Supreme Court Moves Time Back 50 Years:

Yesterday, in a 5 to 4 vote, the Supreme Court moved the U. S. backwards in time by fifty years. In an effort to return to the days of Jim Crow. In a classic conservative move, the right wing used the language of anti-racism to justify the hateful practice of segregation in the nation's public school system. School districts, it has ruled, can no longer use "race" as a means to justify ending racism. In other words, all school districts must find means of integrating their schools racially, but they cannot use race as a measure to do so. Evidently the only solution to this problem will be to tear down all existing schools and build one giant school in each district, to which all children must be bused. That should please building contractors. (Read NYTimes' writer Linda Greenhouse's account here.)


Supreme Court Stops Texas Execution of Mad Man:

In another 5 to 4 vote, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence meted out by the Texas court system that seems bent on following a path of extermination. The majority in the Supreme Court held that it was unconstitutional to execute a man who could not understand why he was being killed by the state. (Texas has executed 397 people since 1976, far more than any other state. Advocating death sentences against those too weak to defend themselves is a popular way to gain political power in the state.) (Read the NYTimes story here.)

Sticker Shock:

Prepare to be shocked! According to The New York Times, "A New Poll Finds That Young Americans Are Leaning Left." The poll was conducted by The New York Times, CBS News and MTV. One of the discoveries to come from the poll was the truly shocking revelation that young people between the ages of 17 and 29 seemed "to be really familiar with only two of the candidates, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton." Amazing, considering young people generally do not watch, listen to, or read the news, unless you consider Paris Hilton and others of her ilk to be news worthy, or the "sports news" as actual news. (I mean (should be pronounced as Arlo Guthry does in Alice's Restaurant) they don't even know what's his name, whose not yet a candidate, from Law and Order!)

You can see the complete poll results here.


"The Family Jewels":

Read The New York Times article on revelations coming out of the latest release of documents by the CIA on the agency's activities during the 1960s and early 1970s. While many of these activities were illegal, such as the spying performed on American citizens, what comes across is the shear buffoonery of a government agency designed to protect America from foreign adventurers. The lesson learned seems to be that which Vietnam made all too clear—"We have met the enemy, and he is us." So what else is new, Pogo?

Want to read the whole "Family Jewels" document? Click here.

How the Western World Works:

Jo Becker presents a clear description, in today's New York Times, of how the Murdoch kingdom functions in the "flat world," giving us a view of why Bill Gates once said on the Charlie Rose Show that the person he fears most in the world is Uncle Ruppy. And with good reason. While Microsoft's attention may be focused on Google at the moment, Murdoch has figured out that the easiest way to get along in this world is to buy up all of the politicians. As Becker illustrates, he's been very successful at it. With the gaggle running for the White Mansion over the course of the next year and a half, Uncle Ruppy ought to find a lot of souls willing to sell us all out.

Sea Change:

When was the last time a New Yorker successfully ran for president? Quick, like a bunny, what's the answer?

2-double-aught-8 might just see that change. Now there are three candidates in the running. Don't believe Mayor Bloom-I-am-a-billionaire-berg's denials. His aides have been preparing for the run for the whole of the past two years, according to The New York Times. And the message he sent the electorate this week by dropping his Republican Party affiliation to become an independent is bound to resonate.

Speaking of what's blowing in the wind: according to today's Times, the U. S. is pressing Tony Blair to become point man is seeking Middle East peace as a super envoy representing the four big powers. Who knows, this may be just the thing. Blair's looking for work anyway and so far Hollywood hasn't called to employ that boyish smile of his.

Bush Can't Stand the Truth:

When Gen. Antonio M. Taguba was sent to investigate abuse at Abu Ghraib, his superiors forgot to tell him his job was to create a cover up. Today's New York Times reports the story of the generals forced retirement after he brought back the info on the corrupt and perverse behavior taking place at the infamous prison in Iraq. Afterwards he was forced into retirement with explanation. The truth is quite clear. Nobody in the administration, from Bush on down, can stand the truth.

The worst administration in history: Impeach them, arrest them.


White Prosecutor Who Panders to Black Voters Loses Job, License:

The white district attorney who attempted to prosecute rich white athletes at Duke for a crime that never occurred has lost his license to practice law, but what happens to all of those prosecuting attorneys around the country who send innocent African Americans and working class whites to jail, sometimes to death row? The last we heard nothing. Let's face it, the rich are different. There is a different level of justice in this country for the rich compared to the rest of us.

Nasty, Brutish—and Short:

Our favorite pinko-commie New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman, points out some disturbing facts in his column today: Americans not only have poorer healthcare, eating habits, parenting skills, and working conditions than their Western European counterparts, but we are also shorter. No wonder basketball dominance has slipped out of our hands.

A curious detail in the article is that Americans in 1830 were on the average one and a half inches taller than they were in 1890, dispelling the myth that we have been steadily growing taller throughout our history.

As it turns out, while a few of us have been growing unbelievably rich in this country, most of us have been working ourselves to a nubbin' of what we once were to make them so. Anybody surprised?

Note: Americans work longer hours, have poorer health care, eat more junk/fast food, and spend far less time with our children on average than do our European counterparts. Who benefits from this behavior?

"The tragic bluster and empty optimism of political culture today":

Peter Birkenhead compares the bluster of Bush with the uncertainty of great leaders of the past in his Salon.com article, "Better to be Hamlet than President George." You gotta love the quotes he opens the article with. Fitzgerald was right, the rich are different.

Fascism Forced Back an Important Step:

A federal appeals court ruled that El Presidente can no longer threaten dissenter with having them classified as "enemy combatants" and have them held indefinitely in military jails where they can be tortured. Today's New York Times reports the story with a quote by the presiding judge. Perhaps justice and decency are floating back to the surface.


Too Good To Pass Up:

Today's New York Times reports on a border incident in Texas: Federal agents discovered a number of the Texas National Guard "in uniform driving a van crammed with 24 immigrants." What did you think would happen when the Guard were sent to guard the border?

How the U. S. Gov't Works:

Stephen Labaton, in today's New York Times, reports on the Google v. Microsoft legal battles. Google claims that Microsoft is violating the 2002 anti-trust decision that prohibited the latter from making an operating system that would diminish non Microsoft products from performing properly, citing the way Google's search engine functions while running on Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system.

Thomas Barnett, the member of the U. S. Justice Department responsible for handling the case, has rejected Google's argument. The interesting thing is that Barnett previously worked for a legal firm that represents Microsoft (and still does). Barnett, of course, will leave office in about a year and a half, and he will no doubt go back to work at the firm that represents Microsoft, where he will no doubt make loads of money.

The honorable thing to have done would have been to recuse himself from participating in this investigation. Instead, Barnett lead the charge to bring the power of the government to back Microsoft in its attempts to continue its illegal behavior.

Impeach Bush et al and Try Them for War Crimes:

Need a rational? The Atlantic online provides enough for me. The worst administration of all time? Criminal to a degree comparable with Nazi Germany.

Our Tax Dollars at Work:

Once upon at time, I listened while a virulent environmentalist praised the Interstate Highway System as the one government project that was above reproach. The fellow was perfectly happy that millions and millions of acres of land had been paved over, primarily to benefit unscrupulous politicians and the people who pay for them to get into office.

Care to get a glimpse of what really goes on? Today's New York Times reports on the latest shinnanigans of Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska. The sponsor of the "bridge to nowhere," is managing to pull in massive re-election campaign funds by sponsoring highway bills in, of all places, Florida.

The district for which the moneys are earmarked claims not to need the funds, but Donny-boy has made it clear that his big time campaign contributor wants to fix up I-75, which runs past a number of private golf clubs, and there are major profits to be had in the highway construction and repair business.


Science Fiction Becomes Reality:

While AIDS continues to run rampant in the "have not" continent of Africa, scientists in the U.S. have figured out how to cause a person's skin cells to behave like embryonic stem cells, allowing those who have the means to generate a new heart or liver. At least that's the potential. That's great news for the few millions in the world who will be able to have access to the technology once it's fully developed. Dick Cheney and George Bush's grandchildren should be able to live long and counterproductive lives. You can read about the breakthrough in today's New York Times.

Why GW Ain't Gonna Pardon Scooter:

At least not before his last day in office. Jim Rutenberg has an interesting analysis on the topic in today's New York Times. Bush's conservative base is screaming for the pardon, but the Prez, whose pole ratings are lower than the Kanasas City Royal's winning percentage, doesn't want the spotlight shone on his office in this matter.

New Evidence Links White House to Ashcroft Affair:

Today's Washington Post reports new evidence that orders to pressure hospitalized then-Attorney General John Ashcroft into agreeing to questionable and probably illegal wire-taps in March 2004. Dick Cheney has been linked in testimony to the decision to try to get Ashcroft to override his assistant while the former Attorny General was in a highly disfunctional state.

Scooter Libby Gets 30 Months in Jail:

Now if we could just put the rest of them in jail with him!

American Fascism Rebuffed by Appeals Court:

Today's New York Times reports that the F.C.C.'s attempts to limit freedom of speech by fining broadcasters when a profanity is not edited from a broadcast, such as the playing of a quote by a soldier in Iraq who blurts out the language commonly used by soldiers, has been struck down. According to The Times, "If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can blurt out vulgar language, then the government cannot punish broadcast television stations for broadcasting the same words in similarly fleeting contexts."

Kevin J. Martin, the chairman of the F.C.C., said, “I completely disagree with the court’s ruling and am disappointed for American families." Martin argued that if the F.C.C. could not prohibit speech that it didn't like “Hollywood will be able to say anything they want, whenever they want.” Obviously, the American Fascist Party does not share the belief that all Americans should have the same rights. Is that a surprise?


Another Sign That Bush Has Made the Middle East a Safer Place:

In an article entitled, "Cheated of Future, Iraqi Graduates Want to Flee," Damien Cave reports in The New York Times on the graduates of Iraq universities and how they are leaving the country in growing numbers. Students from seven univerisities were interviewed and all but four said the planned to flee the country on graduation. "Karar Alaa, 25, a medical student at Babil University, south of Baghdad, said, 'Staying here is like committing suicide.'"


The Economy:

The stock market in China is likely to become the biggest story in the economic sphere during the coming decade. The Chinese stockmarket's volitility is beginning to have ramifications internationally. Considering the Chinese proclivity for making the fastest buck possible (pirated goods, conterfeit goods), it seems unlikely that the government will be unwilling to take strong measures (even if it can) to bring about stability. Keith Bradsher reports on the situation in today's Times.