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The Politics of Scooby Doo
I don't know why I still do it... but I still do. On some level, it's the mental equivalent of being a self-mutilator. But I still do it. I watch the Today Show in the morning while I'm having coffee.
And thus my Friday morning began with what I am sure resulted in a major blood pressure increase, and death-defying proximity to a cerebral aneurism. Meredith Viera parsing out for the idiot-nation the subtle nuanced interpretation of Mr. Bush's pointless remarks Thursday evening (spewed no doubt to an utterly disinterested nation - strangely, haven't seen the Nielsen numbers on this).
Anyway, Captain Stupid was on the teevee Thursday giving his latest "RA RA fight fight fight" speech on Iraq. A speech in which he used General Patraeus' name roughly 5,000 times in a headlong effort to convince the public that a)everything's going great in Iraq, b) that everything he was saying came directly and completely from the deep thoughts of our Savior General Patraeus, and my personal favorite, c) that the problem of Iraq will be shoveled - unchanged, unwinnable, and debt-ridden - to the next President. In other words, I've made a disaster, but in true GWB fashion, I'll leave it to someone else to fix.
I've never actually heard a President tell an entire nation to f**k off before. I have to say, I was actually quite stunned for a moment.
But it got worse when the ever-vapid Meredith Viera, in conjunction with Super Political expert Tim Russert, interpreted this speech. Meredith looked at Tim, and she wasn't kidding, and said "Well, Tim... what I heard the President saying is that this is HIS war, and he's going to finish it."
And there it was. My head did one of those unconscious back and forth double-take deals, and I heard myself make the Scooby sound.
"RRRHHHOO????"
Yes, Meredith's interpretation of the President laying the war firmly in General Patraeus' lap, and then saying it was gonna be the next President's problem to fix it, resulted in the obvious conclusion that this is the President's war and he's gonna see it through...
What was Tim Russert's reply to this absurdity? Something very like this: "Absolutely Meredith, here's the President saying we're staying the course indefinitely and we're going to win."
And of course, the main reason for The Idiot's speech went totally unnoted by our crack media corps... that the President knows he's screwed his party's chances for the Presidency in 2008, and perhaps a decade after that, and as one final 'bite me' to Democrats, he announced the other night that the war will continue so that the next Democratic President will have to deal with ending it, paying for it, rebuilding our global reputation, caring for our veterans, and devoting resources to actually protecting America. Becuase you see, GWB doesn't care how many Americans die. He doesn't care that our grandchildren will drown in the debt of this disaster. He doesn't care that we're not really secure at home. He doesn't care about any of it. He cares about saving face while passing the whole mess off to the next person, and going on a highly paid speaking tour about "Freedom and Democracy."
Can't you just feel the firm resolve?
I despise this President for being the utterly hollow and cowardly man that he is. But perhaps even more, I despise a media that rewrites his cowardice as 'resolve' and continues to make silk purses out of this pig's ears.
But it does explain one thing: why the President went on TV in the first place. Becuase if you know you can say whatever you want, and still get exactly the spin you were looking for, you're gonna do it.
And that's why America is so lost.
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I heard Kerry and McCain were going to debate about Iraq on TV this morning. Did anybody see it?
Here is a good article on why our next President is screwed:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/16/104950/765
NPR did a good fact-checking expedition on Bush's speech and Rick Albertson did a pretty good job of writing on the subject over at Johnkerry.com.
Hi Vic,
I, too, continue to watch the Today Show, more out of habit than anything - I've watched it since I've been alive.
Anyway - Meredith continues to disappoint, challenging people at the wrong time, asking wierd questions at the wrong time, and not saying what needs to be said at the right time. They've just gotten so soft on everything.
Mostly, I just tune out.
I, too, did the Scooby the other day.
George W. Bush, when asked by Bob Woodward "how is history likely to judge your Iraq war?" replied, "History, we don't know. We'll all be dead." (Woodward Shares War Secrets, CBS News, 60 Minutes, April 18, 2004).
http://www.opednews.com/lower042904_dead.htm
I despise this President for being the utterly hollow and cowardly man that he is. But perhaps even more, I despise a media that rewrites his cowardice as 'resolve' and continues to make silk purses out of this pig's ears.
But it does explain one thing: why the President went on TV in the first place. Becuase if you know you can say whatever you want, and still get exactly the spin you were looking for, you're gonna do it.
And that's why America is so lost.
Hope you posted it of to the Today Show VE
Hi Vic,
I don't watch the today show and most news shows, just because I found it to be too depressing in the past and makes me feel more hopeless about the situation.
I know it's not right because then I have to rely on what others' reactions are and those reactions may be biased too.
But sometimes I have difficulty remembering six years ago (or more) when I watched the news to stay on top of things to realizing the state that we live in now. It's just too wierd and painful.
It's just too upsetting to realize and see people getting brainwashed. The few times I've gone to the gym or airport they have fox news on or cnn. I'd rather have airAmerica or Ed Shcultz--not because I believe everything they say but more because they use FACTS as a basis and they're HONEST about their opinion.
Fox is suddenly being honest about saying they are conservative and not fair and unbiased to the other side because they've had too. But CNN's anchors never came clean. I'm sure people know specific anchors who are liberal, conservative, etc, but the whole way they crank out the conservative spin and attack the liberals is not fair and unbiased or truthful.
Apparently their was another robbery of 1/4 million still looking for the link.
Robbers dressed as Iraqi police steal more than a half-million dollars from armored truck in east Baghdad
: Robbers dressed as Iraqi police commandos hijacked an armored truck in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, bound and gagged its guards and made off with more than a half a million U.S. dollars in Iraqi currency, police said. The bandits used what appeared to be two Iraqi police vehicles to set up a fake police checkpoint on Mohammed al-Qassim highway, near the Sinak district on the Iraqi capital's east side, said two officers, both on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The heist took place around 1:30 p.m., they said. At first, the assailants in Iraqi...
http://article.wn.com/view/2007/09/12/Robbers_dressed_as_Iraqi_police_steal_more_than_a_halfmillio/
An Iraqi View on Patraeus
Petraeus told the truth but Crocker did not
By Fatih Abdulsalam
Azzaman, September 12, 2007
I am really impressed by the briefing Lt. Gen. David Petraeus gave to the U.S. Congress this week. The reason for my admiration and appreciation of his report is the accurate description he gave of the current conditions in Iraq.
Petraeus was frank, direct and to the point when he stressed three major repercussions for a swift U.S. pullout. He said:
1. If we withdraw Iraq’s government, police and army will collapse.
2. If we withdraw Iran will occupy Iraq.
3. If we withdraw the al-Qaeda with will fill the vacuum.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker was not straightforward in his briefing. His testimony bordered on lying. His role was comparable to that of a false witness.
Petraeus was honest unlike the notorious former defense minister, Donald Rumsfeld and U.S. commander, Gen. Abuzaid, who overlooked the dangers an invading army might face in a new country.
While I underscore my appreciation of Petraeus’s report, I realize that there are many inside and outside Iraq who would harshly criticize such an attitude. But I could care less because we needed someone to tell the truth about what will happen if the U.S. suddenly decided to pull out.
Now I know these remarks might not appeal to the national Iraqi resistance, some neighboring countries, some militia groups and perhaps the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Petraeus’s words summarize the whole of Iraq’s story. They say what exactly what is bound to happen in case U.S. troops are not there.
But Petraeus and his backers in the White House or the Congress must realize in the first place that the catastrophic consequences of a U.S. withdrawal were not there before the U.S. invasion.
Prior to the invasion, there was no Qaeda in Iraq; it was not possible for Iran to invade Iraq; and nobody imagined Iraq’s government, army and police would collapse.
But Ambassador Crocker was simply playing a double role as he wanted to fool both Iraqis and Americans. He was talking as if he was in a public relations party.
Crocker made mention of non-existent successes in diplomacy, ignoring facts on the ground and how neighboring states such as Turkey and Iran were even bombing border villages and towns.
Crocker was something like a false witness on the current situation in the country. He wanted to make the congressmen believe that there is no oppression of freedoms in Iraq and that the current suppression of individual and civil and human liberties is even worse than the time of former leader Saddam Hussein.
He even implicitly denied that sectarian killings were still going in the streets of Baghdad in an organized manner, backed by the Interior Ministry and government-sponsored militias.
All these are not at the legacies of the former regime, Mr. Crocker.
The choice of Crocker as an ambassador in Baghdad was yet another blunder by the U.S. administration as the country passes through really hard times. The U.S. should know that blunders like these might be lethal.
Crocker has revealed his cards at the right moment for the Iraqis and at the worst moment for the Americans.
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-09-12\kurd.htm
Canada to Pay Victims of Agent Orange
Canada will give a one-time payment of $19,200 to people who say their health was harmed by U.S. military Agent Orange spray programs at a base in eastern Canada 40 years ago, the defense minister said Wednesday. The U.S. military tested Agent Orange, Agent Purple and several other powerful defoliants on a small section of the base in Gagetown, New Brunswick, over seven days in 1966 and 1967. Canadian officials said it was the only time the powerful defoliants - widely used during the Vietnam War - were sprayed in Canada. Vietnam has said U.S. aircraft sprayed about 21 million gallons of defoliant, mostly Agent Orange, over the South... more
http://www.worldsentinel.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=37599
Kerry on Meet the Press
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/16/141127/166
I recommended it as well.
Really exceptional photography & poetry r/t Minneapolis rally yesterday by Kayakbiker:
http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/
Comments welcome & pass it on to all who may be interested.
Sparrow
I think you can get more facts from reading newspaper articles where same story is covered by several news services (AP, Reuters etc.) and you can do that via Google news. Some will be covered by foreign (such as Age/Australia, Guardian/UK, Globe/Canada etc etc).
People complain about NPR but I find it infinitely more "fair and balanced" than tv news. I guess some people expect a more left bias like Air America. That is commentary. NPR presents both sides, which is better to start with, I think.
Then there are good blog sites - some discuss - some have stories and commentaries. I have been reading these lately, not everyone everyday, of course, but I have them bookmarked:
http://www.axisoflogic.com/
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
http://www.democracyarsenal.org/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/
http://www.docudharma.com/frontPage.do
http://economistsview.typepad.com/
http://www.infrastructurereport.blogspot.com/
http://www.rawstory.com/
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
I tried to watch tv news when I stayed at my mom's for a week and just got horribly confused. I find that when I READ - even if I start with just headlines, I don't get mired in detail until I choose to. I find that when I WATCH - as with tv, they are sorely lacking in detail. What I have heard (which is why I gave it up in the first place) was repetition and speculation and sensationalization. I like NPR because I have to listen actively because I can't see. I have to use my inner eye.
I remember reading that Dr. Andrew Weill recommended mental health "news breaks" from time to time as part of a cleansing process. I had such a break when I went on a cruise ship and only got a tiny printout each morning with a few sentences of news. When the internet goes down, it's a way to have to do and think about other things. When I've travelled it's a disruption in routine and the news flow is not gone, it's just different. I think it can be healthy.
Hang in there! I know that sometimes I DO NOT OPEN links with depressing headlines until I am ready psychologically and have context. I just hold on to them. It's also the reason I do not like to follow or hear alot about stories such as murders. It's complete news exhaustion. It's really hard to see the forest for the trees, but I think we can, if we keep our perspective.
The media does very little to help us with that. If anything, it completely distorts our perspective, by selectively shining a big laser beam on stuff that has no real importance and on top of that, repeating endlessly in a hypnotic brainwashing loop.
I know people get sick of my "kill your television" stuff but I am completely dead serious, probably more serious than about most anything in my life. It is a lifestyle change that I have made, like giving up smoking. If the media were different in the US, I would feel differently. I used to catch the occasional Meet the Press, Face the Nation, PBS special but I think the last time I bothered to watch on purpose was Kerry's concession speech.
I also quit going to corporate grocery stores after that, except for Costco (which is dark dark blue) because I don't want to research every product and who owns it. I have saved a lot of money.
If you read the DailyKos diary about why the next President will inherit a mess, this is from one of the comments.
Reagan + Bush I + Bush II = 70% of the total national debt. So 20 years of Republican rule = demise of the United States.k
Also, a friend calculated the following:
Not counting anything else, just the $1.3 trillion in US Treasury Debt, that China owns,
Each of the 1.3 billion people in China has now lent the USA $1,000.00, apiece.
Each of the 300 million people in the USA now *owes* China $4,333.33, apiece.
Comments welcome & pass it on to all who may be interested.
Posted by: not my president at September 16, 2007 04:16 PM
They are exceptional peom and pics.
He better be watching his back I would say.
Some Friend, W's Mexican Amigo
September 16, 2007 12:06 PM ET | Bedard, Paul | Permanent Link
At the White House, the president has got to be muttering "some friend" when he pores over the new autobio from his old buddy Vicente Fox, Mexico's former leader. That's because Fox raps his border pal as stubborn and "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life." Revolution of Hope, out next month, is a well-written, well-researched book about Fox's political career and presidency, which coincided with George W. Bush's. While he expresses a kinship with W, he breaks with the prez on the war and slams the GOP's immigration platform. He blames Bush's stubbornness on Iraq for bad international relations, calls his Spanish "grade-school level," and admits he didn't think Bush would ever become president. "I can't honestly say that I had ever seen George W. Bush getting to the White House," he pens.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2007/9/16/some-friend-ws-mexican-amigo.html?s_cid=rss:washington-whispers:some-friend-ws-mexican-amigo
Isn't the Today show, where Jon Stewart has his excellent satirical pieces on Iraq and Bush?
Ahh. No. That's the Daily Show. I think.
24-Hour Republican Party People
Bill Maher, 09.13.2007
Republicans sex scandals are getting to be like Iraqi car bombings. By the time you hear about one, there's been another.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/24hour-republican-party-_b_64291.html
Former Sen Chafee Quietly Quits GOP
PROVIDENCE — Lincoln D. Chafee, who lost his Senate seat in the wave of anti-Republican sentiment in last November’s election, said yesterday that he has left the party.
Chafee said he disaffiliated with the party he had helped lead, and his father had led before him, because the national Republican Party has gone too far away from his stance on too many critical issues, from war to economics to the environment.
“It’s not my party any more,” he said.
Chafee’s departure is another step in the waning of the strain of moderate Republicanism that was once a winning political philosophy from Rhode Island and Connecticut to the Canadian border. For the first time since the Civil War, the six New England states combined now have only one Republican U.S. House member, Connecticut’s Christopher Shays.
Chafee said he disaffiliated from the party “in June or July,” making him an unaffiliated voter. He did so quietly, and until yesterday, he said, “No one’s asked me about it.” He said he made the move because “I want my affiliation to accurately reflect my status.”
http://www.projo.com/news/content/CHAFEE_GOP_09-16-07_DP751KF.31dd3fe.html
Posted by: rossiann at September 16, 2007 06:30 PM
They are such a perverted lot. No wonder they want to keep it secret. They are certainly tasting more forbidden fruit than the non-repressed. Preach one thing whilst doing another may have worked at some time in the distant past, now it just highlights the double standards.
Tourists Flock to Minneapolis Airport Bathroom
http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/159879.html
SEN. MCCAIN: ... But if you listen to bin Laden, Zarqawi and all that they say they drove us out of Beirut, they drove us out of Mogadishu, they hit the U.S.S. Cole, they attacked our embassies, and they’re saying, "We’ll drive them out of Iraq, and we will succeed." And so you listen to what he...
SEN. KERRY: And where is he saying that? He’s saying that from the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
SEN. McCAIN: And he’s able to reach, and he’s, and he’s able to reach every corner of the world.
SEN. KERRY: Yeah, and he’s able to do it because this administration took their eye off of him and chose to go to war in a place that had nothing to do with the war on terror. And the fact is, as I said before, al-Qaeda loves our being in Iraq.
SEN. KERRY: ...then change the equation. And Iran loves the fact that we’re in Iraq.
SEN. McCAIN: And Iran loves to be in Iraq.
SEN. KERRY: And Iran is getting stronger. Excuse me?
SEN. McCAIN: And Iran loves to be in Iraq, and they are in Iraq.
SEN. KERRY: Well, Iran is in Iraq.
SEN. McCAIN: And al-Qaeda is in Iraq.
SEN. KERRY: Iran has thousands...
SEN. McCAIN: ...and al-Qaeda is—if we don’t continue to beat them back, will be a major influence...
SEN. KERRY: John...
SEN. McCAIN: ...and have training bases, and they will have...
SEN. KERRY: ...you’re debating with yourself...
(from debate today on one of the talk shows .. see recommended DailyKos diary by Beachmom which has 160 comments)
the video
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/
OH MY GOD!!!
OMG OJ GOT ARRESTED!
IT MUST BE IMPORTANT CAUSE IT'S BEEN ON MY TEEVEE ALLLLLL DAY!
OMG OMG. What on earth did we ever find worthy to speak of before?
Oh yeah....
Nevermind.
BTW, all you people marching in DC....
Guess how much airtime I saw yall get...?
Of all the days to stage a massive march, it had to be the day OJ gets arrested.
Now that's just bad timing.
I LOVE ENDORSEMENTS:
Speaking of Wesley Clark, he is endorsing Hillary Clinton, though characterized as "the darling of the antiwar blogosphere." On my website I have sandwiched him in between Madonna and Britney Spears. He is about the same height.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2007/09/gen_wesley_clar.html
@@@@@
Why?? certainly not for her voting record in the Senate or the fund-raising scandals...
here is a new Giuliani ad on Clinton's flip-flopping on the Iraq War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L63Ff_mGzs
Christy, OJ was arrested a couple of days ago over a robbery at a Las Vegas hotel. I don't know why it's so big there now.
Now that's just bad timing.
Posted by: Christy at September 16, 2007 08:25 PM
On his part - the creep.
The DC march was covered on all our tv news. OJ's arrest I only saw in the paper.
BTW: Is Joe Klein correct that Gen. Patraeus was called by the White House in between the hearing sessions to criticize his testimony? Seems that if true this would be a big blow to both independence of the General's testimony and the White House's claim that it lets the generals decide everything.
Here is the clip of Joe Klein on Hardball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv3S5JlVjjQ
This close to an election, you just gotta laugh!
Iraq war about oil: Greenspan
Brendan Nicholson
September 17, 2007
IT HAS been blindingly obvious to everyone except Prime Minister John Howard and some of his senior ministers that oil has a lot to do with the war in Iraq.
Mr Howard has vigorously denied that that was the case, but now no less an authority than former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan says that is what the war is mainly about.
In a new book, Dr Greenspan says he is saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge "what everyone knows: the Iraq War is largely about oil".
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/iraq-war-about-oil-greenspan/2007/09/16/1189881342272.html
I did a Google search of Patraeus and phonecall, White House and came up empty. I guess Joe Klein is the only one who saw this or he is lying... and if Joe is lying maybe he shouldn't be with that national news magazine...
CNN covers the Boehner gaffe on "small price" to pay in Iraq statement to Blitzer-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0H272ritbI
No Woz, he was suspected and questioned for a few days... He was actually cuffed today.
And you saw DC on the news? Wow, I am from that country and did not see jack sh*t about it.
I think I caught the tail end of a 'report' on it, but it was one of those 'in other 30 second news, while we are not talking about OJ' kinda things.
ok Christy, perhaps I read that he'd been charged in your day/my middle of the night.
And yes - the DC march and some over zealous cops - and the *dead* and the vets against war. All were covered. Your media is certainly muzzled in the US it seems. I've also seen some brilliant American documentaries about Iraq. Perhaps they too only get screened outside America. A shame. They are truly telling pieces - not from the safety of armoured vehicles and inside the Green Zone where your MSM correspondents are safely embedded for a 12 hour reporting session - but from the streets of Baghdad and other provinces.
I'll try and find links for some of them.
I'm jealous of the Aussies.
Grrrr.
My youngest granddaughter, Logan who I have not met, turns 1 on Sunday. I must go and get some fairy sparkles to put into the package and post it. Little things like this, at such an awful time in the world, are worth savouring, down to the last tiny moment.
What a sweet age. Maybe time will sort it all out soon and you will meet her before the next birthday.
At that age though, anything you send, the box is likly to be the most gnawed upon. I am sure it is a universal baby thing.
By the way Woz, I saw you say you were not feeling too good lately.
Anything we can do to get you better?
Thanks Christy - no - it's a chronic illness that's been going on 22 years so far. Not that I'm counting. On the days I feel great I completely forget and get very ambitious. But, it's fun meeting everyone here and getting involved in discussions that are good for the brain.
And you're right about the box! Like Christmas time and the paper. I got a free little bear - good quality. So that's being sent. And I know I'll see her next year. I will only go in July or August because that's our winter and she lives way north of rossi. I send her lots of books because that's what I write and stay in touch with. Kids Literature.
Take a look at this beautiful little girl and read her story.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pumpkin-speaks--and-asks-for-her-mother/2007/09/17/1189881386773.html
Officials called her "Pumpkin" because that's the *expensive* brand of clothing she's dressed in.
Hey sparrow i will try to see it but my moms cpu doesnt play movies all that well but ill try to get to it asap. But thanks i never thought i would get that many responses from that.Thanks again
NP, Christian.
The one movie I suggested was on HBO. (Don't know if you have cable access or a video player. But I imagine there's a way to get a video to you if you have one.) Oh...except the video can't come from me because I haven't figured out how the video player works on our idiotic machine.
Christian,
You can also read, "War is a Racket"
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm
Also, President Eisenhower a former General had amazing comments about war. You could check those out.
And consider getting more information about all these Iraq War Generals who have spoken out against the war. People like General Clark, Max Cleland and others bring a military experience to an anti-war perspective.
sparrow,
ill check it out when bubba,my step dad gets here,but can you tell me "the draft" when it comes and if im not able to get awaay in time,What are the chances that i will come home alive and not in a coffin?
Woz
I think our news is censored. Friends in France are always telling me about these documentaries they see - about America! Some are foreign-made, as around the time of Hurricane Katrina.
Last time I was there I saw a couple of two-hour documentaries. One was about evolution and one was about a special police force that is trained to sniff out terrorists.
Fox Censors Antiwar Comment at Emmys
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/16/232830/502
christian, in a free and democratic society no one is compelled to go to war. Well, they should not be. Hence we have conscientious objectors. We just have to make certain that the next American administration knows, understands and accepts that number 1 rule of democracy.
No one can make me kill, for any reason. Except - ahh - always exceptions - except for protecting my children when they were little and my grandchildren now. Those are the only acceptable reasons for killing, in my view. Oh yeah - accidentally - in self defence.
It is up to us, our schools, our governments to restore the age old law - Thou Shalt Not Kill! If people want to have war, we need to make certain there are no weapons involved. And only those who want to kill others need apply.
What we forget, is that we were first of all invaders and occupiers of our countries. Fight for one's country? Not by invading another. Fight for one's country? Yes. At home. Within that country. In self-defence.
So, Christian. We're all going to make damned certain the little warmongering lunatic in the White House doesn't get you.
And an update on little *pumpkin*. Of the father, I say let him go. We don't want him and his daughter certainly has no need of a father who would do this.
Police say father abandoned 'Pumpkin'
Reko Rennie
September 17, 2007 - 1:35PM
Police say the man filmed walking away from abandoned tot "Pumpkin" at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station is her father and they have extended their search for him to the United States and New Zealand.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/dad-abandoned-pumpkin/2007/09/17/1189881404102.html
Christian.
I am going to tell you this one last time to use proper english, or I am going to turn you into my full time laundry monkey.
Posted by: not my president at September 17, 2007 12:13 AM
I think you're right about censored documentaries and other reports. I remember seeing a US documentary on US interference in some South American countries. The makers said that it was banned in the US. So, that goes back a long way I guess - the manipulation of the media.
I'm surprised that the censors get away with it. Isn't that undemocratic? Shouldn't adults be able to read or watch what they want.
We've had a problem here with the terra laws. University texts have been pulled from the syllabus and banned. It's so ridiculous. I don't know many Australians who'd take that. The only time a book is worth reading when you're a student is the one the government doesn't want you to read.
And these banned texts are Islamic texts. It's ridiculous. Surely, if you're afraid of a whole group of people, the best and safest thing to do would be to get to know them. Hmm. I guess that's why we're in the quagmire that once was Iraq. Noone bothered to find out anything about the Iraqis.
Those scared of a few colourful words, should watch Australian programs after 9pm. Nothing gets bleeped. Well, as far as I know nothing is bleeped. Perhaps words I've never heard, but I never hear a bleeping noise.
Christy, I'm really impressed that christian wants to find out all he can about war and draft and politics. He's 16 and hasn't perfected the language yet - hell, neither have I actually. If he came in ranting, sure I might get a bit peeved. But Christian is an absolute joy to have come along and ask questions and make statements. I only wish more of our young people were exposed to such a site.
Sometimes I've read my posts and thought - who wrote that rubbish?
You're doing great Christian and I'm glad to meet you.
France, Germany sounding more hawklike on Iran lately..
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-09-16-voa21.cfm
China is against the new sanctions and certainly against invasion.
All they'd have to do is pull our credit and bye bye America.
Fox News bleeped out Sally Field's anti war comments at the Emmys. How neurotic is that?
There MUST be advertisers who are pro peace. Surely. I hope none of them are advertising with FOX
Australia's Prime Minister will lose, not only his title, but also his SEAT!
All they'd have to do is pull our credit and bye bye America.
Posted by: not my president at September 17, 2007 01:21 AM
Now that is the truth
Australia's Prime Minister will lose, not only his title, but also his SEAT!
Posted by: woz at September 17, 2007 02:54 AM
I'm counting on that woz
France: We Must Prepare For War With Iran »
BBC | September 16, 2007 09:54 PM
French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says the world should prepare for war over Iran's nuclear programme.
"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," Mr Kouchner said in an interview on French TV and radio.
Mr Kouchner said negotiations with Iran should continue "right to the end", but an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose "a real danger for the whole world".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6997935.stm
Pumpkin's 'dad fled to US'
THE toddler, who has been dubbed Pumpkin, abandoned at a Melbourne railway station was dumped by her father before he fled to the US, police say.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22431659-2,00.html
As long as any fight with Iran, doesn't involve us down here in the southern hemisphere. Let them fight it out up there. Of course countries are getting themselves secure for when the US attacks them. Iran, Syria, Nth Korea - and who knows where Russia will end up.
Mr Kouchner said negotiations with Iran should continue "right to the end", but an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose "a real danger for the whole world".
Posted by: rossiann at September 17, 2007 03:10 AM
See, this is what I don't understand. America's nuclear arsenal is bigger than the rest of the world combined. So, why aren't UN sanctions put onto the US? The US has killed far more with nuclear weapons and chemical sprays than all the rest of the world combined. And the deaths and deformities continue after decades. I don't understand the paranoia over a small country with a nuclear weapon or three.
When have the Iranians travelled all around the world to invade and occupy another country? Their neighbours, maybe. It takes real money to sustain a war, as America must surely know by now. How on earth could Nth Korea sustain such an event. On foreign soil.
Although, I must say, the Janjaweed certainly should be put out of the misery of the Sudanese in Darfur. They make George Bush look positively humane, gentle and compassionate.
I'm not sorry to hear this. Except, I would feel better about it, if the guilty were the ones who had to pay. Most wheat growers had no idea. And they hate what happened.
More may join 'genocide' action
September 17, 2007 - 3:13PM
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who lost family members under Saddam Hussein's regime could end up joining a class action against disgraced Australian wheat exporter AWB, a lawyer says.
Two Iraqi widows last week filed legal action in a New York court against AWB, found by the Cole inquiry last year to have knowingly paid almost $300 million in kickbacks to Saddam's regime to secure lucrative wheat export contracts.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/more-may-join-genocide-action/2007/09/17/1189881412309.html
Christian.
I am going to tell you this one last time to use proper english, or I am going to turn you into my full time laundry monkey.
Posted by: Christy at September 17, 2007 12:32 AM
Does this mean I are fired?
Depressed & Starched
Here's a Monday action for all of us, if we choose:
Dear friends,
Some of you may know that author Jonathan Kozol has been spending considerable time lobbying for significant changes in the NCLB.
Please check out Kozol's recent essay "Why I am
Fasting: An Explanation to My Friends" on the blog at Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kozol/why-i-am-fasting-an-expl_b_63622.html
He has been fasting in order to draw attention to the need for changes in the NCLB and to pressure Senator Kennedy. Right now he is focusing changing the mind of Senator Kennedy who plays a pivotal role in the redraft of the NCLB.
This Monday, September 17, 2007, Jonathan Kozol is holding a press conference in Washington to make a plea to Senator Kennedy to rethink his position and to support a drastic reduction in the reliance upon standardized exams. If you want to add your voice against the testing mania and give your support to Jonathan's fast, please send emails to Senator Kennedy's office that day (Monday) and ask all the other educators, parents, and students you know to phone or email Kennedy too. Please let Kennedy hear from you -- perhaps we can pressure him to realize that NCLB is a huge mistake.
Ted Kennedy's email form: http://kennedy.senate.gov/senator/contact.cfm (paste into your internet browser)(make sure to cc: Raquel_Alvarenga@help.senate.gov with your message)
or you can call: Ted Kennedy's phone: (202) 224-4543
Sincerely,
Bob Peterson
Does this mean I are fired?
Depressed & Starched
Posted by: monkey at September 17, 2007 06:42 AM
you really kill me monkey
NCLB?
No Monkey, not fired. For you I still have many uses other than domestic torture.
TY Woz. I am very proud of him. He has had problems in the past with his fighting, (people keep assuring me all boys fight, I still gon't buy it has to be that way.) But since he has come back to me, I am trying to get him to use or atleast think deeply about concepts like pacifisim, taking responsibility even when it is not your fault, and your basic forgiving of trespasses.
Because he will be 18 in less than two years, and our political position is so,...troubled... I am also desperate to make him understand the concept of killing people you do not hate, for lies, and how he must start to understand now, not later, now.
My parents were not political at all. Other than, you know, bitching about this or that, or teaching us the structure of our government. My daddy hated Ronald Reagan, but that was as far as our political exposure went. I regret that, because as an adult I spent too many years playing catch up.
I will let him jump back on today sometime, but I probably have to take him to the ER. For some reason he is bleeding inside his left ear.
I just want to say Thank you for encouraging him. The next few years he will have some very sobering decisions to make and it is a blessing to see him starting down the right path.
NCLB = No Child Left Behind, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
It's our country's version of torture for children--
The Bush administration took a proposal from Ted Keneedy's office that was actually not so terrible: the idea that standards-based education would allow poor children an equal shot at learning. But the version the Bush administration drafted included high-stakes testing, a one-size fits all approach which has not done what it was supposed to do at all.
I know, woz, you are shocked, aren't you?
The next few years he will have some very sobering decisions to make and it is a blessing to see him starting down the right path.
Posted by: Christy at September 17, 2007 07:41 AM
I certainly hope he's ok. It doesn't sound right. Christy, Christian sounds an absolute delight, and he's doing just great with you as a guide.
What NCLB did to the Florida education system under not one, but TWO Bushes, is one of the main reasons we left the state for better educational opportunities elsewhere.
The teachers absolutely base their curriculum plan on "teaching to the test", that is, nothing else is taught except what is going to be on the exam.
No free thought is allowed. No deviating from the lesson plan... and incentives to teachers who get higher test scores out of their students.
It's like a factory, and not a good one. The teachers HATE it.
No Child Right Behind
I know, woz, you are shocked, aren't you?
Posted by: karen at September 17, 2007 07:42 AM
No, I'm not karen. Bloody hell, I KNEW Howard got that idea from somewhere. When teachers have to teach to test results, thinking is lost. And today I read that 50% of state school teachers want to get out of it. As a retired teacher, I'm just surprised it took this long to realise how stressful teaching is with pathetic pay.
Ted Kennedy made this proposal? He's a reasonable guy. It should be easy to make him understand that is a bad proposition.
I saw a documentary on schools and teaching in America. It could have been about this proposal. In one school, one of the teachers was pro Bush and pro Iraq war. And he taught the children all about Iraq from the Bush - and his - perspective. Another teacher was a pacifist and didn't feel right about saying so to the children, since the parents of some kids were in Iraq.
There's something wrong about that, but it makes the ease with which Bush plummeted us into these wars, understandable.
As a person who had 'up close' experiences with the testing industry, let me just say that it's pure bunk anyway.
Frankly, the tests are designed to weed people out. Those who excel would excel on them anyway. Those who fail may have failed anyway as well; however, one needs to ask if those who failed could have achieved more within their own ability had they been allowed to learn in a more creative way.
Though in our state the standard on the tests are quite high and to pass them would be a good thing. I heard from fellow employees that the tests in Texas actually got easier during GWB's reign there so that they could tout his improvements in their school system.
Posted by: woz at September 17, 2007 08:17 AM
Didja ever see "The Boys from Brazil"?
Blackwater security firm banned from Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's Interior Ministry has revoked the license of Blackwater Security Consulting, an American firm whose contractors are blamed for a Sunday gunbattle in Baghdad that left eight civilians dead.
The firefight took place near Nisoor Square about noon, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday. In addition to the fatalities, 14 people were wounded, most of them civilians, the official said.
Details were sketchy, but the official said witnesses reported that one side of the gunbattle involved Westerners driving sport utility vehicles, which security contractors often use. The state television network al-Iraqiya reported that a Western security company was involved in the shootout, but it did not identify the firm.
An official with the U.S. Embassy told The Associated Press that a State Department motorcade came under small-arms fire near Nisoor Square, and one of the vehicles was disabled.
The official said no State Department officials were injured but provided no information on Iraqi casualties, the AP reported.
Blackwater is one of many security firms contracted by the U.S. government during the Iraq war. An estimated 25,000-plus employees of private security firms are working in Iraq, guarding diplomats, reconstruction workers and government officials. As many as 200 are believed to have been killed on the job, according to U.S. congressional reports.
"We have revoked Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq. As of now they are not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq," Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf said Monday. "The investigation is ongoing, and all those responsible for Sunday's killing will be referred to Iraqi justice."
more...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/17/iraq.main/index.html
No, Monkey.
Well, that's ONE good decision! Blackwater Banned. Bush will probably veto it.
"The Boys From Brazil" was made in 1978, but it deals with human cloning. At the time, short sighted people dismissed it as ludicrous, but in light of recent cloning experiments the films has a topicality about it and probably seems marginally more plausible nowadays than it did when it was released.
So who are the boys from Brazil? They are young boys all bred from genetic skin grafts taken from the body of Adolf Hitler during the war years. In Paraguay, in the '70s, one of Hitler's most feared accomplices, Josef Menegele (Gregory Peck), has been toiling away in a jungle laboratory trying to breed young Hitler clones. A young reporter (Steve Guttenberg) hits upon the plot, and is killed, but not before passing a message onto famed Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman (Lawrence Olivier).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077269/
Posted by: woz at September 17, 2007 08:17 AM
Woz,
A teacher with whom I worked with last year had all sorts of "Bush Family-Mafia", "The Iraq War was a lie", and many many more bumper stickers on her vehicle. She made a few comments when she read the paper (prior to class time starting) but this was a very rural-Republican area in which she worked.
Well, a few students filed complaints about her saying she forced them to listen to her politics. And a few actually followed her to her car (which they thought was hers but needed to verify that it was hers) and this was late at night and when it was dark too.
At any rate, suddenly their eval forms showed her with a .5 approval rating which would have to mean that every student gave her 0-1's which seemed doubtful because at least 5 of the 10 students seemed quite happy and pleased with what they were accomplishing in class. Those low scores would have been appropriate from three of the students in that class who were late turning in assignments, no shows for many classes, and basically just grouchy and angry at her.
But the ladies in the office really hated her. They were snarky and fairly rude; they were Republicans and probably Fox watchers. All I know is they bought the whole "War on Christmas" antics hook-line-and-sinker!
Well, to make a long story short, we suspect that these ladies may have altered those SQL's (evaluations) but there's no proof to prove that they did. But even the dept. chair asked her if it was feasible that they were altered. And at least one of the students sent a copy of the letter she wrote to the dept. (or Dean) saying what a fantastic class it was.
Anyways...my point is that politics may have caused this lady to get fired. Or it could be a little bit personality too. This lady is sort of stern and very assertive. So she may have just offended people with her strong personality. And maybe those people would have done that to her without having the excuse of her politics. However, since 04, too many people have lost their jobs due to politics and she may just be another one.
Christy,
I hope Christian is doing ok. Let us know.
Regarding the proper English: I'm not sure how many people flipped over to nolie's blog during her competition. (I know some did and for that I thank you very much!) At any rate, her spelling and COmbination of caps and stuff would sometimes get to me. But then I decided "to heck with it...at least she was trying to read, write, and win the scholarship." Of course, I know during the age of spell check and grammar check that her work could have been cleaner, but that site also had issues with saving things in draft or in locking up and losing everything she wrote. So overall, I decided to encourage her to just read and interpret the news for herself.
Would I have enjoyed seeing more the's instead of hte's but overall, she was going to school, studying, working two jobs and basically trying to keep a roof over her head. So I decided to just give her credit for adding one more thing to her to do list.
She has a blog now, a cooking blog, that she updates when she feels like it, but the spelling and grammar are more conventional.
Anyways, I am happy to see Christian seeking our ideas, because that takes guts too.
Oh..and I had another idea for Christian...
Watch MASH episodes with your friends. Maybe they will see through the humor that war is Hell. And as far as I'm concerned, the neocons knew the impact Hollywood tv and movies have on people, and that's why in 04, they had to smear Democrats as being 'Hollywood'. Learning doesn't have to come from a book. And also Christian, turn on John Stewart, Colbert, Maher, etc if you have access to cable. The real news is on the Comedy stations.
monkey - yes, I'd heard of it. And I know it was a good movie. I'm not sure why I didn't see it, but it's too late now. I can't handle movies that are intellectually or emotionally challenging. Thanks for the synopsis.
sparrow - Throughout my teaching life, there was a rule - NO politics or religion. In primary school. In high school, politics yes - but only the mechanics of our government. No political commentary. Religion no.
Backing Off: Greenspan clarifies Iraq war, oil link
Says he told White House ousting Saddam was 'essential' to world supplies
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 32 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Clarifying a controversial comment in his new memoir, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he told the White House before the Iraq war that removing Saddam Hussein was “essential” to secure world oil supplies, according to an interview published on Monday.
Greenspan, who wrote in his memoir that “the Iraq War is largely about oil,” said in a Washington Post interview that while securing global oil supplies was “not the administration’s motive,” he had presented the White House before the 2003 invasion with the case for why removing the then-Iraqi leader was important for the global economy.
“I was not saying that that’s the administration’s motive,” Greenspan said in the interview conducted on Saturday. “I’m just saying that if somebody asked me, ’Are we fortunate in taking out Saddam?’ I would say it was essential.”
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20817260/
Ok...so Edwards is inching closer to getting my vote in the primaries. (In 09 if there is not universal healthcare then he will take away healthcare coverage from the Congress and President's office.)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/17/72510/4915
I admit, I think I have a favorite who probably won't make it through the primaries, but I'm glad he's running.
Woz, actually the only time I heard her speak politics was when she was reading from the school paper about the NSA wiretapping. She spoke about how that was illegal. I also know she gave an assignment that included one right-winged website and one left-winged website. But the discussion was on Internet research and evaluating bias (or site reliability) on the Internet. So the assignment was relevant to class.
So, Christian. We're all going to make damned certain the little warmongering lunatic in the White House doesn't get you.
Posted by: woz at September 17, 2007 12:24 AM
Thank you,that,felt good to hear that,or read it.What could you do to to keep me away?But georgie can pull our troops out can't he?
.What could you do to to keep me away?But georgie can pull our troops out can't he?
Posted by: christian at September 17, 2007 09:34 AM
Study hard and apply yourself in school. Apply to colleges outside our country. Stay out of trouble.
Google links to conscientious objecting.
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGIC,GGIC:2006-51,GGIC:en&q=conscientious+objector
National registry for conscientious objecting:
http://www.peaceabbey.org/confcenter/coregistry.htm
GWB will NEVER pull our troops out until we impeach him. He is trying to leave it for the next President who will probably be Democratic. They would like to blame the Dems for what happens after the pull-out.
~new thread~, fasten seat belts...
the discussion was on Internet research and evaluating bias (or site reliability) on the Internet. So the assignment was relevant to class.
Posted by: sparrow at September 17, 2007 09:08 AM
Yes, sparrow. That's really good. It's important to consider all points of view whilst making a judgement about issues. What really bothered me, watching the pro-war (Iraq) teacher was that he simply spouted the Bush rhetoric - years later when it was known to be untrue. And the children - primary school age - all believed the same rubbish.
It wasn't until I moved to Tasmania in 2003 that I discovered my education in Australian History was downright untrue. We were all taught that there were no Aboriginal people in Tasmania now. Yes, the were all killed or rounded up and resettled on an island that was not their home but a kind of prison. They died out there.
Like Australia does to refugees now - sends them off to Nauru to live in limbo. At least until they go nuts and then they are brought here and given a protection visa and locked up in an institution for mental impairments.
It seems that we're still told lies in our schools.