The third of these articles is the one that strikes me as the major piece of news. For the last few decades since Falwell and Schlafly and Robertson and their ilk got involved in politics religion has been mainly a tool of the right-wing to get their ideas across by putting them through a biblical prism. If all of a sudden someone from the right (rather than say an African-American Reverend who runs an inner city church) turns the bible against the rich and powerful it could be a major sea change in this country. Even though they don't get as much publicity on a national level as they did during say the 1994 campaign, the Christian Coalition and other like-minded groups are still massively powerful on state and local levels, and their strength comes from the lack of a competing vision which can appeal to people of a religious bent. I for one would love to see this go through as a harbinger of a movement where Jesus isn't going into the Temple and helping the moneychangers get a cut in their taxes and cutting the programs for the lepers outside.
Not a new story by any stretch of the imagination. The question becomes "Why hasn't this been reported before?" It has been reported before but, like this article blaming "another poor harvest and a big cut in international food aid", it is realistically the fault of the same type of centralized planning the Soviets succumbed to.
(edited by Grimis on 11.6.03 1435) "Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible." - Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, 1960
to the list and ask many Americans which of the six is the most interesting...
"You may be wondering why I have been making so many references lately to Fox News. The reason is that it is now my cable news network of choice -- because if I’m going to watch the news and be lied to, I want it to be ridiculously obvious that I am being lied to." -- Center for an Informed America, Newsletter #34
to the list and ask many Americans which of the six is the most interesting...
YES!!! Not only is that the most interesting story in this thread, it might be the most interesting news story of 2003. Thanks, vsp. I can't wait to see those damned Decepticons go down.
1) Tony Blair is an odd duck. I still can't figure why he'd be so gung-ho supporting the USA, other than perhaps he hopes that the 'war on terror' will eventually lead to America cracking down on the IRA. If Britain's conservative parties weren't such twits, Blair would be in major trouble.
2) Good for my home province. A proud day for Ontario.
3) "The God I believe in doesn't need any cash, mister."-- Bono
4) Why don't they just split the difference and feed the people they shoot to the starving?
5) French general: "Well, I think this pretty much makes up for those first two World Wars (dusts off hands triumphantly)."
Over 1350 posts and still never a Wiener of the Day!
In the issues of December 16th, 2000 to November 10th, 2001, we may have given the impression that George W. Bush had been legally and duly elected president of the United States. We now understand that this may have been incorrect, and that the election result is still too close to call. The Economist apologizes for any inconvenience. --- The Economist, 11/17/01
1) This is really getting tiresome.....I couldn't really care anymore, to be honest. They should just concentrate on rebuilding the damn place instead of arguing over the reasons for going in in the first instance.
2) Agreed. A proud day.
3) Interesting.....until now God(tm) has been the official spokesman of the rich. Maybe this is a sign of changing attitudes in the GOP?
4) Hm. Okay. Err.....ah. -puts down his sandwich-
5) Are they actually getting shot at yet? I'd be interested on an update once the locals actually start sending some hot lead their way..... ;)
Originally posted by -proletarian-1) This is really getting tiresome.....I couldn't really care anymore, to be honest. They should just concentrate on rebuilding the damn place instead of arguing over the reasons for going in in the first instance.
They ain't arguing over the rights and wrongs of going in so much as allegations of Blair deliberately misleading both parliament and the general public as to the threat posed by Iraq.
When you've got heads of our various security factions saying that one of the documents quoted by Blair hadn't been cleared at appropriate levels, I'd say you've certainly got something worth investigating.
'Who cares if our PM lied to us? Its done now, lets move on' doesnt strike me as a healthy attitude to have.
"'Who cares if our PM lied to us? Its done now, lets move on' doesnt strike me as a healthy attitude to have."
True. I agree on that level.
However, personally, I've gotten sick of hearing it. I've got a low attention span for these kinds of go-nowhere, high profile stories. It's not like they're going to ever resolve it in favour of either fully vindicating Blair or showing conclusively that he knowingly lied, ya know?
Originally posted by -proletarian-"'Who cares if our PM lied to us? Its done now, lets move on' doesnt strike me as a healthy attitude to have."
True. I agree on that level.
However, personally, I've gotten sick of hearing it. I've got a low attention span for these kinds of go-nowhere, high profile stories. It's not like they're going to ever resolve it in favour of either fully vindicating Blair or showing conclusively that he knowingly lied, ya know?
Ah well. Life goes on.
Gee, wonder where I've heard that before... ya know, head of government lying about the reason for getting involved in Iraq...
(rolls eyes at the fact that he actually gave the New to You Bush regime a chance to maybe be different... Ashcroft INCLUDED)
Originally posted by -proletarian-"'Who cares if our PM lied to us? Its done now, lets move on' doesnt strike me as a healthy attitude to have."
True. I agree on that level.
However, personally, I've gotten sick of hearing it. I've got a low attention span for these kinds of go-nowhere, high profile stories.
Right now we've got a choice between reading about this or the 'hilarious' high jinks in the Big Brother house.
Put next to that, this story not only has legs but dances quite the entertaining little jig with them. But yeah, if it ever gets 100% resolved I'll be ever so slightly surprised.
Smart money's on "we used unverified, inccurate information, but we were told it was real reliable and we didnt know. Honest! Why are y'all looking at us like that?"
"Smart money's on "we used unverified, inccurate information, but we were told it was real reliable and we didnt know. Honest! Why are y'all looking at us like that?""
Kahane won't get three Jews to sign that petition (unfortunately, they might get 100,000 fundamentalist Christians to sign). We all know they're nutcases - as is evidenced by them asking Where is Alan Dershowitz? Where is the ACLU?