Official Guy James Show thread! 3-6pm EST!

[JanMichael]

http://www.theguyjamesshow.com

Listen LIVE here: http://pointers.audiovideoweb.com/asxfiles-live/njwinlive7534.asx

Al Martin will be calling in, he's always a fun interview.

Call us @ 888-602-7500, 01, 02 ,03 & 04!!!

Candidate calls encouraged. Issues? Call us!

[nostamj]

1. i *almost* posted a "where is the THREAD?" thread!

expect a call from Mari333 in the first hour to talk about this:

Military Families Hold Candle Light Vigil at the U.S. Capitol During State of Union Address

‘Remembering Lives Lost to a Lie’

WASHINGTON, DC - On January 20, during the State of the Union address, Military Families Speak Out – supported by Veterans for Peace, other peace groups and faith communities in the Washington, D.C. area – will mount a powerful, respectful remembrance of 500 American soldiers who have died in Iraq, together with penitential prayer for them and the estimated 9,000 Iraqi civilians who have died in the war and the chaos that followed.

WHO: Military Families, Veterans, Peace activists and others
WHAT: Candle light Vigil and remembrance of American and Iraqi lives lost in Iraq war
WHEN: 7:30pm - 9:30pm Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004
WHERE: 3rd Street NW between Constitution and Independence Avenues

At last year’s State of the Union President Bush deliberately frightened the American people and rushed the nation to war on the basis of these now-famous “16 words” that, at that time they were spoken, were known by the Administration to be false:

“The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”

Soldiers were sent to war on the basis of this lie and others told about weapons of mass destruction. American soldiers and Iraqi innocents died because of such lies.

Very soon the “official” 500th American soldier will die by hostile fire in Iraq. More than 500 have already died if accidents and suicide are counted. Credible estimates of Iraqi civilians killed are put between 8,000 and 10,000, both as a direct result of the war and because of the whirlwind of violence and insecurity that followed and continues to this day. Since the last State of the Union, our nation has been diminished by the loss of all these precious lives.

Therefore, beginning at 7:30 PM on January 20, demonstrators will form a human chain of remembrance stretching along 3rd Street NW between Constitution and Independence Avenues. Each person will bear the name of a soldier who died in Iraq and hold a candle to symbolize the light of that person’s life. Along the line will be persons bearing the names of Iraqi civilians as well. We will bear witness to these lost lives as the President and VIPs pass by in their dark vehicles on the way to the Capitol.

At the very moment that President Bush begins his State of the Union speech, a banner with the “16 words” will begin a death march down the line of lights. As it moves, a drum will sound and the people will call out the name of each fallen soldier, stating their rank, full name, branch of service and age at death. Iraqi names will be remembered and called out. The candle will then be extinguished to symbolize that President Bush’s words brought death to this person and cast a pall of darkness over the nation.

Military Families Speak Out: www.mfso.org

[BeachBuckeye]

95. Thanks for setting this up Jeff

Much appreciation to our "New York Bureau"

[nostamj]

96. oh, my pleasure!

(I'm listening to my call right now!)

it was just good timing. caught Mari333's post while she was online. and, as you know, she has NO problem speaking her mind!

listen to the archive. great call. frankly, the show keeps getting better. thanks for keeping me a part of the party!

[ClassWarrior]

2. All I hear is music...

n/t

[nostamj]

3. normal...

covers local news. guys starts by 10 after (usually!)

[ClassWarrior]

4. Okay, thanx...

I'm not usually online at this time, and I thought I'd give it a listen since I am here today. Is the show on local stations too?

[nostamj]

5. yes, airs locally iin Florida n/t

[Frank_Person]

6. Hi Everybody

[Misinformed01]

9. Hi Frank!

And Jeff...

Mari just did a great job-

[nostamj]

10. she sure did!

i'm so GLAD we got that put together as quickly as we did. i sent that release all over the place. hoping that Randi and Malloy pick up on it too!

[bvar22]

7. Tuned in with you!

Go Guy.

[ClassWarrior]

8. Go Mari!

n/t

[Mari333]

11. Thank god I put the puppy in the back room

he was barking too much. I guess he wants to take a whiz on Bush too.

[Catshrink]

12. Good job, Mari!

Thanks! By all means, get the puppy a photo of Jr. and let him whiz away.

[soup]

14. and who could blame him?

Good puppy.

and good call - thanks for getting the word out.

[Catshrink]

13. Does Guy know that Cheney went duck hunting with Scalia?

It was in the LA Times.... link in LBN.

[benburch]

15. White Rose Society here...

Please tell Guy we are recording...

Those soldiers are not there to defend Bush from Terrorists; They are there to defend Bush from the American People!

[Misinformed01]

16. I will...sitting here with them

I want to point out the Scalia/Dick duck hunting trip too.

[Catshrink]

18. Definitely improper...

Cheney's energy task force case is still pending, is it not? They are so corrupt, they just don't care about appearances anymore.

[nostamj]

20. cheney meetings with the CIA and now this

and it's true, they just don't care anymore. they've gotten away with so much, they don't believe they can be touched.

[dennis4868]

59. Yep...

Read Paul Waldman's book called, Fraud. Bush knows he can lie at will because the media is not going to hold him accountable at all!

[nostamj]

60. on my list

my friend is reading now, will trade my American Dynasty for that sometime next week...

[Frank_Person]

21. I thank you so much for your work.

[benburch]

91. You are so welcome!

.

[nostamj]

17. the Atlanta outrage should be addressed too

the MLK photo-op/protests followed by the Pickering appointment.

[Catshrink]

19. "This isn't a photo-op, George"

Best sign at the protest.

[Misinformed01]

22. That should definetly be mentioned

Sickening that the pResident showed up for the photo up in ATL, then installed Pickering.

Disgusting.

[dand]

24. Maybe the petulant little prick

installed Pickering because he was booed he loves to lash out, just a thought

[Catshrink]

25. He's not that smart....

Maybe KKKarl or Uncle Dick, but not the Moran in Chief.

[Misinformed01]

23. I have the Guy James Chat opened up on this computer

too.

Apparently, I missed a DUer last week in the chatroom. Sorry I did too, he is one of my favorite posters.

[Judi Lynn]

26. Hi to Guy James listeners.

I just looked at C.J.'s site, saw this photo of him with Betty Castor, whom I've been reading about in Florida DU'ers posts.
http://cjforcongress.com/gallery/?id=94&MERCURYSID=207501cb68a80cbdea632795694eac55

Great show.

[nostamj]

27. didn't Katherine Harris announce she wasn't running?

i'm confused. :shrug:

[benburch]

30. For Senate...

She *is* running for her house seat.

[nostamj]

32. <slapping forehead> Doh!

of course. sorry.

[Momof1]

28. This man on the phone is an idiot. Get him Guy

n/t

[Misinformed01]

This poor man sounds like his little Flag waving world has

been turned upside down, doesn't he?

Like a kid that found out the Easter Bunny doesn't really exist.

[benburch]

29. Guy needs to hang up on this Freeper.

nt

[BuelahWitch]

31. He's so sure there are WMD..

Let him go over there and find them himself!!! :bounce: BUH-BYE!

[soup]

33. hmm, good plan.

maybe he could smoke out Osama Who?, too.

[benburch]

34. I can smoke out Osama!

Give us each an ounce of Hash and we'll see who can stand up after... ;-)

[BuelahWitch]

35. Oh, I'm all for these armchair/internet generals to be in Iraq

They'd be squealin' for Mommy and pissing in their pants...

[mr_pique]

39. Bush Regime full of Chickenhawks

Visit Veterans for peace and see how the vets feel about the illegal war and war crimes of the Bush Regime. Or visit awolbush.com and try to figure out why "Mission Accomplished" Bush was a deserter or just AWOL. Or you might want to visit the Chickenhawk Database and find out where all your fearless leaders were when the bullets started flying.

Chickenhawk Database
http://www.nhgazette.com/cgi-bin/NHGstore.cgi?user_action=list&category=%20NEWS%3B%20Chickenhawks


Veterans for Peace
http://www.veteransforpeace.org/

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

We, having dutifully served our nation, do hereby affirm our greater responsibility to serve the cause of world peace. To this end we will work, with others

(a) Toward increasing public awareness of the costs of war
(b) To restrain our government from intervening, overtly and covertly, in the internal affairs of other nations
(c) To end the arms race and to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons
(d) To seek justice for veterans and victims of war
(e) To abolish war as an instrument of national policy.

To achieve these goals, members of Veterans For Peace pledge to use non-violent means and to maintain an organization that is both democratic and open with the understanding that all members are trusted to act in the best interests of the group for the larger purpose of world peace.

We urge all people who share this vision to join us.

[mr_pique]

36. Saddam said he didn't have WMD

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=473419

We never had WMD, former president tells interrogators
By Chris Bunting
15 December 2003

'The tyrant is now a prisoner'

Saddam Hussein told his American interrogators that Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction, claiming that they were an invention of the US government to justify an invasion, it was reported last night.

Although Saddam was captured without a fight and was initially said to be co-operative, US intelligence sources said that he had since been unco-operative and defiant under questioning.

Time magazine, quoting an unnamed intelligence official, said Saddam was taken to a cell at Baghdad airport after his capture and interrogated. According to a transcript seen by the official, Saddam was asked: "How are you?" He said: "I am sad because my people are in bondage". He was offered a glass of water but refused, saying: "If I drink water I will have to go to the bathroom and how can I use the bathroom when my people are in bondage?"

The official said that Saddam avoided answering questions directly and at times appeared less than coherent. But when he was asked whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction the official said he said: "No, of course not. The US dreamt them up itself to have a reason to go to war with us."

One of his interrogators said: "If you had no weapons of mass destruction then why not let the UN inspectors into your facilities?" He replied: "We didn't want them to go into the presidential areas and intrude on our privacy."

The interrogators asked if Saddam knew the location of Captain Scott Speicher, a US pilot who went missing during the 1991 Gulf war.

"No," Saddam replied, "we have never kept any prisoners. I have never known what happened."

The intelligence official said a letter from a Baghdad resistance leader, giving details of a meeting in the capital and naming other leaders of the pro-Saddam forces, had been found in Saddam's possession and could provide valuable intelligence.

[nostamj]

44. welcome to DU

and TGJS! call in! it's fun, it's easy, it's FREE!

:hi:

[Catshrink]

37. AWOL!!! Great caller.

Glad someone brought that up... that should be way up front this election.

Bush Lied, People Died.

[Catshrink]

38. Who is this on now?

He's got to be "one of ours!"

[nostamj]

40. Cheney had UNPRECEDENTED meetings with the CIA too

(trumping up the Iraq intelligence LIES)

[mr_pique]

41. Ten lies - War on False Pretenses

LIE #1: "The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons program ... Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment need for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." - President Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in Cincinnati.

FACT: This story, breathlessly leaked to and reported by Judith Miller in the New York Times, has turned out to be complete baloney. Department of Energy officials, who monitor nuclear plants, say the tubes could not be used for enriching uranium. One intelligence analyst, who was part of the tubes investigation, angrily told The New Republic that, "You had senior American officials like Condoleezza Rice saying the only use of this aluminum really is uranium centrifuges. She said that on television. And that's just a lie."

LIE #2: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." - President Bush, Jan.28, 2003, in the State of the Union address.

FACT: This whopper was based on a document that the White House already knew to be a forgery thanks to the CIA. Sold to Italian intelligence by some hustler, the document carried the signature of an official who had been out of office for 10 years and referenced a constitution that was no longer in effect. The ex-ambassador who the CIA sent to check out the story is pissed: "They knew the Niger story was a flat-out lie," he told the New Republic, anonymously. "They were unpersuasive about aluminum tubes and added this to make their case more strongly."

LIE #3: "We believe has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." - Vice President Cheney on March 16, 2003 on "Meet the Press."

FACT: There was and is absolutely zero basis for this statement. CIA reports up through 2002 showed no evidence of an Iraqi nuclear weapons program.

LIE #4: " solid reporting of senior-level contacts between Iraq and al-Qaeda going back a decade." - CIA Director George Tenet in a written statement released Oct. 7, 2002 and echoed in that evening's speech by President Bush.

FACT: Intelligence agencies knew of tentative contacts between Saddam and al-Qaeda in the early '90s, but found no proof of a continuing relationship. In other words, by tweaking language, Tenet and Bush spun the intelligence180 degrees to say exactly the opposite of what it suggested.

LIE #5: "We've learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases ... Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints." - President Bush, Oct. 7.

FACT: No evidence of this has ever been leaked or produced. Colin Powell told the U.N. this alleged training took place in a camp in northern Iraq. To his great embarrassment, the area he indicated was later revealed to be outside Iraq's control and patrolled by Allied war planes.

LIE #6: "We have also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We are concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVs for missions targeting the United States." - President Bush, Oct. 7.

FACT: Said drones can't fly more than 300 miles, and Iraq is 6000 miles from the U.S. coastline. Furthermore, Iraq's drone-building program wasn't much more advanced than your average model plane enthusiast. And isn't a "manned aerial vehicle" just a scary way to say "plane"?

LIE #7: "We have seen intelligence over many months that they have chemical and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they're weaponized and that, in one case at least, the command and control arrangements have been established." - President Bush, Feb. 8, 2003, in a national radio address.

FACT: Despite a massive nationwide search by U.S. and British forces, there are no signs, traces or examples of chemical weapons being deployed in the field, or anywhere else during the war.

LIE #8: "Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets." - Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5 2003, in remarks to the UN Security Council.

FACT: Putting aside the glaring fact that not one drop of this massive stockpile has been found, but, as previously reported on AlterNet, our own intelligence reports show that these stocks - if they existed - were well past their use-by date and therefore useless as weapon fodder.

LIE #9: "We know where are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat." - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003, in statements to the press.

FACT: Needless to say, no such weapons were found, not to the east, west, south or north, somewhat or otherwise.

LIE #10: "Yes, we found a biological laboratory in Iraq which the UN prohibited." - President Bush in remarks in Poland, published internationally June 1, 2003.

FACT: This was reference to the discovery of two modified truck trailers that the CIA claimed were are potential mobile biological weapons lab. But British and American experts - including the State Department's intelligence wing in a report released this week - have since declared this to be untrue. According to the British, and much to Prime Minister Tony Blair's embarrassment, the trailers are actually exactly what Iraq said they were, facilities to fill weather balloons, sold to them by the British themselves.

[Judi Lynn]

66. Congrats, Mr_Pique!

Jan-Michael's reading your information! Cool.

In addition, welcome to D.U. :hi: :hi: :bounce:

[mr_pique]

88. Thank you

I'm glad to have added something of interest and since first hearing the show I've become a big fan, bronze, that's big for me.

[Catshrink]

43. Thank you Guy for addressing this.

Corruption is an issue we need to hammer and hammer and hammer. Hope the dem nominee has the cajones to do it.

[Judi Lynn]

42. Cheney and Scalia, flaunting it for sure.

Glad to hear Guy James saying it right out loud.

Even the nutcase who spoke a few minutes ago would hang his head in shame if he had any possible residual sense.

[mr_pique]

45. Slick Dick Cheney target of criminal investigation

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1521&e=7&u=/afp/france_us_justice_cheney

French prosecutor examines possible Cheney prosecution: paper

Sat Dec 20,12:34 PM ET

PARIS (AFP) - A French prosecutor is examining whether to prosecute US Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) over alleged complicity in the abuse of corporate assets dating from the time he was head of the services company Halliburton, the French newspaper Le Figaro said.

The case stems from a contract by a consortium including the American company Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), a Halliburton subsidiary, and a French company, Technip, to supply a gas complex to Nigeria, the newspaper reported.

A Paris investigating magistrate has been conducting investigations since October into allegations that 180 million dollars (144 million euros) were paid in secret commissions during the late 1990s up to 2002 from funds established by the consortium in Madeira, the report said.

Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive between 1995 and 2000.

In a letter to the attorney-general's department, magistrate Reynaud van Ruymbeke ruled out directly prosecuting Cheney on a charge of bribing foreign officials, Le Figaro said.

But the official did not exclude the possibility of prosecution on the grounds of complicity in misuse of corporate assets, it added.

[mr_pique]

46. focuses of the criminal charges

Cheney Target of Criminal Investigation

David J. Sirota
The Progress Report
January 9, 2004

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=521

Though neglected by major media in the United States, international news sources report that French law enforcement authorities have made Vice President Dick Cheney the target of a criminal investigation for his role in a massive bribery scandal during his time as CEO of Halliburton. Le Figaro, one of France's
biggest (and most conservative) newspapers, reports "an investigative judge is looking into allegations of corruption during construction of a natural gas complex in Nigeria by Halliburton and a French oil company."

According to a gas and oil trade publication (picked up by the international AP newswire on October 11, 2003) the judge is "looking into who may have benefited from nearly $200 million in potentially illegal commissions allegedly handed out from 1990 to 2002." In May, Halliburton admitted that, under Cheney's stewardship, it paid "$2.4 million in bribes to Nigerian officials to get favorable tax treatment." Halliburton now says it is cooperating with a simultaneous review by the Security and Exchange Commission.

The London Financial Times reports the investigation specifically focuses on the criminal charges of "misuse of corporate funds" and "corruption of foreign public agents." The Sydney Australia Morning Herald reports the investigative judge is specifically targeting Cheney for his "alleged complicity in the abuse of corporate assets."

Though the investigation is being spearheaded by French law enforcement, the UK Guardian notes, it would be prosecuted under international laws agreed to by the United States in a 35-nation treaty signed in 1997, meaning the consequences could be very real. The treaty, "under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, aims to fight corporate attempts to buy the favors of public authorities abroad." Not coincidentally, the London Financial Times points out that the Bush Administration is using similar agreements to aggressively "seek the extradition and pressing claims against senior French finance industry executives connected with the Credit Lyonnais purchase of Executive Life, the failed Californian insurer."

[Catshrink]

53. Well, then the US will withdraw from the agreement.

Just like this misadministrations has done in so many other treaties.

"Though the investigation is being spearheaded by French law enforcement, the UK Guardian notes, it would be prosecuted under international laws agreed to by the United States in a 35-nation treaty signed in 1997, meaning the consequences could be very real. The treaty, "under the auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, aims to fight corporate attempts to buy the favors of public authorities abroad." Not coincidentally, the London Financial Times points out that the Bush Administration is using similar agreements to aggressively "seek the extradition and pressing claims against senior French finance industry executives connected with the Credit Lyonnais purchase of Executive Life, the failed Californian insurer."

[mandyky]

47. Still streaming music

seems like a long break

[nostamj]

49. they need more than ONE song...

this must make 8+ repeats and there's a long way yet to go...

steph! let us know if you're short on calls...

[dand]

51. I hope they find another CD to play

I get tired of a conspiracy of silence

[mr_pique]

48. Show not back on the internet

The show hasn't come back from the news on the hour. The bumper music is still playing. Is there something wrong with my connection or is it universal?

[Judi Lynn]

50. Help! I'm getting the "Conspiracy of Silence" over and over, too. n/t

[nostamj]

52. HIT THE BUTTON!!

[Misinformed01]

55. Back on

Sorry about that...

[nostamj]

56. that was painful

you can't play that song again for at least 6 months....

thank god it's over now. how much of Martin did the streamers miss?

[Misinformed01]

57. He's going to keep going

He is fascinating.

[Frank_Person]

54. SWITCH TO THE LIVE FEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LWolf]

58. Checking in halfway through.

I'm going to listen and scroll through to see what I've missed.

[Momof1]

61. Please Thank Al for me.

This is so informative. You never hear about this stuff in the media

[northofdenali]

62. Great show today, JM - sorry I couldn't call in! I tried!

It's been almost 45 to 56 below for 2 days, and the fiberoptic lines are royally screwed up here - hard to even call local. Tried to call my mom in Merritt Island, no luck - then tried the show..... sizzle crack sizzle..............

It'll be warmer next weekend. I'll try again!

[Misinformed01]

64. 50 BELOW???

Oh my God, we are in FL right now, and 60 feels chilly to me....

[dand]

63. Nooooooooooooooo

Find another CD Please

[mr_pique]

65. 9/11 blackout of widow charging Bush Regime with RICO - make noise

http://www.911timeline.net/widowsbushtreasonsuitvanishesinblinkofmediaeye.htm

Widow's Bush 911 Treason Suit
Vanishes In Blink Of Media Eye

by W. David Kubiak

"The decision 'not to do the story'
appears to be multiplying all over the nation."
Fred Powledge, ACLU

"Whoever said `no news is good news,'
was badly misinformed."
Dan Rather

Think you're already amazed, alarmed or appalled enough by the state of US journalism today? Chew on this a while and think again.

Grieving New Hampshire widow who lost her man on 9/11 refuses the government's million dollar hush money payoff, studies the facts of the day for nearly two years, and comes to believe the White House "intentionally allowed 9/11 to happen" to launch a so-called "War on Terrorism" for personal and political gain.

She retains a prominent lawyer, a former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania, who served with distinction under both Democrats and Republicans and was once a strong candidate for the governor's seat.

The attorney files a 62-page complaint in federal district court
(including 40 pages of prima facie evidence) charging that "President Bush and officials including, but not limited to Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Ashcroft and Tenet":

1.) had adequate foreknowledge of 911 yet failed to warn the county or attempt to prevent it;

2.) have since been covering up the truth of that day;

3.) have therefore abetted the murder of plaintiff's husband and violated the Constitution and multiple laws of the United States; and

4.) are thus being sued under the Civil RICO (Racketeering, Influence, and Corrupt Organization) Act for malfeasant conspiracy, obstruction of justice and wrongful death.

The suit text goes on to document the detailed forewarnings from foreign governments and FBI agents; the unprecedented delinquency of our air defense; the inexplicable half hour dawdle of our Commander in Chief at a primary school after hearing the nation was under deadly attack; the incessant invocation of national security and executive privilege to suppress the facts; and the obstruction of all subsequent efforts to investigate the disaster. It concludes that "compelling evidence will be presented in this case through discovery, subpoena power, and testimony
Defendants failed to act and prevent 9/11 knowing the attacks would lead to??| an 'International War on Terror' which would benefit Defendants both financially and politically."

Press releases detailing these explosive allegations are sent out to 3000 journalists in the print and broadcast media, and a press conference to announce the filing is held in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia on November 26th (commemorating the end of the first futile year of the independent National 9/11 Commission).

Imagine the world-churning implications of these charges. Imagine the furor if just one was proved true. Imagine the courage of this bribe-shunning widow and an eminent attorney with his rep on the line. Then imagine a press conference to which nobody came.

(Well, more precisely, imagine a press conference at which only FOX News appears, tapes for 40 minutes, and never airs an inch.)

Now imagine the air time, column inches and talk show hysteria that same night devoted to the legal hassles of Michael, Kobe, and Scott Peterson, and divide that by the attention paid to our little case of mass murder, war profiteering and treason. (OK, this is really a trick question because no number divided by zero yields any answers whatsoever, which evidently in this case is the result preferred.)

When you present documented charges of official treachery behind the greatest national security disaster in modern history and the press doesn't show, doesn't listen, doesn't write - just what in fact is really being communicated? That despite all the deaths, lies, wars, and bizarre official actions that flowed from 9/11 there's actually nothing there to be investigated at all? That addressing desperate victim families' still unanswered cries for truth is not a legitimate journalistic concern? That news will now be what the corporate media say it will be, so drink your infotainment Kool-Aid and kindly shut up?

(While the 9/11 blackout is the most flagrant sign of current media dysfunction, it hardly stands alone. Where, for example, was our free and fearless press when Pentagon powerbroker Richard Perle confessed to a London audience last month that yes indeed, our war on Iraq was illegal as hell? He calmly explained that "in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing??| would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone, and this would have been morally unacceptable."

(Guardian/UK, 11/20/03) And what news have we seen of the thousands of Depleted Uranium deaths and birth defects now desolating Afghanis, Iraqis and our own Gulf War troops? And whose looking into the $1.2 trillion the Pentagon admits is "missing" or the half trillion in laundered funds now propping up our banks? And how many times have you seen it reported that unbid Iraq contracts have pushed the worth of VP Cheney's 433,333 Halliburton stock options to $26 million plus? But to return to 9/11, the funny business has just begun. If you thought press performance after JFK's death was a cynical farce, you ain't seen nothing yet.)

A few years back Harold Evans of the London Sunday Times, observed that the challenge facing American newspapers "is not to stay in business -- it is to stay in journalism.'' As corporations' authoritarian, profit-driven consciousness comes to dominate both media and governance, you can expect a lot more serial celebrity scandals and even less news on the way things work or anything that really counts.

There is a clear method and message in this obscurantist madness. All this media consolidation and tightening control is strategically aligned with deregulation, privatization, social program-gutting deficits and free trade regimes. They are all convergent tactics to enforce corporations' full spectrum dominance over democratic humankind. If your progressive or
conservative instincts bid you to arise against this coup, standing with our 9/11 widow is a good place to start. Her name is Ellen Mariani, her lawyer is Phillip Berg and their complaint is now online at

http://911Timeline.net/marianivsbush.htm

Read it and weep, wail, or whack out a dozen letters to the editors around your town, but for god's sake make some noise. When 9/11 bombshells fall silent in the corporate media's forest it's up to us to make them resound.

[ConsAreLiars]

67. "I have a dream" audio and transcript

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm

http://www.uttyler.edu/meidenmuller/mp3clips/AudioSpeeches/mlkihaveadream.mp3

Talking about MLK and advising younger listeners to learn about him.
I thought this might be useful to put up on the show website.

[Misinformed01]

68. Nostamj!

Hands down, funniest comment that I have heard on this show:

"MLK would want to bitch-slap Bush"

Isn't that the truth?

[Catshrink]

69. Absolutely!

Good job, Jeff. Nice to hear the "New York Bureau."

[LWolf]

73. MLK wouldn't be endorsing

George W. Bush, that's for sure.

If this one doesn't blow up in his face, what will? GWB has given us so much fodder for the general election.

[nostamj]

76. "funniest"???

you must have missed my "Roy Cohn took my virginity" rant! ;-)

[Judi Lynn]

83. Oh, no, I missed it!

I would have definitely remembered that rant. Wowie.


the older but wiser Roy

On edit:

The Republican Party has so many deities, doesn't it?

[nostamj]

86. it was MONTHS back

when Coulter's TREASON book had just come out.

i DID take Guy and Michael by surprise... <evilgrin>

[mr_pique]

70. Traitor in the White House

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/29/cnna.wilson.zahn/

Former ambassador blames White House for leak

WASHINGTON (CNN) --Former Ambassador Joe Wilson, an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, blames the White House for telling a newspaper columnist that his wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA operative. The Justice Department is investigating the claim at the request of the CIA.

Wilson spoke to CNN anchor Paula Zahn Monday.

ZAHN: Are you still saying this goes all the way to the top levels of the White House?

WILSON: No, on the contrary, I don't have any specific information. I would hope that an investigation would yield the information as to who was responsible for the precise leak.

What I do have are any number of journalist sources, none of whom I have any reason not to believe, who have said that the White House was pushing this story after the leak, after the Novak article, and including Karl Rove.

ZAHN: The Washington Post reported over the weekend that at least six Washington correspondents were fed this same information. Why?

WILSON: Well, I think, if The Washington Post article is correct, I think there were probably two waves.

The one wave was being this -- of the phone calls to the six journalists. The only person who published an article was Mr. Novak. He's now claiming that he wasn't called. But it was in that timeframe, apparently. Then, I believe there was a second wave that occurred later on in the week, when I started getting phone calls from different journalistic outlets, saying things like, the White House is telling us that the real story here is not the 16 words. The real story is Wilson and his wife, culminating in the day that I actually did an interview on another network, saying that my understanding was that this might be against the law, after which those calls stopped.

ZAHN: And why do you think you're at the receiving end of all this?

WILSON: Well, I had assumed early on that it was probably because the White House wanted to discourage others from coming forward. And I have said that repeatedly, that there was nothing they could do to me. I had already told my story.

The accuracy or the validity, the veracity, of my story had been sort of agreed to by the White House 36 hours or 30 hours after my article appeared in The New York Times. There was nothing particularly to be gained by going after me. But you might want to discourage other people from stepping forward. There were a number of people at the time who were speaking off the record to journalists about pressures that they felt out at the CIA.

Whether those were accurate or not, those were the stories that were going around. So I thought that it might be directed at them.

ZAHN: Do you believe your wife's life is in any increased danger as a result of this?

WILSON: Well, I don't know.

We've always thought about this in the context of what is compromised in terms of national security, what operations, what agents, what networks that have been put in place during her career. That was the focus of our thinking. I will tell you that, increasingly, people are asking that question. And I'm going to have to think about it. But I'm not -- we have not been the recipients of any general threats or even -- or specific threats.

ZAHN: So you're not sure whether you fear for her safety, when you say it's something you have to think through?

WILSON: Well, I'm certainly concerned about her safety, but it's -- we had not thought about it in those terms at this point. We had thought about it more in terms of the violation to our own national security.

ZAHN: And, finally, I wanted to share with you something that Robert Novak had to say a little bit earlier today about this controversy. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "CROSSFIRE")

ROBERT NOVAK, CO-HOST: According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative, and not in charge of undercover operatives. So what is the fuss about, pure Bush-bashing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: You want to answer that question? Is this Bush-bashing on your part?

WILSON: Let me make a couple of points about that.

First of all, Novak also said that I was a Clinton appointee. In actual fact, my first political appointee was as ambassador. And I was appointed by George H.W. Bush, the first President Bush. So I really am apolitical in all of this.

Secondly, somebody with Novak's self-described 46 years experience will know the difference between operative and analyst. And his report clearly says -- his article says operative.

ZAHN: So what does that mean?

WILSON: That means that I think that he knew and he was told that she was a CIA operative, which means that they come under the branch of the CIA that deals with clandestine operations.

ZAHN: So you're basically saying there's no doubt in your mind that this was a leak, when in fact he said, in the course of interviewing a senior White House official, that is what he was told, and your wife's -- not her name at that point, but at least her official capacity was shared with him?

WILSON: Bob Novak called me before he went to print with the report. And he said, a CIA source had told him that my wife was an operative. He was trying to get a second source. He couldn't get a second source. Could I confirm that? I said no.

After the article appeared, I called him and I said: "You told me it was a CIA source. You wrote senior administration officials. What was it, CIA or senior admiration?" He said to me, "I misspoke the first time I spoke to you." That makes it senior administration sources.

[Misinformed01]

72. Did you hear Michael read your post

?

The "ten lies?"

[mr_pique]

77. yes

Glad I could add something to their wonderful program, I have great respect for what they are doing.

[Catshrink]

71. Michael is right about the dem candidate!

Our candidate must speak up! Al Gore refused to bring up the AWOL issue -- and that probably cost him the WhiteHouse.

They need to speak up about Iraq, the BFEE, Cheney's coziness with SCOTUS, etc.

[mr_pique]

75. Why aren't Dems calling for impeachment?

Kucinich, Dean, and Sharpton are against the war but few of the candidates are saying they would pull the troops out and end the occupation. With all the evidence the war was started on false pretenses why aren't we hearing calls for accountability? I want the candidates to speak up and congressman to explore the possibility of criminal charges. Congratulations to Gore for pointing out Dubya is a "moral coward".

Gore Calls Bush a 'Moral Coward'

By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Former Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) on Thursday blasted President Bush (news - web sites) as a "moral coward" who abandoned the public's environmental interests to accommodate his financial backers.

Gore, in a speech before a full house at the Beacon Theater, said it sometimes appeared that "the Bush-Cheney administration is wholly owned by the coal, oil, utility and mining industries."

The Democratic presidential candidate who lost to Bush in 2000 has issued a series of harsh critiques of the administration, previously accusing it of cracking down on civil liberties since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and mishandling post-war Iraq (news - web sites).

Gore accused the administration of gutting environmental laws. He criticized Bush for not acting to prevent global warming and for pushing to open parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

"While President Bush likes to project an image of strength and courage, the real truth is that in the presence of his large financial contributors, he is a moral coward," Gore said.

Republican National Committee (news - web sites) Chairman Ed Gillespie called Gore's comments "political hate speech."

"Like the Democrat presidential candidates, Al Gore has once again chosen to use his time at the podium to attack the president rather than put forward a positive agenda of his own," Gillespie said in a statement.

Gore's appearance was co-sponsored by MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group, and Environment 2004.

[Judi Lynn]

74. Supercall from J. in Brooklyn!

You've really got it down, nostamj. Great points lodged, flowing into a really good discussion.

You do D.U. proud!

[nostamj]

78. <blush>

thanks. i do my best... they make it so easy. and with DU to keep me up to date...

[Catshrink]

80. Good job...

how is the "other" Jeff doing -- Jeff in Ohio, the banned one?

[nostamj]

82. haven't talked to him in a while

but he's focused on his campaign now.

[MSchreader]

79. Glad I was able to get through

I hope I didn't sound stupid when I called.

Martin

[nostamj]

81. i was wondering if that "Martin" was this Martin!

great, solid call!

[MSchreader]

87. Thanks

I was a little concerned because I have been having problems getting the streaming audio to work on my computer (it buffers and buffers and buffers and buffers and ...), and was only able to hear the previous two callers, from which I had to quickly figure out what topics were being discussed.

Martin

[Misinformed01]

84. You not only sounded good

I had no idea that this administration was involved in union busting in Iraq. I looked it up after you got off the phone, and found a link that gave more information on the subject.

I was very glad you called; I bet many people had no clue.

[MSchreader]

85. The best source for information on this issue

http://www.wpiraq.org/english

They update it pretty regularly, and have a PDF of their English-language publication, Forward, which compiles the articles into a single format, available for downloading.

Martin

[JanMichael]

93. Great call. Once you got in gear the call really was informative.

I had no idea that my government was attacking Labor organisers in Iraq. I was also shocked that Al Martin knew so damned much about this unreported story.

Thanks!

[MSchreader]

94. I was surprised he knew, too

That's why I thanked him like I did.

Martin

[mr_pique]

89. Iraqi Union Leaders Arrested

U.S. Arrests Iraqi Union Leaders

By David Bacon, Pacific News Service
December 10, 2003

U.S. occupation forces in Iraq escalated their efforts to paralyze Iraq's new labor unions with a series of arrests this weekend.

On Dec. 6, according to a union spokesperson interviewed by phone, a convoy of 10 Humvees and personnel carriers descended on the old headquarters building of the Transport and Communications Workers union, in Baghdad's central bus station, which has been used since June as the office of the Iraqi Workers Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). Twenty soldiers jumped out, stormed into the building, put handcuffs on eight members of the Federation's executive board, and took them into detention.

"They gave no reason at all, despite being asked over and over," says IFTU spokesperson Abdullah Muhsin. Soldiers painted over the name of the federation on the front of the building with black paint, Muhsin says. The union had few resources, "but we did have a few files, and they took those," Muhsin adds. Ironically, the office had posters on the walls condemning terrorism, which soldiers tore down in the raid.

Although the eight were released the following day, there was no explanation from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the U.S. occupation government in Iraq, for the detentions.

The bus station raid followed the detention of two other trade union leaders on November 23 - Qasim Hadi, general secretary of the Union of the Unemployed, and Adil Salih, another leader of the organization. Hadi had been arrested twice before by occupation troops, for leading demonstrations of unemployed workers demanding unemployment benefits and jobs. In the November raid, CPA troops said they found two guns in the union's office, which was only permitted to have one. Hadi explained at the time that the organization has been the subject of threats and fatwahs by Iraqi religious parties, and needed weapons for self-defense.

Hadi and Salih were released after being detained for a day.

Both the Union of the Unemployed and the IFTU have been organizing Iraqi workers for months. The IFTU held a convention in Baghdad in June, at which it established unions in 12 industries. The Unemployed Union belongs to the Workers Unions and Councils group, which also has been organizing since last summer.

As many as 7 million people, or 70 percent of the workforce, have no jobs, according to the Unemployed Union. Some go hungry and sometimes become homeless. Although Congress appropriated $87 billion for reconstruction, Dr. Nuri Jafer, the deputy minister of Labor and Social Affairs says he can find "no country willing to fund our plans" for a minimal system of unemployment benefits.

Work may be proceeding on pipelines and ports for oil exports, but huge piles of war rubble lie untouched in Baghdad streets. U.S. funding in Iraq pays for an overwhelming military presence and the transformation of the Iraqi economy. Both are intended to make the country attractive to foreign investors.

In an Oct. 8 phone press conference, Thomas Foley, director for private sector development for the CPA, announced a list of the first Iraqi state enterprises to be sold, including cement and fertilizer plants, phosphate and sulfur mines, pharmaceutical factories and the country's airline. On Sept. 19, the CPA published Order No. 39, which permits 100 percent foreign ownership of businesses - except for the oil industry - and allows the transfer of profits outside the country.

Iraqi workers fear privatization will bring massive layoffs. "I'll have to fire 1,500 (of the refinery's 3,000) workers," says Dathar Al-Kashab, manager of the Al Daura oil refinery. "In America, when a company lays people off, there's unemployment insurance and they won't die from hunger. If I dismiss employees now, I'm killing them and their families."

At the refinery, as in most factories, those with jobs work 11- and 13-hour shifts. Al Daura workers earn $60 a month. They have no safety shoes, goggles, masks or other protective gear. The IFTU helped the refinery's workers organize a union and elect its leaders. In Basra, workers have formed a central labor council and mounted demonstrations. The Workers Unions and Councils group has helped workers elect committees in the State Leather Industry plant, the largest shoe factory in the Middle East, and the Mamoun Vegetable Oil enterprise, among others.

When these new unions try to talk with the plant managers, however, they're told that a 1987 law forbids workers in state-owned enterprises (where the majority of Iraqis work) from forming unions. The CPA still enforces this Saddam-era law. Another order issued by the CPA on June 6 threatens that anyone who "incites civil disorder" will be detained as a prisoner of war under the Geneva Convention.

While unions are being suppressed, international conferences in Washington and London take place every week, at which Iraqi assets are put on sale to private buyers. At one recent conference, ExxonMobil, Delta Airlines and the American Hospital Group all expressed interest in various Iraqi enterprises.

Workers fear new foreign owners will cut labor costs through layoffs. Resistance at the work site has been made illegal by laws banning unions and by the arrest of their leaders.

Muhsen Mull Ali, an IFTU leader who spent two long stints in prison for organizing unions, both before and during Saddam's reign, says U.S. actions against unions won't deter him. "Our responsibility is to oppose privatization as much as possible, and fight for the welfare of our workers."

David Bacon ([e-mail]) is a photographer and writer specializing in labor issues. He visited Iraq in October.

[benburch]

90. Show archive is up!

at http://www.WhiteRoseSociety.org/

Along with shows by;

Mike Malloy,
Randi Rhodes,
Thom Hartmann,
Peter Werbe,
Joseph Vechio,
and Enid Goldstein.

[Misinformed01]

92. Damn you're FAST!

Thanks bunches!

[BeachBuckeye]

97. Thanks Ben

You provide a really valuable service and its much appreciated.