Investigations John Kerry has heard about the "Downing Street Memo". Likely he's been reading the Democratic Underground or listening to Howard Dean speeches. According to Al Jazeera
Kerry said of the memo: "When I go back [to Washington] on Monday, I am going to raise the issue. I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home. And it's amazing to me the way it escaped major media discussion. It's not being missed on the Internet, I can tell you that."
The memo purportedly contains minutes of a meeting between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair where they discuss "cooking" the evidence needed used to justify the war on Iraq.
If true, the charges of course are serious and impeacheable.
Fellow Democrat Rep. John Conyers of Michigan is issuing a statement about the meeting minutes saying, "I am seeking information regarding the charges made in the so-called “Downing Street Minutes” that there was a secret agreement between the U.S. and the U..K to invade Iraq by the summer of 2002, well before the president sought congressional authority. Please provide us with any information or leads you might have regarding such a secret pre-war deal, or other efforts to manipulate intelligence or provoke a response to justify war. We will treat any information provided on this site as confidential. Thank you for your assistance in this important matter."
I say investigate. But, of course, this memo is not enough. When Sen. Kerry says that he is amazed "the way it escaped major media discussion" it is likely this is precisely because even the press needs something more than a "memo", especially after "Rathergate".
So find who wrote the memo. Get him or her to testify where and when the meeting took place. Find out who else was there and get their statements. If it all checks out, then prosecute.
This memo has been in existence for months now and yet there seems to be nothing but the memo.
Nothing at all.
And of course they will have to explain why it is that evidence needed to be cooked when Congress, in 1998, passed the The Iraqi Liberation Act which the President signed and wherein it is stated that
"Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 - Declares that it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government. "
Perhaps President Clinton was at that meeting with Blair and Bush, they should talk to him.
So get moving and show us the beef.
Or shut up.
Never Mind So it looks like Amnesty International got history.
Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, the head of the Amnesty International USA said on Sunday the group doesn't "know for sure" that the military is running a "gulag."
Not sure? Perhaps I was a bit hasty with the "got history" remark. Let's review.
In Stalin's gulag's, citizens of the Soviet Union who needed "reeducation" were exported to forced labor camps. Sometimes starved, they were certainly slave labor. None were captured as the result of military action.
At Guantanamo Bay, all there are given three squares a day, are not expected to work, have decent living conditions, and each detainee's religious customs are accomodated. All were captured on the field of battle. None are American Citizens.
But don't believe me ask the Red Cross. They've been there. The Red Cross has never visited one of Stalin's Gulags.
And the Red Cross apparently knows more about the situation at Gitmo then, admittedly, does Amnesty International.
I mean, the Red Cross has actually been there.
Culture Shock Is popular culture threatening women? Evidence that this might be so comes from Britain where a recent study found
A staggering 63% of girls would rather be glamour models than nurses, doctors or teachers, according to the survey by mobile entertainment providers www.thelab.tv.
The findings have been blamed on the "endless media coverage" of women who become famous more for their physical attributes than talent or achievements.
Is it endless media coverage or
"Taking your clothes off is now more lucrative than ever and teenagers see it as a great way of making money and becoming famous."
Of course, most people have a distorted view of the reality of being famous. Most who become famous would rather not be. Still
Of the nearly 1,000 girls surveyed, 63% found being a glamour model most appealing. A quarter thought being a lap dancer would be a good profession but just 3% picked the teaching profession.
Lap dancer?
Ladies, it is clear that girls need role models that are smart, pretty, and successful.
Or the next generation of women won't be found at MIT, but at the Holiday Inn.
