loving the e-mails and beatrice, a lot of people remember your lucky from the diet coke ads.
corrie e-mails to gripe about johnny depp getting so many votes and feels that's only because 'he's been in every damn movie for the last 5 years.' that may be true but it's also true that corrie didn't vote. sorry but if you don't weigh in, you've got no right to complain after.
i'll also i loved c.i.'s post last night. sherry did too but wrote asking where the title was? it doesn't have a title which probably means c.i. was hurrying to get to bed and didn't notice that there was no title.
let me do a thing from democracy now since elaine can't post tonight and mike wants to get the word out on the show.
SEC Subpoenas Frist’s Financial Records
The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed Senate Majority Leader Dr. Bill Frist to hand over personal financial records related to his recent sale of stock in his family’s company HCA, the Hospital Corporation of America. The SEC is investigating whether Frist violated insider trader laws when he sold off HCA stock shortly before the company’s stock value fell. HCA is the largest private hospital corporation in the country.
senator meow-meow just keeps having problems. i hear a lot of talk with people speculating that the long arm of the law finally got wise but my friend thereze swears that what happened is that bully boy doesn't want frist to run for president in 2008 and is clearing the field for jeb or some 1 else.
whatever the reason, somewhere millions of cats are celebrating with a big ball of yarn.
i hope everyone saw mike's interview with tracey yesterday. if you didn't here's a taste of it where tracey's talking about her grandmother ruth:
She puts in the time for it. How proud is everyone of Ruth?
We are so proud of her. She was really sad after my grandfather died and that was hard to see because I don't think I'd seen her sad before. Not like that. They were married a long time and they really loved each other so it was really hard on her to lose him. It was hard on all of us but after a few weeks, I think everyone was just concerned about her. She's a great cook and we all go over on Sundays but we all go over during the week. You can't step through the door without her asking if you're hungry and whipping you up something. But she wasn't eating that much and she lost a lot of weight. It was really hard on her. She took it real hard.
ruth is wonderful and her voice is a really important 1 to me. i got to meet her face to face and tracey as well when we were all in d.c. for the protests at the end of september. tracey's got a strong family and ruth's 1 of the reasons. i also got to meet ruth's best friend, her life long friend treva, who ruth always says i remind her of. i will take that as a supreme compliment because treva rocks.
be sure to read c.i.'s 'other items' for today because i knew nothing about new tribe ministries but i get the feeling there's going to be a push by the anti-hugo chavez faction to use the expelling of the group as evidence of chavez being evil. the group is very fishy and has a long history in venezuela. i spent about 3 hours today hunting down information and they're connected to corporations who just happen to donate to them and then the 'missionaires' just happen to end up stationed in areas where there are materials that the corporations who sponsor them are in. there is a great deal to be found about them and c.i.'s right this is public record, just not in this country.
so watch to see if the new york times or any 1 else tries to paint them as a poor, put upon group. there's a lot more going on.
and to seth i say, 'blog when you can, seth.' if you miss a day, you miss a day. it's not the end of world. when you're new it does help you get more readers if you're blogging every day but if you are in it for the long haul it doesn't matter. so just keep blogging and don't beat yourself up for things you can't control. seth writes seth in the city and if you haven't checked it out, you should.
and let me note elaine who found a cartoon by isaiah that i didn't. i thought i was hunting down most of them yesterday but she found irma la dunce and i so wish i had found that 1.
the common ills
like maria said paz
ruths morning edition report
democracy now
seth in the city
the world today just nuts
bill frist
senator meow meow
mikey likes it
10/13/2005
10/12/2005
the poll
so this post started the poll (a photo of paul walker and his sexy nips). beatrice wrote me and here's what i noted then:
beatrice says paul walker is her's and her's alone. she said it's his butt that's his best feature and she would make him get down on all 4s and she'd ride him around her condo. beatrice, despite the arguing over who has dibs on paul, you sound like an interesting gal!
she just discovered paul walker in the lead up to this film, into the blue, coming out so i'll do her a solid and steer her towards joy ride which features some lovely shots of paul walker's butt.
beatrice wanted me to do a survey so here's her question. paul walker has to make out with a hot guy in front of you. you get to pick the guy. who do you pick? and is paul a pitcher or a catcher or versitile?
here are the results. i had 76 responses on this (not counting the tom welling freaks).
51 of you said paul would be the bottom. some said 'because he's so sensitive' but sherry came right out and said the obvious 'he'd be a lover if he knew what it felt like to be screwed.' exactly sherry. 8 said he would be both the the bottom and the top (like a cole porter song, i'm guessing). 6 of you said 'total top' with carrie saying 'he's got that don't piss me off look.'
so who would he top? the most popular choice? billy baldwin. i had no idea any 1 even knew who billy was anymore but i went through some old clippings and pulled out some photos that i thought would express billy the morning after paul walker laid some pipe. he's the guy in the towel staring in the mirror. who would top paul walker? you're favorite choice was johnny depp with sherry saying 'i'd love to see that, see depp pound walker's fine ass.'
beatrice weighed in as well. she's retired and she said the diet coke guy is who she would pair paul walker with and that she's like to see him lick the guy's arm pits. i hope i found a good picture for you beatrice.
we had 10 guys participate which surprised me because i would have thought since it was a question about men, more would have. the guys, 8 of them, went with steve zahn who did the movie joy ride with paul walker. derek even e-mailed me that there was a great story online about them as a couple but he didn't include the link!
so those were the results. we'll do another sex poll soon on another topic. paul walker's hot so maybe he'll be in that 1 too. maybe we'll try to match him up with famous women. beatrice asked if i thought he had the best nips and i do think he has sexy nips but i'd need to really reflect on that before answering.
i'll also thank you to seth for noting the photos and for his support. seth in the city is a great site if you haven't checked it out. if you have, you don't need me to tell you that.
no apologies and isaiah resource
first off, c.i. did not bother me by including me last night. if you missed it, there was a big pow-wow among members of the community who have their own sites, gina & krista and beth. gina & krista's round-robin poll was very clear that members felt some sites were not helpful to the community. it wasn't the vote that convinced c.i. but the examples offered. so you saw a lot of them dropped last night.
i was glad to participate in that especially since the non-linking to me was 1 of the things that pissed c.i. off the most. i didn't bring the issue up to c.i. because i didn't want c.i. to feel caught in the middle. i had told elaine about for weeks before i went on vacation. while i was on vacation, elaine cleaned up my blog roll and i appreciate that. i didn't ask her to. but i appreciate that she did it.
elaine also explained to c.i. why it happened.
i was happy to promote any 1 and to listen to their problems but this 'please link to me!!!!' with no return links after i did. and every 3rd reply to an e-mail i would say, 'hey lady, what happened with the link' and at 1st it would be 'oh i'm going to do it' and then after awhile it would be 'well you're not really the sort of blog that i link to.' oh excuse the hell out of me.
here i am being supportive and listening to whines about how mean male bloggers are and wasting time reassuring you that you should keep blogging and the whole time you just want a link but don't want to give 1 because i'm not your sort of blog.
so elaine pulled them while i was on vacation and thank you to elaine for that.
i didn't want to deal with it. i didn't ask her to pull them but she's always got my back.
and she told c.i. who waited until i was back and settled in to bring it up because i went through a depressing period, as you all know, over roberts' confirmation. c.i. would just be silly on the phone then and try to cheer me up. but when i was back to my old self, c.i. asked what the hell happened. i read the e-mails to c.i.
c.i. was already dealing with 1 jerk who had insulted isaiah and hurt isaiah's feelings. isaiah never did a thing to this jerk and actually visited the jerk's site. then 1 day he goes there and the jerk's trashing isaiah. if that had been a stranger and not some 1 who always wanted to play 'friend of the community' it wouldn't have mattered.
but it bothered isaiah and it should have. isaiah's not paid to do those illustrations, he does them to contribute to the community. i think they're great. and isaiah would have been fine with people not liking them. but to go to a site that's supposedly a friend of the community and read that your stuff not's that great and the guy says he doesn't usually even like them but here's one he'll post. of course he'd post it, he steals from every site. the common ills has their own cartoonist and so of course he'll swipe that too. all he knew was that it was drawn by a member. he didn't know that the member's favorite site outside the community was this guy's site.
the world today just nuts is funny. but i guess it made someone feel important to trash isaiah.
it would be like being a big fan of the rolling stones and then going to a concert and hearing mick jagger dis you on stage. i talked to isaiah about it and so did betty (and betty delinked from the jerk immediately she knows how hard the creative process is) and we kept saying, 'tell c.i. how you're feeling.' but isaiah kept it inside and it got to the point that he couldn't even draw 1 for a bit and that's when i spoke to c.i. and said 'isaiah is not okay with that and that's why there's no cartoon.'
it had nothing to do with isaiah it had to do with some 1 trying to play both sides. so publicly at their site they would say they didn't like isaiah or the common ills or just ignore the common ills and then they'd write into c.i. 'great post and i have something on it too' and people in the community noticed especially natalie who had enjoyed the site before that nonsense.
c.i. never goes to sites, there's not any time. so when the e-mails started coming in on it, c.i. was thinking people were taking offense to something that was really minor. then billie and another member did their survey of the site to see how often the common ills was mentioned there? not at all. but every week or every other it was send in an e-mail with 'great post and i've got this and could you link to it' and not only that, a common ills member gave data for a report that person was working on. and that member was so offended by this nonsense that he asked that that the data go to mike which is why it started popping up there instead.
c.i. could care less and left the matter to isaiah. if isaiah wanted it gone, it would be gone. isaiah tried to blow it off but it really did bother him that some 1 who played like they were a friend of the community would then make a point to slam him.
in the end, he told c.i. not to pull the link but that he'd just stop drawing the comic. c.i. said that was bullshit, that the site was gone and for isaiah to keep drawing the world today just nuts. the person wanted links from the community but then wanted to play like he didn't read the common ills at his own site. he also made the mistake of laughing at another blogger's problems to c.i. and c.i. didn't care for that. i got a call when that came in because there were a number of people doing that. c.i. asked me what i thought and explained that there was no friendship between them and it seemed like it crossed a line. c.i. was not trashing the person in question and was wondering why the jerk thought an e-mail trashing the person would be funny?
(i've just put isaiah's take on john bolton at the top of this post. it's one of my many favorites.)
so c.i. did the generic response that went out to all the people laughing that said 'i'm sorry if __ is having problems and i don't with ___ any harm.' but that was probably the beginning of the end for the guy. c.i. stopped noting the guy except when the guy would e-mail and then c.i. would do the cheerful, high road pose and note it but the guy is creepy.
on another topic, i got 15 e-mails today from people i've never heard from before all asking who the friend is that c.i. wrote the note to. oh yeah guys, they were all men, i'm going to tell. and like dates from hell, not even a compliment or a bit of blogger foreplay. no 'i really like your site.'
not even a hello. just 'i think it's ____ am i right?'
but for my real readers, i do have the results of the poll. that's what i was going to write about yesterday and was in the middle of when c.i. called. that's why i posted the photos yesterday.
if you'll remember beatrice had a question and i'll do 2 entries tonight 1 that's just the results of the polling we did for beatrice's questions. i've had a lot of fun with this post, going through all of isaiah's the world today just nuts comics i could find. i had no idea he'd done so many. he really is talented. and makes a huge contribution to the community so thank you isaiah. you can read an interview with him that the third estate sunday review did by clicking here.
the common ills
like maria said paz
isaiah
the world today just nuts
thomas friedman is a great man
mikey likes it
the third estate sunday review
10/11/2005
10/10/2005
3rd estate sunday review's new review
i wanted to post something here (and have it below) but i thought i'd do that before my entry. i can't believe how everything ran together. i'm going to steal from c.i. and not do italics or anything else.
"The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review 10-09-05"
C.I.: Welcome to The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review 10-09-05. The news review is the brainchild of The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona and we do it in one hour time frame. This is rough transcript. We'll have reports on nature and the environment, entertainment news, a commentary on Bully Boy's latest chat buddy and news on what's happened to The Smurfs. I'm not kidding on that last item. This is a news review for the left. First up, Iraq. We begin with Mike of Mikey Likes It!
Mike: In Baghdad, a killing spree is taking place and Hala Jaber of The Sunday Times of London reports that speculation is the killings are linked to the Iraqi police force. The speculation is that "ethnic cleansing" is going on and that Sunnis in the Shi'ite neighborhoods, specifically Sunni men married to Shi'ite women are being killed. Claims of "insurgents" being targeted are weak when you consider that one of the men assassinated, Najah al-Rassam, worked for "interior ministry’s Maghaweer special police force." al-Rassam was pulled from his bed by the police, taken to the Badr Brigade for confirmation and then killed.
C.I.: To jump in here for a moment, the Badr Brigade is the paramilitary group of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. They've been accused, including by Allawi, of killing intelligent officers at the behest of Iran. While Saddam Hussein ruled Iran, the Badr Brigade was stationed in Iran, a composition of Iraqi exiles, but they returned to Iraq following the 2003 invasion. Along with the report you're addressing, they've also been accused of targeting British troops. How many Sunnis have been reported killed?
Mike: 22. And they were not turned over to their families. The 22 bodies were found in the desert, wrists still restrained by handcuffs, plastic and metal, or ropes. There are concerns that a civil war is emerging. The 22 men were all blindfolded and had been killed via gunshots. The bodies were dumped in the desert and that's something that should be concerned whenever reports come out of a newly discovered group of bodies. A total of 539 bodies have been found at present. The tensions come as Iraq prepares to vote on their constitutional referendum and measures are being imposed including curfews and border closings as the election approaches.
C.I.: Thank you, Mike. Now we go to Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix with further thoughts on the Iraqi Constitution.
Cedric: At Iraq Dispatches, Dahr Jamail has posted "Open Letter to Amnesty International on the Iraqi Constitution." In the letter, an Iraqi writes:
To hold the election, thousands of people were killed and the entire city ofFallujah was demolished. Now, what is needed to impose a constitution? A civil war ?
Cedric (con't): The letter questions the assumption that a constitution is currently needed considering both the process under which it was written and the upcoming elections in the face of the current climatethat finds Iraq on what appears to be the brink of civil war. Will the constitution provide more than a photo op? How are Iraqis being helped by the push for the constitution? Also noted is an article from The Guardian, by Haifa Zangana, that attempts to remind people this constitution is being written in a war zone and is on imposed timeline that is coming from outside of Iraq. The article also notes that:
Just a few weeks ago, a highly significant judicial decision, comprising more than 130 pages, was handed down by the German Federal Administrative Court. With careful reasoning, the judges ruled that the assault launched by the United States and its allies against Iraq was a clear war of aggression that violated international law. The occupation itself constitutes the gravest violation of human rights and dignity. The legitimacy and autonomy of this government, installed and completely controlled by the US occupation forces after an illegal and illegitimate war of aggression, is not only challenged by a large part of the Iraqi population, but also by the international peace movement and international lawyers.
Cedric (con't): The constitution, if passed, will not provide Iraqis with any means to address the violations and war crimes that have taken place in Iraq under the occupation or by the occupying forces.
C.I.: Thank you, Cedric. The open letter is from the Brussels Tribunal which was one of the groups participating in this summer's World Tribunal on Iraq. The Brussels Tribunal also has addressed what the two British intel agents may have been doing in Basra when they captured last month. The two, attempting to pass for Arabs, were stopped by Basra police and found with weapons including explosives. That hasn't been addressed in the United States but in Scotland and other nations, it has made the news. More information on this can be found in "The Salvador Option exposed. Who's Blowing Up Iraq? New evidence shows that bombs are being planted by British in Basra" at the Brussels Tribunal Organization. Now we go to Jess of The Third Estate Sunday Review with an update on the unrelated threat announcement of last week, Operation Scare The Hell Out Of America.
Jess: Operation Scare The Hell Out Of America has not gone over as well as some might have hoped. The terror alert, which came just as Bully Boy began once again linking the occupation of Iraq with 9/11, is being questioned after unquestioning acceptance. Michael Weissenstein reports for the Associated Press of the alleged threat to NYC subways that "Almost as soon as the threat was made public, officials in Washington began talking it down, and Homeland Security still downplayed the threat Saturday." In D.C. the Washington Monument was closed for two hours on Friday due to an alleged bomb threat. After police searched and found nothing, the Washington Monument was reopened. Operation Scare The Hell Out of America has led to many stories being ignored such as the fact that the library group whose records are sought under the Patriot Act are still under gag order as a result of the Supreme Court denying their appeal. New opponents to the Patriot Act include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
C.I.: Jess, this comes as two bills are working their way through Congress.
Jess: Correct. A provision in the original Patriot Act, added due to concerns on the part of some lawmakers, would have certain aspects of the legislation sunset out. As the expiration date approaches, there is a push for renewal. In the House, the renewal of components that would otherwise be phased out would renew them for ten years. The Senate version would renew them for four years.
C.I.: Republican Bob Barr's group is favoring the Senate version as the lesser of the two evils.
Jess: I hadn't found anything on that. I did find that, no surprise, Alberto Gonzales is favoring the House version. Business groups now coming out against the Patriot Act have spoken of the fact that we are no longer under threat which may offer additional explanations for the launch of Operation Scare The Hell Out of America.
C.I.: Thank you, Jess. We now go to Elaine with commentary on Bully Boy's new chat buddy, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz.
Elaine: Scotland's The Herald delves further into the claim by Bully Boy George W. Bush that God speaks to him. Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath asserts that in June of 2003, Bully Boy explained his conversations with the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks back or possibly, like Diane Keaton says in Love & Death, Bully Boy does "both parts"?William Tinning notes that Bully Boy claims: "God would tell me . . . George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did. And then God would tell me . . . George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq. And I did."If Bully Boy is indeed hearing voices the two most likely explanations are as follows. One, William Kristol and Robert Kagan's gentle whispers have been mistaken by Bully Boy for the voice of God. Two, the strange behavior that's included numerous falls and stumbles that put the klutzy experiences of Gerald Ford to shame, despite little commentary from the press, and the psychosis claim of hearing God speak to him are signs of a serious illness that goes beyond the mere delusions many have abscribed to the Bully Boy.
C.I.: Elaine, there are people who feel that they get signs from various religious figures. What's the difference between that and what you're reporting on Bully Boy?
Elaine: Good question. It's not uncommon for people to look for or ask for a sign from above when they're making a decision. It can be a big decision or a small one. But that's not uncommon. It's not uncommon for someone to state that they feel the presence of a higher power around them. These issues go to faith and how one practices a faith. With Bully Boy, we're not hearing that. With him, we're hearing, from Shaath, that he speaks and then he hears the Lord speak back. That is not a sign, that is not feeling God around you. That is claiming that you, and apparently you alone, are speaking one on one with the Lord. That is psychosis. If it's true. Not just if Shaath is retelling what he was told accurately, but also if Bully Boy was being genuine -- always a big if. This is very serious and the press, in this country, hasn't given it the attention it deserves. Another take on it, one that Mike offered this week, at his site Mikey Likes It!, that Bully Boy's pushing the responsibility of the decisions he made off onto God. That's a likely explanation as well because, as a personality type, Bully Boy does not take responsibility for his actions. Nothing that happens has ever been his fault, in his mind, by his public statements. It's always someone else. The Not So Swift Floaties launch their attacks on John Kerry and Bully Boy acts as though he's not responsible. John McCain is targeted in 2000 and Bully Boy acts as though he's not responsible. He's arrested for a DUI and isn't honest about that while running for the United States Congress and years later will offer that he had to keep quiet because of his children, his children that, as you have pointed out, weren't even born then. There's nothing in the public record that speaks of personal accountability on his part. So it's hardly surprising that with him in a leadership role, we'd have the least accountable administration/government in recent history. The White House has denied that Bully Boy made the remarks about talking to God and God talking back.The domestic, mainstream press has not touched this story in any real manner. Possibly they're worried about offending people of faith. This isn't an issue of faith. This is a medical sympton and he needs to be asked on the record to explain or refute the remarks.
C.I.: Thank you Elaine. With entertainment news, we go to Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man. Betty, I understand that you suspect someone in the oval office has been checking out ABC's fall lineup?
Betty: Correct. The question to ask is: Has Condi Rice been watching Commander-in-Chief, ABC's drama starring Geena Davis as a vice-president who becomes president after the office holder dies? As she departs for a trip that will take her to Afghanistan and throughout Asia, the Sunday Times of London reports, via anonymice, that although Rice won't run for president, she is interested in the vice-presidential post. Always the handmaiden, never the leader. Saturday, playwright August Wilson was buriedin Pittsburg which was both the setting for nine of Wilson's plays as well as the town he grew up in. Wilson, who had announced in August that he was suffering from terminal liver cancer, died October 2nd. As we noted in August, the African-American playwright's ten play cycle won much praise and many awards. In an e-mail, Common Ills community member Keesha asked that I note Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as a masterpiece of the 20th century. The TV channel Al-Jazeera has added TV veteran David Frost to their lineup and he will join them this spring.Ted Koppel will be leaving Nightline at Thanksgiving and not, as assumed, on December 4th when his contract expires. Finally, I'll note that Jennifer Lopez is currently filming Bordertown in which she will play a reporter investigating the murders and disappearances of women in Juarez.
C.I.: Lopez's co-star in that is Antonio Banderas, correct?
Betty: Correct. This will be their first onscreen teaming. The role is thought to be a return to the sort of strong role that Lopez played in Out of Sight opposite George Clooney who, since I have a few more seconds, is planning to produce a live, TV version of Network, the seventies film that took a look at the television news industry and is famous for the phrase, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
C.I.: Thank you, Betty. More information on the murders in Juarez can be found at Eve Ensler's V-Day. V-Day has been shining a light on that issue for some time. We now go to Rebecca, of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, with news from the world of nature.
Rebecca: C.I., tracking the melting of the polar caps will be more difficult as a result of CryoSat crashing into the ocean. CryoSat was a $224 million satellite launced to measure the thickness of the polar caps but it never went into orbit and instead is believed to have crashed in the North Pole region, into the Lincoln Sea. Some reports express the belief that it came apart in space before crashing to the earth. Regardless, the tracking transmitter was not thought to be working. Meanwhile, Canada's CBC reports that outbreaks of bird flu have been found in Romania and Turkey. Want to ride a camel in Australia? Take along a "poo bag." Australia's ABC reports that "the amount of camel dung" on Cable Beach has become an issue and "poo bags" are now required. The think tank Worldwatch Institute, speaking at the 18th World Petroleum Congress, declared that fossil fuels were becoming a thing of the past and that the oil executives in attendance should ask themselves if they were "in the oil business or the energy business." In other energy news, America get ready to get your war on harder. Oil sands in the far noth of Canada are thought to contain "the equivalent of 1.7 trillion barrels of oil." Kevin G. Hall's report for Knight Ridder also notes that "Canada already quietly has surpassed Saudi Arabia as the United States' largest foreign supplier of crude oil and petroleum products."The Independent of London's Geoffrey Lean reports that genetically modified crops pollute the ground for "up to fifteen years after" harvesting. Of the study and its impact, Lean notes, "Financed by GM companies and Margaret Beckett's Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the report effectively torpedoes the Government's strategy for introducing GM oilseed rape to this country."
C.I.: Thank you, Rebecca. For a grab bag of items not covered elsewhere, we go to The Third Estate Sunday Review's Ava.
Ava: C.I., following up on Rebecca's look at the environment, I'll begin by noting that a mudslide is thought to have killed 1400 people in Guatemala. Mario Cruz, spokesman for the Fire Brigrade, has stated that there are no survivors. India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been rocked by an earthquake that's thought to have killed 1800 people in Pakistan alone, with 300 people thought to be dead in India. With regards to Afghanistan, Scotland's Sunday Herald reports that: "Given the remoteness of so many communities it may take weeks to know the full death toll. " The Sunday Times of London has an excerpt from James Yee's book For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire. Yee, a Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, was falsely accused by the United States government of espionage, charges that were bandied about by various news outlets who assisted the government in smearing Yee. The book is his response and offers an inside look at conditions in Guantamao Bay. As noted by the International Federation of Journalists, workers at Canada's CBC have ended their fifty day walk-out and appear victorious in contract talks. Finally, what's happened to TV's The Smurfs since the animated cartoon stopped production of new episodes? Canada's The Windsor Star reports that, in a new cartoon put out by UNICEF, the village the animated cartoon characters reside in is destroyed by bombs dropped by war planes.
C.I.: Thank you, Ava for including the promised update on The Smurfs. The reason for the cartoon?
Ava: Unicef is attempting to raise awareness on the victims of bombings. The cartoon has already began airing in Belgium.
C.I.: Thank you. For our final report, on the world of music, we go to Kat of Kat's Corner (of The Common Ills). Kat?
Kat: This week, check your local listings, PBS will air a documentary on funk master and pioneer George Clinton on Independent Lens. Saturday's broadcast of The Laura Flanders Show featured a discussion on this documentary in the third hour. In other news, the Beastie Boys are denying rumors of a breakup. November 8th sees the release of the group's first hits collection entitled Solid Gold Hits. The Black Eyed Peas will be performing a free concert as part of Honda Civic Live that will take place October 22nd and 23rd. The Independent of London has a wide ranging interview with Carly Simon entitled "Carly Simon: Boho Queen" where Carly discusses breast cancer, meeting Mick Jagger, marriage to James Taylor, her current marriage to poet Jim Hart, and various other topics including Joni Mitchell. Carly's Moonlight Serenade is released in England Monday. Stevie Wonder, who played harmonica on "As Time Goes By" for Carly Simon's Coming Around Again, album not only has a new album coming out, as noted last week, entitled A Time To Love and due to be released October 18th, he's also discussing participating in a new surgery, involving microchips, that, if successful, would allow him to see. December 1st, Comedy Central's The Daily Show will feature it's first musical performance when the White Stripes come on to perform and be interviewed by Jon Stewart. Rolling Stone reports that Police guitarist Andy Summers is working on an autobiography to be entitled One Train Later. Rolling Stone also reports that a new concert film from Greenday will debut in select theaters at the start of November. On November 15, the film, entitled Bullet In A Bible, will be released on DVD.
C.I.: Thank you, Kat. And that wraps up The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review for 10-09-05. As always Jim and Dona, both of The Third Estate Sunday Review, worked behind the scenes to edit, research and keep things running smoothly. In addition thanks to Jess' parents who help with the research and to Dallas who hunts down links.
iraq
the smurfs
iraq constitution
the patriot act
carly simon
august wilson
stevie wonder
george clinton
oil
environment
bird flu
jennifer lopez
david frost
the third estate sunday review
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
kats korner
like maria said paz
the common ills
thomas friedman is a great man
Mikey Likes It
posted by Third Estate Sunday Review @ Sunday, October 09, 2005
"The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review 10-09-05"
C.I.: Welcome to The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review 10-09-05. The news review is the brainchild of The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona and we do it in one hour time frame. This is rough transcript. We'll have reports on nature and the environment, entertainment news, a commentary on Bully Boy's latest chat buddy and news on what's happened to The Smurfs. I'm not kidding on that last item. This is a news review for the left. First up, Iraq. We begin with Mike of Mikey Likes It!
Mike: In Baghdad, a killing spree is taking place and Hala Jaber of The Sunday Times of London reports that speculation is the killings are linked to the Iraqi police force. The speculation is that "ethnic cleansing" is going on and that Sunnis in the Shi'ite neighborhoods, specifically Sunni men married to Shi'ite women are being killed. Claims of "insurgents" being targeted are weak when you consider that one of the men assassinated, Najah al-Rassam, worked for "interior ministry’s Maghaweer special police force." al-Rassam was pulled from his bed by the police, taken to the Badr Brigade for confirmation and then killed.
C.I.: To jump in here for a moment, the Badr Brigade is the paramilitary group of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. They've been accused, including by Allawi, of killing intelligent officers at the behest of Iran. While Saddam Hussein ruled Iran, the Badr Brigade was stationed in Iran, a composition of Iraqi exiles, but they returned to Iraq following the 2003 invasion. Along with the report you're addressing, they've also been accused of targeting British troops. How many Sunnis have been reported killed?
Mike: 22. And they were not turned over to their families. The 22 bodies were found in the desert, wrists still restrained by handcuffs, plastic and metal, or ropes. There are concerns that a civil war is emerging. The 22 men were all blindfolded and had been killed via gunshots. The bodies were dumped in the desert and that's something that should be concerned whenever reports come out of a newly discovered group of bodies. A total of 539 bodies have been found at present. The tensions come as Iraq prepares to vote on their constitutional referendum and measures are being imposed including curfews and border closings as the election approaches.
C.I.: Thank you, Mike. Now we go to Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix with further thoughts on the Iraqi Constitution.
Cedric: At Iraq Dispatches, Dahr Jamail has posted "Open Letter to Amnesty International on the Iraqi Constitution." In the letter, an Iraqi writes:
To hold the election, thousands of people were killed and the entire city ofFallujah was demolished. Now, what is needed to impose a constitution? A civil war ?
Cedric (con't): The letter questions the assumption that a constitution is currently needed considering both the process under which it was written and the upcoming elections in the face of the current climatethat finds Iraq on what appears to be the brink of civil war. Will the constitution provide more than a photo op? How are Iraqis being helped by the push for the constitution? Also noted is an article from The Guardian, by Haifa Zangana, that attempts to remind people this constitution is being written in a war zone and is on imposed timeline that is coming from outside of Iraq. The article also notes that:
Just a few weeks ago, a highly significant judicial decision, comprising more than 130 pages, was handed down by the German Federal Administrative Court. With careful reasoning, the judges ruled that the assault launched by the United States and its allies against Iraq was a clear war of aggression that violated international law. The occupation itself constitutes the gravest violation of human rights and dignity. The legitimacy and autonomy of this government, installed and completely controlled by the US occupation forces after an illegal and illegitimate war of aggression, is not only challenged by a large part of the Iraqi population, but also by the international peace movement and international lawyers.
Cedric (con't): The constitution, if passed, will not provide Iraqis with any means to address the violations and war crimes that have taken place in Iraq under the occupation or by the occupying forces.
C.I.: Thank you, Cedric. The open letter is from the Brussels Tribunal which was one of the groups participating in this summer's World Tribunal on Iraq. The Brussels Tribunal also has addressed what the two British intel agents may have been doing in Basra when they captured last month. The two, attempting to pass for Arabs, were stopped by Basra police and found with weapons including explosives. That hasn't been addressed in the United States but in Scotland and other nations, it has made the news. More information on this can be found in "The Salvador Option exposed. Who's Blowing Up Iraq? New evidence shows that bombs are being planted by British in Basra" at the Brussels Tribunal Organization. Now we go to Jess of The Third Estate Sunday Review with an update on the unrelated threat announcement of last week, Operation Scare The Hell Out Of America.
Jess: Operation Scare The Hell Out Of America has not gone over as well as some might have hoped. The terror alert, which came just as Bully Boy began once again linking the occupation of Iraq with 9/11, is being questioned after unquestioning acceptance. Michael Weissenstein reports for the Associated Press of the alleged threat to NYC subways that "Almost as soon as the threat was made public, officials in Washington began talking it down, and Homeland Security still downplayed the threat Saturday." In D.C. the Washington Monument was closed for two hours on Friday due to an alleged bomb threat. After police searched and found nothing, the Washington Monument was reopened. Operation Scare The Hell Out of America has led to many stories being ignored such as the fact that the library group whose records are sought under the Patriot Act are still under gag order as a result of the Supreme Court denying their appeal. New opponents to the Patriot Act include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers.
C.I.: Jess, this comes as two bills are working their way through Congress.
Jess: Correct. A provision in the original Patriot Act, added due to concerns on the part of some lawmakers, would have certain aspects of the legislation sunset out. As the expiration date approaches, there is a push for renewal. In the House, the renewal of components that would otherwise be phased out would renew them for ten years. The Senate version would renew them for four years.
C.I.: Republican Bob Barr's group is favoring the Senate version as the lesser of the two evils.
Jess: I hadn't found anything on that. I did find that, no surprise, Alberto Gonzales is favoring the House version. Business groups now coming out against the Patriot Act have spoken of the fact that we are no longer under threat which may offer additional explanations for the launch of Operation Scare The Hell Out of America.
C.I.: Thank you, Jess. We now go to Elaine with commentary on Bully Boy's new chat buddy, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz.
Elaine: Scotland's The Herald delves further into the claim by Bully Boy George W. Bush that God speaks to him. Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath asserts that in June of 2003, Bully Boy explained his conversations with the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks back or possibly, like Diane Keaton says in Love & Death, Bully Boy does "both parts"?William Tinning notes that Bully Boy claims: "God would tell me . . . George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did. And then God would tell me . . . George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq. And I did."If Bully Boy is indeed hearing voices the two most likely explanations are as follows. One, William Kristol and Robert Kagan's gentle whispers have been mistaken by Bully Boy for the voice of God. Two, the strange behavior that's included numerous falls and stumbles that put the klutzy experiences of Gerald Ford to shame, despite little commentary from the press, and the psychosis claim of hearing God speak to him are signs of a serious illness that goes beyond the mere delusions many have abscribed to the Bully Boy.
C.I.: Elaine, there are people who feel that they get signs from various religious figures. What's the difference between that and what you're reporting on Bully Boy?
Elaine: Good question. It's not uncommon for people to look for or ask for a sign from above when they're making a decision. It can be a big decision or a small one. But that's not uncommon. It's not uncommon for someone to state that they feel the presence of a higher power around them. These issues go to faith and how one practices a faith. With Bully Boy, we're not hearing that. With him, we're hearing, from Shaath, that he speaks and then he hears the Lord speak back. That is not a sign, that is not feeling God around you. That is claiming that you, and apparently you alone, are speaking one on one with the Lord. That is psychosis. If it's true. Not just if Shaath is retelling what he was told accurately, but also if Bully Boy was being genuine -- always a big if. This is very serious and the press, in this country, hasn't given it the attention it deserves. Another take on it, one that Mike offered this week, at his site Mikey Likes It!, that Bully Boy's pushing the responsibility of the decisions he made off onto God. That's a likely explanation as well because, as a personality type, Bully Boy does not take responsibility for his actions. Nothing that happens has ever been his fault, in his mind, by his public statements. It's always someone else. The Not So Swift Floaties launch their attacks on John Kerry and Bully Boy acts as though he's not responsible. John McCain is targeted in 2000 and Bully Boy acts as though he's not responsible. He's arrested for a DUI and isn't honest about that while running for the United States Congress and years later will offer that he had to keep quiet because of his children, his children that, as you have pointed out, weren't even born then. There's nothing in the public record that speaks of personal accountability on his part. So it's hardly surprising that with him in a leadership role, we'd have the least accountable administration/government in recent history. The White House has denied that Bully Boy made the remarks about talking to God and God talking back.The domestic, mainstream press has not touched this story in any real manner. Possibly they're worried about offending people of faith. This isn't an issue of faith. This is a medical sympton and he needs to be asked on the record to explain or refute the remarks.
C.I.: Thank you Elaine. With entertainment news, we go to Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man. Betty, I understand that you suspect someone in the oval office has been checking out ABC's fall lineup?
Betty: Correct. The question to ask is: Has Condi Rice been watching Commander-in-Chief, ABC's drama starring Geena Davis as a vice-president who becomes president after the office holder dies? As she departs for a trip that will take her to Afghanistan and throughout Asia, the Sunday Times of London reports, via anonymice, that although Rice won't run for president, she is interested in the vice-presidential post. Always the handmaiden, never the leader. Saturday, playwright August Wilson was buriedin Pittsburg which was both the setting for nine of Wilson's plays as well as the town he grew up in. Wilson, who had announced in August that he was suffering from terminal liver cancer, died October 2nd. As we noted in August, the African-American playwright's ten play cycle won much praise and many awards. In an e-mail, Common Ills community member Keesha asked that I note Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as a masterpiece of the 20th century. The TV channel Al-Jazeera has added TV veteran David Frost to their lineup and he will join them this spring.Ted Koppel will be leaving Nightline at Thanksgiving and not, as assumed, on December 4th when his contract expires. Finally, I'll note that Jennifer Lopez is currently filming Bordertown in which she will play a reporter investigating the murders and disappearances of women in Juarez.
C.I.: Lopez's co-star in that is Antonio Banderas, correct?
Betty: Correct. This will be their first onscreen teaming. The role is thought to be a return to the sort of strong role that Lopez played in Out of Sight opposite George Clooney who, since I have a few more seconds, is planning to produce a live, TV version of Network, the seventies film that took a look at the television news industry and is famous for the phrase, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"
C.I.: Thank you, Betty. More information on the murders in Juarez can be found at Eve Ensler's V-Day. V-Day has been shining a light on that issue for some time. We now go to Rebecca, of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, with news from the world of nature.
Rebecca: C.I., tracking the melting of the polar caps will be more difficult as a result of CryoSat crashing into the ocean. CryoSat was a $224 million satellite launced to measure the thickness of the polar caps but it never went into orbit and instead is believed to have crashed in the North Pole region, into the Lincoln Sea. Some reports express the belief that it came apart in space before crashing to the earth. Regardless, the tracking transmitter was not thought to be working. Meanwhile, Canada's CBC reports that outbreaks of bird flu have been found in Romania and Turkey. Want to ride a camel in Australia? Take along a "poo bag." Australia's ABC reports that "the amount of camel dung" on Cable Beach has become an issue and "poo bags" are now required. The think tank Worldwatch Institute, speaking at the 18th World Petroleum Congress, declared that fossil fuels were becoming a thing of the past and that the oil executives in attendance should ask themselves if they were "in the oil business or the energy business." In other energy news, America get ready to get your war on harder. Oil sands in the far noth of Canada are thought to contain "the equivalent of 1.7 trillion barrels of oil." Kevin G. Hall's report for Knight Ridder also notes that "Canada already quietly has surpassed Saudi Arabia as the United States' largest foreign supplier of crude oil and petroleum products."The Independent of London's Geoffrey Lean reports that genetically modified crops pollute the ground for "up to fifteen years after" harvesting. Of the study and its impact, Lean notes, "Financed by GM companies and Margaret Beckett's Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the report effectively torpedoes the Government's strategy for introducing GM oilseed rape to this country."
C.I.: Thank you, Rebecca. For a grab bag of items not covered elsewhere, we go to The Third Estate Sunday Review's Ava.
Ava: C.I., following up on Rebecca's look at the environment, I'll begin by noting that a mudslide is thought to have killed 1400 people in Guatemala. Mario Cruz, spokesman for the Fire Brigrade, has stated that there are no survivors. India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been rocked by an earthquake that's thought to have killed 1800 people in Pakistan alone, with 300 people thought to be dead in India. With regards to Afghanistan, Scotland's Sunday Herald reports that: "Given the remoteness of so many communities it may take weeks to know the full death toll. " The Sunday Times of London has an excerpt from James Yee's book For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire. Yee, a Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, was falsely accused by the United States government of espionage, charges that were bandied about by various news outlets who assisted the government in smearing Yee. The book is his response and offers an inside look at conditions in Guantamao Bay. As noted by the International Federation of Journalists, workers at Canada's CBC have ended their fifty day walk-out and appear victorious in contract talks. Finally, what's happened to TV's The Smurfs since the animated cartoon stopped production of new episodes? Canada's The Windsor Star reports that, in a new cartoon put out by UNICEF, the village the animated cartoon characters reside in is destroyed by bombs dropped by war planes.
C.I.: Thank you, Ava for including the promised update on The Smurfs. The reason for the cartoon?
Ava: Unicef is attempting to raise awareness on the victims of bombings. The cartoon has already began airing in Belgium.
C.I.: Thank you. For our final report, on the world of music, we go to Kat of Kat's Corner (of The Common Ills). Kat?
Kat: This week, check your local listings, PBS will air a documentary on funk master and pioneer George Clinton on Independent Lens. Saturday's broadcast of The Laura Flanders Show featured a discussion on this documentary in the third hour. In other news, the Beastie Boys are denying rumors of a breakup. November 8th sees the release of the group's first hits collection entitled Solid Gold Hits. The Black Eyed Peas will be performing a free concert as part of Honda Civic Live that will take place October 22nd and 23rd. The Independent of London has a wide ranging interview with Carly Simon entitled "Carly Simon: Boho Queen" where Carly discusses breast cancer, meeting Mick Jagger, marriage to James Taylor, her current marriage to poet Jim Hart, and various other topics including Joni Mitchell. Carly's Moonlight Serenade is released in England Monday. Stevie Wonder, who played harmonica on "As Time Goes By" for Carly Simon's Coming Around Again, album not only has a new album coming out, as noted last week, entitled A Time To Love and due to be released October 18th, he's also discussing participating in a new surgery, involving microchips, that, if successful, would allow him to see. December 1st, Comedy Central's The Daily Show will feature it's first musical performance when the White Stripes come on to perform and be interviewed by Jon Stewart. Rolling Stone reports that Police guitarist Andy Summers is working on an autobiography to be entitled One Train Later. Rolling Stone also reports that a new concert film from Greenday will debut in select theaters at the start of November. On November 15, the film, entitled Bullet In A Bible, will be released on DVD.
C.I.: Thank you, Kat. And that wraps up The Third Estate Sunday Review News Review for 10-09-05. As always Jim and Dona, both of The Third Estate Sunday Review, worked behind the scenes to edit, research and keep things running smoothly. In addition thanks to Jess' parents who help with the research and to Dallas who hunts down links.
iraq
the smurfs
iraq constitution
the patriot act
carly simon
august wilson
stevie wonder
george clinton
oil
environment
bird flu
jennifer lopez
david frost
the third estate sunday review
sex and politics and screeds and attitude
kats korner
like maria said paz
the common ills
thomas friedman is a great man
Mikey Likes It
posted by Third Estate Sunday Review @ Sunday, October 09, 2005
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