00.000.1968 Bush legte sein Geschichts-Diplom in Yale ab, Kerry machte zwei Jahre zuvor an der Elite-Universität im nordöstlichen Bundesstaat Connecticut einen Abschluss in Politikwissenschaft.
In ihrer Einstellung unterschieden sich die späteren Kontrahenten um das mächtigste Amt der Welt jedoch offenbar.
Bush, der erklärtermaßen keine Zeitungen liest, neigte eher den Frauen + dem Alkohol zu und durchfeierte seine College-Zeit unter anderem in der Verbindung Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE), die für die wildesten Partys auf dem Campus berüchtigt war. Kerry knüpfte währenddessen seine ersten politischen Verbindungen an der Spitze der Studentenvereinigung. URL: https://de.news.yahoo.com/041025/286/49jcz.html
25.Okt.2004 Fest steht: Viele ehemalige Mitglieder der Verbindung "Skull and Bones" haben es zu etwas gebracht.
So gehörte Präsident Bush senior dem Geheimclub ebenso an wie der
27. US-Präsident William Howard Taft, der Mitbegründer des Time-Magazins, Henry Luce, oder der Chef der New Yorker Börse, William Donaldson.URL: https://de.news.yahoo.com/041025/286/49jcz.html
25.Okt.2004 Bushs + Kerrys gemeinsamer dunkler Punkt
New Haven (AFP) - So verschieden und integer sich George W. Bush + John Kerry im Wahlkampf geben - einen dunklen Punkt in ihrer Vergangenheit teilen die Rivalen um den Einzug ins Weiße Haus.
Während ihrer Studienzeit an der renommierten Yale-Universität waren sowohl der amtierende US-Präsident
als auch sein demokratischer Herausforderer
Mitglied des Geheimclubs "Skull and Bones" (Schädel und Knochen),
um den sich finstere Legenden ranken.
So soll der Geheimbund über die sterblichen Überreste des Indianerhäuptlings Geronimo verfügen, die seine Mitglieder für Initiationsriten verwenden, bei denen Neu-Mitglieder angeblich vor den anderen masturbieren müssen. URL: https://de.news.yahoo.com/041025/286/49jcz.html
The Dominators dream of empire.
Not only will THEY extend their temporal power, THEY believe it will also give them immortality.
One of Dominators chief gurus, Reaganite firebreather Ledeen, Michael says that if the Dominators reject "clever diplomacy" + "just wage total war" to subjugate the Middle East,
"our Dominators children will sing great songs about us Dominators years from now."
This madness, this bin Laden-like megalomania, is now driving the hijacked USA republic - + the world - to murderous upheaval.
It's all there in the text, set down in black + white.
Read it and weep...>> URL : https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2326.htm
25.Oct.2004 Space station crew back on Earth
25.Oct.2004 INVESTIGATING AL-QAEDA KEY STORIES https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3764954.stm.htm
'New al-Qaeda tape' is released
Lebanon 'militant's' angry burial
Pakistan holds al-Qaeda suspects
Musharraf hails blow to al-Qaeda
Camp of controversy
Reviews and court challenges swirl around Guantanamo
Zarqawi and Bin Laden
Al-Qaeda undiminished
19.Oct.2004 The Coming Week: New Election Blues By Nat Worden
19.Oct.2004 Trading should grow tight as the presidential campaign nears a conclusion.
25.Oct.2004 Throughout the occupation of Iraq, American officials have struggled to construct an accurate portrait of the insurgency they have been fighting.
In discussing this most recent intelligence, the officials appeared to present a fuller picture of the security problems than has been provided in previous interviews or other public statements.
But just as some earlier intelligence estimates before the war have proved incorrect, specialists acknowledge that the current assessments, too, are inevitably imperfect.
14.Oct.2004 Making sense of our times: Excerpts from "Is There an Islamic Problem?", M. Shahid Alam, The Electronic Intifada
25.Oct.2004 America, Imagine This! Print this
20.Oct.2004 M. Shahid Alam, Electronic Iraq,
07.Jun.2001 -in my-() letter-cited accounting + auditing issues raised by the high-profile accounting debacles :
With respect to the case studies- it was agreed that GAO would review().
When appropriate + if time allows, GAO’s review will also include Enron + Global Crossing.
GAO will study SEC closed/settled case files, where available, + publicly available information otherwise.
Third , I am pleased to have the distinguished chairman of USA Senate Banking Committee join me in asking GAO to investigate these important accounting issues.
The Senator’s letter (enclosure) correctly notes that "the collapse of Enron Corp. has heightened concern about the adequacy of financial reporting in the USA."
Enron is unique in that it is the largest bankruptcy in USA history + Enron Corp. demise from its perch as our 7th largest company has had a tremendous impact on shareholders + employees. But the accounting irregularities that brought Enron down are not unique to that company, as the case studies will amply demonstrate. Pursuant to GAO’s Congressional protocols, which require that the original requester of GAO work approve the addition of any co-requesters, I had intended to agree to Senator Sarbanes’ inclusion as a co-requester on GAO’s accounting work for me, exclusive of the governance report which is essentially completed. I am informed that Senate Banking Committee staff have rejected that cooperative approach at this time. They have, however, advised GAO to proceed without interruption with the work that I have requested. I appreciate that courtesy.
Thank you for your cooperation and attention to this matter. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this project.
The confidence of the American public in the existing system of "private regulation" has been destroyed.
Your work is an integral part of our efforts to build something new and credible that serves the public interest.
15.Oct.2004 Version Published on Friday, by CommonDreams.org
A Little Patriotic Sacrifice by Bill Moyers
There are moments when you see suddenly crystallized in a particular event, a threat to democracy as ominous as the smoke rising from Mt. St. Helens.
01.Oct.2004 Unocal unit announces successful delineation drilling in the Gulf of Thailand -Bangkok - Unocal Thailand, Ltd., today said that it has completed successful delineation drilling in the South Gomin operating area, comprising approximately 319 sq. km. located in the concession Block 13 in the Gulf of Thailand.
07.Dec.2001 03:06 PM EST Halliburton Buried as Investors Stop Believing -By TSC Staff
Halliburton's (HAL:NYSE - news - commentary - research - analysis) shares dove to nine-year lows Friday as investors lost faith in the company's claims that asbestos litigation would never catch up with it.
Shares of the Houston-based oilfield services company fell $8.11, or 38%, to $12.74, after a Baltimore jury ordered it to pay $30 million to plaintiffs who claimed they developed cancer after being exposed to products made by a unit of Halliburton's Dresser Industries.
00.000.1992 The unit, Harbison-Walker, was spun off by Dresser in.
The news exacerbated investor skepticism that Halliburton would be able to escape the asbestos claims without meaningful harm to its financial position, something it had claimed in filings as recently as last month.
In an SEC filing earlier this week, Halliburton disclosed that a court in Orange, Texas, entered judgments on jury awards totaling $100.7 million against Dresser in two suits,
while a Mississippi jury ordered $21 million in damages against the unit.
Halliburton will challenge the Baltimore verdict in post-trial motions and appeal it if necessary.
28.Sep.2004 Unocal elects not to proceed with East China Sea E&P project
21.Sep.2004 El Segundo, Calif.,- Unocal Corporation (NYSE: UCL) + the Royal Dutch/Shell Group
today said they have elected not to proceed with their participation in five contracts to explore for, develop + market natural gas resources in the Xihu Trough of the East China Sea.
Unocal completes partial redemption of trust convertible preferred securities
About Unocal Corporation
Unocal is one of the world's leading independent natural gas + crude oil exploration + production companies with principal operations in North America + Asia.
By clicking the links below, you'll get the full table of contents for the issue you select.
00.Oct.1995 -Stories from before- are available only by using the search engine. To get a BW Digital single copy of any of these issues click here.
13.Apr.2001 -Published on Friday, in the Boulder Daily Camera Our USA Fake Energy Crisis: What Really Happened in California
13.Apr.2003 In the current issue of Business Week, the cover story is on Exxon Mobil's plan to take advantage of the "energy crisis." This would normally be funny, given that Exxon is in the oil business + (as most people outside the Oval Office are aware), the oil business has nothing to do with electricity.
However, Exxon's acquisition of Mobil, which is rich in natural gas,
unleashes a corporate behemoth of unprecedented size.
Exxon also has a corporate culture that would give nightmares to "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap of business fame.
Here are some interesting facts from the Rocky Mountain Institute:
The cheapest source of new electricity is efficiency;
the next cheapest is burning soft coal, which is a gross polluter;
and the next cheapest after that is wind power — 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.
00.Mar.2000 Former federal appellate judge Abner Mikva, an adjunct professor at the law school, expressed "amazement" over the "incredible influence" of the 140 campus Federalist chapters: "Where so many of the nation's leaders are groomed, the Federalists manipulate the landscape.
It was once held that liberals ran the law schools.
The liberals had the name but the Federalists own the game. For students on the go, there is no where else to go."
Provocation 101 Side Bar: Provocation 101,
The Federalist Society on American's Campuses.
The Federalist Society The Conservative Cabal That's Transforming American Law
For two hours the lawyers sat around a table eating sandwiches, as Olson and Bork advised Davis how best to present his brief urging that the case against Clinton proceed immediately to trial. To the justices, Olson emphasized, the most pressing problem would be whether the President should be distracted from his elected job + how the lower court could address his special needs. He urged Davis to convince the high court that Jones would accommodate the president in terms of court dates, depositions + other infringements on his schedule.
As they all prepared to leave, Davis said, "Someday somebody will ask me who was present at this meeting." Did anyone mind his name being mentioned? Olson didn¹t seem to care, neither did Bork. But Conway and Marcus, who had kept their participation in the Jones case from their law partners--some of whom were Democrats close to the White House--continued to insist upon complete anonymity.
22.Oct.2004 George, God here ... President Bush has words with the Almighty -Terry Jones, Friday -
25.Okt.2004 Sehr geehrte Chefredakteure, Programmleiter, Fernsehdirektoren, Eventdenker, Kaufhauschefs!
Sehr verehrte Planer von Freizeitparks, Loveparades, Expos und all dem anderen Nonsens!
Lasst die Finger weg von unserer Langeweile!
Sie ist unser letztes Ich-Fenster, aus dem wir noch ungestört, weil unkontrolliert in die Welt schauen dürfen!
Hört auf, uns mit euch bekannt zu machen!
Hört auf, euch für uns etwas auszudenken!
Sagt uns nicht länger, was wir wollen!
Bleibt uns vom Leib, schickt uns keine portofreien Antwortkarten und gebt uns keine Fragebögen an die Hand, interviewt uns nicht, filmt uns nicht, lasst uns in Ruhe!
Lasst uns herumstehen, denn Herumstehen ist Freiheit!
Und gebt euch zufrieden damit, wenn wir das, was uns interessant vorkommt, vielleicht niemandem erzählen wollen."
25.Okt.2004 "Am bedeutsamsten ist für uns heute ausgerechnet ein Lustspiel, 'Leonce und Lena'.
Denn in diesem Lustspiel tritt ein Leiden auf, das im Laufe der Zeit an Einfluss immer mehr zugenommen hat, das Leiden an der Langeweile.
Bei Büchner wird Langeweile nicht vertrieben, sondern angenommen.
Von dieser Errungenschaft sind wir meilenweit entfernt. Langeweile bei Büchner ist eingestandener Stillstand, der beim Subjekt bleibt.
25.Okt.2004 Allerdings zitierte die "Bild"-Zeitung den Kanzler in ihrer Samstagausgabe mit einer Prognose für die Bundestagswahl 2006: "Ich glaube, das kann man gewinnen."
00.000.1837 Büchner Georg Dramatiker starb in Zürich.
25.Oct.2004 Denn wo viel Geld diskret versammelt ist, da herrscht auch große Vorsicht. Terre Blanche, ehemals eine Länderei des James- Bond-Darstellers Sean Connery, gehört seit 1999 dem deutschen SAP-Milliardär Dietmar Hopp, 64. Der investierte etwa 250 Millionen Euro, unter anderem für eine neue Umgehungsstraße + lässt nun nach und nach insgesamt 85 Grundstücke verkaufen.
Zentrum der Anlage ist ein von der kanadischen "Four Seasons"-Kette betriebenes Luxushotel, dessen Gäste ausschließlich in villenartigen Suiten logieren. Die teuerste, rund 10.000 Euro pro Nacht, wird gelegentlich von Stars wie Britney Spears gebucht. Treten technische Probleme auf, so schleichen Handwerker diskret durch unterirdische Gänge herbei und reparieren die Elektrik, ohne groß zu stören.
Unter Sicherheitsaspekten ist das Hotel inmitten von Terre Blanche jedoch ein Restrisiko; jeder kann hier Kaffee trinken. Die Wege zu den Privatparzellen innerhalb des Areals werden deshalb nochmals durch Schranken versperrt, die sich nur mit Chipkarte öffnen lassen.
Kontrollwahn? Paranoia auf dem Lande? Der Rückzug in die Binnenwelt eines solchen Ghettos ist keineswegs ein Spleen von Superreichen.
Als Reaktion auf ein soziales Klima, das als immer bedrohlicher empfunden wird, haben bewachte Wohnkomplexe entlang der ganzen Côte d'Azur Konjunktur. Terre Blanche ist lediglich das exklusivste Beispiel einer Reihe ähnlicher Anlagen, sei es die "Domaine Le Grand Duc" in Mandelieu oder die mit Maschendrahtzaun bewehrte "Domaine du Loup" in Villeneuve-Loubet bei Nizza, seien es Apartmenthäuser wie im "Parc Bruyère" in Cannes.
"Alle wollen am liebsten in eine gesicherte Anlage", sagt Alexandra Loersch von der Serviceagentur "Perfect Home" in Ste. Maxime. Alle - das sind in erster Linie gut situierte Briten, Skandinavier, Deutsche und Pariser, denn Südfrankreich ist Hochpreispflaster.
25.Oct.2004 spricht Leoluca Orlando über Mut + erklärt kurz + bündig, was für ihn ein Held ist: "Ein Held ist ein Mann, der keine Angst hat, zu sagen und zu tun, was er glaubt und was er will."
25.Oct.2004 In Times mager sieht Hilal Sezgin im kürzlich veröffentlichten Manifest der Neurowissenschaftler vor allem ein Menetekel für die Tiere : Mehr als 1 Million Mäuse, 2000 Affen, 5000 Hunde, 653 Katzen mussten 2003 in Deutschland als Versuchstiere herhalten.
25.Oct.2004 Im Feuilleton zerpflückt Uwe Justus Wenzel das Manifest führender Hirnfoscher, das eine neue Demut der Großhirne erkennen lässt und auch kleineren Geistern eine gewisse Freiheit zugesteht. "Wasch mir den Pelz, aber mach mich nicht nass? - Woher die Fülle der Ungereimtheiten, das Auf und Ab von Ambition und Dementi? Waren an dem Papier zu viele verschiedene Gehirne beteiligt, sind sie noch zu keiner Partei verschmolzen? - Angesichts der latenten Anmaßung der Hirnforschung, sich zur Gesellschaftslehre aufzuschwingen, muss man die manifeste Verwirrung nicht unbedingt bedauern." Das Manifest ist auf den Seiten von Gehirn und Geist zu lesen.
23.Oct.2004 Die Welt, Die französische Diplomatin Sylvie Goulard hat einen Essay veröffentlicht - "Le Grand Turc et la Republique de Venise" - in dem sie den EU-Beitritt der Türkei zu einem "kapitalen Fehler" erklärt. Das Buch war in Frankreich sehr erfolgreich.
Im Interview begründet Goulard ihre Auffassung: "Wenn wir die Union um die Türkei erweitern, dann haben wir eine gemeinsame Grenze mit dem Iran , mit Aserbeidschan, mit Syrien. Damit überschreitet die Europäische Union ihre Grenzen im geografischen + politischen Sinn.
Die Türkei ist das Land mit der größten Bevölkerung, den größten kulturellen Unterschieden und noch sehr unterentwickelt. Diese Kombination überfordert die Union ."
Und, sagt sie, "wenn wir schon an der Grenze des Irak sind, können wir schlecht den Marokkanern sagen, sie seien keine Europäer".
Seit fünf Jahren steht der Kosovo unter UN-Verwaltung. Heute wählen die Kosovaren ein neues Parlament.
Der Schriftsteller Beqe Cufaj kritisiert die bisherige Politik der Europäer + der UNO + fordert den Westen auf, endlich ein "klares Signal" zu setzen, "dass es keine Rückkehr der serbischen Regierungsgewalt ins Kosovo geben kann."
25.Oct.2004 Paul B. Baltes + Ulman Lindenberger, beide Direktoren am Berliner Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung, erklären die individuelle Entwicklung als "Kokonstruktion der Einflüsse aus Kultur + Biologie".
25.Oct.2004 In der Leitglosse kolportiert "apl" Norbert Blüms Spitze gegen das Opel-Management: "Bei den Jungs muss man vorsichtig sein, nach jedem Handschlag die Finger zählen ."
25.Oct.2004 So kann man mit den Worten des Schriftstellers + früheren Darmstädter Oberbürgermeisters Heinz-Winfried Sabais feststellen: 'Gute Beispiele verderben schlechte Sitten.'"
23.Oct.2004 Die Tageszeitung Auf der Meinungsseite findet der Schriftsteller Yitzhak Laor scharfe Worte für das Verhältnis zwischen Israel und Deutschland . "Emotionale Erpresser aus Israel, die die Tantiemen für die Leiden unserer Eltern und Großeltern einstreichen, versehen deutsche Politiker, von den Grünen bis zur CSU, mit einem amtlichen Siegel als beglaubigte Humanisten . Was für ein Erbe."
Außerdem erklärt Daniel Cohn-Bendit im Interview, warum sich an der Türkei die Zukunft der EU entscheidet.
23.Okt.2004 Berliner Zeitung, Im Magazin finden wir ein Interview mit Amos Oz ("Eine Geschichte von Liebe und Finsternis"), der über das Verhältnis zwischen Jerusalem + Europa nachdenkt: "Meine Eltern, meine Großeltern, sie waren nicht diejenigen, die mit der Titanic in der großen, großen Katastrophe untergingen, nein, sie waren diejenigen, die im Dunkeln ins Meer geworfen wurden, vom Deck der Titanic, während der Ball + das Festmahl in vollem Gange waren + alle ausgelassen sangen + tanzten.
Sie haben sich niemals, niemals von dieser Verletzung erholt.
Sie schufen ein Mini-Europa in einem winzigen Keller, gefüllt mit Büchern in siebzehn verschiedenen europäischen Sprachen , sie träumten von Europa, sie liebten die Landschaften, die Atmosphäre, die Kunst, die Geschichte, die Literatur und über allem die Musik. Oh, sie beteten die Musik an." Nach dem, was es verbrochen hat, ist Europa nicht in der Postition, eine "Politik des erhobenen Zeigefingers gegenüber den Arabern oder den Israelis, Amerikanern oder Irakis" zu pflegen, findet Oz. "Ich denke, Europa sollte in Weltangelegenheiten viel mehr direkte Verantwortung und Hilfe zeigen und viel weniger moralisieren und andere belehren, wie sie sich zu verhalten haben und wie nicht."
25.Oct.2004 Allerdings zeigt das "Absolventenbarometer 2004" auch: IT-Beratungsunternehmen und IT-Dienstleister haben erheblich an Anziehungskraft verloren, dagegen ist der öffentliche Dienst stark im Kommen
25.Oct.2004 Studenten + junge Berufseinsteiger haben ab sofort die Chance, ihre Managementfähigkeiten unter Beweis zu stellen.
Für das Strategiespiel "CEO of the Future" suchen die Unternehmensberatung McKinsey & Company + das manager magazin engagierte Akademiker + Berufsanfänger, die spielerisch die Geschäftsführung des virtuellen Pharmaunternehmens CardioChem übernehmen.
25.Oct.2004 Experten beziffern die jährlichen Kosten durch tabakbedingte Krankheiten in der EU auf 100 Milliarden Euro, was einem Prozent des Bruttoinlandsprodukts entspricht. Die Einnahmen aus der Tabaksteuer betrugen im Jahr 2003 in Deutschland rund 14 Milliarden Euro.
Die Tabakindustrie argumentiert mitunter zynisch, wenn es darum geht, die volkswirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Rauchens zu berechnen. Laut einer vom Philip-Morris-Konzern in Auftrag gegebenen Studie aus dem Jahr 2000 spart das tschechische Gesundheitssystem jährlich 190 Milllionen Dollar, weil Raucher früher sterben als Nichtraucher.
25.Oct.2004 Die Schädlichkeit des Rauchens ist unbestritten + in Dutzenden Studien bewiesen.
Anfang des Jahres hatte ein internationales Forscherteam festgestellt, dass Rauchen sogar regelrecht verdummt.
Eine Untersuchung an 10.000 Teilnehmern hatte ergeben, dass langjährige Raucher bei Intelligenztests im Rentenalter deutlich schlechter abschneiden als Nichtraucher.
Auch Passivrauchen stellt ein hohes, häufig unterschätztes Risiko dar.
00.Aug.2004 -Erst Ende- hatten japanische Forscher vorhergesagt, dass Tokio in den nächsten 50 Jahren mit 90 % Wahrscheinlichkeit einem schweren Erdbeben zum Opfer fallen werde. Die Wissenschaftler hatten im Auftrag der Regierung die Beben der vergangenen 120 Jahre untersucht und ein statistisches Modell entworfen.
01.Sep.1923 -am- Die letzte große Katastrophe hat Tokio getroffen: Ein Erdbeben der Stärke 8,3 auf der Richterskala ließ Häuser einstürzen + löste Feuersbrünste aus.
Etwa 142.000 Menschen kamen ums Leben.
25.Oct.2004 Tenet said a developing nation's low per capita income, high unemployment among young men and high infant mortality rate strongly increase its likelihood of becoming a "terrorist safe haven."
00.000.2010 100 million people outside of Africa will be infected with HIV," Tenet said. "The secondary implications of this are staggering."
He said the work of public health officers, missionaries and literacy teachers in third world nations are crucial to the war on terrorism, because terrorists build supporters by spinning poverty as a form of humiliation caused by wealthy nations like the USA. URL: https://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2004/10/21/news/news1.txt
25.Oct.2004 Tenet said that while the Iraq war was "rightly being challenged," the CIA was making important strides toward success in the greater war on terrorism.
He said the USA is "winning the war on terror" due to the CIA's efforts to "capture or kill" three-quarters of al-Qaida's leaders, pinpointed before 9/11. He expects to see Osama bin Ladin captured. URL: https://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2004/10/21/news/news1.txt
25.Oct.2004 Tenet: CIA made errors -BENTON TOWNSHIP - Although he emphasized that CIA Central Intelligence Agency boasts "tremendously talented men + women," former CIA Director George Tenet said it "did not live up to our expectations as professionals" regarding the 11.Sep.2001 , terrorist attacks and the search for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"We had inconsistent information + we did not inform others in the community of gaps in our intelligence," Tenet said. "The extraordinary men and women who do magnificent work in the CIA are held accountable every day for what they do + as part of keeping our faith with the American people, we will tell you when we're right or wrong."
Tenet called the war on Iraq "wrong" in a speech Wednesday night to 2,000 members of The Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center. He did not elaborate.
Despite proclaiming to be "as forthcoming as I can," Tenet made light of a question about whether or not the USA made an error in committing intelligence to the search for nonexistent WMDs in Iraq rather than exploring terrorism elsewhere.
Tenet apologized for being rude but did not answer the question.
He did add that he doesn't think the Iraq war was wholly bad. URL: http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2004/10/21/news/news1.txt
25.Oct.2004 Moqtada Sadr Ready to Support Mujahideens in Fallujah: The radical Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr expressed his readiness to support “the Mujahideens in Fallujah”, the Sunnite stronghold north of Baghdad, which is being under USA forces’ pressure for the last several weeks
Who are the terrorists in Falluja: Relatives of Ateka Abdel Hamid, 24, did not know that this seven-month pregnant woman was a terrorist until the day she died. As the family collected the mutilated bodies of Ateka and her family, a USA spokesman boasted that the "multinational forces" killed a number of terrorists and Al-Zarqawi supporters during an offensive in Falluja. The terrorists, it turned out, were Ateka, her three-year-old son Omar, her husband Tamer and six other members of her family.
25.Oct.2004 Why Are Some American Christians So Bloodthirsty? : Understanding Pro-war Christians' Indifference to Civilian Deaths
25.Oct.2004 USA diplomat killed in Baghdad mortar attack: A State Department security officer was killed Sunday during a mortar or rocket attack at a USA base near Baghdad International Airport, the USA Embassy announced.
25.Oct.2004 I Didn't Know I Was Unamerican : Song and Video: Flash presentation
25.Oct.2004 I'm learning how to spell "defibrillator" I still favor the "earpiece theory of the Bush bulge.
(And I hope you'll read the post below this one,
which outlines the simple step you can take
to make sure
this story
makes the front pages ::::->
But the defibrillator theory of Bush's bulge has been growing like...er...some sort of a bulge.
And now it even has its own website. I'd like to direct everyone's attention to this bit, which has appeared on a number of diffeent sites:
After watching the third presidential debate Wednesday night, Dr. W. Kendall Tongier, M.D. of Dallas, Texas posted on the Dallas Morning News Web site about his concerns that the President may have had a stroke.
The anesthesiologist, who has been in practice for 15 years, wrote:
"Having watched the first two debates from start to finish, I was looking forward to listening to a spirited debate between Bush + Kerry.
Unfortunately, I barely heard a word that was said.
Instead, I found myself staring at + concentrating on the President's drooping mouth.
"As a physician + a professor, I tend to pick up on signs + symptoms of physical problems better than most other people.
I am highly concerned with what I saw.
The drooping left side of the President's face, his mouth + nasolabial fold (the crease in the face running from the nostril to the side of mouth) may be indicative of a recent stroke, TIA (transient ischemic attack)) or, possibly botox injections.
I sincerely hope this was nothing more than botox injections.
The other options are truly scary given an upcoming election for President in three weeks."
In a phone interview, Dr. Tongier stressed that he's not a neurologist + no doctor can make a diagnosis from a 90-minute debate.
But he did explain why he found Bush's face so distracting Wednesday night: "It struck me across the face to the point where I wasn't really listening to the debate. It looked like the left side of his mouth was downturned. You know how he sneers at times.
At first I thought that's what it was, but it didn't change when his face was at rest.
It changed when he talked, but you'd expect that.
It's the loss of muscle tone there that's really kind of concerning.
And it was pretty much persistent throughout the entire debate."
Some have also wondered whether Bush's mysterious on-then-off trip to Crawford, TX had any links to health concerns. This site
reports that Bush's resting heart rate is 45. Is that true, + is it stable?URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
25.Oct.2004 We could go to war...but it would be wrong George Tenet, until recently the head of the CIA, admits in public that the invasion of Iraq was "wrong." Yet millions of beans-for-brain G.O.P. supporters think they know something about Middle East politics that Tenet doesn't. URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
24.Oct.2004 Can a Kerry Justice Department bring a RICO suit against the Republican Party? You know about the scurrilous tactics of the Rovians this election. You've heard, for example, of the illegal registration drives, which threw out Democratic registration forms.
Now we have fake "election officials" collecting absentee forms from voters in Florida. Democratic votes - headed straight for the round file.
If, in spite of these horrors, Kerry manages to pull off a win, must we continue to operate under the delusion that these assaults on our democratic rights are isolated incidents? They've occurred again and again and again , all over the country.
What we face here is nothing less than a criminal conspiracy. Which means that the ringleaders -- a group which may well include Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove -- can, should and must be prosecuted under the RICO statutes.
Kerry, as a former prosecutor, knows how to break a conspiracy wide open:
Grab some small fish + pressure them until they agree to testify against the higher-ups. URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
24.Oct.2004 Can AP rig the vote? This article, by former BBC writer Lynn Landes, alleges that Associated Press has unprecedented authority over the election night vote totals:
The Associated Press (AP) will be the sole source of raw vote totals for the major news broadcasters on Election Night.
However, AP spokesmen Jack Stokes + John Jones refused to explain to this journalist how the AP will receive that information.
They refused to confirm or deny that the AP will receive direct feed from voting machines and central vote tabulating computers across the country.
But, circumstantial evidence suggests that is exactly what will happen.
And what can be downloaded can also be uploaded.
Computer experts say that signals can travel both to and from computerized voting machines through wireless technology, modems + even simple electricity. Computer scientists have long warned that computer voting is an invitation to vote fraud and system failure. An examination of Diebold election software by several computer scientists, including Dr. Avi Rubin and his staff, proved that secret backdoors can be built into computer programs that allow votes to be easily manipulated without detection. One scenario: "Massaged" totals fed to AP will affect the vote on the west coast by giving iffy wins to such states as Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio and Minnesota. Even if the data is corrected as the night progresses, depressed Democratic voters in Nevada and Oregon may not see much point in going to the polls. This could be a particular problem in Oregon, where an anti-gay marriage ballot proposition will fetch a heavy Jesus-voter turnout. URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
24.Oct.2004 October Surprises and Iran -- it's a tradition Former Reagan NSC aide Wayne Madsen reports that his sources tell him the October Surprise will be a strike against Iran. Odd, isn't it? The Iranian government just said that it endorses Bush over Kerry! URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
24.Oct.2004 Drudge is trying to convince his readers that anti-Bush writers are all bloodthirsty bastards.
I should note that all three (yes, I said all three ) of the persons named were of the right; Hinckley was the son of a Bush family friend.
The link went to this hilarious article by Charlie Brooker. A few excerpts:
Quite frankly, the man's either wired or mad. If it's the former, he should be flung out of office: tarred, feathered + kicked in the nuts.
And if it's the latter, his behaviour goes beyond strange + heads toward terrifying.
He looks like he's listening to something we can't hear.
He blinks, he mumbles, he lets a sentence trail off, starts a new one, then reverts back to whatever he was saying in the first place.
Each time he recalls a statistic (either from memory or the voice in his head), he flashes us a dumb little smile, like a toddler proudly showing off its first bowel movement...
And then I start hunting around the internet, looking to see what the US media made of the whole "wire" debate.
And they just let it die. They mentioned it in passing, called it a wacko conspiracy theory and moved on.
Yet whether it turns out to be true or not, right now it's certainly plausible - even if you discount the bulge photos + simply watch the president's ridiculous smirking face.
Perhaps he isn't wired. Perhaps he's just gone gaga. If you don't ask the questions, you'll never know the truth.
The silence is all the more troubling since in the past the USA news media has had no problem at all covering other wacko conspiracy theories, ones with far less evidence to support them. That last bit works as a nice jab against double-standardized Drudge himself.
A suggestion, Mr. Brooker: Never joke about assassination.
We cannot fairly castigate Ann Coulter for this sort of remark while at the same time exempting you.
Aside from that ill-considered jest in the final paragraph, yours was a terrific article - one of the best to come out of the "promptergate" controversy. URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
24.Oct.2004 These words get near the correct answer.
The USA fundamentalist has entered into a world of perfect paranoia;
any data which does not fit into the fundamentalist-approved scenario is a viewed as a lie told by a "liberal" media commandeered by Satan himself. Outsiders cannot even begin to conceive of the influence wielded by Tim LaHaye and his fear-mongering comrades.
I saw much the same thing happen in the 1970s. Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth swept the country by storm -- but it was an underground storm (if you'll forgive such a skewed metaphor). The thing had nationwide impact precisely because intelligent people thought it unworthy of response.
If Bush wins, he'll have LaHaye to thank. URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
24.Oct.2004 One poster to Democrats.com noted this startling irregularity:
Here is a remarkable passage from Bill Minutaglio's First Son, George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty, Random House, NY, 1999 Pg. 151.
"David Anderson was another PULL employee, two years older than Bush, and he especially liked the fact that Bush had made arrangements to take some of the PULL kids such as Jimmy up for their first airplane ride.
"The day of the ride, Bush asked his sixteen-year-old brother, Marvin, to come along. One of the PULL kids started popping off, making noise, once they were up in the air. Bush stalled the engine for a second + the passengers, scared to death, grew quiet."
00.000.1973 -At the time of this flight - Bush had been GROUNDED by the Air Force for failing to take (or pass) his annual flight physical.
Did Bush even have a civilian pilot's license?
If Bush had been grounded, how could his civilian license be unaffected?
Did Bush commit a crime by flying an airplane without a current civilian license?
Apart from the law, did Bush endanger the lives of these children by taking them up in a plane when he was unfit to fly? One follow-up question: Would the parents of this kids have appreciated seeing the youngsters "get high" with a guy doing community service for coke use?
11.Sep.2001 -Looks like- was not the only time Bush endangered children! URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
23.Oct.2004 Vote fraud! America is the new Florida You want a conspiracy, folks? Just look at the way this election is shaping up.
I'll still cover every detail of the bulge business ( see the "second voice" post directly beneath this one! ). But we also need a site -- actually, a few dozen sites -- devoted to tracking the many allegations of vote-stealing dirty tricks. These stories are growing by the hour:
In Nebraska, dead people were found to have applied for absentee ballots. In Ohio, a representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was found to have offered crack cocaine to a known drug addict in exchange for completed voter registration forms, which he duly submitted in the names of Mary Poppins, Janet Jackson and Jeffrey Dahmer, the notorious cannibal serial killer. The disease is spreading all over the country. One, two, many Floridas...
South Dakota:
Questionable absentee ballots across the state lead to criminal charges.
Six Republican notary publics face misdemeanors in connection with absentee ballot applications filled out on South Dakota college campuses. Here's a neat trick in swing-state Pennsylvania:
Then there’s Pennsylvania, where Republicans are trying to relocate 63 Philadelphia polling places, 59 in largely minority neighborhoods. Republicans claim those polling places are not adequate for voters, but didn’t file their complaint until Friday. Since voters who go to the wrong polling place will not be able to vote, the last-minute nature of the complaint (which is expected to fail) sure makes it look like an attempt to suppress minority voting:
"I've never witnessed a more wanton example of an effort to discourage minority voters from participating in an election," Kerry campaign spokesman Mark Nevins told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's despicable." Also in Pennsylvania:
Sproul & Associates, a consulting firm based in Chandler, Ariz., hired to conduct the drive by the Republican National Committee, employed several hundred canvassers throughout the state to register new voters. Some workers yesterday said they were told to avoid registering Democrats or anyone who indicated support for Democratic nominee John F. Kerry.
"We were told that if they wanted to register Democrat, there was no way we were to register them to vote," said Michele Tharp, of Meadville, who said she was sent out to canvass door-to-door and outside businesses in Meadville, Crawford County. "We were only to register Republicans." Sproul's been up to dirty work in Oregon, Nevada, West Virginia + elsewhere:
Substitute teacher Adam Banse wanted a summer job with flexible hours, so he signed up to knock on doors in suburban Minneapolis and register people to vote.
He quit after two hours. "They said if you bring back a bunch of Democratic cards, you'll be fired," Banse contends. "At that point, I said, `Whoa. Something's wrong here.'" Still more on Sproul:
A political consulting firm owned by the former head of the Arizona Republican Party, which contacted several libraries regarding voter registration drives, has come under scrutiny after a former employee told authorities that thousands of voter registration forms submitted by Democrats were destroyed. Oregon officials are now investigating Voters Outreach of America, a group run by the Nathan Sproul-owned Sproul & Associates, which received $500,000 from the Republican party. You'll also want to check out this fine investigative piece by Capitol Hill Blue on Sproul.
Meanwhile, back in Florida (naturally):
the elections office contacted police after Democrats complained about men videotaping people in front of the office all day. USA Rep. Corrine Brown and coalition members confronted them in the evening. But Scheu said the videotaping was allowed on a public sidewalk across the street.
"We're powerless to stop them," Scheu said.
Owner Fred Hillerich of Price Rite Investigations of Jacksonville declined to say who hired his firm to videotape events at the office. But he said he had done the work elsewhere before, and "I ain't doing anything to nobody."
"I'm sure it is, it's intimidation," said the Rev. Willie M. Bolden, a Southern Christian Leadership Conference official who joined others questioning Hillerich. "They're doing all kinds of things across the state." More from Florida (expect to see a LOT more):
Gordon Sasser first got the feeling that something strange was going on when the telephone pierced the silence of a weekday afternoon at his house on the swampy fringes of Tallahassee, northern Florida.
An automated voice had some surprising news: did he know that he could now cast his presidential vote by phone + could do so right now, using the keypad? Mr Sasser’s suspicion that somebody was trying to trick him into thinking he was casting a vote - presumably so that he wouldn’t cast a real one - was far from unique.
James Scruggs, another Tallahassee resident, remembers a similar unease about the young woman who phoned him at home, insistently offering to collect his absentee ballot to ensure its safe delivery.
Then there was the elderly woman who called the local elections office last week to register her husband for an absentee vote. According to office staff, as she hung up she made a point of thanking them: she wouldn’t have thought to get in touch about her husband, she said, if it hadn’t been for their helpful call the night before, when someone had taken her own details, assuring her that she was now registered and would receive a ballot.
But the elections office makes no such calls. Ohio:
The state's Democrats had filed a lawsuit challenging Blackwell's directive instructing county elections boards not to give ballots to voters who come to the wrong precinct and to send them to the correct polling place on Election Day.
Blackwell has said allowing voters to cast a ballot wherever they show up, even if they're not registered to vote there, is a recipe for Election Day chaos.
The Ohio Democratic Party and a coalition of labor and voter rights groups had argued that Blackwell's order discriminated against the poor and minorities, who tend to move more frequently. More on intimidation of voters in Ohio:
The Republican Party plans to station thousands of recruits at Ohio polling places during next month's election to challenge newly registered voters.
One election officials said Ohio has never seen what's about to happen, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Saturday...
The massive GOP campaign has forced officials to prepare for unprecedented disruptions in the voting process, as well as alarm and complaints among voters, many of whom are expected to feel intimidated by the Republican effort. Yes, even in California:
Santa Clara County, CA - Pollworkers in Santa Clara County are being trained not to offer voters a chance to use paper ballots instead of electronic voting machines, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has learned. California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley mandated in May that all polling places offer a paper ballot option, which would allow people concerned about e-voting machine reliability a chance to vote on paper ballots at the polls. But pollworkers in Santa Clara County are being instructed not to tell voters that this option is available. Instead, they will make paper ballots available only if voters specifically request them.
Ed Cherlin, a pollworker being trained in Santa Clara County, said he was very disturbed to learn that he was not supposed to mention the paper option. "I object to the government telling me that I can't tell people about their rights," he said. You've just seen the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Those of you who have devoted whole websites to the "bulge" factor -- maybe you should start tracking this stuff as well.
# posted by Joseph : 11:57 PM 2 comments "Second voice" heard during debate? You be the judge... Another bulge-watcher has just made the "second voice" audio excerpt from debate three more easily available. Listen for yourself here. URL: https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/
URL: https://groups.google.com/groups?q=author:political.commentator%40gmail.com&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=81d56bb5.0410240417.4e81719d%40posting.google.com&rnum=10
24.Oct.2004 [ Subject: Does Bush have to wear an electronic defibrillator during times > [ From: "Richard Clark" <cardinolo@comcast.net> > [ Date: 23 Oct 2004 15:11:38 -0500 > > Does Bush have a kind of heart disease that requires him to wear an > electronic defibrillator during times of stress? Is this why he has > refused to take a physical and share the results with the public, as > all presidential candidates have done before him? > > https://bushsdefibrillator.blogspot.com > > https://politicalcommentator.blogspot.com/ > > And we have controversy over a wire in Bush's jacket at the debates: > > https://puppetstring.blogspot.com/ > > We also have a box on the presidents back: > > https://isbushwired.com/ > https://cannonfire.blogspot.com/ > https://bushwired.blogspot.com/ > https://bushbulge.com/ (send an automatic letter to reporters at > this site)
URL: https://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&q=author:political.commentator%40gmail.com+
24.Oct.2004 Groups Results 1 - 89 of about 209 for author:political.commentator@gmail.com . ( 2.49 seconds)
URL: https://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&q=author:political.commentator%40gmail.com+
24.Oct.2004 https://puppetstring.blogspot.com
URL: https://www.parascope.com/index.htm
24.Oct.2004 Your Next President Masturbated in a Coffin!
ParaScope first exposed the Order of Skull & Bones more than eight years ago. And while you may laugh at the idea that a secret society has members in high places who run the world, keep in mind that your next president will be either John Kerry or George Bush, both members of Skull & Bones + both of whom refused to even discuss their shadowy connections to the group, including when directly questioned about it by Tim Russert on "Meet the Press." If they have nothing to hide, then why refuse to discuss Skull & Bones? One of the purported initiation rites of the group includes masturbating in a coffin, so it's no wonder neither candidate is anxious to dish on the group's more arcane rites. But as you'll learn in Kris Millegan's extensive exposé, there's more going on with Skull & Bones than college pranks and pratfalls
24.Oct.2004 The exclusion of the alleged Prague meeting from the CIA briefing was just one of 35 differences between that version of the Pentagon analysis and the version presented to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the White House, said the Levin report.
The Pentagon has maintained that Feith's operation was not an intelligence outfit, but a policy shop + that its work was appropriate.
In a statement yesterday, the Pentagon said bipartisan reports have noted relationships between al-Qaida and Iraq before the 11.Sep.2001 attacks.
The statement also said a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation this summer found "no evidence that administration officials tried to coerce, influence or pressure intelligence analysts to change their judgments about Iraq's WMD capabilities or links to terrorism."
Democrats, however, have challenged that finding of the Republican-led panel.
In his report, Levin said the CIA also requested a number of corrections to a memo written by Feith and provided to some senators in 2003, before the memo could be distributed widely to the Senate armed services panel.
But, Levin's report says, crucial changes requested by the CIA were not made, including alterations to information about the credibility of a source who provided raw intelligence on the Iraq-al-Qaida link. Levin suggests the changes would have weakened evidence of a link.
The report also cites instances when the Pentagon analysts failed to fully comply with CIA requests that exaggerated claims be deleted or corrected. In one case, the CIA warned Feith's office against using a claim that Saddam's regime knew suspected terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had entered Iraq, saying the assertion was "unsupported."
Rather than remove the long-disputed claim, the Pentagon intelligence unit left it unchanged and "cited a different CIA report in support of (the) assertion," Levin's report said.
24.Oct.2004 Es passt zu Bushs bunkerhaftem, verschlossenem Regierungsstil, dass er bisher niemanden aus der verschworenen Gemeinschaft der Realitätserschaffer im Weißen Haus fallen gelassen hat. Nach dem Skandal von Abu Ghureib, der das Bild Amerikas - vor allem in der arabischen Welt - wahrscheinlich auf Jahrzehnte beschädigt hat, wäre der Rücktritt des verantwortlichen Verteidigungsministers Donald Rumsfeld zwingend gewesen. Aber die Inhaber von Wahrheit und Gewissheit, die derzeit das Weiße Haus besetzt halten, können sich eine derartige Geste der Selbstkritik offenbar nicht leisten - dass Rumsfeld, wie es kürzlich hieß, kein zweites Mal mitregiere, ist bisher nichts als ein Gerücht. In einem Pantheon, das von höheren Gewissheiten zusammengehalten wird, führt das Herausziehen eines einzigen Steins zum Einsturz des ganzen Gebäudes. Wer einen einzigen Zweifel zulässt, gibt bereits das Ganze preis.URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
02.Nov.2004 bezeichnet tatsächlich das Datum einer Entscheidungswahl. Der megalomane Ralph Nader + seine Grünen haben Unrecht:
Es ist nicht egal, ob John Kerry oder George W. Bush gewinnt. Trägt Bush noch einmal den Sieg davon, wird sich ein tief gespaltenes Amerika von seinen Wurzeln in der Aufklärung und vom Hauptweg der westlichen Demokratien ein weiteres Stück entfernen.URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Das Unheimliche ist, dass die einfache Formel der Republikaner - Realität zählt nichts, Entschlossenheit und "Charakter" alles - von einer breiten amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit beklatscht wird.
Die Bush-Leute beschwören einen nostalgischen Traum von Amerika - einem Amerika, das selbst von den Völkern, über die es herfällt, geliebt wird, einem Amerika, das nie einen falschen Krieg geführt und niemals, weder in Vietnam noch im Irak, seinen "moralischen Kompass" verloren hat und folglich das Recht hat, jeden, der Amerika wegen seiner Irrtümer oder gar wegen Kriegsverbrechen kritisiert, als einen Terroristenhelfer zu denunzieren.
Hinter "unserem verharmlosenden Gerede über die Wirklichkeit des Irak-Kriegs", glaubt der Journalist Peter Beinhart in der "New Republic", "steht eine frappierende Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber der Welt, die wir angeblich retten wollen. Es spielt keine Rolle, dass die Iraker uns nicht als Befreier sehen, solange wir uns als Befreier sehen. Es ist völlig gleichgültig, ob die Welt ihr Vertrauen in uns verliert, solange wir Vertrauen in uns selbst haben".URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
24.Oct.2004 "Wir sind jetzt ein Imperium", sagte ein Bush-Berater zu dem Journalisten Ron Suskind von der "New York Times", "und wir schaffen uns unsere eigene Realität. Während Sie diese von uns geschaffene Realität studieren, schaffen wir bereits neue Realitäten, die Sie wiederum studieren können. Wir sind die Akteure der Geschichte + Ihnen, Ihnen allen bleibt nichts, als die Realität zu studieren, die wir geschaffen haben!"URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Einstweilen spielen die Strategen von Bushs Wahlkampagne ein gewagtes Spiel. Da sie in Sachen öffentlicher Armut, Gesundheitsversorgung, Bildungspolitik, Wohlstandswachstum, Haushaltsdefizit, Staatsverschuldung nur negative Bilanzen vorweisen können, setzen sie auf eine einzige Karte: Krieg gegen den Terrorismus. "Noch nie ist ein regierender amerikanischer Präsident während eines Kriegs abgelöst worden" - so der heimliche Gospel der Bush-Kampagne. Folglich muss der Kampf gegen den Terrorismus "Krieg" genannt werden + dieser "Krieg" muss täglich beschworen werden. "Wir sind im Krieg", dröhnt es von den republikanischen Podien, "Wir sind im Krieg", bekommt man aber auch in moderaten Gesprächskreisen in Washington zu hören, wenn jemand die fortschreitende Aufhebung von Bürgerrechten in den USA beklagt. Wer den Begriff "Krieg" unangemessen findet, wer ein anderes Wort benutzt, steht im Verdacht, kein Patriot zu sein. Also muss der Krieg verkündet, am Leben erhalten und durch ständige Appelle zu erhöhter Wachsamkeit beschworen werden. URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Eine entscheidende Rolle bei diesem kulturellen Rückwärtsgang spielt der Vormarsch der so genannten Evangelicals - es handelt sich um religiöse Gruppen, die die absolute Autorität der Bibel für Glauben und Leben betonen. Nach der jüngsten Gallup-Umfrage bekennen sich 42 Prozent der Amerikaner als Evangelicals oder als "wiedergeborene Christen". Im amerikanischen Kongress soll sich der Anteil der Evangelicals von etwa 10 Prozent in den siebziger Jahren auf heute 25 Prozent erhöht haben. Es habe ihn erstaunt, vermerkte William D'Antonio, Verfasser einer Studie über das Verhältnis von Politik und Religion, in wie hohem Maße das religiöse Bekenntnis die ideologische Kluft zwischen Demokraten und Republikanern präge. Die große Mitte der Wählerschaft sei in wichtigen Fragen im Kongress gar nicht mehr repräsentiert. So würden die meisten Amerikaner quer durch die Parteien eine Abtreibung unter bestimmten Bedingungen - Lebensgefahr für die Mutter, Vergewaltigung, Deformierung des Fötus - befürworten. Im Kongress dagegen seien nur noch das - demokratischen Wählern oft zu liberale - Pro der Demokraten und das strikte, von den Evangelicals getragene Contra der Republikaner vertreten.
Kein Kandidat kann heute Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten werden, wenn er nicht im Wahlkampf über sein Verhältnis zu Gott Auskunft gegeben hat. Beide, der Katholik Kerry wie auch der "wiedergeborene Christ" Bush haben dies, wenn auch nicht mit derselben Inbrunst, getan. Nach eigenem Eingeständnis hat Bush in der schweren Stunde der Entscheidung vor dem Angriff gegen den Irak das Zwiegespräch mit Gott gesucht - und offensichtlich Rat erhalten. Gefragt, ob er hin und wieder seinen Vater um Rat ersuche, sagte Bush, er rede viel mit dem "höheren Vater". URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Das konservative Lager in den USA hat sich - wie in Deutschland - erst viele Jahre später davon erholt, dass es die Meinungsführerschaft an die 68er verloren hatte. In den USA hat es erst mit dem Wahlsieg Ronald Reagans die Initiative zurückgewonnen. Viele Freiräume, die die Protestgeneration erstritten hatte, sind seither von den Rollback-Strategen der Republikaner zurückerobert oder eingeebnet worden.
Der vielleicht wichtigste Erfolg der Republikaner dabei ist die stille Eroberung von Schlüsselstellungen in Nachrichtensendern und der gezielte Aufbau lokaler Radio- und TV-Stationen. In den neunziger Jahren, in den Jahren der Regierung Bill Clinton, entwickelte die von Newt Gingrich angeführte "moral majority" den ungebremsten und ressentimentgeladenen Hass auf das liberale Amerika, der auch diesen Wahlkampf bestimmt.
"Es ist verrückt", erklärt mir ein hoher demokratischer Beamter vom Heimatschutzministerium, "inzwischen bin ich 60, aber jetzt kämpfen wir alle, vermeintlich längst erledigten Kämpfe von 68 noch einmal - um Waffenkontrolle, um die Rechte der Schwulen und der Lesben, um das Recht auf Abtreibung, um die Ächtung der Folter und der Todesstrafe, um das Recht, nicht zu beten und am Sonntag nicht in die Kirche zu gehen!"
Das andere Amerika, das George W. Bush vertritt, hat es immer gegeben + es wurde seit je von Europa gern übersehen. Allerdings hat sich das andere Amerika noch nie so radikal in Szene gesetzt wie seit dem Regierungswechsel im Jahre 2000. Viele Amerikaner haben den damaligen Machtantritt als einen Putsch in Erinnerung.
Die letzte Wahl wurde mit 537 Stimmen in Florida für Bush entschieden. Jimmy Carter hat kürzlich in einem dramatischen Appell in der "Washington Post" gewarnt, die Probleme bei der Stimmenauszählung in Florida würden sich "wahrscheinlich" wiederholen, weil die führenden Beamten aus Parteilichkeit dringend notwendige Reformen verhinderten. Die neue, für die amtliche Bestätigung des Wahlergebnisses zuständige Staatssekretärin Glenda Hood sei ebenso wie ihre Vorgängerin Katherine Harris eine treue Gefolgsfrau des Gouverneurs Jeb Bush. Schon sei, wie bereits in der Wahl 2000, der Versuch gemacht worden, Tausenden afro-amerikanischen Vorbestraften - deren Stimmen in der Regel den Demokraten zugute kommen - das Stimmrecht vorzuenthalten. Etwa 4,7 Millionen amerikanische Bürger sind, oft wegen geringfügiger Vergehen, vom Wahlrecht ausgeschlossen; hinzu kommen weitere Millionen, die ihr Wahlrecht nicht wahrnehmen, weil sie glauben, ausgeschlossen zu sein.URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
24.Oct.2004 21:56
Diesmal stehen sich nicht nur zwei Parteien gegenüber, sondern zwei unterschiedliche Ansichten von der Welt, zwei Kulturen, zwei Lebenseinstellungen. Die Wahlergebnisse werden Sieg und Niederlage in einem kulturellen Bürgerkrieg anzeigen, der mit der Bürgerrechtsbewegung und den Vietnam-Protesten offen ausbrach und seither unter der Oberfläche brodelt.
Ein Indiz für diese Zuspitzung sind die Gartenpartys an den warmen Herbstabenden in Washington. In den Clinton-Jahren, aber auch noch vor der Wahl 2000 traf man selbstverständlich bei einer Abendgesellschaft Gäste aus beiden Lagern. Der Gastgeber der jüngsten Party, zu der ich eingeladen war, antwortete auf meine Frage: Natürlich habe er den einen oder anderen republikanischen Freund, aber er würde ihn zurzeit lieber nicht zu einer Party einladen - er könne für den guten Ausgang nicht garantieren.
Viele in Washington reden von einer "globalen Wahl". Ein Nigerianer sagte mir: "Es macht mich wahnsinnig, dass man nur zuschauen kann. Dabei ist diese Wahl für uns in Afrika - genau wie für euch in Deutschland - viel wichtiger als die nächste Wahl zu Hause."
Das Seltsame ist, dass es der Mehrzahl der Amerikaner nicht viel anders geht als den Nigerianern oder Deutschen. Denn die Wähler in den meisten Staaten, die bereits fest in republikanischer oder demokratischer Hand sind - Staaten wie Massachusetts oder Texas - können zum Wahlausgang nicht mehr viel beitragen. Die loyalen Wähler beider Parteien werden für ihre Loyalität dadurch "belohnt", dass sich niemand mehr um sie bemüht. So blicken denn die Wähler von den Küstenstaaten - ebenso wie die anders festgelegten Wähler aus den Flächenstaaten - erbittert auf die zehn so genannten swing states, in denen eine Minorität von "Unentschlossenen" in letzter Minute über den Wahlausgang entscheidet.
Man muss, wenn man die Frontlinien in diesem kulturellen Bürgerkrieg nachzeichnen will, weit zurückgehen. Nicht von ungefähr spielt die Frage, was beide Protagonisten - der Präsident und der Herausforderer - in den Jahren des Vietnam-Kriegs taten, im Wahlkampf eine herausragende Rolle.
In Bush und Kerry stehen sich zwei fast gleichaltrige Vertreter der Vietnam-Kriegs-Generation gegenüber. Beide Yale-Studenten, beide Mitglieder ein und desselben elitären Clubs, beide Söhne aus hoch privilegierten Familien. Dennoch verläuft ihre Geschichte denkbar unterschiedlich. Der eine, Sohn eines späteren Präsidenten der USA, kann den Vietnam-Krieg dank der Beziehungen seines Vaters schwänzen: Er rückt auf der Warteliste der Kandidaten für die Nationalgarde um ein paar hundert Plätze nach vorn. Der andere, der sich ebenfalls hätte drücken können, meldet sich freiwillig zum Kriegsdienst, kommandiert "swift boats", wird mehrfach verwundet + als Kriegsheld ausgezeichnet.URL: https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,druck-324626,00.html
URL: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,druck-324703,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Peinlich für Bush dürfte auch ein Bericht der "Washington Post" sein, dem zufolge die dramatische Warnung vor einen Terroranschlag kurz vor der Wahl am 2. November auf der Erfindung eines CIA-Mitarbeiters beruhte. Bush hatte gemeinsam mit den Chefs des Geheimdienstes CIA und der Bundespolizei FBI am 15. September davor gewarnt, dass Terroristen einen verheerenden Anschlag planten, um den Ausgang der Wahl zu beeinflussen. Angeblich sollten die potenziellen Attentäter sogar schon im Lande gewesen sein.
URL: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,druck-324703,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Zudem drängte das Pentagon nach Informationen des SPIEGEL vehement darauf,
Proper Names + NameBase in :
URL: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,druck-324703,00.html
Allein im Staat Oregon seien drei entsprechende Beschwerden eingegangen, sagte der Leiter der örtlichen Wahlbehörde, Bill Bradbury. Abgeordnete in Pennsylvania beauftragten die Staatsanwaltschaft ebenfalls mit Ermittlungen. Firmeninhaber Nathan Sproul, der frühere Parteivorsitzende der Republikaner in Arizona, wies die Vorwürfe als "Erfindung der Demokraten" zurück.
URL: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,druck-324703,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Washington/New York - Knapp zwei Wochen vor der US-Präsidentschaftswahl muss Amtsinhaber George W. Bush eine Serie von Pannen wegstecken. So ist es bei der Registrierung von Wählern in den USA offenbar zu massiven Unregelmäßigkeiten gekommen. Eine Bushs Republikanischer Partei nahe stehende Beratungsfirma soll Registrierungskarten von mutmaßlichen Wählern der Demokraten vernichtet haben. Außerdem sollen die Angestellten angewiesen worden sein, möglichst nur konservative Wähler zu registrieren.
24.Oct.2004 US-Wahlkampf: Pleitenserie für Bush
URL: https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,druck-324684,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Washington - Kurz vor der US-Präsidentschaftswahl am 2. November stellt sich eine weitere große US-Zeitung hinter John Kerry.
Der Herausforderer verspreche entschlossenes Handeln, kontrolliert dirch Aufgeschlossenheit und Klugheit, hieß es in der Sonntagsausgabe der "Washington Post".
Diese Eigenschaften machten ihn zu einem besseren Kandidaten als Amtsinhaber George W. Bush. Bislang haben in den USA 66 Zeitungen eine Empfehlung für Kerry abgegeben, darunter auch die "New York Times".
Hinter Bush haben sich bislang 57 Zeitungen gestellt.
URL: https://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4572174,00.html
24.Oct.2004 The official also said no concrete plot has been discovered so far with specific mention of time, place, method or identity of would-be attackers.
James Carafano, a homeland security expert with the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, said there's little doubt that al-Qaida wants to send a message with an attack.
``I think they're probably less concerned with affecting the outcome of the election, whether Bush or Kerry wins, but
it would be more prestigious, the capability to do something before the election + really undermine the confidence of the USA,'' he said.
URL: https://www.google-watch.org/
Why we target Google URL: https://www.google-watch.org/
Clusty: more powerful than Google
URL: https://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4572283,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Clues Reinforce Election-Terror Concerns
URL: https://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4572283,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Report on CIA Action Concerns Senators
Sunday October 24, 2004 3:46 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Leading senators expressed concern Sunday about a report that the CIA has secretly moved as many as a dozen unidentified prisoners out of Iraq in the past six months, a possible violation of international treaties.
Sen. John McCain said interrogations can help extract crucial information from detainees on plans for attacks against Americans. But international law, including the Geneva Conventions, must be followed, he said.
``These conventions and these rules are in place for a reason because you get on a slippery slope and you don't know where to get off,'' McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC's ``This Week.''
``The thing that separates us from the enemy is our respect for human rights,'' he said.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., called for new leadership at the Justice Department.
The detainees were removed without notification to the International Red Cross, congressional oversight committees, the Defense Department or CIA investigators, The Washington Post said in Sunday editions, citing unidentified government officials.
The Justice Department drafted a memo dated March 19, 2004, authorizing the CIA to take prisoners out of Iraq for interrogation, according to the report.
Iraqis can be taken out of the country for a ``brief but not indefinite period,'' and that ``illegal aliens'' can be removed permanently under ``local immigration law,'' the newspaper quoted the memo as saying.
The transfers could violate the Geneva Conventions, which do not allow ``individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.''
White House spokesman Sean McCormick said the USA policy is to comply with the international treaty, which protects civilians during war and occupation.
The Bush administration did not consider al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan to be ``protected persons'' under the Geneva Conventions. Many were sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for interrogation.
URL: https://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4570960,00.html
24.Oct.2004 Report on CIA Action Concerns Senators
24.Oct.2004 Bush-Kerry Election May End in Landslide
24.Oct.2004 Edwards: I Won't Raise Retirement Age
24.Oct.2004 Faults Found in USA Election Preparedness
21.Oct.2004 12:46 PM Thursday By ERICA WERNER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -
Foreign observers who watched election preparations in the USA have concluded that there's plenty of room for improvement.
Among the changes they recommend: public financing of elections.
``There are a number of existing problems that pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the 2004 general election in the USA,'' a 20-person delegation invited by the San Francisco human rights group Global Exchange said in a report set for release Thursday.
``The delegation heard from many citizens whose faith in USA electoral processes remains shaken by the events of 2000.''
The observers, who include election officials and former lawmakers from 15 countries, spent a week last month in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Missouri and Ohio. Florida was picked because of the disputed 2000 election, Ohio because it is so hotly contested, Arizona because elections there are publicly financed, Missouri because of voter disenfranchisement in St. Louis in 2000 and Georgia because it is a rare state where voters use only touchscreen voting machines.
The observers found what they viewed as problems-including touchscreen machines that don't print paper records of a vote and elections run by partisan officials.
Among their recommendations:
-Secretaries of state and other election administrators should be nonpartisan;
-Touchscreen voting machines should produce paper records;
-Convicted felons who have served their time should automatically have their voting rights restored, which does not happen in seven states;
-Public financing of elections should be adopted.
As a short-term improvement for 02.Nov.2004 the observers recommended more nonpartisan observers at all levels, arguing such scrutiny would increase voter confidence.
A second team of Global Exchange observers will return to Florida, Missouri + Ohio for Election Day, one of two foreign observing teams that will be watching the election.
The second group is from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe + was invited by the Bush administration.Net: The report is at https://www.fairelection.us/observers-report1.pdf
24.Okt.2004 Pyramidenspiel im Web: 4000 Menschen geschröpft, acht Millionen Euro Schaden