The commission investigating the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US has found no "credible evidence" that Iraq helped al-Qaeda carry them out.Got that yet? Apparently not.
It contradicts Monday's remarks by the US vice-president about Saddam Hussein "long-established ties" with al-Qaeda.
Bill Clinton "plans to lend a political hand to the Kerry campaign while on a cross-country tour to promote his memoirs," the New York Times reports.
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Causeway officials admit that lack of enforcement of the 55 mph limit is one of the worst-kept secrets in the New Orleans area, and they've crafted a counterintuitive plan to improve bridge safety: They want to raise the speed limit to 65 mph.
A web site has launched a campaign to deter theater owners from showing Michael Moore's film, "Fahrenheit 9-11". A list of theaters currently committed to showing the film is provided along with exhortations to call and demand that the film be dropped. Some theater owners are reporting receiving death threats.Where were these folks when we actually needed them? No thanks to them I've had to sit through Spiderman, Dracula 2000, Titanic, and Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge... oh the horror.
An upper level system in the Yucatan Peninsula bears watching this weekend, according to WWL-TV Chief Meteorologist Carl Arredondo.
This book, although a resource used in many classrooms across the United States, has been overused. This book has an improper representation of the history of Squanto's life. Research has not been done at all in the development of this book. The way in which the author portrays Squanto is very poor as well. This book was written in 1954, a time in which the idea of what an Indian was supposed to be was stereotypical. Squanto is portrayed as unable to speak proper English even after 9 years in England. I would not recommend that this book be used in the classroom unless it is to address the stereotypical view of Indians. There are more recent publications that are much more suitable for reading.If any of this has been cleaned up a bit in later editions, I'm sure our copy does not reflect this. Like I said, gross.
For a book with accurate historical information and reference items in the back of the book, see Joseph Bruchac's Squanto's Journey.
If I could give a rating of zero, I would.
Kerry and the "responsible" Dems can play the bipartisan game that Reagan was not an evil monster, but I won't. This is a man who supported Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein when it suited his Cold War purposes, then we are expected to forget that thousands died in New York City because this man thought playing "enemy of my enemy is my friend" games wouldn't lead to consequences. The pit at Ground Zero is Ronald Reagan's legacy.
But let's not forget his trade policies. Through the IMF, Reagan promoted structural adjustment programs that demanded that poor nations stop growing food and start growing cash crops to pay off debt to Northern banks. Poverty and malnutrition soared throughout Africa and Latin America. And tied to trade were new requirements that those nations enforce intellectual property laws, especially on prescription drugs, so that if those poor people got sick, they could no longer afford drugs needed to keep them alive.
That Reagan led an assault on labor unions is a given. The PATCO strike and the crushing of the air controllers union was a defining moment of Reagan's Presidency. The assault on wage levels and health care by employers under Reagan went non-stop and the number of unionized workers plummetted.
Your cell-phone company knows you hate it. Mobile-phone service was the second-lowest-ranked industry -- beating only cable providers among the 40 rated -- in the University of Michigan's newest customer satisfaction index.Of course the cell providers are typically cynical bastards. How do they respond to the numerous service complaints and claims of fraud? Two ways: 1) By insulting their customers' intelligence.
And there's more: Mobile companies were the No. 2 sector in complaints last year to Better Business Bureaus, dropping from first place in 2002. Only auto dealers did worse.
Asked about the ranking, Verizon's Rabe said, "Compared to what? Lands' End? You have to compare apples to apples. I wouldn't compare the customer experience of dealing with a complicated technology with buying a shirt. It's just a whole different challenge."This is disingenuous in the extreme. The "complicated technology" has absolutely nothing to do with hiding fees in fine print, or charging fees for services which cost the company little or nothing to produce, or charging a widow an "early exit" fee on a dead husband's contract.
To improve service, the company has increased training for customer service employees to 10 days a year, introduced a new plan it said addresses common complaints and tied executive compensation to customer satisfaction, said Cindy Rock, senior vice president for customer solutions at Sprint PCS.In other words, in response to complaints from customers generated by the company's policy of institutionalized theivery, thousands of underpaid customer service representatives will be forced to sit through hours of condescending classes on how to smile presented by a soulless coke-head consultant who makes six times their salary.
One difference could be a money-laundering statute passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 1998. Under the law, attorneys said, police agencies can seize cash -- even if no illegal substances are found -- as long as they suspect the money was generated through unlawful activity such as drug trafficking.Sounds like the ChristianExodus folks are pretty close to getting what they want here.
Critics said local law enforcement agencies have a vested interest in seizing as much cash as they can, because under Mississippi law they can use it to buy squad cars and other equipment if the property owner doesn't attempt to reclaim it within 30 days.
In the meantime, they won't be taking any more trips to Jackson.
"I'll never drive through Mississippi again," Quattom said. "That is another country there -- that is not the United States.
"One of the prayers I ask is that God's light shines through me as best as possible, no matter how opaque the window," said Bush, a United Methodist.
Domestically, he considers his work on faith-based initiatives to be one of his most important efforts and thinks a change in the definition of marriage "will weaken civilization."But, really, the most offensive nugget here is the part where the President badly misrepresents his job description.
"The job of a president is to help cultures change," Bush told the nine writers and executives, according to an edited transcript posted Friday on ChristianityToday.com. "Governments cannot change culture alone. . . . I understand that. But I can be a voice of cultural change."For an actual job description for the position: President of the United States click here. Now I know that folks enjoy throwing the word facism around but... there it is. The executive officer of the government believes he has some role to play in the emotional and spiritual leadership of the populace. This is so wrong that it makes my brain freeze trying to describe the depth of its wrongitude. Somewhere in my head full of mushy, icy slush is an argument that goes something like constitutional democracy is based on the rule of law and not of messianic evangelical supermen who derive power through cult of personality. But then again why bother? Sheep like to be led and there does seem to be a surge in the bleating population these days. I think what I actually would like is to live in a bubble. A soundproof bubble. Oh but can I have some peanut butter pretzel Combos in there with me? And a helper monkey. And a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul. And a copy of Chicken Soup for the Helper Monkey's Soul. And I think that's it.
Actually this sounds really good. The Red Sox owners aren't interested in bulldozing one of baseball's landmarks. Principal owner John Henry said any renovations of the ballpark would add a maximum of 5,000 seats, bringing capacity to no more than 40,000 fans. "I love Fenway,'' Henry said in an interview from Fenway Park last night. "I don't think you can replicate the magic you have here. It would never feel like Fenway.''I'm something of a reactionary when it comes to baseball so while I am relieved to hear that they don't want to dynamite Fenway Park, the mere suggestion that this is statistically a possible outcome makes me all edgy.
Henry's statements are the strongest suggestion to date that the owners of the Red Sox would prefer to remain at their home for the past 92 years, rather than build a new ballpark in the same neighborhood or in another section of the city.
The efforts of Christian activism have proven futile over the past five decades and, whereas desperate times require desperate measures, we are now in the most desperate of times. The federal government is considering whether marriage, the foundation of civilization since Creation, should be reserved solely to a man and a woman. Christians must now draw a line in the sand and unite in a sovereign state to dissolve our bond with the current union comprised as the United States of America.Yep, you heard that right, kids. Things have gotten so out of hand that it's time to gather 50,000 righteous living GSUS loving rednecks and move them to (actual state yet to be chosen) in order to affect the removal of that state from the United States of America thereby "redeeming" it and bringing about "....an independent Christian nation where people may once again worship God under the protection of a friendly government. In addition, such a nation will be free of burdensome taxation and federal meddling in local affairs. Matter of factly, the liberties we have lost to liberalism over the past century will be restored in one fell swoop."
ChristianExodus.org is researching three candidate states: Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina. These states were chosen because of their relatively small populations, their coastal access and their Christian-conservative citizenry. In addition, each of these states possesses a rich history of standing up for its rights. Our board of directors considers the values of these three states to be very similar to the values held by our membership.Coastal access? Must have something to do with this.
ChristianExodus.org understands that the most important concern to our membership will be employment in our destination state. To help our members find employment, we will establish an employment service once our target state is chosen. ChristianExodus.org will recruit employers to hire our members as they emigrate. Different programs and incentives are currently being evaluated in the hope that we’ll be able to find desired employment for all members who need help. Check our Employment page occasionally for updates and new opportunities (many will be added once our destination is chosen).Note: Employment page not yet available, but they haven't chosen a state yet so I'll give them some time. Personally, I promise to do as much as I possibly can to help this happen. You should too.
Futrell's bill would do away with the annual inspection every Louisiana vehicle owner is required to have. He said 29 other states have eliminated similar inspections, meaning 60 percent of the nation's vehicles aren't inspected. Futrell said there was no proven correlation between the inspections and safety.It would be nice, though, since my brake tag expired in February and I have done nothing about it due only to my own entropy. Question: Why am I just learning about this now? Must have been on Timshel at some point.
Suppose you like girlsI'm confused. Do you think that was actually an attempt at empathy or condescension? Either way it's hilarious.
You've already worked out a way of life for yourself to which I could contribute no helpful advice. I'm sure your problems are many. I don't know about your pleasures. At any rate, it's your business and I think it's a shame you have to be so surreptitious about your choice of a way of life.
Coffee and Caffeine Consumption Protect Against Liver Injury in the United States Population Researchers from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease of the National Institutes of Health are reporting that among people who are at high risk for liver problems, coffee drinking and consumption of other caffeinated beverages may reduce risk of liver disease.Typically, I stumble into a healthy living pattern by cultivating a pair of vices which happily cancel each other out.
Archaeologists have found what they believe to be the site of the Library of Alexandria, often described as the world's first major seat of learning.In another two thousand years they'll excavate this place and discover a well preserved copy of Cane Juice Defecation
Rumsfeld and Cambone went a step further, however: they expanded the scope of the sap, bringing its unconventional methods to Abu Ghraib. The commandos were to operate in Iraq as they had in Afghanistan. The male prisoners could be treated roughly, and exposed to sexual humiliation.Meanwhile let's check Matt's Blame Game to see just how far any of this has sunk in. Hmmmm that's not so encouraging. Also I should mention that last night, one of my dinner companions said to me, "Why are those people attacking us? I don't understand why they hate us." The sad point is that most of America remains soundly asleep and I remain certain that Bush will win this fall.
"They weren't getting anything substantive from the detainees in Iraq," the former intelligence official told me. "No names. Nothing that they could hang their hat on. Cambone says, I've got to crack this thing and I'm tired of working through the normal chain of command. I've got this apparatus set up-the black special-access program-and I'm going in hot. So he pulls the switch, and the electricity begins flowing last summer. And it's working. We're getting a picture of the insurgency in Iraq and the intelligence is flowing into the white world. We're getting good stuff. But we've got more targets-prisoners in Iraqi jails-than people who can handle them."
Cambone then made another crucial decision, the former intelligence official told me: not only would he bring the sap's rules into the prisons; he would bring some of the Army military-intelligence officers working inside the Iraqi prisons under the sap's auspices. "So here are fundamentally good soldiers-military-intelligence guys-being told that no rules apply," the former official, who has extensive knowledge of the special-access programs, added. "And, as far as they're concerned, this is a covert operation, and it's to be kept within Defense Department channels."
Red Sox 4 Blue Jays 0 Arroyo and Foulke combine on a four hit shut out. Sox move back into first place.
Cubs 7 Padres 5 Sammy Sosa passes Mike Schmidt and moves into ninth place in career home runs with 549.
First Privately-Built Rocket Reaches Space, L.A. Times ReportsQuestion of the day: If you were a James Bond super-villain, how would you take over the world and what would you do with it once you had it?
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- The SpaceShipOne rocket became the first privately-funded rocket to reach the edge of space when it hit 211,400 feet yesterday, an altitude only astronauts and military pilots usually reach, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"Administration sources say Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is still considering resigning, which would rupture Bush's war cabinet in the middle of a war."
President Bush said recently of the Iraqis, "It's going to take a while for them to understand what freedom is all about." Hachim Hassani, a representative of the Iraqi Islamic party, a leading Sunni Muslim group on the so-called governing council, might have been answering him when he commented to the Los Angeles Times, "The Iraqi people now equate democracy with bloodshed."Noam Chosky:
Under these circumstances, staying the course cannot benefit Iraq. On the contrary, each additional day that American troops continue to fight in Iraq can only compound the eventual price of the original mistake. More lives, American and Iraqi, will be lost; the society will be disorganised and pulverised; and any chances for a better future will be reduced, not fostered.
Occupying armies have responsibilities, not rights. Their primary responsibility is to withdraw as quickly and expeditiously as possible, in a manner determined by the occupied population.Howard Zinn:
The history of military occupations of third world countries is that they bring neither democracy nor security. The laments that "we mustn't cut and run", "we must stay the course", our "reputation" will be imperilled etc are exactly what we heard when, at the start of the Vietnam escalation, some of us called for immediate withdrawal. The result of staying the course was 58,000 Americans and several million Vietnamese dead.and William R Polk:
The world press has reported that very little real authority will be handed over to the Iraqis or the UN. If the UN is to be of any value in pacifying Iraq, it cannot simply be used by the US as a fig leaf. It must show Iraqis that it is truly independent, and so a worthwhile step forward for them.link
For all that, some form of UN trusteeship appears to be the best answer now available. It seems to me that the best form of trusteeship is minimal, not much more than attempting to keep order. Anything more will certainly raise fears in Iraq that outsiders - the United States or the UN - really intend to stay.
That will create the only unity there now is in Iraq - hostility to foreigners.
So the word is that Kerry's veep choice has to be a sort of Cheney -- someone who will retire once Kerry leaves office. That way, all the factions and interested parties could sign on to the ticket wholeheartedly without fear that their own presidential plans would be impeded by an incumbent or failed veep candidate (a la Lieberman).This logic would appear to knock my pick, Bill Richardson, out of the running. But then, I haven't predicted a single thing correctly this year. Why start now?
Peter Singer of the Brookings Institution in Washington, the authority in the field, says clarification is essential.Is this really what we want?
"There's no international law that controls this industry right now - that's a gap that needs to be filled."
"The second is that the clients in this industry - mainly in the US - need to re-evaluate what roles are appropriate to outsource and what roles are simply too important to the public interest to hand over to the private market."
A lack of clarity may have helped governments in the past.
Private companies might be able to do things government forces found unacceptable and deniable.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush has told Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld he was "not happy" that he learned about photos of Iraqi prison abuse by watching television, a senior administration official told CNN.The rest of this story is nothing new. We all know by now that our current government has betrayed its responsibility to represent its founding principles and values in every conceivable way. The prisoner abuse scandal is just a gross characiature of this. By the way, I wonder if this is not a good time for the mainstream press to start taking another look at what has been going on at Guantanamo.
The Red State electorate is not fooled. They may not know the details of Bush's crony-capitalist raid on the treasury but would they reject the GOP if they did? They vote for values, strength, guns, and righteous ferocity abroad—and the GOP delivers. The rest comes under the heading of keeping government off our backs.In other words, they can do whatever they want and as long as the Democrats fail to take up populist causes in earnest the yahoos will keep voting these jokers in.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration will request an additional $25 billion to cover military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration and congressional sources said Wednesday.Of course of course.
WASHINGTON -- The chief of the Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services.Makes for a rather macabre version of Elimidate doesn't it?
The proposal, which the agency's acting Director Lewis Brodsky presented to senior Pentagon officials just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, also seeks to extend the age of draft registration to 34 years old, up from 25.
Cubs 7 Cardinals 3 We fell out of first but are still hanging in there. Tonight, hopefully, Schilling will get the Sox back on track in Cleveland.
Along with equally stupid campaign story of the day. Kerry falls off bicycle.
5. Clearly, you're not crazy about our president. What would you like to do to fix it? Or him?Go read
Bush needs to be removed in a peaceful way. ... Yes, you can change presidents, but you don't get much choice in this country about important things. They have all the guns. They have all the tools. They have all the power. We call it freedom of choice. There is an illusion of choice. Americans are led to feel free through the exercise of meaningless choices. There are only two political parties. There is a reduction of the number of media companies. Banking has been reduced to only a handful of banks. Oil companies. These are important, and you're given very little choice.
Oh, but the flavor of jellybeans? The flavor of muffins? A bagel? You can get a Pina Colada bagel. We're given the illusion of choice by the meaningless of choices of trivial things. You know what your freedom of choice in America is? Paper or plastic, buddy? That's it. After you've said cash or charge, maybe it's Pepsi or Coke? Window or Aisle? Smoking or No?. Everything else you're kinda guided towards by focus groups and marketing research.
"China is having an incredible influence on energy flows, not just in Asia but on a worldwide basis," Peter Davies, chief economist at BP, told reporters on a recent trip to Russia, from where BP hopes to supply China with Siberian gas. "The whole centre of gravity of the world energy market is changing."
So far, the most obvious impact has been on prices. In recent years, China has drawn fire in the US and Japan for exporting deflation, as its factories pump out cut-price T-shirts, sneakers, radios and other goods. In the $US1 trillion-a-year ($1.36 trillion) market for oil, the opposite is happening. This year and next, China is expected to account for about a third of the increase in global oil demand. China's purchases are an important reason the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has been able to keep the cost of a barrel of oil at or above $US30 a barrel for much of this year.
US environmentalist Lester Brown warned Wednesday that sudden food price hikes in China could be the sign of a coming world food crisis brought on by global warming and increasingly scarce water supplies among major grain producers.Uh oh.
