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Blogmanac team
Jeannine Wilson (USA)
Veralynne Pepper (USA)
Pip Wilson (Australia)
Carpe diem!
Seize the day with more than 150 articles at Wilson's articles department
This blog is dedicated to the 353 victims of the SIEVX disaster,
and casualties of poverty and authority all around the planet
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Saturday, February 12, 2005
 Google might host Wikipedia
By Matt Hines
"Wiki Media Foundation, the group behind the Wikipedia online encyclopedia project, said Friday that search giant Google has volunteered to host some of its content on company servers.
"In a notice posted to the nonprofit organization's Web site, the group, also known as Wikimedia, said its board of directors is currently considering the terms of Google's offer and plans to meet with the search company sometime in March.
"The group was quick to point out that any relationship established with Google would not require it to begin advertising on its Web site.
"Google representatives refused to confirm a deal with Wikimedia but indicated that the company plans continued support for the effort and its various projects."
Source: Tech News on ZDNet via Baz le Tuff, with thanx.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia Unusual Articles page
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 Post Surgery, Granny D Speaks Again
Political Activist Recovers Voice
"CONCORD, N.H. [USA] -- Leave it to Granny D to have the last word. After undergoing throat surgery last week, there was concern the 95-year-old former U.S. Senate candidate might not speak again.
"But Doris 'Granny D' Haddock has no intention of losing her famous voice.
"'I'm feeling very very optimistic,' she said from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. 'I think I can lick this thing and I'm certainly going to try.'
"Haddock's voice is raspy and she has difficulty speaking because of a breathing tube in her throat, but her genteel New England tones were still apparent in a brief interview Friday with The Associated Press.
"'Four days ago she didn't speak at all, three days ago it was like a real ugly Darth Vader and yesterday she started articulating enough so that you could understand everything she said,' said her son, Jim Haddock."
Source: TheChamplainChannel.com - WNNE
Granny D, in the Book of Days
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Blogroll Us Friday, February 11, 2005
 Mandela's curious background
Fifteen years ago today, African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, was freed from Victor Verster prison outside Cape Town, South Africa. Expected by the waiting media to drive past them in a car, Mandela surprised everyone by walking out, hand in hand with his wife, Winnie Mandela.
It was the time of the fall of the Soviet Union and the South African regime of apartheid no longer had to fear the geo-strategic threat from the USSR which had been focused for years on Southern Africa as a whole, as confirmed by KGB and other documents available in recent years. Thus Mandela, who had rejected the non-violent strategies for national liberation developed in South Africa by Mahatma Gandhi, was considered to be no longer a threat.
African National Congress: background
The ANC was formed in Bloemfontein, SA by non-Communists in 1912 as the South African Native National Congress. A concerted effort directed from Moscow had by 1931 converted the ANC to a Marxist-Leninist front dominated for decades by open leaders of the Moscow-aligned South African Communist Party, as directed by Lenin in 1920 at the Second Congress of the Communist International, or Comintern. (In 1921, Lenin stated that the Comintern regarded South Africa as "one of its frontlines".)
In 1927, leaders of the Comintern directed that the SACP "must determinedly and consistently put forward the creation of an independent native republic" in South Africa. The ANC, still non-Communist, now had to be converted into a "militant nationalist revolutionary organization". Using Lenin's express methods of the manipulation of social forces and infiltration of popular organizations, first, the Marxist-Leninists captured the leadership offices of the ANC Youth League, then those of the ANC itself.
When Mandela made decisions as an ANC leader, he did so as part of a Moscow-directed team, with 27 SACP (South African Communist Party) members out of an ANC National Executive of 35. The ANC and the SACP were so intertwined that they proclaimed themselves as "two equal pillars of the revolution".
Mandela's beliefs
The charismatic leader Mandela was an enthusiastic supporter of the Soviet dictatorship that Mikhail Gorbachev later alleged had killed tens of millions of its own citizens. In 1962, long after most Communists of East and West had removed Stalin from their hagiography, and by which time evidence abounded of the USSR being the most comprehensive dictatorship in history, Mandela wrote that applying "the great qualities of revolutionary geniuses like Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin" would transform South Africa into a veritable paradise:
"Under a Communist Party government" he wrote, "South Africa will become a land of milk and honey".
Under Mandela's auspices, the ANC developed terrorist tactics that included the infamous 'necklacing' of opponents and informers: this involved placing a petrol-drenched car tyre around the neck of a living victim, and setting fire to it.
On June 12, 1964, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in terrorism. Contrary to ANC/SACP/pop-star propaganda and popular opinion of the time, in later years Mandela spent much of his imprisonment in comfortable, if not luxurious, quarters, fitted with telephone, fax and other communications devices that enabled him to organise against those who provided them. He spent 27 years in prison, although he could have gained freedom at any time by denouncing violence, the fascist government's condition of his continued incarceration. On December 7, 1988 he was moved into a luxury home in the grounds of Pollsmore Prison and after his release from this government-provided house, he moved into a very luxurious home in one of the Johannesburg’s wealthiest suburbs, although conducting media interviews from a small house he rented in Soweto.
On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated President of South Africa.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with many more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date (or your birthday) when you're there.
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 Some "Jeff Gannon" highlights
... no longer available on the Talon News website
"Following Jeff Gannon's February 8 resignation as Talon News Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent, Talon News -- which appears to be more of a Republican political advocacy group than a media outlet -- removed all archived news stories from its website. Despite Gannon's claim that he is not 'someone who takes a strong position and speaks in support of that issue,' a Media Matters for America review of Gannon's catalogue of work for Talon (still available as cached documents via Google) showed that Gannon often used his news articles as a platform to defend the Bush administration and attack its opponents."
Source: Media Matters for America
Google News talon gannon
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Blogroll Us Thursday, February 10, 2005
Rachael Kohn's 'Spirit of (Some) Things'
"The Spirit of Things is an adventure into religion and spirituality. It explores contemporary values and beliefs as expressed through ritual, art, music, and sacred texts."
Source: The Spirit of Things, ABC Radio National, Australia
 In coming programs, Rachael Kohn will be presenting a wide variety of religious programs for the Australian audience:
Neo-Paganism in Australia: Why some people of the Jewish faith are turning to Nature-based religions
Religion and Humour: Laugh with the Stand-Up Rabbi
Aboriginal spirituality: Is there a connection between the Dreamtime and the Torah?
Ancient religions of Peru: Morty Feinstein's personal encounter with an Incan deity
The Still, Small Voice Within: Memoirs from the Holocaust
Catholic theology in turmoil: A view from Jerusalem
Buddhism and Sacred Texts: The Kabbalah
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Campbell + the curse of the Blackberry
My favourite funny story of the week, so far, is from the UK. (Campbell was embroiled in the row involving the BBC's reporting of Blair's dossier on weapons of mass destruction. Jeremy Paxman is a seasoned presenter with the Beeb.) Beware the Send button!
"Alastair Campbell was at the centre of attacks on Labour's campaigning style after accidentally sending BBC journalists an email which expressed his disdain for the corporation in even stronger language than usual.
"The former Downing Street communications chief inflamed the row about aggressive election tactics by mistakenly sending the message to BBC's Newsnight programme on Monday. The programme had been looking into his role as the initiator of controversial Labour campaign posters depicting the Tory leader, Michael Howard, as a flying pig that were alleged by some to be anti-semitic.
"The message, from his portable Blackberry emailer, had been intended for a colleague. It read: 'Fuck off and cover something important you twats!' In a second email to the BBC he blamed his mistake on the fact he was 'not very good at this email Blackberry malarkey', adding: 'Campbell swears shock. Final sentence of earlier email probably a bit colourful and personal considering we have never actually met but I'm sure you share the same sense of humour as your star presenter Mr P[axman]'."
Continue at The Guardian
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Pentagon to broadcast to U.S. homes
[It's not long since we heard that they were considering a policy of disinformation, even with US allies, if it served their interests ...]
 "The U.S. military is to beam its own news coverage to millions of Americans.
"Moving on from its phase of embedding journalists, or as some would say, 'a policy of restricting and contolling the flow of information,' the Pentagon will now produce and disseminate the news itself. It will be beamed to the public at no charge. The service will emanate from what is known as the Pentagon Channel, an internal public relations television unit within the Department of Defense. It was set up nine months ago.
"The government-run TV service will be channeled to the public through EchoStar Communication's Dish Network which will offer the Pentagon Channel to its more than 11 million viewers on a no-cost basis. Programming will appear on the network's public interest channels and will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Source and full text
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'Torture jet' flies back to Scotland
"A CIA jet which takes terror suspects to countries where torture is routinely used during interrogation has again landed at Glasgow airport en route to Baghdad. The Boeing 737, which has changed its identity several times, landed in Glasgow at 6am on Monday and took off for Iraq at 8.39am.
"As it was a 'private' flight, no details of the purpose of the journey or the passengers and crew are available.
"The Herald has revealed how a Gulfstream jet, owned by a CIA front company, used Prestwick airport on numerous occasions in the wake of the September 11 attacks and refuelled there last summer. The Gulfstream visited Glasgow airport nine times in 2003 and on five occasions stayed for one or two nights.
"The Boeing 737 is also understood to be owned by a CIA front company. It has visited Glasgow on several occasions, sometimes staying overnight. The jet has also used RAF Northolt, where the Royal Flight is stationed.
"Both aircraft are understood to carry out rendition flights: transporting prisoners to countries where they may be tortured, against international law, for information to assist the battle against terrorism.
"The 737 is owned by a company called Keeler and Tate Management LLC of Reno, Nevada. Investigations in America suggest it is a CIA front company.
"The aircraft always depart from Washington and have flown to 50 destinations outside the US including the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba, as well as Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Afghanistan and Libya. They have been nicknamed the Guantanamo Bay Express."
Continues here
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Blogroll Us Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Not so happy new year
 "Beijing -- China, which puts more people to death than the rest of the world combined, has executed at least 650 in the two months leading up to the Lunar New Year, rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
"The executions reached a fearful crescendo in the last two weeks before the holiday, when 200 people were put to death, according to the London-based organisation, which based its data on official Chinese media reports.
"'The true figure is certainly much higher, as China refuses to publish full details of all the people it executes', Amnesty said in a statement on China's 'horrific New Year'.
"China usually executes large numbers of convicted criminals before major public holidays in order to warn pickpockets, con artists and others who might try to take advantage of large crowds gathering in public spaces."
Source
View all AI documents on China
More about the death penalty
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Doris 'Granny D' Haddock listed in fair condition
"Political activist Doris 'Granny D' Haddock, who ran for the U.S. Senate last year and gained national attention by walking across the country to promote campaign finance reform, continues to recover from windpipe surgery.
"The 95-year-old Democrat went into Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center last week. Her condition yesterday was listed as fair.
"A family spokesman had said she was expected to recover but the long-term prospects of whether she would regain use of her well-known New England-tinged voice was uncertain."
Source: Concord Monitor Online
Granny D in the Book of Days
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Sharpreader RSS/Atom feedreader
As my friends know, I like RSS but haven't been happy using feedreaders. I like this one, mainly due to the subtle popup near my Taskbar each time a new item comes in. It fades away slowly enough for you to have a squiz at it and see if you want to click the link.
Also, "Handles all RSS versions, ATOM, modules like dublin core, content:encoding, xhtml:body, etc. "
SharpReader RSS Aggregator
And here are some good feeds to read in it plus lots of resources, if you're new to feed reading. And here are some more.
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Govt MP calls for release of asylum seekers
"The row over why a mentally-ill Australian woman was detained in an immigration detention centre has intensified with one federal Coalition MP calling for the release of other asylum seekers into the community."
Source: ABC Oz
[As the headline notes, this guy isn't in the Opposition, but a Government member, which makes the story quite remarkable. Slowly but slowly, Australia is waking up to the fact that its government runs concentration camps for unwanted people of colour fleeing tyranny. Apparently even some Aussie politicians also have souls, and possibly a little moral rectitude, though they are reported to be very few in number.]
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Outsourcing torture
By Jane Mayer
The secret history of America’s "extraordinary rendition" program
"On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, assured the world that 'torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.' Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria, was surprised to learn of Bush’s statement. Two and a half years ago, American officials, suspecting Arar of being a terrorist, apprehended him in New York and sent him back to Syria, where he endured months of brutal interrogation, including torture. When Arar described his experience in a phone interview recently, he invoked an Arabic expression. The pain was so unbearable, he said, that 'you forget the milk that you have been fed from the breast of your mother.'"
Source: New Yorker (Thanx Chris Keeley of intervention.org)
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Inflammatory Breast Cancer site gets boost
 The Tell J-9 page, which has important information about IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer) has had a boost from a very kind webmaster called Fogie, of Fogie's Follies, Frolics & Funnies.
Fogie runs an adswap service for e-list owners, and does it extremely well, too. I'm a member, and so is J-9, and Adswaps really helps our circulation (contact Fogie if you're interested in advancing your list like a rocket!).
Anyway, I asked Fogie if he could :Tell J-9" to people on his list, namely other ezine and newsletter moderators, and he did so, and word is really snowballing. In just a few days, about 20 people have "Told J-9".
Check out Fogie, willya, and please ... Tell J-9.
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Blogroll Us Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Announcing an interactive game forum
Kalliope is hard to explain, but easy to play. In a nutshell, the Kill the President narrative poem has code and clues in it and Kalliope is a new forum for discovering their meaning. Check it out.
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 Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) (moveable feast, February 8 in 2005)
Tomorrow (Ash Wednesday, also moveable, is February 9 in 2005) begins the 6-week period of fasting in the Christian world, known as Lent, the forty days' fast preceding Easter. Today is known to the French as Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), as it is the day that all foods may be eaten. Pancakes were popular as families ate the last of the eggs and butter that they were allowed before Lent.
The name ‘Shrove’ comes from the archaic English word ‘to shrive’, which means to confess or hear confessions of sin, a practice that was customary in the church on this day.
The custom of eating pancakes at Shrove Tuesday was popular in many parts of Europe, including many parts distant from Britain, such as the Zemaitija province of Lithuania where it was an important celebration. Pancakes were popular as families ate the last of the eggs and butter that they were allowed before Lent.
To the Germans it is known as Fasnacht. The word has also come to mean a diamond-shaped foodstuff that's eaten on the occasion: a yeast-raised potato pastry that's deep-fried like a doughnut. They were originally made and served on Shrove Tuesday to use up the fat that was forbidden during Lent ...
Read more at our Pancake Day page, in the Scriptorium, and have a great Pancake Day!
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Never mind sloth, lust and gluttony ...
but look out if you're a cruel, bigoted adulterer.
"Stay in bed all day, gorge yourself on chocolate and lust as much as you want -- it's not going to land you in hell.
"Most people believe the seven deadly sins are out of date, and that traditional transgressions such as sloth, gluttony and lust should not stop you passing through the pearly gates.
"Cruelty is considered the worst sin anyone can commit nowadays, followed by adultery, bigotry, dishonesty, hypocrisy and selfishness. Of the seven deadly sins enumerated in their present form by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, only greed is still viewed as a reliable passport to eternal damnation."
Seven deadly sins: 1 Pride 2 Envy 3 Anger 4 Sloth 5 Greed 6 Gluttony 7 Lust
New sins: 1 Cruelty 2 Adultery 3 Bigotry 4 Dishonesty 5 Hypocrisy 6 Greed 7 Selfishness
Full text: The Guardian
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It's a tough job
But it depends on who you're writing for. :)
 "Writing the annual St Patrick's Day greeting to the Taoiseach was one of the most boring tasks for a US president's speechwriter, President George W. Bush's recently-retired speechwriter and special adviser has said.
Seán O'Driscoll, in New York, reports.
"Mr Matthew Scully, who retired in August as senior speechwriter and special adviser to President Bush, said that the annual address to the Taoiseach while accepting a bowl of shamrock was almost as dreaded as the state of the union address."
Source: Irish Times (subscription)
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Blogroll Us Monday, February 07, 2005
Unqualified medics 'did amputations'
"UNQUALIFIED US military medics stationed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison reportedly carried out amputations and recycled used chest tubes.
"A Time magazine report today said staff also lacked medical supplies to treat inmates and that a medic was ordered, by one account, to cover up a homicide inside the jail.
"Although the prison just outside Baghdad was jammed with as many as 7000 detainees -- some of whom displayed serious mental illnesses -- no US doctor was in residence for most of 2003 following the US-led invasion of Iraq.
"The report said 'with straitjackets unavailable, tethers -- like the leash held by Private Lynndie England -- were put to use at Abu Ghraib to control unruly or mentally disturbed detainees, sometimes with the concurrence of a doctor'."
Read on here
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Beneficial Effects of Sunlight on Cancer
 "We all know that too much sunlight can cause skin cancer. However studies have now suggested that sunlight may be beneficial in some cancers. It may reduce the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and may also play a role in melanoma survival.
"Professor Bruce Armstrong, Head of the School of Public Health at Sydney University, talks about these studies.
"Also on the program: Associate Professor Rebecca Mason, Head of the Department of Physiology at Sydney University, talks about the role and effects of Vitamin D."
Source (with audio)
Sunlight May Not Be All Bad for Some Cancers
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Cornelia Rau scandal tip of iceberg
Rau inquiry must be public: Labor
Australia: "The Federal Opposition says an investigation into why a mentally ill woman was held in custody at the Baxter detention centre in South Australia must be held in public ...
"Sydney woman Cornelia Rau was held in a Queensland prison for six months before being transferred to the Baxter detention centre where she was held for a further four months.
"Labor's immigration spokesman, Laurie Ferguson, says the inquiry must not take place behind closed doors."
Source More
PM refuses to apologise to Rau
Baxter? What is it?
So what's the fuss? What is the Baxter detention centre?
Slap-bang in the middle of one of the world's hottest deserts, Baxter is a facility (prison)built by the Australian federal government for holding asylum seekers, some of whom have been languishing there for years. Cornelia Rau should not have been imprisoned there (because she is an Australian citizen, and was listed for months as a missing person). On the other hand ... nobody should be imprisoned there. From all accounts, if you're not crazy when they throw you in Baxter, you will be by the time you get out.
Read about Baxter, Australia's shame
 "Present policies of Mandatory Detention, Forced Deportations and ‘border protection’ represent an attack on fundamental principles of human rights and justice. They represent an unprecedented politicisation and corporatisation of the military and public services. They are inflicting appalling suffering on children and adults with long lasting psychological damage. These policies are designed to appeal to and incite racism and fear."
Source: Easter 2005 Baxter convergence - be there if you can!
Google up some Baxter
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A phone line to the dear departed
"BERLIN (AFP) - People who feel the need to talk to their near and dear even after they have passed away can now do so quite literally, thanks to a special mobile phone invented by a German who wanted to keep in touch with his late mother.
"The system, patented by Juergen Broether and on sale since last December, consists of a one-way phone and loudspeaker device that can be buried close to the person's coffin, and will transmit a voice message into the tomb for a period of up to a year."
Source
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Almost $9bn of Iraqi oil revenue missing
File On 4: Broadcast - BBC Radio 4,Tuesday 1 February
"The BBC's File On 4 programme has learnt that out of over $20bn raised in oil revenues during US-led rule, the use of $8.8bn is unaccounted for.
"US government auditors criticise the Coalition Provisional Authority for failing to manage the money properly.
"In one case, auditors say the key to a safe holding millions of dollars was kept in an open backpack in an office.
"'There was insufficient internal control to assure that money was spent for the benefit of the Iraqis, as the UN Security Council resolution mandated', said the auditors' chief of staff, Ms Ginger Cruz."
Full text and audio: Information Clearing House
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Blogroll Us Sunday, February 06, 2005
Life flourishes at crushing depth
"Tiny single-celled creatures, many of them previously unknown to science, have been found at the deepest point in the world's oceans, almost 11km down. "
Source: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature
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Blogmanac is a googlewhack
It was nice to hear from a Mark Dunk today, who wrote to inform me that the Blogmanac has a googlewhack, namely, Androgeny Extradited. He even explained what a googlewhack is and although I had a vague idea before, I have a much better idea now.
Mark wrote:
"If you don't know what a googlewhack is, it's an internet word game/work avoidance mechanism. You have to search google for two words that have to appear in dictionary.com and if Google returns a single result ie. it says results 1-1 of 1 in the blue bar then you've found a Googlewhack which is apparently a 1 in 3 billion probability.
"Other rules are no quote marks in the search, and if the returned page is a wordlist or from a dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus etc. it doesn't count.
"I heard about the game from a friend and we decided to give it a go for a bit of fun. After a string of complete failures and a few near misses with 2 or 3 results we searched for Androgeny Extradited and found an archived page from Wilson's Blogmanac and you became our first Googlewhack. Apparently it's the done thing to pass this information on to whoever runs the site if an email link is on the page.
"So there you have it a strange story but nonetheless true."
Thank you, Mark, for taking the time to notify us!
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Here come da draft!
You know, it's quite an amazing thing how people can hold such widely divergent opinions. I don't think I've ever met anyone who thinks there are not enough soldiers in the world, but here's a group of highly influential Americans who hold that view and are lobbying on its behalf:
 "Dear Senator Frist, Senator Reid, Speaker Hastert, and Representative Pelosi:"
"The United States military is too small for the responsibilities we are asking it to assume. Those responsibilities are real and important. They are not going away. The United States will not and should not become less engaged in the world in the years to come. But our national security, global peace and stability, and the defense and promotion of freedom in the post-9/11 world require a larger military force than we have today. The administration has unfortunately resisted increasing our ground forces to the size needed to meet today's (and tomorrow's) missions and challenges.
"So we write to ask you and your colleagues in the legislative branch to take the steps necessary to increase substantially the size of the active duty Army and Marine Corps ..."
Open Letter: Open Letter: A bipartisan group urges the congressional leadership to substantively increase the size of the Army and the Marines.
[Rumours are also circulating on the Net that intensive lobbying is being conducted in the US for young women to be drafted into the US armed forces. I'd like to learn more as I've seen no evidence of this.]
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BORN YESTERDAY...NOT! — Orwell Himself Couldn't Have Imagined This Bullshit!
From Lisa:
While commentators (one pointedly conservative(!)) take aim at BushCo for the Armstrong Williams debacle and previous similarly-themed transgressions, Rove has altered the course of the ship of state ever-so-slightly. Propaganda is no longer being outsourced to the media; rather, public servants will now be called upon to shed their impartiality and pimp the path of righteousness.
CONTINUE
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