Friday, October 29, 2004

Tunes, Tours, Beauty and Digs


Season Finale: Don't forget this Sunday, Halloween, October 31, 2004, at 10 p.m. : The season finale of the delightful "Dead Like Me."


Wright Christmas:
For the first time in seven years, multi-platinum artist Danny Wright releases a Christmas album titled An Intimate Christmas. This release from Atlantic Records/ATCO includes his piano interpretations of Christmas classics as well as some originals. Wright will be performing on November 12 & 13, 2004 at Milan Gallery in Fort Worth, TX . His single “Carol of the Bells” is being worked to Smooth Jazz radio.


Touring Peru: Boasting a 2000-mile desert coastline, mountains with peaks ranging over 20,000 feet and the world’s largest tropical rainforest, Peru is a country of indisputable beauty and diversity. On Tuesday, November 16, 2004 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) Travel Channel chief correspondent Peter Greenberg joins Peru’s President Alejandro Toledo for a royal tour of this majestic land in Travel Channel’s "Peru: The Royal Tour."

This whirlwind tour of Peru begins in the Presidential Palace in Lima, where the president shares with Peter the incredible story of how he, one of 16 children, became the first descendent of the Incas to be elected president.

The tour is jump-started as Peter and President Toledo are whisked away via presidential jet to the northern coastal city of Trujillo. In this traditional fishing village, Peter and the president take a dip in the Pacific with the locals and try some authentic Peruvian cuisine before heading on to their next destination.

Soon enough, the duo board a helicopter bound for the Amazon city of Iquitos, where a hundred-mile climb upriver reveals a remote indigenous community. Here, they’re greeted by President Toledo’s wife, the first lady of Peru, Eliane Karp, and welcomed by the native community with traditional dancing. And Later, Peter and the president are given a quick lesson in using “poison darts” and get up close and personal with a boa constrictor.

Next, they’re off to the city of Cuzco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, where Peter will ride the rapids and “paddle for his life” -- literally.

Later, Peter and President Toledo ride by helicopter to the ancient city of Machu Picchu. Climbing the renowned Inca Trail on foot, 2,500 meters above sea level, they catch a bird’s-eye view of the magical Inca ruins.

The journey continues as Peter and the president swim with sea otters in Caracas, ride Peruvian horses and sand buggies across the desert and finally, visit the president’s beloved hometown in the towering Andes Mountains.

In just five days, Peter and President Toledo will swim in the sparkling Pacific, witness the endless green of the Amazon rainforest and take in the sights of the majestic Andes. Along the way, viewers will witness the breathtaking ruins of ancient civilizations and meet the descendents who live to tell their stories.

PERU: THE ROYAL TOUR is an original production of Check Six Productions. The executive producer is Peter Greenberg. For Check Six Productions, Jon Lapidese is the supervising producer and John Armstrong is the director. For the Travel Channel, the executive producer is Bill Margol. Visit Travel Channel on the Web at http://www.discovery.com.



Paige Turner: Ashley Paige, swimwear designer, debuted her Spring/Summer 2005 collection during Mercedes-Benz fashion week at Smashbox Studios. The theme was “Redneck Riviera.” The Ashley Paige collection included signature one-of-a-kind crocheted bikinis paired with cowboy boots, and Ashley’s debut of crocheted dresses and bustiers. For the first season, the swimwear collection featured more traditional nylon/lycra suits trimmed in her signature crochet. Paige, an animal rights activist, allowed some of the models to saunter down the runway holding dogs that were up for adoption. Celebrity stylists, Hollywood insiders and celebrities turned out to view the collection. Celebrities in attendance included: Lisa Rinna, Harry Hamlin, Samaire Armstrong and Bai Ling. Kimberly Stewart was also in attendance and walked the runway in Ashley Paige designs. Head hairstylist Brian Bowman for Redkin styled the soft and flowing curls. Makeup was directed by Sharon Gault for Bodyography. The show was sponsored by Bikini Touch and California Tan. Jewelry provided by Christy Martin and sunglasses provided by Von Zipper.


Prive Styles For Fashion Week: The Prive team, headed by Tami Jensen and Deanna, will style the shows of seven of LA’s most progressive design houses, 2 B Free, Kate O’Connor, Iron, True Meaning, Frankie B, Sheri Bodell, and Da-Nang.

The Prive team clients include Jewel, Uma Thurman, Johnny Depp, Kim Catrall, Sharon Stone, Gwyneth Paltrow, Denise Richards, Tea Leoni, Paul McCartney and Adrian Brody.

Their Style Sked:

Monday, October 25th Thursday, October 27th

2 B Free Smashbox Studios

1111 Sierra Alta Way Stage One

10 PM 11 AM

Tuesday, October 26th Frankie B

Kate O’Conner Smashbox Studios

Smashbox Studios Main Tent

Stage One 9 PM

7 PM

Friday, October 28th

Iron Sheri Bodell

Smashbox Studios Smashbox Studios

Lightbox Main Tent

8 PM

Da-Nang

Smashbox Studios

Stage One

7 PM


From Daily Variety: By Michael Learmonth, regarding of the new “Life & Style Weekly,” which Bauer Publishing launched this week:

Thin editorial is as much a Bauer trademark as thin advertising. 'In Touch,' for example, relies heavily on paparazzi photographs and appears to lack access to many of the big-name stars it covers. Instead, the magazine calls in experts to opine on what might be going through Britney Spears' head during her surprise wedding and brazenly lifts quotes from other publications. Boehle says the magazine has no dictum against paying for sources but rarely does so, and the magazine is upfront about guaranteeing celebrities positive treatment.



The Wire: Episode #32: "Back Burners"

<> Debut date: Sunday, November 7, 2004 (9:05-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) Other HBO playdates: Nov. 9 (11:00 p.m.), 10 (9:00 p.m.) and 13 (12:25 a.m.) HBO2 playdate: Nov. 8 (10:00 p.m.) and 19 (11:00 p.m.)

Herc (Domenick Lombardozzi) discovers a blast from the past, which he belatedly reveals to his ex-colleagues. Daniels (Lance Reddick) blows a gasket over the real reason the detail was reassigned to the Western District. Donette (Shamyl Brown) tells Stringer Bell (Idris Elba) that Brianna (Michael Hyatt) knows about McNulty's (Dominic West) visit.

Bubbles (Andre Royo) makes a sales call and finds Johnny (Leo Fitzpatrick) during the long, strange trip. Omar (Michael K. Williams) grapples with guilt. Greggs (Sonja Sohn) stumbles into Cheryl (Melanie Nichols-King), forcing them to confront the realities of their relationship. Carver (Seth Gilliam) announces a new tax initiative to help the unemployed. After a traffic

Stop turns bad, Colvin (Robert Wisdom) is forced to explain Amsterdam to members of the detail. Bunk (Wendell Pierce) receives a gift-wrapped surprise, while a single cell phone allows Freamon (Clarke Peters) to begin mapping out a communications network for the Barksdale organization. Councilman Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) confronts Mayor Royce (Glynn Turman) after learning nothing has been done about the witness protection issue. McNulty tracks Terri (Brandy Burre) to Washington, where he discovers the ups and downs of a long-distance relationship. Marlo (Jamie Hector) dispatches a drive-by on a Barksdale corner from the calm of his pigeon coop. Teleplay by Joy Lusco Kecken; story by David Simon & Joy Lusco Kecken; directed by Tim Van Patten.


Family Bonds: Episode #7: "Whipped"

<> Debut date: Sunday, November 7, 2004 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT) Other HBO playdates: Nov. 9 (3:05 a.m.), 10 (11:00 p.m.), 12 (10:30 p.m.) and 26 (9:30 p.m.) HBO2 playdates: Nov. 8 (11:00 p.m.), 12 (8:30 p.m.) and 19 (8:00<> p.m.)

Flo and the family plan a surprise baby shower for Dana. Tom gets sentimental with All City's 15-year-old recovery van. Dawn sees the doctor about her lypo results. A rift in the business erupts between Tom and Jimmy.

Episode #8: "The Rise of Dough Boy"

Debut date: Sunday, November 14, 2004 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) Other HBO playdates: Nov. 17 (11:00 p.m.), 19 (10:30 p.m.) and 26 (10:00 p.m.) HBO2 playdates: Nov. 15 (11:00 p.m.), 19 (8:30 p.m.) and 26 (8:00 p.m.)

A fake phone number sends the All City team to Oceanside in an attempt to serve a forfeiture notice. At his wife's urging, Tom goes to the doctor to get a stress test, while Chris heads to the gym for a kickboxing workout and looks for love through a dating service. To the delight of his family, Tom discovers that birthday surprises sometimes come in small packages.

Episode #9: "Birth of a Relation"

<> Debut date: Sunday, November 21, 2004 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) Other HBO playdates: Nov. 23 (2:05 a.m.), 24 (11:00 p.m.) and 26 (10:30 p.m.) HBO2 playdates: Nov. 22 (11:00 p.m.) and 26 (8:30 p.m.), and Dec. 3 (8:00 p.m.)

Tom sees a hypnotist in an attempt to flush his "butt" habit for good, and loses his control with Chris in a nic fit over the office supplies. Dana and Nick meet with a pregnancy advisor to discuss birth options. The All City team hunts down a forger, braving his wild menagerie in the dead of night. The whole family gathers to welcome the newest "relation" when Dana goes into labor two and a half weeks early.

Episode #10: "It's a Wonderful Wife"

<> Debut date: November 28, 2004 (10:00-10:30 p.m.) Other HBO playdates: Nov. 30 (2:20 a.m.), and Dec. 1 (11:00 p.m.) and 3 (10:30 p.m.) HBO2 playdates: Nov. 29 (11:00 p.m.), and Dec. 3 (8:30 p.m.)

Flo and her sisters swap recipes for a happy marriage. Tom looks into replacements for Flo's lost engagement and wedding rings. Chris goes on a date with "great expectations." Dana celebrates motherhood by going bottle blond, but worries about leaving her baby to go back to school. Putting his foot down, Tom reminds Nick of a promise he made when he married Dana. After tracking down a fugitive-cum-livery cab driver, the Evangelistas prep the house for Christmas in the most festive fashion, and take a break to enjoy the holidays.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Fashion Finds and Designer Dresses



Who's Wearing What: Elie Saab dressed both Beyonce´ and Eva Longoria the 16th Annual Carousel of Hope Gala in Beverly Hills at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Beyonce´ performed on stage wearing a coppery-pink sequin and lace embroidered gown with one dramatic sleeve.

Longoria walked the red carpet in a floral gown in tones of deep rose and green with beading on the straps. This gown is part of the Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2004 collection.

Elie Saab is based in Beirut, Paris and Milan. He is a member of the Chambre Syndicale in Paris and shows his couture collection in Paris and his ready-to-wear collection in Milan where that collection is produced. His ready-to-wear is sold at select Neiman Marcus stores nationwide.

Sharon Stone arrived at the Princess Grace Awards Gala in a one-of-a-kind gown by Elsie Katz Couture. The dress was winter white v-neck silk duppioni gown, featuring pearl beading at the top and a mermaid silhouette.

Douglas Hannant dressed singer Beyoncė Knowles for the 2004 Radio Music Awards. Beyonce chose a pale pink sequin beaded gown with a bustier bodice to don the red carpet.



Fur Fashion (Don't Tell PETA): Neiman Marcus cites FUR as the trend for winter, with accents on purses (like the Juicy Couture purse with the little rabbit's foot -- even though if you give it much thought, it's really kind of gross), gloves and mittens, fur collars and fur-trimmed boots.


Thurman's Beautiful Skin: Kyra Panchenko, celebrity makeup artist, reveals that Uma Thurman is a huge fan of Sothys. Panchenko is working with Thurman on the set of the upcoming movie "Prime" which also stars Meryl Streep. Thurman loves the following Sothys products: Purifying Beauty Milk, Purifying Foaming Gel and Purifying Lotion: With the inclusion of Camphor for its disinfectant/astringent properties, this lightly textured cleanser and alcohol-free lotion offers a cooling sensation after application. It is non-oily and non-comedogenic, with a fresh, clean scent that leaves you feeling refreshed, while helping to soothe and promote a clear complexion. Designed to control excess oils, it also has anti-inflammatory benefits. Noctuelle Night Cream: A new and improved universal night cream with AHAs and Vitamin C that has an anti-aging formula with more anti-oxidant properties that fight free radicals to prevent the signs of age. Immuniscience Cream and Mask: Formulated for easily irritated or sensitive skin types. These products are designed for the purpose of maintaining the natural physiological balance of the skin. Formulated with the ingredient Photonyl®, this cream and mask contains liquid crystals to protect Langerhan cells and bring hydration and comfort to sensitive skin. Rehydrates sensitive skin, while also aiding in the reinforcement of sensitive skin’s immunity. The formula is hypoallergenic, fragrance-free, color-free and additive-free.


Ashley Scott’s Wedding Wardrobe and Accessories:

Bridal Bouquet
To incorporate her fondness for butterflies and dragonflies, Ashley's bouquet was accented with Swarovski crystal versions of the beautiful creatures. The crystals sparkled among the flowers and provided whimsy on her special day.

Toasting Flutes
For their first toast as husband and wife, Ashley and Anthony celebrated with Swarovski's Crystalline toasting flutes - champagne flutes with loose crystals sparkling in the stems.

Wedding Cake
For a unique twist on the traditional wedding cake, Ashley had colorful Swarovski crystal butterflies and dragonflies accent her confection with fancy, appropriate for the young actress.

Head Table
To create extraordinary glitz during the reception, Ashley's head table was accented with Swarovski's crystal flower note holders. The note holders were displayed with the names of the bridal party for a radiant presentation.

Swarovski, the world's largest manufacture of cut crystal, was featured at the weddings of Britney Spears, Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner, and Mariska Hargitay. Sharon Stone and Hilary Duff are among the stars who carry Swarovski trend setting bags and accessories for their red-carpet premieres.


"C" a Younger Face: Super C Skin Care from Visage de Layla. New research backs up Vitamin C’s ability to boost collagen synthesis, repair skin cells and speed cell turnover (exfoliate) without the peeling, inflammation or photosensitivity that can occur with Glycolic Acid. Even better, Visage de Layla’s Vitamin C duo is formulated with Ascorbyl Glucosamine, a highly-stable version of the Vitamin that doesn’t break down and oxidize on exposure to air, so the benefits go into the skin instead of evaporating on the surface.

Visage de Layla’s new "Super C" Skin Care Collection includes:

VITAMIN C SERUM:

The ultimate repair kit for dry and damaged skin. Just one or two drops each morning restore and rebuild skin that needs serious rehab. The silk-textured serum is absorbed quickly, delivering its active ingredients including Sodium Hyaluronate, an exceptional moisture binder, grape seed extract for extreme antioxidant activity, beta carotene, panthenol, jojoba, and yeast betaglucans, the macro-protector that guards against environmental and UV damage, free radicals and most other external pollutants while boosting the internal immune system. $65 (1 fl.oz.)

VITAMIN C CREME:

Rich enough to treat even severely dehydrated skin, but formulated to feel clean and light, this fragrant C-rich creme is the perfect moisturizer to wear alone or under foundation. Enriched with the finest skin-enhancing botanicals, antioxidants and humectants in an Aloe Vera base, with a unique binding ingredient that helps skin cells absorb and retain moisture, Vitamin C Creme is the most effective way to pamper and repair thirsty skin. $50.00 (1 fl.oz.)

Visage de Layla’s Super C Collection is available at Visage de Layla Retreat and other spas, on the internet at www.visagedelayla.com, or by calling (1-800-896-2411).

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

TV, Tunes and Facts

Monster: In 1992, a year after Aileen Wuornos was arrested for the murders of seven men in Florida, filmmaker Nick Broomfield released the documentary "Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer." A decade later, they were reunited when he was subpoenaed to appear at her final state appeal before execution. Broomfield subsequently spent the next year and a half revisiting her case, conducting multiple interviews with Wuornos and the people who knew her best. The disturbing America Undercover Documentary AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER provides his fresh insights into her story when it debuts Monday, November 15, 2004 at 10 p.m. on HBO.

STRUT: New Stray Cats DVD and double CD out November 9, 2004 (this year is the trio’s 25th Anniversary).Rumble in Brixton” (Surfdog Records), a live DVD and double cd, marks the 25th anniversary of one of rock n' roll's most distinctive trios, Stray Cats. The band’s first official live DVD reunites the original members for a show on July 17, 2004 in London, the city that first launched them to international success. The excitement during a one-shot reunion show in July of 2003 in California led Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom to return to Europe for a tour of some of the largest venues the band has ever played. The electricity generated at these shows by three generations of fans is captured on this live DVD of the Brixton Academy show this past summer.

The “Rumble in Brixton” DVD features 84 minutes of performance footage plus 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage of the European tour and the recording of the new studio track “Mystery Train Kept A Rollin” (the Band’s first studio recording in 13 years). As a bonus for long time Stray Cat fans, the DVD features a four minute montage of the band’s early days.

Are You Safer?: As America prepares to vote for its next president, domestic security issues are on the front burner of American politics. Discovery Channel’s new “Spotlight” special, “Are You Safer?” updates viewers on what is currently being done to make America more secure and outlines future challenges. The program also outlines what individuals can do to prepare themselves for an emergency. Shot on location at America’s borders, ports and other potential targets--chemical plants and national monuments--to see where we’re prepared and where we’re still vulnerable. It also visits our airports, railways and highways to see what’s being done to make our transportation infrastructure safer. Airs on the Discovery Channel on Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). Key interviews include the following: Tom Ridge, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Lee Hamilton, vice-chairman, 9/11 Commission, Warren Rudman and Gary Hart, both former senators who currently co-chair the U.S. Commission on National Security, and Steven Brill, journalist who chairs the America Prepared Campaign. The program also reveals a new and exclusive New York Times poll disclosing how secure Americans feel and what they have done to prepare themselves and their families for another attack. The poll found that 43 percent of respondents said they have no plan for how to respond to a terrorist attack even though they live near a terrorist target. The program also outlines the basic things every family needs to do: prepare a family plan, put together a basic emergency kit, and be informed about what to do in a terrorist attack.

100 Facts and 1 Opinion From THE NATION

by JUDD LEGUM

[from the November 8, 2004 issue]

IRAQ

1. The Bush Administration has spent more than $140 billion on a war of choice in Iraq.

Source: American Progress

2. The Bush Administration sent troops into battle without adequate body armor or armored Humvees.

Sources: Fox News, The Boston Globe

3. The Bush Administration ignored estimates from Gen. Eric Shinseki that several hundred thousand troops would be required to secure Iraq.

Source: PBS

4. Vice President Cheney said Americans "will, in fact, be greeted as liberators" in Iraq.

Source: The Washington Post

5. During the Bush Administration's war in Iraq, more than 1,000 US troops have lost their lives and more than 7,000 have been injured.

Source: globalsecurity.org

6. In May 2003, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, stood under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," and triumphantly announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq. Asked if he had any regrets about the stunt, Bush said he would do it all over again.

Source: Yahoo News

7. Vice President Cheney said that Iraq was "the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11." The bipartisan 9/11 Commission found that Iraq had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks and no collaborative operational relationship with Al Qaeda.

Source: MSNBC , 9-11 Commission

8. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." The government's top nuclear scientists had told the Administration the tubes were "too narrow, too heavy, too long" to be of use in developing nuclear weapons and could be used for other purposes.

Source: New York Times

9. The Bush Administration has spent just $1.1 billion of the $18.4 billion Congress approved for Iraqi reconstruction.

Source: USA Today

10. According to the Administration's handpicked weapon's inspector, Charles Duelfer, there is "no evidence that Hussein had passed illicit weapons material to al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, or had any intent to do so." After the release of the report, Bush continued to insist, "There was a risk--a real risk--that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons, or materials, or information to terrorist networks."

Sources: New York Times, White House news release

11. According to Duelfer, the UN inspections regime put an "economic strangle hold" on Hussein that prevented him from developing a WMD program for more than twelve years.

Source: Los Angeles Times

TERRORISM

12. After receiving a memo from the CIA in August 2001 titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack America," President Bush continued his month long vacation.

Source: CNN.com

13. The Bush Administration failed to commit enough troops to capture Osama bin Laden when US forces had him cornered in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in November 2001. Instead, they relied on local warlords.

Source: csmonitor.com

14. The Bush Administration secured less nuclear material from sites around the world vulnerable to terrorists in the two years after 9/11 than were secured in the two years before 9/11.

Source: nti.org

15. The Bush Administration underfunded Nunn-Lugar--the program intended to keep the former Soviet Union's nuclear legacy out of the hands of terrorists and rogue states--by $45.5 million.

Source: armscontrol.org

16. The Bush Administration has assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money.

Source: sfgate.com

17. According to Congressional Research Service data, the Bush Administration has under-funded security at the nation's ports by more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2005.

Source: American Progress

18. The Bush Administration did not devote the resources necessary to prevent a resurgence in the production of poppies, the raw material used to create heroin, in Afghanistan--creating a potent new source of financing for terrorists.

Source: Pakistan Tribune

19. Vice President Cheney told voters that unless they elect George Bush in November, "we'll get hit again" by terrorists.

Source: Washington Post

20. Even though an Al Qaeda training manual suggests terrorists come to the United States and buy assault weapons, the Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the expiration of the ban.

Source: sfgate.com

21. Despite repeated calls for reinforcements, there are fewer experienced CIA agents assigned to the unit dealing with Osama bin Laden now than there were before 9/11.

Source: New York Times

22. Before 9/11, John Ashcroft proposed slashing counterterrorism funding by 23 percent.

Source: americanprogress.org

23. Between January 20, 2001, and September 10, 2001, the Bush Administration publicly mentioned Al Qaeda one time.

Source: commondreams.org

24. The Bush Administration granted the 9/11 Commission $3 million to investigate the September 11 attacks and $50 million to the commission that investigated the Columbia space shuttle crash.

Source: commondreams.org

25. More than three years after 9/11, just 5 percent of all cargo--including cargo transported on passenger planes--is screened.

Source: commondreams.org

NATIONAL SECURITY

26. During the Bush Administration, North Korea quadrupled its suspected nuclear arsenal from two to eight weapons.

Source: New York Times

27. The Bush Administration has openly opposed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, undermining nuclear nonproliferation efforts.

Source: commondreams.org

28. The Bush Administration has spent $7 billion this year--and plans to spend $10 billion next year--for a missile defense system that has never worked in a test that wasn't rigged.

Sources: www.gao.gov/new.items/d04409.pdf, Los Angeles Times

29. The Bush Administration underfunded the needs of the nation's first responders by $98 billion, according to a Council on Foreign Relations study.

Source: nationaldefensemagazine.org

CRONYISM AND CORRUPTION

30. The Bush Administration awarded a multibillion-dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton--a company that still pays Vice President Cheney hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred compensation each year (Cheney also has Halliburton stock options). The company then repeatedly overcharged the military for services, accepted kickbacks from subcontractors and served troops dirty food.

Sources: The Washington Post, The Tapei Times, BBC News

31. The Bush Administration told Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan about plans to go to war with Iraq before telling Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Source: detnews.com

32. The Bush Administration relentlessly pushed an energy bill containing $23.5 billion in corporate tax breaks, much of which would have benefited major campaign contributors.

taxpayer.net, Washington Post

33. The Bush Administration paid Iraqi-exile and neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi $400,000 a month for intelligence, including fabricated claims about Iraqi WMD. It continued to pay him for months after discovering that he was providing inaccurate information.

Source: MSNBC

34. The Bush Administration installed as top officials more than 100 former lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee.

Source: Source: commondreams.org

35. The Bush Administration let disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay--a close friend of President Bush--help write its energy policy.

Source: MSNBC

36. Top Bush Administration officials accepted $127,600 in jewelry and other presents from the Saudi royal family in 2003, including diamond-and-sapphire jewelry valued at $95,500 for First Lady Laura Bush.

Source: Seattle Times

37. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge awarded lucrative contracts to several companies in which he is an investor, including Microsoft, GE, Sprint, Pfizer and Oracle.

Source: cq.com

38. President Bush used images of firefighters carrying flag-draped coffins through the rubble of the World Trade Center to score political points in a campaign advertisement.

Source: The Washington Post

THE ECONOMY

39. President Bush's top economic adviser, Greg Mankiw, said the outsourcing of American jobs abroad was "a plus for the economy in the long run."

Source: CBS News

40. The Bush Administration turned a $236 billion surplus into a $422 billion deficit.

Sources: Fortune, dfw.com

41. The Bush Administration implemented regulations that made millions of workers ineligible for overtime pay.

Source: epinet.org

42. The Bush Administration has crippled state budgets by underfunding federal mandates by $175 billion.

Source: cbpp.org

43. President Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs--around 800,000--over a four-year term.

Source: The Guardian

44. The Bush Administration gave Accenture a multibillion-dollar border control contract even though the company moved its operations to Bermuda to avoid paying taxes.

Sources: The New York Times, cantonrep.com

45. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush said "the vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum." He passed the tax cuts, but the top 20 percent of earners received 68 percent of the benefits.

Sources: cbpp.org, vote-smart.org

46. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to pay down the national debt to a historically low level. As of September 30, the national debt stood at $7,379,052,696,330.32, a record high.

Sources: www.georgewbush.com , Bureau of the Public Debt

47. As major corporate scandals rocked the nation's economy, the Bush Administration reduced the enforcement of corporate tax law--conducting fewer audits, imposing fewer penalties, pursuing fewer prosecutions and making virtually no effort to prosecute corporate tax crimes.

Source: iht.com

48. The Bush Administration increased tax audits for the working poor.

Source: theolympian.com

49. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to protect the Social Security surplus. As President, he spent all of it.

Sources: georgewbush.com, Congressional Budget Office

50. The Bush Administration proposed slashing funding for the largest federal public housing program, putting 2 million families in danger of losing their housing.

Source: San Francisco Examiner

51. The Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the minimum wage from falling to an inflation-adjusted fifty-year low.

Source: Los Angeles Times

EDUCATION

52. The Bush Administration underfunded the No Child Left Behind Act by $9.4 billion.

Source: nwitimes.com

53. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to increase the maximum federal scholarship, or Pell Grant, by 50 percent. Instead, each year he has been in office he has frozen or cut the maximum scholarship amount.

Source: Source: edworkforce.house.gov x

54. The Bush Administration's Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, called the National Education Association--a union of teachers--a "terrorist organization."

Sources: CNN.com

HEALTHCARE

55. The Bush Administration, in violation of the law, refused to allow Medicare actuary Richard Foster to tell members of Congress the actual cost of their Medicare bill. Instead, they repeated a figure they knew was $100 billion too low.

Source: Washington Post, realcities.com

56. The nonpartisan GAO concluded the Bush Administration created illegal, covert propaganda--in the form of fake news reports--to promote its industry-backed Medicare bill.

Source: General Accounting Office

57. The Bush Administration stunted research that could lead to new treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal injuries, heart disease and muscular dystrophy by placing severe restrictions on the use of federal dollars for embryonic stem-cell research.

Source: CBS News

58. The Bush Administration reinstated the "global gag rule," which requires foreign NGOs to withhold information about legal abortion services or lose US funds for family planning.

Source: healthsciences.columbia.edu

59. The Bush Administration authorized twenty companies that have been charged with fraud at the federal or state level to offer Medicare prescription drug cards to seniors.

Source: American Progress

60. The Bush Administration created a prescription drug card for Medicare that locks seniors into one card for up to a year but allows the corporations offering the cards to change their prices once a week.

Source: Washington Post

61. The Bush Administration blocked efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate cheaper prescription drug prices for seniors.

Source: American Progress

62. At the behest of the french fry industry, the Bush Administration USDA changed their definition of fresh vegetables to include frozen french fries.

Source: commondreams.org

63. In a case before the Supreme Court, the Bush Administrations sided with HMOs--arguing that patients shouldn't be allowed to sue HMOs when they are improperly denied treatment. With the Administration's help, the HMOs won.

Source: ABC News

64. The Bush Administration went to court to block lawsuits by patients who were injured by defective prescription drugs and medical devices.

Source: Washington Post

65. President Bush signed a Medicare law that allows companies that reduce healthcare benefits for retirees to receive substantial subsidies from the government.

Source: Bloomberg News

66. Since President Bush took office, more than 5 million people have lost their health insurance.

Source: CNN.com

67. The Bush Administration blocked a proposal to ban the use of arsenic-treated lumber in playground equipment, even though it conceded it posed a danger to children.

Source: Miami Herald

68. One day after President Bush bragged about his efforts to help seniors afford healthcare, the Administration announced the largest dollar increase of Medicare premiums in history.

Source: iht.com

69. The Bush Administration--at the behest of the tobacco industry--tried to water down a global treaty that aimed to help curb smoking.

Source: tobaccofreekids.org

70. The Bush Administration has spent $270 million on abstinence-only education programs even though there is no scientific evidence demonstrating that they are effective in dissuading teenagers from having sex or reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

Source: salon.com

71. The Bush Administration slashed funding for programs that suggested ways, other than abstinence, to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.

Source: LA Weekly

ENVIRONMENT

72. The Bush Administration gutted clean-air standards for aging power plants, resulting in at least 20,000 premature deaths each year.

Source: cta.policy.net

73. The Bush Administration eliminated protections on more than 200 million acres of public lands.

Source: calwild.org

74. President Bush broke his promise to place limits on carbon dioxide emissions, an essential step in combating global warming.

Source: Washington Post

75. Days after 9/11, the Bush Administration told people living near Ground Zero that the air was safe--even though they knew it wasn't--subjecting hundreds of people to unnecessary, debilitating ailments.

Sierra Club , EPA

76. The Bush Administration created a massive tax loophole for SUVs--allowing, for example, the write-off of the entire cost of a new Hummer.

Source: Washington Post

77. The Bush Administration put former coal-industry big shots in the government and let them roll back safety regulations, putting miners at greater risk of black lung disease.

Source: New York Times

78. The Bush Administration said that even though the weed killer atrazine was seeping into water supplies--creating, among other bizarre creatures, hermaphroditic frogs--there was no reason to regulate it.

Source: Washington Post

79. The Bush Administration has proposed cutting the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by $600 million next year.

Source: ems.org

80. President Bush broke his campaign promise to end the maintenance backlog at national parks. He has provided just 7 percent of the funds needed, according to National Park Service estimates.

Source: bushgreenwatch.org

RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES

81. Since 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has detained 5,000 foreign nationals in antiterrorism sweeps; none have been convicted of a terrorist crime.

Source: hrwatch.org

82. The Bush Administration ignored pleas from the International Committee of the Red Cross to stop the abuse of prisoners in US custody.

Source: Wall Street Journal

83. In violation of international law, the Bush Administration hid prisoners from the Red Cross so the organization couldn't monitor their treatment.

Source: hrwatch.org

84. The Bush Administration, without ever charging him with a crime, arrested US citizen José Padilla at an airport in Chicago, held him on a naval brig in South Carolina for two years, denied him access to a lawyer and prohibited any contact with his friends and family.

Source: news.findlaw.com

85. President Bush's top legal adviser wrote a memo to the President advising him that he can legally authorize torture.

Source: news.findlaw.com

86. At the direction of Bush Administration officials, the FBI went door to door questioning people planning on protesting at the 2004 political conventions.

Source: New York Times

87. The Bush Administration refuses to support the creation of an independent commission to investigate the abuse of foreign prisoners in American custody. Instead, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld selected the members of a commission to review the conduct of his own department.

Source: humanrightsfirst.org

FLIP FLOPS

88. President Bush opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission before he supported it, delaying an essential inquiry into one of the greatest intelligence failure in American history.

Source: americanprogressaction.org

89. President Bush said gay marriage was a state issue before he supported a constitutional amendment banning it.

Sources: CNN.com, White House

90. President Bush said he was committed to capturing Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" before he said, "I truly am not that concerned about him."

Source: americanprogressaction.org

91. President Bush said we had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, before he admitted we hadn't found them.

Sources: White House, americanprogress.org

92. President Bush said, "You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror," before he admitted Saddam had no role in 9/11.

Sources: White House, Washington Post

BIOGRAPHY

93. George Bush didn't come close to meeting his commitments to the National Guard. Records show he performed no service in a six-month period in 1972 and a three-month period in 1973.

Source: boston.com

94. In June 1990 George Bush violated federal securities law when he failed to inform the SEC that he had sold 200,000 shares of his company, Harken Energy. Two months later the company reported significant losses and by the end of that year the stock had dropped from $3 to $1.

Source: The Guardian

95. When asked at an April 2004 press conference to name a mistake he made during his presidency, Bush couldn't think of one.

Source: White House

SECRECY

96. The Bush Administration refuses to release twenty-seven pages of a Congressional report that reportedly detail the Saudi Arabian government's connections to the 9/11 hijackers.

Source: philly.com

97. Last year the Bush Administration spent $6.5 billion creating 14 million new classified documents and securing old secrets--the highest level of spending in ten years.

Source: openthegovernment.org

98. The Bush Administration spent $120 classifying documents for every $1 it spent declassifying documents.

Source: openthegovernment.org

99. The Bush Administration has spent millions of dollars and defied numerous court orders to conceal from the public who participated in Vice President Cheney's 2001 energy task force.

Source: Washington Post

100. The Bush Administration--reversing years of bipartisan tradition--refuses to answer requests from Democratic members of Congress about how the White House is spending taxpayer money.

Source: Washington Post

OPINION

If the past informs the future, four more years of the Bush Administration will be a tragic period in the history of the United States and the world.

100 Facts and 1 Opinion

by JUDD LEGUM

[from the November 8, 2004 issue]

Click here to download, circulate and distribute a PDF version of this article.

IRAQ

1. The Bush Administration has spent more than $140 billion on a war of choice in Iraq.

Source: American Progress

2. The Bush Administration sent troops into battle without adequate body armor or armored Humvees.

Sources: Fox News, The Boston Globe

3. The Bush Administration ignored estimates from Gen. Eric Shinseki that several hundred thousand troops would be required to secure Iraq.

Source: PBS

4. Vice President Cheney said Americans "will, in fact, be greeted as liberators" in Iraq.

Source: The Washington Post

5. During the Bush Administration's war in Iraq, more than 1,000 US troops have lost their lives and more than 7,000 have been injured.

Source: globalsecurity.org

6. In May 2003, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, stood under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," and triumphantly announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq. Asked if he had any regrets about the stunt, Bush said he would do it all over again.

Source: Yahoo News

7. Vice President Cheney said that Iraq was "the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11." The bipartisan 9/11 Commission found that Iraq had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks and no collaborative operational relationship with Al Qaeda.

Source: MSNBC , 9-11 Commission

8. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." The government's top nuclear scientists had told the Administration the tubes were "too narrow, too heavy, too long" to be of use in developing nuclear weapons and could be used for other purposes.

Source: New York Times

9. The Bush Administration has spent just $1.1 billion of the $18.4 billion Congress approved for Iraqi reconstruction.

Source: USA Today

10. According to the Administration's handpicked weapon's inspector, Charles Duelfer, there is "no evidence that Hussein had passed illicit weapons material to al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, or had any intent to do so." After the release of the report, Bush continued to insist, "There was a risk--a real risk--that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons, or materials, or information to terrorist networks."

Sources: New York Times, White House news release

11. According to Duelfer, the UN inspections regime put an "economic strangle hold" on Hussein that prevented him from developing a WMD program for more than twelve years.

Source: Los Angeles Times

TERRORISM

12. After receiving a memo from the CIA in August 2001 titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack America," President Bush continued his month long vacation.

Source: CNN.com

13. The Bush Administration failed to commit enough troops to capture Osama bin Laden when US forces had him cornered in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in November 2001. Instead, they relied on local warlords.

Source: csmonitor.com

14. The Bush Administration secured less nuclear material from sites around the world vulnerable to terrorists in the two years after 9/11 than were secured in the two years before 9/11.

Source: nti.org

15. The Bush Administration underfunded Nunn-Lugar--the program intended to keep the former Soviet Union's nuclear legacy out of the hands of terrorists and rogue states--by $45.5 million.

Source: armscontrol.org

16. The Bush Administration has assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money.

Source: sfgate.com

17. According to Congressional Research Service data, the Bush Administration has under-funded security at the nation's ports by more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2005.

Source: American Progress

18. The Bush Administration did not devote the resources necessary to prevent a resurgence in the production of poppies, the raw material used to create heroin, in Afghanistan--creating a potent new source of financing for terrorists.

Source: Pakistan Tribune

19. Vice President Cheney told voters that unless they elect George Bush in November, "we'll get hit again" by terrorists.

Source: Washington Post

20. Even though an Al Qaeda training manual suggests terrorists come to the United States and buy assault weapons, the Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the expiration of the ban.

Source: sfgate.com

21. Despite repeated calls for reinforcements, there are fewer experienced CIA agents assigned to the unit dealing with Osama bin Laden now than there were before 9/11.

Source: New York Times

22. Before 9/11, John Ashcroft proposed slashing counterterrorism funding by 23 percent.

Source: americanprogress.org

23. Between January 20, 2001, and September 10, 2001, the Bush Administration publicly mentioned Al Qaeda one time.

Source: commondreams.org

24. The Bush Administration granted the 9/11 Commission $3 million to investigate the September 11 attacks and $50 million to the commission that investigated the Columbia space shuttle crash.

Source: commondreams.org

25. More than three years after 9/11, just 5 percent of all cargo--including cargo transported on passenger planes--is screened.

Source: commondreams.org

NATIONAL SECURITY

26. During the Bush Administration, North Korea quadrupled its suspected nuclear arsenal from two to eight weapons.

Source: New York Times

27. The Bush Administration has openly opposed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, undermining nuclear nonproliferation efforts.

Source: commondreams.org

28. The Bush Administration has spent $7 billion this year--and plans to spend $10 billion next year--for a missile defense system that has never worked in a test that wasn't rigged.

Sources: www.gao.gov/new.items/d04409.pdf, Los Angeles Times

29. The Bush Administration underfunded the needs of the nation's first responders by $98 billion, according to a Council on Foreign Relations study.

Source: nationaldefensemagazine.org

CRONYISM AND CORRUPTION

30. The Bush Administration awarded a multibillion-dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton--a company that still pays Vice President Cheney hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred compensation each year (Cheney also has Halliburton stock options). The company then repeatedly overcharged the military for services, accepted kickbacks from subcontractors and served troops dirty food.

Sources: The Washington Post, The Tapei Times, BBC News

31. The Bush Administration told Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan about plans to go to war with Iraq before telling Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Source: detnews.com

32. The Bush Administration relentlessly pushed an energy bill containing $23.5 billion in corporate tax breaks, much of which would have benefited major campaign contributors.

taxpayer.net, Washington Post

33. The Bush Administration paid Iraqi-exile and neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi $400,000 a month for intelligence, including fabricated claims about Iraqi WMD. It continued to pay him for months after discovering that he was providing inaccurate information.

Source: MSNBC

34. The Bush Administration installed as top officials more than 100 former lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee.

Source: Source: commondreams.org

35. The Bush Administration let disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay--a close friend of President Bush--help write its energy policy.

Source: MSNBC

36. Top Bush Administration officials accepted $127,600 in jewelry and other presents from the Saudi royal family in 2003, including diamond-and-sapphire jewelry valued at $95,500 for First Lady Laura Bush.

Source: Seattle Times

37. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge awarded lucrative contracts to several companies in which he is an investor, including Microsoft, GE, Sprint, Pfizer and Oracle.

Source: cq.com

38. President Bush used images of firefighters carrying flag-draped coffins through the rubble of the World Trade Center to score political points in a campaign advertisement.

Source: The Washington Post

THE ECONOMY

39. President Bush's top economic adviser, Greg Mankiw, said the outsourcing of American jobs abroad was "a plus for the economy in the long run."

Source: CBS News

40. The Bush Administration turned a $236 billion surplus into a $422 billion deficit.

Sources: Fortune, dfw.com

41. The Bush Administration implemented regulations that made millions of workers ineligible for overtime pay.

Source: epinet.org

42. The Bush Administration has crippled state budgets by underfunding federal mandates by $175 billion.

Source: cbpp.org

43. President Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs--around 800,000--over a four-year term.

Source: The Guardian

44. The Bush Administration gave Accenture a multibillion-dollar border control contract even though the company moved its operations to Bermuda to avoid paying taxes.

Sources: The New York Times, cantonrep.com

45. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush said "the vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum." He passed the tax cuts, but the top 20 percent of earners received 68 percent of the benefits.

Sources: cbpp.org, vote-smart.org

46. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to pay down the national debt to a historically low level. As of September 30, the national debt stood at $7,379,052,696,330.32, a record high.

Sources: www.georgewbush.com , Bureau of the Public Debt

47. As major corporate scandals rocked the nation's economy, the Bush Administration reduced the enforcement of corporate tax law--conducting fewer audits, imposing fewer penalties, pursuing fewer prosecutions and making virtually no effort to prosecute corporate tax crimes.

Source: iht.com

48. The Bush Administration increased tax audits for the working poor.

Source: theolympian.com

49. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to protect the Social Security surplus. As President, he spent all of it.

Sources: georgewbush.com, Congressional Budget Office

50. The Bush Administration proposed slashing funding for the largest federal public housing program, putting 2 million families in danger of losing their housing.

Source: San Francisco Examiner

51. The Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the minimum wage from falling to an inflation-adjusted fifty-year low.

Source: Los Angeles Times

EDUCATION

52. The Bush Administration underfunded the No Child Left Behind Act by $9.4 billion.

Source: nwitimes.com

53. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to increase the maximum federal scholarship, or Pell Grant, by 50 percent. Instead, each year he has been in office he has frozen or cut the maximum scholarship amount.

Source: Source: edworkforce.house.gov x

54. The Bush Administration's Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, called the National Education Association--a union of teachers--a "terrorist organization."

Sources: CNN.com

HEALTHCARE

55. The Bush Administration, in violation of the law, refused to allow Medicare actuary Richard Foster to tell members of Congress the actual cost of their Medicare bill. Instead, they repeated a figure they knew was $100 billion too low.

Source: Washington Post, realcities.com

56. The nonpartisan GAO concluded the Bush Administration created illegal, covert propaganda--in the form of fake news reports--to promote its industry-backed Medicare bill.

Source: General Accounting Office

57. The Bush Administration stunted research that could lead to new treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal injuries, heart disease and muscular dystrophy by placing severe restrictions on the use of federal dollars for embryonic stem-cell research.

Source: CBS News

58. The Bush Administration reinstated the "global gag rule," which requires foreign NGOs to withhold information about legal abortion services or lose US funds for family planning.

Source: healthsciences.columbia.edu

59. The Bush Administration authorized twenty companies that have been charged with fraud at the federal or state level to offer Medicare prescription drug cards to seniors.

Source: American Progress

60. The Bush Administration created a prescription drug card for Medicare that locks seniors into one card for up to a year but allows the corporations offering the cards to change their prices once a week.

Source: Washington Post

61. The Bush Administration blocked efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate cheaper prescription drug prices for seniors.

Source: American Progress

62. At the behest of the french fry industry, the Bush Administration USDA changed their definition of fresh vegetables to include frozen french fries.

Source: commondreams.org

63. In a case before the Supreme Court, the Bush Administrations sided with HMOs--arguing that patients shouldn't be allowed to sue HMOs when they are improperly denied treatment. With the Administration's help, the HMOs won.

Source: ABC News

64. The Bush Administration went to court to block lawsuits by patients who were injured by defective prescription drugs and medical devices.

Source: Washington Post

65. President Bush signed a Medicare law that allows companies that reduce healthcare benefits for retirees to receive substantial subsidies from the government.

Source: Bloomberg News

66. Since President Bush took office, more than 5 million people have lost their health insurance.

Source: CNN.com

67. The Bush Administration blocked a proposal to ban the use of arsenic-treated lumber in playground equipment, even though it conceded it posed a danger to children.

Source: Miami Herald

68. One day after President Bush bragged about his efforts to help seniors afford healthcare, the Administration announced the largest dollar increase of Medicare premiums in history.

Source: iht.com

69. The Bush Administration--at the behest of the tobacco industry--tried to water down a global treaty that aimed to help curb smoking.

Source: tobaccofreekids.org

70. The Bush Administration has spent $270 million on abstinence-only education programs even though there is no scientific evidence demonstrating that they are effective in dissuading teenagers from having sex or reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

Source: salon.com

71. The Bush Administration slashed funding for programs that suggested ways, other than abstinence, to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.

Source: LA Weekly

ENVIRONMENT

72. The Bush Administration gutted clean-air standards for aging power plants, resulting in at least 20,000 premature deaths each year.

Source: cta.policy.net

73. The Bush Administration eliminated protections on more than 200 million acres of public lands.

Source: calwild.org

74. President Bush broke his promise to place limits on carbon dioxide emissions, an essential step in combating global warming.

Source: Washington Post

75. Days after 9/11, the Bush Administration told people living near Ground Zero that the air was safe--even though they knew it wasn't--subjecting hundreds of people to unnecessary, debilitating ailments.

Sierra Club , EPA

76. The Bush Administration created a massive tax loophole for SUVs--allowing, for example, the write-off of the entire cost of a new Hummer.

Source: Washington Post

77. The Bush Administration put former coal-industry big shots in the government and let them roll back safety regulations, putting miners at greater risk of black lung disease.

Source: New York Times

78. The Bush Administration said that even though the weed killer atrazine was seeping into water supplies--creating, among other bizarre creatures, hermaphroditic frogs--there was no reason to regulate it.

Source: Washington Post

79. The Bush Administration has proposed cutting the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by $600 million next year.

Source: ems.org

80. President Bush broke his campaign promise to end the maintenance backlog at national parks. He has provided just 7 percent of the funds needed, according to National Park Service estimates.

Source: bushgreenwatch.org

RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES

81. Since 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has detained 5,000 foreign nationals in antiterrorism sweeps; none have been convicted of a terrorist crime.

Source: hrwatch.org

82. The Bush Administration ignored pleas from the International Committee of the Red Cross to stop the abuse of prisoners in US custody.

Source: Wall Street Journal

83. In violation of international law, the Bush Administration hid prisoners from the Red Cross so the organization couldn't monitor their treatment.

Source: hrwatch.org

84. The Bush Administration, without ever charging him with a crime, arrested US citizen José Padilla at an airport in Chicago, held him on a naval brig in South Carolina for two years, denied him access to a lawyer and prohibited any contact with his friends and family.

Source: news.findlaw.com

85. President Bush's top legal adviser wrote a memo to the President advising him that he can legally authorize torture.

Source: news.findlaw.com

86. At the direction of Bush Administration officials, the FBI went door to door questioning people planning on protesting at the 2004 political conventions.

Source: New York Times

87. The Bush Administration refuses to support the creation of an independent commission to investigate the abuse of foreign prisoners in American custody. Instead, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld selected the members of a commission to review the conduct of his own department.

Source: humanrightsfirst.org

FLIP FLOPS

88. President Bush opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission before he supported it, delaying an essential inquiry into one of the greatest intelligence failure in American history.

Source: americanprogressaction.org

89. President Bush said gay marriage was a state issue before he supported a constitutional amendment banning it.

Sources: CNN.com, White House

90. President Bush said he was committed to capturing Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" before he said, "I truly am not that concerned about him."

Source: americanprogressaction.org

91. President Bush said we had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, before he admitted we hadn't found them.

Sources: White House, americanprogress.org

92. President Bush said, "You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror," before he admitted Saddam had no role in 9/11.

Sources: White House, Washington Post

BIOGRAPHY

93. George Bush didn't come close to meeting his commitments to the National Guard. Records show he performed no service in a six-month period in 1972 and a three-month period in 1973.

Source: boston.com

94. In June 1990 George Bush violated federal securities law when he failed to inform the SEC that he had sold 200,000 shares of his company, Harken Energy. Two months later the company reported significant losses and by the end of that year the stock had dropped from $3 to $1.

Source: The Guardian

95. When asked at an April 2004 press conference to name a mistake he made during his presidency, Bush couldn't think of one.

Source: White House

SECRECY

96. The Bush Administration refuses to release twenty-seven pages of a Congressional report that reportedly detail the Saudi Arabian government's connections to the 9/11 hijackers.

Source: philly.com

97. Last year the Bush Administration spent $6.5 billion creating 14 million new classified documents and securing old secrets--the highest level of spending in ten years.

Source: openthegovernment.org

98. The Bush Administration spent $120 classifying documents for every $1 it spent declassifying documents.

Source: openthegovernment.org

99. The Bush Administration has spent millions of dollars and defied numerous court orders to conceal from the public who participated in Vice President Cheney's 2001 energy task force.

Source: Washington Post

100. The Bush Administration--reversing years of bipartisan tradition--refuses to answer requests from Democratic members of Congress about how the White House is spending taxpayer money.

Source: Washington Post

OPINION

If the past informs the future, four more years of the Bush Administration will be a tragic period in the history of the United States and the world.