Independant Media in Danger...

"The tendency of worsening free speech" is accelerating acording to Tamara Kaleeva. Kaleeva cited "the non-democratic nature of our legislation, much of it still rooted in...legal tradition, enabled officials to use the courts to muzzle free speech."

"We have a lot of problems. One of them is the closing of publications," Kaleeva said. "...huge control now over media registration, content, and other aspects of the media."

Though Kaleeva, it is probably important for me to point out, is talking about the situation in Kazakstan, one might mistake her comments for what we are currently facing here in the United States. Michael Powell (the son of Colin Powell, can you say nepotism?) has recently announced that he has decided to temporarily table his recently passed controversial rules that would allow greater consolidation of the mass media. He also placed some activist bait on the table, saying that he proposes granting many more licences for low-power FM radio. Low-power FM is a technology that is extremely limited as a means of local media content, and though progressive low-power FM advocates such as the Philadelphia based Prometheus Media Project should be supported, lets not loose sight of the big picture: The means by which most people get their info is the mass media. As the Christian Science Monitor points out, Powell remains unconvinced that further consolidation will endanger independent media.

He need not look to far to find some indication of the possible results of allowing more of the trough for the biggest hogs in the US Media Pig Sty. As the Editors from the Madison, Wisconsin Capital Times point out-

The commission should study the impact on local programming of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and other federal decisions that have promoted consolidation of radio ownership - ending hometown control of hundreds of stations, tossing out local disc jockeys and shuttering broadcast newsrooms across the country.

WMD Watch: Most of the House of Cards has Fallen but the Bush Deck Remains Stacked

British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is gettin it. Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, is about to be sent to a remote island for criminals over the WMD lies. Why is Bush bullet proof?

The UK Independent reports that Air Marshal Sir John Walker, former chief of Defense Intelligence has added the biggest splash of fuel to the fire that is burning down Tony Blair's case for going to war with Iraq. Walker states the claims of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were "not the reason to go to war, but an excuse to go to war."

John Howard is about to go under for good in Australia. The Associated Press calls testimony by Andrew Wilke, former UN chief inspector and intelligence analyst who resigned over Howard’s decision to join Britain and America in the opening shot for Pax Americana, "explosive." -Asked by senators if he was accusing Howard's office of "sexing up" intelligence - a phrase seized on by British tabloids - Wilkie replied: "Yes, it was sexed up."-

Former Australian diplomat Richard Butler is stickin to the story, though. “I would remain confident though that if we can get hold of the people involved ... the authentic record will reveal a few caches of weapons here or there." A "few caches" "here or there?" Upon taking the stand in the ongoing inquiry he described himself as "shaken" over the fact that no WMDs had been found.

Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest-ranking intelligence officer ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc, reports in the August 21, Washington Times that Iraq had WMD and that the Russian Federation's government helped create a broad conspiracy to discredit Western governments. Mihai Pacepa even claims that left leaning NGO's are in on the conspiracy to aid Putin "reestablish Russia in world affairs." Mihai Pacepa goes on to claim that Saddam and Russian President Vladamir Putin, had created a wide spread and deadly Weapons of Mass Destruction and a strategy for destroying every shred of evidence of the programs code named "Sarindar.” Sarindar is Romanian for "emergency exit." Much of Mihai Pacepa’s case hinges on hear-say testimony-

“Iraq, in my view, had its own "Sarindar" plan in effect direct from Moscow. It certainly had one in the past. Nicolae Ceausescu told me so, and he heard it from Leonid Brezhnev. KGB chairman Yury Andropov, and later, Gen. Yevgeny Primakov, told me so too.”

Mihai Pacepa’s rant should be doubted for more reasons that his “he told me so” assertions, however. Mihia Pacepa claims that Hussein Kamel, Saddam’s son-in-law who defected to Jordon in 1995, exposed many of Iraq’s hidden programs to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency. The actual transcripts of the testimony, however, say exactly the opposite of what Mihai Pacepa claims. When asked if (in 1995) if there “were…any continuation of, or present nuclear activities…?” Gen. Kamel plainly says “No…”

When asked if chemical and biological weapons remained after 1995 Kamel states blankly that, “Nothing remained,” and says that the IAEA inspectors, “You were very effective in Iraq.” If not for the fact that the Washington Times was the semi-official propaganda arm of the Bush White House, I would be surprised to see such a glaring misstatement in print.

War on Terror

In perhaps the biggest news about the war on terror and perhaps G.W. Bush's real intentions, the Guardian reports that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf struck a deal with the US not to capture Osama bin Laden, fearing this could lead to unrest in Pakistan. Thanks to Ray McInnis for this gem.


Ahmad Chalabi, claims to have known about the TERRORIST ATTACK on the U.N. Headquarters in Bagdad as early as August 14. Chalabi has a spotty track record as a source, but if his claims are true then it is likely that the U.S. knew about the plans and did nothing to stop the plot.

The War on Terror: Fear and Loathing in Two Parts

The recent sting that netted three arms dealers and one decoy shoulder-fired-rocket couldn’t have occurred at a better time. Bush has wasted no chances in the past three days to point out how “ready” this catch proves us to be. In fact, the arrest of the would-be international arms dealing ring (none of the three had any prior records of arms dealing or association with terrorist networks) and the relatively incident-free black out are both being cited as evidence by the Bush Administration that we are 1) more secure and 2) more ready to deal with crisis.

The true importance of the sting is beginning to come into question. It is as yet unclear to what extent that this arms deal would have occured at all if not for the work of government agencies. Little evidence has come forward to suggest that Hemant Lakhani, the British national that was the mastermind (along with the KGB and the FBI) behind the arms deal, was anything other than a financially desperate textiles trader. After the sting, his neighbors had this to say about Lakhani,

“In London today, Lakhani's neighbors described him as a quiet man who worked in the garment industry and had faced serious financial problems.
"I would have hoped the United States is thwarting real terrorism and not something manufactured because here all they're doing is stopping something they created," said Lefcourt (Lakhani's Defense Attorney).” – ABC News

Interestingly, the very same media source that casts the din of doubt on the sting seems to tread the government line in another report. Perhaps it was with veiled sarcasm that ABC News headlined the more favorable report with Missile Plot Reads Like A Spy Novel. The sexiest elements of this story seem to be irrelevant (Lakhani is "sympathetic" to bin Laden) or they were set up by the governements involved (the missile, the plan, the deal). The report substantiates little and mainly focuses on Lakhani’s supposed expressed sympathy for Osama Bin Laden and his support of the September 11 attack. This would hardly be a surprise, regardless of Lakhani’s motives. Can you really expect him to call Bin Laden a bastard if it looks like he is selling arms to Bin Laden’s henchmen? It would be important to find out how and when the FBI and KGB introduced the idea that they were connected to Bin Laden to Lakhani. It does not sound like Lakhani had a missile launcher laying around in his garment and fabric warehouse, searching for a buyer connected to a terrorist network to sell to, until the idea was planted by government operatives. In fact, it sounds as if the KGB approached Lakhani with the entire proposition, the weapon, the buyer and the FBI assured that the weapon would make it into Newark. The perfect set up; our worst fears of foreign (read: eastern, ethnic-looking, non-white male) terrorists among us with stockpiles of missiles, guns, grenades.

The Curtain rises as the sounds of missiles and bombs fade. Two men, Bush and Putin sit at two different tables facing away from one another

Scene one

In the first scene, the Russian government is on the outs with the world’s only superpower after a small disagreement over the War in Iraq. The Chicken-hawks in Washington D.C. (mainly Cold-Warriors) prove that they can hold a grudge and will not share any of the newly acquired Iraqi windfall. Just as the last greasy slice of the Iraqi pie is being slid onto the plate, the KGB “alerts” the State Dept. of a “break through” in the War on Terror.

As Bush sits gorging himself on the pie, Putin ambles over with some “intelligence” before the last slice is eaten….

The curtain falls as the sounds of the nightly news comes on.

Scene two-

Smiling Putin with what appears to be crude oil in the corner of his mouth and a dab on his chin, and Bush stand in-front of a peacock arrangement of microphones with cameras flashing.

The stage slowly rotates, revealing the producers hard at work writing the next scene.

US Death Panalty Policy Inconsistant: The War of Error on Terror

The US drags its feet behind most of the civilized world on the question of the death penalty, still imposing the archaic sentence that is banned in most of the Western World. In fact, in New Zealand, even “mongrel” dogs are spared the most severe punishment The sentence, which has been shown to be unjustly handed out in many studies, gets even more questionable under the so called War on Terror, a war that has allowed the US Government free exercise in the definition of critical concepts like “threat” and “terror.”

Today, 6 Cuban hijackers are sentenced to 10 year prison terms. The US refused to extradite the Cubans, who were captured by the US Coast Guard off the Florida coast, unless the Cuban government promised not to impose the death penalty!?

At the same time, the US government has had run-ins with Mexico as Mexico refuses to extradite anyone who might face the death penalty or a life sentence without parole. Imposing sentences more severe than prison terms with the guarantee of parole is considered cruel and unusual punishment by the Mexican constitution.

In a recent case, Senator Diane Feinstein has said that she will intervene in the case of the rape victim 17 year old Jessica Sheridan. Sheridan has just passed away after being in a coma for nearly six months following a brutal rape and stabbing. Her assailant escaped to Mexico and has now been captured. Mexico has refused to turn over the accused rapist without a guarantee from the District Attorney’s Office that it will not seek the death penalty or a life sentence.-

Symons said she believes the maximum sentence Mexican authorities impose is 30 years. But the District Attorney’s Office is not willing to drop a life sentence in exchange for Loza, as that also opens the door to Mexico unilaterally taking over the prosecution and meting out a much lighter sentence, she said.

"We simply won’t make a promise to Mexico that we won’t seek a significant sentence," she said.

Apparently, only Uncle Sam is wise enough to know when to use the noose. Of course there are exceptions…people who are in the good graces of Bush like Uzbek “President”, Islam Karimov, can torture and impose the death penalty to citizens who are found to be members of “terrorist” groups. In Cuba, the US forbids the imposition of the death penalty to hijacker, but lends quiet complicity to it being handed down to members of “terrorist” groups in Uzbekistan?

It appears that, in the case of Cuba, it is the trajectory that really matters. Solve this riddle: A boat is hijacked in Cuba and heads northbound at 35 knots, at the same moment, a boat is hijacked in Florida and heads southbound at 35 knots. Which group of hijackers reaches the death penalty first?

WMD Watch

Though in America the question of whether the government lied to the American public about the Iraq threat of WMD was eclipsed by the shadow of Kobe Bryant's penis, in Great Britain the controversy continues to mount. Today, a tape recording of an interview with David Kelly was played in judicial inquiry into David Kelly's suicide which backed up the popular perception that, as Kelly states on the tape, "It was a statement that was made and it just got out of all proportion. They were desperate for information" Why is it that Kobe Bryant's weenie attracts so much attention, but no one seems to mind that Bushie can't keep from jamming his "little Patriot missle" into everything that moves?

He has even had a few erected in Taipei.

WMD Watch

Bush has located yet another Weapon of Mass Distraction from the economic decline, security problems, budget crisis and health care debacle: Gay Marriages! Ah, something that can bring out the worst bigotry in white, heterosexual males. Osama bin Laden is probably behind the recent Supreme Court decision that made "anti-sodomy laws" unconstitutional.

Into the Fray- When ‘NO’ really does mean ‘YES’

Socialists Equity Party candidate John Christopher Burton disagrees with the recall but runs anyway. He must have take his cue from Arianna Huffington and Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, both of which cling to the tenuous position of being "against" the recall, but are still running (ie, supporting) the recall.

Thankfully, Rev. Jesse Jackson has a clear head. Jesse Jackson says “double no” to the recall and to Prop. 54 sponsored by Ward Connerly, an influential conservative, African-American millionaire. This bit of anti-affirmative action legislation is expected to pass if the typical pattern of conservative over-representation in off year elections prevails.

Connerly holds that collecting socio-economic data related to race aggravates racial tensions. Jackson remarks that Connerly’s fight for the right to be viewed irrespective of his race is “…stupid,…No one who can see would fight for the right to be blind.'' Rather, no one who exists in the American-capitalist-white supremacist-patriarchy, would fight for the right to be invisible.

Connerly is banking on the tried and true Republican tactic of advantaging low voter turn out to turn back the political clock.

WMD Watch

Robert Novac and The Economist report that Bush and Blair governement officials plan to come forward with new evidence of WMDs. The message is mixed at best as other sources report that Iraqi scientists report that there were no WMDs.

Life in the Post-Constitutional Era

The war in Iraq was a supposed necessary battle in the war on terror, a war that is being fought to “preserve our way of life.” Meanwhile, Jose Padilla still languish in military prison for being an “enemy combatant.” No charges have been filed in this case in more than a year.

Texas Democrats may not be enemy combatants, but they can be classified as political refugees, still in self-exile in Albuquerque 14 days after a Republican planned Special Session. The White House responded to a letter from Texas Democrats asking that Bush speak out for minority voters. Bush spokes people have said that the White House will not get involved, lending tacit support to the Texas Republican’s redistricting swindle that seeks to break-up minority districts that tend to vote Democratic. The Bush team has turned the Constitution into a curious relic, may as well put the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act into the display case too. Hispanic Veterans have responded with protest!

The American GI Forum, the first Hispanic, veteran, civil rights organization has joined in Democrats in protesting the redistricting effort that will harm minority voters.


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Condoleeza Rice sees "Iraqi Civil Rights Era" from the Back of the Bus-

Condelezza Rice recently compared the democratization of Iraq to the Civil Rights struggles of Africa Americans in the United States. Rice, who does have a notable background having grown up in the segregated south, is often held up as the proof that "neoconservatives" are a new breed of inclusive politicos. Over the last year, conservatives have made dramatic public displays of cracking down on the old-gaurd bigots of the Republican party by removing Trent Lott from his position as the Majority leader and by publicly berating Rick Santorum for his anti-gay remarks following the recent Supreme Court ruling against "anti-sodomy laws." In addition to the obviously weak comparison between the grassroots, popular movement for civil rights during the 1960's and the aggressive, pre-emptive War on Iraq and the sub-sequent U.S. created Iraqi National Congress, it is difficult to take Dr. Rice's "liberation" platitudes seriously. While Rice attempts to garner some support from African Americans by drawing the the sketchy comparison between Iraq and the Civil Rights movement at a convention of black journalists in Dallas, she has said little publicly about her bosses publicly anti-gay stance, a case that would make a much more apt comparison. One can only wonder if her new found passion for civil rights in Iraq has caused Rice to ask Dubya why he went so far as to ban gay marriages while governor of Texas. The Republican Party has not fallen too far from the old bigot-tree, while "NO QUEERS" has once again become a war cry at Republican functions.