Saturday, January 27, 2007

Be active, participate!

What's the most disgusting thing about being asleep? Being awakened.

I was wiped out. We went to a number of campuses today talking about tomorrow's demonstration (actually today's) and that was rewarding, getting the word out. Hopefully, the turn out will be huge and young people can say nah-nah-nah to all the old fogey's who say, "Those kids today, they just don't care!"

Then we went to a dinner party and, though nice, it seemed never ending. As soon as we got back here (we're in DC), I sprawled out on the couch (I'm so giving) and took a nap. I asked Elaine to wake me up when she was done blogging. She's done. She's headed off to bed. Lucky. (No, she's not headed off alone. Even luckier.) (But seriously, when I wake up, Elaine, I don't need to see you and Mike making the kissy faces.) (I was joking on the last part. They're a lovely couple.) (And someone had put on Ben Harper's Both Sides of the Gun, the quiet disc, so what do you expect? That's a highly romantic CD, the first disc.)

I'm told I didn't blog Thursday in several e-mails. Actually, I did. I added to Wednesday's post (the all caps section). That was before I couldn't log into Blogger/Blogspot. I finally gave up Thursday and went to bed. (What I'd like to do right now.)

What is today (Saturday) about? It's about peace. It's about standing up to bullies and saying no to their illegal war. It's about saying bring the troops home. (Someone tell Katha Pollitt to put a sock in it before she goes off on "Be Honest" again.)

That really was it for me and The Nation. They were already on thin ice because of their refusals to cover the peace movement and war resisters. Then when Pollitt comes along with her laughable "coverage" that was as half-baked as when she tried to lecture the NAACP about what they, as African-Americans, should be focusing on. (Ironically, for a White woman who doesn't think TV portrayals matter, she has a hard time writing a column without referencing TV shows -- such as Will & Grace in her most recent column.)

Katha Pollitt, who isn't African-American, wanted to give the NAACP (unasked for, unsought) advice. More recently, Katha Pollitt, who isn't a part of the peace movement, wanted to give the peace movement (unasked for, unsought) advice. In both instances, she didn't know the first thing she was writing about.

And that, for me, was the breaking point. That a writer I'd frequently admired could be so useless said to me it was time to end the long affair as a reader of the rag.

It's not pertinent, it's not current. It is sexist (having 1 female writer for every 4 males is sexism -- it may be insitutional, it may be personal, but it's sexism). And more and more, it's become useless.

I saw the faces of people Friday, students, who are so eager to take part in something bigger and all The Nation can ever offer is vote-vote-vote.

Did I leave The Nation or did they leave me? I think they left me. I think when Naomi Klein left to work on her book (she'll be back), the magazine lost the strongest writer they had. I think they decided to use the more or less year without Klein to demonstrate that they really didn't give a damn about Iraq and that they were a 'fun' magazine.

I don't read In Style and, by the same token, I won't read The Nation anymore.

A student brought that up (they always do) and then everyone was weighing in on how bad the magazine was (all the students). So I'm not the only one seeing the problem. At that age, when you think the world can be changed especially (and we all have strong beliefs in that when we're young, hopefully we hold on to some, if not all, of those beliefs as we grow older), you need something more than vote-vote-vote. The Nation refuses to provide it.

So today, get out there, be active, be heard. Do it for the war resisters, do it for the Iraqis, do it for the families and friends who have lost loved ones, do it to end an illegal war and do it because we can't count on our 'friends' in independent media.

Closing with the "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, January 26, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, ten days to go until Ehren Watada's February 5th court-martial begins, groups mobolize to end the war in the United States, Bully Boy issues death threats to Iranians in Iraq and a death threat to American democracy, the privatization of Iraq's assets is boldly expressed but we're all supposed to look the other way and the US military gets caught in a lie.


Starting with Ehren Watada, he, his father (Bob Watada) and his mother (Carolyn Ho) will be out in full force tomorrow. Susan Paynter (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) reports will be taking part in Seattle's events to end the war: "1 p.m. at the Center for Social Justice, 2111 E. Union St., moving to the Military Recruitment Center at 2301 S. Jackson St., then to the Langston Hughes Center at 104 17th Ave. S. at 3, where speakers will include Lt. Ehren Watada." Watada, who will be part of a panel discussion, is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq and he is facing a Februarty 5th court-martial in which he will not be able to present any real defense because 'Judge' Head has a really sick sense of what "justice" is.
Michael E. Ruane (Washington Post) reports that Bob Watada will be speaking at the DC rally tomorrow and Bob Watada tells Ruane: "There is no doubt in my mind that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is wholly unwarranted. The Iraqi people have done absolutely nothing to the United States. They've done nothing to deserve the massacre and the pummeling they're getting . . . the plunder, the torture, the rape, the murder of innocent people. It's got to stop." Meredith May (San Francisco Chronicle) reports that, in San Francisco, things kick off with "a noon rally at Powell and Market streets. Carolyn Ho, the mother of Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada of Hawaii, who is refusing orders to deploy to Iraq, will speak to the crowd."

Three different cities tomorrow where they will be attempting to get the message that the illegal war needs to end and that what will take place in the February 5th court-martial won't be justice because the 'judge' has refused to allow Ehren Watada to present his reasons for refusing to deploy, the studies he did as part of his command that led him to the conclusion that the war was illegal and immoral. Marilyn Bechtel (People's Weekly World) spoke with Marti Hiken (National Lawyers Guild) who noted that "people do not surrender all their constional rights when they enter the military" and that "Regardless of whether the military wins this court martial, they lose for silencing an individual who has so much integrity that is evident to people across the country."


Saying "no" to an illegal war is hard. It takes courage. (Note the Cowards Silence plauging the left if you doubt that, but I'm actually talking about those in the military who have said "no.") Watada is a part of a movement of resistance with the military that includes others such as Agustin Aguayo (whose court-martial is currently set to begin on March
6th), Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

In the United States, tomorrow sees protests, rallies and marches around the country. As CODEPINK notes: "Join us on January 27 to say No More Funding for War! Bring Our Troops Home Now! We will use our feet and our lungs and our signs and our outrage to let Bush and our new Congress know that we are serious about ending this war.If you can't make it to DC, see if there is a solidarity event being planned in your area. If not, create your own, even if that means standing alone on a street corner with a sign! In lieu of lobbying, you can call your Congressperson to demand they cut the funding for George Bush's War. Our voices are powerful, wherever we may be geographically. We know peace is the only real path to hope and opportunity for this country. Together we will make it happen."

If you can't make it to DC, you can still be heard. If there's not an event in your area, start one. Avaaz.org (formely Ceasefire Campaign Team) is attempting to get the word out on a way you can be heard in DC if you're not able to attend:

Join Saturday's global peace march... without Leaving Your House!This Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Americans will march on Washington DC to demand peace and justice in Iraq and the Middle East. We can be there too, raising a global voice of solidarity -- through our own worldwide virtual march. Time is short, so add your voice and join the march today! http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_peace_march/ This could signal the rebirth of the US peace movement. We need to show them the world is on their side. Let's bring our call for peace to the streets of power in Washington. Join the global peace march and tell your friends today!

Events will be covered by some media. Known coverage will include: KPFA which will broadcast live from the DC demonstrations from 10:00 am to noon PST. (At which point it will begin covering demonstrations in the Bay Area.) and Laura Flanders who will cover the days demonstration Saturday night (7:00 to 10:00 pm EST) on her program RadioNation with Laura Flanders (heard on Air America Radio and other outlets). (Both KPFA and Air America Radio offer online streaming.) (KPFA also offers their achived broadcasts for free, so if you miss the live coverage and would like to hear it later, check out the KPFA Archives). Rachel notes that WBAI will broadcast live coverage of the demonstrations from
11:00 am to 1:00 pm EST. In addition, she notes that tonight (Friday) on WBAI, David Occhiuto will host a special which will feature anti-war films, interviews and will include coverage of Ehren Watada including sections of the speech he gave in Seattle that the the Article 32 hearing in August included and the court-martial next month plans to include in their prosecution of him. Tune in to hear the message that so frightened the military brass that 'Judge' Head has gagged Watada's defense from presenting. That's tonight, WBAI,
7:00 pm to 11:00 pm EST (over the airwaves in NYC and surrounding areas as well as online).

As people mobilize to get the truth out, the US military finds some cover-ups implode faster than others. New details emerge regarding Saturday's reported violence. Saturday, five US troops were killed in Karbala when resistance fighters reportedly wearing US uniforms were waived through checkpoints and made it to a meeting in Karbala. Five US troops were reported as dying during the attack that followed. The AP is reporting (based on US and Iraqi military sources) that four of the five were kidnapped and the four were then killed with bodies being discovered as far away as 25 miles. There was a lot of Happy Talk this week. There was the lie that corpses discovered in Baghdad were tapering off (42 discovered yesterday), there was the lie that what's happening on Haifa Street is normal and not an attack that's killing civilians, there were showy moments in the US Congress and there were the lies of Bully Boy's State of the Union address. When we're neck-deep in lies, it's really easy for the US military to lie (that is what happened) and misinform the public.

Without the lies, the escalation couldn't be sold and a lot of people are vested in selling the escalation. And note that when the AP asked about it, the US military played dumb. As Steven R. Hurst and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reported later, the US military has now confirmed that four were kidnapped and killed later (1 of the 4 was apparently discovered "mortally wounded").


Bombings?

CBS and AP report a bombing of a pet market utilizing a bomb hidden among pigeons that has resulted in the death of at least 14 people in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell (Times of London) reports: "Police said insurgents concealed the explosives inside a cardboard box punched with holes to make it appear a container for pigeons, parrots or other birds which are prime attractions at the market. The blast, which also wounded 55, hit the Ghazel market on the eastern banks of the Tigris just before the weekly curfew intended to protect crowds attending mosques during noon prayers on the Islamic day of prayer." Farrell notes that the explosion allowed some caged pets to be let loose but many died. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "Two civilians were injured when an IED exploded in Milhaniya, a part of Amil neighborhood at 1 pm." Reuters notes: "On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite mosque on the outskirts of Mosul, killing seven and wounding 17 more after prayers, a police source said."

Shootings?

Reuters notes: "Gunmen opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad's Bayaa district, killing one person and wounding two, a police source said."

Corpses?

CBS and AP report: "Seven tortured bodies of people who had been blindfolded and had their hands and legs bound before they were shot in the head were found in the capital Friday, according to police." Reuters notes that number of corpses discovered in Baghdad today has risen to 27 while one corpse was discovered in Kirkuk and a headless corpse was discovered in Hawija. Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "The body of the Iraqi boxer Hussein Hadi was found in Haifa street. Police said that Hadi was kidnapped three days ago and he found hanged today."

Also today, the US military announced: "One Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 6 died today from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province."

Meanwhile, CNN reports that the Iranian government is calling "terrorism" on Bully Boy's recent order (backed up by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates) for US troops to kill (on the spot) Iranians they suspect of plotting terrorism. These execution orders by the Bully Boy come with no jury or defense, just an instant passing of judgement.

In financial news, AFP reports that one of Iraq's two vice presidents, Shi'ite Adel Abdul Mahdi, has called the illegal occupation of Iraq "idiotic" but is pushing the 'we will be safe if we have to raid and terrorize school children, residents of homes, etc' that was so popular with the puppet of the occupation yesterday. Those confused by the both-sides-talking Mahdi can refer to a commentary by Antonia Juhasz (Huffington Post) last May: "The re-appointment of Mahdi may yet provide the Bush Administration with its most important victory in the Iraq war since Saddam Hussein was pulled out of a rabbit hole in Tikrit. However, Mahdi's Vice Presidency may also ultimately generate at least as much hostility towards the United States as the invasion itself. Over the course of the war, Mahdi emerged as one of the most aggressive proponents of the Bush administration's economic agenda for Iraq, including the implementation of controversial corporate globalization rules and greater U.S. corporate access to Iraq's oil." Mahdi earlier served in the Bremer 'government' and will probably serve in a great many other puppet governments to follow.

MarketWatch reports: "Over the next several years, the minister [Mahdi] said Iraq would look to privatize all of state-owned industry, which number around 60 companies. He also said Asian companies were keen to enter discussions with the Iraqi government over industrial contracts. Hariri said Iraq was also in discussions with San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp over engineering contracts, without elaborating."

The privatization. Antonia Juhasz (author of The BU$H Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time) attempted to address the realities of the oil law on KPFA's Living Room
January 11th. But a (male) guest, of course, new better and felt that whatever laws were passed, Iraqis could undue the damage many years on down the line. That's confronting the problem! For those who didn't grasp the importance of what Juhasz was addressing, The San Jose Mercury News reports "Iraq is in negotiations with San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. to build a new $3 billion petrochemical facility, and is in talks with several other Western companies over industrial projects. In an interview Thursday, Iraq's minister for industry and minerals Fowzi Hariri said the discussions with Chevron and Exxon began this week in Washington and are at an early stage." The New York Times fluffed their coverage of the law last Saturday. Apparently, we're all supposed to pretend it doesn't matter or take the attitude of, "Hey, they can fix in 20 years!"


For those who've forgotten, in polling where Iraqis side with the resistance on the topic of attacking foreign fighters (including American troops), they also note the belief that the continued war is nothing but an attempt for foreigners to get their hands on Iraqi assets. Prvatization laws and multi-billion dollar deals by outsiders tend to convey that impression.

In political news, CNN reports that that the Democratic leadership in the US Congress may push for a revamping of the 2002 act that the Bully Boy cited as his authorization for starting a pre-emptive, illegal war of agression on Iraq. Of course, with Democrat leadership, "maybe" means basically what "We'll see" means when said by a parent.

In news of dictators, CNN reports on Bully Boy of the United States latest string of I statements: "I am the decider . . . I've picked the plan . . . I know . . ." Though his love affair with self continues unabated, as the recent poll by CBS News found on Bully Boy's desired escalation: "More than 70 percent of Americans think he should have to get congressional approval before he commits those troops." (68% of poll respondents stated they were "uneasy" with Bully Boy's ability to make decisions regarding Iraq.) Though Bully Boy appears to have forgotten this basic fact, in a democracy, the people are "the deciders."


Reminder: Those in DC Saturday should check out Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, who will be speaking at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm and those in the NYC area on Sunday should check out Joan Mellen speech at 7:30 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25. Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.



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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Guns and Butter (Bonnie interviewed Todd Fisher)

Everyone seems to think I'm mad at C.I. Including C.I.! C.I. came by today to listen to KPFA's Guns and Butter with me. (Really yesterday.) And to talk. I didn't realize it was coming across that way to people reading the "Roundtable" but enough were writing in to C.I. that there was a "Well maybe she is mad at me."

I wasn't.

Katha Pollitt wrote a stupid sentence on Iraq (apparently her full coverage of Iraq) (or fool coverage) and I wanted to be sure she was called out. We did the "Roundtable" first and I was biting my tongue because I knew we were doing at least one other feature on Pollitt's statement.
But I find it very offensive that she never wrote about Abeer, for instance, and then for her to distort the peace movement the way she did just ticked me off. I wanted her to be called out for it. I may have been mad at C.I. in the roundtable. I don't think I was but I knew C.I. wasn't going to address Pollitt (because C.I. wanted to be sure the point that Darrell Anderson is feeling his way as he regroups and finds his path). That was the big point C.I. wanted made and there was nothing else that C.I. intended to speak on.

And Darrell Anderson is a strong voice (who voiced macho bullshit when he made that comment about grieving mothers) so I was fine with that. But maybe I really was mad? If I was, it would have been at more than just C.I. But I don't think I was mad and I certainly wasn't mad after the roundtable when we did write those pieces and C.I. and Ava were contributing.

I think part of the reason people think I'm mad is that there is no note to the readers. The HELLO program that images are posted with went dead, discontinued its service and didn't even give a heads up. And that created huge problems. We had no editorial without our illustration. We also had to ditch a feature that we couldn't use an illustration for. So we were scrambling like crazy. It was eleven in the morning when we got down (11:00 PST) and we were all tired. No one wanted to do a note. We were going to do it Tuesday but then all the problems came up with Blogger/Blogspot.

But that's why there's no note. I don't believe I was mad at C.I. But if I had been, it would have faded the second we worked on the other two pieces that ran. (Including the last minute editorial.)

We did have 'words' Sunday night about something else. (An e-mail that came in.) I thought C.I. was too nice about it. That wasn't me griping. That was just me saying, "You're being taken advantadge of." (The reply was "Maybe.") I think C.I.'s too nice to some people who should be told to go screw themselves. I think if you have a problem with an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, for instance, you don't write them without telling them what article, on what day, on what page. And it just ticked me off that someone who should know better thought they could weigh in weeks after something without saying, "It's here and here." C.I., because of our limited dicussion, did write back that there's not going to be any going back in old entries but I really think C.I. should have ignored the e-mail. I also know that the thing played as in 'dispute,' isn't in dispute. If you're outside San Francisco, it may be in dispute. If you follow the San Francisco press you know the disputed thing (and C.I. knows this as well) was only disputed for 1 thing -- it was said over and over in other outlets.

If I got an e-mail like that, I'd write back, "Kiss my ass."

I'm real sick of the me-me-me types who think the whole world is about them. And I think the community knows how much work C.I. is doing right now. You've got columns in all the newsletters, The Common Ills, TV reviews with Ava for The Third Estate Sunday Review and for Maria, Francisco and Miguel's newspapers, you've got public speaking over and over and over each week. You've got meetings and more than I could ever keep up with. So some little whiney me-me-me should be told to take a flying leap.

ADDED: GINA THANKED THIS MORNING FOR CALLING THE GINA & KRISTA ROUND-ROBIN A "NEWSPAPER" (ALONG WITH POLLY'S NEWSLETTER AND MARIA, MIGUEL AND FRANCISCO'S NEWSLETTER). "NEWSLETTERS." I HAVE FIXED IT. I WAS SO PISSED ABOUT THAT E-MAIL MENTIONED THAT I HAD A MINI-SLIP. I WILL BE WRITING ABOUT THIS IN MID-FEBRUARY HERE. IF I DON'T TAKE IT TO ONE OF THE COMMUNITY NEWSLETTERS FIRST. IT REALLY HAS PISSED ME OFF.

YOU KNOW WHAT, I'LL WALK YOU THROUGH IT. IT WOULD BE LIKE ME WRITING C.I. "YOU SAID I SAID ____ AND I DIDN'T SAY IT TO ____." WHEN BOTH C.I. AND I KNEW THAT I SAID IT ELSEWHERE. AND COULD PROVIDE AMPLE LINKS TO IT. BUT I WANTED TO WHINE AND PLAY LIKE I WAS DISTORTED. ON TOP OF THAT, I WAS WRITING DAYS, WEEKS AFTER AND I DIDN'T SAY "IT'S IN THIS ENTRY ON ---- DATE AND THE TITLE IS ---." NOW IF I WROTE THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE AND SAID SOMETHING LIKE "YOU WROTE THAT I SAID SOMETHING ON NIGHTLINE AND I DID NOT." THEY MIGHT KNOW I SAID IT ON 60 MINUTES. (WHICH , FOR THIS STORY, I DID.) BUT WHEN IT WAS ADDRESSED, LINKS HAD BEEN PROVIDED BY C.I. SO ANY ONE WANTING TO, COULD FIND IT THEN. BUT HERE I AM, BUTTING IN WITH ME-ME-ME BECAUSE "I AM THE MOST IMPORTANT TOPIC IN THE WORLD! EVERYBODY STOP EVERYTHING AND FEEL SORRY FOR ME!" AND WANTING SOMETHING CHANGED THAT DOESN'T NEED TO BE CHANGED. THE 60 MINUTES REMARK WAS LINKED TO IN REAL TIME. LATER, IN PASSING, MY REMARK WAS NOTED AND IT WAS STATED I SAID IT ON NIGHTLINE.

BIG WOOP-TO-DO. I SAID IT ON 60 MINUTES. EVEN IF I WANT TO PRETEND LIKE I NEVER SAID IT, I DID SAY IT. AND IF SOMEONE WANTS A CORRECTION (THEY WOULD GET, FROM ME, "KAT DIDN'T SAY IT ON NIGHTLINE, SHE SAID IT ON 60 MINUTES. THEY WOULDN'T GET "KAT SAYS SHE NEVER SAID IT.") THEY NEED TO SAY WHERE IT APPEARED AND THEY NEED TO GET REAL.

LIKE REBECCA, I'M SICK OF IT. LIKE REBECCA, I WILL QUOTE BATMAN RETURNS, "YOU MAKE ME SICK! ALWAYS WAITING FOR SOME BATMAN TO RESCUE YOU." TRULY, TAKE YOUR PATHETIC ASS THAT IS NOT THE MAIN STORY SOMEWHERE ELSE. NO ONE IN THE COMMUNITY, EXCEPT C.I., FEELS SORRY FOR YOU.

YOU ARE PATHETIC.

AND BEFORE PATHETIC E-MAILS "OH MY GOD! KAT KNOWS I WROTE!" I HAVE THE PASSWORDS TO THE COMMON ILLS E-MAIL ACCOUNTS. MEMBERS WRITE ME AT THE PRIVATE 1S, VISITORS WRITE ME AT THE PUBLIC ONE. C.I. WAS TRYING TO LEARN FLIKR (A PROGRAM FOR VISUALS) TO GET ISAIAH'S COMIC UP.

SEE, THAT'S WHAT WAS GOING ON SUNDAY. WE'D ALL WORKED FOREVER, OVER NIGHT, ON THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW. WE WERE TIRED. WE WERE ALL EXHAUSTED. WE ENDED UP WITHOUT OUR NEW VISUALS. (C.I. ADDED THE DRAWING FOR "MAILBAG" EARLY MONDAY MORNING. TY AND I CAME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR THAT ILLUSTRATION.) WE ENDED UP HAVING TO DITCH A FEATURE COMPLETELY AND AN EDITORIAL AND COME UP WITH NEW CONTENT. IN THE MEANTIME, PEOPLE WHO GO TO THE COMMON ILLS ARE WAITING FOR ISAIAH'S COMIC BECAUSE THAT POSTS ON SUNDAY. WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT?

SUNDAY MORNING, AROUND 4 OR 5 IN THE MORNING, IS WHEN C.I. LEARNS "HELLO" (THE ILLUSTRATION PROGRAM) IS NO LONGER GOING TO BE A PART OF BLOGGER/BLOGSPOT.

NOW C.I.'S FIRST DUTY IS TO THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY NOT TO PATHETIC. EVEN THOUGH PATHETIC THINKS THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD STOPS FOR HER.

SO C.I., AVA, JESS AND DALLAS ARE TRYING TO LOOK AT THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE COMPATIBLE WITH BLOGGER/BLOGSPOT AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHICH ONE TO USE. THEY'RE CALLING AROUND TO GET FEEDBACK TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION.

JESS SAY C.I. WAS UP PAST 1:30 PM BECAUSE JESS GAVE UP AT 1:30 AND WENT TO BED. REMEMBER, EVERYONE INVOLVED HAD BEEN UP SINCE SATURDAY MORNING WITH NO SLEEP (THE CORE SIX -- JESS, AVA, JIM, DONA, TY AND C.I. AS WELL AS ME -- STAYED UP THROUGHOUT THE EDITION. OTHERS GET SENT OFF TO SLEEP BECAUSE THERE'S NO NEED FOR THEM TO GIVE UP THEIR ENTIRE WEEKEND.) I WENT TO BED AROUND 11 AND SLEPT AT C.I.'S BECAUSE I WAS TOO TIRED TO GO HOME. I JUST GRABBED A GUEST BEDROOM AND FELL ASLEEP FACE DOWN ON THE BED IN MY CLOTHES, I WAS TOO TIRED TO WASH MY FACE, TOO TIRED TO EVEN KICK OFF MY SHOES.

I WOKE UP AROUND 6:00 PM AND C.I. WAS UP (CLAIMS THERE WAS A NAP IN THERE SOMEWHERE). THEY'VE DECIDED TO GO WITH FLICKR AFTER GETTING INPUT. BUT FLICKR HAS IT'S OWN STEPS TO LEARN AND C.I.'S TRYING TO DO THAT, TRYING TO SPEAK TO A FRIEND IN THE MILITARY CALLING FROM IRAQ, TRYING TO PULL TOGETHER SOMETHING FOR "AND THE WAR DRAGS ON." SO JESS GETS ON A LAPTOP AND I GET ON A LAPTOP AND WE START GOING THROUGH THE E-MAIL ACCOUNTS LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT MEMBERS ARE HIGHLIGHTING AND ALSO FIGURING OUT WHAT IS GOING ON THEIR MINDS BECAUSE C.I.'S ALREADY SAID "I DON'T THINK I HAVE A THING TO WRITE ABOUT."

C.I. QUOTES AN ANNE SEXTON POEM AND HAD COME UP WITH THAT FOR THE EDITORIAL WE DIDN'T RUN AT THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE THE ILLUSTRATION. JIM INSISTED C.I. USE THAT BECAUSE WE ALL KNEW (A) C.I. WAS TIRED AND (B) IT WAS C.I.'S IDEA TO BEGIN WITH. SO THAT GOT CARRIED OVER AND BIT BY BIT C.I. PULLED TOGETHER AND ENTRY -- I'M ALWAYS AMAZED. BUT I FIND PATHETIC'S E-MAIL AND I AM JUST LAUGHING AT IT SO HARD. I SHOW IT TO AVA AND JESS AND THEN START TALKING ABOUT IT TO C.I. DONA AND JIM BOTH SAID, "SCREW PATHETIC. IT WAS SAID. WE KNOW IT WAS. IT'S BEEN NOTED BEFORE. IF PATHETIC WANTS THAT PULLED" BECAUSE PATHETIC APPEARED TO WANT IT PULLED NOT 'I SAID IT 60 MINUTES, NOT NIGHTLINE' "THEN PATHETIC NEEDS TO WRITE WHERE IT'S AT."

ONE TIME A SILLY IDIOT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES E-MAILED C.I. OUTRAGED OVER A TYPO IN HIS NAME. (TYPOS ARE NO LONGER CORRECTED AT THE COMMON ILLS.) 1 LETTER WAS LEFT OUT OF HIS NAME. HE WAS SCREAMING IN HIS E-MAIL.

NOW HE DIDN'T SAY WHERE IT WAS EITHER. IF YOU WORK FOR A FUCKING PAPER, YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW YOU ASK FOR A CORRECTION. I'M NOT TALKING "NICELY" -- I'M SAYING, "ON ___ DATE, IN ___ THIS IS INCORRECT." WHAT HAPPENED THAT TIME WAS JIM, DONA, AVA, JESS, TY AND MYSELF WENT THROUGH WEEK AFTER WEEK OF ENTRIES TRYING TO FIND OUT THE THING THE MAN WAS GRIPING ABOUT. HE DIDN'T EVEN PUT IN HIS E-MAIL HOW IT WAS MISPELLED.

WE WERE ALL SAYING, "SCREW HIM."

C.I. FINALLY REMEMBERED THE ENTRY THE GUY HAD TO BE TALKING ABOUT. AND HERE'S THE THING, HE GOT HIS FUCKING CORRECTION. BUT IF HE HAD READ -- A SUPPOSED REPORTER -- HE WOULD HAVE SEEN CLEARLY THAT THIS WAS A EXCERPT FROM THE DAILY HOWLER. C.I. DIDN'T MISPELL HIS NAME, A PERSON BOB SOMERBY WAS QUOTING DID. (BOB SOMERBY WAS QUOTING AND THAT'S PROBABLY WHY IT WAS MISPELLED. YOU DON'T CHANGE A QUOTE UNLESS YOU BRACKET IT.)

NOW YOU DO YOU THINK THE CRY BABY AT THE NEW YORK TIMES E-MAILED BOB SOMERBY ABOUT THIS? IF HE DID, BOB SOMERBY'S NEVER CORRECTED IT. (HE SHOULDN'T CORRECT IT. IT'S IN A QUOTE.) BUT HE WANTED TO HAVE A FREAK FEST ON C.I.'S ASS.

AND TO ME THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT PATHETIC DID ON SUNDAY.

I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT KIND OF SHIT. YOU WANT SOMETHING FIXED, YOU SAY WHERE IT IS. AND IF C.I. EVER SPENDS FOREVER TRYING TO LOCATE IT, I WILL POST HERE EXACTLY WHERE PATHETIC MADE HER REMARKS.

PATHETIC IS PATHETIC. AND "60 MINUTES" OR "NIGHTLINE" REALLY DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN COVERED BEFORE. IT WAS A MISTAKE TO SAY "NIGHTLINE" INSTEAD OF "60 MINUTES" BUT IT'S ALREADY NOTED WHERE IT WAS SAID IN REAL TIME.

SO IF C.I. DOES GO LOOKING FOR THAT AND JUST NOTES "PATHETIC DID NOT SAY THAT HERE" AND DOESN'T ADD ON: "HOWEVER, SHE SAID IT HERE AND HERE." I WILL DO IT. I'LL EVEN NOTE IN ONE OF MUSIC REVIEWS AT THE COMMON ILLS TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE'S AWARE OF IT.

EXCEPT FOR C.I, WE'RE ALL PISSED ABOUT THAT. THERE ARE A MINIMUM OF 20 ENTRIES UP AT THE COMMON ILLS IN ONE WEEK. IF YOU HAVE WAITED DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS AND WEEKS TO WEIGH IN YOU SHOULDN'T EXPECT SOMEONE TO SAY "OH I BETTER HUNT IT DOWN." IF YOU WANT YOUR MINOR THING NOTED, YOU NEED TO SAY "IT APPEARS IN ___ ON BLANK DATE."

PATHETIC CAN KISS MY ASS AND COME MID-FERBRUARY, I'LL HAVE A GREAT DEAL MORE TO SAY. YOU KNOW REBECCA'S SAYING IT IN REAL TIME. SHE CAN GET AWAY WITH THAT. I THINK C.I. WOULD BE HURT IF I DID IT. BUT REBECCA'S ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY (SHE AND ELAINE AND C.I. ALL WENT TO COLLEGE TOGETHER) SO SHE CAN GET AWAY WITH IT. (AND I ENCOURAGE HER TO DO SO. WHEN I READ IT THIS WEEK, I CALLED HER RIGHT AWAY AND SAID "THANK YOU!")

ALL CAPS WAS ADDED. I'VE MADE IT ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT SHOULD BE READ AS "SHOUTING" BUT ALSO BECAUSE I WANTED TO BE SURE IT WAS CLEAR THAT THIS WAS ADDED. BACK TO THE ORIGINAL ENTRY ALREADY IN PROGRESS . . .

But C.I. has a streak of compassion that I don't. If you make your bed, my opinion, you lie in it. I don't feel sorry for you. But C.I. will.

But I wasn't mad at C.I. about that, I was mad at me-me-me. (And I'm not the only one. Everyone is furious with me-me-me and can't believe that an idiot would write about something and not give a URL or a date and title. Forget everything else, do they grasp how much C.I. writes each day? C.I.'s not doing cat blogging for God's sake.)

So we're fine. We've always been fine. The only change in our friendship has been the death of Tower. C.I. was always up for Tower. Maggie got to the point, years ago, where she didn't want to go with me. "You'll spend hours there!" she'd exclaim. And I would. C.I. never minded that. I remember the Troops Home Fast, it was probably close to or after the thirty day mark. C.I. was just exhausted and something else had happened that I forget. So I went over and said, "Come on, we're going to Tower." And we did and we had the best time. Jess and Ty I have a blast with as well for the same reason, they love, love, love music.

Jim, Dona and Ava really like music. But with the other three it's a passion. It's not just me looking for some find, it's all three of us. And now Tower is no more. That still makes me sad. Some people grew up loving libraries or parks or whatever. For me, it was always Tower.

Okay, let's talk about Bonnie Faulkner who interview Tim Fisher today about 9-11 and global 'terrorism.' That was a really fascinating discussion. They talked about Genoa and how the protestors were attacked and how that strategy was being 'exported.' (Haven't we seen that with the attacks on environmentalists?)

Todd spoke about how NBC changed their 9-11 story as the day went by. First saying telling which tower crashed first and then, later in the day, reversing them so that the 1st 1 hit crashed 1st when that wasn't what happened. C.I. and I were talking about the program and I asked about that because I'm always curious what people remember about it.

C.I. said the order wouldn't have stood out because "what I was noticing was Mark Bingham." Mark Bingham was a hero in the early reports (and Elaine can back this up and what happened after) then he wasn't. He was gay and they apparently didn't know that. As they learned it, they made other people the heroes (Bingham was one of several early heroes) and then they ignored Mark Bingham.

But C.I. agreed that things were changing on the day, as the reports were being made. That they'd change and change as more time passed.

A point that we both agreed with is that when it's another country, people here have no problem charging corruption or criminality in a government. Take elections. In this country, the 2004 election 'results' weren't to be questioned. But we saw the same problems (exit polls and count not matching) lead to a declaration of 'fraud' when it was another government.

Todd noted the wave of attacks on the Truth Movement recently. He noted it could have been cooridnated. He didn't say it was. But it did seem strange the way everyone wanted to weigh in on that. All these publications that ignored it and suddenly were mini-experts. Now none of them bothered to call Bonnie Faulkner who is a journlist. (As opposed to a columnist.) If they really were interested in understanding it (even if only to disprove it) seems like they would have tried to speak to one of the few journalists who has covered this repeatedly.

I think it's strange that the cry is usually, "Read everything, then make up your mind." That cry was forgetten in all the slams, wasn't it?

Suddenly it wasn't expose yourself to everything and make up your mind.

Todd was talking about structure or structurism and he lost me there. We both thought we knew what he was talking about but weren't sure. C.I. related it to functionalism, conflict theory, interactionist, et al in sociology which I studied and I could match it up that way.

I don't know that this is what Todd was getting at but it is interesting if you relate it that way because then you have left voices arguing for functionalism when you would expect them to be proponets of conflict theory.

He related it to class conflict as well which I found very interesting.

By the way, if you missed it and aren't able to listen online (either due to speakers or hearing issues), Todd writes about this under the name Max Kolskegg at Serendipity. That's it for me tonight. I took part in a roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin tonight and we also flew to DC. I'm exhausted. (The time changes always kill me.)

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Wednesday, January 24, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, Dahr Jamail explains the importance of war resisters, Bully Boy bombs (or, as Mike called him, "Bully Boy Butt Wipe") with his State of the Union address, the slaughter on Haifa Street continues, a Senate committee feels really proud of themselves but Russ Feingold pops their hot air, US Rep Maxine Waters speaks with Amy Goodman about this weekends demonstrations to end the war, US Rep Dennis Kucinich explains what puts him ahead of other Democratic candidates attempting to win their party's nomination for the 2008 presidential election, and Tony Blair's whimper is the whine heard round the world.

In the US, Ehren Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq and faces a court-martial on February 5th at Fort Lewis. Last week, the 'judge' (John Head) ruled on the parameters of the case. As Matt Hutaff (The Simon) reports the ruling amounts to "stripping the defendant of his constitutional rights. When Watada faces prosecution on February 5, he will be unable to assert free speech in questioning the legality of the war and is forbidden from using Nurember laws as defense. Watada's entire argument rests on the fact that troops are bound to serve honorably and follow lawful orders, and that the Iraq war is a hodepodge of neither." Paul Rockwell (San Francisco Bay Guardian) observes, "It is a sad day in American jurisprudence when a soldier of conscience is court-martialed -- not for lying, but for telling the truth; not for breaking a covenant with the military, but for upholding the rule of law in wartime." Eric Ruder (Socialist Worker) notes, "Activists in the Northwest and around the country are planning a February 5 day of action to show support for Watada, timed to coincide with the beginning of the Army's court-martial against him. Defending war resisters is a critical part of ending the war, because it gives confidence to other soldiers considering their options as Bush plans a 'surge' of 21,500 more troops to Iraq." Jim Warren (Lexington Herald-Leader) notes that among those people showing support for Watada on February 5th at Fort Lewis will be war resister Darrell Anderson who "set off on a cross-country bus tour with the Iraq Veterans Against the War organization, making stops in several cities to support war resisters."


Meanwhile, war resister Agustin Aguayo was due to be arraigned on Monday but Stars & Stripes reports that the arraingment has now been postponed until Thursday. Aguayo served in Iraq and applied for Conscientious Objector status afterwards. The military denied that and Aguayo has been appealing that. On November 21, 2006, the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC heard Aguayo's appeal. They have not yet ruled on it. As Aaron Glantz reported on the November 20, 2006 broadcast of The KPFA Evening News, Aguayo's case was the first of it's kind hear in "a federal court since 1971". Despite the fact that the case was on appeal, the military had told Aguayo he had to redeploy to Iraq. In September, Aguayo self-checked out and turned himself in the same month. He was gone less than 30 days (September 2nd through September 26th.). However, last week, the military announced that they would be charging him with desertion. As Kevin Dougherty (Stars & Stripes) noted in November, 30 days, though not a rule, is "the standard benchmark." That charge and missing movement could, if convicted on both counts, result in Aguayo serving seven years in prison.


Interviewed by Alan Maass (Socialist Worker), Dahr Jamail noted the importance of war resisters and observed: "There are between 8,000 and 10,000 people AWOL from the military, and I imagine that number has increased dramatically over just the last week. I know it was starting to increase dramatically even before Bush made his speech. More people than ever are heading off to Canada or going underground, so that they don't have to go to Iraq and be targets. If anyone is seriously interested in ending this occupation and wants to do something to make it happen, people should follow the instruction of Lt. Ehren Watada. In his speech at the Veterans for Peace national convention in August of last year, he said that the best thing people could do is adopt the family of someone who wants to become a resister, and do what they need to do to support those families, economically and morally, so that their people don't have to go to Iraq."

Agustin Aguayo, Ehren Watada and Darrell Anderson are part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Ivan Brobeck, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

In Iraq today, the Independent of London's Patrick Cockburn, speaking with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, noted the Bully Boy's laughable speech from Tuesday evening, "He talked about chaos coming to Iraq. Well, I mean, I'm in the center of Baghdad, and it's difficult to imagine anything more chaotic. There's heavy fighting going on in an area called Haifa Street just near the Green Zone. I can hear mortars occasionally going off. It's said that there is an attempt to assassinate one of the vice presidents a few streets away from here. So we have almost total chaos in Baghad at the moment."

Bombings?

KUNA reports a bombing in Mosul that left a police officer and a civilian wounded. Reuters reports a bombing that killed four police officers and left three civilians wounded in Baghdad, a mortar attack in Baghdad that left one man wounded, and a mortar attack on City Hospital in Baghdad that killed two and left 20 wounded. Shootings?

Reuters reports that two people wounded in an attack "on a minibus carrying Shi'ite pilgrims" in Baghdad. The BBC reports that another educator has been killed in Iraq and describe Diya al-Meqoter as "a well-known professor and econcomist who presented a programme on Sharquiya television. . . He was known for supporting poor people needing loans to set up business, and he also headed Iraq's consumer association, a non-government agency which campaigned for fair pricing." RTE reports an attack on the country's minister of higher education, Abd Dhiab al-Ajili, that left one of his body guard dead "and another was shot in the head and seriously wounded."
Corpses?

KUNA reports 52 corpses discovered in Mosul (all with"scars of torture") which comes after Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times) reported that the number of corpses discovered in Baghdad was decreasing.

Meanwhile the slaughter on Haifa Street in Baghdad continues. Ross Colvin and Ahmed Rasheed (Reuters) repeat the US military's version of events ('insurgents, insurgents, insurgents') to explain the US military's air raid on high rises on the largely residential street; however, they also note: "A local journalist said he helped transport 37 wounded people to hospital, including women and children, in three ambulances that managed to get through the security cordon." KUNA reports: "An Iraqi security source and eyewitnesses said US helicopters had been bombing the street compound since early morning today, noting the clashes were most intense near Al-Sheikh Cemetery, which witnessed similar clashes last week. Eyewitnesses told KUNA over the phone that ambulances were rushed to the scene of the clashes." This attack is what Patrick Cockburn was describing to Amy Goodman on today's Democracy Now!


Today the US military announced today: "One Marine assigned to 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group and one Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Tuesday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province" and they announced: "Insurgent small arms fire targeting a Multi-National Division – Baghdad patrol killed one Soldier near the city’s center Jan. 24."

The US military also announced that Adam L. Huryta was court-martialed on January 22nd "for assaulting a fellow soldier with a survival knife." Huryta, as the release goes, disagreed with a position he was ordered to take while an Iraqi was being questioned so he repeatedly stabbed another US soldier and, having been found guilty in the court-martial held at LSA Anaconda, Huryta has received: "eight months in jail, reduction to E-1, and a bad conduct discharge." Ponder that. Ponder that as Ehren Watada faces six years in prison if convicted and Agustin Aguayo faces seven -- neither of whom went after another US service member with a hunting knife.

On Tuesday, Bully Boy yammered on for a little less than fity-minutes as he delivered a Constitutionally mandated State of the Union speech. At one point he spoke of the need to find resolve -- possibly he lost it on one of his many vacations? (If he ever had it.) On KPFA's The Morning Show today, Andrea Lewis and Philip Maldari addressed the speech with Elizabeth de la Vega (author of United States versus George W. Bush) and US Rep Dennis Kucinich. de la Veage noted that "we heard almost the same exact statements about Iraq that we've heard since before 9-11 on the Middle East" and characterized it as "more of the same" talk about Iraq while noting her alarm over Bully Boy's words regarding Iran.

Kucinich noted his plan for ending the war which includes: "First that the US announced it will end the occupation, closes the bases and withdraws" -- using the existing funds to bring US troops back to the US, allow reconstruction contracts to be turned over to Iraqis, build and international peace keeping force, etc. On the subject of impeachment, which de la Vega has written of, Kucinich stated his "focus right now is to end the war and bring the troops home" but "I don't take issue with anything that anybody's doing to hold this administration accountable." He did note that if Bully Boy attacked Iran without Congressional authorization, he did expect there would be an impeachment.


On the issue of 'bipartisanship,' Kucinich declared, "If we have a bipartisan effort to keep the troops in Iraq, that's not the kind of bipartisanship I'm lookng for." Andrea Lewis pointed out that Kucinich is running to become the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nominee and asked him to explain how he stands apart from other declared candidates. Kucinich responded that "the single most important decision anyone in the Oval Office will make is whether or not to commit America's young men and women to war" and, unlike other declared nominees, the American people know that Kucinich has opposed the illegal war from the start, from before it began while the others "all offered to vote for the war or they voted to fund the war" and, unlike the others, he never "bought George Bush's line."


Some did. Less and less are buying it today which explains the underwhelming response to the State of the Union speech. Al Jazeera reports that the reaction to Bully Boy's speech was 'indifference' -- Hoda Abdel Hamid: "Iraqis told me 'we don't believe in all his promises -- he's goin gto ask us to be patient, but he's not the one living under the bombs. All Iraqis can hear this morning is explosions -- there are mortars going off and there is a heavy gun battle going on just a couple of hundred metres away. This is what Iraqis are listening to."


In England the on-his-way-out-the-door Tony Blair continues to face strong calls to take British troops out of Iraq. (On Tuesday, the British consulate in Basra was attacked -- as it often is -- and two British soldiers were wounded.) The Guardian of London reports that Menzies Campbell, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, "called for the first time for a pull-out of all British forces from the country by the end of October" which Blair rejected and Campbell then went on to challenge Blair to stay for the debate. Tony Blair whimpered, left a puddle on the floor, and scurried off quickly.

In what Andrew North (BBC) has called the "first sign of disagreement" regarding Iraq, Tony Blair's cabinet and Bully Boy's appear to be odds regarding southern Iraq. The BBC reports that Zalmay Khalilzad, in an interview with them, voiced his belief that "UK forces . . . remain at their current levels in southern Iraq" despite the fact that at least "a partial withdrawal of British foces from Basra this year" has long been discussed publicly by Blair as well England's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.

Turning to the US Senate where a toothless, symbolic measure has passed through committee, Frederic J. Frommer (AP) reports that Senator Russ Feingold has declared, "My far, Mr. Chairman, is this is slow walking. This is not a time for legislative nuancing. This is not a time for trying to forge a compromise that everybody can be a part of. This is a time to stop the needless deaths of American troops in Iraq. We have a moral responsibility, as well as a responsibility to the lives of the American people, to start doing it now." The toothless, feckless, symbolic measure, the BBC reports, passed on a 12-9 vote.

A measure so meaningless, it took three men to devise it: Carl Levin, Joe Biden, and Chuck Hagel. The lunchtime poll reads: "It's really, really, really, really-really, really not in the best interests of the United States for Bully Boy to send more troops to Iraq and if he does so they will be really, really, really, really-really, really ticked off -- so ticked off, in fact, they might just decide to take another lunchtime poll! Watch your step, Bully Boy! Blah, blah, blah." The poll was a vote on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and, CNN reports, the non-binding, toothless measure should go before the full Senate for a vote next week.

Joe Biden is of course interested in flaunting his useless nature with something far more than meaningless legislation, he also wants to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. John Kerry has announced what we noted here weeks ago -- stick the fork in, he's done. One candidate who is still in the race is US Senator Hillary Clinton. Weighing in at Truthout, Cindy Sheehan recalls, "I, my sister Dede and another Gold Star Mother, Lynn Braddach, whose son, Travis Nall was killed in Iraq in 2003, met with Senator Clinton in DC in September of 2005. We poured our hearts and souls out to her. We cried as we told her of our sons and our fear for the people of Iraq and the escalating body count of our brave young people. She sat there stone-faced and walked out and told Sarah Ferguson of the Village Voice, 'My bottom line is that I don't want their sons to die in vain. . . . I don't believe it's smart to set a date for withdrawal. . . I don't think it's the right time to withdraw.' She may as well have slapped us in the face using Bloody George's line and using our sons' sacrifice to justify her war mongering. On Thursday, January 18th, Senator Clinton introduced a meaningless bill to put a cap on the number of soldiers that can be in Iraq, set at January 1st levels. It is as weak and meaningless as a nonbinding resolution -- and a politically safe move, since almost three fourts of the country oppose Bloody George. By the time she introduced her Senate bill last Thursday, over 1000 of our young people had come home in body bags and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis had died, while she was waiting for the best political time to be semi-against the war. How many of our troops are lying in Walter Reed with devastating injuries that could have been prevented if a Senate leader like Clinton had taken a moral stance instead of a political one?"

Which is a good time to offer the contrast: US Representative Maxine Waters. Appearing on Democracy Now! today, Waters discussed the proposal she and US Reps. Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey have on the table: "No more troops going to Iraq. Number two, to start to wind out of Iraq. Make sure that you work with the Iraqis for a security plan that they come up with that would include the international community and those in the region and no American soldiers in that kind of security plan. We also talk about reconstruction. We have bombed Baghdad and other parts of Iraq to smithereens. We owe it to them to be involved in a reconstruction plan that's real. Thirdly, we would leave some troops over the horizon in neighboring communities, in the event the coalition forces that are put together by the Iraqis would ask for a bit of assistance at any given time." Waters and Goodman also discussed the Saturday protest in DC and that the representative has "sent a letter to all members of Congress" encouraging them to also take part.

Information on the demonstrations can be found at CODEPINK's Bring the Peace Mandate to D.C. on J27! activities will also be taking place in communities around the country. Saturday, Laura Flanders will be broadcasting live from DC to cover the demonstrations on RadioNation with Laura Flanders. Aaron Glantz (IPS) reports on the upcoming demonstrations and notes United for Peace & Justice's Leslie Cagan stating, "The voters of this country figured out that they could use the November elections as a vehicle to voice their opposition to the war. What happened there was that the voters gave Congress a mandate to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home." Glanz notes that in addition to events in DC, there are "large mobilisations planned for Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco. In addition smaller actions are planned for more than 50 cities." In DC, Saturday the rally will be held at the National Mall from eleven in the morning to one p.m. at which point a march will begin. Larry Margasak (AP) notes of the DC rally and march: "Scheduled speakers include members of Congress sponsoring anti-war measures; civili rights activist Jesse Jackson; veterans against the war; actors such as Danny Glover, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon; and a voice from the . . . [pro-peace] past, Jane Fonda."

Those in DC Saturday may want to check out Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, who will be speaking at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm while those in the NYC area on Sunday should check out Joan Mellen speech at 7:30 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25. Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.Again, that's Sunday, January 28th, 7:30 p.m. the 92nd Street Y in NYC.






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Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Joan Mellen lecture on JFK assasination this Sunday

We'll be noting this again in January, but we'll note it right now. Author Joan Mellen will be speaking Sunday, January 28th at 7:30 p.m. in NYC at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25.Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.

We wrote that for The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Joan Mellen lecture on JFK assasination 1-28-07". This weekend, things went so crazy (not being able to post pictures, et al) and it was a pain in the ass. (Not people participating, the process itself.) C.I. included it in the snapshot (meant to yesterday) and will continue to do through the end of the week. I'm starting tonight with it to make sure everyone sees it.

I'm not in NYC and I'll be in DC this weekend, but if you are in the area, Joan Mellen was a great guest when she spoke with Bonnie Faulkner. She's a strong writer and a strong voice. You will have a wonderful evening if you're in the area and attend.

Blogger/Blogspot is giving everyone problems tonight. I don't know what the deal is. Every other week, it's something new with them. I keep expecting them to declare bankruptcy tomorrow.

Are you going to DC? We'll be there except for Rebecca and Betty. (Possibly someone else.) Rebecca's pregnant and though things are going well (and will continue to do so), with her history of miscarriages she is not allowed to travel. She's been around the house for that since she learned she was pregnant. I would be climbing the walls. (Though this week and last week, it wasn't doctor's orders. She's off that. She just felt more comfortable staying home because of her history.) Betty's going to visit with Rebecca because she hasn't been able to meet with her since the news of the pregnancy. I believe they've got something planned at Rebecca's (a gathering, I believe they're watching The Ground Truth as a mini-house party). (Rebecca's had no baby shower yet. She wants to wait a bit more. Due to her history.)

Today, she actually did leave the house and went to see the doctor. She said everything went perfectly. This was the first time she'd done more than walk out on the patio because she's nervous (I don't blame her). I think this is going to be the one for her.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, January 23, 2007. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, Ehren Watada discusses his upcoming court-martial, another helicopter crashes in Iraq, calls for the unproduced NIE begin as the Bully Boy attempts to sell his escalation in and continued war on Iraq, and questions arise over his repeated alarmist talk of Iran.


In June Ehren Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. Today, he spoke to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! about what he's facing ins February 5th court-martial at Fort Lewis. Watada explained the process by which he came to his decision: assigned to Iraq, he began doing the research required of him. (Yesterday on WBAI's Law and Disorder, Carolyn Ho walked people through her son's awakening. In addition to archived broadcasts at either link, Rebecca's written of the speech at her site.) His research provided him with information and, from that infomation, he was left the reality that the war was illegal and immoral. At which point he had to decide what to do and he tried to handle the matter privately but the military repeatedly refused to do so. Only after months of that did Watada go public. In his August Article 32 hearing (similar to a grand jury), his attornies (a military attorney and a civilian attorney) were allowed to present a defense. 'Judge' Head has disallowed that for the court-martial scheduled to be held at Fort Lewis on February 5th.

Amy Goodman asked, in light of that ruling, "what is heard in the court, that you just refused to show up?" Watada answered, "Correct. It will simply be. It will be a non-trial. It will not be a fair trial or a show of justice, in any sense. I think that they will simply say, 'Was he ordered to go? Yes. Did he go? No. Well, he’s guilty.' And that also goes for the conduct unbecoming charges: 'Did he make those statements? Can we verify that? Yes? Okay, he’s guilty.' And then it will be pretty much a disciplinary hearing -- in terms of how much punishment should we give this lieutenant." There will be strong defense offered despite the fact that Watada faces up to six years in prison if convicted of all charges. Now the military has a roll of who made the deployment and who didn't and they have transcripts and audio and video of Watada's statment. If he's not allowed to explain his reasons, it's a matter of "yes" and "no." That's really not a defense and "Judge" Head really isn't a judge. (That's me, not Watada for any 'researches' for the prosecution.)

Watada declared that "there's tremendous support out there. I think it's unfortunate that we haven't been able to get into the national media as much as we wanted to. And therefore, the more east you go, the less people know about the case. And I think, just looking at how much support I've received in Washington state and back home in my home state, in Hawaii, there are a lot of people who are coming out. And not just people on one spectrum of the political ideology, but people from the mainstream. They are all coming out -- the unions, the interfaith groups, the students, universities. They are all coming out to support. And I think that's just a testament to how people feel about the war and the policies of this administration."

There is a lot of support. There is, however, very little coverage in media big or small. There are exceptions and it's usually the same group we've learned to look for coverage of what matters. Yesterday on Free Speech Radio News and The KPFA Evening News, Martha Baskin reported on the Citizens' Hearing on the Legality of U.S. Actions in Iraq held in Tacoma, Washington last Satruday and Sunday noting that while a 'judge' had "ruled that" Watada "could not raise the legality of the war in his defense" the hearing did just that attracting experts from legal and military fields, "military families and veterans". Richard Falk was heard, in the report, testifying that, "It is our role as citizens to protect those who are brave enough . . . who refuse to participate in an illegal war."


Another issue in the court-martial of Ehren Watada is whether or not journalists should participate in the proceedings as witnesses for the prosecution. Emily Howard spoke with journalists Sarah Olson and Norman Solomon yesterday on KPFA's Flashpoints. Olson will not discuss her "legal strategy." She has stated, on air, to Laura Flanders she wouldn't testify and she has played mum on that with others. However, as noted on Sunday, she has not stated that she supported Watada 100%, she has just stated that as a journalist it is her job to cover the news and her sources are sources and neither an endorsement or a rebuke.

Speaking with Howard yesterday, Olson made her strongest case yet.

She did that by first starting with Ehren Watada who is facing the court-martial and whose stand is what the military is interested in and wants to punish. ("The crux of this trial," as Howard pointed out.) Having established Watada's stand, Olson then connected it to other war resisters who had come forward by name (and noted that Flashpoints interviewed Ivan Brobeck -- they were the only outlet to do so when he returned to the US from Canada to turn himself on election day in November with an open letter to the Bully Boy). Why does whether she testifies or not in the court-martial matter?

As Olson and Solomon outlined it (very clearly) who are war resisters going to talk to? If they're under the impression that any reporter they tell their stories to will then be called before a court to testify against them, that will produce a chilling effect on free speech and prevent a free press from the ability to keep citizens informed. That is the purpose of the free press, as veteran DC journalist Helen Thomas noted on yesterday's Democracy Now!, not providing with you commercials of products that will 'enhance' your life, informing citizens so that they can make their decisions and contribute within a democracy.

Norman Solomon noted that the Pentagon is "worried about people not only thinking for themselves but speaking up" so it is "trying to intimidate" people into silence and that this is "a contradicition between the myth of the military defending our 'freedoms'" and trying to supress freedoms.

Olson, who faces six month in jail and/or a fine if she refuses to testify, declared, "When you look at the number of people who are taking steps to actively express their opposition to this war I think that is has become it has grown to a point it's not something that can be ignored or . . . can or should be ignored. And I think it's very important as journalists . . . that we are able to cover this perspective and this growing number of active dutry Iraq war vetrns and soldiers who are in opposition to this war. It's becoming more and more relevant as the days go by."

Olson is correct -- Watada is part of a movement of resistance within the military that also includes Kyle Snyder, Agustin Aguayo, Ivan Brobeck, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Joshua Key, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Robin Long, Ryan Johnson, Chris Teske, Tim Richard and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.


Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.

In Iraq . . .

Bombings?

Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two car bombs in Baghdad (Sheikh Omar neighborhood and Karranda neighborhood) that killed five and left 11 wounded while, in east Baghdad, an IED wounded 3 police ofiicers; in the province of Basra an explosion killed one person, and, yesterday, two British soldiers were injured in yet another rocket attack "on the British consulate downtown Baasra city".Reuters reports three Iraqi soldiers wounded in a car bombing in Sinjar, nine injured in a car bombing in Mosul, a woman dead and two children wounded from mortar attacks in Iskandariya, and six dead from mortar attacks (nine wounded) in Suwayra.


Shootings?

Yesterday a school teacher (female) was gunned down on her way to work. Today, CNN reports another attack on an educator -- a professor was gunned down on his way to work as well (northern Baghdad). The BBC reports five Iraqi police officers were shot dead in Mosul. Reuters reports that educators were attacked in Tal Afar as well -- two teachers shot dead,
that two Iraqi soldiers were shot dead in Falluja, and that two people were shot dead near Kirkuk (with another wounded).

Corpses?

Reuters reports a corpse discovered in Mussayab today and five discovered yesterday (four in Rutba and one in Iskandariya).

Also today the US military announced: "An 89TH Military Police Brigade Soldier died Monday of wounds suffered after an improvised explosive device exploded next to his vehicle north of Baghdad" and they announced: ".One Marine assigned to 1st Marine Expeditionary Force died Sunday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in the Multi National Division-Baghdad area of operation, south of Baghdad. One Soldier assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Monday from wounds sustained due to enemy action while operating in Al Anbar Province."


In addition to the above five Americans, employees of the Blackwater security firm, are dead.
CBS and AP report that helicopter was shot down citing an "Iraqi defense official" who states a machine gun was used to shoot the helicopter down. This echoes the Washington Post's eye witness who stated a machine gun was used to shoot down the helicopter carrying twelve US troops, Saturday in Baghdad. The US military has presented the crashes and crash landings repeatedly as though they were mechanical failures (which some may have been) but it's also true that helicopters can be shot down -- with guns, no rockets needed. That was very clear during Vietnam and it's amazing how so many in the press corps seem to either be unaware of that point or choose to ignore it as one crash after another (until recently) resulted in press 'reports' that read like military press releases (and some were).


In news of reality versus Operation Happy Talk, the press can't contain their giddyness (with few exceptions) over the supposed 'crackdown' finally going on with militias and the people in leadership (or portrayed as such) of them being caught. As has been pointed out earlier this month, the detentions (in the past) can best be termed "catch and release" (one Republican senator even denounced them as such). Commenting on one wave of Operation Happy Talk in the press, the BBC's Anderw North notes: "it is still not clear how significant the senior Mehdi Army figures now in custody are." And Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reports that a US led operation in the Salah Ad Din province Monday night led to the arrest of "the chief of Tikrit local council Aarif Jabbar Motar and Sheikh Khaleel Al Ejili, a member of the Muslim Scholars Association and the imam of Omar Bin AL Khattab mosque. The two men were arrested in the house of the Iraqi army intelligence officer Captain Maeen Al Dulaimi." Hammoudi also reports that one of the two arrested as they attempted to negotiate the release of both Dr. Basim Al Jishi and Sheikh Hamid Ugab and that Ugab "had been released early morning today." Was there a point to arresting him, or any of the others, besides the giddy press 'reports' that help continue Operation Happy Talk?

If so, does it counter the fact that the people's response was a 1,000 plus demonstration against these arrest? Or does it just further inflame the tensions?

Meanwhile, same topic (Operation Happy Talk versus reality), the usual War Hawks among the press have passed off escalation as the answer (see Michael R. Gordon) and few questions have been asked by others whether this was a 'strategy,' a 'technique,' or just sop tossed out to try fool the public? David Morgan (Reuters) reports: The Bush administration came under fire on Tuesday for its failure to produce a key intelligence report that casts doubt on whether the Iraqi government is capable of taking steps to ensure the success of President George W. Bush's strategy. The classified document, known as a national intelligence estimate, would represent the 16-agency espionage community's consensus views on the stability of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government and prospects for controlling sectarian violence in Iraq. U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte's office was ordered by Congress to produce the document in late September, but is not expected to do so until after the Senate takes up two measures opposing Bush's plan to send another 21,500 troops to Iraq to try to quell the violence." That would be the report that former CIA analyst Ray McGovern (writing at Consortium News) noted: "So the White House is playing it safe, avoiding like the plague any estimate that would raise doubts about the wisdom of the decision to surge. And that is precisely what an honest estimate would do. With 'sham-dunk' former CIA director George Tenet and his accomplices no longer in place as intelligence enablers, the White House clearly prefers no NIE to one that would inevitably highlight the fecklessness of throwing 21,500 more troops into harm’s way for the dubious purpose of holding off defeat for two more years. The Old Mushroom Cloud The NIE, which leaned so far forward to support the White House’s warnings of a made-in-Iraq 'mushroom cloud,' remains the negative example par excellence of corrupted intelligence. The good news is that Tenet and his lackeys were replaced by officers who, by all indications, take their job of speaking truth to power seriously."

Finally on this topic, the Bully Boy gives his State of the Union speech tonight. In it, he is again expected to sound the alrams on Iran. But Alexandra Zavis and Greg Miller (Los Angeles Times) report that there are claims but little proof: "But there has been little sign of more advanced weaponry crossing the border, and no Iranian agents have been found. In his speech this month outlining the new U.S. strategy in Iraq, President Bush promised to "seek out and destroy" Iranian networks that he said were providing "advanced weaponry and training to our enemies." He is expected to strike a similar note in tonight's State of the Union speech. For all the aggressive rhetoric, however, the Bush administration hasprovided scant evidence to support these claims. Nor have reporters traveling with U.S. troops seen extensive signs of Iranian involvement."


In DC, the Senate Armed Services Committee went through the motions of a hearing on whether or not to confirm David Petraeus, nominated by the Bully Boy, the Lt. general would become the new commander of US troops (and Iraqis, be honest) in Iraq. BBC reports that he told the committee: "None of this will be rapid. The way ahead will be neither quick nor easy. There undoubtedly will be tough days. . . . The situation in Iraq is dire. The stakes are high. There are no easy choices. The way ahead will be very hard. . . But hard is not hopeless." Hard does not mean hopeless, Petraeus declares. (Gordo gets giddy at the thought.) And soft doesn't mean happiness, as many women could explain. He did and a song and dance and the senators acted as though they were doing a probing examination. Or maybe it was supposed to pass for 'symbolic.' The senators occassionaly asked a difficult question (Ted Kennedy) but after almost four years of a war that continues to kill Iraqis, Americans, British, . . . that just didn't cut it anymore than the 'symbolic' measure Senators Carl Levin, Joe Biden and Chuck Hagel are pushing. The most obvious question went unasked: "Why is the US in Iraq? What pupose does the US presence serve?"


As Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) reported today, US Congress Representative Maxine Waters will be attending the demonstration in DC this weekend and is urging other members of Congress to do likewise. Informations on these demonstrations in DC this weekend can be found at CODEPINK's Bring the Peace Mandate to D.C. on J27! activities will also be taking place in communities around the country. Saturday, Laura Flanders will be broadcasting live from DC to cover the demonstrations on RadioNation with Laura Flanders.

In addition Anthony Arnove, author most recently of IRAQ: The Logic of Withdrawal, will be speaking in DC this weekend on Saturday the 27th at Busboys and Poets at 5:00 pm while those in the NYC area might want to check out this Sunday event -- from The Third Estate Sunday Review's "Joan Mellen lecture on JFK assasination 1-28-07" which I meant to note last week but didn't have time (we will be noting it, Monday through Friday, in the week leading up to the Sunday event):
We'll be noting this again in January, but we'll note it right now. Author Joan Mellen will be speaking Sunday, January 28th at 7:30 p.m. in NYC at the 92nd Street Y (92nd Street and Lesington Avenue). Mellan, a professor at Temple University and the author of seventeen books, will be presenting a lecture on the JFK assasination . . . and beyond. Tickets are $25.Mellen's latest book is A Farewell to Justice which probes the assasination of JFK. She was a guest on Law and Disorder November 7, 2005. And the March 15, 2006 broadcast of KPFA's Guns and Butter featured her speech "How the Failure to Identify, Prosecute and Convict President Kennedy's Assassins Has Led to Today's Crisis of Democracy." You can also read a transcript of that speech here.

Again, that's Sunday, January 28th, 7:30 p.m. the 92nd Street Y in NYC.
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