Thu, 31 Jul 2003 18:08:13 GMT
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2003 10:08 - Category: Unfiled ;
Archive for July, 2003
New tape purported to be…
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2003 00:07 - Category: Unfiled ;
Federal government homophobia
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2003 00:07 - Category: Unfiled ;
Federal government homophobia
“President Bush said today that federal government lawyers are working on legislation that would define marriage as a union between a man and woman.”
Love my country. Fear my…
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2003 00:05 - Category: Unfiled ;
Love my country. Fear my government
From DJ Mitchell, friend and reader:
“The following is excerpted from an AP report today on the ACLU’s latest challenge to the Patriot Act:
The Justice Department defends the [Patriot] act as a crucial weapon in the war on terrorism… “The Patriot Act was a long overdue measure to close gaping holes in the government’s ability, responsibly and lawfully, to collect vital intelligence information on criminal terrorists to protect our citizens from
savage attacks,” [Justice Department spokesperson Barbara] Comstock said.
The Portland Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested [a] mosque’s imam and prayer leader, Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye, on Sept. 8, 2002… The U.S. attorney’s office accused Kariye of Social Security fraud and he was sentenced to five years probation.
“Criminal terrorists” include people who commit Social Security fraud? It’s good to know that we can rely on the government to limit its abuse of civil liberties to cases where only the most heinous crimes are at issue!
It used to be only the most reactionary right-wingers who would display a bumper sticker like the following, but I think it should be revived for the current administration: “Love my country. Fear my government.”
Willie Nelson endorses Kucinich
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2003 00:04 - Category: Unfiled ;
A non-apology apology
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2003 00:02 - Category: Unfiled ;
A non-apology apology
The US president, George Bush, today accepted personal responsibility for citing a controversial claim that the former Iraqi regime tried to obtain nuclear material in Africa.
“I take personal responsibility for everything I say, absolutely,” the president said at a White House news conference when asked about the now discredited accusation.
Senator Boxer calls for Poindexter…
Bob Morris @ Jul 31st 2003 00:01 - Category: Unfiled ;
Senator Boxer calls for Poindexter resignation
“There is something very sick about it,” Boxer told Wolfowitz at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iraq. “If it’s going to end, I think you would end the careers of whoever it was who thought that up, because terrorists, knowing they were planning an attack, could have bet on the attack and collected a lot of money. It is a sick idea.”
DiFi and Riordan as candidates…
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 09:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
DiFi and Riordan as candidates in recall?
As expected, and as Peter Camejo has predicted, Democratic unity is splintering as two Democrat House members are now calling on Senator Dianne Feinstein to run in the recall election. Over a month ago Camejo said at a Green Party meeting that mainstream politico insiders were assuming Feinstein would run, and will appoint current California Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamente to her Senate seat, so he won’t run.
If a major Democrat runs, then Gray Davis’ fate is sealed, he will be recalled. On the Republican side, now that Mr. Action Hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has apparently decided he couldn’t take the real-life pressure of a campaign, former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan looks to be planning to a run.
Arianna Huffington will decide next week whether she will run as an independent. The deadline to file is August 7, eight days from now.
Ex-Governor Jerry Brown may run. Long time gadfly and acquaintance Jan Tucker says he is running on the Peace & Freedom Party, something which has honked of the leadership of the party as they are opposed to the recall. Steve Lopez, political columnist for the L.A. Times says that campaigning for Governor is his game and S Lo will be his name.
Given that, for minor parties, only 150 signatures are needed to run, and for major parties just $3,500 and 65 signatures will get you on the ballot, well, who knows what surprises we will discover on the ballot come Aug 8 when we learn who is running.
In fact two friends of mine have each pledged $500 after I, as a joke, mentioned to them I might run. I have NO IDEA whether they are joking or not! However if I do run, and by some tragic consequence, am actually elected, I promise to appoint PoliZeros readers to major posts. If Steve Lopez can run as S Lo, then I could run as BoMo (BOb MOrris, get it?), I suppose.
Rumors that I plan to run both my cats and several of my houseplants are probably inaccurate.
OK, PoliZeros readers, should I run for Governor???
Your Baghdad weather forecast
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:10 - Category: Unfiled ;
Your Baghdad weather forecast
The cooling trend continues. Temperatures for the next ten days will drop to 108-113, down from 117.
Large portions of the city still have no electricity or water.
Chance of precipitation remains at 0%.
Woman banned from Borders for…
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:09 - Category: Unfiled ;
Woman banned from Borders for criticizing Bush’s legs
“Fredericksburg, Va. — A Borders Books & Music store has banned a Baltimore singer-songwriter from performing there after she made an unflattering comment about President Bush’s physique during a concert at the store last week.”
Via the wonderful Bitter Shack of Resentment
Liberia
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:07 - Category: Unfiled ;
Liberia
People in Liberia are starving and dying while civil war rages around them. Should the US, as some suggest, send in the military to “restore order” then give humanitarian aid?
The Bushies do not want to get involved, they’ve made this quite clear. You don’t suppose the business connections the American Right, among them Pat Robertson, has with Liberia leader Charles Taylor has anything to do with this, do you?
If the Bush Administration genuinely wanted to get help, they’d be asking African leaders and Liberians themselves what they could do. I don’t recall hear them asking though.
If they eventually do invade (and that’s what it would be, an invasion) I doubt much humanitarian aid would be given - just look at Iraq or Afghanistan for instructive examples of how little they care for the innocents of countries they’ve invaded.
And wouldn’t you know it, there’s been a huge new oil find discovered in the ocean near, now here’s a coincidence, Liberia.
Who woulda thunk it?
This ain’t the Summer of…
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:06 - Category: Unfiled ;
This ain’t the Summer of Love
It’s a knife fight. So get in there and fight.
End the liberal voluntary extinction movement is a most amazing rant, which I’ve briefly excerpted here. You must read the whole thing.
“The extreme right wing can’t be reasoned with. They don’t give a shit about right and wrong and whether they make any logical sense. Ann Coulter doesn’t care if she has 780 footnotes of pure bullshit. She’s selling books, getting on TV and invited to all the snotty DC cocktail parties. The fact that she is wrong and dishonest doesn’t even enter into the calculations.
These people don’t need to be scolded, or persuaded, or convinced otherwise. They need to be destroyed. They need to be removed from the debate by pointing out their lies, dishonesty and mercenary attitude towards truth. It’s not nice, it’s not pleasant and there won’t be a fucking group-hug afterwards.
These pundit punks accurately reflect the thinking, or lack thereof, of the conservatives now in power and using that power to gut the social contract, whore the United States military for Bush’s inner-circle of contractors and, in the process, kill a whole bunch of foreigners that the American people can’t even bother to give lip service to caring about.
…
“Constructive discourse” my ass. People are getting screwed. People are dying. And some liberals still don’t realize that this isn’t a dialectic. This is a knife fight. If Liberals can’t fight for their own survival (and if they won’t, then perhaps Liberalism deserves extinction) it would be nice if they could hold their nose and get over their prim dislike of unpleasantness and self-serving bullshit about “constructive discourse” in order to fight for other’s survival.”
US troops turn botched Saddam…
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:03 - Category: Unfiled ;
US troops turn botched Saddam raid into a massacre
By Robert Fisk in Baghdad
“Obsessed with capturing Saddam Hussein, American soldiers turned a botched raid on a house in the Mansur district of Baghdad yesterday into a bloodbath, opening fire on scores of Iraqi civilians in a crowded street and killing up to 11, including two children, their mother and crippled father. At least one civilian car caught fire, cremating its occupants”
Vote To Impeach
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:02 - Category: Unfiled ;
Vote To Impeach
Lots of new features and a redesigned interface on Vote To Impeach make it even easier to spread the Impeach Bush meme.
Saudis ‘outraged’ at 9/11 secrecy
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:01 - Category: Unfiled ;
Saudis ‘outraged’ at 9/11 secrecy
“Saudi Arabia says it is an “outrage” that a US report about the 11 September attacks has raised suspicions about Saudi involvement.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also expressed dismay at a US refusal to publish a classified section of a report into the attacks, and launched a strongly-worded defence of his country’s record in fighting terrorism.”
Is America becoming Fascist?
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:00 - Category: Unfiled ;
Greeks accuse Blair of war…
Bob Morris @ Jul 30th 2003 00:00 - Category: Unfiled ;
Greeks accuse Blair of war crimes in Iraq
“Tony Blair and other British ministers are accused of crimes against humanity in prosecuting the war against Iraq in a case lodged with the international criminal court by Greek lawyers yesterday.
The Athens Bar Association accuses the government of breaching almost every international treaty and the entire spectrum of human rights in the 47-page complaint.
“The repeated, blatant violations by the United States and Britain of the stipulations of the four 1949 Geneva conventions, the 1954 convention of the Hague as well as the charter of the international criminal court, constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the lawyers said in a statement.”
In case you still harbored…
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2003 00:20 - Category: Unfiled ;
In case you still harbored a random thought our leaders might be sane
Pentagon wants people to bet on assassination possibilities
“The Pentagon is setting up a commodity-market style trading system in which investors would be able to bet on political and economic events in the Middle East — including the likelihood of assassinations and terrorist attacks.”
This is not, repeat not, a hoax. Sing after me, “The lunatics have taken over the asylum…”
Camejo suggests bloc with Arianna
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2003 00:17 - Category: Unfiled ;
Camejo suggests bloc with Arianna
Today on KPFK, Peter Camejo spoke of his campaign for Governor in the upcoming California recall election, and a lively talk it was! Among other things he suggests an alliance with Arianna Huffington if she runs.
Some highlights:
He just had a long discussion with Arianna Huffington and is encouraging her to run. Yes, he is encouraging her to run. The more progressives running, the better. In fact, they could form a progressive bloc to help get their common message out. Here’s the stunner, he said if that happens then maybe towards the end of the race one of them endorses the other, and we get a progressive as governor.
Recalls are healthy. The electorate can and should be able to recall any politician any time. In fact, the California recall statute became law due to Progressives! Simply because a conservative started this particular recall is no reason to trash the idea of recalls. He said he’s been misquoted and has never opposed the recall.
He believes Gray Davis to be the most incompetent governor California has ever had, except for his ability to raise money from big donors then give them what they want. In that he is brilliant, in all other realms he is incompetent. Davis has presided over turning a massive surplus into a gaping deficit, and this is not due to the economy alone.
Issa has no chance of winning. Davis makes a big deal out of Issa funding the recall for one million when David spent ten million destroying Riordan in the primary, a cynical nasty move that made even hardened politicos blanch.
Camejo is polling very strongly among liberals, people of color, and is ahead in several categories. He says if Davis is recalled, the party in the heavily Democratic State Assembly will last for “at least a day or two”.
Camejo is in this to win. Given the current dearth of competent Democratic and Republican candidates, he has a reasonable chance of doing just that. Stay tuned, this campaign could be exciting, and maybe even historic.
PS A friend suggests Arnold Schwarzenegger, if he ever actually decides to runs for Governor, may have difficulty overcoming the ’straight-face’ question which asks - “Could you, with a straight face, vote Schwarzenegger for governor”?
The fix was in at…
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2003 00:11 - Category: Unfiled ;
The fix was in at a very high level
“Enron lied to investors about its financial condition, but it could not have done so without active help from its friendly bankers. And that help constituted fraud.
That was the conclusion reached by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Manhattan district attorney as they disclosed settlements yesterday with two of the nation’s largest financial institutions, J. P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup.”
However, it appears the fix is still in, as the penalties were fines, not criminal indictments. Tell me, why aren’t the amoral thugs responsible for this defrauding of the public for billions in prison, rather getting away with no personal penalty at all?
“J.P. Morgan will pay $135 million, and Citigroup will pay $120 million to settle the investigations, according to a statement issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said the banks had also settled a criminal investigation with the Manhattan district attorney in New York.”
A tale of two leaders
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2003 00:09 - Category: Unfiled ;
A tale of two leaders
“They fought the same war and both lied about why, yet Bush marches on while Blair has been fatally wounded “
Ah, but if - or should I say when - Blair falls, Bush will have no international allies left, and could easily fall too.
More on the dastardly duo -
“Global warming is now a weapon of mass destruction. It kills more people than terrorism, yet Blair and Bush do nothing.”
Links of note
Bob Morris @ Jul 29th 2003 00:08 - Category: Unfiled ;
Links of note
From Deep Audit, noting several excellent articles in the L.A. times yesterday.
Activist puts in water use application … and plans to let it stay in the river. A new and quite brilliant idea. Environmentalists are applying to use river water as a natural resource
”The permit application, a move her opponents have described as brilliant in its simplicity, marked an attempt to turn a law designed specifically for economic development into a tool for conservation.”
Milk news Why the prices are so crazy
Huge news, for accountants — ONLY the auditors are being sued, a first for a big lawsuit like this.
“I used to argue with people,” recalled a retired LAPD South Bureau detective, Paul Mize. “I’d say, ‘People in South L.A. are just as dead as people in West L.A.’ “ The LA Times has shown that there are far less homicide detectives in the poorer, heavily Black and latino South L.A. than in prosperous, more White areas.
Short blames government ‘abuse of…
Bob Morris @ Jul 28th 2003 16:13 - Category: Unfiled ;
Short blames government ‘abuse of power’ for David Kelly’s death
“Clare Short has blamed the death of Dr David Kelly on “an abuse of power” by the Government and warned that the tragedy has become a symbol of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “obsession with spin”.
In an interview with The Independent, the former Secretary of State for International Development says the affair has made it more likely Mr Blair will stand down before the next general election. She describes him as an “emperor” and a “neo-Conservative”, saying his speech this month to both houses of the US Congress shows he shares the analysis of Washington hardliners. “He is a complete convert to the neo-Conservative view of the world.”
Will the Republicans send the…
Bob Morris @ Jul 28th 2003 15:29 - Category: Unfiled ;
Will the Republicans send the police after them again?
“The first special session on redistricting has ended, the second is scheduled to start right away, but the Democrats have bolted the Capital, leaving the Senate and possibly the House without quorums. It’s deja vu all over again.”
It appears Texas, yet again, is trying to take the Political Nutcase crown from California. I’m not worried, our coming recall election (and assumed concurrent media spectacle) will prove to all that when it comes to political looniness, no state - and I repeat no state - can match the lunacy of California!
Thousands being recruited in Pakistan…
Bob Morris @ Jul 28th 2003 15:22 - Category: Unfiled ;
Thousands being recruited in Pakistan for ‘Jihad’
From Lean Left
“And for another story from the 2+2=4 department… Via: Gulf-news.com Despite official pledges of action to stop militancy, the ‘jihad’ movement in the country seems to be growing. This appears to be especially true in the Punjab and also the NWFP,
Despite official pledges of action to stop militancy, the ‘jihad’ movement in the country seems to be growing. This appears to be especially true in the Punjab and also the NWFP, where it is said “more people have linked up to jihadi forces in the post-Iraq war scenario than at any other time in years.”
“Jihad is spreading like wildfire in Pakistan,” claims an official in the country’s Interior Ministry. He says that according to several jihadi publications between January and June 2003, Islamic groups recruited over 7,000 young boys aged between 18 and 25. “Some of the largest separatist outfits – Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) andJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) – claim to have recruited more than 3,350 and 2,235 boys respectively during this period,” says the official. Jihadi groups are finding the Pakistani environment particularly receptive after the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq. They use publications, web sites, local prayer leaders, cassettes, CDs, and souvenirs like file covers, badges,T-shirts and so on to lure recruits.”
