December 19, 2001

Note: The BuzzFlash Mailbag is updated on an ongoing basis, with the newest material and comments on top. Again, we can only post a small percentage of what is sent to us. Thanks again for your email and your patience.

Dear Buzz,

I thought all of you on this list might be interested in the attached chart from last Sunday's New York Times. It shows the monthly increase in handgun sales (easily extrapolated from the figures on national background checks mandated by the Brady law) over last year's. To me what is ominous isn't only the increase since the September 11th attacks, but just the raw numbers. Looking at them, you can see that the average monthly sales were between 700 and 900 thousand last year; and they have averaged between 800 thousand and a million per month in the last three months.

[BuzzFlash Note: To see chart, visit here: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/nyregion/16GUNS.html]

I believe this indicates that approximately 10 million new handguns have been purchased each year in the US for I don't know how many years. If it has been only 10 years, that means 100 million new guns in the past 10 years. Considering the trivial number of permits
denied, nearly half the adult population of the US has legally purchased a handgun in that time.

Apparently, therefore, our household (three adults and two children) would seem to contain the only adults on our block without a gun in the house. This is surely a more imminent threat to our safety than all the attacks of September 11.

And, if people become even more nervous and worried, how much will the number of accidental handgun deaths and injuries rise in the US?

Elaine Shinbrot

BuzzFlash,

Here's just an itty-bitty little detail that I hadn't heard before:

>"...Another detail adds to the Kremlin's worries. Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-American academic, recently was appointed in June as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director at the National Security Council for the Persian Gulf and southwest Asia and other issues. According to Philip Smith, director of the Center for Public Policy Analysis, "Zalmay is immensely influential in driving US policy toward
Afghanistan." Four years ago, Khalilzad served as a liaison for Unocal in the trans-Afghan pipeline project...."<

Thanks for all you do!
Elayne

TALIBAN DEFEAT REVIVES DEBATE ON TRANS-AFGHAN PIPELINE
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav121201.shtml
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS December 19, 2001

Dear Buzz,

Richard Mellon Scaife has funded, either directly or through another group, both of these entities. As we saw in the Clinton witch hunt, it is not unusual for Scaife-funded groups to work in tandem.

Look for Judicial Watch and Landmark Legal to also participate in this tag team, because they usually promote the same propaganda distributed by Drudge and NewsMax.

--Celeste

Dear BuzzFlash,

EB wrote (re Right-Wing Media Research Center Targets ANYONE That Disagrees With Bush) that "this organization's mission is totally political in scope, and therefore they are not eligible for 501(c)(3) status. There should be an IMMEDIATE congressional investigation of this organization and any ties to the Bush administration."

I agree; however, I think there should be an immediate investigation in all 501(c)(3) organizations; and effective oversight regulations put in place.

The high-powered K Street lunch lobbying industry crowd needs investigation, as well; if not all-out abolishment.

The Carlyle Group and the Blackstone Group require immediate investigation.

Now, where is that campaign finance (it's a start) reform?

Where are the offshore banking regulations? Any seriousness about terrorist funding should be expediting this oversight ... unless someone has something to hide.

Ken Morgan
Scottsdale, AZ

Dear BuzzFlash,

So, congress has again voted themselves pay raises! This is undoubtedly a result of the great job they have done giving all Americans a terrific health care package, raising the minimum wage to a livable standard, guaranteeing social security and Medicare to all Americans, supplying affordable prescription drugs to our senior citizens, strengthening the
freedom of information act, making sure large corporations pay their fair share of taxes, passing a marvelous campaign finance reform package, straightening out the election system, taking such good care of our environment by signing the Kyoto treaty, getting us off of oil and putting money into new energy sources, and making sure our Bill of Rights and Constitution are not trampled on.

I sure think they deserve a raise don't you?

Rob Moitoza
Seattle, Wa.

Hi Buzz,

According to the new Time magazine, a majority of people have written in to vote for Dumbya as their Person of the Year. Please encourage your readers to swamp them with reasons why he shouldn't be!!!! We all know if he wins, it'll be another puff-piece, not a story about how "8 years of peace and prosperity are finally over" and how our rights are under attack by our own government. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Thanks,
MS in NJ

[BuzzFlash Note: Email addresses for "Letters to the Editors of Time.com" and "Letters to the Editor of TIME Magazine".]

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
- Voltaire, philosopher (384-322 BCE)

From a BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

Re: A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT: Right-wing Media Research Center Targets ANYONE T...

How in the world can MRC be a 501 (C) 3 not for profit corporation and be fully tax deductible? Something is very wrong here!

Steve Ann

Dear Buzz,

Subj: Explaining George Bush

Lord Bertrand Russell once wrote "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt". Well, his insight appears have been confirmed by science. Lord Russell’s insight and this study certainly explain George W. Bush.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Selected Article
© 1999 by the American Psychological Association
For personal use only--not for distribution
December 1999 Vol. 77, No. 6, 1121-1134

Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments

Justin Kruger and David Dunning
Department of Psychology
Cornell University

Abstract
People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability [BuzzFlash emphasis]. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.

[BuzzFlash Note: Hmmm. The dumber one is, the smarter one thinks one is. Bush thinks he's a very smart man.]

Dear Buzz,

I would like to suggest that all of you who question the 501C(3) status of Media Research Center send a copy of the item and a request for investigation to the head of the IRS and to your representatives in Congress. The more letters they receive, the harder it will be for the IRS to ignore.

RH
Lockport NY

[BuzzFlash Note: How to Contact the IRS - http://www.irs.gov/where_file/index.html]

Dear BuzzFlash,

Referring to your "The FBI House Calls," I contacted the FBI in L.A. and they referred me to San Francisco FBI, and also told me that they wouldn't investigate any rumors unless the guy was making physical threats against the Prez, or like, terrorist bomb threats. Then, I called the SF FBI, and they denied the rumor and basically said the same thing LA did about direct threats or terrorist plots and that we did have a free speech amendment in this country and that it was not a crime to voice a negative opinion about
the President or the country. He also emphasized the fact that John Ashcroft is not their boss.

Regards, Kevin Knox

Dear Buzz,

Sad to report Bias is currently the number one best seller on the New York Times non fiction list.

I love to read and have noticed something I've never seen in the past. The NY Times
best sellers list in both categories, fiction and nonfiction have hardly changed over
the last couple of months. This is very unusual. I suspected the bad economy was
the reason however this book comes out and shoots to number one in a couple
of weeks.

We all knew this was inevitable -- the right had to go CBS and Dan Rather. In my
opinion CBS is the only network that tries to be fair, leans neither to the right or
left and this is simply not acceptable to those old conservatives. The Right now
rules -- everyone better fall in line or else. My Mom used to always use the
expression "Money Talks" -- how right she was.

Regards,
Marlene W.

You know, these lies about the "liberal media," "Air Force One theft," "Democratic evildoing," etc., are made up so fast and furious that there isn't even time to research answers to them all. So they just hang out there and appear to be the truth. Very frustrating. Keep on researching for us, Buzz!

Jeff Schwarz