Today's Unknown News
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Today's Unknown News
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April 2002: 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 16 17 18 21 22 23 27 29 May 2002: 1 3 6 8 9 10 12 14 20 |
Cheryl's Daily Diatribes by Cheryl Seal December 2001 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002 | Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. |
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Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Wednesday, April 3, 2002 The Middle East Conflict - Has it Been Engineered by Extremist Rightwing Christians and Zionists Hoping to "Force" the "Rapture"? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Bush and Sharon are colluding to force the Middle East into a massive, all-out war as a way to stay in power. But Bush plans to have the last laugh. By encouraging Sharon to escalating excesses, Bush hopes to bait Arabs everywhere — including Iraq — into taking aggressive action, even all-out war. This would of course give Bush the pretext he's sought for launching an attack on Iraq and embroiling America in a war guaranteed to last through election day 2004. But the other part of Bush's plan is just as vicious. By encouraging the bloodthirsty egomaniac Sharon, he may succeed in destroying Israel without ever lifting a finger himself. It seems insane that Sharon has staked his country's security on an alliance with Bush — a man who describes himself as a fundamentalist Christian (which by definition means anti-Semitic), whose mentor Billy Graham was blatantly anti-Semitic, whose family actively traded with the Nazis in WWII and who has himself made anti-Semitic comments. This is like getting into bed with a rattlesnake and assuming you won't get bitten. But, there is another dimension to the Middle East insanity very, very few know about: the unholy alliance between the Christian right and their Jewish counterparts, the Zionists. While sane people around the world view the Middle East conflict as "mere" political wrangling with religious undertones, the rightwing Christians and Zionists see the conflict as a prelude to the final chapter in the fulfillment of Biblical scriptures - at least as interpreted by paranoid schizophrenics with religious delusions such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and their Rabbinical counterparts in Israel and America . These people welcome the current bloodbath with "rapturously" open arms — it means the "final Chapter" is imminent, at the conclusion of which the faithful will ascend to heaven and the rest of us heathens will die a horrible death. (These people are such great human beings, eh?). I did not know about this wacked out movement until very recently. I thought this type was confined to small, relatively powerless cults such as the Jim Jones or Hale-Bopp folks. But it seems that the rightwing Judeo-Christian "coalition" is not only just as whacked out as these cults, it is far, far larger and has friends in very high political places — including, it is very likely, Bush himself and most certainly John Ashcroft. Ashcroft is a Pentecostal, and the Pentecostals are the most rabidly fixated on the "coming rapture" and the significance of events in the Middle East. First, I will give you some background, which was provided to me by a very reliable source. Cheryl,According to the Jews, the Messiah will come once the temple is built. According to the Christians, the Jews will almost all die once the Temple is built and an antichrist immediately moves into it. According to the Muslims, both the Christians and the Jews will die violent and bloody deaths if they attempt to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque. No, I am not hallucinating! We are about to see the biggest mass suicide ever. Furthermore, if you listen to the Christians, there also has to be a war with Persia around this same time. " My source also included the following excerpt: ["According to Clyde Lott, the intent of many Evangelical Christians who are helping Israel today is to speed along the time when they will be raptured into Heaven, leaving behind a world in chaos and flames. "It's very sad, but I would say the interest in the Christian world is to see the Temple rebuilt from the Antichrist perspective, for the rapture of the Church, and that's a very selfish point of view," Lott says, "The very people who are advocating this are the ones that are very Semitic in their feelings". Although Evangelical theology forecasts the destruction of the Jews in the Last Days, Lott believes that the Jews are God's Chosen People and that the Bible clearly states that God favors those who help Israel."Now that you have digested at least some of this, consider Bush's actions for the past several months. Without even needing to invoke a conspiracy theory, his behavior suddenly makes sense — in a bizarro world way. Thus you have his constant use of the words "evildoers" and his passage of judgment on other nations as "evil," his obsession with attacking Iraq and, if he had his way, also Iran (the modern-day counterparts to "Persia" — at least close enough for government work!), his willingness to use nuclear weaponry (after all, Armageddon is part of the plan), his creation of a shadow government, his seemingly inexplicable refusal to make any effort to restrain Sharon, his surrounding himself with fundies, regardless of their qualifications (only the "pure" can participate in the "glory" of the final hours!), his determination to knock down the wall between church and state, his encouragement of Ashcroft's prayer meetings in the Justice Building, etc. So, simply put, we may well have a pack of religious nutcases running the U.S. government as well as in control of Israel. Is it any wonder that the situation in the Middle East has reached the current level of insanity? Sharon has intentionally provoked the current showdown, exhibiting a flagrant lack of concern for human life, be it Jewish, Muslim, or Christian. Yes there are Palestinian suicide bombers, but, as R. D. Laing once said, some forms of insanity are in fact just sane reactions to an insane situation. I have no doubt that, with Bush and Sharon at the helm, the insanity will get much, much worse before it gets better — which it never will as long as these two madmen remain in power. Meanwhile, as these extremists use the "Holy Land" as a playground for acting out their delusions, the Palestinians are paying the heaviest price: Here are journal entries from those trapped in Ramallah. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Thursday, April 4, 2002 U.S. Military Makes Being Rightwing and Religious a Prerequisite to Advancement I received the following letter from a retired United States Air Force officer (MSgt) in response to my diatribe "Rich, White and Republican: The American Dream." It is extremely eye-opening, not just as to how the GOP uses coercion of a "captive recruit" pool to steal votes, but how much the rightwing brand of religion is being forcibly injected into the military now as well as the government. I want to point out that although we make it a policy not to include last names (too many hateful, low-IQ people out there who use death threats as a form of self-statement!), the reader submitted not just his full name, but address as well and would have welcomed its use. This to me, is real courage. Sending people nasty unsigned four-letter word-peppered notes or death threats is real cowardice. Anyway, here is the letter: Cheryl,Rightwing Hate and Intolerance Cuts Across all Races, Creeds and Colors American and Israeli extremist Jews are proving that the hate and intolerance truly does cut across all race, creeds, and colors - just like form of cancer does. Here are a few examples: First, we have a story from New York about a Jewish couple, the Shapiros, forced to flee their home after receiving death threats from rightwing Jewish extremists in their own community. The Shapiros "crime"? Their son conducted a humanitarian aid mission in besieged Ramallah. So guess being compassionate and courageous really pisses the rightwingers off. Figures. "As the Mideast death toll soars, so do anxieties about the region's corrosive hatreds spilling onto our own shores and threatening the lives and freedoms of Americans. That fear has now become reality in Brooklyn in a way both surprising and repellent. Death threats from irresponsible local supporters of Israel have forced an innocent couple, Doreen and Stuart Shapiro, to flee their home. They became a target after their son Adam delivered humanitarian medical aid to Yasir Arafat's besieged compound in Ramallah, on the West Bank. Rage at Mr. Arafat for his complicity in murderous suicide bombings across Israel is understandable. Yet Mr. Arafat's behavior scarcely turns Adam Shapiro's peaceful action into treason against America and the Jews or makes him the equivalent of an American Taliban fighter, as some of the menacing messages charge." —NY Times Here's a story from Ramallah, where "brave" Israeli soldiers terrorized not only peaceful Arab and Jewish peace marchers, but dozens of helpless blind children. "The activists, both Israeli Jews and Arabs, carried banners and chanted for Sharon, to get out of Ramallah as they passed through a military checkpoint in north Jerusalem. The clashes happened on the doorstep of a school for the visually impaired, where 70 blind children aged from four to twelve were hurried into a basement by teachers. "It was awful," said teacher Suad Younan, 42. "They were so scared, and because they are blind it really triples the agony for these children." As tear gas drifted across the school and police used batons to beat back the peace protesters, Mrs Younan and other staff members managed to spirit some of the children away. "We managed to sneak some of the children out of the compound," she said. "We were climbing fences, jumping in ditches to try to get them home." Thirty-two of the children remained trapped at the school, she said. Twenty of them had no hope of going home because their parents lived in the West Bank, where Israeli tanks and helicopters are hunting for militants." —Ananova • Diatribble Since none of the extremist fundies out there, Jewish or Christian, seem to remember anything they learned - or perhaps never learned anything in the first place, here are a couple of reminders to ponder for the day: • For Christians: Walkin' the walk doesn't mean "hate thy neighbor"; "Whoever says 'I have come to know him,' but does not obey his commandments is a liar and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says 'I abide in him,' ought to walk just as he walked.'" —I John 3:4-6 • For Jews: "Refrain from anger" does not mean sending death threats or terrorizing blind children "Be still be before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers or the one who succeeds in evil schemes. Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil." —Psalms 37 • For Muslims: "Since when does "Infidel" mean Jew or Christian when the Koran acknowledges the prophets of both? "To Moses We gave the Scriptures and after him we sent other apostles. We gave Jesus the son of Mary veritable signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit. Will you then scorn each apostle whose message does not suit your fancies, charging some with imposture and slaying others? —Koran 2:86 • Bush Propaganda Escalates, Spinning in Circles So Tight He's Turning into a Human Top Just heard Bush's latest "declaration" this AM (4/4). Now, AFTER maximum suffering has already been inflicted on Ramallah, he comes out with a "forceful" line (written of course by Karen Hughes and a cast of dozens) demanding Israel's withdrawal. But the White House spin jobs are getting so fast and furious, their falling over each other like clowns piling out of a VW at the circus. An obviously fudged "poll" released to the mainstream media just last night, and still being dribbled about this AM claims that 90% of Americans fervently support Israel's thuggery. Uh-huh...that's why thousands of Americans have taken to the streets to protest Sharon, why EVERY person for over an hour calling into C-SPAN the other day when the topic was Israel was flat-out down on Israel's current actions, why even conservative Jews here are expressing distress at Sharon in letters and commentaries, etc. But they were a bit late on the draw, because the print hadn't yet dried on the story fed the public the day before ("Israel is just defending themselves and everything is Arafat's fault!") Bush was feeding them a new one today ("Israel must withdraw and Palestine must have a state!"). But I say, don't listen to this turkey's squawk — watch instead how he flaps his wings. This weekend, he's flapping off to Camp David for a cozy little oil-war-planning session with fellow misfit Tony Blair. During breaks from plotting to destabilize the world, I suppose the two can whine to each other about their father issues. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Friday, April 5, 2002 RAPTURE READERS: Some Do all their reading BETWEEN the lines We have been getting mucho mail over the piece I wrote earlier this week "Are Extremist Christians and Zionists Trying to Force the "Rapture"? Much of it has been very helpful, with readers supplying constructive links and information which help to document the bizarro world of the "Rapturists." However, about 1 in 4 letters point up a key problem in America - one that has contributed greatly to our snowballing problems: AMERICANS DON'T READ!!!!!! When I was a journalist in training in Maine, my editor told me: Get the most important info in the first three paragraphs and make sure it's damn clear. Why? Because readers typically only really read the first 1-3 paragraphs of any given news story, and even then, whilst applying only half their attention. The letters Helen and I have received re: the "Rapture" article have shown that this is true even for Web readers. First, many people failed to read the article with enough attention to notice where my introduction ended and the statement from my source began — even though Helen used a different colored 'ink' as a "visual aid" to make it clear! So, many readers just figured everything they read there, including excerpts from wacko websites (clearly marked in quotes) were all written by me. Here's a classic example of this type of "attention deficit disorder" from today's mailbag: "What planet are you from? I read your "article diatribe" about the Mideast conflict. Your expressing opinions like they were fact and you have no proof to back anything up." Then we have the readers who skim through the article, fail to click on a single supporting link in the article or to do the recommended Internet search of the wealth of info on the "Rapture" cultism, then write indignant letters about how I have presented no supporting material: "You spout all these opinions based on one source and have absolutely nothing to back them up." Then we have the folks who simply read the article title and maybe the first line or so, and take the ball and run with it! "How did you ever come up with your analogy? To blame fundamental Christians for the worlds problems is totally illogical." Hmmm … even I didn't know my topic was "How Christians ruin the world." HERE ARE LINKS TO BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Some are reports by the sane, some are from the insane at rapurist websites. For more links, go back and re-read my original article and the dialogue section from 4/4. Or do your own search using www.dogpile.com or www.google.com using keywords like "Rapture," "Israel and Rapture," Jerry Falwell, Pentecostal church and rapture, extremist Zionists and Christians, etc. There are literally thousands upon thousands of links relating to the rapture movement, and apparently hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of cult followers. So, it amazes me that the whole topic has been kept out of the light of public scrutiny so well! On the Rapture Movement Connection between Jerry Falwell, Bob Jones U. and Rapture fanatic Tim LeHaye Tim LeHaye (Rapture movement leader) Jerry Falwell's obsession with Rapture Pat Robertson and Rapture/Armageddon Presbyterian discusses Rapture movement Rapture/Christian right's influence on American Politics; also link and link. Scholarly treatise of rightwing religious extremism in U.S./Premillennialism/Rapture Middle East Politics and Rapture/Zionist/Christian extremists Jews in end-world scenario Israel's importance to the Rapture scenario; also link. Pentecostal Church (Ashcroft's church) and Rapture: list of 4,920 articles Rapture sites, articles, references: 397,000 links. To Cheryl -Dear Greg, At last! A real Christian! The fact that you find it hard to believe that any Christians would be so outrageous is a credit to YOU, not to them. Alas, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ashcroft, Bush, and a long and sorry list of others do not share your idealism. In yesterday's edition in the "Dialogue" section about halfway down the middle of the main page, we posted some resources sent in by readers - books, videos, links, etc. - showing just what a movement this insanity is. Worse, someone's making a lot of money on it. I suggest you check out the links. Anyway — don't ever lose your own ideal of what being a Christian is all about. —Cheryl Actually the Rapturists believe that they will be raptured BEFORE any of the wars/tribulations and other bad things happen. Only the so called sinners will be left on earth for 7 years during that time. The bottom line is they won't be raptured, nor will they spared the many wars, death, and various destructions that will happen on earth, and have been going on for many thousands of years.Dear Robert, If you caught yesterday's dialogue, you'd have gotten a kick (albeit a dark one) out of the reader's note about one group of Rapturists who have actually produced a video they plan to leave behind for us "heathens" to watch after they "ascend". The video shows all the rotten things that will happen to us in the coming (post "Rapture") 7 years. You'll also be amused to learn that there are several variations on the rapture theme, with some cults calling for a "pre-tribulation" period - and some even adding a "mid-tribulation" period (they probably had to adjust for the failure of the world to destruct on Jan. 1 2000 as predicted by many!). Yep, I agree. Thanks in very large part to the religious fanatics of all persuasions, there is one Biblical prophesy very likely to come true: "There will always be wars and rumors of war." Sigh, —Cheryl Cheryl,Dear Mark, You have my sympathy, re: the response you got from your e-mail! I experience the same syndrome frequently in response to my diatribes! I think it's a form of "creative reading" — you know, make up what you read as you go along! Best, —Cheryl Hello,Dear Luke, As much as the self-destruction of the hate-filled extremists would seem to be a benign act of natural selection that would improve the gene pool for the rest of humanity, the "mushroom cloud" you long to toast would be a gift that kept on giving long after, in the form of cancer-inducing fallout, nuclear winter, trashed land, etc. Alas, 'tis always the way - stupid people full of hate always find a way to ruin it for the rest of us - even whilst self-destructing. Best, —Cheryl • DIATRIBBLE:Bush's announcement of "intervening" in the Middle East was one of the biggest hairballs of propaganda to be spit up since my cat tried to swallow the hamster whole. This was not an intervention, it was a call to mass slaughter. Bush did not say to Sharon, "YOU MUST WITHDRAW AND YOU MUST WITHDRAW NOW! " and put Powell on the next plane. This is what he SHOULD have done if he were sincere and not a miserable liar. What he has done, in effect, instead, is to say "YOU GOT ONE WEEK TO FINISH TRASHING THE WEST BANK, SHARON OLD BUDDY, SO BETTER STEP UP THE SLAUGHTER." What Bush did was to declare a seven-day war on the Palestinian people. He could not have brought down worse misery on the West Bank if he had launched an attack himself. Now Sharon will pull out the stops while Bush cheers him on, laughing at the stupidity of most of the American public and how he pulled the wool over their eyes AGAIN. The suffering the next week will bring on the Palestinians will be horrendous — in fact, I for one believe that Bush's speech in the rose garden yesterday should be considered a war crime. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Sunday, April 7, 2002 Rising Above Differences: One Writer's Friendship with an Afghan Family in America This article ran several months ago, but it seemed like a good time to rerun in. As the conflicts in Afghanistan and the West Bank continue, it is way too easy for Americans to see the people involved as two-dimensional "swarthy" characters on their TV screens and not as real, three-D, flesh and blood, heart and soul, human beings very much like themselves. Back in the early 1980s, I lived in a small southern Maine coastal town which filled with tourists and money in the summer, then emptied back out on Labor Day, leaving a tiny community of "economically challenged" yearrounders. As a young mother of four children, I led a rather narrowly-focused life at that time. But my global horizons were enlarged unexpectedly one autumn afternoon. I was at the stove finishing up a batch of caramel popcorn as an afterschool treat. My six-year-old son Mike had asked the day before if he could bring his new friend home to visit and I'd enthusiastically said sure. Mike was shy and sensitive and didn't make friends readily and this was his first year of "fulltime" school. The front door banged open and the usual flood of "kidness" poured into the house — books thumping, papers rustling, laughing, yelling, sneakers slapping up the stairs two by two. "This is my friend Azziz Rafi. He's from Afghanistan." I turned around to see Mike grinning proudly. Next to him stood a little boy with thick black curly hair and immense, dark eyes. At first, Azziz looked embarrassed and peered down at his feet. Then Mike took charge. "Say hello, Azziz!" he urged encouragingly. Azziz first looked at Mike and smiled, then looked up at me and said with great emphasis (it turned out to be his favorite new English word): "Hello!" (actually it was more like "Haylo!"). "Hello!" I answered, "It's nice to meet you. Would you guys like some caramel corn?" I held the bowl out. Azziz's statement was blank — it was obvious he did not yet understand much English and was not sure just what that bowl of lumpy interesting-smelling stuff was. He turned to Mike with a quizzical look. "Popcorn!" said Mike, pantomiming stuffing a handful into his mouth and crunching it. Azziz laughed loudly at this — an exuberant, bubbly laugh! I offered the bowl to him. But he shyly dropped his eyes and shook his head no. "It's OK!" Mike reassured him. I held the bowl back out. "Try some." Again Azziz shook his head. Maybe he just isn't sure about caramel corn, I thought. So I offered him an orange. Again, the dropped eyes and shaken head. Then I tried an apple. Same response. Finally, I held out a banana. This time, Azziz seemed more receptive and stared with great interest at the long, curving yellow fruit. Mike took it and placed it in his friend's hands. "Here!" Azziz grinned mischievously at Mike and looked at the banana. Then he put it up to his head as if it were a telephone receiver and said, "Haylo? Haylo?" We all burst out laughing. Then Azziz handed Mike back the banana. "No- you keep it!" Mike protested, pushing it back. Azziz shook his head. Mike pushed it back again, but Azziz still shook his head. At last, Mike took the banana, peeled it, took a bite, handed it to his friend and said firmly, "Eat it!" Finally, Azziz took the banana and eagerly ate it as Mike munched some caramel corn. It was obvious both of them had been very hungry, after all. Right about then, our warm-hearted but decidedly goony springer spaniel Brandy came scrambling into the kitchen to greet the newcomer. He ran up to Azziz, tongue hanging out in a soggy dog grin. Poor Azziz cried out loudly in terror and began to inch backwards, trembling. It was obvious he was genuinely petrified. I quickly shuffled Brandy out into the back yard. Then the two boys went off to Mike's room, totally unrestrained by the language barrier. It was the beginning of a great, though too short, friendship. Mike was very protective of Azziz, and "translated" for him — although he did not understand the Afghan language, he understood Azziz. Whenever Azziz wanted to communicate something to anyone else, he looked first at Mike. And, somehow, just in that look, Mike could "read" what Azziz was trying to say, whether it was "Azziz says he'd like to play on the swings" or "Azziz has to use the bathroom." A few days after meeting Azziz, I got to meet the rest of the Rafi family. They lived in a rather shabby, furnished seasonal house a few blocks away. I learned that they were refugees from Afghanistan, which was being torn asunder by a civil war between pro-communist factions (which were being supported by Russian troops and arms) and the traditional, fiercely independent Afghan people. Azziz's father, who was described as a "freedom fighter," had been heavily involved in the cause against the communists. The Rafis were Afghani aristocrats — well-educated, cultured, and at the other end of the Muslim spectrum from the present-day Taliban. Although Mr. Rafi was a strong, commanding presence, at home, he seemed to defer comfortably to the ladies of his house, which included his wife, mother, and daughter, whose name was Suhela (Soo-hay-la). His wife had obviously been very shaken by the trauma of becoming a refugee and an emigree to a strange country, and was friendly but extremely anxious, fussing nervously over her children. Mr. Rafi's elderly mother, like veteran homemakers in every corner of the globe, sought solace in the kitchen, eager to cook for anyone, anytime. Although the women wore light scarves on their heads, they did not cover their faces. Their clothing was comfortable, colorful and incredibly beautiful — silks with delicate embroidery. Azziz's father, I learned, had been targeted by the Russians but had managed to escape his home with his wife and mother just hours before he would have been captured or killed. The family had been forced to leave virtually everything they owned but their clothes behind. (As it turned out, Azziz's fear of our springer spaniel had been inspired by the routine use of attack dogs by the Russians — Azziz had witnessed an Afghani child chased and savaged by one of these dogs.) Suhela had been away from home visiting relatives in another town at the time of the Rafi family's flight. For some time, she had been trapped in Afghanistan, separated from her family. Suhela's father, who spoke fairly good English, described how his daughter had made a daring journey by night across the mountains into Pakistan riding on muleback. He was very proud of her courage and independence, but the whole family had been terrified for her and no one had breathed easily until they had received word she was safe in Pakistan. Just 16 years old, Suhela was one of the most gorgeous women I have ever seen. My 8-year-old daughter Lorie was in complete awe of her and became absolutely convinced that she was an Arabian princess. In fact, when I called Lorie the other night to ask what she remembered about the Rafis, she thought first of Suhela: "She was a princess, wasn't she?" Suhela was tall and slender, but healthily rounded. Her skin was a striking deep ivory and absolutely flawless. Instead of the stereotypical thick black hair and eyes (the American "model" of all Muslims), she had silky, deep ash-brown hair and wide-set pale gray eyes — not hazel, but true gray. Between her eyes was a blue teardrop-shaped tattoo (Lorie thought that was her "princess insignia"). The first day I met her, she wore a long flowing blue silk robe over what we westerners call "harem pants." On her feet were dainty little silk slippers. I remember how incongruous it seemed — the princess dressed in silks sitting in a graceful lotus position on the beat up old couch. What amazed and impressed me most about the Rafis was how incredibly centered and open they were Here they had gone through a bloody war, lost everything, narrowly escaped with their lives and were now isolated in a strange country. But they seemed to completely accept their new circumstances and were ready to start over from nothing and move forward. As soon as he could, Mr. Rafi made arrangements to import handmade clothing from Afghanistan as a way to support his family. Although we were just as poor as they were, we managed to buy a pair of camel hair leggings, a scarf, and a sweater. I doubt if the strong earthy scent of camel ever came through as strongly in the dry mountains and deserts of Afghanistan as they did on the damp Maine coast in winter! I remember holding the material up to my face on humid days and smelling the rich, exotic musk — with my eyes closed, I could see a camel caravan, winding across the treeless plains. One day, Mr. Rafi gave me a photocopied pamphlet produced by the agency that helped bring the family to the U.S. (can't remember which it was). It told all about Afghani social customs and culture, and was designed to help Americans better understand their new neighbors. As it turned out, one of their customs was to never accept food as a guest unless it was offered at least three times. Even though I hadn't understood Azziz's repeated refusal of food, Mike, with the greater wisdom of children, had instinctively known he had needed to press the banana on his friend repeatedly. The pamphlet also pointed out that Afghan people were very proud and independent but warm-hearted and generous. Above all things, they prized family and friendship. Once you were a friend, you would always be a friend — no matter how may years of absence passed or what your circumstances were. I think this deeply personalized culture is why, to the outside world, the Afghan people may appear to be fickle, constantly changing allegiances among different political factions. The reality below the surface is that they may be changing superficial allegiances to remain true to their deeper loyalties to individuals. Thus they are in reality, the opposite of fickle on the personal level. By contrast, here in the US, our behavior is often the opposite — we are too willing to sell out individuals in order to gain an advantage for a political party, company, or team.. Unfortunately, a clash of cultures and values was, I suppose, inevitable. Which brings me to what I and my kids always refer to with a cringe and sigh as "the bird incident." For the Christmas gift exchange in Mike and Azziz's first-grade class, the two boys wanted to give each other special presents. Mike wanted to give Azziz a slinky — a toy by which the little Afghan had been completely fascinated. Azziz wanted to give Mike a small handmade tin bird — a treasure that had survived the perilous journey from Afghanistan. But their first grade teacher, we'll call her Mrs. Smith, though a basically kind woman, exemplifies what is most wrong with even the best folks at the conservative end of the American spectrum. She relied doggedly on protocol rather than thinking things through herself on a case by case basis and believed firmly that there was only two ways to do things — a right way and a wrong way — and that the right way was always the path of protocol. Though not really a bigot, there was no room in her narrow universe for other ways of thinking or living. She did not discriminate against things different — she simply refused to acknowledge their existence. So, when the two boys came in with their presents, with notes stating they were earmarked specifically for each other, Mrs. Smith would have none of it. The gift exchange in her room had always been a randomized handout from a pool of presents. That was the protocol and thus the right way of doing things (love it or leave it!). She remained unmoved by Mike's angry pouting and Azziz's sobs. The little bird went to a rather nasty little bully who refused to give it up in exchange for something else, just out of meanness (he had no interest in the bird itself), while Mike ended up with a comic book and Azziz with a $1 McDonald's gift certificate. That night, I called Mrs. Smith, enraged. But it was like railing against a brick wall. The random handout was just the way things were. Period. It didn't matter to her that Azziz was a Muslim to whom Christmas was irrelevant or that the bird was an irreplaceable treasure — all that mattered was that the gift handout had proceeded according to protocol. I was able to buy another slinky — and believe me, on my budget then, even that was a stretch — but the bird was gone forever. Shortly after Christmas, the Rafis moved to San Jose to live with a relative who had escaped Afghanistan earlier. There was a large community of Afghans there. I couldn't blame them, especially as I learned about the same time that they had been charged over $700 per month for their downtrodden rental, in a town where the going rate for a large seasonal house at that time was about $300-400. Welcome to America. We lost touch with the Rafis after that — we lost the address and were unable to find a way to contact them again. But I have always felt that my life and most certainly Mike's life, was enriched by the relationship, however short. In a larger sense, I think of how the Rafis and other central Asian émigrés have enriched America. I no more associate the Rafis with the Taliban or Osama Bin Laden than I associate the typical American with KuKluxKlan or Jerry Falwell. I feel an acute sense of shame and regret that we are devastating the Rafi's beloved former homeland and killing innocent people just like the Rafis — including little boys like Azziz - because so many Americans are generalizing their grudge against a handful of extremists to encompass an entire nation — in fact now several nations. It also fills me with pain to think that the Rafis could be experiencing any form of persecution here in America in the wake of the WTC tragedy. After having undergone far more real danger and suffering than the average American will ever know should they live to be 100, they certainly do not deserve to suffer now due to the ignorance of their new neighbors. For me, America's retaliatory reaction in the wake of Sept. 11, both here and in Afghanistan, is just an extreme and violent version of "the bird incident." It is born of well-meaning, but devastating ignorance. Wherever the Rafis may be, I want them to know that I still think of them and that my family's prayers are with them and with the Afghani people who remain caught in an endless cycle of violence and a struggle for independence. • THE BROKEN MAYTAG AWARD OF THE WEEK (Awarded to politican or journalist performing the lamest spin cycle): On 4/3, Donald Rumsfeld and sidekick General Richard Myers had a press conference — though the event should have been retitled: the "Rummy and Myers" standup comedy routine. Alas the attempts at comedy fell flat. I mean what can you say about one liners like "The only reason humanitarian aid workers got back into Afghanistan is because of the U.S. military" when everyone knows that many aid workers have continuously been in the country, including the two Christian missionaries who were allegedly rescued by the U.S. military! But the high point of the Rummy and Myers routine was the spot that wins them this weeks BROKEN MAYTAG award: The two comics ambled out onto the stage with their scripts. Then, Rummy clears his throat and says, glancing at his lines, that he and Dick just came having lunch, where, to their surprise and delight, the New York Yankees JUST HAPPENED to also be! Myers: (reading from script — I am wickedly paraphrasing what he said cause I didn't have a pen handy). Why yes, Donald, that is correct. We did had a pleasant surprise finding the Yankees there, didn't we? They were so All-American and you know how much the American public just loves those Yankees...and so do we." Myers hardly took his eyes off his script the whole time! My hubby and I roared with laughter at this routine. I mean, if you are going to plan a PR stunt like "stumbling onto the Yankees at lunch", at least learn your prescripted lines by heart for Chrissakes! Kinda makes it hard to believe that you "just came from lunch" — but somehow managed to emerge with a three-page script! Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Monday, April 8, 2002 WATER: The Stuff of Life.....and Death The World Bank At least one in every 5 people on the face of the planet are without access to safe drinking water and the problem is doomed to get worse - much worse - before it gets better. In the coming few decades, two-thirds of the planet's remaining water supply may be lost to pollution or waste. Yet, a story that has more serious implications for the world than any single non-nuclear war or even the AIDS crisis has gotten next to no coverage by the mainstream media. For example, how many people remember hearing about International Water Day on March 22 — an event that apparently received major coverage everywhere but the U.S.? Polluted water supplies kill thousands of people around the world each DAY — most of them children. In India, Vietnam, and other countries, in addition to scarcity of water and pollution from poor sanitation, such as India and Vietnam, the poisoning of wells by arsenic either through industrial irresponsibility or improper well construction has become a problem of staggering proportions. An estimated 35-77 million people are now being poisoned in Bangladesh alone according to the World Health Organization. In other regions, the very scarcity of water is a daily threat to life. For example, in some drought-plagued African communities, villagers must walk miles just to obtain a single precious jug of drinking water. But the demand for scarce water isn't just for drinking. In some regions, water for other purposes has already become so precious it is bought and sold as a "blue chip" commodity, just like oil — in fact, it's already known as "blue gold." Anyone who wonders why activists are so ferociously against world trade will wonder no more after pondering the following: A 1999 report from the International Forum on Globalization reveals that NAFTA has given a green light for wealthy nations to prey on the very life blood of poorer nations. "Governments are signing away their control over domestic water supplies by participating in trade treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). These agreements effectively give transnational corporations the unprecedented right to the water of signatory countries. Already, corporations have started to sue governments in order to gain access to domestic water sources. With the protection of these international trade agreements, companies are setting their sights on the mass transport of bulk water by diversion and by super tanker. Several companies are developing technology whereby large quantities of fresh water would be loaded into huge sealed bags and towed across the ocean for sale." In other words, why should Bush and his corporate cronies care that they have trashed the U.S. drinking water supply — they can simply go rip it off from other nations without sufficient economic clout to protest, truck it here by barge and resell it to the highest bidder. As a matter of fact, I suspect that the reason the media has put all but a blackout on the world water crisis since the 2000 election is because the corporations DO NOT WANT THE PUBLIC TO KNOW THERE IS A CRISIS. Keep 'em focused on "terrorism" so they don't notice there's a much more terrifying problem looming on the horizon. If they did, they might force the government to take strong preventive steps — and that would certainly make it tougher for companies to make a killing off it later, when a more desperate point is reached. As a matter of fact, Enron was trying to get into the "blue gold" business just before the crash of its sleazy empire. Equally disgusting is the way Coca Cola is already cashing in on the water-crisis-driven misery in poor nations. In the maquiladora zones of Mexico, water is so scarce that babies and children drink Coca-Cola and Pepsi instead. Water supplies in the western world, especially in the U.S., are being sapped by demands placed on them to meet the demands of industry and agriculture (a huge drain is the insistence of U.S. farmers on growing water-intensive crops in arid areas where water must be continuously siphoned from rivers and aquifers) and lifestyle "needs" — like the "need" for three bathrooms, swimming pools, big green lawns or golf greens in climates where grass was never meant to grow, 20-minute showers every day, bi-weekly SUV washes, etc. Water supplies are also being sucked away by developing countries scrambling to emulate the wasteful lifestyle of the west. For example, in its race to "westernize," China has seriously jeopardized its water supply. To grow western-style monoculture crops, China's irrigation system wastes twice as much water as more efficient systems in developed countries, while the country uses 5-10 times more water to produce the same amount of western-style industrial goods as manufacturers in Europe or the U.S. Just imagine what will happen when a few billion people decide the "need" swimming pools and daily 20-minute showers. Water control is already being used as a form of political tyranny and as an insidious, cold form of terrorism. Few people know, for example, that one of the key issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is WATER. The international environmental organization called Green Cross (Mikhail Gorbachev is the president) reports "The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) complains that Israel controls the sources of water and one third of West Bank inhabitants have only intermittent water supplies. Israel has complete control over water resources in the West Bank and uses 82 percent of the underground water, the PNA says. Palestinians in the West Bank are charged three times as much per unit of water as Israeli settlers. The Israeli newspaper, "Ha'aretz," reported that more than half a million of the Palestinian inhabitants in the West Bank have not consistently received water for more than two months." Meanwhile, Israelis use 7-10 times more water everyday per person than Palestinians. However, Israel now wants a share of what little water the Palestinians have access to. During the current conflict, Sharon used his power over the water supply to terrorize Palestinians but shutting off the supply completely for several days. Water is now the driving factor behind an increasing number of global conflicts and water supplies are — monstrous as this seems — becoming military targets. The U.S. intentionally wrecked water treatment plants in Iraq , leaving millions of Iraqis without safe drinking water, and leading to death of an estimated ?one million Iraqi children. During the Afghanistan bombing campaign, Rumsfeld targeted this dry, drought-ridden nation's ONLY sources of water. The country's most important hydroelectric plant was bombed to rubble, weakening the huge dam on the country's only major river, the Helmond, polluting the water below the bombing site. and creating an ongoing danger of a dam collapse and catastropic flood. Many of the bombs that hit alleged "terrorist tunnels" were in fact targeting the ancient network of underground conduits that carry precious water from aquifers beneath mountains to villages and hardscrabble fields. If the U.S. government is willing to use water as a tool of terror and to allow companies to buy and sell it like oil or pork bellies, who is to say that this same "benign" government will not, in the near future, make water a "commodity" available only for a price — like medical attention is now. The wealthy will then still have their swimming pools, three baths and SUV washes every other day, while the poor will struggle to get enough to drink every day. The same condition already exists in developing countries. Meanwhile, wildlife everywhere except in the most pristine reserves are becoming increasingly water starved as their dwindling supplies are diverted, filled in, dammed, polluted, or made inaccessible by roads, fences, or development. The sight of a deer, fox or raccoon lapping from a trickle of a polluted stream or a gasoline-slicked puddle is becoming more the norm than the exception in many areas of the U.S. In northern Maine, as a case in point, in areas where paper company sludge is spread routinely on "industrial forestland," even so-called remote ponds and streams are now polluted, and probably much of the ground water, as well. For all of their technological know how, humans are the stupidest, crudest species on the planet. After all, we are, as the philosopher once remarked, the only critter insane enough to burn down its own nest — as we sit in it. A few links to get those interested — which should be anyone who drinks water! — started: World water supply dwindling overview of world water crisis U.S. water budget info overpopulation and water supply humans claiming more than their fair share Iraq water supply trashed by US Afghan water supply trashed by U.S. US bombs knock out dam, "imperil thousands", in heaviest raids yet Water supply and Sanitation collaborative council List of organizations around world dealing with water issues books Australia and water crisis poisoned wells in India Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Tuesday, April 9, 2002 The Christian Right, the Rapture, and one former Christian broadcaster Well, I'd have to say Unknown News scored a "direct hit" on the Christian Right with our article and follow-up reader letters on the "Rapture" and how it may be impacting politics and world events big time. Biggest proof that we've kicked the hornet's nest is that the Rev Sun Yeong "Send Me Your Money" Moon's propaganda organ, "The Washington Times," ran a counter spin piece within four days of the appearance of our piece. Meanwhile, the letters keep coming, most, I am happy to say, from sane and reasonable people (i.e. not "Rapturists). One reader mentioned how the Rapturists are being given prime rack space for selling their "literature" at Wal-Mart (the New American Church?) and the big "superstore" book chains. I went to Wal-mart to check it out and he was right! There, in the racks nearest the main aisle, and at eye level, was a collection of Tim "I'm Laughing All the Way to The Bank" LeHaye books! With the kind of money this creepo is making off the gullibility of the masses, he ought to call himself a "Raptorist," as in predatory bird. Here are is a thought-provoking commentary from a former Christian broadcaster in Alaska. Cheryl,• DIATRIBBLE Spinner Winner Propaganda Award Cokie Roberts and Alex Chadwick of NPR's Morning Edition have taken the art of propaganda to a new "high" that would have had Goebbels doffing his hat and exclaiming "Why the hell didn't I think of that?" Here's the scam — During the show's "weekly roundup" of news stories, Roberts, posing as a journalist, is "interviewed" about the stories by fellow propagandist Chadwick. How's that for a new wrinkle in spin land?!! — spinner-to-spinner news. What's next? Having Rumsfeld or Bush interviewing themselves? Although the current press conference trick is for these creeps already is to pose the questions they want to hear themselves, then answer them in the same breath, thus eliminating the "middle men" (the press corps, who are useless as it is). Roberts' pre-scripted "question and answer" spot was all about the Bush war on terror and the Israeli campaign - but designed to stitch together the party line without a single seam showing. Her "answers" to Chadwick are filled with opinion — Bush's opinion, anyway. She actually said, at one point, as an argument for getting rid of Arafat: "Maybe in this case it's "better the devil you don't know than the one you do."" If Roberts' wanted to call her slot: GOP Roundup or The World According to Cokie, then we'd have no problem with her Rumplestilskin-like efforts to spin Bush straw into gold. But "Weekly News Roundup"? Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 GOP Trying to Tie His Fast Track Trading power and Globalization scheme to "Family Budget" Thanks to Chris G. for this tidbit! Since when does helping "the family budget" have anything to do with granting Bush "Trade Promotion Authority" and passing the "Andean Trade Preferences Act"? Yeah — helping the family budget, as in shipping Daddy's job down to Mexico so someone named Juan can do the same work for half the pay. Or letting the big energy company Mommy works cut a " presidential fast track" deal in places like Taiwan before they go bankrupt and abscond with Mommy's savings and pension Here's a "notice" sent this week to people on a GOP mailing list. This list's heading in the database must be "Schmucks Who Might Be Too Dumb To Know Any Better." But, then, the GOP is obviously bubbling over with willing victims. You'll notice at the end of this letter, you can click on a list of local call-in talk shows, like C-SPAN. The idea, of course, is that the GOP schmucks will mobilize their "teams" to barrage these shows with the usual scripted propaganda. From: Blaize Hazelwood, Political Director, RNCHi — Cheryl here again. I checked out the site that this letter was attached to. It was very telling! The GOP is run just like a multilevel marketing operation! I know, because one summer years ago, I was hired to do some editorial work for a publication that aimed at pulling in multilevel marketer hopefuls. I was fired when I pointed out that they were a shameless scam. GOP team leader info actual site: Text from site in bold. My comments in italics GOPTeamLeader.com is an online toolbox for Republican activists. It is personalized and local. Our computer actually prints your name on the top of our form letter! GOPTeamLeader gives you the power to quickly voice your opinions and influence your Representatives. We know every lobbyist and legislator on the take in the country! Once you become a Leader, you can use GOPTeamLeader.com to: Learn about and help fellow Republicans running for office in your state, as well as on a federal level; We'll help make sure you're just as much a pain in the ass as any Jehovah's Witness. Track and research local and federal issues and bills of interest to you; Learn how to monitor and harass local legislators, journalists, and talk show hosts who don't agree with US Write your local and federal representatives... Flood your local reps with form letters we will write for you but you can sign and say you wrote yourself. while accessing official RNC talking points from GOPTeamLeader.com; If you call us, we will tell you exactly what to think. Collect GOPoints by completing Action Items and redeem them for collateral of your choice, ranging from leather PDA covers to folding chairs. We believe anyone can be bought - and the losers on our Schmuck List will probably go for a leather PDA cover or folding chair. Encourage participation in the political process by building your own Team of activists who you can share information with. Learn how to spam Democrats and Green Party members, stack polls and organize phony "spontaneous" call in assaults on talk shows The 2002 election is right around the corner and we need your help. We know we are losing group and we are desperate, so we'll do ANYTHING. Sign up to be a Team Leader and work with us for a Republican majority in 2002. Help keep us Porkers in office another 4 years so we climb into a few more pockets before we go home Wanna see sad! While those of us who truly value the ideal of American democracy struggle onward on the steam of self-motivation alone, unpaid and abused by the mainstream, the rightwingers do their thing — freeping polls and haunting news sites like ours so they can report back to their "team leaders" — for sweatshirts, tote bags and GW Bush baseball hats. • Another incoming comment: Pondering upon current events and the distinct possibility of religious war, and the deference of some, like Charles B. to things coming "in God's time".... perhaps it is timely to point out the fact that in 1984, the names of Jewish terrorists and details of their acts became known after a trial in which most signed confessions of the crimes of which they were accused. Gush Emunim fanatics had plotted to blow up the Dome of the Rock.. This is a matter of historic record, and for those wishing to do any homework on this, and one of the most violent subversive organizations in Israel's history; Robert Friedman wrote graphically about it in the Village Voice (Nov. 12, 1985).It is interesting to note, that, at trial, and as other of Gush's known activities like blowing up West Bank mayors had come to light, attorneys for Gush terrorists came up with a novel and 'explosive' defense. It was claimed that the Shin Bet, even knowing identities, had failed to arrest anyone because, in the words of chief defense attorney Avi Yitzahk, "top political and military authorities had urged the underground to take actions that a democratic state cannot." It is worth making the point that we have NO IDEA of just how far reaching IS the collusion between, or the intentions of, such arrangements. Nor can we assume that ANY government, intelligence agency, OR OTHER equally dubious entities...are somehow insulated from, or immune to, such activities. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Thursday, April 11, 2002 SUPERFUND SELL OUT: Is Bush the Toxic President? Or Is He Just Practicing a New Form of Eugenics? There are 40,000 — count 'em! — 40,000 candidate superfund sites in the U.S., 1,200 of which have already been officially listed. What's a superfund site? An industrial site — or illegal dumping site — that is so contaminated by extremely toxic substances that it requires a special program just to organize and manage the clean up. The chemicals have, in most cases, seeped into the ground, into surface water, into wells... in short, they are a toxic nightmare. A superfund site in Woburn, Mass. was the focus of the book (and later, movie) "A Civil Action." This real-life superfund site was killing off children in the community from cancer thanks to contaminated wells. But when the working class families tried to fight back, the corporations fought them tooth and nail — or should we say dollars and lawyers — for years. It was a heartbreaking, though ultimately heroic struggle. Picture the plight of Woburn multiplied times tens of thousands and you'll get an idea of the misery, frustration, and suffering that these sites collectively cause for the Americans unfortunate enough to live too close to them. So what is Bush doing about this tragedy? NOTHING. He wants to let most of the sites sit — can't have his corporate pals coughing up cash for anything as trivial as sparing mothers the sight of dying children, can he? His neglect of the problem is without exaggeration, tantamount to a death sentence on an untold number of Americans — a high percentage of them will, without doubt, be children. Right now, he is pulling his usual cowardly scam of delay — He says he wants to "defer" the problem, which is the chicken-livered wimpo's way of saying "I don't intend to do a goddamn thing about the problem, fuck you!" Thankfully, most of Congress (to my delight and profound shock) are opposing his miserable position. Here is a kick-ass website on superfund sites. It tells everything you need to know (and will wish you didn't!) about superfund sites, including a database that will help you find out which sites are close to where you live and what's being done about them. This is a good one to pass on freely to as many people as you can. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Call your reps and tell them you support their stand against Bush's negligence (right now, more than half of all reps are opposing the Bush move). We need to let these folks know when they are doing something RIGHT and cheer them on - who knows, they might start making it a habit, given enough encouragement!. You can also sign PIRG's letter to Bush demanding disclosure of which sites are going to be left to fester from lack of cleanup $. • The Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism 2002: A Sorry Excuse For News Awards We all know the Pulitzer Prizes for Journalism are a big fat joke, especially now with the AP empire dominating both the news and the Pulitzer board. The prizes are awarded by Columbia University on the recommendation of the 18-member Pulitzer board. Upon this board sit several AP members, including AP chief Louis Boccardi. The President of Columbia University, the guy with final veto power, we can assume, over the awards, is George Rupp is an old Bush pal from Texas who used to be in banking before turning his corporate expertise to education — in fact, he was involved in one of the biggest money laundering scams ever. So it comes as no surprise that there are already complaints that some should-be winners were passed over because the committee is more worried about its corporate cronies than upholding a literary standard. In addition, of 18 board members supposedly representing newspapers for the entire nation, seven are based in New York with two in Boston. So we are all supposed to be impressed that New York-based newspapers swept the awards, with 7 going to the NY Times and a couple to the Wall St. Journal ? Here are some general notes on this corporate fest of mutual back-scratching: The Wall Street Journal won several awards, including some that it absolutely should not even have been nominated for. Why? Well, the timing's perfect, isn't it? All this week, AOL, the TV networks and various newspapers have been plugging the debut of the :Wall Street Journal's "new look" (it's been reformatted to resemble a cross between "People" and "The National Enquirer"). So, within the same day or so that the "new WSJ" hits the stands, so does the news of its cluster of undeserved Pulitzer Prizes. This scam is no different than the segment of the Olympics opening ceremony where Stephen Spielberg was selected to represent "culture." The cameras lingered on him as one of the flag bearers entering the arena, then right after cut to a commercial for the re-released "ET." (a Spielberg film). The New York Times made a sweep of 7 awards. How very amazing (yawn!). And, most of the winning coverage was about 9/11 in NYC. Hey! If Bush can be declared a "great president" just for standing next to a pile of rubble in NYC, then why should it surprise us that the New York Times and Wall Street Journal are declared great papers just fore BEING in New York?! Jewish Journalists dominated the Pulitzers with a capital D. Out of 7 writing awards conferred to individuals (not staffs), at least 5 were awarded to Jewish writers (actually, this number could be higher, but I am not familiar with two of the writers listed and don't know if they are Jewish or not). This not only is totally unfair — here are scores and scores of incredible non-Jewish writers out there, so it isn't as if no one else can write! — but it adds gasoline to the fire of bigots who claim that the Jews have a "stranglehold" on the U.S. media. Huge Newspapers dominated not just the wins, but the nominations as well. Smaller newspapers were terribly underrepresented. Being a regular reader of newspapers of all sizes, I know for a fact that the monsters like NY Times, the Post, and LA Times all basically share the same front page stories and general spins, and are unabashedly corporate. Smaller papers, on the other hand, are much more likely to have original (refreshing!) content, to regularly be more probing in their investigative reporting and to be more challenging in their commentary. BUT — smaller papers are on average much more critical of the Bush administration, and of the corporate power structure in the U.S. So, the domination of the Pulitzers by big papers doesn't represent journalistic excellence — it represents the big boys patting each other on the back and saying "Hooray for us!" (and, of course, Hooray! for corporate journalism!) 9/11 / war on terrorism coverage dominated the awards. This in a year when a recession tore the tech world apart, Bush and Ashcroft tore the Constitution apart, the EPA tore environmental protections apart, the Supreme Court tore democracy as we know it apart, …etc., ad nauseum. But no one could find anything to write about but 9/11? Alas, the Pulitzers are just following the corporate media pattern: If the American public opens its mouth to complain or ask questions, you can shut 'em up by force feeding them 9/11/war on terrorism coverage! To give you an idea of just how politically manipulated the Pulitzer Prizes are now, take a look at who LOST and what stories were NOTABLY ABSENT, as well as who won. This year, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, each award was granted either to stories leading to the patriotic right or to politically safe stories — i.e., stories no one could quarrel with, from corporate execs to migrant workers or those on topics everyone already knows all about from ample coverage by others. The winning field is thus, with but a very few exceptions, about as flat and unchallenging as a piece of old newsprint. Investigative Reporting: WHAT WON: Washington Post (Sari Horowitz, Scott Higham and Sarah Cohen) for a story on the tragedy of children abused while in protective foster care won (Gee, no has EVER written about kids being abused in foster care before! Worthy story, yes — Pulitzer material: NO) WHAT LOST: a story by Duff Wilson and David Heath of The Seattle Times on the lethal effects of clinical trials for new drugs being conducted by doctors with a financial interest in the outcomes. There is a suspicion that this story was barred from the winner's circle because of pressure the FRED HUTCHISON MEMORIAL CLINIC and Wall Street Journal (talk about conflict of interest!) placed on the Pulitzer committee . Also kept well from the winner's circle: an investigation by Craig Whitlock, David S. Fallis and April Witt of The Washington Post of systematic police abuse of suspects, including forced murder confessions, in an elite suburban county outside D.C. NOTABLY ABSENT: Investigative reports on the 2000 election, on the ties between Bush and the Taliban prior to 9/11, on the Enron Scandal - in short, on no topic that SHOULD have been a hot topic for investigative journalists. As far as desperately needed journalistic investigations went, 2001 was the YEAR THAT WASN'T. Breaking News Coverage: WHAT WON: The Wall Street Journal (!!!!?????) for covering the 9/11 attacks from (incredibly!) the $ point of view. WHAT LOST: The Daily News, covering the attack in a deeply personal, human manner, in the trenches with the everyday guy. Hey — with George Rupp at the helm, where does the Daily News get off thinking they can compete with "fast breaking coverage" of dollar bills!? NOTABLY ABSENT: Any nominations for any coverage other than 9/11 Explanatory Reporting: WHAT WON: New York Times staff for its 9/11 coverage. WHAT LOST: Washington Post's David Finkel for 9/11 coverage. NOTABLY ABSENT: Anything besides 9/11 coverage. Beat Reporting: WHAT WON: Gretchen Morgenson of New York Times for Wall Street coverage (guess this goes with the award to the Wall Street Journal for New York coverage — must be an interchangeable set). WHAT LOST: Patrick Healy, Boston Globe, covering education — including exposing student suicide epidemic at MIT and systematic grade inflation at Harvard. Of course, Healy's loss had NOTHING to do with the fact that one of the Pulitzer board members, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is a Harvard bigwig!! Another more worthy candidate who lost: Jack Kelly of USA Today for coverage of foreign terrorism, often at risk of own life. NOTABLY ABSENT: Any nominee from health/medicine beat, in a year when stem cells research and other hot topics abounded or from the court beat, when the courts were being rocked by Bush/Ashcroft. National Reporting: WHAT WON: Washington Post Staff for coverage of "War on Terrorism". WHAT LOST: Douglas Birch, Gary Cohn of Baltimore Sun for series that showing how university research on new drug therapies may be tainted by relationships with profit-seeking drug companies. NOTABLY ABSENT: Any stories that had anything to do with anything to do with the aftermath of the election, Enron, the overhaul of the Bill of Rights and Constitution by the Bush Administration, invasion of privacy following 9/11, the crash of the economy. International Reporting: WHAT WON: Barry Bearak of New York Times for coverage of war in Afghanistan. WHAT LOST: Other stories on war in Afghanistan. NOTABLY ABSENT: Anything other than war in Afghanistan. Feature Writing: WHAT WON: Barry Siegel of Los Angeles Times for story about man tried for neglect death of son. WHAT LOST: Ellen Barry of Boston Globe for story about two Sudanese boys resettled in U.S. adjusting to life in American culture. NOTABLY ABSENT: Any newspaper with a circulation under half a million, when the absolutely best features being written right now invariably come from papers smaller than this. Commentary: WHO WON: Rightwing asshole Thomas Friedman of New York Times pontificating on "worldwide impact of terrorist threat". WHO LOST: Michael Daly of NY Daily News for "compassionate and humane columns and Village Voice's Nat Hentoff for commentaries on the threat to American civil liberties following 9/11. NOTABLY ABSENT: Smaller newspapers and any commentators critical of war on terrorism or Bush. Criticism: WHAT WON: Justin Davidson of Newsday for classical music criticism. WHAT LOST: John King of the San Francisco Chronicle for urban architecture criticism, Joseph Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal for contemporary film criticism. NOTABLY ABSENT: ANY criticism of publishing field. Editorial Cartooning: WHAT WON: Clay Bennet of the Christian Science Monitor (give us a break!). WHAT LOST: Marshall Ramsey of the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi and Ben Sargent of the Austin American-Statesman. NOTABLY ABSENT: Any non-conservative nominees, and, more significantly, any really GREAT nominees, though there were dozens worthy of it, including Tom Tomorrow. Breaking News Photography: WHAT WON: New York Times Staff for 9/11. WHAT LOST: The Record (Hackensack, NJ) for 9/11, New York Times for war in Afghanistan. NOTABLY ABSENT: Any photos NOT having to do with 9/11 or Afghanistan. Feature Photography: WHAT WON: New York Times for war in Afghanistan. WHAT LOST: Albert Diaz of the Miami Herald for portrayal of suburban sprawl in Florida, Mike Stocker, A. Enrique Valentin and Hilda M. Perez of the Sun-Sentinel for moving images of AIDS in Caribbean. NOTABLY ABSENT: Any newspaper not in Florida or New York. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Friday, April 12, 2002 THIS WEEK'S BROKEN MAYTAG AWARD : You Can Relax Now! Bubba Is Keeping Nuclear Power Plants Safe For YOU! Unknown News led the charge (we are proud to brag!) in exposing the outrageously lax security at the nation's 100-plus nuclear power plants, an inexcusable situation that continued EVEN IN THE WAKE OF 9/11!! Well, like all good corporate slime balls, the nuke barons have addressed this complaint NOT by actually improving security in any meaningful way, but by pouring millions into an ad campaign designed to give the ILL:USION they're doing something! I mean why spend money on fixing anything when you can spend it on a PR campaign that says you did? That way you get a two-for-one — you get the PR plus you don't actually have to fix the problem! Anyway, the stage being thus set for this week's Broken Maytag winner, here's the scoop: The nuke barons, calling themselves the Nuclear Energy Institute (these guys think that by calling themselves "foundation" or "institute" no one will notice they're a pack of flimflam artists!), have taken out huge ads — one-quarter page a pop! — in newspapers across the country. Most of this ad is taken up by a photo of a big, tough, thuggy looking guy in crew cut and uniform whose name could only be Bubba! (a tiny caption says that Bubba's real name is Howard Hyde, but we still bet his friends call him Bubba!) Bubba is holding what looks like an M-16 and glowering challengingly at the camera. At the top left hand of Bubba's portrait, it reads "Nuclear Power Plant Security — " Then, across the bottom of Bubba's picture in bigger letters it says: "TOUGH ENOUGH? YOU BET." . The bottom, Bubba-less, section of the ad is devoted to talking about how Bubba is not only a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, he is a Tai Kwon Do champion. Also, about how the other nuke security guys are also tough dudes who not only have military and law enforcement backgrounds but must also pass a psyche test! So, rest easy, America, when a 747 jet liner makes a nose dive for that nuke plant, Bubba stands ready, complete with a clean bill of mental health, to confront it with his best Tai Kwon Do moves! • REACHING FOR A HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS: The 1985 Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment While browsing the Yale Avalon Project site, I found a link to "Project Diana," an online human rights archive. One of the documents I found there was the CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT. This document represents a pinnacle of enlightenment in human history - it rejects the un-evolved, underdeveloped mentality that can perpetrate or condone torture and other outrages. The standard set by the Convention would SEEM to be the same one aimed at by America's "founding fathers" when they forbade the use of "cruel and unusual punishment." The document opens with the following statement: "The States Parties to this Convention, Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Recognizing that those rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person, Considering the obligation of States under the Charter, in particular Article 55, to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms." The document closes with the following paragraph: "On February 4, 1985, the Convention was opened for signature at United Nations Headquarters in New York. At that time, representatives of the following countries signed it: Afghanistan, Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Uruguay. Subsequently, signatures were received from Venezuela on February 15, from Luxembourg and Panama on February 22, from Austria on March 14, and from the United Kingdom on March 15, 1985." Signatures that are still notably absent from the Convention: the United States and Israel. Why am I not surprised? LINCOLN'S ARTICLES OF WAR VS BUSH'S PAPER ASSAULT The Article of War below was sent to me by a reader, who found it in the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School. At the Avalon site, you will find a collection of documents dating from the 18th century through the present, including the Articles of War. When I browsed through the archives, I was disgusted to discover that the Bush administration has flooded the annals with its constant proclamations, sweeping acts (notably the infamous "Patriot Act"), and directives. There appears to have been nearly as many documents dumped into the archives in the past 6 months as in the preceding 16 years! It's as if Bush thought to seal his takeover of the nation with paper — as if the number of documents, rather than the nature of the documents, would be the measure of his "presidency." The Article of War below is a document originating from Abraham Lincoln — a real president acting during a real war. It provides us with yet more proof that the Bush administration is gnawing away at the very foundations of our Democracy and our supposed cherished ideals. For Lincoln and those who followed him, this Article of war was meant to be respected. For Bush, Rumsfeld, et al., it may as well have been a square of Charmin. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE FIELD Prepared by Francis Lieber, promulgated as General Orders No. 100 by President Lincoln, 24 April 1863. SECTION IX Assassination Art. 148. The law of war does not allow proclaiming either an individual belonging to the hostile army, or a citizen, or a subject of the hostile government, an outlaw, who may be slain without trial by any captor, any more than the modern law of peace allows such intentional outlawry; on the contrary, it abhors such outrage. The sternest retaliation should follow the murder committed in consequence of such proclamation, made by whatever authority. Civilized nations look with horror upon offers of rewards for the assassination of enemies as relapses into barbarism. Mean Cuisine? The U.S. military may be unable to stop terrorists armed with box cutters or kill a single man (OBL) with 60 million tons of our best bombs, but, by God, they can make a mean sandwich — a very mean sandwich...indestructible, in fact. Yep, that's right! Gotta account for the extra billions tacked onto this years Pentagon budget somehow and here it is, the from Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald (my "observations" in italics): "Military scientists in the United States have developed a new battlefield weapon: the indestructible sandwich. It can survive air drops and rough handling to stay fresh for up to three years, even in tropical conditions. in tight spots you can even use one of these babies as an entrenching tool or to jack your jeep up while you change a tire! Eventually, it is expected to follow freeze-dried coffee, dehydrated egg and processed cheese from the battlefield on to supermarket shelves. So far, only pepperoni and barbecued chicken varieties have been developed. The burgers we worked with kept exploding. Soldiers who have tasted them say they are "acceptable". I.e., no severe illness has been conclusively linked to the sandwiches yet. Scientists are now working on indestructible pocket pizzas, cream-filled bagels and peanut butter sandwiches." So what's next? Suicide salami? Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Monday, April 15, 2002 REMEMBERING THE "COMMON MAN" ON April 15 By Cheryl Seal On April 15, 2002, as on every April 15, the U.S. government and all its pals making over $100,000 per year stand to get a lot richer while the poor get a bit poorer. Today, "poor" starts at about $26,000 for a family of 3, and we're talking poverty line. $26,000 equals one marginally job, say as a new teacher, a junior accountant, or a middle-management person in some sort of retail business. It is also roughly two $6.00 incomes for a year — just barely. Once upon a time, a minimum wage job meant the poverty line. Two minimum wage jobs in the same family meant respectably above the poverty line. A job as a starting teacher or accountant meant reasonably comfortable. Today, people making $26,000 per year or less and barely - or not - making it represent the fastest growing group in America — despite what the hype from Washington or Wall Street may try to sell you. The folks at the Labor and Census Bureaus frame their data in a sneaky format that makes the average income look healthier and racial patterns more equitably distributed than they really are. Income is typically presented as a "median" value (few people know the difference between mean, median, and mode — and it can be immense). Instead of income per worker, we are more likely to be shown "household income," in which every man, woman, child, dog and cat may contribute some earnings. But the fact is, the "average American" — the "common man" — is not doing that well. Over 35% of all workers between ages 16 and 65 now make between $5.25 per hour (min. wage) and $9.50 per hour. It is estimated that less than half have any kind of benefits, most have no job security (ask any worker in the service sector what the phrase "at will employee" means), and a high percentage work two or more part-time jobs because they MUST in order to make ends almost meet. Yet it is the poorly paid, neglected workers in the service sector upon whom the American corporate empire stands. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, McDonald's, every supermarket chain, every retail store in every mall across America — are all built upon the backs of underpaid clerks, counter helpers, stockers, cashiers, short-order cooks, receptionists, and waitresses/waiters averaging about $7.00 per hour. These workers have no voice — any worker at Wal-Mart even caught talking to a union rep can be summarily fired (ask any clerk at any store!), any cashier at a typical supermarket chain who refuses to push carts around in the cold or clean toilets even though they weren't hired to do those jobs can be fired. Any kid working at an all-night convenience store who refuses late night shifts out of self-preservation, can also be shown the door. In addition to being under paid, these employees, a high percentage of whom are our youngest and oldest workers (students, just-out-of schoolers, and retirees trying to make a little extra money), are also often most in danger of injury or death on the job: The homicide rate for all-night convenience store clerks, for example, rivals that of big-city cab drivers and police. Legislative protections of these workers is abysmally inadequate or nonexistent. Routine employer practices include assigning irregular and unpredictable shifts (i.e., 4:00 to 11:00 PM one day and 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM the next, in a chaotic pattern — just try finding child care, getting a second job or going to school on that schedule!), compulsory unexpected overtime (workers in the food service sector are especially vulnerable to this practice if there's a last minute rush), being sent home without pay because business is slow (though the worker may have depended on that extra two or three hours pay), being hired to do one job and ending up doing the work of two or three, being charged from an already tiny paycheck for accidental breakage, or for being "stiffed" by a customer (wait staff know this one all too well!), being assigned 28-34 hours regularly so the employer does not have to pay benefits, two-week pay schemes in which workers can be assigned to work 50 hours one week during a busy time, then cut back to 30 the next so no overtime is paid out, no sick time, and so forth ad nauseum. Is it any wonder that the greatest amount of shoplifting that occurs is done not by customers but by store employees with zero respect for their employers? The Bush tax cut will give these workers a laughable extra $150-200 per year. That won't even cover one week of sick time. It is a pretty good move for the rich employers, though. According to Labor Bureau projections, jobs in the service sector will increase more rapidly over the next 7 years than all other types of jobs except for the most highly specialized professions, such as systems analyst. Want to bet the real reason behind Bush's educational testing scheme? A test-or-don't graduate program will achieve one goal: providing a steady stream of high school dropouts to stuff into the underpaid service sector jobs. The groups that are most likely to test poorly, despite actual aptitude, are blacks, Hispanics, low-income and/or transient whites, teenagers in abusive or dysfunctional homes, and teenagers who are burnt out on the whole over-bureaucratized school scene (there's A LOT of teens out there like that, and the number is steadily growing). Bush's testing scheme is an insidious way to trample the already fragile hope of upward mobility among a huge group. Shrub also wants to cut daycare to low income women. That means women with children in the service sector will inevitably be forced onto welfare. While we're on the subject of compassion — where is Bush's plan for medical insurance for the service sector? Few of these workers have coverage. The average Blue Cross plan for a single person in good health not covered by an employer's plan is about $200 a month. For someone taking home $800-$1350 per month, it may as well be $2,000. I say, fine — if Bush wants to thumb his nose at one-third of all American workers, then it is time for American workers to start demanding real change — A BIG change! THE UNKNOWN NEWS PLAN FOR LOW INCOME WORKERS Here's a plan that would make life enormously kinder for service sector employees and put more money into their struggling budgets than any insulting crumbs from Bush's tax plan: First and foremost: Abolish Income tax completely for all workers making under $20,000 and reduce their social security payment. The reduction can be taken out of taxes gleaned from those making over $100,000 per year. Next, it's time to propose a real alternative program: Let's call it " THE HAND UP PROGRAM (as opposed to the Republican's favorite slam of any social service program: the "hand out"!). The Hand Up Program would be, in essence, a voucher system aimed at bringing the standard of living of low-income workers up to a true living wage. Vouchers could only be used for their target commodity, so the right-wingers couldn't say money is being handed over to druggies and drunks" (better we should hand it over to the oil industry, eh?). TRANSPORTATION VOUCHERS: Worth $150 per month, usable on public transportation, in cabs, toward car payments, and toward car repair bills. CLOTHING VOUCHERS: Receptionists, clerks, and other office workers in low-paying positions are expected, incredibly, to dress well. A $50/ per month clothing voucher would be issued to those in certain professions. RENT VOUCHERS: Rent is the number one problem for low-income workers. Average one-bedroom apartments in major U.S. cities range from $400 to $850. That's about half to two-thirds a paycheck for these workers! Rent vouchers should be a minimum amount ($200, say). In addition to reducing pressure off workers, this move would open up more housing to low income people, relieving the current crunch. At present, section 8 housing is not only hard to come by, it is usually outrageously inflated in price by the landlords receiving the state/federal payments. INSURANCE VOUCHERS: For employees not covered under an employee plan, medical vouchers of at least $100 would be provided, payable either to an insurance plan or directly to a care provider. SCHOOL VOUCHERS: For employees enrolled in a class, vouchers payable to a college or vocational training program would be made available equal to the cost of one to two courses per semester. At present, virtually no financial aid is available to people trying to take one class at a time (all many workers can manage). CHILD CARE VOUCHERS: This would enable low-income workers to take their children to any care provider--even pay their relatives, thereby opening up more options. At present, decent daycare options are becoming woefully scarce. Outrageously, at present, the basic needs (medical attention, adequate clothing, shelter) of indentured servants and slaves in some households in the 1800s were given more attention than the low-income workers of today's service sector. While over one-third of all Americans will go to bed tonight worrying about paying the rent May 1st or covering a much-needed visit to the doctor's office, the executives of major corporations will rest easy knowing that even if they screw up big time, they have a "golden parachute" of several million dollars to fall back on - thanks in large part to the failure of the U.S. government to insist that workers - the majority of Americans - not the bosses, come first. Thoreau once said, "It's not enough to be good — be good for something!" Isn't about time the U.S. government followed that advice? DIATRIBBLES: • Finally, a CIA Coup FAILS!! After a coup that lasted a few days, Chavez is back in power in Venezuela. YAY!!!! Why yay? Because the coup staged against Chavez bore the unmistakable stamp of a CIA operation. It was the same MO the CIA used to depose Sukarno in Indonesia in 1966 and Allende in 1973, Mossadegh of Iran in 1953. What do all three have in common? All were democratically elected, left-leaning popular leaders in their countries, replaced by unelected, despotic leaders willing to wheel and deal with U.S. corporations under the table. But this one in Venezuela didn't stick, thank God, as it was engineered to benefit the Carlyle group and other U.S. oil interests - like nearly every other CIA-engineered coup has been engineered to benefit some private interest, and not national security. • Suicide Bomber....or CIA Plant? Speaking of the CIA, a pal of mine says that they have information that the Palestinian would-be suicide bomber woman being trotted before the American press this weekend is a CIA plant. Her purpose? To spout this one line: "I was going to do it because Arafat has not told the suicide bombers to stop yet." More evidence that this woman is a plant comes from a psychiatrist I know who watched the interview with the woman on CBS this AM and just called me. "The woman's affect is all wrong!" he said. She isn't a desperate woman with a 7-year-old prepared to kill herself. In addition, he said, the footage of the woman with Israeli soldiers indicates none of the dynamic tension that one would expect to see radiating from the woman and the soldiers if the story were true. • HOOT OF THE WEEK: "Wisdom" of Donald Rumsfeld The Bush administration and just about every one of its strongest followers is a "Chickenhawk." This means they are war-mongering, big-mouthed self-styled "patriots" eager to send someone else off to fight and die in a foreign country to make the world a safer place for American corporations. But they all have one thing in common — every single one of them has dodged military service, either getting off 'cause Daddy and Mommy had money or slithering into a cushy National Guard or reservist position. Well, the Chickenhawk Society only has one person in their ranks with any claim to military service - Donald Rumsfeld, so they are trying to make the most of it. This week, McGraw-Hill, a bastion of corporate publishing, released "The Rumsfeld Way: Leadership Wisdom of a Battle-Hardened Maverick." It's described as a "slim volume." I should think so! He served in the Navy (aviator) 1954-57, during which time the only "war" going on was Joe McCarthy's war on American democracy. In fact, 1954-57 was one of the most peaceful periods of the past 50 years! So where does this "battle hardened" wisdom come from? Food fights in the mess hall? Drunken brawls on shore leave? Or perhaps Rumsfeld means his fight to the top of the corporate ladder? Or maybe his battles to insure that aspartame won FDA approval against the advice of scores of medical experts? Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 THE BUSH SPIN MACHINE: On Overload and Failing Fast The big lie is coming unraveled. You can tell by how heavy handed the spin campaign of Bush's "handlers" is becoming. Because rightwing and creative are mutually exclusive qualities, when cornered, these sleazemeisters do not become diabolically clever (thank God for the rest of us!). Instead, they simply escalate their bullshit. Same bullshit, just louder and more of it. For example, for years now, the corporate right-wingers have been using the "call 'em loony" approach to discredit everyone from antiwar activists to environmentalists (i.e., if they are in any way challenging corporate interests, they are wackos). This tactic was replaced temporarily by the McCarthy approach: anyone challenging corporate interests (these interests include war and censorship, of course) is "unAmerican." This routine soon began to backfire though, because it turned most people off. So, now the right-wingers are back to the "you're with us or you're wacko" gig. When congresswoman Cynthia McKinney spoke out this week about the possible political engineering of 9/11 — if not the event itself, then its freedom-trashing aftermath — a spokesman for the Carlyle Group sneered: "Did she say these things while standing on a grassy knoll in Roswell, New Mexico?" Ari "The Egg With Eyebrows" Fleischer has apparently taken up the same buzzword: grassy knoll (these guys are so unoriginal that when someone engineers for them what they imagine to be a great, clever line, they flog it to death!). So strong critics of Bush are now "grassy knoll society" members, eh? Pretty strong put-down from a group of conscienceless robber barons whose biggest profits have come from destabilizing other countries, sickness, and death. The Carlyle group not only is a major weapons trader, it is also an oil pipeline contractor and a major shareholder in BioPort, an extremely peculiar little company that has been given the corner on the anthrax vaccine market by the Bush administration — even though the same company failed an FDA inspection three times. On the Carlyle board sits George Bush, Sr. and several ruthless old fossils from past rightwing regimes, including Frank Carlucci (a former defense secretary who was Donny Rumsfeld's college roommate) and James Baker III (former sec. of state and the oilbag lawyer who helped Bush steal the 2000 election). Among the Carlyle groups closest associates are the Bin Laden family, to whom Carlyle has acted as a "U.S. bank." As far as I'm concerned, any criticism coming from a band of reptiles like the Carlyle Group should be considered highest praise by anyone! Like having Hitler say he doesn't like your stand on human rights! So when you hear someone accused by anyone even remotely connected to Bush of being a "wacko," "conspiracy theorist" or a member of the "grassy knoll society," you'll know who you better listen to, and closely! And we are listening to Cynthia McKinney and cheering her on! • PLUGGING THE HOLE IN THE DAM Have you noticed how fewer and fewer polls on Bush's approval rating have appeared over the past weeks? And how even the ones that have made it past the "state censors" have shown a small decline? Real polls, of course, would have been telling a different tale all along. By real polls I mean those which are frankly worded and not conducted in an intimidating way. As Michael Moore, author of Stupid White Men observed, who in their right minds, when called at 9:00 at night and asked if they approve of a president whose henchmen are rounding up dissenters on very little pretext, will say ANYTHING but "Yeah! I approve... my wife approves, the kids approve, hell, the dog approves!"?? But the cracks are showing. Below is an urgent memorandum from the GOP to the poor schmucks on its "team leader" list. The note is obviously intended to prepare the faithful for the coming blow - Bush is tanking in the polls and the cat will soon be out of the bag. The memorandum "predicts" a drop in Bush's approval rating in the near future, which means that he ALREADY HAS dropped dramatically and they know it. But by disseminating this slick little bit of propaganda, the GOP marketers can appear to be uncanny soothsayers offering wise counsel, instead of liars and propagandists who have been artificially inflating Bush's approval rating with bogus polls and the iron hand of media censorship for months. So Unknown News now makes their "uncanny prediction" based on this bit of pre-spin from the Fuhrer's HQ: Some sort of shit relating to Bush is about to hit the fan that will make it impossible for even the most wanton Goebbelites in the White House PR office to hold back the tide of negative public opinion. Can't wait to see what it is — just hope it sticks like bird poop to a windshield! FROM: Matthew Dowd, Senior Advisor, RNC RE: Where Bush Job Approval is Heading DATE: April 12th, 2002 As many will recall, prior to the 2000 National Republican Convention in Philadelphia, by looking at historical Gallup poll patterns, we had predicted that the Bush-Cheney ticket would gain a lead of 10 to 12 points over Gore-Lieberman in the aftermath of the Republican Convention. Then we predicted that after the 2000 Democratic Convention the presidential race would go to even or Bush-Cheney would be slightly behind. Public polling at the time confirmed that all this came to pass as we expected. Again we want to make a prediction: While President Bush's approval numbers have been at unprecedented and historical levels for a rather lengthy period of time — they will fall back to more realistic levels. This movement downward has begun (though dropping slower than other Presidents in history), and will continue to fall absent some unforeseen dominating event. President Bush's approval rating stayed within five points of his highest rating for nearly 17 weeks — the previous record for a President was seven weeks. President Bush's rating remained within ten points of his high for approximately 23 weeks. Looking at history, if President Bush follows a normal historical pattern, his approval rating should return to a "new normal" within 46 weeks from that date or the end of July 2002. Our guess is that President Bush's numbers will settle out a higher plateau than before because a portion of the American public has fundamentally altered their view of him from how he has handled the crisis. Therefore, over the coming weeks and months the President's numbers will continue to drift downward as the November elections near and, as a result, Democratic partisans return to a normal disapproval pattern. Since Democratic partisans account for approximately 40% of the electorate, this by itself could return the President's approval numbers into the 60s. So while the pundits and the media attempt to attribute cause and effect to this expected natural fall back — remember that history is the better guide. • MAILBAG: A reader from Hawaii sent the following extremely informative link on the political alliance between the American Christian right and Israel. One of the most interesting tidbits is this statement from Billy L. Nelson Bell, Billy Graham's father-in-law and editor of Christianity Today, made after Israel seized an additional huge chunk of Palestine in 1967. "That for the first time in more than 2,000 years Jerusalem is now completely in the hands of the Jews gives the student of the Bible a thrill and a renewed faith in the accuracy and validity of the Bible." So the attitude of the Christian right toward the Muslims all along has been "Fuck you!" Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 Fractured shorts Ants Poised to Take over Europe: A SUPER colony of ants has been discovered stretching thousands of miles from the Italian Riviera along the coastline to north-west Spain. It's the largest co-operative unit ever recorded, according to Swiss, French and Danish scientists, whose findings appear in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The political affiliations of the colony have not been established. However, state department spokesman Richard Boucher claims the colony is linked to a vast terrorist underground organization and that they may be harboring Al Quada fighter ants. Meanwhile Bush has offered to supply ant bombs and a marine division trained in ant warfare. • Latest Edition of the Cult Classic Series "Osama Bin Laden Live!" Released: Ibrahim Hilal of Al-Jazeera is trying to build excitement for the latest OBL film series release: "We got it from our sources, it got to us," says Hilal of Al Quada Studios' latest effort, "Death to the Infidels Part VI". As with the other OBL Live! films, Part VI is campy and low budget, with a cheap studio set and only one talking part: One review describes the key scene: "In one of the excerpts, bin Laden and al-Zawahri kneel side-by-side before a lush background that appeared to be a photograph. Only al-Zawahri was shown speaking." Hilal says there's already talk of an OBL film festival sometime in the near future. Meanwhile, rumor has it that Al Quada Studios hopes to sign a well-known performer with WWF for Part VII — "OBL and the Scorpion King." Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Thursday, April 18, 2002 Jenin Massacre Eclipses any Damage Done by Suicide Bombers You know, in a court of criminal law just about anywhere in the world, there are guidelines that call for a more lenient sentence for crimes of passion committed in the heat of a moment, crimes provoked by extreme duress, such as a wife who strikes back and kills her abusive husband, a killing committed when one's home is invaded, a killing committed by a prisoner of war trying to escape. But there is little or no lenience given to systematic murder — be it a cold-blooded serial murderer or a commandant in a concentration camp routinely slaughtering the inmates. Thus, when the crimes of Palestinian suicide bombers and those of the Israeli army in the West Bank are compared in the court of world opinion — there IS no comparison. The suicide bombing is a desperate crime of passion committed as a last-ditch way to strike back at, and escape, an abusive oppressor. Battalions of Israeli officers plowing through the streets of a residential community hiding in tanks and knocking down everything in their path, or getting out long enough to batter down doors, terrorize families, shoot women, attack journalists, cut off water, food, electricity, and the right to bury the dead.... how on God's green Earth can the Israeli spin doctors dream that the world will buy their line that Israelis are just "defending themselves?" One propaganda piece I saw recently posted somewhere compared the Israeli soldiers in the West Bank with the NYC firefighters and policemen after 9/11. PULEEESE! Give us a break!!! Does this fool really think that Americans would have cheered on firefighters and policemen who decided to go into an Arab community in Brooklyn or Queens after 9/11 and start knocking down rows of houses and shooting people in the name of "fighting terrorism." Not bleedin' likely! We'd have a few KKKer types who might so some cheering, but they'd be drowned out by the roar of indignation by the majority. But, alas, it is the KKK types in this country (calling themselves the "Christian right"), led by Bush, John Ashcroft ("Mr. Confederacy"), et al. who are backing Sharon's reign of terror. Just as it is the KKK types in Israel (calling themselves "Zionists") who are cheering Sharon on. I am waiting....still waiting for the decent, compassionate Israelis to rise up and say ENOUGH! to Sharon and his campaign of evil. If they do not and Israel is destroyed, at the very least in the world's opinion, then their silence will be far more to blame than an army of Arafats. Democracy Rising...while Gore and Lieberman Sink a Bit more in Some Eyes This week, two rallies were held in Florida: one for the new grassroots organization called Democracy Rising and one for Al Gore that lasted two days, with Lieberman showing up to speak the second day. I bet you heard all about the Gore event, as it was given mainstream media coverage — though probably not enough. But I doubt if you heard about the Democracy Rising rally at all — it was notably absent from the mainstream media. An unbelievable shut out since it drew in a crowd that was more than twice the size of Gore's (6,200 as opposed to 2,500). Why the media snub? Because Democracy Rising is an organization founded by Green Party leader Ralph Nader and thus high on the media shit list (as in DO NOT COVER and if you do, make sure to make it negative coverage). Although I am impressed with the agenda espoused by Democracy Rising and agree with Al Gore's condemnation of Bush's policies, I am impressed with neither Nader (once my hero) nor Gore — and most especially not with Lieberman (who is rightwing poser pretending to be a Democrat). Both Gore and Nader finally burst back onto the public scene for big events AFTER the alternative press, dedicated, risk-taking activists, and the few truly courageous politicians we have (McKinney, Lee, and Kuchinich) managed to breach the rightwing defenses, fighting a tough, nasty uphill battle without let up since (and most of them long before) the 2000 election. So now that the truth is starting to reach the public, now that Bush's insane hold on the press and Congress is starting to weaken, NOW Nader and Gore step in to claim the limelight! Lieberman is the biggest chickenshit of the bunch because he only stepped up to make a strong statement AFTER Gore had tested the water the day before! I can't help thinking that if there had been a negative backlash from Gore's appearance, Lieberman would have run back to Connecticut in a big hurry, speech unmade. What America needs now is REAL COURAGE. At this late, dark hour, we can afford nothing less. If the election were held tomorrow, there are only three or four people I would consider voting for: Barbara Lee, Cynthia McKinney, Jim Jeffords, Dennis Kuchinich and possibly Henry Waxman. Each one of them stepped forward and spoke up when it was very unpopular and even very unsafe to do so. In fact, I would have to say that Jeffords is a hero of incredible historic significance. Can anyone dare to imagine what would have become of this nation in the past six months if Jeffords had NOT braved the GOP's death threats, insults, and ostracization (he was the recipient of all three) and withdrawn from the party, thereby breaking the power of the GOP in the senate? Can you imagine what a Senate controlled by right-wingers led by Trent Lott (former senate majority leader) would have been like? For one thing, I doubt if Helen and I would be working on this site. This site would not exist. Nor, most likely, would any vestige of the good ole U.S.A. as we once knew it. The present reality is bad enough, but, without Jeffords' courage, it would have been an irreparable nightmare. So,. if Jeffords wants to run (hopefully with McKinney, Lee, Kuchinich or Waxman as running mate), that's the ticket I'll back 100%. Hell — I'll even donate my services as a speech writer and publicist! I may not agree 100% with his some of his stands, but if I were a soldier in the field, I'd rather have a man like Jeffords covering my back than a Nader, Gore, or Lieberman. And since we are now in a very real war to save America from the corporate rightwing fascists, we cannot afford to have "generals" who will wait to see how many foot soldiers are killed before stepping into battle. PHONY TO THE CORE: The "Ole Family Ranch" in Crawford is a Set Completed the Same Day the Election was Stolen Have you seen all those article and pictures of Bush "at home on the ranch" in Crawford - the ones that imply that he is "just an ole ranch hand" more comfortable on the family homestead than in the "Big City," be it Austin or D.C."? Well, if you bought this image, you've been royally snookered. The Bush family homestead in Crawford is nothing more than an elaborate set. The house, built in 2000, was designed to be ready for Bush to step into - like a set awaiting an actor - during the 2000 presidential election. Not only was the "ranch" created in 2000 - so, essentially, was the "town" of Crawford! Before then only about 400 people lived in the area. The Crawford Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture were formed shortly after the ranch was finished. The 1,600 acres on which the "ranch" sits was purchased in 1999 for an undisclosed price, but it was a helluva lot less than the current real estate agents' appraisal of $1.2 million. Yep, worth $1.2 million, but G.W. has a sweet deal at the tax appraiser's office, where the property is valued at about $988,000. Oh, and that "homey ole ranch house?" It's actually a 10,000-square-foot single level mansion/compound that won't even be 2 years old until this November! The compound features a swimming pool for daughters Jenna and Barbara, who apparently loudly demanded it - the Bushes call it the girls' "Whining pool." Btw - we hear Bush got a sweet deal on the house construction, (the cost, of course remains undisclosed): the builders came from a religious community in El Mott, Texas. The original completion date of the house was November 7 - election day 2000. In other words, the curtain went up on the set on schedule for "show time." The very timing of this event indicates that Bush was absolutely confident that the election would be successfully engineered in his favor. The whole idea behind the ranch set, of course was so that the public could be treated to footage of Bush seeking a quiet "retreat" at the family ranch. Americans would thus assume that the ranch was a rooted family homestead or compound like the one Kennedys had in Martha's Vineyard or FDR had at Campobello. But when Bush retreated into his "homestead" in November, 2000, he was merely walking onto a prepared set upon which the paint had barely dried, let alone even the barest of roots put down! When we see photos of Bush bombing around the ranch in his leather jacket in his "ole pickup," supposedly knowing every tree and bush - it's all pure fantasy! If Bush knows every tree and bush after actually spending, all told, a total of about 2 months on the ranch (if you put the odd days end to end) since it was bought, then I'd like to know when he found time to hold all those endless Crawford press conferences! Seems to me he'd be way too busy introducing himself to trees and bushes. Until Bush and handlers decided that a rural ranch would be a slick bit of PR for the presidential campaign, Bush had no interest in a "home on the range." Instead, his preferred weekend retreat was to the Rainbo Club, an exclusive lakeside hunting club in Henderson County, about an hour south of Dallas, much closer to the comforts of Austin. When a Bush run for president began to look like a pretty good bet, the 1,600 acres were bought and the Bushes started making weekend trips to a 60-year-old ranch house that existed on the property - not of course, before refurbishing it! - so they could build the "lore" that would take in the American public, hook, line and sinker. In an interesting side note - while Bush is anti-conservation in his presidential policies to please his corporate pals, in his OWN home, he has installed several conservation/energy saving features, including solar panels for heating water, rainwater collection for landscape irrigation, an air conditioning system that uses groundwater and a gray water recycling system. The obvious impression here is that Bush, being all PR show and no substance or real convictions, wants to cover all the bases. Block conservation when it is expedient, but have some conservation "stuff" to show off when that is expedient. So, in short, we have a "president" who, ON THE SAME DAY - November 7, 2000 - stole an election and had the last nail driven into a phony ranch set. But with a completely snookered press corps, we also have had a completely snookered public. And a platoon of completely snookered world leaders, chief among them Blair and Putin, who have been hosted at the "ole ranch" set and completely taken in. Alas, the Crawford ranch is a symbol of the utter corporate phoniness of this administration. The whole scenario reminds me of those the type of sophisticated con artists (like the ones who recently convinced several investors they could turn sand into gold! ) who blow into town, rent and rent an upscale office space just long enough to give them enough credibility to hoodwink investors. Then, once they have fleeced enough "marks," they disappear. What makes the Bush case much, much worse is that I doubt he will disappear. "Colonel Hackworth"...Well, they got the "hack" part right! A reader sent me this link. Not for the easily annoyed or squeamish of stomach (it'll turn the strongest). It seems the chickenhawks have an ultrahawkish poster boy to do the media circuit for them in the form of one Col. David Hackworth...and when they say "hack," they ain't kiddin'. He's a hack, alright. This guy writes a column for a website called "Military com." and a site called "Soldiers for the Truth." Both sites reek of aging testosterone — just like Hack's writing. Hack's redneck rants (ie., the "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out!" mentality) are hardly unique. I bet you can hear the same sort of armchair warrior commentary, complete with directions on how to save the military, America, and the world from just about any old drunk with a service record and illusions of grandeur. But this is the guy that FOX and the other rightwing outlets have decided to make their "military pundit." I suspect the sole reason Hack appealed to them is because he has what they imagine to be a tough-guy, lean, mean, hawk-faced look. But that corresponds with real military intelligence about as much as the rugged good looks of the idiot anchorman on the old Mary Tyler Moore show corresponded to journalistic excellence! Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Sunday, April 21, 2002 ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF D.C. PROTESTS (Unknownnews posted this analysis in the Indymedia yesterday evening) First, here are the actual facts from several eyewitness sources: When you have a total of 30 different protests planned for a weekend, all involving different groups, and just ONE large protest of the bunch accounts for 50,000 people (the Free Palestine event sponsored by ANSWER), you know the total head count for the weekend will be well over 200,000 all tallied, in coming and going. It was definitely larger than the pro-Israeli event last week because the D.C. police said it was the FIRST time they had required the full deployment of their new crowd management resources. The Pro-Israel event, however, received top billing by all news stations by the time the evening news was aired. Yep, it was a big, "scary" protest, all right! Lots of peaceful but passionate people whose dedication and sincerity impressed D.C. police chief so much he marched alongside them on several of their march routes! And where was Bush while the ANSWER group massed before the White House? Off hiding at Camp David, shaking in his phony cowboy boots. This was an historic event — yet how did the networks respond? The same as always — they put their wagons in a circle and worked to suppress the REAL story here, and that is that the common theme uniting all these people was outrage at the Bush administration's policies on everything from his support of Sharon to his stand on the environment. Here is my assessment of the network coverage that was found At 7:30 pm EST on Saturday, April 20. I checked out the on-line "front pages" posted by AOL, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, and CNN and their stories about the protests (and only half even ran the story!). CBS: CBS gave the story front page placement with photos and made it the lead story, which it should have been. However, they said there were 35,000-50,000 present without mentioning that this group represented just the largest of a total of about 30 protest events being held throughout the weekend. Nonetheless. This was the best it got for the networks. GRADE: B NBC. Did not even carry story of protests by 7:30. Lead story was about Ashcroft's bank threat hoax with a big photo of Ashcroft (yuck!!) GRADE: F- AOL: Used a time-honored spin tactic: put it on page one, then completely revised the "history" of the event according to the "corporate model." So this lame story says there were "over 10,000" protestors (trying to imply, of course, that the number was closer to 10,000 than the actual grand total of over 50,000!). AOL also reported early in the story (the section most likely to be read) that protestors chanted "Down, down with Israel." If anyone chanted this, it was just a very few people! I didn't hear that chant the entire time I was listening to CSPAN, which carried the main event sponsored by ANSWER. The chant that was heard over and over was in fact "Free, free, Palestine!" (The AOL story mentions this only later on). The spin is obviously intended to present the protestors as anti-Semitic. Even more outrageous was the spin put on the Freeper (right-winger "Free Republic" group) counter-protest going on. This was a group was about 200 protestors, tops by most counts. But AOL only says "much smaller than the main protest" — trying to imply, of course, that it could have been in the thousands! Instead, they dwelt on the anti-globalization/IMF/bank protests. Why? Because that plays into the idea that there were bomb-threat-calling protestors lurking about, just waiting for their chance to "terrorize." GRADE: C-- and that is that high ONLY because they ran it as a lead story. FOX: Not a trace of coverage on "page one", However, they did run a photo of the devastation of Jenin as the lead photo, which is less offensive by far than CBS's Ashcroft mugshot GRADE: D- CNN: Gave the story secondary status, with withdrawal from Nablus top billing. Secondary status on page one wouldn't have been too bad, but CNN's spin job of the protests was worse than AOL's Not only did they not mention the size of the protests, except to say thousands, which like AOL, implies such a broad range as to be meaningless, but, worse, by the third paragraph, they had launched into all out negative spin. The mention the arrests of the cyclists and then insert a government quote that the accusation that the School of the Americas is a terrorism training ground is "propaganda." They then proceeded to give the pathetic 200-person Freeper counter-protest a full paragraph, mentioning that sorry-assed group BEFORE even mentioning the 50,000-person protest on the mall in support of the Palestinians! In fact, CNN even listed the Free Republic web link at the end of the article along with only about 5 of the 30 other groups in D.C. this weekend. They must have yogi masters in the newsroom to be able to bend over backwards and so far to the right at the same time to please a handful of right-wingers! The protest in support of the Palestinians (sponsored by ANSWER), was then all but dismissed as merely "one of the largest protests." And these reporters actually get PAID for this stuff? What a joke! GRADE: D ABC: Not one mention of the protests on page one. The lead story was the Nablus withdrawal, while the second-to-top story was, as a royal slap in the face to the protestors in D.C., about the G-7 talks! Other "leads" that were considered more important than a total of about a quarter-million people converging on D.C. were the Robert Blake murder case, Ashcroft's latest terrorism hoax, and Feds detect anthrax at Fort Dietrick (as if we believe the timing of this "discovery" is just an amazing coincidence!). GRADE: F- DIATRIBBLES Has Howard University Been in GOP DC too Long? Howard University refused to broadcast the rallies — even though a huge number of blacks were speaking out against key issues, including racial profiling. Instead, Howard went the Condoleeza Rice-Colin Powell route and sold out. Instead of covering the protest, Howard's television station ran a show on interior decorating! Is the CIA Trying to State a "Venezuela Coup Part II?" When the CIA helped Suharto overthrow Sukarno and the Chilean military overthrow Allende, the first thing they did was to get rid of (as in murder) all the top military officers loyal to the target of their engineered coup. Now, in a highly suspicious "coincidence," several high-ranking military officers loyal to Venezuela's newly-reinstated president Chavez have died in a helicopter crash — ON THEIR WAY BACK FROM CHAVEZ'S INAUGURATION. No, NOT TOOOOOOOO suspicious, eh? So what is this? Scene one in Act Two of the CIA in "Venezuela Coup Part II"? Is Rumsfeld Helping Bush Plan a Military Coup ala Venezuela, Indonesia, Chile....etc....etc...? In light of the information given in the story above, consider this news: This past week, the Bush administration has "restructured" the Pentagon, "purging" people who are affiliated with the Democratic party and replacing them with rightwingnuts. Even people in the Pentagon are now getting uneasy because the move definitely smells like step one in a military takeover. Guess the only difference between here and Venezuela is that it would be tougher for Rumsfeld and Bush to get away with actual murder. But, if you think I'm just doing the "conspiracy theorist" gig, I should warn you — my "theories" have a disturbing habit of being proved true. For example, in April 2001, I predicted that Kenneth Lay would top Cheney's secret energy list and that a connection between the Bush administration and Enron would be uncovered. In October, 2001, before any mainstream network broke the story, I said that the Cipro panic had been engineered by Bayer and was not required to treat anthrax and further more, could inflict deadly side effects. Two weeks later, it was admitted by the government that the astronomically expensive Cipro was just one of several anthrax treatments and caused potentially deadly side effects. Some weeks back, I posted a story suggesting that the Bush administration were much further off the religious deep end than anyone imagined (rapturists). Now check out these stories, which just hit this week: Boiler Room Christians in High Places Believe Rightwing Christians Have Exclusive Rights to the Only Line to God This week in Texas, before a congregation of 300, House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Delay announced that only Christians, apparently, have a direct line to God. Delay, the THIRD HIGHEST-RANKING LEADER OF THE GOP has an outrageous share of power in Congress. Delay is what I would call a "boiler room Christian" — he spouts biblical pap one hour, then presides over a boiler room fundraising scam the next. I.e., he's like most Bush administration Christians. (Ever wonder how these greedy creeps imagine that they will squeeze through the "eye of the needle" Jesus described as impossible for rich men to penetrate loaded down with all their loot?). Here's Delay's comment from a piece in the Washington Post: "DeLay said that God is using him to promote "a biblical worldview" in American politics, and that he pursued Bill Clinton's impeachment in part because the Democratic president held "the wrong worldview." "Ladies and gentlemen, Christianity offers the only viable, reasonable, definitive answer to the questions of 'Where did I come from?' 'Why am I here?' 'Where am I going?' 'Does life have any meaningful purpose?' " DeLay said. "Only Christianity offers a way to understand that physical and moral border. Only Christianity offers a comprehensive worldview that covers all areas of life and thought, every aspect of creation. Only Christianity offers a way to live in response to the realities that we find in this world — only Christianity." Meanwhile, it was also reported this week that Karen Hughes (Bush's top aid) appears to believe the Sept. 11 attack was all just part of a "providential plan." Not TOOO scary! This interchange was referred to in Roll Call, but I notice this very conservative capitol hill publication carefully avoided quoting her. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Monday, April 22, 2002 There's No Place Like Home! Unknown News Readers Are THE BEST! I posted my article on the online coverage of the D.C. protests in Indymedia on Saturday evening because there seemed to be so little coverage there (as of 7:30 pm 4/20) on the protests and I wanted to do my bit. By this morning, I realized why I LOVE Unknown News readers so much! Here at Unknown have a faithful group of readers who regularly offer constructive comments and thought-provoking insights and important stories in a reliable, consistent way (J, John C., Mobythor, Warren C, Heather, Blue Raj, and several others we love to pieces). Some of the best breakthrough stories we've had have come as tips and links from our readers. This is alternative news at its BEST. And we owe it all to YOU, our readers. By contrast, I notice that at Indymedia, there seems to be an overabundance of comments complaining about coverage or how Amy Goodman and the Indy crew there are doing their extremely tough job. There are also fewer consistent contributors of constructive news (especially when you consider the size of their reader base). So, while there were few stories on the protests during the day, there was an outpouring of critical commentaries on OTHER people's stories, including commentaries on my news commentary (which wouldn't have been so bad if they had also been contributing original material on the protests, instead of just bitching about what others contributed). In addition Unknown seems to be afflicted by very few provocateurs (or posers as we call them here) — you know, the type who pretend they are activists but whose sole job is to intentionally harass, discredit, misinform, and distort the progressive message. But Indy has a constant problem with these folks. An example — I posted my article at the main Indy page and in the D.C. edition. But one poser wrote in saying that I was, basically, supporting the corporate media and I had "spammed" several Indy networks around the country!! I am in awe of the formidable challenge faced by Goodman and the other Indy managers and have the greatest respect and admiration for them and the vital — though too often underused and abused — resource they provide. But I don't envy them and... just want ya'll to know, it's nice to be home! Oklahoma Congressman Rightwingnut Inhofe Says Sept 11 Part of God's Plan Now here's a contribution from a reader in Hawaii that adds immensely to our case that the Christian right is in the process of a "slow coup" in Washington! This is an excerpt from a recent commentary by David Corn in Tompaine.com. "Last month, Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, gave a speech in the Senate and asserted that Israel is "entitled" to the West Bank. He also chastised those within the United States who have urged Israeli restraint, blaming them for 9/11. "One of the reason I believe the spiritual door was opened for an attack against the United States of America," Inhofe huffed, "is that the policy of our government has been to ask the Israelis, and demand it with pressure, not to retaliate in a significant way against the terrorist strikes that have been launched against them." In other words, on September 11, God allowed airliners to be piloted into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon because U.S. actions related to Israel were not to His/Her liking. How else to interpret Inhofe's words? A "spiritual door opened" for the attack? Well, who's in charge of spiritual doors — and opening and closing them." Justifying Israel's Aggression Getting to be a Monumental Task for Some.... Another reader I will call "N," who has been an amazing source of great information, including sending me info about the Christian right's alliance with Zionists back when I was in blissful ignorance of such things, sent me the following link as a bit of black humor. It is a tediously long "essay" by a tedious scholar in Massachusetts written back in Nov. 2000. It goes on and on... and on trying to make a case that the Israelis — back in 2000, mind you — were NOT using excessive force, at least not compared to the U.S. in Somalia. So, I'm wondering — if this windbag had to spend this many thousands of words making a feeble case for Israel back in 2000 — can you just imagine the bytes of memory he's gonna have to use NOW to spin a case???? LEST WE FORGET: The Man Sharon Wants to Avenge Was a Rightwing, Foul-mouthed Thug It doesn't surprise me that Ariel Sharon was a best buddy to Rehavam Zeevi, the ex-general turned "tourism minister" who was assassinated in October, 2001. Zeevi was a bigoted thug who called Arabs "lice" and a "cancer" and wanted to grind the Palestinians down "until they come to us on all fours begging for a ceasefire." Yep, a real prince among men. So now, in true Mafia thug style, trogdolyte Sharon wants to avenge his trogdolyte soul mate's death with a blood bath supported by our trogdolyte "president." And we here in America are supposed to be good little trogdolyte cheerleaders as this goes on. The biggest laugh, of course, is that Sharon chose Zeevi as "tourism minister" — a man so despised by most non-ultrarightwingers that almost no foreign reps agreed to meet with him! This is like making Henry Kissinger "good will ambassador" to Chile and Indonesia. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 Very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, very unfavorable....THE TRUTH ABOUT POLLS According to the official poll numbers, Bush's approval rating has slid from nearly 90% to the mid-70s. However, as we all know, these poll result figures have been grossly and systematically inflated since Sept. 11 when the administration took full control of the media and anyone failing to express approval of Bush was suspected of subversive activity. Although a climate of intimidation has had a lot to do with the skewed poll results, there are many other reasons why the results of just about any telephone poll (the favorite method for the big pollsters) these days are skewed in favor of conservatives. One big reason is that so many of the people least likely to be conservative are routinely underrepresented by telephone polls: households in the South, in rural areas, on Indian reservations, African American households, households with either one person or those with six or more people, households with children under 14 and unemployed people. In addition, the following groups who do have phones are also likely to be routinely absent from polls: Poor people with unlisted numbers (surprisingly, low income people are actually more likely to have unlisted numbers than wealthier phone customers) People whose only number is a cell phone (a growing number) people with caller ID who never pick up unidentified calls (a growing percentage of phone users) This group includes people from lower income brackets who may have creditors who call frequently, people who live alone and only pick up for familiar numbers - especially the elderly and single women, people who are targeted continuously by telemarketers and thus avoid most unknown calls, and those who simply make it a policy never to answer calls of unknown origin. Roommates. With skyrocketing rents, many people now share apartments or houses — sometimes half a dozen roommates may share expenses on one phone. So a single respondent may actually represent just 1 in 3 or more voters at a single number. Other reasons to be skeptical of phone polls: A recent study revealed that, at any given time, only 2/3 of working current phones are listed in phone book, either because they are too new or are unlisted. The same study showed that when numbers are randomly generated (in other words, a prefix is dialed, and then a randomly generated group of 4 numbers), so many non-working numbers are called that the net number of actual "hits" possible within the survey's limits of time and money is routinely low — 800-1,200 for a typical survey. In a typical Harris poll, people living in Alaska and Hawaii are not represented, nor are those in prisons, hospitals, military bases, religious or educational institutions unless such individuals have their own outside telephone line. In addition, Harris and other pollsters weight their final data according to the Census Bureau's latest population parameters on region, education, sex, race, age, and number of telephone lines within the household. Of course we all KNOW just how accurate Census Bureau info is (NOT!!!). Even the bureau itself has admitted in the past that its data is most accurate for suburban areas and populations with moderate and above incomes. Some urban areas are grossly underrepresented by the Census bureau, as are blacks, Hispanics (especially the millions of undocumented workers), and single young people — the very groups LEAST likely to be conservative. Here is another comment taken from the Census Center report: "There are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors." In short, polls do not represent: the very poor, people in armed services, people on Indian reservations, in hospitals, in nursing homes, in group homes, drug rehab centers, most roommates in a roommate situation, people with unlisted numbers, those with caller ID who do not accept unknown calls, people with telemarketer/survey fatigue (a growing percentage), people who live alone (especially women), elderly, urban young people (a growing percentage of whom have cell phones). So basically, what we have even on a good day in telephone poll land, is a tendency for results to be weighted toward white, higher income conservatives and away from low income groups, especially urban minorities. But even if everyone possible could be reached, the way questions are worded helps skew polls away from true public opinion. Here are examples from a Zogby poll (and Zogby is about the best of the bunch), Instead of asking a direct question, like "Do you think Israelis and Palestinians are equal people entitled to equal rights?" and thus forcing a really honest, from-the-gut opinion, many Zogby poll questions are couched in vaguer terms that tend to diffuse personal responsibility, and thus honesty: "Do you agree or disagree that Israelis and Palestinians are equal people entitled to equal rights?" In an "approval poll," the possibilities tend to discourage the middle ground and thus skew the results toward one end or the other. In a Zogby Bush approval poll, here are the possible categories: Very Favorable Somewhat Favorable Somewhat Unfavorable Very Unfavorable Not familiar enough NS (we assume this means no response) You can see there is no middle here — it is either a degree of favorable or a degree of unfavorable. It's like having a grading system that has A, B, D, and F but no C. After 9/11, with the "with us or against us" climate prevailing, VERY FEW people would want to go on record with a response that included the word "unfavorable" or "disapprove." If a "variable" category were added, you'd see a very different breakdown in all these poll results. I suggest the following alternative selection of responses: How do you feel, overall, about GW Bush's performance as president? I Approve My take varies I do not approve Those who are dubious but stop short of claiming disapproval can be allowed greater honesty, while the number of people with very strong stands at either end of the spectrum can be clearly shown. Alas, polls are designed to skew opinion toward or away from a person or issue, not to show how the public may REALLY feel. That is why voter pre-poll and exit polls are the most accurate — these are direct questions: Who do you intend to vote for? Who did you vote for? (of course, even pre-poll surveys are now being skewed by the shifting demographics of the "phone-accessible public"). But non-polarizing response possibilities would be very helpful, not just to those being polled, but in establishing how a presidential candidate (for example) is really likely to work out in the bigger scheme of things. Using my categories above, if a candidate got 40% "my take varies," 30% "I do not approve," and 30% "I approve, this would not be a strong candidate — he's too many things — both good and bad — to too many people. However, if the candidate received 40% I approve, 40% I do not approve, and 20% my take varies, I'd say this was a polarizing candidate who would probably not be good for national harmony. The ideal guy or gal would be 55% approve, 25% my take varies, and 20% I do not approve. In this case, the majority are either behind him or neutral, but there is still some dissension and thus room for debate, which is healthy. Of course, there are other, quite intentional poll tweaking tricks being used now. For example, one polling company in Virginia tends to focus its polls on wealthy, conservative suburban areas of Washington D.C. where everyone has a phone or three and are more likely to answer them and liberal but poor inner city black areas of Baltimore, where people are most likely to have no phone or a cell phone. In other cases, the wording of polls is either intentionally vague and confusing or it is downright menacing. One poll question about sacrificing some civil liberties I read last fall was prefaced by a sentence that, in essence said, "As you know, national security must be a top priority for all loyal Americans" (of course it wasn't worded so blatantly, but the implication — are you with us or against us? — was quite clear). But, in the final analysis, probably the single biggest reason that phone polls are decreasing steadily in accuracy is TELEMARKETER FATIGUE. Because Americans have been relentlessly bombarded by surveyors and telemarketers, the number of people in just the past year or two who refuse to take such a call is growing. That leaves a diminishing and increasingly less representative pool. It is now known, however, that "freepers" and other rightwing "mobilizers" make it their bound duty to participate in such polls whenever possible, so they are automatically now probably over-represented. On the other hand, most of the progressives I know don't have time for telemarketers and survey-takers — it's called having a life! Thus, the AVERAGE American (i.e., not poll-happy Freepers or bored suburban stay-at-home moms or lonely well-to-do widows) are sick to death of strangers ringing their way into their homes! The era of the valid phone poll is GONE. The way for us to make our opinions known is to get our butts to the polls every time there is an election held, from local dogcatcher to president of the U.S. and VOTE. Right now, Americans are more underrepresented at the polling booths than they are in telephone polls: barely half of all eligible voters show up on election day to cast a ballot for president, while during local races, this number is even lower. PATHETIC! Worse than pathetic because progressive people, being less anally retentive than your typical conservative, are more likely to forget to vote, forget to register, lose their voting card, have more interesting things to do...etc. But this is one issue upon which we must be every bit as anally retentive as our conservative counterparts or we will, in 2002, lose our chance to send the rightwing Christian wackos who now control Congress packing, or — GOD FORBID — get rid of Bush in 2004, if this horrible nightmare known as his presidency has not terminated by then. So the next time that pollster calls, tell him or her to shove their questionnaire where the sun don't shine and that if they want to know whether or not you approve of G. W. Bush, check the election results in 2004! • Patriot heroes? Just how much of the 9/11 "Patriot heroes" lore being pawned off on the public was hastily slapped together in a White House PR huddle featuring Charlotte Beers, Karl Rove, and other slick operators? It's beginning to look like quite a bit. Here are recent observations from Democrats.com, based on published reports: "Right-wing commentator Barbara Olson's two calls to right-wing Solicitor General Ted Olson during the hijacking of Flight 77 instantly became legendary. Barbara's last words, "What do I tell the pilot to do?" were cited as the epitome of her courage and leadership. But as time goes by, Ted keeps changing his story. On 9-11, he told CNN and the NY Times that she called him from her cellphone. On 9-12, he told the London Telegraph, "She called and said she was locked in the toilet." On 9-14, the Telegraph wrote: "She had locked herself in the lavatory and had to call 10 times before she could persuade the operators to accept the call charges." But on 3-5-02, Ted told the Telegraph: "She had had trouble getting through, because she wasn't using her cellphone, she was using the phone in the passengers' seats. I guess she didn't have her purse, because she was calling collect..." Why is Ted changing his story? Is he lying about his own wife's death? Where are the phone records for 9-11?" Now, according to this letter we received today, the "tattered flag" allegedly found in the rubble and raised at WTC was not found in the rubble — it wasn't even from the WTC. I was at the WTC on 911. The flag that was in the Olympics came from me. I gave it to some firefighters to hang up on a light pole that day. I work at Ft Hamilton in Brooklyn and the flags were in my truck at the time of the disaster, three in all. The flag flew in the Fort but got old, so I was going to give them to the Boy scouts. You cant make this stuff up! —John Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Saturday, April 27, 2002 BEWARE THE RIGHT-WINGERS!!!! I wrote a funny poem for my kids back when they were little (they were (and still are) Dr. Seuss fans) all about the Wowsers. Wowsers were bizarre shadowy little critters that hid under beds and behind bathroom doors at night, ready to pounce on the unwary. They liked to rustle curtains and creak floor boards and otherwise terrorize people. In short, Wowsers were nasty little bullies, but they could only hurt you if you took them too seriously. Believe it or not, the poem actually dispelled the real nighttime fears by replacing them with Wowsers. "Beware of the Wowsers that wowse in the night...a wowsering wowser's a terrible sight!"...... I decided that America needs a nighttime poem like this now....what with the Wowsers in Homeland Security and Ashcroft's Justice Department waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting. So, here is a rewritten version of "Beware of the Wowsers" BEWARE THE RIGHT-WINGERS! Beware the right-wingers who lurk in the night A lurking right-winger's a terrible sight Don't turn out the light till you check 'neath the bed - (Is that really a football or Tom Ridge's head?!) They'll leer in the window, they'll hide in the closet! And if you have nightmares, right-wingers will cause it! If clammy cold hands should give you a push — Is it a ghoul — or G.W. Bush? On your way to the bathroom take care where you tread Or Ashcroft may follow you back to your bed! He'll lurk in the shadows, not making a peep And wait to record what you say in your sleep! And as for Dick Cheney, of him most beware- The little man who wasn't there, The little man who pulls the strings who pushes the buttons and forges the rings That fit through the noses of people in power and turns them to minions who shiver and cower... He hides in a bunker, a wasp in a nest, So spiteful and evil there'll never be rest For anyone up in the land of the light Until we are free from that evil and spite. So tonight when you're sleepy and head for your bed, Beware of right-wingers! Heed all that I've said! LATEST FRANTIC SPIN FROM STAGE RIGHT Our man inside the GOP has sent us the latest memo being circulated to the party "team leaders." In an earlier memo, the RNC prepared its fatuous faithful for Bush's well-greased slide downward in the polls, calling for them to ignore everything they hear and not to worry — they expected this little setback all along (harhar!). Now, as the Democrats begin, one by one, to rediscover that their spines do indeed serve a purpose other than keeping their heads above their butts, they are beginning to hammer away at the rightwing agenda. On CNN, in House and Senate hearings...everywhere, in fact — you can hear the GOP pounded on everything from the Middle East to Yucca Mountain. Now check out this truly pitiful bit of GOP fantasy. I say, if the "team leaders" believe this, then they probably DO believe that they and the red heifer are all gonna be sucked up into heaven in a blaze of glory from the top of the "Temple Mount" when the "Rapture" comes!! (lines in italic and bold are mine) Jack Oliver Deputy Chairman Republican National Committee Desperate Democrats Co-opt Republican Agenda After seeing their own initiatives fail, Democrats decided they should sound more "Republican" in order to gain the support of Americans. You mean they have decided to start pontificating about the "Rapture," send people foul-mouthed e-mails, mispronounce big words, and accuse dissenters of being in cahoots with Terrorists? This week the Democrats unveiled their "new" agenda...Family budget? Education? Energy? Tax relief? Blocking Yucca Mountain? Stopping Oil drilling in ANWR? Ending the endless war on terrorism? Investigating 9/11? Demanding that Cheney turn over the secret energy task force papers? Sounds Republican but it's the Democrats "new" agenda. They've finally realized the President's agenda is just plain right for America. In some strange and awful alternative universe, anyway. The Democrats are attempting to convince the American public that their agenda is new, when it fact it has been the same agenda the Republicans have had since 1999, and that President Bush has been promoting. And if we all clap our hands, Tinkerbelle will come back to life!! Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed over 50 bills that support our national, homeland, and economic security. And most Americans will never forgive them for it, either! These bills were opposed by a majority of Democrats in the House and currently face inaction in the Senate because of opposition from Senate Majority Leader Daschle. Which is the only reason a swastika is not flying above the White House today. Let the media know just how desperate the Democrats have become that they've resorted to co-opting the Republican agenda. We're going down fast, people, so let's get spamming!!! Click here to look up your local media. And click here to download your scripts, pre-written letters, faxes and emails! DIATRIBBLE 4/26 Just heard the latest press conference of Idiot Boy (also known as G.W. Bush), live from his phony ranch in Crawford. He said he was on his way to a "friend raising", clearly flubbing the word "fund-raising," but then turning it into a joke and pretending he meant to be clever. But that rather implausible ploy ( clever?) backfired when a cagey reporter asked point black. "So what's a "friend raising"?" I.B. launched into a series of "Uhm...uhs" and stammered something about how it was all about thanking friends for all they've done for you...friends like Don Evans (yep, he specifically mentioned good ole Don). I bet he has a lot to thank ole Don for. Like being the go-between (ie power broker) for the White House and Ken Lay and for Bush and other political sugar daddies. Wasn't rewarding this guy with the title of Secretary of Commerce enough? Here's a great link from Michael Moore — check out the bit especially about Don Evans. MEDIA KUDOS: Cornell Daily Sun Rocks! By God, student activism isn't dead! UnknownNews Kudos go enthusiastically to Cornell students, who, from a glance at their paper the Daily Sun are doing their bit to free America from the corpolitical stranglehold. We'll highlight other papers in coming days, too! DIATRIBBLES What Price Free Speech in Busharon world? Report from Reporters without Borders (Reporters sans Frontieres): "The grim toll of attacks on press freedom: Three weeks of Israeli occupation of Palestinian towns, 7 journalists wounded 4 journalists detained 15 journalists arrested 60 journalists targeted by gunfire 20 journalists roughed up or threatened 20 journalists who had passports, press cards or equipment confiscated 10 Arab media offices occupied or ransacked 1 journalist deported. The policy of the Israeli authorities towards the international media, especially Palestinian journalists, must be condemned for what it is : a massive, deliberate and conscious violation of press freedom and an unprecedented low in the history of Israel." BIG STORY: given teeny tiny coverage After months of calling Gulf War veterans liars and malingerers because of the multitude of health problems that were emerging in the group after the Bush I war, the Defense Department is, bit by bit, admitting the extent of real poisoning of our guys and gals in uniform. In a highly under-publicized report, this week it added yet another 800-plus military personnel to the list of thos likely exposed to deadly gases when an Iraqi chemical weapons depot was bombed. This addition brings the total of ADMITTED exposeures to 101,752. Meanwhile, our creepo military officials are claiming that although exposed to toxic gas, it wasn't really hazardous. Yeah, and standing in traffic on the beltway in rush hour isn't really hazardous. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Monday, April 29, 2002 Nestle — Killing babies abroad for profit In a recent column, I talked about the growing problem of lack of clean drinking water around the world, which promises to become worse in coming years. The World Health Organization now estimates that 1 in 3 humans do NOT have access to safe drinking water. In addition, the WHO has reported that the number one killer of children under age 3 worldwide is diarrheal illnesses - with most fatalities linked directly to unclean drinking water. Countries where this problem is most serious include India, Africa, and parts of Asia and South America. Now, armed with these disturbing ESTABLISHED facts, how does the following strike you? The Nestle corporation has been waging a campaign to push its powdered infant formula off onto poor mothers in countries like Pakistan and India. Powdered formula, as in "must be mixed with WATER." Although the company swears it urges water to be tested first, many poor women are illiterate or cannot read the language of warning fliers. Worse, little effort is made by Nestle to insure they receive appropriate information. What's especially sick is that the company has persisted in pushing off formula onto poor nations now for DECADES, despite admonitions from the World Health Organization, despite an international outcry and boycott. Here is a statement from a Nestle Boycott Site: "Dr Raj Anand, in New Internationalist states that there is a 14 times higher chance of babies dying from diarrhea when on milk substitutes, over those fed on breast milk. Another part of the WHO code is that in non-English speaking countries, labels noting the use of the product and whether it is useable as a milk substitute or just a supplement (that breast milk must be given as well), must be in the local language. In India, where the government has legislated that product must display a notice in English and Hindi to the effect that "breast milk is best.", Dr Anand cites an example of a tin of lactogen with no Hindi notice. Where women aren't able to understand the information about the use of the product, they can make a decision that could be disastrous for their child." In fact, most doctors working in these areas where water and sanitation are a problem strongly recommend that mothers nurse their babies as a way to reduce infant mortality. But Nestle has its eye on profit margin figures, not infant mortality statistics. Here's another overview from Third World Traveler (a GREAT alternative site on major issues): "Nestle controls approximately 40% of the worldwide market for baby food. It influences UN systems, food legislation, market trends and company behavior more than any other food company. Nestle's persistence in violating the World Health Organization (WHO)'s International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes was once again revealed in a four-country research commissioned by the Interagency Group on Breastfeeding Monitoring (IGBM). Entitled 'Cracking the Code', the report reveals the massive scale of company marketing malpractice. Initially Nestle dismissed the IGBM report, even before reading it, and announced on BBC World Service that it would not accept reproaches from self-appointed groups'. However in the face of the scandalous findings a week later Nestle changed its tune to, 'We take this report seriously.' Nestle's moral mud is deeper and nastier than you would dare imagine. It's list of offenses now apparently include not just flagrantly immoral business practices, but bribery, intimidation and even death threats. Here's an excerpt from a report by Baby Milk Action: "Syed Aamar Raza worked as a Medical Delegate for Nestle until April 1997 when he resigned from the company shortly after an infant at a clinic he was visiting died as a result of diarrhea and malnutrition. When he asked the doctor why the infant had died, the doctor replied, "Because of people like you." Aamar's duties as a Nestle representative included bribing doctors with gifts and money to promote Nestle breastmilk substitutes and promoting the milks directly to mothers himself at baby shows organised by his Area Detailing Executive. The death of the infant and the distress of the parents moved Aamar deeply, particularly as he had a two and half year old son and his wife was 8 months pregnant at that time. After his resignation, Aamar sent a Legal Notice to Nestle calling on the company to stop its unethical promotion. He claims this prompted threats and the offer of money. After contacting the Pakistan group, The Network for Consumer Protection (a member of the International Baby Food Action Network — Aamar decided to go public with documentary evidence implicating Nestle management at the highest level in the bribing of doctors and other activities banned by the World Health Assembly marketing requirements for breastmilk substitutes. Documents include copies of cheques, memoranda, minutes of meetings and Aamar's wage slips which reveal he received bonus payments for meeting sales targets - infant formula received most points in the company incentive scheme. The report Milking Profits, based on his evidence, was launched in Berlin in December 1999. Aamar has not seen his wife and children since he left Pakistan in November 1999 and remains fearful about returning to Pakistan following the gun attack and other threats." I bet now with the Bush administration calling the shots in Pakistan, the good doctor is even more fearful. During the late 1990s, public opinion and the boycott had taken a sufficient toll on Nestle that it began to show signs of backing off in its "baby milk crime ring." But since Bush strong-armed his way into office, the company has pulled out the stops and has gone back to business as usual full steam ahead. Fortunately, so have the activist groups committed to stopping the corporation's assault against children. It's going to be a tough fight. The corporation now hopes to use the medical system to worm its way into every corner of the developing globe. I have no doubt that the big push on Capitol Hill right now to shower pharmaceutical companies with BILLIONS of dollars to enable them to turn their sales reps into the PRIMARY ADVISORS of pharmaceutical treatments will help Nestle's formula peddling operation. After all, infant formula could then be medically prescribed! Prescription formula is already a big business here in the U.S. The company is now trying to use the HIV pandemic to get its foot in the door with its formula in Africa. No wonder the Bush administration wants to withhold money from women's clinics in these same developing nations and thereby severely limit birth control! More babies for the Nestle corporation to dump formula on! More kids for the pharmaceutical companies to ship vaccines off to. Sound cynical? Well, not as cynical as the executives at Nestle or the folks at the Bush administration (who, after all, saw the deaths of hundreds of Afghan children in bombing raids as mere "collateral damage"). And since Bush has without exception showered rewards on his corporate sponsors, there's no reason to imagine Nestle will be any different. Evil invariably aids evil. By the way — Bush's agriculture secretary Ann Veneman served on the "International Council on Agriculture, Food, and Trade," a group funded by Cargill, Nestle, Kraft, and Archer Daniels Midland, all of which have received major benefits through the government since Bush was appointed. But the Nestle campaign against the developing world plows onward, just like Bush's endless war on terrorism (which focuses without exception of the poorest nations). Seems the company is also now making a practice of dumping foodstuffs — including baby food — contaminated by genetically engineered ingredients on developing nations where restrictions and labeling requirements are not yet in place. Here's a statement from a Greenpeace activist in China Lo Sze Ping: "Some Nestle baby food products in Thailand are also found to have GE ingredients but Nestle in some countries in Europe has already gone GE free. Nestle is obviously applying double standards in Asia by dumping GE food in this part of the world. This kind of trade practice is despicable, immoral and unethical." DIATRIBBLE How Low Can You Go? CBS "Sunday Morning" Demonstrates for Us Talk about a clear, but obscene message!! In a special segment on CBS's "Sunday Morning," there was a glowing commemoration of the first flight of the B-52 bomber in 1952 — the planes that have carried the bombs that have killed hundreds of thousands of human beings around the world, including the illegal bombing of Cambodia, which opened the door to the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror ("The Killing Fields") that left one million dead. The planes are still up and flying, Charles Osgood gushed — "How many 52 Studebakers do you still see out on the road?" And ain't it grand - these death-raining babies will still be flying through 2040. Meanwhile, the show ignored another commemorative event that happened exactly 60 years ago on April 27: the arrival of 120,000 Japanese Americans into 10 interment camps, after many of them had their homes, businesses, and financial resources seized by the government. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Wednesday, May 1, 2002 The other day, I received this letter from a reader, urging me to focus more attention on the courageous war resisters in Israel: Dear Cheryl, PLEASE, I beg of you, PLEASE write in your inimitable fashion about the voices for peace and justice inside Israel. They are standing up to a persecution that is horrific and so need support. There are many people in the wilderness SCREAMING the truth only to be slimed and smeared by self-righteous yahoos banging war drums. I enclose some pieces that may interest you and again thank you for standing fast as a beacon of light. I HOWLED at your response to the man who was so sure you must be an Arab, 'Afghani' or 'sumthin.' Jews have a difficult time confronting their own racism. I say that as a black one who knows its insidious nature in and out... Your fan, —Natasha In response, here is a special edition of Cheryl's Daily Diatribe dedicated to the courageous Jewish dissenters in the Middle East and U.S. Heroic Jewish and Palestinian Women Courageously Rise Together to Confront the Military State I can't tell you how deeply moved — and psyched! — I was to discover that one of the most courageous and outspoken groups leading the push against Sharon's outrageous excesses in the Middle East is a coalition of women — the Coalition of Women 4 Peace. I have been frustrated and dismayed by the lack of activist women — especially activist women who aren't just focused on women's issues, such as abortion, pro or con. The women in the coalition deserve our great respect and support. They are operating in a climate in Israel just now that is just as thuggishly "with us or against us" as the U.S. has been for many months, not to mention pushing on in a media blackout as absolute as any black hole. Here is the coalition's statements of principles, their vision, and slogans: PRINCIPLES OF THE COALITION We Jewish and Palestinian women, citizens of Israel representatives of various women's organizations and individuals have agreed to coordinate and organize joint activities in order to work together for a just peace based on the following principles: An end to the occupation. The full involvement of women in negotiations for peace. Establishment of the state of Palestinian side by side with the state of Israel based on the 1967 borders. The recognition of Jerusalem as the shared capital of two states. Israel must recognize its share of responsibility for the results of the 1948 war, and cooperating in finding a just solution for the Palestinian refugees. Equality, inclusion and justice for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Opposition to the militarism that permeates Israeli society. Equal rights for women and all residents of Israel. Social and economic justice for Israel's citizens and integration in the region. THE VISION OF PEACE OF THE COALITION The Coalition of Women for a just peace believes that the occupation must stop, and that Israel must retreat to the 1967 borders. The Coalition also believes that: The militarism, which permeates Israeli society, must also come to an end. As long as the governments of Israel continue to be dominated by generals and a belief in violence as a political strategy, we will never get to peace. To end the conflict we must resolve problems through wisdom, not force; through compromise based on an understanding of the plight of the nations in the region. A just peace includes a future of cooperation between Palestine and Israel, and an equitable sharing of resources with all states in the region. The vision of peace is indivisible from the vision of justice and equality. We seek to instill all three principles into all aspects of Israeli society. ADDITIONAL SLOGANS THAT DEFINE OUR POSITION There is no democracy without peace and no peace without women. The age of generals has ended; the era of women has begun. Stop shooting, start talking peace. Two states for two nations: Palestine side by side with Israel. Money for the poor, not for settlers. If you don't think these women are confronting some pretty damn scary stuff, check this story out: Sharon Advisor Welcomes World War III, Says the Entire World Must Be Pulled into Armageddon Sharon's top advisor Ra'anan Gissin is a more dangerous fruitcake than Jerry Falwell! He is in the U.S. peddling Israeli war bonds. He is also spouting some of the creepiest rhetoric to be heard since Jim Jones convinced scores of followers to commit suicide by swilling down cyanide-laced kool aid. Gissin can't wait for World War III and has actually stated the rest of the world "is going to fight, whether they like it or not. I'm sure." He also thinks that the reason everyone ought to put the world's fate on the line and cough up bucks for Israeli bonds (hey- the 4.26 BILLION and arsenal of war machinery we gave Israel last year wasn't enough?) is "for the eternity of the Jewish people." Don't know about you, but I'm a little more concerned right now with the immediate survival of the planet overall than I am with the "eternity of the Jewish people." All I can say is, THANK GOD for those brave activists speaking out against this insanity. And I do mean THANK GOD, because I believe that these loving souls are a gift and if anyone represents a benign higher power, they do. By contrast, I do not for one minute believe that monsters like Sharon, Cheney, Bush, Gissin, or Falwell have any connection to God whatsoever. Nope, their puppet strings can be traced to something quite different - and it ain't pretty...or holy! Here are some more activists who deserve recognition. I only wish that our site got 100 million hits so that they might be better known and thereby give the weary world more hope. As it is, the media's systematic blackout of good and relentless glamorizing spotlight of evil has deprived us of real, deeply needed heroes. MidEast Web for Peaceful Coexistence Reaches Across the Gulf Created by Extremism The MidEast Web is working to shine a light into the blindered darkness of their hate-filled countrypeople. This statement is take from their site: "Those on each side who ask innocently, "who is causing this nightmare?" should look in the mirror first. The horrors will begin to end when people on each side are ready to criticize their own "side" as quickly and as sharply as they criticize the other side. The horrors will end when both Palestinians and Israelis will speak out for peace in unequivocal terms. Not peace with "justice" — meaning destruction of Israel, and not peace with "security" — meaning settlements, but peace that allows both sides to live in dignity and safety. People on each side must condemn the horrors committed by their own side, and struggle actively to stop it. It is not treachery but patriotism, for the way of violence, the current road of insanity, is an express ticket to Hell for both Palestinians and Israelis, and getting us off this train must be national priority number one for those who really care about their own people on both sides." — an excerpt from MideastWeb for Coexistence. American Activist Rabbi Michael Lerner Speaks Out: "It's Time to Atone When We See Only Our Own Pain" Rabbi Lerner is the editor of the progressive Tikkun magazine. The title says it all: Tikkun means "To mend, repair, and transform the world." To achieve this, says Lerner, human beings must work together. To work together, human beings must see themselves as part of a whole, not as factions of unequal worth. I recently heard Rabbi Lerner interviewed on C-SPAN and was impressed with his sincerity, directness, and passion. Here is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Tikkun and in shortened form in "Common Dreams" "Palestinian violence is both immoral and irrational. Yet the preponderance of responsibility lies with Israel and with an international media that continue to obscure the basic realities facing the Palestinian people, and continue to treat the death of Israeli soldiers enforcing a brutal occupation as somehow more outrageous and barbarous than the killing of many times as many Palestinian teenagers who were resisting the occupation. To me, Israeli deaths are a personal tragedy. But have we not yet learned that in God's eyes every human being is equally treasured? The way we talk that discounts the huge number of Palestinians killed and wounded reinforces the desperation that led to the current tragic moment." Here is a MUST READ article from Tikkun that will break your heart. If it doesn't — you probably don't have one to break. Israel's Systematic Destruction of Palestinian Society " It's a scene that is repeating itself in hundreds of Palestinian offices taken over by IDF troops for a few hours or days in the West Bank: smashed, burned and broken computer terminals heaped in piles and thrown into yards; server cabling cut, hard disks missing, disks and diskettes scattered and broken, printers and scanners broken or missing, laptops gone, telephone exchanges that disappeared or were vandalized, and paper files burned, torn, scattered, or defaced — if not taken. And it's all in rooms full of smashed furniture, torn curtains, broken windows, smashed-in doors, walls full of holes, filthy floors and soiled bathrooms. "Here and there, the soldiers left obscene graffiti or letters full of hatred, but compared to the data that was destroyed or taken, the insults read like poetry. Even the overflowing toilets look more like human weakness compared to the organized vandalism reflected in the piles of smashed computers. It's not merely the expense of the hardware that has to be replaced. The loss is immeasurable in shekels or dollars. Years of information built into knowledge, time spent thinking by thousands of people working to build their civil society and their future or trying to build a private sector that would bring a sense of economic stability to their country. "These are the data banks developed in Palestinian Authority institutions like the Education Ministry, the Higher Education Ministry and the Health Ministry. These are the data banks of the non-governmental organizations and research institutes devoted to developing a modern health system, modern agricultural, environmental protection and water conservation. These are the data banks of human rights organizations, banks and private commercial enterprises, infirmaries, and supermarkets. They all were clearly the targets for destruction in the military operation called Defensive Shield. The Israeli public has been spared the sights of the destruction. Here and there, a photo of some demolished office sneaks into the TV news shows. But Israeli TV news doesn't find a few seconds to report on a Palestinian woman or a child of nine who was shot dead from a distance, inside their homes, by an anonymous Israeli soldier, so how can it find time or reason to report on the crazed destruction perpetrated by a unit of soldiers in one office. " American Alternative Journalists Step Up to the Plate Though the American "state media" has blacked out the truth of the Middle East conflict nearly as zealously as the Israeli "state media," some alternative journalists have stepped in to fill the gap as best they can. One of these is Gabriel Ash, whose columns appear regularly in YellowTimes.org. Here's an excerpt from a recent column on the systematic blocking of journalists and aid workers from Jenin: "After all, the truth is such a terrible weapon. It would be wrong to allow one side to have more of it than the other. There must be balance. But only regarding the truth. There need not be balance in firepower, for example. It is O.K. that Israel has nuclear weapons and Apache helicopters, paid for by American taxpayers who can't afford to pay for adequate health care, while Palestinians fight with rifles and home-made explosives. There need not be balance about land either. It is O.K. that Israelis control all the land and Palestinians none. Nor is balance a requirement regarding liberty, or human rights, which Israelis enjoy and Palestinians do not. But there must be balance in describing what happened in Jenin. That is why accuracy is very important in Jenin. Was it exactly a "massacre," as Perez called it and then denied, or a "devastation," or just an "incursion" that used "minimal force" to achieve "necessary goals," such as showing Palestinians who's the boss and what you get for upsetting him? If you use too strong a word, if you match the statement to the stench of the decomposing bodies, Israel will reprimand you, brand you an anti-Semite, maybe even expel you. Be forewarned. " MAILBAG: Adding to the Collective Voice Dear Cheryl: Enjoyed your article on "Polls" and the failure to get the true opinion of many people. How can we let our voices be heard? If you criticize the Bush actions, you risk being called a "Traitor" or as George said, "If you are not with us you are against us." Meaning we support terrorists. How did he get us painted in this corner? I wish we had a strong national spokesman. Clinton and Gore have been ridiculed and discredited until no one listens to them. I believe in what they say, but the media won't let them have credibility. For example, the economy is in bad shape. Look at the stock market. Yet, they all tell us that it is coming up and things are really getting better. America has always stood for freedom and concern for fellowman. Now, we brag of how we are going to bomb Iraq as soon as we can get the Jews quieted down. Never mind that they live on the threat of bombs when they go to the market, cafe, etc. We need your voice. Thank you for listening. —Mary
Dear Mary, I believe that every letter like yours, where a concerned person who values what we are supposed to stand for speaks up, you are contributing to a bigger collective voice. Each letter, each comment like this spoken out in any way by concerned Americans, adds to the volume of that collective voice. With your taking the time to write your letter, the volume just went up another fraction of a decibel!! Thanks for adding your voice! Best, —Cheryl Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Friday, May 3, 2002 Selling Lab Animal Rights Out for Corporate Bucks: Helms Proves What a Rotten Old Bastard He Is I always thought that the PR bit about how Jesse Helms is not a really a rotten old bastard - he's just a "feisty, colorful ole character" was a load of horse shit. Helms has for most of his too-many years been an ultra-rightwing, art-bashing, gay-bashing, civil rights blocking, bigoted, narrow-minded, sorry excuse for a human being, much less senator. Now, before either dying (yeah, right — since only the good die young, this guy, along with Strom Thurmond, Ronald Reagan, and Billy Graham will live forever!) or being forced to step down, he seems determined to prove to the world just what a black hole in the face of humanity he really is. The slimeball slipped an amendment into the FARM BILL (talk about sleazy back door deals) that overturns the animal welfare act for laboratory animals — those TWENTY MILLION birds and mice that are already at the mercy of often callous researchers. Now that this has passed, the tens of thousands of cats, dogs, and other creatures being experimented on will be the next to have their last shred of protection removed. Helms, a sneak and coward as well as a bastard, waited until a day when almost no one but his pals were present in the senate and then did a quick voice vote — no hearings, no debate. This amendment is now part of the Farm Bill. According to the Working Group to Preserve the Animal Welfare Act, "One of the reasons Congress broadened the AWA in 1970 was to stop the widespread abuse of animals used by researchers. The AWA requires researchers to provide humane care and consider non-animal alternatives for warm-blooded animals used in research. To ensure that these standards are met, USDA has the enforcement power to inspect research facilities. A majority of scientists and many scientific organizations support AWA coverage for birds, rats, and mice, recognizing that good animal care is essential to good science. As a result of this un-debated amendment, there is no legal duty for anyone who uses birds, rats, and mice in research to treat them with humane care. Within the past few months, reports of abuse of these species in research facilities have proliferated, including several incidents at the University of North Carolina. At this University, an undercover investigator documented repeated animal welfare violations involving these animals." So why was the old bastard so determined to get this amendment slipped in? The NUMBER ONE use of laboratory animals is in drug development. Without having to bother with humane treatment of their lab animals, pharmaceutical companies will be able to rush through drug trials even MORE cheaply and quickly. But knowing something about research protocols from the thousands of articles I've read in the past several years, this new development is likely to make new drugs even LESS safe in the end - and the safety of new drugs has already been going down steadily in recent years due to the greed-driven rush to crank out big sellers. Why? Because animals are not made of plastic — if they are under conditions of duress and deprivation, their response to any treatment will most certainly be skewed — just as it would be in humans being tested under such conditions. So, by the time these drugs make it to human trials, we may see more instances, not fewer, of drug trial participants being harmed - or killed - by drugs developed in poorly-managed animal trials. Worse, researchers will have NO motivation to develop alternatives to lab animals and HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of mice, birds, cats, dogs, and other animals will die — many infected with horrendous tumors, misery-inducing disease, contaminated by poisons and radiation, etc. (If you think I'm an hysterical animal lover, think again. Yes, I love animals, but also, I have been treated weekly to descriptions in research articles and photos of what is done to these animals and there are days I cry and am literally sick at my stomach). There is no excuse for this wholesale torture and slaughter. More than half the time, the "animal model" proves to be inappropriate and untransferrable to the human "model" anyway. But you won't read about that anywhere unless you read obscure science journals. You won't because the pharmaceutical industry doesn't want you to. Why? Because they want you to believe their products are safe BECAUSE they have been pre-tested first on animals and then in clinical trials. That way they can rush another Baycol to market just hope they have time to pocket enough profits to make the later lawsuits a worthwhile "cost of doing business." A search of Helms site and related links uncovered another interesting bit of info. One of the biggest supporters of Helms removal of protections of animals is the American Association of Anatomists. Sound "innocent" enough? Well check out their list of key links: ALL are related to sites related to genetics NOT anatomy: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Human Genome related links, etc. Some of the most grotesque and unacceptable research being done on animals today is in the name of genetics. Researchers are especially fond of "knockout mice." These are mice that have been genetically engineered to lack certain genes - such as the gene that allows them to fight off tumors. These animals are then injected with tumor cells to see how a possible substance might effect the often hideous tumors the creatures develop (I know — I've seen the "clinical photos). Some mice are engineered to have diabetes or "parkinson-like" conditions — many never experience what life without disease feels like. Needless to say, the chronic suffering is on a large and relentless scale. In a side note, larger animals such as birds and cats are the common target now of neuroscience research — which is likely to become the target of much genetics research. One research article I abstracted recently described experiments investigating how sight is effected by "visual deprivation" in one eye. To achieve this, five kittens either had one eye sewn shut and/or the muscles in one eye surgically cut. In some cases, as soon as the animal has been put through their ordeals, they are killed and their brains and bodies dissected and photographed. And this is the stuff that is COVERED by the AWA! Can you imagine the shit that goes down when NO protections are in place? The genetics researchers have even developed a jargon for their work: "Knockouts," "Transgenics," "model" (an animal with an induced disease). Animals who have been severely genetically tampered with are called "chimeras." Anyway, I strongly suspect that the reason the Dr. Frankensteins among us want the animal protections removed is because their experiments are about to get more bizarre and more grotesque as the genomics projects accelerate. And guess what? They aren't being aided and abetted by us "Godless liberals". They are being cheered on by the right-wingers on Capitol Hill who worship the Almighty Buck. Case in point: this same week, Orrin Hatch, supposedly such a religious "Bible Belter," said cloning human embryos for research was OK in his book. So here we have two miserable old bastards — Helms and Hatch — who claim to be "God-fearin' Bible-thumpin'" conservatives who are anti-abortion with a frothing-at-the-mouth vengeance. And yet they are all for genetics research on helpless animals and all for human embryo cloning. Of course they are! Does anyone really think their "religious beliefs" were anything other than a well-rehearsed act to get elected? Or that these cockroaches wouldn't sell out every last one of their constituents and their grandmas too if enough Biotech/Pharmaceutical bucks were fluttered under their noses? If you do, then I bet you're one of the "genetic mistakes" who voted for one or the other of them - repeatedly. For those of us who operate on a higher evolutionary scale, this entire scenario is stomach-turning — as are Helms, Hatch, and all their ilk. If you want to do something, contact Nancy Blaney of the Working Group to Preserve the Animal Welfare Act at 703-521-1689 or Tina Nelson of the American Anti-Vivisection Society 215-887-0816. Also call or e-mail the bastard Helms and tell him what you think! jesse_helms@helms.senate.gov or 202-224-6342 RIGHT BENEATH OUR NOSES: Our government has been wrested away from us by corporate interests and the cockroaches on Capitol Hill that do their bidding. The legislation that affects quality of life most is being slipped into bills at the last minute before even the most tenacious and conscientious citizens can possible know it's being done. No hearing, no debate, no voice at all. As a result, there is a growing list of legislation that is sticking it to the American people and methodically dismantling democracy and freedom as we know it. Let's shine a spot light on these cockroaches each week and watch them scuttle off to hide in their corporate corners! Here is our first installment of UNKNOWN NEWS WEEKLY COCKROACH ALERT Here are this week's COCKROACH ALERTS (pending legislation) and COCKROACH SIGHTINGS (voting record on key legislation revealing the corporate sellouts), courtesy Public Citizen, a site that KICKS ASS!!!!!!!! COCKROACH ALERT! Legislation to irradiate all ready-to-eat foods, including BABY FOOD More background on the irradiation amendment: Here's an excerpt from a watchdog site that with dry irony, calls itself Conspiracy Planet : "On February 13th, in the final moments before the Senate passed its version of the Farm Bill, a massive 396-page amendment was presented by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). No one except a select few Senators and staff knew the details of its contents and the amendment was adopted without any debate. Among the amendment's many provisions, Section 1079E grants the Food and Drug Administration the power to define what the term "pasteurization" means. "Why is this significant? Because for the past five years, the food irradiation industry has been trying to force the FDA to change the labeling requirements for irradiated food to allow the terms "cold pasteurization" or "electronic pasteurization." Right now, foods that have been approved for irradiation must carry the disclaimer "Treated with irradiation" or "Treated by irradiation." The language in Senator Harkin's amendment would allow the irradiation industry to label their foods with these euphemisms and hijack a familiar term (pasteurization) to sell food treated by an entirely different process." Ain't it grand to know our legislators are so HONEST and CARING? COCKROACH SIGHTING! Here's Who Voted How on: Anti-Fuel Economy Amendment: Check out who voted FOR the oil companies (cause that's what this bill was really all about) COCKROACH ANATOMY 101 Here's what happens to a typical bill that IS in the public's interest: NOTHING Case in point: HR1489: This bill would prohibit employers from forcing employees to submit all claims to arbitration. It would specifically address unlawful employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. So what true American patriot could possibly be against this? Well, this bill was introduced over a year ago and has been stalled and pushed from pillar to post. While it has 27 Democrats and 1 independent sponsoring it, only one Republican came on board (so much for the GOP myth that nowadays they really ARE against discrimination!). Here's the convoluted path of this still-languishing bill. DIATRIBBLE: While we're on the subject of abusing animals for fun and profit, here's a couple of stories for you Fish Farms and Ranches Infecting Wild Species with Deadly Diseases Now here's one that the corporate media had made sure the public doesn't see. For almost two decades, entrepreneurs have been trying to turn an easy buck by raising wild elk on ranches. On the Asian folk medicine market — a market that is lethal to a variety of wild species, including many endangered animals — elk antler velvet brings up to $200 per kilogram. In their greed, in the 1990s, ranchers began to keep the elk in large numbers — crowding and poor conditions contributed to the appearance of chronic wasting disease (CWD). CWD is in the same family of nasty pathogens as "mad cow disease" (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy). As the ranchers have shuffled their "product" (which is all these animals are to them) from state to state, wheeling and dealing from place to place, they have spread the disease into wild deer populations across the west, from Colorado up to the Canadian plains states and to Wisconsin. Although ranchers argue that the disease was probably always in wild deer but never noticed, throughout 200 years of western history, the disease was never described in wild deer in the west before the 1960s. Next time you have a nice cheap salmon filet from the supermarket (invariably farm fish), consider these lovely facts: The popularity of salmon farming is threatening wild fish dramatically. These farm fish, genetically engineered to become "food-sized" in a very short time and kept in abnormal confinement for such species, are lumbering, unfit mules compared to their wild cousins. They are also plagued by infestations of lice and disease. Once these fish escape into wild waters — which they do routinely — they infect wild salmon with disease and lice. They also interbreed with the wild fish, producing dramatically less fit offspring. One recent study revealed that in areas where farmed fish have mixed with natural fish, 30% fewer young fish make it from their breeding grounds to the ocean. According to some estimates, in Scotland alone, about one million farmed salmon have escaped into wild waters since 1998. BUSH: What a good neighbor....NOT! Maryland, the state where Bush and family now lives (D.C. is, essentially an "island" within Maryland), just got hammered last week by the worst tornado to ever hit the state - an F5 that was, in fact, the second worst twister to ever hit the eastern seaboard! The town of La Plata, just 20 minutes south of D.C. was wiped off the map — 3 killed, scores injured, 350 homes flattened or rendered uninhabitable at least for now. So where is our "good neighbor Bush?" No where to be seen or heard. Not a word of condolence or concern. But then, his handlers had to FORCE him to go to NYC after WTC. So why should Maryland expect him to turn out for a mere F5 tornado? After all, the only shred of conscience the man had - Karen Hughes — has left him. By the way — I always had the feeling that Karen Hughes was, of all the Bush entourage, the most decent. I also get the feeling that for some weeks, Bush has probably stopped being the respectful friend he no doubt pretended to be to keep Hughes on board until he felt he no longer needed the "little people." I bet Hughes was having a helluva time coping with the posturing, out-of-touch, and probably totally ungrateful little sociopath. Will LOVE to see her write "The True Story of the Bush Presidency"....? Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Monday, May 6, 2002 COCKROACH SIGHTING: Corporate Hooker Christie Todd Whitman of EPA massacres clean water act on Friday night while no one is looking On Friday, when it was too late for anyone to do anything but scream futilely, Christie Todd Whitman gutted the clean water act. It is now legal for mining companies to dump hundreds of thousands of tons of mining wastes directly into rivers, streams, and wetlands. About 1,000 streams in Appalachia have already been choked to death by illegal dumping. Now Whitman has unleashed a slaughter of perhaps thousands more. How could a feeling, thinking human being do such a thing? Does she really love kissing coal baron but that much? Yep, she does indeed — in fact, she's a bona fide corporate whore. Back in late 2001, Whitman was willing to sell out every community in the U.S. living near the toxic threat of Superfund sites to keep her corporate sweeties happy. How? She dismantled the EPA watchdog office that would have insured that these sites are thoroughly investigated and communities living nearby thus protected. The fly in Whitman's ointment was Robert Martin, then head of the watchdog office. Martin wanted to see more action on Superfund sites, particularly in Denver, where a site created by the Shattuck mining company was found to be contaminated by radioactive waste. Martin's investigation of the site and uncovering of the threat to the local community made him a hero to many. Superfund sites, as you should know, are bad, bad news. These sites — the worst of the worst on a national scale — steadily leak toxic waste into their surrounding environments if left to fester. Anyone who saw "A Civil Action" or read the book will know clearly just how horrible the consequences of an uncleaned site can be. Yet, once Martin started making noise, Whitman first gagged him, by transferring him, then dismantled his office. God forbid that Shattuck and Marjol (another Denver area site) should have to spend a few extra million to clean up the sites. Screw the families who might have to suffer through cancer, disablement and death later. Hooker Whitman's gotta keep those johns happy! What really pissed Whitman off at Martin was that Shattuck and Marjol are companies in which her husband owns stock (guess some high-paid corporate call girls actually have husbands). So you can bet your next paycheck that Whitman's dismantling of the clean water act was just another blow job for her friends in mining. DIATRIBBLE Does anyone REALLY believe that Dick Cheney is on crutches because he "banged his heel" on a table leg? I mean, think about it! What kind of yogi-esque contortions would you have to be pulling off to bang your HEEL hard enough to end up on crutches. Your toe or knee, maybe. But heel? There is another condition which would put Cheney on crutches that is much more likely: the vascular complications of advanced coronary artery disease. Having serious trouble with one leg is very common in cases like this. So, again, someone is helping the Bush administration lie to the public with concocted tales (like the pretzel episode). Must either be a creative doctor or a frustrated sitcom writer. Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Wednesday, May 8, 2002 Time Honored GOP Saying: When in Doubt, INVADE CUBA!!! By Cheryl Seal Here we are at that famous national game show: the Bush Wheel of Fortune! Solve the puzzle and decide who he's gonna declare war on next. Is that first letter a "C"? Yes! Can I buy a vowel, Pat? Give me a "U"!! All right, Pat, I want to solve the puzzle now: is it....CUBA?! And the audience goes wild as Vannah reveals that the next country Bush plans to attack is indeed CUBA!!!!! All joking aside, the G.lobal W.reckingball and his corporate cronies are DETERMINED to plunge the U.S. into war ASAP — before his approval ratings scrape the floor and before Congressional election day 2002 can dawn. His saber rattling at Iraq has taken him into such touchy territory that he is now looking for easier alternatives — like Cuba. What Bush is doing now reminds me of a half-wit bully on the playground who, seeing that the kid he's been picking on has some mean-looking pals, decides to go beat up the skinny little kid in the corner who doesn't have any big strong friends. So now we are supposed to believe that Cuba is plotting to unleash germ warfare on the world. Of course, no one in the administration will specify what type of "germs" we're talking about here! (Not to mention the fact that the term "germ warfare" is a out-dated relic left over from the 1950s — but then so is most everyone in the Bush administration). For all the details we're given in this latest vague threat, Castro could be planning to airmail soiled Kleenex to Washington in an effort to infect key Congressmen with bad colds. The biggest joke in this latest "vague call to terror and action" is that the information was presented not to the American press, to Congresspeople, or even to the Pentagon, which, contrary to what it may seem under Bush, has plenty of very savvy, peace-loving people who see through the current administration (to quote Bob Dylan's Masters of War) "like the water that runs down their drains." Nope, this announcement was made to the folks at the Heritage Foundation. This outfit, which calls itself a "think tank" (as in "think tank, guns, and bombs"!), is a front group for corporate interests, despite the slick disguise. This group is so determined to push public opinion to the right — way, way, way to the right — that they have launched a free program for "training" journalists in the "right way" to do research. SCARY! So now we have Bush toady John R. Bolton, the under secretary (more like under-the-thumb secretary) for arms control holding forth to a bogus corporate front group on matters threaten the security of us all (of course, the threat I am talking about is not Cuba — I mean BUSH). Scarier still, the New York Times and Washington Post actually ran this crap as a bonafide "news story" on the International Page!! That's like running an infomercial for a new model of Ford in the business section as an "analysis." (Hey — CBS recently ran a 5-minute infomercial on a new sleep aid drug and called it a "news story on sleep" so why am I surprised?). But Cuba is an attractive target to Bush & Co. for several reasons. First, it is an impoverished, isolated island that would make easy pickins (like Somalia, Afghanistan and all the other impoverished isolated places this administration likes to beat on). Next, Bush wants to mobilize the Hispanic voters behind the GOP and imagines that ALL Hispanics hate Castro (Bush sees all minorities as two-dimensional, easily-manipulated beings who all think alike). Third, Cuba has the cleanest, best preserved beaches in the Caribbean. How VERY attractive to Bush's army of developer pals. I bet they can just hear those casino wheels turning already! Last but not least, this administration has followed an unnerving pattern of imitating almost tit for tat, the same schemes and operations that previous rightwing administrations and agencies (notably the CIA) have engaged in. Thus we have the "evil axis" (mimicking Reagan's evil empire), a "shadow government" (Eisenhower), intrigues and paper manipulations to cover tracks (Nixon), and, very likely, the staged terrorism attacks (CIA during Kennedy's administration — they were planning to stage attacks on American ships and even cities to trump up interest in invading Cuba). The failed Venezuela coup is just one example of "mimicry" (remember the Nixon and Ford administration's engineered coups in various parts of the world?). The trouble with the Bush scheme is that it's not the 1950s, 60s, 70s, or 80s. The world has moved on; unfortunately, the folks in the Bush administration have not. Instead of falling in step with the rest of the world and the 21st century, they want to drag the rest of the world back into the 1950s (actually, if Bush had his way, he'd drag them back even further — to an era before any social programs and worker protections were in place). It's time for the sane folk on Capitol Hill to shove the brake to the floor before the Big Bus plunges over the embankment. Towing her back out again would not be an easy task. U.S. Military Is the Nation's Top Toxic Polluter of the Environment, But Rumsfeld Wants MORE Power to Pollute Now here's a sorry record! Listen to this report from the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. "The Department of Defense is the nation's largest toxic polluter. By the DOD's own admission, there are over 11,000 toxic "hot spots" on 1,855 military facilities. More than 100 Department of Defense (DOD) installations are on, or proposed for inclusion on, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund list of the most poisoned pieces of real estate in the U.S. [Bush, of course, wants to let them off the hook]. Since 1989, 91 U.S. bases with over 1,600 active toxic cleanup sites have been slated for closure, In addition to its own bases, the Pentagon is listed as a Potentially Responsible Party in poisoning 53 privately-owned Superfund sites, including dumps, properties formerly operated by the military, and contractor-owned weapons plants." GREAT WEBSITE Here's a great website with progressive news and postings from all over the world: AfroCubaWeb Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Thursday, May 9, 2002 Angry Rightwing Jews Reject Call for Compassion for Palestinians The right-wingers in Israel are apparently not much different from right-wingers in America, just as rightwing fundamentalist Jews aren't much different from rightwing fundamentalist Christians or Muslims. The operative word in their collective vocabulary is INTOLERANCE. Here are two letters sent to me following my column in which I presented photos and news of Jews and Palestinians gathered together to protest the violence and intolerance in the West Bank. LETTER ONE: Cheryl: This is the first time I've seen your column. Your open-mindedness provided me with a big laugh. Anyone who laughs at open-mindedness either has emotional difficulties beyond the scope of this column or is a serious fascist.Why don't you mention that 2 years ago Barak offered Arafat 100% of Gaza and 97% of the West Bank? He refused this offer and didn't come back with a counter offer. He was castigated not only by Clinton, who was his friend but by the vast majority of European leaders. The "refused offer" myth is one of the biggest loads of horse poop the Israeli propagandists have put out. It is akin to the "liberal media" myth that the American rightwing has put out. Alas, such myths persist here in the face of all evidence to the contrary. The "great deal" being offered by Barak was no deal at all. The Israelis refused to commit ANYTHING to paper, much less sign anything and kept changing the conditions around on a daily basis. Would YOU sign a contract for anything, even a used car, if the dealer refused to put anything in writing and kept calling you up to change the conditions? If so, then you DO have problems.Israel is a democracy, and Sharon was overwhelmingly elected by his countrymen. Arafat provided him with this victory. Arafat does not run a democracy. His Palestinian Authority is corrupt and unjust and a liar. (The Karina). Witness the kangaroo courts and lynchings. You really DO buy into every piece of propaganda cranked out by the Israeli extremists, don't you! Why don't you try to novel approach of actually researching the subject. Here at Unknown News, we like fresh, little known information and facts - not the warmed up leftovers of old propaganda. Atrocities have been committed on BOTH sides. And as the Palestinians live under extraordinarily unstable conditions, similar to those found in ghettos, it should come as no surprise that they sometimes act out barbarically — just as people trapped in ghettos everywhere do..Come, come. Israel has a free press. In what alternative universe?Haaretz, the leading Israeli newspaper is always critical of Sharon and the government. Only when it is safe and within certain guidelines. During the siege of Ramallah and the destruction of Jenin, we often turned to Ha'aretz to see if they would address the outrage. During the height of the crisis, you'd never have know there WAS a crisis to read through their front page and headlines.Yossie Beilin always gets lots of press. TV is very critical of Sharon. The intellectual elite, which is critical of the settlements and Sharon always gets its views printed. Is that why we are getting repeated pleas from journalists and activists in Israel to PLEASE get the true story out? Maybe the Israeli media allowed dissent at one time - just as American papers were somewhat less right-skewed before 9/11. But when even a beloved singer gets her program canceled by the state because she spoke in support of the refusniks, this is hardly what I'd call a free environment.Fortunately the overwhelming majority of Israelis no longer buy the elite line. This is FALSE. The majority of Israelis want to pull out of the West Bank! The media and government in Israel are doing EXACTLY what the media and Bush regime are doing here - seizing on people's fears to do away with essential freedoms, and playing up polls that indicate people want terrorism stopped. Of course people want terrorism stopped! But none of the polls ever ask HOW people would prefer the problem to be addressed. The fact that over 60% of Israelis want a pullout indicate that they do not believe Sharon's approach is the answer.You haven't commented about the Palestinian free press, nor the free press in any other Arab country. Why don't you call a conference of all democratic Arab countries to discuss this matter? Now THAT is a very good idea!! At least the part about calling a conference, though I realize you felt you were being "clever" by inserting "democratic" as no Arab countries are considered democracies. Funny, lack of democracy in these countries hasn't stopped the U.S. or Israel from buying their oil!Did you write about the massacre in Jenin? What is the source of your information? Looking forward to your response. —Fred Fred,LETTER #2 To Cheryl: I am amazed at the intellectual bankruptcy and historical inaccuracy in your "letters" and information when it comes to Israel. Like most right-wingers, you think that someone who disagrees with your view is simply "intellectually bankrupt and historically inaccurate"I guess that I am one of the few "liberals" — or so I have been labeled — who believes that it is important that Jews survive. Who labeled YOU a liberal? La Pen?I read columns like yours and of Rabbi Lerner whom you publish with dismay. I understand where you are coming from with phrases in your column such as " Don't know about you, but I'm a little more concerned right now with the immediate survival of the planet overall than I am with the "eternity of the Jewish people." Respectfully, anyone who believes as you do, obviously cares nothing about the survival of the State of Israel. Since when are the survival of the planet and the survival of the Jewish people mutually exclusive possibilities!So, if we start with your premise, the Israelis must be all wrong when they defend themselves. Jews were wrong in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1971, 1973 and presently — no matter that they were attacked and innocent civilians killed. There's a HUGE difference between defending oneself and invading another country to seize someone else's land! Since 1948 Israel has more than doubled its territory through "defending itself."History and fact do not much matter either — you are concerned with the "survival of the planet" — perhaps, it might not be too much of a stretch for you if "the planet" included a few Jews. I would hope that that the survival of the planet would be a concern for ALL humankind, Jews included.Perhaps it would be nice if you were to reflect upon the following facts: a. Jews have lived in the land encompassed by Israel for several thousands of years — long before the creation of Islam. Native Americans have lived in the land encompassed by the United States for several thousands of years - long before the creation of Christianity. So does this mean the Tribes should rise up and take back Manhattan or California?b. Over 500,000 Jews lived in the British controlled land of "Palestine" just before the creation of the State of Israel. Over 500,000 Native Americans lived in the British controlled land of "America" just before the creation of the Republic of the United States. Many Native Americans have been the victims even in this century of terrible violence by white Americans. But do you think this would justify their leveling entire suburbs outside of say Des Moines or Seattle with big tanks and bulldozers?c. Arab residents of the land — for the most part — chose to leave when Israel was created. Many Native American occupants of land chose to leave when Europeans flooded onto the country's shores. Why? Because the Europeans refused to allow them to live in peace and with dignity.Hundreds of thousands left voluntarily with the coaxing of the surrounding Arab countries who promised that Israel would be pushed into the sea in a matter of weeks. This is one of the most outrageous myths perpetrated by the Israeli propaganda machine - which is almost as outrageous as the American propaganda machine. Hundreds of thousands of people do not simply abandon their homes because "well it seemed like a good idea at the time!" I bet that's the same lame story the Romans gave out during the Diasphora! The European settlers demonized the Native Americans as "savages" who had to be wiped out because otherwise they would have "driven the white man into the sea."By the by — do you and Rabbi Lerner agree that Israel has never been an aggressor nation — It has never once sought to secure additional territory — but acquired additional territory only after being attacked by other Arab Nations. I most certainly do not agree that Israel has never been an aggressor nation! It has used the excuse of "self defense" to aggressively "acquire" territory it was not entitled to. When England beat Hitler in a bitter battle of self defense, Churchill, et al did not go in and claim Austria as part of the United Kingdom!Why is this missing from your analysis? Why is this never mentioned in your diatribes against Israel and by association — Jews? Because I make it a policy not to lie to my readers.d. What other country who suffered constant attacks from its neighbors gave land back simply to try to live in peace? Usually countries that weren't entitled to the land in the first place! (England's loss of the American colonies and India, France's restoration of land it grabbed in the Napoleonic wars, Russia's release of countries grabbed in the communist era.) Hey, returning something you stole is the right thing to do, no matter what the circumstances are!Why do you not explain that talk about "ending the occupation" is belied by Israel's record of territorial generosity, first with Egypt in 1979, and then with the Palestinians in Oslo. Never before in history has a country that won disputed territory after being attacked by its neighbors voluntarily relinquished the territory for peace — until Israel did it twice. See comment above.Why do you and Rabbi Lerner not explain that if Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat had responded to former prime minister Ehud Barak's Camp David 2000 proposals with counter-proposals and not with violence, Palestinians might already have a state of their own rather than a state of war. See Letter #1 above in which I comment on the Myth of the Rejected Peace Offer.e. Why is there no consternation over proofs that Arafat and his gang have supported terrorism for many years and certainly in the present circumstance? Because Arafat's role in past terrorist activity is well known already, and trumpeted amply by the media. Israel, meanwhile, has not been held accountable for very damn much until now, thanks to its greater media resources.f. Why is it so difficult for you to understand that due to the circumstances created by the "Palestinians" — Israel had no choice but to demonstrate that it would not sit by and see Jews slaughtered-- that it would not be destroyed or humiliated any longer — that it had put forth proposals for peace and been met with the intifada — WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU MADE AN OFFER OF PEACE — LAND — A STATE FOR YOUR ADVERSARY — AND WERE MET WITH VIOLENCE, MURDER OF YOUR CIVILIANS AND AN ATTEMPT AT THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR COUNTRY? Here in America, each year, ???thousand people are murdered, some horribly, by criminals. This is 10 times more people than died in the WTC. This is a form of terrorism far worse than any isolated bombing incident because it effects nearly every single county, town, and community from California to Maine. What do you suggest we do about this terrorism? Go into the areas where the criminals lived or once lived and bulldoze down all the houses, schools, and stores? Or maybe we should round up everyone who has ever had any contact with these people, whether they have committed any crimes or not, put them into "refugee camps," seize all their property and send settlers in to claim it? This type of terrorism is handled very differently in the U.S. Here, we try — at least in theory! — to find the criminals responsible and use our legal system to hold them accountable. We try to change the social conditions that gave rise to the crime, to find ways to make sure that the children of these criminals are not at risk of becoming criminals themselves. Every law enforcement officer, social worker, teacher, and psychologist will tell you: violence begets violence. So what Sharon is doing is begetting violence — with a vengeance.I am a person who believes in peace and peaceful solutions to problems — At least as long as it doesn't involve seeing the other guy's side, eh?— however, one must have someone on the other side that also believes in that process to make it all work. People like yourself would not know if there WERE people willing to work for peace on the other side because you refuse to really look.Israel has demonstrated time and again that it is willing to bend over backwards for peace — and whenever it makes that offer, Arafat and the PLO and their allies (including other Arab countries — by their leaders) interpret it as a sign of weakness and seek to continue the push of Israel into the Sea. Jeez — how many times a day do I get treated to this propaganda line? What does Sharon do, pass out scripts?Of course, if you come from your position, i.e; that Israel does not matter — then all I have said is for naught. Spare me the pity party! Just because I want to hold Israel accountable for its actions doesn't mean I think that 'Israel does not matter'!! If someone tells you to think before you speak, would you think that meant you should cut your tongue out and stuff it in your pocket?I suggest that the time is now ripe for peace — once Arafat and the Palestinian Authority understand that Israel will not bow down — or go away nor be cowed by their violence — perhaps it is time for serious discussion. I don't think peace talks are likely to get too far until Israel stops trying to force OTHERS to bow down and stops trying to cow OTHERS with violence. Peace is a two-way street, as Israel is so fond of pointing out - maybe it's time to take her own advice.I hope that is now the case — It certainly was not after the Arafat reaction to the Barak proposal. Just another view from a "liberal" If you are an example of an Israeli liberal, then the peace process really IS in trouble!DIATRIBBLE Christian Right Against Helping to Improve Conditions for Million of Children Living in Poverty and Misery I cannot tell you how grateful I am that some truly decent members of the clergy, both Jewish rabbis and Christian ministers, write me from time to time sending faith-renewing links — like this, for example. If I didn't have this occasional proof that there ARE a few good people leading "religious flocks" I'd be depressed as hell! Some of the people who claim to be acting on behalf of God are among the sorriest excuses for human beings I've had the misfortune to even encounter from a distance. Here's a case in point: In 1990, scores of nations around the world developed a Convention on the Rights of Children to address the horrible conditions under which tens of millions of children live around the world. Here are some sad statistics: Each year, 10 million children die from malnutrition and preventable diseases while 250 million under the age of 15 are victims of child labor, with millions forced into the commercial sex trade. Armed conflict has killed over 2 million children in 10 years and left 25 million homeless. AIDS has orphaned 10 million children. Hundreds of millions go to bed hungry each and every night. Tens of millions are abused in every other imaginable way. So far 191 countries have ratified the Convention. The U.S. has not. Why? Because the CHRISTIAN RIGHT is lobbying AGAINST IT. No, I am not making this up. Check the story out. Wanna know why they oppose it? Cause they are afraid by helping desperate children they may somehow give up their "God given right" to raise and discipline their kids in any way they see fit. What kind of frigging discipline are they talking about that they are afraid a human rights treaty will threaten it????? Beating the crap out of them whenever they fail to kiss the flag? Locking them up in closets for weeks on end for not saying their prayers right? The imagination is boggled. These are the same people who believe they are going to be the "select few" sucked up into heaven in a blaze of glory during the "Rapture." I can see why God might wanna suck them up off the face of the Earth — the Holy Hoover doing a little house cleaning! Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Friday, May 10, 2002 Here's a letter from an old friend (and intellectual sparring partner!) of mine who still lives in Maine, who recently read Unknown News for the first time. He lives in a cabin in the woods and has only recently discovered the joys of the Internet. Like Thoreau, after winning a degree from Harvard (two actually), he dropped out and escaped to a cabin in the woods and a very simply lifestyle. He now devotes himself to art and philosophy (in between occasional trips to India). THOUGHTS ON THE RHETORIC OF GLOBAL WARMING AND OTHER POINTS OF LEFT-RIGHT CONTENTION I read the whole global warming set of three articles ("The Assault on Science and the Environment by the Corporate Propaganda Machine") by you — first rate. I especially appreciate your point contrasting the neutral tone of real science versus the passion of the phonies — a thing that is sometimes annoying though, too, to our side, because you want those neutral scientist guys to put on another hat now and then and become passionate on the right side. They really hate to do it though, because it reduces their credibility in the scientific arena. My feeling is more of them should be taking off the badge at this point in the problem.Hi, Tom, Thanks for your kind words and thoughts on global warming. I think the rhetoric idea is great! Especially since all the real creativity and wit floating around out there tends to be mostly left of center! We could "rhetoricize" circles around the likes of an Ari Fliescher (who comes up with one half-baked phrase about once every month and beats it into the ground like a railroad tie in a track to nowhere!). Now, here below, I'm gonna pull out some of your family archives for show and tell and embarrass the heck out of you (what are good friends for?!)! Best always, —Cheryl P.S. Have a cup of coffee and a good philosophical argument at the Bagel Shop for me! WAR AND THE PRIVATE INVESTOR Here are some excerpts from "War and the Private Investor," a classic of economic analysis written by Tom's Dad, Eugene Staley. I bet Tom didn't know I actually read some of this weighty tome!! But I did this week and was stunned at how very accurately it assesses the present day situation with corporate monsters prowling the globe looking for trouble. "Private investments seeking purely business advantage (i.e., unmotivated by political expansionism, balance of power strategy, military considerations, or other reasons of state) have rarely of themselves brought great powers into serious political clashes. It is where an aura of political ambitions has attached to the investments, and especially where the investments have been pushed in for political reasons from the start, that most of the dangerous investment frictions between great states have occurred."In Chapt. 13. Mr. Staley presents what he calls a "recipe" for conflict caused by international private investment (think ExxonMobil, Carlyle Group...) Staley says this conflict would be most likely to occur if business ventures were pushed forward: (italic bold my comments) "(1) By citizens of a great power (as in the Carlyle group boys) CORPORATE MEDIA WATCH: Corporate Coverup: HarperCollins Destroys Books, Issues Disclaimer — Only to Have Author Vindicated as Facts Surface HarperCollins ordered 4,000 copies of a newly-released book 'Trading with the Enemy: Seduction and Betrayal on Jim Cramer's Wall Street' destroyed, purportedly because the subject of this exposé of corporate-media collusion and inside trading — James Cramer — threatened to sue for libel. Oh, boo hoo! As if the subject of every exposé since the dawn of publishing hasn't threatened to sue for libel! The reissued version of the book contains a disclaimer — from HC, not Maier. Now, according to a report this week in Forbes, Maier was hitting the nail right on the head with his exposé — Cramer's wheeling and dealing would land one of us "commoners" with no ties to the corporate media and their political operatives in jail for a good long stretch! Seems Cramer may indeed have (among other nasty, reprehensible things) used info gleaned from celebrities at CNBC to conduct lucrative inside trades. It's just another case of the one tentacle of the corporate media protecting another tentacle. HarperCollins now says, "Well, Maier's book isn't doing that well, anyway. But I happen to know quite well that a book only does about as well as its publisher ALLOWS it to do. Look what almost happened to "Stupid White Men" — another HC title! HC tried VERY hard to suppress this book but it still soared to number one thanks not to the publisher's efforts, but to the alternative — (as in HONEST) — web media. Newsweek Crumples Up Truth and Tosses It In the Toilet Like a Few Squares of Charmin What do the U.S. and Somalia have in common — besides being run by greedy warlords? They are the only two nations in the WORLD refusing to ratify the Convention for the Rights of Children. The CRC seeks to protect children from exploitation. For ex., 250 million kids are now victims of child labor, including exploitation in the sex trade. But Bush & Co. don't like the CRC because 1. the "compassionate conservatives" in the Christian right are afraid they'll lose the right to discipline (beat? starve? lock up?) their kids as they wish and 2. He wants to reserve the right to turn kids as young as 16 into soldiers. Horrible? You bet! But when Newsweek did a story (May 13 issue) on child soldiering, although outrage was expressed at the exploitation of children during war, not a word was mentioned about the U.S.'s stand on CRC or its own practice of child recruitment. Instead, the article was skillfully designed to make the U.S. look like a good, concerned world citizen that is shocked, shocked that other nations could care so little about kids. MEDIA GOOD GUYS: Harvard Crimson: I picked the Crimson as a spotlighted "good guy" in small part in tribute to friend Tom S. above, but mostly because it deserves notice. It is extremely encouraging that a college that is turning out many of America's future "captains of industry," doctors, lawyers, etc. has students who are taking such a strong proactive stance politically. And, it has a newspaper that covers these issues squarely (unlike its inferior corporate counterparts!). Go get em next fall, Crimson! NOTE: If anyone who occasionally goes up onto Democrats.com thinks they are seeing double when they read some of the link summaries - don't worry, you are! I am helping out there by sending the occasional link and summary — just as they are helping us out with tidbits. So, occasionally, some of my "diatribbles" will be doing double duty over at Dems. In any case, you may be relieved to know that at least one group of Democrats has decided to stand up and be counted against the Bush Reich. 'The Bush/Cheney Times'...er, We Mean the 'Washington Post,' Caught in the Act of Blatant Truth Manipulation in Name of Rightwing Spin on Sharon Gaza Operation Want an example of Washington Post's outrageous slant these days? Ha'aretz, Israel's largest paper reported on May 10 that doubts were growing in Israel over Sharon's new offensive and that even senior military officers were expressing skepticism over the action. Now check out the Ari Fleischer (whoops, we mean Post) version: "The mobilization appeared to enjoy broad support in the Israeli government and among citizens. Even Shimon Peres, the dovish foreign minister, defended the widely expected offensive. "We have to hurt the people who send the suicide bombers; we have to hit the explosives labs," he said. "It will be a very focused operation." A small minority of dovish Israelis warned today that a military assault in Gaza could lead to a bloodbath." Note the extremely unjournalistic use of the adjective "dovish" in a hard news story — not once but twice in ONE paragraph! What a rag! What can you expect when their reporters are now being trained by the Heritage Foundation? COCKROACH ALERT!!!!! Here is a comprehensive list of Congressional sellouts — rightwing posers who pretended to be Democrats just long enough to hoodwink the public and get elected. Once in office, they work hand in glove with the right-wingers and their corporate pals against everything their constituents thought they were supposed to be working FOR. They call themselves the Blue Dog Coalition, but what a joke that is, considering the fact that dogs are known for their loyalty, honesty, and self-sacrifice in defense of their people. So we herewith rename them more appropriately: the Yellow Cockroach Coalition. Check out the YCC list here and remember these names! November 2002 is a'comin'! Right Wing Poser Sighting! 'Lying in Ponds' Site Is Liberal-Bashing Front Group Posing as 'Media Critic' In an effort to counter the growing realization by the public that the "liberal media" not only does not exist — but never did! — the right-wingers have launched a new front site: "Lying in Ponds." The heading claims the site is dedicated to exposing "the absurdity of partisanship" in pundits (which is absurd in itself because pundits ARE about partisanship!). But a glance at the site shows that the pundits that top their hit list are the few who regularly criticize the Bush Reich. Rightwing pundits are given just a few mildly critical comments! Just a might bit telling, doncha think that out of a field where rightwing pundits like Limbaugh, et al outnumber liberals by about 20 to 1 that the liberals top their list? A closer look and you discover that the front man for the site, in true rightwing poser fashion, has NO credentials whatsoever in journalism, politics, or media criticism: he is a meteorologist! Like the right-wing's "global warming experts" who have MBAs! Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Sunday, May 12, 2002 An Historian Sets the Record Straight on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Dear Cheryl,Dear H.H., Thanks for a wonderful letter. The response that Unknown News has been getting from all around the world to our presentation of the "non-censored" story behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been incredible. You will be gratified to know that many of the people writing letters of support are Jews. Below is at least a few links to sites exposing some of the dirty underwear the Israeli extremists don't want the world to see. Are we anti-Semitic? Absolutely not! What we are is ANTI-FASCIST, ANTI-HATE, and ANTI-LIE. All the best, —Cheryl THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN STORY: An Uncensored History "You can call me anything you like. Call me a monster or a murderer. ... Better a live Judeo-Nazi than a dead saint. Even if you prove to me that the present war in Lebanon is a dirty immoral war, I don't care. Even if Galilee is shelled again by Katyushas in a year's time, I don't really care. We shall start another war, kill and destroy more and more, until they will have had enough. Let them tremble, let them call us a mad state. Let them understand that we are a wild country, dangerous to our surroundings, not normal, that we might go crazy if one of our children is murdered, just one! If anyone even raises his hand against us we'll take away half his land and burn the other half, including the oil. We might use nuclear arms. Even today I am willing to volunteer to do the dirty work for Israel, to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport them, to expel and burn them, to have everyone hate us. ... And I don't mind if after the job is done you put me in front of a Nuremberg Trial and then jail me for life. Hang me if you want, as a war criminal. "What you don't understand is that the dirty work of Zionism is not finished yet, far from it." —Ariel Sharon Dec. 17, 1982 Overview of the History of Palestine compiled from United Nations Documents - a must read The Expulsion of the Palestinians: 500,00 to 900,000 Palestinians forced from their homes into perpetual refugeedom in 1948 The Massacre of Deir Yassin (also spelled Dayr Yasin) in which Israeli soldiers murdered 245 civilians, including 70 women and children. 25 survivors were dragged back to Jerusalem, paraded through the streets as trophies, then returned to Dayr Yasin, where they were murdered. In addition, many sexual atrocities were committed by the perpetrators of Deir Yassin. "There is, however, no doubt that many sexual atrocities were committed by the [attackers]." (Dossier No. 179/110/17/GS Report by Richard C. Gatling, Assistant Inspector General of the Criminal Investigation Division, to Chief Secretary of the Palestine Government, Sir Henry Gurney, April 15, 1948. Quoted in Collins & Lapierre, 290). Book by Israeli historian that reveals the role of Israel in the Palestinian refugee problem. Not surprisingly, this book has been blocked by Israeli censors Photo of Jewish settlements — free land, cheap housing for Israelis....destroyed olive presses belonging to displaced Palestinians in foreground 1949- Israeli settlers enjoying stolen land — photos contributed by "Prince, peaceful Israeli" activist Four Generations of "willing refugee" family in stark Ayn al-Hilwa camp Zionist Quotes from declassified Israeli documents "Looting, looting, and more looting": Exposé of Israeli settlers behavior during 1948 expulsion of Palestinians from their land — declassified document written by Israeli historian Massacres carried out by Israeli Zionists against Palestinians, Britons and others Zionist terrorist techniques and organizations since 1946 The Monster that is Ariel Sharon: Nando Times Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 Caroline Kennedy Meets the Press and Soars above the Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Russerts Caroline Kennedy must have felt like she'd wandered into a seedy bar when she appeared on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert and Bob Woodward on May 12. Kennedy was part of a "round table" discussion that was supposed to be devoted to a new version of "Profiles in Courage for Our Time" (the original was, of course, by JFK) which she helped to edit and write. That she would agree to go onto the same stage with Tim Russert shows incredible optimism... or a strong stomach... or amazing stamina...or perhaps all of the above. What a contrast! The classy, self-possessed and unpretentious Caroline on one hand, the pontificating, outrageously self-important and belligerent Russert on the other. Russert, whose face seems to balloon more each week, while his beetly brow grows more beetly, acted like some old barfly trying to bait the other, less soused patrons of the joint into an argument or reduce them to tears. Bob Woodward, off on the sidelines, reminded me of some washed up has-been you find hiding in a dark corner of a bar, looking hunted and guilty, lamenting his finer days and proffering lame excuses to those near and dear as he sniffles into his beer. Alas, the guy who exposed Watergate now he seems more interested in keeping buffoons like Russert appeased than offering anything of worth to the field of journalism. Russert treated Kennedy badly — though in a snotty, passive-aggressive, sneaky fashion. But everyone sees through this — after all, we all have at least one dreaded relative who systematically sets out to ruin family occasions in much the same way Russert operates. He asked Kennedy about one of the people she had selected for a special award — one Dean Colhaven, a Republican Mayor in Illinois who defended the right of Muslims to build a mosque in his town. When she mentioned that Colhaven eventually lost his bid for reelection, Russert broke in with snide satisfaction, "Not just defeated, but he came in a distant third. And then was sued by the very people he was trying to help." You almost hear Russert thinking, "Yeah, what a sucker! Nice guys finish last. And all for a bunch of towel heads!" "The discussion, of course, was supposed to be about the "Profiles in Courage" concept — Kennedy's concept...but Russert kept babbling on about Nixon, as if by shoving Nixon into Kennedy's limelight he could somehow plump up the Crook's image. At one point, Russert commented that from early on in his career, "so much of his political coverage had been fixated on..." There's a slight pause, and of course everyone — the audience, Caroline, probably even the cameramen — all think he's going to say Kennedy, because, Russert WAS a liberal Democrat back before he discovered he liked money more than principles (one of Russert's actual statements was "Integrity is for paupers!"). But it's a set up — Russert instead says "John Kennedy AND Richard Nixon." Equal billing for the leader and the loser. The idea being, of course, to see Caroline's face fall and hear her stammer a confused reply. But nope, Caroline remained collected throughout the ordeal, like Alice at the Mad Hatter's tea party — even when Russert said, with old barfly cruelty, "So, Caroline, now that your father's gone, your uncle's gone, your mother's gone, and your brother's gone, are you going to carry on the family torch?" With his tone, he may as well have said "So, honey, now that your whole family is DEAD, all of them DEAD, how does it feel?" But Caroline seemed prepared for anything — who wouldn't be, knowing anything about Russert, who is a step below Rush Limbaugh on the protozoan food chain (at least Limbaugh doesn't pretend to be anything other than a pontificating old rightwing windbag on the take from corpolitical patrons). So, even when Russert brutally showed a photo of Jackie Kennedy taken during her last year when illness had clearly taken its toll - a gesture that seemed to stretch for some Kennedy bashing impact on the public or at least to wring a few tears from his guest — Caroline remained poised and in doing so make Russert's buffoonery stand out in stark relief. Instead of taking the Kennedys down a notch, as he so clearly was trying to do, Russert succeeded only in making the viewer realize just how many painful miles lie between Camelot and Crawford. Rightwing 'New York Times" Columnist Defends Blames Internet for Political Unrest Nothing like fighting sleaze with sleaze. Here we have Thomas Friedman using a classical propaganda technique to both defend the indefensible Bill O'Reilly, while shifting the blame for the world's problems onto the Internet. Friedman starts his column with a valid complaint by a Muslim woman against O'Reilly's uniformed, obnoxious bigotry and FOX's spin. He then goes on to say that the only reason there is unrest in Indonesia and elsewhere is because it is being fomented by people who get their information from the Internet! Incredible! If the Internet is causing unrest, it is because it presents people with the upsetting realities that are suppressed by mainstream idiots like O'Reilly and Friedman - realities like stolen elections, systematic corporate exploitation of developing nations, CIA-engineered coups, etc. etc. Sorry excuse for Network News The network news has become a joke, at best — 17 minutes at best of actual "news," once you subtract commercials and repeating "teasers." It is, says New Republic's Rob Walker, a sorry excuse for news. "So what did I learn in three weeks of watching the evening news? Basically that the network news, which defends itself against detractors by invoking the earnest sobriety of its broadcasts, contains as much hype and fake populism as any of its cable competitors. The evening news... treats its viewers like angry, gullible ignoramuses. And that's particularly frustrating when you consider that the network news divisions are not threadbare operations: They employ packs of extremely highly paid journalists." MAILBAG Lady Seal: Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: Monday, May 20, 2002 SMOKING GUN: The Evidence that May Hang G. W. Bush Part I: The Case Against G.W. Bush: a Preliminary "Hearing" in the Court of Common Sense At the VERY LEAST, Bush allowed 9/11 to happen. But the evidence indicates his quilt involves more than just a huge intentional sin of omission — this now seems certain. So it is ulcer-fomenting to watch him, Cheney, Condoleeza Rice and their PR army try to sell America yet another Big Lie — that they had no idea such a thing as 9/11 could happen...they could never have imagined it in their wildest dreams...they had no specific warnings...there was nothing unusual about the summer 2001 warnings, etc. etc. ad nauseum. I have compiled some material that clearly shows that the above litany is blatantly, arrogantly false. But first, let's hold a preliminary hearing in the "Court of Common sense. To see through a wall of propaganda and determine what's really going on, one must tune out the spin completely and take a good, objective look at what has been DONE and what the parties involved have to GAIN by their actions. Let's take a look at the well documented facts: First, when Bush, Rice and the other top Reichmeisters discarded the warning on August 6, Bush's approval ratings had sunk to just 49% — this is the red zone for a president. As any political expert or presidential historian: Hit 45%, and impeachment may soon loom on the horizon. Second, Bush's actions throughout his entire life show a clear and consistent pattern: without exception, he has always chosen the path that will benefit himself and his corporate friends the most and will do so in the face of even the most outraged criticism. Third, the stolen election of 2000 proves that Bush was willing to participate in a very daring, very large scale crime in pursuit of power. Fourth, Bush's father's approval ratings went from shaky to astronomical within a month of declaring war on an "evil terrorist" leader back in 1991 This lesson could hardly have been lost on Bush, Jr.: Start a war and the emotions of the public can be whipped up to a point that will push presidential approval ratings way, way up. So, given the above facts as "evidence," what do you imagine a self-serving man who has faced no serious opposition from Congress, the press, or the American public would be likely to do? A bookie would most certainly lay odds that Bush would stand aside and allow an event like 9/11 to happen. Another action that must be considered in the cold hard light of day is Bush's behavior after 9/11. He seized upon national fears, worked at intensifying them, and immediately, without waiting for Congress or serious discussions with other nations, called for an attack on Afghanistan and a global war on terrorism. At the same time, he worked through John Ashcroft with stunning swiftness to dismantle civil liberties. These are not the actions of a leader who wants to keep his nation calm, reassured, and standing tall in its principles in the wake of tragedy. It is the actions of an opportunist who knows, from watching his father's presidency, that the window of opportunity for consolidating his power will be narrow: Bush Sr.'s approval rating high lasted only a few months). Last, why would Bush admit to having been warned about 9/11 in the first place? In the corporate and political world, this admission is a strategy that has been used over and over by creeps who are guilty of huge crimes and know the heat is on. By confessing to a lesser charge, they try to draw the heat away from the main, more dangerous issue. Ken Lay, the head of Anderson, and every criminal who has ever copped or tried to cop a plea bargain have used this ploy. If Bush were innocent of any complicity in 9/11, why should he make ANY statement? It is always the guilty who feel the need to make statements: "I am not a crook!" "I never had sex with that woman!" Or how about that row of tobacco industry CEO's who all swore that none of them knew their product was harmful or addictive? So, based on the evidence, I would say we have a phony president who is as guilty as hell and knows that someone has the goods on him and is breathing down his neck. He is gambling that by making a preemptive strike while he still has control of the media, he can spin a protective wall around himself. Thus we have Dick Cheney appearing on 5/19 on Meet the Press, being "interviewed" about the 9/11 flap by his friend and neighbor Russert. Yep, that's right — both interviewer and interviewee live in the feudally exclusive Kalorama suburb of D.C., where houses START at around $1 million. In fact, on the same program, Russert had the arrogance to even mention how he'd seen his buddy out taking the air on his new "It" scooter. How cozy! And this is what is being served to America in the name of a free and honest press. Ya got a problem? Just pick a pal in the press corps and tell him what questions you want him/her to ask you so you can spin them in just the way you want. Russert asked Cheney how he responded to charges that the information existed in several reports that showed that a WTC-type attack was a possibility. Cheney responded — incredibly! - that reading all those reports weren't his concern. There's just too darn many of them. Russert let this ridiculous response go totally unchallenged and unqualified. Here are the Qs that are missing — the Qs a real journalist would have asked: "So then, Mr. Cheney, just what is your criteria for a report that is important enough for you to read? How do you prioritize what you read or what those under you are directed to call to your attention? What reports on this matter DID you read?" It seems an insult to America's intelligence that such questions are not being asked. It's like a grand jury who refuses to ask a murder suspect questions like "Where were you on the night of such and such? What was your relationship to the victim?" but instead says, "Well, here's what we heard from the police that someone thinks you may have killed someone. Go ahead and explain yourself. Don't worry — we won't interrupt you or ask you any uncomfortable questions. And by the way — your good pal who lives down the block volunteered to serve as jury foreman!" Here's one last FACT to consider. The GOP spent $40 million to pursue an ultimately meritless case against Clinton that involved diddling an intern and some questionable real estate deals. Since Bush took office, not one dime has been spent by Congress to investigate Cheney and his secret energy dealings, Bush's stolen election, Tom Delay's boiler room scams that have bilked doctors out of millions, the mysterious wild trading of American and United Airlines stock the week before 9/11, or any of the other crimes that were far more serious than Clinton's alleged offenses. Meanwhile, the GOP — so eager to spend millions to investigate an office romance — has worked overtime to block the initiation of any serious investigation into the biggest crime to have ever been perpetrated on American soil that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. WAKE UP AMERICA!! Cheryl may be contacted at cherylseal@hotmail.com. |