UncommonSense

3/14/2002

No update tomorrow. Spring has broken. Back on Monday. Meanwhile, check out my annotated Presidential press conference

Marc Perkel has been released.

The Daily Read

Bush Watch does a great job pulling this one out of the vault. Here's a question that should be asked. What was the nature of the threat that prompted the FBI to advise Ashcroft not to use commercial airliners for the remainder of his term? This was in July.

Bush bashes Jerry Springer. Ha! If it wasn't for Poppy's friends propping him up (and Betty Bowers' timely family interventions), he'd be a prime candidate for the Jerry Springer Show himself. If the terrorists had read this, they might have got the idea our president was a drunken moron. "Bush stormed up to the table and started cursing out Hunt. "You [expletive] son of a bitch," Bush yelled. "I saw what you wrote. We're not going to forget this."

Another curious tidbit from the above article - "In late June, the Clinton administration chose to keep secret most U.S. government documents about the 1976 assassination of Chilean dissident Orlando Letelier and American co-worker Ronni Moffitt in Washington, D.C. That terrorist bomb, planted by a Chilean intelligence agent, occurred while George Bush was CIA director and after he received a warning about the planned arrival of the chief assassin. Although other Chilean human-rights documents were released, Clinton's Justice Department blocked disclosure of key Letelier evidence on the grounds that the 23-year-old murder case is still active." Sept 11 is the aniversary of the US/Kissenger-sponsored Chilean coup that began a reign of terror under Pinoche. A Bush ignored a terrorist warning related to the September 11th coup. The case is still active. Coincidence?

The Bushes better watch out or Zogby, their favorite pollster, might start skewing his polls against them. Message to John Ashcroft - 20 years from now, these people might be able to bring criminal charges against you in the World Court. It is long past time to come clean and either charge them, deport them, or let them go.

"The Senate rejected tough new automobile fuel economy requirements Wednesday amid sharp disagreement over safety and whether the new standard would force "soccer moms" to abandon their SUVs and minivans." Oh puh-lease! Give me a break. We risk American lives for the sake of soccer moms' inconvenience? Thanks for nothing, Senators. Source.

Thanks to Marty at Bartcop E! for the mentions and links.

Harper's Weekly Review - by Roger D. Hodge

The Daily Screed

This morning, as I was tying my shoes and getting ready for work, I saw a piece on the Today Show about the first American pilot downed in the Gulf War. Officials now say he may still be alive and living in captivity in Iraq. Immediately, I began to have flashbacks of bad movies starring Chuck Norris.

Is it a coincidence that, after his three stints in 80s-era Thailand searching for fictional Vietnam War veterans still being held prisoner, Chuck Norris should move on to the Texas Rangers? Compare that to George W. Bush, who spent the 80s crawling around in similar bad career decisions before hitting the big time with the other Texas Rangers.

The similarities are too frightening to ignore.

In all seriousness, though, I couldn't help getting the feeling that we are being set up. The piece on the Today Show had photos of Navy Lt. Commander Speicher (pronounced Spiker), an all-American good-looking white boy; you almost get the feeling he was handpicked to evoke an emotional response among Republican supporters (it would never work if he were black or Jewish). Is Commander Speicher real? In all likelihood, yes, and I sympathize with his family's grief, all the more so because he is being exhumed to justify going to war with Iraq.

It's just awfully damned convenient that, at this particular time, the government suddenly has reason to believe that he is still alive. Just when we need an excuse to attack Iraq, up pops Commander Speicher - who, we are told, is going to be promoted to Captain soon. On what grounds? Was this decision made by the PR department at the Pentagon? There has been no contact with this guy for 10 years. If he is dead, what's he done to deserve a promotion? If he is alive, what's he done to deserve a promotion? Nobody knows, as there has been no contact with him.

Convenient? You bet. In fact, it's a no-lose scenario. If he is alive, the Bush administration knows that it would be politically impossible for Iraq to admit that it has held this guy captive for 10 years. If he is dead or missing or whatever, we can demand to inspect the remains, and Iraq isn't likely to let us into the country for any reason. If Iraq hands over his remains, we can always claim that it isn't really him - who is going to prove us wrong? So we go to war, because they refuse to acknowledge that he is alive or to hand over his remains.

And Bush is rattling the nuclear sabre because we have shot our wad in Afganistan. We don't have enough cruise missiles left over from Gulf War One, Kosovo, and the various retaliatory strikes against Iraq and Afganistan prior to September 11th. Plus, the British figured out how to spot our stealth bombers using, of all things, cell phones. Don't think Saddam didn't hear about that.

Going into Iraq means we are going to get Saddam, and with his back against the wall, there is no telling what weapons he will use. So Bush is getting us ready to use the nuclear option because a sustained conventional attack would finally force us into a war economy, and that's something his PR people and analysts have told him Americans will never support. Hell, the republicans in the Senate won't increase gas mileage requirements because it might prove inconvenient to soccer moms. Do you think they'd ever inconvenience us with a real war?

If, while you watched the World Trade Center crumble, you couldn't shake the feeling that you were watching a disaster movie, this is nothing compared to what is scripted for the future. All the lessons of the past decade - Gulf War One, Waco, Oklahoma City, Kosovo, WTC - are going to come together in a blockbuster event guaranteed to get us screaming for Saddam's head. We'll find out that, yes, commander Speicher is alive. We'll hear about the atrocities. We'll damn sure hear about the children. We'll hear about Saddam's weapons and how we have to strike first, before he gasses Jerusalem. And before you know it, Haliburton and Carlyle will be riding into Bagdad for a high-stakes poker game to see who gets the lion's share of the spoils. Because war has always been, and always will be, about the loot.

3/13/2002

The Daily Read

Oh great. I quit smoking. Isn't that enough for these people. Now I can't eat, either? Well, I just have one thing to say - prove it.

New addition to the war criminals 'this' list today.

UncommonSense Featured Site - This site was put together by Crystal Reid, a high school sophomore in California, for a school project. Crystal became interested in child labor issues after watching the movie Newsies.

(If you or someone you know has put together an interesting political and/or humorous web site, let me know and if I like it, I'll feature here in the Daily Read.)

Ok. So the Denver police is keeping files on peaceful activists because the events of September 11th illustrate the need for such files.

So why wasn't anyone at INS keeping files on these guys? I mean, just because they crashed planes into buildings in New York is no reason to deport them postumously. But obviously, we've got to keep a close eye on the Quakers, because of their history of violence. See, this is why I keep an eye on my rear view mirror. Can this get any more insane?

"And you know, that is true. The government could act corruptly much more "efficiently" if it could act in secret." Has it ever been stated more clearly? Dick Cheney, you're the next contestant on The Price Better Be Right.

Whenever Bush and his ilk (like Enron) need money to keep their illegal activities hidden, what do they do? Raid employee retirement funds, of course! So we go from Clinton's surplusses to "effectively forc(ing) O'Neill to take the extraordinary measure--or default on the government's debt". So remind me how we are supposed to pay for war with Iraq or anyone else... oh, yes, I forgot. We'll just nuke 'em.

The Daily Screed

I got this in an email the other day. Glad I found it on the web. I don't have much of a screed today, because the contents of this leave me speechless. The title of the transcript is Earth Shattering World Bank Scoop.

The funny thing is, that's not hyperbole. This, if true, threatens to reveal the criminality of the entire World Bank. Hello? Crazy anarchists protest in Seattle? I don't think so. When people want to keep their deliberations secret, you can be pretty sure it's because, if revealed, they'd be lynched like Mussolini.

3/12/2002

The Daily Read

Considering today's animation, what perfect timing for Nofacts Novak to advise Trent Lott about the Pickering nomination. T-boy has a green light to go nuclear and shut down the Senate if Daschle thinks the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is not the place for an unethical racist. Pickering is Lott's bitch, after all.

In any case, since Borking Bork kept one lunatic off the Supreme Court, I think the previously disparaging 'borking' term ought to gain more widespread acceptance.

It can't happen here? Think again.

Performance art. I'm liking his anger.

You almost get the feeling that the powers that be would just as soon see Michael Moore and his book go away. Next thing you know, some neo-nazi sheriff is going to arrest him for not singing Amerika Uber Alles at each book signing. "I'm zorry Herr Moore, your paperz are not in order. You vill haf to come vith us."

Hey, no worries, because they only build them in poor neighborhoods. The right sort of people will survive, right?

How can the Post report on this and not ask, so how are the colors used? The article says, "Domestic security chief Tom Ridge said Tuesday the nation is at a "significant" level of danger – the third step in a five-stage system of terror alerts that replaces the vague warnings issued for the last six months." So how is the use of five vaguely-defined stages, as represented by five colors which will be used in undefined ways, any more helpful than the previous vague alerts? Tom Ridge and the Office of Homeland Security has received umpteen million dollars and freedom from Congressional supervision, and this is the best they can come up with? Saints preserve us!

Today, Amos Oz, one of the greatest modern writers, says pretty much the same thing as I said in my dream for peace in Israel last week (Daily Screed for 3.5.2002), especially in his opinion of Arafat and Sharon. The only difference is, Mr. Oz sees a partitioned land, whereas I think partioning will only bring a temporary peace. People must learn to live together if they are to live at all.

The Daily Screed

Duck and Cover. Duck and Cover. Duck and Cover. When you see the flash, put your lips up to your ass and Duck and Cover.

The man has his finger on the button. You think elections don't matter? My God, this man could go into a drunken rage and let the missiles fly. I wonder if there would be a Secret Service agent around with the moral conscience and civic courage to stop him.

More and more, this administration reminds me of the first time Martin Sheen ran for fictional president. It was in the movie The Dead Zone. Actually, he was only running for senator at the time, but spooky dude Christopher Walken shook Greg Stillson's hand and saw the whole ugly future - religio-crazed fundamentalist family-values unilateralist decides it's time to end the world's problems and he's just the man to do it.

Is that not a pretty good definition of George W. Bush?

3/11/2002

The Daily Read - Conspiracy Monday

This article about the deaths of microbiologists misses one important point. Some of these people who died were working on "developing drugs that will fight pathogens based on the pathogen's genetic profile... a drug could be developed for one specific person... a drug could be developed to effectively treat a much broader class of people sharing a genetic marker. The entire process can also be turned around to develop a pathogen that will affect a broad class of people sharing a genetic marker." Source.

Updates on the Pentagon plane conspiracy: Whatreallyhappened.com says that the French web site and slide show of the impact are government disinformation programs meant to distract from the Israeli spy ring. The crux of the counter arguement is that there is wreckage in the official DOD photos, like this one, and this one, and that the plane crashed at vertical or near vertical. The French site claims that there is no wreckage. My response is; eyewitnesses to the crash say that the plane came in very low. I recall reading that it had clipped powerlines or trees. So who is lying? The eyewitnesses? If you say the plane crashed at near vertical, then the eyewitnesses must have been government plants. If there was no plane, then the eyewitnesses must have been government plants. Second, the small pic of debris in the foreground proves nothing. This could just as easily be sheet metal from a truck. Also notice that the big photo is long after the fact, while the authors of the French web site are bringing attention to photos taken immediately after the explosion. In those photos, there doesn't appear to be any wreckage. But the real kicker is the second photo enlargement. This website claims that there is plenty of debris in the photo. The debris seems to be piled around a path leading from a doorway, almost as though it were being hauled out of the building, and that mixed into the debris there appears to be two filing cabinets. In other words, there is nothing in the debris, like an aircraft engine, that you can point to and say this is plane wreckage. Now look at one more thing. To the right of the impact and left of the flag, there is a scorched tree. So what this photo says is that the same thing that brought down a WTC tower couldn't knock over a tree or even blow its leaves off? I'm not a government disinformation agent, but I say the matter is still in question.

Pour in a variety of suspicious circumstances, stir, cover and reduce for six months. Conspiracy sampler platter.

Top Ten Conservative Idiots - The only conspiracy here is that these people occupy seats of power and influence.

Daily Screed

Saturday, I met with Catherine Austin Fitts. If you missed her article in Friday's addition, check out the archives for last week. Surprise of the day was seeing her mentioned in this article, included in such company as Michael Ruppert and Daniel Hopsicker.

We talked about what we can do to affect things locally, and soon there will be information posted here regarding local and national issues leading up to the November elections. We'll also be providing a sort of evolving guide to help other people create the same sort of local networks of information. The changes needed in the system are huge and seem quite daunting, but the pyramids were built one stone at a time. Change can happen.

All the way home, I kept checking my mirror to see if I was being followed. Is this not the saddest commentary on American life? Here I am, trying to make a difference, trying to make things better, and I am watching my rear-view mirror wherever I go. Somebody please remind me who are the terrorists!