As someone who works in New York City, I take very seriously the almost daily stories about security concerns. New York has been on terror alert level orange since September 11. Please, protestors who are planning civil disobedience or other actions that will cause havoc during the RNC, stay home. New Yorkers don't need this kind of stress in their lives. Getting to work that week will be stressful enough without people like this woman insisting on her illegal march to Times Square.

[ I don't have the level of intensity that Flynn did in his response, but it sounds pretty crass to dismiss this lady's right to be heard over a matter of stress. There were many responses to 9/11, but I've never been comfortable with the "Batten down the hatches" approach that seems so common. A lot of people felt like this was the end of the world. I'm not trying to minimize the event, but it wasn't like whole cities were vaporized in a nuclear strike. It just wasn't the end of the world.

I say, if you want someone to be angry at, be angry at the callous and opportunistic asses who chose to hold their convention in New York to capitalize on the imagery of 9/11, re-instilling the american people with xenophobic terror for political gain. Be angry at these people who will curb our freedoms and chip away our liberty, who will thereby play directly into the hands of our enemies, for pure greed or power or political expediency. Be angry at those who will talk constantly about winning the "war on terror" while simultaneously abandoning Afghanistan and bin Laden, destroying our worldwide credibility, engendering hatred across the muslim world, and spending all the money that COULD have been spent on port inspections, first responders, air marshalls, in short, on homeland security, on a misguided and misrepresented war in Iraq.

I don't doubt that it's going to suck to be a New Yorker for the next couple of weeks, but the blame must necessarily fall squarely on the RNC and the administration. -k

edit 8/26 : here's a link which touches on some of the very point i made:

http://dailykos.com/story/2004/8/26/112826/771 ]

New York Braces for Protests

] SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) -- A black bear was found
] passed out at a campground in Washington state recently
] after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a
] campground worker said on Wednesday.
]
] "We noticed a bear sleeping on the common lawn and
] wondered what was going on until we discovered that there
] were a lot of beer cans lying around," said Lisa Broxson,
] a worker at the Baker Lake Resort, 80 miles (129 km)
] northeast of Seattle.
]
] The hard-drinking bear, estimated to be about two years
] old, broke into campers' coolers and, using his claws and
] teeth to open the cans, swilled down the suds.
]
] It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate.
] He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to
] Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his
] drinking binge.
]
] Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the
] next day, said Broxson.
]
] They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and
] two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was
] captured for relocation.

[ That is some funny shit. A little sad, but funny. -k]

Bear guzzles 36 beers, passes out at campground

This is shamefully political.

[ I have slightly mixed feelings. I don't for a second think that this hasn't got a major political aspect, but I don't see it as completely so. It really does seem like our overseas deployments are organized around a cold war threat model which is obsolete. I have no problem with them acting to reorganize into a more sensible configuration... wether they're actually *going to* do that remains to be seen, and of course, the timing of this announcement is pretty clearly meant to take up a few news cycles right in front of the RNC.

I.e. i think the basic concept is sound, but the rhetoric and timing surrounding it are, as you say, "shamefully political." -k]

Bush: Moving Troops home to fight terrorism?

Mike the Usurper wrote:
] I would deeply like to thank the current administration for
] this pile of crap. They've chosen to make screwing over hate
] and discrimination a centerpiece of American daily life and
] are doing their best to make it the law.

I think the problem lies with the word "marriage" which has religous significance. Rather aboloshing, ammending the word so its definition in law has nothing to do with a sacrament, or changing it to something else which means a legal pairing.

[ To be fair, this isn't 100% the fault of this administration... the issue was coming to the fore regardless, and in fact, politically speaking, it's done more harm than good for them. Solidifying the fundie base isn't something W had to be too concerned with, and i think he lost some of the leaners in the middle. I'm not saying it's not shameful, and I won't let them off the hook for the Hate Amendment, but there's a lot of people who agree with them, so it was bound to happen.

Personally, I'd like to see everyone grow the fuck up and let the issue die... let people marry each other... whatever. I've been back and forth on this a few times, and something still sits ill whenever i consider adjusting legal definitions. The ideal outcome for me is for the supreme court to say "Shut up. That's unconstitutional. Now, get out of here."

Still, in reality, I have a feeling we'll end up with something like terratogen states above - the government altering itself to refer to and recognize *only* civil unions, a contractual status, and leave the term "marriage" open to whatever silly debates people wish to have about it's proper application. It's become too charged a term, and while i can't and don't want to tell anyone to cede it's definition to a group of fundamentalists, the government is probably better off if they remove themselves from what is essentially a religious argument and stick to the precise issues of equality, which is their purview. -k]

RE: Marriage is over

[ I added the bold... it's nice to see the ALA standing up to this shite. -k]

ALA welcomes Department of Justice decision to rescind destruction request

The official web site is Slashdotted. Many news outlets have cached the report. Get it here from NYT.

[ You can also buy paperback hardcopies approximately everywhere, if you're so inclined. Last night i was at both a Barnes & Noble and a Joe Muggs, and both had racks of them. Had I not already collected a $70 stack of books, i may have picked it up... i still may over the weekend. -k]

The 9/11 Commission Report

] The Philippines' hasty exit from Iraq to meet the demands
] of terrorists threatening to behead a Filipino contract
] worker held hostage received near universal condemnation
] in the world press this week.

I'm reminded of the quote by Winston Churchill:

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."

[ I dunno... in this case, we're talking about removing 50 soldiers, about 1 month earlier than planned. I understand that it's dangerous to encourage hostage takers in this way, but if it's a victory for terrorism, it seems kind of a hollow one to me. The scope and scale seems so small in this case as to justify it, assuming it does save the lives of Filipinos overseas.

I'm not trying to belittle their support, but really, it's 50 guys. I don't think it's turning the tide of the insurgency.

Anyway, i see the arguments on both sides of the issue, but I can't really come down too hard on the Philipines for this. -k]

Feeding the Crocodile: Why Manila Caved to Terrorist Demands

] lawmakers opted for an ill-conceived program that has
] become a disappointment for seniors, a boondoggle for
] drug companies and a rapidly rising burden for taxpayers.

Now normally USA Today gives one viewpoint and their second OpEd piece is a counterpoint from someone who disagrees with them. Either they couldn't find anyone to argue or maybe that "Drug Discount" is just as screwed up as they think it is.

Answer? It's even more screwed up than they think it is. And who is the idiot who thought this would be just great? Complaints can be sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Attn: Village Idiot.

[ McPaper! HA! That's good. I don't usually pay much heed to them, but i've seen a lot of the same opinion from all over the place, so i'm less skeptical. not that the media, in toto, hasn't fucked up before, a lot, but this one seems pretty fubar. -k]

McPaper Attacks!

] Judge: Two papers are better. Two papers cover the rock TWICE.
] That fucking rock ain't going NOWHERE
]
] Saddam: I've got your two papers RIGHT HERE. NOW PLAY SERIOUS, ASS.

[ As entirely unfunny as this fucking murderer is, i can't help laughing at this site. Well done.

Ask Aziz, he knows! Classic. -k]

Rock, Paper, Saddam!

] What has Homeland Security officials worried is that
] terrorists could attempt to disrupt the election in the
] same way that train bombings in Madrid created unrest
] three days before the Spanish general election,
] Roehrkasse said.
]
] Although there is no evidence that the bombings
] influenced the March 11 vote, socialist Jose Luis
] Rodriguez Zapatero unseated Prime Minister Jose Maria
] Aznar, whose center-right government supported the
] U.S.-led war in Iraq.

[ I think it sets a dangerous precedent to make it too easy to shift election day, however, it's also undeniable that certain acts could influence the outcome of the vote.
I guess, at present, i'm leaning towards the opinion that voting is a duty, an act of patriotism even, and that if you have to do it during a time of danger or instability, then you should suck it up and do it. I'm interested in other opinions, certainly... for now, I'm not ready to accept that someone who isn't congress should be able to play this game. -k]

Officials discuss how to delay Election Day