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The 53rd Card
By Matt Bivens
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a one-legged Jordanian militant in his late thirties, and he's being described as the new Osama bin Laden -- an al-Qaeda princeling who's come to Iraq to mastermind the worst terror attacks there. The Pentagon has added him as a 53rd card, a wild card, to its deck of Iraqi villains.
Most of us first heard his name from Colin Powell last February. In his legendary presentation to the UN of the case for invading Iraq, our Secretary of State said, "Iraq today harbors a deadly terrorist network headed by ... Zarqawi, an associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden."
Powell displayed satellite photos of a camp in northeastern Iraq where, he said, terrorists were making bombs and poisons like ricin. And then he discussed in somber detail how ricin is poisonous. "Let me remind you how ricin works. Less than a pinch -- imagine a pinch of salt -- less than a pinch of ricin, eating just this amount in your food, would cause shock followed by circulatory failure. Death comes within 72 hours and there is no antidote, there is no cure. It is fatal."
(0) CommentsMarch 5, 2004
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One Man's Tragedy
By Matt Bivens
It's not surprising that George W. Bush would seek to make political book on the mass murder of 9/11. Heck, from the moment he finally brought himself to stop reading that children's book in Florida, he's done nothing but trade on those tragedies.
But even for this White House, Bush's latest re-election advertisements -- which you can view here - - are startlingly calculated. They feature fire fighters at Ground Zero, including footage of the flag-draped remains of a victim being carried out on a stretcher. Barely out a day, they have already infuriated two (overlapping) 9/11 constituencies: fire fighters, and families of those killed on that horrible day.
Fire Fighters
(0) CommentsMarch 4, 2004
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Hole in the Head
By Matt Bivens
Ohio's Davis-Besse nuclear plant is making the case that it deserves forgiveness.
For what? Well, FirstEnergy Corp. workers ignored acid dripping onto the reactor for up to four years; successfully held off a half-hearted effort by government regulators to shut down and examine that problem; and then, in their own leisurely sweet time, eventually had a look at the problem during a routine refueling stop and found that the 80-ton, six-inch thick carbon steel lid of the reactor vessel sported -- surprise! -- a gaping football-sized hole from acid corrosion.
The inside of Davis-Besse's reactor vessel (which holds the core) was lined with 3/16-of-an-inch stainless steel. That thin liner -- pushed like a bubble back out of the lid hole by the 2,500 psi of pressure inside the vessel -- was all that stood between Toledo and Chernobyl.
(0) CommentsMarch 3, 2004
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Getting FICA'ed
By Matt Bivens
The Bush Administration's 2005 budget is in the early works, and here's the long-term vision: Cut every domestic program imaginable -- education, health, justice, environmental protection, veterans medical, you name it -- except for space exploration.
That's according to government data analyzed by the Center on Budgetary and Policy Priorities. CBPP also notes: "These cuts are not part of a balanced package; they do not contribute to deficit reduction but rather would be used to help finance tax cuts."
All of which would be outrageous enough -- but this is just the first step.
(0) CommentsMarch 2, 2004
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Spooky Triumphs
By Matt Bivens
"Now is a time to remember," writes William Safire, the New York Times columnist, "that sometimes our spooks get it right in a big way."
Safire's inspiration for saying this? Revelations about a sordid little Cold War moment code-named (there's always a code name) the Farewell Dossier.
Insiders like Safire now telling the tale dwell on the prologue (complete with high-minded indignation that the KGB might be spying on and stealing from hard-working Americans); and then gloss very, very hurriedly over the shocking ending (in which we apparently brought about a massive explosion in Siberia, with ghoulish indifference to whether it killed no one, someone, or thousands.)
(0) CommentsMarch 1, 2004
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Compassionate George
By Matt Bivens
When the economy sours, we traditionally gin up some extra aid for the unemployed. That's just smart economics: It keeps people who want to work but can't afloat, just long enough to find work when the economy revives. (Otherwise they sink beyond help, and end up being far more costly to society.)
But this year, the Bushies have decided to turn off that federal aid spigot even before the jobs picture improves. Hell, it might eat into some of the money set aside for more deserving people!
So what do we have? According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, some 760,000 jobless workers so far this year have exhausted all unemployment benefits. In fact, data from Bush's own Labor Department shows that 350,000 individuals exhausted all benefits in January -- the largest amount to do so in a single month ever since records started being kept 33 years ago.
(0) CommentsFebruary 26, 2004
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'Shortsighted Men'
By Matt Bivens
Shortsighted men ... in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things. -- Theodore Roosevelt.
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Even those of us familiar with this Administration's record can be shocked when someone pulls us back to show us the big picture. The March/April 2004 issue of the Sierra Club's magazine (which, vexingly, isn't available on-line yet) takes a look at what George W. Bush has been doing with our public lands.
(0) CommentsFebruary 25, 2004
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Bush in 'Nam?
By Matt Bivens
Tim Russert: You didn't volunteer or enlist to go [to Vietnam].
President Bush: No, I didn't. You're right. -- from "Meet the Press," February 8, 2004.
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(0) CommentsFebruary 24, 2004
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Hey, It's Only $3 Billion
By Matt Bivens
The Pentagon contracts with companies for work, and pays them enormous sums of US taxpayer cash. Then, when those same companies don't pay their US taxes -- the Pentagon shrugs and gives them more taxpayer cash?
The General Accounting Office, or GAO, an investigative arm of Congress, recently examined Pentagon and IRS records. The conclusion: As of September 2002, many thousands of Pentagon contractors weren't paying their taxes, to the collective tune of $3 billion.
It's not ancient history: Contractors who did Pentagon business in 2003 represent more than half of the $3 billion. Nor is it a case of the contractors simply can't afford to pay: The Pentagon in 2002 shelled out $183 billion in contractor business.
(0) CommentsFebruary 23, 2004
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'Omission Accomplished'
By Matt Bivens
Never one to let the facts get in the way of a good story, Ann Coulter is standing by her bizarre assault on Max Cleland, the former Democratic Senator. Coulter still insists he's not a Vietnam war hero.
True, Cleland lost both legs and an arm -- but Coulter has done us the important service of noting that those three limbs were not shot off, one by one, with an AK-47 wielded by an actual screaming Viet Cong. Ergo, they aren't combat injuries.
Our political discourse is vastly improved for Ann Coulter's important contribution. This incisive distinction of hers ought to go down in history with such classic formulations as "I smoked marijuana but I didn't inhale."
(0) CommentsFebruary 20, 2004
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