24 August 2004 | Los Angeles Times [Editorial] It’s one thing for the presidential campaign to get nasty but quite another for it to engage in fabrication. The technique President Bush is using against John F. Kerry was perfected by his father against Michael Dukakis in 1988, though its roots go back at least to Sen. Joseph McCarthy. It is: Bring a charge, however bogus. Make the charge simple: Dukakis “vetoed the Pledge of Allegiance”; Bill Clinton “raised taxes 128 times”; “there are [pick a number] Communists in the State Department.” But make sure the supporting details are complicated and […]
Daily Archives: August 24, 2004
6 posts
19 August 2004 | DemocracyNow! In Iraq news, a national conference has to pick a 100-member interim legislature has ended in a storm of controversy. The legislature is comprised almost entirely of former members of the U.S.-appointed Interim Governing Council and pre-selected members from five major political parties. Many candidates who attempted to run were removed from voting lists because of technical reasons. And a slate of independent candidates removed themselves from the selection process in protest. Many other delegates left the conference. No actual vote was taken, the slate of 81 candidates was simply approved. The 19 former members […]
by Brendan Lalor If you want to “be all you can be” as a human being, it’s hard to imagine a more practical course of training than the study of philosophy. As Aristotle argued, philosophical activity — reflective, appreciative understanding of and speculation about the world — is conducive to the most fulfilling life. Hence, philosophy is a perfectly practical area of study for people who care to live good lives. But even we philosophers have to consider the other sort of “practical” use of philosophy more closely tied to employment and economic considerations. Not an MBA, a Philosophy degree […]
[ This story follows up an earlier one, from May. –BL ] 19 August 2004 | DemocracyNow! As Republicans prepare to descend on New York City for their party Convention in less than two weeks, a leading environmental group is raising new questions about the Bush administration’s handling of the cleanup of downtown Manhattan in the days after 9/11. A new report by the Sierra Club charges that the Bush administration was guilty of reckless disregard by failing to inform Ground Zero area workers, residents and rescuers of health risks from toxic air after the collapse of the World Trade Center. […]
22 August 2004 | The Independent by Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles The Bush administration insists that its top priority is keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists. But in a withering new book, one of America’s foremost nuclear weapons experts argues that the White House has been so heedless of the threat that nuclear armageddon in one or more US cities is now “more likely than not” over the next decade. Graham Allison, a former defence official under both Republican and Democratic administrations and now a leading researcher at Harvard, describes the Bush administration as […]
23 August 2004 | The Nation by JACOB HODES & EMMA RUBY-SACHS The universe of online computer games is home to 200,000 players at any time. It’s also where you can find the newest innovation in military recruiting. Check out America’s Army, a state-of-the art computer game featuring 3-D graphics, surround sound and the most advanced gaming technology available. It’s as entertaining as current favorites Counterstrike or Doom, but there’s a different agenda at work. Unlike commercial games designed to make big money, the aim of this taxpayer-funded project is to generate Army recruits.