Virginia Metze: Reading List for Tuesday, May 3, 2005

[Guest guest]

" Virginia Metze " <vmetze

 

Thu, 5 May 2005 18:51:49 -0500

Reading List for Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Here is the most interesting of what I found for Tuesday!

 

 

 

 

Barr urges change to part of Patriot Act

By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer

Last Updated 12:39 pm PDT Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Sacramento Bee

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - A former Republican congressman urged lawmakers

Tuesday to limit the government's ability to search for evidence

without immediately telling the investigation's target, a part of the

USA Patriot Act that Congress is reconsidering.

 

While sections of the Patriot Act expire this year, the law's national

standards for what are sometimes known as " sneak and peek " searches

are permanent.

Still, former GOP Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia told a House Judiciary

subcommittee that lawmakers should scale back the delayed notification

warrant provision inside the Patriot Act anyway. [...] Read it all

at: http://tinyurl.com/7sq7c

 

 

The game is fixed

Bush's Social Security cuts for wealthy a pittance compared with

benefits they get from his tax cuts

E.J. Dionne, Jr.

Washington Post Writers Group

05.03.05

 

WASHINGTON -- There is a name for those who continue to sit at a

gambling table even after they learn that the game is fixed. They are

called fools.

 

Now that President Bush has proposed Social Security benefit cuts

through " progressive indexing, " his critics are said to have an

obligation to negotiate in good faith to achieve a solution. There are

just two problems with that sentence: The words " good faith " and

" solution. " [...] Read the rest at WorkingforChange web site:

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=18989

 

 

Experts See Problems for DeLay

Potential Defense Weighed

 

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, April 28, 2005; Page A06

 

Now that it's clear that his controversial private-paid trips abroad

will be put under a microscope in Congress, Tom DeLay is in serious

danger of being declared in violation of House ethics rules, legal

experts say.

 

Lawyers who specialize in ethics cases believe that the Republican

House majority leader from Texas might be in technical breach of at

least a few congressional regulations. According to published reports,

a registered foreign agent paid for one of DeLay's overseas trips and

a registered lobbyist used his credit card to pay for another foreign

airfare -- actions the rules prohibit. DeLay may also have accepted

gifts that exceeded congressional limits, taken an expense-paid trip

overseas for longer than the rules allow and not disclosed all of the

benefits he received. [...] Read it all at: http://tinyurl.com/dkc3w

 

 

And to think that apparently the " religious " right still listens to

this guy!

 

More Limbaugh theology: " The religious left in this country hates and

despises the God of Christianity and Catholicism "

MediaMatters.org

Posted to the web on Thursday April 28, 2005 at 12:32 PM EST

 

Nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh claimed that " the

religious left ... hates and despises the God of Christianity. "

Limbaugh has previously asserted that " The left is scared to death of

God, " " Liberals consider themselves more powerful than God, " and that

liberals are " soulless " because " souls come from God. "

 

From the April 27 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

 

LIMBAUGH: I would submit to you that people on the left are religious,

too. Their God is just different. The left has a different God.

There's a religious left in this country.

 

And, the religious left in this country hates and despises the God of

Christianity and Catholicism and whatever else. They despise it

because they fear it, because it's a threat, because that God has

moral absolutes. That God has right and wrong, that God doesn't deal

in nuance, that God doesn't deal in gray area, that God says, " This is

right and that is wrong. " Read about more problems with the media

at: http://mediamatters.org/items/200504280002

 

 

More Bolton scandal

 

Diplomacy by Death Squad

How Bolton Armed Haiti's Thugs and Killers

By IRA KURZBAN

May 3, 2005

Miami, Florida

 

On Dec. 14, 2004, in the predawn hours, a large convoy of U.N. troops

entered the Port-au-Prince slum of Cite Soleil. They began firing.

Esterlin Marie Carmelle was in bed with her 2-year-old son, Herlens.

Her husband got out of bed to get ready for work. The shooting

intensified, and she remained in bed beside her child. According to a

Harvard Law School report the following occurred:

 

" Ms. Carmelle recalled, she `felt something warm' on her arm and said

to her husband, 'I feel like I got hit with a bullet.' She told us

that she realized that 'it wasn't me who had been shot,' as her boy

lay limp and lifeless beside her, his 'blood and brain matter were

sliding down my arm.' Though Ms. Carmelle said that she then passed

out, her husband told us that a stray bullet had entered their shack

with such force that it had removed part of their child's head,

leaving Herlens to die in his mother's arms.'' [...] Read the rest

at: http://www.counterpunch.org/kurzban05032005.html

 

 

It has not been

unnoticed by some that a month after the autopsy of Terri Schiavo the

autopsy report has not been released. The autopsy was done by April

1. If you hear or see anything authoritative about it, please let us

know!

 

 

Air Force probes religious bias charges at academy

 

Cadet complaints are rising at Colorado school, officials say

 

From Mike Mount

CNN Washington Bureau

Thursday, May 5, 2005 Posted: 12:17 PM EDT (1617 GMT)

updated from May 3 article. 05/03/05 07:35 PM, EDT

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday it will appoint a

task force to investigate allegations of religious intolerance at the

Air Force Academy.

 

Among the items to be reviewed will be Air Force policy and guidance

concerning religious respect and tolerance at the academy, said acting

Secretary of the Air Force Michael Dominguez. [...] Read it all at

the CNN web site:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/03/airforce.religion/index.html

 

 

Verified Voting sent out a special issue of their newsletter on

Tuesday to tell about June 9-14 lobbying events in Washington DC. See

http://www.verifiedvoting.org/article.php?list=type & type=6 To learn

about their views, browse http://www.verifiedvoting.org

 

 

Congress

Budget Plan Moves ANWR Drilling Ahead

 

USA: May 2, 2005

 

WASHINGTON - A $2.6 trillion federal budget blueprint approved by

Congress late Thursday may clear the way for a Republican plan to open

the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, according to

congressional aides.

The budget plan does not specifically mention ANWR drilling by name.

 

But Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican who heads the Senate Budget

Committee, indicated its language was carefully crafted to ensure that

Senate legislation to give oil companies access to the Alaskan

wildlife refuge would not be subject to a filibuster. Read the rest

at: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/30641/story.htm or

http://tinyurl.com/9gxnw or

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/050305EA.shtml

 

Three more judicial

filibuster falsehoods, courtesy of James Dobson

 

Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson made a series

of false and misleading claims about the Senate's use of the

filibuster to block judicial nominees. On the April 21 edition of Fox

News' Hannity & Colmes, Dobson asserted: 1) that former Clinton

nominee Richard A. Paez " was not an appeals court judge " and would not

" have had a majority if given a simple up-or-down vote " ; 2) that

former President Bill Clinton " got 100 percent " of his appellate court

nominees who reached the floor approved; and 3) that the " ABA

[American Bar Association] had given its highest stamp of approval " to

the 10 Bush nominees filibustered by Senate Democrats.

 

First, Clinton did indeed nominate Paez for an appellate court seat;

he was finally confirmed in March 2000 after four years of delay by

the Republican-controlled Senate. Second, Republican senators blocked

16 of Clinton's appellate court nominees in his second term alone.

Finally, only three of the 10 Bush nominees that Democrats have

filibustered have received the ABA's highest rating. [...] Read the

rest at Media Matters for America:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200504220006

 

How Blackwell and Petro

Saved Bush's Brain: And the rise of the right wing juggernaut in Ohio

Bob Fitrakis

 

April 27, 2005

The Free Press

The hotly disputed results of the 2004 presidential election have

become entangled in a fundamentalist crusade over who will control

Ohio. Extremist right wing screachers such as Pastor Rod Parsley of

the World Harvest Church, Ann Coulter, Alan Keyes, Ohio gubernatorial

candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell and followers of Jerry Falwell, have

taken center pulpit in an escalated war over what really happened when

George W. Bush was allegedly re-elected in November, 2004, and who

will occupy the Buckeye Statehouse in 2006. [...] Read the rest at:

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2005/1116

 

 

Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned; Media Roast Brings Hysterical Laughter

While Iraq Burns

By Bob Kendall

05/03/05

Political Strategy

 

 

A lot of Washington bigwigs need glasses! They don't even see what's

going on. Hysterical laughter erupted at the Saturday night media

roast when Laura Bush celebrated the media get together by cracking

jokes about George going to bed at 9.

 

Laura Bush explained in effect that was why she and Lynne Cheney had

to watch Desperate Housewives between trips to an entertainment

establishment like Chippendale's, where men prance about nearly nude,

with Mrs. Cheney and Condoleezza Rice. She even mentioned the most

famous weed cutter of them all, Bush on Crawford ranch detail, and

glibly mentioned the all-time worst U.S. movie horror epic, Texas

Chainsaw Massacre.

 

Now the question must be asked: Has the White House resident gotten

any counsel about raising Laura's entertainment standards? The very

weekend while the media bigwigs were launching into uproarious laugher

over some of the truly tasteless humor, did it for one sober second

dawn on any of them that U.S. service personnel were dying that very

day in Iraq? [...] Read the rest at:

http://www.politicalstrategy.org/archives/001432.php

 

 

Army Recruiters

Say They Feel Pressure to Bend Rules

 

By DAMIEN CAVE

The New York Times

Published: May 3, 2005

 

It was late September when the 21-year-old man, fresh from a

three-week commitment in a psychiatric ward, showed up at an Army

recruiting station in southern Ohio. The two recruiters there wasted

no time signing him up, and even after the man's parents told them he

had bipolar disorder - a diagnosis that would disqualify him - he was

all set to be shipped to boot camp, and perhaps Iraq after that,

before senior officers found out and canceled the enlistment.

 

Despite an Army investigation, the recruiters were not punished and

were still working in the area late last month. [...] Read it all

at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/national/03recruit.html

Interested in what is going on regarding the torture by Americans

under tacit or implicit instructions from their superiors? If you are

like me, to see a 21 year old girl, who perhaps wasn't even old enough

to vote when she committed the offenses, be tried and letting the fat

cats off the hook is a very revolting sight... The Human Rights Watch

organization web site has a page " Getting Away with Torture? Command

Responsibility for the U.S. Abuse of Detainees. "

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/us0405/

 

 

Triumph of the Theo-Cons

Pope Benedict XVI, a Rightwing Politician

By VICENTE NAVARRO

May 2, 2005

Baltimore, Maryland

 

In most of the media coverage of Cardinal Ratzinger's election as

successor to John Paul II, he has been presented as very conservative

on moral and religious issues. His opposition to legalizing abortion,

homosexual marriage, and the ordination of women and his support for

continuing the celibacy of priests and other church traditions, all

have contributed to his reputation as a profoundly conservative

religious person. Not much has been said, however, about his political

views, except his being a member of the youth branch of the Nazi Party

in Germany (the Hitler Youth). This was mentioned, then quickly

dismissed as having no significance, since, as the Herald Tribune (21

April 2005) noted, " Everybody had to be enrolled in Hitler Youth at

that time. " Otherwise, his political positions have been overlooked,

ignored, or set aside as having no relevance.

 

The reality, however, is quite different. Ratzinger is profoundly

political. And his political positions are more than conservative,

they are ultra-right-wing. He was one of the most ultra-right

cardinals of recent times. I will elaborate on this, but first, let's

dispense with the claim that every young person in Germany at that

time was in the Hitler Youth. That is nonsense. Many young Germans,

including Catholics, not only refused to join the Hitler Youth but

fought against Hitler in a courageous and principled way. In a village

near where the young Ratzinger lived (near Marktl ­ a mere 15 miles

from Braunau, Hitler's birthplace), two thousand Catholics signed a

petition protesting the Nazi order to remove crucifixes from

schoolrooms. In Munich, where Ratzinger later became archbishop,

twenty Catholic students were executed in 1942 for distributing

anti-Nazi leaflets at the university. They became known as the White

Rose -- die weisse Rose. There was an anti-war resistance in Germany,

including a Catholic resistance, which Ratzinger never joined,

supported, or recognized. Even later, when Germany regained democracy,

Bishop Ratzinger of Munich never paid tribute to those who had been

killed because of their commitment to liberty and freedom. Among them,

incidentally, were many communists, whom Ratzinger had defined as

" scum. " [...] Read the rest at CounterPunch:

http://www.counterpunch.com/navarro05022005.html

 

 

How have we come to this in America? Jesus told us to pray in our closets, not

the street corners. When I was a child I was told it was impolite to ask people

about their religion or politics... what's less bang them on the head with it!

 

Whose Nation Under God?

Religious extremists claim the Founders as their kin while they attack

their ideals

By Robert Kuttner

Web Exclusive: 04.28.05

 

When John Kennedy was running for president and passions were running

high about whether a Catholic could serve both the American citizenry

and Rome, a joke made the rounds about a priest and a minister whose

friendship nearly came to blows. Finally the priest phoned his old

friend. ''What a pity, " he said. ''Here we are, both men of the cloth,

fighting over politics. " ''It's true, " said the minister. ''We're both

Christians. We both worship the same God -- you in your way, and I in

His. "

 

America, which separated church and state precisely to protect the

private right to worship, has long had its share of religious

absolutists who have wanted to harness the power of the state to their

own view of revealed truth. But never before in our history has the

government deliberately and cynically intervened on the side of the

zealots. [...] Read the whole article on the American Prospect Web

Site: http://tinyurl.com/cebbw Filibuster Frist

 

 

 

New Leaders Council

 

Have you heard what's happening at Princeton?

 

Students have initiated a protest against Senate Majority Leader Bill

Frist's plan to end the filibuster and prevent Senate Democrats from

stopping extremist judicial nominations. The " Filibuster Frist "

protest, taking place in front of Princeton's Frist Campus Center

(that's right - paid for by the Tennessee Senator's family) is still

going strong after a full week. The mock filibuster has gained

national attention and has put pressure on the Senate Republican Leader.

 

When Filibuster Frist began, students had no idea what kind of success

they would have. They hoped to make some waves at Senator Frist's alma

mater; but it was clear after a couple days that this was going to

have far-reaching ripple effects. Picking up momentum, students began

congregating in droves to the filibuster, offering no shortage of

help. Soon enough, local and state press had picked up on the story

and calls of support were coming in from across the nation. [...]

Read the rest, including their success with media, at:

http://www.newleaderscouncil.org/advocacy/filibuster_frist.html

 

 

Wesley Clark is apparently going to run in 2008, and his friends and

volunteers are asked to check in at:

http://www.clarkvolunteers.com/index.php

 

 

Hitting the Middle Class, Again

 

TODAY'S EDITORIALS

Published: May 3, 2005

The New York Times

 

As he moved into the home stretch of his 60-day Social Security road

show last week, it became clear that President Bush had saved the

worst for last.

 

Mr. Bush endorsed a proposal that would take a huge bite out of the

Social Security retirement benefits for the middle class, claiming

that would close some 70 percent of the system's financing gap. That

figure is almost certainly overstated. Under the proposed reductions,

young workers who now earn about $36,000 would face a 16 percent cut;

those earning about $58,000 would face a cut of 25 percent, and those

earning $90,000, 29 percent. People not yet in the work force would

face even larger reductions. [..] Read the rest at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/opinion/03tue1.html

 

What do they mean, unprepared? Don't they know of Cheney's

underground empire? Built right after he was in office? What do they

care what happens to all of us " fungibles? "

 

U.S. Called Unprepared For Nuclear Terrorism

Experts Critical of Evacuation Plans

By John Mintz

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 3, 2005; Page A01

 

When asked during the campaign debates to name the gravest danger

facing the United States, President Bush and challenger Sen. John F.

Kerry (D-Mass.) gave the same answer: a nuclear device in the hands of

terrorists.

But more than 3 1/2 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the U.S.

government has failed to adequately prepare first responders and the

public for a nuclear strike, according to emergency preparedness and

nuclear experts and federal reports. [...] Read the rest at:

http://tinyurl.com/a39py

 

 

U.S. may allow nuke strikes over WMD

Proposal would reverse 10-year policy

Japan Times

Monday, May 2, 2005

 

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The U.S. military is considering allowing regional

combatant commanders to request presidential approval for pre-emptive

nuclear strikes against possible attacks with weapons of mass

destruction on the United States or its allies, according to a draft

nuclear operations paper.

 

The March 15 paper, drafted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is titled

" Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations, " providing " guidelines for the

joint employment of forces in nuclear operations . . . for the

employment of U.S. nuclear forces, command and control relationships,

and weapons effect considerations. " [...] To read the rest, go to:

http://tinyurl.com/9zjke

 

Isn't it interesting what one can read on

the internet? Al Gore will receive award at Webby Awards!

 

Courtesy of TechWeb News

InternetWeek.com

Updated Tuesday, May 3, 2005, 6:17 PM EDT

Former Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to receive the lifetime

achievement award at this year's 9th Annual Webby Awards, organizers

said Tuesday.

 

Vint Cerf, widely credited as a founder of the Internet, is scheduled

to present the award to Gore at the Internet honors' ceremony in New

York June 6, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences

said. Cerf is also a member of the academy. [...] Read more at:

http://tinyurl.com/9o2rz

 

I am not sure how we can blame this on Republicans only, but I am

thinking about it!

 

Growing Up Denatured

By BRADFORD McKEE

The New York Times

Published: April 28, 2005

 

WERE it not for the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, Neil Figler said, his

sons, 7 and 11, might never peel themselves away from the Xbox to go

outside and play.

 

" My kids want to finish their homework so they can play video games, "

said Mr. Figler, 47, a salesman and Cubmaster in Goldens Bridge, N.Y.

In Scouting his sons have learned to light fires, handle knives and

build sleds for trekking through the woods. But even those occasional

encounters with nature are planned and supervised by adults.

 

Nonetheless, the outings seem wilder than most anything else going on

in kidland these days. Mr. Figler said his sons find life easier and

more familiar in front of a computer screen. Among the Scouts, he

said, " that's more the norm than the exception. " [...] Read the rest

at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/garden/28kids.html?

 

For those of us interested in education and in our minds, another internet

article surfaced this week, this one on the web site CounterCurrents.org:

 

The Dumbing Down Of The American Mind

By Doug Soderstrom

23 April, 2005

Countercurrents.org

 

There is a very dangerous phenomenon that seems to be occurring in the

United States of America; something that I refer to as " the

dumbing-down of the American mind, " a nearly willful tendency for

Americans to forgo reality in favor of believing what they want to

believe. But how could such a thing have occurred in such a proud

nation, one that, according to George Bush, has become known as a

bastion of freedom and democracy, a bright light for the whole world

to see?

 

In my opinion, there are five factors that can explain such a

phenomenon. [...] Read all about it at:

http://www.countercurrents.org/us-soderstrom230405.htm or

http://tinyurl.com/cua57

 

 

There will never be a charge for this reading list and I won't ask for

contributions.

 

It may be freely distributed as long as it is sent out in its entirety

with this statement attached and no charge is made. Of course you are

free to use the URLs in your own posts, etc.

 

© Virginia Metze

 

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