'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
Playing Politics with Terror Alerts
By Baron Dave Romm
Howard Dean was right... again. The terror warnings are politically motivated. The oily Bush administration holds on to minor and uncomfirmed warnings, then releases them as "alerts" when politically necessary. Why aren't the sphincter conservatives outraged? The right has such a double standard that they're morals are in question, but this isn't even a matter of the end justifying the means. This is Soviet-style propaganda pure and simple.
The following has been linked to and blogged quite a bit already, but it's worth repeating here. I have permission from biltud and Julius Civitatus to reprint this blogspot from Julius' site. It's based on some tremendous work by biltud first posted in salon.com's Table Talk. It's too long to print in its entirety to I'm going to pick a few choice "coincidences". The whole listing is much longer and much more damning. If you're not scared yet, check out Julius' Graph of Bush approval ratings vs. Terror Alerts. Large graphic with lots of info. Note: For many years, Table Talk was a separate subscription than salon.com Premium, but in may they rolled them together. All Premium subscribers can log onto Table Talk, though you'll have to pick a TT name and pw.
Selected listings; links from original posting
January 10, 2002 - George W. Bush, answering reporters' questions in the Oval Office regarding his close relationship with Ken Lay, head of the controversial Enron, claims that he barely knew him: "I got to know Ken Lay when he was the head of the-what they call the Governor's Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994 [italics Chatterbox's]. And she had named him the head of the Governor's Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to know Ken. " Source
Many see Bush's answer as less than sincere.
Source - Source
February 5, 2002 - Angry lawmakers to subpoena Ken Lay over
Enron scandal. Journalists inquire about Lay's close connections to
the Bush administration Source
February 12, 2002 - Attorney
General John Ashcroft on Tuesday called on "all Americans to be on
the highest state of alert" after an FBI warning of a possible
imminent terrorist attack.
Source
Mr. Bush's comments come after a two-day hearing on Capitol Hill with FBI director Robert Mueller and the agent who wrote the so-called "Phoenix memo" last summer warning about that Arab students training at U.S. aviation schools were linked to a militant Muslim group. Source - Source
Same day:
The Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee votes to issue subpoenas to the Bush
administration for information on its contacts with bankrupt energy
trader Enron
Corp. Source
May
24, 2002
- Railroad and other transit systems across the country received a
Transportation Department warning based on "an unconfirmed, uncorroborated
report", and were told to "remain in a heightened state of alert".
Earlier this week, the government issued warnings about the Statue of Liberty
and the Brooklyn Bridge, leading to tightened security at an around those New
York City locations. Source
June 9, 2002 -- FBI Whistleblower Talks To CongressColeen Rowley testifies she had tried to notify her superiors about the suspicious flight students before 9/11. She compared the agency's bureaucracy to the "Little Shop Of Horrors," telling Congress the FBI could have done more to prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Source
June 10,
2002 - Attorney General John Ashcroft conducts an unusual and urgent
press conference from Russia. He announces that they had arrested Jose Padilla,
the "dirty bomb" suspect had been captured, and transferred to the custody of
the DOD from the Justice Department. Source
March 21, 2004
The State Department issues a terror alert. Source"In the aftermath of Sept. 11, President Bush ordered his then top anti-terrorism adviser to look for a link between Iraq and the attacks, despite being told there didn't seem to be one. The charge comes from the adviser, Richard Clarke, in an exclusive interview on 60 Minutes." Source
March 30, 2004 -- Rice continues to refuse to testify publicly in front of 9/11 Commission. SourceApril 1, 2004 -- US contractors killed and mutilated in Iraq. Source
Same Day - The Pentagon issues a report that medical evacuations in Iraq hit 18,000. SourceSame day - Bush refuses to release Clinton papers to 9/11 Commission. SourceAlso same day, Richard Clarke is all over the news. Source
April 2, 2004
- A bulletin sent from the FBI & Homeland Security warn of
terrorists that may try to bomb buses and rail lines in major U.S. cities
this summer. SourceJune 7, 2004 -- The Wall Street Journal publishes exclusive report demonstrating that the Pentagon provided legal rationales and loopholes in 2003 to use torture and methods of near-torture, and how to avoid various international treaties and US laws. Furthermore, the leaked memos suggest that they circumvent US and international laws, the US president should change the rules as they may see fit. All media outlets pick up on this explosive report. Source - Source
June 14, 2004 - VP Dick Cheney is caught lying about the alleged ties of Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda. Cheney is unable to provide any evidence to his assertions after journalists inquire. On June 15 Bush Bush defends Cheney's unsourced assertions but does not provide any evidence either that there was a "link" between Iraq and al Qaeda or the 9/11 attacks. Source
June
15, 2004
- The Justice Department announces to the press they have thwarted an
imminent terror plot to bomb malls in Ohio. Somali immigrant arrested and
charged on the case.SourceLater
on it is revealed that the
Somali immigrant had been arrested one year earlier for his connections to
terrorism, but there was nothing "imminent" in that case. The suspect was
arrested in Nov. 28, 2003, and the Court papers filed by the government allege
that a plot dated to March 2000. His indictment wasn't announced until June 15,
2004. Source
- Source
Also worthy of repeating from a blog: Daily Kos
on the outing of an Al Queda double agent for political purposes.
The Reality Gap between the common sense liberals and the pessimistic conservatives continues to grow. You will never convince a Republican that Bush is a cowardly lying weasel who is playing politics with fear. Too many hours listening to hate radio, not enough time geting the real story. I pity the extreme right, even as we must fight to retake our country.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, you can order Shockwave Radio Theater CDs, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm continuing to collect extra-weird stuff.
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Warm summer day - 20°s hotter inland.
One of my Orange County cousins is going to drop by for a visit. She 'scandalized' the family one Thanksgiving when she insisted her boa constrictor join us at the dinner table.
Wonder if she'll have any critters with her this trip - the kid is hoping she does.
Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., shakes hands with WWII veteran and Navajo code talket, Keith Little, during the 83rd annual Inter-Tribal Indian Pow-Wow at Red Rock Park in Gallup, N.M. on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2004.
Photo by Laura Rauch
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Rockers Spring Into Action Against Bush
Vote for Change Tour
With military-like precision, some of the most powerful managers and agents in the music business have plotted a groundbreaking exercise in political activism: the pioneering Vote for Change tour.
The eight-day tour begins Oct. 1 in Pennsylvania. It will number up to 40 shows, with several concerts in each of nine key "swing states" taking place at separate venues on the same night.
The acts involved -- Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam and others -- are united in the common goal of voting resident Bush out of office in November.
The still-evolving lineup also includes John Mellencamp, Babyface, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Jurassic 5 and John Fogerty. All artists are donating their services, as are many of the behind-the-scenes players.
For the rest, Vote for Change Tour
Actors Leah Remini, left, John Travolta, center, and Kelly Preston, pose for photographers during The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre's 35th Anniversary Gala, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles.
Photo by Rene Macura
Chicago Classics Label Thriving
Cedille Records
Chicago has great classical music -- just ask James Ginsburg, founder and president of Cedille Records, a nonprofit label that specializes in showcasing Windy City artists.
Next month, Cedille celebrates its 15th anniversary, and the label's profile is booming. Rachel Barton Pine's recording of the Brahms and Joachim violin concertos with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra earned Cedille its first Grammy Award nomination in 2004. Critics across the country are raving about the new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird, which recently released its second Cedille recording, "Beginnings."
This fall's releases are a trademark Cedille blend. First up in September is "Solo Baroque," a Barton Pine album that pairs Bach with music of his contemporaries Biber, Johann Paul von Westhoff and Johann Georg Pisendel. November brings two recordings featuring Alex Klein, the recently retired principal CSO oboist. One is a disc of wind concertos by Domenico Cimarosa, Berhard Molique and Ignaz Moscheles with Mathieu Dufour, the CSO's principal flutist. The other is a disc of 20th-century oboe concertos by Martinu, Marco A. Yano and Pawel Sydor; the Yano and Sydor pieces were written for Klein.
Cedille Records
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Throbs to Techno Street Party
Zurich
Zurich throbbed to the thundering beats on Saturday as hordes of scantily clad ravers swamped the Swiss city for what is thought to be Europe's largest techno street festival.
About one million revellers, according to Swiss news agency SDA, defied the Alpine country's conservative image.
The Zurich parade, which took place for the first time in 1992 with just 2,000 fans of the beat, is followed by hundreds of techno parties that go on till dawn.
Zurich
Adam Hunnell poses next to a beer keg Wednesday, May, 19, 2004 in Cleveland. Hunnell has a $20,000 entrepreneur grant and is spending the summer figuring out how to build a portable device to keep beer kegs cold.
Photo by Michael Sands
Fest Spotlights Rock 'N' Roll Films
Don't Knock the Rock Music & Film Festival
When filmmaker Allison Anders put together the second annual Don't Knock the Rock Music & Film Festival, she wanted to keep one goal intact: "I want to make sure this is a festival for fans first," Anders told Billboard.
This year's event features the West Coast premieres of documentaries "Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel" and "The Brian Epstein Story." Other movies to be screened include "Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways" and "Unknown Passage: The Dead Moon Story."
Favorites from decades past also will screen, among them "Jailhouse Rock," "Yellow Submarine," "The T.A.M.I. Show," "Elvis: That's the Way It Is," "Coal Miner's Daughter" and "School of Rock."
The festival's underground and cult offerings include the 1957 teenage flick "Rock Baby: Rock It!," the 1970 camp classic "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" and the 2001 documentary "Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style."
PJ Harvey, John Doe, J Mascis, Built to Spill, Dead Moon and Jon Brion are among the acts that will perform at the festival.
For more, Don't Knock the Rock Music & Film Festival
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Ordered to Pay $5K Grocery Tab
Don Johnson
Actor Don Johnson has been ordered to pay a grocery store nearly $6,000 for an unpaid tab.
Pitkin County District Judge Erin Fernandez-Ely said Johnson must pay $5,470 for his past-due balance at Clark's Market, along with $426.85 in interest and court costs of $101.
In May his 17-acre ranch near Aspen was put on sale amid a bankruptcy filing.
Don Johnson
Keiki (children) hula dancers of Halau Hula 'O Hokulani of Waipahu, Hawaii perform during the 64th Annual Na Hula Festival at the Kapiolani Park across from Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii August 8, 2004. The festival continues on August 22, 2004.
Photo by Lucy Pemoni
Opts for Name Change
La Toya Jackson
Twenty-four years after La Toya Jackson cracked the top 20 of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, she's back -- albeit with a slight name change.
"If You Feel the Funk," culled from the singer's self-titled debut, peaked at No. 17 in 1980. This week, the buoyant "Just Wanna Dance" (JaTail Records) by Toy climbs two notches on the chart to No. 14.
"It feels good to be back," "Toy" Jackson told Billboard. "With this single, I wanted people to judge the song on its own merit."
La Toya Jackson
Seeks Edge Swapping Fish Tales
Chimp
Roland Martin reeled in a big one for his weekly fishing show on the Outdoor Life Network.
Baiting a hook beside him on a dock in Crawford, Texas, was resident Bush, whose leisurely afternoon casting for bass was whose leisurely afternoon casting for bass was chronicled for "Fishing with Roland Martin" in an episode that first aired on Friday. (It re-airs Wednesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EDT.)
Chimp
Singer Christina Aguilera pulls double duty in an advertisement for the Skechers footwear company's new international advertisements, released August 6, 2004. The 'Naughty and Nice' campaign, which launches in August and September international magazines, portrays Aguilera as a sexy pin-up nurse alongside herself as an injured patient. <>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nixes Mormon Massacre Pic
Spudfest
At the inaugural Spudfest -- a film and music festival centered around the Spud Drive-In in Driggs, Idaho, and co-founded by "Gilligan's Island" star Dawn Wells -- the taters aren't the only thing getting mashed.
Filmmaker Brian Patrick's "Burying the Past," about the 1857 massacre of 120 California-bound settlers by Utah Mormons, was pulled from the lineup just days before the fest's Aug. 3 bow.
Fest leaders point to the pic's gruesome reenactment of the massacre as conflicting with the fest's family-oriented theme, but Patrick claims the true culprit was fear of backlash from the area's populous Mormon community.
Spudfest
Mark Twain : Roughing It : Appendix B. The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Scrapbook Goes Online
Lewis Carroll
Admirers of Lewis Carroll's fantasies for children can surf into a rare 21st century wonderland, courtesy of the Library of Congress: an online version of the author's unpublished personal scrapbook.
Carroll collected about 130 scrapbook items between the years 1855 and 1872, during which he wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and its sequel "Through the Looking-Glass." It includes photos - he was a skilled early photographer - and other illustrations, newspaper clippings and handwritten annotations, some presumably by Carroll himself.
The Internet version of the notebook includes an introduction by an expert on Carroll, Edward Wakeling, timelines of Carroll's life and contemporary events, a portrait gallery of people whose names appear in the scrapbook and a system for searching the text for a word or a phrase, all available at international.loc.gov/intldl/carrollhtml
Lewis Carroll
In Memory
Geraldine Peroni
Geraldine Peroni, a film editor who frequently worked with director Robert Altman and who was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1992 film "The Player," has died. She was 51.
Her death was ruled a suicide by the city medical examiner's office, but her family was disputing that finding.
Peroni worked on eight Altman films, beginning with "Vincent & Theo" in 1990. She also edited "Short Cuts," "Prêt-à-Porter," "Kansas City," "Gingerbread Man," "Dr. T and the Women" and "The Company."
Altman call Peroni's death "a big loss."
"She made my work so easy," he told the Times. "She reads me better than anybody had ever read me, and, consequently, she did the work; I didn't have to. So it was a wonderful situation. But those things don't last."
Peroni was born in Manhattan and raised in Queens. She studied film at Hunter College and got her first film job in 1983 as an apprentice film editor on "Enormous Changes at the Last Minute."
Among her other editing or co-editing credits were "The Safety of Objects," "Jesus' Son" and "Cradle Will Rock."
She is survived by her sister and brother.
Geraldine Peroni
Le jeune singe langur Laa Laa, avec sa mère, au zoo de Londres. Une fois n'est pas coutume, les roux auront l'avantage dimanche en bénéficiant de la gratuité du droit d'entrée au zoo de Londres pour y admirer ce jeune singe poil de carotte.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
