Powell raps Europe on CIA flights

A number of countries where flights allegedly stopped have said they were unaware of their land being used.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has indicated that Europeans are being disingenuous when they deny knowledge of the rendition of terror suspects.

Mr Powell said the recently highlighted practice of moving people to places where they are not covered by US law was neither "new or unknown" to Europe.

The Confusing Cost of Medicare's Drug Plan
Some seniors wrestling with the government's confusing new prescription plan now must also contend with misleading price quotes
By DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON

Signing up for Medicare's new prescription drug benefit has been challenging enough for the nation's 43 million eligible seniors. In most states they must wade through 40 different insurance plans, and the best way to compare prices and enroll is through the Internet — unfamiliar territory for many elderly. The government has also been so slow in confirming applicants' eligibility that some enrollees may not have their necessary ID cards when the program begins next month. Now, as the initial December 31 enrollment deadline fast approaches, comes another headache: Consumer groups say they're getting an increasing number of complaints from seniors that drug plan prices listed on Medicare's website differ from prices quoted by the private insurers running the plans. "There have been a lot of instances of huge discrepancies," says Hilary Dalin, counseling director for one of those consumer groups, Health Assistance Partnership.

Quote of note:

James Bamford, author of two books on the NSA, said the program could be problematic because it bypasses a special court set up by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to authorize eavesdropping on suspected terrorists.

"I didn't hear him specify any legal right, except his right as president, which in a democracy doesn't make much sense," Bamford said in an interview. "Today, what Bush said is he went around the law, which is a violation of the law — which is illegal."

Bush: Eavesdropping Helps Save U.S. Lives
- By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, December 17, 2005
(12-17) 15:42 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Facing angry criticism and challenges to his authority in Congress, President Bush on Saturday unapologetically defended his administration's right to conduct secret post-Sept. 11 spying in the United States as "critical to saving American lives."

Quote of note:

"Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because that's what triggered the visit, as I understand it."

Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."

Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

We like to think all citizens of the United States of America are guaranteed certain civil and human rights. Unfortunately, that guarantee is subject to the vagaries of human judgment. At times of national crisis this nation has always reduced the protections we are "guaranteed" by law. In fact Justice Scalia has said in wartime, "the protections will be ratcheted right down to the constitutional minimum. I won't let it go beyond the constitutional minimum."

It is expected. There is historical precedent for it. Unfortunately, in every case the historic precedent has been that the impositions were deemed unnecessary and, in most cases, unconstitutional after the fact. The first such case was the Alien and Sedition Acts which passed in 1798. The threat was a French-backed navy of privateers operating in the area around the West Indies which was threatening the expanding U.S. merchant shipping force. The Act allowed the President to order

I'm watching the discussion of the defense appropriation bill on the floor of the Senate. It doesn't appear they will go along with shoehorning authorization to drill in ANWR into it. They don't like the fact that the provision was added after they signed off on a compromise, without a single Senator's (official) review.

They're not happy about campaign finance reform being slotted into a defense authorization bill, either. 

My Americhristian Conservates to poor: "Drop dead" post got a little attention.

I don't think John at Blogotional got past the title, unfortunately...

Can't Hold My Tongue On This One

The Washington Post had piece yesterday on the role of Christians in the current congressional debate on poverty relief cuts, particularly liberal Christians including my own PCUSA. Despite quoting both sides, it clearly tries to paint those of us that support the cuts as less than charitable. Ally Cheat Seeking Missles had some intersting thoughts particularly when it comes to Christian liberal spokesperson Jim Wallis. Wallis is a good target here because he creates avenues for stuff like this.

..."stuff like this" being my post. Unfortunately, Jim Wallis' quote had nothing to do with the analysis I did. It had everything to do the priorities of the Conservative Americhristian Church. Furthe explanation coming up, but let's see what bothers John so much about Mr. Wallis that John ties him to my post.

Is there any accusation, any dire prediction made by progressives against the Bush regime that turned out to be untrue?

Taking Liberties With the Nation's Security
By RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI

YESTERDAY the Senate failed to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, as a Democratic-led filibuster prevented a vote. This action - which leaves the act, key elements of which are due to expire on Dec. 31, in limbo - represents a grave potential threat to the nation's security. I support the extension of the Patriot Act for one simple reason: Americans must use every legal and constitutional tool in their arsenal to fight terrorism and protect their lives and liberties.

Never, if it's up to France. 

Law on Teaching Rosy View of Past Is Dividing France
By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, December 17, 2005; A14

PARIS, Dec. 16 -- As a great maritime and colonial power in centuries past, France relished its role in taking its culture to the far corners of the globe -- French schools, language, trade, modern medicine and various other trappings of its civilization.

But people in those places were not always happy with what accompanied the French largess, including war, slavery, torture and the eradication of their cultures.

Those competing views of history have set off an emotional debate in France and places it colonized, following passage of a law here mandating that French schools give more emphasis to the positive aspects of French colonization.

Ask Tookie. 

2nd Senator to Return Abramoff Funds; Lobbyist Paid Columnist
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 17, 2005; A02

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) said he plans to return $150,000 in campaign contributions he collected from controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates, reversing a position his office had taken days earlier.

Also yesterday Copley News Service syndicated columnist Doug Bandow admitted accepting money from Abramoff for writing as many as 24 op-ed articles favorable to some of Abramoff's clients. Copley suspended the column pending a review and Bandow resigned as a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.

African Nations Call for U.S. to Eliminate Cotton Subsidies
At WTO talks, trade officials blame funding given to American farmers for holding down global prices and depressing economies.
By Don Lee
Times Staff Writer
December 17, 2005

HONG KONG — One after another, Africa's trade ministers rose to the podium and made their pleas to the World Trade Organization.

"Our countries cannot be bled at this rate for a long time," said Fatiou Akplogan of the West African nation of Benin.

Ngarmbatina Odjimbeyee Soukate, wearing the traditional clothing of Chad, said hers was "an appeal to the human conscience."

Come guys, didn't you see that movie?

Japan hopes to predict 'Big One' with journey to center of Earth

An ambitious Japanese-led project to dig deeper into the Earth's surface than ever before will be a breakthrough in detecting earthquakes including Tokyo's dreaded "Big One," officials said Thursday.

The deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu made a port call Thursday in Yokohama after ending its first training mission at sea since being built in July at a cost of 500 million dollars.

The 57,500-ton Chikyu, which means the Earth in Japanese, is scheduled to embark in September 2007 on a voyage to collect the first samples of the Earth's mantle in human history.

The project, led by Japan and the United States with the participation of China and the European Union, seeks clues on primitive organisms that were the forerunners of life and on the tectonic plates that shake the planet's foundations.

"This is like an Apollo project under the Earth," staff scientist Kan Aoike said, referring to the landmark US lunar missions. 

Every Who down in Who-ville Loved the Consti-Who-tion a lot.
But the O'Reilly, who lived up in Fox-ville, Did NOT!

The O'Reilly DETESTED the Who Consti-Who-tion,
He thought it was some sort of liberal pollution.

Now, please don't ask why, for I really don't know.
Perhaps it had something to do with his show.

It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right.
Or it could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his RATINGS Were two sizes too

(...to be continued)

The New School responds to the article in NYC Indymedia accusing it of racism and censorship. They say there have been no charges filed, the INS contact was to clear up paperwork problems that would interfere with Ms. Tapaoan's student visa, and she's graduating with a Master's degree in January.

Like the my original post on the issue, I have to lead with an "if," but it sure sounds more likely than the blatant racism necessary for the Indymedia report to be true.

Either someone is bullshitting or there's a deeeeep misunderstanding. That the original date of the response is a day earlier than the Indymedia post and it was fed to one of my more reliable sources weeks later disturbs me. Anyway, the New School's response follows.

The NY Times is linking blogs that link their editorials.

What do you think should be the general goals of an effective Black partisan organization?

Do you have any ideas on methods that would be useful to approach those goals?

I have my own ideas, of course, but I want other people's ideas for consideration. All (and I mean all) anonymous comments will be approved on this one.

Quote of note:

The test also found steep declines in the English literacy of Hispanics in the United States, and significant increases among blacks and Asians.

Emphasis added, of course...

Literacy Falls for Graduates From College, Testing Finds
By SAM DILLON

The average American college graduate's literacy in English declined significantly over the past decade, according to results of a nationwide test released yesterday.

The National Assessment of Adult Literacy, given in 2003 by the Department of Education, is the nation's most important test of how well adult Americans can read.

[TS] Drugs, Devices and Doctors
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Merck, the pharmaceutical giant, is under siege. And one side effect of that siege is a public relations crisis for the Cleveland Clinic, a celebrated hospital and health care organization.

But the real story is bigger than either the company or the clinic. It's the story of how growing conflicts of interest may be distorting both medical research and health care in general.

I just ran across this joke at random. 

A young chap is walking down the street when he hears a girl's voice coming from the direction of the gutter. When he looks down he sees a frog.

The frog looks up at him and says "Good sir, I am a beautiful princess who has been trapped in the body of a frog by a wicked witch. If a young man kisses me I will turn back into a princess. If you kiss me and release me from my curse I'll do anything you desire."

The young chap considers this, picks the frog up and puts it in his pocket.

"Please help me!" says the frog. "Kiss me and I will do anything your heart desires. I will be yours until the end of time!"

The young man takes the frog out of his pocket and says "I'm afraid I'm a computer programmer so I haven't got time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog - now, that's cool."

...over this:

Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 16, 2005; A01

Scientists said yesterday that they have discovered a tiny genetic mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white skin in humans tens of thousands of years ago, a finding that helps solve one of biology's most enduring mysteries and illuminates one of humanity's greatest sources of strife.

Over at Alas, A Blog, in response to this:

Many surveys show that people are more “tolerant” but there are deeper analysis that people are just as prejudice: They are just getting better at learning to hide it.

I said:

They don’t hide it. People’s beliefs about race are postulates. All other knowledge is organized to take it into account.

The opening paragraph of the article is a marvelous demonstration of my point.

...I was almost hoping this would be Bush's first veto. I mean, torture is a pretty bright red line to cross.

Then I thought about how many people were already over that line.

Obviously, morality has as little impact here as anywhere else in the administration, and torture has no economic impact; only political considerations could stop it...in this case, the need for a Presidential candidate in 2008 that has a little deniability.

President Relents, Backs Torture Ban
McCain Proposal Had Veto-Proof Support
By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 16, 2005; A01

President Bush reversed position yesterday and endorsed a torture ban crafted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after months of White House attempts to weaken the measure, which would prohibit the "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of any detainee in U.S. custody anywhere in the world.

Instead of that nonsense by the old broad at the New York Press, read stuff at Rachels Tavern instead.

Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts
By JAMES RISEN
and ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 - Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.

Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible "dirty numbers" linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications.

White guys are scared enough of me as it is. 

Quote of note:

Even in a time when nearly 40 percent of single Americans have dated outside their race, that deliberate seeking of the specific other makes some people, especially black women, damned mad.

We are what they denigrate and castigate: white women and black men who choose one another because of our racial differences. They resent our taking their men. Black men are two and a half times more likely to marry a white woman than a black woman is to marry a white man. Black women can point to that statistic in justifying their wrath. But in truth, black sisters, we're after the sex, not the ring—and these guys aren't the marrying kind anyway.

Yes, the sex!

A WHITE WOMAN EXPLAINS WHY SHE PREFERS BLACK MEN
“How many white men can treat a woman like a lady and ravish her too?”
By Susan Crain Bakos

Black skin is thick and lush, sensuous to the touch, like satin and velvet made flesh. There's only one patch of skin on a white man's body that remotely compares to nearly every inch of a black man's skin. The first time I caressed black skin, it felt like a luxury I shouldn't be able to afford. I craved it more strongly than Carrie Bradshaw craved Manolo Blahnik shoes. That phrase, "Once you go black, you never go back" is all about the feeling of the skin.

Seeing the Forest:

Dropping the Code-Word "Liberals" and Accusing Jews Directly

There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere about "mainstreaming extremism" lately. That is Republicans injecting hard KKK stuff, disguised to sound more moderate, into mainstream outlets. The Republican charge that there is a "war on Christmas" is a prime example of this. Now we find out who they have been implying is behind this war - because they're dropping the code words and saying it out loud. Townhall.com :: Columns :: The Jewish Grinch who stole Christmas by Burt Prelutsky,

You do now understand why I don't read those Conservative sites, right?

So The Daou Report linked to P6 for the first time the other day (then-que, then-que), and in the process of checking to see what they linked and what they quoted I ran across this bit of bullshit (notes added so you can

1. avoid that shit if you want
2. fact-check me if you want

) 

Katrina Killed Whitey

So said the black community, its leaders, and Democrats, that the response to Hurricane Katrina was dismal because the Bush Administration ordered the hurricane machine to create a hurricane that targeted black people. Well, maybe not all said that, but some did, while others still suggest the response to Hurricane Katrina was marred by the administration's lack of concern for the black community.

Illegal Immigration Could Be a Felony
House Republicans push legislation that defies Bush's guest-worker plan, under which criminals are not eligible for legal status.
By Nicole Gaouette
Times Staff Writer
December 15, 2005

WASHINGTON — Under immigration legislation being considered in the House, living illegally in the United States would no longer be a violation of civil immigration law. It would be a federal crime.

But making the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants into felons could deal a fatal blow to the proposed guest-worker program that is a cornerstone of President Bush's immigration overhaul, because immigrants who have committed crimes are not eligible for legal status in the United States.

Nice book folks. Although, I had the feeling of listening to Kenny G or watching Elvis Presley when reading the book. I'll explain later. I don't want to write too much out of the gate, until I'm sure this process works properly...then we can have at it.

Quote of note: 

Slavery was no less brutal in New York than in the South - and just as pervasive. At one point, about four in 10 New York households owned human beings. The free human labor that ran the city's most gracious homes also helped to build its early infrastructure and supplied the muscle needed by the beef, grain and shipping interests, which forestalled emancipation until 1827 - making New York among the last Northern states to abolish slavery.

Judging from the videotaped responses of visitors to the historical society, people who thought they knew New York's history well have been badly shaken to learn about the depth and breadth of human bondage in the city. As one distraught patron put it, "The ground we touch, every institution, is affected by slavery."

A Convenient Amnesia About Slavery
By BRENT STAPLES

Americans typically grow up believing that slavery was confined to the cotton fields of the South and that the North was always made up of free states. The fact that slavery was practiced all over the early United States often comes as a shock to people in places like New York, where the myth of the free North has been surprisingly durable. The truth is that New York was at one time a center of the slave trade, with more black people enslaved than any other city in the country, with the possible exception of Charleston, S.C.