The Gore Commission Demanded Tougher Airline Security, But Airlines And Conservatives Said No

"The federal government should consider aviation security as a national security issue, and provide substantial funding for capital improvements. The Commission believes that terrorist attacks on civil aviation are directed at the United States, and that there should be an ongoing federal commitment to reducing the threats that they pose."
Gore Commission final report, February 12, 1997

Rumblings from people, especially "prominent democrats," about being happy that Bush is president, are the kind of Limbaugh fueled crap that makes me want to puke on the first dittohead I see. It's completely possible that the attacks would have been thwarted by the increased security a President Gore would have instituted, following his own commissions recommendation. I don't think Dumbya's ever even been on a commission. If he was, the report, no matter what the problem being researched, would have read "Cut taxes." It is the cure-all mantra of the Republican party that we heard for years while the country went deeper into debt and recession. The only thing that trickles down is the shit down rich people's legs.

Of course the right wing nuts said Gore's report was partisan, not cost effective, and stupid. OK. I guess we all know what they're problem is. Greed. Here's one of the partisan, wastefully expensive, and stupid things Gore's report said:

The FAA should work with industry to develop a national program to increase the professionalism of the aviation security workforce, including screening personnel.

Yeah. Like this guy -- who volunteered to go to Nam while Dumbya was AWOL, drunk, coked up, and losing his Dad's money -- like Al Gore would publish a report about airline security as a partisan effort to bypass the Republican led congress. And I have two big buildings in New York to sell you, you pieces of crap. If it wasn't Ashcroft running DOJ, I'd say we should prosecute every single Republican and greedy Airline executive who belittled the Gore Commission Report. They're guilty of, at the very least, depraved indifference, meaning about 5000 counts of manslaughter 2. Somebody call Ken Starr. I have a real crime for him to investigate....

Note to the NRA - it's not your guns the "jack booted thugs" want - it's the natural medicine used by cancer patients and others to alleviate pain

Yes, the jack-booted thugs of Asa Hutchinson's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice raided the Los Angeles Cannabis Buyer's Club, taking pot and plants needed by people suffering from horrific diseases. Once again, Bush has proven he is not compassionate, just really conservative. In the middle of the biggest threat to this nation since WWII, the Bushies decide that the real threat is a bunch of sick people smoking pot to feel better. Even more atrocious is the fact that I searched google, excite news search, the LA Times, and the only news story I could find (besides the club's site, http://medmarla.org)was at the Marijuana Policy Project's web site. I originally heard the story on KNX 1070 News Radio in Hollywood.

The jack-booted thugs reference, for those of you who do not remember, comes from an NRA letter that was so disgusting that even former President Bush quit the group over it. The letter ranted that gun control laws that would give "jack-booted government thugs more power to take away our Constitutional rights, break in our doors, seize our guns, destroy our property, and even injure or kill us." Seems it's more important to Republicans to take pot from cancer sufferers than to take guns from dangerous rednecks. After all, chances are someone smoking pot in West Hollywood to help with pain associated with AIDS is not someone who's going to vote for Bush. But some redneck who wants to keep his assault weapon is.

I'm just glad I live in California, where, among some other progressive laws passed, out centrist governor just signed a bill making it mandatory that anyone who buys a handgun has to prove they know how to use it safely. Amazing! You have to take a test to get a liscense to drive, to fly a plane, to drive a truck, but not to use a gun. Now if we could just make it necessary to get a liscense for the most dangerous of all activities: raising children.

For more about the Bush administration's Jihad against medicine the state of California decided was fine, click here. Anybody else wondering what happened to the Republican position of state's rights? Guess the only bring up that crap when it suits their purposes.... Read about the NRA's Jack Booted Thugs letter where they defended the child molesting, religious fanatic terrorist in Waco and compared government agents to Nazis. Seems the real Nazis are the ones in the Bush administration who think AIDS and cancer patients should live their remaining days in agony.

Another person the CIA should be helping and who, if here, the Christian Coalition would tell to shut up

The Afghan Women’s Association fights for women's rights in Afghanistan. Only very brave women would face the Taliban punishments for such actions. Does the CIA have women agents who can help the cause of women like Farah Naz Nazier who dare to stand up to these fanatical bigots and bullies? Are we dropping pamphlets intended for women - assuming some of them can read. Are we explaining to the women of Afghanistan that we are dropping bombs to help rid them of their oppressors? In a post Taliban Afghanistan, we need to make damn sure that groups like these are funded, educated, and supported.

Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

The Taliban's Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice rides around in Toyota 4x4's and punishes people who fly kites, listen to music, take pictures, or fail to pray at the required times. They have been at the top of every human rights organizations violators list for years. They kill women for adultery. They also force female circumcision (which is more like castration) on girls.

Any doubt that these are the kinds of things Jerry Falwell would force on Americans if he had the chance? Hey, Jerry'd hold down those 8 year old girls if it meant an end to abortion! Nothing like removing the clitoris to make women want sex less! And since sex for pleasure, for the Taliban and the Falwellban, is a sin, then female circumcision is the answer!

Going to die if you give birth? Too bad! You have to die giving birth because God wants it. Pregnant as a result of rape? Too bad - you're having the baby anyway! Is that rock and roll or rap music? Ah, ah, ah! You're going to jail for that! Long hair, spiked hair, any hair other than Jerry says, and POW - off to jail with you!

We're familiar with ways to combat the Falwellban here in America. But women of Afghanistan have very little in terms of support for their captivity by the Taliban. The only women's rights group in Afghanistan is the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. This is the group the CIA should be helping, since so many men have died fighting wars in Afghanistan for the last 22 years, and the majority of the population is women. Apparently, they're not all that happy about life under the Taliban. Who would be happy living in a dark ages country ruled by religious fanatics like Jerry Falwell?

You know I love Jerry so much, and I want to help him so much, that I wrote him this letter full of good suggestions. You can write him too with your suggestions. He'll probably have his goon squad check me out now, but I'm not scared! I know my suggestions will help America see Jerry for what he is!

----------------------------------------------

To: jerry@falwell.com
Subject: The answer to abortion and other sins of today

Female circumcision!

If women can't feel pleasure, then they wouldn't be out being promiscuous! They would only want to have sex to procreate. In some countries, they remove the whole clitoris. But we would only have to remove the part that gives women the most pleasure. This would greatly reduce pregnacy, especially amoung young women, since the procedure is usually performed on pre-pubescent girls.

Meanwhile, my plans for furthering your dream of a religiously run country, or theology, include banning all music other than gospel, banning certain haircuts and clothing, making adultery punishable by death, as well as pregnancy out of wedlock (death to the mother after the baby is born, of course), bring back paddling in schools - especally for students who don't pray, or who pray to a God other than Jesus Christ our savior.

To enforce these edicts, I think we should convince President Bush to begin a new Cabinet level department: The Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. These federal law enforcement officials could travel around making sure people are ready for judgement day, pure in heart and free of sin. Finally, our Christian country will be Christian again! Anyone who dares to worship any God other than Jesus Christ, or anyone who dares to practist atheism or agnosticism, or anyone who worships Jesus in anyway other than the way you say is the CORRECT way, they will all be executed or deported!

Scott Supak
supak.com

Letter to Senators Boxer and Feinstein

Senators:

Considering the fact that the Ashcroft Justice department has no intention of prosecuting the anthrax hoax on planned parenthood offices by the army of god (see http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/290/metro/Ask_clinics_about_fear+.shtml ), please, I beg of you, do not let these right wing judges get in. Jesse Helms and his cronies held up all of Clinton's nominees, we can do the same. You will win this PR game. Remember, if you put the half a million votes Gore won by with all the Green votes for Nader, you can see that a big majority of Americans are center and left of center. Certainly a vast majority of Californians are.

If Bush stacks the courts with right-wing-nut judges, then even if we ever do get an AG who would prosecute the Army of God, which openly advocates the killing of abortion doctors, for its terrorist acts agains Planned Parenthood and abortion clinics, we wouldn't be able to convict them.

Please realize how important this is. The campaign of terror against abortion providers and family planning clinics has worked. Very few medical school students learn the procedures anymore. In ten years or so, it will be nearly impossible to find a doctor who will perform the procedure. These terrorists are winning. And with judges who think what they do is justified, backed up by a Pentecostal AG, they won't need to pack the Supreme Court with any more of their cronies.

Do not give in to the terror. And please expose Senator Hatch's diabolical and assinine comments for what they are. When he says that stalling on these judges hurts the war on terrorism, he belittles us all. He, and the rest of the republicans, are trying to wrap the flag around all their pet projects, and they should be publicly shamed for it. They see the war on terror as an opportunity to impose their religious fanaticism on all of us, and I hope you will not let them get away with making us a country run by religious fanatics.

Furthermore, I suggest that you immediately open an inquiry into Ashcroft's apparent ignoring of the 110 letters sent to abortion clinics, while he said that they would prosecute fully all anthrax hoaxes. Why has he mentioned stupid hoaxes of a singular nature, but not these 110 coordinated threats. Since 1998, mail purporting to be laced with anthrax has been delivered to clinics in 16 states. There hasn't been a single arrest.

These terrorists now feel empowered by having one of their own in the white house and at DOJ. It's time to make them realize that they are breaking the law, and they should pay for it. And while we're at it, the Republicans can pay for their inaction on this one.

Scott Supak
http://supak.com

The following is a quote from the above referenced article in the Boston Globe, by Eileen McNamara:

US Attorney General John Ashcroft warned yesterday that those who would perpetrate an anthrax hoax at this time are guilty of a ''grotesque transgression of the public trust.'' He did not cite antiabortion extremists as an example but mentioned, instead, an employee of the Department of Environmental Protection in Connecticut who, in a misguided attempt at humor, left a harmless white powder on a co-worker's desk and stood silent while the building was evacuated and the workers decontaminated. That stunning lapse in judgment could yield the jokester five years in prison and a multimillion-dollar fine.

Where, one wonders, is a similar vigilance to apprehend and prosecute those who aim not to amuse but to terrify women and their doctors, and to deny them their legal right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy?

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/290/metro/Ask_clinics_about_fear+.shtml

Organic Gardening - because there just might be an earth after all this

Despite the religious logic (there's an oxymoron) of Reagan Interior Secretary James Watt, who said we might as well go ahead and destroy the environmnet, since judgement day is coming soon anyway, I keep thinking about what got me started on the web: organic gardening. While the religious fanatics of the world, like GW Bush, may indeed destroy it, I have to look on the bright side. If there is something left after all this, we'll have to take very good care of it. Like we should have been doing all along. If you watch the IMAX movie Blue Planet (we should strap W down,like Alex in Clockwork Orange, and force him to watch it for days) you'll see the poisoned top soil washing down the rivers to the sea. You'll see vast swaths of erosion eating away American farmland. You'll see fires in the Amazon Rain Forest to clear the way for McDonald's beef.

Of course, forcing Dumbyass to watch it wouldn't make much difference, since his Dad and Uncle Dick are calling the shots anyway. But, say Dad and Dick keel over tomorrow, along with Rumsfeld and the rest of the Old Guard, then maybe Dubya'll would actually get a chance to show how compassionate he is. After all, any guy who was coked up and AWOL while other young men his age were dying in Nam can't be all that bad, right? Maybe he's a hippie at heart. Maybe he's even a closet tree hugger, one of the eco-terrorists who Alaska Congressman Don Young said could be responsible for the world trade center disaster just 9 hours, YES, NINE HOURS, after it happened.

Ah, who am I kidding? GW "hiding in the" Bush is just another right-wing-nut, ultra religous, bigot, just like the rest of them. He'll take advantage of this situation to further rape and pillage this planet for the sake of corporate profit. There is no doubt that every move he's made so far has been designed to help the Carlyle Group ( Pappa Bush, Carlucci, Baker, the Bin Laden Family) make more money. War is very profitable for the defense industries that the Carlyle Group is invested in. Think maybe the Carlyle Group is also invested in companies that help save the planet? Naaa... Where's the money in that?

In Al Gore's book, Earth in the Balance, he toyed with the idea of changing the way we do accounting to include assessments of the environmental impacts of various projects and products. Funny how no one talks about that anymore....

This is one subject where individuals can make a big difference. We can buy organic food. We can make our yards, lawns, and gardens organic. We can compost. We can talk to our neighbors about it. GO ORGANIC. It's easier, and cheaper, than using all those chemicals. You are throwing away kitchen and yard waste that could be composted to make your lawns and gardens healthier. This "waste" is going to landfills instead of back into the soil. This is something we can correct, each and every one of us. And voting with our dollars, by purchasing energy efficient, earth friendly, and environmentally packaged products, is the best way to show business that we mean business when it comes to saving the earth. Buy more fuel efficient vehicles. Buy compact flourescent light bulbs. Build smarter houses. There are so many things that we can do to save the planet, despite the apocalyptic leanings of the people who stole the White House.

Is the Army of God behind the Anthrax?

Odd, how no anti-abortion republicans have received anthrax..... Only a pro-choice Senator, the pro-choice Republican Governor of New York, the liberal media, and a tabloid.... Hmmmm.....

And even odder how almost 100 planned parenthood offices have received white powder in threatening letters from the "Army of God" -- a known domestic terrorist outfit - and I've heard no mention of it in the mainstream media. One field test was positive, and they are awaiting results. No one is sick. See, at planned parenthood, they've had to be careful of what's in their mail for years now.

The war is here

Here's a must read: The Battlefield in the American Mind By MARK DANNER.

"This is not aimed at our policies," Henry Kissinger said after the attacks. "This is aimed at our existence." That is precisely wrong. The "evildoers" who gave their lives on Sept. 11 and those who sent them have precise objectives and a clear plan to achieve them.

Read this article. It has given me hope that there are people in this country who understand what's going on here. And I have realized that W is on a path to be just like his old man. A one termer. Why? Because he believes the battle is in the mountains of Afghanistan, instead of in the mountains of the American Mind. And if, as I suspect will happen, a real man - someone who didn't spend half his life coked up blowing his nose and his old man's money - will run against him and win. Someone will run who actually understands that until we address the root cause of terrorism, we will not stop it. Someone will run who would actually listen to Colin Powell if he hired him. Someone will run who realizes that Bill Clinton's sex life has nothing to do with his near success at getting Arafat to agree to a Palestinian state. Someone will run who won't hire people with financial interest in war machines to be in charge of the Pentagon.

This is a guerilla war. We've been in those before. And the American public doesn't like them. We must make efforts to address all the frayed ends of this tapestry.

Robin's New York City Pictures

Robin just got back from New York City where she took some great shots, which I have, of course, sized for use as desktop wallpaper. She took pictures of the world trade center wreckage, of memorials, engine company 14, and the midtown skyline from the ferry.

Hypocrites in Chief Bush and Cheney will keep Pennsylvania Ave. closed

The Republican National Committee harshly criticized Bill Clinton for closing Pennsylvania Ave. They said it was done arbitrarily. That Clinton did nothing to protect ordinary Americans while he made sure he was protected. Here's the quote.

Bill Clinton arbitrarily closed off Pennsylvania Avenue, the nation's Main Street, for his protection, while his policies left the public unprotected against vicious criminals. As a symbol of our determination to restore the rule of law - in the White House as well as in our streets - we will reopen Pennsylvania Avenue.

Today on NewsHour with Jim Leher, Cheney said:

Pennsylvania Avenue ought to stay closed because, as a fact, if somebody were to detonate a truck bomb in front of the White House, it would probably level the White House and that is unacceptable.

Well, well, well. Maybe Clinton was right about that one. Maybe he listened to the same secret service people who now protect the Resident of the White House, who told Uncle Dickhead the same thing they told Bill.

I'd like to take a closer look at the RNC platform statement about protecting Americans. Besides the fact that crime rates went way down during Clinton's terms (I'm sure the RNC has some bassackward argument for how that's a Regan-Bush leftover), I think it's odd that they oppose the federalization of airport safety personel. Hey, here they are, finally listening to their federal safety personel, namely the secret service, but they don't think the American public deserves federal protection. While they criticized Clinton for wanting to protect himself and not the public, they are now doing even worse! They are saying that the public should have minimum wage security personel that are employed by the lowest bidders. Meanwhile, the hypocritical Resident in Chief has plenty of federalized protection, including a now permanently closed Pennsylvania Ave. which they said they would re-open. I'll just add it to another of his long list of lies that starts with Kyoto and just keeps going..... There's nothing compassionate about this conservative. I'd like to know what Rod Grams (Republican Senator and general loudmouth from Minnesota) and his outher loudmouthed Clinton haters have to say about their precious symbol of democracy that Clinton ruined now. Anybody want to step up and tell Georgie boy to open the street?

I didn't think so.

Now on to some other possibilities for truck bombs. Before September 11, Republicans really wanted to let unsafe Mexican trucks drive all over US roads, even though we can only, by the reckoning of the inspector general of the transportation department, inspect 2% of all the trucks coming across the Mexican border. Of course, everything's easier to get in Mexico, including a truck driving liscense, and explosives. I wonder if we're going to now take advantage of any national security clauses in NAFTA so we don't have to let thousands of big rigs into this country without knowing what they're carrying. In the Republican rush to put the Teamsters out of business (except for hauling oil out of ANWR), maybe we've given the terrorists a way to import hundreds, or even thousands, of bombs bigger than the Oklahoma City one.

At least we know that no Mexican truck will be getting near the whitehouse, despite the best efforts of the GOP....

Just another redneck who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest, and that women should have to die giving birth rather than have a life-saving late term abortion.

He has gone on record as being anti-fourth amendment. He apparently also has problems with parts of the 1st and 8th amendments, and probably others. This terrorist attack has given Ashcroft and Bush exactly what they wanted, an excuse to crack down on the people in this country that they can't stand. While they preach Unity, and openness, and tolerance for different points of view, they are plotting to rob us of our freedom, give more huge tax cuts to the rich, and lord only knows what else. Just wait till Bush tries to tell the red-neck republicans from the Rockies that they'll have to carry a national ID card!

Why can't we just say United We Stand?

Probably because of the Jerry Falwell syndrome. Religious fanatics just can't keep their mouths shut. They don't want to be united because they can't stand the idea of agreeing with baby killing liberal atheists. I was happy to hear the that the ACLU is asking, on behalf of a parent who was "deeply troubled by it," to remove the words "God Bless America" from the school sign at Breen Elementary School, in Rocklin, California. Of course, the school is resisting, and the principle, Terry Thronton, is refusing to take these divisive words down. Great, another public school trying to instill devisive religious fanaticism in our children. Isn't that what they do in Afghanistan? What's next, Breen? Going to stop letting little girls go to school?

Here's my letter to these yahoos:

Terry Thornton, principle of Breen Elementary School, Rocklin, CA:

http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local06_20011006.html

I hope you will reconsider your school sign's message, "God Bless America."

When I was growing up, we were made to say the pledge of allegience. In the 6th grade, when, after speaking to my family and atteneding many churches where other religions were constantly belittled and denegrated, I decided that I didn't believe in god and I refused to say the pledge. I was disciplined for it. I was sent to detention because I wouldn't say "one nation, under God." I didn't have the ACLU to help me. I was ridiculed by the "christian" kids. I was treated badly by my teachers and my principle, all of whom apparently forgot that my atheist family paid property taxes too, and, therefore, part of their salaries. Part of your salary is paid by people who do not believe in God. And you are being a bigot by not changing your sign to read something else, like United we Stand.

Do you not realize that this kind of religious attitude is very similar to what they have in Afghanistan? That your intolerance for non-believers makes you a fanatic too? There are ways that we can all, as Americans, show our unity in these dark times. Forcing your religion down people's throats is not one of those ways. Your job is to give our children a fighting chance in this world - to teach them to communicate and to understand science. If any of our children want to learn about God, they can go to church. That's what churches are for. Schools should be a place where we teach our children that we can all get a long, regardless of our religious beliefs, or lack thereof. By putting God on your school sign, you have taught our children that yes, even in America, if you don't think like the white anglo-saxons who founded this country, you will be shunned and ridiculed. Just like I was.

Remember, the last time religion ruled the world, they called it the dark ages.

Please tell Mark Forbes, your district board of trustees president exactly how "God Bless America" hurts me. It hurts me by suggesting that, because I don't believe in God, I am somehow not American, or not deserving of the same good fortune that believers are. It is hurtful because it assumes that everyone thinks like he does. It is hurtful because many of us who do not believe in God, or who are agnostics, feel that religion is, once again, at the root of all this trouble. You might as well say God Bless our Crusade!

Scott Supak
American Citizen

And here's the lovely people who work at this school. Maybe a few of them agree with me. I suggest we all write them and let them know why they should take down their divisive, fanatic sign:

tthornton@rocklin.k12.ca.us; jbeyer-erickson@rocklin.k12.ca.us; rroth@rocklin.k12.ca.us; msweeney@rocklin.k12.ca.us; cwhite@rocklin.k12.ca.us; kbrown@rocklin.k12.ca.us; pcarras@rocklin.k12.ca.us; bderigolo@rocklin.k12.ca.us; jlucas@rocklin.k12.ca.us; pnishi@rocklin.k12.ca.us; cnunn-lum@rocklin.k12.ca.us; dpope@rocklin.k12.ca.us; tryland@rocklin.k12.ca.us; lstark@rocklin.k12.ca.us; swesselius@rocklin.k12.ca.us; kbaker@rocklin.k12.ca.us; ccaldwell@rocklin.k12.ca.us; rdetrich@rocklin.k12.ca.us; jeaton@rocklin.k12.ca.us; dgove@rocklin.k12.ca.us; mkageta@rocklin.k12.ca.us; ckinne@rocklin.k12.ca.us; slain@rocklin.k12.ca.us; dledford@rocklin.k12.ca.us; mleettola@rocklin.k12.ca.us; treed@rocklin.k12.ca.us; lreid@rocklin.k12.ca.us; bwilliams@rocklin.k12.ca.us; jwoodring@rocklin.k12.ca.us; lwright@rocklin.k12.ca.us; mwussow@rocklin.k12.ca.us

Huge deficits are coming back and what does Bush want to do with your money?

Bush, and his old cronies that date back to the Reagan era, are so happy we have a new cold war to fight and a crippled economy to use as excuses to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy and businesses. No rich people are losing their health care because of these attacks. No rich people will have their cars repossesed or will have to stop paying their children's tuition as a result of being laid off. But these rich people should get huge tax breaks. Will they spend the money we give them? Well, yes. On treasury bills, so they can finance their tax cut at a decent interest rate. Now that's standing united for you.

"The first duty of the government is the safety of the American people. And tax cuts will not pay for air marshals or baggage screeners." -- Rep. Martin Frost, D. Texas

Once again, the people who benefit the most from capitalism will have to pay the least for it. The people who are hurt the least by these tragic times will actually MAKE money on this tragedy. The people who are hurt the worst will get, if they're lucky, a big FU from the Republicans. Real patriotic, guys. Hundreds of thousands of people getting laid off and you delay the vote on an aid package to these workers because you know what a bunch of greedy fat cats you look like when you say no to them. I get angry over a lot, but nothing makes me more angry than when the dittoheads do something like this. Capital Gains tax cuts? WHAT ARE THESE PUKES TALKING ABOUT? WE'VE BEEN DOWN THIS ROAD. WE KNOW WHERE IT LEADS. NOTHING TRICKLES DOWN EXCEPT THE CRAP DOWN THEIR LEGS. Money, in case people haven't been paying attention, tends to concentrate in the hands of the wealthy. That's why we all say "the rich get richer." Would we say that if it "trickled down"?

It took a president who invested in education and infrasturcture to create record growth and surplus. Putting big tax cut dollars into the pockets of the rich does not stimulate the economy. We've done this experiment. Why are we here again? Because single minded, single issue voters like gun nuts and religious fanatics said Al Gore was the devil and voted for Dumbya. Most of these people are middle class folks who were inflamed by the religious right to believe that Al Gore was going to force them all to be homosexuals and take away their guns. Lies. All lies so these same rich fat cats like Jerry Falwell could get their teeth, or their dentures, into some more federal tax dollars, in the form of tax cuts, big breaks to the dirty energy industries they invest in and get paid off by, or cash to religions for "social" programs.

It's all about money. It's always about money in this country. The greedy Bush family, which actually did business with Nazi's and has now been caught doing business with the Bin Laden family (which, even though it claims to have disowned it's son, is being investigated by the FBI anyway) through the Carlyle group.

The Nazi agenda did not die along with Adolf Hitler. It moved to America (or a part of it did) and joined the far right of the Republican Party. Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker, W's grandfathers, both helped the Nazis by laundering money before and during the war, and by giving the Nazi's who came to the US after the war positions within the Republican party. And, furthermore, the U. S. government investigated both Bert Walker and Prescott Bush, and under the Trading with the Enemy Act seized all shares of Union Banking, including shares held by Prescott Bush. The government held that "huge sections of Prescott Bush's empire had been operated on behalf of Nazi Germany and had greatly assisted the German war effort." For detailed info on this, see this story about Bush and the Nazis.

And who inherits that empire? The "president" of the United States, whose oil greedy family has made friends with anyone who'll help them drill. Nazi's, terrorists, racists, whoever. With their money and connections (like cousins in newsrooms) they can pretty well cover up the fact that they are Nazi scum. And if anyone gets too close to the truth, they'll just have Falwell spew some crap about Clinton. Throw crap on the left so they can't smell the crap on the right.

All I can say is, please call all your friends in Florida and tell them to make sure they get to vote for someone besides Dumbya next time. And, for Christmas presents, buy your Republican friends some books about Bush, if they can read, that is.

Pictures. Hawaii pictures. Hawaii wallpaper pictures.

Yes. A brand new, clean site where it's easy to find all kinds of stuff about Hawaii. It's called, aptly enough, Hawaii-stuff.com. Check it out. Especially the Hawaii pictures. I'm talking free desktop wallpaper pictures of Hawaii. There's also tons of great info on Hawaii vacation rentals, Hawaii travel, Hawaii rental cars, Hawaii books, Hawaiian music, links to other sites about Hawaii, Hawaii camping, coffee, posters, and lots more to come! I'm just getting started on this baby!

Some clips from my Sierra Club newsletter

"In my view, we need to know that vast natural areas such as the Arctic Refuge exist as we cope with the events of the past month. Nature reminds us of the eternal rhythms of life of which we are a part and which will endure over time. Ensuring an enduring refuge in the Arctic, no matter how uncertain other parts of our life may seem right now, provides us solace and perspective in these trying times. This crisis has reawakened us to the importance of protecting our values, and I believe that the Arctic wilderness has a place on that list."
-Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), quoted on October 2nd

On Tuesday, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit seeking to dismantle the Clinton administration's designation of the Giant Sequoia National Monument. The National Monument designation, which protects 328,000 acres of Sierra Nevada Forest in California, prohibits logging, mining and off-road vehicles in a section of the Sequoia.

Judge Ricardo Urbina upheld Clinton's authority to create national monuments, a far-reaching decision that helps protect six million acres recently designated national monument land. These very monuments were featured on the cover of last month's Sierra Magazine. You can find pictures and descriptions of the monuments on page 40 of the magazine, or online at:

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200109/mcmanus.asp

Hey, this sounds like Falwell's idea of a great country!

I found this story about Bin Laden, written in 1998, which tells of his rebuilding after the missle attacks. Interesting info about the Taliban... Sounds a lot like Falwell!

Since the Taliban assumed power in Kandahar, four years ago, the religious police have ruthlessly enforced the fatwas, or "heavenly orders" of the Shura. They have banned an endless list of former pleasures, among them television, kite-flying, music, photography and alcohol. They have stoned adulterers to death, buried gays under walls and amputated the hands of thieves.

Nice, huh? Guess God won't drop his veil of protection on these people.....

Detailed Map of Afghanistan's Military forces, including Bin Laden's

Check out this detailed map of Afghanistan showing the locations of Bin Laden bases and troops, Taliban forces, and opposition forces. Maybe if we just wait the whole damn Taliban will fall apart. Just the threat of a US attack is enough to scare these people into deserting the Taliban. Then, it'll just be Bin Laden and his 5000 troops or so - no innocents to get killed. Clear out all the innocent people and only the enemy is left.... Hey, I heard the Vatican say that in that case, even the Pope is not a pacifist! Really! (LA Times, Sunday, Sept. 30).

A letter to Salon about biological attacks

I just read about "Scary Mary" a former FAA official who quit because of her disgust at the airline industry (and the FAA cheerleaders) saying airport security wasn't cost effective. They put the value of a human life at 2.7 million dollars. If these business friendly republicans (and democrats, to a lesser degree) are in charge of preparing public health systems to save lives in the event of a biological attack, then we're in deep D'oh now. Any talk of improving the public health system in this country has been quickly shot down by republicans. And anyone who even thought about trying to improve the health system (read Hillary) is quickly trashed from every angle by every dittohead in the beltway (and out). Most of these guys are controlled by industry lobbyists and campaign donors who say they can't do something like prepare the health infrastructure for a biological terrorist attack. That would cost billions, and, if a life is worth even as much as 3 million, then there'd have to be an awful lot of dead and dying people to make any improvements in our health care system cost effective. When will we start spending money on the people of this country, instead of on capital gains tax cuts? When we stop "electing" republicans, that's when.