Good evening and let's kick things off with Democracy Now!
Arrest Warrants Issued for Ex-Iraqi Officials
Also in Iraq, arrest warrants have been issued for several officials from the US-backed interim government of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. According to the Associated Press, five ministers -- including Allawi's defense minister Hazem Shalaan -- are among 28 ex-officials accused of misappropriating one billion dollars in military funds. Most of the officials have already fled the country.
Who put Allawi into place? We did. We ignored the rumors of him killing jailed Iraqis, we looked the other way about him being Chalabi's cousin. We are the occuyping power and we did nothing to ensure that the funds were going where they were supposed to. This is our screw up.
New Poll: 59% of U.S. Wants Troops Out of Iraq
Meanwhile, a new CBS News poll shows that 59 percent of Americans want US troops to leave Iraq as soon as possible, even if the country is not completely stable, an increase from 52 percent last month. Iraqis are four days away from voting in a nation-wide referendum on a new constitution drafted by the transitional government.
But little bitty minds will say, "Gosh guys, you know we broke it so we have to fix it." They can't get it through their little bitty minds that we haven't fixed dick and we won't fix it. How many years are they willing to committ to the misguided occupation before they wake up. Polls demonstrate that Iraqis don't want us over there. We don't want to be over there. But it's the little bitty minds that keep us there.
Tony asked me why I wasn't noting CounterRecruiter lately? There was a period where there wasn't anything new up and I honestly stopped checking. I asked C.I. about it and C.I. pointed out that Mike Burke (who does most of the stuff but not all of it) had been working on the Hurricane Katrina story for Democracy Now! in addition to his regular duties for Democracy Now! I'm glad Tony told me they were back to posting. They've got a lot of important stuff up and I'll note this thing by Kat Aaron called "Military, Facing Huge Recruiting Shortfall, Insists 'Not in Gloom Mode:'"
The military will now be taking more recruits who get low scores on military aptitude tests. Until now, the armed forces have been admitting no more than 2% of the recruiting class from enlistees who get a Category IV score, the lowest test score above a failing grade. That'll be upped to 4%.
"The Department of Defense is clearly getting desperate for new recruits," Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) of California told MTV.com. Eshoo has co-sponsored a bill dubbed the Student Privacy Protection Act of 2005, which, if passed into law, would change a provision in the No Child Left Behind Act that allows military recruiters easy access to student information courtesy of their high schools.
CounterRecruiter is a great site that covers issues that I care about and that readers who have e-mailed care about. Since the last time I noted them, they've put up a lot of important stuff so check it out.
Leigh Ann wrote me that the funniest online today is C.I.'s "NYT: The Littlest Judy Miller" and could I give a shout out. Heck yeah!
I can do even better for you Leigh Ann, I called C.I. to ask about the entry and C.I.'s not crazy about. It was written because 15 members had e-mailed on it this morning. Juan Forero gives C.I. a headache to begin with but C.I. was feeling under the weather anyway this morning and already running back and forth between the computer and the bathroom to throw up ("repeatedly"). That's why you only have 2 non New York Times links in the two morning posts.
I'm sure having to address Juan Forero didn't make C.I. feel any less sick this morning but the entry was a big hit in my house with my sister going around all day singing "Little Juan . . ." to the tune of Madonna's "Promise To Try." She's really into Madonna and excited about Madonna's new CD that comes out soon so let me put that in because she says all her friends ask why I never mention her much. Here's one reason - when I started this she asked me not to mention her by name. She was all, "I'm really popular and I don't want you using my name to become some little internet star." :D
Right cause the whole web is just waiting to hear about my high schooler sister and who she's dating this week! :D
She's going to be pissed when she reads this so let me say something nice before she decides to live in the bathroom - she really already does. She has very pretty hair. She spends hours on it to make it pretty! :D
Let me be serious and stop talking about her hair, if I listed all her hair products, she would be so mad!
I will say this though, why does she do the ponytail thing at least once a week? She's not in the bathroom in less on those mornings? Elaine wrote a thing about how women wear a pony tail when there's no more time for anything else or something like that so I asked her about and she goes that just cause my sister comes out with a pony tail doesn't mean she intended to. Like she was probably in there trying to get her hair to do something and finally gave up and just went with a pony tail.
(And remember to check out Elaine because we're doing the same 2 items.)
I never wear a pony tail. :D Seriously though, my hair is short and I run my fingers through it if that. I drop my drawers, hop in the shower, lather up, rinse off, dry off, brush my teeth and shave in less than 6 minutes. My sister's in the bathroom for an hour some mornings and "quick" to her is like being in there half an hour. What's she doing in there all that time? That is her real nose, right? She's not like having to glue on her nose and her ears is she?
If you ask my siblings who've moved out they'll tell you no 1 was like my sister when they were living at home and how good that was because we're a big family and we've only got the 2 bathrooms.
Sometimes when I'm banging on the door she'll scream for me to go use our parents' bathroom and I'll be, "All my junk's in there." I can't shave without my razor and my folks use Prell and if I use that shampoo my hair is just this huge, fluffy ball. I'll look like that Marx brother who couldn't talk! I'll be like, "Just pass me my shampoo" and she'll be, "I am putting on my make up!" When she finally gets done, it doesn't look like she's spent all that time putting on make up and she goes "That's what takes so long!" :D
She's really a good sister. I tease her but she's okay. I'll even put in, because I'm sure she's bragged to her friends in high school about this, that Tony told her she looked really good a few weekends ago. She probably went to school going, "College men like me!" :D
She is pretty. But Tony knows she's under age and my sister so she better not be hoping to date him or any of my friends.
I'm trying to think of something nice to say about her other than her great hair but come to think of it, that'll probably be enough for her. She'll read this and give me a dirty look, then sigh and say, "At least you mentioned my hair." :D
Speaking of great hair, Kat's going to be writing something about D.C. She tried before and lost the post and got really pissed but she said she was going to try again so look for that.
juan forero
the new york times
the common ills
like maria said paz
counterrecruiting
democracy now
kats korner
my sister lives in the bathroom
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Monday, October 10, 2005
Democracy Now, CounterRecruiting, Sonia Bock
Good evening, we'll start off with Democracy Now!
Thousands Take Part in Silent Peace March in LA
In Los Angeles, thousands gathered on Saturday for a silent peace march led by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Martin Luther King Jr. Among those in attendance was Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq last year.
I think that's really great that so many people turned out and I think it's great that someone who is so historically part of the peace movement was leading the march. And I love and respect Cindy Sheehan. Other than that I don't have anything to say. Elaine and I are doing the same two things and she said she'd try to find some stuff and maybe call C.I. for suggestions. We heard about this on Democracy Now! and that's what's so great about Democracy Now!
because you get this stuff that you won't hear about in like The New York Times or Boston Globe. I used to be okay with the Globe and then either The New York Times bought it or else maybe they already owned it but for like fifteen months now, I just feel like the paper's gone really downhill. Ma still likes Ellen Goodman but otherwise she's usually done with the paper in about five minutes these days. She says she'd rather read one of her magazines and she and Dad get a lot of magazines. So like she'll read The Nation from front to back but the Globe doesn't have much in it these days. Which is why we're all lucky to have Democracy Now!
Environmentalists Criticize Selection of IAEA For Nobel Prize
A number of environmental groups and activists are criticizing the Nobel Peace Prize committee for awarding this year's Prize to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohammed ElBaradei. The French group, Sortir du Nucleaire (Get Out of Nuclear) criticized the IAEA for "promoting" civilian nuclear plants. British commentator George Monbiot said the prize to the IAEA and its boss was a "reward for failure in an age of rampant proliferation." Greenpeace also criticized the selection.
This one I did know about. Or I knew about the award. I didn't know about their being any objections to it. I think it was David Corn who was talking about how it was good because it was in terms of Bully Boy's push to war and I can see that point but I didn't know that they were promoting nuclear plants.
I don't know what to think because both things have their points.
I guess the short term good is that it will be harder for Bully Boy to blow off the IAEA if he tries to invade Iran or North Korea. But long term, I don't see any good of this other than maybe historically when people look back on this years in the future and go, "What an idiot Bully Boy was because he didn't listen to the people who won the Nobel Peace Prize."
I got some e-mails saying they liked Maria's thing this weekend. I like it too and think all the links to Democracy Now! help. Maria's really cool and I'm always interested to see what she's picking out for the week. Sometimes Miguel does it or Francisco. If that was your first time seeing it, I should tell you that it goes up at The Common Ills every weekend. Usually on Fridays but no later than Saturdays and then it gets put up at The Third Estate Sunday Review too.
Links help with a site's popularity and stuff so I was real happy to repost it.
I'd hoped to put something up here Sunday but I was wiped out from working with The Third Estate Sunday Review. I'll do something from that now.
Here's my part of "The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review" and I went first because I was the closest to finished first. I was telling Dona I could use about five more minutes but she goes C.I. would probably be able to fill in what I couldn't. C.I. did too which is why C.I. is the anchor.
C.I.: Welcome to The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review 10-09-05. The news review is the brainchild of The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona and we do it in one hour time frame. This is rough transcript. We'll have reports on nature and the environment, entertainment news, a commentary on Bully Boy's latest chat buddy and news on what's happened to The Smurfs. I'm not kidding on that last item. This is a news review for the left. First up, Iraq. We begin with Mike of Mikey Likes It!
Mike: In Baghdad, a killing spree is taking place and Hala Jaber of The Sunday Times of London reports that speculation is the killings are linked to the Iraqi police force. The speculation is that "ethnic cleansing" is going on and that Sunnis in the Shi'ite neighborhoods, specifically Sunni men married to Shi'ite women are being killed. Claims of "insurgents" being targeted are weak when you consider that one of the men assassinated, Najah al-Rassam, worked for "interior ministry’s Maghaweer special police force." al-Rassam was pulled from his bed by the police, taken to the Badr Brigade for confirmation and then killed.
C.I.: To jump in here for a moment, the Badr Brigade is the paramilitary group of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. They've been accused, including by Allawi, of killing intelligent officers at the behest of Iran. While Saddam Hussein ruled Iran, the Badr Brigade was stationed in Iran, a composition of Iraqi exiles, but they returned to Iraq following the 2003 invasion. Along with the report you're addressing, they've also been accused of targeting British troops. How many Sunnis have been reported killed?
Mike: 22. And they were not turned over to their families. The 22 bodies were found in the desert, wrists still restrained by handcuffs, plastic and metal, or ropes. There are concerns that a civil war is emerging. The 22 men were all blindfolded and had been killed via gunshots. The bodies were dumped in the desert and that's something that should be concerned whenever reports come out of a newly discovered group of bodies. A total of 539 bodies have been found at present. The tensions come as Iraq prepares to vote on their constitutional referendum and measures are being imposed including curfews and border closings as the election approaches.
C.I.: Thank you, Mike. Now we go to Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix with further thoughts on the Iraqi Constitution.
That's just my part, there's a lot more there so check out the news review.
I'm going to also recommend you check out this from CounterPunch, Will Youmans' "Why Do We Hate Our Freedom:"
Before we can talk about whether campus recruiters should leave, we have to make sure there can be a debate. At George Mason University, specifically, the students have to fight for the freedom of speech just to protest the presence of the recruiters. Last Thursday, Tariq Khan, a student there who served for four years in the Air Force, simply stood inside the student center with a handful of pamphlets and a small sign taped on his chest. He shared on the sign his personal experiences with the recruiters: they lie. It said, "Recruiters lie. Don't be deceived."
Khan just stood there, mostly silent. He offered his literature to anyone who asked for it. Before he knew it, a ROTC student and his side-kick, a lumpy right-winger, were yelling at him. With foam coming out of their mouths, they called him a "pussy." They talked with enthusiasm about the thrill of getting to kill Iraqis. The ROTC student grew angry with Khan's calm demeanor. Several people tried to intervene by joining the debate. Finally, the ROTC student grabbed the sign and ripped it. Khan calmly began to write another notebook paper-sized sign.
Campus security arrived and told Khan he was violating school policy by being there. Instead of arresting the ROTC student for assault and the willful destruction of property, the officer sought to remove Khan for "tabling" outside of the area where tabling is permitted. Khan did not even have a table with him.
Khan refused to leave, believing the Constitution protected his right to just stand there. The officer began to handcuff him. Khan did not resist, but he did not comply. He saw it rightfully as an unjustified arrest. Soon, some freedom-loving students were chanting "kick his ass," and a few actually helped the officer subdue Khan. Though he was non-violent the entire time, they caused him several injuries. A witness saw the officer "putting him in a headlock, choking him, and then proceeding to throw him against the stage." He was later charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.
I wonder if the recruiters who reeled in Khan fresh out of high school fed him the fancy talk about defending our freedom--the same freedom that got him a gash on his forehead. They probably just told him about the great marketable skills he would learn, and all the money he would get for college. Instead, they had him cleaning bathrooms and doing menial labor--the type of work that requires no skills and no plans for comfortable living. And the money his four years of service brings him is not quite enough to pay for four years of college.
. . .
[ Will Youmans has a blog: www.kabobfest.com. He contributed a chapter to 'The Politics of Anti-Semitism.' ]
And I want to also note 1 more thing. It's from Democracy Now! and it's about Amy Goodman's grandmother who passed away last week, "Sonia Bock 1897-2005: Amy Goodman Remembers Her Grandmother, a Woman of Three Centuries:"
Amy Goodman's grandmother, Sonia Bock, died October 5, 2005 at the age of 108. She was born in 1897, in Ruvno, Poland. She lived through the pogroms of Tsarist Russia, the Bolshevik revolution and the Holocaust.
I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone who wrote in last week to express sympathy on the loss of my grandmother. Sonia Bock died October 5, 2005 at the age of 108. Yes, she was indomitable: a woman of three centuries.
She was born in 1897, in Ruvno, Poland. She lived through Tsarist Russia, the Bolshevik revolution, the Holocaust. Though many in her family did not. Two of her brothers and their whole families perished. I remember my mother telling me the wail. The wail that went up in the bungalow colony that my grandparents my mom and her sister went to every summer. The wail when my grandmother got the news that her family had been killed. She came to America by boat in 1929. In 1930, she gave birth to my mother in Harlem with my grandfather, an orthodox rabbi.
In her fifties she contracted cerebral meningitis and was sent to a sanatorium in the Catskills. Not expected to live, she cut everyone's hair and was out in two years. She was an unusual mix of old fashioned in her views of women. "You must always be independent," she would say. "When your husband comes home meet him with a hug and supper, then give him the newspaper to read, but you should have already read it. Then discuss it with him. Communication is everything." She was the eternal student. She spoke four languages: Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew, English and was always taking conversation classes in French. At about 4 foot 10 inches tall, she was a pint size fireball. A life force. My heart. I'd like to share a poem that I also read when my father died. I don't know who wrote it:
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft star that shines at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.
Sounds like she had an incredible life and saw a lot of amazing things.
amy goodman
Sonia Bock
democracy now
like maria said paz
the third estate sunday review
the common ills
peace
Thousands Take Part in Silent Peace March in LA
In Los Angeles, thousands gathered on Saturday for a silent peace march led by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Martin Luther King Jr. Among those in attendance was Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq last year.
I think that's really great that so many people turned out and I think it's great that someone who is so historically part of the peace movement was leading the march. And I love and respect Cindy Sheehan. Other than that I don't have anything to say. Elaine and I are doing the same two things and she said she'd try to find some stuff and maybe call C.I. for suggestions. We heard about this on Democracy Now! and that's what's so great about Democracy Now!
because you get this stuff that you won't hear about in like The New York Times or Boston Globe. I used to be okay with the Globe and then either The New York Times bought it or else maybe they already owned it but for like fifteen months now, I just feel like the paper's gone really downhill. Ma still likes Ellen Goodman but otherwise she's usually done with the paper in about five minutes these days. She says she'd rather read one of her magazines and she and Dad get a lot of magazines. So like she'll read The Nation from front to back but the Globe doesn't have much in it these days. Which is why we're all lucky to have Democracy Now!
Environmentalists Criticize Selection of IAEA For Nobel Prize
A number of environmental groups and activists are criticizing the Nobel Peace Prize committee for awarding this year's Prize to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohammed ElBaradei. The French group, Sortir du Nucleaire (Get Out of Nuclear) criticized the IAEA for "promoting" civilian nuclear plants. British commentator George Monbiot said the prize to the IAEA and its boss was a "reward for failure in an age of rampant proliferation." Greenpeace also criticized the selection.
This one I did know about. Or I knew about the award. I didn't know about their being any objections to it. I think it was David Corn who was talking about how it was good because it was in terms of Bully Boy's push to war and I can see that point but I didn't know that they were promoting nuclear plants.
I don't know what to think because both things have their points.
I guess the short term good is that it will be harder for Bully Boy to blow off the IAEA if he tries to invade Iran or North Korea. But long term, I don't see any good of this other than maybe historically when people look back on this years in the future and go, "What an idiot Bully Boy was because he didn't listen to the people who won the Nobel Peace Prize."
I got some e-mails saying they liked Maria's thing this weekend. I like it too and think all the links to Democracy Now! help. Maria's really cool and I'm always interested to see what she's picking out for the week. Sometimes Miguel does it or Francisco. If that was your first time seeing it, I should tell you that it goes up at The Common Ills every weekend. Usually on Fridays but no later than Saturdays and then it gets put up at The Third Estate Sunday Review too.
Links help with a site's popularity and stuff so I was real happy to repost it.
I'd hoped to put something up here Sunday but I was wiped out from working with The Third Estate Sunday Review. I'll do something from that now.
Here's my part of "The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review" and I went first because I was the closest to finished first. I was telling Dona I could use about five more minutes but she goes C.I. would probably be able to fill in what I couldn't. C.I. did too which is why C.I. is the anchor.
C.I.: Welcome to The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review 10-09-05. The news review is the brainchild of The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona and we do it in one hour time frame. This is rough transcript. We'll have reports on nature and the environment, entertainment news, a commentary on Bully Boy's latest chat buddy and news on what's happened to The Smurfs. I'm not kidding on that last item. This is a news review for the left. First up, Iraq. We begin with Mike of Mikey Likes It!
Mike: In Baghdad, a killing spree is taking place and Hala Jaber of The Sunday Times of London reports that speculation is the killings are linked to the Iraqi police force. The speculation is that "ethnic cleansing" is going on and that Sunnis in the Shi'ite neighborhoods, specifically Sunni men married to Shi'ite women are being killed. Claims of "insurgents" being targeted are weak when you consider that one of the men assassinated, Najah al-Rassam, worked for "interior ministry’s Maghaweer special police force." al-Rassam was pulled from his bed by the police, taken to the Badr Brigade for confirmation and then killed.
C.I.: To jump in here for a moment, the Badr Brigade is the paramilitary group of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. They've been accused, including by Allawi, of killing intelligent officers at the behest of Iran. While Saddam Hussein ruled Iran, the Badr Brigade was stationed in Iran, a composition of Iraqi exiles, but they returned to Iraq following the 2003 invasion. Along with the report you're addressing, they've also been accused of targeting British troops. How many Sunnis have been reported killed?
Mike: 22. And they were not turned over to their families. The 22 bodies were found in the desert, wrists still restrained by handcuffs, plastic and metal, or ropes. There are concerns that a civil war is emerging. The 22 men were all blindfolded and had been killed via gunshots. The bodies were dumped in the desert and that's something that should be concerned whenever reports come out of a newly discovered group of bodies. A total of 539 bodies have been found at present. The tensions come as Iraq prepares to vote on their constitutional referendum and measures are being imposed including curfews and border closings as the election approaches.
C.I.: Thank you, Mike. Now we go to Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix with further thoughts on the Iraqi Constitution.
That's just my part, there's a lot more there so check out the news review.
I'm going to also recommend you check out this from CounterPunch, Will Youmans' "Why Do We Hate Our Freedom:"
Before we can talk about whether campus recruiters should leave, we have to make sure there can be a debate. At George Mason University, specifically, the students have to fight for the freedom of speech just to protest the presence of the recruiters. Last Thursday, Tariq Khan, a student there who served for four years in the Air Force, simply stood inside the student center with a handful of pamphlets and a small sign taped on his chest. He shared on the sign his personal experiences with the recruiters: they lie. It said, "Recruiters lie. Don't be deceived."
Khan just stood there, mostly silent. He offered his literature to anyone who asked for it. Before he knew it, a ROTC student and his side-kick, a lumpy right-winger, were yelling at him. With foam coming out of their mouths, they called him a "pussy." They talked with enthusiasm about the thrill of getting to kill Iraqis. The ROTC student grew angry with Khan's calm demeanor. Several people tried to intervene by joining the debate. Finally, the ROTC student grabbed the sign and ripped it. Khan calmly began to write another notebook paper-sized sign.
Campus security arrived and told Khan he was violating school policy by being there. Instead of arresting the ROTC student for assault and the willful destruction of property, the officer sought to remove Khan for "tabling" outside of the area where tabling is permitted. Khan did not even have a table with him.
Khan refused to leave, believing the Constitution protected his right to just stand there. The officer began to handcuff him. Khan did not resist, but he did not comply. He saw it rightfully as an unjustified arrest. Soon, some freedom-loving students were chanting "kick his ass," and a few actually helped the officer subdue Khan. Though he was non-violent the entire time, they caused him several injuries. A witness saw the officer "putting him in a headlock, choking him, and then proceeding to throw him against the stage." He was later charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.
I wonder if the recruiters who reeled in Khan fresh out of high school fed him the fancy talk about defending our freedom--the same freedom that got him a gash on his forehead. They probably just told him about the great marketable skills he would learn, and all the money he would get for college. Instead, they had him cleaning bathrooms and doing menial labor--the type of work that requires no skills and no plans for comfortable living. And the money his four years of service brings him is not quite enough to pay for four years of college.
. . .
[ Will Youmans has a blog: www.kabobfest.com. He contributed a chapter to 'The Politics of Anti-Semitism.' ]
And I want to also note 1 more thing. It's from Democracy Now! and it's about Amy Goodman's grandmother who passed away last week, "Sonia Bock 1897-2005: Amy Goodman Remembers Her Grandmother, a Woman of Three Centuries:"
Amy Goodman's grandmother, Sonia Bock, died October 5, 2005 at the age of 108. She was born in 1897, in Ruvno, Poland. She lived through the pogroms of Tsarist Russia, the Bolshevik revolution and the Holocaust.
I'd like to take this moment to thank everyone who wrote in last week to express sympathy on the loss of my grandmother. Sonia Bock died October 5, 2005 at the age of 108. Yes, she was indomitable: a woman of three centuries.
She was born in 1897, in Ruvno, Poland. She lived through Tsarist Russia, the Bolshevik revolution, the Holocaust. Though many in her family did not. Two of her brothers and their whole families perished. I remember my mother telling me the wail. The wail that went up in the bungalow colony that my grandparents my mom and her sister went to every summer. The wail when my grandmother got the news that her family had been killed. She came to America by boat in 1929. In 1930, she gave birth to my mother in Harlem with my grandfather, an orthodox rabbi.
In her fifties she contracted cerebral meningitis and was sent to a sanatorium in the Catskills. Not expected to live, she cut everyone's hair and was out in two years. She was an unusual mix of old fashioned in her views of women. "You must always be independent," she would say. "When your husband comes home meet him with a hug and supper, then give him the newspaper to read, but you should have already read it. Then discuss it with him. Communication is everything." She was the eternal student. She spoke four languages: Russian, Yiddish, Hebrew, English and was always taking conversation classes in French. At about 4 foot 10 inches tall, she was a pint size fireball. A life force. My heart. I'd like to share a poem that I also read when my father died. I don't know who wrote it:
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft star that shines at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.
Sounds like she had an incredible life and saw a lot of amazing things.
amy goodman
Sonia Bock
democracy now
like maria said paz
the third estate sunday review
the common ills
peace
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Democracy Now via Maria and The Common Ills -- Spanish and English
Good morning. We're already doing some discussing at The Third Estate Sunday Review. Ava, C.I., Dona, Jim and Jess started last night and have been up all night. I'd feel like a complete slacker but Ty had a date and he only just now learned of it too.
I'm doing a repost here from The Common Ills. This is in Spanish and English. If you don't read Spanish, go on down to the English. And get the word out on Democracy Now!
"Rove afronta Gran Jurado por cuarta vez (Democracy Now!)"
Maria: Hola. De parte de "Democracy Now!" quince cosas que vale hacer notar este fin de semana. Paz.
Rove afronta Gran Jurado por cuarta vez
Washington está hoy colmado de especulaciones sobre posibles acusaciones contra numerosos funcionarios administrativos de alto rango, en relación con el caso de la agente secreta de la CIA Valerie Plame, El jueves, el fiscal a cargo de la investigación citó al asesor de Bush, Karl Rove, a comparecer ante un Gran Jurado por cuarta vez, lo que es inusual. Rove se presenta ante el Gran Jurado sin ninguna oferta de inmunidad, y el fiscal, Patrick Fitzgerald, informó a Rove por escrito que podría afrontar acusaciones más adelante. Mientras tanto, el LA Times informa: "En Washington, se oía hablar en los pasillos del FBI, del Departamento de Justicia y de la Casa Blanca sobre inminentes acusaciones, contra Rove solamente o junto con otros como parte de una conspiración". El New York Times informa que el fiscal Fitzgerald probablemente citará a otros funcionarios de la Casa Blanca para que vuelvan a presentarse ante el Gran Jurado y testifiquen sobre su participación en el caso. El Gran Jurado tiene plazo para decidir hasta el 28 de octubre. También se informa que Fitzgerald está examinando el testimonio que el jefe de personal de Dick Cheney, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, dio ante el Gran Jurado.
Informe: 700 iraquíes murieron en septiembre
Otra noticia de Irak. La agencia de noticias France Press informa que obtuvo estadísticas gubernamentales de Irak que indican que 700 iraquíes, en su mayoría civiles, fueron asesinados en ataques durante septiembre. En agosto, los iraquíes asesinados fueron 526.
Estados Unidos confirma que francotirador mató a periodista de Knight Ridder
Un informe militar de Estados Unidos confirmó que el periodista Yasser Salihee, de la empresa de comunicaciones Knight Ridder, fue asesinado en junio por un francotirador estadounidense, pero afirmó que se justificaba dispararle. A Salihee le dispararon mientras manejaba en el oeste de Bagdad. Fue abandonado muerto y cubierto de sangre en su auto. Según el Comité para Proteger a los Periodistas, soldados estadounidenses mataron a por lo menos 13 periodistas en Irak desde que comenzó la guerra.
El ejército afronta el peor año de reclutamiento desde 1979
Este año ha sido el peor para el reclutamiento del ejército desde 1979. La meta era haber logrado 80.000 nuevos reclutas el 30 de septiembre, pero faltaron 7.000 para alcanzar esta cifra. La Guardia Nacional del Ejército y la Reserva del Ejército tampoco alcanzaron sus metas anuales. Mientras tanto, las Fuerzas Armadas buscan nuevas formas de llegar a los jóvenes de la nación. La Guardia Nacional del Ejército ofrece regalar tres descargas gratis del sitio de música iTunes a quienes se inscriban mediante Internet para ser contactados por los reclutadores.
460 inmigrantes indocumentados murieron al cruzar la frontera
Al menos 460 inmigrantes indocumentados murieron en los últimos 12 meses al intentar cruzar la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos, es decir que la cifra aumentó veinte por ciento con respecto al año anterior. La Patrulla de la Frontera dijo que la mayor parte de las muertes ocurrieron en la frontera entre Arizona y México.
Bush no respondió preguntas sobre la CIA
Durante la misma conferencia de prensa, se preguntó al Presidente Bush sobre la investigación en curso sobre la filtración de que Valerie Plame era agente de la CIA. El domingo, George Stephanopoulos, presentador de ABC News, dijo que sus fuentes le informaron que el Presidente Bush y el Vicepresidente Dick Cheney estaban involucrados en conversaciones acerca de Plame. Mientras tanto, el Washington Post informó que el fiscal Patrick Fitzgerald podría estar planificando la presentación de cargos de conspiración contra funcionarios de la Casa Blanca, posiblemente Karl Rove y Lewis Libby. El martes, Bush se negó a responder si había discutido el caso con Rove o Libby.
Analista del Pentágono se declara culpable en caso de espía israelí
Un alto analista del Pentágono se declaró culpable de proporcionar información confidencial a miembros del Comité de Relaciones Públicas Estadounidense-Israelí (AIPAC, por sus siglas en inglés), grupo lobbista pro israelí. El funcionario, Larry Franklin, también admitió por primera vez que filtró información secreta de Irán directamente a un funcionario del gobierno israelí en Washington. Franklin dijo que se había encontrado personalmente ocho veces con un funcionario de la Embajada israelí en Washington. El Washington Post informa que la declaración de Franklin pone en duda las afirmaciones de funcionarios israelíes que aseguran, desde hace tiempo, que ya no están vinculados con actividades de inteligencia en Estados Unidos. En 1987, Jonathan Pollard, funcionario de la Inteligencia de la Marina, fue sentenciado a cadena perpetua luego de que admitió ser espía de Israel. Franklin aceptó declararse culpable de dos cargos de conspiración y otro de poseer documentación confidencial, y acordó testificar contra los dos ex funcionarios de AIPAC que son juzgados actualmente. Puede ser condenado a pasar hasta 25 años en prisión.
Ex funcionario arrestado por caso de espía filipino
Mientras tanto, otra posible historia de espionaje se desarrolla en Washington. El Departamento de Justicia investiga si un infante de marina estadounidense que trabaja en la oficina de Dick Cheney entregó documentos confidenciales sobre Filipinas a figuras de la oposición en Manila. El empleado fue descubierto el año pasado y arrestado hace un mes.
Ex funcionario de Bush acusado en relación con el caso Abramoff
En Washington, un Gran Jurado federal acusó a David Safavian, el ex funcionario con más rango para compras federales del gobierno de Bush, de realizar falsas declaraciones y obstruir las investigaciones sobre el lobbista republicano Jack Abramoff. Safavian afronta cinco acusaciones por delitos graves.
Tom Delay acusado nuevamente por lavado de dinero
Por segunda vez está semana, un Gran Jurado de Texas decidió que corresponde acusar a Tom Delay, el influyente legislador del Partido Republicano que hasta la semana pasada era el líder de la mayoría de la Cámara de Representantes. El lunes, Delay fue acusado de lavado de dinero. Si es declarado culpable, podría ser sentenciado a cadena perpetua. Delay está acusado de canalizar hacia políticos de Texas 190.000 dólares donados por empresas. La semana pasada, otro Gran Jurado resolvió acusarlo de conspiración. Mientras tanto, el gobierno de Bush confirmó que el Departamento de Justicia pidió a la policía británica que interrogara a la ex Primera Ministra británica, Margaret Thatcher, sobre una reunión que mantuvo con Delay en 2000, organizada por Jack Abramoff, lobbista de Washington. Abramoff, a quien Delay llamó uno de sus "amigos más cercanos y queridos", es blanco de otra amplia investigación del Departamento de Justicia por corrupción. Según el New York Times, el pedido de interrogar a Thatcher es la primera evidencia del Departamento de Justicia revelada públicamente de que Delay estaba bajo escrutinio en la investigación sobre Abramoff.
El Departamento de Justicia investigará asesinato de Ojeda Ríos
El Departamento de Justicia confirmó el lunes que investigará el asesinato del líder independentista puertorriqueño Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, cometido por el FBI. Ese asesinato suscitó indignación generalizada en Puerto Rico. El 23 de septiembre, más de 100 agentes del FBI rodearon la casa de Ojeda Ríos, que tenía 72 años de edad. Luego de dispararle, el FBI lo dejó herido en su casa durante casi un día, mientras moría desangrado. El FBI afirmó que Ojeda Ríos disparó primero, pero su esposa dijo que eso no es verdad. Ojeda Ríos había estado en la lista de las personas más buscadas por el FBI, por su participación en el robo de siete millones de dólares a un banco, pero era una figura legendaria en Puerto Rico, debido a que resistió durante toda su vida contra el colonialismo de Estados Unidos. Decenas de miles de puertorriqueños asistieron a su funeral la semana pasada.
Informante: El FBI conocíó durante un año el paradero de Ojeda Ríos
Y por último, esta noticia acerca del asesinato de Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, el líder independentista puertorriqueño que fue asesinado por el FBI hace dos semanas. En una columna escrita por Juan González, publicada hoy por Daily News, se señala un ex funcionario de inteligencia naval dijo a ese periodista de DN! que sabe con certeza que la muerte de Ojeda pudo evitarse. El funcionario dijo que lo sabe porque él mismo informó hace un año a agentes del FBI dónde podían encontrar a Ojeda , que era un fugitivo buscado. El informante, que pidió no ser identificado, dio su versión de los hechos a la oficina del inspector general del Departamento de Justicia, que inició una investigación independiente del asesinato la semana pasada. Pero el FBI no tenía intenciones de capturar a Ojeda hasta el 23 de septiembre, el aniversario del Grito de Lares. Ese feriado conmemora la revuelta independentista fallida de Puerto Rico en 1868 contra el colonialismo español. Es una fecha que el movimiento independentista conmemora todos los años con una marcha hacia la localidad de Lares. El informante del FBI dijo: "Defiendo que Puerto Rico sea parte de Estados Unidos, pero veo que el FBI pretendía humillar a todos los puertorriqueños al ir tras él en El Grito de Lares. Siento que fui utilizado. Quería que lo arrestaran, no que lo asesinaran".
Se publicaron nuevas fotos de ahorcamiento de homosexuales iraníes
Esta noticia proviene de Irán. La Asociación de Noticias de Estudiantes Iraníes ha publicado recientemente una nueva foto que muestra el ahorcamiento de dos adolescentes homosexuales, de 18 y 17 años de edad. El periodista independiente Doug Ireland informa que los jóvenes fueron acusados de violación, pero de hecho fueron víctimas de la creciente represión a la población homosexual de ese país. Antes de su ejecución, los adolescentes estuvieron durante más de un año en prisión, donde fueron torturados. Ireland informa que la represión contra los homosexuales es parte de la campaña contra la "corrupción moral" que el nuevo presidente Ahmadinejad prometió en su campaña electoral. El mes pasado, Ireland entrevistó a un iraní homosexual de 22 años de edad que buscaba asilo en Turquía. El joven dijo que mientras permaneció bajo custodia policial iraní fue golpeado, torturado, amenazado de muerte y azotado 100 veces.
Deslizamiento de tierras mata a cientos de personas en América Central
Una operación masiva de rescate se realiza en América Central y el sur de México, donde un deslizamiento de tierras provocado por una tormenta tropical causó la muerte de por lo menos 250 personas. Se prevé que esa cifra aumentará, a medida que los servicios de emergencias continúan encontrando cadáveres sepultados en el barro, cuando llegan a las aldeas más aisladas. La tormenta tropical Stan ya concluyó, pero todavía hay fuertes lluvias y el nivel de las aguas de los ríos es peligrosamente alto. Los países más afectados, El Salvador y Guatemala, luchan para evacuar a las personas en peligro. Los refugios en ambos países albergan a miles de personas, mientras que los caminos rurales están cortados. En México, se informa que docenas de personas están desaparecidas. Las muertes registradas hasta el momento son 79 en Guatemala y 62 en El Salvador. Al menos 19 muertes fueron informadas en México, Nicaragua, Honduras y Costa Rica.
Estados Unidos amenaza a Nicaragua
Estados Unidos amenaza a grupos y figuras políticas de Nicaragua con suspender millones de dólares de ayuda de Washington si realizan cualquier maniobra para derrocar al presidente Enrique Bolaños, que cuenta con apoyo estadounidense. En un acto que hizo recordar la intervención de Estados Unidos en Nicaragua en los años 80, el subsecretario de estado estadounidense, Robert Zoellick, se encuentra esta semana en la capital nicaragüense, Managua, para impedir la posibilidad de que el líder sandinista, Daniel Ortega, regrese al poder. La Asamblea Nacional nicaragüense ha debatido una propuesta para realizar un juicio político a Bolaños por violaciones a las normas de financiamiento de campañas. Bolaños fue elegido en 2001. Zoellick dijo que Estados Unidos dejaría en suspenso el perdón de 4 mil millones de doláres de deuda y un préstamo de 175 millones de dólares a Nicaragua si Bolaños es llevado a jucio político. Luego de la revolución sandinista en 1979, Estados Unidos organizó, armó y financió escuadrones de la muerte en Nicaragua conocidos como Contras.
Maria: Hello. Here are fifteen stories from Democracy Now! Peace.
Rove Faces Grand Jury for Fourth Time
Washington is abuzz with speculation today about possible indictments coming down against multiple senior administration officials over the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. On Thursday, the special prosecutor heading the investigation summoned senior Bush advisor Karl Rove to appear before the grand Jury--for a rare 4th appearance. Rove appears before the Grand Jury with no offer of immunity with the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, informing Rove in writing that he could face indictment later. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports: "In Washington, talk of imminent indictments -- of Rove alone or with others as part of a conspiracy -- was overheard in the corridors of the FBI, Justice Department and White House." The New York Times is reporting that prosecutor Fitzgerald will likely call on several other White House officials to return to the grand jury to testify about their actions in the case. The Grand Jury expires October 28. In addition to Rove, Fitzgerald is also reportedly re-examining grand jury testimony by Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Report: 700 Iraqis Died During September
In other news on Iraq, the news outlet Agence France Press reports it has obtained Iraqi government statistics that shows 700 Iraqis - mostly civilians -- were killed in attacks in September. In August, 526 Iraqis were killed.
U.S. Confirms Sniper Killed Knight Ridder Journalist
A U.S. military report has confirmed that Knight Ridder journalist Yasser Salihee was killed by an American sniper in June but claimed the shooting was justified. Salihee was shot as he was driving in western Baghdad. He was then left lying dead in his car, splattered with blood. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists U.S. troops have killed at least 13 journalists in Iraq since the war began.
Army Suffers Worst Recruiting Year Since 1979
The Army has suffered its worst year for recruiting since 1979. The Army had set an annual goal of 80,000 new recruits by September 30 but fell 7,000 recruits short. The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve also fell short of their annual goal. Meanwhile the Armed Forces is trying new ways to reach the nation's young. The Army National Guard is now offering to give away three free music downloads from Itunes to individuals who sign up online to be contacted by recruiters.
460 Undocumented Immigrants Die Crossing Border
At least 460 undocumented immigrants have died over the past 12 months trying to cross the Mexican-U.S. border - a 20 percent increase over the previous year. Border Patrol said most of the deaths occurred along the Arizona-Mexico border.
Bush Fails to Answer Questions About CIA Leak
At the same press conference President Bush was questioned about the ongoing investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. On Sunday, ABC News host George Stephanopoulos said his sources told him that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were involved in the discussions about Plame. Meanwhile the Washington Post has reported special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may be planning to bring criminal conspiracy charges against White House officials, possibly Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. On Tuesday Bush refused to answer whether he had discussed the case with Rove or Libby.
Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty In Israeli Spy Case
A top Pentagon analyst has pleaded guilty to handing over highly classified intelligence to members of the pro-Israeli lobbying group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The official, Larry Franklin, also admitted for the first time that he handed over top secret information on Iran directly to an Israeli government official in Washington. Franklin said he personally met with an official from the Israeli Embassy in Washington eight times. The Washington Post reports that Franklin's guilty plea casts doubt on long-standing claims by Israeli officials that they no longer engage in any intelligence activities inside the United States. In 1987, U.S. Navy intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison after he admitted to spying for Israel. As part of a plea agreement Franklin pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and a third charge of possessing classified documents. He faces up to 25 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, he has agreed to testify against the two former AIPAC officials, who are facing trial.
Ex-Official Arrested in Philippines Spy Case
Meanwhile another possible espionage story is developing in Washington. The Justice Department is investigating whether a U.S. Marine working in Dick Cheney's office gave classified documents about the Philippines to opposition figures in Manila. The employee was caught last year and arrested a month ago.
Ex-Bush Official Indicted in Abramoff Case
In Washington, a federal grand jury has indicted the Bush administration's former chief procurement official for making false statements and obstructing investigations into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The official - David Safavian - is facing five felony counts.
Tom Delay Indicted Again For Money Laundering
For the second time in a week, a Texas Grand Jury has indicted Tom Delay, the influential Republican lawmaker who up until last week served as House Majority Leader. On Monday, Delay was indicted for money laundering. If convicted Delay could be sentenced to life in prison. Delay is accused of illegally funneling $190,000 in corporate campaign donations to local candidates. Last week a different grand jury indicted him for conspiracy. Meanwhile the Bush administration has confirmed that the Justice Department has asked British police to question former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over a 2000 meeting she had with Delay that was organized by Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff - who Delay has called one of his "closest and dearest friends" - is the target of a separate wide-ranging Justice Department investigation for corruption. According to the New York Times, the interview request of Thatcher is the first publicly disclosed evidence from the Justice Department that Delay was under scrutiny in the Abramoff investigation.
Justice Department to Investigation Ojeda Rios Killing
The Justice Department confirmed on Monday that it will investigate the FBI killing of Puerto Rican independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios. The killing has sparked widespread outrage in Puerto Rico. On Sept. 23, over 100 FBI agents surrounded the house of the 72-year-old Ojeda Rios. After he was shot, the FBI let him lie wounded in his house for nearly a day during which time he bled to death. The FBI claimed Ojeda Rios fired first, but his wife said this is not true. Ojeda Rios had been on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in a $7 million bank heist but he was a legendary figure in Puerto Rico for his lifelong resistance to U.S. colonialism. Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans attended his funeral services last week.
Informant: FBI Knew Ojeda Rios' Location For A Year
And finally this update on the FBI killing of Filiberto Ojeda Rios - the Puerto Rican nationalist leader who was shot dead two weeks ago. In a column I wrote in today's Daily News, a former naval intelligence officer told me that he knows for a fact that Ojeda didn't have to die. The officer says he knows this because he told FBI agents a year ago where they could find Ojeda, who was a wanted fugitve. The informant, who asked not to be identified, has given his account to the Justice Department's Inspector General's Office, which opened an independent review of the shooting last week. But the FBI did not seek to go after Ojeda until Sept 23 - the anniversary of El Grito de Lares. The holiday marks Puerto Rico's failed 1868 independence revolt against Spanish colonialism. It is a date commemorated each year by the independence movement with a march to the town of Lares. The FBI informant told me, "I'm a statehooder, but I see the FBI was trying to humiliate all Puerto Ricans by going after him on El Grito de Lares. I feel I was used. I wanted him arrested, not killed."
New Photos Released of Hanging Of Gay Iranian Teens
This news from Iran - the Iran Student News Association has just released a new photo showing the hanging of two gay teenagers, ages 18 and 17. Independent journalist Doug Ireland reports the boys were charged with rape but that they were actually the victims of an increasing crackdown on the country's gay population. Prior to their execution the boys were held in prison for over a year and tortured. Ireland reports this anti-gay crackdown is part of the crusade against "moral corruption" promised by Iran's newly-elected President Ahmadinejad in his election campaign. Last month Ireland interviewed a 22-year-old gay Iranian man who is seeking asylum in Turkey. While in Iranian police custody, he was beaten and tortured, threatened with death, and lashed 100 times.
Mudslides Kill Hundreds in Central America
A massive rescue operation is under way in Central America and southern Mexico, where mudslides caused by a tropical storm have killed at least 250 people. That number is expected to rise as emergency services are continuing to find buried bodies as they reach more isolated villages. Tropical Storm Stan has passed, but heavy rain is still falling and river levels are dangerously high. The worst affected countries, El Salvador and Guatemala, are struggling to evacuate everyone at risk. Shelters in both countries are holding thousands of people, while road links have been cut off. In Mexico, reports are now coming in that dozens of people are missing. The death toll so far has been put at 79 in Guatemala and 62 in El Salvador. At least 19 deaths have been reported across Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica.
US Threatens Nicaragua
The United States is threatening political groups and politicians that Nicaragua will lose millions of dollars in aid from Washington if any moves are made to bring down the US-backed president, Enrique Bolaños. In a move reminiscent of US intervention in Nicaragua in the 1980s, the US deputy secretary of state, Robert Zoellick, is in the capital Managua this week to head off the possibility of the Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, returning to power. The Nicaraguan national assembly has been debating a proposal to impeach Bolaños over campaign finance violations. He was elected in 2001. Zoellick said that $4billion in debt forgiveness and a $175million grant to Nicaragua would be withheld if Bolanos is impeached. After the 1979 Sandinista revolution, the US organized, armed and funded death squads in Nicaragua known as the Contras.
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I'm doing a repost here from The Common Ills. This is in Spanish and English. If you don't read Spanish, go on down to the English. And get the word out on Democracy Now!
"Rove afronta Gran Jurado por cuarta vez (Democracy Now!)"
Maria: Hola. De parte de "Democracy Now!" quince cosas que vale hacer notar este fin de semana. Paz.
Rove afronta Gran Jurado por cuarta vez
Washington está hoy colmado de especulaciones sobre posibles acusaciones contra numerosos funcionarios administrativos de alto rango, en relación con el caso de la agente secreta de la CIA Valerie Plame, El jueves, el fiscal a cargo de la investigación citó al asesor de Bush, Karl Rove, a comparecer ante un Gran Jurado por cuarta vez, lo que es inusual. Rove se presenta ante el Gran Jurado sin ninguna oferta de inmunidad, y el fiscal, Patrick Fitzgerald, informó a Rove por escrito que podría afrontar acusaciones más adelante. Mientras tanto, el LA Times informa: "En Washington, se oía hablar en los pasillos del FBI, del Departamento de Justicia y de la Casa Blanca sobre inminentes acusaciones, contra Rove solamente o junto con otros como parte de una conspiración". El New York Times informa que el fiscal Fitzgerald probablemente citará a otros funcionarios de la Casa Blanca para que vuelvan a presentarse ante el Gran Jurado y testifiquen sobre su participación en el caso. El Gran Jurado tiene plazo para decidir hasta el 28 de octubre. También se informa que Fitzgerald está examinando el testimonio que el jefe de personal de Dick Cheney, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, dio ante el Gran Jurado.
Informe: 700 iraquíes murieron en septiembre
Otra noticia de Irak. La agencia de noticias France Press informa que obtuvo estadísticas gubernamentales de Irak que indican que 700 iraquíes, en su mayoría civiles, fueron asesinados en ataques durante septiembre. En agosto, los iraquíes asesinados fueron 526.
Estados Unidos confirma que francotirador mató a periodista de Knight Ridder
Un informe militar de Estados Unidos confirmó que el periodista Yasser Salihee, de la empresa de comunicaciones Knight Ridder, fue asesinado en junio por un francotirador estadounidense, pero afirmó que se justificaba dispararle. A Salihee le dispararon mientras manejaba en el oeste de Bagdad. Fue abandonado muerto y cubierto de sangre en su auto. Según el Comité para Proteger a los Periodistas, soldados estadounidenses mataron a por lo menos 13 periodistas en Irak desde que comenzó la guerra.
El ejército afronta el peor año de reclutamiento desde 1979
Este año ha sido el peor para el reclutamiento del ejército desde 1979. La meta era haber logrado 80.000 nuevos reclutas el 30 de septiembre, pero faltaron 7.000 para alcanzar esta cifra. La Guardia Nacional del Ejército y la Reserva del Ejército tampoco alcanzaron sus metas anuales. Mientras tanto, las Fuerzas Armadas buscan nuevas formas de llegar a los jóvenes de la nación. La Guardia Nacional del Ejército ofrece regalar tres descargas gratis del sitio de música iTunes a quienes se inscriban mediante Internet para ser contactados por los reclutadores.
460 inmigrantes indocumentados murieron al cruzar la frontera
Al menos 460 inmigrantes indocumentados murieron en los últimos 12 meses al intentar cruzar la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos, es decir que la cifra aumentó veinte por ciento con respecto al año anterior. La Patrulla de la Frontera dijo que la mayor parte de las muertes ocurrieron en la frontera entre Arizona y México.
Bush no respondió preguntas sobre la CIA
Durante la misma conferencia de prensa, se preguntó al Presidente Bush sobre la investigación en curso sobre la filtración de que Valerie Plame era agente de la CIA. El domingo, George Stephanopoulos, presentador de ABC News, dijo que sus fuentes le informaron que el Presidente Bush y el Vicepresidente Dick Cheney estaban involucrados en conversaciones acerca de Plame. Mientras tanto, el Washington Post informó que el fiscal Patrick Fitzgerald podría estar planificando la presentación de cargos de conspiración contra funcionarios de la Casa Blanca, posiblemente Karl Rove y Lewis Libby. El martes, Bush se negó a responder si había discutido el caso con Rove o Libby.
Analista del Pentágono se declara culpable en caso de espía israelí
Un alto analista del Pentágono se declaró culpable de proporcionar información confidencial a miembros del Comité de Relaciones Públicas Estadounidense-Israelí (AIPAC, por sus siglas en inglés), grupo lobbista pro israelí. El funcionario, Larry Franklin, también admitió por primera vez que filtró información secreta de Irán directamente a un funcionario del gobierno israelí en Washington. Franklin dijo que se había encontrado personalmente ocho veces con un funcionario de la Embajada israelí en Washington. El Washington Post informa que la declaración de Franklin pone en duda las afirmaciones de funcionarios israelíes que aseguran, desde hace tiempo, que ya no están vinculados con actividades de inteligencia en Estados Unidos. En 1987, Jonathan Pollard, funcionario de la Inteligencia de la Marina, fue sentenciado a cadena perpetua luego de que admitió ser espía de Israel. Franklin aceptó declararse culpable de dos cargos de conspiración y otro de poseer documentación confidencial, y acordó testificar contra los dos ex funcionarios de AIPAC que son juzgados actualmente. Puede ser condenado a pasar hasta 25 años en prisión.
Ex funcionario arrestado por caso de espía filipino
Mientras tanto, otra posible historia de espionaje se desarrolla en Washington. El Departamento de Justicia investiga si un infante de marina estadounidense que trabaja en la oficina de Dick Cheney entregó documentos confidenciales sobre Filipinas a figuras de la oposición en Manila. El empleado fue descubierto el año pasado y arrestado hace un mes.
Ex funcionario de Bush acusado en relación con el caso Abramoff
En Washington, un Gran Jurado federal acusó a David Safavian, el ex funcionario con más rango para compras federales del gobierno de Bush, de realizar falsas declaraciones y obstruir las investigaciones sobre el lobbista republicano Jack Abramoff. Safavian afronta cinco acusaciones por delitos graves.
Tom Delay acusado nuevamente por lavado de dinero
Por segunda vez está semana, un Gran Jurado de Texas decidió que corresponde acusar a Tom Delay, el influyente legislador del Partido Republicano que hasta la semana pasada era el líder de la mayoría de la Cámara de Representantes. El lunes, Delay fue acusado de lavado de dinero. Si es declarado culpable, podría ser sentenciado a cadena perpetua. Delay está acusado de canalizar hacia políticos de Texas 190.000 dólares donados por empresas. La semana pasada, otro Gran Jurado resolvió acusarlo de conspiración. Mientras tanto, el gobierno de Bush confirmó que el Departamento de Justicia pidió a la policía británica que interrogara a la ex Primera Ministra británica, Margaret Thatcher, sobre una reunión que mantuvo con Delay en 2000, organizada por Jack Abramoff, lobbista de Washington. Abramoff, a quien Delay llamó uno de sus "amigos más cercanos y queridos", es blanco de otra amplia investigación del Departamento de Justicia por corrupción. Según el New York Times, el pedido de interrogar a Thatcher es la primera evidencia del Departamento de Justicia revelada públicamente de que Delay estaba bajo escrutinio en la investigación sobre Abramoff.
El Departamento de Justicia investigará asesinato de Ojeda Ríos
El Departamento de Justicia confirmó el lunes que investigará el asesinato del líder independentista puertorriqueño Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, cometido por el FBI. Ese asesinato suscitó indignación generalizada en Puerto Rico. El 23 de septiembre, más de 100 agentes del FBI rodearon la casa de Ojeda Ríos, que tenía 72 años de edad. Luego de dispararle, el FBI lo dejó herido en su casa durante casi un día, mientras moría desangrado. El FBI afirmó que Ojeda Ríos disparó primero, pero su esposa dijo que eso no es verdad. Ojeda Ríos había estado en la lista de las personas más buscadas por el FBI, por su participación en el robo de siete millones de dólares a un banco, pero era una figura legendaria en Puerto Rico, debido a que resistió durante toda su vida contra el colonialismo de Estados Unidos. Decenas de miles de puertorriqueños asistieron a su funeral la semana pasada.
Informante: El FBI conocíó durante un año el paradero de Ojeda Ríos
Y por último, esta noticia acerca del asesinato de Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, el líder independentista puertorriqueño que fue asesinado por el FBI hace dos semanas. En una columna escrita por Juan González, publicada hoy por Daily News, se señala un ex funcionario de inteligencia naval dijo a ese periodista de DN! que sabe con certeza que la muerte de Ojeda pudo evitarse. El funcionario dijo que lo sabe porque él mismo informó hace un año a agentes del FBI dónde podían encontrar a Ojeda , que era un fugitivo buscado. El informante, que pidió no ser identificado, dio su versión de los hechos a la oficina del inspector general del Departamento de Justicia, que inició una investigación independiente del asesinato la semana pasada. Pero el FBI no tenía intenciones de capturar a Ojeda hasta el 23 de septiembre, el aniversario del Grito de Lares. Ese feriado conmemora la revuelta independentista fallida de Puerto Rico en 1868 contra el colonialismo español. Es una fecha que el movimiento independentista conmemora todos los años con una marcha hacia la localidad de Lares. El informante del FBI dijo: "Defiendo que Puerto Rico sea parte de Estados Unidos, pero veo que el FBI pretendía humillar a todos los puertorriqueños al ir tras él en El Grito de Lares. Siento que fui utilizado. Quería que lo arrestaran, no que lo asesinaran".
Se publicaron nuevas fotos de ahorcamiento de homosexuales iraníes
Esta noticia proviene de Irán. La Asociación de Noticias de Estudiantes Iraníes ha publicado recientemente una nueva foto que muestra el ahorcamiento de dos adolescentes homosexuales, de 18 y 17 años de edad. El periodista independiente Doug Ireland informa que los jóvenes fueron acusados de violación, pero de hecho fueron víctimas de la creciente represión a la población homosexual de ese país. Antes de su ejecución, los adolescentes estuvieron durante más de un año en prisión, donde fueron torturados. Ireland informa que la represión contra los homosexuales es parte de la campaña contra la "corrupción moral" que el nuevo presidente Ahmadinejad prometió en su campaña electoral. El mes pasado, Ireland entrevistó a un iraní homosexual de 22 años de edad que buscaba asilo en Turquía. El joven dijo que mientras permaneció bajo custodia policial iraní fue golpeado, torturado, amenazado de muerte y azotado 100 veces.
Deslizamiento de tierras mata a cientos de personas en América Central
Una operación masiva de rescate se realiza en América Central y el sur de México, donde un deslizamiento de tierras provocado por una tormenta tropical causó la muerte de por lo menos 250 personas. Se prevé que esa cifra aumentará, a medida que los servicios de emergencias continúan encontrando cadáveres sepultados en el barro, cuando llegan a las aldeas más aisladas. La tormenta tropical Stan ya concluyó, pero todavía hay fuertes lluvias y el nivel de las aguas de los ríos es peligrosamente alto. Los países más afectados, El Salvador y Guatemala, luchan para evacuar a las personas en peligro. Los refugios en ambos países albergan a miles de personas, mientras que los caminos rurales están cortados. En México, se informa que docenas de personas están desaparecidas. Las muertes registradas hasta el momento son 79 en Guatemala y 62 en El Salvador. Al menos 19 muertes fueron informadas en México, Nicaragua, Honduras y Costa Rica.
Estados Unidos amenaza a Nicaragua
Estados Unidos amenaza a grupos y figuras políticas de Nicaragua con suspender millones de dólares de ayuda de Washington si realizan cualquier maniobra para derrocar al presidente Enrique Bolaños, que cuenta con apoyo estadounidense. En un acto que hizo recordar la intervención de Estados Unidos en Nicaragua en los años 80, el subsecretario de estado estadounidense, Robert Zoellick, se encuentra esta semana en la capital nicaragüense, Managua, para impedir la posibilidad de que el líder sandinista, Daniel Ortega, regrese al poder. La Asamblea Nacional nicaragüense ha debatido una propuesta para realizar un juicio político a Bolaños por violaciones a las normas de financiamiento de campañas. Bolaños fue elegido en 2001. Zoellick dijo que Estados Unidos dejaría en suspenso el perdón de 4 mil millones de doláres de deuda y un préstamo de 175 millones de dólares a Nicaragua si Bolaños es llevado a jucio político. Luego de la revolución sandinista en 1979, Estados Unidos organizó, armó y financió escuadrones de la muerte en Nicaragua conocidos como Contras.
Maria: Hello. Here are fifteen stories from Democracy Now! Peace.
Rove Faces Grand Jury for Fourth Time
Washington is abuzz with speculation today about possible indictments coming down against multiple senior administration officials over the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. On Thursday, the special prosecutor heading the investigation summoned senior Bush advisor Karl Rove to appear before the grand Jury--for a rare 4th appearance. Rove appears before the Grand Jury with no offer of immunity with the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, informing Rove in writing that he could face indictment later. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports: "In Washington, talk of imminent indictments -- of Rove alone or with others as part of a conspiracy -- was overheard in the corridors of the FBI, Justice Department and White House." The New York Times is reporting that prosecutor Fitzgerald will likely call on several other White House officials to return to the grand jury to testify about their actions in the case. The Grand Jury expires October 28. In addition to Rove, Fitzgerald is also reportedly re-examining grand jury testimony by Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Report: 700 Iraqis Died During September
In other news on Iraq, the news outlet Agence France Press reports it has obtained Iraqi government statistics that shows 700 Iraqis - mostly civilians -- were killed in attacks in September. In August, 526 Iraqis were killed.
U.S. Confirms Sniper Killed Knight Ridder Journalist
A U.S. military report has confirmed that Knight Ridder journalist Yasser Salihee was killed by an American sniper in June but claimed the shooting was justified. Salihee was shot as he was driving in western Baghdad. He was then left lying dead in his car, splattered with blood. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists U.S. troops have killed at least 13 journalists in Iraq since the war began.
Army Suffers Worst Recruiting Year Since 1979
The Army has suffered its worst year for recruiting since 1979. The Army had set an annual goal of 80,000 new recruits by September 30 but fell 7,000 recruits short. The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve also fell short of their annual goal. Meanwhile the Armed Forces is trying new ways to reach the nation's young. The Army National Guard is now offering to give away three free music downloads from Itunes to individuals who sign up online to be contacted by recruiters.
460 Undocumented Immigrants Die Crossing Border
At least 460 undocumented immigrants have died over the past 12 months trying to cross the Mexican-U.S. border - a 20 percent increase over the previous year. Border Patrol said most of the deaths occurred along the Arizona-Mexico border.
Bush Fails to Answer Questions About CIA Leak
At the same press conference President Bush was questioned about the ongoing investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. On Sunday, ABC News host George Stephanopoulos said his sources told him that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were involved in the discussions about Plame. Meanwhile the Washington Post has reported special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may be planning to bring criminal conspiracy charges against White House officials, possibly Karl Rove and Lewis Libby. On Tuesday Bush refused to answer whether he had discussed the case with Rove or Libby.
Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty In Israeli Spy Case
A top Pentagon analyst has pleaded guilty to handing over highly classified intelligence to members of the pro-Israeli lobbying group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The official, Larry Franklin, also admitted for the first time that he handed over top secret information on Iran directly to an Israeli government official in Washington. Franklin said he personally met with an official from the Israeli Embassy in Washington eight times. The Washington Post reports that Franklin's guilty plea casts doubt on long-standing claims by Israeli officials that they no longer engage in any intelligence activities inside the United States. In 1987, U.S. Navy intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison after he admitted to spying for Israel. As part of a plea agreement Franklin pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and a third charge of possessing classified documents. He faces up to 25 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, he has agreed to testify against the two former AIPAC officials, who are facing trial.
Ex-Official Arrested in Philippines Spy Case
Meanwhile another possible espionage story is developing in Washington. The Justice Department is investigating whether a U.S. Marine working in Dick Cheney's office gave classified documents about the Philippines to opposition figures in Manila. The employee was caught last year and arrested a month ago.
Ex-Bush Official Indicted in Abramoff Case
In Washington, a federal grand jury has indicted the Bush administration's former chief procurement official for making false statements and obstructing investigations into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The official - David Safavian - is facing five felony counts.
Tom Delay Indicted Again For Money Laundering
For the second time in a week, a Texas Grand Jury has indicted Tom Delay, the influential Republican lawmaker who up until last week served as House Majority Leader. On Monday, Delay was indicted for money laundering. If convicted Delay could be sentenced to life in prison. Delay is accused of illegally funneling $190,000 in corporate campaign donations to local candidates. Last week a different grand jury indicted him for conspiracy. Meanwhile the Bush administration has confirmed that the Justice Department has asked British police to question former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over a 2000 meeting she had with Delay that was organized by Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff - who Delay has called one of his "closest and dearest friends" - is the target of a separate wide-ranging Justice Department investigation for corruption. According to the New York Times, the interview request of Thatcher is the first publicly disclosed evidence from the Justice Department that Delay was under scrutiny in the Abramoff investigation.
Justice Department to Investigation Ojeda Rios Killing
The Justice Department confirmed on Monday that it will investigate the FBI killing of Puerto Rican independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios. The killing has sparked widespread outrage in Puerto Rico. On Sept. 23, over 100 FBI agents surrounded the house of the 72-year-old Ojeda Rios. After he was shot, the FBI let him lie wounded in his house for nearly a day during which time he bled to death. The FBI claimed Ojeda Rios fired first, but his wife said this is not true. Ojeda Rios had been on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in a $7 million bank heist but he was a legendary figure in Puerto Rico for his lifelong resistance to U.S. colonialism. Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans attended his funeral services last week.
Informant: FBI Knew Ojeda Rios' Location For A Year
And finally this update on the FBI killing of Filiberto Ojeda Rios - the Puerto Rican nationalist leader who was shot dead two weeks ago. In a column I wrote in today's Daily News, a former naval intelligence officer told me that he knows for a fact that Ojeda didn't have to die. The officer says he knows this because he told FBI agents a year ago where they could find Ojeda, who was a wanted fugitve. The informant, who asked not to be identified, has given his account to the Justice Department's Inspector General's Office, which opened an independent review of the shooting last week. But the FBI did not seek to go after Ojeda until Sept 23 - the anniversary of El Grito de Lares. The holiday marks Puerto Rico's failed 1868 independence revolt against Spanish colonialism. It is a date commemorated each year by the independence movement with a march to the town of Lares. The FBI informant told me, "I'm a statehooder, but I see the FBI was trying to humiliate all Puerto Ricans by going after him on El Grito de Lares. I feel I was used. I wanted him arrested, not killed."
New Photos Released of Hanging Of Gay Iranian Teens
This news from Iran - the Iran Student News Association has just released a new photo showing the hanging of two gay teenagers, ages 18 and 17. Independent journalist Doug Ireland reports the boys were charged with rape but that they were actually the victims of an increasing crackdown on the country's gay population. Prior to their execution the boys were held in prison for over a year and tortured. Ireland reports this anti-gay crackdown is part of the crusade against "moral corruption" promised by Iran's newly-elected President Ahmadinejad in his election campaign. Last month Ireland interviewed a 22-year-old gay Iranian man who is seeking asylum in Turkey. While in Iranian police custody, he was beaten and tortured, threatened with death, and lashed 100 times.
Mudslides Kill Hundreds in Central America
A massive rescue operation is under way in Central America and southern Mexico, where mudslides caused by a tropical storm have killed at least 250 people. That number is expected to rise as emergency services are continuing to find buried bodies as they reach more isolated villages. Tropical Storm Stan has passed, but heavy rain is still falling and river levels are dangerously high. The worst affected countries, El Salvador and Guatemala, are struggling to evacuate everyone at risk. Shelters in both countries are holding thousands of people, while road links have been cut off. In Mexico, reports are now coming in that dozens of people are missing. The death toll so far has been put at 79 in Guatemala and 62 in El Salvador. At least 19 deaths have been reported across Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica.
US Threatens Nicaragua
The United States is threatening political groups and politicians that Nicaragua will lose millions of dollars in aid from Washington if any moves are made to bring down the US-backed president, Enrique Bolaños. In a move reminiscent of US intervention in Nicaragua in the 1980s, the US deputy secretary of state, Robert Zoellick, is in the capital Managua this week to head off the possibility of the Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, returning to power. The Nicaraguan national assembly has been debating a proposal to impeach Bolaños over campaign finance violations. He was elected in 2001. Zoellick said that $4billion in debt forgiveness and a $175million grant to Nicaragua would be withheld if Bolanos is impeached. After the 1979 Sandinista revolution, the US organized, armed and funded death squads in Nicaragua known as the Contras.
democracy now
the common ills
Friday, October 07, 2005
Feeling Better
Good evening. Feeling a lot better today so I think I'm over the cold or flu or whatever that junk was. Let's start off with Democracy Now!
Bush: God Told Me To Invade Iraq, Afghanistan
As President Bush announces his renewed war on what he calls radical Islam, a new BBC series is revealing new details about President Bush's own perceived religious mission. According to the BBC, Bush told Palestinian ministers in 2003 that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and to create a Palestinian State. In the BBC program, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen and foreign minister Nabil Shaath describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003. Shaath quotes Bush as saying at the time QUOTE "I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it,'" Shaath quoted Bush as saying. The White House denied Bush made the comments, calling them "absurd."
Oh, God made him do it.
That's how you know he's not all that Christian. A Christian makes a mistake and says the devil made him do it. A Bully Boy makes a mistake and says "God made me do it."
So now Bully Boy wants to pin his lies on Jesus. It's shameful.
Rove Faces Grand Jury for Fourth Time
Washington is abuzz with speculation today about possible indictments coming down against multiple senior administration officials over the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. On Thursday, the special prosecutor heading the investigation summoned senior Bush advisor Karl Rove to appear before the grand Jury--for a rare 4th appearance. Rove appears before the Grand Jury with no offer of immunity with the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, informing Rove in writing that he could face indictment later. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports: "In Washington, talk of imminent indictments -- of Rove alone or with others as part of a conspiracy -- was overheard in the corridors of the FBI, Justice Department and White House." The New York Times is reporting that prosecutor Fitzgerald will likely call on several other White House officials to return to the grand jury to testify about their actions in the case. The Grand Jury expires October 28. In addition to Rove, Fitzgerald is also reportedly re-examining grand jury testimony by Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Who will be frog marched? I'd like to see them all frog marched. But I know that probably won't happen. (Though if Bully Boy keeps blaming the Good Lord for his own lies, who knows what wrath may come down from the heavens?)
Karl Rove is the type who would whine and cry for days. And he's soft so you know the other guys would just beat the crap out of him. After all the racist tactics that Rove's used in elections, it would be really hilarious for him to have to come face to face with African-Americans who aren't named JC Watts. :D
I could see them ordering him around like crazy. "Shut up! You're a dumb mother ___. Say 'I'm a dumb mother ___.'" And Karl would do it too. He's only a tough guy when he can hide behind someone else. I think prison would be educational for Karl.
Now let me say thank you to Rebecca. I was out of it yesterday. Ma brings up some soup after I finished posting and I was like, "Thank you, this is great." And Ma goes that she didn't make it, Rebecca did. Rebecca dropped by to bring soup over. She came up to the room with Ma and I was sleeping hard, snoring like crazy, Ma says. So they didn't wake me.
That was so nice and Ma said, "You better thank her." I will thank her Saturday. But I'll also put it up here so everyone can know that when you have a friend like Rebecca, you're lucky even when you're sick. She made that soup from scratch (and it was good soup), hopped on the ferry, came into Boston and over to my house with it just because I was sick, without being asked. She really is a great friend and a great person.
Let me do some e-mails because I wasn't in the mood for any yesterday and I did do one in the post that got lost Wednesday.
Mara wanted to know if I was "one of those boys who when he's sick expects the whole world to stop and everyone to wait on him" like her ex-boyfriend.
I don't think so. In fact, I told Nina to stay away so she didn't catch what I had. I also told Ma not to worry about me. I pretty much stayed on the bed unless I was puking or pissing. I really wasn't good company and didn't think I would be. I woke up one time when my cell phone was going off and cussed out whoever called. (It was Tony who laughed about it today before class.)
I don't want anyone around me when I'm sick. I just want to be alone so I don't think I'm like Mara's ex-boyfriend. I wish I was. I'd probably be nicer when I was sick if I was wanting people to drop everything and wait on me. Instead I'm like a bear and if you come to close, I'll growl and snarl.
Carrie writes that when she's sick she doesn't even want to think about sex and wondered what I was like because her husband can be sick as a dog and want to have sex. I was sick as dog and I didn't think about sex at all. My balls hurt the first night and that might be part of it. But I really don't want anyone around when I'm sick so I don't think I'd ever be wanting to have sex while I'm sick.
I'd be too worried about throwing up on the woman in the middle of it but mainly, I don't want to be touched when I'm sick. I don't want my space invaded, I just want everyone to stay away.
I also don't shave or shower when I'm sick. So I don't think any woman would say, "Oh he's puking and he's stinky, I want to sex him up bad!" :D
But I'm feeling better today and will note a thing by Dave Zirin that's called "Barry Bonds Laughs Last:"
And it's not just sex, I don't even want to turn on ESPN when I'm sick. If I try to watch a football game or anything, I just get sick cause it's like they're moving too much for me. I'm really a grouchy bear when I'm sick. No one who knows me wants to be around me when I'm sick for the most part because they know I'm just surly and short tempered.
His state of mind seems miles from the Bonds six months ago who seemed on the verge of retirement when he said to reporters, "I'm tired of my kids crying... you wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did. You finally brought me and my family down... so go pick on a different person." That Bonds was a defeated person, guilty before proven innocent. He was treated like anabolic carrion by a cadre of media vultures. The sports radio harpies, who know less about medicine than Dr. Pepper want Bonds buried. [I'm not saying steroids aren't harmful. I just believe we need to stop treating "Mike and the Mad Dog" like they represent the American Medical Association.] This should be an affront to every fan in the game. They want to bury the only living player with 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases, a player who averaged a 30/30 for the entire decade of the '90s; a player who has never failed a drug test; a player whose home town fans in the Bay have his back by the thousands; a player without peer. They want to bury him, but Bonds is proving to have more lives than Freddie Krueger. Now every spiteful reporter, congressional jock sniffer, and - it must be said - racist "fan" who doesn't want to see the mean Black guy pass the Babe, gagged on his late season success.
The icing on the cake was the comment from Dave Marin, the spokesman for House Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis, who is leading the congressional steroid media circus. Marin heard Bonds' comments and said, "It's the type of response folks on Capitol Hill hear all the time from those who wish attention was focused on other things," Actually, Mr. Marin, it's the type of response that is desperately needed. It's frankly criminal that your attention is not "on other things." A government able to destroy and occupy other countries but unable or unwilling to repair levees should probably get their heads out of the damn sports pages. If there is any justice in the world. we will see George W. Bush under the congressional hot lights long before Barry Bonds.
Dave Zirin is a great writer and he wrote my favorite book of the year called What's My Name Fool? and if you haven't checked it out, you should. It's great and if you like sports, you'll love the book but if you don't like sports but are someone who likes people standing up you'll still love the book. Great, great book.
From C.I.'s indymedia round up last night, I'll note this:
Coy e-mails to note atx imc's "Students March Against Militarization of Education" (Austin Indymedia):
Over 100 youth, students, parents, and community members converged in Austin to protest military recruiter presence in area middle and high schools, particularly in low-income and people of color public schools. See Photos here. Read Students Not Soldiers Speech given during the rally.
There was also a contingent of Iraq veterans and Non-Military Options for Youth activists attending the demonstration. The city of Austin has also recently set-up an Austin GI Rights Hotline
The protest was principally organized by young people most affected by recruitment. A major organizer of the march, Youth Activists of Austin, is an organization of students working against the militarization of schools and peace-building alternatives in schools.On November 17, International Students Day, youth and students from around the country (and hopefully in Austin) will be working against “the invasion of military recruiters and JROTC programs in our schools” in the first nationally coordinated day of action for and about young people! NOT YOUR SOLDIER!
organize
I think the counter-recruiting movement is just going to get stronger and stronger. I see people in my area and they are so against the war and if they are young enough to be bothered by recruiters or know someone who is they are just really really angry.
And we saw it last month at the protests in DC. Which is my turn to quote some from "Why Are You Here" and "What's Changed" by The Third Estate Sunday Review. I helped on that and so did a lot of people. I'll put the credit at the end of the quotes but like just read over some of thse voices:
48) Jack, 53, electronic repairman: I got 15 year-old, twin grandsons. I'm here for them. This war has to end or all our kids and grandkids will be over there. The change, for me anyway, is that it's not abstract any longer, it's not something that we think, "Oh, these young adults." We're starting to realize, after we hear that we'll be over there for ten years, that it's not just the ones who are there now but the kids who aren't even dating yet that are going to be asked to give their lives for a war of choice that was built with lies and that has no real goal other than to secure and control the oil fields of Iraq.
52) Caleb, 17, high school student: I'm here because this is an issue that's become one of the big ones in my life and most of us at my high school, all our lives. You can't help but follow the war now because you got recruiters bugging you on the phone, bugging you at school, bugging you when you're just trying to cruise the mall. They've put this war front in center in our lives. And a lot of us wouldn't be thinking about it probably. I'm going to college. If I don't get an atheletic scholarship, my parents already have it figured out. So I guess I could just float on through high school and be thinking, "Man, that's pretty screwed up, all the bombs going off in Iraq" or whatever. But when you got the recruiters breathing down your neck even when you're saying, "Not interested, quit calling," you start paying attention and like I'm not any good at geography but I can list probably ten big cities in Iraq and I can show you where it is on the map. That's all stuff I wouldn't have paid attention to if it weren't for the recruiters. I guess I thought, "You signed up for it, you're over there doing what you agreed to." But I mean, I've heard stuff from cars to special bases where you just file papers and get suntans and it's really made me think about what other people get promised and it also made me face how not everyone's going to be like me where they can say a strong no. There are people who don't have that option and when some recruiter comes along with the moon towed behind him and he's telling you that it's all yours if you sign up, I don't think they get what they sign up for. So that's had me thinking and other things have come up and I might not pay attention to them if it weren't for the recruiters. Like Bush lied. That's something that really caught my attention. We're over there for no real reason. So the ironic thing is, if they weren't trying so hard to pressure you to join and all I probably wouldn't be paying attention and my friends and I wouldn't be talking about it and following it.
60) LeRoi, 21, college student, English major: They're going after high school drop outs now! The whole "few bad apples" defense, which I never bought, was about how they didn't have well trained, well vetted people working in the prison. Now they're lowering the standards instead of raising them and that's because no one wants to sign up. They can't meet their quotas and they're behind for the year. So what's going to change? You think when we hit the fourth year of this quagmire people who've said no way are going to change their minds and say, "Okay, when it was a quagmire at two, I wouldn't sign up but now it's a four year quagmire so I'm all jazzed!" We get out or we get a draft. Maybe a draft would wake a lot more people up but it would probably also mean a lot more going over there because you don't start a draft to meet your minimum requirement. You don't reinstate something that controversial just to do the bare minimum. So a lot more lives will be at stake. And every month we get more deaths so you have to start asking, "Where does this end?" I think it ends here. Not by sunset, but when we all carry back our stories to our friends, when we're all sharing with the people we know who weren't able to be here. The change is this, we've got the seeds in our pockets, we just all need to go home and plant them.
73) Terri, 40, mother of two: "Mothers unite! Stand up and fight!" That's my cheer. These are our kids. Because they signed a paper, George W. Bush has the last say? Don't think so. We carried these kids, we gave birth to them. That trumps the thirst for oil and war on the part of the administration. If every mother, no if only a portion of them, if they said, "You are my child and this is wrong. You should not be sent overseas to fight a war with a reason that changes every other month" the war would be over in a matter of minutes. "Mothers unite! Stand up and fight!"
87) Benny, 17, high school student: For the first time it feels like maybe a difference can come. We're studying about government and it really seems wild and out there but it's about us and I guess Cindy Sheehan drives that point home to me. So I am here for that reason and the change is that people wake up and you can see it in my class. We're debating and discussing what does free speech mean and what are your duties to be an American and stuff that I have never taken time to think on and it just seems real and connected to me. Maybe it's selfish and all too because we got the guys on campus going, "Sign up and we'll take care of you. Free college." All these promises and you ask about war and like injuries and they don't talk about it. They brush you off or say, "You just watch out for yourself and you're fine." And I bet the 1900 men and women who are dead were watching out but that didn't save them. So it's just a lot to think about and maybe having government this year drives it home.
Here's the credit for that article:
Last time "we" included The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim, Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Betty who was on the verge of starting Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man and C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review. This time we're joined by Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills), Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Morning Edition Report and her granddaughter Tracey.
recruiters
dave zirin
democracy now
cedrics big mix
the third estate sunday review
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
kats korner
like maria said paz
the common ills
ruths morning edition report
thomas friedman is a great man
barry bonds
Bush: God Told Me To Invade Iraq, Afghanistan
As President Bush announces his renewed war on what he calls radical Islam, a new BBC series is revealing new details about President Bush's own perceived religious mission. According to the BBC, Bush told Palestinian ministers in 2003 that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and to create a Palestinian State. In the BBC program, Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen and foreign minister Nabil Shaath describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003. Shaath quotes Bush as saying at the time QUOTE "I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it,'" Shaath quoted Bush as saying. The White House denied Bush made the comments, calling them "absurd."
Oh, God made him do it.
That's how you know he's not all that Christian. A Christian makes a mistake and says the devil made him do it. A Bully Boy makes a mistake and says "God made me do it."
So now Bully Boy wants to pin his lies on Jesus. It's shameful.
Rove Faces Grand Jury for Fourth Time
Washington is abuzz with speculation today about possible indictments coming down against multiple senior administration officials over the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. On Thursday, the special prosecutor heading the investigation summoned senior Bush advisor Karl Rove to appear before the grand Jury--for a rare 4th appearance. Rove appears before the Grand Jury with no offer of immunity with the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, informing Rove in writing that he could face indictment later. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports: "In Washington, talk of imminent indictments -- of Rove alone or with others as part of a conspiracy -- was overheard in the corridors of the FBI, Justice Department and White House." The New York Times is reporting that prosecutor Fitzgerald will likely call on several other White House officials to return to the grand jury to testify about their actions in the case. The Grand Jury expires October 28. In addition to Rove, Fitzgerald is also reportedly re-examining grand jury testimony by Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby.
Who will be frog marched? I'd like to see them all frog marched. But I know that probably won't happen. (Though if Bully Boy keeps blaming the Good Lord for his own lies, who knows what wrath may come down from the heavens?)
Karl Rove is the type who would whine and cry for days. And he's soft so you know the other guys would just beat the crap out of him. After all the racist tactics that Rove's used in elections, it would be really hilarious for him to have to come face to face with African-Americans who aren't named JC Watts. :D
I could see them ordering him around like crazy. "Shut up! You're a dumb mother ___. Say 'I'm a dumb mother ___.'" And Karl would do it too. He's only a tough guy when he can hide behind someone else. I think prison would be educational for Karl.
Now let me say thank you to Rebecca. I was out of it yesterday. Ma brings up some soup after I finished posting and I was like, "Thank you, this is great." And Ma goes that she didn't make it, Rebecca did. Rebecca dropped by to bring soup over. She came up to the room with Ma and I was sleeping hard, snoring like crazy, Ma says. So they didn't wake me.
That was so nice and Ma said, "You better thank her." I will thank her Saturday. But I'll also put it up here so everyone can know that when you have a friend like Rebecca, you're lucky even when you're sick. She made that soup from scratch (and it was good soup), hopped on the ferry, came into Boston and over to my house with it just because I was sick, without being asked. She really is a great friend and a great person.
Let me do some e-mails because I wasn't in the mood for any yesterday and I did do one in the post that got lost Wednesday.
Mara wanted to know if I was "one of those boys who when he's sick expects the whole world to stop and everyone to wait on him" like her ex-boyfriend.
I don't think so. In fact, I told Nina to stay away so she didn't catch what I had. I also told Ma not to worry about me. I pretty much stayed on the bed unless I was puking or pissing. I really wasn't good company and didn't think I would be. I woke up one time when my cell phone was going off and cussed out whoever called. (It was Tony who laughed about it today before class.)
I don't want anyone around me when I'm sick. I just want to be alone so I don't think I'm like Mara's ex-boyfriend. I wish I was. I'd probably be nicer when I was sick if I was wanting people to drop everything and wait on me. Instead I'm like a bear and if you come to close, I'll growl and snarl.
Carrie writes that when she's sick she doesn't even want to think about sex and wondered what I was like because her husband can be sick as a dog and want to have sex. I was sick as dog and I didn't think about sex at all. My balls hurt the first night and that might be part of it. But I really don't want anyone around when I'm sick so I don't think I'd ever be wanting to have sex while I'm sick.
I'd be too worried about throwing up on the woman in the middle of it but mainly, I don't want to be touched when I'm sick. I don't want my space invaded, I just want everyone to stay away.
I also don't shave or shower when I'm sick. So I don't think any woman would say, "Oh he's puking and he's stinky, I want to sex him up bad!" :D
But I'm feeling better today and will note a thing by Dave Zirin that's called "Barry Bonds Laughs Last:"
And it's not just sex, I don't even want to turn on ESPN when I'm sick. If I try to watch a football game or anything, I just get sick cause it's like they're moving too much for me. I'm really a grouchy bear when I'm sick. No one who knows me wants to be around me when I'm sick for the most part because they know I'm just surly and short tempered.
His state of mind seems miles from the Bonds six months ago who seemed on the verge of retirement when he said to reporters, "I'm tired of my kids crying... you wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did. You finally brought me and my family down... so go pick on a different person." That Bonds was a defeated person, guilty before proven innocent. He was treated like anabolic carrion by a cadre of media vultures. The sports radio harpies, who know less about medicine than Dr. Pepper want Bonds buried. [I'm not saying steroids aren't harmful. I just believe we need to stop treating "Mike and the Mad Dog" like they represent the American Medical Association.] This should be an affront to every fan in the game. They want to bury the only living player with 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases, a player who averaged a 30/30 for the entire decade of the '90s; a player who has never failed a drug test; a player whose home town fans in the Bay have his back by the thousands; a player without peer. They want to bury him, but Bonds is proving to have more lives than Freddie Krueger. Now every spiteful reporter, congressional jock sniffer, and - it must be said - racist "fan" who doesn't want to see the mean Black guy pass the Babe, gagged on his late season success.
The icing on the cake was the comment from Dave Marin, the spokesman for House Government Reform Committee chairman Tom Davis, who is leading the congressional steroid media circus. Marin heard Bonds' comments and said, "It's the type of response folks on Capitol Hill hear all the time from those who wish attention was focused on other things," Actually, Mr. Marin, it's the type of response that is desperately needed. It's frankly criminal that your attention is not "on other things." A government able to destroy and occupy other countries but unable or unwilling to repair levees should probably get their heads out of the damn sports pages. If there is any justice in the world. we will see George W. Bush under the congressional hot lights long before Barry Bonds.
Dave Zirin is a great writer and he wrote my favorite book of the year called What's My Name Fool? and if you haven't checked it out, you should. It's great and if you like sports, you'll love the book but if you don't like sports but are someone who likes people standing up you'll still love the book. Great, great book.
From C.I.'s indymedia round up last night, I'll note this:
Coy e-mails to note atx imc's "Students March Against Militarization of Education" (Austin Indymedia):
Over 100 youth, students, parents, and community members converged in Austin to protest military recruiter presence in area middle and high schools, particularly in low-income and people of color public schools. See Photos here. Read Students Not Soldiers Speech given during the rally.
There was also a contingent of Iraq veterans and Non-Military Options for Youth activists attending the demonstration. The city of Austin has also recently set-up an Austin GI Rights Hotline
The protest was principally organized by young people most affected by recruitment. A major organizer of the march, Youth Activists of Austin, is an organization of students working against the militarization of schools and peace-building alternatives in schools.On November 17, International Students Day, youth and students from around the country (and hopefully in Austin) will be working against “the invasion of military recruiters and JROTC programs in our schools” in the first nationally coordinated day of action for and about young people! NOT YOUR SOLDIER!
organize
I think the counter-recruiting movement is just going to get stronger and stronger. I see people in my area and they are so against the war and if they are young enough to be bothered by recruiters or know someone who is they are just really really angry.
And we saw it last month at the protests in DC. Which is my turn to quote some from "Why Are You Here" and "What's Changed" by The Third Estate Sunday Review. I helped on that and so did a lot of people. I'll put the credit at the end of the quotes but like just read over some of thse voices:
48) Jack, 53, electronic repairman: I got 15 year-old, twin grandsons. I'm here for them. This war has to end or all our kids and grandkids will be over there. The change, for me anyway, is that it's not abstract any longer, it's not something that we think, "Oh, these young adults." We're starting to realize, after we hear that we'll be over there for ten years, that it's not just the ones who are there now but the kids who aren't even dating yet that are going to be asked to give their lives for a war of choice that was built with lies and that has no real goal other than to secure and control the oil fields of Iraq.
52) Caleb, 17, high school student: I'm here because this is an issue that's become one of the big ones in my life and most of us at my high school, all our lives. You can't help but follow the war now because you got recruiters bugging you on the phone, bugging you at school, bugging you when you're just trying to cruise the mall. They've put this war front in center in our lives. And a lot of us wouldn't be thinking about it probably. I'm going to college. If I don't get an atheletic scholarship, my parents already have it figured out. So I guess I could just float on through high school and be thinking, "Man, that's pretty screwed up, all the bombs going off in Iraq" or whatever. But when you got the recruiters breathing down your neck even when you're saying, "Not interested, quit calling," you start paying attention and like I'm not any good at geography but I can list probably ten big cities in Iraq and I can show you where it is on the map. That's all stuff I wouldn't have paid attention to if it weren't for the recruiters. I guess I thought, "You signed up for it, you're over there doing what you agreed to." But I mean, I've heard stuff from cars to special bases where you just file papers and get suntans and it's really made me think about what other people get promised and it also made me face how not everyone's going to be like me where they can say a strong no. There are people who don't have that option and when some recruiter comes along with the moon towed behind him and he's telling you that it's all yours if you sign up, I don't think they get what they sign up for. So that's had me thinking and other things have come up and I might not pay attention to them if it weren't for the recruiters. Like Bush lied. That's something that really caught my attention. We're over there for no real reason. So the ironic thing is, if they weren't trying so hard to pressure you to join and all I probably wouldn't be paying attention and my friends and I wouldn't be talking about it and following it.
60) LeRoi, 21, college student, English major: They're going after high school drop outs now! The whole "few bad apples" defense, which I never bought, was about how they didn't have well trained, well vetted people working in the prison. Now they're lowering the standards instead of raising them and that's because no one wants to sign up. They can't meet their quotas and they're behind for the year. So what's going to change? You think when we hit the fourth year of this quagmire people who've said no way are going to change their minds and say, "Okay, when it was a quagmire at two, I wouldn't sign up but now it's a four year quagmire so I'm all jazzed!" We get out or we get a draft. Maybe a draft would wake a lot more people up but it would probably also mean a lot more going over there because you don't start a draft to meet your minimum requirement. You don't reinstate something that controversial just to do the bare minimum. So a lot more lives will be at stake. And every month we get more deaths so you have to start asking, "Where does this end?" I think it ends here. Not by sunset, but when we all carry back our stories to our friends, when we're all sharing with the people we know who weren't able to be here. The change is this, we've got the seeds in our pockets, we just all need to go home and plant them.
73) Terri, 40, mother of two: "Mothers unite! Stand up and fight!" That's my cheer. These are our kids. Because they signed a paper, George W. Bush has the last say? Don't think so. We carried these kids, we gave birth to them. That trumps the thirst for oil and war on the part of the administration. If every mother, no if only a portion of them, if they said, "You are my child and this is wrong. You should not be sent overseas to fight a war with a reason that changes every other month" the war would be over in a matter of minutes. "Mothers unite! Stand up and fight!"
87) Benny, 17, high school student: For the first time it feels like maybe a difference can come. We're studying about government and it really seems wild and out there but it's about us and I guess Cindy Sheehan drives that point home to me. So I am here for that reason and the change is that people wake up and you can see it in my class. We're debating and discussing what does free speech mean and what are your duties to be an American and stuff that I have never taken time to think on and it just seems real and connected to me. Maybe it's selfish and all too because we got the guys on campus going, "Sign up and we'll take care of you. Free college." All these promises and you ask about war and like injuries and they don't talk about it. They brush you off or say, "You just watch out for yourself and you're fine." And I bet the 1900 men and women who are dead were watching out but that didn't save them. So it's just a lot to think about and maybe having government this year drives it home.
Here's the credit for that article:
Last time "we" included The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim, Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Betty who was on the verge of starting Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man and C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review. This time we're joined by Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills), Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Morning Edition Report and her granddaughter Tracey.
recruiters
dave zirin
democracy now
cedrics big mix
the third estate sunday review
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
kats korner
like maria said paz
the common ills
ruths morning edition report
thomas friedman is a great man
barry bonds
Thursday, October 06, 2005
From the sick bed of Mike
Good evening from my sick bed. We'll start off by noting Democracy Now!
Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty In Israeli Spy Case
A top Pentagon analyst has pleaded guilty to handing over highly classified intelligence to members of the pro-Israeli lobbying group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The official, Larry Franklin, also admitted for the first time that he handed over top secret information on Iran directly to an Israeli government official in Washington. Franklin said he personally met with an official from the Israeli Embassy in Washington eight times. The Washington Post reports that Franklin's guilty plea casts doubt on long-standing claims by Israeli officials that they no longer engage in any intelligence activities inside the United States. In 1987, U.S. Navy intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison after he admitted to spying for Israel. As part of a plea agreement Franklin pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and a third charge of possessing classified documents. He faces up to 25 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, he has agreed to testify against the two former AIPAC officials, who are facing trial.
Now I'm still sick and spent most of the day in bed with my head under the covers. But I did have the TV on from time to time, flipping around to see how much attention this got on CNN and MSNBC. Maybe they talked and talked about it and I was on CNN when MSNBC was yacking and I was on MSNBC when CNN was yacking? Or maybe my fever is so high that I'm delerious and only think they didn't talk about it?
But I didn't hear about it and I know if Bill Clinton were president this would have been nonstop coverage with every right-wing troll crawling out from under the bridge to scream for an independent counsel and to yell and holler about how Clinton has risked national security.
Instead, we've got someone admitting they spied for a foreign government and turned classified documents over to a foreign government and the big news today is that Bully Boy says "Stay the course." Again. Even though he stayed the course in the Guard by dragging his butt to another state when he was supposed to serving in Texas champaegn unit.
Bully Boy wants us to stay the course. Even though he can't tell you what the course is, where it's leaded or what the goals are or when we might withdrawal or, hell, how we ended up over there in the first place. He can't tell Cindy Sheehan what the "noble cause" was that her son Casey Sheehan died for.
Why isn't anyone talking about Franklin? The news hits as James Yee is a guest on Democracy Now! Yee the administration slandered and falsely accused of a number of things and the corporate media played howler monkey screeching nonstop. Franklin plead guilty. Where's the big coverage of this?
Clear Channel Seeks Rewrite of Media Ownership Rules
In other media news the radio giant Clear Channel is asking Congress to ease media ownership laws to allow it to purchase more stations. Clear Channel is the country's largest radio-station operator with over 1200 stations around the country. Clear Channel wants Congress to rewrite the rules to allow a single company to own up to 12 different stations in a single market.
Clear Channel killed music in the last few years. Finally, music is starting to fight back and Clear Channel wants to have more stations. Write your Congress and tell them no, no, no to Clear Channel completely destroying the music.
I'm still sick. I did do a post last night. I went to publish and got this whole screen of error messages. Blogger was "down" for maintance so I lost everything. I called Elaine and Rebecca to warn them in case they were about to post since we all are evening posters.
Tony was great in his classroom debate last night. I was feeling like I was at death's door but I drug my sorry ass to his class for the debate and cheered him on as much as I could muster. His position was "Bring the troops home now" and he was up against this geek who loves the Bully Boy, loves him so much you got the idea he licked the toilet boy clean for the Bully Boy. Tony wiped the floor with the geek. People were applauding Tony like crazy. He's my best friend but I'm telling it like it was, Tony won that debate over and over. Great job, Tony. People are sick of the lies that got us into this war and they are sick of the nonstop war. Bully Boy wants to stay the course? Give him a gun and fly him over to Iraq.
I'll try to talk about some e-mails tomorrow night when hopefully I will feel better.
I want to close by noting this (which I saw at The Common Ills cause and Ruth saw it at WBAI and e-mailed to note it):
Condolences to Amy Goodman on the Loss of Her Grandmother,
Sonia Bock
She died Oct. 5 at the age of 108. The management and staff of WBAI sends condolences to Amy and her family. You can send messages to mail@democracynow.org.
I'm very sorry for the Goodmans loss.
the common ills
democracy now
amy goodman
clear channel
larry franklin
bring the troops home now
Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty In Israeli Spy Case
A top Pentagon analyst has pleaded guilty to handing over highly classified intelligence to members of the pro-Israeli lobbying group AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The official, Larry Franklin, also admitted for the first time that he handed over top secret information on Iran directly to an Israeli government official in Washington. Franklin said he personally met with an official from the Israeli Embassy in Washington eight times. The Washington Post reports that Franklin's guilty plea casts doubt on long-standing claims by Israeli officials that they no longer engage in any intelligence activities inside the United States. In 1987, U.S. Navy intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard was sentenced to life in prison after he admitted to spying for Israel. As part of a plea agreement Franklin pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and a third charge of possessing classified documents. He faces up to 25 years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, he has agreed to testify against the two former AIPAC officials, who are facing trial.
Now I'm still sick and spent most of the day in bed with my head under the covers. But I did have the TV on from time to time, flipping around to see how much attention this got on CNN and MSNBC. Maybe they talked and talked about it and I was on CNN when MSNBC was yacking and I was on MSNBC when CNN was yacking? Or maybe my fever is so high that I'm delerious and only think they didn't talk about it?
But I didn't hear about it and I know if Bill Clinton were president this would have been nonstop coverage with every right-wing troll crawling out from under the bridge to scream for an independent counsel and to yell and holler about how Clinton has risked national security.
Instead, we've got someone admitting they spied for a foreign government and turned classified documents over to a foreign government and the big news today is that Bully Boy says "Stay the course." Again. Even though he stayed the course in the Guard by dragging his butt to another state when he was supposed to serving in Texas champaegn unit.
Bully Boy wants us to stay the course. Even though he can't tell you what the course is, where it's leaded or what the goals are or when we might withdrawal or, hell, how we ended up over there in the first place. He can't tell Cindy Sheehan what the "noble cause" was that her son Casey Sheehan died for.
Why isn't anyone talking about Franklin? The news hits as James Yee is a guest on Democracy Now! Yee the administration slandered and falsely accused of a number of things and the corporate media played howler monkey screeching nonstop. Franklin plead guilty. Where's the big coverage of this?
Clear Channel Seeks Rewrite of Media Ownership Rules
In other media news the radio giant Clear Channel is asking Congress to ease media ownership laws to allow it to purchase more stations. Clear Channel is the country's largest radio-station operator with over 1200 stations around the country. Clear Channel wants Congress to rewrite the rules to allow a single company to own up to 12 different stations in a single market.
Clear Channel killed music in the last few years. Finally, music is starting to fight back and Clear Channel wants to have more stations. Write your Congress and tell them no, no, no to Clear Channel completely destroying the music.
I'm still sick. I did do a post last night. I went to publish and got this whole screen of error messages. Blogger was "down" for maintance so I lost everything. I called Elaine and Rebecca to warn them in case they were about to post since we all are evening posters.
Tony was great in his classroom debate last night. I was feeling like I was at death's door but I drug my sorry ass to his class for the debate and cheered him on as much as I could muster. His position was "Bring the troops home now" and he was up against this geek who loves the Bully Boy, loves him so much you got the idea he licked the toilet boy clean for the Bully Boy. Tony wiped the floor with the geek. People were applauding Tony like crazy. He's my best friend but I'm telling it like it was, Tony won that debate over and over. Great job, Tony. People are sick of the lies that got us into this war and they are sick of the nonstop war. Bully Boy wants to stay the course? Give him a gun and fly him over to Iraq.
I'll try to talk about some e-mails tomorrow night when hopefully I will feel better.
I want to close by noting this (which I saw at The Common Ills cause and Ruth saw it at WBAI and e-mailed to note it):
Condolences to Amy Goodman on the Loss of Her Grandmother,
Sonia Bock
She died Oct. 5 at the age of 108. The management and staff of WBAI sends condolences to Amy and her family. You can send messages to mail@democracynow.org.
I'm very sorry for the Goodmans loss.
the common ills
democracy now
amy goodman
clear channel
larry franklin
bring the troops home now
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Sick from a flu shot
Good evening and let's kick things off with Democracy Now!
Justice Department to Investigation Ojeda Rios Killing
The Justice Department confirmed on Monday that it will investigate the FBI killing of Puerto Rican independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios. The killing has sparked widespread outrage in Puerto Rico. On Sept. 23, over 100 FBI agents surrounded the house of the 72-year-old Ojeda Rios. After he was shot, the FBI let him lie wounded in his house for nearly a day during which time he bled to death. The FBI claimed Ojeda Rios fired first, but his wife said this is not true. Ojeda Rios had been on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in a $7 million bank heist but he was a legendary figure in Puerto Rico for his lifelong resistance to U.S. colonialism. Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans attended his funeral services last week.
You think it will be a whitewash? Or maybe a "few bad apples"? I don't have much faith in the ability of the FBI to investigate itself. 72 years old. If they wanted him, why didn't they arrest him? Isn't that what the FBI is supposed to do? Arrest and let the Justice Department charge?
Why didn't they feel the need to do that here? They let Ojeda Rios bleed to death over nearly 24 hours.
Senate Panel Oks Allowing Pentagon Spies to Operate in U.S.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has approved new legislation that would allow Pentagon intelligence operatives to collect information from U.S. citizens without revealing their status as government spies. According to the Los Angeles Times, the bill would end a long-standing requirement that military intelligence officers disclose their government ties when approaching any U.S. citizen in the United States.
This is not good. This is like in the movie Coming Home when Jane Fonda and Jon Voight are being spied on and when Bruce Dern gets back from
Be sure to check Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's take on the two stories above.
I got a flu shot today. I always forget how sick that makes me until after I get it. I'm always thinking, "Flu shot! Better get it!" Then I get it and right after the band aid goes on, I always remember, "Hey, this usually makes me sick."
So I'm not feeling good tonight. My stomach's churning around. My forehead's sweating and I have that weird taste in my throat you get before you puke.
I'll do e-mails tomorrow but on the day I get a flu shot the best thing is just to crawl into bed early. So that's what I'm going to do.
Justice Department to Investigation Ojeda Rios Killing
The Justice Department confirmed on Monday that it will investigate the FBI killing of Puerto Rican independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios. The killing has sparked widespread outrage in Puerto Rico. On Sept. 23, over 100 FBI agents surrounded the house of the 72-year-old Ojeda Rios. After he was shot, the FBI let him lie wounded in his house for nearly a day during which time he bled to death. The FBI claimed Ojeda Rios fired first, but his wife said this is not true. Ojeda Rios had been on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in a $7 million bank heist but he was a legendary figure in Puerto Rico for his lifelong resistance to U.S. colonialism. Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans attended his funeral services last week.
You think it will be a whitewash? Or maybe a "few bad apples"? I don't have much faith in the ability of the FBI to investigate itself. 72 years old. If they wanted him, why didn't they arrest him? Isn't that what the FBI is supposed to do? Arrest and let the Justice Department charge?
Why didn't they feel the need to do that here? They let Ojeda Rios bleed to death over nearly 24 hours.
Senate Panel Oks Allowing Pentagon Spies to Operate in U.S.
The Senate Intelligence Committee has approved new legislation that would allow Pentagon intelligence operatives to collect information from U.S. citizens without revealing their status as government spies. According to the Los Angeles Times, the bill would end a long-standing requirement that military intelligence officers disclose their government ties when approaching any U.S. citizen in the United States.
This is not good. This is like in the movie Coming Home when Jane Fonda and Jon Voight are being spied on and when Bruce Dern gets back from
Be sure to check Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's take on the two stories above.
I got a flu shot today. I always forget how sick that makes me until after I get it. I'm always thinking, "Flu shot! Better get it!" Then I get it and right after the band aid goes on, I always remember, "Hey, this usually makes me sick."
So I'm not feeling good tonight. My stomach's churning around. My forehead's sweating and I have that weird taste in my throat you get before you puke.
I'll do e-mails tomorrow but on the day I get a flu shot the best thing is just to crawl into bed early. So that's what I'm going to do.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Sniper killed journalist, recruiting & music
Good evening. As always we start with Democracy Now! which is a great show that you can watch on TV or listen to on the radio or watch or listen online or you can read transcripts of.
U.S. Confirms Sniper Killed Knight Ridder Journalist
A U.S. military report has confirmed that Knight Ridder journalist Yasser Salihee was killed by an American sniper in June but claimed the shooting was justified. Salihee was shot as he was driving in western Baghdad. He was then left lying dead in his car, splattered with blood. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists U.S. troops have killed at least 13 journalists in Iraq since the war began.
How many times does this stuff need to happen before we stop being so "Oh don't say journalists are targeted!"? Here's a better question: why isn't this on the front page of the paper of record? New York Times run this on the front page? I think after awhile silence becomes collaboration and I feel like the paper has reached that point. They aren't a brave press, they are willing to downplay stories. Elaine and I were talking about this story and we think this isn't something that the press should be ignoring.
Army Suffers Worst Recruiting Year Since 1979
The Army has suffered its worst year for recruiting since 1979. The Army had set an annual goal of 80,000 new recruits by September 30 but fell 7,000 recruits short. The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve also fell short of their annual goal. Meanwhile the Armed Forces is trying new ways to reach the nation's young. The Army National Guard is now offering to give away three free music downloads from Itunes to individuals who sign up online to be contacted by recruiters.
Who would want to join? You sign up, you get put in Iraq and told you're stay has been extended and you're stuck in a war of choice with nothing to do but stand around waiting to be killed because no one in leadership in this country has the guts to scream, "Bring our troops home!"
But the answer, the army thinks, is three free downloads! Woo-hoo!
You know you get a better deal from a case of Pepsis.
Three free downloads, everybody sell your soul and ass for that.
Announcement: No interview this Wednesday. I'd like to do one next week but Tony's having a thing on Wednesday where he's doing a debate and he's my bud and I want to be there for that to root for him. Tone's all nervous and stuff so I'll just keep quiet until Thursday and then I'll tell you about it.
I will blog at Wednesday and at the usual time you should have something up. But the interviews take a lot of time to type up so I'm taking this week off.
Leah e-mailed and she wanted to know what I was listening to and if I thought was music was important like Kat does? She also goes C.I. is always quoting music and I hardly ever do.
Yeah, I love music. Not enough to sing up with the military for 3 free downloads though. :D
But I love music. My favorite group is probably White Stripes. I really like Coldplay too. Other than that I like Joan Baez and I like the Mamas and the Papas. Dad's been playing his Jefferson Airplane lately and I'm liking some of their stuff but they are really new to me. I like "Gone" by Jack Johnson and I like the version of it he and the Black Eyed Peas do together too which Cedric turned me on to.
I'm not real good with song names or CD names so that might be why I don't talk about it more and all. But I have talked about music.
How important do I think it is? I think it's really important. I think a good song can cheer you up when you're down or make you explore what you are feeling. I think a really good song can motivate people and not just 1 person. Like maybe get you dancing or thinking.
I think Bright Eyes is amazing and Ani DiFranco is someone I got into because she had something to say more than "I met this boy and we fell in love" type stuff. Those songs are like for kids and all. I mean Justin Timberlake, that's like stuff junior high kids listen to. That's like a bunch of kids squealing, "He's so cute" and stuff.
I'm an adult and I'm looking for songs about something more than kissing or dating or fooling around. I don't have anything against sex and stuff and there can be some good sex songs but like these professional virgins sticking their ass out and shaking it to make some money are really kind of embarrassing. I don't just mean Britney Spears cause the guys do it to. If Justin Timerblake didn't shake his ass he wouldn't have an audience. People aren't there for the "music" cause the music is all this little boy crap.
I hear that crap and think, "Grow up!" We're at war and people are dying all over the world and they want to sing those dopey songs that are just supposed to be about them and make you want them. I hear that stuff and think, "How sick are we that even grown ups will pay for this crap?"
There's a dumb ass critic for The New Yorker that Kat's talked about who just couldn't stop gushing over Justin Timberlake as an artist and like whatever dude. Maybe he'll jerk you off or something, you know? I mean a grown up should be embarrassed to be gushing over that studio crap that's like processed cheese and stuff.
I like the Strokes. They're pretty cool. I used to like some U2 but I can't listen now because Bono's such an asshole. Now he and Bob Geldof want to whine because Bully Boy didn't do what he promised and it's like, "Hey, idiots, you shouldn't have believed him. You shouldn't have even spoken to him in the first place because he just used you."
When people like Orafice Hatch are showing up at U2 concerts, U2 isn't cool. The band's supposed to be tired of Bono and if I was in the band I would have pulled him aside a long time ago and told him that this whole french kiss Tony Blair and Bully Boy wasn't good for the band and it wasn't good for charity even. But Bono wants "power" and he's willing to bend over and take whatever he has to for power.
If you can't tell, I'm really disgusted by Bono.
Elaine told me about a really cool song by George Michael called "Shoot the Dog" and I watched that video online. It's pretty cool. George Michael is like a dance singer and he showed more guts than Mr. Rock Bono. Bono's just a sellout now and people on campus really down him. It used to be just him but now they even down U2.
They'll say things like while Bono is holding hands with Bully Boy, even the old guys from the Rolling Stones are standing up and all and saying what matters. But Bono can't do that because he's chicken shit and also because he wants power.
I think if you're in a rock band, you need to be in a rock band. You can speak out and all, that's cool. But when you start hanging out with a man like Bully Boy who is hated by the world, you're just saying to the world: screw you and screw your little lives it's more important for me to hang with the powerful.
When Kat and C.I. talked about Bono this summer at The Third Estate Sunday Review the Third Estate Sunday Review got some people whining, "Bono means well." He's holding hands with a man responsible for torture you know. That says it all. But some of those same people wrote back after Live 8 to say, "Okay, he is a jerk." Bono's destroyed the group and that's why people don't play that new CD or buy it now.
My oldest brother told me this weekend that U2 almost destroyed their careers with a CD called Pop and now they're just not listened to anymore because Bono wants to kiss war criminals so he bets they really hate Bono. I thought musicians were supposed to be for the people?
So those are some of my musical thoughts.
I'll close with something C.I. wrote last week because I really think we need to expect that the artists who want our money are people who have something to say and I think Sheryl Crow is so disgusting acting like a stupid idiot on TV and playing what Ma calls the backlash game. She said it's disgusting to watch a woman who was supposed to be so indpendent play "little house wife" to Lance Armstrong.
"Quick note"
Well who knew? Angry e-mails about never-having-been-here-before-but-I-won't-be-back- after-that-slam-on-Sheryl-Crow-this-morning. Lots of "Do you know you mispelled her name!"Do I care?
No, I don't care how she spells her name. She's made herself useless. The new album sucks. A friend gave me a copy (advance copy, not bootleg) last week. I took it to DC and passed it off to Kat saying, "This isn't for a review, this is just so you can enjoy how bad she is."
She's really bad. She's doing the power chord jangle she's been so fond of since her second album, the voice still cracks in all the wrong places, and she still can't write a lyric. "Rolling thunder," when it pops up, should make everyone laugh. Her lyrics are on the nose, the first thing that might tumble out of the mouth. There's no thought, there's no attempt to find a metaphor that hasn't been used over and over. Correction, she probably wrote "trouble coming," stopped for ten seconds to twirl her hair and then squealed, "Rolling thunder!"
I'm not saying the crap won't move units. It will. That's part of the problem. Both because there's already enough crap out there and because she'll be selling it on her love life.
"Oh, Sheryl's so happy with that Lance Armstrong!"She's disappointed a lot of people (her peers, not her fans) with her crap since spring of 2003. I've heard it for two years now. They think she's a coward and sell out, someone who got slammed for having peace on a guitar strap and then went running to dullsville to make sure no one said a mean word against her.
(The great "love affair" has been compared to when Hepburn was dubbed "box office poison" and stayed in the headlines by being seen with Howard Hughes. But let's note that Hepburn emerged with Philadelphia Story. Crow doesn't have art in her. And every song on the album sounds like music you heard . . . twenty to thirty years ago.)
So she plays it safe and, like with her Kid Rock duet, heads over to the dirt road to make sure people know she's "real." She bores interviewers with tales of "washing dishes" and tries so damn hard to act like she's the most generic and boring person.
She's succeeded at it so well that it's who she is now.
That a few mean remarks over a guitar strap would send her running into the hills of mediocrity is appalling. That a woman who made a tiny, small anti-war statement two years ago now thinks she can push her dull love life off on America and feel good about herself is disgraceful.
"Where Has All The Love Gone" (the ", Man" is implied) is her idea of a big statement.The guitar strap was more of a statement.
She's useless and she's made herself that.
As one friend of her's said when hearing the album months ago, "She's made a CD Jenna Bush can enjoy." Well good for her. Maybe Lance will pass it on over to Bully Boy during a bike ride?She knows the war is wrong. Now on her first release (don't count the "greatest hits") since 2002, she has nothing to say (nothing even to say badly). It doesn't cut it.
If she'd churned out her usual generic album but had a song on there that reflected something other than "I love my Lance!" I wouldn't have said anything. But if she wants to play with the Bully Boy, she has to take the knocks everyone else gets. She's playing it safe in every way and I don't feel the need to act like she's Bonnie Raitt when she not only isn't, but she's also not even trying to be. Take it to car show or a McDonald's convention. (Yes, that is where she's headed in the next few years.)Before I went to D.C., I played Wildflower for a number of friends ("Wildflower" not "Wildflowers" because it has a tenth of the talent and feeling that Judy Collins' Wildflowers has) and there was a feeling on the part of some that maybe she was playing it so safe because of her age? There's a double standard for women and Sheryl's going up against it. It's no surprise and she knew it was there. Whatever she'd done on this album would be the last hurrah and she knew it. So why not go out in a blaze of glory instead of trying to sound like really bad Bobbie Gentry? (Because the real point of the album is to prepare the country fans -- which is where she's going to try to move since she's a "woman of a certain age.")
I have no sympathy for her. But for her visiting fans, be sure to check The View tomorrow! She's going to be on! She'll tell you all about Lance! She's been working on her blush so watch for that. (She really just has the look away and smile sheepishly down at present, but she's working on a blush too.)
At a time when people are standing up, Cower Crow and her giggles about cooking and cleaning for "Lance!" isn't just useless, it's pathetic. When the relationship's over (the consensus is two more years) maybe the war will be over, maybe it won't? But she can look back at 2005, she who can't shut up about Dylan's "Masters of War," and know that when she could have said something important, she giggled about Lance. It doesn't cut it.
I agree with C.I., it doesn't cut it. Sheryl Crow is as bad as Bono. Nina said to put in that we love the new Carly Simon CD "because it's so romantic."
Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude
Mikey Likes It
Thomas Friedman Is A Great Man
The Common Ills
Cedric's Big Mix
The Third Estate Sunday Review
Kat's Korner
Like Maria Said Paz
Seth in the City
Music
Coldplay
Rolling Stones
Joan Baez
White Stripes
Carly Simon
Sheryl Crow
U2
The Mamas and the Papas
Justin Timberlake
U.S. Confirms Sniper Killed Knight Ridder Journalist
A U.S. military report has confirmed that Knight Ridder journalist Yasser Salihee was killed by an American sniper in June but claimed the shooting was justified. Salihee was shot as he was driving in western Baghdad. He was then left lying dead in his car, splattered with blood. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists U.S. troops have killed at least 13 journalists in Iraq since the war began.
How many times does this stuff need to happen before we stop being so "Oh don't say journalists are targeted!"? Here's a better question: why isn't this on the front page of the paper of record? New York Times run this on the front page? I think after awhile silence becomes collaboration and I feel like the paper has reached that point. They aren't a brave press, they are willing to downplay stories. Elaine and I were talking about this story and we think this isn't something that the press should be ignoring.
Army Suffers Worst Recruiting Year Since 1979
The Army has suffered its worst year for recruiting since 1979. The Army had set an annual goal of 80,000 new recruits by September 30 but fell 7,000 recruits short. The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve also fell short of their annual goal. Meanwhile the Armed Forces is trying new ways to reach the nation's young. The Army National Guard is now offering to give away three free music downloads from Itunes to individuals who sign up online to be contacted by recruiters.
Who would want to join? You sign up, you get put in Iraq and told you're stay has been extended and you're stuck in a war of choice with nothing to do but stand around waiting to be killed because no one in leadership in this country has the guts to scream, "Bring our troops home!"
But the answer, the army thinks, is three free downloads! Woo-hoo!
You know you get a better deal from a case of Pepsis.
Three free downloads, everybody sell your soul and ass for that.
Announcement: No interview this Wednesday. I'd like to do one next week but Tony's having a thing on Wednesday where he's doing a debate and he's my bud and I want to be there for that to root for him. Tone's all nervous and stuff so I'll just keep quiet until Thursday and then I'll tell you about it.
I will blog at Wednesday and at the usual time you should have something up. But the interviews take a lot of time to type up so I'm taking this week off.
Leah e-mailed and she wanted to know what I was listening to and if I thought was music was important like Kat does? She also goes C.I. is always quoting music and I hardly ever do.
Yeah, I love music. Not enough to sing up with the military for 3 free downloads though. :D
But I love music. My favorite group is probably White Stripes. I really like Coldplay too. Other than that I like Joan Baez and I like the Mamas and the Papas. Dad's been playing his Jefferson Airplane lately and I'm liking some of their stuff but they are really new to me. I like "Gone" by Jack Johnson and I like the version of it he and the Black Eyed Peas do together too which Cedric turned me on to.
I'm not real good with song names or CD names so that might be why I don't talk about it more and all. But I have talked about music.
How important do I think it is? I think it's really important. I think a good song can cheer you up when you're down or make you explore what you are feeling. I think a really good song can motivate people and not just 1 person. Like maybe get you dancing or thinking.
I think Bright Eyes is amazing and Ani DiFranco is someone I got into because she had something to say more than "I met this boy and we fell in love" type stuff. Those songs are like for kids and all. I mean Justin Timberlake, that's like stuff junior high kids listen to. That's like a bunch of kids squealing, "He's so cute" and stuff.
I'm an adult and I'm looking for songs about something more than kissing or dating or fooling around. I don't have anything against sex and stuff and there can be some good sex songs but like these professional virgins sticking their ass out and shaking it to make some money are really kind of embarrassing. I don't just mean Britney Spears cause the guys do it to. If Justin Timerblake didn't shake his ass he wouldn't have an audience. People aren't there for the "music" cause the music is all this little boy crap.
I hear that crap and think, "Grow up!" We're at war and people are dying all over the world and they want to sing those dopey songs that are just supposed to be about them and make you want them. I hear that stuff and think, "How sick are we that even grown ups will pay for this crap?"
There's a dumb ass critic for The New Yorker that Kat's talked about who just couldn't stop gushing over Justin Timberlake as an artist and like whatever dude. Maybe he'll jerk you off or something, you know? I mean a grown up should be embarrassed to be gushing over that studio crap that's like processed cheese and stuff.
I like the Strokes. They're pretty cool. I used to like some U2 but I can't listen now because Bono's such an asshole. Now he and Bob Geldof want to whine because Bully Boy didn't do what he promised and it's like, "Hey, idiots, you shouldn't have believed him. You shouldn't have even spoken to him in the first place because he just used you."
When people like Orafice Hatch are showing up at U2 concerts, U2 isn't cool. The band's supposed to be tired of Bono and if I was in the band I would have pulled him aside a long time ago and told him that this whole french kiss Tony Blair and Bully Boy wasn't good for the band and it wasn't good for charity even. But Bono wants "power" and he's willing to bend over and take whatever he has to for power.
If you can't tell, I'm really disgusted by Bono.
Elaine told me about a really cool song by George Michael called "Shoot the Dog" and I watched that video online. It's pretty cool. George Michael is like a dance singer and he showed more guts than Mr. Rock Bono. Bono's just a sellout now and people on campus really down him. It used to be just him but now they even down U2.
They'll say things like while Bono is holding hands with Bully Boy, even the old guys from the Rolling Stones are standing up and all and saying what matters. But Bono can't do that because he's chicken shit and also because he wants power.
I think if you're in a rock band, you need to be in a rock band. You can speak out and all, that's cool. But when you start hanging out with a man like Bully Boy who is hated by the world, you're just saying to the world: screw you and screw your little lives it's more important for me to hang with the powerful.
When Kat and C.I. talked about Bono this summer at The Third Estate Sunday Review the Third Estate Sunday Review got some people whining, "Bono means well." He's holding hands with a man responsible for torture you know. That says it all. But some of those same people wrote back after Live 8 to say, "Okay, he is a jerk." Bono's destroyed the group and that's why people don't play that new CD or buy it now.
My oldest brother told me this weekend that U2 almost destroyed their careers with a CD called Pop and now they're just not listened to anymore because Bono wants to kiss war criminals so he bets they really hate Bono. I thought musicians were supposed to be for the people?
So those are some of my musical thoughts.
I'll close with something C.I. wrote last week because I really think we need to expect that the artists who want our money are people who have something to say and I think Sheryl Crow is so disgusting acting like a stupid idiot on TV and playing what Ma calls the backlash game. She said it's disgusting to watch a woman who was supposed to be so indpendent play "little house wife" to Lance Armstrong.
"Quick note"
Well who knew? Angry e-mails about never-having-been-here-before-but-I-won't-be-back- after-that-slam-on-Sheryl-Crow-this-morning. Lots of "Do you know you mispelled her name!"Do I care?
No, I don't care how she spells her name. She's made herself useless. The new album sucks. A friend gave me a copy (advance copy, not bootleg) last week. I took it to DC and passed it off to Kat saying, "This isn't for a review, this is just so you can enjoy how bad she is."
She's really bad. She's doing the power chord jangle she's been so fond of since her second album, the voice still cracks in all the wrong places, and she still can't write a lyric. "Rolling thunder," when it pops up, should make everyone laugh. Her lyrics are on the nose, the first thing that might tumble out of the mouth. There's no thought, there's no attempt to find a metaphor that hasn't been used over and over. Correction, she probably wrote "trouble coming," stopped for ten seconds to twirl her hair and then squealed, "Rolling thunder!"
I'm not saying the crap won't move units. It will. That's part of the problem. Both because there's already enough crap out there and because she'll be selling it on her love life.
"Oh, Sheryl's so happy with that Lance Armstrong!"She's disappointed a lot of people (her peers, not her fans) with her crap since spring of 2003. I've heard it for two years now. They think she's a coward and sell out, someone who got slammed for having peace on a guitar strap and then went running to dullsville to make sure no one said a mean word against her.
(The great "love affair" has been compared to when Hepburn was dubbed "box office poison" and stayed in the headlines by being seen with Howard Hughes. But let's note that Hepburn emerged with Philadelphia Story. Crow doesn't have art in her. And every song on the album sounds like music you heard . . . twenty to thirty years ago.)
So she plays it safe and, like with her Kid Rock duet, heads over to the dirt road to make sure people know she's "real." She bores interviewers with tales of "washing dishes" and tries so damn hard to act like she's the most generic and boring person.
She's succeeded at it so well that it's who she is now.
That a few mean remarks over a guitar strap would send her running into the hills of mediocrity is appalling. That a woman who made a tiny, small anti-war statement two years ago now thinks she can push her dull love life off on America and feel good about herself is disgraceful.
"Where Has All The Love Gone" (the ", Man" is implied) is her idea of a big statement.The guitar strap was more of a statement.
She's useless and she's made herself that.
As one friend of her's said when hearing the album months ago, "She's made a CD Jenna Bush can enjoy." Well good for her. Maybe Lance will pass it on over to Bully Boy during a bike ride?She knows the war is wrong. Now on her first release (don't count the "greatest hits") since 2002, she has nothing to say (nothing even to say badly). It doesn't cut it.
If she'd churned out her usual generic album but had a song on there that reflected something other than "I love my Lance!" I wouldn't have said anything. But if she wants to play with the Bully Boy, she has to take the knocks everyone else gets. She's playing it safe in every way and I don't feel the need to act like she's Bonnie Raitt when she not only isn't, but she's also not even trying to be. Take it to car show or a McDonald's convention. (Yes, that is where she's headed in the next few years.)Before I went to D.C., I played Wildflower for a number of friends ("Wildflower" not "Wildflowers" because it has a tenth of the talent and feeling that Judy Collins' Wildflowers has) and there was a feeling on the part of some that maybe she was playing it so safe because of her age? There's a double standard for women and Sheryl's going up against it. It's no surprise and she knew it was there. Whatever she'd done on this album would be the last hurrah and she knew it. So why not go out in a blaze of glory instead of trying to sound like really bad Bobbie Gentry? (Because the real point of the album is to prepare the country fans -- which is where she's going to try to move since she's a "woman of a certain age.")
I have no sympathy for her. But for her visiting fans, be sure to check The View tomorrow! She's going to be on! She'll tell you all about Lance! She's been working on her blush so watch for that. (She really just has the look away and smile sheepishly down at present, but she's working on a blush too.)
At a time when people are standing up, Cower Crow and her giggles about cooking and cleaning for "Lance!" isn't just useless, it's pathetic. When the relationship's over (the consensus is two more years) maybe the war will be over, maybe it won't? But she can look back at 2005, she who can't shut up about Dylan's "Masters of War," and know that when she could have said something important, she giggled about Lance. It doesn't cut it.
I agree with C.I., it doesn't cut it. Sheryl Crow is as bad as Bono. Nina said to put in that we love the new Carly Simon CD "because it's so romantic."
Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude
Mikey Likes It
Thomas Friedman Is A Great Man
The Common Ills
Cedric's Big Mix
The Third Estate Sunday Review
Kat's Korner
Like Maria Said Paz
Seth in the City
Music
Coldplay
Rolling Stones
Joan Baez
White Stripes
Carly Simon
Sheryl Crow
U2
The Mamas and the Papas
Justin Timberlake
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