Go, Paralympians, go!
It's the second largest sporting event in the world -- 3,846 athletes from 136 nations, but we can't see it on television here in the U.S. Nonetheless, we're cheering for our old friend Paul Moran of Chicago, who's competing in his fourth Paralympics on the U.S. seated volleyball team. Paul and I once were colleagues at the now-defunct Radio Metropolis in Prague. Paul proudly held the distinction of being the only one-legged, eight-fingered deejay in the city, or perhaps the continent, or maybe even the world.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @6:14 PM
|
18.9.04  |
In case you missed it
Even the Bush administration, which once had "no doubt" about their "slam dunk" reason for violating a treaty that had existed longer than our nation itself, one of the load-bearing documents of our civilization, all in the name of protecting Americans against terrorists, NOW ADMITS THAT THERE WERE NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN IRAQ.
Once again, our top story:
In a related development, there were to deliver those nonexistent weapons, either.
In another related development, last week Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said this to the National Press Club:
"Saddam Hussein, if he's alive, is spending a whale of a lot of time trying to not get caught. And we've not seen him on a video since 2001. Now he's got to be busy. Why is he busy? It's because of the pressure that's being put on him." Worse, Rumsfeld repeated the same mistake, as if he has now permanently confused Osama bin Laden (generally believed to be responsible for the 9/11 attacks) with the now-incarcerated Iraqi dictator (who was not connected to those attacks, bin Laden, or Al Qaida).
To recap:
And that leads us to our interactive feature: Why, then, did we invade Iraq? And a special bonus question: Did that invasion make us safer (except, of course, for the more than 1,000 American soldiers, sailors, and Marines who have been killed there so far, and the more than 17,000 others who have been seriously injured, and of course many more Iraqi civilians and a growing number of journalists dead)? If you've got any answers, please enlighten us using either the comments feature below or the message board there in the left-hand column. And be prepared to back up any claim you make. You WILL be fact-checked.
Speaking of accountability, a new campaign has begun to hold the Bush administration accountable.
And finally, a human-interest piece: yesterday a New Jersey mother whose soldier son was killed in Iraq was arrested for interrupting Laura Bush at a campaign rally in Hamilton. As we all know, only Bush supporters who have signed loyalty oaths are allowed to attend Bush/Cheney rallies. Grieving mom Sue Niederer wore a T-shirt with a message: "Mr. Bush, you killed my son" -- which she kept covered, of course, until she got inside the rally. As she was removed from the room by police, Ms. Niederer said she wanted to ask Mrs. Bush why her children weren't serving in Iraq.
To summarize:
Remember: There will be a quiz on
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @8:50 AM
|
17.9.04 |
Feeling safer yet?
The United States now has fewer (and less experienced) agents on the Osama bin Laden case than it did before the 9/11 attacks, according to the former chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's bin Laden unit.
The prognosis for Iraq is somewhere between not good and really, really bad, according to the CIA's latest "National Intelligence Estimate."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai survived yet another assassination attempt today; the Taliban (remember when we got rid of them?) claimed responsibility for the attack. A Taliban leader (remember when we got rid of them?) told Reuters that the radical group would continue its attempts to disrupt the elections scheduled for Oct. 9.
The U.S. may run out of National Guard and reserve troops, according to a report from the General Accounting Office -- and that's despite the "stop loss" order that now keeps active military personnel active even after they've served more time than they signed on for, in some cases sending them back to Iraq.
Kristen Breitweiser, one of the 9/11 widows who pushed, and pushed, and pushed for an independent commission to investigate the attacks despite opposition from the White House, says she doesn't feel any safer.
But George W. Bush says he's "optimistic about Iraq." Bush also insists elections will be held there as scheduled in January, but United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan admitted in an interview with the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones that "You cannot have credible elections if the security conditions continue as they are now." Annan also called the U.S. invasion of Iraq illegal.
Meanwhile, much of the money budgeted for homeland security has either been misspent, or unspent.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @5:34 PM
|
16.9.04 |
Senate Appropriations Committee votes against Bush on overtime
Today the Republican-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee voted to reverse the Bush administration's new overtime regulations, with Republican Senators Arlen Specter (Pennsylvania) and Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado voting with the Democrats, and the workers. As you recall, last week the House of Representatives (also Republican-controlled) voted to protect overtime pay as well. Of course, both the Senate and House voted repeatedly last year to protect overtime pay, but last-minute back-room finagling kept that protection from becoming law.
Will more back-room finagling this year leave overtime protection out of the final bill again? Or will the measure remain in the $149.5 billion appropriations bill? If so, George W. Bush has promised threatened to veto the whole thing.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @5:34 PM
|
15.9.04 |
Still stressed? New Jersey offers free counseling
Our coverage of the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks concludes with this handy hint: if you are still feeling stressed, New Jersey now has a hotline you can call for free counseling. Individual and group sessions are available in addition to telephone counseling. The service is free for all New Jersey residents. Just call 1-866-4-U-NJ-9-11.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @5:27 PM
|
14.9.04 |
Help rescue the rescue workers
They were called "rescue workers," even though there was little hope of rescuing anyone from the collapsed World Trade towers after the first few hours. Maybe that's because so many of them were professional rescuers: firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians.
The Bush administration's Director of Environmental Protection, Christie Whitman, assured them, and local residents, that the air was safe to breathe, even though a cloud of dust and smoke rose from the fires there for weeks afterward.
As it turns out, the opposite was true: that dust was extremely dangerous, and now thousands of those rescue workers as well as nearby residents are sick -- even three years later.
Today, the first class action lawsuit was filed on their behalf. More are expected. But even if they won those cases tomorrow, that still wouldn't help much. Many of those rescue workers now suffer from lethal ailments such as mesothelioma (a cancer caused by asbestos exposure), and so far there is no cure. The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation is working to find one. If you donate $20 or more, they'll send you a souvenir T-shirt designed by Artists for Hope.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @4:51 PM
|
13.9.04 |
A moment of silence
We're experiencing some technical difficulties in posting the audio of yesterday's memorial bell-ringing here; it appears that Blogger now only allows audio that's posted by telephone. Running that recording through a phone line would render it unlistenable, so instead, today we have only a moment of silence.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @5:08 PM
|
12.9.04 |
|
