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___.COMPOSITION______In This Issue_______________________________
Anti-Bush Protests
Greg Palast Tour Hits Windy City; Catch Him Monday on Politically Incorrect
Watch Greg Palast on C-SPAN
Petition to the Senate to Investigate THOROUGHLY the Oddities Involving 9/11 Terrorist
Attacks
Oppose the 'Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act' - Send a Free Fax
to Congress!
Repeal the USA Patriot Act
Constitution 1, Ashcroft 0
'Peacemaker' Anthony Zinni Is an Arms Merchant!
Oprah Says 'I Felt Extremely Used by the Bush Administration'
Enron Economics? O'Neill to Raid Federal Employee's Pension Funds to Avoid Breaking
the Federal Debt Ceiling!
Bush's Failed Residency Day 440: George is a Chip off the Old Failed Block
Proof that Bu$h Let Industry Write His Energy Policy
Memo Reveals that Exxon Mobil Pressured the White House
Bu$h Pushes Pseudo-Scientist at Exxon Mobil's Request
Enron Received $7 BILLION in Tax Dollars
Andersen Hacks Off Both Its Legs to Survive
While the Middle East Burns, Powell Makes Plans to Make Plans - Maybe, Someday,
Whatever
Bush Gang Scrubs Its Own Afghan Textbooks of Violence
Domestic Violence, As Chronicled in 'Hitting Home', Shows the Insanity of Bush's Plan
to Tie Marriage to Welfare
Fox News Embarrassed for Careless Reporting Tactics
__Anti-Bush Protests
On Saturday 4/6, protest Bush/Blair Meeting in Crawford, TX. On Monday 4/8, protest
Bush in Knoxville, TN. On Tuesday 4/9, protest Bush in Greenwich, CT. On 4/15, protest
Bush in Cedar Rapids IA. On 4/19, protest Cheney in Allentown PA. On 4/20, participate
in major demonstrations against Bush's War in DC and SF.
http://legitgov.org/action.html
__Greg Palast Tour Hits Windy City; Catch Him Monday on Politically Incorrect
On Saturday April 6, Greg speaks at the Border's Bookstore at 1 p.m., 1500 16th Street
Suite D Oak Brook, IL. Then at 7:00 p.m. he will be at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, Behavioral Sciences Building Rm 145 1007 W. Harrison St. On Monday 4/8, watch
Greg on Politically Incorrect.
http://www.votermarch.org/Palast.htm
__Watch Greg Palast on C-SPAN
On 4-3-02, Democrats.com was able to get Greg Palast on C-Span's Washington Journal.
C-Span wanted to discuss globalization, and Greg was brilliant, as we knew he would
be. If you missed the show, you can watch it here (Real Player required).
http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/idrive/wj20020403.rm?start=44:28.3&end=1:32:32
__Petition to the Senate to Investigate THOROUGHLY the Oddities Involving 9/11
Terrorist Attacks
Fallout Shelter News has this collection of links and info about mysteries and
questions surrounding the 911 attacks. It also features a petition to investigate
thoroughly the key oddities surrounding the attack. Sign the petition!
http://falloutshelternews.com/9_11_ODDITIES.html
__Oppose the 'Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act' - Send a Free
Fax to Congress!
"I am writing to urge you to reject the Hollings copy protection bill, also known as
the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). 1) The Hollings
bill will restrict my personal use rights. 2) The Hollings bill will inevitably
prevent innovation because it is the most sweeping regulation of the information
technology sector in its history. The bill will give content companies the ability to
veto devices like the VCR and the digital Walkman. 3) The Hollings bill is the wrong
approach to solving the problem of piracy. 4) The content companies said that the DMCA
would allow them to deliver great broadband content. Yet four years later, the only
outcome of the DMCA has been lawsuits against innovative companies and threats against
consumers. We have no reason to believe that the Hollings bill will be any different.
I urge you to protect my fair use rights by opposing the Hollings bill." Send a free
fax to Congress!
http://www.digitalconsumer.org/cbdtpa/cbdtpa-inf.html
__Repeal the USA Patriot Act
"The USA Patriot Act is an insult to Americans. The name, itself, is insulting, given
what the Act contains and what it will someday be known for: its complete abdication
of democratic law and principles. It should be called the Constitution Shredding Act.
In particular, it utterly relinquishes any semblance of due process, violates the
First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments, and unacceptably mixes aspects of
criminal investigations with aspects of immigration and foreign intelligence laws. Let
me state it even more bluntly. This law is dangerous. It's a travesty. What is worse
is that few Americans have the slightest idea what this law contains or what it
means." So writes Truthout's Jennifer Van Bergen in an excellent 6-part series.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.02A.JVB.Patriot.htm
__Constitution 1, Ashcroft 0
U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds ruled that Ashcroft's policy of closed-door
deportation hearings of immigrants rounded up after 9/11 is irrefutably
UNCONSTITUTIONAL. "The judge made it clear that the judiciary cannot look away just
because the government says [a case] has to do with 9/11," ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt
said. "We suspect that the government has conducted hundreds of closed hearings, but
it is impossible to know because there has been so much secrecy." This ruling should
send Ashcroft a clear message that secret kangaroo courts have no place in an open,
democratic society. Perhaps we should all mail Ashcroft a copy of the Constitution and
urge him to actually read it for once!
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-040402rights.story
__'Peacemaker' Anthony Zinni Is an Arms Merchant!
During his 16 months as Commander-in-Thief, Bush has done everything possible to
undermine peace and promote war - including letting Middle East violence spiral
completely out of control through his malignant neglect. And there is plenty of reason
to believe Shrub promotes war because Poppy Bush profits from his service to the
Carlyle Group, the seventh largest defense contractor in the US. Now we have learned -
thanks to the research of FailureIsImpossible.com - that "peacemaker" Gen. Anthony
Zinni is himself in the arms business, through his service to the Veritas Group, which
is a major owner of weapons makers like Raytheon Aerospace, Integrated Defense
Technologies, PEI Electronics, Sierra Research, and a number of other companies. Is
Anthony Zinni really interested in peace, or does he prefer war - which makes him
richer? We demand an investigation!
http://veritascapital.com/defense.asp
__Oprah Says 'I Felt Extremely Used by the Bush Administration'
Saying she "felt extremely used" by the Bush administration, Oprah told her friend
Star Jones, co-host of ABC's "The View," that the Bush administration set her up to
make it appear as if Oprah was snubbing the Resident. Oprah was approached by the
White House several weeks ago about a trip to Afghanistan, but was told to keep it
hush hush. Since she had prior commitments she couldn't cancel, she politely declined.
Weeks later, word leaked from the White House that she was just "too busy" to attend
and was framed in such a way that seemed intentionally to make her look bad. This
sounds similar to the bogus "Hillary Blows Off Gold Star Moms" hoax. Is this the
"thanks" Oprah gets for having put up with that disgusting kiss Bush gave her during
his campaign appearance on her show, so he could pretend (contrary to his death
penalty record) that he wasn't a racist? Let's hope Karen Hughes is stupid enough to
pick a fight with Winfrey - who is far more popular than Bush.
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/45029.htm
__Enron Economics? O'Neill to Raid Federal Employee's Pension Funds to Avoid Breaking
the Federal Debt Ceiling!
Paul O'Neill, of the Treasury Department, announced to key members of Congress on
Tuesday, that daily investments of billions of federal employees' retirement funds
will be suspended for two weeks to avoid breaking the federal debt ceiling. Money in
the G Fund, the portion of the federal 401k-style Thrift Savings Plan that is normally
invested in Treasury securities, will not be invested from April 4 to April 18.
According to a Treasury Department fact sheet without tapping into the G fund, Cash on
hand and tax receipts wouldn't have been sufficient to cover Social Security, pay for
federal employees, tax refunds and other expenditures, and the government would have
had to exceed the debt limit. O'Neill states that when the government is no longer in
danger of exceeding the debt limit, Treasury will restore the lost interest to the G
Fund. Critics of the G Fund maneuver say the Bush administration was not forthcoming
with federal employees about the Treasury Department's plans.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0402/040202b1.htm
__Bush's Failed Residency Day 440: George is a Chip off the Old Failed Block
"His Middle East policy (a charitable description) is feckless: While violence raged
on the West Bank and in Israel last Saturday, the President appeared clueless. U.S.
goals in Afghanistan and Iraq are under siege. It's only a little better domestically.
The self-styled apostle of free trade turned craven and protectionist when confronted
by the potent steel and lumber industries. In signing a campaign finance reform bill -
in the dead of the morning with few around - Mr. Bush was graceless. After terrorism,
what is the Bush message? To be sure, George Bush's poll ratings have slipped only
slightly from the stratospheric post-Sept. 11 levels. But conventional Washington
wisdom underrates his vulnerabilities. 'We may be seeing a reprise of Bush One,'
ventures independent pollster John Zogby. Six months after the 1991 Persian Gulf War,
that President Bush was still riding high, but a collapse was on the horizon." So
writes Al Hunt in the Wall Street Journal.
http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=6510
__Proof that Bu$h Let Industry Write His Energy Policy
Check out these sample documents from Bu$h's energy task force records, which the
National Resources Defense Council posted on its web site. It's obvious that Bu$h just
did a "copy and paste" job off the policy recommendations that were sent by Jim Ford
of the American Petroleum Institute, turning them straight into his Executive Order.
We demand to know: how many other industry groups got to write their own executive
orders and policies for Bu$h & Co.???
http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/taskforce/doc121.html
__Memo Reveals that Exxon Mobil Pressured the White House
The Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington D.C.-based environmental group,
accused Bush of acting on the behalf of Exxon Mobil by trying to remove global warming
expert Robert Watson as the head of the International Panel of Climate Change. The
NRDC acquired a February memo from Exxon Mobil, to the White House's Council on
Environmental quality, that states: "Can Watson be replaced now at the request of the
U.S?" The memo also urged that the administration "restructure the U.S. attendance at
the upcoming IPCC meetings to assure none of the Clinton/Gore proponents are involved
in any decisional activities." The State Department, apparently taking the advice of
their cohorts at Exxon Mobil, announced on Wednesday that it would support Rajendra
Pachauri, the Indian government's nominee to become the next chair of the IPCC. This
is eerily similar to how Enron's Ken Lay pressured FERC Chair Curtis Hebert to resign.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020404/ap_to_po/exxon_mobil_climate_3
__Bu$h Pushes Pseudo-Scientist at Exxon Mobil's Request
It's bad enough that Shrub let oil companies write his energy policy. Now he's letting
them pick and choose his scientific panel appointments - specifically, sabotaging the
reelection of Clinton pick Robert T. Watson, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, in favor of someone friendly to the energy companies' heat-now,
cook-later stance on global warming. Watson is highly regarded in the scientific
community, but that doesn't matter to Bu$h - he turns his back on real science if it
doesn't support his pro-corporate, anti-environmentalist agenda!
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000024164apr04.story
__Enron Received $7 BILLION in Tax Dollars
The Institute for Policy Studies has issued a report called "Enron's Pawns: How Public
Institutions Bankrolled Enron's Globalization Game." "Researchers from the Sustainable
Energy and Economy Network (SEEN), a project of IPS, have discovered that over the
past decade, 21 agencies representing the U.S. government, multilateral development
banks, and other national governments helped leverage Enron's global reach with $7.2
billion in public financing approved for 38 projects in 29 countries... The global
strategy of privatizing these countries' energy sectors has its origins in the Reagan
Administration, and became a major priority of international financial institutions in
the 1990s. The end results were not reliable energy at an affordable price, but
rather, price hikes, blackouts, shady deals cut by government officials, and street
riots in which people died. Enron's infamous partner in crime, accounting firm Arthur
Andersen, also played a role in this global drama."
http://www.seen.org/pages/press_releases/enronrelease0302.shtml
__Andersen Hacks Off Both Its Legs to Survive
Trying desperately to postpone its self-destruction, Arthur Andersen agreed to sell
its tax business to its competitor, Deloitte & Touche. Andersen's tax business
generates 1/3 of its revenues, so it's like a person hacking off both legs to survive.
Andersen will also lay off 1/3 of its auditing staff, the result of losing over 100
major clients. Andersen claims it has enough cash to survive until June, but that will
be a medical miracle.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63659-2002Apr4.html
__While the Middle East Burns, Powell Makes Plans to Make Plans - Maybe, Someday,
Whatever
Everything Bush has tried in the Middle East - which isn't much - has failed. Bush's
own words simply bounce around the airwaves randomly - like the incoherent thoughts in
his empty head. Highly-touted visits by Anthony Zinni and Dick Cheney accomplished
nothing. Now, after a week of angry complaints from Arab and European leaders, Bush is
planning to send Colin Powell on yet another tour. But there is no urgency, since
Powell won't leave until next week. And Powell is bringing no plan for resolving the
conflict and bringing about a lasting peace. Meanwhile, things just get worse each
day. According to the Washington Post, "Bush's demands, however, bore little relation
to what the two sides have indicated they are willing to do. Even as he spoke, Israeli
tanks rolled into the West Bank city of Hebron."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60208-2002Apr4.html
__Bush Gang Scrubs Its Own Afghan Textbooks of Violence
"In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to
supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant
Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet
occupation. The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of
guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school
system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though
the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict
fundamentalist code. As Afghan schools reopen today, the United States is back in the
business of providing schoolbooks. But now it is wrestling with the unintended
consequences of its successful strategy of stirring Islamic fervor to fight
communism... [In February], workers launched a 'scrubbing' operation in neighboring
Pakistan to purge from the books all references to rifles and killing." So reports the
Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A5339-2002Mar22
__Domestic Violence, As Chronicled in 'Hitting Home', Shows the Insanity of Bush's
Plan to Tie Marriage to Welfare
Frederick Wiseman's new film on domestic violence, "Hitting Home," is described in
American Prospect: "A woman with a darkening black eye smokes cigarettes through the
spaces of her missing front teeth and tells the police how her boyfriend slapped and
bit her because he didn't like her grandchildren. Still another can't speak at all,
her moans incoherent as she's wheeled out of her house on a stretcher covered in
blood, her cheek slashed into two loose flaps from the corner of her mouth." For many
women, the welfare system is the only window of escape from an abusive partner. It is
a safety net that enables some to repair their battered lives and slowly climb toward
a functional lifestyle. For Bush to tie welfare to marriage will doom many women - and
their children - to unbelievable suffering and often even violent death, as Wiseman's
film so graphically details.
http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/7/feinberg-c.html
__Meria Heller Show: 'Fox News Embarrassed for Careless Reporting Tactics'
"The Meria Heller Show exposed the story about Fox News contacting the owner of
www.Hollywoodpulse.com which is a satirical website, without checking their FACTS
(once again) and running an interview with him based on a COMEDY website that was
mistook for a real 'scoop.' The interview with Ray Richmond is an eye opener for all
people who still may be watching Corporate News on television. All shows are archived
for relistening 24/7, check out true real life interviews with people in the news to
find out what's really going on nationally and globally." See Meria's archive,
especially for her interview with Gerard Ungerman, the producer of the outstanding
documentary 'Hidden Wars of Desert Storm,' The film exposes how Bush Sr and the CIA
covertly armed Saddam Hussein and set the stage for the invasion of Kuwait. PLUS, Rep.
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) will be on Monday! Kucinich is one of the few brave politicians
speaking out against the Bush regime.
http://www.Meria.net
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