The Friends of California Libre...

02 September 2003

The May - September Labor Day

Greetings, friends,
Last Sunday I had one of those moments that any Los Angeleno dreads, leaving a party at the home of Miss Ana Roth and taking the freeway home, when suddenly right in front of me a car was sideways across my lane, with all its lights OUT.

Anyway, I survived thanks to hair-trigger reflexes, although I must give some credit to the tiger-eye in my pocket (thanks, Vicki,) the fact that no one was alongside of me, blocking my escape, and finally the very low rollover potential of the VW Jetta during high speed turns (thanks, Volkswagen.) So now that I've gotten that out of the way, onto yet another crop of political unsavoriness. Note: not much funny this time.

First of all, for those who wondered if, yeah, Mariah Carey really said that, no she didn't, and I've taken that off my signature with apologies to Ms. Carey and thanks to Internet urban legen directory at www.snopes.com.

Here's a good deed you can do with a click of your mouse (thanks, Mike and Cameo):
Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.
It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "feed an animal in need" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com

For this Labor Day, I'd like to think positive and imagine how much fun we could be having in a year. Much as I disdain Democrats, I've been to their parties, and I know I had more fun in 1992 than 1988 (or 1984, or 1980). I'd like to have that much fun again in 2004:
How the 'Radicals' Can Save the Democrats
By Sam Tanenhaus
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/081203J.shtml

But the Republicans are frankly more ruthless and swift to consolidate power in this country, and make it last:
GOP-controlled Congress Has Stifled Partisan Inquiries
Bush unscathed by investigations
By Susan Page
USA TODAY
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/082003F.shtml

If you live in New York City or plan to be there late next summer, this next article will give you some pointers. This sounds like a good party to me:
Protest Groups Planning for Republican Convention
By Randal C. Archibold
New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/081103H.shtml

And the time may be ripe for dissent and questioning. Those who indulged in my screed "Lies, Lies, and More Lies" will be pleased to hear that I am becoming an optimist...and I'm hearing Americans from every part of the country voicing their embarrassment at being taken for suckers:
Analysis: Is 'Perfect Storm' Brewing for Bush?
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/082603A.shtml

Georgie's superhero attitude just doesn't wash.
You can find the Elite Force Aviator: George W. Bush - U.S. President and Naval Aviator - at:
http://www.kbtoys.com/toys/product.html?PID=2431939&keycode=1438

But if your dissent extends beyond the border of the US, say, to Cuba or Iraq (or Belgium or France), than our government will make you pay:
Iraq War Protesters Face Fines
Human Shields Violated U.S. Sanctions, Treasury Says
By Jonathan Weisman
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/081303I.shtml

Of course, American enterprise gets free rein, especially if the Vice President is involved. I know you might be bored of this oil company business...but this is so egregious it begs comparison to the monopolies and trusts of a hundred years ago:
Rivals Say Halliburton Dominates Iraq Oil Work
By Neela Banerjee
New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/080903A.shtml

And old criminals from twenty years ago are still allowed to voice their opinions...being responsible for many deaths in Nicaragua, Iraq, Iran, Guatemala and El Salvador hasn't shut up this creep:
Poindexter Resigns but Defends Programs
Anti-Terrorism, Data Scanning Efforts at Pentagon Called Victims of Ignorance
By Bradley Graham
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/081403E.shtml

Nothing will help Humpty Dumpty after he falls off this wall...whether it be new wall in Iraq to protect from car-bombs, or the "security wall" (imagine Reagan in Jerusalem..."Mr. Sharon, tear down this wall!" Yah right) wending its way through the West Bank of the Jordan River.
Bush's Crumbling Authority in Iraq
Now No One is Safe
By Robert Fisk
The Independent Digital UK
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/082103A.shtml

Could Osama bin Laden possibly planned all this? Did his "sleeper" cells in Florida help rig the 2000 election and put Dubya in the White House? The man is the perfect rube for world terror. He's beating on hornet's nests wherever he goes, and now his real enemy number 1, the United Nations, is paying the price. Am I the only one who remembers thinking that the UN might save the world someday? But the UN has two powerful enemies: the fundamentalist, closed-minded, racist, murderous, lying forces of terror, Al Queda and the US government.
** FBI search for UN bomb clues **
The FBI is helping to search the site of the devastated UN building in Baghdad for evidence of those who carried out the bombing.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/3167291.stm >

Here's more evidence of their titanic incompetence:
Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden
The Guardian
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/082403A.shtml

We've played right into his hands, and now Afghanistan looks like a cakewalk:
How America Created a Terrorist Haven
By Jessica Stern
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/082103B.shtml

And the ones who really get to suffer are the poor kids who, for whatever reason, decided to join the armed services.
Thanks for the M.R.E.'s
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/081303E.shtml

Of course, soldiers always get the dirtiest jobs. Like pointing a tank at a group of children throwing rocks:
"Terrorists" or Children? - Photos - AP
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030823/168/51y27.html

Or provoking the most desperate country on the planet into nuclear war:
U.S. to Send Signal to North Koreans in Naval Exercise
By Steven R. Weisman
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/081903C.shtml

But don't worry...more good news is coming. All hail the power of the global Internet! And finally, more evidence that my colleagues are not as square as people think:
Town shocked when librarian's wild side is revealed
Woman with a warm smile had a secret -- a kinky Web site
By M.L. Lyke - SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Sunday, August 17, 2003 - CONCRETE, Wash. -- The town librarian, in sweet summer straw hat, approached a stranger outside the library door, where a taped-up poster showed a goofy big-eyed pup advertising the kids' book "Hugs and Kisses." The woman beamed a warm, jolly smile in welcome. She bolted when she learned Friday's visitor was a reporter. "I do not want to talk to you!" announced a fleeing Valerie Shahan. Shahan, hired in June to run this little town's new library, made headlines last week when her private life as Lady Jane Grey was made public in the Skagit Valley Herald. Lady Jane Grey, Shahan's alias, is the star of a kinky Web site that describes her as "sadistic, yet caring" and promises "she will transform you into a weak-willed toy for her pleasure."

Vive le Screed!

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