Saturday, October 29, 2005

Francisco with Democracy Now! headlines in Spanish & English and C.I. on Todd S. Purdum's writing

Saturday, how's everyone doing? I'm going to post something in full but Dad said, "You better note C.I.'s editorial cause it's damn important." :D

"Editorial on Scooter, Judy, Dexy and Matty" is the title and I think it's great and Dad thinks it's damn important so make sure to read it.

Also from The Common Ills is this piece by Francisco. Frank's going over the headlines from Democracy Now! this week and picking the ones that he feels are most important. He starts off with the Spanish version and then offers the English version.

"Hadley, Asesor de Seguridad Nacional, se reunió con jefe de inteligencia italiana poco antes de la afirmación sobre Níger"

Francisco: Hola mi amigos y amigas. Scooter Libby, el principal asesor del vicepresidente de Estados Unidos, Dick Cheney, renuncio el viernes, despues de haber sido acusado de obstruir la justicia, formular una declaración falsa, y de perjurio, en el caso de la filtracion del nombre de una agente encubierta de la CIA. Aqui estan 14 noticias de "Democracy Now!". Buen fin de semana.

Hadley, Asesor de Seguridad Nacional, se reunió con jefe de inteligencia italiana poco antes de la afirmación sobre Níger
Una noticia relacionada con la anterior. El periódico italiano La Repubblica reveló nueva información sobre el trasfondo de la falsificación de documentos para indicar que Irak trataba de comprar uranio a Níger. Según el periódico, Stephen Hadley, que en ese entonces era el asesor de Seguridad Nacional del Presidente Bush, se reunió con el jefe de la inteligencia italiana, Nicolo Pollari, en septiembre de 2002. Esto sucedió sólo semanas antes que el gobierno de Bush comenzara a divulgar que el servicio de inteligencia italiano había obtenido documentos que probaban que Irak intentaba comprar uranio a Níger. Esta afirmación jugo un papel clave en el gran esfuerzo que realizó la Casa Blanca para convencer a la población estadounidense de la necesidad de comenzar una guerra contra Irak. Los documentos resultaron ser falsos. El periódico también informó que la reunión entre Hadley y Pollari se llevó a cabo tres días antes de que un semanario perteneciente al Primer Ministro italiano, Silvio Berlusconi, publicara una historia en que se sostenía que Irak había comprado a Nigeria (y no a Níger) 500 toneladas de uranio. Un mes después, los documentos falsos utilizados por el gobierno de Bush, que fueron obtenidos en primer lugar por el mismo semanario, hicieron la misma afirmación, pero sobre Níger.

Brent Scowcroft critica al gobierno de Bush
La semana pasada, el Coronel Laurence Wilkerson, ex jefe de personal de Colin Powell, acusó a Cheney y a Donald Rumsfeld de encabezar una confabulación que debilita la democracia de Estados Unidos. Y ahora Brent Scowcrof, ex asesor de seguridad nacional, criticó al gobierno de Bush en una entrevista con la revista "New Yorker". Gran parte de sus críticas estuvieron dirigidas a los neoconservadores y su manejo de la cuestión iraquí. "Se dijo que esto era parte de la guerra contra el terror, pero Irak alimenta el terrorismo", sostuvo. Scowcroft, que es amigo cercano de George H. W. Bush, admitió que le resultaba difícil criticar al actual presidente. Cuando Jeffrey Coldberg, periodista de la revista New Yorker, le preguntó a Scowcroft si el hijo era distinto al padre, él respondió: "No quiero entrar en eso". Cuando Goldberg le pidió que mencionara asuntos en los que estaba de acuerdo con Bush hijo, Scowcroft dijo: "Afganistán". Luego hizo una pausa de doce segundos, y finalmente dijo: "Pienso que estamos haciendo las cosas bien en Europa". Y agregó: "La verdadera anomalía en el gobierno es Cheney. Lo considero un buen amigo, lo he conocido durante treinta años. Pero a Dick Cheney ya no lo conozco."

El 82% de los iraquíes están en contra de los soldados extranjeros
Mientras tanto, en una nueva encuesta realizada por las Fuerzas Armadas británicas, el 82 por ciento de los iraquíes consultados se opusieron rotundamente a que continúe la presencia de soldados extranjeros en su país. Menos del uno por ciento los entrevistados dijeron que los soldados extranjeros contribuyeron a mejorar la seguridad en Irak. El 45 por ciento de los iraquíes encuestados dijeron que sentían que lo ataques contra soldados estadounidenses están justificados.

Hans Blix: Estados Unidos engañó al mundo sobre las armas de destrucción masiva de Irak
Esta noticia es sobre Estados Unidos. Hans Blix acusó al gobierno de Bush de engañar al mundo sobre las presuntas armas de destrucción masiva de Irak. Blix, ex jefe de los inspectores de armas de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, hizo esas declaraciones el viernes en Boston.

Casi el 70% de los soldados que murieron en Irak eran menores de 30
MTV compiló algunas nuevas estadísticas sobre los 2.000 soldados estadounidenses que murieron en Irak. Cerca de un tercio de ellos tenían de 20 a 22 años de edad, y el índice de mortalidad más alto, de aproximadamente un 12 por ciento, corresponde a los jóvenes de 21 años de edad. Cerca del 70 por ciento de las bajas estadounidenses fueron de personas menores de 30 años. El 40 por ciento dejó viudas, y el 30 por ciento tenía hijos.

Dibujante escribe nombres de los 2.000 soldados que murieron en Irak
Mientras el número de muertes de soldados estadounidenses en Irak sobrepasó los 2.000 esta semana, el caricaturista editorial Mike Luckovich, del Journal Constitution de Atlanta, marcó el trágico hito escribiendo a mano el nombre de cada uno de los fallecidos en el dibujo que publicó el miércoles. Los nombres formaron la pregunta "¿Por qué?". Luckovich, galardonado con el premio Pulitzer, dijo a la publicación "Editor and Publisher": "Estaba tratando de pensar una manera de trasmitir la idea de que toda esta guerra es un tremendo desperdicio. Pero también quería honrar a los soldados que, según pienso, fueron enviados a Irak debido a un error de nuestro gobierno". Luckovich dice que pasó 12 o 13 horas el fin de semana pasado escribiendo la mayoría de los nombres, en el orden aproximado en que murieron los soldados. Varios responsables periodísticos del Journal Constitution contribuyeron al esfuerzo. Cuando se dieron cuenta de que posiblemente los nombres resultarían ilegibles, los editores autorizaron que el dibujo fuera publicado en un tamaño mucho mayor que el habitual para los trabajos de Luckvich en el Journal-Constitution.

Más de 1.500 actividades marcaron la muerte de 2000 estadounidenses en Irak
El Village Voice informa que ayer se realizaron más de 1.500 actividades en todo el país, para conmemorar la muerte del soldado estadounidense número 2.000 debido a la guerra de Irak. En Washington, la activista contra la guerra Cindy Sheehan y otras 25 personas fueron arrestadas por realizar una manifestación no autorizada frente a la Casa Blanca. Los manifestantes se tiraron al suelo y simularon estar muertos para simbolizar el fallecimiento de soldados estadounidenses en Irak. En Nueva York, varios cientos de personas colmaron la estación de reclutamiento de las Fuerzas Armadas en Times Square gritando "Bush mintió, 2.000 murieron".

Fuerzas Armadas: la cifra 2.000 "no es un hito"
Las Fuerzas Armadas intentaron restarle importancia al significado de la muerte número 2.000. El Coronel Steve Boylan, portavoz militar, dijo que la cifra 2.000 era "una marca artificial en la pared... establecida por individuos o grupos con agendas específicas y motivos ocultos". En un mensaje de correo electrónico enviado a periodistas, Boylan escribió: "La muerte de 2.000 soldados en Irak que apoyaban la Operación Libertad Iraquí no es un hito".

Tres millones sin energía eléctrica debido al huracán Wilma
En Florida, más de tres millones de personas carecen de energía eléctrica mientras comienzan las tareas de recuperación tras el huracán Wilma. Funcionarios estatales dicen que podría llevar semanas lograr que las zonas de Miami, Fort Lauderdale y el oeste de Palm Beach vuelvan a la normalidad. El daño se calculó en más de 10 mil millones de dólares.

Informe: FBI vigila en forma clandestina a residentes en Estados Unidos
El Washington Post informa que el FBI ha llevado a cabo vigilancia clandestina de algunos residentes de Estados Unidos durante 18 meses consecutivos, sin los procedimientos debidos de documentación y supervisión. Los registros del gobierno indican que el FBI investigó cientos de potenciales violaciones de derechos relacionadas con sus operaciones de vigilancia secretas. En un caso, agentes del FBI vigilaron a un objetivo no identificado durante por lo menos cinco años, durante los cuales estuvieron 15 meses sin informar a los abogados del Departamento de Justicia, luego de que el individuo se mudó de Nueva York a Detroit. En otros casos, el Post informa que agentes del FBI obtuvieron mensajes de correo electrónico luego de que la orden correspondiente había expirado, confiscaron registros bancarios sin la debida autorización y dirigieron en forma indebida "registros físicos sin consentimiento".

2,3 millones de personas tras las rejas en Estados Unidos
Estadísticas recientes del Departamento de Justicia muestran que la población carcelaria de Estados Unidos creció alrededor de un 2 por ciento el año pasado, hasta llegar a 2,3 millones de personas. Según el Centro Internacional de Estudios Penitenciarios de Londres, hay más presos en Estados Unidos que en cualquier otro país. La cantidad de reclusos en las prisiones federales del país está 40 por ciento por encima de su capacidad prevista

Pionera de los derechos civiles Rosa Parks, 1913-2005
La pionera de los derechos civiles Rosa Parks murió a los 92 años de edad. Este diciembre se cumplirán 50 años desde que se negó a cederle el asiento de un autobús a un hombre blanco en Montgomery, Alabama. Fue arrestada y declarada culpable de violar las leyes de segregación de ese estado. Su acto de resistencia condujo a un boicot contra el sistema de autobuses de Montgomery, que duró 13 meses y dio inicio al movimiento por los derechos civiles. Ese boicot también ayudó a que un predicador de 26 años de edad, llamado Martin Luther King Jr., ganara notoriedad en el país. En 1958 King escribió: "Nadie puede entender la acción de Parks, a menos que se de cuenta de que el vaso de la capacidad de soportar se desborda, y la personalidad humana grita "ya no aguanto esto". Parks estuvo involucrada en la lucha por la libertad desde los años 40. Era activista de la Asociación Nacional para el Progreso de la Gente de Color (NAACP, por sus siglas en inglés), ayudó a recaudar dinero para defender los acusados de violación en Scottsboro y asistió a cursos de capacitación en la Highlander Folk School de Tennessee. El reverendo Jesse Jackson dijo ayer: "Permaneció sentada para que nosotros nos levantáramos. Paradójicamente, su encarcelamiento abrió las puertas para nuestro largo viaje hacia la libertad". Henry Louis Gates Jr. la llamó: "la Harriet Tubman de nuestro tiempo". Nelson Mandela recordó, luego de ser liberado, cómo Parks había sido una inspiración para él y otros en la lucha sudafricana contra la segregación racial.

Rosa Parks recibirá honores en Rotonda del Capitolio
Rosa Parks podría convertirse en la primera mujer en recibir honores en la Rotonda del Capitolio, en virtud de resoluciones tomadas el jueves por legisladores. Falleció el lunes en Detroit a los 92 años. La resolución solicita que los restos de Parks reciban honores en la Rotonda el domingo y el lunes "para que los ciudadanos de Estados Unidos puedan expresar su respeto a esta gran estadounidense". Históricamente, sólo se ha permitido que los presidentes, integrantes del Congreso y comandantes militares yazgan en la Rotonda. Parks será la primera mujer y la segunda afrodescendiente en recibir este honor. El homenaje en el Capitolio es uno de los muchos planificados para honrar a la pionera defensora de los derechos civiles. A partir de la noche del lunes y hasta la mañana del miércoles, el cuerpo de Parks yacerá en el Museo Charles H. Wright de Historia Afroestadounidense, en Detroit. Su funeral se realizará el miércoles en el Templo de la Iglesia Greater Grace, también en Detroit.

Ex congresista Edward Roybal muere a los 89 años
El ex Congresista Edward Roybal murió en Los Ángeles a los 89 años. Fue un político pionero mexicano-estadounidense, que trabajó en el Congreso durante 30 años. Comenzó su carrera política en 1949 cuando se convirtió en el primer latino en ocupar una banca en el Consejo de la Ciudad de Los Ángeles desde 1881. El alcalde de Los Ángeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, dijo "Un campeón de los derechos civiles y de la justicia social como él no se ve todos los días".

Francisco: Hello friends. Scooter Libby has been indicted for blocking justice, formulating false statements and for perjury in the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Here are fourteen headlines from this week's Democracy Now!

Bush Official Met With Italians Shortly Before Fake Niger Docs Appeared
In related news, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica has revealed new information on the background behind the forged documents that indicated Iraq was trying purchase uranium from Niger. According to the paper President Bush’s then Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met with Italian intelligence chief Nicolo Pollari in September 2002. This came just weeks before the Bush administration began claiming Italian intelligence had obtained documents proving Iraqi attempts to buy the uranium from Niger. The claim played a key role in the White House's massive effort to convince the public of the need for war on Iraq. The documents turned out to be fakes. The paper notes further the meeting took place three days before a story in a weekly owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, claimed Iraq had purchased 500 tons of uranium from Nigeria. A month later, the forged documents used by the Bush administration - also first obtained by the same paper - made the same claim, but about Niger.

Brent Scowcroft Slams Bush Administration
Last week, Colin Powell's former chief of staff Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson accused Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld of running a cabal that is undermining the country's democracy. And now former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft has slammed the Bush administration in an interview with the New Yorker magazine. He directed much of his criticism to the neoconservatives and their handling of Iraq. He said, "This was said to be part of the war on terror, but Iraq feeds terrorism." Scowcroft, who is close friends with George H.W. Bush, admitted it was difficult to criticize the sitting president. When New Yorker reporter Jeffrey Goldberg asked Scowcroft if the son was different from the father, he said, "I don't want to go there." When Goldberg asked him to name issues on which he agrees with the younger Bush, Scowcroft said, "Afghanistan." He then paused for twelve seconds. Finally, he said, "I think we're doing well on Europe." Scowcroft went on to say "The real anomaly in the Administration is Cheney. I consider Cheney a good friend - I've known him for thirty years. But Dick Cheney I don't know anymore."

82% Of Iraqis Oppose Foreign Troops
Meanwhile a new poll commissioned by the British military has found that 82 percent of Iraqis strongly oppose the continued presence of foreign troops. Less than 1 percent of the population feels foreign troops have helped improve security in Iraq. The poll also found 45 percent of Iraqis feel attacks against US troops are justified.

Hans Blix: U.S. Mislead World Over Iraq WMD's
Here in this country, Hans Blix accused the Bush administration of misleading the world about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction . Blix, the former chief UN weapons inspector, spoke in Boston on Friday.

Almost 70% of Iraq Deaths Under Age of 30
MTV has compiled some new statistics on the 2,000 US troops killed in Iraq. Nearly a third were between the ages of 20 and 22, with the highest fatality rate--about 12 percent--being among 21-year-olds. Nearly 70 percent of U.S. casualties are under the age of 30. Forty percent left behind spouses and 30 percent were survived by children.

Cartoonist Writes Names of All 2,000 Soldiers Killed in Iraq
As the US military death toll in Iraq surpassed 2,000 dead this week, Atlanta Journal Constitution editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich marked the tragic milestone by hand-writing the name of each one in his Wednesday editorial cartoon. Together, their names spell out the question: WHY? The Pulitzer Prize-winning Luckovich told Editor and Publisher, "I was trying to think of a way to make the point that this whole war is such a waste. But I also wanted to honor the troops I believe our government wrongly sent to Iraq." Luckovich says he spent 12 or 13 hours this past weekend writing in most of the names -- roughly in the order of when the soldiers died. The paper's publisher and various editors were also involved in the effort. When it looked like the names might not be readable, the editors gave permission for the cartoon to be published much larger than Luckovich's drawings usually appear in the Journal-Constitution.

Over 1500 Events Held To Mark 2,000 U.S. Deaths in Iraq
The Village Voice is reporting over 1500 events took place across the country Wednesday to commemorate the death of 2,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. In Washington, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and 25 others were arrested for demonstrating without a permit in front of the White House. The protesters lay on the ground in a "die-in" to symbolize the US soldiers killed in Iraq. In New York, several hundred flooded the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square with shouts of "Bush lied, 2,000 died."

Military: 2,000 Figure "Not a Milestone"
The military has attempted to downplay the significance of the 2000th death. Military spokesperson Lt. Col. Steve Boylan called the 2,000 figure an "artificial mark on the wall… set by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives." In an e-mail to reporters, Boylan wrote: "The 2,000 service members killed in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom is not a milestone."

3 million Without Electricity in Wilma Aftermath
In Florida, over 3 million people are without electricity as the recovery effort begins in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma. State officials are saying it could take weeks for the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach area to return to normal. Damage is estimated to be at over $10 billion dollars.

Report: FBI Conducting Clandestine Surveillance of U.S. Residents
And the Washington Post is reporting the FBI has conducted clandestine surveillance on some U.S. residents for as long as 18 months at a time without proper paperwork or oversight. Government records indicate that the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its use of secret surveillance operations. In one case, FBI agents kept an unidentified target under surveillance for at least five years -- including more than 15 months without notifying Justice Department lawyers after the subject had moved from New York to Detroit. In other cases, the Post reports agents obtained e-mails after a warrant expired, seized bank records without proper authority and conducted an improper "unconsented physical search."

U.S. Prison Population 2.3 Million, Largest in World
And new Justice Department statistics show the U.S. prison population grew by nearly 2 percent last year to nearly 2.3 million. According to the International Center for Prison Studies in London, there are more people behind bars in the United States than in any other country. Federal prisons in this country are now at 40 percent over capacity.

Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913-2005
Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92. It was 50 years ago this December that she refused to relinquish her seat to a white man aboard a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and convicted of violating the state's segregation laws. Her act of resistance led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would spark the civil rights movement. The boycott would also help transform a 26-year-old preacher named Martin Luther King Junior to national prominence. In 1958 King wrote "no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.''' Parks had been involved in the fight for freedom since the 1940s. She was active in the NAACP, helped raise money to defend the Scottsboro rape case and attended trainings at the Highlander Folk School of Tennessee. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said yesterday ''She sat down in order that we might stand up. Paradoxically, her imprisonment opened the doors for our long journey to freedom.'' Henry Louis Gates Jr called her "the Harriet Tubman of our time." After he was freed from jail Nelson Mandela recalled how Parks had inspired him and others in the South African struggle against apartheid. We'll have more on Rosa Parks in a few minutes.

Rosa Parks May Lie in State in Capitol Rotunda
Rosa Parks may become the first woman to officially lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda under resolutions prepared Thursday by lawmakers. She died Monday in Detroit at the of age 92. The resolution calls for parks to lie in honor in the Rotunda on Sunday and Monday "so that the citizens of the United States may pay their last respects to this great American." Historically, only presidents, members of Congress and military commanders have been permitted to lie in the Rotunda. Parks would be the first woman and the second African-American to receive the accolade. The Capitol event was one of several planned to honor the civil rights pioneer. From Monday night until Wednesday morning, Parks will lie in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. Her funeral will be Wednesday at Greater Grace Temple Church in Detroit.

Former Congressman Edward Roybal dead at 89
And former Congressman Edward Roybal has died in Los Angeles at the age of 89. He was a pioneering Mexican-American politician who served in Congress for 30 years. He started his political career in 1949 when be became the first Latino to sit on the Los Angeles City Council since 1881. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said QUOTE "A champion for civil rights and social justice like him does not come around every day."




Thought I was about to post but my sister just strolled in and asked what I was doing. I told her and she goes, "Please, please, please include the Purdum thing!" She said she's been laughing at C.I.'s take on Todd S. Purdum all morning.

To be a good big bro, I'll include it. :D Also cause it is damn funny.

Let's start with Todd S. Purdum ("A Prosecutor's Focus Shifted to a Cover-Up") who apparently decided that instead of washing his dirty jock, he'd turn it inside out and wear it for another six months without washing. That would explain how the fumes got to him yet again and why he feels the need to early on toss out Bill Clinton. Drawing comparisons no sane person would make (Clinton's cover up revolved around a private, consensual sex affair; Libby's cover up revolves around the outing of a CIA agent), you start to wonder if Todd's not only sniffing his own fumes but also chewing on his dirty jock? The after taste of his "news analysis" makes one wonder.
How far into the article before Todd mentions Clinton (for balance, I'm sure)? Fourth paragraph. How far before Nixon is mentioned? Fourteen. (Always check my math.)
And what are we 'assured' when Nixon finally crawls out from under the rock? "The Wilson affair is not Watergate . . ." Really?
They're not a consensual sex affair either. But Todd didn't have a need to rush to assure there.
They may actually go beyond the petty motives of Watergate (original motive: to spy on the Democratic Party during a presidential election) since the outing of Valerie Plame is an attempt to discredit (and silence) her husband Joseph Wilson who was explaining that there was no evidence of "yellow cakes." (Our latter day Dylan, who hopefully gets honest today, splits hairs over "dubious." Will let him do his daily jerk off on that but in the real world we grasp the meaning. And if there's no Saturday coming clean, look for something at The Third Estate Sunday Review tomorrow because, frankly, I'm sick of the latter day Dylan and his psuedo even handed approach.)
Todd's "news analysis" provides a new example for "worthless." (For visitors, Todd S. Purdum is not "the latter day Dylan.")





Friday, October 28, 2005

70% of troops who died in Iraq under 30 years old

Good evening. It's finally the weekend and the good news is Scooter's indicted. Now let's note Democracy Now!

Almost 70% of Iraq Deaths Under Age of 30
MTV has compiled some new statistics on the 2,000 US troops killed in Iraq. Nearly a third were between the ages of 20 and 22, with the highest fatality rate--about 12 percent--being among 21-year-olds. Nearly 70 percent of U.S. casualties are under the age of 30. Forty percent left behind spouses and 30 percent were survived by children.

Am I the only wondering why MT-f-ing-V needed to think of doing that? Don't we have three big networks with news departments and various ones on cable and don't we have major daily papers? Why the heck does MTV have to do that?

The home of TRL is more interested in news than the New York Times?

Good for MTV but I think if I was an editor at a paper right now, I'd be hanging my head in shame.

Padilla Files New Appeal to Supreme Court
Lawyers for Brooklyn-born Jose Padilla--the man accused of plotting to set off a dirty bomb inside the United States--have asked the US Supreme Court to limit the government's power to hold him and other U.S. terror suspects indefinitely and without charges. Padilla, who is a US citizen, has been held for over three years in solitary conferment on a Navy brig. No charges have ever been filed against him and he has never appeared before a judge. Justices refused on a 5-4 vote last year to review Padilla's rights, ruling that he contested his detention in the wrong court. One of Padilla's attorneys, Donna Newman, said the new case asks when and for how long the government can jail people in military prisons. She said the Bush administration's position "is not only can we do it, we can do it forever. In my opinion, that's very problematic and something we should all be very concerned about," she said. Justices will not decide until late this year whether to hear Padilla's appeal.

Is Padilla guilty or innocent? We don't know because they refuse to give him a trial. They just hold him and hold him. What happened to the right to a fair and speedy trial? I checked the map, this is still the United States.

My feeling? J-Ass used Padilla to make a big announcement and there's no case there. Now J-Ass is gone and no one's going to get honest so Padilla could be held for years to come. Make a case or let him go. Or else change the map to read the Ununited State of Bully Boy.

Elaine's doing her commentary at Like Maria Said Paz so check out her thoughts on the two things. Also, sorry to Elaine for announcing that there was a chance she might blog. She got home and unwound by reading one of the books we're going to, hopefully, be discussing at The Third Estate Sunday Review this weekend. Then, right before she goes to bed, she boots up the computer to check her e-mail and people are asking, "Aren't you going to blog?" My bad. Sorry, Elaine.

Now, bad news for Laura. I kept hoping some e-mails would come in as the week wore on with some positive news for Laura. 80 e-mails and all say that Laura needs to stop fooling herself, if the man she's engaged to insists upon her swallowing and can't get over her desire not to, it aint' going away.

The cleanest comment I can put up here came from Jody who wrote, "Would you marry a man who insisted you eat cheese if you're lactose intolerant?"

So the bad news is that everyone weighing in, all 80, feel that this relationship is doomed and you should move on. But you do what you want and what you think is best.

Lastly let's take a moment for Kat Aaron's "Dump the Recruiting Database, Says National Coalition:"

Over 100 organizations have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld calling for the dismantling of a controversial Pentagon database that collects information on high school students. The coalition, a mix of civil liberties, religious, anti-war and parent groups, says that the Joint Advertising and Marketing Research Studies (JAMRS) Recruitment Database is a violation of the 1974 Privacy Act.
The "Dump the Database Coalition," as the groups are known, are also concerned about the broad scope of information collected, the lack of proper notice to the public, and the fact that parties who provided the information are not warned of the military recruiting purpose.
According to a
press release from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (a member of the coalition):
The sources of information for the DOD database include the High School Master File and the College Students Files, which are compiled for purposes that are unrelated to an interest in military service or recruitment. The High School Master File is created from information provided by state motor vehicle departments, and the commercial brokers American Student List and Student Marketing Group.


Happy weekend. I'll try to post at least once this weekend. Be sure to check out The Third Estate Sunday Review Sunday. And be sure to check out my buddy Wally's site, The Daily Jot.
I'm going to close with some commentary by C.I. from last night:


The above, sent in by Durham Gal, is from Bob Geary's "
Price, Miller call for Iraq exit plan" (The Raleigh-Durham Independent). How do two reps find courage? By the turning tide and by pressure upon them from their constituents. As amazing as the details in the story are, more can happen but only if people make their voices heard. Further down, you'll hear another story of people demanding accountability from a representative. Changes are happening. War hawks who have fallen out with the Bully Boy can put down the movement but it exists and it gets stronger every day. Each time you take action, any action, and tell someone about it, you encourage them. The media hasn't led the peace movement, they haven't even covered it for the most part. The strength has come, as it does with most movements, from the people themselves.
You make the change. You impact the world. For someone to dismiss what happened in DC (or any rallies or events going on outside of DC on Sept. 24th) reveals only their ignorance. They don't want grass roots coming together and sharing. They want foot soliders marching behind them. So they insult the rallies and say that nothing was accomplished.
If by nothing they mean that they weren't celebrated and glorified, that's quite correct. Events are about a group and not an individual. In DC, I saw and heard people who had never been to a rally before show up to register their opposition to the war. That's not "nothing." People gathered together in a very real symbol of direct democracy by the people. Those who insult such actions appear bothered that they couldn't insist we go by their play books.
In DC, Tracey and I interviewed Rhonda and Tammi whom I'd met at a rally in March. In March they had to sneak out to attend. In September, they were there with three of their parents. That's something. That's pretty amazing. And to insult that is to reveal your own narrow mindness and your own inability to appreciate anything that doesn't glorify you.People taking part were taking part because it meant something to them, standing up to the Bully Boy's war meant something to them. Those people didn't go back home and forget they were there. They carried the news back to their own circles and communities and that's how seeds are spread.Something else that carries the seeds is independent media. On Thursdays, we make a point to spotlight indymedia in two entries. To knock the rallies is the same as knocking indymedia. (Oh wait, one person did that. When he said he wasn't interested in the people who agreed with him, when he said that via indymedia, he was insulting indymedia.) Indymedia matters, you matter, people coming together to make a group statement matter.














Thursday, October 27, 2005

Rallies, Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay

Good evening and we'll kick things off with Democracy Now!

Over 1500 Events Held To Mark 2,000 U.S. Deaths in Iraq
The Village Voice is reporting over 1500 events took place across the country Wednesday to commemorate the death of 2,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. In Washington, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and 25 others were arrested for demonstrating without a permit in front of the White House. The protesters lay on the ground in a "die-in" to symbolize the US soldiers killed in Iraq. In New York, several hundred flooded the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square with shouts of "Bush lied, 2,000 died."

I should have gone to one of those yesterday but I wasn't thinking. We were all, Rebecca, Elaine and me thinking about the incredible interview Amy Goodman did yesterday. I know C.I. went and I know C.I. has an ear infection. Even so, C.I. was there and counted for. My folks went. I was wondering where they were. I assumed my sister had some school thing but I got home last night to an empty house. Ma was nice enough to leave me a plate that I just had to heat up.
After I finally posted (and got off the phone) last night, I went in search of a snack and there was Dad and Ma in the kitchen drinking coffee and talking about it.

I said I felt like a real slacker and they go no because Rebecca, Elaine and me were focusing on the Amy Goodman interview and getting the word out on that. I went to bed telling myself that was true and then I was reading C.I.'s e-mail about the rally and thinking, "Man, C.I. posted four things yesterday and still managed to go to a rally and work." I always feel like with college and work and friends and family and Nina I'm stretched to the limit then C.I. puts me to shame.

I salute everyone who participated and say "Well done."

I also salute my good buddy Cedric who wrote a most excellent post on the white white white world online and the people who didn't seem to think that Rosa Parks dying meant anything worth noting. I'm glad Cedric wrote what he wrote and real glad that there's a blog like Cedric's Big Mix because I doubt many people even noticed how little attention was given by some on the left to Rosa Parks' death. If you haven't read it, you should. You can click here to read it.

And while I'm plugging (shamelessly), let me plug my buddy Wally's site, The Daily Jot. If you don't know, he's in Florida. In one of the areas hit hard by Hurricane Wilma. He didn't have to be there but his grandfather wouldn't leave his house and when Wally found out, he drove out there. Everyone else was driving in the opposite direction but Wally wasn't going to let his grandfather face a hurricane alone. Wally's awesome and brave. They're on a generator but he managed to get a post up today and here's a part of it:

Right now we have power for a few hours thanks to the generator.
Do I sound like Riverbend?
Well say a prayer for Florida, while the rest of the nation lives under only one Bush, we live under two and you can really tell that with the incompetence displayed at every level in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.

That cracked me up when he asked if he sounded like Baghdad Burning. Bully Boy and his bro Jeb are turning Florida into a disaster site. Iraq has come to Florida with regards to electricity and that's because you have people who do not respect science or the need for government. All they know is tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. And they just know that for their wealthy friends.

Meanwhile, 2000 Americans have died serving in Bully Boy's illegal war and all he can do is whine today about Harriet Miers.

Renewed Patriot Act to Alter Death Penalty Rules
The Washington Post is reporting the House bill that would renew the USA Patriot Act includes little-noticed provisions that would dramatically alter the federal death penalty system. The bill allows for smaller juries to decide on executions and grants prosecutors the right to re-try suspects if a jury deadlocks on sentencing. The bill also triples the number of terrorism-related crimes eligible for the death penalty. The Justice Department has already endorsed the provisions. Jennifer Daskal of Human Rights Watch, told the Post : "These are radical changes in the way federal death penalty cases are litigated, and they were added virtually without any debate."

This is just like when they passed the Patriot Act to begin with, it was all done in secret without discussion. I can't believe that people are going to stand for this again.

Elaine's going to try to do a quick post tonight. I'm not sure if she'll be able to or not. When the group she's doing ends, it's been an all day thing for her of seeing patients individually during the day and then grab a quick bite and start group. But you can check Like Maria Said Paz because she said she's going to try to do something tonight. It may just be posting the above two things and also noting one of those excellent peace quotes. But because of how we both agreed would be a good ending, she may post something tonight.

This was our ending. We thought another item from Democracy Now! was really important but we both agreed C.I. summed it up this morning when dealing with the New York Times story and I'm stealing from C.I's post on Democracy Now! too because C.I. linked to the story Democracy Now! did last week on this issue:

Govt. Ordered to Notify Prison Lawyers on Force Feedings
Lawyers for hunger-striking prisoners at Guantanamo Bay won a federal court order Wednesday mandating the government to provide them with clients' medical records and to notify them before their clients are subjected to involuntary force feedings. As Democracy Now reported last week, scores of hunger-striking detainees have been force-fed with tubes up their noses at the U.S. military prison.


Now here's C.I. thing and Elaine and I felt it was all the commentary needed:

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Bush administration and the military to provide information to defense lawyers about the condition of detainees at the Guantanamo military base in Cuba who are participating in a hunger strike.
The judge, Gladys Kessler of Federal District Court, acted on a petition brought by lawyers for a handful of detainees from Qatar, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan who say they have been forcibly and sometimes brutally fed by tubes placed through their noses.
[. . .]
Julia Tarver, a lawyer for three of the detainees, asserted in court papers that when she visited her clients she found them weak and sometimes able to speak only with difficulty because of throat lesions they said were caused by having the feeding tubes forced in. Ms. Tarver said one detainee, Yousef Al-Shehri, told her that a feeding tube had been roughly inserted through his nose into his throat, causing him to spit up blood.
The above is from Neil A. Lewis' "Striking Guantanamo Detainees Gain in Ruling" in this morning's New York Times.
As has been noted on Law & Disorder and Democracy Now!, you're talking about prisoners who've been held for years, with no trial and little hope of getting out. This is their way of protesting and taking action when no other action is left to them. We could do something about it (other than force feeding) but that would mean living by the prinicples our nation's supposed to stand for.
Instead, we lock people away without a trial and no hope of release. Then when they take one of the only stands left for them to take, we further the indignity by force feeding them. (After denying for months that a hunger strike was even going on.) What will future generations think when they look back on this?
America, the supposed nation of rule of law, detained, imprisoned people with no trials (including children under the age of eighteen) and left them there. Kept them there with no end in sight.
Threw out the Constitution because, the administration argues, it doesn't apply to Guantanamo.
Nothing applies to Guantanamo, it's not part of the United States. If you buy that argument (I don't), what of the people working at Guantanamo? Are they not part of the United States? Are they not bound by the laws and principles of this country?
Let's note Amy Goodman's interview with Janis Kaprinski from yesterday's Democracy Now!:
JANIS KARPINSKI: The only person that I spoke to individually after General Miller's visit – briefing, his in-brief, that initial briefing, I went to find the JAG officer, the legal officer, lawyer, who was with General Miller, and she was -- I believe she was a major and she had been working down at Guantanamo Bay. So, I asked her, I said, "What are you doing about releasing the prisoners down at Guantanamo Bay?" And she said, "Ma'am, we're not releasing prisoners. Most of those prisoners are going to spend every last day of their lives at Guantanamo Bay. They're terrorists. We're not releasing them." And I said, "Well, what are you going to do? Fly their family members over to visit them?" She said "No, these are terrorists, ma'am. They don't get visits from home." And that was -- that was absolutely shocking, thinking about the fate of these, what we believed was, several hundred prisoners down there, 680 prisoners spending every last day of their lives at Guantanamo Bay, and particularly important because that meant that military police would be guarding them for the foreseeable future.
There's a little truth that doesn't make the news, mainstream. "We're not releasing prisoners."Are we really surprised that after several years with nothing, no trial, no end in sight, that people would decide that a hunger strike that could result in death was the last act open to them?
If you missed the interview, you can watch, read or listen to it online at Democracy Now!

Let me add in here that Kat went to one of the rallies last night too. She e-mailed me some photos of the one she attended. I don't know if she'll write about it or not, I know she's trying to get a review together for Stevie Wonder's new CD, but she stood up and was counted and I want to give a shout out to her.
















Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Abu Ghraib, Dexter Filkins, Matt Cooper and Judy Miller

COL. JANIS KARPINSKI: About the situation at Abu Ghraib, I was first informed by an email that I received on classified -- what they call "classified traffic." I opened it up late one night on the 12th of January of 2004. And it was from the commander of the Criminal Investigation Division. He sent me an email and said, "Ma'am, I just want to make you aware, I'm going in to brief the C.G.," meaning General Sanchez, "on the progress of the investigation at Abu Ghraib. This involves the allegations of abuse and the photographs." That was the first I heard of it.
I did not receive that email or phone call or a message from General Sanchez himself, who would ultimately attempt to hold me fully responsible for this, but from the C.I.D. Commander. And I was alarmed at just that short email. I was not in Baghdad at the time. I was at another location very close to the Iranian border, so we made arrangements to leave at the crack of dawn to drive down to Abu Ghraib to see what we could find out about this ongoing investigation and went through the battalion over to Cell Block 1A. The people who would normally be working on any shift were not working. The sergeant that I spoke to said that their records had been seized by the investigators, and they started a new log to account for prisoners, make sure that their meals were on time, those kind of things, and he pointed out a memo that was posted on a column just outside of their small administrative office. And the memorandum was signed by the Secretary of Defense, and --
AMY GOODMAN: By Donald Rumsfeld.
COL. JANIS KARPINSKI: By Donald Rumsfeld. And said -- it discussed interrogation techniques that were authorized. It was one page. It talked about stress positions, noise and light discipline, the use of music, disrupting sleep patterns, those kind of techniques. But there was a handwritten note out to the side. And this was a copy. It was a photocopy of the original, I would imagine. But it was unusual that an interrogation memorandum would be posted inside of a detention cell block, because interrogations were not conducted in the cell block.
AMY GOODMAN: This was the command of Donald Rumsfeld himself?
COL. JANIS KARPINSKI: Yes.


Good evening. The quotes above are from "Col. Janis Karpinski, the Former Head of Abu Ghraib, Admits She Broke the Geneva Conventions But Says the Blame 'Goes All the Way to The Top'" on today's Democracy Now!

Not only did the administration create a "waiver" to allow for torture, they posted it for the detainees to see which was probably to scare them. And the "few bad apples" that got blamed for everything, what are they supposed to make it of it? They've got orders signed by Donald Rumsfeld posted. So why are the "few bad apples" serving time and Donald Rumsfeld isn't?
Why is he still allowed to be the Secretary of Defense.

The mainstream media lets it trickle out bit by bit and never connects the dots. Is it because they sold the war to the American public and the blood on their hands is so great that they can't speak frankly? Or are they all too busy setting up their own end? Like the New York Times reporter who lied about Iran-Contra and bullied an FBI agent but gets to have his crap posted at lefty websites today? He gets to be praised as an environmentalist in countless publications and at countless sites. But the FBI agent who tried to get the word out on Iran-Contra saw another side of him.


So is that what it is? They're all in the same game? They all know they can get away with pulling this crap because they never get called on it? Covering up for the crimes of Reagan & Bush in the eighties and never getting honest about still lets you be hailed as an environmental activist today?

We need to name the liars. Not just Judith Miller who is an easy call and doesn't hurt anyone at this point. But how about some bravery and naming Dexter Filkins? How about calling him out on his lies about what happened in Falluja in November 2004?


Or is too hard to do that? Twenty years from now do you want to surf the net and come across some piece about how great Dexter Filkins is? Maybe he'll have some pet cause then like saving the Franklin Mint and you'll see AlterNet or some such site hailing him as a hero. Will it make you sick? Then call him out now.

The "brave environmentalist" helped bury and discredit the Iran-Contra story. Instead of getting the shame he deserves, he gets to act like it never happened. That's something the dead can't do.

You think the New York Times will cover Janis Kaprinski tomorrow? Of course not. They're too busy listening to pillow whispers from the administration. It didn't start with Al Gore no matter what The Daily Jerk Off tells you.

If you're informed you know that the mainstream media covers up. You want that to stop, you'll have to call them out. Start with Dexter Filkins. While your at it, you should note that Matt Cooper covered up for Karl Rove and would have kept covering for him if he hadn't been threatend with jail.

Doesn't look like Time's Matt Cooper got a release, does it? Looks like he was willing to cover for Karl Rove (for two years) until it meant his fat ass would be sitting in jail. Only then did Matt Cooper get honest.

The press covers for Matt Cooper and acts like he got a release but he didn't. Outside the court room he was all chatty about the new release he'd just gotten. But there was no new release. Judith Miller's a liar but so is Matt Cooper.

Think about the fact that we just reached 2,000 dead and wonder if things would have been different with John Kerry? I think it would have been. I think if you had a Republican Congress and a Democratic President, they would have gone into overdrive on the right trying to slam and blame Kerry for Bully Boy's war and a lot of people who still don't know stories like Janis Kaprinski's would know now.

If in July of 2003, Matt Cooper had written about Karl Rove talking to him about Valerie Plame, what do you think America would have thought of the Bully Boy? You know Karl Rove would have had to go. So there's be no "brain" to run the campaign.

Matt Cooper sat on it throughout 2003. And he sat on it in 2004. Even though he could name Lewis Libby back in 2004. But he wouldn't name Karl Rove. While everyone dog piles on Judy Miller, how come they don't know that Matt Cooper's a liar too?

He should be noted. He could have gotten honest about Karl Rove the way he did Lewis Libby.
But he didn't. Faced with jail, he makes up a release and finally tells what he should have told when it really mattered, before the election. But no one wants to call him out.

People are saying that Judith Miller should be fired from the New York Times. I agree she should be. She has a long history of lying. But Matt Cooper covered for Karl Rove for two years and if he hadn't been facing a jail sentence, he'd still be covering for Karl Rove.

It doesn't take any guts to call Judy Miller a liar today. But I guess it takes guts to speak the truth about Matt Cooper. And I guess a lot of people don't have guts.

Or maybe the same people who talk about how the media rewrites history are too stupid to notice that the media's rewritten what really happened with Cooper. A real press (and a real blog world) would be screaming, "What release, Matt Cooper!"

Then they'd be hitting him hard on why he covered up for two years especially when one of those years was an election year. He'd be forced to tell the truth and this whole episode would follow him around and haunt him.

Is it because he's married to a woman who worked for Clinton? Is that why he gets a pass?
He shouldn't get a pass. I don't care who he is married to.

He covered up for two years and then told people he had a release from his source (Karl Rove). But what it looks like is he was just too scared of going to jail so he finally had to go against his whisper buddy Karl Rove.

Judith Miller didn't stand alone. She was enabled at the paper and outside the paper and people like Matt Cooper enabled Karl Rove.

They attacked Joe Wilson and trashed him. Everyone of them needs to be held accountable and that means starting with Matt Cooper who could have been honest when it mattered but who didn't want to get honest. The only reason he got honest was because he was more scared of his soft, fat ass sitting in jail than he was of Karl Rove.

If you missed C.I.'s "The not so brave Matthew Cooper" you should read it:

Unless Chatty Cathy Cooper is sitting on something (not likely), he had no additional release from Rove. He breathlessly announced, on the day he would have been found in contempt (Miller was found in contempt that day), that he had contact with his source. Rove's lawyer denied it in real time and Cooper's been sketchy since which has allowed the press to circle the wagons and act like Cooper did have a new release.
No, that's not what it appears. What it appears is that faced with having to sit his butt in jail (which Miller had to do), Cooper suddenly didn't care so much about the legal strategy or the First Amendment.
Why does it matter?
Well he didn't conduct himself in any brave journalistic manner and that should be noted.
But if you want to draw a conclusion from the events, one conclusion is that Matthew Cooper was scared of Karl Rove. He wasn't scared of Libby. He named Libby almost immediately. His silence revolved around Rove.He didn't want to testify against Rove. When Time turned over the documents, his argument was that they removed the need for him to testify. (From Cooper's account in Time, the notes fingered Rove.) He didn't want to protect a source, that's not what it looks like. If he had, and used the same standard, why did he roll over on Libby?
It appears he was either scared of Karl Rove or he had a special bond with him that made protecting Rove more important than protecting Libby.
So which is it? Either doesn't paint him as a good journalist, let alone a great one. Until he was about to be found in contempt, he was willing to push "protect my source" (Rove) as far as he could. So did Time have a reporter who had a special relationship with Rove? Or did they have one who was scared of Rove?
If it's a special relationship, it should have been disclosed considering Cooper's beat. If it was that he was scared of Rove, that says a great deal about the state of journalism.
Regardless, the point is that until he was going to go to jail, he was perfectly willing to stay silent on what Karl Rove did. That's not all that surprising considering that he stayed silent in July of 2003. Two years later, he can finally get honest.
What did his two years of silence buy? It bought Bully Boy another four years. It allowed Karl Rove the time (and luxury) of focusing on the election instead of worrying if he was going to prison. That's two things that Rove can thank Cooper for. I'm not sure America feels so "thankful" to Cooper for that.Rove's lawyer has maintained there was no new release. Cooper's had an ever changing story on that. It appears that a release (the original one, the only one Rove's attorney says exists) that was good enough with regards to Libby wasn't good enough with regards to Rove. Was Cooper scared? Did they have a relationship that went beyond reporter and source? Those are questions "brave" Matt Cooper needs to answer.
In all the talk about Judith Miller, some time might need to be spent examing what happened with Cooper and why. Instead, he's given a pass and people rush to rewrite what happened.
Why was Cooper willing to fight (repeatedly) all attempts to compell him to testify against Rove until to continue fighting meant going to jail?
Why didn't he want to testify against Rove?

When people like Matt Cooper get a pass, it sends a message that it doesn't matter what you do.
He needs to be called on his actions and held accountable. If people are covering because of who he is married to that's crap. Being married to her didn't prevent him from covering for Karl Rove for two years.

Here's a headline from Democracy Now!

Military: 2,000 Figure "Not a Milestone"
The military has attempted to downplay the significance of the 2000th death. Military spokesperson Lt. Col. Steve Boylan called the 2,000 figure an "artificial mark on the wall… set by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives." In an e-mail to reporters, Boylan wrote: "The 2,000 service members killed in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom is not a milestone."

How did we reach 2000? It wasn't just cause Bully Boy and his buds lied to us, it was because the press repeated and sold the lies instead of examing the claims and calling a lie a lie. People need to be held accountable for their actions. That's Dexter Filkins and a whole bunch of others. I'm getting real sick of hearing "brave" voices taking on Judith Miller when they can't say a damn thing about anyone else.

Post is late tonight because Elaine, Rebecca and I were all on the phone. Be sure to check out their sites. We had a loud discussion with laughter and outrage. It's late to be posting but I really enjoyed talking with them.














Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Rose Parks, 2000 dead, Hurricane Wilma, Wally and Tommie Smith and John Carlos

[Nina and I just got back from the movies and Ma says, "Michael, who died yesterday?" Rosa Parks, why? I typed "Rose Parks" in the title. I'm just a really bad typist. I hunt and peck. I can't change it because it's got a web address now and "Rose" is in it. So I will just offer my apologies for being a really, really bad typist. I spelled it right in the stuff below. I do the title last and I was hurrying to get to the movies with Nina. So I'll again say, "I'm sorry."]

Good evening. We have three things from Democracy Now! today:


Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks 1913-2005
Civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks has died at the age of 92. It was 50 years ago this December that she refused to relinquish her seat to a white man aboard a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and convicted of violating the state's segregation laws. Her act of resistance led to a 13-month boycott of the Montgomery bus system that would spark the civil rights movement. The boycott would also help transform a 26-year-old preacher named Martin Luther King Junior to national prominence. In 1958 King wrote "no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.''' Parks had been involved in the fight for freedom since the 1940s. She was active in the NAACP, helped raise money to defend the Scottsboro rape case and attended trainings at the Highlander Folk School of Tennessee. The Rev. Jesse Jackson said yesterday ''She sat down in order that we might stand up. Paradoxically, her imprisonment opened the doors for our long journey to freedom.'' Henry Louis Gates Jr called her "the Harriet Tubman of our time." After he was freed from jail Nelson Mandela recalled how Parks had inspired him and others in the South African struggle against apartheid. We'll have more on Rosa Parks in a few minutes.



Rosa Parks is an icon, a leader, a motivator, a dreamer leading others to dream a better world. After MLK, she was probably the person we learned the most about in school. But listening to Democracy Now!'s broadcast of an interview with Ms. Parks from 1956 and hearing other stuff during the broadcast, it seems pretty obvious that I was taught about Rosa Parks in isolation without all the connections and activism involved. C.I.'s talked about that a lot (and a lot in roundtables and book discussions at The Third Estate Sunday Review), how popular history strips people from the movements they led and inspired as well as being led and inspired by the movements. She has earned her rightful place in history. But hopefully someday we'll have the space in the school books to really go into the struggle she was a part of.

U.S. Death Toll Nears 2000
And the U.S. death toll in Iraq is creeping closer to 2,000. The military has announced a Marine died in Ramadi on Sunday bringing the death toll to 1997. Anti-war activists have organized over 300 protests to take place across the country on the day after the US announces the 2000th U.S. soldier killed. On Monday Cindy Sheehan announced she and other peace activists will begin holding a daily vigil each night this week outside the White House.

We've already hit 2,000. We'll climb even higher. What's the magic number that makes America scream "Enough!"? Already the polls show disgust with the war and with the majority of Americans say bring the troops home. It's just our leaders who can't find their voices. I'll exempt my Senator Ted Kennedy because he's called for us to bring the troops home months ago. The media just didn't make a big deal out of it because it's not a message they want to trumpet.

Why is that? I read something, maybe it was in Amy Goodman's Exception to the Rulers?, about how war is big coverage and a money maker for networks. I wonder if they think that now that the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad is being attacked by someone other than the American military?

Dexter Filkins is among the worst of all the reporters in Baghdad. In my home he's known as the guy who lied about Falluja in November of 2004. He went on to win an award for his lies.
Day after day, you see bloggers nail Judith Miller to the wall but they're silent on Filkins so the question is, do they not know about him? Or does the cat have their tongue?

I wasn't aware, until C.I. pointed it out, that the questioning of Miller's reporting began before the war did. It's interesting that so many are so loud now but not a lot of them had much to say then. Maybe it's going to take years for Dexter Filkins to be exposed but I think he will be. I know among my friends he is a joke and I think that will only increase with each passing year. Someday there may be universal calls for him to be stripped of his award.

It's too bad those calls aren't going on right now when it would matter. When we were all in D.C. for the protests, we got to talk to a few journalists and they all said Dexter Filkins' reporting was just as damaging as Judith Miller's. They're theory is that a lot of people don't know what happened in Falluja still and that some of those who do don't want to make a big deal out of it because, since a lot of people don't know the truth about Falluja, it might mean going out on a limb. C.I. dealt with it in real time. (C.I. has noted that Ron has dealt with it as well at Why Are We Back In Iraq?) But in their little, bitty worlds, a lot of people seem to want to play it all safe and snuggly. Maybe they're too busy pushing a candidate or a book club?

Me, I think you do a blog because you want to talk about something that matters to the world. I don't think laying the groundwork for election 2008 to be sewn up by some guy you've got a crush on qualifies as mattering to the world. But I guess it beats cat blogging. (That goes to "Watchdog Daily" which is hilarious. You have to read it if you haven't already. I laugh at it every time I read it and I helped with the writing of it. You can also read Rebecca's VH1 Behind the Blogging backstory on that piece here.)


Hurricane Wilma Wrecks Havoc in Florida, Cuba & Mexico
Residents in southern Florida, Cuba and Mexico are all facing massive cleanups following the devastating Hurricane Wilma. In Florida at least six people have died and six million are without power. In Cuba parts of Havana flooded after a seawall broke Monday. In Cancun, 500,000 residents have lost nearly everything.


I was really worried about my buddy Wally all day. He could have been safe but his mom told him Sunday that she wasn't able to get his grandfather to leave. His grandfather's attitude was he'd seen it all and one little hurricane wasn't anything to be scared of. So Wally got in his car and drove to his grandfather and made it before the hurricane hit. This morning, I checked The Daily Jot and there was no new post so I really worried. As soon as I got to campus, Tony walks over and goes "Wally's safe" and says C.I. already gave a heads up.

I was really relieved. Wally's a friend but he's also one brave dude. He knew going to his grandfather's wasn't going to change the old man's mind. He knew the most he could do was stay there with his grandfather to make sure they were in it together. Wally understands the importance of family and loyalty and he's a really cool dude. I'm glad you're okay, Wally. Hope you guys get electricity soon.


Be sure to check out Elaine's take on the above at Like Maria Said Paz.

On a day when we remember Rosa Parks' brave activism, let's also note Dave Zirin's
"When Fists are Frozen: The Statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos:"

Trepidation should be our first impulse when we hear that radical heroes are to be immortalized in fixed poses of bloodless nostalgia. There is something very wrong with seeing the toothy, grinning face of Paul Robeson staring back at us from a stamped envelope. Or the wry expression the US Postal service affixed onMalcolm X - harmless, wry, inviting, and by extension slanderous.
These fears erupted in earnest when I heard that San Jose State University would be unveiling a statue of two of its alums, Tommie Smith and John Carlos. The 20 foot high structure would be a commemoration of their famed Black Gloved salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. I dreaded the thought that this would be the athletic equivalent to Lenin’s Tomb: when you can't erase a radical history, you simply embalm it. These fears are not without foundation. Smith and Carlos's frozen moment in time has been consumed and regurgitated endlessly by the wide world of corporate sports. But this process has taken place largely without any kind of serious discussion about who these men were, the ideas they held, and the price they paid.
With palpable relief, I report that the statue does Smith and Carlos justice, and then some. It is a lyrical work of art, and a fitting tribute to two amazing athletes who rose to their moment in time. Credit should go to the artist, a sculptor who goes by the name Rigo23. Rigo23's most important decision was to leave Smith and Carlos's inventively radical and little discussed symbology intact. On the statue, as in 1968, Smith and Carlos wear wraps around their necks to protest lynching and they are not wearing shoes to protest poverty. Rigo23 made sure to remember that Carlos' Olympic jacket - in a shocking breach of etiquette - was zipped open, done so because as Carlos said to me, "I was representing shift workers, blue-collar people, and the underdogs. That's why my shirt was open. Those are the people whose contributions to society are so important but don't get recognized."



Rosa Parks is a portrait of courage and bravery. So are Tommie Smith and John Carlos. We don't see a lot of courage these days but it still exists. You can hear it in the voice of Congress members Barbara Lee, John Conyers and Maxine Waters among others. You can hear it in Cindy Sheehan. I wonder if it's possible that there's as much courage now as at any other time but that we just don't hear about it or see it because the mainstream media gave up caring about the people a long time ago?

Lastly, my apolgies to Maria. I wasn't watching my typing at all Saturday (I hate typing) and I called her Marie in my title. Beau and Leigh Ann both caught that and e-mailed on it.















Monday, October 24, 2005

Scowcroft, Iraq, Indictments & Swallowing

Good evening, as always, Elaine and I are covering the same two things from Democracy Now! so be sure to check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's take.

Brent Scowcroft Slams Bush Administration
Last week, Colin Powell's former chief of staff Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson accused Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld of running a cabal that is undermining the country's democracy. And now former national security advisor Brent Scowcroft has slammed the Bush administration in an interview with the New Yorker magazine. He directed much of his criticism to the neoconservatives and their handling of Iraq. He said, "This was said to be part of the war on terror, but Iraq feeds terrorism." Scowcroft, who is close friends with George H.W. Bush, admitted it was difficult to criticize the sitting president. When New Yorker reporter Jeffrey Goldberg asked Scowcroft if the son was different from the father, he said, "I don't want to go there." When Goldberg asked him to name issues on which he agrees with the younger Bush, Scowcroft said, "Afghanistan." He then paused for twelve seconds. Finally, he said, "I think we're doing well on Europe." Scowcroft went on to say "The real anomaly in the Administration is Cheney. I consider Cheney a good friend - I've known him for thirty years. But Dick Cheney I don't know anymore."

Cheney, you're dead to me. That's what Sowcroft seems to be saying. Like when Paulie turns his back on Mike in Goodfellas. Like if Cheney got indicted by Patrick Fitzgerald and Cheney called Sowcroft saying, "Brent, buddy, dude, you gotta help me out. We partners, dude, we partners" Sowcroft would just hang up on him. Just hang the phone up without saying anything. And if his wife saw it going down and asked him why, he's day, "He's dead to me."
Then we see Cheney shaking his fist at the sky and screaming, "I will be back!" as the cop cars surround him to take him off to jail.

White House Prepares for Possible Indictments
Reuters is reporting White House officials will learn today whether special prosecutor Patrick FItzgerald will seek indictments over the Bush administration's outing of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame. Reports indicate that the grand jury could indict both President Bush's chief advisor Karl Rove and VIce President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby for perjury or conspiracy. Both Rove and Libby failed to disclose key information about their role in the leak to the grand jury. Late last week Fitzgerald launched a website prompting speculation that he set it up to post the indictments. Fitzgerald has already posted documents that reveal the Justice Department gave him authority two years ago to expand his inquiry to include any criminal attempts to interfere with the investigation.

Fitzgerald has the documents up here. In my home, the betting is that Karl Rove gets indicted, 3 to 1. My sister's the holdout. She thinks Fitzgerald doesn't have "the guts" to indict Rove. We've also got a bet going on whether or not Libby will be indicted. My oldest brother's in that pool and he thinks Libby won't be indicted. He thinks no one will be. I hope he's wrong. I feel like after all this time, Fitzgerald's got to planning some indictment. Especially since there won't be a report issued on this. Makes me feel that the reasons are Fitzgerald's hunting the big game.

This weekend at The Third Estate Sunday Review, me and Elaine paired up again to address Iraq. I was surprised, good surprise, to learn that readers of The Third Estate Sunday Review enjoyed our exchange. I have fun doing it with her and with C.I. So here's our section from the news review:

C.I.: Cedric, thank you for that perspective piece. With more news on Iraq, we now go to Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz and Mike of Mikey Likes It! All week long, they pair up to select information from Democracy Now! to spotlight at their respective sites. Readers of The Third Estate Sunday Review prefer them paired up for the news review. We started with Elaine last week, so let's start with Mike.

Mike: C.I., despite the AP's best attempts at spinning, if milestones are coming out of Iraq, one may be the secret poll that England commissioned. Australia's Herald Sun reports that in the poll, "up to 65 per cent of Iraqi citizens support attacks and fewer than one percent think allied military involvement is helping to improve security in their country."

Elaine: The poll had several findings of interest. As reported by The Telgraph of London:

• 82 per cent are "strongly opposed" to the presence of coalition troops;
• less than one per cent of the population believes coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security;
• 67 per cent of Iraqis feel less secure because of the occupation;
• 43 per cent of Iraqis believe conditions for peace and stability have worsened;
• 72 per cent do not have confidence in the multi-national forces.
The opinion poll, carried out in August, also debunks claims by both the US and British governments that the general well-being of the average Iraqi is improving in post-Saddam Iraq.

Elaine (con't): Despite the fact that results on the full audit will not be known until Monday at the earliest, the Associated Press is already running a nothing-to-see-here-no-fraud-here-move-along story. As Aljazeera notes, this is a partial return and does not include two provinces with high Sunni population. Aljazeera also notes the death of four more US soldiers on Saturday.

Mike: Which would be another real milestone as we close in on the 2,000 figure, official figure, for US troops who have died on the ground in Iraq. As Democracy Now! noted Friday:

UFPJ Plans Day of Actions Over 2,000 Military Deaths in Iraq
The antiwar group United for Peace and Justice has announced that it is organizing a national day of action planned for the day after the US military death toll in Iraq reaches 2,000. As of October 20, the total was 1,988. UFPJ is calling the action "2000 Too Many." Demonstrations are already scheduled in cities around the country. Military family members and veterans will be at the forefront of many planned protests.

Mike (con't): Elaine and I both believe that the count was 1996 via Iraq Coalition Casualties but at present, the site is down. However, an Associated Press report places the total at 1996 and it was filed before the four deaths that Aljazeera has reported.

Elaine: As United for Peace & Justice has noted:

So far, more than 1950 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and more than 15,000 have been wounded. U.S. soldiers are at grave risk in Iraq, and continue to suffer even after they come home. Troops returning to the U.S. are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and are even turning up in homeless shelters in cities through the country. The risk for Iraqis is even more severe: Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in the war, and hundreds of thousands of lives have been devastated, even according to the most conservative estimates.

Elaine (con't): Instead of dealing with that, the Associated Press wants to launch a new wave of Operation Happy Talk which isn't limited to what we've noted and Cedric's noted but also includes a "US troops' morale high!" piece. "US Troops Maintain High Morale" screams the headline which is a rather dubious claim if you read the actual article where one soliders airs his grievance that his tour of duty was extended by Donald Rumsfeld.

Mike: Half-way into the article you begin to hear from voices like the one Elaine noted. This occurs after the piece notes that: "Others say the toll of two and even three tours in Iraq in as many years has dwindled the number of those who will remain in the military and drained confidence that their work was making the United States safer." That's hardly "High Morale" so our best guess is that the Associated Press is counting on the fact that most people will read only the headline and the first few paragraphs.

C.I.: Thank you for that commentary, Elaine and Mike. We'll continue to attempt to access Iraq Coalition Count. For now we go to Betty, of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, with the news from the world of entertainment.

Laura e-mails me about the relationship she has with her boyfriend and this may be graphic, so that's your warning. Laura enjoys a lot of things but one thing she doesn't enjoy at all is swallowing. She says he makes a big deal of it. Not just in the shooting stage but after if she wants to spit it out.

My first advice is dump him but she writes about she's in love with him and they're engaged and she just got her ring so I guess she's really into him. In which case, I bet he's complaining to his friends that she won't swallow. I don't know what to tell Laura.

It sounds like it's something they're going to have to work out together. If she's ready to spend her life with this guy and he's ready to spend his life with her, if this is an issue, then they're going to have to solve it together.

I can tell you that if I knew something I wanted was making a woman I wanted to marry uncomfortable, I would want to talk it over with her and figure out a compromise. This is something that seems big to me but Laura doesn't seem to think so, she seems to think it will just go away.

I don't think it's going away. If someone's got something else add, feel free.