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An effort to investigate, analyze, and expose the Project for a New American Century, and its plan for a "unipolar" world.
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Free web sites for campus libertarian clubs!
The Little Brown Reader
A rolling catalog of articles and web sites of significance that Lance is reading.
The Nevada County Libertarian Party
"Your Local Party of Principle" (Chairman)
The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dedicated to Creating a Civil Liberties Safe Zone in Nevada County, California. (Co-founder)
The Free School on the Internet
A developing effort to create a superior online K-12 school, with free attendance.
StopCarnivore.org
Stop the FBI Spy Tool Carnivore Now!"
GreenLiberty.org
Where Green values meet Libertarian principles.
Pictures of The Bill of Rights
Tips for Promoting a Campus Event
198 Methods of Nonviolent Action
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The History of Drug Prohibition in the U. S.
The Bill of Rights -- Full Text
Support freedom in our lifetime:
"I do not shrink from this responsibility, I welcome it."
A Little Worried About America
Boston Public: The Case Against Schools
The USA-PATRIOT Axe
The Nader 2004 "threat", and those poor, pitiful Democrats
Book Recommendation: Healing Our World
Taboos, skews, and contradictions
North Korea's Sensible Delusions
Lance on Regulation
December 31, 2003
Latest path around soft-money ban: Buy a TV stationLatest path around soft-money ban: Buy a TV station | csmonitor.com |
December 29, 2003
December 28, 2003
Fight to the death: the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more
You should read this article.
Fight to the death
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 20, 2003
Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad on the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more.
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
There's mounting evidence that the Internet's good old days as a global cyber-zone of freedom -- where governments generally take a "hands off" approach -- may be numbered. In fact, last week, delegates from 192 countries met in Geneva to discuss how the Internet should be governed and what steps should be taken to solve the global "digital divide" and "harness the potential of information" on behalf of the world's poor. Also on the table at the session -- the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society -- was the question of domain name management and how much protection free speech and expression should receive on the Net.
The real issue, however, is whether a "U.N. for the Internet" is on the way. Last week's summit and another in 2005 will discuss whether Internet decisionmaking should be shifted from largely private management to the United Nations.
In one sense, none of this is surprising. Regulators across the globe have long been clamoring for greater control over content and commerce on the Internet. Ironically, in the guise of protecting the world's citizens, Statists around the world want to get their hands on one of the world's most liberating communications technologies.
...
Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
NY Times Delusion: A Campaign Finance Triumph
t r u t h o u t - New York Times | A Campaign Finance Triumph
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Excerpt:
While Monitoring the Future, conducted by University of Michigan researchers and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicates a decrease in teen use of marijuana and other drugs, the privately-funded PRIDE Survey showed a sharp rise in drug use: Monthly use of marijuana by junior-high students rose 51 percent from 2002 to 2003, and monthly use of heroin rose 60 percent. Despite the differences, both surveys confirm that ONDCP has failed by a large margin to meet goals set for it by Congress. Full PRIDE Survey results are available at http://www.pridesurveys.com.
NIDA Survey: Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
December 27, 2003
Day of Coordinated Attacks in Iraq
Coalition Forces Attacked in Southern Iraq
(TruthOut permacopy)
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents using car bombs, mortars and machine guns launched three coordinated attacks in the southern city of Karbala on Saturday, killing 11 people -- including six Iraqi police officers and four coalition soldiers, military and hospital officials said. Two of the four coalition dead were from Thailand. An Iraqi civilian also was killed.
The attacks also wounded at least 172 people, with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt saying 37 of them were coalition soldiers, including five Americans. Some 135 Iraqi police officers and civilians also were wounded, said Ali al-Arzawi, deputy head of Karbala General Hospital.
Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
LA Weekly: Columns: Open City: Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
An Australian journalist gets a taste of Department of Homeland Security hospitality
by Steven Mikulan
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 26, 2003
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
An article about MoveOn's Bush In 30 Seconds video contest:
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
(TruthOut permacopy -- second story on the page)
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
More than ever, the Internet gives people a connection -- and a voice -- in campaigns.
By Matea Gold, LA Times Staff Writer
(TruthOut permacopy)
Gadhafi: Intimidated, or just chilling out?
CNN.com - Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision - Dec. 22, 2003
...
Asked about his decision, Gadhafi acknowledged that the Iraq war may have influenced him, but he insisted he wanted to focus on the "positive."
He said the world is a changed place in which his country can feel safe without weapons of mass destruction.
...
Gadhafi told CNN that other countries have set a positive example by dismantling weapons of mass destruction programs peacefully. He said he hopes other nations will follow his action.
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
Opens Libya to U.N. Ashtray Inspectors
by Andy Borowitz
In what some White House officials are hailing as the successful result of months of backdoor diplomacy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya agreed today to give up cigarettes once and for all.
“It’s a filthy, filthy habit,” said Col. Qaddafi, grinding a pack of Lucky Strikes under his polished jackboot. “I should have given it up years ago.”
...
“This is just another one of Muammar’s lame New Year’s Eve resolutions,” said Mr. Fakude, who shared a dorm room with Col. Qaddafi at Libya State University back when the dictator was known simply as Bluto Qaddafi. “I remember when he promised to give up beer. Yeah, right! That lasted about five minutes.”
PETA takes its message to the ballet
Animal rights group is taking its message to the ballet | csmonitor.com
Sugg: Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Libertarians will ensure their irrelevance if they embrace radio ignoramus
BY JOHN F. SUGG
Creative Loafing Atlanta
W. Times: Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics
Girl Guide to Geeks
Pretty funny, and actually moderately insightful. Warp factor: 5 (<--- Just kidding...I don't really groove on the Trek thing that hard.)
December 24, 2003
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
December 21, 2003
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Fight to the death: the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more
You should read this article.
Fight to the death
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 20, 2003
Paul McGeough reports from Baghdad on the Iraqis who hated Saddam, but who hate the Americans more.
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
Everybody Wants to Rule the Web
There's mounting evidence that the Internet's good old days as a global cyber-zone of freedom -- where governments generally take a "hands off" approach -- may be numbered. In fact, last week, delegates from 192 countries met in Geneva to discuss how the Internet should be governed and what steps should be taken to solve the global "digital divide" and "harness the potential of information" on behalf of the world's poor. Also on the table at the session -- the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society -- was the question of domain name management and how much protection free speech and expression should receive on the Net.
The real issue, however, is whether a "U.N. for the Internet" is on the way. Last week's summit and another in 2005 will discuss whether Internet decisionmaking should be shifted from largely private management to the United Nations.
In one sense, none of this is surprising. Regulators across the globe have long been clamoring for greater control over content and commerce on the Internet. Ironically, in the guise of protecting the world's citizens, Statists around the world want to get their hands on one of the world's most liberating communications technologies.
...
Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
Soldiers patrol city streets as Americans are warned of imminent terrorist threat
NY Times Delusion: A Campaign Finance Triumph
t r u t h o u t - New York Times | A Campaign Finance Triumph
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Teen Drug Surveys Contradict Each Other
Excerpt:
While Monitoring the Future, conducted by University of Michigan researchers and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicates a decrease in teen use of marijuana and other drugs, the privately-funded PRIDE Survey showed a sharp rise in drug use: Monthly use of marijuana by junior-high students rose 51 percent from 2002 to 2003, and monthly use of heroin rose 60 percent. Despite the differences, both surveys confirm that ONDCP has failed by a large margin to meet goals set for it by Congress. Full PRIDE Survey results are available at http://www.pridesurveys.com.
NIDA Survey: Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
FOXNews.com - Top Stories - Drug Use by U.S. Teens Declining
December 27, 2003
Day of Coordinated Attacks in Iraq
Coalition Forces Attacked in Southern Iraq
(TruthOut permacopy)
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents using car bombs, mortars and machine guns launched three coordinated attacks in the southern city of Karbala on Saturday, killing 11 people -- including six Iraqi police officers and four coalition soldiers, military and hospital officials said. Two of the four coalition dead were from Thailand. An Iraqi civilian also was killed.
The attacks also wounded at least 172 people, with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt saying 37 of them were coalition soldiers, including five Americans. Some 135 Iraqi police officers and civilians also were wounded, said Ali al-Arzawi, deputy head of Karbala General Hospital.
Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
LA Weekly: Columns: Open City: Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
An Australian journalist gets a taste of Department of Homeland Security hospitality
by Steven Mikulan
(TruthOut permacopy)
December 26, 2003
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
An article about MoveOn's Bush In 30 Seconds video contest:
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
(TruthOut permacopy -- second story on the page)
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
More than ever, the Internet gives people a connection -- and a voice -- in campaigns.
By Matea Gold, LA Times Staff Writer
(TruthOut permacopy)
Gadhafi: Intimidated, or just chilling out?
CNN.com - Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision - Dec. 22, 2003
...
Asked about his decision, Gadhafi acknowledged that the Iraq war may have influenced him, but he insisted he wanted to focus on the "positive."
He said the world is a changed place in which his country can feel safe without weapons of mass destruction.
...
Gadhafi told CNN that other countries have set a positive example by dismantling weapons of mass destruction programs peacefully. He said he hopes other nations will follow his action.
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
Opens Libya to U.N. Ashtray Inspectors
by Andy Borowitz
In what some White House officials are hailing as the successful result of months of backdoor diplomacy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya agreed today to give up cigarettes once and for all.
“It’s a filthy, filthy habit,” said Col. Qaddafi, grinding a pack of Lucky Strikes under his polished jackboot. “I should have given it up years ago.”
...
“This is just another one of Muammar’s lame New Year’s Eve resolutions,” said Mr. Fakude, who shared a dorm room with Col. Qaddafi at Libya State University back when the dictator was known simply as Bluto Qaddafi. “I remember when he promised to give up beer. Yeah, right! That lasted about five minutes.”
PETA takes its message to the ballet
Animal rights group is taking its message to the ballet | csmonitor.com
Sugg: Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Libertarians will ensure their irrelevance if they embrace radio ignoramus
BY JOHN F. SUGG
Creative Loafing Atlanta
W. Times: Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics
Girl Guide to Geeks
Pretty funny, and actually moderately insightful. Warp factor: 5 (<--- Just kidding...I don't really groove on the Trek thing that hard.)
December 24, 2003
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
December 21, 2003
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Day of Coordinated Attacks in Iraq
Coalition Forces Attacked in Southern Iraq
(TruthOut permacopy)
KARBALA, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents using car bombs, mortars and machine guns launched three coordinated attacks in the southern city of Karbala on Saturday, killing 11 people -- including six Iraqi police officers and four coalition soldiers, military and hospital officials said. Two of the four coalition dead were from Thailand. An Iraqi civilian also was killed.
The attacks also wounded at least 172 people, with U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt saying 37 of them were coalition soldiers, including five Americans. Some 135 Iraqi police officers and civilians also were wounded, said Ali al-Arzawi, deputy head of Karbala General Hospital.
Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
LA Weekly: Columns: Open City: Coffee, Tea or Handcuffs?
An Australian journalist gets a taste of Department of Homeland Security hospitality
by Steven Mikulan
(TruthOut permacopy)
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
An article about MoveOn's Bush In 30 Seconds video contest:
On the Web, an Amateur Audience Creates Anti-Bush Ads
(TruthOut permacopy -- second story on the page)
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
Where Political Influence Is Only a Keyboard Away
More than ever, the Internet gives people a connection -- and a voice -- in campaigns.
By Matea Gold, LA Times Staff Writer
(TruthOut permacopy)
Gadhafi: Intimidated, or just chilling out?
CNN.com - Gadhafi: Iraq war may have influenced WMD decision - Dec. 22, 2003
...
Asked about his decision, Gadhafi acknowledged that the Iraq war may have influenced him, but he insisted he wanted to focus on the "positive."
He said the world is a changed place in which his country can feel safe without weapons of mass destruction.
...
Gadhafi told CNN that other countries have set a positive example by dismantling weapons of mass destruction programs peacefully. He said he hopes other nations will follow his action.
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
QADDAFI TO GIVE UP SMOKING
Opens Libya to U.N. Ashtray Inspectors
by Andy Borowitz
In what some White House officials are hailing as the successful result of months of backdoor diplomacy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya agreed today to give up cigarettes once and for all.
“It’s a filthy, filthy habit,” said Col. Qaddafi, grinding a pack of Lucky Strikes under his polished jackboot. “I should have given it up years ago.”
...
“This is just another one of Muammar’s lame New Year’s Eve resolutions,” said Mr. Fakude, who shared a dorm room with Col. Qaddafi at Libya State University back when the dictator was known simply as Bluto Qaddafi. “I remember when he promised to give up beer. Yeah, right! That lasted about five minutes.”
PETA takes its message to the ballet
Animal rights group is taking its message to the ballet | csmonitor.com
Sugg: Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Neal Boortz is no John Galt
Libertarians will ensure their irrelevance if they embrace radio ignoramus
BY JOHN F. SUGG
Creative Loafing Atlanta
W. Times: Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
Dean left speechless on Libya arms move
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics
Girl Guide to Geeks
Pretty funny, and actually moderately insightful. Warp factor: 5 (<--- Just kidding...I don't really groove on the Trek thing that hard.)
December 24, 2003
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
December 21, 2003
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
Rumsfeld Made Iraq Overture in '84 Despite Chemical Raids
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Published: December 23, 2003
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984, Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to persuade officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped by Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a recent move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in principle and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons was widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60 officers of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's use of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for ousting Mr. Hussein.
The documents, which were released as part of a declassification project by the National Security Archive, and are available on the Web at www.nsarchive.org, provide details of the instructions given to Mr. Rumsfeld on his second trip to Iraq in four months. The notes of Mr. Rumsfeld's encounter with Tariq Aziz, the foreign minister, remain classified, but officials acknowledged that it would be unusual if Mr. Rumsfeld did not carry out the instructions.
Since the release of the documents, he has told members of his inner circle at the Pentagon that he does not recall whether he had read, or even had received, the State Department memo, Defense Department officials said.
One official noted that the documents reflected the State Department's thinking on Iraq, but did not indicate Mr. Rumsfeld's planning for his meeting with Mr. Hussein nor his comments on the meeting after its conclusion.
Mr. Rumsfeld's trip was his second visit to Iraq. On his first visit, in late December 1983, he had a cordial meeting with Mr. Hussein, and photographs and a report of that encounter have been widely published.
In a follow-up memo, the chief of the American interests section reported that Mr. Aziz had conveyed Mr. Hussein's satisfaction with the meeting. "The Iraqi leadership was extremely pleased with Amb. Rumsfeld's visit," the memo said. "Tariq Aziz had gone out of his way to praise Rumsfeld as a person."
When news emerged last year of the December trip, Mr. Rumsfeld told CNN that he had "cautioned" Mr. Hussein to forgo chemical weapons. But when presented with declassified notes of their meeting that made no mention of that, a spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld said he had raised the issue in a meeting with Mr. Aziz.
Lawrence Di Rita, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said on Friday that there was no inconsistency between Mr. Rumsfeld's previous comments on his missions to Iraq and the State Department documents.
By early 1984, events threatened to upset the American-Iraqi relationship. After pleading for a year for international action against the chemical warfare, Iran had finally persuaded the United Nations to criticize the use of chemical weapons, albeit in vague terms.
Pressure mounted on the Reagan administration, which had already verified Iraq's "almost daily" use of the weapons against Iran and against Kurdish rebels, documents show. In February, Iraq warned Iranian "invaders" that "for every harmful insect there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it." Within weeks, the American authorities intercepted precursor chemicals that were bound for Iraq. Finally, on March 5, the United States issued a public condemnation of Iraq.
But days later, Mr. Shultz and his deputy met with an Iraqi diplomat, Ismet Kittani, to soften the blow. The American relationship with Iraq was too important — involving business interests, Middle East diplomacy and a shared determination to thwart Iran — to sacrifice. Mr. Kittani left the meeting "unpersuaded," documents show.
Mr. Shultz then turned to Mr. Rumsfeld. In a March 24 briefing document, Mr. Rumsfeld was asked to present America's bottom line. At first, the memo recapitulated Mr. Shultz's message to Mr. Kittani, saying it "clarified that our CW [chemical weapons] condemnation was made strictly out of our strong opposition to the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs." The American officials had "emphasized that our interests in 1) preventing an Iranian victory and 2) continuing to improve bilateral relations with Iraq, at a pace of Iraq's choosing, remain undiminished," it said.
Then came the instructions for Mr. Rumsfeld: "This message bears reinforcing during your discussions."
The American relationship with Iraq during its crippling war with Iran was rife with such ambiguities. Though the United States was outwardly neutral, it tilted toward Iraq and even monitored talks toward the sale of military equipment by private American contractors.
Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, said: "Saddam had chemical weapons in the 1980's, and it didn't make any difference to U.S. policy."
Mr. Blanton suggested that the United States was now paying the price for earlier indulgence. "The embrace of Saddam in the 1980's and what it emboldened him to do should caution us as Americans that we have to look closely at all our murky alliances," he said. "Shaking hands with dictators today can turn them into Saddams tomorrow."
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
AP Wire | 12/23/2003 | Scientists Blame Soot for Global Warming
Bartlett: Third parties don't have a chance
I hear this a lot from republicans. I wonder if it means that Libertarians are becoming uncreasingly threatening to them.
republican third party opponents seems to consistently understate the reality of the Libertarian threat. For example, Bartlett says:
it is true that Libertarian Party candidates at the state level have sometimes gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes.
Sounds pretty insignificant. But when you restate it to conform with reality, it sounds much more impressive:
it is true that Libertarian Senate candidates have gotten enough votes to elect a losing Republican had he gotten their votes, in two consecutive elections.
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Cannabis campaigner may be forced to go
Pot activist Steve Kubby - who says he depends on marijuana to ward off a rare form of cancer - is now fighting to stay in Canada.
Kubby, 56, is under a departure order from Citizenship and Immigration Canada that would force him, wife Michele, and two daughters, out of the country as early as Jan. 15.
...
Hawaii reporter: Happy Bill of Rights Day
Happy Bill of Rights Day
The Libertarian View
By Tracy A. Ryan, 12/16/2003 2:00:36 AM
In recognition of the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution on Dec. 15, 1791, Dec. 15th is "Bill of Rights Day." Did you see this important day in the news? Are Republicans and Democrats out making speeches like they do on the Fourth of July or on Labor Day? Well Libertarians are celebrating. To a libertarian being a proud American means more than just marching and flag waving. That kind of "patriotism" can be found in countries all over the world; many with little respect for individual rights. Our American Bill of Rights is an acknowledgment in the supreme law of our government that our rights and to liberty make individuals the true sovereigns here. Americans need never be forced to kneel before a collectivist autocracy.
On Saturday the 13th the Libertarian Party of Hawaii held its' December general meeting in Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii....
Harry Browne on The Liberation of Iraq
How Do I Liberate Thee?
Let Me Count the Ways
by Harry Browne
December 15, 2003
Excerpts:
How has Iraq been liberated? Let me count the ways . . .
1. The country is occupied by a foreign power.
2. Its officials are appointed by that foreign power.
3. Its citizens must carry ID cards.
4. They must submit to searches of their persons and cars at checkpoints and roadblocks.
5. They must be in their homes by curfew time.
6. Many towns are ringed with barbed wire.
...
9. The occupiers have decreed that certain electoral outcomes won't be permitted.
...
11. Protests are outlawed.
12. Private homes are raided or demolished — with no due process of law.
...
14. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV are all supervised by the occupiers.
...
Checks and Balances Live On
Rebuff for Bush on civil liberties (December 20, 2003)
(TruthOut permacopy)
THE Bush administration may be forced to rethink its war on terrorism strategy after two US courts ruled yesterday that detainees should not remain indefinitely in a legal twilight zone.
In a critical decision, a San Francisco appeals court disputed the administration's claims to have "unchecked authority" in dealing with prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba outside the US criminal justice system.
The 2-1 decision came a few hours after a Manhattan appeals court ruled that accused "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla - a US citizen alleged to be an enemy combatant - be released from military custody within 30 days.
...
Bill of Rights day in Noho
This is about Northampton, MA's Bill of Rights Day celebration. I've lived and worked in Northampton in the past. It's a great little Northeast city.
December 20, 2003
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
December 19, 2003
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
Righteous Anger
The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor
'Sick' Saddam drugged: visitor (December 20, 2003)
A STARTLING new photograph of a sick-looking Saddam Hussein suggests he is being drugged or given strong medication by his US captors.
The man who took the photo told The Weekend Australian last night Hussein appeared very sick when he was visited by Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi two days after being captured near Tikrit.
...
Rogers brings it all back home
This is a friend and cohort of mine from college. I thought to check and see what she was up to, and thanks to the Internet, I was able to.
Rogers brings it all back home
It’s not unusual to hear musicians talk about getting back to their roots but when singer-songwriter Theresa Rogers says it, she means it literally, coming home to Wellfleet. Rogers, who fronted a successful Western Mass college circuit band has stepped away from the common career path taken by many aspiring musicians. She eschewed the idea of heading for bright lights, big city in favor of coming home to Cape Cod.
...
Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
This article is extracted from the Washington Times' "In the Ring" column
t r u t h o u t - Intelligence Report: Iraq Outlook Bleak
The National Intelligence Council, a group under CIA Director George J. Tenet, has released a paper that is part of an effort by intelligence analysts to predict global events in the next 17 years.
For its Middle East section, one analyst predicts Iraq faces a broad range of outcomes, mostly bad. ...
Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
Yahoo! News - Bush Overruled on 'Dirty Bomb' Suspect
(TruthOut permacopy)
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American citizen Jose Padilla, the former gang member seized on U.S. soil, as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
...
William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
t r u t h o u t - William Rivers Pitt | We Caught The Wrong Guy
3 senators urge Rumsfeld to free or try terror detainees
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
Coalition Strike In Afghanistan Kills 9 Children
(for-pay archive)
Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
A slightly different take on the same news event: Architects Unveil Revised Freedom Tower Design
WTC Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet
Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes
Architect says it will be an 'exclamation point' on the skyline
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN
Friday, December 19, 2003
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Freedom Tower to be built at the site of the devastated World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is still planned as the world's tallest building, according to a revised model unveiled Friday by the architects collaborating on its design.
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
Light Unto the Wealth of Nations
How Christmas displays illuminate a strong economy
By Virginia Postrel
Reason.com
Who's Who among American Terrorists
This is a detailing of the main American citizen detainees in the "War on Terror" -- John Walker Lindh, Jose Padilla, etc. -- and the presumed reasoning behind their various legal statuses.
December 18, 2003
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
December 17, 2003
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Eland: One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go
The Independent Institute | One Autocratic Belligerent Deposed, One to Go, by Ivan Eland
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
This just a press release really, but it has a little info in it.
Blackfriars Rates The Clarity of 2004 Presidential Campaign Web Sites
December 16, 2003
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 15, 2003
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Pork Spending in the 2004 Budget
From the Heritage Foundation: Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
Bob Smith turns it into a call for action:
Save this list. During the 2004 campaign, pick any one of these organizations, and try to get a chance to ask your incumbent politician about it.
Ask him where it is.
Ask him what it does.
Ask him to explain it's value to us.
Ask him why it wasn't funded by the people who will use it.
Ask him why he wanted to spend your money on it.
If you're feeling bold, and he's still paying attention, ask him what HE got out of it.
Scarmig: How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
How I Said No to the Automatic Social Security Number
This is the story of how I successfully refused to accept a Social Security Number for my child.
I simply said “no.”
Really. That’s how easy it was. I just said no, again, and again.
...
December 14, 2003
December 13, 2003
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
This is an advance story (which is essentially just my press release, cleaned up a little) about the Bill of Rights Day activity that I'm organizing. I'm saving the text of it here as it was published at Yubanet.
(This will eventually be posted at my main blog, but it's not functioning properly, so I'm using this blog as a backup place to put these entries.)
Group to honor Bill of Rights Day with March and Memorial on Monday
By Lance Brown, Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Dec 13, 2003, 08:43
Local civil liberties activists will be holding a memorial service and march for the Bill of Rights in Nevada City this Monday-- Bill of Rights Day. The group will gather outside the Rood County Government Center at Noon, and march to Calanan Park in downtown Nevada City.
All interested parties are invited to attend.
This marks the third consecutive year that local activists have held a public commemoration of Bill of Rights Day -- the anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A "funeral" last year preceded this year's memorial, and in 2001 the day was marked with a rally.
The event is part of an ongoing local campaign to raise awareness about what the group sees as grave dangers to our civil liberties that have come in the wake of the “war on terror”. The Nevada County Bill of Rights Defense Committee is launching a drive to pass local resolutions making Nevada County a "civil liberties safe zone", as part of a national movement where over 200 communities (and three states) have passed similar resolutions.
For more local information, call 274-2474 or visit ncrights.org.