Check out this memo I received that outlines ABC's programming for today to their people. (See here) ABC TV News, through the Disney corporation's SAP sight (a website through which employees communicate throughout the corporate network, announces what it's focusing its attention on today. Hardly a mention of the series while they outline in detail everything else.

One of the women that I most admired growing up was Jane Goodall. I loved watching nature programs of her with her beloved chimps. I was so enthralled by these chimps, I even remember their names to this day: Greybeard, Fifi, Frodo and Freud --so recognizably like us that it forced me to re-evaluate my notions of what made us uniquely human. Jane's work seemed so noble and exotic to me in a way that made me wish I could do something that made an impact as she has.

Jane Goodall is still making a difference today. Almost fifty years after she landed in Africa and at the age of 72, Jane travels nearly 300 days a year for her Roots and Shoots Project which has 8,000 groups in 96 countries.

On September 30th, Roots and Shoots is sponsoring their 2006 Day of Peace:

Last year, peace doves flew in 69 cities in a total of 22 countries. They reached some incredible places, including top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the grounds of a monastery in Mongolia. In Nepal, more than 400 children from the Buddhist community paraded their hand-made Giant Peace Dove around the compound of their school, released balloons, sang songs, and gave Tibetan prayers. In Bahrain there was a remarkable parade led by the Bahrain Police Band and doves made by Bahrain children were included on more than 30 Gulf Air flights. In Los Angeles, almost 1,000 people came together to fly 50 peace doves during a day of festivities in Griffith Park.

On this day that marks the anniversary of a horrible act of terrorism, I hope that it will prove to be a starting point for conversations about peace, activism, conservation and protests. I share it here with you in the hopes that other C&Lers (and I see from the comments that you are truly an international group) also consider Jane Goodall's simple words of peace.

Directions to make your own peace dove here and here. (.pdf files)

Here are a few things I am sure Bush won't mention during his speech tonight.

Worried CIA Officers Buy Legal Insurance

CIA counterterrorism officers have signed up in growing numbers for a government-reimbursed, private insurance plan that would pay their civil judgments and legal expenses if they are sued or charged with criminal wrongdoing, according to current and former intelligence officials and others with knowledge of the program.

The new enrollments reflect heightened anxiety at the CIA that officers may be vulnerable to accusations they were involved in abuse, torture, human rights violations and other misconduct, including wrongdoing related to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They worry that they will not have Justice Department representation in court or congressional inquiries, the officials said.

Rice stands by claims of Al-Qaeda-Saddam links

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that Al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq were developing weapons of mass destruction prior to the ousting of Saddam Hussein.

Rice, giving a series of interviews ahead of the fifth anniversary of the September 11 Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States, brushed aside a recently released US intelligence report saying there was no evidence Saddam's regime was helping Al-Qaeda obtain such arms.

"There were ties between Iraq and Al-Qaeda," she said on Fox News Sunday.

Continue reading »

60 Minutes aired a segment Sunday night on the children of 9/11 victims five years later. It's hard not to be affected by the very real grief still so raw and close to the surface of their eyes.

The kids [..] told 60 Minutes some of the worst memories don't fade because the media won't let them. [CBS Reporter Scott] Pelley got an earful about showing those pictures of 9/11 over and over again.

"Even when you're just sitting down like eating dinner and watching TV, you'll just have a nice conversation and then all the sudden you'll see like pictures of 9/11. You can't escape it. It's just like everywhere you go its always like you're always reminded of it somehow even in the littlest thing," explains Amy Gardner.

"They're showing my dad's death and everyone else here. It's just really offensive. Every time I see it, it brings up so much and it actually really hurts," says Erik Abrahamson.

While the events of 9/11 are indisbutably a tragedy for all of us, it dwells every day in the lives of these kids. They talk openly of how their memories of their lost parents are fading with time and how they've learned to move forward with the assistance of Tuesday's Children, a support group that encourages them to heal by helping others.

You can watch the CBS video clip and read the transcripts here.

Do you think that ABC/Disney and David Cunningham understand that it is these young people that they are exploiting as they seek to damage the legacy of the Clinton administration by making up facts and events?

Instead of watching the fiction known as Path to 9/11 last night, I opted for something a little more realistic last night – the FOX Sunday night line up. Even though I didn’t watch it, C&L contributor Mike did and he has supplied us with the big scene that tries to put all the blame for Osama on Sandy Berger.

Download | play – WMV Download | play – QT

As Mike writes:

I think ABC forgot the "docu" part of the "docu-drama." The only documentary footage is of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. If part two follows suit, we should expect to see a "dramatization" of President Bush grabbing Tenet by the shoulders and shaking him while screaming, "I WILL NOT REST UNTIL WE GET BIN LADEN!"

I did end up watching the opening credits to see what kind of disclaimers ABC put out, and it was very vague. ABC basically went ahead as scheduled and proceeded with their political smear.

One interesting point I did notice was the lack of any sponsor mention at the beginning. This was not the first time a network ran a show uninterrupted, but when they have done this in the past they made damn sure you knew who was footing the bill. Path to 9/11 – nothing. So who is footing the bill for this $40 million production and why don’t they want to be mentioned?

LA Times via Seattle Times:

Halliburton executives ordered a big-screen TV and 10 large tubs of tacos, chicken wings and cheese sticks delivered to Iraq for last year's Super Bowl and then billed U.S. taxpayers for their party, according to a lawsuit unsealed Friday.

The Houston company also defrauded the government by double- and triple-billing for Internet, food and gym services to troops, according to the lawsuit by a former employee for Kellogg, Brown & Root, or KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary that ran dining halls for troops in Iraq.

"The administration is not enforcing the laws against fraud when it comes to contractors in Iraq," said Alan Grayson, the attorney who filed the suit. "When it comes to seeing that the law is executed, the Bush administration is a no-show." Read on...

Andrew Sullivan:

Next week, I'm informed via troubled White House sources, will see the full unveiling of Karl Rove's fall election strategy. He's intending to line up 9/11 families to accuse McCain, Warner and Graham of delaying justice for the perpetrators of that atrocity, because they want to uphold the ancient judicial traditions of the U.S. military and abide by the Constitution. He will use the families as an argument for legalizing torture, setting up kangaroo courts for military prisoners, and giving war crime impunity for his own aides and cronies. This is his "Hail Mary" move for November; it's brutally exploitative of 9/11; it's pure partisanship; and it's designed to enable an untrammeled executive. Decent Republicans, Independents and Democrats must do all they can to expose and resist this latest descent into political thuggery. If you need proof that this administration's first priority is not a humane and effective counter-terror strategy, but a brutal, exploitative path to retaining power at any price, you just got it.

You won't find much help coming from the Bush cultists. Digby thinks that McCain, Graham and Warner will sputter a little bit and then do the big el- foldo. I agree. They will put on a show for the media and then-- acquiesce like they always do.

His saga continues...

You know, every once in a while you should bring the flag out and say, "What does our country stand for?" The first thing that I think of is the statement that I disagree with your beliefs, but I will fight to the death for your right to express them. When the secretary of defense and the president of the United States make statements that indicate those statements are no longer operative, then you have to say something. It's no longer liberal versus conservative at that point. It's American versus truly un-American. So I'm not courting anybody with these things, I'm saying these things because I think they need to be said. I think they need to be underlined and underscored in the public discourse.

The Olbermann Factor (watch a short ad for Salon site pass)

Live at Yankee Stadium, 1990. Included in The Concert for New York City to pay tribute to firefighters, police officers and rescue workers.