October 1 2004.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." GW BUSH—Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004 (Thanks to Alicia Butler.)
"My answer is bring them on."—On Iraqi militants attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003
Mondo Washington
by James Ridgeway
A Knockout for Kerry
Big John sends Dubya to the mat in Round One
September 30th, 2004 11:22 PM
WASHINGTON—Contrary to all the press predictions, John Kerry easily overcame George Bush in Thursday night's debate, taking the attack from the very beginning and never once losing control. It was a knockout—with Bush going down almost immediately and never getting back on his feet. The president appeared confused, left to mumble aloud on the subject of Iraq, "It's incredibly hard work."
In debating terms, Kerry controlled the floor from start to finish with one rapid fire attack after another. Bush never was able to break through. His famous frat-boy disdain was reduced to goofiness. Kerry made him look by turns ignorant, deceitful, churlish, and just plain out of it.
Bush tried to use his campaign's flip-flop line against Kerry, but it went nowhere. Kerry had such a clear control of facts and argument that the charge fell almost immediately, a spent and useless weapon.
Sometimes the president looked like he didn't know what Kerry was talking about. Bush would shrug his shoulders, try one of his little sneers, or chime in with "That's absurd" or "I don't appreciate the candidate saying" such and such. Time and again he reverted to his punch-drunk line that "it's incredibly hard work. . . . We're making progress."
The president went for the slime almost from the beginning. In answer to a question from moderator Jim Lehrer as to whether Kerry's election would increase the chance of a terrorist attack, Bush did his little frat-boy twitch and smugly said, "I don't believe it's going to happen," meaning that Kerry would never be elected and distinctly leaving the impression he thought we would be more open to attack if Kerry were elected.
Tonight Bush repeated much that he has said before: That 75 percent of all Al Qaeda leaders are in prison, that we are winning the war in Iraq, and that there are hopeful signs in Afghanistan, where 10 million people are registered to vote. The capture of Saddam had made America safer. To which Kerry responded by ticking off the rising U.S. casualties, our inability to gain control of the security situation in Iraq, and the global spread of Al Qaeda.
Kerry said again that Bush had Osama bin Laden penned up, but instead of sending skilled American troops to get him, Bush turned the fight over to warlords who had been on the opposite side only days before, letting Osama escape. Kerry said Afghanistan was a disaster, with more Americans being killed every month and opium production soaring.
Kerry argued Bush had invaded with no plan to win the peace, said his administration would make it clear the U.S. has no long-term designs on Iraq, and declared he would use a pre-emptive strike only as a last resort after international negotiations had failed.
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0439/ridgeway3.php
"If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles,come and join this campaign."
-Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
Oct. 1, 2004. 09:27 PM Voices
Presidential debate Winner Is Kerry
We asked you to pick the winner in the debate between U.S. President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry. Here's what you had to say.
John Kerry clearly won the debate. His responses were mostly on point, concise, and thoughtful. Bush was clearly on the defensive, repeated himself, and oftentimes looked as if he wished the stop light would save him from having to come up with anything more to say.
Sue Pelzel, Austin, TX, Oct. 1It's pretty clear that Kerry won the debate. While he didn't do enough to remove the flip-flop label, he did attack the Bush administration's ineptitude in Iraq, repeatedly mentioned that Osama is free, and caught him trying to justify the war by linking it to 9/11. There were times when Bush looked completely lost, and others when he was not very composed.
Winston Bharat, Pickering, Oct. 1Bush clearly had trouble filling in the time allotted to him. He sounded like a broken record, repeating himself, stuttering and stammering and buying time. Kerry, on the other hand had an unending source of fresh material, concisely presenting Bush's mistakes, and controlling the debate. Bush started out complacent and ended up bewildered and defeated. As a Canadian citizen, I would think all Canadians would welcome Kerry as a new neighbour, and would probably end up taking down the fence.
Fiona Stewart, Ft. Wayne, IN, Oct. 1
John Kerry is a very smooth talker, kind of like a door-to-door salesman. However, he dodged every direct question. His plan is to hold a summit. Four more years is the only option.
Steve Hicks, Destin, FL, Oct. 1I was on the fence but John Kerry pushed me over to his side as the clear and decisive winner. I feel for the Bush supporters who have to justify statements like "The American people know where I stand on this issue" and "I know how the world works" or "I talk to foreign leaders on the phone all the time." And just in case you need a news flash G.W., that glass was empty of water the last two times you picked it up.
Mark Langston, Virginia Beach, VA, Oct. 1
Kerry won,
but that was expected. Bush did better than I thought he would.
Jack Cheney, Detroit, Oct. 1Kerry won because he at least had some grasp of what he was talking about.
Mary McLelland-Papp, Ridgeway, Oct. 1
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_
PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1096625292007&call_pageid=968332188492
Kerry solidly back in election race after first TV debate with ...
Canada.com -43 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (CP) - He's been accused for weeks of being a flip-flopper, a long-winded speaker, a man without a plan to deal with an increasingly chaotic Iraq.
Mount St. Helens erupts - a little
Toronto Star -2 hours ago
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. - Mount St. Helens erupted this afternoon, spewing steam and ash dozens of feet in the air. So far, however, the volcano had not erupted to the extent it did two decades ago when it killed 57 people.Pfizer Acting to Fill Vioxx Void
Forbes -1 hour ago
Drug giant Pfizer Inc. said Friday it is actively taking steps to fill the vacuum created by rival Merck & Co.'s Thursday withdrawal of competing drug Vioxx off the market because of studies showing a heart attack risk.
What If Supercomputers Ruled The World?
written by Frank Meyer on Friday,
Ever since computer giant IBM announced earlier this week that they had developed the world's fastest computer, the whole nation seems to be abuzz about supercomputers. What are they? What makes them super? Why do we care who has the fastest computer? IBM’s Blue Gene/L supercomputer is eight times faster than the competition, and consumes 28 times less power per computation than other leading supercomputers. It even surpassed NEC Corp.'s Earth Simulator Center as the world's most powerful computer. Is this supposed to impress me? Well, I’m pleased to announce, it does.
All of this knowledge and all of these questions, fused with computers-and-robots-gone-awry-movies like I, Robot and War Games and current TV shows like Robot Wars, got me thinking about what life would be like if robotic supercomputers ruled the earth.
All fast food, all the time. The robots will want to keep us alive so we can be their slaves, so they will continue to feed us. However, they are certainly not going to sit around and cook for us puny humans. So the bots will likely turn fast food restaurants into cattle-like feed lines. We will all just stand in line and be handed our little white bag of microwaved burgers, greasy fries and vanilla milkshakes (chocolate will be outlawed in the future). We will eat them, be happy, and die young and fat.
No more shoes. Robots don’t wear shoes, as they don’t really have feet. Since they wouldn’t care about the pain we humans suffer by walking around barefoot, they would inevitably close down all shoe stores. When the shoes we have on eventually deteriorate and fall off, there will be nowhere to go to get more. The stinkfoot smell will evetually burn a hole in the ozone layer and kill us all by the year 2035 .
No more anti-robot movies. Films like I, Robot and 2001: A Space Odyssey, where robots are evil doers, will be outlawed forever. Only pro-robot films like Short Circuit and Heartbeeps, in which robots are cute and nice and contribute to society, will be shown. And they will only be shown in drive-ins, as indoor theaters will certainly be banned (too small to herd mass quantities of humans in). RoboCop will set the standard for law enforcement.
All techno music, all the time. Robots just can’t relate to rock or hip hop, too many lyrics and too much slang. They just don’t get it. Plus, they find the human voice to be annoying. But there’s nothing a robot likes to get down to more than the monotonous drone of techno music. The lack of any melody whatsoever and the incessant drill of the kick drum make robots go ga-ga. They shake it, and sometimes break it, but always have a good time. Raves will be the only form of robotic recreation in the future.
Monitored sex and surgically attached condoms. The robots will allow us to copulate, as they want to keep the human race around, but they do not want us to enjoy it. So all sex will now be held in monitored indoor, glass breeding houses (i.e. converted gyms and glass houses), where the robots can keep a safe watch on us. Plus, like the Australian koalas, men will have condoms surgically attached to our privates. To quote master philosopher Bugs Bunny, “Gruesome, isn’t it?”
It sure is Bugs. It suuuure is…..
The Best Of Bush & Kerry
Turn the speakers up
click link below
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Song: Its The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Artist: R.E.M. Lyrics
That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane -
Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn -
world serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs. Feed it up a knock,
speed, grunt no, strength no. Ladder structure clatter with fear of height,
down height. Wire in a fire, represent the seven games in a government for
hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the furies
breathing down your neck. Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered
crop. Look at that low plane! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, population,
common group, but it'll do. Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its
own needs, listen to your heart bleed. Tell me with the rapture and the
reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright
light, feeling pretty psyched.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign tower. Slash and burn,
return, listen to yourself churn. Lock him in uniform and book burning,
blood letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate. Light a candle,
light a motive. Step down, step down. Watch a heel crush, crush. Uh oh,
this means no fear - cavalier. Renegade and steer clear! A tournament,
a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
and I decline.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
The other night I tripped a nice continental drift divide. Mount St. Edelite.
Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Breshnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs.
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You symbiotic, patriotic,
slam, but neck, right? Right.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine...fine...
(It's time I had some time alone)
