Monday, December 05, 2005

Not much, blogger's acting up

Good evening. Maybe you can read this, maybe you can't. I got home and tried to read The Common Ills and couldn't. Then I tried the other sites in the community, same thing. Then I tried Delilah Boyd's site and then Atrios and I can't get anything on Blogspot to display.

So maybe you can't read this tonight?

I got ahold of Elaine and she's got the same problem. So I called C.I. who wasn't near a computer but said if that's the case the backup site will be used for The Common Ills tonight and also said I could post there.

If it's the same way tomorrow, I may do that.

But tonight I'll try to post here.

Let's move on to Democracy Now!

U.S. Acknowledges Admits It Paid Iraqi Press to Run Propaganda
The U.S. military acknowledged on Friday for the first time that it has paid Iraqi newspapers to carry positive news about U.S. efforts in Iraq. The admission came after a series of news reports indicated the U.S. paid a private company called the Lincolon Group to plant stories in the Iraqi press and to pay off sympathetic Iraqi journalists. The Knight Ridder news agency reported U.S. psychological-warfare officers have been involved in writing news releases and drafting media strategies for top commanders. In addition the news agency reported that on at least one occasion, psychological warfare specialists took a group of international journalists on a tour of Iraq's border with Syria.

Bully Boy needs his props. He can't get them legitmately so he has to make them up. Take a gander at his props! becomes propaganda. He's just a wanna be rapper. Bully Boy in da house!
Drop it like it's hot! Raise the roof!

Can you see Bully Boy as a rapper? Nope and most people can't see what he's done to Iraq as "democracy."

So he needs lie. And lie some more. Then act shocked that this happened. Are we supposed to believe he missed the briefing on this because he was napping?

There's a great editorial that we did at The Third Estate Sunday Review and I was planning to link to it but I can't because the site, like all the others, won't display.

I'll link to it tomorrow.

My sister just came in to say that using mozilla she was able to pull up The Common Ills and only that. But C.I. posted two entries on the New York Times today, reposted Ruth and posted the Democracy Now! post which is the one I missed that I was hoping to read as soon as I got here. Only the first entry shows. And if she tries to use the links on the site to pull up anyone else she can't.

This is one of those times when Blogger really sucks.

Tens of Thousands in 30 Cities Protest Global Warming
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Saturday in 30 cities across the globe to call on world governments to do more to halt global warming. The largest protests took place in Montreal which is hosting the UN Climate Change Conference -- the largest international conference ever on global warming. In London environmentalists held banners declaring President Bush to be wanted "for crimes against the planet." In Washington, drivers of hybrid cars circled the White House. And in New Orleans, residents held a "Save New Orleans, Stop Global Warming" party in the French Quarter. On Saturday environmental groups presented a petition signed by 600,000 Americans urging President Bush to do more to stop global warming. The Bush administration has rejected the Kyoto Protocol to limit greenhouse gases. The United States emits 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases even though it has just five percent of the world's population.

It's kind of hard to believe when I hear my folks talk, though I know they're telling the truth, that long before I was ever born people were working at improving the environment. John Kerry was part of the first Earth Day.

Maybe Bully Boy thinks we can all move to Mars? Maybe that's why he wants those manned missions to Mars?

Way I see it, we only got one earth and we've trashed it up pretty bad. Nina thinks it's going to get a lot worse, weather wise, before it gets better and thinks we may not live to see a balance restored to the earth. That depresses the hell out of me.

I had an e-mail that I wanted to go into but I'll write the guy back tonight and post his question tomorrow.

I'll go ahead and note Maya Schenwar's "Counter-Recruitment Day Sweeps U.S. Colleges:"

According to a recent CAN report, recruiters often lead students to believe that joining the military will enable them to pay for a college education. Yet only 15 percent of soldiers complete a college degree, and less than 10 percent use Army funds to do so. In terms of job training-another promise the military makes to new recruits-an American Friends Service Committee report notes that veterans earn 11 to 19 percent less than non-veterans with similar backgrounds.
"It's very sad to realize that young people graduate from colleges loaded up with loans to repay and that one of the only means to get assistance with education is to enlist in the military," Kelly said. "How much wiser it would be if U.S. wealth and productivity could be directed toward assisting young people, with no requirement to join the military; to learn languages, learn skills desperately needed in third world countries, and learn the basics of community development."
Counter-recruitment, then, is not simply about getting recruiters out of the schools: it's about presenting young people with alternatives to enlisting. Many of the Counter-Recruitment Day actions will involve direct protests staged at recruiting stations, in which protestors will distribute information to potential recruits. The Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, an endorser of the Dec. 6 protests and a key player in the counter-recruitment movement, councils prospective recruits in the dangers of military involvement, non-military ways to finance college and alternative service learning opportunities.
In the past couple of months, the counter-recruitment movement has seen a string of successes. Sixty percent of voters in San Francisco approved a proposition last month to kick recruiters off campuses and fund non-military scholarships. The first national student-organized anti-recruitment day, Not Your Soldier Day of Action, rocked 40 campuses on November 17. As the verdict on FAIR v. Rumsfeld draws closer, activists are crossing their fingers for another victory, hoping that if given the chance, schools will say no to recruiters on campus.
"The majority is with us in opposing the war and military recruitment," Wrigley-Field said. "It's time to get that majority organized to get recruiters out of our schools."
To find out about National Counter-Recruitment Day events near you, see
www.campusantiwar.net.

Elaine says she'll post later if Blogger's behaving. So you can check, if you can ever see this entry, Like Maria Said Paz.