Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution)
RE yesterday's post on Uncle Sam's abuse of prisoners, I suspect that virtually nobody would believe that incidents of abuse and torture happened if not for the Abu Ghraib pictures. At the same time, I suspect that many of the same people won't believe anything happened that wasn't photographed.
Bellingham history teacher fired from teaching current events because he asked seniors to write about photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners hit school officials with a federal lawsuit yesterday, accusing his bosses of censorship...
One student's father met with [teacher Brian] Newark. ``He demanded to know why I had not asked the students to look at pictures of the beheading of Nicholas Berg so that the students could understand precisely who the Abu Ghraib prisoners were,'' Newark said.
By the time the incident made its way to School Superintendent T.C. Mattocks' office, the superintendent claimed Newark had forced the students to view Berg's beheading. Newark said that never happened.
The teacher's ``requirement that student to (sic) watch the beheading of Berg, a horrific event, was inappropriate. In fact, he had no remorse and was defiant when Trudeau spoke to him,'' Mattocks wrote in a letter denying Newark's grievance...
Newark called the incident part of ``a pattern'' at the school.
``Last year I was asked to give a list of the students who were not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance,'' he said. ``I refused to do that.''
This makes me sad for more than one reason.
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Stefan C. Friedman's article in Monday's New York Post, "Radicals Plot Bad Weather," says that the NYPD is tracking five groups in preparation for next week's anti-RNC protests including the Earth Liberation Front, Refuse & Resist and International A.N.S.W.E.R. It also says law enforcement is worried about former members of the Weathermen getting involved. This bit is hilarious:
Originally called "The Weathermen," the anarchist organization came into existence in June 1969 as a radical splinter group of the Students for a Democratic Society.
What is there to say?
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The National Progress Fund's "Bush-Nader, '04" commercial is a disgusting political ad. Like other NPF ads, it is dishonest and showcases a refusal to talk about anything but the clichéd horse race.