Bully Boy's cosmetic changes

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

BULLY BOY STRUTTED THROUGH THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY, ALL EXCITED ABOUT THE "CH-CH-CHANGES" HE WAS MAKING.

GENERAL JOHN ABIZAID IS OUT AT THE HEAD OF CENTRAL COMMAND AND ADMIRAL WILLIAM FALLON IS IN, GENERAL GEORGE CASEY IS OUT AS GROUND COMMANDER MAJOR TOM IN IRAQ AND LT. GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS IS IN; JOHN BOLTON IS OUT AS THE UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR & KILL JOY TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND ZALMAY KHALILZAD IS IN, AND RYAN CROCKER (NO RELATION TO BETTY CROCKER THOUGH THEY DO SHARE SIMILAR HAIRSTYLES) WILL REPLACE ZALMAY AS THE UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ.

BULLY BOY SEEM PUZZLED WHEN THESE REPORTERS ASKED HIM WHETHER HE WOULD MAKE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE HIMSELF OR DEPEND UPON THE U.S. CONGRESS TO DO SO?

"WHAT'S LEFT?" BULLY BOY WONDERED.

STEPPING DOWN OR IMPEACHMENT OFFERED THESE REPORTERS.

ASSUMING WE WERE JOKING, BULLY BOY BURST OUT IN LAUGHTER AND BEGAN HOLLERING, "DICK! DICK! GET IN HERE! YOU GOT HERE THIS!"


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Monday, February 5th, the US military attempts to court-martial Ehren Watada. Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. Yesterday, at Fort Lewis in Washington, a pretrial hearing began that will determine what arguments are allowed in the court-martial and what arguments will be disallowed. The hearing was presided over by Lt. Col. John Head, the court-martial would have a jury made up of *a panel of* officers, and the AP reports that he will make his decision on "the parameters of the case" next week. Melanthia Mitchell (AP) reports that on Thursday: "Watada's parents sat in the back of the courtroom during the hearing, his father at times leaning forward on the bench with his hands clasped in front of him." As Linton Weeks (Washington Post) noted, Carolyn Ho, Ehren's mother, is a high school counselor who went on leave to raise awareness about her son and is on leave for the pretrial and the court-martial. Bob Watada, Ehren's father, has also been engaged in speaking tours around the country to raise awareness about Ehren and, for any wondering, Bob Watada recently retired (and recently remarried, Rosa Sakanishi, Ehren's step-mother, has accompanied Bob Watada on his speaking tours).

The US military wants to reduce the court-martial to a "yes" or "no" -- Did you refuse to deploy to Iraq? They wish to prevent Ehren Watada from explaining his decision -- in effect that are hoping to prevent him from making the best defense possible when he is facing six years in prison.

As Hal Bernton (Seattle Times) reported: "At a hearing Thursday at Fort Lewis, there was little dispute about the action taken by 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who last June refused to deploy with his brigade to Iraq. But defense and prosecutors sparred much of the afternoon about whether Watada's motives for opting out of the war should affect the outcome of a February court-martial trial that could result in a six-year prison term." If the military was interested in justice (and sure of their case), they wouldn't be attempting to shut down Watada's defense.

The prosucetor, Captain Dan Kuecker has stated, "There is no rational doubt in this situation; . . . it's a lawful order." Were he as sure of himself as he pretends to the press, there would be no attempts to prevent Watada from explaining both his actions and the reasons behind them.

Watada explained the reasons most recently to Kevin Sites (Kevin Sites in The Hotzone): "I think that in March of 2003 when I joined up, I, like many Americans, believed the administration when they said the threat from Iraq was imminent -- that there were weapons of mass destruction all throughout Iraq; that there were stockpiles of it; and because of Saddam Hussein's ties to al-Qaeda and the 9/11 terrorist acts, the threat was imminent and we needed to invade that country immediately in order to neutralize that threat. Since then I think I, as many, many Americans are realizing, that those justifications were intentionally falsified in order to fit a policy established long before 9/11 of just toppling the Saddam Hussein regime and setting up an American presence in Iraq. . . . I think the facts are out there, they're not difficult to find, they just take a little bit of willingness and interest on behalf of anyone who is willing to seek out the truth and find the facts. All of it is in the mainstream media. But it is quickly buried and it is quickly hidden by other events that come and go. And all it takes is a little bit of logical reasoning. The Iraq Survey Group came out and said there were no weapons of mass destruction after 1991 and during 2003. The 9/11 Commission came out and said there were no ties with Iraq to 9/11 or al-Qaeda. The president himself came out and said nobody in his administration ever suggested that there was a link. And yet those ties to al-Qaeda and the weapons of mass destruction were strongly suggested. They said there was no doubt here were weapons of mass destruction all throughout 2002, 2003 and even 2004. So, they came out and they say this, and yet they say it was bad intelligence, not manipulated intelligence, that was the problem. And then you have veteran members of the CIA that come out and say, 'No. It was manipulated intelligence. We told them there was no WMD. We told them there were no tides to al-Qaeda. And they said that that's not what they wanted to hear'."


In essence, Ehren Watada is on trial for the media -- the media that sold the illegal war and the media that told the truth (eventually for some) about it. So it has been surprising to see nothing on Watada in the leading independent magazines in 2006. In 2007, The Nation discovered Watada on page 14 of the January 8 and 15th double issue in an article written by Marc Cooper (click here for Yahoo version -- subscribers only at The Nation website). Like many Americans, Watada believe the spin/lies from the US administration (repeated near word for word by most media outlets with little skepticism). Like many Americans, he's since come to see that reality and spin were two different things.


This new awareness is reflected not only in the civilian population but also, as Rachel Ensign (Citizen Soldier) reminds us, within the military as well: "A new poll conducted by the Army Times newspaper at the end of 2006 found that a majority of soldiers polled now disapprove of how Bush has conducted the Iraq war to date. . . . Only 41% of soldiers polled today think that we should have invaded Iraq -- down from 65% in 2003. This closely mirrors sentiment among civilians; only 45% of whom now believe that the war was a good idea."


Michael Gilbert (The News Tribune) reports that, based on comments and questions during the pretrial hearing, Lt. Col John Head "likely won't allow Lt. Ehren Watada to defend himself" by making the case for his actions and why he acted as he did and that Head declared, "At this point I'm not inclined to grant a hearing on the Nuremburg defense." The Nuremburg defense is in reference to the Nuremberg trials during which soldiers stating that they were only following orders were told that was not a legal excuse for their actions. As Ruth noted, following the August Article 32 hearing of Watada, "The message that Lieutenant Colonel Mark Keith appears to be endorsing is follow all orders but, if it later turns out that they were illegal, you are on your own and will take full responsibility. At best, like with Lieutenant Calley, the War Monger in the oval office may pardon you after you are convicted. What is the message? Why teach the obligation to follow only legal orders, why refute 'I was only following orders' as a defense and then punish Lieutenant Ehren Watada for doing just that while advising him that it is not his place to make such a determination when, in fact, the invididual who obeys the unlawful order is the one who will be held responsible by the military justice system?"


Why teach? Refer to Ruth's Report where she goes over retired Col. Ann Wright's testimony at the Article 32 hearing on what she taught soldiers at the JFK Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg while teaching the Law of Land Warfare. Taught is FM 27-10 (Law of Land Warfare):


Section IV. DEFENSES NOT AVAILABLE 509.
Defense of Superior Orders
a. The fact that the law of war has been violated pursuant to an order of a superior authority, whether military or civil, does not deprive the act in question of its character of a war crime, nor does it constitute a defense in the trial of an accused individual, unless he did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that the act ordered was unlawful. In all cases where the order is held not to constitute a defense to an allegation of war crime, the fact that the individual was acting pursuant to orders may be considered in mitigation of punishment.


Ehren Watada could be prosecuted for actions committed during war by the above; however, the US military does not want to allow him to use the same law to defend himself. Only a fool would call that "justice." This is what Eric Seitz, Watada's attorney, is noting when he told Linton Weeks, "The United States talks out of both sides of its mouth. We've prosecuted soldiers in other countries for following orders to commit war crimes. But God forbid you should use that refusal as a defense in this country."


Christian Hill (The Olympian) reports, however, that the military prosecution may have outfoxed itself: "The judge, Lt. Col. John Head, told prosectors that he was not inclined to grant the evidentiary hearing, but 'they opened the door for him allowing it by prosecuting his statements'" thereby making it "relevant. Some of those statements have become relevant by the sheer nature of how the government has charged this case."

Head was not referring to the charge of missing deployment but the charge ("conduct unbecoming") based upon remarks Watada made about the war such as ""The wholesale slaughter and mistreatment of Iraqis is not only a terrible and moral injustice, but it's a contradiction to the Army's own law of land warfare. My participation would make me party to war crimes." Remember: A Citizens' Hearings is being convened January 20-22 at Evergreen State College.

Ehren Watada's awakening mirrors that of many Americans. It also has echoes
in the growing resistance within the military to the illegal war as many resisters vocalize sentiments similar to Watada's (usually noting the works of Howard Zinn). Others that a part of this growing resistance within the military include Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress this month.


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BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.


QUICKER THAN YOU CAN SAY "CONTRAS LOST!" JOHN NEGROPONTE BAILED OUT AS THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR AND SLITHERED OVER TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT WHERE HE WILL SERVE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE & ANGER CONDI RICE.

WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS BAILING BECAUSE "DEMOCRATS TAKING CONTROL OF CONGRESS ON THURSDAY HAVE PROMISED GREATER OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES" WITH THE SENATE INTELL COMMITTEE "PLANNING HEARINGS THIS MONTH ON THE INTELLIGENCE OVERHAUL THAT NEGROPONTE HELPED PUT IN PLACE", NEGROPONTE TOLD THESE REPORTERS WE WERE "BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE" AND "IF WE WERE IN EL SALVADOR RIGHT NOW, I'D KNOW JUST HOW TO HANDLE YOU BOTH."

AS WE WERE LEAVING THE WHITE HOUSE, WE BUMPED INTO THE BULLY BOY WHICH GAVE US A CHANCE TO ASK HIM ABOUT HIS DECEMBER 20TH PRESIDENTIAL SIGNING STATEMENT THAT, HE ASSERTS, GRANTS HIM PERMISSION TO READ ANY AND ALL MAIL IN THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT SEEKING A COURT WARRANT BEFORE SNOOPING. BULLY BOY EXPLAINED THAT NO ONE NEEDED TO WORRY, "I JUST LIKE TO KNOW WHO THE PUBLISHER CLEARING HOUSE WINNER IS EACH YEAR AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE."

"BESIDES," HE TOLD US, "MISS MILLIE IN DAYTON, OHIO WRITES ONE JUICY NEWSLETTER ABOUT HER NURSING HOME!"


FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Starting with Ehren Watada. In June, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. In August, the US military held an Article 32 hearing. Now the court-martial is set for February 5th and the pre-trial hearing began today at Fort Lewis is Washington. The pre-trial hearing will determine the framework in which arguments can be made. As noted yesterday, Eric Seitz, Watada's attorney, has stated that the military is attempting to prevent Watada from making his case for why he refused to deploy.

During the Article 32 hearing, Watada's defense called three witnesses, Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois' College of Law, Champagne; Denis Halliday, the former Assistant Secretary General of the UN; and retired Colonel Ann Wright. These three witnesses addressed the issue of the war, it's legality, and the responsibilities of a service member to disobey any order that they believed was unlawful. The testimony was necessary because Watada's refusing to participate in the illegal war due to the fact that he feels it is (a) illegal and (b) immoral.

What the military would like to do in today's pre-trial hearing is reduce everything to whether or not Watada deployed with his unit? The answer, of course, is that he did not. The military does not want the issue of the legality of the war addressed. By closing off this discussion, they not only would destroy Watada's right to defend himself, they would be able, as the Bully Boy long has been able to, set the terms of the discussion and control what is and is not discussed.

Robbing Watada of his ability to present a full defense is a very serious issue and much more serious than fretting over whether a journalist might have to decide "Do I testify or not?" (No journalists will be testifying at the pre-trial.) But the most serious issue today is whether or not Watada will be allowed to present the best defense or if he will only be allowed to say "yes" and "no" in answer to the prosecution's questions or if, as Aileen Alfandary noted on KPFA. this morning ( The Morning Show), he will be able to argue that
the war is illegal? This stance, putting the war on trial, is one that worries the US military.

On the December 9th RadioNation with Laura Flanders, Carolyn Ho (Ehren Watada's mother) noted that her son felt the decision was "the best thing he could do for his men .. . remain behind and speak truth" and that he feels his duty is to the Constitution which is the supreme law of the land in the United States.

Mark Tran (Guardian of London) reports: "Peace activists, international law experts and war resisters past and present are girding themselves for events designed to drum up support for Lt Watada, recently described by Rolling Stone as 'one of this year's greatest mavericks'. Mike Barber (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) reports that both sides "are expected to file several motions in preparation for his court-martial. Depending upon the motions, the judge could rule immediately or take several days to decide". Hal Bernton (Seattle Times) observes that this "opening round . . . could be key to defense hopes of putting the Iraq war on trial". As Sir! No Sir! noted in an e-mailing yesterday (click here), "The military's intention IS to SILENCE VOICES OF RESISTANCE and make an example out of Lt. Watada."

While much has been made of the press being asked to testify, Jeff Paterson, reporting for Courage to Resist, notes that activists have also received military subpoenas including Phan Nguyen (Olympian Movement for Justice and Peace) and Gerri Haynes (Veterans for Peace). If found guilty of all charges, Watada could be sentenced to six years.

A Citizens' Hearings is being convened January 20-22 at Evergreen State College will take place in Tacoma, Washington later this month.

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

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress this month.

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Bully Boy the cut up and those who prop him up

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

BULLY BOY WAS CHUCKLING TODAY AT HIS LATEST PLAN -- SELL THE COUNTRY AND THE DEMOCRATS ON BALANCING THE BUDGET!

IT'S FUNNY 'CAUSE BULLY BOY RAN UP THE DEBT AND CALLING FOR A BALANCED BUDGET AFTER ALL OF HIS GIVE AWAYS (AND HIS CONTINUED CALL FOR TAX BREAKS FOR RICH FAT CATS) MEANS THE BUDGET GETS BALANCED ON THE BACKS OF THE PEOPLE.

BULLY BOY EXPECTS THIS PLAN TO GO OVER AS WELL AS THE INTENTIONAL AND COLASSOL SCREW UPS INVOLVED IN THE SHOW DEATH OF SADDAM HUSSEIN.

LAUGHED BULLY BOY, "I COULD KISS AMY GOODMAN'S POINTY FOREHEAD! I KNEW THAT IF WE MESSED THIS UP JUST RIGHT IT WOULD TAKE ALL ATTENTION OFF THE FACT THAT I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF 3,000 AMERICANS."

BULLY BOY THEN SLAPPED HIS KNEE AS HE CONTINUED LAUGHING ABOUT THE "DUMB ASS" INDEPENDENT MEDIA AND INCLUDED CHORTLES OVER THE NATION MAGAZINE AS WELL.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Starting with news of Ehren Watada. In June, Watada became the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. In August, the US military held an Article 32 hearing. This week, Thursday, a pre-trial hearing begins leading up to his February 5th court-martial. The AP reports that Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, has been informed that his client's reasons for refusing to deploy will be exlcuded which would rob Watada of the ability to defend his own actions.

As Leila Fujimori (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) observes these decisions could "decide the trial's outcome before it even gets under way, his supporters fear." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer notes that "Seitz has filed motions that include declaring the intent to defend Watada based on the claim that under international law the war in Iraq is a 'war of aggression' in which he has the right to refuse to participate." Seitz explains to Rod Ohira (Honolulu Advertiser) that
"The Army is way out on a limb on this case. If they are successful (at the hearing), the trial will be a farce. . . . Missing movement is like not going to work; it's not criminal, but this is a miliatry court. They're singling him out as a deterrent for others speaking out."

The pre-trial hearing takes place tomorrow at Fort Lewis, Washington. Also tomorrow, there will be at least two rallies in support of Watada. One rally will be held at Fort Lewis, off Interstate Five, exit 119. Among those scheduled to participate are Bob Watada (father of Ehren), Sara Rich (mother of Suzanne Swift), US war resister Darrell Anderson, Chanan Suarez Diaz, Michael Cuzzort, Pia Rivera and Carrie Hathorn. The actions begin at eight a.m. and the speakers' program begins at at ten a.m. Another rally will be held in San Francisco and begin at 11:15 a.m. (Thursday, January 4th) at Japantown Peace Plaza (corner of Post and Buchanan) which will then move to the San Francisco Federal Building at noon and culminate in a Die-in at the front enterance of the Federal Building (one p.m.). More information can be found at ThankYouLt.org.

As Ann Wright (Op-Ed News) observes: "GI resistance to the war is increasing. AWOLS are increasing. War resisters are speaking out and are willing to go to prison rather than participate in an illegal war of aggression. Over 1500 active duty soldiers have signed an 'appeal for redress' to the Congress asking for the 'prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq.' They will go to Washington and deliver the appeal to individual Congressmen and women on January 15."

That resistance includes Ehren Watada and many others such as Kyle Snyder, Darrell Anderson, Ricky Clousing, Aidan Delgado, Mark Wilkerson, Agustin Aguayo, Joshua Key, Ivan Brobeck, Camilo Meija, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Jeremy Hinzman, Corey Glass, Patrick Hart, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Katherine Jashinski, and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Appeal for Redress is collecting signatures of active duty service members calling on Congress to bring the troops home -- the petition will be delivered to Congress this month.

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BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIX MIX -- DC.

2007 ALREADY OFF WITH SOME HA-HAS!

1) GOT PUPPET?

PUPPET OF THE OCCUPATION, NOURI AL-MALIKI DECLARED TODAY THAT "HE HAS NO INTEREST IN A SECOND TERM" AND THE U.S. ADMINISTRATION SHOUTS BACK, "WHO CARES WHAT OUR PUPPET WANTS? DANCE, PUPPET, DANCE!" WHILE THE IRAQI PEOPLE NOTE THAT THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN AL-MALIKI SERVING A SECOND TERM EITHER: "WHAT ARE WE, CRAZY?"

2) GOT GAMS?

TODAY ON DEMOCRACY NOW, THE ISSUE OF THE 3,000 MARK FOR U.S. TROOPS WHO HAVE DIED IN IRAQ WAS REDUCED TO A HEADLINE AND NOT JUDGED WORTHY OF A DISCUSSION. NOT ONLY THAT, BUT IN THE HEADLINES MORE TIME WAS GIVEN TO "COVERING" THE FUNERAL OF JAMES BROWN THAN TO NOTING THE 3,000 MARK.

WHEN ASKED OF THAT, AMY GOODMAN, HOST OF DEMOCRACY NOW, EXPLAINED THE PROBLEM WAS WITH A NEW CAMERA OPERATOR. SAID GOODMAN, "HE WAS SUPPOSED TO ZOOM IN ON MY LEGS RIGHT AFTER WE PLAYED MICHAEL JACKSON LONG QUOTE. I'M GOING FOR THE MARY HART ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT AUDIENCE THESE DAYS!"

3) GOT HACK?

DEB RIECHMANN IS SUPPOSED TO BE A REPORTER FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BUT SHE WANTS TO BE SO MUCH MORE: EDITOR, HEALER OF THE NATION, YOU NAME IT!

FROM A RECENT REPORT BY LITTLE DEBBIE: "AMERICANS ARE A PATIENT LOT AND LIKELY WILL GIVE BUSH THE TIME AND BACKING HE NEEDS TO TAKE ANOTHER SHOT AT GETTING A U.S. POLICY IN IRAQ THAT WORKS."

IT'S NOT CALLED REPORTING! BUT THEN DEBRIECHMANN IS NO REPORTER!

TURNING TO THE REAL WORLD, FROM THE TCI WIRE:

In the real world, Courage to Resist reports that Lisa Brobeck is asking people write to her husband, war resister Ivan Brobeck, "so he is constantly reminded that he is not alone during this time in the brig and that he is supported in his brave and courages stand." The mail does not run (in the US) today (apparently Gerald Ford is honored by the government stopping its business) but the way to address your postcards or envelopes is:


LCPL Ivan S. Brobeck
MCB Quantico Brig
3247 Elrod Avenue
Quantico, Virginia 22134


Ivan Brobeck self-checked out of the US military after serving seven months in Iraq. He went to Canada in April 2005 and remained there until he returned to the US in November to turn himself in on election day with an open letter to the Bully Boy. The day before he turned himself in, November 6, 2006, he was interviewed by Nora Barrows-Friedman on Flashpoints which remains one of the few media outlets to note his decision to return then or since. "The Full Brobeck" is the term coined for a brave stand that media outlets bend over backwards to avoid noting.

As noted earlier, Ehren Watada faces a pre-trial hearing on Thursday. On Thursday, there will be at least two rallies in support of Watada. One rally will be held at Fort Lewis, off Interstate Five, exit 119. Among those scheduled to participate are Bob Watada (father of Ehren), Sara Rich (mother of Suzanne Swift), US war resister Darrell Anderson, Chanan Suarez Diaz, Michael Cuzzort, Pia Rivera and Carrie Hathorn. The rally will begin at ten a.m. January 4th (this Thursday). Another rally will be held in San Francisco and begin at 11:15 a.m. (Thursday, January 4th) at Japantown Peace Plaza (corner of Post and Buchanan) which will then move to the San Francisco Federal Building at noon and culminate in a Die-in at the front enterance of the Federal Building (one p.m.). More information can be found at ThankYouLt.org.

Jason Leopold (Truthout) notes that the pre-trial hearing "comes on the same day the new Democratic-controlled Congess returns to work and begins to investigate one of the lingering questions surrounding the nearly four-year-old war. It's the same question that Watada said led to his decision to publicly challenge the legality of the war and refuse deployment -- whether the intelligence that led to the US-led invasion was cooked by Bush administration officials."

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

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3,000

Remember that comic? It's Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts from June 24, 2005. Remember that?

The point Isaiah was making was that Bully Boy treats his illegal war like a joke. The line, "Those WMDS have to around here somewhere"? He told that at a press dinner. He made jokes about his lies that the war was built on. He laughed. So did the press.

Today, the 3,000 mark was passed. 3,000 US troops have died in Iraq fighting Bully Boy's illegal war built on lies. And it's all ha-ha, funny time for Bully Boy.

Are you laughing? Are you yucking it up?

I doubt it.

I know I'm not.

I was on a date (still am) and had the cell phone turned off. We came back to here (my place) and the phone was ringing (landline). It was Ava passing on the news about the 3,000 mark. I hope you're going to do something in your area. I hope you're going to note the 3,000 deaths.

Hope it's not making jokes like the Bully Boy did. He should be ashamed of himself. He should be behind bars.

Read C.I.'s "And the war drags on." Seems to me like a lot of people aren't taking the 3,000 mark seriously. Don't let yourself be one of them.