How’s the view, George? Again, the question must be asked: Is this man a moron?

Holiday greetings to all subscribers!

I thought I’d start off this week by discussing a very serious subject: shape-shifting aliens. I do this because some readers insist on writing to ask about them. Well … they don’t generally ask about them directly, but rather ask me what I think of David Icke.

Icke is, for those who aren’t in-the-know, probably best known as the leading proponent of the theory that George Bush – and the rest of the world’s power brokers – are actually lizards.

Now you’re probably thinking: “Yeah, Bush is kind of scaly and cold-blooded, and he has a certain primitive, reptilian intelligence … I can see the metaphor.” But David Icke isn’t speaking metaphorically when he says that Bush is a lizard. He’s talking scales and tails and beady little eyes.

Bush is, you see, part of an ancient, reptilian-alien bloodline that secretly rules the world — I think through the use of underground bases staffed with child slaves, or something like that. To be honest, I haven’t actually made it all the way through the David Icke oeuvre. It’s at the top of my reading list though.

Now you’re probably thinking: “Wow! That David Icke guy obviously had access to much better acid back in the Sixties than I did. I mean, even when I watched the Wizard of Oz synchronized with The Dark Side of the Moon, I didn’t pick up on the reptilian alien angle.”

But surprisingly enough, Mr. Icke is actually an intelligent, articulate, rational observer and chronicler of this world that we live in. I say that because much of what he says and writes sounds very much like what I say and write (a recent interview with Icke can be found at: http://www.davidicke.com/icke/articles2002/fork1.html).

That is why, alas, I get mail referencing Mr. Icke — generally along the lines of: “I’ve heard that you have a problem with David Icke, but have you ever read his stuff? A lot of it sounds just like what you write. The only major difference is that he says the bad guys are really lizards.”

A fairly minor area of disagreement, I suppose. So why then is David Icke a thorn in my side? You’re probably thinking that it is because shape-shifting reptilians, with the rather obvious exception of my ex-wife, don’t actually exist. Or perhaps you think it is because Mr. Icke gives the skeptics in the crowd an easy out, by providing them with a ready response whenever they are confronted with compelling evidence of official corruption and criminality: “Yeah, that’s a real nice story and all, but you do realize that people who believe that also believe that George Bush is really a lizard … don’t you?”

But those aren’t the reasons for my animosity towards David Icke. The real reason is because … because … oh, shit! … hang on just a minute … I’ll be right back …

… OK, I’m back. Sorry about that. Trying to type when you start shape-shifting is really a bitch. Laugh if you must, but you try hunting and pecking with lizard claws. It isn’t all that easy.

So now I guess my secret is out. Icke was right when he subtly implied in that interview that it wasn’t he who is the disinformation agent, but rather those researchers who refuse to discuss the alien connection — those researchers whom he refers to as “five sense” researchers.

Pretty funny little play on words there, by the way. Ha ha. “Five sense” researchers. Get it? As in “5 cents” researchers. I guess that’s a little better than “dime-a-dozen” researchers, anyway.

I will readily admit that I do in fact limit my research to that which I can perceive through the five senses, because – and I’m a little embarrassed to admit this – they are all I have. Apparently Mr. Icke has a couple of extra senses. I guess he’s like a “seven sense” researcher, or something like that.

That allows him to ‘see’ things that the rest of us cannot — like reptiles in three-piece suits secretly pulling the levers of power.

Anyway, I guess it’s time that I level with all of you: covering up the reptilian alien connection is my job. I can share lots of other stuff with you guys, but mum’s the word on the ‘eptilians-ra, if you catch my drift. We just can’t let that kind of stuff get around.

If someone like David Icke – who is more of a cottage industry than he is a writer, commanding a website that
claims to greet 100,000,000 visitors a year (http://www.davidicke.com/icke/index1c.html), marketing an array of self-authored and self-produced books and videotapes, and speaking to large audiences around the world – wants to spill the beans on the reptoids … well, my people don’t really like it, but we can overlook it.

But if someone such as myself – with a vast, world-wide audience of, quite literally, hundreds – started talking about the aliens, there would just be too many people who might start catching on.

So please don’t write to me anymore asking about the aliens. I really can’t talk about them ….

But even though I can’t talk about them, we all know that they are out there. So from now on, when you read my postings, just insert the alien references yourself. And if you should choose to share my writings with others, you can feel free to smile knowingly as you whisper, “he can’t talk about it, but the people he writes about are really reptilian aliens.”

Whew! I can’t tell you how much better I feel now that we have all that out in the open.

I guess I should add here, in Icke’s defense, that I have heard very good things about his new book on the September 11 attacks, Alice in Wonderland and the World Trade Center Disaster (the title of which, curiously enough, echoes the title of a piece that I wrote on the attacks back in April of 2002: http://www.swans.com/library/art8/dmg001.html)

I should also mention here that, in a rather bizarre coincidence of timing, even as I was finishing up this portion of the newsletter, I was offered a timeslot on the inimitable Meria Heller’s Internet-based radio show that was originally slated to be filled by – you guessed it – David Icke. (http://www.meria.net/)

That means that any number of listeners, who fail to notice the schedule change and who tune in late to the show and only hear me addressed by my first name, may very well think that I am David Icke. I’m starting to wonder myself.

Moving on, I have a few corrections and clarifications to tend to here, and then I am finally going to plow through the ridiculously long list of links that I have been promising for weeks. And I mean it this time.

First, I need to address this posting from Common Dreams, sent in by several readers, in which the author puts forth the claim that George W. Bush is not a moron, but is rather a sociopath. Could this be true? (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1128-02.htm; see also http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/Conover120502/conover120502.html)

There is no question that W is a sociopath. A textbook example, in fact.

According to the mental health community, a sociopath is a person with no conscience — a person who hides the emotionless monster within beneath a feigned mask of civility. The oftentimes charming and charismatic persona that the sociopath presents to the world is said to be nothing more than an elaborate and very convincing act.

The label of ‘sociopath’ is most closely associated with those great mythological creatures known as ‘serial killers’ — who win their victims over with charm, wit, and a feigned sincerity, even while fantasizing about how they will carve them up.

But it applies equally to, say, a putative president who can voice platitudes about “compassionate conservatism” and feign concern for the planet’s suffering masses even while implementing and/or continuing policies that result in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of those people all around the world.

So of course George Bush is a sociopath. But that certainly doesn’t distinguish him from anyone else who wields power in Washington. Any one of them could look you in the eye and smile while sticking a shiv in your back. And any one of them can present themselves on the Sunday talk shows as perfectly decent, caring, compassionate individuals, even while pitching Washington spin to build support for policies of state-sanctioned mass murder.

The argument could even be made that George is a serial killer. We are talking here, after all, about the man who hosted more executions than any governor in history. Women, juvenile offenders, the mentally ill, the mentally retarded … George just couldn’t kill them fast enough.

So the question is not whether George W. Bush is a moron or a sociopath. The question is: in addition to being a sociopath, which is a prerequisite for the job he holds, is George also a moron?

Many sociopaths are said to be quite intelligent. Ted Bundy was frequently said to be such an individual. Bill Clinton seems to fit the mold as well. But I don’t think George Bush belongs in the company of those men.

He may not be, technically speaking, a moron — which is actually defined as an adult with a mental age equivalent to that of a child aged 8-12. And he’s probably not an imbecile (mental age of 3-8) or an idiot (mental age of 2 or below) either. But I think we can safely say that George Bush is a sociopath with decidedly below-average intelligence.

And yes, Regis, that is my final answer.

I just realized that I might have written on the subject of sociopaths in a previous newsletter — in response to an e-mail from a reader, I believe. If so, then this was probably an exercise in redundancy. I hate it when that happens.

Many readers’ eyes have doubtless glazed over by now: “Oh shit … first he goes off on a rant about reptilian aliens, of all things, and now he’s going off on his sociopath rant again. I can’t take it anymore! Why won’t that bastard cancel my subscription?”

But now that I’ve typed it all out, I’m obligated to leave it in. It’s a rule that I have. I call it the “Oh, fuck! … that passage really sucks, but I spent a good hour working on it, so I’m leaving it in” rule.

This rule was inspired by the fact that my typing skills are not all that they could be — even when I’m in my human form. If you were to ever see me at work, you would likely say something like: “uhmm … dude? … you may not have noticed this, but you actually have ten fingers.” To which I would say: “Yes, I know. The problem is that eight of them are constantly getting in the way.”

Did anyone just hear a rim-shot? Suddenly I’m writing cheap stand-up jokes.

Let’s quickly move on then to the next correction. It was reported in the last newsletter that the U.S. has sent some $135 billion to Israel since 1949. Not true, says the Christian Science Monitor. The actual figure is $1.6 trillion in just the last thirty tears. (http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1209/p16s01-wmgn.html)

I just don’t know who to believe here, so I’ll again move on to the next correction: it turns out that the guy who authored the posting that argued that the Twin Towers were brought down with controlled explosions (to which a link appeared in the last newsletter) is a fan of this newsletter.

Jerry’s e-mail to me began: “Hello.” That’s how a lot of my e-mail begins. Sometimes it’s “Hi” instead. And every so often I’ll get a “Dear.” Those are generally from people who are more-or-less supportive. Others who aren’t so supportive use other terms of endearment.

Anyway, Jerry went on to say: “This week I was especially excited to notice that you included a link to an article of mine on the WTC collapse [Editor’s note: Jerry also gets excited watching “Sponge Bob”]. Unfortunately, I must add that subsequent discussions & findings have led me to believe that my ‘proof’ did not exactly fill the bill. The fact is, there is no proof — although there are certainly plenty of very interesting questions.”

Jerry has hit upon a truism here, not just in regards to the WTC collapses, but in regards to any event of any significance: ‘proof’ is very hard to come by. The best that any of us can do is to gather and evaluate the best available evidence – or, rather, what we individually  perceive to be the best available evidence –  and then fashion a theory that explains that evidence.

Anyway, Jerry provided links to the latest version of his original article (http://www.911-strike.com/demolition-pro-con.htm) and to another recent posting (http://www.911-strike.com/demolition_explosive.htm). He also included a link to a posting by Jeff King that he described as a “much better and more recent summary of the evidence.” (http://home.attbi.com/~jmking/Collapse_update.htm)

Check out, in particular, the clips of the collapse of WTC#7, which didn’t get the saturation television coverage of the other two collapses. It is positively eerie. The entire, seemingly intact building slides out of view behind the buildings in the foreground, in a perfectly smooth, uniform collapse. It looks as though the structure was built on a giant elevator platform, and was simply lowered out of sight. (http://thewebfairy.com/whatzit/wtc-7[1].gif)

Nothing unusual about that. Nor about the fact that it wasn’t even struck by an errant aircraft before its bizarre collapse. Nor about the fact that the building happened to house a ‘secret’ CIA station. (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/1104-04.htm)

I mentioned last week, by the way, that the tower collapse data was being suppressed. Now it appears that some of that evidence has … ooops! … gone missing. (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021209_1938.html)

Anyway, thanks to Jerry for writing in and for continuing to ask questions about the collapse of the Twin Towers.

And now, at long last, in no particular order, is the long-overdue and frequently-promised list of backlogged links. Some of these have doubtless expired. Sorry about that.

Did I mention, by the way, that White House Strategic Liar Ari Fleischer said something screamingly funny the other day? Asked why the U.S. released an unflagged ship loaded with North Korean Scud missiles (that the administration was apparently planning to claim was enroute to Iraq, before Yemen short-circuited that plan by claiming ownership of the missiles), he said, and I quote: “We have no choice but to obey international law.” (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-ship12dec12001437.story)

The WSWS took a look at the incident, which appears to have been a failed attempt to stage a provocation for war. (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/dec2002/scud-d14.shtml)

Here are some veterans who are against war with Iraq (http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ and http://www.interventionmag.com/vet/), some veterans who call on Rumsfeld to resign (http://www.rense.com/general30/ass.htm), some veterans who ask if microwave weapons were used against Iraq in the last war (http://www.gulfwarvets.com/weapons3.htm), some veterans who want to know why Washington has unlimited funds to wage war on Iraq, and no money at all for veterans (http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/prime/1031-102.html), and some veterans who debunk the administration’s bogus case for going to war (http://www.guerrillanews.com/war_on_terrorism/doc823.html).

Space Daily explained why space forces are indispensable (http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-02z.html), the New Yorker asked if Saddam really did try to kill Poppy Bush (http://newyorker.com/archive/content/?020930fr_archive02), the New York Times revealed Iraq’s little secret — that women are not treated as second-class citizens (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/01/opinion/01KRIS.html?ex=1034497567&ei=1&en=1a989c1cbb721718), and the Sunshine Project looked at psychopharmacological warfare (http://www.sunshine-project.org/publications/pr010702.html).

The Christian Science Monitor worried that the shift of power to the executive branch of the U.S. government may be permanent (http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1003/p01s02-uspo.html), to which I say: duh. And here are two offerings that took a look at the suppression of dissent on college campuses (http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2002-10-02/fishwrapper.html and http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,805842,00.html)

Gary Webb posted his original “Dark Alliance” series, which first appeared in the San Jose Mercury News (http://gary.webb.home.attbi.com/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html), and the BBC acknowledged something that the Western media has generally turned a blind eye to: the horrendous suffering that the sanctions regime has caused Iraqi children (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2290202.stm).

Financial Times added that the Iraqi child death rate has tripled since the first Gulf War (http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1039523437098&p=1012571727172). The report also noted that only two non-African nations have higher child death rates than Iraq: Cambodia and Afghanistan, both of which have been the recipients of massive U.S. bombing campaigns. Hmmm … I think I detect a pattern here.

Elsewhere, some voices were calling for a ‘regime change’ not in Iraq, but in the U.S. (http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CON210A.html), Deck Deckert of Swans was attempting to explain the Iraq situation to a Martian (http://www.swans.com/library/art8/rdeck029.html), The Daily Enron was dishing some dirt on Harvey Pitt (http://www.thedailyenron.com/documents/20021007085617-24605.asp), and Counterpunch was doing likewise with Karl Rove (http://rense.com/general31/EXPs.htm).

Reports surfaced of germ warfare tests that the U.S. had conducted on its own citizens — reports which Dr. Len Horowitz correctly identified as ‘limited hang-outs’ (http://globalresearch.ca/articles/TET210A.html).

New Zealand’s the Scoop reported that Britain’s MI6 paid off bin Laden (http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0210/S00061.htm), a former UN aid coordinator labeled Bush’s impending war on Iraq a “psycho war” (http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Middle_East/0,1113,2-10-35_1268878,00.html), and the Village Voice took a peek at IBM’s ties to Auschwitz (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0241/black.php).

The New York Times assured us that the U.S. is protecting Colombia’s oil pipeline (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/international/americas/04COLO.html), Narconews reported that U.S. Marines will soon be on the way (http://www.narconews.com/article.php3?ArticleID=19), and the Telegraph added that the Green Berets have joined the party as well (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/12/wcolom12.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/10/12/ixworld.html).

We’re not taking any chances with those darn terrorists attacking our … I mean Colombia’s, oil pipeline.

The New York Times also reminded us of the central role that Halliburton played in arming Iraq (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/11/opinion/11KRIS.html), which is, by the way, exactly the sort of information that the U.S. no doubt expunged from Iraq’s 12,000-page weapons declaration after strong-arming control of it (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DL12Ak01.html and http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/12.15A.iraq.us.names.htm)

I’m wondering, by the way, if anyone in Iraq has figured out yet that it might be a good idea for them to run off a bunch of copies of the documents, for distribution to Security Council members — just so that those members would, you know, have a complete version to compare to the redacted U.S. version.

In These Times expressed concern over the military’s new blinding lasers (http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/26/24/news1.shtml), the Independent divulged that the novel A Clockwork Orange was based on the author’s knowledge of actual CIA mind control projects (http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=342016), and Truthout fretted over America’s secret, private armies (http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/10.16A.secret.army.htm).

Try to keep up here … we still have a long way to go. There’s going to be a lot more of these links, so just pick out the ones you like as we move along.

The CIA – surprise! surprise! – had advance warning of the Bali ‘terrorist’ attack (http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2002/10/15/1034643430.htm and http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/16/1034561164432.html). Indonesia was said to be angry at the FBI (http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1139392002), although I can’t imagine why. And the explosive used in the attack was said to be of U.S. origin (http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/10.17B.bbc.c4.us.htm).

Australia apparently also had advance warning of the attack, and failed to pass that warning on to Bali (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/bali-o17.shtml). The Australian government, of course, proceeded to use the attack as a pretext to play “follow the leader” with the U.S., running roughshod over the civil and privacy rights of the Australian people.

The Kentucky Council of Churches, representing 11 denominations, voted unanimously against Iraq War II (http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/4319885.htm), and the head of Dumbya’s own church came out in opposition as well (http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,815626,00.html).

The ACLU allegedly grew a pair of balls and ran a long-overdue ad in October attacking the Bush regime for shredding the U.S. Constitution (http://www.adweek.com/adweek/headlines/advertising_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1743147). I don’t recall seeing it though. The ACLU was also said to be looking for a librarian to serve as a test case to challenge a provision of the Patriot Act ( http://www.msnbc.com/news/823009.asp).

An arrested terrorist suspect turned out to be – and this one, I know, is particularly hard to believe – a CIA agent (http://www.tempo.co.id/news/2002/9/19/1,1,25,uk.html), the San Francisco Chronicle reported that U.S. nuclear labs are enjoying something of a renaissance (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/10/22/MN29299.DTL), and the Scoop sought to inform readers that Army Secretary Thomas White helped cook Enron’s books (http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0210/S00052.htm).

The New York Times ran a lengthy and very revealing look at the rapidly growing income disparity that characterizes America today (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/20/magazine/20INEQUALITY.html?pagewanted=), and the World Socialist Web Site noted the one-year anniversaries of both the Anthrax attacks (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/anth-o24.shtml) and the fall of Kabul (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/nov2002/afgh-n30.shtml). One thing you can count on with the folks at the WSWS — they never forget an anniversary.

Speaking of Kabul … with the Taliban gone, guess what is back in Afghanistan? Lots and lots of opium (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/26/1035504923676.html).

Gore Vidal became the first brand-name U.S. ‘progressive’ writer to join the 9-11 conspiracy club (http://burningbush.netfirms.com/Vidal.html), in sharp contrast to such individuals as David Corn and Marc Cooper, who have taken a break from conspiracy bashing to do a little bashing of the anti-war movement.

Tod H. Mikuriya took a look at authoritarianism as a social disease (http://www.mikuriya.com/authority.html), the WSWS reviewed the Pentagon’s plan to lay waste to Iraqi cities (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/urb-o30.shtml and http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/international/021021dod_report.pdf), and the Guardian revealed that the U.S. is working on new weapons systems that undoubtedly violate any number of weapons treaties (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,821306,00.html).

Various documents have now been made available on the Internet that document U.S. and Vatican support for the Croatian Ustashe, which began life as a Nazi puppet regime (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2002/10/prweb48165.php). And speaking of fascists, Franco apparently conducted heinous medical experiments in an attempt to prove that lefties are insane (http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0%2C2763%2C823707%2C00.html); He also shoveled them into mass graves (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/oct2002/espa-o16.shtml).

On Halloween, the Telegraph reported that the U.S. was planning to set up a new domestic spy agency (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/31/wfbi31.xml/), and the next day brought a report that new secrecy guidelines had been drafted (http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/01/Worldandnation/Fighting_terror.shtml). The Pentagon, meanwhile, indicated that it would be greatly expanding the “black world” so as to allow for the use of “off-the-books” tactics (http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/ARK211A.html and http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DK05Ak02.html).

The Post Gazette reported that there is at least one honest and sane judge left in the country (http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20021101protester3.asp), though it certainly wasn’t the one charged with deciding whether Cheney should turn over the records of his secret energy policy meetings (http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/11.28B.bates.cheney.htm and http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/12.11A.bates-cheney.htm).

New Scientist reported that Iraq War II could kill 500,000 or more (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993043), Truthout reminded readers of the devastating effects that depleted uranium has had on the country (http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/11.15B.depleted.uranium.htm), and the Guardian said that Iraq’s army is much tougher than it has been portrayed as being (http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,841232,00.html).

Revered leftist icon Noam Chomsky opined that we should let Iran attack Iraq for us (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,5509002%5E23189,00.html), while continuing to ask none of the questions begged by the official September 11 story. Meanwhile, revered right-wing icon Rush Limbaugh acknowledged that the media isn’t really liberal (http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_112002/content/cutting_edge.guest.html).

In the Israel wars, Israel Shamir blasted Jared Israel (of the Emperor’s New Clothes) for making the ridiculous claim that: “There is *nothing* worse for Israel than war in the Middle East.” (http://www.israelshamir.net/english/strange.shtml) Jared Israel, meanwhile, responded to the gassing and summary execution of Chechen rebels by Russian Special Forces by posting a piece that viciously demonized the Chechens (http://emperors-clothes.com/news/litvin.htm). Russian Special Forces, meanwhile, went on a murder spree elsewhere (http://www.observer.co.uk/europe/story/0,11363,856103,00.html).

Jared Israel has now gone back to his Milosevic fixation, coupled with a sudden interest in debunking The Protocols of the Elders of Zion — apparently to defuse claims that his questioning of the official 9-11 story is somehow anti-Semitic, even though he himself is Jewish, and even though he has not – as others have – pointed an accusatory finger at Israel and the Mossad.

Earth to Jared? … Earth to Jared? … Have we lost you?

This website, for Ground Zero USA security consultants, was bookmarked after I received an e-mail from a reader who said that alleged DC Sniper John Mohammed had some association with this business enterprise (http://www.berkassoc.com/consultation.htm). If anyone has any verification of this connection, please send it my way.

Gunther von Hagens continued his one man crusade to desensitize Western society to gore, this time by performing a public, televised autopsy (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-body21nov21.story). This was in addition to his traveling show of partially dissected, preserved corpses.

Yellow Times claimed that America is infested with violent paramilitary groups, otherwise known as cops (http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=793), USA Today noted that the 2002 GOP victory pumped up ‘defense’ industry stocks (http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/us/2002-11-06-defense-stocks_x.htm), and the Scoop took a skeptical look at whether the GOP really did score an electoral victory (http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0211/S00078.htm).

The badly coifed Ted Koppel said “yes” to military censorship (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0247/cotts.php), while the badly coifed Trent Lott said “yes” to a return to segregation, just as he had done 22 years before. All of Washington at first tried to pretend as though they hadn’t heard the remark, hoping that no one would notice.

In a barely noticed story, five U.S. servicemen were killed in Honduras, purportedly in a ‘training’ accident (http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?floc=FF-APO-1102&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20021212%2F084979042.htm&sc=1102), while Stars and Stripes reported that there are now 200,000 or more U.S. troops forward-deployed in 100 or more countries (http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=12047).

Several researchers reminded readers that Hypocrite General John Ashcroft, as a Senator, had called on “Big Brother” to keep his hands off the Internet (http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1097/ijge/gj-7.ht), while Bush, Ridge, and Ashcroft work to assure that Americans will have no privacy whatsoever, on the Internet or anywhere else (http://www.msnbc.com/news/835798.asp and http://www.nocards.org/AutoID/overview.shtml and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40942-2002Nov11.html).

The New York Times informed readers that subdermal implants are now available, for anyone that’s just dying to get one (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/technology/10SLAS.html?todaysheadlines), while on the other coast, the Los Angeles Timesacknowledged that so-called “non-lethal” weapons pose a severe threat to all of humanity (http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-rosenberg1dec01.story).

The Guardian took a look at manufacturing terror (http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,837996,00.html), while Counterpunch addressed the Pentagon’s plans to provoke terrorism (http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd1101.html).Counterpunch also asked if America was becoming fascist (http://www.counterpunch.org/shivani1026.html). The answer is no — America isn’t becoming fascist, the latent fascism already present is just being more openly displayed.

The World Socialist Web Site checked in with a variety of offerings, including: an exposé of the framing of the teenagers convicted of the Central Park ‘wilding’ case (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/nov2002/jogg-n12.shtml); a revealing look at biowarfare, the Korean War, Frank Olson and the MK-ULTRA program (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/nov2002/arti-n13.shtml); a look at the purging of the Department of Health and Human Services by Janet Rehnquist, daughter of uber-fascist William Rehnquist (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/nov2002/rehn-n30.shtml); and analyses of the rising rates of home foreclosures and unemployment (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/dec2002/fore-d07.shtml and http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/dec2002/unem-d07.shtml).

Polls revealed that the new Homeland Security Department isn’t a popular notion with the families of September 11 victims (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/26/politics/26FAMI.html?ex=1039319355&ei=1&en=657919f5272fca7a), nor with the American people as a whole (http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/20021204securenat2p2.asp). The U.S., meanwhile, isn’t too popular anywhere these days (http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/12.07B.global.anger.htm).

Eugene, Oregon became the fifteenth U.S. city to reject the reactionary Patriot Act (http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/11/26/1a.patriotact.1126.html), while many at a Naval school expressed skepticism of the impending war with Iraq (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/11/10/MN190150.DTL), and 50 teenaged protesters were suspended from high school (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/26suspend_a1.html).

The Christian Science Monitor made note of the fact that Americans’ Miranda rights are under attack (http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1203/p02s01-usju.html), as is the right of Americans to not be targeted by their government for assassination (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021203_1200.html).

ABC News questioned whether U.S. troops slaughtered helpless Iraqis (http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/gulfwar000614.html), while the Pentagon defended its right to bury thousands of Iraqis alive (http://jeff.paterson.net/aw/aw4_buried_alive.htm), which is the answer to the question posed by Patrick J. Sloyan: “Where the hell are all the bodies?” (http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0211/sloyan.html)

The U.S. is once again working diligently to oust Venezuela’s popular elected leader, Hugo Chavez, as is readily apparent despite the grossly disinformational media coverage of the current situation in that country (http://www.vheadline.com/0212/14248.aspand  http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/dec2002/vene-d11.shtml; visit Narconews for complete coverage).

Larry Chin offered his take on the politics of regime removal in Iraq (http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHI211A.html), and the Sunday Herald reminded us where Iraq got its weapons from (http://www.sundayherald.com/27572). Meanwhile, the arrest of an Iraqi opposition leader on war crimes charges didn’t help to bolster the U.S. case for regime change (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-486536,00.html).

A U.S. official, by the way, offered a rare acknowledgment that the world’s worst war criminals are well aware that the creation of an International Criminal Court leaves them vulnerable to indictment and prosecution (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=nm/20021115/pl_nm/crime_court_usa_dc).

Gregory Elich took an abundantly footnoted look at U.S. and EU intervention in Yugoslavia (http://www3.sympatico.ca/sr.gowans/elich1.html), while Carol Brouillet took a look at September 11 as part of the larger picture (http://www.communitycurrency.org/deadly.html), and the Sydney Morning Herald examined the Bush regime’s “Manifesto for world dictatorship” (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/22/1032055033082.html).

Paul Thompson put together an abridged 9-11 timeline, for those who don’t have the time to wade through his dizzying Complete Timeline (http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/completetimeline/AAtimelineshort.html), while others shined a light on Exxon’s record of genocide, murder and torture in Indonesia (http://www.laborrights.org/projects/corporate/exxon/ and http://www.hrw.org/editorials/2002/indonesia0814.htm).

The U.S. was forced to allow a lawsuit alleging that the AIDS virus was given birth in a biowarfare laboratory (http://www.boydgraves.com/news/112802.html), and Drs. Len Horowitz and Vivian Virginia Vetrano offered an alternative take on smallpox vaccinations (http://www.tetrahedron.org/articles/vaccine_awareness/smallpox_vaccine_risks.html).

The Seattle Times reported that free e-mail may be on the way out (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134580416_comdex21), while CNN advised that Uncle Sam wants our kids (http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/12/03/recruiting.high.schools.ap/index.html) and the Guardian reminded Brits that their self-righteousness concerning World War II was unfounded (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,856461,00.html).

Jim Rarey reviewed some of the discrepancies in the DC Sniper story (http://www.rense.com/general32/sniper.htm), Tom Flocco charged Bush with concealing an Iraqi chemical plant in Florida (http://tomflocco.com/nerves_of_steal.htm), and Tom Cantlon illustrated that tiny Prescott, Arizona offers readers more honest editorials than do any of the big city newspapers (http://www.tomcantlon.com/Cantlon_Column_2002_12_09.htm).

Oh yes, and Henry Kissinger walked away from his assignment to head the 9-11 investigation, citing conflicts of interest. The main conflict was, I believe, that a congenital liar had been appointed to head a commission charged with finding the truth. Now, if everyone else in Washington with a similar conflict will just kindly recuse themselves, then maybe we can get on with conducting an actual independent investigation.

Just kidding. Everybody knows that that’s never going to happen. Apparently, even a transparently fraudulent investigation isn’t looking very likely at this point. The problem is that the official story is just so bad that even a liar of the caliber of Henry Kissinger can’t gloss over some of the more glaring inconsistencies and anomalies (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/dec2002/kiss-d16.shtml).

Finally, I leave you to ponder this bit of weirdness reported by the Associated Press on December 9, 2002. Apparently, Oily Dick is burrowing even further underground, into an even more ‘secure location.’ Or maybe he just likes blowing stuff up.

WASHINGTON:  Neighbors of Vice President Dick Cheney are being shaken and rattled at least once a day by mysterious blasts at the U.S. Naval Observatory where Cheney lives.The Navy says the explosions are part of a construction project that has been going on for several months, but won’t say more because the project is classified.

Navy spokeswoman Cate Mueller described the work as an “infrastructure improvement, a utility upgrade.”

She said they have tried to reassure the neighborhood — which includes the Washington residence of former President Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) — that the blasts will not damage their homes. She said most understand that, because of national security concerns, they can’t reveal details or confine the construction to a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule.

Joseph Rieser, who lives half a block off Observatory Circle, said each blast was “almost like thunder because it rolls and it lasts a noticeable period, probably several seconds.” He said the explosions rattle windows that aren’t shut tight.

Rieser said his concern was that neighbors received no warning of the project. “If this were a normal construction contract I would expect that they would have told the neighbors.”

Mueller acknowledged that they were “not as aggressive up front in warning” neighbors about the project.

She said the construction is expected to last eight more months, and for the time being there will be one or two blasts a day, each lasting about three to five seconds.

The blasts were being carefully monitored to assure they were well under acceptable vibration standards so there would be no damage to nearby residences or to facilities at the observatory, she said.

The Naval Observatory moved to its current location on Massachusetts Avenue in northwest Washington in 1893. It became the official residence for the vice president in 1974.