Spring

Aussies Endure Strongest Storm Since '74

If you haven't heard, a Category 5 cyclone hit northeastern Austalia. So far, no deaths are reported, but the area is devastated. Please consider making a donation to:

The Salvation Army

International Committee of the Red Cross

Also, see ReliefWeb: "... is the global hub for time-critical humanitarian information on Complex Emergencies and Natural Disasters..."

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Yesterday, on Meet the Press, Rep. Murtha says Rumsfeld, Cheney should resign.

The Congressman has started too low down on the food chain. The rot starts at the top. If the President of the United States had any honor, any decency, he'd resign. Right after he fired the Vice President, the Secretaries of State and Defense.

My fellow Americans, I am resigning the Office of the President of the United States of America, effective at Noon today. I have fired Mr. Cheney, Doctor Rice and Mr. Rumsfeld and have contacted the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Hastert, and notified him that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will be swearing him into office as our next President of the United States according to the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.

He doesn't have to say why he's resigning - it's not like we don't know - just make the annoucement and go. Then the United States can being the process of reclaiming our Nation and salvaging democracy in this country.

See also: Libby's new filing: Hadley and Armitage named, press ignores Hadley

and

What Does "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" Mean?, from 1998. It's long, but worth reading. I also suggest reading The Logic of the "Peace Process".


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I've been waiting for this to happen. No one ever, ever, learns from history, do they? Mr. Blair's been handing out seats in the Lords like mad for eight years now. It was bound to catch up with him.

'Toxic' cash for peerages row threatens to engulf Blair

The blocking of a fourth Labour donor prompted one member of Labour's ruling body to condemn as "toxic" the growing sleaze threatening to engulf the Prime Minister. Mr Blair admitted last week to keeping the party's treasurer and other senior figures and ministerial colleagues in the dark about almost £14m in loans raised before the general election.

It emerged last night that Mr Blair's head of government relations played a key role in arranging a certificate putting forward a nominee for a peerage which allegedly stated misleadingly they did not have a financial relationship with the party. Ruth Turner helped draw it up inside No 10, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

See also Blair unrepentant, but still tormented by legacy of war:

Three years ago, Mr Blair would have dismissed as a bad dream former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi statement yesterday that his country is in a state of "civil war". This completes the Blair Iraqi nightmare. Ministers have spent the past few weeks trying to tell us it was good news that the country did not descend into civil war after the bombing of the Askariya shrine in Samarra.

Mr Blair has paid a heavy political price for his strategic decision, probably taken a year before the war, to go "shoulder to shoulder" with George Bush come what may.

The Prime Minister judged that "being there" would buy Britain precious influence with the United States. Three years on, the balance sheet looks pretty one-sided. The British-inspired effort to get a new United Nations mandate for military action fizzled out. Foreign Office warnings about the lack of a plan for the aftermath of the invasion fell on deaf ears in Washington and the painful, gruesome consequences are all too apparent today.

To me there is a tone of pity by the author this article. Perhaps I'm wrong. I have no pity for Mr. Blair or Mr. Bush. Whenever Mr. Blair steps down I hope he's arrested and tried for crimes against humanity - right along side Mr. Bush.


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'This Place Is Broken', an interview with Gore Vidal (this is part two - a link to part on is in the first paragraph of the article):

Gore Vidal: I wish the word terrorist would be erased from our language. All meaning has been pumped out of it by our rulers and their media, who wish to demonize everyone or -thing they dislike starting with Us The People. Certainly under the name of fighting terrorism we are conducting wars with everyone on Earth, shifting feverishly from old loyal employees like Noriega and Saddam Hussein to new servants to be abandoned in due course. We are treacherous friends. Meanwhile, thanks to all this maneuvering, more and more of our freedoms are being erased.

I don't agree with all of Mr. Vidal's opinions, but he makes some excellent points. He's also quite funny from time to time. Both parts of the interview are worth reading, but if you only have time for one, make it the second.

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Harris tells Christian group she believes God wants her in public service:

Finding inspiration from God, The Last of the Mohicans and The Lord of Rings, Katherine Harris told hundreds of conservative Christians Saturday that she is "a work in progress."

Separation of church and state

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