There is a “new study”:http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/07/22_politics.shtml from UC Berkeley, located in a loony town which “opposed”:http://www.refuseandresist.org/newresistance/101901berkeley.html the US war against the Afghanistan. According to the study common psychological factors associated with political conservatism include:
* Fear and aggression
* Dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity
* Uncertainty avoidance
* Need for cognitive closure
* Terror management
“Shanti”:http://www.madhoo.com/archives/002658.php#002658 has a good rebuttal for this and says
bq. As you can see if you care to read the gist of the study, any study that compares Hitler, Mussolini and Ronal Reagan and says they were basically the same, you should be able to smell a huge rat. When there are aberrations to the study of course, like Stalin and other commie dictators, the study glosses over it and say they were conservative too. How fun! I thought that the hard-left ties itself into knots trying to tell us all what a ?worker?s paradise? Cuba is and how good socialism and communism are for us, if we would only listen.
Oooh I am frightened and need some cognitive closure.

Guess who wants those “28 pages”:https://varnam.org/archives/000166.html to be made public — the Saudis. And they rightly point out that
bq. Asked whether the Saudis wanted the material declassified, this diplomatic source said, “That would be one way to stop some of the reckless things and one of the things to be discussed.”
and even Republicans agree that there is nothing wrong with it.
bq. Also Sunday, Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate banking committee, called for the release of the 28 pages, saying the Bush administration was withholding them because they “might be embarrassing to some international relations.” Shelby, a former ranking member of the Senate intelligence committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he “went back and read every one of those pages thoroughly” and concluded that “95% of that information could be declassified.”
If the Saudis are ok with declassification on material that pertains to them, why are we not releasing it ?
[Ref: “CNN”:http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/07/28/bush.saudis.complaints/index.html, “LA Times”:http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-saudi29jul29,1,5102940.story?coll=la-home-headlines]

After “16”:http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/131889_gurwitz23.html, the new number is “28”:http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uscomm253387793jul25,0,4510608.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines. The issue now is the 28 pages that have been blanked out from a Congressional investigation into the intelligence failure of 9/11
bq. The tone was set early in the day when Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), a presidential candidate who chaired the Senate intelligence committee during the investigative phase of the report, told CBS’ “Early Show” that the “censored” information showed that a “foreign government … was providing a variety of assistance to these hijackers.” He said he could not divulge the identity of the country but when asked he did not deny that the government was Saudi Arabia.
The other pages in the document which have been made public have criticized Saudi Arabia and a number of officials have complained about the lack of co-operation from the Saudis. But still why are these pages being blanked out ? What is wrong if American people know what was the Saudi involvement ?

There is a story of sexual harassment coming from Oracle Headquarters in California. An Indian woman was sexually harassed by her boss, who also happens to be an Indian.
bq. The lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by India-West, alleges the 33-year-old Indian woman, who had been working at the company’s San Mateo offices under Anand’s supervision since November 2000, was assaulted physically and verbally.
[source: “Economic Times”:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=92932]

So finally the votes have been counted and there will be a special election in couple of months to decide if Gray Davis will be recalled. Davis was re-elected Governor last year and this recall campaign is the gift of Republican Darrell Issa who put 1.7 million of his money to collect the signatures. But then here is the scary part
bq. Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has never sought public office, has flirted with the idea of running against Davis for months. He also has organized a campaign team that would consist mostly of advisers to former two-term California governor Pete Wilson, whom Davis replaced in 1999.
There is no clue as to how the Republicans are going to reduce the 34 billion deficit we have. No one is talking about it. Steve Lopez of LA Times asked an important question, “Just One Question for ‘Recall Davis’ Forces: Now What?”:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez9jul09,1,4739293.column
bq. We all know that in theory, democracy is a good idea. But I find it peculiar that you can saunter up to a table on a gorgeous summer day and sign on to boot the state’s top dog out of office in midterm, the whole transaction faster and simpler than if you were buying Girl Scout cookies.
I am no big fan of Gray Davis either. But I hope in the elections he wins so that rich people cannot hijack power.
[ref: “Washington Post”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37194-2003Jul23.html?nav=hptop_tb, “LA Times”:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez9jul09,1,4739293.column ]

If the Democrats are looking for an issue in the next elections they should go big on the civil liberties that are being lost. It has reached ridiculous levels that even cartoonists are under suspicion. Pardon me, if this reminds me of the communist era. Los Angeles Times cartoonist Michael Ramirez had a cartoon this Sunday and he is now being investigated by the Secret Service.
bq. The cartoon, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph from the Vietnam War, depicts Bush with his hands behind his back as a man labeled “Politics” prepares to shoot him in the head. The background of the drawing is a cityscape labeled “Iraq.” “We’re aware of the image and we’re in the process of determining what action if any can be taken,” John Gill, Secret Service spokesman, said.
and ironically, this is a pro-Bush cartoon.
As per the Patriot Act, FBI agents can now ask your local library for a “list of books you have read”:http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/09/23/3d8b8bd12c4ac?in_archive=1.