A word of caution
From another email list Warning foranyone using LimeWire or Morpheus For many years now I've used a free download service called LimeWire. You can usually find songs, programs and other information others care to share.Lately, there have been a number of programs that turn up when you search for what you want that are viruses that plant invisable report programs on your computer. This virus doesn't do any damage but rather monitors keystrokes and URL visits and reports these back to another computer. This system has thought of everything you could possibly search for and has renamed this same file under hundreds of thousands of different names. It's the exact same file and comes from the exact same IP: 38.144.198.150. If any of your more advanced users care to back trace the IP, they will find it's the central computer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation located in the Justice Department building on Capitol Hill Blvd.I would warn anyone who uses LimeWire or Morpheus to beware of what you're downloading. If you ask for, say, Sunny Day.mp3 and you see a file listed that says something like this:Sunny Day (Awesome!) mp3 (Size) 302 kbOrSunny Day (The Real Thing!) mp3 (Size) 302 kbBe careful!!! First of all, any song will be at least 1,500 kb unless it's only a fragment. Second of all, why would someone put "AWESOME!!" or "The Real Thing!" unless they were trying to scam you in the first place?Every single one of those files in questions traces back to IP 38.144.198.150.I downloaded the file but didn't run it and sent it to a computer whiz friend who analyzed it by line code. It's designed to record keystrokes (whatever you type on your keyboard is kept in a file you don't know about on your hard drive and downloaded on command), record which websites you visit, copy your email and place a pass through any firewall so that the recorded information can be transmitted back to the main FBI computer.Beware, Big Brother is in place.Yours,Stephanie
Top 10 Countries from which the United States Imports Oil
To clear up any misconceptions2002 Top 10 Countries from which the United States Imports Oil (thousand barrels per day)Ranking Country 2000, 2001, 2002* 1 Canada 1,807 1,828 1,895 2 Saudi Arabia 1,572 1,662 1,505 3 Mexico 1,373 1,440 1,501 4 Venezuela 1,546 1,553 1,385 5 Nigeria 896 885 600 6 Iraq 620 795 525 7 United Kingdom 366 324 461 8 Norway 343 341 407 9 Angola 301 328 325 10 Algeria 225 278 282 Total Top Ten Imports 9,049 9,434 8,886 Total Imports 11,549 11,871 11,299 Top Ten Share of Imports 78% 79% 79% * 8-month average Source: Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, October 2002, Table 3.3..
Can anyone answer this?
This is a from a letter printed in our local paper. I have never heard this question before. Do any of you know if his statements have merit? Or is there a 'clause' which would letBush off the hook? Thanks for all your help! :) Let's assume for the sake of argument that the United States and President Bush do not receive the required number of U.N. Security Council votes for going to war, yet decide to go to war without the full backing of the United Nations. The charters of both NATO and the United Nations require its members to defend any sovereign member nation against an unprovoked preemptive attack by all means possible, both diplomatically and militarily. Would that mean the United Nations would have to come to the defense of Iraq in the event of an attack by the United States and other members joining the coalition? It's something to think about. It could mean the end of the United Nations as an effective means of maintaining peace and stability throughout the world.
Sorry for the delay in responding to your email.
Sorry for the delay in responding to your email. It took me much more time than I thought it would to wrap my house in duct tape and plastic sheeting to ward off a biological attack. It wasn't easy, but I think I've finally got the place air tight for now.At first, I was just going to create one safe roomlike the experts on TV were advising everyone to do. But I'm a little claustrophobic, so I decided to just seal the entire inside ofmy house. Andthen as an extra added precaution,I decided to seal the entire outside of my house as well.The neighbors gave me some strange looks until I told them I'm tenting for termites. I think they may be getting a little bit suspicious though. I convertedmyliving room into a decontamination chamber, so getting in and out is a little bit of a hassle, but it could be a whole lot worse. Be that as it may, I sure do feel a whole lot safer now. I just hope the attack, when it comes, doesn't lasttoo long because I've noticeda lackof oxygen in here.But let's not dwell on that. The important thing is I'm now fully prepared for the terrorist attacks our Homeland Security folks assure usare coming any day now. Personally, Ihave absolutely no doubt whatsoever they are coming. Well I see we've been officially elevated to a an Orange Alert again! That makes all of my extra work seem even more worth while and now I'm really glad I have my house sealed up tight. Quite frankly, these terrorists seem a little desperate to me. But let's not dwell on that. That's why I loaded up an extracart at Home Depot with duct tape and rolls of plastic sheeting. I had to pay a littlemore for the clear plastic but it's worth every extra penny spent because it letslight inside the house. Luckily, I'm usually dressed like a constructon worker when I go to Home Depot soI didn't raise too many eyebrows. The clerks probably just thought I was protectinga constructionjob from rain or something, and notone of thosewackos preparing for a biological attack. But let's not dwell on that. Warren
Big fish was dead already - Asia Times report
Whoare yougoing tobelieve? Big fish was dead already - Asia Times reporthttp://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DJ30Df01.htmlArticle dated October 30 2002By Syed Saleem Shahzad "KARACHI - Ever since the frenzied shootout last month on September 11 in Karachi there have been doubts over whether Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed head of al-Qaeda's military committee, died in the police raid on his apartment. snipNow it has emerged that Kuwaiti national Khalid Shaikh Mohammed did indeed perish in the raid, but his wife and child were taken from the apartment and handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in whose hands they remain. "Asia Times is Hong Kong based and not prone to Fox style fact checking. This could be a very serious set-back even by Ari's mendaciously low standards. A dead man is supposed to have been arrested this weekend. Was he dug up for this purpose or what?See if you can get these people to realise they may be sitting on a great story. I have already (politely) asked for them to confirm if they screwed up or if (shock) the Bush administrationis lying yet again. [EMAIL PROTECTED] More on this BIG, BIG LIE from this LYING, CROOKED ADMIN! News Update from Citizens for Legitimate Government March 2, 2003 http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_newsUS Lying About Shaikh Mohammed's Capture: He Died in 2002 (Oct. 30, 2002, Asia Times) Now it has emerged that Kuwaiti national Khalid Shaikh Mohammed did indeed perish in the raid, but his wife and child were taken from the apartment and handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in whose hands they remain. Major Catch, Critical Time (The New York Times, Mar. 2, 2003) Of all the milestones in the Bush dictatorship's 18-month campaign against terrorism, the apprehension of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, possibly the most fearsome of Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenants, came at a critical juncture. Dictator Bush's critics have been complaining that his focus on President Saddam Hussein had distracted the nation from the war against Al Qaeda. We May Never know For Sure Pakistani police captured eight suspects alive and killed two in three raids on homes in a middle-class suburb of Karachi that triggered a four-hour battle with rifles, grenades and tear-gas. Pakistani police officers at the scene initially insisted that one of the dead men was an Arab, naming him as Khalid bin Mohammed.Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was born in Kuwait, is known to have been in Karachi this year. He was interviewed there in June by al-Jazeera, the Arabic television network, in the company of Binalshibh.On Saturday, US officials told the Washington Post newspaper that they did not believe that the dead man was Mohammed.On Sunday, Condoleeza Rice, the US national security adviser, told ABC News: "I wouldn't rule anything out here, but I think that we'll just wait and see how this unfolds.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/09/16/wpak116.xml A chilling inheritance of terrorBy Syed Saleem Shahzad KARACHI - Ever since the frenzied shootout last month on September 11 in Karachi there have been doubts over whether Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed head of al-Qaeda's military committee, died in the police raid on his apartment. Certainly, another senior al-Qaeda figure, Ramzi Binalshibh, widely attributed as being the coordinator of the September 11 attacks on the United States a year earlier, was taken alive and handed over to the US. The latest information is that he is on a US warship somewhere in the Gulf. Now it has emerged that Kuwaiti national Khalid Shaikh Mohammed did indeed perish in the raid, but his wife and child were taken from the apartment and handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in whose hands they remain. More:http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DJ30Df01.html Further circumstantial evidence from the CIA-fed Voice of America, now blowing smoke by claiming that 'conflicting sources' make it unclear whether the US even has him in custody or not.http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A84AED3F-87D0-4D3B-A52304825ED216C1 (11 hours ago, via Google News) Further circumstantial evidence from the CIA-fed Voice of America, now blowing smoke by claiming that 'conflicting sources' make it unclear whether the US even has him in custody or not.http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A84AED3F-87D0-4D3B-A52304825ED216C1 (11 hours ago, via Google News) Yeah Riiight. Uh huh. There are conflicting reports Sunday over who has custody of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks who was arrested in Pakistan Saturday. Some Pakistani officials say he was turned over to U.S. officials and taken outside the country for questioning. But Pakistan's interior minister says Pakistani officials continue to hold him inside Pakistan. He says officials have no intention
War by Howard Zinn
Published on Thursday, February 27, 2003 by CommonDreams.org War by Howard Zinn As I write this, it looks like war. This, in spite of the obvious lack of enthusiasm in the country for war. The polls that register "approve" or "disapprove" can only count numbers, they cannot test the depth of feeling. And there are many signs that the support for war is shallow and shaky and ambivalent.. That's why the numbers showing approval for war have been steadily going down. This administration will not likely be stopped, though it knows its support is thin., In fact, that is undoubtedly why it is in such a hurry; it wants to go to war before the support declines even further. The assumption is that once the soldiers are in combat, the American people will unite behind the war. The television screens will be dominated by images showing "smart bombs" exploding, and the Secretary of Defense will assure the American people that civilian casualties are being kept to a minimum. (We're in the age of megadeaths, and any number of casualties less than a million is no cause for concern). This is the way it has been. Unity behind the president in time of war. But it may not be that way again. The anti-war movement will not likely surrender to the martial atmosphere. The hundreds of thousands who marched in Washington and San Francisco and New York and Boston - and in villages, towns, cities all over the country from Georgia to Montana - will not meekly withdraw. Unlike the shallow support for the war, the opposition to the war is deep, cannot be easily dislodged or frightened into silence. Indeed, the anti-war feelings are bound to become more intense. To the demand "Support Our GIs", the movement will be able to reply: "Yes, we support our GIs, we want them to live, we want them to be brought home. The government is not supporting them. It is sending them to die, or to be wounded, or to be poisoned by our own depleted uranium shells". No, our casualties will not be numerous, but every single one will be a waste of an important human life. We will insist that this government be held responsible for every death, every dismemberment, every case of sickness, every case of psychic trauma caused by the shock of war. And though the media will be blocked from access to the dead and wounded of Iraq, though the human tragedy unfolding in Iraq will be told in numbers, in abstractions, and not in the stories of real human beings, real children, real mothers and fathers - the movement will find a way to tell that story. And when it does, the American people, who can be cold to death on "the other side", but who also wake up when "the other side" is suddenly seen as a man, a woman, a child - just like us - will respond. This is not a fantasy, not a vain hope. It happened in the Vietnam years. For a long time, what was being done to the peasants of Vietnam was concealed by statistics, the "body count", without bodies being shown, without faces being shown, without pain, fear, anguish shown. But then the stories began to come through - the story of the My Lai massacre, the stories told by returning GIs of atrocities they had participated in. And the pictures appeared - the little girl struck by napalm running down the road, her skin shredding, the mothers holding their babies to them in the trenches as GIs poured rounds of bullets from automatic rifles into their bodies. When those stories began to come out, when the photos were seen, the American people could not fail to be moved. The war "against Communism" was seen as a war against poor peasants in a tiny country half the world away. At some point in this coming war, and no one can say when, the lies coming from the administration - "the death of this family was an accident", "we apologize for the dismemberment of this child", "this was an intelligence mistake", "a radar misfunction" - will begin to come apart. How soon that will happen depends not only on the millions now - whether actively or silently -- in the anti-war movement, but also on the emergence of whistle blowers inside the Establishment who begin to talk, , of journalists who become tired of being manipulated by the government, and begin to write to truth. . And of dissident soldiers sick of a war that is not a war but a massacre --how else describe the mayhem caused by the most powerful military machine on earth raining thousands of bombs on a fifth-rate military power already reduced to poverty
Monitoring Iraq Airwaves - Shortwave?
Monitoring Iraq Airwaves Guide to monitoring radio transmissions to and from Iraq. Shortwave and mediumwave radio offer a unique chance to get alternative, first hand accounts and opinions on the crisis - at least if you speak Arabic or Kurdish. Here you can find a listing of radio stations involved in the crisis, complete with frequencies and audio samples. http://www.dxing.info/articles/iraq.dx#top bookmark for future reference "Black" Radio Exposed Recently, shortwave radio enthusiasts picked up a new and extremely strong radio signal being broadcast in Iraq. Dubbed "Radio Tikrit," the station which broadcasts on 1584 kHz has been exposed by radio specialists and confirmed by such eminent venues as The Wall Street Journal and the Guardian (UK)--and by the stony silence of the CIA--as a "black operation." http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=Newsfile=articlesid=726
Moscow Times editorial
This was printed in the Monday online edition of the Moscow Times Monday, Mar. 3, 2003. Page 11 Clamping Down StatesideBy Matt Bivens WASHINGTON -- On the evening of Feb. 13, Andrew O'Conner, 40, was at St. John's College library in New Mexico when city police arrested him at his computer terminal, cuffed him and took him to the state capital, Santa Fe, for questioning by federal Secret Service agents. According to the American Library Association, O'Conner said they accused him of having made threatening remarks about President George W. Bush in an Internet chat room. O'Conner said he recalled saying Bush is "out of control," and added, "I'm going to sue the Secret Service, Santa Fe Police, St. John's and everybody involved in this whole thing." That same evening on the opposite coast, New York police arrested two young people, Lytle Shaw and Emilie Clark, for taping up photos of everyday life in Baghdad. Shaw and Lytle say they were told putting up posters was a "quality of life" infraction, i.e. a minor one. They both had identification on them -- driver's licenses -- and Emilie was seven months' pregnant, so they asked if they could just be written tickets. Police instead cuffed them, took them to jail and hassled them all night about how they ought to avoid a planned anti-war protest. In Chicago a week later, immigration officials detained Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, 55, a well-known Irish political activist who has been coming to the States for more than 30 years. McAliskey had previously been handed the "key to the city" -- an honor that symbolizes one is always welcome -- of New York and San Francisco. At age 21, she was the youngest person ever elected to the British Parliament. But on Feb. 21, immigration police said they had paperwork warning she was a "national security" danger; they deported her. "Somebody in Washington, with the mind of a rodent, has to order that," complained Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin. "This has to be all about her making a speech against the war someplace and the British put in a complaint to our authorities." A man complaining about the president in a chat room. Two young people taping up anti-war posters. A famous Irish moral authority. All of them targeted by teams of government and/or police agents. It's tempting to dismiss these incidents as contemptible, but isolated. Yet the pattern grows ever-harder to ignore. Three days after McAliskey's deportation, cable news channel MSNBC fired its top-rated anchor, Phil Donahue. (Russians will remember the American-Soviet talk-show bridge Donahue built with journalist Vladimir Pozner.) Donahue, it seems, is "a tired, left-wing liberal out of touch with the current marketplace ... a difficult public face for [parent network] NBC in a time of war. ... He seems to delight in presenting guests who are antiwar, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration's motives." So says an internal NBC report obtained by a television industry journal, Allyourtv.com. The report warns Donahue's show could become, gasp, "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." They certainly are. Antiwar groups complain they can't get national networks to accept ads questioning the drive to invade Iraq. And CNN confirmed as much to The Washington Post: CNN spokeswoman Megan Mahoney is quoted saying the news channel's policy is that "we do not accept international advocacy ads on regions in conflict." (What?) An NBC spokeswoman tells The Post the network refused an antiwar ad because "It pertained to a controversial issue which we prefer to handle in our news and public affairs programming." (What?) Fox, hands-down the most pro-war and partisan of all the major networks, apparently shrugged and smirked -- it declined to even comment. Over at the UN, they've hung a blue curtain to hide Pablo Picasso's antiwar masterpiece "Guernica," which depicts the horrors of carpet-bombing. Meanwhile, the worst case of pro-government censorship my generation has seen -- a refusal by the Washington area's main cable company, Comcast, to run some innocuous antiwar ads on CNN and other channels the night of the president's State of the Union speech -- has been met with a big fat yawn. Check out the ads yourself at awvf.org, you'll see a series of Americans voicing concerns that aren't
Charley Reese - The Don't Know Crowd
Received froma conservative friend in Brevard County, Florida Charley Reese is a well-known conservative writer in central Florida, formerly a regularly appearing columnist for the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. He is another conservative AGAINST the Bush administration war plans.http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20030224/index.phpThe "Don't Know" CrowdThe Bush administration adamantly insists that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, but despite 12 years of inspections, bombings and spying, it doesn't have a clue as to where they are.It frequently warns us of terror attacks, but always says it doesn't know where, when or how. Nor have there been any terror attacks in the United States in the past 18 months.Is it any wonder that millions of people around the world and in the United States don't support President George Bush's personal crusade to topple Saddam Hussein? Keep in mind that after the Sept. 11 attack, which Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with, virtually the entire world united in sympathy with us. Never has one president destroyed so much support by so many people in so short a time.The fact is, the people in the Bush administration who want to go to war with Iraq wanted to go to war with Iraq before Sept. 11. As a matter of fact, they wanted to go to war with Iraq before George Bush was even elected president. That's a matter of record. This war against Iraq has nothing to do with disarming Iraq and nothing to do with terrorism. It has to do with the United States creating a situation in which it and Israel will dominate the Middle East and its oil resources.The thing to remember about these alleged weapons of mass destruction is that nobody in the Bush administration or with the United Nations has ever laid eyes on them. What exists is a discrepancy between two numbers in reports - both supplied by the Iraqi government. One report stated that so many chemical bombs were used; another report had a different number. And the Iraqis are certainly right in that nobody can prove a negative; you can't produce for inspection what you don't have.I personally don't know if these weapons exist in Iraq or not. I do know they exist in many other countries. I do know that in the Gulf War, Iraq did not use any chemical or biological weapons, even when it was being routed from Kuwait and "bombed back into the preindustrial age," to use an American phrase. I do know that in the 12 years since, Iraq has not used any chemical or biological weapons, even though it has been subjected to the harshest economic sanctions in modern history and to practically regular bombing. I do know that in the past 12 years, Iraq has not threatened, much less attacked, any of its neighbors, while during that the same period of time we have attacked Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Yugoslavia. I do know that every one of the "neighbors" George Bush claims Iraq is a threat to has said repeatedly that it does not feel threatened by Iraq.I do know that the only leader threatening the world with nuclear weapons and pre-emptive attack is George W. Bush. It gives me no pleasure to point that out. But it is not the role of an American citizen to be a sheep. It has become apparent that those of us who supported Bush made a mistake. I'm beginning to believe that a philanderer and a liar is less dangerous than an upright but ignorant man who thinks God has appointed him to rule the world.The best way to support our troops is to try to prevent the Bush administration from sacrificing their lives for the hidden agenda of the crazy neoconservatives in his administration. Young Americans should not die because a bunch of chicken hawks have a cockamamie idea that they can bring liberal democracy to the Middle East by making war. That's like trying to sell pork barbecue in Mecca. What the president is intent on doing is committing a crime against humanity. If he goes through with it, he'll have to change his ritualistic "God bless America" to "God forgive us."The Facts About RebellionWhich political leader made war on his own people, killing 262,000 of them, burning their cities, destroying their food supply and placing the survivors under military occupation?If your answer is Saddam Hussein, you're wrong. The answer is Abraham Lincoln.Accepting the Northern but incorrect view of the War Between the States, Lincoln did exactly the same thing Saddam Hussein did. When "his own people" rose up in armed rebellion, he crushed the rebellion, brutally and decisively.I'm making this point not to disillusion you about Lincoln but to point out how propaganda works. One effective way to propagandize people is to take a fact out of context. Much has been made of the fact that Saddam Hussein crushed the Kurdish rebellion. Any leader of Iraq would have crushed the Kurdish rebellion. If the Scots rose up in armed rebellion today, British Prime Minister Tony Blair would crush, or try
Dismantle Weapons of Mass Deception
How about doing this nation wide? Don't get mad, get even! :) March 2, 2003Fed-Up Viewers Say, No More Lies!People Smash Their TVs at NBC StudiosWASHINGTON, DC - Early Sunday morning, a group of disgruntled television viewers calling themselves Meet The People disowned their television sets in front of NBC studios to protest the pro-war media bias prevalent in Sunday morning talk shows. They then proceeded to smash the sets, under a banner that screamed, Dismantle Weapons of Mass Deception. Click here to view photos: http://dc.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/metafiles/nbc_aftermath.jpg http://images.indymedia.org/imc/washingtondc/nbc_aftermath2.jpg http://dc.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/metafiles/nbc_aftermath3.jpg One television smasher, Noah Hypocrisy, told reporters that he was fed-up with the invasion of the military-industrial-media complex in his life, especially in light of the impending war on Iraq: In the United States and other Western powers, the corporate-owned media depend on the military for information, accepting what military officers at the Pentagon or the White House spinners offer as undeniable fact. Im not that gullible, and Im mad as hell at what Im seeing on my television set! Hypocrisy said, in between hammer strokes with what seemed to be a Titleist golf pitching wedge.Another disenchanted viewer, Louisville Slugger in hand, lamented the heavy political biases she observes in the mainstream media: In 2001, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, and CBS Evening News interviewed U.S. sources who were 92% white, 85% male, and 75% Republican, cried Ceci Truth. How objective is that?!!!Timed for the taping of NBCs Sunday morning talk show Meet the Press, Meet the People barricaded the Nebraska Avenue entrance to the studios with a motley collection of their former television sets. Video of the dismantling will be available today at www.dc.indymedia.org .The People were determined that this was only the start.We wont stop here, and we encourage other thinking people to do similar actions. If the war on Iraq begins, we arent going to sit stupidly in our living rooms and accept the lies the corporate media try to feed us. We plan to seek out other weapons of mass deception: newspaper, radio, and other television studios. As their propaganda tries to drown out the truth, our level of disgust and resistance will escalate! BEWARE THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL-MEDIA COMPLEX...http://dc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=53342group=webcast I'm The Slime I am gross and perverted I'm obsessed 'n deranged I have existed for years But very little has changed I am the tool of the Government And industry too For I am destined to rule And regulate you I may be vile and pernicious But you can't look away I make you think I'm delicious With the stuff that I say I am the best you can get Have you guessed me yet? I am the slime oozin' out From your TV set You will obey me while I lead you And eat the garbage that I feed you Until the day that we don't need you Don't go for help...no one will heed you Your mind is totally controlled It has been stuffed into my mold And you will do as you are told Until the rights to you are sold That's right, folks.. Don't touch that dial Well, I am the slime from your video Oozin' along on your livingroom floor I am the slime from your video Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go Frank Zappa, 1973, "Overnite Sensation" The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The REAL story on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
This is one of the best pieces of true investigativejournalism I've read in an extremelylong time. Expertly researched andextensively documented byPaul Thompson. I highly recommend you peruse this article with great care. Is there more to the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed than meets the eye? http://www.complete911timeline.org/main/essayksmcapture.html
Read it and weep, then please forward
Title: Read it and weep, then please forward Gentle readers be forewarned: a (homeless?) Vietnam veteran standing in fromt of the Vietnam memorial in Washingtom DC speaks from his heart in very blunt terms. I cannot personally find fault with his language or sentiments as he speaks of the awful truthabout his experiences in Vietnam. I'm in complete agreement with his view points. - Original Message - From: William O. Jenkins To: Wojay Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 8:20 AM Subject: Read it and weep, then please forward The Wall by Alfred A. Hambidge, Jr. The snow was coming down pretty heavy as I walked towards the National Mall. I've always liked walking during a snowstorm; everything seems so quiet, every noise is muffled, even here in D.C. And this storm was a doozy, hammering much of the East Coast. I don't know why, but I started heading for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There weren't many people there; few visit during weather like this. As I walked by the panels, relishing the stillness, I came upon a man in fatigues. Though one of those floppy green hats covered his head, he seemed under dressed considering the cold. The area around him was devoid of wind and snow, as if the Wall created a sheltered harbor from the storm. He was staring at one panel, at a spot about chest high. Upon my approach, he said to no one in particular, "Goddamn bastards are doing it again." The sound of his voice startled me; I flinched, and stopped. He turned to look at me. "We never learn, do we?" he asked. My quizzical look made him chuckle, and he continued as he turned back toward the Wall: "It never ceases to amaze me what we let ourselves be turned into cannon fodder for. We let ourselves get talked into all sorts of horror, and only after the body bags start piling up do we begin to wonder why." We both knew he had my attention now. "Know how many names are here?" he asked. "Something like 50,000," I replied. "You make it sound like a goddamn statistic" he said, "There's Fifty Eight Thousand Two Hundred And Twenty Nine names on this Wall." He said the words slowly, enunciating each one. "Fifty Eight Thousand Two Hundred And Twenty Nine. Every one of them a son; a brother, or a father, a husband, a cousin, a lover, a neighbor, a friend. Fifty Eight Thousand Two Hundred And Twenty Nine boys brought home in boxes. For what? For fuckin' nothing. And now the bastards are gonna do it again." "You mean Iraq ?" I asked. "That isn't gonna be for nothing. Saddam is dangerous, he has to be stopped." The man could barely conceal his contempt. "Give me a break. A danger to who? Us here in the U.S. of A.? Is his navy off our coast? Is his air force flying over our cities? The only danger he poses is to his neighbors, maybe, and they're so worried about it that they're willing to let us die for them, but won't fight him themselves. And they want us to pay them for the privilege. With friends like that . . . ." His voice trailed off. "Maybe you're right," he finally said, "this isn't for nothing. It's for oil." My raised eyebrows made him shake his head, and he went on: "I don't know what's worse. Killing people over political philosophy, like in my time, or for oil. Hey, at least this time we might get something for our blood. Like ol' Tecumseh Sherman said, 'Nations go to war when there is something to be got by it'. Now oil can be got by it. After a great start, we're gonna be no different than any other empire that came down the historical pike. "And I know what you're gonna say next. 'He sponsors terrorism'. Where's the proof? I thought we were going after bin Laden for that. But wait, Afghanistan ain't got any oil. So we need another monster, who's got something worth taking. And Saddam is so damn convenient. Yeah, he's an evil sonovabitch who deserves to be taken out, but are we the ones who should do it? Are our kids the ones who should die for it? Is he worth another Wall like this? "And what the hell is terrorism, anyway? It's not a thing; it's not a place; it's not a person. It is a political and military strategy, that's all. Having a 'War On Terrorism' is as ridiculous as having a 'War on Flanking Maneuvers'. You'll end terrorism when there's no longer anything for anybody to get pissed off about. As for now, maybe if we looked at why people are pissed at us, we'd begin to understand. Hell, it doesn't matter whether they're right or wrong; it's what they perceive that motivates them. What you have to address is why they perceive things as they do. Only then will you start to get a clue. And spare me the bullshit about them hating us because of our freedom. We haven't been truly free in a long time. And now we're letting all this demagoguery convince us to give up what little liberty we have left. Big Brother Lives! "Look at history, man. The Romans began with a republic, just like we did. The freedom and prosperity that followed
Re: Fla. officials warn of bacteria outbreak
I used to live on the beach in South Florida and these advisories are nothing new. This happens frequentlybecause theypump raw sewage through underwater pipelines out into the ocean. Most ofthe pipelines extend a couple of miles out from the shoreline and thesewageis carried away by theGulf Stream currents and effectively dispersed.Many of these sewage pipes are very old and prone toleakage. When Ilived in Miami, a large underwater pipeline broke wide open and was pouring tons of raw sewage into the bayuntil it was shut down and repaired.What a mess!They've had quite a few other similar incidents over the years.The tides and currentsnormally take care of these pollution problems, but some times they "misbehave." Most visitors don't even realize raw sewageis being pumpedinto the Ocean, they never see any of the pipelines and the Chamber of Commerce and Department of Tourism certainly isn't going to tell them about it.The average visitor looks at the crystal clear water and assumes it's safe to swim in.Most of the time it is, but not always. These water advisory reports are bad for tourism so they try and keep a lid on most of them. This article doesn't say anything about it, but it sounds to me like they have another pipeline that's in need of repair. Again.
The Willing Conscript by Tom Paxton
The Willing Conscript Oh Sergeant I'm a draftee and I've just arrived in camp.I've come to wear the uniform and join the martial tramp.And I want to do my duty, but one thing I do imploreYou must give me lessons, sergeant, for I've never killed before.To do my job obediently is my only desire.To learn my weapon thoroughly and how to aim and fire.To learn to kill the enemy and then to slaughter more,I'll need instruction, sergeant, for I've never killed before.Now there are several lessons that I haven't mastered yet.I haven't got the hang of how to use the bayonet.If he doesn't die at once am I to stick him with it more?Oh, I hope you will be patient, for I've never killed before.Oh, there are rumors in the camp about our enemy.They say that when you see him he looks just like you and me.But you deny it, Sergeant, and you are a man of war,So you must give me lessons, for I've never killed before.The hand grenade is something that I just don't understand.You've got to throw it quickly or you're apt to lose your hand.Does it blow a man to pieces with it's wicked, muffled roar?Oh, I've got so much to learn because I've never killed before.Oh, I want to thank you, Sergeant, for the help you've been to me.For you've taught me how to slaughter and to hate the enemy.And I know that I'll be ready when they march me off to war,And I know that it won't matter that I've never killed before.And I know that it won't matter that I've never killed before. Words and Music by Tom Paxton If musicians were only politicians, and politicians were musicians, we'd have a wonderful world with very bad music. patriotic bkgd.jpg
Take America Back
Click here: TAKE AMERICA BACK patriotic bkgd.jpg
Waltzing Matilda
Waltzing Matilda When I was a young man I carried my packAnd I lived the free life of a roverFrom the Murrays green basin to the dusty outbackI waltzed my Matilda all overThen in nineteen fifteen my country said SonIt's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be doneSo they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gunAnd they sent me away to the warAnd the band played Waltzing MatildaAs we sailed away from the quayAnd amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheersWe sailed off to GallipoliHow well I remember that terrible dayWhen the blood stained the sand and the waterAnd how in that hell that they called Suvla BayWe were butchered like lambs at the slaughterJohnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself wellHe showered us with bullets, he rained us with shells And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hellNearly blew us right back to AustraliaBut the band played Waltzing MatildaAs we stopped to bury our slainAnd we buried ours and the Turks buried theirsThen it started all over againNow those who were living did their best to surviveIn that mad world of blood, death and fireAnd for seven long weeks I kept myself aliveWhile the corpses around me piled higherThen a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over titAnd when I woke up in my hospital bedAnd saw what it had done, Christ I wished I was dead Never knew there were worse things than dyingAnd no more I'll go waltzing MatildaTo the green bushes so far and nearFor to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legsNo more waltzing Matilda for meSo they collected the cripples, the wounded and maimedAnd they shipped us back home to AustraliaThe legless, the armless, the blind and insaneThose proud wounded heroes of SuvlaAnd as our ship pulled into Circular QuayI looked at the place where me legs used to beAnd thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for meTo grieve and to mourn and to pityAnd the band played Waltzing MatildaAs they carried us down the gangwayBut nobody cheered, they just stood and staredAnd they turned all their faces awayAnd now every April I sit on my porchAnd I watch the parade pass before meI see my old comrades, how proudly they marchReliving their dreams of past gloryI see the old men, all twisted and tornThe forgotten heroes of a forgotten warAnd the young people ask me, "What are they marching for?"And I ask myself the same questionAnd the band plays Waltzing MatildaAnd the old men still answer to the callBut year after year their numbers get fewerSome day no one will march there at allWaltzing Matilda, Waltzing MatildaWho'll go a-waltzing Matilda with me?And their ghosts may be heard as they pass the billabong, Wholl go a-waltzing Matilda with me? Eric Bogles anti-war version of the 19th century Australian song, recorded by the Pogues. *** If musicians were only politicians, and politicians were musicians, we'dlive ina wonderful world with very bad music. patriotic bkgd.jpg
A Pastoral Letter to the President
A Pastoral Letter to the President May 8, 2002 ByRev. Rich Lang Dear President Bush, When you were running for office you stated that Jesus Christ was your favorite philosopher. You have made a point of proclaiming your Christian faith. You have put time and energy in an attempt to link Church mission with state social security. You have, particularly since 9/11, continually preached God Bless America on almost every public occasion. As a Pastor and fellow United Methodist I need to ask you: "Do you know what the values and vision of Jesus are?" I ask the question because I am baffled and confused by your behavior. You claim Christ but act like Caesar. There is blood all over your hands with the promise of even more blood to come. You sit atop the nations like the Biblical Whore of Babylon openly fornicating with the military men of might, their corporate sponsors, their nuclear madness, and their insatiable hunger for global armament. Is this how you learned Christ? You claim the benevolence of your Administration toward the rest of the world. But the treaties you make continue to be laced with a tightened rope around the neck of the poor. Is this how you learned to "forgive our debtors"? Is it really Christ-like to insist on cuts in life-supporting infrastructure while increasing military budgets and allowing the plunder of nations to accrue to a very small financial elite? Have you not been taught that Jesus was crucified by these same Principalities and Powers? You practice a patriotic righteousness that visualizes never ending war against enemies of great evil. You bombed Afghanistan with both guns and butter to show the difference. But do you really think the few crumbs of bread airlifted to Afghanistan shield the reality that you have no intention of assisting in building a sustainable society there? Is this how Christ taught you to avenge the wrongs done unto you? I am troubled by your spirit George. You claim you are of the Sustainer of Life but you practice the terror of Death. You are spreading the war. Afghanistan is only the beginning. Military presence crops up worldwide. You bait us with Iraq and shield what you are doing in Columbia. You lay the groundwork for disrupting Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina. You allow the dogs of capitalism to sink their teeth into the battered body of a raped Central America. The buck stops on your desk George: is this what Jesus would do? The Spirit of Death rises and nations tremble. We the people of the United States tremble. We discover how truly powerless we have become. Our military budget grows to obscene levels bankrupting the social infrastructure from which our security and freedom rise. We see basic medical care costs increase even as more and more Americans find themselves without health care. We see environmental treaties subverted, ignored and disappeared even as Mother Earth signals increasing distress. Labor rights are made secondary to the rights of Corporations resulting in wage reductions and growing financial insecurity. Homelessness exposes itself through tented cities. Education becomes the victim of budget knife cuts. A few benefit but the groan of the masses is growing. Whose side are you on George? Perhaps you think that God has chosen you for this hour. Perhaps God has. So again I ask you, "is this how you learned Christ?" If God has chosen you for this hour then, in Christ's name, serve the values and vision of Jesus: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, release the prisoners, cancel the debt, forgive your enemies, practice Jubilee. Then, through you, this nation and all nations will be blessed. But beware George: the road of the sword will bring division and much blood. Those who take it up will be devoured by it. Many people, in the name of God, have taken up the sword. And many have come to ruin. Thinking themselves capable of naming evil they have become the very evil they name. Seek Christ first, Rev. Rich Lang Pastor Trinity United Methodist Church [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Richard Perle: the Lowdown
Richard Pearle is a traitor http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/02/10/Richard_Perle_lowdown.html Richard Perle: the Lowdown David Irving hears: WHEN Richard Perle chairman of the Pentagon's defence policy board, was working for Senator Scoop Jackson, he was investigated by the Justice Department and found to have violated US policies relating to unlawful transmission of sensitive classified US information to Israel. See Paul Findley's They Dare To Speak Out, (Chicago, Lawrence Hill Books 1989), Chapter 5, Penetrating the Defense at Defense -- and State, page 160: "An FBI summary of a 1970 wiretap recorded Perle discussing classified information with someone at the Israeli embassy. He came under fire in 1983 when newspapers reported he received substantial payments to represent the interests of an Israeli weapons company. Perle denied conflict of interest, insisting that, although he received payment for these services after he had assumed his position in the Defense Department, he was between government jobs when he worked for the Israeli firm." That's odd. When Jonathan Pollard did much the same, passing vital U.S. defense secrets to Israel, he was sent to jail for life. What has changed since then, one wonders? More about the sinister Zionist Richard Perle Richard Perle told German chancellor Schröder to resign The Israeli lobby's influence: appointments of advisors to White House and Executive Branch A disturbing Beirut report on Douglas Feith, Bush's new "Dr Goebbels" Pentagon hawks make haste Robert Fisk exposes President Bush and his pro-Israel lobby by name The Guardian also unmasks Richard Perle and his gang: "When he is not too busy at the Pentagon, or too busy running Hollinger Digital -- part of the group that publishes the Daily Telegraph in Britain -- or at board meetings of the Jerusalem Post, Mr Perle is "resident fellow" at one of the thinktanks -- the American Enterprise Institute (AEI)." The Guardian exposes a US "Arab" news agency as a clandestine Israeli Intelligence operation | Time To Get The Facts Right, By David Welch (Ambassador of the United States of America
Pentagon threatens independent reporters
More arrogance from the Pentagon. They're only going to show Iraqi troops dressed up as Americans committing any atrocities. Count on CNN to bring us the truth. I've already committed myself to resist all temptationand leave my television set turned off when things get underway. Irefuse toparticipate in this made-for-TV spectator event. If there was ever a good time to boycott television, this will be the time to do it. Pentagon Threatens toFire on Independent Reporters in Iraq --The Pentagon has threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq, according to veteran BBC war correspondent, Kate Adie. In an interview with Irish radio, Ms. Adie said that questioned about the consequences of such potentially fatal actions, a senior Pentagon officer had said: "Who caresThey've been warned." http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news
A 'Help Wanted' ad found on the web
A 'Help Wanted' ad found on the web:http://www.google-watch.org/jobad.html Deployment Engineer (with security clearance) Spooks on board at Google Matt Cutts, a software engineer at Google since January 2000, used to work for the National Security Agency and has a top-secret clearance. Google would like to hire more like him. Can you trust Google with a database of all the search terms you've ever used?
Buget Unveiled Today Contains Large Cuts In Medicare And Veterans Programs
House Republican Buget Unveiled Today Contains Large Cuts In Medicare, Medicaid, And Other Domestic Programs The budget that House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle unveiled today contains deep and widespread cuts in basic domestic programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, veterans programs, student loans, school lunches, child care, food stamps, cash assistance for the elderly and disabled poor, and many other programs. If enacted, these would represent the deepest cuts in such programs in U.S. history. If the committees cut all programs within their jurisdictions the cuts would include: · $214 billion in Medicare reductions over ten years (the budget also provides $400 billion for a Medicare prescription drug benefit); · $93 billion in Medicaid, the basic health insurance program for low-income families, children, and elderly and disabled people; · $15 billion in veterans programs; · $12 billion in food stamps; and · $7 billion in farm programs. http://www.cbpp.org/3-12-03bud2-pr.htm Blue-Ribbon Business Group Issues Stern Warning on Deficits And Advises Against Further Tax Cuts The report from CED a highly respected research and policy organization that consists of 250 corporate CEOs, university presidents, and similar officials strongly opposes the Administrations proposals to institute further tax cuts and to make the 2001 tax cut permanent, because of the effects that such actions would have on long-term deficits. CED warns that if no action is taken, projected long-term deficits will reach dangerous levels and reduce national income and standards of living for future generations. CED calls for a combination of spending restraint, Social Security and Medicare reforms, and tax increases to meet the very serious long-term fiscal challenges the nation faces. http://www.cbpp.org/3-12-03bud.htm
Re: 101 Ways To Stop A War On Iraq
There are 101 different suggestions on how to stop the war.If you don't like one of the suggestions given, there are 100 more to choose from. Astro
Re: 101 Ways To Stop A War On Iraq
"I'm sure you're a nice person Astro, but let the record show that Astro supports the UN Security Council's authority over the united States of America. I don't agree with you." LetWHATRECORD show that I support theUnited NationsSecurity Council? I merely said there are 101 suggestions for you to choose from,and ifyou don't like one suggestion then choose another. If Ioffered to buyyou some ice cream and we wentinto a icecream parlor that sold101 different flavors, and you said "but they have pistachio - Ican'tstand pistachio!" and I said to you: "yes, but there are 100 otherdifferent flavors for you to chose from" does that mean that I love pistashcio ice cream? If the truth be known, I have extremely mixed and ambivalent feelings about the United Nations. For the record: I have not written any letters, sent any emailsor made any phone calls to the United Nations. Ever. I thinkmy record unequivocally proves - if youchose to examine it- that I have never made any personal statements suggesting support for, or endorsement of, the United Nations. Pleaserefrain frommaking suchpretentous assumptionsand false accusations. What I have been doing is making phone calls and sending emails to my Congressional representatives,attending weekly non-political religous candlelight peace vigils, speaking out as a disabled veteran and member of Veterans For Peace, passing along important information on the Internet about the lies being perpetrated to the American publicby those who arepromoting this war and doing whatever else Ican do to support those who are trying to make a difference with the ultimate goal of arriving at a peaceful solution. From my perspectivethis is not a leftwing-rightwing-conservative-liberal-democrat-republican issue. My opposition to this war is strictly on moral and ethical grounds. None ofthe activitiesI've been involved in over the course of the past year has anythingto dowith supporting the United Nations, which in my opinion, is essentially irrelevant in light of the fact our chickenhawk brigade in Washington DC is going to have their bloody war regardless of what the United Nations chooses to do, one way or another. The only the reason the White House warhawksare interacting with the United Nations in the first place isbecause they havea misguided belief that in doing so it will give their warplans some sort of perceived legitimacy. They havecarefully orchestrated theirUnited Nations horse and pony media show.They could really care less about the what the UN thinks asit's all intentional smoke and mirrors designed to distract attention from their real agaenda and ultimate goals. From allappearances, they have failed to convince anyone or present a credible compelling case for war. The only thing that will save us now is praying to ourAlmighty Lord up in Heaven, and for all concerned citizens who oppose the war to really pour on the heatto Congress this coming week. Now is the timeto speak out and make our feelings known to everyone in Washington DC. The hour isbecomingextremely late andour freedoms and lives are at stake. Hoping for a peaceful solution, Astro
Re: A Slap at France, Brown-Waite's Bill Would Bring the Boys Home
I called Miss Ginny's Washington DC office yesterday. I talked to her idiot assistant and read him the riot act and told him to tell his birdbrained boss that our fallen heros already are at home. Our military cemetaries in France are sovereign United States property, justthe same as all of our embassies. The French citizens maintain our veteran's cemetaries better than we do here in our own country. The French have the highest respect for those soldiers.Our French veteran'scemetariesare beautifully landscaped and magnificently manicured, the grass looks as though it was combed by hand. The French schoolchildren are assigned individual graves and every year on June 6th they place flowers on every single grave and there are literally tens of thousands of them. All of us have relatives buried overseas if you go back far enough. Are we going dig up all of our ancestors also? Leave it to a sleazy politician to use our dead war heros in some cheap attempt to garner publicity. Some Americans think we should adopt an isolationist policy toward the rest of the world. It's funny how much the rest of the world agrees with them. Has anyone suggested a bill to ship back the Statue of Liberty? Or sell back the former Louisiana Territory? Or stop teaching French in schools? Or boycotting Blockbuster until they alter titles like: The French Connection? Ginny Brown-Waite is a freshman, or junior, representative in Congress and she is already a member of the House Veterans Committee. She is culpable for the state of our VA hospitals and the way our government treatsour veterans with intentional indifference. Thefact that we have homeless veterans in the United States of America is a national scandal and disgrace. Maybe France should pass a bill to bring home the Statue of Liberty, and then help hand the US back to the British Empire. One thing that people tend to miss in this whole debate is that France,remembers better than many, and certainly better than America, what war means andunderstands the devastation of losing an entire generation of young men; knows the pain of burying their dead and rebuilding their towns; knows what it's like to have an enemy who wants nothing better than to see you fall. Maybe this is why France is loath to pave a path to war; not because they want to "take a stand" against America or have any personal vendetta against anyone, but because they better than anyone know what war means, and want to prevent it if at all possible. I don't know why some people can't grasp the concept that some one can actually hold twoindependent ideas at the same time about something. Yes, it's possible for the French to respect America for its assistance in WWII and at the same time oppose the invasion of Iraq. Just as, if a person had anyintelligence whatsoever,they should be able to respect Frances' assistance to America in the Revolutionary War andunderstand France's current position regarding Iraq and not act like little childrenthrowing temper tantrums because some one else disagrees with them. President Chirac's efforts to find a way to disarm Saddam without getting American troops killed is not an act of effrontery or hatred toward the United States. What if France decided they wanted to oust the regime in Saudi Arabia? They're not exactly paragons in their treatment of their own people. Suppose France decided they were going to invade Saudi Arabia and install a new government. Would we jump right in and lend a hand or would we say "wait, let's think this thing over first."? So why should we expect other countries to jump to our whims? Just because George W. Bush says so? France doesn't want to start another war. So what. Neither does 90% of the rest of the world right want to start another war. We're sure showing France a thing or two! First we rename our junk and breakfastfood and now we're going to take backall our dead people. I sure hope this teaches them a lesson. This country is full of idiotic five-year-olds masquerading as Congressional representatives. I hope someone is keepinga recordof all this stupidity. Let this be the last term these children serve. Is it anywonder why other people hate the Unites States when we have crackpot lunatics like Miss Ginny in Congress??? I encourage everyone to call, write or fax Miss Ginny and express their feelingsabout her proposed legislation! Astro Web Site: www.house.gov/brown-waiteE-mail: Contact Via 'Write Your Rep.'Washington Office1516 Longworth House Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20515-0905Phone: (202) 225-1002Fax: (202) 226-6559 Main District Office38008 Meridian Ave.Dade City, FL 33526Phone: (352) 567-6707Fax: (352) 567-6259 BrooksvillePhone: (352) 799-8354Fax: (352) 799-8776Address:20 North Main St., Rm. 200Brooksville, FL 34601
Check out and sign the Cats For Peace petition
Calling all peace loving felines! Is your cat against the war? - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2003 5:33 PM Subject: [WendysWords] Check out Sign the Kitty Petition Click here: Sign the Petition WEN image/jpeg
Poor Tony Blair wakes up
Title: Message Poor Tony Blair wakes up The prime minister thought he could sagely steer his impetuous American friends away from actions they would later regret. It turns out they were just playing him for a patsy Terry JonesSunday March 16, 2003 It's not easy when you find out that your friends have been using you as a chump. Tony Blair must have been really sick this week when Donald Rumsfeld casually let drop that Mr.Bush and his team couldn't give a toss about Britain sending soldiers to Iraq. Truth is, they'd probably prefer it if we didn't, but our participation at least means they can pretend it's an international force. But I bet Tony feels terribly slighted - after all he's gone through to prove his devotion to the ideals of extremist Republican militarism. He's practically split his party, put his own leadership in jeopardy and made himself look thoroughly ill in the process. And what has he got out of it? A few pats on the back and nice Christmas card from the White House, I expect. I mean it's simply not fair. Here he is - Prime Minister of Great Britain (just) - and he's doing everything he possibly can including leaning over backwards and licking his own bottom. He's spending vast amounts of money he hasn't got on sending men to the Gulf. He's put his entire nation in the front line for terrorist reprisals. He's upset his other admirers in Europe, and - to cap it all - he's put his name to a plan that is not just plain stupid but is actually wicked, and in return? Zilch. All the contracts for reconstructing Iraq are to go to American companies - preferably ones like Haliburton, which remain such good friends with their old boss vice-president Dick Cheney. But not a single British company is to benefit from all the mayhem and destruction that the bombing is going to cause. Poor old Tony doesn't even get a bone. I suppose he should have been more careful about who he was playing with in the first place. But they took him for a sucker. He thought he'd be able to cut a decent figure as the elder statesman, sagely steering his impetuous American friends away from actions they would later regret. And for that he was prepared to subscribe to the most hawkish, aggressive regime that has ever held power in the good ole US of A. A regime whose planners spelled out their schemes for American military world domination in a report for the Project for the New American Century published in September 2000, before the George Bush seized power. (You can look it up on www.newamericancentury.org). Their aim, they say in their report, is "to shape a new century favourable to American principles and interests". And they make it quite clear that they envisage achieving those aims not by diplomacy but through military might. For which reason they need "increase defense spending gradually to a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross national product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually." At the time they knew there was little hope of the American public buying into such imperialistic dreams. What was needed they said in their pre Sept 11th report was: "some catastrophic and catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbour." Well the dreams came true. And now it's quite obvious that instead of Mr Rumsfeld and Mr. Cheney listening attentively to Mr Blair's sage advice, they've simply been using him as a patsy - a convenient fig-leaf. Tony Blair has merely been helping to give Mr. Bush's barbaric planners for World domination credibility amongst the American public. The only conceivable hope of stopping their militaristic global ambitions is for the rest of the world to oppose them. There might then be some hope that the American public would wake up to what sort of a government they currently have. The reawakening of American democracy is the only hope for a future world that is not ridden by terrorism and global warfare. · Terry Jones writes regularly for The Observer. To all those readers who have written in to ask if this Terry Jones had anything to do with Monty Python, the answer is yes.
The High Price of Bad Diplomacy
Good article. Remarks from Business Week onBush's imperalistic behavior The High Price of Bad DiplomacyMismanaging the runup to war will do more than squander goodwill and damage allianceshttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_12/b3825801.htm
A Warmonger explains war to a Peacenik
A Warmonger explains war to a Peacenik PeaceNik: Why did you say we are we invading Iraq?WarMonger: We are invading Iraq because it is in violation of security council resolution 1441. A country cannot be allowed to violate security council resolutions.PN: But I thought many of our allies, including Israel, were in violation of more security council resolutions than Iraq.WM: It's not just about UN resolutions. The main point is that Iraq could have weapons of mass destruction, and the first sign of a smoking gun could well be a mushroomcloud over NY.PN: Mushroom cloud? But I thought the weapons inspectors said Iraq had no nuclear weapons.WM: Yes, but biological and chemical weapons are the issue.PN: But I thought Iraq did not have any long range missiles for attacking us or our allies with such weapons.WM: The risk is not Iraq directly attacking us, but rather terrorists networks that Iraq could sell the weapons to.PN: But coundn't virtually any country sell chemical or biological materials? We sold quite a bit to Iraq in the eighties ourselves, didn't we?WM: That's ancient history. Look, Saddam Hussein is an evil man that has an undeniable track record of repressing his own people since the early eighties. He gasses hisenemies. Everyone agrees that he is a power-hungry lunatic murderer.PN: We sold chemical and biological materials to a power-hungry lunatic murderer?WM: The issue is not what we sold, but rather what Saddam did. He is the one that launched a pre-emptive first strike on Kuwait.PN: A pre-emptive first strike does sound bad. But didn't our ambassador to Iraq, April Gillespie, know about and green-light the invasion of Kuwait?WM: Let's deal with the present, shall we? As of today, Iraq could sell its biological and chemical weapons to Al Quaida. Osama BinLaden himself released an audio tapecalling on Iraqis to suicide-attack us, proving a partnership between the two.PN: Osama Bin Laden? Wasn't the point of invading Afghanistan to kill him?WM: Actually, it's not 100% certain that it's really Osama Bin Laden on the tapes. But the lesson from the tape is the same: there could easily be a partnership betweenal-Qaida and Saddam Hussein unless we act.PN: Is this the same audio tape where Osama Bin Laden labels Saddam a secular infidel?WM: You're missing the point by just focusing on the tape. Powell presented a strong case against Iraq.PN: He did?WM: Yes, he showed satellite pictures of an Al Quaeda poison factory in Iraq.PN: But didn't that turn out to be a harmless shack in the part of Iraq controlled by the Kurdish opposition?WM: And a British intelligence report...PN: Didn't that turn out to be copied from an out-of-date graduate student paper?WM: And reports of mobile weapons labs...PN: Weren't those just artistic renderings?WM: And reports of Iraqis scuttling and hiding evidence from inspectors...PN: Wasn't that evidence contradicted by the chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix?WM: Yes, but there is plenty of other hard evidence that cannot be revealed because it would compromise our security.PN: So there is no publicly available evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?WM: The inspectors are not detectives, it's not their JOB to find evidence. You're missing the point.PN: So what is the point?WM: The main point is that we are invading Iraq because resolution 1441 threatened "severe consequences." If we do not act, the security council will become an irrelevantdebating society.PN: So the main point is to uphold the rulings of the security council?WM: Absolutely. ...unless it rules against us.PN: And what if it does rule against us?WM: In that case, we must lead a coalition of the willing to invade Iraq.PN: Coalition of the willing? Who's that?WM: Britain, Turkey, Bulgaria, Spain, and Italy, for starters.PN: I thought Turkey refused to help us unless we gave them tens of billions of dollars.WM: Nevertheless, they may now be willing.PN: I thought public opinion in all those countries was against war.WM: Current public opinion is irrelevant. The majority expresses its will by electing leaders to make decisions.PN: So it's the decisions of leaders elected by the majority that is important?WM: Yes.PN: But George Bush wasn't elected by voters. He was selected by the U.S. Supreme C...-WM: I mean, we must support the decisions of our leaders, however they were elected, because they are acting in our best interest. This is about being a patriot. That'sthe bottom line.PN: So if we do not support the decisions of the president, we are not patriotic?WM: I never said that.PN: So what are you saying? Why are we invading Iraq?WM: As I said, because there is a chance that they have weapons of mass destruction that threaten us and our allies.PN: But the inspectors have not been able to find any such weapons.WM: Iraq is obviously hiding them.PN: You know this? How?WM: Because we know they had the weapons ten years ago, and they are
Vietnam 2 Checklist
Vietnam 2 Checklist 1. Cabal of oldsters who won't listen to outside advice? Check.2. No understanding of ethnicities of the many locals? Check. 3. Imposing country boundaries drawn in Europe, not by the locals? Check.4. Unshakeable faith in our superior technology? Check. 5. France secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.6. Russia secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.7. China secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.8. SecDef pushing a conflict the JCS never wanted? Check.9. Fear we'll look bad if we back down now? Check.10. Corrupt Texan in the WH? Check.11. Land war in Asia? Check.12. Right unhappy with outcome of previous war? Check.13. Enemy easily moves in/out of neighboring countries? Check.14. Soldiers about to be dosed with *our own* chemicals? Check.15. Friendly fire problem ignored instead of solved? Check.16. Anti-Americanism up sharply in Europe? Check.17. B-52 bombers? Check. 18. Helicopters that clog up on the local dust? Check.19. In-fighting among the branches of the military? Check.20. Locals that cheer us by day, hate us by night? Check.21. Local experts ignored? Check.22. Local politicians ignored? Check.23. Locals used to conflicts lasting longer than the USA has been a country? Check.24. Against advice, Prez won't raise taxes to pay for war? Check.25. Blue water navy ships operating in brown water? Check.26. Use of nukes hinted at if things don't go our way? Check.27. Unpopular war? Check.VIETNAM 2 YOU ARE CLEARED TO TAXI Ivan BergerNo trees were killed in the sending of this message. However a large number ofelectrons were terribly inconvenienced.
IMPORTANT IMPEACHMENT ALERT
Fax or email Rep. Conyers supporting Impeachment and Removal from office of the entire Bush Administration. They are NOT introducing articles of impeachment now. They are only tallying votes FOR and AGAINST impeachment as of this moment. The phones are currently ringing off the hook, so please send a brief message stating whether you are for or against impeachment via email or fax: fax 313-226-2085[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: I need some help...
KC, Download the free versions Spybot and Ad Aware. RunBOTH of them and clean out all the cookies and spywarehidden in yourPC (unless of course Ashcroft and Pointdexter have insertedsecret filesinour PC's that these programs won't detect). It's good idea to backup all your important files includingyour address book and bookmarks so it's it not a totaldisaster if everything crashes or ifyou have to reformat your hard drive. If your running Windows it's always agoodidea to periodically reformat your hard drive anyway. Irun Spybot and Ad Awareevery other week or so and delete EVERYTHINGthat's been detected. Of course I have to reset all my passwords after doing this, butthat's a small price to pay and not a big deal if you've written all your passwords on a piece of paper so youwon't forget them. Spybot Search and Destroy: http://spybot.safer-networking.de/ Lavasoft Ad Aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ Good luck! Astro ---Original Message--- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 13:49:10 To: power hour friends Subject: I need some help... I have been having something happen..an attachment has been putting itself in my email Some kind of dll file, promo...however virus scans (mine) dont reconginze it and delete the email as undetermined..I saved it and did a separate scan and it is virus free...however my messages will be deleted by the anti-virus scans. MY Question is does any one here have savvy to understand pc codes? So I know what this is...If it is spyware? Thaks, KC "The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."-- Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334http://www.patriotsforpeace.org/http://www.winwithoutwarus.org/http://www.truemajority.org/http://www.notinourname.net/http://www.endthewar.org/http://www.internationalanswer.org/http://www.peacepledge.org/http://www.citiesforpeace.org/**Ain't Karma A Bitch! IncrediMail - Email has finally evolved - Click Here
Something is Terribly Wrong in America
I believe history will judge Cynthia McKinney in a much more favorable light than those who have recently demonized her. Something is Terribly Wrong in America by CYNTHIA McKINNEY (Remarks at March 15 Anti-War Rally San Francisco, California.) We stand here together. Shoulder to shoulder. Refusing to be denied the right to say no to George Bush's war! This Iraq war is about oil and regional interests. If it was about ending tyranny, destroying weapons of mass destruction, and restoring democracy to Iraq then George Bush's father could have done that in 1991. But he didn't. Saddam Hussein and his murderous regime were kept in power. And if we care about civilians suffering under the heel of brutal regimes, and if we really want to defend human rights worldwide, why are we starting and stopping at Iraq? Why not do something about the suffering in Congo, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Burma, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Tibet, Afghanistan, just to name a few? But as we all know nothing will be done. In fact our military forces and intelligence agencies may actually even worsen the suffering in those countries because it suits our interests to do so. Just like when the American government killed Salvadore Allende and replaced him with Augusto Pinochet. American style regime change is nothing new. But when we dare to stand up and tell the truth about how unjust this war is and question the motivations of its protagonists we are called unpatriotic and accused of hating our flag. I don't hate my country and I certainly don't hate my flag. In fact I love them so much I refuse to be quiet! No more should we allow special interests to lead yet another generation of young Americans off to war. Our Founding Father, George Washington, in his Farewell Address of 1796, warned us about the false patriots who would wrap themselves in the American flag and at the same time sell our precious American values to special interests. George Washington didn't know it then, but we know it now, that he was talking about people like George W. Bush who would betray our values and our country in pursuit of an unnecessary war. You, gathered here today, are the true patriots. The day our streets are free from protestors like you will be the day our democracy is dead. Those of us who oppose Bush's war span the spectrum. We are conservative, radical â¤" Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Reform, and we are Green. We come from all walks of life. We are the thinkers and the workers that make America strong. We are all religions and we are all races joined together today. That's why George W. Bush proposes to spend $200 million on a public relations campaign to convince you and the world that war in Iraq is justified. Telling the truth shouldn't be so expensive. If war in Iraq is truly justified and is about restoring freedoms to the people of Iraq then why doesn't the Bush Administration restore our freedoms here at home? Why does the San Francisco Police Department need to collect, in violation of their own department rules, dossiers on peaceful anti-war protesters? What does our government fear from us? The Bush Administration has even failed to convince our most important opinion leaders when it comes to war and peace: the veterans. Veterans increasingly are being counted among the ranks of anti-war protesters. Why? Because more than anyone else, our veterans know the horror of war. They know it's easy to talk about war if you've never been to war. They know the horror of coming back to face the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs for help with post-traumatic stress syndrome, Gulf War syndrome, exposure to Agent Orange and depleted uranium, cancer, birth defects, Lou Gehrig's disease, infertility, memory loss, and homelessness. In fact, 25% of all our homeless are veterans. And they sleep on the streets of America every night. Many even living across the street from the White House. While our military spend billions of dollars on aircraft, ships, tanks, and laser guided missiles $25 billion already just to get the troops in position for this war-- our government can't give a warm meal and shelter to the veterans who have served our country and who are now in need. Something is terribly wrong; and that's the thanks of a grateful nation. Now President Bush would have you believe that he cares about our young service men and women. But he doesn't. Just like he doesn't care about the veterans. And let us remember . . . George Bush, Dick Cheney, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, where were you when America needed you? Part of that $200 million in public relations money the Administration is spending is to make us think that George Bush follows in the footsteps of the world's greatest wartime leaders. But while Saddam Hussein can be counted among the world's tyrants, George W. Bush is no Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Tony Blair is no Winston Churchill. Because now the entire
IRAQI TROOPS NOW EATING LIVE BABIES
Note: disclaimer at the bottom of this article says this is a "SATIRE" Who ever wrote this has a verySICKSENSE OF HUMORif you ask me! BOOKMARK THIS SITE FOR UNCENSORED COVERAGEWAR SHOCK LATEST:IRAQI TROOPS NOWEATING LIVE BABIES 20th March, 2003 02:30 GMThttp://www.GuluFuture.comBy Makup Aniol Shyte, BBCNN 20 March 2003 Iraqi troops around the port city of Basra came under sustained fire late Wednesday after Allied commanders ordered an early attack to stop Iraqi looting, pillaging, raping and cooking of live infants, local sources have stated. Advancing allied forces came across makeshift ovens in vacated Iraqi positions around the city, which contained the partly cooked bodies of babies, said an allied spokesperson speaking on condition of anonimity. "Apparently, they have been without food supplies for weeks now and have taken to snatching babies from local women and consuming them in front of the mothers beore raping the women," the spokesperson said.Official sources are still refusing to confirm the reports, but would not rule them out as a trigger for the allied advance. But a military spokesperson did confirm that Iraqi soldiers have been looting shops and breaking into homes to steal from locals."There comes a point where you have to take action to defend the local Iraqi population against intolerable abuses," said Major Slauter Hardon of the British 7th Armoured brigade. "We reached that position late on Wednesday." However, he refused to comment on reports that British troops have been turning away hordes of Iraqi soldiers who are seeking to surrender to allied units."I really cannot confirm that," he said, "but we simply do not have the facilities or capability to cater for mass surrenders this early in the campaign. Best thing for Iraqi soldiers no longer keen to support this evil dictator would be to drop their weapons and go home." INCUBATORSMeanwhile, American convoys moving towards Umm Qasr have reportedly detained a unit of fleeing Iraqi soldiers with incubators likely stolen from the local hospital."The incubators still had babies inside," said an officer who refused to identify himself to reporters. "At least in the last Gulf war they had the decency to remove the babies before stealing the incubators. Probably they intended to eat them at some point."According to other unnamed sources, Allied advances have been slowed by having to clear starving Iraqi soldiers kneeling in the middle of the roads begging food from advancing American troops.FLEEING In late developments, a US military spokesman refused to confirm reports that a plane carrying Saddam Hussein had escaped being shot down as the toppled dictator fled to Jordan, because he has forced some of the "human shield" peace protestors to board the plane with him. Also, late Wednesday force commanders in the Basra area confirmed that they had bombed "command and control" positions which had been cleverly disguised as churches, hospitals and civillian housing.According to others who have returned from bombing missions, Iraqi psychological warfare brigades have taken to dressing themselves up as civillians and lying on the ground around strategic villages pretending to have their arms and legs blown off."We've been here before you know," one officer told reporters at a post raid briefing. "We are not going to fall for such tired old tricks." "Bet you the next thing is the Iraqi elite Republican Guard will begin shelling and bombing non-military targets in a pathetic effort to incriminate us in these types of actions," allegedly said an unnamed local commander, speaking on condition of anonymous anonimity, according to unconfirmed reports.Notes: The use of the term "allied commanders" means commanders of the forces of countries which have allied with each other in this war to liberate Iraq. It is not a cheap trick to play off the use of the same term to describe command structures in the Second World War. The use of the words "liberate Iraq" means allow democratic structures be established. The issue of the sale of Iraqi natural resources and infrastructure to multinational corporations at knockdown prices is beyond the mission objectives of Allied commanders.CAUTION: War fanatical members of the public who happen across this report shoud beware that this is in fact a SATIRICAL article. Satire is a form of wry black comedy which relates essential truths in an oblique manner. Persons with war-focussed tunnel vision have been known to mistake this type of material for factual reporting.. BOOKMARK THIS SITE FOR UNCENSORED COVERAGEWAR SHOCK LATEST:IRAQI TROOPS NOWEATING LIVE BABIES 20th March, 2003 02:30 GMThttp://www.GuluFuture.comBy Makup Aniol Shyte, BBCNN 20 March 2003 Iraqi troops around the port city of Basra came under sustained fire late Wednesday after Allied commanders ordered an early attack to stop Iraqi looting, pillaging, raping and cooking of live
An explainatioin and my apologies
Dear Joyce and Dave and friends of the Power Hour,I have been informed that I should not haveposted the Iraqi baby eaterstory to this list because it was inappropriate and "garbage" and that thePower Hour is about exposing the truth.Kindly allow me a few words of explaination. That is precisely why I postedit - so everyone could see that it is indeed garbage and to expose it sothat the truth may be known.That particular story was posted on What Really Happened yesterday, one ofthe most highly visited websites on the Internet, and although I have havenot personally communicated with the website's owner, Mike Rivero, I wouldassume that is why he also posted it. To expose it as dangerous garbage.We all know how quickly Internet rumors spread. I personally believe -although I have no proof - that the baby eater article may be sinisterblack-ops and the writer put a sly disclaimer on it saying it was "satire"to protect himself - but knowing full well that some other sick idiot mightread it, grab it, perform a quick cut and paste job - deletely thedisclaimer - and then start passing it on as fact. This is how Internetrumors and so-called urban legends get started. There are plenty of gulliblepeople out there that would believe such a story like this, especially afterthe fabricated incubator stories of 1991. Sure, we all know those storiesare faked, but think of how many people there are who do not possess theknowledge and information we do, and who probably still accept the 1991incubator stories as a fact. Now that is a truly scary thought.I'm appalled and disgusted by this story as much as any of you are. Mypurpose for posting it was to bring it to everyone's attention so that itcould be nipped in the bud and stopped dead in it's tracks. The best way tostop rumors and misinformation is to expose them far and wide.If my intentions have been misconstrued, I profusely aspologize to everyone.I'm not a secret government disinformation agent or provocateur and I haveno devious hidden agendas. I don't play games, I'm up front with everyoneabout my beliefs and opinions and I tell people what I think. Even if peopledisagree with me - which is fine, and many people do - they usually respectmy honesty. I take great personal pride in being honest and maintaining mycredibilty. That's all I have, I value it more than anything else, and Iwill defend it to the end.For what ever it's worth, I've been following Joyce and Dave's work sinceI996 when I first received a copy of their Gulf War video which helped me tostart seeing through all the lies and deception. Joyce and Dave have helpedopen my eyes to many other acts of government corruption and deception and Ithank God for leading me to them. I consider them as trusted friends and mypersonal teachers who have educated me and raised my awareness on manyimportant issues over the years.I'm a disabled veteran and I strongly support Joyce and Dave's work andlisten to the Power Hour every day. I stand shoulder to shoulder with themin their committment and determination to support and defend all of ourveterans - and exposing the truth. We may not agree on everything, butthere is no quarrel on these core beliefs.I sincerely apologize if I have offended anyone by trying to expose garbageand trash for what it is. I believe it's better to know about something - nomatter how awful it is - so that if an awful rumor such as this ever shouldget started, we know where it came from and can immediately dismiss it forwhat it is.I assure you I would never intentionally do anything to discredit Joyce orDave or the Power Hour or any of it's efforts as I have nothing but thehighest respect for them and everyone on this list. If anyone believes Ihave used poor judgement, I can accept your opinions and humbly acknowledgethem. I would only ask for your kind forgiveness. I have been guilty ofusing poor judgement in the past, but fortunately I keep learning from mymistakes by the Grace of God.Regardless of what your final decision is, I will continue to support Daveand Joyce and the Power Hour.Respectfully yours,Warren GammelOcala, Florida
Bush's Groom and Gloom
My true feelings aboutthe following2 items are unprintable. "Extremely disgruntled" is a polite understatement. A BuzzFlash News Analysis March 21, 2003 Bush's Groom and Gloom BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS As reported in the Washington Post, the White House is quite peeved that video of Bush getting groomed and acting jolly was broadcast prior to his "we're bombing Iraq" announcement: The White House is vowing a strong retaliatory response after the BBC aired live video of President Bush getting his hair coiffed in the Oval Office as he squirmed in his chair and practiced on the teleprompter minutes before Wednesday night's speech announcing the launch of military operations against Saddam Hussein. (See: Link) Many BuzzFlash Readers have asked us where they can see these videos. You can download videos of that broadcast from the globalfreepress web site at the URL below: http://news.globalfreepress.com/images/wonk/VariousMovies2/ [Link Update: BuzzFlash Readers have been having difficulty accessing the above link, we imagine due to the traffic. You may find more luck trying it again later in the evening or over the weekend, or you can visit the The Smoking Gun for a shorter version of the footage: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/gbhair1.html.] As reported by Knight Ridder Newspapers (See: Link), "Minutes before the speech, an internal television monitor showed the president pumping his fist. "Feels good," he said." Although BuzzFlash could not accurately point to that moment, something else about the broadcast bothered us. When you watch the videos, think about the fact that Bush is about to tell the world that he's sending our soldiers to possibly die, but definitely to kill innocent people in Iraq as our military bombs and shoots its way to Saddam. Think about that and contrast that with Bush's jovial, playful attitude, seen unfiltered in the Dutch broadcast (digitized in the 11.3M "BushGroomed2.mpg"): Hey, Bush, it sure is funny thinking about all those innocent Iraqi women and children who are going to die painful and horrible deaths because of your bombs, isn't it? Just downright slap-happy funny. We bet you haven't had this much fun since you mocked Karla Faye Tucker's plea for clemency (See: Link) and executed at least 135 people while Governor of Texas (See: Link | Link 2). And then the show really begins and Bush puts on his face of concern and tempered anxiety. What a farce. What a shameful, despicable farce. Every moment fabricated. And now, back to the war coverage. W DOESN'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO WATCH THE BOMBING 03-21-03Ari Fleischer is taking fairly hostile questions from the press right now.Apparently the folks in the press are nearly as horrified by the bombardmentas I am.Ari just admitted that W didn't watch the bombing. What a coward, huh? Youought to see what YOU have authorized. It's YOUR doing buddy.How many times is Ari going to make that lame and completely discredited9/11-Saddam-Al-Qaeda link argument?This is an immoral administration that will say or do anything to advanceits goals.Today is certainly all the proof you need of that.Update: I'm told W is already on his way to take a weekend off at CampDavid. We're in the middle of a war and this joker leaves Washington?Now that's commitment to his job, eh? He ordered the airstrikes and then, with his tail between his legs, W promptly headed out of town http://hnn.us/articles/900.html#12260201
