Parties focus on different moralities: Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, Jack Ryan and War Profiteering
StarTribune.com
. . .
But it's George Bush's lack of public morality that's on display in
"Fahrenheit 9/11." We see him profiting from his family's old and oily
ties to the Bin Laden family and from his cozy cheek-to-cheek
relationship with his father's corporate cronies. In one clip from the
film Bush is seen at an elegant white-tie fundraiser smugly joking,
"Some people call you the elite; I call you my base."
More
disturbing is the footage which portrays him as a man lacking the
gravitas to understand the cataclysmic consequences of his public
actions. He rolls his eyes and mugs for the camera as the clock ticks
down to his televised announcement that he has ordered the bombing of
Iraq. He comes across not as a man wrestling with the morality of his
decision, but as a man blowing up a foreign country, because he can.
(more)
VP Dick Cheney has set a standard for War Profiteering that others can only dream about
Intervention Magazine: War, Politics, Culture
Vice
President Cheney is an angry man. His war isn’t going well, the
prospect of a second term is slipping away, and now some troublemakers
in Congress are even starting to talk about war profiteering.
• “[Sen.
Patrick Leahy kicked] off the Democratic National Committee's
"Halliburton Week" focusing on Cheney, the company, ‘and the millions
of dollars they've cost taxpayers,’ …”--The Washington Post, 6/26/04
• “Vice
President Dick Cheney blurted out the "F word" at Democratic Sen.
Patrick Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor,
congressional aides said on Thursday…[Cheney] ripped into Leahy for the
Democratic senator's criticism this week of alleged war profiteering in
Iraq by Halliburton, the oil services company that Cheney once ran.”--
Reuters Jun 24, 2004
I can
understand why Cheney is mad. He is getting too old to start a new
career, and war profiteering is the only thing he does really well.
Dick Cheney has set a standard that other war profiteers can only dream
about
(more)
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Wednesday, June 30
Parties focus on different moralities: Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, Jack Ryan and War Profiteering
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 30 Jun 2004 02:46 PM CDT
Fallon Requests Info On Jobs Lost To Prison Labor, Clarifies “Gulag” Remark
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 30 Jun 2004 10:28 AM CDT
Fallon Requests Info On Jobs Lost To Prison Labor, Clarifies “Gulag” Remark
State Representative Ed Fallon (D-Des Moines) today requested detailed information from the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) about how many jobs are lost to Iowans because of the use of prison labor, and its economic impact on Iowa and the state budget. Also, in seeking to clarify his concerns regarding prisoners working at the State liquor warehouse, Fallon said, “When I was told by a Des Moines Register reporter about 15-hour days and no supper, the ‘Gulag’ remark just kind of popped out of mouth. It was an overstatement, and I regret it. But what I regret most is that people have missed my true concerns about inmate labor.” “I feel strongly that all Iowa prisoners who are able must work. In fact, nearly 100% of the 8,700 prisoners in Iowa’s correctional facilities who can work do, most of them eight hours a day. We could further expand the opportunities for prisoners to work within prison without taking jobs away from those on the outside by requiring each prison to produce and process most its own food,” explained Fallon. “What bothers me is the use of prison labor by private corporations, and increasingly by government itself, for jobs that should be – and used to be – performed by Iowans not in prison,” continued Fallon. “In the case of the State liquor warehouse, 12 workers just lost good-paying jobs to prisoners who are paid 37 cents an hour. Currently, 500 state government jobs and 190 private sector positions are being filled by prisoners.” Prison labor is used in many areas of state and local government, including park maintenance, tree nurseries, cemetery maintenance, State Capitol grounds work, upkeep at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute, highway litter clean up, and answering the phone for the Iowa Tourism Bureau. Private corporations using prison labor include Diamond Vogel, Global Marketing (a telemarketing firm), Hawkeye Glove, DZ Manufacturing, CGB Printing, Sully Truck Wash, H & H Trailer, and Misty Harbor. “Prisoners ought to work,” said Fallon, “but not at the expense of jobs held by Iowans struggling to pay their bills and feed their families. Arguments that using prison labor saves the taxpayers money fail to look at the whole picture. If your neighbors lose their jobs to prisoners, those neighbors no longer pay taxes. They’re no longer part of the local economy. Perhaps they end up on welfare. Maybe they move out of Iowa altogether. If this is the State’s idea of economic development, I must be missing something,” concluded Fallon.
News & Notes from Deanland
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 30 Jun 2004 05:00 AM CDT
News & Notes from Deanland
Tell Your Dean Story This message came into Blog for Iowa recently from a fellow who is compiling the stories of Deaniacs everywhere. Hey, this is Scott Goldstein. I now work up in Burlington as an intern at Democracy for America. Over the past year and a half or so I have been a part of the greatest grassroots campaign ever. Starting in late winter 2002, I began to volunteer for the Howard Dean campaign. The journey since then has been incredible. I began volunteering with NJ for Dean, and then came down to start college at American University in D.C. I met some incredible people here, like the founder of Generation Dean, Michael Whitney. I got involved in Gen Dean and began to work on projects with both people in Burlington and across the country. Locally we spread the Dean message, and over 400 people signed up for our email list. I got to help coordinate the Dean birthday bash, and other rallies and events. Ths summer, I will be working for Democracy for America. The journey and the campaign were incredible. It is time to tell those stories. When I was 15 I wrote and published a book on the election of 2000 and how it impacted young people. My new book, to be titled, "A Campaign Based on Hope," will help to explain something we all want to explain. One of the most frustrating things for us Deaniacs was that some people just "didn't get it." They didn't understand what it was about Howard Dean, what it was about this campaign that made us do some amazing things. There are endless stories of people who gave up their normal life, were thrust into amazing opportunities and given awesome responsibilities. This is essentially what the book is about. If you would like to contribute your story to the book, contact Scott Goldstein here. Dean: Most Americans Now Oppose Iraq War Seattle Post-Intelligencer WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean sounded like he had been vindicated on Sunday when he noted that most Americans now agree that the United States should not have invaded Iraq. It was a position that fueled his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, and earned Dean much criticism in the process. "After being castigated by both Democrats and Republicans for a while, now the majority of Americans agree with me this was a mistake," the one-time Democratic front-runner said on CNN's "Late Edition." More than half, or 52 percent, of Americans said the war was not worth fighting, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll taken June 17-20. That number is up from 50 percent in May. (more) Howard Dean on Stem Cell Research CagleCartoons.com . . . There is no guarantee that stem cell research can produce a cure for Alzheimer's disease. But stemcells show promise by helping to prevent or cure chronic and life-shortening diseases such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and various cardiac diseases. Many Republicans continue to link stem cell research to the abortion debate. Nothing could be further from the truth. Embryonic stem cells come from embryos which have been created for the purpose of helping infertile couples have children. In this process, a few embryos may be implanted in a woman's uterus, to be born nine months later. A much larger number of embryos will be frozen for future use. The vast majority of these will ultimately be discarded. But, these discarded embryos can produce something good, they can potentially save the life or health of a stranger. Stem cells, the basis of all the cells in our body, can be saved from these embryos, and can become tissue which can potentially replace diseased tissue in human beings who are suffering greatly, as President Reagan did. Or these embryos can be discarded, as they usually are now. (more) Howard Dean on Bush's War on Science CagleCartoons.com I write this week’s column as a physician. The Bush administration has declared war on science. In the Orwellian world of 21st century America, two plus two no longer equals four where public policy is concerned, and science is no exception. When a right-wing theory is contradicted by an inconvenient scientific fact, the science is not refuted; it is simply discarded or ignored. Egregious examples abound. Over-the-counter morning-after contraceptive sales are banned, despite the recommendation for approval by an independent panel of the Food and Drug Administration review board. The health risks of mercury were discounted by a White House staffer who simply crossed out the word "confirmed" from a phrase describing mercury as a "confirmed public health risk." A National Cancer Institute fact sheet is doctored to suggest that abortion increases breast cancer risk, even though the American Cancer Society concluded that the best study discounts that. Reports on the status of minority health and the importance of breast feeding are similarly watered down to appease right-wing ideologies. (more) |
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