Sunday, March 30, 2003
Rex Murphy makes some good points here. Unfortunately, I can't see him now without chuckling to myself a bit, thinking of Colin Mochrie as 'Max Pointy'...
This is an interesting take. "It has become clear that America has been shrewdly manipulating many agendas in its own interests"The Observer | Comment | How to save Brand America
Now wait a minute. If no one is supposed to work on the Sabbath, why does the National Religious Party want to make the 'inspectors' work? A bit of a double standard? CBC News: Sabbath dispute may scuttle Sharon's government Just as well for Sharon to be gone, in my book.
Friday, March 28, 2003
Oil for food money should be used to pay for the war and rebuild Iraq, suggested Rumsfeld, as he requested funds at a Senate Committe meeting. Why should the Iraqi people have to pay for our destruction of their country? We supplied Saddam with the weapons we are going in for. Rumsfeld, Bush, Cheney, Perle: all multi-millionaires. I vote that they should have to pay the costs.
Thursday, March 27, 2003
The journalism and films of John Pilger "On the morning of 12 September 2001, without any evidence of who the hijackers were, Rumsfeld demanded that the US attack Iraq. According to Woodward, Rumsfeld told a cabinet meeting that Iraq should be "a principal target of the first round in the war against terrorism". Iraq was temporarily spared only because Colin Powell, the secretary of state, persuaded Bush that "public opinion has to be prepared before a move against Iraq is possible". Afghanistan was chosen as the softer option. If Jonathan Steele's estimate in the Guardian is correct, some 20,000 people in Afghanistan paid the price of this debate with their lives."
Google translation of comments in Pointblog.com
Salam just posted 'test' and then it was gone from his site...:(
Salam just posted 'test' and then it was gone from his site...:(
Tuesday, March 25, 2003
" I was told by a senior officer in the Pentagon, that if uplinks --that is the television signals out of... Bhagdad, for example-- were detected by any planes ...electronic media... mediums, of the military above Bhagdad... they'd be fired down on. Even if they were journalists ..' Who cares! ' said.. [inaudible] .."Censorship at it's worst.
Monday, March 24, 2003
Sunday, March 23, 2003
The Philosopher of Islamic Terror by Paul Berman gives an insightful view and background toward understanding some of the motives behind the Al Queda and its roots.
I found this link reading The Agonist. '15 arms' reporting .
I found this link reading The Agonist. '15 arms' reporting .
Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall "For people who oppose this war I strongly recommend moving on from it in this very specific sense. This war is about to happen. But there are still two very important issues that hang in the balance that deserve serious attention..." A must read. Love his writing!
Central Baghdad just hit.
"The care that goes into targeting...is impressive. As anyone can see...the care that goes into it, the humanity." Rumsfeld
"The care that goes into targeting...is impressive. As anyone can see...the care that goes into it, the humanity." Rumsfeld
Still no word from Salam and it looks like the comments have stopped at 313. Diane, of Letter From Gotham reports the last email she received regarding rumors of Uday being injured.
"the absolute biggest best most wanted brain-stuff-specialist (i am sure it has a name can't think of it now) [has been called] and taken to a location outside baghdad, he called his family and said he can't come back tonight.
something has happened to someone."
CBC Location shot of Baghdad. Reporting that an allied plane has been shot down; one American, one British soldier; US denies any planes are missing.
"the absolute biggest best most wanted brain-stuff-specialist (i am sure it has a name can't think of it now) [has been called] and taken to a location outside baghdad, he called his family and said he can't come back tonight.
something has happened to someone."
CBC Location shot of Baghdad. Reporting that an allied plane has been shot down; one American, one British soldier; US denies any planes are missing.
I'll have to let this guy know there 'is no Palestine'...I was called a 'dim bulb' for such reference.
Ripped up walls of a bedroom. Debris scattered in the home along with clothing and toys. A man in tears, his wife, brothers, children gone. Another 'precision' bombing reported on the CBC by their reporter in Baghdad.
The war effort is not going quite as smoothly as many thought it would.
CBC News: Accidents, not combat, killing most Coalition personnel
The war effort is not going quite as smoothly as many thought it would.
CBC News: Accidents, not combat, killing most Coalition personnel
Saturday, March 22, 2003
Friday, March 21, 2003
A taste of Terror...
It was horrible. Even all these miles away I am shaking and crying.
"The most disturbing news today has come from Al-Jazeera, they said that nine B52 bombers have left the airfield in Britain and flying “presumably” towards Iraq, as if they would be doing a spin around the block. Anyway they have 6 hours to get here."
Mushroom clouds loom over Baghdad.
If I am 'shaking in my boots' here in America, how must Salam and the people of his city be feeling?
We have to find a better way.
It was horrible. Even all these miles away I am shaking and crying.
"The most disturbing news today has come from Al-Jazeera, they said that nine B52 bombers have left the airfield in Britain and flying “presumably” towards Iraq, as if they would be doing a spin around the block. Anyway they have 6 hours to get here."
Mushroom clouds loom over Baghdad.
If I am 'shaking in my boots' here in America, how must Salam and the people of his city be feeling?
We have to find a better way.
Thursday, March 20, 2003
Can't sleep. Can't imagine why.
Jack Straw to speak soon.
Doesn't that sound like a name that should be in a nursery rhyme?
Jack Straw to speak soon.
Doesn't that sound like a name that should be in a nursery rhyme?
Bombs are dropping in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait City. Kuwait City was just hit, with gas sirens sounding an alarm. Kandahar was struck about the same time that Bagdhad was. The story is that radio signals were detected in the caves above and that there was suspicion that Osama Bin Laden might be there.
I had a vivid dream this morning that a plane was flying over, very close to the house. Somehow I knew it was passing over on its way to a bombing mission nearby. I remember thinking 'Well they really suprised us, didn't they? No one thought it would really come this close to home.' Even in my sleep, sarcastically 'thanking' Mr. Bush...The power went out, and since it was the middle of the night the blackness was oppressive. I realized I was dreaming; yet still didn't wake up. I remember thinking, "This is what some people are used to everyday." How sad.
I had a vivid dream this morning that a plane was flying over, very close to the house. Somehow I knew it was passing over on its way to a bombing mission nearby. I remember thinking 'Well they really suprised us, didn't they? No one thought it would really come this close to home.' Even in my sleep, sarcastically 'thanking' Mr. Bush...The power went out, and since it was the middle of the night the blackness was oppressive. I realized I was dreaming; yet still didn't wake up. I remember thinking, "This is what some people are used to everyday." How sad.
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
CBC gave a report on a group of men who wrote a 'manifesto' (before 9/11) for the US to become a global political leader. "...the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event--like a new Pearl Harbor."Read this: "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces, and Reources for a New Century." Then take a look at the 'Statement of Principles' and the men who signed it...the plot thickens.
O.K., here goes...Rachel Corrie was bulldozed as she tried to stop the destruction of a well that was being rebuilt in Palestine. Witnesses state that she was murdered. Israeli officials say that it was an 'accident'.
Big Brother is here, and lurking around the corner...my son sent me this link while we were chatting...
One of these days I'll learn how to get these links onto words like everyone else...
TCPA / Palladium FAQ
One of these days I'll learn how to get these links onto words like everyone else...
TCPA / Palladium FAQ
Monday, March 17, 2003
Sunday, March 16, 2003
LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT?
Careful what you pack in your luggage; you may get a nasty note if you have anything that the 'screeners' don't agree with.
If my credit is bad, does that mean I don't get to fly? If I have a library book overdue do I get escalated to 'yellow' or 'red' and become a 'person of interest'?
In the late '70's I wrote a story about someone who was being pursued by the police after they had checked her library records...now it's not so far from the truth...
Careful what you pack in your luggage; you may get a nasty note if you have anything that the 'screeners' don't agree with.
If my credit is bad, does that mean I don't get to fly? If I have a library book overdue do I get escalated to 'yellow' or 'red' and become a 'person of interest'?
In the late '70's I wrote a story about someone who was being pursued by the police after they had checked her library records...now it's not so far from the truth...
Friday, March 14, 2003
I was talking with the security guard at my son's school the other night. He was born in Damascus, and although he left that country when he was a child, remembers the horrors of Palestinians being attacked by Israeli's. He told me that the Iraeli's have 'cordoned' off whole villages & hamlets, building walls around them. Not just a 'retainer' wall, but walls that are 27' high. Can you imagine? Children are growing up never knowing what it is to see the earth meet the sky. Never having seen a sunset or sunrise.
People living there cannot go across the street to visit family or friends without getting shot at by Israeli soldiers toting American weapons. The Israeli soldiers drive American tanks, fly American helicopters, use American guns and hold a country hostage. Is it any wonder that Palestinians are angry?
People living there cannot go across the street to visit family or friends without getting shot at by Israeli soldiers toting American weapons. The Israeli soldiers drive American tanks, fly American helicopters, use American guns and hold a country hostage. Is it any wonder that Palestinians are angry?
This is a pretty sad commentary on 'the brightest and the best'...
WHERE IN THE WORLD
Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps:
87 percent cannot find Iraq
83 percent cannot find Afghanistan
76 percent cannot find Saudi Arabia
70 percent cannot find New Jersey
49 percent cannot find New York
11 percent cannot find the United States
CNN.com - Global goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq - Nov. 22, 2002
WHERE IN THE WORLD
Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps:
87 percent cannot find Iraq
83 percent cannot find Afghanistan
76 percent cannot find Saudi Arabia
70 percent cannot find New Jersey
49 percent cannot find New York
11 percent cannot find the United States
CNN.com - Global goofs: U.S. youth can't find Iraq - Nov. 22, 2002
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Monday, March 10, 2003
Sunday, March 09, 2003
Saturday, March 08, 2003
Khidhir Hamza, former bombmaker and head of the Atomic Energy Commission if Iraq was interviewed. He stated that there are weapons being stored in homes and hospitals; that they were being made in homes and bungalows. He said that there is no way that 3,000 inspectors could find them. He also stated that during the Gulf War that Saddam rigged dynamite on bunkers of biological weapons and blew them up when American troops got close to them, then saying the Americans had blown them up. He said that people are suffering from 'Gulf War Syndrome' because of those incidents. Children are stillborn or have a host of birth defects, people are sick and dying with little or no recourse.
Thursday, March 06, 2003
The 'human shields' are coming home with their tails tucked between their legs. Apparently the free ride is over, and the Iraqi government isn't playing 'fair'. Is that a suprise? Not hardly. The 'shields' were told to start buying their own meals and to actually do what they went over to do...fancy that. Except they don't want to hang out where Saddam wants them to.
Wednesday, March 05, 2003
Your handy dandy guide to anti war sites:
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Guide to anti-war websites
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Guide to anti-war websites
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Thousands of Americans want to oust their president. The anti-war one, that is
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
Monday, March 03, 2003
My son just turned 19. Spent the day with him in one of the 'prime targets' of the country...a little unnerving, sometimes to know that he's living in a city that could be attacked.
I had the strangest dream early this morning. I was in Iraq, of all places, in some darkened underground tunnel. There were small hollowed out 'caves' staggered along the way, and in one of them I found a small child shackled by his ankle to the wall. He had obviously been there for a long time, unkempt, dirty, starving. I found a rock and somehow managed to break the shackle off, picked him up and carried him out. I eluded the guards and we made it out to someone's house, where the child was much made over, given food and water; someone said "He's ____'s (?) son. He's been missing for three years. How did you find him?" No one knew what had happened to him. His disappearance had been a mystery--lost when he was about 3 years old. People were thelling me how 'brave' I had been, but I was just doing what I had to to help this child. (Although I couldn't believe I was actually doing that!)
We had to go into hiding; Saddam had discovered the child was missing & was sending out searchers...here the dream changed, and we were no longer in someone's home, but out on the street, running. There was a scroungy looking guy, with a few days stubble beard growth. He was wearing a stocking cap, smoking a cigarette, and brandishing a knife. It wasn't like he was one of Saddam's 'henchmen', just someone with not so good intentions who happened to be there & had no qualms about harming anyone around him. As some of the men distracted him a group of us ran down the street to go to another house.
Then the phone rang & woke me up...this was one of my 'livid' dreams; when I have those, there is usually some truth or basis in them. Why did I have this dream?
Imagine my suprise when I read the paper and see that the local police are looking for a suspect who stabbed someone last night...someone who matches the description of the man in my dream...which leads me to this--who is the young boy that disappeared when he was three years old?
I had the strangest dream early this morning. I was in Iraq, of all places, in some darkened underground tunnel. There were small hollowed out 'caves' staggered along the way, and in one of them I found a small child shackled by his ankle to the wall. He had obviously been there for a long time, unkempt, dirty, starving. I found a rock and somehow managed to break the shackle off, picked him up and carried him out. I eluded the guards and we made it out to someone's house, where the child was much made over, given food and water; someone said "He's ____'s (?) son. He's been missing for three years. How did you find him?" No one knew what had happened to him. His disappearance had been a mystery--lost when he was about 3 years old. People were thelling me how 'brave' I had been, but I was just doing what I had to to help this child. (Although I couldn't believe I was actually doing that!)
We had to go into hiding; Saddam had discovered the child was missing & was sending out searchers...here the dream changed, and we were no longer in someone's home, but out on the street, running. There was a scroungy looking guy, with a few days stubble beard growth. He was wearing a stocking cap, smoking a cigarette, and brandishing a knife. It wasn't like he was one of Saddam's 'henchmen', just someone with not so good intentions who happened to be there & had no qualms about harming anyone around him. As some of the men distracted him a group of us ran down the street to go to another house.
Then the phone rang & woke me up...this was one of my 'livid' dreams; when I have those, there is usually some truth or basis in them. Why did I have this dream?
Imagine my suprise when I read the paper and see that the local police are looking for a suspect who stabbed someone last night...someone who matches the description of the man in my dream...which leads me to this--who is the young boy that disappeared when he was three years old?
Saturday, March 01, 2003
I ran across this site. This guy's got a good sense of humor, including a link to the 'Unemployee of the Month'
Where The Hell Did My Job Go?
Where The Hell Did My Job Go?
