News Notes

Just a few notes from the news. First of all, there have been stories recently about the Bush administration getting tough with Syria. Military actions in Iraq, just next to the Syrian border, are evidence Bush still hasn't "crossed the line" but may hint at his lusting to violate her. Talk of striking at a couple of towns a few miles inside Syria are surfacing.

But one has to wonder if the Bush administration doesn't employ its instruments of God, ala Pat Robertson, and the media, ala Bill O'Reilly, as mouthpieces to express administration lustful thinking outloud. No sooner had the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez by Robertson gone on the back burner, comes the latest from O'Reilly who called for the assassination of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad if he “doesn’t help us out” with Iraq war.

Keep in mind, O'Reilly is probably just greasing Americans for the neocons. Just getting us in the right mindset for the possibility of U.S. aggression being led by Bush. It'd be outrageous normally, but these aren't normal times, as the next story attests.

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From Keith Olberman's MSNBC Countdown show comes the following story. I think it illustrates the over-reaction often employed here in America to "solve" a problem. (Or is it, Dada ponders, just more fascism citizens are being conditioned to accept? Either way, I think it a good idea we should set the alarm, wake up, and pull our collective heads out of our collective asses.)

"Watch Where You Park It"

"If you‘ve ever thought about taking a moment to relax on a park bench, you may want to think again. As one woman recently found out, if you‘re alone, you could be breaking the law. And you might even spend a few months in jail.

"Sandra Catena recently sat down on a New York City park bench. The 47-year-old was then greeted by two police officers on both sides. The cops told her she was breaking the law.

"Many public parks now require a special pass. You‘re welcome if you bring a child, a detail Catena and many others miss. She was ticketed for being here alone and now faces a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.

“ ' I begged him for a warning several times,' said Catena. 'I told him, I will leave immediately and never come back. And he said, no. We need to give you a summons.'

"The rule was designed, in large part, to keep sex offenders out."

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Also from Olberman's "Countdown" comes the story of the Bush administration's business as usual. Using Katrina as an excuse to pork up the pigs, a contract for rebuilding a school in Mississippi has gone out to a no-bid winner, an outside company, that local contractors said could be done for considerably less than the $40 million being awarded somebody's crony "buddies".