Pressure was today mounting on Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan as he faced growing calls to resign if the paper's pictures of Iraqis being tortured by British troops prove to be faked.

Pressure grows on Mirror editor

Owen Gibson, chief reporter
Wednesday May 5, 2004

Pressure was today mounting on Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan as he faced growing calls to resign if the paper's pictures of Iraqis being tortured by British troops prove to be faked.

And he is expected to be called before a parliamentary committee to answer questions about the provenance of the photographs, which rival newspapers today claim to be part of an elaborate hoax.

The Express, which Morgan yesterday likened to a village idiot, today claims the soldiers came to the Mirror with the story but were told they needed to get corroborative evidence. It said they then came back with the photos of the Iraqi prisoner being urinated on and prodded with a gun.

Senior Mirror journalists are reported to be questioning the veracity of the pictures, despite a trenchant defence of their credibility in the newspaper over the past two days.

Rival tabloids and MPs today turned up the pressure on Morgan, who admitted over the weekend that his colourful eight-and-a-half-year tenure at the Mirror could be brought to a premature end if the photographs proved to be part of an elaborate scam.

Labour and Conservative backbenchers have criticised the Mirror for publishing the pictures, which appear to show British soldiers urinating on and beating an Iraqi prisoner, despite concerns over their authenticity.

Morgan was also criticised for paying a fee, believed to be £20,000, to the soldiers for their story.

Labour MP Mark Hendrick warned that if the pictures were proved to be fraudulent the paper would become known as the "dodgy daily", while another Labour backbencher, Janet Anderson, said if they were faked then Morgan should resign.

The chairman of the Commons defence committee, Bruce George, told Channel 4 News last night Morgan could be called to give evidence before the committee.

"I shall put before the members of the committee the option of inviting the editor of the Mirror to come before us to explain how he got hold of those pictures," he said. "Was there any payment made? Is he convinced these pictures are genuine? What efforts did he make to ensure these pictures were genuine?" he said much more...

Name:	Larry Miller
Re:

Message:
On Kofi Annan, violence, occupying powers, and making matters worse.

"Violent military action by an occupying power against inhabitants of an occupied country will only make matters worse."

NOW THAT MAY NOT BE the undisputed, going-away, hands-down, dumbest thing ever said, but you have to admit it's close.

In fact, there's so much lush stupidity in it, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. So let's examine them that way. As a bonus, it actually shows us everything you always wanted to know about the United Nations but were afraid to ask.

"Violent military action . . ." As opposed to what? Non-violent military action? What kind of military action would the distinguished secretary general prefer? Saddam et Fils still in charge? Since they're not (at no small loss of American and Coalition life), what would he like our forces to do? Leave the country immediately? To whom? The hundreds and thousands of Syrians and Yemenis and Saudis and Iranians who have spent the last year pouring over the borders and getting ready to joyously kill everyone they see?

Or should the Army and Marines stay to direct traffic, hand out blankets, learn how to say "Have a nice day" in Arabic, and let themselves get picked off two, five, and ten at a time for forever? (Like a poker game in Vegas, where the dealer keeps taking part of each pot, until the players realize no one has any money left, and the house has it all.)

The thing that's driven me nuts over the last year is the thought that our leaders weren't pressing the way they should, winning the way they should, making each precious loss count the way it should. Because being for or against this war may be an opinion, but here's a fact: Either do this, or don't, but if you do it, don't do it halfway. As Napoleon said, "If you're going to take Vienna, take Vienna."

Ah, but you see, half measures are, in fact, exactly what Mr. Annan and the United Nations want, because that's the way they work. Remember, this is the organization that literally and figuratively pulled its trucks over to the side of the road in Rwanda and let the jeeps full of machete-wielding murderers roll from town to town until they had hacked up all the screaming people they could find. Apparently, the U.N. follows some goofy Star Trek Prime Directive of "Never get involved."

Hey, bonehead, the only reason there ought to be a United Nations in the first place is so that you do get involved, so that every so often you put your baby blue helmets in between the bad guys and the screaming people before they get chopped up. That's the reason you have such a big, tall, pretty building in Manhattan, you know, not to go to cocktail parties on the Upper East Side and chat up the local, needy blondes.

SO WHAT'S HE SAYING? Is all military action involving violence wrong? How about the invasion of Normandy? That was pretty violent, but it made us the occupying power, which brings us to the next part of the opening quote . . .

What is an "occupying power"? Are there any good ones, or is Mr. Annan saying they're all the same? The answer is, to contemporary relativists, yes, all occupying powers are the same: Bad. German occupation of Poland was the same as Allied occupation of Germany. One is not better or worse, and the only reality is that someone has put their army someplace other than the barracks back home.

Now, in addition, your friendly, neighborhood relativist would almost certainly say, "Oh, stop it. American occupation was good, German occupation was bad. Everyone knows that." Here's what you get to say back: Why? Doesn't that call for an objective judgment of good and evil? Who gets to decide when the rulers of a country are so bad they deserve invasion and occupation? The United Nations? Because if that's the case it will never happen anywhere, ever.

Lumping "occupying powers" together without objective morality is fatuous on the order of "All killing is bad." All killing is not bad. If a rapist jumps out of an alley and kills a woman, that's bad. If a cop walks by and kills the rapist, that's good. And it's even better if the cop shoots first. Does anyone not understand this?

If it sounds like I'm talking to second graders here, forgive me, but that's how you have to talk to the United Nations, and they still won't get it. Which brings us to . . .

"Inhabitants of an occupied country . . ." Okay, who would that be today in Iraq? The potentially decent people who might someday raise their families to change the entire way of thinking in the Middle East? Because they're not the ones dismembering charred bodies and dancing with severed heads.

The barely-formed councils that are going to take far longer than June 30 to even start to stand on their new-born colts' legs? Because they're not the ones subverting every millimeter of progress by sniping from mosques.

The shop-owners and food-sellers and farmers who are holding their breaths for a chance at the miracle of a free society? Because they're not the ones making the martyrs' stand in Falluja.

No, the only "occupied inhabitants" who stand to lose something from "violent military action" are the ones who should have been the recipients of "violent military action" a year ago.

BUT MR. ANNAN feels that all this ". . . can only make matters worse." Really? Worse than what?

Worse than now? Because now, today, and tomorrow, every radical Islamist in the world hears the music of martyrdom, and is gathering for the festivities, and he knows that the big barn dance is in Iraq. He knows that this is a great moment in history, either way it goes, that this battle has been brewing for a long time, and that it will be the biggest one for another very long time.

And the cherry on top? It's not political or economic to him, it's far, far bigger, because he believes that this is exactly what God wants him to do. And he's as happy as he could be. These guys make Japanese Kamikaze pilots look wishy-washy.

No settlement will placate, no shift will change the behavior, not the slightest. It's always been like this, but now, in the twenty-first century, the boil has grown back, bigger than ever, and you either carve the whole thing out, which hurts, or you sit back and watch it grow again on your children, and grandchildren, and every generation thereafter until someone finally decides to carve it out for good.

HERE'S THE HARD THOUGHT that's been creeping up on me for a while. Mistakes are one thing, but if the folks pulling the levers don't win all the way--all the way--if the decision-makers falter and declare half-victory with a frozen smile, and tip-toe away, and act shocked, shocked, I tell you, when the whole place falls apart . . .

Then it will be impossible to gather the will, or the votes, or the moral fiber to do it again, the right way, for a very long, and by then thousands, and then millions of innocent "occupied inhabitants" will have been tortured and slain.

And the worst part, the greatest sin: Every life lost so far will have been wasted. Every Pat Tillman--and they're all Pat Tillmans, every one--will have been given for nothing.

Of course, the Kurds, and the Shiites, and the Sunnis, and everyone else left to stand on the miles-long execution lines will still be able to count on three things:

(1) The headline of every American newspaper will be about the big, two-hour Friends reunion.

(2) Kofi Annan will still say, "Violent military action will only make things worse. And by the way, I don't care if you hold your breath forever, we're not paying those parking tickets."

Name:	Tommy Toilet
Re:	Hazing is the American way!

Message:
New Iraq Shocker: Prisoners Forced to Wear Beanies, Swallow Goldfish

Baghdad - US CentCom braced for an international human rights backlash today, as it released another raft of photos detailing widespread inmate abuse and humiliation at the hands of US guards at the notorious Al Ghraib prison.

In the newly released photos, masked Iraqi prisoners are shown forming human pyramids, stuffing Volkswagens, eating live goldfish and pounding 'beer bongs,' all under the supervision of laughing US guards.

"The occupiers forced me go on a 'snipe hunt'," said a tearful Khalid al-Husseini, a former shredder operator under Saddam who was recently released from Al Ghraib after a three week incarceration. "Yet, I was not told for over three hours that there were no snipes to be found, as they were but a cruel invention of the occupiers!"

Another former prisoner, Hassan Atwah, said American prisoner abuses were widespread.

"Guards used interrogation methods including 'Bong 99', 'Quarters' and the fearsome 'Jello shots,'" said the ex-Fedayeen commander. "later we we blindfolded and forced to feel Tupperware bowls filled with eyeballs and worms."

Humilation was a common technique of guards, according to Abdul Abdullah. "Occupiers are make me to wear a beanie-hat and go on burqqa raid of woman prison," he said, visibly shaken.

Abdullah, who spend over eight years in a Saddam torture cell, said his treatment under American captors was "much worse."

"I am made to be like lowly woman, begging for woman clothing from lowly woman," he explained. "For Iraq man, to be made to be as a woman is beneath even the animal, the insect. I would rather be shot in the head than be treated like stupid Iraq woman."

Name:	Shoot this A*sshole
To:	Abdullah

In response to:
"I am made to be like lowly woman, begging for woman clothing from lowly woman," he explained. "For Iraq man, to be made to be as a woman is beneath even the animal, the insect. I would rather be shot in the head than be treated like stupid Iraq woman."

Message:
You should be shot for your hatred of women. They are your mothers, your sisters and your wives but you see them lower than insects? Shoot this bastard.

Name:	Worker
To:	Sully
Re:	Writing your resume day by day...

In response to:
W*rk was ticking me off last week. I am mainly a (well-paid) laborer. They don't want to even let me do simple sh*t like operating a pressure washer (which I have done before). I only got the j*b because of my boss's wife. I am viewed as a charity case. I find that insulting. I took the j*b to w*rk --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Message:
Equipment is very expensive and easily damaged or used in an inefficient, unsafe, and/or unproductive manner, that is, wasted. If you will show up and do whatever you are assigned to do to the best of your ability and without whining and back talk, you will find that you will eventually be entrusted with more responsibility. This may mean less physical work, or it may not. It nearly always means more interesting work and better pay.

If you make a good hand, the people overseeing the work will take note and act to utilize your potential. You can work your way up to being one of the guys in clean clothes and a new hard hat that comes around in a new pickup to check on the work if you care to. You know the guy, he is always talking on his cell phone, even when he is talking to you. He is in charge of everything and never seems to do anything.

You are literate and thoughtful, and that is of great advantage to you if you care to make use of it. Bosses want workers who they can depend on to make things happen smoothly and efficiently. That's what they are willing to pay for.

Bosses will never put a good worker with a good attitude on a broom or a shovel for long, because it doesn't pay. They will put the sullen guy with an ugly ATT-AH-TOOD on the broom or shovel, though. The sullen guy who takes the hint and makes a damned good hand with the broom will soon graduate to the pressure washer, power broom, or whatever. Handle that well, and you may get a shot at a backhoe or something such. The more that you learn, and the more responsibility and reliability that you CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATE, the more valuable you become.

Name:

Why John Kerry will never be president

Message:
The Editor is resorting to deleting news stories that are unfavorable to Kerry and/or the Democrats.

Name:

Observer

Message:
The Fourth Estate has become a Fifth Column, whose worldwide reach s traitors, not only to nations, but to Earthkind. Their constellation by which they navigate is The Golden Calf, its Polaris is Bill Clinton, who convinced the thralls of media that a false god is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, and that bullshit is better than no shit at all. After all, it works in Hollywood.

Name:	Geoff Metcalf
Re:	We Ain’t What We Were

Message:
The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff." --Ambrose Bierce

John Kerry is appreciated…at least by North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap…despite equivocation to the contrary.

Reuters reported that during the 29th celebration of the fall of Saigon, Giap articulated his thanks to “the leaders of the U.S. antiwar movement.” He did not specifically mention the dysfunctional flip flopping Massachusetts Senator by name, but he made it clear that without the help (aid and comfort) of the Fonda/Kerry crowd, the U.S. would have prevailed in Vietnam.

In a Wall Street Journal interview, NVA Colonel Bui Tin specifically credited leaders of the anti-war movement as being “essential to our strategy.”

Tin said those high profile Hanoi visits by antiwar types “gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses.”

Aubrey T. DeVera once observed, “Prejudice, which sees what it pleases, cannot see what is plain." THAT factoid was personified by Fonda, Kerry, et al.

· The North Vietnamese ‘thought’ they had lost after Tet (militarily, they HAD).

· However, perception defeated reality, when uncle Walter (Cronkite) spoke fiction and fantasy became reality.

Despite what you see on the TV news, and read in the liberal press about Fallujah and Najif, the reality is U.S. and coalition forces continue to win EVERY military confrontation. However, if or when the complicit mainstream media ratchet up the antiwar rants and Americans become squishy on the imperative of taking the fight to the bad guys, the media will become exploited co-conspirators with the forces who oppose freedom.

Mark Twain said, “Noise proves nothing. Often the hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.” John Kerry is such a hen…or capon.

The Fallujah dust up is targeted to the average American TV viewer. However, it can and will only work if it is ALLOWED to work.

The bad guys expect their tactics to work because they have worked against Americans before. In 1993 when Osama bin Laden told ABC America was “a paper tiger” he was right…we were. However, our recent resolve and commitment has created a new reality check for would be intimidators and they are having more trouble with the startling reality check than the p.o.-ed 19-year old Marine waiting for the brass to “let the dogs out.”

Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz, wrote there is a remarkable troika of war:

Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Tony Kern says this current war “will be won or lost by the American citizens, not diplomats, politicians or soldiers.” And he is spot on!

Moral commitment is more important than anything. Smarter and more experienced soldiers haven’t agreed on how much more important the moral is to the physical. Napoleon said it was three to one…Patton said five to one. I have seen apparently ‘average’ 135 pound soldiers survive Airborne, Ranger and Special Forces schools and ‘superior’ athletes quit for a the price of a shower and hot meal.

Soldiers like Bob Howard, Rocky Versace, Jon Cavaiani and thousands like them are honored to do your heavy lifting and bleed for you (as evidenced recently by Pat Tillman).

We fight for the hearts and minds of a people seeking freedom…but how committed are we to fight the attacks for the hearts and minds of Americans?

The bad guys are not going to go away because a gutless gaggle of pampered, dysfunctional, corrupt UN bureaucrats tell them to play nice.

Dr. Kern said what others are scared spitless to acknowledge. “We will be fighting a war of annihilation.” We cannot appease them. We cannot negotiate with them. We cannot compromise (and they don’t want to).

The anti-American jihadists want only to kill us or die trying. We must do everything possible to expedite the latter.

Americans like fast food, microwaves, headline news and Cliff notes. The conventional wisdom is Americans lack the staying power for a long drawn out and costly fight. That is what led bin Laden to conclude, “America is a paper tiger.”

The multiple aggressors intend (and are prepared) to fight a war of attrition. They conclude (with lots of supporting documentation) that eventually, inevitably, Americans will grow weary of the fight and that the American (and European) media will continue to pick at the scab until it festers and some future leader will cut and run home. THEN it will start all over again…..

Dr. Martin Luther King once observed (in a different context), We ain't what we ought to be. We ain't what we could be. We ain't what we gonna be, but thank God we ain't what we were."

As better information emerges about the recently foiled terrorist strike against the Jordanian intelligence headquarters in Amman, the event just might demonstrate that Secretary of State Colin Powell hit the bull's-eye when, speaking before the U.N. Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003, he made his most incriminating charge against Saddam Hussein.

Powell said then that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "an associate and collaborator of Usama bin Laden and his al-Qaida lieutenants," had taken sanctuary in Iraq after the U.S. invasion chased him out of Afghanistan.

Invited by an agent of Saddam, Zarqawi's organization migrated to the Kurdish controlled area of Iraq, Powell said. There, they set up "another poison and explosive training center camp." But in May 2002, Zarqawi went to Baghdad for medical treatment.

"During his stay, nearly two dozen extremists converged on Baghdad and established a base of operations there," said Powell. "These al-Qaida affiliates based in Baghdad now coordinate the movement of people, money and supplies into and throughout Iraq for his network, and they have now been operating freely in the capital for more than eight months.

"From his terrorist network in Iraq," Powell said, "Zarqawi can direct his network in the Middle East and beyond."

What's more, Powell said, Saddam's regime rebuffed U.S. overtures to surrender Zarqawi. "We asked a friendly security service to approach Baghdad about extraditing Zarqawi and providing information about him and his close associates," Powell said. "This service contacted Iraqi officials twice, and we passed details that should have made it easy to find Zarqawi. The network remains in Baghdad. Zarqawi still remains at large, to come and go."

Now, information in the videotaped confession of one of Zarqawi's alleged lieutenants captured in Jordan appears to back up Powell's startling assertion that Saddam -- a secular Arab dictator -- provided sanctuary to anti-American Islamist terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda.

In sting operations culminating April 20, Jordanian security agencies arrested six alleged terrorists and killed four others. On April 26, Jordanian TV broadcast a special report saying that these alleged terrorists had planned to bomb the Jordanian intelligence headquarters, the prime ministry and the U.S. embassy in Amman. The attack on the intelligence headquarters, the Jordanian narrator claimed, would have used "chemical explosives" and "could have killed 80,000 Jordanian citizens."

Four surviving alleged terrorists were shown in videotaped statements. Their self-professed leader was identified as Azmi al-Jayyusi.

"In Herat (Afghanistan), I began training for Abu Musab," Jayyusi says in a translation published by the BBC. "The training included high-level explosives and poison courses. I then pledged allegiance to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and agreed to work for him without any discussion. After the fall of Afghanistan, I met al-Zarqawi once again in Iraq.

"In Iraq, Abu Musab told me to go to Jordan along with Muwaffaq Udwan to prepare for a military operation in Jordan," said Jayyusi.

Once he was in Jordan, Zarqawi sent him money via couriers, said Jayyusi. "He also supplied me, through messengers, with forged passports, identity cards and car registrations and all that is necessary."

The Jordanian report includes no time line for these events. But Jayyusi's claim that he and Zarqawi went to Iraq after "the fall of Afghanistan" and that Zarqawi hatched his plot from there generally mirrors Colin Powell's statement to the United Nations that Zarqawi fled Afghanistan for Iraq and managed his operations from there.

There's one rub, of course: How do you judge the credibility of these alleged terrorists and their Jordanian-elicited confessions?

A statement from one of them, identified as Husayn Sharif, backs up Jordan's claim that the plot intended a "chemical" attack. "He (Jayyusi) mentioned that this would be the first suicide chemical attack by Al-Qa'idah and asked me to help him purchase the vehicles," said Sharif.

Ironically, this is the one part of the story Zarqawi himself now apparently denies. Al Arabiya last week broadcast an audiotape purporting to be Zarqawi's voice. He took credit for the plot to blow up the Jordanian intelligence headquarters. But, he said (in a translation published by Federal News Service), "The Jordanian Intelligence lied twice. First, when they claimed that we have been preparing to kill Muslims, and to kill innocent inhabitants. Secondly, when they claimed that they thwarted the plan for the sake of . . . preventing Muslim blood being shed."

These points would be important to this terrorist not because he disdains chemical weapons, but because he wants his Muslim audience to believe he is not trying "to kill Muslims." On the same tape, the purported voice of Zarqawi confesses he would very much like to use chemical weapons -- in the right place.

"What has been mentioned regarding unimaginable numbers, as if it was a chemical bomb that would have killed thousands of people -- this is a pure lie," he says. "God knows that if we possessed -- and we beseech God that He may allow it soon -- if we possessed such a bomb, we would not have hesitated for one moment to fervently strike cities in Israel, such as Eilat and Tel Aviv and others."

The U.S. government concurs with at least one point made by this voice: the intended attack in Jordan was conventional. A U.S. official told me what was recovered there was not a chemical weapon and did not include any poisons, but that it did include chemicals designed to increase its conventional explosive impact.

I asked State Department spokesman Adam Ereli if the department still stands behind everything Colin Powell said about Zarqawi in his Feb. 5, 2003, presentation to the Security Council. "Yes," said Ereli.

Time may be proving that on this all-important question, Powell hit his target dead-on.

Name:	CNN...Al-Jazeera Lite
Re:	Here's an example...

In response to:
The Fourth Estate has become a Fifth Column, whose worldwide reach s traitors, not only to nations, but to Earthkind. Their constellation by which they navigate is The Golden Calf, its Polaris is Bill Clinton, who convinced the thralls of media that a false god is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, and that bull is better than no at all. After all, it works in Hollywood.

Message:
The horrific treatment of some Iraqi prisoners by some U.S. soldiers in Iraq led all the evening newscasts again Tuesday night, fueled by fresh condemnatory comments from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, but CNN’s Bruce Morton used the terrible treatment to argue that “we like to think that we're the good guys. But we're not. Not always.” He then brought up Vietnam and an incident in which hundreds were murdered, as if that were equivalent: “We learned this lesson last in Vietnam, in a village called My Lai.”

Name:	.
To:	Sully

In response to:
You should be shot for your hatred of women. They are your mothers, your sisters and your wives but you see them lower than insects? Shoot this bastard.

Officially, it's known as the March for Women's Lives. NARAL promotes it as an event to celebrate "choice, justice, access and health." Organized by Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, and other pro-abortion radicals, the rally on the National Mall in Washington on April 25, 2004 will promise to keep abortion safe and legal. Voices will chant for reproductive freedom and women's rights. From them, you won't hear voices of regret, or learn about legal abortion choices that are harming and killing women.

The media coverage will be positive, presenting abortion as a sacred act that empowers women. Before CNN turns you into an April fool, consider all the facts the pro-aborts won't tell you:

Legal abortion kills women. The two latest victims are 18-year-old Holly Patterson, who died last year and 15-year-old Tamia Russell who died in January 2004. Holly Patterson was seven weeks pregnant and given RU-486 and Cytotec. Chemical abortions are contraindicated at her stage of pregnancy, but that didn't stop Planned Parenthood's Golden Gate clinic from supplying the drugs to Holly.

Tamia Russell, a Michigan teenager, was only 15 and six months pregnant when she died in January 2004. She was the victim of statutory rape. Her safe and legal abortion was performed at the WomanCare abortion mill in Southfield, Michigan. This facility had serious health code violations and was the subject of 23 lawsuits in the last 20 years. The abortionist, Alberto Hodari, had already killed another woman and inflicted serious injuries including hysterectomies on three women aged 19, 22 and 23.

Tamia's abortion was performed without parental consent, in violation of Michigan's Parental Consent Law. She later succumbed to massive hemorrhaging and sepsis.

Planned Parenthood has a history of protecting pedophiles that prey on underage girls like Tamia. Via a series of underground tapes, Life Dynamics, an organization founded by Mark Crutcher, exposed Planned Parenthood as protectors of predatory men who bring young girls into their mills to obtain abortions, sometimes more than once. Furthermore, the PP mill workers don't report these statutory rape crimes. The information is available on Life Dynamics website at: www.lifedynamics.com.

Sadly, deaths and serious injuries are not isolated incidents, and teenagers are not the only victims. In April 2004, a 30-year-old woman left sterile after an RU-486 abortion sued the Akron Women's Center in Ohio. The mill failed to diagnose a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

Nationwide, abortion mills are not subject to even the minimal safety standards set for other medical facilities. The Wichita Eagle and the AP both report that a Kansas bill that would regulate abortion businesses by the Department of Health and Environment was "tentatively approved" but will likely be vetoed by the governor. Like many pro-abortion groups, Governor Kathleen Sebelius supports unrestricted access to abortion and may compromise women's health to achieve that goal.

At the abortion rally you'll hear deceptions and false statistics. They say Americans are unanimously pro-choice. However, recent national polls indicate most Americans believe abortion is murder and that strong restrictions should be enacted. They call pro-lifers "anti-choice extremists". The fact is pro-aborts oppose parental consent laws that most Americans support. Their groups even arrange for minors to be transported from states with parental consent/notification laws and relocated temporarily to states that have no laws so they can obtain abortions clandestinely.

Rally speakers will accuse pro-lifers of endangering women's lives by not including a "health" exception in the partial birth abortion (PBA) law. Yet, in one of three PBA trials currently underway, a San Francisco abortionist contradicted claims by a Planned Parenthood medical director, testifying that partial birth abortions can lacerate the victim's cervix and kill her. Infamous Nebraska abortionist Leroy Carhart coldly admits dismembering and decapitating unborn babies during the PBA procedure. A pediatrician testified that the PBA procedure causes the unborn baby "severe and excruciating" pain.

Abortion groups claim illegal abortions killed 5,000 to 10,000 women per year. The truth is that by 1966, the year before the first state liberalized abortion, fatalities dropped to 120 per year due to the overall improvement in medical care and the introduction of antibiotics. You have to go back to the pre-antibiotic days, the 1940s, and even then the highest annual death toll was 1,679. Former abortionist and NARAL founder Dr. Bernard Nathanson admits the 10,000 number was intentionally inflated just to get abortion legalized!

Today, the abortion mortality statistics are deflated by the Center for Disease Control, whose surveillance unit is comprised of abortion advocates and practitioners. That's why many more women are dying of legal abortions than are being reported. The CDC does not codify abortion as the cause of death, but lists the complication as the cause, such as embolism, or heart attack. For the details of the scam, read the following two reports:

http://www.roevwade.org/myths2.html http://www.afterabortion.org/PAR/V8/n2/abortiondeaths.html

Name:	Ponch
To:	Smedley

In response to:
The only reason some people don't like Comunists, or Democrats, or Liberals, or etc...... is only because they are opponants of Capitalist's, that is all, period. It is "friend or enemy".

CHICAGO - In a story May 2, The Associated Press reported that financially pressed consumers were willing to spend less on food in order to pay for gasoline, according to a survey by the Food Marketing Institute. The institute's report said that high oil prices, both at the pump and for home heating, were depressing consumers' ability to spend more, but did not specify where that added spending would have occurred. The institute said it had no evidence that consumers were choosing to spend less for food in order to pay for gasoline.

Name:	Max Candor
To:	Fairy Bunnie Toni
Re:	Good humor has at least an element of truth, which is lacking here.

In response to:
This is very funny! Thanks for the laugh.

Message:
Who's laughing? This is the new DU, it seems. I have to wonder why. Did McAuliffe cut a check?

Name:	Da Nuze
Re:	The Volcker Excuse

Message:
The U.N. tries to obstruct Congress's Oil for Food probe.

Benon Sevan has been too busy using up accumulated vacation time before retirement to answer questions about the mushrooming Oil for Food scandal. Or so we're told. But someone using the name of the outgoing U.N. Iraq Program director has been awfully busy obstructing the work of investigators from Congress and the General Accounting Office.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, moderator Tim Russert confronted Secretary-General Kofi Annan with an April 14 letter on Mr. Sevan's stationery reminding a Dutch company called Saybolt of its confidentiality agreements with the U.N. and demanding "that Saybolt address any further requests for documentation or information concerning these matters to us." Saybolt, which was in charge of monitoring Iraqi oil sales under Oil for Food to make sure invoices matched actual shipments, had been the subject of what Congressional investigators tell us was a "broad information request."

Yesterday The Wall Street Journal obtained another letter that appears to be part of the same stonewalling effort. Dated April 2, 2004, it is addressed to the Swiss firm Cotecna. Cotecna, which employed Kofi Annan's son Kojo as a consultant until the month it won its U.N. contract, was in charge of inspecting the humanitarian goods shipped to Iraq under Oil for Food--a process that Saddam was apparently able to exploit to the tune of billions in kickbacks.

The Cotecna letter, which like the Saybolt letter is signed illegibly by another U.N. official "for Benon V. Sevan," is ostensibly to notify Cotecna of the forthcoming "independent" inquiry of the program. But the bulk is devoted to quoting "Article 13.1" of the U.N.'s contract with the company, which reads: "All . . . plans, reports, recommendations, estimates, documents and all other data compiled by or received by the Contractor under this Contract shall be property of the United Nations, shall be treated as confidential and shall be delivered only to United Nations authorized officials on completion of work under this Contract" (emphasis added, and see also Claudia Rosett's column).

What's going on here? U.N. Spokesman Fred Eckhard acknowledged that the Saybolt letter looked like "a conspiracy to prevent information sharing" when we spoke with him yesterday (prior to obtaining the Cotecna correspondence). But he assured us that Mr. Sevan is indeed on vacation, and that the letter was merely an "institutional response" prepared by the U.N. legal office and routed through the Iraq Program.

Far from representing a cover-up, he said it was intended to facilitate the orderly progress of the U.N.-backed probe led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Mr. Volcker wants "control of all documentation. . . . He doesn't want to let it out piecemeal," Mr. Eckhard said, before adding that "I don't speak for him."

We have every confidence Mr. Volcker will lead a thorough probe, and we're prepared to take Mr. Eckhard's word for it that Mr. Sevan is away and uninvolved. But we still can't see why this shouldn't be regarded as the "conspiracy to prevent information sharing" Mr. Eckhard took pains to deny. The U.N. Secretariat's strategy appears to be: Insist on adherence to its confidentiality agreements and deflect pressure for greater openness by telling people to wait for the Volcker probe.

It's hard to see how this legalistic approach serves the interests of the U.N., or why the U.S. Congress--which foots 22% of the U.N. budget--should put up with it. "The U.N. increasingly has a credibility problem on this issue," a Capitol Hill source told us yesterday. "If it seeks to overcome this problem, the best thing it can do is to waive the confidentiality agreements and allow this information to become public."

Name:	slide down talibanister
To:	forum
Re:	liberalism is illogical lunacy

In response to:
The changing of immigration from 85% European to 15% European in 1965 was Ted Kennedy's all out assault on his own whiteness and he sought to change the demographics of America to favor Democrats since the poor swarm into America and the Democrats seek to buy their votes with free school, free food, and free healthcare at California's expense.

Message:
Michael Reagan, April 28, 2004 War Against Whom? Making Sense By Michael Reagan Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, over 43 million babies have lost their lives to abortion. That's equivalent to the entire population in 17 states within the United States. Last Sunday, hordes of pro-abortion fanatics celebrated those deaths during the misnamed March for Women's Lives in Washington. According to eyewitness accounts they behaved like the barbarians they are. It was not for women’s lives they were marching, but simply to safeguard their rights to kill the unborn in massive numbers. "Organizers of this deceptively-named demonstration are not interested in protecting women," said Denise M. Burke, staff counsel with Americans United for Life (AUL). "Rather, in an election year, they are using misinformation and scare tactics in an attempt to advance their radical, political agenda at the expense of women’s health. "They callously equate simple access to abortion with ‘women’s health’ and are unconcerned about ensuring that the actual practice of abortion is safe for women," Burke said. "In several states, the abortion lobby opposes safety and health regulations on their clinics--leaving abortions to be performed with less state regulation than is in place for veterinarian clinics." Added her colleague Dorinda C. Bordlee, "If the abortion industry honestly cared about women’s health and well-being, they would support state legislation that informs women of the proven risks of abortion and that ensures that abortion clinics are following accepted medical standards. Instead, they vigorously oppose any legislation that they see as a threat including legislation designed to protect the health and safety of women." So much for women’s lives. After all, if it’s women’s lives that are at stake, why is it that they aren’t dying and the babies are? They call the pro-life movement a war against women, when the truth is it’s a pro-abortion war against the sanctity of human life. more at http://www.reagan.com

Name:

Snopes debunking

Message:
Claim: According to a study by the Lovenstein Institute, President Bush has the lowest IQ of all presidents of past 50 years.

President Bush Has Lowest IQ of all Presidents of past 50 Years If late night TV comedy is an indicator, then there has never been as widespread a perception that a president is not intellectually qualified for the position he holds as there is with President GW Bush.

In a report published Monday, the Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pennsylvania detailed its findings of a four month study of the intelligence quotient of President George W. Bush.

Since 1973, the Lovenstein Institute has published it's research to the education community on each new president, which includes the famous "IQ" report among others.

According to statements in the report, there have been twelve presidents over the past 50 years, from F. D. Roosevelt to G. W. Bush who were all rated based on scholarly achievements, writings that they alone produced without aid of staff, their ability to speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors which were then scored in the Swanson/Crain system of intelligence ranking.

The study determined the following IQs of each president as accurate to within five percentage points:

147 .. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 132 .. Harry Truman (D) 122 .. Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) 174 .. John F. Kennedy (D) 126 .. Lyndon B. Johnson (D) 155 .. Richard M. Nixon (R) 121 .. Gerald Ford (R) 175 .. James E. Carter (D) 105 .. Ronald Reagan (R) 098 .. George HW Bush (R) 182 .. William J. Clinton (D) 091 .. George W. Bush (R) or, in IQ order: 182 .. William J. Clinton (D) 175 .. James E. Carter (D) 174 .. John F. Kennedy (D) 155 .. Richard M. Nixon (R) 147 .. Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) 132 .. Harry Truman (D) 126 .. Lyndon B. Johnson (D) 122 .. Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) 121 .. Gerald Ford (R) 105 .. Ronald Reagan (R) 098 .. George HW Bush (R) 091 .. George W. Bush (R) The six Republican presidents of the past 50 years had an average IQ of 115.5, with President Nixon having the highest IQ, at 155. President G. W. Bush was rated the lowest of all the Republicans with an IQ of 91. The six Democrat presidents had IQs with an average of 156, with President Clinton having the highest IQ, at 182. President Lyndon B. Johnson was rated the lowest of all the Democrats with an IQ of 126. No president other than Carter (D) has released his actual IQ, 176.

Among comments made concerning the specific testing of President GW Bush, his low ratings were due to his apparent difficulty to command the English language in public statements, his limited use of vocabulary (6,500 words for Bush versus an average of 11,000 words for other presidents), his lack of scholarly achievements other than a basic MBA, and an absence of any body of work which could be studied on an intellectual basis. The complete report documents the methods and procedures used to arrive at these ratings, including depth of sentence structure and voice stress confidence analysis.

"All the Presidents prior to George W. Bush had a least one book under their belt, and most had written several white papers during their education or early careers. Not so with President Bush," Dr. Lovenstein said. "He has no published works or writings, so in many ways that made it more difficult to arrive at an assessment. We had to rely more heavily on transcripts of his unscripted public speaking."

The Lovenstein Institute of Scranton Pennsylvania think tank includes high caliber historians, psychiatrists, sociologists, scientists in human behavior, and psychologists. Among their ranks are Dr. Werner R. Lovenstein, world-renowned sociologist, and Professor Patricia F. Dilliams, a world-respected psychiatrist.

This study was commissioned on February 13, 2001 and released on July 9, 2001 to subscribing member universities and organizations within the education community.

Origins: No, this isn't a real news report, nor does it describe a real study. There isn't a "Lovenstein Institute" in Scranton, Pennsylvania (or anywhere else in the USA), nor do any of the people quoted in the story exist, because this is just another spoof that was taken too seriously.

The piece is simply a political jibe, made obvious by its ranking all the Democratic presidents of the last several decades as having high (even exceptionally high) IQs — note that Bill Clinton's IQ is listed as being exactly twice George W. Bush's — while ranking all the Republican presidents from the same time frame as average to moderate in intelligence, with the current president and his father assigned below-average figures placing them at the very bottom of the list. (President Nixon is the sole exception, presumably because his reputation is still so tarnished that not even a high IQ measurement can yet redeem him in the court of public opinion.)

[Some noticeable errors: Although the study includes Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died in office in 1945, the report is described as covering presidents in office "over the past 50 years." Also not true is the claim that "all the Presidents prior to George W. Bush had a least one book under their belt" — some of them authored no books until after becoming president, and George W. Bush did have a book to his credit before being elected president, 1999's A Charge to Keep. Plus, if there's a "Swanson/Crain" system for ranking intelligence, nobody else seems to have heard of it.]

In any case, IQ is a dodgy enough concept even when measured by tests designed for the purpose — trying to guess not just relative rankings but specific IQ scores based solely on writings and speeches is bound to be error-prone. Based on President George H. Bush's extemporaneous speech-making, for example, he couldn't "speak with clarity" to save his life, but he was clearly far more intelligent than the insultingly low IQ assigned to him above. And a recent article reports President Kennedy's IQ as 119, far below the genius-level 174 ascribed to him here.

Update: As obvious as this joke was, at least two publications were taken in by it: The [London] Guardian and the New Zealand Southland Times. Both ran the "Presidential I.Q." tale as a factual item (on 19 July and 7 August 2001 respectively). The Associated Press publicized The Guardian's error on 12 August, moving The Guardian to post a retraction on 14 August, and U.S. News & World Report clearly reported the I.Q. item as a hoax on 20 August, 2001.

Gary Trudeau's 26 August 2001 Doonesbury comic strip features an invisible George W. Bush being told about his ranking on the presidential I.Q. ladder by an underling. (This strip appeared on the Doonesbury web site on 2 September 2001). Last updated: 5 September 2001

Name:	Dr. Albert Schweitzer's Schnauzer
To:	"Feeling" Your Way Into Tyranny's Grip
Re:	Lying, dissembling old scumbucket Uncle Pinko. Wally Crackpot

In response to:
However, perception defeated reality, when uncle Walter (Cronkite) spoke fiction and fantasy became reality.

Message:
O! But he spoke it so well! O Goroo! He spoke it so very well indeed!! GOROO! Oh, Walter! Your voice is so rich and mellifluous! Oh, Walter!! You look like someone's grandfather, or a wonderful old country doctor!! Oh, Walter!! Take me! Take me right NOW Walter, you rugged, yet kindly old lion, right here in black and white on this crummy, crummy sofa!!

Name:	Brenda Sanchez
To:	slide down talibanister

In response to:
if it’s women’s lives that are at stake, why is it that they aren’t dying and the babies are? They call the pro-life movement a war against women, when the truth is it’s a pro-abortion war against the sanctity of human life.

Message:
As a nurse I see white women wanting to end their pregnancues all the time. They ride the bus walk, or park their Mercedes' down the road so people won't know they have money. I've seen it for myself. The clinic is full of Hispanics getting shots for thier children andf prenatal care, but caucasians just want to ditch the ckid and "get on with my life."

How utterly selfish! They don't have a few months for their mental health and some will pay dearly for killing their baby instead of giving it to the church or orphanage.

And to think , there are thousands of white childless couples who would give anything to conceive a child of their own. That's why they pay upwards of $7000 for fertility treatments that could be done with a turkey baster and a few minutes of assisted careful headstands.

To answer the question we must first identify the perpetrators of the
crimes. It is generally assumed, plausibly, that their origin is the
Middle East region, and that the attacks probably trace back to the
Osama Bin Laden network, a widespread and complex organization,
doubtless inspired by Bin Laden but not necessarily acting under his
control. Let us assume that this is true. Then to answer your
question a sensible person would try to ascertain Bin Laden's views,
and the sentiments of the large reservoir of supporters he has
throughout the region. About all of this, we have a great deal of
information.

Bin Laden has been interviewed extensively over the years by highly
reliable Middle East specialists, notably the most eminent
correspondent in the region, Robert Fisk (London _Independent_), who
has intimate knowledge of the entire region and direct experience
over decades. A Saudi Arabian millionaire, Bin Laden became a
militant Islamic leader in the war to drive the Russians out of
Afghanistan. He was one of the many religious fundamentalist
extremists recruited, armed, and financed by the CIA and their allies
in Pakistani intelligence to cause maximal harm to the Russians --
quite possibly delaying their withdrawal, many analysts suspect --
though whether he personally happened to have direct contact with the
CIA is unclear, and not particularly important.

Not surprisingly, the CIA preferred the most fanatic and cruel
fighters they could mobilize. The end result was to "destroy a
moderate regime and create a fanatical one, from groups recklessly
financed by the Americans" (_London Times_ correspondent Simon
Jenkins, also a specialist on the region). These "Afghanis" as they
are called (many, like Bin Laden, not from Afghanistan) carried out
terror operations across the border in Russia, but they terminated
these after Russia withdrew. Their war was not against Russia, which
they despise, but against the Russian occupation and Russia's crimes
against Muslims.

The "Afghanis" did not terminate their activities, however. They
joined Bosnian Muslim forces in the Balkan Wars; the US did not
object, just as it tolerated Iranian support for them, for complex
reasons that we need not pursue here, apart from noting that concern
for the grim fate of the Bosnians was not prominent among them. The
"Afghanis" are also fighting the Russians in Chechnya, and, quite
possibly, are involved in carrying out terrorist attacks in Moscow
and elsewhere in Russian territory. Bin Laden and his "Afghanis"
turned against the US in 1990 when they established permanent bases
in Saudi Arabia -- from his point of view, a counterpart to the
Russian occupation of Afghanistan, but far more significant because
of Saudi Arabia's special status as the guardian of the holiest
shrines.

Bin Laden is also bitterly opposed to the corrupt and repressive
regimes of the region, which he regards as "un-Islamic," including
the Saudi Arabian regime, the most extreme Islamic fundamentalist
regime in the world, apart from the Taliban, and a close US ally
since its origins. Bin Laden despises the US for its support of these
regimes. Like others in the region, he is also outraged by
long-standing US support for Israel's brutal military occupation, now
in its 35th year: Washington's decisive diplomatic, military, and
economic intervention in support of the killings, the harsh and
destructive siege over many years, the daily humiliation to which
Palestinians are subjected, the expanding settlements designed to
break the occupied territories into Bantustan-like cantons and take
control of the resources, the gross violation of the Geneva
Conventions, and other actions that are recognized as crimes
throughout most of the world, apart from the US, which has prime
responsibility for them.

And like others, he contrasts Washington's dedicated support for
these crimes with the decade-long US-British assault against the
civilian population of Iraq, which has devastated the society and
caused hundreds of thousands of deaths while strengthening Saddam
Hussein -- who was a favored friend and ally of the US and Britain
right through his worst atrocities, including the gassing of the
Kurds, as people of the region also remember well, even if Westerners
prefer to forget the facts.

These sentiments are very widely shared. The _Wall Street Journal_
(Sept. 14) published a survey of opinions of wealthy and privileged
Muslims in the Gulf region (bankers, professionals, businessmen with
close links to the U.S.). They expressed much the same views:
resentment of the U.S. policies of supporting Israeli crimes and
blocking the international consensus on a diplomatic settlement for
many years while devastating Iraqi civilian society, supporting harsh
and repressive anti-democratic regimes throughout the region, and
imposing barriers against economic development by "propping up
oppressive regimes." Among the great majority of people suffering
deep poverty and oppression, similar sentiments are far more bitter,
and are the source of the fury and despair that has led to suicide
bombings, as commonly understood by those who are interested in the
facts.

The U.S., and much of the West, prefers a more comforting story. To
quote the lead analysis in the _New York Times_ (Sept. 16), the
perpetrators acted out of "hatred for the values cherished in the
West as freedom, tolerance, prosperity, religious pluralism and
universal suffrage." U.S. actions are irrelevant, and therefore need
not even be mentioned (Serge Schmemann). This is a convenient
picture, and the general stance is not unfamiliar in intellectual
history; in fact, it is close to the norm. It happens to be
completely at variance with everything we know, but has all the
merits of self-adulation and uncritical support for power.

It is also widely recognized that Bin Laden and others like him are
praying for "a great assault on Muslim states," which will cause
"fanatics to flock to his cause" (Jenkins, and many others.). That
too is familiar. The escalating cycle of violence is typically
welcomed by the harshest and most brutal elements on both sides, a
fact evident enough from the recent history of the Balkans, to cite
only one of many cases.

What consequences will they have on US inner policy and to the
American self reception?

US policy has already been officially announced. The world is being
offered a "stark choice": join us, or "face the certain prospect of
death and destruction." Congress has authorized the use of force
against any individuals or countries the President determines to be
involved in the attacks, a doctrine that every supporter regards as
-criminal. That is easily demonstrated. Simply ask how the same
people would have reacted if Nicaragua had adopted this doctrine
after the U.S. had rejected the orders of the World Court to
terminate its "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua and had
vetoed a Security Council resolution calling on all states to observe
international law. And that terrorist attack was far more severe and
destructive even than this atrocity.

As for how these matters are perceived here, that is far more
complex. One should bear in mind that the media and the intellectual
elites generally have their particular agendas. Furthermore, the
answer to this question is, in significant measure, a matter of
decision: as in many other cases, with sufficient dedication and
energy, efforts to stimulate fanaticism, blind hatred, and submission
to authority can be reversed. We all know that very well.

The initial response was to call for intensifying the policies that
led to the fury and resentment that provides the of
support for the terrorist attack, and to pursue more intensively the
agenda of the most hard line elements of the leadership: increased
militarization, domestic regimentation, attack on social programs.
That is all to be expected. Again, terror attacks, and the escalating
cycle of violence they often engender, tend to reinforce the
authority and prestige of the most harsh and repressive elements of a
society. But there is nothing inevitable about submission to this
course.

After the first shock, came fear of what the U.S. answer is going to
be. Are you afraid, too?

Every sane person should be afraid of the likely reaction -- the one
that has already been announced, the one that probably answers Bin
Laden's prayers. It is highly likely to escalate the cycle of
violence, in the familiar way, but in this case on a far greater
scale.

The U.S. has already demanded that Pakistan terminate the food and
other supplies that are keeping at least some of the starving and
suffering people of Afghanistan alive. If that demand is implemented,
unknown numbers of people who have not the remotest connection to
terrorism will die, possibly millions. Let me repeat: the U.S. has
demanded that Pakistan kill possibly millions of people who are
themselves victims of the Taliban. This has nothing to do even with
revenge. It is at a far lower moral level even than that. The
significance is heightened by the fact that this is mentioned in
passing, with no comment, and probably will hardly be noticed. We can
learn a great deal about the moral level of the reigning intellectual
culture of the West by observing the reaction to this demand. I think
we can be reasonably confident that if the American population had
the slightest idea of what is being done in their name, they would be
utterly appalled. It would be instructive to seek historical
precedents.

If Pakistan does not agree to this and other U.S. demands, it may
come under direct attack as well -- with unknown consequences. If
Pakistan does submit to U.S. demands, it is not impossible that the
government will be overthrown by forces much like the Taliban -- who
in this case will have nuclear weapons. That could have an effect
throughout the region, including the oil producing states. At this
point we are considering the possibility of a war that may destroy
much of human society.

Even without pursuing such possibilities, the likelihood is that an
attack on Afghans will have pretty much the effect that most analysts
expect: it will enlist great numbers of others to support of Bin
Laden, as he hopes. Even if he is killed, it will make little
difference. His voice will be heard on cassettes that are distributed
throughout the Islamic world, and he is likely to be revered as a
martyr, inspiring others. It is worth bearing in mind that one
suicide bombing -- a truck driven into a U.S. military base -- drove
the world's major military force out of Lebanon 20 years ago. The
opportunities for such attacks are endless. And suicide attacks are
very hard to prevent.

The horrendous terrorist attacks on Tuesday are something quite new
in world affairs, not in their scale and character, but in the
target. For the US, this is the first time since the War of 1812 that
its national territory has been under attack, even threat. It's
colonies have been attacked, but not the national territory itself.
During these years the US virtually exterminated the indigenous
population, conquered half of Mexico, intervened violently in the
surrounding region, conquered Hawaii and the Philippines (killing
hundreds of thousands of Filipinos), and in the past half century
particularly, extended its resort to force throughout much of the
world. The number of victims is colossal.

For the first time, the guns have been directed the other way. The
same is true, even more dramatically, of Europe. Europe has suffered
murderous destruction, but from internal wars, meanwhile conquering
much of the world with extreme brutality. It has not been under
attack by its victims outside, with rare exceptions (the IRA in
England, for example). It is therefore natural that NATO should rally
to the support of the US; hundreds of years of imperial violence have
an enormous impact on the intellectual and moral culture.

It is correct to say that this is a novel event in world history, not
because of the scale of the atrocity -- regrettably -- but because of
the target. How the West chooses to react is a matter of supreme
importance. If the rich and powerful choose to keep to their
traditions of hundreds of years and resort to extreme violence, they
will contribute to the escalation of a cycle of violence, in a
familiar dynamic, with long-term consequences that could be awesome.
Of course, that is by no means inevitable. An aroused public within
the more free and democratic societies can direct policies towards a
much more humane and honorable course.

Note from MN: Reading Chomsky's comment on the CIA-organized "Afghanis" in
Chechnya, it occurred to me to look back at the campaign of terror bombings
in Russia attributed to the Chechen rebels in 1999. One such report follows.
I remember at the time that the widespread attitude in the US seemed to be
something like "The Russians brought it on themselves, or maybe did it to
themselves," since the Russian military was playing a brutal role in
Chechnya (which was considered a part of Russia). Those bombings in the
run-up to the Russian elections ushered in the current Putin regime in a
hand-off of power from Yeltsin.--MN

Name:	Molly Caboose
To:	Tony

In response to:
Endless cut and paste drivel... like a one-word song sung by Yoko Ono!

Message:
Hey Tony! Do YOU have anything original to say, like, maybe an opinion of your own or something? The internet is full of cute little pictures, and every sonofa here knows how to access them at any time.

Name:	150,000 soldiers
To:	6 criminal morons
Re:	trading pictures

Message:
We deserve better

Name:	Aegis
To:	ET
Re:	Tony

Message:
Evidently, our friend Tony has seized your forum for the Workers!

Name:	A New Dark Age
Re:	Bogus GI rape photos used as Arab propaganda

Message:
Pictures purporting to be U.S. troops actually taken from porn sites

Graphic photos appearing on Arabic websites of U.S. servicemen raping and sexually abusing Iraqi women were actually taken from American and Hungarian pornography sites.

Albasrah.net and a Tunisian website produced in France by Committee for the Defense of Saddam Hussein [Comité de Défonce de Saddam Hussein En Tunisie], posted not only the recently broadcast photos of U.S. troops abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners but additional ones of alleged group rape of women by American soldiers, some who are depicted holding rifles against their victims' heads.

The Tunisian site described the photos as the "unedited" versions of actual events and Albasrah ran the photos under the heading "The Abu Ghraib Prison Photos," indicating they had received the photos via e-mail.

A WND investigation has revealed that most of the photos are taken from the American pornographic website "Iraq Babes," and the Hungarian site, "Sex in War," which is linked to by the American site. Both websites are linked to by violent pornography sites and both describe Iraqi women -- played by "actresses" -- in vulgar terms.

"Iraq Babes" was created in April 2003 and is registered to Linda MacNew of MacNew Enterprises, in Hop Bottom, Pa. MacNew Enterprises also is the registrant of VelocityHosting.com, whose technical and administrative contacts are Linda and Arthur MacNew. HotSpotCity.com, which hosts "cheap unrestricted adult XXX porn websites" is a subsidiary of MacNew Enterprises.

MacNew told WND she hosted the site and that while aware of the content, she did not know the photos were now being used as anti-coalition propaganda.

"That's one of our client sites," she said. "If they're legal photos, I can't just shut them down because of that. I need to investigate this. I appreciate you letting us know."

"Sex in War" was created in May of 2003 and registered to Activ Studio KFT in Budapest, Hungary, under the name of "Andrea M." Andrea Marchand of Activ Studio KFT is listed elsewhere as a custodian of age-identification documents for persons appearing in various sexually explicit images broadcast over the Internet. Her e-mail address is suffixed to Active Art Studio, owners of a Parisian website and service that offers video content.

At the time of publication of this report, Marchand could not be reached for comment.

WND also has not yet received a response from the Committee for the Defense of Saddam Hussein and Albasrah as to whether they will now remove the photos from the website and admit they are staged images.

The photos published last week depicting abuse at Abu Ghraib prison have enraged many in the Arab world, including the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

A military report by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba found a pattern of wide-ranging abuse in late 2003, including the sexual assault of a detainee with a chemical light stick or broomstick, according to the New Yorker.

Six U.S. military police now face criminal charges, and Pentagon sources said the probe of activities at Abu Ghraib prison will expand in light of the death of an Iraqi detainee at another prison.

In addition, at least 112 women in the military have reported being sexually assaulted by U.S. service members in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last two years. U.S. Central Command is investigating the allegations.

Experts speculate the actual number may be higher, as the National Victim Center says only 16 percent of rape cases are ever reported.

In 2003, the Denver Post published "Betrayal in the Ranks," an investigative report that revealed a reluctance in the military command culture to punish crimes against servicewomen and military wives, including rape to which the perpetrator had confessed, gang rape, murder and attempted murder.

Iraqi sources told WND that while they now understand the rape photos are fake, they fear incidents of sexual assault and rape by coalition troops may have occurred or could occur.

Name:	Strelnikoff, Political Officer
To:	Tony

In response to:
An opinion of your own?

Message:
You are hereby reminded that you do not possess an opinion, Tony. Take care that these Capitalist pigs do not corrupt you!!

Name:

It can't be true!

In response to:
Albasrah.net and a Tunisian website produced in France by Committee for the Defense of Saddam Hussein [Comité de Défonce de Saddam Hussein En Tunisie], posted not only the recently broadcast photos of U.S. troops abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners but additional ones of alleged group rape of women by American soldiers, some who are depicted holding rifles against their victims' heads.

Message:
You mean to tell me that some people post stuff that portrays themselves as victims as a ploy to gain sympathy? Say it ain't so!

Of course that would never happen here on the HRC forum. That stuff is always posted by readers of Free Republic and Newsmax, right?

Name:

Outrage

Message:
Kids' murder is really evil (REALITY CHECK REGARDING THE PRISONER ABUSE "SCANDAL")
Herald Sun ^ | 05may04 | Andrew Bolt

Let's have a reality check on the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by United States troops.

This crime was exposed by a US soldier, was investigated by the US army, is being punished under US law and is deplored by the US President and all the Western press. Yet for many ideologues, it's proof America is corrupt, with no moral right to be in Iraq.

Now look at the murder this week of an Israeli woman and her four girls. Palestinian gunmen stopped the car of pregnant Tali Hatuel and then shot dead, one by one, her daughters, even two-year-old Merav, still in her baby seat.

It is evil beyond nightmares, yet three Islamic groups, including Islamic Jihad, backed by the Iranian Government, and Hamas, endorsed by Australia's Mufti, bragged they'd done it.

In Iran, there's no inquiry. In Palestine, no call to sack terror-loving Yasser Arafat. The Middle East is sick, and the sooner the tyrants who keep it so are gone, the safer. Iraq, of course, is the start.

Name:	PWT
To:	individual

In response to:
Hey jackass...please explain how fiscal responsibility would have had an identical result and please include in your answer what budget cuts would have been made to offset the necessary $500B deficit (oh yeah, only $400B since the tax cuts had the effect of increasing tax revenues for the year).

Message:
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- An index of U.S. service industries unexpectedly rose to a record in April and more companies were hiring than at any time since November 2000, a private survey showed.

The Institute for Supply Management's index of financial services, construction, retail and other non-manufacturing enterprises that make up the largest share of the economy climbed to 68.4 in April from the previous high of 65.8 in March. Readings greater than 50 indicate expansion.

A gauge of supplier deliveries reached the second-highest level ever. Longer times needed to complete orders suggest companies will keep adding workers to meet rising demand. Stronger economic growth and signs of accelerating inflation prompted Federal Reserve policy makers yesterday to take a step toward the first increase in interest rates since May 2000.

``The economy is getting even better,'' said Robert Mellman, an economist at J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. in New York. ``Business spending and hiring are driving things. We look for an acceleration to 5 percent GDP this quarter.''

Gross domestic product rose 4.2 percent pace from January through March, according to the latest Commerce Department data. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predict growth will meet or exceed a 4 percent annual rate in every quarter this year.

Services account for about 85 percent of the economy. Economists expected the Tempe, Arizona, institute's index, which was initiated in July 1997, to fall to 65, based on the median of 61 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 60 to 69.

Name:	Smily N. Pool
To:	forum

In response to:
Ripped off, broken hearted ......AGAIN. They got my Clinton using binoculars, my Clinton stealing a kiss, ALL my best stuff has been re-headed with Bush II! Who's gonna send me royalties?!?! C/o Houston Chronicle, Houston,TX 77002.

Message:
'Tis blasphemy to steal Clinton's thunder with this one woman man, ex-drunk, and has no idea what nose candy is or going to raves. Hell, the man never heard of a Lassiter much less seen his "deal". This guy is kinder and gentler than the wimp next door. And there's no way he would have allowed the re-painting of US planes to kill Serbs from 15,000 feet because as a polot he'd know you can't be sure of your target at 3 miles high. He'd never authorize this shot-in-the-dark "strategy" of let the bombs fall and let God sort them out! Besides the Muslims were killing Serb police from ambushes to protect their dope shipments.

Name:	The BRAVE REPUBLICANS
To:	Who Bash Kerry, for throwing his ribbons/medals
Re:	but, who never wore a US uniform, themselves.

In response to:
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE has a Database of most of the Republican CHICKEN HAWKS: These men support the War in Iraq, favor Eternal War on Terrorism, & bash Kerry who was a genuine War Hero ---- even though, when their nation called them, they refused to serve -----

Men who love all wars, as long as they never have to serve in the military themselves.

I previously have listed 26 Chicken Hawks of the Republican Party, most of whom did not serve in the Viet Nam War. (avoided the Draft).

Today I will add a few more names to the list, of men who failed to serve their country.

LEWIS "SCOOTER" LIBBY, born 1950, failed to serve in Viet Nam, currently he works as the Chief of Staff, under Cheney.

KARL ROVE, born 1950, did not serve in Viet Nam, is now Sr. White House advisor.

DONALD RUMSFELD, born 1932, did not serve in Korea,- is now Defense Secy, who after the Korean war, was a Navy jet pilot. (Note: only after the war ended).

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, born 1943, did not serve in Viet Nam, in Defense Dept, considered to be one of the architects of the Iraq War.

SPENCER ABRAHAM, born 1952, did not serve in Viet Nam, Secy of Energy (Sen-Mich).

ELIOT ABRAMS, born 1948, did not serve in Viet Nam, in State Dept, Natl Security

JOHN BOLTON, born 1948, did not serve in Viet Nam, works on Arms Control, he opposes Nuke Test Ban, (Hawk).

ANDY CARD, born 1947, did not serve in Viet Nam, works as Bush's Chief of Staff.

ASA HUTCHINSON, born 1950, did not serve Viet Nam, - Drug Czar, Border Security.

RICHARD PERLE, born 1941, did not serve in Viet Nam, - was Chmn - Defense Policy Board, an architect of Iraq War.

JERRY FALWELL, born 1933, did not serve in Korea, - Baptist preacher, Moral Majority, Liberty College, sells tapes & books bashing Clinton.

"PAT" ROBERTSON, born 1930, did not serve in Korea, - on CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network.

ROGER AILES, born 1940, did not serve in Viet Nam, - head Fox News, campaign fundraiser.

BILL KRISTOL, born 1953, did not serve in Viet Nam, ---worked for VRWC (propaganda).

Wm. "BILL" LOEB, born 1905, did not serve in WWII, -- publisher of NH Newspaper.

JOE McQUAID, born 1949, did not serve in Viet Nam, --- had "bad shoulder' but he did play golf, anyway -- reporter NH newspaper.

CLARENCE THOMAS, born 1948, did not go to Viet Nam, - Supreme Court, put there by affirmative action.

ALL THESE MEN DID NOT SERVE IN ANY WAR, but are Republican Hawks, who do not mind sending your children off to War.

Name:	Individual
To:	PWT

Message:
The question is: With all of the liquidity supplied by the federal reserve (and room to move the FF rate to nearly zero), what good were the tax cuts?

Name:	Jane Fonda
To:	All
Re:	Service?

Message:
Service?? Oh! you mean like the war and all. Cool. Yeah, I was, like, THERE baby! Right there in Hanoi up on that AA battery with the cutest little Asian dude you ever saw!! Power to the People! The East is Red!! Howdy Doody is a Capitalist tool!! GNNRRRGH!!

Name:	magpie
To:	spin

In response to:
The question is: With all of the liquidity supplied by the federal reserve (and room to move the FF rate to nearly zero), what good were the tax cuts?

Message:
screw u. answer my question first. if that dunce Bush can generate growth because of deficit spending-how come we had the clinton/gore recession when there was a supposed surplus?

Name:	Will Work For Money
To:	Individual
Re:	Shove your "programs" and "benefits" up your ass!

In response to:
The question is: With all of the liquidity supplied by the federal reserve (and room to move the FF rate to nearly zero), what good were the tax cuts?

Message:
Tax cuts permit earners to KEEP POSSESSION OF MORE OF WHAT THEY EARN, from whatever source derived. (FOOL!)

Name:	Scroll Mouse
To:	Individual
Re:	Blink (as the light buld turns on)

In response to:
"...Tax cuts permit earners to KEEP POSSESSION OF MORE OF WHAT THEY EARN, from whatever source derived. (FOOL!) ..."

Name:	Kojak
To:	All
Re:	Keeping the working poor that way...

In response to:
Who's screwin' you, baby? IT AIN'T THE CORPORATIONS!!

Message:
If this was still a free country, Wal Mart would be selling "Sam's Smokes" cigarettes for about 32 cents a pack. "Sam's Brew" beer in 12 oz. cans would go for about a dollar twenty five a six-pack, hot.

Message:
It's a one sided fluff fiece aimed at braindead leftists and impressionable college kids who want to do the radical chic thing. Notice how he never mentions the attrocities of socialism and communism?

April 29, 2004

Chicken Hawk Versus Chicken With its Head Cut Off

Thank you, I'll take the former. That's a bit of a headline cheap shot, but the Democratic chicken hawk meme isn't going to hunt, for its going off in irrational directions like the proverbial chicken in the headline. Here's how you'd properly use the chicken hawk gambit

The problem with this meme is that when people actually look at what the "aspersions" are, the meme blows back in the Democrats faces.

Hope you didn't dislocate your shoulder, Mr. Wade, for you really had to overreach for that one.

Lies And Moore Lies [Updated]

Just days from the opening of the Cannes Film Festival heâ€™s basking in a wave of publicity that the Walt Disney Company is blocking subsidiary Miramax from distributing his new documentary â€œFahrenheit 9/11â€ on political grounds.

Publicity-hound Mooreâ€™s allegations about Disney ring false. The very same Disney Company -- through its Hyperion division-- just published Pacifica Radio host Amy Goodmanâ€™s new book â€œThe Exception to the Rulersâ€ â€“ a volume brimming with just as much lefty fringe politics and anti-Bush theorizing as contained in Mooreâ€™s films. Indeed, Goodman's book is a blunder-buss assualt on corporate media conglomerates-- like Disney!

The Mouse House seems sophsiticated enough to put up with and even finance the slapshots by Goodman and Moore if a profit is to be made. Duh!

Dissecting the current dust-up, it seems clear that Disney never intended to distribute Moore's film. Maybe the Mousketeers are cowards, but at least they are consistent. And Moore is whining now only to hype the pre-Cannes buzz. Sources report that Miramax never planned to release the Moore film, that it was always slated to come out through Lions Gate, as did the earlier Dogma.

Below find an exclusive full text copy of the article by Andrew Gumbel which will appear in Thursday's London-based daily The Independent which quotes inside sources saying there is nothing new in Disney's red light, that Moore knew it was a no-go from the outset. After you've read Andrew's piece take a look at this L.A. Weekly column I wrote in March describing Moore as the Ann Coulter of the left.

“Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh, The Lord shall hold them in derision” (Psa. 2:1-4).

On a recent outing, I decided to take traffic law seriously. The Lord imparted to me a lesson on the laws of love and respect versus obedience out of fear. The idea stuck, and I determined to apply it. As a result, I enjoyed peace, until…

My rearview mirror filled with a dump truck grill. Apparently my obedience to the 20-mph school zone sign cramped the driver’s style. I prayed no child would run into the roadway. I growled between my teeth, “Back off, you moron! My baby is in the backseat!”

Heart pounding, I changed to the left lane for my upcoming turn. As he passed, I threw him my best volatile housewife glare. Once safely at my destination, I sat in my car grousing about the lack of respect “these days” and offering up punishment pointers to the Lord. I eventually confessed the multiple attitude sins I committed.

Since my son and I were spared from a tragic accident, this story may seem insignificant. However, it represents our daily struggles with the fallen condition of man. My heart grieves over the stories of sin and willful unbelief. I try to avert my eyes from the checkout counter’s wickedness. Television, movies, and media nauseate me, especially if my husband is near. Regarding my family, I feel like a battle weary soldier in a spiritual foxhole. There are so many attacks on the family, we don’t dare peek our head out to advance. We stay dug in, and fight.

I read prophecy and my head spins at the propulsion through end-times events. The country I love is folding like a card house. Most of the world longs for food and safety. “Peaceful” international relief wreaks more havoc than help. Everything appears to be spinning out of control. I feel overwhelmed with a deep sense of urgency. Yet, the scope of the world’s needs versus my time, resources, and abilities results in frustration and hopelessness.

Fortunately the Lord knows I’m wound a little tight, and He is quick to comfort me. Through weekly Bible study at my church, He gave me Psalm 2:1-4 (above). Instantly, the anxiety left me. He is not laughing in a malicious, entertained way. He grieves at today’s events. The verse means that the Lord shakes His head at the pure silliness of the plots against Him and His children. He fully controls the result of every circumstance, regardless of its origin. Because of this, I can absorb the ugliness of these times directly and honestly. When He retains His rightful place as God of my life, I stay sane.

He also revealed to me that I, despite my lengthy list of shortcomings, am a significant part of His plan. Furthermore, today could be considered the most blessed time to be alive.

To participate in that blessedness, we must first confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our life. Next in importance is to maintain that new relationship by prayer, reading the Bible, and attending an excellent Bible teaching church. Through these we receive our personal orders. Right now, mine include ministering to my family, being a light at my part time job, and taking advantage of every opportunity in between to pray and share Christ.

From my limited study, I’ve ascertained that there remains no prophecy to be fulfilled before the Rapture occurs. The stage is set, so what is taking so long? 2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” He waits due to the horror of the tribulation and His desire to spare His children from it. He tarries for the last one to cry out for Him. Then He will come. I wonder, who will be that last soul? And which of us gets the thrill of closing our eyes with that person and opening them to the face of Jesus?
-- Mundi

This is not a whiney lament that we believers who hold to the Pre-Trib Rapture position are being mistreated. Quite the contrary. My purpose in writing this is to make the case that–for those of us who believe because of Holy Spirit given Truth in god’s Word that the Pre-Trib view is the correct one–the anger, even hatred being cast our way is a joyous tribulation. The abuse 1) gives us further proof we belong to Christ; and 2) provides proof of just how near we are to the moment of fulfillment of that blessed promise the Lord made.

Often those who hold to other views of the Rapture say proof that Christians will go through the Tribulation is found in the words of Jesus: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The word “tribulation,” as it is used in this verse is exactly the kind I have again felt this past week. And, it all involves the almost unbelievable hatred for the Pre-Trib Rapture view, and hatred for those who believe the Pre-Trib Rapture is the view god’s word teaches. Increasingly, I receive mocking, scathing remarks. Some are hate-filled, offering the fervent wish that I, indeed, would be taken off the planet. Other anti-Pre-Trib contacts are given with humorous invective, but invective none-the-less.

Again, don’t feel sorry for me, or for yourself, if you are a pre-Trib view adherent. This is good stuff! This is how Jesus said it will be for God’s children who hold to His Truth. This is a signal to us of exactly where we stand with our Lord. And, that’s the standing that matters!

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me” (John 15: 18-21).

Now, I’m not in anyway whatever implying, nor should you infer that people must hold the Pre-Trib view of the Rapture in order to truly come to Salvation. Although, I have been told that I am not saved because I DO hold to the Pre-Trib view of the Rapture. I’m just saying that I believe one who has read and studied the scriptures, and prayed for discernment, even if they don’t come to a Pre-Trib view, will not throw fiery darts at those who have –we believe— been given discernment from the Holy Spirit that the Pre-Trib view is the only one that makes sense in terms of the whole prophetic picture.

When we stand before the BEMA (Judgment Seat of Christ) we will know, as thoroughly examined children of God, whether we have “rightly divided the Word of Truth” (2Ti 2:15). I’m content to let the Lord sort out who is right, and who is not.
--Terry

Name:	Liberty Hill Ashlar
To:	v Cotton King

Message:
Building stone walls is a labor-intensive process of digging out a foundation, gathering stones and shaping and fitting the stones until they nestle together. Many early builders exchanged labor on a cooperative basis with their fellow villagers or mobilized family members to help build stone walls. Others, including Thomas Jefferson, used conscripted labor. The famed Monticello gardens include a 1,000-foot retaining wall, despite the fact that few farmers of the era could choose to develop hilly ground given the expensive logistics of working the slopes.

"It was only because of the large number of enslaved African-Americans that Jefferson owned that made it possible for him to do so," explains Derek Wheeler, research archaeologist at Monticello.

Name:

Dutch

Message:
Did I miss the news reports from several years back, where Hillary said this while various Clinton confidantes were turning up mysteriously dead, the McDougals were going to jail and hundreds of Democrats and supporters were being indicted, taking the Fifth, and even fleeing the country to avoid prosecution? I don't recall hearing her voice her sentiments in this regard, at that time. Maybe I missed it?

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that blame for the Iraqi prison abuse scandal goes beyond the military prison guards directly involved, maintaining instead that responsibility for any wrongdoing "goes all the way up the chain of command."

"The bottom line is that leadership has to be responsible and held accountable and that is not just in the prison in Baghdad," Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "That goes all the way up the chain of command," she insisted.

Complaining that "the information forthcoming so far [about the scandal] has been totally insufficient," Sen. Clinton said that she and other Democrats are "demanding public hearings with Secretary Rumsfeld as soon as possible."

Reminded by Blitzer that interrogation practices like "putting hoods over the heads of prisoners, prisoner sleep deprivation, food deprivation, humiliation . . . have been used for as long as prisoners in wars have been interrogated," Clinton said that the U.S. needed to be careful not to treat Iraqi terrorist suspects too harshly.

"I don't care whether it's military or civilian," she told CNN. "Anyone acting on behalf of our government is supposed to abide by certain rules and regulations. Clearly, there are interrogation methods that are deemed appropriate but what we have seen on our television screens in no way can be considered appropriate or necessary or frankly even effective."

Name:	bbbut they said the convention would make money
Re:	Democrat gathering is facing cash woes

Message:
Convention panel $4.6m short of goal

With 83 days left before the Democratic National Convention, local organizers remain $4.6 million short of fulfilling their fund-raising commitment and have brought in only about $650,000 in new cash donations in the past month.

Julie Burns, executive director of the convention host committee, said she isn't concerned about the pace of fund-raising. Organizers said they have also secured donated services worth about $1.25 million in recent weeks, bringing them about $1.9 million closer to their target than they were a month ago.

"We are absolutely certain and confident that we will reach our goal," Burns said yesterday at a press conference held to discuss convention planning.

Boston 2004, the convention host committee, must raise $39.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions under the terms of its contract with the Democratic National Convention Committee, and any gap would have to be made up by public entities, including the city of Boston. In addition, the federal government is providing $25 million to cover security costs, though convention planners concede that the true cost of security could be higher, and those costs could fall to the city or the state to cover.

Fund-raising efforts have been impaired by the fact that 30 of Boston's 32 public-employee unions are working without contracts, and several national labor leaders have refused to help out Mayor Thomas M. Menino financially while their local affiliates are engaged in tense negotiations with the city. Burns declined to comment on the status of contract talks or their impact on fund-raising.

The unions are putting more pressure on Menino in the run-up to the convention. Today, they're holding a rally at the FleetCenter, where the Democrats will convene July 26 to 29, to highlight the fact that the unions do not have deals with the city in place.

Thomas J. Nee, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, said he is sure that Menino will need tax dollars to pay for the convention, a prospect he said his union will vigorously oppose. The patrolmen's association is threatening to picket outside the convention if the union doesn't have a deal by then.

"I've had enough promises from this administration to last a lifetime," Nee said. "The precious revenues that we have should be for the city's business."

Menino has said repeatedly that tax dollars will not have to be used to help pay for the convention, and the budget proposal he filed last month reflected that promise.

"Mayor Menino is pleased by the progress that Boston 2004 continues to make," said Seth Gitell, a Menino spokesman. "They make progress every week, and he is confident they will reach all their goals."

Still, Governor Mitt Romney has rebuffed Menino's efforts to get the state to pitch in, saying the city should be responsible for paying for an event Menino helped lure. Councilor at Large Maura Hennigan, a frequent Menino critic, said she and the unions would keep a close eye on any city resources Menino tries to direct to the convention, since city taxpayers have been promised that their money won't be used for the event.

"If you say something, it has to mean something," Hennigan said. "We have contracts that haven't been resolved. It is just not fair to the residents of the city for tax dollars to pay for this."

In keeping with its policy, the host committee declined to say what new donations it has brought in. But a donor list on the Boston 2004 official website indicates that New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. has upped its previous commitment substantially, from $750,000 to at least $1 million.

The site also lists one additional benefactor with a pledge of between $100,000 and $250,000: Eric H. Greenberg, who became wealthy after founding several Internet consulting companies. Three new donations of less than $50,000 have been added as well: Mortgage Guarantee and Title Company, Trinity Financial, and David and Jocelyn Belluck, who were major local fund-raisers for Wesley K. Clark's campaign for president.

Convention organizers yesterday announced an in-kind contribution by the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau to provide an online reservation system for hotel bookings by delegates, the media, and others who are coming to Boston for the convention. Quincy-based Passkey International Inc. will be running the website, replacing the complicated, paperwork-heavy system in place at previous conventions.

"It is huge from our standpoint," said Peggy Wilhide, a convention spokeswoman. "It will allow everybody to book online, eliminating those hundreds of thousands of copies of paper that used to be mailed and faxed around."

Burns said planning is coming together for Celebrate Boston 2004, three weeks' worth of community celebrations that will begin around the Fourth of July. Thirty-five companies and organizations, including City Year, the USS Constitution Museum, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Museum of Afro-American History, have already expressed interest in putting on events open to the public as part of those activities, she said.

Local artists will have work on display at Gallery NAGA on Newbury Street, the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury will host a multicultural art exhibit, and the Children's Museum will have interactive exhibits run by Citizen Schools.

Meanwhile, in Albuquerque, N.M., Bill Richardson, chairman of the Democratic National Convention, expressed confidence Menino would resolve the contract disputes with city labor unions before the gala kicks off in late July.

"We're in the hands of Mayor Menino, who is going to resolve these issues. He's very pro-worker and I'm supporting him fully," the New Mexico

Name:	OOPS
Re:	AKA...LIE