Latest News & Analysis--December 1-15, 2003

12-15-03 The Capture of Saddam Hussein
We never had WMDs, former president tells interrogators "Saddam Hussein told his American interrogators that Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction, claiming that they were an invention of the US government to justify an invasion, it was reported last night. Although Saddam was captured without a fight and was initially said to be cooperative, US intelligence sources said that he had since been un-cooperative and defiant under questioning."

Bush insists Saddam was a "threat" despite failure to find weapons "US President George W. Bush insisted again Monday that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was 'a threat' to the world despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction." Anti-war MPs give Blair no respite over WMD hunt "Tony Blair's delight at the capture of Saddam Hussein was tempered yesterday when Labor MPs warned that it had not changed the fundamental flaws in the legal and moral case for the Iraq war."

(Real News 24/7: Saddam alleges that U.S./U.K. claims he had WMDs was dreamt up to give them a provocation to invade. Considering that a large number of Westerners already believe that, it will be interesting to see that advanced as a defense at his trial. We're not saying it will help him much, mind you, but that it could put prosecutors a bit back on their heels [until, of course, they change the subject]. This is the only argument we can see justifying an international tribunal, since at a U.S. occupation "show trial" this would be thrown out, however valid a defense it really may be.)

12-15-03
ABC's Peter Jennings stumps for socialism "Considering all the hysterics who go apoplectic at the mere hint of liberal media bias, Peter Jennings and ABC didn’t do much to console the emotions of the media elite’s chronically offended Monday night (Dec. 8) when they ran this so-called documentary: 'How to Get Fat Without Really Trying.'"

12-15-03
Hip-hop singer raps her Vatican hosts "US hip-hop singer Lauryn Hill stunned leading members of the Roman Catholic Church when she accused them of moral corruption, exploitation and abuse from the stage during a Christmas concert at the Vatican." (Real News 24/7: Gee, they're stunned? What did they expect from a hip-hop "artist" whose stock in trade is singing about moral corruption, exploitation and abuse? But they totally deserve what they get, her presence there being further confirmation of their corruption. Wonder if the play-list for her Vatican concert included "Doo-Wop (That Thing)," the lyrics of which include the "F" word used as a verb.)

12-15-03
Don Feder: Bush's new Taiwan doctrine "China could take Bush’s comments to mean that if Taiwan does something it considers sufficiently provocative, the United States might look the other way if it initiates force. This is not the sort of signal you want to send to a bunch of trigger-happy tyrants."

12-15-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LXII
Florida lawmakers move to make withholding care tougher "Because of the Schiavo case, a move is afoot in Tallahassee to alter Florida's right-to-die laws. One bill would lead to more tube feeding for people without living wills. Another would limit decisions by family members, such as Schiavo's husband, who might have a financial stake in their loved ones' fate."

Terri's website

[Real News 24/7 will continue to carry news about Terri when it becomes available, until either her feeding/hydration tubes are reinstated or she passes away as a result of the current cessation of treatment. See our in-depth coverage, including update, from October 15.]

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-14-03 The Capture of Saddam Hussein
Saddam captured by by U.S. troops "Cornered alone in a cramped hole near one of his sumptuous palaces, a weary, disheveled Saddam Hussein was seized by U.S. troops and displayed on television screens worldwide Sunday, a humiliating fate for one of history's most brutal dictators."

BBC: Saddam to face justice—Bush "A U.S. military spokesman, Major-General Raymond Odierno, said the operation - involving various combined US units - was launched within 24 hours of receiving a tip-off from a member of Saddam Hussein's clan." Capture Not Likely to Stop Iraq Attacks "The capture of Saddam Hussein, eight months on the run and found hiding in a hole beneath a two-room mud house near his hometown, was unlikely to destroy the anti-U.S. guerrilla insurgency, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday." Fear of Iraqi war crimes tribunal's credibility "The war crimes tribunal set up by Iraq's US-installed interim leadership smacks too much of victor's justice, say experts on international law, who fear its credibility will be undermined."

(Real News 24/7: Presuming this does turn out to be Saddam and not a double, many questions remain. First and foremost in the minds of Americans is what will now happen concerning our troops. We all want to see our soldiers brought home safe and sound as quickly as possible, unfortunately, "as quickly as possible" probably won't be any time soon. Politically it would seem, on it face of it, in the best interest of President Bush's reelection hopes to get the troops back on U.S. soil promptly, though there are serious reasons to doubt this will happen, such as: 1) The Bush Administration already indicating that they could be stationed there for years, regardless of the capture, as a "stabilizing force; 2) connected to the first reason, the possibility that they could be deployed elsewhere in the region, such as Iran; 3) continued need to fight "insurgents," who may keep fighting [of course, if some of the activity is coming from the Mossad, say, it will continue]; 4) the need of an American presence in light of a trial, which could drag on for months; and 5) the claim, now that Saddam is in custody, to continue the search for Osama bin Laden and other "Al-qada" operatives still at large. If such is the case come next summer, the Bush campaign may try to put the spin on that, yes, the troops are still in Iraq and for good reason, so it is imperative to keep as Commander-in-Chief, the man who has led the nation with a firm hand in these dark hours, even capturing one of the "masterminds" of the 9-11 attacks. A second question surrounds American foreign policy: How is a major part of the justification for invading Iraq [even after no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found] was that Saddam is a brutal, ruthless despot who must be brought to justice for crimes against his own people and humanity, while other dictatorships, such as Red China, which is a continuation of the bloodiest regime in the Twentieth Century, and Israel, whose crimes against the Palestinian people are legion, far from being made targets of righteous indignation, are favored trading partners who are lavished with taxpayer money in the form of "loans" and other aid? This is a question that ought to be on the lips of all Americans, for it shows the hypocrisy with which Washington [during Democratic and Republican presidencies alike? A third line of questioning concerns Saddam himself: Will he be tortured? Will anything of value come out in testimony or will Saddam be so broken down from months of isolation and ill-treatment as to render it worthless? Will Saddam ever even make it to court or will he end up the victim of a suicide or "suicide"? And then there are questions about the trial itself: Will it be conducted in Iraq by the occupying forces and the provisional government? Or will the United Nations be given the opportunity to take one more very large step towards total one world government and prosecute the case, as it is now doing in the case of Slobadan Milocevic? These are but a few of the many questions that will [or should] be asked over the succeeding weeks, questions concerning more than just the fate of a minor dictator.)

12-14-03 Texas-sized media cover-up: "Suicide" of woman who accused President Bush of rape "Despite the enormity of the story, a virtual news blackout has remained in place since Margie Schoedinger first filed charges against George W Bush in 2002. Schoedinger had accused Bush of rape and other sexual crimes against both her and her husband, only one publication in the USA saw fit to print anything about her or her allegations. That publication was her local newspaper. Schoedinger apparently committed suicide on 22nd September of 2003 but her death only attracted new attention on the internet in November of 2003. Only now has one small-circulation newspaper in the UK run the story of her demise. It found the story so newsworthy it ran its headline on the front page next to the title header.

12-14-03 Pat Buchanan discusses neo-con cabal on C-Span "The War Party may have gotten its war. But it has also gotten something it did not bargain for. Its membership lists and associations have been exposed and its motives challenged. In a rare moment in U.S. journalism, Tim Russert put this question directly to Richard Perle: 'Can you assure American viewers ... that we’re in this situation against Saddam Hussein and his removal for American security interests? And what would be the link in terms of Israel?' Suddenly, the Israeli connection is on the table, and the War Party is not amused.¼" (Real News 24/7: In the midst of the national euphoria at the capture of Saddam Hussein [presuming it's not a double], we need to remind people that this new development changes nothing regarding the underlying Israeli push that led to the Iraqi War. The linked webpage has a link to C-Span archived video of Buchanan and Press [click on the first of the three options], plus the full transcript for Pat's powerful "Whose War?" article and a number of related items.)

12-14-03 The Anti-Christmas ACLU "'Tis the season: The Christmas lights are up, the malls are playing carols, and somewhere in America, the ACLU is filing another lawsuit over someone having the nerve to try and celebrate Christ's birth."

12-13-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LX
Terri Schindler-Schiavo is a test for all of us "One advocate for Terri's death, reacting to the re-insertion of her feeding tube, declared that it is 'simply inhumane and barbaric to interrupt her death process.' But Terri Schindler-Schiavo is not a dying patient. She simply doesn't function at the same level as the rest of us. There was no 'death process' underway until her food and water were taken away. That's what is inhumane and barbaric. And this is a test for all of us, to see if we remember the difference."

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-13-03
Bill to give receipts for E-voting "Sen. Barbara Boxer said Thursday she'll introduce a bill requiring electronic voting machines to produce paper records by November 2004 to ensure accurate elections." (Real News 24/7: Sounds good, but is this a setup? After all, couldn't some clever programmer devise a way that the printout would accurately show what was touched on the screen, while the machine's internal tabulation still be rigged to switch a vote at a certain interval [in other words, at a point set by the programmer, say on every 125th time, a vote cast for Candidate A would be switched to Candidate B, though the "paper trail" wouldn't show anything being amiss]? Remember, if there are people devious enough to seek to secretly manipulate the vote, they would also be devious enough to try to circumvent any attempts at assuring an honest election .)

12-13-03
Putin seeks extended dictatorship "Russia’s constitution, drafted in 1993 after a bloody parliamentary rebellion against then-President Boris Yeltsin, places overwhelming powers in the hands of the president. Ten years later, there are opposition fears that the constitution could be used to increase those powers even further by extending President Vladimir Putin’s time in office." (Real News 24/7: See, but it's okay, because it's not Communist dictatorship, "former" Comrade Vladimir has repented all of his KGB sins, so it's all nice, don't you know?!)

12-13-03 Charley Reese: Not about Bush "Americans' loyalty is owed to the Constitution, not to any particular politician or political party. Every American has a duty to oppose any politician who violates the Constitution or shows disdain for it. That includes federal judges."

12-12-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LIX
Schiavo judge stays, Florida court says "A state appeals court on Wednesday turned down Gov. Jeb Bush's request to disqualify a St. Petersburg judge from hearing the constitutional challenge to 'Terri's Law.' Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird made statements last month saying the newly passed law that allowed Bush to keep Terri Schiavo alive with a feeding tube is depriving the brain-damaged woman of her 'constitutional right to privacy.'" (Real News 24/7: This ruling is an absolute abomination! How can this not be an instance of bias? The judge is scheduled to rule on the constitutionality of a law he publicly says violates a "constitutional right." We urge our readers to continue to assist Terri in any and every lawful way, as it becomes clearer every day that there are powerful people who side with her husband and want her dead.)

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-12-03
Internal Revenue laws were repealed in 1939 "When communicating with the Internal Revenue Service, literally thousands of people have been asking the simple question: " Show me the law," and have been stonewalled by that agency without any apparent recourse. People have been thrown in prison for violating a 'law' that hasn't been disclosed when demanded.¼"

12-12-03
Disney heir launches anti-Eisner site "Roy Disney, former board member of Walt Disney Co., has taken his beef with Michael Eisner, CEO of the company, to the Internet. The nephew of Walt Disney and son of co-founder Roy O. Disney earlier this week launched a Web site, called SaveDisney.com, to drum up support in his campaign to oust Eisner."

12-12-03
Man found shot to death on 'X' marking JFK assassination site "A man apparently shot himself to death early Friday on the "X" in Dealey Plaza that marks the spot where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 40 years ago, authorities said." (Real News 24/7: There are those who take conspiracy theorizing way beyond the what we would recommend as prudent in terms of maintaining sound mental health, who will say without a shred of evidence that this poor fellow was the victim of MK-Ultra types—programmed to kill himself because he knew too much! Or he was murdered for the same reason, but his death made to look like a suicide, his body placed where it was found as a reminder to other revisionist historians to back off! We don't deny the possibility, of course, but we do say to wait for the facts to come in. Well, just as I enter that, here's an update, the last sentence of which will not allay any such suspicions: DALLAS -- Postal worker Richard E. Clem, 50, fatally shot himself Friday on the spot, marked "X," in Dealey Plaza where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 40 years ago, authorities said. Co-workers said he was fascinated by the Kennedy assassination.)

12-11-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LVIII
The guardian speaks "There is a elephant in the living room of the Terri Schiavo case that many adamantly refuse to see. Terri's husband Michael Schiavo has fallen in love with another woman. He has lived with his "fiancé" now for many years. The couple has been blessed with two children together. By any reasonable standard of judgment, falling in love with, committing to, and siring children by another woman estranges a husband from his wife. Indeed, in a divorce case, these facts would undoubtedly be construed as actions amounting to legal abandonment."

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-11-03 Free-spending Republicans make pork a party platter "Fiscal conservatives are aghast. Big spenders are shamed. Together they watch in wonderment as a Republican-controlled Congress lards an array of pork on every passing vehicle. And a big Christmas is yet to come." Power over principle "The Republicans have done it again. With their new Medicare bill, they've made government even bigger. This is not new to us here. We've been saying that for years. The Republicans have been expanding the size, scope and power of government ever since they first got their mitts on power in 1861. Their Civil War set the blueprint for modern America, according to liberal historian James McPherson. In modern America, unrestrained democracy—of the greedy people, by the greedy people, and for the greedy people—leads special interest groups to continually expand the size of the state for their own benefit and everyone else's loss. Does any intelligent person not know this by now?" (Real News 24/7: This article is from the Ludwig von Mies Insitute, a group dedicated to free market values. While we know that many Republicans [including friends of ours], mainly at the state and local levels, also have such values, the mystery is how they can be deceived in election after election and still come back for more! It's time—long overdue—that they realize this and either work to kick out the frauds in their midst or look elsewhere. Our constitutional republic is not long for this world unless there is a great awaking as to what is going on in our country.)

12-11-03 The racism of "diversity" Texas A&M president Robert Gates should be praised for announcing that race will no longer be a factor when applications are considered, and that students 'should be admitted as individuals, on personal merit--and no other basis.' What is needed now is for him, and others, to go further in challenging 'diversity.' They ought to declare their categorical opposition to racism--and, therefore, their repudiation of the entire policy of 'diversity,' which is simply an insidious form of racism. "

12-11-03 Phyllis Schafly:
Why we must protect marriage "The media are now accelerating their spin for same-sex marriage even though the Pew survey shows that opposition to same-sex marriage has increased to 59 percent since the Lawrence decision. The New York Times is exulting that 'the United States is becoming a post-marital society,' creating 'new forms of semi-marriages,' blurring the lines between marriage and cohabitation, and imitating European types of 'Marriage Lite.'"

12-10-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LVII
Pro-euthanasia group uses Terri Schiavo case to expand membership "The pro-euthanasia group End-of-Life Choices, formerly the Hemlock Society, has started a $60,000 ad campaign in Florida, using the plight of Terri Schiavo as a way to make its case and expand its membership." (Real News 24/7: Please note the name change, done for cosmetic purposes. After 23 years these people finally came to the realization that maybe having a poison for the name of your organization isn't too good for public relations. A new brochure for the group doesn't even bother to say "formerly known as.")

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-10-03
Is this murder? WARNING: FOR MATURE VIEWERS The linked video clip from Information Clearing House shows a wounded Iraqi being shot to death by American soldiers. The Geneva Convention, which our government ostensibly follows, forbids the killing of wounded enemy troops, but does the man, who does not appear to be uniformed, qualify as a soldier? If so, then military protocol calls for him to be arrested, as he is making no effort to fight back (in fact, he is lying on the ground and is shot in the back). This is clear in violation of internationally agreed battlefield behavior. If not, he could be viewed as a saboteur or potential saboteur, who, according to U.S. troops, was in the process of planting a bomb. Saboteurs are not protected by the same restrictions and can be sentenced to death, but still there are procedures that are to be followed. For enemy soldiers to perform summary justice on a man easily captured seems a bit much. And, again, in the case of someone attempting sabotage, provided he isn't fighting back doesn't seem justifiable either.

12-10-03
The American resistance "It is long past time that the tax-paying citizens of this country received the protections that are guaranteed to them [us] under our Constitution. As has been observed here before, it has become glaringly obvious to even the most trusting citizen that we as citizens are being treated as a resource by the people sworn to protect us and that our America has become no more than an address to millions of invaders who care nothing about being American."(Real News 24/7: How the linked site can carry such an article and yet sport a "Bush Cheney '04" banner is beyond our power to comprehend, save to say there is an inherent contradiction at work. Suffice it to note, this is one of those occasions where our Disclaimer at the bottom of this page kicks in.)

12-10-03
This is real terrorism, not liberation "What difference does it make to the parents of those murdered children in Afghanistan, whether it was caused by an accident or the result of bad intelligence? Were the US forces not dispensing an Israeli version of collective punishment when they pounded the town of Samarra with “over whelming force”, destroying property and killing civilians? Why is the killing of any Westerner or an Israeli is automatically classified as “terrorism” but not the murder of civilians in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan?"

12-09-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LVI
Attorney for Terri Schiavo's Parents Says Recent Poll Was Biased "An attorney representing Terri Schiavo's parents Bob and Mary Schindler, says a recent poll commissioned by two Florida newspapers was biased. The poll said an overwhelming majority of Florida residents disagreed with the law that allowed Governor Jeb Bush to ask doctors to reinstate Terri's feeding tube."

Schiavo case prompts Florida campaign by right-to-die group "Spurred by the Terri Schiavo case, a national right-to-die group launched a public relations blitz in Florida this week to raise awareness of end-of-life choices, including the importance of living wills."

Terri's website

[Real News 24/7 will continue to carry news about Terri when it becomes available, until either her feeding/hydration tubes are reinstated or she passes away as a result of the current cessation of treatment. See our in-depth coverage, including update, from October 15.]

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-09-03
U.N. summit to focus on Internet "Leaders from almost 200 countries will convene this week in Geneva to discuss whether an international body such as the United Nations should be in charge of running the Internet, which would be a dramatic departure from the current system, managed largely by U.S. interests."

12-09-03
Finally someone gets it! The new GOP! "It started with Bush failing to attack and remedy even a modicum of the many assaults upon America initiated by the Clinton administration. The situation worsened when Bush refused to prosecute Clinton, and actually established an Executive Order to protect him. It worsened further when Bush pushed anti-constitutional campaign finance reform, and joined Senator Ted Kennedy and his agenda of 'facing down the individual' via big education spending favoring the Department of Education and the NEA." (Real News 24/7: No, getting it isn't seeing that the Republicans in recent years have emulated the liberal Democrats, its seeing that this has been going on for decades. It's realizing, as noted in the January 2001 issue of the National Center for Constitutional Studies newsletter, that as early as 1958, perennial Socialist Party candidate Norman Thomas could declare: "The United States is making greater strides toward Socialism under Eisenhower than even under Roosevelt, particularly in the fields of Federal spending and welfare legislation."

12-09-03
No confidence vote: Why the current touch screen voting fiasco was pretty much inevitable "Now here's the really interesting part. Forgetting for a moment Diebold's voting machines, let's look at the other equipment they make. Diebold makes a lot of ATM machines. They make machines that sell tickets for trains and subways. They make store checkout scanners, including self-service scanners. They make machines that allow access to buildings for people with magnetic cards. They make machines that use magnetic cards for payment in closed systems like university dining rooms. All of these are machines that involve data input that results in a transaction, just like a voting machine. But unlike a voting machine, every one of these other kinds of Diebold machines—EVERY ONE—creates a paper trail and can be audited.¼"

12-08-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LV
Teacher fired for supporting Terri on own time "The former PVS patient who was almost killed, but later recovered, Rus Cooper-Dowda, is being FIRED for speaking favorably of Terri outside of a work setting, and on her own time!"

Ruling awaited in Florida case "A legal battle is pending over the fate of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman in Florida. Schiavo, 39, has been in a vegetative state since 1990, when a heart attack cut off oxygen to her brain."

Terri's website

[Real News 24/7 will continue to carry news about Terri when it becomes available, until either her feeding/hydration tubes are reinstated or she passes away as a result of the current cessation of treatment. See our in-depth coverage, including update, from October 15.]

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-08-03
Joseph Sobran on Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ "The Talmud names Christ as one of the three greatest enemies of the Jews and consigns Him to an obscene perdition in Hell. We needn't and shouldn't hold this against all Jews today, most of whom know nothing about the Talmud, but it's something to bear in mind when Christianity is reviled.¼"

12-08-03
Credibility gap: Bush vs. reality "Presenting one face to the public, a face that tells people what they want to hear, while doing just the opposite, and often doing it in secret, seems to be the hallmark of the George W. Bush administration. Sadly, the Democrats don't seem to be much different, haven't much of record to stand behind, and the third parties seem to have faded into oblivion."

12-08-03
Monster medical scandal "The Observer (UK) has just published a blockbuster story on medical-journal fraud. ('Pharmaceutical Giants Hire Ghostwriters To Produce Articles---Then put Doctors’ Names On Them,' by Antony Barnett---12/7) The piece starts out this way: 'Hundreds of articles in medical journals claiming to be written by academics or doctors have been penned by ghostwriters in the pay of drug companies…'”

12-08-03
The subversion of education in America "In 1965, there were two major federal initiatives developed with funding from The Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed that year. One was the 1965-1969 Behavioral Science Teacher Education Program and the other was the publication by the government of 'Pacesetters in Innovation,' a 584-page catalogue of behavior modification programs to be used by the schools."

12-07-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LV
Enforcing the "right to die": The case of Terri Schiavo "The importance of saving Terri cannot be overestimated, not only for her right to live but also to apply a brake to the current "right to die" movement that seems bent on terminating people with severe brain injuries or conditions. It is no accident that people like Terri are put into hospices and cases like hers are included in "end of life" education programs for health care professionals and the public. It is no coincidence that withdrawal of treatment decisions have become the justification for the new non-heartbeating organ donation policies."

Terri's website

[Real News 24/7 will continue to carry news about Terri when it becomes available, until either her feeding/hydration tubes are reinstated or she passes away as a result of the current cessation of treatment. See our in-depth coverage, including update, from October 15.]

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-07-03
Putin poised to create "police state" "Forces loyal to Vladimir Putin were expected to be on their way to an overwhelming victory today as Russians went to the polls to support a party with little in the way of a manifesto other than slavish devotion to the president." (Real News 24/7: This article describes Putin as belonging to no political party. In terms of what the public knows that may be true, but there is no reason to believe that "unofficially" Putin [like Boris Yeltsin before him] is anything other than what he's been all his pre-"fall of Communism: adult life and that is a staunch adherent of the doctrines of Marxism Leninism. See John Stormer: Putin, KGB and Communism. "Putin has never repudiated his communist background and his actions since becoming president indicate that the early hopes expressed by even those with an anti-communist background have no basis in fact. Putin, for example, with the support of the communists and Soviet-era officials, revived the old Soviet national anthem with new words written by the composer of the original anthem, which praised Stalin.¼")

12-07-03
Judge "Gay"-diversity week violated rights of Christian "A federal judge in Detroit has upheld the constitutional right of a Christian student to express her religious beliefs in opposition to homosexuality during her high school's 2002 'Diversity Week' program. "

12-07-03
Hillary has tense trouble with 2004 denial "New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said repeatedly on Sunday that she has "shut the door" on any 2004 presidential run. But when asked to state categorically that she wouldn't accept the 2004 nomination under any circumstances, the top Democrat invoked the same kind of rhetorical sleight-of-hand used by her husband to deny he had sex with Monica Lewinsky." (Real News 24/7: Ah, if she's not running, then what are we to make of Hillary's Money Machine or the Hillary for President 2004 website?!)

12-07-03
Nation recalls Pearl Harbor attack: Veterans divided on "first strike" tactic "Inevitable comparisons between Pearl Harbor, the 2001 attacks and the Iraq war are complicated by allegations of intelligence failure and outright deceit by government officials. Long before the uproar over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, there were claims that former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and top military commanders saw the Japanese attack coming and did nothing to protect American bases." Americans continue to tap into history of Pearl Harbor "When Japanese cars and electronics flooded American markets, this "invasion" was seen through the prism of Dec. 7, 1941. Jerry Della Femina's 1970 best seller about the advertising industry, titled 'From Those Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Pearl Harbor,' poked gentle fun at the marketing dilemmas posed by Americans' ambivalence toward the Japanese." The Lessons of Pearl Harbor Visit our archives to access numerous links concerning this betrayal.

The Pearl Harbor deception "On the evening of December 6, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president of the United States, received a message intercepted by the U.S. Navy.¼Roosevelt read the thirteen-part transmission, looked up and announced, 'This means war.' He then did a very strange thing for a president in his situation. Nothing.¼" The featured painting, "Ground Zero," is by artist Don Kloezke and is available at the Riveting Images website.

12-06-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LIV
A nurse refutes media distortions about Terri
"Why is the testimony of only Michael's doctors taken into consideration? There are dozens of doctors who have come forward and submitted affidavit's that Terri can be helped with extensive therapy. There are also affidavits from Terri's former caregivers that Michael did not know what Terri wanted in regards to life support. They also stated in their affidavits that Michael was verbally abusive not only to the staff who cared for Terri, but also to Terri."

Gephardt says he opposed Bush's involvement in Schiavo matter
"Democratic presidential hopeful Dick Gephardt said he disagreed with Gov. Jeb Bush for ordering a feeding tube reinserted into a brain-damaged woman, saying the matter should have been decided by the judiciary."(Real News 24/7: Liberal Democrats are sooo "compassionate," aren't they?!)

Terri Schiavo's parents asks appeals court to let them enter case
"The parents of a woman at the center of a life-or-death legal battle asked an appeals court Friday to let them join the challenge of the new law which allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene and keep their daughter alive. "

Terri's website

[Real News 24/7 will continue to carry news about Terri when it becomes available, until either her feeding/hydration tubes are reinstated or she passes away as a result of the current cessation of treatment. See our in-depth coverage, including update, from October 15.]

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-06-03 Tough new tactics by U.S. tighten grip on Iraq towns
"As the guerrilla war against Iraqi insurgents intensifies, American soldiers have begun wrapping entire villages in barbed wire. In selective cases, American soldiers are demolishing buildings thought to be used by Iraqi attackers. They have begun imprisoning the relatives of suspected guerrillas, in hopes of pressing the insurgents to turn themselves in." (Real News 24/7: New tactics? Well, let's see: Building "security fences" around towns, bulldozing residences, arresting family members of suspected terrorists. For "new tactics" these sound awfully familiar. Could it be that the U.S. Army is taking lessons from Israeli Defense Forces? )

12-06-03 Growing movement questions integrity of e-voting
"Election officials and computer scientists are increasingly concerned that touch-screen electronic voting machines like the ones used in Georgia may be inaccurate and even susceptible to sabotage."

12-06-0
''Cincinnati cops kill black man.'' A huge media distortion "Want to read a great article on bias in the news? All it takes is a storyline of the cops beating a black man to death. The media take it from there. This article from the Cincinnati Enquirer, written by Peter Bronson, tells the sad sordid story of how the media can twist such a story into an unrecognizable distortion." (Real News 24/7: Apropos to this, we have also discovered more media distortions. In Australia, a headline carried in a number of newspapers reads "Police beating death ruled murder." Whether this was a deliberate lie or a case of no one in a newsroom knowing the distinction between the terms homicide and murder [that is, all murders are homicides, but not all homicides are murders], is a matter of conjecture, but the effect is the same—millions of readers misled about what occurred in Cincinnati. [The coroner specifically noted that while he ruled the death a homicide—because the fatal heart attack was caused by Jones's scuffle with police—he was in no way suggesting wrongdoing on the officers' part.] By the way,the Enquirer, whose columnist lashed out against other media coverage, was guilty of some major distortion itself concerning this story. On Thursday it went so far as to carry this notice on its homepage, clearing showing it as a provocateur [why else invite the public to attend the funereal of a man who died while committing criminal acts, but to incite more civil disobedience?]. What makes the Enquirer's radical agenda all the more obvious is that during the same week in Cincinnati two other people died who our staff knew personally—Albert Kinnett and Maureen Duffy—two God-fearing, law-abiding, patriotic Americans, either of who's funeral it would have truly been far more appropriate to note than Jones's [many of the other people who died in Cincinnati that week would no doubt also be more worthy than he of such inclusion. Apologists for the Enquirer might argue that publicizing the funeral, it served as a means for disgruntled blacks to vent their frustrations in a lawful way. But this argument is flawed for at least two reasons: First, by giving the event so unjustly prominent a place, the Enquirer propagandizes and perpetuates the big lie that Jones is a "martyr of police brutality" and, second, that people could go to the funeral without being exposed to agitators—most likely including the officiating minister—who are going to urge the people present to "do something for Brother Jones" [that "something" being racial unrest]. As if the Enquirer hadn't done enough to fan the flames, the next day it offered an expanded list of activities to further cement in the minds of blacks that this is a cause cèlébre, instead of what it really is, a cautionary tale on what not to do when approached by police officers.)

12-05-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LIII
Bill filed to prevent Schiavo-like disputes "A [Florida] state senator has filed a bill that he says will prevent disputes over feeding tubes and other artificial life-prolonging measures like the bitter court fight between family members over the fate of Terri Schiavo. 'If it is not in writing, the tube cannot be disconnected,' said [Sen. Steve] Wise." Related story

ACLJ asks Florida appeals court to permit parents of Terri Schindler-Schiavo to intervene in case to defend "Terri's Law" "The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law, today filed its brief with a Florida appeals court asking the court to overturn a decision by a circuit court judge who has blocked Robert and Mary Schindler - the parents of Terri Schindler Schiavo - from intervening in a lawsuit to defend 'Terri's Law' - legislation that cleared the way for Florida Governor Jeb Bush to restore life-saving measures to Terri Schindler Schiavo."

Other news:
Terri Schiavo's Family Finds Birthday Cards Taken Down
Fla. lawyer recommends additional testing for Schiavo

Terri's website

[Real News 24/7 will continue to carry news about Terri when it becomes available, until either her feeding/hydration tubes are reinstated or she passes away as a result of the current cessation of treatment. See our in-depth coverage, including update, from October 15.]

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-05-03
Moore to appeal his ouster "Refusing to accept his removal from office, ousted Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore announced Thursday that he will file an appeal on or before Dec. 10, continuing his legal fight to get his job back. On Nov. 13, a nine-member Court of the Judiciary removed Moore from his publicly elected position as chief justice for failing to obey a federal court order to move his 5,280-pound Ten Commandments monument, which he had placed in the rotunda of the state Judicial Building two years ago."

12-05-03
The entangling American alliance with Israel: More of the American Right catches on "The American Neo-Conservative War Party, in firm control of both major political parties in the United States, is getting increasingly and obviously more desperate. The transparent desperation comes in the wake of plummeting opinion polls about Mr. Bush’s preemptive war in Iraq."

12-05-03 Flashback:
L.A. Times memo orders reporters to fudge the truth "The Los Angeles Times has ordered its reporters to stop describing anti-American forces in Iraq as 'resistance fighters,' saying the term romanticizes them and evokes World War II-era heroism. The ban was issued by Melissa McCoy, a Times assistant managing editor, who told the staff in an e-mail circulated on Monday night that the phrase conveyed unintended meaning and asked them to instead use the terms 'insurgents' or 'guerrillas.'" (Real News 24/7: Gee, I guess that means they're being made to fudge the truth over and above their daily standard quota of fudging the truth!)

12-05-03
Bin Laden's Swiss stash "The newspaper [Le Temps] said the account was opened in 1990 because the bin Ladens feared Iraq could invade Saudi Arabia and seize their fortune. The account was emptied after the 1991 Gulf War and closed in 1997, it reported." (Real News24/7: If he feared Iraq would attack his country, does it really seem plausible that bin Laden had Saddam Hussein as a co-conspirator?)

Flashback:
Bin laden family allowed 9-11 leave "The bin Laden family were granted extraordinary White House privileges to fly out of U.S. airspace following the attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001." (Real News 24/7: Remember how just hours after the attacks President Bush was confidently telling the nation that intelligence sources point to Osama bin Laden as the ringleader of the plot and that, as one of the first priorities in our newly-declared War on Terror, bin Laden would be hunted down and brought to justice. Wouldn't it be logical to hold the bin Laden family for questioning? After all, if, as Bush claimed, Osama was behind the attacks, mightn't they just have some knowledge of or complicity in the attacks?)

One more from our "Oh, and by the way!" department:
Bush senior met with Bin Laden's brother on 9/11

12-04-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LII

Court-appointed guardian recommends death for Terri; Gov. Bush disagrees "Terri Schiavo has little chance of recovering, and unless future medical tests show otherwise, she should be allowed to die, her court-appointed guardian recommended in his report to Gov. Jeb Bush. Jay Wolfson, a University of South Florida professor and lawyer, reached that conclusion after spending much of the past month with the severely brain-damaged woman. He also reviewed 30,000 pages of court and medical records from the long legal battle between her husband and her parents in what has become an international debate over the right to die."

Family torn by a life on the line "She is at the center of a right-to-die dispute which has polarized America, but Terri Schiavo has no say on whether she lives or dies. Mrs. Schiavo, who turned 40 yesterday, suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart temporarily stopped because of a chemical imbalance and cut off oxygen to her brain, leaving her in a vegetative state. "

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-04-03
Vincent Foster: What the media won't tell you "Since Foster’s July 1993 death, the facts of his death have been obfuscated by friends of Bill and Hillary in the major media, but here’s the undeniable truth: ¼No fewer than three of the paramedics on the scene indicated in reports or testimony that the crime scene was consistent with a murder scene, not a suicide.¼All of the X-rays taken during the autopsy are missing. Complete crime scene photos don’t exist. The Park Police said all the photos were 'accidentally' overexposed. A series of close-up Polaroids, which [California lawyer Allan] Favish is suing for, remain."

12-04-03
Top abortion doctor convicted of abuse Researcher claims case not as rare as news coverage suggests "Arizona's most prominent abortion doctor was convicted yesterday on 22 counts of sexually abusing patients over the past 17 years." (Real News 24/7: Arizona's most prominent abortion doctor? Should that read most notorious?!)

12-04-03
Roy Disney sees groundswell in rebellion "Roy Disney's rebellion against the management of Walt Disney Co.has found fertile ground among small shareholders and average 'folks,' the former director said on Wednesday. However, three days after resigning in protest from the Disney board and vowing to bring down Chief Executive and Chairman Michael Eisner, Roy Disney did not offer a specific plan when asked what would convince institutional shareholders to back him."

12-04-03
Pat Buchanan: Rewriting Cold War history "What is Truman's name doing on a medal honoring victims of communism? Did Harry not himself create 2 million of those victims when he ordered Russian POWs sent back to Stalin in Operation Keelhaul? Did Harry not come home from Potsdam singing the praises of 'good old Uncle Joe'?"

Repatriation: The dark side of World War II "Part of the Yalta Agreement between the Big Three — Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill — involved the repatriation of Russians and Americans to their respective homelands. Keep in mind that the German POW camps contained American prisoners, British prisoners, and Russian prisoners. The Big Three agreed that as the Russians liberated Germany POW camps, American and British POWs would be turned over to the American and British forces. As the Americans and British liberated German POW camps, Russian POWs would be returned to Russia. There was one big problem with this agreement — a problem that each of the Big Three was well aware of. American and British POWs wanted to return to their own forces. Russian POWs did not want to return to Russian forces because they knew the fate that awaited them. "Harry S. Truman—War Criminal "It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were almost defeated and ready to surrender...in being the first to use it, we...adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages."—Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during World War II

12-03-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day LI
Terri Schiavo's family celebrates her 40th birthday, hundreds send cards "Members of Terri Schiavo's family celebrated her 40th birthday on Wednesday as supporters gathered outside of the Woodside Hospice building where she lives. Pro-life people from across the United States came to show their support for the woman who has become the focus of the national debate over euthanasia."

Guardian says deal in Schiavo case fell through "Buried in a report filed by a law professor appointed to evaluate Terri Schiavo's medical and legal situation is an account of an attempt at mediation. Dr. Jay Wolfson worked to get Michael Schiavo, Governor Jeb Bush and Terri's family to come to an agreement that would have provided a possible out-of-court resolution."

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-03-03
Official: Ohio won't make 2004 deadline for electronic voting "The state's top elections official said Tuesday that security problems found in new touch-screen voting systems (search) mean they won't be in place statewide in time for the November 2004 presidential election." (Real News 24/7: We have good news and bad news for Ohioans: The good news is that for another national election some of the polling places will not have the totally unverifiable touch-screen machines; the bad news is that the election officials in Ohio are so naive (or crooked, take your pick) that they are going to foist the machines on voters in piecemeal fashion—some now, some later. These machines have no "paper trail" to help ensure that votes are actually being tabulated as cast!)

12-03-03
No, anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism "From the beginning, political Zionism was a controversial movement even among Jews. So strong was the opposition of German orthodox and reform rabbis to the Zionist idea in the name of Judaism that Theodor Herzl changed the venue of the First Zionist Congress in 1897 from Munich to Basle in Switzerland." Some confirmed Zionist firsts "Grenades in cafes, first used against Palestinians in Jerusalem on 17 March, 1937. Delayed-action, electrically timed mines in crowded market-places: first against Palestinians in Haifa, 6 July, 1938.¼etc."

12-03-03
More Monkey Business "Finally, let me please ask the proponents of evolution to stop telling me, "Evolution is a fact as well supported as the fact of gravity." No folks, it really isn’t, at least if by "evolution" we mean the theory of common descent of all species. The fact (or theory) of gravity is something that we can test right now, whereas the controversial elements of evolutionary theory refer to events that supposedly happened millions of years ago.¼" Origins From the homepage: "This site features scholarly and popular resources concerning intelligent design and philosophical theism." The Ultimate Creation vs. Evolution Resource A website that lives up to its name, with scores and scores of links to pro- and anti-evolution sites.

12-03-03
The killing of Kenneth Michael Trentadue (1950-1995)

A cover-up that won't stay covered "At 7 AM on August 21, 1995, officials from the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s office arrived at the new Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center for the body of a man recently picked up for parole violation who allegedly was a suicide by hanging. The astonished state officials saw a body with scalp split to the skull in three places, throat slashed, and a body completely covered in blood, bruises and burns. As law requires, the officials asked to see the cell in which the alleged suicide occurred. Federal officials pulled rank and refused on the grounds that a federal investigation was underway.¼A federal investigation was not underway." (Emphasis added)

Another suicide or another cover-up? "Lawyer makes the case that his brother was tortured, murdered in federal prison." The death of Kenneth Michael Trentadue A chronology and many disturbing photos. A related Court TV article Here, a tie-in with FBI investigators of the Oklahoma City Bombing case is shown (Trentadue was mistakenly thought to be involved with Timothy McVeigh).

Another Trentadue page Many links here, including one implicating Janet Reno in the cover-up. (This page has as background a photo of Ken's 1967 track team—he's in the front row, second from the left. Just thought we'd let you know, since you could easily think you're on the wrong page.) Prison murders Trentadue's "suicide" is one of many disturbing deaths found on this site.

12-02-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day L
Guardian says Terri not likely to improve, wants to stay on case State-appointed independent guardian Jay Wolfson has concluded there is no likelihood that Terri Schindler-Schiavo, the severely brain damaged woman at the center of a life-or-death legal battle, will improve, according to a report delivered to Gov. Jeb Bush that was released Tuesday. Wolfson also recommended that swallowing tests be conducted on Terri, to see if she would be able to eat on her own.

Judge Prevents Bush Attorneys From Gathering Info for Terri's Law Suit "A judge on Tuesday granted a motion filed by Terri Schiavo's estranged husband Michael that would prevent attorneys for Governor Jeb Bush from taking depositions in the lawsuit related to Terri's Law.¼Pinellas Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird granted the motion filed by Michael's attorney George Felos, an assisted suicide advocate who is getting help from the ACLU."

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-02-03
How Bush can lose "President Bush's armor of invincibility is starting to crack. The president is still infinitely stronger on national defense than any of the nine Democrats running for the White House, but on a growing list of domestic issues, the president is losing his conservative base." (Real News 24/7: This is from the Wall Street Journal; significantly, a central issue is said the defense of marriage, which Bush initially supported with tough talk, only later to backtrack, even congratulating a "gay church" that has been performing same-sex "marriages" for years! Bush cheers "gay" church after "Marriage Week" We must not allow him to get away with such deceit!) Whose "word" was given? William Norman Grigg commentary on the President's speech in Britain last month gives more reason to show Bush the door.)

12-02-03
People hearing persistent, mysterious hum aren't alone "No one else in Phil Ciofalo's neighborhood in northeast Albuquerque by the foothills of the Sandia Mountains is bothered by the humming sound that irritates him constantly. They can't even hear it. Taos hum homepage "The 'Taos Hum' is a low-pitched sound heard in numerous places worldwide, especially in the USA, UK, and northern europe. It is usually heard only in quiet environments, and is often described as sounding like a distant diesel engine." Sourcing the Taos hum A theory on the cause of the phenomenon. The Kokomo Hum: Reports of mysterious noise and illness in Indiana An ABC News report on a similar (the same?) phenomenon from last year.

12-01-03 The Terri Schindler-Schiavo File: Day XLIX
Nat Hentoff—The Culture of Death: Who will decide when you should die?
"Wesley J. Smith, an expert on the growing culture of death that is being proposed and implemented by hospitals and bioethicists, makes the chilling point: 'Now, a new medical hegemony is arising, one that proclaims the right to declare which of us have lives worth living and are therefore worth treating medically, and which of us do not. Unless people object strongly . . . to this duty to die . . . and legislatures take active steps to intervene, this new and deadly game of "Doctor Knows Best" will be coming soon to a hospital near you.'" (Emphasis added by Real News 24/7))

Stroke survivor backs Terri Schiavo's struggle "A woman who knows better than most what Terri Schiavo is going through, says the disabled Florida woman's husband should stop treading in God's territory by seeking her death. 'I support life over death, human dignity over indifference,' says Kate Anderson. 'I support the value of each person regardless of that person's disability.' Eight years ago, Adamson was lying in a U.S. hospital intensive care unit after a near-fatal brainstem stroke. Doctors described her as being in a 'vegetative' state."

Pray for Terri Schindler-Schiavo & her family

12-01-03
Supreme Court sidesteps politically charged gun rights case "The Supreme Court disappointed gun owner groups Monday, refusing to consider whether the Constitution guarantees people a personal right to own a gun. The court has never said if the right to 'keep and bear arms' applies to individuals." (Real News 24/7: They should feel too disappointed; considering the ideological makeup of this Court, it's quite possible that Second Amendment activists should, instead, be grateful that they didn't offer a decision.)

12-01-03 Congressman Ron Paul:
NeoCons' war fraud leads to crime of conscription "The ultimate cost of war is almost always the loss of liberty. True defensive wars and revolutionary wars against tyrants may preserve or establish a free society, as did our war against the British. But these wars are rare. Most wars are unnecessary, dangerous, and cause senseless suffering with little being gained. The result of most conflicts throughout the ages has been loss of liberty and life on both sides."

12-01-03
Vatican requests viewing of Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ "The Vatican has asked for a screening of Mel Gibson's controversial movie The Passion of Christ, Italian officials close to the Holy See told Variety. Officials reportedly want to screen the movie, about the last hours of Jesus, during a conference on theology and cinema, to be held next week in Rome, the trade paper reported."

12-01-03
Cleft palate abortion case allowed to go ahead "A Church of England official won a ruling in front of Britain's High Court on Monday that will allow her to challenge a police decision not to prosecute doctors who carried out a late-term abortion because the child had a cleft palate."

12-01-03
Roy Disney resigns from Walt Disney Company In a letter to Disney CEO Michael Eisner citing "serious differences of opinion about the direction and style of management in the Company," Roy Disney resigns and calls for Eisner to step down.

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