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Hi all,

Does anyone know the timetable for this Carlyle purchase of Loews Theatres?  If it's soon, I guess no Fahrenheit 911 at Loews.  We can look forward to "family values" theme movies.  Nothing with sex or gay people, god forbid.  The ramifications of this are really scary.  I work for a large law firm and they handle huge bankruptcies.  I don't think that Loews is the only theatre chain that will need to be bought out, believe me.  The neocons have got their sights on movie theatres now.  This is just completely surreal.

Carlyle goes to the movies (Washington Business Journal)

Thanks for posting the Bruce Springsteen article, Buzz:  Promoter Wants Springsteen to Upstage Bush (commondreams.org).  I hope everyone signs the (www.draftbruce.com) petition.  I'm an original Asbury Park girl and a Bruce fan forever.  He usually does respond to the masses.  Let's hope.

Barbara in NYC

Subject:  CIA Officer: US Losing Fight Against Terror

The unjustified war against Iraq is costing the US dearly in lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. It has set this country back decades in foreign relations. Like Vietnam, it is a war of attrition, and the US is losing both the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism because it has stirred up a hornet's nest in the Middle East. It threatens to increase worldwide Muslim terrorist attacks against US citizens and US interests. It has been proven time and time again that conventional military forces cannot defeat terrorism, because terrorists use hit and run tactics successfully. There are 1.2 billion Muslims around the world, and our military and resources are insufficient at best. Right now, all polls in this country show nearly two-thirds of citizens believe the war against terrorism is losing and the war against Iraq was unjustified. 

INTELLIGENCE INSIDER

Book by C.I.A. Officer Says U.S. Is Losing Fight Against Terror

By DOUGLAS JEHL

Published: June 23, 2004

WASHINGTON, June 22
--A new book by the senior Central Intelligence Agency officer who headed a special office to track Osama bin Laden and his followers warns that the United States is losing the war against radical Islam and that the invasion of Iraq has only played into the enemy's hands.

RB

Subject: Dis-Info Article

Turning off the transponder does not make a plane invisible. Radar can still see the primary blip but it does not display the flight info on the screen. Also, military radar does not depend on a transponder to work. Sounds like laziness and incompetence reigned on 9/11 and someone is in CYA mode.

Hijackers made jetliners ‘invisible' (Newsday.com)

BY THOMAS FRANK
WASHINGTON BUREAU
June 22, 2004 WASHINGTON -- For 36 minutes on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Flight 77 raced from Ohio toward Washington, and not a single air-traffic controller knew where it was. The plane's lengthy stealth, documented Thursday by the Sept. 11 commission, occurred partly because the hijackers turned off, with ease, the device that signals a plane's identity and location to ground controllers....

Regards,

Mikye

Subject: Shrub Tops NIXON: I Am Not a Crook/Torturer

And all these years I thought NIXON was the deepest pit of all pits, despite the past 3 1/2 years of constant stomach-turning. Hearing Shrub utter the equivalent of "I am not a torturer" immediately brought up NIXON's crook thing. Yet Shrub and his flying monkeys have made the last 30 years PALE by comparison regarding Caligula-like characteristics.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALL...

...."Look, let me make very clear the position of my government and our country," Bush said Tuesday in the Oval Office.

"We do not condone torture. I have never ordered torture. I will never order torture. The values of this country are such that torture is not a part of our soul and our being...."

Heck, here’s a Caligula quote for good measure.  Caligula: It took the Romans "three years, ten months and eight days" to get to know the real Caligula. This would take us to, uh, November 2004. And while Shrub HAS had nothing but disasters throughout, he has referred to them as “hitting the Trifecta.”

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suetonius-caligula.html

...rearing a viper for the Roman people and a Phaethon (a son of Helios who drives his father's sun-chariot through the sky but loses control and is struck down by a thunderbolt of Zeus") for the world....

...he poisoned Tiberius, as some think, and ordered that his ring be taken from him while he still breathed....

...By thus gaining the throne he fulfilled the highest hopes of the Roman people, or I may say of all mankind, since he was the prince most earnestly desired by the great part of the provincials and soldiers, many of whom had known him in his infancy.....

...He even used openly to deplore the state of his times, because they had been marked by no public disasters...and every now and then he wished for the destruction of his armies, for famine, pestilence, fires, or a great earthquake....

...ruled three years, ten months and eight days....

John G.

Subject: The Saddam Hussein Connection . . . ?

BuzzFlash,

Yeah, what about those connections? Bin Laden had connections in Florida and all over the US with family members. Bin Laden had connections with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia -- where most of the highjackers were from -- to me, why give a damn what Cheney or Bush say? They have lied from the beginning of this illegal regime. If Osama bin Laden "talked" to Saddam Hussein -- so what -- does that give Bush the right to bomb the bejeezus out of Iraq, and not Florida, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and of course, they had a cell in Germany and other parts of the world.

Who "cares" what Bush or Cheney say they think? The reality is, they illegally went to war in Iraq and they killed and injured thousands of people. They deserve to be impeached and imprisoned.

If they (the investigative commission) want to get down to "particulars about connections" . . . both Bush the Elder and Bush the Younger have had long-term connections with the Osama bin Laden family and the Saudis, and also with their buddy Saddam Hussein, not to mention the connections Osama and Hussein have had on occasions with many other members of the Bush administration. (Don't forget the Bushes' friends in Pakistan)

The connection of Osama and Hussein is so vague that no one can establish it. Not so with the Bush's connections with both Osama and Hussein, which are documented connections . . . they are not vague connections.

To disconnect the facts that Bush lied the US into a war and to ignore Bush's own connections with Iraq that may have brought about the war and to ignore Bush's own connections with bin Laden that may be the real reasons that Bush did not pursue him . . .

Bush and this administration lied us into a war because of "their" connections with Saddam Hussein. Why not pursue those connections?

Just askin'. Thanks BuzzFlash.

Shirley Smith

PS: And, what about the lies regarding the WMD and Hussein's ability to deliver them to the banks of the US in 45 minutes and yet, it took longer for planes to get up into the air when the towers were hit on September 11. What about those lies? . . . and we had people who actually believed that 45 minute lie, even though Hussein had no plane. Camels don't fly!! Yet, the US keeps bringing up these hackneyed connections that were not the only lies used when selling this war. Why keep asking about the lies of the bin Laden and Hussein connections when we have an administration who knows both of these people on a first name basis?

Final question . . . should we have people in Congress who are so naive, gullible or vulnerable as to believe these flagrant lies? . . . lies that started an ongoing war?? Should these people be in charge of our safety or anything else that is required to run this government? Our system of checks and balances is long overdrawn people.

Subject: Ron Reagan

Well, I knew it would happen. Somehow, I remembered that Ron Reagan...the son...was not a very fervent republican, but I thought he was a republican. However, did he kick the living shit out of Geedubya....he put into words what no democrat can....he said he got us into this war by lying and not just once...at least two big ones. The one about WMD and the one about a connection between Saddam and Osama. He said the thing that scared him most, was when someone asked little georgie if he talked to his dad before he went to Iraq, and he had the nerve to say, "No, I talked to a higher power!" That scared Ron as it has many of us.

Larry King said, "Well, then I suppose you are not voting for Bush?" And he replied that he would never vote for Bush. King asked him if he would vote for Kerry or Nader, and he said he would vote for the most viable candidate who could beat Bush!!! Swear to God...hope many of you saw it! I knew...or thought...he likely would not be complimentary of little george...but I had no idea he would be that hard on him! It was surely an eye opener. 

When asked about the funeral....he was super nice, and wonderful about his father...and his mother....and said that he really broke up when George the father's voice broke during his talk. There are many times when I wonder if the father is ashamed of this president in the White House now...not that I had any love for the Reagan presidency or the First Bush presidency.....But neither of them got us involved in a war that could end the world as we know it. I am frightened...very frightened!!!

CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Interview With Ron Reagan Jr.

Shirley......St.Louis

Subject: a book you may wish to sell

Subject: this just ticks me off

50 million people in the US do not even have basic health care coverage, but the House -- the people's House -- are looking into improving their dental & vision benefits (they already have these benefits, they just want more/better).

House Panel to Look at Dental Benefits (yahoo.com)

Linda

i have a question.

since cheney does not have to turn over the people on that energy task force, if john kerry becomes president..............can kerry release the names?

katie johnson
tampa fl

Subject: Worse than we thought, but Congressional Democrats are our heros -- no exaggeration

I recently stumbled on a jaw-dropping, readily available way to dispel right wingers' rabid anti-Democrat nonsense. Ready?

Make them watch hearings and the House and Senate in action on CSPAN1 and 2. This past week, watching hearings and Congressional speeches I have seen Democrats work very hard to uphold basic American principles of accountability and to get information about what our government is doing, fight to keep our soldiers equipped, argue for our nation's security, reveal the absolutely shocking failures of the administration's actions, and force admissions of unbelievable ignorance and incompetence from administration figures giving testimony.

I have seen the Republicans and administration figures avoid answering questions, change the subject, refuse to make their vote public, show clear contempt for the principle of accountability, engage in sentimental, fawning praise for troops while refusing to address the shameful failure to equip them with adequate body armor or armored vehicles, then refusing over Democrat pleas to vote to correct a system which takes disability compensation out of their pensions...

It is absolutely incredible. This is powerful, incredible stuff. Watching our Congress in action, and seeing the amazing efforts of Democrats to protect our nation from Republican policies and uncover facts, and seeing administration figures resist answering questions or producing documentation is really eye opening. I've been a firm Democrat supporter, but what I have seen real Democrats do in pursuit of their jobs has been an incredible awakening experience.

After this, news media seems so vague and full of insignificant fluff that it seems the entire US population is living in an ignorant daze. Saddam -- Al Qaeda? Forget it. Watch the Bushies make excuses for their incredible incompetence. Watch them answer fundamental questions....

Try watching CSPAN 1 and 2 for a few hours a day for 4 days, and see if your jaw doesn't hit the floor when you watch administration officials squirm, lie and avoid all accountability. The contrast is so stark I wouldn't have believed it. I guarantee this -- if everyone watched CSPAN, for an hour a day, this country would be 70% Democrat (if not more).

Scott McGlasson
Denver, CO

PS -- (I'll send a couple letters I wrote based on what I saw soon.)

Subject: bush

Last night I saw 2 ads for the Good Morning Show on CBS. It said President Bush says the best reason to re-elect him is because he is married to Laura Bush. I don't think much of the Bush mentality. Does anyone remember when Papa Bush selected Dan Quayle? He said, I selected him because he is so good looking all the women will vote for him. Does anyone remember that? PPLLLLLEEEEEEEZZZZZZZEEEEE and these people are presidents!

carolina

Subject: Just a quick note...

Subject: Il Duce?

Your headline: "Stalin Style Bush Dictatorship Will Try and Stop Ads for Michael Moore's Film. Can we call Bush the Little 'Il Duce'?" 

...so what occurred in 2001 will be known to historians as The Little Duce coup?

Dave G.

Subject: Lies Rush Tells