7/31/2008

nader, womencount pac and idiot at vibe



the above is the latest video from the ralph nader campaign. i think you'll like it. and let's go straight into this is from team nader:

Urgent---Five Days Left in Ralph's Home State

ShareThis

Urgent---Five Days Left in Ralph's Home State .

We're up against it here in Ralph's home state --- Connecticut.

I'm Ken Krayeske, the state coordinator, and I promised Ralph I would get him on the ballot here.

We have only 7,000 signatures in hand. And we need to get to 15,000 in five days.

We have 30 to 40 people on the ground collecting in Connecticut and we need to pay for their gas, transportation, copying costs.

You get the picture.

To do that, we need your donations now -- $10, $20, $50, $100 -- whatever you can afford.

Why are we busting it so hard every day to get Ralph on the ballot here?

Because it's not just about Ralph.

It's about you and me and a young man named Derek O'Kanos. (Check out Derek's short video here about why he likes Ralph --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfltpogno6c)

Last Friday, Derek phoned me.

"I want to help petition," he said.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Sixteen," he said.

"Wow! That's fantastic, but you need an adult to help you out, because you have to be a registered voter," I said. "But before we get into logistics, I don't often get calls from 16-year-olds. Can you tell me how you know about Ralph?"

"Two years ago, Mr. Nader came to my high school," Derek said.

"What school is that?" I asked.

"Enrico Fermi in Enfield," Derek said.

"No way," I said. "I helped organize that. There was a standing room only crowd. What did you think of Ralph's speech?"

"I didn't see it," Derek said. "I was a freshman, and I was in World History class, and my class didn't go. I guess they thought that Ralph didn't fit with world history."

"Bummer," I said.

"Yeah, but I've been interested in Mr. Nader since then, reading about him, and I want to help him," Derek said.

So we discussed strategies for him to convince adults in his life to go out and petition with him.

Derek recruited his uncle's girlfriend to transport him and witness signatures at grocery stores.

Next, he corralled his grandfather to drive him around neighborhoods in suburban northern Connecticut. (Above is a photo of Derek and his grandfather)

Shortly after, I got this email from Derek:

"Today was truly amazing. No more than a few days ago I felt an overwhelming feeling of worthlessness. I felt that there was nothing that I could do due to my age and transportation issue. Then we talked and I went out and did something. I truly felt like I was a part of something, that I was making history. I could have volunteered for many other political campaigns, but it was the Nader/Gonzalez campaign that truly inspired me. I can openly support every policy of the campaign and sleep at night. This is a campaign that puts national interest before personal interest. We the people -- not for sale! Gives me chills. It is truly amazing to see an entire organization of everyday people working towards one beautiful common goal and putting power back into the hands of the people."

Let's not let Ralph, Derek and all our supporters down in Connecticut.

Donate now whatever you can afford.

Hit the contribute button.

Together, we are making a difference --- in Ralph's home state and beyond.

Onward

Ken Krayeske, The Nader Team

Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.

ShareThis



what are you going to do? i got on the phone with my in-laws to ask them if they signed, if they'd seen any 1 with petitions. they're willing to sign but not sure if they can? they voted for hillary in the democratic primary and were asking me if it was like in texas (the only state i know about because it's been covered like crazy in the gina & krista round-robin). i e-mailed brady and asked him if he could call my father-in-law tomorrow. he's a community member in conn. and the 1 who predicted ned lamont would win the primary against joe lieberman (he was block walking) and then predicted joe lieberman would win the senate seat (because ned backed away from the issue of the iraq war). i know brady voted for hillay and i know he'll know whether there's a rule in the state that to sign the petition, you can't have voted in a primary. (i'm big mass. my in-laws do live in conn.)

this is from womencount pac:

FOR RELEASE IMMEDIATELY

For more information contact:
Rosemary Camposano 650 740-5544
Stacy Mason 650 793-3556
info@womencountpac.com

Ludacris Gets an Earful From WomenCount
Group demands apology from artist and immediate action from Party leaders

(San Francisco, Wed., July 30, 2008) -- Responding to news that rap artist Ludacris released a song today in which he calls Hillary Clinton an "irrelavant bitch," WomenCount is calling for an apology as well as a blanket condemnation by the Party leadership.

In his song entitled "Politics," Ludacris calls Hillary Clinton an "irrelevant bitch" and also attacks President Bush and Sen. McCain. These lyrics are outrageous, offensive, and unacceptable.

In an e-mail this afernoon to its membership, WomenCount states, "It is another example of hateful, sexist language being used on the campaign trail, and now is our moment to make it clear: not on our watch! The leadership of both parties must step up to condemn such hateful speech and demand apologies. The Obama campaign has criticized the lyrics, but we call on the presumptive party nominee, who is the celebrated subject of the new song, to go even further: Publicly condemn the song. Demand an apology on behalf of the targets. Now.

"This is not an issue of being PC," states Rosemary Camposano, communications director for WomenCount, “This is about beginning the grinding and painful process of rooting out this kind of hate language and behavior whenever and wherever it exists. The Democratic leadership have pledged to unhinge our nation from gender-bias, hate-language and misogyny and we are taking them at their word."

WomenCount (www.womencountpac.com) has embarked on a campaign called "Stop the Silence" in which they are promoting specific language be incorporated into the National Platform now being drafted for the Democratic National Convention. Through an e-mail petition campaign, driving content on the blogs, and direct contact with the Democratic Leadership, WomenCount is applying pressure to begin eliminating gender bias in the media and wherever it exists by condemning it "on the spot" going forward.


____________________________________________________________
WomenCount PAC was created to ensure that the 51 percent of American citizens who are women have their values and votes counted in the political process. So far in the 2008 election cycle, WomenCount has run a series of ads related to the presidential campaign and made contributions to several women candidates for Congress.

Contributions to WomenCount PAC are not tax-deductible. Contributions will be used in federal elections, and are subject to federal law regarding prohibited sources and limits. Contributions to WomenCount PAC are limited to $5,000 per calendar year and contributions from corporations and labor unions are prohibited. Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year.


it's not just about me, it's about my daughter. it's about all of our daughters and all the women to come. we're not going to let barack get off building his campaign off our backs.

it's a p.r. strategy he's employed. his what can kindly be termed 'effete' or 'sugar britches.' so he proves his 'cred' to males by running a sexist campaign. i'm real sorry that he's a weakling.

but he'd be a weakling as a woman.

it has nothing to do with gender. and i'm not going to let him score points off women.

it is past time that he was called out.


but he has a lot of defenders. there's a liar at vibe. he's either a liar or an idiot. i don't give a f**k.

here's what he writes he's in bold, i respond after each line.

I'm reminded of my mid-concert petulance this election season by the deafening silence of all the feminist activists concerning the treatment of Michelle Obama, especially considering how forcefully vocal they were every time Hillary was the victim of sexism both real and imagined.

1st off, idiot, feminist wire daily and women's media center and now have all called out sexism against michelle.

2nd off, IDIOT, michelle's not a feminist. it's why feminists at the grass roots don't feel she needs to be 'rescued.' the leadership has 'rescued' her.

hillary is a feminist, she's identified as that, she's been trashed for it.

michelle having a vagina doesn't mean the feminist movement needs to come to her rescue.

you're a stupid, stupid idiot.

A few months ago you couldn't throw a rock without hitting some scathing article by a pen-wielding woman concerning the legitimate concerns about insensitive comments made by a few knuckle dragging pundits, or some passionate supporter of womens rights arguing their case on some garden variety cable news show.

you're a LIAR. robin morgan, gloria steinem and marie cocco. who else? why don't you provide a list you damn LIAR.

you can't. there's erica jong but i don't know many feminists that consider her 1 and she got shouted down and caved.

'insensitive comments'? she was called a bitch on cnn. she was accused of pimping out her daughter on msnbc. she was ridiculed far and wide.

you don't know what the hell you're talking about you stupid asshole.

excuse me, i thought it was a woman. it's a man. that explains the refusal to see sexism or to grasp that a woman isn't a feminist just because she has a vagina. it's more bro playing by a barack loving misogynist.

Even though there were as many clumsily illegitimate claims as well, overzealous Hillary supporters who pointed to nonexistent Obama sexism like "Snub-Gate"(where his back was momentarily turned to Hillary during a State of the Union Adddress), him very innocently stating "You're likable enough Hillary" during one of the debates, and the time he referred to a reporter as "sweetie".

hey, asshole, he flipped the bird. he said 'the claws come out' he said 'periodically when she's feeling blue.' you're a dumb ass wipe and apologist who refuses to see the very real sexism that's gone on. kiss my ass, you piece of trash.


(He personally called the young lady later and apologized)


hey, DUMB ASS, it wasn't the 1st time he called women 'sweetie.' he did it back in april. he apologized? big f**king deal. he was rude, he was dismissive and he didn't answer the reporter's question.


But the movements coordination was stellar nonetheless, and even though I found some of the charges of sexism rather unwarranted - I just knew that if Obama became the Democratic Nominee that Michelle could count on that same passion and unwavering support from those same feminist activists who so forcefully had Hillary's back. Unfortunately, there has been nothing but cricket sounds thus far, proverbial tumbleweeds if you will.

again, you're a f**king liar. aren't you embarrassed to write and not know the 1st thing you're talking about? of course not, because you're a man and facts don't matter, you just think you can bellow and scream as much as you want and every 1 will pipe down. kiss my ass, you little lying thug.

i've just really had it with all this bulls**t. i'm not in the mood to note another word from that ass. he's an idiot.


let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Thursday, July 31, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces two deaths, the White House fakes-out the press, Barack's support continues to be revealing, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Yovany Rivero ("Geo") is an Iraq War veteran who has been twice deployed to Iraq. While serving, his faith deepened and he applied for Conscientious Objector status -- please note, CO status does not depend on religious status (a fact noted in the US military's own written guidelines -- but one those 'determining' frequently ignore). June 14th, he received a peace prize from The Rheinland-Pfalz Peace Adovacty Group. Early this month, John Vandiver (Stars and Stripes) reported on Rivero "who enlisted in the Army in 2001 when he was 18" and notes:

Michael Sharp, who works closely with Rivero as an adviser with the Germany-based Military Counseling Network, said the soldier wants to keep a low profile and isn't looking to bring attention to his case. In particular, Rivero doesn't want his fellow soldiers, whom he respects, to misinterpret his position as a sign of disrespect, Sharp said.

Though Sharp also declined to discuss Rivero's case in detail, citing Rivero's desire to avoid publicity, MCN has been working closely with numerous soldiers since the start of the Iraq war.

Perhaps the best-known case connected with MCN was that of Agustin Aguayo, a combat medic who was found guilty in 2007 of deserting the Schweinfurt, Germany-based 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division as it prepared to deploy to Iraq in 2006. Aguayo returned to California last year after serving a brief prison sentence. Others, however, have found their conscientious objector claims supported: In 2006, seven soldiers who worked with MCN had their requests approved.

Last month Courage to Resist interviewed Iraq War veteran and war resister William Shearer. Shearer enlisted at 17-years in 2002 and ended up with a non-deployable unit ("teaching units what they needed to know before they went over to a combat area, we pretty much put them through a month long simulation of combat") but that changed in 2004. Asked about his time in Iraq, Sharer responded, "It was more of like -- There wasn't a lot of action. It was more of -- It's hard to explain down there. Action over there is like getting IED or maybe getting shot at a few times or a car bomb goes off. It's not exactly what you're expecting. It's more like hunting season, you're the deer."

While serving in Iraq, Shearer faced a number of problems, "In my case I had lost a lot while I was over there. And it just started -- The more you lose and the less they do for you the more you start to see how jacked up things really are." The problems included his new wife having a semi-public affair "with an MP on post" and he was hearing about it from his platoon sergeant who heard about it from his wife who lived across the street from Shearer's wife. "And the army did nothing," Shearer states. "And there's plenty they could do. And they just they did nothing. I lost a lot of money, I lost my family while I was there you know pretty much. And when I get back, I'd lost so much, it was like I needed to start over." He returned from Iraq "like two days later . . . I got served divorce papers".

William Shearer: And the more things that pile up, it would just start detiriorating me as a soldier. It would make me look worse and worse It would get harder and harder. They didn't care. That's what I'm trying to get across. They don't care. And if they don't care and nobody's helping you out, you start to not care. You start to -- you just look at everything as bad, you have no positive whatsoever coming in. And so me and the military is pretty much diminishing quick.

Courage to Resist: So you're saying that not only didn't you get support while you were in a combat zone, you didn't get any support when you were back home either?

William Shearer: No, not really. I was checked out for PTSD. I got -- when I got home -- They put you through all of these tests, talk to a bunch of doctors I was diagnosed with PTSD, depression and a couple like sleep disorders and other things. And pretty much all they did was just start throwing me pills. Kind of like to shut me up, put me in a I-don't-care vegetative state. Pretty much just to have me there.

His PTSD 'counseling' was completely lacking in targets, goals or medical supervision. It was pair him up with an over-sixty-years-old retired military person and 'rap.' Someone who had not served in Iraq.

William Shearer: They give you this idea they're going to take of you and things are just one big family you know So I was thinking to myself "Man, I got to have a reset. I got to find a way to get myself out of this and start over -- start my life over, you know. I have nothing to work with." So I pretty much started going through the things, asking around 'Hey, what happened to this guy for doing this?' when he -- you know -- did he get an article 15? I was mainly not so worried about the disciplinary actions but the discharge that's what I was really worried about. I was asking around and AWOL was one of the things, I heard a couple of things. But the one thing that came up for me was failing the urinalysis. I-I- I just couldn't fathom anybody you deploy with or anybody who says they care about you so much -- like your batallion commanders do -- would put you out with a bad discharge after you showing for four years all the honorable deeds you've done. So it seemed to me that that was the best route for me. I wasn't so sure about AWOL. So I knew -- I knew for a fact that if I failed the urinalysis, I would be able to get out and I was pretty confident that I wouldn't get anything less than a general discharge

Courage to Resist: And your concern about the type of discharge had to do with veterans' beneifts?

William Shearer: That and how am I going to live the rest of my life, you know, how am I going to have a career? I just -- I -- There was a lot of things going through my head. You know -- as a matter of fact -- the very reason I was worried is actually what I'm doing now. You know. I'm not -- There's nothing I have no options really. It's survival.

Courage to Resist: So you made a decision to fail a urinalysis test, is that right?

William Shearer: When I went home on leave I was just like "This is how I'm going to do it." Because as soon as you come back from leave you know that the very next day you're going to get a urinalysis test.

He no longer supports the war and his thoughts on it today are:

I feel like they're exploiting those healthy young bucks that are just getting out of high school or going to be getting out of high school, you know They're telling these guys all these things they want to hear about how glorious and how fun and how good the military is. Granted, there's something that are good about it but it's not going to last forever. It doesn't last forever. And when you do go in everything changes and one thing I can tell you, they tell you, you know you could end up in a war zone, okay? When you sign up, you know all this stuff. But what they don't tell you is that you're going to be driving around and you have rules on you that the people you're fighting don't use or go against -- They don't use any of those rules. They don't abide by any rules. So you're pretty much a pawn. You do what they need you to do regardless of how dangerous it is, you know? For instance, you're just driving up and down a road expecting to get blown up. We -- we covered a mile -- a good strip of highway -- it was the most used transport highway in Iraq. It linked the north and south together. And that's where all the supplies went up and down while we were there. And our job for about two weeks was to patrol that strip of highway and eliminate all threats of IEDs whether that be they be blow you up or you find them first . They just don't want IEDs there They don't tell you that you're going to be the person that they pick to walk up to a suspected IED and give it a little nudge to see if it's a bomb, you know? They don't tell you these things. And these aren't things that these kids are thinking about -- they don't know that this stuff's there, they don't know it's like this. They're thinking they're going to go into the army, they're going to get take care of, and they're going to get put into a huge combat situation when it's not. The only people that's getting to fire anything is the enemy.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Yovany Rivero, William Shearer, Michael Thurman, Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).
Yesterday in headlines on Democracy Now!, Juan Gonzalez explained, "In other Iraq news, the British government has announced there will be no prosecutions over the death of journalist Terry Lloyd, despite an investigation that blamed US troops. Terry Lloyd was shot dead in Iraq in March 2003 along with a French cameraman and an Iraqi interpreter. Two years ago, a British coroner ruled that US troops should be prosecuted for the unlawful killing of Lloyd, who was a well-known foreign correspondent for the British television network ITN. The coroner ruled that Lloyd was shot in the back by Iraqi soldiers. Then, as he was being driven to a hospital in a civilian minivan, Lloyd was shot in the head by US troops." Jenny Booth (Times of London) quotes ITN's spokesperson stating, "Coroner Andrew Walker concluded just under two years ago that Terry Lloyd was unlawfully killed by American troops and ITN has done everything it could to try and ensure Terry's killer is brought to justice. We are disappointed that the CPS has decided they cannot take this matter further, and that despite the coroner's call on the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions to demand that the Americans bring the perpretator of a possible war crime before a British court of law, the US authorities remain unco-operative." Meanwhile, AP reports that journalist Ali al-Mashhadani is being held by the US military at Camp Cropper. al-Mashhadani works for Reuters, BBC and NPR. Dean Yates (Reuters) reports that (as usual) no charges have been brought against Ali and quotes David Schlesinger (Reuters Editor-in-Chief) explaining, "Any accusations against a journalist should be aired publicly and dealt with fairly and swiftly, with the journalist having the right to counsel and present a defense." From Monday's snapshot, "Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times) reported . . . 'Also on Friday, the American military acknowledged that it unintentionally killed the son of an editor for an American-financed newspaper in the northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday. The military said soldiers had been fired at from a taxi and shot back, hitting Arkan al-Naiemi, 14, in the taxi'." Saturday, Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) wrote about Arkan at Baghdad Observer noting that he "often stayed late at his father's newsroom in Kirkuk. The editor-in-chief of the weekly Voice of Villages, Ali Taha, treated his son as a journalist in training. . . . The teen listened to pop music and was obsessed with computer games. He loved the weekly trips he took with his father to sites in the area. The most recent trip was to the Dokan Dam, the primary water source in Kirkuk. He loved to stay late into the night at the Voice of Villages newsroom, a U.S. supported weekly, and help in any way he could. Who knows what he would've been when he grew up. Who knows what life he would've lived. God had other plans, his father said."
"This has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq," declared the delusional Bully Boy in DC today. He gave his usual lies and spin. Progress -- blah, blah, blah. He was most transparent when declaring, " This week, the Iraqi government is launching a new offensive in parts of the Diyala province that contain some of al Qaeda's few remaining safe havens in the country. This operation is Iraqi-led; our forces are playing a supporting role." Yes, it is a for-show effort. But first, reporters were led to believe that today's speech from Bully Boy would include something major and that it would include news of the treaty the White House wants with their puppet, Nouri al-Maliki, in Baghdad. Alissa J. Rubin and Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) teased out whispers and gossip of a draft treaty about to be final so much in this morning's paper, it was practically a beehive. And they noted that the White House's "unofficial deadline for the deal has long been July 31. . . . Also, the White House announced late on Wednesday that President Bush would make a statement on Iraq on Thursday morning." The press got played. It was the first question in the US State Dept press briefing today (Dana Perino -- doing White House gaggles -- was peppered about a "staff wedding" -- way to work White House press corps). It was pointed out that the agreement was wanted by July 31st which is today and there is no agreement. State Dept spokesperson Sean McCormack immediately insisted he'd never said a deadline (no, he personally did not) and then had difficulty keeping a straight face. Still chuckling, he referred reporters to the morning speech and finally finishing with, "In terms of negotiations, those are ongoing and I won't go into detail on those." Asked again about this topic, he referred to the White House statements. From Iraq, Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) reports on Diyala Province. The for-show action goes on. Zavis goes with a number of 30,000 Iraqi troops in Diyala and yesterday, Jim Lehrer (PBS' NewsHour) worded it this way, "In Iraq today, a military offensive in Diyala province moved into a second day. Some 50,000 Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces went door-to-door, hunting al-Qaida fighters. An Iraqi regional leader said the operation was expected to last about two weeks." Hint, when the numbers being given out do not match, it's a hype action. In the real world, violence continued . . .
Bombings?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 Baghdad roadside bombings that left 2 Iraqi civilians wounded and 2 Iraqi soldiers wounded, a Mosul car bombing that killed the driver as well as 3 police officers with four others wounded, 2 other Mosul car bombings that left nine wounded.
Corpses?
Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad and three corpses (women) discovered in Mosul.
Today the US military announced: "A U.S. Soldier died in a non-combat related incident while conducting operations in Ninewah Province July 31. Additionally, two other U.S. Soldiers were injured in the incident." And they announced: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. James A. McHale, 31, of Fairfield, Mont., died July 30 at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of wounds suffered July 22 in Taji, Iraq, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 40th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany. "

Turning to the US race for president. January 16, 2007 Barack Obama declared his intention to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Interesting. Before Barack told the American people he was running, months before, he met with a rapper. Deanne Bellandi (Chicago Sun-Times) reported November 29, 2006 on Barack's meet up with "rapper Ludacris . . . Obama declined to comment after their meeting but walked with [Chris] Bridges [Ludacris' legal name] to the elevator as he left." Nearly two months before Barack would tell the American people that he had decided to run for president, he was sounding out Ludacris. By that time Ludacris was already gutter trash with a long history of misogny. It got him kicked from the Jackson County Fair in 2003 -- three years prior to Barack's first known 'counseling' with Ludacris. That wouldn't stop Barack from praising him to Rolling Stone and bragging that he had Ludacris on his iPod. Presumably the feminist manifesto "Move Bitch"? Ludacris is in the news and a complete reflection on the gutter trash campaign Barack has run. And Barack's praised him as among the "great talents and great businessmen." [See Cedric's "Gutter Trash you can smell" and Wally's "THIS JUST IN! THE LEADER TRIES TO CONTROL THE CULT!"] The Guardian of London has long been in the tank for Barack. They're a laugh and not real journalism. It's only on this side of the ocean that they're taken seriously. In England they're seen as the party organ for the Labour Party. So let's see how they lie. Ewen MacAskill 'informs' that: "Obama, seeking to become the first African-American president, was not helped by a song by the Grammy award-winning rapper Ludacris endorsing him and abusing McCain, George Bush and Clinton." To be clear, Rev. Jesse Jackson is disrespected in the song. In a rap song, that's not surprising. In one attempting to help out Ludacris' lover-man Barack, it's appalling. Way to pimp that 'unity.' The remark about John McCain would have people screaming if anyone had said it about Barack. But what does Ewen Pig leave out? Hillary.

Laura Yao (Washington Post) explained it this way, "On YouTube yesterday, rapper Ludacris released a song called 'Politics,' in which he denigrates President Bush, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) -- all in the space of about two minutes. . . In the next line, the three-time Grammy Award winner calls Clinton an 'irreleveant [slur for female]'." It's a campaign song for Barack and it's recorded by the man Barack's not only praised but sought out for 'counsel' since November 2006. What was Barack's response? As usual NOT A DAMN WORD. His campaign flack was sent out. A detail Foon Rhee (Boston Globe) and many others fail to grasp. Barack's not condemned a thing. Feminist Wire Daily finally decides they can call out sexism. Of course, they fail to connect it to Bernie Mac's sexist routine at Barack's campaign event earlier this year which led to boos and heckling -- and to Barack finding it so delightful, he had to 'joke' too. WomenCount PAC (which FWD doesn't even think to link to) "is calling for an apology as well as a blanket condemnation by the Party leadership. . . . These lyrics are outrageous, offensive, and unacceptable. In an e-mail this afternoon to its membership, WomenCount states, 'It is another example of hateful, sexist language being used on the campaign trail, and now is our moment to make it clear: not on our watch! The leadership of both parties must step up to condemn such hateful speech and demand apologies. The Obama campaign has criticized the lyrics, but we call on the presumptive party nominee, who is the celebrated subject of the new song, to go even further: Publicly condemn the song. Demand an apology on behalf of the targets. Now." Now? And where our the little girls of NOW? The same useless 'leadership' that could insist The New Yorker DESTROY copies of their magazine bound for overseas (while ignoring the Bernie Mac event) can't seem to say a DAMN THING. Did Kim sleep in this morning? If you're missing it, check the news coverage and note how ha-ha and 'minor' this is being treated. CBS News online? Could Scott Conroy explain how calling Hillary a "bitch" doesn't strike him as "harsh"? Are our 'leaders' going to stay silent again? Are they going to betray women again? And when does CBS plan to public respond to what they allowed online? As Ava and I noted in "CBS 'cares' enough to promote sexism," the network's news site shut down comments on Barack stories when they felt racist comments were being left ("too many" was actually how it was worded -- apparently CBS will accept an undefined number of racist comments) but they didn't do a damn thing about the sexism and, in fact, their online policy does not even name sexism as being off limits. It does name comparisons to Hitler off limits (no surprise after CBS' problems with the mini-series earlier this decade) but they waived that rule repeatedly to allow Barack's gutter trash to post that Hillary was Hitler. Feminist leaders, if they're really leaders, will get off their asses and call this out because we don't need you as leaders if you don't. Women have been trashed -- this isn't just about Hillary -- non-stop for months now. Leaders either show they can lead or face the threats of boycotts that are already rumbling in the grassroots. (If a boycott is called, Ava and I will do our part to get the word out on it when we speak to women's groups.)

Ralph Nader is running for president. Doug G. Ware (KUTV) notes that Nader speaks tonight to a group at the University of Utah and that the former mayor of Salt Lake City (and Nation magazine cover boy) Rocky Anderson will introduce him.

Team Nader notes:

We're up against it here in Ralph's home state --- Connecticut.

I'm Ken Krayeske, the state coordinator, and I promised Ralph I would get him on the ballot here.

We have only 7,000 signatures in hand. And we need to get to 15,000 in five days.

We have 30 to 40 people on the ground collecting in Connecticut and we need to pay for their gas, transportation, copying costs.

You get the picture.

To do that, we need your donations now -- $10, $20, $50, $100 -- whatever you can afford.

Why are we busting it so hard every day to get Ralph on the ballot here?

Because it's not just about Ralph.

It's about you and me and a young man named Derek O'Kanos. (Check out Derek's short video here about why he likes Ralph --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cfltpogno6c)

Last Friday, Derek phoned me.

"I want to help petition," he said.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Sixteen," he said.

"Wow! That's fantastic, but you need an adult to help you out, because you have to be a registered voter," I said. "But before we get into logistics, I don't often get calls from 16-year-olds. Can you tell me how you know about Ralph?"

"Two years ago, Mr. Nader came to my high school," Derek said.

"What school is that?" I asked.

"Enrico Fermi in Enfield," Derek said.

"No way," I said. "I helped organize that. There was a standing room only crowd. What did you think of Ralph's speech?"

"I didn't see it," Derek said. "I was a freshman, and I was in World History class, and my class didn't go. I guess they thought that Ralph didn't fit with world history."

"Bummer," I said.

"Yeah, but I've been interested in Mr. Nader since then, reading about him, and I want to help him," Derek said.

So we discussed strategies for him to convince adults in his life to go out and petition with him.

Derek recruited his uncle's girlfriend to transport him and witness signatures at grocery stores.

Next, he corralled his grandfather to drive him around neighborhoods in suburban northern Connecticut. (Above is a photo of Derek and his grandfather)

Shortly after, I got this email from Derek:

"Today was truly amazing. No more than a few days ago I felt an overwhelming feeling of worthlessness. I felt that there was nothing that I could do due to my age and transportation issue. Then we talked and I went out and did something. I truly felt like I was a part of something, that I was making history. I could have volunteered for many other political campaigns, but it was the Nader/Gonzalez campaign that truly inspired me. I can openly support every policy of the campaign and sleep at night. This is a campaign that puts national interest before personal interest. We the people -- not for sale! Gives me chills. It is truly amazing to see an entire organization of everyday people working towards one beautiful common goal and putting power back into the hands of the people."

Let's not let Ralph, Derek and all our supporters down in Connecticut.

Donate now whatever you can afford.

Hit the contribute button.

Together, we are making a difference --- in Ralph's home state and beyond.

Onward

Other news. Republican US Senator Ted Stevens is in the news (due to his indictment). NOW on PBS earlier probed the story of that corruption. BIll Moyers Journal have been exploring Capitol Crimes and this Friday on the program will explore the continuation of thes Capitol Crimes:

Like the largesse he spread so bountifully to members of Congress and the White House staff -- countless fancy meals, skybox tickets to basketball games and U2 concerts, golfing sprees in Scotland -- Jack Abramoff is the gift that keeps on giving.
The notorious lobbyist and his cohorts (including conservatives Tom Delay, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed) shook down Native American tribal councils and other clients for tens of millions of dollars, buying influence via a coalition of equally corrupt government officials and cronies dedicated to dismantling government by selling it off, making massive profits as they tore the principles of a representative democracy to shreds.

iraq

john vandiver

mcclatchy newspapers
leila fadel

 the new york times

 sabrina tavernise

 alexandra zavis
 the los angeles times
 the new york times
 alissa j. rubin
 steve myers lee

7/30/2008

bonusgate, e-mails, chris hedges

i know who harry shearer is (and used to be on nodding basis with him - may still be, haven't seen him in years). this is a video some 1 sent me from his site about karl rove.

so check out the video. this is from the patriot-news' 'If Ralph Nader was illegally kept off 2004 ballot by state Democrats, he deserves court-cost relief:'

But Attorney General Tom Corbett's presentment also alleges that individuals with ties to the House Democratic Caucus conducted illegal activities on state time, successfully keeping consumer activist Ralph Nader off the state's 2004 presidential election ballot.
Many Democrats feel that, as the Green Party candidate in 2000, Nader pulled in enough votes in some states, particularly Florida, to cost Al Gore the presidency. In 2004, Nader ran as an independent, and the indictments allege that a political operation being run out of the caucus feared he would harm Democrat John Kerry's efforts to win Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes.


i was going, 'where's the byline!' when i found that earlier. c.i. came over and looked. 'it's an editorial.' oh. i had to laugh. (at myself.) bonusgate is so important and it goes beyond just ralph or any 1 candidate. but it is just not getting covered. it's getting covered state-wide in penn. but outside?

i wasn't checking my e-mails. i'm on vacation! but marcia checked her e-mails and had a huge pile up. so i went into mine and lina is who i want to note. her older sister is a reader for about 2 years and lina just got turned on to this site by her sister.

she wrote an e-mail that was a treat to read. about what she does and how she guilts over it. for instance, diet sodas probably aren't good for us. but she drinks them.

lina, i drink diet dr. pepper. i used to drink diet coke before i got pregnant. while i was pregnant i was on a huge, huge kick and didn't have diet anything. since giving birth, diet coke just doesn't smell right to me, so i switched to diet dr. pepper. that's a good thing because dona lives on diet coke and we'd probably be battling over sodas if we were drinking the same 1s.

a visitor wrote asking that if i support peta i must be vegan.

i support peta.

i'm not vegan.

normally, i don't eat meat. i just don't care for it.

but when i'm pregnant, i do.

i don't plan on getting pregnant again. however, i had a history of miscarriages. and if that happens to you over and over (or probably just once), you start thinking, 'if only i had ...' so around the third pregnancy, i started eating meat during my pregnancy. i didn't care for the taste even then; however, i didn't want to tell myself, 'if i had eaten meat, maybe things would have been different.' (i only have 1 child, i had her last year. but i have been pregnant over and over my entire life trying to have a child.)

so, when not pregnant, i don't eat meat.

but i don't think you have to be a vegan to support peta.

i know many meat eaters who write checks to peta.

when i was 16, to finish out the meat topic, we had a cookout on the 4th that seemed to go on and on and it was hot and i was already sick. after that, i never wanted to eat meat again. so i've pretty much been off it since then. c.i. is that way on a certain brand of potato chips. we went to a rock festival back in college and, on the way back, all we had was the potato chips (which i had picked out). we were all starving and scarfing them down. c.i. said, 'i will never eat these again.' (and never has.) (we was c.i., elaine and i.) (and i think we had 3 guys with us.)

sherry e-mailed saying she hoped i was having a blast (she leaves for jamaca next week, so right back at you sherry!) and wondered if it was busy. today was very, very busy. ruth, flyboy, ty, ty's boyfriend and i were the adults with my baby, ruth's almost adult grandchild jayson and betty's 3 kids. we wanted to do a fun thing for kids so we thought, amusement park. the kids had a blast. but the adults? oh, we're tired.

if i'm still tired tomorrow morning (and i'm going out tonight!), i'll probably just hang around the house. i know elaine's planning to do that. she's treating the vacation as a vacation. she's got several books she's reading and usually just hangs out at c.i.'s pool. (she also always offers to watch my baby - and i took her up on that yesterday - so thank you, lanie.)

okay, marcia and i are both highlighting something from ralph's campaign. i give chris hedges a lot of credit for having the guts to stand up and say 'i support ralph nader.' so here's this from Team Nader:

Chris Hedges: I'm Voting for Nader

ShareThisShareThis

Chris Hedges: I'm Voting for Nader .

We were watching C-Span yesterday.

And came across Brian Lamb interviewing former New York Times reporter Chris Hedges.

Lamb asked Hedges who he's going to vote for this year for President.

Hedges did not hesitate.

"I'm going to vote for Nader," Hedges said.

"I can't vote for anybody who doesn't call for an immediate end to the war in Iraq."

"The war under post Nuremburg laws is a criminal war of aggression. It's illegal. We have no right as a nation to debate the terms of the occupation. We have no right to be there."

Hedges is a beacon of morality and courage in swamp of corruption, dishonesty and cowardliness.

And Hedges stands with Nader/Gonzalez -- the anti-war candidacy in 2008.

Hedges is just out with a new book, with Laila Al-Arian, titled Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians.

He's the author of two other anti-war classics:

What Every Person Should Know About War

and

War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning.

Luckily, we've come across a stash of all three.

And for a donation of $200 now to fund our current ballot access drive, we'll ship you all three books -- Collateral Damage, What Every Person Should Know About War, and War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning.

So hit the donate button now.

And these three anti-war classics will be yours.

This coming fall, the Nader/Gonzalez campaign is positioning itself to make the war in Iraq a central issue in the November campaign.

But first, as you know, we're in the middle of nationwide drive to put Nader/Gonzalez on 30 state ballots by August 10 -- on the way to 45 ballots by September 20.

And we need to raise $100,000 by August 10 -- just 13 days away.

So, donate $200 or more now, and we'll ship you the anti-war trilogy by Hedges.

The offer expires Sunday August 3 at midnight.

Don't delay.

Donate now.

This three book set makes a great gift for young and old alike during this campaign season.

(Only one set of three books per donation of $200 or more. If you would like two copies, please donate twice. Three copies, donate three times.)

Help push us past our $100,000 goal.

And get a great set of books in return.

Thank you.

Together, we are making a difference.

Onward

The Nader Team

PS: After you order your books, watch the two hour interview of Hedges by Brian Lamb here.

Your contribution could be doubled. Public campaign financing may match your contribution total up to $250.

ShareThisShareThis



i'm not joking about giving chris hedges credit.

i've shared before how i can't stomach a certain actress (and i named her but i'll be kind) who was all over the nader campaign in 2000 but ran off with her tail between her knees in 2004 and still plays 'i love me some democrats!' today. i find her pretty disgusting. but i found her disgusting when i encountered her during the 80s.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Wednesday, July 30, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Parliament takes their summer recess, a war resister tells his story, for-show actions continue in Iraq, a new report on waste in Iraq is released, and more.

Starting with war resistance. Alex Atamanenko is a Canadian MP from the New Democratic Party. He writes a letter to the editor of Arrow Lake News:

Tuesday, July 15th will go down as a black day in Canadian history. The first Iraqi War Resister from the American military was deported from Canada for refusing to fight in a war that Canada refused to get involved in, that the United Nations has called illegal, and that much of the world sees as an invasion of a sovereign country for oil resources.
Robin Long, 25, was one of hundreds of U.S. men and women who have struggled with the decision to risk life-long separation from their families, friends and their country to stay in Canada. If they return to the U.S. they can face arrest, court martial, prison sentences, deployment to Iraq and being blacklisted from employment and education opportunities for the rest of their lives. Many of these youth have been targeted by an 'economic draft', a US recruitment effort that targets the poor with offers of employment, health care for family members, higher education and more if they sign up. These promises are not always kept.
Our country has a history once known for peacekeeping, for the art of diplomatic negotiation, for refuge in times of war, for welcoming conscientious objectors like the Mennonites, the Quakers, the Doukhobors, and the Vietnam draft dodgers. These immigrants have made huge contributions to the life of their communities and to our country.
Prime Minister Harper's Conservative government chose to direct the deportation of Mr. Long DESPITE the June 3rd House of Commons vote in favour of a resolution introduced by my colleague, Olivia Chow, Federal NDP Immigration Critic. This motion called on our Government to cease any removal or deportation actions against conscientious objectors who have refused or left military service related to a war not sanctioned by the UN. It called for the government to immediately set up programs to allow their application for permanent residency status, so that they can remain in Canada.
Further, on June 27th Angus Reid released a poll showing that 64% of Canadians believe that US War Resisters should be allowed to stay in Canada, re-enforcing the fact that the vote in Parliament was reflecting the will of the Canadian people.
On July 4th the Federal Court of Canada acted, and ruled that war resister Joshua Key should have his denied refugee claim reviewed by the Refugee Board of Canada. The court found that someone who refuses to take part in military action which "systematically degrades, abuses or humiliates" combatants or non-combatants might qualify as a refugee.
On July 9th, the Federal Court further ruled that war resister Corey Glass's order for deportation the next day should be stayed for an indefinite period of time.
The Canadian people and the Parliament of Canada have spoken.
I call upon Minister Day, Minister Finley and Prime Minister Harper to respect the will of Parliament and the Canadian people and to stand up to President Bush to ensure that American soldiers who oppose that war receive a welcome in Canada.
Alex Atamanenko, MP BC Southern Interior

And, of course, "draft dodgers" and "deserters" were both welcomed into Canada during Vietnam. On Robin Long, the War Resisters Support Campaign states:

Against the wishes of Canadians and Canada's Parliament, the federal government deported U.S. Iraq war resister Robin Long to the United States, where he faces punishment for refusing to participate in the Iraq War.
Robin is currently being held at Fort Carson, Colorado. People can send letters of support to Robin at the following address:


Robin Long, CJC
2739 East Las Vegas
Colorado Springs, Colorado
USA 80906


Robin is allowed to receive hand or type-written letters. They must not include anything like drawings made with markers, lipstick, crayons, stickers etc. or print articles. There can be no enclosures, with the exception of standard size photographs (ie. up to 4x6 inches). These must be printed at a photo developing place (i.e. not photocopies, or from a home printer, or Polaroids), and there must be LESS than ten photos, otherwise they will get put in lockup with his personal belongings and he won't see them.

The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do.

War resisters in Canada need your help. To pressure the Stephen Harper government to honor the House of Commons vote, Gerry Condon, War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist all encourage contacting the Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration -- 613.996.4974, phone; 613.996.9749, fax; e-mail finley.d@parl.gc.ca -- that's "finley.d" at "parl.gc.ca") and Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, 613.992.4211, phone; 613.941.6900, fax; e-mail pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's "pm" at "pm.gc.ca"). Courage to Resist collected more than 10,000 letters to send before the vote. Now they've started a new letter you can use online here. The War Resisters Support Campaign's petition can be found here. Long expulsion does not change the need for action and the War Resisters Support Campaign explains: "The War Resisters Support Campaign is calling on supporters across Canada to urgently continue to put pressure on the minority conservative government to immediately cease deportation proceedings against other US war resisters and to respect the will of Canadians and their elected representatives by implementing the motion adopted by Parliament on June 3rd. Please see the take action page for what you can do."

Thank goodness for The Canadian Press. Were it not for their article, the CBC, the Welland Tribune, the Globe and Mail and the Buffalo News (among others) might have blank spaces. Instead, all work from the same TCP article to tell you that Deltona, Florida's 23-year-old Tyrone Pachauer was arrested by US Customs and Border officers as he attempted to enter the US following a self-checkout while on leave (December 19th through January 1st). He was reportedly living with relatives in Brampton, Ontario while AWOL. Precious Yutango (Toronto Star) is the only one filing a report and cites US Customs and Border Protection's Kevin Corsaro stating, "Supposedly, he had left boot camp in December for Christmas break. I guess he decided he didn't want to be in the army anymore so he fled to Brampton." Meanwhile AP reports Casey Anne Hardt (18-years-old, from Chiloquin, Oregon) was arrested in . . . Louisiana -- which may hold the record for the most arrests of AWOLs during the Iraq War. She was arrested at a traffic stop in Bossier City (right next to Shreveport). AP states she had a desertion warrant and was now awaiting "extradition to Fort Leonard Wood", MO.

Courage to Resist speaks with Michael Thurman (audio interview) about how he signed up, at seventeen-years-old, for the delayed entry program in 2005 while in high school, "I was really interested in aviation and having a career in aviation. . . . One day the air force recruiter came to school and I was talking to her about joining the military as an air force maintenance technician and eventually working to become a pilot." He described himself at that time as "indifferent," "young," "motivated by self-interests" and in "a conservative right-wing household."

In his senior year he "found some new friends" who provided him with "more of a liberal lean towards politics. So I started seeing it through those eyes and that's when I started becoming a little discontent with the war and the government. . . . But I was still ready to go."

Thurman was then sent to Lackland Air Force Base for basic training where, "I just questioned a lot of things I was being taught." In one class the training was videos of violence -- people being shot, people being blown up -- which led Thurman to questioning. As did "one of the chants was about killing people" which all indicated that "it just seemed like a really hateful, angry situation I didn't want to be in."

Michael Thurman: I didn't really want to be part of killing people but I was already in and I didn't really have a choice so I just advanced and kept telling myself it might get better. So I went through tech school with that . . . with that kind of -- I was a little bit angry about my situation and I got depressed about it a lot. And from there -- It was actually during tech school that I started studying a lot of Eastern philosophy and thought and Buddhism and Taoism and that kind of changed my perspective in a spiritual way towards humanity and towards existence. So . . . I guess I could say at that point I could say I was totally opposed to the situation I was in.

Eventually, he ended up at Beale Air Force Base:

Michael Thurman: I started working out on the flight lines. And every day I was out there I just thought of all the indirect killing I was contributing to and I just couldn't take it anymore. So one day I told my supervisor that I didn't agree with any of it and I didn't want to be in the military anymore. And I told him, if there was any way I could get out, I'd like to get out. They took me off of flight run. He's actually the one who told me about consientious objector. I actually didn't know about the term until I was introduced to it by him. So I looked into it and I read down the criteria and I thought, "Wow, yeah, this is what I am, this is what I'm going to apply for so I can get out of the military." So I applied for consientious. objector status and it took me a long time to it was a really arduous process. They put me in -- they put me in the office. They took me off of flight line and put me in an office. And I was just doing personnel work just pushing paper and filing. I was like a file clerk and that sort of stuff which I was still contributing to it. So every day that I was in, I was in constant turmoil about even the little, the little stuff -- like mopping or taking out the trash. It still contributed to this huge system that I was totally opposed to being.

Courage to Resist: So from the time you first asked to get out until you were discharged, how long was it?

Michael Thurman: It took a very long time, eight months for me to get discharged by the time I applied for conscientious objector status. What happened was, when I applied I had to write a huge paper about what I believe and how it came to be and why I couldn't contribute to war anymore. And at that point, I had to talk to a psychiatrist to make sure I was still sane. I guess they thought I might have been crazy . . . I talked to a lawyer at the legal office and she's actually the one that processed all my legal stuff and determined whether or not I was actually a cons obj and she recommended me to my base commander and it basically went up the chain of command so that's why it took a long time. Oh and I also had to talk to a chaplain and the chaplain gave me a report about my religious and spiritual beliefs. And, so yeah, from that, from those interviews it goes to legal office on base and then it just goes up the chain of command. And it went all the way up to the Secretary of the Air Force and it took eight months for that to happen.

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes Andrei Hurancyk, Megan Bean, Chris Bean, Matthis Chiroux, Richard Droste, Michael Barnes, Matt Mishler, Josh Randall, Robby Keller, Justiniano Rodrigues, Chuck Wiley, James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb, Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Jose Vasquez, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Clara Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Logan Laituri, Jason Marek, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.

Information on war resistance within the military can be found at The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).

In the US today, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstuction issued a report. Stuart Bowen Jr. issued a note to the report [PDF format warning] explaining, "The United States has now appropriated more than $50 billion in taxpayer dollars for Iraq's reconstruction." The report notes its basis is "seven new audit products" between May 1st and June 30th of this year. The US has outsourced and done so badly if that's not redundant. As is well known, the US government has provided no oversight. Most recently, Dana Hedgpeth and Amit R. Paley (Washington Post) reported Monday on a finding from the Officie of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, "The U.S. government paid a California contractor $142 million to build prisons, fire stations and police facilities in Iraq that is has nver built or finished". The report released today notes these oversight problems on the part of the US government:

* Inappropriate payment of award fees.

* Insufficiently defined scope of work.

* Inadequate preparation of detailed and independent cost estimates.

* Not initiating timely action to close out task orders.

Of course a key problem was the awarding of no-bid contracts on what appears to be a crony system. Parsons is always in the news . . . when it comes to corruption. The report is not different and notes Parsons re: fire houses, "SIGIR reviewed the largest task order, Task Order 51, which called for Parsons to design and construct 21 fire stations in Anbar and Baghdad. Because of multiple delays and cost increases, the U.S. government reduced the number of stations to be constructed to 100. Later another fire station was eliminated before construction began because of land ownership issues, and a second was terminated for the convenience of the government after it was bombed twice during construction leaving nine. In 2006, Parsons completed the nine fire stations and transferred them to the GOI. The award fee paid to Parsons for wok on this tark order was $296,294 -- 23% of the total available award fee."

Parsons bills itself as "a leader in many diverse markets such as infrastructure, transportation, water, telecommunications, aviation, commerical, environmental, industrial manufacturing, education, healthcare, life scienes and homeland security." The company was formed in 1944 and moved to Pasadena in 1992 -- a move James F. McNulty instituted four years prior to be coming CEO and President of the company. McNulty is currently the Chair of the Board (and has been since 1998) and he joined Parsons upon retiring from the US army (Col.) in 1988. What a ride it's been for McNulty. Griff Witte (Washington Post) reported at the end of the 2006 that Parsons and McNulty felt under attack from Congress and McNulty was blaming others and that he "suggested the government needed to rethink its heavy dependence on the private sector for reconstruction, security and support in a combat environment. The comments are unusual for the leader of a firm that makes much of its money doing work for the government. Then again, few have been battered as badly as Parsons, an employee-owned, California-base compnay with a six-decade track record. Since the spring, when news of the stumbling health clinic program first broke, the company's preformance has been derided in the press and upt under the microscope at congressional hearings. At a hearing in September, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) spoke of a $75 million police academy that Parsons was responsible for but that wend badly awry: 'This is the lens through which Iraqis will now see America. Incompetence. Profiteering. Arrogance. And human waste oozing out of ceilings as a result'." On a June 23, 2004 broadcast of PBS' NewsHour, Waxman called it what it was: "It is looked at as profiteering. And we shouldn't have that go on a time when we've got brave. American men and women who are facing the possibility of giving their lives to help the U.S. effort." McNulty rejected that and insisted that there was no way "we are somehow taking advantage of either the Iraqi people or our government." In January of last year, KCET's Life & Times was returning to the difference of opinions between Waxman and McNulty with Waxman arguing, "I don't think anybody ought to get paid and be able to keep the money if they didn't do what they were supposed to do. Then they found that the Iraqi subcontractors didn't do the work, so why should the United States taxpayers pay for that? We should get our money back." To which McNulty responded, "There is nothing wrong with our firm having made a profit on that work that we did over there in Iraq. It was legitimately earned. It was honestly earned and none of our employees nor our firm should feel the least bit bad about that." That 'honest' work that McNulty's so proud of is best evaluated by Jackie Northam (NPR) reporting in May of 2007: "Getting a definitive answer on the number of clinics completed by Parsons is not easy. Of the original 151 promised, the construction company says it handed over 20 fully equipped, completed health-care centers. The Army Corps of Engineers disputes that number, saying it received only six completed clinics. Some of those needed additional work, the Corps says."

The SIGIR report notes that "Iraq's oil revenues will crest $70 billion by the end of the year." meanwhile approximately $40 million in US tax dollars was wasted on a prison outside Baquba (Kahn Bani Sa'ad) which was turned over to the central government in Baghdad (to finish).This prison was a Parson's 'effort'. The report notes, "About $142 million was spent on various Parsons projects that were ultimately canceled or not completed, including Kahn Bani Sa'ad. The report notes Iraq's deputy prime minister (Barham Salih) stating, "Iraq does not need financial assistance." BBC explains, "This . . . meant the government was capable of fundign reconstruction projects itself. The report also criticised the Iraqi authorities for failing to improve sewage and drainage facilities. . . . Roger Hardy, the BBC's Middle East analyst, said the report was the latest in a string of criticisms by the watchdog of the way in which American taxpayers' money is being spent in Iraq" Click here for HTML folder containing links to the -- PDF format warning -- sections of the report. Peter Spiegel (Los Angeles Times) points out, "Democratic leaders in Congress are pushing the administration to pressure the Iraqi government to fund its own infrastructure projects through rising oil revenue."

Meanwhile, the pagentry of puppety . . . Diyala Province. Campbell Robertson (New York Times) reports, "Military officers, both Iraqi and Americans, said the insurgents had probably fled the are after news media reports that the sweep was to begin soon, though officials had been saying publicly that it would be likely to begin in early August." Alexandra Zavis (Los Angeles Times) explained, "Iraqi soldiers and national police encountered no resistance as they knock in Baqubah and the town of Khan Bani Saad, about 15 miles south. But this is well-trod ground for the Iraqi forces and their U.S. counterparts, who have conducted repeated operations in the area since last year." It's a for-show effort that (a) props up the puppet Nouri al-Maliki and (b) makes the war seem 'winnable.' In the real world, Reuters reports that Moqtada al-Sadr has "called on Iraq's leaders not to sign a security deal with the United States, offering to throw his support behind the government if the talks were scrapped." Iraq's parliament is out of session now (for one month); however, Reuters reports that Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani has called a special session for Sunday to address the electoral issues.

In some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left three more wounded as well as "3 policemen and 4 civilians" injured.

Shootings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 1 police officer shot dead in Mosul and 1 judge shot (wounded not killed) in Mosul (as well as the judge's bodyguard).

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Dora.

Turning to the US presidential race, Jonathan Duckles of Team Nader notes:

Last Friday on Capitol Hill, the House Judiciary Committee weighed in on "executive power and its constitutional limits" in an inconsequential discussion of King George's imperial presidency.

There would be no vote on impeachment, no discussion of the dereliction of Congressional duty, and no Ralph Nader.

Ralph Nader, who has long championed the necessity of impeachment for W's repeated, defiant high crimes and misdemeanors, was not invited to testify at the Rayburn Building on Friday morning. Writer DC Larson summed the situation up, proclaiming that the "Democrat-led Congress are as unconcerned about political justice as is any neo-con in Rupert Murdoch's Rolodex."

The Nader campaign was there to observe, along with hundreds of other concerned citizens, but couldn't crack the guest-list, despite a run-in with Ms. Kucinich . Only 16 individuals were granted admission into the hall to observe testimony from the following witnesses:

Panel I:

Hon. Dennis Kucinich
U.S. House of Representatives
10th District, OH

Hon. Maurice Hinchey
U.S. House of Representatives
22nd District, NY

Hon. Walter Jones
U.S. House of Representatives
3rd District, NC

Hon. Brad Miller
U.S. House of Representatives
13th District, NC

Panel II:

Hon. Elizabeth Holtzman
Former U.S. House of Representatives
16th District, NY
Department of Justice

Hon. Bob Barr
Former U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
7th District, GA

Hon. Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson
Founder and President
High Roads for Human Rights

Stephen Presser
Raoul Berer Professor of Legal History
Northwestern University School of Law

Bruce Fein
Associate Deputy Attorney General, 1981-82
Chairman, American Freedom Agenda

Vincent Bugliosi
Author and Former Los Angeles County Prosecutor

Jeremy A. Rabkin
Professor of Law
George Mason University School of Law

Elliott Adams
President of the Board
Veterans for Peace

Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr.
Senior Counsel
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Said Chairman John Conyers with regard to his committee's inaction, "we are not done yet, and we do not intend to go away until we achieve the accountability that Congress is entitled to and the American people deserve."

Let's hold Congress to this.

Let's reclaim the Constitution.

Let's start now.

Onward.

iraq
 tyrone pachauer
 alex atamanenko

 mcclatchy newspapers
 amit r. paley
 the washington post
 dana hedgpeth

 alexandra zavis
 the los angeles times
 the new york times
 campbell robertson