FEBRUARY 2006

All of the commentary and site information that was in this area  has been   Archived.

FOR PICTURES  RELATED TO THE CURRENT PAGE SEE:   PHOTOS    

DAILY NEWS OF NOTE, or,

"'Almost Daily' Notes on News

and Other 'Stuff'"

As of Nov. 8th Less Bush

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REMODELING IN PROGRESS

10-18-05 Site Changes 

SEE: JAR2.com: As you may have noticed the site has changed quite a bit. I have been consolidating the information being hosted on my server into tighter groups and have eliminated some of the pages altogether. For  example the Student's page and the IQ page are now one, the Wallpaper page now contains links to almost all of the photographic content on the JAR2 server, and so on and so forth, if you have any suggestions please send them. I hope that some of you are actually reading my stories in the window above and that you enjoy them. That is all for now, enjoy!

John

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☼``*-,,_♥♪♥ ♥♪♥_,,.-*`☼ ☼``*-,,_♥♪♥ ♥♪♥_,,.-*`☼ ☼``*-,,_♥♪♥ ♥♪♥_,,.-*`☼ ☼``*-,,_♥♪♥ ☼``*-,,_♥♪♥ ♥♪♥_,,.-*`☼ ☼``*-,,_♥♪♥ ♥♪♥_,,.-*`A :-)

story here

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What happens next? You tell me...

The intrepid young man, naïve in his unawareness of the ramifications of his actions, boldly proceeded with his as of yet unsuccessful forays into the black arts. Machiavellian manifestations stemming from previously attempted spells only served to obfuscate the true source of the evil permeating his life in myriad ways. Were he to have believed in ancient Egyptian curses, the source would have been clear, but as with the other victims of the curse of the boy pharaoh enlightenment only came at the moment of death.

           Into the darkness he drove, through the mists and the fog which played tricks on his eyes. He had been driving for six hours through the forest and was becoming increasingly nervous as he drove deeper and deeper into what was becoming pure wilderness. The trees had become stranger and stranger as he drove on, at first he had dismissed the moss and the weird limbs as nothing to get excited about but now he was becoming afraid. The trees were twisted and knarled and were beginning to choke in on the road which had become a narrow one lane path through the thickets. The forest here was so dense that he could not see into it at all now and the trees, whose limbs now met above the road were getting closer and lower. In effect making a tunnel through which he tried to maintain a healthy rate of speed, something telling him not to dare to slow down. It  had become so narrow that he could not have turned around had he wanted to and want he did.  

Copyright 2005 by John Robles II

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FOR PICTURES  RELATED TO THE CURRENT PAGE SEE:    PHOTOS  

What happened to www.politirx.org?????

Politicians Start Wars Not Soldiers

02-28-06

Follow-up to pictures below: Like they did to my house in Pennsylvania, this is more like what I remember.

02-27-06

The Massacre Continues in Iraq 84/

Civil Rights Lost: Another Example

02-27-06

Domestic rendition or (TORTURE INC.)

SEE:  1 CRYPTOME    2 BUSH CRIMES

1

A Judicial Green Light for Torture

Published: February 26, 2006

The administration's tendency to dodge accountability for lawless actions by resorting to secrecy and claims of national security is on sharp display in the case of a Syrian-born Canadian, Maher Arar, who spent months under torture because of United States action. A federal trial judge in Brooklyn has refused to stand up to the executive branch, in a decision that is both chilling and ripe for prompt overturning.

Mr. Arar, a 35-year-old software engineer whose case has been detailed in a pair of columns by Bob Herbert, was detained at Kennedy Airport in 2002 while on his way home from a family vacation. He was held in solitary confinement in a Brooklyn detention center and interrogated without proper access to legal counsel. Finally, he was shipped off to a Syrian prison. There, he was held for 10 months in an underground rat-infested dungeon and brutally tortured because officials suspected that he was a member of Al Qaeda. All this was part of a morally and legally unsupportable United States practice known as "extraordinary rendition," in which the federal government outsources interrogations to regimes known to use torture and lacking fundamental human rights protections.

The maltreatment of Mr. Arar would be reprehensible and illegal under the United States Constitution and applicable treaties even had the suspicions of terrorist involvement proven true. But no link to any terrorist organization or activity emerged, which is why the Syrians eventually released him. Mr. Arar then sued for damages.

The judge in the case, David Trager of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, did not dispute that United States officials had reason to know that Mr. Arar faced a likelihood of torture in Syria. But he took the rare step of blocking the lawsuit entirely, saying that the use of torture in rendition cases is a foreign policy question not appropriate for court review, and that going forward would mean disclosing state secrets.

It is hard to see why resolving Mr. Arar's case would necessitate the revelation of privileged material. Moreover, as the Supreme Court made clear in a pair of 2004 decisions rebuking the government for its policies of holding foreign terrorism suspects in an indefinite legal limbo in Guantánamo and elsewhere, even during the war on terror, the government's actions are subject to court review and must adhere to the rule of law.

With the Bush administration claiming imperial powers to detain, spy on and even torture people, and the Republican Congress stuck largely in enabling mode, the role of judges in checking executive branch excesses becomes all the more crucial. If the courts collapse when confronted with spurious government claims about the needs of national security, so will basic American liberties.

2

Torture, Rendition, Illegal Detention and Murder Indictment
 

Torture:

Count 1: The Bush administration authorized the use of torture and abuse in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law and domestic constitutional and statutory law.

Rendition:

Count 2: The Bush administration authorized the transfer (rendition) of persons held in U.S. custody to foreign countries where torture is known to be practiced.

Illegal Detention:

Count 3: The Bush administration authorized the indefinite detention of persons seized in foreign combat zones and in other countries far from any combat zone and denied them the protections of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war and the protections of the U.S. Constitution.

Count 4: The Bush administration authorized the round-up and detention in the United States of tens of thousands of immigrants on pretextual grounds and held them without charge or trial in violation of international human rights law and domestic constitutional and civil rights law.

Count 5: The Bush administration used military forces to seize and detain indefinitely without charges U.S. citizens, denying them the right to challenge their detention in U.S. courts.

Murder:

Count 6: The Bush administration committed murder by authorizing the CIA to kill those that the president designates, either US citizens or non-citizens, anywhere in the world.


Count 1

a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, Dick Cheney, Vice President, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, former Director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet; Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, V Corps, Commanding General and formerly in charge of Combined Joint Task Force 7, Iraq; Colonel Thomas M. Pappas, Brigade Commander, 205th Military Intelligence Brigade; Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller; Alberto Gonzales, formerly White House Counsel and now Attorney General of the United States; Jay S. Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, and David Addington, Vice Presidential Counsel.

b. Defendants actions under this count constitute egregious violations of international and domestic law, including crimes of war and crimes against humanity. The U.S. laws violated include, but are not limited to: the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution; 18 U.S.C. Section 242 (War Crimes); 18 U.S.C. Section 2340 (Convention Against Torture Statute); the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Army Regulation 190-8, Articles 3 and 5 of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, and customary international law as reflected, expressed, and defined in multilateral treaties and other international instruments, international and domestic judicial decisions, and other authorities.

c. In commission of Count 1, those named above did engage in the following acts:

1) In or about December, 2001, Bush ordered torture by authorizing Tenet to order the Special Access Program that led to the secret detention of Hiwa Abdul Rahman Rushul, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zabaida and dozens of other detainees without any contact with the outside world in secret prisons around the world and ordering them subjected to tortures including water-boarding, severe beatings, subjection to extreme temperatures, suspension in painful positions, denial of pain-killing medicine after gunshot wounds, severe burning by hot metal, asphyxiation and by threat of death and sexual assault against themselves and members of their families. During such torture an unknown number of detainees died, including Manadel al-Jamadi, Abdul Wali and Abid Hamad Mahalwi.
2) On or about August 1, 2002, upon the initiative of Cheney, Addington and Gonzales drafted a memorandum, Re: Standards of conduct under USC 2340-2340 A signed by Bybee, justifying torture and authorizing its use on detainees and detailing possible defenses in the event of prosecution under the Convention Against Torture Act. The memorandum was approved by Bush, Cheney and the National Security Council.
3) In October, 2002, Miller requested authorization of torture techniques for use at Guantanamo.
4) Beginning in November, 2002, Miller, acting with the authorization of the above-cited memorandum, committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by ordering coerced interrogation of hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, by subjecting them to humiliating and degrading treatment, including the forced removal of clothing, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, subjection to loud and prolonged noise, by denying them medical care and by submitting them to torture. Miller ordered the torture of at least dozens of detainees at Guantanamo Bay by ordering them subjected to extremes of heat and cold, shackled in painful positions for many hours, subjected to beatings with batons, all of which caused the detainees severe pain and suffering. In addition he ordered them threatened with dogs, subjecting them to threat of severe pain and suffering by dog-bite. In addition he ordered that detainees be threatened with transfer to countries known for extreme methods of torture.
5) In December, 2002, Rumsfeld, acting under the authorization of the August, 2002 memorandum, committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by ordering the coerced interrogation of detainees at Guantanamo, by subjecting them to humiliating and degrading treatment, including the forced removal of clothing, sensory deprivation, stress positions, and torture ordering that detainees at Guantanamo be threatened with dogs, subjecting them to threat of severe pain and suffering by dog-bite.
6) In August, 2003, Rumsfeld sent Miller to Iraq to institute torture techniques there.
7) In September, 2003, Sanchez committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by ordering coerced interrogation of hundreds of detainees in Iraq, by subjecting them to humiliating and degrading treatment, including the forced removal of clothing, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, subjection to loud and prolonged noise, by denying them medical care and by submitting them to torture by ordering them subjected to extremes of heat and cold, shackled in painful positions for many hours, all of which caused the detainees severe pain and suffering. In addition he ordered them threatened with dogs, subjecting them to threat of severe pain and suffering by dog-bite. Furthermore when Sanchez was informed by the ICRC of additional torture and degrading treatment occurring in detention centers throughout Iraq, he did nothing to stop these acts.
8) Beginning in September , 2003 many detainees at Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere in Iraq were tortured pursuant to the directives of Rumsfeld, Miller and Sanchez, authorized by the August, 2002 memorandum. During the commission of the acts of torture that the defendants conspired to commit, at least 28 detainees died.


Count 2

a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, John Ashcroft, formerly Attorney General of the United States; Tom Ridge, formerly Secretary of State for Homeland Security; George Tenet, formerly Director of Central Intelligence.

b. Defendants actions under this count constitute egregious violations of international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not limited to: the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution; 18 U.S.C. Section 242 (War Crimes); 18 U.S.C. Section 2340 (Convention Against Torture Statute), 28 U.S.C. 1350, note (the Torture Victim Protection Act), 5 U.S.C. 702 (Administrative Procedure Act); the Convention Against Torture and implementing regulations.

c. In commission of Count 2, those named above did engage in the following acts:

1) Since September 11, 2001, the Defendants committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and authorized torture by authorizing covert extraordinary renditions, -- the detention and transfer of over 100 detainees including both US citizens, such as Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, and non-citizens, such as Canadian Maher Arar, to countries known for torture, to be tortured at CIA direction. The Defendants who have adopted, ratified, and/or implemented the extraordinary renditions policy know that non-U.S. citizens removed under this policy will be interrogated under torture.


Count 3

a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, Dick Cheney, Vice President, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, Alberto Gonzales, formerly White House Counsel and now Attorney General of the United States; George Tenet, formerly Director of Central Intelligence, Jay S. Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, and David Addington, Vice Presidential Counsel.

b. Defendants actions under this count constitute egregious violations of international and domestic law, including crimes of war and crimes against humanity. The U.S. laws violated include, but are not limited to: Article II of the U.S. Constitution; the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution; the due process requirements embodied in the common law; 5 U.S.C. Section 702 (the Administrative Procedure Act); 18 U.S.C. Section 242 (War Crimes); Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC 242); Conspiracy Against Rights (18 USC 241); the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Army Regulation 190-8, Articles 3 and 5 of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions, and customary international law as reflected, expressed, and defined in multilateral treaties and other international instruments, international and domestic judicial decisions, and other authorities.

c. In commission of Count 3, those named above did engage in the following acts:

1) In October, 2001 Cheney and Addington committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by directing that a Presidential order be drafted authorizing the indefinite detention without charge of detainees and their subjection to military tribunals.
2) On November 16, 2001, Bush did under color of law willfully subject thousands of detainees outside the United States to the deprivation of their rights to due process under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution by on Nov. 16, 2001 issuing a Military Order authorizing unconstitutional detention without charge of non-citizens, also thereby committing a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.
3) In November, 2001, pursuant to the above-cited Military order, thousands of individual were detained in camps in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba without charge or trial. The detainees have been imprisoned at the Guantánamo since January 2002. They have been held incommunicado without access to their families or counsel or to the courts.
4) In or about December, 2001, Bush committed authorized Tenet to order the Special Access Program that led to the secret detention of Hiwa Abdul Rahman Rushul, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zabaida and dozens of other detainees without any contact with the outside world in secret prisons around the world.
5) In January, 2002, Gonzales committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by advising Bush in written memos to suspend the application of the Geneva conventions to detainees.
6) On February 7, 2002, Bush committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions by issuing in February 7, 2002 a Memorandum stating that Geneva Convention does not apply to detainees, unlawful combatants.
7) Beginning in March, 2003, tens of thousands of individuals are detained in Iraq without charge or trial, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.


Count 4

a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count include: John Ashcroft, formerly Attorney General of the United States; Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States; Tom Ridge, formerly Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chernoff Secretary of Homeland Security

b. Defendants actions under this count constitute egregious violations of international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not limited to: the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution, Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC 242); Conspiracy Against Rights (18 USC 241); the Alien Tort Statute (28 U.S.C. 1350) ,customary international law, and treaty law as incorporated into federal common law and statutory law.

c. In commission of Count 4, those named above did engage in the following acts:

1) Thousands of male non-citizens from the Middle East, South Asia, and elsewhere who are Arab or Muslim or have been perceived by Defendants to be Arab or Muslim, were detained on minor immigration violations following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States (post-9/11 detainees), and were treated as of interest to the governments terrorism investigation and subjected to a blanket hold until cleared policy pursuant to which the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) denied them bond without regard to evidence of dangerousness or flight risk, and detained them until the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cleared them of terrorist ties. All were in fact cleared of any connection to terrorism.

2) Subsequently, in the period from January, 2002 to the present, tens of thousands of non-citizens from many countries, primarily from the Caribbean, and Africa but also from the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, were detained without criminal charge for months and in some cases years as administrative detainees, a practice in violation of the basic provisions of the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

3) The victims were subjected to one or more of the following unconstitutional policies and practices: they were held without an indictment by a Grand jury, they were denied the right to counsel, the right to a trial by jury and denied any form of judicial review. They were held without any criminal charge being brought against them. They were denied bond. Some were classified as being of high interest to the governments terrorism investigation, Witness Security and/or Management Interest Group 155 detainees in the absence of adequate standards or procedures for making such a determination or evidence that they were involved in terrorism. They were subjected to a communications blackout and other actions that interfered with their access to counsel and their ability to seek redress in the courts. After receiving final removal orders or grants of voluntary departure, some were held in immigration custody far beyond the period necessary to secure their removal or voluntary departure from the United States, again without regard to whether they posed a danger or flight risk.

4) While in detention, the detainees have been subjected to unreasonable and excessively harsh conditions. Some have been held in overcrowded and unsanitary county jail facilities and housed with potentially dangerous criminal pretrial detainees, even though they themselves have never been charged with a crime. Others have been kept in federal and county facilities where they have been placed in tiny cells for over 23 hours a day and strip-searched, manacled, and shackled when taken out of their cells. Many have suffered physical and verbal abuse by their guards. These abuses include being badly beaten and being attacked by dogs. Many have been denied the ability to practice their faith during their detention.

5) During their confinement, Defendants or their agents subjected some detainees to coercive and involuntary custodial interrogation designed to overcome their will and coerce involuntary and incriminating statements from them.

6) By adopting, promulgating, and implementing these policies and practices, Defendants Ashcroft, Gonzales, Ridge, and Chernoff, and others have intentionally or recklessly violated rights guaranteed to the detainees by the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution, customary international law, and treaty law. In doing so they have also violated the Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law Act (18 USC 242) which prescribes punishment for Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens. They have also engaged in a Conspiracy Against Rights (18 USC 241) by conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate the detainees in the free exercise or enjoyment of the rights and privileges secured to them by the Constitution of the United States, including the right to personal liberty and to due process.


Count 5

a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, Dick Cheney, Vice President, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, Alberto Gonzales, formerly White House Counsel and now Attorney General of the United States;. Jay S. Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, and Dick Addington, Vice Presidential Counsel.

b. Defendants actions under this count constitute egregious violations of international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not limited to: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution, Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC 242); Conspiracy Against Rights (18 USC 241); customary international law, and treaty law as incorporated into federal common law and statutory law.

c. In commission of Count 5, those named above did engage in the following acts:

1) On June 9, Bush ordered Rumsfeld to detain Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen as an enemy combatant. Rumsfeld ordered that military personnel carry out this Presidential directive, which had no basis in any law. Padilla was not charged with any criminal offense, was not indicted by a grand jury, was not convicted or even tried by a jury, was given no access to counsel and has been imprisoned for over three years. Padillas rights under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution were thereby violated in violation of 18 USC 242 and 18 USC 241.

2) On the initiative of Cheney and Addington, Gonzales inserted into an Aug.1, 2002 memorandum from Bybee wording justifying the President unlimited power to detain as enemy combatants anyone, without any judicial process. This memorandum, approved by Bush and Cheney is part of a conspiracy against the rights of all US citizens and residents.

3) In court papers in the case of Padilla, and in the case of Hamdi as well as elsewhere, Bush and his agents have claimed that the President has the power to designate any one, citizen or immigrant, as a enemy combatant and to jail them indefinitely without charge or trial. Such assertions by those acting under color of law constitute a conspiracy against the rights of all US citizens and residents.


Count 6

a. The Defendants responsible for the violations delineated in this count include: George W. Bush, President of the United States, George Tenet, formerly Director of Central Intelligence

b. Defendants actions under this count constitute egregious violations of international and domestic law. The laws violated include, but are not limited to: the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution, Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 USC 242); and Murder (18 USC 1111)

c. In commission of Count 6, those named above did engage in the following acts:

1) In October 2001 Bush issued a secret finding authorizing the CIA to kill those he designated, either US citizens or non-citizens, anywhere in the world.

2) Under the authority of this secret finding, Bush and Tenet ordered the killing by Predator drone of US citizen Kamal Derwish.
 

02-28-06

ALABAMA paper publishes some pretty tame pictures from the civil rights era. I wonder what happened to all the pictures of blacks and minorities being hung, shot, beaten, and killed that I remember seeing when I was a boy. They claim to have  opened up some great archive but frankly it's all pretty tame stuff. Nonetheless worth a look. Perhaps even though the real violence and injustice is not glaring one in the face, a taste of what that time was like is at least to be had. The blood of many innocent people flowed for the rights that have been lost in the last 15 years.

Just another "good ole boy" Same old shit!

ALABAMA COM

02-27-06

The Massacre Continues in Iraq 83/

Alleged Ex-Russian Spy Contacts JAR2

02-27-06

Mike Smith, an alleged Russian spy imprisoned by the U.K. and released after serving his sentence, contacted JAR2 and asked me to publicize information regarding his case on the site. If any one has information regarding any aspect of his case please feel free to send it, anonymity guaranteed. You can read more about his case by clicking on the links below.

SEE: Mike Smith    MI5 UK 

Dear John,

Many thanks for putting the information from my blog onto your website, and also for giving a link to my blog.

I have put a link to your site on my blog and mentioned that you have put the information on JAR2.com. See here:

http://parellic.blogspot.com/2006_02_26_parellic_archive.html

Best wishes,

Mike Smith

02-27-06

This did as well. Something lighter for Sunday.

SEE: Knowledge News

The Original Olympics

Behold! The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

You know the Olympics are back. You know their ancient ancestors were Greek. You may even know that their birthplace--the religious sanctuary of Olympia--was home to the gargantuan Statue of Zeus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. But do you know what the ancient games were really like?

Praise Nike!

We don't mean the shoe company. We mean the ancient Greek goddess of victory. According to legend, the first Olympics began in 776 BC, with a dusty, barefoot race held during Olympia's Zeus festival. After that, when Greeks flocked to Olympia's rural sanctuary every four years to praise Zeus, they stayed for the thrill of Nike and the agony of defeat. Similar games were held at ancient Delphi and other sanctuaries, but Olympia's games reigned supreme.

Like their modern equivalents, these competitions were intended to reveal the most skilled athletes. But a lack of protective clothing, random pairings that failed to account for size or skill, and few rules made the ancient Olympics a most dangerous game. Ancient fans were as forgiving as a Russian figure skating coach, and competitors could die trying to please the crowd.

The Quick and the Nude

The fleet of foot enjoyed prominent status even among champion athletes, as most Greeks had grown up listening to legends of the half mortal, half divine Hercules, who ran great distances as a test of strength. Olympic athletes proudly ran their distances barefoot and naked, but legend suggests that wasn't always so. An ancient story circulated that the tradition of nudity began in 720 BC when an eager sprinter simply lost his shorts.

Competitors had four races to choose from, all measured by the length of the 192-meter stadium. The first was called the stadion, a sprint exactly one stadium long. The next race was double that length, while the third was long distance--between 7 and 24 stades.

The other race was the hoplitodromos, an exhausting two- to four-stade sprint by runners encumbered with 60 pounds of hoplite armor. Eventually, nakedness won out there, too, and racers grabbed just helmets and shields. A starting rope ensured few jumped the gun; those who did were beaten.

Chariots of Fire

Greek jockeys also competed sans pants. No saddles or stirrups either. And they never got much credit for being real athletes. As in modern times, it was expensive to buy, stable, and train a horse. Jockeys were considered mere employees. When a race was won, the owner, and not the rider, was crowned with the olive wreath.

The real glamour lay in the chariot races, easily the equivalent of today's NASCAR. Spectators held their breath waiting for a good chariot crash. The four-horse chariot race, called the tethrippon, was the real crowd pleaser--thrilling to watch, easy to bet on, and terribly expensive for owners. According to some accounts, Greek women could vie for the olive wreath in this category as horse owners, though under practically every other circumstance, married women were expressly forbidden to watch the games.

Complaints that the horse races were rigged cropped up frequently. In AD 67, the extravagant and eccentric Roman emperor Nero staged a unique ten-horse chariot race. Judges declared him the winner despite the fact that he fell from his chariot and failed to complete the course. Later historians duly struck Nero's name from the list of champions.

And for the Overachiever . . .

There was the pentathlon--"pent" for five events: sprinting, long jumping, javelin hurling, discus throwing, and wrestling. The philosopher Aristotle called pentathlon competitors the most beautiful athletes of all, since their bodies were "capable of enduring all efforts."

Discus and javelin hurling required balance, agility, and strength. The saucer-shaped discus was more or less a lead or stone frisbee that varied in size, while the wood javelin was a six-foot pole with a leather thong near the center that let the hurler keep a firm hold. Long jumpers used barbell-shaped weights called halteres to increase their distance, in a swinging motion that physicists say really does work.

The games concluded as they began: with a sacrifice to the gods. Winners returned home to be feted with banquets, parades, and money.. Some were even granted free meals for the rest of their lives. The defeated went home in disgrace.

Claire Vail
February 16, 2006

02-25-06 These two articles came in my mail.

Corruption Comes at a Cost

"This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security of the United States of America."
-- President Bush on the UAE port deal

But he treatens to veto any measure against it.

"I think it's a bit of a joke if we were serious about scrutinizing foreign ownership and foreign control, particularly since 9/11."
-- Richard Perle, discussing the panel that approved the UAE port deal and on which he once sat

"Pretty outrageous."
-- Tom DeLay on the UAE port deal

A new report released this week from Democrats on the House Rules Committee, led by Rep. Louise Slaughter, hits the nail on the head. Entitled "America for Sale: The Cost of Republican Corruption," examines the real world implications of the Republican scandals unfolding every day.

The report documents the ways in which Republican corruption has infiltrated a multitude of political arenas ranging from healthcare to education to national security. Republican members of Congress are reaping the benefits that their special-interest friends have to offer while simultaneously putting the American people at a loss. Rather than representing their constituents, they are instead representing the "highest bidder."

Despite billions of dollars that have thus far been spent on Homeland Security, the 9/11 Commission repeatedly questions the utility of these funds. Airport security is deemed insufficient, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has not been stymied, and the United States government has been given a failing grade for its overall security by the Commission. As the report documents, the Republicans seem to have been cherry picking national defense contractors with one standard - will this contractor support the Republican Party?

The Government Accountability Office has questioned whether the 250 billion dollars for the Iraq war has been put to its best use. Despite this astronomical amount, there is a lack of sufficient, safe supplies. Among other problems, military Humvees do not offer adequate means of transportation, and the drinking water delivered to the soldiers is grossly contaminated

Another pressing issue is America's source of energy. The rising energy costs are putting a great amount of stress on American families across the nation, but energy companies have racked up excessive profits. And we're to believe that the millions of dollars in campaign contributions given to Republicans are a mere coincidence.

There are other salient issues that are affecting Americans on a day-to-day basis. Millions of Americans have essentially been left to fend for themselves after the passage of Medicare Part D. By intertwining private insurance companies with red tape, the federal government has once again chosen its own best interest - political support from large private insurance companies - over the basic needs of its citizens.

Lastly, the circumstance surrounding America's higher education is dismal. It too is entangled with the Republican's special interests. The Republicans are vehemently fighting against direct loans because it eliminates the need for financial institutions that offer a great amount of political support from this organization.

Overall, if the Republicans are able to continue their pay-to-play gambit, the constituents' interests will be represented less and less. More and more, only lobbyists and wealthy special interest groups are being represented in what is supposed to be "the People's House." As long as the Republican culture of corruption continues, the remedies to the problems facing American families.

The American Chronicle published the key specific findings of the report...

14.2 million American seniors (including millions of our sickest and most vulnerable seniors) are stuck in a complicated, expensive, and inefficient Medicare prescription drug program because the Republican Congress and the Bush Administration allowed lobbyists from the insurance and pharmaceutical industries to design this program.

60 million American families who heat their homes with natural gas and 8 million families who heat with heating oil are paying higher bills this winter, even though the Republican Congress recently passed their "national energy plan" into law. Although this plan gives the energy industry billions in new tax breaks and subsidies, it doesn't lower prices for consumers or make our country more energy independent.

The 150,000 U.S. troops currently deployed in Iraq may not have the equipment they need because of waste, fraud and cronyism by the Republican Congress and the Department of Defense. While Halliburton and other companies with Republican connections get their contracts, our soldiers still don't have the body armor and armored vehicles they need to fight the war.

750,000 households in the Gulf regions are still displaced today, more than 5 months after Hurricane Katrina hit that region, at least in part because the political hacks the Bush Administration put in charge of crucial homeland security functions were not adequately prepared to prepare for or respond to this disaster.

More than 10 million students and their families will have larger student loans to repay because House Republicans, led by new Majority Leader John Boehner working hand-in-hand with his commercial loan industry allies, cut $12 billion from the student loan program in the recent reconciliation bill and shifted the costs on to students and their families.

Quite a record.

The Pombo Whirlwind Continues - With Your Help

We've been needling arch-anti-environmentalist Richard Pombo of California for a couple weeks now, but this week he got the full court press. The DCCC launched an entire new Web site dedicated to his environmental and ethical missteps, and we're inviting you to take part in a contest to design the billboard advertising the website in his district.

Check it out.

Meanwhile, the stories continued to ripple out showing just why he deserves the treatment we're giving him.

Bob Irvin: Pombo's 'all-out assault'
Sacramento Bee - February 22, 2006

""It is no secret that Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, chairman of the House Resources Committee, has long sought to gut the Endangered Species Act.

"In 1996, he wrote a book about his ambition, "This Land is Our Land." When former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay made Pombo chairman of the Resources Committee, he did so largely because he shared Pombo's antipathy toward the Endangered Species Act. Thus late last year, when Pombo convinced a narrow majority of the House to adopt his bill - the so-called Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act - he appeared on the verge of achieving his ambition.

"After withering criticism of Pombo's bill, both for its disastrous effect on endangered species conservation and the American taxpayer, its future in the Senate looks bleak. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Endangered Species Act, recently warned that any Senate bill to amend the act must not be "Pomboized," to use Chafee's word, when the Senate and House confer to work out their differences concerning what the final legislation should say."

Of course the story that got the ball rolling on all of this was the little tale about Pombo's taxpayer-funded RV vacation. He's twisted and turned, flip-flopped and flailed, but this letter to the editor of his local paper shows that his constituents are seeing through it...

"There is more than $5,000 in question, some of the officials of the parks that Pombo supposedly visited don't remember him being there and Pombo described this trip initially on his Web site as a family vacation in which he rented an RV.

"We now know that we paid for the RV, and Pombo calls it 'legitimate' and 'work' and not personal in the Tracy Press.

"Mr. Pombo, if it was all work, prove it. If it was part work or the family vacation you claimed it to be initially, give back the taxpayer money accordingly.

"Even the Tracy Press's front page admitted that 'Pombo's answers raise questions.' This situation is not 'refreshing,' it's troubling."

And while Pombo has made a name for himself with some rather unique forms of scandal and pay-for-play, let no one think he's exempt from the type of general Republican corruption discussed in our first story...

A not-so-sweet Valentine (No Love Lost)
Tracy Press - February 15, 2006

"About 30 senior citizens descended on Rep. Richard Pombo's office in Stockton on Tuesday to protest his support of a new Medicare prescription-drug law before moving to continue the protest at a nearby drug store where the congressman's staff was fielding questions on the new law.

"The program in question, Medicare Part D, expands the health-care program to cover prescription-drug costs for seniors through federally subsidized private insurance plans. Critics say it is filled with giveaways to big drug companies and confusing for consumers.

"Tuesday's demonstration, especially the protesters' presence at the drug store, provoked an animated response from Pombo, R-Tracy, who said it was inappropriate for the group to interfere with his staff's efforts to address concerns about the program."

That response captures about the same level of respect for America's seniors that Pombo and the Republicans displayed when they let big drug companies write the Medicare bill. Points for consistency, perhaps.

And what is about these California Republicans anyhow? Pombo may have enough problems to fill up an entire website, but he's got stiff competition for most scandal-plagued Golden State GOPer. There's Jerry Lewis in CA-41, who earned a massive USA Today expose for the appearance of pay-for-play with a massive hedge fund, there's John Doolittle in CA-04 and Dana Rohrabacher, whose connections with Jack Abramoff run deep and lengthy, there's Bill Thomas in CA-22, who shut down the inquiry into potentially illegal Bush Administration actions regarding the Medicare bill, David Dreier in CA-26, who introduced the gutted ethics rules last year, and Duncan Hunter in CA-41 who held the profoundly controversial Titan Corp. as his biggest donor in the 2004 cycle. But Hunter is only tangentially connected to the corrupt California Republican who, in the end, set a new bar for betrayal of the public trust...

Prosecutors recommend 10-year maximum sentence for ex-Rep. Cunningham
Associated Press - February 17, 2006

"The prosecution's sentencing memorandum included a copy of a "bribe menu" written under the Congressional seal on Cunningham's office stationary. One column of figures represented the millions of dollars in contracts that could be "ordered" from Cunningham, according to prosecutors. The right column showed the amount of bribes Cunningham demanded in return.

"According to the sentencing memorandum, Cunningham offered co-conspirator No. 2 - identified elsewhere as defense contractor Mitchell Wade - $16 million in contracts in exchange for a $140,000 bribe, which came in the form a 42-foot yacht, the Duke-Stir.

"Cunningham's position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence put him in a position to help Wade, founder of defense contractor MZM Inc. In 2001, Cunningham thanked Wade for his bribes and told him he would make him 'somebody,' according to the sentencing memorandum. MZM's government contracts soared from less than $1 million a year to tens of millions of dollars per year."

Says it all.

The Republican Pre-9/11 Mindset

"JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, this may be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back. This deal to sell control of six U.S. ports to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates.

"There are now actually senators and congressman and governors and mayors telling the White House, you are not going to do this. It's about time. No one has said no to this administration on anything that matters in a very long time. Well, this matters. It matters a lot."
-- Jack Cafferty, CNN's "Situation Room," February 21, 2006

You've probably had a tough time missing the coverage of the fact that control over six major American ports has been sold to the United Arab Emirates, one of three countries to have recognized the Taliban government. But the information has been pouring out faster than most of us can keep track of, so here's a digest of the key stories on the matter...

Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administration
New York Daily News - February 21, 2006

"The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

"One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose agency heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

"Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

"The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration."

Bennie Thompson, ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, has written to the Government Accountability Office requesting an investigation into the deal, and in particular the following questions:

1) Did the Secretary of Treasury recuse himself from the review of this sale? If not, what role did he have in the review?
2) What was Mr. Sanborn's role in this sale?
3) Did the CFIUS committee use the same definition of a national security threat as defined in the September 2005 GAO report? Did the definition used by CFIUS adequately consider the risk to critical infrastructure protection, such as port security?
4) What security information did the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense provide to CFIUS, if any, and did this information have a role in addressing any concerns about national security?
5) What role did the Director of National Intelligence play in the review of this sale?
6) What standards does CFIUS use in determining whether an acquisition or similar transaction raises national security concerns? Are these adequate?

Meanwhile, President Bush issues a veto threat and scoffs at concerns about security, even as he and others concede they were caught off guard...

Bush Would Veto Any Bill Halting Dubai Port Deal
New York Times - February 21, 2006

"However, a 1993 amendment to the law stipulates that such an investigation is mandatory when the acquiring company is controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government. Administration officials said they conducted additional inquires because of the ties to the United Arab Emirates, but they could not say why a 45-day investigation did not occur."

Donald Rumsfeld, one of those on the board that supposedly approved the deal, gave little more in the way of reassurance at a press conference this week...

Q Are you confident that any problems with security -- from what you know, are you confident that any problems with security would not be greater with a UAE company running this than an American company?

SEC. RUMSFELD: I am reluctant to make judgments based on the minimal amount of information I have, because I just heard about this over the weekend...

And finally, the White House put out word that even President Bush was not aware of the deal, despite his vigorous denunciations of his critics...

Bush not aware of port deal approval
Lexington Herald-Leader - February 23, 2006

"Faced with an unprecedented Republican revolt over national security, the White House yesterday disclosed that President Bush was unaware of a Middle Eastern company's planned takeover of operations at six U.S. seaports until recent days and promised to more fully brief members of Congress on the pending deal."

That fact became all the more bizarre when it was paired with the revelation that the deal was not, in fact, routine, but rather included several unique provisions negotiated in secret...

Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement
Associated Press - February 23, 2006

"The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future U.S. investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. It chose not to impose other, routine restrictions.

"As part of the $6.8 billion purchase, state-owned Dubai Ports World agreed to reveal records on demand about 'foreign operational direction' of its business at U.S. ports, the documents said. Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.

"The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries."

The White House has attempted to spin these negotiations as an indication that they were careful, contradictions with previous statements not withstanding. But does making a special exception to allow a company to hold on to documents where they cannot be subpoenaed in any investigation sound careful?

And while Republicans are racing to use this as an opportunity to distance themselves from an unpopular president for whom they've been a rubber stamp up to now, their voting records reek of hypocrisy. While Democrats have a history of making port security a priority, Republicans have bottled up serious efforts to address it and voted down attempts to adequately fund port security. The DCCC release catalogued their votes...

"To paraphrase Karl Rove, Democrats and Republicans have fundamentally different views on national security. For example, Republicans think we should outsource national security to a state used by 9/11 hijackers as an operational and financial base, Democrats think we should not," said Bill Burton, communications director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Democrats have a post-9/11 worldview and many Republicans have a pre-9/11 worldview. Democrats think it is wrong to trust a state that recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, Republicans think it's right. That doesn't make them unpatriotic but it does make them wrong -- deeply and profoundly and consistently wrong."

Republicans in Congress - Voting to Put Our Ports at Risk:

Republicans Voted to Kill An Amendment to Add $250 Million for Port Security Grants. Republicans voted to kill a Democratic amendment that would add $2.5 billion for homeland security, including $250 million for port security grants, $800 million for first responder grants, and $150 million for research to develop capabilities against chemical weapons. [HR 1559, Vote #104, 4/3/03]

Republicans in Congress Voted Against Increased Port Security. In 2005, Republicans voted against an alternative Homeland Security Authorization proposal that would commit $41 billion to securing the nation from terrorist threats - $6.9 billion more than the President's budget. The proposal called for an additional $400 million in funding for port security, including $13 million to double the number of new overseas port inspectors provided for in the President's budget. The proposal addressed the holes in securing the nation's ports by requiring DHS to develop container security standards, integrate container security pilot projects, and examine ways to integrate container inspection equipment and data. Currently DHS, has three very similar container security pilot projects that are not coordinated in any fashion, resulting in wasted money and redundant efforts. Finally, the plan required DHS to conduct a study of the risk factors associated with the port of Miami and ports in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, including the U.S. Virgin Islands. The alternative plan failed, 196-230. [HR 1817, Roll Call #187, 5/18/05; Committee on Homeland Security Minority Office, http://www.dccc.org/r/1871/652299]

Who's Running the Ports?

A little background information on the new operators: the United Arab Emirates:

The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are the other two.

The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.

After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden's bank accounts.

Finally, in a late breaking development, the port deal is being delayed. But Democrats and a few Republicans in the Senate immediately made clear that would not suffice. From the subscription-only Congressional Quarterly...

Delay of Ports Deal Does Not Satisfy Critics in Congress
Congressional Quarterly - February 24, 2006

"Four Senate Republicans and four Democrats today vowed to press forward next week with legislation designed to force a detailed security review of a deal to transfer operational control of six major U.S. ports to a United Arab Emirates-controlled company.

"The senators said that yesterday▓s voluntary move by DP World to delay its takeover of operations at the U.S. ports for an unspecified period does not suffice.

"'A brief period for the company to continue lobbying without the full 45-day investigation that should have been done from the beginning is simply not enough,' said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. 'If the president were to voluntarily institute the investigation and delay the contract, that would be a good step. But a simple cooling off period will not allay our very serious concerns about this dubious deal.'

"Schumer was joined by Norm Coleman, R-Minn.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, both R-Maine; Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.; Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.

"Their bill would require a 45-day investigation and give Congress 30 days in which to disapprove the sale after it receives a full report."