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Friday, March 07, 2003
Pay no attention to the economy "Businesses unexpectedly slashed more than 300,000 jobs last month in the largest cuts since the terrorist attacks, pushing the unemployment rate higher as the nation moved closer to war Economists warned that February's widespread job losses signal a frail economy in danger of toppling back into recession." -- AP While Bush focuses all of his attention on the upcoming war, the economy goes on failing. When he or his allies do have something to say about the economy, it's always another round of how if only Congress would pass tax cuts for the wealthy, the economy would recover. Oh, and just ignore that giant deficit over there.
War is coming Last night Bush held a news conference, in which he more or less declared that the war was going to happen, U.N. or no U.N. While British Prime Minister Tony Blair desperately tries to get a second resolution passed (as it seems he has finally realized that the British public doesn't support him), Bush pushes on, confident because the poll numbers show support for the war among the American public. Apparently the majority of the American public are all too willing to believe the lies the administration puts out about the imminent threat to Americans from Saddam, and the fact that Bush never seems to present any actual proof of his allegations doesn't bother them in the least. Of course, the fact that the major televison news organizations are all almost entirely uncritical of anything coming out of the government these days could have something to do with that. So, off we go to war. Despite the fact that inspectors say that the inspections are working. Despite the fact that some experts on international law say that the war will be illegal. Despite the thousands and thousands of Iraqi civilians who will die. Despite the fact that the war won't make us any safer. Feh.
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
The Iraqi Communist Party "How many Americans who oppose the looming war know the left from the right when it comes to Iraq? The only two players on the field are not George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein. For inside and outside the borders of Iraq there is a political opposition to Saddam — and while some of those opponents are now aligned with the White House, others remain on the political left." A great piece that I certainly learned a lot from, despite having seen mention of the Iraqi CP elsewhere. They are, of course, one of the reasons (along with the separatist Kurds and the Shia majority) that Bush doesn't really want true democracy in Iraq after the war. Read the entire article here. [via MaxSpeak]
Umberto Eco "It is possible to love the United States, its tradition, its people and its culture, with all the respect due the country that has earned the title of the most powerful country in the world; and one can be utterly horrified by the terrible blow that it suffered over a year ago, without shrinking from warning it that its government is about to make a faulty choice, and that it should hear our frank dissent and not construe it as a betrayal. Otherwise, it is the right to dissent that will be trampled. And that would be precisely the opposite of that which the liberators of 1945 taught us youngsters back then, after years of dictatorship." Author Umberto Eco has written an essay where he talks about war versus peace, and the rifts that have been created in the West between those who want a war with Iraq and those who oppose it. It's quite an interesting piece, and I think he makes some very good points. Read the whole thing here. [via Electrolite]
Populism and the right. "A true populist cannot fail to recognize who is in charge, and consequently who is responsible for the inadequacies that stack the economic deck against workers, aspiring entrepreneurs, and consumers. So populism means siding with workers v. bosses, small business v. large corporations, and consumers v. unscrupulous merchants. Right-wing ideology conforms with populism in none of these matchups." Max over at MaxSpeak has in interesting piece up about why "true" populism and right-wingers just don't mix. Read it (and some discussion)here.
Monday, March 03, 2003
U.S. dirty tricks and the U.N. "The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq. Details of the aggressive surveillance operation, which involves interception of the home and office telephones and the emails of UN delegates in New York, are revealed in a document leaked to The Observer." Basically, it seems that the United States is conducting a high-intensity surveillance campaign against the delegations from some of the current members of the Security Council, in an attempt to find out how each of them will be voting. The administration would then use this information to try and change minds before the actual vote. Read the all the details here, and check out just how few U.S. news outlets are covering this story (at least as of now) here. [via Cursor]
CAPPS II and you "A secretive new system for conducting background checks on all airline passengers threatens to create a bureaucratic machine for destroying Americans' privacy and a government blacklist that will harm innocent Americans, the ACLU said today. The ACLU's warning came in response to statements by officials of the Transportation Security Agency that the Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System II (CAPPS II) will be tested at several airports around the U.S. starting sometime in March. 'CAPPS II is based on the same concept as the Pentagon's 'Total Information Awareness' program, which proposed massive fishing expeditions through some of our most personally sensitive data,' said Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program. 'We are all concerned about airline security, but we must not let the unique needs in our airports give the government an opening to create the kind of Big Brother program that Americans rejected so resoundingly in the Pentagon.'" Given the way that foreign nationals have been treated of late at U.S. airports, isn't it good to know that they'll now be applying the same careful scrutiny to your credit report and the rest of you background when you fly? At least no one would end up getting their security-risk level raised because of their political beliefs or outspoken criticism of the government... right? Here's what you can do about it: Boycott Delta [via Boing Boing] Read more about it here.
Has the war already started? "In Iraq, new targets in the no- fly zones hit in recent days have included surface-to- surface missile systems and multiple launch rockets that could be used by Iraq against ground troops or neighbouring nations such as Kuwait. Conservative shadow defence spokesman Bernard Jenkin challenged ministers to be 'honest and open' about the change. Mr Jenkin asked: 'While we still hope diplomacy will avoid the need for the last resort of war, haven't we already seen the opening shots of the second Gulf war?'" As noted above, the U.S. and U.K. planes in the no-fly zones have now started bombing targets that aren't threatening them directly, which has always been the excuse in the past when they were attacking radar installations and surface-to-air missile sites. This would seem to effectively mean that the war has already started, despite denials from the British Defense Minister. Of course, this assumes that you count the last decade of bombing and firing cruise missiles as having been peace. Read the whole BBC article here.
Moyers on Patriotism "So I put this on as a modest riposte to men with flags in their lapels who shoot missiles from the safety of Washington think tanks, or argue that sacrifice is good as long as they don't have to make it, or approve of bribing governments to join the coalition of the willing (after they first stash the cash.) I put it on to remind myself that not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of Baghdad what Bin Laden did to us. The flag belongs to the country, not to the government. And it reminds me that it's not un-American to think that war — except in self-defense — is a failure of moral imagination, political nerve, and diplomacy. Come to think of it, standing up to your government can mean standing up for your country." A sometimes fiery piece by the usually soft-spoken Bill Moyers, in which he lays out the reasons that he doesn't wear his American flag pin any longer. Read the whole thing here. [via Common Dreams]
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