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Saturday, December 04, 2004 Blue laws, schmue laws Damn liberals are tearing down the very foundations of our society. What's going to happen when people can run amok with lacy shirt sleeves, buying beer on a Sunday? Last month, [Boston]Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he would lift a 329-year-old requirement that Native Americans be escorted in the city by "musketeers." And this week, state Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem (D) introduced legislation to repeal bans on blasphemy and adultery. Commonly referred to as "blue laws," the collection of restrictive statutes implemented or inspired by New England's devout earliest residents included bans on such things as lacy shirt sleeves, birth control, and hunting or buying alcohol on Sundays. They have come under increased attack in recent times; in the past two years Massachusetts and 10 other states have scaled back restrictions on liquor sales. "The Puritans wanted almost a theocratic state, with no clear separation between the church and government, but the world began to change a long time ago," said Peter Drummey, a librarian at the Massachusetts Historical Society. "Now you see what's left of the traditional blue laws slowly fading away." More lacy shirt sleeves here. And here. (It's not really lacy, but I'm sure there's a law against it somewhere). posted by chris at 2:32 PM   Um, Mr. President? Your mandate is shrinking. President Bush's margin of victory in the all-important battleground state of Ohio appears to have been closer than previously believed. The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Associated Press, which conducted separate county-by-county surveys of the final election results there, found that Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry netted more than 17,000 votes in the post-Election Day ballot count. That would shrink the president's margin there from about 136,000 to 119,000 -- or about 2 percent of the 5.5 million ballots cast. Story. posted by chris at 2:30 PM   What color is your company? Choose the Blue is a new website that lets you find out if a particular company donates money to the Republicans or the Democrats. While it shouldn't be a surprise that larger corporations tend to favor the pro-business, anti-regulation party of George W. Bush, there are quite a few large companies that donate to the other side. (Toyota and CostCo, for example). And this is really less about the whole red state/blue state thing as it is about supporting companies with whom you share similar values. (Like searching for green companies that support the environment.) Another valuable resource for seeing where all the money in politics goes is the Center for Responsive Politics. Happy searching! Thanks to Jay for the Choose the Blue link! posted by chris at 2:10 PM   ------------------ Friday, December 03, 2004 Hearts and minds: nearly lost The United States is losing the war of ideas in the Islamic world, failing to elucidate its policies to Muslims wary of American intentions and "self-serving hypocrisy," a Pentagon advisory panel has found. The Defense Science Board, in a report made available on Wednesday, urged the creation of a "strategic communication" apparatus within the White House and an overhaul of public diplomacy, public affairs and information dissemination efforts by the Pentagon and State Department. -clip- The toughly worded report said that while America's efforts to explain its policies have failed, improved public relations efforts cannot sell faulty policies. "Muslims do not hate our freedom, but rather they hate our policies," the panel stated. "The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the long-standing, even increasing, support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan and the Gulf states." "Thus, when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy," the report stated. This report was delivered in September, but of course the White House kept it silent until after the election and then quietly put it up on the Pentagon's website the day before Thanksgiving. You know, when no one was paying attention. posted by chris at 1:11 PM   Ukraine election ruled invalid The Supreme Court declared the results of Ukraine's disputed presidential run-off election invalid and ruled Friday that a repeat vote should be held by Dec. 26, bringing cheers from tens of thousands of opposition supported massed in Kiev's main square. Story. posted by chris at 11:36 AM   Twenty years ago today On the night of 2 December 1984, the worst industrial accident in history happened here. Highly poisonous methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the plant, together with even more toxic reaction compounds. Thousands of people were gassed to death as they slept in their beds near the factory. Others died on the road as they tried to flee, water pouring from their burning eyes, unbearable pain in their lungs, defecating and urinating in their clothes, unable to help themselves. They found dead mothers with their dead babies in their arms. In the months and years that followed, thousands more died from the effects of the gas they inhaled. -clip- The Union Carbide factory has never been cleaned up. It is still poisoning Bhopal. Recent tests showed the chemicals still at the factory site have contaminated the ground water, which is used as drinking water by some of the poor neighborhoods around the factory. There is mercury lying on the ground inside the site, according to a former foreman who worked for Union Carbide. Dow Chemicals, the company which took Union Carbide over in a merger, refuses to clean up the site. It claims it is no longer liable because it sold its shares in an Indian subsidiary. It doesn't end there. "In the past 20 years, I didn't live through a single day without painkillers, without a tablet," says Rashida Bee, one of the survivors of the disaster. Today Ms Bee, and thousands like her, are still suffering the long-term effects of poisoning by the gas that leaked from the Union Carbide factory that night. A lesson learned or a lesson forgotten? posted by chris at 7:53 AM   ------------------ Thursday, December 02, 2004 Playing with numbers, part 2 trillion How to look like you're having your cake and eating it too. Meanwhile, no crumbs for the common people. With new bills for Iraq and Afghanistan, and President Bush pushing tax cuts and an expensive remaking of Social Security, the administration seems to have little chance of significantly shrinking the budget deficit, despite Bush's promises to halve it within five years, according to independent analysts and legislators. -clip- Bush's budget proposal forecasts that the current annual deficit of $413 billion will be half as large by 2009. But real progress in shrinking the deficit would require the president to give up some of his major priorities and exercise a degree of spending restraint that he has rarely displayed during his first term, independent budget analysts say. ...Bush's forecasts do not account for expenses associated with military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which could cost the government $70 billion next year. Also ignored is a permanent reform to the alternative minimum tax, which Bush wants to change to prevent a middle-income tax increase. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the reform would add an estimated $172 billion to the deficit through 2009. In addition, Bush's budget forecast excludes some of the biggest items on his domestic agenda, including his proposal for manned missions to Mars and the moon as well as his call to privatize Social Security for younger workers. The latter proposal alone could cost the federal government as much as $2 trillion in the coming decade, to cover for contributions that would be funneled into private accounts instead of paying benefits to retirees, according to budget specialists. (emphasis mine) Just go read the whole thing. It's astonishing how far removed from reality these people are. Or, how drastically they're going to cut social programs in the next couple years to reduce the deficit and keep all of Bush's ridiculous plans intact. posted by chris at 3:09 PM   Ignorance-only education Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found. Those and other assertions are examples of the "false, misleading, or distorted information" in the programs' teaching materials, said the analysis, released yesterday, which reviewed the curricula of more than a dozen projects aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. -clip- Among the misconceptions cited by [Congressman] Waxman's investigators: • A 43-day-old fetus is a "thinking person." • HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can be spread via sweat and tears. • Condoms fail to prevent HIV transmission as often as 31 percent of the time in heterosexual intercourse. -clip- Some course materials cited in Waxman's report present as scientific fact notions about a man's need for "admiration" and "sexual fulfillment" compared with a woman's need for "financial support." One book in the "Choosing Best" series tells the story of a knight who married a village maiden instead of the princess because the princess offered so many tips on slaying the local dragon. "Moral of the story," notes the popular text: "Occasional suggestions and assistance may be alright, but too much of it will lessen a man's confidence or even turn him away from his princess." This ignorant and biased information is being presented courtesy of YOUR tax dollars. posted by chris at 1:25 PM   Petition #3 CBS and NBC have refused to air a paid advertisement produced by the United Church of Christ (UCC). The outrageous message that warrants censorship? The denomination wants viewers to know that everyone is welcome at their churches. CBS states it is will not run the ad because it has a policy not to run issue advocacy ads on topics that are part of a national public debate. Similarly, the rejection by NBC declared the spot "too controversial." The UCC ad apparently ran afoul of the CBS policy by promoting the fact that its churches welcome gay and lesbian members as well as members of other minority groups, youth and seniors. Even if the commercial were deemed a controversial issue ad, CBS has contradicted its policy in the past by running strident anti-marijuana ads as well as ads by the Bush administration touting their new prescription drug program. Tell CBS and NBC that the increasing visibility of gay and lesbian citizens in our society is not controversial. However, a network's censorship of mainstream views is clearly a violation of the public trust and interest. CBS and NBC should be ashamed. posted by chris at 10:16 AM   Petition #2 The Republican leadership is increasingly forcing votes on essential legislation without allowing review by representatives and senators. This usually means they have something to hide. For example, both the House and the Senate recently rushed through and passed a $388 billion, 3,000+ page spending bill. Members didn't have enough time to read, let alone critically analyze or discuss the bill. They ended up voting on literally hundreds of special interest provisions that would never survive public scrutiny or a standalone vote. Congress used to follow a three-day rule, meaning that floor votes were not taken until three days after the printed final legislation was available to members and the public. Representatives should not be forced to vote for bills they haven't read and the public should be given ample time to weigh in on such bills. Tell your representative that they are failing in their public duty and cannot adequately represent you unless they read legislation before voting on it, and tell them to demand that the Republican leadership follow the traditional three-day rule in publishing proposing legislation before any floor vote. posted by chris at 10:14 AM   Petition #1 President Bush's top priority for his second term -- privatizing Social Security -- is likely to be even more expensive than his invasion of Iraq and tax cuts for the highest income taxpayers. It should be stopped before it starts, but momentum is building as an unholy alliance of Wall Street lobbyists and right-wing ideologues plots the demise of Social Security as we know it. The current Social Security system grew out of the stock market crash of 1929 and the resulting economic collapse. It is ludicrous to create a new system dependant on the very economic forces that made the program necessary in the first place. America's priority should be ensuring that people who worked hard their whole life don't spend their twilight years living in poverty. Call on your senators and representative to oppose privatizing Social Security in any way and to oppose any law that funnels Social Security dollars through Wall Street. posted by chris at 10:10 AM   ------------------ Wednesday, December 01, 2004 Stay all night, stay a little longer The Pentagon said yesterday that it will boost the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to about 150,000, the highest level since the U.S. occupation began 19 months ago. Most of the increase in the troop count -- which stands at about 138,000 now -- will come from the extended deployment of units already there as others arrive. That will keep some troops in Iraq for combat tours of 14 months, beyond the year-long mission that most service members are told to expect, Pentagon officials said. Rather convenient that they waited until AFTER the election to make this announcement, isn't it? posted by chris at 10:23 PM   Don Knotts is . . . DUBYA. The must see movie trailer of the week. (via Atrios). posted by chris at 7:34 PM   Do as we say, not as we do U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's campaign committee, following big losses in the stock market, is short of money to cover a bank loan that was due in August, records show. This, from the people that want us to invest our social security and health care funds in the stock market. posted by chris at 7:24 PM   What? Abu what? Never heard of it. Except they did. A confidential report to Army generals in Iraq in December 2003 warned that members of an elite military and CIA task force were abusing detainees, a finding delivered more than a month before Army investigators received the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison that touched off investigations into prisoner mistreatment. The report, which was not released publicly and was recently obtained by The Washington Post, concluded that some U.S. arrest and detention practices at the time could "technically" be illegal. It also said coalition fighters could be feeding the Iraqi insurgency by "making gratuitous enemies" as they conducted sweeps netting hundreds of detainees who probably did not belong in prison and holding them for months at a time. posted by chris at 1:54 PM   Iraq health care in shambles The US-led war in Iraq has created a healthcare disaster in a country where 20 years of war, mismanagement and sanctions had already left public health in a fragile state, a UK-based medical charity said today. Medact reported that the health of Iraq's people had deteriorated since the 2003 invasion, both as a direct result of violence and through the collapse of medical facilities, public health provision and essential infrastructure such as water supplies. The report specifically blamed the tactics of the US-led occupying forces for exacerbating the country's health problems, particularly the decision to sideline the UN, which has traditionally handled humanitarian relief efforts. Cleaning up the mess we've made is not just about killing all the insurgents and holding elections. Winning over the Iraqi people also includes helping provide basic servies like clean water and adeuqate health care. posted by chris at 9:38 AM   ------------------ Tuesday, November 30, 2004 November spawned a monster [T]he U.S. military death toll for November equalled the highest for any month of the war, according to casualty reports available Tuesday. At least 135 U.S. troops died in November. That is the same number as last April, when the insurgence flared in Fallujah and elsewhere in the so-called Sunni Triangle where U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies lost a large measure of control. But wait, the article also says: [A]lthough the Pentagon has not provided a casualty count for Fallujah for more than a week. Isn't that convenient? So the count is probably higher than in April, but they haven't released all the figures yet. And why is that? Maybe becuase things have not gotten better since June. From the viewpoint of the United States and Iraqis who are striving to restore stability, the casualty trend since the interim Iraqi government was put in power June 28 has been troubling. Each month's death toll has been higher than the last, with the single exception of October, when it was 63. October being the month right before the US elections, when they specifically stayed out of Fallujah to avoid greater casualties. More here. (Edited for clarity.) posted by chris at 5:52 PM   As I gaze into my crystal ball The top U.S. diplomat in Iraq said Tuesday that security conditions would improve enough here in the coming months to allow national elections to proceed in January as scheduled, and he suggested that the country's minority Sunni Muslim community would likely abandon plans to boycott the voting once it became clear it would not be postponed. -clip- His comments came, however, as violence in the Sunni region north of Baghdad continued. A car exploded in a busy marketplace in the town of Baiji, killing seven people and wounding more than 20 others. Roughly 110 miles north of Baghdad, Baiji sits within the so-called Sunni Triangle, a region once loyal to Hussein and now the heart of the resistance to the U.S. efforts in Iraq. A car bomb also detonated in western Baghdad shortly before noon, wounding five U.S. soldiers. Whoops. Someone should tell the insurgents what Negroponte said. I don't think they were listening. posted by chris at 5:11 PM   When the cat's away While the boss is out of town, Tom Ridge throws in the towel. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced today that he is resigning from his job overseeing the most ambitious U.S. government reorganization since the 1940s, saying that he was "confident that the terrorists are aware . . . that America is a different place to work or operate in" than it was before the Sept. 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks. posted by chris at 5:08 PM   ------------------

    

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