The Decline and Fall of the American EmpireWhere are we going, and what are we doing in this handbasket? It sure is getting warm...How E-Voting Threatens Democracy- March 31, 2004 Electronic voting is supposed to streamline the process and rid us of the hanging chad. But the technology is rife with problems, creating the specter of botched returns and deliberate election rigging. Although many election officials defend the system, e-voting still can't be trusted. Nor, apparently, can many of its more ardent boosters. Wired Newshttp://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,62790,00.html Congress Moves to Criminalize P2P- March 28, 2004 Two senators introduce legislation that would impose jail time for sharing as little as one file, while the House may consider another that would lower the bar to take people to court. Looks like entertainment lobbyists are winning their war against peer-to-peer networks. Wired Newshttp://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62830,00.html Bush's wife, mom worried- March 16, 2004 Time reveals a Bush-Cheney strategy to take better advantage of their incumbent status: More photo-ops. "Sources tell TIME that employees at the Department of Homeland Security have been asked to keep their eyes open for opportunities to pose the President in settings that might highlight the Administration's efforts to make the nation safer. The goal, they are being told, is to provide Bush with one homeland-security photo-op a month." Salonhttp://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/03/15/time Bush booted from cockpit- March 16, 2004 As a lieutenant in the Texas Air National Guard, George Bush insists he voluntarily stopped flying in 1972 because he simply lost interest in being a pilot. That explanation has never washed (most pilots would rather fly than eat), and now a new possibility has emerged; the Pentagon, suspicious of possible drug or alcohol use, booted Bush from the cockpit. That's the intriguing scenario laid out in a detailed, must-read from Sunday's Spokane, WA., Spokesman-Review newspaper. Salonhttp://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/03/15/nationalguard In Rumsfeld's own words- March 16, 2004 "If Iraq did not have WMD, why did they pose an immediate threat to this country" Rumsfeld countered with: "You and a few other critics are the only people I've heard use the phrase 'immediate threat.' I didn't...It's become kind of folklore that that's what happened." Folklore, huh Rumsfeld then issued this challenge: "If you have any citations, I'd like to see 'em." The New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, also on the CBS panel, obliged, reading Rumsfeld his own testimony to Congress in...http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/03/15/rumsfeld Behind the jobs debacle- March 16, 2004 Bush's jobs forecast failed because there's been no jobs recovery at all. Salonhttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/15/economy Going negative- March 16, 2004 He's the father of the modern attack ad, and he's behind the Bush campaign's new wave of anti-Kerry spots. Alex Castellanos is known as vicious, irresponsible -- and effective. Salonhttp://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/15/castellanos The Arabian candidate- March 16, 2004 How George W. Bush's close ties to Islamic lobbying groups -- and to an accused supporter of Palestinian terrorism -- may have brought him his razor-thin margin of victory in Florida. Salonhttp://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/03/15/unger_3 Stations playing Bush campaign ads for free during news- March 16, 2004 A few nights ago, I was watching the local news on an Hearst-Argyle owned ABC news affiliate, WCVB. They launched into a story about Bush's reelection campaign, and how some of that huge pile of money was being put to action for a new commercial. Then to my surprise they ran it in entirety, full screen, with no voiceover commentary. Our President, with $190M in campaign funds, was getting what seemed suspiciously like a freebie. Kuro5hin.orghttp://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/3/9/14659/65171 British Camp Delta Detainee Speaks Out- March 16, 2004 The first British suspect to be released from Camp Delta, Manchester-born Jamal al-Harith, gives a damning account of life in Camp X-Ray and Camp Delta in a three part article in today's Daily Mirror. He describes torture, systematic beatings, forced medication, exposure, inadequate sanitation and denial of religious rights, along with the claim that prostitutes were hired to humiliate inmates. Kuro5hin.orghttp://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/3/12/53733/2985 |