Years · 2004

July 2004

16 posts

Article

Pekin, Illinois

Slightly off topic today, but a friend alerted me to a New York Times Magazine feature that used the idiotic xenophobia of my hometown — Pekin, IL — to illustrate the pervasive impact of globalization: China used to be far…

Article

Its baaaaack!

After some digging around, I’ve learned that the brackets around the 68.0 M for NFIRE in the Senate Appropriations Committee Report mean the funding has been preserved, setting up a fight in conference. Even an old wonk can learn new…

Article

The other shoe … (Nuclear Testing)

Looks like the Bush Administration has identified the “stockpile problem” to justify a resumption of nuclear testing. You may remember the reassuring speech delivered by National Nuclear Security Administrator Linton Brooks to defend, among other items, the President’s proposal to…

Article

Linguistic Gymnastics with the Missile Defense Agency

Two space-based missile defense items, today. NEAR FIELD INFRARED EXPERIMENT Theresa Hitchens noticed an interesting choice of words in the letter that the White House sent to the Senate Appropriations complaining about various recissions in the Defense Appropriations report. You…

Article

Department of Peace

Anybody remember the “Department of Peace” proposal? Representative Dennis Kucinich (R-OH) has proposed legislation to create a DOP; Conservatives ridicule the idea. Even my fellow Democrats in Washington react to the idea with a mixture of derision and embarrassment; One…

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Congress kills NFIRE

Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have killed NFIRE. Guess I don’t need to finish my NFIRE Fact Sheet. If you want to see the cuts yourself … House Appropriations Committe Report, page 332, line 71.Senate Appropriations Committe Report,…