Good evening, Friday, let's kick things off with Democracy Now! and get the weekend started:
Second Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration Opens Today
The second gathering of the International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration will begin today in New York. The commission will look into a series of charges the Bush administration has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The indictments were drafted at the first commission held in October. Those scheduled to testify before the commission include the former head of Abu Ghraib, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski; former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray; the entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte, and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter.
Tribunal! Tribunal! Elaine and I both are going with this one becuae if you can go, that's great, get there. Now. Seriously, stop reading, and go. :D
But if you're not in or near NYC, like C.I. would say, "You need to be aware of it. You need to know it's out there." How come?
Because you need to know that not everyone's buying into Bully Boy's lies. And when you start realizing how many people are speaking out and fighting back and let's you know you're not just not alone, you've got millions on your side. We got the numbers.
And speaking of numbers . . .
US Army Raises Enrollment Age Limit, Bonuses
In military news, the US Army announced this week it was raising the age limit for new soldiers by five years and doubling monetary incentives for enrollment. Under the new rules, the maximum age for enlistment will be 39 years old. The Army is also doubling enlistment bonuses to up to $40,000 dollars for the regular Army and up to $20,000 dollars for the Army Reserve. The announcement comes after the US Army missed its recruiting targets in 2005.
Yep, the Army missed its recruiting targets for the year. They tried to spin, then they tried to lie, but the truth is they missed it. By a wide mark.
Will it make a difference? You think 37 year olds have been sitting around saying, "If only they'd raise the enlistment age, I'd march on over to the killing fields"?
This was the best year they were going to have. Awareness and word of mouth travels and travels.
Now be sure to check out Elaine's comments because we chose one headline to both do and then one to do our own. So get over to Like Maria Said Paz right now.
Unless you can attend the Tribunal. And here's information from Ruth on that:
The Bush Commission . . . will be holding a tribunal in New York City from January twentieth to the twenty-third. The first day of the hearing will take place at The Riverside Church on 123 Riverside Drive and will begin at 5:00 pm. The second day will take place at the same location and begin at 10:00 am. The final day, Sunday, the hearings will move to the Law School at Columbia University and will begin at 1:00 pm. More information can be found online at Bush Commission and also by calling (212) 941- 8086. Also at the Bush Commission website, you can find information on the October 2005 hearings including audio and videos you can watch online as well as text excerpts.
It's been a long week. I've enjoyed helping out with the gina & krista round-robin and I've enjoyed working on the Alito issue on campus. I've met people who I didn't know and hopefully formed some new friendships. I hope you've been active. I hope you'll stay active. We need to. Swiping from C.I.:
From the Feminist Wire:
More Senators Announce Opposition to Alito
More Senators have announced their opposition to Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. Encouragingly, no additional Democrats have announced support for Alito since Ben Nelson (NE). Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), the Democratic Whip, announced his opposition to a packed auditorium at Northwestern University School of Law. "In the record, the writings, the words, and the life of Samuel Alito, I searched for evidence of his caring heart -- evidence that for the next two or three decades he would use his position on the Supreme Court to enlarge our freedom, protect our privacy, and respect the delicate balance of power and responsibility our Constitution creates," said Senator Durbin. "At the end of the day, at this historic moment, I cannot say with confidence that Samuel Alito meets that test."
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), in announcing his opposition, said, "Based on his record, I am gravely concerned that Judge Alito does not believe the Congress has the authority to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans." Other Senators who have announced publicly their opposition to Alito include Patrick Leahy (D-VT) (the Ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (the only woman on the Judiciary Committee), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), and Max Baucus (D-MT). Senators Leahy, Baucus, and Salazar all voted for John Roberts in September.
GET THE INSIDE SCOOP with The Smeal Report and the New Leif blogs at MsMagazine.com
TAKE ACTION Call your Senators and urge them to oppose Alito
DONATE Make an emergency contribution to the Feminist Majority's Save Roe Campaign. We must be a strong voice in this crucial fight to save Roe and the Supreme Court for women’s rights.
Media Resources: Harkin statement 1/19/06; Durbin statement 1/19/06; Feminist Majority
Remember how this week started? With spineless Dems shrugging and saying "Oh well." We lit a fire under them and we got to keep it burning. So keep working. And, like Susan said, keep hoping.
Lastly, sorry for the delay in posting. Ava phoned. She and Jess are speaking to any group they can find about the need to filibuster Alito. C.I.'s either speaking or enroute to a speaking thing and Ava wasn't sure when she and Jess would be done. So she asked me if I could publish The Common Ills. It was an honor. This week a Democracy Now! post disappeared and to be safe, they've tried to publish it after it went up (e-mailed entry) as soon as possible. With C.I.'s schedule and Ava and Jess being busy tonight, Ava wasn't sure if it would be up by the time she or C.I. had a chance to publish. So I said "Gladly." That thing took 23 minutes to publish. It takes about 2 to 3 minutes tops to publish here. I guess it's because The Common Ills has so many entries. I've heard C.I. talk about those morning entries and how they're a hassle now with the technorati tags because each entry has to be published by itself and before C.I. could just publish it and then publish the next one and then publish the entire blog. But for the tags to register, you have to publish the entire blog after each entry. I get now why when C.I.'s in a hurry those tags are a pain in the ass.
democracy now
the common ills
like maria said paz
mikey likes it
bush commission
ruths morning edition report
feminist wire
the third estate sunday review
