Sunday, November 16, 2003
You have a war fought by the underclass, financed by the underclass and for the profit of the upperclass…I think Bush's going to lose [the election], unless he makes some radical change, which he's not going to do. -Seymour Hersh, at the Fletcher School, Tufts
More Abuses by the Ruling Class:
This past week we were provided with part 2 of the Globe’s two-part report on how 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. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/09/some_officers_of_charities_steer_assets_to_selves/.
It’s fitting then that we learn that House Majority leader Tom DeLay and Senate head Bill Frist have played fast and loose with charities as well. DeLay set up a charity for abused children which will divert some of the funds raised to the 2004 GOP convention.
... aides to Mr. DeLay... acknowledged that part of the money would go to pay for late-night convention parties, a luxury suite during President Bush's speech at Madison Square Garden and yacht cruises... Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21 which pushed campaign financelaws said that "They are using the idea of helping children as a blatant cover for financing activities in connection with a convention with huge unlimited, undisclosed, unregulated contributions.”http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/14/politics/14DELA.html
Surprise!: SEC Weak on Oversight
We knew that this era has not been kind to oversight/regulatory agencies. But, the NY Times thought it notable enough to give it front-page status. (Stephen Labaton)
The Securities and Exchange Commission failed for years to police the mutual fund industry effectively because it was captive to the industry when writing new regulations, was preoccupied by other problems on Wall Street and was severely short of staff and money, current and former officials say
"I believe this is the worst scandal we've seen in 50 years, and I can't say I saw it coming," said Arthur Levitt, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission for nearly eight years under the Clinton administration. "I probably worried about funds less than insider trading, accounting issues and fair disclosure to investors" by public companies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/business/16FUND.html?hp
WMD/Terror: Who’s #1?: The backdrop: Bush visiting England this week; polls in Europe find that Europeans believe Israel and the U.S. are bigger threats to peace than North Korea, Iran, et al. And, we know that Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Syria, etc. all were more involved in “international terrorism” than Iraq. Walter Pincus in Sunday’s Washington Post reminds us of this once again.
The CIA's search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has found no evidence that former president Saddam Hussein tried to transfer chemical or biological technology or weapons to terrorists, according to a military and intelligence expert.
Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, provided new details about the weapons search and Iraqi insurgency in a report released Friday. It was based on briefings over the past two weeks in Iraq from David Kay, the CIA representative who is directing the search for unconventional weapons in Iraq; L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator there; and military officials.
"No evidence of any Iraqi effort to transfer weapons of mass destruction or weapons to terrorists," Cordesman wrote of Kay's briefing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46460-2003Nov15.html
Ongoing Issue: Media Outlets Protest Treatment in Iraq
Editor and Publisher reports on the ongoing harassment of journalists in Iraq. [This does not address deaths of journalists who, some observers felt, were targeted early in the invasion.]
In two separate letters to the Pentagon, the press claims that U.S. troops are harassing journalists in Iraq and sometimes confiscating equipment, digital camera disks and videotapes.
The Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) wrote a letter of protest to Larry Di Rita, acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. Some soldiers' actions "appear intended to discourage journalists from covering the continued military action in Iraq," wrote APME President Stuart Wilk, also vice president/managing editor at The Dallas Morning News.
"These actions are unacceptable and contrary to the Pentagon's own guidelines distributed to troops in the field," Wilk wrote. The harassment has deprived "the American public of crucial images from Iraq in newspapers, broadcast stations and online news operations."
APME asked the Pentagon to immediately take steps to end confrontations between journalists and soldiers. http://editorandpublisher.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=&urlID=8248036&fb=Y&partnerID=60
Globalization: Credit the NY Times magazine with running an article on Lisa Fithian, activist against globalization (as we know it). Austin Bunn’s article reminds us the upcoming- and underpublicized- Miami talks and protests.
On a rain-soaked October night in Miami, the police have commandeered downtown. It is midnight, and patrol cars cordon off the streets of run-down delis and dollar stores. Dozens of black-clad officers maneuver and bullhorn in the distance, practicing their tactics. ''We're expecting about 70,000 to 100,000 protesters to come down here in November,'' says a beat cop, guarding a corner from his squad car. ''Our guys are doing exercises all around.'' http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16WTO.html
Frank Rich: Reagan and AIDS
Frank Rich’s Sunday column helps remind anyone who might be romanticizing the Reagan years that the Gipper and his policies were anything but warm and fuzzy.
Tonight is the night when Americans might have tuned into Part 1 of "The Reagans" on CBS. But the joke is on the whiners who forced the mini-series off the air. Just three weeks from tonight, HBO will present the first three-hour installment of Mike Nichols's film version of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America," starring Al Pacino and Meryl Streep. (Part 2 is a week later.) This epic is, among other things, a searing indictment of how the Reagan administration's long silence stoked the plague of AIDS in the 1980's. If "Angels" reaches an audience typical for HBO hits, it could detonate a debate bloody enough to make the fight over "The Reagans" look like an exhibition bout. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/arts/16RICH.html
Different Gift Giving:
I’m not pushing “holiday gift-giving”, but an off-beat gift for a left-leaning, rabble-rouser type- or an open-minded conservative, or…- could be the new dvd Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War. As the promo notes, ‘Uncovered…’ is a new documentary that explores the lies and exaggerations of the Bush White House as it marched to war, featuring interviews with key military and intelligence officers, embassy personnel, UN weapons inspectors, journalists, and others with direct, first-hand experience. http://www.truthuncovered.com/
John McCain, from his web-site
I’m not a fan, but think it important to keep track of his positions.
When the United States announces a schedule for training and deploying Iraqi security officers, then announces the acceleration of that schedule, then accelerates it again, it sends a signal of desperation, not certitude. When in the course of days we increase by thousands our estimate of the numbers of Iraqis trained, it sounds like somebody is cooking the books. When we do this as our forces are coming under increasing attack, we suggest to friends and allies alike that our ultimate goal in Iraq is leaving as soon as possible – not meeting our strategic objective of building a free and democratic country in the heart of the Arab world. http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Newscenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=1174
-R
More Abuses by the Ruling Class:
This past week we were provided with part 2 of the Globe’s two-part report on how 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. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/10/09/some_officers_of_charities_steer_assets_to_selves/.
It’s fitting then that we learn that House Majority leader Tom DeLay and Senate head Bill Frist have played fast and loose with charities as well. DeLay set up a charity for abused children which will divert some of the funds raised to the 2004 GOP convention.
... aides to Mr. DeLay... acknowledged that part of the money would go to pay for late-night convention parties, a luxury suite during President Bush's speech at Madison Square Garden and yacht cruises... Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21 which pushed campaign financelaws said that "They are using the idea of helping children as a blatant cover for financing activities in connection with a convention with huge unlimited, undisclosed, unregulated contributions.”http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/14/politics/14DELA.html
Surprise!: SEC Weak on Oversight
We knew that this era has not been kind to oversight/regulatory agencies. But, the NY Times thought it notable enough to give it front-page status. (Stephen Labaton)
The Securities and Exchange Commission failed for years to police the mutual fund industry effectively because it was captive to the industry when writing new regulations, was preoccupied by other problems on Wall Street and was severely short of staff and money, current and former officials say
"I believe this is the worst scandal we've seen in 50 years, and I can't say I saw it coming," said Arthur Levitt, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission for nearly eight years under the Clinton administration. "I probably worried about funds less than insider trading, accounting issues and fair disclosure to investors" by public companies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/business/16FUND.html?hp
WMD/Terror: Who’s #1?: The backdrop: Bush visiting England this week; polls in Europe find that Europeans believe Israel and the U.S. are bigger threats to peace than North Korea, Iran, et al. And, we know that Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Syria, etc. all were more involved in “international terrorism” than Iraq. Walter Pincus in Sunday’s Washington Post reminds us of this once again.
The CIA's search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has found no evidence that former president Saddam Hussein tried to transfer chemical or biological technology or weapons to terrorists, according to a military and intelligence expert.
Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, provided new details about the weapons search and Iraqi insurgency in a report released Friday. It was based on briefings over the past two weeks in Iraq from David Kay, the CIA representative who is directing the search for unconventional weapons in Iraq; L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator there; and military officials.
"No evidence of any Iraqi effort to transfer weapons of mass destruction or weapons to terrorists," Cordesman wrote of Kay's briefing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46460-2003Nov15.html
Ongoing Issue: Media Outlets Protest Treatment in Iraq
Editor and Publisher reports on the ongoing harassment of journalists in Iraq. [This does not address deaths of journalists who, some observers felt, were targeted early in the invasion.]
In two separate letters to the Pentagon, the press claims that U.S. troops are harassing journalists in Iraq and sometimes confiscating equipment, digital camera disks and videotapes.
The Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) wrote a letter of protest to Larry Di Rita, acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. Some soldiers' actions "appear intended to discourage journalists from covering the continued military action in Iraq," wrote APME President Stuart Wilk, also vice president/managing editor at The Dallas Morning News.
"These actions are unacceptable and contrary to the Pentagon's own guidelines distributed to troops in the field," Wilk wrote. The harassment has deprived "the American public of crucial images from Iraq in newspapers, broadcast stations and online news operations."
APME asked the Pentagon to immediately take steps to end confrontations between journalists and soldiers. http://editorandpublisher.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=&urlID=8248036&fb=Y&partnerID=60
Globalization: Credit the NY Times magazine with running an article on Lisa Fithian, activist against globalization (as we know it). Austin Bunn’s article reminds us the upcoming- and underpublicized- Miami talks and protests.
On a rain-soaked October night in Miami, the police have commandeered downtown. It is midnight, and patrol cars cordon off the streets of run-down delis and dollar stores. Dozens of black-clad officers maneuver and bullhorn in the distance, practicing their tactics. ''We're expecting about 70,000 to 100,000 protesters to come down here in November,'' says a beat cop, guarding a corner from his squad car. ''Our guys are doing exercises all around.'' http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16WTO.html
Frank Rich: Reagan and AIDS
Frank Rich’s Sunday column helps remind anyone who might be romanticizing the Reagan years that the Gipper and his policies were anything but warm and fuzzy.
Tonight is the night when Americans might have tuned into Part 1 of "The Reagans" on CBS. But the joke is on the whiners who forced the mini-series off the air. Just three weeks from tonight, HBO will present the first three-hour installment of Mike Nichols's film version of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America," starring Al Pacino and Meryl Streep. (Part 2 is a week later.) This epic is, among other things, a searing indictment of how the Reagan administration's long silence stoked the plague of AIDS in the 1980's. If "Angels" reaches an audience typical for HBO hits, it could detonate a debate bloody enough to make the fight over "The Reagans" look like an exhibition bout. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/arts/16RICH.html
Different Gift Giving:
I’m not pushing “holiday gift-giving”, but an off-beat gift for a left-leaning, rabble-rouser type- or an open-minded conservative, or…- could be the new dvd Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War. As the promo notes, ‘Uncovered…’ is a new documentary that explores the lies and exaggerations of the Bush White House as it marched to war, featuring interviews with key military and intelligence officers, embassy personnel, UN weapons inspectors, journalists, and others with direct, first-hand experience. http://www.truthuncovered.com/
John McCain, from his web-site
I’m not a fan, but think it important to keep track of his positions.
When the United States announces a schedule for training and deploying Iraqi security officers, then announces the acceleration of that schedule, then accelerates it again, it sends a signal of desperation, not certitude. When in the course of days we increase by thousands our estimate of the numbers of Iraqis trained, it sounds like somebody is cooking the books. When we do this as our forces are coming under increasing attack, we suggest to friends and allies alike that our ultimate goal in Iraq is leaving as soon as possible – not meeting our strategic objective of building a free and democratic country in the heart of the Arab world. http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Newscenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=1174
-R
