Duty to Warn
It's funny. I'd seen all this stuff before--I mean it isn't as if there
was anything really new here for anyone who's been paying attention for
the past few years. And yet, I cried. Maybe it's the deprogramming of
having at least some of what we've seen replayed with any decent focus for
One Brief Shining Moment, beyond the self-imposed straitjacket of a docile
and dangerously inept US press. Maybe it's just the oxygen given to all
those impulses so many of us have kept in check, all those shoots of
anger, sadness and embarrassment blossoming into full blown consciousness.
My own thought process in response to Michael Moore's new film reminded me of one of those dessicated sponges you put in water-a few hours later and voila: your tiny piece of foam has bloated into a full blown fish, or frog, or palm tree ten times its original size. Or maybe like opening an archive, unzipping a million saved files at once. My brain fairly exploded with repressed anger going back to the Florida recount disaster: things I had known in much more detail before Moore scratched the surface again and brought it all flooding back..
My own thought process in response to Michael Moore's new film reminded me of one of those dessicated sponges you put in water-a few hours later and voila: your tiny piece of foam has bloated into a full blown fish, or frog, or palm tree ten times its original size. Or maybe like opening an archive, unzipping a million saved files at once. My brain fairly exploded with repressed anger going back to the Florida recount disaster: things I had known in much more detail before Moore scratched the surface again and brought it all flooding back..
(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/15/04) - On Wednesday, June 16, the Ohio office of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) will hold a news
conference in reaction to the arrest of Nuradin Abdi, a Columbus Muslim
who was indicted Monday on four counts of conspiring to provide support
for Al-Qaeda.
The news conference will take place following the conclusion of Nuradin's bond hearing on Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Columbus, Ohio.
WHERE: U.S. Federal Courthouse, 85 Marconi Blvd., Columbus, Ohio WHEN: Following conclusion of bond hearing (Hearing at 1:30 pm)
"Given previous cases involving American Muslims in which evidence proved to be faulty or non-existent, we are concerned about the strength of the charges against Mr. Abdi," said CAIR-Ohio Executive Director Jad Humeidan.
Humeidan cited the cases of Army Chaplain James Yee and Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield. Both men were cleared of all charges following extensive damage to their reputations.
The news conference will take place following the conclusion of Nuradin's bond hearing on Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Columbus, Ohio.
WHERE: U.S. Federal Courthouse, 85 Marconi Blvd., Columbus, Ohio WHEN: Following conclusion of bond hearing (Hearing at 1:30 pm)
"Given previous cases involving American Muslims in which evidence proved to be faulty or non-existent, we are concerned about the strength of the charges against Mr. Abdi," said CAIR-Ohio Executive Director Jad Humeidan.
Humeidan cited the cases of Army Chaplain James Yee and Oregon attorney Brandon Mayfield. Both men were cleared of all charges following extensive damage to their reputations.
Many writers mourning the death of our 40th president fail to mention that
Ronald Reagan's administration brought on a poverty and despair that
inflicted an entire generation of minorities and changed the sound and
reality of ghetto life from a pursuit of the dream deferred into a descent
into the American nightmare. The children of that era are many of the
progenitors and purveyors of modern hip-hop, and Reagan's presidency
single-handedly changed that music. Ronald Reagan is hip-hop's first
president, and while America mourns, rappers are still rapping about the
rusted legacy he left behind.
Federal energy regulators have just released more than 400 pages of
documents that suggest former Enron chairman Ken Lay and former chief
executive Jeff Skilling were aware that Enron's west coast traders may
have broken the law by using manipulative trading tactics in California to
boost Enron’s profits during the height of that state's power crisis.
Moreover, one of Enron's most powerful Washington, D.C. lobbyists, who met with several members of the Bush administration in the spring of 2001 about Enron's opposition to price controls on electricity sales in California, was told by Tim Belden, the mastermind behind Enron's notorious trading scams, less than a year earlier that Belden and other traders working at the company's West Coast trading desk in Portland, Ore., spent the better part of 2000 and 2001 breaking the rules governing California's power market "when opportunities presented themselves to make money.”
Moreover, one of Enron's most powerful Washington, D.C. lobbyists, who met with several members of the Bush administration in the spring of 2001 about Enron's opposition to price controls on electricity sales in California, was told by Tim Belden, the mastermind behind Enron's notorious trading scams, less than a year earlier that Belden and other traders working at the company's West Coast trading desk in Portland, Ore., spent the better part of 2000 and 2001 breaking the rules governing California's power market "when opportunities presented themselves to make money.”
It's time to stop beating around this Bush and start beating up on him--but good. There is no set of humanitarian or democratic principles by which this administration would not have been removed in any sane society. The last election was questionable at best, and his reckless, dangerous and criminal actions in the ensuing years have shown the whole world he is unfit to govern. The only democratic remedy, impeachment, was set aside early and forcibly by an opposition still afraid of its own shadow. It did make some sense, early on, to argue that, since the Greasy Oil Plutocrats (GOP) controlled both houses, it was a waste of time and energy.
One of the many missteps that led to the unraveling of Gray Davis' decades long political career was the way in which the former governor of California handled the state's energy crisis. Sure, Davis may have publicly vilified energy companies such as Enron for ripping off the state and manipulating the market, but he operated under a veil of secrecy behind the scenes, refusing to allow anyone outside his administration to scrutinize his so-called solutions to the crisis.
A few days before Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th Governor of California last year he stood on the steps of the capital building in Sacramento waving a broom over his head, an obvious symbolic gesture in which Schwarzenegger promised to clean up the political mess left by his predecessor, Gray Davis.
"I enter this office beholden to no one except you, my fellow citizens," the Republican governor said when he was sworn in on Nov. 18, 2003. "I pledge my governorship to your interests, not to special interests.to those who have no power...to those who've dropped out - too weary or disappointed with politics as usual - I took this oath to serve you.I did not seek this office to do things the way they've always been done. What I care about is restoring your trust in your government."
That was then. This is now.
"I enter this office beholden to no one except you, my fellow citizens," the Republican governor said when he was sworn in on Nov. 18, 2003. "I pledge my governorship to your interests, not to special interests.to those who have no power...to those who've dropped out - too weary or disappointed with politics as usual - I took this oath to serve you.I did not seek this office to do things the way they've always been done. What I care about is restoring your trust in your government."
That was then. This is now.
Get ready for another jolt this summer. California energy officials are expected to issue a startling report next week warning that the state is going to be terribly short of electricity, which could result in a repeat of the energy crisis that wreaked havoc on consumers and businesses in the Golden State three years ago.
Last month the National Weather Service predicted that above normal heat and dryness will blanket much of California this summer meaning that demand for power to keep air-conditioners humming will likely outstrip the state's supply. The state is relying heavily on consumers to implement conservation measures in order to avoid issuing power emergencies and rolling blackouts.
A draft summer outlook report prepared by the California Independent System Operator, the state agency that manages supply and demand, expects demand for juice during a hot spell to peak at 44,422 megawatts, a 3.6% increase from last summer, mostly due to 195,000 new homes that were built in the state the past year and two-dozen old power plants that were permanently idled. As a result, California has 873 megawatts less than it did last summer.
Last month the National Weather Service predicted that above normal heat and dryness will blanket much of California this summer meaning that demand for power to keep air-conditioners humming will likely outstrip the state's supply. The state is relying heavily on consumers to implement conservation measures in order to avoid issuing power emergencies and rolling blackouts.
A draft summer outlook report prepared by the California Independent System Operator, the state agency that manages supply and demand, expects demand for juice during a hot spell to peak at 44,422 megawatts, a 3.6% increase from last summer, mostly due to 195,000 new homes that were built in the state the past year and two-dozen old power plants that were permanently idled. As a result, California has 873 megawatts less than it did last summer.
All links to articles as summarized below are available: legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news
Bush Was Warned of Possible Attack in U.S., Official Says --Dictator Bush was told more than a month before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that supporters of Osama bin Laden planned an attack within the United States with explosives and wanted to hijack airplanes, a government official said Friday.
Secret memo shows Bush knew about hijack plot before 9/11 --Forced on to the defensive by talk of a cover-up, the White House yesterday agreed to publish a top secret memorandum which warned Dictator George W Bush a month before the September 11 attacks that terrorists might be preparing to hijack aircraft. The Aug 6, 2001 memo is a Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States".
Bush Was Warned of Possible Attack in U.S., Official Says --Dictator Bush was told more than a month before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that supporters of Osama bin Laden planned an attack within the United States with explosives and wanted to hijack airplanes, a government official said Friday.
Secret memo shows Bush knew about hijack plot before 9/11 --Forced on to the defensive by talk of a cover-up, the White House yesterday agreed to publish a top secret memorandum which warned Dictator George W Bush a month before the September 11 attacks that terrorists might be preparing to hijack aircraft. The Aug 6, 2001 memo is a Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States".
Machines will produce 99.4% of the election results for the upcoming 2004 presidential election. With all the hoopla over voting machine "glitches," porous software, leaked memos, and the creepy corporations that sell and service these contraptions, and with all the controversy that surrounds campaign financing, voter registration, redistricting issues, and the general privatization of the election process - we are missing the boat on the biggest crisis facing our democracy.
Americans aren't really voting. Machines are. Call it faking democracy.
And no one seems to be challenging it. As far as I can tell from my own investigations and from discussions with law professors, attorneys, and others, there has never been a lawsuit that challenges the right of machines to be used in the voting process. Recent lawsuits that have been filed by Susan Marie Webber of California and Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) are based on verification. The plaintiffs want voting machines to produce paper ballots so that voters can verify that the machine's output matched their input. They also want paper ballots for manual audits and recounts.
Americans aren't really voting. Machines are. Call it faking democracy.
And no one seems to be challenging it. As far as I can tell from my own investigations and from discussions with law professors, attorneys, and others, there has never been a lawsuit that challenges the right of machines to be used in the voting process. Recent lawsuits that have been filed by Susan Marie Webber of California and Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) are based on verification. The plaintiffs want voting machines to produce paper ballots so that voters can verify that the machine's output matched their input. They also want paper ballots for manual audits and recounts.