Wednesday, January 9
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Sharon Secor is the guest editor today. |
"The state by its nature continually violates the moral norms that otherwise govern people, so it could not survive unless people believed, if only implicitly, that the state is more than human." Column by John Markley.
White House Told to Provide E-mail Info
"A federal magistrate ordered the White House on Tuesday to reveal whether copies of possibly millions of missing e-mails are stored on computer backup tapes." Yes, and we've seen how effective ordering this administration to be forthcoming with information has been. We've seen subpoenas ignored, a multitude of ways to say “I don't remember” under oath, etc. and so on. Yet another judge making yet another demand is going to be different? I doubt it.
Report Reveals Vietnam War Hoaxes, Faked Attacks
"...probably the 'most historically significant feature' of the declassified report was the retelling of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. That was a reported North Vietnamese attack on American destroyers that helped lead to president Lyndon Johnson's sharp escalation of American forces in Vietnam. The author of the report 'demonstrates that not only is it not true, as (then US) secretary of defense Robert McNamara told Congress, that the evidence of an attack was 'unimpeachable,' but that to the contrary, a review of the classified signals intelligence proves that 'no attack happened that night,'" FAS said in a statement. 'What this study demonstrated is that the available intelligence shows that there was no attack. It's a dramatic reversal of the historical record,' Aftergood said." Bush lying us into war with Iraq is not the first time a president has lied this nation into war, and it probably won't be the last.
SWAT Officers Invade Home, Take 11-Year-Old at Gunpoint
“Nearly a dozen members of a police SWAT team in western Colorado punched a hole in the front door and invaded a family's home with guns drawn, demanding that an 11-year-old boy who had had an accidental fall accompany them to the hospital, on the order of Garfield County Magistrate Lain Leoniak.” Evidently, an 11-year-old took a fall while playing around. Paramedics were called by some nosy-ass neighbor. The father, parent to 10 children and former Vietnam medic, after performing the standard checks on a head whacking incident (fairly standard in the life of active children), including making sure pupils are reacting to light evenly, asking questions to confirm short and long term memory is in order, etc., decided he'd rather keep an eye on the child at home, and if there was a problem bring him in. That is exactly what I would have done, rather than needlessly expose my child to the virulent, drug-resistant infections and illness that plague hospitals today, as well as all the other communicable crap – it is a place that very sick people go, after all – and staff errors to be found there. The result of this parental decision? A SWAT team coming in, pointing guns at people, and the forcible removal of the child? Pure insanity, a rabid, sick State out of control. And, guess what? For all that, when the Storm Troopers got the child to the hospital, “a doctor evaluated him and released him immediately.”
ACLU Rips Plan to Track R.I. Students
“The district was interested in trying out the program in the hopes that it would improve communication with parents, who will be able to check a Web site to see whether the buses are on time and their children are on them, Kraeger said.” Yeah-uh-huh...That's how it always starts, the safety of the children.
“One wonders if this wailing for change and praise for anyone who will promise it is much more than the cry of spoiled children...” I do think that many Americans are like spoiled children, demanding cradle to grave care from a nanny state, expecting government solutions to things that are their own responsibilities. Now, I really wouldn't care too much about those people, if the results of their refusal to manage their own lives didn't spill over into mine in the form of ever increasing government intrusion. But, I must tell you, I am starting to feel a bit resentful when I am inconvenienced and hassled by their nanny state.
How annoying!! Ms. Steinem, it is not because Hillary is a woman that she is struggling in the primary process, but rather because she is nakedly fascist to a degree that causes alarm even to Democrats. Even Americans that lack the historical perspective and/or political acumen to recognize fascism can tell that she is dangerous.
Checkbook Journalism Revisited
An interesting article about journalistic ethics and the shaping of the news and other information many of us read.
NIAID Experts See Dengue as Potential Threat to U.S. Public Health
“Worldwide, dengue is among the most important reemerging infectious diseases with an estimated 50 to 100 million annual cases…[and] 22,000 deaths.” Public health officials need to take the threat seriously, the scientists assert, because no specific treatments or vaccines for dengue are available. To fight the disease, they state, 'The formidable challenges of understanding dengue pathogenesis and of developing effective therapies and vaccines must be met.' Another threat...perhaps because the whole avian flu thing didn't really work out for them? Other than, of course, the purchase of billions of dollars worth of Tamiflu, a drug that's rights were held by a company with long standing ties to Donald Rumsfeld. Which governmental cronies, I wonder, will profit from this new focus?
Toddlers Medicated for Bipolar Disorder in Record Numbers
This is obscene. Any real psychiatrist knows that such mental illness is almost impossible to diagnose accurately in a child so young. Big Pharm thanks the morons who allow their children to be medicated in such a fashion and is especially appreciative of the high rate of children in state care that help increase their profit margin. And, don't forget, the majority of these drugs have not even been tested or approved for children so young, so little.
Dollar Resumes Fall Against Pound, Euro
A race to the finish...what will come first, the 2008 election or the failure of the dollar and the implosion of the entire economy?
Recession in the US 'Has Arrived'
“The feared recession in the US economy has already arrived, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. It said that Friday's employment report, which sent shares tumbling worldwide, confirmed that the US is in the first month of a recession. Its view is controversial, with banks such as Lehman Brothers disagreeing.”
No Jobs for the New Economy or the Old
"The next time you see Lincoln’s portrait on a five-dollar bill, the judge concludes, 'remember how many civil liberties he took away from you'." Woo-Hoo! Tell it! I love to hear the truth proclaimed so clearly.
Dog Shoots, Kills Texas Hunter
“It's not uncommon for hunters to be shot by their dogs.” Hmm...Now that I'm up to 5 Great Danes and have developed a new found appreciation for the Second Amendment, I'll have to be make sure to be extra careful. I'd be quite embarrassed indeed to have to admit that an afternoon's skeet shooting went terribly wrong and ended with one of my dogs shooting me.
Home built, Trailer Mounted Cabin
“It is 7'x21' folded for traveling, and opens to a full 15'x21' once you arrive on location. It can be set up semi-permanently in less than 3 hours, and the axles and hitch may be either left in place or, if you plan to set it up permanently, removed. Either way, once it is set up there is little to no danger of it being stolen because it is no longer in a towable configuration. It just looks like a standard cabin. It can be towed anywhere a 4x4 pickup can go....It can be built for about $3000, or less if you can scrounge used materials; and it can be built at home on weekends, and a little at a time as you have money for materials.”
A photo blog.