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___.COMPOSITION______In This Issue_______________________________
Anti-Bush Protests
On Mother's Day, Let's Honor our Feminist Foremothers
Democrats Plan for Wins in the West
Save the ABM Treaty - Send a Free Fax to your Senators, Courtesy of Ben & Jerry
John Bolton's Penchant for Armageddon
U.S. Military Proposes Illegal Bioweapons Research!
Why Can't the FBI Find the Anthrax Terrorist? Because He Is a Republican!
The War on Terror Flounders
If the CIA and Bush Administration Weren't Involved in 9/11 What WERE They Doing?
Fear As A Weapon (Rollback To The Right)
Bush's Complicity in the California Enronegy 'Crisis'
How Does Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Destroy the Environment? See the EPA's Secret
Slide Show for Yourself!
BUSHIT! 'We've Got Too Much Polling and Focus Groups Going On in Washington Today' –
Guess Who Said THAT, George?
Karl Rove LIES About Bush's Class Warfare From Above
Bush's Media Guru Grovels to Karl Rove for Donating to Democrats
Corporate Media Cover-up: HarperCollins Destroys 4,000 Copies of Book Exposing Jim
Cramer
Connecticut AG Throws Monkey Wrench into Stanley Works' Plan to Evade Taxes by
'Moving' to Bermuda
Companies that 'Move' to Bermuda to Evade Taxes are Spitting on America
In the Ohio Democratic Primary, Voters 'Fast Track' Rep. Tom Sawyer from the
Congressional Race
GOP 'Family Values'? Newt Wants an Anulment
__Anti-Bush Protests
On 5/13, protest Bush in Hodgkinds, IL and Chicago. On 5/16, protest Cheney in New
York City. On 5/18, protest Ashcroft in Columbia, MO. On 5/20, protest George and Jeb
Bush in Miami - a twofer! On 5/21 and 5/22, protest Bush in Berlin. On 5/24, protest
Chief Injustice Rehnquist in Milwaukee, WI. On 5/25, protest Bush's wars in San
Francisco.
http://legitgov.org/action.html
__On Mother's Day, Let's Honor our Feminist Foremothers
"It used to be common parlance, but in these politically correct times it's just not
politic to use the "f" word in public. The "f" word? Feminism. Arguably the defining
political movement of the 20th century - more potent and world-altering than Marxism
or Maoism - feminism is being forced from the political landscape and popular lexicon,
its enemies not men, but women. Unlike the "M" movements, feminism is neither
oppressive nor outmoded; far from it. A cursory glance at compelling books such as
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, Sex & Power by
Susan Estrich or My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's
Story by Latifah, all of which detail the stunning lack of advancement women have made
despite decades of feminist struggle, makes it obvious that feminism is more necessary
than ever." So writes Victoria A. Brownworth in the Baltimore Sun.
http://www.sunspot.net/features/books/bal-bk.feminism12may11.story?coll=bal%2Ds
__Democrats Plan for Wins in the West
Susan Milligan writes in the Boston Globe, "Democrats are looking to the Rocky
Mountain West to make gains in this fall's elections, hoping to capitalize on
resentment over the Bush administration's decision to locate a nuclear dump in Nevada
and demographic changes that might help crack the longtime Republican dominance in the
traditionally conservative region. [The Yucca Mountain] dump issue, when combined with
a heavy influx of Latino voters in parts of the West, has Democrats plotting a new
electoral strategy for this November and beyond. While Republicans scoff at the notion
that the Democrats could make substantial gains in the region, Democratic operatives
are mapping out a battle plan for New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado."
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/129/nation/Democrats_see_a_way_to_win_in_West%2B.shtml
__Save the ABM Treaty - Send a Free Fax to your Senators, Courtesy of Ben & Jerry
"Dear Senator: Please don't be silent while President [sic] Bush seeks to withdraw
from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. The Senate ratified this treaty three
decades ago, and the president has no right to unilaterally walk away from it without
the advice and consent of the Senate. Withdrawing from this treaty could lead to
dangerous new nuclear arms races with Russia and China and move the world closer to
nuclear war. Please stop Mr. Bush from taking this dangerous action. We need to live
by the rule of law and the US needs to set an example. Disavowing treaties is the
worst possible example. Don't let the president shred our constitution to pursue
foolish dreams of weaponizing outer space and deploying unworkable missile defenses.
US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty will become effective on June 13, 2002 unless you
act now to prevent the president's unilateral action. The time is short. I urge you to
TAKE ACTION NOW." Send a free fax to your Senator!
http://www.truemajority.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=1467&ms=pro
__John Bolton's Penchant for Armageddon
So who is Undersecretary of State John Bolton? Ian Williams answers the question in
Salon: "It depends on what you think of Sen. Jesse Helms' political legacy. The two
men share the same contempt for the United Nations, and most of the rest of the
world... And despite years of attacking the U.N. -- in 1994 he said, "There is no such
thing as the United Nations" and "If the U.N. Secretariat building in New York lost 10
stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference"... Nor did his contempt for the U.N.
stop him from taking $30,000 from the Taiwanese to [help them become members]. Giving
Bolton the title of undersecretary of state for disarmament had a seriously Orwellian
feel: [Jesse Helms] endorsed his nomination with unintended irony: 'John Bolton is the
kind of man with whom I would want to stand at Armageddon.' [If Bolton has his way]
Armageddon is closer than the rest of us would like."
http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2002/05/10/bolton/index.html
__U.S. Military Proposes Illegal Bioweapons Research!
Russ Kick writes in the Village Voice, "According to documents unearthed by a
nonprofit government watchdog, the United States military has proposed the development
of biological weapons that would violate international treaties and federal law. In
fact, they may have already developed some of these illegal, treaty-busting
bioweapons. Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Sunshine Project has recently
pried loose some damning documents from the Marine Corps, which seems to be overseeing
this area of research... The military scientists take great care to point out that the
germs they want to create would be 'nonlethal.' But this doesn't matter. The
international Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention treaty absolutely bans member
nations from possessing or developing microbes, toxins, or any other biological agents
for use in battle or other hostile situations."
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0511-05.htm
__Why Can't the FBI Find the Anthrax Terrorist? Because He Is a Republican!
The NY Times opines, "It has been seven months since the anthrax attacks claimed their
first victims, yet investigators seem no closer to finding the culprit than they were
at the beginning." Why? Because the FBI is missing the point by focusing on the DNA of
the Anthrax. Of all possible political targets, two were chosen to receive the
deadliest Anthrax of all: Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Pat Leahy (D-VT). What do they have
in common? Hint - it's not an R. There are only a few dozen scientists in US
government labs familiar with weaponizing Anthrax. Has the FBI checked their party
registrations, and asked their colleagues about their political views? The Pink
Panther could find this guy, so the question must be asked - is the FBI looking for
the Republican Anthrax Terrorist (RAT)???
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/11/opinion/11SAT1.html
__The War on Terror Flounders
Nickolas Kristof writes in the NY Times, "To understand why America's war on terrorism
is beginning to sputter, infiltrate the Bush administration's Bat Cave at the
intersection of Intelligence Way and Cryptological Court (no, I'm not making this up)
at a Navy base here. This is the brand-new homeland defense center from which America
will respond to anthrax, smallpox, nuclear attack, multiple hijackings or other shoes
still to drop. Tom Ridge, his chest puffed out with pride, showed off the command
center on Wednesday to a group of reporters. You had to feel sorry for him, for it was
a color-coded moment. Standing in front of four 50-inch plasma television screens, Mr.
Ridge hailed the super-classified capabilities of the SCIF. [Unfortunately] the huge
plasma screens were devoted to television broadcasts. One of them was showing 'Divorce
Court.' The command center is symptomatic of something broader: After an excellent
start, the war on terrorism is floundering."
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/10/opinion/10KRIS.html
__If the CIA and Bush Administration Weren't Involved in 9/11 What WERE They Doing?
Investigator/journalist and former LAPD officer Michael Ruppert is sure that the CIA,
a secret cartel of major corporations and the Bush administration colluded in the
events leading to 9/11. Ruppert has spent several months trying to reconstruct the
significant events leading up to the suicide attacks. Here he presents 34 separate but
connected and well-documented "steps" that lead to the horrendous disaster of 9/11.
After reading them, you will find yourself wondering why ANYONE would question Cynthia
McKinney's call for a REAL investigation of what may prove to be the most heinous
inside job ever pulled off on American soil.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/02_11_02_lucy.html
__Fear As A Weapon (Rollback To The Right)
"Much has been made of Le Pen's scandalous victory in France, and greater Europe's
wartime march towards the right. This while the US Administration uses its convenient
terror war to justify massive internal societal engineering to the right. What's
behind both? Fear... Fear leaves little room for logic or moral platitudes - it
demands simplistic responses to otherwise complex problems... [But] is neverending
"total war" really the goal? Is the authoritative, xenophobic leadership demanded by
war desirable? Each day we are trained to be fearful and to see weaponry as the
solution. That makes the war on terror seem like a war on the hearts and minds of
common citizens. And for those unlucky souls in Cheney's 40-50 countries, or the
thousands who have already been slaughtered as collateral damage, the war on terror is
looking more like terrorism everyday." So writes Heather Wokusch.
http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=7081
__Bush's Complicity in the California Enronegy 'Crisis'
Paul Krugman writes "there is powerful circumstantial evidence that market
manipulation played a key role in [California's electricity crisis]. Energy companies
had the motive, the means and the opportunity to drive prices sky-high... Yet federal
officials, from George W. Bush on down, offered California nothing but sermons on the
virtues of the free market... The great risk now is that this will be treated purely
as an Enron story [which] shows just how easy it is for companies to cover their
tracks, especially when the regulators are in their corner... And I'm sure that there
will be a determined effort to ignore even these latest revelations. After all, why
let facts get in the way of a beautiful, and politically convenient, theory?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/10/opinion/10KRUG.html
__How Does Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Destroy the Environment? See the EPA's
Secret Slide Show for Yourself!
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency slide show – prepared to privately brief Bush
administration officials and obtained by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and the
Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment on May 2, 2002 – documents
wholesale deforestation, toxic pollution, burying of streams, and other environmental
destruction caused by mountaintop removal mining. For example, the EPA's internal
briefing materials state: 560 miles of Appalachian streams "have already been
eliminated by valley fills;" Aquatic life forms downstream of valley fills are being
impaired; and "Stream chemistry monitoring efforts show significant increases" in
concentrations of selenium – a metalloid that according to the EPA "can be highly
toxic to aquatic life even at relatively low concentrations" – downstream of
mountaintop removal mining and valley fill operations. See the slideshow for yourself!
(Warning: English speakers may find this bureaucratic product impossible to decipher.)
http://www.tlpj.org/epaslideshow.htm
__BUSHIT! 'We've Got Too Much Polling and Focus Groups Going On in Washington Today' –
Guess Who Said THAT, George?
"White House strategists realize they need to focus on education and other non-war
issues to win this election. 'Republicans said it was no accident that Mr. Bush
gathered all the major domestic themes of his presidency — from tax cuts, health care,
education and welfare — into his 'compassionate conservative' speech in California, or
that he spent two days this week reminding voters of his education bill, signed into
law in January, that he considers one of the major achievements of his
administration.' And Democrats will seize on this blind quote, since it comes
perilously close to suggesting the unthinkable — that the president decides what to do
based on polling: "'If you look at a lot of the polling data, and you look at public
opinion about the economy, people link the issue of education to our future
prosperity,' a senior White House official said." So reports ABCNews.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/TheNote.html
__Karl Rove LIES About Bush's Class Warfare From Above
John Nichols writes in Common Dreams, "In Texas... Karl Rove was always referred to as
'Bush's brain.' In fact, Austin reporters used to note that ideas Rove went on about
in the bar on Saturday night had a funny way of popping out of his candidate's mouth
on Monday morning. The Bush White House has gone to great pains... to downplay the
influence that Rove has over the administration's political and policy agendas. But
the Republican faithful know the real story, and they have made Rove a star of the
[GOP's] fund-raising circuit... Rove told Wisconsin Republicans [that] its candidates
must stop sounding so mean and greedy... Rove is buffing up the mantra, suggesting
that 'compassionate conservatism' is now about shaping 'a different kind of politics'
[and] that Republicans aren't about cutting needed programs in order to give tax
breaks to the rich..." Well, there's a trainload of Bushit!
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0509-05.htm
__Bush's Media Guru Grovels to Karl Rove for Donating to Democrats
Dan Balz writes in the Washington Post "President [sic] Bush's chief media adviser
from the 2000 campaign infuriated top Republicans and White House officials yesterday
with news that he made hefty contributions to the Democratic nominee for Senate in
Texas and two other Texas Democrats running for statewide office this fall. Mark
McKinnon, a one-time Democrat who led Bush's media team in the presidential
campaign... contributed a total of $14,000 to the three Democrats out of friendship
and past professional relationships... McKinnon said he had apologized to Rove
yesterday and would attempt to talk to the president or write him a note of apology...
McKinnon said that in addition to contributing to Kirk and the other two candidates,
he will also vote for the three Democrats in November. But he said he has learned a
lesson."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56262-2002May8.html
__Corporate Media Cover-up: HarperCollins Destroys 4,000 Copies of Book Exposing Jim
Cramer
HarperCollins ordered the destruction of 4,000 copies of a newly released book,
"Trading with the Enemy: Seduction and Betrayal on Jim Cramer's Wall Street." This was
purportedly because the subject of this exposé of corporate-media collusion and inside
trading - James Cramer - threatened to sue for libel. Oh, boo hoo! As if the subject
of every exposé since the dawn of publishing hasn't threatened to sue for libel! The
reissued version of the book contains a disclaimer - from HC, not the author. Why is
HarperCollins protecting Cramer? Especially as it now appears Cramer may indeed have
(among other things) used info gleaned from celebrities at CNBC to conduct lucrative
inside trades? It's just another case of the one tentacle of corporate media
protecting another tentacle - and those tentacles include their toadies in office.
Look at how the media continues to protect Bush, Ken Lay, and all the other creeps who
SHOULD be in jail!
http://forbes.com/2002/05/09/0509cramer.html
__Connecticut AG Throws Monkey Wrench into Stanley Works' Plan to Evade Taxes by
'Moving' to Bermuda
Connecticut's Democratic Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, filed a lawsuit "to
block Stanley's move to Bermuda on the ground that the company, which makes tools,
used deception to win shareholder approval of the plan." By simply filing the lawsuit,
Blumenthal pressured Stanley Works management into scheduling a new vote by the
shareholders. Blumenthal said, "This victory is a major win for shareholder rights,
but the debacle has decimated the company's credibility. If there is a revote," he
added, "we will critically scrutinize it to stop management's misleading statements
about the move overseas. Even before any revote, Congress should close the federal tax
loophole that is motivating Stanley Works to abandon America and Connecticut." The
latest report is that the shareholders will have a revote.
http://nytimes.com/2002/05/11/business/11STAN.html
__Companies that 'Move' to Bermuda to Evade Taxes are Spitting on America
US companies that "move" to Bermuda "are still traded on the NYSE, they still can sell
products in America, their offices still have all the benefits of security provided by
the American law enforcement agencies, the American Court System, and the U.S.
Military. Several... still receive very lucrative U.S. Government contracts. They can
still lobby congress, they can still do every single thing they could do before the
move, but they just don't have to pay those oppressive U.S. taxes. Now let me get this
straight. We're fighting a war right now to protect our very way of life. Our budget
is back in deficit again. The government is on the border of being forced to default
on the national debt. In the midst of all this turmoil, the patriotic response of
these companies is to buy a mailbox in Bermuda so that they don't have to pay their
portion of these expenses... How in the world can these people live with themselves?"
So writes Brian Balta in the Hoosier Review of Indiana U.
http://www.hoosierreview.com/balta_files/balta14.html
__In the Ohio Democratic Primary, Voters 'Fast Track' Rep. Tom Sawyer from the
Congressional Race
"These 'trade agreements' are actually 'corporate governance agreements' as they shift
power and authority from elected officeholders... to corporations. By wagging a magic
wand over local, state and federal laws that at least modestly protects the
environment, human rights, workers, and local/state sovereignty, corporations claim
under NAFTA that such laws are 'impediments to trade' and therefore, shazam, should
disappear to allow corporations and capital to move where they want, when they want,
however they want... Yet for people concerned about corporate globalization, Tom
Sawyer is not the real problem. Corporate governance is. 'Global trade' is not
innately bad, only so when corporations possess the power to determine global trade
rules. 'Fair trade' can be equitable and sustainable, but only so when corporations
aren't in the drivers seat defining workers rights and the environment as toothless
'side agreements.'" So writes Greg Coleridge of the Economic Justice Program.
http://www.geocities.com/warnermendenhall/08.html
__GOP 'Family Values'? Newt Wants an Anulment
The AP reports, "Newt Gingrich is asking the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta for an
annulment of his second marriage, which ended in divorce after 19 years. Gingrich's
second wife, Marianne Gingrich, said Thursday through her attorney that she learned of
the request this week when she received a letter from the archdiocese. The letter,
given to The Associated Press, says the annulment request is based on the fact
Marianne Gingrich was married previously. Archdiocese officials did not immediately
return a call seeking comment 'We were married 19 years, and now he wants to say it
didn't exist,' Marianne Gingrich told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution." So would that
mean that Newt was having sex out of wedlock for 19 years? WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE, BILL
BENNETT?
http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/05/10/gingrich.annulment.ap/index.html
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