<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>

<:> i n t e r a l i a <:> 2004

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             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  3 May 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- schadenfreude
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Melissa Montimurro
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - The Gall Of The Chickenhawks
6. Weird News - Airline Pilot Caught Dozing in Flight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun: A malicious
satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.

That the report of Sebastian Imhof's grave illness
might also have been tinged with Schadenfreude appears
not to have crossed Lucas's mind. --Steven Ozment,
Flesh and Spirit

He died three years after me -- cancer too -- and at
that time I was still naive enough to imagine that what
the afterlife chiefly provided were unrivalled
opportunities for unbeatable gloating, unbelievable
schadenfreude. --Will Self, How The Dead Live

--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Cameron Parish Nature Photos 23-25 April 2004 -- series of 29.
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0404cameron/19.htm>

LAST ISSUE:

Louisiana Wildflowers
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/04wildflower/040401_12yellows.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Some Days
by Melissa Montimurro

Some days
I could become birdsong.
Whistle and trill.
I mean the thing that unwinds
the morning from the night
and sings the tilt
toward evening back again.
I could be desire
that takes shape inside the breast--
pitched out in hope,
attenuated on the myriad leaves.
I mean the thing itself,
not plumage, nor heaven-filled bones.
Not the quivered throat,
but the note itself:
curved from syrinx and lung,
tensed, flexed in the veil of membranes.
The song flung out to the world.
The hum and breath.
The whole sweet story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Essentials of Music
http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/

Famous Paintings
http://www.ibiblio.org/louvre/paint/

American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ammemhome.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Gall Of The Chickenhawks
WASHINGTON, April 30, 2004

This Against the Grain commentary is written by
CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.

What kind of absurd political twilight zone is it where
George Bush and Dick Cheney can make John Kerry look
like an unpatriotic chicken by focusing attention on
his combat duty in Vietnam?

It's a doublethink world of issues-ephemera, spin, and
manipulated perceptions that Bush's technicians have
mastered and that we the media and we the people aid
and abet: Campaign 2004, a truth odyssey.

What is the word that has more gall than gall? Nerve?
Cheek, chutzpah conceit, arrogance, condescension? You
name it -- the squadron of chickenhawks that steers
both the campaign and government of President Bush's
have pots of it. Where do these people come off
impugning John Kerry's Vietnam era guts and patriotism?
John McCain, Colin Powell, Tom Ridge or Chuck Hagel
might have some moral standing, but not these
chickenhawks.

This whole chickenhawk issue has become sort of
politically incorrect, in a Republican sort of way.
It's considered a rude charge. I don't buy that.

John Kerry's "national security identity" (I use this
phrase because that is how campaign operators think,
they are trying to forge perceptions of his character,
record and patriotism) has been sliced bloody by the
orchestrated switchblades of Bush's surrogates this
past week. So it is hardly irrelevant that John Kerry
fought in Vietnam and George Bush didn't.

The list of Bush supporter's in government, in the
campaign and in the ideas industry who also had no
military service at all, not just no combat, is also
relevant: Karen Hughes, Karl Rove, Condoleezza Rice,
Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Lewis Libby, William
Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, and Tom Delay. Oh yeah, and
Dick Cheney.

Make no mistake: the hubbub about Kerry's national
security identity was a precision strike.

First, Republican House members go to the floor
attacking both Kerry's voting record and his anti-war
activities after he returned from his tour in Vietnam.
One Republican called him "Hanoi John" on the House
floor.

Then, according to The Washington Post, Republican
operatives gave a newspaper and a network tape they had
dug up of Kerry talking to a local D.C. television
station in 1971 where he gave an account of what he did
with his medals that is different than his current
account.

Then the Bush-Cheney campaign released an attack ad
about Kerry's national security record in the Senate
using the tried and true technique of taking old votes
completely out of context.

Next Karen Hughes went on CNN and says that Kerry is a
phony for "pretending" to throw away his medals. She
also manages to sleazily imply both that Kerry may have
committed atrocities in Vietnam AND that he accused
good, honest, innocent American boys of committing
atrocities.

And then the Stealth Warrior, Mr. Vice President, goes
to Iron Curtain University in Missouri to make a high
profile attack speech.

For the record, I don't think the biographical
questions about Kerry -- or Bush -- are irrelevant
sideshows that obscure the great debates of the day. I
think they're important to voters. They're important to
me. I want to know if Kerry lied a little about
throwing away his medals, or why he wouldn't 'fess up
to a youthful exaggeration if he did. I want know if
Bush really did blow off months of his National Guard
stint.

I don't think John Kerry should be exempted from
scrutiny or explanation because he got shot in war. I
don't think Kerry did a particularly good job of
meeting the attack, but his tactics and even his
character are not my current concern.

I am just -- forgive me -- galled at the gall of the
chickenhawks. President Bush should not have sanctioned
it.

Allow me to add a stray point: these chickenhawks had a
great influence in the decision to wage war on Iraq.
After the civil war, William Tecumseh Sherman noted,
"It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor
heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry for
blood, more vengeance. More desolation."

The most forceful advocates for war in the
administration had seen the least of it. The rationales
for war were cerebral, and I bought some of them,
probably to my discredit.

Most wars, like the first Iraq war, have pretty clear
causes, an invasion, for example. The case for this war
was intellectual.

There was the Hobbesian case: the world needed a super-
power policeman in the chaos and America-hating Muslim
lands. There was the Americanism case: peace will only
come if America exports our democracy and prosperity to
the chaos and America-hating Muslim lands. There was
the Evil Man case: history is made by men not invisible
forces and Saddam, who used horrible weapons on his
people and his neighbors, was an evil man who had to be
stopped. There was the Intelligence case; Saddam had
weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda and
had to be stopped.

Conservatives are usually wary of ideas and
intellectualism in statecraft and politics. Not these
conservatives. And for most of them, unlike for many
generations of government leaders charged with national
defense, their experience didn't include military
experience.

But these people are, to my bewilderment, skilled at
tearing down people who have made that sacrifice. They
did it to Max Cleland, an ousted senator from Georgia
who suffered awful wounds in Vietnam. They did it to
John McCain in 2000. They're trying to do it to Kerry.

What gall.

(Dick Meyer, the Editorial Director of CBSNews.com, has
covered politics and government in Washington for 20
years and has won the Investigative Reporters and
Editors, Alfred I. Dupont, and Society of Professional
Journalists awards for investigative journalism. )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Airline Pilot Caught Dozing in Flight
Fri Apr 30
Oddly Enough - Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) - A pilot for Japan's All Nippon
Airways fell asleep at the controls for several minutes
while on a domestic flight and had to be awakened by a
government inspector who was traveling in the cockpit.

A spokesman for the airline said on Friday that the 50-
year-old pilot, whose name was not released, dozed off
while flying on March 23 from Tokyo's Haneda airport to
the western prefecture of Yamaguchi, a trip that takes
about an hour.

An official from the Transport Ministry, who was in the
cockpit for a routine inspection, woke the pilot after
he fell asleep as the plane was cruising at 12,000
meters (36,000 feet), but he dozed off again and had to
be awakened a second time.

"He was asleep for two or three minutes," the spokesman
said.

The spokesman said there was no danger to passengers
since the plane was on auto-pilot and the co-pilot was
also present. The pilot, who has been suspended, is
undergoing medical tests.

Last year, a Japanese bullet train driver fell asleep
at the controls while his train was traveling at 270 km
(168 miles) an hour. He was found to suffer from sleep
apnea, in which a person repeatedly stops breathing
during sleep, causing daytime drowsiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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12May2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  12 May 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- apostate
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Andrew Glaze
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Who ordered 'shock and awe'?
6. Weird News - McDonald's home delivery in India
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
apostate (uh-POS-tayt, -tit) noun

One who abandons his or her religion, principles,
political party, or some other allegiance.

[From Middle French, from Late Latin apostata, from
Greek aposta (to stand off).]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus:
http://visualthesaurus.com/?word=apostate

"These independent artists rue the perfidy of apostate
millionaires, and moan about pop stars who abandoned
the true faith." Sasha Frere-Jones; Madvillain Redeems
the Pretensions of Independent Hip-hop; New Yorker; Apr
12, 2004.

"Publicly, Saudis will be of two minds: Some will see
Ferial as an apostate (in addition to being a woman of
doubtful loyalty) because she has entered political
life and claims to hold sway over men; and because she
lives in a different environment and supports American
values that permit equality between the sexes and open
the doors to ethnic and religious minorities." Hatoon
Al-Fassi; A Saudi Woman Uses American Elections to
Break All the Taboos; The Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon);
Apr 24, 2004;
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

White Tulips (series of eight):
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0404tulips/1.htm

Allison:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405allie/allison.htm

LAST ISSUE:

Cameron Parish Nature Photos 23-25 April 2004:
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0404cameron/1.htm

That frightful scarecrow thing
from me -- the way it tocked up
through cinders
from the foul black cellar rising, singing
"What's my name?"
squeaking, insistent,
keeping up a skip and a hop
to garble its already crippled walk,
never ceasing to sing, wildly!

Even now, something cautiously
remembers how once in a while,
now long ago, it poised its life like a leap
and came close to getting away.
Something in me heard it in time
and quickly clipped it.
Now, no less crazily,
but with one wing only, it will come
skip-hop and play games with my fear.

So here it comes dodging
dip-swerving, twisting like a trophy
zig-zag -- like a game.
Shouting "I'm joy imprisoned, who are you?"
And whispers in my garbled unwilling ear --
all I'll admit of my name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Identity Theft
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Red Gold - the epic story of blood
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/redgold/

Stress Management
http://www.mindtools.com/smpage.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Who ordered 'shock and awe'?

William Pfaff
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

The source of debauchery
PARIS To what extent have the policies of the Bush
administration - and the values and attitudes that have
characterized the conduct of the so-called war against
terror - contributed to a state of mind and morale in
the American military that opened the way to the
torture, abuse and, in some cases, apparent murder of
prisoners in Iraq?

Even before the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush
administration displayed hostility toward international
law and treaty obligations that it considered as limits
on U.S. national sovereignty or as obstacles to
American national interest.

In the Afghanistan war it summarily shipped prisoners
outside of the country, notably to Guantánamo Bay,
Cuba, without serious examination of their cases, and
in disregard of Geneva norms concerning prisoners taken
in war.

U.S. Army regulations on dealing with prisoners of war
were bypassed, since these people were by presidential
definition "enemy combatants," not prisoners of war.

Ordinary American norms of justice, requiring timely
presentation of charges, legal representation and
impartial adjudication, were ignored then and continue
to be ignored.

While the administration's disregard for international,
military and constitutional law was widely acknowledged
at the time, there was little protest in the American
press, and no effective challenge from Democratic Party
leaders. There is a bipartisan responsibility for what
has happened.

Some Afghan and other "war against terror" prisoners
were transferred to third countries. Reporters were
informed - with a smile and a wink - that this was
because they could be tortured there. Again there was
negligible reaction in U.S. press and political
circles.

In Afghanistan, and subsequently in Iraq, an obvious
reason for the involvement of civilian "contract
employees" in intelligence and interrogations has been
that they are not subject to military discipline, and
responsibility for them and what they do can be
"plausibly denied" by U.S. officials.

All this is consistent with an attitude toward violence
characteristic of the neoconservatives in the Bush
administration, who have for years insisted that
history is made through violence, and that in the
national cause a governing elite has the right to
mislead the public in order to achieve goals that the
leaders alone are in a position to understand.

This lies behind the administration's pressure for
violent action to "change regimes" and intimidate so-
called rogue nations, constantly described - however
implausibly - by the president and vice president as
threatening mass destruction attacks on the United
States, jeopardizing national survival. Iraq had to be
attacked before it was "too late."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly says that
those who oppose the United States in Iraq and
elsewhere have to be killed. He does not speak in terms
of defeating them, much less of negotiating with them,
as the British do in southern Iraq.

Dehumanizing language has deliberately been employed to
describe all those who oppose the United States. The
cumulative effect of this has conveyed to American
troops that international and national norms of lawful
conduct have been suspended or crucially limited in the
war against terror.

It can be argued that the Bush administration created a
state of expectation, mode of conduct, hostility to
traditional norms of military behavior, and attitude
toward Iraqi, Afghan and other Islamic "terrorists,"
that opened the way to atrocities.

Finally, there is a problem with U.S. military
doctrine. Offensive operations are intended to "shock
and awe" opponents through massive use of violence,
even when civilians are potential victims, as in the
armored column assault that led the attack on Baghdad a
year ago.

Additionally, American military doctrine of "force
protection" mandates killing civilians perceived as
being in any way threatening to American forces. This
requires American soldiers to treat all Iraqis as
potential enemies, and their lives as being of lesser
worth than American lives.

A British officer recently complained to The Daily
Telegraph in London - a pro-American newspaper - that
Americans "don't see the Iraqi people the way we see
them. They view them as untermenschen - subhuman, a
term applied by the Nazis to Jews and Gypsies.

"They are not concerned about the Iraqi loss of life
the way we are. Their attitude toward the Iraqis is
tragic, it's awful ... As far as they are concerned
Iraq is bandit country and everybody is out to kill
them."

But that is what they have been trained to think. One
result of that training was what happened in Abu Ghraib
prison in Baghdad.

Young military reservists from small American towns do
not spontaneously torture, humiliate, sexually abuse
and obscenely mock powerless prisoners unless people in
authority over them have ordered or encouraged them to
do so.

An American friend who works in Saudi Arabia recently
e-mailed me to say "it's all over with those pro-
American Arabs who until now have credited Washington
with good intentions in Iraq. Photographs of American
women soldiers sexually taunting and abusing naked and
bound Arab men says to them that the United States is a
totally depraved society."

But who debauched these young American men and women
soldiers? I would argue that the moral debauchery came
down the chain of command from Washington.

Tribune Media Services International

Copyright © 2004 The International Herald Tribune
www.iht.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
McDonald's rolls out home delivery in India

Branches of McDonald's in India are to start delivering
meals to customers at their homes

It is part of McDonald's strategy to compete with local
food chains and international rivals like Pizza Hut and
Dominos.

"Our delivery model is based on McDonald's
international standards and will therefore differ in
some ways from other local chains," Amit Jatia of
McDonald's said.

The proposed service will be rolled out in a phased
manner starting in Bombay, India's financial capital to
be followed into other cities.

McDonald's Indian branches are also unusual for having
no beef on the menu out of respect for the majority
Hindu population.

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18May2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  18 May 2003

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- roue
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quotes of the Day -- Limbaugh and Wright
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - The Painful Lessons of Abu Ghraib
6. Weird News - Dog had 28 golf balls in stomach
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
roue \roo-AY\, noun: A man devoted to a life of sensual
pleasure; a debauchee; a rake.

I spent some time with Desmond, an old roue who was
recovering from a lifetime of excesses in a village
near Fontainebleau. --Roger Scruton, "Purely
medicinal," New Statesman, October 15, 2001

She caught the eye of New York aristocrat Gouverneur
Morris, ex-U.S. Minister to France, a one-legged
cosmopolitan roue. (Rumor had it that a jealous husband
had shot Morris's leg off.) --Bill Kauffman, "Unwise
Passions," American Enterprise, January 2001

Yet he acted the roue to the end, carrying on an
intimate liaison with a girl who worked at the asylum -
- he was 74, she was 17. --Rex Roberts, "Write Stuff,"
Insight on the News, December 11, 2000

Bugs & Branches - Logtown, MS, 2004 (series of nine):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405logtown/1.htm>

Jason:
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/04fsp/jason.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
White Tulips (series of eight):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0404tulips/1.htm>

Allison:
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405allie/allison.htm>

--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quotes of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"I think a lot of the American culture is being feminized.
I think the reaction to the stupid torture is an example
of the feminization of this country."
- Rush Limbaugh on May 5, 2004, reacting to American public's
outrage over torture at Abu Ghraib prison.
(from Media Matters for America: http://mediamatters.org/)

"No more crack!"
- Louisiana state Rep. Tommy Wright, to his colleague, Rep.
Derrick Shepherd, referring to Shepherd's proposed bill
that would criminalize the wearing of low-slung pants in public.
(from Newsweek's Periscope citing AP as source)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
First Gov (U.S. Government Web Portal)
http://firstgov.gov/

Map Resources from University of Texas
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/map_sites/map_sites.html>

Sloan Digital Sky Survey
<http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr1/en/>

May 11th, 2004

Torture and humiliation of war prisoners is not in
itself surprising. It happens in every war, on both
sides. Savagery, after all, is the very language of
war, transforming some combatants into feral avengers
and leading others to shed civilized norms and
acquiesce in the acts. We send soldiers to kill others,
and therefore, to a degree, we tacitly accept that vile
things will occasionally happen.

What makes this torture scandal different—what makes it
an earthquake for our government rather than a
tremor—is that it comes after a long, disheartening
string of other revelations showing that this war was
built on a foundation of deceptions suggesting a grave
threat to our national security. Perhaps in
justification of these false premises, President Bush,
a born-again evangelical Christian, has told the
American public and the world many times that it was
the hand of "the Almighty" that guided him to send our
troops into battle to liberate the Iraqi people from a
brutal dictatorship that made torture a state policy.

When a president proclaims a righteous war, constantly
using words like "freedom" and "justice" and invoking
the will of God, he runs a great risk of losing the
trust of his people if it turns out that, instead, the
invasion was based not only on a heavenly vision but on
deeply flawed war plans that assumed democracy could be
transplanted anywhere with ease and at little cost. Our
troops were put at unnecessary risk.

Under a more truthful presidency, the torture
disclosures might have been less of a blow to the
nation's stature. This scandal, however, has scarred
America worldwide—because Washington's arrogance
alienated once friendly nations and because the prison
images run so counter to the president's lofty words
and claims. "Torture" and "the Almighty" do not fit
together.

This could be a presidency in the process of
unraveling—getting more and more naked as it loses its
clothes.
--
From The Village Voice: http://villagevoice.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Dog had 28 golf balls in stomach

A German Shepherd has had an operation to remove 28
golf balls from her stomach.

Libby's owner Mike Wardrop couldn't understand why his
dog had gone off her food and was losing weight.

It was only when he took her to the vet did he find out
the reason why. Apparently she'd been swallowing the
balls while being walked near the putting greens at
Didsbury Golf Club in Manchester where Mr Wardrop
works.

He said: "I was absolutely gobsmacked when the vets
said they had found 28. To see all those golf balls at
once was a staggering sight and they weighed over six
pounds, so it was no wonder Libby wasn't feeling well.

"The vets gave every ball back to me. They were
slightly discoloured but otherwise in great condition
and will be great for practice."

It took two-and-a-half hours to get the golf balls out
of the dog's stomach and they even placed bets on how
many they would find, says the Daily Record.

Vet John Ford said: "We didn't even need to X-ray her
she was clanking and we could feel them in her
stomach."

From Ananova: http://www.ananova.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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26May2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  26 May 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- fatuous
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - US intelligence fears Iran duped hawks into Iraq war
6. Weird News -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
fatuous \FACH-oo-uhs\, adjective: 1. Inanely foolish
and unintelligent; stupid. 2. Illusory; delusive.

Publishers persist in the fatuous belief that a little
hocus-pocus in the front flap blurb will so dazzle
readers that they'll be too dazed to notice the quality
of what's on the pages inside. --"A night in the city,"
Irish Times, October 7, 1997

No enquiry, however fatuous or ill informed, failed to
receive his full attention, nor was any irrelevant
personal information treated as less than engrossing. -
-Michael Palin, Hemingway's Chair

A British first amendment would support religious
freedom by having nothing to do with Prince Charles's
fatuous hope to be the 'defender of all the faiths',
but by disestablishing the Church of England. --Nick
Cohen, "Damn them all," The Observer, October 7, 2001

Boy in Tomar, Portugal 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/031007tomarboy4228.htm>

Three Shades of Bayou Sauvage
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/3.htm>

Kismet 02 May 2004
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/kismet_040502.htm>

LAST ISSUE:

Bugs & Branches - Logtown, MS, 2004 (series of nine):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405logtown/1.htm>

Jason:
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/04fsp/jason.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Study in Orange and White
by Billy Collins

I knew that James Whistler was part of the Paris scene,
but I was still surprised when I found the painting
of his mother at the Musée d'Orsay
among all the colored dots and mobile brushstrokes
of the French Impressionists.

And I was surprised to notice
after a few minutes of benign staring,
how that woman, stark in profile
and fixed forever in her chair,
began to resemble my own ancient mother
who was now fixed forever in the stars, the air, the earth.

You can understand why he titled the painting
"Arrangement in Gray and Black"
instead of what everyone naturally calls it,
but afterward, as I walked along the river bank,
I imagined how it might have broken
the woman's heart to be demoted from mother
to a mere composition, a study in colorlessness.

As the summer couples leaned into each other
along the quay and the wide, low-slung boats
full of spectators slid up and down the Seine
between the carved stone bridges
and their watery reflections,
I thought: how ridiculous, how off-base.

It would be like Botticelli calling "The Birth of Venus"
"Composition in Blue, Ochre, Green, and Pink,"
or the other way around
like Rothko titling one of his sandwiches of color
"Fishing Boats Leaving Falmouth Harbor at Dawn."

Or, as I scanned the menu at the cafe
where I now had come to rest,
it would be like painting something laughable,
like a chef turning on a spit
over a blazing fire in front of an audience of ducks
and calling it "Study in Orange and White."

But by that time, a waiter had appeared
with my glass of Pernod and a clear pitcher of water,
and I sat there thinking of nothing
but the women and men passing by--
mothers and sons walking their small fragile dogs--
and about myself,
a kind of composition in blue and khaki,
and, now that I had poured
some water into the glass, milky-green.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Great Speeches from The History Channel
<http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/speeches.html>

America's Byways
<http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/speeches.html>

eNature.com
<http://www.enature.com/>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
US intelligence fears Iran duped hawks into Iraq war ·
Inquiry into Tehran's role in starting conflict · Top
Pentagon ally Chalabi accused

Julian Borger in Washington
Tuesday May 25, 2004

The Guardian

An urgent investigation has been launched in Washington
into whether Iran played a role in manipulating the US
into the Iraq war by passing on bogus intelligence
through Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress, it
emerged yesterday. Some intelligence officials now
believe that Iran used the hawks in the Pentagon and
the White House to get rid of a hostile neighbour, and
pave the way for a Shia-ruled Iraq.

According to a US intelligence official, the CIA has
hard evidence that Mr Chalabi and his intelligence
chief, Aras Karim Habib, passed US secrets to Tehran,
and that Mr Habib has been a paid Iranian agent for
several years, involved in passing intelligence in both
directions.

The CIA has asked the FBI to investigate Mr Chalabi's
contacts in the Pentagon to discover how the INC
acquired sensitive information that ended up in Iranian
hands.

The implications are far-reaching. Mr Chalabi and Mr
Habib were the channels for much of the intelligence on
Iraqi weapons on which Washington built its case for
war.

"It's pretty clear that Iranians had us for breakfast,
lunch and dinner," said an intelligence source in
Washington yesterday. "Iranian intelligence has been
manipulating the US for several years through Chalabi."

Larry Johnson, a former senior counter-terrorist
official at the state department, said: "When the story
ultimately comes out we'll see that Iran has run one of
the most masterful intelligence operations in history.
They persuaded the US and Britain to dispose of its
greatest enemy."

Mr Chalabi has vehemently rejected the allegations as
"a lie, a fib and silly". He accused the CIA director,
George Tenet, of a smear campaign against himself and
Mr Habib.

However, it is clear that the CIA - at loggerheads with
Mr Chalabi for more than eight years - believes it has
caught him red-handed, and is sticking to its
allegations.

"The suggestion that Chalabi is a victim of a smear
campaign is outrageous," a US intelligence official
said. "It's utter nonsense. He passed very sensitive
and classified information to the Iranians. We have
rock solid information that he did that."

"As for Aras Karim [Habib] being a paid agent for
Iranian intelligence, we have very good reason to
believe that is the case," added the intelligence
official, who did not want to be named. He said it was
unclear how long this INC-Iranian collaboration had
been going on, but pointed out that Mr Chalabi had had
overt links with Tehran "for a long period of time".

An intelligence source in Washington said the CIA
confirmed its long-held suspicions when it discovered
that a piece of information from an electronic
communications intercept by the National Security
Agency had ended up in Iranian hands. The information
was so sensitive that its circulation had been
restricted to a handful of officials.

"This was 'sensitive compartmented information' - SCI -
and it was tracked right back to the Iranians through
Aras Habib," the intelligence source said.

Mr Habib, a Shia Kurd who is being sought by Iraqi
police since a raid on INC headquarters last week, has
been Mr Chalabi's righthand man for more than a decade.
He ran a Pentagon-funded intelligence collection
programme in the run-up to the invasion and put US
officials in touch with Iraqi defectors who made claims
about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

Those claims helped make the case for war but have
since proved groundless, and US intelligence agencies
are now scrambling to determine whether false
information was passed to the US with Iranian
connivance.

INC representatives in Washington did not return calls
seeking comment.

But Laurie Mylroie, a US Iraq analyst and one of the
INC's most vocal backers in Washington, dismissed the
allegations as the product of a grudge among CIA and
state department officials driven by a pro-Sunni, anti-
Shia bias.

She said that after the CIA raised questions about Mr
Habib's Iranian links, the Pentagon's Defence
Intelligence Agency (DIA) conducted a lie-detector test
on him in 2002, which he passed with "flying colours".

The DIA is also reported to have launched its own
inquiry into the INC-Iran link.

An intelligence source in Washington said the FBI
investigation into the affair would begin with Mr
Chalabi's "handlers" in the Pentagon, who include
William Luti, the former head of the office of special
plans, and his immediate superior, Douglas Feith, the
under secretary of defence for policy.

There is no evidence that they were the source of the
leaks. Other INC supporters at the Pentagon may have
given away classified information in an attempt to give
Mr Chalabi an advantage in the struggle for power
surrounding the transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi
government on June 30.

The CIA allegations bring to a head a dispute between
the CIA and the Pentagon officials instrumental in
promoting Mr Chalabi and his intelligence in the run-up
to the war. By calling for an FBI counter-intelligence
investigation, the CIA is, in effect, threatening to
disgrace senior neo-conservatives in the Pentagon.

"This is people who opposed the war with long knives
drawn for people who supported the war," Ms Mylroie
said.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Man Pets Jaguar, Pays with His Finger

Wed May 19

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) - A New Mexico man made a
hasty exit from a zoo after climbing close to a cage to
illegally pet a jaguar, but police were able to track
him down by the severed finger he left behind.

The shriveled and dried finger from the man's right
hand was found outside the cat cage last week by a
groundskeeper, Tom Silva, assistant director of the
Albuquerque Biological Park, which includes the zoo,
said on Tuesday.

The owner of the finger has been identified and is
forbidden to return to the zoo, Silva said, adding the
park is not planning to press criminal charges.

"I think he's suffered enough," he said.

The man was a frequent visitor and an official zoo
member. Eyewitnesses had seen him fleeing the zoo last
Tuesday holding his bloodied hand.

The man, who was not identified, said he climbed a
steel barrier and scrambled over bushes to get closer
to the jaguar to pet it, zoo officials said.

The zoo has a policy of turning to law enforcement
officials when contact between visitors and animals
turns violent.

"When we find a body part, we are required to call
police," Silva said, adding. "He's been summarily
banned from the zoo, for the animals' safety and for
his own
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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2June2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  2 June 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- auspicious
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Sheers
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Dooh Nibor Economics
6. Weird News - From Harper's Index for May
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
auspicious • \aw-SPISH-us\ • adjective *1 : promising
success : favorable 2 : fortunate, prosperous

Example sentence: Martha was superstitious, so breaking
her mirror didn't seem an auspicious start to the day.

Did you know? "Auspicious" comes from the Latin
"auspex," which literally means "bird seer" (from the
words "avis," meaning "bird," and "specere," meaning
"to look"). In ancient Rome, these "bird seers" were
priests, or augurs, who studied the flight and feeding
patterns of birds, then delivered prophecies based on
their observations. The right combination of bird
behavior indicated favorable conditions, but the wrong
patterns spelled trouble. The English noun "auspice,"
which originally referred to this practice of observing
birds to discover omens, also comes from Latin
"auspex." Today, the plural form "auspices" is often
used with the meaning "kindly patronage and guidance."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example
sentence.
--
From Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/mwwod.pl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Tough Guy (two images):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/10.htm>

Impressionistic French Quarter (series of five):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/2.htm>

New Orleans Riverfront (series of four):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/6.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
Boy in Tomar, Portugal 2003
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/031007tomarboy4228.htm>

Three Shades of Bayou Sauvage
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/3.htm>

Kismet 02 May 2004
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/kismet_040502.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Mametz Wood

For years afterwards the farmers found them—
the wasted young, turning up under their plough blades
as they tended the land back to itself.

A chit of bone, the china plate of a shoulder blade,
the relic of a finger, the blown
and broken bird's egg of a skull—

all mimicked now in flint, breaking blue in white
across this field where they were told to walk, not run,
towards the wood and its nesting machine guns.

And even now the earth stands sentinel;
reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened,
like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin.

This morning, twenty men buried in one long grave,
a broken mosaic of bone linked arm in arm,
their skeletons paused mid dance-macabre

in boots that outlasted them.
Their socketed heads tilted back at an angle,
and their jaws (those that have them) dropped open,

as if the notes they had sung
have only now with this unearthing,
slipped from their absent tongues.

Owen Sheers
The Southeast Review
Volume 22, Number 2
Spring 2003

Politics Navigator from the NYT:
<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/politics/POLI_NAVI.html>

Center for American Progress
<http://www.americanprogress.org/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Dooh Nibor Economics
By PAUL KRUGMAN
June 1, 2004

Last week The Washington Post got hold of an Office of
Management and Budget memo that directed federal
agencies to prepare for post-election cuts in programs
that George Bush has been touting on the campaign
trail. These include nutrition for women, infants and
children; Head Start; and homeland security. The
numbers match those on a computer printout leaked
earlier this year — one that administration officials
claimed did not reflect policy.

Beyond the routine mendacity, the case of the leaked
memo points us to a larger truth: whatever they may say
in public, administration officials know that
sustaining Mr. Bush's tax cuts will require large cuts
in popular government programs. And for the vast
majority of Americans, the losses from these cuts will
outweigh any gains from lower taxes.

It has long been clear that the Bush administration's
claim that it can simultaneously pursue war, large tax
cuts and a "compassionate" agenda doesn't add up. Now
we have direct confirmation that the White House is
engaged in bait and switch, that it intends to pursue a
not at all compassionate agenda after this year's
election.

That agenda is to impose Dooh Nibor economics — Robin
Hood in reverse. The end result of current policies
will be a large-scale transfer of income from the
middle class to the very affluent, in which about 80
percent of the population will lose and the bulk of the
gains will go to people with incomes of more than
$200,000 per year.

I can't back that assertion with official numbers,
because under Mr. Bush the Treasury Department has
stopped releasing information on the distribution of
tax cuts by income level. Estimates by the Urban
Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center,
which now provides the numbers the administration
doesn't want you to know, reveal why. This year, the
average tax reduction per family due to Bush-era cuts
was $1,448. But this average reflects huge cuts for a
few affluent families, with most families receiving
much less (which helps explain why most people,
according to polls, don't believe their taxes have been
cut). In fact, the 257,000 taxpayers with incomes of
more than $1 million received a bigger combined tax cut
than the 85 million taxpayers who make up the bottom 60
percent of the population.

Still, won't most families gain something? No — because
the tax cuts must eventually be offset with spending
cuts.

Three years ago George Bush claimed that he was cutting
taxes to return a budget surplus to the public.
Instead, he presided over a move to huge deficits. As a
result, the modest tax cuts received by the great
majority of Americans are, in a fundamental sense,
fraudulent. It's as if someone expected gratitude for
giving you a gift, when he actually bought it using
your credit card.

The administration has not, of course, explained how it
intends to pay the bill. But unless taxes are increased
again, the answer will have to be severe program cuts,
which will fall mainly on Social Security, Medicare and
Medicaid — because that's where the bulk of the money
is.

For most families, the losses from these cuts will far
outweigh any gain from lower taxes. My back-of-the-
envelope calculation suggests that 80 percent of all
families will end up worse off; the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities will soon come out with a more
careful, detailed analysis that arrives at a similar
conclusion. And the only really big beneficiaries will
be the wealthiest few percent of the population.

Does Mr. Bush understand that the end result of his
policies will be to make most Americans worse off,
while enriching the already affluent? Who knows? But
the ideologues and political operatives behind his
agenda know exactly what they're doing.

Of course, voters would never support this agenda if
they understood it. That's why dishonesty — as
illustrated by the administration's consistent reliance
on phony accounting, and now by the business with the
budget cut memo — is such a central feature of the
White House political strategy.

Right now, it seems that the 2004 election will be a
referendum on Mr. Bush's calamitous foreign policy. But
something else is at stake: whether he and his party
can lock in the unassailable political position they
need to proceed with their pro-rich, anti-middle-class
economic strategy. And no, I'm not engaging in class
warfare. They are.

From the New York TImes:
<http://www.nytimes.com/>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Harper's Index for May 2004
Posted on Wednesday, June 2, 2004.

Chance that an American adult believes
that "politics and government are too complicated to
understand" : 1 in 3 [National Home Education Research
Institute (Salem, Oregon) ]

Chance that an American who was home-schooled feels
this way : 1 in 25 [National Home Education Research
Institute (Salem, Oregon) ]

Number of blank votes recorded by touchscreen machines
in a January election for Florida's House of
Representatives : 137 [Florida Department of State
(Tallahassee) ]

Votes by which the race was won : 12 [Florida
Department of State (Tallahassee) ]

Minimum number of misleading statements on Iraq made by
the Bush Administration's top officials since March
2002 : 237 [Committee on Government Reform (Washington,
D.C.) ]

Percentage of these that contradicted, made selective
use of, or mischaracterized existing government
intelligence : 100 [Committee on Government Reform
(Washington, D.C.) ]

Days before last year's invasion of Iraq that Osama bin
Laden called Saddam Hussein a "socialist infidel" : 36
[Al Jazeera (Doha, Qatar)/BBC Monitoring Service
(Caversham Park, U.K.) ]

Acreage of a Christian nudist colony under development
in Florida : 240 [Continuing Care, Inc. (Venice, Fla.)
]

Minimum number of Italian men accused of paying for a
"sexual anxieties" diagnosis to avoid military service
last winter : 150 [Sophie Arie, Guardian (London) ]

Percentage of the 958 same-sex unions granted to
Vermont residents since July 2000 that have since been
dissolved : 3 [Vermont Department of Health
(Burlington) ]

Percentage of U.S. heterosexual marriages that are
dissolved within five years : 20 [National Center for
Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.) ]

Median household income a pair of U.S. single mothers
would have if they married each other : $40,568 [U.S.
Census Bureau (Washington)/Harper's research ]

Median household income of a U.S. heterosexual couple
with children : $59,461 [U.S. Census Bureau ]

Percentage of senior management positions in medium-
size Russian companies that are held by women : 42
[Grant Thornton International (London) ]

Percentage of senior management positions at equivalent
U.S. companies that are : 20 [Grant Thornton
International (London) ]

Factor by which the unemployment rate of African-
American college graduates exceeds that of white
graduates : 1.9 [Bureau of Labor Statistics
(Washington)/Harper's research ]

Average percentage of African-American men age 16 to 64
in New York City who were employed each month last year
: 52 [Community Service Society of New York (N.Y.C.) ]

Amount the federal Individual Indian Trust cannot
account for, per Native American it serves : $26,000
[Native American Rights Fund (Boulder, Colo.) ]

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= = = = =
9June2004

TOP

              <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                   09 June 2004
Happy Birthday, Donald Duck! (9June1934)
  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- dernier cri
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Thayer
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - I Agree With Me
6. Weird News - Hippo sweat sunscreen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````

dernier cri (DERN-yay KREE) noun

The latest fashion.

[From French, literally, last cry.]

"The retro lineup of vegetables which came with our mains ... was
good,
bringing back memories of going round to the neighbour's for dinner
in
the days when the microwave was still a novelty and cheesy veges
were
the dernier cri in suburban chic."
Eleanor Black; Gumdiggers, Birkenhead; The New Zealand Herald
(Auckland,
NZ); Feb 14, 2004.

"Open any British gossip magazine, fashion supplement or tabloid and
you
will find ... the pages are saturated with the dernier cri in baby
spa
merchandise."
Ellen Himelfarb; A Hip-hop Mom's Playstation; National Post
(Canada);
Dec 13, 2003.

--
>From A Word A Day:http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Three Grasshoppers:
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/3hoppers.htm>

Kickin' Back in the Big Easy:
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/kicknback.htm>

Green Heron (two images):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/grhe2.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
Tough Guy (two images):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/10.htm>

Impressionistic French Quarter (series of five):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/2.htm>

New Orleans Riverfront (series of four):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/6.htm>

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, "If only Casey could but get a whack at that--
We'd put up even money now, with Casey at the bat."

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despisèd, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It pounded on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile lit Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt;
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped--
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one!" the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore;
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted some one on the stand;
And it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the dun sphere flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two!"

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered "Fraud!"
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer has fled from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go.
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville--great Casey has struck out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Reference page from Bartleby.com
<http://www.bartleby.com/reference/>

Monterey Bay Aquarium
<http://www.mbayaq.org/>

Digital History (from University of Houston)
<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
I Agree with Me

When was the last time a conservative talk show changed
a mind?
by P. J. O'Rourke
.....

Last year, on a long car trip, I was listening to Rush
Limbaugh shout. I usually agree with Rush Limbaugh;
therefore I usually don't listen to him. I listen to
NPR: "World to end—poor and minorities hardest hit." I
like to argue with the radio. Of course, if I had kept
listening to Limbaugh, whose OxyContin addiction was
about to be revealed, I could have argued with him
about drugs. I don't think drugs are bad. I used to be
a hippie. I think drugs are fun. Now I'm a
conservative. I think fun is bad. I would agree all the
more with Limbaugh if, after he returned from rehab,
he'd shouted (as most Americans ought to), "I'm sorry I
had fun! I promise not to have any more!"

Anyway, I couldn't get NPR on the car radio, so I was
listening to Rush Limbaugh shout about Wesley Clark,
who had just entered the Democratic presidential-
primary race. Was Clark a stalking horse for Hillary
Clinton?! Was Clark a DNC-sponsored Howard Dean
spoiler?! "He's somebody's sock puppet!" Limbaugh
bellowed. I agreed; but a thought began to form.
Limbaugh wasn't shouting at Clark, who I doubt tunes in
to AM talk radio the way I tune in to NPR. And "Shari
Lewis and Lamb Chop!" was not a call calculated to lure
Democratic voters to the Bush camp. Rush Limbaugh was
shouting at me.

Me. I am a little to the right of ... Why is the Attila
comparison used? Fifth-century Hunnish depredations on
the Roman Empire were the work of an overpowerful
executive pursuing a policy of economic redistribution
in an atmosphere of permissive social mores. I am a
little to the right of Rush Limbaugh. I'm so
conservative that I approve of San Francisco City Hall
marriages, adoption by same-sex couples, and New
Hampshire's recently ordained Episcopal bishop. Gays
want to get married, have children, and go to church.
Next they'll be advocating school vouchers, boycotting
HBO, and voting Republican.

I suppose I should be arguing with my fellow right-
wingers about that, and drugs, and many other things.
But I won't be. Arguing, in the sense of attempting to
convince others, has gone out of fashion with
conservatives. The formats of their radio and
television programs allow for little measured debate,
and to the extent that evidence is marshaled to support
conservative ideas, the tone is less trial of Socrates
than Johnnie Cochran summation to the O.J. jury. Except
the jury—with a clever marketing strategy—has been
rigged. I wonder, when was the last time a conservative
talk show changed a mind?

This is an argument I have with my father-in-law, an
avid fan of such programs. Although again, I don't
actually argue, because I usually agree with my father-
in-law. Also, he's a retired FBI agent, and at seventy-
eight is still a licensed private investigator with a
concealed-weapon permit. But I say to him, "What do you
get out of these shows? You already agree with
everything they say."

"They bring up some good points," he says.

"That you're going to use on whom? Do some of your
retired-FBI-agent golf buddies feel shocked by the
absence of WMDs in Iraq and want to give Saddam Hussein
a mulligan and let him take his tee shot over?"

And he looks at me with an FBI-agent look, and I shut
up. But the number and popularity of conservative talk
shows have grown apace since the Reagan Administration.
The effect, as best I can measure it, is nil. In 1988
George Bush won the presidency with 53.4 percent of the
popular vote. In 2000 Bush's arguably more conservative
son won the presidency with a Supreme Court ruling.

A generation ago there wasn't much conservatism on the
airwaves. For the most part it was lonely Bill Buckley
moderating Firing Line. But from 1964 to 1980 we went
from Barry Goldwater's defeat with 38.5 percent of the
popular vote to Ronald Reagan's victory with 50.8
percent of the popular vote. Perhaps there was
something efficacious in Buckley's—if he'll pardon the
word—moderation.

I tried watching The O'Reilly Factor. I tried watching
Hannity shout about Colmes. I tried listening to
conservative talk radio. But my frustration at
concurrence would build, mounting from exasperation
with like-mindedness to a fury of accord, and I'd hit
the OFF button.

I resorted to books. You can slam a book shut in
irritation and then go back to the irritant without
having to plumb the mysteries of TiVo.

My selection method was unscientific. Ann Coulter, on
the cover of Treason, has the look of a soon-to-be-ex
wife who has just finished shouting. And Bill O'Reilly
is wearing a loud shirt on the cover of Who's Looking
Out for You?

Coulter begins her book thus: Liberals have a
preternatural gift for striking a position on the side
of treason. You could be talking about Scrabble and
they would instantly leap to the anti-American
position. Everyone says liberals love America, too. No
they don't. Whenever the nation is under attack, from
within or without, liberals side with the enemy. Now,
there's a certain truth in what she says. But it's
what's called a "poetic truth." And it's the kind of
poetic truth best conveyed late in the evening after
six or eight drinks while pounding the bar. I wasn't in
a bar. I was in my office. It was the middle of the
day. And I was getting a headache.

Who's Looking Out for You? is not as loud as Treason.
But there's something of the halftime harangue at the
team just in the use of the second-person pronoun.

The answer to O'Reilly's title question could be
condensed in the following manner: "Nobody, that's who.
The fat cats aren't. The bigwigs aren't. The politicos
aren't. Nobody's looking out for you except me, and I
can't be everywhere. You've got to look out for
yourself. How do you do that? You look out for your
friends and family. That's how. And they look out for
you. And that's the truth, Bud."

We've all backed away from this fellow while vigorously
nodding our heads in agreement. Often the fellow we
were backing away from was our own dad.

O'Reilly casts his net wide in search of a nodding,
agreeing audience. He embraces people driving poky
economy cars ("not imposing gas mileage standards hurts
every single American except those making and driving
SUVs") and people with romantic memories of the
liberalism of yore ("the gold standard for public
service was the tenure of Robert Kennedy as attorney
general"). He positions himself as a populist worried
about illegal aliens' getting across the border and
taking our jobs. (I'm worried about illegal aliens' not
getting across the border and leaving us with jobs,
such as mowing the lawn and painting the house.) And
O'Reilly reaches out to the young by prefacing each
chapter with lyrics from pop music groups that are, as
far as I know, very up-to-date, such as Spandau Ballet.
But the person that O'Reilly's shouting at is still,
basically, me: "If President Hillary becomes a reality,
the United States will be a polarized, thief-ridden
nanny state ..."

oes the left have this problem? Do some liberals feel
as if they're guarding the net while their teammates
make a furious rush at their own goal? NPR seems more
whiny than hectoring, except at fundraising time.
There's supposed to be a lot of liberal advocacy on TV.
I looked for things that debased freedom, promoted
license, ridiculed responsibility, and denigrated man
and God—but that was all of TV. How do you tell the
liberal parts from the car ads? Once more I resorted to
books.

To answer my question I didn't even have to open Al
Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A
Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. But having done
so, I found these chapter headings: "Ann Coulter:
Nutcase," "You Know Who I Don't Like? Ann Coulter," and
"Bill O'Reilly: Lying Splotchy Bully."

Michael Moore's previous book was Stupid White Men,
titled in a spirit of gentle persuasion unmatched since
Martin Luther, that original Antinomian, wrote Against
the Murderous and Thieving Hordes of Peasants. Moore's
new book, Dude, Where's My Country?, contains ten
chapters of fulminations convincing the convinced.
However, Moore does include one chapter on how to argue
with a conservative. As if. Approached by someone like
Michael Moore, a conservative would drop a quarter in
Moore's Starbucks cup and hurriedly walk away. Also,
Moore makes this suggestion: "Tell him how dependable
conservatives are. When you need something fixed, you
call your redneck brother-in-law, don't you?"

Arguing, in the sense of attempting to convince others,
seems to have gone out of fashion with everyone. I'm
reduced to arguing with the radio. The distaste for
political argument certainly hasn't made politics
friendlier—or quieter, given the amount of shouting
being done by people who think one thing at people who
think the same thing.

But I believe I know why this shouting is popular.
Today's Americans are working harder than ever, trying
to balance increasing personal, family, and career
demands. We just don't have time to make ourselves
obnoxious. We need professional help.

From The Atlantic Monthly | July/August 2004
The URL for this page is
<http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/07/orourke.htm>

The secret of a hippopotamus's 'magic' sweat has been
revealed.

The sticky reddish substance that acts as a sunscreen
was enough to make the ancient Greeks think hippos
sweated blood, says BBC Online.

But now a team from Kyoto Pharmaceutical University in
Japan says the substance is made from two unstable
pigments, one red and one orange.

They tell Nature magazine that the red pigment also has
antibacterial properties.

These work to protect the hippo from certain pathogens
and accelerate its recovery from wounds.

Scientists say the sunscreen element of the sweat is a
useful survival technique.

Hippos, who usually forage at night, sometimes have to
come out from the water in the day to top up their
feed. The sweat protects them from the baking sun.

"The sunscreen property of the sweat was first
suspected because albino hippos are often observed -
and they seem healthy," said Kyoto's Kimiko Hashimoto.
--
From: Hippo's 'magic' sweat explained
By Julianna Kettlewell
BBC News Online science staff
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3749351.stm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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15June2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  15 June 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- gimcrack
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Whatever happened to the Constitution?
6. Weird News - Rice whiskey and re-bars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
gimcrack \JIM-krak\, noun: A showy but useless or
worthless object; a gewgaw.

adjective: Tastelessly showy; cheap; gaudy.

Yet the set is more than a collection of pretty
gimcracks. --Frank Rich, Hot Seat

In those cities most self-conscious about their claim
to be part of English history, like Oxford or Bath, the
shops where you could have bought a dozen nails, home-
made cakes or had a suit run up, have shut down and
been replaced with places selling teddy bears, T-shirts
and gimcrack souvenirs. --Jeremy Paxman, The English: A
Portrait of a People

And as for coincidences in books -- there's something
cheap and sentimental about the device; it can't help
always seeming aesthetically gimcrack. --Peter Brooks,
"Obsessed with the Hermit of Croisset," New York Times,
March 10, 1985
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Emily's Gerbers and Other Objets de la Maison:

<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/040614/1.htm> (12 images)

LAST ISSUE:
Three Grasshoppers:
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/3hoppers.htm>

Kickin' Back in the Big Easy:
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0405/kicknback.htm>

Green Heron (two images):
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/grhe2.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Why I Could Never Be a Buddhist
by Billy Collins

"All that exists is the movement of the breathing."
— Shunryu Suzuki

I wake up early and lie uncovered
on the summer bed
staring at the white closet doors,
listening to the hum of the fan
which has drawn in the cooler night air —
your ghost-form next to me
wrapped tightly in a sheet.

I would love to be as empty
as the rice bowls of the dead,
but the squirrel on the hickory tree outside
with a nut in his mouth,
reminds me of the need to save,
and the mirror on the wall
containing a small oval edition of this room
is a medieval warning against vanity.

I hear the faint hum of a plane
and picture a woman in the window seat
crossing her legs and opening a magazine,

then I think of the Wright Brothers,
who never married,
working in their bicycle shop,
spoked wheels hanging from nails in the walls.

Even the sight of my own feet,
crossed on the bed,
reminds me of the sinewy feet of the saints
that I used to kneel before as a boy —
the feet of St. Bartholomew,
the feet of St. Anthony of the Desert,
braided with muscle,
the feet of St. Sebastian pierced with arrows,
and the benevolent feet of St. Francis,
who in one painting
is leaning back in rapture
outside the mouth of a cave
while behind him an iconographic rabbit
peeps out of a stone wall,
a little symbol of God knows what.

Billy Collins
Five Points
Volume 8, Number 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Martindale's Reference Desk
<http://www.martindalecenter.com/>

Vivisimo - clustering search engine
<http://vivisimo.com/>

Internet Public Library
<http://www.ipl.org/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Whatever happened to the Constitution?

By Molly Ivins

AUSTIN, Texas -- When, in future, you find yourself
wondering, "Whatever happened to the Constitution?" you
will want to go back and look at June 8, 2004. That was
the day the attorney general of the United States --
a.k.a. "the nation's top law enforcement officer" --
refused to provide the Senate Judiciary Committee with
his department's memos concerning torture.

In order to justify torture, these memos declare that
the president is bound by neither U.S. law nor
international treaties. We have put ourselves on the
same moral level as Saddam Hussein, the only difference
being quantity. Quite literally, the president may as
well wear a crown -- forget that "no man is above the
law" jazz. We used to talk about "the imperial
presidency" under Nixon, but this is the real thing.

The Pentagon's legal staff concurred in this incredible
conclusion. In a report printed by The Wall Street
Journal, "Bush administration lawyers contended last
year that the president wasn't bound by laws
prohibiting torture and that government agents who
might torture prisoners at his direction couldn't be
prosecuted by the Justice Department. ...

"The report outlined U.S. laws and international
treaties forbidding torture, and why those restrictions
might be overcome by national security considerations
or legal technicalities."

The report was complied by a group appointed by
Department of Defense General Counsel William J. Haynes
II, who has since been nominated by Bush for the
federal appellate bench. "Air Force General Counsel
Mary Walker headed the group, which comprised top
civilian and uniformed lawyers from each military
branch and consulted with the Justice Department, the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency
and other intelligence agencies. It isn't known if
President Bush has ever seen the report."

When members of the Senate Judiciary Committee
questioned Ashcroft about his department's input, he
imply refused to provide the memos, without offering
any legal rationale. He said President Bush had "made
no order that would require or direct the violation" of
laws or treaties. His explanation was that the United
States is at war. "You know I condemn torture," he told
Sen. Joe Biden. "I don't think it's productive, let
alone justified."

But another memo written by former Assistant Attorney
General Jay S. Bybee, now a federal appeals court judge
in California, establishes a basis for the use of
torture for senior Al Qaeda operatives in custody of
the CIA. I am not one to leap to conclusions, but it
seems quite clear how whatever perverted standards
allowed at Guantanamo Bay jumped across the water to
Abu Ghraib prison.

Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, commander at Gitmo, was
dispatched last August to Abu Ghraib to give advice
about how to get information out of prisoners.
"Miller's recommendations prompted a shift in the
interrogation and detention procedures there. Military
intelligence officers were given greater authority in
the prison, and military police guards were asked to
help gather information about the detainees," according
to The New York Times.

Among the legal memos that circulated within the
administration in 2002, one is by White House counsel
Alberto Gonzalez, famously declaring the Geneva
Convention "quaint," and another from the CIA asked for
an explicit understanding that the administration's
public pledge to abide by the spirit of the Geneva
Convention did not apply to its operatives. The only
department consistently opposing these legal
"arguments" was State. In April 2002, Secretary
Rumsfeld sent a memo to Gen. James T. Hill outlining 24
permitted interrogation techniques, four of which were
considered so stressful as to require Rumsfeld's
explicit approval before they were used.

It has been apparent for some time that the abuses at
Abu Ghraib were not isolated instances -- torture from
Afghanistan to Gitmo to Iraq has so far resulted in 25
deaths now under investigation. As the late Jacabo
Timmermann, the Argentine journalist who was tortured
during "the dirty war," said, "When you are being
tortured, it doesn't really matter to you if your
torturers are authoritarian or totalitarian." I doubt
it helps any if they're supposed to be bringing
democracy, either. And as Ashcroft said, it isn't
productive.

The damage is incalculable. When America puts out its
annual report on human rights abuses, we will be a
laughingstock. I suggest a special commission headed by
Sen. John McCain to dig out everyone responsible, root
and branch. If the lawyers don't cooperate, perhaps we
should try stripping them, anally raping them and
dunking their heads under water until they think
they're drowning, and see if that helps.

And I think it is time for citizens to take some
responsibility, as well. Is this what we have come to?
Is this what we want our government to do for us? Oh
and by way, to my fellow political reporters who keep
repeating that Bush is having a wonderful week: Why
don't you think about what you stand for?

COPYRIGHT 2004 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnamese doctors removed three metal construction rods
from a man's stomach about a month after he swallowed them in a rice whiskey
drinking challenge, an official said Monday.

Huynh Ngoc Son, 22, swallowed the rods, which were 17 centimetres long and five
millimetres thick, after being dared by his drinking buddies in mid-May, said Dr.
Le Quang Nghia of Binh Dan Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Son went to the hospital last week complaining of serious stomach pains, and
X-rays revealed the construction bars were lodged in his stomach, Nghia said.

The rods were removed during a 30-minute operation, and Son's stomach was
not seriously damaged by the ordeal, Nghia said.

Son was in stable condition Monday and was expected to be discharged
from the hospital this week, he said.

From CNews: <http://cnews.canoe.ca/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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"subscribe" to <mailto:subscribe@lhostelaw.com?subject=subscribe&body=subscribe>

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24June2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  24 June 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- kvell
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Hudgins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Media Allow Bush Excuses
6. Weird News - Mouse-chewing Contest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
kvell • \KVELL\ • verb : to be extraordinarily proud :
rejoice

Example sentence: "[Critics] will kvell over El Greco's
uncanny anticipation of latter-day artistic trends, his
proto-cubism, his precocious expressionism. . . ."
(Ariella Budick, Newsday, October 2003)

Did you know? The history of "kvell" is far from a
megillah, so don't kvetch. Etymology-meisters have
determined that the word is derived from Yiddish
"kveln," meaning "to be delighted," which, in turn,
comes from the Middle High German word "quellen,"
meaning "to well, gush, or swell." The Merriam-Webster
mavens whose shtick is dating words have not pinpointed
an exact date for the appearance of "kvell" in the
English language. They have found an entry for the word
in a 1952 handbook of Jewish words and expressions, but
actual usage evidence before that date remains unseen.
(The words "megillah," "kvetch," "meister," "maven,"
and "shtick" are also of Yiddish origin.)
--
>From:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/mwwod.pl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Tesselations - series of four
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/040612/14.htm>

Life's a Ditch - series of 11
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0402ditch/040229_ditch_5380.htm

LAST ISSUE:

Emily's Gerbers and Other Objets de la Maison
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/040614/1.htm> (12 images)

The Cadillac in the Attic
After the tenant moved out, died, disappeared—
the stories vary—the landlord
walked downstairs, bemused, and told his wife,
"There's a Cadillac in the attic,"

and there was. An old one, sure, and one
with sloppy paint, bald tires,
and orange rust chewing at the rocker panels,
but still and all, a Cadillac in the attic.

He'd battled transmission, chassis, engine block,
even the huge bench seats,
up the folding stairs, heaved them through the trapdoor,
and rebuilt a Cadillac in the attic.

Why'd he do it? we asked. But we know why.
For the reasons we would do it: for the looks
of astonishment he'd never see but could imagine.
For the joke. A Cadillac in the attic!

And for the meaning, though we aren't sure what it means.
And of course he did it for pleasure,
the pleasure on his lips of all those short vowels
and three hard clicks: the Cadillac in the attic.

The Long Ship
Death's settled in my suburbs: weak ankles
just a little weaker and the fingers of my right hand just
a little more like unoiled hinges in the cold.
Death's moved into my right shoulder as a flame.
I tease it, taunt it, test it: Can I carry wood?
Can I still throw the ball? How far and for how long?
What's the new price? Higher, but not too high.

Death, darling,
you've been gentle up till now.
But after the first kiss I return, we know
how your seductions go: each tender kiss
a little coarser. Each night a little further:
caress to rough insistent stroke. Each qualm
and modest scruple brushed aside till metaphor
gives way to metamorphosis—from one
hard, lived cliché to one nobody lives:
Death's built his long ship, he's raised his black
sail over me, and what ship doesn't love
a steady wind, and what ship doesn't love the white
wake curled behind it like lilies on a black stem?

Andrew Hudgins
Ecstatic in the Poison
The Overlook Press
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The American Heritage Book of English Usage
http://www.bartleby.com/64/

Life of Birds from PBS
http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/

Forbes List of Top Celebrities
<http://www.forbes.com/2004/06/16/celebs04land.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Media Allow Bush Excuses
Molly Ivins

AUSTIN, Texas -- As I.F. Stone used to say, "All
governments lie," so that's no shockeroo. What's
peculiar is the reaction in the media.

You may recall that when even the administration
finally admitted Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass
destruction (with that adorable video of President Bush
on his hands and knees searching under sofas in the
Oval Office for the missing WMD -- oh, it was so
amusing, eight hundred American dead), we were treated
to the following rationales:

1) Didn't make any difference because Saddam Hussein
was a really, really bad guy anyway.

He was, of course, and it was always the only decent
rationale for getting rid of him. It was the argument
made by Tony Blair, but specifically rejected by the
Bush administration. Paul Wolfowitz explained in Vanity
Fair that human rights violations were not a sufficient
consideration for invasion.

2) It was all Saddam's fault that we thought he had
WMD. The wily coot fooled us by repeatedly denying that
he had any, a fiendishly clever ploy.

3) He probably shipped them all to Syria just before we
got there.

4) Get over it. We've heard enough from you people.

Torture at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere?

1) No worse than fraternity hazing.

2) Just some low-level, white-trash morons.

3) We haven't tortured nearly as many people as Saddam
Hussein.

4) Al Qaeda never signed no stinkin' Geneva
Conventions, so we have a right to torture them.

5) Shut up, they explained.

Torture was explicitly authorized at the highest levels
of government.

1-5) See above, plus:

6) Did not.

7) So what?

8) "I'm going to say it one more time. The instructions
went out to our people to adhere to the law. That ought
to comfort you. We're a nation of laws. We adhere to
laws. We have laws on the books. You might look at
those laws, and that might comfort you."

Problem is, the administration looked at the laws and
decided to ignore them.

Ahmad Chalabi is not just a liar, con man, thief and
faker of intelligence, but also apparently a spy for
Iran.

1) Chalabi? Ahmad who? Never heard of him.

2) We cut off all ties with Chalabi some time ago.
(Last week.)

The 9-11 Commission reports there is no evidence of
collaboration between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, and
in fact Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were all much
bigger players with Al Qaeda.

1) The 9-11 Commission didn't say that.

2) The media are overplaying the story and are also
lazy and outrageous. (Never mind that it's the media's
fault as much as the administration's that 69 percent
of the American people were under the misimpression
that Saddam Hussein was directly tied to 9-11.)

3) We never claimed he was behind 9-11. No, we never
did -- we may have implied it, we may have hinted, we
may have suggested, insinuated, intimated, connoted,
alluded to and said it between the lines, but we never
said it, and you can't prove we did and we have no idea
how the great majority of Americans ever got that silly
idea in the first place. So stop reporting that it's
not true.

4) We are tired of hearing from you people, this has
been going on for almost 24 hours now and only Dead
Reagan gets a week's worth of our undivided attention.
Back to Kobe Bryant and Laci Peterson.

All in all, I'd say these folks have their act down
now. Dick Cheney gets bonus points for Best Lying With
a Straight Face.

On June 8, John Ashcroft was driven to the old Nixon
defense -- stonewalling. He not only refused to provide
the Senate Judiciary Committee with Justice Department
memos justifying torture, he refused to explain why he
refused. The Washington Post then helpfully posted the
memo on its website so we could all enjoy reading how
our "Justice Department" explains why the president is
above the law and above the Constitution, and does not
need to observe any treaties.

Also, we learned it is not torture unless it is
"equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying
serious physical injury, such as organ failure,
impaired bodily function or even death."

Water torture (that's the one they politely refer to as
"stressful conditions") was a particular favorite of
the Gestapo against the French Resistance in World War
II. Anal rape and shoving broken light bulbs up the
rear end don't count at all.

I'm so glad George W. Bush has restored honor and
integrity to the White House. And I appreciate all his
defenders in the media more than I can say. They are
truly distinguishing themselves as patriots in this
hour of need.
-------------------------------------------------------
© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Pub 'sorry' for mouse-chewing contest

A Brisbane pub has apologised for staging a mice-
chewing contest.

The Exchange Hotel staged the contest in which live
mice were chewed up and spat out by contestants to try
to win a holiday.

The owners of the pub said they were unaware of the
"appalling incident", reports the Herald Sun.

The incident outraged the RSPCA which wants to
prosecute the two men involved for animal cruelty.

RSPCA chief inspector Byron Hall said those involved
faced fines of up to $75,000 and two years in prison.

The Exchange Hotel issued a statement condemning the
incident and promising an end to Jackass-style
competitions.

"We are embarrassed this incident occurred at our
hotel," said the hotel's senior manager Scott Agnew.

"The offensive part of the promotion was conducted
without the knowledge of our senior management and
after this incident was brought to our attention we
immediately made changes to stop such unacceptable
behaviour."

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1July2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  1 July 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- impresario
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Heaney
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - This ain't Camelot
6. Weird News - Really bad criminals
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
impresario (im-pruh-SAR-ee-o) noun

1. An organizer, promoter, or manager of public
entertainments, such as a ballet, opera, concert, or
theater company.

2. Any manager or director.

[From Italian impresario (one who undertakes a
business), from impresa (undertaking), from Vulgar
Latin imprendere (to undertake).]

"Shadowing him on the trip here - visible on the
margins of events, usually staying out of sight - was
Mr. Bush's political impresario, Karl Rove." David E.
Sanger; Middle East Mediator: Big New Test for Bush;
The New York Times; Jun 5, 2003.

"Even on Broadway, few stars have crashed as
spectacularly as Garth Drabinsky, the impresario behind
Ragtime, theatreland's highest-grossing show." From
Riches to Ragtime; The Economist (London); Aug 15,
1998.

Digitally Altered Photos (four images)
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/35.htm>

Tri-colored Heron and Cattle Egret with Chicks (four images)
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/0406_5.htm>

2000 Block of Magazine Street (four images)
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/0406_2.htm>

LAST ISSUE:

Tesselations - series of four
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/040612/14.htm>

Life's a Ditch - series of 11
http://www.lhostelaw.com/0402ditch/040229_ditch_5380.htm

A rowan like a lipsticked girl.
Between the by-road and the main road
Alder trees at a wet and dripping distance
Stand off among the rushes.

There are the mud-flowers of dialect
And the immortelles of perfect pitch
And that moment when the bird sings very close
To the music of what happens.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Money 101
<http://money.cnn.com/pf/101/>

Cassini-Huygens Project
<http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm>

Today in History from Library of Congress
<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/today/today.html>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
..."I would not mind America wielding the biggest
Excalibur sword in the world," said the African
official, "but for God's sake, put a King Arthur in the
White House, with a good Round Table."...

World turns wary of nation it long admired

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

By RON DZONKOWSKI
DETROIT FREE PRESS

To describe the general feeling about the United States
in his country, the African leader offered a proverbial
tale of a giant lion who led his pride in an attack on
an antelope. When the prey was down, the large lion
said the meat would be divided into quarters. "I am the
king," he said, taking the first quarter.

"I played the biggest role in the hunt," he said,
taking the second.

"I have the biggest family," he said, taking the third.

"Now," he growled, "there is one quarter left. I dare
any of you to take it."

Thus the origin, said this official, of the phrase "the
lion's share," not meaning the greatest part but rather
taking all, whether it's because you think you are
entitled, deserving or just hungry and powerful. And
such is the impression of the United States in much of
the world, he said - the strongest nation, the
acknowledged leader, an essential partner for any major
venture and the most voracious consumer. Yet other
nations dare not argue, only beg indulgence.

As Americans, of course, we don't see ourselves this
way. We are powerful, yes, but fundamentally peace-
loving - unless provoked. We assert our power, whether
military or economic, only where necessary. We are the
most generous nation in history. We do not seek global
empire, but global democracy.

This Great Divide in perception here and abroad was
among the subjects last weekend as diplomats,
academics, public officials, assorted experts and a few
journalists met for a conference on "America and the
World," sponsored by the Chicago Council on Foreign
Relations. The council, an independent, nonprofit
organization dedicated to further understanding of
international affairs and foreign policy, invited me to
the conference in Chicago and paid for travel and
lodging.

It was plain from the discussions that much of the
world is simply on hold - waiting to see what Americans
will do in the November election. They want to know
whether the world is going to change even more.

The U.S. assertiveness in waging war on Iraq took many
nations aback. Few like the "with us or against us"
excuse for a foreign policy under President Bush. But
some nations do think it's about time America put some
might behind its right.

But nobody wants to speak too loudly about the
election, ostensibly because it's internal to America,
but more candidly because they don't want to influence
a reverse outcome. Many Europeans, for example, can't
believe Americans would re-elect Bush, but are
tempering their criticism lest resentful Americans do
just that. Some Asian nations, meanwhile, are very
comfortable with Bush, but don't want to say so because
the job-outsourcing issue is politically sensitive.

These are very general impressions formed from a lot of
conversations with a lot of people and in conference
sessions where speakers were afforded anonymity to
encourage candor. I will tell you that from here inside
America, you don't have a sense of America's weight in
the world until you hear speaker after speaker from
nation after nation say, "we are waiting to see what
the Americans will do."

Will it be four more years of Bush-Cheney, and if so,
continued disdain for international accords that don't
put American interests first? How would foreign policy
change under John Kerry, the Democratic candidate for
president?

"How will America use its power?" was a frequently
asked question. The world, attendees said, wants a
superpower that is predictable and operates under clear
rules.

"Your constitution has checks and balances," said one
Latin American official. "Why would you object to that
with global institutions?"

"How do you stop a superpower that can do what it wants
from doing a really bad idea?" asked one international
expert. "Your ideas are probably going to get better if
you have to convince other people they are right."

While no sane person condones terrorism, some at the
conference saw America engaging in a futile struggle
that is not the world's most pressing issue.

"Far more people are threatened or abused or killed on
any given day from internal wars than from terrorism in
a given year," said one veteran diplomat.

"You can wage war against Germany. You can wage war
against Russia," said another attendee. "But how do you
wage war against a strategy?"

"Is America going to remake large parts of the world to
make itself safe?" asked one expert.

And there were constant reminders about the America
that used to be.

"The United States has been a major author and promoter
of international rules. But it is no longer playing
that role. ... Somebody said the United States has lost
its mind. But really it has lost its way. It's gone
from being a model of how to go about doing things to
an object of hatred."

"I would not mind America wielding the biggest
Excalibur sword in the world," said the African
official, "but for God's sake, put a King Arthur in the
White House, with a good Round Table."

Most of the folks who gathered in Chicago won't get to
vote in November. You do. And the rest of the world
awaits your decision.
--
• Ron Dzwonkowski is editor of the Detroit Free Press
editorial page. Readers may write to him at: Detroit
Free Press, 600 West Fort Street, Detroit, Mich. 48226,
or via e-mail at dzwonk@freepress.com.

A 40-year-old man and his 16-year-old son
(carrying a shotgun) were walking home in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, in March when they decided to rob
passing pedestrians of the beer they were carrying; in
the ensuing fight, police later said, the beer did not
change hands, and the son accidentally shot the father.
And according to police in Toledo, Ohio, in March,
during the robbery of the Gold Star Market, Joseph
Allen Wilson, 18, accidentally shot and killed his 30-
year-old accomplice, who was posing as a customer and
whom Wilson was "threatening to kill" as part of the
clever plan to get the clerk to open the register.
[Winnipeg Sun, 4-2-04] [The Blade (Toledo), 3-23-04]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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8July2004

TOP

             <:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
                  8 July 2004

  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- mondegreen
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Susan Hutton
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - GOP operatives up to their old dirty tricks (Gene Lyons)
6. Weird News - DNA Test to Check for Genghis Khan Kin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
mondegreen (MON-di-green) noun

A word or phrase resulting from mishearing a word or
phrase.

[Coined by American author Sylvia Wright from the line
"laid him on the green," interpreted as "Lady
Mondegreen," in the Scottish ballad "The Bonny Earl of
Murray."]

"`Do you have a cute back pain?' asks the announcer on
a television commercial, and the listener must recall
the homophone acute. In 1994, Disney promoted `The Lion
King' as its `new 30-second animated feature'; what
sounded like an incredibly short cartoon was actually
an impressive achievement: a follow-up to the studio's
31st animated film. For the most frightening
mondegreen, consider this statistic given last year by
a nutritionist on `Good Morning America:' `The average
American will gain 47 pounds during the holidays.'
(Lighten up; the actual prediction was `4 to 7
pounds.')" Jeffrey McQuain, Our language is getting so
colorful, The Houston Chronicle, Aug 11, 1996.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:

Roseate Spoonbills
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0407/23.htm>

Immature Black-crowned Night Heron (two images)
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0407/24.htm>

Digitally Altered Photo - Found Feathers Under Glass
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0407/20.htm>

Ba Da BING!
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0407/21.htm>

Fruit Plate
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0407/22.htm>

LAST ISSUE:
Digitally Altered Photos (four images)
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/35.htm>

Tri-colored Heron and Cattle Egret with Chicks (four images)
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/0406_5.htm>

2000 Block of Magazine Street (four images)
<http://www.lhostelaw.com/0406/0406_2.htm>

I don't think the Mayflower's passengers boarded
with any inkling they would be revered.
We imagine their journey with clean sails and blue sky,
and the galley was probably filthy.
Meriwether Lewis finally reached the Pacific
after writing those dutiful descriptions of routes
and rivers and new species, and just carved his name
in a tree. Michelangelo, painting the Sistine Chapel,
eventually finished and went home.
But that fervor must be somewhere.
As when the music finishes and floats off into the air.
As when Stevens walked to work writing poems in his head,
and when he got there let that private part of his mind keep going,
Van Gogh kept painting himself in the asylum
because he was the only model he had.
Oh, the spring river moves around the ice
and the floes chime out their ruin,
taking with them the shape of the winter banks
and the stones sloping down toward the bed.
In bed the body's glorious grasp of its anatomy
will move off with its pleasure, and the shape of the bones,
the muscles and tendons must all be relearned.
No one remembers when it happened,
but we were anchored to the earth in the time it took
to draw water, hand over hand, up from the well.
The stone wall stood unassisted all those years,
and the oceans were once filled with giant creatures
the fishermen stripped from the sea.

Susan Hutton
Ploughshares
Volume 30, Number 1
Spring 2004
Campbell McGrath, Guest Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Best of History Websites
http://www.besthistorysites.net/index.shtml

Online Environmental Community
http://www.envirolink.org/

Garden Web
http://www.gardenweb.com/

by Gene Lyons

Everybody says American politics were dramatically
changed by the 9/11 attacks, bringing an era of
accountability and moral seriousness. Sometimes I
wonder what everybody's been smoking. In my travels to
promote "The Hunting of the President," the documentary
film based upon Joe Conason's and my book of the same
name, people ask the same two questions: Did failing to
remove President Bill Clinton from office teach
Republicans anything about the "politics of personal
destruction," and how should Democrats respond?

The short answer is that the operatives who put
together the most successful Republican dirty-tricks
campaign ever don't think they failed. Who ended up
running the country? If Clinton's acquittal on
impeachment charges denied his antagonists the joy of
taking him down, it spared the GOP nominee's having to
run in 2000 against an aroused electorate and an
incumbent President Al Gore.

Then there's the press. Seemingly frustrated by their
inability to topple Clinton, the same organizations
that promoted Kenneth Starr's sham Whitewater
investigation spent 2000 publicizing nonsensical tales
about Gore, like the ridiculous claim that he bragged
about "inventing the Internet." Candidate George W.
Bush, meanwhile, received a virtual free pass. His
preposterous budget numbers, to cite only one example,
went largely unexamined.

What the GOP learned from the anti-Clinton crusade is
that given a compliant news media and an easily
distracted public, lowdown personal attacks work. So
far, Bush's campaign against Democratic Sen. John Kerry
has consisted of little else.

Bush has already spent $85 million on a series of TV
ads attacking Kerry's character. An incumbent president
going negative so early hints at desperation. But
what's really noteworthy about the GOP ads is their
contempt for the truth, not to mention for the gullible
masses in TV-land to whom they're addressed.

Bush approved the message that Kerry voted for higher
taxes more than 350 times. Bush's spokesmen repeat the
claim incessantly. It's pure hokum. OK, maybe Kerry
takes exaggerated credit for his vote approving
Clinton's budget-balancing 1993 tax bill. (All 51
Senate votes were equally critical.) But for sheer
disingenuousness, the Bush ad takes the prize.

According to Brooks Jackson of FactCheck.org, among the
350 votes cited were many in which Kerry merely voted
against repealing existing taxes. In 1987, for example,
he opposed dropping a "windfall profits" tax on oil. No
increase. Seventy-one times, Kerry voted for the
smaller of two tax cuts.

"Thus," notes Jackson, "the Bush campaign counts some
votes for tax cuts as votes for 'higher taxes.'"

The real question, of course, is how the government
pays for its obligations-- not something Bush wants
voters thinking about.

Then there's Kerry's supposedly "troubling" record on
national defense, dramatized by another bogus ad about
votes to limit weapons funding. So guess who sponsored
the cuts Kerry backed? President George H.W. Bush,
after the Soviet threat vanished. Poppy's secretary of
defense was Dick Cheney. According to The New York
Times, in 1990, "Cheney's first budget canceled, among
other things, production of the M-1 tank and the
Bradley fighting vehicle, and made big cuts in the F-18
fighter"--the very weapons George W. Bush's ads chide
Kerry about.

But just because the Republic