News -- November 5, 2005

Drifting towards a Police State - "The American people have no idea of the amount of energy that has been devoted to stripping them of their constitutional protections and how stealthily that plan has been carried out. It has required the concerted efforts of the political establishment, the corporate elite, and the collaborative media. For all practical purposes, the government is no longer constrained in its conduct towards its citizens; it can do as it pleases. ... Americans still seem blissfully unaware of the fundamental changes to the political system. The cloak of disinformation and diversion has successfully obscured the perils of our present course. Freedom is no longer guaranteed in Bush’s America nor is liberty everyman’s birthright. The rickety scaffolding that supports the rule of law has been replaced by the unbridled authority of the supreme presidency. The country is slipping inexorably towards the Orwellian nightmare; the National Security State."
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=9048

GOP Leaders to Bush: 'Your Presidency is Effectively Over' - "A growing number of Republican leaders, party strategists and political professional now privately tell President George W. Bush that his presidency "is effectively over" unless he fires embattled White House advisor Karl Rove, apologizes to the American people for misleading the country into war and revamps his administration from top to bottom."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7617.shtml

A Cheney-Libby Conspiracy, Or Worse? Reading Between the Lines of the Libby Indictment - "Having read the indictment against Libby, I am inclined to believe more will be issued. In fact, I will be stunned if no one else is indicted. Indeed, when one studies the indictment, and carefully reads the transcript of the press conference, it appears Libby's saga may be only Act Two in a three-act play. And in my view, the person who should be tossing and turning at night, in anticipation of the last act, is the Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney."
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20051104.html

The United States of Torture - "How did we stoop so low? As if Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were not horrifying enough, the Washington Post has unmasked an even greater scandal that will heap disgrace on the nation. Dana Priest's article "The CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons" paints a sobering picture of an administration that has completely derailed and abandoned any shred of moral authority. The United States has become the number 1 exporter of torture in the world today and George Bush has become the uncontested sovereign of savagery; quite a distinction."
http://www.uruknet.com/?p=17463&hd=0&size=1&l=e

Cheney Seeks CIA Exemption to Torture Ban - "Cheney told his audience the United States doesn't engage in torture, these participants added, even though he said the administration needed an exemption from any legislation banning "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment in case the president decided one was necessary to prevent a terrorist attack."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051105/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney_torture;_ylt=AvYQUUqc7wD9beVrHZIInbqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ

It's time to decide if torture is the U.S. way - "If our lawmakers haven't been seriously questioning what U.S. policy is in regard to suspected terrorist detainees, they need to start doing so right now. A revelation by the Washington Post that the United States Central Intelligence Agency is operating a secret global internment network where detainees are being held without any oversight whatsoever should raise red flags in a country that claims to pride itself on humane treatment of prisoners. ... The revelation of this network of prisons may shed new light on a request to Congress by Vice President Dick Cheney and CIA Director Porter Goss to exempt CIA employees from legislation - already signed by 90 U.S. senators - that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody. The CIA contends that in order to protect the United States, it must be permitted to detain and question suspects without restrictions imposed by U.S. law, or, for that matter, by military tribunals such as those held for detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison."
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/opinion/13074506.htm

We Don’t Need Them - "I’ve never understood the idea of speaking truth to power. The truth, surely, is that in almost all countries of the world, political and economic systems are designed to benefit only the rich and powerful, at the expense of those with less money and power. This is how the world works, and I see no reason to think that the powerful don’t already understand that. After all, they designed it; they maintain it. ... Well, the government and their pals are not going to stop using and abusing us. They’re not going to stop preying on us. They cannot stop! Republican or Democrat, they are rich and powerful precisely because they prey on us. They are rich because they rob us. They’re robbing us right this minute. They are powerful because they dominate every aspect of our lives, because they’ve taken control of all the major social, political, economic, and communication systems in the world. These systems were designed to increase their wealth and power by taking both from all the rest of us. But, we are not children, and they are not our parents. We’re not little people and they are not big people. We’re not insignificant and they are not significant. In fact, we do not need them."
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=520&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Iraq Conflict Not Worth Fighting, Say Americans - "Many adults in the United States believe their federal administration should not have launched the coalition effort, according to a poll by CBS News. 64 per cent of respondents believe the result of the war with Iraq was not worth the loss of American life and other costs."
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/9718

House Vote Counters Eminent Domain Measure - "The bill would withhold for two years all federal economic development funds from states and localities that use economic development as a rationale for property seizures. It also would bar the federal government from using eminent domain powers for economic development."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/seizing_property;_ylt=AnDJo2J_4JW8sH5bsTpzVqOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ

Cellphones to help DOT track traffic - "As cellphone towers ping phones that are traveling in cars down the highway, DOT wants to put that information to use. It has contracted with a Marietta company, AirSage, to put new software in already existing Sprint cell tower switching systems so it can figure out how fast cars are going and where traffic jams are. Sprint is the nation's third largest cellphone carrier."
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/1105/04metspeed.html

Student 'girlcott' protests Abercrombie t-shirts - "With a few words on their T-shirts, Abercrombie & Fitch lets young women send a message: "Who needs a brain when you have these?" A group of female high school students have a message for A&F: Stop degrading us. ... "Our clothing appeals to a wide variety of customers. These particular T-shirts have been very popular among adult women to whom they are marketed," a company spokesman said in a statement."
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-chifitch1103,0,2875928,print.story?coll=ny-hsports-allstars-features




Quote of the Day
"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."
~ Mark Twain