Wednesday, November 12, 2003
They have taken us much farther down the road toward an intrusive, ‘big brother’-style government — toward the dangers prophesied by George Orwell in his book ’1984’ — than anyone ever thought would be possible in the United States of America. -Al Gore
London: Gearing Up for Bush
Peace protesters are planning a march to mark Bush’s visit next week, but the police are aiming to seal off key chunks of central London. The Independent (GB) reports:
Campaigners are planning a "Stop Bush" protest march through central London on 20 November, but say the Metropolitan Police are trying to block them.
As President Bush and his wife are due to stay at Buckingham Palace, there has been speculation much of the Mall and Whitehall will be closed off along with parts of the City.
Scotland Yard says it is not revealing details of road closures yet for security reasons, but says it will facilitate lawful demonstrations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3259005.stm
Tony Blair urged demonstrators to take the opportunity of Bush’s visit to realize that they are not appreciating the Bush position. Blair notes this in view of Bush’s Iraq policy being condemned by 60% (vs 20% in favor) of polled Brits. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/international/europe/12BRIT.html
Fiscal Health: The Bushies are Big Spenders via the Washington Post (Jonathan Weisman)
The preliminary spending figures for 2003 also raise questions about the government's long-term fiscal health. Bush administration officials have said fiscal restraint and "pro-growth" tax cuts should put the government on a path to a balanced budget. Bush has demanded that spending that is subject to Congress's annual discretion be capped at 4 percent.
But the Republican-led Congress has not obliged. The federal government spent nearly $826 billion in fiscal 2003, an increase of $91.5 billion over 2002, said G. William Hoagland, a senior budget and economic aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). Military spending shot up nearly 17 percent, to $407.3 billion, but nonmilitary discretionary spending also far outpaced Bush's limit, rising 8.7 percent… http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28252-2003Nov11?language=printer
Massachusetts Health Care Constitutional Amendment
There are 7 days left to collect the last of the required 100,000 signatures from registered voters for the constitutional amendment for universal health care. It’s not too late to help.
You can help by doing one or more of the following:
1. Call to get an assignment to collect signatures in your area; staff can make suggestions and provide materials. 617-868-1280.
2. Print out petition signature sheets directly from the campaign website and collect signatures. Meetings and community events are places to get lots of signatures at once. to learn more or contribute to the effort, go to http://www.HealthCareForMass.org.
What’s Happening, Iraq: A score of Italians were killed in relatively peaceful southern Iraq; General Sanchez now uses “war” to describe the current situation; L. Paul Bremer the civilian chief of the Occupation, is in D.C., either to be back-burnered, replaced, or ??? and more involvement seems to be the trend, despite all the talk of ‘Iraqification’ of the conflict. More via Slate and the NY Times at http://slate.msn.com/id/2091122/ and http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/international/middleeast/12IRAQ.html?ei=5062&en=70abd998ca7137ca&ex=1069218000&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=all&position=
Iraq 'faces severe health crisis' was the headline of a BBC report
The people of Iraq may have poorer health for generations as a result of the war, according to a report. Medical charity Medact says this year's conflict disrupted immunisation programmes and destroyed water systems, increasing levels of disease.
Environmental degradation and smoke from oil fires are adding to the health problems of Iraqis, it reports. Continuing insecurity in Iraq, along with the breakdown of public health services, are exacerbating the problem...
There has been a reported increase in maternal mortality rates, acute malnutrition has almost doubled from 4% to 8% in the last year and there is an increase in water-borne diseases and vaccine-preventable diseases." and 55,000 people - mainly Iraqi soldiers and civilians - died as a direct result of the war.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3259489.stm
Soros Spends some more:
George Soros, wealthy contributor to projects that promote democracy in the former Soviet Union Africa and Asia has another passion: beating Bush. Already having donated over 10 million, he is now sending MoveOn.org $5 million. Soros views the 2004 presidential race as "a matter of life and death." The Republican comment, via RNC spokesperson Christine Iverson, "It's incredibly ironic that George Soros is trying to create a more open society by using an unregulated, under-the-radar-screen, shadowy, soft-money group to do it. "George Soros has purchased the Democratic Party." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24179-2003Nov10.html
Charity Fraud: The Boston Globe ran a devastating 2-part series on charitable foundations. We typically read such and shake our heads about those individuals who abuse their position. But, we must realize that this is but one forum for systematic abuse, for the transfer of wealth to the rich from everyone else. Tax cuts/evasion, Enrons, mutual fund shenanigans are but the more publicized ways that funds have been stolen by what Paul Krugman calls "the very, very rich." This must change.
…an investigation by the Globe Spotlight Team has found scores of foundations whose tax returns show that officers and directors are themselves the principal beneficiaries of foundation assets that are intended for charitable causes.
In some cases, pay to foundation officers exceeds annual donations, draining away funds that could otherwise support hard-pressed charities. Federal rules governing foundations require that any compensation be "reasonable."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/09/some_officers_of_charities_steer_assets_to_selves/
9/11
James Ridgeway of the Village Voice asks fundamental questions in his weekly column.
Mindy Kleinberg, who lost her husband at the WTC, has pointed out to the commission that NORAD was not contacted by the FAA until 32 minutes after the loss of contact with Flight 11. And she called it "more baffling still" that fighters weren't scrambled from the nearest air force bases to intercept the hijacked airliners. Kleinberg noted that planes of NORAD's North East Air Defense Sector (NEADS) were actually on maneuvers that morning that should have made them immediately available. Nevertheless, at 9:41 a.m., one hour and 11 minutes after NORAD confirmed that the first plane was hijacked, the skies over D.C. were unprotected and Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. Fighter jets, she pointed out, were still miles away.
"Why," she asked, "was there a delay in the FAA notifying NORAD? Why was there a delay in NORAD scrambling fighter jets? How is this possible, when NEADS was fully staffed with planes at the ready and monitoring our Northeast airspace?"
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0346/mondo4.php
More on the phony Education ‘Miracle’
I’ve posted on this before, but some new data out of Houston adds more doubt to any success of the Bush Texas education policy. The Washington Post (Michael Dobbs) reports that a school that Bush has touted as a model for the rest of the nation -- is fending off accusations that it inflated its achievements through fuzzy math… Austin is one of more than a dozen Houston high schools caught up in a burgeoning scandal about the reliability of their dropout statistics. During a decade in which, routinely, as many as half of Austin students failed to graduate, the school's reported dropout rate fell from 14.4 percent to 0.3 percent. Even a Houston school board member calls the statistic "baloney."
If this were any other school district in the nation, few people would pay much attention. But Houston is the political springboard for U.S. Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige. He was school superintendent here before moving to Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14117-2003Nov7?language=printer
-R
London: Gearing Up for Bush
Peace protesters are planning a march to mark Bush’s visit next week, but the police are aiming to seal off key chunks of central London. The Independent (GB) reports:
Campaigners are planning a "Stop Bush" protest march through central London on 20 November, but say the Metropolitan Police are trying to block them.
As President Bush and his wife are due to stay at Buckingham Palace, there has been speculation much of the Mall and Whitehall will be closed off along with parts of the City.
Scotland Yard says it is not revealing details of road closures yet for security reasons, but says it will facilitate lawful demonstrations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3259005.stm
Tony Blair urged demonstrators to take the opportunity of Bush’s visit to realize that they are not appreciating the Bush position. Blair notes this in view of Bush’s Iraq policy being condemned by 60% (vs 20% in favor) of polled Brits. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/international/europe/12BRIT.html
Fiscal Health: The Bushies are Big Spenders via the Washington Post (Jonathan Weisman)
The preliminary spending figures for 2003 also raise questions about the government's long-term fiscal health. Bush administration officials have said fiscal restraint and "pro-growth" tax cuts should put the government on a path to a balanced budget. Bush has demanded that spending that is subject to Congress's annual discretion be capped at 4 percent.
But the Republican-led Congress has not obliged. The federal government spent nearly $826 billion in fiscal 2003, an increase of $91.5 billion over 2002, said G. William Hoagland, a senior budget and economic aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). Military spending shot up nearly 17 percent, to $407.3 billion, but nonmilitary discretionary spending also far outpaced Bush's limit, rising 8.7 percent… http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28252-2003Nov11?language=printer
Massachusetts Health Care Constitutional Amendment
There are 7 days left to collect the last of the required 100,000 signatures from registered voters for the constitutional amendment for universal health care. It’s not too late to help.
You can help by doing one or more of the following:
1. Call to get an assignment to collect signatures in your area; staff can make suggestions and provide materials. 617-868-1280.
2. Print out petition signature sheets directly from the campaign website and collect signatures. Meetings and community events are places to get lots of signatures at once. to learn more or contribute to the effort, go to http://www.HealthCareForMass.org.
What’s Happening, Iraq: A score of Italians were killed in relatively peaceful southern Iraq; General Sanchez now uses “war” to describe the current situation; L. Paul Bremer the civilian chief of the Occupation, is in D.C., either to be back-burnered, replaced, or ??? and more involvement seems to be the trend, despite all the talk of ‘Iraqification’ of the conflict. More via Slate and the NY Times at http://slate.msn.com/id/2091122/ and http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/international/middleeast/12IRAQ.html?ei=5062&en=70abd998ca7137ca&ex=1069218000&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=all&position=
Iraq 'faces severe health crisis' was the headline of a BBC report
The people of Iraq may have poorer health for generations as a result of the war, according to a report. Medical charity Medact says this year's conflict disrupted immunisation programmes and destroyed water systems, increasing levels of disease.
Environmental degradation and smoke from oil fires are adding to the health problems of Iraqis, it reports. Continuing insecurity in Iraq, along with the breakdown of public health services, are exacerbating the problem...
There has been a reported increase in maternal mortality rates, acute malnutrition has almost doubled from 4% to 8% in the last year and there is an increase in water-borne diseases and vaccine-preventable diseases." and 55,000 people - mainly Iraqi soldiers and civilians - died as a direct result of the war.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3259489.stm
Soros Spends some more:
George Soros, wealthy contributor to projects that promote democracy in the former Soviet Union Africa and Asia has another passion: beating Bush. Already having donated over 10 million, he is now sending MoveOn.org $5 million. Soros views the 2004 presidential race as "a matter of life and death." The Republican comment, via RNC spokesperson Christine Iverson, "It's incredibly ironic that George Soros is trying to create a more open society by using an unregulated, under-the-radar-screen, shadowy, soft-money group to do it. "George Soros has purchased the Democratic Party." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24179-2003Nov10.html
Charity Fraud: The Boston Globe ran a devastating 2-part series on charitable foundations. We typically read such and shake our heads about those individuals who abuse their position. But, we must realize that this is but one forum for systematic abuse, for the transfer of wealth to the rich from everyone else. Tax cuts/evasion, Enrons, mutual fund shenanigans are but the more publicized ways that funds have been stolen by what Paul Krugman calls "the very, very rich." This must change.
…an investigation by the Globe Spotlight Team has found scores of foundations whose tax returns show that officers and directors are themselves the principal beneficiaries of foundation assets that are intended for charitable causes.
In some cases, pay to foundation officers exceeds annual donations, draining away funds that could otherwise support hard-pressed charities. Federal rules governing foundations require that any compensation be "reasonable."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/09/some_officers_of_charities_steer_assets_to_selves/
9/11
James Ridgeway of the Village Voice asks fundamental questions in his weekly column.
Mindy Kleinberg, who lost her husband at the WTC, has pointed out to the commission that NORAD was not contacted by the FAA until 32 minutes after the loss of contact with Flight 11. And she called it "more baffling still" that fighters weren't scrambled from the nearest air force bases to intercept the hijacked airliners. Kleinberg noted that planes of NORAD's North East Air Defense Sector (NEADS) were actually on maneuvers that morning that should have made them immediately available. Nevertheless, at 9:41 a.m., one hour and 11 minutes after NORAD confirmed that the first plane was hijacked, the skies over D.C. were unprotected and Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. Fighter jets, she pointed out, were still miles away.
"Why," she asked, "was there a delay in the FAA notifying NORAD? Why was there a delay in NORAD scrambling fighter jets? How is this possible, when NEADS was fully staffed with planes at the ready and monitoring our Northeast airspace?"
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0346/mondo4.php
More on the phony Education ‘Miracle’
I’ve posted on this before, but some new data out of Houston adds more doubt to any success of the Bush Texas education policy. The Washington Post (Michael Dobbs) reports that a school that Bush has touted as a model for the rest of the nation -- is fending off accusations that it inflated its achievements through fuzzy math… Austin is one of more than a dozen Houston high schools caught up in a burgeoning scandal about the reliability of their dropout statistics. During a decade in which, routinely, as many as half of Austin students failed to graduate, the school's reported dropout rate fell from 14.4 percent to 0.3 percent. Even a Houston school board member calls the statistic "baloney."
If this were any other school district in the nation, few people would pay much attention. But Houston is the political springboard for U.S. Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige. He was school superintendent here before moving to Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14117-2003Nov7?language=printer
-R
