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12January2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
12 January 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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
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1. A Word A Day -- skookum
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Phillis Levin
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Death Squads - Conanason
6. Weird News - Ironies
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1. A Word A Day
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skookum (SKOO-kuhm) adjective
Powerful; first-rate; impressive.
[From Chinook Jargon, from a Chehalis word meaning spirit or ghost.]
"Beth Baker of Knik may be an Iditarod rookie, but she's a skookum
one."
Opinion; Anchorage Daily News (Alaska); Mar 18, 1994.
"His big seller is the Zooper Buddy, an all-terrain vehicle with
three inflatable tires, an adjustable handle bar, amazing
suspension and a skookum reclining seat."
Karen Gram; Stroller Envy; Vancouver Sun (Canada); Oct 21, 2003.
--
>From A Word A Day:http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
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2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
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THIS ISSUE:
Dying Beauty (four images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0412/deadrose.htm>
Audubon Park Trees (six images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/apt5.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
From the Batture (seven images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0412/msbat1.htm>
50 Birds - Ibises, Egrets, and Herons
<http://djlphoto.com/0412/50birds.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
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3. Quote of the Day --
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As Long as There Is Wind in the Trees
They happen to be beside each other, and so they touch
For no apparent reason. Reason enough. They happen
To be beside each other. So they touch. For us
It is not like this, though timorous shadows tell
An arm to move, a head to turn, sensing something
Near, someone who may be one of the ones who,
For no apparent reason, will move away or turn,
Stirring a storm, giving it room to toil, one for whom,
For a time everlasting or brief, you will be the leaf,
The bole, the bee, the light, and the other way around
If you are lucky: if you happen to be in town,
Out of change, by a brook, in the mood, near a shop
Proclaiming a host of spices in a tongue without
An alphabet, a tongue whose sound is the changing
Shade of a cloud, the scent of iron rising after rain,
Curtains of rain opening, pouring down.
Phillis Levin
The Kenyon Review
New Series, Volume XXVII Number 1
Winter 2005
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4. HotSites - Miscellany
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Near Earth Objects - Dynamic Site (tracks asteroids and the risk of their collision with Earth).
<http://newton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/neodys/neoibo>
SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
<http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=178025>
USGS (U.S. Geological Service) -- huge resource
<http://www.usgs.gov/>
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5. Reading List
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Death Squads Invite Murder in Our Name by Joe Conason
Our faltering effort to crush the Iraqi insurgency is now
taking a turn that recalls the worst episodes in American
foreign policy. In recent weeks, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I.
have disgorged further proof of the routine use of torture
to extract information from prisoners. Now Pentagon planners
are reportedly mulling a "Salvadoran option"—the
bureaucratic euphemism for death squads—to put down the
rebellion in Iraq.
Evidently this scheme is the latest brainstorm of the
"liberators" intent on bringing democracy, freedom and the
rule of law to the oppressed peoples of the Middle East. The
brilliant idea of assassinating recalcitrant Iraqis seems to
have originated among the same Pentagon bureaucrats who
crusaded for the Iraq invasion and promoted abusive
interrogation techniques in the war against terrorism.
According to Newsweek, Defense Department officials
frustrated by increasing violence and chaos in Iraq are
considering the brutal methods used during past
confrontations with guerrilla fighters in Central America
and Southeast Asia. Those methods included providing U.S.
intelligence and logistical support for paramilitary forces
that were "directed to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and
sympathizers." The way this works—or at least is supposed to
work—is that the names of those alleged leaders and
sympathizers are derived from torturing alleged terrorists.
Then the death squads go out by night to execute those
identified as enemies.
While this sounds like political madness, the theory behind
such atrocities is quite simple: Guerrilla warriors can
thrive only when the civilian population supports or
tolerates them. Depriving the guerrillas of such support
means convincing civilians to turn away from them. But since
nearly two years of incompetent occupation rule has failed
to win the hearts and minds of most Iraqis, the next step is
apparently to persuade them by inflicting pain. That
attitude is evident in Newsweek’s quote from a military
source who endorses the "Salvadoran" plan.
"The Sunni population is paying no price for the support it
is giving to the terrorists," said that source. "From their
point of view, it is cost-free. We have to change that
equation."
Anyone who is wondering what his chilling remark might
portend can glance back through the archives of the
conflicts in El Salvador and Guatemala. This historical
exercise is not recommended for the sensitive or squeamish.
Billed as "counterterrorism," the actions of military and
paramilitary forces involved terrorist assaults of appalling
ferocity on unarmed civilians.
Much of what Central America’s fascist killers perpetrated
in our name during the dirty conflicts of the Cold War
remains hidden in secret files, although much of what they
did has been revealed during the past few decades. Women and
children weren’t spared; neither were nuns and priests,
lawyers and labor organizers, human-rights activists and
journalists. All were prey to the bloody whims of the death-
squad leaders, who often carried out personal grudges
against "terrorists" or "Communists."
Ironically, the uniformed criminals who carried out the
Salvadoran option were not so different in character and
behavior from those currently identified as the enemy. The
mass graves filled with the victims of Saddam Hussein are no
different from the mass graves at El Mozote, filled with the
victims of the right-wing death squads. The gruesome
beheadings performed by Islamist killers in Iraq are no
different from the beheadings of peasants in El Salvador and
Guatemala (except that the death squads lacked videotape and
Web sites, and decapitated dozens more people).
The Newsweek report by John Barry and Michael Hirsh confirms
a sense of foreboding that history is being repeated. They
learned of a Pentagon proposal that "would send [U.S. Army]
Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train
Iraqi squads, most likely hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga
fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents
and their sympathizers." Decades ago, that is exactly how
the Salvadoran death squads began, when Special Forces and
C.I.A. personnel were sent to train paramilitary forces
there.
Why would our leaders again risk condoning such brutality?
They are increasingly fearful that we are losing to the
Iraqi insurgents, despite the razing of Falluja. And they
believe that assassinations and mass killings "saved"
Central America, even if the cost was tens or even hundreds
of thousands of innocent lives. They don’t seem to remember
how poorly the same horrific methods worked in Vietnam,
where the C.I.A.’s Phoenix program of death squads and
assassinations only strengthened the Communist guerrillas.
Two days after the Newsweek story broke, Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld denied at a Pentagon press briefing that he
and his aides were considering the use of "Salvadoran"
techniques in Iraq. To the naïve, his words may sound
reassuring. To anyone who has listened to him and others
deny that the Bush administration has condoned torture, Mr.
Rumsfeld’s denial serves as unhappy confirmation. Nobody
except a few grunts has been held accountable for torture.
So why not death squads?
From the New York Observer <http://www.observer.com/pages/conason.asp>
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6. Weird News -
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Ironies
A 59-year-old veteran NASCAR driver from Scottsdale, Ariz.,
was killed in November when he fell off of a Segway scooter
(going 5 mph) at a Las Vegas go-cart race and hit his head.
And in China's Guangxi Zhuang region in September, five people
asphyxiated while conducting a ceremony in a dangerous lead mine
(frequently shut down by the government), including a prominent
feng shui expert there to advise on improving harmonic energy flow.
And in Aliquippa, Pa., in October, a 28-year-old man was electrocuted
on his first day at work as an electrician. [East Valley Tribune
(Mesa, Ariz.), 11-29-04] [Qinzhou Daily-Interfax, 9-7-04]
[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10-29-04]
From News of the Weird <http://www.newsoftheweird.com/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
To subscribe to <:>i n t e r a l i a<:> send an email with the message
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4February2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
04 February 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- holus-bolus
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- T.J. Clark
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Gambling With Your Retirement
6. Weird News - Duh!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
holus-bolus (HO-luhs BO-luhs) adverb
All at once.
[Apparently a reduplication of bolus (lump), or a rhyming
compound based on the phrase whole bolus.]
"On the 30th anniversary of the Canadian switchover, metric
enthusiast Greg Peterson, who runs the One Metre website,
said the new speed signs came in largely holus-bolus. 'There
was no question about it, there was no gradual phase-in
period,' he said." Estanislao Oziewicz; Ireland Makes the
Switch to Metric Speed Limits; The Globe and Mail (Toronto,
Canada); Jan 20, 2005.
"The unions are somewhat encouraged by the fact that new
public enterprises minister Alec Erwin appears to have moved
back significantly from the 'policy juggernaut' of holus-
bolus privatisation for Spoornet." Lynda Loxton; Spoornet is
a Beast of Missed Opportunities; Business Report
(Johannesburg, South Africa); Jan 17, 2005.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
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2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
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THIS ISSUE:
Allison Framed
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/allieframe.htm>
Marc Framed
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/marcframe.htm>
WhiteSign
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/whitesign.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Dying Beauty (four images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0412/deadrose.htm>
Audubon Park Trees (six images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/apt5.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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3. Quote of the Day --
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On the Path
Three times lately on my walk in the hills behind the house
I have come across an elderly man in company with a lolloping dog:
A youngster, white and yellow like a polar bear, mild-eyed and foolish,
Coming back repeatedly from short cuts into the undergrowth for pretend discipline and conversation –
Mild ironies at his expense, he seems to understand, answered by urine on the creosote bush.
These are real hills, and the man looks frail. How much medication
Are the two of us taking? No chemical damper needed, it seems, on the dog’s
Anxiety about whatever it is lurking inside the chrysalis –
White and yellow like a burnt manuscript – of an owl’s efficient turd.
Easy to guess what the old man and I most envy
In the snuffling going on at the side of the path.
Not the creature’s inquisitiveness, precisely (the two of us still want to see the Taj Mahal),
Not its optimism, not its wild overestimate of the size of things,
Not even doom taking the form of a picked-over skeleton;
No, more the dog’s certainty that we and our kind have uses,
And, above all, his lack of concern with the childhood –
Charts of the planets, lost balls, broken windows, hot drinks in bed —
We agree, with a glance, passed us by.
T. J. Clark
The Threepenny Review
100th Issue
Winter 2005
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4. HotSites - Miscellany
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Nat. Geo. Map Machine
<http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/>
Extreme Oil
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/extremeoil/>
Bugs
<http://www.insects.org/>
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5. Reading List
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February 4, 2005
Gambling With Your Retirement
By PAUL KRUGMAN
A few weeks ago I tried to explain the logic of Bush-style
Social Security privatization: it is, in effect, as if your
financial adviser told you that you wouldn't have enough
money when you retire - but you shouldn't save more.
Instead, you should borrow a lot of money, buy stocks and
hope for capital gains.
Before President Bush's big speech, a background briefing by
a "senior administration official" made it clear that the
plan calls for exactly the "borrow, speculate and hope"
strategy I described - not just for the system as a whole,
but for each individual.
Here's the money quote: "In return for the opportunity to
get the benefits from the personal account, the person
forgoes a certain amount of benefits from the traditional
system. Now, the way that election is structured, the person
comes out ahead if their personal account exceeds a 3
percent rate of return" - after inflation - "which is the
rate of return that the trust fund bonds receive. So,
basically, the net effect on an individual's benefits would
be zero if his personal account earned a 3 percent rate of
return."
Translation: If you put part of your payroll taxes into a
personal account, your future benefits will be reduced by an
amount equivalent to the amount you would have had to repay
if you had borrowed the money at a real interest rate of 3
percent.
Peter Orszag of the Brookings Institution got it exactly
right: "It's not a nest egg. It's a loan."
For years, privatizers - including Mr. Bush - have claimed
that people would do better with private accounts than with
traditional Social Security even if they played it safe and
invested in U.S. government bonds (which yield 3 percent
after inflation).
But the official at the briefing made it clear that his boss
was fibbing: if you invested your private account in
government bonds, you would face benefit cuts equal in value
to your investment, so you would be no better off than under
the current system.
The only way to get ahead would be to invest in risky assets
like stocks, and hope for higher yields. But if the
investment went wrong and you earned less than 3 percent
after inflation, your benefit cuts would leave you poorer
than if you had never opened that private account.
So people are expected to take a loan from the government
and use it to buy stocks, and if that turns out to have been
a mistake - well, too bad.
Experts usually tell people to plan for their retirement by
investing in a mix of stocks and bonds. They disapprove
strongly of speculation on margin: borrowing to buy stocks.
Yet Mr. Bush wants tens of millions of Americans to do
exactly that.
Meanwhile, what does any of this have to do with the
ostensible purpose of the whole thing: saving Social
Security?
Here's the senior official again: "In a long-term sense, the
personal accounts would have a net neutral effect on the
fiscal situation of Social Security." The government would
have to borrow huge sums up front to create the personal
accounts - $4.5 trillion in the first two decades - but it
would supposedly make up for all that borrowing with
offsetting cuts in account holders' benefits many decades
later.
Color me skeptical: will retirees with private accounts that
performed badly really be forced to repay their loans in
full? Even if they are, private accounts will at best have a
"net neutral effect" - that is, they will do nothing to
improve Social Security's finances. Mr. Bush says the system
faces a crisis; what does he propose to do about it?
The answer, presumably, is that his plan will also involve
major benefit cuts over and above those associated with
private accounts. And it's true that you can improve Social
Security's finances with privatization, as long as you also
slash benefits - just as you can kill a flock of sheep with
witchcraft, provided you also feed them arsenic. (Thanks, M.
Voltaire.)
Do you believe that we should replace America's most
successful government program with a system in which workers
engage in speculation that no financial adviser would
recommend? Do you believe that we should do this even though
it will do nothing to improve the program's finances? If so,
George Bush has a deal for you.
E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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6. Weird News -
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A 21-year-old man was hospitalized in intensive care in
Murdoch, Australia (near Perth), in December following a
barroom stunt in which he put on a helmet connected to a
beer jug, with a hose that ran between the jug and a pump
powered by an electric drill. The idea was to facilitate
drinking a large quantity of beer without the laborious
tasks of lifting a glass and swallowing, but the flow was so
powerful that he had to be rushed to the hospital with a 10-
centimeter tear in his stomach. [The West Australian, 12-15-
04]
Samuel Woodrow was convicted of burglary in Santa Fe, Texas,
in December, one of four men who had broken into a home.
However, the men had fled, empty-handed, when they were
scared away by overhearing a police call from the video game
Grand Theft Auto ("We have you surrounded! This is the
police!"), which the resident's three grandsons were playing
in another room. (2) In January, a 22-year-old man robbed a
Chevron station in Vancouver, Wash., and eluded police in a
high-speed getaway, but he then got lost and wound up back
at the same Chevron station, and, apparently not recognizing
where he was, he asked for directions, allowing the clerk to
notify police, who soon arrested him. [KTRK-TV (Houston),
12-11-04] [Fox News, 1-6-05]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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11March2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
11 March 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- horripilation
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - The Christian right is our own brand of extremism.
6. Weird News - Protesters and Piles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
horripilation (ho-rip-uh-LAY-shuhn) noun
The bristling of the body hair, as from fear or cold; goose bumps.
[Late Latin horripilatio, horripilation-, from Latin horripilatus, past
participle of horripilare, to bristle with hairs : horrere, to tremble +
pilare, to grow hair (from pilus, hair).]
"The poor man frightened, terrified, alarmed, seized with a feeling of
horripilation all over the body, and agitated in mind, reflects thus."
Translated By H. Kern, Saddharma-Pundarika or The Lotus of the True Law,
Sacred Books of the East, Vol XXI, 1884.
"What is expressed here is an aversion that is both aesthetic and intimate,
a horripilation of the sexual reflex that is perfectly captured by the word
creep." Lance Morrow & John Dickerson, Men: are they really that bad? Time,
Feb 14, 1994.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
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THIS ISSUE:
Egret Roost
<http://djlphoto.com/0503/egretroost.htm>
Marigny Lamp and Shadow
<http://djlphoto.com/0411/marignylamp.htm>
Destrehan Trees
<http://djlphoto.com/0502/des_trees2.htm>
Parade Dancer
<http://djlphoto.com/0502/paradedancer.htm>
St. Louis Cathedral
<http://djlphoto.com/0412/stlouis.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Allison Framed
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/allieframe.htm>
Marc Framed
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/marcframe.htm>
WhiteSign
<http://djlphoto.com/0501/whitesign.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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3. Quote of the Day --
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Neither Snow
by Billy Collins
When all of a sudden the city air filled with snow,
the distinguishable flakes
blowing sideways,
looked like krill
fleeing the maw of an advancing whale.
At least they looked that way to me
from the taxi window,
and since I happened to be sitting
that fading Sunday afternoon
in the very center of the universe,
who was in a better position
to say what looked like what,
which thing resembled some other?
Yes, it was a run of white plankton
borne down the Avenue of the Americas
in the stream of the wind,
phosphorescent against the weighty buildings.
Which made the taxi itself,
yellow and slow-moving,
a kind of undersea creature,
I thought as I wiped the fog from the glass,
and me one of its protruding eyes,
an eye on a stem
swiveling this way and that
monitoring one side of its world,
observing tons of water
tons of people
colored signs and lights
and now a wildly blowing race of snow.
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4. HotSites - Miscellany
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PC Magazine Top 101 Web Sites for Fall 2004
<http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1738,7488,00.asp>
How Firefox Works
<http://computer.howstuffworks.com/firefox.htm>
USGS Website Index
<http://www.usgs.gov/network/>
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5. Reading List
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Made-in-America Wahhabism
The Christian right is our own brand of extremism.
By William Thatcher Dowell
March 8, 2005
There is a certain irony in the debate over installing the Ten Commandments
in public buildings. The Second Commandment in the King James edition of
the Bible states quite clearly: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in
the Earth below, or that is in the water under the Earth." Few people take
this as a prohibition against images of stars and fishes. Rather it
cautions against endowing a physical object, be it a golden calf or a two-
ton slab of granite, with spiritual power.
In trying to promote the commandments, the Christian right seems to have
forgotten what they are really about. It has also overlooked the fact that
there are several versions: Exodus 20:2-17, Exodus 34:12-26, and
Deuteronomy 5:6-21. Different language in Catholic Bibles and the Jewish
Torah offer more variants.
Which should be enshrined? That is just the kind of debate that has been
responsible for religious massacres through the ages. It was, in fact, the
mindless slaughter resulting from King Charles' efforts to impose the
Church of England's prayer book on Calvinist Scots in the 17th century that
played an important role in convincing the founding fathers to separate
church and state.
The current debate, of course, has little to do with genuine religion. What
it is really about is an effort to assert a cultural point of view. It is
part of a reaction against social change, an American counter-reformation
of sorts against the way our society has been evolving. Those pushing to
blur the boundaries between church and state feel that they are losing out
— much as, in the Middle East, Islamic fundamentalists fear they are losing
out to "Western values."
The reactions are remarkably similar. In the Arab Middle East and Iran, the
response is an insistence on the establishment of Islamic law as the basis
for political life; in the United States, school districts assert religious
over scientific theory in biology class, tax dollars are going to the
faith-based, and the Ten Commandments are a putative founding document.
In fact, George W. Bush may now find himself in the same kind of trap that
ensnared Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. To gain political
support, Saud mobilized the fanatical, ultrareligious Wahhabi movement —
the movement that is spiritually at the core of Al Qaeda. Once the bargain
was done, the Saudi royal family repeatedly found itself held political
hostage to an extremist, barely controllable movement populated by radical
ideologues. The evangelical movement in the U.S. nudged the president back
into the White House, and Bush must now try to pay off the political bill
for its support.
In Saudi Arabia, what drives the Wahhabis is a deep sense of grievance and
an underlying conviction that a return to spiritual purity will restore the
lost power they believe once belonged to their forefathers. A belief system
that calls for stoning a woman for adultery or severing the hand of a
vagrant accused of stealing depends on extreme interpretations of texts
that are at best ambiguous. What is at stake is not so much service to God
as the conviction that it is still possible to enforce discipline in a
world that seems increasingly chaotic.
The Christian right is equally prone to selective interpretations of
Scripture. In its concern for a fetus, for example, the fate of the child
who emerges from an unwanted pregnancy gets lost. Some fundamentalists are
even ready to kill those who do not agree with them, or at least destroy
their careers. They seem to delight in the death penalty, despite the fact
that the Bible prohibits killing and Christ advised his followers to leave
vengeance to God.
Just as in the Middle East, the core of U.S. puritanism stems from a
nostalgia for an imaginary past — in our case, a made-up United States
peopled mostly by Northern Europeans alike in the God they worshiped and in
their understanding of what he stood for. The founding fathers, of course,
preferred the ideas of the secular Enlightenment, which, instead of
anointing one religious interpretation, provided the space and security for
each person to seek God in his or her own way.
Perhaps the strongest rationale for separating religious values from
politics is that politics inevitably involves compromise, while religion
involves a spiritual ideal that can be harmed by compromise. No less a
fundamentalist than Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini once stated that if forced
to choose between Islamic law and Islamic rule, he would choose Islamic
rule. Yet the effect of that decision has been to betray Islam, as genuine
Islamic scholars in Iran have found themselves under continual pressure to
change their interpretation of God and God's will in order to conform to
political realities.
Religion, when incorporated into a political structure, is almost
invariably diluted and deformed and ultimately loses its most essential
power. Worse, as we have seen recently in the Islamic world (as in the
Spanish Inquisition and the Salem witch trials in the Christian world), a
fanatical passion for one's own interpretation of justice under God often
leads to horror.
The fact is that, as St. Paul so eloquently put it, "now we see through a
glass darkly." Men and women interpret the deity, but they are only human
and, by their nature, they are flawed. In that context, isn't it best to
keep our minds open, the Ten Commandments out of our public buildings or
off our governmental lawns and to lead by example rather than pressuring
others to see life the way we do?
As Christ once put it, "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"
---
William Thatcher Dowell edits Global Beat for New York University's Center
for War, Peace and the News Media. He was a Middle East correspondent for
Time magazine from 1989 through 1993. A longer version of this essay
appears at www.tomdispatch.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Police hunt poo protesters
Police in Germany are hunting pranksters who have been sticking miniature
US flags into piles of dog poo in public parks.
Josef Oettl, parks administrator for Bayreuth, said: "This has been going
on for about a year now, and there must be 2,000 to 3,000 piles of
excrement that have been claimed during that time."
The series of incidents was originally thought to be some sort of protest
against the US-led invasion of Iraq.
And then when it continued it was thought to be a protest against President
George W. Bush's campaign for re-election.
But it is still going on and the police say they are completely baffled as
to who is to blame.
"We have sent out extra patrols to try to catch whoever is doing this in
the act," said police spokesman Reiner Kuechler.
"But frankly, we don't know what we would do if we caught them red handed."
Legal experts say there is no law against using faeces as a flag stand and
the federal constitution is vague on the issue.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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18March2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
18 March 2005
Happy Birthday to Randy L'Hoste !!!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- bushwa
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Thomas Lux
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - The Age of Missing Information
6. Weird News - Scooter Bomb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
bushwa (BUSH-wa) noun, also bushwah
Nonsense; bull.
[Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a mispronunciation of
bourgeois.]
"The tone of his (Antonin Scalia's) remarks suggested
that the court had never before moved social policy
along by taking into account changing social mores.
Which is, alas, bushwa." Jon Carroll; His Kingdom For
Two More Votes; San Francisco Chronicle; Jun 25, 2002.
"I should've said that his good buddy's fury might be
rooted in his own insecurity; that beneath the bushwah
about cool, chemistry and leadership is another thin-
skinned kid ..." Scott Raab; Rodriguez and Jeter Let 7
Sentences Shake Their World; New York Times; Feb 22,
2004.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Double-crested Cormorant and Cattle Egrets (three images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0503/dcco.htm>
Daffodils (five images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0503/daf.htm>
Trees (four images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0502/bordertrees.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Egret Roost
<http://djlphoto.com/0503/egretroost.htm>
Marigny Lamp and Shadow
<http://djlphoto.com/0411/marignylamp.htm>
Destrehan Trees
<http://djlphoto.com/0502/des_trees2.htm>
Parade Dancer
<http://djlphoto.com/0502/paradedancer.htm>
St. Louis Cathedral
<http://djlphoto.com/0412/stlouis.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
To Help the Monkey Cross the River
by Thomas Lux
To Help the Monkey Cross the River,
which he must
cross, by swimming, for fruits and nuts,
to help him
I sit with my rifle on a platform
high in a tree, same side of the river
as the hungry monkey. How does this assist
him? When he swims for it
I look first upriver: predators move faster with
the current than against it.
If a crocodile is aimed from upriver to eat the monkey
and an anaconda from downriver burns
with the same ambition, I do
the math, algebra, angles, rate-of-monkey,
croc- and snake-speed, and if, if
it looks as though the anaconda or the croc
will reach the monkey
before he attains the river’s far bank,
I raise my rifle and fire
one, two, three, even four times into the river
just behind the monkey
to hurry him up a little.
Shoot the snake, the crocodile?
They’re just doing their jobs,
but the monkey, the monkey
has little hands like a child’s,
and the smart ones, in a cage, can be taught to smile.
From The Cradle Place
Houghton Mifflin, 2004
Copyright 2004 Thomas Lux.
All rights reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Essentials of Music
<http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/>
MegaSources - Info links from a professor of journalism
<http://www.ryerson.ca/%7Edtudor/megasources.htm>
Identity Theft
<http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Age of Missing Information
The Bush administration's campaign against openness.
By Steven Aftergood
Posted Thursday, March 17, 2005
The government does a remarkable job of counting the
number of national security secrets it generates each
year. Since President George W. Bush entered office,
the pace of classification activity has increased by 75
percent, said William Leonard in March 2 congressional
testimony. His Information Security Oversight Office
oversees the classification system and recorded a rise
from 9 million classification actions in fiscal year
2001 to 16 million in fiscal year 2004.
Yet an even more aggressive form of government
information control has gone unenumerated and often
unrecognized in the Bush era, as government agencies
have restricted access to unclassified information in
libraries, archives, Web sites, and official databases.
Once freely available, a growing number of these
sources are now barred to the public as "sensitive but
unclassified" or "for official use only." Less of a
goal-directed policy than a bureaucratic reflex, the
widespread clampdown on formerly public information
reflects a largely inarticulate concern about
"security." It also accords neatly with the Bush
administration's preference for unchecked executive
authority.
No comprehensive catalog of deleted information exists,
which is part of the problem. What follows is a
representative selection of categories of data that
have been withdrawn from public access in the Bush
years, with reflections on what they mean.
Department of Defense Telephone Directory. The Pentagon
phone book is a useful tool for reporters, students of
defense policy, or others who might wish to contact the
Pentagon or gauge the size and shape of the
bureaucracy. Anyone could buy it at the Government
Printing Office Bookstore until 2001, when it was
marked "for official use only." A GPO Bookstore notice
advises that it is no longer for sale to the public.
Questioned about the change, a Defense Department
official spoke vaguely of "security concerns." This is
hard to swallow, since other agencies have failed to
follow suit. The Department of Energy, for example,
handles information and materials as sensitive as any
in government, and it publishes its telephone and e-
mail directory on its Web site. Why was this new wall
erected between the public and its government?
Los Alamos Technical Report Library. In 2002, the Los
Alamos National Laboratory removed from public access
its unclassified technical report library, which
contained thousands of unclassified Los Alamos
technical reports written over a half century. Many are
highly specialized studies, comprehensible only to
experts. In some cases, although unclassified, they
bear directly and uncomfortably on the technologies of
nuclear weapons production. But most of them are
fundamental studies of materials science, metallurgy,
physics, and engineering pursued by the lab over
decades.
While a selective re-evaluation and withdrawal of
individual reports might have been warranted on
nonproliferation grounds, Los Alamos elected to remove
them all. "The resource you are requesting is not
offered to the public," says a Web notice. An index of
many of the withdrawn reports, and some of the reports
themselves, are available from the Federation of
American Scientists.
Historical Records at the National Archives. Worried
that sensitive information may have been improperly
declassified in the late 1990s, government agencies
took to scrubbing public records at the National
Archives and elsewhere, pulling untold thousands of
public records for "review" and possible
reclassification. Many 30- or 50-year-old archival
collections are a shadow of what they were just a few
years ago.
On a recent visit to the National Archives, American
University historian Anna Nelson recalled, "I found
four boxes of Nixon documents full of nothing but
withdrawal cards," signifying records that had been
removed. In another collection of Johnson records
concerning the 1965 intervention in the Dominican
Republic, "I found a box of 55 withdrawal cards."
Not all archive withdrawals are unwarranted. For
instance, documents containing classified nuclear-
weapons design information were discovered in otherwise
declassified records collections, as this recent DOE
report on inadvertent disclosures indicates. But the
scope of current withdrawals goes beyond what's
necessary and poses arbitrary obstacles to historical
research.
"Orbital Elements" and Launch Dates. The U.S. Air Force
records the orbits of Earth satellites in its "orbital
elements" database. For nearly 20 years, it has made
the database available to the public through NASA. But
beginning at the end of this month, it will be subject
to new government restrictions on distribution,
including restrictions on any analysis of the
underlying data.
"This is a crisis," wrote David Finkleman in a letter
to Space News earlier this year with pardonable
hyperbole. The new policy, he explained, "could ...
impair international efforts to mitigate space debris
and prohibit all who use DoD space surveillance data in
their research from discussing or publishing their work
without the approval of the Office of the Secretary of
Defense."
And for what? The current policy "has operated for
decades without ever compromising national security."
Most recently, the tide of space-related secrecy has
even swept over the launch schedule for unclassified
Air Force missions. As reported by Janene Scully in the
Santa Maria Times on March 13, "Vandenberg's
unclassified schedule Web site has evolved from giving
detailed information such as launch dates and liftoff
times to more recently revealing only the month for a
mission. Now even that is gone."
The Military Retreat from the Web. Beginning in 2001,
the U.S. Army began moving online content from public
Web sites to a password-protected portal called Army
Knowledge Online. Untold thousands of documents, from
policy directives and regulations to newsletters to
after-action reports and all kinds of other records—all
unclassified—disappeared from public view.
Since there is no reliable inventory of what's been
removed, the loss to democratic oversight of defense
policy is incalculable. Last year, the Air Force
followed the Army lead, disabling numerous formerly
public Air Force Web sites and moving data to a
restricted portal. A U.S. Air Force official presented
the change as a public service to Inside the Air Force.
"By removing redundant, confusing, or inappropriate
information available to the public, the [Air Force]
will deliver a more consistent and coherent message to
the public."
Energy Department Intelligence Budget. The budget of
the tiny Office of Intelligence in the Department of
Energy had been unclassified for as long as anyone can
remember, and certainly for more than a decade. In
fiscal year 2004 it was $39.8 million dollars, about
one tenth of a percent of the estimated $40 billion
that the U.S. now spends on intelligence.
But in 2004, DOE categorized the amount requested and
appropriated for its intelligence program as classified
information, because its disclosure "could reasonably
be expected to cause damage to national security."
This is an ironic move, considering that budget
information is one of the only two categories of
government information to which the public has an
explicit constitutional claim (the other is the Journal
of Congress). Moreover, the publication of
intelligence-agency budgets was one of the 41
recommendations proposed by the 9/11 commission as a
means of combating the excessive secrecy that has
undermined the performance and the accountability of
U.S. intelligence agencies.
No official explanation for the change is forthcoming,
beyond the national security claim. One department
official said that the classification action was taken
at the request of the Central Intelligence Agency,
which found DOE's unclassified intelligence budget
inconsistent with its position that no such budget
information should ever be disclosed.
Aeronautical Maps and Data. Last November, the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency publicly announced its
intent to halt distribution of a series of aeronautical
maps and other publications that had long been
available to the public. The proposal, based partly on
security grounds and partly on intellectual property
claims, immediately drew respectful protest.
Librarians, environmentalists, and others complained to
the NGA—a defense agency that is part of the U.S.
intelligence community—that these maps and publications
are now part of their professional toolkit as well and
would be sorely missed. Biologists used them in the
mapping of species distribution. Engineering firms used
them in construction projects. While too specialized to
be missed by the general public, this data contributes
to the public well-being.
The list of government records removed from public
access during the Bush administration goes on and on,
and includes environmental data from Environmental
Protection Agency reading rooms, various unclassified
records on the safety of chemical and nuclear plants,
and other infrastructure data. This purge reverses the
"openness initiatives" of the previous administration
during which government Web sites emerged by the
thousands and nearly a billion pages of historically
valuable records were declassified.
The information blackout may serve the short-term
interests of the present administration, which is
allergic to criticism or even to probing questions. But
it is a disservice to the country. Worst of all, the
Bush administration's information policies are
conditioning Americans to lower their expectations of
government accountability and to doubt their own
ability to challenge their political leaders.
Information is the oxygen of democracy. Day by day, the
Bush administration is cutting off the supply. Steven
Aftergood is director of the project on government
secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, where
he writes the Secrecy News newsletter.
Article URL: http://slate.msn.com/id/2114963/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Woman's Scooter Blown Up in Security Scare
LONDON (Reuters) - Heidi Brown was told she could park
her new scooter outside the vehicle registration office
while she waited to get license plates.
To her horror, it was blown up by the army after
someone reported that it might be a bomb.
Police in Ipswich, eastern England, confirmed on
Thursday that a moped had been blown up in a controlled
explosion after local business people "raised concerns"
that it could be a bomb.
"The moped was chained to the perimeter fence outside
the building. We weren't able to identify whose vehicle
it was because there were no license plates on it,"
said a spokeswoman for Suffolk police.
She said the surrounding office buildings were
evacuated and three roads were closed off.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported the scooter
belonged to Brown, a 22-year-old care worker, who said
she had been told she could leave it there awaiting
inspection.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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13April20055
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
13 April 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- halcyon
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Feldman
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - The skinny on Chricton's latest FICTION: State of Fear
6. Weird News - Pireced Glasses
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
halcyon (HAL-see-uhn) adjective
1. Peaceful; tranquil.
2. Carefree; joyful.
3. Golden; prosperous.
noun
Any of various kingfishers of the genus Halcyon.
[From Greek halkyon (kingfisher) via Latin and Middle
English. Halcyon was a mythical bird, identified with the
kingfisher, that was said to breed around the winter
solstice. It nested at sea and had the power to charm the
wind and waves so that they became calm.]
In Greek mythology, Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus and
wife of Ceyx. When Ceyx drowned in a shipwreck, she threw
herself into the sea. Out of compassion, the gods
transformed them into a pair of kingfishers. To protect
their nest, the winds were forbidden to blow for a week
before and after the winter solstice.
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus:
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=halcyon
Halcyon pictures:
http://www.kingfisher-stamps.org/Halcyon.htm
"In the halcyon days, the company's total workforce between
the two plants topped 3,300 but the decline in those numbers
has been ongoing for some considerable time." John Murphy;
Concern Over Future of Plant; The Irish Examiner (Cork,
Ireland); Mar 15, 2005.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
New Sister
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/cac_ia.htm>
Wood Ducks (nine images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/wodu.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Double-crested Cormorant and Cattle Egrets (three images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0503/dcco.htm>
Daffodils (five images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0503/daf.htm>
Trees (four images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0502/bordertrees.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
My Century
Alan Feldman
The year I was born the atomic bomb went off.
Here I’d just begun, and someone
found the switch to turn off the world.
In the furnace-light, in the central solar fire
of that heat lamp, the future got very finite,
and it was possible to imagine time-travelers
failing to arrive, because there was no time
to arrive in. Inside the clock in the hall
heavy brass cylinders descended.
Tick-tock, the chimes changed their tune
one phrase at a time. The bomb became
a film star, its glamorous globe of smoke
searing the faces of men in beach chairs.
Someone threw up every day at school.
No time to worry about collective death,
when life itself was permeated by ordeals.
And so we grew up accepting things.
In bio we learned there were particles
cruising through us like whales through archipelagoes,
and in civics that if Hitler had gotten the bomb
he’d have used it on the inferior races,
and all this time love was etching its scars
on our skins like maps. The heavens
remained pure, except for little white slits
on the perfect blue skin that planes cut
in the icy upper air, like needles sewing.
From one, a tiny seed might fall
that would make a sun on earth.
And so the century passed, with me still in it,
books waiting on the shelves to become cinders,
what we felt locked up inside, waiting to be read,
down the long corridor of time. I was born
the year the bomb exploded. Twice
whole cities were charred like cities in the Bible,
but we didn’t look back. We went on thinking
we could go on, our shapes the same,
darkened now against a background lit by fire.
Forgive me for doubting you’re there,
Citizens, on your holodecks with earth wallpaper
a shadow-toned ancestor with poorly pressed pants,
protected like a child from knowing the future.
Copyright © 2005 by Alan Feldman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Columbia Guide to Standard American English
<http://www.bartleby.com/68/>
NOVA - Archive
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/archive/>
FRONTLINE - Archive
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/programs/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
RE: Crichton's latest fiction - "State of Fear"
Rebuttal of Crichton's latest work of fiction:
<http://www.brookings.edu/dybdocroot/views/op-ed/fellows/sandalow20050128.pdf>
Errors in Crichton's book:
<http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/global_warming/page.cfm?pageID=1670>
Another resource:
<http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=74>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Artist invents pierced glasses
A Dallas artist has had permanent glasses pierced
through the bridge of his nose.
James Sooy, 22, came up with the idea because his specs
were constantly slipping down his nose.
He and a friend designed the piercing, which features
magnets so Sooy can take the lenses off to bathe and
sleep.
He wants to offer a model for sale by June and patent
the pierced glasses.
Elayne Angel, medical co-ordinator for the Association
of Professional Piercers, said the idea was eye-
catching but impractical.
"I imagine putting those on and taking those off is
going to be difficult, especially to try to put it on
yourself," she said.
Full Story with images: <http://www.local6.com/news/4352942/detail.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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27April2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
27 April 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- temporize
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Calvocoressi
4. HotSites - Shopping Price
5. Reading List - Going Nuclear
6. Weird News - Pet Pillows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
temporize also temporise (TEM-puh-ryz) verb intr.
To delay so as to gain time or to avoid making a decision.
[From French temporiser (to bide one's time), from Medieval
Latin temporizare (to pass the time), from Latin tempor-,
from tempus (time).]
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus:
http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=thesaurus
"Over the past several months, as the international
community has continued to temporize, conditions in Sudan
have worsened." Editorial: Darfur, Continued; The Providence
Journal (Rhode Island); Apr 19, 2005.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Birding to Cameron Parish, including Sherburne WMA, Lake Martin Rookery,
Lacassine NWR, and Sabine NWR - 57 images:
<http://djlphoto.com/05cameron/wb.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
New Sister
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/cac_ia.htm>
Wood Ducks (nine images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/wodu.htm>
---
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Save Me Joe Louis
When I was small no one stopped the fights.
A man could beat you till you died,
the crowd leaning in, you on your knees,
maybe somewhere someone says, No,
but it's like spoons dropping in kitchens:
enough to make someone look up,
not enough to get them moving.
The ref's just glad it isn't him
trying to stand, shading his face
like he's coming out of the movies
into winter sun, shock of the world
made real again — brutal, to be sure,
but America is like that,
unrelenting, you get what you ask for
in the ring or on the kitchen floor.
Someone always wants you to give up,
shake hands, wipe the blood away and talk
of lighter things. And you do
because you've been fighting long enough
to know there's no one here to save you.
Gabrielle Calvocoressi
The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart
A Karen & Michael Braziller Book
Persea Books
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Shopping Price
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Price Grabber
<http://www.pricegrabber.com/>
Price Watch
<http://www.pricewatch.com/>
Cnet Shopper
<http://shopper.cnet.com/>
Price.com
<http://www.price.com/>
DealTime
<http://www.dealtime.com/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Christian right goes nuclear
Molly Ivins - Creators Syndicate
04.26.05 - AUSTIN, Texas -- I was all set to write a column
about the nuclear option -- the proposal to change the rules
of the Senate in order to get President Bush's most
questionable judicial appointments through -- when, lo, word
came that there is no nuclear option anymore. It is now
called "the constitutional option."
Who changed it? Why, the Republican Party, of course. Having
found that "nuclear option" does not poll well, the
Republicans simply decreed the rules change can no longer be
described by that name. Further, the Republican Party sent
media operatives around to major news organizations to
inform them that anyone who fails to obey the new diktat on
usage will be demonstrating the dread "liberal bias."
Since this particularly fateful rules change was first
christened "the nuclear option" by Sen. Trent Lott of
Mississippi in 2003, and has been called "the nuclear
option" ever since -- by Republicans, along with everybody
else -- I have to say this is a distinctly Orwellian
development.
In fact, given the implicit threat that the Republican Party
faithful will be encouraged to denounce all news outlets
that do not conform to this new political correctness, I'd
say it is not only ridiculous but also dangerous, quite a
feat.
I shall, of course, continue to refer to the proposed change
as the nuclear option out of a sense of obligation to
freedom of speech. I would be shocked if anyone in the media
did otherwise.
Now, back to substance. Americans are notoriously bored by
governmental process. If you want to lose readers, just
start a story with, "House Bill 787 was passed out of
subcommittee by a unanimous vote on Tuesday." So, convincing
folks that changing Senate Rule 22 is a danger to the
republic is a challenge. But this really is about protecting
the rights of the minority in the Senate, the right of every
senator to filibuster.
In the old movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," the key
scene is Jimmy Stewart's filibuster on behalf of the people,
which triumphantly wins over his fellow senators. Under the
changed rule, Mr. Smith would have to keep his mouth shut.
Actually, no one filibusters anymore. The last filibuster
against a judicial nominee was in 1968, when the Republicans
successfully filibustered for four days to stop Abe Fortas
from becoming chief justice of the Supreme Court. If there's
a serious threat of filibuster, the leaders broker a deal.
But the Democrats are threatening to filibuster the same
Bush judicial nominees they busted in his first term,
leaving the poor man with only a 95 percent approval rate
for his nominees. Bush promptly renominated seven of these
10 dog judges (including Texas' own Priscilla Owen), and now
the Republicans are prepared to change the rules so they can
be cleared by a simple majority, rather than winning the 60
votes needed to stop a filibuster.
Since what goes around comes around, some Republican
senators are deeply troubled about the prospect of being in
the minority themselves someday without the right to
filibuster. Further, in order to change Rule 22, the Senate
also has to change the rules on how to change the rules. At
present, a two-thirds vote, 67, is required to change the
rules, but under a procedural ploy, this will be brought up
"out of order," so it requires only 51 votes.
Look, this is a system of government based on protecting the
rights of the minority. It is also based on the premise that
there are three separate branches of government, each of
which forms a check and a balance on the others. It was
carefully designed to prevent the dictatorship of the
majority.
That is why the Founders assigned the Senate, not the House,
to advise and consent on federal nominations. Sen. Robert
Byrd, the resident scholar of all things senatorial, notes
that while Rule 22 is only 86 years old, the tactic itself
has been used since the first Congress. (Hearing Byrd hold
forth on such matters is pure pleasure -- whether you agree
with him or not, he is a magnificent speaker of the old
school and a sad reminder how debased most political speech
is today.)
How God got involved in all this is a bit of a mystery. Some
Christian Dominionists decided the Almighty is in favor of
changing Rule 22. Led by James Dobson, who runs Focus on the
Family, they decided 22 is "a filibuster against the
faithful," implying and in some cases stating that anyone
who opposes them is anti-Christian and probably working for
Satan.
Last time I checked, no one had elected Dobson to decide who
is a Christian and who is not. It's a joke that the right
wing claims it is against "judicial activists." What they
want are judicial activists who agree with them. These
people don't want to govern, they want to rule.
(For an excellent sense of how the Christian Dominionists
think, I highly recommend the two lead articles in the May
issue of Harper's magazine.)
(c) 2005 Creators Syndicate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Taxidermist turns pets into pillows
A US taxidermist has come up with a strange way to keep the
memory of dead pets alive - cushions made from their fur.
Jeanette Hall gets bereaved animal owners to send her their
pets' bodies - which she then transforms into pillows and
cushions.
The soft furnishings feature the hair of your cat or dog on
one side and the fabric of your choice on the other.
And she has already sold hundreds of the Pet Pillows across
the world in just a couple of months.
Jeanette, 29, from Nevada, admits some people are initially
shocked by the idea.
But she said most animal lovers were thrilled by the chance
to have a permanent reminder of their four-legged friends.
Photo:
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/10/wpet10.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/10/ixworld.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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= = = = =
5May2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
05 May 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- ventripotent
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Suzanne Doyle
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - (A) Long live the king; (B) Kansas Biology
6. Numbers Crunch - Harper's Index
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
ventripotent (ven-TRI-pot-ehnt) adjective
Having a large belly; gluttonous.
[From French, from Latin ventri- (abdomen) + potent (powerful).]
The word ventriloquism, the art of speaking such that the voice
seems to come from somewhere else, is derived from the same root.
Ventriloquism is, literally speaking, speaking from the belly.
-Anu
"This wight ventripotent was dining
Once at the Grocers' Hall, and lining
With calipee and calipash
That tomb omnivorous -- his paunch."
Horace Smith; The Astronomical Alderman; 19th century.
(Calipee and calipash are parts of a turtle
beneath the lower and upper shields, respectively)
"The actor must, at all costs, inflict upon you the well-oiled
machinery of ventripotence, whereas, to the reader, it is his
mind which drips fatness."
James Evershed Agate; A View of "The Beggar's Opera"; 1922.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Northern Parula Warbler
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/nopa.htm>
Green Tree Frog
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/gtfrog.htm>
Pig Frog
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/pigfrog.htm>
Jean Lafitte National Historic Park
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/jlnhp1.htm>
Jean Lafitte National Historic Park
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/jlnhp2.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Birding to Cameron Parish, including Sherburne WMA, Lake Martin Rookery,
Lacassine NWR, and Sabine NWR - 57 images:
<http://djlphoto.com/05cameron/wb.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Where the River Meets the Sound
by Suzanne Doyle
The river is a mirror three miles wide,
Where our white wake cuts out a crescent moon
That rides upon the gently rising tide.
We anchor and we fish, while some old tune
Of love gone wrong floats on the air.
Shrimp, pink as my own thumbs, as big around,
On weighted lines rigged with a double snare,
Sink in the summer waters of the sound.
Such sweetmeats, Father, set to lure
The slimy spot and croaker to our hands!
In brotherhood unspoken and obscure,
I hold the hissing lantern while your knife
Splits belly after belly in its turn
And wonder, what cold, ancient monstrous life
Would not be drawn to coiling round the stern?
We wash our hands and pack up for the night,
Slinging the guts in water warm as blood.
The engine turns, the beacon blinks its light
And I keep watch behind as if I could
Defend us from Leviathan’s attack.
Sunk in the brine, the silver blades now beat
A brilliant phosphorous spoor out of the black,
A million worlds exploding at my feet,
Wild beauty in the violence that we share,
And then this darkness, darkness everywhere.
© 1992 Suzanne J. Doyle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Evolution (from PBS)
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/>
Understanding Evolution
<http://evolution.berkeley.edu/>
Creationism
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism>
Reverse Dictionary from OneLook
<http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5(A)
Long live the king
by Gene Lyons
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Very shrewdly, President Bush beat a tactical
retreat on the role of religion in politics
during his recent White House pressconference.
Speaking soon after "Justice Sunday," a closed- circuit
telecast in which certain of the Republican Party’s
more fervid theologians decreed that Democrats had shown
their enmity to "people of faith" by rejecting a handful of
his judicial nominees, Bush was asked if that struck him as
an appropriate characterization. After a bit of tap-
dancing—the president said he didn’t agree with calling
Democrats anti-God, but wouldn’t call it inappropriate,
either—Bush eventually emitted a bit of bedrock Americanism.
"I think faith is a personal issue," he said. "And I take
great strength from my faith. But I don’t condemn somebody
in the political process because they may not agree with me
on religion. The great thing about America is that you
should be allowed to worship any way you want. And if you
chose not to worship, you’re equally as patriotic as
somebody who does worship. And if you choose to worship,
you’re equally American if you’re a Christian, a Jew, a
Muslim. And that’s the wonderful thing about our country and
that’s the way it should be."
Do not be deceived. In effect, Bush is playing "good cop" to
James Dobson and Charles Colson and the rest of his right-
wing fundamentalist allies’ "bad cop." What’s at stake here
is the so-called nuclear option currently being pushed by
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., for killing the
filibuster, cutting off debate in the U.S. Senate by a
simple majority vote, abandoning 200 years of tradition for
the purpose of converting the federal judiciary into an arm
of the Republican Party and going a long way toward turning
the president into a king.
In a tone of sweet reasonableness, Bush allowed as how "for
the sake of fairness," the good folks he’d nominated
deserved nothing more or less than an "up-or-down vote on
the floor of the Senate."
He neglected to mention that since the Supreme Court gave
him the presidency in a partisan 5-4 vote in 2000, the
Senate has confirmed more than 95 percent (205 of 215) of
the judges he has nominated, and that there’s no precedent
in American history and nothing in the U.S. Constitution
that says the rest deserve an up-or-down vote. Republicans
prevented 60 of President Bill Clinton’s judicial
nominations from getting a vote between 1995 and 2000 with
no talk from Democrats of a "culture war" or a
constitutional crisis.
Here’s what Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution says about
the president’s power to make appointments: "He shall have
Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to
make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other
public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court"
etc.
Notice that there’s not a syllable implying a simple
majority vote. That’s because the entire document was
carefully crafted to prevent what James Madison called
"factions" from seizing control of the country by winning
one election. "A religious sect," he warned in Federalist
No. 10, "may degenerate into a political faction." He might
have been talking about "Focus on the Family," the Family
Research Council and the rest of these hot-eyed zealots who
mistake their own opinions for the voice of God.
The reason we have three separate branches of government and
two houses of Congress is to prevent narrow majorities from
trampling everybody else’s rights. The judiciary isn’t
supposed to be subordinate to the president and his party
but independent of them. "This point is of special
importance," writes constitutional scholar Cass Sunstein,
"in light of the fact that many of the court’s decisions
resolve conflicts between Congress and the president. A
presidential monopoly on the appointment of Supreme Court
justices thus threatens to unsettle the constitutional plan
of checks and balances."
Moreover, the U.S. electorate remains very closely divided.
While Bush eked out a close win in the 2004 election, 45
Democratic senators chosen over revolving six-year terms
represent more Americans than their Republican colleagues.
Seizing a narrow advantage now could eventually have
explosive repercussions. Nobody understands that more
clearly than Al Gore, who, yielding to a badly reasoned
Supreme Court decision in 2000, gave up his presidential
hopes in deference to the rule of law. "I can tell you
without any doubt whatsoever," Gore emphasized in a speech
last week, "that if the justices who formed the majority in
Bush v. Gore had not only all been nominated to the court by
a Republican president, but had also been confirmed by only
Republican senators in party-line votes, America would not
have accepted that court’s decision." The so-called nuclear
option has nothing to do with conservatism; it’s radical
utopianism in a religious disguise.
<http://www.nwanews.com/story/adg/115505>
=====
5(B)
Testier times in Kansas biology class
On Thursday, the Science Hearings Committee of the Kansas
State Board of Education begins hearings to reopen questions
on the teaching of evolution in state schools.
The Kansas board has a famously zigzag record with respect
to evolution. In 1999, it acted to remove most references to
evolution from the state's science standards. The next year,
a new - and less conservative - board reaffirmed evolution
as a key concept that Kansas students must learn.
Now, however, conservatives are in the majority on the
board again and have raised the question of whether science
classes in Kansas schools need to include more information
about alternatives to Darwin's theory.
Full Story
<http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/0503/p01s04-legn.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Numbers Crunch - Harper's Index
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Harper's Index for March 2005
Year that the Social Security trustees in 1994 projected the
program would no longer be able to pay out full benefits:
2029 [Social Security Administration (Washington)]
Year projected by the trustees in 2004: 2042
[Social Security Administration (Washington)]
Amount to which a San Diego defense analyst’s payments to
Social Security had appreciated when he retired in 1994:
$261,372 [Stanley Logue (San Diego)]
Amount to which he calculated they would have grown if he
had invested in a Dow Jones index fund instead:
$248,166 [Stanley Logue (San Diego)]
Estimated total federal assistance for which Wal-Mart
employees were eligible last year: $2,500,000,000
[Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
(Washington)]
Percentage of songs on Billboard’s Top 20 list during 2004
whose lyrics mention at least one brand name: 40
[Agenda Inc.(San Francisco)]
Percentage that mention weaponry: 50
[Agenda Inc. (San Francisco)]
Percentage of Britons who say their neighborhood would
disapprove if more Iraqi immigrants moved in: 64
[YouGov Ltd.(London)]
Percentage who say this about black immigrants from Africa:
43 [YouGov Ltd. (London)]
Number of new doctors sub-Saharan Africa would need for its
per-capita number to match America’s: 3,900,000
[Joint Learning Initiative (Cambridge, Mass.)/
Harper’s research]
Number of new doctors produced by sub-Saharan Africa’s
universities each year: 4,000
[World Health Organization(Geneva)]
Number of African nations that have trade deals with China:
41[U.N. Development Programme (Beijing)]
Amount that Egypt owes the United States in unpaid parking
tickets: $1,700,000[U.S. Department of State]
Ratio of the number of computer viruses targeting Microsoft
Windows-based computers to those that target Macs:
1,000:1[Symantec Corporation (Cupertino, Calif.)]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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= = = = =
12May2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
12 May 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- crapulous
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Catherine Wing
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - A) Bush's War on the Press B) Paying for Good Press
6. By the Numbers - Stats for LA and USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
crapulous \KRAP-yuh-lus\, adjective: 1. Suffering the
effects of, or derived from, or suggestive of gross
intemperance, especially in drinking; as, a crapulous
stomach. 2. Marked by gross intemperance, especially in
drinking; as, a crapulous old reprobate.
These were the dregs of their celebratory party: the half-
filled glasses, the cold beans and herring, the shouts and
smells of the crapulous strangers hemming them in on every
side, the dead rinsed-out April night and the rain drooling
down the windows. --T. Coraghessan Boyle, Riven Rock
The crapulous life which her future successor led. --Lord
Brougham, Historical Sketches of Statesmen in the Time of
George III
The new money was spent in so much riotous living, and from
end to end there settled on the country a mood of fretful,
crapulous irritation. --Stephen McKenna, Sonia
Crapulous is from Late Latin crapulosus, from Latin crapula,
from Greek kraipale, drunkenness and its consequences,
nausea, sickness, and headache.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Window Trees (eight images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/wt.htm>
Gator Sky
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/gatorsky.htm>
Veggie Gator
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/alligator.htm>
Broad-banded Water Snake
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/watersnake.htm>
Young Broad-banded Water Snake
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/watersnake2.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Northern Parula Warbler
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/nopa.htm>
Green Tree Frog
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/gtfrog.htm>
Pig Frog
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/pigfrog.htm>
Jean Lafitte National Historic Park
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/jlnhp1.htm>
Jean Lafitte National Historic Park
<http://djlphoto.com/0504/jlnhp2.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Paradise-Un
by Catherine Wing
One of the early outline drafts
of the poem [Paradise Lost] suggests
that Milton was considering the
alternative title "Adam Unparadized."
— Kevin Jackson
In the beginning God, unaccompanied,
And unmanned, made light.
Adam as yet unimagined.
Then the world unwound
From heaven. The day unbuttoned
From the night. The sea unearthed
And the earth unfastened
The grass and the trees unhusked
Their seeds. Adam unhastened.
God created he him, Adam unfallen,
Unpinned from the ground.
Unhitched Adam. Adam unbound.
And in order that Eve could uncage,
Adam unribbed, and both undressed
And were unashamed.
But the serpent (more subtle), unheard
From until now, unlocked and unappled
Eve, and Adam unabled.
Then the unthorned got thorns
And the unthistled thistles, the earth
Untoiled until then.
Adam unparadized — a song not
Unsung, of life's uneasying,
And Adam undone.
Catherine Wing
FIELD
Number 72
Spring 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
ScienceDaily
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/>
Gardening Guide
<http://www.garden.org/home>
Ponder This
<http://www.research.ibm.com/ponder/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
(A)
Bush's War on the Press
Make no mistake: The Bush Administration and its ideological
allies are employing every means available to undermine
journalists' ability to exercise their First Amendment
function to hold power accountable. In fact, the
Administration recognizes no such constitutional role for
the press. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card has
insisted that the media "don't represent the public any more
than other people do.... I don't believe you have a check-
and-balance function."
Bush himself, on more than one occasion, has told reporters
he does not read their work and prefers to live inside the
information bubble blown by his loyal minions. Vice
President Cheney feels free to kick the New York Times off
his press plane, and John Ashcroft can refuse to speak with
any print reporters during his Patriot-Act-a-palooza
publicity tour, just to compliant local TV. As an unnamed
Bush official told reporter Ron Suskind, "We're an empire
now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while
you're studying that reality--judiciously, as you will--
we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can
study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're
history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just
study what we do." For those who didn't like it, another
Bush adviser explained, "Let me clue you in. We don't care.
You see, you're outnumbered two to one by folks in the big,
wide middle of America, busy working people who don't read
the New York Times or Washington Post or the LA Times."
Full Story:
<http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050509&c=1&s=alterman>
==== ==== ==== ==== ====
(B)
A third federal agency has admitted it paid a journalist to
write favorable stories about its work.
Documents released by the Agriculture Department show it
paid a freelance writer $9,375 in 2003 to "research and
write articles for hunting and fishing magazines describing
the benefits of NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation
Service) programs."
Full Story:
<http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-10-ag-dept-story_x.htm>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. By the Numbers - Stats for LA and USA
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Figures are for Louisiana and the United States:
Population, 2003 estimate
4,496,334 290,809,777
Persons under 5 years old, 2000
7.1% 6.8%
Persons under 18 years old, 2000
27.3% 25.7%
Persons 65 years old and over, 2000
11.6% 12.4%
Female persons,2000
51.6% 50.9%
White persons, 2000
63.9% 75.1%
Black or African American persons, 2000
32.5% 12.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native persons, 2000
0.6% 0.9%
Asian persons, 2000
1.2% 3.6%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, 2000
2.4% 12.5%
Foreign born persons, 2000
2.6% 11.1%
Language other than English spoken at home, 2000
9.2% 17.9%
High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2000
74.8% 80.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2000
18.7% 24.4%
Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2000
25.7 25.5
Homeownership rate definition and source info, 2000
67.9% 66.2%
Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000
$85,000 $119,600
Median household income, 1999
$32,566 $41,994
Per capita money income, 1999
$16,912 $21,587
Persons below poverty, 1999
19.6% 12.4%
Persons per square mile, 2000
102.6 79.6
Source:<http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22000.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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18May2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
18 May 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- nugatory
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- From David Sirota
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Let's Drop the Big One And See What Happens
6. Weird News - Reportable Gifts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
nugatory \NOO-guh-tor-ee; NYOO-\, adjective: 1. Trifling;
insignificant; inconsequential. 2. Having no force;
inoperative; ineffectual.
Tygiel's forte as a historian is his eye for what may appear
nugatory or marginal but, when focused upon, illuminates the
temper of a given moment. --Roberto Gonzlez Echevarria, "From
Ruth to Rotisserie," New York Times, July 2, 2000
Jacoby's offense was no offense -- or an error so nugatory as
to demand no more than a one-sentence explanation. --Lance
Morrow, "In Boston, a Foolish Consistency of Little Minds,"
Time, July 19, 2000
Socialism no longer restrains; trade unions do so much less
than they did; moral inhibitions over the acquisition and
display of wealth are nugatory. --John Lloyd, "If not
socialism, what will persuade the rich willingly to pay more
taxes to help the poor and preserve a decent society?" New
Statesman, August 2, 1996
Nugatory comes from Latin nugatorius, from nugari, "to trifle,"
from nugae, "jests, trifles."
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Endangered)
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/rcwo.htm>
Anhinga (aka Snake Bird, Darter) - two images
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/anhinga.htm>
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/ycnh.htm>
Dandelions - five images
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/dandelion.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Window Trees (eight images)
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/wt.htm>
Gator Sky
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/gatorsky.htm>
Veggie Gator
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/alligator.htm>
Broad-banded Water Snake
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/watersnake.htm>
Young Broad-banded Water Snake
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/watersnake2.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Right Response to the Bush/Newsweek Story
The Associated Press had this yesterday about the Newsweek
fiasco:
"It's puzzling that while Newsweek now acknowledges that
they got the facts wrong, they refused to retract the
story," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told
reporters. "I think there's a certain journalistic standard
that should be met and in this instance it was not...The
report has had serious consequences. People have lost their
lives. The image of the United States abroad has been
damaged."
The irony of this White House "outrage" in light of all the
lies about Iraq the Bush administration has fed America is
really incredible. A reader sent me a good response to this
latest Bush administration rhetoric:
"It's puzzling that while the White House now acknowledged
that they haven't found WMD or a link between Al Queda and
Iraq, they have refused to retract their claims. I think
there's a certain standard of governing that should be met
and in this instance has not. The claims the administration
used to send this nation to war has had serious
consequences. People have lost their lives. The image of the
United States abroad has been damaged."
posted by David Sirota
<http://www.davidsirota.com/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Common Errors in English
<http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/>
Atlas of U.S. Mortality
<http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/other/atlas/atlas.htm>
Portals to the World
<http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
If You Can't Beat 'Em, Nuke 'Em
Wielding the Nuclear Option
By Ira Chernus
Trent Lott and George Lakoff live in very different worlds.
But they both understand the power of a good metaphor.
Lott, the canny politician, knows that the public likes
complicated policies best when they are reduced to snappy
soundbites. The more complex and controversial the policy,
the more compelling the word picture has to be. So when the
Republicans set out to foist a complex, controversial policy
on the American people -- getting Senate confirmation for
every federal judge George W. Bush nominates by denying the
Democrats the right to filibuster -- Lott came up with
snappiest, most vivid soundbite he could find: "the nuclear
option."
In recent weeks, Republicans have tried to quash that
metaphor. They now realize it's an embarrassing mistake that
does their cause more harm than good. But it's too late.
As Lakoff has taught us, every metaphor has a life of its
own. A good metaphor is not just a random, meaningless turn
of phrase. It's a lens that can show us deeper truths. Once
people see the truth, they won't let the metaphor that
revealed it go away. Though Republican PR firms are now
spending millions to get us to dub the attack on the
filibuster "the constitutional option," their money is
wasted. Everyone will still call it "the nuclear option."
And with good reason. No other term captures so perfectly
the magnitude of the destruction GOP senators plan to wreak
on our governmental system of checks and balances. For two
centuries, the right to filibuster has protected the
minority from majority efforts to run roughshod over the
Senate. If the Republicans get their way, the majority
would, for the first time, be able to stop debate and force
a vote as soon as they know they have enough votes to win.
The minority would lose their only real bargaining chip for
forcing compromise.
Trent Lott knew how much was at stake when he named it "the
nuclear option." The public knows how much is at stake, too.
That's one reason the metaphor won't go away.
But there is another. Metaphors show us new truths by
bringing pieces of our experience together in unexpected
ways, provoking or uncovering previously unsuspected
connections. In this case, it's no coincidence when we hear
Republicans talking about a "nuclear option." The literal
nuclear option that the Pentagon still keeps at the ready
and the metaphorical one being prepared in the Senate have a
lot more in common than just words.
Are Judges a More Serious Threat than Al Qaeda?
The people who want to nuke their political opponents are
the same ones who gave us Ronald Reagan's huge nuclear
buildup, two decades of massive funding for a Star Wars
anti-missile shield, two wars in Iraq, and so many other
excesses of militarism. On America's political right wing,
politics and life itself are acts of war. It's go-for-the-
jugular, take-no-prisoners, winner-take-all. Nuclear weapons
have always been a consummate symbol of the conservatives'
insistence on absolute victory and absolute control.
Of course, the name of the enemy changes from time to time.
For most of the nuclear age, it was the "international
communist conspiracy." Though the nuclear option was created
on the Democrats' watch in the post-Hiroshima world of the
1940s, it was conservative icons like General Douglas
MacArthur and Strategic Air Command head Curtis LeMay who
were most eager to reach for it. Even the "moderate"
Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower secretly claimed
that he would use atomic bombs to end the Korean War if the
communists didn't settle on his terms. Yet Senator Joseph
McCarthy and his followers focused more on "reds" in
Washington and Hollywood than in Moscow and Beijing.
A half-century later, the world seen from the far right
looks much the same. For many, "the terrorists" have
replaced "the communists" as the great global peril. Yet for
a sizeable faction of social and religious conservatives,
the real danger lurks not in far-away terrorist camps, but
right here at home -- in our courtrooms. "Federal judges are
a more serious threat to America than Al Qaeda and the Sept.
11 terrorists," the Rev. Pat Robertson said recently. With
all their well-known decisions supporting "secular humanism"
over traditional religious values, he claimed, judges "are
destroying the fabric that holds our nation together." Even
moderately conservative judges can look like part of a vast
conspiracy to undermine all the "family values," which seem
(though this is surely illusion) to give life stability.
For Robertson and his followers, we're in a crisis of
apocalyptic proportions. According to Christian right guru
Donald Wildmon, for instance, if the Senate does not abolish
the filibuster, judges will go on "forcing their liberal
agenda on every American." Then "we can forget democracy."
It's "a critical moment in the history of our nation,"
warned Focus on the Family's James Dobson -- which makes a
weapon of apocalyptic magnitude an appropriate way to go,
metaphorically speaking.
Rick Scarborough, chair of the Judeo-Christian Council for
Constitutional Restoration, summed up the social
conservatives' attack on the filibuster this way: ''It's
about a temporal versus eternal value system." Not
surprisingly, such right-wingers want the law interpreted
solely in light of their own eternal value system. And
they're perfectly ready to use any means necessary -- even
"the nuclear option -- to make it so. Precisely because
absolute values are at stake, they have no hesitation about
invoking the absolute weapon. They are in no mood to
compromise, any more than they would compromise with
communists or with the devil. People who disagree with them
are not merely wrong, they are evil; and the only way they
can imagine dealing with evil is to annihilate it, to nuke
it.
Of course, they feel pretty much the same about
"terrorists," even though they give judges a somewhat higher
targeting priority. The war on terror and the war on secular
humanism are, for them, merely two different fronts in an
even larger war in which the enemy is any kind of social
change that challenges the absolute rule of their
traditional moral certainties.
The Neoconservative Option
In war, you take your allies where you can find them. In the
current Republican coalition of the willing, the
predominantly Protestant Christian right shares a political
bed with the Roman Catholic right and a small but powerful
group of Republicans, many of whom have deep Jewish roots:
the neoconservatives.
Neocons share with the religious right a fear of changing
social values. With today's neocons so focused on global
affairs, it's easy to forget that their movement began as a
reaction against the radical domestic trends of the 1960s.
It embraced anticommunism (and the literal nuclear option)
largely as a way to move the U.S. back toward traditional
values on the home front.
"Everything is now permitted," the neocons' godfather,
Irving Kristol, once lamented. "The inference is that one
has a right to satisfy one's appetites without delay." And
that, he warned, was "a prescription for moral anarchy,
which is exactly what we are now experiencing." Robertson,
Dobson, and Wildmon could hardly have said it more clearly,
or agreed more heartily on the nature of America's most
essential problem.
They would agree just as heartily with the neocons on
another point -- that the solution is moral fortitude. What
the country needs is a will strong enough to resist the
temptation of temporal values and ready to make the
necessary sacrifices to live by the eternal verities. In the
right-wing world, where absolute good vies constantly with
absolute evil and every human will is part of the
battlefield, only a total subjugation of evil can create an
orderly, virtuous life. That, in turn, requires us to follow
the moral dictates of a higher authority, rather than our
own personal desires. This is what Lakoff has taught us to
call the Stern Father model. It's the Stern Father who
threatens to unleash the nuclear option.
But how can Americans summon up the strength to live by the
moral absolutes of our stern fathers? That's where the
partners in the GOP coalition part ways. For the religious
right, such strength can come only from the Bible and (most
would say) a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For
the neocons, faith is optional. They generally applaud
religion as one rich source of traditional moral authority,
but they don't consider it the only one. Tradition (as long
as it's the tradition of "western civilization") can serve
just as well. "Our Father, who art in heaven," is
sufficient, but not necessary.
However, the neocons still need a stern father. Since they
can't insist that we find him in heaven, they would have us
look for him in the city where the literal nuclear option
has its home: Washington, DC -- or, to be exact, 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue as well as across the Potomac at the
Pentagon. That makes the neocons even more demanding, if
possible, than the Christian right. They're not content to
insist on absolute righteousness in American social
behavior. They want absolute American control over the whole
world. That's the only way they can imagine making the
planet strong enough to resist the uncertainties of changing
temporal values (and changing political rulers).
In the name of their fantasy version of moral stability, the
neocons brandish the nuclear option on the international
stage, just as they did in the era of Ronald Reagan. They
consider nukes the ultimate weapon of intimidation, and they
know that intimidation won't work if you aren't perfectly
willing to carry out your threats. The obliteration of
(evil) people is their chosen metaphor for the obliteration
of moral evil. It's how a neocon shows that he (or, very
occasionally, she) is strong.
The Coalition of the Frightened
The "nuclear option," then, is the perfect metaphor for a
GOP dominated by a coalition of the religious right and the
neocons, urged on by and funded by the military-industrial
complex. The same Senate Republicans who would pander to the
religious right by nuking the filibuster also want to
rebuild and expand the nation's arsenal of nuclear weapons,
gear up for a new round of nuclear testing, and free the
U.S. from all restrictions on nuclear armament. The "nuclear
option" metaphor makes the connections easy to see.
It's just as easy to see why the Bush administration has
been so eager to send John Bolton to the U.N. Bolton is an
ardent advocate of arms control -- for other nations. He
wants to control, or preferably just stop, the development
of nukes in other lands, so that the U.S. can more easily
use its nuclear preeminence to control the world. The
administration hoped to have Bolton in place at the U.N. in
time for the conference reviewing the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that opened in New York at the
beginning of May. Though it hasn't worked out that way, the
U.S. delegation is still doing everything it can to impose
restrictions on others, while removing the Treaty's faint
hint of a restriction on the U.S. nuclear option.
Although it's only coincidence that the "nuclear option"
showdown in the Senate is coming in the same month as the
NPT review, there's poetic justice in it. It throws a bright
spotlight on the links between Republican domestic and
foreign policies. The GOP is caught in a fateful web woven
from the religious, neocon, and military-corporate right.
That web gets its tensile strength from its millions of
supporters, who yearn for absolute certainties in an age
when they no longer seem possible.
We can go on forever bemoaning the power of these millions
and debating whether it is on the rise or the wane.
Eventually, though, we have to confront the deep fear that
drives them to embrace the nuclear option. They are
genuinely frightened by a world that feels like its spinning
out of control. Unable to cope with dizzying changes they
can't fully grasp, but which leave so many feeling cheated
of a better life, they simply want to annihilate the forces
of change. It's fear of an unpredictable, uncontrollable
future that breeds the violence. If you can't beat 'em, they
say, then nuke 'em.
The fear won't go away any time soon; nor will the people
who express it through all sorts of apocalyptic metaphors,
including "the nuclear option." Somehow, those of us who
believe in choosing our own moral values have to learn to
talk to and live with our compatriots who need universal,
absolute values in order to survive. Figuring out that
"somehow" may be the great American challenge of the 21st
century.
Meanwhile, though, we do have to remove the nuclear option,
in all its forms, from those frightened right-wing hands.
Ira Chernus is Professor of Religious Studies at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of
American Nonviolence: The History of an Idea, and is
currently working on Monsters to Destroy, a book about
religion and the war on terror in the Bush administration.
He can be reached at chernus@colorado.edu.
Copyright 2005 Ira Chernus
This piece first appeared at Tomdispatch.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Bush gets $14,000 shotgun, $2,700 bike as gifts
By Tabassum ZakariaMon May 16,10:34 AM ET
A $14,153 shotgun with accessories, a $2,700 bike and thousands of
dollars worth of fishing gear topped the list of gifts received by
President Bush last year.
While the president's gift list had a distinctly outdoorsy theme,
Vice President Dick Cheney received more artsy presents such as
paintings and a statue, according to annual financial disclosure
documents released on Friday.
Cheney gave Bush a $595 desk clock for Christmas that is currently
telling time in the Oval Office. Bush gave the vice president a
$425 floor globe.
In 2004, Bush received gifts that totaled $26,346, many from
friends in his home state of Texas, and about four times the
$5,934 value of gifts given to Cheney.
The most expensive single gift Bush received was the shotgun with
"accessory tools" from Roy Weatherby Jr. of California.
Don Evans, the president's close friend and former commerce
secretary, gave him a fishing rod, shirt, three caps and fishing
bait valued at $208; a hardcover book "Longhorn" worth $240; and a
$149 sweater.
Bush received a total of five fishing rods, with the most
expensive priced at $900 with travel case.
Bush, an avid biker, received a $2,700 mountain bicycle that he
uses in the Washington area, and helmets, gloves and other
equipment worth $532 from John Burke of Wisconsin.
Classical pianist Van Cliburn from Texas gave Bush $650 gold cuff
links.
And for his cowboy wardrobe, Bush received a brown pair of $295
cowboy boots from Rocky Carroll of Houston, Texas, and a $400
cowboy hat from Mickey Foster of Austin, Texas.
Cheney received a $1,600 painting, a $700 replica of a statue
outside of Cabella's store in Minnesota, and an $800 framed
landscape painting.
He also received a $490 sterling silver engraved bowl, a $350
silver apple made by Fornari and Fornari, as well as a $120 Namiki
Vanishing Point Black Carbonesque pen.
Family friend Donald Vinson of Wyoming gave Cheney 12 bottles of
assorted wines valued at $699.
The president and vice president are required to report gifts from
U.S. citizens that cost more than $285. They are not allowed to
accept personal gifts from foreigners or foreign governments.
The majority of gifts are not accepted for their personal use, but
rather on behalf of the United States and sent to the National
Archives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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= = = = =
25May2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
25 May 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- gordian
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Paul Lake
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - A Convenient Furor
6. Weird News - Harper's Index (April)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
gordian (GOR-dee-uhn) adjective
Highly intricate; extremely difficult to solve.
[In Greek mythology, King Gordius of Phrygia tied a knot
that defied all who tried to untie it. An oracle prophesied
that one who would undo this Gordian knot would rule Asia.
Alexander the Great simply cut the knot with one stroke of
his sword. Hence the saying, "to cut the Gordian knot"
meaning to solve a difficult problem by a simple, bold, and
effective action.]
See what the Mathematical Association of America has to say
about untying the Gordian knot:
http://maa.org/devlin/devlin_9_01.html
"Fortunately, the FBI has a team of good-looking, well-
dressed, super-smart agents to untangle this Gordian plot."
David Chater; TV Choice; The Times (London, UK); 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:
Geranium - Before and After (two images)
http://djlphoto.com/0503/geranium.htm
Black Skimmer (four images)
http://djlphoto.com/0505/blsk.htm
Building at Sunrise
http://djlphoto.com/0505/sunbuilding.htm
Water Plaintain
http://djlphoto.com/0505/waterplaintain.htm
LAST ISSUE:
Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Endangered)
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/rcwo.htm>
Anhinga (aka Snake Bird, Darter) - two images
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/anhinga.htm>
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/ycnh.htm>
Dandelions - five images
<http://djlphoto.com/0505/dandelion.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Blue Jay
A sound like a rusty pump beneath our window
Woke us at dawn. Drawing the curtains back,
We saw—through milky light, above the doghouse—
A blue jay lecturing a neighbor's cat
So fiercely that, at first, it seemed to wonder
When birds forgot the diplomacy of flight
And met, instead, each charge with a wild swoop,
Metallic cry, and angry thrust of beak.
Later, we found the reason. Near the fence
Among the flowerless stalks of daffodils,
A weak piping of feathers. Too late now to go back
To nest again among the sheltering leaves.
And so, harrying the dog, routing the cat,
And taking sole possession of the yard,
The mother swooped all morning.
I found her there
Still fluttering round my head, still scattering
The troops of blackbirds, head cocked toward my car
As if it were some lurid animal,
When I returned from work. Still keeping faith.
As if what I had found by afternoon
Silent and still and hidden in tall grass
Might rise again above the fallen world;
As if the dead were not past mothering.
Paul Lake
From Another Kind of Travel, The University of Chicago
Press, © 1988. Reprinted by permission of the author.
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4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
How Stuff Works - Spyware
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/spyware.htm
Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/
HomeSchooling
http://www.home-school.com/
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Theory_and_Methods/Homeschooling/
http://www.startup-page.com/homeschl.htm
http://www.homeschoollearning.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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5. Reading List
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A convenient furor
Gene Lyons
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The latest orchestrated furor over Newsweek’s
bungled story about prison guards at Guantanamo
flushing the Koran down the toilet comes at
a convenient time for the White House.
So convenient that conspiracists might suspect the anonymous
Pentagon official who fed the allegation to ace reporter
Michael Isikoff but recanted after rioting in Afghanistan
deliberately set the magazine up for a fall.
But that would assume a level of planning and foresight of
which the Bush administration frankly seems incapable.
What this White House is good at—all it’s really good at—is
deflecting blame for its own catastrophic blunders by
diverting attention. How ironic that Isikoff, with a long-
demonstrated weakness for singlesource stories, turns out to
be the stooge. (His book, "Uncovering Clinton," actually
quotes an anonymous caller’s smutty allegations against Bill
Clinton exactly one page before condemning Internet gossip
Matt Drudge as a "menace to. . . responsible journalism.")
It’s amusing to see Linda Tripp and Lucianne Goldberg’s hero
during the Clinton impeachment made the latest right-wing
bête noire. (That’s French for a clay pigeon.)
Two things need to be said about Newsweek’s error.
(Disclosure: I once worked for the magazine and have friends
there, none involved in this incident.) First, White House
press spokesman Scott McClellan’s attempt to blame Newsweek
for deaths in the Afghan riots reeks of hypocrisy. No less
an authority than Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, insisted that the disturbances stemmed from
local politics, not the alleged desecration of the Muslim
holy book at a faraway prison. Of course, that was before
Isikoff’s source recanted, so Myers may have been in CYA
mode.
Second, Myers had to suspect that the Newsweek story might
be accurate. Allegations by former prisoners that U.S. Army
interrogators at Guantanamo abused the Koran have been
published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The
Philadelphia Inquirer and several European newspapers.
They’ve appeared in lawsuits filed in the U.S. and Britain.
Given that Army reports document female interrogators
parading halfnaked in front of detainees, touching them
provocatively, even smearing fake menstrual blood on their
faces in grotesque attempts to exploit fears of ritual
impurity, mistreatment of the Koran seems quite likely.
Indeed, the only news value in Newsweek’s brief item was its
seeming confirmation of an old tale.
Anyway, here’s the story White House spin artists don’t want
you paying attention to. During the run-up to the British
election, The Sunday Times of London published a previously
top-secret government memorandum dated July 23, 2002. It
reported on Prime Minister Tony Blair and other British
officials’ meetings with their American counterparts about
Iraq.
Of particular interest were the findings of Sir Richard
Dearlove, known as "C," the head of MI6, the British CIA.
Here’s the key paragraph: "C reported on his recent talks in
Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude.
Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to
remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the
conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and
facts were being fixed around the policy. . . . There was
little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after
military action."
Invading and occupying Iraq, in short, was a done deal
months before President Bush began his sales campaign in
September 2002. The war would be justified by claiming a
link between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
"But the case was thin," the memo added. "Saddam was not
threatening his neighbors, and his WMD capacity was less
than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran."
Repeat: "[T]he intelligence and facts were being fixed
around the policy."
Now in British usage, "fixed" doesn’t signify deliberate
corruption; it’s more like "arranged." A decision had been
reached, and the "intelligence" was being shaped to fit it.
Here’s how Bush explained it during his 2003 State of the
Union message:
"U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards
of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. .
. . [W]e know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several
mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to
produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to
a place to evade inspectors. . . . The British government
has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant
quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources
tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength
aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.
Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities.
He clearly has much to hide."
As the deaths keep mounting—1,613 American soldiers, more
than 300 allied troops and private contractors, not to
mention tens of thousands of Iraqis—it’s worthwhile
remembering that none of that turned out to be true. Having
given no thought to the aftermath of invasion, the White
House now insists that all is well as Iraq spirals into a
bloody civil war its U.S.-sponsored government appears
powerless to prevent.
If not, blame the messenger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News - Harper's Index
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Harper's Index for April 2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 4,2005.
Ratio of active workers at General Motors to retirees on its
pension rolls: 2:5 [General Motors Corporation (Detroit)]
Total pension costs of the company per vehicle General
Motors Corporation produces: $675 [General Motors Corporation
(Detroit)]
Percentage of Social Security contributions that go toward
administrative costs: 0.6 [U.S. Social Security
Administration]
Average percentage of contributions to Britain's privatized
pension system that do: 30 [Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities (Washington)]
Number of the 701 arrests under Britain's Terrorism Act
since 2001 that have led to conviction: 17 [Home Office
(London)]
Number of U.S. residents convicted of “international
terrorism” between fall 2001 and fall 2003:
184 [Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (Syracuse,
N.Y.)]
Median sentence given, in days: 14 [Transactional Records
Access Clearinghouse (Syracuse, N.Y.)]
Date on which USA Today added Guantanamo to its weather map:
1/3/05 [USA Today (McLean, Va.)]
Percentage of U.S.-born Mexican Americans who have suffered
from some psychological disorder: 48 [National Institutes of
Health (Bethesda, Md.)]
Percentage of Mexican immigrants who have: 29 [National
Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Md.)]
Percentage of Mexico City residents who have: 23 [Instituto
Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente (Mexico City)]
Rank of Colombia's stock exchange among the best performers
tracked by The Economist last year: 1 [Thomson Financial
(N.Y.C.)]
Rank of China's among the worst: 1 [Thomson Financial
(N.Y.C.)]
Rank of China among nations where world business leaders say
they are “most confident” to invest this year: 1 [A.T.
Kearney (Chicago)]
Number of private jets in China: 2 [Raytheon Aircraft Company
(Wichita, Kans.)]
Maximum hair length for North Korean men, in centimeters, as
prescribed by state media: 5 [BBC Monitoring (Reading, U.K.)]
Extra centimeters allowed men over 50, for covering
baldness: 2 [BBC Monitoring (Reading, U.K.)]
Amount a Nebraska man made this year by auctioning his
forehead to advertisers: $37,375 [SnoreStop (Westlake
Village, Calif.)]
Price of an original Picasso drawing sold in January on
Costco.com: $39,999.99 [Costco Wholesale Corporation
(Issaquah, Wash.)]
Average percentage of its food that an American household
wastes: 14 [The Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology,
University of Arizona (Tucson)]
Percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who speak to their
parents every day: 48 [Time magazine poll (N.Y.C.)]
Number of preteen “secret agents” in the Girls Intelligence
Agency, a market-research firm: 16,000 [Girls Intelligence
Agency (Beverly Hills, Calif.)]
Length, in miles, of a rubber hose used until last fall to
smuggle vodka from Belarus to Lithuania: 2 [State Border
Guard Service (Vilnius, Lithuania)]
Number of prime ministers of Baltic states since 1990 who
have finished a full term: 0 [Harper's research]
Estimated number of visitors each week to the grave of Harry
Potter, a Briton buried in Israel in 1939: 45[Ramle Museum
(Ramle, Israel)]
Percentage of born-again U.S. Christians who have been
divorced: 35 [The Barna Group, Ltd. (Ventura, Calif.)]
Percentage of other Americans who have been: 35 [The Barna
Group, Ltd. (Ventura, Calif.)]
Chances that the divorce of a born-again Christian happened
after he or she accepted Christ: 9 in 10 [The Barna Group,
Ltd. (Ventura, Calif.)]
Estimated number of young Christians in 1995 who had pledged
to wait until marriage for sex: 2,500,000 [Peter Bearman,
Columbia University (N.Y.C.)]
Estimated percentage who waited: 12 [Peter Bearman, Columbia
University (N.Y.C.)]
Price a California company charges for a chain-mail condom:
$75[J. Kythera Contreras (Oak View, Calif.)]
Number sold last year: 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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3June2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
03 June 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- fustilugs
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Phillip Sterling
4. HotSites - Hurricanes
5. Reading List - Open Letter to Condi Rice from former Canadian PM Axworthy
6. Weird News - Recurring Themes and Questionable Judgment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
fustilugs (FUS-ti-lugs) noun
A fat and slovenly person.
[From Middle English fusty (smelly, moldy) + lug (to
carry something heavy).]
"'Come on, you old fustilugs,' he called, for she
wheezed and blew and mounted with difficulty." Julian
Rathbone; Joseph; Little Brown; 2001.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
The Dance (nine images)
http://djlphoto.com/0506/13.htm
Nearest Star Over Local Marsh
http://djlphoto.com/0505/nearstar.htm
Questionable Perch
http://djlphoto.com/0505/ycnh_sun.htm
Shameless Self-promotion
http://lhostelaw.com/iaad/ia_ad.htm
LAST ISSUE:
Geranium - Before and After (two images)
http://djlphoto.com/0503/geranium.htm
Black Skimmer (four images)
http://djlphoto.com/0505/blsk.htm
Building at Sunrise
http://djlphoto.com/0505/sunbuilding.htm
Water Plaintain
http://djlphoto.com/0505/waterplaintain.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
November 18
On a train into Washington
I am thinking how night comes
in the afternoon when
a woman boards, parcels out
parcels on the seat across
from me, and begins to floss.
Her reflection in the window
is no comparison to that
of a back-lit vanity mirror,
but her hygienist (one can
only imagine) has insisted
she be conscientious, and so
on her way back into the city
from an afternoon's snack
and frolic at her lover's
she has yanked a generous length
of unwaxed dental floss
from the travel-handy pack
she'd fished from her bag
and begun. She is oblivious
to scowls of weary students,
to the face I'm trying not
to make; she is busy making
her own face in the glass,
hemming and yawing, working
the filament carefully, no gap
missed, the way her cheerful
hygienist demonstrated. Now
she exhibits a smile meant
for appreciation, the smile
of a woman grooming openly
on public transportation
headed toward the capitol
of a government even now
debating my rights to privacy.
Phillip Sterling
Western Humanities Review
Volume LIX, Number 1
Spring 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Hurricanes
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Hurricanes - NOAA
http://hurricanes.noaa.gov/
National Hurricane Center
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml
The ABCs of Hurricanes
http://www.redcross.org/news/ds/hurricanes/010524ABCs.html
Hurricanes - online meteorology guide
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/home.rxml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Missile Counter-Attack
Axworthy fires back at U.S. -- and Canadian -- critics
of our BMD decision in An Open Letter to U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice
Thursday, March 3rd, 2005
By LLOYD AXWORTHY
Dear Condi,
I'm glad you've decided to get over your fit of pique
and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It's
a chance to learn a thing or two. Maybe more.
I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided
master in the White House that mere mortals might
disagree with participating in a missile-defence system
that has failed in its last three tests, even though
the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show
results.
But, gosh, we folks above the 49th parallel are
somewhat cautious types who can't quite see laying down
billions of dollars in a three-dud poker game.
As our erstwhile Prairie-born and bred (and therefore
prudent) finance minister pointed out in presenting his
recent budget, we've had eight years of balanced or
surplus financial accounts. If we're going to spend
money, Mr. Goodale added, it will be on day-care and
health programs, and even on more foreign aid and
improved defence.
Sure, that doesn't match the gargantuan, multi-billion-
dollar deficits that your government blithely runs up
fighting a "liberation war" in Iraq, laying out more
than half of all weapons expenditures in the world, and
giving massive tax breaks to the top one per cent of
your population while cutting food programs for poor
children.
Just chalk that up to a different sense of priorities
about what a national government's role should be when
there isn't a prevailing mood of manifest destiny.
Coming to Ottawa might also expose you to a
parliamentary system that has a thing called question
period every day, where those in the executive are held
accountable by an opposition for their actions, and
where demands for public debate on important topics
such as missile defence can be made openly.
You might also notice that it's a system in which the
governing party's caucus members are not afraid to tell
their leader that their constituents don't want to
follow the ideological, perhaps teleological, fantasies
of Canada's continental co-inhabitant. And that this
leader actually listens to such representations.
Your boss did not avail himself of a similar
opportunity to visit our House of Commons during his
visit, fearing, it seems, that there might be some
signs of dissent. He preferred to issue his diktat on
missile defence in front of a highly controlled, pre-
selected audience.
Such control-freak antics may work in the virtual one-
party state that now prevails in Washington. But in
Canada we have a residual belief that politicians
should be subject to a few checks and balances, an idea
that your country once espoused before the days of
empire.
If you want to have us consider your proposals and
positions, present them in a proper way, through
serious discussion across the table in our cabinet
room, as your previous president did when he visited
Ottawa. And don't embarrass our prime minister by
lobbing a verbal missile at him while he sits on a
public stage, with no chance to respond.
Now, I understand that there may have been some
miscalculations in Washington based on faulty advice
from your resident governor of the "northern
territories," Ambassador Cellucci. But you should know
by now that he hasn't really won the hearts and minds
of most Canadians through his attempts to browbeat and
command our allegiance to U.S. policies.
Sadly, Mr. Cellucci has been far too closeted with
exclusive groups of 'experts' from Calgary think-tanks
and neo-con lobbyists at cross-border conferences to
remotely grasp a cross-section of Canadian attitudes
(nor American ones, for that matter).
I invite you to expand the narrow perspective that
seems to inform your opinions of Canada by ranging far
wider in your reach of contacts and discussions. You
would find that what is rising in Canada is not so much
anti-Americanism, as claimed by your and our right-wing
commentators, but fundamental disagreements with
certain policies of your government. You would see that
rather than just reacting to events by drawing on old
conventional wisdoms, many Canadians are trying to
think our way through to some ideas that can be helpful
in building a more secure world.
These Canadians believe that security can be achieved
through well-modulated efforts to protect the rights of
people, not just nation-states.
To encourage and advance international co-operation on
managing the risk of climate change, they believe that
we need agreements like Kyoto.
To protect people against international crimes like
genocide and ethnic cleansing, they support new
institutions like the International Criminal Court --
which, by the way, you might strongly consider using to
hold accountable those committing atrocities today in
Darfur, Sudan.
And these Canadians believe that the United Nations
should indeed be reformed -- beginning with an
agreement to get rid of the veto held by the major
powers over humanitarian interventions to stop violence
and predatory practices.
On this score, you might want to explore the concept of
the 'Responsibility to Protect' while you're in Ottawa.
It's a Canadian idea born out of the recent experience
of Kosovo and informed by the many horrific examples of
inhumanity over the last half-century. Many Canadians
feel it has a lot more relevance to providing real
human security in the world than missile defence ever
will.
This is not just some quirky notion concocted in our
long winter nights, by the way. It seems to have appeal
for many in your own country, if not the editorialists
at the Wall Street Journal or Rush Limbaugh. As I
discovered recently while giving a series of lectures
in southern California, there is keen interest in how
the U.S. can offer real leadership in managing global
challenges of disease, natural calamities and conflict,
other than by military means.
There is also a very strong awareness on both sides of
the border of how vital Canada is to the U.S. as a
partner in North America. We supply copious amounts of
oil and natural gas to your country, our respective
trade is the world's largest in volume, and we are
increasingly bound together by common concerns over
depletion of resources, especially very scarce fresh
water.
Why not discuss these issues with Canadians who
understand them, and seek out ways to better cooperate
in areas where we agree -- and agree to respect each
other's views when we disagree.
Above all, ignore the Cassandras who deride the state
of our relations because of one missile-defence
decision. Accept that, as a friend on your border, we
will offer a different, independent point of view. And
that there are times when truth must speak to power.
In friendship, Lloyd Axworthy
Lloyd Axworthy is president of the University of
Winnipeg and a former Canadian foreign minister. © 2005
Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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http://lhostelaw.com/iaad/ia_ad.htm
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Recurring Themes
In 2002, Boston surgeon David Arndt had his license
suspended after he left the operating room in the
middle of a procedure in order to cash a check at a
nearby bank. (Subsequently, Arndt was also charged with
cocaine possession and sexual abuse of a minor.) In
April 2005, prominent Boston plastic surgeon Joseph
Upton stepped away from the operating room during a
scheduled break in surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center and walked down the street to Children's
Hospital Boston to conduct another surgery that he had
double-booked for the time, before returning to Beth
Israel and satisfactorily finishing the first job. Both
patients are fine, but Dr. Upton was ordered not to
double-book in the future and not to leave the floor
during surgeries. [Boston Globe, 4-22-05]
Questionable Judgment
A DUI suspect (unnamed in a March Toronto Sun report)
put a handful of his own fe_ces in his mouth in a
police station in what officers said was an attempt to
foil a Breathalyzer test. Said an official, "I don't
think alcohol alone would make you do (that)."
Nonetheless, said police, the man, who had been stopped
on Highway 11 near Barrie, Ontario, still registered
double the threshold for impairment. [Toronto Sun, 3-
30-05]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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13June2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
13 June 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TELL A FRIEND ABOUT <:>i n t e r a l i a<:>
http://lhostelaw.com/iaad/ia_ad.htm
In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- cat's paw
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- C.K. Williams
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Taking Advantage of the Merely Rich
6. Weird News - Thinning the Herd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
cat's-paw • \KATS-PAW\ noun
1 : light air that ruffles the surface of the water in irregular
patches during a calm
2 : one used by another as a tool : dupe
3 : a hitch knot formed with two eyes for attaching a line to a hook
Example sentence: Andy was the one who was caught playing the prank,
but he was just a cat's-paw for Lenny, who dared him to do it.
Did you know? Being made a cat's-paw may not only be embarrassing—it
can leave you with singed fingers (or paws, as the case may be). The
"dupe" sense of "cat's-paw" comes from an old fable in which a monkey
uses flattery to trick a cat into taking chestnuts out of the fire
where they are roasting. The cat succeeds in removing the chestnuts
but also burns his paw in the process. And when the unsuspecting
feline turns around, he discovers that the monkey has cracked and
eaten all the nuts!
--
>From Merriam-Webster Word A Day:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/mwwod.pl
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Decatur Street and St. Louis Cathedral at Dawn
http://djlphoto.com/0506/stlouiscathedral.htm
California Cactus
http://djlphoto.com/0505/califcactus.htm
Wood Duck Hen Sheltering Chicks
http://djlphoto.com/0505/woduhen_chick.htm
Water Lilies (nine images)
http://djlphoto.com/0505/wl8.htm
LAST ISSUE:
The Dance (nine images)
http://djlphoto.com/0506/13.htm
Nearest Star Over Local Marsh
http://djlphoto.com/0505/nearstar.htm
Questionable Perch
http://djlphoto.com/0505/ycnh_sun.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Blackbird
There was nothing I could have done —
a flurry of blackbirds burst
from the weeds at the edge of a field
and one veered out into my wheel
and went under. I had a moment
to hope he'd emerge as sometimes
they will from beneath the back
of the car and fly off,
but I saw him behind on the roadbed,
the shadowless sail of a wing
lifted vainly from the clumsy
bundle of matter he'd become.
There was nothing I could have done,
though perhaps I was distracted:
I'd been listening to news of the war,
hearing that what we'd suspected
were lies had proved to be lies,
that many were dying for those lies,
but as usual now, it wouldn't matter.
I'd been thinking of Lincoln's,
". . .You can't fool all of the people
all of the time. . ." how I once
took comfort from the hope and trust
it implied, but no longer.
I had to slow down now,
a tractor hauling a load of hay
was approaching on the narrow lane.
The farmer and I gave way and waved:
the high-piled bales swayed
menacingly over my head but held.
Out in the newly harvested fields,
already harrowed and raw,
more blackbirds, uncountable
clouds of them, rose, held
for an instant, then broke,
scattered as though by a gale.
C. K. Williams
AGNI 61
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Geography Action from Nat. Geo. Soc.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographyaction/
National Museum of National History
http://www.mnh.si.edu/
U.S. Naval Observatory -- Astronomical Applications Dept.
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Taking Advantage of the Merely Rich
Molly Ivins
AUSTIN, Texas -- David Cay Johnston, the invaluable New York Times
reporter who specializes in our tax system, has come up with some
staggering figures on what he calls "the hyper-rich," the wealthiest
one-thousandth of the population, and their taxes.
-- "The share of the nation's income earned by those in this uppermost
category has more than doubled since 1980. ... The share of income
earned by the rest of the top 10 percent rose far less, and the share
earned by the bottom 90 percent fell."
-- "Under the Bush tax cuts, the 400 taxpayers with the highest income
-- a minimum of $87 million in 2000, the last year for which the
government will release such data -- now pay income, Medicare and
Social Security taxes amounting to virtually the same percentage of
their incomes as people making $50,000 to $75,000."
-- "Those earning more than $10 million a year now pay a lesser share
of their income in these taxes than those making $100,000 to
$200,000."
-- "The alternative minimum tax, created 36 years ago to make sure the
very richest paid taxes, takes back a growing share of the Bush tax
cuts over time from the majority of families earning $75,000 to $1
million -- thousands and even tens of thousands annually. Far fewer of
the very wealthiest will be affected by this tax."
-- Under the Bush tax plan, by 2015, those making between $80,000 and
$400,000 will be paying as much as 14 percent more of their incomes
than those who are hyper-rich. (All figures are from the Times.)
Whenever I write about such matters, the brethren on the right accuse
me of "fomenting class warfare" or of unseemly envy of the rich. Why
should I give a fig if 338,400 families with more than $10 million are
having a high old time? Because of the numbers.
According to Johnston, that group has grown by more than 400 percent
since 1980, after adjusting for inflation, while the total numbers of
households has grown only 27 percent. This has nothing to do with envy
-- Paris Hilton strikes me more as a subject for pity, and I actually
admire Bill Gates and George Soros. It is about what is happening to
this society. When the rules are increasingly fixed to benefit only a
few ridiculously wealthy people, that leaves guess who with a larger
portion of the tax tab.
And we are talking serious money. In addition to paying the same
percentage of their income as those in the $50,000 to $75,000 range,
the hyper-rich are very good at finding ways -- both legal and
illegal, observes Johnston -- of sheltering a lot of income even from
the taxes they are supposed to pay. The Texas billionaires and Bush
buddies Charles and Sam Wyly are now under investigation by the IRS,
SEC and Manhattan district attorney concerning a tax-shelter plan run
out of the Isle of Man, according to the Independent of Britain.
Look, Medicare is being cut, Pell grants are way down, food stamps are
being cut -- every day we get news from Washington that some new
measure hurting the poor or the middle class has been put in place. At
the same time, the country is running up a monstrous debt that will be
passed to our children.
This is ruinous folly. This is not about class envy, it is about
ridiculous, unfair and harmful public policy.
The Times has also been running a series on class in America. The bad
news is that social mobility in this country -- the old Horatio Alger
idea that we can get rich by working hard -- is less true now than it
ever was. It turns out the American dream of moving up is now more
likely to occur in Britain and France, those supposedly class-riddled
countries. I suggest this has happened in large part because our
government now functions as a fully paid arm of the wealthy and of
corporate interests. The country is becoming internally calcified.
When Republican cuts to programs for veterans, troops, education or
health care come up, Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc., has regularly offered
amendments to restore funding and pay for it by reducing (not
eliminating) the Bush tax cuts to the hyper-rich slightly. Every time,
the Republicans vote to keep the tax cuts for the millionaires and let
the troops or education take the hit.
What Johnston's study shows is that the hyper-rich are now taking
advantage of the merely rich. So now what will the Republicans do?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Thinning the Herd
Recurring Themes: A 19-year-old man in San Jose, Calif., became one of
the latest to pay the ultimate price for attempting to clear a jam in
a wood chipper by stomping down on the debris with his foot
(November). And Albania's most wanted criminal, Riza Malaj, fatally
underestimated the length of fuse he would need while dynamite-fishing
for trout near Tirana (April). And a Salem, Ala., man became the most
recent to fatally miscalculate the danger in trying to steal copper
wire from inside an electrical substation (March). [San Francisco
Chronicle, 11-9-04] [Reuters, 4-8-05] [Opelika-Auburn News, 3-19-05]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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22June2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
22 June 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- dissemble
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- J. T. Barbarese
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Daddy, why. . . et alli
6. By the Numbers - Harper's Index, May
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
dissemble (di-SEM-buhl) verb tr., intr.
To hide true feelings, motives, or the facts.
[By alteration of Middle English dissimulen, from Latin
dissimulare, from simulare, from similis (similar).]
From The Devil's Dictionary: Dissemble, v.i. To put a clean shirt
upon the character.
"So when should you be honest and when should you dissemble? 'You
don't want to trick them and tell them later about the onions in
the soup because they'll learn not to trust you,' advises
Chambliss." Barbara Rowley; 7 Rules For a Peaceful Home;
Parenting (San Francisco); Dec 2001/Jan 2002.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
London - 3 images
http://djlphoto.com/0506/lon3.htm
Red, White & Brass
http://djlphoto.com/0502/brass.htm
Agapanthus
http://djlphoto.com/0506/agapanthus.htm
Sunflower
http://djlphoto.com/0506/sunflower.htm
Three Windows
http://djlphoto.com/0506/3win.htm
LAST ISSUE:
Decatur Street and St. Louis Cathedral at Dawn
http://djlphoto.com/0506/stlouiscathedral.htm
California Cactus
http://djlphoto.com/0505/califcactus.htm
Wood Duck Hen Sheltering Chicks
http://djlphoto.com/0505/woduhen_chick.htm
Water Lilies (nine images)
http://djlphoto.com/0505/wl8.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Trying to Be Penitent
on the leather pews,
the wood was coming through,
so I thought only of my knees,
not his heroic finish
hammered to his handiwork,
not of the gory suds
that according to the sermoner
rivered from
his sacred liver
and ran downhill
into the mob that
was there to see God die
and on the under-card
the two common thieves
he hung between,
his arms extended like a politician
or emcee —
just two village punks
like the guys I grew up with,
Crazy Harry
who set houses on fire,
Barbone, who unsnugged
lug nuts and watched the cars
fall off their tires,
or the Jimmy Love that I
hung on the Poe School fence
for swiping my glove.
Glum and unrepentant,
even after he gave in
I kept beating him.
The censors snuffed,
I heard the Ite, missa est
and along with the rest
of the thoughtless and quick-heeled
rushed to the doors, sun-framed,
thanking the empty sky
that I would not that day
be with Him in Paradise.
J. T. Barbarese
The Black Beach
Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry
Andrew Hudgins, Judge
University of North Texas Press
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The World's Great Orations
http://www.bartleby.com/268/
Federal Forms
http://www.forms.gov/bgfPortal/citizen.portal
USGS - Science Pages
http://www.usgs.gov/science/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A) Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?
< http://develnet.org/ThisAndThat/DaddyWhyDidWeHaveToAttackIraq>
B) Expert witness urged by U.S. "Justice" Dept. to alter testimony
< http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/19/AR2005061900691.html >
C) Ivins on the politicizing the PBS
< http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=miv>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. By the Numbers -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Harper's Index for May 2005 Posted on Thursday, June 2, 2005.
Annual cost of all sixteen U.N. peacekeeping missions currently
underway : $3,870,000,000[United Nations Department of
Peacekeeping Operations (N.Y.C.)]
Monthly cost of the U.S. occupation of Iraq : $4,100,000,000[U.S.
Department of Defense]
Revenue from Iraqi oil sales that the CPA could not account for,
according to a 2005 audit : $8,800,000,000[Special Inspector
General for Iraq Reconstruction (Arlington, Va.)]
Estimated number of U.S. intelligence reports on Iraq that were
based on a single defector : 100[Commission on the Intelligence
Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction
(Washington)]
Number of times the defector had ever been interviewed by U.S.
intelligence agents : 0[Commission on the Intelligence
Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction
(Washington)]
Minimum number of newspapers in which Denmark posted ads this
year seeking antiterrorist spies : 3[Danish Defense Intelligence
Service (Copenhagen)]
Percentage of Iceland residents who took out an ad this winter
apologizing for Icelandic support of the Iraq war : 1.5[The
Movement for Active Democracy in Iceland (Reykjavik)/Statistics
Iceland (Reykjavik)]
Number of books published last year in Iceland and the United
States, respectively, per 100,000 residents : 212, 63[Icelandic
Publishers Association (Reykjavik)/R. R. Bowker LLC (New
Providence, N.J.)]
Number of books registered at BookCrossing.com, so the books can
be left in public places and found by others :
1,935,000[BookCrossing.com (Lake Winnebago, Mo.)]
Number of the books left behind that have been from the Left
Behind series : 2,047[BookCrossing.com (Lake Winnebago, Mo.)]
Rank, on the Turkish bestseller list in March, of a thriller
depicting a U.S. invasion of Turkey : 1[D&R (Istanbul)]
Rank of Mein Kampf : 2[D&R (Istanbul)]
Chance that a resident of the former East Germany wants the
Berlin Wall back : 1 in 8[Forsa (Berlin)]
Number of lines that Italy's largest cellular operator has set
aside for government eavesdropping : 5,000[Telecom Italia Mobile
(Rome)]
Number of these that were in use in March : 5,000[Telecom Italia
Mobile (Rome)]
Chance that a Russian scientist says he or she would consider
working for North Korea : 1 in 7[Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory (Livermore, Calif.)]
Year by which every U.S. nuclear weapon will have reached the end
of its original design life : 2014[Office of Inspector General,
U.S. Department of Energy]
Number of merit badges in Safety awarded to Boy Scouts since 2001
: 15,417[Boy Scouts of America (Irving, Tex.)]
Number in Shotgun Shooting : 65,249[Boy Scouts of America
(Irving, Tex.)]
Percentage of the world's Anglican bishops that have condemned
the U.S. Episcopal Church's ordination of a gay bishop :
34[Anglican Communion Network (Pittsburgh)]
Number of U.S. Episcopal churches that are now affiliated with
dioceses in Rwanda or Uganda : 38[Anglican Mission in America
(Pawleys Island, S.C.)/Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles]
Number of federal benefits in the United States that are tied
directly to marriage : 1,138[U.S. General Accounting Office]
Average percentage by which the power of the male heart declines
between the ages of 18 and 75 : 20[David Goldspink, Research
Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (Liverpool, U.K.)]
Average percentage by which the female heart does : 0[David
Goldspink, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences
(Liverpool, U.K.)]
Ratio of women to men killed in last December's tsunami, in a
survey of eight Indonesian villages : 3:1[Oxfam International
(Oxford, U.K.)]
Number of times that major U.S. newspapers have used the term
“feeding tube” since January : 647[Harper's research]
Number of times they had used the term in the previous five years
: 483[Harper's research]
Years after Bob Marley's death that the BBC, in April, requested
an interview with him : 24[Bob Marley Foundation (Kingston,
Jamaica)]
Projected year by which U.S. Treasury bonds will sink to junk
status, on current fiscal policy : 2026 (see page 39)[Standard &
Poor's (N.Y.C.)]
Amount for which George W. Bush successfully sued Enterprise
Rent-A-Car in 1999 : $2,500[Enterprise Rent-A-Car (St. Louis)]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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5July2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
5 July 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TELL A FRIEND ABOUT <:>i n t e r a l i a<:>
http://lhostelaw.com/iaad/ia_ad.htm
In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- gormless
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Cleopatra Mathis
4. HotSites - Cycling/TDF
5. Reading List - The silenced majority
6. Weird News - Brotherly Love and NASA sued
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
gormless (GORM-lis) adjective, also gaumless
Dull or stupid.
[From English dialectal gaum (attention or understanding), from
Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaumr.]
"For my parents, though, it was compulsory viewing. They would
sit on the settee making appreciative or derogatory noises about
one or another contestant and bitterly denouncing the judges when
Miss England failed to get a placing - even if Miss England was a
gormless, whey-faced hag, which quite often she was." Rod Liddle;
The Ugly Side of Miss World; The Guardian (London); Nov 26, 2002.
"As the movie's gormless hero, Spacey inverts his usual glib
persona. But there's something mannered about his minimalism. He
creates a character so deliberately vacant and slow-witted that,
behind the concave performance, the armature of intelligence
shows through." Brian D Johnson; Bumping Into Neverland;
Maclean's (Toronto, Canada); Dec 31, 2001/Jan 7, 2002.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
The Split
http://djlphoto.com/0506/split.htm
Old World vs. New World (14 images)
http://djlphoto.com/0506/ownw0.htm
LAST ISSUE:
London - 3 images
http://djlphoto.com/0506/lon3.htm
Red, White & Brass
http://djlphoto.com/0502/brass.htm
Agapanthus
http://djlphoto.com/0506/agapanthus.htm
Sunflower
http://djlphoto.com/0506/sunflower.htm
Three Windows
http://djlphoto.com/0506/3win.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Death of a Gull
Worse than his pain was his acceptance,
the wing loosely dragging beside him
while he did his best not to notice. As if the impossibility
might drop away, he ambled, a hen's shuffle
from oceanside toward the plovers' nesting ground,
but the little birds came diving, driving him back.
Beak open, he hissed like a swan, his only show.
Another gull glided down, just one — perhaps his mate —
companions side by side until he ignored
the cues for flight. She spiraled out of the path
of passersby, but he only turned his head away,
like a toddler's shy aside, to make the intruder disappear.
Day and night turned over, the waves
close then far. The weight dangling at his side
grew heavier and he learned to fix his eye
on the middle distance. Alone and offered up,
he roosted there, suffering the tide-rich sand
and the roving metal-throated birds
from which he once stole fish. The spewing waves,
the crabs awash, haphazard heads and claws,
offered nothing he wanted to eat.
The whole thing reeked. Overhead, the hypnotic
sequined blue glittered and teased.
The green sea went about its business,
sifting, hooking, grinding. Bottom waters
boiled and rose, feeding all the frenzied
multiplying cells, which brought the little fish,
the bigger fish, and then the seal,
whose lackadaisical tossing off of bones
made him the birds' life of the party.
The crippled gull heard them all, but as if
he lived in another country. There was nothing
but the square of sand he squatted on.
Flying was a prick of recognition gone foreign,
then a nagging absence, swallowed up by the wind.
Hour by hour, he became that emptiness,
just a breathing thing on the moving sand.
And then the line dividing the pulse
from the intake of air,
air ruffling feathers he no longer felt.
Cleopatra Mathis
White Sea
Sarabande Books
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Tour de France coverage from OLNtv.com
http://www.olntv.com/tdf/
VeloNews
http://www.velonews.com/
Cycling News
http://www.cyclingnews.com/
Lance Armstrong
http://www.lancearmstrong.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The silenced majority
By Ellen Goodman | July 3, 2005
I AM DRIVING down the coast, E-Z Passing across borders from
Maine to Massachusetts, when the radio begins the day's news with
a familiar bulletin: ''There's been another day of violence in
Iraq today."
A description of suicide bombers and victims follows. Slowly, I
turn to another highway distraction, counting the cars that pass
me wearing ribbon magnets and decals that display the same
slogan: ''Support Our Troops."
From one exit to the next, I count a red Ford Explorer, a bronze
Jeep, a white Dodge, a blue pickup truck, and a silver Toyota.
I cannot interview the drivers at 70 miles an hour, so I do not
know the complexity of their politics. But I automatically read
''Support Our Troops" as a proxy statement for ''Support Our
Commander in Chief." The yellow ribbons tied for soldiers
fighting in Iraq seem to have morphed into a collective blue
ribbon for the president handling this war.
If there is anything this White House is adept at, it is co-
opting symbols. If there's anything that makes this driver wince,
it is having such powerful symbols wrenched away. These days
those who do not support the president are easily dismissed as
people who disparage the troops.
On Tuesday night, the president stood before a sea of soldiers
and used prime time to defend a war that is not going well. Again
and again, in a tactic for which the word ''shameless" was
invented, he linked Sept. 11 with Iraq. He tied the terrorists of
Sept. 11 to the suicide bombers of Baghdad without ever
acknowledging what had made Iraq the fetid center of the global
war on terror.
I wondered how many more times he could go to the well of Sept.
11 before it went dry. Last week, California congressman Randy
Cunningham used the victims to support the amendment against
flag-burning. Justice Antonin Scalia even invoked Sept. 11 in his
dissent from a Ten Commandments decision.
But there was another linkage in the Fort Bragg setting: the
president and thousands of soldiers in green uniforms, one and
indivisible. At one point, Bush said, ''The best way to honor the
lives that have been given in this struggle is to complete the
mission." In a single sentence, he defined his mission as the
mission and his opponents as those who would trample the graves
of soldiers.
This is not the first time a ''war president" has conflated war
and patriotism or quietly tainted dissenters with disloyalty. It
happens routinely, especially in unpopular wars.
The opponents of this president have struggled to separate
criticism of the White House from criticism of the troops. They
have talked about everything from missing weapons of mass
destruction to ineffective armor. Even though 58 percent
disapprove of the handling of Iraq, those symbolic ribbons of
patriotism have produced a silenced majority.
I share that reticence even as one of millions drawn to the
heartbreaking stories of this war. I can't forget the father of a
22-year-old Louisiana corporal who described his late son as an
honest and godly man. ''As far as I know," said the father, " he
didn't have any enemies." In war, the corporal had enemies.
Nor can I forget the New Hampshire wife who told a reporter, ''I
have to respect the president. To not respect him would be to not
respect, in some sense, the reasons why our husbands are over
there." Who among her neighbors wants to shake her faith?
Today, few Americans see either a clear way forward or a clean
way out of Iraq. When a war begun on false premises slogs on
without an exit strategy, when a war against terrorists becomes a
terrorist training ground, when the body count rises -- 1,700
American troops and counting -- it's time to give up the notion
that dissenters are the dangerous ones.
The president invoked July 4 as well as Sept. 11. He called it a
day to celebrate freedom and offer thanks to the troops by flying
a flag, writing a letter, helping a military family.
I will fly my flag this Fourth of July, as always, on a small
island in Maine. I will fly it for the men and women in harm's
way. But I'll fly it as well for the father who protests the
military recruiters at his child's high school and the 19-year-
old widow who tells ''Good Morning America," ''I just feel enough
is enough."
The silenced majority of Americans who believe we were misled
into war have no reason to be tongue-tied by a yellow ribbon.
Ellen Goodman's e-mail address is ellengoodman@globe.com.
Boston Globe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A young Russian man who dressed in
women's clothes to take an exam for his sister was caught
after his oversize bust gave him away, Interfax news agency
reported Monday.
The youth's "unusually prominent female features," and heavy
make-up drew security guards' attention and they stopped him
from taking the test, Yasen Zasursky, dean of Moscow State
University's journalism faculty, told the agency.
= = = =
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian astrologist who says NASA has
altered her horoscope by crashing a spacecraft into a comet
is suing the U.S. space agency for damages of $300 million,
local media reported Monday.
NASA deliberately crashed its probe, named Deep Impact, into
the Tempel 1 comet to unleash a spray of material formed
billions of years ago which scientists hope will shed new
light on the composition of the solar system.
"It is obvious that elements of the comet's orbit, and
correspondingly the ephemeris, will change after the
explosion, which interferes with my astrology work and
distorts my horoscope," Izvestia daily quoted astrologist
Marina Bai as saying in legal documents submitted before
Monday's collision.
A spokeswoman for a Moscow district court said initial
preparations for the case were underway but could not say
when the hearing would begin. NASA representatives in Moscow
were unavailable for comment.
= = =
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19July2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
19 July 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TELL A FRIEND ABOUT <:>i n t e r a l i a<:>
http://lhostelaw.com/iaad/ia_ad.htm
In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- tessellation
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Simmerman
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - How dumb do they think we are?
6. By the Numbers - Rich Jocks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
tessellation: noun
1 a : mosaic b : a covering of an infinite geometric plane
without gaps or overlaps by congruent plane figures of one
type or a few types
2 : an act of tessellating : the state of being tessellated
tes.sel.late vt -lat.ed ; -lat.ing [LL tessellatus, pp. of tessellare
to pave with tesserae, fr. L tessella, dim. of tessera]
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Wall Abstracts (five images)
http://djlphoto.com/0506/wallabs1.htm
Tessellations (manipulated photos) (seven images)
http://djlphoto.com/0507/tess7.htm
LAST ISSUE:
The Split
http://djlphoto.com/0506/split.htm
Old World vs. New World (14 images)
http://djlphoto.com/0506/ownw0.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Jittery
Nancy takes me to a coffee shop called "Jitters"
which is, I'm thinking, like naming a bar "Drunk":
what you get when you get too much of what it is
they've got to give you — though that's just me
of course, going off. I'm feeling kind of drunk
on talk and too much coffee and Nancy's laughing
easy like she maybe thinks: okay. Me, I mean,
though I'm reading into things of course —
talk, laughter — speed-reading into things
what with all the coffee and little sleep
I'm running on of late. Things, their course,
have not been great though I'm feeling not
unhappy to be alive and not asleep and here
with Nancy blabbing out my life like some black
and white Karl Malden movie tough guy grateful
to finally confess and yes I'll obsess on
splitting that infinitive since Nancy knows
syntax ("syn-, together + tassein, to arrange");
Nancy knows yoga, Neruda, dogs, and yes
to the body's thoughtless crush on the world and
her smile flies open like a sun-flushed dove
and right, I know I talk too much and think
too much about what I'm thinking and not
enough about what I say, and simmer too long
in the crock of myself, which is right where I
get when I get this way and want to say
shut up, Simmerman, just shut up. . . .
Nancy takes me to a coffee shop.
Jim Simmerman
American Children
BOA Editiond, Ltd.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Our Earth as Art (view our planet through the beautiful images taken by the Landsat-7 satellite)
< http://earthasart.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.htm>
NY Times Movie Reviews (archive of 15,000 reviews of movies since 1960)
< http://movies.nytimes.com/ref/movies/reviews/>
Yahoo! Reference
< http://education.yahoo.com/reference/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
How dumb do they think we are?
by Mark Shields
WASHINGTON (Creators Syndicate) -- In my line of work, you get lied to
a lot.
There are the generally forgettable fibs, like a senator who's making
his seventh political trip to New Hampshire since the first of the
year insisting he has made no decision about a White House run.
The falsehoods you remember are bold and brassy. I will never forget
President George H.W. Bush stating with a straight face that the
nominee's race had never even crossed his mind when he picked Clarence
Thomas for the Supreme Court.
Presidential candidate Bill Clinton demonstrated early his flair for
fiction by contradicting all his campaign's previous statements on his
non-service in the military when he admitted that, yes, during the
Vietnam War he actually had received a draft notice calling him to
military service.
Why had Clinton never mentioned this fact before during the endless Q-
and-A sessions about his military record? In a polygraph-punishing
explanation, Bill Clinton lamely explained he had just "forgotten."
Let's be clear: If you were a young man of draft-eligible age during
Vietnam, you might be excused for forgetting your first kiss or your
first beer. But you would forever remember that ominous moment when
the letter, carrying with it the full force and power of the U.S.
government, arrived summoning you to bear arms.
So, too, did George H.W. Bush fully understand that his nomination of
Clarence Thomas, an African-American jurist of modest legal
achievement, would discomfort and demoralize many Democrats.
Today in Washington, the big, barefaced lie is very much back.
For two years, the George W. Bush White House had asserted that Bush's
closest political advisor, Karl Rove, had nothing to do with press
leaks revealing that the wife of the former U.S. ambassador whose
report had publicly refuted administration claims that Saddam Hussein
had attempted to buy "yellowcake" uranium ore from Africa for nuclear
weapons was an undercover CIA officer.
Scratch those assertions: Karl Rove did tell Time magazine reporter
Matt Cooper that former Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife worked at the
CIA.
A senior Bush administration official told The Washington Post that,
shortly after the publication of Wilson's piece in the New York Times
-- which undercut the administration's case for launching a pre-
emptive war against Iraq -- two top White House officials had called
six journalists to disclose the identity and the position of Valerie
Plame, Wilson's wife.
That same senior administration official said: "Clearly it (the leak
'outing' Plame) was meant purely and simply for revenge."
Are you ready for a barefaced lie? Listen to the Republican talking
points. It is true that Rove did talk to Matt Cooper. But he was not
trying to smear Wilson and thus silence a formidable critic of Bush's
Iraq policy.
No, Rove's only motive was to make sure that Cooper and Time did not
publish something that could turn out to be false. This is a side of
the man we have not seen before -- selflessly saving gullible newsmen
from publishing anything inaccurate.
Imagine how busy Rove must have been during Bush's 1994 race for Texas
governor, when his campaign was accused of launching a whispering
campaign in East Texas about Democratic Gov. Ann Richards' affinity
for gays. Try as he must have, Karl just couldn't stop the circulation
of those ugly rumors.
In 2000,George W. Bush's campaign was accused of spreading the vicious
charge that Bush's main rival, Sen. John McCain, was unstable because
of the time he had spent as a POW in isolation.
You just know Karl must have been speed-dialing reporters, valiantly
trying to kill that slander. In 2004, the man who bankrolled the Swift
Boat Veterans against John Kerry was one of Rove's oldest Texas
allies.
Wayne Slater of The Dallas Morning News, who has covered Rove long and
well, puts it this way: "Throughout his political career, bad things
happen -- sometimes involving dirty tricks -- to his enemies or
rivals." Is that because he's evil? "He's amoral. He doesn't set up a
plan to damage, defeat or destroy his enemies because he's evil. He
does it because he's so unbelievably competitive and amoral."
All of this raises one nagging question: Just how dumb do the Bush
people believe we are, that we would swallow, for even a nanosecond,
the fabrication that Karl Rove's only motive in calling reporters was
to discourage inaccurate stories? Do they really think we are that
stupid?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. By the Numbers - Rich Jocks
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Top Earning Athletes (Forbes 2004 list):
Rank Name Pay ($mil) Country Of Birth Residence
1 Tiger Woods 80.3 United States United States
2 Michael Schumacher 80.0 Germany Switzerland
3 Peyton Manning 42.0 United States United States
4 Michael Jordan 35.0 United States United States
5 Shaquille O'Neal 31.9 United States United States
6 Kevin Garnett 29.7 United States United States
7 Andre Agassi 28.2 United States United States
8 David Beckham 28.0 Great Britain Spain
9 Alex Rodriguez 26.2 United States United States
10 Kobe Bryant 26.1 United States United States
11 Grant Hill 25.9 United States United States
12 Derek Jeter 23.2 United States United States
13 Barry Bonds 22.7 United States United States
14 Manny Ramirez 22.1 Dominican Republic United States
15 Oscar De La Hoya 22.0 United States United States
16 LeBron James 21.1 United States United States
17 Vince Carter 20.2 United States United States
18 Dale Earnhardt Jr 20.1 United States United States
19 Arnold Palmer 20.0 United States United States
20 Phil Mickelson 19.8 United States United States
21 Allen Iverson 19.7 United States United States
22 Champ Bailey 19.6 United States United States
23 Jeff Gordon 19.3 United States United States
24 Lance Armstrong 19.2 United States United States
25 Tracy McGrady 19.0 United States United States
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~~~~~
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2August2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
02 August 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- calumny
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Stripping Rumsfeld and Bush of Impunity
6. Weird News - Plumber Can't Miss Leak
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
calumny • \KAL-um-nee\ Audio icon • noun *1 : a misrepresentation
intended to harm another's reputation 2 : the act of uttering false
charges or misrepresentations maliciously calculated to harm another's
reputation
Example sentence: "The idea that computer games make children socially
awkward adults is a preposterous calumny," sputtered Ted.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Green Heron
http://djlphoto.com/0508/grhe.htm
Castelo de Vide, Portugal
http://djlphoto.com/0508/castelodevide.htm
White Rose
http://djlphoto.com/0508/flwrs1.htm
Digital Tesselations - 18 images
http://djlphoto.com/0507/tess6.htm
LAST ISSUE:
Wall Abstracts (five images)
http://djlphoto.com/0506/wallabs1.htm
Tessellations (manipulated photos) (seven images)
http://djlphoto.com/0507/tess7.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Traveling Alone
At the hotel coffee shop that morning,
the waitress was wearing a pink uniform
with "Florence" written in script over her heart.
And the man who checked my bag
had a badge that said "Ben."
Behind him was a long row of royal palms.
On the plane, two women poured drinks
from a cart they rolled down the narrow aisle —
"Debbie" and "Lynn" according to their winged tags.
And such was my company
as I arced from coast to coast,
and so I seldom spoke, and then only
of the coffee, the bag, the tiny bottles of vodka.
I said little more than "Thank you"
and "Can you take this from me, please?"
Yet I began to sense that all of them
were ready to open up,
to get to know me better, perhaps begin a friendship.
Florence looked irritated
as she shuffled from table to table,
but was she just hiding her need
to know about my early years —
the ball I would toss and catch in my hands
the times I hid behind my mother's dress?
And was I so wrong in catching in Ben's eyes
a glimmer of interest in my theories
and habits — my view of the Enlightenment,
my love of cards, the hours I tended to keep?
And what about Debbie and Lynn?
Did they not look eager to ask about my writing process,
my way of composing in the morning
by a window, which I would have admitted
if they had just had the courage to ask.
And strangely enough — I would have continued,
as they stopped pouring drinks
and the other passengers turned to listen —
the only emotion I ever feel, Debbie and Lynn,
is what the beaver must feel,
as he bears each stick to his hidden construction,
which creates the tranquil pond
and gives the mallards somewhere to paddle,
the pair of swans a place to conceal their young.
Billy Collins
Poetry
The Humor Issue
Volume CLXXXVI, Number 4
July/August 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Sidesteps - search multiple travel sites for best deals
http://www.sidestep.com/air/
Gourmet Food and Cooking Resource
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/
Craig'sList - You probably know about it. If you don't you gotta see this.
http://www.craigslist.org/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Stripping Rumsfeld and Bush of Impunity
Matthew Rothschild
From the July 2005 Issue of The Progressive
When Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez testified before the Senate Armed
Services Committee last year, he was asked whether he "ordered or approved
the use of sleep deprivation, intimidation by guard dogs, excessive noise,
and inducing fear as an interrogation method for a prisoner in Abu Ghraib
prison." Sanchez, who was head of the Pentagon’s Combined Joint Task Force-
7 in Iraq, swore the answer was no. Under oath, he told the Senators he
"never approved any of those measures to be used."
But a document the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) obtained from the
Pentagon flat out contradicts Sanchez’s testimony. It’s a memorandum
entitled "CJTF-7 Interrogation and Counter-Resistance Policy," dated
September 14, 2003. In it, Sanchez approved several methods designed for
"significantly increasing the fear level in a detainee." These included
"sleep management"; "yelling, loud music, and light control: used to create
fear, disorient detainee, and prolong capture shock"; and "presence of
military working dogs: exploits Arab fear of dogs."
On March 30, the ACLU wrote a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,
urging him "to open an investigation into whether General Ricardo A.
Sanchez committed perjury in his sworn testimony."
The problem is, Gonzales may himself have committed perjury in his
Congressional testimony this January. According to a March 6 article in The
New York Times, Gonzales submitted written testimony that said: "The policy
of the United States is not to transfer individuals to countries where we
believe they likely will be tortured, whether those individuals are being
transferred from inside or outside the United States." He added that he was
"not aware of anyone in the executive branch authorizing any transfer of a
detainee in violation of that policy."
"That’s a clear, absolute lie," says Michael Ratner, executive director of
the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is suing Administration officials
for their involvement in the torture scandal. "The Administration has a
policy of sending people to countries where there is a likelihood that they
will be tortured."
The New York Times article backs up Ratner’s claim. It says "a still-
classified directive signed by President Bush within days of the September
11 attacks" gave the CIA broad authority to transfer suspected terrorists
to foreign countries for interrogations. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International estimate that the United States has transferred between 100
and 150 detainees to countries notorious for torture.
So Gonzales may not be the best person to evaluate the allegation of
perjury against Sanchez.
But going after Sanchez or Gonzales for perjury is the least of it. Sanchez
may be personally culpable for war crimes and torture, according to Human
Rights Watch. And Gonzales himself was one of the legal architects of the
torture policies. As such, he may have been involved in "a conspiracy to
immunize U.S. agents from criminal liability for torture and war crimes
under U.S. law," according to Amnesty International’s recent report:
"Guantánamo and Beyond: The Continuing Pursuit of Unchecked Executive
Power."
As White House Counsel, Gonzales advised President Bush to not apply Geneva
Convention protections to detainees captured in Afghanistan, in part
because this "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal
prosecution under the War Crimes Act," Gonzales wrote in his January 25,
2002, memo to the President.
Gonzales’s press office refused to provide comment after several requests
from The Progressive. In his Senate confirmation testimony, Gonzales said,
"I want to make very clear that I am deeply committed to the rule of law. I
have a deep and abiding commitment to the fundamental American principle
that we are a nation of laws, and not of men."
Pentagon spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel John Skinner says the ACLU’s
suggestion that Sanchez committed perjury is "absolutely ridiculous." In
addition, Skinner pointed to a recent Army inspector general report that
looked into Sanchez’s role. "Every senior-officer allegation was formally
investigated," the Army said in a May 5 summary. Sanchez was investigated,
it said, for "dereliction in the performance of duties pertaining to
detention and interrogation operations" and for "improperly communicating
interrogation policies." The inspector general "found each of the
allegations unsubstantiated."
The Bush Administration’s legal troubles don’t end with Sanchez or
Gonzales. They go right to the top: to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
and President Bush himself. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International USA say there is "prima facie" evidence against Rumsfeld for
war crimes and torture. And Amnesty International USA says there is also
"prima facie" evidence against Bush for war crimes and torture. (According
to Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, "prima facie evidence" is
"evidence sufficient to establish a fact or to raise a presumption of fact
unless rebutted.")
Amnesty International USA has even taken the extraordinary step of calling
on officials in other countries to apprehend Bush and Rumsfeld and other
high-ranking members of the Administration who have played a part in the
torture scandal.
Foreign governments should "uphold their obligations under international
law by investigating U.S. officials implicated in the development or
implementation of interrogation techniques that constitute torture or
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment," the group said in a May 25
statement. William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA,
added, "If the United States permits the architects of torture policy to
get off scot-free, then other nations will be compelled" to take action.
The Geneva Conventions and the torture treaty "place a legally binding
obligation on states that have ratified them to exercise universal
jurisdiction over persons accused of grave breaches of the Geneva
Conventions," Amnesty International USA said. "If anyone suspected of
involvement in the U.S. torture scandal visits or transits through foreign
territories, governments could take legal steps to ensure that such
individuals are investigated and charged with applicable crimes."
When these two leading human rights organizations make such bold claims
about the President and the Secretary of Defense, we need to take the
question of executive criminality seriously.
And we have to ask ourselves, where is the accountability? Who has the
authority to ascertain whether these high officials committed war crimes
and torture, and if they did, to bring them to justice?
The independent counsel law is no longer on the books, so that can’t be
relied on. Attorney General Gonzales is not about to investigate himself,
Rumsfeld, or his boss. And Republicans who control Congress have shown no
interest in pursuing the torture scandal, much less drawing up bills of
impeachment.
Read the rest of the article here:
http://progressive.org/?q=mag_impunity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News - Plumber Can't Miss Leak
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Wed Jul 27, 8:24 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A British plumber was fined and given a community
service order Tuesday after being captured on hidden cameras urinating
into a vase in a customer's attic and pouring the contents into the
central heating system.
Roy Williams, 47, was caught in the act by trading standards officers
who had rented the house in Leatherhead in southern England and rigged
it with cameras as part of a sting operation to check on tradesmen.
The plumber had been called out to fix a simple fault but instead
missed this and charged 203 pounds for unnecessary work, Steve Playle
of Surrey trading standards told Reuters.
Williams then urinated into a vase, poured the urine into the hot
water tank and rinsed the vase in the cold water tank.
The plumber denied the charges, claiming he had a medical condition
which meant he needed the toilet regularly and had been overcome by
the sound of running water.
He was sentenced to 150 hours community service by Guildford Crown
Court on charges of deception and making false trades descriptions,
and was ordered to pay 3,778 pounds in fines and costs incurred
cleaning the water tanks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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11August2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
11 August 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TELL A FRIEND ABOUT <:>i n t e r a l i a<:>
http://lhostelaw.com/iaad/ia_ad.htm
In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- recusant
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Charles Baudelaire
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Intuition Over Intellect
6. Weird News - Likely Stories Both
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
recusant (REK-yu-zant, ri-KYOO-) adjective
Refusing to submit to authority; dissenting.
noun
1. One who refuses to obey authority.
2. One of the Roman Catholics during 16th and 18th century who refused
to attend services of the Church of England and were punished for it.
[From Latin recusant-, stem of recusans, present participle of
recusare (to recuse or object).]
"The 'recusant Republican senators' who defied their party and 'tipped
the balance in favor of Johnson' won praise from Rehnquist for putting
principle above politics." Gaylord Shaw; Portrait of a Trial, Newsday
(New York); Jan 5, 1999.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
Bonus Word (from subscriber Emily Windes):
This word (and it is ONE word) "xuqu'liilxaaxch'kksh" means
"Are you going to keep tickling me in the face in the same spot repeatedly?"
in Eyak, a native American language of the Eyak people of Alaska.
If you love this fact, read Elizabeth Kolbert's Last Words (Letter from Alaska)
in the June 6 New Yorker. XO from "Lixah daxunh sashet" (the grizzly bear the man killed).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
White Ibis
http://djlphoto.com/0503/whib.htm
Snowy Egret
http://djlphoto.com/0503/sneg.htm
Granada Colors
http://djlphoto.com/0508/granadacolors.htm
Red and Blue Beads
http://djlphoto.com/0508/beads1.htm
LAST ISSUE:
Green Heron
http://djlphoto.com/0508/grhe.htm
Castelo de Vide, Portugal
http://djlphoto.com/0508/castelodevide.htm
White Rose
http://djlphoto.com/0508/flwrs1.htm
Digital Tesselations - 18 images
http://djlphoto.com/0507/tess6.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Be Drunk
by Charles Baudelaire
Translated by Louis Simpson
You have to be always drunk. That's all there is to it--it's the only
way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your
back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk.
But on what? Wine, poetry or virtue, as you wish. But be drunk.
And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace or the green grass of a
ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake again,
drunkenness already diminishing or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the
star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that
is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing,
everything that is speaking. . .ask what time it is and wind, wave,
star, bird, clock will answer you: "It is time to be drunk! So as not
to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On
wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Bankrate.com - Comparison shop for certificates of deposit, atm fees, loans, etc.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/default.asp
Wikipedia - an encyclopedia you help write
http://www.wikipedia.org/
Surprise.com - help with finding the perfect gift
http://www.surprise.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
How Bush thinks: intuition over intellect
Jonathan Chait
August 5, 2005
AS SOMEBODY WHO doesn't have the slightest feeling one way or another
about baseball star Rafael Palmeiro, I have to say that it seems
pretty clear Palmeiro has used steroids. Palmeiro recently tested
positive for steroid use. And then there's former teammate Jose
Canseco's allegation that he and Palmeiro both used steroids, which is
impossible to verify but would seem to explain why Palmeiro's annual
home run total nearly doubled after Canseco joined him on the Texas
Rangers. None of this is ironclad proof, but it seems the simplest way
to reconcile the available data.
President Bush, though, doesn't see it this way at all. When asked
about Palmeiro's positive steroid test, Bush — who knew Palmeiro when
the president owned the Rangers — replied, "Rafael Palmeiro is a
friend. He testified in public and I believe him. He's the kind of
person that's going to stand up in front of the Klieg lights and say
he didn't use steroids, and I believe him."
This statement perfectly crystallizes Bush's thinking. Facts don't
matter to him. What matters is how he feels about the person in
question. In 2001, for instance, Bush met with Russian President
Vladimir V. Putin, and the two hit it off. As Bush later told Peggy
Noonan, Putin recounted to him a story involving a cross given to him
by his mother.
"I said to him, 'You know, I found that story very interesting. You
see, President Putin, I think you judge a person on something other
than just politics. I think it's important for me and for you to look
for the depth of a person's soul and character. I was touched by the
fact your mother gave you the cross.' " Bush publicly testified of
Putin, "I was able to get a sense of his soul."
Personally, I put less weight on the fact that Putin got a cross from
his mother, and more on the fact that Putin has smothered Russian
democracy by outlawing opposition parties, shut down any remotely
skeptical media outlet and subjected his critics to political show
trials. Yet this sort of evidence has had barely any effect on Bush.
Two years later, he was still praising Putin's desire for "a country
in which democracy and freedom and rule of law thrive."
Bush is even apt to apply this particular brand of illogic to his own
character. In one of the 2000 presidential debates, Al Gore pointed
out that Bush as governor of Texas opposed a measure to expand
children's healthcare and instead used the money for a tax cut. The
debate moderator then asked Bush, "Are those numbers correct? Are his
charges correct?" To which Bush replied, "If he's trying to allege
that I'm a hardhearted person and I don't care about children, he's
absolutely wrong."
The style of Bush's reply is telling. Gore was trying to make a point
about Bush's moral priorities by establishing a series of facts about
Bush's behavior. Rather than deny having chosen tax cuts over
children's healthcare, or explain his rationale for having done so,
Bush changed the subject to more comfortable ground: judging people's
hearts. He asked the audience to intuit, based on the way he carries
himself, that he is a warmhearted person, and thus to reject out of
hand any facts that might clash with this impression.
The point isn't just that Bush refuses to engage with facts he finds
inconvenient. (Many fail that test.) It's that Bush rejects reason
itself. Reason is a process by which we draw our broader conclusions
from an accumulation of specific evidence. When the evidence changes
("Hey, this Putin guy seems to be squelching dissent"), our
conclusions can also ("Perhaps he doesn't love democracy as much as he
said he did!"). Bush, on the other hand, arrives at his beliefs
through intuition. His supporters marvel at the unshakeable certainty
of his convictions. Well, no wonder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A guy with some explaining to do...
Mon Aug 8
ROME (Reuters) - A Macedonian man left his wife at an Italian service
station and only realized he had driven off without her six hours
later, news agency Ansa said Monday.
The couple, who were traveling with their 4-year-old daughter, pulled
over for gas in the coastal city of Pesaro as they were heading back
to their home to Germany.
After filling the tank, the husband drove away -- without noticing
that his 30-year-old wife had got out of the car to go to the toilet.
The woman, who had no money or documents with her, contacted the
police who eventually traced her husband to Milan, some 210 miles
north of Pesaro, Ansa said.
The husband told police he hadn't missed his wife because she always
sat in the back of the car with their daughter
= = = =
Man accidentally runs over wife twice
Wed Aug 10
BERLIN (Reuters) - A 75-year-old German was so shocked he had
accidentally run down his wife he started forward and drove over her
again, authorities said Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT
Police in the western town of Bad Nauheim said the man compounded his
73-year-old wife's misery after an onlooker told him he had just run
her over while backing out of a parking space. The woman was rushed to
hospital and survived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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21October2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:> 21 October 2005
Editor's Note: Which of the following best describes
criminal negligent behavior?
- - -
1.
On Aug. 31, Bahamonde [Marty Bahamonde, first FEMA
official in New Orleans after Katrina landfall]
e-mailed Brown [Michael "Brownie" Brown, former
director of FEMA] to tell him that thousands of
evacuees were gathering in the streets with no food or
water and that "estimates are many will die within
hours."
"Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical," Bahamonde wrote. "The sooner we can get the medical patients out, the sooner we can get them
out."
A short time later, Brown's press secretary, Sharon
Worthy, wrote colleagues to complain that the FEMA
director needed more time to eat dinner at a Baton
Rouge restaurant that evening. "He needs much more
that (sic) 20 or 30 minutes," Worthy wrote.
"Restaurants are getting busy," she said. "We now have
traffic to encounter to go to and from a location of
his choise (sic), followed by wait service from the
restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."
In an Aug. 29 phone call to Brown informing him that the first levee had failed, Bahamonde said he asked for guidance but did not get a response.
"He just said, 'Thank you,' and that he was going to call the White House," Bahamonde said.
- - -
2.
Bus driver charged in connection with deadly fire
DALLAS (AP) -- The driver of a bus on which 23 elderly
hurricane evacuees died in a fire was charged today with criminally negligent homicide.
Authorities said they concluded the driver failed in his duty to keep his passengers safe.
Jose Robles Gutierrez was driving the bus carrying
elderly residents of a Houston-area nursing home to
Dallas-area facilities to escape the approach of
Hurricane Rita last month when it caught fire.
Witnesses had said Gutierrez helped pull passengers
from the bus before it was fully engulfed in flames on
Interstate 45 near Wilmer on Sept. 23. But Dallas
County sheriff's spokesman Don Peritz said
investigators could find no proof of that.
The 37-year-old driver was detained by immigration
officials after the fire as an illegal immigrant and
remains in custody.
Federal officials shut down Global Limo Inc., for whom
Gutierrez was driving. No comment was available today from Global, whose phone has been disconnected.
<http://www.ktbs.com/news-detail.html?cityid=1&hid=27166>
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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 -- malversation
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Daniel Anderson
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - National Parks Under Siege
6. More Reading -- God, Big Brother, New Orleans,
and the mess they've made.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
````````````````` 1. A Word A Day ````````````````` malversation (mal-vuhr-SAY-shuhn) noun
Corrupt behavior in public office.
[From Middle French malversation, from malverser (to
embezzle), from Latin maleversari (to behave badly),
from male (ill) + versari (to behave), from vertere
(to turn). Ultimately from Indo-European root wer- (to
turn or bend) that is also the source of words such as
wring, weird, writhe, worth, revert,
and universe.]
"[Ramon Magsaysay] called for inquiries into the
alleged malversation of the Motor Vehicles Users
Charge and the reported overpricing of the project."
Rome C. Jorge; Senator Proposes Reforms; The Manila
Times (Philippines);
Jul 22, 2005.
--
>> From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
Graphic depiction of malversation:
<http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1020051delay1.html>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Tesselated Building Facades
<http://djlphoto.com/0509/tessedbigd1.htm>
Deep Ellum
<http://djlphoto.com/0509/deepellum2.htm>
LAST ISSUE:
Big Bend National Park
<http://djlphoto.com/bigbend/bbnptit.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day -- Daniel Anderson
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Sunflowers in a Field
Sunflowers in a field.
Goldfinches everywhere.
They gorge on seed. They rise
To rest along the power line, then fall
Like drizzled lemon drops, like lozenges
Of candied yellow light.
Two weeks a year, goldfinches
Gather on sunflowers here.
These evenings after supper,
You see them in the honey-soft glow
As if they'd trapped and somehow stored
The rapture of September's sun.
You see goldfinches flicker
Among sunflower lanes,
Through mortal tides of light,
Through streams of apricot and chardonnay,
And you resolve to live
Your life with greater sympathy.
Sunflowers bowing their char black dials,
Their petals twist and writhe
Like fires, like silk coronas blazing west.
How inconceivable, then,
The pewter cold-front clouds,
The shabby settlement of crow and wren.
Though no one hears the oath,
You shall, you tell yourself,
Forgo deceit, increase the tithe.
Atone. Forgive. Embrace. You watch
Goldfinches and sunflowers both
Begin to fade. By subtle green degrees
They shed that bullion luster of the sun
Until the finches ricochet
Like flints among the drowsing flower heads.
Perhaps, as I have done,
You'll pace the darkling half mile home,
Intent on picking up the telephone
To reconcile with long-lost friends.
You will apologize, concede.
You'll vow to never, ever, ever let
Such distance grow again.
But then you reach your door and find
The day diminished to a thin blue rind
Of light above the township silhouette.
How nice a hot bath sounds.
Dessert. An herbal tea.
Perhaps you'll read the Arts
And Leisure pages of The Daily News.
With every stair you climb
Sleep settles just a little more behind
The knees, beneath the shoulder blades.
The calls, you tell yourself,
Perhaps some other time.
Daniel Anderson
The Southern Review
Spring 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Exploratorium -- the museum of science, art and human
experience.
<http://www.exploratorium.edu/>
Web Exhibits -- an online museum, with exhibits that encourage people to ask questions and examine issues from several points of view.
<http://webexhibits.org/>
Audubon's Birds of America
<http://www.audubon.org/bird/BoA/BOA_index.html>
Discovery.com
<http://www.discovery.com/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
October 21, 2005 Editorial The National Parks Under Siege
from The New York Times
Year after year, Americans express greater
satisfaction
with the National Park Service than with almost any
other aspect of the federal government. From the point
of view of most visitors, there is no incentive to
revise the basic management policy that guides park
superintendents, a policy that was last revised in
2001
and is usually re-examined only every 10 or 15 years.
Longtime park service employees feel much the same
way.
Yet in the past two months we have seen two proposed
revisions. The first, written by Paul Hoffman, a
deputy
assistant secretary in the Interior Department, was a
genuinely scandalous rewriting that would have
destroyed the national park system.
On Tuesday, the Interior Department released a new
draft. The question isn't whether this revision is
better than Mr. Hoffman's drastic rewrite. Almost
anything would be better than his version, a glaring
example of the zeal to dilute conservation with
commercialism among political appointees in the
Interior Department. But the new draft would still
undermine the national parks.
This entire exercise is unnecessary, driven by
politics
and ideology. The only reason for revisiting and
revising the 2001 management policy was Mr. Hoffman's
belief, expressed during a press conference earlier
this week, that the 2001 policy is "anti-enjoyment."
This will surely come as news to the 96 percent of
park
visitors who year after year express approval of their
experiences. The kind of enjoyment Mr. Hoffman has in
mind - as clearly evidenced by his draft and by
remarks
from Interior Secretary Gale Norton - is opening up
the
parks to off-road vehicles, including snowmobiles. The
ongoing effort to revise the 2001 policy betrays a
powerful sense, shared by many top interior officials,
that the national parks are resources not to be
protected but to be exploited.
This new policy document doesn't go as far as the
earlier version. But it would eliminate the
requirement
that only motorized equipment with the least impact
should be used in national parks. It would lower air-
quality standards and strip away language about
preserving the parks' natural soundscape - language
that currently makes it hard, for instance, to justify
allowing snowmobiles into Yellowstone. It would also
refer park superintendents to other management
documents that have been revised to weaken fundamental
standards and protections for the parks.
Mr. Hoffman and National Park Service officials have
tried to argue that this new policy revision offers
greater clarity. What it really offers is greater
flexibility to interpret the rules the way they want
to. The thrust of these changes is to diminish the
historical, and legally upheld, premise that
preservation is the central mission of the park
system.
Here, for instance, is what this proposed policy
revision would remove from the very heart of the park
system's mission statement: "Congress, recognizing
that
the enjoyment by future generations of the national
parks can be ensured only if the superb quality of
park
resources and values is left unimpaired, has provided
that when there is a conflict between conserving
resources and values and providing for enjoyment of
them, conservation is to be predominant."
These unambiguous words contain the legal and
legislative history that has protected the parks over
the years from exactly the kind of change Mr. Hoffman
has in mind, allowing all the rest of us to enjoy the
national parks in ways that are more respectful of the
future and of the parks themselves.
One of the most troubling aspects of this revised
policy is how it was produced. Instead of being shaped
by park service professionals thinking in a timely way
about how to do their jobs better, this is a defensive
document that was rushed forward to head off the more
sweeping damage that Mr. Hoffman's first draft
threatened to do. It is a tribute to the National Park
Service veterans who worked on it that they were able
to mitigate so much of the harm, even though they,
too,
were working directly under Mr. Hoffman's eye. They
risked their jobs to protect the parks from political
appointees in the Interior Department. This is a
measure of how distorted the department's policies
have
become.
There is more potential damage on the way. At least
two
deeply worrying new directives have been handed down.
One allows the National Park Service to solicit
contributions from individuals and corporations
instead
of merely accepting them when they're offered. This is
another way to further the privatization of the
national parks and edge toward their
commercialization.
Privatizing the government's core responsibilities -
like the national parks - is unacceptable, and so is
the prospect of any greater commercial presence in the
parks.
More alarming still is a directive released last week
that would require park personnel who hope to advance
above the middle-manager level to go through what is
essentially a political screening. What we are
witnessing, in essence, is an effort to politicize the
National Park Service - to steer it away from its
long-
term mission of preserving much-loved national
treasures and make it echo the same political mind-set
that turned Mr. Hoffman, a former Congressional aide
to
Dick Cheney and a former head of the Cody, Wyo.,
chamber of commerce, into an architect of national
park
policy.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/opinion/21fri1.html?pagewanted=print>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. More Reading - ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
An Icon Imperiled
Too Much to Love in New Orleans, Too Much to Lose
<http://djlphoto.com/articles/iconimperiled.htm>
Why do we believe in God?
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1590776,00.html>
What a mess they've made!
-- Molly Ivins
<http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=miv>
Big Brother is listening
<http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,69277,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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23November2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
23 November 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TELL A FRIEND ABOUT <:>i n t e r a l i a<:>
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In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- obsequious
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - Teaching the Stork Theory, et al.
6. Weird News - They may have it backwards . . . it more likely insults the dogs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
obsequious (ob-SEE-kwee-uhs, uhb-) adjective
Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning.
[Middle English, from Latin obsequiosus, from obsequium,
compliance, from obsequi, to comply : ob-, to + sequi, to
follow.]
"This year's US PGA Championship has almost been overshadowed by
the continuing and (to European ears) delightful row over money,
though it is scarcely surprising that some of the US players
possess egos too big to fit into a sponsored Cadillac, given the
way the obsequious American media gush all over them. Sample:
Davis Love III being interviewed on television yesterday. `Davis
Love, major tournament winner, and major human being, welcome.'"
Martin Johnson, Golf: A Charitable Lot These Americans, The Daily
Telegraph, 16 Aug 1999.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Mississippi River - Color, Motion, and Form (five images)
http://djlphoto.com/0511/rc2.htm
Caitlin (11 images)
http://djlphoto.com/caitlin/c10.htm
LAST ISSUE:
Tesselated Building Facades
< http://djlphoto.com/0509/tessedbigd1.htm>
Deep Ellum
< http://djlphoto.com/0509/deepellum2.htm>
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Theme
It's a sunny weekday in early May
and after a ham sandwich
and a cold bottle of beer on the brick terrace,
I am consumed by the wish
to add something
to one of the ancient themes —
youth dancing with his eyes closed,
for example,
in the shadows of corruption and death,
or the rise and fall of illustrious men
strapped to the turning
wheel of mischance and disaster.
There is a slight breeze,
just enough to bend
the yellow tulips on their stems,
but that hardly helps me
echo the longing for immortality
despite the roaring juggernaut of time,
or the painful motif
of Nature's cyclical return
versus man's blind rush to the grave.
I could loosen my shirt
and lie down in the soft grass,
sweet now after its first cutting,
but that would not produce
a record of the pursuit
of the moth of eternal beauty
or the despondency that attends
the eventual dribble
of the once gurgling fountain of creativity.
So, as far as the great topics go,
that seems to leave only
the fall from exuberant maturity
into sudden, headlong decline —
a subject that fills me with silence
and leaves me with no choice
but to spend the rest of the day
sniffing the jasmine vine
and surrendering to the ivory governance
of the piano by picking out
with my index finger
the melody notes of "Easy to Love,"
a song in which Cole Porter expresses,
with put-on nonchalance,
the hopelessness of a love
brimming with desire
and a hunger for affection,
but met only and always with frosty disregard.
-- Billy Collins
The Trouble with Poetry
Random House
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Bird Flu Facts
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/
Pandemicflu.gov
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
U.S. Newspaper Archives on the Web
http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/archives.html
U.S. Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
PART ONE:
"[Intelligent design] is not a
scientific argument at all, but a religious one. It
might be worth discussing in a class on the history of
ideas, in a philosophy class on popular logical
fallacies, or in a comparative religion class on origin
myths from around the world. But it no more belongs in
a biology class than alchemy belongs in a chemistry
class, phlogiston in a physics class or the stork
theory in a sex education class."
Rest of the story:
< http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1559743,00.html >
One side can be wrong
--Accepting 'intelligent design' in science
classrooms would have disastrous consequences,
warn Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne
Thursday September 1, 2005
The Guardian
= = = =
PART TWO:
"You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the
war on terror," President Bush said on September 25, 2002.
Rest of the story:
< http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2005/1122nj1.htm >
Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept From Hill Panel
By Murray Waas, special to National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005
= = = =
PART THREE:
"What has become of the American people that they
permit the despicable practices of tyrants to be
practiced in their name?" former Reagan administration
official Paul Craig Roberts recently asked. "The Bush
administration is in violation of the US Constitution,
the rule of law, the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg
Standard, and basic humanity. It is a gang of
criminals," he wrote.
Rest of the story:
< http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/05/11/far05001.html>
Tired of Being Lied to? Modern History You Can't Afford to Ignore
Part 1 of a 3-Part Series
by Maureen Farrell
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. Weird News -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Pit bull ad insults lawyers: court
By Michael Peltier Thu Nov 17, 3:34 PM ET
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida law firm's
television advertisement featuring a pit bull, a dog
breed known for its aggression, is misleading and an
affront to the legal profession, the Florida Supreme
Court ruled on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT
Responding to a complaint by the Florida Bar, the
state's highest court sanctioned a pair of Fort
Lauderdale attorneys whose advertisement showed a
spike-collared pit bull in the company logo. The bar
also objected to the company's telephone number: 1-800-
748-2855 or 1-800-PIT BULL.
The advertisements "demean all lawyers and thereby harm
both the legal profession and the public's trust and
confidence in our system of justice," Chief Justice
Barbara Pariente scolded a unanimous decision.
The court said the ads violated a prohibition on legal
advertising that suggests behavior, conduct or tactics
that are contrary to rules of professional conduct.
Attorneys John Robert Pape and Marc Andrew Chandler
were ordered to attend an advertising ethics workshop
and receive a public reprimand from the Florida Bar.
Pape disagreed with the ruling but stopped short of
saying the court was barking up the wrong tree.
"I really can't get into it much," Pape said. "It's a
hot-button issue for me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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21December2005
<:> i n t e r a l i a <:>
21 December 2005
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
An archive of past issues of <:>inter alia<:> is
online, with issues dating back to April 1998:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_archive.htm
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TELL A FRIEND ABOUT <:>i n t e r a l i a<:>
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In Today's Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
1. A Word A Day -- frisson
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
3. Quote of the Day -- Billy Collins
4. HotSites - Miscellany
5. Reading List - A) The 4th; B) Need for Speed; C) Insidious culture of surveillance
6. Weird News - By the Numbers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````
1. A Word A Day
`````````````````
frisson (free-SON) noun
A sudden, brief moment of excitement or fear; thrill, shudder.
[From French frisson (shiver), from Old French friçon, from Late
Latin friction-, from Latin frictio (friction), from Latin
frigere (to be cold).]
"I get to find small but interesting differences related to
communication in Japan and the United States that still give me a
pleasurable frisson of surprise." Kate Elwood; Surprising
Differences; The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo, Japan); Jan 24, 2005.
--
>From A Word A Day:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
2. Graphics of the Day -- by David J. L'Hoste
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
THIS ISSUE:
Jessica and Olivia (four images)
http://djlphoto.com/0512/oj4a.htm
Table for Two
http://djlphoto.com/0510/tablefortwo.htm
The Mask
http://djlphoto.com/0510/mask.htm
American Art
http://djlphoto.com/0510/americanart.htm
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (seven images)
http://djlphoto.com/0512/bbwd1.htm
LAST ISSUE:
Mississippi River - Color, Motion, and Form (five images)
http://djlphoto.com/0511/rc2.htm
Caitlin (11 images)
http://djlphoto.com/caitlin/c10.htm
--
GOTD Archives:
http://lhostelaw.com/iaa/ia_graphics.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
3. Quote of the Day --
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
It is possible to be struck by a
meteor or a single-engine plane
while reading in a chair at home.
Safes drop from rooftops
and flatten the odd pedestrian
mostly within the panels of the comics,
but still, we know it is possible,
as well as the flash of summer lightning,
the thermos toppling over,
spilling out on the grass.
And we know the message
can be delivered from within.
The heart, no valentine,
decides to quit after lunch,
the power shut off like a switch,
or a tiny dark ship is unmoored
into the flow of the body's rivers,
the brain a monastery,
defenseless on the shore.
This is what I think about
when I shovel compost
into a wheelbarrow,
and when I fill the long flower boxes,
then press into rows
the limp roots of red impatiens --
the instant hand of Death
always ready to burst forth
from the sleeve of his voluminous cloak.
Then the soil is full of marvels,
bits of leaf like flakes off a fresco,
red-brown pine needles, a beetle quick
to burrow back under the loam.
Then the wheelbarrow is a wilder blue,
the clouds a brighter white,
and all I hear is the rasp of the steel edge
against a round stone,
the small plants singing
with lifted faces, and the click
of the sundial
as one hour sweeps into the next.
Billy Collins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
4. HotSites - Miscellany
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
NationMaster.com - comparison stats for nations
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
Yahoo Reference
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/
Langenberg.com - search and get there faster
http://www.langenberg.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
5. Reading List
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
==A.== Remember this?
4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons
or things to be seized."
==B.== The "Need for Speed"
Bush's "Need for Speed" Argument Runs Into the Truth
by Dave Sirota
12/19/2005
In his news conference today, President Bush invoked the need for
speed in the War on Terror as the reason he is illegally ordering
the National Security Agency to conduct domestic surveillance
without search warrants. Sounds like a compelling argument,
right? In the fast-moving world of information age technology, we
can't really afford to make our law enforcers take the time to go
get a warrant, right?
It's true – Bush might have had a point, except for one tiny
little detail he refused to discuss at his press conference:
namely, the fact that current law is so lax that he is already
permitted to get a search warrant 72 hours after surveillance is
conducted. Put another way, the law currently allows Bush to
order surveillance as fast as he possibly can, and allows
surveillance operations to take place immediately. The only thing
that is required is a court-issued warrant that can be ussed
retroactively within 72 hours of when the operation started. And,
as I've noted earlier, the special court that grants these
warrants has only rejected 4 government requests in a quarter
century, meaning getting a warrant is about as easy as it
gets...that is, as long as you aren't trying to do something
wholly outrageous and unrelated to the War on Terror.
And so we're back to the same question: why did the President
order domestic surveillance operations without even asking
retroactively for warrants? In his press conference, Bush tried
to ramrod the entire issue into one of him working to defend
America, and critics supposedly being weak on national security.
But he frontally refused to answer the very simple question when
a reporter put it to him:
QUESTION: Getting back to the domestic spying issue for a moment,
according to FISA's own records, it's received nearly 19,000
requests for wiretaps or search warrants since 1979, rejected
just five of them. It also operates in secret, so security
shouldn't be a concern. And it can be applied retroactively.
Given such a powerful tool of law enforcement is at your
disposal, sir, why did you see fit to sidetrack that process?
BUSH: We used the process to monitor. But also, this is a
different era, different war. It's a war where people are
changing phone numbers and phone calls, and they're moving quick.
And we've got to be able to detect and prevent. I keep saying
that. But this is -- it requires quick action.
This is a form of lying that is worse than even the day-to-day
lying that goes on in politics. This is premeditated lying –
lying where everyone in the room knows a calculated lie is being
told; lying where the facts invoked in the very question asked is
patently ignored. How could he possibly cite the need for speed
as the reason for refusing to get search warrants, when those
warrants can be issued retroactively, and thus do not slow down
operations in any way at all?
There really is only one explanation that a sane, rational person
could come up with: The surveillance operations Bush is ordering
are so outrageous, so unrelated to the War on Terror and such an
unconstitutional breach of authority that he knows that even a
court that has rejected just 4 warrant requests in 25 years will
reject what he's doing. All you have to do is look at recent news
reports about federal law enforcement and military assets being
deployed against domestic anti-war and peace groups to know that
this is well within what the Bush White House sees as acceptable
behavior.
And it is clear, they aren't going to relent. As the Associated
Press reports, "President Bush brushed aside criticism over his
decision to spy on suspected terrorists without court warrants
Monday and said he will keep it up 'for so long as the nation
faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill
American citizens.'"
So even after public outcry, and even after a courageous reporter
pointed out that the White House's "need for speed" answer
doesn't hold water, the President stood up and said screw the
law, screw the constitution, I'm going to do it anyway - and I'm
not going to provide any legal justification for any of it.
This scandal has quickly ripped the veneer off this White House's
use of "national security" in the post-9/11 world. It sees
"national security" not as a priority in defending America, but
as a slogan that justifies smarmy, used-to-getting-whatever-they-
want politicians trampling the laws that are supposed to confine
state power. This has nothing to do with the need for speed, or
the need to fight terrorists – it has everything to do with an
out-of-control, paranoid President believing he is above the laws
that have governed this country for 200 years. And if America
lets this stand – if we let the law be "brushed aside" - we set a
dangerous precedent for future presidents to trample our
Constitution.
==C.==
From the Boston Globe
An insidious culture of surveillance
By Thomas Oliphant, Globe Columnist | December 20, 2005
WASHINGTON
IT ALWAYS STARTS SMALL, almost logically.
In a basically free society, abuses of civil and human rights
often initially make sense, which appears to have been the case
when President Bush took his baby steps toward a system of
warrant-free, electronic surveillance of persons inside the
United States -- some citizens, some not.
Over time, however, the inch that government first takes becomes
a mile, and that also appears to have been the case, as senators
and congressmen from both parties, who were too trusting
initially, are beginning to understand. The one enduring lesson
that conservatives used to teach effectively is that government
that is not checked, balanced, and watched like a hawk can
gradually become oppressive.
And now, it's happened again.
The latest abuse of civil rights and the Constitution began with
the first round of captures of Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan
and Pakistan in the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks.
Some of these terrorists were caught in possession of their
cellular telephones and laptop computers. Naturally, it occurred
to the US agents involved to see where these cellphones and hard
drives led -- a perfectly understandable notion.
And then, as night follows day, it all got out of hand, morphing
into a system of snooping that can only be justified by
authoritarian theories of executive supremacy, complete with
legal justifications for a super-secret program that are
themselves super-secret.
The clue that even the government recognizes it is doing wrong
lies in the almost laughable inability of top officials to
discuss all this without resort to the tortured euphemism that
authoritarians always rely on.
President Bush's truculent response on Saturday to the
surveillance program's belated unmasking by The New York Times --
which held up its story for a year for reasons that remain
largely undisclosed -- included the claim that it was designed
''to intercept the international communications of people with
known links to Al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations."
As always, the problem arises from the government's claim that it
alone decides what a ''link" and ''related" mean; if thousands of
people have had their ''communications" monitored, it follows
that those links are decidedly tenuous, if not nonexistent.
On Sunday, the designated TV spokeswoman, Condoleezza Rice,
invented ''seams", ostensibly exploited by terrorists, between
foreign intelligence and domestic law enforcement capabilities
out of whole cloth. In fact, the government has bugged thousands
of people, and it remains to be seen just how careful the
targeting actually was.
One powerful piece of evidence that it got out of hand is the
fact that surveillance has been government-wide in the last few
years. American groups involved in nothing more than traditional
protest and activism have been infiltrated and followed, by the
FBI red-flagged by military intelligence agencies. There is a
culture of surveillance now, not a few carefully limited
operations against severe and immediate threats.
To those who are continually surprised that government behaves in
this manner, it helps to remember that we have been down this
road before. It is not as if international terrorism is the only
modern threat the US has had to confront. There used to be a
country called the Soviet Union, armed with thousands of nuclear
weapons and motivated by a particularly devious kind of
expansionism. During Vietnam, the war was so controversial that
at any given moment, a large chunk of the country was involved in
trying to stop it -- legally. In both cases, these supposedly
dire threats to national security gave birth to a large
bureaucracy of oppression whose exposure during Watergate led to
what we all thought were lasting reforms.
Even before Watergate exploded, there were two important Supreme
Court decisions that appeared to define the limits of government
power and (in the late 1970s) one important statute that appeared
to close an obvious loophole.
In 1967, much closer to the dawn of the electronic age, the
principle was established that evidence from wiretaps should be
discarded from legal proceedings unless it was produced under the
authority of a court-issued warrant based on a finding of
probable cause that a crime had been committed.
Obviously, that didn't cover purely intelligence-related fruits
from electronic snooping, so five years later a unanimous court
ruled that the wiretapping of alleged domestic subversives
without a warrant was unconstitutional.
That left an obvious loophole with regard to the agents of other
countries, and Congress presumably filled it in 1978 by enacting
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This statute
established a secret court here that had to approve government
applications for surveillance, a court that quickly established
procedures for very rapid approvals in emergency situations.
You would think that had established an understandable, fair and
efficient mechanism, but here we go again with another government
for whom any procedure, any check or balance, is too cumbersome.
You wonder why Bush claims he needs the so-called Patriot Act at
all.
Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.com
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```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
6. By the Numbers -
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````
From Harper's Index
Percentage change in the average monthly price of oil during the
Carter Administration: +85[U.S. Department of Energy/Harper’s
research]
Percentage change during the presidency of George W. Bush, before
Hurricane Katrina hit this fall: +107[U.S. Department of
Energy/Harper’s research]
Days after Katrina hit that Dick Cheney’s office ordered an
electric company to restore power to two oil pipelines:
1[Southern Pine Electric Power Association (Taylorsville, Miss.)]
Days after Hurricane Katrina that the White House authorized
sending federal troops to New Orleans: 4[U.S. Department of
Defense, Northern Command (Peterson, Colo.)]
Number of journalists killed in Vietnam during twenty years of
war there: 63[Reporters without Borders (Paris)]
Number killed in Iraq since March 2003: 71[Reporters without
Borders (Paris)]
Years after the start of the Vietnam War that a majority of
Americans first said it was a “mistake”: 3 1/2[The Gallup
Organization (Washington)]
Years after the start of the Iraq War that a majority said this:
1 1/4[The Gallup Organization (Washington)]
Number of out-of-town men who posted to New Orleans’s Craigslist
site seeking refugee women: 49[Harper’s research]
Number of women who posted for refugee men: 4[Harper’s research ]
Percentage of homes in Orleans Parish that lacked flood
insurance: 54[FEMA (Washington)/U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland,
Md.)]
Number of consecutive years that the U.S. median income has
failed to increase: 5[U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)]
Number of consecutive years that the percentage of Americans
living in poverty has increased: 4[U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland,
Md.)]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ia~~~~~~
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