Weapons of Mass Instruction

Anti-War books for young people. "This list was built from the contributions of librarians, educators, parents, and young readers."

Medicare Drug Benefit Calculator

Beneficiary Out of Pocket Costs: This calculator allows users to enter their prescription drug costs to determine what they would pay under the Medicare reform recently passed by Congress.

Money Maps

Here is a site, FUNDRACE2004, that tracks the sources of contributions to all the presidential candidates. You can also find out contributions by state, county and zip code.

Check out this new Kucinich animated ad!

Keeping Abreast of Tariffs:

Imports of steel, Sept. 2003: $1.094 billion Tariffs collected on steel: $14 million Imports of bras, Sept. 2003: $108 million Tariffs collected on bras: $12 million

Bad News

If you have a fetish for bad news, today's CAP Progress Report should fill the bill (especially if you're a Californian).

By the way, if there is only one site for which you have time during the day for reviewing current events, make it Center for American Progress.

Can Ashcroft Kill That Too?

Maybe we just need Poker Night to maintain our sanity.

Our Energy Policy Needs Some Red Bull

A view about our current energy policy (snippet):

We Don't Have the Energy Why Can't We Set A Goal for Energy? by ED HUNT - posted 11.23.03 Why is it that one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world finds itself incapable of putting together a cohesive energy policy that reduces its dependence on imports and fossil fuels? Roundly denounced as a disastrous piece of rubbish legislation -- packed full with giveaways to polluters, and subsides so egregious that even Republicans are scratching their heads -- the energy bill set before Congress last week will do nothing to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, or on imports of energy from other countries. Much of the legislation is in the form of tax breaks for industries that are already more than profitable. Instead Republicans have gone out of their way to remove environmental laws that threaten their energy industry patrons, while kicking back tax breaks and subsidies -- a return on the investment of hundreds of millions in industry campaign contributions. There is little wonder as to why the energy bill was crafted behind closed doors. After all, even members of Congress have some sense of shame. Three-quarters of the bill's $25 billion in tax dollars will subsidize oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power. Just a quarter will go to help solar, wind, geothermal, ethanol, and hydrogen -- better than nothing, I suppose. More importantly, however, the package of subsidies and tax incentives lacks any sort of policy. There is no goal for the country to increase its use of renewable energy. No goal of conservation. Not even the most modest increase in required fuel economy for cars. Why isn't America up to the task of doing something as simple as raising the fuel economy requirements for cars and trucks --something that engineers know how to do and something consumers have expressed a desire for? Are we so feeble a country now that we lack the power to require even the most minor steps toward efficiency? As if to add to our humiliation -- and as voters, we should be humiliated for putting up with the naked corruption of this Congress -- China announced this week that it will require fuel economy standards for its vehicles that will quickly exceed those of the United States.

The Stakes Are High

The So. Cal. grocery workers strike continues, better than ever (snippets):

The stakes are high. Victory for the strikers would accelerate attempts to unionize other big service companies, say union organizers; defeat could have a chilling effect on recruitment. Union leaders say the strike could be the first round in a fight in which major companies seek to reduce traditional benefits because they claim they are being undercut by vast non-union firms, such as Wal-Mart. ...... Ellen Andreder, the UFCW spokeswoman in southern California, said other unions were watching closely and support was coming from unions across the US. "I've never seen anything like this in 19 years," Ms Andreder said. "This is probably the biggest strike - in terms of numbers and locations - in the history of the labor movement. The Teamsters and other unions see a direct link: no industry would be immune [from cuts in benefits] if they get away with it here. "Our feeling is that we have come too far as a society to lower the bar and go back to the days of Carnegie and Rockefeller when the more you exploited your workers, the more successful you were." Ms Andreder said the companies had enjoyed a 91% increase in profits in the past five years and could well afford to continue paying benefits. Safeway has an annual turnover of $30bn (£17bn). "This strike should send a message," said Greg Denier, the UFCW communications director. "Healthcare is a major issue now and people understand and are sympathetic." He said the dispute would have a major effect on the union movement: "This experience will shape a whole new generation of trade unionists. We're getting more and more members and support from other unions. "But the most important support we have had is from the grocery shopper, and the fact that they have not been crossing picket lines is a sign of our success." The local Teamsters president, Jim Santangelo, declared on announcing that the drivers would respect picket lines at depots: "We either end this thing together or we die together."

Ralph's Back

Looks like Nader will be running in 2004:

If anyone has doubts about Ralph Nader's plans for 2004, his new website should erase those doubts. Yup, it appears Nader will make a fourth run for President in 2004. The site -- which was registered October 24 by the folks at VoteNader.org (his official 2000 campaign site) -- went online this week in a very nascent form. The site also carries a disclaimer stating it was paid for by the "Nader 2004 Presidential Exploratory Committee, Inc." of Washington, DC. The committee is so new that it is not yet registered with the FEC. However, the committee does not need to register until it raises or spends at least $5,000. One Naderite reader -- who received a mailed notice from the committee last week -- said the note implied Nader planned to run again. Interestingly, the note gave the impression Nader was possibly looking to run this time as an Independent instead of a Green. Nader -- the former two-time Green Party nominee -- as a registered Independent. If he wants it, Nader remains the perceived frontrunner for the Green nomination next year.

Yet another reason why Bush's reelection is guaranteed. Thanks, Ralph; you most certainly are the scummiest most egotistical non-neocon on the planet.

"Heroes are the guys who didn't come back"

Hell Is For Heroes is a moving piece containing a description of the soldiers represented by the Iwo Jima Memorial, given by one of the soldiers's sons. Read it.

What Republicans Believe

Cory Farley of the RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL created a list of “Things you have to believe to be a Republican today”. Here are a few:

o Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery. o Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness. o A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation. o Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton. o The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay. o Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican. o If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex. o Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools. o Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion. o A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy. o Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet. o The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle trades, but George Bush’s driving record is none of our business. o What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the ’80s is irrelevant. o Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

Note to Bush: Iraq does not equal Terrorism Against U.S.

Jay Bookman wrote in the AJC today (snippet):

We are aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq, defeating them there," Vice President Dick Cheney said a week ago, "so we do not have to face them on the streets of our own cities." "You are defeating the terrorists in Iraq, so we don't have to face them in our country," President Bush likewise told U.S. troops during his lightning visit to Baghdad. Such statements are simply false. Our men and women in uniform are not fighting for their lives against international terrorists in Iraq. They are not fighting the people who attacked us on Sept. 11, nor are they fighting allies of those people. Instead, the guerrillas who are launching mortars at our military bases, attacking our troops on patrol or hiding booby traps on Iraqi highways are native Iraqis who are trying to evict American troops from their country. Despicable and cowardly as their tactics are, the Iraqi resistance is almost entirely Iraqi. They are not attacking us because they hate Americans. They are attacking us because they hate Americans who are occupying their country. Bureaucrats and politicians in Washington try repeatedly to pretend otherwise, suggesting that al-Qaida-linked terrorists are pouring into Iraq from Syria, Iran and even Saudi Arabia to attack our troops. But U.S. generals in Iraq, the people actually doing the fighting, have said repeatedly that they have seen little evidence of international involvement. Furthermore, the captains, majors and colonels charged with guarding Iraq's borders report no influx of foreign terrorists into Iraq and are puzzled by claims to the contrary.

Quote of the Week

"When European employers look to the United States, they see roughly the same thing that U.S. employers see when they look to China: millions of low-wage workers who have all but lost the right to organize and a government intent on keeping things just the way they are. The erosion of worker power and the growth of employer supremacy here have transformed the bottom half of the U.S. workforce into a vast exploitable mass worthy of a colonial backwater." ---Harold Meyerson

Floating Target

Well, if some crazy individual ever wanted to singlehandedly alter the direction of politics in Washington, THIS TARGET could be the one-time easiest opportunity. Hey, one can dream...

Sometimes science does discover damn good things.

Stolen from Indiac:

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." --- Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826), Letter to James Madison, 1787

Sore Losers?

Found this diatribe while surfing:

Four More Years Is A Foregone Conclusion - By Ron Marr - CNSNews.com Commentary - December 01, 2003 It has to be the ultimate nightmare of the Democratic party. Not only do the donkeys lack a viable candidate for president, they are losing what were to be the key issues that would allow for nasty campaign ads. I suspect the left is feeling the same sense of nausea experienced by the right during the ascendancy of Bob Dole. Sorry folks...but I'm amused. Let's take a look at this. In terms of candidates the Democrats have drawn an empty hand in a high stakes game. The front-runners aren't contenders; they are merely the dregs. They appear in televised debates and literally cannibalize each other. Kerry? He's history. That guy is even behind in the polls of his home state. Ketchup money won't save the "man who would be Kennedy." Gephardt? Give it a rest. Forgetting the fact that a dude lacking eyebrows can never win the Oval Office, Little Richard is nothing by a tired replay of a Top 40 hit long ago consigned to the discount barrel. Clark? Edwards? Sharpton? In that trio you see the logical successors to Larry, Moe and Curly. Lieberman? Oh yeah...the wobbly fellow who hitched his star to the rusted Gore machine. Dennis Kucinich? Please...it hurts too much to laugh. Run Kucinich as a candidate and you will witness a thrashing surpassing Nixon's annihilation of McGovern. I can't even view a picture of Dennis Kucinich without recalling a scene from "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In." Dennis is Henry Gibson, befuddled look on his face, holding a daisy in his hands and mumbling inane poetry. Howard Dean? This is the best one of all. Dean has as his sole weapon the anger of Democrats who are still smarting over their loss in 2000. He will implode in public one of these days; his little gaffe regarding Southerners was just a taste of what will come and likely already cost him most of the states south of the Mason Dixon. Dean is basically John McCain...a gent who is not wrapped real tight, full of simmering resentment, a tiny volcano just itching for a chance to erupt. And these folks actually think they stand a snowball's chance against George W Bush? They are competing against a seasoned incumbent who - like it or not -- has done everything he said he would do. That in itself -- the honesty factor -- would probably win him the election. He has shown ethics and morals and values and courage. He confronts our enemies with force - admitting from day one the reality that wars are not won overnight. He faces down our lackadaisical allies, doing what is right rather than buckling under to the wishes of feckless European collaborationists. He brings common sense to the Executive Branch, and does not suffer fools. And all his opponents and detractors can say is "he's stupid," or "he swaggers too much." They say this because their idea of stupidity is a failure to posture and preen for the cameras. Saying what you mean and meaning what you say is a foreign concept to such people. They hate the swagger because a leader with confidence, one who has taken us off the path of ambivalence and cowardice, goes against their desire for a nanny state. And now, the one issue which the Democrats hoped to use as a divisive wedge has all but vanished. Keep in mind that liberals become giddy when times are bad...misery and misfortune make them smile. Be assured they are certainly not smiling over the fact that Bush's economic policies are working. Retail sales are up. The residential housing market is booming. Unemployment is down, and as a whole the economy grew 8.2 percent in the July to September period (one of the largest jumps in history). Personal income was also up in this period by .4 percent. There is an increasing demand for more high tech goods and tourism is showing healthy growth. Thanks to the slow dismantling of some of the excessive and pointless environmental restrictions of the Clinton years, core industries are once again bouncing back. More mining, more logging, more jobs, more money; less reliance on imports for our raw materials. It is really hard to imagine what kind of person would wish to disregard such proven success. Who in their right mind would seek to tear down such increasing prosperity, would become appalled that the US has regained it's rightful place as the most powerful nation in the world. But malcontents will always exist. They are the people who wish to be cared for from cradle to grave, who seek to just get along, who will trade the joys of freedom and individuality for a few table scraps from the table of tin-pot dictators at the beck and call of the United Nations. There is a name for such misguided souls. Well, actually there are lots of names. I just call them sore losers.

Better get used to it, because this is the view of the majority of this nation, and this is just the tip of the campaign iceberg with which the Right will be soon flooding the media in advance of the 2004 election. As wrong and distasteful as it may be, it's the reality of the American Fox-led mindset, and it's only one reason why Bush's reelection is guaranteed.