November 26, 2004

November 25, 2004

Hiding Breast Bombs By Maureen Dowd

Many Women Say Airport Pat-Downs Are a Humiliation by Joe Sharkey

At a security checkpoint recently at the Fort Lauderdale airport, Patti LuPone, the singer and actress, recalled, she was instructed to remove articles of clothing. "I took off my belt; I took off my clogs; I took off my leather jacket," she said. "But when the screener said, 'Now take off your shirt,' I hesitated. I said, 'But I'll be exposed.' " When she persisted in her complaints, she said, she was barred from her flight.

November 24, 2004

The observers' findings were seconded by Republican Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Citing the disturbing fact that official results diverged sharply from a range of surveys of voters at polling places, Lugar said, "A concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities."

Other prominent Western observers were unsparing in their criticism of the state's conduct of the election.

"Fundamental flaws in Ukraine's presidential election process subverted its legitimacy," the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, sponsored by the Democratic Party in the United States, declared in its preliminary report. The institute, cited "systematic intimidation, overt manipulation and blatant fraud" that were "designed to achieve a specific outcome irrespective of the will of the people."

All of the above is from Greg Palast.

November 23, 2004

As peace organizations formulate strategy and co-ordinate actions, the teachings of Arundhati Roy, the most visionary and sagacious strategist on the world stage, take on immediate significance....

"We could reverse the idea of economic sanctions imposed on poor countries by Empire and its Allies. We could impose a regime of People's sanctions on every corporation that has been awarded a contract in post-war Iraq. Each one of them should be named, exposed and boycotted÷forced out of business. It would be a great start...."

Sporadic and spontaneous boycotts, local in form, have been taking place in cities throughout the globe. National Public Radio (U.S.) reports that thousands of Europeans, repulsed by the election of Bush, are refusing to buy American goods. One placard in a Paris window says: "Promote peace. Don't buy American." According to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, Europe is simmering. "You're going to see American profits disappear. American corporations are going to be in big trouble. It's going to be a mantra not to buy American. All our major manufacturers are reporting major slowdowns in Europe. You're going to see the dollar disappear."

November 22, 2004

Unionized hotel workers in San Francisco agreed Saturday to return to work following an eight-week lockout, dealing a major boost to the city's tourism industry on the eve of the busy holiday season.

About 4,000 maids, bellhops, cooks and other hourly wage earners will return to their jobs Tuesday while contract negotiations continue, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced.

Newsom said the group representing 14 luxury hotels agreed to end the lockout of union workers for two months. Negotiations were to resume after Thanksgiving.

The workers went on strike at four hotels on Sept. 29 and were locked out at 10 others two days later. They agreed to end their strike last month, but the hotels declared the lockout would continue until a new contract was reached.

Newsom said negative publicity from the strike and the union's ability to extend health care coverage while workers remained locked out were key factors in the hotel operators' change of heart.

"They did the right thing," said the mayor, who was joined by representatives of the hotels and about 50 beaming union workers during a news conference at City Hall. "I recognize it was a difficult decision to them."

November 21, 2004

Op-Ed columnist Maureen Dowd writes in today's NY Times, Absolute Power Erupts

The White House says it wants greater harmony, but it's acting like the thought police. Having run into resistance in their bid for global domination, the president and vice president are going for federal domination, pushing out anyone with independent judgment who puts democracy above ideology.

It's a paradoxical game plan: imposing democracy abroad while impeding it here.

November 20, 2004

A nationally renowned expert on statistical research and a team of graduate students at UC Berkeley yesterday sounded another alarm bell about the Nov. 2 elections, releasing a study suggesting that irregularities in electronic voting machines in Florida may have awarded hundreds of thousands of ãexcessä votes to George W. Bush.

The report, published by the Berkeley Quantitative Methods Research Team, said Bush picked up 130,000 to 260,000 votes the groupâs statistical analysis canât explain from three heavily Democratic south Florida counties that used touchscreen voting equipment this year.

Why Kerry Conceded Though He Had the Most Votes by Greg Palast.

Kerry did not concede because he did not have the votes. He conceded because he could not get them counted. Kerry would have to demand a hand count of the spoiled punch cards. But the hard fact is that, just as Katherine Harris stopped the hand count of the punch cards in Florida, Blackwell would undoubtedly do the same in Ohio. And face it: In a legal showdown, Blackwell could count on the help of that pus-hole of partisanship, the U.S. Supreme Court. Been there, done that. Add in the ballot-by-ballot litigation required to force a count of all the provisional ballots under rules ˆ la Blackwell, and Kerry, realistically, didn't stand a chance.

Unfortunately, neither did democracy.

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