Final body count: 'Dome 6, Convention Center 4; no foul play

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Monday September 26, 2005 · 5:35 AM PDT

2005/09/26 · 05:35

Monday, September 26, 2005
Times-Picayune
Rumors of deaths greatly exaggerated
Widely reported attacks false or unsubstantiated
6 bodies found at Dome; 4 at Convention Center
By Brian Thevenot
and Gordon Russell
Staff writers
[Excerpts]
After five days managing near-riots, medical horrors and unspeakable living conditions inside the Superdome, Louisiana National Guard Col. Thomas Beron prepared to hand over the dead to representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Following days of internationally reported killings, rapes and gang violence inside the Dome, the doctor from FEMA -- Beron doesn't remember his name -- came prepared for a grisly scene: He brought a refrigerated 18-wheeler and three doctors to process bodies.
"I've got a report of 200 bodies in the Dome," Beron recalls the doctor saying.
The real total was six, Beron said.

Jules Siegel

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Thursday September 15, 2005 · 8:21 PM PDT

2005/09/15 · 20:21

Grandmother, 73, held as sausage looter
Witnesses, even deli owner, says church deaconess was wrongly arrested
By Bill Haber / AP
[Excerpts]
KENNER, La. - Merlene Maten undoubtedly stands out in the prison where she has been held since Hurricane Katrina. The 73-year-old church deaconess, never before in trouble with the law, now sleeps among hardened criminals. Her bail is a stiff $50,000.
Police say the grandmother from New Orleans took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli the day after Katrina struck.
The family has not been able to visit her during her two weeks of confinement and was allowed to talk to her by phone for only a few minutes. The state prison declined to let the AP interview Maten by phone, demanding a written request.
Maten has been moved from a parish jail to a state prison an hour away. And the judge who set $50,000 bail by phone -- 100 times the maximum $500 fine under state law for minor thefts -- has not returned a week's worth of calls, her lawyer said.

Jules Siegel

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Friday September 02, 2005 · 12:48 PM PDT

2005/09/02 · 12:48

For discussion:

Hastert Questions Rebuilding New Orleans
WASHINGTON -- It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said of federal assistance for hurricane-devastated New Orleans.
"It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed," the Illinois Republican said in an interview about New Orleans Wednesday with the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill.
Hastert later issued a statement saying he was not "advocating that the city be abandoned or relocated."

From what I've read, there are serious doubts about whether or not New Orleans can ever be made safe from severe hurricanes. The levee system seems to be a hodge-podge of improvisation. The remaining wetlands should never have been developed at all.

One might ask a similar question about the Hotel Zone of Cancun, where I live. Read More

See WaPo spin this: 53% support Sheehan vs 42% oppose

Jules Siegel

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Tuesday August 30, 2005 · 6:04 AM PDT

2005/08/30 · 06:04

Slight Majority Say Bush Should Meet With Sheehan
Survey Suggests Mother's Actions Have Little Impact on War Views
By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; 7:00 AM
[Excerpts]
Slightly more than half of the country says President Bush should meet with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed last year in Iraq, who is leading a protest against the war outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Tex., according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The survey found that 52 percent of the public says Bush should talk to Sheehan, who has repeatedly asked for a meeting with the president, while 46 percent said he should not. Fifty-three percent support what she is doing while 42 percent oppose her actions, according to the poll.

Continue to see more of the shameless spin on this. Read More

Book Review: Death by Public Relations

Jules Siegel

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Thursday August 25, 2005 · 3:45 PM PDT

2005/08/25 · 15:45

WAR MADE EASY
How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death
By Norman Soloman
John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0-471-69479

In "War Made Easy" Norman Solomon demolishes the myth of an independent American press zealously guarding sacred values of free expression. Although strictly focusing on the shameless history of media cheerleading for the principal post-World War II American wars, invasions and interventions, he calls into question by implication the idea of the press as some kind of institutional counterforce to government and corporate power.

The utter idiocy of many of the examples he has compiled in this impeccably documented historical review will be familiar to readers who follow the news on the Internet. They achieve fresh impact because of the way Solomon has organized and analyzed them. Read More

unFREEP this poll in Cindy's hometown paper

Jules Siegel

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Saturday August 20, 2005 · 8:55 AM PDT

2005/08/20 · 08:55

Most online polls don't mean much, I agree, but since a link to this poll on the Vacaville Reporter site was posted on freerepublic.com, the figures have shifted dramatically against her.

The current voting is:

The Sheehan Controversy
Vacaville's Cindy Sheehan has sparked controversy with her presence outside Pres. Bush's Texas property. Her determination to meet with the President to ask him about why her son, Casey, died in Iraq has reinvigorated the opposition to the war and brought strong feeling to the fore, on both sides of the political spectrum. What do you think of her actions?
Total Votes = 1435
I support her effort to meet with Pres. Bush.
652 Votes, or 45.43 %
She's doing more harm than good.
758 Votes, or 52.82 %
I'm neutral on both her and the war.
25 Votes, or 1.742 %

A little while ago, the proportions were reversed. Let's use our power to fix that. I never ask people to recommend my diaries, but I think this time is an exception. We can't let the Freepers make it look as if Cindy's hometown is against her.

Click here to go to the Vacaville reporter now.

Newsweek: Bush grief sessions that worked [Poll]

Jules Siegel

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Sunday August 14, 2005 · 8:22 AM PDT

2005/08/14 · 08:22

More significant than the phoney flip-flop and grief pimps snarls, comes this report from Newsweek of grief sessions in which Bush performed brilliantly. Failure to understand this will lead to very serious real world consequences. There is a person named George W. Bush who emerges and for the moment redeems his robot-twin.

When Bush saw that she was crying, he leaned over and put his hand on the top of her head and drew her to him. "It was just like my brother used to do," she says, beginning to cry at the memory.

After the jump, the full press release, and a poll. Read More

A little fun with Jonah Goldberg about Cindy

Jules Siegel

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Saturday August 13, 2005 · 6:00 AM PDT

2005/08/13 · 06:00

Jonah Goldberg's parents were once my friends. Lucianne was my literary agent for a while. I write to him occasionally about some point he's made that he thinks is brilliant, and he always replies -- albeit with some kind of nasty little putdown. I think that perhaps after this exchange, he'll probably learn the virtue of silence.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: A conservative faces reality about Cindy Sheehan

I read your item on Cindy Sheehan (search for "SHEEHAN Jonah Goldberg"). Your problem on this is that the left is merely one faction in her support, while the hardcore right is the only segment running her down.
The last time I looked there were more than a thousand stories about her on Google news. You can dismiss that as another example of mass delusion, or you can stop kidding yourself and and face reality. Everyone except your crowd is demanding the same answers that she is. The left didn't make Cindy Sheehan. George Bush made her.

Jules Siegel

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Sunday July 31, 2005 · 7:11 AM PDT

2005/07/31 · 07:11

Update [2005-7-31 10:44:21 by Jules Siegel]: After I posted this, a couple of people suggested that I should add my own views or comments, as I've merely posted the article verbatim. As I say in my comment, the article speaks for itself. I'm glad to see that some churches are resisting nationalism in religion. I am not a churchgoer, and I have a general distrust of organized religion, so there's not much I can say about this, except that I feel the story should be widely published. People need to feel that they aren't alone when standing up to fascism (which is what this is really all about).

Associated Baptist Press
'Nationalism' new culture split for churches, says prof
By Ken Camp
[Used by permission]
WACO, Texas (ABP 07/26/2005) -- Culture wars threaten to divide churches in ways that make worship wars pale in comparison. But at the same time, they unite some Christians across denominational lines, a Baylor University professor observed.

Jules Siegel

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Thursday July 21, 2005 · 3:49 PM PDT

2005/07/21 · 15:49

Scarborough Country for July 20 -
SCARBOROUGH: Hey, great to have you back with us tonight.
Of course, last night, a historic night. We came out and actually started talking about the president's new selection for the Supreme Court, Justice John Roberts, a man that conservatives hailed as, you know, the type of candidate George Bush needed to select. And why? Because, in 1990, conservatives were told that this man argued to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Well, last night, we reported that on the show. And our banner actually said "Roberts: Overturn Roe v. Wade." Well, the White House called us up during the show. They didn't like the banner. They said, we owe -- we should -- we should offer a correction. That is what I am going to do tonight.
So, conservatives, Republicans, members of Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson, Pat Robertson, pro-life advocates across America, I offer you this correction. According to the White House, Judge Roberts does not oppose Roe vs. Wade. Whew. Glad I got that off my chest.

How Republicans thrive on Boneheads and Assholes

Jules Siegel

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Wednesday July 13, 2005 · 5:36 PM PDT

2005/07/13 · 17:36

Bonnie Buqueroux (pronounced buckaroo) is a subscriber to my newsroom-l journalism discussion list who blogs at the Detroit News. Here's what she's thinking about today.

Why conservatives will keep winning ...and winning...and winning
A quirky screed by Bonnie Bucqueroux
[Excerpts]
A veritable cottage industry has sprung up around analyzing this country's lurch toward right-wing Republican conservatism. For more than a dozen years, we have been inundated with books and articles offering insights into this unnerving phenomenon.
There is now an established tradition of thoughtful, well-reasoned pieces filled with supporting statistics.
This article is not one of them.
My thesis is much simpler and clearer (and no distracting footnotes):
The Republican Right wins elections by pandering to: (1) Boneheads and (2) Assholes. Doing so not only emboldens both groups but expands their relative numbers among the Disenfranchised Voters who constitute the majority of voters in the United States.
Permit me to illustrate:

I urge you to proceed to the jump. Read More

Karl Rove arrest photo mystery solved! [update]

Jules Siegel

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Wednesday June 29, 2005 · 12:58 PM PDT

2005/06/29 · 12:58

Who made this picture? Click here to see it.

This was forwarded by a friend without attribution. I checked with him and he said he doesn't remember where he got it. I really feel that the source deserves full credit and an Award of Merit for Service to Humanity. I will appreciate any help you might be able to offer on this.

Please recommend this diary and pass this message along to all your friends. The more people who see the picture, the faster it will get verified, not to speak of intensifying the sympathetic magic effect. If you don't know what that means, think of sticking pins in a voodoo doll.

[Update] See comments for solution. Have a nice day, Internet viewers. One day reality will imitate art. It's not much to count on, but we can hope, right?

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Final body count: 'Dome 6, Convention Center 4; no foul play

$50,000 bail for 73-year-old woman in $63.50 'looting' charge

Cat. 5 survivor asks how N.O. should be rebuilt [POLL]

See WaPo spin this: 53% support Sheehan vs 42% oppose

Book Review: Death by Public Relations

unFREEP this poll in Cindy's hometown paper

Newsweek: Bush grief sessions that worked [Poll]

A little fun with Jonah Goldberg about Cindy

Churches "refuse to wrap the cross in the flag."

Scarborough: WH says Roberts does not oppose R vs W

How Republicans thrive on Boneheads and Assholes

Karl Rove arrest photo mystery solved! [update]