Looking at the Democrats Convention site under ->Convention Info ->Party Platform – if you have Acrobat installed – is the REPORT OF THE PLATFORM COMMITTEE. Great – here comes the definite program of the opposition to the Bush catastrophe:

…
Our overriding goals are the same as ever: to protect our people and our way of life
…
To rise to those challenges, we must strengthen our military, including our Special Forces, improve our technology, and task our National Guard with homeland security.
…
Cutting taxes for middle class Americans.
…

Upps – not what I expected.
Who may call himself Democrat and claim as overriding goal to protect our way of life?
What Democrat may task our National Guard with homeland security?
Talking about tax cuts for the middle class Americans, would a Democrat probably mention what should be done for the lower class Americans?

Some years ago I was working in marketing intensive company. The advertising folks did run ads that claimed the product to be the Best Antibiotic Against Viruses. It was beyond their comprehension when some objected that there might be some problem with that claim. (Later a satiric magazine reprinted that ad series.)

Juan Cole, Professor of History and blogger of Informed Comment, is provocating by calling the Israeli Gaza settlers fascists.

Fascism remains a useful analytical tool for understanding modern politics. Each country’s fascism has been different, since fascism is more a style than a specific ideology. Among its attributes is

Cont. reading: Fascism a style?

In an article for the Toronto Sun (thanks to Fran) Eric Margolis writes on Iran new U.S. whipping boy

This column has long predicted the Bush administration would orchestrate a pre-election crisis over Iran designed to whip up patriotic fervour in the U.S. and distract public and media attention from the Iraq fiasco.

The growing clamour over Iran’s nuclear intentions, with rumblings about air strikes against Iran’s reactors in the fall, may prove to be a part of just such a manufactured crisis.

Remember, these latest fevered claims about Iran come from the same “reliable intelligence sources” and neo-conservative hawks who insisted Iraq had a vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction that threatened the U.S., with intimate links to al-Qaida.

Cont. reading: Not just the Right but the Duty

OT X is at about 150 comments – so here´s a fresh one…

by Jérôme Guillet

In the latest twist to the Yukos story, Russia’ Bailiff Service (part of the Ministry of Justice) has decided to seize its main production affiliate, Yuganskneftegaz, and sell it to pay for the approx. USD 3.4 bn owed by Yukos in year-2000 back taxes according to the recent court decisions.

Cont. reading: Yukos – A Tale of Professional Oligarchs

Update 25. July

The Army Report is available now at Global Security Org (PDF, long). The armys website www.army.mil is still not reachable.

End Update

The Ajax White Knight has done serious overtime:

WaPo has the 9/11 Commission Report as executive summary and in full.

At the same time, the Army finds 49 abuse cases in a report delivered at a hastily called Senate committee meeting.

Cont. reading: “The White Knight Is A Dirty Old Man”

The barkeeper at the Whiskey Bar talks about minimum wages. There are many ways to look at the statistics I guess – here´s room to do so.

Typepad, the hosting system for the Moon of A, is working on their SPAM protection.

Cont. reading: housekeeping note

For all themes not fitting elsewhere…

Here is virtual room to discuss Billmons piece about the economic bifurcation of the society and its political history and consequences.

Billmon is back, writing on Ralph Nader and the Michigan GOP. Read it at the Whiskey Bar. Room for discussion is here, under the Moon.

Discussed in the last Open Thread there are rumours of an Israeli/US american air attack on Iranian infrastructure. The last days there have been several leaks to the press by “sources” who claim that the 9/11 commission finds links between Iran and Al Qaeda.

Cont. reading: Suburb of Tel Aviv?

Let´s have a fresh one – did anybody bring drinks?

Billmon did some premier economical pieces some time ago. It’s the Wages, Stupid and Wild Blue Yonder. These charts add to the picture.

Development from 1915 to 2005. End of 2002 Gross Domestic Product of the United States was about 10,600 billion US$. Total credit market debt was at 31,700 billion US$. This ratio of about 3 to 1 has increased since. Expressed differently, 3 $s have to be borrowed additionally to existing debt to have an additional production worth 1 $. This is unprecedented.
(There are discussions that GDP is “pumped up” statistically which, if true, would make the chart even worse.)

Cont. reading: Decline of the Empire?

via NY Sun , Jul 8, 2004, a report on Hersh speaking at an ACLU dinner on July 7.

Journalist Seymour Hersh yesterday accused President Bush and Vice President Cheney of committing war crimes in their prosecution of the war on terror before he backed off the charge somewhat, saying he was not certain the two leaders were culpable as individuals.

“What we had was a series of massive crimes,

Cont. reading: “Administration Committed War Crimes”

The Barkeeper on Donald Duck for Senator (nearly): “Send in the Clowns” – some virtual space here for your candidate.

Many things out there need to be discussed, but don´t fit the other topics. Here is some virtual space for them.

The Whiskey Bar Bartender on Florida voting procedures. Your comments?

As a US foreigner, I do ask myself who should win the next US election.

The US is the No. 1 nation. It spends more money on military power than the rest of the world together. There are over 700 military US outlets in over 100 countries. The US dollar, as the reserve currency and commodity currency of world trade, has effects on the economical situation of many foreigners. If the US decides to deliberately inflate the dollar (as it already does to some extend today) this inflation will be exported to other countries. The US has the diplomatic power to bring all others to the table on any issues. As Kyoto, WTO and several other issues show, it decides the ecential outcome of such meetings.

The current Bush foreign policy would not change after a re-election. This should put me decidedly into the Anything-But-Bush-Camp. But if Kerrys foreign policy does not differ from Bushs way, would it not be better to keep Bush? He would definitely be more effective in ruining the US and its world relations. Then, maybe, a point will be reached,

Cont. reading: “…he´ll ruin you faster”

Just the link to Billmons piece and room to discuss it.