I'm betting the name Merrie Spaeth doesn't ring a bell with most people...
She's the current media representative working for the Vietnam Swift boat veterans critical of John Kerry's decision to make his military service a major part of his campaign for president. They and Spaeth have publicised claims that Kerry is lying about his military service record, that he cannot be trusted, and that he “betrayed all his shipmates.” They spent $550,000 to create and run "Any Questions", a rebuttal to a pro-Kerry spot, in Wisconsin, Ohio, and West Virginia. I'm betting that not many people also know that Texas Republican activist Merrie Spaeth also served as former President Reagan's chief press officer and later as an advisor to Ken Starr.
Salon's Joe Conason says, "Behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth you will also find eternal Kerry antagonist and Dallas attorney John E. O'Neill, law partner of Spaeth's late husband, Tex Lezar; and retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffman, a cigar-chomping former Vietnam commander once described as 'the classic body-count guy' who 'wanted hooches destroyed and people killed.'"
Conason further explains, "In 2000, Spaeth participated in the most subterranean episode of the Republican primary contest when a shadowy group billed as 'Republicans for Clean Air' produced television ads falsely attacking the environmental record of Sen. John McCain in California, New York and Ohio. While the identity of those funding the supposedly 'independent' ads was carefully hidden, reporters soon learned that Republicans for Clean Air was simply Sam Wyly -- a big Bush contributor and beneficiary of Bush administration decisions in Texas -- and his brother, Charles, another Bush 'Pioneer' contributor."
Journalist Greg Palast bets that while you might remember the name Katharine Harris there is a lot more that you don't know...
So he provided the facts behind a short new on-line video all about how Harris changed Florida's election laws and expanded the data from Choicepoint to "scrub" 55,100 eligible voters from the rolls.
OpenSecrets.org provides a handy bi-partisan guide to help you identify all of the Active Advocacy Groups in the 2004 Election Cycle.
Friday, August 20, 2004
WEBLINKS...
One of the DC Compass Web Board regulars, cheese_hunter recently posted a helpful link to a great resource: SpellCheck.net, a free on-line spell checker. The site has a bunch of other handy useful tools.
Paper Napkin explains that they are, "a service to help passive-agressive cowards avoid people who would like to date them." They explain, "If someone random asks you for your email address so they can contact you for a date, give them any email address @papernapkin.net (write it on a cocktail napkin for maximum effect) and we will send them a rejection message."
If you think this form of rejection is a bit mean I'd like to introduce you to some angry Knickerbockers...
No passive-agression here. They spit it out in plain and simple English, "We are New Yorkers adamantly opposed to the Republican's selection of our city to celebrate rising unemployment, their gutting of social services, tax cuts for the mega-rich, unlawful detention of immigrants, and their unrelenting exploitation of the 9/11 victims while standing on their ashes." RNCnotwelcome.org reads like a manual for uncivil disobedience... "The Republican National Committee has, for the first time in its 150 year history, selected New York for their Convention from August 29-September 2, 2004. In a shallow attempt at exploiting the lives lost at the World Trade Center, the RNC has pushed the Convention date to September. We have witnessed two unjust wars, at least one American life lost each day overseas, a depressed economy, the collapse of the dollar, $87 billion to boost war profiteering, the closing of our firehouses, a health-care crisis, millions of children being left behind, and now this. We say, Enough!"
Dear Bloggers: Media Discover Promotional Potential of Blogosphere
"The Wall Street Journal Online is promoting one story per day outside its subscription wall to bloggers. NYTimes.com is boosting the number of RSS feeds it offers. Media companies are starting to work with -- instead of against -- the blogosphere."
One of the DC Compass Web Board regulars, cheese_hunter recently posted a helpful link to a great resource: SpellCheck.net, a free on-line spell checker. The site has a bunch of other handy useful tools.
Paper Napkin explains that they are, "a service to help passive-agressive cowards avoid people who would like to date them." They explain, "If someone random asks you for your email address so they can contact you for a date, give them any email address @papernapkin.net (write it on a cocktail napkin for maximum effect) and we will send them a rejection message."
If you think this form of rejection is a bit mean I'd like to introduce you to some angry Knickerbockers...
No passive-agression here. They spit it out in plain and simple English, "We are New Yorkers adamantly opposed to the Republican's selection of our city to celebrate rising unemployment, their gutting of social services, tax cuts for the mega-rich, unlawful detention of immigrants, and their unrelenting exploitation of the 9/11 victims while standing on their ashes." RNCnotwelcome.org reads like a manual for uncivil disobedience... "The Republican National Committee has, for the first time in its 150 year history, selected New York for their Convention from August 29-September 2, 2004. In a shallow attempt at exploiting the lives lost at the World Trade Center, the RNC has pushed the Convention date to September. We have witnessed two unjust wars, at least one American life lost each day overseas, a depressed economy, the collapse of the dollar, $87 billion to boost war profiteering, the closing of our firehouses, a health-care crisis, millions of children being left behind, and now this. We say, Enough!"
Dear Bloggers: Media Discover Promotional Potential of Blogosphere
"The Wall Street Journal Online is promoting one story per day outside its subscription wall to bloggers. NYTimes.com is boosting the number of RSS feeds it offers. Media companies are starting to work with -- instead of against -- the blogosphere."
Thursday, August 19, 2004
In May of 2001 energy giant Chevron Corp quietly renamed one of its big oil tankers. The Condoleeza Rice, named after the former Chevron director and current National Security Adviser to President Bush, was renamed the Altair Voyager. In April, at a White House press briefing, assistant press secretary Scott McLellan was asked about the oil tanker.
A reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle questioned with, “Before she became National Security Advisor, [Rice] was on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation. Chevron –– before she left –– named an oil tanker after her. There’s an oil tanker named the Condoleeza Rice. It’s a 136,000 ton oil tanker that carries oil around the world. Given that Chevron has been accused of human rights abuses with the Nigerian Mobile Police against civilians in Nigeria, I’m wondering whether the president thinks it’s wise to have this close a relationship with Chevron.”
McLellan said that he thought “the issue has already been addressed by Dr. Rice and she will uphold the highest ethical standards in office.”
When asked whether the president should call the CEO of Chevron and say, “Take the name off the tanker,” McLellan said, “I think the issue has been addressed.”
“We made the change to eliminate unnecessary attention caused by the vessel’s original name,” says Chevron spokesperson Fred Gorell.
When it comes to campaign contributions, the Republican Party’s ties to the oil and gas industry have been well documented to say the least. No longer is it a surprise to note that 78 cents out of every dollar the industry has contributed to federal parties and candidates over the last decade has gone to the GOP or that President Bush was the No. 1 recipient of the industry’s money during the last election. But here’s something you might not know: Bush, with more than $1.8 million in contributions, got more money from the industry during 1999-2000 than any other federal candidate over the last decade, barely eclipsing two fellow Texans in the process. Sen. Phil Gramm (R) is the No. 2 recipient of oil money since 1989, with $1.6 million from industry PACs and individuals, while his oil patch colleague Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) ranks second with $1.3 million. Texas-based companies dominate the industry’s giving. The most generous: the Houston-based Enron, the industry’s No. 1 contributor during 1999-2000 with more than $2.3 million in contributions, about $1 million more than No. 2 ranked Exxon-Mobil.
George Bush, of course, is a Texas oilman, although not a very successful one. His company, Arbusto, merged with Spectrum 7 in 1984 as it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Spectrum was bought out by Harken Energy in 1986, giving Bush a seat on Harken’s board, some stock options and a $120,000 consulting contract. As the first president to have an MBA, Bush has surrounded himself with people with similar (and more successful) corporate backgrounds.
A reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle questioned with, “Before she became National Security Advisor, [Rice] was on the board of directors of Chevron Corporation. Chevron –– before she left –– named an oil tanker after her. There’s an oil tanker named the Condoleeza Rice. It’s a 136,000 ton oil tanker that carries oil around the world. Given that Chevron has been accused of human rights abuses with the Nigerian Mobile Police against civilians in Nigeria, I’m wondering whether the president thinks it’s wise to have this close a relationship with Chevron.”
McLellan said that he thought “the issue has already been addressed by Dr. Rice and she will uphold the highest ethical standards in office.”
When asked whether the president should call the CEO of Chevron and say, “Take the name off the tanker,” McLellan said, “I think the issue has been addressed.”
“We made the change to eliminate unnecessary attention caused by the vessel’s original name,” says Chevron spokesperson Fred Gorell.
When it comes to campaign contributions, the Republican Party’s ties to the oil and gas industry have been well documented to say the least. No longer is it a surprise to note that 78 cents out of every dollar the industry has contributed to federal parties and candidates over the last decade has gone to the GOP or that President Bush was the No. 1 recipient of the industry’s money during the last election. But here’s something you might not know: Bush, with more than $1.8 million in contributions, got more money from the industry during 1999-2000 than any other federal candidate over the last decade, barely eclipsing two fellow Texans in the process. Sen. Phil Gramm (R) is the No. 2 recipient of oil money since 1989, with $1.6 million from industry PACs and individuals, while his oil patch colleague Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) ranks second with $1.3 million. Texas-based companies dominate the industry’s giving. The most generous: the Houston-based Enron, the industry’s No. 1 contributor during 1999-2000 with more than $2.3 million in contributions, about $1 million more than No. 2 ranked Exxon-Mobil.
George Bush, of course, is a Texas oilman, although not a very successful one. His company, Arbusto, merged with Spectrum 7 in 1984 as it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Spectrum was bought out by Harken Energy in 1986, giving Bush a seat on Harken’s board, some stock options and a $120,000 consulting contract. As the first president to have an MBA, Bush has surrounded himself with people with similar (and more successful) corporate backgrounds.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Deadline... "an excellent documentary...chronicling the astonishingly flawed criminal justice system in Illinois." - Richard Roeper, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
What would you do if you discovered that 13 people slated for execution had been found innocent? That was exactly the question that Illinois Governor George Ryan faced in his final days in office. He alone was left to decide whether 167 remaining death row inmates should live or die. In the riveting countdown to Ryan's decision, Deadline details the gripping drama of the state's clemency hearings. Documented as the events unfolded, Deadline is a compelling look inside America's prisons, highlighting one man's unlikely and historic actions against the system.
Among them, 33 African American men had been tried by all-white juries. In a nation where approximately 13% of the population is Black, over 50% of jail inmates are African American with one in every three Black men under 30 are either in jail or on probation...
Yesterday WPR entertained the idea that, "Blacks have a compassionate friend in President Bush," providing valuable on-air time to Charles Sahm, deputy director, Inter-American Policy Exchange, Manhattan Institute - a right-wing think tank. He is the author of a piece by the same name that appeared in the August 2nd issue of the L.A. Times.
As governor of Texas, Bush became known as the Texecutioner, presiding over 155 executions (a record number - more than any other elected official in recorded American history!) including the mentally ill and juveniles. After a 38 year hiatus on executions in Texas, Governor Dubya quickly reinstituted the policy after his innaguration. Many of those sentenced to die had incompetent attorneys, including one who slept through parts of the trial and an unusual percentage were African Americans. Of 76 clemency petitions filed by death row inmates between 1993 and 1998, none were granted. Note: Governor George W. Bush was elected to his 1st term in 1994.
Compassionate Conservatism...
On February 3rd of 1998, the State of Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker Brown for her part in 2 extremely brutal murders committed in 1983. In the 15 years that passed between Karla's sentencing and her death she experienced what an extended period of incarceration sometimes precipitates, remorse and rehabilitation becoming a born-again Christian spending her time in prison working in ministry to her fellow inmates.
In early August 1999, then Presidential candidate Governor George W. Bush mocked Karla Tucker's plea for clemency during an interview with Talk Magazine. Bush mentioned that he had watched Larry King's Texas Death Row interview with Karla Tucker.
"I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it," Bush told the magazine. "I watched his interview with (Tucker), though. He asked her real difficult questions, like, 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "
The Talk Magazine reporter asked Bush how she answered.
"'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me,' " according to the magazine.
What would you do if you discovered that 13 people slated for execution had been found innocent? That was exactly the question that Illinois Governor George Ryan faced in his final days in office. He alone was left to decide whether 167 remaining death row inmates should live or die. In the riveting countdown to Ryan's decision, Deadline details the gripping drama of the state's clemency hearings. Documented as the events unfolded, Deadline is a compelling look inside America's prisons, highlighting one man's unlikely and historic actions against the system.
Among them, 33 African American men had been tried by all-white juries. In a nation where approximately 13% of the population is Black, over 50% of jail inmates are African American with one in every three Black men under 30 are either in jail or on probation...
Yesterday WPR entertained the idea that, "Blacks have a compassionate friend in President Bush," providing valuable on-air time to Charles Sahm, deputy director, Inter-American Policy Exchange, Manhattan Institute - a right-wing think tank. He is the author of a piece by the same name that appeared in the August 2nd issue of the L.A. Times.
As governor of Texas, Bush became known as the Texecutioner, presiding over 155 executions (a record number - more than any other elected official in recorded American history!) including the mentally ill and juveniles. After a 38 year hiatus on executions in Texas, Governor Dubya quickly reinstituted the policy after his innaguration. Many of those sentenced to die had incompetent attorneys, including one who slept through parts of the trial and an unusual percentage were African Americans. Of 76 clemency petitions filed by death row inmates between 1993 and 1998, none were granted. Note: Governor George W. Bush was elected to his 1st term in 1994.
Compassionate Conservatism...
On February 3rd of 1998, the State of Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker Brown for her part in 2 extremely brutal murders committed in 1983. In the 15 years that passed between Karla's sentencing and her death she experienced what an extended period of incarceration sometimes precipitates, remorse and rehabilitation becoming a born-again Christian spending her time in prison working in ministry to her fellow inmates.
In early August 1999, then Presidential candidate Governor George W. Bush mocked Karla Tucker's plea for clemency during an interview with Talk Magazine. Bush mentioned that he had watched Larry King's Texas Death Row interview with Karla Tucker.
"I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it," Bush told the magazine. "I watched his interview with (Tucker), though. He asked her real difficult questions, like, 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "
The Talk Magazine reporter asked Bush how she answered.
"'Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, 'don't kill me,' " according to the magazine.
Monday, August 09, 2004
"Trying to eliminate Saddam...would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq... There was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land." - from "A World Transformed" by George Bush Sr. explaining why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.
Hmmmmm, now if only Dubya could read...
Hmmmmm, now if only Dubya could read...
Sunday, August 08, 2004
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D. says, "A good place to have started the War on Drugs all those years ago would have been to bring down GD Searle Corp. and prosecute its CEO, Donald Rumsfeld, for his blatant violations of the Constitution and his shameless disregard for the safety of the American people. You see, Rumsfeld is not only the current point man for the disaster in Iraq, but he was also the point man who brought to your table the most toxic substance ever added to food - aspartame (commonly known as NutraSweet). Now that NutraSweet's cousin, Splenda, is taking over the packaged food industry in all those new low-carb products, it's time to take a look back at how these mutants made their way into our lives in the first place." Read on... The sweet poison even the FDA didn't want to approve
Saturday, August 07, 2004
Mark Brown of the Rocky Mountain News says, "Driving into work this week, there's Steve Earle live on Bret Saunders' morning show on KBCO, previewing two new songs: The Revolution Starts Here and Rich Man's War."
"At virtually the same time, Mike Mills from R.E.M. is on TV, talking about the Vote For Change tour in October, when his band will hit swing states with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Pearl Jam, the Dixie Chicks, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and more, in an attempt to vote George W. Bush out of office." More... Brown: Musicians sing praises, protests to attract voters
"Meanwhile, Fogerty has released a new antiwar single, Déjà vu (All Over Again) that's getting airplay. Prince has more quietly released, through his Web site, The United States of Division, which joins previously released antiwar songs by the Beastie Boys, R.E.M., Mellencamp, Ani DiFranco and more."
The United States of Division
2004, still at war and everybody hates Americans
Flyin' in an aero-plane with pen in hand
Over miles and miles of deep blue
Wonderin' if it was all part of a master plan
Forget the 1 and become 2
How could your brother hear the same music? (music, music, music)
Yet somehow dance 2 a different tune
I guess that once you go divide this precious land
This precious land will divide you
Sing!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody stop fighting!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody make love!
Drivin' a brand new Cadillac through my neighborhood
Everything still look the same, uh
Everything except the fact I wish I could
Take away all the hurt and pain
We let Supafly straighten up our curly hair
He took the Afro out the game
It's kinda cool but the guns and drugs 2 much 2 bear
10 years later Scarface came
Sing the hook
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody stop fighting!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody make Love!
Bridge
A united state of mind will never be divided
The real definition of unity is 1
People can slam their door, disagree and fight it
But how you gonna love the Father but not love the Son,
United States of Division
Walkin' down the street
No flag in hand
No stars and stripes
No claim 2 land
No crescent moon
Just a holy man, holy man
How far from heaven must we go?
Before the winds of change will blow and show
This world how it's supposed 2 be, land of PEACE and HARMONY.
Everybody stop fighting!
Everybody make love!
Everybody stop fighting!
United States of Division
People can slam their door, disagree and fight it
But how you gonna say you love the Father & not love the Son?
United States of Division
BLACK (Division)
WHITE (Division)
STRAIGHT (Division)
GAY (Division)
CHRISTIAN (Division)
MUSLIM
Why must I say "God Bless America"?
And not the rest of the world
Oh say can you see?
I love my country but I love God more
Every man, women, boy and girl
Oooh, can you say it with me?
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, come on
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, everybody
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, oh
Everybody stop fighting! Put your gun down
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, hey
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, everybody gather round
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody make Love!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, oow
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, talk 2 me
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, what is this rush 2 declare war?
Everybody stop fighting! What we fightin' for?
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, hey
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, oh
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, come here baby
Everybody make Love!
Talkin' 2 United States, United States, United States of Division!
Everybody make music
Everybody make love
©NPG Music Club
Brown explains, "It's not just the old guard speaking out. Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2, is coming out next week with tracks from Yellowcard, No Doubt, Green Day, Bad Religion, Foo Fighters, Rancid and 22 more bands. Radiohead struck one of the first blows last year, naming its album Hail to the Thief, a commentary on the Florida voting controversy."
"At virtually the same time, Mike Mills from R.E.M. is on TV, talking about the Vote For Change tour in October, when his band will hit swing states with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Pearl Jam, the Dixie Chicks, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and more, in an attempt to vote George W. Bush out of office." More... Brown: Musicians sing praises, protests to attract voters
"Meanwhile, Fogerty has released a new antiwar single, Déjà vu (All Over Again) that's getting airplay. Prince has more quietly released, through his Web site, The United States of Division, which joins previously released antiwar songs by the Beastie Boys, R.E.M., Mellencamp, Ani DiFranco and more."
The United States of Division
2004, still at war and everybody hates Americans
Flyin' in an aero-plane with pen in hand
Over miles and miles of deep blue
Wonderin' if it was all part of a master plan
Forget the 1 and become 2
How could your brother hear the same music? (music, music, music)
Yet somehow dance 2 a different tune
I guess that once you go divide this precious land
This precious land will divide you
Sing!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody stop fighting!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody make love!
Drivin' a brand new Cadillac through my neighborhood
Everything still look the same, uh
Everything except the fact I wish I could
Take away all the hurt and pain
We let Supafly straighten up our curly hair
He took the Afro out the game
It's kinda cool but the guns and drugs 2 much 2 bear
10 years later Scarface came
Sing the hook
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody stop fighting!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody make Love!
Bridge
A united state of mind will never be divided
The real definition of unity is 1
People can slam their door, disagree and fight it
But how you gonna love the Father but not love the Son,
United States of Division
Walkin' down the street
No flag in hand
No stars and stripes
No claim 2 land
No crescent moon
Just a holy man, holy man
How far from heaven must we go?
Before the winds of change will blow and show
This world how it's supposed 2 be, land of PEACE and HARMONY.
Everybody stop fighting!
Everybody make love!
Everybody stop fighting!
United States of Division
People can slam their door, disagree and fight it
But how you gonna say you love the Father & not love the Son?
United States of Division
BLACK (Division)
WHITE (Division)
STRAIGHT (Division)
GAY (Division)
CHRISTIAN (Division)
MUSLIM
Why must I say "God Bless America"?
And not the rest of the world
Oh say can you see?
I love my country but I love God more
Every man, women, boy and girl
Oooh, can you say it with me?
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, come on
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, everybody
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, oh
Everybody stop fighting! Put your gun down
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, hey
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, everybody gather round
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Everybody make Love!
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, oow
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, talk 2 me
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, what is this rush 2 declare war?
Everybody stop fighting! What we fightin' for?
Doo doo doo doo doo doo, hey
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, oh
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, come here baby
Everybody make Love!
Talkin' 2 United States, United States, United States of Division!
Everybody make music
Everybody make love
©NPG Music Club
Brown explains, "It's not just the old guard speaking out. Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2, is coming out next week with tracks from Yellowcard, No Doubt, Green Day, Bad Religion, Foo Fighters, Rancid and 22 more bands. Radiohead struck one of the first blows last year, naming its album Hail to the Thief, a commentary on the Florida voting controversy."
Thursday, August 05, 2004
The Republican Party of Florida apologized Thursday for sending out a flier over the weekend to some Miami-Dade County Republicans that raised questions about the accuracy of touch-screen machines. Featuring a smiling picture of President Bush flashing a thumbs-up, the flier urged Republicans living in south and west Miami-Dade County to order an absentee ballot to "make sure your vote counts."
"The liberal Democrats have already begun their attacks and the new electronic voting machines do not have a paper ballot to verify your vote in case of a recount," reads the flier. "Make sure your vote counts, order your absentee ballot today."
The flier directly contradicts statements from Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood, who have spent weeks trying to reassure Florida voters that the new touch-screen machines used in 15 counties will work for the upcoming elections.
But civil rights groups who have been questioning how well touch-screen machines will work attacked Gov. Bush and the Republicans for "hypocrisy." The governor and the division of elections have refused to order an independent audit of the machines. The department has also adopted a rule that prohibits a manual recount on touch-screen machines, which will be used in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and 12 other counties.
This past week, Miami-Dade County election supervisors acknowledged they lost audit logs from the 2002 gubernatorial primary due to two computer crashes and that there is now no record from that election.
"The hypocrisy just digs deep," said Sharon Lettman Pacheco of the People for the American Way Foundation, one of the groups suing to overturn the manual recount rule. "It doesn't pass the smell test."
How They Could Steal the Election this Time
"The result could be the failure of an American presidential election and its collapse into suspicions, accusations and a civic fury that will make Florida 2000 seem like a family spat in the kitchen."
"The liberal Democrats have already begun their attacks and the new electronic voting machines do not have a paper ballot to verify your vote in case of a recount," reads the flier. "Make sure your vote counts, order your absentee ballot today."
The flier directly contradicts statements from Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Glenda Hood, who have spent weeks trying to reassure Florida voters that the new touch-screen machines used in 15 counties will work for the upcoming elections.
But civil rights groups who have been questioning how well touch-screen machines will work attacked Gov. Bush and the Republicans for "hypocrisy." The governor and the division of elections have refused to order an independent audit of the machines. The department has also adopted a rule that prohibits a manual recount on touch-screen machines, which will be used in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and 12 other counties.
This past week, Miami-Dade County election supervisors acknowledged they lost audit logs from the 2002 gubernatorial primary due to two computer crashes and that there is now no record from that election.
"The hypocrisy just digs deep," said Sharon Lettman Pacheco of the People for the American Way Foundation, one of the groups suing to overturn the manual recount rule. "It doesn't pass the smell test."
How They Could Steal the Election this Time
"The result could be the failure of an American presidential election and its collapse into suspicions, accusations and a civic fury that will make Florida 2000 seem like a family spat in the kitchen."
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
"In the election of 2000, John Ashcroft managed to lose his Missouri seat in the U.S. Senate by losing to a dead man. However, in the last few weeks, we have seen the U.S. dollar do one better, as it has lost ground to what was supposed to be a dead currency, the Iraqi dinar, better known as the Saddam dinar, which portrayed the face of the allegedly-deceased Iraqi president. In both cases, the loser was thought to be invulnerable only to be bitten by reality." ...more at Dollar or Dinar? by William L. Anderson
Welcome to SilverDinar.com. We at SilverDinar.com strive to provide excellent prices with un-paralled customer service for all your Dinar investment needs.
"The Finnish army is in a right old state if one official is to be believed. A bunch of young men are being excused from military service due to a debilitating modern illness - internet addiction." ...more at Conscripts booted out of army for 'internet addiction' by Jo Best
Welcome to SilverDinar.com. We at SilverDinar.com strive to provide excellent prices with un-paralled customer service for all your Dinar investment needs.
"The Finnish army is in a right old state if one official is to be believed. A bunch of young men are being excused from military service due to a debilitating modern illness - internet addiction." ...more at Conscripts booted out of army for 'internet addiction' by Jo Best
Sunday, August 01, 2004
"On Tuesday evening, 150 billionaires courageously marched through the dirty streets of Boston, captivating the media, dodging the filthy commoners, and exposing John Kerry's democratic values which threaten our enormous power and wealth," say the Billionaires for Bush. Next they proceeded to the Massachusets offices of the Republican Party, where they presented a check for "Whatever it takes" to ensure another four years of putting profits over people.
Just for the record, a spell-check on Massachusets (above) reveals that they are a Native American people formerly located along Massachusetts Bay from Plymouth north to Salem. Reduced by epidemics, the Massachuset ceased to exist as a people during the 17th century - the state is spelled with two Ts.
Meanwhile the Billionaires are hitting the campaign trail, taking their limo through the crucial Midwestern swing states to let the voters know that, "Dubya and Dick are the best friends Billionaires have ever had in the White House. Four more years! Four more wars!"
Just for the record, a spell-check on Massachusets (above) reveals that they are a Native American people formerly located along Massachusetts Bay from Plymouth north to Salem. Reduced by epidemics, the Massachuset ceased to exist as a people during the 17th century - the state is spelled with two Ts.
Meanwhile the Billionaires are hitting the campaign trail, taking their limo through the crucial Midwestern swing states to let the voters know that, "Dubya and Dick are the best friends Billionaires have ever had in the White House. Four more years! Four more wars!"
Friday, July 30, 2004
Bush's search for clean Cuban hookers goes awry... once again "intelligence" lifted from a college student's research papers turns out to be completely false. The worst part of this latest Neoconjob is the irony that Cubans have a better healthcare system than you and I do here in the USA - because ALL healthcare in Cuba is provided to everyone for FREE. The Neoconartist tried to take Castro's bragging about having an extremely low level of AIDS and twist it into Fidel hyping the Cuban sex trade.
Here's what Castro actually did say in his 1992 speech: "There are hookers, but prostitution is not allowed in our country. There are no women forced to sell themselves to a man, to a foreigner, to a tourist. Those who do so do it on their own, voluntarily…. We can say that they are highly educated hookers and quite healthy, because we are the country with the lowest number of AIDS cases."
More from Moore...
In October he plans to set up camp in Florida bringing camera crews and "an army of lawyers" who will serve as poll watchers in November to focus attention on voting rights issues and try to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election debacle.
"I am going to be in Florida," Moore said to cheers at a delegation breakfast, "and together - together, we will guarantee to every Floridian that their vote will be counted this year. I will have my cameras. We will put a huge spotlight on them. They will not get away with it this time."
Speaking of grapefruit...
Miss America pageant axes talent routines
In response to last year's all-time low interest level - only 10.3 million viewers tuned in, marking a steady decline over the last few years - the talent routines, introduced in 1935 to help make Miss America something more than a beauty contest, are being eliminated. “It’s a tragedy,” says Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000. “That’s what separates us from the type of contestant that goes to Miss USA. Our young ladies get into it for the scholarships and the talent.”
Here's what Castro actually did say in his 1992 speech: "There are hookers, but prostitution is not allowed in our country. There are no women forced to sell themselves to a man, to a foreigner, to a tourist. Those who do so do it on their own, voluntarily…. We can say that they are highly educated hookers and quite healthy, because we are the country with the lowest number of AIDS cases."
More from Moore...
In October he plans to set up camp in Florida bringing camera crews and "an army of lawyers" who will serve as poll watchers in November to focus attention on voting rights issues and try to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election debacle.
"I am going to be in Florida," Moore said to cheers at a delegation breakfast, "and together - together, we will guarantee to every Floridian that their vote will be counted this year. I will have my cameras. We will put a huge spotlight on them. They will not get away with it this time."
Speaking of grapefruit...
Miss America pageant axes talent routines
In response to last year's all-time low interest level - only 10.3 million viewers tuned in, marking a steady decline over the last few years - the talent routines, introduced in 1935 to help make Miss America something more than a beauty contest, are being eliminated. “It’s a tragedy,” says Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000. “That’s what separates us from the type of contestant that goes to Miss USA. Our young ladies get into it for the scholarships and the talent.”
Thursday, July 29, 2004
"There you have it, the speeches by the skinny guy with the funny name and the fat guy with the simple name are two of the biggest performances at the (Democratic) convention. Even if you weren't there to hear Moore's speech, it makes for a great read, nonetheless," says Don Hazen, Executive Editor, AlterNet.
Here's an excerpt from Moore's speech ...
"The one thing I hear when people come out of the theater over and over again is I never saw that on the news. Right? I never saw those Black congressmen being shut down one after another. Did anyone see that?"
"I didn't know there was a riot at the inauguration parade. I never saw the egg hit the limo. I never saw that! I don't hear from the amputees who sit in our hospitals, 5,000 or 6,000 of them. How come I don't hear from them on the nightly news? I don't hear from the mothers. I don't see them on the evening news, the mothers of children who have been killed in Iraq and who state their opposition to this war. I haven't seen them on the news."
Michael Moore also loves to tell about NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who told Fox News no less, that he took his pit crew to see "Fahrenheit 9/11," and said all Americans should see it.
Barack Obama is the name of another person Wisconsinites should start to get familiar with... soon to be elected Senator from the state of Illinois.
Here's an excerpt from Obama's speech...
"Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America."
"There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States."
"There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
Take the time to read Obama's entire speech.
Here's an excerpt from Moore's speech ...
"The one thing I hear when people come out of the theater over and over again is I never saw that on the news. Right? I never saw those Black congressmen being shut down one after another. Did anyone see that?"
"I didn't know there was a riot at the inauguration parade. I never saw the egg hit the limo. I never saw that! I don't hear from the amputees who sit in our hospitals, 5,000 or 6,000 of them. How come I don't hear from them on the nightly news? I don't hear from the mothers. I don't see them on the evening news, the mothers of children who have been killed in Iraq and who state their opposition to this war. I haven't seen them on the news."
Michael Moore also loves to tell about NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who told Fox News no less, that he took his pit crew to see "Fahrenheit 9/11," and said all Americans should see it.
Barack Obama is the name of another person Wisconsinites should start to get familiar with... soon to be elected Senator from the state of Illinois.
Here's an excerpt from Obama's speech...
"Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America."
"There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States."
"There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
Take the time to read Obama's entire speech.
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Linda Ronstadt not the only one...
Winding up her summer tour across Europe, Bonnie Raitt drew thunderous applause at the Stockholm Jazz Festival for dedicating a classic to President George Bush. "We're gonna sing this for George Bush because he's out of here, people!" Raitt crowed Tuesday night before she launched into the opening licks of "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)," a cover that was featured on her 1979 album, "The Glow."
Check out her activist Web site... Some of the vehicles on the Bonnie Raitt/Lyle Lovett Summer Tour, are running on biodiesel!
Winding up her summer tour across Europe, Bonnie Raitt drew thunderous applause at the Stockholm Jazz Festival for dedicating a classic to President George Bush. "We're gonna sing this for George Bush because he's out of here, people!" Raitt crowed Tuesday night before she launched into the opening licks of "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)," a cover that was featured on her 1979 album, "The Glow."
Check out her activist Web site... Some of the vehicles on the Bonnie Raitt/Lyle Lovett Summer Tour, are running on biodiesel!
Friday, July 23, 2004
Web findings...
9/11 Commission Final Report (complete original source material)
An on-line cartoon that pokes fun at both the Bush and Kerry campaigns is burning up the Web, exploding in popularity. CBS News National Correspondent Hattie Kauffman paid a visit to the brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis who created it.
Singer Linda Ronstadt was not asked to leave a Las Vegas casino Saturday after she endorsed Michael Moore's controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Tucson native told the Tucson Citizen Wednesday. "This is an election year. I want people to get their head up out of their mashed potatoes and learn something about the issues and go and vote."
Open Letter to Bill Timmins, President Aladdin Casino and Hotel from Michael Moore
9/11 Commission Final Report (complete original source material)
An on-line cartoon that pokes fun at both the Bush and Kerry campaigns is burning up the Web, exploding in popularity. CBS News National Correspondent Hattie Kauffman paid a visit to the brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis who created it.
Singer Linda Ronstadt was not asked to leave a Las Vegas casino Saturday after she endorsed Michael Moore's controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Tucson native told the Tucson Citizen Wednesday. "This is an election year. I want people to get their head up out of their mashed potatoes and learn something about the issues and go and vote."
Open Letter to Bill Timmins, President Aladdin Casino and Hotel from Michael Moore
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Rumor has it that...
A group of activists is pushing for a ballot measure in the upcoming State of Montana that says if George W. Bush is re-elected as President of the United States then Montana will automatically become an independent country.
The measure is expected to be on the ballot as a result of the highly organized Libertarians and survivalists in the state. "We´re tired of the federal government dictating what we do and squandering our tax money on foreign entanglements," said Second Montana Militia Commander Frank Morris. "George W. Bush has proven to be fiscally irresponsible and diplomatically inept. If this is the way the rest of the country thinks we should be headed, they´re going to have to go without us."
I have seen the light...
Today I have been uplifted by the divine ministry of Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian. She provides one of the most popular sites on the Internet for "Christian Advice" according to Google.
A group of activists is pushing for a ballot measure in the upcoming State of Montana that says if George W. Bush is re-elected as President of the United States then Montana will automatically become an independent country.
The measure is expected to be on the ballot as a result of the highly organized Libertarians and survivalists in the state. "We´re tired of the federal government dictating what we do and squandering our tax money on foreign entanglements," said Second Montana Militia Commander Frank Morris. "George W. Bush has proven to be fiscally irresponsible and diplomatically inept. If this is the way the rest of the country thinks we should be headed, they´re going to have to go without us."
I have seen the light...
Today I have been uplifted by the divine ministry of Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian. She provides one of the most popular sites on the Internet for "Christian Advice" according to Google.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Web discoveries...
Last Sunday night over 70 folks turned up at here at the Compass Coffeehouse to watch "Outfoxed," a documentary on the FOX network. It is the first of our regular cinema screening events in Fish Creek. As a follow up I discovered that on July 19 Rupert Murdoch began an interview session about "Outfoxed" in Doonesbury! Enjoy the latest from Gary Trudeau and don't fail to click on "next date" to keep up with his ongoing focus on FOX.
More FOX grins...
Al Franken just mentioned Sweet Jesus, I hate Bill O'Reilly, International an organization dedicated to the dissemination of information that exposes Bill O'Reilly for what he is: The most dangerous man in "news".
giggles...
Intelligence Memo Misspelled Country Name; Iran Not Iraq Had 9/11 Ties
"In an incredible turn of events, John McLaughlin, acting CIA director, discovered a mistake that clears Iraq and Saddam Hussein from any ties to 9/11 and in turn places the blame straight on Iran and it's government."
and a noteable recent Compass Internet Cafe visitor...
A multi-media performance artist, Tony Allard from San Diego stopped in yesterday to check his e-mail and started talking about his WorldMix projects. Tony collects Fossil Media, on a DAT recorder that he carries everywhere, then he takes his collection of fossils to a studio and broadcasts sound mixes, built in layers that include his own stuff and the sounds of all types of local radio signals that end up in a sound collage. You can hear examples on-line, and learn about his films and other work at Fossil Media.
Last Sunday night over 70 folks turned up at here at the Compass Coffeehouse to watch "Outfoxed," a documentary on the FOX network. It is the first of our regular cinema screening events in Fish Creek. As a follow up I discovered that on July 19 Rupert Murdoch began an interview session about "Outfoxed" in Doonesbury! Enjoy the latest from Gary Trudeau and don't fail to click on "next date" to keep up with his ongoing focus on FOX.
More FOX grins...
Al Franken just mentioned Sweet Jesus, I hate Bill O'Reilly, International an organization dedicated to the dissemination of information that exposes Bill O'Reilly for what he is: The most dangerous man in "news".
giggles...
Intelligence Memo Misspelled Country Name; Iran Not Iraq Had 9/11 Ties
"In an incredible turn of events, John McLaughlin, acting CIA director, discovered a mistake that clears Iraq and Saddam Hussein from any ties to 9/11 and in turn places the blame straight on Iran and it's government."
and a noteable recent Compass Internet Cafe visitor...
A multi-media performance artist, Tony Allard from San Diego stopped in yesterday to check his e-mail and started talking about his WorldMix projects. Tony collects Fossil Media, on a DAT recorder that he carries everywhere, then he takes his collection of fossils to a studio and broadcasts sound mixes, built in layers that include his own stuff and the sounds of all types of local radio signals that end up in a sound collage. You can hear examples on-line, and learn about his films and other work at Fossil Media.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
A week slips by...
‘IF THE PUBLIC ONLY KNEW...’
Elections in Jeb Bush’s Florida
Since 27,000 votes were literally thrown out in Jacksonville, Florida in the 2000 presidential election Congresswoman Corrine Brown spoke out last week in support of HR-4818, a bill that would provide international monitoring of the November 2004 presidential election.
Brown said, "I come from Florida, where you and others participated in what I call the United States coup d'etat. We need to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Over and over again after the election when you stole the election, you came back here and said get over it. No we're not going to get over it and we want verification from the world."
Republican members of the House immediately objected and moved to strike her comments from the record - which is why I like recording them here... The House then censured Brown which kept her from talking on the House floor for the rest of the day. But she's just getting started talking, and galvanizing people to Support the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act.
She has taken over 2,000 people in her district to see Fahrenheit 9/11. Cheers to WBDK's Roger Utnehmer, who gave each of his employees at Nicolet Broadcasting $20 and told them to take a friend to Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 to see Michael Moore's film.
‘IF THE PUBLIC ONLY KNEW...’
Elections in Jeb Bush’s Florida
Since 27,000 votes were literally thrown out in Jacksonville, Florida in the 2000 presidential election Congresswoman Corrine Brown spoke out last week in support of HR-4818, a bill that would provide international monitoring of the November 2004 presidential election.
Brown said, "I come from Florida, where you and others participated in what I call the United States coup d'etat. We need to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Over and over again after the election when you stole the election, you came back here and said get over it. No we're not going to get over it and we want verification from the world."
Republican members of the House immediately objected and moved to strike her comments from the record - which is why I like recording them here... The House then censured Brown which kept her from talking on the House floor for the rest of the day. But she's just getting started talking, and galvanizing people to Support the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act.
She has taken over 2,000 people in her district to see Fahrenheit 9/11. Cheers to WBDK's Roger Utnehmer, who gave each of his employees at Nicolet Broadcasting $20 and told them to take a friend to Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 to see Michael Moore's film.
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
More Orwellian news from the Ministry of Truth...
Today the AP reports, "the Bush administration will propose a new plan to open up national forests to more logging." The plan would end a prohibition on road building in remote portions of national forests. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman explains that the new plan demonstrates "President Bush's commitment to cooperatively conserving roadless areas on national forests." The new plan will be published in the Federal Register this week, with a 60-day comment period extending into September.
Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, calls the new proposal "the biggest single giveaway to the timber industry in the history of the national forests." The timber industry has given over $35 million in political donations since 2000, almost 80% of which went to President Bush and his allies in Congress.
The proposal is open to comment for the next sixty days. Whether you're a hiker, an environmentalist, or just don't think we should tear up the nation's forests, now is the time to let the government know how you feel. Written comments on the proposed rule may be faxed to (801) 517-1014 or e-mailed to statepetitionroadless@fs.fed.us.
But it gets worse...
Forest Service Proposes to Log Sequoia National Monument
"Under the guise of forest fire prevention, the Forest Service has proposed massive logging in Sequoia National Monument, thumbing its nose at the special monument designation meant to protect its giant Sequoias."
Today the AP reports, "the Bush administration will propose a new plan to open up national forests to more logging." The plan would end a prohibition on road building in remote portions of national forests. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman explains that the new plan demonstrates "President Bush's commitment to cooperatively conserving roadless areas on national forests." The new plan will be published in the Federal Register this week, with a 60-day comment period extending into September.
Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, calls the new proposal "the biggest single giveaway to the timber industry in the history of the national forests." The timber industry has given over $35 million in political donations since 2000, almost 80% of which went to President Bush and his allies in Congress.
The proposal is open to comment for the next sixty days. Whether you're a hiker, an environmentalist, or just don't think we should tear up the nation's forests, now is the time to let the government know how you feel. Written comments on the proposed rule may be faxed to (801) 517-1014 or e-mailed to statepetitionroadless@fs.fed.us.
But it gets worse...
Forest Service Proposes to Log Sequoia National Monument
"Under the guise of forest fire prevention, the Forest Service has proposed massive logging in Sequoia National Monument, thumbing its nose at the special monument designation meant to protect its giant Sequoias."
Sunday, July 11, 2004
When all else fails... take Class Action
When businesses and individuals in Door County and all along the shoreline of Lake Michigan are forced to suffer a loss from the irresponsible actions of others perhaps there is a legal means of demanding a solution. I have been asking several individuals for their legal opinion on the possibility of a class action lawsuit against the MMSD for dumping raw sewage into Lake Michigan and just now I discovered another means on-line:
"Thank you for submitting your complaint to Online Legal Services Ltd.."
"Your case number is 282227. You can track the status of your complaint at any time by visiting www.BigClassAction.com/mycase.html and entering your case number."
"In most cases, a lawyer will contact you within 1 to 7 days. If you have not been contacted after 7 days, we encourage you to contact other counsel, and you should do so promptly to avoid having your case barred by the statute of limitations. Please note that we are not offering any opinion whatsoever concerning the merits of any claim you might have."
Perhaps taking legal action is an effective way to fight air pollution and mercury emmissions from coal-fired power plants down the coastline. Stay tuned to find out. The Bush Administration offers another solution... Try Not to Breathe
Whew...
Despite having enough bipartisan support to ensure approval, the measure -- which would have moved class action lawsuits from state to federal jurisdiction -- failed late Thursday July 9, 2004 to gain the votes needed to move forward to a final vote.
When businesses and individuals in Door County and all along the shoreline of Lake Michigan are forced to suffer a loss from the irresponsible actions of others perhaps there is a legal means of demanding a solution. I have been asking several individuals for their legal opinion on the possibility of a class action lawsuit against the MMSD for dumping raw sewage into Lake Michigan and just now I discovered another means on-line:
"Thank you for submitting your complaint to Online Legal Services Ltd.."
"Your case number is 282227. You can track the status of your complaint at any time by visiting www.BigClassAction.com/mycase.html and entering your case number."
"In most cases, a lawyer will contact you within 1 to 7 days. If you have not been contacted after 7 days, we encourage you to contact other counsel, and you should do so promptly to avoid having your case barred by the statute of limitations. Please note that we are not offering any opinion whatsoever concerning the merits of any claim you might have."
Perhaps taking legal action is an effective way to fight air pollution and mercury emmissions from coal-fired power plants down the coastline. Stay tuned to find out. The Bush Administration offers another solution... Try Not to Breathe
Whew...
Despite having enough bipartisan support to ensure approval, the measure -- which would have moved class action lawsuits from state to federal jurisdiction -- failed late Thursday July 9, 2004 to gain the votes needed to move forward to a final vote.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
In May of this year the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District dumped 4.6 billion gallons of storm water and raw sewage into Lake Michigan, claiming that excessive rains between May 7-27, 2004 caused a surge in the volume they could handle.
Over the past weekend they did it again. This time with no explanation... dumping 1.6 million gallons of raw sewage into the Lake. Is there anyone still trying to figure out why beaches are closed on a regular basis when bans are tied to high levels of E. coli, created mostly by human and animal waste?
State Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) says, "such dumping simply shouldn't happen in anything less than extreme weather. If penalties in state law aren't severe enough to deter MMSD from dumping raw sewage, the Legislature should increase the penalties."
Garey would you please call this guy tomorrow, even if it means jumping over the fence to talk with a Dem... the shit is rising up over our waders here in North Bay and we need a little non-partisan cooperation.
Over the past weekend they did it again. This time with no explanation... dumping 1.6 million gallons of raw sewage into the Lake. Is there anyone still trying to figure out why beaches are closed on a regular basis when bans are tied to high levels of E. coli, created mostly by human and animal waste?
State Rep. Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) says, "such dumping simply shouldn't happen in anything less than extreme weather. If penalties in state law aren't severe enough to deter MMSD from dumping raw sewage, the Legislature should increase the penalties."
Garey would you please call this guy tomorrow, even if it means jumping over the fence to talk with a Dem... the shit is rising up over our waders here in North Bay and we need a little non-partisan cooperation.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Congratulations to Ellison Bay bookseller-publisher Kubie Luchterhand, appointed by Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle to the state's Historic Preservation Review Board for a term to expire July 1, 2007. This Board, attached to the Wisconsin State Historical Society, consists of 15 members appointed for staggered 3-year terms. At least 9 members must be persons with professional qualifications in the fields of architecture, archaeology, art history, or history and up to 6 members may be persons qualified in related fields including, but not limited to, landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, law, or real estate.
Monday, July 05, 2004
Buzzed boaters beware…
Operation Midnight Badger is cracking down on drunken boaters. The US Coast Guard has cited more than 60 boaters from Chicago to Door County so far this season. “Half of all boating accidents are alcohol-related,” says the Coast Guard so they are now set up with portable Breathalyzers as a means of monitoring boater sobriety, and fines of up to $5,500 for the guilty.
Speaking of drunks...
Did you witness GW Bush performing any National Guard Service between May 1972 and October 1973, in either Alabama or Texas? If so, you could be eligible for thousands of dollars in unclaimed reward money!! Here are the details of earlier Texas and Alabama rewards... that went unclaimed. And now, $10,000 for anyone who can provide for proof of service by GW Bush at Dannelly AFB!
Artist and patriot G.B. Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury says, "Don't let the smear artists define the president. If you personally witnessed George W. Bush reporting for drills at Dannelly Air National Guard Base between the months of May and November of 1972 we want to hear about it."
Operation Midnight Badger is cracking down on drunken boaters. The US Coast Guard has cited more than 60 boaters from Chicago to Door County so far this season. “Half of all boating accidents are alcohol-related,” says the Coast Guard so they are now set up with portable Breathalyzers as a means of monitoring boater sobriety, and fines of up to $5,500 for the guilty.
Speaking of drunks...
Did you witness GW Bush performing any National Guard Service between May 1972 and October 1973, in either Alabama or Texas? If so, you could be eligible for thousands of dollars in unclaimed reward money!! Here are the details of earlier Texas and Alabama rewards... that went unclaimed. And now, $10,000 for anyone who can provide for proof of service by GW Bush at Dannelly AFB!
Artist and patriot G.B. Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury says, "Don't let the smear artists define the president. If you personally witnessed George W. Bush reporting for drills at Dannelly Air National Guard Base between the months of May and November of 1972 we want to hear about it."
Thursday, July 01, 2004
I just installed the updated 0.91 version of Firefox by Mozilla...
and while I was getting this latest release of a great browser replacement for Internet Explorer I stopped to think about how long it's been since I last saw a pop-up ad - a few months - ever since I installed Firefox 0.7 and turned the pop-ups off. The reason I am taking time to talk tech is that there are a new breed of virus bugs that IE has proven to be susceptible to. Security advisories and reports typically include preventive measures that computer users can take to avoid malicious Internet attacks, but one piece of advice is on the rise: Use a Web browser other than Microsoft's!
and while I was getting this latest release of a great browser replacement for Internet Explorer I stopped to think about how long it's been since I last saw a pop-up ad - a few months - ever since I installed Firefox 0.7 and turned the pop-ups off. The reason I am taking time to talk tech is that there are a new breed of virus bugs that IE has proven to be susceptible to. Security advisories and reports typically include preventive measures that computer users can take to avoid malicious Internet attacks, but one piece of advice is on the rise: Use a Web browser other than Microsoft's!
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Thanks to Jim Sullivan for pointing out a very simple Web site with a simply profound essay on GREED... http://www.g-r-e-e-d.com/.
And a game...
Next time friends gather you can test them with the "Nuts Game" as site author, Julian Edney states, "in which you can watch greed in the person sitting next to you. Three people sit around a kitchen bowl. You, the fourth person, with a timer, start off placing ten small items in the bowl - quarters, dollar bills, or nuts. Tell the three players the goal is for each of them to get as many items as they can. Tell them one other thing before they start: every ten seconds (you have your watch ready) you will look in the bowl, and double the number of items remaining there, by replenishing from an outside source (a separate pile of quarters on the side)."
Julian Edney says, "You would think the players would figure out that if they all waited, and didn't take anything out of the bowl for a while, then the contents of the bowl would soon get very big, automatically doubling every ten seconds. Eventually they could each divide up a pot that had grown large. But in fact, sixty percent of these groups never make it to the first 10-second replenishment cycle."
And a game...
Next time friends gather you can test them with the "Nuts Game" as site author, Julian Edney states, "in which you can watch greed in the person sitting next to you. Three people sit around a kitchen bowl. You, the fourth person, with a timer, start off placing ten small items in the bowl - quarters, dollar bills, or nuts. Tell the three players the goal is for each of them to get as many items as they can. Tell them one other thing before they start: every ten seconds (you have your watch ready) you will look in the bowl, and double the number of items remaining there, by replenishing from an outside source (a separate pile of quarters on the side)."
Julian Edney says, "You would think the players would figure out that if they all waited, and didn't take anything out of the bowl for a while, then the contents of the bowl would soon get very big, automatically doubling every ten seconds. Eventually they could each divide up a pot that had grown large. But in fact, sixty percent of these groups never make it to the first 10-second replenishment cycle."
Monday, June 28, 2004
Despite his political leanings...
Dave Harden, manager of Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 deserves a big round of applause for making a tremendous effort to bring a copy of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" to Door County (even though he takes opposition to Moore's point of view). Thanks to Dave's persistence he secured one of a limited number of prints of the film for local screening, making it available here in Sturgeon Bay starting Friday, July 2. Show times are 1:30, 4:15, 7:00 and 9:15.
Dave Harden, manager of Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 deserves a big round of applause for making a tremendous effort to bring a copy of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" to Door County (even though he takes opposition to Moore's point of view). Thanks to Dave's persistence he secured one of a limited number of prints of the film for local screening, making it available here in Sturgeon Bay starting Friday, July 2. Show times are 1:30, 4:15, 7:00 and 9:15.
Sunday, June 27, 2004
If you need a break from reality surf over to the... Top Ten Tabloid Headlines
Every month Evanston's MAGBAG takes time to salute those journalists who write the great headlines in America's finest newspapers, the supermarket tabloids. Most of these headlines are drawn from the Weekly World News and the SUN. Here's the June winners:
10 STUNNING REAL REASON FOR IRAQ WAR REVEALED: U.S. BELIEVES SADDAM IS THE ANTICHRIST! — WWN
9 ENGLISH ARE WORLD'S MOST UNATTRACTIVE PEOPLE, SAYS FRENCH STUDY — WWN
8 CONCRETE ENEMAS A BAD IDEA, DOCS WARN — WWN
7 GOTCHA! JEWELER INVENTS WEDDING RING THAT CHANGES COLOR IF YOU CHEAT! — WWN
6 Comet caused great Chicago fire — SUN
5 NEW BEACH PERIL: SQUIRREL FISH — WWN
4 MY TOILET ROLL HOLDER IS POSSESSED! — WWN
3 TERROR TOADS INVADING AMERICA'S TOILETS! — WWN
2 LOUSE FROM SADDAM'S BEARD WORTH MILLIONS — WWN
1 WARNING: SMOKING CAN TURN YOU GAY! — WWN
Click the link to see all of the monthly winners back to January, 1998 when they began their salute to the Top Ten Tabloid Headlines.
Every month Evanston's MAGBAG takes time to salute those journalists who write the great headlines in America's finest newspapers, the supermarket tabloids. Most of these headlines are drawn from the Weekly World News and the SUN. Here's the June winners:
10 STUNNING REAL REASON FOR IRAQ WAR REVEALED: U.S. BELIEVES SADDAM IS THE ANTICHRIST! — WWN
9 ENGLISH ARE WORLD'S MOST UNATTRACTIVE PEOPLE, SAYS FRENCH STUDY — WWN
8 CONCRETE ENEMAS A BAD IDEA, DOCS WARN — WWN
7 GOTCHA! JEWELER INVENTS WEDDING RING THAT CHANGES COLOR IF YOU CHEAT! — WWN
6 Comet caused great Chicago fire — SUN
5 NEW BEACH PERIL: SQUIRREL FISH — WWN
4 MY TOILET ROLL HOLDER IS POSSESSED! — WWN
3 TERROR TOADS INVADING AMERICA'S TOILETS! — WWN
2 LOUSE FROM SADDAM'S BEARD WORTH MILLIONS — WWN
1 WARNING: SMOKING CAN TURN YOU GAY! — WWN
Click the link to see all of the monthly winners back to January, 1998 when they began their salute to the Top Ten Tabloid Headlines.
Saturday, June 26, 2004
I was in Appleton yesterday and managed to include the 4:10 PM showing of 'Fahrenheit 9/11' in my agenda... there was a long line to get in. The film was everything I expected from Michael Moore, without the stilted, conclusion-building techniques that I found irritating in some of his earlier films. This is a documentary film - no matter what point of view it supports. The challenge faced by Moore in presenting a whole lot of history is keeping you and me awake. I did not drift... despite the weighty information. The mix of emotions runs full-spectrum and plays well, as evidenced by the audience, standing and applauding for over a minute at the close.
"With a single stroke, Michael Moore has undone three years of poor, slanted, biased, factually bereft, compromised television journalism," says William Rivers Pitt. "This, in the end, is the final greatness of 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' Not only will Americans get a sense of the depth of the deception they have endured, but 'journalists' all across the country will be forced to endure the humiliation they so richly deserve." Read his entire review: Thank You, Michael Moore.
As I left the Marcus Theater there was another long line of people waiting to get into the next show. Black and white posters with a picture of George W. Bush had been affixed to each of the several glass entry doors with a simple line of block text that stated, "And you thought he was Pro-Life."
Call the live phone at Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 box office at: 920.746.8371 or e-mail sbcin@doorpi.net and thank them for working hard to secure a copy of the film to start showing it locally on July 2 or July 9.
Hope to see you Monday evening!
"With a single stroke, Michael Moore has undone three years of poor, slanted, biased, factually bereft, compromised television journalism," says William Rivers Pitt. "This, in the end, is the final greatness of 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' Not only will Americans get a sense of the depth of the deception they have endured, but 'journalists' all across the country will be forced to endure the humiliation they so richly deserve." Read his entire review: Thank You, Michael Moore.
As I left the Marcus Theater there was another long line of people waiting to get into the next show. Black and white posters with a picture of George W. Bush had been affixed to each of the several glass entry doors with a simple line of block text that stated, "And you thought he was Pro-Life."
Call the live phone at Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 box office at: 920.746.8371 or e-mail sbcin@doorpi.net and thank them for working hard to secure a copy of the film to start showing it locally on July 2 or July 9.
Hope to see you Monday evening!
Friday, June 25, 2004
On Monday, June 28 at 7 PM, you are invited to the Compass Coffee House in Fish Creek to get together with neighbors to hear Michael Moore live on-line, as part of "Turn Up the Heat: A National Town Meeting on Fahrenheit 9/11." Michael Moore's new movie which opens today is an incredibly controversial film that speaks to the ever-mounting majority of Americans who are convinced that starting a war in Iraq was a mistake. The Movie, "is full of footage that few people in this country have ever seen - footage that has the power to sway the 2004 election," says organizers at MoveOn.org.
Tens of thousands of MoveOn.org members are being encouraged to gather nationwide on Monday... so the Compass Coffee House will provide free Web access here in Fish Creek to join in live, on-line for an interactive audio conference with Michael Moore. We'll discuss the movie, and of course continue planning local GRID actions to help win back the White House. And, of course, there'll be snacks.
I hope you find a way to go see the movie this weekend in Appleton or Green Bay and, if you can, join us here in the national town meeting! You can click to sign up and join me at the Compass Coffee House gathering below, to find one near you, or to host your own "Turn Up the Heat Party."
Here are the details on Micheal Moore's 9/11 Turn Up the Heat Party at:
The Door County Compass Coffee House and Internet Cafe
9341 Spring road, Unit 18-B
Top of the Hill Shops
Fish Creek, WI 54212
Monday, June 28, 7:00 PM
I hope you'll come!
Tens of thousands of MoveOn.org members are being encouraged to gather nationwide on Monday... so the Compass Coffee House will provide free Web access here in Fish Creek to join in live, on-line for an interactive audio conference with Michael Moore. We'll discuss the movie, and of course continue planning local GRID actions to help win back the White House. And, of course, there'll be snacks.
I hope you find a way to go see the movie this weekend in Appleton or Green Bay and, if you can, join us here in the national town meeting! You can click to sign up and join me at the Compass Coffee House gathering below, to find one near you, or to host your own "Turn Up the Heat Party."
Here are the details on Micheal Moore's 9/11 Turn Up the Heat Party at:
The Door County Compass Coffee House and Internet Cafe
9341 Spring road, Unit 18-B
Top of the Hill Shops
Fish Creek, WI 54212
Monday, June 28, 7:00 PM
I hope you'll come!
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Congratulations and thanks go out to everyone who has called or e-mailed Wisconsin theaters to endorse the screening of Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" (see Friday, June 18 posting below). On a statewide basis there are now 14 theaters including all of the Marcus-owned theaters statewide, and in Green Bay and Appleton, that plan to show the film on opening day June 25:
Appleton, WI Marcus Hollywood Cinema
Ashwaubenon, WI Marcus Bay Park Cinemas
Brookfield, WI Marcus West Point Cinemas 8
Eau Claire, WI Carmike Oakwood Mall 12
La Crosse, WI Marcus La Crosse Quad Cinemas
Madison, WI Marcus Eastgate Cinema 16
Madison, WI Marcus Westgate 3 Cinemas
Menomonee Falls, WI Marcus Cinemas Menomonee Falls
Milwaukee, WI Landmark Oriental 3
New Berlin, WI Marcus Ridge Cinema
Oak Creek, WI Marcus South Shore Cinemas
Racine, WI Marcus Westgate Twin Cinemas
Wauwatosa, WI AMC Mayfair Mall
West Bend, WI Paradise Theatre
Appleton, WI Marcus Hollywood Cinema
Ashwaubenon, WI Marcus Bay Park Cinemas
Brookfield, WI Marcus West Point Cinemas 8
Eau Claire, WI Carmike Oakwood Mall 12
La Crosse, WI Marcus La Crosse Quad Cinemas
Madison, WI Marcus Eastgate Cinema 16
Madison, WI Marcus Westgate 3 Cinemas
Menomonee Falls, WI Marcus Cinemas Menomonee Falls
Milwaukee, WI Landmark Oriental 3
New Berlin, WI Marcus Ridge Cinema
Oak Creek, WI Marcus South Shore Cinemas
Racine, WI Marcus Westgate Twin Cinemas
Wauwatosa, WI AMC Mayfair Mall
West Bend, WI Paradise Theatre
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Tomorrow night (June 24) at 7 PM you are invited to attend the next Door County Kerry Meetup in Fish Creek at the Compass Coffee House. All interested individuals are welcome to stop in and chat. We are working to create a GRID network of Greens, Republicans, Independents and Democrats who wish to make an effort to restore democracy to the American political climate by defeating George W. Bush.
You can also help to encourage Bruce Springsteen to headline a major concert in New York City on September 1, the same day and in the same city as Republicans who will hold their convention to nominate George Bush for President. Promoters intend to broadcast the Springsteen concert live on all the major television networks as an opportunity to make it clear to Americans that they can choose an alternative to George Bush. Sign on at DraftBruce.com.
Rueters says, "The New Jersey rocker has typically stayed out of politics, but in May posted the text of an anti-war speech by former Vice President Al Gore on his official Web site, calling it 'one of the most important speeches I've heard in a long time.'"
You can also help to encourage Bruce Springsteen to headline a major concert in New York City on September 1, the same day and in the same city as Republicans who will hold their convention to nominate George Bush for President. Promoters intend to broadcast the Springsteen concert live on all the major television networks as an opportunity to make it clear to Americans that they can choose an alternative to George Bush. Sign on at DraftBruce.com.
Rueters says, "The New Jersey rocker has typically stayed out of politics, but in May posted the text of an anti-war speech by former Vice President Al Gore on his official Web site, calling it 'one of the most important speeches I've heard in a long time.'"
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Big Brother is watching... and testing your mental health.
The British medical journal, BMJ posted an article on June 19 that does indeed seem to be inspired by the darkest fantasies of George Orwell: Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness...
In a classic doublespeak plan entitled the New Freedom Initiative the Bush administration intends to link your mental health test results to a prescribed medication.
The big winner according to the BMJ report will be, "Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanzapine, (with) multiple ties to the Bush administration. George Bush Sr was a member of Lilly's board of directors and Bush Jr appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to a seat on the Homeland Security Council. Lilly made $1.6m in political contributions in 2000—82% of which went to Bush and the Republican Party."
The New Freedom Initiative will be modeled after a plan then governor GW Bush put into effect in Texas beginning in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas.
The British medical journal, BMJ posted an article on June 19 that does indeed seem to be inspired by the darkest fantasies of George Orwell: Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness...
In a classic doublespeak plan entitled the New Freedom Initiative the Bush administration intends to link your mental health test results to a prescribed medication.
The big winner according to the BMJ report will be, "Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanzapine, (with) multiple ties to the Bush administration. George Bush Sr was a member of Lilly's board of directors and Bush Jr appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to a seat on the Homeland Security Council. Lilly made $1.6m in political contributions in 2000—82% of which went to Bush and the Republican Party."
The New Freedom Initiative will be modeled after a plan then governor GW Bush put into effect in Texas beginning in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas.
Friday, June 18, 2004
Michael Moore's new movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" won't be shown in Sturgeon Bay on opening day June 25. The fake grassroots pro-war front group Move America Forward, which successfully bounced the mildly critical biopic "The Reagans" off CBS and onto cable, has launched a campaign to discourage theaters from showing the film.
Sal Russo, a longtime veteran of Republican Party politics whose Sacramento, CA-based political consulting firm, Russo Marsh & Rogers, helped create Move America Forward, tells Reuters, "Moore's credibility as a documentarian has been shattered. Even supporters of the film say it is distorted."
Noted film critic Roger Ebert disagrees, "He (Moore) can say whatever he likes about Bush, as long as his facts are straight. Having seen the film twice, I saw nothing that raised a flag for me, and I haven't heard of any major inaccuracies."
But controversy is not the reason why it won't open here in Door County says Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 management... "Lions Gate only made 750 prints for distribution. We usually can't get hold of any film that opens with less than 2,000 copies. Cinema 6 may show the film beginning on July 2 or July 9."
It can't hurt to encourage Dave at Cinema 6. Call to let him know you'd like to buy advanced tickets for a July 2 screening and thank him for his efforts to uphold our individual rights to free speech and freedom of expression. Cinema 6 Box Office live phone: 920.746.8371 e-mail sbcin@doorpi.net
Censoring the arts is not patriotic.
LINKS:
Dude, Where's My Movie Playing?
'Fahrenheit 9/11' on the Hot Seat
Sal Russo, a longtime veteran of Republican Party politics whose Sacramento, CA-based political consulting firm, Russo Marsh & Rogers, helped create Move America Forward, tells Reuters, "Moore's credibility as a documentarian has been shattered. Even supporters of the film say it is distorted."
Noted film critic Roger Ebert disagrees, "He (Moore) can say whatever he likes about Bush, as long as his facts are straight. Having seen the film twice, I saw nothing that raised a flag for me, and I haven't heard of any major inaccuracies."
But controversy is not the reason why it won't open here in Door County says Sturgeon Bay's Cinema 6 management... "Lions Gate only made 750 prints for distribution. We usually can't get hold of any film that opens with less than 2,000 copies. Cinema 6 may show the film beginning on July 2 or July 9."
It can't hurt to encourage Dave at Cinema 6. Call to let him know you'd like to buy advanced tickets for a July 2 screening and thank him for his efforts to uphold our individual rights to free speech and freedom of expression. Cinema 6 Box Office live phone: 920.746.8371 e-mail sbcin@doorpi.net
Censoring the arts is not patriotic.
LINKS:
Dude, Where's My Movie Playing?
'Fahrenheit 9/11' on the Hot Seat
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
A report released today reveals that in the last two years one third of the US population under the age of 65 had no health insurance. That's 82 million people with no health insurance... Texas leads the nation in this race to the bottom with 43% of non-seniors uninsured - Wisconsin tallies 26% uninsured. Senior citizens are not included in the study because after 65 they qualify for Medicare coverage.
"This problem is huge, and it's growing," says Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "It is truly an enormous epidemic."
The analysis was conducted by the Lewin Group, a private health consulting firm. The report runs in sharp contrast to the figures from the Census Bureau that show 43.6 million Americans uninsured in 2002. The Census Bureau's latest figures reflect the number of people without insurance for the entire year. While the Lewin group study tracks everyone who loses coverage for all or any portion of the years 2002 and 2003. Approximately 41 million were uninsured for at least nine months, and over 54 million uninsured for at least six months. 27 million of the uninsured were children younger than 18 — more than one-third of all children in the USA.
More comforting statistics...
USA Today-CNN-Gallup poll released Monday show that 66 percent of Americans object to the use of torture during times of war.
"We can be proud that the majority of citizens stand against our military personnel's use of torture," says Harvard statistician William Stover. "And it's somewhat comforting that, of the 34 percent of Americans who advocate torture, 72 percent said it should be used only when other methods of discipline have failed."
Reassuringly, 97 percent of Americans were against the torture of U.S. soldiers or citizens by non-Americans.
"This problem is huge, and it's growing," says Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "It is truly an enormous epidemic."
The analysis was conducted by the Lewin Group, a private health consulting firm. The report runs in sharp contrast to the figures from the Census Bureau that show 43.6 million Americans uninsured in 2002. The Census Bureau's latest figures reflect the number of people without insurance for the entire year. While the Lewin group study tracks everyone who loses coverage for all or any portion of the years 2002 and 2003. Approximately 41 million were uninsured for at least nine months, and over 54 million uninsured for at least six months. 27 million of the uninsured were children younger than 18 — more than one-third of all children in the USA.
More comforting statistics...
USA Today-CNN-Gallup poll released Monday show that 66 percent of Americans object to the use of torture during times of war.
"We can be proud that the majority of citizens stand against our military personnel's use of torture," says Harvard statistician William Stover. "And it's somewhat comforting that, of the 34 percent of Americans who advocate torture, 72 percent said it should be used only when other methods of discipline have failed."
Reassuringly, 97 percent of Americans were against the torture of U.S. soldiers or citizens by non-Americans.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Just learned about Madison's Prole' coming to the Bayside Tavern in Fish Creek on Saturday night June 26... They are HOT , HOT, HOT - do not miss... Prole!
They may have originally been labelled as "Latin music" but they are are unapologetically experimental and unafraid to bend genre lines in their mission to make the audience move. Sometimes described as “Latin funk", they include elements of hip hop, rock and much more mixed into the band’s unique sound.
Mixing traditional Latin rhythms and sounds with a diverse array of influences from hip hop to ska to reggae to funk to rock and roll, Prole' is able to create a sonic tapestry that is truly unique and creative as well as tremendously entertaining. As danceable a band as one is likely to find in Madison, or Door County, Prole’s engaging, high energy stage show showcases the band adeptly playing everything from fiery salsas to smooth and tender ballads to fist-pumping rock songs to whatever will make the audience move.
They may have originally been labelled as "Latin music" but they are are unapologetically experimental and unafraid to bend genre lines in their mission to make the audience move. Sometimes described as “Latin funk", they include elements of hip hop, rock and much more mixed into the band’s unique sound.
Mixing traditional Latin rhythms and sounds with a diverse array of influences from hip hop to ska to reggae to funk to rock and roll, Prole' is able to create a sonic tapestry that is truly unique and creative as well as tremendously entertaining. As danceable a band as one is likely to find in Madison, or Door County, Prole’s engaging, high energy stage show showcases the band adeptly playing everything from fiery salsas to smooth and tender ballads to fist-pumping rock songs to whatever will make the audience move.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
A ray of hope for the new Justice Center...
A recent Department of Justice report shows that for the first half of 2003, the number of people imprisoned in the United States skyrocketed. According to a Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics as of June 30, 2003, there were 2,087,570 people jailed in the US, a 57,000-person increase from the year before.
While Attorney General John Ashcroft responded to the report saying it shows law enforcement is successfully taking "hard core criminals" off the street, many prison reform groups attribute the rise in prison population to mandatory minimum sentencing laws. These measures, say prison activists, are leading to the prolonged incarceration of hundreds of thousands of low-level offenders, people who have committed relatively minor crimes, such as drug possession. The only declining prison population for the year between June 30, 2002 and June 30, 2003 was inmates under 18 years of age.
Sevastopol Kids Rule... the world
Congrats to the Sevastopol World Champs and their coach Jeannie Fritschka - that's twice now that her teams have taken the world on and won. Perhaps her son Trevin - who was entrusted with building a tiny structure of super-light balsa wood that had to support a maximum load of 1,205 pounds - practiced his design theory at the sodaplay Web site. Go there to play with the sodaconstructor... UW Madison students are using it to learn physics, biomechanics and biology by designing virtual creatures in sodaconstructor, a free Internet construction game.
A recent Department of Justice report shows that for the first half of 2003, the number of people imprisoned in the United States skyrocketed. According to a Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics as of June 30, 2003, there were 2,087,570 people jailed in the US, a 57,000-person increase from the year before.
While Attorney General John Ashcroft responded to the report saying it shows law enforcement is successfully taking "hard core criminals" off the street, many prison reform groups attribute the rise in prison population to mandatory minimum sentencing laws. These measures, say prison activists, are leading to the prolonged incarceration of hundreds of thousands of low-level offenders, people who have committed relatively minor crimes, such as drug possession. The only declining prison population for the year between June 30, 2002 and June 30, 2003 was inmates under 18 years of age.
Sevastopol Kids Rule... the world
Congrats to the Sevastopol World Champs and their coach Jeannie Fritschka - that's twice now that her teams have taken the world on and won. Perhaps her son Trevin - who was entrusted with building a tiny structure of super-light balsa wood that had to support a maximum load of 1,205 pounds - practiced his design theory at the sodaplay Web site. Go there to play with the sodaconstructor... UW Madison students are using it to learn physics, biomechanics and biology by designing virtual creatures in sodaconstructor, a free Internet construction game.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
On Feb. 12, 2000 Jane Finley wrote the following, "I moved all remaining stuff into the hall, then to my truck to take to storage. Good friend Charles McDade helped me many times. I can't believe it is finally over. It has taken me two years to sell my co-op (apartment) and almost everything I own. Looking back I don't know how I ever did it. I AM EXHAUSTED! And ready to travel!"
From that day on she moved into a tiny camper truck and travels the US preaching for peace... a move she made after hearing a Unitarian Minister explain that "We have less than 1,000 months to live."
Jane documents her travels at her Web site: WANDERINGS: Living the Ordinary Extraordinarily (Stories from the Road)
Gertrude Bell died in 1926... Born in 1868, she was a homeschooler who went on to study in London and then to Oxford to read history. At the age of twenty and after only two years study, she left with a first-class degree. But from the turn of the century onwards, her life was governed by a love of the Arab peoples, inspired, it seems, by a visit to friends in Jerusalem in 1899-1900. Eventually her studies and knowledge of the Arabian culture led the British government to recruit her as an aid in the first World War. Following the war when Britain and France divided the remnants of the Ottoman Empire she became a Political Officer, and then Oriental Secretary to the High Commissioner in Baghdad. She helped to create and shape the new nation of Iraq...
William Beeman is director of Middle East studies at Brown University and has studied the extensive writings of Gertrude Bell from the 1920s in which she details the British struggles in Iraq. He has written a paper that describes our current affairs as a replay of the same mistakes made by the British over seventy years ago.
"It should be obvious that the Iraqis are now revolting against the United States in a manner similar to the way that they revolted against Great Britain in 1920 and again in 1958, when the British were removed once and for all."
The U.S.-Shi'ite Relationship in a New Iraq: Better than the British? by William Beeman in Strategic Insights, Volume III, Issue 5 (May 2004).
From that day on she moved into a tiny camper truck and travels the US preaching for peace... a move she made after hearing a Unitarian Minister explain that "We have less than 1,000 months to live."
Jane documents her travels at her Web site: WANDERINGS: Living the Ordinary Extraordinarily (Stories from the Road)
Gertrude Bell died in 1926... Born in 1868, she was a homeschooler who went on to study in London and then to Oxford to read history. At the age of twenty and after only two years study, she left with a first-class degree. But from the turn of the century onwards, her life was governed by a love of the Arab peoples, inspired, it seems, by a visit to friends in Jerusalem in 1899-1900. Eventually her studies and knowledge of the Arabian culture led the British government to recruit her as an aid in the first World War. Following the war when Britain and France divided the remnants of the Ottoman Empire she became a Political Officer, and then Oriental Secretary to the High Commissioner in Baghdad. She helped to create and shape the new nation of Iraq...
William Beeman is director of Middle East studies at Brown University and has studied the extensive writings of Gertrude Bell from the 1920s in which she details the British struggles in Iraq. He has written a paper that describes our current affairs as a replay of the same mistakes made by the British over seventy years ago.
"It should be obvious that the Iraqis are now revolting against the United States in a manner similar to the way that they revolted against Great Britain in 1920 and again in 1958, when the British were removed once and for all."
The U.S.-Shi'ite Relationship in a New Iraq: Better than the British? by William Beeman in Strategic Insights, Volume III, Issue 5 (May 2004).
Monday, May 31, 2004
The Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation was established in 1986. It was the first organization to initiate action to bring the Main Street Program to Wisconsin, and has actively supported the development of Wisconsin's Heritage Tourism program. Each year they select the Ten Most Endangered Historic Properties in Wisconsin. On May 7, 2004 they announced the 2004 selections which include the Sturgeon Bay Memorial Bridge.
Friday, May 28, 2004
At 6 PM Friday I just crossed the single-lane bridge with absolutely no wait...
With traffic on the newer Bayview Bridge restricted to one lane all weekend, northbound drivers on Highway 57 have been warned in the media to expect massive backups. Anyone who is worried can always take County C north out of Brusells, driving all the way into Sturgeon Bay by the back way, and then use the old downtown bridge - properly known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge - to arrive without a struggle. Meanwhile bridge safety crew has reset the traffuc lights to allow for more northbound traffic, and there doesn't seem to be a problem.
This reminds me of the weatherman talking about windchill factor, scaring people into staying safely at home.
To experience a 2 degrees below zero wind chill... you must stand outdoors, naked, in a 20 mph breeze when the temp is 15 degrees above zero. Meanwhile out on Highway 42/57 drivers who may have just spent 3-4 hours getting here may have to wait an extra ten minutes to get over the bridge, unless they followed those media warnings like "Traffic Snarled at Sturgeon Bay Bridge" from WBAY TV and stayed safely at home.
With traffic on the newer Bayview Bridge restricted to one lane all weekend, northbound drivers on Highway 57 have been warned in the media to expect massive backups. Anyone who is worried can always take County C north out of Brusells, driving all the way into Sturgeon Bay by the back way, and then use the old downtown bridge - properly known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge - to arrive without a struggle. Meanwhile bridge safety crew has reset the traffuc lights to allow for more northbound traffic, and there doesn't seem to be a problem.
This reminds me of the weatherman talking about windchill factor, scaring people into staying safely at home.
To experience a 2 degrees below zero wind chill... you must stand outdoors, naked, in a 20 mph breeze when the temp is 15 degrees above zero. Meanwhile out on Highway 42/57 drivers who may have just spent 3-4 hours getting here may have to wait an extra ten minutes to get over the bridge, unless they followed those media warnings like "Traffic Snarled at Sturgeon Bay Bridge" from WBAY TV and stayed safely at home.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
In Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth, an extensively researched study, Good Jobs First writers show that Wal-Mart, the giant retailer has received more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies from state and local governments across the country. Taxpayers have helped finance not only Wal-Mart stores, but also the company’s huge network of distribution centers, more than 90% of which have gotten subsidies. The report also includes policy proposals, including a prohibition on subsidies to big-box retailers except in distressed areas that are underserved by retail outlets (and in those cases the recipient of the subsidy should be required to pay a living wage.)
Monday, May 24, 2004
"Vermont was designated an 'endangered place' Monday by preservationists who say Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, threatens the picturesque state with huge new stores that smash rural life. In its annual list of most endangered historic places, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included the state of Vermont because of an "onslaught of big-box" stores by Wal-Mart , the Arkansas-based retailer."
Read the entire story... Group sees Wal-Mart threat to Vermont
Historic trust group says new stores would smash state's rural life.
Read the entire story... Group sees Wal-Mart threat to Vermont
Historic trust group says new stores would smash state's rural life.
Sunday, May 23, 2004
TwinCities.com, the Web site of the St. Paul Pioneer Press says, "The coming of warm weather to the Midwest inspires strange behavior in different places. In Iowa, they like to plant during the day, then sit around listening to the corn grow at night. In parts of Michigan, the natives leave their homes to stare at tulips for hours at a time. In Illinois, sadly, almost all the people spend almost all their time wishing they were in Wisconsin."
In honor they have posted...
HOW VERY, VERY FESTIVE: THE WISCONSIN QUIZ but they will make you register with them, for free, to see it.
In honor they have posted...
HOW VERY, VERY FESTIVE: THE WISCONSIN QUIZ but they will make you register with them, for free, to see it.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
In the latest issue of Windy City Sports Magazine, writer Jeff Lee devotes an entire feature article to Door County recreation. He tells Chicagoans all about the quiet sports in Wisconsin Red Pages.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Whoops... Ephraim, gets high marks while the Egg gets spanked.
Journal Sentinel travel columnist, Dennis McCann answers questions about Wisconsin places, history and folklore in his monthly chat. Following is an excerpt from the May transcript posted on-line today:
Q: Jason of Brookfield - Dennis: What's your favorite place to stay when in Door County?
A: Dennis McCann - That's a hard question, because there are lots of nice places. A few weeks ago I stayed at the hotel near the entrance to Peninsula Park (the Homestead, I think) and found it to be very nice. I've had nice stays at Hotel du Nord, the White Gull Inn (a very nice place, btw) and a number of other places. But my favorite community to spend time in is Ephraim, because it hasn't spoiled its natural beauty the way some other villages (are you listening, Egg Harbor?) have. There are a number of nice places there, but the Lodgings at Pioneer Lane has worked well for me on several different occasions. Thanks for all the questions. Happy travels.
Journal Sentinel travel columnist, Dennis McCann answers questions about Wisconsin places, history and folklore in his monthly chat. Following is an excerpt from the May transcript posted on-line today:
Q: Jason of Brookfield - Dennis: What's your favorite place to stay when in Door County?
A: Dennis McCann - That's a hard question, because there are lots of nice places. A few weeks ago I stayed at the hotel near the entrance to Peninsula Park (the Homestead, I think) and found it to be very nice. I've had nice stays at Hotel du Nord, the White Gull Inn (a very nice place, btw) and a number of other places. But my favorite community to spend time in is Ephraim, because it hasn't spoiled its natural beauty the way some other villages (are you listening, Egg Harbor?) have. There are a number of nice places there, but the Lodgings at Pioneer Lane has worked well for me on several different occasions. Thanks for all the questions. Happy travels.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
THE GRAY ZONE
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib.
Issue of 2004-05-24
Posted 2004-05-15
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
How a secret Pentagon program came to Abu Ghraib.
Issue of 2004-05-24
Posted 2004-05-15
Thursday, May 13, 2004
I can't help but compare...
the micro/macro similarities between local and national leadership when I see the 16 golden shovelers depicted on the front page of the latest Advocate.
Instead of golden shovels Charlie and Company might like to wield a copy of MetaliCal, a free software program that calculates metal weight and cost. It includes 58 metals (including steel) and 50 profiles and shapes produced by the industry. Using MetaliCal will help them keep up with the rapid changes unfolding in the steel industry which are driving prices up in some unprecedented ways. By summer the industry is predicting that steel will be on allocation for the first time in US history with price increases expected to exceed 65%.
The Justice Center Diggers have much in common with theme park developers who complain, "This means that the price of a coaster or ride concept that was developed last autumn could as much as double by this summer. Further, it puts estimators in the difficult position of having to predict the cost of steel (not to mention the availability) one or even two years out."
One thousand board feet of lumber, the industry standard, sold for $446 last week, compared to $285 at the same time last year... and then there's the cost of fuel to consider. Each Bored County Member should pawn their golden shovel and buy a calculator, because your budgets are going haywire.
All I can think of when I hear Charlie Most say, "It’s very gratifying to stick this shovel in here and finally get this project going and out of our hair..." is GW Bush aboard the USS Lincoln last May Day saying, "Mission Accomplished."
Wisconsin legislators (aside from Garey Bies) are also sounding a wake up call to our local Diggers... "Limiting prison costs is a key to solving the state's fiscal problems," says state Rep. Dan Schooff, D-Beloit, a member of the Joint Finance Committee.
"If you can rein in corrections and stop the flow of dollars there, then you can free up dollars for elsewhere, whether it's teachers' salaries or the UW System," he says.
"To contain costs, the State corrections Department is turning its focus on job training, drug treatment and other forms of counseling to keep prisoners from committing new crimes after they are released. Cutting the number who return to prison will reduce the inmate population and prison costs," Frank says.
"We know that if you just lock people up and you don't deal with the underlying issues, you're going to continue to have those people committing crimes," he says, noting that 42 percent of the state's inmates have prior records.
Governor Doyle says he hopes the new focus programs and an emphasis on steering troubled young people away from crime will cut the state prison population of 22,000 by one-third over the next eight years.
"It's a long-term project, and what you really have to be doing is getting focused on the 12- and 13-year-olds today who eight years from now are going to be 20 and 21," Doyle says. "The things you do today for those 12-year-olds (are) going to make a big difference in what the prison population is going to be."
Meanwhile, in Door County, Diggers break ground with golden shovels to build the Taj Mahal of Drunk Tanks... Mission accomplished!
the micro/macro similarities between local and national leadership when I see the 16 golden shovelers depicted on the front page of the latest Advocate.
Instead of golden shovels Charlie and Company might like to wield a copy of MetaliCal, a free software program that calculates metal weight and cost. It includes 58 metals (including steel) and 50 profiles and shapes produced by the industry. Using MetaliCal will help them keep up with the rapid changes unfolding in the steel industry which are driving prices up in some unprecedented ways. By summer the industry is predicting that steel will be on allocation for the first time in US history with price increases expected to exceed 65%.
The Justice Center Diggers have much in common with theme park developers who complain, "This means that the price of a coaster or ride concept that was developed last autumn could as much as double by this summer. Further, it puts estimators in the difficult position of having to predict the cost of steel (not to mention the availability) one or even two years out."
One thousand board feet of lumber, the industry standard, sold for $446 last week, compared to $285 at the same time last year... and then there's the cost of fuel to consider. Each Bored County Member should pawn their golden shovel and buy a calculator, because your budgets are going haywire.
All I can think of when I hear Charlie Most say, "It’s very gratifying to stick this shovel in here and finally get this project going and out of our hair..." is GW Bush aboard the USS Lincoln last May Day saying, "Mission Accomplished."
Wisconsin legislators (aside from Garey Bies) are also sounding a wake up call to our local Diggers... "Limiting prison costs is a key to solving the state's fiscal problems," says state Rep. Dan Schooff, D-Beloit, a member of the Joint Finance Committee.
"If you can rein in corrections and stop the flow of dollars there, then you can free up dollars for elsewhere, whether it's teachers' salaries or the UW System," he says.
"To contain costs, the State corrections Department is turning its focus on job training, drug treatment and other forms of counseling to keep prisoners from committing new crimes after they are released. Cutting the number who return to prison will reduce the inmate population and prison costs," Frank says.
"We know that if you just lock people up and you don't deal with the underlying issues, you're going to continue to have those people committing crimes," he says, noting that 42 percent of the state's inmates have prior records.
Governor Doyle says he hopes the new focus programs and an emphasis on steering troubled young people away from crime will cut the state prison population of 22,000 by one-third over the next eight years.
"It's a long-term project, and what you really have to be doing is getting focused on the 12- and 13-year-olds today who eight years from now are going to be 20 and 21," Doyle says. "The things you do today for those 12-year-olds (are) going to make a big difference in what the prison population is going to be."
Meanwhile, in Door County, Diggers break ground with golden shovels to build the Taj Mahal of Drunk Tanks... Mission accomplished!
Monday, May 10, 2004
Door County recently made Coastal Living and MONEY Magazine editors' list of top spots to live. Listed in a special section entitled, "So You Want to Live on the Coast," in the June issue of MONEY and featured in the April issue of Coastal Living, the editors acclaim Door County, "as it offers a quiet pace, water everywhere, farm-fresh produce, the camaraderie of traditional fish boils, and more lighthouses (10) than any other U.S. county.
And low water levels are no problem...
Especially according to Gov. Jim Doyle who surprised a number of people with his remarks on Earth Day 2004. It wasn't Doyle's tough stand against diverting Great Lakes water to places like Arizona and Nevada - no one in Wisconsin supports exporting Great Lakes water to the arid West.
Doyle's surprise was the fact that he might support a diversion from Lake Michigan to Waukesha County. Seems harmless until you realize that this breaks all of the rules... by sending water out of the watershed and across the subcontinental divide.
Doyle has on his desk an August 2003 report from the city of Waukesha and the Waukesha Water Utility that asks for Doyle's help to convince other Great Lakes officials to approve the construction of a pipeline to carry 20 million gallons of water a day from Lake Michigan, to the city of Waukesha.
Any new diversion of water from the Great Lakes is made nearly impossible under the Great Lakes Charter and other agreements that cover eight Great Lakes states, including Wisconsin, and two Canadian provinces. But Waukesha is making its pitch at the right time, because the Great Lakes Charter is undergoing its first major review since its 1985 creation... and this summer Gov. Doyle will assume the chairmanship of the Council of Great Lakes Governors - a group with great influence in the charter review. So Doyle is in a pivotal position to carry Waukesha's water, so to speak, even if another Great Lakes governor blocks it.
Read the entire article, much of which I borrowed from in the above paraphrasing:
Milwaukee Insight: Lake Michigan Water Could Flow to Thirsty Suburbs as Doyle Gets Key Great Lakes Post
5/7/2004
By Jim Rowen
And low water levels are no problem...
Especially according to Gov. Jim Doyle who surprised a number of people with his remarks on Earth Day 2004. It wasn't Doyle's tough stand against diverting Great Lakes water to places like Arizona and Nevada - no one in Wisconsin supports exporting Great Lakes water to the arid West.
Doyle's surprise was the fact that he might support a diversion from Lake Michigan to Waukesha County. Seems harmless until you realize that this breaks all of the rules... by sending water out of the watershed and across the subcontinental divide.
Doyle has on his desk an August 2003 report from the city of Waukesha and the Waukesha Water Utility that asks for Doyle's help to convince other Great Lakes officials to approve the construction of a pipeline to carry 20 million gallons of water a day from Lake Michigan, to the city of Waukesha.
Any new diversion of water from the Great Lakes is made nearly impossible under the Great Lakes Charter and other agreements that cover eight Great Lakes states, including Wisconsin, and two Canadian provinces. But Waukesha is making its pitch at the right time, because the Great Lakes Charter is undergoing its first major review since its 1985 creation... and this summer Gov. Doyle will assume the chairmanship of the Council of Great Lakes Governors - a group with great influence in the charter review. So Doyle is in a pivotal position to carry Waukesha's water, so to speak, even if another Great Lakes governor blocks it.
Read the entire article, much of which I borrowed from in the above paraphrasing:
Milwaukee Insight: Lake Michigan Water Could Flow to Thirsty Suburbs as Doyle Gets Key Great Lakes Post
5/7/2004
By Jim Rowen
Friday, May 07, 2004
Some weekend reading...
The Bush administration's push to privatize war is swiftly turning the military-industrial complex of old into something even more far-reaching: a complex of military industries that do everything but fire weapons. For-profit military companies now enjoy an estimated $100 billion in business worldwide each year, with much of the money going to Fortune 500 firms like Halliburton, DynCorp, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.
These companies, known as "Privatized Military Firms" (PMFs), sell everything from small teams of commandos to massive military supply operations. PMFs have operated in places as diverse as Sierra Leone and Iraq, including on behalf of the U.S., and signal an important new development in the way that war is now carried out. Unfortunately, the legal side has not yet caught up to events.
This article by Peter W. Singer examines the applicability of present international laws and definitions to PMFs and finds a gap in effectiveness. It next looks at national attempts at legal regulation and the challenges that they face. Finally, it surveys some of the possible solutions that have been offered to this legal quandary, seeking to offer workable proposals for how the PMF industry might be brought under some standard of regulation.
War, Profits, and the Vacuum of Law: Privatized Military Firms and International Law (PDF—129kb)
Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Spring 2004
by Peter W. Singer, National Security Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies
And, here's a transcript of the P. W. Singer interview by Terry Gross on Fresh Air, 9 July 2003
The Bush administration's push to privatize war is swiftly turning the military-industrial complex of old into something even more far-reaching: a complex of military industries that do everything but fire weapons. For-profit military companies now enjoy an estimated $100 billion in business worldwide each year, with much of the money going to Fortune 500 firms like Halliburton, DynCorp, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.
These companies, known as "Privatized Military Firms" (PMFs), sell everything from small teams of commandos to massive military supply operations. PMFs have operated in places as diverse as Sierra Leone and Iraq, including on behalf of the U.S., and signal an important new development in the way that war is now carried out. Unfortunately, the legal side has not yet caught up to events.
This article by Peter W. Singer examines the applicability of present international laws and definitions to PMFs and finds a gap in effectiveness. It next looks at national attempts at legal regulation and the challenges that they face. Finally, it surveys some of the possible solutions that have been offered to this legal quandary, seeking to offer workable proposals for how the PMF industry might be brought under some standard of regulation.
War, Profits, and the Vacuum of Law: Privatized Military Firms and International Law (PDF—129kb)
Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Spring 2004
by Peter W. Singer, National Security Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies
And, here's a transcript of the P. W. Singer interview by Terry Gross on Fresh Air, 9 July 2003
Thursday, May 06, 2004
Signs of spring...
Fish Creek's Skyway Drive-in Movie Theater, one of eight remaining drive-ins in Wisconsin, opens this Friday evening May 7, with "50 First Dates" and "Secret Window" - Gates open at 7:45 with the first movie rolling at 8:20 PM and the second feature at approximately 10 PM.
And a hot summer ahead... in film politics anyway.
AP reporter Christy Lemire says:
Mel Gibson, director of "The Passion of the Christ," had difficulty finding someone willing to release his graphic telling of the last hours of Christ's life. Major studios were wary because some religious leaders feared it would foster anti-Semitism. But whether filmgoers showed up at theaters to be inspired or appalled, they showed up - and "The Passion," under independent distributor Newmarket Films, has made more than $366 million in the past 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has asked the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for a hearing on what he called a "disturbing pattern of politically based corporate censorship of the news media and the entertainment industry."
Lautenberg argued Wednesday in a letter to his committee chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that Disney (through Miramax) has the violent "Kill Bill - Vol. 2" in theaters now, but is blocking Michael Moore's film, "Fahrenheit 9/11." based on its political viewpoint.
In the movie, Moore interviewed author Craig Unger about his book "House of Bush, House of Saud," which details the Bush-Saudi relationship going back to the 1970s.
"I found about $1.4 billion in investments and contracts going from the House of Saud to companies in which the Bushes and their allies - I'm including Dick Cheney, for example - have had prominent positions," Unger said.
The book and the film also say the government helped 140 Saudis leave the United States on Sept. 13, 2001 - two dozen of whom were bin Laden's relatives.
Unger said that while he hadn't seen the film, "There's clearly a big audience for this and I think the intent to kill it will fail." He pointed to several recent books besides his own that critically examine the Bush administration, including Ron Suskind's "The Price of Loyalty," Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" and Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack."
Fish Creek's Skyway Drive-in Movie Theater, one of eight remaining drive-ins in Wisconsin, opens this Friday evening May 7, with "50 First Dates" and "Secret Window" - Gates open at 7:45 with the first movie rolling at 8:20 PM and the second feature at approximately 10 PM.
And a hot summer ahead... in film politics anyway.
AP reporter Christy Lemire says:
Mel Gibson, director of "The Passion of the Christ," had difficulty finding someone willing to release his graphic telling of the last hours of Christ's life. Major studios were wary because some religious leaders feared it would foster anti-Semitism. But whether filmgoers showed up at theaters to be inspired or appalled, they showed up - and "The Passion," under independent distributor Newmarket Films, has made more than $366 million in the past 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has asked the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for a hearing on what he called a "disturbing pattern of politically based corporate censorship of the news media and the entertainment industry."
Lautenberg argued Wednesday in a letter to his committee chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that Disney (through Miramax) has the violent "Kill Bill - Vol. 2" in theaters now, but is blocking Michael Moore's film, "Fahrenheit 9/11." based on its political viewpoint.
In the movie, Moore interviewed author Craig Unger about his book "House of Bush, House of Saud," which details the Bush-Saudi relationship going back to the 1970s.
"I found about $1.4 billion in investments and contracts going from the House of Saud to companies in which the Bushes and their allies - I'm including Dick Cheney, for example - have had prominent positions," Unger said.
The book and the film also say the government helped 140 Saudis leave the United States on Sept. 13, 2001 - two dozen of whom were bin Laden's relatives.
Unger said that while he hadn't seen the film, "There's clearly a big audience for this and I think the intent to kill it will fail." He pointed to several recent books besides his own that critically examine the Bush administration, including Ron Suskind's "The Price of Loyalty," Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" and Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack."
Monday, May 03, 2004
At the start of weekly staff meetings, Wal-Martians must do the Wal-Mart chant. For those of you sitting on the edge of your seat, here's how it goes. "Gimme a 'W'!" - "W!" "Gimme an 'A'!" - "A!" "Gimme an 'L'!" - "L!" "Gimme a squiggly!" (A 'squiggly' represents the dash between the "Wal" and the "Mart"). Here, instead of yelling "squiggly" the Wal-Mart associates wiggle their asses. I'm not kidding. Then the cheerleader proceeds to yell the M, A, R, and T to the appropriate responses. Then the lead yells "What's that spell?" - "Wal-Mart!" "Who's NUMBER ONE!?" - "Customers, ALWAYS!".
A further probe inside Wal-Mart corporate culture reveals another official Wal-Mart chant:
Stack it deep.
Sell it cheap.
Stack it high and watch it fly.
Hear those downtown merchants cry
Sprawl-Busters response - "Your quality of life is worth more than a cheap pair of underwear."
A further probe inside Wal-Mart corporate culture reveals another official Wal-Mart chant:
Stack it deep.
Sell it cheap.
Stack it high and watch it fly.
Hear those downtown merchants cry
Sprawl-Busters response - "Your quality of life is worth more than a cheap pair of underwear."
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Looking back on May Day...
In olden times May Day welcomed the coming of summer with villagers putting out all home and hearth fires and gathering in common to light a new fire. Families would take a bit of the new flame to rekindle home fires. Dancing around a Maypole, filling May baskets with flowers and leaping over fires all marked the pagan festival of Beltaine. During the 1880s May Day took on a new twist with labor unions demanding that beginning May 1, "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's work." By April 1886, a quarter of a million workers had committed themselves to go on strike as part of the May Day movement.
In Chicago, between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended a May 4, 1886 rally that erupted in violence when someone threw a bomb at police officers. The ensuing Haymarket Square Riot plunged the city into hysteria and Mayor Harrison declared martial law. In conjunction with the bombing, the state arrested and indicted eight anarchists, charging them with conspiracy to murder. Despite the fact that the state could not provide evidence that any of the men had knowledge of the bomb or that they had incited or participated in the violence, all but one of the defendants were found guilty and condemned to death. But it wasn't the men so much as their ideas that were considered dangerous. The seven were hanged on November 11, 1887.
After Haymarket, workers all over the world pointed towards May 1 as their day. After 1886, rallies, strikes and other militant actions promoted the cause of the working class around the world. A conservative element within organized labor- combined with the crushing, government repression of left-wing politics in the United States- allowed the significance of the day to become lost in this country. In 1894, President Cleveland signed a bill naming not May 1, but the first Monday in September, as Labor Day. This creatively sidestepped the day that carried such historical significance. Adding further insult, President Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 as "Law Day" in 1958.
In olden times May Day welcomed the coming of summer with villagers putting out all home and hearth fires and gathering in common to light a new fire. Families would take a bit of the new flame to rekindle home fires. Dancing around a Maypole, filling May baskets with flowers and leaping over fires all marked the pagan festival of Beltaine. During the 1880s May Day took on a new twist with labor unions demanding that beginning May 1, "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's work." By April 1886, a quarter of a million workers had committed themselves to go on strike as part of the May Day movement.
In Chicago, between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended a May 4, 1886 rally that erupted in violence when someone threw a bomb at police officers. The ensuing Haymarket Square Riot plunged the city into hysteria and Mayor Harrison declared martial law. In conjunction with the bombing, the state arrested and indicted eight anarchists, charging them with conspiracy to murder. Despite the fact that the state could not provide evidence that any of the men had knowledge of the bomb or that they had incited or participated in the violence, all but one of the defendants were found guilty and condemned to death. But it wasn't the men so much as their ideas that were considered dangerous. The seven were hanged on November 11, 1887.
After Haymarket, workers all over the world pointed towards May 1 as their day. After 1886, rallies, strikes and other militant actions promoted the cause of the working class around the world. A conservative element within organized labor- combined with the crushing, government repression of left-wing politics in the United States- allowed the significance of the day to become lost in this country. In 1894, President Cleveland signed a bill naming not May 1, but the first Monday in September, as Labor Day. This creatively sidestepped the day that carried such historical significance. Adding further insult, President Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 as "Law Day" in 1958.
Friday, April 30, 2004
The Backroads Bike Club will hold an organizational meeting for the upcoming spring and summer cycling season on Thursday, May 6 at 6:30 PM in the social lounge of the Door County YMCA Northern Door Program Center in Fish Creek.
The Backroads Bike Club meets once a week for an adult two-hour ride of moderate intensity. Most rides end with an optional social stop, sometimes ice cream, sometimes dinner. Riders of different abilities are welcome and no one is left behind! The group also intends to talk about "Women's Only" rides and "Family" rides for those who are interested.
If you can't make the meeting, stop at the Fish Creek "Y" and leave your name, address, phone number or e-mail and interests. A club representative will get back to you.
The Backroads Bike Club meets once a week for an adult two-hour ride of moderate intensity. Most rides end with an optional social stop, sometimes ice cream, sometimes dinner. Riders of different abilities are welcome and no one is left behind! The group also intends to talk about "Women's Only" rides and "Family" rides for those who are interested.
If you can't make the meeting, stop at the Fish Creek "Y" and leave your name, address, phone number or e-mail and interests. A club representative will get back to you.
Thursday, April 29, 2004
The American Lung Association's State of the Air: 2004 report was released today... Details on Wisconsin's air quality once again reveal that, while Door County didn't "earn it," we once again get an F on the quality of our air - with 18 orange alert days and 2 red alert days during the last measurement season. People considered to be "at risk" on these alert days include: kids 14 and under, adults 65 and over, individuals with pediatric or adult asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema or cardiovascular disease. Out of a population of 28,101, there are 7,736 Door County residents considered to be "at risk."
Find out what you can do about the problem at Environment 2004.
Find out what you can do about the problem at Environment 2004.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
The latest upgrade to the Door County Compass Web Board allows you to pick a personal Avatar... up to a 100 X 100 px image that represents you. You can pick from the collection of avatars we supply, use an actual photo or look for a distinctive avatar at Avatarity is a site dedicated to being the best place on the net to come for Avatars.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Individuals are consuming oil as fast as it's pumped out of the ground - to the tune of 75 million barrels a day. While each drop we consume took millions of years to develop, we use it up in seconds. One thing you can count on... someday that oil will run out.
Until recently, Shell Oil executives were among the cheerful optimists who estimate that we have enough oil to last at least 100 years. Geologists and other analysts counter the Shell opinion, estimating global oil reserves to be dangerously exaggerated.
The New York Times reported that internal documents and other data indicated that Shell had over-estimated its proven oil reserves in Oman by as much as 40% - because everyone there hoped the latest drilling techniques would reach more deposits than in the past and merit upgrading the estimates. If you take oil prices currently at around US $37 a barrel, the highest for nearly 15 years, and add in the effects of war and terrorist attacks on diminishing supplies, you have a recipe for inflation and economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, here in Wisconsin Jason Toews has decided to do something for the average Joe... And, it confirms my greatest fears - that gas prices in Door County are among the highest in the state. If you want to find the best deal on gas prices, Jason offers an elegant Web-based solution. GasBuddy.com and the more specific WisconsinGasprices.com rely on you, as a network of volunteer "gas price spotters" to update price listings at filling stations around your neighborhood. The Web site is actually 4 years old, but co-founder Jason Toews says the audience has grown with the recent spike in prices.
Until recently, Shell Oil executives were among the cheerful optimists who estimate that we have enough oil to last at least 100 years. Geologists and other analysts counter the Shell opinion, estimating global oil reserves to be dangerously exaggerated.
The New York Times reported that internal documents and other data indicated that Shell had over-estimated its proven oil reserves in Oman by as much as 40% - because everyone there hoped the latest drilling techniques would reach more deposits than in the past and merit upgrading the estimates. If you take oil prices currently at around US $37 a barrel, the highest for nearly 15 years, and add in the effects of war and terrorist attacks on diminishing supplies, you have a recipe for inflation and economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, here in Wisconsin Jason Toews has decided to do something for the average Joe... And, it confirms my greatest fears - that gas prices in Door County are among the highest in the state. If you want to find the best deal on gas prices, Jason offers an elegant Web-based solution. GasBuddy.com and the more specific WisconsinGasprices.com rely on you, as a network of volunteer "gas price spotters" to update price listings at filling stations around your neighborhood. The Web site is actually 4 years old, but co-founder Jason Toews says the audience has grown with the recent spike in prices.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Wisconsin's U.S. Rep. David Obey (D) became the first lawmaker to "demand to know whether the Bush administration transferred $700 million to Iraq war planning efforts out of counterterrorism funds without informing Capitol Hill." According to Bob Woodward, the $700 million came out of a supplemental Appropriations bill meant for Afghanistan operations. And a close look at the two supplemental Appropriations bills that passed between 9/11 and July 2002 when the secret transfer took place shows that both bills mandate the White House to inform Congress if money is moved.
Similarly, while the summer 2002 supplemental bill allows the administration to transfer "up to $275 million" in unused money within the Pentagon budget, it requires the president to notify Congress within 15 days of moving money. So far, the administration has not produced a shred of evidence that it followed these laws and informed Congress. As Woodward said, "Congress, which is supposed to control the purse strings, had no real knowledge or involvement, had not even been notified that the Pentagon wanted to reprogram money."
From: http://www.americanprogress.org/
Similarly, while the summer 2002 supplemental bill allows the administration to transfer "up to $275 million" in unused money within the Pentagon budget, it requires the president to notify Congress within 15 days of moving money. So far, the administration has not produced a shred of evidence that it followed these laws and informed Congress. As Woodward said, "Congress, which is supposed to control the purse strings, had no real knowledge or involvement, had not even been notified that the Pentagon wanted to reprogram money."
From: http://www.americanprogress.org/
Monday, April 19, 2004
The Ontario government is acting to correct some of the problems of ozone pollution by completely phasing out its coal-fired power plants by 2015.
"Coal-fired power plants account for more than 60 percent of the nation's sulfur dioxide and 23 percent of its nitrogen oxide emissions, which contribute to acid rain, smog, and nitrogen pollution that damage forest and aquatic ecosystems. These plants also produce more than 32 percent of mercury pollution, which ends up in our waters to poison wildlife throughout the food chain and imperil human health. In addition, coal-fired power plants emit more than 31 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide, the gas chiefly responsible for global warming that threatens wildlife, ecosystems, and human communities around the world."
From... The Toll from Coal How Emissions from the Nation's Coal-Fired Power Plants Devastate Wildlife and Threaten Human Health
Here in Door County recent headlines have once again brought to light the problems of invisible ozone pollution... and yet Wisconsin Energy gets go-ahead to build 2 coal power plants in Oak Creek.
Connect the dots.
"Coal-fired power plants account for more than 60 percent of the nation's sulfur dioxide and 23 percent of its nitrogen oxide emissions, which contribute to acid rain, smog, and nitrogen pollution that damage forest and aquatic ecosystems. These plants also produce more than 32 percent of mercury pollution, which ends up in our waters to poison wildlife throughout the food chain and imperil human health. In addition, coal-fired power plants emit more than 31 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide, the gas chiefly responsible for global warming that threatens wildlife, ecosystems, and human communities around the world."
From... The Toll from Coal How Emissions from the Nation's Coal-Fired Power Plants Devastate Wildlife and Threaten Human Health
Here in Door County recent headlines have once again brought to light the problems of invisible ozone pollution... and yet Wisconsin Energy gets go-ahead to build 2 coal power plants in Oak Creek.
Connect the dots.
Sunday, April 18, 2004
I like documentaries - candid shots vs. posed grip-n-grins. Talking with my young friend Myles, a filmmaker, about the media and censorship led me to call Randi Rhodes on Air America Radio. I asked her to help me trace the problem of censorship in the media. Randi advised me to explore The Fairness Doctrine, in place from 1949 until 1987, when the Federal Communications Commission discontinued it.
The Fairness Doctrine once required broadcasters, as a condition of getting their licenses from the FCC, to cover controversial issues in their community, and to do so by offering some balancing views. It did not require equal time for opposing views. It merely prevented a station from day after day presenting a single view without airing opposing views.
In 1987 a bill to place the Fairness Doctrine into federal law passed the House by 3 to 1, and the Senate by nearly 2 to 1, but President Ronald Reagan vetoed it. In 1989 the Fairness Doctrine easily passed the House again, but didn't proceed further as President George Bush threatened to veto it. In 1991, hearings were again held on the doctrine, but President Bush's ongoing veto threat stymied passage.
Myles and I got into this topic while talking about the the effect that Clear Channel (which owns about 1,200 radio stations in the United States) is having on freedom of speech. I played him a copy of Barry McGuire's 60s mega-hit song "Eve of Destruction," explaining that with the run up to the war on Iraq, Clear Channel banned all such anti-war songs. Even Willie Nelson backed down. After writing a Christmas anti-war song titled "What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth," that he sung once in Austin at a Kucinich raly, Willie refused to record and release it as a single.
And with "fairness" a dead issue, Clear Channel can concentrate on further limits to freedom of speech... At WTKK-FM (96.9), host Jay Severin is no longer allowed to use the term "effing." In other cities, some stations have dropped risque talkers entirely, including the king of crass, Howard Stern. I am no fan of Howard and have only seen and heard him a few times but Puritanical intolerance is scarier than Stern himself.
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) just released "The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly" (Seven Stories Press, 2003). Written by FAIR's Peter Hart, the book sets the record straight on the errors and inconsistencies on the most-watched program on cable news.
If you want to find out what's really going on in Door County or Iraq ask a local - Rahul Mahajan provides a candid view from the streets in Blogging from Baghdad.
Watch for a screening of local student and filmaker, Myles Kristen's latest work on how the war is affecting people in Wisconsin at the Compass Internet Cafe. Join us on Thursday April 22, for the first Door County Kerry in 2004 Meetup, one of hundreds taking place all over the nation on the 4th Thursday of each month. So far, 94,036 participants have signed up on-line. In Door County Kerry Meetups take place at the Compass Internet Cafe in Fish Creek at 7 PM.
The Fairness Doctrine once required broadcasters, as a condition of getting their licenses from the FCC, to cover controversial issues in their community, and to do so by offering some balancing views. It did not require equal time for opposing views. It merely prevented a station from day after day presenting a single view without airing opposing views.
In 1987 a bill to place the Fairness Doctrine into federal law passed the House by 3 to 1, and the Senate by nearly 2 to 1, but President Ronald Reagan vetoed it. In 1989 the Fairness Doctrine easily passed the House again, but didn't proceed further as President George Bush threatened to veto it. In 1991, hearings were again held on the doctrine, but President Bush's ongoing veto threat stymied passage.
Myles and I got into this topic while talking about the the effect that Clear Channel (which owns about 1,200 radio stations in the United States) is having on freedom of speech. I played him a copy of Barry McGuire's 60s mega-hit song "Eve of Destruction," explaining that with the run up to the war on Iraq, Clear Channel banned all such anti-war songs. Even Willie Nelson backed down. After writing a Christmas anti-war song titled "What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth," that he sung once in Austin at a Kucinich raly, Willie refused to record and release it as a single.
And with "fairness" a dead issue, Clear Channel can concentrate on further limits to freedom of speech... At WTKK-FM (96.9), host Jay Severin is no longer allowed to use the term "effing." In other cities, some stations have dropped risque talkers entirely, including the king of crass, Howard Stern. I am no fan of Howard and have only seen and heard him a few times but Puritanical intolerance is scarier than Stern himself.
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) just released "The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly" (Seven Stories Press, 2003). Written by FAIR's Peter Hart, the book sets the record straight on the errors and inconsistencies on the most-watched program on cable news.
If you want to find out what's really going on in Door County or Iraq ask a local - Rahul Mahajan provides a candid view from the streets in Blogging from Baghdad.
Watch for a screening of local student and filmaker, Myles Kristen's latest work on how the war is affecting people in Wisconsin at the Compass Internet Cafe. Join us on Thursday April 22, for the first Door County Kerry in 2004 Meetup, one of hundreds taking place all over the nation on the 4th Thursday of each month. So far, 94,036 participants have signed up on-line. In Door County Kerry Meetups take place at the Compass Internet Cafe in Fish Creek at 7 PM.
Friday, April 16, 2004
On a lighter note...
Thanks for this link to pranky Abby Polomis, who decided to torture her upcoming Gibratar Prom date with a picture of her new prom dress... a dress she searched for in the pages of UglyDress.com.
This twisted collection includes the publisher's running commentary like:
"My heart goes out to these two women. Not only did they have to buy these awful dresses and then be seen in public in them, but then they tried to sell the pair of dresses on E-bay."
And...
" I know what this bridesmaid was thinking and it was pure wrong. Some people get off on a strange tangent sometimes. They try to combine two things that frankly, should remain separate. This is how 'Goobers & Grape' was invented. You know 'Goobers & Grape' it is that jar in the supermarket with BOTH peanut butter and jelly in it. Who thought of that? This bride aparently thought that the corsages should later be hung from the rear view mirrors of everyone's cars."
The Mullet Hunters will entertain promgoers at Maxwelton Braes Resort this weekend. Check out their updated Web site... www.TheMulletHunters.com
Thanks for this link to pranky Abby Polomis, who decided to torture her upcoming Gibratar Prom date with a picture of her new prom dress... a dress she searched for in the pages of UglyDress.com.
This twisted collection includes the publisher's running commentary like:
"My heart goes out to these two women. Not only did they have to buy these awful dresses and then be seen in public in them, but then they tried to sell the pair of dresses on E-bay."
And...
" I know what this bridesmaid was thinking and it was pure wrong. Some people get off on a strange tangent sometimes. They try to combine two things that frankly, should remain separate. This is how 'Goobers & Grape' was invented. You know 'Goobers & Grape' it is that jar in the supermarket with BOTH peanut butter and jelly in it. Who thought of that? This bride aparently thought that the corsages should later be hung from the rear view mirrors of everyone's cars."
The Mullet Hunters will entertain promgoers at Maxwelton Braes Resort this weekend. Check out their updated Web site... www.TheMulletHunters.com
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Lest my Jewish friends begin to suspect me of fueling anti-semitism for pointing out that the weapons of mass destruction are located in Israel... Meet the Neturei Karta. Yesterday this group of Orthodox Jews demonstrated at the White House in opposition to the visit of "Israeli" Prime Minister Sharon. The Neturei Karta oppose what they describe as "the so-called State of Israel" not because it operates secularly, but because they believe that the entire concept of a sovereign Jewish state is contrary to Jewish Law.
Yesterday they affirmed that, "Sharon and the State of 'Israel' are illegitimate and they do not represent the Jewish people."
And further stated...
Let it be known that:
* The State of "Israel" does not represent the voice of Judaism and/or the Jewish people. The Torah clearly forbids the formation of a State, for the Jewish people, in their time of exile.
* The Torah forbids stealing land, subjugating and oppressing a people etc.
* The root cause of the endless bloodshed and suffering in the Holy Land is Zionism and the State of "Israel".
* The root cause for the continual rise of worldwide anti-Semitism is Zionism and the State of "Israel".
* The Jewish people have been living in Muslim countries, including Palestine, in peace and harmony with their Arab neighbors, until the advent of Zionism.
* True to the above and for many other reasons, the rabbinic authorities universally, have vehemently opposed the State of "Israel" since the time of its inception.
Neturei Karta says, "The only working solution to a true and lasting peace is the total dismantling of this illegitimate State of "Israel" - a transformation to a Palestinian rule. Any other of the countless proposals for peace, whereby the State of "Israel" would continue to exist, is futile."
Yesterday they affirmed that, "Sharon and the State of 'Israel' are illegitimate and they do not represent the Jewish people."
And further stated...
Let it be known that:
* The State of "Israel" does not represent the voice of Judaism and/or the Jewish people. The Torah clearly forbids the formation of a State, for the Jewish people, in their time of exile.
* The Torah forbids stealing land, subjugating and oppressing a people etc.
* The root cause of the endless bloodshed and suffering in the Holy Land is Zionism and the State of "Israel".
* The root cause for the continual rise of worldwide anti-Semitism is Zionism and the State of "Israel".
* The Jewish people have been living in Muslim countries, including Palestine, in peace and harmony with their Arab neighbors, until the advent of Zionism.
* True to the above and for many other reasons, the rabbinic authorities universally, have vehemently opposed the State of "Israel" since the time of its inception.
Neturei Karta says, "The only working solution to a true and lasting peace is the total dismantling of this illegitimate State of "Israel" - a transformation to a Palestinian rule. Any other of the countless proposals for peace, whereby the State of "Israel" would continue to exist, is futile."
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Over a year ago I came across a map developed by MSNBC as an interactive aid to an on-line news story. At the time, it was rumored that the map was no longer linked to any story and that the only way to see this "orphaned" peice of Flash media was by using this link to call it up from the archives of MSNBC's servers. I studied the details provided on the map, and was shocked to see the exact locations of most of the Weapons of Mass Destruction still located in the Middle East. Soon after looking at the map I lost the link... and have continued to look for it using numerous searches ever since.
Well, today I found it... Take a look at the map of WMD's in abundance.
Well, today I found it... Take a look at the map of WMD's in abundance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
