Friday, July 23, 2004

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U.S. Army Offers Breast Implants as Incentive

One hardly knows what to say... from Democracy Now:

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

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Who Are the Moral Relativists?

I know we're supposed to be horrified by all these Americans being killed and kidnapped in the Middle East, so horrified that we find ourselves loathing Muslims and bent on blind revenge, but isn't it funny that this administration is guilty of the same crimes on a massively larger scale, picking up Iraqi men and boys indiscriminately, locking them up, torturing, and even killing them in cold blood?

And should it trouble us that the number of innocent civilians, including children, who never in their lives supported Al Qaeda or Saddam Hussein, who have been killed by our bombs and missiles and dumped into the mass grave called collateral damage, though untallied, has by now duplicated 9-11 many times over, yet many Americans still use 9-11 as their pillar of support for this war?

Or that certain millions of so-called Christians, while professing adherence to the teachings of one they call their saviour, that include admonitions on violence and greed, turn the other cheek--that is, look the other way--when a President who lays the same claims as they to faith enriches his family and friends while threatening and terrorizing millions?

And that all the while, the facts are filtered and distorted beyond recognition by a press that every day gives new meaning to the terms 'embedded', "corrupt", 'lying', and 'duplicitous??'

Should we be OK with all of this? Or should we demand justice on behalf of all the victims of this sick game? Shall we say 'never again!' and watch, again, as the same crimes are commited, again and again? Let me say it once more: You are either with us, the peace-loving people of the world, or you are with the corrupt politicians and the profiteers who together ensure a future of bloodshed for all but themselves.

Sunday, June 06, 2004

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Bush Losing It Big Time

Granted, Capitol Hill Blue might be trying to pull off a New York Times by printing stuff that's impossible to confirm or deny, but we're Americans--pesky truths can't stand in the way of a good conspiracy. In fact, I've heard people saying that Mr. Bush might be drinking again! Yikes!

Bush Leagues
Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides
By DOUG THOMPSON
Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue
Jun 4, 2004, 06:15


President George W. Bush's increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings
has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express
growing concern over their leader's state of mind.

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes
from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media,
Democrats and others that he classifies as "enemies of the state."

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly
wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer
trusts his policies in Iraq or at home. "It reminds me of the Nixon days," says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. "Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That's the mood over there."

In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk
off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led
by a man who declares his decisions to be "God's will" and then tells aides
to "fuck over" anyone they consider to be an opponent of the
administration.

"We're at war, there's no doubt about it. What I don't know anymore is just
who the enemy might be," says one troubled White House aide. "We seem to
spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies
list just keeps growing and growing."

[click on 'Comments' below for the rest of the text.]

Monday, May 03, 2004

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Viceroy Bremer Accused Bush of Ignoring Terrorism before 9/11/01

From Salon.com:

...Ahead of the November election, Bush is facing criticism he didn't make terrorism his No. 1 priority before the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center and then weakened the war on terror by invading Iraq and shifting the focus from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. The resurfacing of Bremer's comments added to administration frustrations.

At a McCormick Tribune Foundation conference on terrorism on Feb. 26, 2001, Bremer said, "The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism. What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, 'Oh, my God, shouldn't we be organized to deal with this?'

"That's too bad. They've been given a window of opportunity with very little terrorism now, and they're not taking advantage of it."

Bremer made the speech after he had chaired the National Commission on Terrorism, a bipartisan body formed by the Clinton administration to examine U.S. counterterrorism policies...

Monday, April 26, 2004

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Bush on Jeopardy Cartoon

Friday, April 23, 2004

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Suspicious Activity ReportS: the other SARS

Don't let the fact that they're focusing on banks at the moment fool you. Remember to file your SAR electronically, if possible.

Saturday, February 28, 2004

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Drake University & Anti-War Activists Resist Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas

from Refuse & Resist:

Drake University & Anti-War Activists Resist Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas

R&R! Issued the following statement "Just Say NO to Grand Jury Attack on the
Anti-War Movement" as soon as we learned about the government's outrageous
subpoenas against Drake University (requesting information about a National
Lawyers Guild chapter on campus and a recent conference they hosted) and
four anti-war activists in Des Moines. The federal authorities claimed that
they were investigating an unnamed person who allegedly attempted to scale a
fence during an antiwar demonstration at a federal facility.

On February 10th, the day the activists and the university were ordered to
testify, a crowd of over 200 supporters cheered when they learned that the
government had withdrawn the subpoenas at the last minute! A federal judge
also lifted the gag order on Drake officials.

The National Lawyers Guild President Michael Avery said, "The government was
forced to back down in this case and it shows that people can and should
stand up to the government when it is abusing its powers."

On just a couple of hours notice, an R&R! member from Chicago drove to Des
Moines to participate in the protest on Tuesday. Here's his report followed
by a link to the R&R! statement:

We can claim victory over the Feds in Iowa! But, is it time to breathe a
sigh of relief? I say NO! It's time to organize, get ready for the next
rounds of subpoenas. Bring not 200 activists to the courthouse but 20,000.
Our right of dissent is at stake. Our ability to meet, to talk freely, to
not be on a list, to protest are all at stake.

Over 200 people met at the Federal Courthouse steps in Des Moines Iowa
February 10th, at noon to show support for four peace activists who had been
subpoenaed to testify in front of a criminal grand jury. Drake University
had been subpoenaed and gagged. The crimes? The University and activists had met for a forum on civil disobedience sponsored by the Drake School of Law National Lawyers Guild Chapter. The activists protested the next day, using
their first amendment rights.

The crowd, composed of activists from the peace community, students, civil
libertarians, and anti-repression activists, cheered when it was announced
that a Federal Judge had quashed the subpoenas. The motions to suppress the
subpoenas were prepared for Drake University by The NLG and the motion for
the Des Moines Four was prepared by the Iowa Civil Liberties Union.

The speakers told their stories, stories of fear, intimidation, where they
felt the victim. Not one of those subpoenaed said this would stop them.
Only one speaker asked what were we going to do if this happens again.

Was this some mistake on the government's part? Did some Federal prosecutor, acting alone, overzealously, subpoena these non-violent peace activists? In a town where the Federal Prosecutor is on a first name basis with some of those served subpoenas, could this really have been an aberration or was this a test case in which the men who control the Juggernaut of fear and
repression could see who turns out for the defense of the innocent?

In order for the government to successfully engage in war on the world it
needs to kill dissent at home. Could this have been a warning, or was it a
practice run to slice into the heart of the anti-war movement? The Feds have
been cutting their teeth on these types of subpoenas in the Arab, Muslim,
and South Asian communities since 2001.

The Press was on our side in Iowa, but next time it may not be those who are
easily related to in the press who get a federal subpoena. Next time there
may not be 200 people at the steps of the courthouse, next time the judge
hearing the motions to suppress may be a Bush appointee. Next time they may
come for you.

Check out the R&R! national statement issued on February 9th, 2004 here

http://www.refuseandresist.org/police_state/art.php?aid=1250

Saturday, December 27, 2003

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The Destrucion Was Mutual

President Jimmy Carter, Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights activist. Here is what he said on the Vietnam War.

"Well, the destruction was mutual. You know, we went to Vietnam without any desire to capture territory or to impose American will on other people. We went there to defend the freedom of the South Vietnamese, and I don't feel that we ought to aoplogize or to castigate ourselves or to assume the status of culpability.

Now, I'm willing to face the future without reference to the past. And that's what the Vietnamese leaders have proposed. And if normalization of relationships there evolves trade, normal aid processes, then I would respond well. But I don't feel that we have, that we owe a debt nor that we should be forced to pay reparations, or at all. "

Later, he says "President Mobutu has been a friend of ours".

You can find the entire transcript under the heading "Transcript of President's News Conference on Foreign and Domestic Issues", New York Times, Mar 25, 1977. This archive is accessible electronically through the Harvard library.

Monday, December 15, 2003

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Democracy Now

While continuing on my project to read through the entire internet I came across what seems like a very good resource for alternative news summaries and other information. An organization called Democracy Now gives daily hour long news reports streaming audio/video with lots of the same stuff we cover, and some stuff we miss starting at 8 am! (I salivated when I saw this).

One of the items they covered which we didn't pick up was:

1. ABC news removes reporters who were travelling with the campaigns of Kucinich, Braun and Sharpton. This was interesting because it came the day after Kucinich replied to Ted Koppel's questions in the democratic debate in a way which was arguably embarassing to Koppel, but more importantly he said something along the lines of "I want the american people to see where the media takes debate in this country" alluding to the fact that Koppel repeatedly asked him questions about whether he was going to drop out, and what he thought of others getting endorsements . ABC news insists that it was mere coincidence, and perhaps it was, but it is a fairly remarkable one.

This is a great resource, and something we should definitely check up on before doing the news summaries. Unfortunately, they don't publish on weekends (sorry Gus and Nura :P).

Click here to see the rest of this post and more stories Democracy Now reported on.

Saturday, December 13, 2003

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Bushonomics at Home and Abroad

A number of events in Iraq and the US in the past few weeks have painted a particularly telling picture of the economic policies of the Bush administration. In the US there have been three important economic decisions by the government; the medicare bill, the energy bill and the repeal of the Steel tariffs. In Iraq: the overpaying of the US contractors, the restriction of contracts to members of the coalition of the willing, the underpaying of the Iraqi army leading to mass desertions, and the harsh crackdown on labor.I started writing on this, and kept going and going.

Click here to see the rest of this post.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

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Chaplain for Muslims at Guantanamo detained & prosecuted

The military detained a Chinese-American U.S. citizen who served as Muslim chaplain in Guantanamo, to press espionage charges against him for carrying supposedly "classified" documents out of the bay.  They are trying him before a military tribunal, kept him in solitary confinement for three months, and floudering for a case, have resorted to charging him with adultery and keeping pornography on his computer. Latest Nytimes update here.

What is it they're trying to hide at Guantanamo?

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

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The End of the American Empire?

The invasion of Iraq is a classic case of imperial overreach. The neoconservatives seem to be bent on dismantling the empire from within by causing a fiscal train wreck. For all of Niall Ferguson's shrill protests, the Eurocentric historical narrative is in shambles.

Now OPEC may shift to the Euro -- the end of dollar hegemony is at hand!

Do we see light at the end of the tunnel? See the Monthly Review for some detailed analysis.

P.S:Of course, I exaggerate for effect. We have a long struggle ahead of us.

Monday, December 08, 2003

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Why is this not Racism?

Wesley Clark wrote an op-ed for the Crimson. In this op-ed, Clark says:
".... and today, more than 400 brave men and women have paid the price."

later, in the article:
"we need to change course. We need a president who does more than talk about success. We need a president with a plan to achieve it. I do not just say this; I have done it. In the war in Kosovo we achieved our goals without the loss of a single American soldier"

So, when Clark thinks of the consequences of the war, he sees only American troops, not the devastation of an entire country and thousands of people killed or maimed by the invasion. And, he is proud of Kosovo because the aims were achieved without American casualties. What about Yugoslavian casualties?

This selfish, ethnocentric attitude is precisely what allowed this war to happen. When will people like Clark, Bush and Clinton acknowledge that other parts of the world are inhabited by human beings. These human beings have a culture and political structures and a history -- that the 'Arab mind' cannot be understood, because there is no 'Arab mind'.

As far as the human consequences of the war go, body counts mean nothing because it is impossible to quantify the devastation caused by the war. Tabulating casualties is disgusting and voyeuristic. But, if we are ever foced into doing so, we must keep the following principles in mind:

1. Either, count only Iraqi civilians
2. If American troops are counted, Iraqi troops must be counted. About 30,000 of them perished.

Any sentence that begins with "400 American troops and 10,000 Iraqi civilians" is racist, whether or not the author of the statement is aware of the deeply offensive assumptions inherent in the sentence structure.

P.S: When I re-read what I wrote above, I realise how angry I was when I wrote it! But, anyway Trygve tells me that, at Kirkland House today, Wesley Clark supported 'The Israeli Wall'. Among his many reasons, one was : "Palestinians and other terrorists should not be allowed to enter Israel".

Saturday, December 06, 2003

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David Brooks

Sometimes, I agree with Ann Coulter. For one of the world's most influential newspapers, the New York Times publishes nonsense.

A few months ago, they hired this new columnis David Brooks. This guy promptly displaced Safire as 'first hawk' and went on churn out completely nonsensical partisan propaganda. And we are forced to read his drivel every week.

A couple of weeks ago, this guy David Brooks said the following:
"history shows that Americans are willing to make sacrifices. The real doubts come when we see ourselves inflicting them. What will happen to the national mood when the news programmes start broadcasting images of the brutal measures our own troops will have to adopt"

oh my god ... read, "we will soon need to conduct genocide on a large scale to sate our greed for oil, why dont you reserve your indignation for that?"

Today, he writes some rubbish that could have come straight out of Rush Limbaugh -- about the 'liberal' New York and how the poor conservatives will be hassled in the city.

And, of course, we have the anti-Arab racism that characterized 3 of the New York Times regular commentators at last count.
"We also need to tell them what they will need to blend in: ... Yasir Arafat-style facial hair .... We're going to have to give them phrases they can use in case they are called upon to make elevator small talk. We have to give them examples of sentiments they should avoid ('You're Jewish? Oh, I love your Ariel Sharon!')"

Why does the New York Times hire people like this? What do they contribute? political analysis???

Friday, December 05, 2003

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Special Registration... continues?

In late November we heard hints that the Department of Homeland Security was planning to end special registration -- its inefficient and racist policy of trying to track male visitors from Muslim countries and N. Korea, by calling people in to be finger-printed and photographed. Special registration resulted in the arbitrary and spontaneous detention of hundreds of Iranians when first implemented in L.A. last year -- most of whom were later released after the initial hysteria. However, 14,000 of the over 83,000 people registered have been placed in deportation proceedings as a result of showing up.

And then we heard that it was over.

However, the DHS may be planning a new program, US VISIT, to similarly monitor visitors by logging entries and exits at major air and sea ports. Also, the Blue Triangle Network provides this analysis:

I would argue that while perceived Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims will continue to be aggressively profiled, what is happening will serve as tools for cracking down on migrants and visitors of many, many other nationalities. (Yay for my first post! Sorry for all the text, but a link to the above could not be found.)

Thursday, December 04, 2003

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The Beauty of Democracy and Steel Tariffs

Eric Hobsbawm describes this eloquently. [I'll put the exact quote here by evening!]. The birth of democracy meant the end of political honesty. Which politician was likely to tell his voters that they were foolish and incapable of deciding their future for themselves?

So, a bourgeois democracy typically throws up some scum -- the people who are most willing to cozy up to the powers, have the least integrity, are the most corrupt, the most vicious etc. These people then make pious statements and expect others to believe them!

So, as we all know Mr Bush imposed tariffs on imported steel. The EU held a gun to his head and threatened to slap billions of dollars of sanctions. So, Mr Bush repealed the tariffs. But hear the man speak:

George Bush: "US steel jobs have been given another chance to compete."
George Bush:"These safeguard measures have now achieved their purpose and, as a result of changed economic circumstances, it is time to lift them"

Our beloved Robert Zoellick(who performs the arm-twisting on behalf of the US at the WTO) exceeded Mr. Dubya:
"US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said the tariff decision had been made independently of the threat of retaliation by the EU. "[Emphasis added]

See the BBC story for some more hilarious quotes!