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Gore Calls for an Investigation of Warrantless Spy Program In his latest speech criticizing Bush, he says a special counsel should examine the issue. By Ronald Brownstein -- Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore, charging that President Bush's record on civil liberties posed a "grave danger" to America's constitutional freedoms, on Monday urged the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Bush's authorization of warrantless domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency. In a detailed and impassioned speech sponsored by liberal and conservative groups, Gore said that although much remained unknown about the spying program, "what we do know … virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law, repeatedly and insistently." Gore, the Democratic nominee who lost to Bush in the bitterly disputed 2000 presidential race, also said Congress "should hold comprehensive … hea...
Google, Bush, and Privacy Yesterday it was revealed that AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo! complied with Justice Department subpoenas to turn over search data. Google has made a very high profile statement that it will not. Yahoo! spokespeople said none of the information revealed individual identities and thus did not violate individual privacy rights. The government claims—although given the history of this administration any claims must be viewed with skepticism at a minimum—that the search-engine data will enable it to defend the Child Online Protection Act of 1998 (which the U.S. Supreme Court perviously blocked from implementation). It may well be that the information being requested by the Bush Administration can be provided without revealing any sensitive, personal information; I don’t have any insight into the technical issues nor have I yet read the subpoena(s). But I would defer to Danny Sullivan on this point who said: In particular, the Bush administration wanted one million rando...
JUST THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN IS PLACE CALLED THE RAINBOW BRIDGE When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them; who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent; the eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to break away from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. YOU have been spotted, and when you and your sp...
Israel Suspends Contact With Pat Robertson By BRIAN MURPHY, AP Religion Writer Israel has suspended contact with evangelist Pat Robertson for suggesting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. The controversy has cast doubt on plans for a Christian tourism center that would showcase the growing flow of money and influence from U.S. church groups. The decision, announced Wednesday by Israeli officials, does not affect other Christian groups that also consider it their spiritual duty to support Israel as fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Israeli leaders see the Christian allies as tireless lobbyists in Washington and elsewhere. The evangelicals also funnel millions of dollars each year to Jewish settlers in the West Bank and — before last year's pullout — the Gaza Strip. Tourism Minister Abraham Hirchson said he gave instructions to "stop all contact" with groups associated with Robertson. Last week, Robertson impl...
WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER The Police You consider me the young apprentice Caught between the Scylla and Charibdes Hypnotized by you if I should linger Staring at that ring around your finger I have only come here seeking knowledge, Things they would not teach me of in college I can see the destiny you sold Turned into that shining band of gold Mephistopheles is not your name But I know what you're up to just the same I will listen hard to your tuition And you will see it come to its fruition Devil on the deep blue sea behind me Vanish in the air you'll never find me I will turn your face to alabaster When you find your servant is your master And you'll be wrapped around my finger
APPLESAUCE VERSUS SOUR CREAM by the LeeVees Applesauce versus sour cream Applesauce or sour cream It's the choice you're gonna have to make Which to put on your potato cakes Applesauce versus sour cream Applesauce or sour cream now It's the choice you're gonna have to make Tell your mom to fry, not bake now Life has many decisions It moves in all directions This is just one huge, enormous, big decision You have to make You have to make it All right listen up One has fruit and one has milk If you're lactose intolerant, then take a pill now It's the choice you're gonna have to make The grease is starting to coagulate Your lawyer called, said everything's fine Potato contracts have been signed, yeah I think your heart just skipped a beat You can't wait for your greasy treat now Life has many decisions It moves in all directions This is just one huge, enormous, big decision You have to make You have to make it Jews have to make You must decide Da da da d...
GELT MELTS by the LeeVees Gelt melts Gelt melts Gelt melts Just because it looks like funny money In your pocket it's chocolate runny Heat's the enemy, it's not your friend Golden coins melting in your hand Everyone knows chicks love chocolate Fires them up like a bottle rocket Rip the tin off right away I think you know what we're trying to say You gotta get it while you can 'Cause it won't last long We don't claim to understand But we're not wrong And your good thing will be gone Gelt melts Gelt melts Gelt melts Don't throw it at your baby brother Better run now, here comes your mother Comin' at you with a wooden spoon Still covered with her chicken soup Grandma's couch with the plastic coating Fifty coins later, stomach's bloating If goys can eat a chocolate bunny Why can't we eat chocolate money? You gotta get it while you can 'Cause it won't last long We don't claim to have the answer In this song But your good thing ...
What the ‘Left Behind’ Series Really Means Have we finally become the dumbest mofos on the planet? By Joe Bageant “Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and a yawning chasm opened in the earth, stretching far and wide enough to swallow all of them. They tumbled in, howling and screeching, but their wailing was soon quashed and all was silent when the earth closed itself again.” -- From Glorious Appearing by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins “The best thing about the Left Behind books is the way the non-Christians get their guts pulled out by God.” -- 15-year old fundamentalist fan of the Left Behind series ****** That is the sophisticated language and appeal of America’s all-time best selling adult novels celebrating the ethnic cleansing of non-Christians at the hands of Christ. If a Muslim were to write an Islamic version of last book in the Left Behind series, Glorious Appearing, and publish it across the Middle East, Americans would go berserk. Yet tens of millions of Christians e...
Chanukah's Universal Message Rabbi Michael Lerner Chanukah's Universal Message: When Hope Triumphs Over Cynical Realism Chanukah starts Sunday evening, Dec.25th and goes for 8 days. We light one Chanukah light the first night, two the second night, etc. Christmas and Chanukah share a spiritual message: that it is possible to bring light and hope in a world of darkness, oppression and despair. But whereas Christmas focuses on the birth of a single individual whose life and mission was itself supposed to bring liberation, Chanukah is about a national liberation struggle involving an entire people who seek to remake the world through struggle with an oppressive political and social order: the Greek conquerors (who ruled Judea from the time of Alexander in 325 B.C.E.) and the Hellenistic culture that they sought to impose. Though the holiday celebrated by lighting candles for 8 nights recalls the victory of the guerrilla struggle led by the Maccabees against the Syrian branch of th...
The Christmas Wars: The Jews and Secularists Did NOT Steal Christmas But it WAS Stolen...by the Capitalist Marketplace Rabbi Michael Lerner 12.22.2004 Flush from their electoral victories in November, some leaders of the Christian Right have decided to make an issue of the secularization of Christmas. Objecting to the move by Macy's and some other retailers to wish their shoppers "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" instead of the traditional Merry Christmas, they have begun to accuse secularists in general, and, on some of the right-wing talk shows, Jews in particular, of undermining Christmas. It's easy to dismiss these Right-wingers as sore winners. They are well on their way to packing the judiciary with judges who may erode the division between church and state, make abortion more difficult or illegal, and support the pro-torture position of Bush's choice for Attorney General. Yet the 25% of Jews who voted for Bush in this past election may not...
EIGHT EASY STEPS Alanis Morrisette How to stay paralyzed by fear of abandonment How to defer to men in solve-able predicaments How to control someone to be a carbon copy of you How to have that not work and have them run away from you How to keep people at arm's length and never get too close How to mistrust the ones you supposedly love the most How to pretend you're fine and don't need help from anyone How to feel worthless unless you're serving or helping someone I'll teach you all this in eight easy steps A course of a lifetime you'll never forget I'll show you how to in eight easy steps I'll show you how leadership looks when taught by the best How to hate women when you're supposed to be a feminist How to play all pious when you're really a hypocrite How to hate god when you're a pray-er and a spiritualist How to sabotage your fantasies by fears of success I'll teach you all this in eight easy steps A course of a lifetime you'll ...
THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS? How to Solve the December Dilemma An Orthodox rabbi maps out a peace plan to end the war on Christmas and put the miraculous back in Hanukkah. Interview by Alice Chasan Holiday season 2005 brings the convergence of Christmas and Hannukah, which begins on Christmas day this year for the first time since 1959. The unusual synchronicity highlights a perennial American debate about whether Christmas is under siege by the politically correct and the radical secularists. Jews, too, get caught in the seasonal crossfire: Do they need to deny the culture's near-saturation Christmas consciousness to celebrate their own winter holiday? Beliefnet senior editor Alice Chasan recently spoke to Bradley Hirschfield, an Orthodox rabbi and vice president of CLAL, The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, about his road map for peace in the "Christmas Wars." Why is there more talk each year about this being a season where our holidays are "under sieg...
FOR MY 'SISTER ' at her & her family's time of loss: What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. - Albert Pike I think it is safe to say this quote above applies to your loved one 110%. - B. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. - Matthew Arnold ("Magnified and sanctified be God's great name in the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom soon, in our lifetime. Let us say: Amen. "May His great name be praised to all eternity. "Hallowed and honored, extolled and exalted, adored and acclaimed be the name of the Holy One, though He is above all the praises, hymns, and songs of adoration which men can utter. Let us say: Amen. "May God grant abundant peace and life to us and to all Israel. Let us say: Amen. "May He who ordains harmony in the universe grant peace to us and to all Israel. Let us ...
Reform Jewish Leader Blasts Religious Right's "Monopoly On God" The leader of the largest branch of American Judaism blasted conservative religious activists in a speech Saturday, calling them "zealots" who claim a "monopoly on God" while promoting anti-gay policies akin to Adolf Hitler's. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, took his place alongside other "religious left" leaders, saying that "religious right" leaders preach that "unless you attend my church, accept my God and study my sacred text you cannot be a moral person." "What could be more bigoted than to claim that you have a monopoly on God?" he said to a receptive audience during the movement's national assembly in Houston, which runs through today. He used particularly strong language to condemn conservative attitudes toward homosexuals. He said he understood that traditionalists have concluded gay marriage v...