All the Ideology That's Fit to Print

The New York Times executive editor, Bill Keller, has announced that the paper must get more "diverse", and hire more conservatives and write more about religion.

Can you say, "complete capitulation?" Sad, really.

Billmon breaks it down: The Red State Times

And so we're starting to get reporting like this (taken from the Times Magazine's recent kissy face look at religious conservatives):

But as I learned spending time among the cultural conservatives who are leading the anti-gay-marriage charge, they have their own reasons for doing so, which are based on their reading of the Bible, their views about both homosexuality and the institution of marriage and the political force behind the issue . . . As with abortion, conservatives see gay marriage as a culture-altering change being implemented by judicial fiat.

This is followed by a seemingly endless spew of bigotry and lies -- more than 8,000 words worth -- all dressed up in that Times Voice of the Narrator God prose style. This includes passages such as:

''Lifestyle'' is a buzzword in conservative Christian circles. It's a signal of the belief, and the policy position, that homosexuality is not an innate condition but a hedonistic way of living, one devoted to partying, drugs and wanton sex that ends, often, in illness and early death.

And:

At its essence, then, the Christian conservative thinking about gay marriage runs this way. Homosexuality is not an innate, biological condition but a disease in society. Marriage is the healthy root of society. To put the two together is thus willfully to introduce disease to that root.

And:

Once the definition of marriage is altered, in this view, you will have this group of people declaring they want to marry that group; middle-aged men will exchange vows with children or with Doberman pinschers.

**********

This is shameful reporting, especially coming from a paper that, for all its faults, aggressively and at times courageously covered the civil rights movement -- at a time when most Americans (and not just Southerners) either supported segregation or just wished the issue would go away.

It's as if the New York Times of, say, 1963, had published a long, respectful essay on the racial views of Sheriff Bull Connor and the White Citizens Council, one that relegated Martin Luther King to the second-to-the-last paragraph, but included extended passages along the lines of:

''States Rights'' is a buzzword in conservative Southern circles. It's a signal of the belief, and the policy position, that blacks are slow, stupid and lazy, and want nothing more than to collect welfare payments and rape white women.

Or:

At its essence, then, Southern conservative thinking about race relations runs this way. God intended for the races to be separate. Racial mixing results in miscegenation. Segregation is the root of the Southern way of life and to abolish it would be willfully to introduce disease to that root

.

Echidne of the Snakes: New York Times: The Wingnut Edition

In other words, the Gray Lady is on her knees (take that as you wish). The wingnuts have won. I used to hear the argument that true diversity is not racial and gender based but the acknowledgement of wingnut views (such as that minorities are lazy and women naturally unable to compete) on each and every issue. But I only heard this from wingnuts. Now the New York Times is repeating the same mantra.

There Are Court Orders, and Then There Are Court Orders We Don't Really Care About

Cops Can't Be Sued for Restraining Orders

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that police cannot be sued for how they enforce restraining orders, ending a lawsuit by a Colorado woman who claimed police did not do enough to prevent her estranged husband from killing her three young daughters.

Jessica Gonzales did not have a constitutional right to police enforcement of the court order against her husband, the court said in a 7-2 opinion.

City governments had feared that if the court ruled the other way, it would unleash a potentially devastating flood of cases that could bankrupt municipal governments.

Gonzales contended that police did not do enough to stop her estranged husband, who took the three daughters from the front yard of her home in June 1999 in violation of a restraining order.

Hours later Simon Gonzales died in a gun fight with officers outside a police station. The bodies of the three girls, ages 10, 9 and 7, were in his truck.

Now, if the Supreme Court issued an order and the U.S. Marshals didn't enforce it, you know there would be hell to pay. But some poor non-lawyer, non-corporation, non-insurance company with a court order? Pound sand.

That's why I always counseled abused women that a restraining order is just a piece of paper. Often it just inflames the situation with the abuser. That becomes the act of defiance for which the abuser wants to punish you. You're better off squirreling away your money & sneaking off to a safe house than getting a court order from a court system that thinks abused women and children don't count. At least the people who run the domestic violence shelter will try to help you.

It was a 7-2 decision. In dissent were John Paul Stevens, the last liberal giant on the court, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only decent appointment Clinton made to the Court. (Stephen Breyer, Clinton's other appointment, voted with Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, O'Connor, Kennedy and Souter against this poor woman's claim. Thirty years ago, instead of being described as a moderate liberal, he would have been a moderate Republican.)

Justice Sheds Ashcroft's Blue Drape

Ashcroft Gone, Justice Statues Disrobe

WASHINGTON -- With barely a word about it, workers at the Justice Department Friday removed the blue drapes that have famously covered two scantily clad statues for the past 3 1/2 years.

Spirit of Justice, with her one breast exposed and her arms raised, and the bare-chested male Majesty of Law basked in the late afternoon light of Justice's ceremonial Great Hall.

The drapes, installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing up behind him in television or newspaper pictures. They also provoked jokes about and criticism of the deeply religious Ashcroft.

The 12-foot, 6-inch aluminum statues were installed shortly after the building opened in the 1930s.

I wonder if Gonzales has daily Bible Study with his Justice Department minions in his office before work as Ashcroft did?

Kristen Breitweiser's Smackdown of Karl Rove

06.23.2005 Kristen Breitweiser
Karl Rove's "Understanding of 9/11"

the concluding grafs:

Finally Karl, please “understand” that the reason we have not suffered a repeat attack on our homeland is because Bin Laden no longer needs to attack us. Those of us with a pure and comprehensive “understanding of 9/11” know that Bin Laden committed the 9/11 attacks so he could increase recruitment for al Qaeda and increase worldwide hatred of America. That didn't happen. Because after 9/11, the world united with Americans and al Qaeda's recruitment levels never increased.

It was only after your invasion of Iraq, that Bin Laden's goals were met. Because of your war in Iraq two things happened that helped Bin Laden and the terrorists: al Qaeda recruitment soared and the United States is now alienated from and hated by the rest of the world. In effect, what Bin Laden could not achieve by murdering my husband and 3,000 others on 9/11, you handed to him on a silver platter with your invasion of Iraq - a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

Which leads me to my final questions for you Karl: What are your motives when it comes to 9/11 and are you really sure that you understand 9/11?

Rethugs Desperate, Invoking 9/11 For Base Political Purposes Again

Rove is right: there are differences

From the DNC website:

White House spokesman Scott McClellan says that Karl Rove just meant that Democrats and Republicans had "different philosophies" when it comes to their reactions following 9/11. We agree. Our philosophies couldn't be more different when it comes to fighting international terrorism. Let's compare:

Democrats
Believe capturing the person primarily responsible for the attack should be a top priority.

Republicans
It's been four years, and Osama bin Laden is still free, even though Bush's CIA chief says he knows where he is.

Democrats
Investigate the intelligence failures that led to 9/11.

Republicans
Do everything in their power to block the 9/11 Commission from doing its work.

Democrats
Propose creating the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans
Push tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Democrats
Believe we should have stayed the course in Afghanistan, not allowing the Taliban to resurge, the warlords to take power, and the opium trade to skyrocket.

Republicans
Ignore Afghanistan as the situation worsens.

Democrats
Believe that we should be honest with our troops about the reasons we go to war, give them everything they need to be safe, and make sure we go in with an exit plan.

Republicans
Manipulate intelligence to trump up reasons to go to war, don't give our troops the support they need, constantly mislead the public about the direction the war is going, and fail to make an exit plan. And turn Iraq into the ultimate terrorist training ground.

Glossy Ibis Added to Life List

Tuesday I went birding with my friend L at the Parker River Refuge on Plum Island in Newburyport, Mass. We saw bobolinks, snowy egrets, great egrets, catbirds, swans, a marsh hawk, dozens of fat red wing blackbirds, a common tern, and of course many gulls. Two birds puzzled us, though.

One was a brown bird with a long straight beak. Kind of like a willet but heavier and taller. Still haven't figured out what it was.

We also saw a black bird fly overhead with a distinctive curved beak. It was large -- overhead it appeared to be about two feet long -- and completely black. We looked and looked in our bird books but weren't sure until I looked in my ancient Golden Book of Birds -- a book so old the pages are all completely detached from the binding. It said "appears completely black from a distance". Bingo -- we had seen a glossy ibis.

We decided to go home. In the marsh right next to the road we spotted 5 glossy ibises! We pulled off to check them out. Up close, you could see the rich purple/maroon color of the feathers on the upper back, and how they looked black and glossy on the lower back. The breast was a dark, dark green. L mentioned that they now make binoculars with a built-in camera and I wish we had had one that day. So I am forced to post other people's pictures, which are not quite what we saw.

Here's a great close-up shot of a glossy ibis, albeit one with rare rusty coloring. Another pic, and another.

Let These Christian Hypocrites Hear Your Voice

Woman Fired From Job For Taking Time Off To Spend With Husband On Leave From Iraq

A Jessamine County woman is looking for work after being forced to make a tough decision - take two days to spend time with her husband on leave from Iraq, or lose her job.

Shirley Blankenship thought 10 years of service at McClane Cumberland, a distribution company, was enough to get her a couple of days off to be with her husband David before he returned to Iraq.

"Ever since I worked for them they said we're for family," said Blankenship. "But they wasn't for my family."

Staff sergeant David Blankenship has spent eight years of service in the National Guard, the last six months as a member of the 213th transportation unit out of Paducah.

Shirley said she wanted to take a week off at work while her husband was home. She felt since she had worked there since around the day the company opened ten years ago she could get the time off. But she was told she had used all her allotted vacation and sick time and had to work while David was in town. Blankenship also said she was on a warning for excessive absences - time she says was used over the last few years to care for her epileptic son, Austin.

Finally, Shirley said she decided that, no matter what, she would take the last two days of her husband's visit off. "I even asked to work a double shifts," she said. "You know, came in and worked on a Friday because I don't work on Fridays. Nothing seemed to (work)."

Blankenship was fired Tuesday. She said that while she's upset, she knows in her heart she made the right decision.

"I called from the airport, so my husband knew I had lost my job," said Blankenship. "So he was really upset about it. But he said we can deal with this."

LEX 18 called McClane Cumberland Wednesday to ask them about the decision. They refused to comment, saying it was a personnel matter.

Staff sergeant Blankenship is set to return from Iraq early next year.

Let's call & email these hypocrites to make them reverse this decision.

McLane Cumberland
1040 Baker Lane
Nicholasville, KY 40356
(859) 887-8200
(859) 887-8266 Fax

President of company: mary.piekarski@mclaneco.com

General email: comments@mclaneco.com

And why, do you ask, do I call them Christian hypocrites? Check out their "Beliefs and Values", from their website:

McLane Beliefs and Values
McLane Company has been through many changes since our beginning in Cameron, Texas. One aspect that has not changed, is our Beliefs and Values.

Our founder, Robert McLane, felt deeply that business should be based on Honesty, Integrity, and High Christian Principles. These Beliefs and Values are the principles that guide our relationships with:

Our Customers
Our Teammates
Our Shareholders
Over 100 years later, we continue to honor these principles in all our business relationships

Or "Our People", also from the website:

Our People
People are the cornerstone of McLane Company. We maintain a strong foundation through recruiting and development, effective communications between teammates, and human resource policies designed to meet our teammate's needs.

Additionally, as a learning organization, McLane Company provides an environment where teammate involvement in problem solving and continuous improvement is an important part of every day activities. All of these components build a McLane team with good morale, a strong work ethic, and commitment to customers.

High Christian Principles, my lapsed Catholic ass.

Can You Say Forgery? Fraud? Malfeasance?

The White House’s White-Out Problem

The Bush administration has gotten into the nasty habit of doctoring its reports whenever the facts don’t match its preconceived agenda. Here are some instances of the White House’s magic pen at work:

Cattle Grazing: “The Bush administration altered critical portions of a scientific analysis of the environmental impact of cattle grazing on public lands before announcing relaxed grazing limits on those lands, according to scientists involved in the study…conclusions that the proposed rules might adversely affect water quality and wildlife, including endangered species, were excised and replaced with language justifying less-stringent regulations favored by cattle ranchers.”

Hog Farming: Nationally respected Agriculture Department microbiologist Dr. Zahn discovered that hog farms were emitting drug-resistant airborne bacteria that “if breathed by humans, would make them harder to treat when ill. Zahn presented his findings at a scientific conference in 2000, but the Bush administration stopped him from publishing his data 11 times between September 2001 and April 2002, he said. When Danish researchers sought to learn more about his work, Zahn wasn’t allowed to share his techniques.”

Climate Change: “A White House official who once led the oil industry’s fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents…[The] official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.”

Air Quality at Ground Zero: “In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, the White House instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was not available. That finding is included in a report released Friday by the Office of the Inspector General of the EPA. It noted that some of the agency’s news releases in the weeks after the attack were softened before being released to the public: Reassuring information was added, while cautionary information was deleted.”

Toxicology of Mercury: “The White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) made changes to a report from the National Academy of Sciences on the toxicology of mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that is especially dangerous to pregnant women and young children…White House staff made editorial interventions in the report, which was commissioned by Congress to establish the science on the risks associated with mercury. The White House’s alterations downplayed the risks of mercury, replaced specific enumerations of mercury-related harms with bland, general references, and introduced additional emphasis on uncertainty.”

Effectiveness of Condoms: “The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USAID have removed or revised fact sheets on condoms, excising information about their effectiveness in disease prevention, and promoting abstinence instead.”

Effects of Oil Drilling on the Arctic Refuge: “Interior Secretary Gale Norton substantially altered biological findings from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concerning effects of oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before she transmitted them to Congress, according to documents released October 19 by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.” In one instance, Norton’s defense was that she “simply made an error in her testimony – saying ‘outside’ when she meant to say ‘inside.’”

Abortion: “The removal from a National Cancer Institute website of a scientific analysis concluding that abortions do not increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer. That move, in November 2002, contradicted the broad medical consensus, and members of Congress protested the change. In response, the NCI updated its website to include the conclusion of a panel of experts that induced abortion is not associated with an increase in breast cancer risk.”

HIV/AIDS: “During the latter half of 2002, the Administration began removing scientific information, relating to the spread of HIV, from government websites, including those of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Much of the information that was removed contracted [sic] claims made by the administration’s abstinence-only agenda.”

Cancer: Earlier this year, “EPA’s guidelines acknowledge[d], for the first time, that children under 2 years of age are 10 times more likely to get cancer from certain chemicals than adults who are similarly exposed. But the White House Office of Management and Budget undermined that acknowledgment by inserting language in the guidelines that make it easy for industry to block EPA from following them when assessing cancer-causing chemicals.”

Stem Cell Research: “[The] Bush administration dismissed Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, a leading cell biologist, and Dr. William May, a prominent medical ethicist, from the President’s Council on Bioethics…[Blackburn] was removed from the panel soon after she objected to a Council report on stem cell research. In an essay in the April 1, 2004, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Blackburn recounted how the dissenting opinion she submitted, which she believes reflects the scientific consensus in America, was not included in the council’s reports even though she had been told the reports would represent the views of all the council’s members.”

Ground-Water: Vice President Dick Cheney’s old company Halliburton “pioneered” an oil-drilling technique that “can contaminate drinking water supplies with carcinogens and is therefore required by law to be regulated by the EPA.” Halliburton has spent years trying to get the federal government to exempt the technique from environmental regulations.” A senior Environmental Protection Agency recently revealed that “the EPA [initially concluded] that the technique can be dangerous to public health, but then [deleted] the conclusion after Cheney’s office demanded it.” Furthermore, six of the seven EPA panel members who decided that the technique was “safe” had all come from the energy industry.

Not to mention the reduction of the requested tobacco penalty from $130 to $10 billion. Talk about a red pen!

An Article You Will Not See in WaPo or NYTimes

Fatal shooting of teacher illustrates why Iraqis fear U.S. convoys

Knight-Ridder is a good source for both sides of the story on Iraq and elsewhere.

No one knows what Khinaisar saw or thought. She was shot once in the head, and she died five days later, on June 3. She spoke only once during that period, when her husband arrived at the hospital. When she heard him speak, she quietly called out his name: Mohsen.

In the car, the soldiers found only a purse and a Quran on the dashboard. They found no evidence that the 57-year-old teacher was a suicide bomber.

It's not clear how often American soldiers, strangers in a strange land where it's virtually impossible to distinguish friend from foe, mistakenly kill Iraqi civilians. U.S. officials say they keep no statistics, and since last year, the Iraqi Ministry of Health has refused to release the ones it keeps.

At the Iraqi Assistance Center, which pays families for damage caused by American forces, the head of the compensation section said the center receives 1,000 requests a month, but most of them are for property damage. The head of the center, Col. Chester Wernicki of the 353rd Civil Affairs Command from Staten Island, N.Y., said he doesn't keep information on how many claims have been filed for deaths.

Many Iraqis say they understand why U.S. forces must be here: to keep the country intact, protect its fragile new government and stop the violence.

But enough civilians have been killed in one-sided encounters with scared American troops that Baghdadis cower whenever Americans are near. Whenever American troops leave their bases, they say, everyone is vulnerable.

This is the reality in Iraq. We make enemies of those who would support us by sending a too-small, poorly trained force. Not enough troops to make the streets safe. Not enough who speak the language. No intelligence on the opposition. Car bombings kill dozens every day. To compensate, our troops become trigger-happy and shoot people because they don't know who they are or if they can trust them. When in doubt, shoot. So the Bush Administration can hide this truth, they don't keep the statistics on how many innocent Iraqis are killed in this manner.

Clusterfuck.

How to Steal a Presidential Election, Part Deux.

Allegations arose before '04 election
Democrats say Noe case concealed to assist Bush

Here's the scandal:

Officials muffle concerns

The Blade first reported problems with Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation investments on April 3 [2005] in a story revealing that the agency had given $50 million since 1998 to Mr. Noe to create a rare-coin fund.

At the time, he was a Republican appointee to the Ohio Board of Regents and Ohio Turnpike Commission and a major GOP fund-raiser for not only President Bush but for Governor Taft and a host of other top Ohio Republicans.

Three weeks ago, Mr. Noe's attorneys told law enforcement authorities that $10 million to $12 million of the state's rare-coin assets were "unaccounted for."

In a 2000 review of Mr. Noe's coin investment, Keith Elliott, manager of internal audits for the bureau, wrote that the practices of the coin fund "could potentially expose both the BWC and the fund managers to adverse public scrutiny regarding the appropriate use of state funds."

In the year before the election, a number of concerns about the coin fund came to the attention of top state officials, who failed to make them public.

First, in October, 2003, two state-owned coins worth $300,000 were reported stolen in the mail, and then a 2004 audit of the venture's Colorado subsidiary showed that 119 coins worth $93,000 were reported missing.

Mr. Noe never notified Colorado authorities about the missing coins - and information was not made public about the loss until The Blade's stories began.

The allegation today is that Noe lost $215 million from the state fund intended for injured workers.

And the cover-up:

Lucas County, Ohio officials knew of charges that Republican fundraiser Tom Noe was cheating federal election contribution laws in March, 2004, yet conveniently for Bush, the allegations never made it to public view until after the November election.

The county (Republican-controlled, natch) was taking testimony before a grand jury in June of 2004 but never transmitted the information to the feds until three weeks before the election.

Never made it to public view until after the election & the certification of the results.

Neat trick, eh?

Fun with David Brooks

What Makes Bill Frist Run?

Another coup for mainstream journalism, here.

David Brooks writes a column outlining how much he likes the "real" Bill Frist, but how he has strayed from his roots.

This part made me laugh out loud.

....These days he seems not so much the leader of the Senate conservatives, but someone who is playing the role. And because he is behaving in ways that don't seem entirely authentic, he is often trying just a bit too hard, striking the notes more forcefully than they need to be struck.

That is what happened during the Terri Schiavo affair. It's not quite fair to say that Frist diagnosed Schiavo from a TV screen, but he did put himself on the wrong side of the autopsy that came out last week. He did betray his medical training, which is the core of his being, to please a key constituency group.

Of course, he DID diagnose her from a TV screen:

"I have looked at the video footage. Based on the footage provided to me, which was part of the facts of the case, she does respond."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
Senate Floor Remarks
March 17, 2005

Which we know definitively was bullshit (most of us knew it was bullshit at that time, but now we have a pathological diagnosis, the medical gold standard):

An exhaustive autopsy found that Terri Schiavo's brain had withered to half the normal size since her collapse in 1990 and that no treatment could have remotely improved her condition, medical examiners said on Wednesday . . . The autopsy also found that the brain deterioration had left her blind.
The New York Times
Schiavo Autopsy Says Brain, Withered, Was Untreatable
June 15, 2005

(via Billmon)

Then I read TBogg, and he had me laughing out loud about this:

Bill Frist: Cheating, two-timing man-slut

David Brooks finds honor in sleeping around on your fiancé:

Bill Frist was his high school's class president. He was a quarterback on the football team and a member of the honor society, and lived amid the upper crust of Nashville society. He dated the head cheerleader, and while he was in med school they were engaged to be married.

But while interning in Boston, he met another woman, spent a dinner and a night with her, and fell in love. Two days before his wedding, he flew back to Nashville and broke off his engagement. "Everyone listened carefully to what I said, all the lame explanations I had that were and were not the truth," Frist later wrote, "and they nodded and dealt with it and I went on my way."

I've always admired that anecdote. It took guts to break off the grand wedding that was in the works - to risk alienating everyone he had grown up with for the sake of the woman he had suddenly come to love. Furthermore here was a Bill Frist who knew his own heart.

.......and makes a man who cheats on his fiancé the Senate Majority Leader.

Bobo's World: Where your wedding is only a dinner and a blow job away from collapsing like a Papier Mâchè submarine.

Not only is Brooks column incredibly lame, it's also recycled from a column he wrote in 2003 for the Weekly Standard, his last MSM outpost. The 2003 piece contains the "Mom motored me around" story, the broken engagement story (if he were a white woman, would the Times have put "Runaway Bride" in the header?), and the same "everyone who knows him loves him" crap.

David Brooks, real (crappy) journalist.

Cindy Sheehan's Testimony on Downing Street Memo

When Dana Milbank, faux journalist, wrote his piece mocking John Conyers' hearing on the Downing Street memos, he ignored what really happened at the event. As a public service from a lowly pajama-wearing blogger, here's what he could have reported, the moving testimony of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in George W. Bush's Gratuitous War in Iraq:

Congressman Conyers and all, it is an honor to be here to testify about the effect that the revelations of the Downing Street Memo has had on me and my family. It is an honor that I wish never had to happen. I believe that not any of us should be gathered here today for this reason: as the result of an invasion/occupation that never should have occured.

My son, Spc Casey Austin Sheehan, was KIA in Sadr City Baghdad on 04/04/04. He was in Iraq for only 2 weeks before L. Paul Bremer inflamed the Shi’ite Militia into a rebellion which resulted in the deaths of Casey and 6 other brave soldiers who were tragically killed in an ambush. Bill Mitchell, the father of Sgt. Mike Mitchell who was one of the other soldiers killed that awful day is with us here. This is a picture of Casey when he was 7 months old. It's an enlargement of a picture he carried in his wallet until the day he was killed. He loved this picture of himself. It was returned to us with his personal effects from Iraq. He always sucked on those two fingers. When he was born, he had a flat face from passing through the birth canal and we called him "Edward G" short for Edward G. Robinson. How many of you have seen your child in his/her premature coffin? It is a shocking and very painful sight. The most heartbreaking aspect of seeing Casey lying in his casket for me, was that his face was flat again because he had no muscle tone. He looked like he did when he was a baby laying in his bassinette. The most tragic irony is that if the Downing Street Memo proves to be true, Casey and thousands of people should still be alive.

I believed before our leaders invaded Iraq in March, 2003, and I am even more convinced now, that this aggression on Iraq was based on a lie of historic proportions and was blatantly unnecessary. The so-called Downing Street Memo dated 23 July, 2003 only confirms what I already suspected: the leadership of this country rushed us into an illegal invasion of another sovereign country on prefabricated and cherry picked intelligence. Iraq was no threat to the United States of America and the devastating sanctions and bombing raids against Iraq were working. As a matter of fact, in interviews in 1999 with respected journalist, and long time Bush family friend, David Herskowitz, then Governor George Bush stated: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade….if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.” It looks like George Bush was ready to lead this country into an avoidable war even before he became president.

From the expose of the Downing Street Memo and the conversations with George Bush from 1999, it seems like the invasion of Iraq and the deaths of so many innocent people were preordained. It appears that my boy Casey was given a death sentence even before he joined the Army in May of 2000.

When a President lies to Congress and the American people, it is a serious offense. If the Downing Street Memo proves to be true, then it would appear that the president, vice president and many members of the cabinet deceived the world before the invasion of Iraq. As the result of this alleged lie, over 1700 brave young Americans who were only trying to do their duties have come home in flag draped coffins: images, as if they were ashamed of our children, our leaders won’t even let the American people see; thousands upon thousands of Iraqis who were guilty only of the crime of living in Iraq are dead; thousands of our young people will go through the rest of their lives missing one or more limbs, and too many will come home missing parts of their souls and humanity.

Kevin Lucey who found his Marine son, Jeffrey, who was recently home from Iraq, hanging dead from a garden hose in his basement wrote to me:

We ask daily where was the urgency; where was the necessity of rushing in. Can anyone explain to us, his mother and to his father as to why he felt that he had to die by his own hand. Why are the ones in position of power so afraid to ask people like us to discuss what happened to Jeff? Jeff can teach us so much. This war was so misguided and had so many other agendas which had nothing to do with the country.
Kevin, who cradled his son when he was his sweet baby boy, cradled Jeff's lifeless body for the last time in his arms after he cut him down from the hose. The Jeff that the Lucey's saw march off to a wreckless war was not the one who limped home. The Jeff his family knew died in Iraq, murdered by the inhumanity of gratutitous war.

The deceptions and betrayals that led to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq cost my family a price too dear to pay and almost too much to bear: the precious and young life of Casey. Casey was a good soldier who loved his family, his community, his country, and his God. He was trustworthy and trusting and the leadership of his country seemingly betrayed him. He was an indispensable part of our family. An obedient, sweet, funny, and loving son to myself and his father, Pat, and an adored big brother to his sisters, Carly and Jane, and his brother Andy. And the beloved nephew to my sister, Auntie, who is here with me today. Our family has been devastated and torn asunder by his murder.

I believe that the reasons that we citizens of the United States of America were given for the invasion of Iraq have unequivocally been proven to be false. I also believe that Casey and his buddies have been killed to line the pockets of already wealthy people and to feed the insatiable war machine that has always devoured our young. Casey died saving his buddies and I know so many of our brave young soldiers died doing the same thing: but he and his fellow members of the military should never have been sent to Iraq. I know the family of Sgt. Sherwood Baker, who was killed guarding a team that was looking for the mythic WMD's in Baghdad. The same WMD's that were the justification for invading Iraq as outlined in the Downing Street Memo. Sherwood's brother, Dante Zappala, and his dad, Al Zappala are here with us today. I believe the Downing Street Memo proves that our leaders betrayed too many innocents into an early grave. The lives of the ones left behind are shattered almost beyond repair.

I also believe an investigation into the Downing Street Memo is completely warranted and the necessary first step into righting the wrong that is Iraq and holding someone accountable for the needless, senseless, and avoidable deaths of many thousands. As far as I am concerned, it doesn’t matter if one is a Democrat or a Republican, a full investigation into the veracity of the Downing Street Memo must be initiated immediately. Casey was not asked his political affiliation before he was sent to die in Iraq. The innocent people who are having their blood shed by the bucketsful in Iraq don’t even know or care what American partisan politicking is all about. Every minute that we waste in gathering signatures on petitions, or arguing about partisan politics, more blood is being spilled in Iraq. How many more families here in America are going to get the visit from the Grim Reaper dressed in a US military uniform while we are trying to get our Congressional Leadership to do their duties to the Constitution and to the people of America? I believe that Congress expediently abrogated their Constitutional responsibility to declare war when they passed the War Power's Act, and they bear at least some responsibility for the needless heartache wrought on this world by our government. I believe that supporting a full investigation into the Downing Street Memo is a good beginning for Congress to redeem itself for abandoning the Constitution and the American people.

There are too many stories of heartache and loss to tell at a hearing like this. I have brought testimonies of other families who have been devastated by the war. Their soldiers' names are: Sgt. Sherwood Baker, KIA 04/26/04; 1st Lt. Neil Santoriello, KIA 08/13/04; Sgt Mike Mitchell, KIA 04/04/04; Spc Casey Sheehan, also KIA 04/04/04; Lt. Jeff Kaylor, KIA 04/07/03; Spc Kevin S.K. Wessell, KIA 04/19/05; Spc. Jonathan Castro, KIA 12/21/04; PFC William Prichard, KIA 02/11/04; Spc Joseph Blickenstaff, KIA 12/08/03, and 1st Lt Kenneth Ballard, KIA 05/30/04. I would like to have the testimonies put into the record and recorded for all to read the words of boundless love, bottomless loss, and deep despair.

There are a few people around the US and a couple of my fellow witnesses who were a little justifiably worried that in my anger and anguish over Casey's premeditated death, I would use some swear words, as I have been known to do on occasion when speaking about the subject. Mr. Conyers, out of my deep respect for you, the other representatives here, my fellow witnesses, and viewers of these historic proceedings, I was able to make it through an entire testimony without using any profanity. However, If anyone deserves to be angry and use profanity, it is I. What happened to Casey and humanity because of the apparent dearth of honesty in our country's leadership is so profane that it defies even my vocabulary skills. We as Americans should be offended more by the profanity of the actions of this administration then by swear words. We have all heard the old adage that actions speak louder than words and for the sake of Casey and our other precious children, please hold someone accountable for their actions and their words of deception.

Again, I would like to thank you for inviting me to testify today and giving me a chance to tell my story, which is the tragic story of too many familes here in the US and in Iraq. I hope and pray that this is the first step in exposing the lies to the light and bringing justice for the ones who can no longer speak for themselves. More importantly, I hope this is a step in bringing our other children home from the lie of historic proportions that is Iraq. Thank you.

Journalism: A Heartbeat

Having pronounced last rites over journalism, it is heartening to see it show signs of life:

Bush's WMD 'Joke': Is the Media Still Laughing?

A brief comment at a forum in Washington this week resurrects one of the most shameful episodes in recent media history: The night a roomful of journalists laughed along with a president making fun of the bogus threat that led to a costly war.

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I was reminded of all this at the Thursday forum when former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, after cataloguing the bogus Bush case for WMDs and the Iraqi threat, looked out at the cameras and notepads, mentioned the March 24, 2004 dinner, and acted out the president looking under papers and table for those missing WMDs. “And the media was all yucking it up….hahaha,” McGovern said. “You all laughed with him, folks. But I’ll tell you who is not laughing. Cindy Sheehan is not laughing.”

This was the woman sitting next to him whose son had been killed in Iraq. “Cindy’s son,” McGovern added, “was killed 11 days after the show put on by the president…after that big joke.”

Dana Milbank, who seems to like a good laugh, did not mention this in his story the following day.

Why Did He Have to be a Lawyer?

Another for the "Incredibly Bad Boss" file. Too bad the jerk is a lawyer. Why couldn't he be an insurance adjuster, or a banker?

Ketchup Spill Sets Off Lawyer-Secretary Feud
E-Mails Over Dry-Cleaning Bill Become the Talk of London's Legal Circles

The E-Mail Exchange

"Dear Jenny, I went to the dry-cleaners at lunch and they said it would cost four pounds to remove the ketchup stains. If you could let me have the cash today that would be much appreciated."
-- Lawyer Richard Phillips

"With reference to the email, I must apologize for not getting back to you straight away but due to my mother's sudden illness, death and funeral I have had more pressing issues than your four pounds. Obviously your financial need as a senior associate is greater than mine as a mere secretary."
-- Secretary Jenny Amner

Yes, he was dunning her for his stupid puny dry cleaning bill while she was out for her mother's funeral. Selfish bastard.

What's a Few Billion Between Such Good Friends?

Deeper Cuts Had Been Sought in Tobacco Case
U.S. prosecutors had been told to slash their request for sanctions on the industry to as low as $6billion, sources say

But on the morning of June 7, the day of the government's summation, the trial team was told to cut the demand still further, to $6 billion, the sources said. After a heated lunch-hour meeting — at which lawyers told senior staff that they couldn't credibly propose $6 billion — they were cleared to ask federal Judge Gladys Kessler for a $10-billion program, the sources said.

The $10-billion proposal, made public that afternoon, sparked outrage among anti-smoking activists and Democratic lawmakers, who claimed that political appointees in the Justice Department improperly interfered to protect tobacco companies from a big hit. At the request of several lawmakers, the department's Office of Professional Responsibility has opened an investigation into the sudden reduction in the government's demand.

Senior officials, led by Associate Atty. Gen. Robert McCallum, [former R.J. Reynolds lawyer] the department's No. 3 leader, have said the change was entirely proper. They say it reflects the legal realities facing the government after a federal appeals court limited remedies they could seek under civil provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

To government lawyers, however, it appeared that the real "object of the game was to get the number down … as low as possible" and find a legal rationale later, a person close to the trial team said.

Those R.J Reynolds lawyers are such softies.

Conyers Response to Milbank

Conyers to Milbank

John Conyers has already responded to Milbank's smear of an article. Click on the link above to see photographs of the event (which show how ridiculous Milbank's article really is).

June 17, 2005
Mr. Michael Abramowitz, National Editor
Mr. Michael Getler, Ombudsman
Mr. Dana Milbank
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20071


Dear Sirs:

I write to express my profound disappointment with Dana Milbank's June 17 report, "Democrats Play House to Rally Against the War," which purports to describe a Democratic hearing I chaired in the Capitol yesterday. In sum, the piece cherry-picks some facts, manufactures others out of whole cloth, and does a disservice to some 30 members of Congress who persevered under difficult circumstances, not of our own making, to examine a very serious subject: whether the American people were deliberately misled in the lead up to war. The fact that this was the Post's only coverage of this event makes the journalistic shortcomings in this piece even more egregious.

In an inaccurate piece of reporting that typifies the article, Milbank implies that one of the obstacles the Members in the meeting have is that "only one" member has mentioned the Downing Street Minutes on the floor of either the House or Senate. This is not only incorrect but misleading. In fact, just yesterday, the Senate Democratic Leader, Harry Reid, mentioned it on the Senate floor. Senator Boxer talked at some length about it at the recent confirmation hearing for the Ambassador to Iraq. The House Democratic Leader, Nancy Pelosi, recently signed on to my letter, along with 121 other Democrats asking for answers about the memo. This information is not difficult to find either. For example, the Reid speech was the subject of an AP wire service report posted on the Washington Post website with the headline "Democrats Cite Downing Street Memo in Bolton Fight". Other similar mistakes, mischaracterizations and cheap shots are littered throughout the article.

The article begins with an especially mean and nasty tone, claiming that House Democrats "pretended" a small conference was the Judiciary Committee hearing room and deriding the decor of the room. Milbank fails to share with his readers one essential fact: the reason the hearing was held in that room, an important piece of context. Despite the fact that a number of other suitable rooms were available in the Capitol and House office buildings, Republicans declined my request for each and every one of them. Milbank could have written about the perseverance of many of my colleagues in the face of such adverse circumstances, but declined to do so. Milbank also ignores the critical fact picked up by the AP, CNN and other newsletters that at the very moment the hearing was scheduled to begin, the Republican Leadership scheduled an almost unprecedented number of 11 consecutive floor votes, making it next to impossible for most Members to participate in the first hour and one half of the hearing.

In what can only be described as a deliberate effort to discredit the entire hearing, Milbank quotes one of the witnesses as making an anti-semitic assertion and further describes anti-semitic literature that was being handed out in the overflow room for the event. First, let me be clear: I consider myself to be friend and supporter of Israel and there were a number of other staunchly pro-Israel members who were in attendance at the hearing. I do not agree with, support, or condone any comments asserting Israeli control over U.S. policy, and I find any allegation that Israel is trying to dominate the world or had anything to do with the September 11 tragedy disgusting and offensive.

That said, to give such emphasis to 100 seconds of a 3 hour and five minute hearing that included the powerful and sad testimony (hardly mentioned by Milbank) of a woman who lost her son in the Iraq war and now feels lied to as a result of the Downing Street Minutes, is incredibly misleading. Many, many different pamphlets were being passed out at the overflow room, including pamphlets about getting out of the Iraq war and anti-Central American Free Trade Agreement, and it is puzzling why Milbank saw fit to only mention the one he did.

In a typically derisive and uninformed passage, Milbank makes much of other lawmakers calling me "Mr. Chairman" and says I liked it so much that I used "chairmanly phrases." Milbank may not know that I was the Chairman of the House Government Operations Committee from 1988 to 1994. By protocol and tradition in the House, once you have been a Chairman you are always referred to as such. Thus, there was nothing unusual about my being referred to as Mr. Chairman.

To administer his coup-de-grace, Milbank literally makes up another cheap shot that I "was having so much fun that [I] ignored aides' entreaties to end the session." This did not occur. None of my aides offered entreaties to end the session and I have no idea where Milbank gets that information. The hearing certainly ran longer than expected, but that was because so many Members of Congress persevered under very difficult circumstances to attend, and I thought - given that - the least I could do was allow them to say their piece. That is called courtesy, not "fun."

By the way, the "Downing Street Memo" is actually the minutes of a British cabinet meeting. In the meeting, British officials - having just met with their American counterparts - describe their discussions with such counterparts. I mention this because that basic piece of context, a simple description of the memo, is found nowhere in Milbank's article.

The fact that I and my fellow Democrats had to stuff a hearing into a room the size of a large closet to hold a hearing on an important issue shouldn't make us the object of ridicule. In my opinion, the ridicule should be placed in two places: first, at the feet of Republicans who are so afraid to discuss ideas and facts that they try to sabotage our efforts to do so; and second, on Dana Milbank and the Washington Post, who do not feel the need to give serious coverage on a serious hearing about a serious matter-whether more than 1700 Americans have died because of a deliberate lie. Milbank may disagree, but the Post certainly owed its readers some coverage of that viewpoint.

Sincerely,

John Conyers, Jr.

Mock Journalism

Democrats Play House to Rally Against The War

In which our faux journalist Dana Milbank, for the House Organ of the White House, the Washington Post, mocks the Democrats who held a hearing yesterday in opposition to the war.

1700 American dead, 100,000+ Iraqi dead, all for lies. So very funny.

Is California About To Fall Into the Ocean?????

No Injuries in Minor Quake Near Los Angeles

YUCAIPA, Calif., June 16 - A minor earthquake rumbled southern California on Thursday, shaking the ground from its epicenter near the town of Yucaipa, about 70 miles east of Los Angeles, as far as the coastal town of Laguna Beach.

The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 4.9, was the third to shake the state since early Sunday morning, when a quake centered about 20 miles south of Palm Springs hit. The second quake, which hit Tuesday, began several miles below the ocean floor off the coast of northern California near the Oregon border; that undersea quake caused fears of a tsunami along the coast.

I lived in California, briefly, 25 years ago. My building had an earthquake preparedness meeting led by fire department officials. Scared the crap out of me. Hope it never happens.

Krugman on Coingate

What's the Matter With Ohio?

The Toledo Blade's reports on Coingate - the unfolding tale of how Ohio's Bureau of Workers' Compensation misused funds - deserve much more national attention than they have received so far. For one thing, it's an entertaining story that seems to get weirder by the week. More important, it's an object lesson in what happens when you have one-party rule untrammeled by any quaint notions of independent oversight.

In April, The Blade reported that the bureau, which provides financial support for workers injured on the job, had invested $50 million in Capital Coin, a rare-coin trading operation run by Tom Noe, an influential Republican fund-raiser.

At first, state officials angrily insisted that this unusual use of state funds was a good investment that had nothing to do with Mr. Noe's political connections. An accounting investigation revealed, however, that Mr. Noe's claims to be running a profitable business were fictitious: he had lost millions, and 121 valuable coins were missing.

**********

Meanwhile, The Blade uncovered an even bigger story: the Bureau of Workers' Compensation invested $225 million in a hedge fund managed by MDL Capital, whose chairman had strong political connections. When this investment started to go sour, the bureau's chief financial officer told another top agency official that he had been told to "give MDL a break."

By October 2004, state officials knew that MDL had lost almost the entire investment, but they kept the loss hidden until this month.

How could such things happen? The answer, it has become clear, lies in a web of financial connections between state officials and the businessmen who got to play with state funds.

To follow the playing out of this story, go to The Toledo Blade, or Americablog

Name the Ways Iraq is Like Vietnam

The US government is lying: Downing Street Memos ("Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.")

Using napalm: US lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq war

Enlisted soldiers are fragging their superior officers: G.I. Is Charged in Iraq Deaths of 2 Superiors

A giant clusterfuck, courtesy of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Don Rumsfield.

I Love My Congressman

Rep. Waters Creates New “Out-of-Iraq Congressional Caucus”

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) has informed Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) that she and Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. John Conyers, and Rep. John Lewis are leading a newly formed Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus, with 41 members as of today.

Rep. Waters said: "The Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus is a newly formed effort whose sole purpose is to be the main agitators in the movement to bring our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our efforts will include the coordination of activities and legislation designed to achieve our goal of returning our troops home. Through floor statements, press conferences, TV and radio appearances and other actions, we will provide leadership for the American Public who has been waiting too long for our collective voices against the war."


“This announcement illustrates the changing tide in Washington around the issue of the Iraq Occupation,” says National Director of PDA Tim Carpenter. “This caucus will allow a collective dialogue within Congress on this issue, in which the tens of thousands of grassroots activists within PDA will be working to support.”

In addition, Rep. Waters will speak at today's 5 pm rally in Lafayette Square Park in support of Rep. John Conyers' (D-MI) hearings today on the Downing Street memo. Before the rally Rep. Waters will be attending the hearings. The hearings are being held from 2:30-4:30 pm in Room HC-9 of the U.S. Capitol, with overflow at the Wasserman Room at 430 S Capitol St. SE.

Current members of the caucus include:

Rep. Neil Abercrombie, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. Corrine Brown, Rep. Julia Carson, Rep. Donna Christensen, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. William Delahunt, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Sam Farr, Rep. Chaka Fattah, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Rush Holt, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Shelia Jackson-Lee, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. James McGovern, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Jim Moran, Rep. Grace Napolitano, Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Rep. John Olver, Rep. Major Owens, Rep. Donald Payne, Rep. Nick Rahall, Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Janice Schakowsky, Rep. Bobby Scott, Rep. Jose Serrano, Rep. John Tierney

Government Colludes with Big Pharma to Make Kids Sick

Read the entire article. It's chilling.

Deadly Immunity

by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In June 2000, a group of top government scientists and health officials gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, Ga. Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting was held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled in wooded farmland next to the Chattahoochee River, to ensure complete secrecy. The agency had issued no public announcement of the session -- only private invitations to 52 attendees. There were high-level officials from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, the top vaccine specialist from the World Health Organization in Geneva, and representatives of every major vaccine manufacturer, including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Wyeth and Aventis Pasteur. All of the scientific data under discussion, CDC officials repeatedly reminded the participants, was strictly "embargoed." There would be no making photocopies of documents, no taking papers with them when they left.

The federal officials and industry representatives had assembled to discuss a disturbing new study that raised alarming questions about the safety of a host of common childhood vaccines administered to infants and young children. According to a CDC epidemiologist named Tom Verstraeten, who had analyzed the agency's massive database containing the medical records of 100,000 children, a mercury-based preservative in the vaccines -- thimerosal -- appeared to be responsible for a dramatic increase in autism and a host of other neurological disorders among children. "I was actually stunned by what I saw," Verstraeten told those assembled at Simpsonwood, citing the staggering number of earlier studies that indicate a link between thimerosal and speech delays, attention-deficit disorder, hyperactivity and autism. Since 1991, when the CDC and the FDA had recommended that three additional vaccines laced with the preservative be given to extremely young infants -- in one case, within hours of birth -- the estimated number of cases of autism had increased fifteenfold, from one in every 2,500 children to one in 166 children.

Even for scientists and doctors accustomed to confronting issues of life and death, the findings were frightening. "You can play with this all you want," Dr. Bill Weil, a consultant for the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the group. The results "are statistically significant." Dr. Richard Johnston, an immunologist and pediatrician from the University of Colorado whose grandson had been born early on the morning of the meeting's first day, was even more alarmed. "My gut feeling?" he said. "Forgive this personal comment -- I do not want my grandson to get a thimerosal-containing vaccine until we know better what is going on."

But instead of taking immediate steps to alert the public and rid the vaccine supply of thimerosal, the officials and executives at Simpsonwood spent most of the next two days discussing how to cover up the damaging data. According to transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many at the meeting were concerned about how the damaging revelations about thimerosal would affect the vaccine industry's bottom line.

**********

In fact, the government has proved to be far more adept at handling the damage than at protecting children's health. The CDC paid the Institute of Medicine to conduct a new study to whitewash the risks of thimerosal, ordering researchers to "rule out" the chemical's link to autism. It withheld Verstraeten's findings, even though they had been slated for immediate publication, and told other scientists that his original data had been "lost" and could not be replicated. And to thwart the Freedom of Information Act, it handed its giant database of vaccine records over to a private company, declaring it off-limits to researchers. By the time Verstraeten finally published his study in 2003, he had gone to work for GlaxoSmithKline and reworked his data to bury the link between thimerosal and autism.

**********

The drug companies are also getting help from powerful lawmakers in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has received $873,000 in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, has been working to immunize vaccine makers from liability in 4,200 lawsuits that have been filed by the parents of injured children. On five separate occasions, Frist has tried to seal all of the government's vaccine-related documents -- including the Simpsonwood transcripts -- and shield Eli Lilly, the developer of thimerosal, from subpoenas. In 2002, the day after Frist quietly slipped a rider known as the "Eli Lilly Protection Act" into a homeland security bill, the company contributed $10,000 to his campaign and bought 5,000 copies of his book on bioterrorism. Congress repealed the measure in 2003 -- but earlier this year, Frist slipped another provision into an anti-terrorism bill that would deny compensation to children suffering from vaccine-related brain disorders. "The lawsuits are of such magnitude that they could put vaccine producers out of business and limit our capacity to deal with a biological attack by terrorists," says Andy Olsen, a legislative assistant to Frist.

**********

Before 1989, American preschoolers received only three vaccinations -- for polio, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and measles-mumps-rubella. A decade later, thanks to federal recommendations, children were receiving a total of 22 immunizations by the time they reached first grade.

As the number of vaccines increased, the rate of autism among children exploded. During the 1990s, 40 million children were injected with thimerosal-based vaccines, receiving unprecedented levels of mercury during a period critical for brain development. Despite the well-documented dangers of thimerosal, it appears that no one bothered to add up the cumulative dose of mercury that children would receive from the mandated vaccines. "What took the FDA so long to do the calculations?" Peter Patriarca, director of viral products for the agency, asked in an e-mail to the CDC in 1999. "Why didn't CDC and the advisory bodies do these calculations when they rapidly expanded the childhood immunization schedule?"

But by that time, the damage was done. Infants who received all their vaccines, plus boosters, by the age of 6 months were being injected with levels of ethylmercury 187 times greater than the EPA's limit for daily exposure to methylmercury, a related neurotoxin.

Legal Guide for Bloggers

EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers

Hopefully you (and I) will never need this, but it's good to have the information available. Like when you have an umbrella, it doesn't rain.

Plane Cabin as a Public Phone Booth

In-flight cellphone proposal hits static

Gayle James doesn't want the Federal Communications Commission to lift its in-flight ban on cellphones in airplanes, and here's why:

"I was seated next to a very loud man who was explaining his next porn movie on his cellphone," wrote James, of Shelton, Wash. ''Everyone on that plane was subjected to his explicit blabbering. Should cell use during flight be allowed, we had all better be prepared for a whole lot of air rage going on."

James's comments echo how many people -- from passengers to pilots -- feel about the FCC's proposal to allow the use of cellphones during flights. For more than a decade, the commission and the Federal Aviation Administration have barred in-flight use of cellphones over fears about interference with cellphone towers on the ground and aircraft navigational and communications equipment.

More than 7,700 individuals, companies, and associations filed written comments with the FCC after it proposed lifting the ban last December. A Globe review of roughly 50 such comments, as well as interviews with passengers, found that the public is fervently against the measure.

Cell phones make rude people ruder.

You know those last few moments before the plane takes off? While the cell phone users are busy shouting into their phones at their partners, co-workers, assistants, secretaries, husbands, wives, children? Imagine an entire two hour flight at such a decibel level.

Why do people shout into their cell phones? It's like listening to Dr. Watson using the first phone. Do you think the voice in your ear is coming in so clearly because the other person is talking loudly? No, silly, it's the technology. You can speak in a normal voice and be heard on the other end.

And isn't it creepy to see someone coming towards you on the street, slightly hunched over, and suddenly the person speaks, as though to you? You begin looking for a cop, or the guys in the white jackets, until you realize there's a cord trailing from the bug in his ear, and he's talking to someone on the phone.

Cell phones are a fixture of modern life, though. I was listening to a book on tape the other day, a murder mystery involving lawyers. It was written in 1999. People kept getting into scrapes where they needed help, or to tell someone where they were. They would call the home phone and get no answer, or the machine. None of these characters seemed to have a cell phone. At various intense times in the narrative I would find myself shouting, "Call her on the cell phone, dummy!" A 6-year old book, already hopelessly outdated.

I hope the cell phone ban on planes stays in place, though, for my peace of mind.

News to AP

Bush's Top Aides Have Significant Wealth

I already knew this.

What next? A "news" story saying, Bush policies favor rich?

Sheesh.

Gitmo a Gulag, 4-Ever, 4-Ever, 4-Ever

Guantanamo inmates can be held 'in perpetuity'- US

At a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Republican Chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said Congress should help to define the legal rights of the inmates at the prison, which the panel's top Democrat called "an international embarrassment."

Delaware Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden asked Deputy Associate Attorney General J. Michael Wiggins whether the Justice Department had "defined when there is the end of conflict."

"No, sir," Wiggins responded.

"If there is no definition as to when the conflict ends, that means forever, forever, forever these folks get held at Guantanamo Bay," Biden said.

"It's our position that, legally, they can be held in perpetuity," Wiggins said.

And to hell with the Constitution.

Wiggins, our Justice Department lawyer? Appointed to the position of Deputy Associate Attorney General in the Office of the Associate Attorney General (OASG) by none other than Robert D. McCallum, Jr., the Associate Attorney General/R.J. Reynolds lawyer who ordered the lawyers handling the tobacco case to reduce the penalty requested from $130 billion to $10 billion. One of Mr. Wiggin's former firm's clients: R.J. Reynolds. Doesn't it make you feel better that R.J. Reynolds, one of the most notorious corporate criminals of our time, has placed its former legal mouthpieces in the Justice Department?

Carpe diem, indeed.

Raze the Roof

GOP Senators May Make 69 Retirement Age

WASHINGTON -- Key Senate Republicans are considering gradually raising the Social Security retirement age as high as 69 over several years as they struggle to jump-start legislation that President Bush has placed atop his second-term agenda, officials said Tuesday.

Under current law, the retirement age for full Social Security benefits is 65 1/2 and is scheduled to reach 67 for those born in 1960 or later.

The possible increase to 69 over two decades or more was among the suggestions that Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, presented to fellow Republicans on the panel last week as part of an attempt to give the program greater financial solvency, the officials said.

Grassley also suggested steps to hold down benefits for upper-wage earners of the future, these officials have said previously. They spoke only on condition of anonymity, saying the discussions were confidential.

I guess John Tierney was out banging the Karl Rove drum yesterday. Raise the retirement age. That'll get the Social Security reform plan off life support. Right.

Here's the really interesting part of the article, to me:

Speaking to a convention of the Pennsylvania FFA _ formerly known as the Future Farmers of America _ Bush said he wants to "make sure the system is a better deal for younger workers" and assured older people in the audience that they would continue to get their promised benefits.

The students would get the same benefits that seniors today receive, Bush said, without mentioning that his plans involve a reduction in the benefits younger Americans have been promised in their own retirement.

Why don't they just call a spade a spade and say that Bush lied to these folks. If Bush is telling these kids they will get the same benefits under his plan, he's lying. His plan cuts benefits. WaPo: "The students would get the same benefits....Bush said....without mentioning that his plans involve a reduction in the benefits...." Um, this convoluted sentence is saying, he lied. Why not just say he lied? Is the Washington Post the house organ of the White House? Oh yeah, guess they are.

Bang the drum slowly for the corporate media. Journalism is dead.

Perhaps He Won't Even Notice He Has Changed Jobs

Ex-Bush Aide Who Edited Climate Reports to Join ExxonMobil

Philip A. Cooney, the White House staff member who repeatedly revised government scientific reports on global warming, will go to work for ExxonMobil in the fall, the oil company said today.

Mr. Cooney resigned on Friday as chief of staff to President Bush's environmental policy council, two days after documents obtained by The New York Times showed that he had edited the reports in ways that cast doubt on the link between greenhouse-gas emissions and rising temperatures.

A former lawyer and lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute, the main lobbying group for the oil industry, Mr. Cooney has no scientific training.

**********

"Perhaps he won't even notice he has changed jobs," said David G. Hawkins, who directs the climate center at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a private environmental group.

Ride Them 'Ol Mules 'Til They Break!

The Old and the Rested

In which our anti-hero, John Tierney, rich entitled white guy, posits that Social Security shouldn't be given to folks when they turn 62, because they're TOO YOUNG to retire.

Only a man who's always worked sitting on his tuckus could think that retirement is only for those in their 70s. Give him a job in a quarry or a garage or Wal-Mart for a year and see how he feels about it then.

Personally, I think we should create a special draft for conservative columnists & send them to Iraq. Then he wouldn't have to worry about the unwashed masses collecting their retirement benefits early!

Lively, Not Lackluster

Went to Giants Stadium Saturday to watch the Italy-Ecuador soccer friendly. We were disappointed that Italy did not bring its "A" team, or even its "B" team. Giants Stadium put on a "C" performance as well. Extremely disappointing since they charged us "A" prices despite presenting a "C" product.

There was no program, not even a one page line-up sheet, and the players were introduced verbally. No names on the scoreboard. To make things worse, the Ecuador team was only introduced in Spanish! Hey, I wanted to know who was on their team too, as they had apparently brought their "A" team. Just as my "I took Spanish for a year in college in the 70s" mind deciphered the number, the announcer was on to the next player, and I never got any of the names.

Some moronic local pol had complained that the US National Anthem wasn't played at Giants Stadium before the England - Columbia game (perhaps that was because the United States WASN'T PLAYING, doofus) so Giants Stadium capitulated and forced us to listen to all three national anthems in 90 degree heat (and the game started 20 minutes late).

With all the negatives before the game started, I was pleased that it was a good match. Italy started off gangbusters, scoring in the 6th minute, and with their significant height advantage, they looked to run Ecuador right off the field. But Italy couldn't keep it up. Ecuador played a far better match tactically. Their wide backs and midfielders effortlessly switched fields with long passes from one sideline to the other, expertly received on the other end. I never saw a one side to the other pass misplayed the entire game. They poked and probed, up and down, until they found Italy's weak spot. Italy on the other hand kept trying to move the ball straight up the field, with little success.

I was most impressed by #3, the captain of the Ecuador team; #10, a very young looking midfielder who had electric speed and nice ball skills; and the keeper, who while short was skilled & tenacious. Guess I will have to wait for the World Soccer World Cup preview issue to find out who these guys were, though.

AP and Reuters both had stringers at the game although it's hard to tell it was the same game from the write-ups:

Reuters: Lucarelli miss costs Italy victory

The late drama was a fitting end to a lively match characterized by attacking, if not always elegant, football.

AP: Italy Ends U.S. Tour With Tie Vs. Ecuador

Italy finished a two-game North American exhibition tour with a lackluster 1-1 tie against Ecuador on Saturday.

For me, it was definitely lively, not at all lackluster.

Soccer Talk

As the World Cup approaches (less than a year now) I am following soccer ever more closely. But try to find an American to have an interesting conversation. Like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I've found over the years that the only folks to start up soccer conversations with are taxi drivers. Generally they are recent immigrants from soccer-loving countries and only too happy to discuss the world's most popular sport.

In Chicago my Mom & I had a cab ride with a cabbie from Nigeria. I told him I saw the Super Eagles of Nigeria play in Foxboro at the World Cup in 1994. I asked if he remembered Yakini, their ancient striker (by soccer standards, he was 35 at the time) who moved like an old, old man on the field until he had the ball, when he would come alive. We had a nice conversation about the sport and he asked, "Have you ladies ever lived outside the USA?" We laughed and said no.

Classic. To know as much about soccer as we do, we'd have to be foreigners!

:::sigh:::

Priceless

Billmon's take on the Tobacco Travesty:

Mastering the Possibilities

I Smell a Burning Tobacco Rat

Can you say "conflict of interest?" Can you say, "HONKING, HUGE, MASSIVE CONFLICT OF INTEREST?"

Tobacco Witnesses Were Told To Ease Up

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On Tuesday, after eight months of courtroom argument, Justice Department lawyers announced that they would ask the industry to pay $10 billion -- rather than the $130 billion previously recommended by a government expert witness -- for smoking cessation programs. The reduction stunned anti-smoking activists who have followed the six-year-old case, and prompted tobacco lawyers to say in court Wednesday that the government's case had fallen apart.

According to sources involved in the case, high-level officials at Justiceordered the cut despite objections from career lawyers who have worked on the trial, in some cases years.

**********

Seven Democratic Senate and House members called on the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate possible political interference by Bush appointees in the government's tobacco case, citing news reports that Associate Attorney General Robert D. McCallum Jr., a former lawyer for tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds, ordered the downsizing of the penalties. Lawmakers also questioned why McCallum was allowed to participate in the government's case.

I know lawyers who have been suspended from the practice of law for taking on a client when they worked as lowly grunts at a big law firm that represented the defendant for a few weeks. This guy was an R.J. Reynolds lawyer & he's working on a tobacco case? Maybe he missed that part of Professional Responsibility in law school.

Ah, all becomes clear. McCallum was a classmate of George Bush at Yale! Award Limit in Tobacco Case Sets Off a Strenuous Protest

Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, made public a letter he had written to the inspector general of the Justice Department asking for an investigation into whether improper political interference had led to the change in request and what role might have been played by Associate Attorney General Robert D. McCallum Jr., a former classmate of President Bush at Yale and partner in an Atlanta law firm that represented one of the defendants in the case, R. J. Reynolds.

I guess Bush must be getting ready to nominate him to the federal bench, like Thomas Griffith, currently up for a lifetime appointment to the DC Circuit despite the fact that he practiced law in Utah for THREE YEARS without a Utah law license. Judicial Nominee Practiced Law Without License in Utah

No Chinese Wall is high enough to allow this guy within three states of the government case.

The ethical swamp of this administration continues to impress with its reach and stench.

Homeland Security?

Customs saw nothing wrong with suspect

Click on this link and tell me that you wouldn't have detained this cretin for a few more hours.

Don't you feel safer now?

Schweitzer 1, Shrub 0

Schweitzer Tells Bush Off on Roadless Change

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has (figuratively) told President Bush to either put up or shut up on the administration’s new roadless rule.

The administration announced last month that it had overturned the Clinton-era roadless rule, opening up 58 million acres of roadless land in the West (6.9 million in Montana) to road building. That is, unless governors petition otherwise. Governors now have 18 months to make the decisions on these lands, a responsibility that does not sit well with Schweitzer.

“They’ve given me a broke-down baler and a vice-grip and told me to bale hay,” Schweitzer told New West Tuesday afternoon.

In non-farmer terms, Schweitzer is saying the State of Montana has neither the money nor expertise to deal with such a decision.

In a letter to President Bush, Schweitzer writes “The Forest Service has been trying to resolve this issue for upwards of 30 years with little to no success. With each succeeding plan, the issues have become more contentious and irreconcilable. Now your administration, without the benefit of public hearings, has issued a final rule that asks the states to shoulder this burden both administratively and financially.”

Title IX Survives Another Challenge

Now if we can just survive the Bush Administration....

Supreme Court Rejects Women's Sports Case

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider reinstating a lawsuit that accuses federal officials of discriminating against male athletes in enforcing equal opportunities for women.

Justices without comment rejected an appeal from the National Wrestling Coaches Association and other groups that have been fighting federal policies under the anti-discrimination law known as Title IX.

At issue for the court was whether the challengers showed that the law directly caused a reduction in men's sports, and whether they should be allowed to sue federal officials.

I wonder if the headline will be changed, as it really ought to read "Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Women's Sports". The men's sports are bringing the case, and they got rejected, not vice versa as the headline seems to indicate.

Viva Title IX!

US Out of Iraq

I love my congressman.

Withdraw from Iraq

By George McGovern and Jim McGovern | June 6, 2005

WE WERE early opponents of the US invasion of Iraq. Nonetheless, once American forces were committed, we hoped that our concerns would be proven wrong. That has not been the case.

The United States must now begin an orderly withdrawal of our forces from this mistaken foreign venture.

The justification for the war was based on false or falsified information. What had been initially characterized by the Bush administration as an uncomplicated military operation has turned into a violent quagmire. Our leaders underestimated not only the insurgency, but also the deep-rooted ethnic divisions in Iraqi society.

**********

The path of endless war will bankrupt our treasury, devour our soldiers, and degrade the moral and spiritual values of the nation. It is past time to change course.

George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic nominee for president, represented South Dakota in the US Senate. Jim McGovern (no relation) represents the Massachusetts 3d Congressional District.

My Kind of Town, Chicago Is

I need to blog about my great soccer jaunt. My mom & I flew out of Newark on Thursday last week to Chicago to see England's national team (men) play the US at Soldier Field on Saturday. After a direct flight (a nice change from hub-hopping) we took an airport shuttle to our hotel. We rode with tourists from New Hampshire and three name-dropping gay men from LA ("I hear Tom Cruise goes there all the time", etc.). The husband of the NH couple was nice but when he began advocating that the Twin Towers in NYC be rebuilt I tuned him out. (Like who would ever work in that building? Only out-of-towners think that's a good idea.)

We stayed at the Swissotel, & I got a great rate from a site called travelzoo which included a buffet breakfast for both of us each day. The hotel is at 323 E. Wacker Drive, a fancy business hotel 3 blocks west of Millennium Park & 3 blocks north of Michigan Avenue. I asked the desk clerk for a room facing the lake, but with our bargain rate he wouldn't budge. We had a room on the 29th floor overlooking the city. The room was great, soft high-thread-count sheets, down comforters, floor to ceiling windows, huge bathroom with both shower stall and deep bathtub, and Ethernet. Not that I could figure out the Ethernet connection, but we weren't there to go on the computer.

I had bought a great little tour book, the Eyewitness Guides Top Ten Guide to Chicago. It's small, fits in your purse, and really condenses the highlights of Chicago into a series of lists. The perfect guidebook for a short trip. We went for a walk after stowing our bags & walked down to Millennium Park, marveling at the architecture. I made dinner reservations at the Berghoff, 17 W. Adams Street. Not realizing how close it was, we took a cab there. We had a great German meal -- Mom had sauerbrauten & I had wiener schnitzel, with a bratwurst & knockwurst appetizer, & sauerkraut & red cabbage. We had glasses of the house amber beer and rewarded ourselves with apple strudel for dessert. Not traditional German strudel, it was made with phyllo dough, but delicious. We walked home and again enjoyed all the little architectural details of the buildings; many had big elaborate clocks extending from the corner of the building.

Friday we had our first hotel breakfast/brunch -- trays of fresh watermelon, pineapple, honeydew & cantaloupe, cheeses, smoked salmon, salami & ham, scrambled eggs, Irish oatmeal, cheese blintzes, hash browns, two kinds of sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes, french toast, and then a whole other table of breads & cereals. Brunch cost $18 per so we were happy to hand them our voucher at the end of the meal.

OK, here's the best part, the English team was STAYING IN OUR HOTEL! Mom recognized one of the players in the elevator as we returned from brunch. She walked into the elevator and said, "Well, good morning, Mr. Crouch!" As in Peter Crouch, who would be making his England debut on the tour. He was folded into the corner of the elevator, wearing his white England shirt over khakis. The other guy in the elevator -- shorter than me --said, also with an English accent, "Of course you recognize him, he's 6'7"." Mom said, well, who are you? (knowing that there are many young players here for England & that we may not know all of them.) I couldn't understand his name through his accent but he said he played for Charlton -- Mom said "Oh, you play with Danny Murphy!" Then she turned to Crouch & said she was looking forward to seeing him play. He was pretty shy & awkward. We were gleeful after we got off the elevator! We took another walk, this time down State Street and Michigan for a bit of shopping. We tried on $200 hats in Marshall Field, then I got some t-shirts with the American flag on them at Old Navy & Mom & I both picked up new purses in TJ Maxx. We walked over to the Daley Center to see the Picasso sculpture in the plaza. On the way home we hit a Borders where Mom bought 3 English soccer magazines.

That afternoon we went to see the Cubs play the Rockies at legendary Wrigley Field. We took the El from the Lake station to Addison. Amazed at all the legal scalpers working the street just outside the train station. Guess I overpaid for tix by purchasing them on the internet before the trip. With the Cubs in a nosedive the Cub fans are not beating down the door. Like Fenway Park, though, Wrigley Field is its own draw. We made it into our seats high above home plate in time to see poor Mark Prior get hit on the elbow by a comebacker straight at him, the ball hit so hard it was caught on the fly by the third baseman. Well, at least the Cubs romped. Derrick Lee hit two home runs. He is an impressive physical specimen -- reminded me of Dave Winfield.

We took the El home and repaired to our hotel room to freshen up before our Friday night dinner at Bar 36, a fancy wine bar. We went down the elevator to the hotel lobby to see a guy in a periwinkle blue uniform with his back to us, signing the shirt of a young boy. It was Andy Johnson, Crystal Palace striker who finished second in the Premier League in goals (behind Thierry Henry, natch). In person, he looks much smaller than he does on the field. Slight, almost. Then we spotted Joe Cole (with John Terry, most improved player on Chelsea). I said to Mom, Mom, you better go get your camera! So she headed off the elevator, where she had a nice conversation with Joe Cole. While she was gone Sol Campbell (Arsenal) and Wes Brown (Manchester United) walked in and began signing autographs and posing for pictures. Then Alan Smith and Phil Neville (both Man U.), who with nasty looks on their faces walked briskly past the people in the hallway & went directly to the elevator. I thought at the time that it was just their personalities, but Smith may have had his famous dust-up with Steve McLaren about the fact that the manager had decided to start Peter Crouch at striker rather than Smith.

Mom finally arrived back & I took her picture with Wes Brown. We struck up a conversation with a transplanted Englishman who was very impressed with our football knowledge (he introduced us to other Brits by saying, "These two young ladies know their football! They watch it on the satellite!"). He took our picture with Sol Campbell (swoon) and Andy Johnson. I got pictures of Mom with Sven Goran Eriksson (the manager) and David James (Manchester City). We missed out on pics with Ashley Cole and Jermaine Dafoe.

OK, here's the embarrassing part. I saw Kieran Richardson wearing the same training outfit, but he looked too young to play. I thought maybe he was the ballboy. So I asked him, "Are you going to play?" He replied "I hope so!" I suppose my question didn't seem so stupid to him as he had never before appeared for his country. He made the most of it, didn't he? Richardson's dream England debut I told Mom the story later and she said, oh, he's a Man U player, but they loaned him out to West Brom this season & he scored the goal that kept them from being relegated. Mom knows all.

While all this was going on I had called the restaurant to tell them that we were going to be 15 minutes late appearing for our reservations. So we finally left to go to dinner. We chortled throughout our dinner, passing the camera back & forth to look at our gets.

Oh, and the "Charlton" player we met in the elevator? A practical joker. I saw him again in the lobby and asked his name. "Michael," he replied. "Owen". Yeah, like I wouldn't recognize my favorite English football player! Every time I saw him after that for the next two days I sang out "Michael! Michael Owen!" He was shameless, nothing bothered the little s**t.

Saturday we went for a walk to Millennium Park to see the new sculpture, "Cloud Gate", which was partially on view. Known in Chicago as "The Bean", it is a, well, bean-shaped sphere made of 110 tons of steel. Only about 20% of the sculpture was completed & exposed, but you could see the sky, the skyline, and the curious on the plaza in its reflection. We took each other's pictures reflected in The Bean, then headed back to the hotel.

And once again, there was the England team, this time heading out for a bit of pre-match training. At this point the word was out with England fans so our hotel, lobby and entryway were filled with autograph seekers. We stood our ground & took a few photos. A burly man threatened my mother with expulsion for taking a picture inside the lobby (he said he was with security) so we went outside & took pics of the team in the hotel entrance. The team waited around until Peter Crouch came out, last, his head down, looking dejected. Probably had just learned he would not play in the game today.

After all the meetings with the team in the hotel, the game was almost anticlimactic! We intended to take the bus, but the 146 bus did not come for 30 minutes, until a bus came which refused to open the doors because it was too full. So we hailed a cab & had it let us out at the Roosevelt Rd. train stop. We joined the throngs walking to the game. A mostly English crowd, it seemed, from the yelling and the singing. We passed two men inside an underpass selling the new England strip out of a black sports bag ($40 each). They sold out in less than a minute.

Security was pretty routine. They looked cursorily inside my binoculars & my purse. We found our seats on the Club level & I headed out for food. I got sandwiches & sodas. Stupid Soldier Field rule: fountain sodas served in cups, you can't have either a lid or a straw. However, if you order coffee, you can get both a lid & a little stirrer. I don't know, I think I'd rather be hit by a cold flying projectile than a cup of hot coffee. But that's just me.

US was missing our "A" team: No Damarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson, Eddie Lewis, Claudio Reyna, John O'Brien, Frankie Heyduk, Clint Mathis, Pablo Mastroeni, Oguchi Onyewu, Tim Howard, or the ageless Cobi Jones. England was missing even more: David Beckham, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Sean Wright-Philips, Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Paul Robinson, Wayne Bridge, Danny Murphy, Ledley King and more.

The US played what I call "boot and chase" soccer, preferring long crosses to the forwards to controlling the ball on the ground up the field. England cleaned our clock, really; Landon Donovan (known by doubters as "Landon Gone") was invisible. Josh Wolff worked his butt off but couldn't finish. I was impressed by Richardson, of course, with his two goals, and Joe Cole, who looks like he will be quite the playmaker some day. Alan Smith leaned in on everyone and fouled repeatedly.

Unfortunately we had to listen to a couple of soccer pretenders behind us who kept saying inane things like "Smith's going to get a card! That's the fourth time he's fouled! Referees are counting!" Right, he's going to get a card for a garden variety push.

I thought Clint Dempsey had left it all on the field & was calling for him to be subbed out when he scored late in the game. That made the score look respectable, but without an attack we really got skunked.

After the game we walked home past all the beautiful parks, fountains, and sculptures.

Sunday we again went walking, looking at architecture and eventually ending up at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is right next to Grant Park. Fantastic collections. I got to add another painting to my "Mel Kelly life list". My high school art teacher's room was covered with reproductions of great paintings. Each year the class had to memorize all the paintings in order and recite the names of the paintings and the artist. I think if you got my brothers & sisters in a room today between the four of us we could recreate the entire three walls. It started with "Starry, Starry Night" by Van Gogh, which I've seen, along with "Pines and Rocks" by Cezanne (Mr. Kelly called it Rocks and Pines, but who's counting). At the Art Institute I saw Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte", which Mr. Kelly mercifully shortened to Sunday Afternoon in the Park. Check!

Monday we flew back to Newark & headed to Manhattan for a night on the town before England - Columbia. Tuesday we headed out early to Giants Stadium. Got there so early we pulled into the parking lot for the Aramark employees. There weren't any parking collectors there yet, so we just went in the open gate & saved $15. Parked next to an Aramark truck for shade & set up chairs to eat & crowd watch. Bought an England flag from a woman selling them out of a sports bag. ($10). Went into the stadium when it opened at 2:30 p.m.

Silly security rule at Giants Stadium: They sell you soda in 20 oz. bottles but won't give you the cap. (Note to self: Take a 20 oz. soda cap next time you go to Giants Stadium.) A 12-year-old Columbian boy in the row ahead of us almost got in a fight with an English fan (couldn't determine if she was English or American) who was shouting obscenities in his mother's ear. At halftime when I went out for soda, I proclaimed myself "Switzerland" as I passed through the two still angry camps. As for the game: The real Michael Owen favored us with a hat trick as England won 3-2. The fans chanted and sang. The sun shone. It was a great, great, great trip.