Thursday, March 09, 2006

5 would impeach -- more coming?

Good evening. Democracy Now! still in London and in London tomorrow as well. Hope you're catching it. The show's always great but when they're on location in London, New Mexico, etc., they are able to cover events from those areas in real detail. I think there's been some really great stuff on this week and hope you haven't been missing it. Now here's some news from Democracy Now!

Five Vermont Towns Back Impeachment of Bush
In Vermont, five towns have approved measures calling for the impeachment of President Bush. The votes come at a time when the talk of impeachment is increasing. On Monday the Wall Street Journal ran a lengthy article pointing out how polls show there is greater support among the public for the impeachment of President Bush than there ever was for President Clinton. In 1998, polls showed 27 percent of the country backed the impeachment of Clinton if he lied about having a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Meanwhile a recent Zogby poll showed 51 percent of the country said Congress should consider impeaching Bush if he didn't tell truth about the reasons for the Iraq war.

Rebecca noted this election night and it was just one town when the early reporting was done on it. C.I. noted it when it was four. When it was all counted, it was five towns. Think about that.
Like the story notes, among us, the people, there is an interest in impeachment. It's just our elected officials and our media giants that don't want to talk about this issue. "Greater support . . . for the impeachment of" Bully Boy "than there ever was for President Clinton." On the ground, things are changing and have changed. I think this is a big news: 5 towns would impeach the Bully Boy. I hear a lot of talk about how things would change if the Democrats controlled at least one house and I'm not sure I buy that.

Elaine wrote this last night:

I'm really not pleased with Congress. I don't think the blame can just placed on the Republicans. Take the Patriot Act. There is no reason in the world that only Robert Byrd could stand by Russ Feingold. You had senators who weren't even up for re-election and they couldn't find the strength to take a stand?
Are they that weak or are they getting advice from some re-election committee? I have no idea but the Democratic Party has been a huge disappointment -- on the Patriot Act, on the spying, on the Supreme Court nominations, go down the list.

You really do have to wonder. For every John Conyers, Maxine Waters, Russ Feingold, you get a lot of people standing around with dopey expressions on their face and doing nothing.

These are really awful times for our country. We've got an illegal war in Iraq, we got the war in Afghanistan still going on, we got Bully Boy spying on the American people and you just start adding that up and all the scandals and wondering why the Democrats aren't doing anything with it?

Are they scared of how they'll look? Republicans don't worry too much about that. They'll lie, sure. But in terms of going after their opponent, they don't hedge their bets. Sam Parry had a thing about the Democrat's response or lack of it that C.I. noted this week.

I was talking to Ma about this (and Dad too but Ma's got her own site so let me plug Trina's Kitchen) and she said right now it seems like the Democrats have the best chance of winning in November but that she felt that way in 2004 when John Kerry was the candidate because she thought, "They won't be able to tar and feather him." But he let them tar and feather him. Or his campaign did. I'm not trying to slam him, he's one of my senators and he does a pretty good job in the Senate. But he was the military guy who spoke out against an immoral war so how could they slime him?

How? Because he didn't speak out against this war. The campaign tried to just focus on Vietnam and not what happened after. And because he didn't argue about what happened after, that let the right paint it as something bad and with him saying nothing, the impression may have stuck with others. He should have come out strong against the Iraq war and he should have talked about why he spoke out against the Vietnam war.

All Bully Boy had to offer was the war and Kerry trying to be like the Bully Boy just made him a pale imitation. If Democrats think they can win big in November by acting like the Republicans, they better not be surprised if they put up a close fight but end up losing. Democrats need to be Democrats. They need to fight and stand up. The people will support that.

Shiites Direct Ministry to Stop Counting Deaths Caused by Militias
Meanwhile the Washington Post is reporting the leading Shiite party in Iraq's governing coalition has directed the Health Ministry to stop tabulating execution-style shootings in order to minimize the number of casualties caused by Shiite militias and death squads. According to the paper, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, ordered government hospitals and morgues to continue cataloging deaths caused by bombings or clashes with insurgents, but not by execution-style shootings.

Who else is trying to be like the Bully Boy? The governing Shiites. Don't record deaths and they didn't happen. Hide the bodies from public sight and no one knows. That's not democracy but it is Bully Boy so he's exported his own denial and lies to Iraq.

Ron (Why Are We Back In Iraq?) has an article he wrote with John Byrne called "Washington nonprofit where Abramoff was director wrote articles favoring Abramoff clients"

The Washington nonprofit whose president appeared before a Senate committee as a victim of fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff's congressional bribery net wrote repeated articles that aligned with the positions of the lobbyist's clients, suggesting possible coordination between the lobbyist and the group in violation of federal law.
In a series of editorials between 1999 and 2001, National Center for Public Policy Research president Amy Ridenour went to bat for the Commonwealth of the Marianas Islands, a small U.S. territory in the Pacific. Her releases bemoaned efforts to expand federal immigration laws to the island, defended the islands' meager wages and attacked Clinton Administration attempts to tighten labor laws.
Ridenour also lent her support to the Western Pacific Economic Council, a trade group composed of Marianas garment manufacturers. Her group's name appeared in a Saipan newspaper backing the Council in 1999.

This reminds me a little of when the administration was paying Armstrong Williams and others to pimp their programs. This has that and sweat shop issues and someone acting innocent before the Senate so you should check it out if you haven't already.

I don't think Dad's ever asked me to note anything before but he did today. He pointed out that C.I.'s noting it and I said, "I've put it up" but Dad said he didn't think so. I know we all noted it at The Third Estate Sunday Review and I guess that's why I think I had noted it.
I'm swiping from C.I. by the way because C.I. has links in the announcement:

"MediaChannel, UFPJ and Partners Call For National Media Action"
The national day of local media protest announced last week on MediaChannel.org has received such a positive response that the organizers of United For Peace And Justice, the country's largest anti-war coalition, decided to change the date from March 21st to March 15th. The media protest will now kickoff this years week-long "spring offensive" against the war, just before the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.Organizers were so excited about the prospect of bringing media activists and anti-war activists together, to challenge media outlets to tell the truth about the war and report on the anti-war movement, that they decided it should begin the week and not end it.
"The media helped make the war possible," charges UFPJ National Coordinator Leslie Cagan. "It's time to call for more coverage and better coverage."
The protests will also pay tribute to journalists and media workers killed in the line of fire, kidnapped, or jailed without charges. Most recently, on February 23rd an Al-Arabiya media team was gunned down in Iraq. We have to honor those who have lost their lives to get the story out.
MediaChannel.org is taking the lead in reaching out to media and peace groups to encourage a series of media actions on March 15th."
All of us are media consumers," says MediaChannel editor Danny Schechter, "The News Dissector." "We can all take part by monitoring media coverage, writing letters and emails to media decision makers, and protesting against a pro-war media tilt in much of the coverage. If you have ever complained about the coverage, now's the time to do something by speaking up."

So what are you doing to take part in protesting the third anniversary of the illegal war? You gotta do something. You don't want to be one of the idiots playing "War Got Your Tongue?" do you? Three years, you should have an opinion by now and not be afraid to express it.

The only way the war will stop and the troops will come home is if we all start speaking out. Not just once, or twice, or three times. We gotta speak out and do it over and over.

My favorite prof stopped me on campus today and goes, "Tell C.I. incredible." What was he talking about? This morning's "NYT: 'G.O.P. Plan Would Allow Spying Without Warrants' (Shane and Kirkpatrick)." C.I.'s having nothing but problems with publishing The Common Ills. Hopefully, that's about to change (switched from monthly archives to weekly this morning) but it's been a pain in the butt. I tried to pass on my prof's compliment and C.I. was all, "Oh, there's nothing I've done that's worth praise this week. I'm sure he meant something someone highlighted." No, he meant your entry. And he was going on about how no one in the article C.I. was highlighting raised the issue of checks and balances and how the Senate was pulling the courts out of the equation. It's a great entry and you should check it out. Another thing you should check out is Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush. I finished it last night and Nina's reading it right now. You have to read that book. I was in such a rush to get to that book last night that I forgot to put a title on my post. :D



















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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Good evening. Let's get started with some stuff from Democracy Now! and remember that they are in London for the rest of the week.



Bush, GOP Sens. Reach Eavesdropping Agreement
On Capitol Hill, the Senate Intelligence Committee has voted down a proposal to investigate the Bush administration’s domestic spy program. The vote came after the White House and Republican Senators agreed to new guidelines for the practice of government eavesdropping without court-approved warrants. According to the New York Times, the deal asks the Bush administration to request court warrants only "whenever possible." The Bush administration would be given a 45 day grace period to spy without court warrants if they felt requesting them would compromise national security. After the 45-day period, the warrantless eavesdropping could then be extended if the attorney general certifies the administration's stance. In addition, a handful of extra members of Congress would also be briefed on the program’s activities. Democrats lashed out at the deal. West Virginia Senator John Rockefeller, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee said: "The committee is, to put it bluntly, basically under the control of the White House."


I can't add much to that, so I'll just note C.I. from this morning:

The above is from David D. Kirkpatrick and Scott Shane's "G.O.P. Senators Say Accord Is Set on Wiretapping" in this morning's New York Times and the excerpt above is from the ninth and ten paragraphs. That's how far down you have to dive through the nonsense so well captured by the headline.
Olympia Snowe's a star of the piece and she's the Queen of Delusion but then most people smeared in the lead up to the war ("French!") by her own party would have wised up a long time ago. Proving she's not most people, or competent, Snowe is pleased as punch that from now on the new "rules" will give the administration 45 days to seek a warrant (as opposed to the current 72 hours) when they want to spy on American citizens (45 days they can spy without a warrant) UNLESS the attorney general (that would be Gonzales) will "certify that the surveillance is necessary to protect the country and explain to the subcommittee why the administration has not sought a warrant" because, after all, Gonzales has done such a brilliant job telling the Senate the truth, right? (Wrong.)
They've abdicated their responsibilities. But Harriet Miers (she just doesn't go away, does she?), Dick Cheney and Stephen J. Hadley (aka the gang of crooks) worked really hard on the legislation. It's called abdication of duty if not derelicition. But if the White House wants to write legislation, who are the cowed Republican senators to stand in their way?
Here's the Queen of Delusions, the Miss Havisham of the Senate, in the Times:
"We are reasserting Congressional responsibility and oversight," Ms. Snowe said.
And here's actual reality from the Washington Post:
At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan described the DeWine proposal as interesting but reiterated the position that Bush already has the power to institute the program.
Walter Pincus' "Senate Panel Blocks Eavesdropping Probe" reveals that the only hope for democracy may be left to Arlen Specter, of all people:
The NSA issue was brought up at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who is drafting his own bill. Specter warned that he will try to reduce the administration's funding unless Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales agrees to answer more of his committee's questions."We're having quite a time in getting responses to questions as to what has happened with the electronic surveillance program," Specter said. "I want to put the administration on notice and this committee on notice that I may be looking for an amendment to limit funding as to the electronic surveillance program -- which is the power of the purse -- if we can't get an answer in any other way."

I'm sorry but I always laugh when C.I. does Great Expectations. There was another thing at The Third Estate Sunday Review and I told Elaine, "Ma, thinks you came up with the 'Pip' ref. Elaine said, 'Tell her it was C.I.'"

I also think it's funny because I can see Olympia Snowe as Miss Havisham. :D


Abramoff Attorney Threatens to "Name Names" At Sentencing Hearing
This update on the case of indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- a federal judge has rejected a request to delay his sentencing because imprionsonment could derail his cooperation in several ongoing criminal investigations. Abramoff was ordered to return for sentencing on March 29th. Abbe Lowell, Abramoff's attorney warned the court he may reveal details of the government’s investigations at his client’s sentencing. Lowell said: "We will name names. We will provide the public with evidence of what is going on out there. It seems to me that is not in the interest of law enforcement."


Okay, I don't have much to say here but this is something Elaine and I both made a note of and we both go, "Did we hear that right?" when we were on the phone picking our two items.

Abramoff's attorney wants a delay in sentencing. If he doesn't get it, "We will name names. We will provide the public with evidence of what is going on out there." What? Are they blackmailing the feds? Is Abramoff saying there's a cover up going on? What does that threat mean?


Remember yesterday when I was talking about how it was important to give credit to our left voices? Tony told me about how a daily newspaper had "borrowed" from a left site without giving credit. So to make sure I do my part to give people on our side credit, Bill Conroy's "Dallas Morning News breathlessly reports House of Death drug-war script:"

Notice the date of the Dallas Morning News' story -- March 29, 2005. (The actual story available on the Internet shows a publication date of May 20, 2005. I guess the paper's stories get a new publication date once they are put online? )
Anyway, there is no mention in the story about how Gonzalez’ letter was mysteriously "revealed."
Well, here's a clue.
Narco News obtained that memo exclusively through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and published the unredacted text of the letter online on March 23, and 11 days later put the actual document online.
So you have to wonder just how the Dallas Morning News came upon Gonzalez' memo, don't you? Maybe they went through the arduous process of obtaining the memo through FOIA themselves, just so they could avoid crediting Narco News?
Well, that's par for the course. It's tough for a mainstream media outlet to admit it got beat by the feisty underdog. So sometimes it's easier to make it appear they got the story first to avoid being honest about who really "revealed" the information.
In any event, the current story by the Dallas Morning News about the informant Lalo supposedly being extradited to Mexico is not really the important news it is set up to be in that newspaper's predictable drug-war script. ICE officials have long hinted to Narco News that Lalo was deemed a loose end who needs to be cut from the picture to assure the cover-up in this case does not unravel. Extraditing Lalo to Mexico, where he is certain to be killed by the narcos he double crossed, serves just that purpose.
The Dallas Morning News, in its eagerness to pound its chest in "breaking" news on the story, neglects to mention anything in its recent story about the cover-up of the U.S. government’s complicity in the murders in Juarez, which Narco News has shown, with documentation, reaches to the upper levels of the Justice Department.
But then, the Dallas Morning News would have to credit Narco News for that revelation and admit they dropped the ball in pursuing the cover-up angle on the story. Or maybe they have other reasons for avoiding a confrontation with powerful sources inside the Justice Department whom they depend on for getting scoops and access in generating their ongoing script for the so-called drug war.

That's not right. When someone rips off someone, it's not right. Wouldn't have taken but one sentence to say "the memo obtained by Narco News" and if I did what the Dallas Morning News did on a class paper, I'd get a big, fat "F." You have to credit the sources.

Short tonight because I've got a book to read. Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush which is put out by the Center for Constitutional Rights. (Thank you to C.I. for the book.)

Now don't forget to check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's thoughts. And don't miss Betty's latest: "The Chicken Lays An Egg"












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Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Court has a funny idea of "justice" and giving Zirin (and others) credit earned

Good evening. Democracy Now! is on the road and in London. In London all week. So let's kick things off with Democracy Now!



Supreme Court Rules Federally-Funded Schools Must Allow Recruiting
In other news, the Supreme Court has ruled military recruiting must be allowed on college campuses that accept federal funding. In a unanimous ruling, Justices rejected a free-speech challenge from law schools that said they shouldn't be forced to accept recruitment so long as the military maintains a "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay men and lesbian. The schools maintain the policy is discriminatory.

Unanimous. What a brave Court, eh? What a load of crap. The Court says it's okay to allow recruiters on campus if they discriminate. So all the racists and sexists should get ready for their careers days! Think I'm joking? Have you paid any attention to what the so-called "faith-based" organizations are trying to do with their "hiring"? Are you an unmarried woman? Better rethink dropping off that resume. And now, thanks to the Court, they can use all that money they've got, thanks to the Bully Boy, and start participating in career days at colleges.
No reason they shouldn't be allowed to, not after that spit in the face of equal protection and call it "justice" decision.

Since the Court won't protect you, it falls to each of us. So here, we'll add three links to help you out:

Coalition Against Militarism in Schools
Counter-Recruitment and Alternatives to the Military Program
Campus Anti-War Network

I'll also grab two that C.I. added this weekend to The Common Ills:

War Resisters Support Campaign
The G.I. Rights Hotline

Army Announces New Review of Tillman Death
In military news, the US army has announced a new review of the death of former football star turned US Ranger Pat Tillman. Tillman made headlines when he quit the NFL to fight after the Sept. 11 attacks. He died while serving in Afghanistan in April 2004. The military initially mislead his family into believing he was killed in battle when in fact he was killed by US troops. Tillman’s death has already been probed on three separate occasions. The probes have only resulted in light punishment for some of his fellow soldiers. The new probes will focus on both the details of his shooting and allegations the Army covered up crucial facts after he was killed. A military spokesperson said earlier investigations had produced enough evidence to warrant possible charges of negligent homicide.

First, no, no first. This is a theme here. I got a beef. Get ready. Here's Dave Zirin's "Why Did Pat Tillman Die?" from CounterPunch:

Paging Mr. Orwell. In explaining why the Army was finally launching a criminal investigation of the April 2004 friendly fire death of NFL star-turned-Army-Ranger Pat Tillman, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace sighed, "Although there is no evidence there was criminal activity the investigators did not specifically look at whether there was criminal activity. In other words, the previous four investigations were flawless except for the fact that they didn,t investigate anything. Now the Army has committed publicly to reexamining the circumstances around Pat Tillman,s death as a formal criminal probe.
The reopening of the case represents a triumph for the Tillman family, particularly Pat,s parents Patrick Sr. and Mary, who have been pushing for a criminal probe for almost two years.




Now C.I. covered this on Sunday morning, early Sunday morning. And C.I. linked to Dave Zirin's "Why Pat Tillman's Parents Are No Longer Silent" because Zirin's been all over this story and even includes it in his book.

So what's my point. I got a beef. I'm seeing, online, all these people linking on Monday to a late Sunday piece. Not by Dave Zirin. The piece doesn't even mention Dave Zirin. Usually, you've got some blogger rubbing their thighs with glee, "Oh ___ ___ is all over this! He's the first one to talk about this!" Well, no, HE wasn't. Dave Zirin was. And in terms of Sunday, C.I. was linking to Dave Zirin's piece that makes all the points ____ ____ makes in his much linked piece that doesn't mention Dave Zirin. So some people knew Zirin was on this story and stayed on it.

Shouldn't our supposed left be aware of Dave Zirin? I talked to C.I. on the phone about this and we both agreed that Zirin has repeatedly written about this topic and that there's something sad when supposed lefties are rushing to credit a mainstream source after Zirin's been on this story forever.

Now I read Zirin's book, What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States, me and Wally even picked it as our favorite book of 2005 (here and here). And okay, maybe everyone didn't read the book -- their loss. But he was on Democracy Now! talking about this and much more. He's written about this and his stuff on it has appeared at CounterPunch, Common Dreams and The Nation as well as at his Edge of Sports. He's been on Air America Radio (Chuck D's On the Real and Laura Flanders' RadioNation) so I think if you haven't heard of him and you consider yourself informed, you need to take a little responsibility.

I don't think they're uninformed. I think it was "Oh mainstream source! Yea! Mainstream source! Credible!" We need to support our left voices and if we're not doing that, maybe we aren't left?

Now I want to give some credit because there are voices, on the left, who aren't afraid to criticize Dexter Filkins of the New York Times.

Dexy wrote a book review two Sundays ago. Three voices weren't afraid to call him on it. Here they are in chronological order.

C.I. from "And the war drags on . . ." Sunday, Feb 26th:


Now for the New York Times. Prepare to chuckle (and thanks to Rob for pointing it out, I often skip the book section and had intended this to be one of those days):
But [Paul L.] Bremer bears a heavy responsibility for keeping silent -- and so does General Sanchez. If we can ssume that Bremer's recollection is correct, then General Sanchez's remarks indicate that Baghdad was indeed out of control, that both he and Bremer knew it and that without more troops, it was likely to stay out of control. [. . .]
By staying silent, Bremer ensured that there would be no public debate on the merits of deploying more Americans troops. By staying silent, he ensured that there would be little public discussion over the condition of the Iraqi security forces, whose quality he doubted.
[. . . .]
What do we learn from the above? It's by an in-house writer at the paper so it's safe to assume (no surprise) that the Times argument remains "Stay until more are slaughtered!" Yeah, they're making the idiotic argument that "more troops" are needed. Got to protect those foreign investments, got to protect that "free market," no need to leave until we've privatized everything. That's their real argument. The Times can support human rights . . . to a point. The point is where human rights intersects with a "healthy" profit motive. At that point, the paper tosses human rights out the window.
Listening to the scolding of Bremer (who deserves it) for his silence is anyone else thinking of all that the paper of record has been silent on? The Bully Boy hump? The NSA warrantless and illegal spying that they sat on for a year. And so much more. (For years and years and years.)
If you're thinking, "Who is the Times to scold anyone for staying silent?" wait, it's about to get a whole lot funnier (and more hypocritical). The review is entitled "Desert Sturm" (oh, aren't they cute -- in their minds). And the writer? Dexter Filkins.
Dexter Filkins who stayed silent on the slaughter he should have witnessed in Falluja. Supposedly he was there in November 2004. But to read his rah-rah, video game reporting, it was all, people killed, people who had it coming to them. And it was so 'totally cool' judging by his breathless reporting. (Did the American troops have to swat him on the snout to get him to stop humping their legs?) It was all so glorious, so wonderous to read Dexy's "award winning" "reporting." The piece that took over six days to make it into print. Who edited that report? Who had to clear it? Why did it take so long to make it into the paper?
Those are questions Dexy may have to answer someday (probably sooner than he thinks). But the man who couldn't report the truth on Iraq (not just on Falluja, on the entire occupation) now wants to scold Bremer for staying silent. It's interesting to watch the liars turn on one another.
As the Judith Miller controversy was in its final stages, I said repeatedly that if she helped get us into war (she was part of a large number of helpers -- she didn't do it alone), it's the "reporters" like Dexter Filkins who keep us over there by refusing to report the truth. Now Dexter wants to scold Bremer for "staying silent"? Filkins' press releases live from the Green Zone will not be forgotten. He can pretend like the only one staying silent was Bremer but it was him too. Had the Times written the truth about the occupation long ago, America might have woken up sooner.


Danny Schechter "Why Protest Media Coverage Mar 15?" February 27:

New York Times Baghdad correspondent Dexter Filkins reviews Paul Bremer’s book "My Year in Iraq." He faults him and General Sanchez for not demanding more troops. He PRAISES him for organizing elections saying "HE DESERVES OUR GRATITUDE FOR BRINGING THEM OFF." Our gratitude? Who is talking about, the NY Times, The US Government, or his readers?This just underscores the continuing identification of a major media outlet's top correspondent with the military mission which lost because it just wasn't big enough, Never mind that most Iraqis who did vote said they were doing so not to endorse some Bushian or Bremerian view of democracy but to give the the Americans the ritual they insisted on so that they would leave. There is no mention in the review of how Bremer's "energetic" CPA countenanced BILLIONS of dollars in corruption.In contrast to Fikins mild and qualified rebuke, I ran into an Iraqi American now working for the Times who quipped that Bremer should be on trial alongside Saddam.Two journalists. Two views. Guess which one gets ink in the NY Times?


Peter Hart on March 3rd's CounterSpin:

In L. Paul Bremer's new book about running the occupation of Iraq, he reveals that he secretly asked the Pentagon for tens of thousands more troops as the occupation began to disintegrate in May of 2004. Bremer also reveals that the top American commander in Iraq, Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, was eager to have at least 40,000 more troops. Of course this contradicts public claims by Bremer and Sanchez and the White House that addition troops weren't needed and that commanders didn't want them. In the New York Times Book review on February 26th, Times Baghdad correspondent Dexter Filkins chided Bremer and Sanchez for not going public about the troops shortage. As Filkins put it, QUOTE: "To nearly anyone who spent time in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, it was scandalously obvious that the American military, for all its prowess lacked sufficient number of soldiers to bring the country under control. Iraqis knew it, American officers beneath their breath often said it." But if it was that obvious, perhaps it's also a scandal that Filkins wasn't sounding the alarm in his reporting in the Times. By not prominently reporting about the shortage because officials wouldn't say as much on the record, Filkins seems to be suggesting, probably without meaning to, that he needed the approval of US officials to report what he was hearing with his own ears and seeing with his own eyes.



And Ruth caught Hart's commentary so thanks to Ruth.

Now at some point, you're going to see everyone in the mainstream piling on Dexter Filkins the way they did Judith Miller. He deserves it as much as Miller. But I want us all to remember which voices were making real time criticism and which ones weren't.

Give credit to Peter Hart, Danny Schechter, C.I. and any other left voice that hasn't been afraid to criticize Dexter Filkins. It's a lot easier to wait and figure out what's safe, to stay silent until a huge number of voices are speaking out. You see that with the war. Congress isn't sure whether it's "safe" to speak out. Your voices on the left that speak out need to get their credit.

Dave Zirin spoke out. Not once or twice. He covered the Pat Tillman issue over and over. He deserves his credit. If we're not going to credit the left, we can't complain when others don't.

That's it for tonight. Check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's commentary.











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Monday, March 06, 2006

Quickie

Good night. Finally. Elaine couldn't get it, Rebecca couldn't get in and I couldn't get in. We all got the same error messages when we tried to log into our accounts tonight.

Study: 90% of Baghdad Residents Suffer Psychological Disorders
Meanwhile, the Washington Post is reporting a new study has found more than 90 percent of Baghdad residents suffer from psychological disorders such as insomnia, depression and post-traumatic stress. According to the study, violent incidents have nearly doubled during the three years since the invasion than in the preceding 14 years. A mass-exodus of educated professionals since the US invasion has left the country with only 75 psychiatrists -- and no child psychiatrists at all.

If we were there to help (I know, I never bought that lie either), wouldn't we have done something about that from the start? We were happy to hold conferences on "investment" opportunities and privatization and you name it, but we weren't interested in organizing medical teams. And we weren't interested in protecting the hospitals or their medical infrastructure.


Post Reporter Gave Back FBI Document in Possible Spy Case
Meanwhile, the Washington Post has revealed one of its reporters gave the FBI back a secret document he obtained from a group who said it contained proof they were targets of the government's spy program. The reporter, David Ottaway, received the document from Saudi Arabia's al-Haramain Islamic Foundation in 2004. The document had been mistakenly handed over to the group by the federal government. The Post finally broke the group's story last week, when its Oregon affiliate filed a lawsuit against the government. The group says government records show the National Security Agency intercepted several of the group's conversations in the spring of 2004. Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie said the government's surveillance program was not known at the time Ottaway received the document, and thus contained no "useful information."

This story pissed me off. Someone went to a reporter with proof they were being spied on and the reporter's response is to rat out the source and hand the document over to the FBI? Am I missing something here? At a time when the press wants to cry that they're under attack from the government, this guy Ottaway is basically in league with them.

Check out Wally's "THIS JUST IN! CHENEY'S OSCAR NIGHT RAMPAGE!" which is hilarious and "Ruth's Public Radio Report" which is full of information. I'm at work in the morning so I didn't get to catch Law & Disorder but Nina heard and said everyone should go listen.

There was a thing I had planned for tonight but that was what, three hours ago? So that's going to be it. I'll pick up on what I had planned for tonight tomorrow.







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Friday, March 03, 2006

Friday, so a little news, a little humor

Good evening! It's Friday. Finally. Hopefully you get some time off or at least some time where there's a little less to do. Let's get things kicked off with Democracy Now!

15 Anti-Torture Activists Arrested Outside White House
In Washington, 15 activists were arrested outside the White House Thursday at a protest against torture. The protest was called by Witness Against Torture. In December, the group marched on the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of detainees are being held without charge.
Human rights attorney Jennifer Harbury: "We wore the orange overalls and a gag that said 'torture' and we walked the halls of congress to awaken their conscience. We're trying to haunt their conscience. We're the ghost walkers today. We're here to say no human being can be tortured under any circumstances. My husband was tortured to death by CIA assets or informants in Guatemala 10 years ago, and after many of my hunger strikes that leaked out. What we found out after it was too late to save his life is, like I say, they were all on the CIA payroll. The Senate intelligence committee held a huge panel discussion and investigation of this, and after my testimony they said quote: 'This is a disgrace. No one should ever have to starve to stop torture. It will never happen again.' Really all of us are just calling them on that promise. There can be no more torture by the United States or anyone else."

I wonder sometime how mcuh people care about this? Not the ones who follow the news, but the ones who never know what's going on. If they hear about it by accident, do they get what's going on? I think it's really important for demonstrations like the one above to take place. They raise awareness. It's great if they can get media coverage, but just being out there, with people passing them, they raised attention/awareness. That's what all the different rallies, protests and marches this month are about. So find something you can do and do it.

Otherwise, you're giving your approval. Even if silently or among a few close friends, you object, you're giving your approval to torture, illegal war, and all the stuff being done in our name.



Bush Signs Controversial Nuke Deal on India Visit:
In India, President Bush has signed a controversial deal to foster nuclear cooperation between the United States and India. Under the agreement, the U.S. would end a decades-long moratorium on sales of nuclear fuel and reactor components to India while allowing the country to substantially step up its nuclear weapons production. India is one of only three countries that has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The deal was criticized by some lawmakers in Washington who said it could lead to the spread of nuclear weapons. House Democrat Ed Markey, co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation called the agreement "a historic failure of this president to tackle the real nuclear threats that we face."


Wally is on the phone with C.I. I heped enough last night so that Wally could get his latest Jot posted but he's having some serious problems. So C.I.'s trying to help him figure out what's going on there. But yesterday's "THIS JUST IN! BULLY BOY RETURNING TO THE USA WITH A 'PLAN'! " nailed Bully Boy's moves described above:

EXPLAINING WHY HE WAS EAGER TO ARM ONE NATION WITH NUKES WHILE HE FRETS OVER THE ALLEGED NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES OF OTHER NATIONS, BULLY BOY EXPLAINED, "I AM A FIRM BELIEVER THAT FENCES MAKE FOR GOOD NEIGHBORS. AND I THINK GOOD NEIGHBORS BORROW A CUP OF NUKES FROM ONE ANOTHER ON THOSE ROUGH MORNINGS WHERE YOU'RE DRAGGING."
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE ISSUE OF THE PORTS, BULLY BOY SIGHED LOUDLY.
"I HAVE A PLAN," BULLY BOY EXPLAINED. "MY ECONOMIC CHOICES ARE A PLAN. AND MY PLAN IS A PLAN. MY PLAN IS GOOD FOR THE RICH AND THE PORTS. A PORT MAN WORKING AT MCDONALDS WILL GET TAX RELIEF UNDER MY PLAN. IT IS A GOOD PLAN. IT IS A STRONG PLAN. IT IS A PLAN. RICH OR PORT, ALL BENEFIT FROM MY PLAN."
THE LAST FUNCTIONING PRESS MEMBER IN THE POOL, HELEN THOMAS, ASKED BULLY BOY IF HE COULD "EXPLAIN THIS PLAN?"
"HELEN, WEREN'T YOU LISTENING?" ASKED BULLY BOY. "I JUST DID. IT IS A PLAN. A PLAN FOR RICH AND FOR PORT. PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TRUST ME ON THIS. I JUMPED INTO ACTION TO ADDRES THE PROBLEMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA AND I CAN HANDLE THE PROBLEM OF THE PORTS."


I love Wally's running gag where Bully Boy always thinks the "ports" are the poor. :D

But there it is. We're bothered by North Korea and Iran but we're handing over nukes to India.
One of my classmates said today that "the curse and the shame of nuclear weapons is now India's as well." Tony and I were like, "Perfect!" Cause it does sum it up perfectly.

For more on the nukes, on war, on Bully Boy and his visit to India (and probably a lot more), check out the interview Amy Goodman did with Arundhati Roy: "Baby Bush Go Home: Arundhati Roy on Massive Protests Against Bush's Visit to India."

If you're a member of The Common Ills community, did you check out the gina & krista round-robin? Gina, Krista and C.I. hit hard on the Patriot Act. I hope you'll use the action alerts that Gina and Krista always provide.

Tony's cousin Ed was saying, "I oppose the Patriot Act, I oppose torture, I oppose the war . . . But how can I work on all the issues?" Tony had asked him about some protests that are going on this month. So Tony told me about it and goes, "What do I tell him?" Tell him to work on it all. He can do a letter to his rep and senators via e-mail on some issues and he can pick one (or more) to get active on by participating in a rally or something.

When you do just one protest, you'll probably sense how amazing it is when people come together to speak truth and to try to get the word out. I bet if Ed, or you, go to just one protest, you'll want to go to others. But few people have the time to work on every issue all the time.

Nobody can do "everything" but you can do "something." Figure out what that is and get to work on it.






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Thursday, March 02, 2006

The US builds prisons, don't they?

Good evening. Wally's had problems all afternoon and evening with Blogger so let's see how things go for me. Let's get started with Democracy Now!

Indian Protests Against Bush Visit Include Rally in Bhopal
In India, tens of thousands of people continued their massive protests against the visit of President Bush. In one of several rallies, victims of the 1984 gas leak from the US-owned Union Carbide pesticide factory demonstrated in Bhopal. Over 20,000 died in the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy, while another 100,000 people suffered lasting health problems.

Wherever he goes, he attracts a crowd. Not quite the one he might have wanted but, hey, when the whole world's against you, it's against you. I know what Wally wants to write if he can ever get something posted (none of the e-mails would work and he can't get into his account when he tries that way) so I'll just move on to the next topic to make sure I don't swipe any of his jokes.

New Iraq Reconstruction Funds Devoted Solely to Prisons
In other news, the State Department quietly announced this week it has requested $100 million dollars for Iraqi reconstruction -- all of it for prisons. The Bush administration initially promised $20 billion dollars to reconstruct Iraqi infrastructure. But much of the money has been diverted to security. State Department Iraq coordinator James Jeffrey said the $100 million dollar prison project was the lone new reconstruction effort the US government will undertake over the next year.

Now if that surprises you, think about the prison population in this country and think about what big business prisons are. He never did put up all those promised hospitals but he can get behind prisons. He can "relate" to them. Which is probably a good thing because, if there's justice in this world, he'll be spending some time in one for a few years.


I got an e-mail from Rudy who says I stopped answering questions. I just run out of time sometimes. But Rudy's got a question. Whenever he eats pasta, it disagees with him. "Disagrees"? What's that mean, Rudy? Your stomach hurts? You get gas and start farting?
If I eat Taco Bell, my stomach really burns and I'm burping like crazy. If I eat real Mexican cooking, I don't have that problem. So I'm wondering if it's everytime you have pasta or just at certain places?

I had Taco Bell today and I'm burping now. Not kidding. I know that will happen so I try to avoid it but sometimes when I'm rushing from work to class and I don't have a lot of time, if everything else is backed up, I'll grab Taco Bell. So there's no point in complaining because I know what happens the rest of the day. If it's all pasta, you should probably avoid it. If it's just pasta from some places, something in their food is disagreeing with you.

You could try popping things like Rolaids. But it would probably be better to just avoid what you know is going to make you sick. Now if it's like your mother's cooking, you got a real problem. So let me know if that's where you're getting the pasta and we'll toss out some more ideas.

Rudy also wondered how Nina was doing? She's doing good. She's studying right now in here.

Or trying to. She keeps going, "Excuse me" meaning I should say that. Maybe on that last one which was like an belch explosion. :D

Nina said to tell everyone to read "Kat's Korner: Nina Simone -- Golden" which we looked for after we left campus but couldn't find it. I may end up asking Kat if she could grab one for Nina. I just got that my Nina and Nina Simone have the same name. :D I didn't claim to be the fastest wit in the west. :D

I'll toss out two things you should read. "Industry Shocker: America's Funniest Videos? Not that American" by Ava and C.I. (like C.I. said on the phone today, "Good God, they're outsourcing videos!" :D) and second thing you should read is by Elaine. Did you check out
"No quote tonight -- it's already too long"? It's like a mamoth entry.

If you missed it, our cowardly Senate voted to approve the Patriot Act today. The vote was 89 to 10 so I guess someone was absent or too cowardly to vote one way or the other. That guy was Daniel Inouye. The article just says he didn't vote, not if he was present or not. From the article:

The "no" votes came from Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., and Feingold, Byrd and seven other Senate Democrats: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Carl Levin of Michigan, Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden of Oregon.

That's crap. And Harry Reid's talking about how he'll keep working on them. Keep working? The article says that they voted today to make 14 of the 16 temporary provisions permanent.
Here's something from a story on Arundhati Roy where she's talking about Bully Boy visiting India:

Often laughing, she highlights the ludicrous to underline her despair at the welcome Bush has been given. The organizational details of a presidential trip offer much amusement -- particularly the decision to hold the president's landmark speech about the emerging Indo-U.S. strategic partnership in a spot by the Delhi zoo.
"First they tried to see whether he would address Parliament, but most of the MPs said they would heckle and boycott so that was canceled," she said in an interview this week.
The Red Fort was out because the Muslim population surrounding the building made it a security nightmare. "So now he will be speaking in the zoo -- to some eminent people and some caged animals. I don't know if the lions can disagree, the cockatoos might say they are against globalization. It's really kind of funny," she said.


C.I. said Arundhati Roy's going to be on Democracy Now! tomorrow so make sure to check that out.

Maybe it's the burping, maybe it's being discussed with the Senate for their vote today, but I'll probably stop here and call Wally to see if I can help him. I don't know a lot about Blogger because I haven't had too many problems.









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Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Bully Boo gets booed, adminstration never listens (especially about Iraq)

Good evening. It's hump day. We're half-way to the weekend! Let's get things started with Democracy Now!


Over 100,000 Protest President Bush in India
In other news, tens of thousands of people gathered in New Delhi today to protest a visit by President Bush to India. A police spokesperson said the crowd exceeded 100,000 people. Abdul Hussain, a spokesperson for one of the protest organizers, said: "Welcoming a person like him is like welcoming a murderer and he has become a militant and a war monger... he is a war president. So welcoming a person like him does not make any sense or meaning in a country like India. And welcoming him in the country of the Mahatma will desecrate our land."
Dozens of protests have been planned ahead of President Bush’s three-day visit. During his stay, Bush is expected to sign a controversial deal to sell India nuclear fuel from the US.

My comment here is: "Go read Wally!" Read his "THIS JUST IN! THE BULLYING THE GLOBE WORLD TOUR!" It is hilarious. (Wally says C.I. gave him "The bullying the globe world tour" phrase and asked me to note that.) While I'm suggesting, read C.I.'s "NYT: Republicans seek a 'bridge' (Brooklyn, so they can sell it to you?)" and I'll talk about that later in this post.

Study: One in Three Iraq Vets Seek Mental Health Treatment
Meanwhile, the Washington Post is reporting an Army study has found that more than one in three US troops who served in Iraq later sought help for mental health problems. According to the report, soldiers and Marines returning from Iraq reported more distress than those returning from Afghanistan and other countries. More than half of all service members returning from Iraq reported that they had "felt in great danger of being killed" there, and over 2,400 reported having suicidal thoughts. Steve Robinson, head of the National Gulf War Resource Center, said: "In Vietnam, there were safe areas where people could go to rest and recuperate. That doesn't happen in Iraq; every place is a war zone."

"Every place is a war zone." And maybe if the embedded corporate press hadn't hid out for almost three years in the Green Zone while "reporting" like everything was fine and dandy, the American people would have caught on a long time. We have a media failure. (I feel like Danny Schechter saying that! :D He may have said it. We all read and reviewed The Death of Media at The Third Estate Sunday Review for "1 Book, 10 Minutes (Danny Schechter, The Death of Media) " so that might be in The Death of Media. If Schechter said it, give him the credit.) Isn't it amazing how the reporting on the health of the troops always comes not from the embeds but from reporters stationed stateside?

The embeds can tell you what the general or major says. They can give you lots of happy talk. They just can't give you any reality. The only leashes in Iraq weren't at Abu Ghraib, obviously many of the embeds decided to put on collars and hand their leashes over to the military higher ups.

Troops coming home will be dealing with side effects for years and watch the big media stop caring the way they did with the the first Gulf war.

Former Intel Officials Say White House Ignored Insurgency Warnings
In other news, Knight Ridder is reporting the White House repeatedly ignored early intelligence warnings that the armed insurgency in Iraq was almost entirely local and growing in size. A National Intelligence Estimate as early as October 2003 said the insurgency was fueled mostly by local conditions, such as the presence of US troops in Iraq. It also said outside forces were playing almost no role in the insurgency. Robert Hutchings, the former chair of the National Intelligence Council from 2003 to 2005 said: "Frankly, senior officials simply weren't ready to pay attention to analysis that didn't conform to their own optimistic scenarios." Another former high-ranking intelligence official said: "This was stuff the White House and the Pentagon did not want to hear. They were constantly grumbling that the people who were writing these kind of downbeat assessments 'needed to get on the team,' 'were not team players' and were `sitting up there (at CIA headquarters) in Langley sucking their thumbs.'"

Anybody else sensing a Condi Rice "No one could have guessed" moment on the horizon? Anyone else going to snort when she says it?

Okay, C.I. wrote about the NSA hearing yesterday in "NYT: Republicans seek a 'bridge' (Brooklyn, so they can sell it to you?)" which went up this morning. Tony said, "Man, that's incredible." It is. I know C.I. has had no more than 2 to 3 hours sleep every night this week and can't believe this entry was done this morning. (It was, it happened. It went up.)
But Tony wondered why yesterday C.I. only took on Orrin Hatch?

Kat was going to write about the hearings. She had some ideas and since she's finished both CD reviews (one is up already, "Kat's Korner: Cat Power's Greatness"), she thought she'd have some time. She worked and worked on a post last night. Then she goes to post her post and loses the whole thing. She called Betty who was working on a chapter for Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man to warn her, "Don't post without at least a handwritten copy." But it was too late because Betty had already tried and lost her chapter right before Kat called. C.I. and Kat both wrote about this last night.

But C.I. was stepping aside to let Kat explore the hearings and just focusing on Hatch Tuesday. (And had checked with Kat to make sure she wasn't going to write about Hatch.) Kat's attitude is that it's gone and that must have been meant to be. So when she said that last night to C.I. she urged C.I. to write something on it.

That's how you got the most amazing "NYT: Republicans seek a 'bridge' (Brooklyn, so they can sell it to you?)" today. You got to read it. When we had nothing but problems at The Third Estate Sunday Review and had to work forever, we were all dragging. By the editorial, we were on empty. Almost everyone. Like Elaine noted Monday:

For the editorial, the main points had been outlined (by Jess) with pen and paper. But even that was rough. That was the last thing that those of us still helping out were participating on. The basics are from Jim and C.I. with the rest of us modifying them. We were all wiped out and saying things like, "I have nothing else to give." So Jim would grab a point and go with it and then get C.I. to speak on the next point. "Just pretend it's a speech," Jim would say and C.I. would give a five to ten minute speech which we'd boil down to a paragraph. Jim can go on forever and actually thrives on it. C.I. doesn't thrive on it but can pull out second, third, fourth, fifth . . . winds.

The entry on the hearings is like the speeches C.I. would give when Jim would toss. Those two came up with the text. We all worked on what the points should be (the outline) and we had done the editorial and lost it. By five p.m. (that's what it almost was when the editorial was finished), none of us could even remember what the original said before it was lost. But Jim would grab a point and talk on it and from that, we'd reshape it into a paragraph, then Jim would toss the next point to C.I. and go, "Come on, you know you could give a speech on this!" So C.I. would just speak, off the top of the head, for five minutes and we'd take that and reshape it. Jim loves all nighters and thinks it proves something or forces you to "really go to the wall." C.I. can handle an all nighter but not an all nighter and an all dayer. (That edition took over 24 hours straight.) Now I hear C.I. toss out ideas and contribute all the time. And I read The Common Ills always. So I know what C.I. is capable of. Or I thought I did. It was really amazing to hear C.I. sigh or yawn when Jim tossed, take a deep breath and then just take off on whatever point in the outline we were at. It was like an All Stars game. Really, I'd just be listening and thinking, "No way, not again" and BAM! out of the park. So read "NYT: Republicans seek a 'bridge' (Brooklyn, so they can sell it to you?)" because it's BAM! out of the park.

I think Kat would have done an amazing job herself. It would have been different because she was going to examine it (she had a chart and all ready this weekend) on different aspects and levels. But why I brought this up was because: Isn't Kat amazing? She worked like crazy and wrote something that Betty says was amazing (Betty heard it over the phone because they were calling each other while they were writing). And where was her focus when she lost it? On Betty. Betty e-mailed me and asked me to please point that out. I have no problem doing that (or anything else Betty wants pointed out ever). Kat's really a special and amazing person. I would have been banging my head against the wall until it was bloody. Kat was focused on what Betty lost.

And let me say one more time that her latest review went up last night ("Kat's Korner: Cat Power's Greatness") and you should check it out. She's got another one that should go up tonight but Ava and C.I. have had something dumped in their laps and are trying to figure out how to address it. (That's all I'll say because they haven't been able to speak to everyone yet. They're trying to decide if this waits until Sunday or if it doesn't? And if it doesn't, where does it go up?)















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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Blood continues flowing in Iraq, no "bounce" for Bully Boy

Good evening and let's get things kicked off with Democracy Now!


Report: Over 1300 Killed in Iraq Violence
The Washington Post is reporting over 1300 people have been killed in less than a week of violence in Iraq. The death toll is at least four times higher than previously reported, and one of the biggest outside of major US operations since the war began. Violence has increased across the country following Wednesday's bombing of a holy Shiite shrine in Samarra. Earlier today, separate attacks in Baghdad killed at least 36 people and injured dozens more. In the biggest attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Baghdad gas station, killing over 20 people and injuring 50 others.

So yesterday the numbers were shocking. Today, even more so. There's a Patti Smith song called "Radio Baghdad" and Shawn picked it as one of the best of 2004 at The Common Ills (Cedric picked Eminem's "Mosh" and Marci picked Prince's "Cinnamon Girl" -- Ma had a pick in there too!). This is from "Radio Baghdad" and Patti sings it like a chant:

Oh Baghdad
Center of the world
City of ashes
With its great mosques
Erupting from the mouth of god
Rising from the ashes like
a speckled bird
Splayed against the mosaic sky
Oh, clouds around
We created the zero
But we mean nothing to you
You would believe
That we are just some mystical tale
We are just a swollen belly
That gave birth to Sinbad, Scheherazade
We gave birth
Oh, oh, to the zero
The perfect number
We invented the zero
And we mean nothing to you
Our children run through the streets
And you sent your flames
Your shooting stars
Shock and awe
Shock and awe
Like some, some
Imagined warrior production
Twenty-first century
No chivalry involved
No Bushido

"And we mean nothing to you." That pretty much sums up the attitude that Bully Boy's shown to the people of Iraq.


Bush Approval Rating on Iraq, Presidency At All-Time Low
In other news, a new CBS News poll has found the number of Americans who approve of President Bush’s overall job performance and his handling of the Iraq war has fallen to an all-time low. 34 percent of Americans give the President a favorable job approval rating, while even less -- 30 percent -- approve of the President’s handling of the Iraq war. Meanwhile, less than a third of Americans believe President Bush has adequately responded to the needs of victims of Hurricane Katrina.

What? You thought there was no good news today? Bully Boy's in the toilet. Like Ava and C.I. said in their review of "Close To Home" -- "Flush his latest 'creation' down, flush it down." Floating in the toilet, making a stink, flush the Bully Boy.

I don't know, I was thinking we had a shot at that today. I listened to the hearings on
Pacifica and was hopeful even though everyone was saying, "Mike, don't expect much" Sunday when we were doing "NSA Hearings This Tuesday." But I was pretty hopeful. Then we get the news, right at the start of the hearing that they're cutting it in half and I was thinking right then, "Oh man."

I don't know. Rebecca thinks Russ Feingold did a good job and I can go along with that. We were talking about that on the phone a little while ago. I don't know that I was hugely impressed with any other Senator. Patrick Leahy was strong at times but there was too much "joshing with Arlen" for me to take Leahy or the hearings too seriously. Tony thinks it was pretty strong. Maybe it was? Maybe I just expected too much?

C.I. takes on Orrin Hatch in "Democracy Now: John Pace, Dave Isay; NSA hearings -- Miss Priss Instant Cuckoo (O. Hatch!)" which is hilarious and perfectly gets at that annoying moment when Hatch was talking how tough it was for the executive branch to follow the basic law. I wish I could grab a moment and just like crystalize it. C.I. did but listening, I didn't even register that was a moment until I read about Miss Priss Instant Cuckoo. Read it. It's really funny and really true.

Be sure to check out Elaine's site for her thoughts at Like Maria Said Paz. And The Daily Jot is back up and running. Be sure to check out Wally's latest!


I'm down about today's hearing but otherwise pretty cool. My bro that just got married is back from his honeymoon and he and his wife are coming to a late dinner tonight. So I'm wrapping this up quick. That's probably why my oldest sister Kelly visited last night. :D Usually, she only drops by on the weekends. But one of our brothers is getting back from the honeymoon, better go drop by and say hi to Ma and Dad before the return! Don't want to be forgotten!

I teased her about that last night so I'm guessing it's okay to put it up here.



















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Monday, February 27, 2006

Blood pours in Iraq, money trickles into Halliburton

Good evening, let's get things kicked off with Democracy Now!


Over 200 Dead in Iraq Since Wednesday's Mosque Bombing
In Iraq, at least 29 people died on Sunday even though security forces had imposed a rare daytime curfew barring all vehicular traffic in Baghdad and its suburbs. In the deadliest attack, a Shiite neighborhood came under mortar fire in Southwest Baghdad. 16 people died and another 53 were injured. Over 200 people have been killed since Wednesday's bombing at a holy Shiite shrine in Samarra. On Saturday gunmen broke into the home of a Shiite family northeast of Baghdad and killed 13 people. Three people also died on Saturday during the funeral of the Atwar Bahjat -- the well-known Al-Arabiya journalist who was killed last week.

What did we bring to Iraq? Elaine and me were wondering that when we went over what items to pick. They lied us into war and they didn't give a damn about the people in this country or the people in Iraq is what I say. Why are we still there? That's what I think Americans should be asking. There was no WMD, Saddam Hussein's standing trial. Why are we still there?

This was about people making money. Look at C.I.'s morning entry and see how Halliburton is not only still getting rich but they're bending the government bends or breaks every rule for Dick Cheney's former company. As C.I. said: "Does a profit from the war mean never having to say you're sorry? It plays like that these days." I didn't get that at first. I mean, I got that they were making a profit from tragedy. But it's a movie quote. Nina explained it to me. It's from an old movie called Love Story (and maybe the book that the movie's based on). Love Story's about Oliver and Jenny and Jenny gets a fatal disease and Oliver tells her he's sorry and she tells him, "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Oliver was played by Ryan O'Neal and Nina pointed out that he's in What's Up Doc? with Barbra Streisand and at the end of that movie (that's a good movie, real funny, I've seen it a couple of times), Barbra Streisand bats her eyes and says in this real blank voice like she's sending it up, "Love means never having to say you're sorry" and Ryan O'Neal says something like, "That's the stupidist thing I've ever heard."

So if you missed it, I did, don't feel bad. "Before our time," like me and Wally like to tease C.I. :D
But making a war profit means never having to say you're sorry. That's what the administration and the corporations doing business in Iraq seem to think. The American people should say back, "That's the stupidist thing I've ever heard!"

By the way, Wally is planning to do a Daily Jot today. But he' had a paper due in one class today and a test in another and he just had to focus on that. I told him, "Take the day off." He goes, "Evil McKinnon! You're just worried I'm catching up on you!" :D I'm glad The Daily Jot is so popular now. It was always a cool site and Wally's had readers and all but since Wally went to D.C. with C.I. and Kat and got his new attitude, it's really just exploded. Congrats to my buddy Wally but seriously dude, don't push yourself. Relax.



Army to Allow Halliburton Not to Repay Disputed Costs
The New York Times is reporting the Army has decided to reimburse a Halliburton subsidiary for nearly all of its disputed costs on a $2.4 billion no-bid contract to deliver fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq. Auditors had recommended the Army withhold $263 million from Kellogg Brown and Root, but the Army decided to withhold just $10 million. California Congressman Henry Waxman said "Halliburton gouged the taxpayer, government auditors caught the company red-handed, yet the Pentagon ignored the auditors and paid Halliburton hundreds of millions of dollars and a huge bonus."

What? You thought your good buddy Mike would leave you hanging like that? No way. I know some of you rush through this thing. Here's something else. Of the costs the Pentagon's questioning, the Halliburton costs, they're holding back from paying 3.8%. Want to know the standard percent for holding back payment on costs the Pentagon questions? 75.2% for all companies in 2004, 56.4% in 2005. So with a measly 3.8% withheld for Halliburton, there must be some companies that are getting nearly nothing. Guess they didn't kick up the big campaign donations to the Bully Boy?

We've got a third item because C.I. asked me and Elaine to include it. C.I. even mailed it to us with a link for the earlier report.

Science Fiction Writer Octavia Butler, 58, Dies
And science fiction writer Octavia Butler has died at the age of 58. She died on Friday night after a fall outside her home in Washington state. Her best-known work included "Parable of the Talents" and "Kindred." Butler was considered to be one of the first African-American women to break into the world of science fiction. Jane Jewell, of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, said "She is a world-class science fiction writer in her own right. She was one of the first and one of the best to discuss gender and race in science fiction." Butler joined us four months ago on Democracy Now:
OCTAVIA BUTLER: "I'm going to read a verse or two. And keep in mind these were written early in the 1990s. But I think they apply forever, actually. This first one, I have a character in the books who is, well, someone who is taking the country fascist and who manages to get elected President and, who oddly enough, comes from Texas. And here is one of the things that my character is inspired to write about, this sort of situation. She says:
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be lied to. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery."

That was supposed to close out C.I.'s "Democracy Now: Michael Ratner, Clive Stafford Smith, Maher Arar; Maureen Farrell, Danny Schechter" today. I don't know if it got lost in dictation or what but C.I. called me and asked if I could note it and called Elaine and asked the same thing. Then I'm on the phone this evening with Elaine and in the e-mails and I see C.I.'s even hunted down the link to the interview four months ago. How come?

Ty had asked C.I. to note that. Ty's a huge fan of horror books and science fiction books. C.I. feels awful that it didn't go in (and plans to note it before tomorrow's Democracy Now!) and asked if we would note it at our sites. I remember her when she was interviewed. She seemed really deep. Not just smart, she seemed smart too, but really deep like she thinks about really serious stuff. Ty loves her books. I know I feel sad when someone whose work I like dies so I'm betting Ty feels pretty sad right now.

Okay, there are hearings tomorrow morning. NSA Senate hearings. Pacifica will carry them (9 to 4 eastern) so listen to your Pacifica station of choice online or on the airwaves and you can also listen at the main Pacifica website.

My oldest sister's pretty pissed off, by the way. She came over this evening. Suddenly I'm Mr. Political because I do a blog. :D She got her copy of The New Yorker in the mail today. Guess what? The postman just crammed it into her box. The cover's all torn up. She got a catalogue and another magazine (I forget what it was) and they were folded together and find. But she opens her box and it's like the postman tried to shove it against the back of the box until it crumpled in half. The cover is Bully Boy and Dick Cheney and Cheney's holding a rifle with a puff of smoke coming out of it. She thinks the postman was pissed about the illustration and decided to destroy her issue. C.I. passed on an issue to Ma awhile back and my sister was going, "If I'd known mother was interested . . ." :D I laughed at that because she's always doing that. She'll get rid of some make up or a shirt or whatever and my youngest sister will be all, "Why didn't you give it to me?" and she'll be all, "If I'd known you were interested . . ."

I told her I was putting that in tonight. She goes "fine." She said I could put in her name too. It's Kelly. She's pretty cool. But she's sooo old! :D I'm joking.

Sorry this is going up late but I'm tired from The Third Estate Sunday Review. We put in sooo many hours on that. I don't regret it because I think it's a pretty impressive edition. But I've been dragging all day.

Elaine said she felt the same way. Which, hint hint, means go check out Like Maria Said Paz for Elaine's thoughts.

















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