2004 Is Just All Right

Greetings, many friends,
If you're reading this, congratulate yourself, because you MADE IT AGAIN! Yeah, it's 2004, the novelty of the 21st Century is finally wearing off, but the Screed continues!

For this brief reprise, I only bring you good news. I've enclosed a photograph of Mars (the newest target on the USA "hit list"!) and for contrast, my own lovely California, as seen from Highway 198 during my recent trip to the Bay Area.

This year promises to be VERY EXCITING! My own future is twirling in a lovely flux, the election season kicks off for real on Monday, many of my friends are caught in a semi-tragic but enervating state of not knowing what tomorrow will bring, the little kids are getting smarter and smarter, etc. etc. In April I'm off to Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Slovenia, and I'm looking forward to it!

Just a few days back I saw this great (and SICK) film, HUNDSTAGE (Dog Days), a series of absurd and tragic vignettes set in the suburbs of Vienna during the hottest days of summer, with plenty of exposed beer bellies, and NOTHING could make me want to go more. AUSTRIANS ARE NUTS! But no more so than any of us, eh?

HERE'S TO GOOD HEALTH, GOOD WEATHER, and GOOD ADVENTURES in 2004!

GOOD NEWS:
World Photos - American Flips Brazil the Bird - Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040115/ids_photos_wl/r834766954.jpg

GOOD NEWS:
10 Good Things About a Bad Year
By Medea Benjamin
AlterNet
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/010204A.shtml

GOOD NEWS:
Republicans May Become an Endangered Species
By Rep. McCloskey
Los Angeles Times
Former Rep. Paul N. "Pete" McCloskey (R-San Mateo), a co-founder of Earth Day in 1970, was in the House from 1968 to 1982.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/010304I.shtml

GOOD NEWS:
CIA Leaks Probe Is Gathering Momentum
By Mike Allen and Dana Milbank
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/122703A.shtml

GOOD NEWS:
Limits for Bush
The Boston Globe Editorial
America has always thought of itself as a nation of laws and not men, but that comforting assumption is under challenge from President George W. Bush. In a series of recent reversals, Bush has been forced to back off of several of his key initiatives in both foreign and domestic arenas because they violated the US Constitution, federal law, or international agreements. The pattern is even more troubling than the individual cases, suggesting a belligerent disregard for the law until brave judges call the administration to account.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/122903J.shtml

GOOD NEWS:
--- SAhi@aol.com wrote:
> Global Freedom Still Gains Amid Terror, Uncertainty
> To: disc@iic.org
> http://www.payvand.com/news/03/dec/1139.html

GOOD NEWS:
Halliburton to Lose Iraq Oil Project
By Larry Margasak
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/010104B.shtml

And finally, proof that 2004 is not the year that humans morph into super-intelligent hyper-beings:
Man Caught With Marijuana at Courthouse
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040116/ap_on_fe_st/court_drug_bust

Vive le Screed!!!