The Erinistas Weekly | January 19

THOUSANDS PROTEST
WAR WITH IRAQ
MSNBC
National/World News

Protesters rallied by the thousands in the bitter cold of Washington on Saturday and in capitals worldwide in a passionate show of dissent against war with Iraq. The cry "No blood for oil" echoed from America�s National Mall to the streets of Pakistan.

A rally outside the Capitol, followed by a march to a naval yard, anchored the demonstrations and brought spirited masses together to declare America the "Rogue Nation," as one sign put it. "We stand here today, a new generation of anti-war activists," Peta Lindsay from International Answer, the main organizers, exhorted the national rally. "This is just beginning. We will stop this war."

Festive face paint adorned some in the crowd but wool hats were pulled down low and parkas were closely gathered against temperatures that edged up from the teens. Buses idled with heaters on and protesters occasionally darted inside for a warm spell before rejoining the rally. "We don�t want this war and we don�t want a government that wants this war," said Brenda Stokely, a New York City labor activist.

A sign demanded, "Disarm Bush"; the crowd chanted, "No war on Iraq." Activists invoked the nonviolent legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on the long weekend that marks the civil rights leader�s birthday, and booed President Bush, who was at Camp David, MD. "Mr. Bush hung Dr. King�s picture up in the White House last year but he needs to hang up Dr. King�s words," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a Democratic presidential candidate. "In Iraq today there are weapons inspectors, but here on the west side of the Capitol are the moral inspectors," he said, referring to a bulk of the demonstrators. "We�re inspecting the immoral policies that said, 'No, we can�t find the weapons in Iraq, but we want to go to war.' "

(C) Copyright MSNBC, 2003

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One of the more critical areas our legislature must focus on in the next few years is how we can best continue the expansion of the economy in Washington State. It is critical that we look now into making strategic investments to keep our state on top of the new economy, and investments in infrastructure and transportation to promote growth.

Our states economy, like that of our nation as a whole, has changed dramatically over the past decade. With increased focus on trade, growth in high tech, and the movement to more of a knowledge based economy, it is important our state understand and adapt to the changing needs of this New Economy. Public education, transportation improvements, utilities and other infrastructure needs are investments. Properly made, these investments will pay off in a stronger economic growth, higher paying jobs, and a better trained / more highly skilled workforce.

Each era of our state's and our nation's history has required a different set of basic skills for its workforce. In the 1800s those skills were defined by the needs of agriculture, logging, and building a state out of the wilderness. In the twentieth century, industry and commerce defined the needed skills. Now as we move into the twenty-first century it is essential we understand the needs of our New Economy. It is important today's workforce have new basic skills such as the ability to solve complex problems, think critically, communicate effectively as well as the ability to use computers and other technology. Our schools must prepare students with these skills and we must provide opportunities for our existing workforce to upgrade skills to effectively compete. Programs that can help displaced workers gain needed skills are critical, not only to the needs of that worker, but of our economy as a whole.

To understand the changing needs of today's new economy, it is important to understand what we mean by the term "New Economy." The New Economy is not just the ever-expanding world of Internet companies, and computer software. The New Economy is the manufacturing company that uses computer-aided technology to cut cost save energy and reduce waste. It is the farmer in Eastern Washington who buys genetically altered seed, and then sows them with a tractor guided by global satellite positioning. It is the small business down the street that uses the Internet to talk to customers all over the world. It is the fundamental change in the way our economy runs that is equivalent in scope and depth of the rise of manufacturing at the turn of the twentieth century, and the mass production of the 1940s and 50's. And the transformation to this New Economy is only beginning. There is every reason to believe that technology investment will continue to grow as a host of new technologies are rolled out, including voice recognition, wireless technology, smart cards, intelligent transportation systems and third generation wireless communication. In the near future we will be talking about intelligent cars, optical computing and nanotechnology. The best of the New Economy is still yet to come, are we prepared to take advantage of it?

Improvements and investments in our transportation systems in this state are also critical to our economic growth. Currently 1 in 4 jobs in our state are dependent on trade, and trade depends on our ability to move product into and out of our Ports. As our roads become more and more congested it is not just people that are impacted, but our ability to move product. This directly impacts our economy.

Washington State needs a comprehensive transportation package that includes road construction, public transit systems and freight mobility. Investments that decrease congestion increase capacity and most of all move people and freight are critical to the future growth in our state. We should also look at investments in infrastructure that can attract more job growth in areas such as Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap Counties. This could reduce congestion by lowering the high number of commuters, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles per day.

So now, where do we go from here? I believe it is important that our government look at these cost not as debts but as investments in our future. We need to increase funding of education at all levels. We need to make sure communities have the resources to meet the needs of business. We need to finish building and effective and comprehensive transportation plan that not only meets the current needs, but plans ahead for future needs and technology. In K-12 we need to make sure our schools have the needed resources to educate our children and then hold them accountable for that education. We need to work with business, labor, community colleges and community groups to offer worker retraining, adult literacy programs, life long learning opportunities and continuing education programs. Government investments in education, science, technology and skills development can provide the foundation on which economic expansion depends. In the past, vast natural resources and our manufacturing prowess was America's strong point. In the New Economy the greatest resource we have is knowledge and we must invest in the development of that resource. If we make the strategic investments and structure our schools and programs to increase skills and knowledge there is every reason to believe we can remain an economic leader in this new world.

Rich is a long time Political and Labor Activist, and currently is a City Council member in a small town in South King County.

In reading over the "Justifications" for going to war with Iraq, I find myself at a loss.

The UN Inspecters have stated they cannot find a Smoking Gun. They are now desparately running from boarder to boarder searching for these supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction, as if the very existence of the world depends upon it. Again, they find nothing.

The Ba� ath Party remains firmly in control of Iraq and will have nothing to do with the secular Al Qaida. That was what drew Saddam Hussein to the Ba�ath Party as a young adult: their non-religious, political-socialistic leanings. SO, if Saddam has nothing to do with Al Qaida, then that cannot be the reason.

Saddam is a Bad Man, as George Bush likes to remind up, but, who helped him gain that reputation? The gassing of the Kurds in the late 80�s makes you question the facts of that incident. Where did Iraq and Iran get those Chemicals used in their Warfare? Takes us right back to that ugly little, but quickly hidden, Iran-Contra Affair, with the US and Isreal walking away with very dirty hands. The numbers and kinds of chemicals the US sent to Iraq alone makes your hair stand on end (SEE LINK). So you have to wonder: Is this what the War is all about, a continuing cover up of he Iran-Contra Affair?

When the papers from Reagan and George Bush Sr were due to be made public, what happened? Why have these papers, documents and files, not been release under the Freedom of Information Act?

When HRW released it�s report today naming the US as one of the biggest Human Rights Violators with this current Regime, the whole world is wondering, what is this Administration all about? "The United States is far from the world�s worst human rights abuser," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of New York-based group. "But Washington has so much power that when it flouts human rights standards, it damages the human rights cause worldwide."

Yes, the US Inspectors are frantically working in a heated manner, as if the whole world depended upon it, because, just maybe, it does.

Danae has worked with several world relief organizations, and was a Navy Ombudsman for over 15 years. She enjoys debate and conversation, and currently writes for the Erinistas Weekly.

Brian is off this week. Check back next week for more political insight!

Brian owns and operates ErinHartShow.com. He considers himself a young Democrat with an attitude. Brian is a fierce debater who doesn't think age is relevant in political discussion. He believes the root of the world's problems can somehow be traced back to AOL.

ALL PROBLEMS, ALL THE TIME
FOR TROUBLED CNN
TV Spy
Television News

Why, why, why? With all that talent and all those brains and great correspondents and solid anchors and worldwide distribution and viewer loyalty and rich history and more money than a small European principality. ... Why? Why can't CNN get its act together? Here lies one of the most pressing - and perplexing - questions in all of television journalism.

And with CNN chairman Walter Isaacson departing this spring, the question becomes just a little more urgent. A few million viewers, 4,000 CNN staffers and everyone else now know that something is wrong. But what?

Here are three key problems and suggested remedies:

1. The Leadership Vacuum. CNN has long been beset by what might be called Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen syndrome. There are many bosses at CNN, and where there are many bosses, there are none.

Isaacson is CNN chairman, but he reports to a chairman at TBS who in turn reports to a couple more chairmen. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of presidents who also report to all these chairman. It almost seems as if CNN has more chairmen and presidents than anchors or correspondents. Each of them knows exactly what to do - that is, as long as their immediate superior happens to have the same idea. This has bred institutional confusion, mixed signals and - worst of all - indecisiveness. You may or may not be a fan of Fox News Channel, but no FNC employee goes through a day there wondering who the real boss is. That would be Roger Ailes. Period.

Jim Walton, a respected CNN veteran, will take over when Isaacson leaves. But is there anything to suggest that he will be just another in a long line of chefs?

2. The Image Quandary. Here is a serious question. What is CNN? Yes, yes, a news network. We know that, thanks. But what kind of news network? Hard news or soft news? Talk shows or reporter-driven shows? Tabloid journalism or serious journalism? Personality-driven or fact-driven? By now, of course, you know the punch line. It is all of these! CNN serves many masters - Nielsen, AOL Time Warner, advertisers, cable operators, domestic viewers, international viewers, Larry King and all those aforementioned chairmen. This has created an identity crisis. You can see evidence of this throughout the day, every day, on every show. Let us take, for example, Tuesday's edition of "American Morning," which featured a Paula Zahn interview with Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on the Korean crisis. Later in this hour, we had co-anchor Jack Cafferty talking to someone in London about "this [James] Hewitt guy" whom he identifies as "that butler Diana had the affair [with] ... " Zahn laughs. Cafferty chuckles. And so on. Typical banter on a typical day.

CNN then has a solid midday hard news show, followed by the endless drivel of "TalkBack Live," followed by two excellent news hours, "Inside Politics" and "Wolf Blitzer Reports." Much later in the evening, we have "Connie Chung Tonight." That, to be charitable, is not one of the best. Here is a real quote from a recent edition: Supermodel Niki Taylor, who was injured in a car crash, to Connie: "The surgeons said that they were holding, like, my liver in both hands."

Solution to this incredible, head-throbbing mishmash? Establish an editorial tone and mission. Stick to it. Apply it to every show. ("Larry King Live" excepted.) And could someone tell Cafferty that "this Hewitt guy" wasn't a butler, but an equestrian?

3. Not Enough Iraq. CNN has already stationed a small army of producers, correspondents, technicians and other personnel in the Middle East, but - aside from occasional reports out of the region - you wouldn't know it. Sadly, in the New CNN, reporters such as Nic Robertson or Bob Franken have to fight for airtime with Niki Taylor and Carnie Wilson (another Connie "get"). CNN, in fact, has one clear, irrefutable edge over Fox News and that is a genuine ability to actually cover the globe. The nation, it now appears, is about to enter a war with Iraq and is grappling with the most serious crisis in a generation in Korea.

Will someone please inform your humble columnist why CNN hasn't flooded its airwaves with reports from these regions? Why, whenever we turn on CNN, are we not immediately deluged with information about Korea or Saddam? Why haven't Connie Chung and Aaron Brown been shipped out to these places? Why, in a phrase, hasn't CNN completely grabbed these huge stories as its very own? Why, why, why?

Questions for CNN's next leader to ponder.

(C) TV SPY, 2003

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