Uncommon Thought Journal

Meat safety changes? Don't feel safe!

Mad Cow Disease. BSE. variant CJD.

They said it couldn't happen here. They said that our food safety practices were unparalled on the planet. THEY WERE WRONG AND THEY LIED

Now they say that the infected cow was born before the "feed regulation changes." True, but those changes didn't (and won't) stop BSE or its spread.

Now they say that they are changing the regulations again and that we will be safe.
Meat From Infirm Animals Is Banned, Vendantan, Wa. Post, 12/31/03.
Banning Sale of 'Downer' Meat Represents a Change in Policy, Pianin & Gugliotta, Wa. Post, 12/31/03.

WE WON'T BE SAFE

John Stauber has an article at AlterNet (12/30/03) that points to some of the deeper problems with the beef industry Mad Cow USA: The Nightmare Begins. At the root of the problem is that the US (and Canada and Mexico) all feed animals rendered waste from cows - including blood, fat, and tissue. BSE can and does pass through blood - including to and through humans. That is why Britain is importing its blood supply, and why those who have spent time in the UK can't donate blood in the US (or Australia, or a number of other nations).

These rendered products are also feed to other animals (pigs, sheep, chickens, and pet foods). While labels for feed containing rendered beef say that they should not be fed to ruminants, they are regularly fed to poultry. Poultry wast and droppings are regularly included in cattle feed. So that particular control is pointless.

Certainly it helps to ban sick animals from the food chain (about time don't you think?), but that is only visibly ill animals and BSE can be unsymptomatic in cattle for 5 years or more. Meanwhile, blood is regularly used in feed of all types.

The US "mad cow scare" is not just a ticking bomb, it is one that has already exploded - we just don't know how far.

In 1997 Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber wrote an excellent book Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here? (link to book at this site). While the book itself is out of print, they have made it available for download at PR Watch Book Download (pdf).

I would strongly recommend reading it, and sending a big thank you to Rampton and Stauber at editor@prwatch.org

The Power of Language

Language shapes peoples' perception of the world and politicians know this. Since the 1990s and the Republicans have turned repeatedly to Dr. Frank Luntz to help craft their message. According to his bio on the Herbert Walker Agency Site (a speakers group), Luntz is:

- "one of the most honored political and communication professionals in America today." ... - "USA Today labeled him one of the nine most influential minds in the GOP, Newsweek called him one of the three primary "engineers" of the 1994 Republican landslide,";

- "has been on Nightline more than any other pollster in the past three years."; Dr. Luntz, famous among campaign pros for his research on language and politics, is one of the most innovative marketers of political ideas. He has served as an adviser to New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and numerous candidates in this country and abroad."

- "He was one of the strategic architects of the Republican landslide in 1994 that gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years and made Newt Gingrich speaker. Dr. Luntz had a key role in creating Gingrich's Contract with America."

In short, Luntz is the premier word smith and propaganda shaper of the GOP - and of the Bush Administration.

When Gingrich was in office he founded a group called GOPAC. GOPAC issued a memo - Language: A Key Mechanism of Control - to Republicans. Since then, the power of language manipulation and the power of Luntz have only grown.

In September 2003 Deborah Tannen had an excellent article at The American Prospect - Let Them Eat Words: Linguistic lessons from Republican master strategist Frank Luntz:

"Exploiting the power of language to persuade, despite the absence of policies to back up the words, is the openly stated goal of Republican strategy as articulated by Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster and tactician who was one of the primary drafters of the GOP's "Contract with America." Luntz tests phrases in focus groups and advises Republicans on how to win votes by changing what they say, not what they do." ... The welter of words that stir emotions -- and in particular the word hope repeated as an incantation -- can also be heard as echoes of Luntz's advice. "Politics remains an emotional arena," he writes, "and television has made fear a very salable commodity. But fear alone is not enough. The commodity Americans most desire -- and the one in shortest supply -- is hope."

...

Luntz promised that changing words, not works, would be successful "if executed effectively and with discipline." This caveat was not casually tossed out. He cautioned Republicans that "good communication is more than just words, phrases and messages." I'll pause here for a moment to give you a chance to predict how you expect Luntz's next sentence to read. OK, here it is: "As a party and as a movement, we will fail if we continue to go it alone or change messages daily. We can only succeed when we work together and talk together and stick together as a team. Only through a movement-wide effort and constant repetition can our voices unite in perfect harmony."

This linguistic harmony is clear in Luntz memo "Straight Talk on the Environment (pdf) (backup copy at Luntz Research Companies - Straight Talk on the Environment (pdf)).

Excerpts from the 16 page section

The environment is probably the single issue on which Republicans in general- and President Bush in particular - are most vulnerable. A caricature has taken hold in the public imagination: Republicans seemingly in the pockets of corporate fat cats who rub their hands together and chuckle manically as they plot to pollute America for fun and profit. And only the Democrats and their good-hearted friends from Washington can save America from these sinister companies drooling at the prospect of strip mining every picturesque mountain range, drilling for oil on every white sand beach,
and clear cutting every green forest.

The fundamental problem for Republicans when it comes to the environment is that whatever you say is viewed through the prism of suspicion. As with education, Social Security and so many other issues, the Democrats have been expert at constructing a narrative in which Republicans and conservatives are the bad guys. And if Americans swallow that story, then whatever comes later is mere detail.

Indeed, it can be helpful to think of environmental (and other) issues in terms of “story.” A compelling story, even if factually inaccurate, can be more emotionally compelling than a dry recitation of the truth. The popular movie Erin Bruckovich presented a courageous woman fighting against an impersonal corporation that poisoned the public with cancerous chemicals with impunity. The Wall Street Journal and investigative journalist Michael Fumento later conclusively demonstrated that the real-life E M Brockovich’s legal case was full of holes and contradictions, but no matter: the public had it’s emotional story, and no number of exposes will ever come close to matching the power of that story.

...

"Facts only become relevant when the public is receptive and willing to listen to them"

...

"That is why you must explain how it is possible to pursue a common sense or reasonable environmental policy that preserves all the gains of the past two decades” without going to extremes, and allows for new science and technologies to carry us even further. Give citizens the idea that progress is being frustruted by over-reaching government, and YOU will hit a very strong strain in the American psyche."

...

Global Warming debate strategies:
- "The scientific debate remains open"
- "Acting with all the facts in hand" ... "Making the right decision, not the quick decision"
- "international fairness" in environmental aggrements

....

We have spent the last seven years examining how best to communicate complicated ideas and controversial subjects. The terminology in the upcoming environmental debate needs refinement, starting with “global warming’’ and ending with "environmentalism,’’ It’s time for us to start talking about “climate change” instead of global warming and “conservation ” instead of preservation.

1. “Climate change’’ is less frightening than “global warming; ” As one focus group participant noted, climate change “sounds like you’re going from Pittsburgh to Fort Lauderdale.” While global warming has catastrophic connotations attached to it, climate change suggests a more controllable and less emotional challenge.

2. We shuuld be “conservationists. ” not “preservationists or “environmentalists." The term “conservationist” has far more positive connotations than either of the other two terms. It conveys a moderate, reasoned, common sense position between replenishing the earth’s natural resources and the human need to make use of those resources.

“Environmentalist” can have the connotation of extremism to many Americans, particularly t h s e outside the Northeast. c‘PreservatioIiis”’ suggests someone who believes nature should remain untouched - preserving exactly what we have. By comparison, Americans see a replenish what we can when we can.

Luntz' message is clear and the text of the document even offers sample speeches onad excerpts for press releases. He offers examples of how to rephrase things such as using "update" or "modernize" existing legislation on the environment rather than "rolling back legislation"; and "open space conservation" rather than "urban sprawl."

I and many others have commented on the 1984ish flavor of Bush political-speak. Luntz is a major crafter of "new-speak" in the United States. For those who think about what they are hearing -- and comparing it to the the reality of events -- much of what is said sounds like pure nonsense. It is pure nonsense. A rhetoric is crafted and evolving whose sole purpose is to "quiet" the critical thinking process; to portray an image that has no substance. In other words, the language of propaganda.

This is a campaign year and there will be an acceleration of the use of this thought shaping garbage. Certainly Bush will use it, and most likely the Dems will use something similar. It becomes critical in this coming year to look beyond the rhetoric and to assist others in doing so. Luntz argue that the truth is not important. In fact, that the intent is to distract from the truth to change what people think. That makes facts a critical tool for regime change.

Wolf's Guide for Countering Prevailing Rhetoric
1. Be informed
2. Get the facts and share the facts
3. Compare the facts to the rhetoric.
4. Learn the code words and phrases.
5. Listen for the repeated phrases ("unity of message") and point them out. If a bunch of folks are using the same phrases then you can be darned sure that somebody said "those words work," and that propaganda not communication is the key.

The corporate media is not going to do this and the people's media doesn't have the scope to inform the populace. Only we can do this in our conversations with friends and family, co-workers and neighbors, strangers in the grocery line or at the bus stop. Yep, it is a lot of work, but the threat is the morphing of perception to the point of mind control. Then there will be no "informed public" to check the power of those who would rule.

Sources and Resources
Luntz Research Companies - Straight Talk on the Environment (pdf)

Luntz memo at Uncommon Thought

Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) Letter to US Chamber of Commerce

Representative Blumenauer's Floor Statement (4/8/03) Concentrated Assault on Environmental Protections

Rebuilding the Green Old Party? Tibetts, Coastal Heritage, Fall 2003

Language: A Key Mechanism of Control GOPAC Memo to Republican Candidates - 1990
Propaganda - How Newt Gingrich Uses These Techniques

Dr. Frank Luntz - Harry Walker Agency Bio

Using Language to Sell Your Product at Pacific Views, 8/31/03.

Let Them Eat Words: Linguistic lessons from Republican master strategist Frank Luntz Deborah Tannen, TAP, 9/1/03

LuntzSpeak (Web Site)

What jobs? What Recovery?

Well, we are still in an economic "recovery," and it is still a jobless recovery. Or maybe it is a bad job recovery ... or a job flight recovery. The "official" unemployment rate is 5.9%, but when you add in those who have lost their benefits, and those who are marginally employed, the rate is is 9.7% - higher than last year's high of 9.4% ( Jobless Count Skips Millions Streitfeld, LA Times 1229/03).

It is estimated that we will have lost almost 1/2 million white-collar "living wage" jobs to "outsourcing." That means exporting those jobs out of the country. It is estimated that by 2015 over 3 million high skill jobs will have been "exported" (Who's Outsourcing?).

Who is "outsourcing?" A growing list of corporations and states (from Who's Outsourcing?) .
* Accenture
* ACS - Affiliated Computer Services Inc. of Dallas
* American Express
* AIG (American International Group)
* Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
* AT&T
* Bank of America
* Boeing
* BP
* Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
* Chase Morgan
* Citibank
* Circuit City
* Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
* DaimlerChrysler
* Dell
* Delta Airlines
* The Democratic National Committee
* DuPont
* EDS - Electronic Data Systems Corporation
* Exult, Inc.
* General Electric
* Hewlett-Packard
IBM -
IBM Global Services
* Infosys Technologies
* International Paper
* Intel
* JP Morgan Chase
* Lehman Brothers
* Microsoft
* Nortel
* Oracle
* PeopleSoft
* Procter & Gamble
* Prudential
* The Republican National Committee
* Siebel Systems, Inc.
* TPI
* TRW Automotive
* UTC (United Technologies Corporation)
o Carrier
o Chubb
o Hamilton Sundstrand
o Otis
o Pratt & Whitney
o Skiorsky Aircraft
o UTC Power
* Wipro Technologies

Sending US jobs out of the country has many ramifications.
1 -It takes US workers out of the job market and lowers personal and family income. Because of this, it has the direct effect of eroding the very job bases that support workers.

2- It increases the pressure on services - public and private - from food banks and low income housing, to school lunch programs and social welfare.

3 -It erodes the tax base to provide the very services that become in increasing demand. The lower people's income the less they pay in taxes.

4- The less income people have to spend, the more ripple there are to other businesses who no longer have customers adequate to stay open.

5- Major job exporters have a competitive cost advantage which gives them leverage it wipe out competition. This sets wages and benefits at a lower and lower rate creating even worse employment "opportunities."

Corporations argue that they must outsource to remain competitive, and that outsourcing keeps the cost of goods and services low. One has to ask who they are competing against. Increasingly there are fewer and fewer "competitors." Also as wages erode, fewer folks can afford to "consume" the goods and services.

There is a growing list of information and commentary available out there about this growing trend. Note that many of the sites are anti-outsourcing, but also anti-immigrant. Those two issues seem to be increasingly linked by a number of people. This means that there is a racist tone that sometimes creeps in. Ignored by many is that immigrant workers are being exploited as a low wage controllable resource. Most of the anti-immigrant discussion see immigration as "just another attack on US jobs."

There also seems to be a growing level of news about the issues. My guess is that it may (and should) arise as a Campaign 2004 issue.

A Few Resources

(Who's Outsourcing? is a good site for tracking outsourcing

Offshore Outsourcing World - a blog dedicated to outsourcing. Not kept current, but still some good articles.

CNN Transcript of Lou Dobbs "Exporting America,"

Outsource Congress good collection of articles and videos.

Injectable bio-chips ... hmm

Back in November 2003 Applied Digital Solutions announced that it had an injectable bio-chip that would end the possibility of consumer fraud. People would have the bio-chip injected and it would confirm their identity for all kinds of transactions. ADS hailed this a a major step forward for both security and finance. (Bio-chip implant arrives for cashless transactions, Gossett, WorldNet Daily, 11/21/03). These chips are based on what is known as radio frequency identification technology or "RFID." The chips are accessible through readers (also made by ADS) that can scan the identity of someone entering a room or building, as well as identifying someone for a consumer transaction.

This technology is being boosted by the recent concern over mad cow disease. A company called Digital Angel Corporation (majority owned by ADS) is pushing its injectable chip as the best way to track cattle through processing. Digital Angel's chips have been used in Canada since 2000 (Digital Angel Corporation to Comment on Food Safety Applications in CEOcast Interview , Business Wire, 12/26/03).

"Digital Angel Corporation develops and deploys sensor and communications technologies that enable rapid and accurate identification, location tracking, and condition monitoring of high-value mobile assets."

So now we have a publicly released technology that has a number of applications. We have a bio-chip capable of 1) carrying an array of data, 2) is trackable by a variety of devices, and 3) is implantable/injectable. My that opens up the possibilities doesn't it. Especially when you consider it in combination with
DARPA's "LifeLog" Program - LifeLog.

From the DARPA program description

Objective:
LifeLog is one part of DARPA’s research in cognitive computing. The research is fundamentally focused on developing revolutionary capabilities that would allow people to interact with computers in much more natural and easy ways than exist today.

This new generation of cognitive computers will understand their users and help them manage their affairs more effectively. The research is designed to extend the model of a personal digital assistant (PDA) to one that might eventually become a personal digital partner.

LifeLog is a program that steps towards that goal. The LifeLog Program addresses a targeted and very difficult problem: how individuals might capture and analyze their own experiences, preferences and goals. The LifeLog capability would provide an electronic diary to help the individual more accurately recall and use his or her past experiences to be more effective in current or future tasks.

Program Description:

The goal of the LifeLog is to turn the notebook computers or personal digital assistants used today into much more powerful tools for the warfighter.

The LifeLog program is conducting research in the following three areas:

1. Sensors to capture data and data storage hardware
2. Information models to store the data in logical patterns
3. Feature detectors and classification agents to interpret the data

To build a cognitive computing system, a user must store, retrieve, and understand data about his or her past experiences. This entails collecting diverse data, understanding how to describe the data, learning which data and what relationships among them are important, and extracting useful information. The research will determine the types of data to collect and when to collect it. The goal of the data collection is to “see what I see,” rather than to “see me”. Users are in complete control of their own data collection efforts, decide when to turn the sensors on or off, and decide who will share the data.

Program Impact:

LifeLog technology will be useful in several different ways. First, the technology could result in far more effective computer assistants for warfighters and commanders because the computer assistant can access the user's past experiences. Second, it could result in much more efficient computerized training systems - the computer assistant would remember how each individual student learns and interacts with the training system, and tailor the training accordingly.

The imagination soars (or quails) at the possibilities of this technology. Of course, privacy issues might be considered ... but I doubt it.

p.s. The WorldNet article has a number of links to other articles.

What to do about the thinning ranks?

Folks, myself included, have been speculating about how the US forces are stretched thin and that this will become a crisis in the near future (Spring 2004). There are speculations on the resumption of the draft, and some evidence that may happen. Many units are currently in back-to-back deployments - especially reserves. Some were stationed in Afghanistan, came home and have been redeployed to Iraq to replace troops there who need to be rotated out. My guess is that as spring approaches there will be more in the news.

There is an interesting discussion of this situation in today's NY Times -- The Thinning of the Army.

"This is the clearest warning yet that the Bush administration is pushing America's peacetime armed forces toward their limits. Washington will not be able to sustain the mismatch between unrealistic White House ambitions and finite Pentagon means much longer without long-term damage to our military strength. The only solution is for the Bush administration to return to foreign policy sanity, starting with a more cooperative, less vindictive approach to European allies who could help share America's military burdens.

Long months under constant threat of rocket attacks, roadside ambushes and deadly confrontations with civilians in Iraq have left tens of thousands of American soldiers tired, jumpy and badly in need of a break, one that should last at least several months. Most American strategists fear at least a temporary upsurge in attacks as the troop rotations get under way and maneuvering to produce an interim Iraqi government intensifies. "

There is likely to be an upsurge in Iraq troop shortage because the UK has expended it's entire war budget. Given the tenor of public sentiment about UK presence in Iraq, appropriating more funding may be an uphill battle. This could mean that the second largest nation-based coalition member may need to withdraw its forces. (US Corporations are actually the second largest foreign presence in Iraq).

One of the strategies to slow down troop size decreases has been for the DoD to issue a "stop loss" order. This means that soldiers (including Guard and Reserve) whose time of service is completed are not being allowed to leave the military. Lee Hockstrader (Wa. Post, 12/29/03) has an interesting tidbit of info about how long the personnel may be retained -2030 or beyond!!!!!
(Army Stops Many Soldiers From Quitting)

Hockstrader says that this is the "computer's way" of indicating that the date is uncertain. He points out that the stop loss order currently effects roughly 40,000 active duty troops and 16,000 Guard and Reserve troops. If the stop loss stays in effect for long, it could impact far more.

There is an interesting consequence to keep an eye on. The number of active duty personnel is set by Congress. That number is 480,000. The stop loss order has increased the number of active duty personnel to 500,000. According to Hockstrader, this has led some legislators to question the constitutional legality of the size of force being increased without Congressional approval.

The DoD utilization of stop loss orders is not uncommon in times of war. I believe that extending that order beyond 26 years is new. That essentially opens the possibility of military service as a forced life-long comittment. The move is certainly not going to improve the morale of those currently serving. In fact, for some it may increase their sense of frustration and anger, and that is likely to come out at the "enemy." That "enemy" at this point has become any "Arab" in Iraq.

There are already reports of the violence and brutality of the US occupation forces. There are already reports of abuse of prisoners and torture being used on at least some prisoners. There are already reports of US troops firing into crowds, and even firing into crowds that are running away. Telling those troops that they aren't going to get out of the military for a very long time is not going to improve that situation. Nor is it going to improve the perception of US forces or purpose in Iraq.

The situation in Iraq has been seen as a "powder keg" in the past. I think that the fuse has been lit.

Are you crazy to worry about HAARP?

I'm going out on a limb here to talk about a "research" program sponsored by the US government and the DoD - HAARP (High frequency Active Aural Research Program). There are literally thousands of sites dedicated to HAARP, but the program is alarming - especially within the context of long-term military plans. When HAARP is mentioned (or chem-trails, or mind control) "conspiracy theories" immediately spring to mind. I believe that most folks (if they have heard of these at all) think of them as springing fullblown from the minds of nuts. Most do not realize that these are actual military projects sponsored under the auspices of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). The fact that DARPA is in charge puts a whole framework around the research - mainly that these are defense projects and that military applications are the primary (if not sole) focus.

Examining DARPA programs is like walking onto the set of some bad sci-fi movie. The projects are frightening and "out there" by most anyone's estimation. Therefore, finding accurate information about the actual capabilities and current activities of any project is ... difficult. Current activities in particular are almost always speculation or extrapolation as these projects are SECRET. That means that attempts to link DARPA programs to real world events is often circuitous at best. Sometimes it is evidence by absence. For example, certain charts are regularly available to the public (atmospheric, geophysic, electro-magnetic, etc.), but for the time surrounding a major "event" (such as the blackout on the east coast of the US in August 2003) the charts for that time period "disappear." Those who monitor such things take these "coincidences" as evidence of project activity (August 14th Blackout Discussion at CRG)

The claims for HAARP are incredible but seemingly true. The basic aim of HAARP is as a weapons technology that serves as what the DoD calls a "force multiplier." Among the the things that HAARP does are:
spot weather control, underground and under water detection, generation of massive pin-point heat, and generation and pin-point launching of electro-magnetic weaponry. HAARP works across various frequencies from very high range to very low range. While containing "high frequency" in the title of the project, HAARP is also intricately involved with "ELF" (extremely low frequency) applications -- such as the new sonor being used by the Navy that is killing whales and dolphins. (See Reports section below)

Certainly one of the proclaimed aspects of HAARP is weather manipulation as a weapon. According to Chapter 9.2 Weather Analysis and Modification System of AF 2025, the capabilities of HAARP and other linked technologies in this regard are:"Understanding and predicting local weather effects on military operations; Precipitation inducement or suppression using particulate seeding or directed energy, Fog generation/dissipation using directed energy techniques, Storm triggering/enhancement using airborne cloud seeding, High-power microwave (HPM) devices (ground-based) and ionospheric mirrors for communications and radar enhancement/disruption, Ionospheric charging for spacecraft disruption using crossed HPM beams."

Therefore it is not surprising that one finds reports such as:
Washington's New World Order Weapons Have the Ability to Trigger Climate Change (Chossudovsky, CRG, 01/2001) which discusses the climate changing capabilities of HAARP. Or, HAARP Detection and Imaging of Underground Structures Using ELF/VLF Radio Waves (Global Security). The PRAVDA article HAARP Poses Global Threat argues:

"It is an open secret that the USA (probably, not the USA alone) has already constructed high-frequency transmitter facilities. Those devices can heat the earth environment up to the state of plasma by means of pumping ions. This makes it possible to control the environment, which might show considerable influence on the atmospheric phenomena. The owners of this weapon are able to program floods, twisters and storms, even earthquakes in any region of the planet. It is also possible to paralyze civil and military electric surveillance systems, and even to affect the mentality of whole nations.

There is a suspicion that the unusual natural disasters and man-caused catastrophes of the year 2002, the unexplainable indifference of several nations on the post-Soviet territory might be linked to USA’s tests of geophysical weapons of low capacities. However, neither American politicians and scientists, nor the world community know, if it is going to be possible to stop the work of the geophysical weapon, if it is used at its full capacity. This is the major problem. It is quite possible that the first full capacity use of the geophysical weapon might end up in a global catastrophe. Does it seem to be science fiction? Not really, as a matter of fact. High frequency transmitter facilities already exist. They are located in Norway and at an army base in Alaska. The short description of the program and some photographs can be found on the official site Haarp.alaska.edu. Another high power transmitter facility, a more powerful one, is going to be put into operation in Greenland soon. When this happens, the geophysical weapon will be capable of covering Eurasia from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast."

It is difficult to grasp the output power of HAARP and related technologies. These systems are not simply passive systems - they are highly active attack devices. The ionspheric program can literally generate enough heat to boil portions of the ionosphere. According to the UN Conference report (excerpt at end of this article), an SMES - Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage) is a spin-off program. It is capable of generating 30,00 - 40,000 Gaus as a weapon (Earth's magnetic field is about .5 Gaus. HAARP can generate ELF and VLF waves well below the Earth's surface in a directed manner. Therefore, the speculation of HAARP being used to cause earthquakes. HAARP energies can and are designed to generate targeted EMP (electro-magnetic pulses) to knock qout power and communication capabilities. THerefore speculations about the east coast outage, as well as the ones that struck Britain and France.

Given the power and scope of this project, it is no surprise that folks are concerned about the consequences. There are global environmental risks that are not spurious (in my opinion). Even testing weapons of this force and magnitude could have (any may have already had) dramatic effects. One thing that prompted me to investigate this more was an accumulation of "weird" events such as the amazement of scienists at the escalating progress of global warming and the string of power outages in August of 2003.

There are currently three known HAARP type facilites. They are in Alaska, Norway, and Russia (yes the Russians have one). A new site is being negotiated for in Greenland. If that negotiation is successful, then the Arctic will be ringed by highly destructive military weapons capable of terrifying damage. So much for concerns about weapons of mass destruction. How about weapons of global destruction?

We live in a time when figuring out the real from the unreal, the natural from the unnatural becomes exceptionally difficult. Do I KNOW that HAARP is the trigger accelerating melting of the poles and global warming? No. Do I know that testing of EMP was behind the east coast grid failure? No. Do I know that the massive earthquake in Iran that may have 40,000 plus dead was caused by targetted ELV/VLF? No. Do I think that these things are possible? Yes. Why I think they are possible is that these are the intended uses of these weapons.

In my opinion, governments are playing with fire that may burn us all.

Articles

August 14th Blackout Discussion at CRG

HAARP Comes on in Idle Hi-Power Mode Just After High Terror Alert Issued , Marshall Smith, 12/21/03

Washington's New World Order Weapons Have the Ability to Trigger Climate Change, Chossudovsky, CRG, 01/2001

HAARP Detection and Imaging of Underground Structures Using ELF/VLF Radio Waves, Global Security

Other Progams related to HAARP, Global Security Links

HAARP: Instrument of Destruction?Echoed Voices, 1/2002

HAARP Poses Global Threat PRAVDA, 1/15/2003

Ask Jeeves Links to HAARP - focus earthquakes

A TERRIFYING LOOK AT THE CONTROL OF WEATHER WARFARE -- A LOOK AT HAARP, Cutting Edge (Apocalyptic Christian Site)

Web Sites

High frequency Active Aural Research Program - Official Site

Orbit Watch

The Harbinger

Data Index Charts from the Alaskan HAARP Station

Radar Matrix - HAARP, Chemtrails, Star Wars, etc

Official Reports

Fact File: A Compendium of DARPA Programs pdf file released 8/2003

HAARP Status Report from Program Manager Dr. Sheldon Z. Meth - 10/24/03

AF 2025 Welcome page

AF 2025 Report

Militarising Space: Quantum Leaping Backwards, Felicity Hill, International League for Peace and Freedom, UN Ishikawa-Kanazawa Conference (2000)

(Page 7-9 of the report) In a U.S. Air Force research study, "Weather as a Force Multiplier" issued in August, 1996, seven U.S. military officers outlined how HAARP and aerial cloud-seeding from tankers could allow U.S. aerospace forces to "own the weather" by the year 2025. Among the desired objectives were "Storm Enhancement," "Storm Modification" and "Induce Drought." According to the Air Force report, "In the United States, weather-modification will likely become a part of national security policy with both domestic and international applications." Within 30 years, the Air Force foresees using Weather Force Support Elements with "the necessary sensor and communication capabilities to observe, detect, and act on weather-modification requirements to support U.S. military objectives" by "using airborne cloud generation and seeding" techniques being developed at the time, the 1996 Air Force report says.

Another relevant project in this scheme is HAARP which stands for "High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program." It's a joint project of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Naval Research Laboratory. HAARP is a series of antennas aimed up at the farthest reaches of the ionosphere high above a frozen wasteland in Alaska. The HAARP complex sends and receives radio waves through the skies and studies how atmospheric changes caused by the transmissions distort and delay how the signals pass through space. The studies might allow military planners to design new communication systems in future space vehicles. Advanced systems might be able to alter the ionosphere in a controlled way to establish new communications capabilities while interfering with other satellites. One of the prime goals of the project is the manipulation of the electrojet. If the electrojet touches down on Earth, it can blow out a major power grid, thus depriving a large region of electricity. When HAARP is completed, it will be able to warm specific areas of the ionosphere until they produce a curve-shaped lens capable of redirecting significant amounts of electromagnetic energy. These reflected electromagnetic beams may be in microwave or ultraviolet range and could be used as a weapon either to incinerate a forest or oil reserve or to selectively kill living things.

The HAARP project is linked to other research and military facilities, so it, like the missile defence plans, cannot be considered in isolation. One such facility is the network of SuperDARN radars, the stated purpose of which is to form a "network of high latitude high frequency radars which will contribute to the goal of US Arctic Research Initiatives. These goals outlined in the SuperDARN grant proposal are to 'improve the predictability of disturbances in space and their effects on high altitude communications, electric power grids, satellite orbital
stability and defence systems.'

Another piece in the ionsopheric puzzle is to be the SMES - Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage) facility being built near Anchorage Alaska. It is a ground-based energy-storage facility for directed-energy weapons. It is expected to have a magnetic field of 30,000 - 40,000 Gaus (the Earth's magnetic field is about 0.5 Gaus).

While some of these projects have direct military applications, others are more likely legitimate research projects. However, they are characterised by a rashness, an uncontrolled curiosity and a willingness to experiment with our life support system - to see what it does and how it will work. The risk of potentially irreversible costs to humans and to the biosphere cannot be ruled out.

According to the UN Conference report, the corporations involved in developing and building this project are: Lockheed Martin (Lynne Cheney was on their board), Boeing, Raytheon, TRW (Dick Cheney was on their board)

Pacific NW hamberger recall

Public service announcement for those in Oregon, Washington, or Idaho.

Albertsons, Safeway, and Fred Meyers are voluntarily recalling ground beef purchased at their stores.

Mad cow case prompts recalls Oregonian 12/25/03

Where does the DoD budget go?

Well the Pentagon is ticked about troops acquiring their own equipment again -- Army Thin-Skinned Over Homemade Armor (Lieb, Wa. Post, 12/26/03). Appararently the 428th Reserve Army Transportation Company got their hometown (Jefferson City,Mo.) funeral director to pitch in $4000 to pay for extra armior for their vehicles. The Pentagon may not allow delivery of the armor because they haven't approved it. The problem faced by the 428th is that their vehicles were not designed for combat and won't repel even small arms fire.

Of course, this is not the first news of US troops having to purchase their own equipment. Gov. Kulongoski of Oredon recently issued emergency credit cards to Guard troops training in Texas prior to deployment. The move was necessary because they couldn't even get gas for the unit's ambulence. (Guard complaints detailed , 12/12/03) and Governor Secures Additional Financial Assistance for Deployed Oregon National Guard Members Press release, 12/11/03)

Global Security.org has an article on 9/11/2003 American troops forced to buy own wartime gear. The article states that " many ground troops ... to dip into their own pockets to get the equipment they needed to fight in Afghanistan and in Iraq."

The shameful stories of wounded soldiers having to buy their own food in the hospital, or denial of dental coverage for activated forces, or having to pay their own plane fare to get home on leave have been all over the news.

We are spending a HUGE amount on the military. One would think at the very least that those serving would have the equipment and gear they need to function in a combat zone. The message this sends to me is that the troops don't count - they are expendable. In the not so long ago they were sometimes referred to as "cannon fodder."

This has become a damning condemnation in the volunteer military. When there was a draft, more of the middle class actually had representation in the armed forces. With the end of the draft, increasingly racial and ethnic minorites, and those of the lower class, have joined up. (MINORITIES: Racism Still Implicit In Patriotic Come-Ons, Center for Media Literacy).

On the positive side, enlisting for the active duty or the reseve military has become a path of opportunity and advancement. It gives a stable, though poverty level, income, and opportunity to gain skills and education. In particular, post-service benefits of educational funds have offered an access path to economic improvement. Under the current administration however, resources for vetrans and active duty troops have been significantly reduced. Post service benefits have been reduced. Family support has been reduced. In other words, there have been consistent cuts across the board while the Administration waves the flag to support the troops.

Issuing bad equipment is nothing new. For example, there were known problems with the M16 during the Vietnam war. Those have apparently not been corrected as Jessica Lynch reported she never fired a shot because her rifle jammed. Bad equipment is one thing, lack of basic equipment is another. The combination of these different issues -- equipement, pay, and benefits problems -- show a total disregard and disrespect for those who serve. It is beyond shameful that the country that out-spends the world in military expenditures can't do better by its forces - it is criminal.

News on xmas

I know that there are a few news junkies out there so I thought I would just do a brief review of the news of the day. The fact that it is a Christian holiday, and a consumer holiday, doesn't seem to have changed the direction of things much.

In news of the weird, Husband sees hippo bite out wife's heart. A former Miss South Africa was on her honeymoon in Capetown. A hippo attacked the boat she and her husband were riding in and bit her through the heart and lung.

The Brits have lost their dog - Radio dish seeks signal from Mars lander. The radio silence from the British Mars probe Beagle 2 is still silent.

The Brits have confirmed that the suspect Washington cow indeed had BSE. British Lab Confirms Case of Mad Cow Disease

It wasn't George Tenet's fault that the President include the Iraq uranium story in the 2003 Presidential Address: Source: Fact-checkers blamed for Bush's uranium 'goof'

A gas well explosion in China kills both with the explosion and with toxic gas. Apparently there had been safety concerns at the facility in the past. China gas well accident kills nearly 200.

And as usual, violence takes no holiday. In IsraelSuicide bomber kills 3 in Tel Aviv and another 13 are wounded. While the attacks in Iraq also continue (and seem to be increasing ... again) Iraqi insurgents hit hotel, embassy. As usual, the Pentagon calls the attacks "weak and ineffective." The most recent series of attacks have come the same week that the US launched it's new campaighn against insurgents called "Operation Iron Grip." I guess that all the OPeration "ivy" this and that just didn't sound particularly "strong." How about "Operation Titanium Grip?" I've heard that titanium is both strong and flexible. Might need a little flexibility. It sounds so much better than false start.

Well, that's today's news - though the day is not over.

Media merger lost in the chaos

Rupert Murdoch was allowed to buy Direct TV. This rather amazing piece of the media conglomeration package disappeared under a storm of news. First the "capture" of Saddam Hussein, then under terror alerts, then under mad cow disease. So I want to back up and discuss this blow to media diversity.

First, a little background on News Corporation owned by (Rupert Murdoch) and Direct TV - formerly owned by General Motors.

News Corporation from their web site

Filmed Entertainment
20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Espanol, 20th Century FoxHome Entertainment, 20th Century Fox International, 20th Century FoxTelevison, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Studios Australia, Fox Studios Baja, Fox Studios LA, Fox Television Studios.

Fox Cable
Fox Movie Channel, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports Digital, Fox Sports Enterprises, Fox Sports in Espanol, Fox Sports Net, Fox Sports World, FUEL, FX, LA Dodgers, National Geographic (US and Worldwide), SPEED Channel

Direct Broadcast Satellite Televison
Sky Italia, BSkyB, FOXTEL, Phoenix Television

Other Assets
Broadsystems, Festival Records, Fox Interactive, Mushroom Records, National Rugby League, NDS, News Interactive, News Outdoor, Nursery World.

Direct TV
Direct TV is the largest of the satellite providers serving 11 million subscribers worldwide. The merger was approved by the FCC and cost Murdoch $6.6 BILLION.

How it happened and what it means
Well it is pretty clear that Murdoch's investment in lobbying ($10 million between 1999 and 2002), and campaign investments ($200,000 so far this year and $1.8 million 2000-2002). The acquisition fo Direct TV gives Murdoch a dominating presence in all three markets of broadcast, cable, and satellite TV. (A Present for Murdoch Chester, The Nation, 12/4/03) Fox already owns local stations covering 44% of local communities (Murdoch's Mega-Media Merger, Sirota et al, AlterNet, 12/22/03).

This dominance will allow News Corporation to set rates and programming content, and have an even larger influence of rules controlling the industry. This places them in a postion similar to Wal-Mart in terms of shaping the way business is done. This reach expands beyond broadcast media, and that reach is breathtaking. Each of the companies in the Murdoch Empire are their own corporations with their own fiefdom.

Murdoch, who is not known for his "fair and balanced" approach, will have even more undue influence over the media -- not just in the US, but worldwide. The media is a tremendous force for shaping perception, culture, and decision-making. All else aside, this acquisition dramaticaly reduces the diversity of voice and perspective.

Suspected mad cow disease (BSE) in the US

A case of suspected Mad Cow Disease (BSE or Bovine Spongiform Encephylits) has occured in the US. The cow came from a farm in Mabton, Washington (about 70 miles south of Yakima) and parts of the animal passed through at least three processing plants (Interstate Meats of Federal Way (Wa.), Willamette Meats (OR) and a processing plant in Iowa) before the alert was issued. Mad cow surfaces in U.S., Alberts, Canada.com, 12/24/03.; Washington animal first mad cow case in nation, Dworkin, Oregonian, 12/24/03.

The cow was obviously ill before it was slaughtered and was referred to as a "downer." In other words it was falling down before slaughter (Dworkin article and USDA press release).

BSE is transmissable to humans as vCJD - variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease. There are several variants of the disease: BSE that occurs in cows, scrapies in sheep and goats, transmissable mink encephalopathy, feline spongiform encephalopathy, chronic wasting disease of deer and elk, and in humans, kuru, Classical Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), USDA site.

So far, Japan and Chile, and South Korea have banned US beef; the EU is tightening import restrictions, and Canada is meeting to decide what to do. Japan halts U.S. beef imports after mad cow case, rEUTERS, 12/24/03; Canadian farmers caution against banning U.S. beef; Mad Cow Causes Beef Bans, Stocks Drop , Reuters; Chile Suspends Imports of U.S. Beef , Reuters.

The best lay person's discussion about BSE and vCJD is at How Stuff Works and the article is How Mad Cow Disease Works.

OK, that's the news, but what about the implications?

Well, this is a big issue. It was when it happened in Britain, it was in Canada, and it is in the US - despite the fact that we have consistently been told that there is no possibility that it could occur here.

In my opinion, the basic problems with BSE (and other TSE's) in the food supply lies in feeding dead animals to herbivores. In other words, since the 1930s in the US, animal feed has contained slaughtered animals. This is fed to cows, sheep, and others. Specific issues with BSE arose after the 1980s when processing requirements decreased the temperature and disinfectants used to process meat.

Obviously there is the concern about vCJD in humans, though the immediate death toll from that is statistically limited - at this time. The larger concerns are that 1) it's spread in the food supply which increases the probability of human infection, 2) it is basically untreatable; 3) you can't kill the damn prion that causes it. Yeah, you can't kill it. Those who died in Britain could not be buried. They, and every instrustment that was used on them or their samples, are stored as toxic waste.

From How Mad Cow Disease Works

# The agent must be small - The agent's size must be as small or smaller than a virus.
# You can't kill it by cooking or freezing - Much higher temperatures than those used in cooking or sterilizing are required to kill it.
# Disinfectants don't work - Normal chemicals that you would use to disinfect surfaces for bacteria and viruses (Lysol, Betadine) are not effective.
# It does not appear to have genetic information (nucleic acids) - This finding has been questioned.

Of course there is the question of why obviously sick animals are ending up being processed for food (human or animal) in the first place. As with the suspect cow from Washington, the animal could not even walk at the time it was slaughtered. Yet proceed they did. They took their sample as required, and sent the cow on to other processing plants. Thereby enhancing rhe probability that it would 1) end up in the food supply, and 2) contaminate other creatures being processed and the facilities they were being processed at.

While the claims are that human contamination is relatively rare, there is speculation that it is not. Diagnosing CJD in humans is expensive and testing is relatively rare. vCJD symptoms are similar to a number of other neurological and brain disorders (such as Alzheimers) and so the possibility of lack of diagnosis is high.

There is an excellent and extensive article at Organic Consumers Association called U.S. Violates World Health Organization Guidelines for Mad Cow Disease: A Comparison of North American and European Safeguards. It discusses both the guidelines and why they are in place.

There is a lot of information on this issue out there - much of it way over my head technically. The implications of BSE in the US are huge, both from a health and economic perspective. The ongoing denials about the possibility of BSE in the US have been reflected in the so-called safety measures put in place. Currently, the sample from the suspected cow is on its way to Britain for confirmation. My guess is that this will be in the news for a while.

Resources
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) APHIS USDA site

Consumer Questions and Answers About BSE US HSHS, US FDA, Center for Food Safety

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) FDA information page

BSE - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
"Mad Cow Disease" University of Illinois information center

Organic Consumers - Mad Cow

Organic Consumers Association - Mad cow page

How Mad Cow Disease Works How Stuff Works

The spread of mad cow disease, CNN.Intl - Asia.

Mad Cow Disease: The Rampage of an Illness, Purdue University.

Full archive links to the Guardian/UK on BSE and CJD Great resource!

Note of interest: Last year Oregon agreed to extend elk ranches in the state even though the risk of chronic wasting disease skyrockets in confined elk. The evidence of this was from deer and elk farms in Colorado. There has been some evidence that chronic wasting disease in deer and elk is transmissable to humans. Certainly it is closely related to BSE. Some of us were against this expansion for this very reason.

Apocalyptic belief and foreign policy

The Inter-Hemispheric Resource Center has a new spin-off site called Right Web that analyzes the thinking and activities of the far right. There is an excellent article on Right Web that gives and indepth discussion of a Apocalyptic Christian thinking - Culture, Religion, Apocalypse, and Middle East Foreign Policy" by Chip Berlet & Nikhil Aziz. It is excellent, and I have included it in the "Featured Articles" links. I will give a brief summation of the article here as it is relatively long.

The article gives a detailed historical and philosophical tracing of apocalyptic thought from John Patmos who wrote the book of Revelations in the Christian Bible, to modern manifestations in the US. The focus is on apocalyptic thought in the US - historically and comtemporarily.

"Apocalyptic thinking--especially in the Christian Right--joins other factors influencing U.S. Middle East policy, such as controlling global oil sources, assisting corporate-driven globalization, militaristic imperialism, and more. Why focus on this one factor? Because the Christian Right is a powerful force shaping politics and culture in the United States, and they are the largest voting bloc in the Republican Party, so they can expect politicians to pay attention to their interests.2 That George W. Bush takes his born-again religion seriously and applies it to his political decisions has been discussed widely.3"

There are two different versions of apocalypic philosophy. One that the transition will be peaceful, and one that it will be violent. In the US, it seems that the violent transition has had more force.

According to apocalypic belief, the "end times" will be marked by a great deceiver who unites Chrisitans through trickery to create a one world government and a one world religion. The trick is to figure out who that is. Seeming, the prevailing view is that the "great deceiver" is Muslim -- not Christian.

So how does zionism fit into this? According to the article, it is because of a series of events that must come to pass for thee "messiah" to return. First, the Jews must return to Israel; second, the Temple of Solomon must be rebuilt on The Temple Mount. This is a problem as the Temple Mount is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. When this is done, the sacred ark will be found.

This is problematic as the Temple Mount is also the home of the numerous Muslim mosques and is called the "Noble Sanctuary" by Islam. In other words, the Mount is sacred to all three religions.

"Apocalyptic, millennialist, and dispensationalist thinking has greatly influenced Pat Robertson and other Christian evangelical rightists including Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, and Joyce Meyer. This common worldview explains both their activist interest in U.S. foreign policy generally and their particular focus on the Middle East. The impact of such thinking is especially evident in their unqualified support for Israel and their Islamophobic opposition to Palestinian self-determination. The result of this politico-dual-religion amalgam is a movement called Christian Zionism, a source of Christian Right support for the U.S. wars against Afghanistan and Iraq and for a general U.S. presence in the Middle East. However, Christian Right support for Israel does not mean an unequivocal embrace of Jews. Anti-Jewish as well as anti-Islamic and anti-Arab themes have long formed a common stream running through Christian Right ideology and activism."

The authors then explain what they call "Messianic Militarism"

"With the election of George W. Bush in 2000, the apocalyptic predictions of neoconservative militarists garnered even more support, especially after the neocon-generated Team B reports. Khurram Husain in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists argues that the neocon “claims were all drawn from worst-case scenarios. But the Team B reports are more significant for the thinking they reveal. The authors made projections of Soviet stockpiles and built up a picture of a Soviet Union bent on dominating the world based on wild speculation.”37

With the collapse of communism in Europe, the United States was reframed as the defender of global civilization against the heathens and barbarians in “rogue states,” where terrorism still festered. This opponent-swap drew from an even earlier apocalyptic focus than anticommunism--a worldview extension of the earliest Christian millennial visions, which came to the United States “from the original, English-speaking heartland, itself grafted on the crusades and the voyages of discovery.”38 According to Kees van der Pijl, a European scholar: “Today, the missionary ideology constructed around the civilisation/barbarity dichotomy must satisfy the tastes of a Western public…because every hegemonic strategy has to build on the available foundation of attitudes and dispositions in the wider population if it is to be effective.” Therefore in the current Bush administration, “the End of History/Axis of Evil line of thinking …argues that for the world to reach its definitive form in terms of civilisation….[it is necessary to] neutralise the states ‘mired in history’ as potential rabble-rousers, the ‘rogue states’ beyond the pale.”39"

This article provides the best insight into the neo-conservative millenialist agenda of any piece that I have read. The article includes many good sources for further investigation.

Why did we invade Iraq?

Click this link to go to an excellent video clip of all the statements the Bush Administration made for the Invasion of Iraq.

Why did we invade Iraq? An Angry Candy production on Kai Curry's web site

What are global military priorities?

As has been reported earlier, the US is doing a massive global redistribution of the military. As part of that plan many US troops stationed in South Korea were to be moved to other bases. On another front, it has seemd that the "talks" with North Korea regarding their nuclear threat have been progressing. Now a report from China claims that the US is moving hi-tech weaponry into Korean peninsula (People's Daily, 12/22/03).

The article enumerates exactly what is being moved in to replace the troops being stationed elsewhere:

"Stryker, a medium-weight armored vehicle that is supposed to be light enough to airlift. Stryker brigades are expected to eventually replace some of the conventional tank battalions."

"state-of-the-art AH-64D Apache Longbow. In July, they started bringing in the Patriot advanced capability-3 system, which can protect an area about seven times greater than the original system. "

"Shadow 200, or a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle, was deployed in September. The Shadow, which can also be outfitted with weapons, can provide real-time aerial reconnaissance. "

The military is expected to bring in:
"high-speed vessels that would be able to transport troops, equipment and munitions from elsewhere in the region, the report said.

"joint direct attack munitions, or "smart bombs," which can home in on their targets even when dropped at high altitude or in bad weather"

"the guided bomb unit-28, known as the "bunker buster" for its ability to penetrate targets in underground bunkers."

And the response?

"As the US upgrades its arsenal, the South Koreans are expected to follow suit. Over the next month, they will deploy their first missile capable of reaching the DPRK capital, Pyongyang."

This report appearing in a Chinese paper is very interesting after Bush's reversal of US policy regarding Taiwan. As you may recall, President Bush cautioned Taiwan not to do anything to rock the boat with China. While the switch had obvious corporate and economic drivers, certainly the hope of Chinese influence with North Korea was somewhere in the mix.

So, does China have a free press to signal North Korea and Asia of the moves and tactics of the US, or is this a way of letting the "secret" threat out of the bag as a warning.

Regardless of the motivations for providing so much detail, the transition from troops to high-tech weapons is exactly what Rumsfeld has been pushing for (and part of the reason that troop strength in Iraq was and is so low). Rumsfeld seems to believe that a well-placed weapons system will solve any problem. However, a Chuck Spinney (Defense and the National Interest site) leaked, these systems frequently don't work and are to be put in the field without thorough testing.

So the systems "might" work, and they "might" deter, but they also clearly influence an escalation of weaponization and militarization. Obviously part of the plan as it is the most profitable for the friends and past and future employers of those currently cycling through the government.

Look to California for the US future?

Last week Governor Schwartzenegger claimed emergency powers to deal with California's budget emergency (Schwarzengger makes spending cuts, BBC, 12/18/03). It was no secret that California had budget woes. In fact, it was central to the recall election that put Arnold in the Governor's Mansion. The question that some may have is how Schwatzenegger got "emergency powers." Well, it all hinges on that promise to cut the (purportedly) unpopular $150 million car tax increase. The promise points to premeditated decision to claim emergency powers and by=pass the California legislature.

What does a tax on cars have to do with a California governor declaring emergency powers one might ask. Well, according to The Desert Sun (palm Springs, 12/21/03) article Governor hits budget crisis head-on:

The VLF (Vehicle License Fee) has been assessed on all privately owned registered vehicles in California in place of taxing vehicles as personal property since 1935. In 1935, vehicles became subject to a 1.75 percent license fee, in lieu of local property taxes. In 1948, the license fee was raises to 2 percent. These revenues were generally distributed to local governments. In 1986, Proposition 47 was passed, constitutionally guaranteeing VLF revenues to local governments. Current law provides that local governments will continue to receive the full amount of VLF revenues by providing a backfill from the state General Fund."

The Vehicle License Fee is makes up about 1/5 of the revenue for the city and county governments of California. The law passed in 1986 guarantees that money to the local governments. The powers that Schwartenegger has claimed only became legal last July. These powers allow the Governor to make emergency cuts of up to 5% in the case of an "emergency deficiency" (BBC article). In this case, Schwartzenegger has the authority to shift $2.7 BILLION out of the general fund (Schwarzenegger Invokes Emergency Powers to Cope With California Financial Crisis, O'Sullivan, Voice of America, 12/19/03).

So what is being cut? Social and Human Services budgets - including education funding. For example, all funds for university outreach programs has been axed (Educators bemoan cuts, Maitre, Tri-Valley Herald, 12/22/03). Social welfare and health programs are being hit (BBC article). However, public safety is not part of the cuts and prisons are part of public safety. So resources for the poor are axed while funding for police, fire, and prisons is funded (Gov. Schwarzenegger: To Help Kids and Fight Crime, Cut Prison Spending, PNS, 12/18/03).

So what does any of this have to do with the fututre of the US? Well, let's start with the fact that the RNC decided to back Schwartzenegger with a vengeance, providing some of the most highly placed "advisors" in his camp. Next, much of the budget crisis in California was driven by the manufactured energy crisis and the legislation that "liberalized" energy contracts in California. For some reason I will never understand, Davis got blamed for the whole thing -- including the resulting budget crisis.

In the face of the deficit, services get cut. The services targeted in California are the same as in most states in the current budget avalanche - human services, social services, low income medical care, and education. "Public Safety" can obviously not be cut -- especially in the face of ongoing "terrorist" threats.

So a similar budget balancing scenario is being played out across the nation and in Washington, D.C. The same strategy, to varying degrees is being followed - strengthen "security" and cut services to the needy and education.

Bush has already demonstrated the heady natrure of declaring emergenmcies and emergency powers. He too has found that going around the legislature is easier than gaining cooperation. The problem with this is that it also subverts the democratic process. It removes the voice of the elected representatives to do just that - represent the interests of the people. However, it seems that when faced with the need to cut budgets that certain areas are considered "non-essential" or "non-critical," and those seem to be the same at all levels of government:
- services to the poor and dependent
- education funding
- environmental protection

Why are these "extras?" For me, they are top priority. These are the areas that directly affect whether people live or die; whether we have an environment that will sustain life or not; whether we will have a population capable of participating economically and politically in this society. Standing on a mountain of privilege where children are sent to private schools, medical care and hunger are no isse, and no toxix or nuclear dumps are within range, I guess these areas are "non-essential." From the perspective of most however, I think that they are not simply "extras." Certainly the lower 40% of the population doesn't see them as such.

So we can look to California, and the maneuvering and decisions and dsee exactly where the US is going with a deficit that makes California's look miniscule.

Who captured Saddam Hussein?

Well, the cat is out of the bag so to speak. Saddam Hussein was captured by Kurds, not US forces. Here is the story as best I can determine by looking through a number of articles (see full list at end of this post).

Hussein was betrayed to the Kurds by a member of the al-Jabour tribe because Hussein's son Uday had raped a daughter of the tribe. Saddam had previously paid 7 million pounds in blood money to the tribe with the warning that he would wipe out the entire tribe if it ever came out. (Sify report)

He was then handed over to the Kurdish Patriotic Front who negotiated a deal with US forces for political power before drugging and abandoning Hussein for pickup. Ultimately he ended up in the hands of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani (Aljazeera)

Hussein could not escape the hole in which he was recovered because the entrance had been sealed.

The following is extracted from the article by Paul McGeogh from the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) We got him: Kurds say they caught Saddam.

Washington's claims that brilliant US intelligence work led to the capture of Saddam Hussein are being challenged by reports sourced in Iraq's Kurdish media claiming that its militia set the circumstances in which the US merely had to go to a farm identified by the Kurds to bag the fugitive former president.

The first media account of the December 13 arrest was aired by a Tehran-based news agency.

American forces took Saddam into custody around 8.30pm local time, but sat on the news until 3pm the next day.

However, in the early hours of Sunday, a Kurdish language wire service reported explicitly: "Saddam Hussein was captured by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. A special intelligence unit led by Qusrat Rasul Ali, a high-ranking member of the PUK, found Saddam Hussein in the city of Tikrit, his birthplace.

"Qusrat's team was accompanied by a group of US soldiers. Further details of the capture will emerge during the day; but the global Kurdish party is about to begin!"

The head of the PUK, Jalal Talabani, was in the Iranian capital en route to Europe.

The Western media in Baghdad were electrified by the Iranian agency's revelation, but as reports of the arrest built, they relied almost exclusively on accounts from US military and intelligence organisations, starting with the words of the US-appointed administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer: "Ladies and gentlemen: we got 'im".

US officials said that they had extracted the vital piece of information on Saddam's whereabouts from one of the 20 suspects around 5.30pm on December 13 and had immediately assembled a 600-strong force to surround the farm on which he was captured at al-Dwar, south of Tikrit.

Little attention was paid to a line in Pentagon briefings that some of the Kurdish militia might have been in on what was described as a "joint operation"; or to a statement by Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraq National Congress, which said that Qusrat and his PUK forces had provided vital information and more.

What is truly interesting is not just the US claim of capturing Saddam Hussein, but the claiming of an elaborate operation that ended successfully (much like the scripting of the rescue of Jessica Lynch). Not only did that elaborate operation not work (if it existed at all), but the Kurds had him trapped in a hole while the US got the media apparatus together for the "dramatic" events.

What is also worrisome, but not unexpected, is the virtual silence of the US and British press. ABC News Online was the only US-based news I found, and it was a copy of the Agence French Press report.

News Sources Reporting the Story
I have put an * beside those reports offering the most detail

** We got him: Kurds say they caught Saddam, McGeogh, Sydney Morning Herald

** Saddam: Betrayed, drugged and traded Aljazeera

** Saddam was captured by Kurds, not US Sify.com

** Revealed: Who Really Found Saddam? Pratt, Sunday Herald/Scotland

Saddam held by Kurds, drugged and left for US troops: report ABC News Online

Kurds claim Saddam capture News.com.au (12/22/03)

Kurds Seized Saddam First, Novinite/Bulgaria

'Revenge for rape behind Saddam capture'

Report: ''Saddam capture - not result of American or British intelligence'' Al Bawaba.com

Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops Arab Times/Kuwait

Kurds claim Saddam capture The Australian (12/22/03)

Kurds claim Saddam capture Herald Sun/AU (12/22/03)

Saddam was held by Kurds and left for US troops: ReportHindustan Times (copy of AFP report)

Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops Channel News Asia (AFP report)

Kurds claim Saddam capture The Advertiser/AU (12/22/03)

** Kurds, Not U.S. Captured Saddam: Report Islam Online/UK

Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops Kurdish Media (AFP report)

Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops Infoshop News (AFP report)

Kurds, Not U.S. Captured Saddam: Report Palestinian Chronicle

** ‘Kurdish forces nabbed & drugged Saddam’ The Statesman/India

Kurds nabbed Saddam first? Today Online/Singapore (AFP report)

Saddam Captured by Kurds; US Troops Get Photo Opp Conspiracy Planet

Kurdish fighters 'drugged' tyrant Gulf Daily News/Bahrain

Saddam hld by Kurds, left for US troops Newind Press/ India

Saddam was held by Kurdish Forces, drugged and left for US troops China Daily/China

'Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops' Daily Star/India (AFP report)

A report has surfaced which, if true, adds some missing details about how Saddam Hussein came to be in his "spider hole"... Morons.org

Saddam captured by Kurds (I'm really sure the North-American free press will report this any day now) Vive le Canada

The Saddam Hussein Capture, A Hoax? Rice, Al-Jazeera

Did Kurds Dupe Bush's Brass; or Did Bush Sell Out Iraqis to Kurds as Part of Saddam Handover Deal? Kall, OpEdNews

How was Saddam Really Captured: A Journalistic Review Sorenson, Republicons.org

Widespread Claims Kurds Got Saddam First Scoop

TruthOut link to AFP release

Village Voice link to AFP report

Stacking the Iranian Deck: Developments since Saddam's Capture

By Mathew Maavak
[Mr. Maavak can be reached at qannai@hotmail.com]

The deck is now almost complete with the capture of the Ace of Spades. The new White House concern would be that this house built on cards aka the Iraqi charade would not collapse too soon, before the 2004 elections. What is missing is the Joker and there are eminently suitable candidates for this. Bush tops the list, and so does Tony Blair. Donald Rumsfeld, though, belongs more to that Tarot caricature called Death. That ranks higher than the Ace of any Spades!

Now, the big question- what next? The Iranians are baying for Saddam Hussein’s trial, as they don’t want his blood so soon. Iran’s supreme leader “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recalled that the United States ignored Tehran's early warnings about Saddam and supported Iraq’s war against Iran in the 1980s that killed more than a million people on both sides. The same Americans who are against Saddam now, including the current secretary of defense (Rumsfeld), shook hands with him in Baghdad and supported him to put Iran under pressure.” (AP, Dec 16) The Pandora’s Box is being opened. Uncle Sam’s bloodstained linens in Iraq are now in danger of being brandished as Exhibit A in the international court of opinion. They stretch for miles, and decades, from the Ba’athist overthrow of Gen Abdul Karim Kassem with CIA help (1958) to the tacit acquiescence over chemical warfare against the Iranians and Kurds, to the WMD hoax. When the latter actually existed and used in the 80s, President Ronald Reagan’s envoy Rumsfeld “was instructed to tell then Iraqi foreign minister Tareq Aziz” that the US condemnation over “chemical weapons did not affect the US desire to improve bilateral relations, at a pace of Iraq's choosing.” According to Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, “From the day the Ba’athist regime began its fight against the Muslims and the Shiites, the United States, Britain and other oppressor powers rallied around Saddam Hussein. They were accomplices in all the crimes committed by Saddam.” (AFP, Dec 19).

More than a million people died in the Iran-Iraq war alone, and the Iranians have every right to call for a Milosevic-style trial. Nazi war criminals can still be indicted for their crimes, half a century after their deeds entered history books. Here is the current Iranian gambit – they want Saddam to be tried by an international court for crimes committed against his people (foremost), Iran and Kuwait. This will drag on long enough for you to hear those familiar blusters with the embarrassing details, from a well shaven, mustachioed, ex-dictator in The Hague. The US, however, does not recognize the International Criminal Court. The chairman of Iraq’s Governing Council Abdel Aziz al-Hakim came to Bush’s rescue, claiming the high moral of ground of Saddam being prosecuted by a special Iraqi court (AFP, Dec 16). Who elected al-Hakim? If he knew his propaganda well, the Iraqi TV would be whipping up vengeful passions, repeating clips of Saddam’s torture chambers, the thousands of skeletal remains still being unearthed, and images of chemical attack victims, among others. A speedy execution can be assured this way, accomplished by the masses themselves. “But coalition officials said the matter of where, when and how the ousted president will be judged had not yet been resolved.” (AFP, Dec 15). I find this hard to believe. The Nuremberg trials were planned way before WWII ended, including its detailed legal mechanism. Does this mean that the Saddam capture wasn’t planned at all, and that some unexpected circumstance forced it? Or they had him in the first place, and out of sympathy for his blanched skin, decided that some sunshine might do him a little good?

The Brits also have their high moral ground. “We have abolished the death penalty here... and we campaign hard to try and extend the abolition of the death penalty,” said Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Where was Jack Straw when Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft was executed on Saddam’s orders before Gulf War 1? UK citizens have to ask what sort of cooperation went on after that murder, if any trial takes place. This is unlikely, as the US is the sole global arbiter; the UN is just a place for non-entities to show how important they are to their own constituencies. The Kuwaitis don’t want a trial for crimes committed against its own people during the 1990 occupation. Forget the rapes, pillages and murders against Kuwaitis as Nurse Nayirah's heart-wrenching testimony did more to incriminate Saddam. Who supplied the money in the war against Iran and acted as the conduit for American arms? Such details should never see daylight, from the bedraggled horse’s own mouth.

The house of cards received a mild jolt when former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark announced that he was willing to provide legal counsel to Saddam. US officials stuck with the “Iraqi plan”. Any trial should be conducted by a special local tribunal. The AP (Dec 19) reports “there are still many questions that remain unresolved, including when a trial would take place, and what kind of charges he would face.” That must have been the original, meticulous plan for prosecution. Uncertainty, confusion and uncontrollable turmoil, leading to a quick trial and execution! “All the Governing Council members agree that Saddam must be tried in Iraq by Iraqi judges,” declared council spokesman Hamid al-Kifai. Didn’t Bush say that Saddam was a threat to the world, and not just the US? Why not let the world try him! “We reject demands to try the former president in an international tribunal, and we emphasize that he must be tried in Iraq,” said interim Justice Minister Hashem al-Shebli. (AFP, Dec 19) Iraqi judges have enough experience and information to carry out the task.” (AP, Dec 19) Experience under Saddam? What a joke! Again, who elected this Justice Minister? Where is the justice, and truth over the alleged Saddam-Al Qaeda-Sept 11 links, all contributing to thousands of American deaths? An Iraqi appointed by the Americans doesn’t find these relevant anymore? Do the handpicked Iraqi leaders think that terrorized Iraqis, Kurds and Persians aren’t worthy of a well-documented Nuremberg-style trial, after which they can all say “Never Again!”? Iranian judge Mahmoud Shiraj wrote to “UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan” recently “asking him to intercede so that Saddam could stand trial in Iran.” (AP, Dec 15,). Annan can’t even send the thug to The Hague.

The Iranian position is unsettling in that it is legitimate. Going by the usual crude US logic, they should be silenced. Here are some of the counter-maneuvers executed. The barrage and dates indicate advance planning.

Iran it seems deserved reparations, worth up to US$100 billion by Tehran’s estimates. Al-Hakim relented to some form of restitution after meeting Tony Blair. Kuwait was already paid billions for the 1990 occupation. The bribe offer didn’t work. Governing Council member Jalal Talabani said Iran “has so far not asked for any money…Instead they offered a lot of help.” (Reuters, Dec 18)

This psy-war campaign should also involve simultaneous demonization, spectral projections a la nukes, and outright spin.

FBI Director Louis Freeh laid the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans on Iran’s doorstep. “My own conclusion, not speaking for the FBI at this point, was that the attack was planned, funded and sponsored by the senior leadership of the government of Iran,” Freeh testified in a lawsuit brought by families of the victims. Freeh said he is “certain Iran, and not the al Qaida terrorist organization, was behind the bombing.” Now the “families want Iran to pay compensation for their losses.” Not a single Iranian was detained for that bombing, just “13 Saudis and a Lebanese man.” The Khobar Towers “dormitory housed U.S. pilots and support crews enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq”. And Iran was interested in killing the very Americans who were pulverizing Saddam’s Iraq? And where did this evidence come from? Freeh claimed Iran’s “complicity” was based on “interviews in 1999 and 2000 with six men detained” by the great ally “Saudi Arabia. What about those six Britons who “confessed” to earlier bombings in Saudi Arabia over booze turf wars, all under duress? “The six admitted involvement in the bombing plot and provided details about planning, money and training,” Freeh and former FBI counter-terror chief Dale Watson testified before one of those paper tiger judicial inquiries. Both Freeh and Watson said “they could not discuss many specifics about the six, and could not reveal other information that supported their view that Iran is to blame.” (AP, Dec 18, 2003). Just like those tons of information about Sept 11 that can douse conspiracy theories but yet “cannot be revealed.” Is anybody taking note?

Freeh’s testimony wasn’t quite good enough. The propaganda machine has to be ratcheted up.

Now we come to religious intolerance. “The United States assailed the Islamic states of Iran and Saudi Arabia” –note the order of mention- “as the worst offenders of religious freedom rights in the Middle East. The two countries - along with pre-war Iraq - were listed in the State Department's annual report on international religious freedom as nations in which there is state hostility toward minority or non-approved religions.” I thought pre-war Iraq’s Tariq Aziz was Chaldean? “Despite calls from religious freedom and human rights watchdogs, Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the Middle East, is not designated a ‘country of particular concern’” – unlike Iran – “although Thursday's report equates conditions there with those in Iran.” (AFP, Dec 18) Uh, that’s why Iran is moving towards democracy and the theocracy is being violently challenged by the majority of Iranians. How many minority members died in Iran during the past 10 years? Definitely a few, but what about that violent religious pastime in Pakistan - killing Christians? They are probably the only Christian minority in the world who are economically downtrodden en masse; many of them are cleaning toilets for a living. US “super evangelists” try to look the other way when Pakistan is pointed out as another Great Ally. The Saudis are more tolerant –in all things - they don’t quite allow women to work or travel freely, and therefore afford the ultimate protection at home, unlike Iranians, who are required to wear that shawl and loose garments (even this is being challenged vehemently) when they work as journalists, doctors, clerks and teachers. Israel and Turkey has, of course, “improved”, the report states.

The Saudis were condemned with words of gloss. “Senior (Saudi) officials have made some efforts to improve the climate of tolerance toward other religions and within Islam. There had been moves to delete disparaging references to non-Muslims in schoolbooks.” Great! Can anyone tape those mosque sermons in Riyadh and translate them on this site? There is some great depiction of American women as sluts. All of them! I am not talking about the commonplace male chauvinist jokes here. Plus, now since the Saudis are tolerant, you might see Santa Claus and a camel named Rafeek speeding through the Arabian dessert on a modified sledge, lugging a bagful of AK-47s. For the real thing, visit some Armenian church in Iran.

I have personally heard of Saudi converts to Christianity, who, were refused migration visas to the United States. So, much for religious concern and those evangelistic “God bless our great country” hogwash while the sword awaits its fateful swing.

Next it was Israel’s turn. “Iran is the world's No. 1 terror nation and is plotting relentlessly to attack Israeli targets, the head of Israel's Shin Bet security service said Tuesday, calling on Western nations to restrain Tehran.” He could be referring to the “made-in-Persia” spices that can be seen at Israeli marketplaces. They “relentlessly” make you salivate and plot endlessly with the H. Pylori bacteria in attacking delicate stomachs. “Israel has in the past accused Iran of sponsoring militant groups that attack Israel, but the remarks by the Shin Bet chief, Avi Dichter, appeared particularly harsh.” Beautiful timing! “It is clear that because of terror, Iran presents a strategic threat to Israel. Dichter said Iran is trying to attack Israel not only by sponsoring Hezbollah and Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza, but also by recruiting Israel's Arab citizens.” Uh, isn’t Israel occupying foreign soil? As for Israel’s Arab citizens, where is the Palestinian-Al Qaeda-Iraq connection now? “The third way, which is possibly the most dangerous for us, is that Iran has marked the Israeli Arabs as a potential fifth column for them to exploit.” Significantly, missiles and nukes were also mentioned. (AP, Dec 16 by Gavin Rabinowitz)

Now, check out this AFP Dec 18 report: “Iran is, after all, a country that exists under a veil of secrecy and whose leaders are prone to regular bouts of paranoia over perceived conspiracies orchestrated by arch-enemies Israel and the United States.” (Original writer’s own statement). They don’t have cause for paranoia?

From terror, we move on to nukes. No 1 global enemies enjoy a game of international carousel. Fidel Castro, Bin Laden, Kim Jong-il, the likes of Saddam and even good guys enjoy a rotating presidency here. The nuke saber-rattling began, but Iran did the smart thing by accepting the NPT treaty. There are bigger fishes to catch and it doesn’t include Saddam. The same AFP report stated that “Iran” is “signing up to what many had thought impossible - surprise international inspections of its top-secret nuclear facilities.” A diplomat was quoted as saying, “The idea of letting foreigners sniff around nuclear sites must have been a bitter pill to swallow.” No, its not! After adhering to the NPT, and to international law, can anyone deny the Iranians an ICC trial for Saddam? The writer explains the “alternative would have been shutting itself off and running the risk of UN sanctions and even conflict. In effect, the protocol stands in the way of the United States and Israel being able to use the nuclear issue to legitimize an attack.” (Diplomat’s quote). So, Iranians are “paranoid” about getting attacked? How this contradiction can appear, without a pretense of a blink in the same story, defies editorial logic. Here is further proof of Iran’s unfounded paranoia in the same breath. “There was also speculation that Israel - and even its international guardian the United States - were planning military strikes against nuclear facilities here.” The State Department is still keeping this option open. It said, “Iran's signing of an additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that allows the snap visits was only a ‘first step’ in addressing US accusations that Tehran is secretly developing atomic weapons.” (AFP, Dec 18). It got most of its centrifuge designs from Pakistan; or rather as the spin has it, rogue Pakistani scientists. No wonder the Iranians are not too averse over anyone “sniffing around”. The scent leads right back to the ISI and the Pakistani government, beloved allies with much religious tolerance.

After this, it was missiles. The Iranians quickly pledged to tweak its missiles sufficiently to fall short of Tel Aviv. “The (current) Shahab-3 missile is believed to be derived from technology acquired from North Korea and Pakistan” (AFP, Dec 16). The former is behaving itself. President Bush said “the United States was employing ‘diplomatic means and persuasion’ to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program and insisted progress was being made toward that goal. Now, observe the tone adopted towards Iran. “Bush also said that Iran would face ‘international consequences’ if it develops nuclear weapons. In North Korea, we're now in the process of using diplomatic means and persuasion to convince Kim Jong-il to get rid of his nuclear weapons program. I’m pleased with the progress we're making, and I hope, of course, he listens.” (Reuters, Dec 15) North Korea is a country where you can be shot dead for straying too close - after an aimless trek - to the Dear Leader’s presidential palace. No warnings are generally given. In Iran, members of the Basij militia now get regularly trashed.

“Bush said the lesson he learned from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was ‘that any time the president sees a gathering threat to the United States, we must deal with it’.” And where is Pakistan in all of this? Saudi Arabia? There are others “improving” as well, namely a one-time enemy No 1 called Col Kadahfi. Bush said that with Kadahfi's announcement to give up pursuit of nuclear weaponry, “Libya has begun the process of rejoining the community of nations.” They believe this guy? “And Colonel Kadhafi knows the way forward.” Too much sunshine in the Libyan Desert can have a hallucinatory effect. Read Kadhafi’s profile. “Libya should carry out the commitments announced today. Libya should also fully engage in the war against terror.” How sweet and cloying. Is this guy showing early signs of Reagan’s Alzheimer’s? Maybe it’s Bush who is having desert mirages. Tag-along Tony in England didn’t want to be left out. After all, he is an important leader to the White House. I am not too sure about the British public, or even the American one. “Libya had declared its intention to limit the range of Libyan missiles to no greater than 300 kilometres (180 miles).” (AFP, Dec 20) Long enough to decimate Chad but, again, not Tel Aviv.
There is another fear as well. Some nations are finding it easier to live without the US. “Swedish companies, led by truckmaker Volvo, have nearly doubled their exports to Iran, which is fast moving up the list of the Scandinavian country's largest export markets. Over the past nine months, Swedish sales to Iran have climbed by 88 percent, as exporters ignored United States embargo calls against Iran, which is on Washington's axis of evil list….While many Western countries have abided by the US embargo on Iran, neutral Sweden has never prohibited companies from doing business with the country. (AFP, Dec 17) All true-blooded Americans should ask themselves who owns the majority stake in Volvo! Independence from the US is not an option, though, profit rules.
There is this theory that Saddam wasn’t captured but “liberated” by the 600-strong US forces. He was, it seems, in Kurdish hands, “drugged and abandoned” (AFP, Dec 20) until the Charge of the Light Brigade into that rat hole. Another Jessica Lynch-type hoax? Another heroic spin? Let’s wait and see. Will the maniac will speedily confess to his crimes at the ICC, which, the US might “grudgingly allow” due to “extraordinary circumstances?” There may be a formula for Saddam to keep both his life and mouth shut. Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington reportedly dropped the bombshell. “I don't know that it was definitely planned on this weekend, but I know they've been in contact with people all along who knew basically where he was. It was just a matter of time till they'd find him. It's funny, when they're having all this trouble, suddenly they have to roll out something.”

Rep. Norm Dicks, a fellow Washington Democrat, was outraged at this anti-patriotic statement. “With all due respect to my colleague, that is a fantasy. That just is not right. It's one thing to criticize this administration for having done this war. I mean, that's a fair question. But to criticize them on the capture of Saddam, when it's such a big thing to our troops, is just ridiculous." (Bill Sammon, The Washington Times, Dec 17) Someone should tell this man that sending home the body bags of US troops in secret is a “big thing.” But he may be right; he was referring to troops still facing combat. As for the fallen heroes, they are dead and gone, no presidential presence needed at their funerals, not even memories.

The White House knows of the current market glut for red herrings. Every net-bursting, bountiful catch is met by an opportunistic demand for more. In financial terms, this makes sense. Hoarding leads to profit. Has anyone taken much notice of this AP report dated Dec14? “ President Bush has signed legislation making it easier for FBI agents investigating terrorism to demand financial records from casinos, car dealerships, and other businesses. The changes were included in a bill authorizing 2004 intelligence programs. Most details of the bill are secret, including the total costs of the programs, which are estimated to be about $40 billion.” The implications will sink in, later.
An audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahri surfaced in the nick of time, warning of terror attacks against Americans “in their homeland.” The White House warmed up to Ariel Sharon’s latest ghetto plan for the Palestinians (AP, Dec 19). The US$50,000 financing for the recent Istanbul bombings came from an “Iranian source”. (Reuter, Dec 20). Later, it will mean the Iranian government and subtly, its people. Enjoy the other herrings as well, all prepared by the grand chefs.

MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody and watch out for a bearded, white-turbaned Santa Claus who regularly brings glad tidings to Pennsylvania Avenue. This time, it seems it’s an election promise with a Ho! Ho! Ho! Sorry kids, there is no Rudolph, but might a poodle named Blair do?

Dec 21, 2003
Copyright © Mathew Maavak, 2003

Corporations and influence

Thanks to Bill for sending this article along.

I would like to encourage folks to read Corporate Medicare by Joel Bleifus. This is an excellent article that points to the relationship of the corporate hand and the Medicare bill. However, Bleifuss goes well beyond the issue of Medicare to address much larger issues. Issues such as the erosion of democracy when corporations exert their influence, and how corporations are enabled in their participation through campaign finance reform. This is a very short article, but brings up a lot of good points.

Bush needs money to beat the Dems

Thanks to Emily at Strangechord for sending this along Rally the Real Grass Roots?

The above link includes a fund raising appeal from Marc Racicot - the Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign Chairman and Chair of the Repulican National Committee. In the appeal, Mr. Raciot claims that the Democrats are making "vicious personal attacks" on President Bush, and that "Billionaire liberals" are out to "pervert the election process." The appeal is to start a "grassroots" campaign by people sending in their "$25, $50, $75, $100 or whatever you can afford to give today?"

No one denies that Racicot is a good fundraiser. according to Jefferey St. Clair (Marc Racicot: Bush's Main Man CounterPunch, 8/9/2003), Raciot raised $250 million in soft money for the 2000 election cycle and was the "man" called in put the strategy in place in Florida to "seal the election."

Racicot Claims that: "He has restored dignity and honor to the White House. President Bush has led America with moral clarity and purpose and strength in the War against Terrorism. The President provided the leadership necessary to cut taxes and restore economic growth. President Bush's reforms are making America a more compassionate society where no child is left behind. But that positive record ... the President's strong values ... his character and integrity and vision ... that all may not matter. "

The irony of the appeal is almost too great for words.

First, President Bush has been raising a million dollar plus at every campaign event he goes to - I don't think any of the Democratic candidates have done this yet.

Let's see what Open Secrets has to say. Their donation figures include receipts through October 15, 2003.

Total Receipts
George W. Bush (R) $84,583,768
Howard Dean (D) $25,387,493
John Kerry (D) $20,043,631
John Edwards (D) $14,510,398
Dick Gephardt (D) $13,666,915
Joe Lieberman (D) $11,779,353
Lyndon H. Larouche Jr (D) $5,652,783
Wesley Clark (D) $3,491,108
Dennis Kucinich (D) $3,399,709
Carol Moseley Braun (D) $341,668
Al Sharpton (D) $283,529

Source of Funds
Bush
Individual contributions $82,843,770 98%
PAC contributions $1,581,711 2%
Candidate self-financing $0 0%
Federal Matching program $0 0%
Other $158,287 0%

Dean (because he is the next largest fund raiser)
Individual contributions $25,327,097 100%
PAC contributions $15,500 0%
Candidate self-financing $0 0%
Federal Matching program $0 0%
Other $44,896 0%

Donor Demographics for all candidates
Candidate % of $2000+ donors/ % of $200 or less donors
Bush, George W 73% / 11%
Dean, Howard 13% / 56%
Kerry, John 55% /12%
Edwards, John 65% / 3%
Lieberman, Joe 52% / 9%
Gephardt, Dick 55%/ 12%
Clark, Wesley 31% / 35%
Kucinich, Dennis 11%/ 65%
Larouche, Lyndon H Jr 5% / 45%
Moseley Braun, Carol 30% / 25%
Sharpton, Al 64% / 9%

I guess that you can say that Bush has brought "moral clarity and purpose" to the Whitehouse. This is what I call a third level concept - one that plays upon the cultural assumptions of people while not meaning what one says. It is like the idea of "family values." Everyone supports "family values" and thinks that everyone means the same thing when they use that phrase. With Bush's "moral clarity and purpose," it is one of being "called" and establishing a "Christian" empire that rules the world by force and coersion (Onward Christian Soldiers). Of course, helping a few "friends" gain financially and politically along the way is all to the good --- afterall, "Christians Prosper" if you remeber the bumper sticker from the 1980s.

The appeal is to Bush's "grassroots" though not to his primary supporters since only 11% of his contributors are in the $200 or less range. One has to wonder what the $2000 and up group is called? Oh yeah ... they are called "Rangers" -- those who raise $200,000 or more -- and "Pioneers" -- those who raise $100,000 or more. There are 134 "Rangers" thus far in the 2004 campaign and some of the names look familiar: Marvin Pierce Bush (GWs brother I believe), Dennis Hastert (Speaker of the House), George Pataki (Gov of NY), and Gordon Smith (Senator from Oregon). To keep track of who is who in the Bush fundraising campaign check out Texans for Public Justice and what is happening in the campaign WhiteHouseForSale.org

The courts don't like the way the "war on terrorism" is being run

The administration is being called to task on the abusive practices against the constitution.Double legal terror blow for Bush (BBC, 12/18/03). The two cases that went against the feds was Jose Padilla who is a US citizen being detained oout of contact with either legal counsel or family contact, and the detainees being held at Guantanamo. At the root of both of these is a challenge to the idea of the president declairing individuals "enemy combatants," and hold people in indefinite detention without charges or legal protection.

The Department of Justice and the Bush Administration have declared these policies as legal and necessary under the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. The court rulings essentially support the views and concerns of Civil Rights activists and scholars regarding the abusiveness of what the administration has been doing in terms of pursuing and detaining "terrorist" suspects.

In the Padilla case, Bush had declared Padilla an "enemy combatant." He is a US citizen and was arrested on US soil. He has been held incommunicado in a military jail since June of 2002. Padilla is believed to be the first US citizen since WWII to be detained by presidential decree. In this case the court essentially declared that the president does not have the authority to legally claim someone is an enemy of the state.

The second case was of a Libyan nation captured in Afghanistan and held at Camp Delta in Guantanamo. The administration has claimed that these individuals are also "enemy combatants," and is holding them in an international legal limbo, out of contact, without representation, and with indefinite sentences. In fact, they are to be held for the duration of the "war on terrorism" -- what could be a life sentence. The court ruled that the Libyan national (and presumably others) must have access to legal counsel and to the US courts.

The approach of the DoJ, under the leadership of the Bush administration, has been to essentially overturn all rights in relationship to investigation and prosecution. They have argued that "secret evidence" cannot be be presented for security reasons. In other words, "we have evidence but be can't show it to you." They have argued that lawyers for defendants must receive a security clearance. They have held witnesses out of proceedings for the same secrecy issues. The DoJ and the Pentagon have argued that they can hold people (US citizens or not, captured in the US or not) indefinitely, without charges, and without access to counsel, or even telling people where these individuals are being held. In some cases, lawyers and families have not even been able to determine if someone us being held because the DoJ refuses to release the names of those they have detained.

While the recent rulings are sure to be appealed, it is heartening that the courts are stepping forward to assert some protection of our civil liberties. However, even without these setbacks, the DoJ has not done particularly well in their pursuit of "terrorists." Based on a study released by Syracuse University (
A Special TRAC Report: Criminal Enforcement Against Terrorists), the DoJ has referred 6400 people for "terrorist related" crimes. Of those 2001 actually got worked on and 879 received convictions. However, only 23 of them got prison terms of more than five years. Of the most significant sentences, none involved "terrorism" as it has been protrayed to the public. "Major terrorism convictions included cross-burning Ku Klux Klan members, a man who set off a pipe bomb in an empty car, and a convict who put out a contract on a federal judge..." ( Terror by the Numbers Piasecki, LA City Beat, 12/17/03). Indeed, most of the convictions were for immigration violations -- not terrorism. The DoJ is claiming a wide range of activities as "terrorist related" such as drug charges, identity theft, and money laundering. This allows the utilization of anti-terrorist "tools" in law enforcement even though the overwhelming majority of such cases have nothing to do with terrorism.

There are other issues that are outstanding at this point which we can hope will come to the courts. For example, the Bush Administration Enlists Police to Pursue Immigrants (Sandrasaga, IPS, 12/18/03). This would seem to be illegal on the face of it, and is at the root of the issue that brought the Portland, Oregon police such a bad rep in the wake of Spetember 11, 2001. Essentially, there is an ordinance on the books in Portland, that bars police from pursuing non-citizens if they have not violated any law. Specifically, the Portland police are not an enforcement arm of the INS.

There are also increasing reports of the abuse of prisoners in the custody of US and military institutions. In a New York federal detention facility, video tapes of foreign nationals being being abused by guards are under review by the courts. See:
Sept. 11 Detainees Abused by Officers, U.S. Report Says (Vicini, Reuters, 12/18/03) and Tapes Show Abuse of 9/11 Detainees (Eggen, Wa. Post, 12/19/03).

While in Iraq, the International Red Cross is concerned that prisoners are being tortured and abused --
Appeals Court Says Bush Can't Hold U.S. Citizen (Appleson, Reuters, 12/18/03).

We can only hope that citizens and the courts can help rein in the over zealous attack on civil liberties and constitutional infringements.

Other Articles
In Debate on Antiterrorism, the Courts Assert Themselves Johnston, NYT, 12/19/03

U.S. Courts Reject Detention Policy in 2 Terror Cases Lewis & Glaberson, NY Times, 12/19/03

Pre-emption in a new light

So is there a difference between having weapons of mass destruction, and "pursuing wmd programs?" Well according to Bush, there is apparently no difference. We've been hearing this switch in relationship to Iraq for some time, but it is resurfacing with a vengeance post Hussein "capture." There are two interesting articles you might want to look at discussing this "shift."

Bush revises rationale for Iraq war, Stevenson, International Herald Tribune, 12/18/03.

Remember 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'? For Bush, They Are a Nonissue, Stevenson, NY Times, 12/18/03.

This is a frightening shift when one considers the shift in US military policy to pre-emptive use of force and a legitimate means of "defense." The policy was already scary (and illegal), as it was assumedly based on possession of wmd. Now all a selected "enemy" needs to become a target is to be "pursuing" a weapons program. What does "pursue" mean, and what counts as a "weapons program?" Oh yeah, and who has the right to pursue and who does not?

Who has the largest arsenal of weapons of mass destruction? The United States.
Who has the most aggressive weapons development program? The United States.
Who has shown the greatest willingness to attack without being attacked? The United States.
Who (apparently) decides whether a nation has a right to have weapons of mass destruction? The United States.

So the United States now claims the right of pre-emptive attack not only in cases of imminent danger, but under the reasoning that "some day they might pose a threat."

This new shift is huge. For all that I vehemently disagree with the US Congress approval of invading Iraq, it seems that most thought that 1) Iraq possessed highly destructive weapons, 2) had the willingness to deploy them, and 3) had some way of delivering them against US targets. (Don't ask me how they reached that conclusion because I couldn't see that chain of logic. Further, that even if assumption 1 was accurate that 2 was questionable and 3 totally unsupportable.) Now, however, the issue is not the chain above, but the possibility that a nation (or group inside a nation) is thinking about or investigating what might be a weapons program. This moves the issue of pre-emption to a highly speculative and shakey ground. It requires speculative leaps on what is a weapon, what the ultimate purpose might be, and that this assumed pursuit is a threat to the United States.

If you think this is a stretch, and that it can't boil down to a president saying "those folks make me nervous," or evne "I don't like them," then look at Iraq.

If it's disappearing, use it up

Once again I am struck by the bizarre nature of the US psyche. Why do things become "popular" and "all the rage" when environmentally it is the worst possible thing to do? Here are three glaring examples.

SUVs
We know that oil is a limited resource, and rapidly disappearing one, so what becomes the most popular vehicle in the US? The Sports Utility Vehicle. The more gas-guzzling the better.

Fish Diet
The benefits of a diet heavy in fish is promoted as "healthy" at the same time that ocean fisheries are being exhausted and the fish on the plate are babies - too young to even reproduce. Not to mention that the ongoing ocean dumping is filling those fish with toxins - dangerous to the fish and to those who eat them.

Low Carb Diet
The all protein diet is the newest fad in the US for losing weight. This high protein diet is almost exclusively meat based. This is as high on the food chain as you can eat, and increasing demand caused by the diet means producing more meat and poultry for consumption. Environmentally, this is absolutely the worst diet one can be on.

So there you go. The worst possible choices at the worst possible times. Is this a capitalist plot? It sure feels that way to me.

Was Saddam Captured?

Ok, I'll stand up again as a "conspiracy theorist" to raise a question. Did the US actually capture Saddam Hussein? I noted on 12/14 (Saddam Da Dum) that the turn around on DNA confirmation of Hussein's identity was pretty fast. I notice that tidbit has been dropped from the news reports. I must have been right that even the Pentagon can't do DNA matches in a couple of hours. But that isn't why I am raising the "capture" question now. Despite all the convincing arguments all over the net, what finally got me was the DEBKAfiles.

DEBKAfiles, is an Israeli-based intelligence group that has a fair amount of credibility on intelligence issues. While sometimes their predictions and reports miss the mark, they do not go out on a limb very often. If they say they suspect that Saddam Hussein was not found by US forces, then there may well be something to those speculations (Indications Saddam Was Not in Hiding But a Captive 12/14/03). Even Representative Jim McDermott (Wa.) claims that the capture was staged (Wa. Times, 12/16/03)

According to DEBKA, there are seven reasons why they suspect the capture was staged:

1. The length and state of his hair indicated he had not seen a barber or even had a shampoo for several weeks.

2. The wild state of his beard indicated he had not shaved for the same period

3. The hole dug in the floor of a cellar in a farm compound near Tikrit was primitive indeed – 6ft across and 8ft across with minimal sanitary arrangements - a far cry from his opulent palaces.

4. Saddam looked beaten and hungry.

5. Detained trying to escape were two unidentified men. Left with him were two AK-47 assault guns and a pistol, none of which were used.

6. The hole had only one opening. It was not only camouflaged with mud and bricks – it was blocked. He could not have climbed out without someone on the outside removing the covering.

7. And most important, $750,000 in 100-dollar notes were found with him (a pittance for his captors who expected a $25m reward)– but no communications equipment of any kind, whether cell phone or even a carrier pigeon for contacting the outside world.

There are even reports that Bush met with Hussein on Novemver 27, but I can't substantiate that report yet.

Would any of this surprise me (or you)? Probably not. The scripting of the news by this administration has become a signiature piece of the administration. From the tearing down of Hussein's statue to the rescue of Jessica Lynch, to Bush feeding the trroops in Baghdad, there has been one staged event after another.

It is interesting that other scripted events may be in the offing. Madeline Albright Albright thinks Bush hiding bin Laden (PrisonPlanet/World Net Daily, 12/17/03) and is waiting for the politically appropriate time to "capture" him. And PrisonPlanet (12/16/03) points to a leaked memo that aStaged discovery of WMD will follow Saddam arrest .

Since Bush gets a poll "bounce" with each "coup," timing for the 2004 election becomes critical.

It should be noted however, that Bush may get us into another war before the election. According to the DEBKAfiles report noted above, Syria looks like a possible target if the "search" for Hussein's WMDs goes poorly.

Life is a stage ... apparently so is the Bush presidency.

Was Saddam Already In US Custody?? Diaferia, Rense.com, 12/16/03

Controlling the News - Part 28TBRNews.com

Albright thinks Bush hiding bin Laden PrisonPlanet/World Net Daily, 12/17/03

Leaked News Network Memo: Staged discovery of WMD will follow Saddam arrest PrisonPlanet, 12/16/03

Race and Sex - Jefferson and Thurmond

There are ironies and ironies. The nation seems to have recovered from the blow that Thomas Jefferson had seven children with his slave Sally Hemming. Now we have the blow of Strom Thurmond fathering a child on his family's African American maid.

Jefferson owned slaves and took his leave way them. Thurmond didn't get the opportunity to own slaves, but if his rhetoric had any element of truth, he would have welcomed the opportunity.

Jefferson's kin denied their mixed race kin for decades until denial worked no more. Thurmond's kin have stepped up to the plate and acknowledged his daughter.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams (age 78) has finally broken silence about who her father was. Seventy-eight years of silence -- perhaps purchased. Since the 1940's Strom Thurmond paid a yearly amount to Essie Mae. She feels that he was fond of her and cared about her. I cannot imagine how torn she must have felt. Thurmond was one of the most vocal segregationists in the Congress. He made speeches at home and in Congress that Blacks should keep to themselves and out of the affairs of whites. All this while having a yearly visit and delivering a check to Essie Mae. It is hard to not interpret this as hush money.

But here is Essie Mae, listening to her father's hatred and racism; his pressure to keep Blacks "in their place" -- firmly subordinate to Whites. His attitude did soften as times changed and he got older, but there was no public acknowledgement from him. Was his racism an act appealing to the sympathies of South Carolina racists? Or was this a case of split consciousness? I doubt we will ever know.

What we do know is that Strom Thurmond was 22 and Carrie Butler (Essie Mae's mother) was 16 when whatever happened, happened. The year would have been 1924 and Jim Crow was still in place. The power discrepancy between Thurmond and Butler was along all axes - race, class, sex, and employment. Not only was this an issue of Thurmond being white and Butler black, but Butler was a minor - by law stuatory rape. However, I doubt that Ms. Butler could have made it stick in that time and place.

The whole time that Essie Mae was growing up, Strom Thurmond was fighting to keep her and all other African Americans second class citizens. There has to be pain in that. The pain of a father who not only keeps you hidden, but actively fights to keep you and yours down.

Essie Mae Washington-Williams wanted this out in the open so that her 4 children, 13 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren could know their true lineage. I am glad that Thurmond's family has acknowledged the relationship with grace. At least Essie Mae was spared that humiliation.

Thurmond Kin Acknowledge Black Daughter, Janofsky, NY Times, 12/16/03.

Journalist's Sources

Over at Editor & Publisher, Charles Bowen is retiring and his list column shares his favorite online sites for journalists. I have selected the following resources from his last column -- The Top 10 Web Sites for Working Journalists (Editor & Publisher, 12/16/03) -- and from his previous columns. For those of you who track down information, these looked good, and some of them I use regularly.

Also on REPORTERS DIGITAL HOW-TO

DrugShield.com online database of drug information

Journalism.org resources and research links

American Rhetoric research speeches

NIH Household Products Database track household chemicals

Your Dictionary.com over 1800 reference sites

First Amendment CenterNews related to first amendment issues

National Geographic's Map Machinemaps of physical, social, climate etc.

Thomas Legislative site

Gary Price's List of Lists runs the gamut of lists

Hoover's Online basic corporate data

CIA World Fact Book

Internet Scout Project Getting research data and metadata out of the internet.

More Stealth Legislation

Bush has signed more legislation to undermine our rights and increase federal powers of intrusion.

Bush signed H.R. 2417, INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION AGREEMENT OF 2004
Whitehouse Statement on HR 2417 (December 13, 2003)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/12/20031213-3.html

The bill expands the scope of businesses from which investigators can demand personal information. See Bush signs bill extending FBI powers AP, 12/15/03. Noted in the Ap report is that :"Most of the details of the bill are secret, including the total cost of the programs, which are estimated to be about $40 billion."

In other provisions, the bill:

Requires the CIA director to prepare a report as soon as possible on what intelligence agencies have learned from their experiences in Iraq.

Creates a Treasury Department office to work with intelligence agencies on fighting terrorist financing.

Creates pilot programs to share raw data between agencies.

Authorizes agencies to continue research on computerized terrorism surveillance suspended by the Pentagon.

Great! More secret legislation. How can you have a law that is secret?

Thanks to PrisonPlante.com for the heads up on this.

New environmental site

A new site is joining the Daily Mis-Leader from Environmental Media Services with support from MoveOn.org - BushGreenWatch. They too offer email updates, but also have a site tracking Bush's environmental and public health actions. Check them out!

Republican's killing democracy

This piece was forwarded to me by Bill. It discusses the process of doing an end run around Congressional processes. CONGRESS Democracy crumbles under cover of darkness by Sherrod Brown, St. Louis Post-Sispatch, 12/11/03. The first part of the article can be read by clicking "more."

House Republicans bend rules, press for votes during wee hours to escape the light of accountability.

Never before has the House of Representatives operated in such secrecy:

At 2:54 a.m. on a Friday in March, the House cut veterans benefits by three votes.

At 2:39 a.m. on a Friday in April, the House slashed education and health care by five votes.

At 1:56 a.m. on a Friday in May, the House passed the Leave No Millionaire Behind tax-cut bill by a handful of votes.

At 2:33 a.m. on a Friday in June, the House passed the Medicare privatization and prescription drug bill by one vote.

At 12:57 a.m. on a Friday in July, the House eviscerated Head Start by one vote.
And then, after returning from summer recess, at 12:12 a.m. on a Friday in October, the House voted $87 billion for Iraq.

Always in the middle of the night. Always after the press had passed their deadlines. Always after the American people had turned off the news and gone to bed.

The Tu Quoque Trap - An early analysis of Saddam Hussein’s capture

By Mathew Maavak

[Mr. Maavak can be reached at qannai@hotmail.com]

It was pretty much of a shock to learn of Saddam capture so soon. Then again, come to think of it, no! George W. Bush’s popularity is dipping badly and those niggling questions about Sept 11 are now gaining feverish momentum. This capture is timely for the incumbent, and the immediate propaganda value will be enormous. But has Bush walked into a trap? Pretty likely, and the next few weeks or months are going to be crucial. Saddam’s fate must now either be decided quickly (through an Iraqi bullet to his head?) or be prolonged long enough after the 2004 elections, through a series of legal wrangling. If the second scenario works out, there is every likelihood of an uncustomary “adherence to international law” with teams of amici curiae given a free hand to wrangle over his legal rights. It will buy lots of time, provided the man shuts up.

This capture runs against the grain of obvious logic. Saddam is no Manual Noriega and he will command far more attention than Slobodan Milosevic. The video clip of him being examined by a doctor was typical of both US bravado and myopia. With him in “expert” medical hands, there will be some very hard explaining to do if anything untoward happened – a death or an unusually cooperative ex-dictator known for his wily tricks. Maybe a Soviet-style psychiatric institutionalization might re-jog his memory, one that will suit his hospitable hosts.

According to the BBC, Saddam was found holed up in a tiny cellar, not the secret command bunker as we were implicitly led to believe. An argument can be made that this ‘spider hole’ contributed to his elusiveness. He just needed a food chain, from very few sources. Still, it is not a good one. For one, it will smash the Saddam in-the-secret bunker image his Fedayeen found to be way over-hyped. There is something wrong here. Saddam may have indeed chosen a six by eight foot hole for safety as he knew only too well about the pandemic Arab treachery and the US$25 million bounty, especially after his sons died under a hail of US bullets, and his sons-in-law earlier, with his own blessings.

In Victor Ostrovsky’s book By Way of Deception, a planned Palestinian terror attack was once thwarted by the discovery of an out-of-place order for quality beef. The scent of a pre-attack feast was too strong to ignore. With thousands of US troops - many of them from elite units - combing through Tikrit, how this genocidal criminal avoided capture till now is a mystery. They only needed 600 for this operation. No one in Tikrit knew where he was? Follow the money the trail, follow the food take-aways! There was US$750,000 with him. The trails were aplenty; all were leading to the same man.

This is indeed good news for the Iraqis and bad news for the Americans. Thus far, he has served the raison d’etre for the war, a tenuous one, it can be argued. Now what? The propaganda value of a shadowy Saddam, capable of wreaking havoc was inestimable. Much of that locus standi has now vanished. The Iraqis can now rise up to say, “The dictator is gone. Thank you, now please leave…” Is this going to happen? No! The US wasn’t there for Saddam, and I don’t think it was there for the oil either. Sabotaged oil pipelines do create a literal smokescreen and a justification for continued occupation. Now, we shall see the true face of Iraqi guerrillas – a combination of nationalists and Islamists that the American media conveniently blamed on mastermind Saddam.

The euphoria will die down; the pot shots will get more frenzied. A car bomb killed at least 17 people near Baghdad yesterday. The joyous staccatos seen in the city just show how many weapons of celebration are around. They can be trained in a different direction another day soon. Are these the first salvoes that will shatter the myth of a “liberation” project?

It was in the White House’s best interest to have had Saddam killed during the capture. Maybe US soldiers were still sore after the turkey dinner fiasco, or they were zealously carrying out their duty. Hardly any sane person would have wept for Saddam under any circumstances. He could have been handed over – quite innocently – to the Iraqis for a summary, Ceausescu-style execution. General Douglas MacArthur’s quick disposal of General Tomoyski Yamashita in WWII is no longer quite possible. Like General MacArthur’s macho posturing during his first meeting with a humbled Emperor Hirohito, the sight of a medic clinically examining a beaten, disheveled Saddam, instead of a defiant maniac, was really a bad propaganda shot…So, this was the one who struck fear into the hearts of “freedom-loving” people until 24 hours back?

What can Saddam do? He just needs to open his big mouth. After a shave, a good brush and gurgles of Listerine, he will recount all those scummy collusions with the US, which, went right through the Kuwaiti occupation. Why were those Shi’ites betrayed? Who talked to whom? What was the deal? What about the other deals? Clips of exhumed bodies from that bloody crackdown more than a decade back were shown alongside Saddam’s ignominious capture on BBC. Another pictorial blunder for the coalition! Was the BBC acting sneaky again? Those bodies incriminate Saddam and the Anglo-American alliance. In fact, the incriminating evidence will be immeasurable. Civilian deaths, supply of arms, the semi-proxy war on Iran, will all come out of the horse’s mouth. For every allegation, Saddam can retort Tu quoque – You too! It’s a time-honored legal tactic, valid and destructive to the point that Hermann Goering was able to put up a brilliant defense during the Nuremberg trials. The man, much known for his follies and bizarre vanities, was just cured of a morphine addiction before being marched into the defendant’s box. Even dope heads can pile up rebuttals to every allegation. Goering’s statements are now memorable; they still linger in the minds of those caught in this New World Disorder. A defense by any tyrant can be slow poison. It can dent the gratitude of “liberated” peoples for ages to come. The Soviet General R.A. Rudenko’s rape of Poland, and the subsequent Katyn forest massacre can make many Europeans skeptical about any war of liberation. Nazi war criminals repeatedly pointed to this famous allied cover up in their defense. How this led to many of them missing the hangman’s noose is a little uncertain.

If Bush needs to win that election, he needs to silence Saddam, Guantanamo-style, in seclusion. That will raise suspicions. Any medical mishap or anomaly will also raise suspicions. Not a very good situation, is it?

How are they going to answer their former ally, when every meeting with Donald Rumsfeld alone is going to be recounted in detail? Bribe and intimidate all those who can corroborate those shady minutiae? One possibility but a lot of it is already out in the public domain. If the dictator was ever that good in understanding power, he would have prepared for this day long back, with stashes of documents secreted away for his eventual defense. There is a likelihood, as early newscasts indicate, that Saddam might be handed over to the Iraqis, neither the ones brutalized ones nor the rational, but the ones most likely to parade him to the execution grounds, a brief stop before the onward journey to one of his former palaces, where, they will set their collaboration with US authorities firmly in stone. The sands of Arabia are a bit too fickle for that.

There is another possibility that whoever thought this through had done his homework very well, and the timing was impeccable. If true, students of propaganda will be using this incident as a case study for decades to come. Yet, it’s too early to say anything for sure… We don’t know all the facts yet.

Sunday, December 14, 2003

Copyright © Mathew Maavak, 2003

Keiko is dead

Oregonians have a special place in their hearts for the killer whale Keiko. Keiko was the star of the "Free Willy" movies, and many took that to heart with an amazing attempt to return him to freedom. Keiko died in a bay in Norway after being stricken by a fast moving pneumonia at an estimated age of 26.

The story of Keiko touched millions of lives - mine included. He was a glaring example of the process of capturing whales and other sea mammals for entertainment purposes. Somehow, I don't think that his life or his death will stop the practice.

Photo (USN121203a) courtesy of HO/US Newswire. [Free Willy Foundation news release]

Keiko Has Died
Key dates in Keiko's life
Readers comment about Keiko’s impact on their lives

Saddam da dum

Well it's all over the news so you probalably already know that Saddam Hussein was arrested in Iraq (BBC, 12/14/03). He was found in a pit fitted with ventilation outside of Tikrit. Purportedly, US forces have verified through a DNA sample that this is indeed Saddam Hussein. Hmm, I thought it took several weeks to do a DNA match, but then the DoD has resources that others do not.

Early analysis (Saddam's capture: What it means, Aljazeera) sees this as a political coup, but is not likely to change Iraqi's feelings about the occupation.

Hussein is being held at a secret location, where I am sure that US interrogators hope to extract significant information. It would be nice if Saddam would admit to having a nuclear weapons program, and tell interrogators where those pesky biological and chemical weapons are stored. One thing I might mention, is that information gathered under harsh interrogation is frequently questionable. Remember all the raising and lowering of the Homeland Security threat level in response to such "information?"

Hopefully, US forces will be a little more careful with Hussein than they have been with other captives. According to a report today in Aljazeera, three Arabs were disabled in occupation custody. They were found in a British military hospital in southern Iraq by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC suggested that they might intervene with occupation authorities as maltreatment of prisoners is against international law.

This is low - even for Bush

This could go down in history as the most scripted Presidency of all time. After the widely lauded Bush trip to visit the troops in Iraq for Thanksgiving, which nicely bumped up his approval ratings, we learned that the famous "Bush with a turkey picture" was a fake (the turkey wasn't real, but a prop).

image from Daily Mislead

We now find that Bush screened the troops that got to eat that meal, while other units went back to their barracks and ate MREs (meals ready to eat). See 12/12/03 Milbank, Wa. Post, A Baghdad Thanksgiving's Lingering Aftertaste .

"... Stars and Stripes is blowing the whistle on President Bush's Thanksgiving visit to Baghdad, saying the cheering soldiers who met him were pre-screened and others showing up for a turkey dinner were turned away.

The newspaper, quoting two officials with the Army's 1st Armored Division in an article last week, reported that "for security reasons, only those preselected got into the facility during Bush's visit. . . . The soldiers who dined while the president visited were selected by their chain of command, and were notified a short time before the visit."

The paper also published a letter to the editor from Sgt. Loren Russell, who wrote of the heroism of his soldiers and then added: "[I]magine their dismay when they walked 15 minutes to the Bob Hope Dining Facility, only to find that they were turned away from their evening meal because they were in the wrong unit. . . . They understand that President Bush ate there and that upgraded security was required. But why were only certain units turned away?" "

I guess that I don't get the "security" issue here. Aren't these US troops? Is the Secret Service concerned that US troops might try to kill their Commander in Chief? It seems more likely that the regime wanted no possibility of "unpleasantness" to be caught on tape.

And what about that hand-picked crew of journalists allowed to accompany Bush on this little jaunt? Did they somehow miss the entire screening process, or did they keep their mouths shut for the opportunity to be part of future propaganda events? If this is the administration's version of "embedded journalists," we have to question even more harshly the "embedding" of journalists during the invasion of Iraq.

This really STINKS! In my opinion, it should lead off every news story and front page in the country. People are buying into all of this scripted bull do-do and that just makes me ill.

Bush's Iraq Visit in Stars & Stripes Letters to the Editor for 12/03/03. Qouted in full below:

"Bush’s Iraq visit

As a soldier deployed in Iraq, I hear all the complaints from individuals who think they have it worse than the next guy. I’m lucky enough to be with soldiers who often complain amongst themselves, but all they expect are good leadership and three square meals a day.

As part of the main push during major combat, our battalion was scattered all over the battlefield. We supported other units and paved the way (and roads) that others would use to get to the front lines. Our D9 teams helped push units as famous as the 101st Airborne Division from Kuwait to as far as Mosul. We took mine blasts and got shot at as we breached obstacles and cleared roads. Again, all we asked for was leadership and three squares a day.

During the war, Meals, Ready to Eat were naturally the way to go. They were appreciated, even by the vegetarians who had only crackers and cheese after the veggie meals were gone. Now that we’re stationed at Baghdad International Airport almost 10 months later, my soldiers believe that several comforts have finally arrived for them, like the post exchange and dining facility. But imagine their dismay when they walked 15 minutes to the Bob Hope Dining Facility, only to find that they were turned away from their evening meal because they were in the wrong unit.

The one thing that they find a requirement was denied to them. They understand that President Bush ate there and that upgraded security was required. But why were only certain units turned away? Why wasn’t there a special meal for President Bush and that unit in the new dance hall adjoining the 1st Armored Division’s band building? And all of this happened on Thanksgiving, the best meal of the year when soldiers get a taste of home cooking.

Were the local national servers also kept out of the building because of security reasons? Regardless, my soldiers chose to complain amongst themselves and eat MREs, even after the chow hall was reopened for “usual business” at 9 p.m. As a leader myself, I’d guess that other measures could have been taken to allow for proper security and still let the soldiers have their meal.

Sgt. Loren Russell Iraq"

View of the solar system

For a truly breathtaking diversion go here to see pictures from the Hubble Telescope. Absolutely amazing!

To Your Health

There were three important pieces of health news this week that I'd like to bring to your attention.

First, the British The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) told doctors to not perscribe SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) depressants to children with the exception of Prozac. Two primary problems with the SSRIs are depression - sometimes resulting in suicide - and addiction. (Drugs for depressed children banned Boseley, Guardian, 1210/03) None of these drugs, including Prozac, is licensed for percription to children in the UK, but doctors are prescribing them anyway. Apparently, the drug companies have known about this problem since 1996, but have suppressed the information.

The second bit of health news is that drugs don't work. According to an article by Steven Connor (Independent, 12/08/03) the Glaxo Chief states: Our Drugs Do Not Work on Most Patients

"A senior executive with Britain's biggest drugs company has admitted that most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them.

Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them.

It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior drugs boss has gone public. His comments come days after it emerged that the NHS drugs bill has soared by nearly 50 per cent in three years, rising by £2.3bn a year to an annual cost to the taxpayer of £7.2bn. GSK announced last week that it had 20 or more new drugs under development that could each earn the company up to $1bn (£600m) a year"

later in the article

"The vast majority of drugs - more than 90 per cent - only work in 30 or 50 per cent of the people," Dr Roses said. "I wouldn't say that most drugs don't work. I would say that most drugs work in 30 to 50 per cent of people. Drugs out there on the market work, but they don't work in everybody."

I didn't know this was an "open secret". Open to whom?

Last is a heads up regarding the FluMist Vaccine.
Given the apparent shortage of flu vaccine, many people may turn to a product called FluMist (made by MecImmune/Wyeth) as an alternative. FluMist uses weakend live virus strains of the same three viruses in the vaccine. This means that the live virus is in an aerosol form which one snorts up one's nose. One of the immediate reactions to snorting something up your nose is to sneeze - thereby putting the live virus back into the local environment. Certainly another consideration is that vaccines of any time should be used cautiously with people whose immune systems are compromised already.

Anyway, here are a couple of links for more information:

FluMist Patient Information Sheet - pdf file

Risks of FluMist Vaccine (this article raises some good points, but I can't vouch for the validity of the data presented)

I knew that elephants were smart!!!

Hungry Thai elephants raid villages, hijack sugarcane trucks (SMH, 12/9/03).

"Hungry elephants have gone on the rampage in eastern Thailand, ransacking villagers' plantations and forcing sugarcane trucks to stop so they can raid their goods, a report said yesterday.

Dry-season shortages have forced the 130 elephants from Ang Lue Nai wildlife sanctuary, which sprawls over five provinces, to seek food and water in nearby settlements, the sanctuary's chief Yoo Senatham told the Bangkok Post.

Yoo said the elephants had learned to pick up sugarcane dropped by drivers who took pity on them, but that the practice had taught them dangerous new habits.

He told the daily of incidents where the leader of the herd had stood in the road to block the vehicle while the others unloaded the produce with their trunks."

Who would of thought that elephants would become highway robbers?

A student of mine recently argued that parents without economic resources should know better than to steal food to feed their children because it just worsened their family's poverty as this would then be met with an increase in food prices. Maybe she should have a talk with these bandit elephants.

The Parable of Samarra

By guest author John Chuckman
[John's pieces appear in Counterpunch, Online Journal, Yellow Times, Media Monitors, Scoop, and many other sites. This was sent as a guest submission to Uncommon Thought. John Chuckman can be reached at chuckman@counterpunch.org, chuckman@yellowtimes.org, or JChuckman@mediamonitors.org.]

Front-page stories announced the greatest battle since the end of combat in Iraq with fifty-four insurgents killed and not an American soldier lost. We were given breathtaking details about two separate, coordinated attacks, the firing of rocket-propelled grenades at American vehicles, and the fact that many of the attackers wore Fedayeen militia uniforms associated with Saddam Hussein. Early reports even claimed eleven insurgents were captured.

In addition to headlines, we had sources like CNN pouring on the infotainment-interviews and instant wisdom. I noticed on the Internet that the redoubtable Wolf Blitzer exchanged schoolboy fantasies with a CIA dropout in search of his fifteen minutes. Never mind whether the attack happened, America learned that it would represent new tactics by insurgents, massing large forces against an armored American column. Oh, that does sound ominous and impressive.

Gradually, enough bits of information, including a story that it was actually an attempted heist of new Iraqi banknotes being delivered, raised serious questions over the battle. The idea of a heist made a little more sense than insurgents in uniform since Iraq under U.S. occupation is a country full of angry, unemployed people with streets too dangerous to walk at night.

There were so many doubts, the kinds of clues and irregularities that make a good detective avoid accepting first appearances. Not a single American killed by two large forces firing at them? And you had to wonder what desperate man would come close enough to a 60-ton Abrams tank to be seen firing a rocket-grenade capable of nothing more than scratching its paint? And how about those guys, before and after the attack, running around occupied Iraq in uniform? Where were the captives?

On the same day the Washington Post and other major American publications featured the dazzlingly fuzzy tale, a few sources like al Jazeera quoted the local hospital as having received the bodies of eight civilians, including a woman and a child, plus sixty more wounded by American fire. American tanks and other armored vehicles, said witnesses, had sprayed heavy fire recklessly over an urban area, including a pharmaceutical plant where at least one worker was killed

We now have enough information to be sure there was no battle. Yes, there was plenty of shooting and destruction, but not a single dead insurgent has been produced by American authorities who worked tirelessly to get pictures of the blood-soaked corpses of Saddam Hussein's sons quickly beamed around the world. Not a single militia uniform has been produced, nor any of the dozens of weapons necessarily left behind by dead insurgents dragged away by comrades.

The reports of residents, reports from the hospital, and the blunt, published observations of at least one American soldier tell us there was only a big shoot-up by Americans, blasting away at anything that moved, shattering buildings and the people huddled inside and leaving the street littered with tank-crushed cars. Who knows, perhaps a landmine or gunshot somewhere triggered it all, and trigger-happy soldiers, angry about being in what they regard as a hellhole, let loose enough firepower to level a city block.

It could be that American authorities actually believe there was a battle, with the dead and wounded having been dragged away by survivors. There is an irresistible tendency for people to create acceptable fantasies around the work they do, even when that work is killing.

I think it unlikely a retraction is coming. With a number of senior military men quoted by name that first day on non-existent details, a retraction would be impossibly embarrassing. Has there been any retraction of the fantasy about nuclear and other deadly weapons that sent American armies hurtling into Iraq? Bush just stopped talking about weapons and started talking about democracy. Good stuff, democracy, and it's hard to argue even with tongue-twisted platitudes praising its merits.

America's press will soon forget the Battle of Samarra, as it soon forgets everything from which most of the easily-squeezed juice has been consumed. I very much doubt Iraqis will forget it, certainly not the relatives, friends, and neighbors of those killed and mutilated by fear-crazed Americans rolling through their streets with terrible weapons at the ready.

Perhaps the New York Times will do some digging, following its usual practice of joining the mob in its first bloody howls, and only later, when ardor has cooled, doing an investigation that keeps the paper technically accurate for the record. It's a way of enjoying the best of both worlds, although generally the conclusions of its follow-up investigations are left ambiguous enough not to embarrass the establishment the paper serves.

The war's main goal - smashing Iraq and resurrecting it as a liberal democratic state - is also a fantasy, although one on a vastly greater scale. There is no historical authority whatever to support even the plausibility of this idea.

I recently heard an American academic pontificating on the subject as though it were something one could study and be expert in, but it is not. Much like the numerous American experts in terror who make substantial livings giving scare-lectures to corporate leaders on expense accounts or Pentagon working lunches, this man is an expert in a subject at which it is virtually impossible to be expert.

Terrorism is not a science, it is an opportunistic approach to hurting a militarily superior enemy, although it is clearly possible to put a lot of cumbersome words around the topic. The pseudo-science of smashing closed societies and rebuilding them as democracies is loaded with the same kind of coined, self-serving words that fill ephemeral, anecdotal books on psychology, management, and healthy living. The subjects are close kin to the junk science that clogs the arteries of America's courts.

In the isolated, paranoid, and money-drenched atmosphere of Washington, junk science is serious stuff. Bush, in making his foolish decision to invade Iraq, may be seen ultimately as the victim of well-paid quacks.

Perhaps the only cases in history with superficial resemblance to what is intended for Iraq are those of Germany and Japan after World War II, but, in truth, there are almost no parallels here.

Germany and Japan had suffered war with millions of casualties. In the massive, late bombing of Japan, before America resorted to atomic weapons, there were no primary or secondary targets left standing. What has been inflicted on Iraq is nothing quite so terrible. Japan or Germany was as close as you can get to being a tabula rasa.

The successful conversions of Germany and Japan to liberal democracy occurred in the extraordinary context of the Cold War. The people of Germany and Japan were faced with the stark choice of joining one camp or the other. The correct choice, despite many qualms about America, was pretty clear with Stalin's terrifying face glowering over the Soviet Union. Today, the United States is not viewed by the world as the alternative to a tyrannical, frightening Soviet Union; it is viewed as an arrogant, privileged land that does pretty much as it pleases.

The case is even stronger than that because America today is so intimately associated with Israel. Even though Arab states are resigned to Israel's existence, they can hardly be expected to embrace occupation and constant abuse. Moreover, parallels in the circumstances of occupied Palestinians to those of occupied Iraqis are unpleasantly close and appear to grow more so each day.

Germany and Japan were both advanced countries, undoubtedly on the cusp of developing their own democratic institutions, Germany having already gained some experience between the world wars. Police states simply do not survive over the long term in advanced countries. Democracy comes precisely out of the overwhelming force of middle-class interests that flood an advanced economy.

It is almost universally true that poorly-developed countries are not democracies. There are few enough institutions of any kind in such countries, and certainly none to sustain democracy. There is no balance of interests where there is a small privileged group and a great mass of poverty and ignorance. Purchased courts, purchased police, and laws written to favor the powerful are the rule. This kind of imbalance is felt even in the United States. In a poor country, its influence is decisive. Where such countries are officially designated as democracies, we typically find rigged elections.

Germany and Japan were both old nations with strong identities. Iraq is an artificial construct of British imperialism dating only to the last century. It is composed of groups having little in common, having been held together only by the brute force of a dictator. Each of these groups is also subject to many external influences, a reflection of the arbitrary and recently-set boundaries in the region.

There is also difficulty with the notion that you can have popular democracy in a place like contemporary Iraq and yet have a country friendly to American interests, especially as those interests are reflected in the activities of an uncompromising, combative, nuclear-armed Israel. Bush has achieved nothing in pushing Israel towards peace, so why expect favorable decisions from an Islamic population voting freely?

In other places in the Middle East, like Egypt, America supports a combination of winked-at authoritarian government and substantial bribe-paying. Why does America support this if there are realistic alternatives? That was the situation that existed in Iraq until the Gulf War. The populace of Egypt, so far as we can understand in the absence of genuine measures of public opinion, is not one that would freely elect a government friendly to a number of American interests. The same is almost certainly true of Iraq.

Is the U.S. likely to leave behind in Iraq either a highly unstable government, one whose quick collapse would bring civil war between the major groups, or a democratically-elected government, stable but hostile to American interests? These and so many other questions only show how little Bush thought before he reached for a gun.

We are unlikely to learn the truth from officials about the Battle of Samarra, and so it is with the entire reckless adventure of invading Iraq. American troops are going to be in Iraq for a long time, and there is no reason to expect they are going to make any more friends for America than the boys doing the shooting in Samarra.

OK, what are we doing?

There is so darned much news that is is difficult to pick what to write about. How about Afghanistan?

Well, there have been a couple of "unfortunate" incidents there lately. This weekend US Forces killed nine children going after a suspected Taliban member - they were playing in a field at the time they were gunned down ( US military sorry for killing nine Afghanistan children, Brunstrom, NZ Herald, 12/8/03). Not to be deterred, another site was attacked yesterday killing six more children and two adults (12/11/03 Brunnstrom, The Star/S. Africa, Children's deaths haunt US in Afghanistan). To make sure that it's not all bad news, the Afghan Education Ministry is offering Free 'catch-up' classes for Afghan schools (Guardian, 12/9/03). Hopefully no suspected Taliban or terrorists show up in the vicinity.

The US has also decided to get more aggressive in Iraq, and have decided to learn from the apparent professionals at "terrorist" suppression - Israel. One tactic is to enforce democracy by encircling towns with barb wire (Tough New Tactics by U.S. Tighten Grip on Iraq Towns, Filkins, NY Times, 12/07/03). And Israel is contributing to the US military's skill set by <Training US Assassination Squads in Iraq, Borger, Guardian, 12/09/03). Gosh, I thought that assassination was against international law, but then maybe that is why we are forcing immunity for the US for any war crimes.

The US is back to strong arming and retribution for those not joining the "coalition of the willing" by banning French, German, and Russian companies from bidding for Iraqi reconstruction contracts.

Pentagon Bars Three Nations From Iraq Bids (Jehl, NYT, 12/10/03) "The Pentagon has barred French, German and Russian companies from competing for $18.6 billion in contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq, saying it was acting to protect "the essential security interests of the United States."

The directive, issued Friday by Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, represents the most substantive retaliation to date by the Bush administration against American allies who opposed its decision to go to war in Iraq.

The administration had warned before the war that countries that did not join in an American-led coalition would not have a voice in decisions about the rebuilding of Iraq. But it had not previously made clear that companies in those countries would be excluded from competing for a share in the money for Iraq's reconstruction that the United States approved last month.

Those funds will pay for a total of 26 lucrative contracts for rebuilding Iraq's electricity, oil and water sectors and equipping its army.

Under the guidelines, only companies from the United States, Iraq and 61 countries designated "coalition partners" will be allowed to bid on the contracts. France, Germany and Russia are not on the list. "

One of the interesting side effects of all the contracting that is going on is that private corporations are now the second largest member of the "coalition of the willing - or the "coalition of the bought and paid for."

The privatisation of war (Traynor, Guardian, 12/10/03) "Private corporations have penetrated western warfare so deeply that they are now the second biggest contributor to coalition forces in Iraq after the Pentagon, a Guardian investigation has established.

While the official coalition figures list the British as the second largest contingent with around 9,900 troops, they are narrowly outnumbered by the 10,000 private military contractors now on the ground.

The investigation has also discovered that the proportion of contracted security personnel in the firing line is 10 times greater than during the first Gulf war. In 1991, for every private contractor, there were about 100 servicemen and women; now there are 10.

The private sector is so firmly embedded in combat, occupation and peacekeeping duties that the phenomenon may have reached the point of no return: the US military would struggle to wage war without it.

While reliable figures are difficult to come by and governmental accounting and monitoring of the contracts are notoriously shoddy, the US army estimates that of the $87bn (£50.2bn) earmarked this year for the broader Iraqi campaign, including central Asia and Afghanistan, one third of that, nearly $30bn, will be spent on contracts to private companies. "

Some key points from the above article:
- battleships were manned with Naval personnel, "civilians from four companies operating some of the world's most sophisticated weapons systems."

- Predator drones, the Global Hawks, and the B-2 stealth bombers "their weapons systems, too, were operated and maintained by non-military personnel working for private companies."

- "A US company has the lucrative contracts to train the new Iraqi army, another to recruit and train an Iraqi police force. "

Traynor argues a good point by saying that the heavy use of private companies in both combat and non-combat roles "enables the Americans, in particular, to wage wars by proxy and without the kind of congressional and media oversight to which conventional deployments are subject." Traynor goes on to state that these private employees are not subject to the same laws and controls as the military is - a situation that has been abused. Dyncorp was given the Iraq contract to serve as private guards and train the Iraqi police. This is a contract that they also won in Bosnia. However, in Bosnia, Dyncorp employees were involved in a sex slavery case which was settled out of court. The Dyncorp whistleblower was fired.

One has to wonder at the direction the US is going. There are obvious areas that should raise flags all over the place:
- focusing more and more aggressive attacks based on "intelligence" (which somehow seems to be misguided or out of date way too often);
- given the recent killing of children in Afghanistan, the Iraqi Health Ministry has decided to Stop Counting Civilian Dead, which I am sure is fine with the US military as they haven't wanted to count either civilian of military deaths and casualties in Iraq;
- the number and scope and awarding of contracts to corporations in Iraq (and elsewhere);
- the types of leverage being used to support the "war on terrorism";
- and mostly ... the lies and misdirections.

Yep a big news day, and this just touched the surface of one area. I guess that China, global warming, and the US blocking aid for AIDS, and the $125 billion fine that Freddie Mac is paying from our tax dollars will have to go in a different piece.

Portland Oregon and Surrounds

(Thanks to Emily at Strangechord for the notice on this one.)

#### MINDFUL GIFTS BAZAAR #####

"Not another scarf! Not another tie!!!" Give a gift that meets a real need by
supporting dozens of Portland non-profits at the

Mindful Gifts Bazaar!
Saturday, Dec. 13, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
at Bridgeport United Church of Christ
621 NE 76th Ave. (76th and Irving)

- Give your loved ones a mindful gift this holiday season!
- Dozens of nonprofits from the Portland metro area gathered all in one place.
- Find community with other thoughtful shoppers.
- Music, food, and terrific company all day!

Every gift comes with a creative symbolic token or certificate for presentation. Gift "units" range from $10-$25 and are fully tax-deductible.

Read more here: Mindful Gifts

New Request from the 9/11 Action Committee

For more information, you may contact Kyle F. Hence

Inform yourself of Kristen's record on this issue and please act today, right now and contact Daschle's office!

URGE DASCHLE TO RESCUE THE CREDIBILITY OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION BY APPOINTING KRISTEN BREITWEISER TO REPLACE MAX CLELAND

The 9/11 Independent Commission's inquiry into the greatest national defense disaster in American history is in trouble. A majority of members have been tarnished with conflict of interest allegations for their ties to airlines, oil companies, and the Bush Administration. The commission is also under fire for not requiring witnesses to testify under oath and for allowing administration "minders" to chaperone its private deposition interviews. The Administration is not cooperating, the media is missing in action, and the Commission's clock is running out. With two-thirds of its mandated life already passed, it is still awaiting access to critical documents from the FAA, NORAD and the White House.

To make matters much worse, it has also just lost Max Cleland, one of the few commissioners untainted by conflict of interest problems and certainly the most outspoken with regard to the facts. (e.g., "As each day goes by we learn that this government knew a whole lot more about these terrorists before September 11th than it has ever admitted." NY Times 10/26/03) He was also the sole member to speak out against the Commission leaders' deal allowing the White House to severely limit and censure access to requested Bush briefing documents. As he raged to Wolf Blitzer on CNN (11/13/03), ""This is a scam, it's disgusting. America is being cheated... We shouldn't be making deals. If somebody wants to deal, we issue subpoenas. That's the deal."

Nine days later Bush disqualified him from the Commission by appointing him to the board of the Export-Import Bank. (Ref: "New Job Takes Cleland Off 9/11 Panel" http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20031123-091108- 4750r.htm)

Sen. Tom Daschle must now select Cleland's replacement, and victim families and advocate groups are lining up to urge that he nominate Kristen Breitweiser, co-chair of September 11th Advocates and founding member of the 9/11 Commission's "Family Steering Committee." Breitweiser lost her husband Ronald in WTC Tower Two and was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the 9/11 Commission when the congressional 9/11 joint intelligence inquiry was restricted, redacted and stonewalled.

As a knowledgeable and trusted representative of the 9/11 victim family community, Breitweiser has been widely called "conscience of 9/11." It is difficult to imagine another commission candidate who would bring her degree of commitment and honesty to this most vital task. Her inclusion would help guarantee the Commission's integrity and greatly restore public trust in its proceedings and commitment to the truth.

Please contact Tom Daschle immediately and ask him to appoint Kristen
Breitweiser to the 9/11 Commission to repair the panel's credibility, ensure full accountability, and restore the nation's peace of mind. No more political operatives or party insiders, we need an honest citizen for this mission.

===========================================
Daschle Contact Info
Fax: (202) 224-6603 - Washington, DC Office
Email form: http://daschle.senate.gov/webform.html
Tel: Washington DC (202) 224-2321;
Rapid City: (605) 348-7551; Sioux Falls: (605) 334-9596
===========================================

REFERENCE LINKS FOR KRISTEN BREITWEISER

FAMILY STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE 9/11 INDEPENDENT COMMISSION
http://www.911independentcommission.org

STATEMENT OF KRISTEN BREITWEISER TO JOINT COMMITTEES ON INTELLIGENCE
September 18, 2002
http://www.markriebling.com/0918breitweistertagged.html

Transcript of Breitweiser's 8/13/02 "Donahue" Interview
http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc672.html

FOUR 9/11 MOMS BATTLE BUSH
-- Gail Sheehy's Breakthrough Mainstream Story on the Abiding Questions, Grief and Fury among 9/11 Victim Family Members Two Years Later
New York Observer, 8/25/03
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/print.php?sid=21

SECRETS OF 9/11 : Soledad O'Brien's "American Morning" Interview with Kristen Breitweiser CNN, November 17, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0311/17/ltm.08.html

ON WATCHING DC 9/11
-- A "Mind-Numbingly Boring" Propaganda Film by Kristen Breitweiser
A 9/11 widow reviews Showtime's film about President Bush's "heroic" actions on and after that fateful morning.
http://911citizenswatch.org/print.php?sid=18

DC 9/11 Ref: "BUSH KNEW - A NATIONAL REQUIEM"
Riveting "Take Back the Media" Animation on Bush's Actual Behavior on the Morning of 9/11
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/true911.html

NEWSDAY EDITORIAL (EXCERPT)
December 5, 2003

The latest setback to the independent commission studying the 9/11
terrorist attacks is the impending loss of Max Cleland, the former Georgia
senator who has been a strong voice for full disclosure of government
information. Once Cleland has left the commission, Senate Minority Leader
Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) must replace him quickly with someone who can hit the
ground running. The 9/11 families have closely followed the commission's
work from day one. So Daschle should consider choosing Cleland's successor
from among the leaders of the family groups, someone who could jump into
the commission's work without first climbing a steep learning curve.

On the lighter side

I've been having a stressed out couple of weeks so thought I'd share several interesting and diverting sites with you.

One the grim, but interesting side:The Meatrix.com - you will reconsider corporate agriculture. (Thanks Kim)

On the political humor side is a post at Reach 'em High Bush Campaign Slogans you can use - Kahlil was working on high steam with these!

And finally, just for diversion Singing Kittens a music video by Rathergood,com and Independent Woman. I have yet to figure out what they are saying, but I chuckle every time. (Thanks Kelly)

New kinks in the military-industrial complex

While Halliburton has the sweetest deal going in Iraq getting $1bn for sitting around waiting for a contract issue to be resolved, and Rumsfeld replaces troops in Iraq with private companies for transportation, operations, and logistics, and private security forces guard military bases in the US, Rumsfeld wants to go farther. Rumsfeld wants to essentially privatize the military (Ridgeway, Village Voice, 12/04/03).

According to the RIdgeway article:

If Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has his way, the vaunted U.S. military of the future will be transformed into what amounts to corporate-owned units. The daffy secretary calls his plan "outsourcing." The intention, he claims, is to put the lid on money going into expanding of the army so it can be diverted to new technologies such as Rummy's favorite hobby, fighting wars from space.

Rumsfeld has already outsourced much of the logistics and supply functions of the military to private firms, especially to Cheney's old employer Halliburton. There are now 90-odd companies competing to provide private soldiers from places like Fiji and Nepal to work as machine-gun-toting guards in Iraq.

Rumsfeld has considered privatizing U.S. military arsenals, its ammunition plants, and repair depots by spinning them off into federal corporations modeled along the lines of Fannie Mae. The secretary, whom Jesse Helms once called "the Energizer Bunny," also wants to free up some of the military budget as venture capital to entice private industry into running our armed forces.

Generally, the Military/Industrial complex has focused around supplying goods to the military - some cheap goods and some VERY EXPENSIVE goods. Now, Rumsfeld's vision is much broader and more direct, putting private companies in charge of actual military operations and facilities. Of course, we wouldn't want the corps to have to pay for this bone, so he wants to set up GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises) - see post this site Back to Government Sponsored Enterprizes, 11/23/03.

Rumsfeld's stated purpose is to quit wasting money on troops and instead spend it on bigger, fancier, more high tech, and VERY EXPENSIVE weapons. Soldiering will become the role of multinational corporations hiring a global workforce to run around killing who they are told. If global soldiering works the way that the global workforce currently does, then soldiers should be pretty cheap. Plus, you wouldn't have to offer them all those fancy benefits like health care, education benefits, or (shh) family death benefits. And like the current exploited third world workforce, totally expendable. The perfect "army" I guess.

OF COURSE the US tax payer is still paying, and I guarantee you this is not a "thrifty" solution. However, its does pose a dramatic opportunity to transfer the wealth of the nation into corporate hands even more quickly, and the power as well. Not to mention that when we start arming these corporations with the high tech, highly deadly, weapons the other side of the M/I is making, who is going to argue with them?

I'm going to stew on this a while. I hope that Congress does as well, but that is unlikely since they seem to have only two brains between them - dumb and dumber.

August blackout - was it a military operation?

As the massive east cost blackout has been used to justify the Republican "energy" policy, and committees formed to investigate what could have gone wrong, we might have saved time and money by just asking the military. Is it possible that it was a military operation? According to an article at Prison Planet by Oliver Midleson 912/08/03), the Joint Task Force Told Face to Face, Blackout was a Military Test. The documentation to support the claims is at Global Free Press - Joint Force. If the substance of the chronology is true, then it certainly is reasonable to at least include a test of HAARP in the causal possibilities.

Different Worlds - Different Glimpses: Part 3

By Mathew Maavak

Mr. Maavak can be reached at qannai@hotmail.com

This is the final part in a three part series. Here are the links to: Part 1 Different Worlds - Different Glimpses and Part 2 The Interrogation

The Gun-Lined Highway

(This is fast becoming a study in ethnology, bigotry and violence. After all, I am in the American South!)

Already flustered by the effusive welcome at the Forth Worth/Dallas airport, I was expecting the same gracious hospitality elsewhere in Texas. It made matters more divine that Dallas was an “oil capital”, glamorized by the 70s TV series whose characters deserved seraphic halos not entitled to the real things.

My host Nathan summarized my first impressions of Texas. “Everything comes big here!” For someone known to have read thousands of books – he is only 38 – and whose apartment is stacked ceiling-high with the classics and opuscules of knowledge, that statement barely scratched the surface. The Texan obsession for things big is generally a phallic-dictated substitute for self-inadequacy. You find similar tumescence of the collective ego elsewhere, like that 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, the finest curio of cockeyed engineering.

Meals of any kind came in large portions, the cars were bigger, and the cables channels profligate while shopping is opiatic enough to get your mind off life’s needless irritants. One doesn’t want to hear news of dying Americans in Iraq when a Nike goes for under 20 dollars. People here have mastered the art of mall-hopping to get the best discounts. It is true that the prices are greatly slashed but so are precious hours that could be devoted to learning why shopping is addictive. Yet, the capitalist game can vex any traveler pressed for time and money. A search for a prepaid SIM card proved elusive. One telecom operator reportedly offered them but nobody was sure. My cellphone was now useless. One night after returning from a dinner, I had to call up Nathan after having missed his apartment unit by inches, floors and then blocks several times. There was a gas station nearby but the phone booths were vandalized. A lady on the station’s night shift was kind enough to lend me her cellphone. My SOS call was answered by the personal appearance of Nathan a few minutes later. I have yet to visit a developing country where prepaid SIM cards were not easily available.

Patience is needed to get acquainted with US coins. Like Texas, size doesn’t correspond with value and it’s difficult to distinguish a quarter from a dime, as the initiation period can take weeks, hastened by one or two gaffes. One can fritter away a 20-dollar note here instead of the lowest bill, and that’s why they have the words annuit coeptis. “He hath smiled on our undertakings?” And who may that be? The god of big things?

Even in Texas, Asian immigrants manage to blend in. You can find enterprising restaurateurs who had fled an Indo-China moonscaped by the precursors of our Daisy Cutters that once buried the million bones of women and children. They can be forgotten but every suspected American remains, even teeth plucked out for lack of Colgate, in that area has become a bargaining chip for concessions. If anyone even attempts to think that the US government considers the splintered remains of its dead soldiers sacrosanct, try reading the mainstream news and its current coverage of Iraq.

Among the upper scale of immigrants, the more sensible MIT grads from India are finding Europe more salubrious. For one, Continental airport staffs have enough global savoir-faire to realize shades of brown doesn’t translate to terrorism. The nouveau riche, on the other hand, loves the US for epicurean reasons. They can bear them all. Back home for visits, they can prattle about their space-age laptops, Aiwa TVs, Timex watches and a 10-dollar Baron Philippe de Rothschild (2002) chardonnay. These things are not found elsewhere you see…

One can enjoy Dallas, and Texas as a whole, provided you have a fascination for the absurd. From the balcony of my apartment, two eyesores popped out. One was a giant billboard advertising a gun show and the other was the airport where I was given the red carpet reception. I need to digress a little here. Just a week back, a Malaysian Chinese colleague returned from New York and was surprised that his luggage was neither checked nor X-rayed, like mine. But then, he didn’t get that NSEER stamp either, or a four-hour interrogation on his first visit. Racial profiling doesn’t happen here; it is only meant for terrorists. That’s why Timothy McVeigh-like screwballs might find incendiary pastimes more facile post-Sept 11.

Observing the airport, I knew how possible it was to carry explosives in my luggage, and couple them later with pre-set hardware to shoot down those hovering Boeings. After being trained with similar “skills” as those stupid American generals in Iraq, the security flaws were downright shocking. There are hundreds of possibilities. The following is one. It was the minority staff that deliberately caused all my problems at US airports. They weren’t Arabs, for sure, but what better way to connive over contraband material and people –some of them kins I suspect - than by focusing endlessly on suspected terrorists? Forget drugs, there are tons of technologies being smuggled out by those who don’t look Middle Eastern. Check the latest the Tiger Economy tech manuals and discover that piracy is complete down to the last typo error. Technology follows a progression; it’s not built in a day. It’s time for Bush’s paymasters to remind him of the loss of countless billions, and for a moral effect, American jobs and taxes. This is the least damaging scenario at any US airport I can think off. I guess it will be easier now for Chinese nationals to steal Silicon Valley secrets. It’s more difficult to find such cover scoops on Time. Later on, you might read the same old story of how certain technology has passed on to Pakistan, Al Qaeda and “rogue states”. Of course, Far Eastern criminal syndicates are finding this period to be a boon, helped greatly by airport security personnel who are “doing their duty”.

Sense is not a forte of the American government; the nation is a flawed artifice, best exemplified in Texas. The New World had to create a new culture and a character template from scratch. Rome was indeed built in a day. Things haven’t changed much since 1776. The underprivileged, persecuted and dregs from Europe couldn’t impart much in terms of philosophical refinement. This void was naturally filled with a culture of cowboys and injuns, guns and duels, crass capitalism and bastardized music that needs Valium or something stronger to tolerate. A chasm thus emerged between the lilts of Mozart, sensible social contracts, rule of law instead of duels, and a plurality that gradually developed in Europe, right through its tumultuous state-forming period. How this group of early Texan immigrants, preponderantly German, had lost touch with their mother culture is a complete mystery. Many retain their German names; others anglicized it while the original Anglo-Saxon denizens combine to make Texas a distant Teutonic outpost. The best Aryan traits vanished; the more minatory ones remained, generally, intact. It is aggression, bigotry and violence. A German once remarked of their Gothic bigheartedness. Americans “conception of life are determined by a greedy shopkeeper’s outlook and who love none of the loftiest expressions of the human spirit.” Does this ring true? The man’s name was Adolph Hitler! Try not to agonize over this statement made by someone whose only lofty taste was debatably Wagner or the VW beetle. However, German soldiers were long back warned of approaching Yankee GIs, as they “were once young German boys who crossed the Atlantic during their teens.” The Teutonic psyche displays no sympathy for weakness, fatality strikes when you lose the upper hand. Calling a spade a bloody shovel can be complex maneuver. How can America and Nazi Germany mix? It can. One-time enemy villains can become national heroes later. Wernher von Braun sent up man to the moon after raining V2 rockets on London years earlier.

Contrived cultures find it hard to match the works of Socrates or the Napoleonic codes and here Carl Gustav Jung’s concept of archetypes, according to my interpretation, finds an almost textbook validation. When you have a Wild, Wild West culture, existence is marked by its myriad crudity, something that will be bequeathed to your progeny. No amount of churches in a conservative Texas can redeem this curse, which can ironically be corrected if “you give to God what is God’s, to Caesar what belongs to him” – a clear separation of state and divine values. Instead of Christ’s advice, you only find perversions of virtue, the delineation blurred, and Caesar apotheosized. In the end, murderers, cowards and liars get elected to power, enrapturing military chaplains to besiege the Lord to “help us kill ‘em” in Iraq. The Seventh Heaven awaits! If the mainstream American church is more obsessed with Solomon’s treasures than his wisdom, you can’t expect much else from the military-industrial-political and what not complex.

The site of too many churches in Texas was actually depressing. Why? Coz they have yet to understand the meaning of Hebrew and Greek words like Gehenna, Sheoul, Olam, and Aión-Aiónios. They can’t explain these three scriptures – Lam 3: 31-33, Romans 8: 35-39 (notice the significance of the word death?) and1 Pet 3: 19-20 - out of hundreds of supporting ones. They find themselves trapped in contradictions instead of being liberated by contexts and linguistic nuances. Instead of eternal redemption for every soul, the Germanic hell has become a central Christian message. If you think this is heresy, ask any Jewish rabbi about hell, and then ask another the same question. Observe if they agree. Even evangelists seem to hate the now profaned Christian message. Hell-mongering firebrands keep attaining higher spiritual states like whore-mongering and money-laundering, the stuff tabloids thrive on.. Attend any Pentecostal church and ask yourself whether it breeds fear or hope? Like Bush’s terrorism bogey, the miracle churches command obedience by invoking perdition, though the fire and brimstone message is unlikely to be preached during tithing time. During this interlude, which can last as long as the sermon, there are plenty of smiles and a reminder that prosperity depends on your tithes. With the exception of pharisaical hypocrisy, you can’t find any specific mention of tithes in a New Testament of let’s see…27 books? God needs that money and so does your government. He wants sacrifice, not mercy! See any difference here? Same everywhere, in every religion and government…

Does this mean that this land is one of mentally challenged cowboys? One of the most exceptional men I have ever known is a Texan named Charles Slagle. Even after becoming an evangelist, the conventional image of his God and faith tormented him, culminating in a near fatal episode. It was only at the brink that he understood the forgotten message of the bible. Read Charles’ website at www.sigler.org/slagle and you’ll know how a flock can be shackled by the “truth”. Now, ponder how US domestic policies reflect Augustinian doctrines or the piety of Charles Finney, a hero of many modern US evangelicals.

Unlike Finney, Charles Slagle was greatly tormented about the “us four and no more going to heaven club?” Lets take the Jungian explanation instead of scriptures. Charles is descended from a German aristocrat named Johan(n) von Slagle. That could be von Schlagle or the famous literati von Schlegel family. A gifted pianist, he is the only evangelist I know who writes Christian messages O’ Henry-style. And as for his humanity and lifelong rebellion against religious abuse, I can only attribute it to his pedigree, which had a head start in literacy, education and cerebrations that are more likely to jounce about in a mind concerned with wealth, power, hedging and perhaps aesthetics. Back in the old days, that mind belonged to an aristocratic. These are passed along to the progeny, producing peacemakers, duds, black sheep and thinkers. Later I will meet another kind Texan with a similar background. And the most exceptional woman I had met is my American sweetheart, a descendent of Theobald Wolfe Tone - that famous Irish patriot who opposed British savagery. Is this a case for elitism? Well, Christ’s disciples were crude fishermen and they did set the world ablaze didn’t they? Choose this day whether you want to ruminate or be a ruminant. Violence is fertile in the dung of bovine existence.

After three days, it was time to visit my relative Joe in Austin. Since I was into this history stuff, he recounted eventful spots along the route. “Remember what happened in Dallas in 1963?” Why, of course! The Zapruder footage! John F. Kennedy is still better known for his tainted sexual escapades abroad than for his alleged attempts to do the sacrilegious –clean up the government! A reckless enterprise since the god of big things will never suffer this. There was a common denominator in Joe’s historical commentary along the route. They all dealt with guns and violence of sorts, the most prominent one being Waco and the famous massacre atop University of Texas’ landmark tower. But guns don’t kill people, people do.” Lee Harvey Oswald got his mail-ordered, a cheap one that was startling in its accuracy, sufficient to win the Olympic gold medal by any long shot. Still, we can’t carry them on planes. I wonder why? Its people who kill after all…

The class distinction in Texas was stark. Asians and Whites command wealth and education while Hispanics form the lumpen strata. Whether by design or accident, this community has effectively committed economic suicide by its “proud” fixation with the Spanish language. Hernan Cortez was more loveable than any Aztec emperor. The problem really is not Spanish, but a crackpot attempt to make it a parallel official language. This doesn’t work. Try noticing Christian minorities worldwide. They are generally better educated and mobile, and have long understood the inestimable portal called the English language. It smoothens education and makes them the ideal bridging community. A good number of Arab journalists on the Western side of the Middle East are Christian, and so are many of their top professionals. Two of the greatest Arab intellectuals this century were Edward Said and Khalil Gibran, Christians who excelled in English and understood the West. During WWII, there were indications that Japanese Quakers, a highly privileged lot then, did their best to avert war and get a fair deal for Japan. They were ideally suited to this task. Even tyrants realize that bridges should not be burnt. The Chaldean Tariq Aziz was probably the only Iraqi who could say unpalatable truths to Saddam’s face. Others paid with their lives for this. Anomalies yet occur. Any post-war, genuine US-Japan amity was effectively obliterated by Fat Man’s headlong plunge on Nagasaki’s Roman Catholic redoubt of Urakami, killing 40,000 people. This bellyful of plutonium created a two-mile long crater, a feat befitting its fissile obesity. The catholic schools I attended kept surprisingly silent about this “accident” of history”. Then again, the Pope ranks condoms higher in the litany of evils.

The University of Texas is a wonder. Like everything else here, it is huge and boasts of over 50,000 students, the biggest in the country. Appearances can be deceptive and this ivory phallus is worth a study. Breeze through the classrooms and you’ll hear didactic lectures for post-grads. I suppose the geography major starts off with a representation of the globe. Yes, it is a sphere. In the second semester, you might learn that it is in fact an oblate spheroid. Some of these students might go on to chart navigation routes during future bombing missions in Afghanistan. Gone are the days when a general’s bark is met with the question, “but where is Afghanistan?” The fat Mother of all Bombs (MOAB) now relies more on intelligent binary codes rather than the less technical, four-lettered coordinates. I did drop into a few departments, for different reasons. But there was one conundrum even eminent professors couldn’t solve. I have a Master’s degree from UK’s renowned University of Leeds. There was a problem. I was given a direct MA admission, without having a bachelor’s degree. “Do I qualify for a PhD here?” There was shock, disbelief or perhaps suspicions of fraud. No American student does that, or in their opinion, can do that. Some groped for a solution but finally it seems the university rules disallowed it. I feigned umbrage, pretending that American fatuity wasn’t obvious even to the unschooled. “But my university is listed alongside Cambridge and Oxford in the Russell group”- a cluster of institutions that doesn’t depend on Ivy for pretensions of quality. They said no, it was not possible. I had to take an undergraduate program before I qualified for a doctorate. I looked crestfallen and angry, bellying a germinating plot to enter the Guinness Book of Records under the category “The first student in the US to do an undergraduate program after having attained a Masters, for the same program” (Note: Even Cambridge allows direct MPhil admissions based on merit, intellect and work experience). If you know English alphabets and enough basic knowledge, you can bypass two-year American masters programs for a one-year quality course in the UK. The under funded universities there prefer quality education to virile facades.

We go back again to the University of Texas. It is an ethnic staat im staate. The cornucopia of blondes would have goaded any Reinhard Heydrich to fake a drawl. Hispanics students were relatively few, no doubt helped by affirmative action. The Austin American- Statesman says there is a definite improvement here. Asians, who once formed over half of the post-graduate population at US campuses, were predictably milling about in smaller numbers. You can’t blame Sept 11 and humiliating experiences at airports alone. The application process at US universities takes around 18 months, entailing a sheer torture of paperwork and documentation. Plus, there are these stupid exams called SAT, GRE and GMAT that tests your elementary school math skills. No such problem in the UK- an application can be processed and approved in one week by a discerning faculty member. Mine was!

I know Indians who are beginning to prefer European universities to MIT. There are better prospects and monetary rewards as you get to be a salaried lecturer in most places while doing your doctorate. And of course, you don’t get threatened with “detention” by a cowboy janitor for passing through a side entrance marked ‘exit’. You only take this calmly when you need to expound on the mechanics of stupidity and bigotry at America’s largest university. At the rate things are going, the foreign student demographics will change, with Chinese nationals who can’t understand terms like “lower end of the market” waltzing into Harvard Business School (I personally met a bloke who achieved this). Who needs the GRE anyway? Many smart American students can’t attain this, as they understand “lower end of the market” too well. They unfortunately belong to that category! All the while, American taxpayer money subsidizes the exotic yearlong vacations of young Israelis, after completing their national service. It doesn’t matter that US soldiers are dying, or can’t afford an escapade to the Interiors of Kulu, India, where one can seek real transcendental peace through the magic of charas, a panacea for the war weary that regularly battles for top spot at Amsterdam’s Cannabis Cup festival.

For those dead and dying US soldiers, the Texan media pays reverential tribute by rhapsodizing over the Austin City Limits Festival and flimflams that are somehow more important than the war in Iraq. Dead Texan soldiers get a mention or two. There is one cruel word for this. Stucke! You reap what you sow; you regurgitate vile cuds when you cease thinking!

Dec 8, 2003
Copyright © Mathew Maavak, 2003

Two stories of globalization

One of my favorite toys as a child was Etch A Sketch. I was never very good at it, but my Mom was great. She could do full pictures on the darn thing. I watched her and saw what was possible, and it makes up some precious moments with her. Etch A Sketch also taught a different lesson for me - impermanence. No matter how good or bad my etches were, they disappeared with a single shake - and my Mom's did too. The purpose of sometimes hours of work was the work itself. Thinking about that in more recent years (and yes I have bought Etch A Sketches recently) it flies in the face of so much of today's socialization. Anyhow, given my feelings about Etch A Sketch, I couldn't miss two articles in the 12/07/03 NY Times about the company, both written by Joseph Kahn and conveniently separated into two different sections of the paper. In the "National" section was An Ohio Town Is Hard Hit as Leading Industry Moves to China, and in the "International" section - Ruse in Toyland: Chinese Workers' Hidden Woe. Both Bryan, Ohio and Shenzhen, China have something in common - Etch A Sketch.

Bryan, Ohio was the home of Etch A Sketch. Like so many other manufacturing jobs, the union workers at Ohio Art (the makers of Etch A Sketch) lost their jobs to a "cheaper" international workforce. Like so many others, life time employees of Ohio Arts found themselves on the streets of their town looking for jobs that didn't exist. Like so many other small towns, the loss of the jobs has torn the heart out of Bryan. Sometimes I think that this hidden loss is deliberately occluded by discussion of the decline and death of rural communities. The implanting of the idea that the only thing outside of major urban centers is fields waiting to become Wal-Mart hubs.

The Ohio Art workers kind of knew that the end was near. The company had brought in workers to be trained by the long time employees of Ohio Art. It seems sadistic doesn't it to have workers train their replacements knowing that their jobs, their lives as they know them, and their communities will be wiped away by the job they are required to perform? Such was the case for the Ohio Arts workers - some of whom had been with the company for 40 years.

That loss for Bryan was three years ago. They got their notices a week before Christmas. Now, on the other side of the ocean, the replacements are also suffering. Ohio Arts contracted the making of Etch A Sketch to a Chinese company named Kin Ki Industrial. Kin Ki promotes itself as a great work place - down to telling employees what to say when US companies come to inspect them. However, the reality of the Kin Ki company doesn't match the smiling marketing pitch. Most of the workers now making Etch A Sketch are teenagers from the provinces who work long hours and are paid 40% less than the company claims. According to the article, "They sleep head-to-toe in tiny rooms." So I am assuming that they are in company housing as well. There are no pensions, no medical benefits, and no overtime pay. These are what Kin Ki says it offers, but admits it falls short.

And the forces that lost Bryan, Ohio its jobs and community, and now exploits Chinese teenagers in Shenzhen China ... Wal-Mart (and Toys 'R Us). The "low cost leader" that is the largest corporation in the world wanted to keep the price of Etch A Sketch under $10. The image of that bouncy little yellow smiley face, impersonating Robin Hood, "slashing prices" all over the place. The hypocrisy of their mascot revolts me every time I see it. I see the little arrows going straight into the hearts of workers in industries around the country, and the slashed prices cutting the life blood of workers internationally. "Robin Hood" who "steals from the rich to give to the poor" is a frightening morph job on what Wal-Mart actually does.

Wal-Mart is owned by the five Walton children whose combined wealth is roughly $95 BILLION. It would take the typical US worker about 2.9 MILLION years to earn that much, and the typical Wal-Mart worker far longer than that (about 5 MILLION years). And the workers at Kin Ki Industries? Well, it would take them about 3 Billion years. There is a viciousness of cycle and intent here that is truly breathtaking. Wal-Mart displaces workers and kills communities making "Wal-Mart towns." Wages go down so that the only thing folks can afford is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart exports the jobs to exploit an even more exploitable global labor force which further erodes US labor's ability to compete and drives wages overall ... DOWN. Meanwhile the Waltons sit at the top of ill-gotten wealth and plot how to extend their empire (Wal-Mart Invades, and Mexico Gladly Surrenders, Weiner, NYT, 12/05/03). For me, the smiley faced Robin Hood mascot has a maniacal grin.

The myth is that it is only those "low wage manufacturing jobs" that have been lost. The reality is that what has been (and is being) lost are working and middle-class wage jobs that formed the heart of a strong middle-class in the US. The myth is that we (US workers) have moved up to higher paying high tech and service jobs. The reality is that most of those jobs pay less than the manufacturing jobs did, and that manufacturing is not the only industry losing jobs to exploited global work forces. In an interesting article in the 12/07/03 NYT, Who Wins and Who Loses as Jobs Move Overseas?, Erika Kinetz discusses the latest and fatest growing trend - the outsourcing of white collar jobs to (primarily) China and India.

(Stephen Roach managing director and chief economist for Morgan Stanley) "The point is that the relationship between aggregate demand and employment growth looks to me as if it has broken down. That breakdown reflects not just the rapid growth and maturation of outsourcing platforms in places like China and India, but also the accelerated pace by which these platforms can now be connected to the developed world through the Internet. These are brand-new developments. This is a huge challenge for service-based economies, like the United States."

As we have moved into a more and more globalized economy, many of the traditional economic relationships have broken down. The US economy baffles many (how can you increase unemployment, increase productivity, be in a recession, and have the stock market going up at the same time?) How can you pour billions into the economy, lower interest rates, and have the economy continue to sink? Easy, national boundaries are not economic boundaries, and national monetary policies are beyond the control of nations.

So this year as you watch the ever-present Wal-Mart ads with the smiley-face mascot, or go to shop for the kids in your life at Wal-Mart or Toys 'R Us, think for a moment about the folks who have brought you these "low low prices" - the ex-Ohio Arts workers in Bryan and the hungry kids at Kin Ki Industries.

End run? What happens to axed programs

On December 3rd I did a piece on FutureMap being restarted under a private corporation - Net Exchange (Futures trading is back). Now the Pentagon is doing it again. Last winter, Rumsfeld got all kinds of heat for the "Office of Strategic Influence" -- a propaganda office that would leak false stories to the "foreign" press. The "office" was purportedly closed after significant public and Congressional concerns were raised. Like any of us would believe it didn't exist prior to and after. But noe, like FuterMap, The "Office" has gone private - Pentagon and Bogus News: All Is Denied (Schmitt, NY Times, 12/05/03). The Pentagon has awarded a $300,000 contract to SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation).

Trying to track down info on SAIC is not too difficult. SAIC bills itself as "the largest employee-owned research and engineering firm in the nation. " It was started in 1965 by J.R. Beyster, and was purchased by General Sciences Corporation (SAIC site). However, trying to track down information on GSC (supposedly their parent company) is difficult at best. Other than showing up as a government contractor (generally with SAIC) for the DoD, NASA, and the EPA (to name a few), this obviously well connected, high tech, firm has no web presence. Interesting. But hey ... there is always their 2003 annual report .... and it does prove instructive. (see at end of this article)
One of the partially owned subsideries that stands out is Bechtel - which has been in the news about crony contracting in Iraq.

Anyway, the pattern seems pretty clear. If you can't get the whole program funded then there are a couple of ways to go. First, you can break the program into pieces and fund through unrelated appropriatations. Two, you can tag onto Homeland Security (TIA and CAPPS II with the airlines) or perhaps to HUD (TIA and tracking those in public housing). Three, just contract it out to a private corportation (FutureMap to NetExchange, and the Office of Disinformation to SAIC). Such creative folks we have in Washington. Nice to know we get our monies worth.

SAIC Annual Report Company Ownership Info (pages 50-51)

S A I C S U B S I D I A R I E S
Telcordia Technologies. Serving many of the world’s leading service providers, our Telcordia subsidiary is one of the world’s largest telecommunications software and consulting companies, and the leading provider of operational software for the telecommunications industry.

SAIC Frederick. Our SAIC Frederick subsidiary operates the National Cancer Institute’s leading center for cancer and AIDS research. In addition, our SAIC Frederick subsidiary operates and manages the Advanced Biomedical Computing Center (ABCC), the world’s only supercomputer devoted exclusively to biomedical research.

ANXeBusiness Corp. ANXeBusiness, our 80% owned subsidiary, offers complete extranet services and a global, secure network for business-to-business communications worldwide. Mitsubishi Corporation owns a minority interest in ANXeBusiness, and it teams with SAIC and ANXeBusiness to offer intranet and extranet services in the Asia- Pacific marketplace.

S A I C J O I N T V E N T U R E S
Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC. Bechtel and SAIC combined their expertise to meet the unique challenges involved in research and possible development of the nation’s first high-level radioactive waste repository.

AMSEC LLC. AMSEC LLC is a joint venture between SAIC and Newport News
Shipbuilding, now part of Northrop Grumman. Serving the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and other maritime customers, AMSEC LLC crews provide technical support for virtually every shipboard system.

Data Systems & Solutions. A joint venture between SAIC and Rolls-Royce, Data Systems & Solutions provides enterprise asset management, predictive maintenance, and process optimization to clients in many industries.

Of course, thouse are only the ones they give detailed descriptions of. They have their own host of wholly owned subsideries that are "Minority Owned Interests." Hey is someone else owns a "minority business, is it still a minority owned business? Guess so.

SAIC Minority Owned Interests "Private Companies"
Agile\ix Corporation, ClearCube, CosmoCom, e-bank LLC, Granite Systems, LifeSpan Bioscience, NetNumber Inc, NextEngine, OpenNet Telecom, Packet Video Corp., Vocal Data, Wisor Telecom.

SAIC Venture Capital (Minority owned public companies)
Cyberplex, Intrusion Inc., Nuance Communications.

SAIC Partial Ownership
ANXeB, DANET, DS&S, AMSEC LLC, BECHTEL

In Bush World - the environment

In Bush world, global warming doesn't exist and human activity has nothing to do with it if it does - even if government scientists say Climate Change Laid to Humans: Report Warns There's 'No Doubt' Industry is Primary Cause (Perlman, S.F. Chronicle 12/04/03).

In Bush world if you want to stop forest fires you cut down the trees, and by the way, you can get rid of those pesky endangered species regulations in the process (New Forest-Thinning Policy Drops Safeguard for Wildlife Shogren & Simon, LA Times, 12/04/03).

In Bush world altruistic corporations concerned about the health of the earth limit their own emissions (US hails own climate policies, Blunt, BBC, 12/01/03), and you hire resource exploitation companies to write the plans for protected lands (Mining leaders drafting Steens blueprint, Milstein, The Oregonian, 12/03/03)>

In Bush world you preserve the wilds for the future by giving them over for corporate exploitation (Liquidation of the Commons, Werbach, In These Times, 11/21/03).

In Bush world the ozone layer doesn't exist (Ozone Layer 'Sacrificed' to Lift Bush's Re-Election Prospects, Lean, Independent/UK, 11/23/03).

While Bush rants to save marriage from the gays, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. accuses him of Crimes Against Nature, NRDC, 11/23/03).

And one must wonder if pollution is even in his vocabulary: "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."...George W. Bush

Somehow I think that the world Bush lives in and the one we live in is not the same. and the president agrees: "[It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system." ...George W. Bush

[Quotes from Al Baakouka: Political Humor, Edited by S Suwellam, London]

Omnibus Appropriations Package

Well every knows that Bush and his team in Congress have driven the country from a surplus to a deficit, and an article from Knight-Ridder details some of the way that has happened - Federal Spending Soars Under Bush's Watch (Hutcheson, 12/04/03). As noted in the article, we have gone to a $236 billion surplus when Bus entered office to a $400 billion plus deficit for this year alone. Hey - that's OUR money (and future generation's) that they are spending like a spoiled kid with an unlimited credit card.

But it's not only Bush who is paying back, and paying forward, old cronies and new best friends. Huge Spending Bill Packed with Pet Projects for Powerful Lawmakers reports Kuhnhenn & Adams - once again from Kight-Ridder. (Hey who did they tick off over at K-R?)

But for those of us see our country going down the tube with the mounting red ink, there is yet another blow to fall. Bush is moving towards and Executive Order that would eliminate over time pay for millions of workers. Please go to MoveOn's petition site and send your emails on this one: MoveOn's Stop the Looting drive.

Out of sight

It has become clear that president Bush (and those around him) are structuring a fantasy world that makes Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch look like child's play. On the CBS Evening News for 12/04/03 is the following little tidbit Silencing Voices Of Dissent (Cowan). It seems that activist Brett Bursey was trying to protest near Bush during a Bush visit to South Carolina last year. He was removed by the Secret Service to the "free speech zone" located half a mile and well out of the president's view. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit regarding these "free speech zones" arguing that they are not to control protests, but "to make them disappear." If they are enforced during the 2004 campaign, they could certainly color the picture of Bush.

However, this is a photo opp president, and there are apparently no lengths too far to travel in making them "work." Whether that is staging an AWOL Bush as a "fighter" pilot, or

image from Daily Mislead

That ain't no turkey folks - that's a prop! Yep according to today's Daily Mis-Lead More Photographic Dishonesty from President Bush, this now famous picture of the prez in Baghdad serving Thanksgiving Dinner to the troops is just one more lie.

I can hardly wait to hear that it really isn't Bush, it's his body double, or that he wasn't really in Baghdad, but a studio in the back of the Crawford "Ranch." You do know that the "ranch" is also a prop and that Bush is scared of horses?

Oh well, we know that he idolizes Reagan. We just didn't know that it extended to wanting to be an actor.

Futures trading is back

I don't know how this one slipped passed me. After much bad press (which Uncommon Thought contributed to - see links at end) DARPA's speculation in terrorism was dropped. Now, the company that developed Future Map for the Pentagon (NetExchange) will start the program privately this month. Future's bright for terror betting (Younge, Guardian/UK, 11/18/03).

FutureMap allows investors to "bet" on when and where terrorists will strike next. It offers other futures options such as assasinations, etc. Supposedly one can use this predictively by monitoring investors fututres purchases.

One might think that companies developing things for the military would have a contract to NOT put those products on the open market. That has been the case with other "inventions" that have moved from military to public consumption. Since that hasn't happened in this case, it looks to me like the Pentagon found a way around having the funds pulled for FutureMap - let it go private. Certainly they will monitor it as if it were their own.

This is a damn sneaky trick in my opinion. It certainly sends a message to Congress and to the public. "We can do whatever we want to do. "

The issues with FutureMap do not disappear because it is now released by a private company. In fact, it may magnify the problems. A major concern over the original program is that by giving folks an investment in terrorist acts, that some might be tempted to push the odds a bit and sponsor such acts. Or, that terrorist groups might bet on themselves and win big - a whole, new, legal form of money laudering. Ot they might just watch what is going on, know that the US government was using that predictively and pick other targets or methods.

This is way over the line. It was over the line when it was under DARPA and it is over the line when privately operated by NetExchange.

Earlier posts on FutureMap
7/29/03 DARPA's FutureMAP - trading in terrorism (also published by Scoop - New Zealand)

7/30/03 FutureMap 2.

Fox in the chicken coop

There is an article on the front page of The Oregonian that clearly demonstrates the way the the Bush administration is conducting its environmental (so-called) policy. Michael Milstein writes Mining leaders drafting Steens blueprint.

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) hired Enviroscientists, Inc of Reno in October of 2001 to draw up a plan for land managment of the Steens Mountain area. Enviroscientists is a colection of mining industry big wigs and reps, who individually represent groups that promote industry access to public lands.

Among the Enviroscientists are :

"President Richard DeLong, manager of the Steens project, is treasurer of the California Mining Association. He spoke to a mining conference in May about strategies to "minimize the effects" of activist groups intent on halting mines."

and

"Vice President Opal Adams is assistant manager of the Steens project. She is on the board of trustees of the Northwest Mining Association, which describes itself as "the leading voice for access to the public lands for mineral exploration and development.""

According to BLM officials, they had no knowledge of the industry connections of Enviroscientists, Inc when they awarded the $670,000 contract to them.

Environmental group input to the report (such as Oregon Natural Desert Association) was not included, and the report recommend opening 448,000 acres to mining. This was in direct contrast to with a protection act in 2000 that protected most of the "169,465 acres of wilderness off-limits to vehicles and barred mining on about 900,000 acres. The plan will direct management of that area, plus another 750,000 acres."

There is also something very strange about a group that is headed by industry honchos being called Enviroscientists. While the group itself, and the BLM spokesperson both argue that Enviroscientists is not "biased," that seems to be dwarfed by the dramatic change from protecting Steens and opening it almost totally to private mining exploration and extraction. It is also questionable in light of the both Delong's and Adam's presentations at conferences which have been highly condemnatory of environmental "protectionists." Of course they are "unbiased" when they contract out to public agencies determining the fate of public lands and resources. I'm sure that they give "fair and balanced" attention to all issues.

Corporate influence - it's everywhere

In looking through today's news I saw one of those news convergences - big money at work on a global basis. It started off with an article in the Independent/UK by Myers - Big Business Plays Largest Role in Current Russian Vote. In what looks like an apparent attempt to beat the US at its own incestuous corporate-government system:

The nation's largest businesses, from oil giants to banks to manufacturers, have not only poured money into the parliamentary elections to be held on Sunday, but have also filled party tickets with dozens of their own executives.

then ...

Two oil companies, T.N.K. and Lukoil, have executives running on the party's ticket, as do Russian Aluminum and the steel giant Severstal. An analysis of United Russia's federal and regional party lists by The Moscow Times showed that more than a quarter of United Russia's parliamentary candidates represented big businesses.

and ...

Twelve years after the collapse of the Soviet one-party state, big business has become by far the most influential force in Russia's elections, providing money and candidates and also profoundly altering party platforms and, in some cases, turning traditional ideologies upside down.

"There is not a single large company in Russia that is not involved in politics," said Boris G. Fyodorov, a former deputy prime minister and banker who is running for a seat from southeast Moscow representing a smaller party, Russia Forward.

Russia is also following the US' lead in another area - abandoning the Kyoto agreement (Alex Kirby at BBC Russia pulls away from Kyoto pact). In a statement looking like it came straight from a White House Press agent, Russian presidential aide Andrei Illarionov stated "The Kyoto Protocol places significant limitations on the economic growth of Russia." The Kyoto Accord on global warming can't go into effect without the US signing on, though other nations may voluntarily comply. The US Bush approach is for businesses to voluntarily reduce global warming gases (US hails own climate policies Blunt, BBC, 12/1/03). It is a sad, though perhaps uplifting, sign that the Poor World 'Cuts Climate Gases' (11/29/03 Kirby, BBC).

The UK is in the corporate influence struggle as well as Jim Wickens at Red Pepper notes in UK farming union in bed with multinationals, say pressure group. And the World Bank Again Giving Large Loans to Indonesia despite major issues (past and present) of "corruption." Afterall, Indonesia is great for (to) business, and the WB can't let that languish too long.

So the corps have their fingers in numerous pots, and obviously in the halls of governments as well. I wonder what the corporate representative rate is in the US?

So the war in Iraq is over. Not so fast, here comes Iraqi Freedom II

I remember when I was a kid and a play wouldn't go right (kickball, softball, etc). Someone would yell "Do Over!" Well the Bush folk must have played the same rules, because the US is "Doing Over" Iraqi Freedom I with Iraqi Freedom II ( US readies for Iraqi Freedom II, Sunday Mail/Australia, 11/30/03).

According to the article, the force composition is changing to a "more mobile force, one that has the right blend of light and heavy." Excuse me? I thought that the current force was purportedly a highly mobile force, and according to Rumsfeld, just what was needed. Look out citizens of Iraq. According to the top military person in Iraq, "What we're in search of is a very mobile, very flexible, lethal force that can accomplish its mission."

More troops are coming in and some are going home to create this speedy, letal group. The Pentagon is replacing "transportation, logistics and communications personnel" with "civilian contractors." Now I'm not military trained, but my guess is that the troops on the ground are cringing at this one. Their information, strategy, and transportation backbones are going to be private corporations? I would think there would be interface, perhaps even simple terminology issues here. I would love to know who got those contracts.

Part of this change is obviously necessary to stop bank robbers. Yes the ambush where the US alleges 46 "insurgents" were killed on Sunday was an attempt to seize new Iraqi bank notes (Big Iraq ambush 'was bank heist', BBC, 12/01/03). Iraqi eyewitnesses say that eight Iraqis were killed in the attack.

If the US troops can be more mobile, it is probably a good idea. A recent poll in Iraq showed that 80% of Iraqis do not trust the US forces ( Iraqis Do Not Trust US-Led Forces - Survey Long, Reuters, 12/01/03). In fact, the US is the least trusted group in Iraq. 57% said they had "no trust" and 22% said they had "very little trust" in the US led coalition. That is certainly not a rousing statistic for a regime that keeps claiming itself as "liberators." Obviously there is a serious breakdown in the message being sent by the US and the message being received by the people of Iraq. I'm sure it is all a "communication" problem, but the communications "contractor" will take care of that.

F.A.L.C.O.N. and birds of a feather

I imagine that some of you probably get tired of me going on about space command and empire ensuring weaponry so I won't go there today. However, if you are interested and concerned about the military side of empire then check out Enforcing Globalization: "Bombing Anywhere On Earth In Less Than Two Hours" over at the Center for Globalization Research. They have some interesting links on the Force Application and Launch from the Continental U.S. (FALCON) program developed by none other than DARPA (it is their job afterall).