I presume tenured CU faculty can just tell the university to stick it. But, untenured folks, adjuncts, TAs are screwed.

Posted by: slothrop | Feb 24 2005 20:22 utc | 3

Well, I kept an open mind looking at this picture about great soulmates! Can you keep an open mind?

Posted by: Fran | Feb 24 2005 20:49 utc | 5

I have trouble with that picture Fran. I grew up practicing Civil Defense drills, hiding under desks, taking cover in fall-out shelters and being told over and over again that Russians want to kill us all.
To see the POTUS in such a tight embrace with the leader of the “evil empire” (another POS US president named Reagan gave us that term) is just weird.
Which one is worse? I bet if you flipped a coin for the answer it would land on its edge.

Posted by: dan of steele | Feb 24 2005 21:15 utc | 7

dan of steele,
I had the same thought about wc and rg. crossed fingers and all…

Posted by: Citizen | Feb 24 2005 21:23 utc | 9

fran- here’s what that pic immediately brought to mind

Posted by: b real | Feb 24 2005 21:25 utc | 11

An interesting piece from Chris Floyd.
the center is rotten to its well-wadded, self-righteous, wilfully ignorant core
It is this center — which prides itself on being sensible, moderate, decent and respectable — that has become morally corrupted beyond measure, perhaps beyond remedy.
Worth reading I think. For me, there is something of an ah-ha insight to this diatribe. The answer to why it is that ‘they’ are able to remake the world in their own psychotic image, and why ‘we’ may not be able to stop them.
I don’t know. If the core is rotten, is it even possible for the edifice to come crashing down, to settle as a pile of debris within it own footprint?

Posted by: DM | Feb 24 2005 21:37 utc | 13

I’m sitting here watching an RTÉ show about the Chechen conflict. Pooty-poot might not be inviting them over for dinner any time soon.
Should be available on the web later at:
http://www.rte.ie/news/primetime.html
Torture, disappearances, murder, security force involvement. All that good stuff. Pretty graphic too. This is the main Irish current affairs programme. I can see how Bush and Putin might have things in common.

Posted by: Colman | Feb 24 2005 22:13 utc | 15

BTW, that link is not just about science – e.g.,
If I were Christian, I’d have to guess that Christ, who was after all beaten to a bloody pulp and then nailed to a cross to die a horrible, lingering, death, for our sins, wouldn’t think very highly of a party, a faction, a group, or a President, that thinks they should be able to legally whisk people off to torture chambers in foreign third world shit-holes run by sadistic barbaric throw backs, with no trial or charges ever held for them!

Posted by: Citizen | Feb 24 2005 22:21 utc | 17

Krispy Kreme announces criminal probe
“Shareholders have also alleged that executives intentionally padded sales figures to hide the fact that doughnut sales began declining in early 2003.”
War is hell.

Posted by: Is nothing sacred? | Feb 24 2005 23:47 utc | 19

Thanks for that link, Citizen.

Posted by: beq | Feb 24 2005 23:51 utc | 21

U.S. says ‘thousands’ of missiles missing
Missing? Just wait until they start hitting.

Posted by: Blowback | Feb 25 2005 0:07 utc | 23

Citizen: Many thanks for the Churchill speech link. First, I thought it would “never get rolling”, then I simply couldn’t put it down!
Lots of good stuff there. I greatly admire Churchill’s 9/11 essay, and his unwaivering courage of conviction displayed since then. Plus, I found a uniquely personal reason in that speech to intuit a real spiritual affinity with the man:
… Frankly, I don’t consider these guys to be Republicans. There’s an ‘N’ word, ending in ‘i’ that I think is more appropriate, but hey, I use that analogy too often. [laughter, applause] …
I agree. 🙂

Posted by: JMF | Feb 25 2005 1:04 utc | 25

That photo of Dubya and Pooty makes me think that maybe rapt has a point about ETs taking over at the top…

Posted by: DeAnander | Feb 25 2005 1:05 utc | 27

Excellent link Okie. Thanks – because I don’t have the stomach to follow Rummy’s denials from day to day. I’m glad somebody else has that job. Now who will take it to the next level and ask in a public way why this asshole hasn’t been impeached. OK if not him then his boss.

Posted by: rapt | Feb 25 2005 3:25 utc | 29

translating rummy: “i don’t know” –> “i don’t care… now leave me be so i can get back to killing people and maximizing my portfolio.”

Posted by: b real | Feb 25 2005 4:03 utc | 31

Fran, that is one creepy photo. But it’s interesting how the emptiness in Bush’s eyes is different from the emptiness in Putin’s. W looks like he’s hiding the underlying insecurity of the bully; Putin just looks dead.

Posted by: Leslie in CA | Feb 25 2005 4:28 utc | 33

Leslie, I agree with you, the scary part is, that these two empty shills are two of the most powerful men in the world. However, Bush to me doesn’t look to me so much like hidding the bully, as trying to hide the vast empty space between his ears.

Posted by: Fran | Feb 25 2005 4:40 utc | 35

Someone needs to teach W how to tie a tie. Compare with Putin’s… I think Georgie is doing the knot.

Posted by: jeff | Feb 25 2005 5:29 utc | 37

My local newscast on the Pope’s health had the briefest of flashes of that scene where the Pope shooed away a dove the other day. Such a cliche image of a soul taking flight made me suspicious that the Pope is already dead.
“Now, let’s not get all tinfoil” I thought to myself. Then two news items later they announced that the Archdiocese is closing a raft of Catholic churches. Holy crap…
the Pope may really be dead.

Posted by: Citizen | Feb 25 2005 6:08 utc | 39

In “Foreign Policy” Stephen Roach is deconstructing the Greenspan monument.

History cautions against rendering a premature verdict on the accomplishments of any one economy, or any one central banker. When Alan Greenspan arrived at the Fed in the late 1980s, Japan and Germany dominated the world economy, and the United States was down and out. Over the last 20 years, the fickle pendulum of economic prosperity swung the other way, as the United States redefined the very concept of global economic leadership. Greenspan will be a tough act to follow. But his success was as much an outgrowth of history as it was a reflection of any one person.

Posted by: b | Feb 25 2005 12:55 utc | 41

he’s baaaaaaack!

“If you thought I was going to slink away – then you don’t know much about me. Someone still has to battle the Left and now that I’ve emerged from the crucible, I’m stronger than before.”

Posted by: beq | Feb 25 2005 14:52 utc | 43

“now that I’ve emerged from the crucible”
What a tool. That was just the first round.

Posted by: CluelessJoe | Feb 25 2005 16:11 utc | 45

now this is weird… in the top of the hour news feed on the pacifica radio stream i’m listening to was a report that talon news has shut down for now b/c it’s owners say that they are getting negative feedback on their biases. at the same time, i closed the moa ‘democracy in action’ tab in my firefox browser and lo & behold, there’s a tab open for talonnews.com, which i did not open, have not searched on & have no idea how it got there. i merely thought about checking it out to see what their statement is, but didn’t have anything open which would link to that site. too weird…

Posted by: b real | Feb 25 2005 16:16 utc | 47

After a several day long refractory period, Gannon announces –
My faith and my ideology are rock solid.
Thank Koresh for that! I mean, if dirting on the flag and the USMC can’t inspire a man with rock solid faith and ideology like stones, what could? I for one am happy G/G won’t be hanging up his spurs.

Posted by: Citizen | Feb 25 2005 16:31 utc | 49

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000817453

In his column, Guckert claims that during his two-year tenure as a White House insider, “I developed some good friends there who welcomed the refreshing perspective I brought to the briefings and respected my courage for asking the questions that I did.” He doesn’t name them, which is probably OK with them.
He denounces those who found “sexy pictures” of him on the Web, which inspired “rumors and conspiracy theories.” Forget for a moment that Guckert has now refused, on half a dozen occasions (including three interviews with E&P), to deny his part in the sex-escort trade. Here he says, “Based on some of the emails I’ve received, many of these people were conflicted with hatred for my politics and tingling they experienced while viewing pictures said to be me.”
He also thanks God for his “career as a reporter” and the fact that he was “further blessed to become a White House correspondent.”
Then there’s this gem: “If I had been a liberal reporter with the salacious past now attributed to me, I would be the Grand Marshall of the next Gay Pride Parade as well as a media darling, able to give softball interviews.” Well, he is an expert on softball questions, that’s for sure.
But I have a feeling that if he’d been a liberal reporter, he would have been skewered by Fox News and branded “The Hapless Hooker” by the New York Post, two outlets largely silent about Gannongate so far.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Feb 25 2005 16:53 utc | 51

More about Gannon or is it Guckert?: here
Well, this is the last one for today, am working tonight – well, not the way you might think.

Posted by: Fran | Feb 25 2005 17:10 utc | 53

Not sure what to make of it, it seems pretty clear this CNN reporter is reporting live from the scene on 9/11 and saying there is no evidence of any plane hitting the Pentagon. Im looking for anybody out there that can tell me if he later retracted this statement, or possibly track down this reporter and ask him what he meant and what he saw. If you have this info, visit my blog and let me know. Thanks.
PS-Nice blog! 🙂

Posted by: Valleri | Feb 25 2005 17:35 utc | 55

Fran…Nothing much, except that it resurfaces now. The early reports from the Pentagon mentioned: no plane (e.g. Jamie McIntyre on CNN); an exploding truck (terrarist attack, this was favorite); unexplained helicopters; explosions at the P; a bomb; a small plane… Rummy himself spoke of a “missile.” (Somewhat later, actually.)
Sorry no links it is too much work and I have to watch the contents of my oven and the rest (veggies.)
The first to publicly mention Binny was Lyndon Larouche ! – as measured in seconds after the first attack.

Posted by: Blackie | Feb 25 2005 18:05 utc | 57

In a rush at work so no links, but xymphora linked to a Raw Story piece about how Eberle was one of the “eyewitnesses” to the “jet” hitting the Pentagon, noting how convenient and unlikely that was. Sort of like those “mobs” in Florida 2000.
(Anyone who doesn’t visit xymphora.blogspot.com regularly should, btw…)

Posted by: OkieByAccident | Feb 25 2005 18:56 utc | 59

@rgiap I’m thinking “tragic small plane crash.” that seems to be the popular MO.

Posted by: DeAnander | Feb 25 2005 20:01 utc | 61

An interesting question from the russian press at the Putin/Bush press conference:

Q First of all, I wanted to ask another question, but we have an interesting conversation now, therefore I’m going to ask about the following: It seems to me that you have nothing to disagree about. The regimes that are in place in Russia and the U.S. cannot be considered fuller democratic, especially when compared to some other countries of Europe, for example — for example, The Netherlands. It seems to me, that as far as Russia is concerned, everything is clear, more or less. But as far as the U.S. is concerned, we could probably talk at length. I am referring to the great powers that have been assumed by the security services due to which the private lives of citizens are now being monitored by the state. This could be explained away by the consequences of September 11th, but this has nothing to do with democratic values. How could you comment on this? I suggest that you can probably agree — you can probably shake hands and continue to be friends in future.

WaPo blogger Dan Foomkin dissects Bush`s answer in a Billmon style:

“I live in a transparent country.

• Cadre grows to rein in message; Ranks of federal public affairs officials have swelled under Bush to help tighten control on communiques to media, access to information, Newsday, Feb. 24, 2005; Administration Paid Commentator; Education Dept. Used Williams to Promote ‘No Child’ Law, Washington Post, Jan. 8, 2005; Groups raise concerns about increased classification of documents, GOVEXEC.com, Oct. 27, 2004.

“I live in a country where decisions made by government are wide open and people are able to call people to — me to account, which many out here do on a regular basis.

• High Court Backs Vice President; Energy Documents Shielded for Now, Washington Post, June 25, 2004; Mr. President, will you answer the question?, NiemanWathchdog.org, Dec. 3, 2004; Bush Says Election Ratified Iraq Policy, Washington Post, Jan. 16, 2005 (in which Bush says: “We had an accountability moment, and that’s called the 2004 elections.”)

“Our laws and the reasons why we have laws on the books are perfectly explained to people. Every decision we have made is within the Constitution of the United States. We have a constitution that we uphold.

• How U.S. rewrote terror law in secrecy; White House group devised new system in aftermath of 9/11, New York Times, Oct. 24, 2004; In Cheney’s Shadow, Counsel Pushes the Conservative Cause, Washington Post, Oct. 11, 2004; Slim Legal Grounds for Torture Memos; Most Scholars Reject Broad View of Executive’s Power, Washington Post, July 4, 2004.

“And if there’s a question as to whether or not a law meets that constitution, we have an independent court system through which that law is reviewed.

• Recount 2000: Decision Sharpens the Justices’ Divisions; Dissenters See Harm to Voting Rights and the Court’s Own Legitimacy, Washington Post, Dec. 13, 2000; Scalia Won’t Sit Out Case On Cheney; Justice’s Memo Details Hunting Trip With VP, Washington Post, March 19, 2004.

“So I’m perfectly comfortable in telling you our country is one that safeguards human rights and human dignity, and we resolve our disputes in a peaceful way.”

• Torture at Abu Ghraib, the New Yorker, May 10, 2004; Ground War Starts, Airstrikes Continue As U.S. Keeps Focus on Iraq’s Leaders, Washington Post, March 21, 2003.

Go Froomkin, go!

Posted by: b | Feb 25 2005 20:26 utc | 63

The Churchill affair is far from over. The CU administration, kowtowing to local pressure by neomccarthyist legislators, regents and journalists, required all instructors (graduate instructors, adjunct professors, tenured faculty) to sign an to the US and Colorado constitutions.
The following story, snipped enough for copyright, reveals the relationship of the oath and the Churchill imbroglio:

Presumably, persons refusing to sign and notarize this superfluos and hectoring “oath” will be fired on Saturday, Feb. 26.
A little background to this ignominious oath: In 1921, the Ku Klux Klan dominated the Colorado legislature and required state employees to sign an oath of allegiance to the state and US constitutions. The oath was never enforced by CU through the twenties and thirties. Norlin, who was CU President through this tumultuous period, was able to thwart the legislature’s attempt to purge the university of Jewish and Catholic faculty, and the oath was never administered.
This changed in 1951 when CU president Stearns required faculty to sign a modification of the Klan oath forswearing membership to “group…which advocates…changing the form of government of the United States…” Three professors unwilling to sign the oath were forced to leave the university. Among these principled fellows was Morris Judd who was recently “honored” by the university for the sacrifice made by him. In the sixties the CU faculty attempted to abolish the oath after the US Supreme Court struck down a similar Washington state requirement because of the law’s “vagueness.” The Colorado state legislature’s version of the present oath was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1968 (affirming Hosack v. Smiley, 276 F. Supp. 876 (1967)).
The controversy over Churchill inspired the recent requirement that all CU instructors sign, and now notarize, the stupid oath.
You can be sure the rightwing nuts giggled as they watched the CU faculty file in to the notary offices like so many cattle waiting to be branded.
It will get worse, my friends.

Posted by: slothrop | Feb 25 2005 23:36 utc | 65

The Churchill affair is far from over. The CU administration, kowtowing to local pressure by neomccarthyist legislators, regents and journalists, required all instructors (graduate instructors, adjunct professors, tenured faculty) to sign an oath of allegiance to the US and Colorado constitutions.
The following story, snipped enough for copyright, reveals the relationship of the oath and the Churchill imbroglio:

CU looking for ‘loyalty oaths’
By Elizabeth Mattern Clark, Camera Staff Writer
February 22, 2005
The University of Colorado on Monday launched an examination of all faculty members’ files to see if they have signed a “loyalty oath” required by state law.
The review comes after CU officials found no such agreement in controversial professor Ward Churchill’s personnel files.
All university teaching faculty members must sign an oath to uphold the U.S. and Colorado constitutions as a condition of employment, interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano wrote in an e-mail to the faculty Monday.
“We are concerned because there are some we’re not able to find,” prompting the review of thousands of files, CU spokeswoman Pauline Hale said.
Faculty members will be asked to sign a new oath if they don’t have one on file.
…
Officials said Churchill signed a loyalty oath Friday after they could not find a copy attached to the 1991 contract granting him tenure. …

Presumably, persons refusing to sign and notarize this superfluous and hectoring “oath” will be fired on Saturday, Feb. 26.
A little background to this ignominious oath: In 1921, the Ku Klux Klan dominated the Colorado legislature and required state employees to sign an oath of allegiance to the state and US constitutions. The oath was never enforced by CU through the twenties and thirties. Norlin, who was CU President through this tumultuous period, was able to thwart the legislature’s attempt to purge the university of Jewish and Catholic faculty, and the oath was never administered.
This changed in 1951 when CU president Stearns required faculty to sign a modification of the Klan oath forswearing membership to “group…which advocates…changing the form of government of the United States…” Three professors unwilling to sign the oath were forced to leave the university. Among these principled fellows was Morris Judd who was recently “honored” by the university for the sacrifice made by him. In the sixties the CU faculty attempted to abolish the oath after the US Supreme Court struck down a similar Washington state requirement because of the law’s “vagueness.” The Colorado state legislature’s version of the present oath was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1968 (affirming Hosack v. Smiley, 276 F. Supp. 876 (1967)).
The controversy over Churchill inspired the recent requirement that all CU instructors sign, and now notarize, the stupid oath.
You can be sure the rightwing nuts giggled as they watched the CU faculty file in to the notary offices like so many cattle waiting to be branded.
It will get worse, my friends.

Posted by: slothrop | Feb 25 2005 23:52 utc | 67

slothrop
you are a teacher. you posses values. they will come after you. one way or another. through silence. through comprimise. through abandoning struggle. through abandonment of contexts.
ward churchill is not giodorn bruno but the flames are the same

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 25 2005 23:57 utc | 69

rgiap
Nor is “They Push Back” La cena de la ceneri, but, you know, whether you praise the little people who fight back or, in Bruno’s case, the mythologies of Hermes Trismagistus, you’ll get scorched. It doesn’t matter, it could be anything, must be anything. “fuck pro football” will get your head stomped on. Whatever. “Down with the American family” will soon get you three to ten in marion. What you’re not supposed to think and say is hard to know these days.
They’re all little Eichmanns. We’re all little Winstons.

Posted by: slothrop | Feb 26 2005 0:15 utc | 71

From popbitch
>> Fear and Golfing < Farewell to Raoul Duke Just prior to his death Hunter S Thompson invented a new sport, Shotgun Golf, with Bill Murray. His description: "The game consists of one golfer, one shooter and a field judge. The purpose of the game is to shoot your opponent's high-flying golf ball out of the air with a finely-tuned 12-gauge shotgun, thus preventing him (your opponent) from lofting a 9-iron approach shot onto a distant "green". Points are scored by blasting your opponent's shiny new Titleist out of the air and causing his shot to fail miserably. After that, you trade places and equipment, and move on to round two. Go out this weekend and play it in tribute.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Feb 26 2005 0:39 utc | 73

“protest is when i say this or that doesn’t suit me. resistance is when i ensure that what doesn’t suit me no longer occurs”
fred hampton – black panther leader assasinated by chicago police

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 26 2005 2:27 utc | 75

last time i checked in here 35 posts.i am back don’t have time to read previous (god i can’t spell any more sick of trying forgive me) i need to know how to look up a police report.and check background on a judge is this possible? my friend from the 6TH grade the year we landed on the moon has a daughter in trouble,small town,crooked court system.i am poor but only have myself and pets to take care of,her family is even more poor with lots of children.they called me because i am the only one they know who went to collage.my brain anurysm(fuck) has devestated my thought process,memory,ect.(shit i feel like,harvey was it? smart one minute rainman the next)i guess what i am asking is how to get ahold of her arrest report so i am not flying in the dark before i ask for a legal aquaintance opinion.also i remember this judge from church gossip years ago.a very nasty criminal possibly.and there are children at stake.no one we know has the money to look into or fight this,but if i can make a conection between judge and parties may be able to get another judge.again i’m sorry for bursting in i usually try to just read absorb.and i also know this is not a i”m first type of venue.but this is where i’m comfortable and its your posts given with so much thought and intellect and also emotion that lift me up and also remind me how much i lost.there was a time i could have debated most of you into a stalemate.and until i found billman by accident i was unable to even read a book,lost after the first paragraph.through a tom tomarrow cartoon i for the first time sat down at a computer,and started to exercise my brain.i can now read a book all the way through and enjoy it even if i don’t remember it a day later.So i guess you’ve realised i am manic and franic.i don’t ever mind when you all just let me rant and pass over my posts.this time if anyone can help me help someone else,i selfishly will feel useful again,and above all else i could possibly help a loyal friends daughter and grandbabies.they are in calif. i am in new orleans if it matters.

Posted by: Anonymous | Feb 26 2005 12:23 utc | 77

anonymous
as dan of steele sd – give us something. from where i am i can aks that first you try to breathe properly – to breath properly until you feel a semblance of calm – just be patient with yourself until that moement arrives. try to have someone close to you there. through the breathing try to be calm. on a piece of paer – try to prioritise – what are the things that can be done today, immediately, then what are the things that can be done within a week or so – then write what are the longer term demands that you yourself are not capable of fulfilling. do not be promiscous with these – be discipline & be honest about what can you really do – it is not useful to have two groups of people who are frustrated
is legal aid available – do you know anybody who might know a lawyer – even the longest shot
see if there are people in your immediate circle who could help you research
but above all it is important for you & them to remain calm – even under the most difficult circumstances

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Feb 26 2005 14:15 utc | 79

yes breathe thankyou.have the judges name.but in spite of hometown gossip would like to read police report,not that i don’t trust my friend but mothers sometimes do not see past their love of a child.i do believe everythin is as she told me but before i go after a judge how do i get that report she said it is public record so what exactly do i google to get police report.second i need to see if there is a connection between judge and woman making the claim.and why for simple assult is there $150,000 bond.

Posted by: onzaga | Feb 26 2005 14:50 utc | 81

Saboteurs Strike Oil Pipeline in Iraq
Nothing extraordinary about the story, it is just refreshing to see these people referred to as what they really are….I was getting so tired of the word “terrorist” being used to describe everything.

Posted by: dan of steele | Feb 26 2005 16:03 utc | 83

The Jeff Gannon / James D. Guckert song
There he was just waitin’ for a pass,
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
Somethin’ tells me McLellan likes his ass,
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
He can’t write, can’t write,
Can’t spell, can’t spell,
Can’t write can’t spell
But he’s got something to sell.
Before I knew it he was sitting next to me,
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
Throwin softballs,as natural as can be,
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
He walked on, walked on
To the tube, to the tube
He walked on to the tube,
to give G.O.P. LUBE
Wo-o-o-oh, I knew he was working for Rove
Yes I did, and so he passed on all the docs
From the CIA trove
Now he tells lies nearly every single day,
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
We’re so happy that he is in our pay,
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
I’m his, I’m his
He’s mine, He’s mine
I’m his, he’s mine,
So we’ll all conceal the crime
Wo-o-o-oh, I knew he was working for Rove
Yes he was, and he transcribed all the points
That he’d been dreamin’ of
Now we’re together nearly every single day
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
Takin’ money from G.O.P. U.S.A.
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
I’ve heard, I’ve heard
He’s fine, he’s fine
I’ve heard, he’s fine,
200 bucks and he’ll be mine
Singin’, do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
Do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?
Do-wah diddy-diddy who did he do?

Posted by: Karaoke time | Feb 26 2005 17:13 utc | 85

Daniel Pipes presses on with fomenting division and hatred

Posted by: Torquemada | Feb 26 2005 17:35 utc | 87