Quick thoughts

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Iraq snapshot.
Chaos and violence continue . . . to continue.
And are we surprised? The usual Hawsk strut and pander while the violence claims more lives.Bombings?
As Sandra Lupien noted on today's KPFA's The Morning Show, 2 bombers blew themselves up "outside the so-called Geen Zone." Along with being home to various embedded reporters and their bodygaurds, the Green Zone also houses Iraq's parliament, Defense Ministry, High Criminal Court and the US embassy -- a huge complex, as the AP noted in April, with "21 buildings on 103 acres" which makes it "six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York, and two-thirds the acreage of Washington's National Mall."
The 'grandness' of it all suggests to some that the United States has no intent of handing over power or leaving. On the latter, Robert MacPherson (Mail & Guardian) reports that today, in England, Tony Blair announced England wasn't withdrawing anytime soon and that his wife, Cherie Booth, explained that he wasn't ready to step down. England's prime minister demonstrated what long ago led to him being dubbed the Bully Boy's poodle as he took slams at two nations in a single sentence: "Not for us the malaise of France or the angst of Germany."
In other nonsense, Gulf Times reports the William McCoy (US Army Corps of Engineers, "Major General") believes that, by the end of summer, electricity in Baghdad might be available for eleven hours. That's apparently "eleven hours" on some sort of Operation Happy Talk Clock since McCoy notes that right now electricity is available for six to eight hours -- a claim most media reports dismiss and note the figure is closer to between two and four hours a day.More nonsense comes from Angel Ortiz (the Army Corps seems to have hacks and flacks all over today issuing press releases) who maintains that by the end of the year Falluja will have "clean water" in 80 percent of all homes as well as "an $8 million wireless telecommunications project". Falluja was reduced to rubble in November 2004 (the article notes the need to more "laborers to haul away seemingly endless piles of rubble) and there's been little done to assist or help with many residents of Falluja who fled as the US forces began their attacks nearly two years ago, still homeless. Expect both inflated predictions to be forgotten as the deadlines draw near.
Meanwhile back in the real word, Sunni parliamentarian Ayad al-Samaraie has asked that the United Nations supply peace keepers immediately due to the fact that: "the occupation forces cannot protect the people." This as the Associated Press estimates the chaos and the violence in Iraq today claimed the lives of "at least 47 people nationwide." (Look for the New York Times to pooh-pah that number as they've done with press reports for the last two days -- today with Edward Wong, yesterday with Kirk Semple. If you thought it was hard work selling an illegal war, step back and watch the paper of no record really get down to the business of selling the illegal occupation.)
Early on, the BBC estimated that the bombings in the Green Zone resulted in five deaths and ten injured. Reuters woud place the fatalities at 15 as the day wore on. Al Jazeera notes that in addition to the two bombers who blew themselves up, there was also a car bomb. The BBC notes that police assume the target was "a restaurant frequented by police" while the AP reports that Gufran al-Saadi (female Shi'ite parliamentarian) states that she believes she was the target. The car bomb went of near the restaurant, according to Al Jazeera, while "[a]n Aljazeera witness" place one of the bombers "in front of the governmental compound in the Green Zone".
The BBC reports the kidnapping of Wissam Jabr in Baghdad "an Iraqi foreign ministry official who had been serving as a diplomat in neighbouring Iran." Reuters reports his name as Wissam Abdulla al-Awadi.
Also in Baghdad, Reuters notes that "eight employees of an Iarqge contracting company" were killed when their office was stormed by "gunmen" while the Associated Press notes two bakery workers were shot dead while on the job. CBS and the AP report two more bombs in Baghdad (one under a fuel tanker, the other a car bomb) that resulted in the death of at least four and and twenty-four wounded).
Outside of Baghdad, CBS and the AP report that "an engineer with Iraq's North Oil Co. and his driver" were ambushed and killed in Kirkuk. Reuters reports the shooting deaths of 19 in Baquba and of nine (Iraq soldiers) in Al-Shirqat. And the AP reports that, in Tikrit, three people were wounded when a bomb went off near a "private clinic." Later the three wounded would become two wounded and one dead. Dr. Amira Qassim al-Rubaie died, "the wife of the governor of the dangerous Salahuddin province".
Reuters notes the end of the Sunni boycott of parliament following the kidnapping of Taiseer Najah al-Mashhadani. (No, al-Mashhadani has not been released.) The Associated Press quotes Adnan al-Dulaimi: "We have decied to attend the meetings as of tomorrow in response to the call Muqtada al-Sadr." Various reports note that those holding al-Mashhadani have stated they are treating her as "a guest" and that she will be released in the next few days. Reuters notes that the Iraqi Accordance Front (the Sunni bloc in parliament with 44 seats) has been in contact with the kidnappers.
[. . .]
On July 15th, a rally will be held "at the gates of Ft. Lewis in Tacoma, WA." Courage to Resist is getting the word on that event [and on Suzanne Swift]. Kevin Zeese recently spoke with Max Diorio who explained "resisters need to feel that they are being upheld and supported by people in their communities. To take such a large step into the unknown, it is invaluable for resisters to feel that they'll have people to rely on when they are being persecuted by the US military."

I'm following Mike's lead as many of you may note. I told Mike, leave me my Law and Disorder with real radicals and I'm fine. Anything else I can lose.

I'll operate under the assumption everyone knows what I'm talking about. If not, oh well.

As an African-American male, I have no use for the site noted in the now infamous e-mail. I got a call from Keesha, Martha, Brenda, Charlie and then I lost track. By the time Mike called me, I said, "People are outraged."

He replied with something I won't post here.

He said it was his Irish temper but, hey, call it my "African-American temper" if you want but I'm offended as well. I don't know what the hell that e-mail was about and I really don't think sites should be plugged it in to begin with and certainly not that whole Las Vegas crowd.

Like Keesha said, "If they want to play Whiter Than White, play on homey." That's just so insulting on a whole other level (I had to explain it to Mike) to African-Americans. It's like giving a shout out to a Nazi group or something. African-Americans aren't welcome there and there's no a brother or sister I know who doesn't know that.

Sorry to bust any bubbles but the "Deaniacs" was largely a White crowd and that's their claim to fame, creating the "Deaniacs." There's a reason they can't get African-Americans to visit, we're not included, we're not welcome. It's not a surprise to anyone I know. They've all had their horror stories of deleted comments and being told they're a "troll" or something else for raising issues of race. And I'm talking two years ago.

So this isn't going to cause me to lose any sweat if we're not noting it anymore. Leave me my Law & Disorder and I'm fine. I feel bad for C.I. because I'm sure C.I.'s catching all the ___ on this. I'll also be real honest and say I think it's especially a slap in the face to C.I. I'll say it because no one else will. But come on, not even Mike, who really supported that show, gave it the kind of links C.I. did.

When people were griping last week, C.I. had to beg to get the weekend highlight because the attitude of the three who usually do it was, "I'm not doing it." Then Francisco finally did because C.I. called and asked personally.

So I'm sure some anger from the community is over that. The Common Ills Google Rank is 6/10. I wonder what that site's rank is. It's 8/10.

And The Common Ills mirror site is 4/10. So, if we add the two together, by Google rank, C.I.'s got a ten. That's not counting the copy and paste e-mails for those who can't access it directly outside the US.

So it's nonsense on that level and I'll be the only one to say it but that's fine.

I can live with that.

I wouldn't have known about the show if it weren't for C.I. I'll take a breather from the show now that may end up a permanent vacation. (I'll go with what C.I. decides. I'd call but I'm sure C.I.'s dealt with enough ___ tonight.)

But like I was telling Mike, "You're mad but you really need to talk some members who are African-American." That's who's really mad. Billie is furious and she sent me a blistering e-mail about how once again we're supposed to do, "What's right for White and treat ourselves like second class citizens."

That's what it feels like and, thing is, they probably don't even grasp that (e-mail senders). They never do. "It's big! Everyone must love it!"

But there's no African-American presence and the biggest person of any color is a corporate attorney, come on. Use your brains, people.

If you're left, you're left. If they'd linked to a left site, I wouldn't have cared. But to link to a non-left site that's not welcoming to people with my skin color? Yeah, it bothers me.

What really bothers me is how C.I. will handle it. I know last week was a ___-storm of e-mails and C.I. kept linking and taking ___ for it.

Well, we've got other things to focus on and like we realized the hard way at Third, we're not here to cheerlead. You think someone's worth listening because they're anti-war then they toss on two propagandist for a full hour and trash the caller who complains (rightly) that the whole thing is biased. That was my wake up call.

Give me the radicals who don't hide it or try to act all "Miss Daisy, I's uh so sorry."

But I am offended for C.I. I know how much time C.I. put into promoting that show and how many people did pick it up. So just because someone rights, "Hey guys, why don't we note ___ more" at a dopey website, they decide they're going to link to it?

C.I.'s not going to care on that level because The Common Ills isn't "a life." If I had C.I.'s money, I wouldn't care either. (Rebecca calls it the "F-you money.") But Gina wrote about that nasty trashing C.I. got and that seemed pretty obvious. (C.I. didn't hear it. The one time C.I.'s not listening! That still makes me laugh. I picture the guy planning that out and thinking, "I'll offer my two-cents worth.") C.I.'s attitude was, "Well, I guess they don't want my money anymore. No problem." (The issue was a lot more complicated than it was made out to be on that interview. Rebecca was planning to post on the fifth before she left but I ended up going, "Hey, Gina called me, what's going on?" and I got the 411 and then some.)

But on another level, and this is why I say it's part of the anger, we are all The Common Ills. It really isn't "what I want to write about" there. So consider it a gob of spit on all of us. (Mike kept calling it a gob of a spit on the phone.)

The fact of that matter is that on most issues, it's C.I.'s calling it out and putting it out there. The left (not the radicals) wants to be liked and mainstreamed. So they avoid Dexter Filkins day after day. They avoid that he lied about Falluja. They don't take him on.

It's easy to beat up on Judy Miller and some people are still doing that. But reality is that there's no excuse for Filkins and after Falluja, he should be called to the carpet. If we had a real left, he would be. People would say, "Forget Judy Miller, let's talk Filkins."

So that's my attitude on it. Send me to a place that basically says "Whites Only" says to me you're not too concerned about me. (If C.I. reads this: I know they do good work. I know that everyone makes a mistake. I'm being nice by not naming them. Let me just call this "a Black thing." You don't have to be fair to everyone.)

But after last week, I'm pretty much 'disenchanted' already.

Then you had that pro-war thing on another program and then last week's kiss my ass (because that's what it was) to C.I. and I'm really not interested in 'helping' a lot of people these days.

On that kiss my ass, maybe the guy should consider that it's C.I.'s money so it's C.I.'s decision how to spend it, how to contribute it and no one else's?

I know he got his digs in but I think he came off like a begger. And I mean, I do give to the homeless. Not a lot, I don't have a lot. But if I give a buck, the man or woman I'm giving it to is grateful for it. They don't say, "A buck? I can't live on a buck." That guy just came off like an idiot who seems to think it's C.I.'s job to be a bankroll.

So my attitude is screw 'em all.

C.I.'s only comment on that was, "Well that's one more way I can use my donations for causes and not organizations."

I really did think that guy came off like a greedy jerk. It's not my place to tell C.I. who to donate to and who not to but I hope a lot of stuff that's going down means some strong re-evaluating.

Nobody should say, "Thank you, let me kiss your ass." But they shouldn't be disrespectful either. That's just basic. I have to wonder how that guy was raised.

The really sad thing, and Ty was talking about this, is that this should be a time for the left but instead of trying to get their ideas across, they water them down and try to get weak ideas across. They then accuse the Democrats of doing that (which they are) but they're doing the same thing. It's like they don't really believe in their ideas (shades of Fraudan). All you hear is how unfair the media is and you can't get a free exchange of ideas then they get a spot and they do the same thing.

Screw 'em all. If I was C.I., I'd never mention any of those cowards again. Hell, if I was C.I., I probably wouldn't do anything but sit out by the pool day after day. Which C.I. won't do so it goes therefore that the first thing won't be done either.

But they hurt themselves. Not just because of money but because when they pull that sort of nonsense, they show that they're not really any better than the people they criticize. They'll do anything for a little attention. It's like the Democratic Party. They're not interested in inspiring new voters, they want the swing voters.

That's why the left can't get off the ground still, even after six years of the Bully Boy. They'll sell out their beliefs in a minute. And tell themselves it's just this one time and they'll still be the same and then they end up just like the people they criticize.


Mike asked me what I thought and all I could think was, "Thank God that Rebecca's on vacation." She was already furious before she left.

ANOTHER BULLY BOY PRESS & BIG MIX (HUMOROUS) EXCLUSIVE

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

THIS JUST IN!

ASSOCIATED PRESS BREAKS CHILD LABOR LAW!

MUST CREDIT CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & BULLY BOY PRESS!

REMINDER:

The minimum age for employment is 14 years old. There are some exceptions such as newspaper delivery; performing in radio, television, movie, or theatrical productions; and work for parents in their solely-owned nonfarm business (except in manufacturing or in hazardous jobs).


THAT IS THE LAW. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS IN VIOLATION.

MUST CREDIT CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & BULLY BOY PRESS!

A CHILD UNDER 10 IS WRITING FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS!

THE LITTLE BOY'S NAME IS GEORGE GEDDA.

TODAY HE ACCIDENTALLY OUTS HIS AGE WHEN HE WRITES:

There are still disagreements over such issues as global warming, the death penalty and the U.S.-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, but it is still hard to remember a time when U.S.-German relations were on a sounder footing.

PROVING THAT HE HAS NO MEMORY OF U.S. AND GERMAN RELATIONS PRIOR TO THE BULLY BOY'S OCCUPATION OF THE OVAL OFFICE, GEORGE GEDDA OUTS HIMSELF AS UNDER 10 SINCE ANYONE OLDER WOULD BE ABLE TO REMEMBER A TIME WHEN RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES "WERE ON A SOUNDER FOOTING."

MOST RECENTLY THAT TIME WAS CALLED "THE CLINTON ERA."








Recommended: "And the war drags on . . ."
"Democracy Now: Medea Benjamin, Robert Scheer"
"NYT: Worth reports, Dexy role plays"
"War as an after thought"
"About Rebecca"
"Music, movies and Andrea Lewis"
"Law and Disorder on the Green Scare"
"NYT: 'Baghdad Erupts in Mob Violence' (Kirk Semple)"
"Ruth's Public Radio Report Pt. I""Ruth's Public Radio Report Pt. II"
"NYT: What's covered, what's not"
"Other Items (Robert Scheer on Democracy Now! today)"
"RadioNation with Laura Flanders: Sat. Ann Wright, Kris Delmhorst; Sunday: Robert Scheer, Dr. Mona"
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts 'Freudian Slip the World's Waiting On'"
A Note to Our Readers
Editorial: American wants the war over now
TV: Supernatural -- a tale of bad TV
Things to Ponder This Summer
Ehren Watada
Ehren Watada in song form
Thoughts on a Saturday Times column
Little Liars Lie Dirt Cheap
The Damage Done?
Iraq coverage for today through last Monday

Law and Disorder on the Green Scare

I did post twice this week, in reply to Karen's e-mail, on Monday and Tuesday. What else I have been doing? I attended a birthday party Thursday night. I've also been picking up slack. I think I'm a supportive person but with Rebecca and Elaine both being on vacation, I've realized how little support I've probably given. Rebecca's infamous for her check-in phone calls where she just calls to see how you're doing. Though Elaine doesn't work the phones as much as Rebecca (no one does -- no one could, Rebecca lives for the phone), she also spends a lot of time talking to us and seeing how we're doing.

Mike was probably hardest hit because of reasons he discussed in his column in Sunday's Polly's Brew. This was a pretty depressing week for him. I saw it as liberating (I agree, you're better off realizing who you can count on and who you can't) but I understand why he was so depressed that so many chose to ignore the very important story that the US was keeping a body count on Iraq civilians. So I was on the phone with him. I was on the phone with Betty who was filling in for Rebecca. I was on the phone with Sunny who was filling in for Elaine.

And you know what? I wouldn't take back a minute of that. People need encouragement and I certainly get it from others so this was my week to give back. (And to realize how much we all miss when Rebecca and Elaine take a joint vacation.) I tried. Hopefully, I was some help.

Sunny's written some great things this week so I hope you read: "Substituting for Elaine," "About Elaine" and "About Rebecca." Betty's written epic posts. I asked her, "Weren't you supposed to cut down on your work by filling in?" She just laughed and said she had a lot to say and was having fun. Check out her "Betty filling in for Rebecca" and "Music, movies and Andrea Lewis."

Wally marched on (in a peaceful manner) all week and I say good for him. He offered twice that we could do a joint post (we did one on Monday) but I passed because I was too busy and didn't want to hold him back or weigh him down. But if, like Karen, you felt short changed by my site, I hope you appreciated Wally.

So that's what I've been up to. I'm going to note C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" from yesterday and, if you're thinking, "That's yesterday" -- yeah but that's what the papers have today too.

Chaos and violence continue.
Iraq was rocked with bombings today. As Sandra Lupien noted on KPFA's The Morning Show, "As many as 17 are dead and at least 50 wounded following attacks on mosques." The BBC reports that the bombs went off "in Baghdad and Baquba following Friday prayers." Al Jazeera notes that, in Baghdad, a car bomb went off near one Sunni mosque and a mortar round landed on another. In addition to the mortar attack on the mosque, Reuters reports another one in Baghdad that took the lives of at least three people and wounded at least 30. Reuters also notes a car bomb exploding near a mosque in Tal Banat ("killed six and wounded 46") and that three people were gunned down in Mosul. The Associated Press reports that, in Sinjar, at least eight died and 48 were wounded when "a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque".
Along with the above, the AFP reports that two sheikhs may have been kidnapped. Sheikh Said Mohammed Taha al-Samarrai of Mahmudiyah is reported kidnapped and killed according to Sunni members of Parliament. The second sheikh believed to be kidnapped is Sheikh Alaa Mohammed Abbas al-Rikabi -- and that's according to Sheikh Abdel Ghafur al-Sammarai who also states "that 181 Sunni clerics have been killed since February."
Mahmudiyah was the hometown of Abeer Qasim Hamza, the 15-year-old who was allegedly rape before being killed (along with three of her family members) by US military forces. Steven D. Green is the only one charged so far. In court Thursday, his attorney Scott Wendelsdorf "entered a plea of 'not guilty on all counts,'" Reuters reports.
In peace news, Bay Area Code Pink is fasting and picketing . . . outside the home of War Hawk Di Fi (the home warbucks is building): " Senator Diane Feinstein recently voted against John Kerry's amendment calling for the troops to come home. Let's make sure she doesn't disappoint her constituents again. Gather with us, as we encourage her to co-sponsor the Harkin bill (S. CON. RES 93) -- no permanent military presence or military bases in Iraq; no attempt to control the flow of Iraqi oil; and Armed Forces should be redeployed from Iraq as soon as practicable after the completion of Iraq's constitution-making process or December 31, 2006 - which ever comes first."
CODEPINK also continues their fast in DC and elsewhere as people across the country continue fasting or begin to show their support. Kris Wise (Daily Mail) writes of West Virginians taking part in the fast and quotes Janie Poe: "I'll go for as long as my body can hold out or until my group tells me to stop. It's probably detrimental for us on our bodies, but it's us screaming out to people to wake up."
Today on KPFA's The Morning Show, Andrea Lewis interviewed Dahr Jamail and Mark Manning (info on tonight's event below) on the subject of Iraq. On the issue of the alleged rape and the murders, Dahr Jamail said, "This type of thing is happening on a regular basis in Iraq . . . [rapes during house raids] even in the capital city of Baghdad." Mark Manning pointed out that the legal immunity given to contractors and the military has created "a huge problem" and that the Iraqis have seen too many incidents being wiped away without investigation.
Event tonight:
An upcoming event: Brava Theater, 2789 24th Street, San Francisco, Friday, July 7th, 7:00 pm. (415-647-2822) Mark Manning will be screening his film Caught in the Crossfire for those interested in knowing the realities on Falluja that Dexy and the other Green Zoners never got around to telling you. Nadia McCaffrey, who lost her son in the Iraq war, will bespeaking as will Dahr Jamail.

Now for WBAI's Law and Disorder. I'm grabbing the last segment of the show. Heidi Boghosian may end up being the one I note. Ruth notes all of them but she really follows the Michaels (Ratner and Smith) and Mike follows Dalia Hashad. So I'll get Boghosian's back. The segment I'm focusing on was where Heidi Boghosian was anchoring a segment that offered three speakers from a recent panel on the Green Scare that was sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild who I see that I don't have a link for on my link roll. I'll fix that after I post this. Heidi Boghosian is --

What is she? I couldn't remember. I'm rushing this post because C.I. wants to note Mike and me in the entry this morning at The Common Ills and is holding it for us to get our stuff posted. I couldn't remember so I called C.I. who says Boghosian is the executive director of the National Lawyers Guild. So the organization sponsored a panel on "What Is the Green Scare?" and Monday's show provided excerpts of three speakers (and it was noted that you can hear more from the panel at the Law and Disorder website).

Daniel Meyers, a civil rights attorney from New York, was first up. That was a really good choice because he explained how conspiracy charges work. You hear "conspiracy" right now and you probably think, "Oh, those tin foil hats the mainstream is always dismissing." Conspiracy is used by the federal government all the time as a charge in court. They've used it for years in drug cases, Meyers explained that. He talked about once that charge was allowed in court, you could then allow hear say testimony -- you can't do that in normal cases. Next up was Andrew Erba and when I called C.I. about Boghosian's title, C.I. spelled "Erba" ("just in case") for which I am thankful because I would have spelled it "Urba" here without the help.

Erba talked about how the conspiracy charge works. Let's say Sammy smokes some pot. Nancy gets some pot from her dealer. She calls Sammy and says, "Hey, I've got some, come over." He says cool and is on his way over. When the case is tried, suddenly Sammy and Nancy are parts of the 'conspiracy.' They're held responsible for every bit of pot the dealer got, the dealer's held for every bit that his supplier got and so on.

What this does is a) result in those unfair sentences that we all know about or should and b) lead to people flipping. That's what Erba spoke of, the flipping. They always flip on someone lower down the chain. So the person with the lengthy sentences, the harsh ones, tend to be the ones who were the least involved. And where do they get their initial information? From informers who've usually been busted and are making a deal to avoid harsh time.

Erba's large point here was that this has been going for decades and now that this is being used to target environmentalists, "middle class" America may wake up. They should. This isn't about justice and it's not about a sound legal system.

Lauren Regan then spoke about how free speech was not just verbal and how this country has a long history of seeing free speech as actions. She went through the history of people targeting "property" for their free speech actions including theft of "property" in the 1860s when people helped slaves escape. She noted the dumping of tea in the Boston harbor. Actions that are not intended threaten the life of anyone or overthrow the government are now being prosecuted as if they were.

The three excerpts were well chosen because each built on the information given right before. Boghosian did a good job setting up the segment by noting that the environmental movement was being targeted and spied on, then dealt "especially harsh" charges and sentences. At the end of the segment, she talked about the recent revelations from California, how Ahnuld's office
hired SRA International supposedly for 'security' and what ended up happening was that people engaged in peaceful (and Constitutional) protests were spied upon and tracked including an animal rights rally in San Francisco, a peace protest in Santa Barbara and one in Wall Creek at which a US Congress member spoke out against the war. This is about silencing dissent and criminalizing it. It's a really important segment and whether you heard it or already or plan to listen or if you're just going to read this here, I hope you'll think about it.

News for the Day

Make a difference on the 4th.

Iraq snapshot

Chaos and violence continue. As Dahr Jamail said on Monday's Flashpoints, "It really is horrible to try to keep in context the level of violence . . . Here we are doing it again with no end in sight and I wonder just how long we'll continue doing it? . . . Things are not just staying the same in Iraq, it's getting exponentially worse."

As Sandra Lupien noted on yesterday's KPFA's The Morning Show, former US soldier Steven D. Green was arrested and charged Friday with raping an Iraqi female while he was serving in Iraq and then killing her and three members of her family. The twenty-one-year-old Green was a member of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army before being discharged with what The New York Times termed a "personality disorder." The BBC notes that Green's next appearance in court will be July 10th. Various press reports note that four others are suspected of involvement but Green has been the only one charged. The Associated Press reports that Minister Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shebli, Iraq's justice minister, has "demanded" that the United Nations provide oversight to ensure that those guilty be brought to justice.

Though the United States military has maintained that the rape victime was at least twenty-years-old, reports beginning with Ellen Knickmeyer's (Washington Post) on Monday have placed the female's age much lower. Yesterday, Reuters reported that the mayor of Mahmudiya declared today that the woman "was no more than 16 years old when she was killed along with her parents and young sister".

In the United States, members of CODEPINK, Granny Peace Brigade, Gold Star Families for Peace, United for Peace & Justice and Women for Peace have gathered in DC and are fasting: "While many Americans will be expressing their patriotism via barbeques and fireworks, we'll be fasting in memory of the dead and wounded, and calling for the troops to come home from Iraq."

Yesterday, they gathered in front of the Ghandi statue at 3:00 PM where Cindy Sheehan spoke: "This war is a crime. We represent millions of Americans who withdraw their support from this government." Others participating include Daniel Ellsberg, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn and Dick Gregory. On yesterday's WBAI's Cat Radio Cafe, Janet Coleman spoke with several members of Granny Peace Brigade about the fast and other actions. Among the women Coleman spoke with was former WBAI programmer Vinnie Burrows who sang a portion of one her songs: "The kids are dying far away in a foreign land/ I must keep on trying, their lives are in our hands."

In Scotland last weekend, members of Military Always Delivers (an activist group like the Billionaires for Bush in the United States) participated in a pro-war march and rally on Saturday. Scotland Independent Media Center reports (text and photos) that many pro-war marches were not in on the prank as members of MAD shouted slogans such as "Cut Welfare, Buy More Bombs!"; "War is the Health of the State"; and "Power Grows out of the Barrel of a Gun" while passing out "deception dollars."
Today, in Iraq, Reuters reports that Raad al-Harith, Iraq's deputy electricity minister, and 19 of his bodyguards were kidnapped in Baghdad. In other violence thus far today, a roadside bomb in Baghdad claimed the lives of at least two police officers and wounded at least four; in Hawija, a mortar attack claimed the lives of at least one and wounded at least two others; and, in Falluja, "[g]unmen wounded a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars."

An upcoming event: Brava Theater, 2789 24th Street, San Francisco, Friday, July 7th, 7:00 pm. (415-647-2822) Mark Manning will be screening his film Caught in the Crossfire for those interested in knowing the realities on Falluja that Dexy and the other Green Zoners never got around to telling you. Nadia McCaffrey, who lost her son in the Iraq war, will bespeaking as will Dahr Jamail.

To date 2538 American troops have lost their lives in Iraq (official count). And 150 members ofAlpha Company of the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry are headed for Fort Dix and then Iraq.

Around the globe. The AFP reports that confronted with a direct threat of nuclear strikes, from North Korea, the White House shrugs and White House spokesmodel Tony Snow declares, "It is still deeply hypothetical." However, the Bully Boy demonstrates no reluctance to play Wallflower with Iran. The Associated Press reports "Western powers" are demanding a July 12th dealine for beginning talks and ceasing nuclear enrichment -- after that, it's a nuclear dance off! This despite Seymour Hersh's reporting that "Pentagon planners and other experts" are not in support of Bully Boy's plan to nuke Iran. Korea? Iran? Iran? Korea? Michael R. Gordon's head spins as he attempts to figure out which war is a "go" in order to start marketing his own brand of home-made (war) porn. (Seymour and Shane -- what have you wrought!) And in the occupied terroritories? The 'jokesters' at the Associated Press, reporting on continued armed agression, dub their story "Israel keeps up pressure on Gaza." In the real world, Nora Barrows-Friedman, on KPFA's Flashpoints, noted that over 130,000 Palestinians have been left without water; that sonic booms are being used to terrorize the population throughout the night; that Israeli forces, in the last week, have abducted " one-third of the Palestinian government. No one in the international community has yet expressed any outrage at this or the Palestinian political prisoner's conditions."

In election news in the United States, Robert Parry writes on the campaign "tool" that benefitted the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004: Osama bin Laden's rush-released video timed to debut four days prior to the election. Though it didn't fly off the shelves at Blockbuster, CIA analysts studying the release came to the judgement that "that bin-Laden was trying to help Bush gain a second term." Meanwhile, professional politician Joe Lieberman, who never met a baby or an ass he couldn't kiss, has thrown down his Zell-Miller-like marker announcing that if he doesn't win his party's nomination (Democratic), he will run as an independent to hold on to his Senate seat. Particularly surprising to Lieberman may be no cries of: "Say it ain't so, Joe!" This as fellow Democratic War Hawk Maria Cantwell appears to hope she can just wish the war away from constituents' minds. In contrast to Cantwell's fiddle-dee-dee approach, newly declared Democrat Jim Webb stated in Saturday's Democratic radio address: ""I have believed strongly that when things aren't working well, it is the responsibility of our leaders to admit it, and to fix the problem. Some say that speaking out against a war is disloyal to the troops. Whoever says that should consider what it's like to be a troop, wishing someone would speak the truth."

In other election news: Que una sorpresa -- another election in Mexico is rife with accusations of fraud and rigging. Possibly, next time an election approaches, US media outlets could spend less time shoring up the lite candidate as "left" and more time exploring the system that continues to fail the people? (We mean the system itself, but if it's easier to focus on the voting mechanics, even that would be preferred.) The BBC reports that conservative Felipe Calderon is the winner and the less conservative Manuel Lopez Obrador is waiting for a recount while the people of Mexico wait for a real leader to emerge. (The actual count of the votes will not begin until Wednesday, as noted by the KPFA Evening News Monday.)

In science & techonology news, the London Free Press is reporting that: "A huge asteroid whizzed by Earth early yesterday, passing about 433,000 kilometres from the planet's surface -- slightly farther away than the moon." Meanwhile, Jane Kay (San Franciso Chronicle) reports on a new study published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Science which has found the world's bird population to be disappearing at an alarming rate: "The study, the most thorough analysis of global bird species, says 12 percent of existing species -- about 1,250 -- are threatened with extinction by 2100." La loco bird flies on the op-ed pages of the Washington Post where the always laughable Eugene Robinson shows up days late, without a tardy slip, and rushes to shore up the justifiably (long) tarnished image of Star Jones (a modern-day Joan of Arc burned at the TVQ pyre, to hear Robinson tell it) in a column that will provide laughter for years (print it up, it's doubtful the 'collected works' will ever be published). The always late for the train Robison trots out a seventies spoof of Barbara Walters but seems (not surprisingly) unaware that Star Jones has been spoofed repeatedly in more recent years on both Saturday Night Live and Mad TV. For the record, roaches weren't used in any spoof revolving around Walters. Alleged homophobe, peace-activist hater, and attorney Jones will apparently next argue the case that her firing from The View just because the audiences hated her was a case of wrongful termination at I-Hops and truck stops across the country. Chances are that she won't draw a crowd there either. Meanwhile Robinson is prepping his next hard hitting column: an exploration of Shannen Doherty's public firings. [Note: C.I. participated in the writing of the previous six sentences only after consulting with friends at the Washington Post.] In a better use of space, investigative journalist and internet sleuth Ron Byrnaert discovers that a certain Free Republic poster is apparently better known to many as a voice of the left or 'left.' Ron (Why Are We Back In Iraq?) searches for the answer to the question of "Who is Vis Numar?"


Monday's Democracy Now! offered "We Shall Overcome: An Hour With Legendary Folk Singer & Activist Pete Seeger" while today's broadcast will feature:

StoryCorps: A national social history project records the voices of ordinary people -- citizen and non-citizen, old and young -- telling their stories to each other.

Musical question of the day from Carly Simon's "Playing Possum" (written by Simon, title track to the CD of the same name):

We lived up in Cambridge
And browsed in the hippest newstands
Then we started our own newspaper
Gave the truth about Uncle Sam
We loved to be so radical
But like a rugged love affair
Some became disenchanted
And some of us just got scared
Now are you playing possum
Keeping a low profile
Are you playing possum for a while?

This joint entry written by The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and me, Jim; Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude; Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man; C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review; Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills); Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix; Mike of Mikey Likes It!; Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz; Wally of The Daily Jot; Trina of Trina's Kitchen; and Ruth of Ruth's Public Radio Report. [With additional help from Dallas and Tracey.]

SICFUCS Love Condi

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX - DC.THIS JUST IN!

SICFUCS DECLARE LOVE FOR CONDI!

MUST CREDIT CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & BULLY BOY PRESS.


THIS JUST IN!

AFTER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTED ON THE "CONDINISTAS" AND HOW THEY WERE VARIOUS INDIVIDUALS IN SPLINTER GROUPS, THEY HAVE COME TOGETHER, ONE ENTERPRISING INDIVIDUAL, TOM ZUNIGA (NO RELATION TO DAPHNE), DECIDED TO USE SOME "PEOPLE-POWER AND A LITTLE NET-ROOTS TO HOLD AN ONLINE CONVENTION."

"WE'RE GOING TO DRAFT SECRETARY RICE TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008," HE EXPLAINED. "THE OLD MODELS ARE OUT OF DATE. WE HAVE THE POWER! WE WILL STORM THE GATES! WE WILL FLUSH THE TOILETS!"

ASKED WHAT THE UNIFYING NAME FOR THE VARIOUS GROUPS WERE, ZUNIGA REPLIED, "WE LISTED SOME OF HER QUALITIES AND CAME UP WITH THE NAME."

"S(HE) I(S) C(ONDI) F(ORMIDABLE) U(NINHIBITED) C(ONDI) S(UPREME)," HE SAID TAKING A BIG BREATH. "OR JUST SICFUCS FOR SHORT."

"SICFUCS?"

"YES," HE REPLIED. "WE ARE SICFUCS."

AT LEAST THEY ARE HONEST.

Recommended: "And the war drags on . . ."
"Democracy Now: Pete Seeger; Iraq snapshot -- Steven D. Green arrested on rape & murder charges"
"NYT: The soft porn of dizy Dexy"
"Popsicles in the Kitchen"
"Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts 'Bully Boy and Koizumi Play Dress Up'"
"Hard Promises (that's a Tom Petty CD)"
"'Details Emerge in Alleged Army Rape, Killings' (Ellen Knickmeyer)"
"The cross-dressing, I can live with, the right-wing plotting . . ."
"NYT: 'Sunnis Boycott Parliament After Colleague's Kidnapping' (Kirk Semple)"
"Put Away the Flags (Howard Zinn)"
"NYT: There is no grace, even at Graceland even in the Green Zone"
"action alert from fair and chatty post"
And:
Editorial: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld -- what matters
TV: TESR Investigates: NYC
Two books, Ten Minutes
Somebody Killed Her Career
Psst, over here, it's the story you're not supposed to know about
Iraq
Uh, Correction Time, New York Times
Cheney has a heart!
A non-Star loses her sparkle time

2nd entry today

"10 Members of Granny Peace Brigade Released in Philly" (Democracy Now):
In Philadelphia, 10 members of the Granny Peace Brigade were arrested Wednesday after refusing to leave a military recruiting center.

That's news. Good for the Granny Peace Brigade.

Judge Sentences Katrina Looters to 15 Years in Jail (Democracy Now):
In other news from New Orleans, a judge has sentenced three people to fifteen years in prisons for looting in the days after Hurricane Katrina. The three were convicted of taking liquor, wine and beer from a grocery store.

So is that "justice"? It is if the police who looted are punished as well. Democracy Now pointed out earlier that they helped themselves to Mercedes. Are they going to get 15 years? What about the ones NBC's Today Show had video on, back in September, who were going through a Wal-Mart grabbing what they wanted. They were asked about it, on camera, and they said they didn't want to talk. I'm remembering DVDs and other items. Are they getting 15 years?

If they're not, this is just one more way to punish African-Americans.

And speaking of African-Americans, we smoke in significant numbers. (I don't smoke.) So do all members of the lower class. So I was kind of shocked (like Rebecca) to hear the nonsense about cancer being on the rise because of second hand smoke the other day. That's not why two old people I know have cancer. They have cancer because they live next to a plant that streams pollution all day and all the night. (In fact, it kicks up the stream at night. When you go to visit them, you roll up the windows and still get hit with a wave of that crap.) Screaming and tsk-tsking second-hand smoke is an easy out. Our water makes us sick, our air makes us sick. That's why cancer's on the rise. When you're ready to deal with that, deal with it. Until then, you're just scoring points of the backs of the poor lecturing about second-hand smoke. I also believe that there's a "causal link" as opposed to an established one as opposed to an "established" one. So until you're willing to turn your keen eyes to the factories pouring out pollution and the fact that poor people are the ones stuck living next to them, save me your smoking facts. I don't need 'em. I don't want 'em. (I don't smoke.)

I agree that the American Cancer Society is the biggest coward in the world. Of all the causes of cancer, they want to focus on only one. When they get a little bravery, maybe I'll take them seriously. Instead, it's one more way to focus on the things that don't really matter. Unless what matters is to demonize the poor. That's always fun, right? "Those poor folks, getting drunk, getting pregnant, smoking. Worthless and lazy." Right? That's the point, isn't it?

Because if the point was about the increase in cancer, then we'd be exploring the pollution in our environment, in our homes. KPFA aired a great documentary about the pollution in the homes during their last pledge month. Glomming on smoking alone allows a lot of people to feel superior. It does not, however, address reality. It's not uncommon to see on the news (I know two people personally) that someone had cancer (Christopher Reeve's wife Dana, for instance) who didn't smoke, who wasn't around smoking. But let's all pretend it's just smoking because it's easier to attack the habits of the poor then to go after the ones polluting the environment (inside and out).

That's it for me today. I already did an entry with Wally today. Mike and I are blogging on the same things so check out Mikey Likes It and see his thoughts. I'll go out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Chaos and violence continue.
Stooges, fools and cheerleaders allow it to continue. Meanwhile the so-called coalition continues to shrink.
Romania becomes the next to tell the Bully Boy, "Catch you on the flip-side." Retuers reports Calin Tariceanu (prime minister of Romania) announced today that Romania would pull all troops by the end of the year -- before Romania's 890 troops can be pulled the Supreme Defence Council has to give its approval. Romania's president has slammed the proposal as had American ambassador to Romania and Advance Auto Parts merchant Nicholas F. Taubman. Bully Boy pioneer Taubman expressed his "impression that not all of the relevant parties, whether within Romania or beyond, were consulted before this proposal was announced." "Within Romania or beyond"? Spoken like a big donor, not like an ambassador, but Advance Auto Parts isn't known for turning out diplomats.
This as Rocky Mountain News reports that the Colorado Army National Guard's 169th unit will ship 100 soldiers to Iraq in July (with 300 of the "2/135th Aviation Company" currently training in Texas with orders to deploy in Septemeber).
Despite yesterday's 'coverage' of the "insurgent-poll" nothing really changed. It was another day of violence and chaos in Iraq.
Australia's ABC reports that Australian troops were "under attack" in southern Iraq. The Associated Press reports that "Iraqi and U.S. troops battled Shi'ite militiamen in a village northeast of Baghdad" -- still ongoing when the AP filed their report. Reuters notes, on this incident, that a police commander was shot dead by a sniper and two others were wounded.
Those were among many of the deaths in Iraq. As Sandra Lupien noted on KPFA's The Morning Show, there were multiple victims of violence today: trash collector, head of security for Baghdad University (Kadhim Challoub), merchants, baker, electrical worker and a woman who'd been waiting in her car with her two children (the children were wounded, not killed) among them. Reuters notes, in Kerbala, the death (by gunshot) of "a criminal intelligence policeman" as well as the death of two Iraqi soldiers (as well as one civilian, with one soldier and two other civilians wounded) in Faulluja, and one Iraqi soldier dead with seven more wounded from a roadside bomb in Riyadh. In Kirkuk, a car bomb exploded at a Shi'ite soldier's funeral initially claiming the lives of at least four. Reuters would later put the number of those dead at seven.
As Mark Mericle noted on yesterday's KPFA's The KPFA Evening News, "People gathered in 34 cities around the country yesterday to show their support for Lt. Ehren Watada" introducing a news report by Julie Sabatier from Portland.
Two other items noted on yesterday's KPFA Evening News, the 'apologetic' Joshua Belile, who once apologized (or 'apologized') for his song while advising others to "let it go," has now announced that he will be releasing "a professionally recorded version of the song in a few weeks" and in Berkeley, the city council has put a "symbolic" referendum on the ballot calling on Congress to impeach the Bully Boy due to his lies that led us into an illegal war. (June 27th was also declared Cindy Sheehan day.)
Reuters notes that seven corpses were found (male) in the Tigris River ("gunshot wounds . . . signs of torture"), while two more corpses (male) were discovered in the Euphrates River ("gunshot wounds . . . signs of torture"). Reuters notes that: "Morgue officials say 30-50 bodies are found in Baghdad alone every day." In Kirkuk, the AP reports the corpse of a fifteen-year-old female was discovered -- "kidnapped five days ago." The AFP puts the count of corpses discovered throughout Iraq today at 18.
File it under "No one could have guessed," Condi No-One-Could-Have-Guessed Rice had a "testy exchange" with Russia's Sergei Lavrov (Russia's Foreign Minister) in a "closed-door meeting" from which the audio feed was accidentally left on. "What does that mean?" Rice asks at one point, to which Lavrov responds, "I think you understand." In what might have been her most honest reply, she declared, "No, I don't." On that, we believe you, Condi, we believe you. The issue was how to word a statement on the security situation in Iraq and the anger spilled over publicly after the meeting, in front of reporters when Rice responded to Lavrov's comments about changes in America that he'd seen since he first visited in 1979, "So when did you go and where did you go in the United States in 1979 that you saw so much change? I am really interested." Though Rice may have forgotten, her current title is Secretary of State.
What gets play and what doesn't? One might think that Nancy A. Youssef breaking the news Monday that the US government, despite claims otherwise, was indeed keeping body counts of Iraqis. You might think that would be news . . . but you'd be wrong. What gets runs with?
Not truth. July 4th's a-coming, can't have families getting together in the United States without some false hope or Bully Boy might get a trashing that wouldn't bode well for the November elections. So nonsense gets tossed out by the puppet government and the media amplifies it.
Yes, we're speaking of the nonsense that "insurgents" are on the two-year-withdrawal bus. Since the domestic, US media has never explored the terms "insurgent" or "resistance," who knows what they mean? The AFP notes: "At the same time, a foreign diplomat raised questions about the identity of armed groups reportedly in contact with the government and whether they carry any real weight in the nationwide insurgency." Al Jazeera notes that eleven groups have met with occupation puppet Nouri al-Maliki and that eight of them are the ones being referred to. Do they carry any weight? A good question to ask. (Instead, it's easier to report/"report": "Insurgents meeting with Maliki!") Al Jazeera, which may be the only news organization that's going by more than government sources (it's spoken to representatives for the groups) reports that "the 11 groups operate north and north-east of Baghdad in increasingly violent Salahuddin and Diyala provinces."
Increasingly violent. This isn't Anbar, this isn't even Baghdad. These, if Al Jazeera's reporting is correct, are groups from, for Iraq, relatively restful provinces that are growing "increasingly violent." It's a nice bit of happy talk to send us all into the holiday weekend. It's not, however, reality. Having never explored the issue (other than to guess fighting is fueled by Iran -- wait, no! it's Egypt), they now want to get behind eight groups or eleven groups and the news consumer is left uninformed. (Possibly that's the point of it all.)
Reality was Nancy A. Youssef's report. Have we seen that covered in the New York Times? Have we seen it covered elsewhere? Maybe the silence is due to the fact that the administration being caught in yet another lie seems more "redundant" than "newsworthy"?

Holla' Back Girl Uses Nah-Nah Diplomacy

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX - MOSCOW.

THIS JUST IN!

MUST CREDIT CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & BULLY BOY PRESS.

INSPIRED BY THE NAH-NAH SISTERHOOD, CONDI RICE DECIDED TO PRACTICE HER OWN VERSION OF NAH-NAH DIPLOMACY WINNING SHOUTS OF "YOU GO, GIRL!" FROM MAD MADDY ALBRIGHT.

DROPPING THE TITLE OF SECRETARY OF STATE, CONDI WENT WITH "HOLLA BACK GIRL!" AS SHE DROPPED THE BOMB ON RUSSIA'S SERGEI LAVROV.

FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV AND HOLLA BACK GIRL CONDI HAD A THROW DOWN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS BUT FORGOT TO TURN OFF THE MIKES.

EMERGING TO FACE THE CROWDS WITH HER USUAL PHONEY SMILE AND CLENCHED FISTS, HOLLA BACK LISTENED WHILE LAVROV SPOKE OF THE CHANGES HE HAD WITNESSED IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE FIRST VISITING IN 1979.

SOMEBODY CALL THE PO-PO COZ CONDI WAS FLASHING ATTITUDE.

"SO WHEN DID YOU GO AND WHERE DID YOU GO IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1979 THAT YOU SAW SO MUCH CHANGE?" ASKED HOLLA BACK DOING THE NECK AND HEAD COMBO MADE FAMOUS BY MANY IN THE AUDIENCE OF A JERRY SPRINGER SHOW.

NAH-NAH DIPLOMACY, MAKING THE WORLD A LITTLE WORSE FOR ALL OF US.


Recommended: "Democracy Now: Norman Finkelstein, Dixon Osburne, Ben Wizner, Lawrence Norden"
"NYT: Dexy wants to process, everyone in a group circle!"
"NYT: Covering the spin and not much more"
"pissed"
"Specter thinks he might be angry, Dave Zirin and more"
"Guns and Butter"
"Fast on the fourth"

Michael Smith's speech from Law and Disorder

WBAI's Law and Disorder? I ended up with four e-mails asking about the pirate station. I don't know. You've got a very small area downtown and it's during business hours. They play
Law and Disorder and I don't know what else in full but I did drive around with my cousin and we picked it up, like he'd told me would. I've heard a big of the show (probably 15 minutes) that way. Otherwise, they're playing music and another program that I'm not sure what it is. The music is usually Bob Marley (my cousin's heard Ziggy as well) and some songs that are mixes where they take a thing from one of the cable channels of some guy screaming and mix it so he sounds like an even bigger idiot. This is mixed with music that's Eastern and has beats added to it.

There's this thing from time to time that's a rain sound effect and we're guessing that's the "station name." I was telling my cousin and some friends about the show a few weeks back and my cousin says he heard it and I know he didn't. But he starts telling me about what he heard and he did hear it. It's some very, very low watt station. You really can only get it downtown. The other show isn't Democracy Now! but I don't know what it is. It's a news program where they were interviewing people about the war. There may be other programs too. But we've driven around downtown repeatedly to try to figure out what it's playing and we catch the music or Law and Disorder (plus the other show one time). He/She/They play Law and Disorder at lunch time and they may do it every day. They do it on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday that we can confirm. You've got about three streets running north and south that you can hear it on and maybe three times as many running east and west. But if you turn a corner on the wrong street, you lose it.

My cousin here's it all the time because he works downtown and he can hear it the second he's driving out of the parking garage. That's probably all I'm going to say about it because I thought it was pretty cool. When I was seven years old, I got a set of walkie talkies. I always played with one and would let my friends and my brothers and sisters play with the other. My sister decided to play like it was a light saber with the antenna extended and broke it off. So I just had the one. But I'd play dee jay a lot after that. I'd hold down the button on the side forever, song after song. Every now and then, between songs, I'd say some stuff. When my finger was tired and I had to stop, I'd listen, we lived next to the highway, and see if any of the truck drivers were talking about it? Most of the time, no. Every now and then someone would make one comment and that would make my day. I had a "listener."

So when it turned out that there was some low watt broadcast station in our city, I thought that was pretty cool. But I had one e-mail saying I needed to contact the FCC and how awful it was because this pirate station was interfering with "real radio stations." I don't think so. I think it's pretty cool. But I'm not going to write about it here again. He/She/They aren't hurting anyone and I don't want to cause any problems for them.

I think it's great. Whether it's the music or the programs, someone's sharing. We don't have any radio stations worth listening to and certainly nothing that's playing anything that people really care about (except maybe commercials and the money they can bring in) so I think it's
great. Maybe it will fold in a few weeks, maybe it will go on for a few years? But whoever is doing it cares and I think that's great.

This week on WBAI's Law and Disorder, Heidi Boghosian was the "anchor." They had a series of interviews and speeches and Boghosian set them up explaining where they were recorded and that sort of thing. The speeches were my favorite part of the show. I enjoyed the other parts and Mike's "Law and Disorder interviewed Suzanne Vega and Collective Soul" covers two interviews. But Dalia Hashad said a few weeks ago that America needs to wake up and I agree with that. Ruth is trying to focus just on Iraq right now. She said I could grab both speeches, but I'm going with Michael Smith's because I think Ruth can more easily work Michael Ratner's speech into her report in some way.

By the way if you listen to the program (or want to) via the WBAI's archive, Brandon e-mailed to say it's under "Joy of Resistance." It airs on Monday morning's right after Democracy Now and Brandon said it's labled "Joy or Resistance" this week (that's another show) so just pretend it says "Law and Disorder" and click for that program.

Brandon also said he recommends listening on Winamp because when he uses Real Player or Windows Media Player he has a lot of problems with it dropping out or with it getting stuck.

"Dangerous Times" was the theme of the Left Forum which is where the speeches by Ratner and Smith were given. Michael Smith traced the real rise of empire to the 1991 privatization of national property in the former Soviet Union. He spoke about how that gave a number of people the plan for Iraq. If that idea's new to you, you should read Naomi Klein's "Baghdad Year Zero"

He spoke a book he, Michael Ratner and two of Michael Ratner's nieces worked on that was a collection of William Kunstler's writings (the nieces were Kunstler's daughters). They had a title for it and they wondered about it: The Emerging Police State.

Smith said, "That's a bit much. Perhaps we should calm down?"

But then they realized that what was happening in this country was too much, not the book title.
He made the point that, "The Final Solution wasn't announced as the Final Solution. . . . Things creep up and creep up." Now we're at a point where things could become "irreversible."

He spoke of Hitler's rise and how he didn't seize power immediately. He talked about the buring of the Reichstad and how it was, falsely, blamed on the communists. And from there you got all this demonizing. Hitler came to power on fear, preaching fear and being the one who would save you. Sound familiar?

He spoke about Lynne Stewart and I had an e-mail from a right-winger about the post last week and how I was a "Black Radical." If the e-mailer is my alternative, fine by me. But he brought up Lynne Stewart in his e-mail and noted how C.I. and Mike are Lynne Stewart supporters (at their sites they've covered this many times). He wanted "to let you know, she's a T-E-R-R-O-R-I-S-T." No she's not. And Michael Smith dealt with that. She's a lawyer who fought to uphold the Constitution and our rights. You can trash the law, and Bully Boy has, and maybe you'll catch someone who's guilty but you'll also put a lot of innocent people behind bars. Lynne Stewart was doing her job. She was an attorney. That some sixty-plus year-old grandmother who has spent years and years in a court room can be seen as a terrorist shows you how bad things are today. I'll speak for everyone doing a site in this community here and note, we all support Lynne Stewart. We all think the conviction needs to be overturned. Mike and C.I. talk about it more because they blog more (C.I. will kill me for that, because C.I. does more "entries" than any of us).

You may feel a little less scared at night because Lynne Stewart was wrongly convicted (and not of breaking a law -- find the law she broke) but in ten years when the hysteria dies down, this conviction is going to be seen as the tragedy it was.

I learned of Lynne Stewart in real time when they were railroading her. It was before the trial and I always appreciated that C.I. wrote about it. You saw a lot of people, including some lawyers, writing stuff that was really weak-ass. "Oh, of course I wouldn't do what she did but . . ." Or some saying, "They need to go for a lesser charage." Maybe they thought they were practical? I thought they were chickens. I love that about The Common Ills, there's no concern on C.I.'s part about "How will I sound?" Somethings do have a clear right and wrong and, when they do, you need to say so, you need to speak out. Which was the point Michael Smith was making. If you don't do that, the country you know is gone.

There was a big name lawyer who wrote a piece for a left magazine and it was so weak-ass. If that's the best he can do, maybe he should have said nothing. A woman was railroaded and trying to look "reasonable" doesn't (and didn't) save anyone. Lynne Stewart's attornies are suing to find out if her phone calls were tapped. I bet they were. What I wish she'd do is sue the government for refusing to allow her to do her legal duties to her client.

I don't think she'd win. But I think if that was front and center in a case, some of the weak-ass lawyers who couldn't defend her (out of fear of losing their pundit gigs or maybe what parents of their students might think) would have to deal with the real issues of the case.

I'll say Lynne Stewart's innocent. I'll say it to anyone. She is. And it's a honor to defend her. I won't be creating an excuse in ten years when people are horrorified by what was done to Stewart. I'll be able to say, "I spoke out. She was innocent and if people hadn't been so scared, they would have spoken out as well."

She's an attorney who tried to do her job. She didn't break a law. She "broke" a guideline that the government created. I'd love to see that challenged in court. If the government wants to have laws, you go through Congress. You don't create your own and call them guidelines.

Lynne Stewart's not a terrorist and she's innocent of breaking any laws. The woman should be set free, the conviction overturned. She's innocent.

Now Heidi Boghosian was on the panel that Michaels Smith and Ratner were speaking from so hopefully, we'll be able to get a speech from Boghosian. (She did a great job as anchor.)

Two statements I want to note from Michael Smith's speech are: "They're spying on attornies representing controversial clients"; "They're telling attornies you can't say what you want to with respect to your client." I want to note them because I was on the phone with Ruth and I asked her if she attended that forum because she wrote this Saturday:

A Daniel Ellsberg who does go public will, no doubt, need a attorney. If lawyers and their clients cannot speak freely, that is a problem. If everyone has to fear that their conversations are being monitored, a clampdown can set in.

She says she wished she'd gone but she didn't. She credits the similarity to "Professor Smith's lessons in the class Law and Disorder at University WBAI. She said Amy Goodman has spoken of that during fundraising, how WBAI is the people's university. I like that. You do learn a lot. I also learn a great deal at University KPFA. I'd probably learn a lot at others as well but I have problems trying to listen online with two and the third seems to always play music when I have time to listen. I'll go ahead and say what I think about that because I don't like it. Pacifica has a station in DC and they devote too much programming to music. They're in the nation's capital. There's really not an excuse for it. C.I. really does mean it when giving the speech that if you're lucky enough to have a Pacifica in your area, you should listen to it. And C.I. does listen to that one on DC trips. I don't have that kind of dedication. They need to lose about ten hours of music programming, at least, if they hoped to interest someone like me. If they don't have the money to produce their own shows, air Law and Disorder and other strong programs. But I think playing music for hours after hours when you're in DC is really wasting everyone's time. Leigh Ann Caldwell covers stuff from DC but she's not with that station. She's doing it with Free Speech Radio. She does a great job. I remember being so disappointed when we were all in DC and I was asking what the Pacifica station was because I was sure they were going to be doing strong coverage and I find it on the dial and it's jazz music.

I like music. There's a program I'll listen to on Saturdays on WBAI that's music. If I'm not doing something for the church or for my family (meaning when I'm home), I'll listen to it. It's a pretty interesting mix and the guy who hosts it always has some stuff to say. When we were all out in California, I heard some really good music programs on KPFA. World music, folk, rock, etc. I like jazz. I like it enough to take about an hour of it in a club once a month. To me, the DC station is too much a jazz station. Which I always see as "Black people classical music." I like jazz, my family likes jazz but if you're African-American, you know what I'm talking about. It's Huxtable Music.

Maybe they have a wealthy listenership but I saw a lot more people with my skin color in DC than I did White people and they didn't look like they were rolling in it. (And thanks to C.I. because when we did a real sight seeing thing on our second group trip, C.I. didn't just make it about the big landmarks but showed us the other areas and there's is so much poverty in DC.) The station plays some rap as well. Late at night, if I remember right. But to me, I felt like I was listening to a classical music station. That seemed a real loss of what could be a station reaching out to people who really needed it. In some of those areas, I bet people didn't have money for cable. I was really surprised to see DC the first time and more so on the second visit because I thought I'd be used to it this time. There is so much poverty. There's so much decay. You can see where the money goes and where it doesn't go.

The signal came in loud and clear on the radio, I just didn't hear much worth listening to.

I'm sure some will disagree and think, "Well we need jazz." We "need" jazz like we need steak -- meaning you need to take care of the basics before you start focusing on the items we can live without and I don't think they focus on what's needed. I like that thing about how the stations are like universities but I think the one in DC just offers a musical appreciation course and not much else. It was like NPR and I found that very disappointing.

I'll probably cover an interview Dalia Hashad did when I blog on Thursday.

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

Chaos and violence continue.
Happy talk continues.
In the land of reality, Medea Benjamin and Raed Jarrar examine the neutered "peace plan" put foward by occupation puppet Nouri al-Maliki and the United States. Benjamin and Jarrar remind that a World Public Opinion poll this year "showed 87% of the general population [of Iraq] favoring a set timeline for U.S. withdrawal." This as USA Today reports on the USA Today/Gallup Poll which found that "[a] majority of Americans say Congress should pass a resolution that outlines a plan for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq" and that "[h]alf of those surveyed would like all U.S. forces out withing 12 months."
In other reality news, Sandra Lupien noted on KPFA's The Morning Show, over 5% of Iraq's population is displaced with over 150,000 having fled their home (a figure that does not include those who have been taken in by extended family members). In addition, Reuters notes that the figures for children only: 40,000 displaced children since February 22nd of this year. UNICEF, in its 1996 study (the most recent) looking at the effects of war on children found, for the 1980s: "2 million killed; 4-5 million disabled; 12 million left homeless; more than 1 million orphaned or separated from their parents; [and] some 10 million psychologically traumatized." Using figures up through the 80s, UNICEF found that civilian victims of war "has been rising steadily".
Bombings?
Reuters notes that in Baghdad, one car bomb took the lives of three peopl at a market and wounded at least ten while a second bomb took the lives of three police officers with another three wounded.
Al Jazeera notes that a car bomb in Kirkuk which took the lives of three and wounded at least seventeen. The Irish Examiner notes that the car bomb attack "came three days after a roadside bomb killed the chief of intelligence in Kirkuk" (Associated Press). Also in Kirkuk, Reuters notes "an off duty soldier" was killed by assailants "while driving his car."Kidnappings?Updates on two items. First, we noted yesterday the 10 kidnapped males. Steven Hurst and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (Canadian Press) report that the ten were all Sunni and students who were kidnapped "from their dormitory rooms" at Iraqi Technology University. The AFP reports that the kidnappings took place in "broad daylight" and that the kidnappers used "five sports utility vehicles with tinted windows".
Emma Griffiths (Australia's ABC) reports that the four Russian diplomats -- Fyodor Zaytsev, Rinat Aglyulin, Anatoly Smirnov and Oleg Fedosseyev -- have been confirmed dead by the Foreign Ministry of Russia. The four were kidnapped on June 3rd in Baghdad when their car was attacked by unknown assailants. During the attack a fifth diplomat,Vitaly Vitalyevich Titov , was killed. On Sunday, a videotape was released which showed what appear to be some of the four being killed. While the press reports were circulating, the Russian government noted repeatedly that the murders had not been confirmed. The Mujahedeen Shura Council has asserted since last weekend that they had killed the four diplomats.
Meanwhile, as Amy Goodman noted on Democracy Now! today, "former CIA officer Tyler Drumheller said he repeatedly warned administration over the discredited Iraqi source known as 'Curveball'." Ignoring the warnings and advise, Colin Powell used the information for his now infamous UN speech that Powell has described as a "blot" on his career/record. Yesterday in Washington, DC, Democrats in the Senate held a hearing on the intelligence issue where, among others, Larry Wilkerson and Paul Pillar testified. Speaking of the administration and the intelligence community, Pillar stated, "I would describe the relationship as broken."
Joshua Belile will not be punished for "an obscenity-laced song" performed "to a laughing and cheering crowd." The US military has found no reason to charge him and one unnamed Marine Corps. official tells Reuters that "poor taste, poor judgment and poor timing, not to mention offensive lyrics, do not necessarily amount to criminal conduct." Margaret Neighbor (Scotsman) described the song thusly: "In a four-minute video called Hadji Girl, a singer who appears to be a marine tells a cheering audience about gunning down members of an Iarqi woman's family after they confront him with authomatic weapons." As Sandra Lupien reported June 14th on KPFA's The Morning Show, the song included lyrics such as: "the blood sprayed from between her eyes." As Lupien noted June 15th on KPFA's The Morning Show, the apologetic Belile stated that "People need to laugh at it and let it go." Reuters notes that he has said it was "supposed to be funny" and that he based it on Team America: World Police. (The film that underwhelmed at the box office in 2004 and was put out by the South Park twins.)
Finally, in peace news. NPR actually covered the case of Suzanne Swift. The audio clips can be heard online and lasts 3:58 minutes. The reporting? The segment's over (except for some really bad bumper music) at 3:26 minutes in a report filed by Martin Kaste. The report starts at 0:16 and Swift's case is over by 1:30 minutes. A minute and fourteen seconds may not seem like much but it's more than they've given Ehren Watada.
Today is a day of action for those wanting to stand with war resister Ehren Watada. To sign a petition in support of Watada by clicking here. More information on today's national day of action can be found at ThankYouLt.org and Courage to Resist.

White House thumbs its nose at the Supreme Court (Bully Boy Press & Cedric's Big Mix)

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

THIS JUST IN!

MUST CREDIT CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & BULLY BOY PRESS.

THE WHITE HOUSE THUMBS ITS NOSE AT THE SUPREME COURT!

NOTHING NEW THERE, SOME INSIDERS SCOFF. BUT TODAY WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON AND PROFESSIONAL NOSE PICKER TONY SNOW DECLARED THAT EVEN IF THE SUPREME COURT SHOULD RULE THAT "THE DETENTION CAMP" (AKA THE PRISON) AT GUANTANAMO BAY MUST BE CLOSED, "tHE PROCESS IS GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME."

APPARENTLY BUYING INTO THE "CAMP" SPIN, TONY SNOW EXPLAINED THAT CAMP COUNSELORS (GUARDS) AND CAMPERS (PRISONERS) WOULD NEED TIME TO GATHER MEMEMTOS AND TO "REALLY GIVE SUMMER A GOOD SEND OFF. MAYBE ROAST SOME MARSHMELLOWS OR WIENIES, SING SOME CAMP SONGS, HAVE SOME GROUP HUGS."

IN OTHER TALES OF THE RIDICULOUS, THE SENATE TOOK A LOOK AT LIFE IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA AND DECIDED TO CUT OFF U.S. AID TO . . . PALESTINIANS. THIS AS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IS CALLING FOR AN INVESTIGATION "TO EXAMINE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH SCORES OF PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY ISRAELI FORCES IN THE GAZA STRIP IN RECENT MONTHS." IN AN APPARENT ATTEMPT TO WOO THE RIGHT-WING LOBBY, SENATOR JOE BIDEN, SERIAL WOODSHEDDER, PUT HIS NAME TO THE BILL AS CO-SPONSOR WHICH MEANS SOMEONE ELSE WROTE IT.

NO WORD ON WHEN THE SENATE WILL BLOCK AID TO THE LIKUD GOVERNMENT IN ISRAEL UNTIL IT PROMISES TO RENOUNCE VIOLENCE AND RECOGNIZE PALESTINE'S RIGHT TO EXIST.

FINALLY, WHILE FEW WERE LOOKING, THE FCC PULLED THEIR OWN SUPERBOWL-LIKE STUNT BY FLASHING SOMETHING FAR MORE FRIGHTENING THAN A NIPPLE RING -- THE REPUBLICAN DOMINATED COMMITTEE DECIDED WEDNESDAY TO TAKE ANOTHER SHOT AT MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES.


IN THEIR PRESS RELEASE, THE FCC OUTLINES THEIR "ISSUES" AS QUESTIONS:


*Should the Commission revise the limits adopted in the 2002 Biennial Review Order on the number of stations that can be commonly owned in one market, or is there additional evidence or analysis available now upon which the Commission can rely to further justify the limits adopted then?
*Similarly, in order to address the court’s concerns, should the Commission revise these numerical limits or is additional evidence available to further justify them?
*How should the Commission address radio/television and newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership issues?


Recommended: "NYT: Striving for tabloid (again)"
"And the war drags on . . . (Indymedia Roundup)""Democracy Now: Nadia McCaffrey, Julia Wright"
"NYT: Michael Gordon cups war pornography, Zernike plays dumb (it is playing, right?)"
"mccain the pain"
"Bonnie interviewed Sanders Hicks Wednesday""Law and Disorder on tasers""A number of topics"
"WBAI's Law and Disorder covered Mumia Abu-Jamal and David Gilbert"
"THIS JUST IN! PSYCHIC CASEY SAYS "HONEY, THEY SHRUNK THE ARMY!""
"Other Items (Nadia McCaffrey discusses the Pentagon lying about her son on Democracy Now! today)"
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"Katie Was a Cheerleader"
"Dan Rather, RIP, Assassinated by the Media Company He Loved"
"Lieutenant Watada Refused Iraq Deployment Orders Today"
"Access of Evil"
"Stop Fake Clinics from Deceiving Women"