Rational Review News Digest
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Published Monday-Friday, except for holidays
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Volume III, Issue #733
Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
Email Circulation 2,078
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Today's News:
0) RRND -- September fundraiser
1) Katrina's death toll climbs past 1,000
2) Iraq: Three government troops killed in raid
3) Pakistan: Five killed in Lahore blasts
4) Senators allege Pentagon cover-up on 9/11
5) Rita grows into monster Category 5 hurricane
6) Israel: Sharon-Netanyahu showdown too close to call
7) House OKs tax breaks for Katrina victims
8) Leahy to support Roberts for chief justice
9) Iraqis in Basra slam "British aggression"
10) Bush to press lawmakers for guest-worker program
11) Sheehan's anti-war campaign reaches DC
12) Judge OKs $6.1 billion in WorldCom settlements
13) PayPal hit by payment problems
14) Fraud sinks Subway's sub club
15) Barroso: Work to avoid paralysis in Europe
16) France plans to pay cash for more babies
17) Florida: Would-be robbers get more than they expected
18) Uzbekistan: "Show trial"' begins
19) Frist sold stock, then price plummetted
20) Tennessee: 120 TennCare lawyers hired; 16 cases so far
21) San Francisco: Big fire? We're (un)hosed
22) Massachusetts: Where there's smoke, there may be a fine
23) Dutch talk-show host plans to take heroin on TV
24) Google trials free WiFi service
25) US authors sue Google
Today's Commentary:
26) The fraud of "taking responsibility"
27) Whither the Libertarian movement?
28) Life, liberty, property -- in that order
29) Sheehan takes on the Democrats
30) The voluntary community
31) Nix the ban on sports drugs
32) Time to also march on the media?
33) NYPD unplugs Sheehan
34) Sit down in DC
35) The attempted militarization of the Jetsons
36) Bills send Social Security surplus to private accounts
37) Earth sense in the balance
38) Feeding the kitty for Katrina
39) Whining is un-American
40) Winchester -- on guns
41) No place for poet at banquet of shame
42) Japan: Victory for small government
43) The paradox of fuel efficiency
44) 200 billion for Katrina rebuild? HOGWASH!
45) Judge Roberts no Rehnquist
46) Bad on the basics
47) The Constitutional moment that wasn't
48) The Bush paradox
49) Why condemn looting?
50) Millennium flop
51) How to be inhuman
52) Military injustice
Today's Movement News and Events:
53) James Rogers in St. Louis
54) Shame Utah for Rave Bust
55) Petition: Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers
56) Help rattle the cages on gun confiscation
57) Second European Resource Bank Meeting
58) A time for action
59) Bring the Guard home NOW
Today in Political History:
60) The abduction of Shirley Allen
News
0) RRND -- September fundraiser
Rational Review
"Dear Readers, For the last several months, we've done our best to
keep fundraising to a minimum here at RRND. Due to a grant procured by
ISIL for production of our sister newsletter, Freedom News Daily,
we've managed to establish a revenue 'floor' of about 25% of what we
believe our average should be -- and, quite frankly, that's better
than we usually did during our first two years of publication.
However, there's a big gap between 25% and 100%, and sooner or later
we need to start making up the difference. Our revenue base has been,
and will continue to be, primarily composed of voluntary contributions
from the thousands of readers who enjoy RRND and find it useful. After
730 consecutive editions without interruption, I trust that our
readers know we deliver. For September, I'd very much like to get
revenues above 50% of our goal. That means raising $1,000. And I'd
like to do it this week." (09/18/05)
http://www.rationalreview.com/content/1103
-----
1) Katrina's death toll climbs past 1,000
Las Vegas Review-Journal
"Searchers smashed through doors in New Orleans on Wednesday, bringing
their hunt for the dead to homes that had been locked and to blocks
hardest hit by Katrina's flooding. Behind those doors, officials said
they expected a sharply escalating body count even as the overall
death toll passed 1,000. 'There still could be quite a few, especially
in the deepest flooded areas,' said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jeffrey
Pettitt, who is overseeing the retrieval of bodies. 'Some of the
houses, they haven't been in yet.' Officials said searchers are
beginning to find more children." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/akjar
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2) Iraq: Three government troops killed in raid
CNN
"A Baghdad raid on suspected insurgents by U.S. and Iraqi forces on
Wednesday left an Iraqi soldier and two police officers dead, police
said. Another Iraqi soldier and six police were wounded in the raid,
police said, which stemmed from the kidnapping of an Iraqi civilian by
insurgents in Mahmoudiya, south of the capital. The U.S. military said
the kidnapped man was taken to a house in Baghdad's Mansour
neighborhood, where he was later able to escape and make his way to
local police." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/c78xr
-----
3) Pakistan: Five killed in Lahore blasts
ABC News
"At least five people were killed and 26 wounded in two blasts within
hours of each other in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on
Thursday, police said. ... Pakistan has suffered a series of terrorist
attacks linked to militants angry with the government for siding with
the U.S.-led war on terrorism since late 2001, and those involved in
sectarian violence between the country's Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims."
(09/22/05)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1148221
-----
4) Senators allege Pentagon cover-up on 9/11
Portland Press Herald
"Pentagon researchers linked Sept. 11 ringleader Mohamed Atta to a New
York group of al-Qaida terrorists a year before the 2001 attacks, but
the military destroyed the evidence after the hijackings, witnesses
testified Wednesday. The Defense Department has refused to discuss the
intelligence program called 'Able Danger' and prohibited those who
were involved from testifying at Wednesday's Senate Judiciary
Committee hearing. The refusal has fueled talk about whether the
military could have prevented the attacks. A Pentagon official
acknowledged at the hearing that officials should have shared the
information with the FBI if it was gathered in an acceptable manner.
Committee members called the destruction of paperwork a cover-up of
missed opportunities. More urgently, lawmakers questioned what other
information was destroyed that could have helped prevent future
terrorist attacks." (09/22/05)
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/050922atta.shtml
-----
5) Rita grows into monster Category 5 hurricane
Houston Chronicle
"Gaining strength with frightening speed, Hurricane Rita swirled
toward the Gulf Coast a Category 5, 175-mph monster today as more than
1.3 million people in Texas and Louisiana were sent packing on orders
from authorities who learned a bitter lesson from Katrina. 'It's
scary. It's really scary,' Shalonda Dunn said as she and her 5- and
9-year-old daughters waited to board a bus arranged by emergency
authorities in Galveston. 'I'm glad we've got the opportunity to
leave. ... You never know what can happen.'" (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/ajenk
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6) Israel: Sharon-Netanyahu showdown too close to call
Reuters
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and rival Benjamin Netanyahu are
neck-and-neck in a Likud party ballot next week that could redefine
Israeli politics after the withdrawal from Gaza, a poll showed on
Thursday. The Likud executive, which opposed the pullout for defying
the party's traditional rightist ideology, votes on Monday on
Netanyahu's motion to advance a leadership primary to November in an
extraordinary move to oust a popular serving premier. Aides suggest
the ex-general will quit Likud if he loses the Central Committee vote
and enter the next general election as leader of a new centrist party
mining public support for what he calls 'disengagement' from conflict
with the Palestinians." (09/22/05)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L22362970.htm
-----
7) House OKs tax breaks for Katrina victims
USA Today
"The House approved a $6.1 billion package of tax breaks Wednesday to
help families recover from Hurricane Katrina and encourage Gulf Coast
businesses to reopen their doors, or at least keep employees on the
payroll. The House passed the bill 422-0 as the Bush administration
urged residents to get out of the way of another approaching storm,
Hurricane Rita, threatening Louisiana and Texas." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/83rlr
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8) Leahy to support Roberts for chief justice
USA Today
"The senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday he
will vote to confirm John Roberts for chief justice of the United
States after leading lawmakers met with President Bush to discuss
candidates for the other high court vacancy. The announcement by
veteran Sen. Patrick Leahy came amid virtually unprecedented
executive-legislative branch jockeying over not one, but two high
court openings, seats left vacant by the death of Chief Justice
William Rehnquist and the retirement of Associate Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/azwm4
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9) Iraqis in Basra slam "British aggression"
Indianapolis Star
"Hundreds of Iraqi civilians and policemen, some waving pistols and
AK-47s, rallied Wednesday in the southern city of Basra to denounce
'British aggression' in the rescue of two British soldiers. The Basra
governor threatened to end all cooperation with British forces unless
Prime Minister Tony Blair's government apologizes for the deadly clash
with Iraqi police. Britain defended the raid. In London, British
Defense Secretary John Reid and Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim
al-Jaafari tried to minimize the effect of the fighting, saying it
would not undermine the relationship between the two nations or their
determination to lead Iraq to peace and democracy." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/8zpyo
-----
10) Bush to press lawmakers for guest-worker program
Houston Chronicle
"A Bush administration reform plan reportedly would allow illegal
immigrants to remain in the United States using guest worker visas for
up to six years. The White House approach departs from a proposal by
Sen. John Cornyn to require illegal workers to leave the country
before they could achieve legal status as guest workers. Highlights of
the administration plan were reported in the Arizona Daily Star and
The Hill, a Washington newspaper, after White House deputy chief of
staff Karl Rove and other administration officials met last week with
Republican Reps. Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake of Arizona." (09/20/05)
http://tinyurl.com/bqzm9
-----
11) Sheehan's anti-war campaign reaches DC
Detroit Free Press
"Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan pledged Wednesday to 'force change to
happen' during protest speeches outside the White House and Capitol.
Sheehan arrived in Washington after a three-week cross-country bus
tour that began near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. She is
expected to participate in an anti-Iraq war rally Saturday that
organizers hope could draw tens of thousands of people." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/cfakh
-----
12) Judge OKs $6.1 billion in WorldCom settlements
Cincinnati Enquirer
"A federal judge Wednesday approved legal settlements that will return
more than $6.13 billion to investors who suffered losses in the
massive WorldCom Inc. accounting fraud. The deals, approved by U.S.
District Judge Denise Cote, will divide payments among approximately
830,000 people and institutions that held stocks or bonds in the
telecommunications company around the time of its collapse in 2002."
(09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/dqpvn
-----
13) PayPal hit by payment problems
Register [UK]
"PayPal has been hit by two separate technical problems that are
causing transactions to appear more than once on some customers'
accounts. Although the money is not actually being removed from
accounts this can have the effect of freezing the account if spending
limits appear to be breached. Messageboards on PayPal's parent eBay
are plastered with posts from irate customers. We spoke to one
Register reader and PayPal user who asked to remain anonymous: "This
is legalised theft - the money is definitely coming out. PayPal need
to admit what is going on and apologise - there's been no public
statement. Bill Cobb (eBay's US president) should have a plan for
people who can't supply their customers, it's alright for me but many
people depend for their entire livelihoods on this site.'" (09/21/05)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/21/paypal_payment_problems/
-----
14) Fraud sinks Subway's sub club
Wired News
"For years, Subway regular Brandy Littleton kept business-size cards
with tiny stamps on them in her purse. She loved the Sub Club, a
reward system that allowed studious customers to earn free meals every
time a card filled up with stamps. ... A few months ago she learned
that her collected fortunes had become worthless. The Sub Club was
phased out, and the San Bernardino, California, woman found herself
paying full price every time she wanted a sandwich artist to prepare
her a meal. ... The reason: fraud. In a world of home laser printers
and multimedia PCs, counterfeiting has become increasingly easy. With
materials available at any office supply store, those with a cursory
knowledge of photo-editing software can duplicate the
business-card-size rewards cards once punched at Cold Stone Creamery
or the stamps once given out at Subway sandwich shops. " (09/21/05)
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,68909,00.html
-----
15) Barroso: Work to avoid paralysis in Europe
Independent [UK]
"The European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, yesterday
abandoned hope of seeing an EU constitution in place in the next two
or three years, urging member states to shelve the project and
concentrate on averting paralysis. Referendum 'no' votes in France and
the Netherlands have put the constitution on hold and political
uncertainty in Europe has been exacerbated by the stalemate following
Germany's elections on Sunday. But yesterday Mr Barroso insisted that
the EU need not be hamstrung by the lack of a constitution, and put
pressure on Tony Blair to help solve an impasse over funding the bloc
from 2007-13. " (09/22/05)
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article314182.ece
-----
16) France plans to pay cash for more babies
Guardian [UK]
"Middle-class mothers in France could be paid up to ¤1,000 (£675) a
month - almost the minimum wage - to stop work for a year and have a
third child under a government scheme to boost the birthrate, already
among the highest in Europe. Despite female employment statistics that
are the envy of the continent, the government remains worried about
the reluctance of better-educated women to have babies. A plan to be
unveiled by the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, today is
expected to double an existing cash incentive for big families."
(09/22/05)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1575401,00.html
-----
17) Florida: Would-be robbers get more than they expected
River City News
"A 54-year-old man told police he was attacked at gunpoint at his home
in the 6400 block of Heidi Road about 8:40 p.m. Sept. 10. He told
police when he arrived home and entered through a side door, two men
wearing all black clothing with white masks followed him though the
door. One man pointed a shotgun at him and ordered him to get down,
according to a police report. The victim said he refused to get down,
grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, jammed it into the gunman's stomach
and yelled, 'I'll kill you,' the report said.The victim told police he
pulled the shotgun from the gunman's hands and both attackers fled his
house in an unknown direction." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/79a2q
-----
18) Uzbekistan: "Show trial"' begins
Christian Science Monitor
"Uzbek government authorities Tuesday claimed that Western aid groups
and media ? in particular the BBC ? helped Islamists militants try to
overthrow the government. The claims were made, reports The Guardian,
during the start of the trial in Tashkent of the 15 men accused of
instigating the May 2005 uprising. The claims were part of an attempt
to paint the events in Andijon, where witnesses say 500 people were
gunned down by troops, 'as a foreign-assisted coup aimed at forming an
Islamic caliphate.'" (09/21/05)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0921/dailyUpdate.html
-----
19) Frist sold stock, then price plummetted
Fox News
"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a potential presidential candidate
in 2008, sold all his stock in his family's hospital corporation about
two weeks before it issued a disappointing earnings report and the
price fell nearly 15 percent. Frist held an undisclosed amount of
stock in Hospital Corporation of America (search), based in Nashville,
Tenn., the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain. On June 13, he
instructed the trustee managing the assets to sell his HCA shares and
those of his wife and children, said Amy Call, a spokeswoman for
Frist. Frist's shares were sold by July 1 and those of his wife and
children by July 8, Call said. The trustee decided when to sell the
shares, and the Tennessee Republican had no control over the exact
time they were sold, she said." (09/21/05)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169980,00.html
-----
20) Tennessee: 120 TennCare lawyers hired; 16 cases so far
Tennessean
"The state is keeping 120 lawyers on its payroll to hear the appeals
of people who claim they have been wrongly cut from TennCare, even
though there have been few cases for them to hear -- 16, at last
count. The state began hiring the lawyers in July and is paying the
temporary legal help more than $519,000 per month, according to
figures provided by the state Department of Human Services, which is
overseeing the appeals process. One of the lawyers who became
disgruntled and left said some co-workers filled their days working
crossword puzzles and reading magazines, although they were instructed
to 'look busy.' State officials denied this, saying the lawyers are
constantly busy training, reviewing policy, and preparing for appeals
hearings to come. ... Still, critics of the TennCare cuts say the
payments to the lawyers are a huge waste of money that could be better
used to help TennCare enrollees." [editor's note: One more example of
squeezing patients still ON the program, to subsidize upper-income
"workers?" $500K per month would sure cover a lot of (often essential)
medicines! - SAT] (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/bd66z
-----
21) San Francisco: Big fire? We're (un)hosed
San Francisco Chronicle
"If a big earthquake hits San Francisco and flames spread through the
city, firefighters rushing in from elsewhere to help will encounter
what could be a major problem -- their hoses will not fit the city's
hydrants. It has been 14 years since a similar predicament contributed
to the spread of the Oakland hills fire, in which 25 people died and
2,699 homes were lost. After dozens of firefighters from surrounding
agencies found that their hoses couldn't be attached to Oakland's
hydrants, state lawmakers required that all cities in California adopt
a standard connection size by 1994." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/aosrt
-----
22) Massachusetts: Where there's smoke, there may be a fine
Boston Globe
"Stern warnings fell on deaf ears. Threats of detention and suspension
didn't work. Despite the Scituate School Committee's efforts to
enforce a no-smoking policy on school property, some students have
continued to puff away, officials said yesterday. Now, the town is
proposing a $100 fine to keep smokers from lighting up. 'Everybody
knows it is illegal to smoke on campus,' said Superintendent Mark R.
Mason. 'We are hoping that after a few kids are fined, it will serve
as a deterrent to other students not to smoke. Voters at Town Meeting
next month will decide whether to rewrite town bylaws so that school
officials can issue the fines. The noncriminal tickets would be given
to anyone who smokes on school property and would be payable to Town
Hall." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/9bhtk
-----
23) Dutch talk-show host plans to take heroin on TV
Fox News
"The host of a new Dutch talk show plans to take heroin and LSD on the
air in a program intended to reach young audiences on topics that
touch their lives, producers said Wednesday. The show, scheduled to
premiere on late-night television Oct. 10, is called 'Spuiten &
Slikken' ('Swallow and Shoot Up'). Even in the liberal Netherlands,
where marijuana is sold and used openly, the proposed actions by
presenter Filemon Wesselink are illegal, and it was unclear how
authorities will respond. The show's hostess will interview guests
about drug use and abuse, while two other presenters carry out
in-the-field experiments with sex and drugs." (09/21/05)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169987,00.html
-----
24) Google trials free WiFi service
PC Pro [UK]
"Search giant Google is expanding its services still further with an
embryonic trial of a free wireless service. Google WiFi is currently
being trialled in a few locations close to its San Francisco Bay Area
headquarters. The free service supports encryption through a
downloadable utility as well as connections to corporate networks
through existing VPN channels. The SecureAccess utility is available
at the Google site, and more information is available in the
associated FAQ. It seems Google WiFi is yet another child of its 20
per cent policy which allows its engineers to spend some of their
working day on other projects." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/bvdyu
-----
25) US authors sue Google
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"A U.S. authors group sued Google in New York charging "massive
copyright infringement" over its Google Print Library online program.
The federal lawsuit filed by the Authors Guild along with individuals
Daniel Hoffman, Betty Miles and Herbert Mitgang, seeks class-action
status, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The suit is the first
since Google announced its Google Print Library program aimed at
compiling a searchable online library of all the printed books in the
world, the Times said." (09/21/05)
http:http://tinyurl.com/afk8y
Commentary
26) The fraud of "taking responsibility"
SOLO HQ
by Tibor R. Machan
"[T]he clear implication of being responsible -- that is, honestly
taking responsibility ... is that you will shoulder some heavy burdens
in the wake of what you did or failed to do. ... Where is there
anything comparable in President Bush's 'taking responsibility' for
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, or, for that matter, anyone's
making such a claim? Nothing I can detect exhibits the logic of
genuinely taking responsibility -- that is, of being responsible --
for bad things people do, in these politicians' pretentious
announcements. Are they sent off to jail? Are they fined a good and
hefty sum? Do they even lose their jobs? Now and then someone in
government will be demoted or transferred to some other position, but
is anyone who supposedly admits responsibility for bad things that
happened going to get his or her comeuppance? No. So then, what's the
point of making these announcements?" (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/dyl4f
-----
27) Whither the Libertarian movement?
Liberty For All
by George Phillies
"For more than 30 years, the Libertarian Party and its National
Committee has been the political arm of the Libertarian [movement].
Think tanks may ponder, columnists may pen their peerless prose, but
it the Libertarian Party in its local, state, and federal branches
that actually runs libertarians for office. Central to the political
operations, at least in budget, has been the Libertarian National
Committee. Recent events suggest that all things change." (09/22/05)
http://www.libertyforall.net/2005/sept30/Whither.html
-----
28) Life, liberty, property -- in that order
Endervidualism
by Tom Ender
"Most people would not defend the idea that fictional characters or
imaginary friends have rights in any normal sense. They do not possess
life and cannot possess rights. So what relevance does this discussion
have for affairs that matter in our actual world? In today's world are
there any fictional or imaginary entities which are thought by many
people to have rights? There are. The State is not an individual
reasoning being, nor a moral agent. It is an artificial construct, at
most a concept existing in the minds of people in a society. The State
commonly refers to a select group of people acting in a special
capacity, but not any single person who might possess life and
therefore rights. ... The artificial entity of the State has also
spawned other artificial entities which it seeks to endow with special
rights and powers. These entities act as agents for those people who
make up the State or its patrons. Often these other artificial
entities are merely subordinate components of the State: departments,
administrations, bureaus, offices, agencies. However, there are also
other artificial entities regarded as separate from the state, but
actually created or chartered by it. Corporations are such artificial
entities. " (09/19/05)
http://endervidualism.com/tomender/llp_in_that_order.htm
-----
29) Sheehan takes on the Democrats
Village Voice
by Kristen Lombardi
"Sheehan isn't stopping her critique with Bush. On the contrary, she
has begun to set her sights on Congress and the Democratic Party as
well. When she spoke in Brooklyn on the night before, she took note of
the fact that Senator Hillary Clinton voted to authorize Bush to use
force in Iraq and -- like most Senate Democrats -- has done little to
bring the troops home. Clinton, in fact, has filed legislation calling
for more troops. In an interview after her speech, Sheehan told the
Voice she was 'so frustrated' by leading Democrats like Clinton 'who
should be leaders on this issue, but are not.' Already, she has set up
a future meeting with New York's junior senator this weekend. And she
plans to sit down with the state's senior senator, Chuck Schumer, too.
'It's time for them to step up and be the opposition party,' she
said." (09/20/05)
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0538,lombardiweb,68015,2.html
-----
30) The voluntary community
LewRockwell.Com
by Jonathan Liem
"The difference between conservatism and libertinism lies in the
dichotomy of the two camps? philosophies. The conservative believes in
a 'virtuous' community in which the authority vested in the state
plays a part in ensuring compliance with communal norms. In
opposition, the libertine believes in unreserved freedom of the
individual as the sole communal purpose, regardless of accepted
communal behavior. Both philosophies have admirable attributes, but if
practiced in isolation, leave us either with totalitarianism and or an
atomistic-individualism. Neither of these options is very appealing.
Libertarianism attempts to bridge the gap between these two polar
opposite philosophies with a workable model that ensures 'virtue'
without an omnipotent state." (09/22/05)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/liem2.html
-----
31) Nix the ban on sports drugs
Wired News
by Mark McClusky
"Was Lance Armstrong a cheat? The cold hard truth, the irreducible
core at the center of every discussion of Armstrong's remarkable
career, is that we'll never know. That uncertainty permeates much of
sports today, making us wonder about the accomplishments of athletes
and whether they're made possible by the needle and the pharmacy and
not by genetic luck and hard work. Armstrong has never tested
positive. Officially. But following his miraculous return to
professional cycling after beating potentially fatal cancer, the
rumors swirled around Armstrong. His detractors, and there were many,
wondered, both silently and aloud, how a rider could go from death's
door to the pinnacle of one of the world's most demanding sports."
(09/21/05)
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68886,00.html
-----
32) Time to also march on the media?
Common Dreams
by Danny Schechter
"But, notice, how once again, most of the energy is aimed only at
government, at the White House, at Bush and his boys (and girl, Ms.
Condoleezza.) They are the targets but, alas, they are only part of
the problem. With so many activists coming to town, and some staying
for Monday, why not split them up into teams and smaller marches and
bring some popular fury to other government institutions and interests
that are complicit in the war and the policies that activists want to
oppose. Where is the march on the media? The media is the front face
of the corporate interests who stage mange the government. In an age
of globalization, challenging corporate power is essential." (09/21/05)
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0921-31.htm
-----
33) NYPD unplugs Sheehan
CounterPunch
by Joshua Frank
"They can't stop the antiwar movement, but that doesn't mean they
aren't trying. On Monday Sept. 19, Cindy Sheehan spoke in New York
City's Union Square to a group of supporters and onlookers when police
rushed in to break up her speech as it was winding down. 'I was
speaking and someone grabbed my backpack and pulled me back pretty
roughly,' Sheehan told the Associated Press. 'I was shoved around.'
Police arrested organizer Paul Zulkowitz, who was charged with
disorderly conduct as well as for using an unauthorized sound device.
... There is no question that the New York Police Department
overreacted. I can't tell you how many times I've personally shuffled
through Union Square where musicians and others were plugged into
(unauthorized, I am sure) amplifiers singing their tunes or spewing
their political propaganda. And never once I have I seen a police
officer run in and pull the Bob Dylan or Abbie Hoffman wannabe from
his microphone. No, there's a reason why they targeted Cindy Sheehan
and not these fellows." (09/21/05)
http://www.counterpunch.org/frank09212005.html
-----
34) Sit down in DC
CiunterPunch
by Mike Ferner
"If nonviolent direct action is the most powerful tool we have to stop
this war, what is the best time to exercise it? When a few hundred
people surround the White House on September 26 for an orchestrated
civil disobedience activity, or when a half-million (and more) people
are in the streets September 24?" (09/21/05)
http://www.counterpunch.org/ferner09212005.html
-----
35) The attempted militarization of the Jetsons
Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Jeffrey Tucker
"A lesser known episode of 'The Jetsons' speaks directly to our
current plight: the relentless but eternally floundering attempt to
militarize a bourgeois society that is more interested in consumption
and leisure than serving a mythical national ethos. Let's first review
the setting. The Jetsons is a cartoon made by Hanna-Barbera from
1962?1963 (the newer ones aren't as good but they aren't terrible
either). It is distinguished in science-fiction lore by the fact that
it is a rare attempt in this genre that actually succeeds in
predicting the future." (09/20/05)
http://www.mises.org/story/1920
-----
36) Bills send Social Security surplus to private accounts
Heartland Institute
by Max Pappas
"A movement to allow workers to put a portion of their payroll tax
dollars into an account they own and could pass on to heirs is taking
hold in Washington, DC as bills have been introduced in Congress to
implement such a plan. A group of prominent Senators and
Representatives has proposed putting surplus Social Security funds
into individual retirement accounts for workers younger than 55 years
old. The surplus is the amount of Social Security tax collected from
workers that exceeds the amount needed to pay Social Security
recipients." (09/05)
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17690
-----
37) Earth sense in the balance
Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Angela Logomasini
"This week, Bush-administration officials are meeting in Vienna to
discuss a United Nations plan to globalize environmental regulation.
Dubbed the 'Strategic Approach to Global Management of Chemicals' or
SAICM, the program is anything but strategic. SAICM would attempt to
regulate basically all substances in commerce -- manmade and natural
-- and would attempt to manage all the world's solid and hazardous
waste. And in time, it could easily spill into other areas -- air and
water." (09/21/05)
http://www.cei.org/gencon/019,04840.cfm
-----
38) Feeding the kitty for Katrina
FreedomWorks
by Richard W. Rahn
"Assume you were a regular blood donor but had an accident in which
you lost a considerable amount of blood. Do you think you should
increase or decrease the size and frequency of your blood donations
until you recover? Though most politicians are smart enough to answer,
'decrease the blood donations,' many seem not smart enough to
understand that, when you take an economic hit, you don't want to
unnecessarily add burdens to the economy. I refer to the call from
some politicians to increase taxes or not extend President Bush's tax
cuts to 'pay' for New Orleans." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/a57gg
-----
39) Whining is un-American
Acton Institute
by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse
"It is bad enough that the Angry Left is blaming George Bush for the
devastation of Hurricane Katrina. But it is really unseemly for the
Governor of Louisiana and the Mayor of New Orleans to be blaming the
Federal government. After all, the state and local governments in
America are supposed to have the authority and the responsibility to
be the first responders to natural disasters in their jurisdictions.
When I heard Mayor Nagin whining, I thought to myself, this sounds
positively French." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/9xrqo
-----
40) Winchester -- on guns
Liberty For All
by Jessi Winchester
"As a Winchester, it's not too hard to figure out where I stand on gun
rights. A discussion regarding the right of every private citizen to
have and bear arms should never even occur in this country. In clear
and simple language, the intent of the Second Amendment of the Bill of
Rights in the U.S. Constitution is quite unmistakable and not open to
debate. It simply states, '? the right of the people to keep and bear
arms shall not be infringed.' Period. And yet, there are thousands of
gun control laws on the books and a premeditated and deliberate plan
by our own government to ban guns altogether." (09/22/05)
http://www.libertyforall.net/2005/sept30/Winchester.html
-----
41) No place for poet at banquet of shame
The Nation
by Sharon Olds
"Dear Mrs. Bush, I am writing to let you know why I am not able to
accept your kind invitation to give a presentation at the National
Book Festival on September 24, or to attend your dinner at the Library
of Congress or the breakfast at the White House. In one way, it's a
very appealing invitation. The idea of speaking at a festival attended
by 85,000 people is inspiring! The possibility of finding new readers
is exciting for a poet in personal terms, and in terms of the desire
that poetry serve its constituents -- all of us who need the pleasure,
and the inner and outer news, it delivers. ... I tried to see my way
clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness -- as an
American who loves her country and its principles and its writing --
against this undeclared and devastating war. But I could not face the
idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with
you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the
wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration." (09/19/05)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051010/olds
-----
42) Japan: Victory for small government
Washington Times
by Donald Devine
"Small government proponents just won an overwhelming electoral
victory. But it was in Japan rather than the United States. In
just-completed elections, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi won
two-thirds of the seats at stake in the Diet or parliament, running on
a platform of cutting government bureaucracy and smaller government
and less spending. It was not just talk. For four years, he restrained
government spending and even eliminated many large popular public
works projects, indexed and increased employee contributions to
politically sensitive pensions, and allowed private firms to compete
for government functions." (09/21/05)
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050920-100459-3900r.htm
-----
43) The paradox of fuel efficiency
Boston Globe
by Jeff Jacoby
"It didn't take Hurricane Katrina to move the issue of fuel efficiency
into the spotlight. For decades, automakers have been urged to
produce, consumers have been urged to drive, and the government has
been urged to mandate more fuel-efficient cars. If the vehicles on our
roads got more miles to the gallon, we have been told again and again,
we could dramatically reduce the amount of oil we depend on -- and
from that would flow benefits equally dramatic: America's foreign
policy would be strengthened, it is said, since we would no longer
have to appease the unsavory regimes that control most of the world's
crude oil. ... And at a time of $3-a-gallon gasoline, motorists would
have particular reason to rejoice: Higher-mileage cars would need
fewer expensive fill-ups. ... All of which might be worth considering
if using fuel more efficiently really would result in less fuel being
used. But it won't. It will result in more fuel being used." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/beroa
-----
44) 200 billion for Katrina rebuild? HOGWASH!
Sierra Times
by Chuck Thompson
"For clarification ? if someone knocked on your door and asked you for
$1000 every single morning, you could accommodate them for almost
three years with a MILLION dollars. If that same person knocked on
your door every morning and asked for $1000 ? you could accommodate
them for 2,739 years if you had a BILLION dollars. Congress is now
saying that it will take 200 BILLION dollars to rebuild the devastated
Gulf Coast. The Paducah Moon will now go on record ? saying ...
HOGWASH!!!" (09/21/05)
http://www.sierratimes.com/05/09/21/68_63_253_213_54155.htm
-----
45) Judge Roberts no Rehnquist
News With Views
by Pastor Chuck Baldwin
"Conservatives everywhere, including leaders of the Religious Right,
are fawning over President Bush's nominee to replace Chief Justice
William Rehnquist, Judge John Roberts. They are praising Roberts as a
'conservative,' a 'strict constructionist,' and are even calling him
'pro-life.' However, Roberts' personal statements and judicial track
record reveal something entirely different. First, unlike Justice
Rehnquist, Roberts has said or done nothing to indicate that he
objects to the Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand.
Instead, 'John Roberts pledged to respect established ruling if
confirmed to the Supreme Court, saying judges must recognize that
their role is 'not to solve society's problems.''" [editor's note: It
is amazing to see pundits rave and wail that Roberts is not
conservative enough, when his real value is that he declares his aims
as NON-political! Though whether or not he speaks truthfully (given
his rulings on detainees' rights?) is in question, at least he is
asking the right questions - SAT] (09/21/05)
http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin258.htm
-----
46) Bad on the basics
In These Times
by Stephen J. Fortunato Jr.
"Absent a political upheaval causing turbulence equal to that of
Hurricane Katrina, John Roberts will be confirmed by the United States
Senate as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on September 22. With a
few notable exceptions, the Democrats have been as befuddled about
this nomination as they have been about war and torture in Iraq,
increasing the minimum wage, tax breaks for the rich, a coherent
response to the devastation along the Gulf Coast, etc., and are
without the will or the numbers to derail President Bush's quest to
turn the nation's highest court into a neo-conservative enclave."
(09/21/05)
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2321/
-----
47) The Constitutional moment that wasn't
The American Prospect
by Bruce Ackerman
"Turn back the clock to election day and consider where the president
wanted to be by now. By this point, he was expecting to sign a bill
transforming Social Security into the keystone of an 'ownership
society.' He would be awaiting the triumphant election returns
approving an Iraqi constitution, confirming the legitimacy of his
break with the United Nations and the old world order. And his allies
in the Senate would have battered down the filibuster rule, requiring
60 senators for judicial confirmations. The president's claims of a
powerful mandate from the 2004 election would have been redeemed in
the hard currency of political success. In this setting, George W.
Bush would not have seriously considered nominating John Roberts for
the Supreme Court. After all, he had publicly and repeatedly expressed
admiration for Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, and there would
have been no obstacle to selecting one of them as chief justice."
(09/21/05)
http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=10335
-----
48) The Bush paradox
Tom Paine
by Robert B. Reich
"The White House's strategy to make John Roberts the next chief
justice has been the very model of meticulous planning, by contrast to
its utter cluelessness in dealing with Katrina. No White House in
modern history has been as adept at politics and as ham-fisted at
governing. Why? With politics, the Bush administration has shown
remarkable discipline -- squelching leaks and keeping Cabinet members
on message, reaching down into the bureaucracy to bend analyses in
directions that supports what it wants to do, imposing its will on
congressional leaders and even making a political imprint on state
legislatures. No recent president has got re-elected with controlling
majorities in both houses of Congress, or been as successful in
repositioning the national debate around his ideological view of the
world. With governing, it's been almost criminally incompetent. ...
Not since the hapless administration of Warren G. Harding has there
been one as stunningly inept as this one." (09/21/05)
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050921/the_bush_paradox.php
-----
49) Why condemn looting?
Free Market News Network
by Tibor R. Machan
"When looters took advantage of Katrina -- or any other disaster for
that matter -- everyone seemed to have in mind only the people who
were ransacking stores and robbing them in plain sight. These were the
looters who were widely condemned, against whom the police and
military took direct action and who, if caught, will probably pay for
their deeds. Yet in some ways these looters were at least honest and
up front. There are many, many other looters who go about it in more
circumspect fashion. They do not admit outright that they are looting
but hide behind the facade of government sponsored wealth transfer or
redistribution which has the appearance of legitimacy. In point of
fact, all those who insist on getting the government to bail them out
by getting funds out of the various treasuries that are supported from
taxes are looters, only less honest than those doing it in broad
daylight." (09/21/05)
http://tinyurl.com/dx9xx
-----
50) Millennium flop
Intellectual Conservative
by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
"Dozens of heads of state are gatherer in New York last week for a
U.N. summit that will discuss, among other things, foreign aid.
According to a U.N. progress report, the Millennium Development Goals,
one of which is to halve extreme poverty by 2015, will almost
certainly not be achieved. Despite the fact that in 2004, foreign aid
reached a record 80 billion dollars, the report concludes, 'in
low-income countries higher levels of aid are needed.' Foreign aid was
invented in 1948 with President Truman's Four Point Program. In almost
six decades, some 2.3 trillion dollars have been dished out worldwide
to poor countries by rich ones -- about half the cost of World War II!
In that time, not a single country has significantly reduced poverty
as a result of foreign aid." (09/21/05)
http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article4608.html
-----
51) How to be inhuman
Reason
by Ronald Bailey
"Biotechnology holds the promise of some day allowing people to
enhance themselves and their children using pharmaceuticals or genetic
interventions. This prospect is welcomed by some, but causes a great
deal of anxiety in many people: Are there enhancements whose benefits
would come at the price of our humanity? The President's Council on
Bioethics worries that people who choose to use biotech enhancements
would somehow lose themselves: The Council's report 'Beyond Therapy'
warns 'we risk 'turning into someone else,' confounding the identity
we have acquired through natural gift cultivated by genuinely lived
experiences, alone and with others.' Liberal bioethicist George Annas
from Boston University is pushing for a global treaty that would ban
all inheritable modifications to any person's genetic makeup. He
favors such a treaty because he believes that 'species-altering
genetic engineering [is] a potential weapon of mass destruction, and
[that] makes the unaccountable genetic engineer a potential
bioterrorist.' These are not objections grounded in concerns about
safety or equity, but in the fear that such changes threaten the very
humanity of those who choose them. But do they really?" (09/21/05)
http://www.reason.com/rb/rb092105.shtml
-----
52) Military injustice
Slate
by David Glazier
"Hours after Sept. 11, President Bush promised to bring al-Qaida
members to justice, or bring justice to them. 'The United States will
hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts,' the
president said. Two months later, he authorized special military
commissions to try suspected terrorists. Four cases got under way last
August. The Supreme Court will decide soon whether to review one of
them, in an appeal brought by Salim Ahmed Hamdan, reportedly Osama Bin
Laden's former driver. Meanwhile, last month the Department of Defense
announced several long-awaited changes to the procedures that the
commissions follow. The stated goal is to make the tribunals more like
a 'judge' and 'jury,' in response to widespread criticism that the
commissions operated with too much secrecy and too little attention to
basic rights. But the changes do little in practice to make the
proceedings fairer -- and in one key respect represent a step
backward. The Pentagon's new rules seem timed to persuade the Supreme
Court to deny review of Hamdan's case and let the trials proceed at
Guantanamo without oversight by the civilian federal courts. If the
justices fall for that gambit, they will leave in place procedures
potentially flawed enough that their implementation could be a war
crime." (09/21/05)
http://www.slate.com/id/2126681/
Movement News and Events
53) James Rogers in St. Louis
CFA Society of St. Louis
09/29/05
James Rogers, author of Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip,
will address the CFA Society of St. Louis at the University Club,
Richmond Heights, from 3-6 p.m. Registration is $45 for members, $50
for non-members, and includes a copy of the book. See "calendar" link
for information and registration.
http://www.sfaanalysts.org/
-----
54) Shame Utah for Rave Bust
Drug Policy Alliance
ongoing
"An armed SWAT team with helicopters and dogs violently raided a party
in Utah on Aug.20,2005. Though the partygoers attempted to disperse
peacefully, several were tackled, hit and kicked. There is never an
acceptable excuse for using such extreme force against people who are
peacefully assembled. Tell the governor and the state tourism office
that your tourist dollars will not support this kind of civil
liberties violation!" (09/05)
http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=27658
-----
55) Petition: Shield Journalists and Whistleblowers
Free Press
ongoing
"The Supreme Court recently refused to hear a case that could imprison
two reporters for refusing to reveal their anonymous sources to a
federal prosecutor. The decision casts a chill over investigative
reporters, whistleblowers and the public's need to know about
government wrongdoing -- information that would not see the light of
day without laws to shield journalists and their sources.
Sign our petition to support federal shield laws (S.340 and H.R.581)
protecting journalists and their confidential sources." (09/05)
http://www.freepress.net/action/shield
-----
56) Help rattle the cages on gun confiscation
Gun Owners of America
"Last week, GOA alerted you to the fact that officials were illegally
confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens in New Orleans.
National Guard troops and police were going door-to-door and seizing
guns from honest residents, without any constitutional or legal power
to do so. Despite a few initial reports in the New York Times, the
Associated Press and ABC News, there has been nothing said in the
mainstream news since then. Not surprisingly, GOA has found that many
offices on Capitol Hill are completely unaware that gun confiscations
were occurring! To help overcome this appalling lack of information,
GOA has constructed a special section at
http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm on the GOA website, so that gun
owners, media pundits and congressmen can see for themselves what has
been happening in New Orleans. " (09/15/05)
http://www.gunowners.org/a091505.htm
-----
57) Second European Resource Bank Meeting
Lithuanian Free Market Institute
10/14/05--10/15/05
"The European Resource Bank Meeting draws on the Heritage Foundation's
similar Resource Bank Meeting event and the Atlas Foundation's Asian
Resource Bank Meeting, the forums which gather outstanding
free-marketeers to discuss how free market principles can be applied
in addressing economic and social concerns and conducting reforms. The
topics of this year's ERBM are the future of the European social
policy and economic security." Vilnius, Lithuania, October 14-15.
Speakers include Jose Pinera, Richard Rahn and John Blundell. Online
registration available.
http://www.rbeurope.org/
-----
58) A time for action
AntiWar.Com/United For Peace and Justice
09/24/05-09/26/05
"There is a time to talk the talk, and a time to walk the walk ? a
time for analysis, and a time for action -- and now is the time for
the latter. We need immediate action to stop the war -- before it
spreads beyond Iraq, before it bankrupts our country, before all the
blood needlessly shed leaves an indelible moral stain that will shame
us for generations to come. I read and write about this rotten war
practically every day, and I'm beginning to wonder: when will it ever
end? We've talked, and written, and discussed among ourselves until
we're blue in the face: now it is time to act. Thanks to United for
Peace and Justice, a national coalition of hundreds of groups opposed
to our interventionist foreign policy, a golden opportunity presents
itself on the weekend of Sept. 24-26, when a great coming together of
the antiwar movement is planned." (09/09/05)
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=7202
-----
59) Bring the Guard home NOW
The People's Email Network
ongoing
"After 5 years of laughing off or suppressing sound policy advice, the
criminal neglect of our REAL homeland security by the Bush
administration has now resulted in the total loss of a major American
city. And where is our National Guard and all their equipment that are
supposed to be here to protect and save us? They are being ground up
in the sand half a planet away for absolutely nothing but the
arrogant, uncaring and obstinate pride of our chief executive, who is
mentally incapable of admitting or correcting any mistake ever. We
must DEMAND that our National Guard come home now. The form above will
send your personal message to all your members of Congress, and now
you can send a letter also to the editor of your nearest daily
newspaper at the SAME time, all with one click. Our troops in Iraq
need to come home immediately. Not a year from now, not a month from
now, NOW now." (09/01/05)
http://www.usalone.net/nationalguard.htm
Today in Political History
60) The abduction of Shirley Allen
Details, and the "quote of the day," from Leon's Political Almanac at:
http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
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