pissed

another laid back day. i slept by the pool more than anything else.

i had a nice note yesterday (some people have actually written nice things as opposed to 'i'm so glad you had a miscarriage, bitch!') and talked, in my reply, about enjoying the pool. i really though people having a pool in california were crazy but it is relaxing.

which is why i'm not ripping my hair out over the disgusting news of what's going on in the gaza strip.

from the ap:

Israeli forces early Thursday arrested the deputy prime minister of the Hamas government, two other Cabinet ministers and four lawmakers in a raid on a complex of buildings in the
West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian security officials said.

israel doesn't want to recognize hamas but guess what, that's not their damn business. hamas was elected in a 'free election!' as bully boy would trumpet (if he liked the winner). israel thinks it can shell and it can kill but this (and another thing) really shocked me.

i started thinking what would the corporate coverage be if palestinians stormed in and grabbed israel's prime minister, put him under arrest? (of course he can't be placed under arrest in the corporate news because 'terrorists' can't arrest and that's what the press would call palestinians but will they say 1 word about israel? no.)

now let's go to the 2nd item, this is also from the ap:


Israeli warplanes buzzed the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad early Wednesday, military officials said, in a message aimed at pressuring the Syrian leader to win the release of a captured Israeli soldier.

if they buzzed the white house, bully boy would declare war and send bombs. but somehow it's okay that this was done to syria's president? how is that okay?

on kpfa's flashpoints tonight nora spoke with dr. mona about what was going on. you've got children (palestinian children so maybe that means it doesn't matter to you) who can't get the chemo treatments they need because of all this bully boy bull shit.

that's what it is.

and scholmo whatever the hell his name is can whine about how unfair people were to him (on democracy now) this morning and amy goodman can apologize to him (as she did!) but it doesn't change reality. it's all bullshit.

to focus on the domestic front, i think it's bullshit to give a headline about smoking.

smoking's not causing cancer in tons and tons of non-smokers. let's get damn real here. smoking isn't why houston replaced l.a. as the city with the worst air.

don't give me that 'link' nonsense. i'm sick of it. i'm sick of studies (and organizations) that won't take 1 damn look at environmental pollution. that includes the american cancer society which has sang the same damn song year after year.

if some 1 smokes, they know what to expect these days.

don't cover up for the realities of why people have cancer today in such large numbers - it's our air, it's the plastics brought into our homes, it's all that and more.

i was listening to it this morning (slept in) and since no 1 was around (fly boy was in the shower), i called kat. i said, 'what is this smoking bullshit? people get pollution from their computers, from their photocopy machines, from the lack of real air, let alone fresh air in the offices of america!' that's reality.

but apparently, we'll need another decade to ban all smoking before we'll finally fess up to the fact that we've got toxins in our daily lives and they're not going away while we pretend otherwise. that's it for me. i will note and applaud c.i. for making a point to highlight ehren watada today - 'Ehren Watada . . . while the internet is still free.' that was news. nonsense about a supposed surgeon general that can't speak about aids or anything that really matters but can go after smoking (what is this 1960?) isn't news.

i'm getting angry again. but i'm sorry, schlomo, that you're little feelings were hurt. he was the rudest ass, 'i'm not going to talk about that.' and he ended up with a fucking apology. he should have apologized. instead he got 1. that was nonsense.

i'm sorry, i'm not 1 of those people who believe that the palestinians have no rights and that they can be treated in any way the israeli government wants to. the palestinians need the international community to take note of what is going on and we need to stop providing israel with the helicopters, the bulldozers and every thing else they use for violence.

the government always puts out spokespeople to play the victim card. no 1 in government is a victim. the children are victims. the elderly are victims. innocent civilians are victims.

israel has occupied palestine, the burden falls on israel.

this is a conflict of many decades. that doesn't excuse the violence. that doesn't include arresting or buzzing elected leaders. the government of israel is acting like a bully and it's time they got called on it. they won't be.

you'll see soft balls or people saying, 'well do you know about the concentration camps?'

what about the concentration camps? are you telling me that palestinians are nazis or the offspring of them? israel's not attacking germany.

if israel can't maintain a peace (not by violence) then something needs to be done. 1st thing is america needs to stop covering and justifying the continued violence that the palestinians live under.

i don't need to hear what palestinians did or what israelis did.

what's going on right now, by the occupying power, is illegal and it's immoral. there's not an excuse for it.


C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Chaos and violence continue.
Five corpses were found in Baghdad on Tuesday. Other incidents included, in Mahaweel, a roadside bomb took the life of a police officer and three were wounded amd, in Kirkuk, a car bomb took the lives of three and wounded 17. In all, the New York Times estimates that 21 Iraqis died Tuesday and forty-one were wounded.
Today bombs continued. CNN notes a carbomb in Baquba "near a coffee shop" that took at least one life and wounded at least fourteen more. Reuters notes that bombing as well as nother in Baquba which "seriously wounded two" police officers. Reuters also notes a bomb that went off in a Baghdad market and resulted in one death and eight wounded. CNN notes "a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military convoy detonated" taking the lives of "one civilian and wounding two." The Associated Press notes that Riyad Abdul-Majid Zuaini ("customs director for Central Baghdad") was shot dead by assailants (as was his driver) and that, in Mosul, a clash "between gunmen and police . . . broke out" with one police officer left wounded.
As Amy Goodman noted on Democracy Now!, Russia's lower house of parliament has "criticized the occupying countries in Iraq for losing control in the country." Xinhua reports Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Foreign Minister of Germany, noted, on behalf of the ministery, that they were "outraged and shocked over the terrible fater of our Russian colleagues." KUNA notes that Kuwait has "condmended . . . the killing of Russian diplomats by a terrorist group in Iraq."There were four diplomats kidnapped on June 3rd in Baghdad after 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 three of the four being killed. The Mujahedeen Shur Council have proclaimed that they are responsible for the murders.
Reuters reports that Russia experienced "a roadblock" today when it the United States and England "objected to parts of a draft Russian statement on the killings, arguing the text amounted to a slap at the U.S.-led multinational force, which includes 127,000 U.S. troops and 7,000 British soliders".
This as another official 'response' is reported: Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to the Associated Press, has sent "special services to hunt down and 'destroy' the killers." Possibly this is what Bully Boy saw when he looked Putin in the eye? Pavel Felgenhauer dismisses the news as "a public relations excercise" to AFP and dubs it "an obvious imititation of those of Bush after September 11."
Meanwhile, Japanese government feels they met their "objectives" in Iraq. Japan's chief of defense, Fukushiro Nukaga, termed the venture "a success" while speaking to the Associated Press and noted that, "The Iraqis are ready to resume control."But are the bits and pieces of the so-called coalition willing to leave? Reuters reports that Austraila's Brendan Nelson (defense minister) is making noises about not being held 'hostage' by a deadline and comparing his government's position to that of the United States' government.In other news, apparently there was a poll of so-called insurgents.
The Associated Press is all over the so-called news (anonymice, of course) that "insurgents" are pushing for a withdrawal of US forces within two years. Does anyone believe that? Nouri al-Maliki may be meeting with representatives for resistance groups but, despite what an unnamed "senior Iraqi government" official says, it doesn't seem logical that the resistance would propose a two-year timetable. It will be all over the news but to buy into it, you have to suspend all disbelief and then some. (For any who are confused, people -- from various groups -- are willing to risk their lives, give their lives, resort to various acts of violence and they're going to send envoys to tell occupation puppet al-Maliki, "Hey, we're good. Two more years? Sure." Call it the resistance or call it the "insurgency," it's not about a two-year time-line. This very obvious propanganda is American made, my opinion.)
On the issue of "a media feeding frenzy," Dahr Jamail takes a look at the so-called "plan" offered by al-Maliki and notes that resistance groups have "rejected the 'plan' because they do not recognize the Iraqi 'government' as a legitmate entity. These same resistance groups understand that under international law, the current Iraqi 'government' controls nothing outside of the 'green zone,' and its existence violates the Geneva Conventions."
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces have Yousri Fakher Moahmmed Ali in custody and allege that he is the one who blew up the Shi'ite shrine in February. As Amy Goodman noted, the Samarra bombing was followed by "increased fighting" which has resulted in the displacement of at least 150,000 Iraqis. Yusri Fakhir Muhammad Ali is also known as Abu Qudama and Al Jazeera quotes Iraq's national security adviser (Mouwafak al-Rubaie) reports that he "is also wanted for the murder of Atwar Bajhat, a television correspondent for Al-Arabiya news channel who was shot dead along with two of her colleagues hours after the shrine bombing". China's People's Daily notes: "The shrine of Ali al-Hadi, or the al-Hadhrah al-Askariyah, contains two tombs of Ali al-Hadi, who died in 868 A.D., and his son Hassan al-Askari who died in 874 A.D. The two were the 10th and 11th of Shiite's twelve most revered Imams. Shiite pilgrims visit the shrine from all over the world."
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq estimates a total of 1.3 million are displaced. One of the refugee camps is Baladiyat Refugee Camp set up for the Palestinian refugees. This camp was attacked Sunday June 25th and Omar interviews residents of the camp at Alive in Baghdad.
And finally, the ICRC is noting that "public services have almost ground to a halt" in Ramadi which "has been without power since 22 May." That's when US forces began the seige of Ramadi and power, water and phone services were cut.