November 30, 2004
New Web Resource for You
For those of you who are concerned about the growing shadow of government secrecy, there is a new site you should check out and bookmark - Open The Government. THis is a site run jointly by a coalition of groups...
A Prime Example of the Power of Money
GlaxoSmithKline is being served with papers for doing drug trials on poor children under the care of NY City's Administration for Children's Services. GSK, working through ACS, tested HIV drugs on orphans and poor children in NY City where ACS...
November 29, 2004
Weapons of Indiscriminate Destruction
There are weapons that go on killing and the US specializes in them. These weapons exert their destructive capability long after the battle or war is over. In one case, this destruction continues for generations. Yes, I am talking about...
November 28, 2004
A Different Look at the 2004 Vote
I was contacted by the author (David Pakman) of a political site named Hear the Issues. I visited his site and was very impressed with what he is doing. He has two articles up right now that I believe are...
Terrorism: No Name Death from the Sky
By: Jack Dalton That the United States is a militarized imperial empire is beyond question at this point in time. The level of nationalism, xenophobia, and mindless hatred has divided this nation even worse, in some ways, than what I...
Confluence of Influence
The Project for a New American Century is back to offering (writing?) US policy advice, while Lockheed Martin (please do look at the front page of their website) takes over the Pentagon. One group is defining who the "enemies of...
November 27, 2004
Delusion Collusion
There was a cruel and spiteful child torturing animals til they were dead Now he orders others to torture in his stead Along the way from boy to man, all his messes turned into gold He went blithely on his...
November 26, 2004
High Fever
Guest Author You who are lengthening your lives With the best doctors and the best medicines Remember those who are shortening their lives With the wars That you in your long lives are not Preventing. You who are again screwing...
Still Trying to Justify the Invasion of Iraq
Bush is still trying to justify the invasion of Iraq with the claim of finding a chemical weapons lab and dirty bomb directions in Fallujah. However, there are a couple of problems that seem to belie the tale. First, according...
Bushus Mandatus - Securing the Empire
- Anti-abortion and privacy abridgment in the "omnibus" budget - Republicans rewrite rules to keep DeLay in charge - A Supreme Court Justice calling for government-backed religion - Congress strong arming nations on the International Court - Full sweep at...
November 25, 2004
Thanksgiving Thoughts
Those of you who know me know that I do hate holidays. I hate them for a variety of reasons, but most are either political or ethical. In the US every one of the "traditional" holidays have been commercialized, and...
Do Prophets Use Smart Dust?
No this is not the title of my newly released sword and sorcery novel. Nor is it a review of Rowling's latest book. Both Prophet and Smart Dust are new military intelligence and weapons systems. You just have to give...
November 24, 2004
Where's Mathew?
You may be wondering where guest author Mathew Maavak is these days. Well he's been traveling around and is engaged in writing a book. He has set up kind of a traveling postcard of a recent break in Matheran. I'm...
More Voting Thoughts
I've mentioned this before, but I want to revisit why I think it is critical to investigate the US elections. After the 2000 election which was effectively decided (unconstitutionally) by the Supreme Court, and in which the state at the...
November 23, 2004
Voter Fraud
I just received this from one of my mail lists and I am passing it on to the UTJ community. The following letter is from Gary Beckwith. Please help spread the word. Dear Friends, When actress Susan Sarandon appeared on...
Voter Fraud
I just received this from one of my mail lists and I am passing it on to the UTJ community. The following letter is from Gary Beckwith. Please help spread the word. Dear Friends, When actress Susan Sarandon appeared on...
Rigged Elections
Wouldn't it be refreshing if the corporate media were as sensitive to US election issues as they are to those elsewhere? The Ukraine is a case in point. I can't find one word about "whining" or "conspiracy theories" on the...
November 22, 2004
Iran - Getting Closer
The following is Douglas Davis from the Jerusalem Post, 11/21/04. Copied here under "Fair Use" for non-commercial purposes. LONDON – Pentagon officials are said to be discussing possible military action to neutralize Iran's nuclear weapons threat, according to a report...
Well You Knew it Was Coming - More Troops Needed in Iraq
We all knew that this one was coming - Officers See Need For Bigger Iraq Force (Wa. Post 11/22/04). What a surprise. Not only did the destruction of Fallujah not "break the back" of the "insurgency," it led to increasing...
November 21, 2004
Join People from All Over the World - Buy Nothing Day
Depending on where you are, Buy Nothing Day falls at different times, but for many it is this week. In the US BND is November 27th. Buy Nothing Day is a political statement against mass consumerism, consumptive capitalism, and the...
Insight and laughter
You have got to read this post Grow Some (Norwegian Basket) Balls at feministe. It is a commentary on a comment "Grow some balls and fight like a man." It will brighten your day. The Nowegian basketball orchid creator's weblog...
November 20, 2004
News Flash - Three Items You Need to Know About
First is that the sneaks in Washington have included a provision in the "omnibus" budget package to significantly erode access to legal abortions. The abortion language would bar federal, state and local agencies from withholding taxpayer money from health care...
Curtailing "Oversight"?
Everyone knows that the Pentagon purchased all satellite imagery over Afghanistan during the invasion. Now two broader moves are going to block satellite imagery. The First, is the decision by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to remove an array of...
Everyone Wonders "Who Next?"
I know all of you have been wondering and worrying which regime Bush is going to go after next. Well I have a feeling it will be Iran. Certainly Iran has been "on the table," but there are some alarming...
November 19, 2004
Oh Please - Not Radioactive Household Items!
This is published at The Sunday Herald, Edwards & Meiklem (10/17/04) Thousands of tonnes of radioactive scrap metal from nuclear plants could be melted down and recycled into cutlery, saucepans and baby buggies under a scheme being promoted by the...
If You Think You Have a Debt Problem
It you think you have a debt problem then look at what the Congress did. Yep they raised the debt limit to $8.18 TRILLION. As noted in the Post article, Just the increase in the debt ceiling over the past...
November 18, 2004
The Triumph of Liberalism
By: Dave Stratman Editor, New Democracy The electoral campaign has finally crawled to its dreary and foreseeable end: the victory of George W. Bush, anti-"red state" hysteria and despair among Kerry supporters, and the effective end of the antiwar movement....
More Bad News - Oil and Environment
Well the Oil Depletion Analysis Center is predicting that New Oil Projects Cannot Meet World Needs This Decade. Yes you read that right - this decade. According to the report: If demand were to increase by two percent annually, available...
November 17, 2004
A Sign of What's Coming - Rule Change to Protect DeLay
Tom DeLay, one of the biggest power brokers in Washington and Majority Leader for Head of the Republicans, is up on multiple ethics charges and was subpoenaed for his role in using federal money to block Texas Democrats resistance to...
Tell Congress Not to Lower Yucca Mountain Safety Standards!
I think you are going to be getting quite a few action alerts. This is going to be a bad 4 years. URGENT: Tell Congress Not to Lower Yucca Mountain Safety Standards! (From Public Citizen) As Congress attempts to complete...
One Step Forward on the Recount
You have probably all heard, but our nickles and dimes and shouting has gotten us a recount in Ohio. But don't heave a sigh yet. We need to keep up the pressure and there are a number of ways to...
Come let us reason together
By: Jack Dalton "All men having power ought to be mistrusted." James Madison "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may...
Death, Destruction and Democracy
Fighting continues in Falluja. Fighting spreads to Mosul, Baquba, the outskirts of Baghdad. The death tolls mount on all sides. I am not sure this is a good approach for bring peace and stability....
November 16, 2004
School of Americas Action Item
The U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers located at Fort Benning, Georgia. SOA graduates have been responsible for some of the worst human rights atrocities in Latin American history, including:...
The Privilege of Running Free Deficits Belongs To One Nation Alone
By: Stan Goff Reprinted with permission of From The Wilderness [This is the fourth installment of Stan Goff's report on the political economy of US imperialism, a series which started with a critique of American policy toward Iran called "Persian...
Falluja Almost Ready for Democracy
Week of fighting leaves Fallujah in shambles: Eighty-eight families sent men on foot to collect food and water handed out by Iraqi national guard units after U.S. civil affairs teams broadcast news of the distribution. Elsewhere in the war-ravaged city,...
November 15, 2004
Iraq Update
Well, despite trumpetings of "success" in Falluja and elsewhere, things don't look that "good" to me in Iraq. The civilian toll in Falluja is as yet unreported, but the fears are that it is high, and US troops are still...
November 14, 2004
God Bless America
By: 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 JChuckman@mediamonitors.org "I know of no...
New UTJ Feature
Hi Folks, There is a new feature that is available to you. You can now subscribe to receive notifications of comments on articles or discussions you are interested in. When you go to either the full page entry, or to...
Upgrade Complete
Hi Folks, It is 2:30am my time and the upgrade is complete. There are a few things to work out, but things seem functional. NOTICE: at this point the comment notification is not working and I'm too tired to play...
November 13, 2004
Upgrade On Its Way
Just a heads up. I will be upgrading Uncommon Thought to the latest version of Movable Type later tonight or tomorrow morning. My hope is that everything go smoothely. Everything will be backed up just in case. While this is...
Why the Push for Mars?
Why the Push for Mars? There may be oil under that thar planet! Yes comrades, we may be seeing the beginning of the next salvation - the salvation from totally draining the oil reserves of planet Earth! Methane has been...
November 12, 2004
Yasir Arafat Is Dead
Yasir Arafat is dead and I find my emotions swinging in some confusing swirl. As I watched the carrying of his coffin from the helicopter to the compound where he is to be buried, the countless number of people present...
Snap Out of It
By: Michael Ruppert [This article is reprinted with the permission of Michael Ruppert and From The Wilderness.] November 5, 2004 1900 PDT (FTW) - The rest of the world has known for some time that it is pointless to oppose...
Another Veterans Day
By: Jack Dalton Here we are again, another Veterans Day. There will be many parades and many speeches about the sacrifices of veterans and how the nation must honor veterans; Special days so people can feel good, and for the...
November 11, 2004
Don't Paint with Too Broad a Brush
There is an excellent article by an "ex-Southern conservative" Wayfairer. This is a piece that deserves a deep reading - not just for the insight it provides, but for its heart. Let me offer a couple of segments to encourage...
Falluja and Beyond
As I feared, Falluja is indeed proving to be deadly. As of the latest reports, 18 US soldiers have been killed, 178 wounded (with 102 of them serious enough to be flown out of the country). Iraqi troop casualties were...
Alberto Gonzales Bush's Pick for AG
Alberto Gonzalez has been selected by Bush to replace the outgoing John Ashcroft. Gonzalez has served as the White House Chief Counsel during Bush's first term. He is said to be "loyal," and certainly proved it by advising Bush that...
Host Switch Update
The host switch is underway, and I think completed at least for this "domain." Sorry if there was any craziness with your comment posting. I had some comments coming in from the domain under the old host, and some coming...
November 10, 2004
Election 2004: Reaping What Was Sown
By Mathew Maavak [Mr. Maavak can be reached at mathew@maavak.net. Or visit his site Panoptic World] Link to this piece on Panoptic World I wasn’t surprised at the recent election results. The reasons given were predictable. Some of them had...
November 9, 2004
Kerry Won. Here Are The Facts
By: Greg Palast Reprinted with the author's permission I know you don't want to hear it. You can't face one more hung chad. But I don't have a choice. As a journalist examining that messy sausage called American democracy, it's...
Notice to the UTJ Community
My current host provider has had some catastrophic server failures and is limping along and going out of business. That means that I must find a new "home" for Uncommon Thought, get that set up, and move the site. This...
More and More Election Questions
If you have been following up on the voting issues from the elections, things are getting fishier and fishier. There were incredible over counts - up to 1160% in one Cuyahoga County Precinct. There were under counts and there were...
November 8, 2004
Attack on Falluja Begins
Well, the attack on Falluja has begun. From the reports thus far there are lots of bombing and strafing runs, and US and Iraqi troops have entered the city. It is likely there will be a high casualty toll for...
November 7, 2004
Vote Analyses and Information
Let's start with the maps below (which were forwarded along by Mike)...
Pray for Falluja
The US election is virtually history, and Iraq is back in the sites. While the Bush Administration tried to keep a low profile in Iraq in the run up to November 2, the Iraq election is just two months away....
November 6, 2004
There Was Voting Fraud. How Big Unknown
The main reason I am angry with John Kerry is that he conceded so rapidly. Even before election night there were concerns of voter disenfrachisement, problems with electronic voting, and concerns of fraud. In conceding the election, Kerry ensured that...
November 5, 2004
Where we are headed
If you listened to all or part of President Bush's press conference on 11/04, it is clear that he feels he has a "mandate" and "the people" are behind him. He intends to charge full speed ahead with his vision:...
November 4, 2004
Still Thinking About What the Vote Means
Voter turnout was just under 60%. That means that 40% of the eligible voters didn't show up. That is a significant number of folks. So of the 60% about half voted for Bush and half for Kerry (if you aren't...
November 3, 2004
The Country From Where I Stand
It is being reported that Kerry has conceded the election. I thought he would hold out for the actual vote - which is not in. That vote includes the 10 million absentee ballots that have not been counted. Regardless of...
November 2, 2004
Open Post for Election Comments
I am opening this post for election comments. I am way too stressed to say anything about the Presidential race at this point. I am on the verge of being heartsick. While Oregon seems to have gone for Kerry, it...
Media Contacts for Election Night
This was sent along to me by a friend in Veterans for Peace. It is a tremendous media contact list and whoever did it deserves major thanks. I'm sure they are building good karma. So for media email addresses. Thanks...
November 1, 2004
Full Text of 18 Minute bin Laden Tape
The National Business Review has the 18 minute transcript of bin Laden's latest tape. If you want to compare transcripts, Al Jazeera has another full transcript. The NBR says that Al Jazeera edited the transcript and it leaves out parts....
Track Voting Incidents
Thanks to Emily from Strangechord for forwarding along the Election Incident Reporting System. This sites allows you to see the total incidents recorded at EIRS and look at how many there are all the way down to the county level....
An Election Spoiled Rotten
By: Greg Palast at Writings of Greg Palast. Reprinted with permission. It's not even Election Day yet, and the Kerry-Edwards campaign is already down by a almost a million votes. That's because, in important states like Ohio, Florida and New...
Make Your Own Decision
Walter Cronkite appeared on Larry King Live to discuss the implications of Bin Laden's latest tape release (Bin Laden Releases New Videotape). The transcript makes interesting reading, but this quote jumps out: CRONKITE: What we just heard. So now the...
