General Stuff: General NewsNews the General reads.Bush Goal Was Dodging War- February 16, 2004 Jimmy Breslin: In Texas, George Bush might have even had a uniform on. But he was not in Vietnam. And now, today, he is a guy who ducked the war, dodged the war, reneged on any chance to go to war, and yet without even a hint of personal shame sends young people to die in a war that his record shows that he would duck.That Bush was not near any of this is his business. Of course he had joined the National Guard so he wouldn't have to go to Vietnam. That he barely went to any National Guard...http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/16.html#a123 U.S. Deficit Reaches Record $489.4 Billion- February 14, 2004 http:www.nytimes.com20040214businessworldbusiness14trade.htmlth WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 - The United States trade deficit soared to a record of $489.4 billion last year, according to a federal report released on Friday, raising concerns about the problems such a large gap could create. The deficit, which is the difference between the value of foreign goods and services purchased in this country and the amount of American goods and services sold overseas, is now the largest in history.http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/14.html#a121 Conan O'Brien's Last Show in Toronto- February 14, 2004 After the ignominious results of Thursday's show, Conan O'Brien joked that his show was in Toronto "to make Don Cherry look good." For Americans who don't know who Don Cherry is, a word of explanation: Cherry is a fixture on Hockey Night in Canada whose politics would make George W. Bush look liberal. Cherry frequently makes derogatory remarks about European and French players in the NHL, and his bigotry was the source of a recent controversy. Cherry represents himself as a populist and drapes..http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/14.html#a120 For Those Who Keep Saying Bush Had Bad Intelligence...- February 14, 2004 http:www.americanprogress.orgsitepp.aspc=biJRJ8OVF&b=24889 A chronology of how the Bush Administration repeatedly and deliberately refused to listen to intelligence agencies that said its case for war was weakhttp://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/13.html#a118 Toronto TV Station Apologizes for Conan O'Brien Sketch- February 13, 2004 I said just moments after last night's Late Night with Conan O'Brien: "The Triumph skit in Quebec was the first time Late Night really showed how little it knows about Canada and Canadian humour, and the first time the flaunting of Canadian stereotypes crossed over into typically American-style bigotry." I was not alone. CHUM, a Toronto TV station that aired the show, apologized today for the segment. Earlier in the day, several members of Parliament expressed outrage over the segment,...http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/13.html#a117 The Real Man, by Paul Krugman- February 13, 2004 To understand why questions about George Bush's time in the National Guard are legitimate, all you have to do is look at the federal budget published last week. No, not the lies, damned lies and statistics &151; the pictures. By my count, this year's budget contains 27 glossy photos of Mr. Bush. We see the president in front of a giant American flag, in front of the Washington Monument, comforting an elderly woman in a wheelchair, helping a small child with his reading assignment, building a...http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/13.html#a116 Conan O'Brien's Third Night in Toronto- February 13, 2004 It's a real shame that Late Night with Conan O'Brien had to stoop as low as it did in its "Triumph the Insult Comic" skit tonight. Adam Sandler's appearance was fine. The "Canadian Small Talk Moment" was funny again. Other show characters appeared. But the Triumph segment just left me feeling really disappointed. Triumph, the dog puppet modeled after Toronto's own Ed The Sock (though Late Night will never admit it), went to Quebec to film a nasty segment in which he accosted unsuspecting...http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/13.html#a115 Conan O'Brien's Second Night in Toronto- February 12, 2004 The second show in Toronto for Late Night with Conan O'Brien featured Michael J. Fox, some guy who does moose calls, and Nickelback, Canada's answer to Creed. The results would have been even more mixed than yesterday's show if it were not for the presence of former Kids in the Hall member Scott Thompson in a pre-recorded romp through some Toronto landmarks, including City Hall, where he and Conan considered legally-sanctioned marital bliss. Unfortunately, the segment must.http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/12.html#a114 Bush's Military Records May Have Been Intentionally Destroyed- February 11, 2004 A story from the Dallas Morning News, posted on FarrFeed, suggests Bush's military records may have been destroyed intentionally. Retired National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett said Tuesday that in 1997, then-Gov. Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, told the National Guard chief to get the Bush file and make certain "there's not anything there that will embarrass the governor." Col. Burkett said that a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin, he saw Mr. Bush's file and documents from it...http://blogs.salon.com/0003158/categories/generalNews/2004/02/11.html#a112 |