• OPEN DISCUSSION - For the first 30 minutes of the Thursday night forums we will have informal open discussion. This will allow for late arrivals, food & drink ordering, and new attendees to become acclimated.
• ANNOUNCEMENTS - Any events, news, or other items that you feel are of interest to the group can be announced at the start of Free Inquiry Forum.

TOPICS for Thursday (10/21/04) & Monday (10/25/04):

1. The current shortage of flu vaccine has been attributed to contaminated products produced by the British plant of a California company, Chiron, which was forbidden by the British government from exporting all 48 million doses intended for the United States. As a consequence, many Americans have been prevented from getting their expected flu shots this year, and some outlets have suffered price gouging in obtaining the scarce vaccine. VP Cheney claims that such shortages reveal the need for lawsuit reforms traditionally resisted by the Democrats. What is the responsibility of the federal government in ensuring adequate supplies of the flu vaccine for American citizens, who now rely on the private sector for this product? Does the Bush administration, which now claims the crisis will be alleviated, bear responsibility for the current shortage by relying on foreign sources for this important health product?
2. Both the Bush and the Kerry campaigns recently have ramped up their arguments that Americans would be safer from terrorism with their leadership rather than with their opponent's. VP Cheney and now President Bush are strongly making that claim, suggesting that a Kerry vote would be the wrong choice for America's safety. The Kerry campaign charges that Bush's policies are fundamentally wrong for countering Muslim terrorists and that Bush's colossal misjudgment and mismanagement of a "war on terror" in Iraq is actually endangering Americans by creating Muslim extremists. Which view do you agree with and why?
3. After the success of Michael Moore's inflammatory Fahrenheit 9/11, Bush supporters have sought similar propaganda to diminish Kerry's luster in the eyes of the public. The anti-Kerry book by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has been followed by a new anti-Kerry movie, Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal. The film criticizes Kerry's anti-VN war activities and claims he and Jane Fonda prolonged the war and suffering of American POWs. Because it is scheduled for broadcast before the election by Sinclair Broadcast Group's 62-station tv network, operated by a wealthy conservative, Democrats have appealed to the FCC, claiming that the film is a contribution to the Bush campaign. But Sinclair insists the film is "news" and has invited Kerry to rebut the broadcast, which he declines. Is there a proper role for propaganda movies in our national elections? Are such films legitimate expressions of free speech, or do they unfairly advance the slanted views of partisans with no obligation concerning fairness or equal time?
4. Open Discussion.

Quote of the week: "...I think a light has gone off for people who've spent time up close to Bush: that this instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told him to do. This is why George W. Bush is so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them, because he's just like them. This is why he dispenses with people who confront him with inconvenient facts. He truly believes he's on a mission from God. Absolute faith like that overwhelms a need for analysis. The whole thing about faith is to believe things for which there is no empirical evidence. But you can't run the world on faith." ["Without a Doubt," New York Times Magazine, Oct. 17, 2004]

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