Day: August 8, 2005

Bush Will Arrest Grieving Mother over Crawford Protest

Jon Ponder

David Swanson at DailyKos:

Cindy Sheehan phoned me from Texas a few minutes ago to say that she’s been informed that beginning Thursday, she and her companions will be considered a threat to national security and will be arrested. Coincidentally, Thursday is the day that Rice and Rumsfeld visit the ranch, and Friday is a fundraiser event for the haves and the have mores. Cindy said that she and others plan to be arrested.

More info: http://www.meetwithcindy.org

Harris is Listening (and Dreaming)

Trish

Tomorrow’s the big day for Katherine Harris. She’ll announce her candidacy for United States Senate at the Sarasota Boys and Girls Club, then embark on a whirlwind, 10-city “listening” tour. And in true Republican style, Harris plans to listen to only the right folks.

Miami Herald:

“Our tour will be a very special time for me and my family [Harris said] as we look forward to sharing these moments with friends and supporters throughout our state.”

It’s not just a Repug love-in, however. Oh no, Harris is about so much more.

“I look forward to spending time in every county listening to Floridians’ concerns, as well as their dreams for a better tomorrow. So much more can be accomplished for our great state. This race is about our citizens and their needs and what we can achieve together for a stronger state.”

Call me picky, but there are 67 counties in Florida, not 10. And a person can only hold citizenship from a country, not a state. Maybe she meant to say, “residents of Florida.” And probably she meant to say, “what we can achieve together that makes me richer.”

Painting a picture of a Florida that needs Harris to rescue it is revolting. Bill Nelson has worked hard and well for Florida and Harris is far from his equal. Maybe that’s why the Republicans tried so hard to get Speaker of the Florida House Allan Bense to run instead. Even they know Harris is a joke.

Re-Energize the Democratic Party with Exotic Dancers

Buck Banks

According to All Headline News, a city council candidate in New York has the newest fundraising idea since Howard Dean started accepting dollars via PayPal.

Democrat Victor Bernace is planning a “Havana Night” campaign party next month at a Manhattan nightclub, complete with bikini-clad dancers and men wearing nothing but briefs.

He will charge twenty dollars per person for the event, which he claims, will be “a very erotic show.”

Bernace says, “I’m throwing a fun event. Most politicians — I’ve been to their fundraisers, and they are boring. People can go with a standard politician who will disappear into the woodwork. I’m trying to be part of the next generation.”

Bernace is a Harvard-educated attorney who represents taxi drivers. He’s making his third bid for city council in northern Manhattan.

He isn’t too worried about offending potential voters. He even says it might help get younger men interested in politics, saying, “I’m not running for mayor in a small, old-time religious town in Utah. I’m running in New York City. I might as well try to energize a different base.”

New Zealand Ruling Today On Appropriateness of Billboard that Labels Bush an ‘Evil Bastard’

Buck Banks

NZCity reports that Outdoor Advertising New Zealand is reviewing billboard advertisements for Hell Pizza and deciding whether the Advertising Standards Authority should take action.

The Hell Pizza billboards have been erected around Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. Half of the poster is a photo of George Bush and the other half has the phrase “Hell: Too Good For Some Evil Bastards.”

Matthew Blomfield, Hell’s media manager, said the billboard is meant to be edgy instead of boring advertising.

Don’t know about the appropriateness of it, but I sure agree with the sentiment.

Republican Withdraws from Charlotte City Council Race after Revelation That He Posted 4,000 Times to Racist Website

Jon Ponder

From the Lousy Excuses Department, an apparently unreconstructed racist in Charlotte (my hometown) was forced to shutter his campaign for city council race because it was discovered that he’d posted to a racist website over 4,000 times. He says he did it for research:

Doug Hanks said the postings on the site stormfront.org were fictional and designed to win white supremacists’ trust as he researched a novel he was writing.

“I needed information for the book and some other writings I was doing,” Hanks said. “I did what I thought I needed to do to establish myself as a credible white nationalist.”

Good one, Doug. Yes, “research.” I think the research must have paid off . When you posted on June 1 that black people were “rabid beasts,” man, that really sounded authentic.

[…]

Potential Vaccines Unlikely to Head Off Bird Flu Pandemic

Buck Banks

Two stories have emerged on the influenza front, both dealing with potential vaccines — one specific to avian H5N1 flu and the other an all-around flu panacea.

U.S. government scientists say they have successfully tested in people a vaccine that they believe can protect against the strain of avian influenza that is spreading in birds in Asia and Russia. Health officials have been racing to develop a vaccine because they worry that, if the H5N1 strain mutates and combines with a human influenza virus to create a new virus, it could spread rapidly through the world.

Tens of millions of birds have died from infection and culling to prevent spread of the virus. As of Aug. 5 112 people have been infected, and 57 have died from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. So far, there has been no sustained human-to-human transmission.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that while the vaccine that has undergone preliminary tests could be used on an emergency basis if a
pandemic developed, it would still be several months before that vaccine is tested further and, if licensed, offered to the public. He cautioned: “We don’t have all the vaccine we need to meet the possible demand. The critical issue now is, can we make enough vaccine, given the well-known inability of the vaccine industry to make enough vaccine.”
[…]

A College Republican Leader Shows Why He’s Too Busy to Fight in Iraq

Jon Ponder

When asked why he didn’t volunteer to fight in the Iraq, which President Bush describes as “the central front in the War on Terror,” one young Republican said he felt compelled to stay stateside and fight in the “war of ideas.” We’re pretty sure Paul Gourley, treasurer of the national College Republicans organization, had signed onto that argument before the events depicted in the photos above.

But if you’re reading this, Mr. Gourley, when the dawn breaks – and it will, my friend, it will – and you’re looking for a way to expiate your sins, we’d like to refer you to Operation Yellow Elephant, where there is a place for you on the next plane out to Sadr City.

Photos: Truth Caucus