We were all there, for at least half an hour. They knew we were journalists. After they shot Mazen, they aimed their guns at us. I don't think it was accident.Stephan Breitner of France 2 television on Sunday's shooting of Reuter's cameraman Mazen Dana outside of Baghdad. (AP/KansasCity.com)
I think it was then that I realized that it wasn't Mount Rushmore or any other big tourist attraction that was going to turn me on. What was going to fascinate me were purple flowers on the side of the road in Wisconsin that screamed out, "There are colors that you thought were only made up by painters.""We encountered zero black people in our 14 days, zero Asians and two Latinos." The Rockwells tell the New York Times about their 14-day RV trip around the U.S., timed "to catch our daughter at the very end of her childhood, to enjoy a family experience before she escaped forever into the dreaded wasteland of teen-dom."
The five-story dormitory was riddled by gunfire. FBI investigators estimated that more than 460 rounds struck the building, shattering every window facing the street on each floor. Investigators counted at least 160 bullet holes in the outer walls of the stairwell alone -- bullet holes that can still be seen today.The May 1970 Tragedy at Jackson State University.
originally posted by xowie
Let's also be honest that gambling would not be our first-choice vice if we were designing this fantasy-come-true from scratch. But gambling will do. It will definitely do. Bill Bennett has been exposed as a humbug artist who ought to be pelted off the public stage if he lacks the decency to slink quietly away, as he is constantly calling on others to do.Michael Kinsley, Bill Bennett's Bad Bet.
originally posted by xowie
The primitive tribalism of boys at football games -- ''We're number one!'' -- has been transformed into an axiom of strategy. Military force has replaced democratic idealism as the main source of US influence.A nation lost by James Carroll.
originally posted by xowie
Without a word, Mellor walked out of the bar, climbed into his gray 1989 Cadillac, and drove to the nearby house on J Street where he lived alone. He laid the gun, which still had a bullet in the chamber and eight more in the 18-round magazine, on his television set and calmly called 911. He told the dispatcher that he'd just killed a man "over the war," according to police reports.War Crime by Bob Norman.
originally posted by xowie
LA Times: Red carpet isn’t out for war activists.
Los Angeles police are gearing up for demonstrators on both sides of the Iraq war debate outside the Oscars on Sunday, but the activists won't be allowed to get within sight of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, where celebrities will be arriving for the 75th Academy Awards ceremony.That's a rather arbitrary abrogation of the First Amendment, if you ask me.
The Bush doctrine is built on two pillars: (1) The United States will do everything in its power to maintain its unquestioned military supremacy; and (2) the United States arrogates the right to preemptive action.George Soros, The Bubble of American Supremacy.
These pillars support two classes of sovereignty: American sovereignty, which takes precedence over international treaties and obligations, and the sovereignty of all other states. This is reminiscent of George Orwell's Animal Farm: All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. To be sure, the Bush doctrine is not stated starkly; it is buried in Orwellian doublespeak. The doublespeak is needed because the doctrine contradicts American values.
They are counting on the combination of battlefield omniscience, smart bombs and new weapons like microwave pulses and nausea gases to drive Baghdadis out of their homes and bunkers. The use of "nonlethal" (sic) weapons against civilian populations, especially in light of the horror of what happened during the Moscow hostage crisis last October, is a war crime waiting to happen.War-Mart by Mike Davis.
originally posted by xowie
When one of the protest leaders, Jodie Evans of Venice, Calif., tore off her full-length pink slip and presented it to Mrs. Clinton, the senator walked out.Medea pink slips Hill.
"I am the senator from New York," she said, "and I will not put people's security at risk."
"But you are," the demonstrators shouted at her as she exited.
originally posted by xowie
Occasionally he would stare blankly into space during lengthy pauses between statements -- pauses that once or twice threatened to be endless. There were times when it seemed every sentence Bush spoke was of the same duration and delivered in the same dour monotone, giving his comments a numbing, soporific aura. Watching him was like counting sheep.Tom Shales thinks the president "may have been ever so slightly medicated" for his press conference last night.
originally posted by xowie
AP: Guantanamo Detainees Moved to New Prison
But as U.S. officials have privately acknowledged, many of these people are totally innocent.
Direct from Phil Agre’s RRE, “several astounding articles about the coming election in Florida”