Volume 2 Issue 53
April 16, 2003
Seeing Yellow
The light changes to yellow, we still love the Iraqi information minister, and who's talking to who in Kansas
Whoosh! A busy day, but lots of stuff for you to enjoy while I run to another meeting! The next two weeks will be quite busy, but I promise more daily musings soon! Enjoy the insanity...and the weather today!
Downgrading: The Homeland Security Traffic Light has been changed to Yellow -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/national/16CND-HOME.html
What now? Fareed Zakaria has an excellent piece on how we can really win in Iraq -
http://www.msnbc.com/news/899469.asp?0cv=CA01
Damascus? Analysts say Syria would be an even easier win for the US than Iraq was -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081578/
A formal force report on Syria -
http://www.csis.org/features/syria_forcecapabilities.pdf
The mood in Syria is grimmer now, as people wonder if they're next -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/15/international/worldspecial /15SYRI.html
The Arab states who supported us in the Iraq war are not too happy about our war talk -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2951713.stm
Thomas Friedman argues that we should confront Syria, but not militarily -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/opinion/16FRIE.html
Who gets credit for America's military? Matthew Miller points out that most of the advances that helped the US win the war were undertaken by (the horror!) the Clinton Administration -
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?catid =1104&custid=67
Saving Jessica: The Iraqis at the hospital in Nasiriyah where Jessica Lynch was rescued have a different account of the event -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-648517,00.html
The rescue of the other 7 POWs was almost called off when officers thought they were being caught in a trap -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33662-2003Apr15.html
Professional Looting: Apparently historians and scientists pleaded with the Pentagon for months to protect Iraq's library and antiquities museum. While it was taken off target lists, troops didn't stop folks from looting them clean. Some say that the looting was "professional", meaning that professional art and antique thieves may have done the job -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/international/worldspecial /16MUSE.html
Unfinished Business: The US today asked the UN to lift sanctions on Iraq. Of course, we control Iraq, so we're pretty much going to do what we damn please anyway -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/international/worldspecial /16CND-POLI.html
They still love him! Last week, I mentioned the tribute site to Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, formerly the Iraqi information minister at http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com But, I got an e-mail the other day pointing me to yet another tribute site! Get this man immunity and a job!
http://croqueweb.com/fan/
And what if the Yankees were looking for a play-by-play man?
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/caple/030415.html
The Hardest Order: US troops are struggling to carry out one of their hardest orders...destroying hundreds of classic cars owned by Hussein -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5641907.htm
Joining the crowd: At least one business in Baghdad is booming nowadays, that at the Palestine Hotel, which once upon a time was a 5-star establishment!
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-War-At-the-Palestine.html
Remembering those who serve: The Blue Star banner has made a comeback, hung in a window to symbolize a family member fighting abroad -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jer sey/5641939.htm
Let Freedom Ring? A key Republican has doubts about renewing the Patriot Act -
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-anti-terrorism-law,0,251085.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
Outbreak: Scientists say they have finally determined that the SARS virus is similar to the common cold, so they can now develop treatments for it. Because all the treatments they have for the common cold work so well -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2953285.stm
Experts say China continues to lie and underestimate figures, making it more difficult to judge the progress of the fight against SARS -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/international/asia/16CND-CHIN.html
Look Who's Voting for President: Following the money, and culling a bunch of sources together, here's what the FEC reports have to say -
John Edwards raised most of his money from lawyers -
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2443389p-2272516c.html
Joe Lieberman spent the largest percentage of his money among the major candidates -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/16/politics/campaigns/16FEC.h tml
Dick Gephardt fundraised 91% of his money from Missouri, including 2/3rds of it from one zip code in St. Louis (AP)
Carol Mosely Braun raised less money than anyone. Including Dennis Kucinich, which is really something.
Howard Dean has the most small donors, and Kerry and Edwards had the most $2,000 donors. This is important, because the limit is $2,000, which means Kerry and Edwards may have trouble getting more money, or at least have to find more people to give it, while Dean can go back to the same trough so to speak -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34160-2003Apr15.html
Kerry has the largest paid staff, with 64. PoliticalMoneyLine.com
Dean has some cool donors, reports ABC's The Note:
Cool donors: Slimfast guru S. Daniel Abraham; Cheesecake Factory president Michael Berry; NYT'er Janet Maslin; actor George Gaynes, who played Commandant Lassard in the Police Academy movies; George Soros; cartoonist Garry Trudeau.
In fact, The Note has a bunch of cool donors from some other folks. (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/US/TheNote.html) -
Liberman: actor Terrence Stamp, deposed Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate, contributed $2000; Contributions from D.C. academics: $1000 from George Washington University President Stephen Trachtenberg and $1000 from Georgetown University Chaplain Michael Goldman; Dave Matthews Band fiddler Boyd Tinsley contributed $2000.
And um...Al Sharpton apparently didn't file. Is the race about to lose its funniest figure? Will we have to find a new name for the Democratic Ballclub? Stay tuned....
Look Who's Voting for President:
The Michigan challenge to New Hampshire may have met its end, but it looks like some serious rethinking of the primary process will be on the table for 2008. Again. Like anything will happen. -
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=202 11
Dumping the standard bearer? New Jersey Democrats may dump Governor Jim McGreevy, and not renominate him in 2005. Already three political bosses have jumped ship, and McGreevy has a lot to do if he wants to get them back -
http://www.politicsnj.com/April16_2003.htm
Crazy Congresspeople: Tim Noah reports that while Wyoming Rep. Barbara Cubin may not be racist, she sure is nuts -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081581/
Headline of the Day: From the Kansas City Star -
"Kansas Gets Permission to Talk to Self"
(It actually refers to Kansas University starting talks with Illinois Coach Bill Self...)
Strange advertising: The Internet has brought a lot of changes to the world of advertising. Recently there's been some publicity about two of them. First, the use of blogs like this one to get publicity for products (while The Swamp currently has no underwriting aside from getting a few cents if you buy after clicking on our Amazon links, corporate titans are encouraged to submit lavish proposals!) -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081419/
The other side though, is that folks on the Internet can say some pretty nasty things about companies, and companies can get pretty pissed off -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081467/
But...are they faking their anger after creating these "fake" ads themselves?
http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,82525 5,00.html
Obligatory Laci Peterson Story: Modesto, CA...home of Gary Condit, and Laci Peterson, whose body may have been discovered yesterday. When CNN cut off Don Rumsfeld to go to a non-newsworthy news conference on this, you knew the war was officially over. But, why has her husband vanished? At least the businesses there are getting rich off the national TV crews again. Of course, it's a horrible thing that happened, but not much different from the hundreds killed in the US each day that no one mourns...-
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/04/16/MN267013.DTL
The Final Retirement? Michael Jordan is supposedly retiring for good tonight, with his final game for the Washington Wizards this evening in Philadelphia. A tribute -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5641905.htm
And Philadelphia fans are bad? Another attack on someone by a fan at Chicago's US-Sellout Field...this time an umpire was attacked during a game that was stopped 4 times because of people running onto the field. Um...even in the hellhole known as Veterans Stadium people approaching the lower levels get asked for their tickets. Have the good folks in Chicago not heard of this? Then again, this is the Chicago White Sox, a team who's ownership was once so cheap the players threw the World Series so they could get what they deserved to get paid from gamblers -
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2003/04/15/um pire_attacked_ap/?cnn=yes
Baseball has sent a VP to go see what can be done. Maybe Tim Robbins was there, after all, he seems to be responsible for everything nowadays -
http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stark_jayson/1539727.html
The Kansas City Royals, who's first base coach was attacked in Chicago last year, say they will no longer play at US Sellout if major safety improvements are not made -
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/5642860.htm
Sailing Again: More on the rescue of the United States -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5641962.htm
Passing: Leonard Tose, the Philadelphia businessman who gambled away $50 million of his fortune, including the Philadelphia Eagles, passed away yesterday at 88. Tose, long since bankrupt, had survived mostly on money provided by the coach he hired, Dick Vermiel -
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5641900.htm
A Tribute -
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/5642008.htm
