the-peoples-patriot, a political Blog

Thursday, July 01, 2004

ADMINISTRATION MISLEADS ON PORT SECURITY

"He who is welling to gave up “Freedoms” for Safety desires nether freedom nor safety" - Ben Franklin & "One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams

Two weeks ago, Homeland Security secretary Tom
Ridge said that U.S. ports
and ships were in "full compliance" with
international security requirements
that go into effect today.[1] However, a new
report[2] by the non-partisan
General Accounting Office (GAO) reveals that Ridge
was incorrect.

According to the GAO, around seven percent of all
U.S. ports and half of all
ships have not even been reviewed by the federal
government. The
Administration allowed industry groups to
"self-certify to the Coast Guard
that they were using appropriate standards." But
every security plan the
Coast Guard did review "had deficiencies." A GAO
spokesman said he believed
the plans that weren't reviewed by the Coast Guard
were also flawed.[3]

The failure to secure U.S. ports puts America at
risk. But despite the Coast
Guard's estimate that it will take $7.5 billion
over 10 years to secure
ports from terrorist attacks, the Bush
Administration has requested just $46
million in funding for that purpose in 2005.[4]

Sources:

1. "Ridge: Seaports, ships meet security rules,"
CNN.com, 6/21/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=43372.
2. "Substantial Work Remains to Translate New
Planning Requirements into
Effective Port Security," General Accounting
Office, 7/01/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=43373.
3. "Report: Ports, ships not in 'full compliance',"
CNN.com, 6/29/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=43374.
4. "Lack of funding slows port security measures,"
Boston Globe, 6/30/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=43375.

MY ADVICE endeavors at keen.com. The number is 1-800-275-5336 (800-ask-keen) + ext. 0329063 for tech stuff, 0329117 for running a small business, and 0329144 on investing. Want to CHAT, I use Yahoo's IM as the_web_ster. View me in the Friends & Family part of webcamnow.com, just click on "view cams", then in the Java window click on WebcamNow Communities drop down arrow & select Friends & Family. Under the live webcams look for & click on me "the_webster".

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A Email letter from Nader

HI everybody,

The Fourth of July is just around the corner and we have not raised our crucial $1 million. With federal matching funds we will get close but we need your help right now! The coming months promise to be VERY challenging.

You've heard and seen a lot about Ralph and Peter in the last several days. It has only just begun. As the upcoming donnybrook with Howard Dean next week will show, the Nader/Camejo campaign plans on keeping the race exciting and informative.

Our strategy for the coming months, aside from getting on the ballot in as many states as possible, is to continue to take advantage of the national spotlight to help expose the issues not presented by the other two parties. The horrible record of the Bush Administration is rivaled by the Democratic Party's play-dead approach to letting the Republicans get away with it all: Tax cuts to the super rich, the liberty-restricting Patriot Act and an unjust, unconstitutional war with an ongoing occupation. Where were the stopper Democrats in Congress? Especially the Senate? Who right now has the opportunity to reach millions of Americans and talk about what Washington least wants you to hear? Without Ralph and Peter in the race who will be talking about the corporate-occupied territory in D.C. and the government's complicity? Who speaks for Americans without a voice?

We absolutely must continue to raise funds to break the two-party exclusionary system. Please do everything you can to help today! Thank you!

Sincerely,

Theresa Amato
Campaign Manager

As always, we need your help to make this campaign happen! You can make a difference:
Please donate for a just political movement as if people matter.
Get Involved! -- contact your regional or state coordinator to help with ballot access, or take a Road Trip For Ralph!
Sign the Petition to Impeach George W. Bush.

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Important Reading for the Bush Administration

Thirty years ago, a book called "The Limits to Growth" created an international sensation by stating what now -- to most people -- seems obvious: that industrial and population growth would reach real limits in the future, and that global society could suffer severe damage, depending on how we respond to a world of finite resources.

Now a 30-year update of the book, based on massive amounts of new date, provides the most comprehensive analysis of our global future ever assembled. The new 30-year update suggests that the central problem for the next 70 years will not be averting environmental decline -- which the authors view as inevitable -- but containing and limiting damage to the planet and humanity. It's too late for sustainable development, the authors conclude. The world must now choose between uncontrolled collapse or a carefully planned reduction of energy and materials consumption, back down to supportable levels.

The original Limits was compiled by an international team of experts assembled at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Using system dynamics theory to construct a global computer model called "World3," the book presented 12 scenarios that revealed different possible patterns -- and environmental outcomes -- of world development from 1900 to 2100. Eventually, The Limits to Growth became a bestseller with some 9 million copies sold in more than 30 languages.

The 1972 text was the object of intense criticism by economists of the time, who dismissed it as Malthusian hyperbole. But events over the past three decades have turned out to be remarkably consistent with the 1972 book's scenarios.

The new Limits to Growth, published this spring by Chelsea Green Publishers, presents 10 new scenarios, positing what may happen if certain steps are -- or are not -- taken. In most scenarios, the gap between rich and poor will widen, vital nonrenewable resources like oil will become much more difficult and expensive to obtain, and industrial production in developed countries will decline.

In 1972 the authors found the world's population and economy were still comfortably within the planet's carrying capacity. There was still room to grow safely while we examined longer-term options. Today this is no longer true. In this new examination, the authors cite numerous studies confirming that humanity has dangerously "overshot" our limits, expanding our demands on the planet's resources beyond what can be sustained even for the remainder of this century.

Although the past 30 years have shown some progress -- including new technologies, new institutions, and a new awareness of individual environmental problems -- the authors are far more pessimistic than they were in 1972. Humanity has squandered the opportunity to correct its current course over the last 30 years, they conclude, and much must change if the world is to mitigate the most harmful consequences of overshoot in this century.

The message that current growth trends cannot be sustained is now confirmed every year by thousands of headlines, hundreds of conferences, and dozens of new scientific studies. But these focus on specific problems like global warming, soil loss, extinction of species, and declining tropical forests.

Unfortunately, according to Limits authors Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers, and Dennis Meadows, all these well-intentioned efforts are destined to fail -- until they are grounded in understanding the entire complex system which governs the world's physical economy, population, materials and energy flows. Limits to Growth is so far the only book to provide that understanding.

###

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BUSH PRAISES BREMER'S RECORD OF INCOMPETENCE

On Monday, President Bush lavished praise on L.
Paul Bremer, the outgoing
head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
Bush said that Bremer
"has been tireless and dedicated, and he returns
home, with the thanks of
his country."[1] But two new reports - by the
non-partisan Government
Accounting Office (GAO) and the CPA's own inspector
general - reveal that,
under Bremer's leadership, the CPA was largely
ineffective and badly
mismanaged.

According to the GAO report,[2] "electrical service
in the country as a
whole has not shown a marked improvement over the
immediate postwar levels
of May 2003 and has worsened in some [areas]." The
Iraqi security forces
that the coalition was supposed to train "collapsed
in several locations"
when violence escalated in April 2004. And Bremer
never hired enough
personnel to staff the CPA, which "generally
operated with about one-third
fewer staff than it required."

The CPA inspector general found that Bremer's
agency "failed to exercise
adequate control over $9 billion in international
aid."[3] For example, the
CPA "failed to rein in the cost of housing
government employees at a hotel
in Kuwait under a contract with Halliburton."
According to the inspector
general's report, Halliburton booked rooms for CPA
officials in the
five-star beachfront Hilton in Kuwait at a cost of
$2.8 million.

Sources:

1. Remarks by President Bush and Prime Minister
Blair, Whitehouse.gov,
6/28/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42815.
2. "Rebuilding Iraq," General Accounting Office,
June 2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42816.
3. "Coalition Faulted for Lax Controls," Los
Angeles Times, 6/30/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42817.

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Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Presidential Election Fuels Mileage Debate

Debate over federal mileage standards is heating up as the presidential race gains momentum. With consumers concerned about how much it costs to fill up at the pump, the problem promises to remain a divisive one.

At issue is a proposal by Senator John Kerry to raise the minimum average gas mileage standard for new cars and trucks, and the Bush campaign's interpretation of how Kerry's proposal might affect the economy.

Kerry -- who first introduced his proposal with Republican Senator John McCain two years ago -- says the higher mileage standard would increase fuel efficiency, reduce air pollution and ease American dependence on foreign oil supplies. It would also lower the amount Americans must spend to fill their tanks, since vehicles would be getting more miles to the gallon.

But the Bush campaign alleges that the proposal would force auto manufacturers to make fewer light trucks and thereby eliminate more than 100,000 jobs. Those jobs would come from the state of Michigan, announced Marc Racicot, President Bush's national campaign chairman, during an April campaign event in Michigan. Michigan is considered a swing state critical to both campaigns.

In making its assertion, the Bush campaign first cited a Pennsylvania economist's informal analysis of fuel mileage standards that predicted a loss of 105,000 jobs under the Kerry-McCain plan. But when asked to confirm those figures, the economist, Andrew Kleit, would not comment, and did not include the numbers in a final, published version of the paper. Later, Racicot upped the figure to 143,000 jobs, but could not cite any studies to back this number up. [1]

Contrary to the assertion that improving vehicle mileage would cost jobs, a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that had the U.S. adopted a 40-miles-per-gallon fleet standard in 2002 (the current standard is 27.5-mpg), it would have created more than 40,000 new jobs in the auto industry by 2010. Added to the jobs benefit, UCS found that the 40-mpg standard would conserve 2 million barrels of oil daily, or 62% of projected Persian Gulf imports (President Bush recently stated that American reliance on imported oil is a serious national security issue). [2]

Meanwhile the United Auto Workers, the group that would be most affected if job losses were to occur, is backing Kerry with a formal endorsement. Paul Krell, the UAW public relations director, told a reporter, "We certainly wouldn't endorse someone who would put the auto industry out of business." He also noted that Kerry's proposal to increase mileage standards to 36 miles-per-gallon by 2015 was a goal, not a requirement. [3]

###

SOURCES:
[1] "Bush Campaign Chair Fabricated Job Loss Number," Great Lakes Bulletin News Service, Jun. 17, 2004.
[2] "Drilling in Detroit," Union of Concerned Scientists, Jun. 2001.
[3] Great Lakes Bulletin News Service, op. cit.

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Tuesday, June 29, 2004

BUSH MISLEADS ABOUT TRANSFER OF POWER IN IRAQ

Speaking at the NATO conference in Turkey
yesterday, President Bush said, "15 months after the
liberation of Iraq...the world witnessed the arrival of a
free and sovereign Iraqi government." [1] The
reality, however, is much different.

The same day that U.S. administrator Paul Bremer
officially ended the occupation, U.S. prosecutors
refused to abide by an Iraqi judge's order acquitting
Iraqi citizen Iyad Akmush Kanum of attempted murder
of coalition troops. [2] Instead, the prosecutors
returned Kanum to the infamous Abu Ghraib prison,
claiming that "they were not bound by Iraqi law."

In the days leading up to his departure, Bremer
"issued a raft of edicts" in an effort to "exert U.S.
control over the country after the transfer of
political authority."[3] Specifically, Bremer empowered
a seven-member appointed commission "to disqualify
political parties and any of the candidates they
support." Bremer also "appointed Iraqis handpicked by
his aides to influential positions in the interim
government" with multi-year terms to "promote his
concepts of governance" after the handover.

Iraq remains plagued by violence and "the primary
military responsibility for fighting the insurgency
remains as much in American hands as it did
yesterday."[4] As a result, the New York Times concludes
it is "ludicrous for administration officials to
suggest that America's occupation of Iraq has now
somehow ended."

SOURCES:
1. "Remarks by President Bush and Prime Minister
Blair," Whitehouse.gov, 6/28/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42686.
2. "Prisoner 27075 learns limits of sovereignty,
Financial Times, 6/29/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42687
3. "U.S. Edicts Curb Power Of Iraq's Leadership,"
Washington Post, 6/27/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42688"
4. "A Secretive Transfer in Iraq," New York
Times, 6/29/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42689

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Bush Administration Squelches Bad News on Parks

Candidate George W. Bush made two promises on the environment when he ran for President in 2000: he would regulate carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, and he would close the $5 billion maintenance backlog for our national parks. It took President George W. Bush a mere 53 days to break his promise on reducing greenhouse gases. [1] And to the dismay of environmentalists and career park officials alike, America's national parks have been steadily deteriorating since the President took office.

To deter public awareness of his national parks reversal, it appears the President has imposed a gag rule on park managers to prevent them from disclosing just how underfunded the parks have become. Since 1998 the Park Service has been collaborating with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), a nonprofit advocacy group, to create business plans for the country's parks. With federal funding, NPCA and the Park Service recruited graduate students from the country's top business schools to identify funding problems and develop management solutions for the parks. The 64 reports produced so far portray a Park Service woefully short of money, with most parks showing annual budget shortfalls of around 30 percent.

This information has apparently not been sitting comfortably with the administration. The business plan for Olympic National Park in Washington, for example, was kept from the public after it found that funding shortages were crippling the park. The report found that Olympic, which had 3.2 million visitors last year, receives only about half the money it needs. The Washington Post last week quoted a Park Service official, who spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation, as saying that the report was withheld because the Bush administration "...doesn't like bad news. They don't like to see or hear about it or fix it. And they punish the messenger."

Ron Tipton, senior vice president for programs at NPCA, told BushGreenwatch, "It's really regrettable that the Department of Interior appears to be uncomfortable with full public disclosure of the results of these business plans. The public and key decision-makers need this information to assure the parks are adequately funded and staffed so their visitors have a high quality experience."

The superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park was forced to cancel a scheduled press conference to announce that park's business plan, which showed budget shortfalls. The plan was later made public on the park's web site. The press conference was canceled, according to a Park Service spokesman, not to hide the plan but because NPCA "might go out there and say a lot of things that our superintendents aren't comfortable saying."

Apparently, however, it appears to be the Park Service's political appointees who are uncomfortable. To solve the problem of reports informing the public of chronic underfunding, the Park Service has canceled its partnership with NPCA. As NPCA's Tipton explained to the Post: "We were not seen as a friendly voice."

###

SOURCES:
[1] "Environmental Reversal," Online Newshour, PBS, Mar. 14, 2001.

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Monday, June 28, 2004

I would just like to THANK President Bush, & his arrogance.

If it wasn't for him and that arrogance we may not have found how to use the Internet and outfits like http://www.movenON.org as fast as we have. Monday nites meetings, some 1400 of them, across the country could only have happen this fast because of his Presidency.

ADVISING at keen.com. The number is 1-800-275-5336 (800-ask-keen) + ext. 0329063 for tech stuff, 0329117 for running a small business, and 0329144 on investing. Want to CHAT. View me in the Friends & Family part of www.webcamnow.com room 3. Blog

Record 600,000 Protest Bush Plan to Weaken Mercury Emission Controls

Tomorrow marks the last day for the public to comment on the highest-profile battle in years between the Bush administration and advocates of public health. The administration is under court order to finalize the first-ever federal regulations to reduce poisonous emissions of mercury from power plants--the largest uncontrolled source of mercury pollution in the U.S.

The battle is marked by an unprecedented public protest against a Bush administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal that would allow power plants to emit six to seven times more mercury into America's air--and for at least a decade longer--than would be the case if the current Clean Air Act were simply implemented in good faith.

An EPA analysis earlier this year stated that 630,000 American newborns are at risk each year of having unsafe levels of mercury in their blood. Mercury can cause serious developmental and neurological problems in children. It is a highly toxic chemical whose effects on the central nervous system are comparable to those of lead. Many people are exposed to mercury by eating tainted fish. Currently, more than 40 states have issued advisories against eating mercury-contaminated fish from their rivers, lakes and streams.

Properly implemented, the Clean Air Act would bring about a 90 percent reduction of mercury emissions over three years. But the Bush administration has stubbornly defended its plan to reduce mercury emissions by only 70 percent--and over a period of 13 years. As a result, over 600,000 citizens have submitted comments opposing the Bush plan. This is more than twice the highest number of comments EPA has ever received on a rulemaking--greater even than the outcry when the administration tried (unsuccessfully) to fend off stronger controls over arsenic in drinking water.

Two months ago 45 Senators and 10 attorneys general called on EPA Administrator Michael Leavitt to abandon the EPA proposal and instead finalize a rule that complies with the Clean Air Act. And this week 184 members of the House did the same.

"It seems the only people applauding the administration's mercury rule are the people who wrote it: power companies and the Bush administration," Angela Ledford, director of Clear the Air, an environmental health advocacy group, told BushGreenwatch. "Today's Washington Post reports that mercury releases are up 10 percent. This underlines the need to require power plants to reduce emissions as much and as fast as technology allows."

Critics of the Bush plan note that a combination of 25 mercury-emitting utilities have donated nearly $6 million to President Bush's campaign, and that they would share a savings of $2.7 billion under the administration proposal.

###

TAKE ACTION
Submit a comment to EPA through MercuryHurts.org.

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Sunday, June 27, 2004

It's Sunday Morning and this is what "MoveOn" member are see...

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

MoveOn member,
When Fahrenheit 9/11 opened in New York on Wednesday, it broke box-office records, beating out even Men in Black with wall-to-wall sold-out shows. And tonight, despite the right-wing campaigns to stop it, it will open at over 800 theaters across the country -- totally unprecedented for a documentary. Well over one hundred thousand MoveOn members will be there over the course of the weekend, and we hope you can come, too.

But this huge opening for Fahrenheit 9/11 is just the beginning. On Monday night, tens of thousands of MoveOn members are gathering at house parties across the country in "Turn Up the Heat," a nation-wide virtual town meeting with Michael Moore. Together, we'll take the enormous momentum of Fahrenheit 9/11 and channel it into strategic action to win back the White House.

There are over 1,400 house parties planned so far, from Delray Beach, Florida to Salem, Oregon. To find a party near you, or host one of your own, just go to:
http://action.moveonpac.org/f911/

We launched this campaign around Fahrenheit 9/11 because to the media, the pundits, and the politicians in power, the movie's success will be seen as a cultural referendum on the Bush administration and the Iraq war. Together, we have an opportunity to knock this ball out of the park -- to powerfully prove that when someone has the courage to publicly speak the truth, the American people will be right behind them.

Plus, it's a great movie.

To find out where Fahrenheit 9/11 is playing and get tickets, just go to:
http://www.f911tix.com/

And if you do go, don't forget to wear blue -- our way of helping MoveOn members identify each other.

We've attached our take on the movie below. Of course, MoveOn isn't known for our movie reviews, but across the board, film critics have also given Fahrenheit 9/11 very high marks. Here's a sampling of what they have to say:

"As much as some might try to marginalize this film as a screed against President George Bush, "F9/11" -- as we saw last night -- is a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty -- and at the same time a indictment of stupidity and avarice."
-- Roger Friedman, FOX NEWS

"Among the movies everyone should see this year--whatever your film taste or your political bent--Michael Moore's incendiary documentary 'Fahrenheit 9/11' heads the list. 'Fahrenheit' may provoke, delight or divide its audience. But no one will react indifferently to this shocking, sad and funny look at the Bush administration's handling of terrorism and the Iraqi war."
-- Michael Wilmington, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"[A]n explosive and heart wrenching piece of cinema . . ."
-- Mark Salisbury, PREMIERE MAGAZINE

"It is worth seeing, debating and thinking about, regardless of your political allegiances."
-- A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Fahrenheit 9/11 may be the most important cultural event of this election cycle. Right-wing groups like Citizens United are complaining that the movie will help defeat Bush. Let's prove them right.
Sincerely,
--Eli Pariser
MoveOn PAC
Friday, June 25th, 2004

P.S. Here's the review I wrote after seeing the film last Tuesday:

Fahrenheit 9/11 isn't just the most powerful and complete indictment of the Bush administration that I've ever seen -- it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's a knockout blow: a poignant, darkly funny film that deftly interweaves footage of the President, his allies, and the Americans his policies betrayed. As Fox News' reviewer put it, the movie "is a tribute to patriotism, to the American sense of duty -- and at the same time an indictment of stupidity and avarice." (See http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122680,00.html for the full review.)

Despite years of television coverage on Iraq and the war on terror, most of the movie consists of footage you'd never see on TV. There are heart-breaking interviews with troops in Iraq, chilling scenes of the civilian consequences of that war, and footage of Bush so candid and revealing that it's hard to imagine how Moore got his hands on it. In one unforgettable scene from the morning of September 11th, Bush blithely reads a children's book to a classroom of kids for seven long minutes after his chief of staff quietly informs him that the second plane has hit the World Trade Center and "we're under attack." The film is filled with this stuff, and it's hard to imagine seeing it and not being moved, shocked, and outraged.

Fahrenheit 9/11 opens with footage of Bush administration officials putting on their TV makeup. Paul Wolfowitz sticks his comb in his mouth, slathers it with spit, brushes it through his hair, and grins a toothy grin. Colin Powell eyes the camera nervously as a makeup artist dusts his face. And, moments before President Bush goes on TV to somberly announce the beginning of the Iraq war, we see him goofing around, making funny faces at the folks behind the camera.

These candid portraits encapsulate the genius of Moore's documentary. Compared to his other films, there's little pranking or moralizing. Moore basically stays out of the picture: he doesn't have to indict the Bush administration, because with powerful and indisputable video, Bush and the rest indict themselves.

As Moore unravels Bush's story, he joins it with the stories of the real Americans who have shouldered the burden of the post-9/11 war policy. In Flint, Michigan, we hear from a group of inner-city kids whose only option for education and a better life is to enlist in the Army -- and then, in a scene that's both humorous and deeply creepy, join two Marine recruiters as they case a local mall for possible enlistees. We watch a California peace group that was infiltrated by the local police department under the Patriot Act. And, in the final heartbreaking scenes, we witness the pain of a mother who lost her son in Iraq.

In the hands of other directors, the content could easily feel exploitative. But Moore is grounded by a patriotism that rings through every frame of the film. Compassion and love of country give the film its striking authenticity: it's clear that what stings most about the President's behavior, for the subjects of the film, is Bush's betrayal of our country's soul.

Fahrenheit 9/11 is a film with the power to change hearts and minds. It's brilliant, funny, moving, and authentic. And together, we can make it a huge success.
BY MOVEON

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Saturday, June 26, 2004

I'm passing this on ....

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

President Bush has announced his plan to select Dr. W. David Hager to head up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. The committee has not met for more than two years, during which time its charter lapsed.
As a result, the Bush Administration is tasked with filling all eleven positions with new members. This position does not require Congressional approval.

The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee makes crucial decisions on matters relating to drugs used in the practice of obstetrics, gynecology and related specialties, including hormone therapy, contraception, treatment for infertility, and medical alternatives to surgical procedures for sterilization and pregnancy termination.

Dr. Hager's views of reproductive health care are far outside the mainstream for reproductive technology.
Dr. Hager is a practicing OB/GYN who describes himself as "pro-life" and refuses to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women.

Hager is the author of "As Jesus Cared for Women: Restoring Women Then and Now." The book blends biblical accounts of Christ healing Women with case studies from Hager's practice.

In the book Dr. Hager wrote with his wife, entitled "Stress and the Woman's Body," he suggests that women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome should seek help from reading the bible and praying. As an editor and contributing author of "The Reproduction Revolution: A Christian Appraisal of Sexuality Reproductive Technologies and the Family," Dr. Hager appears to have endorsed the medically inaccurate assertion that the common birth control pill is an abortifacient.

Hager's mission is religiously motivated. He has an ardent interest in revoking approval for mifepristone (formerly known as RU-486) as a safe and early form of medical abortion. Hagar recently assisted the Christian Medical Association in a "citizen's petition" which calls upon the FDA to revoke its approval of mifepristone in the name of women's health.

Hager's desire to overturn mifepristone's approval on religious grounds rather than scientific merit would halt the development of mifepristone as a treatment for numerous medical conditions disproportionately affecting women, including breast cancer, uterine cancer, uterine fibroid tumors, psychotic depression, bipolar depression and Cushing's syndrome.

Women rely on the FDA to ensure their access to safe and effective drugs for reproductive health care including products that prevent pregnancy. For some women, such as those with certain types of diabetes and those undergoing treatment for cancer, pregnancy can be a life-threatening condition.

We are concerned that Dr. Hager's strong religious beliefs may color his assessment of technologies that are necessary to protect women's lives or to preserve and promote women's health.

Hager's track record of using religious beliefs to guide his medical decision-making makes him a dangerous and inappropriate candidate to serve as chair of this committee. Critical drug public policy and research must not be held hostage by antiabortion politics.
Members of this important panel should be appointed on the basis of science and medicine, rather than politics and religion. American women deserve no less.

There is something you can do. Below is a letter to be sent to the White House, opposing the placement of Hager. Please copy all the text of this email and paste it into a fresh email; then sign your name below and SEND THIS TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO IS CONCERNED ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTS.

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I SO proud of you Americans you, Fahrenheit 9/11' Tops $8M in First Day

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

Weather you agreed or not you did what you need to do for yourselves you got informed. Thank you. And if you didn't see it, yet, find someone who did and talk. And if you did see it find someone who hasn't and talk. Note I not spoken to weather you agreed with the movies message or not.

link to the story

"Fahrenheit 9/11," Michael Moore's assault on President Bush, took in $8.2 million to $8.4 million in its first day, positioning it as the weekend's No. 1 film, its distributors said Saturday.

Based on Friday's numbers, "Fahrenheit 9/11" was on track for an opening weekend that would surpass the $21.6 million total gross of Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," his 2002 film that earned him an Academy Award for best documentary.

"Bowling for Columbine" holds the record for highest domestic gross among documentaries, excluding concert films and movies made for huge-screen IMAX theaters.

Friday grosses for "Fahrenheit 9/11" ran about $1.5 million ahead of its closest competitor, the Wayans brothers comedy "White Chicks." The performance of "Fahrenheit 9/11" was even more remarkable considering it played in just 868 theaters, fewer than a third the number for "White Chicks."

"Fahrenheit 9/11" benefited from a flurry of praise and condemnation. Supporters mobilized liberal-minded audiences to see it over opening weekend to counter efforts by some right-wing groups to discredit the film.

It always helps when there's a group out there that says, 'Don't go see this movie. It's bad for you,'" said Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Films, one of the film's distributors.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" paints Bush as a neglectful president who ignored terrorism warnings before Sept. 11, then stirred up fear of more attacks to win public support for the Iraq war. The movie won the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The film has ridden a wave of publicity since just before Cannes, when Moore began assailing Disney for refusing to let subsidiary Miramax release "Fahrenheit 9/11" because of its political content.

Miramax bosses Harvey and Bob Weinstein bought back the film and hooked up with Lions Gate Films and IFC to distribute it.

The fury over "Fahrenheit 9/11" resembled the firestorm created by Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," which rose to blockbuster status amid debate over whether it was anti-Semitic.

"It's like how 'The Passion of the Christ' redefined what a certain genre of movie could do at the box office, 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is doing the same thing," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box- office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "This blows away any conceivable record for box office of a documentary."
END

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Friday, June 25, 2004

Is it all Republican now? Is this thier year to act like they were part of the other party

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

Sex club allegations sink Republican's Senate campaign

CHICAGO (AFP) - An aspiring Republican politician ended his quest for a US Senate seat, four days after his campaign was rocked by an embarrassing sex scandal.

Jack Ryan said he was calling off his campaign for a US Senate seat from Illinois because the brouhaha over allegations that he pressured his ex-wife, a "Star Trek (news - web sites)" actress, to have sex in swingers clubs made his position untenable.

"It's clear to me that a vigorous debate on the issues most likely could not take place if I remain in the race," the 44-year-old said in a statement.

"What would take place, rather, is a brutal, scorched-earth campaign -- the kind of campaign that has turned off so many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play."

The former Wall Street banker had come under increasing pressure from senior party officials to bow out of the campaign following the publication of lurid reports about his sex life earlier this week.

The reports centered on allegations that Ryan pressured his then-wife Jeri Ryan to visit exotic sex clubs in New York, New Orleans and Paris during supposed "romantic" getaway weekends.

The actress, who starred in "Star Trek: Voyager (news - web sites)" and the drama "Boston Public (news - web sites)" contended her husband pushed her to have sex in front of strangers, in divorce filings which were unsealed Monday at the request of two news organisations.

Several officials in the grassroots party organisation had urged Ryan to quit the race, and he had been lampooned by the national media, with late night television chat show hosts making quips about the "swing vote" and "perverted Trekkies."

A cartoonist for a Chicago tabloid drew a beaming Ryan reaching out to voters with the caption "Vote for me. I'm a creep."

Late Thursday, members of the midwestern state's congressional delegation met behind closed doors and agreed unanimously that Ryan should drop out.

And while Ryan protested that he had not broken his vows to his former wife, the party bigwigs were seen as having little choice but to back away from him given the high moral tone they took in the last elections, in regard to public morality.

"It's very difficult for Republicans who went ballistic on Clinton to look the other way," said Paul Green, a political scientist at Chicago's Roosevelt University, alluding to the furor over President Bill Clinton (news - web sites)'s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Ryan was already trailing his Democratic rival by double digits, and some political analysts now view it as inevitable that the Democrats will take the seat in this November's elections.

But even if the Democrats grab this seat back from the Republicans in November -- the incumbent is Republican Peter Fitzgeral, -- they may still struggle to maintain their numbers in the Republican-controlled Senate.

"The Democratic Party will be fighting to hold on to several very vulnerable seats in November, so just holding the line will be a major task," said Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University in Iowa.
END.

Is this all there is, is this all there is my friend...

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Cheney to Sen. Patrick Leahy, " #@%& You ". Civility Drops to a Low Point in Congress. & he's glad he said it. Arrogant.

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - In 1856 a House member from South Carolina took his cane to an abolitionist senator from Massachusetts, bloodying the Senate floor and leaving the man near death. Capitol attacks these days are not as dramatic, but lawmakers from both parties lament what has become another low point in political civility.

In the latest episode, Vice President Dick Cheney used an obscenity beginning with "F" in an exchange with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the Senate floor where members had gathered for a group photo. "I was kind of shocked to hear that kind of language on the floor," Leahy said of the incident this week.

Maybe he shouldn't have been. Just days before, Senate Judiciary Committee Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, had referred to a proposal by Leahy to subpoena Justice Department memos on prisoner interrogation as a "dumb-ass" idea.

Cheney, interviewed by Fox News Friday, said he had no regrets about his remarks to Leahy and "I felt better after I said it." He added, "A lot of my colleagues felt what I said badly needed to be said."

The occasional obscenities in a body where "my good friend" is the usual form of address are indicative of what has become a poisonous atmosphere in Congress this year. Tempers have been shortened by the war in Iraq and an election campaign in which Democrats, hoping to capture the White House and Congress, are on the offensive.

"It's as bad as I've seen it in my 10 years in Congress," said Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois, a moderate Republican who has led efforts to make the House a more civil place. LaHood has helped organize a bipartisan retreat at the start of every session so lawmakers can get to know each other better, but he has concluded that "the will of the membership is not there to do it next year."

LaHood said things started going downhill a year ago, when a slew of Democratic presidential candidates began criticizing President Bush.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland dated the lack of comity back to 1978, when Republican Newt Gingrich came to Congress with his confrontational agenda. He said things have gotten worse recently because of unfair treatment by the Republican majority.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi this week sent Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., a proposal on protecting minority rights, whoever is in power. "Too often, incivility and the heavy hand of the majority have substituted for thoughtful debate," she said. There was no immediate response from the speaker.

Pelosi and Hastert rarely confer on policy matters, which is not new to the House. Gingrich, when he was speaker, went for months without speaking to Democratic leader Dick Gephardt (news - web sites).

In the more decorous Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota consult daily. But Frist also recently broke tradition and put cordiality to the test by traveling to South Dakota to campaign for Daschle's rival in the fall elections.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said civility generally tends to break down when the minority feels it is being oppressed by the majority, or in an election season when the House and Senate floors are used for campaigning.

She said this year's increase in tension hasn't matched that of 1995, after the Gingrich-led Republicans took over the House, or of 1998 when impeachment proceedings against President Clinton (news - web sites) began.

Also in the past several weeks:

_ Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas, who was defeated in the Texas primary, the victim of redistricting engineered by Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, filed a complaint against DeLay with the House ethics committee, ending an unofficial truce on one member filing charges against another.

_Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., and Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif., squared off at a committee meeting after Kennedy overheard Cunningham make a remark about Chappaquiddick, the Massachusetts island where Kennedy's father Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., drove off a bridge in 1969, drowning a female aide who was in the car. They later apologized to each other.

_Showing that aggressive language isn't always across party lines, DeLay this week went after Senate Republicans who differ with the House on spending levels on a highway bill, saying they were using the bill as a "slush fund to rob other programs."

_House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., who last year called Capitol Police over a dispute with committee Democrats, said on the floor this week that Rep. Pete Stark's 8-year-old son "has a job being a shield for his father." The comment came after Stark, D-Calif., said GOP tax breaks were an "obscenity" his son would have to pay for in the future.
END.

Ya think thing are getting to some people. Hmmmmmmm, wonder why? You'd think the member of THAT party could take it better than this, the way they dish it out. Guess not.

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Hollywood Concert Raises $5M for Kerry

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - Comedian Billy Crystal (news) called it "Woodstock for really, really rich people" as Hollywood's artists came out to raise $5 million to put Democrat John Kerry in the White House.

"A presidential candidate needs all the friends he can get, even if they come from show business," said actor Ben Affleck (news), opening Thursday night's star-studded concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Barbra Streisand (news) and Neil Diamond (news) performed their 1978 hit "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" together for the first time in 24 years. Streisand also sang a special 2004 election version of her song "People."

The song poked fun at White House figures including President Bush (news - web sites), Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, "the spookiest person in the world."

"When the White House stationery reads president John Kerry," she crooned, "we'll be the luckiest people in the world."

Other performers included actors Ben Stiller (news), Esai Morales (news), Jamie Foxx (news), Leonardo DiCaprio (news) and Robert De Niro (news) and singers Willie Nelson (news) and Angie Stone (news).

Ticket prices for the evening started at $2,000 for the concert up to $25,000 per couple for the concert and a pre-show dinner for about 450 people, including the celebrities. The concert was sold out, although many donors didn't attend.

Kerry closed the concert by urging the crowd to work for a change in leadership. "There are four months to undo four years and prevent four more," he said.

Affleck suggested he would be campaigning for Kerry in the lead up to the convention as he declined to name a favorite pick for Kerry's running mate.

"I assume it'd be bad for me if I say some name that's different from the guy whose hand I'm gonna shake in three weeks when I'm like, running around Pennsylvania," he told reporters outside the concert hall.

Nelson told reporters he likes North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites). "I think he's a good guy, from the south, a lawyer. I forgive him for that."

Crystal delivered a 15-minute standup routine where he made fun of both sides of the presidential race. Of Bush, he said, "We have got to get the White House back from a president who believes now the doctrine of pre-emption — hit them before they hit us. Apparently, he started this when he was driving in the '70s."

Most in the crowd laughed at Crystal's reference to Bush's drunken driving plea in 1976, although some good-naturedly booed his shot at the president. "What?" Crystal said "You like him? Why are you booing me?"

Crystal said when he met Kerry, his first impression was, "could be Ed Muskie's stunt man."

"People say he doesn't smile, he's not happy enough," Crystal said. "I kid him a little bit. I said, `Listen, you're the front-runner, the polls are up, you've raised $200 million. If you're having a good time, tell your face,'" Crystal said.

The crowd roared with laughter, no one more than Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, who bent over laughing and slapped the partition in front of her seat with both hands.

"I'm having fun," a smiling Kerry told Crystal at the end of the show. "And my face got told."

The $5 million raised will be divided between Kerry's campaign and the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites), as will funds raised at a second concert in New York City on July 8. The New York concert will feature the Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige (news), John Mellencamp (news), Jon Bon Jovi (news), Wyclef Jean, Whoopi Goldberg (news) and others. END

A Presdent with his own personally that would be nice to get back to. Nader has one too, although he doesn't use it offen. Unless he mad.

REMEMBER, Weekend Movies: 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Turns Up Heat

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BUSH ADMINISTRATION LIED ABOUT SECRET SAUDI FLIGHT

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

The Bush administration and its right-wing allies
are launching an all-out assault on Michael Moore
and his new movie, attempting to discredit the film
before it is even public. Last month, White House
communications director Dan Bartlett said the movie
is "so outrageously false, it's not even worth
comment" [1] - a comment made despite the fact that the
movie was not yet public and Bartlett had not seen
the film. Now the smear campaign is focused on
creating the public illusion that Moore lied about a
secret Saudi flight that was permitted after 9/11
when most U.S. airspace was closed. But, according to
one new report, the Tampa International Airport
"confirmed that the flight did take place" -- despite
three years of Bush administration denials.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, "two days
after the Sept. 11 attacks, with most of the nation's
air traffic still grounded, a small jet landed at
Tampa International Airport, picked up three young
Saudi men (including one thought to be a member of
the Saudi royal family) and flew to Lexington,
Kentucky. From Kentucky "the Saudis then took another
flight out of the country." As the newspaper
reported, "for nearly three years, White House, aviation
and law enforcement officials have insisted the
flight never took place and have denied published
reports" about the flight. But now, at the request of the
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (9/11
Commission), the Tampa International Airport
acknowledged the flights happened. For its part, the Bush
administration "is still not talking about the
flights." [2]

According to the St. Petersburg Times, the
Commission has now sent a formal letter to the Tampa
International Airport asking for more information about
"a chartered flight with six people, including a
Saudi prince, that flew from Tampa, Florida on or
about Sept. 13, 2001" The commission "appears concerned
with the handling of the Tampa flight." Meanwhile,
former FBI agent Manuel Perez, who accompanied the
formerly-secret flight, said the order to allow the
flights "must have come from the highest levels of
government." [3]

In all, the New York Times notes it is "safe to say
that central assertions of fact in 'Fahrenheit
9/11' are supported by the public record." [4]

For more on Bush administration distortion, visit:
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42270

SOURCES:

1. "Michael Moore's Candid Camera," New York Times,
5/23/04. (Republished online in Common Dreams),
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42271.
2. "TIA now verifies flight of Saudis," St.
Petersburg Times, 6/9/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42272.
3. Ibid.
4. Moore's assertions supported by record; But
'9/11' director may have to defend rapid-fire
statistics," San Francisco Chronicle, 6/24/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42273

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Thursday, June 24, 2004

GORE SPEECH PROVES BUSH AND CHENEY LIED ABOUT IRAQ

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

In a speech at the Georgetown University Law Center
today, former Vice President Al Gore systematically
analyzed how the Bush administration deliberately
misled the country by claiming before the war that
Iraq and al Qaeda were working together. Gore traced
how President Bush and Vice President Cheney
ignored warnings from officials in their own
administration that there was no connection between Iraq and al
Qaeda.

Read the full speech at Salon.com [1] Or see the
Reuters [2] and LA Times [3] story about the speech.

Sources:
1. "Democracy itself is in grave danger,"
Salon.com, 6/24/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42228.
2. "Gore Says Bush Lied About Iraq to Push for
War," Reuters, 6/24/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42229.
3. "Gore: Bush Threatens Foundation of Democracy,"
Los Angeles Times, 6/24/04,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=42230

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Wednesday, June 23, 2004

LATEST IRAQ-AL QAEDA "EVIDENCE" PROVES FALSE

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

Just days after the bipartisan 9/11 Commission
acknowledged that there was
"no credible evidence"[1] to support the White
House's pre-war assertions of
an Iraq-al Qaeda connection,[2] the Bush
administration is now putting out
"new evidence" that supposedly proves the claim.
But as reported by
newspapers around the country, senior U.S.
intelligence officials say this
"evidence" is false.

Days after Vice President Dick Cheney claimed he
"probably"[3] had more
evidence than the 9/11 Commission to prove an
Iraq-al Qaeda connection,
Republican commissioner John Lehman said he was
given "new intelligence"[4]
showing that "at least one officer of Saddam's
Fedayeen, a lieutenant
colonel, was a very prominent member of al
Qaeda."[5] But according to U.S.
officials, intelligence experts are "highly
skeptical that the Iraqi officer
had any connection to al-Qaida."[6] Newsday noted
that the CIA concluded "a
long time ago" that the individual in question "was
not an officer in Saddam
Hussein's army."[7]

President Bush and Vice President Cheney have both
continued to insist on an
Iraq-al Qaeda connection, despite "senior U.S.
officials now saying there
never was any evidence that Saddam's secular police
state and Osama bin
Laden's Islamic terrorism network were in
league."[8] Members of the 9/11
Commission are formally calling on Cheney to
provide any shred of proof[9]
to support his assertion last week that "the
evidence is overwhelming"[10]
that the Iraqi government had a relationship with
al Qaeda.

Sources:

1. "9-11 panel finds 'no credible evidence' of link
between al-Qaida and
Iraq", The Seattle Times, 6/17/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41725.
2. Presidential Remarks, WhiteHouse.gov, 9/17/2003,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41726.
3. "Al Qaeda Link To Iraq May Be Confusion Over
Names", Washington Post,
6/22/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41727.
4. "Al-Qaida, Fedayeen militia tie disputed",
AZCentral.com, 6/22/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41728.
5. "Iraqi officer tied to al Qaeda", Reuters UK,
6/20/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41729
=532610§ion=news.
6. "Intelligence experts cast doubt on ties between
Iraq, al-Qaida", Knight
Ridder, 6/21/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41730.
7. "CIA: No Iraqi officer link in al-Qaida
meeting", Newsday, 6/22/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41731
318.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines.
8. "Doubts Cast on Efforts to Link Saddam,
al-Qaida", Common Dreams News
Center, 3/03/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41732.
9. "Sept. 11 Panel Asks Cheney for Saddam-Al Qaeda
Evidence", NPR: All
Things Considered, 6/20/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41733.
10. "Al-Qaida, Fedayeen militia tie disputed",
AZCentral.com, 6/22/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41728.

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Report Charges EPA Deliberately Underestimating Toxic Releases

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week distributed its Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) for 2002. TRI reports the release of chemicals from refineries and chemical plants. According to the data, the amount of chemicals released into the air was up 5% in 2002.

But a new report by two organizations that monitor enforcement of pollution law charges that EPA and state governments are knowingly underreporting toxic air emissions from refineries and chemical plants, to the tune of 330 million pounds per year. They assert that certain carcinogens -- benzene and butadiene -- are in the air at levels 4 to 5 times higher than what the EPA leads the public to believe.

The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), a nonpartisan organization that monitors enforcement of environmental laws, and the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP), show in their report, "Who's Counting? The Systematic Underreporting of Toxic Air Emissions" that because most air pollution is estimated instead of actually monitored, the result is systematic underreporting.

"The 'guesswork' is being done by the polluters, who have the incentives to keep the numbers as low as possible," said Kelly Haragan, EIP counsel and equal justice fellow.

New rules adopted this year by EPA require polluters to monitor emissions little more than once every five years. Previous standards mandated that major air pollution sources monitor at a level sufficient to show compliance with federal pollution limits. [1]

"Refineries and chemical plants report their toxic emissions under an honor system that is based on calculations that are outdated and inaccurate," Haragan said. "Instead of cleaning up this problem, the EPA has further weakened monitoring rules and continues to knowingly feed the public inaccurate data regarding toxic air emissions."

The EIP-GHASP report is based on findings by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. It shows extreme jumps in carcinogens released into the air. In one case -- a reported release of 6 million pounds of benzene, a known carcinogen -- the 2001 TRI in fact totaled more than 20 million pounds. [2]

In 2001 the U.S. General Accounting Office asked that EPA improve oversight reporting for large facilities, noting that 96 percent of all emissions estimates were based on "emissions factors". [3] Emissions factors were originally developed as a way to estimate long-term average emissions, but are recognized by EPA as not being accurate for calculating a particular facility's emissions. Nevertheless EPA has actively limited the amount of direct monitoring that large sources of air pollution are required to perform.

"We are tired of industry accounting tricks that always seem to show pollution releases dropping rapidly, while air quality improvements seem so slow. It is time for EPA and the states to require real measurements from industry, and take forthright action to protect the public from chemicals that cause cancer, respiratory, cardiovascular and reproductive diseases," said John Wilson, director of GHASP. [4]

###

SOURCES:
[1] EIP press release, Jun. 22, 2004.
[2] "Who's Counting? The Systematic Underreporting of Toxic Air Emissions," EIP report, Jun. 22, 2004.
[3] EIP report, op. cit.
[4] EIP release, op. cit.

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BUSH HIDES DOCUMENTS ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

President Bush regularly talks about the need for
other countries to display
"transparency"[1] and create an open system that
allows citizens to see what
their government is doing. But, according to a new
report, the Bush
administration is hiding thousands of previously
public documents to
"undercut the public's right to know about
contamination of the environment,
transport of hazardous materials, pipeline routes,
and more."

The Working Group on Community Right-to-Know this
week reports that, under
the guise of "national security," more than "six
thousand public documents
have been removed from the web sites of over a
dozen government
agencies."[2] The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), for example, has
removed from its website parts of once-public Risk
Management Plans --
documents that helped communities identify nearby
chemical hazards. The
Department of Energy has taken down environmental
impact statements related
to nuclear power plants and hazardous materials
transport information. The
Department of Transportation removed from its web
site much of the national
pipeline mapping data that allowed communities to
find hazardous pipeline
routes.[3]

According to the report, President Bush has also
issued executive orders
that broaden the authority of agencies to withhold
information from the
public. May 2002's Executive Order 12958 gave the
EPA Administrator
authority to designate documents "Secret" or
"Confidential," two of the
three highest possible security classifications.
The White House has even
reduced the public's access to unclassified
information, passing bills
allowing agencies to withhold "sensitive but
unclassified" information from
the public.

For more, see the report at www.Bushgreenwatch.org.

Sources:

1. Presidental Remarks , WhiteHouse.gov, 6/22/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41869.
2. "Bush Administration Secrecy Imperils
Environment and Public Health",
Bushgreenwatch.org, 6/23/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41870.
3. "Secrecy in the Bush Administration Obstructs
Communities'
Right-to-Know", Working Group on Community Right to
Know (crtk.org),
6/23/2004,
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=2460565&l=41871.

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Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Poker is like sex,

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

Everyone thinks he's great at it but, no one really is.

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After the movie, fahrenheit 9/11, get-to-gether

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

Around a million people -- including at least 110,000 pledged MoveOn members -- will see Fahrenheit 9/11 when it opens this weekend. The film will leave them shocked, moved, and furious at the Bush administration's duplicity. And so lets turn that anger into action.

That's why next Monday, June 28th, we're organizing "Turn Up the Heat", an evening of nationwide house parties that will culminate in a national online town meeting with Michael Moore. Friends at True Majority Action are participating, too. At more than a thousand parties across the country, we'll discuss Fahrenheit 9/11 with neighbors, hear Michael Moore and ask him questions about the film, and then plan local actions to win back the White House. It'll be a lot of fun -- meeting other members of MoveOn always is.

Want to join the party? To find parties in your area, just go to:

http://action.moveon.org/f911/?zip= Just copy (CNRL + N) and paste (CNRL + V) and put your zip in on the end and hit ENTER.

If no one in your neighborhood has signed up yet to host, set up a party of your own. All you need to have in order to host is some space in which folks can convene, and (in order to participate in the virtual town meeting) either a computer with high-speed internet access and speakers or a speakerphone. We'll provide you with a detailed guide to hosting a party and all of the tools you need to make your party a success. We'll even ask other MoveOn members to help you with snacks, drinks, and clean-up.

Want to host a "Turn Up the Heat" house party? Sign up now at:

http://action.moveon.org/f911/newmeeting.html?id=2973-3646104-Em_MH9kjxCfyiDxceORPEA

MoveOn house parties are fun, but you don't have to take our word for it. Here's some of the feedback we've received from past house parties:

"It was particularly nice that most [attendees] described themselves as people who had not been politically active before. I hosted an open party and had some concern about inviting strangers to my home. But I'll definitely do it again. Everyone was wonderful."
-- Elinor, New York, NY

"Being in Texas, I feel very much like an alien because of my political views so it was invigorating to meet with people who are of the same mind-set. I now realize that I am not alone. We had some great discussions regarding MoveOn's goals, and how we can defeat Bush and the Republican Party in November and hereafter."
-- Billye, Carrollton, TX

"It is hard to say my favorite moment. Seeing all those wonderful strangers enter my home and then work so beautifully together for this common cause was absolutely thrilling for me. "
-- Joanie, New York, NY

The last line of Fahrenheit 9/11 -- at the end of the credits -- says "Do Something." And given the powerful footage in the movie, audiences will definitely be looking for something to do. By coming together at the house parties on Monday, we'll turn that energy into effective, election-winning action.

Sign up to attend a party in your neighborhood now at:

http://action.moveon.org/f911/?zip= Just copy (CNRL + N) and paste (CNRL + V) and put your zip in on the end and hit ENTER.

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Monday, June 21, 2004

Bush Administration Blocks Information on Oil, Gas Drilling on Public Lands

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

A request for information on how much oil and gas private corporations are extracting from taxpayers' public lands has been stymied by the Bush Administration's refusal to comply with the spirit of the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The request for public information was filed by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) last March. EWG is seeking to determine the quantity and value of oil and gas extracted from public lands in the U.S. EWG's investigation also seeks to ascertain the environmental impact of extracting oil and gas from land leased to private corporations by the U.S. Department of the Interior, said Arianne Callender, general counsel for EWG.

"We are hoping to analyze the value of the Department of the Interior's oil and gas activities as it compares to other uses of the land," Callender told BushGreenWatch. "We hope to find out what these leases are really worth, and if there is potential harm to our natural resources."

But the federal government's response to the request imposes a "cost-prohibitive" $6,500 fee and asserts that it would take 200 hours of staff time to compile data, pushing the release of the information to well past the end of the year – and, notably, past the upcoming presidential election. [1]

In return for the use of public lands, companies that extract oil and gas pay the government a royalty of 12.5 percent of the value of what they remove, said Dusty Horwitt, an analyst for EWG. Without knowing how much each company extracts, it is impossible to determine the value of those leases to the public.

The agency's response denies EWG a waiver of the $6,500 fee (although a waiver is standard practice for public information requests when the information will be broadly disseminated to the public) – on the grounds that the public will not be sufficiently interested in the subject, and that the information is allegedly already available to the public. In addition, the acting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officer disagreed with EWG's "view that these programs are a giveaway of public resources." [2]

"It's difficult to distinguish which of these arguments is the most specious and irrelevant," argues EWG President Ken Cook, in his written appeal of the decision.

Cook points out that, at a time when gasoline prices (and federal deficits) are skyrocketing, there is perhaps no topic less likely to be ignored. "When 59 percent of Americans surveyed in the most recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll said gas prices would cause financial hardships for them this summer, we are hard pressed to think of an issue that the public cares more about than oil and gas prices and supplies," Cook wrote.

Cook also refutes the assertion that the information is already available, stating that the data is not available in a form that makes it possible to determine "where the oil and gas are coming from or who is paying for them."

He especially takes issue with Acting FOIA Officer Ralph L. Johnson's argument that he can block access to data because he doesn't like EWG's assessment of "how the oil and gas leasing system works."

"Taxpayers paid to compile these data, and they are not Acting FOIA Officer Johnson's personal property," Cook wrote. "He doesn't get to decide who will or who won't get access to them, and his interpretation does not supersede the public's right to know."

EWG's appeal of the decision is pending before the Department of the Interior.

###

SOURCES:
[1] EWG letter, Jun. 2, 2004.
[2] Ibid.

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A Picture is worth a Thousand Words....

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

So in the late 60s and 70 the Goverment took 50% of our worth (influation), yes it something that goverment do to it's people), now both HAVE to work to keep the same life style and now one of us had lost his or her job and now has to have 2 or more jobs to make a third of what they made before. So much for that life style. Now it's just trying to live. Damn people when are you going to get "MAD AS HELL AND NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE". See the movie, Network. Oh! and as for that SS thing, they know it was nevr going to work within afew years of it's starting. Gave Your govrment a POWER and you never get that power back. Your working for the company store people. Walk away from it! Do for yourself that which you want.

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Nader Selects Peter Miguel Camejo As Vice Presidential Running Mate

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

the press release In Spanish and English. Listen to Peter Camejo on Democracy Now, airing Wednesday, June 23rd, at 8am, EST. If you miss it, tune in to their website for the archive,http://www.democracynow.org/ to hear a live broadcast.

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Sunday, June 20, 2004

Just go to this site and read OK

"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" John Adams

http://stoptrawling.org/

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Thursday, July 01, 2004

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Agree or not, talking it over is better...

Saturday Night Live - Palin / Hillary Open

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