April 2006
Sex tourism thriving in Bible Belt
by mikepower
Atlanta, the buckle of the U.S. Bible Belt, where the world's busiest passenger airport provides a cheaper, more convenient and safer underage sex destination for men seeking girls as young as 10.
March 2006
USA: Legalize the 'Illegals'
by mikepower
There is no immigration crisis — other than the one created by a small but vocal stripe of opportunist politicians, media demagogues and freelance xenophobes.
The White House That Cried Wolf
by mikepower
Faced with the unappetizing reality of Iraq, Bush and Rove are relying on that grand old reliable strategy—attack the media. It doesn’t play as well as it used to. Everyone who wants an alternative reality is already watching Fox News.
DenverPost.com Keep tax information private
by mikepower
Christmas came early this year for would-be identity thieves in the form of a proposal by the Internal Revenue Service to allow tax-return preparation firms to sell hitherto-secret tax information to marketing companies.
Keystone Komputers - New York Times
by mikepower
It may sound incredible to anyone who's ever used the Internet, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation has struggled unsuccessfully for 10 years to come up with a workable computer system.
FBI Keeps Watch on Activists - Los Angeles Times
by mikepower
The FBI, while waging a highly publicized war against terrorism, has spent resources gathering information on antiwar and environmental protesters and on activists who feed vegetarian meals to the homeless, the agency's internal memos show.
Bush decided to invade Iraq before diplomcy failed
by mikepower
US President George W. Bush made clear to British Prime Minister Tony Blair in January 2003 that he was determined to invade Iraq without a UN resolution and even if UN arms inspectors failed to find weapons of mass destruction in the country
Punishing Pain - New York Times
by mikepower
Wheelchair-bound multiple sclerosis patient Richard Paey is serving 25 years in a Florida prison for "trafficking" a half gramme of OxyContin, even though the prosecutor concedes that Paey never sold any of his medications. In prison, he now receives mor
Armed Cheney to Guard Ports
by mikepower
“If anyone tries any funny business at one of our nation’s ports, they’re going to have to answer to this!” he declared, brandishing his shotgun for the benefit of reporters.
Who loves ya baby?
by mikepower
Profound pessimism about the Iraq war has pushed George Bush's popularity to an all-time low of 34%
February 2006
A Coverup Under Two Presidents: The Unsolved Mystery of the Oklahoma City Bombing
by mikepower
Long before the Iraq war, long before 9/11, the U.S. government had already mastered the art of fluffing its intelligence on a looming threat, botching the response and then working furiously to cover its mistakes.
The New Yorker: The Memo by Jane Mayer
by mikepower
How an internal effort to ban the abuse and torture of detainees was thwarted.
Educators face blowback for protesting Iraq war
by mikepower
Just over three years ago, as the nation readied for war with Iraq, elementary school teacher Deb Mayer stood in front of her class and uttered the word that would get her blacklisted from her profession - 'Peace'
village voice > news > Mondo Washington by James Ridgeway
by mikepower
since 9-11, in one test after another, news organizations using undercover teams have easily broken through the FAA security apparatus, rendering the entire business unworkable.
Teen saves life of woman who saved his life
by mikepower
A teenager recently got the chance to thank the woman who saved his life - by saving hers. The 17-year-old successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on the choking woman in the restaurant where he was washing dishes.
Winston-Salem Journal | Fatal motorcycle accidents are epidemic in troops returning from war zones
by mikepower
More US troops have died in off-duty motorcycle accidents since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, than have been killed in combat in Afghanistan over that same time, according to safety records.
TomPaine.com - Washington's Iraq Blindness
by mikepower
The Iraq that exists in President Bush’s imagination and the real Iraq, the one in which 160,000 U.S. troops occupy a nation sliding into civil war, have never seemed further apart.
January 2006
Gore Is Right by Paul Craig Roberts
by mikepower
Former vice president Al Gore gave what I believe to be the most important political speech in my lifetime, and the New York Times, "the newspaper of record," did not report it. Not even excerpts.
Killing Made Easy
by mikepower
Only 160 of the 12,000 guns used in the USA to kill people every year are employed in legitimate self-defense; guns in the home are used seven times more often for homicide than for self-defense.
Bush Uses His Word of Choice a Heck of a Lot - Los Angeles Times
by mikepower
It is presidential language that would make Harry S. Truman blanch — not for its saltiness but, heck, for just the opposite. On a daily basis, sometimes several times an hour, the word "heck" creeps into President Bush's public pronouncements. People he
AMERICAblog:
by mikepower
A panel of linguists has decided the word that best reflects 2005 is "truthiness," defined as the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts.
The Village Voice: The Bush Beat
by mikepower
A year after tearfully accepting a Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush for his disastrous reign in Iraq, preposterous pasha Jerry Bremer has rewritten history with a ghosted "diary" and started a book tour by saying, "I didn't do it."
Informed Comment
by mikepower
The guilty plea of fabulously wealthy and highly corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff raised the question of whether he would roll over on congressmen involved in illegal fundraising and other crimes with him. Some twenty Republicans on Capitol Hill are said t
December 2005
Sidney Blumenthal: Victory in name only
by mikepower
Since the election of the Shia slate that will hold power for four years, dedicated to an Islamic state allied with Iran, the president and his advisers have fallen eerily silent. As his annus horribilis draws to a close, Bush appears to have expended the
