|
UNDERNEWS NOV 8 T
|
The Progressive Review
|
Nov 08, 2006 14:52 PST
|
UNDERNEWS
NOV 8, 2006
FROM THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW
EDITED BY SAM SMITH
Since 1964, Washington's most unofficial source
E-MAIL: mailto:ne-@prorev.com
LATEST HEADLINES & INDEX: http://prorev.com
UNDERNEWS: http://www.prorev.com/indexa.htm
XML FEED: http://prorev.com/feed.xml
FREE UPDATES VIA TOPICA: mailto:prorev-s-@topica.com
OR JUST SEND NAME & EMAIL TO: mailto:ne-@prorev.com
1312 18th St. NW #502
Washington DC 20036
202-835-0770
202-835-0779 FAX
TO DONATE TO THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW, you may use the address above,
the order form below or Pay Pal
ORDER FORM
http://prorev.com/order3.htm
PAY PAL
http://prorev.com/index.htm#donor
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WORD
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Life in America has become one big docudrama and you can't tell what's
real and what's make believe - Josiah Swampoodle
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MORNING AFTER
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OUR MAIN PAGE has a series of unique maps and charts that puts Tuesday's
vote in historical context. There's both good and and not so good news
for the Democrats.
http://prorev.com
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW once again called the election with a high degree
of accuracy using a system that has worked well for us since 2000.
Basically we project the winner based on an average of the last three
polls. The main flaws are House races where there aren't enough polls
and situations where there is a late change and only the last poll is
right. But we called the last two presidential elections within 1-3%
this way and here are this election's results:
GOVERNORS: Out of 27 contested races we only blew Idaho (just 2 polls
available) and Minnesota (we gave it to the Dems by 3 points but the GOP
won by 1). 17 of our calls were within a four percentage point margin of
error.
SENATE: Got them all down assuming Montana and Virginia stay Democratic.
Ten of the 18 contested races we projected within a four point margin of
error.
HOUSE: Despite the shortage of polls in some districts we still called
59 of 74 contested races. 37 of these races we called within a four
point margin of error
DETAILS: http://prorev.com/amline7
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PAGE ONE MUST
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
INITIATIVE ROUNDUP
CTR FOR VOTING & DEMOCRACY - With one other exception, it was a tough
day at the ballot box for reform measures. Fusion voting in MA, lottery
voting and vote-by-mail in AZ and public financing in CA were all
trounced. Term limits and campaign finance limits lost in Oregon.
But four ballot measures to support ranked voting methods, instant
runoff voting and choice voting went 4 for four yesterday -- big wins in
Oakland, Davis, Minneapolis and Pierce County. Since instant runoff
voting's ground-breaking win in March 2002 in San Francisco, it has been
on the ballot in eight cities an counties, sweeping all eight. Instant
runoff voting yesterday won 68%-32% in Oakland CA and 65%-35% in
Minneapolis MN and, with ballots still to be counted, is likely to
increase its winning margins slightly, 54%-46% in Davis CA and 53% to
47% in Pierce County WA. The wins in Davis and Minneapolis marked the
first ballot measure wins for choice voting, the proportional voting
version of IRV, in a half-century.
The three biggest ones (Oakland, Minneapolis and Pierce) eliminate low
turnout primaries and use instant runoff voting in one big turnout
election in November. Minneapolis also means proportional voting over
winner-take-all at-large elections for some races and Davis could lead
to that same change.
http://www.fairvote.org r-@fairvote.org
KELLI KENNEDY ASSOCIATED PRESS - Florida residents resoundingly approved
six permanent changes to the state constitution on Tuesday, covering
everything from a demand to spend more on anti-smoking ads to tightening
eminent domain. But perhaps most notably, voters also approved an
amendment that will sorely limit their ability to change the
constitution in the future. Amendment 3 had 58 percent support with 95
percent of the expected vote tallied. It will require that future
amendments receive 60 percent approval for passage. Currently, it takes
a simple majority - 50 percent - for initiatives proposed either by
citizen petition drives or the Legislature. . . Voters also passed
Amendment 8, which bans the use of eminent domain to transfer property
to private developers unless an exemption is approved by three-fifths
votes in both houses of the Legislature. With 80 percent of the expected
vote counted, 69 percent backed the amendment with 31 percent against
it.
PATRICK HOGE, CHRONICLE - Voters were poised Tuesday to reject
Proposition 90, a measure that supporters said would stop the government
from using eminent domain to take private property on behalf of
developers, but which critics said would actually hobble land-use
regulation. The "Protect Our Homes Act" -- one among a handful of
similar efforts in various states -- had 49.4 percent of the vote with
32.1 percent of precincts reporting. . . The anti-Prop. 90 campaign drew
support from an unusual assortment of players that included cities, the
state's major environmental groups, builders, bankers and labor groups.
. .
The vast majority of the money in support came from groups led by or
connected to conservative New York real estate investor Howie Rich, who
has long supported candidates and measures favoring property rights,
term limits, tax cuts and school vouchers. . .
Though supporters denied it, the nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst's
Office said the measure could affect more than land, potentially
requiring compensation for rules governing such things as pollution,
employment conditions, consumer protection and rent control.
http://tinyurl.com/y8xbsw
DAVE KOLPACK ASSOCIATED PRESS - Residents approved two constitutional
measures on Tuesday, voting to limit the government's right to acquire
private property and adjust the way the state manages trust funds. . .
Former attorney general Heidi Heitkamp was a prominent advocate for a
proposal to restrict local governments from acquiring land for private
economic development projects. . .
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/15954168.htm
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR - Voters in six states approved increases to
the minimum wage, a typically Democratic issue. Yet all but one of the
eight ballot measures to ban gay marriage passed - bringing the number
of states with such amendments to 23. Arizona became the first state to
reject such a ban. Red-state South Dakota said "thumbs down" to a
sweeping abortion ban and Missouri said "thumbs up" to stem-cell
research. The number of measures - the third highest ever - is up from
162 last year, continuing an upward trend. . .
"One of the biggest initiative trends this year was widespread
dissatisfaction with the idea of government being able to take private
property for a private enterprise," says Oliver Griswold, spokesman for
the Ballot Initiatives Strategy Center in Washington. . . Nine approved
such measures (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New
Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Carolina). The three that
failed (California, Idaho, and Washington) included stronger language,
specifying that when a government passes a law or institutes a
regulation that affects property values adversely, it must compensate
the land owners. . . A second key trend this year was the push to raise
state minimum wages.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1109/p11s01-uspo.html
BRUCE MOHL, BOSTON GLOBE - Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly decided
more was not better, rejecting a supermarket-inspired ballot question
that would have allowed more food stores to sell wine. In a stunning
come-from-behind victory, the state's package stores, backed financially
by big liquor wholesalers and beer distributors, fended off an attempt
by supermarket chains to move in on their turf. With 91 percent of the
state's precincts reporting, Question 1 was going down to defeat by a
ratio of 56 percent to 44 percent. The most expensive ballot question
campaign in state history turned around in the last week, with polls
indicating the race swung from a 57-38 percentage split in favor of
Question 1 to 51-42 against on Monday.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/2006/11/08/law_allowing_wine_in_state_food_stores_is_rejected/
THE NEWSPAPER - An overwhelming majority of voters in Steubenville, Ohio
rejected the city's speed camera program yesterday in a referendum on
whether the city ordinance authorizing the program should stand. With
all precincts reporting, 76.2 percent of voters said "no." The program
began last year issuing nearly 7000 tickets worth $85 each to motorists
driving as little as 5 MPH over the speed limit. It would have generated
nearly $600,000 in revenue until Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas
Judge David E. Henderson struck down the city ordinance as illegal in
March. Because the city is bound by contract to continue the services of
German camera operator Traffipax, regardless of the program's legality,
it defied the judge's order and reinstated an essentially identical
ordinance to continue issuing citations. . . The public has never voted
in favor of photo enforcement. Between 1991 and 1997, voters turned out
in Batavia, Illinois; Peoria, Arizona and Anchorage, Alaska to reject
photo radar.
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/14/1433.asp
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FLOTSAM & JETSAM
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SAM SMITH
THE DEMOCRATS did as well as they did because of the obvious failings of
George Bush. Stunningly absent from the campaign was any sense of what
the Democrats stood for, what they were going to do, and why the voter
should follow them. This is not a good way to start a new movement.
Watching Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emmanuel and Barack Obama it seemed like I
was listening to John Kerry without the preppy mannerisms. Yes, they had
memorized their lines (although Emmanuel seemed to have trouble
remembering all his cute "5 Rs"), but they lacked soul and passion and
were so mechanistic in their approach that the only emotion that seemed
to surface was the fear they tried to hide behind their timid words.
The secret of Democratic success lies in programs that help large number
of Americans live better and helps them deal with the problems that both
parties have laid upon them over the past quarter century including the
enormous costs of globalization, reckless use of the environment,
military adventurism and greedster capitalism.
If there is a Democratic Party that can remake itself it's not the one
of the Washington robo-Dems, hostage as they are to alien campaign
contributors, nefarious lobbyists and the like. It lies far away from
Democratic Abandonship Council and the other false gods of the party.
The party doesn't need leaders who act like they care; they need leaders
who really do.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MID EAST
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DEMOCRATS PROMISE ANTI-PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP
MATTHEW E. BERGER, JERUSALEM POST - In recent weeks, Democrats have been
working to counter concerns they would balance support for Israel and
the Palestinians or that Democrats would name committee chairmen who are
seen as traditionally unsupportive of the Jewish state. "There will be
some Democratic chairmen who may not share all my views or have as clear
a perspective on Israel as I do," Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California), a
Jewish lawmaker, said in a recent on-line chat with Jewish voters,
sponsored by the House Democratic caucus. "But they will not be chairing
committees dealing with Israel and the Middle East.". . .
If the Democrats win control, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, currently
the House minority leader, would likely become the next House speaker.
Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who has led Democratic support for Israel
in the House, is expected to seek the role of majority leader, and Rep.
Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, whose Israeli father fought in the pre-state
Zionist underground, is expected to challenge several candidates for
majority whip. . .
http://tinyurl.com/wgw6q
JOSHUA FRANK, 2005 - Pelosi's recent speech to the Israel-American lobby
AIPAC, the second largest lobby in Washington, was monumental - truly
unparalleled in its candor. Despite the fact that AIPAC was recently
busted for spying on the United States, Pelosi, along with many other
top bureaucrats from Washington, gushed effusions of praise on the
foreign power. "There are those who contend that the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is all about Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza,"
Pelosi said as she rallied AIPAC loyalists. "This is absolute nonsense.
In truth, the history of the conflict is not over occupation, and never
has been: it is over the fundamental right of Israel to exist."
Apparently Pelosi has never asked a Palestinian what they think of
Israel's brutality. Not that she hasn't witnessed the occupation first
hand; Pelosi is just not concerned in the least with the Palestinian
resistance. . .
Pelosi, like so many other Democrats and Republicans in DC, does not
appreciate the asymmetry of the conflict. She cannot understand that
Palestinians are faced with violence every day as their livelihoods and
homes are uprooted to make way for new Israeli settlements. . .
"One thing, however is unchanged," Pelosi added. "America's commitment
to the safety and security of the State of Israel is unwavering. America
and Israel share an unbreakable bond: in peace and war; and in
prosperity and in hardship."
Sadly, Palestinians don't figure into Pelosi's lopsided equation; those
darn Arabs just don't matter. And when Pelosi speaks of "safety and
security," its only Israelis she's talking about. . .
http://www.counterpunch.org/frank05312005.html
BLAIR OPPOSES SADDAM'S HANGING
AP - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday he opposed the death penalty
for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein but that his trial had
reminded the world of the deposed leader's brutality. . . Blair noted
that Britain opposed the death penalty, "whether it's Saddam or anyone
else."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/06/D8L7IPN80.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ARTS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
AUSTRALIAN REPORT BLASTS MUSIC INDUSTRY PIRACY CLAIMS
AUSTRALIAN - A confidential briefing for the Attorney-General's
Department, prepared by the Australian Institute of Criminology, lashes
the music and software sectors. The draft of the institute's
intellectual property crime report, sighted by The Australian, shows
that copyright owners "failed to explain" how they reached financial
loss statistics used in lobbying activities and court cases.
Figures for 2005 from the global Business Software Association showing
$361 million a year of lost sales in Australia are "unverified and
epistemologically unreliable", the report says. . .
The study, which says some of the statistics used by copyright owners
are "absurd," will be redrafted after senior researchers disagreed with
its conclusions. . .
"Of greatest concern is the potentially unqualified use of these
statistics in courts of law," the draft reads. . .
The report, intended as a confidential government briefing, casts doubt
on the methodology of some industry piracy studies. . .
Copyright owners often use street-value estimates to calculate losses,
but this assumes that every person who bought pirated goods would
otherwise have paid for a legitimate item, the report notes.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,20713160%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UPDATES
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GREEN PARTY
KELLEY BOUCHARD, PORTLAND PRESS HERALD - The Green Independent Party
gained ground in Portland's municipal elections Tuesday, winning two
seats on the City Council and maintaining four seats on the School
Committee, according to preliminary results. The city's elections are
nonpartisan, but the Greens have made strides in recent years at the
local level in Maine's largest city. . .
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/061108portland.html
DEAN MYERSON - John Eder, the Green's sole state legislator, lost his
reelection effort in Maine narrowly. A couple of other hopefuls for new
Green state legislators were not close, but there is one other state leg
candidate in Maine who is very close, and a recount will be needed.
Pat LaMarche ended up with just under 10% for governor. Her efforts were
hurt by there being another liberal-progressive Dem woman running as an
independent. She got over 20%, and a lot of her votes would have been
Pat's if she wasn't running. There was also some controversy among Maine
Greens because Pat really hid from her Green roots, trying to run as an
independent, even she was listed as a Green on the ballot.
Rich Whitney got 11% for governor in Illinois. But the NY Greens failed
against all confident expectations to get their ballot line.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FIGHTING DEMS
DEFENSE TECH - When the election season started, there was a lot of
noise about so-called "Fighting Dems" - dozens of veterans of the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars, almost all running for Congress on the Democratic
ticket, and almost all fed up with how those wars were being run. . .
Almost all of the Fighting Dems lost. . . There were exceptions: Admiral
Joe Sestak beat shady Curt Weldon in Pennsylvania. . .
How come? Well, the majority of 'em were political neophytes. And
knocking off an incumbent Congressman is a tough job, even for an
experienced pol. Several of the Fighting Dems never made it out of the
primaries. . . More significant, perhaps, was that many of the veterans
were running in districts ordinarily toxic to Democrats.
"They made each race much closer than it ever should have been," Paul
Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America,
tells Defense Tech. "Tammy [Duckworth] should have been blown away.
[Republican Peter] Roskam had so much more money and a district that
always favors an R [Republican]. Her story, and her veteran status, are
the only thing that kept her close."
Update: Several recent veterans did win their Congressional races last
night, including former Naval Intelligence officer Chris Carney and Army
National Guard artilleryman Tim Walz. But they didn't serve directly in
Afghanistan or Iraq.
http://www.defensetech.org/
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CORPORADOS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BIG BROTHER AT THE DRIVE-THRU
WLNS - With more than 70% of fast-food orders today coming at
drive-thrus rather than at restaurant counters, leading chains such as
Wendy's and McDonald's are testing new technology aimed at combating
some of the growing problems facing the $142 billion fast-food industry:
Things like long lines, rude service and incorrect orders.
Exit 41, a closely held Boston-based based provider of technology for
the fast-food industry, has developed the system, called "Order
Perfect.". . . Here's how it works: when a customer places an order at
the drive-thru speaker, the order is taken by someone at a remote "order
center." The order is then sent right back to the restaurant where it
was received. . . The second component of the technology is even more
interesting, and somewhat controversial. It involves a camera located at
the drive-thru order window that takes a picture of the customer and the
car. According to Gagnon, the pictures help staff accurately match the
order to the customer, thus cutting down on botched orders. . .
"Just having this infrastructure in place is very troubling," said Liz
McIntyre, a consumer privacy advocate and co-author of "Spy Chips."
"It's nice to hear that the picture will be deleted, but who knows,"
McIntyre said. "We know that many companies use video surveillance not
only for safety reasons but also to do market research. These restaurant
chains could do the same. A Big Brother society is creeping into this
country and this is one more example of that," she added.
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=5650021
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
UPDATES
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
STUDIO 60
SO IT'S NOT THE GREATEST show in the world - certainly not as good as
West Wing which your editor is reviewing year by year via Netflix. But
Studio 6O, rumored to be on its way, is apparently more popular than the
media is giving it credit for. The latest Tivo scorecard lists it as the
9th most recorded show - between CSI and ER. We wonder whether the
Christian right hasn't been on its case and the lack of viewers are
being used as an excuse. In any case, here are some readers' comments on
the topic:
- It is an excellent show, but it deserves to be canceled if for no
other reason than its underhanded, "we're-not-bashing-the-right" method
of bashing the right. "I'm a Christian, look what a kook I am when it
comes to my religion, but it's real to me and I am talented, so at least
respect me for that!" Please.
It's the same thing on Ken Olin's "Brothers & Sisters," where Calista
Flockhart plays a supposed-to-be died-in-the-wool Republican, but then
instead of representing true Republican positions, she plays her part
according to the liberal version of what a Republican is (evil, rich,
uncaring, all that moveon.org stuff). Then we're supposed to buy into it
because her right-wing "convictions" run so deep, at least she believes
in what she stands for, even if it is grossly misguided, or so they want
us to believe. I don't think I can take it if Sally Field rolls her eyes
incredulously one more time.
Give me a break. If you're going to portray a Republican on
liberal-controlled television, at least have the decency to find out
what the Republican platform really is (though admittedly, in real life
it is getting harder and harder to tell, they act more and more like
Democrats every day), and then play the part true to what it is, not
what you liberals want everyone to believe it is. Intellectual
dishonesty at its worst, on both "Studio 60" and "Brothers & Sisters."
- I find Sorkin's work to be preachy & tedious. Does that make me a bad
person? - Bud McSpud
- I find Sorkin's work to be perceptive and revelatory. Does that make
me a good person?
- Thank goodness there's still an appetite for shows about forensics
detectives and lawyers, otherwise there might not be two dozen of them.
- I'm a devout Christian and I find Sorkin's work to intriguing and well
written. It reflects the sensibilities of the professions he chooses to
portray. That, too, is revelatory, and for me, not threatening. If only
an as talented as Sorkin writer could convey the varied sensibilities
within the community of faith there might not be so much
misunderstanding and contempt.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DRUG BUSTS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A CORPORATE MODEL OF POT DELIVERY
AP - An untold number of otherwise law-abiding professionals in New York
are having their pot delivered to their homes instead of visiting drug
dens or hanging out on street corners. Among the legions of home
delivery customers is Chris, a 37-year-old salesman in Manhattan. He
dials a pager number and gets a return call from a cheery dispatcher who
takes his order for potent strains of marijuana. Within a couple of
hours, a well-groomed delivery man - sometimes a moonlighting actor or
chef - arrives at the doorstep of his Manhattan apartment carrying weed
neatly packaged in small plastic containers. . . The phenomenon isn't
new. It has long been the case around the country that those with enough
money and the right connections could get cocaine or other drugs
discreetly delivered to their homes and places of business. But experts
say home delivery has been growing in popularity, thanks to a shrewder,
corporate style of dealing designed to put customers at ease and avoid
the messy turf wars associated with other drugs. . .
The corporate model - and its profit potential - were demonstrated late
last year when the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it had
taken down a highly sophisticated organization dubbed the Cartoon
Network. DEA agents arrested 12 people after using wiretaps and
surveillance and making undercover buys.
Authorities estimated that since 1999, the ring made a fortune by
delivering more than a ton of marijuana, some of it grown hydroponically
- without soil - in the basement of a Cape Cod-style home on 10 acres in
Vermont, where an informant reported the smell of the crop was
overpowering.
The dealers, working out of a roving call center, processed 600 orders a
day - from doctors, lawyers, Wall Street traders - even on Christmas,
investigators said. Authorities refused to give names, but in one
conversation overheard last October, a courier boasted about the ring's
upscale clientele, according to court papers.
http://www.katu.com/news/national/4575976.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ELITE ETHNOGRAPHY
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Britney spears libel suit tossed
[Best sentence in this article: "Ms Spears and husband Kevin Federline
denied filming the video and that they feared it would be made public"]
bbc - A US judge has dismissed a libel action brought by Britney Spears
against a magazine that claimed she and her husband made a sexually
explicit video. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Hart Cole found no
basis for the pop star's claim that the Us Weekly report, published in
2005, was defamatory. Ms Spears and husband Kevin Federline denied
filming the video and that they feared it would be made public. They
had sought $10m in damages over the article. The judge said that because
the singer had "put her modern sexuality squarely, and profitably,
before the public eye", the article was unlikely to be considered
defamatory.
The magazine report claimed that the couple watched the video with
lawyers after a member of their entourage threatened to release the
footage. Ms Spears' legal team argued that was libellous because it
"maliciously and recklessly portrays [Ms Spears] as acting 'goofy' while
watching the video with the lawyers". But Judge Cole said Ms Spears had
not brought the libel action for being "falsely accused of acting
goofy". "The issue is whether it is defamatory to state that a husband
and wife taped themselves engaging in consensual sex," she said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/6123694.stm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE MIX
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WOMAN-OWNED FIRMS GROWING AT TWICE THE RATE OF COMPANIES OVERALL
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT - Over the past nine years, the number of
woman-owned firms grew at twice the rate of companies overall, according
to a recent analysis of the latest census data by the Center for Women's
Business Research. . . The number of companies whose ownership is at
least 51 percent female now stands at 7.7 million, up from 5.4 million
in 1997. Firms owned by women now account for some 30 percent of the
nation's 25.8 million companies.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/smallbizscene/061106/womanowned_firms_show_rapid_gr.htm?s_cid=rss:site1
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
INDICATORS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOX NEWS - A new survey by Parks Associates shows that teenagers are
less likely to communicate via e-mail than any other demographic.
According to the study, less than one-fifth of the 13-17-year-olds
surveyed profess to using e-mail to communicate with friends, compared
to 40 percent of adults aged 25-54. The study shows that instant
messaging is the dominant form of communication for teenagers, with
one-third of teens relying on the messaging system, compared to only 11
percent of adults.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227721,00.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FURTHERMORE. . .
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PRESS WATCH, UK - Britain's most senior doctor warned yesterday that the
risk of dying in hospital as a result of medical error is one in 300.
Clinical misjudgments or mistakes mean that the odds of dying as a
result of being treated in hospital are 33,000 times higher than those
of dying in an air crash, according to the chief medical officer, Sir
Liam Donaldson. Between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of patients admitted
to modern hospitals in the developed world acquire one or more
infections, with at least 5,000 deaths directly attributed to
healthcare-acquired infections in England every year. Sir Liam stressed
that operations needed to be carried out in a more standardized way,
particularly where there was a high risk of complications.
http://www.presswatch.com/health/1280x1024/?d=#
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DISCREET COVERAGE BY WONKETTE OF the best hidden campaign story of the
year : "Farewell, Speaker! Enjoy your last two years in Washington. Will
your chief of staff move back to Illinois with you in 2008?"
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
READER COMMENTS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NOTE: You can post your comments on any of the above stories by going to
our Undernews site and searching for the headline. Once posted, a copy
is immediately mailed to the Review and we pick some of the most
interesting to publish here. http://prorev.com/indexa.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ETHANOL HIGH COULD RAISE FUEL ECONOMY
- But this is not going to save the car culture or the oil economy. The
ethanol industry is clearly a money-making scam for the ethanol
industry. Further, grain that should be used to feed starving Americans
is instead being used to fuel vehicles.
- There is a proposed ethanol plant near by in my region. Its operation
will require wells capable of pumping water at a rate of 850 gallons per
minute. 850 gallons of water per minute being pumped from our fragile
aquifer. No one really fully comprehends what the long term impact of
this project will be. 850 precious gallons of water per minute to what
end?
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OBAMA CONT'D
- So Obama has a reasoned reply. Big deal. Nobody said he was stupid, or
enable to craft a good rebuttal. Know a man by his deeds, not his words.
And Obama's deeds are pure corporatocracy. Obama is loved because he's a
black man who has the accomplishments of white America's ideal savior,
and talks like a white intellectual Ivy League nebbish.
If Obama were white, he'd be accurately labeled as the phony suit he is.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DOESN'T LIKE PROTO-FASCIST
- "Neofascist" perhaps. "Child of Mussolini", yes indeed. Fascist, raw
and up straight. But protofascist? And our dearly beloved editor
complained about the usage of CamelCase.
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ANTI-HOMELESS LAWS INCREASING
- In Houston, the bus stops once had nice little plexiglass enclosures
with a bench to sit on that protected bus riders from our windy, rainy
climate. Now, to prevent the homeless from sleeping at bus stops, we
have a metal pole with a 6' diameter circular roof. You can't sit down
anymore and there is virtually no protection from the weather. It's the
new American way: screw the majority in order to punish the more
unsightly victims of our hateful economic system.
- I'm a little curious as to why so many 'compassionate' types get their
bowels in an uproar over these laws, but don't seem to be quite as
concerned at the prospect of what, at bottom, is the issue they are
addressing: homeless people living out in the elements pretty much year
round. Apparently it's okay to let them just rot as long as nobody's
harassing them; I mean these posts always rant on about the inhumanity
of these ordinances, but I don't see too many of the posters raising the
issue of what ought to be done to give genuine help to these individuals
beyond guaranteeing them their rights to sleep in the streets.
- You're making a lot of assumptions here. The article and the comment
are about one aspect of the homeless issue. This does not mean that
either writer does not also concern themself with helping people get off
the streets. And yes, the tiny percentage of the homeless who choose to
live that way should have a right to sleep on the streets.
- I love 'homeless advocates'; i.e., those who advocate for the 'right'
to be homeless. Ronald Reagan thought those people should have the
'right' to sleep on the streets, too.
- Consider the likelihood that policies and programs aimed at
marginalizing, incarcerating or otherwise controlling young black males,
the homeless, street vendors, artists etc. are attempts to condition
Americans to the idea that some of us need to be locked up for our own
good. You thought those camps Brown and Root are building were for
Mexicans and Muslims. - Laughing
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DOESN'T LIKE DICK MORRIS
- Regarding " HRC Caught Fibbing Again," this is typical Morris
phony-baloney revisionist history; reprinting this nonsense in your
journal gives him some credence he does not deserve. Look, I know you
hate the Clintons, Sam, but Dick "The Toe-Sucker" Morris has even fewer
principles and scruples than you ascribe to the Clintons. Morris is a
self-absorbed horse's ass - writing anything, true or not, that might
conceivably get his column more pick-up in syndication, increase his
television bookings, and flim-flam more clients generally. - Matthew
Donoghue
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THOSE 'CERTAIN' THAT GOD EXISTS DROPPING
- The right (mythic/intuitive) side of the brain trying to communicate
with the left (rational/logical) side of the brain. Primitive peoples
interpreted such altered states of consciousness as an outside force and
named it god. Then they started brainwashing their children into
believing in this fictitious creature, then they brainwashed their
children, and so on - Henry Fnord
- To state categorically that 'God' does or does not exist is simply
another example of human arrogance. Either claim is meritless as we do
not have the empirical data to know for a certainty either way. Frankly,
we on this earth should be more concerned with questions regarding how
best to live with one another and ourselves in the time we are here.
There will be plenty of time--all eternity, in fact--to discover whether
or not god is a fictional construct; we have only a very finite amount
of time to learn to be a more decent species.
- I'm 50-50 on whether I exist.
http://prorev.com/2006/11/those-certain-that-god-exists-dropping.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BUSH JIHADISTS EXTEND ABSTINENCE CAMPAIGN TO ADULTS - 90% OF WHOM HAVE
SEX WITHOUT BUSH'S PERMISSION
- We need a No-Sex-Until-Marriage amendment to the constitution.
http://prorev.com/2006/11/bush-jihadists-extend-abstinence.htm
[Healthy people don't leave a trail of victims as they go through life]
- There is Hindu principle, I believe it is called ahisma, and means
harmlessness. It may be the greatest human virtue, given our propensity
to manipulate things and leave wreckage in our wake. - Polar Bear
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WHY IS THE MILITARY SACRED?
- I think everything you said about our troops in this story are lies. I
happen to know a lot of people that went to college and are very
intelligent that are in our military. Have you ever thought that some
people just want to give freedom to those that do not have the privilege
of it. Also some people want to keep there freedom and will do anything
to keep it and their families safe and free. By the way, not everyone in
the military gives a shit about ribbons and medals, Myself and others do
not even wear all of ours because to us it's not the medals that mean
anything; its the freedom that we have that means the most. - B
What, did you expect me to serve to the death? Oh, and I did get a job
in the "free market." The military was a real ace in the hole as the two
managers were both ex-military. - Thomas Shawn
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WHAT IF HUMANS WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THE EARTH?
- From the earth's point of view, we are an extremely virulent cancer.
- There is absolutely no doubt that if two-thirds to three-quarters of
the human race were to die off in the next five years, both Earth and
the human race (assuming it developed the common sense to refrain from
grossly overpopulating the planet again) would be light years better
off. A huge tragedy in humanitarian terms, yes;- but one hell of a lot
better from the point of view of the ecosystem, and general species
survival. And the scary part is, it may yet happen.
- Nomads knew better than to stay in one place for too long. What if
saving the planet means leaving the planet?
- Great. Let's go find some other habitable world to trash. Makes much
more sense than trying to correct the mess we've made on this one. Human
tribes may have been nomadic; but the human race is, so far, stuck with
where we are, like it or not. So why not try being better stewards here,
first?
- Actually, beings from somewhere else approaching an Earth with no
humans 10,000 years into the future would definitely know that some type
of "intelligence" once existed here. There will be large areas of the
planet showing high levels of radioactivity. There will be large pockets
of plutonium, a man-made poison, as well as other radionuclides. In
fact, even if they came 100,000 years from now, they will find the same
thing. It would probably be very widespread as the containers holding
both high-level and low-level radioactive waste will have broken down
and spread the contamination far and wide.
http://prorev.com/2006/10/what-if-humans-were-forced-to-leave.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SOCIAL BIGOTS AND HEAVY PEOPLE
- There is really no way around the obesity thing at the moment. We have
lots of overweight people because of how we subsidize shit food and rob
people of enough free time and energy to go out and get some exercise.
It's a damn shame that most people are way too stressed and busy and
broke to take a lifestyle - preventative approach to health. We aren't
burning that many calories, yet we're always exhausted. How does that
make sense?
- I hope the hateful people who commented so offensively on a previous
article here about obesity pay attention to this. They need to take a
long, hard look at the pain they have been causing and change their
behavior. It's in their own best interests after all. They seem to find
looking at large people very offensive. If they want to reduce the
frequency of their seeing obese people, this article suggests they need
to stop being so nasty.
- Get the shit over yourself and stop trying to emotionally blackmail
everyone else into a guilt trip over your weight problem. Grow up.
- The only thing worse than a fatty is a fatty with a victim complex.
- Funny how you don't like the bad Nazi people telling you how you
should live your life, when you have no problem with telling them how
they should think and act. Go eat something; maybe you'll feel better.
- Look, the problem is we live in an appearance obsessed society. That's
not pleasant, but it's a fact. It isn't simply the overweight who get
picked on; ask any woman who doesn't measure up to male standards of
acceptable 'feminine' appearance just how much shit they have to take
from the chronically insensitive who feel free to comment on the
appearance of others. (The funny part is, most of those doing the
commenting are far from being any beauties themselves.)
The majority of us don't come close to meeting the insanely high
standards of physical attractiveness that have been set primarily by a
media who sets those standards in a deliberate attempt to keep consumers
anxiety-ridden and psychologically primed to be sold those items which
are supposed to alleviate the alleged undesirable qualities.
Rather than constantly fixate on a particular group's feelings of
victimization and pressure from these commercial mind-games, why not
focus on the larger picture of how this type of warped, commercially
driven image molding is damaging all of us, not just a select few. It's
time to start getting loud with those who are responsible for creating
these distorted images in the first place in their hell-bent drive to
push (largely needless) products; we as a society need to start asking
ourselves some hard questions about how and why we permit superficial,
transient qualities (youth, physical appearance) to trump our ability to
evaluate individuals based on a recognition of those human attributes
that are of genuine importance.
- Looks like some fat-phobic teens are spamming the Review again. So
much nastiness to hurl at people's different body types. Some folks will
never grow up.
http://prorev.com/2006/11/social-bigots-and-heavy-people.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IMPORTANT FACT BURIED IN THE RED WINE & LONGEVITY STORY
- Sounds like a plan to me. Know any places that sell wine by the vat?
- Previous studies have already indicated that humans don't need
anywhere near that dosage to get health benefits from drinking red wine.
http://prorev.com/2006/11/important-fact-buried-in-red-wine.htm
GAY SAYS HE HAD SEX WITH TOP EVANGELICAL
- I know that short words are essential to headlines, but can we refrain
from using "gay" as a noun? That's what the 'phobes do: they see nothing
but a person's sexual orientation; they don't see the person. And "gay
man" doesn't really take up that much more space.
["Gay man" is redundant and, besides, if you're going to drop a slang
word into the language, you have to expect to lose control over it.]
http://prorev.com/2006/11/gay-says-he-had-sex-with-top.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE BRIBE THAT DARES NOT SAY ITS NAME
- The campaign contribution as pure bribe would be seen more clearly if
TV and radio advertising were illegal for politicians. They would be
replaced by free time on a designated public channel, to be used by a
candidate to state his case, live, in person, alone, with no music or
actors, etc. He could be standing or seated. This would cut out huge
expenditures and go a long way to level the playing field. It would tone
down mud-slinging, and outright lying.
http://prorev.com/2006/11/bribe-that-dares-not-say-its-name.htm
[You need only watch the military's own recruiting ads to know the
importance of the economic harbor. Which is why these ads promise to
train you so you'll be able make it in the 'free market' when you go
back.]
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RECENT ADDITIONS TO OUR WEBSITE
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RUNNING OUT OF CHANGE: Why it's so hard to make good things happen
http://prorev.com/runningout.htm
WHY SMART GROWTH ISN'T AS SMART AS IT THINKS IT IS
http://prorev.com/smartgrow.htm
OF PINK SUITS, GOLF BALLS & CIVIL LIBERTIES: Talk to an upper school
assembly
Http://prorev.com/civlibtalk.htm
THE ROLE OF RESPECT IN PEACE
http://prorev.com/2006/09/role-of-respect-in-peace.htm
CLUES YOUR COUNTRY MAY BE TURNING INTO A FASCIST STATE
http://prorev.com/fascisthints.htm
RAFTING DOWN THE MAINSTREAM
http://prorev.com/rafting.htm
A THINKER'S GUIDE TO CONSPIRACY THEORIES
http://prorev.com/2006/06/thinkers-guide-to-conspiracy-theories.htm
WHO'S AN AMERICAN?
http://prorev.com/2006/06/whos-american.htm
HENRIK IBSEN MADE ME DO IT
http://prorev.com/2006/05/henrik-ibsen-made-me-do-it.htm
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME A MEXICAN CUT YOUR PENSION?
http://prorev.com/2006/05/when-was-last-time-mexican-cut-your.htm
REAL HOLOCAUST DENIAL
http://prorev.com/2006/02/real-holocaust-denial.htm
THE REVIEW'S GAS GAUGE
http://prorev.com/gasgauge.htm
WHERE DID ALL THE COOL PREACHERS GO?
http://prorev.cm/preacher.htm
MUSIC & POLITICS: THE SOUND OF CHANGE, THE POWER OF CHANGES
http://prorev.com/changes.htm
2008 ELECTORAL PROJECTION
http://prorev.com/electmap.htm
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW
Washington's Most Unofficial Source
1312 18th St NW (5th Floor)
Washington DC 20036 202-835-0770
Fax: 202-835-0779
Editor: Sam Smith
REVIEW E-MAIL: mailto:ne-@prorev.com
REVIEW INDEX: http://prorev.com/
LATEST HEADLINES: http://prorev.com
NEWS BY TOPIC: http://prorev.com/heads.htm
UNDERNEWS: http://prorev.com/indexa.htm
E-MAIL: mailto:ne-@prorev.com
LATEST HEADLINES & INDEX: http://prorev.com
UNDERNEWS: http://www.prorev.com/indexa.htm
XML FEED: http://prorev.com/feed.xml
FREE UPDATES VIA TOPICA: prorev-s-@topica.com
OR JUST SEND NAME & EMAIL TO: mailto:ne-@prorev.com
UNSUBSCRIBE: If you receive your copy via Topica or Yahoo please follow
instructions at the top or bottom of your message. All others, send us
an e-mail with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.
TO DONATE TO THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW, you may use the address above,
the order form below or Pay Pal
ORDER FORM
http://prorev.com/order3.htm
PAY PAL
http://prorev.com/index.htm#donor
BOOKS
- WHY BOTHER? http://prorev.com/order3.htm
- GREAT AMERICAN POLITICAL REPAIR MANUAL http://prorev.com/order3.htm
- MULTITUDES: AN UNAUTHORIZED MEMOIR: http://prorev.com/mmintro.htm
SAM SMITH'S DECOLAND BAND & OTHER GIGS
http://prorev.com/band.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
|
