Monday, July 22
My column about my recent experience with FreeRepublic.
"But now when we think of the ugly word 'informant,' we must not only think of Hitler or the Soviet Union. We must think of George Bush." Column by Jack Rain.
Domestic Role for Military Gains Support
"The Bush administration has directed lawyers in the Departments of Justice and Defense to review the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and any other laws that sharply restrict the military's ability to participate in domestic law enforcement."
Arabs in U.S. Could Be Held, Official Warns
"If there's a future terrorist attack in America and they come from the same ethnic group that attacked the World Trade Center, you can forget about civil rights."
The Case of the Missing Anthrax
"The 400 pages of documents...quote a newly arrived officer named Michael Langford as saying that he found 'little or no organization,' 'little or no accountability,' 'a very lax and unorganized system' and signs of covert work and cover-ups." (NYT link)
"A scathing House report charges the agency is badly mismanaged."
Israeli Repression and the Language of Liars
"If what we see in Israel is indeed democracy, then what does fascism look like?" An excellent column.
That most Israelis are fed up with the occupation and just want to get out.
Civilians Die from Errors in Air Strikes
"What we don't like is that the Americans have bombed villages where people hated the Taliban or al Qaeda just as much as the Americans. They have killed a lot of innocent people, and we haven't heard a single word of apology."
General Says Pilot Wasn't Aware of Dummy Bombs
"In his opening remarks at a press conference..., Rogers didn't disclose that the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter was carrying out a practice raid on targets in those communities. But when asked point-blank, he said, 'That's true.' 'We routinely fly training routes around the Southwest United States,' he said." WTF?
LP conventions always attract some interesting people.
"They are America's most secretive potheads--a vast underground of otherwise upstanding citizens secretly subverting the nation's drug laws."
Lay Catholics Issue Call to Transform Their Church
"What we have experienced in our lifetime is a disaster, the horror of which is perhaps equaled by the bloodshed of the Inquisition, but which certainly makes the indulgence scam of the Reformation pale by comparison,'' Doyle said. ''What we see before us are the beginning death throes of the medieval, monarchical model that was based on the belief that a small, select minority of the educated, privileged, and power-invested was called forth by God to manage the temporal and spiritual lives of the faceless masses." Wow!
At Seminary, Unease Over Gay Priests
"Hey--are we the only straight guys here or what?" Pretty much.
Conservative Group to Sue Over Required Book at UNC
"The entire university system in North Carolina should be ashamed of itself for forcing a religion on students that many will find not only offensive but totally opposed to their own religious views," stated Terry Moffit, chairman of the Family Policy Network. Yeah, that is shameful, isn't it, Terry?
Without the State, he would have had to stick to watercolors.
Village Orders Ramp for Handicapped Boy Removed
It was two feet too close to the street.
Heroic man bottles rainwater for drinking, but he almost didn't get approval from the government: "Rainwater is not a source for drinking water," more than one official told him. "It's not approved." Yeah, because it doesn't have any chlorine or fluoride in it.
Quite a motley crew.
Brazilians See Virgin Mary in a Window
"They said pilgrims had come from far and wide, drawn by the rainbow-coloured image that appeared in a garage window...."
Eli, What Do You Think About This? *
In the forum.