War is a Racket
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0922915865/theindepeende-20/102-4514612-0188936

Laziness in the Face of Mortal Danger by Ivan Eland
"The release of the classified intelligence briefing to President Bush entitled, ?Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S,? which was given to the president more than a month before September 11, illustrates the U.S. government?s failure at what should be its primary purpose: ensuring the security of its citizens."


http://www.independent.org/tii/news/040413Eland.html

Why three out of four experts predict a terrorist attack by November
Will America have elections in November?
I'm naturally adverse to alarmism, yet the apparent willingness of americans to so readily give up those freedoms for which the war on terror is supposed to be about preserving is more then disturbing.
"In Nov. 2003, you might recall, Gen. Tommy Franks told Cigar Aficionado magazine that a major terrorist attack (even one that occurred elsewhere in the Western world), would likely result in a suspension of the U.S. Constitution and the installation of a military form of government. "[A] terrorist, massive, casualty-producing event somewhere in the Western world -- it may be in the United States of America -- [would cause] our population to question our own Constitution and to begin to militarize our country in order to avoid a repeat of another mass, casualty-producing event," he said.

http://radiofreeusa.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2583

Not a working man's president
"Bush has made 33 visits to his pretend ranch since becoming president. He has spent all or part of 233 days on his Texas ranch since taking office, according to a tally by CBS News. Adding his 78 visits to Camp David and his five visits to Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush has spent all or part of 500 days in office at one of his three retreats, or more than 40 percent of his presidency."

Perhaps it's just as well, since when he is at the Whitehouse he seems so ineffectual at doing his job.

From painkillers to prison
Which is immoral? Respecting the right of a citizen to have dominion over his or her own body or
enforcing Calvinistic drug laws that send people to jail.

"When the issue of chronic pain intersects with this nation's draconian drug laws, common sense and compassion often take a holiday. Consider the case of Richard Paey, a 45-year-old father of three who sits in a wheelchair, debilitated by multiple sclerosis and chronic pain from botched back surgery, and is now facing a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence for having forged prescriptions to treat his pain."
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/05/Opinion/From_painkillers_to_p.shtml

AWOL Bush, all bluster..no substance
read Bad attitudes post on our Wimp president:
"John the Warrior wants to debate Shifty George at least six times. Don?t hold your breath."





http://www.badattitudes.com/cgiwrap/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1263

This isn't America

"And new evidence keeps emerging for Mr. Clarke's main charge, that the Iraq obsession undermined the pursuit of Al Qaeda. From yesterday's USA Today: "In 2002, troops from the Fifth Special Forces Group who specialize in the Middle East were pulled out of the hunt for Osama bin Laden to prepare for their next assignment: Iraq. Their replacements were troops with expertise in Spanish cultures."

That's why the administration responded to Mr. Clarke the way it responds to anyone who reveals inconvenient facts: with a campaign of character assassination"





http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/30/opinion/30KRUG.html

Amanda Marsilas
for digital photography fans. you'll need flash player to view the pics.

http://www.amandamarsalis.com/

Gary hart paints a target on his back.
Bush-Rove-Rice have someone else whose character they can draw a bead on:
the U.S. Commission on National Security

"After completing the report, which warned that a devastating terrorist attack on America was imminent and called for the immediate creation of a Cabinet-level national security agency, and delivering it to President Bush on January 31, 2001, Hart and Rudman personally briefed Rice, Rumseld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. But, according to Hart, the Bush administration never followed up on the commission's urgent recommendations, even after he repeated them in a private White House meeting with Rice just days before 9/11."

It's on Salon, so you'll need to click free day pass to read the whole article. George Teflon Bush is still at 50% in the polls. My take? half of my fellow citizens don't give a sh*t.



http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/04/02/hart/index_np.html

Republican Gangsters
MATTHEW ROTHSCHILD Progressive There are gangsters in the White House. "Whenever the Bush Administration gets criticized, it responds like Tony Soprano, and Bush's capos put a hit out on whoever dares to question the don." http://radiofreeusa.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=2520