pappajacks

Baseball could have thrived in Montreal the last 10 years if the team was run properly. If we were talking about relocation 20 years ago, teams like Atlanta, Cleveland, Seattle and San Francisco would be long gone. Look how those markets flourished with a winning team and a new stadium. Montreal is no different. Montreal has a population of 3 million, and that doesn't include the potential of the market, which included in the past Quebec City, Ottawa and northern Vermont. The 1994 strike killed the franchise. Instead of investing in the team, the owners decided to hold a firesale and trade away Walker, Grissom, Hill and Wetteland. Pedro Martinez and Moises Alou soon followed. For years the owners in Montreal pocketed revenue sharing money instead of spending that money on players. There is a reason the team drew an average of 10,000 a game the last few years: firesale after firesale, crappy stadium not located downtown and constant relocation threats have made thousands of fans turn away from the game. Don't get me wrong, baseball isn't as popular as hockey in Montreal and Montreal isn't and will never be as baseball crazy as St-Louis, Chicago, Boston and New York. But, if run properly with committed owners, it's no worse a baseball town than most MLB cities. 1994 strike, Claude Brochu and Jeffrey Loria are mostly responsible for the death of the franchise.

Noam Chomsky says human survival is at stake The world faces a stark choice between u.S. hegemony and human extinction, chomsky argues. He exposes gaps between U.S. rhetoric and behaviour, but his version of reality has its own flaws AVERY PLAW Freelance Saturday, December 20, 2003 In his latest book, Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance, Noam Chomsky argues that the world today faces a stark and fateful choice. It must choose between "full spectrum American dominance" (which, he says, carries a significant likelihood of human extinction) and human survival (which entails stopping what he characterizes as the U.S. quest for global dominance). Posed this way, the choice is a no-brainer. Nonetheless, Chomsky argues, U.S. policy makers and many citizens have been indoctrinated into a "lunatic doctrinal framework" wherein "hegemony, with its short term benefits to elite interests, is ranked above survival on the scale of operative values." The United States therefore conquers, murders, terrorizes and, ultimately, endangers human survival, all to protect the immediate interests of its corporate and political elites, he says. Still, Chomsky argues, "it would be a great error to conclude that the prospects are uniformly bleak." There is, he says, a second superpower - namely, "world public opinion" - that offers hope. The public may, after all, prefer freedom and survival to U.S. dominion and extinction. It could then present an obstacle to U.S. ambitions. The U.S. state therefore, in Chomsky's view, subverts and controls world (and especially domestic) public opinion: It "engineers consent" through what was "frankly called propaganda before the word became unfashionable because of totalitarian associations." U.S. propaganda disseminates misinformation, constricts public discourse, suppresses protest and dissent, and reduces the public to " 'spectators,' not 'participants,' " in politics. Chomsky's book challenges this "propaganda" by elaborating a counter-narrative that exposes the persistent gap between U.S. rhetoric and action. Despite Washington's declared "War on Terror," for example, he argues that the "U.S. is a leading terrorist state" that organizes and finances brutal state terrorism throughout Latin America, the Middle East and southeast Asia, and that persistently flouts international law and institutions in its direct aggressions against countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama and Nicaragua. Indeed, U.S. President George W. Bush's new doctrine of "preventive war" "effectively grants Washington the right of arbitrary aggression." Such aggression, Chomsky contends, "falls within the category of war crimes." Through his counter-narrative, Chomsky seeks to tear away Washington's "cloak of moralistic righteousness" and expose naked elite interests that drive U.S. policy. He seeks to open up the boundaries of political debate at home and abroad and, ultimately, to mobilize the vast power of world public opinion against the U.S. quest for global dominance. There is much in Chomsky's book that is both persuasive and timely. But there is a danger inherent in seeking to turn even a propagandist political narrative on its head: one often ends up with an equally selective political narrative slanted in the other direction. There is evidence that Chomsky falls into this trap. Reading Chomsky's history of the Cold War, for example, one gets the impression that every conflict, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to Afghanistan, was precipitated by U.S. imperial ambition rather than, at least at times, Soviet aggression. In his chapter on the Middle East conflict, one is inundated with references to aggression by Israel ("an appendage of U.S. power"), but there is no mention of Arab aggression against Israel. Sharon is an "Archterrorist," driven by "machismo and ferocious jingoism," while Arafat is not referred to as a terrorist at all, but presented as a misunderstood peacemaker. These inversions of the U.S. narrative seem no more plausible. Serious problems also arise with the stark choice of "hegemony or survival," around which Chomsky organizes his book. To begin with, he never makes it entirely clear why U.S. hegemony threatens human survival. It is widely believed among those who study international politics that hegemony is conductive to peace, as in the pax Romana, pax Britannica or, today, pax Americana. Chomsky simply ignores this widespread belief. Ultimately, his fear seems to emanate more from U.S. malevolence than from hegemony. Yet, it hardly seems clear that the Americans are morally worse than the Imperial Romans or British or, even if they were, why this depravity threatens human survival. Finally, while Chomsky despises U.S. military interventions like the recent one into Iraq even more than he deplores the preceding regime of economic sanctions, he is never clear about what he proposes as an alternative means of dealing with brutal dictators like Saddam Hussein. Indeed, he often sounds like he believes that all problems would sort themselves out if the Americans would just stop interfering. This assumption may appeal to those who share his anarcho-syndicalist political convictions, but it is unlikely to convince many others. While Chomsky's book offers a potent remedy to self-righteous U.S. hypocrisy in international politics, it should emphatically not be taken as it sometimes presents itself: the final word. Its value lies in the debates that it opens, not those it closes.

FBI Suspects Israeli Spy at Pentagon -- Govt Sources Friday, August 27, 2004 8:11 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating whether Israel had a spy at the highest level at the Pentagon who obtained classified documents about Iran for the Jewish state, U.S. government sources told Reuters on Friday. They said the documents were allegedly passed by an analyst in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's office to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington, and ultimately ended up in Israel.

does anyone know how to save internet images to a cd-r? i can save images to a floppy disk and my hard drive but am unable to do it to a cd-r.

Only 32K jobs were created in July when economists predicted 241K. Not to forget that the mediocre job number of June (which was 112K) was revised to 78K. That's a grand total of 110K jobs in 2 months. Hardly anything to be proud of. I have trouble understanding those who say the economy is doing good. Economic figures during the last few months have shown otherwise. Factory orders, personal spending, construction spending, durable orders, housing starts and retail sales have all been lower than expected. Not to mention that the GDP for the 2nd quarter is 3%, below the forecast of 3.8% and well below the GDP of the 1st quarter which was 4.5%. Don't expect Greenspan to raise rates on Tuesday by 50 basis points as many expected. Frankly he shouldnt even raise them by 25. Economy is not doing as good as some are making us believe.

There's no doubt that he broke script. He's definately a loose cannon.

Al Sharpton = most electrifying man in politics?

Freed Swede Says He Was Tortured in Guantanamo By Jan Strupczewski STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - A Swede released from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay last week said he had been tortured by exposure to freezing cold, noise and bright lights and chained during his 2 1/2-year imprisonment. Mehdi Ghezali, the son of an Algerian-born immigrant who was arrested in Pakistan where he says he was studying Islam, told Swedish media in interviews published or aired Wednesday that he was subjected to interrogations almost every day. The 25-year-old man was released on July 8 after pressure from Sweden including a meeting in Washington between Prime Minister Goran Persson and President Bush (news - web sites). Ghezali told Dagens Nyheter daily and Swedish public radio that he had answered all questions put to him for the first six months but gave up talking when his interrogators kept asking the same questions. After more than two years in the camp, in April this year the military stepped up the pressure on him. "They put me in the interrogation room and used it as a refrigerator. They set the temperature to minus degrees so it was terribly cold and one had to freeze there for many hours -- 12-14 hours one had to sit there, chained," he said, adding that he had partially lost the feeling in one foot since then. CHAINED FEET Ghezali said he was deprived of sleep for about two weeks by constant switching of cells and interrogation, was exposed to powerful flashes of light in a dark room, to very loud music and noise and was chained for long periods in painful positions. "They forced me down with chained feet. Then they took away the chains from the hands, pulled the arms under the legs and chained them hard again. I could not move," he said. After several hours his feet were swollen and his whole body was aching. "The worst was in the back and the legs," he said. Some of these torture methods have also been used by the U.S. military on Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in a scandal which has embarrassed the U.S. government this year. Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds told public radio that if correct, the allegations meant that the U.S. had broken international laws. "That is wholly unacceptable," Freivalds said. She said that she hoped the United States would investigate the allegations. Ghezali said he went Pakistan to study Islam in August 2001, before the Sept. 11 attacks which triggered the U.S. war on terrorism and the invasion of Afghanistan (news - web sites). He said he was visiting a friend in the Afghan town of Jalalabad near the Pakistani border when the U.S. attack started and decided to return to Pakistan when he heard that villagers were selling foreigners to the U.S. forces. But he was captured by Pakistani villagers while crossing the border from Afghanistan and sold to Pakistani police, who turned him over to the U.S. military. He was flown from Pakistan to Afghanistan and arrived in Guantanamo in January 2002.

Feller: Ali 'shouldn't be honored this way' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services HOUSTON -- The sellout crowd at Minute Maid Park gave Muhammad Ali a hero's welcome Tuesday, but Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller would rather the former boxing great not have been invited. Ali received a roaring ovation from the crowd for being an honored guest for the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star Game, but Feller came away angered by Ali's presence. "I object very strongly to Muhammad Ali being here to throw out the first pitch, and you can print that," Feller was quoted as saying in Wednesday's Boston Herald. "This is a man who changed his name and changed his religion so he wouldn't have to serve his country, and, to me, that's disgusting." Born Cassius Clay in 1942, Ali changed his name after converting to the Muslim faith. Commissioner Bud Selig dismissed the criticism of Ali, who returned to the city where he fought four times and relinquished his heavyweight boxing title by refusing to join the military during the Vietnam War. "Muhammad Ali is one of the sports legends of our generation," Selig said before the game. "I don't think that that's valid criticism." Feller won 266 games during his career, all with the Cleveland Indians, but lost nearly four seasons while serving with the U.S. Navy in World War II. He received eight battle stars. "A man who turned his back on his country shouldn't be honored this way," Feller told the Herald. Ali became known for much more than being a terrific and mouthy heavyweight champion in April 1967, when he moved his legal residence to Houston to fight induction into the military at the downtown U.S. Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station. He was roundly criticized for the decision around the country, and was indicted 10 days later by a federal jury for violating the Universal Military Training and Service Act. He was convicted in Houston on June 20, 1967, and was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Ali never went to prison as his case went through appeals, but was stripped of his titles and forced to stop boxing for more than three years. His refusal gave more steam to the growing anti-war movement, and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1971. Ali returned to the ring shortly thereafter. He became the world champion twice more, and eventually retired in 1981. "I protest his being here [at the All-Star Game]," Feller told the Herald. "I don't like the message he sends out, and [Major League Baseball] shouldn't have invited him." Ali has returned to Houston several times over the years, including a 1997 benefit for Parkinson's disease, the ailment from which he now suffers. "He's a national treasure as far as I'm concerned," AL and New York Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Sometimes when people are going through some physical problems, they tend to hide out. But I think he realizes how much good he does just showing up places."

Actually, someone did just that. His name is George W. Bush. And to think it took fourteen replies for somebody to say that.

Imagine an innocent American held by the official government of another country for 2 1/2 years without charges being laid and not subject to the Geneva Convention. Now imagine that prisoner tortured for information. What do you think of that country and their government?

For someone to become President, he would have to be crowned by the Democratics or Republicans as their leader and then have to win the election where Americans have a right to vote (unless the President passes away). Thus, the "foreign" candidate wouldn't be a nobody freshly arrived from Irak like a previous poster mentioned. I say if someone (no matter where he's born) can win the Democratic/Republican presidential race and then win the general election, then he deserves to be President.

Citizen Carlos Jays' Delgado fights for justice on Puerto Rican island Vieques ravaged by six decades of U.S. weapons testing GEOFF BAKER SPORTS REPORTER VIEQUES, Puerto Rico—For more than a year Carlos Delgado has been staging his own private protest. Its origins are rooted on the tranquil shores of this picturesque island, until recently a testing site for bombs and missiles used by the United States in Iraq. When "God Bless America" is played during major league baseball games in some U.S. cities, the staunchly anti-war Blue Jays first baseman refuses to stand outside the dugout. "I never stay outside for `God Bless America,'" Delgado said. "I actually don't think people have noticed it. I don't (stand) because I don't believe it's right, I don't believe in the war." Delgado was the first high-profile athlete to speak out against the U.S. Navy's six-decade presence in Vieques, where it used the lush green hillsides and pristine beaches as the prime testing facility for the weapons of the entire Atlantic Fleet. The Jays slugger had heard some of the island's 9,300 residents complaining about how uranium-depleted shells used in the tests were causing abnormally high rates of cancer and other serious illnesses. By the time the Navy finally did pull out of Vieques on May 1, 2003, it left behind a community terrified by health concerns, dealing with unemployment close to 50 per cent and facing unresolved development and cleanup issues. Small wonder that Puerto Rican native Delgado shows little patience today for the flag-waving, pro-military pageantry seen at major league games since the Sept. 11 terror attacks and U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. While the conflict in Iraq and the problems confronting Vieques are separate issues, they are also intertwined. That's because the fishermen, farmers and shopkeepers of this island unwillingly paid a huge price so the U.S. could certify the weaponry used in Iraq. Delgado was already "anti-war" before being involved in Vieques and now has some choice opinions about U.S. foreign policy and the Iraq conflict. "It's a very terrible thing that happened on Sept. 11," Delgado said. "It's (also) a terrible thing that happened in Afghanistan and Iraq. I just feel so sad for the families that lost relatives and loved ones in the war. "But I think it's the stupidest war ever," he said. "Who are you fighting against? You're just getting ambushed now. We have more people dead now, after the war, than during the war. You've been looking for weapons of mass destruction. Where are they at? You've been looking for over a year. Can't find them. I don't support that. I don't support what they do. I think it's just stupid." The Jays and Delgado were in Puerto Rico last night to open a three-game series against the Montreal Expos. While an injured Delgado won't play in the series — and heads to Syracuse tomorrow for a Triple-A rehabilitation assignment — he is attending the first two games to sign autographs and deal with a slew of local media requests. Delgado didn't get involved in Vieques — 20 kilometres off the southeastern tip of mainland Puerto Rico and accessible only by small plane or a thrice-daily ferry — because of his anti-war views. But he flies back every winter from his mainland hometown in Aguadilla, and sees first-hand the cost of testing America's weapons. "You're dealing with health, with poverty, with the roots of an entire community, both economically and environmentally," he said. "This is way bigger than just a political or military issue. Because the military left last year and they haven't cleaned the place up yet." Large sections of the former Navy base, which took up two-thirds of the island's 13,000 hectares, remain sealed off because of unexploded shells and contamination by heavy metals. The reopened part is now a wildlife preserve. Having so much underdeveloped land gives Vieques a soothing calmness beloved by its handful of frequent visitors, who fear a future influx of tourist hordes more than any talk of contamination further up the island. There are no traffic lights in the two towns of Esperanza and Isabel II, where children ride on horseback alongside cars, country-style inns are the norm and 10 p.m. is the preferred closing time. Activists who'd spent previous years fighting the Navy are now lobbying for a development plan that will help the economy, give locals control of the land and curb massive resort projects. The struggle by those activists to push the Navy out ever since it expropriated the land in 1941 enjoyed brief moments of media attention. International wire photos in 1979 showed local fishermen in tiny yola boats using slingshots to fire rocks at U.S. Coast Guard vessels, while some activists got noticed for draping the Vieques flag over the Statue of Liberty in New York City. But it wasn't until civilian David Sanes was killed by an errant bomb during Navy manoeuvres on April 19, 1999 that the Vieques protests made political headway. Delgado saw news about the death on television and, like many Puerto Ricans, wanted to do something. His father, Carlos Sr., a man with political connections throughout the U.S. protectorate of Puerto Rico, introduced him to an old Socialist Party pal named Ismael Guadalupe. The high school teacher, a leading figure in the island's protest movement, had spent six months in prison in 1979 for trespassing on the Navy base. "He wanted to help out with more than just the situation with the Navy," Guadalupe, 59, said of Delgado. "He wanted to help the people there. He wanted to help the children." Delgado was from a different world than the resourceful, street-tough activists of Vieques, like Carmelo Felix Mata, who built a ramshackle home on hillside land belonging to the Navy in 1989. When authorities came to arrest Mata, he unleashed swarms of bees from hives he'd kept and chased them back down the hill. More homes sprouted up in what became a rebellious neighbourhood known as "Mount Carmelo." "I've had 178 court cases against me and I've never spent a day in jail," Mata, 66, said defiantly this week as he limped around his hilltop property, in a neighbourhood strewn with signs depicting cartoon-like bees that salute his triumph. Guadalupe and fellow activists would sneak onto the Navy base at night by cutting holes in a perimeter fence alongside Mata's disputed property. They'd walk a 10-hour route towards the target area, wait for the weapons testing to start and then halt it immediately by firing flare guns to signal their unwanted presence. The activists needed Delgado outside of jail, so they couldn't risk taking him along for their land and sea incursions on to the Navy base. His biggest contribution was in lending the cause his name — joining other high-profile supporters like the Dalai Lama, Hillary Clinton, singer Ricky Martin and actor Martin Sheen. Delgado, together with Martin and boxer Felix Trinidad, took out full-page advertisements about Vieques in The New York Times and Washington Post. He has also donated $100,000 (U.S.) to youth sports, schools and activists on the island. "He's a well-known person, based in the United States, and he has a lot of fans," Guadalupe said. "That's why he is so important to us. It's not going to make him more famous to be involved in the Vieques struggle. He might actually lose popularity because of it." Delgado didn't fear reprisals for his newspaper ads critical of the Navy in April of 2001. "What are they going to do, kick me out of the game?" Delgado said. "Take away my endorsements?" But since the Sept. 11 attacks, baseball players have gone even more out of their way to avoid criticizing the government, or military. "We're not doing anything wrong," Delgado countered. "Sometimes, you've just got to break the mould. You've got to push it a little bit or else you can't get anything done." Robert Rabin, the Boston-born director of the Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, the island's main activist group, shares that sentiment. "I know that people will ask why Carlos Delgado would want to engage in some anti-American activity like the struggle in Vieques," said Rabin, who moved to the island in 1980 to write a college thesis, married a local and now runs the historical museum. "I hear this all the time, but consider it my duty to speak out when I think my government is being unjust. People say that's anti-American. I say that's what being an American is about." Rabin has been arrested three times and served five months in jail in 2002 for engaging in civil disobedience. He used part of a $20,000 (U.S.) donation by Delgado in 2000 to fund youth sports leagues in Vieques and a permanent "Peace and Justice" protest camp directly across from the main Navy gates. Rabin figures his job was only half done when the Navy pulled out and says an upcoming fight over the development and cleanup phase of Vieques is equally important. The Navy pullout was bittersweet for Guadalupe, who found out days later that his wife, Norma, had breast cancer. Guadalupe fears the Navy's shells made his wife sick. A pending class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Vieques residents, but the Navy denies it caused the illnesses. "She had no history of cancer in her family," he said, sadness on his face. "My brother is also a cancer patient and we don't have a family history either." Delgado can't make such pain vanish with his money. He instead focuses on the personal ways he can make a difference, like visiting a school, or hiring a helicopter to fly him from Aguadilla to Vieques each January for a special Three Kings Day celebration. At this year's event, he handed out gifts to children and ran a baseball clinic. "You'll need millions and millions of dollars to clean Vieques up," Delgado said. "So, we try to make (the money) as effective as we can. We make it work for kids. I can't clean up Vieques by myself. It's going to take a lot of people."

edit title: Carlos Delgado speaks up against America

The conservatives would have easily won this election if they had a leader from Quebec or a Bernard Lord type. It's clear that Ontario, Quebec and maritimes will not support western right wing politicians. Manning, Stockwell and Harper have learned that. If Bernard Lord accepted to take the leadership of the Conservative party, he would have easily won at least 20 seats in Quebec and a lot more in Ontario and the maritimes than Harper did.

Quebecers punished the Liberals big time.

It was Duceppe's 5th debate (he had 2 in 97 and 2 in 2000) and it showed. This is his third federal campaign while the 3 other leaders are at their first. Duceppe looked very cool and relaxed, with nothing to lose (he is way ahead in the polls in Quebec). All he had to do was play for the tie and he ended up winning the french debate. Martin was on the defensive and seemed nervous from the get go. He faired much better in the english debate though. Make no mistake about it, Ontario (like it always does) will determine who wins this election. The rest of the country will vote like it has for the past decade. The West will vote for the Conservatives, the Bloc will take Quebec and the Maritimes will be Liberal land.

That's bill 78, a bill passed by the LIBERAL PARTY of Quebec. It was Robert Bourassa who passed the bill that french should be two times bigger than english on commercial signs.

The partition issue has already been settled by the courts 5 years ago. Quebec will leave the confederation with the same territory as it entered the confederation. For simplicity purposes, Canada represents a family of 13 members (10 provinces + 3 territories). If a member chooses to leave the family, you cannot cut his arms and legs (partition of the Quebec territory).

Yes, that's something the sovereigntists prefer to ignore. They're convinced Quebec being part of Canada is a detriment to Quebecois culture. Well, an independant Quebec will have its own CRTC and other government bodies. It can protect its culture by forcing radio stations, television stations and magazines to have a limited amount of english content, just like the CRTC is currently doing against american content.

Quebec DOES NOT expect Canada to assume it's share of the national debt. Sovereignist leaders through the years (Levesque, Parizeau, Bouchard) have said several times that they will pay their share of the national debt, which is approximately 25%. As for the sovereignty association part, sovereignists hope for a model like the european model. It would be beneficial for both countries (if Quebec becomes one)to negotiate an economic association given the geography and current economic activity between Quebec and Canadian provinces. No one in Quebec is expecting Quebec to receive everything it wants at the negotiation table after secession. The difference though is that Canada and Quebec will negotiate equal to equal.

Has anyone taken creatine and if so are you satisfied with the results? I'm thinking of taking it myself for a month to gain 10-15 pounds.

That's bullshit, because it assumes that all sovereignists want to remain part of the Canadian federation. There might be a small number (and i mean a handful) of sovereignists that use sovereignty as a way to get more from the federal government, but the majority (of sovereignists) really want their own country. I know, live next to and work with many sovereignists. They have nothing against Canada, they simply want political sovereignty and have decisions made by people elected by them. To think that sovereignty is only a threat and that the PQ's intention is to blackmail the rest of Canada is ignorant.

The Bloc has every right to be there. We are a democracy and if people in a particular riding in Quebec feel that the Bloc can best represent their riding, than by all means they should have the right to be elected in Parliement. FYI, the Bloc is expected to sweep the province and get at least 55 seats.

Killer, Coward, Conman - Good Riddance, Ronnie Reagan By Greg Palast June 6, 2004 June 6, 2004 -- You're not going to like this. You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. But in this case, someone's got to. Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer. In 1987, I found myself stuck in a crappy little town in Nicaragua named Chaguitillo. The people were kind enough, though hungry, except for one surly young man. His wife had just died of tuberculosis. People don't die of TB if they get some antibiotics. But Ronald Reagan, big hearted guy that he was, had put a lock-down embargo on medicine to Nicaragua because he didn't like the government that the people there had elected. Ronnie grinned and cracked jokes while the young woman's lungs filled up and she stopped breathing. Reagan flashed that B-movie grin while they buried the mother of three. And when Hezbollah terrorists struck and murdered hundreds of American marines in their sleep in Lebanon, the TV warrior ran away like a whipped dog ... then turned around and invaded Grenada. That little Club Med war was a murderous PR stunt so Ronnie could hold parades for gunning down Cubans building an airport. I remember Nancy, a skull and crossbones prancing around in designer dresses, some of the "gifts" that flowed to the Reagans -- from hats to million-dollar homes -- from cronies well compensated with government loot. It used to be called bribery. And all the while, Grandpa grinned, the grandfather who bleated on about "family values" but didn't bother to see his own grandchildren. The New York Times today, in its canned obit, wrote that Reagan projected, "faith in small town America" and "old-time values." "Values" my ass. It was union busting and a declaration of war on the poor and anyone who couldn't buy designer dresses. It was the New Meanness, bringing starvation back to America so that every millionaire could get another million. "Small town" values? From the movie star of the Pacific Palisades, the Malibu mogul? I want to throw up. And all the while, in the White House basement, as his brain boiled away, his last conscious act was to condone a coup d'etat against our elected Congress. Reagan's Defense Secretary Casper the Ghost Weinberger with the crazed Colonel, Ollie North, plotted to give guns to the Monster of the Mideast, Ayatolla Khomeini. Reagan's boys called Jimmy Carter a weanie and a wuss although Carter wouldn't give an inch to the Ayatolla. Reagan, with that film-fantasy tough-guy con in front of cameras, went begging like a coward cockroach to Khomeini pleading on bended knee for the release of our hostages. Ollie North flew into Iran with a birthday cake for the maniac mullah -- no kidding --in the shape of a key. The key to Ronnie's heart. Then the Reagan roaches mixed their cowardice with crime: taking cash from the hostage-takers to buy guns for the "contras" - the drug-runners of Nicaragua posing as freedom fighters. I remember as a student in Berkeley the words screeching out of the bullhorn, "The Governor of the State of California, Ronald Reagan, hereby orders this demonstration to disburse" ... and then came the teargas and the truncheons. And all the while, that fang-hiding grin from the Gipper. In Chaguitillo, all night long, the farmers stayed awake to guard their kids from attack from Reagan's Contra terrorists. The farmers weren't even Sandinistas, those 'Commies' that our cracked-brained President told us were 'only a 48-hour drive from Texas.' What the hell would they want with Texas, anyway? Nevertheless, the farmers, and their families, were Ronnie's targets. In the deserted darkness of Chaguitillo, a TV blared. Weirdly, it was that third-rate gangster movie, "Brother Rat." Starring Ronald Reagan. Well, my friends, you can rest easier tonight: the Rat is dead. Killer, coward, conman. Ronald Reagan, good-bye and good riddance. Greg Palast is author of the New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.