Monday, May 08, 2006

Monday headache

Monday. Ugh-day. If we lived in Europe, we'd have more time off. Maybe in this country, someday. Let's kick things off with Democracy Now!


Porter Goss On His Resignation: "[It is] Just One of Those Mysteries"
Questions still remain over why Porter Goss resigned from the CIA. Neither Goss nor President Bush have publicly given any reason for the resignation. On Saturday Goss told CNN his departure is "just one of those mysteries."

He really was a smart ass, wasn't he?

Here's another question? Bully Boy's nominated Michael Hayden. Why does the press keep saying he's the next CIA director? He's got to be confirmed to be the new one.

Tens of Thousands Protest in Greece Against U.S. Wars
In Greece, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Athens on Saturday to condemn the Iraq invasion and a possible U.S. attack on Iran. According to press account, one small group of protesters fired petrol bombs and stones at police outside the U.S. embassy. Riot police responded with tear gas.

We are loved all over the world!

Thank you, Bully Boy.

Bush: Catching 7.5 Pound Perch as Highlight Of Presidency
Meanwhile in another interview with the German press, President Bush was questioned about the high point of his presidency. Bush said "I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound perch in my lake."

Didn't you just know something would have to die for his favorite moment?

Be sure to visit Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's thoughts which will probably be way deeper than mine. I've got a really bad headache tonight.

What I'm going to do tonight is just talk about The Third Estate Sunday Review's latest edition. I may do this the rest of the week or just this evening. (Elaine suggested it because my head is killing me.)

This evening I'm talking about two pieces that go together. First up, "Darfur." People are losing their lives. And there's this push to do something. But what they're pushing seems to be "military solution." You hear the Force Wagon talk about troops and sometimes NATO. Is that the only solution? That's what we were geting at here. People are saying it is genocide. If it's genocide what would be a way to rescue the victims without resorting to allowing Bully Boy to put troops down for another occupation?

"Head on Home (a musical in four scenes)" follows that up. It's really cool. I'm really proud that we did this. This could have failed and we were okay with that because we were just trying to do something beyond what we usually do. And anytime we've tried something different, we've learned from it. I don't mean, "Oh, next time we do this, we should . . ." I mean, it's pushed us to think in new ways and so we were willing to fail because we wanted to shake ourselves up.

It was going to be longer but the edition got shook up itself (I wrote about that on Friday). So the basic story is that there's Tiffany and this guy Dakota. She sees him playing his guitar and singing for the troops to come home. These five guys (big business) are worried about losing out on the money in Iraq. Tiffany listens to Dakota sing and gets really excited. The whole thing is in song, by the way. She starts singing along and is full of enthusiasm even though he's cautioning her that it will be a long process.

She goes around trying to recruit others to call for the troops to come home. She finds three people who are protesting something and they basically tell her they have their own issue -- which is to lobby their Senator about Darfur.

The Senator tries to avoid them but they corner her. They want her to save the people in Darfur. She's not interested until she realizes, and she voted for the war in/on Iraq, that it will give her a chance to deploy US forces. The three take up the chant with her and Tiffany gets swept away and goes along with it.

Now the Senator's speaking out against it. There's a huge crowd. Big business is nervous until they hear "show of force" and then they are happy and eager to contribute to her campaign.

Everything goes to crap. People are dying. And the Senator's worried about her polls and her chances for the presidency. Tiffany leaves her office shocked.

Dakota's picked up two more people who support his cause. Tiffany tries to explain what happened. Then the Senator walks up nearby with a crowd following her. She does this hilarious song about "Vote for me!" Tiffany tries to tell the truth on her but it looks like everyone belives the Senator. The crowd leaves with the Senator except for three people who join Dakota, Tiffany and the couple in calling for the troops to come home. So it starts off with just Dakota and ends with him and six others.

I like it and am really glad we worked on it.

Read "Kat's Korner: Neil Young's Living With War -- key word 'Living'" and remember Neil Young's CD comes out tomorrow.



I'll close with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Chaos and violence continue.
Sunday, Australia's ABC reports, car bombs took the lives of at least 21 and wounded at least 52 in Kerbala while two went off in Baghdad killing at least nine and wounding at least 20. CNN notes the death of one police officer and two others wounded in Baquba on Sunday evening as well as ten Iraqis wounded from a bomb blast in Muqdadiya. CBS & the AP note the names of the five British soldiers who died when their helicopter crashed (shot down with a rocket) this weekend: Sarah Mulvihill, John Coxen, Darren Chapman, David Dobson and Paul Collins. Sarah Mulvihill was "[t]he first British servicewomen to die in action in Iraq." Today?
As noted this morning by Sandra Lupien during the news breaks of KPFA's The Morning Show, a car bomb outside a courthouse in Baghdad claimed the lives of at least five and wounded at least ten, while 2 Iraqi journalists kidnapped Sunday have been found (dead, bullets to the head).
The bombing at the courthouse wasn't the only one in Baghdad. Reuters reports a second one (in the al-Tayaran Square) took the lives of at least five and wounded at least eight. Another bombing in Baghdad, "eastern Baghdad," resulted in at least 17 wounded (four of which were police officers). While southeast of Baghdad, the Associated Press notes (as did Lupien) the death of an American soldier from a roadside bomb.
In Sunday's New York Times, Sabrina Tavernise noted the kidnapping (on Saturday) of three with the Interrior Ministry. Today in Baghdad, Reuters reports that a bus with employess of the Ministry of Higher Education was fired upon (the driver was killed, at least three others on the bus were wounded). (BBC notes only one wounded "policeman who was guarding the bus.") Taverinse also noted that on Saturday, 43 corpses had been found in Iraq ("All of the victims were handcuffed and shot in the head."). In Baghdad today, Reuters notes, six more corpses have been discovered ("signs of torture . . . gun wounds to their heads"). Three corpses were found in Khan al-Mahawil, CNN reports. The three had been "police commandos" and were kidnapped Friday ("single bullet to the head").
BBC notes the attack on a pipeline that's shut down "Mussayab power station." MSNBC notes Iraqi "police Col. Ahmed Mijwayl" as explaining that the pipeline carried "oil from Dora refinery in Baghdad to Musayyib power station."
Finally, on today's The Morning Show, Andrea Lewis interviewed Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, an Iraqi-American who reported on her recent visit to Iraq (Dec. 2005 to March 2006). Wasfi found limited electricity, no potable water (none "through tap water, people have to buy water") and no security. From 2 hours of blackouts two years ago, they now have rolling blackouts which means those with electricity are buying generators (and buying gas to fuel them). The American bases and the British bases have electricity and running water, Wasfi noted. Which says, "We could not care less about the suffering of the Iraqi people. . . . The Iraqis have had about all the help they can take from the American people." She repeatedly found that things were worse now "than before 2004 . . . before we invaded and life wasn't great then." Healthcare is a "disaster." She cited several examples but this one may be the one underscores the point the most: Hospitals "in Basra . . . couldn't do operations for a week because they had no gauze." She summarized the current state with this: "There is chaos, there is anarchy in Iraq and it will continue after we leave . . . because we destroyed the civilian infrastructure . . . We don't belong there."
By the way Dahlia Wasfi, Christian Peacemaker Team Beth Pyles, Pablo Paredes and Yussef El Guindi will be at an event ("Building Resistance" A Not in Our Name Benefit of Theatre and Conscience") in Oakland, CA (The Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Avenue) and Andrea Lewis will be the moderator of the event. ** Thursday, May 11th; 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.**
















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