Date:

11/09/02

Time:

02:47 PM

Comments

Messages from September through mid-November have been archived

Date:

11/11/02

Time:

07:49 PM

Comments

Will Democrats choose Harold Ford to lead them in the House over Pelosi? Of course, he's not going to win the leader position. Yes, Democrats are going to abandon another black person running for office, just as they did gubernatorial candidates in Nevada and New York, and a senatorial candidate in Minnesota.

Date:

11/13/02

Time:

09:05 AM

Comments

It's true that Americans are in the clutches of a corrupt corporate media that withholds or deforms the truth. But a lack of knowledge is not forgivable in this information age. Imagine a Charlton Heston God booming out, "You say you didn't know? Why do you think I gave you the Internet?"

Date:

11/13/02

Time:

11:18 AM

Comments

Let's face it: we Americans no longer have the protection of the law, for the Bush Administration has placed itself above the law. To these outlaws, corporate law does not apply, securities law does not apply, the Freedom of Information Act does not apply, election law does not apply, international treaties do not apply, and the Bill of Rights is no longer "operative." At the whim of the Attorney General, any citizen can be labeled an "enemy" and held without counsel, charge or limit -- as some have.

http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=021113~cp.asp

Date:

11/13/02

Time:

12:04 PM

Comments

Dear readers,

How many times did we hear George W. Bush used the term "compassionate" during the presidential campaign? I'm having great difficulty seeing anything he has done that deserves the term "compassionate". Can you Bush supporters help me please.

Also, he harped on "accountability" the same way, and yet I have not heard him a single time accept the responsibility for anything he has done. It's always someone else's fault..usually Clinton or some other Democrat.

And you have all heard him rant about wanting to get the inspectors back into Iraq or he will lead a coalition to disarm Saddam Hussein. When Hussein said he was willing to let them in, Bush called it "rhetoric"...and he didn't believe it. He plans to send a quarter of a million young men and women to fight his war....your children and mine.

You are being lied to, dear friends. Don't you see....YOU ARE BEING LIED TO!!!!!!

Date:

11/15/02

Time:

05:41 AM

Comments

So you choose to believe Saddam Hussein over George Bush. Seems you are the one not thinking straight.

Date:

11/16/02

Time:

09:40 PM

Comments

Anyone who believes Saddam Husein, when he says anything... that person has a severe mental disability. Wait, that's not fair; I mean to say that anyone who believes Saddam is stupid.

Bush has done nothing wrong, unless you count the tax break. If you do count the tax break, it must be because you were actually wanting to get someone else's money back, in addition to your own.

Or perhaps you were hoping to only get part of your money back, but hoping that the rich would get none of their money back; or perhaps you think it's not fair that some people make more money than you do, because they studied harder, worked harder, or maybe just got lucky? I can see how they need to be punished for that.

Let me explain a tax break: you can only get back some of the money that YOU paid in. Therefore, if you already get all of your money back, (you're too poor to pay taxes) or you get an earned income credit (more money back than you paid in), then you will NOT get money back on a tax break.

That's the reason the rich get more money back: they pay more money in. After the tax break, the rich still pay a higher percent of taxes than anyone else.

Redistribution of wealth is not the government's job.

Date:

11/16/02

Time:

10:02 PM

Comments

I've got an idea: why don't we use rope instead of yellow ribbons? We could tie it around our necks and jump out of trees!!

Wait, that doesn't make sense, does it? Hmm, neither does badmouthing a legally elected President of the United States in a time of war.

Some elderly people did too much acid in the nineteen sixties, hmm? Why don't we all tie yellow ribbon around our bodies, and run naked through the woods?

Or, we could just make up stories about how millions of people will waste their money on ribbon, when those millions of people really do support action against the people who threaten our country most, at this moment.

Date:

11/17/02

Time:

12:01 PM

Comments

To the writer of the previous message:

Why are you so violently hostile??? Your remarks make no sense at all!!! Are you not able to write something that makes sense and that might support your point of view? And since you brought it up, Bush was NOT elected!! He was permitted to occupy the Oval Office by the Republican Supreme Court who decided to stop the vote count and give the election to George Bush. Do you ever take the time to read anything that doesn't reinforce your own mistaken point of view??? If you are going to continue to use this message board, PLEASE write something sensible!!!

Date:

11/17/02

Time:

09:09 PM

Comments

How about wearing the yellow ribbons on our clothing?

Date:

11/17/02

Time:

10:16 PM

Comments

I'm tired of the same old liberal argument. Al Gore had the most popular votes. George Bush had the most electoral votes. In the United States, the person with the most Electoral votes wins the election. George Bush was elected President of the United States.

It didn't upset the majority of the people in the last election enough to send a message to the Republicans. Get over it, it's over.

Date:

11/18/02

Time:

05:50 AM

Comments

Heck, they even liked Katherine Harris so much they elected her to the Senate.

Date:

11/19/02

Time:

01:54 PM

Comments

Do we need government regulation of business to protect us from crooks?

No. All we need is better disclosure laws with heavy penalties for violation. Government doesn't tell executives how to run the business, simply that they cannot operate in secrecy. Investors are told what information to expect. Business procedure is then reported as it occurs. If there is non compliance by management or investors don't like executive policy all they have to do is put their money elsewhere. This provides a natural free market incentive to management rather than a meddlesome or coercive one.

The World Libertarian Order has an interesting site. Please visit. http://wlo418.tripod.com/worldlibertarianorder/

Date:

11/21/02

Time:

02:53 PM

Comments

"I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."

George W. Bush

Date:

11/21/02

Time:

03:41 PM

Comments

The claim by the Bush administration that Baghdad is threatening the world with weapons of mass destruction is the main pretext for its war preparations against Iraq. However, a documentary recently broadcast by the German state television channel, ARD, suggests that the US government is itself hiding biological warfare programs from the rest of the world, and actually employed such weapons in 1952 during the Korean War.

The documentary, entitled Codename Artichoke--the Secret Human Experiments of the CIA, was aired by ARD last August. A book with the same title was published shortly afterwards. The authors of both the film and the book, TV journalists Edmond R. Koch and Michael Wech, focus on the case of biochemist Dr. Frank Olson, who died on November 28, 1953 after a mysterious fall from the 13th floor of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City.

At the time of his death, Olson had been given the highest clearance for access to classified information. He was one of the leading scientists doing research in the field of biological weapons, and had been working for ten years in the biological warfare facilities at Maryland's Camp Detrick (today, Fort Detrick) near Washington DC.

He also occupied a leading position in "Operation Artichoke," a CIA program that coordinated all projects of the Army, Navy and CIA involving psychedelic drugs, fatal poisons and similar substances. Those involved in this project included German doctors who had experimented with human beings in the Nazi concentration camps.

Artichoke involved the use of torture and drugs to interrogate people. The effects of substances such as LSD, heroin and marijuana were studied, using unsuspecting individuals as human guinea pigs. The CIA was eager to identify military uses for substances that altered the psyche. The agency was at that time obsessed with the idea that the Soviets or the Chinese might employ methods of brainwashing to recruit double agents or manipulate the population of entire nations.

Artichoke also included the development of poisons that take effect immediately. These substances were later used in attempts on the lives of a number of foreign leaders, e.g., Abdul Karim Kassem (Iraq), Patrice Lumumba (Congo), and Fidel Castro (Cuba).

Before Frank Olson plunged to his death from a window of the Hotel Pennsylvania in 1953, he exhibited symptoms of behavioural disturbance. Friends, family members and colleagues shown in the film and quoted in the book assume that he had seen things that he felt went too far, and intended to quit his work with the CIA. Prior to his death he had seen a psychiatrist on several occasions, always in the company of a CIA watchdog. He died one day before he was scheduled to be committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Olson's death was officially described as suicide due to depression. Only in the mid-1970s, when the CIA's secret activities were scrutinised in the wake of the Watergate scandal, did the government admit to a certain degree of responsibility: Ten days before his death, the CIA had administered LSD to Olson without his knowledge. President Gerald Ford subsequently apologised to the family, and the CIA paid compensation to his widow.

According to the documentary, this was a further cover-up operation. The film presents evidence suggesting that the death of the biochemical expert was not suicide, but murder.

Frank Olson's son, Eric, is convinced that his father was assassinated. He has been trying for decades to clear up the circumstances of his father's death, and has gathered numerous pieces of evidence supporting the thesis of murder, which he made available to the authors of Codename Artichoke.

In 1994 Eric Olson had his father's body exhumed and examined by a renowned forensic scientist, who concluded that in all probability someone had knocked Frank Olson unconscious in the hotel room and thrown him out of the window, in contrast to the official version, which claimed Olson had jumped.

After the report on the post-mortem had been published, the public prosecutor's office in Manhattan initiated proceedings against an unknown person. However, the prosecutor lost interest as soon as the CIA intervened into the questioning of the main witness, the CIA agent Robert Lashbrook, who had accompanied Olson continuously prior to his death and had been in the hotel room when Olson fell out of the window.

A memorandum dated July 11, 1975 and printed in the book strongly indicates that the CIA has something to hide. Addressed to the White House chief of staff, the memo urgently recommended an official apology by the president so as to forestall any trial or official hearing on the Olson case. Otherwise, the memo said, "it might be necessary to disclose highly classified national security information." Ten days later President Ford met with the Olson family in the White House.

The addressee and the author of this memo are still active and hold prominent positions in government. The former is Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who was then White House chief of staff, and the latter is Vice President Dick Cheney, who was then Rumsfeld's deputy.

The following year, after delays in the payment of the promised compensation to the family, another well-known political figure intervened: then-CIA Director George Bush, who himself went on to become US president and whose son is George W. Bush.

Why the cover-up?

In the mid-1970s, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush senior collaborated to prevent a thorough investigation into Olson's death, because they feared that it might "disclose highly classified national security information." What information?

The authors of the documentary have traced numerous clues, but given the mass of multifaceted evidence presented, it is often difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Olson undoubtedly knew about many things that would have discredited the US administration, and it is entirely plausible that the government sought to silence him.

The authors describe how German physicians who had worked in Nazi concentration camps were rapidly rehabilitated after the war through the US denazification program and put to work on US research projects on biological and chemical warfare. The book also notes that Olson and his colleagues carried out large-scale field experiments with biological weapons. In one case they spread a certain bacillus--which they regarded as harmless--across San Francisco Bay, as a dress rehearsal for a major biological attack on a large city.

Both genuine and alleged enemy agents were subjected to horrifying interrogations, some of which Olson must have witnessed personally, the authors conclude. In some cases these interrogations led to the death of the accused. The most convincing proof of this is a telegram from 1954, in which the CIA director inquires about "bodies available for terminal experiments."

In addition, thousands of people were used, without their knowledge or consent, for experiments with LSD, mescaline, morphine, seconal, atropine and other drugs. The CIA even ran its own brothels in order to lure its victims. As the inspector general of the US Army later stated in a report to a Senate committee: "[I]n universities, hospitals and research institutions" an "unknown number of chemical tests and experiments ... were carried out with healthy adults, with mentally ill and with prison inmates."

Most of these activities were exposed in the 1970s, when two commissions appointed by Congress--the Rockefeller and the Church commissions--investigated the secret activities of the CIA. A further investigation was published by John Marks, a former employee of the State Department. After legal proceedings based on the Freedom of Information Act, Marks gained access to several thousand pages of classified CIA material. This material is utilised extensively in the documentary.

In 1969 the US officially cancelled all research programs on biological weapons. Fort Detrick was closed down. Today the site is used by the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), which, according to the official line, strictly limits itself to the analysis of biological weapons for defence purposes. In 1974, the US signed onto the international convention against biological warfare.

Were biological weapons used in Korea?

There must be reasons for the continuing secrecy surrounding Olson's death that go beyond the facts which surfaced in the 1970s. One possible reason is linked to Korea--and to last year's anthrax attacks against leading politicians of the Democratic Party and others that cost the lives of five people.

During the Korean War, both Pyongyang and Beijing repeatedly accused the US of employing bacteriological weapons. These accusations were supported by eyewitness reports, photos, laboratory analyses and the remains of biological bombs.

In 1952, two international commissions which examined the war area with Soviet and Chinese help concluded that the US army had indeed used such weapons. This was confirmed in written statements by US pilots who were held prisoner by Korea. Some of them appeared before the international press and repeated their confessions.

The US categorically denied these accusations, describing the evidence presented as forged, characterising the international commissions as instruments of communist propaganda, and claiming that the soldiers' confessions were the result of "brainwashing." Allen W. Dulles, the CIA director, even gave a speech devoted to brainwashing, in which he accused North Korea of "having turned around a whole number of our boys."

When the prisoners of war who had made these confessions returned from Korea in the summer of 1953, they were interrogated by the Artichoke team, which had announced its eagerness to do so weeks in advance. In a memorandum to the top leadership of the CIA, the team said it wanted to use those "who have been exposed to and accepted in varying degrees Communist indoctrination ... as unique research material in the Artichoke work." Among other things, hypnosis, anaesthetics and LSD were to be used on the former POWs. In this way, Artichoke hoped to gain insight into the enemy's interrogation methods and to make sure that the returned soldiers did not work for the other side.

Koch and Wech, however, believe that Artichoke's main concern was the confessions of the Air Force pilots. The authors suspect that they contained at least some true revelations.

The authors ask: "Was their will to be broken with LSD? Were they to be subjected to artificial amnesia to make them forget what they saw and did? Biological warfare? Experiments with anthrax and other deadly epidemics?"

Frank Olson probably witnessed some interrogations of soldiers returning from Korea. This is the conclusion drawn by the authors from a careful reconstruction of his travels. As the leading expert on the release of biological weapons, he must have known about the use of such devices if and when they were actually employed. Was this first-hand knowledge the ultimate reason for his demise? Did the CIA silence him when it became clear he was seeking to distance himself from the agency?

This suspicion is given credence by a reliable witness, Norman Cournoyer. In the early years of Camp Detrick, Cournoyer had worked closely with Frank Olson, and remained his best friend until the end. He knew about Olson's intention to leave the CIA.

In April 2001, Cournoyer, who had read an article about the case in the New York Times Magazine, contacted Eric Olson and said he would tell him the truth about his father's death. "Korea is the key," he is quoted as saying.

The authors continue: "And then Norman Cournoyer confirmed that the American Air Force had indeed tested biological weapons during the Korean War." Frank Olson had learned about this and began to despair about what he was doing. In conclusion, Cournoyer said: "Was this the reason for the CIA to kill your father? Probably."

According to Eric Olson, this statement is in line with remarks of his mother, who used to say: "Your father was always worried about Korea."

According to Koch and Wech, there is a direct connection between the cover-up of the Olson case and the sluggish investigations into the anthrax attacks of October 2001. Last year's attempts on the lives of two high-ranking representatives of the American state have not been cleared up to this day. Despite the fact that all evidence points to Fort Detrick and one possible perpetrator is known by name, the investigation has plodded along without any suspects being identified by the government.

A serious probe into either Olson's death or the recent anthrax attacks, the authors believe, could bring to light things that would severely damage the credibility of the United States. They suspect that the anthrax attacker's knowledge of certain facts makes it impossible for the FBI to lay hands on him.

The authors suggest that this knowledge relates to secret biological warfare programs. They ask, "Is it conceivable that the US army carried out further research on biological weapons in spite of binding international treaties, even after the official termination of offensive projects involving biological weaponry in 1969?" They then charge that there are "very concrete indications that the Pentagon does not give a damn about international agreements on biological warfare."

They cite several such indications: the production of a genetically improved version of the anthrax bacterium, which was reported by the New York Times on September 11, 2001; the plans by military institutes to develop new microbes that are able to dissolve certain materials; and the consistent refusal of the Bush administration to sign a supplementary protocol to the international convention on biological weapons that would give teams of United Nations experts access to American military laboratories. In the course of the negotiations in Geneva, according to the authors, it became known that Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld wanted at all costs to prevent any such inspections.

Codename Artichoke--the Secret Human Experiments of the CIA is available in German only from C. Bertelssmann Verlag, Munich.

Date:

11/21/02

Time:

09:22 PM

Comments

1952? You wasted all that space with comments about 1952? Who gives a big rats a**? I'm sure we did develope biological weapons when BOTH parties were in power. The military would be negligent if they didn't try. We also nuked a couple cities in WW2. You want to whine about that too?

Why not comment on something current such as Dachle's whining about how popular conservative radio show hosts are not fair because they have large audiences that are captive.

I guess he forgot about the Hollywood Elite like Rosi O'Donnell and Barbara Streisand and their unbalanced coverage by the liberal press. Or maybe it's just OK since they are liberal.

At least Sean Hannidy (sp?) and and O'Reilly are educated.

Date:

11/22/02

Time:

04:23 AM

Comments

And a quote of hope:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall...

Think of it... always." -- Mahatma Ghandhi

Date:

11/22/02

Time:

09:19 PM

Comments

Wow! You're right. Clinton and Gore are history now.

Date:

11/23/02

Time:

04:09 PM

Comments

The issue is called "corporate inversion." U.S. companies reincorporate abroad, usually in tiny countries like the Cayman Islands, to avoid paying U.S. taxes. In everything but name, the corporations remain American--in many countries, reincorporation only requires a signed document and a fee. But, by avoiding taxes, they cost the U.S. government an estimated $4 billion per year…

Date:

11/25/02

Time:

07:27 AM

Comments

The real enemy of Democracy is hypocrisy. It is a pack of lies so huge that the truth is completely buried. This hypocrisy is clearly aided by the corporate controlled media. The drivel they put out daily has brainwashed the public into believing that the highest goal in life is to buy more toys. Instead of news, all we get is a warped form of entertainment. The truth is ignored while blatant lies are repeated with depressing regularity. Democrats did not lose the election in 2002 any more than Gore lost the election in 2000. In order to even have an election, you must first have an informed electorate. And believe me, if the electorate knew what was going on, Democrats would have won in a landslide! David Spring

Date:

11/25/02

Time:

11:01 AM

Comments

“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.” – Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels (The Third Reich)

Date:

11/25/02

Time:

11:28 AM

Comments

Last week the Senate approved legislation to establish a Department of Homeland Security and it will soon be signed into law by the president. Buried in this massive bill, snuck into it in the dark of night by persons unknown (actually, it's fair to say by Republican persons unknown), was a provision that - incredibly - will protect Eli Lilly and a few other big pharmaceutical outfits from lawsuits by parents who believe their children were harmed by thimerosal. Now this has nothing to do with homeland security. Nothing. This is not a provision that will in any way protect us from the ferocious evil of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. So why is it there? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the major drug companies have become a gigantic collective cash machine for politicians, and that the vast majority of that cash goes to Republicans. Or maybe it's related to the fact that Mitch Daniels, the White House budget director, is a former Eli Lilly big shot. Or the very convenient fact that just last June President Bush appointed Eli Lilly's chairman, president and C.E.O., Sidney Taurel, to a coveted seat on the president's Homeland Security Advisory Council." 11.25.02 www.bushwatch.com

Date:

11/25/02

Time:

01:51 PM

Comments

Hi my name is Randa David Jawhari, I'm a writer that just finished writing my first book Letters From the Rose. I have also studied and taught Film acting for 10 years In Hawaii. I have recently come to Michigan where I was originally raised and just completed writing my first film short. Initialed Christmas With My Parents, Most the cast are children. I look forward to the opportunity to show my work I'm sad to say I have also been taken advantage of by 1stbooks Library a publishing company out of Bloomington Indiana, Not only did I get cheated out of over a thousand dollars But they are also not willing to give me back my material. After 10 years of working so hard I hate the thought of them having it. Dishonest agents such as 1stBooks Library prey on writers by charging fees, promoting their own expensive editing services, engaging in kickback referral schemes, and misrepresenting their knowledge and expertise. These agents don't earn their income from selling manuscripts to publishers and many of them never bother to send anything out, but from charging money to their clients. Agents of this type have hundreds of writers on their rosters, turning them over twice a year with a 6-month contract that requires an upfront fee. Authors such as myself has fallen into this trap and would like something done about it. Companies like 1st books Library should not be in business.

Thanks for your time.

Randa David Jawhai intercedep001@aol.com Fenton, Michigan 48430

Date:

11/25/02

Time:

04:21 PM

Comments

Since the top 50% of wage earners pay 96.08% of all taxes, can you blame people for trying to avoid paying taxes.

A 15% across the board tax on all wage earners (with no deductions) would bring in more income to the government, streamline the IRS and be fair to all.

Date:

11/26/02

Time:

12:22 PM

Comments

Francoise Ducros, director of communications for Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien, said that Court-appointed President Bush is a "moron." Kasier Ashcroft is now furiously attempting to have Ducros extradited to the U.S. so that he can be tried for revealing American state secrets.

Date:

11/26/02

Time:

12:50 PM

Comments

Another good site tracking the Bush Administration's mis- non- and malfeasances is www.politics-bushwhacking.com. The Table of Contents reads like an indictment. Articles from the NYT, Washington Post, LA Times, Economist, International Herald, Financial Times, etc., etc.

Date:

11/28/02

Time:

03:36 PM

Comments

Sounds like a non artisan website to me.

Date:

11/29/02

Time:

02:05 PM

Comments

A new website (www.politics-bushwhacking.com) has collected magazine and newspaper articles, editorials, op-ed pieces which test and question the policies of the Bush administration. Included: New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, The Economist, Financial Times, The (Manchester) Guardian, International Herald Tribune, etc, etc. The subjects are the various feasances (mal-, mis- and non-) of Bush and his team, the Bushwhacking of our environment, economy, foreign relations, Social Security, Medicare and the other items in the social contract between the government and us. Updated daily. The Table of Contents reads like an indictment. For students of government, your research is done for you.

Date:

11/30/02

Time:

09:15 AM

Comments

Here's a good article:

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell1.asp

Should end the gun control debate once and for all.

Date:

11/30/02

Time:

02:31 PM

Comments

Did you notice he said, "whites have higher rates of gun ownership than blacks and much lower murder rates."?

Good thing he is a black writer or the NAACP would have his butt.

Bet he won't be on Bellafonte's Christmas card list.

Date:

12/01/02

Time:

10:59 PM

Comments

I was looking at the bestselling books on Amazon.Com and saw the book about President Bush is #2. I then look up the books by Algore and Tipper they were ranked #2403 and #3,066.

I was trying to interpret this. Does this mean Democrats are too dumb to read or is it no one really cares about Al Gore and what he thinks?

Al Gore for President in '04! Run algor run!

Date:

12/02/02

Time:

03:56 PM

Comments

One of the most common media errors on Iraq is the claim that the U.N.weapons inspectors left Iraq in 1998 because they were "kicked out" or "expelled" (http://www.fair.org/extra/0210/inspectors.html).

The inspectors, led by Richard Butler, actually left voluntarily, knowing that a U.S. bombing campaign was imminent. This was reported accurately throughout the U.S. press at the time: "Butler ordered his inspectors to evacuate Baghdad, in anticipation of a military attack, on Tuesday night" (Washington Post, 12/18/98).

Date:

12/02/02

Time:

11:09 PM

Comments

And your point is?

Date:

12/05/02

Time:

06:04 AM

Comments

"Public military records, which have been released under a FOIA request (9) indicate that George W. Bush did not satisfactorily complete his duties, was suspended and assigned to disciplinary duty, which he also did not show up for."

www.talion.com/georgebush.html

Date:

12/05/02

Time:

06:52 AM

Comments

December 4, 2002

Last week, Bush tapped Henry Kissinger to chair the independent investigation into how and why the September 11th attacks took place. This investigation has been hotly sought after for months by many members of Congress and the vast majority of Americans. The Bush administration, however, fought it at every turn, and only assented to the investigation after it was decided that they could choose the chairman. They chose Henry, a man so in love with secrecy that he bugged his own staff while in White House to make sure no one leaked anything. Only if George W. Bush posted a sign on the White House lawn that read, "Dear America - Screw Your Investigation," could the signal be more clear.

William Rivers Pitt see full article on Truthout.org

Date:

12/05/02

Time:

10:40 PM

Comments

I agree that choosing Kissinger was a way for President Bush to thumb his nose at those calling for a waste of taxpayer money and time in an investigation of 911.

I disagree with the statement:

"This investigation has been hotly sought after for months by many members of Congress and the vast majority of Americans".

It should read many Democratic members of congress and vast majority of liberal Americans.

Thank you, but we already know who was behind it. Don't waste my money or time.

Date:

12/06/02

Time:

04:22 PM

Comments

Well, dear friends, the national unemployment rate is now at a nice, round 6%....and this is just before the Christmas holidays when the rate always goes down due to seasonal hiring. So come on, you rabid Bush supporters....I'm still waiiting for one of you to tell me how we're better off today thanks to George W. Bush. Is ANYONE better off except Bush and his rich buddies?

Highest unemployment since the LAST Bush administration. Certain things we can count on from the Bushes: War, tax cuts and deficits, and resulting economic decline. Associated Press

Date:

12/07/02

Time:

06:13 AM

Comments

I'm better off. My job and family is stable, Oral sex has not come up in a discussion with my children since Bill Clinton was in office, and we have a leader that will stand up and fight terrorism.

We will now be able to appoint federal judges that will be competent, not like the one that just ruled the second admendment didn't apply to indiviuals (this is the same court that said "under God" does not belong in the Pledge of Allegiance).

I'll also be able and go vote today for Suzy Terrell over Mary Landrieu in hopes making the GOP lead in the Senate stronger.

Date:

12/07/02

Time:

11:47 AM

Comments

"According to the Federation of American Scientists, nearly two hundred military incursions have been catalogued since 1945 in which the U.S. has been the aggressor. The terrors caused by these actions are responsible for the intense hatred of the U.S. that is felt around the world. It is hard to imagine that countries like Panama and Haiti actually pose a threat to our national security. Cries of ‘the Panamanians are coming!’ somehow ring hollow. The ecological cost to our planet’s life support systems are truly mind boggling. If this hostile behavior isn’t the worst imaginable form of psychosis, I don’t know what is."

Charles Sullivan

Date:

12/07/02

Time:

07:13 PM

Comments

In none of those incursions did the US attempt to take any land.

Ever think that there was a strategic reason for the US to Control the Panama canal at that time? Like maintaining shipping routes.

Date:

12/08/02

Time:

02:59 PM

Comments

I wasn't suprised that Landrieu won in Louisiana. Louisiana always ranks near the bottom for education and towards the top for welfare an social security recipients. I then saw that the weather was going to be nice in Louisiana and we know that if the weather was going to be bad, the blacks wouldn't have gotten out to vote.

Date:

12/08/02

Time:

10:09 PM

Comments

You're right. New Orleans is urban and 60%+ black. Landrieu carried it 4:1. A little cold rain always kept the black turnout down in previous elections.

Date:

12/09/02

Time:

05:34 AM

Comments

Whenever I say that America has become an empire, someone is sure to say I'm being ridiculous.

But what do you call a government that has tried (usually successfully) to force "regime changes" in Panama, Grenada, South Vietnam, Cuba, Guatemala, Chile, Rhodesia, South Africa, Iraq (in 1963), the Philippines, Serbia, Afghanistan (twice), Iran and several other countries that don't immediately come to mind?

Harry Browne (see full aticle: "I Want My Country Back" on Update page).

Date:

12/09/02

Time:

07:03 AM

Comments

You're implying that it's wrong to force regime changes. It's not.

Regarding the 60% black vote in New Orleans and Landrieu winning New Orleans votes by a 4:1 margin. If the black vote was the only cosideration, she would have won by New Orleans votes by a 3:2 margin.

New Orleans has a large homosexual population and an above average of lawyers. I would think that would explain the 4:1 margin.

That's the Democratic base: blacks, homosexuals, indigent, and lawyers.

Date:

12/11/02

Time:

08:10 AM

Comments

Can you tell us WHY Bush has so vehemently opposed a thorough investigation of the 9/11 tragedy? What is he hiding??? And please do not tell me it's because of national security!! It's precisely because of our national security that we MUST get to the bottom of this. Investigation of even a simple plane crash is a routine matter. Why is not this one? Aren't you interested in getting to the truth? These attacks could easily have been avoided once the planes were hijacked. In fact there were dozens of very specific warnings that they WOULD happen. We need to know the truth. So do you. If you need some references, I'll be happpy to furnish them to you.

Date:

12/11/02

Time:

01:43 PM

Comments

On the lighter side for a change....

While suturing a laceration on the hand of a 90-year-old man, the doctor asked his patient how he thought George W. Bush was doing as President.

The old man said, "Ya know, Bush is a post turtle."

Not knowing what the old man meant, the doctor asked him what a "post turtle" was.

He said, "Did you ever drive down a country road and come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top?

You know he didn't get there by himself, he doesn't belong there, he can't get anything done while he's up there, and you just want to help the poor thing down.

That's a post turtle."

Date:

12/11/02

Time:

02:35 PM

Comments

Hasn't there been a bipartisan committee appointed to investigate the 911 attacks?

I'm sure it will be investigated fairly and completely.

Date:

12/13/02

Time:

07:44 AM

Comments

At last....a clear and defining statement of STUPIDITY addressed to GW Bush:

"I cannot believe how incredibly stupid you are. I mean rock-hard stupid. Dehydrated-rock-hard stupid. Stupid so stupid that it goes way beyond the stupid we know into a whole different dimension of stupid. You are trans-stupid stupid. Meta-stupid. Stupid collapsed on itself so far that even the neutrons have collapsed. Singularity stupid. Blazing hot mid-day sun on Mercury stupid. You emit more stupid in one second than our entire galaxy emits in a year. Quasar stupid. Perhaps this is some primordial fragment from the original big bang of stupid. Some pure essence of a stupid so uncontaminated by anything else as to be beyond the laws of physics that we know."

Author unknown (unfortunately)

Date:

12/13/02

Time:

02:46 PM

Comments

Is this really happening in our country????

"Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's announced desire for camps for U.S. citizens he deems to be 'enemy combatants' has moved him from merely being a political embarrassment to being a constitutional menace." -the Los Angeles Times, Aug. 14, 2002 www.truthout.org/docs_02/08.15B.ashcr.camps.htm

"The Bush administration is developing a parallel legal system in which terrorism suspects, U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike,may be investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and punished without legal protections guaranteed by the ordinary system. . . . " Washington Post, Dec. 1, 2002 www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58308-2002Nov30.html

Date:

12/13/02

Time:

03:42 PM

Comments

Regarding the definition of stupidity "addressed" to George Bush. It wasn't adressed to George Bush. It was quoted in one of the liberal editorials on update section of this page with this explanation:

"On a number of different occasions, permutations of the following comment have appeared on a variety of online forums. Essentially, this is a fragment of what may be the most crystalline rant ever recorded on the internet. I have no idea who the original author is."

Another example of how liberals distort the truth (lie)to fit thier needs.

Date:

12/14/02

Time:

10:19 AM

Comments

From the interview with Barbara Walters, talking about deciding whether to go to war against Iraq: "There's only one person who is responsible for making that decision, and that's me. And there's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids on the death of their loved ones," Bush said, adding that "having committed the troops, I've got an additional responsibility to hug."

(http://story.news.yahoo.com/)

From his speech in Philadelphia on Thurday: "God loves you and I love you and you can count on us both!" (http://www.gaytoday.com/events/121302ev.asp)

Seems to me, when somebody starts equating himself with God & presuming to speak for God, they put him in a padded room, not an Oval Office....

Date:

12/15/02

Time:

06:26 AM

Comments

"The last time Republicans controlled the federal government, they launched a political assault that became known as “McCarthyism”. In theory, the effort was intended to prevent communist infiltration of the United States. In reality, McCarthyism was a partisan tool designed to stifle dissent and destroy anyone who opposed the right wing agenda. After ruining the lives of many innocent people, the smear campaign ultimately failed - not as a result of stalwart opposition from the left, but because Joseph McCarthy was an alcoholic who self-destructed."

David Podvin

Date:

12/15/02

Time:

07:23 PM

Comments

He should be arrested and tried for treason when he returns:

Hollywood's Penn Preaches Peace in Iraq (AP) - U.N. inspectors hunted for weapons of mass destruction at missile plants and nuclear complexes Sunday, while an unusual visitor — Hollywood star Sean Penn — spoke out in Baghdad against a U.S. attack and in support of the Iraqi people caught up in an international crisis.

It's one thing to voice your opinion here in the US, but to go and bad mouth the US in another country is wrong.

No offense Matilda.

Date:

12/16/02

Time:

06:05 PM

Comments

What makes you think Sean Penn was "bad mouthing" the United States? You have no reason to think he was doing anything except showing America's concern about innocent people. He was representing the opinions and feelings of millions of Americans and of the United Council of Churches, and of President Bush's own church denomination. This is not traitorous. This is a courageous stand of an honest American who is only saying what the entire world (except the governments of Great Britain and Israël) is saying. Sadam Hussein is no doubt a fiend from hell, but Sean Penn was NOT defending him. He was showing our concern for the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians who will be slaughtered if America does indeed take this country into a preemptive war with that nation. He is to be admired.....not arrested and tried for treason. I would give him a special medal for bravery above and beyond the call of duty.

Matilda

Date:

12/17/02

Time:

05:00 AM

Comments

By Mary Fiddler

Thank you for printing George Pardington's letter (Letters, Dec. 7) "this country shouldn't bully." His thoughtful and well considered arguments are a refreshing change from the rhetoric and flag waving we see so much of these days. I hope everyone reads the letter carefully. (See Update link)

Date:

12/17/02

Time:

05:46 AM

Comments

Regarding Sean Penn's visit to Iraq:

Sean Penn in Iraq -- His Statement http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/12.17E.penn.iraq.htm

Date:

12/17/02

Time:

08:19 AM

Comments

Actor Sean Penn goes to Baghdad War Times publishes a must-read issue for activists. http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/

Date:

12/17/02

Time:

03:31 PM

Comments

George Bush is setting the United States up for the biggest fall a nation ever took. And for certain we will drag many innocent nations and peoples down with us. Before the final twilight of this horrendous last religious crusade (which is surely what this is) these psychopaths in the White House and the Pentagon will ignite nuclear detonations on both American soil and on the soil of other innocent countries.

wwww.voxnyc.com

Date:

12/18/02

Time:

06:36 AM

Comments

Yahoo person of the year:

http://yir.yahoo.com/2002/winner.html

Date:

12/18/02

Time:

08:33 AM

Comments

The Proactive Pre-emptive Operations Group, or P2OG, will provoke terrorist attacks which would then require "counter-attack" by the United States on countries "harbouring the terrorists".

In other words, innocent people will be killed by the United States. This is reminiscent of Operation Northwoods, the plan put to President Kennedy by his military chiefs for a phoney terrorist campaign - complete with bombings, hijackings, plane crashes and dead Americans - as justification for an invasion of Cuba. Kennedy rejected it. He was assassinated a few months later. Now Rumsfeld has resurrected Northwoods, but with resources undreamt of in 1963 and with no global rival to invite caution. (For information on Operation Northwoods, go to www.Google.com It's all there)

www.newstatesman.co.uk http://pilger.carlton.com/print/124759

Date:

12/19/02

Time:

10:11 AM

Comments

The only terrorist threat comes from our own treacherous governments. The Sept 11 attacks were organized by the US government as an excuse to start it’s war and frighten people into giving up their civil rights. There is also little doubt that the Bali atrocity was orchestrated by the Australian and US govts for the same purpose.

If anybody doubts this, send an email to a911syd2@hotmail.com and you will be sent links to hundreds of pages of meticulously documented research which proves the case beyond doubt.

Date:

12/22/02

Time:

09:34 AM

Comments

How can anyone really believe that the US Government orchestrated the 911 attacks? I think a little paranoia is ok, but you have a serious problem.

Besides, I would think the Republicans would prefer that the stock market went up in President Bush's term so that it would guarantee an easy victory in the next election. Bombing the WTC wouldn't be a way to go about doing that.

Date:

12/22/02

Time:

09:36 AM

Comments

BTW, there is serious doubts that "the Bali atrocity was orchestrated by the Australian and US govts"

Date:

12/22/02

Time:

09:58 AM

Comments

This just about covers it:

http://www.rightwingnews.com/special/annoyinglib.php

Date:

12/25/02

Time:

09:55 AM

Comments

"Fascism" defined:

"A philosophy or system of government that advocates or exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership together with an ideology of belligerent nationalism."

American Heritage dictionary

(sound like something you know????)

Date:

12/26/02

Time:

04:52 PM

Comments

THE United States edited out more than 8000 crucial pages of Iraq's 11,800-page dossier on weapons, before passing on a sanitised version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations security council.

The full extent of Washington's complete control over who sees what in the crucial Iraqi dossier calls into question the allegations made by US Secretary of State Colin Powell that 'omissions' in the document constituted a 'material breach' of the latest UN resolution on Iraq.

Date:

12/26/02

Time:

05:09 PM

Comments

A lot of people say the Democrats didn’t have a message this fall, but they did, and here it is: we support the same things as the Republicans, it just takes us longer. We are bought by the same concerns as Republicans, just for less money. We are as silent about issues that matter to working families as Republicans, it’s just that our silence represents betrayal of our purported core values whereas Republicans are merely being consistent.

Barry Crimmins

Date:

12/29/02

Time:

12:15 AM

Comments

Great Site: Anyone who is pro Bush is either severely under read or is knowingly a fascist. Since I learned of the 1001 Problems of the 9/11 fable I have read over 200 non-Orwellian history books. Boys and girls we have been lied to. Not just about 9/11 but about our history for the last 90 plus years. Our schooling is indoctrination to make us serve the state. I suggest you peruse these books and links (in the letter below) . Here is a letter I sent to a Harvard author who has written an article detailing some of the evidence that the Fascist Bush Junta was behind 9/11. I have done two Masters theses and was a typical brain washed American thinking that Corporate Media Cartel Propaganda was mostly true. I found out it is often 1800 degrees from the truth....utilizing "The Big Lie" Technique of Hitler (the more outrageous the lie the more likely people are to believe it as they could never imagine telling such a whopper themselves).

MY LETTER TO HARVARD AUTHOR WHO ATTRIBUTES 9/11 TO THE BUSH JUNTA AND it's crytpocracy backers.

Dear Mr or Ms Shivani, I agree with your assessment that 9/11 is the equivalent of Germany's Reichstag fire with the perpetrators being the unelected Bush Junta. The book "The War on Freedom" by Nafeez Ahmed, Value Wars by John McMurtry, and Globalisation and 9/11 by Chussodovosky are scholarly works which devastatingly support your position as well. I Noticed however, that you completely ignored the history of the formation of European Fascist Regimes in your article "Is America Becoming Fascist?Alle Recht alles". 

Corporations European and American and associated plutocrats put the European Fascists and Nazis into power. The population was turning to socialism, land reform etc in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s as they had been looted into serfdom by the corporate plutocracy (example the Great Depression. The plutocrats funded the fascist terror and wars to overthrow the democracies before they went socialist. No high ideals here other than the almighty buck. Orwellian history books concentrate on Jews being the victims of the fascists. Per Father Niemoller's accurate statement: First they came for the socialists, then the democrats, then the union leaders and then the Jews. The Fascist regimes are a war against workers installed by the parasitical plutocracy when the workers are about to rebel such as after an especially intense period of looting by the parasites. 

Read George Seldes. He wrote the truth of the period 1917 to 1980 and was taken before the House Un-American Activities Committee for it. He covered the censored news of the supporters and installers of Fascism. His works are gems of gold in an Orwellian history matrix. His books are available at bookfinder.com. I also recommend that you read Clement Liebovitz's book "The Chamberlain-Hitler Deal" which details allied plutocrat support for Hitler's clearing out of socialists, unionists, democrats from Europe to remove the threat to capitalists of socialism (the threat resulting from the absoluter tyranny and enslavement of the workers by plutocrats). This is the real history of WWII and fills in all the holes. Read who supported these regimes then read of their actions and statements. Add to this evidence the overthrow of 55 real democratic/ populist movements around the globe by the US and the installation of Fascist regimes with death squads (William Blum's book "Killing Hope" John Stockwell, Penny Lenoreux, and many Noam Chomsky books etc). The lie of US Orwellian indoctrination that does not list the motivations and funding of plutocrats....only that these people "hated Jews" as their motivation never made any sense to me my whole life...now I know why they lied. Can't alert the serfs. 

Sincerely, 
Awake American in the Fascist Terrorist State known as America 
Belinda MBA MHA RPh and Intertel top 1% IQ Society 
WWII research group member. www.globalresearch.ca

 Chussodovosky's book available here. ** www.thewaronfreedom.com Nafeez Ahmed's book. If you read anything in your life read this. Leave the Matrix imposed upon you by the Fascist Junta running the former US republic. www.unansweredquestions.org , www.communitycurrency.org www.americanstateterrorism.com One stop Instant de- Brainwashing site. Details the 50 plus real democracies/ populist movements overthrown by the US National Security State with the accompanying 10 million brutal murders.

Date:

12/29/02

Time:

12:18 AM

Comments

My full links got cut off in my post of a few minutes ago. (Also I mean't 180 degrees not 1800 ....the key stuck). www.globalresearch.ca Chussodovosky's book avail able here. ** www.thewaronfreedom.com Nafeez Ahmed's book. If you read anything in your life read this. Leave the Matrix imposed upon you by the Fascist Junta running the former US republic. www.unansweredquestions.org www.communitycurrency.org www.americanstateterrorism.com One stop Instant de- Brainwashing site. Details the 50 plus real democracies/ populist movements overthrown by the US National Security State with the accompanying 10 million brutal murders.

Date:

12/29/02

Time:

05:46 AM

Comments

9/11 Inquiry Chairman Tied To Osama's Brother In Law Unanswered Questions: Thinking For Ourselves Presented by... http://www.unansweredquestions.org/

"New Chairman Of 9/11 Commission Had Business Ties With Osama's Brother In Law"

Be sure to read the above article. First Kissinger, (who had the "decency" to resign the appointment because of conflict of interest)....now the governor of New Jersey who has close ties to Bin Laden!

This second appointment is such an insult to the intelligence of the American people!!!!!! Bush never wanted this investigation in the first place, but if 9/11 must be investigated, he wants it to be controlled by someone who also wants to hide the truth. This administration knows no shame!!

Matilda Lipscomb

Date:

12/29/02

Time:

06:17 AM

Comments

It must be nice to have total control over the amount of information American citizens are allowed to have about the function of their government. One might almost think GWBush imagines the United States government belongs to HIM instead of to the American people.

If layoffs are proving things are getting worse for the majority of the people, then we'll simply not allow those facts to see the light of day. Herr Goebbels would be proud.

The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics will NO longer issue a monthly report of Mass Layoffs. I wonder if we can all guess why. Are the Mass Layoff statistics too damaging to Bush's image?

With Bush, if he doesn't like the news or the information, he just either censors it (by de-funding it's dissemination) or ships it off to his father's presidential library where no one will ever be able to see it.

Date:

12/29/02

Time:

08:04 AM

Comments

I thought this would be of interest to you. Dozens of cities accross the country are passing laws barring their employees from participating with Federal Employees that are acting on behalf of the illegal patriot act and passing resolutions that they oppose the war.

Here's a link to one of the news stories about it http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1219-01.htm

In it are contained links to a resolution in one city and a blueprint to get it done in yours. http://www.bordc.org/Tools.htm

It's as simple as attending the next city council meeting and proposing it to them. It has been working in city after city in my home state. Please pass this on far and wide.

Date:

12/30/02

Time:

01:18 PM

Comments

"High on the Bush administration's list of justifications for war against Iraq are President Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons, nuclear and biological programs, and his contacts with international terrorists. What U.S. officials rarely acknowledge is that these offenses date back to a period when Hussein was seen in Washington as a valued ally. " 12.30.02 www.bushwatch.com