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Friday, October 24, 2003 (Not so) Subliminial fascism Political scientist Dr. Lawrence Britt recently wrote an article about fascism ("Fascism Anyone?," Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20). Studying the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile), Dr. Britt found they all had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. (Thanks, Jason for the link.) The 14 characteristics are: 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights 3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause 4. Supremacy of the Military 5. Rampant Sexism 6. Controlled Mass Media 7. Obsession with National Security 8. Religion and Government are Intertwined 9. Corporate Power is Protected 10. Labor Power is Suppressed 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts 12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment 13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption 14. Fraudulent Elections Sound like anyone we know? posted by chris at 8:16 PM   Whose Fault is it Anyway? The Washington Post reports that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is set to release a damning report on the poor intelligence presented to the government in the lead-up to the attack on Iraq. The report focuses mainly on the CIA and other intelligence agencies and shifts the focus away from the White House. But, as Sy Hersh points out in his excellent article in the New Yorker, the traditional routes of intelligence were pushed aside by the Bush administration in favour of a "stovepipe" arrangement. This sent intelligence straight to the top levels of the Bush administration before it was examined by seasoned intelligence officials. Which means that erroneous information was delivered to people that had already made up their minds to go to war. It made it too easy to pick and choose the information that fit their plan, with no regard for its accuracy. And as we now know, ALL of the evidence that the Bush administration provided the American people was patently false. Hersh's article helps explain what happened. posted by chris at 7:37 PM   ------------------ Thursday, October 23, 2003 Clinton makes a deal Former President Bill Clinton has secured a deal with four generic-drug companies to provide low-cost AIDS drugs in the developing world, an aide to the former president said Thursday. The agreement, which was to be announced at a news conference later Thursday, will cut the price of a triple-drug regimen to about 38 cents a day. The deal, brokered by the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, was reported Thursday in The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by the Clinton aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The companies involved -- three Indian companies and one South African firm -- opened their books to a group of Clinton advisers, who then worked with the companies to cut costs. Patented versions of the regimen run at least $1.54 per day. Where available, the discounted generic regimen costs 55 cents per day. Story. posted by chris at 10:20 PM   ------------------ Wednesday, October 22, 2003 If you can't see it, it doesn't exist Since the end of the Vietnam War, presidents have worried that their military actions would lose support once the public glimpsed the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped caskets. To this problem, the Bush administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases. In March, on the eve of the Iraq war, a directive arrived from the Pentagon at U.S. military bases. "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Del.] base, to include interim stops," the Defense Department said, referring to the major ports for the returning remains. If a soldier dies in Iraq and no one sees it, did it really happen? posted by chris at 9:15 PM   Rumsfeld's private fears The United States has no yardstick for measuring progress in the war on terrorism, has not "yet made truly bold moves" in fighting al-Qaeda and other terror groups, and is in for a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a memo that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sent to top-ranking Defense officials last week. Despite upbeat statements by the Bush administration, the memo to Rumsfeld's top staff reveals significant doubts about progress in the struggle against terrorists. Rumsfeld says that "it is not possible" to transform the Pentagon quickly enough to effectively fight the anti-terror war and that a "new institution" might be necessary to do that. The memo, which diverges sharply from Rumsfeld's mostly positive public comments, offers one of the most candid and sobering assessments to date of how top administration officials view the 2-year-old war on terrorism. It suggests that significant work remains and raises a number of probing questions but few detailed proposals. "Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terror?" Rumsfeld asks in the Oct. 16 memo, which goes on to cite "mixed results" against al-Qaeda, "reasonable progress" tracking down top Iraqis and "somewhat slower progress" in apprehending Taliban leaders. "Is our current situation such that 'the harder we work, the behinder we get'? " he wrote. Come on, Donnie, turn that frown upside down! posted by chris at 12:52 PM   ------------------ Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Location, location, location The former Saddam International Airport now houses Iraq's first Burger King. Part creature comfort, part therapy for homesick troops, its sales have reached the top 10 among all Burger King franchises on Earth in the five months since it opened. The shiny metal broiler spits out 5,000 patties a day. The takeout stand is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and offers six sandwiches; a normal menu has 16. There are no milkshakes. But even with the limited menu, and with competition from the Bob Hope dining facility at the airport -- which is free and serves 8,000 meals a day -- Burger King's daily sales are between $15,000 and $18,000, military officials say. How the hell did Burger King manage to score this contract?? What, is it Dick Cheney's favorite burger joint? Nothing tastes like home like greasy french fries and "flame-broiled" meat. And is this the new BK spokesman? "We're lucky if we can get over here once a month, we're so busy raiding houses and kicking down doors in the middle of the night," said [Adrian] Miller, who bought $84 worth of food. "When we get free time and no one is using the trucks, then we come out here." Or maybe it's this guy: "I like grease," said a tall, slim Sgt. Michael Beard, 28, from Las Vegas, who scarfed down a Chicken Royale with cheese, a Whopper with cheese, an apple pie and a Coke. "And I need the weight." Thanks to Davin for the heads-up. posted by chris at 2:42 PM   Interesting timing U.S. military commanders have developed a plan to steadily cut back troop levels in Iraq next year, several senior Army officers said in recent interviews. There are now 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The plan to cut that number is well advanced and has been described in broad outline to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld but has not yet been approved by him. It would begin to draw down forces next spring, cutting the number of troops to fewer than 100,000 by next summer and then to 50,000 by mid-2005, officers involved in the planning said. Wonder if this has anything to do with a certain Presidential election next year? posted by chris at 2:37 PM   ------------------ Monday, October 20, 2003 Tell Us the Truth Tour Your favorite activist-musicians are taking to the road as part of the Tell Us the Truth tour, dedicated to educating the music-soaked masses about media reform, fair trade, economic justice and democracy. Tom Morello, Steve Earle, Billy Bragg and Lester Chambers will be performing at some, most or all of the dates below. They're kicking off the tour in Madison, Wisconson at the first ever National Conference on Media Reform and will be touring throughout November, swinging by Miami to protest the FTAA. Check it out. November 7-8 Madison, WI November 10 Chicago, IL Park West November 11 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theater November 12 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue November 13 Nashville, TN The Trap November 15 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel-Early Show November 16 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse November 17 Tampa, FL Tampa Theatre-WMNF November 19 Miami, FL Union Convention November 22 New York, NY Webster Hall November 23 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center November 24 Washington, D.C. 9:30 Club posted by chris at 4:54 PM   ------------------ Sunday, October 19, 2003 What's the definition of a terrorist? Is it someone with an arsenal like this? Agents found an underground bunker, thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of pounds of gunpowder and manuals on guerrilla warfare, "booby traps" and explosives. There were chilling pictures of President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the cross-hairs of a high-powered rifle scope drawn over them, Meyer said. Or maybe someone who was "filled with rage and intended to ambush people, mowing them down in a hail of machine-gun bullets"? Or is this guy just excercising his Second Amendment rights? posted by chris at 1:16 PM   More "evidence" refuted A suspicious sample of biological material recently found by U.S. weapons hunters in Iraq probably was purchased legally from a U.S. organization in the 1980s and is a substance that has never been successfully used to produce a weapon, experts said. The discovery of the hidden vial of C. botulinum Okra B, which was revealed in an Oct. 2 interim report by chief U.S. weapons hunter David Kay, was highlighted in speeches by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other senior administration officials as proof that President Saddam Hussein's government maintained an illicit bio-weapons program before the war. -clip- The single vial of botulinum B had been stored in an Iraqi scientist's kitchen refrigerator since 1993. It appears to have been produced by a nonprofit Virginia biological resource center, the American Type Culture Collection, which legally exported botulinum and other biological material to Iraq under a Commerce Department license in the late 1980s. Story here via Tom Tomorrow. posted by chris at 1:11 PM   ------------------

    

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