A grocery worker strike in California may be headed toward settlement, after five months and a lockout. Several chain stores were trying to lay a heavier burden of their health care costs on workers in violation of the existing contract. Labor went on strike, and Albertsons, not initially involved, locked its workers out in sympathy with the other chains.

Management cited higher health care costs (no shit) and the coming of Walmart grocery stores as the impetous for breaking the contract and drasgging the strike out for five months. In the face of dropping stock prices and migration of their customer base to other chains, the companies finally decided to negotiate a settlement. Details are not available, but Wall Street is waiting with baited breath to find out what concessions the union has made.

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A serial killer may be on the loose in Oklahoma. I, of course, am properly terrified.

No kidding, law enforcement officials from several states are meeting in Oklahoma City to discuss a number of unsolved killings of women, most described as prostitutes, whose bodies have been found in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Four of the seven victims were from the Oklahoma City area.

Fascinating thing here is the difference between the Associated Press story carried by major news outlets, and this one, from Native American Times.

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Seems John Ashcroft and the Justice Department have all gotten medical degrees. Motivated by his long standing opposition to abortion, Ashcroft has issued subpoenas to Planned Parenthood for the medical records of women who have received abortions, especially those performed after the first trimester. This is partially motivated by his irritation over several lawsuits filed claiming the ban on "partial birth abortion " is sometimes medically necessary. To determine whether necessity applied, Ashcroft wants to go fishing in medical records.

Intimidation?

Of course not!

It turns out the Pentagon, contrary to the rest of the Shrub administration, believes that global warming not only exists, but is a major threat to the security of the United States.

See article here.

Download report here.

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An Illinois couple has filed a lawsuit alleging that the federal government's ban on the importation of medicines from Canada is unconstitutional.

This goes hand in hand with the recent passage of the Medicare "reform" bill, which includes a prescription drug benefit of dubious value to anyone who might have to buy drugs when it comes into effect next year. That same bill also explicitly prevented Medicare, the largest single buyer of drugs in the US, from negotiating the price of drugs with the pharmaceutical industry. This segment of the legislation was an unabashed giveaway to the drug companies, since other federal agencies, like the Veteran's Administration, routinely negotiate the price of prescription drugs for sale in their own pharmacies.

Some cities and states are challenging the prohibition against reimportation of drugs from Canada. Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty has created a website specifically to provide information on Canadian pharmacies that sell into the United States. Pawlenty testified before a Congressional panel that met while the Medicare legislation was being written in secret by Republicans and their lobbyist friends from the pharmaceutical companies. Pawlenty said he'd be willing to go to jail over this issue if the Food And Drug Administration wanted to press the case. FDA has held to its position that drugs reimported from Canada are unsafe. This is false, as Canadian quality control of drugs and their pharmacy system are just as tight as those here in the US. The second claim is that some of the online pharmacies are scam operations that my not even be operating from Canada. This is likely true, which is why programs like the one in Minnesota, where individual Canadian pharmacies are checked out, then recommended by state government.

This is a very serious issue. The couple who have filed the lawsuit said they did so because they cannot keep up with their monthly costs for drug, which is over $1,000 per month. I can tell you from my own experiences that the anti-convulsives I am taking cost me almost 80% less when purchased from Canada. Americans pay the highest prices in the world for American manufactured drugs, which are sold through a very small number of national distributors. That choke point in the supply chain is one of the reasons prices remain so high.

Over the last 15 years drug prices have risen by a fairly steady rate of close to 18% per year, far outstripping the rate of inflation. Despite the many methods of socialization of the costs of research, the industry continues to trot out the tired canard of research and development costs as the source of high prices, even while they sell into price-controlled foreign markets at deeply discounted prices.

It is no accident that over the same fifteen year period, the pharmaceutical industry has been the most profitable in the world.

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Clare Short, British Cabinet Minister in Tony Blair's government, has alleged her government bugged UN General Secretary Kofi Annan's office prior to the war in Iraq. Short claimed to have seen printed transcripts of conversations that took place in Annan's office during the heated back and forth between Britain, the US, and the UN.

Such surveillance would be illegal, and Annan is quoted as saying that if anyone wanted his opinion on any issue, they need "only have asked him directly."

Blair refused to confirm or deny her allegations, going only so far as to say that her comments are "deeply irresponsible." It remains to be seen whether Short, a Labor Party MP, will face party discipline.

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Howard Stern has been booted off several Clear Channel Communications owned radio stations for alleged indecency and insensitivity during one of his radio broadcasts. I'm not a fan of Stern's at all - I find him dull, nasty, and extraordinarily self-centered - but this sort of ploy is obviously Clear Channel's response to the recent hearings held on Capitol Hill over indecency on television and radio. Clear Channel has a lot of business that regularly comes before Congress and federal regulatory agencies, and the message from politician's during the hearings was hard to miss: clean up your act, or we will attempt to hinder your ability to reap profits at the expense of the public.

This is no different to the cravenly cave-in of CBS over the Reagan "docudrama" a number of months ago.

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Thanks to my AZ friend for the following link.

Send a letter to Mary Cheney asking her to speak with Daddy, Vice President Cheney, about his puppet's proposed constitutional amendment to "defend marriage."

Andrew Sullivan and other gay supporters of The Shrub are experiencing a rude awakening, and it is long overdue. Only Geraldo Rivera's manic support for the illegal war in Iraq surpassed Sullivan's, who regularly excoriated those who opposed the war. The Log Cabin Republicans have acted as apologists for the anti-gay stance of the Republican party through a number of administrations, and now can only offer a mild rebuke to the Resident over the proposed amendment to the Constitution defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The pathetic thing is how surprised they all seem to be. The Shrub gets a pass from these people for lying about a war that has claimed thousands of lives, then act shocked when the same Shrub, always a willing captive of the extreme Christian Right, goes forward with his promise to "defend marriage," a phrase whose meaning no one could possibly have mistaken.

I'm not one of those people who hate to say "I told you so," so:

I told you so.

A doff of the cap for Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco for issuing gay marriage certificates and forcing California to test in court a referendum barring gays from marrying one another.

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An old friend called me last night, spluttering over Larry King Live on CNN, where Newsom and a female wing-nut from Colorado were squaring off over this marriage debate, such as it is. My friend declared Newsom fit for the presidency, which, after listening to the good mayor, I could agree with. Seems more honest a man than the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, John Kerry, still trying to have it both ways on the war in Iraq.

My friend knows a little about the extreme right, given that he called from Arizona and owns a bumper sticker that says "Don't pray in my schools and I won't think in your church," if I have it correctly. It must be very frustrating to be politically rational and live in a wing-nut state.

Then again, I live in Oklahoma. :)

Today's musical servings:

Keb' Mo' - Keb' Mo' & Just Like You

Lloyd Cole - Lloyd Cole

John Ashcroft's subpoenas, and why you should be afraid.

Very afraid.

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Ralph Nader has told us all to "relax, rejoice," at the prospect of his independent candidacy for president.

Let me make one thing crystal clear - contrary to popular and media wisdom, Nader was not the cause of Al Gore's loss in 2000. Gore's lame campaign, his refusal to employ arguably the greatest campaigner of the 20th century, Bill Clinton, to stump for him, and the criminal behavior of the state of Florida cost him the election. OK, technically, Nader drew enough votes to trigger the recount, but Gore should never have been in that position to begin with.

This time, it's different. Shrub is an illegitimate Resident of the white house, and needs to be deposed. Dividing the "left" vote, such as it is, prepares a recipe for defeat. This is going to be a close election once again, and narrowing the margin may well result in another round of disputed recounts. This cannot be left to state officials again.

To that end, Nader must step out of the race, or endorse the Democratic nominee closer to November. Likewise, Dean will have to endorse the party nominee in order to sway his supporters to come out and vote. This will be crucial, as many of Dean's backers are people who have been reluctant to vote, or are eligible for the first time this year.

Rachel and I visited the Friends Of Oklahoma County Library book sale, held annually at the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds. Thousands upon thousands of books were available in two building halls. Most were duplicates, I imagine, but the rest were donated books they couldn't use or store. I was amazed how much stuff there was to pick through, once I was able to navigate around the book dealers and their 55 gallon plastic trash bins. Watching them sweep whole tables clear reminded me that this sale was not intended for them - it was aimed at library customers, not resellers.

Ah, well, so it goes.

We came home with 40 some odd books, and spent just under $30.00.

Howard Dean has abandoned his campaign for the presidency. To my mind, it is about time. Though I think he had the best chance to bludgeon Shrub in the general election, it is more than clear that Democratic voters have chosen, yet again, to play it safe. Dean's message is closer to what Democrats have expressed as their position on various issues, but the media hatchet job done on Dean has frightened a lot of voters. The endless blather about "electability" has also clouded the debate, because, as anyone with half a brain knows, "electability" is a code word for centrist vanilla candidate. Ask yourself this: in 1998, while he was still governor of Texas, did anyone think a brainless monkey like Shrub could possibly be "electable?"

Right.

Farewell, Dr. Dean, you were fun while you lasted. The machine has got the better of you, I just hope you intend to keep biting the asses of those Republican Lite posers at the DNC & DLC.

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Cows don't get mad, they just get even.

Seems the one that caused such consternation in December wasn't a downer.

Yikes!

An editorial in the Washington Post by Don Henley, formerly of the Eagles, addressing issues of music piracy and the consolidation of the recording industry.

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I admit to a conflicted attitude about downloading copyrighted content off the Web. My impulse is always to support artists, because they produce the music I love to listen to, the books I read, the films I watch. In a society where value is placed on the formation of artistic content, those who create it expect renumeration, and to that they are entitled.

But.

But.

At what price? In simpleton economics the answer is "whatever the market will bear." Which market? The one where the recording industry promised us twenty years ago that CD prices would soon come down as mass production of releases kicked in. Lo and behold, once listeners across the globe had been weaned off vinyl and invested in the new digital format, CD prices went up, and did so year after year until retail pricing of $18.99 was commonplace. During the 1980's and into the 1990's I purchased easily 4,000 CDs or more, most of them from retail prices, though not all at full boat. I also began frequenting used CD stores for bargains, and also for out of print and hard to find stuff. The secondary market soon became my primary place of music purchases - the selection was quirky, but the prices were right.

The record industry tried to quash the secondary market by withholding advertising and promotional materials to any store that sold retail CDs and used CDs in the same store. Stand-up struggling artists like Garth Brooks backed this campaign. Further muscle was applied if used CD shops also dabbled in bootlegs. Raids were conducted and prosecutions mounted, putting a number of stores out of business and intimidating others. All probably very legal, but grotesque.

All told, I've easily spent better than $50,000 on music purchases, only to have confirmed what I've known all along - that the music distributors engaged in illegal price fixing and collusion to keep the retail price of CDs at an artificial level, long after the costs of production had plummeted. I felt I was due; owed something for the way I was taken.

But.

But.

The folks who actually make the music couldn't really be blamed for this, could they? How much power do they have over the way their music is marketed and sold? I have no answer to that question, and it is likely that the majority of musicians weren't getting that extra piece of the price pie cooked up by the record companies. They need that money to live, to feed their families, provide shelter and health care for them. Only a select few mega-selling artists are making out so well that downloading tunes will have a negligible effect on their earnings. I don't give a damn about them - they are the few who do have the power to influence industry pricing structures, and not one of them steeped up to do so during the hey-days of nearly $20 a pop for a CD.

The smaller selling folks, well, that is a tough nut.

Broadband has enabled multiple ways of spreading digital music files all over the globe, making them instantly available to millions of people. It has become basically idiot proof, encouraging the practice. Thus far the RIAA has engaged in intimidation of some select individuals, including a comic incident involving a twelve year old girl. Notable is the absence of lawsuits against Internet Service Providers, essentially the enablers of rampant downloading. I suspect the suits against individuals is intended not only to scare would-be file sharers but to set a precedent that can be exploited in court against an ISP. that action is inevitable, but it will be costly and may go against the record industry, which would close off one avenue.

The other avenue is mandating changes in the way computers actually function, essentially turning them into one way appliances. Various ways of rendering hardware incapable of copying anything are being explored, as are methods to gate keep systems to prevent them from playing improper content. The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) technically prohibits what has been considered "fair use" copying of music and software for personal use in cars and other portables, not to mention back-ups in the event a CD is scratched and unable to play. Further proposed legislation would strengthen such prohibitions until the content can only be accessed in a manner dictated by the industry.

To take the longest way possible around this, I find myself mildly disturbed by the notion that some artists may not be getting their due, but I also understand why so many people are engaging in what is illegal activity. They feel screwed, and to some extent they have been. If the industry has its way in the near term, they'll continue to be screwed. Downloading is unstoppable unless some radical changes in the way music is delivered take place, and the hardware we use is largely disabled. The industry has been forced to move into offering online music downloads for a fee, but that fee adds up to the same prices as a store bought CD, but with crappier sound quality. That, in my mind is no solution at all. This is the wild west, and the sheriff is coming.

He just ain't here yet.

Seems the woman who was the subject of the Kerry affair rumors has gone on record denying the allegation as utterly false. An additional statement by her parents cast doubt upon the comments attributed to her father characterizing Kerry as a "slimeball." The Drudge Report, intent on getting all the mileage it can out of this patently false story is still pumping it, claiming major investigations are underway by the Washington Post, NY Times, etc. These investigations are taking place nowhere beyond the confines of Drudge's sleazy, lowbrow mind.

No doubt the CableSpews programs are disappointed by the failure of this story to mature into full blown scandal.

Alas! Back to Michael Bryant, er, Kobe Jackson...whatever.

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An interesting selection of quoted presidents. Consider these quotes in the context of todays' political landscape, and try to imagine who would and would not be elected. :)

Also, read Joe Conason's piece in Salon concerning the rumors about John Kerry. By the way, the day pass, watch-the-ad to read Salon's content is a really good deal. The ads are quick and painless, and some of the stuff on the other side is actually worth reading.

Today's music gem is The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta.

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I'll spare you the link to Matt Drudge's "world exclusive" on the rumored affair John Kerry is said to have carried on with an intern. Suffice to say the air of the World Weekly News is all over the Drudge Report, specifically about this "story," which has no legs thus far. All I've been able to find beyond the Drudge sludge is a mention of a friend of the girl and her parents. The former tells a vague and possibly lurid tale, but nothing at all specific. Her parents reference a phone call said to have taken place between their daughter and Kerry about coming to work on one of his senate campaigns. The girl's father has some harsh words for Kerry, describing him as a "slime ball" without any mention at all of what he is supposed to have done to earn that moniker.

In other words, there is nothing here, not until the girl herself, said to have "fled to Africa" appears to make the accusation publicly. I honestly doubt that will come to pass. It would be highly illuminating to see who got this brushfire started - it may *not* be the Shrubites warming up for the coming campaign. Much as they fear a Kerry nomination, it is quite possible one of the other Democratic campaigns unearthed what little there is to this and aired it out, feeding Drudge, well-known for posting anything even mildly salacious about almost anyone, regardless of facts. He was one of the outlets that funneled the Arkansas Project's Clinton tales to a mainstream media hungry to scoop one another on their 24 hour-a-day shoutcasts.

Kerry does not suit me as the candidate to face off against Shrub and his Nixon/Reagan/Bushdaddy retreads, but I'll hold my nose and vote for him because this election really matters. As I have been for the last several elections, I am of two minds about the way this country is run. On the one hand, both parties are utterly compromised by the rich interests that fund their campaigns, give plum positions to spouses, sons, and daughters, and punish them when they stray by flooding their opponents in cash. Voting for either is to split hairs, choosing one wing of the Big Business Party over the other, often based on media analysis of the candidates looks or demeanor. In this scenario, voting for the radical Shrubites is different from the Democrats only by degree, not substance. Think of the Clinton years, where nasty legislation punishing poor people, blessing massive mergers, and sinking national health care were signed into law. Gore was more of the same, and so is Kerry, who knew better about the Iraq war but voted for it to retain political cover.

On the other hand, the Shrubite administration is comprised of many of the old time cold warriors and radical tax cutters from previous Republican administrations, people who have felt for a long time that there is much unfinished business from those days. In Shrub they found a dim-witted glad hander who would be the lying public face reassuring the population that he was earnest, and that all of his decisions had our best interests at heart. Those with their hands on the strings have a Republican Congress ready and willing to cede all of their powers to the Presidency, and they have done so with pleasurable ease. Thus the enormous tax cut gifts to their rich friends and business interests, sweetheart legislation for the energy and pharmaceutical industries, and the destruction of social programs through the slash and burn defunding technique made famous by Newt Gingrich and John Kasich. If you don't know who those two are, find out.

In this more terrifying picture, Wolfowitz and company will remake the Middle East into a giant oil field fit for our consumption. Note where the newest permanent military installations were built - both the Afghan disaster and the Iraq invasion are, and have always been, about oil. It is little noticed but not secret that the Shrubites are pursuing an "energy security" policy which they consider to be paramount. Fulfillment of this policy includes wars at home and abroad. Here, against the poor soaking up dollars better suited for Halliburton and Booz, Allen, Hamilton; against children in dire need of a decent education, and the sick, literally dying for lack of health care coverage. Wars abroad will alter the balance of power in key oil-bearing regions, propping up nasty regimes while our military acts as armed stewards of the great black gold treasure troves hidden beneath other people's lands.

In the latter case, defeating Bush outweighs the paid pandering Kerry has done during his Senate tenure.

Judging by the above, it is easy to see where I've come down this time around.

"Weapons of mass destruction program-related activities."

Now doesn't that sound really stupid? Who writes this shit anyway? In a desperate bid to reframe the continuing debate about the validity of the Resident's case for making war upon Iraq, Shrub and Co. have seized upon this laughable and meaningless euphemism to describe the "imminent threat" Iraq was supposed to have posed to the United States.

A year ago there were "nukular weapons" littering the desert, bioweapons of every form lurking in caves and beneath the hoods of "mobile labs." Turns out it was all a fiction, cooked up by Wolfowitz and Cheney to close some unfinished business and seize power in the Middle East in a bid to alter world oil politics.

Remember Colin Powell at the UN, with his show 'n' tell performance, complete with satellite photographs and all of those scary and very specific descriptions of the purpose of those buildings and vehicles? All a lie.

Now the story has undergone another revision. Weapons of mass destruction have gone AWOL, so now "freedom and democracy" were the reasons for going to war, and oh, don't forget the imminent danger of those

"Weapons of mass destruction program-related activities."

Sounds exactly like something Baghdad Bob would have said as bombs were raining down around him and the Iraqi Army was deserting en masse. If any other world leader dared to utter such an absurd phrase, he would have been mocked pitilessly by members of our government and press. Since the empty words fell from the lying lips of our Commander-In-Thief they are taken as gospel by a pliable and lazy media, repeated without any sense of irony at all.

The final twist in this sickening farce is the new Shrub assertion, echoed by all of his cabinet officials (cabinet criminals, say I) on the Sunday media blab fests, that he and all of his cohorts were misled by faulty intelligence and the blame lies with CIA, NSA, and the rest of the alphabet soup crowd. This runs counter to the oft repeated mantra that the blather about armageddon weapons was based on "reliable, comprehensive intelligence." It remains to be seen whether or not George Tenet will attempt a second stumble onto his sword to save the Resident from the hard truth.