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____________________________________ CHUCK MUTH�S NEWS & VIEWS May 4, 2004 To view the HTML version of today�s News & Views, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsandviews/nv.cfm _____________________________________ BOY, HERE�S A SHOCKER �Companies, politicians and pro-Saddam Hussein activists from countries that opposed the war in Iraq figure heavily in a list of about 270 recipients of suspected oil bribes from Iraq under the scandal-plagued United Nations oil-for-food program, investigators say. . . . The leaked Iraqi list of about 270 recipients covers just one year � 1999 � and relates to just one facet of the overall fraud: That is �vouchers� that could be sold by the bearers to legitimate oil brokers and shippers, who then would have the right to purchase and market the Iraqi crude.� - Washington Times, 5/3/04 LIFE IN JOHN KERRY�S UNITED NATIONS �The United Nations has threatened to fire two officials who wrote an expose of sleaze and corruption during its peace-keeping missions of the 1990s. . . . Still reeling from the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal, officials in the upper echelons of the United Nations are alarmed by the promised revelations of wild sex parties, petty corruption and drug use� The authors also complain that they encountered �bureaucratic betrayal� on missions, as the United Nations purportedly struck cynical deals with corrupt local officials.� - London Sunday Telegraph, 5/2/04 AXIS OF WEASELS� NEWEST MEMBER �The mission in Iraq, which is showing itself every day to be a failure, should serve as a lesson to the international community,� said Jose Luis Rodriguez, Spain�s new prime minister, whose first task in office was to tuck his nation�s tail between its collective legs in Iraq and head for the hills. �Pre-emptive wars, never again; violations of international law, never again,� said this Profile In Discourage at a rally on Sunday. However, there is no verifiable truth to the rumor that the PM�s comments vaulted him to the top of John Kerry�s short list of potential vice presidential candidates. SURVEY SAYS! Do you think U.S. actions in Iraq are still going in the right direction? * Yes * No * I�m a Kerry Democrat...Yes AND No Cast your vote by clicking the �Survey Says!� tab at www.citizenoutreach.com ALL THE KING�S HORSES, AND ALL THE KING�S MEN� �Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry took a spill from his bicycle after hitting a patch of sand during a ride Sunday afternoon, but he was uninjured, campaign officials said. Kerry was...approaching a stop light at the intersection with Route 2 and was slowing down when he veered left into the oncoming lane and fell, according to an Associated Press reporter who witnessed him fall.� - USA Today, 5/2/04 MUTINY ON KERRY�S BOUNTY �Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is �unfit to be commander-in-chief.� They will do so at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday. �What is going to happen on Tuesday is an event that is really historical in dimension,� John O'Neill, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy as a PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) boat commander, told CNSNews.com. . . . �We have 19 of 23 officers who served with [Kerry]. We have every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam. They all signed a letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief,� O'Neill said.� - CNSNews.com, 5/3/04 WRONG TIME FOR PRESIDENTIAL OJT �In the midst of an international war on terrorists who have already claimed 3,000 lives on the home front, can America afford the potentially disastrous consequences of four years of on-the-job training for John Kerry? Despite repeatedly asserting throughout his presidential campaign that he brings to the race �35 years of experience in national security, foreign affairs and military affairs,� Mr. Kerry has in fact compiled an abysmal record replete with poor judgments and deeply flawed policy recommendations.� - Washington Times editorial, 5/2/04 KEEPING THEIR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT �At a recent meeting of senior staff members, Democrats said, Mr. Kerry's aides became entangled in a lengthy debate over what might seem to be a less-than-urgent issue: whether they should send a Democratic operative to Bush rallies dressed as Pinocchio, a chicken or a mule to illustrate various lines of attacks Democrats want to use against [President] Bush.� - New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney BLACK LIKE...WELL, NOBODY ON THIS CAMPAIGN �Some Democratic political insiders are griping that the Kerry campaign purportedly lacks any real amount of African-Americans in its inner circle. . . . Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) -- who was a Dean supporter -- complained to the AP last week that he was �concerned about diversity� in Kerry's senior policy people. Washington Post writer Terry Neal -- who is black -- also echoed Jackson's comments on Friday. . . . Kerry may have to address this matter further -- and fast -- or face criticism from the Republicans that the Bush Cabinet reflects more diversity than the Kerry campaign leadership.� - Ron Gunzburger, Politics1, 5/3/04 FOUNDING WISDOM �I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - Founding Father James Madison ONE BY ONE, STEP BY STEP, BRICK BY BRICK �In Salt Lake City, where Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, held an April 14 field hearing on the Patriot Act, the debate turned into fiery attacks on the act - mainly by conservatives. . . . �Of course,� said (Utah Grassroots member Frank) Mylar, �our Constitution will not be completely discarded and shredded by one law such as the Patriot Act. Instead, it will be the constant chipping away, piece by piece, act by act over time in the name of the public 'good' until we are no longer free people.� " - Columnist Nat Henthoff WORDS TO LIVE BY �I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion.� - Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Haiti) at last weekend�s pro-choice march in Washington, DC, �Inside the Beltway,� 5/3/04 THE HIGH COST OF DIVORCE & UNWED MOTHERHOOD �As assistant secretary [of Health and Human Services] for children and families, I oversee 65 different social programs at a cost of nearly $47 billion each year. Go down the list of these programs � child welfare, child-support enforcement, programs for runaway youth, antipoverty programs � the need for each of these programs is either created or exacerbated by the breakup of families and marriages." - HHS chief Dr. Wade Horn testifying before the Senate last Wednesday RARE VICTORY FOR TREATING ADULTS AS ADULTS The Missouri state House passed legislation last week which would allow motorcycle drivers over the age of 21 to decide for themselves whether or not to wear a helmet, repealing the existing mandatory helmet law. Whatever they�re drinking there, please bottle it and ship to Capitol Hill...fast. YER PUBLIK SKOOLS INAXION �Chance that an American adult believes that politics and government are too complicated to understand: 1 in 3. Chance that an American who was home-schooled feels this way: 1 in 25.� - Harper's Index, May 2004 SMILE, YOU�RE ON BIG BROTHER CAMERA �I think they�re a violation of people�s civil liberties. People going about their everyday lives shouldn�t be spied on by Big Brother.� - Illinois state Sen. Rickey Hendon (D) on remote-controlled video surveillance cameras mounted on lamp posts in Chicago neighborhoods STUPIDITY VIRUS STRIKES IN TEXAS Ah, remember school lunchtime in the good ol� days when you were a kid? Trading a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for another kid�s ham and cheese. Or your mom�s chocolate chip cookies for a slice of another kid�s home-baked carrot cake. Well, fuggeddaboutit...at least in the town of Sharyland, Texas, where the local school district recently banned the practice of sharing food with other kids after a 17-year-old student was arrested for sharing �dope toasties� (marijuana brownies) with some friends. �Some students said they were upset about the ban,� reports the Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2539828), �as they like to bring treats for their friends as the school year ends.� But school superintendent Sandra Reed (�Dr.� Reed, of course) defended the decision, saying exceptions could be made if kids and their parents get �permission� from the administration. So now we have adults being required to ask a government functionary �please, pretty please, with sugar on top� if their kid can share a slice of mom�s apple pie with another kid in the cafeteria? And some of you STILL don�t think Big Brother is getting way out of hand? What�s next...surveillance cameras to enforce the ban? BRUSHFIRE ALERT: Look, I�ll give you all Dr. Reed�s email address and phone number...HOWEVER, you can be SURE she�ll come up with some kind of bureaucratic butt-covering explanation which will �snow� some of you. She�ll explain in a canned email response that that Muth guy �doesn�t have all the facts,� that press reports don�t always tell the whole story and that this was just a common-sense decision to �protect the children� from dope dealers. You DO want to protect children, don�t you? And when she does, don�t say I didn�t tell you so...or bother writing to tell me how off base I was. They ALWAYS �spin� these things in such a manner as to make the stupid seem reasonable. It�s...well, what they do. Kinda like fish swimming and birds flying. OK...with that being said, if you wish you can contact Dr. Reed at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or by phone at (956) 580-5200. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chuck Muth�s News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a non-partisan, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. Published by: Citizen Outreach Chuck Muth Editor/Publisher 611 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, #439 Washington, DC 20003-4303 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/ To be REMOVED, go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/remove/default.cfm Or send your request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To make a secure online contribution to Citizen Outreach, go to the �Donate� page at www.citizenoutreach.com.
