Alterman paints a bleak picture: Talk radio is dominated by Rush Limbaugh and his imitators, the Web has fallen to Matt Drudge, and cable TV is ruled by Ailes and his wannabes at the rival channels. Smart, media-savvy conservatives like William Kristol and Pat Buchanan quietly acknowledge that there is no longer a liberal media monolith -- but that doesn't stop them from "working the refs," writes Alterman, and using the myth to pressure mainstream media to tilt further right. "Many conservatives who attack the media for its alleged liberalism do so because the constant drumbeat of groundless accusation has proven an effective weapon in weakening journalism's watchdog function ... As [New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes]: 'The next time the [Bush] administration insists that chocolate is vanilla, much of the media -- fearing accusations of liberal bias, trying to create the appearance of balance -- won't report that the stuff is actually brown; at best they'll report that some Democrats claim that it's brown.'"

The upcoming U.N. Security Council vote on whether to go to war, expected to take place within the next two weeks, now becomes critical for Blair. If the 15-member council does not approve an invasion, and Blair opts for war anyway, as expected, he would face a potentially catastrophic split within his own party.

Ben-Artzi was also offered the opportunity to see a military psychologist who could declare him mentally unfit, but again he refused. "I'm not mentally ill," his sister quotes him as saying. "I'm a pacifist. That's not a mental illness. Don't tell me to go to a psychologist who will sign a letter so it will give you a way out so you don't have to deal with me."

Why does listening to John Ashcroft make me feel like the world's already ended? If we're going to be warned about terrorism can't we be warned by someone who makes you want to survive?
- Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

Russian drinkers raise glass to new bar order -- The Washington Times Young people are drinking less vodka and more beer as health considerations, better brews and good marketing are reordering the domestic market.
That means that Russians, this year for the first time, are on a pace to spend more on beer than on vodka, according to market-research firms.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Mugabe: US must disarm The US should lead by example and dismantle its weapons of mass destruction, before demanding the same of Iraq, he said.

He also questioned the legitimacy of George Bush's 2000 election victory, saying Mr Bush was in no position to lecture Zimbabwe on democratic elections.

Salon.com Technology | Not-so-clean cars Driving a hydrogen-powered car juiced with fuel generated by electrolysis could actually be worse for the ozone layer than sticking with gasoline.

War Party Stumbles The great danger of this propaganda technique, with its crudeness and apparent disregard for objective standards of truth, is that it is bound to provoke widespread incredulity. In dialectical revenge against the swaggering excesses of the War Party, the backlash, or "blowback," is already gathering, and, while anti-war protestors marched in their millions in Rome, Paris, Barcelona, and London, the strongest reaction may eventually flare up on American shores.

Add political and cultural turmoil to the toll taken by this war in terms of troops and treasure. The anti-war movement is, in large part, a youth movement. Brought up to believe that America is a democratic republic, today's young Americans see their country becoming an empire abroad and a police state at home. As the land of the free and the home of the brave becomes the land of the Patriot Act and the home of the too-scared-to-protest, the young are standing up to be counted. There is a premonition of insurrection in the air, not only political but also cultural, that could make the 1960s – with all its excesses – seem like a Sunday school picnic.

:: Dean For America :: I am Howard Dean. And I'm here to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

The Will of the World
February 15, 2003, the day 10 million or so people in hundreds of cities on every continent demonstrated against war in Iraq, will go down in history as the first time that the people of the world expressed their clear and concerted will in regard to a pressing global issue. Never before--not during the Vietnam War, not during the antinuclear demonstrations of the early 1980s--had they made known their will so forcefully by all the means at their disposal. On that day, history may one day record, global democracy was born.

...

We--that is, we, the peoples of the earth--have examined the case for war against Iraq and rejected it. We have stepped forward onto the streets of our cities and looked at ourselves, and have liked what we saw. We know our will. Now we must act. We can stop the war.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Criterion Collection
Featuring:

• New digital transfer supervised by the director and new Dolby sound mixes
  
• Three commentary tracks: director Terry Gilliam; stars Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro and producer Laila Nabulsi; and author Hunter S. Thompson
  
• Deleted scenes, with commentary by Terry Gilliam
  
• Collection of storyboards and production designs
  
• Collection of original artwork by famed illustrator Ralph Steadman
  
• Fear and Loathing on the Road to Hollywood: A BBC feature documentary with Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman
  
• Hunter Goes to Hollywood, a short documentary video by Wayne Ewing
  
• A look at the controversy over the screenwriting credit
  
• A selection of Hunter S. Thompson's correspondence read on-camera by Johnny Depp
  
• Rare material on Oscar Zeta Acosta, the attorney on whom the character Dr. Gonzo is based
  
• Excerpt from the 1996 audio CD
  
• Trailer and stills galleries
  
• A booklet featuring an essay by J. Hoberman and two pieces by Hunter S. Thompson

Mirror.co.uk - EX-PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER BACKS OUR FIGHT FORMER US President Jimmy Carter is backing the Daily Mirror's Not in My Name campaign.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the only US president since 1945 never to order American soldiers into war, endorsed our stance on war with Iraq, saying: "You're doing a good job. I am glad about that. War is evil."

The Observer | Special reports | The audacious courage of Mr Blair You cannot help but admire the Prime Minister's steadfast refusal to be intimidated by facts and figures.

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) plans to file papers to launch a presidential exploratory committee this week and decide whether to run by June, he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He and other Democrats are to attend an AFL-CIO forum in Iowa today. Kucinich has said voters need to hear alternative points of view on Iraq, trade and the nation's economic policies.

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, the former NATO supreme commander, also is considering a presidential bid, he told NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday. "I haven't declared a party, but it would be hard to conceive of running as a Republican only because the administration's policies are what is causing me to have these concerns," he said.

Former senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.), the only black woman elected to the Senate, plans to announce her presidential candidacy Tuesday in Chicago. Some see her move as an effort to steal momentum from Al Sharpton of New York, whom some Democrats would like to usher off the stage.

- culled from The Washington Post

I lay it down as a fact that if all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world.

- Blaise Pascal, Pensees

Yahoo! News - Rumsfeld Won't Rule Out Nuclear Bomb Against Iraq "As you well understand, the nuclear weapon is not just another weapon in an arsenal. And until now we've always kept them in a class of their own for good reason because of the enormous destructive power and our profound commitment to do all we can to see that they are never used again," Kennedy said.

A Legacy of Stonewalling (washingtonpost.com) In the annals of political-press relations, Ron Ziegler was a seminal figure.

Salon.com Sex | The rising Well, my son, my fraternity brother, my foosball-playing superchamp, my fellow American, that thought is the spawn of branding professionals who learned evil postmodern sorcery at Brown.

HoustonChronicle.com - Feb. 4:Ex-Enron trader pleads guilty to schemes A former Enron energy trader from Houston pleaded guilty Tuesday in San Francisco to helping manipulate prices during the California energy crisis and lying about it to federal authorities.

Skipping Towards Gomorrah

Bill Bennett. Robert Bork. Pat Buchanan. Dr. Laura. Bill O'Reilly.
They have written bestseller after bestseller condemning the sins
and liberal views of America.
It's time for someone to speak up for the sinners.

Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century

Let's face it -- the yo-yo president of the U.S.A. knows nothing. He is a dunce. He does what he is told to do -- says what he is told to say -- poses the way he is told to pose. He is a Fool.

This is never an easy thing for the voters of this country to accept....

...To say that this goofy child president is looking more and more like Richard Nixon in the summer of 1974 would be a flagrant insult to Nixon.

What Liberal Media?

After reading What Liberal Media? you will understand that the real news story of recent years is not whether this newspaper, or that news anchor, is biased but rather to what extent the entire news industry is organized to communicate conservative views and push our politics to the right—regardless of how “liberal” any given reporter may be.

Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America

Provocative political commentator Arianna Huffington yanks back the curtain on the unholy alliance of CEOs, politicians, lobbyists, and Wall Street bankers who have shown a brutal disregard for those in the office cubicles and on the factory floors. As she puts it: "the economic game is not supposed to be rigged like some shady ring toss on a carnival midway." Yet it has been, allowing corporate crooks to bilk the public out of trillions of dollars, magically making our pensions and 401(K)s disappear and walking away with astronomical payouts and absurdly lavish perks-for-life.

TAP: Web Feature: Tame the Deficit Hawks. by Robert B. Reich. January 6, 2003. These Democrat deficit hawks have it all wrong. The economy needs a fiscal stimulus right now, which means the federal government has to run large deficits. Monetary policy can't do it alone. With the federal funds rate now at 1.25 percent, the Federal Reserve has just about reached the end of its tether.

State of the Union, 2003
I have not been to Jerusalem,
but Shirley talks about the bombs.
I have no god, but have seen the children praying
for it to stop. They pray to different gods.
The news is all old news again, repeated
like a bad habit, cheap tobacco, the social lie.

The children have seen so much death
that death means nothing to them now.
They wait in line for bread.
They wait in line for water.
Their eyes are black moons reflecting emptiness.
We've seen them a thousand times.

Soon, the President will speak.
He will have something to say about bombs
and freedom and our way of life.
I will turn the tv off. I always do.
Because I can't bear to look
at the monuments in his eyes.

--Sam Hamill

ABCNEWS.com : Already Active ELF Extending Range According to Taylor, "deep ecologists" such as those in ELF have a firm belief in three essential tenets: That ecosystems have an inherent worth that cannot be judged in relation to human needs; that human actions are bringing the earth toward mass extinctions; and that political action is insufficient to bring about the wholesale social changes needed.

Because of their rejection of the possibility that government will make the kind of policy changes they deem necessary, ELF activists are not concerned about swaying public opinion, in Taylor's reading of the group. Their goal, he says, is to create a situation in which it is simply unprofitable for lumber companies to cut down trees or construction companies to build luxury "trophy homes" in wild areas.

Earth Liberation Front (ELF) We are the burning rage of this dying planet. The war of greed ravages the earth and species die out every day. ELF works to speed up the collapse of industry, to scare the rich, and to undermine the foundations of the state. We embrace social and deep ecology as a practical resistance movement. We have to show the enemy that we are serious about defending what is sacred. Together we have teeth and claws to match our dreams. Our greatest weapons are imagination and the ability to strike when least expected.

CNN.com - Transcripts SPRINGER: It is. You know, I know it. And I have always said it. You know, it is.

And you know what? I enjoy doing it. Obviously people must enjoy the show, otherwise it wouldn't be on for 12 years. It's a show. It's a show.

But we're talking about going to war. We're talking about the economy, which is an absolute chaos. We're talking about people not having health insurance. I mean serious, serious things. Who cares about the stupid show?

I'll make a deal. You don't go to war, I'll stop the show.