The Hamster

News
AP. Roadside bomb hits U.S. convoy in first major attack since sovereignty transfer
CNN. 3 Turkish hostages freed in Iraq
AP. Heinz Kerry touts Head Start in St. Louis
Globe and Mail. Canadians give Liberals a minority; 'We must do better,' Martin pledges
AP. Liberals, Conservatives Battle Over Military Radio
Baltimore Sun. Kerry visits city, netting $1.2 million at fund-raiser
USAT. Justices invalidate 'question-first' tactic of police
Wired. Solar to Keep Army on the Go
Newsweek. Bush and Kerry camps spar over whose Hitler images are more offensive
AFP. Michael Moore claims political victory as 'Fahrenheit' soars into records
AP. San Francisco Gives Clintons Warm Welcome
AP. Kerry Vows to Help Low-Income Students
AP. U.S. Renews Diplomatic Ties With Libya
Reuters. Without Greens, Nader Faces Uphill Battle
AP. GI Reportedly Killed by Terrorists
AP. Nader campaign works to make Wash. ballot
CBS. 'Back-Door Draft' Raises Questions
AP. Experts say bird flu adapting, growing as threat to humans
SD UTrib. Slow pace of case in Iraqi's death irks judge
AP. Poll: Bush Running Even With Kerry
CBS. National Alert System In Disarray
AP. Green Party to be tested without Nader
BGlobe. Police say they won't picket convention
BGlobe. Kerry blames Bush war policy for a more 'volatile' world
WP. Justices Back Detainee Access To U.S. Courts

Commentary
Michael Tomasky. The Impostor; Conservatives in Arizona. Right-wing groups in Oregon. Pat Buchanan. But not the Green Party. Meet Ralph Nader's real constituents
Paul Krugman. Who Lost Iraq?
Jay Bookman. Bullets won't win this war, alliances will
Brian Deese and John Lyman. The Offshoring Numbers Game
James Goldsborough. Failing to learn from the French
AJC. Hope in Bush's view on condoms
BGlobe. Nader spurned
Thomas Oliphant. Greenspan ends era of certainty
Jesse Jackson. Wage fight isn't minorities' alone
Guardian. Iraq: Making the legacy work
Jonathan Turley. A Near Miss for Key Rights
Robert Scheer. Born Under a Cloud of Irony
James P. Pinkerton. The landscape hasn't changed much; With the U.S. out of the picture, the country will race to unmake Western-style institutions
Marie Cocco . Court bars monarchy powers in U.S.
E. J. Dionne. First Ripple of a Political Tidal Wave?
Richard Cohen. A Grim Graduation Day
Adam Hochschild. The Birth of the Pseudostate
Paul Waldman. I Want My Kerry Hatred!
Cynthia Tucker. Clinton's presidency: What might have been
Frederick Sweet. U.S. Ignores Conference on Environment

Posted by Eric at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)

80% of Iraqis Want US to Stop Patrolling Cities

According to the Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies.

Posted by Eric at 04:38 PM | Comments (4)

80% of Iraqis Want US to Stop Patrolling Cities

According to the Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies.

Posted by Eric at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

Nader's Illegal Activities? Bush/Cheney Campaigns for Nader?

Joe Conason of Salon.com writes that Nader's Oregon activities "may have violated federal campaign law":

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, plans to file a complaint on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission, charging that Nader and his conservative enablers in Oregon violated the federal statute prohibiting corporate contributions to presidential candidates.

Accused in Sloan's complaint along with the Nader and Bush campaigns will be Citizens for a Sound Economy and the Oregon Family Council, whose leaders have acknowledged that they are trying to help the "independent" gadfly win a place on the state's November presidential ballot. The two conservative groups admit that they are backing President George W. Bush, and quite frankly describe Nader as nothing more than a convenient instrument to drain support from Democrat John Kerry in a closely fought battleground state.

... But Sloan said their telephone campaign -- and any other assistance provided by the right-wing outfits in Oregon -- was unlawful. "Both of these groups are 501C4 corporations," she said, referring to the section of the federal tax code under which such political "educational" outfits are exempt from taxation. "They are corporations, and therefore can't make donations. The phone calls are an in-kind corporate contribution prohibited by the Federal Election Commission."

Is Bush/Cheney campaigning for Ralph?

Sloan has also included the Bush-Cheney campaign itself in her complaint. "Apparently the Bush campaign encouraged these calls and may have even allowed some of them to have been made from Bush campaign headquarters," she told Salon. "It is illegal to solicit a corporation for a campaign donation so Bush-Cheney, by soliciting CSE and OFC to make calls, would have been soliciting a prohibited in-kind corporate donation."

Posted by Eric at 03:44 PM | Comments (6)

Nader's Illegal Activities? Bush/Cheney Campaigns for Nader?

Joe Conason of Salon.com writes that Nader's Oregon activities "may have violated federal campaign law":

Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, plans to file a complaint on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission, charging that Nader and his conservative enablers in Oregon violated the federal statute prohibiting corporate contributions to presidential candidates.

Accused in Sloan's complaint along with the Nader and Bush campaigns will be Citizens for a Sound Economy and the Oregon Family Council, whose leaders have acknowledged that they are trying to help the "independent" gadfly win a place on the state's November presidential ballot. The two conservative groups admit that they are backing President George W. Bush, and quite frankly describe Nader as nothing more than a convenient instrument to drain support from Democrat John Kerry in a closely fought battleground state.

... But Sloan said their telephone campaign -- and any other assistance provided by the right-wing outfits in Oregon -- was unlawful. "Both of these groups are 501C4 corporations," she said, referring to the section of the federal tax code under which such political "educational" outfits are exempt from taxation. "They are corporations, and therefore can't make donations. The phone calls are an in-kind corporate contribution prohibited by the Federal Election Commission."

Is Bush/Cheney campaigning for Ralph?

Sloan has also included the Bush-Cheney campaign itself in her complaint. "Apparently the Bush campaign encouraged these calls and may have even allowed some of them to have been made from Bush campaign headquarters," she told Salon. "It is illegal to solicit a corporation for a campaign donation so Bush-Cheney, by soliciting CSE and OFC to make calls, would have been soliciting a prohibited in-kind corporate donation."

Posted by Eric at 03:44 PM | Comments (2)

Buckley on War

In hindsight, William F. Buckley Jr tells the NY Times:

"With the benefit of minute hindsight, Saddam Hussein wasn't the kind of extra-territorial menace that was assumed by the administration one year ago," Mr. Buckley said. "If I knew then what I know now about what kind of situation we would be in, I would have opposed the war."

Atrios has a few words on the conservative thinker.

Posted by Eric at 09:09 AM | Comments (54)

Buckley on War

In hindsight, William F. Buckley Jr tells the NY Times:

"With the benefit of minute hindsight, Saddam Hussein wasn't the kind of extra-territorial menace that was assumed by the administration one year ago," Mr. Buckley said. "If I knew then what I know now about what kind of situation we would be in, I would have opposed the war."

Atrios has a few words on the conservative thinker.

Posted by Eric at 09:09 AM | Comments (9)

Even in Florida

Business as usual in Florida, reports AP:

Bush and Kerry had the backing of 43 percent apiece in a three-way matchup with independent Ralph Nader (news - web sites), who had the support of 5 percent in the telephone poll conducted by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute of Connecticut.

Without Nader, Kerry had 46 percent and Bush 44 percent, within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Voters were evenly split on having a favorable or unfavorable view of both Bush and Kerry, the poll found.

"Both Bush and Kerry have sharply polarized the Florida voters," Quinnipiac's Clay Richards said. "At this stage in the campaign, Florida voters don't like either of the candidates very much."

Meanwhile, "a University of Miami report released Monday that found Florida's Hispanics think economics, the war and national security are at the top of the agenda for the United States" and "49 percent of Florida's Hispanics support President Bush, while 29.8 percent said they would vote for Sen. John Kerry."

Posted by Eric at 09:01 AM | Comments (13)

Even in Florida

Business as usual in Florida, reports AP:

Bush and Kerry had the backing of 43 percent apiece in a three-way matchup with independent Ralph Nader (news - web sites), who had the support of 5 percent in the telephone poll conducted by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute of Connecticut.

Without Nader, Kerry had 46 percent and Bush 44 percent, within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Voters were evenly split on having a favorable or unfavorable view of both Bush and Kerry, the poll found.

"Both Bush and Kerry have sharply polarized the Florida voters," Quinnipiac's Clay Richards said. "At this stage in the campaign, Florida voters don't like either of the candidates very much."

Meanwhile, "a University of Miami report released Monday that found Florida's Hispanics think economics, the war and national security are at the top of the agenda for the United States" and "49 percent of Florida's Hispanics support President Bush, while 29.8 percent said they would vote for Sen. John Kerry."

Posted by Eric at 09:01 AM | Comments (2)

Comedy Central Punks Pundits

From Broadcasting & Cable, a new Comedy Central show will pit comedians against actual, real life pundits:

Comedy Central is quietly taping a new talk-show parody, although some of Crossballs’ “guests” don’t think it’s so funny.

The show is a takeoff on CNN’s Crossfire and MSNBC’s Hardball. The concept is to lure unwitting advocates from both sides of a topic—such as gun control, abortion or obesity—into a Los Angeles studio.

Guests aren’t told that other participants in the debate are actually comedians that take outrageous positions on the topic.

For instance, Sacramento, Calif., right-to-bear-arms advocate James Marsh was questioned by a purported psychologist on whether his need for guns was tied to “sexual issues.” Still reeling, Marsh was then asked: “When was your first homoerotic experience?”

The Comedy Central website, in all its Hardball / Crossfire - mockery. Of course, if the show becomes a success, it'll be hard to get guests to surprise.

Posted by Eric at 05:39 AM | Comments (24)

Comedy Central Punks Pundits

From Broadcasting & Cable, a new Comedy Central show will pit comedians against actual, real life pundits:

Comedy Central is quietly taping a new talk-show parody, although some of Crossballs’ “guests” don’t think it’s so funny.

The show is a takeoff on CNN’s Crossfire and MSNBC’s Hardball. The concept is to lure unwitting advocates from both sides of a topic—such as gun control, abortion or obesity—into a Los Angeles studio.

Guests aren’t told that other participants in the debate are actually comedians that take outrageous positions on the topic.

For instance, Sacramento, Calif., right-to-bear-arms advocate James Marsh was questioned by a purported psychologist on whether his need for guns was tied to “sexual issues.” Still reeling, Marsh was then asked: “When was your first homoerotic experience?”

The Comedy Central website, in all its Hardball / Crossfire - mockery. Of course, if the show becomes a success, it'll be hard to get guests to surprise.

Posted by Eric at 05:39 AM | Comments (2)

Fahrenheit's Gain is Disney's Loss

NYDN notes that Disney's decision to pass on Michael Moore's new film is yet another blunder by the studio:

Miramax moguls Harvey and Bob Weinstein are set to personally pocket tens of millions of dollars - money that could have gone to Disney - from record-breaking Michael Moore flick "Fahrenheit 9/11," analysts said yesterday.

The Weinsteins' decision to invest $6 million of their own money to buy the flick from Miramax-owner Disney is looking like one of Hollywood's smarter deals. Disney bailed, deeming the Bush bashing movie too controversial.

After taking in a whopping $21.8 million on its debut weekend, the low-budget documentary is set to rack up between $50 million and $100 million at the domestic box office, analysts predicted. And that's before the film's international release, DVD sales, pay per view and other sources of cash ... It's also the beginning of more finger-pointing at Disney chief Eisner. He's already under the gun from Disney shareholders who withheld a staggering 45% of their votes from the media chief. He's sure to hear more for ditching a profitable hit.

"I fault Disney for passing on it - and I'm a Republican," said entertainment analyst Robert Routh of Natexis Bleichroeder, noting that Disney spent $95 million on "The Alamo" and it has grossed a paltry $22.1 million since its release nearly three months ago.

Posted by Eric at 05:28 AM | Comments (36)

Fahrenheit's Gain is Disney's Loss

NYDN notes that Disney's decision to pass on Michael Moore's new film is yet another blunder by the studio:

Miramax moguls Harvey and Bob Weinstein are set to personally pocket tens of millions of dollars - money that could have gone to Disney - from record-breaking Michael Moore flick "Fahrenheit 9/11," analysts said yesterday.

The Weinsteins' decision to invest $6 million of their own money to buy the flick from Miramax-owner Disney is looking like one of Hollywood's smarter deals. Disney bailed, deeming the Bush bashing movie too controversial.

After taking in a whopping $21.8 million on its debut weekend, the low-budget documentary is set to rack up between $50 million and $100 million at the domestic box office, analysts predicted. And that's before the film's international release, DVD sales, pay per view and other sources of cash ... It's also the beginning of more finger-pointing at Disney chief Eisner. He's already under the gun from Disney shareholders who withheld a staggering 45% of their votes from the media chief. He's sure to hear more for ditching a profitable hit.

"I fault Disney for passing on it - and I'm a Republican," said entertainment analyst Robert Routh of Natexis Bleichroeder, noting that Disney spent $95 million on "The Alamo" and it has grossed a paltry $22.1 million since its release nearly three months ago.

Posted by Eric at 05:28 AM | Comments (2)

Kerry Talks with Military Times

Interview / write-up here.

Posted by Eric at 02:15 AM | Comments (17)

Kerry Talks with Military Times

Interview / write-up here.

Posted by Eric at 02:15 AM | Comments (0)

Nader Lashes Out at Michael Moore; Calls Him Fat

No really, he does. From VoteNader.org:

Once upon a time, there was Michael Moore the First. He never forgot his friends. Come time for the Washington, DC premiere of Bowling for Columbine a while back, he invited his old buddies in Washington—gave them good seats and spent the rest of the evening with them. During his other movie's premiere, he affectionately recognized how much those old friends helped him and supported him after he was mistreated and let go by Mother Jones. He was generous with his words and time.

Now there is Michael Moore the Second. Last night he hosted the Washington, DC premiere of Fahrenheit 9/11, and who was there? The Democratic political establishment, the same people whom he took to such mocking task on the road with us in campaign rally after campaign rally in 2000. Who was not there? His old buddies! Not personally invited, not personally hung out with.

A few weeks ago, Michael, I sent you a message: "Hey, Dude, where's my Buddy?" It is attached. It has gone without reply. It simply asked you to come back to your progressive constituency and take on the two-party monopoly of our rigged election system—to challenge the pro-warlike, corporate party with two heads, wearing different makeup when it comes to playing toady for Big Business. These are the giant multinationals who have no allegiance to our country or to communities like Flint except to control, deplete or abandon them. It is not that your views have changed, with an exception or two. It is that your circles have changed. Too much Clinton, not enough Camejo.

Your old friends remain committed to blazing paths for a just society and world. As they helped you years ago, they can help you now. They are also trim and take care of themselves. Girth they avoid. The more you let them see you, the less they will see of you. That could be their greatest gift to Moore the Second—the gift of health. What say you?

Best wishes,

Ralph Nader

I'm not sure if Nader should be the one to talk about losing friends.

Posted by Eric at 01:29 AM | Comments (36)

Nader Lashes Out at Michael Moore; Calls Him Fat

No really, he does. From VoteNader.org:

Once upon a time, there was Michael Moore the First. He never forgot his friends. Come time for the Washington, DC premiere of Bowling for Columbine a while back, he invited his old buddies in Washington—gave them good seats and spent the rest of the evening with them. During his other movie's premiere, he affectionately recognized how much those old friends helped him and supported him after he was mistreated and let go by Mother Jones. He was generous with his words and time.

Now there is Michael Moore the Second. Last night he hosted the Washington, DC premiere of Fahrenheit 9/11, and who was there? The Democratic political establishment, the same people whom he took to such mocking task on the road with us in campaign rally after campaign rally in 2000. Who was not there? His old buddies! Not personally invited, not personally hung out with.

A few weeks ago, Michael, I sent you a message: "Hey, Dude, where's my Buddy?" It is attached. It has gone without reply. It simply asked you to come back to your progressive constituency and take on the two-party monopoly of our rigged election system—to challenge the pro-warlike, corporate party with two heads, wearing different makeup when it comes to playing toady for Big Business. These are the giant multinationals who have no allegiance to our country or to communities like Flint except to control, deplete or abandon them. It is not that your views have changed, with an exception or two. It is that your circles have changed. Too much Clinton, not enough Camejo.

Your old friends remain committed to blazing paths for a just society and world. As they helped you years ago, they can help you now. They are also trim and take care of themselves. Girth they avoid. The more you let them see you, the less they will see of you. That could be their greatest gift to Moore the Second—the gift of health. What say you?

Best wishes,

Ralph Nader

I'm not sure if Nader should be the one to talk about losing friends.

Posted by Eric at 01:29 AM | Comments (2)

Poll: Bush Numbers Lowest of Presidency

A NYT/CBS poll finds:

The 42 percent of Americans who say they approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job is the lowest such figure in a Times/CBS News survey since the beginning of Mr. Bush's presidency in January 2001; 51 percent say they disapprove.

Over the past 25 years, according to pollsters, presidents with job approval ratings below 50 percent in the spring of election years have generally gone on to lose. Mr. Bush's father had a 34 percent job approval rating at this time in 1992.

Similarly, 45 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of Mr. Bush himself, again the most negative measure the Times/CBS Poll has found since he took office. And 57 percent say the country is going in the wrong direction, another measure used by pollsters as a barometer of discontent with an incumbent.

Yet the survey found little evidence that Mr. Kerry has been able to take advantage of the president's difficulties, even though Mr. Kerry has spent $60 million on television advertising over the past three months.

Posted by Eric at 01:10 AM | Comments (4)

Poll: Bush Numbers Lowest of Presidency

A NYT/CBS poll finds:

The 42 percent of Americans who say they approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job is the lowest such figure in a Times/CBS News survey since the beginning of Mr. Bush's presidency in January 2001; 51 percent say they disapprove.

Over the past 25 years, according to pollsters, presidents with job approval ratings below 50 percent in the spring of election years have generally gone on to lose. Mr. Bush's father had a 34 percent job approval rating at this time in 1992.

Similarly, 45 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of Mr. Bush himself, again the most negative measure the Times/CBS Poll has found since he took office. And 57 percent say the country is going in the wrong direction, another measure used by pollsters as a barometer of discontent with an incumbent.

Yet the survey found little evidence that Mr. Kerry has been able to take advantage of the president's difficulties, even though Mr. Kerry has spent $60 million on television advertising over the past three months.

Posted by Eric at 01:10 AM | Comments (0)

Jobs Up, Real Wages Down

According to the Economic Policy Institute, while jobs are going up, the real wage pay of those jobs are going down.

Wage trends turn slowly, and the figure shows that throughout the recession and jobless recovery, real wages grew fairly steadily, peaking in July of last year. Yet, since last November, real wages have fallen in all but one month and are down 1% in real terms for the period between November 2003 and May 2004 (the most recent data point). In fact, the May 2004 wage level of $15.64 was the lowest since May 2002.

Why have wages fallen behind inflation over the past six months? This question is particularly germane since employment growth has been far better over this period than at any time since the recession began in March 2001, up 1.2 million jobs since last November.

The main reason for poor wage growth is the lingering effect of the longest jobless recovery on record, which has left considerable slack in the labor market. Even though nominal wage growth has sped up a bit over the past two months—growing at an annual rate of 2.2% in April and May compared to an average of 1.7% over the prior two months—wage growth has clearly been reduced to a low rate because of years of job losses and high unemployment. In 2001, the average annual rate of nominal hourly wage growth was 3.8%; over the past 12 months, growth slowed to 2.2%. Thus, while the recent rise in inflation is partly to blame for the downward trend shown toward the end of the figure, the major culprit is slow nominal wage growth caused by persistent labor slack.

Posted by Eric at 01:04 AM | Comments (25)

Jobs Up, Real Wages Down

According to the Economic Policy Institute, while jobs are going up, the real wage pay of those jobs are going down.

Wage trends turn slowly, and the figure shows that throughout the recession and jobless recovery, real wages grew fairly steadily, peaking in July of last year. Yet, since last November, real wages have fallen in all but one month and are down 1% in real terms for the period between November 2003 and May 2004 (the most recent data point). In fact, the May 2004 wage level of $15.64 was the lowest since May 2002.

Why have wages fallen behind inflation over the past six months? This question is particularly germane since employment growth has been far better over this period than at any time since the recession began in March 2001, up 1.2 million jobs since last November.

The main reason for poor wage growth is the lingering effect of the longest jobless recovery on record, which has left considerable slack in the labor market. Even though nominal wage growth has sped up a bit over the past two months—growing at an annual rate of 2.2% in April and May compared to an average of 1.7% over the prior two months—wage growth has clearly been reduced to a low rate because of years of job losses and high unemployment. In 2001, the average annual rate of nominal hourly wage growth was 3.8%; over the past 12 months, growth slowed to 2.2%. Thus, while the recent rise in inflation is partly to blame for the downward trend shown toward the end of the figure, the major culprit is slow nominal wage growth caused by persistent labor slack.

Posted by Eric at 01:04 AM | Comments (0)

Hamster Numbers: Unemployment Benefits

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

From late December through the end of June, an estimated 2,065,000 unemployed individuals will have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits. About 34,000 of them will have qualified for additional unemployment aid through the federal/state extended benefits program. The remaining 2,031,000 individuals will not qualify for any federal unemployment benefits.

The more than two million jobless workers exhausting their regular benefits and going without federal aid from late December through June is higher than the number of such exhaustees in any other period of comparable length on record.

Posted by Eric at 01:03 AM | Comments (12)

Hamster Numbers: Unemployment Benefits

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

From late December through the end of June, an estimated 2,065,000 unemployed individuals will have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits. About 34,000 of them will have qualified for additional unemployment aid through the federal/state extended benefits program. The remaining 2,031,000 individuals will not qualify for any federal unemployment benefits.

The more than two million jobless workers exhausting their regular benefits and going without federal aid from late December through June is higher than the number of such exhaustees in any other period of comparable length on record.

Posted by Eric at 01:03 AM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2004

Monday Stories