When I was living in the Czech Republic and ended up spending all the free time I would usually spend with friends, since I had few, delving into the news and comparing multiple sources of the same stories, I briefly kept a separate blog called, straightforwardly enough, “You Should Be Reading The News More Closely,” which contained links to interesting stories that you had to dig to find, as well as contradictions in coverage that pointed to an interesting story lurking just below the surface. You can find in the bar to the right some links to regular sources of good information, or at least good questions that deserve better answers than I’ve heard so far, but since no one ever clicks them, I thought I’d spend a blog entry explaining what some of them are and calling your attention to them, in light of the impending decision we must all make about the current course of events and whether or not we want to take steps toward regime change at home. For those of you who are too lazy to “click here to continue reading,” I’ll put everything on the front page here. (I understand that your mouse finger can get pretty tired by the end of an internet session; I recommend the following: Finger Weights, The Stretch-Assager [a fine product with an unfortunate name], or The Gripmaster.)

So . . . Where should I start? If you watched Fahrenheit 9/11 and wished that Mr. Moore had substantiated some of his insinuations just a bit more, you might pay a visit to the Center for Cooperative Research, which rigorously documents all of its insinuations, though admittedly at times it sounds just a bit rabid. You have to do a little critical thinking of your own while you read. Nonetheless, it is one of the most interesting open-source news database projects I’ve seen, and I guarantee, if you spend a few hours with this site, you will inevitably come to the conclusion that there are far more questions than answers regarding the current administration’s methods and motives.

Ancient History is an interesting article (from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank) that is very informative about the history of US intervention in the Middle East. If you’re curious about the Middle Eastern entanglements of the Bush family in particular (also alluded to in Fahrenheit 9/11), you’ll find more information than you probably want to know in this article from Kevin Phillips. Interestingly, the editorial first appeared in the LA Times but has since, as far as I can tell, disappeared from their website. Phillips, incidentally, is a former Republican strategist who worked under Nixon’s Attorney General. He gradually turned into a “muckraking populist,” to quote The Nation, and is responsible for two recent influential books: Wealth and Democracy (2003) and American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush (2004).

Everyone should be aware of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and their agenda, which our current president has been following in lock-step since September 11, 2001. Many of his advisors, both current and those who have been forced to resign, have prominent positions in this definitive neocon organization. This article by Bette Stockbauer, from antiwar.com is also a bit rabid at times, but very informative. If you have the patience to read more in depth, you might as well visit the PNAC website and read their other position papers. They’re pretty open about their imperial vision. There is also a detailed and oft-updated website following their every move: pnac.info.

That’s all for today. There’s plenty more where that came from.

i feel like there's something wrong with your first sentence. i mean grammatically, but that could just be that i lack your training in faulknerian length, although of course something along the lines of "...since i had few, although those few i had were possessed of dazzling wit, extraordinary cooking skills, and the ability to make mind-numbingly strong coffee..." wouldn't be amiss, either.