February 28, 2003
Ari Fleischer Pushes It
February 25th, Ari Fleischer was laughed out of the press room when he earnestly asserted that the U.S. could not buy votes from foreign powers on the Iraq. "You saying that the leaders of other nations are buyable! That's not an acceptable proposition." The press corps erupts with laughter, Ari makes a hasty exit, and C-SPAN just can't believe its good fortune.
Perpetually-New Homeland Security Dept. Story
The start up of the Homeland Security department is threatening to become one of those stories that just seems to never really happen, but keeps appearing in the news over and over and over again.
Today there are wire stories about the department's first day. Didn't we already have that? I'm so disinterested in this department I'm too lazy to go check what all that fuss was about a week or so ago.
This is like the story "Human Genome Mapped" that kept infecting newspapers. When it really happens, lemme know.
For Homeland Security it's even worse becuase the whole department seems to be an intellectual abstraction anyway.
Homeland Security Dept. Marks First Day
By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) promised a "united defense of our homeland" Friday in marking the launch of the department created to answer the danger of terrorism.
The Homeland Security Department combines the forces of 22 agencies and 170,000 workers who patrol America's borders, secure computer networks, check for contamination of crops and otherwise help guard against terrorism. Saturday is its first full day of work.
FEMA Internment Camps
This is equal parts alarmist speculation and anonymous sources. That said:
When Reagan was considering an invasion of Nicaragua (you remember that, right?) he supposedly signed an executive order providing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) broad powers to control "violent and widespread internal dissent or national opposition against a US military invasion abroad." That's chilling enough, but it gets much, much worse.
Oliver North was in charge of organizing martial law plans from 1982 to 1984, and his work was revealed during the 1987 Iran-Contra hearings. The Miami Herald picked this up on July 5th of that year, saying that the plans were a reworking of previous plans to fight "a national uprising by black militants" by detaining "at least 21 million American Negroes"' in "assembly centres or relocation camps". But that was Reagan, and ancient history? Wait, there's more.
This reworked draft was the job of then-Deputy Directory of FEMA, John Brinkerhoff. Brinkerhoff is currently busy at the Anser Institute for Homeland Security, questioning the legality and interpretation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. You'll remember this as the law that forbids deploying the US military against its own citizens.
Speculation runs wild, naturally. What's worse, the Reagan plan isn't open to the public, since President Bush claimed executive privilege on Reagan's documents. The plot thickens.
If you're like us, you've dismissed most of this as paranoid conspiracy mongering. Now, put all of this alongside more recent news.
The Detroit Free Press has a warning from U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner Peter Kirsanow on the creation of containment camps for Arab-Americans. The AP has picked up Okanogan County Commissioner Dave Schulz, who claims that FEMA is planning concentration camps in his Washington county. Air Force General Ralph Eberhardt, head of the newly-formed US Northern Command (in charge of military action inside the United States), is advocating a formal revision of the Posse Comitatus Act. Senator Joseph Biden endorses his plan.
Whether there is a secret plan for martial law or not, the establishment of a formal Northern Command and the talk of Posse Comitatus revisions is distressing.
Much of this is put together by the Sydney Morning Herald.
February 27, 2003
House Passes Human Cloning Ban
HR 534 or Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 bans all forms of cloning -- even creating clusters of cells or an embryo for stem cell research. You don't even have to be successful -- just trying to create a clone would be a felony. What if another country breaks the technology first? Don't even think about it. The 10 year / $1M fine applies to the import and export of clone material or anything derived from clone material. It passed through the House, 241 to 155. Kudos to the Clerk of the House for being Johnny-on-the-spot with the roll call.
The debate is this: if you leave cloned cells alone, they die. If you put them in a womb, they grow into a baby. Even if they don't grow into babies, they can be used in stem cell research, which promises to give us an unprecedented ability to mess with the human body -- like grow new organs. Interestingly, this isn't a subphylum of the abortion issue. You'll find abortion opponents for theraputic cloning, and vice versa.
HR 801, an alternative bill, would prohibit only the baby-making part, but ups the fines to $10 million.
Robert M. Shrum
You have probably never heard of Robert Shrum. He's the most sought-after Democratic strategist right now, and today we find out that he's signed on with Kerry. ABC's The Note refers to this as winning "the Shrummy" or the "Shrum Primary." Last year, Joel Klein wrote a piece prophesying the importance. Why the excitement?
First, there's a soap opera quality to the choice, since Shrum is friendly with everyone in the field. He's worked for Gephardt, Edwards and Kerry. "He has close personal relationships with a lot of people involved in this process... And it is very difficult to sort that out, and deal with the very high profile atmospherics of all this. There are friendships and relationships at stake here, and he takes that very seriously," a close friend of Shrum told The Note.
Second, Shrum has a Kennedy fetish. He's famous for his "I'm On Your Side" message -- but lately he's veered towards what Joe Klein calls "an aggressive, pessimistic, and unsubtle strain of economic populism." We can expect him to work hard on Kerry's charisma deficit, which is seen as the biggest weakness. In so doing, Shrum will change Kerry's formula, which he's used successfully thus far. It's also possible that Kerry can't be molded in the Shrum image.
The Edwards campaign has picked up on this, referring to this as an irresponsible "vanity hire." Sour grapes, of course, but the argument has merit.
Third, Shrum doesn't have a great record on these races. He made his name in state races, but his candidates have a tendency to drop out during primaries or lose elections outright.
February 25, 2003
Los Alamos Recap
Just so it's all in one place.
In October 2001, the lab received unauthorized shipments of anthrax.
In August 2002, two Los Alamos employees are put on administrative leave for abusing expense accounts. The lab says they took $2,500. A watchdog group says it's more like $900,000.
From July 2001 to October 2002, two more employees pilfer TV monitors, CB radios, GPS navigators, picnic table, gas grill, lawn chair and dozens of hunting knives they bought through the lab. That got the attention of the Albequerque DA.
Finally, in January 2003, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham made sure that John Brown, director of Los Alamos, stepped down. He was replaced by Navy Vice Admiral Pete Nanos.
Two weeks later, investigators hired by the University of California (which operates the lab for the government) were fired, probably because they talked with outside investigators about $2.7 million in pilfered items and expense abuses.
LANL promptly lost a laptop containing designs for nuclear weapons.
Joke's on LANL: the two investigators have since been called back.
Is that everything?
Today, Congress starts hearings on this debacle. Watch it at work!
Cost of Common Colds at $40 billion each year in U.S.
In further proof that statistics don't mean a thing without context, University of Michigan Health System released a study indicating that the common cold costs the US economy $40 billion a year.
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=5512
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2003/cold.htm
First of all, a philosophical disagreement, then on to the real stuff. What does the cost to the economy matter? The economy is just an indicator of health of industries and employment, not an entity unto itself.
Ok, next. According to the articles, the $40 billion was broken down like this:
$2.9 billion on over-the-counter drugs (a)
$0.4 billion on perscription medication to treat symptoms (b)
$1.1 billion on antibotics (c)
$7.7 billion on doctor's visits (d)
$20 billion on missed work days (e)
The problems with this breakdown is that the report is adding up all numbers involved, and makes no indication of actual cost to the economy vs. economic gain. For example, a+b+c+d are all injections into the economy and (e) is already built into industry personnel budgets , as well, sick days. This is not an extra cost. Further, a+b+c+d+e = $32.1 billion. And, I guess the other $7.9 billion in a rounding error.
Net cost of colds to the economy: 1 meaningless report.
Los Alamos National Lab: More Trouble
Los Alamos National Laboratory is in trouble again. The world's most important nuclear research facility, and birthplace of the atom bomb, was broken into -- not by a crack team of commandos, but a Wired reporter with a torn Achille's tendon. Now, in addition to the camping gear bought on their credit card, the LANL has to explain how this reporter was able to enter the "secure" Technical Area 33. They'll have to think quickly: Congressional hearings on mismanagement at Los Alamos start tomorrow.
Deconstructing Iraq Policy
John B. Judis has a piece in the otherwise infuriating American Prospect in which he reverse-engineers the Bush Administration's Iraq policy.
You Don't Want What You Want
The concept of "choice" is complicated, entwined in personal desires, social strictures, and the law. What happens when personal desire reigns supreme? Who's most worried about this? It's not philosophers. It's economists.February 24, 2003
Sanford Dole, the "Sugar King"
If you'd like to know more about how the Kingdom of Hawaii became the Territory of Hawaii, the University of Hawaii has an excellent collection of primary sources. The Dole fruit and sugar fortune had not a little to do with it. A church here in Brooklyn has a saying: "Our missionaries went to Hawaii to do good, and they did very well."February 22, 2003
Al Queda Meeting Notes
The Smoking Gun has some odd documents showing the meeting minutes of the birth of Al Queda. They come out of some case of a charity group that was raising money for Al Queda. It's chilling to see this petty and bureaucratic beginning to this group. Members had to pledge to be early-rising and obedient and they were only supposed to take members who had good references, good manners and were good listeners.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bifladen1.html
The Smoking Gun also has Al Queda's terror manual.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jihadmanual.html
General Wesley Clark
Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, was on Meet the Press last week, and had some fascinating ideas about how a war on terrorism and rogue nations should be fought. Will he run on the Democratic ticket? Maybe. I hope so -- it would be nice to see some foreign policy backbone on the ticket. Mickey Kaus, of course, hates him. The New Republic, for reasons I don't fully comprehend, hates him even more. Their biggest beef? He doesn't want a war to kill a lot of people, and he's suspiciously like Colin Powell. Conspicuous by its absence: an alternate policy. Sour grapes for TNR.
Message in a Craig's List Bottle
I thought I was over my paralyzing high-school crush on you. I am not.Kenneth M. Pollack
He wrote The Threatenting Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq. Pay attention to his editorials in the New York Times and his interview with Talking Points Memo.Seven Northeastern States Sue the EPA
The EPA is being sued by seven Northeastern states, who are each hoping that the agency will be found negligent in its implementation of the Clean Air Act. There are a number of different actions pending. The states don't like sneaky procedural changes that don't treat carbon dioxide as a pollutant and prevent a thorough review of emissions from power plants. The NYT article highlights the poor treatment that the environment gets in this administration. Case in point: the voluntary carbon dioxide control program that the President touted in lieu of the Kyoto Protocol was announced in the cafeteria of the Department of Energy.February 21, 2003
We Don't Pray Together
England is giving Blair lots of grief for palling around with George Bush. Brits are really squeemish about Bush's dogmatic Christian rhetoric. That's especially interesting because this is the country the US broke away from because of its dogmatic Christianity.
The BBC's Jeremy Paxman asked if he prayed with Bush.
Blair curtly responded:
"No, we don't pray together. No, Jeremey, No."
Newsweek was great to point out that in the US, politicians would have jumped at the chance to brag that they prayed with Bush, no matter how much that flew in the face of the establishment clause.
February 20, 2003
DFW in Finest Onion *Ever*
A long-overdue swipe at David Foster Wallace. Includes bonus parody excerpt!Pollsters and the Democratic Party
Noam Scheiber has a great piece in The New Republic on the undue influence of Washington pollsters on Democratic campaigns. The upshot is that the party message is enforced from the mothership in Washington through the complex set of relationships between well-connected Democratic polling firms, the party election committees, the regionals, and the campaign committees. In 2002, the polling-derived message was almost certainly flawed and snuffed out any local issues where Democratic candidates would have otherwise found traction. Significantly, the Republican infrastructure has no such polling "inner circle" and candidates are therefore more flexible on campaign strategy. It's sharp thinking and a worthwhile concern, but blaming the Democratic polling machine for flaccid policy doesn't make me feel any better.February 19, 2003
Sen. Miller to Endorse Bush Plan
It appears that Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) is set to endorse Bush's tax cut today. For those that know Senator Miller, this is not a surprise. He's an aberration in the system, alongside Senators Chafee and Hatch, whose party affiliation has precious little to do with his voting habits. Republicans will try to make hay from this, and be met with a shrug from everyone else.February 18, 2003
Rep. Mike Honda Takes Coble to Task
Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) condemned the assertion by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) that Japanese-Americans were interred for their own safety during World War II. These remarks were weeks ago, and the two had met behind closed doors to talk it out. Honda's been waiting for the Republican leadership to do something about this guy, like strip him of his chairmanship of the House subcommittee on domestic security. The leadership hasn't moved, so Honda's calling them out.February 16, 2003
Gaijin: A Meditation Shinto-fascists
"I've always been one to hail the withering of priestcraft in any form. But, considering who is replacing them, I think I might sort of miss the weird little pricks."
SpamArrest Smackdown
The premise is this: you receive an email of unknown origin, and SpamArrest will bounce the message to sender, asking them to confirm their humanity before it forwards the in-doubt email to your inbox. A lovely idea, until SpamArrest sends spam. Their license allows them to use any email address they receive, from any source, for their own purposes. More from PoliTech.February 15, 2003
In Defense of Military Action
On the Iraq issue, I have some serious reservations about the war, but I have even more reservations about the opposition. I often hear that the U.S. should not trade "blood for oil." This suggests that the United States is going to oust Saddam Hussein in order to control the second largest oil reserve in the world. This betrays some very soft thinking. Iraq would be more than happy to sell us all the oil we want. We have, in fact, strongly defended sanctions on the country which prevent Iraq from producing at full capacity. Say, for the sake of argument, that we hope a new Iraqi regime would flout OPEC and flood the market with cheap oil. That's unrealistic. A new Iraq would be compelled to join OPEC for the same reason everyone else does: price controls and amicable relations with its neighbors. Why would a new Iraq sell oil for less? It's going to be the lifeblood of the new country, and making itself a bargain on the world oil markets is self-defeating. The U.S. has stated often and publicly that Iraqi oil will be used to finance the rebuilding of Iraq. I have every reason to believe this, because the alternative is for the United States to finance reconstruction -- and that's just not going to happen. The other argument from the opposition is "let the inspections work." There was a full-page MoveOn.org ad in the NYT yesterday encouraging the reader to imagine thousands of inspectors with access to U-2 spy planes and US intelligence, which would presumably be able to uncover any violation of UN sanctions and eventually disarm the country. It's a lovely sentiment, and completely unrealistic. Conspicuous by its absence is any plan for an exit strategy. How will we know when the inspectors are finished? 10 years? 50 years? How do we know when they're done? Iraq has already demonstrated that it can pursue its WMD programs with inspectors in the country. France and Germany have endorsed this path -- a massive inspection regime, backed by armed UN peacekeepers. This is a mistake that the UN has made before. In Bosnia, UN peacekeepers were put in place to defend civilians against the Serbs. Those peacekeepers were unable to attack the Serbs for fear of choosing sides. They eventually held hostage and slaughtered, complicating American bombing campaigns and eliminating Europe's political options. If peacekeepers were placed in Iraq, what are their rules of engagement? What purpose would they serve? Could they attack any uncooperative factory managers? Can't we expect the Iraqis to hold them hostage to prevent an American attack? It's a foolish plan. When Iraq lost the war in 1991, they pledged to disarm themselves. After 12 years of threats from the UN Security Council, they still haven't reformed. Comparisons to Germany in the 1930s are not out of place. From where I sit, this is a continuation of the Gulf War. I despise the deceit, the international strong-arming and the bellicose tone from Washington. I think it's counter-productive and very damaging. I think the timing of this war is cynical and political. On the other hand, the UN Security Council has spoken. Resolution 1441 was an unambiguous warning, and it must be backed by force if the Security Council is to command any authority in the future. I believe in the United Nations, and I believe it can be a powerful vehicle for creating peace all over the world. In order to make that happen it must, from time to time, enforce its authority through member states' armies. I want more than anyone to have an alternative. I want another idea, another plan that will prevent a war. The silence from the opposition is deafening. They have thrown up nothing but soft thinking and tired anti-war slogans. In the absence of alternatives, this is a just war.Indy Media Wastes My Time
Interested in what's going on uptown today, I take a gander at IndyMedia. Lies, damn lies, and propaganda. There's a piece on the much-discussed WSJ editorial solicitation, framed as another example of manipulation in corporate media. Hypocrisy: IndyMedia promotes, and then covers the F15 marches. Instead of responding to the City's injunction by "planning dozens of unpermitted feeder marches," these marches were planned well ahead of the City's injunction, and I imagine that they're still be staged out of inertia and bad organization, not as a response to anything the City has done.
February 14, 2003
February 12, 2003
CRS May Go Public
If we're lucky, a bill re-introduced by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) would make information from the Congressional Research Service available to the public. The CRS performs timely research on pending legislative issues, and is publically funded. Unfortunately, you have to buy its research at $30 a pop through third parties. On the recommendation of a Project on Government Oversight report, these two fine Senators want to make all the CRS material available online.February 09, 2003
February 07, 2003
GAO Wusses Out
The GAO has decided not to pursue its appeal to the Walker v. Cheney decision. The result? The Executive doesn't have to tell you anything if it doesn't want to, thanks very much. Why did the GAO give up? Lack of Congressional support. Find out how your Rep and Senators stood on this.David Hasslehoff Hits Amazon
For those of you whose only experience of David Hajamapp is this 18-track CD, you don't know what else you're missing out on. I'm don't dissing this greatest hits comp, because I do indeed feel like it's a fascinating archive of David's greatest work; I just feel that so much else is out there to experience beyond this realm of familiarity.Take his landmark 1993 album "Freedom Sitting On a Fist," for example. The 34 songs he burps out on this double CD has more challenging and confrontational material. "Don't You Oppress Me, Mister" is a disturbing look at the seamy side of concert security. "Easy With That Wand" paints a dark, unsettling portrait of magician's assistants.Even his 1989 release "Stained Thong" has more experimental material. "Two Bowling Balls in a Hammock" and "(Let My Cleft Chin) Hold Your Cigar" are two watershed moments in avant garde musical experimentation.But whatever the difference of opinion, what David has kept faithful throughout his storied career has been a style that cannot be duplicated. His voice sounds like a rottweiler mauling a retarded bear, something that every new act out there has tried to reproduce, to no effect. And their covers of "Hot Shot City" aren't particularly good, either.lovingly preserved by Amazon
Secret memos are never a good thing
Urge you senators to filibuster against the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the federal appeals court. If the republicans are able to snooker the Senate into letting this man join the court, it will set a precedent that will further hobble the ability of advocates of sanity to keep right-wing ideologues off of the court. It will also set a precedent of non-transparency in appointing judges, i.e. there will be no expectations that senators who must vote on the nominees have access to their professional writings.
Chuck Schumer
202 224 6542
Hillary Rodham Clinton
202 224 4451
Voting fraud in the US? I don't believe it.
The Washington, DC publication The Hill has confirmed that former conservative radio talk-show host and now Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel was the head of, and continues to own part interest in, the company that owns the company that installed, programmed, and largely ran the voting machines that were used by most of the citizens of Nebraska.
As reported in: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0131-01.htm
February 06, 2003
North Carolina Doesn't Quit
You'd think Congressional leaders would have learned their lesson. Alas, Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., head of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security endorsed the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. What's worse? Rep. Sue Myrick R-N.C. In a speech to the Heritage Foundation, she candidly disclosed her concern for US readiness against terrorism: "You know, and this can be misconstrued, but honest to goodness (husband) Ed and I for years, for 20 years, have been saying,'You know, look at who runs all the convenience stores across the country.' Every little town you go into, you know?" I choose to not misconstrue that, and interpret it as another example of the racist freakshow that is the Republican leadership. [UPDATE: Fri Feb 7 02:23:18 EST 2003: I neglected to mention the whitewashed lawnjockey.More Budget Hand-wringing
If you don't know what's going on with the budget, some nice high-level wonkery is made available through PBS -- whose budget is being cut in the President's proposal, by the way.
USA Maxes Out Its Credit Card
Clinton balanced the budget. Bush blew it. The economy sucked, sure. He still blew it. When you're in a hole, you stop digging.
February 05, 2003
Hernando de Soto Walks Among Us Like A God
Hernando de Soto has always been a hoopy frood -- a well-respected economist, defender of property rights, capitalist running dog and dog owner.
February 02, 2003
WSJ Rolls Its Own News
The eight European leaders that endorsed the Administration's position on Iraq made their views known through a solicited editorial in the Wall Street Journal. What makes this interesting is that the Journal (and many, many others) then turned around and reported it as news. Of course, this happens all the time on shows like Meet the Press and Face the Nation. What's interesting is that it doesn't pass the smell test, for no other reason than because of the importance of the story, it highlights the manufacturing of news. The LA Times ran a piece about this episode, and refers vaguely to ethical questions. The allusions were vague, of course, because there aren't any ethical questions. It's just journalists finding a story and making absolutely sure that they reap the rewards.
February 01, 2003
A is for Atom, How to Be Popular, Duck and Cover
If you haven't already, visit the Prelinger Archives. It's a collection of old industrials and Civil Defense newsreels. Frightening, funny and ironicalicious.
Columbia
We will never forget them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.- Peggy Noonan
