1. Cheney:
“Angry at Bush, But Why?
I do think that Hayes, the pundits for Time, and Gellman have it right when they say that Cheney is angry with George W. Bush, but they are disingenuous about the reason why. They must have figured out that when Cheney vents his anger at Bush’s failure to pardon Libby, the ex-Vice President is really livid that Bush did not issue a blanket pardon for Cheney and other co-conspirators.
Cheney had every reason to expect the pardon (excusing crimes such as torture and launching an aggressive war by deceiving Congress), given that he seems to have engaged in those crimes with his boss’ full knowledge and encouragement.
Can these journalists be so dense that they miss this motive for Cheney’s anger? They paint a picture of a man intensely loyal to a favored subordinate; and that is no doubt true, since one’s power is diminished to the extent you are not seen as able to rescue someone in your employ.
But when Cheney accuses Bush of abandoning “an innocent man” who had served the President loyally; when Cheney excoriates anyone who would “sacrifice the guy who was asked to stick his head in the meat grinder” — he appears to be talking about himself as much as Libby.
It is such an obvious allegory, a classic example of self-pity masquerading as altruism; and the pundits don’t get it — or, more likely, pretend not to.”
http://www.antiwar.com/index2345.html
2. “Bombings Worse than Nagasaki and Hiroshima
This was the largest bombing raid in history. Yet, many timelines of World War II do not even list this event as having occurred.
…
In fact, the atomic bombs dropped on Japan were not even the deadliest. Because high-altitude precision bombing was viewed as not effective enough, the Army Air Force began using incendiary attacks against Japanese cities. After months of studies, planning, and several incendiary bombing test runs, Tokyo was firebombed on the night of March 9, 1945, by low-flying B-29’s with increased bomb loads. Seventeen hundred tons of bombs were dropped in a densely populated area (an average of 103,000 people per square mile) of twelve square miles. The result was just what one would expect: as many as 100,000 dead, over 40,000 wounded, over 1,000,000 made homeless, over 267,000 buildings destroyed. The water boiled in some small canals because of the intense heat. This was the most destructive air attack in history. It killed more people than the dropping of an atomic bomb.
…
But the bombing of Japanese cities was not war, it was wholesale murder. How, then, does this act of terrorism continue to be defended almost sixty-five years later? Simple. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. In fact, nothing U.S. forces did to Japan during the war matters because of Pearl Harbor.
But even if FDR didn’t have prior knowledge of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and even if the United States didn’t provoke Japan into firing the first shot (See Robert Stinnett’s excellent book Day of Deceit: The Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor, which persuasively argues that he did have prior knowledge and did provoke Japan into firing the first shot), Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor still doesn’t justify bombing the civilian population of Japan. Why is it that the 9/11 attacks on America are considered acts of terrorism but a 1000-plane bombing raid on Tokyo after the dropping of two atomic bombs isn’t?
Pearl Harbor or no Pearl Harbor, the bombing of Tokyo on August 14, 1945, was a despicable act — worse than the firebombing of Tokyo, worse than Hiroshima, and worse than Nagasaki — because it was so unnecessary.”
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0908j.asp
3. War on terror equals war on drugs:
Despite politicians’ best efforts, a bit of truth occasionally creeps into the public discourse. So it was with former president George Bush and his linking the War on Terror with the government’s one on drugs. These internecine struggles do indeed have much in common: both feature the Feds fighting, wounding and killing the American people. Sure, Mexican drug dealers and members of Al-Qaeda sometimes find themselves in the line of fire, but on the whole, America’s rulers wage war against the taxpayers footing their bills.
Equally tragic, the casualties tend to be poor, weak, or damaged. More civilized times would have treated these sad folks with Christian compassion. But the Warriors on Terror know no shame. They brutalize their fellow-citizens, then proudly point at the carnage to justify the State’s ridiculous ruthlessness.”
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/opinion/948-becky-akers/1634
4. She’s certainly got an absolute right to speak freely, and shouldn’t be threatened for speaking, but why in the world would ANY group invite a torturer to do so?
“Threats cancel Lynndie England lecture”
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_lynndie_england_lecture_081409/
More importantly, I have no idea whether CRU has accurately summarized the original data. A careful and ethical scientist could do so, but a sloppy or unethical scientist might end up with different values than the actual data set.
My views on climate are complex. But the one thing I know for sure is that we need accurate data, because the stakes are high.”
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/08/worlds-source-for-global-temperature.html
6. “Caucasus: The War That Was, The World War That Might Have Been
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14779
7. “US Economic Myths Bite the Dust
America is not the internationally competitive land of small businesses that politicians love to tout
The Great Recession is allowing some widely held beliefs about the US economy – which were the source of much evangelism over the last few decades – to run up against a reality check. This is to be expected, since the United States has been the epicentre of the storm of policy blunders that caused the world recession.
This month my CEPR colleagues John Schmitt and Nathan Lane showed that the United States is not the nation of small businesses that it is regularly dressed up to be for electoral campaign speeches and editorials. If we look at what percentage of our overall labour force is self-employed, or what percentage of manufacturing workers or high-tech workers are employed in small businesses – well, the US ranks at or near the bottom among high-income countries.
As economist Paul Krugman noted after reading the study: “One more American myth bites the dust.” Indeed it has. And as both the authors of the paper and Krugman note, there is a plausible explanation for the US’s low score in the small business contest: our lack of national health insurance. There are enough risks associated with choosing to start a business over being an employee, but the Europeans don’t have to worry that they will go bankrupt for lack of health insurance.”
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23271.htm
8. “Six Lobbyists Per Lawmaker Work on Health Overhaul
If there is any doubt that President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue.
That’s six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense. More than 1,500 organizations have health-care lobbyists, and about three more are signing up each day. Every one of the 10 biggest lobbying firms by revenue is involved in an effort that could affect 17 percent of the U.S. economy.
These groups spent $263.4 million on lobbying during the first six months of 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group, more than any other industry. They spent $241.4 million during the same period of 2008. Drugmakers alone spent $134.5 million, 64 percent more than the next biggest spenders, oil and gas companies.”
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23263.htm
9. “Government Website Takes Over Your Computer Forever
If You Go To Cars.gov – The Federal Government Takes Over Your Computer Forever “
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23265.htm
