Freezerbox Magazine - DispatchesCopyright © 1997-2026 Infocrat, LLC. All rights reserved.https://www.freezerbox.com/images/ads/freezerbox/bomb_88x31.gifhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blogs.php2026-04-16T15:52:39ZAutumn for the AyatollahIs Supreme Leader Khameini sabotaging his regime by throwing his support behind Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the upcoming presidential election? In "Ahmadinejad gets a crucial boost" on Asia Times Online, Golnaz Esfandiari writes that "On August 24, Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters related to the Islamic republic, was quoted as saying that President Mahmud Ahmadinejad should plan on remaining in p...Russ Wellen2008-09-15T14:33:56Z2008-09-15T14:33:56Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=330Georgia Conflict Obstructs Deproliferation "START I expires December 2009," writes Alicia Goldberg at the FAS Strategic Securities Blog, "after which time there will be no nuclear arms control treaty that requires intrusive verification measures [or] the dismantlement of warheads. The Bush administration has not favored verification measures in nuclear arms control treatie...Russ Wellen2008-09-08T13:05:14Z2008-09-08T13:05:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=329Exactly When Isn't Rendition Extraordinary?Not to mention in violation of any law known to God and man. Read Sangitha McKenzie Millar's earth-shattering story, "Extraordinary Rendition, Extraordinary Mistake," just posted on Foreign Policy in Focus. Excerpt:Mamdouh Habib, an Australian citizen, was living in Sydney with his wife and four children when he took a trip alone to Pakistan to find a home for his family. When Habib boarded a bus for the Islam...Russ Wellen2008-08-30T22:48:59Z2008-08-30T22:48:59Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=328Democracy: Since We Can't Stand the Heat, We Stay out of the KitchenWhen Stealth Democracy: Americans' Beliefs about How Government Should Work was published in 2002, it caused "quite a stir among people who work for civic and democratic reform," according to reviewer Peter Levine. With the aid of a Gallup poll they commissioned, as well focus groups, the authors -- political scientists John R. Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse -- shattered any illusions reformers and media my...Russ Wellen2008-08-18T13:28:16Z2008-08-18T13:28:16Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=326Oh, Sweet Cynthia, Silence Thy Siren SongWhen Barack Obama opted out of public campaign financing, it was tough to condemn him. Only a fool would shut down the money-making machine his campaign had become. It was also understandable when he backed the death penalty for child rapists. In no way, shape, or form was he about to make the same mistake as Michael Dukakis, who refused to call for the death penalty for his wife's hypothetical rapist and killer. Even the faith-based initiatives, which Obama recently called for, are not n...Russ Wellen2008-07-15T16:56:18Z2008-07-15T16:56:18Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=325The Myth of the Sainted "People"Most Democrats in the two houses of Congress balk at initiating impeachment proceedings against President Bush. We assume it's because, like a woman living with a rageaholic husband, they prefer to let their Republican colleagues lie as if they were sleeping dogs.Is there something else that Democratic senators and members of the House of Representatives are afraid of? Perhaps they fear that impeaching the president might stir up buried shame on the part of many who voted for Bush....Russ Wellen2008-06-30T13:37:51Z2008-06-30T13:45:10Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=324Where Did the Idea We Don't Negotiate Come From?The need to negotiate means one nation has problems to iron out with another. And those the US has the biggest problems with are much less likely to be friends than they are states that sponsor terrorism or are run by tyrants. Obviously then, the most critical negotiation is that between states at odds with each other.Though this author has only been a student of foreign policy for five years he'd never come across the Bush administration's notion that you don't negotiate w...Russ Wellen2008-06-06T12:08:14Z2008-06-06T12:08:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=323Are Escort Services Poised to Go Mainstream?Whores no more.On the job, the key for many of us is adapting by adopting -- an alternate personality, that is. But some jobs arouse emotions and sensations that are too overwhelming for the conscious mind. In the process called splitting, we shunt those off to a kind of branch line of our consciousness. Sex work is such a job. Its laborers often find the only way to survive is by putting as much distance as possible between their real and work selves. Th...Russ Wellen2008-05-13T18:41:44Z2008-05-13T18:52:37Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=322Donors to Clintons: We Gave at the Office"In a campaign of surprises," writes Daniel Henninger in a recent Wall Street Journal column, "none has been more breathtaking than the falling away of Clinton supporters, loyalists [and] friends. Why?"The answer, of course -- after all, this is the WSJ -- is "Money." Henninger explains. "Once Barack proved conclusively that he could raise big-time cash, the Cli...Russ Wellen2008-04-30T14:41:54Z2008-04-30T14:44:52Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=321Obama Makes Old Bush Dog Go All Warm and Fuzzy When Barack Obama was endorsed by Jay Rockefeller in late February, it was considered a feather in his national security cap because the senator from West Virginia is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rockefeller, however, as he told the editors of the Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette Monday, has been criticized for taking sides before his state's May Democratic primary."But what is the value of n...Russ Wellen2008-04-11T12:55:39Z2008-04-11T12:57:08Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=320Which Rocky Is Hillary? The Winner or the Loser?It's time for Hillary Clinton to bone up on her classic '70s cinema. Attempting to pander to a Philadelphia crowd, she compared herself to Philly's most famous fictional son, the Italian Stallion, Rocky Balboa.The AP reports:"Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing a fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I ...Adam Bulger2008-04-02T16:07:12Z2008-04-02T16:09:57Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=319Condi Rice: Never Met a Milestone She Wasn't Willing to Render MeaninglessAt The Washington Note yesterday, the estimable Steve Clemons wrote "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is speaking this morning to Grover Norquist's weekly powerhouse gathering at Americans for Tax Reform of conservative associations, think tanks, and political operations." What's not business as usual about this? It seems a ma...Russ Wellen2008-03-27T18:25:29Z2008-03-27T18:27:46Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=318"Unsexiest" Woman Holds Mirror up to Judges"Am I really the unsexiest woman in the world?"That's the rhetorical question actress Sarah Jessica Parker posed to Grazia (which actually bills itself as Britain's "first glossy magazine"). She was responding to the title of "Unsexiest Woman Alive" bestowed upon her by a poll of the readers of another magazine, Maxim.In questioning their choice, Ms. Parker fails to notice that she's acquiescing to the notion that there really is an unse...Russ Wellen2008-03-24T11:33:30Z2008-03-24T11:34:58Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=317Looks Like the Iran NIE Has Gone the Way of the Iraq Study GroupThe UN Security Council just passed a third set of sanctions against Iran ostensibly because it refuses to cease and desist enriching uranium. In truth it was informed by another issue both more immediate and intimidating.On February 22 the International Atomic Energy Agency issued what seemed like a passing grade to Iran's nuclear program. But shortly before that, its chief of weapons inspection, Olli Heinonen, exhibited approximately 1,000 documents and videos to an array of amba...Russ Wellen2008-03-06T13:22:33Z2008-03-06T13:33:36Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=316You Can't Tell the Players in Iraq without a Scorecard Years ago, when Bosnia-Serbia-Kosovo was aflame, I found myself tuning out the conflict because of difficulty tracking all the warring factions. Afterward, I read a book on the subject, Michael Parenti's "To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia" (Verso, 2002). However illuminating, after about a week I'd forgotten who was who. My only consolation was that 99 percent of Americans understood even less.When the US invaded Iraq, the protagonists stood in s...Russ Wellen2008-02-27T14:49:18Z2008-02-27T15:10:59Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=315Will Our Championship Drought in the Super Bowl of Elections Ever End?It's been 99 years since the Chicago Cubs have won a World Series. But they, as well as teams that have never won a Super Bowl, aren't the only ones in the throes of a championship drought.No one is more long-suffering than those of us who dream of a progressive president. Or, less unrealistically, one who at least places the priorities of the people before those of the rich.If the presidential primaries are like the regular season, Super Tuesday resembles Major League B...Russ Wellen2008-02-01T22:27:49Z2008-02-01T22:31:55Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=314Tale of Two ZingersNot only Obama, but Iran's Supreme Leader, spoke with a barbed tongue this week.It was the week of the artful put-down. The first was Obama's now infamous response to Hillary Clinton's protest, at the last presidential New Hampshire debate, that "I don't think I'm that bad.""You're likeable enough," he replied in the zinger heard around the world."That one-liner swung the primary," said Reason Magazine'...Russ Wellen2008-01-14T13:57:59Z2008-01-14T14:05:45Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=313Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Iraqi Refugees. . . Hey, Wait a MinuteHundreds of thousands of Iraqis have fled the carnage and poverty that our intrusion into their affairs has unleashed. They've been admitted to two countries ill-equipped to accommodate them: Jordan and Syria. Meanwhile, the US has kept its borders closed to all but a few token Iraqis.This past September, though, perhaps in response to the heat it's been taking, the State Department created the position of Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugees for one John Foley. The stated int...Russ Wellen2008-01-02T15:59:50Z2008-01-02T16:02:43Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=312Sioux Sue for SovereigntyIn December, a Lakota (Sioux) delegation delivered a statement of "unilateral withdrawal" to the State Department. In other words, it plans to secede. Not all Lakota, just the delegation, which was led by Russell Means. He, of course, is famous for surviving the siege at Wounded Knee in 1973 and founding the American Indian Movement (AIM), as well as for his movie roles.Means, however, also announc...Russ Wellen2007-12-27T18:36:09Z2007-12-27T18:40:43Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=311Oprah: The Un-HillaryAs more and more people are beginning to sense, the Democrats may have missed the boat with Hillary Clinton. If she's nominated, winning the election will be no promenade up the gangplank of the ship of state. Instead, it will be a flying leap from pier to deck, hands grasping at the railing.The sitting Republican president's poll numbers are lower than his cardio-buff sitting pulse rate. As for America's pulse, none of the 2008 Republican opponents seem to have a finger on...Russ Wellen2007-12-14T13:47:20Z2007-12-14T13:49:28Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=310Ahmadinejad Kosher?A sergeant in the US Army Special Forces with whom I'm acquainted turned me on to an article on Israel's Ynet in which a member of the Knesset responded to the Iran NIE.Shas party minister Yitzhak Cohen has been called a key coalition partner in Olmert's government. According to reporter Roni Sofer, during a security cabinet meeting, Cohen said, "In the middle of the previous centur...Russ Wellen2007-12-11T18:31:15Z2007-12-11T18:35:30Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=309Is the Iran NIE a Trojan Horse?The Iran NIE has elicited a range of emotions in those opposed to the Bush administration's policies from gloating to discreet celebration. In the minds of many, it's like V-Day: Let the church bells peal, kiss a girl in Times Square. Others, particularly Iranian commentators located in the US, are considerably less sanguine.They fear, as Farideh Farhi writes at Juan Cole's spin-off, Russ Wellen2007-12-05T19:18:50Z2007-12-05T19:22:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=308Ahmadinejad: Holocaust Denier or Mystic?In December 2006 Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad kicked off a two-day conference dedicated to examining whether the Holocaust took place.In October 2007 he addressed the audience the International Congress on the 800th birth anniversary of Rumi.Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi, of course, was the Sufi teacher whose wildly ecstatic poetry has achieved as profound a resonance in readers and listeners do...Russ Wellen2007-11-30T13:54:29Z2007-12-01T16:00:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=307Alex Rodriguez's Relationship with Yankees Replicates His MarriageThe foundation for Alex Rodriguez's new contract was poured two weeks ago -- 10 years at $275 million. As if that weren't already enough to start his own nation (the Republic of Rodriguez? A-Rodriana?), on Sunday the infrastructure for his five $6 million bonuses was erected.While the nature of the incentives wasn't divulged, it's believed they'd kick in when he ties each of the five players ahead of him on the all-time home run list -- Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, ...Russ Wellen2007-11-27T18:12:51Z2007-11-27T18:12:51Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=306Time to Sic the Church Lady on BushJack Goldsmith, Bush's disaffected former director of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department, wrote: ". . . the administration's conception of presidential power had a kind of theological significance that often trumped political consequences."That's the last straw. It's time for everybody to stop attributing religious motives to President ...Russ Wellen2007-11-27T03:30:16Z2007-11-27T03:30:16Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=304Left Behind: Black Music by White Musicians"Why did so many white rock bands retreat from the ecstatic singing and intense, voicelike guitar tones of the blues, the heavy African downbeat, and the elaborate showmanship that characterized black music of the mid-twentieth century?"Sasha Frere Jones poses this provocative question in a recent New Yorker article entitled "Russ Wellen2007-11-14T11:22:19Z2007-11-14T11:27:08Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=303Attack Iran, Lose Your JobIt beggars belief. Polls show the president's support at less than 30 percent nationally -- in not one single state does even 50 percent approve of him. Yet he retains enough of his beloved "political capital" to plan an attack on another country for reasons other than defensive.Bush was expected to be a lame duck president by this point. But the Democratic congress has seen to it that he's been fitted with a prosthetic wing.In part, that's because the pros...Russ Wellen2007-11-05T11:26:20Z2007-11-05T11:26:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=302Following Hillary Over a CliffZogby's recent poll asking "Whom would you NEVER vote for president?" was kind of mischievous, wasn't it? But if I were a member of the Democratic National Committee, not to mention a congressional Democrat, I'd be sweating bullets over it.A neat 50% claim they would never, even under pain of waterboarding (kidding), cast their presidential vote for Hillary Clinton."Never say neve...Russ Wellen2007-10-26T12:48:04Z2007-10-26T12:52:24Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=301Bad Aftertaste from Clinton's Iran Vote LingersThough it's been almost three weeks, Hillary Clinton's vote for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment still sours the stomach. In Sunday's New York Times Week in Review, Helene Cooper terms it "more hawkish than even most of the Bush administration has been willing to venture so far." The bill, of course, branded Iran's...Russ Wellen2007-10-15T11:02:44Z2007-10-15T11:04:13Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=300Post, Times Condemn Peace Prize Winner for Making PeaceLife as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate -- especially if you're not resting on your laurels -- is not as awash in dignity and respect as you might think. Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (1991) has spent 10 of the last 17 years under house arrest. Jimmy Carter's (2002) name has been dragged through the mud for expressing sympathy for the Palestinians.Meanwhile, Mohamed ElBaradei (2005), the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, has been the object of an ongoing campai...Russ Wellen2007-10-01T12:02:34Z2007-10-01T12:05:59Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=299The Administration Is Coming at Iran from Every DirectionSome of the threatening actions the administration is taking against Iran have been well-covered by the media. These include calling for another round of UN sanctions on Iran for continuing to enrich -- at however slow a pace -- uranium, charging Iran with supporting anti-American militants in Iraq and designating Iran's Revolutionary Guard a "terrorist" group. Also, the administration has proposed a $63 billion arms sale to Middle-Eastern countries, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt,...Russ Wellen2007-09-17T10:57:43Z2007-09-17T10:57:43Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=298ElBaradei Continues to Roll up Bush's Rollout to WarIran continues to make it difficult for the administration to mount an attack against it. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency's el jefe Mohamed ElBaradei handed in his report on Iran's nuclear program. Reuters summed up: "Iran's uranium enrichment program is operating well below capacity and is far from producing nuclear fuel in significant amounts."In oth...Russ Wellen2007-09-10T12:35:28Z2007-09-10T12:40:52Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=297Michael Vick: Adding Insult to Black People's InjuryWait a minute -- what injury did Michael Vick inflict on black people? Since when are an individual's crimes a reflection on his race? It's not Vick's crimes that reflect badly on his race. It's the reactions of black people -- a few of them anyway. Reporting for Reuters, Matthew Biggs wrote: Russ Wellen2007-09-05T18:55:40Z2007-09-05T19:00:49Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=296Iran May Be a Once and Future Threat, But Al Qaeda Is a Clear and Present DangerSpeaking before an American Legion group yesterday, President Bush described Iran as the "world's leading state sponsor of terrorism." Its pursuit of technology which could lead to nuclear weapons, he add...Russ Wellen2007-08-29T11:43:58Z2007-08-29T11:46:27Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=293Does a Force Field Protect Defense Spending from Democrats?"Most Democratic candidates for president speak of increasing rather than slashing the military budget," writes Frida Berrigan in a recent column on Foreign Policy in Focus. "Since President Bush came into office in 2001, the Pentagon's budget has increased by more than one-third. The $481 billion proposed for 2008. . . is a jump of more than 10% over current spending."Russ Wellen2007-08-20T10:32:03Z2007-08-20T10:36:43Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=292Hillary's First-Strike CapabilityThe recent Clinton-Obama exchange over nuclear weapons was much scrutinized, especially by the right. ABC News reported it thusly:"Regarding terrorist targets in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region, Obama told The Associated Press Thursday: 'I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance.' He then added: 'Involving civilia...Russ Wellen2007-08-12T02:36:20Z2007-08-12T02:36:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=290WaPo Confers Cold Warrior Status on IranIn a recent article in The Washington Post, Robin Wright quoted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling Iran the state that presents "the single most important. . . strategic challenge to the United States." Wright concluded: "After three decades of festering tensions the United States and Iran are now facing off in a full-fledged cold war."...Russ Wellen2007-08-05T07:15:30Z2007-08-05T07:15:30Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=289The Bush QuartetThe war maestro's magnum opus requires two more wars.As a country founded on the principle of majority rule, most of us have yet to accept that a small cabal of extremists infiltrated and wrested control of our government. Despite Bush & Co.'s violations of our trust, we remain incapable of believing they'd commit an act as "befuddling," according to the title of the incomparable Gareth Porter's latest article, as attack Iran. To most of us...Russ Wellen2007-07-31T10:33:56Z2007-07-31T10:39:36Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=288Sole Bush Achievement Poised to Go Up in Smoke"A secret military operation in early 2005 to capture. . . [bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri] was called off. . . [by] Donald H. Rumsfeld. . . [who] decided that the operation. . . put too many American lives at risk. . . [and] could cause a rift with Pakistan."-- The New York Times"Al Qaida's core leader...Russ Wellen2007-07-13T13:53:47Z2007-07-13T13:56:45Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=287If Gays Can't Marry, Nobody ShouldAs a gay man raised in a loving and affirming home with wonderful parents and siblings and surrounded by equally wonderful extended family, friends and acquaintances, I have come to realize that I want more than just acceptance and tolerance, I want equality! If it weren’t for the fact that I have been predominantly surrounded by people who accept and love me for who I am, I might not even realize that I have a right to this or at the very least, I might not have the courage to speak up...Shayne Aldrich2007-07-12T10:37:04Z2007-07-12T10:38:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=286The al-Zawahiri SyndromeBy all accounts, the attempted London and Glasgow bombings were an Islamist plot. But because of the eight arrested, seven are doctors or medical students and one a lab technician (two more doctors have been detained for questioning in Australia), we wonder if there's another phenomenon at work here. Sure, they appear to follow in the footsteps of bin Laden's right-hand man Dr. al-Zawahiri. But Islamism may be a cover. Perhaps, instead of seeking to redress societal grievances, they...Russ Wellen2007-07-05T12:29:56Z2007-07-05T12:31:03Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=285Cheney's My Pet Goat MomentPresident Bush's reaction –- or lack thereof –- in that Florida classroom on 9/11 when he was informed of the second attack on the WTC (Flight 175) has been the most dissected expression since Mona Lisa's smile. Recall that the North Tower had already been hit, a second plane was off-course and flying towards Manhattan, an...Russ Wellen2007-06-25T18:53:13Z2007-06-25T18:54:51Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=284James Dobson Killed God!No, not by his own hand. Nor was it that God (we'll explain). It's just that the urge to fight dirty burst forth after reading Media Matters' June 7 report about a sermon by John MacArthur, a pastor in California, that Dobson broadcast on his "Focus on the Family" radio show:"You know a society has been abandoned by God when it celebrates lesbian sex." MacArthur fu...Russ Wellen2007-06-13T12:28:19Z2007-06-13T12:28:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=283ElBaradei-metric PressureIt's never a good sign when a Nobel laureate wigs out."The idea that there's a military solution is absolutely bonkers."-- January 2007 "I have no brief other than to m...Russ Wellen2007-06-04T13:08:07Z2007-06-04T13:10:17Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=282Remember Jesus Freaks?Has any American death in recent years been greeted with more jubilation than Jerry Falwell's? (Aside from Timothy McVeigh's.)Christopher Hitchens called him an "ugly little charlatan." Journalist and historian Rick Perlstein said, "He was of course a monster." Amanda Marcotte, who gained notoriety blogging for the John Edwards campaign, wrote: "The gates of hell swing open and Satan welcomes his beloved son."Ms. Marcotte's sentiments ar...Russ Wellen2007-05-24T12:27:25Z2007-05-24T12:27:25Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=281Leave It to Ringo to Burst the Bubble of the Super-RichFormer Beatle Paul McCartney's wealth approaches a billion dollars –- give or take a hundred million depending on what, in the absence of a pre-nup, his estranged (or just plain strange) wife takes him for. Ringo Starr can't be far behind. Personally, I have little sympathy for the rich because I don't swallow the notion tha...Russ Wellen2007-04-30T12:14:32Z2007-04-30T12:15:22Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=280Giuliani's Other ParadoxLike many politicians, Rudolph Giuliani welcomed the Supreme Court's ban on partial-birth abortions. But because of his past support for abortion, as well as gay rights, not to mention his affairs and divorces, his legitimacy as a candidate for president is suspect in the eyes of the evangelical wing of the Republican party. Yet, paradox of paradoxes, he maintains a comfortable lead in the polls.But Giuliani is vulnerable on other counts. First, there's the collateral damage fr...Russ Wellen2007-04-19T13:14:45Z2007-04-19T13:22:23Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=279Hate Will Bring Us TogetherThe hard right, to whom Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi symbolize liberal beliefs, takes fiendish delight in bringing the wrath of God down on them. This might offend Democratic Leadership Council types. But, true liberals, not to mention progressives, wonder why the hard right zeroes in on these two. According to National Journal rankings of Senate votes, Senator Clinton's record is the least libera...Russ Wellen2007-04-02T12:52:03Z2007-04-02T12:53:49Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=278AIPAC's Heavy HandOn March 13 Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership deleted a provision from the Supplemental Appropriations bill which forbade funds for military operations against Iran unless authorized by Congress.On her Iran Nuclear Watch blog, Cara Ong wrote: "The move, not so coincidentally, coincides with AIPAC's annual conference, which Ms. Pelosi addressed. . . [but] Con...Russ Wellen2007-03-19T12:59:01Z2007-03-19T13:11:24Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=277Tomatoes Are to Iran as a Gallon of Gas Is to the USIn "The view from Tehran" on Salon, Hooman Majd reports that tomatoes, an essential ingredient of salads, stews, and kebabs in Iran, are no longer affordable to most of the Persian public, much to their despair. The rich continue to buy them in places like Tehran's trendy Bejhatabad food bazaar. But they "discuss the price they paid at dinner parties with the same seriousness they r...Russ Wellen2007-03-15T12:47:22Z2007-03-15T12:47:22Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=276Conning CondiIn a surprise move, writes Jim Lobe on Antiwar.com, "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has appointed a prominent neoconservative hawk and leading champion of the Iraq war to the post of State Department Counselor." Her right-hand man, Philip Zelikow, who was also executive director of the 9/11 Commission and gained further notoriety when he proclaimed that the US invaded Iraq to protect Israel, resigned. ...Russ Wellen2007-03-07T13:09:27Z2007-03-07T13:15:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=275A War That Will Hit HomeAttack Iran and the "homeland" won't know what hit it.Remember the stories our parents or grandparents used to tell us about World War II? For those still stateside, goods such as meat, sugar, gasoline, and clothing were rationed. The manufacture of passenger cars was disconotinued because automobile plants were diverted to the war effort.Also, in 1940, only ten percent of Americans were subject to federal withholding tax; by 1944 nearly all were. In fact,...Russ Wellen2007-03-05T12:24:56Z2007-03-05T12:25:44Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=274Little-Known Congressman Pushes Back on Iran "Oh, they'd never let that happen." Have you heard that reaction when you've expressed concern that the administration might authorize an attack on Iran? The Democratic Congress, it's assumed, would surely defer to its constituency, which has demonstrated its war weariness. But Iran flies below the radar of a public focused on Iran. Also laying low on the subject, as John Byrne reports in Russ Wellen2007-01-15T22:27:50Z2007-01-15T22:27:50Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=273Toothless in TehranTwo days before Christmas, sanctions against Iran were passed. Ambassadors to the UN Alejandro Wolff (US) and Emyr Jones Parry (UK), in conjunction with American Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, spun them as tough.But Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin's statement that the sanctions were "intended to prod Iran to negotiate, not punish it" tells the story, which could be titled "Too...Russ Wellen2007-01-10T18:18:19Z2007-01-10T18:20:48Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=271Nobody to Blame But ThemselvesReduced to the same circumstances, Americans would never slaughter each other like the Iraqis. Would they?"One possibility is that people around the region and the world would come to judge Iraq's failure as largely the result of American policy. ... An alternative view is that the lion's share of responsibility for what has taken place in Iraq over the past few years belongs to the Iraqis themselves."-- Russ Wellen2007-01-05T12:35:23Z2007-01-05T12:37:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=270The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the TreeMuch as it wishes it did.I just finished reading "Grant," Jean Edward Smith's authoritative biography of Ulysses Grant (Simon & Schuster, 2001). (His record as president with native Americans and freed slaves will surprise those unfamiliar with it.) Turns out the author, who has a mammoth biography of Franklin Roosevelt coming out in the spring, also wrote a book which could serve as a companion piece to Bob Woodward's "Bush at War." Published b...Russ Wellen2007-01-02T12:16:22Z2007-01-02T12:17:35Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=269Culled and Distilled, Part OneExcerpts from the best articles available on the Internet.Congress". . . both the legislative and the executive branch are mainly engaged in searching out and finding the acceptable mean between voter sentiment and financial interest. [Emphasis added] It's sort of an ongoing math problem -- figuring out how many voters you can afford to fuck every four years, or how much money you should be extracting, and from which sponsors, for each ...Russ Wellen2006-12-28T15:52:11Z2006-12-28T15:54:27Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=2689/11: The Bush-League Version of Pearl Harbor?The trouble with means to an end is that it always seems to end mean.When the 9/11 Truth Movement proposes that the Bush administration, or elements thereof, aided and abetted 9/11, the first reaction is often: "I just can't picture our government doing that."Most are unaware of decorated World War II veteran Robert Stinnett's groundbreaking "Day of Deceit," which, with chilling documentation, demonstrates that Franklin Roosevelt not only all...Russ Wellen2006-12-21T12:16:20Z2006-12-21T12:25:27Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=267How to Leave Iraq without Kicking Sunnis Off the Helicopter SkidsMaybe we should take them with us.Most Americans agree that we can't withdraw now without continuing to train and equip the Iraqi army and police forces. Otherwise, they'd likely collapse and melt into the militias like the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade, with which many are already allied (or just in deathly fear of).But the security forces probably won't be a match for the militias until the next George Bush is president (Jeb's telegenic son, George P...Russ Wellen2006-12-14T16:45:53Z2006-12-14T16:57:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=266Oh, the Iran-y!In "The Clock's Ticking: Stopping Iran Before It's Too Late" from the November Arms Control Today, Joseph Cirincione ponders the economic effects of an attack on Iran. "The price of gas would soar to between $5 to $8 per gallon in the United States. If sustained for any length of time, the price rise would trigger recessions in most Western economies and even a global recession. Russ Wellen2006-11-28T12:43:42Z2006-11-28T12:44:24Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=265Seniors: No Money to Leave Your Kids? No problem. Just leave them a better world then. Post-election momentum provides the perfect opportunity for a new approach to activism.In this day and age it's harder than ever for old folks to bequeath their children an inheritance. They start off on the road to retirement with the best of intentions, but obstacles soon spring up at every turn.Rising costs, especially health care and prescription drugs, are bad enough. But during the tech boom many -- no thanks to...Russ Wellen2006-11-14T12:38:02Z2006-11-14T12:38:02Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=264Machismo -- or Masochism?In war, as well as sports, there's a fine line between the two.How did we ever wind up prisoner to the private pathologies of our garden-gnome-come-to-life of a vice president? That's a question best left to history to decide. Another is more to the point. Cheney, as well as Bush and Rumsfeld, remain curiously unmoved by the argument that those who preside over "harsh interrogation techniques" (the dark art formerly known as torture) invite like-m...Russ Wellen2006-11-03T12:29:18Z2006-11-03T12:32:26Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=263Able Baker (James) and Charlie (Rose)Able to fix almost anything, James Baker has let his smugness get the better of him.For a man with a reputation for working behind the scenes as a consigliere, especially to George H.W. Bush, James Baker has sure been in the spotlight a lot recently. Guess a book tour has the power to drag anything out of the shadows.But it's odd because it comes at a time when he's been assigned a sensitive mission by Congress. Baker, of course, is heading up the Iraqi...Russ Wellen2006-10-23T11:57:24Z2006-10-23T11:59:48Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=262Global Warming? We Should Be So LuckySlow cooking sure beats being flambeed at ten million degrees in a nuclear attack. There's little doubt that the nuclear weapon programs of North Korea and Iran constitute clear and, if not present, someday-soon, dangers. But they also serve a purpose: moving nuclear weapons to the forefront of the national conscious...Russ Wellen2006-10-18T12:46:18Z2006-10-18T12:49:41Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=261The More Iraqis Die, the Less We CareDoes an inverse ratio exist between Iraqi deaths and American compassion? The new study by Johns Hopkins study revealing 600,000 Iraqis have died from violence may not cut a lot of weight with Americans. Bad enough that there are 500 violent deaths a day, but they're often preceded by torture and rape, including of children.Russ Wellen2006-10-16T11:45:33Z2006-10-16T11:45:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=260President Misses Major Megaphone MomentThe president's men -- or man, Karl Rove -- whiffed at a fat pitch. Remember when Bush, firefighter by his side, picked up that megaphone at the site of the World Trade Center collapse? He got a lot of mileage out of that -- two wars worth, in fact. Well, the Foley affair was another such opportunity.Instead, according to The New York Times, a White House official said of the affair, "We felt that it was important that the president speak out on this issue." (Not...Russ Wellen2006-10-06T13:12:44Z2006-10-06T13:12:44Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=259Is Condoleeza Rice Really Our Last Best Hope?Is the shaky secretary of state, reeling from yet another assault on her credibility, all that stands between us and war with Iran? "They wouldn't dare." "Co...Russ Wellen2006-10-04T11:56:56Z2006-10-04T11:57:56Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=258How to Lose Your Job in 800 Easy Air StrikesChapter and verse for the front and back of a doomsayer's imaginary sandwich board: "If we attack Iran. . . we might lose our jobs. . . if we attack Iran. . . we might lose our jobs. . . if we attack Iran."Frankly, the prospect of 7,500 Iranians dead (a conservative estimate) in an attack on their country might seem like a good idea to many Americans. But this is not the time to call our fellow countrymen on the carpet for their very Amer...Russ Wellen2006-09-29T11:43:27Z2006-09-29T13:31:45Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=257Iraq Creates Terrorists -- And Your Point Is?We don't mind creating terrorists. We just don't want them anywhere near us. In the National Intelligence Estimate the administration was forced to release, 16 of the government's intelligence agencies signed off on the view that our invasupation*...Russ Wellen2006-09-27T12:32:22Z2006-09-27T12:33:44Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=256Never Mind "Body Worlds,"* See a Spine Deteriorate Before Your EyesNo thanks to Senator McCain, as well as Lindsey and Warner, the White House has been granted permission to continue authorizing the CIA to torture.Thus exposed to the risk of reciprocal treatment are captured American service personnel. In fact, with its potential for incurring violence against those who protect us, this bill parallels the administration's support of the NRA.That noble organization's opposition to the control of any guns, including the 50-caliber sniper ...Russ Wellen2006-09-25T13:27:18Z2006-09-25T13:27:18Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=255Meigs and Mr. JonesIn March 2005 Popular Mechanics magazine ran an article titled "9/11: Debunking The Myths." But it was too sketchy to be of much use in pulling the rug out from under the 9/11 Truth Movement.It's since produced a book titled "Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts" and its editor, James Meigs, and executive editor, David Dunbar, appeared on Amy Goodman's "Russ Wellen2006-09-18T12:07:07Z2006-09-18T12:09:50Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=254Who Does This Sound Like?From "The Master Plan" by Lawrence Wright in The New Yorker:"After coalition forces overran Al Qaeda compounds in Afghanistan in late 2001, they seized thousands of pages of internal memoranda. . . . [Only one] briefly addresses whether jihadis are prepared to run a state should they succeed in toppling one. . . . Beyond the simplistic notion...Russ Wellen2006-09-13T13:42:43Z2006-09-13T13:43:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=253What's the Opposite of the "Homeland"?Many Americans can't quite put their finger on why the word "homeland" makes them queasy. Well, for starters, it invokes visions of the Nazis and the fatherland. Also, homelands are what Russia and South Africa called the out-of-sight, out-of-mind territories they set up for minorities.But what's most upsetting about appending this modifier to Department of Security is that it suggests there's another department of security from which the DHS needs to be distingui...Russ Wellen2006-09-06T13:33:31Z2006-09-06T13:33:31Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=252Suspect a Wash, But Social Redemption in Ramsey Case Found!JonBenet Ramsey may have been the prototype for all those missing or murdered privileged white girls that the media mainstream loves. In light of Iraq, where any number of violent deaths could be Law & Order episodes in their own right, how can we justify our obsession with the case?Let's see, there's got to be a way. . . . Got it!Though it's not an essential American story like the case of Gary Gilmore, the Ramsey case has spawned some good books, such ...Russ Wellen2006-08-29T13:52:47Z2006-08-29T13:52:47Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=251Good Old American Know-How Lives!Besides energy, no issue is as perplexing to Americans as security, especially of the fatherland, I mean homeland, variety. But there's finally been a breakthrough development. However embarrassing to the government and big business, it was incubated not within a major corporation that's a government contractor, but by volunteer researchers. To further rub it in, they used off-the-shelf materials and their finished product comes at a bargain basement price.Freezerbox.com founde...Russ Wellen2006-08-25T13:31:09Z2006-08-25T13:33:04Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=250Hoisted on Its Own PetardExcept for a handful like John Kerry, John Edwards, and Russ Feingold, it's as if most Democratic senators don't believe the polls that lay bare public disaffection with our occupation of Iraq. They refuse to call for a timetable for withdrawal.However, they have just been handed the keys to the kingdom -- they're dangling in front of them, anyway. Afraid the public has heretofore been unable to separate Iraq from the war on terror, most Democrats have been unwilling to emb...Russ Wellen2006-08-24T13:15:30Z2006-08-24T14:32:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=249Why the Hard Right Brands Hilary Clinton a LiberalWhat's a girl expect when she plays the field?The only liberals that support Hilary Clinton are those who think supporting a "centrist" candidate is realpolitik. (How mature of them.) Why then does the hard right persist in characterizing her as a standard bearer for the left?To find out, let's portray Hilary in another unlikely role: as a baseball player. Actually, she professes to enjoy baseball -- the Clinton White House hosted the New York Yankees ...Russ Wellen2006-08-17T11:42:37Z2006-08-17T11:42:37Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=248Semtex on a Plane "I want this motherfucking Semtex off this motherfucking plane!" — Samuel L. Jackson on a hypothetical NYC - LA flight, sometime in the near future.These new-generation terrorists think too much. Shoe bombs requiring ignition systems and a window seat? Liquid bombs with movable, sloshing parts? I'm surprised Hollywood thought of poison snakes before Al Qaeda did.If you want to ...Alexander Zaitchik2006-08-13T23:05:42Z2006-08-14T17:30:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=247It's Not Just Blood That's Hemorrhaging in IraqDrowning in a sea of red ink. In financial journalism, you're advised to break down numbers into bite-size chunks the reader can digest. Matthew Yglesias does his best with his valuable July American Prospect cover story, "The Price Is Wrong," in which he cites the cost of Iraq, when all is...Russ Wellen2006-08-10T11:56:57Z2006-08-10T11:58:59Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=246Death by NuanceBelieve it or not, when killing civilians, Israel may have international law on its side.In an article in the Forward, Ori Nir writes: "While intentionally targeting civilians or civilian property is forbidden, international law takes a more nuanced approach to the unintentional striking of civilians when pursuing military targets." [Editor's italics and...Russ Wellen2006-08-07T12:17:30Z2006-08-07T15:20:48Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=245Chain of Deceit: From the Pentagon to the 9/11 Commission to the Public9/ll theories have been stewing in their juices for five years. A confluence of events this past week suggests that the garbage can lid that's been tamping them down is ready to blow. -- Astonishing as it sounds, a conference featuring the 9/11 Scholars for Truth was aire...Russ Wellen2006-08-04T16:49:45Z2006-08-04T16:51:26Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=244We Will Fight Them in the Schoolyards, the Strip Mall On Friday, Cursor linked to an article on the Website of WSFA-TV, based in Montgomery, Alabama. The state capital's SWAT team is undergoing training in counterterrorism techniques by former Israel Defense Force member Aaron Cohen at the local police academy. Unless the team is to be deployed to sites more likely to suffer a terror attack, like majo...Russ Wellen2006-07-29T16:56:36Z2006-07-29T16:59:55Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=243From Israel with LoveThe title of this Dispatch is typical of the messages Israeli children write on shells to be fired into Lebanon. Picture -- rated "S" for surreal -- here (scroll down).Columnist Robert KoehlerRuss Wellen2006-07-28T17:09:20Z2006-07-28T17:09:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=242Illegal Immigration? Try Re-AnnexationOne of our readers, Albert Bivas, weighs in:"Has anyone in politics, the media or anywhere else ever suggested that one way to solve the so-called illegal immigration of Mexicans into the United States. . . [is to return] all the territories originally taken from Mexico, back to that country? . . . I know that many people in the United States might be willing to return Texas on condition that the Bushes go with it. . ."Illegal immigration is th...Russ Wellen2006-07-24T13:00:00Z2006-07-24T13:00:00Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=241Iraq? What a BuzzkillMost Americans buy into the argument that if we leave Iraq anytime soon, it will once again confirm we're wimps to Islamic extremists, who will mount another attack like 9/11. Others believe it's wrong to abandon Iraq to civil war. When they hear the likes of Representative John Murtha call for withdrawal, they don't sit still long enough to learn he just means stepping back to the perimeter while retaining the option to return to the fray if needed.Thus we labor under the ...Russ Wellen2006-07-17T11:51:29Z2006-07-17T11:52:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=240Explain That to AYSO, ZidaneUntil mid-century, when Latinos are projected to become the majority in the US, soccer may never be a major sport in the US. Nevertheless, this year's World Cup generated much fervor in the US. While our validation of the object of other nations' passion may no longer be of any consequence to them, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is hardly averse to expanding its market in the US.But soccer shot itself in the foot with Sunday's final. ...Russ Wellen2006-07-10T13:54:17Z2006-07-10T17:10:27Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=239NSA Warrantless Spying? Ho-HumAs causes go, NSA warrantless eavesdropping has been a non-starter with the American public. A May 2006 Washington Post article reported that "63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism. . . . 66 percent. . . said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made."Russ Wellen2006-07-07T12:48:29Z2006-07-07T12:52:50Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=238Dead for Nothing Using the one-hundred-fiftieth anniversary of the Crimean War and the Charge of the Light Brigade as his starting point, New Hampshire Gazette columnist and historian* William Marvel discourses on lives lost in the service of empire-building in "Ephemeral Empire" on InterventionMag.com. ...Russ Wellen2006-07-04T00:59:08Z2006-07-04T01:16:24Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=237Swift-Boating the Gray LadyIn his piece, "When The FBI Raids The Times" (reproduced on TomPaine.com), New Orleans Times-Picayune reporter Dennis Persica conjures up a worst-case scenario. Imagine if the U.S. Attorney's office in New York, backed up by the feds, entered the offices of The New York Times and ransacked its files and computers "either to find the so...Russ Wellen2006-06-29T12:16:07Z2006-06-29T12:38:56Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=236Frontline Slam Dunks George Tenet Frontline's "The Dark Side," which aired Tuesday night, boasts a score of interviews with intelligence heavy-hitters from Richard Clarke to Michael Scheuer ("Anonymous") to Vince Cannistraro. In particular, it's merciless on George Tenet, who comes off as a tragic figure and a moral failure. The climax of the show occurs when Lawrence Dickerson, Colin Powell's right-hand man when he was secretary of state, describes how Tenet looked Powell in the eye ...Russ Wellen2006-06-22T10:18:34Z2006-06-22T10:20:04Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=235Are Civil Liberties Too, Well, Civil for Un-civil Times?In "Blair's Big Brother Legacy" in the July Vanity Fair, British writer Henry Porter reports on Tony Blair's Bush-like erosions of civil liberties. He quotes Simon Davies, a fellow at the London School of Economics on the British public."People are resigned to their fate. They've bought the government's arguments for the public good. There is a generational failure of memory about individual rights [italics mine]."Russ Wellen2006-06-19T14:46:40Z2006-06-19T14:50:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=234Oh, and Have You Heard from Ari and Scottie?Such nice boys. This gem bubbled up on Google news from the blog of Contra Costa Times (California) editor Chris Lopez. He's addressing the bonhomie surrounding the incident in which President Bush apologized for teasing Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten about wearing sunglasses indoors...Russ Wellen2006-06-15T19:27:10Z2006-06-15T19:27:10Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=233Choose Your Poison - American Idol or MTVSure, it's an easy target, but nevertheless it's distressing to learn that more Americans voted for American Idol contestants this season than voted in the recent American presidential election. (Though at least the chances of your ballot counting are higher.) Russ Wellen2006-06-12T15:10:16Z2006-06-12T15:11:36Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=232Bin Laden's Most-Wanted Poster Turning YellowHowever fortuitous Zarqawi's removal from the scene might seem for the administration, it could backfire –- because of the blood lust for big game that it's incited. In other words, with an elite force like Task Force 145 on the case, why in the world can't we flush out bin Laden?Those versed in supposed realpolitik laugh at our naivete. We...Russ Wellen2006-06-09T14:39:31Z2006-06-17T03:06:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=231Atrocity of the MonthDoes the title of this Dispatch offend? It's no more demeaning than those whose first impulse is to brush past grief for those Iraqis killed at Haditha and rush straight to commiseration with the third battalion marines who allegedly committed the massacre."When the enemy disguises itself as civilians, how can you expect our men to tell the difference?" assert some. Others point to the stress and battle fatigue under which the marines were operating. It's true that, b...Russ Wellen2006-06-06T14:43:52Z2006-06-06T14:45:04Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=230Pat Tillman's Row Was as Tough to Hoe as Any Ranger'sIn my May 29 Dispatch, "What if Pat Tillman's Death Wasn't Friendly Fire?" I wrote that some of his fellow Army Rangers were of the opinion that:". . . in its rush to make him a poster boy for the administration's ill-conceived Iraq adventure, the Army had fast-tracked ...Russ Wellen2006-06-02T18:38:39Z2006-06-02T19:15:08Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=229Hunger Striking for OsamaChurchill was right: Gandhi was a terrorist. At least he was according to the logic of Navy Commander Robert Durand, who has the oxymoronic job title of Gitmo PR chief. In response to the latest spate of attempted suicides and hunger strikes at the camp, Durand told reporters, "The hunger strike technique is consistent with Al Qaeda practice." Now that Durand mentions it, I do remember something about Osama bin Laden refusing to eat until the U.S. pulls its...Alexander Zaitchik2006-05-31T14:40:21Z2006-05-31T14:40:21Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=228What if Pat Tillman's Death Wasn't Friendly Fire? To its credit CNN has been all over the Pat Tillman case."[Investigating Army Captain Richard] Scott noted that the Rangers in the lead vehicle firing on Tillman were not under fire at the time, and 'there were numerous attempts to signal to that lead vehicle that the friendlies were upon that ridge line.'"The documents show the numerous attempts to signal the lead vehicle included soldiers yelling into radios to cease fire, Tillman's smok...Russ Wellen2006-05-29T22:52:31Z2006-05-29T22:52:31Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=227Nerve Center of ZOG Finally Found White Power adherents, neo-Nazis, racists -- take heart. Hidden in an article in the June 8 New York Review of Books are names you can use to finally put a face on ZOG! (ZOG, of course, is the Zionist Occupied Government said to rule states like the US.) "The Storm over the Israel Lobby" by Michael Massing is a review of the "Russ Wellen2006-05-26T03:25:01Z2006-05-26T03:26:10Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=226The Incredible Shrinking StateThe secession of Montenegro from the Serbian rump reminds me of a joke from the first round of Balkan wars:Q: What are they going to call the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2020?A: Belgrade.People used to laugh at that one. Now maybe they aren't laughing so hard.Alexander Zaitchik2006-05-23T15:13:05Z2006-05-23T15:14:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=225Was It Just Wilson the White House Was After When It Outed Plame?On February 13, The Raw Story's star reporter, Larisa Alexandrovna, was among the first to explain how the work Valerie Plame performed for CIA front Brewster Jennings was evaluating Iranian nuclear capability. Alexandrovna's conclusion was cloaked in circumspection:"The revelation that Iran was the focal point of Plame's work raises ...Russ Wellen2006-05-22T12:18:15Z2006-05-22T14:23:30Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=224The Border Fence in Our MindIn the eight years I've been commuting by train to Manhattan I think I've overheard a total of one political conversation. (The three most popular topics? House, house, and house.)Not only is talk of politics as indelicate to Americans as of religion and sex, it also requires us to address matters we consider outside our sphere of both interest and influence. It's best left to the government, we figure. Failing that, as with the current administration, we tell ourselves wha...Russ Wellen2006-05-19T18:27:55Z2006-05-19T18:29:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=223Is NSA Confiscation of Phone Records the Last Straw?Have Bush & Co driven the final nail into their own coffins by authorizing the NSA to confiscate phone records? Is this the final outrage that will establish the impetus for impeachment?The jury's out. In the May 12 The Boston Globe, Bruce Mohl wrote:"Those interviewed yesterday overwhelmingly said the ...Russ Wellen2006-05-16T16:08:30Z2006-05-16T16:13:10Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=222Delhi PickleWhen critics of Iran's nuclear program scoff at Tehran's claim that it needs the energy, the scoffing is justified. But it's more than a little curious when those same critics switch modes into supporters of the nuclear technology sharing agreement between Washington and New Delhi. Claims that the Indo-US deal will encourage the growth of India's nuclear power sector and thus reduce Indian carbon emissions and relax global competition for oil are just as ridicul...Alexander Zaitchik2006-05-13T00:49:03Z2006-05-13T00:49:03Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=221Does Iran Already Have Nuclear Weapons? Curiously overlooked is the possibility -- likelihood even -- that Iran already has nuclear weapons. It's rumored that it once obtained X-55 missiles from Russia with operational nuclear warheads. It's also armed with Shahab 3 and MIRV missiles, which could be similarly armed, whether from Russia or the black market in Russian loose nukes. While that's pure conjecture, it would be a huge mistake to operate under the assumption that Tehran hasn't acquired tactical &...Russ Wellen2006-05-12T15:03:01Z2006-05-12T15:12:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=220George Who?In November of last year, Freezerbox founder Alex Zaitchik wrote a Dispatch about Bush's post-presidential years called "The Lamest Duck Ever":"Never will there have been less use for a two-term president so otherwise available for use. . . . A legacy of disastrous policies is one thing, but when you aren't even accorded the respect of having developed or understood them,...Russ Wellen2006-05-09T14:56:52Z2006-05-09T15:00:27Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=219And You Thought MAD* Was Mad In his City Journal article "Facing Down Iran," Mark Steyn writes: "Now a state openly committed to the annihilation of a neighboring nation has nukes, and we shrug. . . Just the way things are. . . . let everyone get 'em, and then no one will use them." In the face of fatalism, he calls for: ". . ...Russ Wellen2006-05-05T12:25:34Z2006-05-05T12:25:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=218Colbert's Display of Intestinal Fortitude Makes White House and Its Correspondents SquirmyWhoever hired Stephen Colbert to act as host of the White House Correspondents Dinner must have done so while in the throes of a fit of sadomasochism. It's hard to tell who was more humiliated: the White House or the correspondents.While grueling for President Bush and his wife, Colbert's performance couldn't help but make the assembled journalists jealous of his courage.Why is it that a man who plays the role of a correspondent can be more effective than any 10,000 ...Russ Wellen2006-05-02T14:53:02Z2006-05-02T22:55:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=217Has This Been the Golden Age of the Internet? That first novel that reaches heights of intensity a writer never again attains. A ballplayer reaches the World Series as a rookie, never to make it again. Those first heady months of a love affair. Sometimes when you think something is just beginning, it's at its peak. Is that the case with the Internet? "Net Neutrality" is in danger of being relegated to history as a quaint notion of the Information Age. A bill that threatens this freedom (which preve...Russ Wellen2006-05-01T12:16:24Z2006-05-01T12:16:24Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=216Baseball's Stock Down with Steroids, but Bonds Inching UpAs if a steady diet of harassment and condemnation weren't enough, now Barry Bonds faces indictment for perjury and possible suspension from baseball. He's been singled out as the nation's whipping boy for steroids because, thanks to his second-generation baseball talent and skills, he was cursed with the ability to best capitalize on it. One also can't help wondering if, like Hank Aaron, he's the v...Russ Wellen2006-04-28T14:48:10Z2006-04-28T14:50:42Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=215Gore's Got the Gravitas, but the Real Grizzly Adams Is Mike Gravel Freezerbox founder Alex Zaitchik posted a dispatch entitled, "The 'Run, Al' Chorus," in which, first, he apologized for not voting for Gore in 2002. Then he urged him to grow back his beard as a way of leveraging his identification with the environment. But now we have a guy running for president who not only looks like a rugged individualist, but is one: Mike Gravel, the former Senator (1969 - 8...Russ Wellen2006-04-24T12:34:00Z2006-04-24T12:42:40Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=214Run, Al, RunMr. Gore,All those people yelling, "Run, Al, Run" wherever you speak? Count me in. I haven't seen it yet, but The Ugly Truth looks great and has clearly broken through--well done. And the Constitution Hall speech was truly awesome.And, yes, I too have something to expiate: a stupidity.In November of 1999, I stood in the back of a crowded church as Ralph Nader decried the WTO over chants of "Run, Ralph, Run". I got carried away....Alexander Zaitchik2006-04-21T18:03:23Z2006-04-21T18:03:23Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=213When's the Nobel Committee Gonna Get Around to Lloyd deMause? (Who)? Maybe you've seen mention of one of Psychohistory's founders in this space before. You know, the one who writes:"The amount of time and resources any society devotes to its children's needs is far more likely to be an accurate index of its level of civilization than [anything else]." ". . . each time a mother encourages her child's explorations and independence. . . . These private moments are rarely re...Russ Wellen2006-04-18T03:08:22Z2006-04-18T03:09:36Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=212Bloggers Strive to Fill Void Left by Mainstream Media on IranIn response to Bush & Co.'s plans for Iraq, the bloggers have risen to new heights. For instance, in "Mutually Assured Dementia," Whiskey Bar's Billmon writes: ". . . For both the corporate and the conservative media, as well as for their audiences, an air campaign against Iran would make for great TV –- a welcome return to the good old days of Desert Sto...Russ Wellen2006-04-13T18:33:11Z2006-04-13T18:46:03Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=211Military Fragging Bush & Co.Before the invasion of Iraq there was a handful of retired officers like one-time Centcom (Middle-East) commander General Anthony Zinni who spoke out against it. (And afterwards reflected on the "lying, incompetence, and corruption" he witnessed in the prelude to the war.) After Representative John Murtha -- who never met a military budget he didn't like -- spoke out in favor of withdrawing the troops from Iraq, even more military men came out of the woodwork to launch verbal attacks on Bush & C...Russ Wellen2006-04-10T16:00:55Z2006-04-10T16:02:18Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=208Iraq Jumps Shark, But High Hopes for Its Sequel, IranIn "Russ Wellen2006-04-06T13:05:20Z2006-04-06T13:05:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=207Scalia Watching Too Many Sopranos RerunsSupreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has attained a position as high as any Italian-American in the US government. Youâd think heâd thus be extra-vigilant about reinforcing stereotypes about his people. . .
In "Photographer: Herald got it right" Marie Szaniszlo of The Boston Herald, quotes Peter Smith, the Boston University assistant photojournalism professor who made the shot.
"The judge ...Russ Wellen2006-04-03T14:39:23Z2006-04-03T14:40:37Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=206Take My Secretary of State, PleaseUpon rumors that Condoleezza Rice was a candidate for the next National Football League commissioner, the dean of pro football writers, Dr. Z (Paul Zimmerman), wrote on SportsIllustrated.CNN.com:
"When I read that name this morning I went into severe convulsions and the Redhead had to pack me in ice for a full half hour."
Meanwhile The Onion weighed in with "Russ Wellen2006-03-31T13:19:27Z2006-03-31T13:20:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=205Roll Over, Rove. . . Let the special prosecutor take over (apologies to Jimi Hendrix). This, from The Raw Story:
"According to several Pentagon sources close to Rove and others familiar with the inquiry, [he] tipped off Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to. . . deleted emails, erased hard drives and other types of obstruction by staff and other officials in the Vice President's office."Russ Wellen2006-03-30T14:00:24Z2006-03-30T14:00:24Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=204No Joy in Gloating Over Bush's Low RatingsWho has the stomach to celebrate after all the havoc his administration has wreaked? Besides, embarrassment before the rest of the world that he's our president has long since turned into shame that we failed to remove him from office. (Or indict his people for the polling violations that enabled him to remain in power.)
Worse, Bush & Co. continue to implement their agenda, if now at a halting place. In spite of a public grown war-weary, it saber-rattles in the direction of Iran. And even ...Russ Wellen2006-03-27T13:50:20Z2006-03-27T13:50:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=203Unless It's Value-Added, Religion's a Non-Starter These DaysOnce upon a time people went to church to worship (and to make children restless and bore husbands). Now, however, traditional religions like the Protestant denominations of Lutheranism, Methodism, and Episcopalianism are dwindling. It seems worshippers are no longer content to take their religion straight anymore. They need a chaser. And that chaser is oppositional defiance.
Building a denomination or congregation today requires rallying it around the forces of evil â- usually more imagin...Russ Wellen2006-03-23T14:04:20Z2006-03-23T14:04:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=202Full-Court Press on the Free PressIn her April Vanity Fair article, "Lies and Consequences," Marie Brenner chronicles the consequences of the "Sixteen Words That Changed the World" -- President Bush's claim in the 2003 State of the Union speech that Saddam Hussein tried to buy uranium from Niger. By burning away the fog shrouding the question of when and if reporters should reveal their sources, Ms. Brenner allowed this reader draw his own conclusions about the future of freedom of the press.
When it turned out that...Russ Wellen2006-03-20T18:02:49Z2006-03-20T18:02:49Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=201Mutual Funds Have Turned into Mutual Admiration Societies for Their Managers
In The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism (Yale University Press, 2005), mutual fund innovator John Bogle echoes what former International Petroleum Exchange manager Chris Cook asserted in a previous Dispatch. Bogle writes that:
". . . a gradual move from owner's [shareholder's] capitalism -- providing the lion's share of the rewards of investment to those who put up the money and risk their own ...Russ Wellen2006-03-16T13:05:05Z2006-03-16T13:05:05Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=200On a (Honor) RollToday we'd like to cite progressive portals and thank them for the work they do (including linking to Freezerbox articles).
Cursor: Conscientiously constructed and creatively linked introductions to articles. Remains the most prestigious of portals.
Op Ed News: Bursting at the seams, growing exponentially with IndyMedia-type (but carefully screened) participation by a community of contributors. The most excit...Russ Wellen2006-03-13T13:33:33Z2006-03-13T13:33:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=198It's Not Only Middle-Eastern Terrorists Who Cut ThroatsBet you've never heard this before. Former director of the British International Petroleum Exchange Chris Cook:
"There has been a growing realisation on the part of major oil producers such as Iran and Saudi Arabia that oil is not priced in dollars but rather that dollars are priced in oil [Editor's italics]. The reality underpinning this epiphany is [that oil can be exchanged] for commodities, goods and services â- whereas...Russ Wellen2006-03-09T14:22:34Z2006-03-09T14:22:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=197Looks Like a Storm's a Comin', Mr. PresidentSlate's John Dickerson commenting on the Bush-Brown Katrina video: "[The] president's question-free briefing is more than a momentary bad piece of public relations. It's a blow to a key Bush myth [which is that the] Bush management philosophy relies on. . . question-asking [as a central] tool in the 'trust me' presidency." Not only has Bush's poor excuse for a management style come...Russ Wellen2006-03-06T13:58:27Z2006-04-15T00:15:54Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=196Must Security and the Economy Be at Loggerheads?Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the UAE deal: "We have to balance the paramount urgency of security against the fact that we still want to have a robust global trading system."
Point taken. But if nuclear materials are smuggled through a port and one of our major financial centers is bombed to hell, the global trading system will have gone from "robust" to "...Russ Wellen2006-03-03T13:51:44Z2006-03-03T21:52:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=195Can't Get Enough of That Pound of FleshAs stated in a previous Dispatch, in spite of poll results to the contrary, this correspondent remains unconvinced that the majority of Americans object to torture. Neither, he suspects, are they receptive to findings it's an ineffective approach to eliciting the truth.
Like with capital punishment, it's all about the pound of flesh.
But torture is still an issue ripe for plucking by the opposition. Its challenge is to make the public understand that the harsh policies of the Rumsfel...Russ Wellen2006-02-28T14:00:05Z2006-02-28T14:02:03Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=194Finally, Evidence to Put 9/11 Conspiracy Theories to Rest (or Is It?)The 9/ll Truth Movement would have us believe that the administration either LI- or MIHOPped* 9/11 to provide a pretext for its own twin towers: international and domestic policy. That's intervention and surveillance, respectively.
We've all heard the arguments against what many have called Web-based conspiracy theorists. Like, how could an administration whose stock in trade, as evidenced by Iraq and Katrina, is incompetence, have carried off 9/11 with few glitches? And, how could the hu...Russ Wellen2006-02-25T19:25:58Z2006-02-25T19:25:58Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=193Netting Dolphins Along with TunaA Zogby poll taken in early January revealed that 52% of Americans would like to see Congress weigh impeaching President Bush for authorizing NSA spying without a warrant.
Like all polls, it comes with a margin of error, in this case, plus or minus 2.9 percent. I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest this. But shouldn't polls also make allowances for respondents who answer the way they think they should instead of how they really feel?
In other words, presumably because they don't hea...Russ Wellen2006-02-21T14:26:40Z2006-02-21T14:27:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=192Bush & Co.: A Steady Stream of Grist for the Humor MillIn 1968 politics was the most exciting game in town. With the Vietnam War as a backdrop, the Democratic Convention was held in the midst of running riots. Mayor Richard Daley of host Chicago provided an object lesson in how to turn young Americans off to the American political system when he shouted what were called "unprintable slurs" at Senator Abraham Ribicoff during his conciliatory speech.
Meanwhile Norman Mailer and Hunter Thompson were weighing in with printable slurs. It didn't get...Russ Wellen2006-02-17T13:56:26Z2006-02-17T13:56:26Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=191Bull in China Shop to Get Commemorative Plate?According to Warren Strobel of Knight Ridder, State Department officials appointed by President Bush have replaced career experts on WMD and arms control with political appointees.
"Among those who have left is the State Department's top authority on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the international regime to curb the spread of nuclear arms."
When he was Undersecretary of...Russ Wellen2006-02-13T14:13:55Z2006-02-13T14:21:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=190How Are You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the (Nuclear-Free) Farm?Who are we to express outrage that Iran has procured designs and documents for constructing an atomic warhead on the nuclear black market? After all, wasn't it the US that underfunded securing loose Russian nukes while Al Qaeda may have been busy buying tactical nuclear weapons on that same black market (read: Russian or Chechnyan mobsters)? If you doubt that, consult Graham Allison (Nuclear Terrorism) or Paul L. Williams (The Al Qaeda Connection).
Consider the pace of techno...Russ Wellen2006-02-10T13:21:21Z2006-02-10T13:21:21Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=189Terror Tunnel"Senior U.S. intelligence officers are concerned that the sophisticated 1.4 mile tunnel, complete with ventilation, electrical, and water systems, as well as cement flooring, that connects two warehouses on each side of the border, could have been used to secretly transport nuclear devices or material into the United States."
-- Wayne Madsen, February 1
As always Madsen leads the way. Meanwhile, the last thing fello...Russ Wellen2006-02-06T14:06:45Z2006-02-06T14:06:45Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=188When Corruption Was KingOh, that would be now.
"The scale of the scandals now coming to light, of which the Abramoff affair is just a part, dwarfs anything in living memory."
-- From "A False Balance" by Paul Krugman, January 30
Squandered billions in Iraq, where, as post-Katrina, White House-affiliated contractors have been handed the key to the lock box.Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, and, yet to come to a full boil, Denni...Russ Wellen2006-02-02T14:10:42Z2006-02-02T14:13:38Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=186Climate Change: What Did We Know and When?"Climate change is the only thing [with] the power to fundamentally end the march of civilization as we know it, and make a lot of the other efforts that we're making irrelevant and impossible."
--Bill Clinton in Davos last week
No shit, Matlock. This statement was also true ten years ago, when Clinton actually had the power to do something brave. Instead, he let Kyoto starve unattended in a senate mop closet and treated runaway climate change like just another...Alexander Zaitchik2006-01-30T13:39:08Z2006-01-30T14:33:40Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=185Filibuster or Bust"Democrats break silence on Alito: Filibuster unlikely, frustration high" reads the title of a Raw Story article by John Byrne.
"One aide said part of the problem is that Democratic senators haven't felt a groundswell of opposition from constituents. . . . 'People aren't engaged in this fight. . . . [It] isn't something that American people are calling in droves about.'"Russ Wellen2006-01-26T15:28:14Z2006-01-26T15:28:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=184They've Got to Do Something, Don't They?The creator of the earth-as-Gaia theory, is reading us the riot act again:
". . . climate centres. . . which are the equivalent of the pathology lab of a hospital, have reported the Earth's physical condition. . . . [It's] soon to pass into a morbid fever that may last as long as 100,000 years."
--Environmental scientist James Lovelock, The Independent
Many thoughtful peopl...Russ Wellen2006-01-24T16:04:21Z2006-01-24T16:04:21Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=183Give Me a Military Coup Any DayOn Thursday, January 19, The New York Times and The Washington Post published bookend columns. For the Times, James Webb, Reagan's Secretary of the Navy, weighed in [no link provided since op-ed page is subscribers only]; for the Post, columnist E.J. Dionne.
They echoed each other with denunciations of hard-right attacks on Senator John Murtha for speaking out against the...Russ Wellen2006-01-20T14:53:49Z2006-01-20T14:53:49Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=182Maybe We're Not as Violent as We Think We AreFirst, just how war-like are Americans? Listen to Howard Zinn in his recent article, "After the War," in The Progressive:
"There is a persistent argument. . . We will never do away with war because it comes out of human nature. The most compelling counter to that claim is in history: We don't find people spontaneously rushing to make war on others. [Instead] governments must make the most strenuous efforts to mob...Russ Wellen2006-01-17T16:05:50Z2006-01-17T16:05:50Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=181Whom the Gods Would Destroy. . .. . . they first make mad with power, wrote historian Charles A. Beard. Meanwhile, in a recent TomDispatch, contemporary chronicler Tom Englehardt wrote:
". . . when critics concentrate on any specific issue or set of administration acts, no matter how egregious or significant, they invariably miss the point."
. . . which is that. . .
"Under George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the...Russ Wellen2006-01-12T14:28:45Z2006-01-12T14:31:45Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=180Empathy, Sympathy--What's the Difference?On New Years Day, President Bush visited troops at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Apparently, former advisor Karen Hughes once clued him in on this empathy thing, which she remembered from a mandatory senstivity training course during her corporate climb, and he thought he'd give it a spin:
"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself--not here at the hospital, but in combat with a ...Russ Wellen2006-01-09T15:25:06Z2006-01-09T15:26:21Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=179Abramoff Euphoria Already Deflated by Fears of Attack on IranNobody can ruin your day like Wayne Madsen:
"Intelligence and military sources in the United States and abroad are reporting on various factors that indicate a U.S. military hit on Iranian nuclear and military installations, that may involve tactical nuclear weapons [Editor's italics], is in the final stages of preparation. Likely targets for saturation bombing are the Bushehr nuclear power plant (where Russian and other forei...Russ Wellen2006-01-05T15:55:35Z2006-01-05T15:55:35Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=178A Slippery SlopeAfter reading Sidney Blumenthal's December 30 Guardian article, "Victory in Name Only," charting President Bush's reversal of fortune in 2005, one can't help but notice that his slide has been greased by words that begin with "S". From Schiavo to Social Security to Sheehan to Shi'ites to his rumored slip (in AA terminology), Bush has been besieged by all things sibilant.Russ Wellen2006-01-04T14:57:10Z2006-01-04T14:57:10Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=177So Much for SourcesAs if the rulings against Judy-Judy-Judy Miller and Time Magazine's Matthew Cooper weren't enough to put a damper on the use of sources. Then along comes news that the administration ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on communications between the media and their sources in the NSA, as well as other US intelligence agencies. As usual, former NSA analyst Wayne Madsen has the lowdown.
In a program known as "Firstfruits," t...Russ Wellen2006-01-02T18:15:58Z2006-01-02T18:15:58Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=176Just the Facts, Ma'amJournalist Mark Bowden is non-PC to a T. Famous for writing Black Hawk Down, he also wrote an article collected in Road Work about our air assault on Afghanistan called "The Kabul-Ki Dance." It's nauseating three times over:
The number of sorties flown and bombs dropped was beyond both the comprehension and desire to comprehend of most Americans.
For the most part, the pilots and "wizzos" (bombers) were serenely untouched by the unseen civilians whose lives the...Russ Wellen2005-12-30T14:17:47Z2005-12-30T14:17:47Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=174Vote Smart, Not from the HeartAs detailed by Professor Ilya Somin in "When Ignorance Isn't Bliss: How Political Ignorance Threatens Democracy," most people vote based on vague feelings about how life is treating them. (Though written for the faux-libertarian Cato Institute, his policy analysis is useful.)
It doesn't have to be that way. Project Vote Smart examines both candidates for federal office and elected officials in five basic categories: biographical information...Russ Wellen2005-12-27T21:23:25Z2005-12-27T21:23:25Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=173Constitutionally Incapable of a ConstitutionOne of Doug Thompson's beats at CapitolHillBlue.com is the president's psyche. He talked to three people present for a meeting Bush held last month with Republican Congressional leaders about renewing the Patriot Act. An aide informed him there was a valid case that it undermines the Constitution.
"'Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,' Bush screamed back. 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper!'"Russ Wellen2005-12-23T19:16:55Z2005-12-23T19:21:56Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=172Why a War?In The Emotional Life of Nations (Other Press, 2002), Lloyd deMause, the founder of psychohistory, writes that the real reason a state prosecutes war is not to conquer another state or even jump-start its economy. In fact, the most destructive wars, measured in fatalities, usually occur after a sustained economic upswing. What gives?
Not only do many of us feel unworthy of prosperity, he contends, but humanizing society and relaxing artistic and entertainment constraints make people...Russ Wellen2005-12-21T15:06:32Z2005-12-21T15:06:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=171Slice of LiceAt holiday time, the call goes out: "Remember the needy." The early
sixties, prosperous for most, afforded Americans the luxury of
developing a social conscience. Thus was created a climate receptive to
Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. However, Hurricane Katrina blew the
lid off the box into which poverty was stuffed, and it billowed forth
in all its voluminousness.
Since the problem no longer seems manageable enough for us to make a
dent in with our checks, we hand...Russ Wellen2005-12-19T17:56:29Z2005-12-19T17:56:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=170American Taliban on Your Street?Delightful article by John Sugg in the latest issue of Mother Jones, in
which Sugg (who I got to know from his courageous reporting on Israeli
espionage) details the latest incarnation of American Taliban to poison the well of civic life. The group that Sugg profiles are called Christian Reconstructionists, whose avowed pur...Christopher Ketcham2005-12-16T20:26:32Z2005-12-16T20:39:04Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=169Premiere of Freezerbox's Commentator of the Week AwardThe first winner of the Freezerbox Commentator of the Week award goes to former CIA analyst Ray McGovern--long a leading light of the Internet--for his TomPaine.com article, "McCain's Defining Moment," on "enhanced interrogation techniques."
I had just been thinking that most Americans don't have a problem with torture. In fact, President Bush may have been 'elected' expressly because of his administration'...Russ Wellen2005-12-16T15:20:58Z2005-12-16T15:28:16Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=168George ShrinksAt age 87, Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes, who started in 1956, may have set a record for most years spent continuously working in the public eye. He got yet more media attention for his profanity-laced interview with the Boston Globe's Suzanne Ryan. The highlight was his answer to Ms. Ryan's question about what he would ask President Bush, who's declined to be interviewed by him, ...Russ Wellen2005-12-14T14:16:34Z2005-12-14T14:16:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=167Tripping Jihadis on Ultimate BummerTripping Jihadis on Ultimate Bummer
On DefenseTech.org, a subdivision of Military.com, David Hambling reports on one Marine's blog (now protected by a USMC security screen). Titled "The Green Side," its author is Lt. Col. Dave Bellon, an intelligence officer for the First Regimental Combat Team in Iraq.
Describing suicidal attacks by insurgents in Fallujah, Bellon--among others--wrote th...Russ Wellen2005-12-12T16:11:55Z2005-12-12T16:19:17Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=166Christlamic FundamentalismOne reason Islamism (political Islam) and the US are on a collision course is that we're too alike. This thought crystallized when I came across the passages below, from Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam (Metropolitan Books, 2005) by Robert Dreyfuss, who writes for, among others, the Nation and Rolling Stone.
"None of the important Islamist movements. . . preached social and economic justice. Instead, they opposed state ow...Russ Wellen2005-12-09T15:09:59Z2005-12-09T15:12:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=164Banks Bear Your InterestEver wonder how banks evolved? For those of you as financially challenged as me, Ellen Brown explains in "Returning the Money to the People," an article on FinancialOutrage.org.uk. It was excerpted from her forthcoming book, The Wizards of Wall Street and How They Are Bankrupting America.
"The sleight of hand by which banks create money da...Russ Wellen2005-12-07T15:20:09Z2005-12-07T15:22:04Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=163A Bore of a WarJames Fallows's article in the December Atlantic Monthly, "Why Iraq Has No Army" (for subscribers only, but currently available online elsewhere) is as explosive as it is comprehensive. An excerpt:
"'There is still no sense of urgency,' T. X. Hammes [M...Russ Wellen2005-12-05T16:40:51Z2005-12-05T16:42:52Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=162The President: On Soma--or in a Coma?Former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson, who's set a new benchmark for administration turncoats, says President Bush was "too aloof, too distant from the details" of post-war planning.
In "Bush's Shrinking Safety Zone," the Washington Post's Dan Froomkin writes:
"[Bush's] aides intentionally keep him mentally and physically aloof from any ...Russ Wellen2005-12-02T16:07:38Z2005-12-02T16:15:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=161The Cave from Which Terrorism's Wellspring FlowsLloyd deMause, the director of the Psychohistory Institute, has no qualms about spelling out the primitive impulses that fuel American foreign policy. But in The Emotional Life of Nations (Other Press, 2002), he maintains:
"The roots of current terrorist [Islamic] attacks lie, I believe, not in this or that American foreign policy error but in the extremely abusive families of the terrorists."
We'll let deMause,...Russ Wellen2005-11-30T16:20:32Z2005-11-30T16:23:01Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=160Can Democrats Turn Republican Led into Gold?"I think that would cause more problems for Americans."
--Senator Hillary Clinton
"I'm not there yet."
--Senator Joe Biden (his time)
Why are Congressional Democrats balking at Representative John Murtha's call for withdrawal from Iraq (or, more accurately, redeployment to points not far distant from there)?
First, of course, like Republicans, they cater to the whims of their corporate donors. (Tell me again: They support this drain-on-the-eco...Russ Wellen2005-11-27T02:59:23Z2005-11-27T03:00:17Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=159French Riots as Cyclic as Tour de FranceCalling French rioters by the derogatory term racaille (rabble), Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy only reveals his fear of a new French Revolution. However, it's been fomenting for fifteen years. Lorenzo Vidino of Steven Emerson's Investigative Project explains in his timely new book, Al Qaeda in Europe: The New Battleground of International Jihad (Prometheus Books, 2006, though available now):
"In the summer of 1995, the streets of France were bloodied by an un...Russ Wellen2005-11-23T14:50:02Z2005-11-23T14:50:02Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=158Bush, bin Laden Headed for Melt-Down?Melt-downs come in different shapes and sizes. There's the kind that can happen to plutonium in a nuclear reactor. Or to vast expanses of the planet should bin Laden sanction the detonation of nuclear suitcase bombs in the US and President Bush retaliates with mega-tonnage overkill.
Deriving its name from the nuclear, there's the psychic variety of meltdown, a term most often applied to children--and adults who disintegrate like children. No chance of that happening to bin Laden, who most ...Russ Wellen2005-11-21T15:07:37Z2005-11-21T15:09:41Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=157A King Rat Inches His Way Off Sinking ShipIn "Wrestling with History" (the November 13 Sunday Washington Post Magazine), David Von Drehle provides some of the deepest insight yet into ex-college wrestler Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He reports on a memo which Rumsfeld periodically reminds everyone he walked President Bush through before the invasion of Iraq. It listed 29 bullet points on what could go wrong. Drehle write...Russ Wellen2005-11-18T14:19:29Z2005-11-18T14:19:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=155Chalabi's Bay of PigsWhat is this love affair the administration continues to conduct with Ahmad Chalabi? Upon revisiting Patrick and Andrew Cockburn's Out of the Ashes: The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein (HarperCollins, 1999), which chronicles how Hussein solidified his weakening grip on Iraq after the Gulf War, one better understands. The Cockburns dramatically describe what they characterize as the Iraqi Bay of Pigs.
Everyone knows how the exiled Chalabi formed the Petra Bank in Jordan, only to escap...Russ Wellen2005-11-14T22:33:35Z2005-11-18T14:22:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=154Al-Qaeda Losing Credibility on the Arab StreetFrom BBC News:
"But actions such as the Amman bombing of the wedding tend to undermine mainstream support that al-Qaeda might have had. . . . hundreds of people [protesting against] Zarqawi. . . But the way to measure this [is in] public reporting on the mili-tants to the police. That has happened a lot in Saudi Arabia--the tide of public opinion there has turned largely against al-Qaeda because so many Saudis hav...Russ Wellen2005-11-11T18:49:18Z2005-11-11T18:49:18Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=153The Wonders of the WebFrom an article on Nuclear Threat Initiative:
"The [Website} 'al-Firdaws', or 'Paradise', contains 80 pages of instructions and photographs of making bombs. . . lessons such as 'The Nuclear Bomb of Jihad' and the 'Way to Enrich Uranium.' . . . 'Normally you just get generic principles, but this appears to be more like a proper instruction manual,' said John Hassard, a physics professor at Imperial Colleg...Russ Wellen2005-11-11T15:42:30Z2005-11-11T15:48:05Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=152Cheney Still Flogging the Old Torture CanardFrom a November 5 article in Editor & Publisher about a Defense Intelligence Agency document from February 2002:
"It shows that an al-Qaeda official [Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi] held by the Americans. . . 'was intentio...Russ Wellen2005-11-09T16:59:09Z2005-11-09T17:02:05Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=151IranqNoted Iraqi blogger Riverbend, either modest to a fault or, equally appealing, lacking in media savvy, fails to mention her new book, Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq (Feminist Press, 2005) anywhere on her homepage. But her November 6 entry neatly sums up the situation at hand.
"American and British sons and daughters and husbands and wives are dying so that this ...Russ Wellen2005-11-07T17:10:13Z2005-11-07T17:14:18Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=150Let Us Not Be Too Quick to Hail ChavezUrged on by soccer legend Diego Maradona, ten thousand protesters chanted "Get out, Bush on Friday, November 4, by way of welcoming our president to Mar Del Plata. The Argentinean resort is hosting the Summit of the Americas, where the administration will promote its Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) proposal. While expected to ultimately pass, it has stalled amid opposition by, among others, Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, who was expected to address the protesters before attending the...Russ Wellen2005-11-04T22:30:47Z2005-11-06T21:15:43Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=149I'm Aboard. Pull up the Ladder.Entropy--the inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society--has long been the province of fiction and, recently, the liberal and progressive press. However, it's coming home to roost among the branches on high, where it was hatched.
This is made manifest in an extraordinary piece, kindly reproduced on Mike Ruppert's FromtheWilderness.com, titled "Russ Wellen2005-11-03T18:31:40Z2005-11-03T18:31:40Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=148Video Store TipWith immigrant-cop battles raging in Paris, it's a good time to re-visit Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 classic film, La Haine (Hate) of the same subject. If you've never seen it, acquaint yourself with it.Alexander Zaitchik2005-11-02T16:45:52Z2005-11-03T01:17:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=147The Lamest Duck Ever
Now does he feel his title
Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe
Upon a dwarfish thief.
-- Shakespeare, Macbeth
Like Herpes, presidents last a lifetime.
Watching the world crumbling around our peevish president one year into his second term has led me to the mental exercise of imagining George W. Bush in 2025. When he leaves office at a fit 62, the black joke of his presidency will only deepen. Never will there have been less us...Alexander Zaitchik2005-11-02T16:09:35Z2005-11-03T01:19:54Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=145"Atomic Apartheid""Unsurprisingly, the phrase 'atomic apartheid' is being heard increasingly in Iranian government circles as well as by ordinary Iranians who feel that their country is being unfairly singled out [for exclusion from the nuclear club]."
Talk about twisting this worldwide catchphrase for oppression and discrimination to your own purposes. Then, last week, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" at the discreetly titled "World W...Russ Wellen2005-11-01T17:24:21Z2005-11-01T17:24:21Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=144Lawrence of IraqDouble-crossed by his own government (T.E.) Lawrence of Arabia was unable to succeed in bringing to Arabs the independence he fought for with them. The British occupation of Iraq also frustrated him.
Here's an excerpt from a 1920 Sunday Times article, as quoted in An Alliance Against Babylon: The U.S., Israel, and Iraq (Pluto Books, 2005) by veteran TV and print correspondent, John Cooley:
Iraq was "a trap from which it will be hard (for Britain) to escape w...Russ Wellen2005-10-28T19:18:34Z2005-10-29T01:12:04Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=143It Wasn't Only Joseph Wilson They Were AfterAs has been remarked, the lengths to which the administration went to exact revenge on Joseph Wilson for pulling the tablecloth off the WMD rationale and letting the yellowcake crash to the floor were way out of proportion to his imagined offense. Especially when it had a war to wage.
Sure, Cheney is noted for his vindictiveness. However, according to Wayne Madsen, it wasn't just Wilson the administration was after:
"['Scoot...Russ Wellen2005-10-27T14:41:02Z2005-10-27T14:41:02Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=142Mud People Beware: Virginal Hate-Mongers on the LooseFrom an October 20 article on the ABC News Web site, "Young Singers Spread Racist Hate":
"Thirteen-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede have one album out, another on the way, a music video, and lots of fans. They may remind you another famous pair of singers, the Olsen Twins, and the girls say they like that. But unlike the Olsens. . . Lamb and Lynx are. . . white nationalists and use their talents to preach a...Russ Wellen2005-10-25T16:31:14Z2005-10-25T16:31:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=141Truth Most BrutalLast Best Chance, the nuclear terror fright flick produced by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, premiered on HBO this week. NTI, headed by Sam Nunn, is Ted Turner's anti-WMD foundation.
With its movie production values and starring TV star Fred Dalton Thompson (you know him--he shuttles back and forth from politics to acting to politics to acting), it seems directed toward the cable TV/DVD crowd, which is more likely to respond to a thriller than their...Russ Wellen2005-10-21T19:09:13Z2005-10-21T19:20:56Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=140Our Ever-Shrinking Security BlanketFrom an article in the Washington Post today about the CIA under the reign of Porter Goss:
"Goss, who served as a CIA operative in Latin America in the 1960s, is also eager to reopen stations there so the agency is prepared when conflicts arise in otherwise quiet areas. That desire has been welcomed even by his critics, but some argue it is still too early in the str...Russ Wellen2005-10-19T15:42:22Z2005-10-19T15:42:22Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=139"Cashpaks" Incoming at Three O'ClockI defy anybody to read Philip Giraldi's American Conservative article on corruption in Iraq, "Money for Nothing," and constrain his or her reaction to an American's usual facile cynicism: "That's politics." The scale on which the administration has doled out money staggers the imagination.
Of course, that's standard operating procedure for Bush & Co.: Do whatever they want, secure in the knowledge that the extent of their ...Russ Wellen2005-10-18T14:33:42Z2005-10-18T14:36:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=138Reconstituted StatehoodIraqis are constitutionally incapable of caring about their constitution because their own constitutions are compromised by the hardships of their daily lives.
From the Independent, in a story about its own inimitable Middle-East correspondent, Robert Fisk:
"He said that [US] efforts to introduce democracy, including Saturday's national vote on the country's proposed constitution--was '...Russ Wellen2005-10-14T14:27:09Z2005-10-14T14:27:09Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=137The Worst Person for the Job"When defense attorney Ron Safer heard that Patrick Fitzgerald would lead an inquiry into the leak of a CIA operative's name," Judy Keen reports in USA Today, "his first thought was that, from the Bush administration's perspective, 'they could not have picked a worse person'."
She then cites descriptions of Fitzgerald as a "relentless," "extremely aggressive," but "apolitical," prosecutor, whose ...Russ Wellen2005-10-12T20:12:33Z2005-10-12T20:12:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=136When the Right Wing Resorts to French. . .. . . to express its frustration with Bush, you know his administration is in trouble.
"There is now a distinctive fin de regime stink about Republican Washington."
As the editorial on TheBusinessOnline.com from which the above quote was excerpted continues,...Russ Wellen2005-10-10T14:24:32Z2005-10-10T14:24:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=135When Political Rockers Stop Raging Against and Become the MachineThe original members of the sophisticated, but stark, quasi-Marxist band, Gang of Four, have reformed according to a Slate article by Simon Reynolds. Their new album is faithful covers of their old songs. Say what?
Turns out, as Reynolds explains, that because their old record company ("E-em-my," as Johnny Rotten used to sing) had reneged on their loyalties, repackaging their old songs would have profited them nothing.
Not that th...Russ Wellen2005-10-07T18:28:06Z2005-10-09T14:42:54Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=134Justice in CaseHarriet Miers: crony--or crone? Were I to apologize for this glib sexist remark, it would be disingenuous, especially in light of my next comment: What's with the eyeliner? Is this her bid to become the first Goth SCOTUS? It does, however, match the judicial robes.
More to the point, the fear that the administration would stack the deck with idealogues has been replaced with one equally critical. Is Ms. Miers's appointment, as my wife and various Internet voices contend, an integral part o...Russ Wellen2005-10-06T14:20:59Z2005-10-06T15:32:13Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=133A Scandal a Day Keeps Indictment AwayFirst there was Watergate, named after a hotel in Washington. Then "gate" was appended to the Iran arms for hostages to fund contras scandal (in which Reagan's White House breached the firewall that heretofore insulated the presidency from the Machiavellian fray of the soul-less CIA).
Now "gate" is tacked on to all kinds of scandals: Plamegate, for instance, and its current permutation, Scootergate. This last is courtesy of the prodigious Justin Rai...Russ Wellen2005-10-04T14:41:30Z2005-10-04T14:50:23Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=132The Burning SeasonI returned to Los Angeles yesterday from Washington, DC, to find that fire season had begun. Those who don't believe Southern California has seasons fail to appreciate the region's nuances. We don't have foliage, but in the fall the hills burn. The Santa Ana winds blow, hot and dry, and somewhere in the Santa Monica or San Gabriel mountains a parched branch or piece of chaparral ignites. The water-starved brush around it goes up as well, and soon you have a scene like we had yesterday over Sunse...Michael Manville2005-09-30T21:38:54Z2005-09-30T21:38:54Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=131Is Oil Shale the Answer?I don't know much about shale, but James Hamilton spells out a number of problems with one of the much-discussed alternatives to oil. It looks better than nothing. But not much better.Michael Manville2005-09-30T20:52:45Z2005-09-30T20:52:45Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=130Let's Start by Drawing a Line in the SandAccording to the always enlightening Wayne Madsen, CIA Director Porter Goss's successor as House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence chairman, Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, has coughed up a choice piece of information.
Some HPSCI members also belong to special House caucuses that are established by lobbyists for foreign nations and, according to Hoekstra, are now providing information to the CIA. In other words, they're la...Russ Wellen2005-09-30T19:24:15Z2005-09-30T19:25:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=129The First Good Use to Which American Forces in Iraq Have Been Put?Withdrawal from Iraq is like another issue dear to our sense of national security--the autonomy of individual cells in the new Al Qaeda. In both cases, the heart of the matter is being overlooked.
When it comes to Al Qaeda, cells aside, their pet project, nuclear terrorism, would still have to be signed off on by bin Laden. When it comes to withdrawal from Iraq, weighing the pros and cons is an exercise in futility since the US is building permanent bases there.
Unless, by withdrawal...Russ Wellen2005-09-29T18:43:10Z2005-09-29T18:43:10Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=128Energy and the Law of Large ProportionsHow do we conserve energy in the United States? That question has become more urgent in light of events in the Middle East, the brief gasoline shocks from Hurricane Katrina, and the new attention being given to Peak OilMichael Manville2005-09-28T04:37:02Z2005-09-28T04:37:02Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=127FBox on the RadioYours truly was interviewed last week by Bazooka Joe for his indyradio/podcast show, the Small World. Joe was an excellent interviewer and a kind editor -- he made me sound smarter than I am.
Anyone who wants to listen to the podcast can find it on the Small World web site. I talk about the origins of Freezerbox and the future of Internet media.Michael Manville2005-09-27T18:27:36Z2005-09-27T20:47:54Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=126Every Citizen a Politician, Part II". . . for liberty will never be safe or durable in a republic till every citizen thinks it as much his duty to take care of the state, as to take care of his family, and until an indifference to any public question shall be considered a public offence [editor's emphasis]."
These are the words of a pseudonymous writer defending Thomas Paine in 1792, as quoted in Thomas Paine and the Promise of America by Harvey Kaye. Unfortunately to most Americans tod...Russ Wellen2005-09-27T17:50:26Z2005-09-27T17:50:26Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=124Every Citizen a Politician, Part I"In a republican government [a democracy, that is] it is the duty incumbent on every citizen to afford his assistance, either by taking part in its immediate administration, or by his advice and watchfulness, [editor's italics] that its principles may remain uncorrupt. . ."
Sounds quaint today, but imagine living in a time when vast numbers of people believed this. The founding principle of the German Republican Society of Philadelphia in 1793, it's quoted i...Russ Wellen2005-09-27T15:07:00Z2005-09-27T17:41:40Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=123Pat Tillman and Noam Chomsky--an Unlikely Pair or Two of a Kind?When given news at Northcom headquarters in Colorado that Hurricane Rita was much less serious than Katrina, President Bush, as reported by Newsweek, "didn't look all that relieved or happy. . . seemed cranky and fidgety. . . . rocked back and forth in his chair, furiously at times, asked no questions and took no notes."
If he can't even handle good news, no wonder they keep bad news from him. One can't help but suspec...Russ Wellen2005-09-26T16:08:47Z2005-09-26T21:11:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=122Premonitions of New Orleans Devastation by a Rock IconOn September 7 in a TimesOnline article called "New Orleans -- the ideal place to get shot," the Kinks' Ray Davies told of his visit to New Orleans last year to raise funds for a local school's Mardi Gras instruments and uniforms. However, he was shot during a mugging.
In the emergency room of New Orleans's famed Charity hospital, a doctor assured him that, "New Orleans really is the best place to get shot." In othe...Russ Wellen2005-09-22T21:39:18Z2005-09-23T00:34:50Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=121Administration Caught Dead to Rights AgainOptimism surged during the six-party talks in Beijing when North Korea vowed to give up its nuclear weapon program and rejoin the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in return for energy assistance from the other five nations and a promise not to attack. It was dowsed when Kim Jong-il's people followed up the next day when they made it clear that their idea of energy assistance was a nuclear reactor. Still, Pyongyang's vow was a step in the right direction.
In his Monday Slate article,...Russ Wellen2005-09-21T15:37:26Z2005-09-22T14:05:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=120More Astonishing StupidityThe religious right has now embraced the movie "March of the Penguins." Penguins, conservatives argue, are symbos of family values, and an argument for Intelligent Design. The Guardian reports:
Film critic Michael Medved was quoted by the New York Times calling it 'the motion picture this summer that most passionately affirms traditional norms like monogamy, sacrifice and child-rearing'. Speaki...Michael Manville2005-09-19T19:53:19Z2005-09-19T19:53:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=119Hitchens/GallowayEric Alterman watched the Hitchens Galloway debate and came away feeling sick:
I was disgusted to watch the Hitchens/Galloway debate on CSPAN yesterday. Both are brilliant debaters without much care whether the points they are making are consistent with the known evidence. Galloway is a considerably more offensive individual, and while he's right about much of what he says regarding Iraq, he's right for all the wrong reasons. He is the face of that part of the global left ...Michael Manville2005-09-19T19:43:11Z2005-09-19T19:53:44Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=118Stopping Abortion Protesters Steve Levitt reports on a new campaign by Planned Parenthood that will probably work. It will either stop protesters or raise money.
Michael Manville2005-09-19T19:36:54Z2005-09-19T19:36:54Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=117Oh, the Humiliation!From an article on Alternet:
London-based writer Joseph Hanlon, writing for the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Mozambique) in Maputo, says that in responding to flood crises, the United States has much to learn from Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world. Hanlon says 550,000 people were displaced by flooding in 2000 in southern Mozambique. Only 700 people died.
The country had undertaken extensive p...Russ Wellen2005-09-16T15:10:47Z2005-09-16T15:13:05Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=115Flying Spaghetti MonsterismThe Intelligent Design movement continues to press ahead, determined to undo the theory of evolution, which is quite simply the greatest intellectual achievement of humankind. The theory of evolution has allowed us not just to explain our own origins and our relationship to the species around us, but also theMichael Manville2005-09-14T20:08:30Z2005-12-09T00:16:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=114The Case Against Rebuilding New OrleansJack Shafer makes the case here, at Slate. New Orleans, he points out, was not exactly a shangri-la of beignets and jazz clubs. For most people it was pathos masquerading as a city. A sample:
The police inspire so little trust that witnesses often refuse to testify in court. University researchers enlisted the police in an experiment last year, having them fire 700 blank gun rounds in a New Orleans neighborhood one afte...Michael Manville2005-09-14T19:53:47Z2005-09-14T19:53:47Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=113Michael (why didn't you?) Row the Boat AshoreFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
As by now everyone knows, thanks to Knight-Ridder, Michael Chertoff, "not Brown was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan. . . a power which he didn't shift to Brown until late on Aug. 30, about 36 hours after Katrina made landfall."
"That same memo," the story continues, "suggests that Chertoff may ...Russ Wellen2005-09-14T18:23:20Z2005-09-14T18:23:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=112Where There's Smoke, There's. . . Water?From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
In response to a request for confirmation from Representative John Conyers that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco had followed procedure, lawyers of the American Law Division of the Congressional Service did some research.
They found that, "Governor Kathleen Blanco requested, by letter dated August 27, 2005 [the day before Katrina made landfall] to the President of the United S...Russ Wellen2005-09-14T17:21:30Z2005-09-14T17:21:30Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=111White House Death CultFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot. Jonah Goldberg, the, er, provocative National Review Online editor-at-large, took a lot of heat for his letter to those taking refuge in the Superdome. It said, in part, "Hoard weapons, grow gills and learn to communicate with serpents." He apologized, but, on September 6, reported that Randall Robinson, former president of Transafrica, had passed along this unsubs...Russ Wellen2005-09-10T15:08:25Z2005-09-10T15:09:41Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=110Have the Democrats Finally Discovered the Killer Within?From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
"Knock him out!" progressives scream as Iraq and the price of gasoline have given President Bush a heavy battering at the polls. But when it comes to legislative and vocal opposition, most Democratic congressmen have picked their spots. Presumably they fear alienating their principal sources of election funding -- those large corporations, which hedge their bets, though generally allocating more to the party in power, and fund Republicans and Democ...Russ Wellen2005-09-09T18:26:09Z2005-09-09T18:26:09Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=109Future Assessments of Administration Cold ComfortFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
Regarding President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina, William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and chairman of the Project for a New American Century, said, "Almost every Republican I have spoken with is disappointed."
Because, as evidenced by the Project for a New American Century itself, the administration prides itself on its visionary sweep, this assessment probably left it nonplussed. Let history be the judge, it might a...Russ Wellen2005-09-05T19:49:28Z2005-09-09T02:57:10Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=107Poker LocoFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
Taking a brief break from Katrina...
The upside of the current TV and Internet craze for Texas Hold'em Poker:
It's made math and mnemonics cool.
The downside:
It's siphoned off some of our best minds, which might be put to better use making the US competitive in technology -- from broadband to alternative energy.
It contributes to our gambling addiction, which erodes our economy...Russ Wellen2005-09-04T15:12:31Z2005-09-09T01:32:59Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=106Failure of FEMA, Part IIKevin Drum gives the agency's recent history. His summation:
A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created...Michael Manville2005-09-02T17:39:24Z2005-09-09T01:34:30Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=105Katrina Just a Test Run?From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
Bet the administration was as ill-prepared for the media backlash from Hurricane Katrina as it was for the hurricane itself.
My colleague Mike Manville has provided a comprehensive overview of the media's reaction to the administration's shortcomings in his dispatch "The Failure of FEMA." Even the New York Times has been running lacerating editorials and Paul Krugman concluded today (September 2) that there was a "stunning lack of both...Russ Wellen2005-09-02T11:43:12Z2005-09-09T01:39:40Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=104The Failure of FEMAThe national government's response to New Orleans has been appalling. I copy here from Brad Delong's web page. He has scanned the blogosphere and assembled the roll call of incompetence:
Laura Rozen is surprised:
War and Piece: My lord, the guy heading FEMA has no qualifications. What was he doing before getting pulled into FEMA by the Bush administration in 2003? He was an estate planning lawyer in Colorado and of ...Michael Manville2005-09-01T20:26:36Z2005-09-09T01:38:03Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=103The Future of New OrleansThe situation now is terrible--the Red Cross certainly needs more donations. For a rather horrifying ongoing commentary from the city, see here. But most of the heavy lifting needs to be done by the federal government: the Army Corps of Engineers needs to repair the levees and drain the city, and FEMA needs to quickly establish a vast presence in the city. Unfortunately, both these agencies have seen their bu...Michael Manville2005-09-01T16:40:34Z2005-09-09T02:02:05Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=102Politics of Intelligent DesignThe American Prospect has a nice article on the roots of the Intelligent Design movement, including its connections to a number of evangelical Christian groups, and its to some prominent Republicans. A nice sample:
ID proponents have also teamed up with conservative Republican legislators to further advance their agenda. IDâs most signific...Michael Manville2005-08-31T17:07:13Z2005-08-31T17:07:13Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=101Has peak oil arrived already?James Hamilton of UCSD offers a slightly technical but enlightening discussion of the recent Cambridge Energy Associates report on oil supply and production. He concludes that wemay have hit the peak, but points out that the "peak" is likely quite different from what various prophets of doom have imagined it to be. It's an enlightening read.
As an aside, the current price of gas (and of oil) has very little...Michael Manville2005-08-30T15:46:33Z2005-08-30T15:46:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=100Astonishing StupidityThis is quite possible the stupidest thing I have ever read. I can only assume that the new mission of the Washington Post is to make everyone who reads it incrementally dumber. I can think of no other explanation for why such an exercise in illiteracy made it into print.Michael Manville2005-08-30T00:49:24Z2005-08-30T00:53:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=99Rolling Back the BlowhardsChristopher Hitchens met his match last week when he debated Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Hitchens trotted out his usual good-vs-evil-liberals-hate-America routine, and Stewart called him on it. The video is here. The most telling part is the end--Hitchens can't wait to leave. Hitchens normally debates people who are equally if not more immoderate than he is (George Galloway, Tariq Ali) and ...Michael Manville2005-08-29T17:32:32Z2005-08-29T17:32:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=98Food for OilForget, for a moment, how much it's going to cost to fill up your tank and heat your home this winter. The rising price of oil poses a bigger but related problem: Food.
As it begins to dawn on Americans that the energy question--and bad U.S. energy policy--is at the nexus of so much that worries us, the relationship between the coming oil crunch and food costs deserves priority. Although we've come to take abundance for granted, both cheap food in the rich world and the "green revolution"...Alexander Zaitchik2005-08-29T16:50:35Z2005-12-08T23:28:08Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=97A New Way to Increase TolerancePeter Gordon of USC points us to this item from the Wall Street Journal, which is just one more reason to find Scandinavians earnest and loveable.
"Not a Swedish Joke"
If you find yourself in Malmo, Sweden, and happen to see a homosexual, an imam and a gypsy walk into a bar, it's not a joke. These are just some of the people who can be borrowed -- yes, borrowed -- from the local library for a 45-minute chat in a nearby ...Michael Manville2005-08-26T19:01:15Z2005-08-26T19:01:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=96The Evolution DebateThere is no evolution debate. There is a debate about whether creationism or Intelligent Design (which is Creationism's better-disguised descendant--yes, even Creationism evolves) should be taught in high schools. I say it can be taught in theology class, or philosophy class, or maybe history. But not in science class, because it isn't science. There is no science in saying "God did it." Sorry. There isn't.
And that's why there is no "evolution debate." On one side is the entire scientific...Michael Manville2005-08-26T18:27:07Z2005-08-26T21:37:44Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=95Fox Media EthicsThis is nice.
LA HABRA, Calif. - A couple whose home was wrongly identified on national television as belonging to an Islamic radical has faced harassment, and police are providing special protection.
After the report ran on Fox News on Aug. 7, people have shouted profanities at Randy and Ronnell Vorick and spray-painted "terrorist" (spelling it "terrist") on their property.
"I'm scared...Michael Manville2005-08-26T00:24:18Z2005-08-26T00:37:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=94The Gasoline CrunchFrom the Center for American Progress.
Yesterday, with gas over $3 a gallon in many areas of the country, the Bush administration unveiled new fuel efficiency standards. The administration proposal squanders an opportunity to reduce demand for fuel - and actually encourages automakers to produce bigger, more fuel inefficient vehicles. Worse, the rules secretly undermine state efforts to do better. California recently appr...Michael Manville2005-08-25T17:36:28Z2005-08-25T17:36:28Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=93Pentagon Slogans Put on Soldiers' GravesI really hope this isn't what it seems like. That is, I really hope no one is using soldiers' graves as an advertisement to build support for wars:
Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.
...Families are supposed to have final approval over what goes on the tombstones. That hasn't a...Michael Manville2005-08-23T19:47:05Z2005-08-23T19:47:05Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=92Buy Your Way Out of SUV GuiltReally, this is service has been a long time coming:
If you're feeling guilty about driving your giant sport utility vehicle (but not so guilty that you'd ever give it up), salvation is at hand. For a yearly fee of around $80, a company called TerraPass will offset the damage your SUV does to the atmosphere by spending your money to reduce industrial carbon emissions and to promote the spread of clean energy. They'll also send you a decal and a bumper sticker, so everyone in ...Michael Manville2005-08-22T16:58:29Z2005-08-22T17:00:21Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=91Party of National SecurityWho served in the military, and who didn't? The list is Michael Manville2005-08-22T16:51:52Z2005-08-22T16:51:52Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=90Who Won the 2000 election?It's the sore question that just won't go away. Conspiracies abound about Ohio in 2004, and they may or may not have some basis in fact. But as more and more people look at Florida in 2000, there seems less and less doubt that Al Gore actually won the state.
Paul Krugman is the most recent observer to take another look at Florida. He was prompted by Andrew Gumbel's book Michael Manville2005-08-22T16:34:26Z2005-08-22T16:44:22Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=89Heal the Body Politic, Harm the BodyFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
In "The Experiment" (The New Yorker, July 4), Jane Meyer chronicles how medical and scientific personnel have not only developed Guantanamo Bay interrogation techniques, but tailored them to individual detainees. In an exemplary piece of investigative reporting, she expands on what Neal Lewis revealed in his June 24 New York Times, article "Russ Wellen2005-08-19T12:54:21Z2005-08-19T17:40:15Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=88Withdrawal -- or Retreat?From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
After sending conflicting signals in recent days over reducing the US deployment to Iraq, President Bush set the record straight by falling back on the old we can't withdraw before the mission is complete line.
"If the public was left confused," Peter Baker said in his August 12 Washington Post article, "In Iraq, No Clear Finish Line," "it may be no more unsure than the administration itself, as some government officials involved in Ir...Russ Wellen2005-08-15T12:17:28Z2005-08-19T17:41:08Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=87Is Iraq a Sin?From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
"I am merely saying that there is objective sin in the Iraq war, and our country as a country is guilty of sin.... Americans... should live in fear and trembling about punishment."
-- Father Andrew Greeley
The Chicago Sun-Times, November 12, 2004
When Americans go to war, we don't abandon all pretenses to ethics like most nations and non-state actors. But, as if they were butter or rubber, we ration the...Russ Wellen2005-08-12T13:49:35Z2005-08-19T17:41:48Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=86Miller Denied Journalism AwardFrom Editor & Publisher:
The board of The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) has voted unanimously to not endorse an earlier decision to give a Conscience in Media award to jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller, E&P has learned.
The group's First Amendment committee had narrowly voted to give Miller the prize for her dedication to protecting so...Michael Manville2005-08-04T18:07:26Z2005-08-19T17:13:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=84Super-HannityIt seems, after seeing this, that there may well be nothing more to say. Ever.
A new comic book is coming out. It is set in a dystopian future (2021) when liberals have seized control of the world, Michael Moore is President, Chelsea Clinton is Vice President, and Osama bin Laden is Afghanistan's amabassador to the UN--which of course now runs the world. The planet is careening toward chaos and violence, and our only hope is--I kid you not--superheroes Sean Hannity, Oliver North and G. Gor...Michael Manville2005-08-04T17:57:57Z2005-08-04T17:57:57Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=83The Idiot WatchTwo cases of idiocy, one more dangerous than the other.
1. Gorgeous George Galloway, the ragingly left-wing member of Britain's Parliament who warmed the hearts of liberals everywhere by tearing Norm Coleman limb from limb in his Senate testimony, yesterday brought shame (as we all knew he would) to everyone who opposed the Iraq war, by going on Al-Jazeera and essentially inciting Islamist violence:
Two of your beautiful daughters are in the hands of foreigners - Jerus...Michael Manville2005-08-04T17:39:13Z2005-08-04T18:14:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=82Rubber-Stamped by the Home OfficeFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
Over and over again, as in this Salon article reprinted from Der Spiegel, "The Spirit of Osama," we hear that bin Laden is the "overlord of Islamist terrorists. . . But these groups operate autonomously." That Al Qaeda is "no longer involved in working out the details of attacks."
What about when it comes to nuclear-suitcase bombs? If you're familiar with ...Russ Wellen2005-08-04T16:21:28Z2005-08-19T17:42:11Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=81Santorum - The Phantom Menace!Ever notice how some right-wing pundits (and to be fair, some left-wing pundits) cast aspersions on entire groups by attributing statements to them that were seemingly made by no individual? Christopher Hitchens is rather notorious for this, blaming various pro-terrorist sentiments on members of "the Left", and if witnesses can be believed, at a debate in New York about dissent he made some libelous statement to the effect that people "on the left" think flying airplanes into buildings is a wort...Michael Manville2005-08-03T18:45:57Z2005-08-19T17:42:49Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=80Baseball and IraqDoes Baseball demand more accountability than government. Eric Alterman makes the case:
Great Quotes in History or, Why Can't Life be More Like Baseball?
"I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period."
The guy who said that was slapped with a ten day suspension. But what about these guys?
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mas...Michael Manville2005-08-02T17:25:40Z2005-08-19T17:43:40Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=79War and Moral HazardFrom today's Washington Post:
Who's Paying for Our Patriotism?
By Uwe E. Reinhardt
Monday, August 1, 2005; A17
President Bush assures us that the ongoing twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are worth the sacrifices they entail. Editorialists around the nation agree and say that a steadfast American public was willing to stay the course.
Should anyone be surprised by this national resolve, given that these wars visit no sacrifice of any sort -- neither blood nor angst nor...Michael Manville2005-08-01T16:25:02Z2005-08-01T16:25:02Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=77Signs of (these troubled) TimesBumperstickers seen on the same car -- On the top of the front dashboard beneath the windshield: "America Needs a Buddhist President."
On the back bumper, in a black oval like those indicating the driver is from a European country (UK, GDR): "RGR."
The second one stands for the Army Rangers and indicates that a family member belong to this elite unit. Together, they suggest that the owner of the car -- okay, my wife -- is suffering from a severe case of conflicted loyalties. Especia...Russ Wellen2005-08-01T11:35:17Z2005-08-01T13:19:16Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=76Miller TimeAmid the Supreme Court nomination, the London attacks, and the continued violence in Iraq, some of you may have forgotten that New York Times reporter Judith Miller continues to languish in jail. Miller has managed to put herself at the heart of both the Iraq-WMD controversy and the Karl Rove-Valerie Plame controversy. No small feat, even for a little town like DC.
The current rumor is that Miller won't testify before the special prosecutor because she may have been a source, rather than a...Michael Manville2005-07-29T21:00:04Z2005-07-29T23:18:07Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=75Apocalypse SoonI encourage everyone to wander over to Rapture Ready, a website that "scientifically" tracks the return of Christ and the final fight between good and evil.
The group's Rapture Index uses 45 separate variables (among them floods, false Christs, conditions in Israel, Inflation, and Apostasy) to determine the nearness of the Rapture. Currently the Index is at 150.
Here's a sample ...Michael Manville2005-07-27T17:20:00Z2005-08-19T17:16:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=74Stolen Election, Part DeuxA correspondent directs me to Black Box Voting, which apparently has a wealth of information about how voting machines can be rigged by a very small (4-5) number of people.
Again, I'm far from convinced that the election was compromised--although it certainly would be nice to blame someone other than the American people for the current occupant of the White House--but people do seem to be plowing away at this topic. I haven't fully digested the...Michael Manville2005-07-27T17:02:47Z2005-07-29T02:53:08Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=73Stolen Election?The current issue of Harper's has an article by Mark Crispin Miller about irregularities in the 2004 election. I am not convinced that the election was stolen, and neither, for that matter, is Miller. It's entirely possible that the election went off perfectly fairly, and also entirely possible that some votes were stolen but that the outcome of the election would not have changed. I'm also not interested, even if the election does turn out to have been compromised, in seeing Bush step down or s...Michael Manville2005-07-26T19:35:22Z2005-07-28T22:15:55Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=72They Were ExpendableFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
The New York Times is a major lobbyist seeking further deregulation of media ownership from the Federal Communications Commission. But when one of its own was impounded, it's as if it realized, never mind the mergers and acquisitions, the integrity of its core product was being impugned. In other words, the Times has become noticeably less inclined to let its pursuit of TV and radio stations dictate its content.
Dexter Filkins w...Russ Wellen2005-07-26T12:02:12Z2005-07-26T12:09:05Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=70The George Miller Animal HouseThe Los Angeles Times has a nice profile today of California Rep. George Miller, who--in addition to being one of the more liberal members of Congress, also runs a boarding house for other Democrats who need a place to crash during the week.
Miller is well-known among the anti-Wal Mart crowd. His office released a major Michael Manville2005-07-25T19:29:13Z2005-07-26T00:19:57Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=69Shi'ism Schism* a Thing of the PastFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
In "The Iraq war is over, and the winner is... Iran" on Salon yesterday, Juan Cole wrote of Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's visit to Tehran. It resulted in "wheeling and dealing of a sort not seen since Texas oil millionaires found out about Saudi Arabia. Oil pipelines, port access, pilgrim-age, trade, security, military assistance, were all on the table...Russ Wellen2005-07-22T11:59:34Z2005-07-24T23:46:37Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=68Department of Improbable ResearchPhysicists in Hungary have performed a series of quantitative analyses to explain the dynamics of the wave. Not the wave as in the ocean, but the wave as in the vaguely annoying ballgame ritual that forces you to stand up every few minutes while hopefully not dropping your hot dog or spilling your beer. Their research was published in the journal Nature, albeit not as a peer-reviewed article. The simulation model they developed can be viewed Michael Manville2005-07-21T23:33:52Z2005-07-21T23:39:18Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=67What if John Roberts were John Kerry?The Daily Kos runs an excerpt from blogger Billmon, who fantasizes about how a Karl Rove-led campaign against John Roberts might unfold:
Blasting Roberts as a corporate lawyer is an excellent smear tactic. People hate lawyers. They dislike and mistrust big corporations. It also conveniently happens to be true -- just as it was literally true that John Kerry is an upper crust Bostonian married to a woman with a fuckload of dough. Sliming Roberts ...Michael Manville2005-07-21T17:33:55Z2005-08-19T17:45:42Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=66Peak Oil and EconomicsIt's an old story: geologists, biologists and engineers proclaim the impending depletion of some vital resource, and speculate as to the various catastrophes that might ensue. Economists yawn and tell everyone to relax.
So far the economists have been right. Paul Ehrlich predicted overpopulation, human misery and resource depletion: to his consternation but our good fortune, it has yet to arrive. In 1973 the Club of Rome report announced that coal, oil, zinc and other resources would all ...Michael Manville2005-07-20T23:26:13Z2005-07-21T00:03:55Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=65The Effectiveness of Foreign AidThe folks at the Marginal Revolution point us to the current New Yorker, where James Surowiecki makes the levelheaded case for aid to Africa. Yes, money is often stolen. Yes, aid alone is insufficient to end poverty. But no, this does not mean all foreign aid should stop:
Itâs a myth that aid is doomed to failure. Foreign aid funded the campaign to e...Michael Manville2005-07-20T16:26:06Z2005-07-21T17:36:36Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=64Valerie Plame - Desk Jockey?More than one conservative pundit has said so, the implication being that her outing just wasn't that big of a deal.
Now, however, a bipartisan group of 11 former intelligence officials has released a letter vigorously disputing those claims. The group argues that the leak did indeed harm national security, and that those who say otherwise reveal an "astonishing ignorance" of how the intelligence community works.
Michael Manville2005-07-20T15:43:39Z2005-07-20T15:43:39Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=63Can we get 100 mpg?This past Sunday's Los Angeles Times had a nice article by Dan Neil about Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). Neil drove a PHEV Toyota Prius--basically a regular Prius that some rogue engineers had souped up--and got mind-boggling fuel efficiency. Here's some choice excerpts:
Does it work? In the time it takes for Hanssen to explain the car's operation, we have traveled 9.09 mil...Michael Manville2005-07-19T16:27:11Z2005-07-19T16:36:58Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=62A Good QuestionFrom the White House Press Briefing:
Q: Two years, and [President Bush] can't call Rove in and find out what the hell is going on? I mean, why is it so difficult to find out the facts? It costs thousands, millions of dollars, two years, it tied up how many lawyers? All he's got to do is call him in.
MR. McCLELLAN: You just heard from the President. He said he doesn't know all the facts. I don't know all the facts.
Q : Why?
MR. McCLELLAN: We want to know what...Michael Manville2005-07-19T16:20:17Z2005-07-19T16:21:20Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=60The Iraqnid ComethFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
When last we left Autumn of the Superpower, Russia and China were planning to hold joint war games. According to Russian President â and enthusiastic (overly perhaps) NFL memorabilia collector â Vladimir Putin, their relationship has reached "unparalleled heights."
In our next installment, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari takes the first steps in normalizing relations with former foe Iran, raising the specter of a mighty Shi'ite al...Russ Wellen2005-07-19T15:32:40Z2005-07-19T16:09:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=59Sidney Blumenthal on PlameGateA nice article in Salon.
Michael Manville2005-07-15T21:28:24Z2005-07-15T21:28:24Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=58The Consistency of the GOP
From Think Progress:
Appearing on Fox this morning, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey said the following in regards to his assessment of the growing leak scandal:
Weâve got Karl Rove, who is under this constant attack of political malarkey, who has probably the most documented case of his evidence of anyone in the the whole story. So quite frankly, I think the American people are seeing it for what it is right now. Mor...Michael Manville2005-07-15T21:26:01Z2005-07-15T21:26:01Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=57Aviation Tip of the DayDon't buy a last minute ticket when you have dossiers of the 9/11 terrorists in your carry-on.Michael Manville2005-07-15T17:47:41Z2005-07-15T17:47:41Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=56Who Really Is Karl Rove?From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
Karl Rove was born in 1950 on Christmas day. We'll leave the question of whether it was God's idea of a holiday gag gift to the earth for another day. Bet you didn't know, though, that he didn't find out the man who raised him wasn't his biological father until he was nineteen -- during his parents' divorce proceedings!
Between his parents' sin of omission and his mother's emotional illness (she committed suicide), a cloud of suspicion has sett...Russ Wellen2005-07-15T12:45:40Z2005-07-15T15:18:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=55Feds Won't Fund Transit SafetyHomeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has told the AP and testified before Congress that states and localities must fund security upgrades for public transportation, because federal money needs to go toward aviation.
"The truth of the matter is, a fully loaded airplane with jet fuel, a commercial airliner, has the...Michael Manville2005-07-14T19:28:31Z2005-07-14T21:13:31Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=54Bush's Legacy: Making Richard Nixon Look Like a Candidate for Mount Rushmore in ComparisonWhen the State Department's Office of the Historian declassified its most recent Foreign Relations records on June 28, the press had a field day. The tone of Nixon and Kissinger's conversations ranged from backroom to basement to gutter. In fact, thirty-four years later, Kissinger felt compelled to apologize on Indian TV. In March 1971, East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) sought independence, but it was suppressed by Pakistan's military. Millions of its inhabitants fled to Ind...Russ Wellen2005-07-14T16:51:58Z2006-09-26T14:45:33Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=53Save the Brain!From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
The sight of reporters like NBCâs David âThis is ridiculous, Scottâ Gregory shaking off the voodoo spell Karl Rove had cast on them has been eliciting be-still-my-beating-heart reactions from political observers. But while âItâs alive!â is all well and good, itâs time to shrink back into the shadows.
What? Just when weâve got Good Dog Karl cornered?
Yes. Rove is more valuable where he is: as the indisputable mastermind of George Bushâs as...Russ Wellen2005-07-14T12:38:44Z2005-07-14T12:44:06Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=47Party of National Security No MoreAlthough the White House won't talk about Karl Rove ("sanctity of the investigation" and all that) the rest of the Republican spin machine is in high gear, busily smearing Valerie Plame (career public servant) and Joseph Wilson (also a career public servant) as lying, far-left agitators. The n'est plus ultra of this line of thought is to be found, unsurprisingly, in the Wall Street Journal, where today's lead Michael Manville2005-07-13T16:55:56Z2005-07-13T18:25:56Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=46Living in a NotopiaFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.Charles Shaw, founder and editor of the essential Newtopia Magazine (and a former editor at equally vibrant 3AM Magazine), was recently sentenced to one year in prison for possession of small amounts of marijuana and ecstasy. Heâs transformed his legal troubles into an opportunity to advocate against the passage of bill HR 1528, the work of Wisconsinâ...Russ Wellen2005-07-13T16:11:16Z2005-07-14T13:33:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=45Santorum Solves the Catholic Church ScandalPennslyvania Senator and all-around wingnut Rick Santorum has figured out who was to blame for Boston's Catholic church pedophilia scandal: liberal professors at MIT. I kid you not.
This morning's Boston Globe has a column by Brian McGrory detailing Santorum's thesis that the Church scandal happened in Boston because Boston is overrun with liberalism.
''When the culture is sick, eve...Michael Manville2005-07-12T16:59:13Z2005-07-12T17:16:19Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=44"Do You Have Questions on Another Topic?"From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.It's almost enough to make you feel sorry for Scott McClellan. The White House Press corps, dormant so long, recently started rumbling and yesterday finally erupted. (David Corn is best on this.) Content, since 9/11, to play door mat to the White House, when one of their own - no matter that Ms. Miller is a disgrace to her profession - was led off to jail, they must have decided that wa...Russ Wellen2005-07-12T11:21:06Z2005-07-12T11:33:02Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=43Under and Un - Appreciated, That IsFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
9/11 triggered an explosion of reporting and commentary. In fact, the case can be made that we live in the Golden Age of Journalism. However, little reaches the bulk of the public.
Progressive voices no longer boast the power that forces for reform like Woodward and Bernstein and Seymour Hersh once did and that the hard-right media currently enjoys. In fact, our failure to create an impact makes us as liable as anyone to demean our own efforts....Russ Wellen2005-07-12T11:18:13Z2005-07-12T11:18:13Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=42The Art of DoublespeakScott McLellan tries to evade his past statements, and--miracle of miracles--the White House Press Corps calls him on it. It's more than a little absurd that Judith Miller is in jail over this while the White House hems and haws. Also, hasn't the White House for two years been saying that 1) top administration officials weren't involved in the Valerie Plame leak, and that 2) the leaker would be fired?
And doesn't that mean that Karl Rove, regardless of the legality of what he did--regardl...Michael Manville2005-07-12T00:25:34Z2005-07-12T00:25:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=41Cities and terrorismEarlier I wrote about why cities make attractive targets for terrorism. One reason was that high population densities provide both anonymity (for the terrorists) and a lot of victims (i.e., on a subway or crowded street.)
Now the folks at the Marginal Revolution point me to today's Wall Street Journal, which has a caveat: high density at a bomb site can generate more injuries but a lower overall death toll. This in turn means that finding a bo...Michael Manville2005-07-11T17:18:25Z2005-07-11T17:18:25Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=39Rail SecurityAlthough nothing can make a transit system completely safe, the US could certainly be doing much more than it does now. The Bush Administration has proposed about $115 million for transit security for the current year. That's pretty paltry, especially when you consider that we spend about $345 million a day in Iraq.
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) argues that $6 billion would make the nation's public transportation systems significantly safer. This is, again, somethi...Michael Manville2005-07-08T18:08:07Z2005-07-08T18:18:12Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=38More MillerAnyone interested in the full debate over Judith Miller's imprisonment and the many ambiguities that swirl around it should go to the Poynter Insitute's blog. I've made my position known, but here it is again in short:
Is this a collapse of press freedom? Maybe. The judge is sort of scary, but I don't think shielding a whistleblower is the same as shielding someone trying to crush a whistleblower.
Is Judith Miller courageous? Ab...Michael Manville2005-07-07T18:40:34Z2005-07-07T18:43:34Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=37Attacks in LondonNeedless to say this morning's bombings are appalling. It bothers me that almost four years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is still at large, and that much of the public and (it seems) military's attention is directed elsewhere. Obviously the situation in Iraq demands our attention, but the fact that bin Laden was able to orchestrate 9/11 and elude authorities for this long must certainly encourage anyone else out there hoping to strike a major western city. Let's step up the hunt for bin Laden and...Michael Manville2005-07-07T17:42:44Z2005-07-07T18:03:55Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=35The Jailing of JudithFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.The New York Times editorial about Judith Miller seems designed to steamroller the ambiguities of her case with patriotic cant: âShe is surrendering her liberty in defense of a greater liberty, granted to a free press by the founding fathers so journalists can work on behalf of the public without fear of regulation or retaliation from any branch of government.â
Meanwhil...Russ Wellen2005-07-07T11:47:46Z2005-07-07T11:59:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=34Oh, PleaseBob Geldoff has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Apparently the award can be given to any person who organizes a whole bunch of charity concerts that raise no money. On the other hand, I see that album sales for all the participating bands have gone up. So the concert certainly helped SOMEONE. The good people of Africa have finally kickstarted the flagging fortunes of Pink Floyd. That's wort...Michael Manville2005-07-07T00:27:55Z2005-07-07T00:31:57Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=33I like Rosa BrooksShe doesn't like Judith Miller.
And while we're at it, since the media still seem to be playing the Judy violins, let's revisit Franklin Foer's critique of her in New York magazine.
Michael Manville2005-07-06T17:42:58Z2005-07-06T17:47:43Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=32September 11 and Occam's RazorMy colleague Russell Wellen has posted a missive on LIHOP vs MIHOP -- essentially the question of whether the Bush Administration, with regard to September 11, "Let It Happen on Purpose" or "Made It Happen on Purpose." These ideas seem to be creeping into the conversation about 9/11--a fact that I find dismaying. Actually that's an understatement--it greatly disturbs me.
So I am going to offer a friendly dissent, and defend the mainstream point of view: that radical Islamic fanatics flew p...Michael Manville2005-07-05T18:33:01Z2005-07-05T21:25:31Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=31Benjamin Wittes on the Future of RoeWhat if the new Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade? Would this be a disaster for women's rights and liberalism? Benjamin Wittes, in his article
"Letting Go of Roe" in the January Atlantic Monthly (subscription required), argues that it would not, and that in fact Roe has weakened the case for abortion by removing it from the court of public opinion and putting into the (easily vilified) Supreme Court.
By removi...Michael Manville2005-07-05T17:40:30Z2005-07-05T17:40:30Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=30The Judith Miller LiesTime Inc. has capitulated to the special prosecutor investigating the outing of Valerie Plame, and it will turn over documentation to the government about the person or persons who contacted its reporter with the identity of a covert CIA agent.
To recap briefly: in 2002 Joseph Wilson is sent on a mission to Nigeria to determine if Iraq tried to purchase materials that could be used in a nuclear weapon. Wilson quickly finds that Ira did no such thing, and that in fact documents alleging the...Michael Manville2005-07-05T17:38:42Z2005-07-05T17:50:54Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=29IHOP? No, stupid â LIHOP. Or was it MIHOP?(Let It Happen on Purpose versus Made It Happen on Purpose)
From the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.
Youâd think that with its tendency to stumble into situations without forethought the Bush administration would accidentally blunder into a bill or initiative beneficial to humanity now and then. But no.
On second thought, it has - the administration has made it safe for conspiracy theories to come in from out of the cold. Cabal upon cabal of corruption and intrigue has e...Russ Wellen2005-07-05T12:28:12Z2005-07-05T12:28:12Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=28Let the Frog March BeginFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot.Editor & Publisher reported yesterday that Lawrence O'Donnell, senior MSNBC political analyst, stated on John McLaughlin's show that Karl Rove will be named as the Valerie Plame source in the "document dump that Time magazine's going to do with the grand jury."Plame-flame Joseph Wilson famously called for Rove to be "frog-marched" out of the...Russ Wellen2005-07-02T15:43:27Z2005-07-03T03:24:43Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=25Now It Will Hit the fanSandra Day O'Connor resigns from the Supreme Court. This will be one messy fight with a whole lot of lobbyists...Michael Manville2005-07-01T17:21:41Z2005-07-01T17:21:41Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=24Vietnam Deja Vu?The Altercation weblog today reprints a prescient list from 2003 that was originally posted on MediaWhoresOnline. Here Goes:
VIETNAM 2 PREFLIGHT CHECK
1. Cabal of oldsters who wonât listen to outside advice? Check.
2. No understanding of ethnicities of the many locals? Check.
3. Imposing country boundaries drawn in Europe, not by the locals? Check.
4. Unshakeable faith in our superior technology? Check.
5. France secretly hoping we fall on...Michael Manville2005-06-30T19:07:32Z2005-06-30T19:07:32Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=22Vietnam Deja Vu?The Altercation weblog today reprints a prescient list from 2003 that was originally posted on MediaWhoresOnline. Here Goes:
VIETNAM 2 PREFLIGHT CHECK
1. Cabal of oldsters who wonât listen to outside
advice? Check.
2. No understanding of ethnicities of the many
locals? Check.
3. Imposing country boundaries drawn in Europe,
not by the locals? Check.
4. Unshakeable faith in our superior technology?
Check.
5. France secretly hoping we fall on...Michael Manville2005-06-30T19:07:32Z2005-06-30T19:14:37Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=23The Trouble with the D. St. MemoFrom the Dossier of an Ex-Patriot. Actually, there are two problems. No, not with the probity of the memo(s), but with why it gets stuck in Americaâs craw. First, most of us not only donât object to a president lying â to us, for us, itâs all the same â about war and, in fact, regard it as evidence heâll fight dirty for us. Second, its pet connotation notwithstanding, there's the word âfixed.âAs the estimable Ray McGovern says in his article âRuss Wellen2005-06-30T12:19:51Z2005-07-01T13:21:36Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=21Is Soros Too Anti-Bush for Baseball?The folks over at the Marginal Revolution point us to a story that is both frightening and insane: a political litmus test to buy a baseball team. Quoting the Washington Post:
Major League Baseball hasn't narrowed the
list of the eight bidders seeking to buy the Washington Nationals and some Republicans on Capitol Hill already are hinting at revoking the league's antitrust exemption if billionaire financier George Soros, an ar...Michael Manville2005-06-29T21:15:48Z2005-06-30T00:28:39Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=20The Anatomy of PorkLA Times reporter Ken Silverstein has a nice, albeit depressing, article on pork barrel politics in the new issue of Harper's (not yet available online).
In small doses, what we call pork isn't automatically a bad thing, and in any event it's pretty hard to wring pork barrel spending completely out of the federalist system. Pork happens because legislators need to get re-elected, and so they seek to maximize benefits for their constituents while shielding them from costs. So they agree, ...Michael Manville2005-06-28T16:44:10Z2005-06-28T19:57:29Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=19Krugman the Isolationist?Alex Tabarrok, my second-favorite libertarian economist (the first being Tyler Cowen) unloads on Paul Krugman for his most recent column on China, saying he has abandoned both liberalism and economics. Has he? Here's Alex's take:
Marginal revolution: Paul Krugman used to be a liberal economist; no longer. His abandonment of economics has long been plain, Krugman's abandonment of liberalism was announced in yesterday's commentary on China.
What really upset me about Krugman's col...Michael Manville2005-06-28T16:34:38Z2005-06-28T18:50:59Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=18Angels? Give me a houri any day.To expand on "Nationalism Trumps Theology," I've long believed men on the hard right are fueled by resentment over all the sex other elements of the population were having starting in the sixties. In disdaining the secular life, though, and settling for their dowdy wives, they're not only at a disadvantage to liberal, libertine types. They pale, as well, besides Muslim fundamentalist men, who might find their wives -- if they can afford one -- humdrum, b...Russ Wellen2005-06-28T15:42:13Z2005-06-28T15:59:06Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=17Armored Vehicles in IraqNothing is too good for the troops -- except, apparently, the vehicles we use to ferry VIPs around Iraq. The New York Times has the story, and I plucked it off Brad Delong's web site:
Safer Vehicles for Soldiers: A Tale of Delays and Glitches - New York Times : By MICHAEL MOSS: When Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited Iraq last year to tour the Abu Ghraib prison camp, military officials did not rely on a government-issued Humvee to transport him safely on the ground. Instead...Michael Manville2005-06-27T18:52:13Z2005-06-27T18:52:13Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=16The French WorkweekA new study argues that lowering the French work week to 35 hours created 350,000 jobs. Here's a link to a story.
I haven't read the study itself yet, but since the government commissioned it I'm not sure how many of its conclusions we should take at face value. Once I get a chance to read the report maybe I'll have more to say.
But here's my initial thought on analyses like this one: obviously they're use...Michael Manville2005-06-24T23:22:28Z2005-06-25T03:41:21Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=15The Hillary SmearI've always been a little puzzled by the right wing hatred of Hillary Clinton. Forests have been felled to describe this woman's malign intent, and for the most part what we have gotten out of the effort is 1) a whole lot of dreck, often involving assertions that she is a deranged radical and/or a leftist 2) evidence that she is highly ambitious, and 3)evidence that she can be cold and/or mercurial.
Now, I'm willing to believe numbers 2 and 3, because they describe, well, a whole lot of p...Michael Manville2005-06-24T22:04:47Z2005-06-25T15:11:25Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=14Major ThreatPhil Knight, founder of Nike, has made reservations for his own special spot in hell, where his entrails will be turned into strings for demonic tennis rackets, his legs ripped off and used as bats in an interleague softball game between Nazis and pedophiles, his eyeballs lobbed against the wall's of Satan's personal squash court. All of the above body parts will grow back continuously, Prometheus-style, only to be desecrated again, while a shrill imp sitting on his shoulder screams into his tim...Matthew Callan2005-06-24T21:55:18Z2005-06-25T03:38:14Zhttps://www.freezerbox.com/archive/blog.php?id=12