TRUFFULAUT #28

http://home.earthlink.net/~truffulaut/id42.html

 

May Day 2005

 

Because Señor El Presidente has, in his infinite ignorance and sober stupor, named John R Bolton to be our Ambassador to the United Nations, this paragraph is proudly printed in UN blue. While living in Tyler in the mid 60s, I collected for UNICEF. One man told me that he wouldn't give me any money but he would give me a haircut. I was in jr high school at the time, and wherever my hair was, it was not over my ears or collar. Way back then, I thought the only people who opposed the UN were right-wing fanatics.

 

 

POLITICS

NOMINEES

Have you ever wondered why some judicial nominees have been called unqualified? One way to find out might be to ask.

http://www.tedkennedy.com/content/60/bushs-unqualified-nominees

 

OHIO FUND-RAISING IRREGULARITIES

At issue is whether Mr Noe gave people money in order for them to give to the Bush campaign, allowing Mr Noe to exceed federal spending limits, law-enforcement sources said.

What do you want to bet that the people making the contributions were not Buddhist nuns? This article names names.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050429/NEWS24/50429002

 

Democratic Party of Van Zandt County

For two years, in fifth and sixth grades, I lived in Van. I was there for the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I remember sitting underneath a silver-leafed maple tree, looking at the sky blue sky, and wondering if bombers would fly overhead. Later, President Kennedy was assassinated, on my birthday. Every morning, before school, a big yellow school bus drove past our house, headed out of town. All the little children who were significantly darker than I am, probably because of more recent African ancestry than we all share, were rounded up all over the county and shipped out to their own separate special school. When court-ordered busing was instituted to ameliorate the effects of institutionalized racism, some people objected but to this day, I recall that one bus and what it stood for. I must not have been the only one who found that highly offensive.

http://www.vzdemocrats.com/

 

...and speaking of Texas...

NRA VERSUS KERRY

The NRA ran an ad of a poodle with a Kerry sweater and the caption, "That dog don't hunt." Ignoring the bad grammar, many must likewise be unaware that poodles, in addition to being one of the most intelligent breeds are also one of the most highly developed hunters. The odd hairstyle they have is a direct result of their hunting in water; it keeps their joints and head warm but otherwise allows for swift and unfettered movement. Evidently the powers-that-be at the NRA know a whole lot more abt smearing their fellow Americans than they do abt hunting, or abt dogs.

http://www.nrapvf.org/media/pdf/doghunt.htm

Poodle History

http://www.akc.org/breeds/poodle/history.cfm

 

 

ENVIRONMENT

The Goldman Environmental Prize

Private citizens and grassroots initiatives are given priority over scientific, academic, or governmental activities.

http://www.goldmanprize.org/

 

 

PEOPLE

ANNE LAMOTT

...writes and speaks about subjects that begin with capital letters: Alcoholism, Motherhood, Jesus. But armed with self-effacing humor she is laugh out-loud funny and ruthless honesty, Lamott converts her subjects into enchantment. Actually, she writes about what most of us dont like to think about.

http://www.barclayagency.com/lamott.html

 

HELEN CALDICOTT, MD

...has devoted 35 years of her life to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age, and the changes in human behavior necessary to stop environmental destruction.

http://www.helencaldicott.com/

 

HUBERT HORATIO HUMPHREY

Have you ever heard of George Wallace, Governor of Alabama? During his self-proclaimed populist campaign for president in 1968, he famously said that "there's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democratic Party and the Republicans." His assessment was echoed years later by another extremely white and vitriolic man, Ralph Nader. The result both times was a Republican victory. If your memory of history is hazy, Nixon defeated Humphrey in 1968, and you will never convince me that Humphrey would not have been an infinitely better President than Nixon was.

During his lifetime career as a legendary champion of American values, Hubert Humphrey made many wise statements. The University of Minnesota is devoted to preserving his legacy.

We cannot use a double standard for measuring our own and other people's policies. Our demands for democratic practices in other lands will be no more effective than the guarantees of those practiced in our own country. 1948

http://www.hhh.umn.edu/humphrey-forum/quot.htm

 

 

MEDIA

BULGEGATE

The Emperor's New Hump

The New York Times killed a story that could have changed the election because it could have changed the election.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2012

 

MOOSE AND SQUIRREL

An odd assortment of interesting links.

http://moose-and-squirrel.com/infostop/infostop.html

 

UNKNOWN NEWS

The Yellow Times was shut down for publishing fotos of dead soldiers and POWs. It is currently being channeled through another site. The war is not over.

http://www.unknownnews.net/yt.html

 

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

This is an independent website, the work of one individual citizen and not affiliated with any political party or movement.  This site is PRO: God, freedom, free thought, free expression, human rights, and the individual.  This site is ANTI: war, big government, big brother, police state, censorship, and the right wing.

http://www.freedomisslavery.info/

 

 

WAR

BUSH AND BLAIR CONSPIRED TO GO TO WAR WITH IRAQ THEN MANUFACTURED EVIDENCE TO JUSTIFY DOING SO

Blair hit by new leak of secret war plan

It records a meeting in July 2002, attended by military and intelligence chiefs, at which Blair discussed military options having already committed himself to supporting President George Bush's plans for ousting Saddam. A separate secret briefing for the meeting said Britain and America had to create conditions to justify a war.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-523-1592904-523,00.html

Iraq war 'will haunt Blair's legacy like Suez'

Tony Blair was warned that his place in history will be "haunted" by Iraq, after fresh evidence emerged that he was secretly planning to join a US-led war against Saddam Hussein eight months before the invasion.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=634942

British military chief reveals new legal fears over Iraq war

The man who led Britain's armed forces into Iraq has said that Tony Blair and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, will join British soldiers in the dock if the military are ever prosecuted for war crimes in Iraq.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1474276,00.html

 

NO NUKES IS GOOD NUKES

Draft U.S. paper allows commanders to seek preemptive nuke strikes: "There are numerous nonstate organizations (terrorist, criminal) and about 30 nations with WMD programs, including many regional states," the paper says in allowing combatant commanders in the Pacific and other theaters to maintain an option of preemptive strikes against "rogue" states and terrorists and "request presidential approval for use of nuclear weapons" under set conditions. 

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8718.htm

Joint Doctrine Branch

Apparently, I do not have the security clearance to read the draft report. Either that or I merely cannot figure out which button to push.

http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/updates_comprehensive.htm

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

...a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty/

Nuclear Posture Review

A leaked version of the Bush administrations classified nuclear posture review lists seven countries against which the United States should be prepared to use nuclear weapons and outlines a broad range of circumstances under which it could do so.

http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_04/nprapril02.asp

Courtesy of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results.

http://www.ceip.org/files/projects/npp/resources/nuclearposturereview.htm

includes link to excerpts:

President Bush had already directed the Defense Department to transform America's military and prepare it for the new, unpredictable world in which we will be living.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/policy/dod/npr.htm

and to a working paper:

Fire In The Hole: Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Options For Counterproliferation: A New Carnegie Working Paper by Michael Levi comparing the potential of new nuclear weapons with that of innovative non-nuclear weapons, demonstrating that proponents of tactical nuclear weapons have consistently overestimated their destructive potential while underestimating the battlefield problems they would pose.

http://www.ceip.org/files/Publications/wp31.asp?from=pubdate

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

India, China Hoping to 'Reshape the World Order' Together

India and China announced a new "strategic partnership" Monday, pledging to resolve long-standing border disputes and boost trade and economic cooperation between two rising powers that together account for more than a third of the world's population.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43053-2005Apr11.html

 

 

RELIGION IN AMERICA

WHERE ARE THE GOOD CHRISTIANS?

They understand the deep irony that, when it comes to religion, the ones who scream and stomp and whine the loudest are often the ones who understand their faith the least.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/04/06/notes040605.DTL

 

COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR) JOINS COALITION CALLING FOR INDEPENDENT TORTURE PROBE

A coalition of religious, minority, and civil liberties groups today issued a joint statement calling for the formation of a independent bi-partisan commission, similar to the one that investigated the 9/11 attacks, to examine the use and instigation of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (CID) by American military, security and intelligence personnel worldwide.

http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=1559&theType=NR

 

 

SMILE

MOLLY IVINS

Many columns of Molly Ivins are collected for your viewing pleasure courtesy of Working Assets. As you enjoy her, consider investing responsibly if you have large amts of disposable income; otherwise, hoard cash.

http://www.workingforchange.com/column_lst.cfm?AuthrId=8

 

 

 

PAX

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TRUFFULAUT