9/11/2006

fairly quick post

let me urge you to check out trina's 'Mac & Cheese in the Kitchen' before i do anything else because she hosted a wonderful get together tonight (that's still ongoing and i'm in mike's room and we're both trying to get something up at our sites). i can make the recipe, by the way. that's because this weekend, trina talked me through it - which is really the only way i know i how to learn a recipe. if some 1 will talk me through in person or on the phone, i can get a recipe down quickly and make it from memory in the future with no problems; however, when i'm trying to cook from a cookbook and am on my own, i always screw it up. don't know if it's a case of not paying enough attention or just getting lost, but i always screw up a recipe if i try to make it from a cookbook (or clipping) on my own.

well abc, good whores for the aministration that they are, went through with airing their myth-series, with all innaccuries intact. from media matters' 'ABC retained fabricated scene showing Clinton officials aborting mission to capture Bin Laden:'

The first part of the ABC miniseries The Path to 9-11, which aired on September 10, included a fabricated scene that depicts Clinton administration officials declining to authorize the CIA to capture Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. ABC retained the controversial scene despite the fact that it is contradicted by the 9-11 Commission report -- which ABC originally cited as the film's basis (although following criticism of the film's numerous inconsistencies with the report, network officials have since minimized that claim) -- and has even been disputed in recent days by conservative media figures such as Richard Miniter.
The scene in question takes place in early 1998. CIA officers are positioned outside an isolated compound in Afghanistan known as Tarnak Farms. In league with Northern Alliance fighters, they are preparing a raid of the site after receiving visual confirmation in a prior scene that bin Laden is staying there. The lead CIA officer -- "Kirk" -- is awaiting authorization from a group of senior administration officials in Washington, including then-national security adviser Sandy Berger, then-CIA director George Tenet, and counterterrorism official Richard Clarke. When asked for approval, Berger tells his colleagues, "I don't have the authority." He claims he cannot call President Clinton "until we're all on the same page," then attempts to shift the responsibility to Tenet, telling him that "if he feels confident," he can request authorization from Clinton.
The scene ends without the Clinton officials taking any action. The film then cuts to Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud asking Kirk, "Are there any men in Washington? Or are they all cowards?"
But this depiction of the events surrounding the Tarnak Farms raid -- in which the Clinton administration simply abandons a certain opportunity to capture bin Laden -- is contradicted by the findings of the 9-11 Commission report. Indeed, the report describes Tenet as having aborted the mission weeks before the target date of June 23.

mike was cursing like crazy. some 1 or some thing flipped the breaker in his folks house. we lost our posts. the electricity is back on and i was able to recover my post right away but he had trouble with his.


by the way, i often highlight media matters but i'll be more selective in the future. normally, i go to the site, find something i like and post it. that's changed due to a new hire who will be starting soon. the cindy brady of the faux left is moving over to media matters and long before he was dubbed the cindy brady of the faux left ('From the Mixed-up Mind of Eric Alterman'), i'd noted his ignoring women. i don't need a lisping e-mail so he shouldn't bother to write. i've noted here many things including his repeating of false charges against gloria steinem in his hideous book, what liberal media. he spends a lot of time disproving right-wing slams and slanders - except when it comes to women. so his crap awful book repeats ann coulter's slanders against gloria steinem and some how he thinks he speaks for 'the left.' he speaks for himself and when not man-crushing or wet dreaming of bruce springsteen (in another plodding book) he's wrapping his mouth around some other male. women are left to fend for themselves. which is why he can repeat the lie that naomi wolf was offering fashion tips to the al gore 2000 presidential campaign.

i don't highlight sexists here. hopefully he'll just do his bad column and not effect anything else but the guy who will be the quickest to flip on the left (wait and see, he's a norman in waiting) will not be linked here. he's a little boy trying to prove his manliness with shout outs and praise to men and he not only allows slanders to stand against women, he repeats them. this has all been covered here before and we won't be linking to him.

we will however note his self-serving e-mail, noted by editor & publisher, which explains his firing kind of, sort of:

"Whether my termination is, in fact, a product of a political decision at GE/NBC, which according to reports I read and gossip I hear, has lately taken a much firmer hand in guiding the content of both MSNBC and MSNBC.com, I have no way of knowing.... It would surprise no one if this site caused some discomfort at 30 Rock, if and when they happen to notice it. But speculation is not the same thing as evidence, and the good folks MSNBC.com and GE/NBC can, I’m sure, give you good reasons why dumping Altercation is the right thing to do from a business standpoint-- though the natural speculation that arises is a damn good argument against the kind of media concentration that allows a company like GE to own NBC in the first place. "

'i have no way of knowing' but let me toss that out there anyway and even say i 'can give you good reasons why dumping altercation is the right thing to do from a business standpoint' - yeah, me too. it's tired, it's old and it only recognized the male 1/2 of the population. a little boy desperate to put on his jock strap and stand next to the men in the locker room. let's pretend his firing was a surprise for a 2nd and ask: why was he fired?

he writes he learned how many hits his page got in the last few days. maybe it was on the decline?

or (here's reality, as noted last month) maybe complaints to msnbc higher ups at the end of july and on through august registered? as it was pointed out at a social get together, there was nothing in his blog that's not in his writing at the huffington post and at the nation. and there was laughter over his sucking up to the new york times, brave little 'left' critic that he is ('we are the new york times!'). (yes, i did lead the laughter.) i know a number of people were tired of his scribbles which veered from 1 extreme to another. and i wasn't the only 1 complaining.

round-robin readers knew it was coming. his days were numbered the 2nd he pissed off some 1.
the little boy in the jock several sizes too big, face pressed against the window as he salivates over his 'social betters' (and, no doubt, claims 'friendship' with them), pissed off the wrong person and i knew when that happened, he was history and favors would be called in to ensure that came to pass.

now, here's c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Monday September 11, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, military intelligence declares al-Anbar province lost, a US soldier was shot dead on Sunday, Ehren Watada's parents continue to get the word out on their son and the White House offers a divided front as various spinners rush to figure out the party line on the revelations from last week that there was no link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

In the United States, Friday saw the release of the latest two sections of the Senate Intel Report which underscored there was no link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. As outlined by Jonathan Weisman's (Washington Post) report, the committee findings were based on CIA assessments before the war and (2002 assessments) and during (most recently in October 2005). US Senator Olympia Snowe specifically cited that "the report concluded that Colin Powell recieved his "blot," when testifying to the United Nations before the illegal war, by citing information that "two April 2002 CIA assessments, a May 2002 Defense Intelligence Agency fabrication notice and a July 2002 National Intelligence Council warning" had already refuted.


At the White House, flack Tony Snow Job decired the report as "nothing new" (BBC News) apparently of the opinion that all Americans already grasped that the nation was lied into war.

On Sunday, fear's playground pusher Condi Rice stormed the airwaves like the star of a tanking big-budget film (think Ahnuld and Last Action Hero) desperate to goose the gross. The always good for a laugh US Secretary of State Rice assured Americans that Iraq still made Speed look like a slow ride to Grandma's; that they should forget the gross, the net on this war was going to be unbelievable; and, oh yeah, forget what the Senate report said, it was wrong. Rice, as reported by the AFP, stated, "There were ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda" and "We know that Zarqawi was running a poison network in Iraq." So much 'knowledge,' so little awareness. One more time, Condi, for chuckles, what was the name of the August 6, 2001 PDB that you apparently also 'knew' was nothing to fret over?

A White House in shambles divided further on Sunday. After offical flak Tony Snow Job said "nothing new" about the Senate report, after Condi Rice followed that Sunday with her assertion that the report was just plain wrong, the man a heart beat away from the Bully Boy went a different way. Looking America in the face, Dick Cheney basically said, "So f**king what?"

Steven Thomma (McClatchy Newspapers) reports Cheney's money-quote (pay attention, America): "It was the right thing to do and if we had it to do over again, we'd do exactly the same." But would the 2669 Americans who lost their lives in the illegal Iraq war, would they? While Rice tried to dispell the stench of bad box office, Cheney came off like a never-was whose lingered too long and is desperate for that best supporting actress nomination. He's busy preparing his "For your consideration" ad and will probably use this tagline: "Clearly, the intelligence that said he [Hussein] did [have WMD] was wrong." An understatement to be sure and, as Thomma notes, the Dickster failed at "elaborating on his own role or the White House decision to later honor [George] Tenet with the Medal of Freedom."


On Monday, Thomas E. Ricks (Washington Post) reported that a military assessment has written off al Anbara Province in southern Iraq. Ricks reports that Col. Pete Devlin, "chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq," wrote a report on August 16th of this year "concluding that the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there".

On the ground in Iraq today, the violence and chaos continued.

Bombings?

CBS and AP note a mini bus bomb in Baghdad that has killed at least 16 Iraqis. BBC says it resulted from a "bomber, who was wearing an explosive belt . . . reported to have boarded the bus at the centre." AFP states: "The minibus was rammed by a car rigged with explosives right next to Muthanna recruiting center". The bus was carry army recruits and CBS and AP state: "Although further details were not avaialbe, such mini buses are often used by suicide bombers."

In addition to the above bombing, Reuters notes a two in Baghdad (one in Talbiya district, the other in Jihad district) that left at least six wounded while one in Mosul left one person wounded.

Shootings?

In Baghdad, the AP reports a man and a woman were shot dead "at a telephone exchange center". Reuters reports a police officer (Hasan Radhi al-Azzawi) was shot dead in Kut, a civilian was shot dead ("outside his home") in Iskandariya, a female postal worker was shot dead in Baghdad and a person was shot dead in Hilla.


Corpses?

AFP reports a corpse was discovered in Suweira, two in the Diyala province and three in the Babel province. Reuters reports a severed head was discovered in Hindiya.

Not taking into account the corpses, CBS and AP report that at least 20 died in Baghdad today and at least nine more elsewhere in Iraq.


In peace news, Ehren Watada's parents continue getting their word out on their son, the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy in Iraq. Speaking with Sandip Roy (Asian Weekly), father Bob Watada explained his son's decision, "It's in the code of military justice, it's in the field manuals that you have a duty to disobey an unlawful order. The Nuremberg Tribunal that we signed on to and probably drafted parts of, clearly says any military official can be prosecuted if they are complicit in war crimes and clearly we have massive war crimes going on in Iraq."

While Bob Watada gets the word out in the mainland, Ehren Watada's mother Carolyn Ho has been speaking in Hawaii. Amanda C. Gregg (Kauai News) reports on one recent gathering where Ho spoke of, "The [United Nations] charter . . . expressly states that countries cannot go to war unless the security council votes for it. . . . People say the U.S. Congress can allow the president to make war, but the U.S. Congress was given information that was deceptive -- that there was evidence of weapons of mass destruction -- and it made a decision on that basis." Ho hopes for the response to the growing awareness is as follows: "What we've envisioned is to have thousands of people come out to the highway and the streets that surround Fort Lewis and have a group that plans to do so with demonstrations."


That is in the case that Ehren Watada is scheduled for a court-martial. An Article 32 hearing, heard testiomony Thursday August 17th and the presiding officer's recommendation was to proceed with a court-martial. Lt. Col. Mark Keith's recommendation is now winding its way through the chain of command and, as Gregg notes, a court martial is "expected to be scheduled within the next few months." More information on Watada can be found at Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org.


Writing for Op-Ed News, David Swanson notes, "Only, we the people of the United States, getting off our couches and acting will put an end to this growing nightmare."
And one way to act (and one of the many ways Swanson is making a stand) is via
Camp Democracy in DC which is free and open to the public and continues daily through September 21st. As David Ceasar (GW Hatchet Online) notes, today's activities revolve around "an all-day festival with workshops, speakers and entertainment on the National Mall between 3rd and 7th streets." Tomorrow's activities include Climate Crisis Day (sponsored by Rainforest Action Network) and an evening presentation by Mark Karlin (the editor and publisher of BuzzFlash). A complete schedule can be found here.


CODEPINK's Troops Home Fast action continues and is on day 68, and due to continue like Camp Democracy, is set to wrap run through September 21st (International Peace Day).Currently, at least 5023 people are participating. Those wanting to fast can grab a one-day fast at any point between now and the 21st or grab a one-day a week fast. Long term fasts are also possible but seek out advice before embarking on any long term fast.

Other peace actions are going on and will be going on. In a correction to an NYC event noted last week, one that starts this Friday, all performances do not start at 7:00 pm each night. Friday September 15, Saturday September 16 will start at 7:00 pm; however, Sunday September 17's performance will begin at 3:00 p.m. What are we speaking of? The People Speak directed by Will Pomerantz and Rob Urbinati. This is a workshop adaptation of Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove's Voices of a People's History of the United States. The workshop will take place at The Culture Project's Bleecker Street Theater on 45 Bleecker Street. Tickets are ten dollars and can be ordered online here or here or purchased in person at the box office (box office does not take ticket orders). For those in NYC, or who will be during those dates, click here for a map. The presentation is part of the Impact Festival.
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