The FBI issued an urgent terror alert to several cities Friday, warning of the prospect of an imminent terrorist attack, but then retracted it hours later.
The New York Times reported Saturday FBI officials decided to retract the warning after their intelligence proved unfounded.
The veteran group Rolling Thunder rides into Washington this weekend aloft their trademark motorcycles for three days of events honoring their fellow veterans and strengthening ties with President Bush, their choice for November's election.
Rolling Thunder endorsed Bush over Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a Vietnam veteran who travels widely with his "band of brothers," even though there are widespread allegations that the president shirked his duty during the conflict. And their choice may reflect a larger trend among the veteran community.
A Gallup Poll found that, in an almost inverse of the population at large, veterans prefer Bush over Kerry 50 percent to 41 percent.
[No quote. It is an excellent posting by William Sjostrom.]
Democratic challenger John Kerry charged on Friday that President Bush undermined America's safety by having "rushed off to war" in Iraq without adequate help or "a plan to win the peace."
"I believe that the Bush administration -- and I say this carefully and thoughtfully ... made America less safe, not more safe, with their blustery arrogant foreign policy," Kerry said at town hall meeting with military veterans and family members.
"I believe our troops are in greater danger today, exposed to more gun fire and more mortar attacks and more ambushes than they had to be if we had done what common sense dictates ... which is to build alliances and share the responsibilities," Kerry said.
Kerry made the comments as he touted his proposed new national security strategy, unveiled the day before in Seattle, to forge a coordinated global alliance against terror and end what he has described as Bush's divisive bullying tactics.
"If it is worth for the United States of America to be there to fight the war on terror, it is worth other countries being there as well," Kerry said to sustained applause.Talk about blustery arrogance...
Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals football player who died in April while a U.S. soldier fighting in Afghanistan, likely was killed by friendly fire, an Army investigation has concluded.
...
"It does seem pretty clear that he was killed by friendly fire," said Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, which was alerted to the information by the Army's Legislative Liaison Office.
"This does not take away one iota from the heroic nature and courage of the man. The source of that fire is of little consequence in terms of heroism," Franks said. He said that after learning of the Army's conclusions, he made some follow-up inquiries and was satisfied the information was accurate.
Friendly-fire accidents are an inevitable part of warfare, according to an expert, who agreed that it should not diminish acts of heroism.
It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great
nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on
religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We shall not fight
alone. God presides over the destinies of nations. The battle is
not to the strong alone. Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to
be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty
God!
"Give me liberty or give me death!"
Pope John Paul II warned several U.S. bishops Friday that American society is in danger of turning against spirituality in favor of materialistic desires, giving way to a "soulless vision of life."
To fight this, the pontiff argued, the U.S. church must study contemporary culture to find a way to appeal to youths. He made his remarks to bishops from Indianapolis, Chicago and Milwaukee who were making a periodic visit to the Vatican.
The American church "is called to respond to the profound religious needs and aspirations of a society increasingly in danger of forgetting its spiritual roots and yielding to a purely materialistic and soulless vision of the world," John Paul said.
"Taking up this challenge, however, will require a realistic and comprehensive reading of the 'signs of the times,' in order to develop a persuasive presentation of the Catholic faith and prepare young people especially to dialogue with their contemporaries about the Christian message and its relevance to the building of a more just, humane and peaceful world."
John Paul added: "An effective proclamation of the Gospel in contemporary Western society will need to confront directly the widespread spirit of agnosticism and relativism which has cast doubt on reason's ability to know the truth, which alone satisfies the human heart's restless quest for meaning."
"People used to be ashamed," he said.
These days, he said, "a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands,' or men or whatever you call them now."
Kane wrote, "He's not a poor Black mother raising children in the inner city, so he has no idea how difficult that is in 2004 America. And if the TV star really wants to pass moral judgments on poor black women, ahem, Mr. Cosby, there is a little matter of you having an out-of-wedlock child yourself."
After reading the column, Cosby telephoned Kane. The columnist said that in an hour-long discussion, Cosby explained that he did not intend to smear all poor Blacks.
"I didn't say all black people from the lower classes were to blame," Kane said Cosby told him. "But I said that when you have a 50 percent graduation rate, and some people can't put two sentences together, and can't write or spell...you've got people who have put themselves on a track to failure."
Pakistani officials say al-Qaida is becoming more decentralized and its top leader, Osama bin Laden, may not be running the organization, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service.
Instead, there is growing evidence al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahiri may be in charge of the terrorist network.
The officials also said Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, the Jordanian-based al-Qaida associate, is emerging as a new leader of the group.
Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Muslim cleric linked to Zacarias Moussaoui and shoe bomber Richard Reid, was arrested Thursday in London and accused in a U.S. indictment of trying to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon, U.S. officials said.
"We are actively seeking Hamza's extradition from Great Britain to face justice in our courts on these serious charges," U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters in New York.
In London, a British judge ordered Abu Hamza held without bail after his arrest Thursday and scheduled an extradition hearing for July 23.
On May 26, Director Mueller and Attorney General Ashcroft held a press conference to call renewed attention to 7 individuals we believe pose a real and present danger to U.S. interests around the world--perhaps most especially this summer and fall, a time of high profile public events that may well serve as a lightning rod to terrorist attacks.
Director Mueller spoke frankly about the heightened threat to U.S. interests during these months, and equally frankly about strong FBI efforts to prevent attacks. "This summer and fall our nation will celebrate a number of events that serve as powerful symbols of our free and democratic society." he said. "Unfortunately, the same events that fill most of us with hope and pride are seen by terrorists as prime vehicles for sowing fear and chaos."
"We need the support of the American people," he said. [Pictures of seven Islamofascists that the FBI is looking for are on the website. - MATT]
Filmmaker Michael Moore, whose incendiary new documentary criticizes President Bush's handling of the war, says he has unused footage of Nicholas Berg, the American civilian later beheaded in Iraq.
The footage, of an interview with Berg, "is approximately 20 minutes long. We are not releasing it to the media," Moore said in a statement. "It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family.''
Neither Moore nor his representatives would describe the nature or contents of the interview with Berg, who held staunch pro-war views.
Hey! We made it through another week! Congrats everybody!
I'm a little busy this morning, but should start the blogging routine shortly.
Have at it in the comments section... I'll update this post with the "Around the Blogosphere" stuff.
"Super Friends," they called them, instead of the Justice League. The difference tells you everything you need to know about the seventies.I know I feel cheated. Although this quote says a lot too:
Federal regulators, rather than nervous trial attorneys, wussified Saturday morning TV in the early seventies. Uncle Sam made our cartoons insipid, in the hope that a nice stiff dose of cultural chloroform would deaden our proto-male violent tendencies and transform us all into prissy poindexters who would eat our vegetables, sit still in our seats, and eventually vote for French-speaking politicians.While we're on TCS, here's an article about Star Trek you might like.
Shouldn't someone point out to the Senator that because he appointed himself President, the Constitution mandates that he must resign from the senate.Kerry is dissing the electorate again...still...whatever... This country has ONE president and his name is BUSH.
From the ancient Greek, they are the reply of the Spartan General-King Leonidas to Xerxes, the Persian Emperor who came with 600,000 of the fiercest fighting troops in the world to conquer and invade little Greece, then the center and birthplace of civilization as we know it. When Xerxes offered to spare the lives of Leonidas, his 300 personal bodyguards and a handful of Thebans and others who volunteered to defend their country, if they would lay down their arms, Leonidas shouted these two words back.
Molon Labe! (mo-lone lah-veh)
So, in that spirit, I offer Molon Labe bumper stickers, a handy way of telling all the gun-grabbing people in America just what you think. A black oval, 4.25in by 2.75in, with white lettering.
"His injuries remind me of my own three Purple Hearts earned during the Vietnam war," Mr. Kerry added.Now, go read the set up...
Raising his voice to a yell in a speech at New York University, Gore said: "How dare they subject us to such dishonor and disgrace! How dare they drag the good name of the United States of America through the mud of Saddam Hussein's torture prison!"
The Democratic former vice president said the situation in Iraq is spinning out of control.
"I am calling today for Republicans as well as Democrats to join me in asking for the immediate resignations of those immediately below George Bush and Dick Cheney, who are most responsible for creating the catastrophe we are facing in Iraq," Gore said, drawing strong applause from the partisan crowd.
"Donald Rumsfeld ought to resign immediately!" Gore bellowed. "Our nation is at risk every single day Rumsfeld remains as secretary of defense. We need someone with good judgment and common sense."
Rice "ought to resign immediately. She has badly mishandled the coordination of national security policy. This is a disaster for our country," he said.
"It came from twisted values and atrocious policies at the highest levels of our government," he said.
The former presidential candidate was gentler on Tenet, a Clinton administration appointee, describing him as a friend and "honorable man" who should still leave his position for intelligence failures.
I've noticed that the big trend this week is folks looking for commentary about Bill Cosby's remarks. Mark's Remarks can be found here.
Speaking of Mark, he isn't feeling well and should be taking a couple of says off from the blog...not sure he will actually do it though, so we'll see.
As reported earlier in the news crawler above, the TIB gang met up with the SOC Entertainment folks at the MVCC studio. The studio is smaller than what we are used to at DATV, but I think our production values will go up with better equipment. We will be shooting "filler" material for the "Best of" show on 6/5 and we go Live and Direct from MVCC on 6/19. We are really looking forward to getting started out there.
SOC Entertainment reports that WMDtv sold its first DVD yesterday.
We're still working on the CrushKerry video spots, but are having some problems with the transfer. I haven't given up on it though...they are really good ads.
It is looking like a fairly slow news day so far...so have at it in the comments section...
More than 600 rocket-propelled grenade launchers collected by coalition forces throughout southern Iraq, were recently destroyed by Airmen of the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron here.
Normally destroyed using explosives, this amount of weapons required too much.
...
After some experiments with a welding torch, structural craftsmen determined the optimum point for demilitarizing the launchers for the EOD flight.
The craftsmen made a work table to hold the launchers while they were torched.
After the weapons were rendered useless, they were buried.
With a new Iraqi government in place after June 30, and all the focus on the role of our military, I have one question no one seems to address. What of the media? Will any rules change regarding visas, and will any freedoms or restrictions be applied to the press?
It's a good thing for Bush-bashing conspiracy filmmaker Michael Moore that the folks who run the Cannes Film Festival weren't paying much attention to the 9/11 Commission hearings earlier this year.
Otherwise they might have figured out that the central premise of Moore's film "Fahrenheit 911" - that President Bush let Osama bin Laden's relatives escape the U.S. and fly off to Saudi Arabia after the 9/11 attacks - has already been debunked.
What's more, the debunker in question, former White House terrorism czar Richard Clarke, has impeccable Bush-bashing credentials, authoring an entire book claiming that the Bush White House didn't do enough to prevent the 9/11 attacks.
But there's one allegation Clarke doesn't include in his anti-Bush bill of particulars - Moore's charge that he let the bin Ladens get away. Why not?
Because Clarke himself has already admitted to making that decision himself.
"I was making - or coordinating a lot of decisions on 9/11 in the days immediately after," he told the 9/11 Commission in late March, saying that the proposal to authorize the bin Laden fly-out was brought directly to him.
Boston's designated area for protesters at the Democratic National Convention remains what one advocate described as a "cesspool" of dirt, construction equipment, and wires, leaving demonstration organizers questioning whether the 29,000-square-foot space will be ready when the convention opens in late July.
In a 90-minute walkthrough and discussion with Boston police officials, representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the state chapter of the National Lawyers Guild said that despite securing a bigger space and promises from city officials to provide a sound system, they still have a number of concerns.
"It's hard to fathom an area in such incredible disarray could possibly be blacktopped and ready to go before the convention," said Carol Rose, executive director of the state's ACLU. "Right now, it's a tangle of barbed wire, a cesspool of dirt and rock and garbage. Whether it comes from a theory into reality is the question."
TWO WEEKS ago Senator Ted Kennedy uttered what may turn out to be the single most disgusting remark made about the United States in the course of the Iraq War. The reaction to his slander - or rather, the lack of reaction - speaks volumes about the moral bankruptcy of the American left.
Speaking in the Senate on May 10, Kennedy had this to say about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal:
"On March 19, 2004, President Bush asked, 'Who would prefer that Saddam's torture chambers still be open?' Shamefully, we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management - US management."
Read the full text of Kennedy's remarks
This was not a blurted, off-the-cuff comment - Kennedy was reading from a prepared text. It was not a shocked first reaction to the abuses at Abu Ghraib - the story had broken more than a week earlier. Incredibly, the senior senator from Massachusetts really was equating the disgraceful mistreatment of a few Iraqi prisoners by a few American troops with the unspeakable sadism, rape, and mass murder that had been routine under Saddam Hussein.
Kennedy's vile calumny should have triggered outrage. Here was the most prominent liberal politician in America accusing his own government of the very savagery it said it had gone to war to uproot. It was the worst kind of anti-American poison, and it was coming not from a crackpot with no following but from one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress. It should have unleashed an uproar.
It unleashed nothing.
U.S. officials have obtained new intelligence deemed highly credible indicating al-Qaida or other terrorists are in the United States and preparing to launch a major attack this summer, The Associated Press has learned.From My Way News:
The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a senior federal counterterrorism official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday.
Of most concern, the official said, is that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb.
Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller are due to hold a 2 p.m. news conference at FBI headquarters on Wednesday to give details of the threat, the officials said.From WorldNetDaily:
One law enforcement official said Mueller and Ashcroft would announce an FBI "be on the lookout" bulletin and give specific information about individuals the FBI is seeking.
"It's more investigatory...there's nothing to do with infrastructure protection," the official said.
The Department of Homeland Security has no plans to raise the color-coded terror alert level, which is currently set at "yellow" for an "elevated" risk of attack, officials said.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has warned since April of potential threats in the United States over the summer, including during this week's Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Other events seen as vulnerable are the Group of Eight summit in Savannah, Georgia next month, the Fourth of July holiday and the Democratic and Republican national conventions toward the end of the summer.
Al-Qaida has operatives currently within the United States who are preparing to mount a major terrorist attack on America this summer, according to government intelligence deemed to be highly credible.
The prediction was made public after a study by the International Institute of Strategic Studies revealed that despite the elimination of many top terror leaders – President Bush says two thirds of al-Qaida's leadership has been killed or captured – the terror network responsible for 9-11 still has a functioning leadership and over 18,000 potential terrorists in its global network, reports Fox News.
Comprehensive testing has confirmed the presence of the chemical weapon sarin in the remains of a roadside bomb discovered this month in Baghdad, a defense official said Tuesday.
The determination, made by a laboratory in the United States that the official would not identify, verifies what earlier, less-thorough field tests had found: the bomb was made from an artillery shell designed to disperse the deadly nerve agent on the battlefield.
The origin of the shell remains unclear, and finding that out is a priority for the U.S. military, the defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Some analysts worry the 155-millimeter artillery shell, found rigged as a bomb on May 15, may be part of a larger stockpile of Iraqi chemical weapons that insurgents can now use. But no more have turned up, and several military officials have said the shell may have been an older one that predated the 1991 Gulf War .
1)U.S. Says Iraq Attack Site Wasn't Wedding
2) Iraqi weapons pipeline probed
As a scientist, I bristle when lies dressed up as "science" are used to influence political discourse. The latest example is the global-warming disaster flick, The Day After Tomorrow.
This film is propaganda designed to shift the policy of this nation on climate change. At least that's what I take from producer Mark Gordon's comment that "part of the reason we made this movie" was to "raise consciousness about the environment."
Fox spokesman Jeffrey Godsick says, "The real power of the movie is to raise consciousness on the issue of (global warming)."
'Nuff said.
Some say Kerry's ambiguities are signs of courage. He went to war to fight for his country. And when Kerry came home, they say, he fought the war in support of what he thought was best for his country. Needless to say, many people disagree with this interpretation.
This will all be hashed out repeatedly between now and November. What I find more interesting is how familiar these complaints about Kerry seem to be.
Didn't we hear the same things about Bill Clinton, the original Democrat "Who Wanted to Have it Both Ways"?
...
And of course there was Al Gore. Now Gore wasn't really accused of holding conflicting ideas simultaneously, so much as constantly "reinventing himself." He'd been a pro-lifer, a pro-choicer, a social liberal, a social conservative, a hawk, a dove, a wonk, a quasi-hippy, a populist, an elitist, a New Democrat and an Old Democrat. Even such middle-of-the-road types as CNN's Bill Schneider wrote a column for National Journal titled "OK, Al, Who Are You Today?"
Clinton, Gore and Kerry are all very different men, with different histories. But I'm beginning to wonder if there's something about the Democratic Party or liberalism in general that results in picking these sorts of men as their standard-bearers.
Springer said the Bush administration has created a war against middle class Americans, with policies intended to shrink that middle class.
"For the first time in American history, we are not in the position in which we can honestly look at our children in the eye and say, 'Honey, you're going to have it better than us,'" Springer said. "I don't know if many middle class Americans today believe they can afford to send their children to a good four-year college."
Madam President, the most surprising thing about our debate is our surprise, for Israel's expansionist policy is the inevitable and predictable result of the growing imbalance in the region, the stability for which we bear much of the responsibility. Firstly that is because since 1967 most of our states, with the notable exception of France, have continued to give the State of Israel – a state that is growing increasingly self-assured and domineering – the impression that it can violate international law and UN resolutions with impunity.
In reality, here as elsewhere we have followed Washington and persist in closing our eyes to the theocratic excesses of this religious state whose governments are under the thumb of fanatical parties and minorities that are just as bad as the other groups of religious fanatics in the region. That is why we should envisage imposing sanctions on Israel.
There is, however, another serious imbalance for which we are in part responsible, namely the imbalance of forces. I have no hesitation in saying that we must consider giving the Arab side a large enough force, including a large enough nuclear force, to persuade Israel that it cannot simply do whatever it wants. That is the policy my country pursued in the 1970s when it gave Iraq a nuclear force. We have now destroyed it. So we will carry on with our policy of imbalance and what is happening today is merely the annoying but inevitable result of our collective blindness and cowardice.
The presentation of an honorary knighthood to the top U.S. military commander behind the invasion of Iraq, retired Gen. Tommy Franks, has provoked a row in Britain.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon will present Franks with the honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Tuesday in a private ceremony, a spokesman for Britain's Ministry of Defence told CNN.
The honorary KBE (Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) is equivalent in ranks to British knights like Sir Richard Branson, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.
But Franks will not be able to call himself Sir Tommy because he is not a British citizen.
Alice Mahon, a leading anti-war rebel in Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party, called the award "the ultimate in bad taste."
"This is not a time to be honoring American military figures when we are being confronted almost daily with the most sickening images of abuse of Iraqis," she told the Daily Mirror newspaper.
The award is not without precedent, as an honorary KBE was given to the two U.S. military architects of the Gulf War in 1990, then-Gen. Colin Powell and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf.
Other U.S. citizens to receive an honorary KBE include Bob Hope, Sidney Poitier, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ed Murrow, John Paul Getty II and the BBC's Alistair Cooke -- the "British" broadcaster who renounced his UK citizenship during World War II.
More recently the award -- recommended by Britain's foreign secretary and conferred by Queen Elizabeth II -- was collected by film director Stephen Spielberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Michael Moore’s controversial documentary may get Disney boycotted after all.
Conservatives threatened to boycott the Mouse House last year when it was revealed that the movie company’s subsidiary Miramax was funding the Bush-bashing film, “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Now that Disney is refusing to let Miramax distribute the Palm D’or winning flick, liberals are organizing a boycott against it.
“You are censoring one of the most important filmmakers in America,” reads a petition being circulated by Democrats.com and signed by more than 20,000 people. “This is unacceptable in a democracy. As consumers, we are not powerless. We will protest with our wallets — by boycotting Disney products until you agree to distribute Fahrenheit 9/11.” They’re saying they won’t buy anything produced by Disney, including its films, theme parks, toys, and TV networks.
“It’s a free country,” Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha tells The Scoop. “We have a right to decline distribution. They have a right to do whatever they think is in their interest.”
President Bush is urging Americans and Iraqis alike to follow what he envisions is a path toward a stable, peaceful Iraq. But events out of his control could frustrate his five-step plan in coming weeks, and he acknowledges "difficult days ahead."
The president, speaking at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., offered no exit strategy for bringing 138,000 American soldiers home, pledging instead to send more, if necessary.
"Terrorists will not determine the future of Iraq," Bush declared.
"America's task in Iraq is not only to defeat an enemy, it is to give strength to a friend — a free, representative government that serves its people and fights on their behalf, and the sooner this goal is achieved, the sooner our job will be done," Mr. Bush said.Have we grown so cynical so as to not believe what our leaders tell us? Did Clinton totally destroy what little faith we have in the presidency? Have we, as a nation, become so partisan that we can't support America as one voice? Why does John Kerry continue to slap our allies in the Coalition of the Willing?
"That's going to require the president to genuinely reach out to our allies so the United States doesn't have to continue to go it alone and to create the stability necessary to allow the people of Iraq to move forward," said Kerry, who himself has been faulted for failing to offer a concrete, alternative Iraq policy.I believe in America. I believe in this President. I believe what America has done is right and just.
Teenage rape victims fleeing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being sexually exploited by the United Nations peace-keeping troops sent to the stop their suffering.
The Independent has found that mothers as young as 13 - the victims of multiple rape by militiamen - can only secure enough food to survive in the sprawling refugee camp by routinely sleeping with UN peace-keepers.
Testimony from girls and aid workers in the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp in Bunia, in the north-east corner of Congo, claims that every night teenage girls crawl through a wire fence to an adjoining UN compound to sell their bodies to Moroccan and Uruguayan soldiers.
The trade, which according to one victim results in a banana or a cake to feed to her infant son, is taking place despite a pledge by the UN to adopt a "zero tolerance" attitude to cases of sexual misconduct by those representing the organisation.
y doorbell rang an hour or so ago. I looked out and saw a man in a t-shirt with some sort of American Flag logo on it. I opened the door and stepped outside and immediately noted that the logo was an A.C.T. logo. Let the games begin. The man asks for me by name and, as he looks at the PDA on his clipboard, tells me that he has me down as a registered voter. "Registered Republican," I say. Already flustered, he juts a folded up piece of paper at me and says he's conducting a non-partisan survey for A.C.T. and would I mind answering. "Give it your best shot." He asks which two issues are most important to me: unemployment, the economy, healthcare, social security, education, or outsourcing. "Uhh ... what other choices do I have?" He says he will also ask me if I'm for or against the war in Iraq. "For. Can you give me the choices for the issues again, please?" Same tired old list, as he refuses to make any semblance of eye contact and taps away on his PDA. "What about national security, terrorism or high taxes?" They aren't on his list, he says, as he motions to his PDA. "Can you write in 'Terrorism' and 'National Security' for me?" No, he can't do that, would I like to hear my choices again. "I don't particularly think any of those things are the business of the government." He asks if I'm concerned about unemployment. "Not really, I've got a job, and the only person I know of working age who doesn't have a full time job doesn't want one right now." He tells me he's unemployed. "You look tired. How long have you been at this today?" All day, he says. "Try job hunting." At that, I closed the door and went inside.
Oh, and by the way. His "non-partisan handout? It blames President Bush and Governor Taft for a bad economy. Do these people watch the news, or do they just attend protests and knock on doors? President Bush's tax cuts have fixed the Clinton Economy.
Kerry Supporters: Is this the best you have to offer?
The folks in Dayton represent the uneducated electorate Neil Boortz often refers. They will never understand the issues until they turn off the television and take an economics course. This does mean that the campaign is wasting its time going after these voters; they should. The problem faced in Dayton is that the Democratic mantra has been drummed into the resident’s mind so well and often by the Dayton school system and the news media, coupled with their own ignorance, they will never understand how little the President effects the Ohio economy. They will never understand that Ohio’s problems result from over taxation, too many state and county social programs, and a growing atmosphere that drives businesses away, and a Governor and General Assembly that are Republicans in name only.
Global warming is now advancing so swiftly that only a massive expansion of nuclear power as the world's main energy source can prevent it overwhelming civilisation, the scientist and celebrated Green guru, James Lovelock, says.
His call will cause huge disquiet for the environmental movement. It has long considered the 84-year-old radical thinker among its greatest heroes, and sees climate change as the most important issue facing the world, but it has always regarded opposition to nuclear power as an article of faith. Last night the leaders of both Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth rejected his call.
MADONNA has axed three gigs in Israel — after terrorists threatened to kill her and her kids.
The singer was terrified by a blitz of poison-pen letters.
Madge “freaked out” when she learned of a terrorist plot to kill her two young children if she performed in Israel.
She first planned to defy the extremists but cancelled after the unnamed Palestinian group mentioned details about Lourdes, seven, and three-year-old Rocco in a series of threatening letters.
President Bush fell off his bicycle Saturday while riding on his ranch, according to White House spokesman Trent Duffy.
Bush, who was accompanied on his bike ride by his doctor, Richard Tubb, a military agent and a member of the Secret Service, fell about 16 miles into a 17-mile ride.
Bush suffered minor abrasions to his chin, upper lip, nose, right hand and both knees, but was able to ride back home, Duffy said.
"Kerry told reporters in front of cameras, 'Did the training wheels fall off?' " Mr. Drudge reported on his Web site, www.drudgereport.com.Where is this guy's STAFF? They really need to sit him down and remind him that he's running for President. You can't hardly say that the Republican Attack Squadtm is out there smearing you when, you know, you're smearing the President.
Interviewed by The Washington Times yesterday, Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter would say only that the words Mr. Drudge reported were "off the record."
Mr. Drudge said the debate among reporters over the on-camera "training wheels" remark has been "whether to treat it as on or off the record."
In comments reported by the Associated Press, Mr. Kerry said, "I hope he's OK. I didn't know the president rode a bike."
Press freedom as we know it today is a rather recent innovation. The First Amendment didn't really do much work until just before World War Two. In World War One, people were convicted of sedition for publishing things that wouldn't raise an eyebrow today. Libel suits were easier, and in general the press enjoyed much less of a special status. (For a good history, especially of the World War One and Civil War eras, read this article by Geoffrey Stone).
And it wasn't really until the 1960s and 1970s, after cases like Brandenburg v. Ohio, and the Pentagon Papers case, that what we think of as press freedom today came into existence.
So the question is, is that a coincidence -- did the United States just happen to make progress in free expression over that period -- or is that expansion of press freedom tied to the fact that regard for the press, and in particular its fairness and objectivity, was (rightly or wrongly) at unusually high levels by historical standards during those decades?
Comedian Bill Cosby wants black Americans to follow the example of civil rights leaders in improving their neighbourhoods and reaching out for higher education.
"These people marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around," he said Monday evening at an NAACP gala commemorating the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision 50 years earlier.
"Take the neighbourhood back," Cosby said, chiding parents who do not take an active role in caring for their children.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids – $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'
He added: "They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"
"These are not political criminals," he said. "These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake and then we run out and we are outraged, [saying] 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?"
