*Ø* Blogmanac | WHITE HOUSE ON DEFENSIVE AGAINST CHRIST


From Matt:

As my friend below said, "this isn't mine."

Just something to relieve some tension and stress, relative to our world and the wrenching yet complex problems we're all trying to face and minister to. Just to be clear, this is intended as a vehicle for release and laughter, not trenchant and bitter social commentary. It's meant to deflate all of our emotional balloons, with any pent-up anxiety and frustration we might have in reaction to "the world out there."

Peace be with you all!

Matt Zemek
Matt Zemek's Wellstone Cornerstone


From: Pucknomad
To: mzemek@hotmail.com
Subject: post on daily kos
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2004 16:15:29 -0800 (PST)

This isn't mine -- but oh my...


WHITE HOUSE ON DEFENSIVE AGAINST CHRIST

Washington, DC. -- The White House, still reeling from this week's surprise return of Jesus Christ and His condemnation of the Bush administration's war in Iraq, has gone on the defensive.

An administration aide admitted to growing White House frustration that staffers had been "caught napping," not only by Mr. Christ's unexpected return, which the aide likened to "a thief in the night," but especially by His strongly worded condemnation of Bush's foreign policy. "After all," stated the staff member on condition of anonymity, "we've been working since day one to bring about Armageddon specifically to hasten the Lord's return. Then He does this. I've got to question both His loyalty and His timing."

In a blitz of morning show appearances yesterday, administration officials sought to cast doubt on the savior's credibility, as well as His motivations. National security advisor Condoleeza Rice stated on NBC's Today Show that the King of Kings "Never gave us a plan to follow, really. We would have welcomed his input, but He was apparently too busy converting water into wine."

Rice's statements appeared to contradict those of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Appearing on CNN, Armitage stated that "The Redeemer had presented the administration with a lengthy plan, titled `Revelations,' that "President Bush has endeavored mightily to follow. The President has been diligent about this, despite the fact that Yahweh doesn't exactly write the most clear or concise memo I've ever seen."

Appearing on conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's program, Vice President Dick Cheney questioned the Everlasting Light's credibility in His scathing critique of the Iraq war. "Frankly, He was out of the loop. I mean, where's He been for the past 2,000 years?" Cheney asked. "And now He suddenly makes Himself manifest in an election year?"

Fox News released a transcript purporting to show four different versions of the Messiah's story. Former Republican governor James Thompson referred to Fox's story stating "Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. At least three of these are lies." "I'm from the Midwest," Thompson added.

In a hastily called press briefing, White House press secretary Scott McClellan sought to reassure the GOP's large Christian constituency that Bush still revered the Son of God. "The President knows Him on a first name basis," McClellan said. "He considers the day that he met Christ to be the most memorable event of his life." When asked by Helen Thomas as to exactly when and where Bush met Christ, McClellan stated "The President doesn't remember such a meeting taking place. But it wasn't in the situation room, I can tell you that. Despite what He said, Jehovah has no witnesses." Thomas appeared doubtful.

Perhaps the harshest words were reserved for The Lamb Of God by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN.) Taking the Senate floor, Frist waved about a copy of the Bible, accusing The Way, The Truth, & The Light of perjury. "First He says He's the Son of God! Then He says he's not only God's son, He's also God Himself! Then he brings up this Holy Ghost business. It's weird outer space stuff." Frist also questioned Christ's motivation for returning to Earth to criticize the Iraq war. "First you have this "Passion" movie. Now the book. It's shameful and Self serving."

Christ was later questioned about the film by reporters as He stood outside Pat Robertson's Virginia Beach studios in an ultimately futile attempt to appear on The 700 Club. "I've never met with Mel Gibson, nor do I ever intend to," sayeth the Lord. "I don't appreciate his anti-semitism."

SOURCE

*Ø* Blogmanac March 30, 1282 | The Sicilian Vespers

The tragedy of what has come to be called ‘the Sicilian Vespers’ massacre had its origin in the struggle between the Holy Roman Empire, represented by the Hohenstaufen emperors, and the Papacy for control over Italy.

Charles of Anjou (Charles I of Sicily), brother of King Louis IX of France, having defeated the Hohenstaufen King Manfred of Sicily in 1266 at Benevento to enforce his own claim to the throne of Sicily, became a tyrant over his new subjects in Sicily and the southern portion of the Italian peninsula. Charles dreamed of establishing an Angevin empire in the East.

The people of Sicily rose up against the French occupiers, massacring about 8,000 of them, after a French soldier searched for weapons under the dress of a Palermo nobleman's daughter, at an Easter procession at the start of the evening prayer service of vespers on Easter Monday.

Another version has it that a group of French officials joined the native Sicilians at vespers that day, despite the antipathy of the locals. Some of the Frenchmen began approaching the Sicilian women; a French sergeant took a married woman away from the crowd, and her husband then stabbed him to death. The French, rushing to avenge their comrade, were attacked and killed by the crowd. As the church bells throughout the city tolled for vespers, messengers ran throughout Palermo calling for an uprising. Over the next six weeks, angry Sicilians slaughtered virtually all the French inhabitants of the island. Slaughtered were not only the French military and settlers, but also women who had married Frenchmen.

“Ma fia! Ma fia!”
The legend has it that the rebellion started after a Sicilian woman went to a Palermo church to look for her young daughter, who had spent the whole day there praying. The mother found her daughter being raped in the church by a French soldier, whereupon the mother then ran into the streets, shouting “Ma fia! Ma fia!” (“My daughter! My daughter!” in medieval Sicilian dialect). Some have claimed that this tale provides a plausible explanation as to where the word Mafia might have originated.

The French on the island were identified by a shibboleth, that is, a password. (The term shibboleth comes from the Bible, Judges 12: 5-6, in which the Gileadites identified their enemies, the Ephraimites, by their inability to pronounce the Hebrew word shibboleth – a stream, or ear of corn, or else a torrent of water, depending on source.) The French on the day of the so-called Sicilian Vespers massacre were required to pronounce the word cecceri, Italian dialect for chick peas, which they had difficulty saying ...

In 1854, Giuseppe Verdi, Italy’s leading composer, wrote the score for the opera Ivespri Siciliani, to a libretto based on the legend of the Sicilian Vespers. The Italian national anthem, Fratelli d'Italia, composed in 1847 by Michele Novaro to words by the poet Goffredo Mameli, contains the lyrics:

Every trumpet blast
Sounds the Sicilian Vespers.
Let us gather in legions,
Ready to die!
Italy has called!

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 29, 1315 | Stoned alchemist

1315 Raymond Lulle, Majorcan-born alchemist, was stoned to death by the natives of Mauritania. (Sources differ as to spelling of his name, as well as the date and cause of his death. We do know that he drafted his will on April 26, 1313.)  

Lulle became an alchemist through an affair of the heart. He was in love with an extremely beautiful woman who refused to marry him. One day, when he tried again to win her heart, she showed her bosom inflamed by a cancer. He promised to cure her, and studied every book of medicine and chemistry that he could find. He cured her, and married her. After her death he attached himself to the church. The inhabitants of his home country of Majorca revere him as a martyr.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | USA: Searches Without Warrants

"NEW ORLEANS -- It's a groundbreaking court decision that legal experts say will affect everyone: Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business.

"Leaders in law enforcement say it will provide safety to officers, but others argue it's a privilege that could be abused.

"The decision was made by the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Two dissenting judges called it the 'road to Hell'."

Source and full text

*Ø* Blogmanac March 28, 1871 | The Paris Commune

1871 The Paris Commune was proclaimed by French radicals, whose aim was to set up an independent socialist government. More than 200,000 people turned out at the City Hall to see their newly elected officials, whose names were read to great and festive acclaim, making this day a revolutionary festival. The red flag, raised over all public buildings, is emblematic of the Commune.

On April 2 the government forces of the Versailles Army attacked the Commune, and the city was constantly bombarded. The remaining Communards were shot, against what is now known as the Communards' Wall in the Père Lachaise cemetery while thousands of others were marched to Versailles for trials.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | An Emergency Call To Arms

Please pardon the length of this item, but it's an unusual exception to our policy. This is a manual for action for use by individuals or organizations. Archive this one for constant reference. Forward it to everyone you know. Print it so you can make copies for your groups and to mail or fax to those without computers.

Gone are the days when we could count on newspapers, radio stations and TV networks being owned by both Democrats and Republicans who would keep each other honest. It's a different ball game now. No longer can candidates get "equal time" on the "public airwaves." It's up to us, the public, to let the powers that be know that we're not going to let them get away with another pretend election like 2000 (and 2002, for that matter!). If we ALL commit to doing at least one action each day -- send one email, make one phone call, talk to one slave of mainstream media, etc. -- we CAN make a difference! -v


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Eric A. Smith
Hot Damn! Design
81-03-3959-5371
snowdog@juno.ocn.ne.jp

(Please distribute widely.)


An Emergency Call-to-Arms:
A Five-Step Battle Plan for YOUR Future


This is a call to arms to you -- as an American and a custodian of your nation's future. Please act as if your life depends on it -- it well might.

We have been led down a dark, perilous road.

The journey has touched us all, from mothers and fathers burying children in a war over nonexistent WMD, to firefighters and policemen promised vital funds only to be cheated and asked to work for free. Millions of Americans have been cut loose as corporations exploit foreign workers on the cheap and CEOs gorge themselves on riches unprecedented in history. While Americans take second and even third jobs just feed their families, the Bush Administration has poured America's wealth into the greedy hands of defense contractors and tax-dodging megacorporations, notorious companies like (#1 Bush donator Kenneth Lay's) Enron or Cheney's wartime ripoff-artists at Halliburton.

Our environment, safety, economy, national security, labor protection and Constitutionally-guaranteed rights have all been gutted and left to die in a worker-hostile economy.

NOW WE FIGHT BACK.

Here's what we're facing:

This November, the Bush election machine has more than three times the spending power of its opponents(1)

And they are fighting dirty, just as they did in 2000, when they purged Florida voter rolls(2), rioted to stop recounts(3), barred citizens from voting (ibid) and even threatened the Vice President and his family on their front lawn (4).

This year, through gerrymandering, data theft from Congressional computers, impeachments and recess judicial appointments, they are trying to consolidate their unprecedented power. And they have a special election-season surprise in store for us as well -- as the AFL-CIO argued before the Supreme Court last December(5), the Bushites have MADE IT A CRIME FOR THIRD PARTIES TO CRITICIZE THE PRESIDENT OR SAY THINGS TO INFLUENCE THE ELECTION during the election's most critical phase:

"This blackout will become national in scope on July 31, 30 days before the August 30-September 2 Republican National Convention . . . and it will then continue without interruption throughout the remaining 60 days until the November 2 election. Thus, from July 31, 2004 until the election, it will be a crime for a union, corporation, or incorporated non-profit organization to pay to broadcast any 'reference' to the President by 'name,' 'photograph,' 'drawing' or other 'unambiguous' means anywhere in the United States." (6) [Emphasis added. -v]

They are ruthless, and will not concede victory without a vicious fight. Expect the outlawing of gay marriage to "divide and conquer", marginalize opponents and consolidate support from the religious right, a base estimated to be 30 million strong (7). Expect Ralph Nader to syphon off votes yet again. Expect the Supreme Court to halt recounts again. Expect a "surprise" discovery of WMD even after Blix, David Kay and Iraq's scientists saying they were all destroyed. (8) Expect the "suprise" capture or "destruction" of Bin Laden conveniently close to the election (9). Expect lots of scary terrorism warnings and perhaps even an attack. (10) General Tommy Franks has even suggested a second 9-11-scale attack will lead to martial law in America (11). [Emphasis added. -v]

None of this should deter you; remember it was the same group (Rumsfeld, Cheney, Baker, Bush Sr., Perle, etc.) that armed and funded Hussein and Bin Laden in the first place. The blood of our dead is therefore on their hands. [Emphasis added. -v]

We must not underestimate the ruthlessness of those willing to start an international war based on known and transparent lies -- virtually against the will of the entire planet. Make no mistake; they are willing to throw away American lives in their quest for global dominion. And if you rise up and oppose them, you may be bullied, harassed and threatened, perhaps even by the FBI.(12) YOU MUST NOT LET THIS DETER YOU. WE MUST NOT BE BULLIED INTO LETTING THEM SEIZE POWER AGAIN! [Emphasis added. -v]

For example, from the NY Times: "When a Times editorial writer dropped in on one Palm Beach precinct where there were reports of malfunctioning machines, county officials called the police to remove him."(ibid)

And here we come to the deep, dark heart of the matter: [Emphasis added. -v]

This year 28% of the vote (and counting) will be tallied on electronic voting machines or scanners, which have been repeatedly hacked and can be used to fix an election -- all without a trace. Below you'll find a link to the diagrammed, step-by-step report of how e-vote activist Bev Harris hacked one(13). If you think this is exaggeration, please follow the links listed below, where everything has been well-documented and by the NY Times, the Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, the BBC, etc. (14)

Once paperless, effortlessly hackable (10) voting machines have been installed, the situation will be PERMANENT -- we will never know or be able to prove if an election has been stolen. And if it HAS -- those who have stolen it CAN NEVER BE VOTED OUT. And without the fear of voter reprisal, whoever takes advantage of such a situation could do literally anything they wanted and NEVER LOSE POWER. It will mean the end of Democracy. And if you work for an activist group, it will certainly mean the end of your organization.

We have less than six months to prepare to fight the biggest power grab in human history.

Do your part.

Help save America.

There will not be a second chance.


A 5-STEP BATTLE PLAN:

I. LOBBYING (20 minutes approximately)
Tell your representatives to support Bills H.R. 2239 and ESPECIALLY 1980 (14)

Online e-petitions:
http://www.mediafordemocracy.us/campaign/evote
http://www.truemajority.org/actionregister/
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2821
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=14993
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/348035553?ts=1079111375&sign
[partner_userID]=304336170&sign[memberID]=304336170&sign[partnerID]=1
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/cleanvote.html

Congress http://www.senate.gov/
Toll free: 1-800-839-5276
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/State elections boards
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/htdocs/dcforum/DCForumID29/47.html

State Attorneys General
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php

State Election Officials
http://www.nased.org/ Members, Natl. Assoc. of County Recorders, Election

Officials and Clerks
http://www.nacrc.org/leadership/st_coord.htm

Penelope Bonsall, national director of the Office of Election Administration
Office of Election Administration
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20463
vss@fec.gov
(202) 694-1095 (phone)
(202) 219-8500 (fax)


II. MEDIA BLITZ (one to three hours approximately)
Write a letter and email or fax it to Radio and TV stations, newspapers and magazines in your area:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/News/
http://newslink.org
http://www.cantufind.com/american_newspapers.htm
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/Formats/Talk_Radio/Stations/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/Cable/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Television/Networks/
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Broadcasting/Information/

National Media Contacts:
CBS Evening News
212-975-3691
evening@cbsnews.com
NBC Nightly News
212-664-4971
nightly@nbc.com
Peter Jennings : ABC World News Tonight
Tel : (212) 456-4025, Fax : (212) 456-2381
PeterJennings@abcnews.com
Washington Post :
abramowitz@washpost.com, colemanm@washpost.com,
letters@washpost.com, hadarm@washpost.com,
kingc@washpost.com, milbankd@washpost.com,

New York Times:
nytnews@nytimes.com, oped@nytimes.com,
president@nytimes.com, publisher@nytimes.com,
society@nytimes.com, washington@nytimes.com,
web-editor@nytimes.com, letters@nytimes.com

USA Today: editor@usatoday.com
Houston Chronicle: viewpoints@chron.com
San Francisco Chronicle: letters@sfchronicle.com
Los Angeles Times: letters@latimes.com
Chicago Tribune: ctc-TribLetter@Tribune.com
Washington Post: letters@washpost.com
Newsday: letters@newsday.com
New York Daily News: voicers@edit.nydailynews.com

CNN HeadLine News executives :
cameron.baird@turner.com, dave.willis@turner.com,
bill.schneider@turner.com ,
james.broyles@turner.com, jason.evans@turner.com,
lou.dobbs@turner.com, moneyline@cnnfn.com,
kathy.slobogin@turner.com, paul.varian@turner.com,
judy.fortin@turner.com, bill.galvin@turner.com,
susan.jalali@turner.com, kurt.kasting@turner.com,
tim.mallon@turner.com, wade.mckinney@turner.com,
jerry.mihoch@turner.com, stephanie.minter@turner.com,
dennis.newman@turner.com, alan.schrack@turner.com,
rolando.santos@turner.com, steve.shusman@turner.com,
jennifer.c.thomas@turner.com

USA Today :
editor@usatoday.com, fanklam@usatoday.com,
jbacon@usatoday.com lbranson@usatoday.com,
dcolton@usatoday.com

Los Angeles Times :
dean.baquet@latimes.com, op-ed@latimes.com,
john.carroll@latimes.com, janet.clayton@latimes.com,
letters@latimes.com, latmag@latimes.com,
marjorie.miller@latimes.com, john.puerner@latimes.com,
james.rainey@latimes.com, bill.stall@latimes.com

REUTERS :
michel.gelbart@reuters.com, eddie.evans@reuters.com,
editor.reuters@reuters.com, daniel.grebler@reuters.com,
stephen.jukes@reuters.com, reshma.kapadia@reuters.com,
andrew.mitchell@reuters.com, dick.satran@reuters.com,
david.schlesinger@reuters.com, eddie.evans@reuters.com,
washington.daybook.newsroom@reuters.com,
miami.newsroom@reuters.com, michel.gelbart@reuters.com,
boston.newsroom@reuters.com, toronto.newsroom@reuters.com,
mexicocity.newsroom@reuters.com

Associated Press:
info@ap.org, msilverman@ap.org,
gjohnson@ap.org, hjung@ap.org,
tkorte@ap.org, sthomsen@ap.org,
etompson@ap.org, ntrott@ap.org,
rtanner@ap.org, mtighe@ap.org,
kathleen.carroll@ap.org, dcrary@ap.org,
adinnocenzio@ap.org, jaffleck@ap.org,
mfeldman@ap.org, paula.froke@ap.org,
tfuentez@ap.org, kgazlay@ap.org,
chanley@ap.org, bharpaz@ap.org,
lheinzerling@ap.org, rherschaft@ap.org,
hitalie@ap.org, sjacobsen@ap.org,
ajesdanun@ap.org, tkent@ap.org


III. WITNESS E-VOTE EVALUATIONS (one afternoon)
Ask your elections board (about any e-voting purchase evaluations meetings to be held in your district. As a member of the voting public, it is your legal right to attend as a witness, although, out of convenience, they may try to avoid giving you the information. Insist on your rights.

If you do attend as a witness, you may well be a victim of intimidation tactics. Insist on voter-verified paper ballots. Bev Harris has written comprehensive answers to arguments you will hear. DO NOT BACK DOWN OR BE INTIMIDATED BY CIVIL SERVANTS -- they are your EMPLOYEES, paid by YOUR TAXES:

From Bev Harris, http://www.BlackBoxVoting.Org

Assertion: "Upgrading the printer already in the (Diebold) machine costs money"
Fact: Diebold has stated in writing that their pre-installed internal printers are sufficient to generate a voter-verified paper trail.

Assertion: "The paper is very expensive"
Fact: Thermal paper is the cheapest made, and with an estimated maximmum of 300 people voting at each touch screen a LARGE precinct may have seven touch screens, but many have just two or three, it might cost $15 per precinct to print those ballots.

Assertion: "The paper won't last"
Fact: If the report to be provided by the machine will last the required amount of time, the ballots will too, if printed on the same paper. The printer is there to report totals at the polling place.

Assertion: "The machines will jam"
Fact: The printer is similar to models used in supermarkets and WalMart. Remember: the total number of transactions will be about 300. Do supermarket and WalMart printers jam every 15 sales? No. They process thousands of printouts without jamming.

Assertion: "The ink will run out"
Fact: There is no ink in a thermal printer

Question: "If a paper ballot record doesn't match a machine record, which is the legal vote?"
Fact: The voter-verified paper must trump the machine unless a mechanical defect or fraud is shown, because it is a physical record seen and verified by thousands of individual voters, whereas the machine is bits and bytes that can be changed by a single technician!

Assertion: "Paper ballot systems have been tampered with"
Fact: Yes, and machines have been frequently wrong as well. Do not allow sidetracking of the discussion or assertions that you are "against electronic voting" -- no, we want them to put paper in a printer and use it for auditing.

Assertion: "Officials won't know what to do with paper ballots and new laws must be written."
Fact: Laws and procedures set up for optical scans are applicable.

Assertion: "A paper trail will only lead to demands for more complicated and stringent auditing"
Fact: Yes, it will. We're asking for that anyway, with optical scanning. It is still cheap and efficient compared to many of the changes currently being implemented to accommodate the sales of more touchscreen machines.

Question: "Why use machines at all if you're demanding paper ballots?"
Fact: Voting machines are helpful for the visually impaired

Assertion: "Paper ballots prevent the visually impaired from voting"
Facts: Wheelchair-assisted voters can use a touch screen with the same efficiency whether or not there is a paper printout, and the visually-impaired can be provided with headphones for these machines. Nor does a paper printout hinder their ability to vote.

Alternatives DO exist to those Diebold, Sequoia and ES&S machines which are operated by heavily partisan CEOs and are designed to operate WITHOUT a paper trail. Those Diebold types' code and components are not allowed to be examined.

Avante Systems has a machine that shows a printout through a glass screen. After the voter confirms it is correct, the paper ballot is dropped into a storage box so it can be checked against the machine totals and the AccuPoll system has a scanner that can pass over the printed ballot to verify votes.

Sequioa machines can be attached to normal printers. If your group has some at its disposal, by all means, bring them.

Alternative, secure e-voting machines you can suggest to your elections officials:
http://www.accupoll.com/
http://www.aitechnology.com/avantetech/home.html


IV. VOLUNTEER ELECTIONS MONITORING (three days approximately, including preliminary training)
Vootewatch is organizing election monitor volunteers here:
http://www.votewatch.us/forum/register.php?

Bev Harris has outlined a point-by-point strategy on specifically what to look for when monitoring electronic voting machines. It is also recommended that you either download her free e-book "Black Box Voting", or better yet, purchase it here: http://www.blackboxvoting.org


CITIZEN WATCHDOGS:

What to look for and report -- Let's get good at this before November!

Optical-scan systems and absentee ballots:

We have information that all systems recognize carbon-containing marks (soft lead pencil). Some DO NOT recognize all inks. You may want to bring a soft lead pencil to the polling place with you to mark your optical-scan ballots.

All Diebold counties (AccuVote and AccuTouch are Diebold brands) -- Demand that the poll workers print a report and post a copy at the polling place at the end of the day, whether they are required to or not. All Diebold machines, both touch-screen and optical-scan, contain internal printers and have the ability to print a polling place results report. This takes 60 seconds and costs nothing, and is an important check and balance to compare with the county results from the GEMS system, which we believe to contain security flaws. Votes should not change from the polling place to the county.

Report any instance of mismatched polling place/county tabulations here. Do NOT accept the excuse that they won't match because early votes, absentee, provisional, or challenge votes were added into the polling place totals. That is called "co-mingling" the data and is not an acceptable record-keeping practice. Additional categories of votes must be accounted for as separate line items.

Sequoia touch-screens do not have an internal printer. A printer can easily be hooked up with a serial port. If you see printers, demand a polling place report.

Watch for any "wandering vote tallies" on election night, especially if any votes go DOWN. (Yes, this has been known to happen).

Late poll openings: Report these immediately and we'll try to get cameras there. This is a form of vote suppression, often occurring in minority areas.

Late vote results: Report late incoming tallies. These can be indicative of the county trying to resolve voting machine anomalies before filing reports.

Observe how many cords come in and out of the voting machines. Report any evidence of networking the machines together. Report any time you see more than a simple power cord plugged in while the election is in progress.

Wardrive election sites. See if you can pick up wireless signals either during or after the election. Wireless communication is not permitted. Also, report any use of cell phones for vote transfers, which is also not permitted.

Election workers: Report the procedures used for training if they seem insecure. For example, we have already had reports that in Georgia, some poll workers were told to take voting machines home after training; Georgia flag artwork was uploaded right before the election; and other unwise and insecure procedures were followed.

Go visit the polling place at the end of the day and see how secure it is. We had reports recently of machines left in the polling place unattended.

Felony watch: In some states, IT IS A FELONY for technicians who are not sworn elections officials to touch the vote database in any way, shape or form after votes have been cast. In fact, if you look at Chapter 13 of Black Box Voting, the San Luis Obispo incident was probably illegal (Diebold tech Sophia Lee was tied to a live vote database that appeared on the Internet five hours before the polls closed).

Watch for statistical anomalies. Look at everything. Time is of the essence, as these analyses take some time and there are only a few days before the election is certified.


V. LEGAL CHALLENGES (indeterminate)

Author Lynn Landes has questioned the constitutionality of voting machines.
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingMachinesUnconstitutional.htm

If your organization has the wherewithal to raise a legal challenge on these (or other grounds) here are some resources below:

Election campaign and civil rights lawyers listed for every city:
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Election%20Campaign%20&%20Political%20Law
http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practice/Civil%20Rights

Institute for Justice:
http://www.ij.org/index.shtml

Center for Indiviual Rights:
http://www.cir-usa.org/intake.html

Class actions:
http://www.bigclassaction.com/civil_rights.html

Southeastern Legal Foundation:
http://southeasternlegal.org/

Electronic Frontier Foundation attorneys:
gwen@eff.org
jason@eff.org
owlswan@eff.org
wendy@eff.org
tien@eff.org
fred@eff.org

Other challenges:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/
localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/local_news_04d49255058760a400d8.html
http://www.electionguardians.org/actions.htm
http://www.blackboxvoting.org/dieboldlawsuit.pdf

Pax Christi is also organizing an international group of elections monitors. More information here:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=887


REFERENCES

1 (GOP:$115,667,827 ; Dems:$44,175,502).
http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/index.asp

2. Greg Palast, Harper's Magazine "The Great Florida Ex-Con Game"
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=122&row=2

3 a."Unprecedented" -- internet preview of the film
http://www.unprecedented.org/UnprecedentedPreview.htm

3 b. Lynn Landes: "Mission Impossible -- Federal Observers & Voting Machines"
http://www.ecotalk.org/FederalObservers.htm

4. Barabara Walters interview "The Note":
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/791744/posts

5.McConnell vs the Federal Election Commission
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/1637/

6. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/hentoff.php

7. "Bush Assures Evangelicals of Commitment to Marriage Amendment"
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/politics/12EVAN.html?pagewanted=print&position

8a. Online Journal: "Wag the Osama"
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/031004Burns/031004burns.html

8b.NewsNet5: "Ridge Sidesteps Question On Bin Laden's Capture"
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2917298/detail.html

9. U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=3/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=011

10. Aljazeera.net: "Purported Al Qaida Statement"
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2CDD53D6-7AF7-40C7-AF88-32A16072F81B.htm

11. NewsMax: "Tommy Franks: 'Martial Law Will Replace Constitution After Next Terror Attack'"
http://infowars.com/print/ps/franks_martial.htm

12. The New McCarthyism, the Progressive:
http://www.progressive.org/0901/roth0102.html

NY Times: "Florida as the next Florida"
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/14/opinion/14SUN1.html

13. Scoop: "Inside a US Election Vote Counting Program"
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00065.htm

14a. NY Times: "Hack the Vote"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/120303A.shtml

b. CBS: "Electronic Voting Causing Concern"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/03/eveningnews/main591185.shtml

c. UK Independent: "All the President's Votes?"
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1013-01.htm

d. Salon: "Will the Election be Hacked?"
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2004/02/09/voting_machines/index_np.html

e. BBC: "Concerns over US Computer Voting"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3489877.stm

f. ABC News: "Avoiding Another Florida Fiasco"
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/SciTech/Voting_machines_040305-1.html

g. "Comparison of Senate Bills 1980, 1986, and 2045"
http://www.verifiedvoting.org/senate_bill_comparison.asp


You are encouraged to distribute this document freely and widely.



Contact: Eric A. Smith, Hot Damn! Design, Tokyo, Japan ?? 81-03-3959-5371

_______________________________________________
TrueVoteList mailing list
TrueVoteList@mail.truevotemd.org
https://lists.truevotemd.org/mailman/listinfo/truevotelist

*Ø* Blogmanac | Palestinians: U.S. Veto Gives Israel License to Kill

"GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinians accused the United States on Friday of granting Israel a license to kill by vetoing U.N. condemnation of its assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin ...

"At the United Nations, the United States late on Thursday vetoed a Security Council resolution by Arab nations to censure Israel for assassinating Hamas's wheelchair-bound founder in a missile strike outside a Gaza mosque on Monday.

"Washington, alone among major powers in not condemning Monday's assassination as an extrajudicial killing, rejected the resolution because it did not also denounce Hamas for suicide bombings in Israel. The vote was 11 in favor, three abstentions, and the United States veto that killed the measure."

Source

*Ø* Blogmanac | Urgent: Spread 9/11 and Iraq Revelations

NOW IS THE TIME, FOLKS! THINGS ARE HEATIN' UP AND WE ALL MUST DO OUR PART!


Urgent: Spread 9/11 and Iraq Revelations

Several days ago, former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke revealed how the Bush administration systematically mishandled 9/11 and Iraq. Help us get Clarke's comments in front of the American people in a new hard-hitting ad. [And forward this item as widely as you can. -v]


Dear Friend of MoveOn.org,

As you may have heard, Richard Clarke, a former counter-terrorism advisor to Bush, and a registered Republican who has worked in every administration since Reagan, has exposed Bush's mishandling of 9/11 and the war on Iraq.{1} In his book "Against All Enemies," Clarke does an amazing job of presenting the facts and connecting the dots. Instead of refuting Clarke's claims, the Bush Administration has launched a campaign of character assassination, hoping that the story will just go away.{2}

We're committed to stopping that from happening by making sure that the American public hears Clarke's extraordinary comments. If we can raise $300,000 in the next few days, we can run a hard-hitting ad nationally that highlights his message. You can see a rough story board of the ad and donate to get it on the air.


When the World Trade Center was hit on the morning of 9/11, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice dubbed Richard Clarke, the administration's top counter-terrorism official, "crisis manager."{3} As the White House, which was thought to be the next target, was evacuated, Clarke heroically stayed on, coordinating the government's response from the Situation Room in the West Wing.{4}

Clarke is viewed by colleagues as a hawk, a "true believer" who doesn't play partisan politics.{5} So the shocking facts he revealed about the Bush administration's approach to terrorism before 9/11 and its response after must be taken seriously. On Sunday, Clarke told reporters that the President and Defense Secretary downgraded counter-terrorism and ignored repeated warnings about an al Qaeda attack prior to 9/11. And, perhaps even more explosive, Clarke revealed that President Bush and senior administration officials wanted to bomb Iraq after 9/11 even though they knew that it had no connection to al Qaeda, and that al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks.{6}

Already, the White House spin machine is in overdrive. Since they can't rebut Clarke's facts -- which independent witnesses have confirmed{7} -- they're trying to paint him as an angry partisan, even though he's a Republican. But Clarke's words remain a searing indictment of the Bush Administration's campaign against terrorism. Together, if we act today, we can beat back the spin by widely airing a TV ad which gets these uniquely credible comments directly to TV viewers.

You can view a story board of the ad and help us get it on the air now.


In his own words, here are some of Clarke's revelations:


Clarke repeatedly warned the Bush Administration about attacks from al Qaeda, starting in the first days of Bush's term. "But on January 24th, 2001, I wrote a memo to Condoleezza Rice asking for, urgently -- underlined urgently -- a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with the impending al Qaeda attack. And that urgent memo-- wasn't acted on."{8} According to another Bush administration security official, Clarke "was the guy pushing hardest, saying again and again that something big was going to happen, including possibly here in the U.S." The official added that Clarke was likely sidelined because he had served in the previous (Clinton) administration.{9}

In face-to-face meetings, CIA Director George Tenet warned President Bush repeatedly in the months before 9/11 that an attack was coming. According to Clarke, Tenet told the President that "A major al-Qaeda attack is going to happen against the United States somewhere in the world in the weeks and months ahead."{10 }

On September 12, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld pushed to bomb Iraq even though they knew that al Qaeda was in Afghanistan. "Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq," Clarke said. "And we all said ... no, no. Al-Qaeda is in Afghanistan. We need to bomb Afghanistan. And Rumsfeld said there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan. And there are lots of good targets in Iraq. I said, 'Well, there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it.'"{11}

Also on September 12, 2001, President Bush personally pushed Clarke to find evidence that Iraq was behind the attacks. From the New York Times: "'I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything,' Mr. Clarke writes that Mr. Bush told him. 'See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way.' When Mr. Clarke protested that the culprit was Al Qaeda, not Iraq, Mr. Bush testily ordered him, he writes, to 'look into Iraq, Saddam,' and then left the room."{12}

The Bush Administration knew from the beginning that there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, but created the misperception in order to push their policy goals. "[Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush] did know better. They did know better. They did know better. We told them, the CIA told them, the FBI told them. They did know better. And the tragedy here is that Americans went to their death in Iraq thinking that they were avenging September 11th, when Iraq had nothing to do with September 11th. I think for a commander-in-chief and a vice president to allow that to happen is unconscionable."{13 }

The war on Iraq has increased the danger of terrorism. In his book, he writes that shifting from al Qaeda to Iraq "launched an unnecessary and costly war in Iraq that strengthened the fundamentalist, radical Islamic terrorist movement worldwide."{14}

It's been well reported that President Bush intends to run on his record as a wartime President. Clarke's revelations show how deeply flawed that record is. But if we don't act fast, the public may not have a chance to evaluate the facts for themselves -- the story could go away quickly. With an ad, we can take Clarke's comments directly to the public.

Can you help? Check out the script and donate whatever you can to get this story out there.


(By the way, if we're unable to use your contribution for the ad you specify, either because of oversubscription or for another unforeseen reason, it is our policy to use your contribution for other advertising, public relations, and advocacy activities.)

Richard Clarke had an intimate view -- perhaps the best view -- of how the Bush Administration responded to terrorism. So we should all listen carefully when he says:

"Frankly, I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know. . . I think the way he has responded to al-Qaeda, both before 9/11 by doing nothing, and by what he's done after 9/11 has made us less safe, absolutely. I think he's done a terrible job on the war against terrorism."{15}

Together, we can make sure every American knows what President Bush's true record on terrorism really is.


Sincerely,
--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn PAC Team
March 24th, 2004

P.S. Read Salon's recently published interview with Clarke.


P.P.S. As the Administration strikes back, our friends at the Center for American Progress have put together an excellent rebuttal to their claims. Here's an example:

CLAIM #1: "Richard Clarke had plenty of opportunities to tell us in the administration that he thought the war on terrorism was moving in the wrong direction and he chose not to." -- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, 3/22/04

FACT: Clarke sent a memo to Rice principals on 1/24/01 marked "urgent" asking for a Cabinet-level meeting to deal with an impending Al Qaeda attack. The White House acknowledges this, but says "principals did not need to have a formal meeting to discuss the threat." No meeting occurred until one week before 9/11. -- White House Press Release, 3/21/04



Footnotes:

1. "Dissent from within on Iraq war," Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/24/04 (Registration required)

2. "Bush Aides Blast Ex-Terror Chief," CBS News, 3/22/04


3. "The book on Richard Clarke," Washington Post, 3/23/04 (Registration required)

4. "Clarke's Take On Terror," CBS, 3/21/04

5. See 3, above.

6. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.

7. "Ex-Bush Aide Sets Off Debate as 9/11 Hearing Opens," New York Times, 3/23/04 (Registration required)

8. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.

9. See 7, above.

10. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.

11. "Sept. 11: Before And After," CBS News, 3/20/04


12. "Excerpts from 'Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror' by Richard A. Clarke," posted on
NYTimes.com, 3/23/04 (Registration required)

13. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.

14. "Memoir Criticizes Bush 9/11 Response," Washington Post, 3/22/04 (Registration required)

15. "60 Minutes" interview; see 4, above.


PAID FOR BY MoveOn PAC
This message is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee
P.O. Box 9218, Berkeley, CA 94709

*Ø* Blogmanac | Iraq a big joke to GW?

TomPaine.com
From The Dreyfuss Report

"So Iraq is a big joke to President Bush. The frat-boy president thinks that not finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, at the cost of a nation ruined and tens of thousands killed, is a towel-snapping hoot.

"In perhaps the most tasteless display ever put on by a president, Bush made a funny out of Iraq at last night's Radio-TV Correspondents Association dinner. (No, I didn't go to that event. I haven't ever been to one of those yuck-yuck insider sessions ever, and I wouldn't go if I were invited, unless it were to investigate the participants.)

"Anyway, here is the account of Bush's supposedly hilarious appearance before the tuxedo-clad elite, from The Washington Post this morning:

'He [Bush] put up dorky looking pictures of himself. A recurring joke involved photos of the president in awkward positions -- bent over as if he's looking under a table, leaning to look out a window -- accompanied by remarks such as 'Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere!' and 'Nope, no weapons over there!' and 'Maybe under here?'

"That's funny? I wish the tape of the president cackling about his lies over Iraq could be broadcast on Iraqi TV. And maybe shown to the families of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq."

Source: tompaine.com/blog

*Ø* Blogmanac | Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Tell the American Public What You Know

From ActForChange
Contributed by Working Assets

The American people deserve to know the truth about 9/11, but National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice refuses to testify under oath before the 9/11 Commission.

Cabinet officials from the Bush and Clinton administrations are cooperating with the commission by testifying in detail under oath. However, the official in possibly the best position to shed light on decisions that may have contributed to the tragic events of September 11 would rather spin the situation in the media than help the independent bipartisan commission get to the bottom of a matter of crucial importance to all Americans.

Recent revelations by former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke raise troubling questions about the Bush administration's actions before and after September 11, 2001. But while Rice has found ample time in her busy schedule to make the morning talk show rounds for the purposes of attacking the former head of the National Security Council, she has refused repeated requests from the commission to testify in public and under oath.

Rice's refusal to tell Americans the truth about 9/11 is not a partisan issue. Reacting to Clarke's allegations, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) cautioned: "This is a serious book written by a serious professional who's made serious charges, and the White House must respond to these charges."

Call to action:

CLICK HERE and tell Condoleezza Rice to stop playing politics with the security of Americans and testify under oath before the independent bipartisan 9/11 Commission.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Is Bush Unhinged?/Voting For the Lesser of Two Police States

Is Bush Unhinged?
by Robert Higgs


Before you conclude that I myself must be unhinged even to raise such a question, ask yourself this: If a man talks as if he has lost contact with reality, then might he actually have done so? Granted that this possibility deserves evaluation, then consider President George W. Bush's rhetoric in his March 19 speech to diplomats and others at the White House.

The president begins by stating his interpretation of the recent bombings in Madrid, reiterating one of his recurrent themes of the past two and a half years: "[T]he civilized world is at war" in a "new kind of war." The concept of war, of course, ranks high among evocative metaphors. Not by accident have politicians declared wars on poverty, drugs, cancer, illiteracy, and an assortment of other alleged enemies. A society at war, as William James observed in 1906 in his call for the "moral equivalent of war," finds a reason for unaccustomed solidarity and – here's where the politicians come in – for unaccustomed submission to central government authority. James himself, after all, was arguing that "the martial type of character can be bred without war." Political leaders are always seeking to establish such character, with themselves in command of the battalions of "disciplined" subjects. Insofar as the so-called war on terrorism merely represents the latest attempt to bend the war metaphor to an obvious political purpose, we might well dismiss the president's rhetorical flourish as nothing but the same old same old.

Bush, however, will allow no such dismissal. "The war on terror," he insists, "is not a figure of speech." Well, I beg your pardon, Mr. President, but that is precisely what it is. How can one go to war against "terror," which is a state of mind? Even if the president were to take more care with his language and to speak instead of a "war on terrorism," the phrase still could not be anything more than a metaphor, because terrorism is a form of action available to virtually any determined adult anywhere anytime. War on terrorism, too, can be only a figure of speech.

War, if it is anything, is the marshalling of armed forces against somebody, not against a state of mind or a form of action. Wars are fought between groups of persons. We might argue about whether the United States can wage war only against another nation state, as opposed to an indefinitely large number of individuals committed to fanatical Islamism who in various workaday guises are living in scores of different countries. The expression "war on certain criminals and conspirators of criminal acts" would fit the present case better and would entail far more sensible thinking about the proper way to deal with such persons. The idea of war, obviously, calls to mind too readily the serviceability of the armed forces. Hence the application of such forces to the conquest of Iraq in the name of "bringing the terrorists to justice," although that conquest was actually nothing but a hugely destructive, immensely expensive diversion from genuine efforts to allay the threat posed by the Islamist maniacs who compose al Qaeda and similar groups. "These killers will be tracked down and found, they will face their day of justice," the president declares, speaking as always as if only a fixed number of such killers exist, rather than a vast reservoir of actual and potential recruits that is only augmented and revitalized by actions such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It would be a boon to humanity if the president could be brought to understand the distinction between waging war and establishing justice.

Carry on . . . it's VERY interesting!


===0===0===0===

Voting For The Lesser of Two Police States
by Anthony Gregory


In 2000, many libertarian-leaning voters decided to vote against Al Gore, giving their endorsement to rule the country to George W. Bush. Some others may have chosen the Democrat, and a depressingly small number gave their support to Libertarian candidate Harry Browne. Many libertarians did not vote at all, refusing to concede any legitimacy to the state, and engaging in what many have argued to be the best libertarian electoral strategy of them all.

The first group of voters I mention, not particularly thrilled with Bush, but utterly appalled by Gore, held their noses in the voting booths, and joined millions of comrades who shared the sentiment that eight years of Bill Clinton had pushed America in an unmistakably socialist direction, and Al Gore, if elected, would only accelerate the sad process. Clinton’s attempt to nationalize healthcare, his murderous attack at Waco, Texas, his belligerent, unconstitutional bombing of Serbia, his advocacy of myriad intrusions in business and the family – this legacy had to be stopped, and libertarian-leaning voters could not let Al Gore continue it, with his extravagant promises of a new millennium of increased central planning at home and foreign intervention abroad.

Bush promised a more "humble" foreign policy, respect for states’ rights on medical marijuana, a tax cut, and a fledgling Social Security "privatization" plan. Across the board, said many of my friends, George II was the lesser of two evils.

Of course, he also called for more education spending, bizarre "faith-based" welfare programs, and expanded Medicare coverage for seniors. "Even so," chided many of my friends, "he’s still the lesser of two evils."

By now, most sensible people have abandoned that theory. Bush won the presidency by the smallest margin in American history, and has pretty much gotten away with everything we feared Gore might have inflicted upon us.

Nowadays, many libertarian-leaning folks believe that John Kerry is the lesser of two evils. To stop America’s charge toward fascism, George W. Bush must lose in November. Which probably means, unless a third party candidate has unprecedented success, that John Kerry must win.

What would John Kerry do if elected? We can’t know for sure, but we can look at what he proposes, on just a handful of issues.

On foreign policy, Kerry believes in a "bold progressive internationalism that focuses not just on the immediate and imminent, but insidious dangers that can mount over the next years and decade, dangers that span the spectrum from the denial of democracy, to destructive weapons, endemic poverty and endemic disease."

Whoah boy! Kerry wants the U.S. government to go around the world and fix all the countries that aren’t democracies, confront the nations that have "destructive weapons" – as opposed to the other kind – and wipe out poverty and disease. Whereas many accuse Bush of lying about an "imminent threat," Kerry says that’s too high a standard for intervention. Sounds like a formula for invading the whole world.

Oh, boy. Don't stop reading now!!

*Ø* Blogmanac | WeConverge.net

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH -- Actions to Take to Make a Difference

Join Us At WeConverge.net!

From Stephen Dinan:

WeConverge has not been officially launched but there is already an expectant buzz! It feels like a vital part of translating the first stage of our Kucinich movement into an even more powerful second stage.

I’m writing today to ask for your help with building WeConverge. Since we’re doing this on a shoestring and the model for the site is one of distributed empowerment, a lot of it will look pretty empty until a good posse of change-agents moves in to homestead. That means register, start discussions, list events, add resources to the Resource area of the site, start groups, etc.

So I’m asking for three things to happen in the next 48 hours before the 20,000 cards we’ve distributed across the country lead to a flood of people logging in:


1) Go to the site and register yourself. This will allow like-minded progressives to find each other by neighborhood. http://www.weconverge.net

2) Start up some conversations on the discussion boards. Add the local peace march events for Saturday if you are attending.

3) Start populating the Resource Wikis. Wikis are very cool tools. They look like fairly plain web pages, but all the content is editable by YOU. Or whomever. Today, we have set up areas for states, for movements, for campaign hierarchies, for best practices, for book reviews, for networkers, for websites, but they are not yet linked to the home page. They are all virtually blank until someone starts filling them up. And then someone else comes along and improves upon the last person. If someone graffittis a page, you can revert back to the last saved copy. There’s a bit of a learning curve to adapt to the format, but I strongly encourage you to take fifteen minutes to learn how to do it because you can then help us grow an outstanding, ever-growing, always updatable resource library for the movement. Basically, all you do is click on a link at the bottom of any page and open it up for editing. Anything that you either put together with two capital letters MovementResources or [[enclose in double brackets]] will end up as a link to a fresh page, which you can then fill in ad infinitum. There are some other formatting tips on the homepage. http://www.civicactions.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WeConverge


One other thing: we’re doing an overhaul of the front-page which will improve the look and feel some, and then ratchet up again in the next week or two. So be patient. Lots of cool tools will be built, depending on time, money, and priorities. Imagine getting weekly newsletters with just local events and conversation topics! That’s just to whet your appetite for more…

Finally, we feel like this could REALLY take off and turn into a full-fledged, revolution-rockin’ PAC. We’re going to need lots of volunteers helping to build it. Especially:

-- Software person with PHPBB expertise. Other computer wizards welcome.
-- Legal advice from someone knowledgeable about the rules on creating PACs
-- Lots of busy people adding events, resources, newsletter links, etc. Use it to build your local network!


One more thing, the mission and vision statement have gone through a few rounds of feedback. Before it is formalized on the site, we’re still taking feedback and seeing if there are other refinements that help us find the sweet spot of shared mission while maintaining enough freedom and space for individual uniqueness. It’s below.

In spirit,

Stephen
stephen@radicalspirit.org


Mission:

WeConverge is committed to bringing positive change movements together into a powerful coalition to make substantial changes in our political system, communities, and personal lives.


Vision:

WeConverge connects people with one another and provides access to common tools, resources, and opportunities to gain greater power in society through collective action. We do not ask for commitment to a single political party, ideology, or strategy. Rather, we are committed to empowering those with a similar vision of the world we want to live in. That vision is of a world that:

-- Evolves beyond war and militarism

-- Lives sustainably and abundantly within our means

-- Builds effective and fair systems for relations between nations

-- Acts compassionately to extend health care, education, and jobs to all

-- Reforms politics and business to maximize transparency and fairness

-- Advances an agenda of civil rights, equal opportunity, and freedom

-- Fosters personal growth and increased consciousness

-- Honors the spiritual unity beneath all religions

We will focus on activities that support the creation of this world, with the intent to help people influence issues ranging from the local to the global. Finally, we affirm the importance of bringing celebration, creative expression, and love into the process of social change, as well as a healthy dose of laughter.


2004 focus: We believe that the 2004 Presidential election provides a unique opportunity for this newly emerging culture to gain strength, create changes, and forge enduring communities. For various reasons, progressives with similar values chose to align with different president candidates during the Democratic primaries. As the race appears to narrow to Bush, Kerry, and Nader, it is our belief that progressives have a window of opportunity to come together and advance fundamental changes. Our goal is to help organize and strengthen all progressive camps in the service of removing Bush from power AND maximizing the changes that are possible this year. We intend to develop lasting networks that will continue to grow in power after this election cycle.


History: Founded in March of 2004, the idea for WeConverge grew from the inspiration of Dennis Kucinich’s run for president. However, the founders recognize that the larger convergence of positive change movements extends far beyond his candidacy and includes many different camps, movements, and factions, all of whom share a similar compass setting for our future. We have created this forum for progressives to find their allies and organize around specific issues while also moving towards greater unanimity and consolidated political power. We plan to incorporate WeConverge as a 501 c4 Political Action Committee.


Dedication: We dedicate this network to the memory of Mike Pring, a tireless visionary who devoted his life to transforming our society and died unexpectedly on the eve of our launch. May the blazing torch of his life continue to light the path forward for years to come.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Interview: Richard Clarke

Julian Borger in Washington talks to former White House insider Richard Clarke about US's vulnerability to al-Qaida before the September 11 attack.

The Guardian

Excerpt:
JB: If there had been meetings on terrorism in that first eight months, do you think it would have made a difference?

RC: Well let me ask you: Contrast December '99 with June and July and August 2001. In December '99 we get similar kinds of evidence that al-Qaida was planning a similar kind of attack. President Clinton asks the national security advisor to hold daily meetings with attorney-general, the CIA, FBI. They go back to their departments from the White House and shake the departments out to the field offices to find out everything they can find. It becomes the number one priority of those agencies. When the head of the FBI and CIA have to go to the White House every day, things happen and by the way, we prevented the attack.

Contrast that with June, July, August 2001 when the president is being briefed virtually every day in his morning intelligence briefing that something is about to happen, and he never chairs a meeting and he never asks Condi rice to chair a meeting about what we're doing about stopping the attacks. She didn't hold one meeting during all those three months. Now, it turns out that buried in the FBI and CIA, there was information about two of these al-Qaida terrorists who turned out to be hijackers [Khalid Almidhar and Nawaf Alhazmi]. We didn't know that. The leadership of the FBI didn't know that, but if the leadership had to report on a daily basis to the White House, he would have shaken the trees and he would have found out those two guys were there. We would have put their pictures on the front page of every newspaper and we probably would have caught them. Now would that have stopped 9/11? I don't know. It would have stopped those two guys, and knowing the FBI the way they can take a thread and pull on it, they would probably have found others.

Full interview here

*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush 'undermined war on terrorism' by invading Iraq

Conor O'Clery, Washington:

"President George Bush's former counter-terrorism adviser stunned members of the 9/11 commission into silence yesterday when he asserted: 'By invading Iraq, the president of the United States has gravely undermined the war on terrorism.'

"It was the most dramatic moment in an extraordinary day of sworn testimony on Capitol Hill where the 10-member bipartisan commission is hearing evidence from top officials on events leading to 9/11.

"Mr Richard Clarke, who has retired after serving four presidents, testified that the Clinton administration had 'no higher priority' than combating terrorism, but before the attacks, the Bush administration treated it as 'important' but not 'urgent'.

"His testimony is potentially devastating for President Bush, who is fighting for re-election on the basis of his war on terror and Mr Clarke was sharply questioned by Republican members about his pointed criticism of Bush officials in a book published on Monday.

"He was accused of acting in a partisan way by former Navy Secretary Mr John Lehman, who said he had a 'credibility problem' because he had praised the administration's policies to the media in August 2002.

"Mr Clarke said that he was a registered Republican and that as a government official he had the option to resign or obey his instructions to put a positive spin on White House policy. 'I've done it for several presidents,' he said to laughter.

"The silver-haired former aide was applauded by the audience, many of them relatives of 9/11 victims, for making an apology for failing to stop the al-Qaeda attacks, the only top aide to do so."

Continue at the Irish Times

*Ø* Blogmanac | Microsoft faces 'record EU fine'

"Software giant Microsoft looks set to face the biggest fine in EU history for abusing its monopoly position.

"The European competition commissioner is set to reveal [on Wednesday] what penalties he is imposing on Microsoft.

"But EU member states met to discuss his proposals on Monday, after which leaks swirled round Brussels that it would be nearly 500m euros ($616m; £334m).

"Microsoft has a cash pile of more than $50bn, so even a fine on this scale is unlikely to hurt it commercially."

Full text at BBC

*Ø* Blogmanac March 24, 1832 | Tar and feather



1832 In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tarred and feathered Mormon leader Joseph Smith.

Tarring and feathering is a British punishment that dates back to the days of the Crusades (1191) and King Richard the Lionheart:

Concerning the lawes and ordinances appointed by King Richard for his navie the forme thereof was this … item, a thiefe or felon that hath stolen, being lawfully convicted, shal have his head shorne, and boyling pitch poured upon his head, and feathers or downe strawed upon the same whereby he may be knowen, and so at the first landing-place they shall come to, there to be cast up.
Translation of the original statute of Richard I; in Hakluyt’s Voyages, ii. 21


Tar was readily available in shipyards and feathers came from any handy pillow. Though the cruelty invariably stopped short of murder, the tar needed to be burning hot for application. The first record of this punishment is in 1189. A law was made that any robber voyaging with the crusaders "shall be first shaved, then boiling pitch shall be poured upon his head, and a cushion of feathers shook over it." The miscreant was then to be put ashore at the first port. (Rymer Fœdera, i. 65.)

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Time for Jewish Americans to say "enough!"



Leaders of many countries, including the United Kingdom, have roundly condemned the assassination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin. Only Bush's administration, and to a certain extent, Australia's Howard government, have been weak on it.

Imagine the craziness it took within Sharon's government to come up with this bizarre plot. Here is Ahmed Yassin: old, quadriplegic, almost blind and deaf, and by far the most popular spiritual leader in the Muslim world. The Israeli geniuses decide to kill him with rockets as he leaves morning prayers at a mosque. In his wheelchair. The effect this is having in the entire Muslim world – not just in Palestine – is that which you could imagine if Osama bin Laden were to kill the Pope as he's wheeled from the Sistine Chapel.

No, not for a minute am I intending to posit a moral equivalence between Pope John Paul II and Sheik Yassin. That's not the point at all.

How many people must now die because of Israel's actions? How many Israelis, Americans, Palestinians, Australians and Japanese must die because idiots like Bush and Sharon – and Australia's John Howard – do all in their power to enrage people they seem not to have any understanding of at all? Truly, this is mind boggling. Is it any wonder that 100,000 angry people attended yesterday's funeral, or that many Muslims are calling for a bloodbath?

It seems to me that Sharon is about as mentally unbalanced as any Palestinian leader, and must be stopped. There is basically only one force that can halt this rampant lunatic, and that is financial pressure from the United States of America. The USA gives half of its foreign aid to Sharon's little rich country, and most of it is squandered by this out-of-control regime.

If it is only the USA that can stop Sharon committing further acts of barbarity, then who can force the USA to stop him? Maybe nobody, but if anyone can do it, it seems to me that it is American Jews. It's clear that large numbers of them oppose the current dinosaur policies of the Israeli government. It is they who must counterbalance, and overturn, the present agenda of the well-funded and powerful Zionist lobby in the USA. I believe that Jewish men and women of goodwill can do it, whereas the rest of us, especially those of us who live outside the USA and look on with feelings of powerlessness, do not have such opportunities.

It's time to speak up, as the Middle East's flashpoint situation is much worse now, with tens of thousands of US troops in that benighted part of the world.

How is the world reacting to the assassination? Our global media portal is a good way to find out. There's a permalink in the left-hand column on this page, but here's another.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Does al Qaeda claim 9-11 responsibility?

If not, why not?

In my piece on March 15 (below) 'Is something rotten in the state of Spain?', I wrote:

"Let's not forget that bin Laden said that although he was pleased that the WTC was destroyed, he condemned the killing of its occupants, and emphatically stated that his organisation didn't do it."

I had a feeling I'd be asked for a citation. In fact, Nora asked for it, and here 'tis, the USA Department of Defense site, DefenseLink News, ten days after 9-11.

I thought I'd post this publicly for the record. It raises the questions I raised on March 15:

"Does it strike anyone else as peculiar that Al Qaeda would: claim responsibility for its bombings in the 1990s (as terrorist groups tend to do); then clearly and repeatedly deny having executed the 9-11 events; and now claim responsibility for the Spanish tragedy and point out that the Spanish bombings commemorated the 2-and-a-half-year anniversary of 9-11?"

Claims an inside job
Osama bin Laden is on record as telling the Karachi daily newspaper, Ummat:

"Neither I nor my organisation Al-Qaida is involved in the attacks and the US has traced the attackers within America.

"The attackers could be anybody, people who are part of the American system yet rebel against it, or some group that wants to make this century a century of confrontation between Islam and Christianity," he said.

Referring to evidence obtained by American intelligence, bin Laden said: "Ask this question to these intelligence agencies that get billions of dollars every year."

Ummat quotes bin Laden as saying: "We are against the American system but not the American people. Islam does not allow killing of innocent people, men, women and children even in the event of war."

Source: Ananova

More sources

As far as I know, and if I'm mistaken on this please tell me, the bombings admitted to by Al Qaeda in the 1990s were against embassies. While this is to be deplored, the targets might arguably be more military targets than the WTC, and so fit bin Laden's alleged opposition to killing innocent people. I admit I'm still hazy about Al Qaeda's pre-9-11 activities and the extent to which they have claimed responsibility for anything.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Former adviser dumps on Bush

Dubya did 'terrible job' fighting terror

"A former top White House terrorism adviser has accused President George W Bush of doing a 'terrible job' of defending the country against terrorism.

"Richard Clarke said in an interview on American television that the Bush administration ignored terrorism for months, when it could have done something to stop the attacks of September 11.

"He is due to testify later this week before a commission investigating the attacks.

"Mr Clarke also claims he was put under pressure to find what he says were non-existent links between Al Qaeda and Iraq.

"'Well [US Defence Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld was saying that we needed to bomb Iraq and we all said that "no, no, Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan, we need to bomb Afghanistan",' he said.

"'Rumsfeld said, there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq.

"'I said, "well there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with it".'
Source: ABC Oz


"Clarke criticizes [Attorney General John] Ashcroft over his response to the 2001 attacks, especially over handling of alleged 'dirty bomber' Jose Padilla as an enemy combatant. 'The attorney general, rather than bringing us together, managed to persuade much of the country that the needed reforms of the Patriot Act were actually the beginning of fascism.' Clarke says an unidentified staffer asked him after meeting with Ashcroft early in 2001, 'He can't really be that slow, can he?' Clarke's response: 'He did lose a Senate re-election to a dead man.'"
Source: SF Gate

*Ø* Blogmanac March 22 | Festival of the Entry of the Tree

For the god Attis, ancient Rome
(Origins of Palm Sunday)

The priests of the goddess Cybele would carry pine (some say palm) trees through the streets and today, for the god Attis. Over time, the sacred rites of this day were appropriated by the Christians, and they attached themselves to Palm Sunday.

In Roman mythology, Cybele’s lover and son, or grandson, Attis, betrayed the goddess, and she drove him mad. In his fallen state, Attis castrated himself and died of haemorrhage, violets, springing from his blood. (Castration apparently ran in the family. Attis’s mother was Nana, who was impregnated by an almond of the tree sprung from the severed genitals of Agdistis – Pausanias 7.17.8. Note that Pausanias’s version of the Attis story differs from others; there are several Attis myths.)

Fortunately for Attis, when he mutilated himself she was remorseful, and Zeus helped her resurrect him after three days. (The myth of Cybele and Attis has inspired one of the greatest of all Roman poems, the 93-line Attis of Catullus.)

A felled pine tree was covered with violets and carried to the shrine of Cybele on Mount Dindymus. It might be that one main tree was carried solemnly, and participants and bystanders waved smaller trees and branches. At the shrine, in what is obviously a Spring Equinox symbol for this life-death-rebirth deity, strikingly similar to Easter, Attis was mourned for three days until in ritual he was resurrected by the love of Cybele, following which the devotees engaged in joyous and unrestrained celebration.

The God was dead on March 22; his holy blood ran down to redeem the earth. Two days of mourning followed, but when night fell on the eve of the third day, March 25, the worshippers turned to joy.

For suddenly a light shone in the darkness; the tomb was opened; the God had risen from the dead ... [and the priest] softly whispered in their ears the glad tidings of salvation. The resurrection of the God was hailed by his disciples as a promise that they too would issue triumphant from the corruption of the grave.
Frazer, JG, The Golden Bough

Note that March 25 is nine months (the human gestation period) before December 25; ie, Spring Equinox is nine months before Winter Solstice ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Telling the shrub


"Antiwar rallies circle the globe

"Hundreds of thousands rally around the world against the U.S. occupation of Iraq on the first anniversary of the war."

So reads the headline in the Miami News. Hundreds of thousands? Why, 100,000 marched in New York alone. Millions worldwide, more like it.

See the Google News links of stories about the worldwide protests on Saturday. Here are just some of the headlines:

Worldwide rallies mark war anniversary
Seattle Times, WA - 18 minutes ago
By Nicole Winfield. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Rome yesterday demanding that Italy pull its 2,600 troops out of Iraq ...

Thousands protests against Iraq war
The Hindu, India - 33 minutes ago
New York, March. 21 (PTI): Thousands of peace activists held marches across the United States to mark the first anniversary of the ...

Protests mark Iraq invasion anniversary
London Free Press, Canada - 56 minutes ago
NEW YORK -- Thousands of protesters turned out around the world yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the start of the US-led invasion of Iraq and call ...

Global rallies for peace on anniversary of Iraq war
Xinhua, China - 1 hour ago
BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- More than one million anti-war protesters poured into the streets of cities around the world on Saturday's anniversary of the ...

Protesters worldwide want US out of Iraq
Houston Chronicle, TX - 1 hour ago
NEW YORK -- Hundreds of thousands of people around the world rallied against the US presence in Iraq on the first anniversary of the war Saturday, in protests ...

Antiwar demonstrators fill streets
Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription), MN - 4 hours ago
NEW YORK -- Thousands of protesters turned out nationwide Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the start of the war on Iraq and to call for the removal of ...

Thousands protest on anniversary of Iraq war
Gulf News, United Arab Emirates - 4 hours ago
Anger over the war in Iraq remained sharp on the first anniversary of the US-led conflict's start yesterday as protesters took to the streets across much of ...

Major Protests Mark Iraq War Anniversary
Guardian, UK - 6 hours ago
By VERENA DOBNIK. NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of people around the world rallied against the US presence in Iraq on the ...

Global anti-war protests on the Iraqi war anniversary
China Daily, China - 6 hours ago
A young boy takes part in an anti-war march in central Barcelona on the first anniversary of the start of war in Iraq, March 20, 2004. ...

In New York and Worldwide, Thousands Protest Iraq War
New York Times - 7 hours ago
Marking the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, crowds of sign-waving, slogan-chanting demonstrators marched through Midtown Manhattan and scores of ...

DAY OF ANGER
Gulf Daily News, Bahrain - 7 hours ago
Thousands of anti-war protesters poured into streets around the world yesterday, on the anniversary of the Iraq war to demand the withdrawal of US-led troops. ...

Huge Worldwide Protests Demand Iraq Troop Pullout
Wired News - 8 hours ago
By Grant McCool. NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than a million antiwar protesters poured into the streets of cities around the globe on ...

100000 at NYC rally as protests gather nationwide
Newsday, NY - 8 hours ago
By VERENA DOBNIK. NEW YORK -- Anti-war protesters turned out nationwide Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the US-led war ...

Thousands join protest in New York to mark 1st anniversary of ...
Xinhua, China - 9 hours ago
NEW YORK, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched through the streets of New York Saturday on the first anniversary of the Iraq war ...

Worldwide protests mark first anniversary of Iraq war
Japan Today, Japan - 9 hours ago
NEW YORK — Hundreds of thousands of anti-war protesters around the world took to the streets Saturday to denounce the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq ...

Worldwide protests demand Iraq pullout
Reuters, UK - 9 hours ago
By Grant McCool. NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than a million antiwar protesters have poured into the streets of cities around the globe ...


Read the Indymedia coverage from around the world. And the Sydney Morning Herald has a global gallery.

*Ø* Blogmanac | BATTLE LINES BEIN' REDRAWN


Many Americans are wondering, "Why are millions of people marching in protest against the United States' pre-emptive military actions in countries around the world? We're only trying to help! A little collateral damage is bound to happen. It's the cost of freedom and democracy for those suffering under despotic leaders, right? After all, we've got to keep Americans safe, no matter what!"


The mainstream media is brilliant at hiding from us what war is all about. We hear no body counts, we see no body bags, we take part in no ceremonies for the dead who are returned to the U.S. in Dover. God forbid we should know about the thousands of American troops suffering "on hold," awaiting treatment for their injuries at Ft. Knox and elsewhere, doomed to poor healing of wounds and broken bones due to lengthy waits for proprer treatment, as if we were a third world country. And that's just the Americans killed and injured! Even less breath is wasted on the worthless "others" we kill by the tens of thousands with culster boms dropped carelessly on residential areas, schools, markets, mosques, hospitals, museums, etc. They're merely collateral damage.

Here, at last, is a brilliant pictorial presentation depicting what people are suffering and what people elsewhere in the world are seeing in their media. Ask yourself the questions posed here and, please, forward this widely and freely with the caveat that the pictures are not for the young or the sensitive. Wait! Yes, they ARE! They're for everyone who needs to know the truth of what the United States is doing around the world.

MAKE YOUR CHOICE
(Keep refreshing the page -- there are 1,300 posters.)

Read on at the Book of Days

* Ø * Ø * Ø *

A country on the brink
As the one-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war passes,
the 7.30 Report's Kerry O'Brien asks the ABC's foreign affairs editor,
Peter Cave, what the future holds for a nation on the brink.
From Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)


Kerry O'Brien: Peter, I guess heightened tension would be an understatement as the anniversary approaches?

Peter Cave: It probably is Kerry. There's no doubt at all that this country is on the brink of a civil war and that there are people trying to push it over that brink.

The bombing last night that killed 29 [since revised down to 17] at a hotel not far from where I'm standing was one example. While that was happening there was also a rocket attack on American soldiers out at the airport. Two soldiers were killed there, another four or five were very badly wounded.

In Baquba, to the north, a couple of rockets slammed into a police station, narrowly missing the policeman there, narrowly missing a couple of American troops and very badly wounding two civilians who were standing outside the police station.

So certainly, as the anniversary approaches, as the handover to local control approaches, there are those here who are attempting to push it over that brink.

CONTINUE

Audio: Iraqi journalists snub Powell's Baghdad visit (NPR)

*Ø* Blogmanac | Two demonstrators from Greenpeace display banner

"Two demonstrators from Greenpeace display a banner beneath the clock face of Big Ben, in central London on the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, March 20, 2004. Two anti-war protesters climbed London's landmark Big Ben clock tower at the Houses of Parliament on Saturday ahead of a demonstration to mark the first anniversary of war in Iraq, police said. The pair reached the clockface 328 feet (100 metres) above London using ropes and mountaineering equipment after scaling the tower early in the morning."
Source: Yahoo/Reuters

* Ø * Ø * Ø *

Thousands march in anti-war protests
"About 4,500 people have rallied in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as part of a global day of action against the American occupation of Iraq.

"It is a year since United States-led forces invaded the country.

"About 2,000 protesters have marched to Hyde Park in the heart of Sydney ..."
Source: ABC Oz


[Real Broadband]

[Win Broadband]

[Real Dialup]

[Win Dialup]




*Ø* Blogmanac | Sydney: 7000 march for ‘Troops out of Iraq’

By Pip Hinman (no relation)

"SYDNEY – Australian troops should be pulled out of Iraq now. This was the unequivocal message from all speakers at the March 20 protest organised by the Stop the War Coalition. Some 7000 people joined a march around the city.

"Clearly, the Spanish election results had given anti-war activists a renewed sense of purpose. Howard was put on notice to pull the troops out, and ALP opposition leader Mark Latham urged to make a clear commitment to do the same if the ALP won the federal elections.

"Indigenous community activist Sylvia Scott welcomed the rally participants to Eora land and urged support for a March 24 protest against racist police attacks on Aboriginal youth.

"Andrew Wilkie and Senator Kerry Nettle argued that there had to be immediate phased withdrawal of the Australian troops. Nettle added that the troops should be out by June 30 – the date of the hand-over to the Iraqi Governing Council.

"Nettle announced that she was joining an international fact-finding mission to Iraq over Easter and would report back her findings across the country.

"Susan Price from Socialist Alliance and an activist in the National Tertiary Education Union, called on the leadership of the union movement – in particular the ACTU and the NSW Trades and Labor Council – to assist the fledging trade union movement in Iraq. The puppet Iraqi Governing Council has maintained the Saddam Hussein regime’s anti-union laws, she said.

"Keysar Trad, from the Lebanese Muslim Association, also called for the troops to come out. He pointed to the US government’s hypocrisy in its posturing over weapons of mass destruction: Iraq, which didn’t have any, was invaded whereas Israel, which is armed to the teeth including with nuclear weapons, remains Washington's close friend. Saif Abukeshek, a visiting Palestinian from the International Solidarity Movement, urged the crowd to support the Palestinian people's struggle for justice, a struggle he said that is linked to the Iraqi people’s.

"Actor Judy Davis gave a moving rendition of a Syrian poem about the futility and horror of war.

"The internationally-renown journalist John Pilger slammed the invasion of Iraq as a 'massive act of terror'. Bush, Blair and Howard will be the ones to blame for any terrorist attacks as a result of the Iraq war, he said to loud applause.

"Pilger slammed the establishment media for closing ranks behind the government's warmongering lies, challenging them to publish more of the truth and lift the level of public debate. He recounted how foreign minister Downer and deputy PM Anderson had both issued media releases attacking him after appearing on the ABC's Lateline program arguing that the occupation troops were legitimate targets of the Iraqi resistance.

"'This proves just how much Howard and Downer fear isolation', Pilger said, adding that Coalition of the Willing is falling apart following Spain’s decision to pull its troops out."

Source: No War Lismore


"In Melbourne, about 3,000 protesters were addressed by Terry Hicks, the father of Australian terror suspect David Hicks.

"Mr Hicks said David, who has been detained without charge at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should have been charged or released two years ago." Source: Yahoo News, which estimates 6,000 protesters in Sydney

*Ø* Blogmanac | GW canceling elections?

[Here's something I've been warning about since GW pulled his first
Executive Powers tricks on September 12, 2001, and practically every
day thereafter. -v]


Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me
by Dan Sullivan, Buzzflash

Fellow Americans, beware o' The Ides of September. Of GOP Conventions in mid-town Manhattan, and of World Trade Center Anniversaries.

In the months leading up those events, two questions should be asked and addressed in our public discourse, as well as by Bush Administration officials:

What is being done to secure and ensure the integrity of our Presidential election?

What happens if an election gets canceled?

That's right. Canceled.

Should it appear, by mid-September or early October, that he may be unseated, what's to stop the commander-in-chief, in this era of amorphous war on terror, from postponing our election for political gain, or simply canceling outright? Surely not the Constitution. Or the Supreme Court. Surely not a rubber stamp masquerading as the United States Congress. Popular will? Ha!

CONTINUE

*Ø* Blogmanac March 20 | Happy First Birthday, Shock and Awe

Tonight, British servicemen and women are engaged from air, land and sea. Their mission: to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair telling porkies, March 20, 2003; the 'Coalition of the Willing' invaded Iraq today

I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on November 14, 2002, speaking on National Public Radio and Infinity Radio, USA Source

Myths

JIM LEHRER: Rightly or wrongly, Mr. Secretary, I went back and checked the record today, the impression that was given in public statements and all that sort of thing was that when this war ended, this war was going to end, that when Saddam Hussein and his regime, you know, fell, then the rest of it was going to be kind of a mop-up. And I'm just –
DONALD RUMSFELD: Not by me.
Amnesiac Donald Rumsfeld, September 10, 2003 Source: PBS News Hour

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | I .... I .... I ... I ....

Dammit, this sticks in my craw, but here goes

Australia's a funny place, and we Aussies are a funny breed. We're better known, internationally, for our sports men and women, and showbiz types, than for our Nobel prizewinners or our 'public intellectuals', although there are plenty to name (stop laughing, I'm trying to think).

The level of public discourse is not what you would call highbrow. To be honest, it's almost nobrow. If you were to go into a Sydney cinema and yell "Fire!", it's a moot point whether the audience would catch your drift. Apparently quite a few people died watching Lethal Weapon in 1987 because of this, so it's a shame. Not a big one, but a bit of a shame.

Having said this, although the average Bruce or Sheila is not renowned for knowing their arse from a hole in the ground, we have a tradition of intellectual culture that has deep roots – witness the standards of our public libraries and universities. And my countrypersons have (as my countryperson, Germaine Greer, rightly pointed out), "built-in bullshit detectors". In this, I doubt we differ from our brotherpersons and sisterpersons in all countries. As the great Australian feminist author, Abraham Lincoln said ... something about how often you can fool folks. Not all the time. But Aussie bullshit detectors are pretty sophisticated – for a country that's sold off all its manufacturing to Richer Countries, so we can be the mineworkers, bedmakers and coffee pourers of the Southern Hemisphere.

Back to the chase. Now, Terra Australis has also produced two Big Rich Persons, by the names of Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer. Both are True Blue Aussies, despite the sissy names, and both became fabulously wealthy from selling ordure to many millions of people. Let me express that anew. Both became fabulously wealthy because they inherited immense fortunes from their dads who sold ordure, but they added to the inherited wealth with more ordure. Piles and piles of it. Piles of ordure, and dirty big piles of money.

Rupert (come on, what sort of name is that for a bloke?) turfed his Australian citizenship so that he could become a Yank in order to buy something or other (I forget exactly what he wanted ... the New York Times, or Disneyland, Camp David or some such), but we still call him an Aussie, because we still suffer our cultural cringe and have to blow the trumpet of any expatriate who's "dun good", regardless of how seldom they visit these shores. Don't get Sheila or Bruce started on "our" Errol Flynn, our Mel Gibson or our Bee Gees.

Rupert dun good. He owns half the world, half the world's media and half the world's transmission of 'facts'. He owns half our minds. Nuff said.

Kerry dun good, too. Not as good as Rupe, but good. He owns a few billion, the other half of the media (only in Australia), half the facts and the other half of our minds. Onya, Kezza!!

Now, one of Kezza's shiniest toys is called the Daily Telegraph (or, Daily Telecrap as the naughty ones call it). It is what we laughingly call a "newspaper" and it sells by the shiteload. Literally. You needn't worry about getting the important news in the Telecrap: why, if every man, woman and child in Africa were dropping dead because of lunar dust dropping on their continent, or if some scientist discovered George W Bush's brain was in the same zipcode as his beady eyes, you could be sure it wouldn't knock the latest Rugby League sex scandal off Page One. Not a prob. Don't sweat it. Kerry's got things under control at the Tele, just as he has on all those TV channels he owns. (The ones that Rupert doesn't.)

Let me round this up, and say what I was going to say. Phew. I have a compliment to pay The Goanna (what the naughty ones call Kerry). And that's this: although his Daily Telecrap today has the usual neanderthal pro-war editorial by some pubescent cadet journo who is just learning to hold a crayon, there is something else; something encouraging, something mind-shredding. And that's a reprint of David Rose's excellent article from that prestigious British journal, The Guardian, called 'How We Survived Jail Hell'. It's paginated between the Rugby League sex scandal and something about Courtney (retch) Love, but it's there, and it's a few pages long. It'll stretch the attention spanette of Tele readers, I guess. There'll be a lot of tired lips in Australian McDonald's family restaurants by the afternoon. But we need the exercise so we can Win the Gold at Athens, right?

Yes, Kerry Packer's Daily Telegraph today tells the story of how George W Bush's military goons are ill-treating uncharged men in Guantanamo Bay. The reprint leaves out nothing: the massacre of prisoners by the US-backed Northern Alliance, the cruelty, the inhumanity, the mental and physical torture. It also has today an opinion piece by Michael Duffy that isn't pro-war and is actually quite intelligent.

Kerry Packer is well aware that nobody ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the Australian reader, but he let this stuff get through today's edition (I hope he's not on the phone as I speak, sacking the editor). So, for once (and don't hold your breath for twice), oh boy, this is hard to write ... Mr Packer ... I ... I ... I salute Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

At ease.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Taken for a Ride

By PAUL KRUGMAN
March 19, New York Times

"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." So George Bush declared on Sept. 20, 2001. But what was he saying? Surely he didn't mean that everyone was obliged to support all of his policies, that if you opposed him on anything you were aiding terrorists.

Now we know that he meant just that.

A year ago, President Bush, who had a global mandate to pursue the terrorists responsible for 9/11, went after someone else instead. Most Americans, I suspect, still don't realize how badly this apparent exploitation of the world's good will — and the subsequent failure to find weapons of mass destruction — damaged our credibility. They imagine that only the dastardly French, and now maybe the cowardly Spaniards, doubt our word. But yesterday, according to Agence France-Presse, the president of Poland — which has roughly 2,500 soldiers in Iraq — had this to say: "That they deceived us about the weapons of mass destruction, that's true. We were taken for a ride."

This is the context for last weekend's election upset in Spain, where the Aznar government had taken the country into Iraq against the wishes of 90 percent of the public. Spanish voters weren't intimidated by the terrorist bombings — they turned on a ruling party they didn't trust. When the government rushed to blame the wrong people for the attack, tried to suppress growing evidence to the contrary and used its control over state television and radio both to push its false accusation and to play down antigovernment protests, it reminded people of the broader lies about the war.

By voting for a new government, in other words, the Spaniards were enforcing the accountability that is the essence of democracy. But in the world according to Mr. Bush's supporters, anyone who demands accountability is on the side of the evildoers. According to Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, the Spanish people "had a huge terrorist attack within their country and they chose to change their government and to, in a sense, appease terrorists." ...

But the bigger point is this: in the Bush vision, it was never legitimate to challenge any piece of the administration's policy on Iraq. Before the war, it was your patriotic duty to trust the president's assertions about the case for war. Once we went in and those assertions proved utterly false, it became your patriotic duty to support the troops — a phrase that, to the administration, always means supporting the president. At no point has it been legitimate to hold Mr. Bush accountable. And that's the way he wants it.

E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com

Read the full text here

*Ø* Blogmanac March | 700 named in Iraq's death toll after a year of slaughter

As the anniversary of the Iraq invasion approaches, Iraq Body Count has been able to establish the names of almost 700 civilians killed in Iraq between March 19th 2003 and February 29th 2004 as a direct consequence of the US/UK invasion and subsequent occupation.

The list, periodically updated and permanently available on the Iraq Body Count website, details
(where known) name, age, gender, place of death, cause of death, and the media sources from which they were obtained.

Although this list provides details for less than 7% of the 10,000 civilians reported killed during the same period (see http://www.iraqbodycount.net/bodycount.htm), it is the closest so far to a truly comprehensive accounting and memorial for the civilian dead in Iraq. Among the 692 deaths listed there are 106 females, 421 males and 94 known to be under 18 years of age.

As world opinion increasingly turns against the US-led coalition for the lies that forced war on a powerless country, and for the chaos into which Iraq has now sunk, the human details pieced together in the Iraq Body Count list paint in graphic and poignant form the terrible, true cost of this war: the pointless loss of husbands, wives, sons and daughters of a proud but suffering people.
Source: Iraq Body Count media release

*Ø* Blogmanac | Israeli Lobby Slips Anti-Free Speech Bill Through

Bill Can Still Be Defeated in Senate if Citizens Act Now
By Michael Collins Piper
From americanfreepress.net

"The Israeli lobby has launched an all-out drive to ensure congressional passage of a bill (approved by the House and now before a Senate committee) that would set up a virtual federal tribunal to investigate and monitor criticism of Israel on American college campuses.

"Ten months ago the New York-based Jewish Week newspaper claimed that the report by American Free Press that Republican members of the Senate were planning to crack down on college and university professors who were critical of Israel was "a dangerous urban legend at best, deliberate disinformation at worst." In short, they were saying AFP lied.

"Now the truth has come out. On September 17, 2003 the House Subcommittee on Select Education unanimously approved H.R. 3077, the International Studies in Higher Education Act, which was then passed by the full House of Representatives on October 21. The chief sponsor of the legislation was Rep. Peter Hoekstra, a conservative Republican from Michigan ..."
Source: pagans4peace

*Ø* Blogmanac March 19 | Las golondrinas: the swallows of Capistrano

Today marks one of the natural wonders of the world, though by no means unique as marvels of migration of insects and birds are around us every day, whether we notice or not.

Swallows traditionally return to Capistrano Mission, California, USA, from Goya, Corrientes province, Argentina, on or around St Joseph’s Day (March 19) each year, greeted by large numbers of locals and visitors from all over the world. It is one of the planet’s best-known equinox (or near-equinox) events.

In 1998, monks from the Mission had to entice the swallows with ladybugs and other insects, as renovations at Capistrano had frightened them away ...

* Ø * Ø * Ø *

First day of Quinquatria, Festival of Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom, ancient Rome (Mar 19 - 23)
The name of this festival to Minerva derives from its duration of five days. It was also known as the Minervalia. The Palladium statue which had supposedly fallen from Olympus was carried in procession during the Quinquatria.
On this, the the first day (the Quinquatrus), sacrifices and oblations were offered, though no blood was spilled.

Throughout the festival, plays would be enacted and public discussion of the arts openly encouraged. The festival was also associated with the opening of the campaign season; during this time the arms, horses and trumpets of the army would be ceremoniously purified at Rome ...

These are just snippets of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Light relief for bloggers

I was reading quite "heavy" news this morning when I came across this, and I have to admit that it caused more than a little mirth! (Mind you, the guy had guts. LOL)

"OSAMA" RUNS FOR LIFE

"A driver who tried to run down a long-bearded pedestrian he mistook for terror chief Osama bin Laden has been given a three-month suspended sentence.

"He chased the shopper through Montpellier, southern France, running a red light and driving through a pedestrian zone.

"The man escaped when the car hit a staircase. The driver, who was not identified, told a court yesterday: 'My fears over the global terrorist threat we are continually facing must have made me delirious.' He must pay £300 compensation to the victim."

Source
Original

*Ø* Blogmanac March 18 | Sheelah's Day, Ireland

Dedicated to Sheelah-Na-Gig, Goddess of Fertility
The day following St Patrick's is Sheelah's day. Some say she was Patrick's wife (but the Catholic Church would surely not allow this), some say his mother.

Traditionally, shamrocks are again displayed, although last night the shamrock was 'drowned' in the last drink. At the turn of the 20th century, one sarcastic observer wrote that the holiday's adherents "are not so anxious to determine who 'Sheelah' was, as they are earnest in her celebration". He tells us that revellers would take the shamrock they had been wearing since St Patrick's day, the day before, plop it in the drink, and drown it in the last glass, at the end of the night's drinking.

Sheelah is an old Irish term for a slovenly or muddling woman, particularly an old one. In Australia, with its very Irish background, the term 'sheila' is still common (though culturally self-conscious, ie, rarely used these days except jocularly and somewhat mockingly of old Aussie manners) slang for 'woman'. Perhaps the day after St Patrick?s obtained the name without any reference to the calendar of saints.

'Sheelahs' or 'Sheela-na-gigs' are gargoyles on ancient Christian churches in Ireland and throughout the British Isles. Stone carvings of one persona of the Goddess, they show a woman, often with her legs open and exposing her vagina.

* Ø * Ø * Ø *

On this day in 1910, American escapologist Harry Houdini flew a heavier-than-air machine at Digger's Rest. This was probably the first such flight in Australia.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 17 | St Paddy's competition

Blogmanac team member Nora Ui Dhuibhir from Dublin has graciously donated three Irish Celtic brass bookmarks for our readers.

I have one myself that I use and it is really very attractive.

This being St Patrick's Day, our question is about Ireland's famous saint.
The question is, what was the name of the place of Patrick's birth?
No, not Ireland, and a clue is, it starts with B. (Britain is not the answer either.)

The answer is here on the Blogmanac
and here http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/patrick.html
and even here http://www.bluefudge.com/wilsonsalmanac/book/mar17.html

I will mail to the first three correct entries a brass bookmark.

To enter: Put the one-word answer in the subject header of your email. That's all.
I will reply by email to the three winners only and ask their postal details.

Good luck, and happy St Paddy's Day to our thousands of members in dozens of countries.

Abundance and gratitude

Pip Wilson
Wilson's Almanac free daily ezine
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com

PS Send a St Patrick's Day card to a friend

PPS If you want to find more about Irish heritage and genealogy, this page is for our members.

Stop Press: We have our winners, thanks.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Yeeee-hah!!



The Ballad of George Bush

(Sing to the tune of the /Beverly Hillbillies/ theme)

Come and listen to my story 'bout a boy name Bush.
His IQ was zero and his head was up his tush.
He drank like a fish while he was drivin' all about.
But that didn't matter 'cuz his daddy bailed him out.

DUI, that is. Criminal record. Cover-up.

Well, the first thing you know little Georgie goes to Yale.
He can't spell his name but they never let him fail.
He spends all his time hangin' out with student folk.
And that's when he learns how to snort a line of coke.

Blow, that is. White gold. Nose candy.

The next thing you know there's a war in Vietnam.
Kin folks say, "George, stay at home with Mom."
Let the common people get maimed and scarred.
We'll buy you a spot in the Texas Air Guard.

Cushy, that is. Country clubs. Nose candy.

Twenty years later George gets a little bored.
He trades in the booze, says that Jesus is his Lord.
He said, "Now the White House is the place I wanna be."
So he called his daddy's friends and they called the GOP.

Gun owners, that is. Falwell. Jesse Helms.

Come November 7, the election ran late.
Kin folks said "Jeb, give the boy your state!"
"Don't let those colored folks get into the polls."
So they put up barricades so they couldn't punch their holes.

Chads, that is. Duval County. Miami-Dade.

Before the votes were counted five Supremes stepped in.
Told all the voters "Hey, we want George to win."
"Stop counting votes!" was their solemn invocation.
And that's how George finally got his coronation.

Rigged, that is. Illegitimate. No moral authority.

Y'all go vote now. Ya hear?


If you like this little ditty you can thank me by going to the polls and voting George Bush out of Washington!

Be a responsible citizen and Vote!

This one from Chris Keeley of Daily Dreamtime blog

*Ø* Blogmanac | Not getting Wilson's Almanac ezine from Yahoogroups?

If your Wilson's Almanac ezine is "bouncing" back to us, Nora's reply to my Yahoogroups rant below might have the key.

It could be that your ISP has blacklisted all bulk mail, and your favourite ezines, e-groups and e-newsletters have been caught in their net.

Our team member Nora's solution (happy St Patrick's Day, by the way, Nora in Ireland!) is the best. Phone your ISP and ask them to whitelist all Yahoogroups mails. This should be easy enough for them to do, and lots of their clients will be grateful you did it, as almost everyone subscribes to one or more YG's.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Will y’ be wearin’ the green on St Patrick’s Day?

Will you be wearin’ the green on March 17?

And will ye be drownin’ the shamrock as well? For ’tis St Patrick’s Day, one of the most widely celebrated national and religious feasts in the world.

St Patrick's day is celebrated around the world, but you won't be finding the Irish in their native land drinking green-coloured beer, wearing enormous shamrocks, or dressing in green from head to toe.  They might be marching in a parade, having a night out, or taking the opportunity to get away for a long weekend. 

Elsewhere, however, this is the day of days for those with even the slightest claim to Irish blood (and even for some of those without), a day when all can revel in the pride of association with that remarkable race of people which has contributed so much to world culture.

Celebration of this saint’s day reaches its highest fervour in several parts of the United States, where St Patrick’s Day Parades have long been a part of the multicultural calendar. Irish immigrants made up a large segment of American society by the nineteenth century, particularly after the disastrous Irish potato famine of 1845-47, during which time emigration and death reduced the population of the small island by two million souls. Even during the preceding century, the homesick Irish naturally gathered in their adopted countries, such as America and Australia, on the day of their national patron saint to celebrate their Irishness.

Today the annual St Patrick’s Day parade in New York draws hundreds of thousands of participants and spectators. Dating back to 1762, this event is a parade of international fame and significance, in which Irish-Americans and Irish "wannabes" let their hair down. The parade in Boston reaches back even further in time, having first been celebrated in 1737.

America’s oldest Irish society, the Hibernian Society, was founded in 1812 in Savannah, Georgia. The next year they held their first private procession, the forerunner of Savannah’s famous annual St Patrick’s Day parade. In Savannah, as in other parts of the States, you can close your eyes and hold your nose to partake in some of the ubiquitous green-dyed beer and green donuts.  

Saint Patrick was an historical character who was born in an unknown place called Bannavem, probably in England or South Wales, about 389 CE. His father, Calpurnius, was a Roman official and deacon of the Christian Church.
 
At the age of 16, Patrick was captured by Celtic raiders and spent six years as a slave swineherd on an Irish farm, where he learned the Irish language, until he escaped to Europe. There he studied theology and was sent by Pope Celestine I back to Ireland to teach the natives about Christianity.  

Landing at Wicklow in 432, he soon established religious communities and churches, despite the relentless opposition of the established religion of the pagan Druids – a religion that in succeeding centuries was fiercely suppressed. 

Showing great courage, Patrick even preached the Gospel to the High King of Tara, and eventually the faith which he had brought to the Emerald Isle won over almost completely, as is evidenced even today. (Of course, there were many other Christian proselytisers who did the work besides Patrick, as well as many potentates and preachers who felt it their duty to destroy the indigenous religions.)

Patrick’s life story, as it has been passed down over the centuries, is delightfully replete with miraculous events and adventures. As every schoolchild knows, it was he who was responsible for the fact that there are no snakes or similar vermin in Ireland even yet.

Several versions exist to tell how he performed this miracle. One relates how the good saint beat a drum whenever he entered a town. On one occasion, he beat his drum on Mount Croagh Patrick (later named after him, in County Mayo), and, proclaiming his intention to rid Ireland of snakes, beat the drum so hard as to punch a hole in it. When simultaneously a huge black serpent appeared, the locals thought Patrick’s faith was insufficient for the task. Suddenly, however, an angel of the Lord appeared and mended his drum, and as Patrick beat his instrument the snakes vanished from the land ...


This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Iraq: one year after invasion

"Try to explain the crimes against humanity of September 11, 2001 and we were anti-American. Warn readers about the crazed alliance of right-wingers behind Bush, and we were anti-Semites. Report on the savagery visited upon Iraqi civilians during the Anglo-American air bombardment, and we were anti-British, pro-Hussein, sleeping with the enemy."

Robert Fisk at Information Clearing House

*Ø* Blogmanac | Will's will online

"William Shakespeare's will is now available to the public to read online, nearly 400 years after the playwright put quill to paper.

"The historic document, in which Shakespeare famously bequeathed his 'second-best bed' to his wife, has been put on the web by the [UK] National Archives."

Story
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

*Ø* Blogmanac | David Kelly inquest not to be reopened

"The Oxfordshire coroner today ruled out reopening the inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly. Nicholas Gardiner, the coroner, had the right to conduct a fresh inquiry into the weapons scientist's death if he was not satisfied with Lord Hutton's findings into the cause of his death ...

"Mr Gardiner acknowledged he had received letters from medical experts but said it was not exceptional for experts to disagree among themselves, and that he had not been persuaded by them to reopen the inquest."

Full text at the Guardian

Mills and Boon strike again

*Ø* Blogmanac March 16 | The Finnish St Patrick, just for fun



Feast day of St Urho, the grasshopper slayer
Finland’s answer to Ireland’s St Patrick, Urho expelled the grasshoppers from Finland. Raising his staff, he intoned, “Grasshopper, grasshopper, go to hell!”, and they accommodated him, and the country’s wine-grape crop was saved forever. Of course, St Urho is a made-up saint, just for fun.

Some say that a Finnish-American store owner in Minnesota, USA, became weary of his Irish-American employees always asking for March 17 off in honour of St Patrick, and it was he who invented St Urho ...

All over the USA, Finnish Americans commemorate today as a national celebration ...


This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 16 | Festival of boys passing to manhood, ancient Rome

Liberalia, ancient Rome
(From Liber, or Liber Pater, a name of Bacchus.) Bacchanalian feasts were banned in 186 BCE by the Roman Senate because of extreme licentiousness, except by special permission of the senate, and for only five initiates at a time. However, the Liberalia, another festival of Bacchus, was celebrated on March 16, as we know from Ovid, Fasti iii.713. Adorned with garlands of ivy, priests and old priestesses carried through the city wine, honey, cakes and sweets together with an altar in the middle of which was a small fire-pan in which sacrifices were sometimes burnt.

The Romans had a god Liber and goddess Libera, his counterpart. In his original Roman conception, Liber was probably a god who presided over male fertility and especially the act of ejaculation. After the formation of the Aventine triad, he absorbed the mythology of Dionysus. This was a festival of liberation from "the powerlessness of childhood" in which boys aged about 15 - 17 took off for the last time their purple-bordered purple togas (the toga praetexta) and donned the unbleached woollen toga virilis, or toga libera that represented their manhood. As long as a male wore the praetexta, he was impubes, and when he assumed the toga virilis, he was pubes.

The boys removed the phallic bullae charms – which had protected them in youth – from around their necks and offered them to the household gods. Their fathers took them to the Forum in Rome and presented them as adults and citizens. This was in the days when male rites of passage were encouraged.

An infans was incapable of doing any legal act. An impubes, who had passed the limits of infantia, could do any legal act with the auctoritas of his tutor; without such auctoritas he could only do those acts which were for his benefit. With the attainment of pubertas, a person obtained the full power of his property, and the tutela ceased: he could also dispose of his property by will; and he could contract marriage.

Originally the two deities Liber and Libera had something to do with germination and creation. Later they were merged with Bacchus. Women called Sacerdotes Liberi (priestesses of the two gods) on this day sat on the footpaths tending foculi, portable altars, and for a fee they sacrificed honey cakes (liba).

Stein (Stein, Diane, The Goddess Book of Days, Llewellyn Publications, St Paul Minnesota, 1989) calls this a "women's festival of Bacchus dedicated to the Maenads", but most sources emphasise that it was a male festivity.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Longinus and the Spear of Destiny

Feast day of St Longinus, the centurion converted at the Crucifixion
Biblical authors Matthew and Mark both tell of the Roman centurion who said "Truly this man was the son of God", and tradition calls him Longinus. He was popular in medieval legend, and said to have been blind. Presumably in medieval times a blind centurion was believable. However, he didn’t remain blind forever. Pontius Pilate ordered him to spear Christ in the side – the blood ran down his spear, into his eyes and restored his sight ...

The Spear of Destiny
“A legend grew around the lance that whoever possessed it would be able to conquer the world. Napolean [sic] attempted to obtain the lance after the battle of Austerlitz, but it had been smuggled out of the city prior to the start of the fight and he never got a hold of it. According to the legend, Charlemagne carried the spear through 47 successful battles, but died when he accidentally dropped it. Barbarossa met the same fate only a few minutes after it slipped out of his hands while he was crossing a stream. 

“The spear finally wound up in the possession of the House of the Hapsburgs and by 1912 was part of the treasure collection stored in Hofburg Museum. According to Ravenscroft it was in September of that year, while living in Vienna and working as a watercolor painter, that a young Adolf Hitler visited the Museum and learned of the lance and its reputation ..."

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Is something rotten in the state of Spain?

Does it strike anyone else as peculiar that Al Qaeda would: claim responsibility for its bombings in the 1990s (as terrorist groups tend to do); then clearly and repeatedly deny having executed the 9-11 events; and now claim responsibility for the Spanish tragedy and point out that the Spanish bombings commemorated the 2-and-a-half-year anniversary of 9-11?

Let's not forget that bin Laden said that although he was pleased that the WTC was destroyed, he condemned the killing of its occupants, and emphatically stated that his organisation didn't do it. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. But something's fishy and out of character with an organisation that, according to the conventional wisdom, chops and changes in its propaganda about its activities.

I don't have the answers, but I think I smell the stench of Operation Northwoods again and again. I wonder if in a few years time another Judge Sirica will be asking Dubya: "What happened to the 18 minutes of tape, Mr President?"

*Ø* Blogmanac | Spanish government ousted in elections

MADRID (Reuters) - "Opposition Socialists claimed victory in Spain's general election on Sunday as voters apparently punished the government over Madrid bombings that may have been retaliation by al Qaeda for the Iraq war ...

"Some Spaniards were vitriolic in accusing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of 'manipulating' public opinion by spending three days blaming the bombings of four packed commuter trains on the Basque separatist group ETA, despite its denials ...

"The Socialists have pledged to withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from Iraq if the U.N. does not take control by June 30 when Washington plans to hand power back to Iraqis. Opinion polls showed as many as 90 percent of Spaniards opposed the Iraq war."

Full text

*Ø* Blogmanac | US - 'Special skills Draft' on drawing board

Computer experts, foreign language specialists lead list of military's needs

"Washington -- The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages.

"The Selective Service System has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request.

"Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, said planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts had begun last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military needed more people with skills in those areas."

Continue at sfgate.com

*Ø* Blogmanac | Ireland or bust!



Announcing “Ireland Or Bust!” Arik Huber drove his recycled boxcar down Sheridan Avenue in Cody [Wyoming] Saturday afternoon. His “On The Road To Ireland” entry in the St. Patrick’s Day parade was to promote cardboard recycling.
Source

*Ø* Blogmanac | Granny D is on the road again

It's good to see 94-year-old activist Granny D is on the road again, drumming up voter registrations for the coming US elections.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 14 | The Mamuralia and scapegoating

Feast of the Mamuralia, ancient Rome
This festival was celebrated during the time of the Republic. A man clad in furs was beaten with rods and driven beyond the bounds of the city, a practice said to have commemorated the expulsion of the smith Mamurius Veturius from the city, as Rome had suffered because of shield he had provided. It seems that Mamurius represented the old year, depicted as the god of war, Mars. This festival also celebrates the art of armour making.

On this day, Frazer (Frazer, Sir James George (1854–1941), The Golden Bough, 1922, Ch. LVIII) tells us (originally the day before the traditional first full moon of the new year which began on March 1), a man dressed in goatskins would be ceremonially beaten with long white rods and chased out of the city in a rite of purification. Mamurius, representing the old year and all its troubles, is thus purged from the community.  

Mamuralia and the scapegoat
This ritual of scapegoating is not uncommon in world cultures and religions – Frazer investigates some of these – and may be said to find an echo in the passion and execution of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament (Leviticus 16) deals with the concept of the scapegoat (literally an animal) and prescribes the methods of ritual: But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat [Azazel goat; pronounced in Hebrew as aw-zah-zale, translated as scapegoat in the King James Version] shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat (Lev. 16:10).

It seems to your almanackist that there might be a duality in the person of the scapegoat as both Christ and Satan, beast and homo fabricus – man who imposes order on creation, often to the detriment of Nature, for which atonement must be made (Hebrews 9:28, NIV: so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people). For 1 Enoch, 8:1,2 reveals (quite remarkably) that, like Mamurius, Azazel was a blacksmith: And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures.  

One might add that the association with the god of war is implicit, beyond Azazel’s role as the teacher of manufacture ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | U.S. unloading WMD in Iraq?

[This one is worth watching, but I'd like to see some corroboration - N]

"TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) – Over the past few days, in the wake of the bombings in Karbala and the ideological disputes that delayed the signing of Iraq’s interim constitution, there have been reports that U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq.

"A reliable source from the Iraqi Governing Council, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that U.S. forces, with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to conceal their actions."

Continue here

*Ø* Blogmanac | Anti-government protests in Spain

Sat 13 March, 2004 22:28
MADRID (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters have taken to the streets across Spain this evening, on the eve of a general election, demanding to know "the truth" behind rail bombs that killed 200 people in Madrid two days ago.

Witnesses in Madrid and other major cities reported protesters gathering in squares on Saturday night, shouting slogans like "Don't Manipulate Our Dead!", and banging pots and pans to denounce the ruling Popular Party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

The demonstrations followed the Spanish government's announcement that it has arrested five people, some possibly linked to Moroccan militants, for the train bombs in Madrid.

Many of the protesters slammed the government for initially saying the prime suspect was Basque separatist group ETA.

"This is a dictatorship!" protesters shouted in Madrid. "Before we vote, we want the truth." More than 5,000 crowded round the PP's headquarters in Madrid, flanked by riot police.

"It's a technical coup d'etat if a government retains information. That's not playing clean," a 32-year-old engineer, who gave his name as Rafa, said in Madrid."

Continue

*Ø* Blogmanac | Freed detainee to sue US

"A [UK] Midland man held as a suspected terrorist for more than two years at Camp Delta is to sue over his captivity and will sell his story.

"The father of Ruhal Ahmed of Tipton said his son is to seek compensation from both America and Britain and will listen to media offers."

Source

Meanwhile:

Powell: No torture at hell camp

"US Secretary of State Colin Powell last night denied claims by a British prisoner at [sic] Guantanamo Bay that he was badly treated. Freed Jamal al-Harith, 37, claimed Camp Delta detainees were shackled for up to 15 hours, tortured and abused for confessions.

"Mr Powell insisted: 'I think that's unlikely. It is not in the American tradition to treat people in that manner.' Source

[Who mentioned American traditions, Colin? You and your gang have shown scant regard not only for American traditions, but international law, so pardon me if use a phrase my mother used to use, "I believe you. Thousands wouldn't". - N]

*Ø* Blogmanac | National "I'm Embarrassed by My President" Day -- April 1st, 2004

From Our Friend Eric at EP-Rants:


National "I'm Embarrassed by My President" Day
April 1st, 2004

Are you embarrassed by the arrogance, greed, shortsightedness, selfishness, and outright lies told by George W. Bush?


Join tens of thousands of others across the country and world and wear a brown armband or ribbon to symbolize all the BS coming out of the White House.

It's not just that I disagree with the current administration. I'm outraged. And I'm downright embarrassed to talk to anyone from another country. I'm embarassed to have a President so arrogant, so dishonest, so hawkish, that in three years, he has nearly destroyed any good relations we had before he took office, and worsened those that were already bad.

I find myself apologizing to my foreign friends both in this country and abroad while trying vainly to explain the sheer idiocy and illogic of the current administration's policies.

So this April 1st, April Fools day, join tens of thousands of others who are wearing brown armbands or ribbons to signify the bullshit flowing down from Washington.

Making the armbands is easy -- just use tape and cut a brown paper bag, brown cloth, a brown sheet, ribbon, or anything else into strips 3 inches wide and 12-24 inches long. Or get brown ribbon. If you make a band for yourself, then make lots of spares to pass on to friends and strangers.

MORE INFORMATION

*Ø* Blogmanac | Millions protest - but who did it?

"Up to two million people have taken part in a demonstration against terror in the Spanish capital Madrid a day after bomb attacks killed nearly 200. European leaders joined the protest to show solidarity. Millions more Spaniards joined similar rallies and vigils held across the country, which remains in mourning ...

"Spanish editorial writers are demanding answers before voters go to the polls on Sunday, because the culprits' identity might influence people's choice of party.

"The ruling Popular Party campaigned on a hardline stance against ETA but also defied popular opposition by supporting the US-led war against Iraq -- which may have triggered an attack by al-Qaeda.

"Thursday's attack was the worst act of terrorism in modern Spanish history and the deadliest in Europe since the Lockerbie airliner bomb killed 270 in 1988."

Source: BBC

*Ø* Blogmanac | Ex-Guantánamo Detainee Charges Beating

"LONDON, March 11 — One of the British detainees released from Guantánamo Bay has charged that he was brutally beaten by the American military police, and that he and his fellow captives were subjected to mistreatment and humiliation.

"In an interview published Thursday in The Daily Mirror, Jamal al-Harith, 37, who goes by the name Jamal Udeen, also said that American military officials had brought prostitutes to the detention facility 'about 10 times' and had paraded them before the younger and more devout Muslim prisoners as a form of 'psychological torture' ..."
Source: NY Times

Thanks to Lynn Perry who sends so much good stuff to us.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 13, 1962 | Operation Northwoods

1962 USA: The Joints Chiefs of Staff (the heads of the US Army, Air Force and Navy) presented a plan to Secretary of Defense, Robert S McNamara, which suggested using terrorism in the USA to turn opinion towards a US invasion of Cuba.

Long believed to be residing in the imagination of conspiracy theorists, the Operation Northwoods document was declassified in recent years by the Freedom of Information Act [Book of Days shows images of two of these documents].

We can be thankful that the military's plan was not enacted, for more reasons than one. McNamara has recently revealed that it was not till years after the Cuban Missile Crisis (began October 15, 1962), he discovered that Castro's Cuba had complete nuclear missiles; he and Kennedy had been incorrectly briefed by the CIA that the delivery systems were 'on the water' in a shipment from the USSR ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Jonestown audio documentary online

Have you ever heard Father Cares, the NPR documentary about Jim Jones and Jonestown?

It's one of the most gripping docos I've ever heard, mainly because so much of it isn't just dry academics and journalists discussing the Jonestown tragedy of November 18, 1978, but because of the extensive tape recordings of the evil maniac, Jim Jones himself. Like Nixon, he seemed to need to record everything.

It's unsettling, troubling, compelling. The audio fleshes out one of the weirdest events of last century, and a man whose charismatic wickedness is really quite unbelievable.

*Ø* Blogmanac | League of Liberals' Bloggers' Round-Up

Caution: Some posts contain adult references to
certain members of the administration.


"TRICKS? YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRICKS!"

No doubt this was one of the proposed anti-Bush ads that Move-On decided not to accept for their contest, perhaps because it doesn't say anything about Hitler or Nazis. I'll only point out the philosophical flaw when this says Our Noble Leader has "the total combined intelligence of a wet sock and a mud brick". That is mixing apples and oranges, since it is no more possible to combine the minds of such different substances than it is to have a "marriage" between two people of the same gender. Don't try this at work, but if you want to see how juvenile liberals' sense of humor is, turn on your computer's sound and visit THIS SITE. There's another example of how silly leftists are, with absurd charges of racism in a Texas Republican primary, (no, really!!) in my March 2 posting. --Ayn Clouter.


* Ø * Ø * Ø *


Bringing Up the Dead

It's sad to see how good Catholic girls like Jeanne D'Orleans, corrupted by liberalism, are promoting denunciations of Our Noble Leader like this one by Jimmy Breslin at "He molests the dead". There's more theology at my March 7 post, "Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition". --Ayn Clouter


* Ø * Ø * Ø *


Your Majesty John Kerry?

According to Reuter's Kerry's blood might be bluer than Bush's... and that may mean winning the White House in November.


* Ø * Ø * Ø *


Mainstream Media Equates Liberal with Traitor

Unfortunately Ann Coulter's not the only one making this ridiculous connection.


* Ø * Ø * Ø *


BushWorld Too Unstable for Market Strength

EXCERPT from Anonymoses:

To fix the economy, we need to send a signal to the world, and to average Americans, that help is on the way. Real help this time. Not help in the form of a moribund economy. Not in the form of Shock and Awe and other environmental hazards. Not in the form of a secret Business Government whose goal is "Big Cookie", but whose means is raiding the cookie jar.

Democrats have proven that they can better be trusted with the common well, and the common wealth.

America can be a generator of healing. Healing ourselves and the world on many levels, none of which entail surgical strikes or Shock and Awe.

Help is on the way. If Bush were a good man, he would step out of the way.

Please. You cried when you left Crawford.

Be happy. Go home.


* Ø * Ø * Ø *


Mad Kane Hires An Ombudsman

For years I've been flooded with emails challenging the accuracy of MadKane.com. At first I did what most publications do -- I ignored them. But as time went by, I realized that something had to be done. So in keeping with recent trends and in the interest of sound journalism, I've appointed an ombudsman who'd like to be known only as "Bud." Here's part of Bud's first report:

• The poem entitled Dubya's Poetic Injustice states that during George W. Bush's Election 2000 campaign, Bush promised to be a "compassionate conservative" and to have a "humble foreign policy." After this poem was published, we learned that Bush was "crossing his fingers" whenever he made those promises, so "they didn't really count." We regret this error.
  
  

• According to a State of Disunion crossword puzzle clue, President Bush believes that raising twins is even harder than waging war. While Bush did in fact make that statement, he has since changed his mind and now acknowledges that waging war is "an itsy-bitsy bit harder than raising twins." We are sorry for failing to keep up to date on this issue.
  

• In Dubya's Don't Blame Me Song the lyricist itemizes several things as not being George W. Bush's fault, including the jobless rate, 9/11, the mission accomplished banner, and the lack of WMD's. We have since learned that many more things weren't the President's fault and we regret our lack of comprehensiveness.
  

The rest of
Ombudsman Bud's first report is here.

*Ø* Blogmanac | What has happened to Yahoogroups?

Yahoogroups is driving me crazy.

More than 1,000 of approx. 2,700 subscribers to Wilson's Almanac ezine are bouncing today and it keeps growing every day. I've been bouncing too, twice in the past two weeks. Unless I'm very much mistaken, Yahoogroups has its settings way too sensitive as the Bounce mechanism just keeps getting worse.

The other big bug I have with YG is that this year they've been putting the footer at the head of YG messages, ezines and newsletters. It happened overnight and seems to apply to all groups. Some footer. What to do? I'm considering my options.

The whole Bounce routine is ridiculous, as I'm sure any YG moderator will agree. If they must bounce subs, surely the moderator should be able to unbounce them en masse. Each one takes half a minute to unbounce manually. Just try doing that with 1,000 subscriptions in your spare time, Mr Yahoogroups. Five hundred spare minutes isn't easy to find.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Republicans Targeted Martha Stewart?

Was Martha Stewart Targeted Because She is a Major Democratic Contributor
and a Woman? Where is Ken Lay?
Thursday, March 11th, 2004


No charges have yet been brought against former Enron chairman Ken Lay
who was a close friend of President Bush and a major Republican campaign
contributor, while Martha Stewart, who is a major Democratic contributor,
faces up to 20 years in prison for lying to a federal investigator.

The Bush presidency has been marked by war. The invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and now the apparent overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti. But these three years have also been marked by rampant corporate crime. Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, WorldCom have all become household names. The Bush administration has said that it is a priority of the president to crack down on corporate crime. But most of the CEOs and corporate officials responsible for the collapse of huge companies and the loss of thousands of jobs walk the streets with no criminal charges and no jail sentences hanging over their heads.

No charges, for instance, have been brought against Ken Lay, who was chairman of Enron when its $9 billion collapse in 2001 ended the jobs of more than 5,000 workers and decimated the retirement savings of millions of investors. Lay is a close friend of Bush and a major Republican campaign contributor. In fact, Lay was one of his closest advisers, one of his "pioneers," raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Bush's campaign. After Enron collapsed, Kenny Boy--as Bush referred to his friend--became Mr. Lay.

Instead, the poster-child for this new crack-down on corporate crime is Martha Stewart. She is facing up to 20 years in prison after a jury found her guilty on all charges last week for covering up her sale of ImClone stock just before the price plummeted. Quite the opposite of Lay, who is deeply tied to the Republicans, especially the Bushes, Martha Stewart is a major contributor to the Democrats. She has given more than $150,000 in political contributions--all of it to the Democrats. This according to United Press International.

The Stewart decision was frontpage news across the country. Headlines screamed "Martha Stewart convicted on all counts in stock-trading trial." But what many people don't know is that the government did not charge Stewart with insider trading. In addition, the judge threw out the most serious charge in the case - securities fraud. So what was Martha Stewart guilty of? Basically, of lying to a federal investigator. The law, which lawyers usually call 1001, for the section of the federal code that contains it, prohibits lying to any federal agent, even by a person who is not under oath and even by a person who has committed no other crime. [Emphasis added. -v]

Harvey Silverglate, a criminal defense and civil liberties attorney based in Cambridge, Mass.
Elaine Lafferty, Editor-in-Chief of Ms. Magazine.
Bethany McLean, co-author of "Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron." She is also a staff writer for Fortune magazine.

SOURCE

[Think about it! She's found guilty of lying while NOT under oath about a charge for which she was found NOT GUILTY! And there are people who are saying "She got what she deserves." It makes no sense! Why such hate? As it turns out, there are notes that show she had planned to sell Imclone at 60; besides, the mere fact that Wachsel was selling his shares is NOT insider information! Insider information is something known only by a few about the company itself--not about what someone else is doing with shares. Total railroading. Alan Dershowitz, on The Charlie Rose Show last night, said that it was very bad use of a bad law by the prosecutors and very bad defense on the part of Martha's attorneys, to say nothing of the fact that jurors said they would have liked to acquit but, according to judge's instructions, they had nothing to work with for that choice! Miscarriage of justice, much? Horrible! -v]

*Ø* Blogmanac | Ireland - referendum to be held to restrict citizenship

"The Government is preparing to hold a constitutional referendum in June to remove the automatic right to Irish citizenship from the Irish-born children of non-nationals.

"Voters will be asked to empower the Government to restrict citizenship rights in what the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, described last night as a measure to remove an incentive for foreign mothers to give birth in Irish hospitals.

"The move comes after several years of Government concern over the growing number of foreign women presenting late in their pregnancies to give birth in Ireland ...

"Mr McDowell characterised the initiative as an effort to prevent 'citizenship tourism'.

"He said the Republic was the only EU member to grant an automatic citizenship right and, therefore, an EU passport."

Full text at the Irish Times

*Ø* Blogmanac | Yikes! Holy communion for pets?

"For the first time in 10 years, Mary Wilkinson went to church one Sunday in January.

"What drew Ms Wilkinson back into the fold was a new monthly program the church introduced -- holy communion for pets. As part of the service, the 59-year-old retired portfolio manager carried her 17-year-old tiger cat to the altar, waited in line behind three panting dogs to receive the host and had a special benediction performed for her cat, Purr Box Jr. 'I like that the other parishioners are animal people,' Ms. Wilkinson says."

Full text at the Wall Street Journal
Source

*Ø* Blogmanac | Guantanamo five freed without charge

"The four British men released from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba were freed by police without charge last night. [The fifth had already been released - N]

"The men had been held under the Terrorism Act at Paddington Green station in west London after they were flown to Britain on Tuesday by the RAF.

"They were freed after anti-terrorist police, working with MI5 and the Crown Prosecution Service, agreed that there were no grounds for their detention...

"Dergoul's brother said M15 had flown out to Cuba three times to interview the British detainees and found nothing. 'They have not got a shred of evidence against them and I know that because I received reports about it.'

"Steven Watt, a British lawyer with the US-based Centre for Constitutional Rights who represented Rasul and Iqbal in taking their case to the US Supreme Court, was scathing about their detention.

"He said: 'I think what happened in terms of them arriving at a military base in the UK and taken into custody was just window dressing for the benefit of the US government.'"

Full text

*Ø* Blogmanac | Latham: Work, Family & Community



Mark Latham recently became leader of the ALP (Australian Labor Party) and thus Leader of the Opposition. He will soon be fighting it out with the (misnamed) Liberal Party's John Howard, the Prime Minister, for political leadership of Australia.

The following is not news, but I thought his speech to the National Press Club contained some good, progressive ideas for Western nations in general, so I post some excepts here:

* Ø * Ø * Ø *

Work, Family & Community: A Modern Australian Agenda
Speech by Mark Latham
February 18, 2004

Two weeks ago, as part of my bus trip through northern New South Wales, I held a community forum at Gosford. It was a tremendous gathering – more than 500 people came along to put their concerns to me face-to-face.
Of the 31 questions, only two were about economics and one was on foreign policy. The rest were about people:

The quality of our society.
The breakdown in community relationships.
Loneliness, isolation and stress.
Youth homelessness and the drug problem.
Disabilities and the aged-care crisis.
Male suicide, mental health and the need for mentoring programs.
These are the concerns of mainstream Australia. After 30 years of globalisation and economic change, people are asking: what has happened to our society?

How do we relate to each other now? How do we help each other and create stronger communities? How do we rebuild the identities and relationships of a good society?

This is the pressing issue of our time, but unfortunately, it has gone missing in the public debate.

While the political system tends to argue for either more market forces or more government, the people themselves have a different priority. They want more society, more community – a new sense of belonging, a new set of social relationships.

Among the people that I talk to, there is a real interest in localism. During a time of constant change and uncertainty, many people glaze over at the thought of complex macro-politics.

Their primary interests are at a family and neighbourhood level. The things they can touch and influence: reading to their children, improving the local school, fixing up the local park and making the neighbourhood safer.

People haven't lost all interest in politics. They haven't totally disengaged. They just want politics to be relevant to their needs and interests at a local level.

This is a real passion among women in particular. Traditionally they have done much of the community work in society. Now they want more recognition and back-up from government.

This is where we need to rethink the role of public policy. Ultimately, the choice between market forces and state bureaucracy is flawed. It ignores the space in the middle where people come together with a sense of common purpose and community. It ignores the voluntary associations and interests that make up civil society.

A good society requires more than high incomes and government services. It needs strong, healthy relationships within active communities. For too long, government policy has ignored this vital part of our national life.

Labor recognises that there is more to life than money. We understand that our community is awash with social problems that will not be solved by government spending alone. We intend to tackle the challenges presented to our society by loneliness, family breakdown and youth alienation.

But to do so, we need to change our approach. Much of the modern state is based on a top-down system of control. The parliament passes laws and funds programs. And it is assumed that civil society will respond to these laws in a manner consistent with the government mould.

This is the traditional way of encouraging responsibility and creating services. But it doesn't necessarily create stronger communities. Civil society has its own agenda, determined in the complex relationships between people.

Top-down processes have little impact on community life. It's not possible, for instance, to introduce a Social Capital Bill into Parliament and think that this will automatically increase the level of trust and cooperation in society.

The new role for government is to act as a facilitator or enabler: creating the social environment in which people are more likely to have contact with each other, working together in trusting relationships.

Social capital is not like a financial asset or stock of goods that can be banked away. It lies in the relationships between people – if they don't use it, they lose it ...

Each year, governments in Australia invest just a couple of million dollars on mentoring programs – less than the travel bill for most Commonwealth agencies. Surely, we can make better use of our prosperity as a nation.

This is where a Labor Government will assist: linking generations of Australians through the power of mentoring, providing relationship support for our youth.

Mentoring will be our first investment in social capital, mobilising the leadership role of government to create stronger relationships. This is the best way of solving social problems: putting relationships at the centre of government decision-making and working with people locally to rebuild communities ...

More (has audio)

*Ø* Blogmanac | As US Detains Iraqis, Families Plead for News

"BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 6 — Sabrea Kudi cannot find her son. He was taken by American soldiers nearly nine months ago, and there has been no trace of him since.

"'I'm afraid he's dead,' Ms. Kudi said.

"Iraq has a new generation of missing men. But instead of ending up in mass graves or at the bottom of the Tigris River, as they often did during the rule of Saddam Hussein, they are detained somewhere in American jails.

Although the insurgency has cooled, with suicide attacks against civilians now eclipsing armed clashes with American troops, American forces are still conducting daily raids, bursting into homes and sweeping up families. More than 10,000 men and boys are in custody. According to a detainee database maintained by the military, the oldest prisoner is 75, the youngest 11 ... [emphasis mine]

"Iraq has turned into one big Guantánamo," Mr. Allami said, referring to the United States military prison in Cuba where hundreds of terrorism suspects are being held, mostly without charges."
Source

Our team member Nora sent this one to me by email. She wasn't feeling well so I posted it on her behalf. I hope you're feeling better, today, Nora!

*Ø* Blogmanac | Attacks on "Threshold Rights" in America


From DUG:

Crossing the threshold
While we’re all fretting over the Patriot Act, John Ashcroft’s
Justice Department is after much bigger game
By Harvey A. Silverglate and Carl Takei

Excerpt:

Yet the hue and cry raised over the Patriot Act has distracted most of us from the Bush administration's far more dangerous assault on another class of liberties, which might be called "threshold rights."

After all, the Patriot Act can be rolled back if the people decide that the government has overreached or the emergency has receded, and some provisions of the act have automatic expiration dates.

But threshold rights — fair elections, open and publicly accountable government, judicial review of executive action, the right of the accused to a public jury trial, separation of powers among the three branches of government, and the rights to free expression and free association — are structural, and therefore changes to them are more enduring.

CONTINUE

I'm very concerned. Which one of you is the Karnal bunt causing all this trouble?

*Ø* Blogmanac March 8, 1906 | The Moro Crater Massacre

They were mere naked savages, and yet there is a sort of pathos about it when that word children falls under your eye, for it always brings before us our perfectest symbol of innocence and helplessness; and by help of its deathless eloquence color, creed and nationality vanish away and we see only that they are children – merely children. And if they are frightened and crying and in trouble, our pity goes out to them by natural impulse. We see a picture. We see small forms. We see the terrified faces. We see the tears. We see the small hands clinging in supplication to the mother; but we do not see those children that we are speaking about. We see in their places the little creatures whom we know and love.
Mark Twain

1906 US troops occupying the Philippines attacked the stronghold of an "unruly" band of hill Moros, mowing the stubborn tribespeople down with a combination of artillery fire and infantry assaults.

All these Moros – 600 men, women and children, were killed. Eight years previously, in 1898, philosopher William James and other prominent US intellectuals had formed the Anti-Imperialist League to educate the public on the horrors of US policy in the Philippines. Despite the group's efforts, however, there was no great public outcry, and US destruction and domination of the Philippines continued.

Major Littletown Waller [accused of killing 11 defenceless Filipinos] said that General Smith instructed him to kill and burn, and said that the more he killed and burned the better pleased he would be; that it was no time to take prisoners, and that he was to make Samar a howling wilderness. Major Waller asked General Smith to define the age limit for killing, and he replied “Everything over ten.”

An American military detachment attacked a village of Filipino Muslims (Moros) living in the hollow of a mountain in one of the southern islands. Every one of 600 men, women, and children were killed. This was the Moro Crater Massacre, which drew an angry response from Mark Twain and other anti-imperialist Americans. Twain led the Anti-Imperialist League which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the United States. He wrote 'Incident in the Philippines' (1924) in response to the Moro Crater Massacre.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Clean Up Oz

The 15th annual Clean Up Australia Day has attracted its largest ever number of volunteers across the nation, with 677,000 people out of 20 million population giving up time today to collect rubbish. I hope I remember next year. Clean slipped my mind. I suppose I could still find some junk by the road as it's full moon.

Anyway, good on Ian Kiernan AO who started it and runs this thing each year.

And full marks to a good bloke, Premier Bob Carr who has used the Clean-Up Australia Day lead-up to announce he is prepared to take the lead in banning plastic shopping bags. An average of half a million shopping bags are collected during Clean Up Australia each year, but that's a drop in the (polluted) ocean when you consider that Ozzies use 7 billion checkout bags a year. Mea culpa on that one too, though I reuse most of them as bin liners.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 7, 1973 | Kohoutek

1973 Comet Kohoutek was discovered; it attained perihelion on December 26, 1973.

Kohoutek was hyped by the media as the ‘comet of the century’, but gave a poor display and was considered a letdown, leading some to nickname it ‘Comet Watergate’.

Many people and some groups, particularly the Children of God aka The Family (a cult within the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s), predicted that Kohoutek was an omen of the end of the world, or Apocalypse, or at least the destruction of America.

'Moses' David Berg (d. 1994), the Children of God leader wrote, "But it will be a 40 day warning culminating somewhere in January, most likely between the 11th and 21st of January" (The 3rd Letter of Moses on the Comet!, 12 November 1973, p. 1). Just before this impending destruction, many Children of God members moved to Europe.

Comets as portents
Comets have a long history of association with prognostications of doom. In 1066, for example, Halley's Comet was in the sky for two months while the English and Normans planned for a Norman invasion. At the Battle of Hastings on October 14, the Normans were victorious and from that time on the comet was said to have been a sign that favoured William the Conqueror.

In 1665 a comet was held responsible for the Black Plague that killed 90,000 people in London.

In 1997, the Heaven’s Gate cult believed that Comet Hale-Bopp was similarly associated with apocalyptic prophecies. Wacky leader Marshall Applewhite convinced 39 followers to commit suicide on March 26, so that their souls could take a ride on a spaceship that they thought was hiding behind the comet.

Australian doomsday cult leader William Kamm ('The Little Pebble') as recently as July 15, 2000 had Comet Kohoutek in his apocalyptic pronouncements ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush's Watergate?

[The Bush administration has been trying to hide the truth of many matters behind closed doors, delay tactics, holey stories and, of course, bald-faced lies. Americans have grown up over the past three years. We know the Santa Claus story and all about the Tooth Fairy. We want the facts about 9/11. Yes! We CAN handle the truth! We MUST have the truth! We know there's something happening and we must know what it is -- before it's too late. November 4th is too late! Thank you, Stephen, for bringing this, maybe the first, but hopefully not the last, of the mainstream research of this all-important subject to the fore. -v]


From Stephen Dinan, RadicalSpirit.org:

Greetings all,

I have been paying attention for some time to the movement of people who are convinced that the official 9-11 story is not the real one. An impressive amount of evidence has accumulated, with books, conferences, videos, and websites pointing to established facts that are very hard to reconcile with the official story. However, I have been waiting on publicizing any of this work widely until it felt right. That time is now.

The reason is the publication of a new book: The New Pearl Harbor: Was the Bush Administration Complicit in 9/11? It has been written by David Ray Griffin, one of the most established and respected philosophers of our day, with something like 20 books to his credit. He is a grounded, sober, and very established academic who has little to gain from a book like this and a lot to lose. I have met him and respect his work. He’s not a fringe guy fed up with the system who simply wants to undermine it. He’s a man who has devoted his life to studying and explicating the truth, mainly in the realm of philosophy and theology and he’s never done a book anything like this. Here’s his website at Claremont. While I have not read the book yet, I have ordered three copies and people whose opinions I trust and who saw advance copies say that it is a breakthrough. It does not conclude exactly what level of deception has occurred but merely illuminates just how many holes, problems, and likely illusions there are in the official story, pointing towards the necessity of a much deeper investigation.

As you may know, the 9/11 Commission will hold two days of public testimony from top people in the Bush administration at the end of this month, according to the Associated Press. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet will testify publicly in a federal commission inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks. This will be the last official opportunity to grill them. It is thus imperative to activate a much deeper level of inquiry and activism around this information quickly.

I think this book and the 9-11 material in general will play a key role in electoral politics this year, seriously undermining Bush’s credibility, especially since he’s working to capitalize on 9-11 to win votes. The implications of this investigation are more than worrisome. What I strongly encourage people to do is read the reviews I have pasted below, order the book directly from the publisher so you can get it quickly (Amazon won’t have it in stock for a week or two), and start campaigns to the press and members of congress to bring up the questions that must be asked.

Personally, I think this is Bush’s Watergate, the scandal that can undermine his power in a way that even a $150M war chest cannot fix. It is thus vital that this investigative work is advanced and contemplated by anyone interested in removing him from power next year. I ask that you simply keep an open mind and investigate the evidence that Griffin has assembled here, making up your own mind.

Best,
Stephen


Order "The New Pearl Harbor" here

Reviews of the book

*Ø* Blogmanac March 6, 1835 | Mill and Carlyle: friendship only singed, not burned

"One of the grimmest episodes in the history of combustion"

Mill's maid burned Carlyle's French Revolution history manuscript

1835 In the evening, English philosopher and former child prodigy John Stuart Mill knocked at the door of his friend, the Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle.

Mill had fostered Carlyle’s interest in the French Revolution, so Carlyle had asked his friend if he would read the manuscript of his first volume of a history that he had written on the subject.

Ashen-faced, Mill had the unpleasant duty of telling his friend that his, Mill’s, maid had mistaken for the manuscript (the only copy in those quill-pen days) for garbage, and had lit the fire with it. All that remained of the historian’s hard labours were several burned pages. Thirty-nine-year-old Carlyle had laboured for five months without income to produce the volume:

“Had Carlyle stooped to journalism and adapted himself to the every day routine of the professional man of letters – The Times, for instance, was thrown open to him – he might rapidly have won an assured position for himself. Instead, he buried himself in French history, laboured unremittingly at his French Revolution, while months passed when not a penny came into the domestic exchequer.”
Cambridge History of English and American Literature (1907 - 21), Vol. XIII

Carlyle’s journal for the following day, March 7, 1835, tells the tragic story more poignantly than I can:

"Last night at tea, Mill’s tap was heard at the door. He entered pale, unable to speak; gasped out to my wife to go down and speak with Mrs Taylor whom Mill later married; and came forward (led by my hand, and astonished looks) the very picture of desperation.

"After various inarticulate utterances to merely the same effect, he informs me that my First Volume (left out by him in too careless a manner, after or while reading it) was, except four or five bits of leaves, irrevocably ANNIHILATED!

“I remember and can still remember less of it than of anything I ever wrote with such toil. It is gone, the whole world and myself backed by it could not bring that back: nay the old spirit too is fled.

“I find it took five months of steadfast, occasionally excessive, and always sickly and painful toil ...

“Mill very injudiciously stayed with us till late; and I had to make an effort and speak, as if indifferent, about other common matters: he left us however in a relapsed state.”

Mill offered a sum of two hundred pounds in compensation, which his gentlemanly friend at first declined. Carlyle changed his mind and later told Mill that he would take the money after all. He used it to buy paper, and by January, 1837 he had recreated his masterpiece. It was different, but perhaps better: Wikipedia’s article on Carlyle notes: “The resulting second version was filled with a passionate intensity, hitherto unknown in historical writing.”

George Eliot wrote, “No novelist has made his creations live for us more thoroughly than Carlyle has made Mirabeau and the men of the French Revolution … What depth of appreciation, what reverence for the great and godlike under every sort of earthy mummery!”

The French Revolution was published in three volumes (Ralph Waldo Emerson helped him publish it in America), and received great critical acclaim. Mill, of course, among the enthusiastic reviewers. Fortunately for Carlyle, eldest of nine children of a poor stone mason, sales were good and he was able to continue working at home on his writing projects.

Kindness to Mill
As more evidence of the fine character of the Scottish historian, the following letter which Carlyle wrote the very next day to cheer Mill up, says it all:

7th March 1835, Chelsea

My Dear Mill,
How are you? You left me last night with a look which I shall not soon forget. Is there anything that I could do or suffer or say to alleviate you? For I feel that your sorrow must be far sharper than mine; yours bound to be a passive one. How true is this of Richgter: "All Evil is like a Nightmare; the instant you begin to stir under it, it is gone."

I have ordered a Biographie Universelle this morning; - and a better sort of paper. Thus, far from giving up the game, you see, I am risking another £10 on it. Courage, my friend!
Carlyle

He also wrote the day after the calamity to Sir James Fraser: “I can be angry with no one; for they that were concerned in it have a far deeper sorrow than mine: it is purely the hand of Providence; and, by the blessing of Providence, I must struggle to take it as such.” He did not mention Mill’s name to Fraser.

Writer Cullen Murphy has rightly called it “One of the grimmest episodes in the annals of combustion.”

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 5, 1981 | Cannibal Alferd Packer exonerated

1981 USA: Alleged murderer and cannibal Alferd Packer was exonerated posthumously. However, Governor Lamm later denied Judge Kushner's request for a pardon.

The Alferd Packer case is one of the most infamous episodes of the Wild West, and a case that is far from resolved.  

Alferd (or Alfred – he preferred the misspelling which he took from a badly done tattoo) Packer is often known as the only American ever convicted of cannibalism, though in reality his conviction was for murder, not cannibalism. In 1874, sometime between February 9 and April 6, Packer was embroiled in a massacre and the eating of human flesh in the snow-bound San Juan mountains (in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado). He later confessed to killing one man in self defence, and to cannibalism due to starvation, but denied having murdered.

On February 9, 1874, a party of six left for Gunnison, Colorado. At an unknown date, the party got hopelessly lost, ran out of provisions, and became snowbound in the Rockies. Packer allegedly went scouting and came back to discover one of his party, Shannon Bell, roasting human meat. According to Packer, Bell rushed him with a hatchet; Packer shot and killed him. It was Bell who had gone crazy due to starvation, and hacked the others to death with a hatchet, Packer maintained. Unfortunately, over the years, Packer’s confessions were inconsistent.

Legend has it that Judge Melville B Gerry sentenced Packer with “There was seven Democrats in Hinsdale County, but you, you voracious, man-eatin' son of a bitch, you ate five of them. I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until dead, as a warning against reducing the Democratic population of the state.”

In fact, Judge Gerry’s statement is replete with florid Victorian prose:

“I do not say these things to harrow your soul, for I know you have drunk the cup of bitterness to its very dregs, and wherever you have gone, the sting of you conscience and the goadings of remorse have an avenging Nemesis which have followed you at every turn in life and painted afresh for your contemplation the picture of the past. I say these things to impress upon your mind the awful solemnity of your situation and the impending doom which you cannot avert. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. You, Alfred Packer, sowed the wind; you must now reap the whirlwind. Society cannot forgive you for the crime you have committed. It enforces the old Masonic law of a life for a life, and your life must be taken as the penalty of your crime. I am but the instrument of society to impose the punishment which the law provides. Will society cannot forgive it will forget. As the days come and go, the story of your crimes will fade from the memory of men.”


Alfred has been humorously memorialised by a movie, a musical, several cookbooks, a collector's doll, and the Alferd Packer Grill for students at the University of Colorado – all very amusing, unless of course Packer's claims of being “unjustly dealth with” [sic] are true. However, the matter is still one of much debate.

David P Bailey, Curator of History at the Museum of Western Colorado has made claims that recent forensic evidence helps vindicate Packer ...


This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush: Gay Marriage Wiped Out Life On Mars

Red Planet Went Pink, President Reveals

"In a nationally televised address last night on the subjects of gay matrimony and space exploration, President Bush revealed that gay marriage wiped out all life on Mars millions of years ago.

"'The Mars rover tells us that Mars at one time was host to a great civilization, perhaps even more advanced than our own,' Mr. Bush said. 'But that civilization and all living things in it were ultimately destroyed by gay marriage.'

"While the Mars rover has found evidence of water necessary for sustaining life, it has found no evidence of life itself, 'leading one to the unavoidable conclusion that gay marriage must have destroyed it,' Mr. Bush said.

"'The Martians, for all their advancements, obviously neglected to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage,' Mr. Bush said. 'We follow their example at our peril.'

"In the Democratic response to the President’s speech, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) denied that there was any evidence that the so-called Red Planet had, in the words of Mr. Bush, 'gone pink.'

"Senator Bayh went on to say that while the Mars rover had in fact discovered traces of water, the rover offered 'no evidence whatsoever' of gay Martians.

"'We now know that Mars was a wet planet,' Sen. Bayh said. 'We do not know how it got wet.'

"Later, Mr. Bush backed off his claims somewhat, saying that if gay marriage did not destroy life on Mars, then Saddam Hussein did."

For more go to: www.borowitzreport.com

*Ø* Blogmanac | Haiti - Convicted human rights violators must not be allowed power

From Amnesty International:

At least eight convicted or indicted human rights violators are currently at large in Haiti and must be brought before the justice system immediately, a new report by Amnesty International says.

Convicted human rights violators Louis Jodel Chamblain and Jean Pierre Baptiste ('Jean Tatoune') are currently leading the rebel forces circulating freely in Port-au-Prince. Amnesty International is extremely concerned that international forces present in Haiti have permitted rebel forces led by perpetrators of past abuses to effectively take control of part of the capital. The organization fears that they may join forces with former military and paramilitary colleagues who, until reportedly escaping from the National Penitentiary on Sunday, were being imprisoned on human rights grounds.

"The Multinational Interim Force must ensure that the safety of police and judicial officials, witnesses and human rights defenders who were involved in bringing these perpetrators to justice in the first place is guaranteed, as they are at risk of reprisal attacks," Amnesty International said.

Full copy of Amnesty report

*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush ads enrage 9-11 families, firefighters

Families of those who died in the attacks on 9-11 are "enraged" about Bush's exploitation of the victims in his election ads, says this story. And so are the firefighters whose colleagues died in the tragedy. I know politicians are mostly cynical, but how crass is this guy? A village in Texass is missing an idiot.

*Ø* Blogmanac | "Olympic spirit" under fire for exploitation

Sportswear industry violates the Olympics spirit
"Giant sportswear brands are violating the rights of millions of workers in order to get the latest sportswear into the shops in time for the Athens Olympics, according to anti poverty campaigners and trade unions.

"In a campaign – Play Fair at the Olympics – launched in the UK today Oxfam, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Labour Behind the Label are calling on Puma and the British Olympic Association to clean up their act ..."
Source: Oxfam

Abolish Sweatshops

[One would have thought that the Olympic spirit of competition (= winning by beating other people) was very well suited to this sort of thing. Oxfam is probably being diplomatic in order to achieve results, and who can blame it? It's also worth noting that not only sports clothing, but sporting equipment, is a key player in the international sweatshops industry organised by rich-country transnational corporations.]

"About 83% of all garments sold in the U.S. are now made offshore, as are 80 percent of the toys, 90 percent of the sporting goods, 95 percent of the shoes. The people who make these items largely work in sweatshops for pennies an hour. The companies who commission the work, the famous brand names, buffer themselves from employing slaves and children by using brokers to contract out the work" ("Keeper of the Fire," Mother Jones, July/Aug. 2003).
Source

*Ø* Blogmanac | THE MORNING AFTER -- Words of Resignation

Why John Kerry is Winning
By Scott Galindez
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Thursday 04 March 2004

Supporters of Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean are not going to be happy with what I am about to say.

Two years ago, I attended Dennis Kucinich's "Prayer for America" speech, and was inspired. I was a believer, and still believe in the goals of the Kucinich campaign.

Late last year, I attended a meeting titled "From Mouse pads to Shoe Leather" sponsored by the Dean Campaign. A straight talking campaign manager named Joe Trippi convinced me that Howard Dean had the best chance to beat George Bush. The enthusiasm of the Deaniacs was very exciting, and inspiring. Dean had the right message, but was the wrong messenger. He tapped into the anger that Democratic Party activists had at George Bush, but did not convince rank and file Democrats that he was the candidate who could beat Bush.

While activists want a President who is going to shake things up, most voters are looking for a levelheaded candidate, someone they count on to lead the country through crisis. A candidate who makes them feel safe.

Most people had written the Kerry Campaign off, but the experienced staff did not panic. They knew that most voters had not made up their minds; they knew that most voters were looking for a candidate who could A- Beat Bush and B-make them feel secure that the country would be in steady hands.

John Edwards and John Kerry stayed on message, while Howard Dean made too many mistakes at the wrong times. Activists forgave Dean's blunders, but the rank and file voters didn't see the qualities they were looking for in a President. They agreed with his message, but many worried that he was a loose cannon.

Kucinich stayed on message, but did not have the organization necessary to get that message out. Most Kucinich supporters blame the media, but Howard Dean was unknown and created a story that they could not ignore.

I wish the media did some things differently, but John Kerry should not be blamed for the media overplaying the scream speech, or for not covering Kucinich and Sharpton enough. Media reform is an issue that must be pursued, but punishing the person who benefited is not fair.

Many activists agreed with Dean and Kucinich on the issues, but let's face it, most Americans don't vote on the issues the way activists do. Politics is a popularity contest; most voters vote based on image. John Edwards and John Kerry appealed to rank and file voters and the others didn't. In December, activists were focused on the campaign and they went for Dean, although the real front runner was "undecided". When January rolled around and rank and file voters tuned in, they voted for Kerry and Edwards.

I was in Iowa, and attended rallies for all the candidates. Gephardt's rallies were dominated by labor. Dean's events were full of Deaniacs from out of state wearing the orange hats. Kerry and Edwards rallies looked more diverse. They stuck to their message, and they won over the undecided. Another factor was the TV advertisements. John Kerry and John Edwards defined themselves in the Ads, while Dean and Gephardt destroyed each other with attack Ads. Kucinich ran an ad that slowly zoomed in on his face, saying something about the eyes you can trust. It was not the kind of Ad that gave you the impression that this is the guy I want to be President. The media cannot be blamed for that flawed strategy.

The bottom line is that John Kerry is winning because he is running the best campaign. In November, either John Kerry or George Bush will win the election. Like it or not, that is the choice we face.

SOURCE

[No, I'm not happy with what Mr. Galindez has to say. Granted, the Democratic candidate to face Bush has been
(s)elected. The reasons he cites for the selection are much less clear to me. As we've learned from experience over the past few years, nothing is as simplistic as "most voters simply preferred" Kerry's staying on message. For all the reasons we've covered in previous articles, from the White House controlled media coverage of only certain candidates to Kerry's brotherhood with Bush in the Skull & Bones club, and programmable electronic voting machines, there was much more going on than a simple straight show of voters' opinions! I think Scott Galindez is being a little naive to think there wasn't. There was only one candidate who truly represented an opportunity for real change. We can continue to support his cabinet-level Department of Peace and use it as a barometer by which to judge the sincerity of the rest of Congress and the Dem candidate. Yes. Kerry is the man we must support--all the way to continuing "business as usual" under a Dem banner. -v]

*Ø* Blogmanac March 4, 1712 | England's last witchcraft conviction

1712 Hertford trial: In what was probably the last witchcraft trial in England in which a conviction was recorded, Jane Wenham, ‘the Witch of Walkern’, was tried for talking to her cat and for flying – in other words, for being a ‘wise woman’ as witches were sometimes called in that country. Wenham was accused of bewitching Matthew Gilston and Anne Thorne of Walcorne, in the county of Hereford, was declared guilty and sentenced to death.

According to the mandatory penalty at the time, Judge Powell had no choice but to condemn her to death, but through his influence she was later given a Royal Pardon, provoking a brief pamphlet war. In 1686, Alice Molland actually had the distinction of being the last to be hanged for witchcraft in England. In 1736, the old laws against witchcraft were repealed, but people could be prosecuted for the pretended exercise of supernatural powers.

The killing times
In 1903 Robert Steele estimated that 70,000 victims were hanged in England, under the reign of James I alone. However, records indicate that between 1566 and 1685 fewer than 1000 people were hanged. No accurate figures are available as to the carnage throughout Britain and Europe during the era of witch hunting. The Inquisition is often credited with many deaths, and indeed many people were killed for the crimes of witchcraft and sorcery, but the figures are minor compared to those executed by the Inquisition for heresy, which was its main brief. Usually, witches before the inquisitors were dismissed as mentally ill.

The last execution for witchcraft in Scotland, however, took place in 1722 when Janet Horne was killed as the witch hunts wound down all across Europe (though as late as 1782 the last witch to be legally executed met her fate at Glarus in Switzerland). Accusations of witchcraft and sorcery still emerge from time to time in many countries of the world. As recently as 1981 a Mexican woman was stoned for practising witchcraft.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

Today I heard a non-English-speaking-background gentleman refer to two of the causes of the declining life expectancy in many poor countries. He referred to "AIDS and warship".

That's English for you. We don't speak of "friendfare", after all, do we?

*Ø* Blogmanac | Trimble withdraws UUP from review

Stalemate continues in Northern Ireland
Gerry Moriarty, Irish Times

"The future of current attempts to re-establish devolution in Northern Ireland was cast into serious doubt after Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble yesterday withdrew his party from the review of the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement.

"Mr Trimble, who is meeting the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in Downing Street today [Wednesday], insisted he would not engage further in the review until the British and Irish governments agreed to sanctions against Sinn Féin over the alleged IRA attack on Mr Bobby Tohill."

Source (subscription)

However, Vincent Browne had this to say in the Irish Times on February 25, about the same alleged attack:

A scam to sabotage NI peace?

"The primary issue to arise from the alleged attempted abduction of Bobby Tohill in Belfast on Friday evening is not whether this represents the IRA's continued paramilitarism but whether it is another scam by some security personnel to sabotage the resumption of power-sharing in Northern Ireland.

"Let me deal with the IRA paramilitarism issue first. Of course the IRA has not gone away ...

"[But] The IRA never previously, in its 30-year history, attempted to abduct a person in such a public place. No guns were involved. The attempted abduction took place in close proximity to a police station in the centre of Belfast. The person at the centre of the affair, Bobby Tohill, has given starkly divergent accounts of what happened.

"His background would seem to offer a variety of possible explanations for his involvement in a fracas. But most peculiarly, the people charged with his abduction have not been charged with membership of the IRA. If there was clear evidence for the allegation that they were members of the IRA, how come there is not evidence for charges of membership?"

Source (subscription)

*Ø* Blogmanac | It all makes sense now!

Greenspan Testimony Highlights Bush Plan for
Deliberate Federal Bankruptcy
By Michael Meurer
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Tuesday 02 March 2004

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's Feb. 25 testimony to the House
Budget Committee provided an unintentionally candid look at the
Bush administration's deliberate fiscal policy of bankrupting the
federal government to justify a sweeping program of privatization.


During his February 25 testimony before the House Budget Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan generated sensational national headlines by recommending that President Bush's $1.5 trillion in tax cuts be made permanent while Social Security and Medicare benefits be dramatically cut to achieve long term deficit reduction and a balanced budget.

In spite of the media furor and across the board condemnation by the remaining Democratic presidential candidates, there should be no reason for surprise at Greenspan's remarks. In his capacity as shill for the Bush administration, the Chairman's recommendations make perfect sense, as long as one is not foolish enough to believe the window dressing about a long term balanced budget. Mr. Greenspan is laying the groundwork for a second Bush administration, not a balanced budget. His remarks, and most of the economic policies of the Bush administration, can only be understood against the backdrop of the little remarked right wing agenda of deliberate federal bankruptcy.

From the first months of the Bush administration, when their initial breathtaking tax cuts were presented to Congress, it has been obvious that the explicit goal of this administration is to bankrupt the federal government to justify a sweeping program of privatization. Pursuing federal bankruptcy is a deliberate policy.

This administration's pursuit of bankruptcy as deliberate policy had to be extraordinarily bold from day one because public programs such as Social Security were so extraordinarily solvent into the distant future, and the underlying strength and diversity of the U.S. economy was sufficient to keep them that way if spending priorities were not radically altered. The events of 9/11 provided the perfect cover for pursuing federal bankruptcy in the guise of an open ended war on terror.

ANOTHER MUST-READ

*Ø* Blogmanac March 3 | Cooke and his 'Letter' will be missed

On November 20, on his 95th birthday, we looked at the career of an extraordinary broadcaster, Alistair Cooke. Cooke's Letter from America, we noted, has been broadcast on BBC (British Broadcasting Commission) Radio every week since March 24, 1946, making it the longest-running speech broadcast program in the world. His job, as he saw it, was to explain America to the world, and he did it with great insight and empathy.

In his November 9, 2003 broadcast, Cooke revealed that in 57 years of Letter from America he has recorded the program 16 times while in hospital, but only ever missed one edition due to ill health. As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on October 20, 2003:

“Veteran 94-year-old British-born presenter Alistair Cooke was unable to broadcast his Letter from America show this week after suffering a fall, the BBC said yesterday.”

Ever the trouper, Cooke’s only reference to his injuries in his next broadcast (October 27), lay in his opening sentence: “Where were we when I was so smashingly interrupted?”

Sadly, the great man couldn't make it to the mike again last week. Missing a second weekly broadcast after 2,869 editions must have been heartbreaking for Mr Cooke, and it's with great sadness that we learn that Letter from America has ceased due to the correspondent's frail health.

Alistair Cooke was recorded as saying that he tried hard to make every sentence "good radio". This he achieved for nearly six decades, and his Letters are classics of the genre. All 2,869 of them, I have no doubt.

I'm a newcomer to the Letter. I suppose most people under 60 are. Seriously, though, surprising as it might seem, I discovered its delights less than two years ago. However, I've tried not to miss an edition, and I will sorely miss it.

All good wishes, Alistair Cooke, for a healthy and happy retirement, and "thank you", to a man whose journalistic excellence lay not only in his longevity but in every other aspect one can think of.

*Ø* Blogmanac March 3, 1913 | The big day out



1913 A large women’s suffrage parade was held in Washington, DC, USA.

Twenty-six floats, 10 bands, 6 golden chariots, and divisions of between 6,000 and 10,000 women marched by country, state, profession and occupation, the day before Woodrow Wilson took office. It is said that when Wilson arrived in town, he found the streets empty of welcoming crowds and was told that everyone was on Pennsylvania Avenue watching the parade.

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | It's "just" a movie

From Raff:

I don’t know if you ever saw the movie “Good Will Hunting” that came out in 1997.
It had some eerily prescient dialog.
----------------------------

Will: Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot.

Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed.

Now the politicians are sayin', send in the marines to secure the area 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks.

Meanwhile, my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic.

So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.

So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better.

Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard?

I could be elected president.


[I think it was similar thinking that affected the main character, played by Michael Douglas, in the movie "Falling Down." He'd done his best working for the defense (D FENS) industry and where did it get him? Oh, sure. These are "just movies." LOL! Art imitates life -- not the reverse. -v]

*Ø* Blogmanac | Bottom line: "Bush is an asshole," Chavez

[Commentary Mine: Jeffrey Sachs guested on Charlie Rose Show on PBS and strongly fought for the contention that Aristide was kidnapped by the U.S. Naturally, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti strongly fought against that contention.

Following Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley reported that he had expected his Monday night show to be an interview with President Aristide of Haiti. However, prior to his leaving for Haiti on Saturday afternoon, he received a phone call from the U.S. State Department, telling him that "it" was "coming down" on Saturday night or Sunday and that the subject of his interview would not be available due to "assassination or something" and that it would be better if he cancelled his trip. You do the math.

The archives of both shows on PBS are worth checking out. You can listen to shows you missed. Some of the guest speakers are well worth re-visiting!

By the way, Jeffrey Sachs in an example of a Harvard graduate. It's hard to imagine Bush as being in the same "caste," isn't it? LOL! Jeffrey actually attended classes and did the work--that's the difference! -v]


HAITI COUP UPDATE ROUNDUP FROM WILLIAM BOWLES

MARCHING INTO HAITI ONE MORE TIME
The "News Dissector Weblog"
http://www.williambowles.info/haiti-news/dissector.html

AFTERMATH
Aristide backers blame US for ouster
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff
http://www.williambowles.info/haiti-news/us_blamed.html

Aristide Tells U.S. Contacts He Was Abducted
http://www.williambowles.info/haiti-news/abducted.html

Randall Robinson discusses his telephone conversation with Aristide
http://www.williambowles.info/haiti-news/randall.html


* Ø * Ø * Ø *

Aristide Kidnapped by U.S. Forces?
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 1 March 2004

"Beyond the mountains, more mountains."
- old Haitian proverb

The front pages of major American newspapers and the talking heads on the news channels would have you believe that the resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his presidency in Haiti was voluntary. Questions have been raised, however, about the manner in which his departure unfolded. In short, there is mounting evidence to suggest that Aristide was removed involuntarily from power by American forces.

Randall Robinson, founder of TransAfrica and a close friend to Aristide, was interviewed on CNN by Wolf Blitzer on Monday afternoon about the events unfolding in Haiti. Robinson, who is one of the few people to actually speak with Aristide since yesterday, said, "We have undertaken a coup against a democratically elected government in Haiti." Congressman Charles Rangel, who also spoke to Aristide, said later on CNN, "He was kidnapped. He resigned under pressure. He and his wife had no idea where he was going. He was very apprehensive for his life."

For the last several weeks, rebel forces have waged war against the government of Aristide. Hundreds of Haitians have been killed, many of whom were supporters of Aristide. As the rebel forces drew closer to the capital, the status of Aristide's leadership became more uncertain. An attempt to craft a power-sharing agreement between Aristide and the rebels failed when the rebels refused any terms that kept Aristide in office. The endgame began when Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had previously been espousing a hands-off policy regarding American intervention, told Aristide that the security being provided him by America would be removed. Such an action would have left Aristide completely exposed to the surging rebel forces.

CONTINUE


* Ø * Ø * Ø *

President Aristide: 'I Was Kidnapped',
'Tell The World It Is A Coup'
Democracy Now!

Monday 01 March 2004

Multiple sources that just spoke with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told Democracy Now! that Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. She said he had been threatened by what he called US diplomats. According to Waters, the diplomats reportedly told the Haitian president that if he did not leave Haiti, paramilitary leader Guy Philippe would storm the palace and Aristide would be killed. According to Waters, Aristide was told by the US that they were withdrawing Aristide's US security.

TransAfrica founder and close Aristide family friend Randall Robinson also received a call from the Haitian president early this morning and confirmed Waters account. Robinson said that Aristide "emphatically" denied that he had resigned. "He did not resign," he said. "He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president.

CONTINUE


* Ø * Ø * Ø *

Chavez Calls Bush 'Asshole' as Foes Fight Troops
Reuters

Sunday 29 February 2004

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush an "asshole" on Sunday for meddling, and vowed never to quit office like his Haitian counterpart as troops battled with opposition protesters demanding a recall referendum against him.

Chavez, who often says the U.S. is backing opposition efforts to topple his leftist government, accused Bush of heeding advice from "imperialist" aides to support a brief 2002 coup against him.

"He was an asshole to believe them," Chavez roared at a huge rally of supporters in Caracas.

The Venezuelan leader's comments came as fresh violence broke out on the streets of the capital, where National Guard troops clashed with opposition protesters pressing for a vote to end his five-year rule.

Military helicopters roared in low runs overhead as soldiers fired tear gas and plastic bullets to repel several hundred opposition demonstrators who threw stones and set up burning barricades in eastern Caracas late into the night.

Troops and opposition activists also skirmished in other cities.

CONTINUE THIS MUST-READ!

*Ø* Blogmanac March 2 | Them durn chads again

David and Chad
Sow peas, good or bad.
English traditional proverb: sow peas regardless of weather, today and St David's Day (yesterday)

Feast day of St Chad (Ceadda), bishop of Lichfield
(Dwarf cerastium, Cerastium pumilum, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint)
Ceadda was actually a pre-Christian deity of healing springs and holy wells. His symbol was Crann Bethadh, the tree of life ...

St Chad lore for wells and fountains
Today is the day to clean and groom holy wells and fountains, known in Britain as well-dressing.

Other days include Ascension Day, when in places such as Lichfield in England, villagers walked around the boundaries of the cathedral precinct area, carrying elm boughs and beating the eight places where wells had once been or still were present. In some places, such as Wirksworth, England, Pentecost Day was a day for well dressing.

Wells traditionally have mystical significance. Even today, wishing wells are common in parks and even may be found in shopping malls. Ancient Britain gives us many well customs. The first water drawn from a well on January 1 is supposed to bring fortune and happiness, and is called 'the cream of the well'. It is customary to leave petals floating on the water. The wells at Wark, in Northumberland, UK, are supposed to have magical powers on New Year's Day. In Wales, drawing fresh spring water as a New Year's Day custom might have survived at the town of Tenby as late as the 1950s.

It was believed by the Druids of Britain that when a new spring or well bubbled up, its location was like a bridge or doorway to eternity, and eternal life that may sometimes be had by drinking of the waters there (cf, baptism). The Chalice Well, at Glastonbury, England (the Avalon of King Arthur) is one such sacred site ... (more well lore)


This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Calling all "Super Tuesday" Voting Americans!


Setting Our Compass

Tomorrow, the sun rises on a day when you can help chart our destiny as a country. A vote is more than a popularity contest. It involves more than weighing positions. Each vote is an arrow pointed towards our future. It is how we set our compass as a nation. What is the future that we want to create? How boldly do we dream?

As you stand at the polling booth, I encourage you to imagine the many generations still to come. Imagine the billions of people in other countries that will be impacted but cannot vote in this election. Imagine the millions of species that are affected by how gracefully we walk on this earth. It is an awesome responsibility, this charting of America’s future. And perhaps no election in our lifetime has been as weighty.

I ask you to let the enormity of it affect you so that you do not choose from fear. Or media pronouncements. Or popularity. I ask you to choose from love: love for yourself, love for your family and community, love for your country, and love for future generations. Let your vote point us towards a future that you can be proud of having helped to create.

For me, the choice is crystalline clear. A vote for Dennis Kucinich is a statement of support for what we are becoming as a country and an act of compassion for the billions who will be affected by this election but who cannot vote in it. Kucinich’s stands on universal health care, world peace, education, sustainability, social justice, human rights, and protection from corporate corruption are the compass setting towards the America that I want to live in.

The new vision of America is one in which we blaze as a beacon of truth, justice, and freedom and take a strong leadership role in creating a new vision for the world, one that does not include war, poverty, exploitation, and environmental degradation.

Dennis Kucinich does more than dream of this new America. He advances practical policies that build the dream, brick by brick. He leads with truth, clarity, and tenacity. Join us by voting for him tomorrow and bringing this new vision of America to life.

Best,
Stephen Dinan

For more information

*Ø* Blogmanac | PM approves new Iraq inquiry

"Prime Minister John Howard has agreed to set up an independent inquiry into pre-war intelligence on Iraq's banned weapons, as recommended by a parliamentary inquiry.

"The committee has found that Australia's intelligence agencies may have overstated the evidence that Iraq had stocks of banned weapons before the war last year ...

"Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says the report has exposed a number of failings by the government.

"'This report is a catalogue of intelligence failure, it is a catalogue of a government cherry picking the intelligence advice it received to suit its own political objective,' he said.

"The Greens Leader Bob Brown says a new inquiry, headed by a former intelligence expert, is not good enough, and wants a judicial inquiry.

"'It's totally inadequate to have a former spy doing a review of how our spy agencies work ...

"'The question is how did the Prime Minister come to mislead Australia with threats of mammoth death and destruction if Saddam Hussein wasn't put out of action.'" ...
Source

*Ø* Blogmanac | Cyclone Monty



Our thoughts go to people in parts of Western Australia now reeling under Cyclone Monty. Reports coming in of winds of 210 kph might make good headlines, but it must be terrifying to live through such forces of weather. Although the path of the hurricane isn't heavily populated, there are still plenty of settlements. A lot of people will probably be living in light timber housing, or Aboriginal camps around the countryside. Good luck to you all.

*Ø* Blogmanac | David Hicks update

David Hicks and more than 600 men are being held in Guantanamo without trial, in inhumane conditions, for Bush's poilitical purposes. Perhaps the tables could be turned and Americans with consciences could make this international disgrace election issue No. 1 in 2004.


Click images for enlargement

Play highlights Hicks's detention
"The father of Guantanamo Bay detainee, David Hicks, hopes a play about his son's experiences will show people the inhumane conditions under which he is being held.
The play is showing as part of the Adelaide Fringe.

"David Hicks has been held in Guantanamo Bay for more than two years, and the play X-Ray reveals a day in the life of the detainee, set in a replica of his cell at Camp X-Ray.

"His father, Terry Hicks, yesterday saw the play and says it was extremely emotional and difficult for him to watch.

"'Particularly when it's your own son, yes it's pretty hard going,' he said.

"Producer Chris Tugwell says he approached the Hicks family after seeing images of Guantanamo detainees ..."
Source: ABC (Oz)

* Ø * Ø * Ø *

Free David Hicks!

"David Hicks has been held without charge in the US military camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for more than two years. In November, US Major Michael Mori was appointed as his military 'defence counsel''.

"On January 21, Mori launched an attack on the US military tribunal process claiming Hicks was unlikely to receive a fair trial. He also denounced the agreement by the Australian government to allow the US — rather than Australia — to try Hicks for any offences he is alleged to have committed.

"'The military commissions will not provide a full and fair trial', Mori told reporters in Washington on January 21. 'The commission process has been created and controlled by those with a vested interest only in convictions.' ...

Courts vs Bush?
"A ruling in favour of those detained would result in one of the biggest ever clashes between the US courts and the administration. Some evidence suggests that the Supreme Court may rule against Bush. In December, the New York federal appeals court ruled two to one that the government had no authority to declare Jose Padilla an enemy combatant, and therefore strip him of his legal rights. Padilla is a US citizen who was arrested on US soil ..."
Source: Green Left

Get to know about David Hicks, and pass it on.

Looks like Ozzies will have to cool it with the New Zealand jokes for a little while. Peter Jackson's eleven Oscars for the latest Bored of the Rings flick, equalling the record of Ben Hur and Titanic, is an impressive achievement.

Especially for a Kiwi. (Sorry, just had to get a last dig in.)

*Ø* Blogmanac March 1 | New Year's Day, ancient Rome

New Year
Hestia, in all dwellings of men and immortals
Yours is the highest honour, the sweet wine offered
First and last at the feast, poured out to you duly.
Never without you can gods or mortals hold banquet.

The Vestal Virgins rekindled the sacred fire of the Temple of Vesta on this day. The Roman goddess Vesta (analogous to Hestia in Greek mythology) and her sacred fire were considered tightly bound to the fortunes of the city, and failure to show proper respect for either was punishable by death.

Vesta's fire could only be rekindled by a burning glass, or by friction on a piece of wood from a fruit tree. In Roman homes, a small cake would be thrown on the fire for Vesta, and it was considered a good omen if it burnt with a crackle.

It was a New Year custom, as with today's Christmas, for the Romans to present gifts (strenae) with accompanying good wishes. The word is connected with the name of a Sabine tutelary goddess, Strenia. From her precinct beside the Via Sacra at Rome consecrated branches were carried up to the Capitoline today. The strenae consisted of branches of bay and palm, sweetmeats made of honey, and figs or dates, and these were supposed to bring joy and happiness in the forthcoming year. The fruits were covered in gold leaf as they are today in Germany – the word as well as the custom, survives in the French word etrennes.

The pontifex maximus (head of the Roman religion, from where the current Roman Catholic Pontiff, or Pope, gets his title) today had the privilege of choosing the priest known as flamen dialis, from a list of three candidates nominated by the college of pontificates or pontiffs. Today, also, the old laurel branches around the doors of the regia (home of the pontifex maximus), rex sacrorum, the great flamines, the curiae, and the temple of Vesta were replaced by new branches, bringing to mind the Christian custom of taking down Christmas trees, holly and other decorations at Epiphany ...

* Ø * Ø * Ø *

Today was also the Matronalia, a women's festival dedicated to the goddess Juno Lucina.

Women and girls prayed to her and brought offerings where the goddess was represented veiled, with a flower in her right hand, and an infant in swaddling clothes in her left. Prayers for prosperity in marriage were offered.

By the second century BCE, this aspect of Juno was associated with childbirth because the name lucina was thought to have come from the Latin word lux (light); thus, when a child was born it was said to have been "brought to light". In this aspect the goddess was a lunar deity, often paired with Diana and depicted as holding a torch.

In the worship of Juno Lucina, women had to untie knots and unplait their hair – sympathetic magic to prevent entanglements in the delivery of babies. In Roman homes, prayers were offered for prosperity in marriage, and women waited on the slaves, just as the men did at the Saturnalia ...

These are just snippets of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.

*Ø* Blogmanac | He smirks at YOU!


Still lying: Bush bio on State Department web site inflates Guard service record
Date: Saturday, February 28 @ 09:27:10 EST
Topic: Commander-In-Thief
By Walter V. Robinson, Boston Globe

Questions remain about President Bush's long-ago service in the Texas Air National Guard. But the basic outline of his Guard service is not in dispute: After a year in flight school, Bush spent five months learning how to fly an F-102 fighter-interceptor and then 22 months as a part-time pilot. He stopped flying in April 1972 -- 30 months before his formal commitment would normally have ended.

Nonetheless, the biography of Bush on the US State Department's website credits him with almost six years in the F-102's cockpit -- two years on active duty flying the plane and nearly four more years of part-time service as an F-102 pilot. The websites of at least five American embassies -- those in Germany, Italy, Pakistan, Vietnam, and South Korea -- use the identical language, even though Bush spent barely two years flying the airplane.

After the 2000 election, when evidence of Bush's abbreviated flying career and his propensity to miss required drills became public, the presidential biography written for the White House website made no mention of the period of Bush's service, only that he served as an F-102 pilot.

No! It WON'T go away! As long as he's smirking, keep reading.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Think fast, forward fast! For Super Tuesday!

Here's an excellent article from author Anodea Judith (Wheels of Life and Eastern Body, Western Mind ) on why it is so vital to vote for Dennis Kucinich next Tuesday. Forward it freely!

["We know what we are, but not what we may become." -v]


CATERPILLAR OR BUTTERFLY, WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE?
By Anodea Judith

The present moment is a cauldron of staggering potential and awesome responsibility. Never before have American citizens had such ability to influence the political climate, nor has there ever been such absolute necessity for us to do so.

We are, quite simply, facing the ultimatum of traditional rites of passage: transform or die. Which do we choose?

Collectively, we are undergoing a profound transformation, a change from an adolescent "use-it-all-now" attitude to one of sustainable maturity that can parent a global future. In this transformation, we are like the caterpillar, entering the chrysalis to become a butterfly.

Prior to this transformation, a caterpillar eats voraciously, consuming all it can. Then it outgrows its skin, repeatedly, getting more and more bloated, slows down, and loses all freedom as it enters the confines of the chrysalis. The military-industrial-corporate-media complex, designed for consumption, the bloated Pentagon budget, and the Homeland Security Act that is curbing our freedom draw obvious parallels. The majority of cells in this country are still in the caterpillar stage, unknowing of what they might become.

Yet, inside the chrysalis, a miraculous thing occurs. Tiny cells begin to appear, called "imaginal cells," wholly different from the caterpillar cells, vibrating at a different frequency -- so different, in fact, that the caterpillar's immune system vigorously attacks them. The media is the immune system of the old network, keeping the old memes alive, even as they lead us into stagnation and possible death. They continue to attack anyone that has a new way, such as Dennis Kucinich. Still, these new cells continue to appear, carrying the blueprint of the future organism.

As these cells become more numerous, they find each other, clump together, and form new networks and clusters that organize and differentiate into varied tasks. At a certain point in this proliferation, the new cells recognize each other as a wholly different organism and become so strong and numerous that the organism changes identity and reroutes its immune system. The caterpillar body then becomes the nutrient for the emerging butterfly.

Dennis Kucinich is an imaginal cell, dancing to the beat of a different drummer, a shaper of the future, not the past. He alone has demonstrated the wisdom of redirecting the Defense Department's overactive immune system into a Department of Peace. He alone courageously addresses the overconsumption of corporatism and speaks of redirecting those resources into a system that works for the many, not the few. He alone sees the role of global leadership that America can play in the quest for world peace and justice. Dennis Kucinich is the one candidate who possesses the spiritual maturity to lead our larva-like culture into its glorious emergence.

But he can't do it alone. We are the cells within this collective body. We can decide where to place our alignment -- with the dying caterpillar, choking on its own consumption, or the imaginal cells of the future. We can organize behind a vision for the future and we can support the mouthpiece of this organism who dares to speak for our dreams. We can get out the vote, and vote for Dennis Kucinich as a statement of who we are and who we are inevitably becoming.

As imaginal cells, we can use our power of imagination along with our donations and our sweat equity. We can visualize -- as a daily meditation -- a surge of support so profound the media cannot ignore it. We can use our own minds and mouths and keyboards to spread the word. We can align ourselves with progressive values of peace, sustainability, equality, and restoration. We not only can but we must if we are to survive the transformation.

More information on the Kucinich campaign.

*Ø* Blogmanac | Our almanackist's birthday



and Many Happy Returns