Saturday, May 21, 2005

RHINO'S WEEKEND BLOG - May 21st & 22nd THE QUOTE: At a National Security Council meeting on May 21, 1982, President Ronnie B-actor Reagan asks CIA deputy director Bobby Inman, "Isn't the SS-19 their biggest missile?" "No" says Inman, "that's the SS-18." Says the President, "They've even switched the numbers on their missiles in order to confuse us!" Inman had to explain to an extremely bright & perceptive Prez that the numbers are assigned by US intelligence. THE HISTORY: May 21, 1981 -- The US Senate approves 20 billion US Taxpayer dollars to be spent to return the US to full-scale production of chemical & nerve-gas weapons (aka Weapons of Mass Destruction). Eatcher heart out, Saddam!! In fact, Donald Rumsfeld later sold some of the results of that program to Saddam. May 22, 1957 -- A 10 megaton hydrogen bomb accidentally fell from a US Air Force bomber in an uninhabited area near Albuquerque. Non-nuclear explosives are detonated, blasting a crater 12 feet deep & 25 feet across. The 10-megaton nuclear charge miraculously does not detonate, narrowly averting horror for New Mexico. The bomb is hundreds of times more powerful than the one that had leveled Hiroshima. No one was injured, but radiation was detected in the crater. THE BOOK: Stop The Next War Now Effective Responses to Violence & Terrorism How can we humanize each other and act as responsible global citizens? Stop the Next War Now, edited by renowned peace activists Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, shares expert insight on the issues and powers-that-be that can lead us to war - including the media, our elected politicians, global militarization, and the pending scarcity of national resources. It aims to educate and reflect on the effectiveness of peace-movement activities and offers hope, through shared ideas, action steps, and practical checklists to transition from a culture of violence to a culture of peace. AT:  http://tinyurl.com/br44q THE CARTOON: The Bush Doctrine In Action Karl Help! I‚m all out of Geneva Conventions. Can you bring me a few of those Korans from Guantanamo?   AT:  http://www.internetweekly.org/2005/05/cartoon_bush_doctrine_101.html   THE WEBSITE: Enjoy The Draft:  SPRING  BREAK FALLUJAH!   Satire  Site Aims Serious Issue at Youth Vote AT: http://www.enjoythedraft.com THE TV SHOW: Hopi Family Featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition The season finale of the ABC television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will air on Sunday, May 22, featuring the family of Lori Piestewa, the Hopi woman killed in action in Iraq. With tribal donations and help from a housing company, the show build a new home for Piestewa's parents and her two young children. The home is located in Flagstaff, Arizona. The family was selected after being nominated by Jessica Lynch, Lori's best friend and roommate in the U.S. Army. Jessica survived the attack by Iraqi soldiers that led to Lori's death on March 23, 2003. Check local listings for time and station of the program. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome THE SELLOUT: Pope Benedict XVI gives thumbs up to beer Wednesday, WKYC Cleveland, May 11, 2005 VATICAN -- You might think the new pope would prefer water or wine, but Pope Benedict XVI has given the thumbs up to ∑ beer. Thanks to the pope, a German brewery is enjoying new success thanks to his „endorsement.‰... MORE AT:   http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_fullstory.asp?id=34727 THE MOVIE: Latest 'Star Wars' Movie Is Quickly Politicized By David M. Halbfinger, NY Times,  May 19, 2005 For sheer lack of subtlety, the light-saber-wielding forces of good and evil in George Lucas's "Star Wars" movies can't hold a candle to the blogging, advertising and boycotting forces of the right and left. (Or left and right.) More a measure of the nation's apparently permanent political warfare than of a filmmaker's intent, the heroes and antiheroes of Mr. Lucas's final entry, "Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," were on their way to becoming the stock characters of partisan debate by mid-Wednesday, hours before the film's opening just after midnight: The liberal advocacy group Moveon.org was preparing to spend $150,000 to run advertisements on CNN over the next few days - and to spread leaflets among audiences in line at multiplexes - comparing Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, to the movie's power-grabbing, evil Chancellor Palpatine, for Dr. Fri! st's role in the Senate's showdown over the confirmation of federal judges. Conservative Web logs were lacerating Mr. Lucas over the film's perceived jabs at President Bush - as when Anakin Skywalker, on his way to becoming the evil Darth Vader, warns, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," in an echo of Mr. Bush's post-9/11 ultimatum, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." MORE AT:   http://tinyurl.com/bae4y (o/)(o/)(o/) 8:55:36 AM    comment

RHINO'S WEEKEND BOTTOM LINE - Demonstrations' Final Bill Written: $545,000 for Protesters' Attorneys Demonstrations' Final Bill Written: $545,000 for Protesters' Attorneys by Ashbel S. Green, The Oregonian May 19, 2005 A federal judge orders the City of Portland to pay legal fees in a suit saying police used excessive force during 2002 and 2003 confrontations The Portland Police Bureau's mishandling of three demonstrations in 2002 and 2003 will cost city taxpayers more than $1 million. The final bill arrived Tuesday, when a federal judge ordered the city to pay $545,000 to the attorneys for 12 people who accused police of using excessive force during demonstrations against the Iraq war and outside a Republican fundraiser headlined by President Bush. The city attorney's office did not oppose the amount of attorney fees and legal costs. Last year, the city council agreed to pay the plaintiffs $300,000 to settle the case rather than risk a big verdict. Total police overtime for the three demonstrations was not available Wednesday, but the 2003 protest outside a Republican fundraiser cost $194,718, according to Sgt. Brian Schmautz. Alan Graf, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, held a news conference Wednesday outside City Hall to declare victory. "This is a vindication of the people who protested against the war," Graf said . "People who protested should feel free to come back to the streets."... MORE AT: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1116496551305380.xml&coll=7 (o/)(o/)(o/) Rhino's Blog is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. Feedback & requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. (rhino@kifaru.com) See The Latest Greatest Political Cartoons      While You Read Rhino's Blog AT : http://www.rhinosblog.info Rhino's Other Web Sites: http://www.dreamcatchers.org  (Indigenous Assistance & Intercultural Dialog) http://www.kifaru.com  (Native American Relations Video Documentaries) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 8:19:28 AM    comment

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