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Today's Stories November 11, 2005 Alexander Cockburn First the Lying, Then the Pardons? November 10, 2005 Peterside, Ogon, Watts and Zalik Delta Blues Again: Ken Saro-Wiwa, 10 Years Gone Pat Williams Will Alito Cost the Republicans the Senate? Steve Higgs Bush Crony Targets Indiana's Forests: 400% Hike in Logging Jimmy Massey Is Ron Harris Telling the Truth? Lucson Pierre-Charles Haiti: Insanity Takes Over Anthony Newkirk Syria in the Crosshairs Lawrence R. Velvel Why Did Libby Lie? Website of the Day Imperial Margarine November 9, 2005 Gary Leupp The Niger Deception / Plame Affair: an Incomplete Chronology Tariq Ali Blair Defeated on Terror Laws Chris Floyd The Philosopher's Stone Elaine Cassel The Shocking Trial of an American Citizen: the Case of Ahmed Abu Ali Joshua Frank Sen. Max Baucus's NASCAR Pay Day Alison Weir Memo to Jon Stewart: Glad You're Against Torture, So Why'd You Give Israel a Pass? Diana Johnstone Rage in the Banlieue November 8, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Still No Jobs Roger Burbach Bush v. Chavez: the Imperial President Meets the Bolivarian Democrat Ron Jacobs An Interview with Behzad Yaghmaian on the Paris Uprising Ralph Nader "The Worst Marketed Disease on the Planet" Jim McGrath Voter Beware: a Cautionary Tale for Election Day David Bloom McCain, Israel and Torture: Setting the Record Straight Stan Goff Jimmy Massey, Ron Harris, and Ambush Journalism   November 7, 2005 Dick Reavis The Origins of Mr. Danger Jason Leopold Cheney and the Cover Up: the Vice President Lied Dave Lindorff What Country was Bush Talking About? Eli Stephens A Tale of Two Generals: the Lies of Colin Powell David Swanson The Bush-Cheney Ethics Refresher Course: a Syllabus M. Junaid Alam An Interview Stan Goff Matt Reichel Paris Uprising: a Rebellion in Real Time Naima Bouteldja Paris is Burning Jeff Halper Israel as an Extension of American Empire Website of the Day Dispatches from Paris   November 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Storm Over Brockes' Fakery: Guardian Fabricates Chomsky Quotes Lawrence R. Velvel Lying, Law Schools and Executive Power: What Senators Should Ask Alito Diana Johnstone Srebrenica: a Response to Certain Criticisms of My Essay Roosa / Nevins The Mass Killlings in Indonesia, 40 Years Later Niranjan Ramakrishnan Missing the Bus: When Conscience Bows to Calculation John Ross The Zapatistas' Otra Campaign for Mexico's Presidential Elections Mike Whitney Globalizing Sadism: the United States of Torture Mark Engler Will Big Business Turn On Bush?: the Economic Nightmare Unfolds Juliano Mer-Khamis They Shoot at Children, Too Ron Jacobs When Gen. Westmoreland Visited Jill S. Farrell Bird Flu and the Posse Comitatus Act Missy Comley Beattie Trent Lott's Untroubled Sleep Mitchel Cohen People of the Dome, Revisited Evelyn J. Pringle Bush-Cheney and Big Oil's Big Summer Reza Fiyouzat Signs of Life or Last Gasp? Structural Problems in the Democratic Party Charles Sullivan When Courage Fails: a White Southerner on Rosa Parks Zachary Richard Return to Louisiana Ben Tripp Beginning of the End? Don't Start Cheering Just Yet St. Clair / Vest Playlists: What We're Listening to This Week   November 4, 2005 Jeffrey St. Clair Blood on the Tundra, Betrayal in the Rotunda: Losing ANWR Dave Lindorff A Majority Now Favors Impeachment: If He Lied, He Must Be Tried Phillip Cryan Crackdown in Colombia Christopher Brauchli Katrina and Tax Breaks for the Very Rich William S. Lind Exit Strategy: You Can't Stay the Course in a Lost War Daryl G. Kimball Of Madmen and Nukes George Beres Laurels for Negroponte? Peter Montague Why We Can't Prevent Cancer   November 3, 2005 James Petras The Libby Affair and the Internal War Saul Landau Torn Families and Shot Down Planes: a Cuba Story Rep. Cynthia McKinney An Occurrence at Gretna Bridge Michael Dickinson Bang! Bang! You're Deaf! Sonic Weapons Over Palestine Joshua Frank Sham Behind Closed Doors Remi Kanazi Dancing with Perseverance Reza Fiyouzat Taxation or Racketeering? Website of the Day CIA Leak Investigation: Bigger Fish, Deeper Water?   November 2, 2005 Cockburn / St. Clair Holy Alito!: Not as Crazy as Scalia, But Just as Bad Robert Oscar Lopez Saving Rosa Parks from American Hypocrisy John Walsh The Philosophy of Mendacity: From Leo Strauss to Scooter Libby Brian J. Foley Why Most Americans Don't Care About Gitmo (and Why They Should) Ramzy Baroud Rolling Back Syria M. Junaid Alam What Moral Values? Todd Chretien Judgment Day for the Governator Bruce K. Gagnon The Democrats' Slap Happy Day Website of the Day Hands Off Dave!   November 1, 2005 Ron Jacobs An Interview with Kent State's Dave Airhart Gary Leupp The Plame Affair Leads to Rome John Ross Days of the Dead on the Border Bill Quigley Why Are They Making New Orleans a Ghost Town? Joseph Nevins From a Boundary of Death to One of Life Dave Lindorff Thinking About Impeachment Linda S. Heard Bashing Syria: Another Trojan Horse from the UN? Heather Gray Thank You, Mrs. Parks Michael Dickinson To Di For: Charlie and Camilla Cross the Pond Jeffrey St. Clair Kent State: Wise Up and Back Off   October 31, 2005 Elaine Cassel Libby's Lies Mark Weisbrot Pop Goes the Bubble: Bernancke and the Fed Mike Whitney Carry On, Patrick Fitzgerald Norman Solomon After the Libby Indictment, the Press Acquits Itself Farooq Sulehria Trading Weapons While Kashmir Burns Nicole Colson Scapegoating Immigrants Madis Senner Dhafir Sentenced to 22 Years: Another Erosion of Civil Rights Paul Craig Roberts Scooter and the Neocons October 29 / 30, 2005 Cockburn / St. Clair The Libby Indictment: Gotterdammerung for the Bushies? Peter Linebaugh The Wedges of Hephaestus Tim Wise Framing the Poor: Katrina, Conservative Myth-Making and the Media John Chuckman Bushspeak: Dark and Garbled Words Steven Higgs Green Hoosiers: Forging a New Democracy in the Heartland Brian Cloughley The Fifth Afghan War M. Shahid Alam Israel and the Consequences of Uniqueness Nikki Robinson Crack Down at Kent State Ralph Nader Let the PIRGs Begin!: Student Activism Thrives Joe DeRaymond Requiem for Bethlehem Steel? Joshua Frank Karl's Great Escape: Did Rove Rat on Scooter? Laura Santina Tongue-Tied on Iraq: Why Aren't the Dems Screaming Bloody Murder? Fred Gardner Death of an Organizer Michael Dickinson Insult Your Country Ron Jacobs Autumn in America Dr. Susan Block Fear and Sex: a Halloween Greeting Vanessa S. Jones Self-Portrait, 1994. Bronte Beach Jeffrey St. Clair Playlist: What I'm Listening to This Week Poets' Basement Marbet, Gardner, Ford, Albert, Engel, Krieger & St. Clair Website of the Weekend Red State Update   October 28, 2005 Jared Bernstein Inflation Up; Wages Down: Fastest Decline in Wages on Record Virginia Tilley Embracing the Anti-Aparthied Movement in Israel/Palestine Phil Gasper The Race to Execute Tookie Williams Jennifer Matsui It's Mardi Graft Time! Manual Garcia, Jr. Is the US Really Against Torture? Monica Benderman In the Name of Justice Jason Leopold Fitzgerald Focuses on the Forgeries Dave Lindorff Suddenly, Bush Endorses Right of Fair Trials Otober 27, 2005 Saul Landau The Scandal Isn't the Leak, But the Illegal War Stuart Hodkinson Bono and Geldoff: "We Saved Africa" Oh No, They Didn't! Ingmar Lee Stop the Troops!: No Glory or Honor in Iraq Lila Rajiva License to Bill: Gates Does India Ilan Pappe The Last Moment of Hope Niranjan Ramakrishnan Waiting for Fitzgerald Michael Donnelly Look Who's Talking Now: the GOP on Perjury Ron Jacobs Escape the Weight of Your Corporate Logo Cockburn / St. Clair White House in Meltdown   October 26, 2005 Kathy Kelly For Whom They Toll Gary Leupp Dialectics of the Plame Affair Mike Marqusee Empire of Denial Eric Ruder War Crimes in Afghanistan Patrick Cockburn Iraq: a Constitutionally Divided Nation Joshua Frank Fitzgerald v. the Bushies: Hold Your Elation in Check J.L. Chestnut, Jr. The Legacy of Rosa Parks Website of the Day Decent Work in America: the 2005 Work Environment Index     October 25, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Condi and Syrian Regime Change: Could Somebody Recommend a President? Ken Sengupta / Patrick Cockburn Attack on the Palestine Hotel Conn Hallinan Sleight of Hand: Iran, India and the US Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Pulling the Court Strings Jackie Corr Barbara Bush: Poster Gorgon of the Houston Astros Robert Day Talk to Strangers John Sugg Judith Miller and Me   October 24, 2005 Dave Lindorff Revoke Judy Miller's Pulitzer Michael Donnelly Shades of Iran/contra Patrick Cockburn A Nation Stands on Trial Mike Whitney Apres Rove Norman Solomon Iraq is Not Vietnam, But ... Bill and Kathleen Christison US Foreign Policy and Palestine   October 22 / 23, 2005 Alexander Cockburn When Divas Collide: Maureen Dowd v. Judy Miller Billy Sothern Letter from the Circle Bar, New Orleans Saul Landau Bush, an Assessment Ralph Nader An Open Letter to Bush on Harriet Miers Behrooz Ghamari Whose Justice Does Saddam's Trial Serve? Brian Cloughley Bush the Strategist: Pyrrhus Without a Victory? Diana Barahona Venezuela's National Workers' Union Fred Gardner Dershowitzed! Lee Sustar What the War on Terror is Really About Patrick Cockburn Murder of Saddam Trial Defense Lawyer Laura Carlsen Mexico City Seamstresses Recall 1985 Quake James Petras China Bashing and the Loss of US Competitiveness Joshua Frank Invading Iran: Who is to Stop Them? Manuel Garcia, Jr. Disasters are Us Michelle Bollinger When Abortion Was Illegal Missy Comley Beattie CSI: Iraq Kona Lowell Intelligent Design: Making High School Fun Ben Tripp Tanks for the Memories Jeffrey St. Clair Playlist: What I'm Listening To This Week Poets' Basement Albert and Engel Website of the Day Indictment Watch   October 21, 2005 Dave Lindorff The Democrats' Abortion Hypocrisy Winslow T. Wheeler Paying for Their Mistakes: Incompetence, Deception and the Defense Budget Col. Dan Smith The Destruction of the National Guard Norman Solomon Media at Crossroads: 25 Years After Reagan's Triumph Madis Senner Abusing Katrina Michael Donnelly Richard Pombo: DeLay in Cowboy Boots October 20, 2005 Dave Lindorff Impeachment Comes to NYC Ray McGovern 16 Fatal Words: Cheney's Chickens Come Home to Roost Jeremy Brecher / Brendan Smith Attack Syria? Invade Iran?: By What Constitutional Right? Patrick Cockburn Saddam Refuses to Recognize Court Kevin Zeese Was the Iraqi Constitution Vote Fixed? Ross Eisenbrey Millions Would Lose Pay and Protections Under Enzi Amendment Randy Shields James McMurtry Makes It in Dayton Justine Davidson Prosecuting Bush in Canada for Torture: a Small Victory After Lucas Cranach Judy and Holofernes Joe Allen The Scandalous History of the Red Cross   October 19, 2005 Christopher Reed Koizumi and the Rape of Nanking Stephen Soldz Bush and Avian Flu: the Excuses Begin to Fly Chet Richards War and Intelligence Patrick Cockburn Saddam on Trial Scott Richard Lyons Multicultural Columbus? Ralph Nader An Interview with Rev. William Sloane Coffin Website of the Day Shocking Video: Why Birds May Be Taking Viral Vengeance on Humans   October 18, 2005 Chet Flippo Merle Haggard: "Let's Get Out of Iraq" Ron Jacobs Dual Devotions: the Catholic Church and the US Flag Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor A Tale of Two Cities: From DC to Toledo Dave Lindorff Judy Miller: Little Miss Run Amok Virginia Rodino A Winter Patriot: Reflections on the Antiwar Movement Thomas Healy The Weather in Goshen: Still Radical After All These Years Ralph Nader A New New Orleans Stephen Lendman The Sorrows of Haiti Patrick Cockburn On the Eve of Saddam's Trial: a Divided Iraq   October 17, 2005 Peter Linebaugh Spinoza and the Black Limos Norman Solomon Judith Miller, the Fourth Estate and the Warfare State Cockburn / Sengupta "If the Sunnis Don't Like It, That's Their Problem" Mike Whitney Miller's Confession: Last Gasp Before Indictments? Uri Avnery Iraq Now: What Awaits Samira? Harold Pinter Torture & Misery in the Name of Freedom Website of the Day Al Joudi v. Bush   October 15 / 16, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Ayatollahs of the Apocalypse Patrick Cockburn "This Constitution Won't Get Me a Job" Saul Landau Two Terrorists and a Lush: Osama, Posada and Bush's Drinking Neve Gordon "Beyond Chutzpah": Exposing Grave Moral Distortions Moshe Adler Poverty in New York City Christopher Brauchli Lynndie England's Burden Diane Farsetta The Emperor Doesn't Disclose: the Fight Against Fake News Sam Husseini Notes on Current Reporting About Judith Miller Monica Benderman From Chaos to Conscience to Peace Mickey Z. POW Abuse by US: Nothing New Going On Here Douglas C. Smyth George W. Bush, the Honorius of Our Time Lee Sustar Will Delphi Bust the UAW? Fred Gardner Cannabinoids Arrive in Realm of Established Fact Elizabeth Schulte A Former Panther's Georgia Campaign: an Interview with Elaine Brown Joshua Frank Will the Democrats Save Harriet Miers? David Vest Down with Formalism! Up with Values! Ben Tripp Epistle II: the Reawakenign Poets Basement Engel, Albert, Ford and Louise Website of the Weekend The Hidden Canyon   October 14, 2005 Farrah Hassen A Somber Ramadan in Syria Ron Jacobs The Black Panthers: They Haven't Forgotten; Neither Should We Sasha Kramer USAID and Haiti: the Friendly Face of Imperialism? Katrina Yeaw The Student Struggle in Italy Nicole Colson Bird Flu: Militarizing Health Care Raúl Zibechi Survival and Existence in El Alto Nikolas Kozloff Hugo Chávez and the Politics of Race Website of the Day LA Filmmakers Cooperative October 13, 2005 Jeremy Scahill Mr. Bush Goes to Tikrit (Sort Of) Jeff Birkenstein A Thoreau for Our Time: Why Cindy Sheehan Matters Brendan Smith / Jeremy Brecher Harriet Miers: Bush or the Constitution? Stan Cox Did You Know This About Iraq? Anis Memon The Curious Case of Russ Feingold Gary Leupp Miller, Libby and the June Notes Dave Zirin A Tribute to August Wilson Matthew Koehler America's Endangered Forests Werther The Two-Headed Monster Website of the Day Hurricane Song October 12, 2005 Omar Waraich Britain and the Quake: Mean and Stingy William Cook Voices Behind the Entombment Wall Phil Gasper Countdown to a Legal Lynching Dave Lindorff Impeachment Now and Then: Clinton, Bush and the Polls Matt Vidal Capital, Power and Class John Gautreaux New Orleans will Never be the Same Diana Johnstone Srebrenica Revisited: Using War as an Excuse for War Mark Weisbrot The IMF Has Lost Its Influence Brian J. Foley Gitmo Tribunals Endanger Public Safety Website of the Day Columbus Day Lies   October 11, 2005 Roger Morris / Steve Schmidt Strategic Demands of the 21st Century Lila Rajiva Live from New Orleans: Abu Ghraib Bill Quigley New Orleans: Leaving the Poor Behind Again Paul Craig Roberts Natural Born Liars Dave Lindorff Recruiters in Schools: No Lie Left Untried Dr. Teresa Whitehurst Suspect Thy Neighbor Mitchel Cohen Showdown at Chuck E. Cheese Tariq Ali Pakistan will Never Forget This Horror Website of the Day L'Heure Americaine   October 10, 2005 Cindy and Craig Corrie Rachel's Words Live Joshua Frank Washington's War Dems Gideon Levy The Beautiful Life Without Arafat Alan Wallis The Fight for Free Speech at Union Square Mickey Z. In Defense of Liars CounterPunch News Service Vermont Independence Convention Paul Craig Roberts The Police State is Closer Than You Think Website of the Day Dylan's Chronicles   October 8 / 9, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Rhetoric and Reality in the Business of Getting Rid of Black People Ralph Nader Katrina and the Growls of Greed Jennifer Van Bergen New American Law: Legal Strategies in the Dharfir Case Saul Landau An Oily Religious Dream Jeff Halper Setting Up Abbas Lenni Brenner The Millions More Movement and Zionism Nikolas Kozloff Bird Flu and Bush Brian Cloughley Training Soldiers in Iraq Alice Slater A Nobel Prize for Chernobyl? John Gautreaux A View from Cajun Country Fred Gardner Does the Controlled Substances Act Mean What It Says? Niranjan Ramakrishnan The Leveethan Approach M.G. Piety Rot in the Ivory Tower: Collusion, Cover-Up and Kierkegaard Tom Gorman The Hitchens Doctrine Mike Whitney Bunker Days with George Aseem Shrivastava Beyond the Wasteland: Lessons from Afghanistan Ben Tripp Religion, an Epistle Poets' Basement Albert, Engel and Ford   October 7, 2005 Larry Johnson The Plame Case: the Real Issues Will Youmans Why Do We Hate Our Freedom? Recruiters and Thugs on Campus Dave Lindorff Bird Flu: Evolution or Intelligent Design? Judith Scherr Haiti's Children's Prison Russell D. Hoffman Nukes for Peace, Revisited?: Nobel Prize Debacle Jared Bernstein Katrina and Jobs Jennifer Van Bergen New American Law: the Case of Dr. Dhafir Website of the Day FBI Witchhunt October 6, 2005 P. Sainath "Take That, Tom Friedman": Indian Masses Reject NYT's Neoliberal Idol Again Scott Parkin When Antiwar Activists Get Mugged Paul Craig Roberts Blundering into Syria Andréa Schmidt Haiti's Biometric Elections: a High-Tech Experiment in Exclusion Dave Lindorff Easy Money in the Big Easy Joshua Frank In Defense of Lew Rockwell M. Junaid Alam Jackboots at George Mason Matthew Koehler Cock and Bull on the Bitterroot Robert Pollin Is the Dollar Still Falling?   October 5, 2005 Heather Gray Militarization is Not an Answer for Reconstruction: the Case of the Philippines Robert Jensen Is Bush a Racist? Ramzy Baroud Bush's Final Choice: America or the Empire Col. Dan Smith Keeping Promises to Iraq: "Everything is Bad" Dave Zirin Barry Bonds Laughs Last Paul Craig Roberts Liberal Guilt? How the Neocons Took Over Alan Maass Doing the Right Wing's Dirty Work   October 4, 2005 Nikolas Kozloff Shocking the Two Party System: a Political Opportunity for Sheehan and the Antiwar Mvt. Mike Roselle Houston, You've Got a Problem Joshua Frank The Scoop on Harriet Miers John Chuckman War Porn: What the Gruesome Images Say Alan Farago Storm Warning for Jeb: Developers, Hurricanes and the Keys Mickey Z. An Interview with Thaddeus Rutkowski Christine & Ethan Rose Home Depot Exploits Hurricane Victims Gary Leupp An Earlier Empire's War on Iraq: a Lesson from Roman History Website of the Day Rodney Crowell on Bob Dylan   October 3, 2005 Vijay Prashad Desperation at Holyoke Paul Craig Roberts Condi Rice: Gunslinger Joshua Frank An Interview with Cindy Sheehan Seth Sandronsky The Hiring Crisis for Black Teens Jeffrey St. Clair The Great Green Scare             Subscribe Online

November 11, 2005 Outer Paris By VANESSA S. JONES 4th October, 2005. In Hoche Testing grapes at E. Leclerc supermarket, We meet Mohammed and Osama. They come there, too, to test grapes. We're broke, or nearly. Sharing a flat in Hoche With some Egyptian Copts. It's the news now that reminds me of this. And an apartment we were offered to stay in In an immigrant housing commission area of outer Paris. A guy we met on our first afternoon in Becon, later met us and Offered us accommodation at his brother's apartment. He took us on the metro to the flat- on one of the highest levels. Barren concrete on the grounds below. A vacant view towards all aspects of the city. Maybe a basketball court below. His brother had gone back to Lebanon- On a business trip, Importing cars or something, And this young Lebanese guy stayed there with us. His cousin visited, on his way to a town to study textiles. He gave me an appreciation of Jane Campion's film "The Piano", Which I hadn't yet seen. Later, we shared a flat in Hoche. Met Mohammed and Osama tasting grapes And hung out at the local bar Playing pool or chess And drinking coffee or beer, Shouted by these Egyptian grape testers. ( It was Osama, one evening, who taught me to say "Goodnight" in Arabic- when he and Mohammed walked us to the main street in Hoche, from the bar. We all said Goodnight- "Bonsoir"- and I asked him for the Arabic- And he taught me the word "Tes-ba-hal-e-khair" On Hoche's main street, All those years ago). Trying to track down a guy Mahair Who owed my friend money For a house painting job. Paperless guys employing other struggling guys, Ripping them off and never paying them. Me going to make a phone call at Hoche metro station And some guys pulling my hair so hard I scream The fiercest scream I've ever screamed. My friend challenges them as to why they'd done that- They break his fingers, hit his head And I try to kick them Wearing my black R. M. Williams and they run off Throwing a red fire hydrant Over the metro turnstiles, Ripped off the wall as they leave. I dodge and miss it. The French locals just looking Doing nothing Until someone follows my instructions to call an ambulance And I go with my friend to a local Hospital Where he is x-rayed And the Lebanese doctor Only talks French with him Both of them understanding which world they are in And the power that operates within that world. I still have the x-rays- the finger fractures, part of the skull. The doctor's name, the hospital notepaper, Somewhere, Amongst my papers. I always want to visit the doctor one day- Look up his name- Thank him Buy him some flowers or chocolates Me, at the time Not understanding the Subtlety of his actions. What do the French expect? Put people in, yes, adequate public housing, After exploiting their nations Teaching them their tongue- Having people settle in France, Which is easier than their formerly colonized nations Yet expect them to get through the racism and barriers that exist. Samir, a handsome Tunisian I met at Becon, Once explained his difficulty in getting a job, as an architect. Holding up his hands, he exclaimed "It's the color of my skin". He was visiting a friend next door to where we were staying, staying overnight before he went to another town for a job interview. Bringing Tunisian sweets from home, just after getting off the plane. Also, walking us to the local ATM machine, & by surprise, giving us a couple of hundred franc & buying some lunch for us to take home before he went for his interview. This strange experience of Paris- Meeting so many paperless Arabs, living 3 or 5 to a studio apartment, Sleeping on the floor, Getting by on menial labor, Paying French lesbians to marry them for paper, Dodging the police When asked for their papers. And, now, we see Paris burning. But it has been burning for a long time- Just the flames of anger and humiliation and poverty Of experience and frustration were not so visible To the world, before. At least, now, the flames are visible. For it is only when the flames are visible, that we, as society, Have a chance to be honest, and think about Why is Paris burning? Vanessa Jones lives in Australia and can be contacted on post4@bigpond.com.au     Robert Rothery By TINA LOUISE In a year since you past Many things have changed New children born New clothes worn New mail in your name In a year since you past Much is still the same Old chairs still there Old pictures stare Old memories remain In a year since you past You've slowly pulled away Little bits Now ominous No longer here today In a year since you past You've been here every day What you'd have said Still speaks in my head You still have your say In a year since you past I have not cried too much Life goes on I still sing songs And laughter is a crutch In a year since you past I have missed your love Your crooked arm My hand holds on Time was not enough In ever present memory of my father, Robert Rothery 17th March 1935--9th November 2004. Tina Louise lives in Blackpool, England. Visit her website at: http://www.tinalouise.co.uk     We're The Neocons By FRANK B. FORD Thank you for your children's blood. God's gift, in addition (help- ing those who help themselves) proves a cafeteria of profit. Frank B. Ford lives in Florida.     Biology By STEW ALBERT In Kansas, High School teachers are required to question the soundness of evolution, maybe an intelligent designer from Planet Pluto created George Bush just to get even with Earth scientists for saying Pluto wasn't a planet cause it couldn't bark at Mickey Mouse, maybe the Wicked Witch Of The North created Cheney to kill Toto for barking at Republicans cause we're not in Oz anymore? Stew Albert runs the Yippie Reading Room. His memoir, Who the Hell is Stew Albert?, is just out from Red Hen Press. He can be reached at: stewa@aol.com     Who Says? By SYDNEY BERNARD SMITH O come all ye Fundamentalists, ye Peoples of The Book (meet a lady--don't forget to lift your hat ) visionaries outward bound without an inward look, forbidden to have notions where it's at, forbid to quiz yourselves for fear foundations might be shook: you have a spark of godly reason lurking in some nook, a divinely sanctioned question that will get you off the hook: 'Who Said God Wrote That?' Of your precious Sacred Scriptures, Torah, Bible or Qu'ran, a question which arises: tell me flat - were they written by some angels? Were they written by some man? They're the guys that should be on the mat - of course we'd need a numdah the width of Kazakhstan to manifest the leads in this divinely comic plan. (Matching corrigenda should leave them pale & wan 'Who Said God Wrote What?') O dimwit Fundamentalists, bigots of every hue (there are more than seven ways to skin a cat) with your Muslim, Christian Puritan or Zionistic view (who cares on what committee you have sat?) Some pages from your Holy Book allow you turn the screw - perdition for the most of us & rapture for the few? Face a tiny question, find the reason, think it thru: 'Who Says God Says That?' Who stumbled down the mountain with Tablets of a Law (eye for eye & tooth for tit-for-tat.) "Thou durst not bear false witness about what the butler saw!" (You can read it in some wretched Murdoch blat.) "Found this moral code, have no idea what it's for, the signature fell off--the mark of Hammurabi's paw? - promulgating justice--as an antidote to war?" (Ah. Well maybe God Wrote That.) And now the Chosen People with their temple on the hill sit around all day & chew the fat "Iron Wall? Let's build one to enforce our Iron Will!" they bluster like some arrant Tory prat. "We'll run the river our way & monopolise the mill - we'll cut down all their olive trees, they haven't got the skill. Our tribal sacred scripture gives us leave to maim & kill. Read Joshua." (Yahweh Wrote That.) Yon preacher-man Rat Probertson knows how to keep the score - (You can't see that? You're blinder nor a bat!) Halliburton, Bechtel shares, collections on the door - on different days he wears a different hat. So let a little doubt arise & cross your mind before his macho Arniegeddonism sends the world to war with the barbarous conviction that that's what men are for - he's trying to tell us 'God Said That.' Back to real fundamentals. Time to call the bluff. "Your reasons, Rev., & less of that oul'chat." The eyes will go all vacant & the tiny mind clam up - hasn't got the judgement of a gnat; with what wit God gave him twisted, he can't tell smooth from rough. When all he's got to work on it between the ears is fluff the question is unthinkable, the answer is too tough: 'Who Said God Said That?' A Simplicist Solution--at the risk of seeming coy: the answer's at the bottom of the vat - a programme for the peaceable, a recipe for joy - I speak straight faced & playing one straight bat: Let's have no more heretics! no infidel! no goy! no canine unbelievers! no kafiyah to destroy! no one to be mean to & no bugger to annoy! (Who'll Say God Says That?) Outline of a New Fundamentalism: The main advantage of the Celtic Good Book [historical source in compilation] is that nobody is ever asked to suppose it a Vehicle of Truth. The earliest Supreme Deity in the Tradition is the figure of the Dagda, the Good God, who "used to have this cauldron, wherein there bubbled, perpetually, a highly nutritious stew." As Archetypal Benefactor of the Human Species this puts him well ahead of such awesome crosspatches as Zeus, Jehovah, Moloch, Kali & Co. Rumour has it this Celtic Deity gave sway & tenure over the whole of Western Europe to the Celts; during their afternoon sessions of recent weeks, the sages of Lisdooncaherigoe, right in the midriff of the Western World, have gravely considered reclaiming the aforesaid Godgiven territory--regardless of any objections the Swiss & their allies might raise Conclusions? God gave us this Land? God gave us this Earth, for God's sake! And look what we're doing to it! Sydney Bernard Smith lives in Ireland. Visit his website: www.esatclear.ie/~littleredhen     Road Puppet Night Core By ADAM ENGEL Twenty years blind dreaming core where life is. Dreaming core where life is. Now but now but now (But now... but now... but now... ) What puppets crouch behind the wheel of this old rig, splintery buttocks propped on books? Whose twig fingers jumped our demo-critical ignition while we dreamed (where life is)? Never regret those Rip Van Winkle years back of the van her nectar rain rush -- still, but still: this mirthless joy ride toward that cliff ahead (ahead, see it? ahead?) seems punishment extreme for merry decades guzzling gasoline. (gaso-nico-techno-line: kill these killing habits just let go: crawl crawl core infinity of dream) Stop this hearse, or I will scream! Adam Engel can be reached at www.adamengel.com or bartleby.samsa@verizon.net.   What You're Missing in the Special Expanded Print Edition The War So Far: a Failure Worse Than Vietnam by Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad "The need for the White House to produce a fantasy picture of Iraq is because it dare not admit that it has engineered one of the greatest disasters in American history. It is worse than Vietnam because the enemy is punier and the original ambitions greater." Get the answers you're looking for in the subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! 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Coming in the Fall from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann Click Here to Advance Order Philosopher Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz WHAT'S INSIDE Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair