An angry, vengeful blog

Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop, And Here It Comes Now!

2008-12-16T22:49:00.003-05:00

8 years seems a little tough for expressing your freedoms

Stop the Oil Speculators

2008-08-03T23:55:00.004-04:00

Here's an excerpt from Nader.org that explains why the price of a barrel of oil has nearly tripled in the past 18 months:

"...Historically, oil has been afflicted with the control of monopolists. From the late nineteenth century days of John D. Rockefeller, and his Standard Oil monopoly, to the emergence of the “Seven Sisters” oligopoly, made up of Standard Oil, Shell, BP, Texaco, Mobil, Gulf and Socal, to the rise of OPEC representing the major producing countries, the “free market” price of oil has been a mirage. Despite the breakup of the Standard Oil company by the government’s trustbusters about 100 years ago, selling cartels and buying oligopolies kept reasserting themselves.

In an ironic twist, the major price determinant has moved from OPEC (having only 40% of the world production) and the oil companies to the speculators in the commodities markets. What goes on in the essentially unregulated New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)—without Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforced margin requirements, and, unlike your personal purchases, untaxed—is now the place that leads to your skyrocketing gasoline bills. OPEC and the Big Oil companies reap the benefits and say that it’s not their doing, but that of the speculators. Gives new meaning to “passing the buck.”

Deborah Fineman, president of Mitchell Supreme Fuel Co. in Orange, New Jersey, summed up the scene: “Energy markets have been dictated for too long by hedge funds and speculators, who artificially manipulate the numbers for their own benefit. The current market isn’t based on the sound principles of supply and demand but it is being rigged by companies and speculators who are jacking up prices for their own greed.”

Harry C. Johnson, former banker who worked for many years inside Big Oil and ran his own small oil company in Oklahoma, blames the CFTC, the Department of Energy, the Administration, and Congress, as “asleep at the switch on an issue that is probably costing U.S. consumers $1 billion per day.”

He cites “some industry experts, who profit greatly from the high price of crude, and have stated openly that the worldwide economic price of crude, absent speculators, would be around $50 to $60 per barrel.

Imagine, our government is letting your price for gasoline and home heating oil be determined by a gambling casino on Wall Street called NYMEX. The people need regulatory protection from speculators and an excess profits tax on Big Oil.

In addition, a sane government would see the present price crises as an opportunity to expand our passenger and freight railroad capacity and technology.

A sane government would drop all subsidies and tax loopholes for Big Oil’s huge profits and other fossil fuels and promote a national mission to solarize our economy to achieve major savings from energy conservation technology, retrofitting buildings, and upgrading efficiency standards for motor vehicles, home appliances, industrial engines and electric generating plants.

Those are the permanent ways to achieve energy independence, reduce our trade deficit, create good jobs that can’t be exported and protect the environmental health of people and nature.

Those are the reforms and advances that a muscular consumer, worker and small business revolt can focus on in the coming weeks.

What say you, America?"

Hey, Democratic Congress: YOU SUCK!

2008-07-16T00:45:00.006-04:00

Glenn Greenwald counts the ways and provides numerous examples of Democratic complicity in the crimes of our corrupt administration on his fantastic Bastille Day post -

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html: "In the 2006 mid-term elections, Americans handed The Democratic Party a sweeping, staggering, and historic victory -- as the GOP was removed from power and Democrats given control over both the House and Senate. It marked only the third time in the last 60 years that there was a change in control of the Congress. The Democrats defeated six GOP Senators, and picked up 31 House seats. Six Governorships switched from the GOP to the Democrats. Not one single Democratic incumbent in Congress and not one Democratic Governor lost -- only the second time in U.S. history in which one of the major parties failed to defeat even a single Congressional incumbent from the other party.

Since that overwhelming Democratic victory, this is what the Democratic-led Congress has done:

Repeatedly funded -- at the White House's insistence -- the Iraq War without conditions;

Defeated -- at the White House's insistence -- Jim Webb's bill to increase the intervals between deployments for U.S. troops;

Defeated -- at the White House's insistence -- a bill to restore habeas corpus, which had been abolished by the Military Commissions Act, enacted before the 2006 election with substantial Democratic and virtually unanimous GOP support;

Enacted -- at the White House's insistence and with substantial Democratic and virtually unanimous Republican support

extreme new warrantless eavesdropping powers

Overwhelmingly approved the Senate's Kyl-Lieberman Resolution, to declare parts of the Iranian Government a "terrorist organization," an extremely belligerent resolution modeled after those which made "regime change" the official U.S. Government position towards Iraq;
Deleted from a pending bill -- at the direction of the House Democratic leadership and at the insistence of the White House -- a provision merely to require Congressional approval before the Bush administration can attack Iran;

Overwhelmingly enacted -- at the White House's insistence, and with substantial Democratic and virtually unanimous GOP support -- the "FISA Amendments Act of 2008," to vest the President with broad new warrantless eavesdropping powers and to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, all but putting an end to any chance for a real investigation and judicial adjudication of the Bush administration's illegal NSA spying program;

Confirmed, with the indispensable support of two key Democratic Senators, Bush's nominee for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, despite his support for radical Bush theories of executive power and his refusal to oppose torture;

Stood by passively and impotently while Bush officials flagrantly ignored their Subpoenas and refused to comply with their investigations."

Democratic Congress Complicit in Crimes of the Century

2008-07-10T00:30:00.014-04:00

Emperor Bush, center, is applauded by members of Congress and his cabinet, after signing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, (FISA), Thursday, July 10, 2008, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. From left are, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, obscured in shame, Vice President Darth Cheney, Separatist Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., the Emperor Supreme, and House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio.

That's what yesterday's vote amounts to- a cover up of surveillance crimes. Barack Obama supported the bill, Hilary Clinton did not support it. Glenn Greenwald provides details on his July 9th post: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html

Congress votes to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, legalize warrantless eavesdropping

The Democratic-led Congress this afternoon voted to put an end to the NSA spying scandal, as the Senate approved a bill -- approved last week by the House -- to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, terminate all pending lawsuits against them, and vest whole new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President. The vote in favor of the new FISA bill was 69-28. Barack Obama joined every Senate Republican (and every House Republican other than one) by voting in favor of it, while his now-vanquished primary rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, voted against it. John McCain wasn't present for any of the votes, but shared Obama's support for the bill. The bill will now be sent to an extremely happy George Bush, who already announced that he enthusiastically supports it, and he will sign it into law very shortly.

Today's coverup of surveillance crimes and Barack Obama

What we learned in December, 2005 that George Bush and the telecoms were doing -- listening in on the private conversations of American citizens without warrants -- is a felony under clear U.S. law, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine for each offense. Anyone can go read the section of FISA -- right here -- that says that as clearly as can be:

A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally -- (1) engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute; . . .
An offense described in this section is punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years, or both.

It was also as clear a violation of the Fourth Amendment as can be. For the Government to invade our communications with no probable cause showing to a court is exactly what the Founders prohibited as clearly as the English language permitted. But today, the Democratic-led Congress -- with the support of both John McCain and Barack Obama -- will cover-up those crimes. Law Professor and Fourth Amendment expert Jonathan Turley was on MSNBC's Countdown with Rachel Maddow last night and gave as succinct an explanation for what Democrats -- not the Bush administration, but Democrats -- will do today. Anyone with any lingering doubts about what is taking place today in our country should watch this:

Son of Message Force Multipliers

2008-05-25T02:03:00.003-04:00

GAO, DOD inspector general to investigate Pentagon’s propaganda program

Last Thursday, the House passed an amendment to the defense authorization bill mandating that the Defense Department and the GAO investigate the Pentagon’s propaganda program, which was first revealed by The New York Times on April 20. The Times reports today that the DoD inspector general has announced an investigation and GAO has already started one:

The inspector general’s office at the Defense Department announced on Friday that it would investigate a Pentagon public affairs program that sought to transform retired military officers who work as television and radio analysts into “message force multipliers” who could be counted on to echo Bush administration talking points about Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo and terrorism in general. […]

The G.A.O. said it had already begun looking into the program and would give a legal opinion on whether it violated longstanding prohibitions against spending government money to spread propaganda to audiences in the United States. […]

The inspector general’s office said its inquiry would specifically look at whether special access to Pentagon leaders “may have given the contractors a competitive advantage.“

I Heart Jimmy Carter

2007-10-11T22:08:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Carter calls Cheney a "disaster" for U.S

Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:42pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday denounced Vice President Dick Cheney as a "disaster" for the country and a "militant" who has had an excessive influence in setting foreign policy.

Cheney has been on the wrong side of the debate on many issues, including an internal White House discussion over Syria in which the vice president is thought to be pushing a tough approach, Carter said.

"He's a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military and he has been most forceful in the last 10 years or more in fulfilling some of his more ancient commitments that the United States has a right to inject its power through military means in other parts of the world," Carter told the BBC World News America in an interview to air later on Wednesday.

"You know he's been a disaster for our country," Carter said. "I think he's been overly persuasive on President George Bush and quite often he's prevailed."

Asked to comment on Carter's remarks, Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the Republican vice president, said, "We're not going to engage in this type of rhetoric."

Carter, a Democrat who was president from 1977 to 1981 and won the 2002 Nobel Peace prize for his charitable work, is a strong critic of the Iraq war and has often been outspoken in his criticism of President George W. Bush.

In a newspaper interview in May, Carter called the Bush administration the "worst in history" in international relations.

Carter did have kind words in the BBC interview for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"I'm filled with admiration for Condoleezza Rice in standing up to (Cheney) which she did even when she was in the White House under President George W. Bush," Carter said, referring to Rice's former role as White House national security adviser.

"Now secretary of state, her influence is obviously greater than it was then and I hope she prevails," Carter added.

Hawai'i Forever

2007-09-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

Having just returned from Maui, I'm feeling especially homesick for the Islands. When I'm there, I feel like I should be apologizing for what the white man (and other colors of men) have done to the place. Although I try to put the burdens of civilization aside, I'm sure I could read it on the faces of the locals as I cruised around in my convertible rental car. I couldn't help but to feel looks of disdain aimed at my bleached blond hair and red, sunburned face. Maybe it's just me...but I doubt it. I wanted to shout at them all: "I'm one of the good guys!" But I'm a little lost and have no idea who I am really.

Here's one good guy who passed on in 1997, way before his time at 38 years old. (A strange expression, I suppose it was exactly his time.) Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (Braddah Iz) left a legacy of music that celebrates the Islands, the Aloha Spirit and calls for restoring the Islands to their rightful owners: reinstating the Hawaiian Nation.

This song, "Hawai'i '78", from his 1993 album, "Facing Future" asks "What if those who fought for the land could see it now?"

Hawai'i '78

Ua mau ke ea o ka `âina i ka pono `o Hawai'i
Ua mau ke ea o ka `âina i ka pono `o Hawai'i
(Being perpetuated is the sovereignty of the land to righteousness, to balance: Hawai`i

If just for a day our king and queen
Would visit all these islands and saw everything
How would they feel about the changes of our land
Could you just imagine if they were around
And saw highways on their sacred grounds
How would they feel about this modern city life?

Tears would come from each other's eyes
As they would stop to realize
That our people are in great, great danger now
How would they feel?
Would their smiles be content, then cry

Chorus:
Cry for the gods, cry for the people
Cry for the land that was taken away
And then yet you'll find, Hawai'i.

Could you just imagine they came back
And saw traffic lights and railroad tracks
How would they feel about this modern city life
Tears would come from each other's eyes
As they would stop to realize
That our land is in great, great danger now.

All the fighting that the King has done
To conquer all these islands, now these condominiums
How would he feel if he saw Hawai'i nei?
How would he feel? Would his smile be content, then cry?

(E hana hou i ka hui)

Ua mau ke ea o ka `âina i ka pono `o Hawai'i

David, The First Rule Of Lying Is: NEVER BLINK!

2007-09-10T23:59:00.000-04:00

Petraeus & Crocker get their stories straight.

General Dave says things are improving in Iraq. He's been saying that for 4 years already and one has to wonder if he's completely lost touch with reality in addition to being just another pro-war stooge for the Bush Administration. Watching him on C-SPAN, I could almost see it in his mind: "We can't leave now if we're going to attack Iran next."

Watch a video documenting Petraeus's 4 years of optimism about the status of Iraq here at firedoglake.com.

ThinkProgress.org made a handy chart which shows Petraeus's heavy-handy hawking for the surge through more than half of August.

These Washington Post articles give an altogether different persepctive, that of the Iraqi people. "According to a new poll based on face-to-face interviews between Aug 17th and 24th, among a random national sample of 2,212 Iraqi adults, and conducted by ABC News, the BBC and the Japanese broadcaster NHK, 7 in 10 Iraqis believe the U.S. troop buildup in Baghdad and Anbar province has made security worse in those areas and nearly half want coalition forces to leave immediately.

Poll numbers show that ordinary Iraqis are significantly more likely to say "things are going badly" than in the early days of the increased U.S. military presence in March."

"The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and outside the government, who contend that some of the underlying statistics are questionable and selectively ignore negative trends."

So, who do we believe? The 2 Stooges of the Bush Administration or 2000 Iraqis, who are, inconceivably, STILL fearing for their lives and living without clean water or dependable electric service?

Judge Strikes Down Part of Patriot Act (Again)

2007-09-07T20:55:00.000-04:00

Thankfully, reason still prevails in some part of our government.

"A federal judge struck down a key part of the USA Patriot Act on Thursday in a ruling that defended the need for judicial oversight of laws and bashed Congress for passing a law that makes possible "far-reaching invasions of liberty."

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero immediately stayed the effect of his ruling, allowing the government time to appeal. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said: "We are reviewing the decision and considering our options at this time."

The ruling handed the American Civil Liberties Union a major victory in its challenge of the post-Sept. 11 law that gave broader investigative powers to law enforcement.

The ACLU had challenged the law on behalf of an Internet service provider, complaining that the law allowed the FBI to demand records without the kind of court supervision required for other government searches. Under the law, investigators can issue so-called national security letters to entities like Internet service providers and phone companies and demand customers' phone and Internet records.

In his ruling, Marrero said much more was at stake than questions about the national security letters.

He said Congress, in the original USA Patriot Act and less so in a 2005 revision, had essentially tried to legislate how the judiciary must review challenges to the law. If done to other bills, they ultimately could all "be styled to make the validation of the law foolproof."

Noting that the courthouse where he resides is several blocks from the fallen World Trade Center, the judge said the Constitution was designed so that the dangers of any given moment could never justify discarding fundamental individual liberties.

He said when "the judiciary lowers its guard on the Constitution, it opens the door to far-reaching invasions of liberty."

Regarding the national security letters, he said, Congress crossed its boundaries so dramatically that to let the law stand might turn an innocent legislative step into "the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering, with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values."

He said the ruling does not mean the FBI must obtain the approval of a court prior to ordering records be turned over, but rather must justify to a court the need for secrecy if the orders will last longer than a reasonable and brief period of time.

A March government report showed that the FBI issued about 8,500 national security letter, or NSL, requests in 2000, the year prior to passage of the USA Patriot Act. By 2003, the number of requests had risen to 39,000 and to 56,000 in 2004 before falling to 47,000 in 2005. The overwhelming majority of the requests sought telephone billing records information, telephone or e-mail subscriber information or electronic communication transactional records.

The judge said that through the NSLs, the government can unmask the identity of Internet users engaged in anonymous speech in online discussions, can obtain an itemized list of all e-mails sent and received by someone and can then seek information on those communicating with the individual.

"It may even be able to discover the web sites an individual has visited and queries submitted to search engines," the judge said.

Marrero's lengthy judicial opinion, akin to an eighth-grade civics lesson, described why the framers of the Constitution created three separate but equal branches of government and delegated to the judiciary to say what the law is and to protect the Constitution and the rights it gives citizens.

Marrero said the constitutional barriers against governmental abuse "may eventually collapse, with consequential diminution of the judiciary's function, and hence potential dire effects to individual freedoms."

In that event, he said, the judiciary could become "a mere mouthpiece of the legislature."

Marrero had ruled in 2004, on the initial version of the Patriot Act, that the letters violate the Constitution because they amounted to unreasonable search and seizure. He found free-speech violations in the nondisclosure requirement, which for example, disallowed an Internet service provider from telling customers their records were being turned over to the government.

After he ruled, Congress revised the Patriot Act in 2005, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directed that Marrero review the law's constitutionality a second time."

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 7, 2:15 AM ET

Kucinich For President

2007-09-06T23:59:00.000-04:00

US Democratic hopeful Kucinich meets Assad, blasts Bush

US Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, on a Mideast visit that included a stop in Syria, said the country lambasted by the Bush Administration deserves credit for taking in more than a million Iraqi refugees.

Kucinich, a strong anti-war opponent who trails far in the US presidential polls, also said he won't visit Iraq on his trip to the region because he considers the US military deployment there illegal.

"I feel the United States is engaging in an illegal occupation ... I don't want to bless that occupation with my presence," he said in an interview in Lebanon, after visiting Syria. "I will not do it."

Kucinich, who accused the Bush administration of policies that have destabilized the Mideast, met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during his visit to Damascus. He said Assad was receptive to his ideas of "strength through peace."

He also praised Syria for taking in Iraqi refugees.

"What most people are not aware of is that Syria has taken in more than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees," Kucinich said. "The Syrian government has actually shown a lot of compassion in keeping its doors open, and being a host for so many refugees."

Kucinich said he would ask UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to follow up on the "dire conditions" in southern Lebanon, especially Israeli cluster bombs leftover from the war that have killed more than 30 and injured at least 200 since the fighting's end.

"There has to be a commitment to cleaning up these cluster bombs," Kucinich said.

Cheney In '94: Invading Iraq Would Create Quagmire

2007-09-04T18:04:00.001-04:00

If anyone still needed proof that what's happening in Iraq today has NOT taken the Neocons in the Bush Administration by surprise, watch this video of Cheney speaking about the issue of invading Baghdad in 1994.

This shows that they knew what would happen, which certainly strengthens the argument that they planned this fiasco. Why? Reports about Peak Oil. The idea of gaining control of Iraq's oil reserves. Strengthening control in the region, and in the global economy.

So, how many dead Americans is that worth? A lot, say the Neocons. I don't agree. I think a better solution would be to loosen the grip on our balls that the oil industry has, go green, and try planning for a lasting civilization instead of Armageddon.

Here's a great post from March 2006 called "The End of Civilization" by Dave Eriqat at CounterCurrents.org. It speaks to the Bush Administration's preparations for Armageddon.

Some say ignorance is bliss. But if you don't, then look at these issues more closely. Write to your representatives in congress and tell them what you think of the direction they're taking us.

Clinton: Terrorist attack would help GOP

2007-09-01T23:59:00.000-04:00

I love that Hillary said this. Although Senator Dodd thinks it's "tasteless", I think it's true. I believe that 9/11 was (at the very least) "allowed to happen" and so with that in mind, it seems likely that there will be another such attack, especially if the Republicans are nervous about getting votes in NOV 2008. Of course, if you also believe (as I do) that the elections are being manipulated with the help of Diebold's electronic voting machines, then we don't really need another 9/11.

"She says she is the Democrat best equipped to fight terrorists, but White House hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton told New Hampshire voters Thursday that another attack on the United States would likely help Republican candidates at the polls.

"It's a horrible prospect to ask yourself, 'What if? What if?' " Clinton, a New York Democrat, told a house party in Concord, according to the New York Post and The Associated Press and confirmed by her campaign.

"But, if certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world."

Clinton added that if such a scenario occurred, she is the best Democratic presidential candidate "to deal with that."

Clinton was in the crucial early voting state Thursday to unveil her health care plan.

A Clinton spokesman, Isaac Baker, told CNN "Sen. Clinton was making clear that she has the strength and experience to keep the country safe."

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, who is also competing for the Democratic nomination, issued a statement Friday afternoon calling Clinton's remark "tasteless."

"Frankly, I find it tasteless to discuss political implications when talking about a potential terrorist attack on the United States," he said.

New Mexico Bill Richardson, another Democratic presidential candidate, disparaged Clinton's remark. "We shouldn't be thinking about terrorism in terms of its domestic political consequences, we should be protecting the country from terrorists," said Gov Richardson in a written statement.

By Alexander Mooney, CNN Washington Bureau

updated 5:34 p.m. EDT, Fri August 24, 2007

Separation of Oil & State

2007-08-29T20:28:00.001-04:00

OIL CHANGE INTERNATIONAL "campaigns to expose the true costs of oil and facilitate the coming transition towards clean energy. Oil companies and their employees donated over $25 million to candidates in the US during the 2004 campaign, and they've already invested over $13 million in the 2006 elections. The next step to ending our collective addiction to oil is reducing oil's influence over our representatives and demanding political independence from Big Oil."

"It’s time to ensure that our representatives represent us, not the oil companies."

PriceOfOil.org speaks to you if you're tired of big oil running the show. It offers several ways to take action by raising your voice to congress.

Separate Oil & State

Separation of Oil & State is a campaign to get oil money out of politics. It's important that we demand that our representatives stand up for the future of energy, not for the dinosaurs of the oil industry. Type in your zip code an Oil Change International to find out how much oil and gas money your reps are taking and then send an email to them. My senators are representatives are below.

How much oil donation money have your congressional representatives received? Mine are below.

Sen. Bill Nelson- FL
This representative has taken $124,855 from the oil and gas industry since 1990.

In 2006, they received at least $72,700.
In 2004, they received $9,250.
In 2000, they received $11,250.

Sen. Mel Martinez- FL
This representative has taken $138,847 from the oil and gas industry since 1990.

In 2006, they received at least $3,500.
In 2004 they received $135,347. (Wow, that's a lot.)
In 2000, they received $0.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz FL- 20FL
This representative has taken $4,000 from the oil and gas industry since 1990.

In 2006, they received $0.
In 2004 they received $4,000.
In 2000, they received $0.

Iraq Today

2007-08-22T17:36:00.000-04:00

More Than 50 Iraqis Are Dead in Northern Attacks
The deadliest strike blasted a police station in a residential area in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said 25 policemen and 20 civilians were killed. The officials also said 57 civilians and 23 officers were wounded.

Jassim Saleh, 41, who lives about 500 yards from the blast site, said he saw an explosives-laden truck carrying stones ram the police station. But other reports described it as a fuel tanker.

"It was a horrible scene. I can't describe it," he said. "The bodies were scattered everywhere. I was injured in my hand and a leg, but I took three wounded people to the hospital in my car."

14 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Helicopter Crash
Fourteen U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a nighttime mission in northern Iraq, but the military said it appeared the aircraft was lost by mechanical problems and not from hostile fire.

It was the Pentagon's worst single-day death toll in Iraq since January and indicated how forces are relying heavily on air power in offensives across northern regions after rooting out many militant strongholds in Baghdad and central regions.

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer

Iraq PM Bristles as Tensions Grow With U.S.
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki reacted sharply on Wednesday to U.S. criticism of his government's slow progress toward reconciliation, and U.S. President George W. Bush, after earlier lukewarm comments, restated his support for Maliki.

U.S. officials voiced increasing frustration this week with Maliki's failure to advance political reform despite an increase in the number of U.S. troops to give breathing room to his fractured Shi'ite-led coalition.

Armored vehicles slow to reach US troops
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will fall far short of its goal of sending 3,500 lifesaving armored vehicles to Iraq by the end of the year. Instead, officials expect to send about 1,500.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that while defense officials still believe contractors will build about 3,900 of the mine-resistant, armor-protected vehicles by year's end, it will take longer for the military to fully equip them and ship them to Iraq.

Yahoo's Iraq page

Iraq Veterans Photographed by Nina Berman

2007-08-22T17:19:00.000-04:00

Sgt. Joseph Mosner, 35, bears facial scarring from a bomb explosion. Photo: Nina Berman/Jen Bekman Gallery

Words Unspoken Are Rendered on War’s Faces
By HOLLAND COTTER
Published: August 22, 2007

One of the more shocking photographs to emerge from the current Iraq war was taken last year in a rural farm town in the American Midwest. It’s a studio portrait by the New York photographer Nina Berman of a young Illinois couple on their wedding day.

The bride, Renee Kline, 21, is dressed in a traditional white gown and holds a bouquet of scarlet flowers. The groom, Ty Ziegel, 24, a former Marine sergeant, wears his dress uniform, decorated with combat medals, including a Purple Heart. Her expression is unsmiling, maybe grave. His, as he looks toward her, is hard to read: his dead-white face is all but featureless, with no nose and no chin, as blank as a pullover mask.

Two years earlier, while in Iraq as a Marine Corps reservist, Mr. Ziegel had been trapped in a burning truck after a suicide bomber’s attack. The heat melted the flesh from his face. At Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas he underwent 19 rounds of surgery. His shattered skull was replaced by a plastic dome, and a face was constructed more or less from scratch with salvaged tissue, holes left where his ears and nose had been.

Ms. Berman took this picture, which is in the solo show at Jen Bekman Gallery, on assignment for People magazine. It was meant to accompany an article that documented Mr. Ziegel’s recovery, culminating in his marriage to his childhood sweetheart. But the published portrait was a convivial shot of the whole wedding party. Maybe the image of the couple alone was judged to be too stark, the emotional interchange too ambiguous. Maybe they looked, separately and together, too alone.

“Marine Wedding,” the portrait’s title, was not Ms. Berman’s first encounter with wounded Iraq war veterans. She photographed several others beginning in 2003, and 20 of her portraits were published as a book, “Purple Hearts: Back From Iraq” (Trolley Books, 2004), with an introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg, a member of the editorial board of The New York Times. These pictures, accompanied by printed interviews with the sitters, have been traveling the country, and 10 are now at Bekman.

None are as startling as “Marine Wedding,” even when the disability recorded is more extensive. Former Spc. Luis Calderon, 22, of Puerto Rico, had his spinal cord severed when a concrete wall he was ordered to pull down — it was painted with a mural of Saddam Hussein — fell on him. He is now a quadriplegic, though this is not immediately evident from his portrait. Nor can we see from the photograph of Spc. Sam Ross, 20, of Pennsylvania, that he lost a leg in a bomb blast, which also caused permanent brain damage.

Almost all the veterans in Ms. Berman’s pictures look isolated, even if someone else is present. And a sense of loneliness comes through in their brief interviews. Mr. Ross, separated from his family, lives by himself in a trailer. Mr. Calderon, who waited months for veterans’ benefits, says he feels abandoned by the military; because he was not wounded in combat, he has not been awarded a Purple Heart.

Spc. Robert Acosta, 20, a Californian who lost a hand in a grenade attack, says he is psychologically unable to resume his former social life: “I don’t like dealing with the questions. Like, ‘Was it hot?’ ‘Did you shoot anybody?’ They want me to glorify the war and say it was so cool.”

Spc. Robert Acosta, 20, lost his hand and use of his leg in an ambush outside Baghdad. Photo: Nina Berman/Jen Bekman Gallery

Mr. Acosta’s interview has the only overt anti-war sentiment in the Bekman show, and there are few words of bitterness or recrimination. Mr. Ross calls combat in Iraq the best time of his life. Randall Clunen of Ohio remembers the excitement of search missions in Iraqi homes as a peak experience. Sgt. Joseph Mosner, at 35 the oldest in this group, was 19 when he enlisted. “There was no good jobs,” he said, “so I figured this would have been a good thing.” He still thinks so, despite his severe facial scarring from a bomb explosion.

Sgt. Jeremy Feldbusch, left brain-damaged and blind by an artillery attack, once had plans for medical school. but says: “I don’t have any regrets. I had some fun over there. I don’t want to talk about the military anymore.” He claims, as do others, that he has no political opinions.

Ms. Berman adds no direct editorial comment to the presentation. She has said in interviews that she started photographing disabled veterans soon after the war began mainly because she didn’t see anyone else doing so. In what may be the most intensively photographed war in history, the visual documentation has been selective. The fate of the injured veterans was not a public issue until news reports about substandard treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

This background provides the context for Ms. Berman’s photographs, which are themselves tip-of-the-iceberg images. No matter what the viewer’s political position, the images add up to a complex and desolating anti-war statement. Mr. Acosta makes that statement outright: “Yeah, I got a Purple Heart. I don’t care. I don’t need anything to prove I was there. I know I was there. I got a constant reminder. I mean like all the reasons we went to war, it just seems like they’re not legit enough for people to lose their lives for and for me to lose my hand and use of my legs and for my buddies to lose their limbs.”

And “Marine Wedding” speaks, as powerfully as a picture can, for itself.

“Nina Berman: Purple Hearts” continues through Aug. 30 at Jen Bekman Gallery, 6 Spring Street, between the Bowery and Elizabeth Street; (212) 219-0166, jenbekman.com

A detail from a studio portrait of a young Illinois couple on their wedding day, titled, "Marine Wedding." Photo: Nina Berman/Jen Bekman Gallery

He Can't See the Forest for the...oh...never mind...

2007-08-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, in spite of the black lens caps.

Keeping in step with the Bush Administration's "Fox in the Hen House" approach to filling key positions, our nation's top forestry official, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, is a former timber industry lobbyist. Also keeping in step with much of the Bush Administration staff, Rey has a date with a judge.

Judge: Bush Official Faces Contempt
By Jeff Barnard
The Associated Press

Tuesday 21 August 2007

Grants Pass, Oregon - A federal judge in Montana has ordered the Bush administration's top forestry official to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court for the U.S. Forest Service's failure to analyze the environmental impact of dropping fish-killing fire retardant on wildfires.

If found in contempt, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, could go to jail until the Forest Service complies with the court order to do the environmental review.

Noting that Rey had blocked implementation of an earlier review, U.S. District Judge Donald W. Malloy in Missoula, Mont., ordered Rey to appear in his court Oct. 15 unless the Forest Service completes the analysis before that time.

Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh said the agency was working on the analysis, but he could not say whether they would meet the new deadline, because it was two months away. Rey did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.

Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, an environmental group based in Eugene, filed the lawsuit in 2003, a year after more than 20,000 fish were killed when toxic retardant was dropped in Fall Creek in central Oregon.

In 2005, Malloy ruled that the Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act when it failed to go through a public process to analyze the potential environmental harm of using ammonium phosphate, a fertilizer that kills fish, as the primary ingredient in fire retardant dropped on wildfires.

In February 2006, the judge gave the Forest Service until Aug. 8 this year to comply, noting that if they needed more time, they were to contact the plaintiffs well in advance, and not come to him just before the deadline. The request for an extension was filed on the final day.

"It seems as if the government is playing a not too funny game, betting that the court will be forced to grant the additional time and hoping the irony of the timing will be overlooked," the judge wrote.

Andy Stahl, the group's executive director, said it asked the judge to specifically hold Rey responsible. A former timber industry lobbyist, Rey has been reshaping Forest Service policies to make it easier to log on national forests.

"I'm sure this order has got the government's attention," said Stahl. "I think they have to take a hard look at their 100-year war against wildfire and explore alternatives that will allow us to live with fire, and that is what they don't want us to do."

Stahl said the Forest Service appears to be immune legally from fines, but not from jail time to pressure them to complete the environmental review.

"You can throw them in jail to coerce future good behavior," Stahl said.

Close The Door On AIPAC Already

2007-08-19T23:59:00.000-04:00

September 2004 Poll: Should AIPAC Register as the Agent of a Foreign Government?
The Question: A tax-exempt organization that lobbies Congress on behalf of Israel, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (also known as AIPAC), has been under investigation by the FBI for allegedly receiving classified information from a Pentagon official and using this information on behalf of the government of Israel. In view of this investigation, do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that AIPAC should be asked to register as an agent of a foreign government and lose its tax-exempt status?
Method: Conducted by Zogby International of 1,004 likely voters from 9/8/04 through 9/9/04.

August 2005 Indictment
Keith Weissman and Steve Rosen are accused of passing U.S. national security information to a foreign government agent (Israel)

June 2007 Trial Delayed Again
The federal case, which is being handled by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, was supposed to go to trial on June 4, 2007 but was postponed until the fall, the latest of several delays.

Is It Time to Rein in AIPAC?
©2007 William Hughes
August 15th

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, “AIPAC,” is the nine ton elephant in the room! It is the ultra-engine that drives the Israel Lobby. After the Walt/Mearsheimer Report came out in March, 2006, its cover was blown. Now, Grant F. Smith’s latest book, Foreign Agents: AIPAC From The 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal is hitting the streets. It is a searing indictment of AIPAC in the Court of Public Opinion and should be read by every American who cares about the fate of the Republic.

Foreign Agents reveals the controversial history of the influential lobbying organization. It comes on the heels of Smith's insightful tome, Deadly Dogma, an exposé of the Neocons, where he evidenced their lethal "Clean Break" scheme to destabilize Iraq. In this new book, Foreign Agents, Mr. Smith argues that AIPAC, a corporation, should be required to register as a foreign agent for Israel. He accuses it of morphing into a “secretive political intelligence-gathering and covert operations powerhouse...and Israeli-controlled entity in America.” Naturally, AIPAC disagrees with him.

Read William Hughes' entire review of Grant F. Smith's Foreign Agents here.

Crimes and Felonies: The AIPAC Spy Story
Felony Indictments. The End of AIPAC? The indictment of Keith Weissman and Steve Rosen is potentially the story of how AIPAC will fall. Rosen was not a mere employee, but widely believed to be the man who built AIPAC into the $60 million powerhouse it is today. The greatest fear among AIPAC supporters is that convictions could lead to the requiring AIPAC to register as foreign agents. AIPAC closely coordinates policy with the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC and the Israeli government, making it an agent of a foreign government. AIPAC should not be allowed to keep its 501(c)(3) tax-deductible charitable status, but should be required to register as a lobbyist for a foreign agent. This would greatly cripple its role in US politics.

José Padilla: The Bush Admin's Poster Child of Terrorism

2007-08-18T23:59:00.000-04:00

I first heard about José Padilla's case when I read How Would A Patriot Act? by Glenn Greenwald. Greenwald uses Padilla as one example of the Bush Administration's illegal detaining of American citizens in the War On Terror.

Arrested in April 2002, Padilla was named "The Dirty Bomber" and declared an "enemy combatant" by George Bush and held for 3 1/2 years before charges were ever brought against him.

On Thursday, over 5 years after he was originally detained, a federal jury in Miami unanimously found José Padilla guilty of "conspiracy to support Islamic terrorism overseas."

According to Greenwald, "That Padilla was finally tried in a court of law is hardly a cause of celebration. The only reason why, after almost four years, the administration finally charged Padilla with crimes was because it wanted to avoid a looming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether the President has the power to imprison U.S. citizens without charges.

By finally indicting him, the administration was able to argue, successfully, that the Court should refuse to rule on that question on the ground that the claims were now "moot" by virtue of the indictment. As a result, a ruling by a very right-wing appellate panel in the Fourth Circuit, which held that the President does have these imprisonment powers, still remains valid law, and the administration still claims the authority to imprison U.S. citizens with no charges. "

So, bad news there. I'm worried about use of Presidential Authority to imprison US citizens without even charging them with a crime. And so I'm holding out for the hope that Padilla's conviction will be appealed, the Bush Administration's illegal behavior will be reexamined, and the Fourth Circuit appellate panel's ruling will be reversed. Although there is the question of whether Padilla is more fall guy than terrorist, I'm focusing on the Bush Administration's abuse of power and total ineptitude, as opposed to Padilla's complicity. Because, in theory, it could be any one of us in his shoes.

Regardless of whether Padilla does or does not belong behind bars for being a terrorist, the Bush Administration gathered intelligence on him illegally, detained him illegally, planned to put him away forever and ended up sabotaged by their own disregard for the law in building a case against him. And all the while, it couldn't produce enough evidence to convict him of more than "conspiracy to support Islamic terrorism overseas", which will likely be appealed. What happened to "The Dirty Bomber"? How did we go from blowing up Chicago with a radiological bomb to a disgruntled gangbanger who allegedly attended a "Death to America" training camp? Allegedly. They found his fingerprints on an application? That's all the evidence they have on this dangerous criminal mastermind? Are you kidding me? And there are how many more of these cases waiting in the wings at Guantanamo Bay?

This is a big problem. I would like the Bush Administration to stop using the War on Terror as an excuse to bypass the Bill of Rights. Padilla's case is a perfect example of why this should never happen. I maintain that our government should not have the power to detain us illegally or spy on us. If you agree, then speak up to your representatives. Our congress still doesn't get it. For example, on August 5, President Bush signed S.1927, a bill amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The bill gives more authority to the National Security Agency and other agencies to monitor emails, phone calls, and other communications that are part of a foreign intelligence investigation.

We're going in circles, spiraling toward a police state under the cover of security while practicing ineptitude and forgoing the country's basic premises.

Back to Padilla, here's a history and some thoughts by David Cole, The Nation's legal affairs correspondent and a professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

The Real Lesson of the Padilla Conviction
posted August 18, 2007

José Padilla's conviction by a federal jury in Miami has already become something of a Rorschach test. Critics of the Bush Administration have argued that the conviction proves that the ordinary criminal justice system works for trying terrorists, and that therefore President Bush did not need to assert the truly extraordinary power of detaining an American citizen arrested on US soil in military custody for more than three years. Meanwhile, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has hailed the conviction as "a significant victory in our efforts to fight the threat posed by terrorists and their supporters."

Both sides are wrong. In fact, Padilla's criminal conviction was a stroke of luck for the Administration. It took a huge gamble in his case, trying him on very weak evidence in the hope of avoiding a Supreme Court test of the President's asserted power to hold American citizens arrested here as "enemy combatants." For the moment, the bet has paid off--at least until an appeal overturns it. But do we really want the Administration gambling on our national security?

The gamble began in 2002, when the Administration took Padilla, arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, into military custody, denied him access to a lawyer and interrogated him for extended periods of time under circumstances that would render anything they learned from him unusable in a trial against him. It continued the gamble when it "disappeared" high-level Al Qaeda suspects into CIA secret prisons, or "black sites," where it subjected them to waterboarding and worse in an effort to coerce information from them. There, too, the Administration allegedly gained intelligence about Padilla--but that information will also never be admissible in a court of law because of the brutal way in which it was obtained.

The short-term decisions to gather information in illegal ways made it impossible to bring Padilla to trial on the Administration's press conference charges that he was pursuing plans to detonate a radiological "dirty bomb," or, somewhat less dramatically, to explode an apartment building by leaving the gas on and setting it afire. Instead, it was relegated to trying him in Miami as part of a hazy conspiracy that involved no plans to commit any specific terrorist or violent act.

The charges in Miami were that Padilla had attended a terrorist training camp sometime before 9/11. Vast stretches of the three-month trial concerned a conspiracy of two other men to provide support to jihadist fighters in Chechnya and Bosnia. Of 3,000 tape-recorded phone calls introduced into evidence, only two concerned Padilla. The main piece of evidence against Padilla was a "mujahadin data form" that appeared to place him at a terrorist training camp--but prosecutors never offered any evidence that Padilla had used that training to further terrorist activity.

In the end, the prosecution succeeded, as the jury found Padilla guilty of attending the training camp and of one count of conspiracy to maim, murder or kidnap overseas. But given how weak the evidence was, the case could easily have come out the other way--and may not withstand appeal.

If what the Administration says about Padilla is true, this should not have been a close case. But because the Administration obtained its evidence against him through unconstitutional means, it was never able to tell the jury what it really thinks Padilla was up to--planning serious terrorist attacks within the United States, not just training abroad and seeking to support Muslims in Chechnya.

And Padilla is only the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of people at Guantánamo whom the government accuses of much more serious crimes, including the masterminding of 9/11 itself. Those men may never be tried at all, because of the way the Bush Administration chose to treat them and their fellow suspects.

Our national security should not rest on a wager that we can convict terrorists on weak charges that do not even speak of their most serious crimes. Had it chosen to follow the rule of law at the outset, the Bush Administration could have brought many real terrorists to justice by now. Instead, it is left to declare a major victory when it manages to convict a marginal player for crimes that do not even come close to those the Administration claims he actually committed.

Thanks For The Memories, Suckers!

2007-08-17T23:59:00.000-04:00

Karl Rove is credited for winning 4 elections for George Bush, and is hailed as the brain of the White House. But what did he really do? "Bush's Brain" manipulated public opinion and exploited his base, giving fundamentalist religious extremism a voice in the process. The country became more divided than ever- more volatile, more scared. Under his advice, the standard for leadership in 21st century America started low and quickly became a joke. Now, after tearing the country apart and leaving it for dead, he's finally joining the long list of Bush staffers who've jumped ship. Mission accomplished!

Here's a hot editorial by Bill Moyers from his August 17th program on the subject of Karl Rove's timely departure from the White House.

"...What struck me about my fellow Texan, Karl Rove, is that he knew how to win elections as if they were divine interventions. You may think God summoned Billy Graham to Florida on the eve of the 2000 election to endorse George W. Bush just in the nick of time, but if it did happen that way, the good lord was speaking in a Texas accent.

Karl Rove figured out a long time ago that the way to take an intellectually incurious draft-averse naughty playboy in a flight jacket with chewing tobacco in his back pocket and make him governor of Texas, was to sell him as God's anointed in a state where preachers and televangelists outnumber even oil derricks and jack rabbits. Using church pews as precincts Rove turned religion into a weapon of political combat -- a battering ram, aimed at the devil's minions, especially at gay people.

It's so easy, as Karl knew, to scapegoat people you outnumber, and if God is love, as rumor has it, Rove knew that, in politics, you better bet on fear and loathing. Never mind that in stroking the basest bigotry of true believers you coarsen both politics and religion.

At the same time he was recruiting an army of the lord for the born-again Bush, Rove was also shaking down corporations for campaign cash. Crony capitalism became a biblical injunction. Greed and God won four elections in a row - twice in the lone star state and twice again in the nation at large. But the result has been to leave Texas under the thumb of big money with huge holes ripped in its social contract, and the U.S. government in shambles - paralyzed, polarized, and mired in war, debt and corruption.

Rove himself is deeply enmeshed in some of the scandals being investigated as we speak, including those missing emails that could tell us who turned the attorney general of the United States into a partisan sock puppet. Rove is riding out of Dodge city as the posse rides in. At his press conference this week he asked God to bless the president and the country, even as reports were circulating that he himself had confessed to friends his own agnosticism; he wished he could believe, but he cannot. That kind of intellectual honesty is to be admired, but you have to wonder how all those folks on the Christian right must feel discovering they were used for partisan reasons by a skeptic, a secular manipulator. On his last play of the game all Karl Rove had to offer them was a hail mary pass, while telling himself there's no one there to catch it."

Evidence Against Jose Padilla: "Very Light On Facts"

2007-08-07T23:59:00.001-04:00

This post by Lewis Koch at FireDogLake.com illustrates the absurdity of the evidence presented in the case against Jose Padilla.

By Lewis Z. Koch with Christopher Austin
Posted August 1, 2007

Federal prosecutors have based all of their evidence against Jose Padilla on one document with his signature and his fingerprints. Message to each juror being, “We are from the Justice Department – would we lie to you?”

In the 10 weeks that this conspiracy trial has taken place, where Padilla, Hassoun and Kifah are charged with conspiracy to murder, kidnap or maim people outside the United States, there have been some remarkably creative plays on many vague words, innocuous syllables, virtuous letters, said to reform in crafty variances of pure evil. You – ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the press, the citizens tuning in at home or abroad – are supposed to be convinced of their guilt based on intuition, guesswork.

You – we – are supposed to believe that phrases and words like “playing football”, “eating cheese” and paying $3,500 for “zucchini”, were code for nefarious, illegally evil terrorist deeds and actions for which these three should spend the rest of their lives in jail. Indeed, there was no sting operation which managed to collar these men inside a house with stockpiled weapons, documented plans or poisons. Instead of Semtex, they netted an endless pile of syntax.

The prosecution would have us all believe that words, perhaps millions of surreptitiously tape recorded words, have suspicious, duplicitous terrible hidden meanings. The Feds have 300,000 taped phone calls. Two hundred and thirty of those conversations form the core of the prosecution’s case, of which 21 make reference to Padilla. Of those tapes, Padilla’s voice is heard in only seven of them, and not a single time is Padilla discussing violence. The prosecution hasn’t produced one weapon used for murder, not one blindfold to be used in a kidnapping, not one knife to be used in a maiming.

The government has not allowed the jury or the public to view eighty-seven video tapes of Padilla being questioned in solitary confinement where we could see him, blindfolded, his ears muffled. This could prove that he was or wasn’t handed a piece paper or told to scribble his name in exchange for an extra ten minutes in the exercise yard. Why hasn’t the prosecution shown those tapes?

It doesn’t matter that the Feds have brought in their translators, a CIA operative-in-disguise, and one expert in terrorism whose expertise seems available only to governments. The case boils down to 300,000 telephone conversations with the jury listening only to a teeny-weeny,itsy-bitsy portion of the transcriptions. The prosecutions have made their selections. Here’s one of mine.

Here is part of one phone call on one day, August 2, 1997, never before revealed.

[I have edited out the actual conversations between Adham Hassoun and his family. My original intention was to dramatize the mundane nature and personal content, but after receiving a comment from a friend of Hassoun, who complained "Enough of the family already!", I came to realize how insensitive that was. My apologies to the family.]

There you have the subject matters of another part of those 300,000 telephone taps: gaining weight, the need for more vacation time, fava beans and marriage, brides and the hope for twelve children.

Judge Cooke said at the beginning of the trial that the evidence was thin. Her exact words were, “Very light on facts.”

Poll Shows Iraqis Oppose Foreign Oil Ownership

2007-08-06T17:41:00.000-04:00

Poll: Iraqis Oppose Oil Privatization
Published by Steve Kretzmann August 6th, 2007 in Iraq

Iraqis oppose plans to open the country’s oilfields to foreign investment by a factor of two to one, according to a poll released today. Iraqis are united in this view: there are no ethnic, sectarian or geographical groups that prefer foreign companies.

The poll also finds that most Iraqis feel kept in the dark about the oil plans – with fewer than a quarter feeling adequately informed about a proposed new law to govern Iraq’s oil sector.

This poll is the first time ordinary Iraqis have been asked their views on the contents of the oil law, which has been debated by Iraqi political parties for over a year. The US government is pressing Baghdad to pass the oil law by September, as one of its “benchmarks”. [1]

At the centre of the oil law is a proposal to give multinational oil companies such as Conoco, Chevron and Exxon the primary role in developing Iraq’s oilfields, under contracts of up to 30 years.

Yet 63% of poll respondents said they would prefer Iraq’s oil to be developed and produced by Iraqi public sector companies rather than foreign companies, with 32% of those indicating a strong preference. Only 10% strongly preferred foreign companies, and 21% moderately.

Only 4% of Iraqis feel they have been given ‘totally adequate’ information for them to feel informed about the oil law. A further 20% describe information provision as ‘somewhat adequate’, and 76% as inadequate.

Read the entire article here.

Deeper Into Madness

2007-08-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

Fear is still ruling our decisions. The concept of giving up liberty to protect our freedom continues. What will we have left after the dust settles? How bad will it get?

House approves foreign wiretap bill, 227-183
The House handed President Bush a victory Saturday, voting to expand the government's abilities to eavesdrop without warrants on foreign suspects whose communications pass through the United States. See the role call here.

Bush Signs Terrorism Law
President Bush on Sunday signed into law an expansion of the government's power to eavesdrop on foreign terror suspects without the need for warrants.

On August 5, President Bush signed S.1927, a bill amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. The bill gives more authority to the National Security Agency and other agencies to monitor emails, phone calls, and other communications that are part of a foreign intelligence investigation.

Democrats Capitulate to President Bush as Congress Gives Government Broad New Powers to Conduct Warrantless Surveillance on American Citizens

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Remind your congressmen that several of our founding fathers have long ago weighed in on the dangers of valuing security over liberty, and of using war to override the separation of powers outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

The FISA court never refused any warrants; it was a rubber-stamp court. It was a bureaucratic step, but an important one. Its presence reminded us what was good about the United States of America. Without it...not so much.

Click here to make your voice heard if you oppose the expansion of Warrantless Wiretapping.
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King George W: James Madison's Nightmare
In 1795, James Madison wrote of war's far-reaching and corrosive effect on public liberty. He could well have been warning us about our own King George, just the sort of imperial president that Madison and other founders of our nation feared most.

Robert Scheer details how James Madison (as well as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson) predicted that America's new experiment in representative government could be threatened. George Bush is currently endangering the foundation of America by doing exactly what the founding fathers warned against: emphasizing security over liberty and getting bogged down in "foreign entanglements".

The view from Jemmy and Dolley Madison's west-facing Montpelier estate in Virginia.

I Heart Harry Potter

2007-07-31T20:21:00.000-04:00

The latest, and last, Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, sold 8.3 million copies (worth around $250 million) in its first 24 hours - the fastest selling book of all time.

I went to Borders on the day it was released to pick up the copy that I had pre-ordered months ago. They opened at midnight as they did for the last book, and the store was packed. I got there at 12:10 and found it to be a weird cross between an after-hours party, a comic/fantasy convention, and the Christmas shopping season. There were glo-sticks and goth chicks, people dressed in character, and young kids that you don't expect to see out after midnight standing in lines that snaked through the whole store. I gave my name to a girl sitting at a table by the door. Once she confirmed my order, she gave me a purple wrist-band, a glow-stick and a poster of the book's cover art featuring the "soft geometry" pastels of illustrator Mary GrandPré. Then she pointed to the end of the long line of other nerds who had reserved copies. There were a lot of people in a separate line who hadn't reserved a copy; they were the "blue" line, and had to stand off to the side. I pulled up behind a kind of plump and disinterested-looking goth chick and a younger guy came up behind me. He had brought some reading material for the line. We chatted a little, comparing this year with last year's turn out, which I had missed. We talked about HP somewhat. I chatted with another guy a little about comics, and I was out of there 30 minutes later. By that time, the place had the feel of a club that was winding down, thinning out, people looking tired.

How cool is Joanne 'Jo' Rowling (aka J.K. Rowling), the author, for inspiring this massive book-release frenzy? Ten years ago, she developed the story of the boy wizard and his years at the school of wizardry after the idea fell into her head while waiting out a train delay. Since then, the last 4 of her 7 books have set records for the number of first print copies as well as for the record time in which they've sold.

There are a lot of records and firsts and milestones, but my favorite accomplishment is making the list of "Banned Books" repeatedly. The Harry Potter series tops lists such as "favorite challenged books" and "most frequently challenged books of the 21st century". What makes this even more lovable is that if you look at the lists of banned or challenged books, the most recurrent themes are sex, homosexuality, or offensive language, none of which can be found in any of the Harry Potter books. There are some G-rated 'sex' references, like teenagers making out, (or is that PG?) There's not a hint of gay activity, and the strongest example of profanity is the word "effing". Rowling's comments about the 2006 decision: "Once again, the Harry Potter books feature on this year's list of most-banned books. As this puts me in the company of Harper Lee, Mark Twain, J. D. Salinger, William Golding, John Steinbeck and other writers I revere, I have always taken my annual inclusion on the list as a great honour. 'Every burned book enlightens the world.' - Ralph Waldo Emerson"

The banning or challenging of Harry Potter books for their references to witchcraft is a blatant example of something ridiculous, I'm just not sure what. Close-mindedness? Fear? Paranoia? Is it because they're scared of some of the real things that imagination has brought into being? That we live in a world where fantasy novels can be feared and banned doesn't surprise me. We live in a world where the truth is more terrible than the lies that we eagerly swallow. No wonder some people take Harry and his world a little more seriously than they're meant to. A friend of mine who is an evangelical Christian argues that while the Lord of the Rings series, for example, is ok, the world of Harry Potter is strictly prohibited because, apparently, anything having to do with the world of witchcraft originates from Satan. As a secular, progressive-minded gay man who enjoys good escapist fantasy, I see this as an actual handicap on his part. I've tried to convince my friend that if he would read the books, he'd find a general theme of good vs. evil (just like Lord of the Rings) and that the protagonist is as fine a role model, if not better, than most of what you find in modern entertainment.

Anyway, other than being banned, Harry Potter books are just great reads. J. K. Rowling is a beautiful writer; she has a knack for pacing, for detail, for characterization and has a fun sense of humor. Her writing flows over you like a warm blanket on a cold night and it appeals to young and old readers alike. Whether it's because you like fantasy, or stories about finding your place in the world; challenging what you know to be wrong; standing up for what you feel is right; the power of love; the arrogance of power; struggling against oppression, racism, and slavery; denouncing torture and murder; and many other themes unworthy of banishment, you'll find yourself staying up way past your bedtime with Harry and his world.

Spy Vs. Spy: FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants

2007-07-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

In an ABC News "Blotter" report by Justin Rood posted on July 25, 2007, we find the USA trying to boost its counterterrorism efforts by recruiting Americans to spy on each other.

"The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort to boost its intelligence capabilities.

According to a recent unclassified report to Congress, the FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

The FBI said the push was driven by a 2004 directive from President Bush ordering the bureau to improve its counterterrorism efforts by boosting its human intelligence capabilities.

The aggressive push for more secret informants appears to be part of a new effort to grow its intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. Other recent proposals include expanding its collection and analysis of data on U.S. persons, retaining years' worth of Americans' phone records and even increasing so-called "black bag" secret entry operations.

To handle the increase in so-called human sources, the FBI also plans to overhaul its database system, so it can manage records and verify the accuracy of information from "more than 15,000" informants, according to the document. While many of the recruited informants will apparently be U.S. residents, some informants may be overseas, recruited by FBI agents in foreign offices, the report indicates.

The total cost of the effort tops $22 million, according to the document.

The bureau has arranged to use elements of CIA training to teach FBI agents about "Source Targeting and Development," the report states. The courses will train FBI special agents on the "comprehensive tradecraft" needed to identify, recruit and manage these "confidential human sources." According to January testimony by FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole, the CIA has been working with the bureau on the course.

The bureau apparently mulled whether to adopt entire training courses from the CIA or from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which like the CIA recruits spies overseas. But the FBI ultimately determined "the courses offered by those agencies would not meet the needs of the FBI's unique law enforcement." The FBI report said it would also give agents "legal and policy" training, noting that its domestic intelligence efforts are "constitutionally sensitive."

"It's probably a good sign they are not adopting CIA recruitment techniques wholesale," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists, an expert on classified programs. U.S. intelligence officers abroad can use bribery, extortion, and other patently illegal acts to corral sources into working for them, Aftergood noted. "You're not supposed to do that in the United States," he said."

+++++ +++++ +++++

If these totalitarian excesses are too little too close to home for you, then check out the film The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen), an Academy Award-winning German film marking the feature film debut of writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

We Do What We Want and We Want What You've Got

2007-07-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

Here are two articles on the issue of Iraqi Oil and the American determination to gobble it all up.

The first shows how the US government is pressuring Iraqis to pass legislation that eventually puts their own natural resources into the hands of American oil companies. Of course, President Bush spins this as an opportunity for Iraq to determine its own future, but the truth is that the main objective of the Iraqi Hydrocarbon Law is to secure trillions of dollars for US Big Oil over the next 30 years.

The second is a time line that paints a vivid picture of how the USA has been trying to get its hands in Iraq's oil since early 2001. In this context, the motivation behind the American invasion and occupation of Iraq are clear.

According to their site, Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF) "is a think tank for research, analysis, and action that brings together scholars, advocates, and activists who strive to make the United States a more responsible global partner. FPIF provides timely analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs and recommends policy alternatives. We believe U.S. security and world stability are best advanced through a commitment to peace, justice and environmental protection as well as economic, political, and social rights. We advocate that diplomatic solutions, global cooperation, and grassroots participation guide foreign policy."

Slick Connections: U.S. Influence on Iraqi Oil
by Erik Leaver and Greg Muttitt | July 17, 2007

"The oil belongs to the Iraqi people. It's their asset," declared President George W. Bush in a press conference on the White House lawn in June 2006. He had just returned from a surprise visit to Baghdad, in which oil had been one of the main subjects of discussion. "We talked about how to advise the government to best use that money for the benefit of the people," he clarified.

But by January 2007, the euphemism of "advice" had been dropped, as passage of an oil law became a "benchmark," an instruction to the Iraqi government.

Violating the very notions of freedom and democracy Bush invokes in nearly every speech on Iraq, the U.S. government has actively intervened in the restructuring of Iraq's oil industry since at least 2002. At different times, the Iraqi government has been threatened that passing the oil law was a pre-condition for partial reduction of Saddam Hussein's debts, for the provision of reconstruction funds, and even for the continued survival (through U.S. military support) of the al-Maliki government itself. (Read the complete text, including all end notes for the articles above and below, here.)

Oil Pressure: A History of U.S. Involvement in Iraq's Oil Development
by Erik Leaver and Greg Muttitt | July 17, 2007

Feb.-March 2001: White House Energy Taskforce produces a list of "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts."3

December 2002-April 2003: U.S. State Department Oil and Energy Working Group brought together influential Iraqi exiles, U.S. government officials, and international consultants. The result of the project's work was a "draft framework for Iraq's oil policy" that would form the foundation for the energy policy now being considered by the Iraqi Parliament. The final report noted that Iraq "should be opened to international oil companies as quickly as possible after the war.4 Later, several Iraqi members of the group became part of the Iraqi government. The Group included future Iraqi Oil Minister, Bahr al-Uloum.

January 2003: The Wall Street Journal reported that representatives from Exxon Mobil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp., ConocoPhillips, and Halliburton, among others, were meeting with Vice President Cheney's staff to plan the post-war revival of Iraq's oil industry.5

January 2003: Phillip Carroll, a former chief executive with Royal Dutch-Shell, and a 15-member "board of advisers" were appointed to oversee Iraq's oil industry during the transition period. According to the Guardian, the group's chief executive would represent Iraq at meetings of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).6 Carroll had been working with the Pentagon for months before the invasion—even while the administration was still insisting that it sought a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis—"developing contingency plans for Iraq's oil sector in the event of war."

Carroll, in addition to running Shell Oil in the United States, was a former CEO of the Fluor Corporation, a well-connected oil services firm with extensive projects in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and at least $1.6 billion in contracts for Iraq's reconstruction.

One month after the invasion, Carroll took control of Iraq's oil production for the U.S. Government. He was joined by Gary Vogler, a former executive with ExxonMobil, in Iraq's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance.

Mr. Carroll made it clear to Paul Bremer, the U.S. occupation chief who arrived in Iraq in May 2003, that, "There was to be no privatization of Iraqi oil resources or facilities while he was involved."7 Carroll leaves his job seven months later.

March 2003: Iraqi Oil Ministry was one of the few structures the invading forces protected from looters in the first days of the war.

April 2003: During the initial assault on Baghdad, soldiers set up forward bases named Camp Shell and Camp Exxon.8

April 2003: President Bush called for UN sanctions against Iraq to be dropped. The request sounds innocuous enough, but it masks an urgent U.S. desire for a free hand to start pumping Iraqi crude once again to raise funds for rebuilding the country.9

April 2003: USAID Solicits Bid to Draft Economic Reorganization Plan for Iraq. The U.S. Agency for International Development asks BearingPoint, Inc to bid on a sole-sourced contract for "economic governance" work in Iraq. The contract document was written by Treasury Department officials and reviewed by financial consultants. The confidential 100-page request, titled "Moving The Iraqi Economy From Recovery to Sustainable Growth," states that the contractor will help support "private sector involvement in strategic sectors, including privatization, asset sales, concessions, leases, and management contracts, especially in the oil and supporting industries."10

May 22, 2003: UN Security Council passed a resolution ending sanctions on Iraq. Significantly, the resolution gave the United States decision making power over how the oil funds would be used with regard to relief, reconstruction, disarmament, and "other purposes benefiting the people of Iraq."11

May 22, 2003: President Bush signed Executive Order 13303 providing full legal immunity to all U.S. oil companies doing business in Iraq in order to facilitate the country's "orderly reconstruction."

June 22, 2003: Iraq ships crude oil for the first time since the start of the war. Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Paul Bremer, broached the politically sensitive issue of how oil revenue should be spent, proposing that some of the money be shared with Iraqis through a system of dividend payments or a national trust fund to finance public pensions. "Iraq's resources cannot be restricted to a lucky or powerful few," Bremer said. "Iraq's natural resources should be shared by all Iraqis."12

July 2003: Bremer appoints the members of the Iraqi Government Council. Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a member of the State Department's energy working group, is tapped as Iraq's oil minister. Al-Uloum soon proposed a privatization program, and endorsed production sharing agreements as the route to that goal.13

October 2003: Carroll was replaced by Robert McKee, a former ConocoPhillips executive. According to the Houston Chronicle, "His selection as the Bush administration's energy czar in Iraq" drew fire from Congressional Democrats "because of his ties to the prime contractor in the Iraqi oil fields, Houston-based Halliburton Co. He's the chairman of a venture partitioned by the ... firm."14

The administration selected ChevronTexaco Vice President Norm Szydlowski to serve as a liaison between the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Oil Ministry. Now the CEO of the appropriately named Colonial Pipeline Company, Szydlowski continued to work with the Iraq Energy Roundtable, a project of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which sponsored meetings to "bring together oil and gas sector leaders in the United States with key decision makers from the Iraq Ministry of Oil."15 Terry Adams and Bob Morgan of BP, and Mike Stinson of ConocoPhillips would also serve as advisers during the transition.16

November 2003: McKee quietly ordered a new plan for Iraq's oil. The drafting would be overseen by a "senior adviser," Amy Jaffe, who had worked for Morse when he was the Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations. Jaffe now works for James Baker, the former Secretary of State, whose law firm serves as counsel to both ExxonMobil and the defense minister of Saudi Arabia. The plan, written by State Department contractor BearingPoint, was guided, says Jaffe, by a handful of oil -industry consultants and executives.17

December 19, 2003: BearingPoint releases "Options for Developing a Long Term Sustainable Iraqi Oil Industry," a report on the Iraqi oil industry favoring foreign participation as the most efficient way of developing the sector.18

March 2004: CPA names new Iraq Oil Advisers: Mike Stinson of ConocoPhillips and Bob Morgan of BP.19

March 2004: Iraq's interim constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) passed in March 2004 by Iraq's Governing Council, sets forth that CPA laws, regulations, and orders are to remain in force after the transfer of sovereignty unless a duly enacted piece of legislation rescinds or amends them.20

June 2004: U.S. handover to the Iraq Interim Government. Mike Stinson becomes an adviser to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.21 Thamir al-Ghadban is named as Iraqi Oil Minister.

November 2004: International oil companies launched voluntary efforts to train Iraq's oil workers and provide technical assistance, hoping to generate goodwill and eventually get access to the country's huge oil reserves. Companies from the United States, Britain, and Russia—including ChevronTexaco Corp., BP, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and Lukoil—are paying to send Iraqi oil workers out of the country to teach them the latest techniques in developing and managing oil fields.22

December 22, 2004: Iraqi Finance Minister Mahdi, in a joint press conference with U.S. Undersecretary of State Alan Larson at the National Press Club, announced Iraq's plans for a new petroleum law to open the oil sector to foreign private investment. Mahdi explained, "So I think this is very promising to the American investors and to American enterprise, certainly to oil companies."23

Early 2005: New Government, old oil minister, al-Uloum reappointed to position of Minister for Oil. Ahmed Chalabi, head of the U.S.-backed Iraqi National Congress, was appointed chair of the Energy Council. In 2002, Chalabi said, "U.S. companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil."24

May 2005: Approximately 30 international oil companies signed Memoranda of Understanding with Iraq, generally for the training of Iraqi staff, consulting work, and studies.25

August 30, 2005: Bush says U.S. troops would continue fighting in Iraq in order to protect the country's vast oil fields, which he said would otherwise fall under the control of terrorist extremists.26

October 15 2005: The national referendum for the Iraqi constitution passes, containing an outline for oil revenue sharing and development.

December 2005: Iraq enters into agreement with the International Monetary Fund committing Iraq to draft a new petroleum law by the end of 2006 to allow foreign investment in the country's oil industry. The arrangement was signed before the new Iraqi government had been appointed and one week after the December 2005 elections thus denying Iraqi voters a chance to react through the ballot box.

February 2006-June 2006: USAID contracts with BearingPoint to draft Iraq's oil law to provide "legal and regulatory advice in drafting the framework of petroleum and other energy-related legislation, including foreign investment."27

March 15, 2006: Gen. John Abizaid, the Army general overseeing U.S. military operations in Iraq, said the United States may want to keep a long-term military presence in Iraq to bolster moderates against extremists in the region and protect the flow of oil.28

May 2006: Iraq's new oil minister, Hussein al-Sharistani, began drafting legislation to govern Iraq's oil sector. Following his appointment, Shahristani announced that one of his top priorities would be to pass a law allowing privatization through parliament by the end of 2006.

July 2006: U.S. Government and oil companies get a copy of the draft oil law.29

September 2006: International Monetary Fund and World Bank receive a copy of draft oil law.30

October 17, 2006: President Bush signs the 2007 Defense Authorization Act (PL No: 109-364) which states in SEC. 1519,"No funds ... in this Act may be obligated or expended ... to exercise United States economic control of the oil resources of Iraq.

February 2007: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, "has been in intense talks with Kurdish leaders in the north to overcome their objections to the draft. Iraqi officials say Mr. Khalilzad's negotiations were crucial to winning unanimous cabinet approval."31

February 18, 2007: "Draft Hydrocarbon Law" was submitted to the Iraqi Cabinet (Council of Ministers).32

February 26, 2007: "Draft Hydrocarbon Law" was passed by the Iraqi Cabinet and was submitted to the Iraqi Parliament (Council of Representatives).33

April 19, 2007: Defense Secretary Robert Gates travels to Baghdad to push political benchmarks and specifically the oil law.34

May 9 2007: U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney travels to Baghdad to push political benchmarks and specifically the oil law.35

June 12, 2007: U.S. Admiral Fallon, head of the Central Command, warned Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a closed-door conversation to pass the oil law by July.36

July 3, 2007: Iraq cabinet approves amended oil law draft and resubmits to the Iraqi Parliament.37

July 12, 2007: The White House released its Initial Benchmark Assessment Report. Benchmark #3, "Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources" is found to be not met. The report notes, "The effect of limited progress toward this benchmark has been to reduce the perceived confidence in, and effectiveness of, the Iraqi Government. This does not, however, necessitate a revision to our current plan and strategy, under which we have assigned a high priority to this subject, and the process overall has continued to move forward."38

A Failure Pile in a Sadness Bowl: The Death Business of Food

2007-07-19T17:44:00.001-04:00

Hilarious comedian Patton Oswalt (from The King of Queens) does a funny standup routine in which he discusses one of the more ridiculous items for sale on the KFC menu.

According to the "nutrition calculator" on KFC's site, their Chicken & Biscuit Bowl has 870 calories, 44 grams of fat and (what ought to be a record-setting) 2420 milligrams of sodium.

If you travel outside of the United States a lot, don't despair. You can get your pile of failure in its sadness bowl in 24 other countries, even France! Who says the French are food snobs? Who says only Americans have terrible eating habits? Thanks to the corporations that own KFC, Taco Bell and their ilk, fast food menus are inspiring over-indulgent, gluttonous eating habits around the world.

Where do you draw the line between being responsible for what you eat and being inundated by bad choices? It's easy enough to say "well, don't eat it if you don't like it", but let's be real. These companies exacerbate a problem of rampant obesity in the USA and everywhere they exist. If you've ever tried to lose weight or diet, you know what effect these omniscient bad choices have on our food intake. It's not right.

Big business is there to make sure that we have all the choices we need to be unhealthy and susceptible to more diseases. And then, they step in to reap the rewards of a sick population. Who can say that we live in a civilized society? If the byproducts of capitalism contributed to a healthy, happy society, then maybe we could. But the reality is that capitalism has turned into a parasite that feeds off of us until there's nothing left. It sounds extreme, and yet it's happening to us everyday. Our great, modern, civilized society is a pile of failure in a bowl of sadness.

The Death Business: War Machine

2007-07-18T18:41:00.000-04:00

According to the CorpWatch mission statement, they "investigate and expose corporate violations of human rights, environmental crimes, fraud and corruption around the world. We work to foster global justice, independent media activism and democratic control over corporations. "

Here is a fun list they've compiled that shows the companies without whom this war would not be possible, including the amounts awarded for military contracts in 2005 and the amounts they contributed to the 2004 elections:
______________________________________
Lockheed Martin: The world's #1 military contractor, responsible for the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes, F-16, F/A-22 fighter jet, and Javelin missiles. They've also made millions through insider trading, falsifying accounts, and bribing officials.

CEO: Robert J. Stevens
Military contracts 2005: $19.4 billion
Total contributions for the 2004 election cycle: $2,212,836 (source - OpenSecrets.org)
______________________________________
Boeing: Aside from 747s, Boeing makes "smart" bombs, F-15 fighters, and Apache helicopters. Boeing has paid tens of millions in fines for selling flawed parts that led to thousands of unnecessary landings and at least one fatal crash and has been plagued by scandals connected to the company’s influence-peddling.

CEO: Jim McNerney
Military contracts 2005: $18.3 billion
Total contributions for the 2004 election cycle: $1,659,213 (source - OpenSecrets.org)
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Northrop Grumman: Makers of the B-2 stealth bomber, you'd think this company could stay under the radar. But they're dogged by scandals-from bribing Saudi princes to botching the training of the Iraqi National Army to the tune of $48 million. Above board, their job is simply selling death.

CEO: Ronald Sugar
Military contracts 2005: $13.5 billion
Campaign contributions in 2004: $1.68 million (defense related)
$1.77 million (total)
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General Dynamics: General Dynamics makes traditional F-16 jets, Abrams tanks, and Trident subs. With contracts in the billions, and new markets (read: wars) opening every day, they're not as washed up as some may think.

CEO: Nicholas D. Chabraja
Military contracts 2005: $10.6 billion
Total contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $1,437,602 (source - OpenSecrets.org)
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Raytheon: Raytheon means "light from the gods." Makers of "Bunker Buster" bombs, Tomahawk and Patriot missiles, this company loves big noises and large civilian casualty counts. When a missile killed 62 civilians in a Baghdad market, that was Light from the Gods.

CEO: William H. Swanson
Military contracts 2005: $9.1 billion
Defense-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $961,252 (source - OpenSecrets.org)
______________________________________
United Technologies: The name sounds like they make light bulbs, but UT, a.k.a. Sikorsky, sells Black Hawk and Comanche helicopters and various missile systems designed to inspire terror in civilians from Palestine to Colombia to Somalia and beyond.

CEO: George David
Military contracts 2005: $5.0 billion
Defense-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $558,850 (source - OpenSecrets.org)
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Halliburton: This company truly has a guardian angel: former Halliburton CEO and now Vice President Dick Cheney who looks out for its interests from the White House. The result? $8 billion in contracts “rebuilding” Iraq in 2004.

CEO: David J. Lesar
Military contracts 2005: $5.8 billion
Oil and gas-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $221,249 (source - OpenSecrets.org)
______________________________________
General Electric: Run until 2001 by “Neutron” Jack Welch, who made it a matter of principle to lay off 10% of his workers per year, the world’s biggest company churns out plastics, aircraft engines and nuclear reactors and media spin through NBC, CNBC, Telemundo, and msnbc.com.

CEO: Jeffrey R. Immelt
Military contracts 2005: $2.2 billion
Defense-related contributions in the 2004 election cycle: $220,950 (source - OpenSecrets.org)
______________________________________
Science Applications International Corporation: SAIC, awarded control of the Iraqi Media Network, was not able to spin US propaganda in Iraq and ended up being forced to withdraw. But their financial prospects remain solid as supplier of surveillance technology to US spy agencies.

CEO: Ken Dahlberg
Military contracts 2005: $2.8 billion
Campaign contributions in 2004: $781,410 (defense related)
______________________________________
CSC/DynCorp: The world's premier rent-a-cop business runs the security show in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the US-Mexico border. They also run the coca crop-dusting business in Colombia, and occasional sex trafficking sorties in Bosnia. But what can you expect from a bunch of mercenaries? (Note: CSC sold DynCorp in January 2005.)

CEO: Van Honeycutt
Military contracts 2005: $2.8 billion
______________________________________
______________________________________

Help the War Resisters League put a stop to the merchants of death. They invite you to join an emerging network of organizations and individuals committed to dismantling the war economy and developing an economy of peace that prioritizes people over profits. We seek to motivate and empower a broad-based movement to educate, agitate and organize against the military industrial complex through creative, nonviolent and democratic means. To get involved click here!

"That's What I Get For Buying A Hemi"

2007-07-12T22:43:00.000-04:00

I got my oil changed today at a local place nearby. I gave the attendant my info and walked into the waiting area, sat down, and sifted through the pile of newspapers on the chair next to mine to find something to read while I waited. There were two other guys waiting there, one older and one younger. The older man was already reading and the younger guy was gazing into the garage bay, looking at the large black SUV just on the other side of the glass.

The attendant was a short girl who had impressed me already with her professional demeanor. She looked serious and smart with her eyeglasses and she had some grease on her hands and forearms. She had walked in behind me and called the younger guy to the counter as I found the front page of the Sun-Sentinel and started glancing through the headlines.

She ran through the list of things that were included in the service that was done to his vehicle. "Power steering fluid is fine, the belts are fine, tires are fine, we added windshield wiper fluid... It comes to $39.99". The customer's back was to me and my eyes were on the paper, but there was enough of a hesitation for me to get the sense that it was more than he was expecting. I guess it's kind of expected in a garage, that the bill exceeds what you thought it would be.

The guy indeed said that it was more than he thought it would be, and also commented "wow, it takes so much money just to fill it up with gas" and "geez, I guess that's what I get for buying a hemi." The girl was apologetic and explained that his huge behemoth takes a lot of oil to keep it going (but not in those words). I fought the urge to make a smartassed comment. He got all the way to his first oil change before he thought about the amount of oil it used, and the cost of it?" It seemed like a careless comment in the context of this war in Iraq. He could at least save us the theatrics in the waiting room.

I'm sure a lot of people who buy large or powerful vehicles as fashion statements or status symbols don't consider the extra expense of maintaining them. Some don't think about it, some don't care. At some point we're going to have to rely on the power of the people to pull our country up again. We all contribute to the problem. Write to your representatives and express the importance of passing more green-minded renewable energy legislature, like HR 3221, and tax incentives for green energy production and energy conservation like HR 2776, both of which were passed August 4th, 2007.

Sicko

2007-07-06T22:45:00.001-04:00

I just saw Michael Moore's new movie, Sicko. Although I was prepared for the more sensationalist scenes, I still found it shocking, appalling, and downright depressing. I was teary-eyed through much of it. Thankfully, he put some laughs in to balance out the sheer misery created by America's health care industry. It's unfortunate that the laughs are on me, on Americans, but they helped to alleviate the sense of complete despair that was invoked by the stories of Americans whose lives were ruined when they got sick.

Say what you want about Moore's film-making techniques: he's one-sided, he's biased, he exaggerates, take your pick. But the bottom line is that he presents us with a problem in America that needs to be solved. There isn't a lot of gray area in that.

Conservative-minded people usually argue vehemently that it's not up to the government to solve our problems, that it's the individual's responsibility. But if you've just sliced off two of your fingers with a table saw, and are suddenly faced with the option of having the middle finger reattached for $60,000 or the ring finger for $12,000, you may suddenly see the need for other options.

The need for a change is clear. The health care industry is a big, profitable business, in spite of the fact that no one should profit from sickness and medical problems. Moore asks a few poignant questions in his film, among them: Who are we? How did we become a nation that turns its back on fellow citizens in need? Why did we allow Capitalism to turn into something so ugly? Why did we allow Socialism to be so demonized? Historically, Americans have been known to be helpful in times of need, but we see cases of our own people being turned out on the street like trash.

We live in a democracy that is supposed to have a government of the people, and yet as the government, we allow the health care industry to treat us like animals. We sit back while our representative in congress get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to allow this to continue. It's an outrage, and we know it's happening. We don't need to be slapped in the face by Michael Moore to see it, but we don't speak out against it. We've let the current system take us over, and we act like it's ok. We're complicit in that we continue to pay our taxes and pretend that we're just too busy to do anything about it. We continually throw it in the world's face that we're better, but more and more we sound like the bully on the playground who really doesn't have anything better. We pose and posture but our priorities are wrong. It's a bad system, it shouldn't be for profit, and we can change it.

Moore's most important point was this: We have the power to fix our country and to make it great again. It's up to us. Visit the "What Can I Do?" page on Moore's site. Ask your representatives to support H.R 676.

Mr. Decider, J'Accuse!

2007-07-05T18:34:00.000-04:00

Wow, here's a scathing editorial by Keith Olbermann in response to Bush's decision to commute the sentence of his buddy I "Scooter" Lewis Libby (ILL) for lying to a Grand Jury and obstructing justice. The passionate excerpt and video (below) can be found at MSNBC with the full text. It's also available at TruthOut.org and most likely a billion other places in the Blogosphere.

I accuse you, Mr. Bush, of lying this country into war.

I accuse you of fabricating in the minds of your own people, a false implied link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11.

I accuse you of firing the generals who told you that the plans for Iraq were disastrously insufficient.

I accuse you of causing in Iraq the needless deaths of 3,586 of our brothers and sons, and sisters and daughters, and friends and neighbors.

I accuse you of subverting the Constitution, not in some misguided but sincerely-motivated struggle to combat terrorists, but to stifle dissent.

I accuse you of fomenting fear among your own people, of creating the very terror you claim to have fought.

I accuse you of exploiting that unreasoning fear, the natural fear of your own people who just want to live their lives in peace, as a political tool to slander your critics and libel your opponents.

I accuse you of handing part of this Republic over to a Vice President who is without conscience, and letting him run roughshod over it.

And I accuse you now, Mr. Bush, of giving, through that Vice President, carte blanche to Mr. Libby, to help defame Ambassador Joseph Wilson by any means necessary, to lie to Grand Juries and Special Counsel and before a court, in order to protect the mechanisms and particulars of that defamation, with your guarantee that Libby would never see prison, and, in so doing, as Ambassador Wilson himself phrased it here last night, of becoming an accessory to the obstruction of justice.

Liberty And Justice For All...Unless You're A Native American

2007-07-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

Jeremy Briggs interviews Alex White Plume on Hemphasis.net, the definitive source for consumer information about hemp, the botanical cousin of marijuana.

Alex White Plume is a Lakota Indian living on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which comprises all of Shannon County, South Dakota. Shannon County is the poorest county in the entire USA, with 85% unemployment. In 2000, Alex became the only farmer to plant, cultivate, produce, sell and deliver a hemp crop within the borders of the USA since 1968.

Hemp ("Wahupta Ska Pejuta"--sweet white root medicine) is the strongest natural fiber on earth and can be used for a wide variety of products. Hemp has been cultivated and used in the United States since the country's founding, and well beforehand.

In 1998, the Tribal Government for the Pine Ridge Reservation legally differentiated between industrial hemp and marijuana, specifically allowing hemp crops. US laws do not make a distinction. Hemp is a perfect crop for the near-desert climate of Pine Ridge. It requires moderate moisture and no crop chemicals, while providing great potential for the nutritional and economic gains the area desperately needs. (The seeds contain one of the highest sources of protein in nature.) THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana that produces a mild euphoric feeling can be completely separated from hemp. Alex states, “You can make clothing, you can make lipstick, you can make perfume, you can make shampoo. Anything that’s made out of plastic can be replaced with the products from hemp. You cannot get high from smoking industrial hemp.”

In 2000, the DEA, with helicopters and machine guns, confiscated the crop (which was legal in the sovereign nation in which it was grown, and which was later found to contain only minute traces of THC), costing US taxpayers more than $200,000. In 2001, the DEA came only with side arms and weed eaters, this time simply destroying the crop. In 2002, Alex and his family again planted fields of industrial hemp, but were unable to complete their contract by delivering the crop to the Madison Hemp and Flax Co., because U.S. District Judge Battey (in Rapid City, South Dakota), issued a civil injunction stating that if Alex so much as touched his hemp, he would be held in contempt of court and jailed for up to six months without a trial or a jury. As a result, the hemp was cut and piled by people unknown; the pile lying in silent testimony between Alex and the Madison Hemp & Flax buyer Craig Lee, both barred from touching it by the government. Delivery was made, but the deliveree could not accept the product.

Alex's challenge to the legality of the injunction has been continually pushed back, preventing justice. Alex is struggling with the US court system for his right to farm his native land. His struggle is more about sovereignty than it is about farming, or possession of controlled substances.

According to Alex, Canadian hemp farmers yield 900-1200 lb/acre. On Pine Ridge Reservation the hopes are for 700 lb/acre. Alex would like to grow hemp on 160 acres, which could earn his family and tribe the money to make a decent living, independent of the United States' handouts. Many buyers have already committed. He estimates that it will take 35 pounds of seeds per acre. Alex needs seed. If Alex were left in peace to grow hemp, then many growth industries could be set up to help alleviate Pine Ridge's poverty, but the DEA, which has assumed the authority to set farm policy not only for the United States, but for sovereign nations all over the world, continues to brutally enforce insane doctrine.

Watch the clip "Hemp For Victory" to learn more about this versatile crop. Read about the benefits of industrial hemp at hemphasis.net

Alex White Plume's Update, Jun, 2007

"The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the local district court's decision will stand, but they also said that there is a hemp farm and there is a marijuana farm, and so they distinguished between the two species of plants. But only Congress can change the law. I wanted to go to the Supreme Court, which is our next step, but I don't have the $300,000 it'll take to go there. Besides that, the Supreme Court has always been an enemy to the Lakota. They always diminish our sovereignty, based on the fact of the "doctrine of discovery," that's what they use, because there is no criminal case law to prosecute indigenous people in this country.

Senator Paul from Texas has introduced a bill in Congress. It's in committee and they are waiting for it to be called down for a vote, so I'm supporting them [even though] they left out all the indigenous people, all the nations here in the United States and so we have to create our own bill to go up there. I'm hoping they will pass this bill for the Americans and that mine will just complement theirs, but we have to have this special sovereignty language in ours so that we continue to protect our sovereignty. So we're left out of the picture, after all these years of struggling. I know Senator Paul probably had good intentions in his mind, however I wish somebody would have communicated to me that they were doing this, and then, we'd have been able to help him out and participate in some fashion.

Other than that, hemp has been just idle. It's been standing still. I've been going out to Indian country, advocating for industrial hemp, educating all our people. I have to overcome all the obstacles — all the marijuana jokes — and then people get down to serious business and they look at it from a fresh perspective. We're getting to that point where we're going to start advocating again.

The Navajo Nation and a number of different Indian reservations have passed legislation to grow industrial hemp, but they are all waiting for me to get it legalized, so I have to do a lot of work. We need to get some lawyers together to craft a bill. Recently, I've realized that federal Indian law has evolved to become a kind of nightmare. Lawyers who specialize in federal Indian law often say, "Oh, I can do this. No, I can't do this. Indians can only do this and Indians cannot do this." So they limit themselves. I want to get some lawyers who do not specialize in Indian law. I want a lawyer who can fight for sovereignty that's not afraid to take this to task. But it's really scary because every lawyer that gets the degree and wants to pass the bar has to swear an oath, "I swear to defend the Constitution of the United States," and so thereby, my issue as an indigenous person is with the United States, so no lawyer will ever take this to its limits. We may have to go to an international lawyer, somebody who is out of this country that will take this [fight] for its pure meaning of what we want because we are another nation. We are a separate, distinct nation in this country. And although we exist in this greater society, I'd like to make an example.

All the other indigenous nations in the world can go to the World Bank to make a loan, to start some form of economic development. However in the United States, we cannot participate in that because we're colonized by a wealthy state, the United States. So even amongst indigenous peoples, we have to overcome all these obstacles so we can all work cooperatively.

I'm in favor of all forms of economic development as long as it doesn't have that Western mentality of exploiting the earth, exploiting the air and exploiting the water. To them, all they want to do is make a dollar. They don't care how much damage they do. I'm not for that. I want economic development to save Mother Earth. She is all we have and right now she is crying out for help. We all have to come to terms with that and we all have to join hands and work cooperatively.

I'm going to fight for Lakota hemp until I can make some money to support my clan for however long it takes. It's taken a lot out of us and economically we've just been devastated, but we believe in it, so we're not going to give up on it."

TAKE ACTION
Here are 10 things you can do to advance Alex White Plume's cause and contribute to the development and prosperity of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Lakota Sioux Nation.

Write your Representative about industrial hemp and the HR Bill 1009, which legalizes hemp cultivation in the United States.

Read some interesting historical facts about hemp, including why big business sees it as a threat.

Notes From Underground

2007-07-03T19:48:00.001-04:00

"Inside Iraq is a blog updated by Iraqi journalists working for McClatchy Newspapers. They're based in Baghdad and outlying provinces. These are firsthand accounts of their experiences. Their complete names are withheld for security purposes."

Here are 4 recent posts: (1) The latest post links to a PDF file full of statistics that document the erasing of generations Iraqis and the traumatizing of those who are left. (2) is a quick analysis of the semantics of propaganda. (3) reminds us that children can't escape the suffering that this war inflicts. (4) One Iraqi calls it like he sees it: The USA is dictating the future of Iraq by influencing/coercing changes to its constitution.
________________________________

(1) July 02, 2007

Excuse Me

I wish to take a few minutes of your time.
Read what I read today.
If you have an explanation …
This is not random.

An excerpt: "Over 830 assassinations have been documented, victims killed along with their families. Numbers includes: 380 university academics and doctors, 210 lawyers and judges, and 243 journalists/media workers but not other experts, school teachers or students; neither professionals displaced internally and externally. All aspects of life are affected."

Iraq's Lost Generation: Impact and Implications, by Ismail Jalili

________________________________

(2) June 30, 2007

Colours

On the way out of the "Green Zone", stopped at several checkpoints, stared at, searched and checked again and again takes quite a while – time enough for some contemplation.

I always wondered why it was called the "Green" Zone rather than the "any other colour" Zone – it had neither any green grass nor any other outstanding greenery – so why "green"?

This "green" is a magical word for us. Being part of a predominantly desert region, "green" hills, "green" pastures… etc. instantly make us visualize Eden-like scenes of lush green grass as far as the sight could reach, lush green trees filled with birds of every kind, wonderfully cool shaded areas of different shades of green … green … green… Woops! I awake from my daydream, the "sniffing" dogs have finished their duty – the vehicles are clear and we're ready to move on.

In the crowd, three British men were talking amongst themselves boisterously, "Didn't I tell you? I was in the Red Zone yesterday, and it was …." My eyes sprung fully open, "Excuse me…", "Yes?", "I heard you say "Red Zone", where is that? I've not heard of a "Red" Zone.", Laughing "It's everywhere except the "Green" Zone! Everything out there!"

Now I know why "green".

________________________________

(3) June 26, 2007

the lost summer holiday

The summer holiday has begun in the elementary school in Iraq. It suppose like in whole world, children have different things to do in summer like picnics, spend the day playing and jumping here and there in gardens and parks that was built for such kind things, also some children go in long trip with their families to recreation and refreshing. That what may be happen in every where except Iraq the children find themselves face to face with boring life that fill of dangers and real actions inside houses without television or any entertainment devices with absence of electricity for days. So our poor children in this condition hate summer holiday that doesn’t bring them any kind of pleasures or funs but some times the lucky children spend some days in grandma’s house that live certainly in same conditions and some times it worst, just like what happened with my niece Yakeen 9years old.

Yakeen came from Omara, that consider as a safe place south Iraq. Yakeen expected spend nice time in Baghdad because she carries old memories about the capital. But unfortunately the capital destroyed when it was receive democracy dream, destroyed with all childish dreams so Yakeen shocked of this new image of Baghdad that helicopters fly for hours above our neighborhood, mortars hit our neighboring houses from time to time, curfew for days, dead body float on Tigris and in addition of all that the constant fear that my mother live in it from sectarian kill, Yakeen was observe all this with wondering look. Yesterday I heard Yakeen tells her grandma that she was dreaming of tomorrow when she was in home “Bebe (grandma) I used to have a lot of dreams about future when I was in home but here I’m dream of death only”. ……. Oh God the child lost her sense of tomorrow “that is Baghdad darling” the grandma reply. …… God what kind of expression grandma had give to child “that is Baghdad” as if she meant that is hell whereas the future dreams are fading.

________________________________

(4) June 22, 2007

Transparency???

At small gatherings and inside old cafes the betting runs high ... will the Parliament buckle under the pressure??

How unseemly for the government of a sovereign state - and its Parliament to be pressured into making ...of all things ... amendments to its own constitution ... by a foreign force!

It may have been understandable had the pressure been put on to urge the government to pick up its pace in providing adequate security in the country enabling the US to withdraw its forces gradually . That is something I can understand, and in fact would cheer on, and the US would have been within its rights.

But constitutional amendments?

Oil and Gas Law??

Debathification???

What is it to the US what identity the Iraqis wish to give their country? Whether "Arab State" - straight out, or "An entity active in its Arab and Muslim environment"?? Meaning no defined identity? Why is it so important to the US Admin?

And what of debathification?? After laying off thousands of absolutely competent employees, whether technical or administrative, for no other reason that they were obliged to write their names on Bathi lists simply to be able to obtain employment; the whole administrative structure of the government collapsed. So now what?? We haven't got any competent administrators or technicians to run the new show. Do we rehire the old ones?? What the hell! Why was it so important to Mr. Bremer to oust all competent professionals from our Gov. structure? Wouldn't it have been more prudent to keep everyone in place then pick out the rotten apples at our leisure ... with no collapse at all? Now to amend.

As for the Oil and Gas Law....... my heart aches for the thousands of lives that were intentionally put in jeopardy for the black gold. What a curse!

And now the pressure is on. The Iraqi Gov has succumbed. Will the Iraqi Parliament succumb also??

The scene is so clear for all those with the wish to see clearly. How transparent can you get??

http://www.fotos.geschichtsthemen.de/iraq-war/iraq.htm

If God Lived On Earth People Would Break All His Windows

2007-06-30T20:24:00.000-04:00

Sinead O'Connor borrows this Jewish proverb for her beautiful new album, Theology.

It's been 20 years since her debut CD, The Lion And The Cobra, stormed onto the music scene. Ever since, Sinead has been singing about social injustice and religious hypocrisy. Her latest work sums up her feelings in song so wonderfully, and presents them to us...twice. Each song is represented twice in this specially-priced* 2-disc set. Disc 1, "The Dublin Sessions", presents each song acoustically, and features just Sinead and guitarist Steve Cooney. You can listen to some of those songs on Sinead's MySpace page. Disc 2, "The London Sessions", showcases all the songs in their "full band" versions. The version sold at Best Buy also includes 5 live versions recorded in Dublin in Nov 2006. Videos of two songs from that gig are available on Sinead's web site.

(*Most places are selling it for $17.99. BB sells it for $14.99 and I got it on sale there for $11.99. I have a problem with these mega-retailers underselling the larger record stores, which are becoming extinct as a result. Unfortunately, there are no large Tower Records, or Virgin Megastores in my area, only an FYE in Miami. As much as I want to support large music retailers, I'm not going to drive 40 miles to pay more.)

"I wanna make something beautiful for U and from U," Sinead sings on the 1st song. And that pretty much sums up the whole record: "Something Beautiful". You don't have to be to religious or even have any particular belief in God to appreciate these songs. Sinead has poured her heart out once again, and created something she should be proud of. In her own words, "Theology is an attempt to create a place of peace in a time of war. It is my own personal response to what has taken place and is affecting everyone around the world since and including September 11, 2001. I simply wanted to make a beautiful thing which inspires me.”

Through 8 original songs, 2 covers (Curtis Mayfield's We People Who Are Darker Than Blue and I Don't Know How To Love Him from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice) and a rendering of the traditional Rivers Of Babylon, Sinead explores various themes pertaining to her beliefs and her connection to God. For me, the stand out track is "If You Had A Vineyard", a poignant commentary on the sadness and UNgodliness of Israel's brutal oppression of the people of Palestine.

"They have turned their backs to You for worship of gold and stone" she sings on "Out Of The Depths". Indeed they have. Shine on Sinead. God knows you're right, and He knows you're beautiful. So is your work.

If You Had A Vineyard
---------------------------------
If U had a vineyard On a fruitful hill
And U fenced it and cleared it
Of all stones until
U planted it With the choicest of vine
And U even built a tower And a press to make wine
And U looked that it would bring forth sweet grapes
And it gave only wild grapes
What would U say?

Jerusalem and Judah U be the judges I pray
Between me and my vineyard This is what God says

What more could I have done in it That I did not do in it?
Why when I ask it for sweetness It brings only bitterness

For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts Is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His pleasant plant

And he looks for justice but beholds oppression
And he hopes for equality but hears a cry
Jerusalem and Judah This is God's reply

Sadness will come to those who build house to house
And lay field to field 'til there's room
For none but U to dwell in the land Oh in the land
And sadness will come to those who call evil good And good evil
Who present darkness as light and light as darkness
Who present as sweetness only the things which are bitterness

For the vineyard of The Lord of Hosts
Is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah
his pleasant plant

Oh that my eyes were a fountain of tears
That I might weep for my poor people

For every boot stamped with fierceness
For every cloak rolled in blood
Jerusalem and Judah
I'd cry if I could

Who Says War With Iran Is Necessary?

2007-06-29T01:18:00.000-04:00

Americans are being primed for believing that a war with Iran is not only justified but necessary. Don't be a victim of propaganda. Look more closely at what Iranian President Ahmadinejad said in his now famous quote about wanting to wipe Israel off the map. There's more to the story, as usual.

"Iranian President Ahmadinejad did not threaten to "wipe Israel off the map."

"There is no new policy," Ahmadinejad said. "They created a lot of hue and cry over that." Ahmadinejad added, "It is clear what we say: Let the Palestinians participate in free elections and they will say what they want."

Experts confirm that Iran's president did not call for Israel to be 'wiped off the map' and the reports that he did so serve to strengthen western hawks.

What has been confirmed by human rights groups has also been observed directly by journalists: Israel Does Target Civilians and Always Has.

Fabricated Bellicose Statements

See another video on the "wipe Israel off the map" propaganda. President Ahmadinejad was talking about the occupying regime which is a form of government. On Feb 20, 2006 Iran's foreign minister said, "He is talking about the regime." President Ahmadinejad also said in his speech that the issue with Palestine would be over "the day that all refugees return to their homes [and] a democratic government elected by the people comes to power."

In his letter to Bush (see Text of Iranian President's Letter to President Bush), he asks, "are we to understand that allowing the original inhabitants of these lands - inside and outside Palestine - whether they are Christian, Muslim or Jew, to determine their fate, runs contrary to principles of democracy, human rights and the teachings of prophets?"

President Ahmadinejad Calls for Democracy, Free and Fair Elections and a Durable Peace.

Mike Wallace Interviewed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on 60 Minutes. At the request of the Iranian President Ahmadinejad, the FULL UNEDITED version was shown on C-SPAN. "The cable public affairs net will air the 60 Minutes edited version, followed by the full 90-minute interview, to give viewers a window on what is left on the cutting room floor." - John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/11/2006. We can see what they cut out, a call for democracy.

Read through these links for an alternative to the mainstream media's warmongering:
http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20060623.htm
http://representativepress.blogspot.com/2006/04/off-table-bombing-iran-is-not-only.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3983-2005Mar26.html

Read Richard Perle and Co.'s "Clean Break Strategy", a paper that documents a plan to dominate the Middle East by attacking Syria and Iran. http://www.iasps.org/strat1.htm

The Build Up To Iran Timeline

Stop Financing Israel's Aggression

2007-06-28T05:18:00.001-04:00

"Military necessity" doesn't justify the genocide that Israeli and American Zionists are committing against the people of the Middle East- Palestinians, Lebanese and Iraqis in particular.

Our tax dollars support the aggressive and oppressive policies of Zionists.

Americans need to get involved, inform themselves, and speak up. It's our civic responsibility. There's too much media propaganda working against us. There are too many filters stopping the real news from reaching us. Contact the media and explain to them that you want accurate reporting, especially when it comes to your tax dollars and what they're being used for.

Familiarize yourself and utilize FAIR's Media Activist Kit. "Inside this kit you will find "how-to" guides for identifying, documenting and challenging inaccurate or unfair news coverage, along with information about how to promote independent media."

Stay The Course! Stay The Course! Stay The Course! Errrr....‘We’ve Never Been Stay The Course’

2007-06-23T21:16:00.001-04:00

Here's a fun commercial for Democrats from Oct 2006. It's a neat compilation of some of the bullshit rhetoric spouting from the mouths of the bloodthirsty Bush Administration. It shows how Bush is a Master Flip-Flopper himself. I can understand changing your mind about something, no big deal there. But to lie through your teeth while you refute your past actions, that's just gross. It's amazing that he thinks he can can alter reality just by saying so.

Anyway, I guess the joke's on us: As it turns out, "the Democrats" haven't provided much of a change in anything. What a bunch of suckers we all are!

21 Gun Salute

2007-06-23T02:50:00.000-04:00

Here are 21 faces. Meet some of the U.S. service members from Florida who have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. They're just a few out of the 167 total Florida service members who have died in the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan so far. You can find more human statistics at Washington Post.com

______________

Lance Cpl. Juan E. Segura

Age: 26
Hometown: Homestead, FL
Date of Death: 11/9/2004
Incident Location: Anbar province, Iraq
Branch of Military: Marines
Rank: Lance Cpl.
Unit: 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
Unit's Base: Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Killed by enemy action in Anbar province.

Juan Segura was a regular at the local boxing gym from the time he was a small boy. When he became old enough, he volunteered as a sparring partner and competed in amateur regional tournaments. Segura's father, Jesus Torres, said he was determined to be a professional boxer, like his father and grandfather in Mexico. Torres said his son had one request for his expected homecoming in December: "He wanted me to go buy him boxing boots, a robe and gloves. He told me he was ready to become a pro like his dad." Segura, 26, of Homestead, Fla., died Nov. 9 in fighting with insurgents in Anbar province. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Segura was finishing up his second tour of duty in Iraq. He stunned his family during a visit home on Mother's Day when he said he had volunteered to return to combat. "The whole time I kept telling him, be safe and come home," his father said. "He would tell me, `Yeah, yeah, Dad, I am going to be fine.'"
______________

Pfc. Kenny D. Rojas

Age: 21
Hometown: Pembroke Pines, FL
Date of Death: 10/29/2005
Incident Location: Beiji, Iraq
Branch of Military: Army
Rank: Pfc.
Unit: 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division
Unit's Base: Fort Stewart, Ga.
Incident: Killed when his unit was conducting a combat patrol and a landmine exploded near his Humvee near Bayji.
______________

Sgt. Pamela G. Osbourne

Age: 38
Hometown: Hollywood, FL
Date of Death: 10/11/2004
Incident Location: Baghdad
Branch of Military: Army
Rank: Sgt.
Unit: Division Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division
Unit's Base: Fort Hood, Texas
Incident: Killed when two rockets struck their camp in Baghdad.
Pamela G. Osbourne called home from Baghdad every morning, between 5 and 6. When the phone didn't ring Oct. 10, Rohan Osbourne called out for his wife in his sleep. Two of their three children woke him to ask him what was wrong. "Why are you calling mom's name?" they asked him. He said it was probably because he was not awakened by her usual phone call. Osbourne, 38, of Hollywood, Fla., died Oct. 11 when rockets hit her Baghdad camp. She joined the Army in 2001 and was based at Fort Hood. A native of Jamaica, Osbourne came to the United States when she was 14. She lived in Miami, then in Hollywood, where she worked as a certified nurse's assistant at a nursing home. She had two dreams: to become a U.S. citizen and to serve in the military. She accomplished both. Her husband said a medical condition could have kept her out of harm's way, but Osbourne refused to avoid Iraq. "Hold your head up, baby," she said during their last conversation. "I'm coming home. Even if I come home in a box, you should know that I did it for you. Take care of the kids. Stay strong. And remember that I love you."
______________

Sgt. Phillip D. McNeil

Age: 22
Hometown: Sunrise, FL
Date of Death: 1/20/2007
Incident Location: Karmah, Iraq
Branch of Military: Army
Rank: Sgt.
Unit: 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne), 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Inf
Unit's Base: Fort Richardson, AK
Incident: Killed when a makeshift bomb exploded near his Humvee in Karmah.
______________

Lance Cpl. Rene Martinez

Age: 20
Hometown: Miami, FL
Date of Death: 9/24/2006
Incident Location: Anbar province, Iraq
Branch of Military: Marines
Rank: Lance Cpl.
Unit: 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expediti
Unit's Base: Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Incident: Killed while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Anbar Province.
Cpl. Rene Martinez, 20, of Miami was killed Sunday, the military said. Martinez was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force and was deployed to Iraq about three months ago. Martinez graduated from Miami Sunset Senior High School and had wanted to be a Marine since he was young. He had hoped to study accounting after completing his service, his sister Maria Martinez told The Miami Herald.
______________

Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Mancini

Age: 43
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Date of Death: 1/29/2004
Branch of Military: Army
Rank: Sgt. 1st Class
Unit: 486th Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve
Incident: A weapons cache near the troops exploded outside Ghazni, Afghanistan.
______________

Spc. Alexander Jordan

Age: 31
Hometown: Miami, FL
Date of Death: 9/10/2006
Incident Location: Baghdad
Branch of Military: Army
Rank: Spc.
Unit: 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team
Unit's Base: Fort Richardson, Alaska
Incident: Killed when he encountered enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations in Baghdad.
______________

Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby

Age: 21 years old
Hometown: Pompano Beach, Florida, U.S.
Died: June 28, 2005 in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Unit: Army, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Air Field, Ga.
Incident: Killed on a rescue mission when the MH-47 helicopter he was aboard crashed in the vicinity of Asadabad.
______________

Cpl. Armando Ariel Gonzalez

Age: 25
Hometown: Hialeah, FL
Date of Death: 4/14/2003
Incident Location: Central Iraq
Branch of Military: Marines
Rank: Cpl.
Unit: Marine Wing Support Squadron-273, MWS Group-27, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Unit's Base: Beaufort, S.C.
Incident: Killed in a non-hostile accident when a commercial refueler collapsed at Logistics Supply Area Viper.
Marine Cpl. Armando Ariel Gonzalez never forgot his family. He came to the United States from Cuba in 1995 and learned English at Miami-Dade Community College in Florida, said his father, Julio Orlando Gonzalez. "I'm very proud of him. He was serious, affectionate and responsible," he said. "He always hung out with his brother and me. Even after he married he always came around. He looked after me, his brother and his wife." Gonzalez, 25, of Hialeah, Fla., was killed April 14 when a commercial refueling truck collapsed as he worked beneath it. He was married seven months before his death.
______________

Pfc. Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez

Age: 21 years old
Hometown: Miami, Florida, U.S.
Died: December 4, 2006 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
Incident: Killed by small arms fire while conducting security and observation operations in Ramadi.
______________

Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott R. McHugh

Age: 33
Hometown: Boca Raton, FL
Date of Death: 5/2/2004
Incident Location: Anbar province, Iraq
Branch of Military: Navy
Rank: Petty Officer 2nd Class
Unit: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14
Unit's Base: Jacksonville, Fla.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott McHugh loved fishing, camping and canoeing, and was devoted to his family and friends. "He was always fun, just a great guy to be around," said Jonathan Mogor, who became friends with McHugh when they were teens and joined the Navy with him. "You always had a great time when you were with him." McHugh, 33, of Boca Raton , Fla., was killed by hostile fire May 2 in Iraq's Anbar province. A Navy Seabee, he was based in Jacksonville, Fla. After graduating from high school in 1989, McHugh attended Palm Beach Community College for a year before joining the Navy. After a few years, he joined the Navy Reserves, returned home and became an emergency medical technician. He was still trying to figure out his future when he was called into active duty in March. "It's such a shame," said his mother, Joyce McHugh. "He was a super, super honest guy. He was a straight arrow."
______________

Spec. Manuel Lopez III

Age: 20 years old
Hometown: Cape Coral, Florida, U.S.
Died: April 12, 2005 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Army, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.
Incident: Killed when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his Humvee in Baghdad.

______________

Staff Sgt. Jude R. Jonaus

Age: 27
Hometown: Miami, FL
Date of Death: 9/6/2005
Incident Location: Baghdad
Branch of Military: Army
Rank: Staff Sgt.
Unit: Brigade Troops Battalion, Division Support Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division
Unit's Base: Fort Stewart, GA

When Jude R. Jonaus was sent to Baghdad as a pharmacy technician, he assured his family that his job placed him far from the line of fire. "When he left, one of my cousins said 'Be careful,' and he answered, 'Man, I'm nowhere near danger. What am I going to do? Slip on a pill?'" said his younger brother, Ricky. Jonaus, 27, of Miami, was killed Sept. 6 when his vehicle rolled over after hitting a bomb. He graduated high school in 1996 and was assigned to Fort Stewart. Jonaus dreamed of being a career soldier. "Ever since he was a little boy, he would say, 'When I grow up, I want to be the chief,'" said his father, Gernessoit Jonaus. He was a strong athlete. In April, he placed sixth in a bench-press contest at Camp Taji, when, weighing 176 pounds, he lifted 260 pounds. He also played soccer. He was generous. When his father, a Miami taxi operator, wrecked his cab, he gave him $3,000 for a down payment on a new vehicle. He helped Ricky with his college tuition and would send his siblings plane tickets to visit him. He also is survived by his mother, Amenia.
______________

Cpl. Romulo J. Jimenez II

Age: 21 years old
Hometown: Miami, Florida, U.S.
Died: November 10, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Incident: Killed during the U.S. assault on Fallujah.

______________

Staff Sgt. Ramon E. Gonzales Cordova

Age: 30
Hometown: Davie, FL
Date of Death: 8/8/2005
Incident Location: Ramadi, Iraq
Branch of Military: Marines
Rank: Staff Sgt.
Unit: 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
Unit's Base: Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Killed by small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in Ar Ramadi.

Ramon E. Gonzales Cordova served in the Marine Corps for 11 years and traveled the world. Family friend Michael Millstone remembers Gonzales proudly showing off his scrapbook. "He'd joke, saying, `Don't I look great in a uniform?'" Millstone said. Gonzales, 30, of Davie, Fla., was killed Aug. 8 by a sniper in Ramadi. He was based at Camp Pendleton. His sister, Blanca Gonzales, said she often reads the poem that helped her cope with her brother's death, especially the last lines: "And never, never be afraid to die / For I am waiting for you in the sky." Gonzales joined the Marine Corps in 1994 after graduating high school. "Ever since I can remember, he always wanted to be a soldier," said his sister. "I remember him playing with little soldier toys." He is survived by his wife, Joselyn, and 3-year-old son Sergio. He was finishing his second tour and his wife said he would always ask her for candy to give to Iraqi children. Gonzales spoke to his mother, sister and wife the day he died, just two months before his 31st birthday.
______________

Pfc. Christopher R. Cobb

Age: 19 years old
Hometown: Brandenton, Florida, U.S.
Died: April 6, 2004 in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Unit: Marines, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Incident: Killed by enemy fire in Anbar province.

______________

Sgt. Adam L. Cann

Age: 23
Hometown: Davie, FL
Date of Death: 1/5/2006
Incident Location: Ramadi, Iraq
Branch of Military: Marines
Rank: Sgt.
Unit: Security Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp
Unit's Base: Camp Pendelton, CA

Incident: Killed by a suicide bomb attack on an Iraqi police recruitment center in Ar Ramadi.
______________

Pfc. Roland E. Calderonascenio

Age: 21
Hometown: Miami, FL
Date of Death: 4/12/2006
Incident Location: Misiab, Iraq
Branch of Military: Army
Rank: Pfc.
Unit: 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry
Unit's Base: Fort Hood, Texas
Incident: Died of injuries sustained when a makeshift bomb exploded near his Humvee during combat operations in Misiab.
______________

Cpl. Theodore A. Bowling

Age: 25
Hometown: Casselberry, FL
Date of Death: 11/11/2004
Incident Location: Anbar province, Iraq
Branch of Military: Marines
Rank: Cpl.
Unit: 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
Unit's Base: Camp Pendleton, CA
Incident: Killed during the U.S. assault on Fallujah.

Theodore Andrew Bowling couldn't wait to get home from Iraq to marry his girlfriend, Patricia Kirby, and start a career as a police officer. Bowling, who went by the name Andrew, spent hours on the phone with his fiancee planning the wedding. The two had been friends before he was first sent to Iraq, but when he returned home after his first tour, the two fell in love. "We just looked at each other different," Kirby said. "It just worked out." Bowling, 25, of Casselberry, Fla., died Nov. 11 in a hostile attack in Anbar province. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and is also survived by his mother, Lena Perry. Bowling was just a few weeks from his return, and told his girlfriend she should get a plane ticket to meet him in California. His last words to Kirby were full of optimism. "He said, 'Don't worry, it'll be OK. I'll see you in a couple of weeks,'" she said. "That was it. He only had a minute to talk."
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Lance Cpl. Andrew Julian Aviles

Age: 18
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Date of Death: 4/7/2003
Incident Location: Central Iraq
Branch of Military: Marines
Rank: Lance Cpl.
Unit: 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division
Unit's Base: Tampa, Fla.

Incident: An enemy artillery round struck him just as the amphibious assault vehicle in which he was riding crossed a bridge over the Tigris River.

Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Aviles had put off a full academic scholarship to Florida State University because he felt he had a moral obligation to serve, his family said. He had planned to study business. Aviles, 18, of Tampa, Fla., was killed April 7 when an enemy artillery round struck his vehicle. Aviles graduated in 2002 from T.R. Robinson High School, where as a senior he was class president, cheerleader and a member of the wrestling team. A National Honor Society member, he graduated third in his class. "This man had a phenomenal presence in the school. He was Mr. Everything," said Chuck Jaksec, who leads the school district's crisis intervention team.
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Captain Derek Argel

Age: 28
Hometown: Lompoc, CA
Date of Death: 5/30/2005
Incident Location: Eastern Diyala province, Iraq
Branch of Military: Air Force
Rank: Captain
Unit: 23rd Special Tactics Squadron
Unit's Base: Hurlburt Field, FL

When he was in fifth grade, Derek Argel started showing up at high school water polo practices. He eventually grew to 6-foot-6, became the school's most valuable player and went on to play at the Air Force Academy. "He worked exceptionally hard. He never took anything for granted," athletic director Bob Lawrence said. Argel, 28, of Lompoc, Calif., was killed May 30 in a crash of his surveillance plane about 80 miles northeast of Baghdad. He was based at Hurlburt Field. Argel loved the water _ in addition to playing water polo, he worked as a lifeguard, fished and surfed. He kept fishing poles and surf boards in the garage with hopes of passing his hobbies on to his 11-month son, Logan. "He was very adventurous and outdoorsy," said his aunt, Carolyn Gentry, recalling how he used to trek through the woods with her son. "They loved to be out in nature and camp, and go out looking for critters and snakes." Though he was happiest spending time at the beach and playing with the family's two dogs, he felt God intended him to be in the military. "He was just a soldier by every means of the imagination" said his wife, Wendy.
Captain Derek Argel Memorial Page
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Where's YOUR Tax Haven, Sucker?

2007-06-18T20:52:00.000-04:00

"But it's MY money!" "It's Government Theft!" That's what people who don't like the concept of paying taxes usually say when the subject comes up. The issue is also usually divided between left and right, or at least is used to be. These days, it seems like no one wants to pay taxes, and no candidate for any office will even begin to suggest that he'll raise taxes. Now it's all about "tax cuts". The United States borrows money from China, Japan & the United Kingdom to pay for our debt while at the same time gives tax cuts to wealthy Americans. I guess it's cool that we don't hate Communists anymore, but does that seem right? Borrowing money to float our debt, while giving tax cuts? If you make over $1 Million per year, then it may not sound so bad.

Other than borrowing money from other countries, you could finance a tax cut by reducing government spending, but this administration has been super-spendy. We've spent over $435 billion in Iraq so far. You could also increase the number of exports and reduce imports, but we're not doing that either.

Corporate America is doing its part to get out of paying its taxes. The U.S. Congress has enabled them to do it. According to Lucy Komisar of the Tax Justice Network-USA (taxjustice-usa.org) "During the 1950s, U.S. corporations accounted for 28 percent of federal revenues. Now, corporations represent just 11 percent... The tax haven racket is the biggest scam in the world. Tax havens, also known as offshore financial centers, are places that operate secret bank accounts and shell companies that hide the names of real owners from tax authorities and law enforcement. They're run by the international banks with the cooperation of the world's financial powers for the benefit of corporations and the mega-rich... Offshore is where most of the world's drug money is laundered, estimated at up to $500 billion a year... The other major purpose of offshore is for tax evasion, estimated to reach another $500 billion a year. That's how corporations and the rich have opted out of the tax system."

"In 1996-2000, Goodyear's profits were $442 million, but it paid no taxes and got a $23-million rebate. Colgate-Palmolive made $1.6 billion and got back $21 million. Other companies that got rebates in 1998 included Texaco, Chevron, PepsiCo, Pfizer, J.P. Morgan, MCI Worldcom, General Motors, Phillips Petroleum and Northrop Grumman. Microsoft reported $12.3 billion U.S income in 1999 and paid zero federal taxes. (In two recent years, Microsoft paid only 1.8 percent on $21.9 billion pretax U.S. profits.) "

We've spent $435 billion on the war, and every year we lose $500 billion in tax evasion. Corporate America makes billions and pays nothing. We borrow money from China to pay for tax cuts for wealthy citizens, and the strength of our economy is measured by the amount of cheap goods we buy from China and Wal-Mart.

And there you have it. It's understandable if you're angry about paying taxes, no one likes to. It's also frustrating to know that you're not rich enough to get out of it. In some countries, they get complete medical care with the taxes they pay. Our taxes would go much further if these companies paid their share. Speak up! Tell your congressional representatives that you find this unacceptable and ask for laws that hold corporations responsible for paying their taxes.

Another Brick In Another Wall

2007-06-13T20:36:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite Pink Floyd albums is The Wall. I saw Roger Waters in concert recently and he put on a fantastic show. He opened with "In The Flesh", the first song on The Wall and it brought the house down, it was perfect. During the encore, he did "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" ("We don't need no education," etc) and the crowd went crazy, stood up, and sang along. Why is a story of isolation, anger, and the barriers we build around ourselves still so popoular? The Wall by Pink Floyd is the 3rd best selling record of all time (tied with Led Zeppelin's fourth album @ 23 million copies sold). On the big video screens behind the stage, we saw images of the wall that Israel is building through Palestine, with its fresh graffiti and kids climbing on it. I reflected on how crappy it is that the world is still not lacking for new "wall" footage, and began to wonder why it is that walls still seem like such a good idea to so many people.

With a large fence that can't be scaled, isn't it a fine line between "secure" and "trapped"? I see the obvious: they're big, they keep things out. But I'm presupposing a standard at which we are elevated beyond such simple means. Shouldn't we be beyond walls by now? After thousands of years of human evolution, I feel like we should be. But we still use our guns and our bombs and our fists, and sticks & stones. When we feel really civilized, we use lawyers. We tend to make it a confrontation. We're building empires, and they need to be fortified. Unfortunately, wall-building seems to be a pretty big business these days.

U.S.-Mexico Border Wall: "Our Wall" National Geographic Magazine, May 2007 Feature

Newsweek article from OCT 2006, (when the Senate had just passed the Secure Fence Act, authorizing 700 new miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border) points out lots of reasons why we don't need to build walls, like children, to solve our problems, and that by doing so, we cause many new, significant problems.

According to this FEB 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article at sfgate.com, "The plan already has roiled diplomatic relations with Mexico [before the bill was passed]. Leaders in American border communities are saying it will damage local economies and the environment. And immigration experts say that -- at a cost of at least $2.2 billion -- the 700-mile wall would be an expensive boondoggle."

_________________________________________

The Apartheid Wall
Israel has built about 170 miles of the barrier separating it from the Palestinian-dominated West Bank. Another 140 miles are planned or under construction, and 155 more are under review. The barrier, a wire fence in some places and concrete wall in others, has additional enhancements such as barbed wire, electricity, sensors, watchtowers and sniper posts. Supporters say it has been routed to foil terrorists and critics say it unfairly incorporates Palestinian land into Israel.

There's a fact sheet at the Palestine Monitor (a voice of the Palestinian people through the Palestinian Non-Governmental Network - PNGO).

_________________________________________

Walls around the world: Can't we just all get along?

Great Wall of China:
One of the greatest construction projects in world history, the Great Wall runs, with branches, about 4,500 miles. Large parts of it date from the seventh through fourth centuries B.C. Built of dirt, stone and brick, the wall ranges from 15 feet to 25 feet wide and 15 feet to 30 feet tall with a 13-foot-wide road on top and watchtowers at regular intervals.

Berlin Wall:
The barrier that separated West Berlin from East Berlin and surrounding areas in the former East Germany from 1961 to 1989 was a series of concrete walls up to 15 feet high topped with barbed wire and enhanced with watchtowers, stationary guns, mines and electrified fencing. By the 1980s, the wall ran 75 miles around West Berlin and 28 miles through Berlin.

Morocco / Western Sahara:
The Moroccan Wall is a 1,600-mile system of sand berms and rock walls built in the 1980s by Morocco to control Western Sahara, where tensions continue between Morocco and Polisario Front separatists despite a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. The wall is an earthen mound about 7 feet high fronted by a 23-foot-wide ditch and studded with bunkers, barbed wire, and anti-personnel and anti-tank mines.

India / Bangladesh:
India has built more than 1,300 miles of a planned 3,034-mile barrier at its border with Bangladesh. The fence will be patrolled by 50,000 officers and key stretches will be electrified. Construction of the $1 billion double fence -- which is 10 to 12 feet high, floodlit and razor-wire filled -- began in 1986 and will be done next year. It may extend near a demilitarized zone separating the two countries, to enclose Indian villages on the border.

How Would A Patriot Act?

2007-06-12T04:51:00.001-04:00

What does America mean to you? Apple pie? Baseball? The Red, White & Blue? McDonald's? Blue Jeans? The Land of Opportunity? Freedom? Democracy?

Lots of things come to mind when I think of "America", but when I think of a dictatorship, I think of one major thing: Heavy combat boots kicking in doors, rough hands grabbing collars, and helpless people being hauled away, never to be seen or heard from again.

The greatest tragedy of 9/11 is not the deaths of nearly 3000 people. The real tragedy is that the Bush Administration decided to use that horrific event (and continues to do so to this day, every chance it gets) to undermine the basic foundation of the country. How Would A Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok by constitutional lawyer and writer Glenn Greenwald is a must-read for anyone who is interested in being an American, or who already calls themselves one.

In case you weren't paying attention in high school (I wasn't), America has faced worse than fanatical religious zealots bent on our destruction. In the 18th century, the British Empire was the most fearsome global power around. We beat it. Or, I should say, they beat it, that is, the founding fathers did.

One of the many aspects of our government that sets us apart from the rest of the world is the separation of powers into 3 branches. No one branch should have more authority over another. And if one did have any particular authority, it should be the one that represents the people: Congress.

To posit that a threat of unimaginable proportions would necessitate the need for the President to have unchecked, "broad, sweeping powers" (makes me think of Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars) indicates that someone in the neocon fan club has been reading their George Orwell, or perhaps Nazi history.

Now we find ourselves living in an America that locks up its citizens without trials, without lawyers, and without presenting any evidence against them. You don't need to be a scholar (obviously I'm not one) to see how wrong this is. And illegal. It's more than just wrong and illegal, it's the antithesis of "America". So that it wouldn't have to force the Supreme Court to point out how insane it is, the Bush Administration finally charged Jose Padilla after he was imprisoned for 3 1/2 years.

But that's not all. In addition to hauling Padilla away, our President has also been spying on us without warrants and condoning torture. Also, illegal. I defy any staunchly conservative Republican to claim that Bill Clinton's lying about an extra-marital affair doesn't pale in comparison to Bush's direct violations of the U.S. Constitution and U.S and International Law. And to pass off these illegal acts as the way to combat the latest "threat to our very existence" posed by terrorism is so mind-bogglingly backward it makes me cross-eyed.

The truth is, the founders were faced with unimaginable challenges and threats, and that's exactly why they designed our nation's government the way they did. Greenwald quotes from the founders themselves, many quotes are pulled from The Federalist Papers, to illustrate this point dramatically. They knew this could happen. They were really smart. They were prepared for it. They also knew the power that fear has over the populace, and they were prepared for that too. They knew that the key to overcoming that fear was knowledge.

On many topics, I am just as ignorant, or more so, than any other American high school and college drop out. How Would A Patriot Act? puts many things into perspective. It provides facts, quotes, references, and is well worth the $12.00 price. Can you put a price on the tools that overcome tyranny? $12.00

If you call yourself an American, if you're proud to call yourself an American (or used to be proud), then you owe it to yourself and to your country to read this book. Arm yourself. Speak up. The revolution has already happened.

___________________________________________

Other Reading:

Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush by Gene Healy and Timothy Lynch

If you are interesting in keeping up with Constitutional abuses, you can read how President Clinton started the trend that Bush is expanding:

Dereliction of Duty: The Constitutional Record of President Clinton by Timothy Lynch
Timothy Lynch is assistant director of the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies.

Arrogance of Power Reborn: The Imperial Presidency and Foreign Policy in the Clinton Years
by Gene Healy
Gene Healy is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and an attorney practicing in Washington, D.C.

And for old school Abuse of Power, check out the growth of Presidential power during the Nixon Administration in The Imperial Presidency, by historian Arthur M Schlesinger Jr.

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Some famous quotes to mull over:

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." Benjamin Franklin

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government - lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” Patrick Henry

“The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men." -Samuel Adams

“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” Thomas Jefferson

“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” Henry David Thoreau

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” Edward Abbey

“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.” Voltaire

“I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government.” Woody Allen

Did you hear the one about the...?

2007-06-09T23:17:00.001-04:00

These days, I get suspicious when there's a flurry of big "news" stories pushed on us in the media. We are inundated with Paris and the Pope. Foiled terrorist plots turn out to have been blown way out of proportion but were shoved in our faces like rags soaked with chloroform. There is a pattern in the push news versus the pull news, and the timing is always a little conspicuous to me. My reflex reaction nowadays is "Uh oh, what am I missing?"

Here are a few links to check in on Iraq. They morbidly sum up our progress there.

Iraqi Lawmakers Pass Resolution That May Force End to Occupation
"The Iraqi parliament has passed a resolution to stop the renewal of the UN mandate that defines the American occupation of Iraq. If it's not renewed in Dec 2007 then the occupation will legally be defined as armed. ...It is possible, even probable, that the Maliki regime will veto the resolution passed today. The White House's separatist allies in Baghdad have consistently found ways to bypass the assembly...."

++

Bush Says We’ll Be in Iraq for 50 Years, But Reporters Don't Bother to Ask Iraqis to Comment
"...we called Iraqi lawmakers from different parties representing the country's different ethnic and sectarian groups, and found that, without exception, just hearing that there were official whispers in Washington about plans for a decades-long U.S. troop presence in their country shocked and awed them, and not in a good way."

++

Iraq Refugee Crisis Worsens: 4.2 Million And Rising
"Across Iraq, millions of people are looking for safer places to live, and not finding them. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported last week that 4.2 million Iraqis have been forced out of their homes.

There are also ominous signs that the four-month-old US security plan for Baghdad is failing to reduce the level of violence despite an extra 17,000 US troops in the capital."

++

Military deaths in Iraq: U.S. = 3,503
"As of Saturday, June 9, 2007, at least 3,503 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,864 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is 12 higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Friday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 150 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 20; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Romania, South Korea, one death each.

The latest deaths reported by the military: A soldier was killed Saturday by small arms fire in Diyala province.

The latest identifications reported by the military:

• Senior Airman William N. Newman, 23, Kingston Springs, Tenn., died Thursday from an explosive south of Balad; assigned to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team of the 15th Civil Engineer Squadron, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

• Army Sgt. 1st Class Greg L. Sutton, 38, Spring Lake, N.C., died Wednesday from an explosive in Baghdad; assigned to the 212th Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan."
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Iraq Blogs - A first-hand view of Iraq from the online weblogs of soldiers and civilians who are there now.
* Raed In The Middle
Raed Jarrar is Iraq Consultant to the American Friends Service Committee.
* Healing Iraq
Daily news and comments on the situation in post Saddam Iraq by an Iraqi dentist
* HNK's Blog
Weblog of the teen-aged daughter of a doctor and an engineer in Mosul, Iraq
* Baghdad Burning
Girl Blog from Iraq... let's talk war, politics and occupation.
* A Family in Baghdad
mother: Faiza, sons: Raed, Khalid , and Majid writing down their diaries. Father: Azzam is not interested.
* Secrets in Baghdad
Khalid Jarrar blogs from Baghdad about life in Iraq and his recent detention
* Bob Zangas' Journey In Iraq
Weblog of an optimistic Marine working as a civilian in Iraq until he was killed by insurgents disguised as policemen.

_______________________________________________________

* Iraq.net
* Yahoo's Iraq page

* Some headlines at-a-glance:
-US eyes long-term military presence in Iraq: report (AFP)
-Truck bomb in Iraq kills seven policemen
-Suicide bomber kills 14 Iraqi soldiers (AP)
-Iraq to Turkey: stop shelling north Iraq (AP)
-Iraq group claims journalist assassination: Web
-Officer advises dropping Haditha charges (AP)
-Iran: New doubts on talks with U.S. (AP)
-New White House plan: Keep US troops in Iraq permanently

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Old News: It's what's new again

2007-06-08T14:57:00.000-04:00

Middle row, 3rd from left, in fabulous rust, teal and white polyester.

I was born in March, 1968. As a young child in the 70's, until 1974 when full-time school began, I would sit at the kitchen table to eat lunch. The radio that was attached to the underside of the cabinet where the dishes were kept would be on for most of the day, playing either oldies, or pop, or later, when the house was full of teenagers, rock. As I ate my peanut butter & jelly sandwich on white bread with plain Utz potato chips and drank white whole milk, I would hear certain words and phrases again and again and again, until they burned themselves into my memories forever.

Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam. Watergate Watergate Watergate. Middle East Middle East Middle East. Nixon Patty Hearst Nixon Patty Hearst Nixon Patty Hearst. OPEC OPEC OPEC.

As a child of 4, 5 or 6 years old, of course none of this news meant anything to me, but I knew it was news. I attached a sense of importance to it, likely due to the sheer repetition, and probably also because of some of the comments my mom or dad might make- snorts, retorts, chortles, exasperated sighs and sarcastic shouts of agreement, and also maybe because everything on AM radio sounds like important news. I felt an innate sense of trust in the voices I heard; it never would have occurred to me that what I was hearing might be slanted, skewed, distorted to the left or right, incorrect or even a bold-faced lie. It definitely never occurred to me that what I was hearing might have been intended to draw my attention away from something else that was more important.

I think of the kids today and what they hear in the news while they eat their lunches and their ears are hungry for whatever they might pick up.

Iraq Iraq Iraq. US Attorneys US Attorneys US Attorneys. Middle East Middle East Middle East. Bush Paris Hilton Bush Paris Hilton Bush Paris Hilton. Gas prices Gas prices Gas prices.

Can it really be 30 or so years later? How is it possible that the news, even slanted or biased or HDTV or Podcast, can possibly be so identical to what it was back then? And in the 2040's, when I'm in my 70's (if I should tempt fate for that long), could it possibly be much different? Will the trend continue? Richer rich, poorer poor, better houses, more homeless, more fat people, more starving people, more drugs, more diseases, more freedom fighters, more insurgents, more civil wars, more international wars, more control, less stability...

Will the cancer of Globalization finally kill the body? Or is more like a parasite that incapacitates the host just enough to feed hungrily while keeping it alive, chugging on until a new solution to escalate its appetite is found? My guess is yes, all of the above. And 2040 doesn't seem that far away at all.

The Incredible Edible Anus & The Choice for Surgeon General

2007-06-06T15:50:00.000-04:00

"First, do no harm." Second, eat as much Belgian chocolate anus as you can. Third, enjoy safe and responsible anal sex.

President Bush nominated James Holsinger as the nation's new Surgeon General last week. America's new potential National Doctor doesn't believe in equality for gays because their parts don't fit together "complementarily" during sex. He backs this up with the fact that we have adopted the terms "male" & "female" to refer to the ends of some mechanical parts, e.g., the male end of a plug. I don't know what Holsinger's doing wrong, but the male end of the penis fits into the female end of the ass just fine often enough. What are they teaching those kids at the Asbury Theological Seminary?

The good doctor also believes that homos can be "cured". I'm tired of that old BS. Knowing firsthand what some gays will do to hide their true identity, it's no surprise that this concept is popular amongst homophobes. But you can bet that inside the mind of every "cured" gay man is the desire to be held by strong, hairy arms.

Then there's the belief that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and not an issue of orientation. Nuture vs nature. Chosen, not biological. It's beyond me how a presumedly reasonable person, like a doctor or a scientist, can believe that a young person, say in their pre-teens, can choose a lifestyle that they know nothing about, that they've never even heard of. According to the Pew Research Center, 4 in 10 Americans have close friends or relatives who are gay. Did Holsinger and his friends at the Theological Seminary consult any of them about this?

Holsinger's nomination will go before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Clinton, Obama, Dodd, all Presidential candidates, sit on that committee. I trust they'll do the right thing, but I'm going to make my voice heard anyway. I encourage you to as well.

Duuuude, where does GW come up with these people??? I find it so jaw-droppingly stunning that every single appointee for...ANYTHING...is so utterly the opposite of what a reasonable person would choose. Rumsfeld, Miers, Gonzales, Bolton, Keroak spring to mind, but really all of them just suck completely. Where are our scientists? Where are our Constitutional lawyers? Where are the reasonable, intelligent people that don't have a payback agenda or "beholden to" complex? It's astounding, it's astonishing, it's...it's...aaarrrgghhhh...

I swear that man really wants to run this country into the ground. I mean he just does, it's as plain as day. It's as if he made a plan: "How to Ruin America in 8 Years or Less".
Step 1: Rig Elections.
Step 2: Gain Support with False Flag Operations.
Step 3: Instill Fear in the Populace.
Step 4: Make Ongoing, Endless Wars.
Step 5: Invalidate/Ignore the U.S. Constitution.
Step 6: Fill Chairs with Idiots/Loyalists.
Step 7: Destroy the Economy.
Step 8: Reap the Harvest.

So it's all part of the plan. Of course, he's not truly stupid, just devoid of morals, and, oh yeah, a soul. Look into his eyes, what do you see? No soul. Watch his defensive posturing when backed into a corner by the simplest of questions. Listen to him stutter. Any Body Language experts out there? What do you see?

REPORTER: "Mr. President, what makes you an authority on terrorism?"
PRESIDENT: "THEY WANT TO KILL YOUR CHILDREN MAN!"

Everything he does is damaging, unhelpful, or just plain stupid. Yes, I'm sure there's a Master Plan that we don't see. There must be an explanation. Who knows how much money was transferred into what account, or who was there on a certain day when certain damaging behavior was witnessed. Okay, so someone has pics of someone waking up next to a beautiful but groggy-eyed prostitute (with big boobs and a penis). Yes, yes, it's all very exciting I'm sure. But DAY-UM! Is there a limit? Is there a point where people stand up and say "Wait a minute, is this guy for real?" Would somebody please rip up a picture of him on Saturday Night Live? Is there any blood left in the veins of Lady Liberty? Where's my country? Wake the hell up America. Everything the rest of the world says about us is true.

Palestine & Israel: An Ugly Anniversary

2007-06-05T21:27:00.000-04:00

Today is the 40th anniversary of the beginning of Israel's Six-Day War, which began the enduring occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. To commemorate, I've begun reading Jimmy Carter's book: Palestine Peace Not Apartheid.

This weekend, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and United for Peace and Justice are sponsoring a two-day event in Washington, DC to protest the occupation with a rally, a teach-in, a march and some lobbying.

If you can't make the day's festivities, you can contact your representatives in congress and tell them how you feel about the occupation, or how you feel about Israel's aggressive policies and the oppression of the Palestinian people, or anything else you feel is important to you. Even if your elected representatives share your views, you can still write them to voice your opinions. You can review their votes on past issues with this handy tool.

The online version of the Israeli paper, Haaretz, has a section devoted to the occupation. It's encouraging to read that there are many Israelis who don't agree with Zionism, and who strive for peace.

To clarify: I'm not antisemitic, or anti-Judaism. I don't believe in the bible as the word of god. I don't believe that Jews, or anyone, have any divine claim to land.

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After yesterday's bleh blog about the democratic debate, I considered doing one devoted to the republicans today. But yesterday's words were so uninspired and practically unreadable, I couldn't imagine coming up with anything interesting about the rag tag group of scary old republican fogies running for President. They Bush-bashed, yay; they gay-bashed, boo. Yawn.
I didn't see any leaders on the stage, just finger-pointers, side-steppers and demographic-panderers.

A few of them said they wanted to pardon Dick Cheney's former aide Lewis I. "Scooter" Libby, who was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for lying and obstructing a CIA leak investigation. That's the big news now: Will he get a Pardon? No surprise there.

Democratics: They Go Down Easy

2007-06-04T18:46:00.000-04:00

It's getting harder and harder to come away from these things with a feeling of optimism. If you didn't see any of it, CNN has it of course. Or you can go to You Tube (there are no commercials, and it's broken up into smaller parts.) It's nice to hear the responses to the 'gays in the military' question. That the question was even raised shows at least some progress on that front.

DENNIS KUCINICH made the most sense in this debate and he still has my vote in the primary. He's real. When he speaks, you don't get the impression that he's reciting whatever his Spin Doctor wrote. I'm doubtful that America is ready for him. Anyway, he hasn't raised nearly enough money to win, which illustrates a big flaw in our system.

HILLARY CLINTON... I love to hear her talk, but each time I do she sounds a little more spin-ish than the last time. She's getting really good at speaking about why she voted for the authorization to use military force. Each time she goes over it, it does sound better and better. You have to give her that. Maybe by NOV '08 she'll have us believing that she absolutely did the right thing. At this point it's still iffy. Was she a victim of the Right's balls-to-the-wall propaganda campaign, i.e., "If you're soft on terror, you're a terrorist"? They had pretty much everyone drinking the Kool-Aid at that time. Or maybe she really just wanted to set up GW for failure. Either way, I'm more concerned about all the money that AIPAC contributed to her campaign. Corruption and Lobbyist influences are my 2 of my pet peeve issues these days.

But if we can't have an honest President who does the right thing, and we can't have a woman, then we should definitely have a good-looking black man. I do feel that it's important to note how sexy BARACK OBAMA is. But is he qualified? Come on. If Chimpy McFlightsuit can do it, who can't? I would prefer any well-spoken person with a pretty face and a spark of life in their eyes over GW.

Were there really 5 others? Wow, good for them.

The New U.S. Embassy in Baghdad: On Your Left, You Will Find...

2007-06-03T21:56:00.001-04:00

I was reading over the weekend, again, about the new U.S. uber-Embassy that's being built in Baghdad. I'm interested in its progress because it's one of the few physical examples of any progress in Iraq. But also, its construction is a plain indication of the plan for Iraq that the Administration has but rarely talks about.

We don't hear much about it, but with a $1.2 billion per year ongoing commitment, you don't need any speeches to dramatize those intentions. When it's done, on schedule for September, it'll be a small city of 4000 employees spread over a 104 acre lot. A $592 million-dollar-price tag for what amounts to a big step in globalization.

A 5/24/07 Washington Post article details some of the downfalls of this type of endeavor, specifically interruptions to incoming supplies. How ironic is it to read about an American in Iraq complaining about his fresh fruit being delayed?

Through 5/29/07 articles at Tom Dispatch, & Think Progress, I got a glimpse of the computer-animated renditions of the various buildings in the complex on the BDY web site. (Berger Devine Yaeger is the American company that was contracted to design the facility.) It seemed like a strange coincidence that tonight I would see new articles about the images being removed at the request of the State Department. At this time, the company's site isn't coming up at all...

An AP article at The International Herald Tribune quoted Ryan Crocker, the US Ambassador to Iraq:

"We have enough challenges out here, both the military and the civilian elements of our government, without having that kind of thing taking place back home," Ryan Crocker said on a Sunday television interview. "We certainly hope that it will not have any lasting impact on our security."

Yeah...we hope not Ryan. Why does he always look like a deer in the headlights? Maybe now the embassy will become mainstream news and the rest of the country will finally get a chance to mull this over. Will people draw the line and demand that our elected representatives reverse this policy of long-term commitment?

*** As an update, here's a July 5, 2007 Washington Post article about some of the dangerously shoddy construction at the embassy. It paints a bleak picture for anyone who's going to be stationed there.