contributions

As we all grow weary of the U.S. elections fiascoes over the last four years, courtesy of Ohio and Florida partisan Secretaries of States, I unveil your 2004 Christmas present. It is the brand new Clear Box Voting System, nice and boring (may need some egg nog): 1) Everyone gets a Voter ID number. Your social security card or your drivers license is your Voter ID card. Ok, so you already have your Voter ID card ... let’s vote.
2) It’s Election Day. You walk into a school auditorium, (…)

Amman/Brussels, 22 December 2004: Iraqi hostility toward the American-led occupation, more widespread and deeper rooted than the U.S. has acknowledged, means the Bush administration’s policy there can no longer achieve its original aims. But Washington can salvage the situation if it now focuses on realistic goals.
What Can the U.S. Do in Iraq?,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, highlights the freefall of Iraqi confidence in the U.S. Soaring resentment feeds the (…)

by Wayne Besen
I once thought finding a date on the Internet was as easy as ordering a pizza. But when you order a pepperoni pizza, you can be pretty sure you’re not getting anchovies. In cyberspace, however, if you ask for Don Juan, you’re likely to get Don Knotts.
Recently, I was flirting with a guy on the Internet who said he was a great catch. He wasn’t kidding. When I eventually met him in person he looked like a salmon. A few weeks later I met another man online who said he had a (…)

Part I, part II.
by Manuel Valenzuela
American Mutation
When the thunderous clouds of fascists past and corporatists present finally dissipate over the vast lands of the United States, leaving in its wake a nation recovering from the violent downpours of mass lunacy, fear and collective schizophrenia that have caused a dustbowl-style drought of humanity in the nation of gluttonous undertakings, it will finally be seen, beyond the enveloping haze of post 9/11 hypnosis hindering American (…)

In 1963, when asked for his thoughts about the death of President John F. Kennedy, civil rights activist Malcolm X replied that Kennedy’s assassination was simply an example of "the chickens coming home to roost."
by David R. Hoffman
Naturally, in a nation infected with terminal myopia, Malcolm X’s words generated both controversy and outrage. But more than a decade later, after hearings in the United States Congress revealed that governmental agencies, on both the local and national (…)

Kucinich: Brazen Attacks in Iraq Defy Administration’s Rhetoric Iraq Out of Control; January Elections Will Be a Sham
WASHINGTON — December 21 — Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) issued the following statement today on the escalating violence in Iraq:
"The brazen executions, captured on film for the world to see, shows Iraq out of control, despite Administration rhetoric. The US occupation has failed to provide security. It’s time for the Administration to be honest with the American (…)

At the bottom of all the tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into the little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper. . . . Author: Gilbert Keith Chesterton
If nothing else, Bev Harris represents the great divide that is America. In most of cyberspace, she’s a household word. In much of the real world, she’s largely unknown. In the blue states, Bev Harris is a standard bearer, a pioneer, and a patriot. In the red states, many who know (…)

from the BBC story "Drawing up blueprints for Bush victory"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3987237.stm
By the time election night came around, Mr Rove was in the White House, where, unusually for a political adviser, he has an office.
He set up computers in the Old Family Dining Room and started tabulating results. He had set up a massive network of contacts, not just in state capitals, but individual districts and precincts to monitor turnout and support.
Reporters (…)

Religion & Politics and How to Corrupt Them Both By: Jack Dalton
There are certain things in life that just do not go together-peanut butter and tuna fish come to mind. There’s nothing wrong with either one but I don’t recommend mixing them together or you’ll end up with a really bad taste in your mouth. The same can be said of mixing religion and politics. There is no possible way to merge the two without them mutually polluting each other.
Based on some of the emails I receive some (…)

by Charlene Fassa
’Move-On - Nothing To See Here’
How convincing is this statement:
Coroner Robert Lyons said his office had been swamped with calls. "It’s unusual in a suicide case to have two shots," he said, "but it has been done in the past, and it is in fact a distinct possibility."
This milquetoast declaration sounds like the pathetic utterance of someone who’s trying to cover his career ass, all the while crossing his fingers behind his back. Maybe - just maybe, it’s also (…)