Steissd
Ad hominem attacks are not always illegitimate. Politics and policy are often intertwined with the character of the leader or head of government. If they insult our intelligence with the paucity of their arguments, we are quite entitled to insult them by highlighting their defective character, especially as in some cases, its so obvious. (sorry that shoud read obnoxity)
Quote:While many diplomats at the UN assume they are being bugged, the memo reveals for the first time the scope and scale of US communications intercepts targeted against the New York-based missions.
The disclosure comes at a time when diplomats from the countries have been complaining about the outright 'hostility' of US tactics in recent days to persuade then to fall in line, including threats to economic and aid packages.
The operation appears to have been spotted by rival organisations in Europe. 'The Americans are being very purposeful about this,' said a source at a European intelligence agency when asked about the US surveillance efforts.
Guardian article posted above.http://www.observer.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,905936,00.html
The administration is acting precisely as a child would act when his or her will is thwarted: by upping the intensity and range of the tantrum.
sumac
That's the article from The Observer - I gave the link to it on the previous page ('The Obeserver' is, so to say, the sunday issue of 'The Guardian'.)
Walter,
did you read the comments to the article too?
Could it be a hoax as some people write?
For example #69:
"- 03:16am Mar 2, 2003 GMT (#69 of 314)
I checked to see if any other newspapers have this and only found reference to it on Drudge, which links back to the Observer article. However, their headline is interesting . . .
"ALLEGED 'TOP SECRET' TEXT OF NSA EMAIL... BUT WAIT: WOULD AMERICAN NSA EMPLOYEE SPELL FAVORABLE 'FAVOURABLE', RECOGNIZE 'RECOGNISE' AND EMPHASIZE 'EMPHASISE' IN BRITISH TONGUE?... WOULD NSA REALLY TIME STAMP EMAILS '31/01/2003 0:16' IN EUROPEAN FORMAT?... NAME IN ALLEGED EMAIL IS 'KOZU' AND OBSERVER STORY CLAIMS TO HAVE CONTACTED A 'KOZA'?..."
I did a copy and paste of the article out of the Observer, put it into MS Word using U. S. English spell check and got the same words - favourable, emphasise and recognise - as being mispelled.
These spellings - combined with the computer date format - does make one wonder about the validity of this email and it will be interesting to see what becomes of this.
Well, I don't know, we'll see, I suppose, shortly.
Yes, I noted the "English" spellings in the memo too. But that would be really stupid, if it indeed were a fake, would one not want it to be a credible fake?
Kara,
look here:
Mr. President, ...The candidate we supported in 2000 promised a more humble nation in our dealings with the world. We gave him our votes and our campaign contributions.
That candidate was you. We feel betrayed. We want our money back. We want our country back.... A Billion Bitter enemies will rise out of this war.”
"A Republican Dissent on Iraq”,
Full page ad in Wall Street Journal by major GOP contributors
Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2003
http://www.pointrichmond.com/peace.htm
Off topic comment here.
Just spent a couple of hours trying to catch up with and make sense of what has been happening since I last tried to accomplish that task. And I am struck, yet again, with the sheer number of side issues that are out there. Interesting topics themselves, but not on point to the issues at hand. But it must be very easy for a mind to seize on one or two of these side issues, and then stop thinking, and use those one or two positions as one's justification for one's entire position.
It will take a better, and more disciplined mind than mine to thoughtfully evaluate and understand everything simultaneously, and to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, and/or multiply various relevant understandings by a weighting factor for importance.
It is all so hard, and sometimes I feel myself swayed by a particular argument. Until I remind myself that it is a side issue.
If one conceives of the human brain as much like a computer, taking in bits of information (sensations) from the outside, evaluating them against other "known" bits already inside, trying to abstract out the "big picture", then the enormity of the task is apparent. Particularly so as so much of this is not going on at a conscious level, which is where we must be.
The mind reels. I can, with great effort, stay disciplined and focused, but only for short stretches it seems. Then again my mind gives way to laziness, or prejudice, or wishful thinking, or some other attribute which is not helpful. Until such time as I am able to switch that driver off and return to a purely cognitive mode.
Oy. Perhaps pure thinking and decision-making should be left up to computers.
Certainly the Observer would have noticed the British spellings and would have held back the memo if they thought it was a fake? I wonder whether the memo was sent around in written or audio and if the latter, then the result transcription in a Brit paper would look like that, of course.
Kara, let me get a URL for you from MoveOn. They have online fliers which people can print out and spread around. I'm making one up for my car window.
Very impressive support at MoveOn for the local ad -- look at the money they've raked in in 24 hours!
https://www.moveon.org/localads/
Can't find the flier, Kara, which was originated by the Citizens for Peace, Midland, MI. It was originally a newspaper ad, I think. I have a copy sitting right here and could fax it to you, if you like. Will let you know if I come across it online again.
"...Text of Anti-War Full Page Ad in the Wall Street Journal
Text typed by Bob Goodsell
The Full-page Ad from the Wall Street
Journal, Monday, January 13, 2003
I couldn't find an online version of
the ad, so I copied it from the Journal and typed it in. Text in blue is my
descriptions of the page; Text in black is what is actually in the ad. I have
tried to reproduce the bold print and italics as they exist in the ad...."
http://skyablog.blogspot.com/2003_01_12_skyablog_archive.html
MarketPlace has a special on war and the economy at "Home Front". Online audio available:
"The one-hour special report "The Home Front," anchored by Marketplace's David Brancaccio, focuses on how the conflict with Iraq affects the financial lives of Americans at home, from the price we pay at the pump to our altered feelings about security, the economy and purchase decisions.
The report includes practical advice for listeners thinking about how to prepare their own lives for the domestic effects of war. With special segments on oil, consumerism, the threat of retaliation, media coverage and government spending, the program examines assumptions about the economics of war and America's sense of economic security...."
http://www.marketplace.org/features/homefront/
Thousands rally in support of Bush
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/1801186
Tartar, Not too impressive, considering that those thousands just happened in Houston, TEXAS. How about the rest of the world? c.i.
New sig line from a great friend. Here is the part that did not fit under the Thoreau quote:
Quote:"But then you'll be on an Enemies' List."
"There are some Enemies' Lists people should want to be on. Hey, there are worse things than
being on an Enemies' List."
"Name one."
"Being on a List of Collaborators."
tartarin, thanks for moveon.
Ul, good link.
cobalt, that is indeed a grand signature quote. Are you taking it as yours?
c.i.
