Wednesday, October 29, 2003
How tacky! Someone has decided to fake Riverbend's blog. Anyone who reads her regularly will pick up on the poor use of language and know it's not her, but I wonder how many people have read and actually 'swallowed' this guy's bull...
Bush campaign slogan: "The world is more peaceful and more free under my leadership"
"There's no question politics can - will - create ... a lot of noise and a lot of balloon drops and a lot of hot air. I'll probably be right in the mix of it, by the way."
"There's no question politics can - will - create ... a lot of noise and a lot of balloon drops and a lot of hot air. I'll probably be right in the mix of it, by the way."
A Brave New World
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday took air travel into the era of biometric security.
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday took air travel into the era of biometric security.
Nethercutt has been bemoaning coverage of his statement minimizing losing soldiers in Iraq, insisting that his remarks were taken out of context.
The Tacoma Tribune has the quote, transcribed directly from the video.
"So the story is better than we might be led to believe - I'm - just - indicting the news people - but it's a bigger and better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day which, which, heaven forbid, is awful."
The Tacoma Tribune has the quote, transcribed directly from the video.
"So the story is better than we might be led to believe - I'm - just - indicting the news people - but it's a bigger and better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day which, which, heaven forbid, is awful."
Joel has thoughts, pictures, and links about the California fires.
He raises a very valid point: "While Ahnold absented himself on a trip to Washington (this, I think, is a time for an incoming governor to be at the side of the man he is replacing, learning the ways of command), his wife Maria Shriver showed up in San Bernardino with t-shirts for the refugees."
He raises a very valid point: "While Ahnold absented himself on a trip to Washington (this, I think, is a time for an incoming governor to be at the side of the man he is replacing, learning the ways of command), his wife Maria Shriver showed up in San Bernardino with t-shirts for the refugees."
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Bush defining the role of Rice:
"Her job is to coordinate interagency. She's doing a fine job of coordinating interagency. She's doing -- the role of the National Security Advisor is to not only provide good advice to the President, which she does on a regular basis -- I value her judgment and her intelligence -- but her job is also to deal interagency and to help unstick things that may get stuck, is the best way to put it. She's an unsticker. And -- is she listening? Okay, well, she's doing a fine job."
"Her job is to coordinate interagency. She's doing a fine job of coordinating interagency. She's doing -- the role of the National Security Advisor is to not only provide good advice to the President, which she does on a regular basis -- I value her judgment and her intelligence -- but her job is also to deal interagency and to help unstick things that may get stuck, is the best way to put it. She's an unsticker. And -- is she listening? Okay, well, she's doing a fine job."
"This is the most anti- environment administration we've ever had in U.S. history," Kennedy, 49, said to loud cheers. I would have gone, but I couldn't afford a ticket...
As The Stomach Turns
I was watching a local program the other day where George Nethercutt being interviewed, and became rather nauseated. I was struck by how much he sounds like a Rumsfeld parrot, down to using the same hand gestures.
He's vying for a Senate position, trying to oust Patty Murray, and while I don't agree with some of her votes lately, for the most part she's done fairly well.
Nethercutt recently dismissed the troops lives. According to an article in the Olympian, "He called successes in Iraq 'a bigger and better and more important story' than the daily drip-drip-drip of casualty reports, dreadful as those deaths are."
And in the Seattle Times: "the story of what we've done in the postwar period is remarkable...It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day."
After coming under attack for those comments, Nethercutt says his comments were 'mischaracterized'. "It was entirely unfair. The mere thought that I would diminish the lives of our soldiers in unthinkable. It sickened me to be painted with that brush. It was seven words out of maybe 10,000 and it was exceedingly unfair."
I was watching a local program the other day where George Nethercutt being interviewed, and became rather nauseated. I was struck by how much he sounds like a Rumsfeld parrot, down to using the same hand gestures.
He's vying for a Senate position, trying to oust Patty Murray, and while I don't agree with some of her votes lately, for the most part she's done fairly well.
Nethercutt recently dismissed the troops lives. According to an article in the Olympian, "He called successes in Iraq 'a bigger and better and more important story' than the daily drip-drip-drip of casualty reports, dreadful as those deaths are."
And in the Seattle Times: "the story of what we've done in the postwar period is remarkable...It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day."
After coming under attack for those comments, Nethercutt says his comments were 'mischaracterized'. "It was entirely unfair. The mere thought that I would diminish the lives of our soldiers in unthinkable. It sickened me to be painted with that brush. It was seven words out of maybe 10,000 and it was exceedingly unfair."
This is part of a conversation that Stephen Marshall had with some Iraqis just after the bombing of the CIA hotel in Baghdad.
"This is only the beginning of the resistance. Those people at the Baghdad Hotel were warned. All of these people have been warned. I have seen a copy of the letter, signed by the 29 groups who are united in the resistance, listing potential targets for attack. The Baghdad Hotel was on that list along with police stations, American troops and spies who work for the occupation."
I tried to keep a passive, non-judgmental expression while she spoke. Despite the severity of the topic, I could sense a subtle sense of satisfaction in her voice; "The Ba'ath Party will begin its official resistance at the beginning of next month."
"This is only the beginning of the resistance. Those people at the Baghdad Hotel were warned. All of these people have been warned. I have seen a copy of the letter, signed by the 29 groups who are united in the resistance, listing potential targets for attack. The Baghdad Hotel was on that list along with police stations, American troops and spies who work for the occupation."
I tried to keep a passive, non-judgmental expression while she spoke. Despite the severity of the topic, I could sense a subtle sense of satisfaction in her voice; "The Ba'ath Party will begin its official resistance at the beginning of next month."
Regarding the bombing in front of the Red Cross in Baghdad, River notes: "Some say it was an ambulance but others who saw the scene claim that the ambulance had a car right behind it that stopped suddenly for 'car trouble' and then exploded."
Her distinctive voice gave her away. "As I walked into the hospital the first person I ran into was a boy about 19 or 20 years old who'd lost both of his arms...& when I walked into the hosptial & visited all these boys all day long...uh...everyone had lost either one arm...one limb or two limbs or had lost one limb & there were...there were a lot of legs that seemed to be missing & a couple of the boys told me it was because that their vehicles ...that the rockets pierce the vehicles so much its like being kind of in a tin can..." Cher phoned in to the Washington Journal to share her experience in visiting the wounded at Walter Reed hospital. (!0/27 W. Journal, she comes in around 18:32 in the program) You can read a transcript over at the Daily Kos.
Friday, October 24, 2003
This from Move On
For three years, President Bush has worked to build an image for himself that resonates with the American people. He's bullied the media, distorted the facts, and cowed his political opponents. Through it all, we've worked together to expose the gap between Bush's carefully constructed image and his failed policies. That image is now falling apart under the weight of a mismanaged economy, daily losses in Iraq, and the accumulated evidence of the President's distortions.
Thanks in part to MoveOn members' hard work, the tide is turning. This represents an enormous strategic opportunity: Americans are beginning to realize that President Bush misleads. The President will fight this unveiling with tens of millions of advertising dollars, especially in the few "battleground" states that will determine the 2004 election. But we can beat him to the punch. That's why today we're launching our biggest -- and perhaps most important -- campaign yet. We need you to be a part of it.
Over the next months, we're going to raise an unprecedented $10 million for the production and placement of ads that take the truth about the Bush administration directly to the American people in key battleground states.
To kick it off, some MoveOn donors have contributed a matching pool of $300,000. Every dollar that you donate today will be matched one-for-one -- it's great bang for your buck. The sooner this money starts coming in, the sooner we can get those ads running -- if we raise $300,000 today, we can start running the ads in less than two weeks. Please help however you can -- be it $25 or $2500.
You can give right now by credit card on our secure website
For three years, President Bush has worked to build an image for himself that resonates with the American people. He's bullied the media, distorted the facts, and cowed his political opponents. Through it all, we've worked together to expose the gap between Bush's carefully constructed image and his failed policies. That image is now falling apart under the weight of a mismanaged economy, daily losses in Iraq, and the accumulated evidence of the President's distortions.
Thanks in part to MoveOn members' hard work, the tide is turning. This represents an enormous strategic opportunity: Americans are beginning to realize that President Bush misleads. The President will fight this unveiling with tens of millions of advertising dollars, especially in the few "battleground" states that will determine the 2004 election. But we can beat him to the punch. That's why today we're launching our biggest -- and perhaps most important -- campaign yet. We need you to be a part of it.
Over the next months, we're going to raise an unprecedented $10 million for the production and placement of ads that take the truth about the Bush administration directly to the American people in key battleground states.
To kick it off, some MoveOn donors have contributed a matching pool of $300,000. Every dollar that you donate today will be matched one-for-one -- it's great bang for your buck. The sooner this money starts coming in, the sooner we can get those ads running -- if we raise $300,000 today, we can start running the ads in less than two weeks. Please help however you can -- be it $25 or $2500.
You can give right now by credit card on our secure website
Thursday, October 23, 2003
A staggering US$4 billion in oil revenues and other Iraqi funds earmarked for the reconstruction of the country has disappeared into opaque bank accounts administered by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the US-controlled body that rules Iraq. By the end of the year, if nothing changes in the way this cash is accounted for, that figure will double.
Soldiers cannot donate blood because of a disease called leishmaniasis. According to this article, only 22 soldiers have been affected, but I suspect it's actually more...
In an entry on August 6th I speculated about this disease affecting the troops.
In an entry on August 6th I speculated about this disease affecting the troops.
"The U.S.-run body governing Iraq has failed to account for billions of dollars allocated for rebuilding the country, a prominent British aid group charged Thursday."
King 5 News in Seattle reports that a Burger King has been set up in Baghdad, and that they are selling $15,000. worth of food to the troops every day.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
"Under Saddam we could drive, we could walk down the street until two in the morning," a young designer told me as she bounced her 4-year-old daughter on her lap. "Who would have thought the Americans could have made it worse for women? This is liberation?"
So much for freedom of religion...."Meanwhile, in Karbala, one of the spiritual capitals of Shiitedom in Iraq, US forces with the help of local Iraqi police surrounded and then stormed a mosque and arrested 42 worshippers alleged to be armed militants bent on killing US forces in the area. US forces cited the confiscation of four Klashinkov rifles as proof that the mosque was being used as a center for terrorist activities. It is worth mentioning that every mosque in Iraq has at least one armed militia member to guard against brigands and vandals.
The mosque was then subsequently closed and barricaded from worshippers.
In an ominously similar incident, the Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque in the center of Ramallah, Palestine , also came under siege from Israeli forces who kept evening prayer worshippers inside for several hours. The emerging worshippers were then searched and questioned while armed Israeli soldiers entered the mosque at will."
The mosque was then subsequently closed and barricaded from worshippers.
In an ominously similar incident, the Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque in the center of Ramallah, Palestine , also came under siege from Israeli forces who kept evening prayer worshippers inside for several hours. The emerging worshippers were then searched and questioned while armed Israeli soldiers entered the mosque at will."
"They came in last week without prior notice, cut off the main road and worked for three days and three nights to destroy our plantations with their bulldozers," recalled farmer Fida' Shehab.
"Some women and children tried going into the fields to pick and salvage some of the fruit from destruction, but the American troops fired into the air to scare them off," he said.
"USA Today reported on November 3, 2002 that Israel was secretly playing a key role in US preparations for war with Iraq, helping to train soldiers and Marines for urban warfare, conducting clandestine surveillance missions in the western Iraqi desert and allowing the United States to place combat supplies in Israel."
"Some women and children tried going into the fields to pick and salvage some of the fruit from destruction, but the American troops fired into the air to scare them off," he said.
"USA Today reported on November 3, 2002 that Israel was secretly playing a key role in US preparations for war with Iraq, helping to train soldiers and Marines for urban warfare, conducting clandestine surveillance missions in the western Iraqi desert and allowing the United States to place combat supplies in Israel."
Rummy says were in for a 'long hard slog' in Iraq and Afghanistan.
slog
To walk or progress with a slow heavy pace; plod: slog across the swamp; slogged through both volumes.
To work diligently for long hours: slogged away at Latin.
v. tr.
To make (one's way) with a slow heavy pace against resistance.
To strike with heavy blows.
n.
A long exhausting march or hike: a slog through miles of jungle.
A long session of hard work: an 18-hour slog in the hay fields.
You can find the text of the memo here.
slog
To walk or progress with a slow heavy pace; plod: slog across the swamp; slogged through both volumes.
To work diligently for long hours: slogged away at Latin.
v. tr.
To make (one's way) with a slow heavy pace against resistance.
To strike with heavy blows.
n.
A long exhausting march or hike: a slog through miles of jungle.
A long session of hard work: an 18-hour slog in the hay fields.
You can find the text of the memo here.
I sent a note to Christopher Allbritton, of Back to Iraq about the dozing of homes & trees in Iraq. He wrote back & said he's sent some e-mails to some people 'on the ground' over there; will let you know when I hear more.
"As the echo of the war drums fades away and the angry masses calling for blood slowly disperse, we, as a nation must now confront the truth. We face the unpleasant reality of an uncertain future, compromised safety, a failing economy, and the question of how a society of otherwise reasonable citizens was systematically lied to and manipulated into backing the political “hijacking” of Iraq." John & Elaine Mellencamp
Fax your representatives and urge them to correct the flaws in the Patriot Act
The government should not be allowed to indiscriminately investigate your library records.
This legislation would amend the PATRIOT ACT to require "individualized suspicion" that the records being sought are related to someone who is acting for a foreign government or organization. It prohibits the government from embarking on fishing expeditions where they examine a large number of people’s records without any reasonable suspicion in the hopes that they might find a potential terrorist.
Sneak and peek searches should be used in rare situations, not as a standard practice.
The PATRIOT Act allows the widespread use of sneak and peek searches and delays notification indefinitely. This new legislation would limit the use of sneak and peek searches to three specific purposes. It would also ensure that the targets of these searches are notified within seven days unless a court approves extensions.
The PATRIOT Act is an attack on fundamental American values. It needs to be fixed.
The Constitution and its Bill of Rights emphasize the need for checks and balances on government agents and limits to their power. The PATRIOT Act rolled back key judicial oversight and gave law enforcement significant new powers that go beyond the war on terrorism. The passing of these new bills would be an important step in bringing the PATRIOT Act back in line with core American values.
The government should not be allowed to indiscriminately investigate your library records.
This legislation would amend the PATRIOT ACT to require "individualized suspicion" that the records being sought are related to someone who is acting for a foreign government or organization. It prohibits the government from embarking on fishing expeditions where they examine a large number of people’s records without any reasonable suspicion in the hopes that they might find a potential terrorist.
Sneak and peek searches should be used in rare situations, not as a standard practice.
The PATRIOT Act allows the widespread use of sneak and peek searches and delays notification indefinitely. This new legislation would limit the use of sneak and peek searches to three specific purposes. It would also ensure that the targets of these searches are notified within seven days unless a court approves extensions.
The PATRIOT Act is an attack on fundamental American values. It needs to be fixed.
The Constitution and its Bill of Rights emphasize the need for checks and balances on government agents and limits to their power. The PATRIOT Act rolled back key judicial oversight and gave law enforcement significant new powers that go beyond the war on terrorism. The passing of these new bills would be an important step in bringing the PATRIOT Act back in line with core American values.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
In an occupied country, our soldiers should not have to lose their lives for "Halliburton and ExxonMobil and Bechtel--or for George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz."
An interesting note on the families that are trying to get past the lies that the Israeli government has told about events surrounding the deaths and injuries of their children in Rafah. The Corries were asked to give an itinerary to the Israeli government when they visited Rafah, which they did. "But in the middle of dinner with a Palestinian family, the Corries looked out of the house to see a bulldozer heading toward the building." "It was surprisingly aggressive and provocative considering they absolutely knew who we were and why we were there," Mr Corrie said.
Monday, October 20, 2003
The United States ranks 35th in the US; 135th in US/Iraq on a list of countries that provide free press, compiled by Reporters Without Borders. "To compile this ranking, Reporters Without Borders asked journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists to fill out a questionnaire evaluating respect for press freedom in a particular country. A total of 166 countries are included in the ranking (as against 139 last year). The other countries were left out because of a lack of reliable, well-supported data. "
Friday, October 17, 2003
Knew it would, but it's still disappointing that the bid for $87 billion passed by a vote of 303-125.
Brian Baird has posted some comparisons for some of the funding requests, i.e. the amount budgeted for a phone or radio in Iraq=$6,000., while it is available here for $14-$50.00....take a look.
Brian Baird has posted some comparisons for some of the funding requests, i.e. the amount budgeted for a phone or radio in Iraq=$6,000., while it is available here for $14-$50.00....take a look.
A Clean Break:
A New Strategy for Securing the Realm
This disturbing report is from the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, written in 1996, "'Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000.' The main substantive ideas in this paper emerge from a discussion in which prominent opinion makers, including Richard Perle, James Colbert, Charles Fairbanks, Jr., Douglas Feith, Robert Loewenberg, David Wurmser, and Meyrav Wurmser participated. The report, entitled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," is the framework for a series of follow-up reports on strategy."
Our claim to the land —to which we have clung for hope for 2000 years--is legitimate and noble. It is not within our own power, no matter how much we concede, to make peace unilaterally. Only the unconditional acceptance by Arabs of our rights, especially in their territorial dimension, "peace for peace," is a solid basis for the future.
"Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right — as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions."
This group is connected to the American Enterprise Institute, which has taken our country into war with Iraq, naming Iran as our next target. "The clerical fascists of the Middle East are now vulnerable, terribly vulnerable, and they know it. That is why they are seeking at all costs to distract us from the war against terror, which surely means above all the liberation of Iran."
Closely allied with PNAC, which states in a letter to Bush, written September 20, 2001:"We agree with Secretary of State Powell’s recent statement that Saddam Hussein 'is one of the leading terrorists on the face of the Earth….' It may be that the Iraqi government provided assistance in some form to the recent attack on the United States. But even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism. The United States must therefore provide full military and financial support to the Iraqi opposition. American military force should be used to provide a 'safe zone' in Iraq from which the opposition can operate. And American forces must be prepared to back up our commitment to the Iraqi opposition by all necessary means."
Looks like these groups tell Bush to jump, then he asks 'How high?'.
A New Strategy for Securing the Realm
This disturbing report is from the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies, written in 1996, "'Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000.' The main substantive ideas in this paper emerge from a discussion in which prominent opinion makers, including Richard Perle, James Colbert, Charles Fairbanks, Jr., Douglas Feith, Robert Loewenberg, David Wurmser, and Meyrav Wurmser participated. The report, entitled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," is the framework for a series of follow-up reports on strategy."
Our claim to the land —to which we have clung for hope for 2000 years--is legitimate and noble. It is not within our own power, no matter how much we concede, to make peace unilaterally. Only the unconditional acceptance by Arabs of our rights, especially in their territorial dimension, "peace for peace," is a solid basis for the future.
"Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right — as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions."
This group is connected to the American Enterprise Institute, which has taken our country into war with Iraq, naming Iran as our next target. "The clerical fascists of the Middle East are now vulnerable, terribly vulnerable, and they know it. That is why they are seeking at all costs to distract us from the war against terror, which surely means above all the liberation of Iran."
Closely allied with PNAC, which states in a letter to Bush, written September 20, 2001:"We agree with Secretary of State Powell’s recent statement that Saddam Hussein 'is one of the leading terrorists on the face of the Earth….' It may be that the Iraqi government provided assistance in some form to the recent attack on the United States. But even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism. The United States must therefore provide full military and financial support to the Iraqi opposition. American military force should be used to provide a 'safe zone' in Iraq from which the opposition can operate. And American forces must be prepared to back up our commitment to the Iraqi opposition by all necessary means."
Looks like these groups tell Bush to jump, then he asks 'How high?'.
Looks like Iraq will be going the way of Israel in several ways, not only by destroying homes, trees, and lives, but building 'security walls' as well. Salam's latest Guardian article: "I have never seen concrete blocks so big. Baghdad is being turned into this huge concrete blocks display..."
Soldiers are committing suicide in Iraq, accounting for more than 10% of non-combat deaths. Stars and Stripes conducted a survey after being inundated with letters from soldiers that "...belied claims last week by President Bush that increasingly negative public perceptions of Iraq were a product of media spin, and that those who had been there held different views. Not so those for serving up to 12 months in Iraq, according to Stars and Strips, which noted that the troops' views stood in sharp contrast to those of senior officials on brief visits to Iraq."
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Monday, October 13, 2003
River has an eloquent post about how valued palm trees are in Iraq, and the effect their destruction has on people there. You may want to have a tissue handy...
I spent an evening listening to Rami Elhanan and Ghazi Brigieth, of the Israeli & Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace / Parents’ Circle.
Rami is an Israeli, Ghazi is a Palestinian. They call one another ‘Brother’ as they tour the United States sharing their stories and their visions for peace.
“Peace can only be achieved with justice for all.”
Rami opened with “Salam, Peace, Shalom”, welcoming “different faces, religions, and colors. I am a Jew,” he stated simply, “an Israeli, a Zionist. Before anything else I’m a human.”
After sharing a bit of his military history, Rami described the angst of looking for his daughter on a darkened afternoon in September of ’97, when she hadn’t returned from a trip to buy books; first checking with all of her friends, then calling hospitals and visiting morgues, and finally, learning that she lost her life along with her best friend when they were blown up with two Palestinians exploding with a suicide bomb.
“The day became night – in one moment your life is a mess.” He reflected sadly. “Seven days of mourning. The eighth day you have to get up, look in the mirror, and ask yourself one basic question. What are you going to do with your life? You’re whole life has changed. The natural choice is the way of hate, revenge, retaliation, when someone kills your little girl. You are very angry. You want to get even. Will getting even ease your pain? I lost my child, I did not lose my head.…There is only one line differentiating peace lovers and war mongers; using our pain not to create more pain, but to prevent more pain.” Rami joined a group of Israeli and Palestinian families, whose mission is “to tell our two crazy peoples and the world that we are not doomed. It is not written anywhere that we have to keep dying on this Holy Land. Violence leads to more violence, revenge, and retaliation. The only power that holds the key in its hand is the United States.
Ghazi tells us that the Palestinians are “counting the victims daily.” He lost one brother in 2000. He was 31, with two children. “With a bullet that cost $2.50. An Israeli soldier took his right to end the life of my brother.” Another brother was shot in 2001. “His only crime—he was a student. Twenty-three years old.”
“We came here because there are people willing to listen to the voice of peace.” He added. “From the beginning of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the character of the conflict is blindness. Each side is blind to the other.” He and Rami are conducting this tour “trying to get to the minds and hearts of people.”
“Stop the killing. Stop the blood.” Ghazi implores. “The pains of peace are better than the agonies of war.”
He tells of an exchange program, where Palestinians and Israeli’s are donating blood to benefits victims of the ‘other side’. “It’s better to donate blood than spill blood.”
Joining this group hasn’t been easy for either man. Faced with criticisms from friends, family, and acquaintances, they nonetheless continue in the movement. “We are an island of sanity in this sea of hatred around us. No one can win this hatred game. ”
We are told that America has the key to the resolutions of this conflict, and that it is based upon the Beilin-Abu-Maazen agreement, Camp David and Taba reached in mediations with President Clinton in the Saudi initiative. We need to prevail upon our government to help in ending this battle, and we need to acknowledge Yassar Arafat as the leader of the Palestinians. “If Yassar Arafat is killed, we will all swim in a pool of blood.” The men who would replace him would be worse, with hopes of any agreements lost.
The division of land would be a return to ’67 borders with two states and two peoples. The agreement exists and “lies forlorn on a table waiting for signatures.”
When will it happen, they ask? “It will happen in a year or two, or five or five hundred. It will happen when the price of no-peace is higher than the price of peace, after a certain amount of anguish and agony, horror and nightmare, after a certain number of casualties, when there is weeping in every home, and the cries of both peoples reach the heavens. Only then will both sides, completely exhausted, crawl freely or by force, back to the negotiation table and start all over again—exactly where they left off, to achieve the very same solution.”
Rami is an Israeli, Ghazi is a Palestinian. They call one another ‘Brother’ as they tour the United States sharing their stories and their visions for peace.
“Peace can only be achieved with justice for all.”
Rami opened with “Salam, Peace, Shalom”, welcoming “different faces, religions, and colors. I am a Jew,” he stated simply, “an Israeli, a Zionist. Before anything else I’m a human.”
After sharing a bit of his military history, Rami described the angst of looking for his daughter on a darkened afternoon in September of ’97, when she hadn’t returned from a trip to buy books; first checking with all of her friends, then calling hospitals and visiting morgues, and finally, learning that she lost her life along with her best friend when they were blown up with two Palestinians exploding with a suicide bomb.
“The day became night – in one moment your life is a mess.” He reflected sadly. “Seven days of mourning. The eighth day you have to get up, look in the mirror, and ask yourself one basic question. What are you going to do with your life? You’re whole life has changed. The natural choice is the way of hate, revenge, retaliation, when someone kills your little girl. You are very angry. You want to get even. Will getting even ease your pain? I lost my child, I did not lose my head.…There is only one line differentiating peace lovers and war mongers; using our pain not to create more pain, but to prevent more pain.” Rami joined a group of Israeli and Palestinian families, whose mission is “to tell our two crazy peoples and the world that we are not doomed. It is not written anywhere that we have to keep dying on this Holy Land. Violence leads to more violence, revenge, and retaliation. The only power that holds the key in its hand is the United States.
Ghazi tells us that the Palestinians are “counting the victims daily.” He lost one brother in 2000. He was 31, with two children. “With a bullet that cost $2.50. An Israeli soldier took his right to end the life of my brother.” Another brother was shot in 2001. “His only crime—he was a student. Twenty-three years old.”
“We came here because there are people willing to listen to the voice of peace.” He added. “From the beginning of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the character of the conflict is blindness. Each side is blind to the other.” He and Rami are conducting this tour “trying to get to the minds and hearts of people.”
“Stop the killing. Stop the blood.” Ghazi implores. “The pains of peace are better than the agonies of war.”
He tells of an exchange program, where Palestinians and Israeli’s are donating blood to benefits victims of the ‘other side’. “It’s better to donate blood than spill blood.”
Joining this group hasn’t been easy for either man. Faced with criticisms from friends, family, and acquaintances, they nonetheless continue in the movement. “We are an island of sanity in this sea of hatred around us. No one can win this hatred game. ”
We are told that America has the key to the resolutions of this conflict, and that it is based upon the Beilin-Abu-Maazen agreement, Camp David and Taba reached in mediations with President Clinton in the Saudi initiative. We need to prevail upon our government to help in ending this battle, and we need to acknowledge Yassar Arafat as the leader of the Palestinians. “If Yassar Arafat is killed, we will all swim in a pool of blood.” The men who would replace him would be worse, with hopes of any agreements lost.
The division of land would be a return to ’67 borders with two states and two peoples. The agreement exists and “lies forlorn on a table waiting for signatures.”
When will it happen, they ask? “It will happen in a year or two, or five or five hundred. It will happen when the price of no-peace is higher than the price of peace, after a certain amount of anguish and agony, horror and nightmare, after a certain number of casualties, when there is weeping in every home, and the cries of both peoples reach the heavens. Only then will both sides, completely exhausted, crawl freely or by force, back to the negotiation table and start all over again—exactly where they left off, to achieve the very same solution.”
In the town of Aduluwiya, "...Last week, the Americans destroyed the palm orchard that has been in twenty-five year old Mohamed Ali Sadoun's family for fifty years because passing U.S. convoys had been attacked from its cover. "As far as I am concerned, it is Israel that destroyed my orchard," Ali Sadoun said. It took three days for the American bulldozers to uproot all of his one-thousand date palms. When Ali Sadoun asked for a few days reprieve to harvest the dates, the Americans refused."
Monsanto has been given the go ahead to open a hormone plant in Augusta, GA. They'll be manufacturing Posilac, which, according to the European scientific community, causes "substantially and very significantly poorer welfare because of increased foot disorders, mastitis, reproductive disorders and other production related diseases."
Monsanto is suing the Oakhurst Dairy because they have a statement on their labels that reads: "Our farmers' pledge: no artificial growth hormones." Monsanto claims it 'disparages' the growth hormone.
Part of Monsanto's take is: "Monsanto fully supports the right of people in grocery stores to make informed choices about what they purchase. We believe that consumers should be able to make these informed decisions based on fair and accurate factual information about the quality and safety of the products they purchase. Currently, the labels used by Oakhurst are contrary to the position of the Food & Drug Administration for the voluntary labeling of milk and milk products with respect to the non-use of rBST, and violate state laws regarding unfair and deceptive commercial practices."
You can read their full statement here. Looks like their suit holds about as much water as Fox's did...
GotmilkPosilac?
Monsanto is suing the Oakhurst Dairy because they have a statement on their labels that reads: "Our farmers' pledge: no artificial growth hormones." Monsanto claims it 'disparages' the growth hormone.
Part of Monsanto's take is: "Monsanto fully supports the right of people in grocery stores to make informed choices about what they purchase. We believe that consumers should be able to make these informed decisions based on fair and accurate factual information about the quality and safety of the products they purchase. Currently, the labels used by Oakhurst are contrary to the position of the Food & Drug Administration for the voluntary labeling of milk and milk products with respect to the non-use of rBST, and violate state laws regarding unfair and deceptive commercial practices."
You can read their full statement here. Looks like their suit holds about as much water as Fox's did...
Got
Here's another story on the bulldozing of fruit trees in Dhuluaya. Are we taking tips from Israel? How soon before we begin building the 'security' walls? We're already witnessing the suicide bombers. Does the Bush Regime really believe that blaring jazz while destroying farmer's lives will improve anything?
Cheney speaks of 'evil in Iraq'...what he failed to mention was that it is US doing the evil deeds.
Cheney speaks of 'evil in Iraq'...what he failed to mention was that it is US doing the evil deeds.
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Cheney says: "We are fighting this evil in Iraq so we do not have to fight it in the streets of our own cities."
We may well be fighting in our streets if the madness of the Bush Regime isn't stopped. Iran, Cuba, Mexico...who's next?
We may well be fighting in our streets if the madness of the Bush Regime isn't stopped. Iran, Cuba, Mexico...who's next?
Send me a letter, containing these lines...imagine my suprise (not!) upon reading the front page of the Olympian, and finding that newspapers across the country are receiving the same letters, some from soldiers who didn't sign them or have knowledge of them, lauding how 'well' things are going in Iraq. Talk about a PR campaign!
Thursday, October 09, 2003
John MacArthur of the Toronto Globe & Mail wonders why there isn't more of a call to Impeach Bush.
"Can there be any greater violation of the public trust than to bear false witness to the people's representatives in pursuit of short-term political gain? Can there be injuries more immediate to society than to send American citizens to their death on a fraudulent pretext? With each shooting of a U.S. soldier in Iraq, the case for impeachment grows stronger...
Until now, most critics of the administration have focused on the President's alleged lie in his January 28th State of the Union address about Iraq's phantom uranium purchases from Niger. Distracted by the current furor over who in the administration leaked the name of Joseph Wilson's CIA-employed wife, the attack dogs are forgetting an important point -- that lying after Oct. 11, the day the Senate passed the war bill -- isn't as politically (or, I suspect, legally) significant as lying before the vote, when the rush to war could have been halted...
...look at what Mr. Bush was saying on Sept. 7, 2002 when he appeared at a press conference with Mr. Blair at Camp David...'I would remind you that when the inspectors first went into Iraq and were denied -- finally denied access, a report came out of the Atomic -- the IAEA that they were six months away from developing a weapon. I don't know what more evidence we need.'
Well, there wasn't any new report from the IAEA. Nor had there ever been one specifying a timetable for Iraq's acquisition of an atom bomb. A prosecutor could do a lot with that."
"Can there be any greater violation of the public trust than to bear false witness to the people's representatives in pursuit of short-term political gain? Can there be injuries more immediate to society than to send American citizens to their death on a fraudulent pretext? With each shooting of a U.S. soldier in Iraq, the case for impeachment grows stronger...
Until now, most critics of the administration have focused on the President's alleged lie in his January 28th State of the Union address about Iraq's phantom uranium purchases from Niger. Distracted by the current furor over who in the administration leaked the name of Joseph Wilson's CIA-employed wife, the attack dogs are forgetting an important point -- that lying after Oct. 11, the day the Senate passed the war bill -- isn't as politically (or, I suspect, legally) significant as lying before the vote, when the rush to war could have been halted...
...look at what Mr. Bush was saying on Sept. 7, 2002 when he appeared at a press conference with Mr. Blair at Camp David...'I would remind you that when the inspectors first went into Iraq and were denied -- finally denied access, a report came out of the Atomic -- the IAEA that they were six months away from developing a weapon. I don't know what more evidence we need.'
Well, there wasn't any new report from the IAEA. Nor had there ever been one specifying a timetable for Iraq's acquisition of an atom bomb. A prosecutor could do a lot with that."
American troops are destroying fruit trees and crops in Dhuluaya. Thought that was against the Geneva convention...
IRAQ: Baghdad Pavement Journal
President Wanted: Conditions
Be fair.
Be truthful.
Be humble.
Be poor.
Be compassionate and kind.
Be not a thief.
Be generous.
Be brave and do not run away.
Do not have single picture of yourself on the walls.
Increases in the Rations
100 kilos of sorrow and pain
50 kilos of suffering for each person
10 problems for each family
½ amp. of electricity for each house
1 graveyard for each neighborhood
5 bullets shot at random for each street
Cost of transport for these ration increases to be charged to Paul Bremer
Achievements of the Coalition Forces
500,000 containers of cluster bombs on the heads of Iraqi people
750,000 rockets addressed to Iraqi people
200,000 military people killed or jailed
100,000 babies killed or deformed
1 Graveyard for the criminal Saddam
2,000,000 unemployed University graduates
10,000,000 looters
President Wanted: Conditions
Be fair.
Be truthful.
Be humble.
Be poor.
Be compassionate and kind.
Be not a thief.
Be generous.
Be brave and do not run away.
Do not have single picture of yourself on the walls.
Increases in the Rations
100 kilos of sorrow and pain
50 kilos of suffering for each person
10 problems for each family
½ amp. of electricity for each house
1 graveyard for each neighborhood
5 bullets shot at random for each street
Cost of transport for these ration increases to be charged to Paul Bremer
Achievements of the Coalition Forces
500,000 containers of cluster bombs on the heads of Iraqi people
750,000 rockets addressed to Iraqi people
200,000 military people killed or jailed
100,000 babies killed or deformed
1 Graveyard for the criminal Saddam
2,000,000 unemployed University graduates
10,000,000 looters
Monday, October 06, 2003
Required reading. Especially if you are a voter in California and don't want to lose $9 million.
A story from Greg Palast.
"It's not what Arnold Schwarzenegger did to the girls a decade back that should raise an eyebrow. According to a series of memoranda our office obtained today, it's his dalliance with the boys in a hotel room just two years ago that's the real scandal.
The wannabe governor has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001, at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles, he had consensual political intercourse with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay. Also frolicking with Arnold and Ken was convicted stock swindler Mike Milken."
A story from Greg Palast.
"It's not what Arnold Schwarzenegger did to the girls a decade back that should raise an eyebrow. According to a series of memoranda our office obtained today, it's his dalliance with the boys in a hotel room just two years ago that's the real scandal.
The wannabe governor has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001, at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles, he had consensual political intercourse with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay. Also frolicking with Arnold and Ken was convicted stock swindler Mike Milken."
Saturday, October 04, 2003
"If you think his personal views and behavior can be separated from his New career as a politician, think again: Schwarzenegger has not included a single woman on his economic council. In a state where there are tens of thousands of women in positions of power, there was not even one he respected enough add to his team.
Schwarzenegger has a serious problem with women, reflected in both his actions and his words. His own statements -- even just months ago--paint a clear picture of a man who has absolutely no respect for women: Apparently Schwarzenegger's behavior is an open secret in Hollywood. The same article quoted Hollywood insiders and Schwarzenegger colleagues saying that is typical behavior for the actor: 'You don't get it,' said a producer who's worked with Schwarzenegger. 'That's the way Arnold always behaves.'"
That doesn't make it o.k. What's with the 'Oh, isn't it cute...boys will be boys mentality? Why should some people lose their jobs or go to jail for that kind of behavior, while he gets away with it?
If you live in 'Colleeforneeah', you may want to visit Move On and check out the background on this candidate, and/or contribute to their campaign.
Further thoughts from a Californian on this issue over at Joel's site.
Schwarzenegger has a serious problem with women, reflected in both his actions and his words. His own statements -- even just months ago--paint a clear picture of a man who has absolutely no respect for women: Apparently Schwarzenegger's behavior is an open secret in Hollywood. The same article quoted Hollywood insiders and Schwarzenegger colleagues saying that is typical behavior for the actor: 'You don't get it,' said a producer who's worked with Schwarzenegger. 'That's the way Arnold always behaves.'"
That doesn't make it o.k. What's with the 'Oh, isn't it cute...boys will be boys mentality? Why should some people lose their jobs or go to jail for that kind of behavior, while he gets away with it?
If you live in 'Colleeforneeah', you may want to visit Move On and check out the background on this candidate, and/or contribute to their campaign.
Further thoughts from a Californian on this issue over at Joel's site.
