12.06.2003
Quoting Right-Wing Intimidation
terrorism:
\Ter"ror*ism\, n. [Cf. F. terrorisme.] The act of terrorizing, or state of being terrorized; a mode of government by terror or intimidation. --Jefferson.
"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God." - George H.W Bush
We're fighting against humanism, we're fighting against liberalism ... we are fighting against all the systems of Satan that are destroying our nation today ... our battle is with Satan himself. -- Rev. Jerry Falwell
"Let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good.... If a Christian voted for Clinton, he sinned against God. It's that simple.... Our goal is a Christian Nation... we have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want Pluralism. We want theocracy. Theocracy means God rules. I've got a hot flash. God rules." -- Randall Terry, leader "Operation Rescue"
"Any violence which does not spring from a spiritual base, will be wavering and uncertain. It lacks the stability which can only rest in a fanatical outlook." --Adolf Hitler from Mein Kampf
"There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore." --Pat Robertson, November 1993 during an address to the American Center for Law and Justice
This is our government. They (the secular humanists) stole it. And we're coming to take it back. --Oliver North
The mistaken tendency to believe that a democratic government, being nothing more than the composite will of its individual citizens, has no more moral power or authority than they do as individuals has adverse effects in other areas as well. It fosters civil disobedience, for example, which proceeds on the assumption that what the individual citizen considers an unjust law—even if it does not compel him to act unjustly—need not be obeyed. St. Paul would not agree. “Ye must needs be subject,” he said, “not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.” For conscience sake. The reaction of people of faith to this tendency of democracy to obscure the divine authority behind government should not be resignation to it, but the resolution to combat it as effectively as possible.-- Antonin Scalia
When I, or people like me, are running the country, you'd better flee, because we will find you, we will try you, and we will execute you. I mean every word of it. I will make it part of my mission to see to it that they are tried and executed... If we're going to have true reformation in America, it is because men once again, if I may use a worn out expression, have righteous testoserone flowing through their veins. They are not afraid of contempt for their contemporaries. They are not even here to get along. They are here to take over... Somebody like Susan Smith should be dead. She should be dead now. Some people will go, "Well how do you know God doesn't have a wonderful plan for her life?" He does, it's listed in the Bible. His plan for her is that she should be dead."-- Randall Terry
"The "wall of separation between church and state" is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned." --William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
"My feelings as a Christian point me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter...As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice...For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people." - Adolf Hitler, 1922
The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.-- Jerry Falwell
"Unique among the nations, America recognized the source of our character as being godly and eternal, not being civic and temporal. And because we have understood that our source is eternal, America has been different. We have no king but Jesus." - John Ashcroft
"It is interesting, that termites don't build things, and the great builders of our nation almost to a man have been Christians, because Christians have the desire to build something. He is motivated by love of man and God, so he builds. The people who have come into (our) institutions (today) are primarily termites. They are into destroying institutions that have been built by Christians, whether it is universities, governments, our own traditions, that we have.... The termites are in charge now, and that is not the way it ought to be, and the time has arrived for a godly fumigation."--Pat Robertson, New York Magazine, August 18, 1986
"Intolerance is a beautiful thing...There are people that are politically correct that want to say the cardinal sin of the hour is intolerance and I think that is a bunch of junk." Randall Terry
The Jews are returning to their land of unbelief. They are spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior. -- Jerry Falwell
"If Christian people work together, they can succeed during this decade in winning back control of the institutions that have been taken from them over the past 70 years. Expect confrontations that will be not only unpleasant but at times physically bloody ... This decade will not be for the faint of heart, but the resolute. Institutions will be plunged into wrenching change. We will be living through one of the most tumultuous periods of human history. When it is over, I am convinced God's people will emerge victorious. But no victory ever comes without a battle." ("Pat Robertson's Perspectives," Oct/Nov 1992)
Terrorism: Oxford English Dictionary definition: a policy intended to strike with terror those against whom it is adopted; the employment of methods of intimidation.
"These terrorists are freedom haters, they hate freedom and will do anything to stop freedom." -George W. Bush
Take the quiz, decide which religious extremist made which quote, Bin Laden, Falwell or Robertson...
Write me and tell me how you did.
12/06/2003
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The Janklow case case continues.
It seems that defense experts say that Mr Janklow had the symptoms of low blood sugar consistent with hypoglycemia. I find it interesting when what the "experts" say flies in the face of credible witnesses (EMT Mark Bonrud and State Trooper Jeff Lanning, Janklow's answer to the EMT's questions as well as Janklow caught on State Police video)
One report does have Janklow slurring his words toward the end of the tape. Which sounds odd if he partook of the candy and Coke he was given at the scene.
One witness at the scene saw him drink a Gatorade.
The collection of defense witnesses have him not eating for 20 hours.
On tape Janklow remembers directions to the hospital, meeting a troopers son at a gas station- conversational clues that seem to indicate an alright blood sugar level, and may question the extent of his brain injury.
These details confuse me. When does a head injury make on more lucid?
Two neurosurgeons also took the stand for the defense. They told the jury of Mr. Janklow's brain injury following the crash. Both of them testified the defendant may have appeared fine and coherent following the accident, but that's typical of bleeding on the brain.
Several witnesses were called to the stand to talk about Atenolol, a blood pressure drug Congressman Janklow was said to be taking. Two pharmacists told jurors the drug does reduce the symptoms that alert a diabetic to hypoglycemia. But deputy prosecutor Roger Ellyson had Dr. Lovrien read the list of drugs Janklow said he was taking the day after the accident. Atenolol wasn't on it. Lovrien added it would not be wise to prescribe such a medication for Mr. Janklow because it would make his cold-induced asthma worse.
Does "bleeding of the brain" ameliaorate diabetic hypoglycemia?
And why did the high blood pressure drug Atenolol not get mentioned initially or weeks later?
Prosecutors later stated that Janklow made no mention that he was taking the drug while filling out a medical form the day after the accident and again several weeks later.
The Congressman's brother Art testified to receiving a call from Janklow minutes before the crash in which the Congresssman sounded "strange" and his conversation was slower than normal.
Troy Wellman, a Moody County Deputy Sheriff used the same road minutes before the crash to get to a call 15 miles away. He did not witness the Janklow vehicle traveling in the the opposite direction.
Defense "experts" say Janklow applied the brakes in his car. which probably didn't help Randy Scott, who struck the Janklow Cadillac's rear quarterpanel. But panic can do that to any driver I suppose.
Janklows aide's testimoney has been questioned. The timeline he offers has Janklow leaving the event he was at at the Brown County Fairgrounds at 1:30 or 1:45 PM. The reality is that he didn't leave until the program he was part of finished at about 2:00. Folks there would have seen the Congressman leave the stage had he left a half hour earlier. He was said to shake hands with fairgoers afterwards.
He also had time to argue with a "heckler". If Janklow had popped immediately into his car at 2:00 and went through the stopsign at 4:40 pm he had covered the 200 miles between the fair and Flandreau intersection pretty darn fast, at least 75 miles per hour. Simple math. No "experts" involved.
What does braking at the scene mean to the case. Or the head injury the defendant is said to have received. Or the insulin/blood sugar defense? It seems to me to come down to responsibility, if a drunk driver says "I didn't feel drunk" is the driver absolved of responsibility?
On the stand Janklow cried about what he had done to motorcyclist Randy Scott. He also denied having almost hit a woman and her family at the same intersection a year ago.
It seems that Janklow has had other incidents of (unwitnessed) where he cited "swerving to miss another car" as the reason for accidents.
Prosecutors introduced into evidence two accident reports from November and December of 1993 in which Janklow said he swerved to avoid getting hit by other vehicles. The state lawyers are using that so-called "other acts" evidence to question Janklow's credibility.
There's a lot to sort through. I offered as much asI can and tried consciously to put it all in, pro and con the Janklow defense.
We'll see what Monday brings...
12/06/2003
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12.05.2003
A Weighty Matter
"This is a religious war, not against Islam but for Christianity, for a Christian nation." -- Ann Coulter
Over at 181/2 minute gap I saw some very disturbing information.
I find it more disturbing in the light of the Tommy Franks interview where Mr Franks states his belief that Americans will be comfortable with a more militarized nation lacking the thing that keeps us somewhat safe from a Fascist sort of government. Our Constitution.
"Fascist" is a lightening rod of a word. I'd like you to put it aside. Keep an open mind. Judge for yourself what "a more militarized America" without our Constitutional rights means. What putting an end to this 227 year old experiment in representational government means to "We the People", the "Demos" in Democracy, to our future and to that of our children, and their children and theirs. On and on.
A weighty matter.
My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”-- Grover Norquist
Are you aware of religious fundamentalist Steven John Jordi and his plot to blow up some abortion clinics, churches he didn't believe in and gay nightclubs? Are you also aware that a paid government informant encouraged him in his proposed attacks, offering him and his family tickets to fly to one of Jordi's correspondents execution, that of Paul Hill who killed a Pensacola doctor who performed abortions and the doctors volunteer escort. Jordi's family was also to get money if Jordi went through with his plot. The informant and Jordi bought
gasoline cans, flares, starter fluid and propane tanks. Jordi bought also a .45-caliber pistol, silencer and empty magazines for $200 on the day of his arrest.
Before the fundamentalist could start his killing spree his relatives and church members turned him in.
About his prosecution
Prosecutors, who say Jordi described himself as a terrorist, must prove that he took substantial steps toward launching a bombing spree across the eastern United States. The FBI said Jordi cased several South Florida abortion clinics and talked about bombing one in Georgia.
The indictment discarded the original charge of soliciting arson, which requires a higher standard of proof that Jordi tried to get someone, in this case an informant, to join the bomb plot.
"They backed off what the criminal complaint said," Assistant Federal Public Defender Marc Seitles said outside court. "The government informant was the major player in inducing Mr. Jordi to act on his religious beliefs."
Pat Robertson has advocated blowing up the state department:
How do we get rid of them?" he said of State officials meddling with his business interests. "Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up."
He has, of course backpedaled on his statement, but not before the folks who support him heard it. He had his say.
Mr Robertson was upset with the fact that the State Department and the UN imposed sanctions against his murderous partner in a Liberian gold mining venture, exiled dictator Charles Taylor. Robertsons partner escaped a Massachusetts prison before he got back to his country to seize power there. The UN has indicted him on war crimes. Taylor is linked to Al Quaida
Violence preached seems OK when it is by right-wing Christian zealots. At least it seems not very mainstream media newsworthy.
Now if a noted "Liberal" said that...
Weapons of mass destruction have been found in Texas. White supremacist anti-government types had them.
Investigators have seized at least 100 other bombs, bomb components, machine guns, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and chemical agents. But the government also found some chilling personal documents indicating that unknown co-conspirators may still be free to carry out what appeared to be an advanced plot. And, authorities familiar with the case say more potentially deadly cyanide bombs may be in circulation.
A package got to the wrong addresee, the government authorities protecting us didn't ferret out the plan. Luck saved many lives. We hope.
Now if these folks got/get away with the mayhem they planned, what do you think would/will happen to our Constitution? Would you feel good about giving up your freedoms and accept a police state, a more militarized America?
Great Britain has laws dictating a police state if such things happen there. Franks has given us fair warning that it could happen here. Have you considered what a code red terrorist alert would mean to us?
How did tapes of the 9/11 massacre that the FBI had get into the hands of Al Quaida?
The FBI says it is familiar with the video, which was provided by a friendly bystander.
Friendly Bystander?
But that raises the question — how did a tape that was not widely circulated end up on a known al-Qaida site?
History shows that in the cases of Dictators such as Mussolini and Hitler the populace needs to be scared for the Dictator to be able to prop up his regime, because the will of the people matters. Your average citizen will not accede to a dictatorship readily. Without willing supporters such a movement cannot be sustained. Economic distress does wonders for allowing a people to want a secure, authoritarian "savior" as well. Media collusion is important to shape the attitudes of the people and keep them malleable and not overly panicked. To tell them how to process all that they hear and see. And industry, just as in Mussolini and Hitler's times, must be behind the motive force for the Dictatorship. As Mussolini, the creator of the term Fascism spoke of the phenomena himself:
Fascism should more properly be called corporatism since it is the merger of state and corporate power
--Benito Mussolini
Consider how the inroads Multinational Corporations have made on our governance. The fact that the limited Democracy our Republic offers does stymie some bottom line enhancing legislation even with the showering of lobbyist dollars that tinge the votes. How much neater a Republic in lockstep.
I'd ask you to consider what segment of the population would support a right-wing authoritarian extra-Constitutional leader. who amongst us would be comfortable enforcing this new order.
If the Democrats start extolling you – get a gun. --Ann Coulter
Pretty Scary.
I have been pretty busy lately and have not check out Orcinus 'til today.
He has covered a some of the ground I just did in the last week. I'd urge you to check his work often. I gleaned the last Coulter quote there.
I'll close for today. Please take some time to consider how acceptable right-wing violence has become. While the people that mailed the anthrax letters are free, folks like Tommy Chong are doing jail time for selling such things as artful glass pipes that could be used to smoke cannabis.
Consider what it means to have people like Ann Coulter mainstream. Considered as part of accepted civil discourse. For it to be acceptable to shoot protesters in the back with rubber bullets as they walk away to where the police directed them. We are seeing a cultural change. Not one our forefathers would have accepted or appreciated. Not one that an informed people free to think accept.
I'll pick up the thread tomarrow. And examine the Janklow case.
12/05/2003
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"Signs of Economic Recovery Haven't Trickled Down" by Mark Weisbrot and "Hopes for Bright Retail Season Fade With Mixed Results" by Anne d'Innocenzio point out the obvious- things around here are not as rosy as the TV tells you. I offer these as a follow up to my post of a few days ago discussing the same idea
12/05/2003
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12.04.2003
More Janklow
Lyle Tolsma, a former trooper from Rapid City, said Janklow was driving more than 80 mph in a construction zone in Rapid City in April 2002 when he steered his vehicle slightly off the concrete and then overcorrected. The posted speed limit was 40 mph. Tolsma said Janklow's vehicle missed his by about 3 feet. He later told his superiors about the incident, but he did not stop Janklow or issue a ticket.
A string of people testified today that they did not see Bill Janklow eat prior to his speeding through a stop sign in his white Cadillac killing motorcyclist Randy Scott. They include a waitress that didn't see Janklow and his aide eat at a diner (they grew impatient and left before their meals were servedJanklow having a coke and his aide a coffee), Millionaire Harvey Jewett who is CEO of a wholesale drug business and is a Janklow political appointee (President of the State Board of Regents) who didn't witness Janklow eat any of his wife's proffered home baked caramel rolls and pastries while they spoke of pending drug legislation and a pheasant hunting trip for some of Janklow's beltway cronies. Tom Daschle did not see Janklow eat at a fair booth where the Democrat was helping serve barbecue.
He did ask (chief of staff Chris Braendlin) for a hot dog," said Simdorn, who said she did not see him eat one. Braendlin testified Wednesday that Janklow hadn't had anything to eat all day.
Lots of "missed opportunities" to eat. To be responsible.
A former aide did see "Wild Bill" leave angrily after engaging in a shouting match with a heckler at the fair.
Mark Bonrud, Emergency Paramedic, said, "he showed no signs or symptoms of hypoglycemia at all." "he said that his blood sugar was fine."
Is the former Governor of South Dakota above the law?
Prosecutors did not ask why the officers did not issue (Janklow) speeding tickets. Asked in an interview if there was a state police policy not to ticket Janklow for speeding, Tolsma said, "I'd rather not answer that until the trial is over."
12/04/2003
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Kucinich Campaign Commercial
Came across a powerful Kucinich internet campaign infomercial while reading over at American Samizdat.
This video is much more truthful than the ones we get to pay for as taxpayers, you know, mission accomplished, Mr Bush posing with a centerpiece on Thanksgiving
Even if Kucinich doesn't get the nomination he sure is widening the discourse.
Paul Wellstone would be proud.
12/04/2003
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A quick break from shedding the light on the news to remember a great free American
Americans like to talk about (or be told about) Democracy but, when put to the test, usually find it to be an 'inconvenience.' We have opted instead for an authoritarian system disguised as a Democracy. We pay through the nose for an enormous joke-of-a-government, let it push us around, and then wonder how all those assholes got in there. --Frank Zappa
Today is the anniversary of Frank Zappa's death.
The Frank Zappa Meta-Page can help you find Frank stuff easily, or use your favorite search engine.
The DVD release "Halloween", recorded at the Paladium NYC October 31 1978 is available in realaudio here, an hour and ten minutes of my favorite American composer. Listen to the musical complexity. Oh, I found it here, a place that bears repeat visiting. There's some sweet streaming music available there. A great resource.
Frank's been gone ten years.
Get yer ass out there and register to VOTE! --FZ
Zappa BBC interview 1Air Sculpture.
Part 2 Anthropology
Remember: You are what you is. Shine. Ten years have flown by. 1/7th of a typical human lifespan here in the USA. It goes by so quickly...
"Never stop until your good becomes better, and your better becomes the best." -- Frank Zappa
Zappa BBC interview 1Air Sculpture.
Part 2 Anthropology
My first reaction was that I couldn't believe it. When I learned that Frank Zappa was a composer of serious classical music, I told my partners, "Okay, there's some of these pop stars who try to do this kind of stuff, but I am sure that he is just a beginner." I was really surprised when I saw the high quality of compositions like "Mo 'N Herb's Vacation."
-- Andreas Molich-Zebhauser, director of the Deutsche Ensemble Academy
Short on time. Hope you enjoy.
Thanks for the reminder, Mudshark, what you wrote of Frank and the picture you offer are classic.
12/04/2003
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12.03.2003
Janklow Case Continues
"I wasn't going fast," -- William Janklow to the State Trooper
Emergency Medical Technician Mark Bonrud stated on the stand that William Janklow did not appear to be suffering the effects of low blood sugar at the scene of the accident that killed rancher and Volunteer Firefighter Randy Scott. Janklow told Bonrud that he had eaten earlier, but did accept a Coke at the scene.
On the day of the accident a woman said that a White Cadillac, allegedly Janklow's flew past her on the same road "as if she were standing still". The article linked, written by reporter Joe Soucheray also mentions the fact that Janklow nearly killed a family at the same intersection a year ago, as I mentioned yesterday. But he has a telling detail that I didn't come across:
Jennifer Walters reported that she called 911 to report the car that didn't stop for the sign. It developed that a deputy clocked Janklow at 86 mph in a 55-mph zone and gave him a warning.
She called 911, but decided not to file a complaint after learning the driver was Mr. Janklow. "I ... believed that it would be a waste of my time to press the issue any further as he was Bill Janklow, and I felt nothing would ever be done," her statement says.
The officers radar gun was set at 86 miles per hour. Janklow was traveling at 92 mph.
He was given a warning and sent on his way.
It's good to a Congressman.
Why would he stop speeding, he seems, as his shameful past experience shows, above the law.
In his 1999 State of the State address, Mr. Janklow joked about his driving habits while explaining the importance of instituting month-long jail terms for drug possession.
"Bill Janklow speeds when he drives -- shouldn't but he does," said Mr. Janklow, who was then governor. "When he gets the ticket he pays it, but if someone told me I was going to jail for two days for speeding, my driving habits would change. I can pay the ticket, but I don't want to go to jail. It's that simple..."
Janklow's irresponsibility behind the wheel is common knowledge:
"Anyone who knew Janklow knew Janklow drove like a maniac," said Mr. Napoli, who has worked closely with Mr. Janklow in Pierre, the state's capital, and has known him for more than 30 years.
"We were all hoping he would get out of office before something like this happened, and he didn't make it. He'd had so many close calls and had done so many crazy things that we were all on our seats' edges waiting for something to happen."
For a diabetic individual to drive with low blood sugar immanent is irresponsible, especially at an already irresponsible rate of speed. The passenger with Janklow should have driven. But that is not "Wild Bill" Janklow's style.
Janklow has touched many lives in an awful way. And has not had to face justice. Randy Scott is the most recent, the most visible case.
May he finally be held responsible for something he has done.
12/03/2003
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Do You Feel Secure?
Did you know New York City is seriously underfunded concerning Homeland Security monies?
The allocation for the five boroughs is $5.87 per person. Compare that to $15.21 per person for Philadelphia and a whopping $35.80 for Pittsburgh. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge doles out the money, the same Tom Ridge who used to be governor of Pennsylvania.
Florida, where the President's brother Jeb Bush is governor, is another big winner: Miami rakes in $52.82 per person; Orlando, $47.14, and Tampa, a not-too-shabby $30.57.
And what's the No.1 city on the list? New Haven, at $77.92 per. The Bush family alma mater, Yale, must be considered very vulnerable.
Dick Cheney's home state, Wyoming, recieves around 10 dollars per capita (article cited from September 2003).
Read this Eric Alterman piece from May 2003 ( the figures given for NYC are innacurate, reference the Daily News link above) which discusses the "other priorities" Mr Bush and Cheney have concerning Homeland Security- imagine if they asked big campaign spenders like the Energy and Chemical industries to say, take steps to heighten security around nuclear or toxic chemical plants for the good and security of the populace living around them. Cries of "Foul!", gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands has ensued, with the possibility that campaign coffers might not get much wanted "War Chest" checks if these industries are pushed to do what is right and logical, but cuts into the "bottom line"...
A .pdf article ‘Democracy Dies Behind Closed Doors’ The Homeland Security Act and Corporate Accountability By Reina Steinzor for Center for Progressive Regulation contains some eye opening facts. Did you know that the small truck manufacturer that supplies the US military found its product had a brake defect
...contemplates a recall, but voluntarily consults with the Department of Homeland Security, which advises against such a step because the trucks are being deployed to the Persian Gulf and a recall would wreak havoc with force readiness and morale. Two dozen service personnel and first responders are killed in accidents caused by the flaw,
but their families never discover the cause of their injuries because the information remains buried in the bowels of the bureaucracy.
Here is an interesting history of the Department of Homeland Securities origins by Margie Burns. Did you know that religous cult leader Reverend Moon; you remember him, Jesus Christ reincarnated (he says) and major right wing funder, owner of the Washington Times along with Billionaire right-wing funder Richard Mellon Scaife were behind The Homeland Security idea well before 9/11?
I wrote about the creepy George H.W Bush/Reverend Moon connection a while back. If you are not familiar with the material I offered there you should explore it. The quotations offered are from Moon's own websites. When looking at the Moon North Korea, South Korea and China financial connections remember how the Bush family figures in.
Richard Mellon Scaife was the motive force behind a string of purported Clinton "scandals". Let this long list of sources from Salon.com enlighten you about the power of mega-money and its ability to paralyze a nation in its anti-Democratic attempt at domestic "regime change".
12/03/2003
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12.02.2003
Janklow Trial: Will Justice Be Served?
Residents fear Janklow, a dominant figure in South Dakota politics for nearly three decades, won't be held responsible for Scott's death. They also are concerned that Scott will be forgotten amid the scrutiny of a high-profile trial of a political icon.
"It should be black and white and done with and all over," said Doug McClure, a friend who lives in nearby Luverne. "But I just have got a gut feeling that the political ballgame will take over and (Janklow) will get out. If it was you and me, it would be done and over with.
"I think he'll get by with a hand slap and (a fine), and I don't expect him to do jail time."
It seems no matter how arrogant, how flagrant a crime is when it is committed by someone Elite, with connections justice need not be served.
Whatever the case, we will see. But it looks pretty cut and dried.
I have offered some character background on William Janklow in the form of official affidavits and the like back in September. He is obviously a not nice human being. He is on trial for vehicular manslaughter after killing a man when running a stop sign. He ran the stopsign and then asked a witness if the witness saw the car he swerved to miss. The witness did not. This statement can also be heard on a highway patrol tape of the incident. Janklow admitted later there was no car. Janklow has a history of speeding violations. His attorney claims Janklow suffered a diabetic reaction around the tme of the accident, while witnesses point out he appeared fine. A Responsible diabetic folks take him to task for this.
A women claims that Janklow had sped recklessly through the same intersection last December nearly killing her and her family.
Read the list of facts I offered in September on Janklow, things documenting him getting caught drunken driving with no pants on. Fighting with police officers. He seems a study in rascist arrogance, of all that is wrong with humanity. Read todays links. Then follow the news. Are you hearing the facts I documented? A good man died. A fellow with a checkered and shameful past, including forcible rape of a minor he had guardianship of, this man, a Bush family friend is charged with the death.
How do you predict it will come out?
12/02/2003
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Repocrat Defined: Persons in government that realize Democracy is paid for by vigilance and action and are only too willing to repossess Democracy due to a peoples lack of keeping Democracies account current. See Plutocrat, Oligarch, Kleptocrat.
I'm sure that the ultraviolent treatment of people in Miami protesting the FTAA is not "news" to you, although unless you got your information from alternative news sites the extent of militarized force against the folks practicing that most Democratic of principles, peaceful dissent was glossed over. Imagine if the news media was so controlled during the US civil rights movement...
The GOP faithful are to be wining and dining on a proposed luxury cruise liner docked on the Hudson. What an incredible metaphor this offers. Just as the party of the Corporate elite cavorting offshore in reality free luxury bubble is a telling metaphor so is the fact that the city the Republican Convention is occupying demonstrates daily, very visibly, the ever widening gap between the rich few and the poor majority in America. A widening fostered by Republican policy.
There is a movement to organize a massive protest during the Republican Convention.
I'm going to offer you some resources.
Counter Convention
RNC not Welcome
A Ward Harkavy article heavy with informative links
As well as for the Republican National Convention United for Peace and Justice is planning a Global Day of Action on March 20th, 2004, the one year anniversary of the attack on Iraq.
Info on the Democratic National Convention as it unfolds. This is what I've found about organization. This about Secret Service "jurisdiction" over what is defined as a "national special security event". This about National Guardsmen and police from other localities in Boston.
The Democratic Leadership Council and the DNC need to know America in its majority care about the issues. That we realiize our needs are different than their corporate funders, even if we have only them as an option to vote out the current regime.
Check out Demilitarize the Police.
Food for thought...
12/02/2003
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An interview with economist Doug Henwood:
There's been an increase in the level of pre-tax inequality. And in the last few years the tax system has gotten more regressive, so that's certainly adding to it. But if you look at the sorts of things promoting the pre-tax inequality, they include union-busting, erosion of the value of the minimum wage--the general things you associate with our very weak labor market protections. There aren't many other civilized countries where the at-will employment doctrine holds. It's hard to fire people in other countries. Here it's very easy. So a lot of it has to do with the whole institutional/legal structure, which is what allows employers to pay next to nothing and offer no benefits. It's the American way of economic life.
But the media is telling us that the economy is improving. Jobs are being created. But what does your experience in the world at large tell you?
Read Nathan Newman and set the hype aside. Look in his sidebar and click on the articles filed under "Is This Growth Real?" Compare what you learn with the crappolla flowing out of your TV, your radio. With the experience of your family and friends. The media has a vested interest in lying to you. What if you don't spend extravagently for the holidays? Now that will be a Corporate bummer. And media ad revenues will plummet.
Having a traditional family Christmas time will wake 'em up.
12/02/2003
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12.01.2003
Drug War on our Elders
The War On Drugs (Prescription Drugs for Seniors, That Is!) by James Boyne offers some insight into the freshly passed Republican Medicare Bill.
Take a calculator and do the math. If a senior has approximately $5000 in prescription drug expenses in a year; with the yearly premium paid ($420), the $250 deductible, the 25% co-pay, and the gap between $2250 and $5200 with no payment; the end result is a senior would pay 75% of their drug costs and many drugs would not be allowed or approved increasing the 75% to even higher. In summary, on the first $5200 in drug costs, a senior will pay $4000.
Follow the money and see why individual legislators voted for the corrupt Medicare bill.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, for example, have averaged $28,504 to the 204 Republicans who supported the bill, but just $8,112 to the 25 Republicans who opposed it. Pharmaceutical contributions to Democrats on both sides of the debate are less varied. The 16 Democrats who voted "yes" on the bill have raised an average of $16,296 from pharmaceutical manufacturers, while the 189 Democrats who voted "no" have raised an average of $11,791.
That quotation is the tip of the iceberg. Check the link offered above from The Center for Responsive Politics.
Ted Marmer and Jacob S. Hacker offer some insight on AARP and its traitorous actions to its membership concerning the bill.
It seems the Republican Right wishes to force Seniors to live like fakir Prahlad Jani, a man claiming not to have eaten or drunk in 10 years. It's a sure bet he has gone without medication too.
12/01/2003
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Some of the arm twisting that went on behind the scenes of the Medicare vote.
Smith, self term-limited, is leaving Congress. His lawyer son Brad is one of five Republicans seeking to replace him from a GOP district in Michigan's southern tier. On the House floor, Nick Smith was told business interests would give his son $100,000 in return for his father's vote. When he still declined, fellow Republican House members told him they would make sure Brad Smith never came to Congress. After Nick Smith voted no and the bill passed, Duke Cunningham of California and other Republicans taunted him that his son was dead meat.
Read the full Novak article. Yeah, that Novak.
Link gleaned at the always excellent Cursor
12/01/2003
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"Eisenhower warned us: Rise of militarism under George W. Bush puts America on the road to ruin" by John L. Graham
12/01/2003
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11.30.2003
Estimated Prophet will have fresh content tomarrow.
Thank you for stopping by.
Check out "An Invitation to Violence" and get some background on the treatment of FTAA protesters in Miami. I really respect Benedict's writing.
Another great and informative blog: Damage
American Samizdat is a favorite of mine. To stay informed go there daily.
11/30/2003
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