yards and the like. They carry a quality of unchecked power and violent excess, revealing the vast cumulative effects of our individual consumptive choices.

The Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin, recently kicked a Liberal MP out of the caucus after she stomped on a George Bush doll while taping a segment for a national comedy show. Carolyn Parrish was already notorious for her untempered criticism of the Bush administration, having called Americans "those bastards" and described US allies in the missile defence plan as a coalition of "idiots".

Parrish was first elected to Parliament in 1993 and has been re-elected twice since then. A former high school teacher and board of education chairwoman before entering politics, she shot into the news last year after she was heard saying outside the House of Commons, “Damn Americans … I hate those bastards.” She later apologized for those remarks, saying she meant them only for Bush and those in his administration.

Relations between Canada and the US have been chilly since the former prime minister, Jean Chrétien, decided not to join the invasion of Iraq. There have been slights and insults on both sides, with one of Mr Chrétien's most senior aides describing the president as a moron.

WBAY reports, "Authorities confirm it was a bomb found Sunday night that forced the evacuation of a Wal-Mart store in Manitowoc. An employee spotted a suspicious package in the toy department. Police say the device had wires, a firecracker-like fuse, duct tape covering the ends, and was filled with gun powder."

Citizens@SaveOurSheboygan.com are sending out an SOS...
The Town of Sheboygan Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing on whether to let Wal-Mart build its 24-hour, 212,000-square-foot Supercenter in their community. The public hearing will take place at 5:30 pm Tuesday, Nov. 30 at the Town Fire House (3911 Country Trunk Y).

OK time to lighten up...
My wife is wondering about how to wash pillows. Search Google on "how to wash pillows" and then read the top return result posted in Say Uncle on September 08, 2004.

On how to become FOXless in America...
Recieved in e-mail:
This is such simple, brilliant, potenetially effective idea, I wish I could say I thought of it. It was actually sent to me by a friend who is impatient for grassroots action against the right wing to begin. I'm doing this at once. I hope you'll decide to do the same and circulate the idea to at least a hundred million of your closest friends. LET'S SEE THE STOCKS PLUMMET- FEED YOUR STRENGTH. If you, too, have had enough with the FOX news channel, please read below. This action will make your voice heard while simply choosing not to watch the station can not.

I have decided to make a political statement. I called my Satellite TV provider and asked them to remove Fox News from my television. Since the election I have wanted to stick my head out of a window of a tall building and shout I can't take it anymore, but I soon came to realize that there is a better and easier way to send a message to Rupert Murdoch and his blathering bunch at Fox News and that was to simply make them disappear from my life.

I called my cable TV provider and had Fox News deleted from my television. It was simple I called the Repair Department at Comcast and said I wanted to be Foxless in America. I then wrote an email to the following: Reed Nolte VP Investor Relations for News Corporation (the parent company of Fox News) at rnolte@newscorp.com and Brian Lewis, Senior VP Corporate Communications for Fox News at brian.lewis@foxnews.com and to top it off I copied rmurdoch@newscorp.com.

I told them that I cannot take the Fox distortion and biased presentation of the news any longer and that they ought to inform their sponsors that there are millions like me. I can't tell you the immense satisfaction I gained from becoming Foxless in America. I am asking you to follow me in this protest and let it be heard by all that want to control what we all see and hear. This could be a way to have your voice heard-Become Foxless in America. We can start a movement if each of you send this email to all the others you know who are fed up with Fox News.

"It was a spectacular irony - a Republican senator using the word “fraud” about the presidential election," says Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. "More spectacular still, he was visiting his condemnation of apparent election manipulation on the incumbent party. And beyond all that, he and others based their conclusions largely on the incredible disparity between the last exit polls and the vote count itself. Of course, Indiana’s Richard Lugar was talking about the presidential election in the Ukraine."

Olbermann's Countdown show is one of the few sources of media coverage devoting time to ask questions that remain in the wake of the recent election. Keith interviewed the pollster John Zogby in his Nov 24 coverage report entitled Zogby Vs. Mitofsky regarding another poll this week - one that indicated that about four in five Americans thought President Bush had been legitimately elected three weeks ago: “But, Keith, 20 percent don’t think the president is legitimate. And worse yet, if you take the other half, those that didn’t vote for him, about half of the other side doesn’t think the president is legitimate. That just hasn’t existed for a long, long time in our system. We need to restore, I think, some semblance of legitimacy and honor to the system.”

The Geneva Conventions contain the following in the opening paragraph:

"Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat (out of combat) by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely...”

It goes on to explain, “The following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

-- Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture.

-- The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.”

And it adds that “the wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.”

The Geneva Conventions are quite clear that the bombing of hospitals constitutes a war crime:

“Article 18: Civilian hospitals organized to give care to the wounded and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.

“Article 19: The protection to which civilian hospitals are entitled shall not cease unless they are used to commit, outside their humanitarian duties, acts harmful to the enemy. Protection may, however, cease only after due warning has been given, naming, in all appropriate cases, a reasonable time limit and after such warning has remained unheeded. The fact that sick or wounded members of the armed forces are nursed in these hospitals, or the presence of small arms and ammunition taken from such combatants and not yet been handed to the proper service, shall not be considered to be acts harmful to the enemy.”

Then... are these war crimes?
On November 6 the BBC reported on the effects of US bombing in Fallujah, “Witnesses said only a facade remained of a small Emergency Hospital in the centre of the city. A nearby medical supplies storeroom and dozens of houses were also damaged as US forces continued preparing the ground for an expected major assault.”

Ex-Navy Seal, Matthew Heidt, explains, “The shots fired at the ‘unarmed’ terrorist in that mosque in Fallujah are called ‘security rounds.’ Its (sic) a safety issue pure and simple. After assaulting through a target, put a 'security round' in everybody's head. There's no time to dick around in the target, you clear the space, dump the chumps…”

The Global Policy Forum explains, "The United States government has consistently opposed an international court that could hold US military and political leaders to a uniform global standard of justice. The Clinton administration participated actively in negotiations towards the International Criminal Court treaty, seeking Security Council screening of cases. If adopted, this would have enabled the US to veto any dockets it opposed. When other countries refused to agree to such an unequal standard of justice, the US campaigned to weaken and undermine the court. The Bush administration, coming into office in 2001 as the Court neared implementation, adopted an extremely active opposition. Washington began to negotiate bilateral agreements with other countries, insuring immunity of US nationals from prosecution by the Court. As leverage, Washington threatened termination of economic aid, withdrawal of military assistance, and other painful measures. These exclusionary steps clearly endanger the fledgling Court and may seriously weaken its credibility and effectiveness."

Here's a complete Chronology of U.S. Opposition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) starting with the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act (ASPA), a bill introduced on May 9, 2002 by Senator Tom DeLay (R-TX) and passed by the House and Senate within a month. On August 2, 2002 President George W. Bush signed HR 4775, making the ASPA U.S. law.

In September 2002 the Bush Administration released its National Security Strategy Policy. In reference to the ICC, it says:

"We will take the actions necessary to ensure that our efforts to meet our global security commitments and protect Americans are not impaired by the potential for investigations, inquiry, or prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose jurisdiction does not extend to Americans and which we do not accept. We will work together with other nations to avoid complications in our military operations and cooperation, through such mechanisms as multilateral and bilateral agreements that will protect US nationals from the ICC. We will implement fully the American Servicemembers Protection Act, whose provisions are intended to ensure and enhance the protection of US personnel and officials."


Never Fear...
Thanks to the ASPA we can continue to support our troops, despite the fact that they have been instructed to ignore the Geneva Conventions. Whew... for a minute there I was worried about being held complicit as an individual citizens who condones war crimes. No fear, our leaders have taken steps to insure that there will be no trial in the ICC.

RELATED STORY:
Embedded with the Marines in Iraq
Dead-Check in Falluja
"I had developed a strange relationship with the sight of dead Iraqis. I felt safer when I saw them."

Rest easy and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

In the Old Testament, locusts were the 8th of 10 plagues which God brought on the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh to release the children of Israel. Locusts can eat their own body weight in food, two to three ounces, each day. A single square mile swarm can contain from between 100 million to 200 million locusts, which can eat 220 tons to 720 tons of food every day - quantity enough to feed 200,000 humans.

A single swarm of locusts can be small, extending over a hundred square meters, or huge, composed of billions of insects. In one day, they can fly 100 kilometers in the general direction of prevailing winds. They may breed in one country and attack in another. The locust season usually runs from November through May.

BURKINA FASO: Up to 90 percent crops lost in north, food crisis feared

Locust swarms advance into Egypt

Drought, Locusts Heavily Damage Crops In Mauritania

"On the porch was a garbage bag," says Bev Harris of www.blackboxvoting.org, "and so I looked in it and, and lo and behold, there were public record tapes." Take a look inside this bag of 'Stinking Evidence' of Possible Election Fraud Found in Florida with the help of a report by Thom Hartmann.

A new report by GRAIN and Focus on the Global South exposes, "Iraq's new patent law: A declaration of war against farmers." In it they explain why Iraqi Farmers Aren't Celebrating World Food Day despite the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) efforts to celebrate biodiversity.

"As part of sweeping 'economic restructuring' implemented by the Bush Administration in Iraq, Iraqi farmers will no longer be permitted to save their seeds. Instead, they will be forced to buy seeds from US corporations - including seeds the Iraqis themselves developed over hundreds of years. That is because in recent years, transnational corporations have patented and now own many seed varieties originated or developed by indigenous peoples. In a short time, Iraq will be living under the new American credo: Pay Monsanto, or starve."

Low income families in Jacksonville, FL will receive $970, a free video camera, a T-shirt, and a framed certificate of appreciation if they are willing to expose their kids ranging from babies to 3 years old to the effects of toxic pesticides for two years. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), led by Bush appointees, plans to launch a new study entitled CHEERS (Children’s Environmental Exposure Research Study) to look at how chemicals can be ingested, inhaled or absorbed. Funded by a $2 million grant from the American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry front group that includes members such as Dow, Exxon, and Monsanto, the study is vital, says EPA's Linda Sheldon, because there is so little is known about how small children's bodies absorb harmful chemicals.
Click to learn more and file a complaint with Mike Leavitt, EPA Administrator.

"Do you believe there is a U.S. government cover-up surrounding 9/11?"
That's the question of the day today on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° and, so far 88% of the 4,493 voters say YES.

"At least eight of the 19 foreign-national September 11 hijackers had registered to vote in either Florida or Virginia," says John Fund in his brief historical essay, How to Steal an Election in the latest City Journal.

Central in the administration's debate over what interrogation techniques are permissible for prisoners held since the Sept. 11 attacks, Alberto Gonzales is the author of a White House memorandum in which he wrote that the Geneva Conventions were 'quaint' and not suitable for the war against terrorism. Alberto Gonzales has a record of injustice as White House Counsel tracing back to his role in advising the Texecutioner.

The economic unraveling begins...
Greenspan, Fed Governors Warn on Government Spending
"Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the growing U.S. budget deficit could destabilize the economy... 'A second term for Bush doesn't bode well for the dollar,' said Samarjit Shankar, director of global foreign-exchange strategy at Mellon Financial Corp. in Boston, which manages $625 billion. 'There's no way of convincing the market additional spending on the war can be paid for if you have a lower tax base. It's a fundamental mismatch between spending and revenue.'"

"Praise God And Pass Out The Cash," says Harley Sorensen.

And even Popular Science is talking about vote fraud...

Sorry, Your Vote Has Been: Lost, Hacked, Miscast, Recorded Twice
New electronic voting machines are supposed to prevent another Election Day disaster, but these paperless PCs could make hanging chads seem like a minor nuisance

Call in the Geeks...
"Your local elections officials trusted a group called NASED - the National Association of State Election Directors - to certify that your voting system is safe. This trust was breached," says Bev Harris. "NASED certified the systems based on the recommendation of an 'Independent Testing Authority' (ITA)." Harris rounded up a crew of skeptical computer geeks who dug into the "independent testing" process. Her report: The Tampering of Electronic Voting Systems on November 2nd reveals some critical flaws and even has links to dowload the GEMS software to test it for yourself.

The Federal Election Commission explains that, "Independent Testing Authorities designation is granted by NASED, and The Election Center (in its capacity as secretariat for NASED).

While the Election Center claims to be, "a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting, preserving, and improving democracy... (whose) members are government employees whose profession is to serve in voter registration and elections administration," critics contend that the Election Center acts as a front group for e-voting machine vendors.

In March 2004, a mistake by the IRS inadvertently revealed that e-voting machine vendor Sequoia had donated $10,000 per year to the Center from 1997 through 2000. When challenged by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Center's executive director R. Doug Lewis confirmed that the center had taken donations from the following makers of electronic voting machines:

* Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. of Oakland, CA
* Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) of Omaha, Neb.
* 'probably' (in Lewis's words) Diebold Election Systems

Disinfopedia.org will tell you all about The Election Center.

Are you getting angry yet... or still in denial?

Find out, "Why Kerry Conceded Defeat despite Electoral Fraud" from the Centre for Research on Globalization. In the article they ask you to, "...consider what we would be left with other than defeat, had the Democratic Party thrown its support behind Carol Mosley Braun, Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton or even Howard Dean. We might still be faced with Bush on November 3rd, smirking and basking in the glow of illegitimate power. But we would also have a country that was at least talking about the possibility of ending war on Iraq, protecting civil liberties, and challenging the many forms of racial social and economic injustice that are endemic in this country. We might have heard corporate media pundits being forced to talk about something, anything new."

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance...
Skip the last two stages of "Grief" as defined by Elsabeth Kubler-Ross, it's time to get to work defining the spiritual left wing of this bird.

Democrats need to lay claim to the real pro-life party by opposing all war and the killing of our own soldiers along with tens of thousands of innocent civilians. Reverse the direction toward the greater use of atomic weapons and begin moving toward nuclear disarmament. Become the real pro-life party by demanding an end to the death penalty nationwide. What is it about "Thou shall not kill" that you don't understand?

Defend the environmental resources we have been entrusted with. Clean air and water are directly related to diminishing the use of fossil fuels. Work to support the use of alternative fuels and conservative energy efficient design. Become the ethical defender of minorities and the oppressed... black, Hispanic, gay, women, poor, and laboring Americans. Fight the corporatization of everything from the media, to healthcare and pharmaceuticals, to social security, to patented genetics in seed crops, to tax laws. Explain that an educated pro-life stance does not oppose in vitro fertilization, nor should it oppose the use of the resultant thousands of discarded zygotes for infant stem cell research. Recognize that Palestinians are an oppressed people and the weapons of mass destruction are stockpiled in Israel.

Simply said: It's time for Democrats to become the genuine opposition Party!

As a legally ordained minister I approve this liberal and progressive Sunday sermon,
Stephen Kastner


Recomended reading...
What's the Matter with Kansas?
How Conservatives Won the Heart of America

"A heartland populist, Frank is hilariously funny on what makes us red-staters different from blue-staters (not), and he actually knows evangelical Christians, antiabortion activists, gun-nuts, and Bubbas. I promise y'all, this is the only way to understand why so many Americans have decided to vote against their own economic and political interests. And Frank explores the subject with scholarship, understanding, passion, and -- thank you, Mark Twain -- such tart humor."
--Molly Ivins

From Manic Depression to... Purple Haze

"I was thinking today about how the 'red v. blue' states graphic is really misleading considering the slim margins that the candidates won some of those states by, so I sat down and created the map," says Jeff Culver. See USA Today for a national red/blue breakdown mapped by county for 2004 and 2000.

Meanwhile there has been some debate regarding the actual phrasing in Osama bin Laden's most recent message, "In conclusion, I tell you in truth, that your security is not in the hands of Kerry, nor Bush, nor al-Qaida. No. Your security is in your own hands. And every state that doesn't play with our security has automatically guaranteed its own security."

It has been said that Osama actually understands the electoral college system and intends to strike only the "red" states... Here's the map he intends to go by:


"One thing we can say for certain at this point, after the grieving, the anger, is that the country is still bitterly divided," says the Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel in Stand and Fight.

Maybe I'm just a bad loser but why isn't the "media" discussing any of the following:

"It happened all around the country. Prior to Election Day 2004, people of colors, students and low-income people were intimidated and denied the right to vote. Citizens reported 1,074 instances of voter intimidation to the Election Protection Coalition. Read a few of the many examples of voter suppression.

Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked

Greg Palast says Kerry Won.

In states where there were paper ballots the results exactly matched the exit polls.

In states where there were only electronic 'touch-screen' paperless voting machines Bush showed an inexplicable 5-8 point or more difference from the polls, contradicting otherwise accurate exit polls.

The software used in these voting machines is so sophisticated that you can't even check out the programming because it disappears leaving nothing to verify, no source code, no nothing.

"Did the voting machines trump exit polls? There’s a way to find out. Black Box Voting (.ORG) is conducting the largest Freedom of Information action in history."

The Ultimate Felony Against Democracy by Thom Hartmann

Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes

More Evidence The Vote Was Rigged from Wayne Nash.

"As evidence mounts that this election was likely stolen, it becomes imperative that the unleashed outrage is channeled into effective political action." Draft Dean says Stephen Dinan.

Never before have I seen an American election where one party is working like crazy to get people to vote, while the other party is doing everything it can to block the vote... "It's just the sounds of the Devil going down screaming," says my beautiful and intelligent wife.

Poet and pal Mark Turcotte alerted me to the NEA's Operation Homecoming, funded by Boeing. Many people doubt the validity of a project funded by an arms manufacturer that intends to give troops who have served in Iraq the encouragement to express themselves about their experiences.

Operation Truth is a non-profit 501(c)(4), non-partisan veterans' organization that is already accomplishing what the NEA proposes in “Hear it from the Troops,” unencumbered by war-maker sponsorship.

If you have ever suspected that George W. Bush is actually a snotty teenage brat posing as an adult this video clip proves you are correct.

Here's a couple of Halloween treats...
But this filmstrip's not for kiddies.
"I just don't feel like we should changing horses in mid stream, even if the horse is on fire and the stream is made of gasoline..." from WTFMFWTFAYT another song by Jim's Big Ego.

And just in case you missed this one on CNN...
Jon Stewart's Brutal Exchange with CNN Host Tucker Carlson over journalism ethics.

Ever wonder How Bin Laden Got Away?

To set one more record straight...
‘Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’ does everything possible to conceal the fact that every member of John Kerry’s own boat crew endorses him for president.

"It's hard for me to listen to President Bush invoking my father's memory to attack John Kerry. Senator Kerry has demonstrated his courage and commitment to a stronger America throughout his entire career. President Kennedy inspired and united the country and so will John Kerry. President Bush is doing just the opposite. All of us who revere the strength and resolve of President Kennedy will be supporting John Kerry on Election Day," says Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.

I missed seeing the movie Rolling Stone rated as #1... The Motorcycle Diaries. Taken from a book by the same title written by the young Ernesto Guevara, a 23-year-old medical student who takes off on an eight-month motorcycle journey across Argentina, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. I suspect that Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 wasn't interested in screening it because Ernesto eventually became known as Che... The latest listings for Cinema 6 show no sign of Team America: World Police on their docket either, despite the fact that while many folks think it attacks the right, others like Rolling Stone's Peter Travers think it goes after the left, "the film targets a clear and present danger: liberal Hollywood." Maybe it's the R rating - nothing worse than foul-mouthed puppets.

So far, five Wisconsin video stores have begun free rentals of Fahrenheit 911 through Nov 2nd.

How would God vote?
Florida Billboards Blame Bush for Hurricanes
Susan Jones, CNSNews.com Morning Editor
10/26/2004

Because President George W. Bush has "ignored the threat of global warming," Floridians can expect to be hit by increasingly destructive hurricanes, a new billboard campaign says.

The billboards, going up along Interstate 4 between Tampa and Orlando -- a week before the presidential election -- read, "Global warming equals worse hurricanes. George Bush just doesn't get it." The billboards show a photo of a hurricane swirling toward Florida.

The campaign is co-sponsored by Scientists and Engineers for Change and Environment2004. The NAACP National Voter Fund is also involved in the effort to blame Bush for ignoring global warming.

A press release announcing the billboard campaign quoted Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton: "The damage from this year's hurricanes should be taken as a sign of things to come," Oppenheimer said. "The warming ocean surface will supply more and more heat to future hurricanes, causing their winds to strengthen and their destructive power to increase disproportionately."

Aimee Christensen, executive director of Environment2004, said President Bush has "pursued an energy policy driven by industry, which puts polluters before people." She said the Florida billboard campaign is intended to "raise awareness" of how Bush administration policies are "harming the people of Florida."

Christensen said people in the hard-hit Tampa and Orlando areas "need to know that Bush is doing practically nothing to prevent hurricanes from getting worse in the future from global warming."

Gregory T. Moore, head of the NAACP's National Voter Fund, said his organization has launched an effort to inform minorities how they are "more heavily impacted by environmental threats," such as stronger hurricanes.

"Here in Florida," Moore added in a non sequitur, "there are still 90,000 people homeless because of the hurricanes, and they should have the right to vote."

"You're just a phone call (or a mouse click) away from hot one-on-one chat with a few Weapons of Mass... Seduction. Call 212.875.7000 or visit LieGirls.com to listen on-line.

Iraq veterans open up on mishandling of war
Boetcher presented the audience with statistics showing how veterans are losing service benefits at a rapid rate....

Jennifer Giese of the 826th Ordinance experiences...
"While the unit suffered no fatalities in Iraq, they were plagued the entire time by supply chain glitches. The unit never received body armor, and had to resort to stealing scrap metal for vehicle armor. Bottled water had to be rationed due to shortages, but Giese later filled a swimming pool for a general's use."

Casualties of Faith
"What does it tell you about a president that his grounds for war are so weak that the only way he can justify it is by believing God wants it? Or that his only Iraq policy now - as our troops fight a vicious insurgency and the dream of a stable democracy falls apart - is a belief in miracles?"

Bush Foresaw No War Casualties, Robertson Recalls
The president was the 'most self-assured man I ever met' during a 2003 encounter, televangelist says. The White House says he's got it wrong.

During the meeting, Bush "was the most self-assured man I ever met in my life," Robertson said. "You remember Mark Twain said, 'He looks like a contented Christian with four aces.' He was just sitting there, like, 'I'm on top of the world.' "

"Last week, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, a co-chair of President Bush's campaign in Wisconsin, refused Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's request for additional ballots. This left the state's most populous city, which is expecting a record voter turnout, with fewer ballots than in 2000 or 2002. After hundreds protested and media sources all over the nation blasted the decision, Walker relented and grudgingly handed over the ballots. But the intent was clear..."
Read more about The problem of vote blocking by UW Madison's Daily Cardinal reporter Nick Barbash

About 1.7 million veterans lack health insurance, study says
Many of the uninsured veterans were barred from Veterans Health Administration services by a 2003 Bush administration order halting enrollment of most middle-income veterans.

"Since President Bush took office, the number of uninsured vets has skyrocketed, and he's cut VA eligibility, barring hundreds of thousands of veterans from care," said David Himmelstein, study author and a Harvard Medical School associate professor.

What will be the "October Surprise"
"We've got a couple of surprises that we intend to spring." - Karl Rove (9/29/04 - On ABC Radio to Sean Hannity)

You can place a $3 bet... at Osama Bin Lotto. "This may seem like a goofy sweepstakes but there is a serious intent. The more that people are aware of the 'October Surprise' before it happens, the less impact it could have and the less likely it will be to happen at all," says Ben Cohen. "Actual winnings will be based on how many tickets are bought overall. The winner gets the pot, which our odds makers predict will be many thousands of dollars or up to half a million dollars."

Want some help to pick a winner?
OctoberSurprise.net has a poll, history lessons and blog where you can learn more about the "October Surprise." Remember the original "October Surprise" back in 1980? It was a plan executed by those who backed the Reagan campaign who set out to unseat Jimmy Carter by making a deal with the Iranians (through the CIA) to continue to hold American hostages beyond the 1980 November elections rather than release them before the vote which would have been a major plus for incumbent Jimmy Carter.

This Mark Green has my endorsement...
He headed Public Citizen's Congress Watch and was Public Advocate of New York City, currently president of the New Democracy Project, a lecturer at New York University and recently edited What We Stand For: A Program for Progressive Patriotism. Mark Green invites readers at his NameTheOctoberSurprise.com Web site to, submit entries to a "Name the October Surprise" contest. "This contest emerges out of history - political history and Bush history," says Mark. "The best modern example occurred in 1972 when then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger announced at the end of the Nixon-McGovern campaign that 'peace is at hand' with Vietnam."

On Sunday, October 30, Mark Green will, "announce the 'winners' based on the submission(s) which predicted what actually happened. Winners appear live on Air America to bask in the gratitude of a skeptical nation...and will receive a signed copy of The Book on Bush and cool Air America gear."

The beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan is established by the first sighting of the crescent of the new moon... this evening.

The Prophet Muhammad explains, "O people! The gates of the paradises are wide open in this month, so ask your Lord that He would not close them to you, and the gates of Fire are shut, so ask Allah that He would not open them to you. And the Satans are tied, so ask your Lord that He would not enable them over you.”

"To win this election... we need to be winning in Iraq," says another lesser prophet, Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard. "The President has to convince people he's stubborn... and right."

He's stubborn... and thus the level of agression increases in Iraq as the President looses all three debates.

Between October 21 and 24, Sinclair Broadcast Group will force the local television stations it owns and operates to preempt regular network broadcasts and devote one hour to an anti-John Kerry documentary. This includes two Wisconsin stations, located in Milwaukee and Madison, but many of the advertisers on these stations serve a broader market and they deserve to hear from you.
Tell Sinclair Broadcast Group not to air right-wing propaganda. Then take a look at the advertisers list and make some phone calls and send e-mail to let them know how you feel - all of the contact info is conveniently provided.

Wisconsin's Capital Times: Customers "hound" Sinclair station advertisers
Restaurants pull Channel 47 ads

"I'm asking you to join me this November in giving America Hell... My name is Satan and I approve this message."

On September 26, 2004 the "futures" on John Kerry were at rock bottom...
That was the day to BUY... damn it! For about .29 I could have locked in with a winner and taken home a few bucks for all of this electioneering. GWB shares were at their all-time high of .74 and that was the day to sell GWB short - just like he's done to the rest of us.

You can track and invest in this market on-line at the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business Web site: IEM 2004 US Presidential Winner Takes All Market.

If you wish to check the odds and place a traditional bet then go to BetFair.com... Click on "Special Bets," then "USA," then "Politics," then "US President 2004," then "Winning Party." Total bets matched so far as of this posting: $2,622,291.

The last laugh...
Vice-president Dick Chaney encouraged last night's debate listeners to check the facts on Haliburton at the Annenburg FactCheck Web site. Too bad he sent them to FactCheck.com instead of FactCheck.org - because Web surfers who type in the URL Cheney suggests are met with advice from George Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist, who explains "Why we Must not re-elect President Bush."

Meanwhile... FactCheck.org says
Getting it wrong about combat pay, Halliburton, and FactCheck.org
"Cheney wrongly implied that FactCheck had defended his tenure as CEO of Halliburton Co., and the vice president even got our name wrong. He overstated matters when he said Edwards voted "for the war" and "to commit the troops, to send them to war." He exaggerated the number of times Kerry has voted to raise taxes, and puffed up the number of small business owners who would see a tax increase under Kerry's proposals."

"Edwards falsely claimed the administration "lobbied the Congress" to cut the combat pay of troops in Iraq, something the White House never supported, and he used misleading numbers about jobs."

The Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam is maintained by the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. The image automatically updates approximately every five minutes. The VolcanoCam is now the closest operating camera to Mount St. Helens.

And the winner is...
Toronto Star's Voices: Presidential debate winner

Republicans for Kerry 2004

Republicans for Kerry

Evidence that the RNC has completely run out of anything meaningful to say about Kerry... Flipper searching for Lambert Field. Seems like another "mexed missage" to me.

Florida 2000 Deja Vu?
Carter predicts vote trouble in Florida again...
Despite recommendations that he and Gerald Ford drafted together in 2000, some of the basic international requirements for a fair election in Florida on Nov. 2 are still missing says CATV News.

"The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely, even as many other nations are conducting elections that are internationally certified to be transparent, honest and fair," says former President Jimmy Carter.

Eric Blumrich provides a disturbing history lesson in Grand Theft America , a 5-minute documentayr flash video with music from Grand Theft Auto that paints a picture of the "Theft of the Presidency" as originally reported by Greg Palast for BBC-TV 's Newsnight. You can read the transcript above or actually watch Palast's entire TV video feature to see him chase down the facts.

How will electoral votes in the closely fought states tally up for Bush and Kerry? Play with this interactive map to find out how different state-by-state outcomes will add up.

Which candidate shares your views? Take this interactive quiz to find out.
Test your political skills with this campaign simulation game. It will tell you which candidate most closely matches your beliefs on the 3 basic areas of core cultural issues.

Isn't it about time for another preemptive strike?
"The Bush administration responded calmly yesterday to North Korean statements it has turned the plutonium from 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods into nuclear weapons," reports the Associated Press today. "We take all their claims seriously," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, but he also suggested a touch of theater in the North Korean diplomat's statement, saying Pyongyang "is bragging about violating its commitments and its promises."

North Korean theater has great special effects...
On 9/12/2004 Rueters announced, "A huge explosion rocked North Korea last week but U.S. and South Korean officials said Sunday it was unlikely to have been a nuclear weapons test despite the appearance of a 'peculiar cloud' over the area."

Condi Rice played down sightings of a mushroom cloud and a huge explosion in North Korea. "There are all kinds of reports and there are all kinds of assessments that are going on. Maybe it was a fire, some kind of forest fire," she said.

Maybe not 50 cent... but 50 Billion (Will B) and Felonius Ax (aka Clifford J. Tasner)have produced a new video for Billionaires for Bush with vocals by Ho’ Lotta Bling (Marion Ramsey), Warren Proffet (Ross Wright) & Felonius Ax. They continue to wage a relentless campaign with a Florida Limo Tour to promote 50 Billion's new release , Don't Vote! (MP3) and now daily punditry in The Privileged Perspective - Speaking Power to Truth.

The belief that, "Hip Hop can help send George Bush back to Texas where he belongs," spawned the creation of Slam Bush Battles throughout the US starting in August. "Milwaukee turned out so many heads to slam “W” they had to hold three consecutive nights of battles, one of which was graced by the presence of none other than Congresswoman and Warrior Goddess, Maxine Waters!" Wisconsin's winner, "Darlin" Nikki Janzen, is an 8th grade English, Reading, and Social Studies teacher for Milwaukee Public Schools who uses poetry to inspire and educate youth and adults. On Sept. 29, the night before the first Bush/Kerry debate at the University of Miami, winners from around the country will converge on Miami for the National Slam Bush Championship.

Despite the 32-page agreement between the parties stifling the upcoming Presidential debates it's great to see that in Madison the Baldwin-Magnum debate gets rowdy.

Getting to know Iyad Allawi...

John F. Burns reports, "Visiting Dr. Allawi at his sprawling residence is a short course in just how bad the situation has become for anybody associated with the American purpose in Iraq. To reach the house is to navigate a fantastical obstacle course of checkpoints, with Iraqi police cars and Humvees parked athwart a zigzag course through relays of concrete barriers. An hour or more is taken up with body searches and sniffing by dogs, while American soldiers man turreted machine guns. A boxlike infrared imaging device can detect the body heat of anybody approaching through a neighboring playground. The final security ring is manned by C.I.A.-trained guards from Iraqi Kurdistan. If Dr. Allawi were Ian Fleming's Dr. No, no more elaborate defenses could be conceived."

"This is the man who has been chosen to lead Iraq to the haven of a democratic future, but he is sealed off about as completely as he could be from ordinary Iraqis, in the virtual certainty that insurgents will kill him if they ever get a clear shot."

Who's who in Iraq: Iyad Allawi
Iyad Allawi is one of a US-backed clique of secular Iraqi opposition figures who lived in exile until the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003.

Exiled Allawi was Responsible for 45-Minute WMD Claim

Australian press broke this story in July...
Allawi shot prisoners in cold blood: witnesses

Bush Twins Studiously Avoid UW Madison Campus
On Wednesday Jenna and Barbara, made campaign appearances at St. Norbert College in De Pere, UW-Oshkosh and Marquette University in Milwaukee, stumping for their father. Barbara encouraged the students to vote and not be afraid of being a young Republican.

"Both wearing casual tops in shades of green — Jenna in olive and Barbara in seafoam — the twin daughters of President Bush stumped for their dad Wednesday in the home of the Green Knights," reports Lee Reinsch in the GB Press Gazette.

Jim Hightower encourages both sisters not to be afraid to fully support their father...
WHY AREN'T JENNA AND BARBARA IN FATIGUES?
9/14/2004

Did you take full and proper notice of the political coming out of George W's twin daughters?

Jenna and Barbara, the 22-year-old twins, have long been kept away from the political glare, but they're now adults who have just graduated from college, and both have been brought into the limelight by the Bush political campaign. Their first outing was for a photo spread and puff piece that ran in Vogue, the fashion magazine. Indeed, they looked splendiferous, beautifully made up and swathed in glamorous designer gowns––one by Oscar de la Renta, the other by Calvin Klein. No telling how many silk worms toiled to make this photo spread possible.

But––tacky me–– I couldn't help thinking as I viewed the photos: Why aren't they in fatigues and Kevlar vests, like other women and men their age?

Jenna and Barbara announced that they would be joining their daddy's election campaign, but I had to ask myself: Why aren't they joining their daddy's war?

After all, he says that his war in Iraq is absolutely essential to our national security. And he insists that his policies over there are absolutely worth all the troops who have been killed, worth the horrible mutilations of thousands of other soldiers, worth the horrific beheadings, worth the untold illnesses and poisonings being contracted by the men and women he has sent there, and worth the illegal conscription of tens of thousands of Americans forced to stay in this disastrous war beyond their legitimate tour of duty.

So, if daddy's war is absolutely worth the sacrifice of America's workaday families––why is it not worth the enlistment of his military-age family?

Maybe it's genetic. After all, George himself was a "ferocious war hawk" who used family connections to keep himself 8,000 miles from Vietnam. And now that he's president, he can start his own war that leaves his loved ones safely swathed in silk...while our families see our loved ones come home in shrouds.

A Trillion has 12 zeros after it... 000,000,000,000
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. budget deficit will balloon to $2.29 trillion over the next decade, congressional analysts said Tuesday. This represents a worse outlook than previously forecast and one likely to stir election-year debate about President Bush's economic policies. The CBO confirmed a preliminary forecast made in August for a record deficit of $422 billion for the 2004 fiscal year.

"This report underscores that our policies are working to create a stronger economy, more jobs and a lower deficit," said House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican.

And everything is going great in Iraq, George Bush was an awesome member of the Texas National Guard, there's no problem with assualt weapons back on the streets again and that mushroom cloud over North Korea... "It was probably just a forest fire" says the Whitehouse Sphinx - the same security advisor who earlier reverse-poked, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud," as we veered away from Osama and gunned it for Baghdad.

Dick Cheney, the Queen of Denial can't stop displaying a brazen disregard for the facts, telling an audience in Cincinnati Thursday that Iraq had "provided safe harbor and sanctuary...for Al Qaeda," despite the findings of the 9/11 Commission.

Watch Pentagon Strike... and then please explain how Flight 77, a Boeing 757 weighing 80 tons simply vanished.

Deny this: There are only two spots in the US that are located below sea level... Death Valley, CA and New Orleans, LA. What might a true Department of Homeland Security provide for the citizens who Can't Evacuate New Orleans for Ivan, the estimated 100,000 poorer New Orleans residents who have no cars, the ones who often rely on City Transportation for all of their travel who now can't flee to safety.

"Got no place to go and no way to get there," said a 57-year-old grandmother, who lives on a disability check and money she picks up cleaning houses or baby sitting. "They say evacuate, but they don't say how I'm supposed to do that," Latonya Hill said. "If I can't walk it or get there on the bus, I don't go. I don't got a car. My daughter don't either."

TALK
President Bush shows that he has compassion, "There are still some people looking for work because of the recession. There are people looking for work because jobs have gone overseas. And we need to act in this country. We need to act to make sure there are more jobs at home, and people are more likely to retain a job."

WALK
The Republican National Committee is such a staunch believer in creating these jobs that they used a firm in Maharashtra, India, to create its database of approximately 165 million registered voters.

WALK'in the WALK:
For the record, The Dems’ voter database was developed by a company, Plus Three, based in a distant suburb of New Delhi, India, called Washington, D.C.

In commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act the State of Utah auctioned off 40,000 acres of Utah wilderness lands to oil and gas exploration firms. Their expected findings will satisfy a possible 4 days of US oil consumption and 4 weeks useage of natural gas.

The Truth-Telling Project, led by Daniel Ellsberg, encourages whistleblowing in the national interest. It urges current and recently retired government officials to reveal the truth to Congress and the public about governmental wrongdoing. lies and cover-up. It aims to change the norms and practices that sustain the cult of secrecy, and to de-legitimize silence that costs lives.

Randolph Bourne, a notable American critic and social activist, courageously opposed World War I. The Randolph Bourne Institute (RBI) seeks to honor his memory by promoting a non-interventionist foreign policy for the United States as the best way of fostering a peaceful, more prosperous world.

"We support a former Baathist assassin as president, while a Shi'ite cleric, whose father was murdered by Saddam Hussein, is our most implacable foe." Ghost of Madison a warning for Iraq war

Two Americas... Going Nowhere Workers' Wages Since the Mid-1970s
Since 2000 average wages for American workers have stopped growing. From post WWII 1947 until the mid-70s wages for all US workers were rising steadily, and faster than the inflation rate.

Not only are wages declining, health insurance benefits are shrinking as group policy rates continue to rise at a rate way beyond that of inflation. "Alone among developed nations, the United States relies primarily on employers to provide health insurance for its citizens. More than 60 percent of Americans obtain medical coverage as a benefit from their own jobs or from family members’ jobs." - America’s Achilles’ Heel Job-Based Health Coverage and the Uninsured

"American Jobs Blog" discusses the ongoing development, film information, issues, and ideas relating to the documentary film "American Jobs" directed by Greg Spotts that explores the loss of American jobs to foreign competition. Watch for an upcoming free screening at the Compass Coffeehouse.

Many Americans wonder why we don’t just take a big atomic bomb and drop it on Hurricane Ivan. Little do they realize that not only would Ivan fail to even notice the blast from the largest bomb we can muster, Ivan would absentmindedly scoop up all of the nuclear poison created by the blast and sprinkle it throughout the jet stream for equitable distribution over the entire planet. Hurricane Ivan contains 4 times more power than the entire sum total of all of the energy being used at any one time by all of the people everywhere on planet Earth.

Under federal election law, college students are legally entitled to vote from their residence at school. The New Voters Project intends to make sure they get registered, informed and encouraged to do so on November 2nd.

New Voters Project registers success in UW vote campaign
The Daily Cardinal says, "With election day less than two months away, the UW-Madison branch of the New Voters Project announced they have already registered 3,218 young voters, and said they hope to register a total of 10,000 by November 2."

Fighting Bob Fest Saturday, September 18 in Baraboo...
is named for its inspiration, Robert M. “Fighting Bob” La Follette, Wisconsin’s former governor, U.S. Senator and presidential candidate, who fought to expose and stop governmental corruption, reduce the influence of big business and to empower the people to participate in their democracy.

The theme for this year's Fighting Bob Fest is "Rights at Risk" - the right of a woman to choose; the right of children to a good public education; the rights of minorities to fully participate in our economic and political life; the right of citizens of this country and, indeed, the world, to clean air, water, and sensible growth.

Tom Harkin, Peg Lautenschlager, Jim Hightower, John Nichols, Bob McChesney, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tammy Baldwin, Gerald Bracey and others will lay out their view of the risks, and they are asking you to write to FightingBob.com and give your views on the risks and the top three things you will do to fight for our rights.

"No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots." — Barbara Ehrenreich

"Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive." — John F. Kennedy

"A conservative is one who admires radicals centuries after they're dead." — Leo C. Rosten

"The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them." — Mark Twain

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" — Eleanor Roosevelt

The above quotes from:
http://activismispatriotism.org/

If you miss Donald Rumsfeld at the Republican National Convention, you can still listen to "His" music; Rummy's "Poetic" language makes sweet music on new CD... The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld

Others missing in action: Secretary of State Colin Powell, Attorney General John Ashcroft and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.

Peter Schurman of MoveOn.org says, "Tom DeLay of Texas was kept out of sight, and for good reason. DeLay's in charge of ramming the right wing's agenda through Congress, as the Republican leader in the House. Nicknamed "The Hammer" for his ruthless style, DeLay is nearly as central to right-wing control in Washington as Bush, Cheney, and Karl Rove."

"DeLay was the mastermind behind last year's outrageous redistricting in Texas; he refuses to allow a vote in the House on limiting media consolidation, because it will win; and when other Congresspeople question Bush's war policy, he accuses them of undermining our troopsand surrendering to terrorists. DeLay has literally locked House Democrats out of negotiations on major bills like Medicare, and held votes open for hours while arms are twisted with threats and bribe offers -- and that's according to fellow Republicans."

Schurman says it's time to stop him. "In Texas, DeLay's immersed in a campaign finance scandal that could get him indicted. And meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, he's facing the first formal ethics complaint in seven years, which could force him to resign his post as Majority Leader. The problem is, four of the Ethics Committee's five Republican members have received campaign contributions from DeLay.

Please call your Representative now to "demand an outside counsel to investigate Tom DeLay."

Call Congressman Mark Green:
Washington, DC: 202-225-5665
Local phone: 920-437-1954

Other topics never mentioned at the recent GOP convention... the Crisis in Sudan or the connection between Sadam and 9/11.

Kid's Quotes...
"Since we've graduated from college, we're looking around for something to do for the next few years. Kind of like dad," - Barbara Bush, 1/2 of The First Twins.

"We don't need Mr. Bush to teach us a lesson in democracy... It's funny to Arabs to listen to the President talking about democracy, and at the same time half the population in America still has doubts about his legitimacy as a President."
- Seif Khadafy, 32-year-old son of Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy

Comentators on the radio this morning say Bush is popular with some folks because he's the kind of a guy you might pick when asked, "Who do you want to have a beer with?"

My response is to ask those same folks, "And after you've had those beers, who do you want to drive home?"

"It's Time for a Change" vs. "You've Never Had It So Good" "You've Never Been So Safe" opens today in NYC, in hopes of capitalizing on memories of 9/11. But on Thursday Sept. 2, the night GWB is set to make his acceptance speech, British TV will be airing "The Hamburg Cell", the first major documentary dramatization of the 9/11 plot specifically from the perpetrators' perspective. It will indeed stir controversy because it reveals the hijackers as regular, ordinary, educated, middle class guys who were somehow motivated to strike at the US.

"The central figure in the two-hour long film is Ziad Jarrah, who was at the controls of United Airlines Flight 93 when it crashed in Pennsylvania. It shows him being transformed from a moderate Muslim into a suicide hijacker in the months before the attacks," says Malcolm Fitzwilliams and Anthony Barnes of the Independant.

"It is difficult to watch and to hear these facts come out," says David Potorti, whose older brother Jim died in the World Trade Centre. "But the only way to prevent 9/11 from happening again is to face the facts courageously."

Potorti is co-director of Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an international peace campaign set up after 9/11... "As family members of September 11th victims, we know how it feels to experience "shock and awe," and we do not want other innocent families to suffer the trauma and grief that we have endured. While we also condemn the brutality of Saddam Hussein's regime, it does not justify the brutality, death and destruction being visited upon Iraq and its citizens by our own government."

"The Hamburg Cell" was one of a plethora of films focusing on Sept. 11 that premiered at the recent Edinburgh Film Festival.

MissionNotAccomplished.com
The real Flipper... GWB's Administration Shifts on Global Warming, the latest flip flop from President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief. Read 'em and weep... 25 of his biggest flip-flops.

Steve Earle has begun hosting a radio show on Air America Sunday nights. His new album is called The Revolution Starts …Now. Read this Friday, August 27, 2004 transcript of his interview with Amy Goodman - The Revolution Starts Now: Steve Earle on the Republican Convention, the Death Penalty and the GOP Hijacking of Johnny Cash

On RetroVsMetro.org you can learn about how the escalating war between two Americas, "one traditional and rooted in the past, and one modern and focused on the future," affects each of our lives. Pick up a copy of The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America, just published (8/24/2004) and already one of Amazon's top 25 best sellers.


Caitlin, Valerie, Carly and friends provide a new twist on dissent with their sports fashion conversation openers... They have created a collection of new team names on colorful sports jerseys ("made in the USA by companies paying prevailing wages") that pay tribute to the national pastime - special interest politics. Support your favorite team: "Axis of Evil Doers", "Far Righteous Indignators", "Family Devaluers", "Corporate Apologists", "Halliburton Overchargers", "Constitutional Tramplers." and many more at ClothingOfTheAmericanMind.com.

On a more serious note the One Thousand Coffins Procession is set to take place in New York City at 10 AM on August 29. "a serene observance parade of realistic symbolic caskets draped in the Flag - to represent and honor each of our fallen soldiers and marines, and make a bold statement that the truth of their sacrifice cannot be censored."

‘His Scream’ Marine’s Father Burns Van, Himself After Learning of Son’s Death in Iraq
"This was his scream that his Chi-Chi — that's what he called Alex — this is his scream that his child is dead and the war needs to stop," said wife and mother Melida Arredondo.
Luz Marina Arredondo, Alexander's grandmother, said the government is at fault in her grandson's death. "I blame them a lot," she said. "They send them like guinea pigs over there."

"America Alone" a new book by Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke is hitting the book stores, describing how a group of radical intellectuals seized the reins of US national security policy after 9/11. Republicans and Democrats alike are finding it a valuable resource in assessing what has happened to the nation under the leadership of George W. Bush.

To quote the description, "It shows how, at this 'inflection point' in US history an inexperienced president was persuaded to abandon his campaign pledges and the successful consensus-driven, bi-partisan diplomacy that managed the lethal Soviet threat over the past half century, and adopt a neo-conservative foreign policy emphasizing military confrontation and 'nation-building.' To date, the costs - in blood, money and credibility - have been great, and the benefits few. Traditional conservatives deplore this approach. This book outlines the costs in terms of economic damage, distortion of priorities, rising anti-Americanism, encroachment on civil liberties, domestic political polarization and reduced security. Then, it sets out an alternative approach emphasizing the traditional conservative principles of containing risk, consensus diplomacy and balance of power. "



LINKS:
The Centre for Public Opinion & Democracy has been established at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia in order to further research, information exchange, and education on the changing dynamic of public opinion on both global and regional issues. It is unique among the handful of similar centres around the world in that its principle focus is not only the public opinion climate of its home country — Canada — but also the attitudes and perceptions of citizens around the world on the political, social, and economic happenings that shape the future of humanity.