Say Bye Bye to Sesame Street Warnings?

Time to scrap the Terror Alert System (color-coded threat alerts)? I think so, as does the DLC. But I will miss seeing Ernie or Bert when I load my blog.

"Where's the Outrage?"

Read David Corn's latest rant.

94 Senators Try a Fix

The Senate tries to fix one part of history's worst tax-cut bill:

WASHINGTON, June 5 — The Senate voted overwhelmingly today to give an increased child tax credit to millions of low-income families who did not receive it in the new tax law, moving rapidly to quell an issue that Democrats had used to portray Republicans as brutish toward the poor. The vote was 94 to 2. Both opponents, Senators Don Nickles and James M. Inhofe, are Republicans from Oklahoma. Mr. Nickles said he objected to increasing the refund to people who did not pay federal income taxes. The bill, which would allow 6.5 million minimum-wage families to begin receiving checks of $400 per child, now goes to the House, where its prospects are uncertain. Two senior House Republican officials said today that House leaders would vote for the increased child credit only as part of a much broader tax bill that could cost the Treasury about $100 billion. That could cost the bill Senate support. The Senate bill is projected to pay for itself with increased customs fees and would not come at a cost to the Treasury.

Thanks for Trying, Verizon

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has struck another blow to our personal privacy, this time on our use of the internet. Snippets:

Verizon Communications said Wednesday that it will turn over to a recording industry trade group the names of four anonymous subscribers accused of illegal file swapping, after an appellate panel denied the company's request for a delay.

At stake are subpoena powers granted under a controversial copyright law that aims to make it easier for content owners to combat Internet piracy. Unlike ordinary "John Doe" subpoenas, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) allows copyright holders to subpoena information without first seeking a judge's blessing, making it an easier and cheaper method for tracking down alleged copyright infringers.

Privacy experts have criticized such subpoenas, saying they violate consumers' privacy and give copyright holders too much power. Internet trade groups worry that it could shift the burden of copyright enforcement toward ISPs.

For an analysis on why the court's actions are probably illegal, go to THIS article and then click "30-page brief" in the 2nd paragraph. And HERE is another analysis of the situation.

HERE is a fascinating interview with Paul Kunz, who, along with his fellow group of atom-smashers, created the first web page in 1991.

Arianna Spouts

Arianna's latest column rips apart the recent tax cuts. Snippet:

"How about the unprecedented aircraft-leasing deal currently being put together by the Pentagon and Boeing -- a plan that uses the same kind of accounting sleight-of-hand popularized by the gang at Enron. Here's how it works: instead of the Pentagon buying the 100 new jets it wants to use as aerial refueling tankers directly from Boeing, at an upfront cost of $138 million per plane, a special-purpose entity created on Wall Street will purchase the planes and lease them to the Air Force. That way the Pentagon gets to acquire the planes without having to dip into the Air Force's limited procurement budget, and Boeing gets to reap billions in new military contracts without having to show the debt associated with the shady deal on its balance sheet. It's an off-the-books win-win deal for them both -- but a losing proposition for taxpayers, who'll end up forking over an additional $8 billion to cover the interest payments on the leases. The sleazy new deal is being put together by the good bankers at Citigroup -- the same outfit that helped Enron defraud shareholders out of, what do you know, also $8 billion. Who says irony is dead?"

Wolfowitz Admits What We All Know and What Bush Won't Say

From The Guardian today:

The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to delegates at an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend, and reported today by German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and Die Welt.

Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated differently from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction had been found, the deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it simply. The most important difference between North Korea and Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea of oil."

In The Media...

Doesn't THIS just make your skin crawl?

Top U.S. Marine Commander in Iraq says there are no WMD.

Let the media buyouts begin.

Helen Thomas on those dadburn WMD.

The Saintly Molly Ivins on the FCC's new deregulation rules.

SAVE KITTENS!

Salam Pax, author of "Dear Raed" has been found. The Guardian has the full story.

The Blog Ecosystem

We're a Slimy Mollusk (see 1507 or so). We'd like to be at least a Crawly Amphibian.

What's Up With Blogger?

I am getting quite frustrated with Blogger these days. I paid upgrades for Blogger Pro and Blogspot Plus, and the service has been steadily degrading almost daily, especially with respect to speed and template reliability. I've seen many other similar complaints by fellow Blogger users. If you have info on a more-reliable blogger service, I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave a comment or e-mail me. Thanks loads!

A Clear Channel to Supporting Media Monopolies

***UPDATE*** IT'S OFFICIAL.

Dan Gillmor of the Mercury News examines today's almost certain decision to relax "rules governing corporate ownership of multiple media outlets, potentially unleashing a wave of consolidation that could put the nation's TV, radio stations and newspapers into the hands of fewer owners." Snippet:

"Among the changes likely to be approved:
• A single company could own up to three TV stations in a single market, such as the Bay Area;
• A company could own TV stations reaching 45 percent of the nation's viewing audience, up from the current 35 percent cap;
• A company could own both a newspaper and a TV station in all but the smallest markets.
The Bay Area market, which includes San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, is typical of other major markets. One-fourth of the region's TV stations are owned by major TV networks. The nation's two largest radio groups -- Clear Channel Communications and Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting -- own nearly one-third of the local radio stations. And the two largest newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Mercury News, are owned by larger companies that also own other media properties across the nation."

Dan then asks, what can we do next: (snippet)

"Assuming the fix is in, let's ask a different question: Where do we go from here? We, the people, need to understand what's happening, and why. Then we need to get angry. We need to get organized, and take the fight back to the halls of power. And we need to call Powell's bluff. He's reassuring everyone that our fears are groundless, but now he has to back his lofty words with genuine action."

Read the entire article HERE.

Finally, Tom Shales of the Washington Post gives his effusive rant about the whole issue. Snippet:

"Unless something dramatic and unexpected occurs to stop it, this is what will happen today in Washington: The Republican chairman of the Republican-dominated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and his Republican majority will revise long-standing rules on media ownership in ways that will hugely benefit, among others, rich Republicans. Revising and relaxing the rules that prohibit a single entity from controlling too large a percentage of American media will allow corporations that are already too big to become much, much bigger. Also much more powerful and much more oblivious to the common good. The proposed changes are such a threat to First Amendment freedoms that even some Republicans on Capitol Hill have been brave enough to oppose them. And yet, a fat lot of good it does. FCC Chairman Michael Powell wants to plow ahead with his deregulation scheme no matter what. It appears he is trying to do more damage than any other chairman in FCC history."

Take 4 minutes and do this.

Tomorrow (June 2nd) the FCC will be voting on new rules that allow media corporations to increase the number of stations they can own. You can do something about it today. Click or paste into your address field, the following link and briefly (e.g. "I am strongly opposed to further relaxing the current media ownership rules") let the FCC know how you feel. DO it NOW.

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/ecfs/Upload?hot_docket=1006400938%7C02-277%7CBroadcast+Ownership&Send=Continue

Here is a post of mine today at Billmon:

"As long as the American masses are indifferent enough to not care about searching for the truth, we (those who do care) are doomed. As Michael Rivero said: "Most people prefer to believe their leaders are just and fair even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which they live is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of a corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all."

We (who care) have all been in the same boat for many months now, and tell me, have any of us actually convinced any one else to change their pro-Bush view? Probably not. That's because we propogate a we're-right-you're-wrong attitude rather than lowering ourselves to their level of attention and pointing out how their lives are slowly spinning into the sewer as a result of almost everything the Bush Administration does. Joe-next-door doesn't care about the relative distribution of tax cuts between the extremely poor and the top 1% of the income spectrum. But if you show him how his state must now raise his taxes, reduce police and fire teachers due to lower federal taxes, then you'll get his attention."

Tom Paine has chronologically arranged the WMD statments, made by Bush et al to the American public since last summer. People, these statements were made to you by our President and his staff in order to convince you of the necessity of their actions. Now, you tell me if the slaughter of Iraq based on these statements was justified, and if so, why. More (and original source of) statements HERE.

Republicans Screw Low-Income Citizens - Part II

From Yesterday's NY Times:

"A new study by groups critical of the tax law that President Bush signed on Wednesday has found that 8 million mostly low-income taxpayers will not receive any benefit from the law. Republicans have said for weeks that the new tax law was designed to benefit all those who pay income taxes. This is the second time since Congress passed the bill that critics have pointed out how some of its provisions would not help millions of people in the lowest tax brackets. In response to earlier disclosures about the complex bill's fine print, the Senate's chief Republican writer of tax legislation said on Friday that Congress should revise at least some of the law's provisions, involving child tax credits, to broaden their effect. The new analysis says that the taxpayers who get nothing from the tax law are primarily low-income single people who do not have children and lack income from dividends or capital gains. A large number of low- and moderate-income single parents with children over 16 will also get no benefit from the law, because it did not change the tax rate for such parents who are unmarried. In combination with the children who were cut from the bill's benefits by the Congressional negotiators, the study says, there are 50 million households — 36 percent of all households in the nation — who will receive no benefit from the tax law. The figure includes people who do not earn enough to owe income tax. But the study's authors noted that there are 40 times as many taxpayers who get no benefit from the cuts as there are millionaires who will get 44 percent of the law's tax benefits in 2005."

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Take the Post-War Iraqi Quiz and see how informed you are.

Then, see why Bush is a Genius. Really.

Bush finally seeks peace with nations who opposed his invasion. NOT!