5/04/2007

The grind (Mike filling in for Rebecca)

:D Guess who! Mike blogging for Rebecca.

This is just a talking post. I cut my own post short earlier tonight because it was my turn to rock Rebecca's baby. I've been waiting for that and really, really impatient. :D

To save time, these are the people who will probably get mentioned in this talking post:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude (like you don't know Rebecca :D),
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,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen (this is my mother)
and Wally of The Daily Jot

I like filling it at Rebecca's site because when I started my site, we were talking about how we'd be like flip sides of the same coin. It didn't work out that way but Rebecca's been a big blogging influence on me. She has let it rip from the start. She doesn't worry about it or try to figure out the polite way to put it.

That's not a slam at C.I. and I'll be talking about C.I. in this post later on.

But I was really getting pissed repeatedly. And that's the main reason I ended up starting my site. Wally and Rebecca were big helps on that. Rebecca because she was doing the sort of thing I thought I could try for and Wally (who wasn't blogging then) because he was listening to me piss and moan (and was the one who suggested I start a site). Me and Wally knew each other from roundtables for the gina & krista round-robin. And our moms had done a moms' roundtable for the gina & krista round-robin and they were calling each other all the time after that because (as you know if you read it) one of them would say ___ and the other would go, "Oh, I love that too!" Back and forth.

I'd also thank Jim because he was talking to me and calming me down as well. This was around the time the West nonsense started.

If you've read Rebecca for any length of time, you know the story. If not, a kid ended up getting slammed by a bully website (for the 'left') and the adults at that site were trying to track down dirt on him (on a kid!) and also sending him these threatening e-mails. Rebecca and C.I. stood up to that b.s. and, like Rebecca will tell you, no one linked to her outside the community. But C.I. was getting noted and linked to by all these outside sites and then it just stopped. A site I link to proved what I thought when a guy there forwarded me the e-mail. I knew it was happening. I knew what was happening. C.I. was being blacklisted for taking up for a little kid.
And I knew it was going on and members knew it was going on. And there are sites that C.I. can say "Check out . . ." and no one will to this day because we know they are COWARDLY SHITHEADS. I printed that e-mail (with permission) in the gina & krista round-robin and I really appreciate the guy forwarding it to me. I had talked about this b.s. at my site.

So that's when I started my site and I really need to thank Rebecca not just for being something to strive for but also for helping me a lot in the early days when I had no idea what to write about. She's a really special person and I love her for that and a whole lot more. She's almost forgiven me for not telling her when Elaine and I became a couple! :D Wally was the only one we told and it was obvious to him because he was staying with me. We'd made the plans for that summer ahead of time and I was really looking forward to it. Then the relationship I was in broke up and a little after that Elaine and I got together. And right after that starts, there's Wally. There was no way we could hide it from him. But we swore him to secrecy.

C.I. found out a little after. That's due to the cleaning report where C.I. heard about how one of our beds was never slept in. :D If Elaine and me had been thinking, we would have messed up a bed. But we weren't thinking. That's when we were all staying with C.I. last summer. C.I. never said a word. I didn't even know C.I. knew. Then we were doing a roundtable Rebecca put together (that ran here) and there's this big edit in that where I'm hinting around about something and C.I. says not to go there. Then you get the edit and Rebecca types that there's an edit and she wished it had stayed in because C.I. had a hilarious joke about how we were becoming Fleetwood Mac. (Rebecca didn't get it even then. No one did.)

But after that, at The Third Estate Sunday Review, it was kind of sort of coming out in a roundtable and C.I. did this long sigh and just spits it out. At that point, Elaine and I really didn't know how to tell anyone because it had gone on for so long. And if you read that roundtable you'll read Rebecca going something like, "I don't believe it." :D

We did a good job keeping quiet.

I got to know Rebecca because she loves the telephone. She'd call to say hi, she'd call to share something. She must make over 100 phone calls a day! And we're close enough to each other physically that she can just ride the ferry in and we can visit. So that's cool.

Her husband is "Flyboy" and I gave him that name because he can fly a plane. He has his own plane. He flew us to NYC for the World Can't Wait thing in 2006 (I think it was 2006). They had started dating again by that point and then they got remarried. He's really cool and really loves Rebecca.

He has money and probably won't be going back to work. I get asked about that sometimes because people in the Friday Iraq Study Group know them from that and they'll ask from time to time. Rebecca was in the public relations field and she made a lot of money and got the hell out. When they got back together, he was still working. That changed after she got pregnant. They were planning to adopt because she had a miscarriage right before they ended up getting remarried. And she had a lot of those. So while they were planning to adopt she said he needed to cut back on his work hours. And then when they found out she was pregnant, he just gave it up because, at first, they were worried about the pregnancy and then, when they didn't have to worry, it was like something they'd wanted the whole time they were married the first time so he just didn't see the point.

I'm like Rebecca because if I made money, I'd be done with working. I wouldn't feel like I had to work. Flyboy grew up with money and did feel like he had to work. But now they have a really pretty baby and that can be their work. :D

Rebecca, Elaine and C.I. have been friends for years and years. And when she went into labor, C.I. had already planned for that and the gang took a plane out here. There were a lot of people around because you had their friends (like me) and their family.

Early on, C.I. disappeared from the hospital and came back a while later with Rebecca's grandmother because Rebecca would have wanted her to be there. And stuff like that was going on and I was going, "Hey, C.I., what's up?" And C.I. explained what I wouldn't have gotten otherwise -- that there were a lot of people there and crowding wasn't going to be helpful. When I realized that I started hanging back and doing like C.I., running errands and taking care of stuff. We came back here at one point, that first day, to get all the stuff in the baby room together so it would be ready.

And Rebecca set up a speaking thing for C.I. at the hospital because one of the nurses was just really concerned about the war (like a lot of people are) so C.I. ended up speaking to some people at the hospital about that and I got to speak too. And so it wouldn't be like Rebecca had to worry about entertaining and stuff, C.I. put together some speaking engagements at high schools and I got to go along on those too. So we'd be in and out. And that made sense because Kat and the gang (Jess, Ava, Jim, Dona and Ty) would be back on the West Coast soon and that way they could spend some time.

So Rebecca laughed each day about what was it like running to keep up with C.I. and when I said I'd blog (Ty was going to but I'm not even sure they've landed yet), Rebecca goes to write about a day in C.I. life. :D

These are EST times because that's time I live in. C.I. woke me up at 4:30 a.m. Thursday morning because I said I wanted to get a sense of the day. So we go and run for an hour. And I'm not talking jog! :D I thought it would be a jog. I work out and all so it wasn't a problem but I was really surprised we were running. I know C.I. works out like crazy but I hadn't gone running before so I'll note here that C.I. can carry on a conversation while running and not be out of breath. (I was out of breath several times. Rebecca laughed at that and said I should put in that on the phone with her, if C.I.'s on the stepper or the treadmill, she never knows it until C.I. gets off and has to put the phone down to do some quick stretches.)

Then it was boot up the computer and hop in the shower. (No, I didn't hop in the shower with C.I. :D) Then it's get dressed, grab a glass of water (a huge glass of water -- C.I. drinks a ton of water), and go through the paper and the e-mails. C.I. usually brings up two screens for the morning entries. There are a lot of e-mails to read and C.I.'s scanning those real fast. Martha gets noted most mornings because she is specific in her e-mail titles. She'll write something like "Washington Post on the corpse count in Baghdad" or something like that. A lot of people (and I've done it too so I'm not slamming anyone) will write something like "Question" or "I saw this" and there's not time to go through everyone of those and do the morning entries. The first one takes about an hour and the second one had links and excerpts in it but it was time to hit the road for the first campus. So we're driving to speak and C.I.'s on the phone with a friend dictating the parts that C.I.'s comments over the phone and the friend posts that. That's the second entry of the morning.

C.I.'s got a big backpack. In the backpack are magazines, books, writing pads, pens, almonds, sunflower seeds and bottles of water. And who knows what else! It's like Felix's bag of tricks! :D So when we get there, C.I. pulls out a steno pad and looks at some basic notes made the night before about what needs to be hit on and one thing got crossed through to add something in the morning papers. Then we're in the school and then we're with the students and this was a bit bigger than we'd expected so we couldn't circle up and had to do the podium thing. C.I. hit on war resisters (including ), on the bodycounts and I forget the other thing. I talked about Congress before C.I. spoke. Then C.I. opens it up and people talk about the war and share their thoughts and there are questions in there too. That lasted about 55 minutes. Some of the students had home room for their next class and so they wanted to stay and talk some more so that added another hour. Then the same thing with another group of students.

Then it was on to the next high school. And C.I. had said, "Mike, when you're hungry, you have to let me know." C.I.'ll just do the bottled water and the almonds and sunflower seeds. If C.I.'s really tired, there might be a candy bar somewhere during the day. (Usually Milky Way dark, Three Muskateers, or plain M&Ms.) The minute we're on campus, C.I.'s got the ringers off on the cell phones. (C.I.'s got two in the backpack.) So we hit three schools, speaking to different groups and my stomach's growling like crazy at this point so I do say, "I'm hungry."

I was in the mood for pasta (C.I. doesn't care what it is) so we get a table and C.I.'s got the cell phones out of the backpack and the laptop on the table. C.I.'s returning calls and a lot of that is friends saying what their outlet covered or what somebody else's covered and C.I.'s either, "Great" or "Can't use that today." Sometimes it will, "Wait, I'm confused. Walk me through this." C.I. will be juggling the cell phones and a lot of times on two calls at once. If C.I. asks, "What's the URL?" it's going in the snapshot. And C.I. will type something -- depending on the time it will be a lot or a little. And it's like that over and over. C.I. had alfredo sauce and didn't eat much of that but did stab at the salad. Mainly, C.I. just drank water. "Thanks, gotta go" is how most of the phone calls end. They're really quick calls. At least twice, C.I. said, "Okay, let me call you back about that later." In the last ten minutes, C.I.'s off the phone and looking at what's in the e-mail. I scanned that and it's mainly stuff like "___ reports" and that's it. Sometimes there will be something after "reports" but mainly it's just names and outlets with links.

So then we're in the car and C.I.'s on the phone and dictating around the links to a friend. That's not done in order. C.I. will sometimes say, "I have no idea on that, let's jump to . . ." We got to the last school and C.I. goes into the phone, "I'll call you back in exactly an hour." If Kat hadn't been on the trip, C.I. would have called and asked her what was on KPFA that day and followed up anything on Iraq with an excerpt.

So we go in and speak like before. And then after the students have had their turn, C.I.'s asked if there's anymore time available. Yes, but 10 to 15 minutes are needed on the phone first is the reply.

So C.I.'s calling a friend (sometimes it's the same one, sometimes it's another one), getting them to log into the e-mail account and pull up the draft. Then it's fill in the spots that were skipped and C.I.'s looking at the watch this entire time and trying to make it take exactly ten minutes. At one point, C.I. was spelling something (I think a name) over the phone. And as time ticks away, C.I. will say "Pull __ and I'll pick up on that tomorrow." Then it's "Okay, gotta' go. Don't worry about typos, just e-mail it to the site."

And then it was back to listening to the students share their thoughts and ask questions.

Then we were back at the hospital and Rebecca wanted to know all about it. (I gave here five sentences, I didn't go all into it.) We were there for about three hours. Then C.I. dropped me off at home (so I could shower and blog -- I was wiped out, seriously) while Ava, C.I. and Jim went to speak to a community group. (Everyone was speaking at one thing or another except for Ty who was either with Rebecca or with his boyfriend who came down from NY.) Then Ava, C.I. and Jim were back. And we all went out (including my folks and my youngest sister and one of my older brothers) for some fun. We got back like a little before midnight and C.I. had the laptop out to start doing the "And the war drags on" entry. I had already crashed before that thing was done.

Then at 4:30 this morning, C.I.'s knocking at my bedroom door again. (By the way, I offered my room to Dona & Jim and Ava & Jess because they are couples. I also offered it to C.I. Everyone said they didn't want to kick me out of my room. Ty and his boyfriend were in the guest room. Ma had already said they got that because they don't get to see each other very often. Ty likes my folks already but he made a point of not just thanking Ma but telling me to tell her how much he appreciated that. The rest of the gang camped out in the living room. My folks have a room. My sister has a room. I have a room. And we have the guest room -- NOW! When I was growing up, forget it!) (I am one of 8 kids.) (Kat stayed at Rebecca's Thursday night.)

So groaning, I open the bedroom door and C.I. says, "Go back to sleep." But I didn't. We went for a run together. Then it was the same as before. And this time it was all of us going to speak (except Ty). We did that at two campuses and then went to Rebecca's. We spent a few hours there and then I drove them to the airport and turned around and came back here.

So what's a day with C.I. like? When C.I.'s speaking, it's crazy. It's hectic. I couldn't keep up. And I was thinking about that after I dropped the gang off at the airport. C.I. was probably up until one or two in the morning and then back up at 4:30 to work out. Kat always talks about how she must be old but she's not old, it's just C.I.'s moving so quick. (Kat would want me to add that she skips the run when she's on the road with C.I. :D)

And C.I. started doing this in February 2003. It's been over 4 years. A slow month is only two weeks on the road speaking. Elaine says one thing that's working to C.I.'s advantadge is being a lifelong insomniac. I know Ava and C.I. have no idea what they're reviewing this weekend. At one point, Jim brought that up and Ava said, "Jim, we don't know and if you suggest something, I will throw this at you." (This was whatever she was drinking Thursday night. :D)

C.I.'s mainly spoken to high school and college students during all of this but also to various groups. The new thing they're trying to work in ("they're" being C.I. and Dona -- Dona will schedule if she knows something's coming up -- whether she's on it or not -- because she thinks C.I. overbooks -- which is true -- nothing get's missed but, before Dona started scheduling, it would be nothing for C.I. to do 8 things in one day) is women's groups because C.I. spoke to a group last month and realized that they're being as left out as anyone else. (Kat wrote about it in "You just never know" and C.I. wrote about it in "And the war drags on . . ."). They spoke to a labor group at the end of last month, C.I., Ty and Kat and that was Kat's favorite of any non-student group so far.

Tonight, Rebecca explained to me how it started out and I'm glad because I forgot to ask. C.I. had a friend who'd scheduled some speaking things in February 2003 (at colleges) but couldn't do it at the last minute. So C.I. filled in thinking, "I'm just filling in." Then some friends found out and they said, "Oh, you've got to speak to . . ." Which was fine. And then, Rebecca says, next thing you know, it's August 2003. At which point, C.I. started working friends who were teachers and professors and principals and deans and started working various groups that C.I. belonged to in college. And that just carried it through 2004. Now those same people will call and ask or someone they know will call and ask. Dona says C.I. will say "yes" to anything so Dona prefers to take those calls and she'll say, "No. Not this month. How about . . ." She also tries to group everything as close together. And Dona will tell you she wasn't asked to do any of this, she just took it on herself. She did that because she's the one who goes out on the road the least. So this is part of her contribution. (She'll speak anywhere in the area they all live now but she really hates to skip class. She'll do it in a minute if they're in her family's area so she can catch up with them.) Ava, Jess, Ty and Jim don't worry so much about skipping (and it hasn't been a problem). It'll be different for Jess when he starts law school.

I just read this over to Flyboy and he said to put in that C.I. does this at no charge. He's right, Rebecca would want that noted. C.I. does not get a speaking fee, C.I. does not ask for (or take) traveling expense or lodging expense. Flyboy: "C.I. really has put life on hold for the war. I don't think that gets noted enough. C.I. could be lying by the pool at home relaxing instead of criss-crossing the country over and over to speak out against the war."

That's no joke. And C.I. has the frequent flyer miles to prove it (and is always asking people if they need them). C.I. travels with the backpack, the laptop and one carry on suitcase. Everything's rolled up (to avoid wrinkling) in the carry on.

I'll add that since The Common Ills started in November 2004, C.I.'s never missed a day. That's got to be a chore by now. I just blog Monday through Friday and just at night and there are some nights when I do not feel like I have something to blog about or I just don't want to (or I don't have time due to studying for classes).

Okay, Flyboy and me are going to get work on something for the nursery so let me put in C.I.'s
"Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, May 4, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces the deaths of more service members, the mainstream press gloms on an apparent lie, a US senator floats his inablity to stand (no spine), and more.


Starting with news of war resisters. Today Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) interviewed US Senator Daniel Akaka, the junior senator from Hawaii. Ehren Watada was brought up. Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. A February court-martial ended in an mistrial. This month (the 20-th through the 21st), pre-trial motions are scheduled. If the judge elects to ignore the Constituion's ban on double-jeopardy, Watada would then be court-martialed beginning July 16th. Before the Febuary court-martial, he spoke to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Tuesday, January 23, 2006 and Goodman and Gonzalez played a clip for that for Akaka today:

In my preparation for deployment to Iraq, in order to better train myself and my soldiers, I began to research the background of Iraq, including the culture, the history, the events going on on the ground and what had led us up into the war in the first place, and what I found was very shocking to me and dismaying, and it really made me question what I was being asked to do, and it caused me to research more and more. And as I found out the answers to the questions I had, I became convinced that the war itself was illegal and immoral, as was the current conduct of American forces and the American government on the ground over in Iraq. And as such, as somebody who has sworn an oath to protect our Constitution, our values and our principles, and to protect the welfare and the safety of the American people, I said to myself that's something that I cannot be a part of, the war. I cannot enable or condone those who have established this illegal and immoral policy. And so, I simply requested that I have my commission resigned and I separate completely from the military, because of those reasons, and I was denied several times, and I was basically given the ultimatum: either you deploy to Iraq or you will face a court-martial.

Noting that Akaka is opposed to the war, that Carolyn Ho had visited him in DC to ask for his support for her son, Goodman asked Akaka, "Do you think he should be court-martialed?"

Akaka: I know him and I know his dad and his mom very, very well in Hawaii. I admire his position and, for me, it's a position that has grown with him being reared and brought up in Hawaii in a diverse population and with diverse culture and a care for people. And what he has done is so difficult for any young man to take a position like that, to the point where he is willing to resign his position as an officer and to leave the service of the United States. But he bases it on the mistakes that this country has made. And so, he needs to be admired for that. But he has had a difficult time to convince the military courts, as well, to just let him resign. But for me, we'll let the courts decide that. But I admire his position. It's very difficult, and we know that we all love our country, and I know he does too. But his reasons are, as I said, moral and that's really basic for anybody as he makes a difficult decision as he has.

For those lost in Akaka's useless wordage, the answer is "no." He will not do one damn thing. Would the answer have been different if Goodman or Gonzalez had raised the issue of double-jeopardy?

No. Akaka is as useless as his words. "I know him . . I know his dad and his mom . . ." Yes, he does know them. He was happy to have Bob Watada work his butt off for his campaign and many others. And while Akaka's happy to pose as BRAVE SENATOR AGAINST THE WAR he can't won't lift a damn finger to help anyone that's suffering for Akaka and other senators' useless manuevers. What is Akaka so scared of? He was just re-elected in November of 2006. He is 82 years old. Is he afraid he won't be able to be a senator at 88 if he shows some damn courage? When Time magazine picks you as one of the Five Worst Senators maybe it's time you stepped aside ("As a legislator, though, Akaka is living proof that experience does not necessarily yield expertise. After 16 years on the job, the junior Senator from Hawaii is a master of the minor resolution and the bill that dies in committee.") Voting against the war doesn't mean a damn thing if that's where you courage ends. Staying on dumb and useless, let's turn to Hawaii's other Senator (though let's note that when it's time to stand up for drilling in the AMWR, Akaka is present and accounted for), Daniel Inouye. Like Akaka, Inouye has strongly benefitted from the work of Bob Watada. Inouye is 82 as well (he is actually four days older than Akaka).

Inouye voted against authorization for the illegal war. At 82, why is he so scared to speak up in defense of Watada? Greg Small (AP) reported on Inouye's attitude towards Watada last August: not "too happy," rushed to note "he wasn't praising Watada" . . . So two senators, damn well old enough to know better, can't do one damn thing. They can't end the war, they can't speak out for someone forced to take a stand (one they themselves are too feeble or cowardly to take). They both knew Bob Watada. They're thanks for all the hard work he put in is to turn their backs on his son? May voters show them the same sense of 'loyalty' if the OLD FOOLS are idiot enough to run for re-election (2011 for Inouye, 2012 for Akaka). Inouye and Akaka the strongest reasons today for a mandatory retirement age for the Senate.

In other war resister news, this week Camilo Meija's Road from Ar Ramaid: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Mejia was published and, as Courage to Resist reports, he will be joining Agustin Aguayo Pablo Paredes, and Robert Zabala for a speaking tour from May 9th through 17th in the San Francisco Bay Area. The announced dates include:

Wednesday May 9 - Marin 7pm at College of Marin, Student Services Center, 835 College Ave, Kentfield. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Pablo Paredes and David Solnit. Sponsored by Courage to Resist and Students for Social Responsibility.

Thursday May 10 - Sacramento Details TBA
Friday May 11 - Stockton 6pm at the Mexican Community Center, 609 S Lincoln St, Stockton. Featuring Agustin Aguayo.
Saturday May 12 - Monterey 7pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 490 Aguajito Rd, Carmel. Featuring Agustin Aguayo and Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace Chp. 69, Hartnell Students for Peace, Salinas Action League, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Courage to Resist. More info: Kurt Brux 831-424-6447
Sunday May 13 - San Francisco 7pm at the Veterans War Memorial Bldg. (Room 223) , 401 Van Ness St, San Francisco. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia and Pablo Paredes. Sponsored by Courage to Resist, Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69 and SF Codepink.
Monday May 14 - Watsonville 7pm at the United Presbyterian Church, 112 E. Beach, Watsonville. Featuring Agustin Aguayo, Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and Robert Zabala. Sponsored by the GI Rights Hotline & Draft Alternatives program of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV), Santa Cruz Peace Coalition, Watsonville Women's International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF), Watsonville Brown Berets, Courage to Resist and Santa Cruz Veterans for Peace Chp. 11. More info: Bob Fitch 831-722-3311
Tuesday May 15 - Palo Alto 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church (Fellowship Hall), 1140 Cowper, Palo Alto. Featuring Camilo Mejia. Sponsored by Pennisula Peace and Justice Center. More info: Paul George 650-326-8837
Wednesday May 16 - Eureka 7pm at the Eureka Labor Temple, 840 E St. (@9th), Eureka. Featuring Camilo Mejia. More info: Becky Luening 707-826-9197Thursday May 17 - Oakland 4pm youth event and 7pm program at the Humanist Hall, 411 28th St, Oakland. Featuring Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes and the Alternatives to War through Education (A.W.E.) Youth Action Team. Sponsored by Veteran's for Peace Chp. 69, Courage to Resist, Central Committee for Conscientious Objector's (CCCO) and AWE Youth Action Team.

Aguayo wants to take part in that but may not be released in time. If the military is thinking they'll clamp down on war resistance by holding Aguayo, they obviously aren't factoring the passion this tour will create and the questions of, "Where's Augie?" All are part of a growing movement of war resistance within the military: Camilo Mejia, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Dean Walcott, Camilo Mejia, Linjamin Mull, Joshua Key, Augstin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder , Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Joshua Key, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Jeremy Hinzman, Stephen Funk, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake and Kevin Benderman. In total, thirty-eight US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, the documentary Sir! No Sir! traces the war resistance within the military during Vietnam and it will air at 9:00 pm (EST) on The Sundance Channel followed at 10:30 p.m. by The Ground Truth which examines the Iraq war and features Jimmy Massey and Iraq Veterans Against the War's Kelly Dougherty among others. (Filling in for Rebecca, Betty wrote about Sir! No Sir! last night.)


Now let's turn to the apparent lie. CBS and AP report that Manouchehr Mottaki (Iran's Foreign Minister) "walked out of a dinner of diplomats where he was seated directly across from Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, on the pretext that the female violinist entertaining the gathering was dressed too revealing." Cute. Kind of like the lie that Hugo Chavez said Noam Chomsy was dead, no? Other versions take greater strides to note that Rice wasn't walked out on, she wasn't present. But they love this apparently false claim of the scantily clad violinist -- in Egypt? the US State Department can't lie any better than that? -- and most include this non-diplomatic quote by Sean McCormack who is a spokesperson for the State Department: "I don't know which woman he was afraid of, the woman in the red dress or the secretary of state." What's the truth?

Oh, you don't think it's coming out of the braying mouth of Sean McCormack, do you? KUNA reports: "On Thursday evening, Mottaki left dinner in Sharm el-Sheikh before Rice arrived to sit at the same table" and "Asked why he did not meet Rice, Mottaki told a news conference: 'There was no time, no appointment and no plans. A meeting between foreign ministers has certain requirements (such as) political will and it also has to be clear on what basis such a meeting would be held." AFP, to its credit, noted the comments being put out by "US officials" were "a swipe" on the part of "US officials" but somehow Mottaki's press conference just slipped everyone's attention.

McCormack's statements aren't diplomatic but they are the sort of calculated cheap shots. So nice of so many in the press to run with them just because US officials said they were true. Our Hedda Hoppers of the press.

Staying on the topic of the press, in the current issue of Extra! (March/April 2007, put out by FAIR), Pat Arnow explores (pp. 9-10) the censorship the press doesn't fight. Using a photo (by Robert Nickelsberg) that ran with Damien Cave's "Man Down," Arnow explains how the New York Times groveled and apologized to appease the US military, "apparently removed the photos from their website" in order to gladly go along with the latest dictates of the US military: "Now publications of pictures of casualties violates new media ground rules for Iraq from the Department of Defense. The regulation states, 'Names, video, identifiable photographs of wounded service members will not be released without service member's prior written consent' -- which seems absurdly unlikely." The US military has declared that photos of casualties taken in a public area are not, in fact, public. It's the sort of thing one expects from Team Crusie, but not from the US military, and the sort of thing one doesn't expect for news reporters (as opposed to feature writers) to ever go along with; however, go along with it the Times and other outlets have (Arnow also names the Washington Post). Arnow concludes, "Photos of American suffering or suffering caused by Americans might indeed sicken and offend viewers. But by acquiescing to the military's censorship and avoiding most of these images of American involvement, the media does not offer a true portrayal of the consequences of war. . . . By accepting military censorship without discussion, though, the media demonstrates cowardice." (It should probably be noted that no one has yet to touch the much talked of incident where the Times pulled a reporter from Iraq to appease the US military.)

Barry Lando (The Middle East Online via Common Dreams) notes the "pretense that they [journalists] actually know what is going on in Iraq. It is more showbiz than fact. Because of the fearful security situation, they are restricted to the artificial enclave of the Green Zone, literally cut off from the rest of the country. When they venture out, it is usually only with helmet and flak jacket, safely embedded with American military units. Most of Iraq and most of its people are unknown territory. . . . Most reporters also avoid reporting that the claim of the squabbling do-nothing politicians in the Green Zone to be the government of Iraq is another fiction promulgated by the Bush administration. Everyone -- the media, visiting congressmen and officials all seem to play along -- but as retired General Barry McCaffrey recently pointed out: There is essentially not a single province in the country where 'the centeral government holds sway.'"

Today, the New York Times grabbed some ribbon and tied a 'terrorism' bow around any story they could. Damien Cave tries to fix the mess of official statements in opposition and ends up coming off like Faye Dunaway in the My-daughter-My-sister scene in Chinatown. So after wasting a ton of space and ink this week on whether or not this 'terrorist' was killed or that one was, Damien Cave tells us that the US military asserts they "killed a senior propagandist . . . who was involved in kidnapping Westerners, including the American journalist Jill Carroll." Though repeating every word purred by the Giddiest Gabor Green Zone (Willie Caldwell), Cave misses basic reality. As Dan Murphy (Christian Science Monitor) reports "Carroll says she doesn't recognize the photo released by the military of [Abdul-Latif al-] Jubouri." That much was known yesterday. Murphy also reports that Caroll identifies Abu Nour as a major player in her kidnapping and there is "no doubt in her mind that he was the most powerful of the captors". Murphy also reminds that "Over the past the year the US military has detained a number of figures believed to have been involved" in Carroll's kidnapping and that of Tom Fox and three members of CPT. Somehow, Cave misses all of that. But then, he is working for the paper that early on could have interviewed members of the resistance but a vexed look from a US military official was enough to send Dexy Filkins off to his corner, whimpering and sucking his thumb.

These days, very few outlets could get an interview with anyone in the resistance. Alive in Baghdad did get an interview this week, with a member of the Islamic Army in Iraq which has been dubbed "a resistance group" by Iraq's vice president Tareq al-Hashemi. Below is a transcript of the masked man's statements:

In the Name of Allah the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. The new security plan is a huge failure. We have nothing against the American people. On the contrary, we know there are educated Americans and Americans who like the Iraqi people. Our problem is with the American occupiers who invaded our country. I ask any American, if an invader broke into his country, what would he do? Welcome them? He is going to use this weapon by the will of Allah. God is supporting us. Concering the execution of the hero martyr Saddam Hussein, I call on all the TV networks to visit Iraq and find someone who supported the execution of the Iraqi president. May God have mercy on his soul. When he executed the 148 men as the media claims, they were traitors when we were at war with Iran. If the American president faces an assassination attempt, what is he going to do? Is he going to release them from prison? He'll find the terrorists. This is very normal and the Iraqi president was in a war situation where he was about to be assassinated. So what could the man do? Iran sent these men and supported them and even Iranian weapons were found. My late uncle was a senior official in the state. He saw these weapons. All of them were made in Iran. Where did they get them from? From Iran. They say that the Iraqi president was Sunni and execute Shiites but that is a lie. Those executed by the president were traitors. They didn't deserve to live on the land of Iraq. So he was not sectarian. The late Iraqi president was a patriot who loved his country & people. He made us live in safety,
although the country was going through economic difficulties because of the embargo imposed by the Americans and the Kuwaitis. It was what God willed. This security plan has failed and the Iraqi government is loyal to Iran, to the Safavid [Iranians]. This government is unable to run a group of people. So how can it run an entire country with 28 million Iraqis? I call on the Americans to leave Iraq and re-build the former Iraqi army. By the will of Allah, I call upon the American people to withdraw their sons, brothers, and fathers before they are buried her in Iraq because we noble Sunnis do not accept that and the biggest proof for that was how the late president sacrificed himself and his sons for the sake of Iraq and the land of Iraq. And as it is said, we are people who will never surrender.

Alive in Baghdad does a contextual wrap around (at the end they're noting the Mongols) including: "We are aware that some may find this content objectionable or irresponsible, but we feel it is completely in line with our mission to detail facets of daily life in Baghdad." Those who find it objectionable may do so because they've become so used to what passes for reporting in the mainstream press. Alive in Baghdad, as BBC reported last December, "won a crop of 'Vloggie' industry awards for showing the human face behind Iraq's daily toll of deaths and kidnappings."


Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that killed 5 police officers and left 2 more wounded, a Baghdad taxi bombing that wounded one police officer, and a Babil car bombing that claimed 1 life and left 21 wounded. Tina Susman (Los Angeles Times) reports, "A car bomb and two roadside bombs went off overnight in Kirkuk, killing six Iraqis and injuring at least 33" while a Baghdad mortar attack claimed 2 lives.

Wednesday's rocket attack on the Green Zone killed four contractors. Lelia Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) reports: "Two of the dead were from India, one was from the Philippines and one was from Nepal." Thursday's snapshot, citing Reuters, noted the four were all from the Philippines.

Shootings?

Hussien Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 guards were wounded by gunfire in Baghdad (Habibiya neighborhood) and two guards of the Imama Ali mosque (in Baghdad's Adhamiya neighborhood) were wounded in an attack that also led to the mosque being burned down, a Shurqat attack that left a police officer dead, and "For the last five days, the tribes of Shimar who live at the villages of Kinaan have been on fighting with the terrorists there with no help from the government having one man killed and five injured."

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 15 corpses were discovered in Baghdad. Reuters notes 8 corpses in Suwayra, 6 in Baiji (all police officers) and 9 in Falluja. AP notes 7 corpses "found floating in the Diyala River in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, and snipers were preventing police and medical teams from recovering from the remains along with other bodies spotted in recent weeks from the waterway, police said."

Today the US military announced: "An improvised explosive device targeting an MND-B patrol killed one Soldier and wounded three others in a western section of Baghdad May 3."
And they announced: "An MND-B Soldier was killed and six others were wounded when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital May 3." And they announced: "A Task Force Marne Soldier was killed and two were wounded when their patrol was struck by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad today." Ann Scott Tyson (Washington Post) reports that there were 65 attacks using projectile bombs.
The deaths announced today brought the total number of US service members to die in the illegal war to 3363.

Finally Rick Rogers (San Diego Union-Tribune) reported yesterday on an ethics study the US military conducted on marines stationed in Iraq. The study found that 40% was the number who stated they "would report a member of their unit for killing or wounding an innocent civilian" and Rogers reported: "The report indeed showed that longer deployments and multiple tours of duty were increasing troops' rates of marital and mental-health problems, including post traumatic stress disorder." Pauline Jelinek (AP) reports on the study today and notes that "55 percent of Army soldiers would report a member of their unit for killing or wounding an innocent civilian."







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