KETCHUM, Idaho - John Kerry returned to the ski slopes Saturday, but found time to fire back at the strongest criticism he's gotten to date from President Bush.

"Today, George Bush proved to the American people that he is incapable of solving our economic problems for the simple reason that he doesn't see them," the Massachusetts senator said in a statement issued as he enjoyed the Sun Valley ski country.
...
Kerry is spending most of his vacation time at the $4.9 million family home, emerging each day for some skiing or mountain climbing.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 11:46 PM -

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 11:33 PM -

Confronted with 32-year-old FBI records, Sen. John Kerry's campaign all but conceded he attended a 1971 Kansas City meeting where a fellow anti-war veteran called for political assassinations.
...
A statement Thursday by Kerry's camp said the Massachusetts Democrat did not recall the meeting, although FBI surveillance material and the group's archives clearly show that Kerry resigned from his national coordinator post at that November 1971 meeting.

In interviews last week, the senator's campaign insisted that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee clearly remembered bolting from the group months earlier.

Responding to a request by The Kansas City Star that staffers question the candidate about the meeting, Kerry passed word March 12 that he "never, ever" attended a meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War after a heated and public argument with the group's executive secretary in St. Louis in June 1971.

In a prepared statement late Thursday night, however, campaign spokesman David Wade, traveling with the candidate in Idaho, said: "John Kerry had no personal recollection of this meeting 33 years ago. John Kerry does recall the disagreements with elements of VVAW leadership...that led to his resignation.

"If there are valid FBI surveillance reports from credible sources that place some of those disagreements in Kansas City, we accept that historical footnote in the account of his work to end the difficult and divisive war."

Last week, John Hurley, an organizer of veteran volunteers for Kerry's presidential run, called two men who were quoted in The Star as recalling Kerry attending the Kansas City meeting. John Musgrave of Baldwin City, Kan., said Hurley called him twice and in the second conversation asked the disabled veteran to contact the newspaper reporter to say he had doubts about the memory.

Joe Bangert traveled from Philadelphia to the meeting and said the idea of killing was contrary to a group whose officers often closed correspondence with lines such as "peace and love and nonviolent action."

"We were rebelling. We were decompressing from our time in Vietnam," Bangert said. "But we were incapable of doing violence."

Dear Sister Peggy,

Greetings from Cape Cod! My name is Joe Bangert, and I eyed your name on the email list from an email I received today from a mutual friend- Barbara Dane- and was motivated to introduce myself to you and tell you- apart from my love of both you and your brother's musical and artistic contributions to at least three generations of my family- how gratified I am to share with you my deep admiration of Ewan's 'Ballad of Ho Chi Minh'.

Sure I learned it by heart- after returning home from my stint as a door gunner on a Marine helicopter in Quang Tri, Viet Nam circa 1969. Six months later I upped and joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), and later met Barbara in Paris at the World Assembly for the Peace and Independence of the Indochinese Peoples at Versailles. We had a great banquet with the diplomatic delegations of both the DRVN and the PRGSVN and later some music began- Barbara sang the 'Song of the Coats' and the only song the young boisterous delegation from the USA could all agree on singing together by heart when asked to sing 'an American worker's song' was "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin.

Barbara then asked me to join her on the stage- for I had boldly decided to wear a close fitting shirt which had emblazened on the front of it- the flag of the National Liberation Front of south Viet Nam.

It was then that I belted out both "We Will Liberate the South" (Giai Phong Mien Nam) the national anthem of the NLF in Vietnamese- for I am a linguist- and ended that portion of the show with the Ballad of Uncle Ho. It was a show stopper to say these least-

Since then I have sang Ewan's delightful song over one thousand times indeed- and when I was working back in Viet Nam, in Ha Noi from 1992-1997 I had the occasion to sing it and teach it to virtually thousands upon thousands of younger Vietnamese boys and girls-

I always give Ewan the credit for penning it. I just wanted you to know that this song rocks even in 2002~!


Best Regards,

Joe Bangert

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:31 AM -

COMING SOON: EARLY KERRY ON C-SPAN

LISTEN UP, ONE AND ALL: Dust off that old VCR! Break out a fresh tape! Or, for you "rich Republicans," plug in your TiVo.

C-SPAN, as part of its "Road to the White House," is broadcasting Sen. Kerry's 1971 testimony before Sen. Fulbright this Sunday night (6:30 & 9:30).

Just as significant, the following Sunday (March 28) they will be showing the 1971 Dick Cavett Show's John Kerry and John O'Neil (anti-war) debate.

BOTH ARE NOT TO BE MISSED!

So, stock up on your favorite adult beverage (we are all going to need some "fortification") and break out the popcorn. On second thought, that may not be such a good idea, as I'm sure that most of us will probably feel ill from what we see and hear.

BUT DEFINITELY, get the word out to one and all. These two shows, I hope (dare I add "and pray," or is that no longer permissible?) may very well lead to a Sen. Snake "implosion." Let's see him try and "deny" his own testimony!

All Ye "Real Brothers," Keep The Faith, and God Bless!
-- Michael Johnson
Burlington, Vermont

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 6:06 PM -

RE: CURSE-OUT [KJL]
A lot of emails like this in the in-box:

I'm asking myself what I would say to a man who has pledged to lay down his life for me, to take a bullet for me, if he accidentally knocks me down on a ski slope *while* trying his best to protect me.

I think that I say: "Don't worry about it. You're doing your job. I appreciate it."

And to onlookers: "Got tangled up with my guardian angels up there and went down. We need more practice at this."

But: "I don't fall. That blankety-blank knocked me down"?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 5:47 PM -

"Teresa's Election"

US presidential election campaign: President John Forbes Kerry would bring an unusual wife to the White House. Teresa Heinz Kerry is wealthier and older than her husband, and some people say she is cleverer, more aggressive and stronger than him too. Can America cope with this lady? Teresa Heinz Kerry knows her way around, she has got around a lot: born in Mozambique, she went to school in South Africa and to university in Geneva, she speaks five languages, has translated for the United Nations, and she knows the world. Which is why she knows, and says out loud, that the United States can at times be quite immature.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 4:54 PM -

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 12:42 PM -

A group of Swedish teachers are in trouble after they were filmed by pupils going off with prostitutes while on a school trip.

The school trip had been arranged as a "friendship" mission so that the youngsters, aged between 16 and 18, could build links with the people of Kenya.

But they were so outraged at their teachers' behaviour that they followed them and filmed them in the red light district as they talked with prostitutes and then disappeared into a brothel.

The kids acted after complaints from locals who had invited them to the community in Mombassa.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 12:22 PM -

On his first full day off, though, Mr. Kerry awoke determined to hit the slopes of Mount Baldy.

The image-conscious candidate and his aides prevailed upon reporters and photographers to let him have a first run down the mountain solo, except for two agents and Marvin Nicholson, his omnipresent right-hand man.

His next trip down, a reporter and a camera crew were allowed to follow along on skis — just in time to see Mr. Kerry taken out by one of the Secret Service men, who had inadvertently moved into his path, sending him into the snow.

When asked about the mishap a moment later, he said sharply, "I don't fall down," then used an expletive to describe the agent who "knocked me over."

Ms. Heinz Kerry, for her part, stuck to a pair of skis and was taking her time down the slope, accompanied by two old friends, one a former Olympian, the other a ski school instructor.

"I'm going tentatively, but prettily," she said, wearing tight black pants and a flaming red jacket.

Still, Mr. Kerry could not entirely escape the hazards of the arena he had left behind. He had just sat down for a bite to eat on the crowded patio near the lift line when a waiting skier, John Norris, shouted: "Hey, John! What foreign leaders talked to you?"

Mr. Kerry beat a retreat back into the lodge, to an upstairs, out-of-the-way dining area where he would be sure to draw even less attention.

Idaho, to be sure, is very much a red state, but Ketchum is actually a dot of deep Democratic blue on the political map. Many stop signs here have "Bush 2004" spray-painted underneath, and the rebellious teenagers tend to be "hard-core vegans," said Barrett Cincotta, 13.

"Everyone in this town is anti-Bush," Barrett, a Junior Olympic skier, said between runs. "He's trying to destroy our planet."

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 9:58 AM -

On Comedy Central's "Daily Show" Tuesday, host Jon Stewart mocked Kerry's pre-vacation television-covered errands saying, "Among his stops: a Borders book store where he showed just like all Americans by pretending to be interested in books, using the bathroom, and then leaving without buying anything."
...
Mr. Stewart also rightly pointed out that during that same outing, "(Kerry) bought a jockstrap shopping with his daughter in front of a camera crew."

Nevertheless, Kerry's vacation will mark the first vacation the Senator will enjoy with both Secret Service protection and a traveling press corps.

Mr. Stewart, this could be your lucky week.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:06 AM -

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:55 PM -

Senator Kerry has also had a few things to say about support for our troops now on the ground in Iraq. Among other criticisms, he has asserted that those troops are not receiving the materiel support they need. Just this morning, he again gave the example of body armor, which he said our administration failed to supply. May I remind the Senator that last November, at the President’s request, Congress passed an $87 billion supplemental appropriation. This legislation was essential to our ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan - providing funding for body armor and other vital equipment; hazard pay; health benefits; ammunition; fuel, and spare parts for our military. The legislation passed overwhelmingly, with a vote in the Senate of 87 to 12. Senator Kerry voted no. I note that yesterday, attempting to clarify the matter, Senator Kerry said, quote, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.” (Laughter.) It’s a true fact. (Laughter.)

On national security, the Senator has shown at least one measure of consistency. Over the years, he has repeatedly voted against weapons systems for the military. He voted against the Apache helicopter, against the Tomahawk cruise missile, against even the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. He has also been a reliable vote against military pay increases - opposing them no fewer than 12 times.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:35 PM -

Kerry Foreign Policy Advisor Rand Beers issued the following statement today:

“John Kerry rejects any association with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an avowed anti-Semite whose views are totally deplorable. The world needs leaders who seek to bring people together, not drive them apart with hateful and divisive rhetoric.

“This election will be decided by the American people, and the American people alone. It is simply not appropriate for any foreign leader to endorse a candidate in America’s presidential election. John Kerry does not seek, and will not accept, any such endorsements.”

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 6:48 PM -

New York State is threatening to suspend the driver's licenses of half a million drivers - 5 percent of the state's 10 million drivers, including thousands of immigrants working here illegally - because their Social Security information at the Department of Motor Vehicles does not match up with the data on file at the Social Security Administration.

But it has generated waves of fear among immigrant groups, who protested the new policy at a rally at the State Capitol on Tuesday.

Although New York is one of a dozen states that do not officially limit driver's licenses to legal residents, the commissioner acknowledged that by the end of the year the "data cleanup" would eliminate the driving licenses of all New York immigrants unable to prove that they have legal authorization to be in the United States.

"It has horrible consequences for immigrant workers who are just trying to make a living," said Gouri Sadhwani, executive director of the New York Civic Participation Project, an immigrant and labor union advocacy group. "It's yet another way that local and federal officials are criminalizing immigrants."

Michele Waslin, a senior immigration policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza, a Latino civil rights organization, said New York's move was part of a national trend of introducing new restrictions through policy changes rather than changes in the law.

"This is a public safety issue," she said. "If they're working, if they have to go to school, if they have to go to the hospital, they have to drive and it's in the public interest that they be licensed and insured drivers."

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 10:12 AM -

FIRST, HOWARD DEAN sided with the nutball conspiracy theorists. Now, he’s sided with al-Qaida. How can anyone take this man seriously?

Dean helped himself lose the Democratic nomination by recklessly spreading the rumor that Bush had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks but didn’t act to prevent them. He said he was just repeating an “interesting” theory he’d heard. Now, Dean calls Bush responsible for the train bombings in Madrid. And again he distanced himself from the slander he had just spread. “I’m simply repeating it,” he said.

This latest gaffe is Dean’s worst yet because with it he has done more than irresponsibly smear the President. He has given credibility to al-Qaida’s justification for mass murder. He made these comments on behalf of John Kerry’s Presidential campaign, which defended Dean while ironically denouncing the “Republican attack machine.”

Al-Qaida wants Western powers out of Iraq and Bush out of the White House. To accomplish this, the terror network claimed it blew up more than 200 people in Spain (which it probably did) and said the attack was retaliation for Spain’s participation in the Iraq war.

The logical response to this is to get more aggressive in the War on Terror. To pull out of Iraq and to deploy lawyers instead of soldiers to track the terrorists would turn the Madrid bombings into the most successful terrorist attack in history. It would give al-Qaida exactly what it wants. Yet that is precisely what Dean and John Kerry are proposing. And now Dean invokes al-Qaida’s anti-Bush propaganda as justification for voting Bush out of office. Whose side are you really on, Howard?

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:24 AM -

Justin Walker, the Duke University senior who logged thousands of miles on the campaign trail to cover Democratic candidates, has returned to Durham now. But Walker has offered up his "Best and Worst of the Campaign Trail." To read his entire reports, go to www.dukenews.duke.edu /news/campaigndiary.html.

MY FAVORITE CANDIDATE: Dennis Kucinich, for his compassion and his sincerity.

MY FAVORITE CAMPAIGN STAFF: Dennis Kucinich's, whose staffers offer me hugs, not handshakes.

MY FAVORITE "THE CANDIDATE IS LATE" STALLING TACTIC: Open-mike night with peace-song-singing Kucinich supporters at a bingo hall in Davenport, Iowa.

MY FAVORITE CAMPAIGN MOMENT: Walking to the polls with John Kerry.

WORST RANDOM TOURIST STOP: The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, which my friend Tyler and I toured after an Edwards rally there. (FYI: Czech and Slovak history, not pleasant! Too many tsars and Führers.)

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:15 AM -

KERRY PLANS R&R AT SUN VALLEY, MONACO, BADEN-BADEN RETREATS

Presumptive Democratic candidate John Kerry will celebrate another round of primary victories with a 22-day R&R global tour of several of his vacation homes, according to campaign spokesmen.

"It has been a hard-fought primary race, and Senator Kerry will be taking some time off to relax, rejuvenate and enjoy some quality Swiss blood replacement therapy," said Kerry exotic animal reserve manager Klaus-Maria Umlaut.

Slated for the tour are Kerry's sprawling 'Xanadu' Idaho ski ranch, sailboating at 'Gigolo's Vineyard,' his private island off coastal Massachusetts, bocci ball at 'Condimenta,' his high-security palazzo compound in Tuscany, and a two week makeover session with French plastic surgeons at his exclusive 'Coeuer de Pourpre' villa in Baden-Baden.

"This will not be all play," said Umlaut. "In Idaho, Senator Kerry will be meeting with George Soros to develop programs to help America's forgotten middle class."

KNOWING WHO HE IS
Apparently overlooked in Wednesday's stories about Senator John Kerry's $5 million estate in Sun Valley, Idaho, was his most glaring indulgence. Never mind the 500-year-old English barn, each piece of which was numbered and reconstructed after shipment from a small town in southern England, or the quarter million dollars worth of landscaping on the property. Kerry saved his greatest indulgence to share with the taxpayers of Idaho.

After paying for all the landscaping on the Sun Valley property, the Kerrys determined that their water supply was not great enough to keep their vegetation thriving. And so the couple petitioned the state to have a small river redirected so that its waters could be used to keep their garden nice and green. The state complied, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the work done. The state covered the cost ostensibly to ensure that the river's redirection would be environmentally sound.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:01 AM -

A professor who claimed she was targeted in a hate crime that stirred student protests at the Claremont colleges is suspected of staging the vandalism herself, police said Wednesday.

Kerri F. Dunn's car was vandalized and covered with racist, anti-Semitic and sexist epithets on March 9, leading faculty to cancel classes and students to stage rallies the following day.

Two witnesses interviewed by police investigators allegedly saw Dunn, a visiting professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College, commit the vandalism, police said in a statement.

Some students at the Claremont colleges want an annual "awareness day" to address the recent rash of hate crimes in this tranquil college community.

Students at Pitzer College proposed canceling classes and holding teach-ins to encourage students to discuss diversity issues every March 9, college spokeswoman Susan Andrews said Thursday.

The date would fall on the day that a professor's car was spray-painted with racial slurs. The incident prompted some 2,000 students and faculty members to rally Wednesday to show they won't tolerate racism.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 11:15 PM -

The United Nations should look at other ways to fund the renovation of its New York headquarters after the United States rejected the world body's request for an interest-free loan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday.

The U.N. had sought an interest-free $1.2 billion loan from Washington, but the Bush administration, fighting soaring budget deficits, offered to lend the money at 5.54 percent interest.

If the United States lent the money, it would end up paying a quarter of the cost of the interest payments through its annual dues payments.

The U.N. complex, one of New York's most popular tourist sites, marks the New York skyline along the East River. But inside, water drips through the roof, toxic asbestos lines ceiling tiles, heating and cooling systems are erratic and the building lacks sprinklers in case of fire.

Under the latest version of the master plan, New York City would lend the United Nations a nearby park for construction of a new 30-story office tower that would temporarily house U.N. staff while the main U.N. building was gutted and renovated.

Formally presenting his country’s provisional loan proposal, which is subject to approval of Congress, the United States representative said his Government would pay its 22 per cent regular assessed share of the loan’s principal and interest. That included a waiver of the United States past practice not to pay interest on United Nations loans. The United States Treasury would float a loan to raise the principal. The interest to be paid by Member States would not be paid to the United States Government, but to the investors who put up the principal. The United States Government would make no money on the loan to the United Nations and, in fact, was paying approximately $6 million to guarantee the loan and insure it against default.

Responding to the United States’ proposal, Ireland’s representative, on behalf of the European Union, expressed strong concern that the cost of the project would more than double as a result. During its negotiations prior to the adoption of 57/292, there was an understanding in the Fifth Committee that the United States’ offer would not be in the form of an interest-bearing loan. Accordingly, the Union continued to believe that the United States should provide a substantial portion of the funding for the capital master plan.

A similar concern was expressed by the representative of India who said that a loan with an interest rate of 5.54 per cent would entail a repayment obligation for the Organization of $2.5 billion on a $1.2 billion loan, assuming a 30-year repayment period.

China’s representative said the same kind of interest-free loans as had been used to build the United Nations complex should be used for the reconstruction of the Headquarters.

He hoped the Secretary-General would engage in consultations with the host Government on the loan terms to arrive at an acceptable funding arrangement.

Several speakers also encouraged the Secretary-General to continue to explore other financing options for the funding of the capital master plan, including private contributions.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 12:37 PM -

It has been billed as a "post-mortem," but it sounds more like a broken record. Fifty mostly liberal journalists and foreign-policy wonks have clustered at the University of California at Berkeley to analyze media coverage of the Iraq war, a year after the fact.

The three-day conference is fixated on the idea that the embedded press compromised journalistic credibility and independence last year through wartime coverage that was supportive of Bush administration policy and patriotic in tone.

Organizers have made the trend sound more like a syndrome, saying they intend to dissect "the psychological pressures of embeddedness and where patriotism ends or should end and the independence of the press begins."

The dean of Berkeley's journalism school, Orville Schell, said: "Getting coverage from embedded reporters is like looking into a microscope. What we need is the broader picture."

Berkeley's version of the broader picture includes a sold-out discussion this evening between CNN's Christiane Amanpour and former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, who has adopted a second career as a Bush basher with a new book to sell.

The Berkeley forum which ends tomorrow night has its own bias . Speakers include representatives from CNN, National Public Radio, PBS, Al Jazeera, ABC, CBS and the BBC, but no one from the Fox News Channel.

The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times are represented, but not the Wall Street Journal or The Washington Times.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 9:10 AM -

IT should surprise no one that the editorial staff at the New York Times is overwhelmingly Democratic. But now there's proof. A dissident shareholder, Michael Petrelis of San Francisco, went through Federal Election Commission files and found the names of two dozen past and present Times employees who gave to candidates. Petrelis is upset that some, like book critic Janet Maslin, apparently violated the Times code of ethics revised in January 2003 to prohibit political donations. Maslin gave $500 to Dean for America. Other recipients of Times staffers' largesse were Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Al Sharpton, Bill Bradley, Robert Torricelli, Marion Barry, and Al Gore.

Only two Republicans received donations from Times staffers: the late Jacob Javits and congressional candidate Ed Bryant.

Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said almost all the contributions were made before the rules were changed. "In the few instances where this is not the case, the journalists have been reminded of the guidelines." Now the only way to tell how Times reporters will be voting is by reading their stories.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 8:59 AM -

Imaginary Foreign Leader Endorsement
Caught in a Presidential race lie? I'll cover for you!

Have you ever been caught in a lie while running for President of the United States? If you want to make a current president jealous, look better in front of your political buddies who have real foreign relations experience, or if you are just a liar who got called out on your bogus campaign lies, this is the auction for you!!! I’ll pretend that I am the leader of a foreign nation that supports your candidacy for President of the United States until the elections in November.

As the imaginary leader of a foreign nation who supports your candidacy, I’ll play along with you with whatever you want me to say. If you want to tell some pesky Republican who calls you out at a campaign stop that I support you, I’ll back you up. If you want me to claim that Bush has ruined the reputation of the United States, I’m up to it. Just like you, I’m willing to say anything it takes to get you elected, I won’t mean a bit of it, and I'll change my stand on the situation when it is politically convenient.

Shipping/Handing charge for this item is $15.00, we only ship to Massachusetts. Payment must be received within 3 days of auction close. We accept Paypal (Mastercard, Visa, E-Checks), Money Orders, Certified Checks, or fraudulent donations from Moveon.org in US Funds and Cash. As soon as I receive your payment I’ll mail off the press release to CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS stating the fact that we have a relationship going back to the start of the Bush presidency. I am the ultimate online fake leader of a foreign nation!!!!

*****THIS DOES NOT MEAN I AM YOUR REAL SUPPORTER!!!!!This is only pretend!!!!!***** When our time is up, right before the election, I’ll send out another press release stating that this was all fake. Hey, I’m out for a buck, I’m not insane. But who are we kidding, if flip flopping on the issues makes a person less trustworthy, you would have dropped out of the race already.

Urgent Message:

Dear Foreign or More Leaders of Socialist Realms and to Friendly Communist and Islamic Dictators Threatening the Free World; Greetings of sincerety to you.

May I allow myself to be introduced to you as I am known. I am Senator John Cash&Kerry, formerly of Mozambique, and now to be living in the DC of Washington and the Cape of Cod.

Of recently, I have had unpleasant circumstances befall all around me as a statement I have made regarding personal conversations with foreign despots such as yourselves, has sufficiently landed me in water of the hottest kind.

As the Second President of Blackness to seat myself in the Office of Ovalness, I appeal to you for assistance in this my greatest hour of personal need.

I am rested assurred that you are thinking, "This man of Blackness wants money!!" But no, for I am fortunate to be swimming in green "Ketchup" currency up to my patrician dog-ears.

My request at this most urgent moment is for you to fly immediately to the Cape of Cod and meet with me the Press of our nation to profess your most sincere hatred for George Bush, my most evil adversary.

Your lies, er I mean assistance in prevaricating this attack will be most appreciated as my African-American wife will provide your dictatorship with much relish of pickle and many, many gherkins and catsups which you will be enjoying.

As a last favor I implore you my most loyal terrorist comrades to bring with you several of the most poisonous snakes you have so that I can send my oldest and dearest friend, Ralph of Nader, a specimen for his enjoyment.

It is you with my thanks of so much,

John

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 11:54 AM -

The anti-war group that John Kerry was the principal spokesman for debated and voted on a plot to assassinate politicians who supported the Vietnam War.

Mr. Kerry denies being present at the November 12-15, 1971, meeting in Kansas City of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and says he quit the group before the meeting. But according to the current head of Missouri Veterans for Kerry, Randy Barnes, Mr. Kerry, who was then 27, was at the meeting, voted against the plot, and then orally resigned from the organization.

Mr. Barnes was present as part of the Kansas City host chapter for the 1971 meeting and recounted the incident in a phone interview with The New York Sun this week.

In addition to Mr. Barnes’s recollection placing Mr. Kerry at the Kansas City meeting, another Vietnam veteran who attended the meeting, Terry Du-Bose, said that Mr. Kerry was there.

There are at least two other independent corroborations that the antiwar group Vietnam Veterans Against the War, of which Mr. Kerry was the most prominent national spokesman, considered assassinating American political leaders who favored the war.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:36 AM -

Two hundred innocent civilians murdered by terrorists in Spain and hundreds more maimed: The Guardian has the answer:

An international conference, to bridge the divide between Muslim and Christian communities, should be one first step. But there are many others. We need to take the fight against terror out of America's hands. We need to get beyond the them and us, the good guys and the bad guys, and seek a genuinely collective response. Europe should seize the moment that America failed to grasp.

No them and us, no good guys and bad guys, just a big group hug and a chorus of kumbaya.

Of course, the Islamist terrorists have already answered the question 'can't we all just get along?'. The answer was "no". Or, as Hezbollah leader Hussein Massawi put it: "We are not fighting so that you will offer us something. We are fighting to eliminate you."

Fatuous jackasses.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:10 AM -

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 6:16 PM -

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 5:14 PM -

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 9:49 AM -

BEIJING - For all the hoopla about China's booming economy, its manufacturing muscle and its potential to become a great power, the world's most populous country is struggling to keep the lights on. And the sporadic blackouts that plagued much of China last year are raising complicated questions for the Communist Party and for the rest of the world:

How and where will China get the energy it needs to maintain its economic growth? And how much will the environment suffer for it?

"It's one of the hottest issues facing the international energy industry," said Scott Roberts, chief representative in the Beijing office of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a consulting firm based in Massachusetts. "The growth has been explosive, and I think it has caught many people in China and elsewhere off guard."

China's emergence has already roiled commodities markets, as the country has become a voracious consumer of energy and raw materials. Last year, its oil imports rose by nearly a third. It also built so many new cars, factories, airports and high-rises that it passed the United States to become the world's biggest steel importer, according to the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau, a British-based information clearinghouse for the steel industry. Last year, China accounted for almost a third of the world's consumption of finished steel.

Electricity consumption jumped by 15 percent. Domestic coal production rose by 100 million tons - and still there were shortages.

Yet China's appetite today is modest compared with what is estimated for the future; the country's energy needs are expected to more than double by 2020. This prospect has the Communist Party reportedly rolling out plans for at least 100 new power plants, including nuclear, hydropower and coal-fired ones. It has also raised concerns that efforts to improve China's polluted environment will be muted by the demand for power.

China is trying just about every possible avenue to satisfy its power demands, and none offers a completely risk-free or "clean" solution. Plans call for at least 20 nuclear plants to be built by 2020. Hydropower projects, regarded by many Chinese officials as a clean power source, are threatening to disrupt the ecological balance on many important rivers that flow out of the high Tibetan plateau.

China's primary energy source, and its dirtiest, is coal, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the power supply. Coal is a primary source of greenhouse gases, and experts predict that by 2020 China could pass the United States to become the world's biggest source of carbon monoxide.

"The fundamental problem is that China is following the path of the United States, and probably the world cannot afford a second United States," said Zhang Jianyu, program manager for the Beijing office of Environmental Defense, an American-based advocacy group.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 8:49 AM -

For much of the controversy can be traced directly to a press release issued by the Institute for Public Accuracy, or IPA, at a little after 2:00 P.M. on March 4.

The IPA is a five-person media clearinghouse located in the National Press Building. According to GuideStar, a website that tracks nonprofits, the group "promotes the inclusion of outlooks that usually get short shrift." It does this by issuing press releases. It has been issuing press releases since April 8, 1998. These go out to about 7,000 journalists and television producers. They promote speakers and experts whose outlooks are generally of a far-left bent. When I asked Sam Husseini, the IPA's communications director, whether the outfit was left-liberal, he told me, "I'm so far beyond labels, just give me the facts." But the IPA's facts are often questionable (mass starvation in Afghanistan, a massacre at the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002, and so on), and their opinions are always hard-left. After the Clinton administration began its bombing of Kosovo in March 1999, the IPA promoted the antiwar punditry of Howard Zinn, the radical historian, who claimed Clinton had "deceived" the United States into war against Slobodan Milosevic. And when the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, the IPA turned reporters onto similar radical ideologues who opposed the war. Ditto with the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
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Second, the IPA press release directed reporters interested in the Bush campaign ads to Adele Welty, David Potorti, and Colleen Kelly, members of a group called September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. All three had lost relatives in the September 11 attacks. All were promoting Adele's upcoming peace mission to Afghanistan. And all were also "available to comment on the Bush advertising campaign," with their phone numbers provided.

And comment they did. Sifting through the news coverage of the controversy over Bush's ads, one finds the same individuals--Schaitberger, Potorti, and Kelly--quoted again and again. Schaitberger and Kelly are both quoted in a Boston Globe story that ran on March 5. Schaitberger and Kelly Campbell, a spokeswoman for September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, were the sources for the Washington Post's account. Kelly, Potorti, and Jeff Zack, a spokesman for the International Association of Fire Fighters, are quoted in the AP dispatch on the Bush ads. Potorti is quoted in USA Today's story.

In fact, members of Peaceful Tomorrows are often quoted without any mention of their group affiliation. In what looks like an egregious case of lazy reporting, multiple news outlets treated members of Peaceful Tomorrows as if they were nonaffiliated people-on-the-street in order to make the controversy over the Bush ads seem widespread.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 8:36 AM -

A red-faced United Nations acknowledged on Thursday that an aircraft black box possibly linked to an air crash that triggered the 1994 genocide in Rwanda had turned up in a U.N. filing cabinet.

The Paris daily Le Monde reported this week that a black box from the Falcon 50 shot down by a rocket on April 6, 1994, killing the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, had been sent to U.N. headquarters in New York and was never seen again.
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Asked about the article on Tuesday, U.N. chief spokesman Fred Eckhard flatly dismissed charges the United Nations was obstructing the probe or had the black box, joking, "I've got it right under the table here."

But two days later, an embarrassed Eckhard said the world body had indeed found a black box locked in a filing cabinet.

He said the device had been sent by diplomatic pouch to U.N. headquarters from Rwanda in 1994. But U.N. air safety experts had put it away in the filing cabinet after concluding it was not from the crashed plane because it was undamaged.
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Annan, asked about the discovery, said, "I must say, I was as surprised as you were to find out that a black box existed, much less in this building. From what I have picked up, it sounds like a real foul-up, a first-class foul-up."

The United Nations has bowed to international pressure to investigate allegations of corruption surrounding its oil-for-food programme, under which Iraqi oil was sold on behalf of Saddam Hussein's regime.
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A senior UN official said last night that the international body's Office of Oversight Services in New York, had started to examine the administration of the programme and any UN role in the alleged corruption. A formal announcement of the internal inquiry is expected this week.

Last month the UN denied accusations of corruption within its operations and demanded documentary evidence before it would act on the complaints.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 8:07 AM -

John Kerry says he has no intention of apologizing for calling Republicans "the most crooked ... lying group that I've ever seen." After all, spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter says, it was in response to the "high level ... Republican attack machine" that's been working "to smear" Democrats.
"We're trying to make this campaign about issues," she said. "Republicans are making it about attacks."

Ah, there it is -- the Kerry campaign strategy: Should anyone question your record on the issues, it's an "attack" and a "smear." Such a tactic is the first refuge of liberal scoundrels who have a record as abysmal as Mr. Kerry's.

John Kerry is the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate. And if he's consistent about anything, it's his inconsistencies. Sen. Fish's flips and flops are so legion that they total 37 pages on the Google Internet search engine. Among them:
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(bulk of the list removed)
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In 1996, Kerry opposed capital punishment for terrorists. Today, he conveniently supports it.

In 1998, Kerry didn't think much of teachers unions. These days he's their pimp.

Double taxation on tax dividends? Hated it in 2002, loved it in 2003. And the flip-flops go on and on.

Kerry says he wants to have a serious debate on the issues. Fine. When he finally decides what his positions are, we're sure Republicans will be happy to entertain one.

posted by Cracker Barrel Philosopher at 7:42 AM -