CNN Still In La-La Land

Yesterday, CNN considered it of national importance that "Breaking News" email was sent about the death of a young person at Disneyland, covered here previously.

They're at it again today. CNN today sent out another "Breaking News" email:

"Preliminary autopsy results found no injuries, but indicated congenital heart abnormalities in a 12-year-old boy who died after a Disney ride in Florida, according to a statement from the medical examiner’s office."

________________________

And so I responded:

What are you smoking there? As I pointed out yesterday, 16,000 children die every day because of starvation. Perhaps you should rename your company to CCN, Cable Claptrap Network.

TLC

Petaluma Death Camp: More Ramifications

My letter to the editor of the Arizona Republic, basically a recycling of that posted previously, garnered the following response:


Whoa, Terry. Sounds like your whacked-out rhetoric came from outer space. C'mon back to earth and try to get your arms around that thing called reality.

Just out of curiosity, where do you come up with this "kill and maim Iraqis in droves" statement? I'm over here in Iraq right now, and I just don't see it. Maybe your alien friends told you about it? (Mike5383, June 29, 2006 10:04PM)

________________

Not one to cower in the shadows, I posted the following reply:

It would be interesting to come back and revisit this topic in 40 years or so. Sadly Mike5383, that will probably not be the case for you and I. The depleted uranium that is being spread throughout Iraq is not stopping with people with brown skin whose sand is sitting on top of "our oil". I'm sure the US government isn't letting you know the full truth any more than they have all of the Vietnam Veterans who are have been abandoned and are experiencing the consequences of the widespread use of Agent Orange along with untold thousands of other human beings in southeast Asia. With depleted uranium, ask people who lived through the first Gulf War, visit http://www.ccnr.org/du_hague.html and http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/ud_main.html, or just open your eyes and look around you. You can get a current if very conservative estimate of the Iraq death toll due to more traditional means over at http://www.iraqbodycount.net any time you like. These are the consequences when life becomes just another piece of garbage to be discarded when it gets in the way of our convenience.
Good luck, Mike5383. You'll need it. Sincerely, Terry L. Clark

Ease

"Nothing is easy to the unwilling."
--Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) British Clergyman, Author

It Depends On What The Meaning Of The Word "Stealing" Is

A judge handed down the maximum sentence allowed by law Wednesday to three Kenner residents convicted last month of looting a Metairie grocery store in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

Coralnelle Little, 36, Rhonda McGowen, 42, and Paul C. Pearson, 36, received 15-year sentences from Judge Hans Liljeberg of the 24th Judicial District Court, who said he wanted to send a message to looters that the crime would not be tolerated.

The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, June 29, 2006


Steal elections or billions of dollars? Kill untold thousands for oil? Pop the champagne corks! Swipe some booze? OMG, major crime, off to prison.

How long will the facade be maintained that there is a justice sytem in the US?

TLC

Hands-free car phones are 'as dangerous as drink-driving'

Using a hands-free kit while at the wheel is as dangerous as drink driving, according to a study of volunteers in a driving simulator. The researchers conclude that all mobile phone use while driving should be banned.

"Just like you put yourself and other people at risk when you drive drunk, you put yourself and others at risk when you use a cellphone and drive. The level of impairment is very similar," said the report's lead author, David Strayer, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah.

Full Article, Guardian UK, June 30, 2006


How interesting that one has to read British newspapers to find out what's going on in the US. But then, much of the US media has become mouthpieces for corporate interests, as often through omission as commission.

See also my previous Posts:

Cell Phones: Salina Journal Agrees WIth Proposed Driving Ban

Driving While Cell Phoning (Continued)

A Ban On Driving While Using A Cell Phone


TLC

CNN's Disneyland Distraction

CNN, in a ”Breaking News" email, declared the following earth-shaking event:

"12-year-old boy dies on Disney's Rock'n'Roller coaster at Disney-MGM studios in Orlando, Florida, officials tell CNN."

_____________________

My email to CNN:

Every five seconds, someone on this planet dies of starvation, most of those people being children. Today, 16,000 children will die of starvation. But I guess that's old news, eh? And “irrelevant” because the corporate media continually creates distractions from that which is truly important.

TLC

Mandatory Conformity

"Don't blame the parents for the clothes the kids wear to school these days. Blame the manufacturing companies. If the kids don't wear the clothes, the other kids make fun of them for dressing different. Problem solved: Make school uniforms for all children mandatory."
--Anonymous call to The Salina [Kansas] Journal's Extension 333 Line, published June 29, 2006


Ah, forget parental responsibility, let there be uniforms, brown shirts for one and all. Is the Bu$h Youth far behind?

TLC

More Effective Spread Of Toxins

On June 29, 2006, The Salina [Kansas] Journal had an article boasting about an experiment in which wheat production of 114.45 bushels per acre was accomplished. Concerned that this may be another corporate media instance of facts being stupid things, I fired off the following letter:


Dear Editor,

Did the 114.45 bushels of wheat per acre experiment exclude the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides? If not, then all that was really accomplished was an increase in the effectiveness of the poisoning of the consumer with toxins.

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

Flag Amendment: How They Voted

If you go to the official Senate website you can sort the vote
--By Senator Name
--By Vote Position
--By Home State

For space reasons, I've just provided the list of those who voted against the attempted blasphemy on the Constitution. If those in favor *really* want to do something about desecration, they could start by Impeaching Bu$h, Dickless, & Bum$feld.

TLC
________________________

Vote Date: June 27, 2006, 06:14 PM
Required For Majority: 2/3
Vote Result: Joint Resolution Defeated
Vote Counts:
YEAs 66
NAYs 34


Akaka (D-HI)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
McConnell (R-KY)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)

Full Sortable List

Convictions

"When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith."
--Abraham Kuyper.

Petaluma Death Camp

Rat lovers were furious Wednesday that a Petaluma animal shelter had euthanized about 1,000 of the rodents taken last week from a man who had been hoarding the creatures inside his home.
Full Story, SF Chronicle, June 29, 2006


My letter to the SF Chronicle:

Dear Editor,

Your story on the slaughter of approximately 1,020 rats at the Petaluma Death Camp serves as another timely reminder of the erosion of meaning in language. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. A place of rampant methodical killing is a "shelter"?

One of my ideas for a science fiction movie consists of beings from another planet landing on earth, and "putting to sleep" all those who have, with the lame excuse of "it's my job", brought so much death to so many innocent sentient beings.

Kant observed that, "We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." As the U.S. continues to maim and kill Iraqis in droves, spreading ongoing death throughout the land through the use of depleted uranium, all for oil, empire, and profit, Petaluma is but another reminder of the cancer eating at the heart of our country's soul.

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

A Message From Rep. Cynthia McKinney

One of the very few people left in Congress with any integrity.

TLC
_________________________

Dear Friend:

Since my last missive to you, we've done a 1970s "Get Down" fun(d)raiser and a DC event. Many of you have been responsive to our request for assistance, and I thank those of you who have made a donation to my campaign; for those of you who have not yet done so, I ask for your additional consideration of my request. Here's why:

I have no desire to be in Congress for the sake of being here. My only goal is to do something, to achieve something, to make a difference and serve as a voice--if even in the wilderness--for those of us who feel left out, left behind, and underrepresented by the powers that be in Washington, DC. I can only make that difference and be that voice if I have a strong financial base, independent from those very Washington, DC powers that be.

Your contribution will go toward my election day operation. You know what it's like with the electronic voting machines. But I have to take precious resources and train poll watchers what to look out for on these machines. Like getting a zero count at the beginning of the day. We have already had to send a letter of protest to the Georgia Secretary of State whose regulations will prevent our poll watchers from securing this vital piece of information at the beginning of the voting day.

Last election I had 1,000 people on the streets of the 4th Congressional District of Georgia. They need transportation, food, material to pass out, t-shirts, and lots of water, water, water because it's hot and humid in Georgia! Those of you who came to Georgia two years ago know that!

I don't need a lot of money, but I do need enough to accomplish our goals. And I don't regularly ask. But I'm asking now because I need your assistance now. The good thing is that if each of us does a little, then no one of us has to do a lot. I'm asking you to do a little now to help us fund our election day activities.

I've been true to the values and the ideals that sent me to Congress and you can count on me to stay that way. There are a few of us who will never compromise on the values that are important to you. Our country is at stake and your help is needed now, more than ever.

You can snail mail a contribution to:

Cynthia McKinney for Congress
PO Box 371125
Decatur, GA 30037

or you can just click here to make a donation: http://www.cynthiaforcongress.com/donate.php

Please write your check or make your mouse click today!

Cynthia McKinney

Pretending To Combat Drugs

Congressman Jerry Moran Wednesday announced success in restoring funding to a grant program that provides Kansas drug and law enforcement officers with the resources and technologies needed to combat meth.
From Salina Kansas radio station KSAL's website, June 28, 2006


Does this mean the law enforcement officers are going to stake out drugstores and watch for people who purchase cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient that BigPharma also profits handsomely on? Heaven forbid, never ever, that would interfere with the constant flow of bribes, er, "campaign contributions".

No, they'll just destroy more lives by tossing them into the slammer. And more "donations" will flow from the prison-industrial complex into the waiting hands of members of Congress.

TLC

Larry King: Forget The Facts, Tell A Story

From CNN's Larry King Live email newsletter, June 28, 2006:

CNN Tonight: Massive Floods Bring Death and Destruction

At least nine dead and some missing as massive floods hit from upstate New York all the way down to Maryland and Virginia – with hundreds of thousands evacuated! And more storms are heading that way – how much worse will it get? We've got the latest with reporters and mayors up and down the disaster area!

_________________________

My response--Send your own and post it below:

Once again, Larry King follows the lemmings of the corporate media, sad pictures and stories of a natural disaster. Or IS it a "natural" disaster? A show on the contributing factors of global warming, unrelenting real estate development with no serious attention to the environmental impact, the lack of investment at all levels of government either in preventive measures or resources to swiftly and thoroughly assist after the fact? Nope, nada gonna happen, now or later. Pay no attention to the facts--they're inconvenient, make up a story that will distract the populace.

TLC

Christianity Unrecognizable

Glen Stovall's Letter To The Editor, published in The Salina [Kansas] Journal, June 28, 2006:


Christianity unrecognizable

It must be an election year. The theocons (Robertson, Falwell, Dobson and their cadre of the religious right) and the political right are fomenting all the sexual, emotional and divisive issues -- homosexuality, choice, stem cells, flag burning, creationism and chauvinistic patriotism. The political right (those that control the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court) promotes giving more money to the rich, aggressive militarism and authoritarianism. The theocons and their intolerant and sanctimonious religious beliefs combined with the selfishness and materialism of the extreme political right has created a "Christianity" that is unrecognizable to the message of Jesus in the New Testament.

I am saddened that "Christianity" has become a tool of the rich and powerful and now fully supports war and torture. I am saddened that "Christianity" chooses to hate our sisters and brothers with different sexual orientations. I am saddened that "Christians" are only concerned that they are not "left behind" and are in full support of the demagogues and charlatans that want to use "Christianity" to get rich and control more of the world. I am appalled by this distortion of Christianity. The God I know through Jesus requires that we create peace, equality, justice, compassion and healing.

How in the world did "Christianity" become the antithesis of what Jesus taught and lived?

It must be an election year.

-- GLEN E. STOVALL
Salina [Kansas]

Conformity

"I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself."
--Rita Mae Brown

Rolling Stone & Lieberman: Off The Deep End

Tim Dickinson at Rolling Stone's "Politics" section, usually a kindred spirit, went off the deep end today:


As an obsessive observer of left-of-center American political life, I’m truly angered and amazed that Joe Lieberman’s primary has become a primary focus of Democratic politics. Really people, WTF?!

I’m no Joe Lieberman fan. His preening religiosity and priggish self importance are enough to sour anyone on his candidacy. But Lieberman is a died in the wool Democrat on every defining progressive issue, save one. Yes, on the question of the war he seems content to give the president all the rope he needs to hang himself — and America. But he’s hardly alone in this. His position is matched by nearly a dozen other Democratic Senators from Hillary to Joe Biden to Ben Nelson. And unlike, say, Hillary, his commitment to the war seems moral, rather than tactical.

__________________________

The whole sad tirade--did someone put some extra fluoride in his drinking water?--can be found here.


My response, Posted in their "Comments" section:

So in an election between Hitler & Mussolini, you'd vote for Mussolini if he were a "Democrat"? Lieberman seems quite content to send over 100,000 to their deaths, and who knows how many more to their eventual deaths due to the depleted uranium the US is spreading throughout Iraq, lifelong health problems caused by lack of pre- and post- natal nourishment. Untold post traumatic disorders for Americans and Iraqis alike. What is "moral" about all that? Who Would Jesus Torture?

TLC

More Government Spying On Gays & Students

New Documents Indicate Government Conducted Undercover Surveillance of Student Groups

The Department of Defense (DOD) has confirmed it conducted surveillance, on a more extensive level than previously reported, of student groups at universities in California, New Jersey and Connecticut. Some of that surveillance, new documents suggests, may have been part of an undercover Pentagon operation. The information was released in a June 15 letter to counsel for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the organization. The letter and the accompanying

TALON reports reveal government surveillance of "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" and anti-war protests at the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany), William Paterson University in New Jersey, Southern Connecticut State University and the University of California at Berkeley.

Full Press Release, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, June 26, 2006


We can't catch any of the bad people who really do want to do horrible things, nor the corporate executives at Halliburton and the oil companies who are fleecing us royally, not those in government who are lying and making up their own "facts" to mislead this country into war without end, but by golly, our government will make sure that only heterosexual missionary positions occur in the US of A. And if Jesus shows up, we'll spy on Him and send his peacenik self off to one of the concentration camps.

TLC

Univ Of Colorado: No Thinking Zone

The top official at the University of Colorado's flagship campus said Monday he intends to fire Ward Churchill, the professor who compared some World Trade Center victims to a Nazi and then landed in hot water over allegations of academic misconduct.
Full Story, San Francisco Chronicle, June 26, 2006

My email to Interim Chancellor Philip DiStefano, with a copy to the Professor Churchill's webpage at the university before it's torn down too!


Herr Commandant DiStefano:

College campuses, along with the rest of the United States Of America, used to be places where people were not just free to express their thoughts, but outright encouraged to by such subversive instruments as the Declaration Of Independence and the Bill Of Rights.

Fortunately, under the New World Order that you seek to help establish, thinking shall become a banned activity. The truth shall no longer be deemed to set one free, but rather shall be grounds for firing.

A professor of mine from years ago, before thinking was banned from college campuses, pointed out that there’s the “good reason” and then there’s the “real reason”. In the case of Ward Churchill, your pretexts for enforcing the dictates of the Thought Police are so tissue-thin as to fall far short of even a “mediocre reason”.

When do the book burnings begin?

Disgusted,

Terry L. Clark
Arcata, California

Keeping Up That Gambling Addiction

From KSAL Radio, Salina, Kansas, June 27, 2006

Kansas Lottery players can get connected to e-news, winning numbers, promotions and more ways to win by signing up for the new Kansas Lottery Players Club. Membership is available for anyone 18 years of age or older. Subscribers can have information emailed to them about winning numbers, news and promotions.

Director Ed Van Petten says, "We are excited to offer this service to our players so they can stay in touch with us and keep up-to-date on what's going on about their lottery. We encourage players to visit the Kansas Lottery web site and get signed up."
_______________

Hummm, I'll bet BigPharma likes this idea, hook the victim, er, math-impaired sucker, er, gambling addict, er, "player", up to an I.V....

TLC

Andrea Yates' New Lawyers: Idiots Or Bought Off?

Since Andrea Yates first stood trial on charges of drowning three of her five children, the facts of the case haven't changed. What her defense teams hopes has changed is the public's view of mentally ill defendants.

"More people know it's a brain disorder and not just something you can snap out of," said Betsy Schwartz, director of the Mental Health Association of Greater Houston. "We can only hope the jury will have a keen awareness of the chemistry and physiology of what was going on in Andrea Yates' brain when this happened."

Full Article, San Francisco Chronicle, June 26, 2006


During a two-year period, Yates was prescribed four extremely potent mind-altering drugs intended to help her through two episodes of severe depression that began after the birth of her fourth child.
The first of these psychopharmacological cocktails included Haldol, an antipsychotic most often used to treat schizophrenia; Effexor, an antidepressant very similar to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs); and Wellbutrin, a unique antidepressant that has amphetaminelike effects.

According to Yates' husband, Russell, his wife appeared to respond well to this treatment regimen and, after a short time, became her "old self."

At the onset of the second episode of depression following the birth of her fifth child, and the subsequent death of her father, Yates again was prescribed a psychopharmacological cocktail. This one contained Effexor and, at the end, Remeron.

While information about the Remeron dosage was not made public, Yates' husband has said that his wife was given Effexor at a dosage nearly twice the recommended maximum limit. Just days before the murders, the Effexor was for some reason reduced to just slightly more than the recommended maximum dosage of 225 mg per day and the Remeron was added.

Psychiatrist Peter Breggin, court-qualified medical expert and author of numerous books, including Talking Back to Prozac and the recently released The Anti-Depressant Fact Book, tells Insight:

"The mixture of Remeron and Effexor would tend to be extremely agitating and certainly could lead to behavioral disturbances. The mixture of Haldol, Wellbutrin and Effexor is unpredictable in its effects. Haldol actually can cause depression, and putting the three drugs together is somewhat experimental."

Breggin continues: "Haldol is a very blunting drug. It's difficult to come to any definitive conclusions with so little data about her state of mind at the time. However, Haldol is a drug that produces what can only be referred to as a chemical lobotomy that tends to make a person more docile and robotic."


Full Article, Dr. Joseph Mercola, August 4, 2001, includes references to other articles



So, did Andrea Yates suffer from a deficiency of numerous mind-altering drugs? Or were her actions CAUSED by a combination of numerous mind-altering drugs?

It seems rather obvious, from Dr. Mercola's article and many many others, that Andrea Yates--and her children--were victims of pharmaceutical sales representatives masquerading as "doctors". So why is THAT not being presented to the jury? Are her new attorneys complete idiots? Or have they been bought off by BigPharma?

TLC

Where Have All The War Hawks Gone

"What? Army short of recruits? Have all these war supporters took the route of Bush and Cheney -- you know, let someone else go?"

--Call to The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 Line, Published June 26, 2006

Knowledge & Perspective

"The simplest school boy is now familiar with truths for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life."
--Joseph Ernst Renan (1823-1892) French Historian, Philologist

Good Intentions

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
--Daniel Webster (1782-1852), US Senator

The Presidency--What's The Diff

Bu$h, Kerry, what's the difference? Today's Supreme Court decision asks the question: How many people will die because the (S)election was stolen from John Kerry, a thievery that occurred in part because so many people sat on their hands and said, "What's the diff"?

TLC

________________________________

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 on Monday to uphold Kansas' death penalty law, which says juries should impose death sentences if aggravating evidence of a crime's brutality and mitigating factors explaining a defendant's actions are equal in weight.

Full Article, SF Chronicle

The Murder Of Bruno The Bear

My letter to the Guardian UK, followed by a snippet and a Link to the full article. Send your own letter of outrage, and Post a copy in the Comments section here!

ALSO, there was a similar article in the London Times. Send them a letter of outrage, too!

TLC
_____________________

Sir,

History shows that, as is alleged of Bruno The Bear, Germans are “a risk to humans”.

Indeed, Germany has historically posed a far greater threat to humans and other living things.

Should we apply a similar solution to THAT problem?

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

_______________________

For the past seven weeks he had led an idyllic existence, swimming in lakes, eating honey and killing the odd sheep. But the adventures of Germany's most famous fugitive - Bruno the bear - came to an abrupt end on Monday when a group of Bavarian hunters unapologetically shot him dead.

"It's not that we don't welcome bears in Bavaria. It's just that this one wasn't behaving properly," Otmar Bernhard, an official with Bavaria's environment ministry said. "The bear kept wandering into populated areas. Its death was regrettable. But we didn't have much choice."

Full Article, Guardian UK, June 26, 2006

Skiing And Jobs

"Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face." --Dave Barry

The Downfall Of Republics

"Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, andintelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banishedfrom the public councils, because they dare to be honest, andthe profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people,in order to betray them."
-- Justice Joseph Story (1779-1845) US Supreme Court Justice
1833

By Any Other Name

"I wouldn't call it fascism exactly,but a political system nominally controlledby an irresponsible, dumbed down electoratewho are manipulated by dishonest, cynical, controlled mass mediathat dispense the propaganda of a corrupt political establishmentcan hardly be described as democracy either."
-- Edward Zehr(1936-2001) Columnist

"We Can't Make it Here"

"We Can't Make it Here"
Lyrics

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot'
Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before'
Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry

Check out James' website! And check out his CDs at your local record store, too!

Excellence

"What I want to fix your attention on is the vast overall movement towards the discrediting, and finally the elimination, of every kind of human excellence -- moral, cultural, social or intellectual. And is it not pretty to notice how 'democracy' (in the incantatory sense) is now doing for us the work that was once done by the most ancient dictatorships, and by the same methods? The basic proposal of the new education is to be that dunces and idlers must not be made to feel inferior to intelligent and industrious pupils. That would be 'undemocratic.' Children who are fit to proceed may be artificially kept back, because the others would get a trauma by being left behind. The bright pupil thus remains democratically fettered to his own age group throughout his school career, and a boy who would be capable of tackling Aeschylus or Dante sits listening to his coeval's attempts to spell out A CAT SAT ON A MAT. We may reasonably hope for the virtual abolition of education when 'I'm as good as you' has fully had its way. All incentives to learn and all penalties for not learning will vanish. The few who might want to learn will be prevented; who are they to overtop their fellows? And anyway, the teachers -- or should I say nurses? -- will be far too busy reassuring the dunces and patting them on the back to waste any time on real teaching. We shall no longer have to plan and toil to spread imperturbable conceit and incurable ignorance among men."
--C. S. Lewis(1898-1963), British novelist

Bush T-Shirt

With a picture of George Bush Sr., "I Should Have Pulled Out".

Do a Google search on the quote to find vendors.

TLC

Understanding

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends."
--Maya Angelou (1928~) American Actor, Author

Buying Off A Senator: How It's Done

URS Corp., which is partly owned by Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, and which obtained EG&G from the Carlyle Group in 2002, recently received a direct, no-bid contract to perform engineering work in Afghanistan.
Full Article, from bona fide investigative reporter Wayne Madsen, June 23, 2006

Crosby On The CSNY Summer Tour

"Are you asking me, do I want to sing 'let's impeach the president for lying?' FUCK, YES!"
--David Crosby, interview with Rolling Stone

Springsteen Puts CNN Hack In Her Place

Interview by CNN's Soledad O'Brien with Bruce Springsteen:


O'Brien: There is a whole school of thought, as you well know, that says that musicians -- I mean you see it with the Dixie Chicks -- you know, go play your music and stop.

Springsteen: Well, if you turn it on, present company included, the idiots rambling on on cable television on any given night of the week, and you're saying that musicians shouldn't speak up? It's insane. It's funny. [Emphasis Added]

Thanks to Salon, June 23, 2006

Millionaires For Thompson

The House of Representatives voted 269-156 Thursday to exempt multimillion-dollar estates from taxation. Under the House bill, estates worth up to $5 million (individuals) or $10 million (couples) would be exempt from the estate tax; taxes for even larger estates -- those worth up to $25 million -- would be reduced dramatically from the current levels.
Full Article, Salon, June 23, 2006

Northern California Congressman Mike Thompson, normally on the moderate-liberal side of things, decided to vote for the permanent Estate Tax cut. Why? Who paid him off? Or promised to not contribute to his opponent? Or cut/did not cut a check in a non-traceable direction?

Thompson joined 42 other "Democrats". Check out how your Congressperson voted. Who's writing the checks to buy these votes? And 226 fully-blown Republicans voted for the cut, with only 2 voting against it?

TLC

School

"Drop out of school before your mind rots from exposure to our mediocre educational system. Forget about the Senior Prom and go to the library and educate yourself if you've got any guts. Some of you like pep rallies and plastic robots who tell you what to read. Forget I mentioned it... Rise for the flag salute."
--Frank Zappa (1940-1993), Musician

Katie Couric: American Pap Idol

CBS said Thursday it is sending incoming evening-news anchor Katie Couric on a tour of several cities to meet informally with viewers this summer and hear what they're interested in seeing on the news.

Full Article. For those of you with an appreciation for the journalistic traditions of Edward R. Murrow, Jack Anderson, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and so on, it is not suggested you read the full article on a full stomach.

Can you name one (1) thing that Katie Couric did during all her years with the (pee)cock network other than look perky and generate profits for the subdivision of General Electric?

TLC

REPUBLICAN "Cut & Run"

"What's the Republicans' new motto -- cut and run? Cut the rich people's taxes and run the rest of us into the ground?"
--Anonymous comment, The Salina [Kansas] Journal's Extension 333 Line, June 23, 2006

Monsters

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
--Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
--George Orwell

AT&T: You Have No Rights--It's Official

There was an article in the SF Chronicle of June 21, 2006. Basically, it says AT&T is making official what they've been doing all along.

What, nobody thought there was a Quid Pro Quo when the monolithic phone companies of old began returning to the Borg Hive without a single peep from anyone in the DOJ antitrust division, on or off the record? The practically complete silence of the corporate media, not a whisper of the word "antitrust", wasn't a tipoff?

The more interesting question is, are there any alternative quality phone/internet companies that aren't completely in bed with the NSA, etc? Any switch would be merely symbolic--I've heard no suggestion that the Feds aren't tapping into the datastreams of phone companies that didn't "cooperate". The hardware's controlled by AT&T, etc., and thus controlled by the Feds. They are certainly not saying, "Oh my, we have to keep our slimy tentacles off Phone Company XYZ's datastream that flows through AT&T's hardware, XYZ didn't consent".

It wouldn't surprise me to wake up one day and find that Uncle Dickless has pulled the plug on the internet. Maybe a picture of a wrecking ball where TLC's Place used to be. Oh sure, there'll be some cover story with about as much credibility as OJ's protestations of complete innocence. In the meantime, I'll keep using this medium to expand my knowledge and consciousness, and to awaken and bring others along with me, albeit sometime kicking and screaming :)

TLC

Salon Review: License To Lie

In his devastating new book, Ron Suskind shows how 9/11 allowed George W. Bush and his shadowy courtier, Dick Cheney, to "create whatever reality was convenient."

Read the review. It's no substitute for reading Suskind's book, but it'll get you warmed up until you get to the bookstore. Like the Germans of the 1930's, we cannot say we didn't know.

TLC

FIB Director Mueller On Larry King, June 22, 2006

I have a question for Mueller: After he, Bu$h, Cheney, & NSA Director Himmler get done, will any part of any of the Bill Of Rights remain?

TLC
_____________________

Larry King's email stated:

Exclusive - FBI Director Robert Mueller!He's in charge of finding America's most wanted -Is he keeping America safe?FBI Director Robert Mueller answers the tough questions in a Larry King exclusive!

Entertainment As "News"

My email to ABC News, followed by their "Breaking News" email:

All capital letters, wow, must be important. What, more sports stuff--pure out-and-out entertainment? How in the rational mind is that "Breaking News"?

Perhaps a report on how many Americans and Iraqis are going to die slow, horrible deaths, due to the use of depleted uranium?

How sad that the Mickey Mouse network is identifying so closely with its' mascot.

TLC
_____________________

Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
THE U.S. IS ELIMINATED FROM THE WORLD CUP WITH A 2-1 LOSS TO GHANA

Cholesterol: An Illustration Of Hard-Core Drug Pushing

“You need medication
Come in and see me”

--Written comment on a form letter sent to a patient by a pharmaceutical company sales representative masquerading as a “doctor”, where the cholesterol numbers were modestly elevated—BUT THAT'S IF you believe BigPharma’s propaganda—For a reality check, see The International Network Of Cholesterol Skeptics.

Not a damned thing in the communication about determining the underlying cause of the higher numbers, which sometimes reflects something happening for the body's protection, minimal and largely useless preprinted boilerplate on diet, not a hint that patients are anything more than a conglomeration of laboratory numbers. Just the same-old hard sell: "I am God, you are my slave, here are your marching orders, take drugs".

TLC

Confidently

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."
--Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American Essayist, Poet, Naturalist

Humboldt County Newspaper Wars: Printing One's Own Reality

Ah to control a newspaper and control the facts. The temptation to abuse that power must be great. Fortunately, there are no such delusions of grandeur here at TLC's Place, just facts, observations, connecting of dots, commentary, Links to original source material, and an invitation for all to THINK about the world around us, how it really exists notwithstanding a constant flow of propaganda and mind control techniques.

The Eureka Reporter for June 21, 2006, gives a great opportunity to examine what it's like to control a newspaper bankrolled by a very wealthy individual. First we have a letter to the editor by Chuck Harvey:


Is it a fair fight between the Times-Standard and The Eureka Reporter? Why so little outrage at its obvious unfairness? Or concern about its possible results?

The Eureka Reporter exists because Rob Arkley Jr., pours seemingly unlimited money into it, presumably to promote his own agenda - his personal opinions, political influence and business interests, all interlocked. The Times-Standard has to pay its own way by addressing a broad range of interests and opinions in the community.

Full Letter, and it's a very good one.

________________

And then on the opposite page we have an editorial by the Eureka Reporter's Publisher, Judi Pollace, which does everything but respond to the issues actually raised:


The Eureka Reporter currently employees 68 full-time, benefited employees and one summer intern.

In round numbers our annual payroll is more than $1,600,000.

[The piece proceeds to go on at some length about how much money is being put into the community by the paper, as if the paper somehow has its own printing press that manufactures free money. Uh, no folks, it's Rob Arkley's money. C'mon, spit it out.
And it gets better]


Mr. Harvey also stated that we are trying to put the Times-Standard out of business. We want the Times-Standard to continue their 150-year tradition of printing the newspaper, and we look forward to their providing a competition of ideas as will we, and who wins? Both newspapers' readers and advertisers. "Where is the outrage?"

[Uh, funny way of showing it. Putting out a very good sports section, that drains PAYING readers from the T-S, people who get a newspaper mainly for sports coverage. And then there's the Sunday TV section, far sharper and spiffier than that of the one the T-S has the audacity to charge for. And what of people who like a local newspaper for information but who aren't really "news junkies" and don't care about the source, especially if they can get a newspaper for free.
A crippled T-S, a T-S owned by a person or entity that more closely shares Rob Arkley's world view, and/or a T-S that alters its editorial stance to reflect the wishes of Rob Arkley in exchange for the Eureka Reporter not cherry picking the T-S's financial lifeblood or otherwise sparing its life, that's what's really going on. It's not rocket science. While lots of people know this, yet there's been very little discussion in the local newspapers outside of the Humboldt Advocate.
And Pollace's not through]


We have three basic ideals that guide us:

First, our newspaper is free. We don't think anybody should have to pay for the news of their community.

[Especially if they have to PAY the T-S to cover the wages of its employees, materials, overhead, and investment. Does free news extend to free software? Are we entitled to get the New York Times premium stuff for free as a matter of right?]


Second, we maintain low and affordable ads rates, and the money remains local (not cut rate), based on circulation figures, which is how rates should be determined.

[Note the lack of addressing whether the ad rates cover the cost of production. Whether the newspaper turns a profit, or even breaks even. And there's a difference between receiving a newspaper you asked for, and tolerating a newspaper tossed on your lawn that you never asked for. There's an obvious difference between "circulation" and "readership". BTW, can I dump my refuse on the lawns of others until they complain, at which time I'll stop? ]


We think it's very important that small businesses can market their goods and services to facilitate their businesses growth.

Third, unbiased reporting. "Where is the outrage?"

["Unbiased" my a**. To believe the Eureka Reporter "unbiased" would require ingestion of alot of Humboldt County's main cash crop. But I don't think even Monica Lewinsky could swallow the "unbiased" claim without gagging.
And this final coup de grace]


And last but not least, Mr. Harvey stated in his letter that this newspaper is a mouthpiece for Mr. Arkley. It's obvious Mr. Harvey does not read the newspaper; nothing is further from the truth.

[ROTFLMAO! Denial is still not just a river in Egypt. Nor does Denial alter reality].


You can read the full Editorial by Judi Pollace without my commentary, including parts clipped from the excerpts above, HERE.


TLC

Bill Maher Returns--For Free

Well, sort-of. Amazon.com has a new production, "Amazon Fishbowl", in which you can catch Bill for free. An interesting experiment, will it continue to be free? At any rate, enjoy while it is.

TLC

OMG They're Censoring Ann Coulter!

One of the interesting fallouts over the latest Ann Coulter outrage--there are so many, this time it's her attack on the 9/11 widows--is that some newspapers around the country have been canceling her column. Which usually gets Coulter a plug for her latest book, which I will not name ((S)He Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken) any more than I would give Hitler a plug for his political manifesto.

One of the papers canceling Fräulein Coulter's column is The Salina [Kansas] Journal, on June 16, 2006. This act of rebellion has generated numerous calls to the Journal's "Extension 333 Line", a place where any crackpot can leave a voice message without identifying him or her self (in Coulter's case, that's a separate question). That led to my letter to the editor, below, emailed today, which connects a number of dots for the thinking impaired. I will update this Posting should it actually be published.

TLC
________________________________


Dear Editor:

Help me with understanding modern midwestern moral standards:

How is it that Ann Coulter's speech, at Philander Smith College, on January 26, 2006, in which she stated, "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee", is perfectly acceptable to the Journal and quite a few of its readers. Only when Coulter trash talks some of the many victims of 9/11 does the Journal finally pull the plug.

Many have called your Extension 333 Line, anonymously and in the chickenhawk style of the Draft Dodger In Chief (only the little people fight wars), protesting the removal of Coulter's venom, a poison spewed throughout this country in the classic tradition of Goebbels. How courageous, warmongers hiding behind the Journal's protective shield of anonymity, and not a single one of those calls coming from Iraq. At least Tom Bell and Ann Coulter are willing to stand up and be counted for their beliefs.

Coulter's latest blast was on some of the brave citizens who raise very legitimate and troubling questions about the pretext for this country's launching of the Holy War For Oil And Empire, er, War Of Terror, er, "War On Terror". Remind me, please, which of the Ten Commandments said, "Thou Shalt Kill". And which nations would Jesus invade, killing the inhabitants by the droves for power, natural resources, and corporate profits?

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

Another Day, Another Assassination In Bu$h's America

[Maryland publisher Philip] Merrill death ruled suicide; Body found in water weighed down by an anchor; Merrill shot through head in a replay of 1978 "suicide" of CIA Deputy Director John Paisley.
Full Story, Wayne Madsen Reports, June 21, 2006

Women In The Senate: What A Disappointment

From the gushing email from Larry King Live, June 21, 2006:

Exclusive - All nine of the senate's democratic women!Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell, Hilary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Barbara Mikulski, Patty Murray and Debbie Stabenow! Their agenda for America's future and their thoughts on President Bush.

__________________

And what a pathetic gutless bunch they are. So much for the hope that women in politics will bring anything better. Have ANY of them called for Bu$h's Impeachment? An immediate end to the War For Oil, Corporate Profits, And Global Empire? Any disagreement with the underlying motives and philosophy behind that war, any differences other than as to tactics? Hell No!

TLC

What Passes For "Reporting"

Exchange between Nancy McLaughlin, "reporter" for the Greensboro (N.C.) News and Record, and Condoleezza Rice, following an "interview":

McLaughlin: "We love you here in Greensboro, I just wanted to say that with my time."

Rice: "Well, thank you, Really nice to meet you. Thank you. Want to take a picture together?"

McLaughlin: "Yeah, sure."


Many thanks to the Washington Post, June 19, 2006, and to Salon for Linking to the Post's article.

TLC

Corporatization Of The News

"Too much is made of anchors and their personalities, their ups and downs, The larger issues--the role of a free press and of honest, real news in a democracy, the role of technology in supporting a free press, the `corporatization' of news and its effects on news content--all deserve more attention, more discussion and more passionate debate.
I'll see you soon,"
--Dan Rather, San Francisco Chronicle, June 21, 2006


Interestingly, if you read the Link, it points to the "Entertainment" section of the Chronicle...

TLC

Congressional Sessions

"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer." --Will Rogers

Obedience

"It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery."
--Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), British Prime Minister

Karl Rove, Despicable Soul

"Karl is a shameless bastard. Small wonder his mother killed herself. Once she discovered what a despicable soul she had spawned she apparently saw no other way out."
--Larry Johnson, on Karl Rove, quoted in Wayne Madsen Reports, June 18, 2006

And more from that same Wayne Madsen posting:

In mid-summer 2004, some time after I wrote an article for CounterPunch about the agit-prop crimes of Karl Rove and while I was speaking out against Rove on a number of radio shows, I was contacted by a credible source in Palm Springs, California who told me he was talking to one of his acquaintances who was just getting over the death of his longtime "significant other." Then the Palm Spring resident dropped the big bombshell -- the acquaintance's "significant other" was Louis Rove, the adoptive father of Karl Rove. Louis Rove reportedly suffered from emphysema.


And this tidbit from the Guardian UK:

On his 19th birthday, his father walked out on him. Soon afterwards, he found out that he was not his father after all, the news dropped into a dinner-table conversation by his aunt and uncle.

"Stuffed in a duffel bag and run up the flagpole"

"This morning, I flew here on Air Force One with my friend, Andy Card. You might remember Andy -- he was my former chief of staff, and he attended this Academy in the 1960s. It just so happens when he was a plebe, he was stuffed in a duffel bag and run up the flagpole."
George Dubya Bush, quote courtesy of Salon's War Room

"A Failed Policy Wrapped In Illusion"

"The only way we can change things in Iraq is to change direction. It has to be changed on the ground. What we say here today - as President Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address - is going to mean very little. It will get lost in the rhetoric. What means something is what happens on the ground. All of us support the troops. If you vote for the appropriations bill, the defense appropriations bill, you voted to support the troops. If you voted for the armed services bill, you voted to support the troops. I believe this resolution, if you vote for it, you're voting to support a failed policy wrapped in illusion, and I would recommend to the members they vote against this resolution."
--Rep. John Murtha

Sports Entertainment = "Breaking News"

CNN Wrote, in a "Breaking News" email:

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to be cited for failure to wear a helmet, not having a proper license at time of his June 12 accident.

__________________________

And I replied, using their thoroughly inconvenient webform because CNN apparently wants to make it a pain in the posterior to respond to their propaganda:


And this is "Breaking News" because...?

Who cares? The US war for empire continues, and yet Roethlisberger is the urgent news of the moment?

Sounds like he's not the only one playing without a helmet!

TLC

Computers

"The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up there's no law against whacking them around a little."
--Joe Martin, Porterfield

War

"War Is Good For Business Invest Your Son" --Unknown

As In Kansas, So It Is True In California

From The Salina [Kansas] Journal's Extension 333 Comment Line, June 18, 2006:

"I live in Kansas but I don't have a United States senator. I can't afford to buy one."

Japan's Whale Slaughter

My letter to the Independent UK. Send your own letter, and post it in the comments section, below.

TLC
__________________________________________

Dear Editor,

The murderous slaughter of humpback whales by Japan raises serious questions such as: Had President Truman have dropped more nuclear bombs on Japan, would that country have perhaps learned the lesson better about the karmic consequences of savagery?

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark
__________________________________________

Humpback whales: Licence to kill Endangered humpback whales to be hunted for the first time in 30 years as Japan defies ban

Humpback whales - the best loved and one of the most endangered of all the giant mammals - are to be slaughtered for the first time in more than 30 years, in defiance of an international ban.

Full Story, Independent UK, June 18, 2006

Petition: National Spay/Neuter Program

Sign Here!

I added the following comments: I favor Nathan Winograd's approach, but this is a start. As for the peddlers of sentient flesh, let the "breeders" go the way of the slaveowners, for they are morally one and the same.

TLC
___________________________________________________________________

Every year 6 million homeless dogs, cats, puppies & kittens are killed in public county kill shelters all across America. That's 16,000 precious animals' lives that are needlessly killed everyday with no voices fighting to help save them from Death Row. Project Spay/Neuter needs your animal loving help and support to be a voice for those who can not speak and to sign the petition today to help pass mandatory FREE spay and neuter laws in every state in America.

Sign Here!

Progress

"All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions."
--Adlai Ewing Stevenson (1900-1965) American Lawyer, Politician

Drugs Firm Blocks Cheap Blindness Cure

Another illustration of the evil that is the Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel. And another story you're highly unlikely to see in the bought-and-paid-for corporate US media.

TLC

__________________________

A major drug company is blocking access to a medicine that is cheaply and effectively saving thousands of people from going blind because it wants to launch a more expensive product on the market.

Ophthalmologists around the world, on their own initiative, are injecting tiny quantities of a colon cancer drug called Avastin into the eyes of patients with wet macular degeneration, a common condition of older age that can lead to severely impaired eyesight and blindness. They report remarkable success at very low cost because one phial can be split and used for dozens of patients.

But Genentech, the company that invented Avastin, does not want it used in this way. Instead it is applying to license a fragment of Avastin, called Lucentis, which is packaged in the tiny quantities suitable for eyes at a higher cost. Speculation in the US suggests it could cost £1,000 per dose instead of less than £10.

Full Story, Guardian UK, June 17, 2006

Protest The Slaughter Of Black Bears For British Vanity

My letter to the Independent UK, followed by their article on the British and Canadian return to one of their longstanding atrocities. Add your voice, send a letter to the Independent UK!

TLC

_____________________________

Dear Editor,

The barbarity of slaughtering innocent black bears, one of God's many beautiful creatures, for the bloated vanity of the British military, the same belligerent force that has long seen its role as subjugating others, serves as a shining example of why much of the rest of the world holds the west in such low esteem.

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

________________________________

Hundreds of black bears face slaughter after Army abandons trial of synthetic fur for Guards' ceremonial headgear

[A]s the Queen takes the salute to mark her 80th birthday celebrations this morning, some 4,000 miles away a group of hunters will be preparing to go into the dense woodlands of Canada and kill an Ursus americanus or Canadian black bear.

If the animal is fortunate, it will die quickly from a shot to the head before having its head and paws severed as trophies and the skin sold to a fur auctioneer. In the past five years alone, 494 of those pelts have been sold at a cost of £321,000 to a long-standing customer of the Canadian fur industry - the British Ministry of Defence.

Full Article, Independent UK, June 17, 2006

McKinney NOT Indicted

Congress can’t even pass a Censure resolution as to Bu$h’s numerous War Crimes, including repeated violations of the bans on chemical warfare…and yet Rep. Cynthia McKinney faced a Federal Indictment for the run in with the Gestapo??? Fortunately the Grand Jury didn't swallow the latest excrement from DerBu$hler, and for once declined to go along with the Persecutor.
SF Chronicle, June 16, 2006

TLC

Drunk Driving: Government Cash Cow

From The Salina [Kansas] Journal of June 16, 2006. I have deleted the personally identifying information of those Convicted or Diverted, because it doesn’t matter: The Salina Kansas Municipal Court, like so many Courts around the country, exists primarily to raise revenue for the government, not to achieve justice. As you go through the list below, note how ALL of the second offenders get only 5 days in jail and have to pay a bunch of money to the city. It doesn’t matter how drunk they were, how many lives they endangered, what their chemical and criminal history is. Five days and lots of money for city coffers. First offenders, Diversion (diversion = avoid jail & avoid “Weekend Intervention”)? Less money, but again, all that other stuff matters not. What matters is the money. Fork it over, and you can drive drunk all you want, with minimal consequences.

The “Weekend Intervention”, evaluations, and stuff like that? Guaranteed employment for friends of the government in the industry that has grown around America’s drinking problem and the legal system that enables it for revenue. Do those programs work? Sure, occasionally in individual cases. But the main thing they work to do is to funnel money to those feeding at the government trough, and create the illusion (as long as one isn’t paying attention) that something is being done. Is there any requirement that these programs work? Heck no, that sort of thing can be dispensed with when you’re a friend of the government. Just ask Halliburton.

As Bob Dylan said in his song "Hurricane":

Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.

TLC
_________________________________________

Salina Kansas Municipal court

DUI CONVICTIONS --
second conviction, one year in jail, probation granted for one year after serving five days, $1,000 fine, $40 court costs, $150 alcohol evaluation fee.

six months in jail, probation granted for one year after attending Salina Weekend Intervention Program, $500 fine, $40 court costs, $150 alcohol evaluation fee.

six months in jail, probation granted for one year after attending Salina Weekend Intervention Program, $500 fine, $40 court costs, $150 alcohol evaluation fee.

second conviction, one year in jail, probation granted for one year after serving five days, $1,000 fine, $40 court costs.

six months in jail, probation granted for one year after serving 48 hours, $500 fine, $150 alcohol evaluation fee.

second conviction, one year in jail, probation granted for one year after serving five days, $1,000 fine, $40 court costs.

six months in jail, probation granted for one year after attending Salina Weekend Intervention Program, $500 fine, $40 court costs, $150 alcohol evaluation fee.

six months in jail, probation granted for one year after attending Salina Weekend Intervention Program, $500 fine, $40 court costs.

second conviction, one year in jail, probation granted for one year after serving five days, $1,000 fine, $40 court costs, $150 alcohol evaluation fee.

second conviction, one year in jail, probation granted for one year after serving five days, $1,000 fine, $40 court costs.


DUI DIVERSIONS -- The following people were granted diversion from prosecution for driving under the influence. Unless otherwise stated, each was ordered to perform 20 hours of community service and to pay a $500 fine and $40 court costs:


[Three people identified in the article]

Pelosi's "High Ethical Standard"

Add political banishment to the list of problems confronting Rep. William Jefferson, ensnared in a bribery scandal that fellow Democrats hope to turn to their election-year advantage.

"Democrats are determined to hold a high ethical standard," the party's leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, said Thursday night after engineering a 99-58 vote of the rank and file that stripped Jefferson of his seat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
SF Chronicle, June 16, 2006

Hummmmm, does that mean that Pelosi is ready to stand up to the most corrupt Presidency in US history? Not a chance!

Ok, but surely “high ethical standards” encompasses strong opposition to the US war for oil and empire, right? Because stealing, because invading another country to expand US power, kidnapping, torture, and so on, these are all bad things, right? Uh, no:

Pelosi said she stood by the plan promoted by Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., which calls for a redeployment of troops "over the horizon" as soon as is practically possible.
SF Chronicle, June 14, 2006

What is the “Murtha plan”? As I said before on Barbara Boxer, who is practically interchangeable with Pelosi:

[C]ontinuing the slaughter of innocent Iraqis, no problem with the New Crusades, no problem with stealing *our* oil that is under *their* sand...she just wants it done in a more efficient manner so that fewer Americans are killed and it thus becomes more politically palatable.


“High Ethical Standards”? At best, call Pelosi “Bush Lite”.

TLC

All

"May you live all the days of your life."
--Jonathan Swift

Justice

"I've had enough of someone else's propaganda. I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole."
--Malcolm X

Meet The Current Regime

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
-- Joseph Goebbels

What's News At CBS: Bill Gates & Dan Rather

CBS deemed Bill Gates getting out of day-to-day micromanagement of Micro$oft to be worthy of a News Alert--even tho Bill's made it clear for years that this was eventually going to happen. CBS wrote:

"Microsoft Corp. has announced that co-founder and chairman Bill Gates relinquishing daily duties in 2008 to work more closely with his foundation. Gates will continue to serve as chairman and adviser on key projects."


Of much more interest, tho, is the relative silence by CBS on the news that Dan Rather is being unceremoniously kicked out. This strange view as to what is important in the world of the black eye network caused me to send CBS the following email:


How about a "News Alert" on CBS' royal screwing of long-term dedicated and honorable employee Dan Rather?

TLC

Your Home Is The GOVERNMENT'S Castle

Justices: Cops with warrant don't have to knock

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that police armed with a warrant can barge into homes and seize evidence even if they don’t knock, a huge government victory that was decided by President Bush’s new justices.

The outcome might have been different if O’Connor were still on the bench. She seemed ready, when the case was first argued in January, to rule in favor of Booker Hudson, whose house was searched in 1998.

O’Connor had worried aloud that officers around the country might start bursting into homes to execute search warrants. She asked: “Is there no policy of protecting the home owner a little bit and the sanctity of the home from this immediate entry?”

In a dissent, four justices complained that the decision erases more than 90 years of Supreme Court precedent.

“It weakens, perhaps destroys, much of the practical value of the Constitution’s knock-and-announce protection,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for himself and the three other liberal members.

Full Article, MSNBC, June 15, 2006

Canada: Another Government BigPharma Can Buy

[F]ederal Health Minister Tony Clement, who holds a one-quarter equity position in Prudential Chem Inc., a Toronto manufacturer of pharmaceutical chemicals, has merely disclosed the information to ethics commissioner Bernard Shapiro and left it at that.
Full Story. Thanks to the Toronto Star for not forgetting that it serves the public interest, not BigPharma's.

Air Force

"Why does the Air Force need expensive new bombers? Have the people we've been bombing over the years been complaining?"
--George Wallace

Modesto awarded $175 mil in contamination suit

A jury has hit two chemical companies with $175 million in punitive damages for failing to warn dry cleaners about the dangers of a solvent that contaminated underground water in the city of Modesto.

The San Francisco Superior Court jury awarded the city $100 million against Vulcan Materials Co. and $75 million against Dow Chemical Co. Tuesday. On Friday, the same jury assessed those companies and four other manufacturers more than $3.1 million to compensate Modesto for its costs in installing filters to keep the chemical, perchloroethylene, out of its drinking water.

Full Story, San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 2006

___________________________

Sometimes the legal system DOES work.

TLC

Nanny Sues Hidden-Camera Manufacturer

A nanny who was arrested after police viewed hidden camera video recordings that appeared to show her shaking a 5-month-old baby is suing the recording system's manufacturer.
Claudia Muro, 32, alleges that distorted camera footage wrongfully led to her arrest and imprisonment. She was arrested in October 2003 and spent two years awaiting trial before prosecutors dropped the case because of concerns about the tape.

Broward County prosecutors in March said experts they had consulted concluded the footage was not reliable as evidence because its videotape was time-lapsed, meaning that the movements that appeared to be rough shaking might not have been as violent as they appeared.

Full Story: San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 2006

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Lemmie get this straight--the defense attorneys, prosecutor, and law enforcement, were all completely incompetent in not checking out the camera. So it's the camera manufacturer that's at fault even tho it's well-known that many surveillance cameras use time-lapse photography?

TLC

Dave Lindorff's Take: Visit To The US Colony Of Iraq

Great article, check it out!

What Wingnuts Think Of "Elections"

``A lot of people look at politics and see it as the guy who wins is the guy who unifies the most people," he said. ``I would disagree. I would say the candidate who wins is the candidate who polarizes the right bloc of voters. You always want to polarize somebody."

``Republicans have treated campaigns and politics as a business, and now are treating public policy as a business, looking for the types of returns that you get in business, passing legislation that has huge ramifications for business," he said. ``It is very much being monetized, and the federal government is being monetized under Republican majorities."

--Allen Raymond, convicted of a 2002 New Hampshire phone jamming scheme

The Other Face Of Robert Byrd

Isn't it nice that Robert Byrd is working so hard to protect his constituents?

Too bad those damned kids don't wear suits and ties and have lots of money...

TLC
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From ABC Nightline's email on one of the segments on tonight's (June 14, 2006) show:

MARSH FORK ELEMENTARY Marsh Fork Elementary School in the hills of West Virginia sits less than 300 feet from a coal silo. Every day the coal is "scrubbed" -- the mercury and titanium are literally washed off with a chemical agent. Several children who go to the school have developed respiratory problems -- headaches, sore throats and nausea. The state says the school is perfectly safe, but parents of some of the kids who have become sick are filing a class action against Massey Energy, the mining company. The company now wants to build a second coal silo next to the school. Correspondent David Kerley has our report tonight from West Virginia. We hope you'll join us.

Addendum: Fitzgerald: Focus On The Big Picture

ADDENDUM: War Room, June 14, 2006, had a lame response to my posting and that of others as to their attack on Truthout's coverage of whether Rove was going to be Indicted.

TLC

Ford Has A Better Idea: Screw America

Disgruntled employee reveals plans for multibillion dollar Mexico investment
The investment is included in a confidential, 28-page document turned over to The Oakland Press by a disgruntled Ford employee. The fax included a note saying: "Governors and others who want to get work in their states are courting us. We have no intention or plans of give (sic) them work."

A second source familiar with Ford operations vouched for the authenticity of the documents, which suggest the automaker's new investment could potentially create as many as 150,000 new jobs in Mexico within the next decade.

As part of the Way Forward restructuring initiative, Ford announced plans to close six plants by the end of 2008. In addition, Ford also announced that nine more plants in the United States and Canada could close by 2012 and the effort to pare the company's capacity will lead to the elimination of between 25,000 and 30,000 jobs by 2012.

The Way Forward document, part of which was prepared for a presentation in early April to officials from the Mexican government, also states Ford's investment in Mexico could total $9.2 billion over a six-year period stretching from 2006 to 2012.


Full Article, and many thanks, to Michigan's Oakland Press

Hawking: Time To Get Off This Planet

"It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," Hawking said. "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of."
Full Article, San Francisco Chronicle, June 13, 2006

Visit To The US Colony Of Iraq

Buried in the tenth paragraph of an AP dispatch on DerBu$hler's "surprise" trip to Iraq is this little gem:


Al-Maliki, who didn't know Bush was coming until five minutes before they met, said that Iraq was "determined to succeed, and we have to defeat terrorists and defeat all the hardships."
Full Article, San Francisco Chronicle, June 13, 2006
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Al-Miliki, of course, is the recently selected--Let's get rid of the pretense that he was "elected" independent of the commands of the US--Prime Minister of the US Colony Of Iraq. It wasn't that long ago that his predecessor was ousted on the orders of the US.

What is sad is the lack of analysis. The myth: Al-Maliki is supposedly the leader of an independent sovereign nation, and a trusted ally of the US who, the story goes, wants the US there (at least for an unspecified while--I guess he wants to live). The reality: The head of the occupying colonial power comes to visit his rebellious territory, and the local puppet can't be trusted, and has no say in whether to accept this "visitor".

TLC

Change

"For many people, change is more threatening than challenging. They see it as the destroyer of what is familiar and comfortable rather than the creator of what is new and exciting." -- Nido Qubein

Fitzgerald: Focus On The Big Picture

Salon's War Room went on the attack against Jason Leopold and Truthout today. Leopold had previously reported that Karl Rove was being Indicted. Today we found out that, at least for the moment, is not the case. But there is something not quite right with the viciousness of Salon's attack, particularly given Truthout's solid track record for bringing light to the shadows.


My posting, in response to the article, at Salon:

Is it not amazing that formerly vocal and independent Democrats are now timid supporters of DerBu$hler's Fourth Reich?

Has no thought been given as to why that is?

Dave Lindorff did a great job of reminding us that billions-that's with a "B"-of dollars supposedly spent on Operation Iraqi Liberation are unaccounted for. See Dave's article at http://thiscantbehappening.net/2006.06.01_arch.html#1149529526678.

That buys alot of information. Alot of power. Alot of ability to intimidate and blackmail. J. Edgar Hoover at least had some standards and morals when he engaged in such activities. The same cannot be said of the current regime.

Rather than kick Jason Leopold while he seeks to uncover what has happened, the rest of the non-corporate media *should* be joining that effort. All signals were that Rove was going to be Indicted. Something happened. Get over your professional rivalry, and get back to work.

TLC


ADDENDUM: War Room, June 14, 2006, had a lame response to my posting and that of others.

Stop The Killing: An Open Letter To Governor Schwarzenegger

Contact Governor Schwarzenegger

Contact State Legislators

Contact Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides

Contact Green Party Gubernatorial nominee Peter Camejo

San Francisco Chronicle

My open letter to Governor Schwarzenegger. An excerpt from the SF Chronicle's article follows that letter.

TLC
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Dear Governor:

The California Fish & Game Department has, once again, murdered a beautiful animal in cold blood.

While it is claimed the mountain lion posed a “potential risk” to children, that is also true of every Fish & Game employee. Certainly in the past few years they have slaughtered a multitude of innocent beings without just cause. Who’s next?

The claim that the lion was not shot with a tranquilizer because a dart might take several minutes to work is complete bovine excrement. The lion could have been shot with one or more tranquilizer darts, and that probably would have brought a peaceful conclusion. Had the darts not worked and if the lion then became an actual imminent danger to the children that were initially TWO HUNDRED YARDS away—inexplicably and inexcusably even that close—Fish & Game could have shot to wound the lion, and then if that too failed, and as a last resort, could have shot to kill.

The claim that the mountain lion had to be executed to protect children is likewise without merit. If it took Fish & Game two hours to notice nearby children, and if during that time they—in conjunction with local law enforcement—did nothing to get children and other civilians away from the immediate area, then their ineptitude surpasses that of even FEMA.

Rather than handle the situation with competence, once again the first, last, and only resort of Fish & Game was to kill.

Can you imagine Jesus returning to Earth today, gunning down God’s creatures? And to think we call ourselves a “Christian” nation. Nothing could be further from the truth. And the California Fish & Game Department epitomizes the increasingly dark turn this nation has taken in recent years.

It is long past time that the head of the Fish & Game Department, Ryan Broddrick, be fired. Further, an independent commission must be established to draw up sound policies designed to promote the protection and preservation of wildlife so that we can live in peaceful harmony. The era of Fish & Game as a death squad must come to an end.

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark
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Mountain lion shot and killed in Pleasanton condo complex
- Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 13, 2006


A mountain lion was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Pleasanton condominium complex this morning, the California Department of Fish and Game reported.

Police arrived at the scene around 8:45 a.m. A department animal control officer cut a hole in a chain-link fence surrounding the lot and tried to coax the lion through it to an adjacent creek, but the cat didn't cooperate, Swauger said.

A Fish and Game warden arrived about an hour later and determined the mountain lion was a danger to the community. It was shot and killed by the warden around 11 a.m.

Full Article

Not All Kansans Are Bloodthirsty Savages

Hurray for Amber Koons, who appreciates the value of sentient life, and who does not blissfully kill because another being is somehow momentarily inconvenient.

Now Salina Journal publisher Tom Bell probably would have aimed for Bambi and hit the accelerator...

TLC

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From KSAL Radio, Salina, Kansas, June 13, 2006

A Lindsborg woman was injured in a one-vehicle accident in rural Saline County early Tuesday morning.

According to the Saline County Sheriff's Office, at around 2:00 in the morning, 19-year-old Amber Koons swerved to miss a deer on South Burma Road near the McPherson County line. Koon's truck rolled four times, coming to rest on the passenger side.

Koons walked to a nearby farmhouse where she called for help. She was transported by EMS to the hospital in Lindsborg with non-life threatening injuries.

The accident happened on South Burma Road near Rose Hill Road in rural Saline County.

Religious leaders call for end to torture

An ad calling for the elimination of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment as part of U.S. policy will run in the New York Times June 13.

Sponsored by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the ad is signed by 27 religious leaders, including former President Jimmy Carter and United Methodist Rev. Joseph Lowery, co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Names of other United Methodist leaders appearing in the ad include the Rev. Bob Edgar, top staff executive, National Council of Churches; Leonard Sweet, Drew University, and Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University.

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society is a participating member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

The ad states: "Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear. It degrades everyone involved - policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable.

"Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed? Let America abolish torture now - without exceptions."

The statement was drafted by George Hunsinger, professor of theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.

"The statement has the theological rationale that is really important," said Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethic, Duke University Divinity School.

"Of course, nobody is for torture, but it makes a difference why it is you are against torture and how you understand what torture is."

Hauerwas says the statement is timely because of today's "political climate."

"In our current political climate, there is an attempt to make torture so ambiguous that we are not sure we know it when we see it. Therefore it is very important for Christians to say, 'We know it when we see it.' "

A moral issue

The Rev. Richard Killmer, a Presbyterian pastor and program director for the Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy, said the campaign has reached across the interfaith community. More than 5,000 people of faith have signed the statement "Torture is a Moral Issue."

"Evangelicals, mainline denominations, Muslims and Jews can all hold hands together around this issue," he said.

Killmer, along with Hunsinger and Jeanne Herrick-Stare, Friends Committee on National Legislation, founded the campaign.

Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy is a national ecumenical research center located on the campus of United Methodist-related Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington. Friends Committee on National Legislation is a Quaker lobby in Washington.

The campaign began in response to Sen. John McCain's amendment banning cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of foreign suspects in the war on terror. President George Bush signed the legislation using a signing statement that allows him to recall the law in "defense of the Constitution."

The McCain amendment is a step in the right direction, but it is unclear whether President Bush will implement the law, Killmer said.

Proposed prohibitions

The statement on torture written by the organization goes on to read: "Furthermore, in a troubling development, for the first time in our nation's history, legislation has now been signed into law that effectively permits evidence obtained by torture to be used in a court of law."

The statement urges Congress and the president to remove all ambiguities by prohibiting:

* Exemptions from the human rights standards of international law for any arm of government.

* The practice of extraordinary rendition, whereby suspects are apprehended and flown to countries that use torture as a means of interrogation.

* Any disconnection of "cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment" from the ban against "torture" so as to permit inhumane interrogation.

* The existence of secret U.S. prisons around the world.

* Any denial of Red Cross access to detainees held by U.S. government overseas.

The statement also calls for an independent investigation of human right abuses at U.S. installations like Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.

Christian curriculum on the issue as well as Jewish and other resources is available on the Web site: www.nrcat.org.

Full Press Release, Worldwide Faith News

Petition: Protest Japan's Upcoming Whale Slaughter

Help Save Whales!

Protect the largest creatures on earth! Japan is poised -- yet again -- to increase whaling operations and wants to overturn the international whaling ban altogether.

Take Action Now! Write to the White House urging opposition to Japan's permanent membership on the UN Security Council until Japan complies with international laws for the protection of whales.

SIGN HERE, Defenders Of Wildlife

California's Workers Comp Screwing

Message left on The Salina [Kansas] Journal's Extension 333 Line, published June 13, 2006:

"I think it's hilarious that the Republicans tried to take the little guy's workman's comp away, and the Democratic governor vetoed it. And then the Republicans wonder why everyone wants to go with the Democrats. Ha, ha, ha. Duh. Get a clue."


Here in California, HerrGoobernator proposed drastic changes to the Workers Compensation law that screwed the working class royally, benefiting primarily large employers, and the "Democrats" obliviously voted for those changes. The surprising thing here is, why anyone with a heart and a clue has any use for either party. The lesser of evils is still evil. The question becomes, is the difference in degrees of evil so significant that it warrants going with one of the two major party candidates in the vote for a particular office?

TLC

Needs

"I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by."
--John Masefield (1878-1967) English Poet, Novelist, Critic

Who Runs Canada? The Pharmaceutical Drug Cartel

Big Pharma versus Ontario government no contest
Major climbdown on drug reform bill

No one should be surprised that the Ontario government has backed away from plans to make prescription drugs cheaper. The legal drug trade is big and profitable. By threatening these profits, Health Minister George Smitherman made enemies.

The only question facing Premier Dalton McGuinty's government now is whether it has backed away enough. Pharmacists — who had been adamantly opposed — appear to be on side, now that the government has agreed they can continue to receive kickbacks (renamed "professional allowances") from the manufacturers of generic, or copycat, drugs. But the most powerful elements of the drug industry, the multinational brand-name manufacturers, have not yet spoken on the government's change of heart. If they aren't satisfied, there will be pressure on Smitherman to humiliate himself further.

Full Story, The Toronto Star

And to think that some people go into their doctor's office, see the clear evidence of BigPharma's dominion in the form of notepads, pens, tissue boxes, clocks, clipboards, posters, etc. etc., with the names of various drugs and members of the pharmaceutical drug cartel, and think that "their" doctor is on their side.

Enslavement comes in many forms, and goes far beyond figureheads George Bu$h and Deadeye Dick Cheney. Sadly, so many are quick to surrender the freedom that their ancestors fought and died for, and sought to pass on to future generations.

TLC

Global Warming: Polar Bears May Be Turning To Cannibalism

And when the impact of global warming causes the loss of farmland and crops, will humans be next?

Considering how many people are being slaughtered because of the desire of one culture to have a wasteful lifestyle, and the eternal argument of whose God has killed the fewer number of people, imagine what is going to happen if global warming comes to full fruition.

TLC
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Polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea may be turning to cannibalism because longer seasons without ice keep them from getting to their natural food, a new study by American and Canadian scientists has found.

Full Story, Associated Press, via CBS News