The Bush Administration has finally figured out how to spur the economy, at least for a day or two. They simply thumped on the Fear Meter a little bit; the needle bounced up to Orange, and the rush was on. For some reason, many Americans today are buying what this same government, which was blindsided so badly on 9/11, is selling. The media reports that people are finally out shopping, picking up requisite items like canned goods and batteries in preparation for the next attack. They’re also grabbing odd things from the shelves, the kinds of things you wouldn’t normally see Americans buying, like gas masks and water purification tablets. Don’t be surprised if the FDA soon decides that Cipro, the anti-anthrax drug, can be cleared for over-the-counter sales; that’d really spike the pharmaceutical economy.

The irony is that it won’t be terrorists that wipe out humanity on a grand scale, at least not out here in the West. They might kill some more people in New York or Washington, D.C., which is where the military has violated posse commitatus by taking up civilian law enforcement duties this week, but all the gasmasks and milk of magnesium in the world won’t save us out here. We’re much more at risk than that.

While the U.N. weapons inspectors have found something of a smoking gun in Iraq’s already-deployed al-Samoud 2 missiles, designed to exceed the sanctioned limit of 90 miles in range, the North Koreans have made serious strides in their missile technology. Their untested, three-stage Taepo Dong 2 is believed to have a range of over nine thousand miles, meaning that whatever they choose to stuff in their warheads can be delivered to North America’s west coast, and beyond.

As I type this page, a tanned and privileged citizen in front of his home computer, my ass sits less than four hundred miles from Venice Beach. In other words, I am in the dead zone. Now there is no longer a concern for the people of Tokyo or Seoul, so much as there is about my fellow countrymen in Los Angeles, or San Francisco, or San Diego, or Seattle, or Portland, or Las Vegas, or Phoenix. Combine the populations of those cities (and their suburbs) and you come up with about twenty million Americans within striking distance of a legitimate nuclear threat. That’s somewhat beyond the qualifications of any terrorist group, yet Bush remains fixated on the Arab world, for a variety of reasons. And his blind, single-minded leadership could easily result in the largest loss of human life this country has ever known.

But try to find a conservative who cares. They’re too busy comparing Saddam to Hitler, too concerned that Osama will forge “an unholy alliance” with Baghdad, as Ari Fleischer tried to assert yesterday. True enough, the latest bin Laden tape did encourage the people of Iraq to run suicide missions against the United States, but he also called Saddam Hussein a communist, a socialist and an infidel. So far, anyone who gets labeled as an “infidel” by Islamic fundamentalist killers has not been seen handing over much of anything to them. In fact, Saddam’s ruling Baath party is a purely secular government, known for its heavy-handed oppression of Shiite Muslims in southern Iraq, so Fleischer’s attempts to link the two entities is either a farce (if he doesn’t understand this fact) or a blatant lie (if he does). Either way, call it what it is: Spin.

So, while the agents of Level Orange have shaken some Americans into stocking up on those horrible MRE’s (the military’s famous “meals ready to eat”) and expensive French wine, those sundries may simply become artifacts that future three-eyed scientists will be extracting from the black glass. With their plutonium reactor up and running, North Korea is sure to take full advantage of our dithering in the Middle East to escalate their nuclear weapons capabilities.

In the meantime, Bush will leave it up to China, Japan, South Korea and Russia to do their own little kabuki dance of negotiation with Pyongyang, even as we condemn France and Germany for doing the same thing in the matter of Iraq. And the minute we do decide to roll up our sleeves and flex our muscles on the Korean peninsula, Kim Jong-il’s war toys will begin obliterating western U.S. cities. But hey, it won’t be New York or D.C., so don’t expect those lucky politicians bunkered up on the East Coast to care any more than do the simpletons who voted for them.

Knowing all of this to be true, I must say I still sleep pretty well at night. For I know deep in my heart that if North Korea does decide to incinerate half of the Lower 48, George W. Bush will respond in kind, sending our nukes into orbit to circumnavigate the globe, coming down hard on the Reds with a mushrooming vengeance. Such a response would be immediate and decisive, and would certainly save more American servicemen from having to relive the horror of the first Korean War… and then we’ll see how the whole nuclear ball of yarn unravels across the world.

And isn’t that just enough to make anyone feel better? Let us then raise our goblets in a toast to our Presiden’t, before we all become toast ourselves.

The TD2 that is untested is just that, untested.... If it does reach its maximum, it will be able to to wipe out the liberal slime in most of the west... ;-)

Even if they could hit the US, they'd have more luck hitting Alaska or Hawaii, than the lower 48.... Especially since the TD1 that they have tested has always fallen well short of its targetted range... If anything, the DPRK could get 1 missile over here... The minute that 1 missile is launched, we will counter launch... And since DPRK nukes are based on old Iraqi designs, which are in turn old russian designs, they could be fairly easy to shoot down with any type of airburst tact. nuke, or even one of the unproven interceptors from the missile defense, even the USN's theatre defense could down them.. Why you ask? Well, Russian warheads ALWAYS DEPLOYED A PARACHUTE to slow its speed.... US warheads only used parachutes in the 60's, since then they've been all free fall reentry vehicles.... Why you ask? Speed vs Speed... If you drop a warhead at 350+MPH vs -25MPH, which do you think has a better chance of being destroyed before it detonates??? That's right....

I wouldn't worry about North Korea, once we beat the crap out of Saddam, we can then beat the crap out of Kim Jong, then we can take care of the idiots that occupy these boards.....

...to nave a member of the NSA, DIA or CIA

to bestow their insight on this board.

Now we need a rep from the DISC or FBI.

They love the military also.

Charming- I thought we had to worry about Saddam and North Korea. But now we have folks like "love the military" hoping bombs will stike the liberal edge of the west coast, wantonly destroying millions of people's homes.

Wow, another threat.

...are they talking about all those liberals in Orange County and San Diego?

...fuckin' asswipes....

Tricia Roth's final statement on KFPK Feminist Magazine

Before we close tonight I need to do something out of the ordinary. Tonight is my last show with KPFK and I'd like to let you know why, after 9 years, I'm leaving. It's not a very popular stance, but it's one I feel VERY strongly about and that is Pacifica's coverage of the middle east conflict and their handling of complaints about that coverage.



It IS disingenuous to tell one side's transgressions while specifically excluding the others. Yet, the reporting I hear on Pacifica does exactly that. The justification I've heard is that Pacifica has an obligation to tell what the mainstream media will not. But I find Pacifica's reporting one-sided to the point of actually distorting the facts.

Every time Israel so much as burps, Pacifica covers it extensively. Yet, when information exists that may give context to Israel's actions, or could reflect negatively on the Palestinians, it's normally absent from Pacifica's airwaves.

I've heard it expressed, even from some Jews, that as long as programmers use the words "Israel" or "Zionist" instead of the word "Jew", they're not being anti-Semitic. But, Pacifica insists on ignoring the fact that they are talking about a Jewish state. THEY then discount listeners who complain, as merely crying "anti-Semite" at the drop of a hat, or as unsophisticates who can't differentiate between criticism of Israel and criticism of Jews or else they're discounted as part of a Zionist or Israeli-backed conspiracy to stop Pacifica from it's noble Mission.

And there have been complaints, lots of them. But, Pacifica continues to act as if it can dictate to Jews what is anti-Semitic and what is not.

When I first became conflicted about Pacifica programming, I started talking to people about it. And for a long time I argued Pacifica's actions were merely done out of ignorance and insensitivity to Jewish concerns. But as I've communication with more people, and seen outright instances of anti-Semitism go unchallenged, I now see it quite differently.

And I've educated myself on the history of not only Israel, but to the history of anti-Semitism, the forms it takes and the rhetoric used to promote it. What I find is a very clear connection between anti-Semitic tactics of the past and the views Pacifica now broadcasts.

Recently, at our sister station in New York, one of the programmers participated in Jew-bashing on the air. It was just plain old, in-your-face discrimination. Yet, Pacifica has refused to take any action. Their tolerance for such programming is despicable in itself, but I view it merely an extension of the underlying beliefs that guide Pacifica in its attack against Israel.

Pacifica cannot divorce itself from the fact that when it demonizes Israel, it demonizes a Jewish state. And it can't divorce itself from its part in contributing to growing worldwide anti-Semitism. Yet, it continues to ignore these facts, as if ignoring an elephant in the middle of a room.

So it's mainly for these issues that I no longer feel comfortable being associated with Pacifica. And I can't condone what it's doing by being a participant in it.

And lastly, I just want to make clear that my views are not reflective of the Women's Coalition who produce Feminist Magazine. These are my views alone.

Tricia Roth, host

Feminist Magazine, KPFK 90.7

Wed. January 22, 2002

No examples.

Please provide.

Times and reports.

Snap it up.

Pacifica is largely supported by the "Pew Charitable Trusts" and the Rockefeller Foundation. "Sit up and speak Pacifica!"

I've seen the hidden hand of Pacifica

work in clumsy attempts to spin or white

out certain issues.

They regularly put Corn or his NPR ilk

on for spin control.

But it's very difficult for the programs

to be contained. Ralph Sheonman, John Judge

Noam Chomsky, Michiel Parrenti,Peter Scott Dale

etc. have had their voices heard.

It does pry the corner of the rug up now and then.

What else do you have when the media poodles are

so well trained?

The problems you describe are endemic to a system

of pervasive corruption that the RAMPANT conflicts

of interests cause.

Of course they are a tool.

Thinking people don't buy everything on the plate.

And in reference to the reported taint in their reports

I have observed no such anti Semitic tones.

You want to talk hate, racist tilt with a blind side to

the grief and slow horror of occupation, watch FOX.