Monday, January 13, 2003

Four-line poem about potential Iraq war sparks a very big fuss. Interesting LA times piece about the front-page brouhaha sparked over a 30-word poem by British Poet Laureate Andrew Motion. Causa Belli (cause for war) "questions the motives of American and British leaders, particularly President Bush, for the anticipated war against Iraq." "They read good books, and quote, but never learn a language other than the scream of rocket-burn. Our straighter talk is drowned but ironclad: Elections, money, empire, oil and Dad." [Boing Boing Blog] 10:12:20 PM

How Corporate Greed And Political Corruption Paved The Way For The SUV Explosion Before becoming White House chief of staff, Andy Card was an executive at GM, and before that, the chief lobbyist for the Big Three auto makers. And you wondered why the administration has thrown its considerable weight behind GM's efforts to overturn a California law requiring carmakers to put more energy-efficient models on the road? [AlterNet.org] 9:04:26 AM

The Economist condemns US use of torture. The libertarian-leaning British weekly newsmagazine The Economist, in two articles published today, looks at rumors that the US has been using torture against suspected terrorists, concludes that it has, and condemns it (albeit in the most gentle terms possible). [kuro5hin.org] 12:46:12 AM

The utter hypocrisy of the military industrial complex. Or, why I am a pinko liberal when I was raised as an honest red blooded American industrialist technoutopian militarist. [kuro5hin.org] 12:42:47 AM

Am I missing something? Today's Wall Street Journal has a lengthy and useful lead article about California's $35 billion budget shortfall and how it happened. Like all articles on this subject, it talks about how California ratcheted up spending during the tech boom and is now facing tough choices. And also, like all articles on this subject, it makes absolutely no mention of the fact that California spent many billions of its citizens' money during the energy crises of a couple years ago to keep our lights on. As we've learned since, these shortages and price hikes were the direct result of market manipulation by companies, including Enron, that were engaging in fraud. Why isn't this connection being made? I doubt the energy dollars alone would fill the budget gap but they might have made a significant difference. The silence here remains puzzling. [Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment] 12:41:14 AM

Traveler Logs Worry Rights Groups. The INS mandate requiring airlines and cruise ships to electronically transmit passenger logs in near real time has civil rights groups and privacy advocates wondering how the data might be misused. [Wired News] 12:37:50 AM

The Secret War on Condoms Over the last few years conservative groups in President Bush's support base have declared war on condoms, in a campaign that is downright weird -- but that, if successful, could lead to millions of deaths from AIDS around the world. The disinformation campaign turns out to be a far-reaching effort to discredit condoms, squelch any mention of them in schools and discourage their use abroad. [Daypop Top 40] 12:14:42 AM

© Copyright 2003 Michael Alderete.