furry vegeance flops

brendan fraiser's film flopped. a number of you e-mailed about that. 2 of you (bill and genie) saw the film (and liked it). i'm not surprised it flopped.

i said they needed to feature brooke shields in the ads.

they needed to (furry vengeance) feature brooke in the ads. that's what i wrote on april 5th.

here's reality: we've seen a movie like f.v. 800 times before.

sometimes the divorced father is chevy chase, sometimes it's tim allen, sometimes it's robin williams, blah, blah.

people are sick of that movie. they're especially sick of it if they're not divorced themselves.

that's why brooke needed to be in the ads.

potential adult ticket buyers needed to know this was about 2 parents.

there's also the fact that brooke can sell tickets. can she turn it into a blockbuster? no. but she can sell tickets, she can peak interest.

you don't cast her in that role and then not feature her significantly in the promos.

it was a huge mistake.

brendan has his own issues and brooke, with her image (which is a plus), would've cancelled out some of brendan's image problems.

the studio guaranteed the film was a flop by not including brooke.

home alone?

that film became a hit because they realized the mother had to be in the promos. if she wasn't in the promo, mothers weren't going to take them. if she wasn't in the promo seen trying to get back to her son, mothers were not going to take their children. that's reality.

and it's a lesson some 1 should have learned.

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

Tuesday, May 4, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, 2 US soldiers are announced dead, Moqtada al-Sadr says that his militia's reforming (says so today -- who knows about tomorrow), the two largest Shi'ite blocs in Iraq say they are partnering (ibid), and more.

Today the US military announced: "Two U.S. Soldiers died of non-combat-related in Iraq yesterday in unrelated incidents. The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense. The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official website at http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/. The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member's primary next of kin. The incidents are under investigation." The announcements bring the number of US service members killed in the Iraq War to 4397.

News Provider reports, "May 4th, students from Kent State held their annual commemoration of the martyrs of the anti-war movement, but was also present the new Vietnam: Iraq. Hundreds of students who oppose the American occupation of Iraq began to go off campus, but were immediately repressed by the police who made dozens of arrests, claiming that the demonstration was 'not authorized'. The University outlawed the protest because he believed that 'induced violence,' while the students said that 'the only violence that was expected from the police'." They were among many students across the US today protesting the continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the 40th anniversary of the Kent State massacre in which two students protesting the US assault on Vietnam -- Allison B. Krause and Jeffrey G. Miller -- were killed on the campus of Kent State by the Tricky Dick deployed National Guard as were two student bystanders: Sandra L. Scheuer and William K. Schroder. The massacre was immortalized in Neil Young's "Ohio."

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?


Fred Mazelis and Patrick Martin (WSWS) attempt to provide context on those events and the events since:

As part of this process, a decades-long effort to rehabilitate the war in Vietnam was carried out. The question of Vietnam was posed not as one of imperialist aggression, but rather one of "mistaken" policies. More than a quarter century after the humiliating defeat of US troops in Vietnam, the administration of George W. Bush, with the full backing of the Democratic Party, launched new colonial wars, first in Afghanistan, then in Iraq, wars that continue uninterrupted under Democrat Barack Obama.
Once again, as in the 1960s, the conditions are developing for the reemergence of mass struggles of working people and youth against imperialist war, austerity and repression. The great difference, however, is that the struggles now unfolding take place under conditions of a protracted historical decline of American capitalism.

Mazelis and Martin have written a must-read. The context of Kent State was the growing peace movement in this country, LBJ's war on Vietnam (Bill Moyers is pissing his pants right now), Nixon's campaigning on a 'secret plan' (trust him!) to end the war and then nothing. Nothing. Sworn in back in January of 1969 and he doesn't end the war in '69 and he doesn't end it in 1970. He expands the war. Cambodia becomes a target, all of Southeast Asia. And the peace movement is protesting across the country. In Kent State, 4 students get killed and nine are wounded on this day, forty years ago.

Today Bush's wars haven't been ended (Iraq and Afghanistan), Barack campaigned on his own little 'secret plan' (in that, as Samantha Power told BBC News in 2008, Barack was lying about pulling out one brigade a month). Barack was sworn in back in January 2009. The wars haven't ended and he's expanded them to Pakistan. Some compare him to Bullly Boy Bush. But Barack's apparently aiming for greater infamy: Tricky Dick. And taking down a large number of 'activists' with him. Who knew, for example, that Joan Baez would decide to make the final act of her life about being the new Wayne Newton? Celebrity cover for a War Hawk. Danke schoen, Joan, danke schoen.

It's walking to the battleground that always makes me cry
I've met so few folks in my time who weren't afraid to die
But dwan bleeds with the people here and morning skies are red
As young girls load up bicycles with flowers for the dead
An aging woman picks along the craters and the rubble
A piece of cloth, a bit of shoe, a whole lifetime of trouble
A sobbing chant comes from her throat and splits the morning air
The single son she had last night is buried under her
They say that the war is done
Where are you now, my son?

Once upon a time Joan Baez wrote and sang songs like that, remembering the ones personally harmed by the wars. By 2008? Joan just wanted to whore. Doubt it? Check that endorsement she gave and find in it where she mentions ending wars. She doesn't. The so-called Peace Queen checked out a long time ago. Just as well, the last 7 years saw a lot of tired old faces try to use the peace movement for fame, to sell a bad book or a bad movie. They road the movement and ruined the movement. The students will rebuild it and they won't listen to Joan Baez or any of the others who whored themselves for a presidency but did nothing for the Iraqi people. They decided they'd rather suck up to power than speak out for the voiceless. And students have no use for them, nor should they.

Calling for an end to the Iraq War is Ron Fisher who is running for Congress in the 8th Congressional District in Virginia. Fisher is a Green. Who will he be running against? "Ron's Likely Opponent" sketches out Fisher's take on US House Rep Jim Moran (Democrat) which includes, "Jim Moran, like many in Congress, blames the Iraq War on President Bush. Bush could not have started the Iraq war without Congress authorizing him to use force and then providing the funds for the war. Moran could have helped stop the war by simply stopping the funding and/or by helping to impeach Cheney and Bush."

Allan Abramson (Huffington Post) notes of the Iraq War (and other 'changes' that apparently were shipped COD because they still haven't arrived):

Why then did Mr. Bush stay in Iraq? Instead of fighting terrorists, we were fighting the Iraqi people, mostly Sunni groups which had lost power with our invasion. The mission had changed, to become one of nation-building. We wanted to create a Western-leaning ally. This is why our continued military action in Iraq was wrong and dumb. Without a threat to the U.S., we had no right to intervene in the governance of Iraq: this was wrong. Without a threat to the U.S., we were wasting American and Iraqi lives, and billions of dollars, rather than dealing with terrorism elsewhere: this was dumb.
In the campaign, Mr. Obama said he wanted to end the war and remove American troops. In office, Mr. Obama set an extended deadline (2011) for ending U.S. military action, but also announced that he would retain some 50,000 troops (and perhaps as many contract employees) to provide training and assistance to the Iraqi government. Whatever you call them, 50,000 troops does not qualify as ending a "war." Mr. Obama has continued the Bush-Cheney mission of nation-building in Iraq.
The choice he could have made was to set a shorter deadline, and truly remove all U.S. troops from Iraq. He could have announced that the Iraqi people would have to resolve their internal political issues on their own, and that once resolved, we would provide aid in reconstruction of the country. This he did not do, and the question arises, did he mean his campaign pledge?

No, he did not. He never meant it and that's why some of us were sounding the alarms on March 7, 2008 when Barack's tutor and chief foreign advisor Samantha Power was in the news for, among other things, the BBC interview she'd given.

Stephen Sackur: You said that he'll revisit it [the decision to pull troops] when he goes to the White House. So what the American public thinks is a commitment to get combat forces out within sixteen months, isn't a commitment is it?

Samantha Power: You can't make a commitment in whatever month we're in now, in March of 2008 about what circumstances are going to be like in January 2009. We can'te ven tell what Bush is up to in terms of troops pauses and so forth. He will of course not rely upon some plan that he's crafted as a presidential candidate or as a US Senator.

"So what the American public thinks is a commitment to get combat forces out within sixteen months, isn't a commitment is it?" No, it sure as hell wasn't. But if the Joan Baezes and Tom-Tom Haydens hadn't been whoring, people would have caught on. The clues were always there, From the November 2, 2007 snapshot:

Though Obama says he wants "to be clear," he refuses to answer that yes or no question and the interview is over."
So let's be clear that the 'anti-war' Obama told the paper he would send troops back into Iraq. Furthermore, when asked if he would be willing to do that unilaterally, he attempts to beg off with, "We're talking too speculatively right now for me to answer." But this is his heavily pimped September (non)plan, dusted off again, with a shiny new binder. The story is that Barack Obama will NOT bring all US troops home. Even if the illegal war ended, Obama would still keep troops stationed in Iraq (although he'd really, really love it US forces could be stationed in Kuwait exclusively), he would still use them to train (the police0 and still use them to protect the US fortress/embassy and still use them to conduct counter-terrorism actions.

For more on that 2007 news, refer to Third's article and the actual transcript of the interview.

In US occupied Iraq today, the recounting of ballots in Baghdad continues. As it does, Liz Sly (Los Angeles Times) reports that State of Law (Nouri al-Maliki's political party) is floating a new name for prime minister: Jaafar Sadr. And, if you're wondering, yes, he is related to Moqtada al-Sadr (second cousins). Sly observes, "His youth and inexperience [he's 40-years-old] count against him, but at the same time he has had no chance yet to make enemies, unlike most other politicians. Opposition to Maliki is the main obstacle to the creation of a grand Shiite coalition that could nix Allawi's ambitions." Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) notes, "A student his whole adult life, Jaafar is now nearing his bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Anthropology." Apparently, instead of the four-year-plan, he was on the twenty-two-year degree plan. Not noted by either (though Sly may be hinting) is that among those floating Jaafar Sadr as a potential prime minister are elements of the US government. Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reports that State of Law is having talks with the Iraqi National Alliance about forming a Shi'ite alliance which would put "them just four parliamentary seats shy of a ruling majority." Al Jazeera reports that the news was broken by, "Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a former PM, and Abdul Razzaq al-Kadhimi, an INA advisor, flanked by officials from al-Maliki's State of Law bloc made the announcement in a press conference on Tuesday." The Telegraph of London observes, "Incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, however, appeared likely to be the main casualty of the deal between the Shiite parties, as it is widely believed the price of a coalition between his State of Law bloc and the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) was an agreement that he would not continue in his post." Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) notes that Ayad Allawi and his Iraqiya political slate has been sidelined which "could intensify sentiments among Sunnis that despite voting in force in the election in March, they remain disenfranchised". The Wall St. Journal cautions, "Despite the pact, in Iraq's volatile political atmosphere, any deal could easily evaporate before a new government is formed."

The other Sadr is in the news as well. Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) report that Moqtada al-Sadr's spokesperson Salah al-Obeidi announced today that the Mahdi Army is being regrouped and that it is going to "launch qualitative attacks against the occupiers (U.S. forces) if they stay beyond 2011. It will have a big role to play to drive them out of Iraq." Last month, it was announced that Mahdi Army was regrouping. Within 24 hours, it was then announced that they weren't. But that Moqtada al-Sadr was willing to reform it. There may be a walk back on today's announcement as well. Nouri al-Maliki targeted al-Sadr's militia in Basra and Baghdad in 2008. Some, largely Shi'ites, saw the Mahdi Army as a protective force. Sunnis and many Shi'ites tended to see it as a death squad deployed at Moqtada's wishes.


If the announcement is not walked back, among the most upset will most likely be the Sunnis and the Sahwa subgroup of Sunnis. Tim Arango (New York Times) reports that Nouri's refusal to bring the Sahwa into the process is frustrating many Sunnis. Sahwa aka "Awakenings" aka "Sons Of Iraq" are Sunnis who were paid by the US military not to attack the US military or the US military equipment. These payments are credited by many -- including Gen David Petreaus and former US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker -- for diminishing the number of attacks on US forces. Nouri was supposed to absorb the Sahwa but despite the press repeatedly announcing he had or he was going to, that never really happened. Arango reports Sahwa was not able to promote a united front in the March 7th elections and are feeling further unmoored: Now, under threat from insurgents they once battled and facing a government they say has not kept its promise to give jobs to the fighters, the Awakening seems to be a force whose strength is waning, as it looks for a way to cling to any rung of power it can. Some wonder if this is the beginning of the end of the Awakening. The ramifications could be stark. Most worrisome would be an increase in violence, should disenchanted Awakening fighters become insurgents again. Whether Mr. Aiffan and others accept their electoral defeat and go quietly is a question that could determine how peacefully power changes hands here.

Occupied Iraq, ruled over by a US puppet whose fighting like crazy to hold on to the position. If US service members leave the Green Zone, Nouri falls. He knows that. The US military knows it, the US government knows it. So he's proposed madcap schemes to ensure his reign since he became prime minister in April of 2006. Two Circles Net reports, "Iraqi authorities have started the construction of a security wall around the capital Baghdad, reports the country's Al-Iraqiya TV citing a Baghdad security spokesperson. The concrete wall with eight checkpoints is to be completed in mid-2011." Once upon a time, Nouri proposed building a moat around Baghdad. A moat. Stagnant water. Just what Baghdad needs more of. Especially with all the cholera outbreaks. Nouri never got his moat but he will apparently get his walled-in-city.

Meanwhile Nouri al-Maliki and his Whores among the press corps are trumpeting the claim that the 'network' behind the April 4th bombings has been 'captured' while tossing in as an aside that a supposed suspect "was later reported to have died in detention." Of the Ebola Virus? Nouri runs torture cells and forces fake confessions and his pay off is that a number of Press Whores repeatedly pimp his claims as facts -- despite the fact that his abusive relationship with the truth is well known.

Bombings?

Reuters notes a Mosul car bombing injured thirteen people, a Baghdad sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 official with the police and another Baghdad sticky bombing injured three people.

Shootings?

Reuters notes 1 police woman was shot dead in Mosul. DPA reports 1 pharmacist was shot dead in Mosul.

Turning to veterans issues, first in DC:


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- At 1:30 p.m. tomorrow (EST), Wednesday, May 5, 2010, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii), Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, is scheduled to attend the White House bill signing of S. 1963, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act. This landmark bill, authored by Akaka, will establish an unprecedented permanent program to support the caregivers of wounded warriors, improve health care for veterans in rural areas, help VA adapt to the needs of women veterans, and expand supportive services for homeless veterans.

A summary of the bill, as passed by Congress, is available here: LINK

Now across the US, Hike for our Heroes is a non-profit started by Iraq War veteran Troy Yocum who is hiking across the country to raise awareness and money for veterans issues. Soldiers' Angels notes:
Troy is headed to Indiana!
As Iraq veteran Troy Yocum hikes his way to Indiana on his 7,000-mile trek across the country, he will be joined by fellow veterans of the legendary Indiana National Guard "War Hawks" of the 151st Infantry. Sponsored by Soldiers' Angels, the goal of Troy's Drum Hike is to draw attention to and raise money to assist struggling veterans and their families.
The 151st Infantry is the unit with whom Troy deployed to Iraq in 2007, and the unit of Vietnam veteran and Drum Hike participant, "Purple Heart Parachutist" Dallas Wittgenfeld. Company D of the 151st Infantry War Hawks trained and deployed as Special Operations Airborne Rangers in Vietnam during 1968-69, becoming one of the conflict's most combat-decorated companies in the Army. The unit's history stretches all the way back to the Pioneer Era and the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Honoring their shared legacy, Dallas will be parachuting into locations along with route with a giant American flag as Troy stands by to welcome him. Together they also plan to spend time at the Camp Atterbury Museum on May 6, 2010 to honor the 151st's heroes of their fight in Vietnam, and Dallas is looking forward to sharing stories and showing Troy the pictures of his brothers who did not make it back. They also plan to welcome and spend some time with as many of their fellow 151st veterans as can join them that day.
An Airborne Ranger with four decades of experience, Dallas served in Company D, 151st and is a native of Decatur, IN. He has jumped out of planes, helicopters and hot-air balloons, and was the poster-featured parachutist in Normandy, France during D-day commemorations. He will jump in Indiana in honor of all members of the 151st, past and present. "As I pack my giant flag parachute in support of Soldiers' Angels and the 151st, I will think of all the Purple Heart veterans who are not here today," Dallas says.
As part of the events, a small number of "Drum Hiker Collector Flags" that are for sale along the Drum Hike route will be parachuted down with Dallas, and both he and Troy will be available to autograph them. The flags are can also be purchased online through the Soldiers' Angels Store.
For more information about the Drum Hike and parachute events in and throughout Indiana, DrumHike.com.


Staying with US news, at Peace of the Action, Jon has a post that we're including here in full to help get the word out.
For the first week: July 5th to July 9th we will be concentrating on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle issue around the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and drone manufacturers. Obama has dramatically escalated the use of these weapons since he has been president.
July 12th-16th we will be focusing on counter-recruitment efforts.
July 19th-23rd we will focus our energies on Congress before it recesses for summer break and going back to their home districts to campaign for November elections.
We do have some good POTA news to report. We have a fundraiser on board: Teri Perticone from Berkeley, who is fundraising for no compensation to herself, but for "love," so let's give Teri lots of love! Teri can be reached at TeriPerticone@noliesradio.org
We are also wading through many offers from activists who want to volunteer to be our Webmaster.
POTA will continue whether we have Summer Camp OUT NOW, or not. Peace of the Action is an organization dedicated to ending the empire through direct action. We are not interested in symbolic actions or Federal electoral politics.
Even though we are encouraging activist to do actions locally, we must have a strong presence in Washington, DC, too.
We are organizing for Summer Camp, but we need to have a certain number of people signed up to be able to go ahead with Camp.
If you are planning on coming to Summer Camp, please send an email to Cindy Sheehan: Cindy@PeaceoftheAction.org with the dates that you are planning on attending.
If you are planning on scheduling actions in your community, please also email Cindy.
If you would like to donate to help us work for peace, please click on the link.
Please RSVP for Summer Camp by May 10th.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
1) WE NEED YOU TO RSVP BY MAY 10TH–IF WE DON'T GET ENOUGH PEOPLE TO SIGN-UP BY MAY 10TH–WE WILL NOT HOLD SUMMER CAMP.
2) THERE WILL BE NO CAMPING AT CAMP. WE ARE TRYING TO GET PERMITS TO HAVE A CONVERGENCE CAMP, THOUGH–HOUSING WILL PROBABLY BE AVAILABLE AT ST. STEPHEN'S AGAIN.
3) NO ACTIONS ON THE WEEKENDS, UNLESS SOMETHING INTERESTING AND UNEXPECTED COMES UP TO PROTEST.
http://peaceoftheaction.org/give/
Love & Peace Cindy Sheehan and POTA Team
Cindy@PeaceoftheAction.org


iraqpatrick martinwsws
the new york timestim arango
two circles net
the new york timessteven lee myers
the telegraph of london
antiwar.comjason ditz
the wall street journal
cindy sheehanpeace movement

comic, new jersey madness, wal-mart suit, etc

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Joan Rivers Presidency"and i love this comic. no, barack, it's not funny that you're doing 'jokes' about predator drones. or about deporting immigrants. or about the sucky ecnomy.

he is so lucky that all of his family is dead - i don't count the 1s in kenya and, obviously, he doesn't either.

every 1 who participated in raising him is dead. how lucky for him. they don't have to see what a little s**t he turned out to be.

i really cannot believe that isaiah and a few others will be the extent of barry being called out for that bitchy and unfunny stand up.

his jokes were in poor tast AT BEST.

what a war monger he must be if he really thinks that jokes about using drones on people qualify as funny.

and are we supposed to see him as some 1 protecting his daughter's virginity?

i believe if his grandfather (the only 1 he ever knew) had done the same with his mother, barack never would have been born. if it weren't for extra-marital sex (remember stanley wasn't barack sr.'s wife - he already had a wife in kenya before he came to the u.s. to study), barack wouldn't even be here today.

this is from now:

Class-Action Suit Against Wal-Mart Approved, NOW Awaits Justice Against the Merchant of Shame

What is now the largest gender bias class action in U.S. history began with the courage of six strong women, who in 2001 filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart to stop their unfair gender discrimination in pay and promotions.

This week, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted to allow the case to proceed as a class action suit. This means that justice is now obtainable not only for the individuals who initially sued the retail giant, but employees in each and every one of Wal-Mart's 3,400 stores.

When this long legal process began, the "Wal-Mart 6" couldn't get their bosses to listen. The business community wouldn't listen, and with few exceptions, the media didn't listen either.

But NOW heard them, and NOW took action.

NOW declared Wal-Mart a "Merchant of Shame" in 2002 and launched a public pressure campaign to get Wal-Mart to address its workplace abuses, including allegations of discrimination in pay, promotion and compensation, wage abuse, exclusion of contraceptive coverage in insurance plans, violations of child labor laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

In 2003 NOW broadened the campaign with the "Adopt a Wal-Mart Store" initiative. Activists across the country distributed flyers, note cards and buttons inside and outside of stores in an effort to get the facts directly to customers. Activists also requested meetings with store managers to discuss issues concerning women employees and customers.

The visibility of NOW's years-long campaign against Wal-Mart continued to raise public awareness of the company's bad business practices.

NOW eagerly awaits this class action lawsuit, which has the potential to hold Wal-Mart accountable for the pervasive claims of discrimination.

Shame on Wal-Mart for attempting to block the women's day in court.

Shame on Wal-Mart for attempting to require women to sue them one by one when the pattern of discrimination was pervasive.

But kudos to NOW supporters and activists, who tirelessly and relentlessly took up the cause of discrimination at Wal-Mart and maintained the pressure that built up and gathered more and more support, bringing on this day in court for more than a million women who deserve fairness and justice from Wal-Mart.

now did you read about the thing in new jersey? the little freak-fest they had over a memorial to vincent frassetto, who died in 2006 while serving in iraq? (he was a marine.) they took down the memorial. they said it couldn't be up. what kind of weirdos in local government made that call? i just can't believe it.

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

Monday, May 3, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces another death, recounts begin in Baghdad (already Nouri's whining), Iraqi Christians continue to be persecuted, students actions take place across America on Tuesday, and more.


In the United States tomorrow, students on campuses can participate in actions against the war.

Spontaneous anti-war resistance on campuses nationwide. Spread. Word. In remembrance of the students who came before ushttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywKe8ezL8vI May 4, 2010 is the 40th anniversary of the Kent State massacre. This effort is being supported by: Alan Canfora, Alliance of the Libertarian Left, Angela Keaton, Antiwar.com, Campus Antiwar Network, Cindy Sheehan, Copblock.org, Cop Watch Los Angeles, Diversity of Thought UCSB, James Cox, Mariana Evica, May4.org, SB Anti-War, Students for Justice in Palestine, Students for Liberty, Students for a Voluntary Society, The Love Police, The Peace, Freedom, and Prosperity Movement, Tom Ⓐ Ender, UC Strike, We Are Change, World Can't Wait Please send a note if your organization is helping to get the word out and we'll add you to the list. FAQ 1. Where is the student resistance happening? Everywhere 2. Who is organizing it? Each of us. 3. Who is the leader? See answer to 2.

Those actions are tomorrow (Tuesday) and World Can't Wait issues the following press release on the actions:

This Tuesday, May 4, 2010 students on high school and college campuses nationwide will take a decisive stand against the war machine.

Estimates are that over 100 campuses will be participating. Autonomous campus clubs and individual activists have been mobilizing with no central organizing committee, in what has been described as a leaderless and spontaneous anti-war resistance.

With so many older anti-war liberals still hypnotized by Obama, students feel it is up to them push the movement full speed ahead.

"Things are really starting to spike," says Nicholas Di Masi, a third year World History major, who earlier this year was struck by Karl Rove's get-away car as students chased the former Bush advisor from UC Santa Barbara's campus. "Today I went to a rally about SB 1070, and for the first time in a while I found myself amongst students who were also passionate about resisting Obama's wars and fighting the police state." When asked what she thought about students' May 4th resistance, Emma Kaplan of World Can't Wait remarked, "I think the May 4th resistance should be the beginning of putting the government on notice, to send it the message that With or Without You, We Will Stop These Wars. Students need to be part of a sustained movement of protest that doesn't back down, give up, or go away until the powers that be are forced to respond." As a national student coordinator Kaplan observes that "there are some students who are unsatisfied with the world as it is, recognizing that the things they would like to change could never be changed with Obama as president. At the same time, many students have also started to accept crimes under Obama that they would have opposed under Bush." Some students are beginning to take action into their own hands rather than depending on presidents and politicians. We Are Change, a decentralized peace movement with many student members, has recently come to something of a forefront in this new breed of student activism. "It's up to this generation to carry the anti-establishment spirit of the 60's and 70's to new heights," said one member. "This is the same establishment that dropped atomic bombs and agent orange on unsuspecting women and children, it is the same establishment that now murders innocents in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Voting in a new front man for the establishment is clearly not going to change anything." Another member added, "I've found that many students are on the lookout for fearmongering or manufactured crises that could be used by the state to lure us into a war with Iran. Today's students also have the advantage of open communication online, where one person's activism could reach thousands without being spun by mainstream media outlets."Noor Aljawad, a first year Sociology and Middle East Studies major who plans to join students on the 4th, believes that one of the changes Obama made was to expand Bush's wars. "There is little difference in the foreign policy of democrats and republicans. Like Bush, Obama is a corporatist acting in the interests of oligarchical financiers. May 4th should be a message to Obama that our dissent is going to continue until these imperialistic wars are ended."Whether it's escalating the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, continuing the criminal occupation of Iraq, or working toward an attack on Iran -- many students have had enough with George W. Obama's warmongering. May 4th, 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of the Kent State massacre, when 13 unarmed students were gunned down by the national guard for protesting the Vietnam war. In remembrance of them, we fight on. This effort is being supported by:
Alan Canfora, Alliance of the Libertarian Left, Angela Keaton, Antiwar.com, Campus Antiwar Network, Cindy Sheehan, Copblock.org, Cop Watch Los Angeles, Diversity of Thought UCSB, James Cox, Mariana Evica, May4.org, SB Anti-War, Students for Justice in Palestine, Students for Liberty, Students for a Voluntary Society, The Love Police, The Peace, Freedom, and Prosperity Movement, Tom Ender, UC Strike, We Are Change, World Can't Wait.


On the most recent Inside Iraq (Al Jazeera, began airing Friday), Jasim al-Azawi explored the increase in violence with his guests State of Law MP Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani and Professor Sami Ramadani.



Jasim al-Azawi: Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani, for a long time, almost two years, the prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki kept saying, "I am the man of security, I was able to achieve security for Iraq." And yet, over the past few months, and as recent as the last two months, we have seen spectacular operations, bombings, explosions, people in the hundreds are dying. How do you explain the failure of the Iraqi government despite the huge army and the police to stem the tide of violence?

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: Thank you. Actually, I believe that Iraq had passed through more difficult time of terrorism and atrocity and it would be easier even to now to overcome this hurdle simply because the security now more equipped, better trained and more ready to deal with the more violence of the terrorists and the al Qaeda and the al Qaeda from the Sunni gangs -- they have all gathered their own power and they are trying their own best to destroy the political process by own means and methods; however, they failed badly though they have succeeded here and there. But the exagerration of some media about the violence --

Jasim al-Azawi: Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani, we saw horrific images, people in the hundreds, buildings are destroyed and operations left and right all over Baghdad and other provinces in Iraq so how can you just diminish, how can you just dismiss this as these are just operations here and there? People in the hundreds, I am telling you, they are dead.

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: Well we know I am in Iraq, yesterday I was in Baghdad. There was [. . .] only one person unfortunately murdered and ten injured and the media had -- had really exaggerated badly about the number of people dead. Only in Baghdad now. Maybe some small and terrorist attack in Ramadi or Mosul. The rest of Iraq? The south is very peaceful. We know very clear that it is the media and the politicians and agenda -- hidden agenda behind bigger propaganda to really topple the political process --

Jasim al-Azaqi: So you keep saying. You are repeating yourself again. Let me go to Sami Ramadani

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: -- I am there and anyone --

Jasim al-Azaqi: Fine, I see you are in Basra

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: -- exactly in Iraq.

Jasim al-Azaqi: Sami Ramadani, listening --

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: I --

Jasim al-Azaqi: Hold on just a second please. Listening to Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani, there is nothing go on in Iraq. No deaths. No destruction. No spectacular operations. This is just a propaganda by the media. Every thing is calm and cool and collected in Iraq.

Sami Ramadani: Well the answer to that is simple. Ask ordinary Iraqis in the streets -- whether in Baghdad or whever -- and one of the first things they mention apart from the collapse of the services to their homes and to their streets, they mention the question of security. So it's really the Iraqi people who are raising that to the top of their agenda as one of the things they have been lacking, lack of security for their families, for their children. And I think one has to also realize that these problems are probably even bigger than Maliki and the government. And I can cite three very important reasons as to why the question of violence is not going away from Iraq. One is the squabbles within the political groupings of the so-called political process. Second is the fragmentation of the Iraqi state since the occupation of Iraq. And third, and the most important reason perhaps, is the occupation itself which is rather absent now in the dialogue and squabbles and quarrels between the various political forces within the -- within the political process or the official process. And I think these underlying reasons are the ones that the Iraqi government and the political opposition to it from within the political process are forgetting or are trying to avoid talking about because they themselves are involved in this defragmentation process accepting the occupation as a normality and so on and so forth.

Jasim al-Azaqi: Before we discuss one or two or three of these items that you brought to the table, Sami Ramadani, let me go back to Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani and tell him on a personal level, to be honest with you, I am surprised and shocked with your cavalier attitude towards this violence. You are dismissing it as nothing more than a propaganda and nothing more than a media. On a personal level, it's not a good reflection on you, on your party, on your prime minister. Actually, they took you to task when it came to the elections, simply because of the failure to stem the tide of violence.

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: When a terrorist waging a war against Iraq, we know what they are up to. They use all -- they use all the resources except especially the propaganda of the media. I didn't say there was no violence. I said we overcome many difficult period more worse violence. And we believe, as compared to two years ago, was the sectarian killing in the street, was everybody, every day, there was more than 100 people get killed. Now we have every three, four weeks, there's some terrorist attack. They're not insurgents, by the way, they're terrorists. And we know there are terrorists who are helping them, who are assisting them, who cradle them and we will wishing and hoping now that the media could see the truth as it is not as they want to see it. And that is what I'm saying and here is my petition --

Jasim al-Azaqi: We are --

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: I drove -- I drove -- I drove yesterday from Baghdad. Really afternoon. And I arrive at midnight to Basra and it was calm and nice and it is really the situation not as the image in the media. And we need to reflect the real truth, the real media reflecting the real truth. And we try to be honest politicians, not politicians who is up to politician or propaganda.

Jasim al-Azaqi: We are a member of the media and we try to shed light on the truth and one of those truths is the discovery of torture chamber in the old Iraqi airport of al Muthana and more than 437 people were found there. Some of them they were tortured severely They range in age to just some kids to very old men. And yet al-Maliki's first reaction, his first perfunctory reaction to say, "I did not know about it." How do you explain such a horrific torture chamber -- which is fooling the hatred and the violence and al-Maliki, prime minister, his very force is responsible for that torture chamber he says "I did not know about."?

Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani: No, he didn't say he didn't know about that prison, he said he didn't know there was any secretive prison. Nor did he know that there was any torturing in the prison. Because this is a prison in the Muthana everybody knows about it, even the Minister of Human Rights, the lady, she has herself been there and she has said there are seven judges, investigative judges and how come judges there as secret. It is open and we don't know if there is any torturing and we already arrested the people who tortured the prisoners and also this prison had already been closed and the disclosure and propaganda of Los Angeles newspaper had then --

He has no idea what he's saying so we'll stop there. There was no torturing but the tortures were arrested? The more upset/animated he becomes, the less he seems aware of what he's saying and I don't think he's confessing to anything so much as he's not grasping the language. He's also lying and Jasim al-Azawi calls him on that repeatedly throughout the program. That's the best State Of Law can serve up? And what the hell? Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani was in a dentist chair? Or he really thinks leaning all the way back in the chair like that is good for a televised interview. Viewers don't want to examine his nostrils. Someone tell him to sit up straight next time. And, FYI, Ned Parker's "Secret prison for Sunnis revealed in Baghdad" (Los Angeles Times) is the article being attacked. While we're mentioning Al Jazeera, please note that Annie Lennox was Riz Khan's guest on the latest Riz Khan's One on One which began airing Friday. She wears the HIV Positive t-shirt in the interview and CBS News explains the story behind that. With one minor detail everyone's missed. Trivia question to be answered in tomorrow's snapshot: What music peer of Annie's (in the eighties when she was with Eurythmics) declared publicly that he was going to do something similar to raise awareness but then let it slide? Answer in tomorrow's snapshot.

Friday, Nouri's cohort was insisting that violence in Iraq was just a press cretated myth. Sunday, the big news was an attack on college students -- predominantly Christian ones, just outside of Mosul. Sam Dagher (New York Times) reported that at least 1 person died in the bombings and at least seventy were injured and Dagher quotes Jamil Slahuddin Jamil stating, "We were going for our education and they presented us with bombs. I still do not know what they want from Christians." Jamal al-Badrani and Matthew Jones (Reuters) noted 10 wounded (citing police sources) and quote Hamdaniya mayor Nissan Karoumi stating, "All of them were Christian students. They go in buses like that to Mosul's university after the troubled times when Christians were targeted in the past." Carol Glatz (Catholic News Service) quotes Redemptorist Father Bashar Wardu of Erbil stating, "It was a brutal, unprecedented attack. We are shocked since the victims were not soldiers or militants, but just students who were carrying books, pens and their dreams of growing up and serving their own nation. Christians are still being targeted." Patrick Goodenough (CNS News) reports:The students were traveling in convoy to Mosul University, because it was considered a safer way to get them to classes after previous attacks on Christians. The attack occurred near a checkpoint manned by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers as well as troops from the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region. Iraq's Assyrian Christians are adherents of denominations including the Chaldean Catholic and Syriac Orthodox churches. The community, which traces its origins to the early years of Christianity two millennia ago, has been dwindling in numbers over the past two decades, a trend researchers attributed initially to difficulties experienced after the 1991 Gulf War but said accelerated since the fall of the Baathist regime in 2003.

AFP reports that today saw "thousands" protest the attack marching and carrying banners and quotes Basim Sameer stating, "The government is silent and is doing nothing about (the trouble) we face." The office of KRG President Masoud Barzani issued the following statement today:

It is very regrettable that civilians continue to be targeted, especially Christians in the city of Mosul by the terrorists who aim at ridding the city of its Christians to whom Mosul is their home and has been so for a very long time.
The terrorist incident of this morning against Christian students en route to school near Mosul resulted in at least one casualty and a number of injuries. The terrorists aim to disrupt the ages-long diversity of Nineveh which is home to a number of different religious and ethnic groups.
We at the Kurdistan Region Presidency strongly condemn this terrorist attack on the Christian students. We also call upon all the concerned parties to work harder on finding those responsible for this cowardly act.
We wish for the wounded a speedy recovery and hereby state that the medical facilities of the Kurdistan Region are at the service of the wounded. In the wake of the terrorist attack, the Erbil Emergency Hospital received a number of wounded individuals and has prepared its facilities and staff to assist their fellow medical professionals in Mosul.


Thursday's snapshot noted the US Commission on International Religious Freedom issued their [PDF format warning] "Eleventh Annual Report on Religious Freedom in the World" which included no link to the report. Community member Margo caught that (thank you, Margo). From the report, we'll note:

FINDINGS: Systematic, ongoing, and egregious religious freedom violations continue in Iraq. Members of the country's smallest religious minorities still suffer from targeted violence, threats, and intimidation, against which they receive insufficient government protection. Perpetrators of such attacks are rarely identified, investigated, or punished, creating a climate of impunity. The small communities also experience a pattern of official discrimination, marginalization, and neglect. In addition, there continue to be sectarian attacks, often with impunity, and tense relations between Shi'a and Sunni Iraiqs, and other egregious, religiously-motivated violence also continues.
Based on these concerns, USCIRF again recommends in 2010 that Iraq be designated as a "country of particular concern," or CPC.* The Commission recommended that Iraq be designated as a CPC in 2008 and 2009, and placed Iraq on its Watch List in 2007.
The religious freedom situation in Iraq remains grave, particularly for the country's smallest, most vulnerable religious minorities. The violence, forced displacement, discrimination, marginalization, and neglect suffered by members of these groups threaten these ancient communities' very existence in Iraq. These minorities, which include Chaldo-Assyrians and other Christians, Sabean Mandaeans, and Yazidis, continue to experience targeted violence, receive inadequate official protection or justice, and suffer discrimination. Since 2003, many have fled to neighboring countries, where they represent a disproportionately high percentage of registered Iraqi refugees. The diminished numbers remaining in the country are now concentrated in areas in the highly dangerous Nineveh governorate over which the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is seeking to extend its control, and they suffer abuses and discrimination as a result. Although the Iraqi government has publicly condemned violence against these groups, it continues to fall short in investigating the continuing attacks and bringing perpetrators to justice, and its efforts to increase security to minority areas are not adequate. In addition, though greatly reduced from 2006-07 levels, violence between Shi'a and Sunni Iraqis continues. Significant tensions between these groups remain, including tensions due to the ongoing government formation process. Finally, other religiously-motivated violence and abuse continues.



In other news over the weekend, US Army Spc Anthony Magee was wounded by an April 23rd missle attack in Iraq and evacuated to Germany. WDAM reports he died Friday at the age of 28. Ben Piper (Hattiesburg American) reports he received the Purple Heart on Thursday, puts his age at 29, and quotes a family statement: "We have lost a son, a father and a hero today who dedicated his life to the service of our nation. His family would like to thank the entire community and nation for their thoughts and prayers." The death brings the number of US service members killed in the Iraq War to 4395 when ICCC updates. Which they didn't do Saturday as Third noted and they didn't do Sunday and they still haven't done today. Today when DoD issues the following: "The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Anthony O. Magee, 29, of Hattiesburg, Miss., died April 27 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, of wounds sustained April 24 when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire at Contingency Operating Base Kalsu, Iskandariyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga." That announcement may be followed by a DoD correction. April 27th? Maybe so. That was a Tuesday. Why the long delay in announcing the death if he passed away last Tuesday? Next of kin? Uh, no. Many members of his family were at his bedside (including his wife and his parents).

Violence (or at least those nasty press 'rumors' of it) continued in Iraq today.
Bombings?

Reuters notes a Baghdad roadside bombing claimed 1 life and left six more injured, a Baghdad sticky bombing claimed 1 life and left two more people injured, a Shirquat car bombing claimed 3 lives and left two more injured, a Shirqat roadside bombing claimed 1 life and left six pepole injured, a Baghdad roadside bombing injured three people and Mosul grenade attacks injured three people.

Shootings?

Reuters notes 1 Imam shot dead in a Mosul mosque and another person injured and 1 fortuneteller shot dead in Kirkuk

Today the Baghdad recounts Nouri al-Maliki threw a fit over began. Xiong Tong (Xinhua) reports Independent High Electoral Commission spokesperson Qassim al-Abboudi declared today that the recounting of approximately 2.5 million ballots had begun "under the supervision of 44 monitors in Baghdad al-Rasheed Hotel in the Green Zone that houses some Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies, including the U.S. one." Suadad al-Salhy and Aseel Kami (Reuters) observed, "It could reverse the lead of a cross-sectarian alliance headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi which rode strong support from the Sunni minority to take 91 seats in the 325-member parliament." The two reported that as soon as counting began, members of Nouri's bloc began whining. Steven Lee Myers (New York Times) explains, "The objection added controversy -- and theatrics -- to a political struggle that is already convoluted and protracted. It threatened to further delay the certification of the final results of the crucial vote, held nearly two months ago." Jane Arraf (Christian Science Monitor) adds, "Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition Monday tried to throw another wrench into the slow-moving Iraq election process by calling for an audit in addition to a manual recount of votes from the March 7 parliamentary elections." Atul Aneja (The Hindu) points out, "In the results announced for the 325-member Parliament, Ayad Allawi's Iraqiyah party had secured a slender lead of two seats over Mr. Maliki's State of Law formation. However, the tally could change after manual recount for the 68 seats of Baghdad province is completed." Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times) provides this context, "Maliki's latest move follows a secretive commission's decision to challenge pro-Allawi candidates for being alleged members of the outlawed Baath Party. It further raises fears that an election praised by international observers for its credibility and transparency could be undermined, stripping away faith in the political process and reigniting a sectarian civil war that has dramatically cooled." Gabriel Gatehouse (BBC News) reported from inside the counting rooms at the Al Rasheed Hotel offering that there were complaints from the Communist Party at the start because they were not inside but they and other observers were ushered in. Jomana Karadsheh (CNN) adds, "The head of the Independent High Electoral Commission, Faraj al-Haidari, said the recount procedures were based on the commission's interpretation of a court decision involving the recount. He said the commission would continue with its current recount plan unless a court ordered it to do otherwise." Rebecca Santana (AP) reports Iraqi state TV cut out of the live broadcast when a row developed between al-Haidari and Hussain al-Shahristani who is both Minister of Oil and a State of Law official and that bodyguards had to prevent the two men from coming to blows as al-Sharistani vowed a crisis if the calls made by Nouri's party were not heeded. Alsumaria TV reports that al-Haidari states there are "660 employees from all provinces [who] are working double shifts to carry out votes recount".


We'll note this from David Bacon's "EVEN WITHOUT ARIZONA'S LAW, FIRINGS AND WORSE FACE IMMIGRANT WORKERS" (New American Media):SAN FRANCISCO, CA (4/20/10) -- While the potential criminalization of undocumented people in Arizona continues to draw headlines, the actual punishment of workers because of their immigration status has become an increasingly bitter fact of life across the country.In the latest move by the Department of Homeland Security, 475 immigrant janitors will soon be fired from their jobs in San Francisco. Weeks ago, DHS went through the employment records of their employer, ABM, one of the largest building service companies in the country. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement arm of DHS sifted through Social Security records, and the I-9 immigration forms all workers have to fill out when they apply for jobs. They then told ABM that the company had to fire 475 workers who were accused of lacking legal immigration status.ABM has been a union company for decades, and many of the workers have been there for years. "They've been working in this industry for 15, 20, some as many as 27 years in the buildings downtown," says Olga Miranda, president of Service Employees Local 87. "They've built homes. They've provided for their families. They've sent their kids to college. They're not new workers. They didn't just get here a year ago."David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. Bacon can be heard on KPFA's The Morning Show (over the airwaves in the Bay Area, streaming online) each Wednesday morning (begins airing at 7:00 am PST). Bonnie reminds that Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The Joan Rivers Presidency" went up yesterday.

iraqthe new york timessam daghercnspatrick goodenoughxinhuaxiong tongreuterssuadad al-salhyaseel kamiwdamhattiesburg americanben piper
xinhuaxiong tongreuterssuadad al-salhyaseel kami
steven lee myers
the christian science monitor
jane arraf
bbc newsgabriel gatehouse
jomana karadsheh
borzou daragahi
rebecca santana
the world cant wait

chinatown

Loach: What happened to your nose, Gittes? Somebody slammed a bedroom window on it?
Jake Gittes: Nope. Your wife got excited. She crossed her legs a little too quick. You understand what I mean, pal?

that's from chinatown. the film starring jack nicholson and faye dunaway. ruth is quoting from it in her post tonight. but she just remembered 'whores' and how they get respectable. so she asked c.i. who immediately reeled off the entire quote and then said, 'check that. it should be on imdb.' so we did and i found the above which is 1 of my favorites in the film.

and i love the film so i thought i'd write about it tonight.

i love the look of it which is this reddish filter that gives the colors a deeper feel than they would have otherwise.

and i love the performances. even with his nose all bandaged up, jack nicholson is sexy in this film. faye dunaway is just amazing. and the whole mystery of who killed her husband and who posed as her (diane ladd) to hire jack in the 1st place and then the sad, sad ending.

it's just all perfect on every level.

on a rainy night, with the windows open, that's the perfect film to watch.

makes me wish (apparently makes the writes of fringe wish as well) i could go back in time to that period of the hard boiled detective.

at the heart of all of it, it's a mystery about how the people lose the water.

roman polanski directed it and, along with rosemary's baby, it's probably his best film.


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

Friday, April 30, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, GAO did a study (another study), post-election madness continues, Nouri holds a press conference to attack and instill fear, and more.


Today on hour two of The Diane Rehm Show, Diane and her guests (including caller Ralph) Daniel Dombey (Financial Times of London), Moises Naim (Foreign Policy) and Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) addressed Iraq.

Ralph: . . . It's a no-win situation in all of these because it's fighting and enemy that's a civilian and I don't care what their political reasoning or whatever you cannot win any kind of insurgency or insurrection.

Diane Rehm: Interesting, we've got a number of comments on Facebook regarding Iraq which is likely one of the areas Ralph is talking about. Pam says, "Honestly, Iraq will destabilize before we get the last man out regardless of what's put in place. At some point, we just have to leave. It's just sad. We've let their infrastructure in an almost complete shambles." Nancy?

Nancy A. Youssef: Pam, in a lot of ways, sounds a lot like the Obama administration. The United States has said it is leaving even though it looks like it could be weeks or months before government is formed in Iraq, even though the election appears to have been divisive and that there's real question that Nouri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi -- the-the, right now the winner -- and their coalitions will be able to work together. And I think the question becomes what could the United States do if it stayed? Remember, the United States is there at the invitation of the Iraqi government and-and the movement that -- the train has sort of left the station. The United States is moving towards training Iraqi forces, putting them in the lead and I'm not sure that there's anything more that the United States could do --

Diane Rehm: What about the election discord? Could that effect the US timetable, Moises?

Moises Naim: We're talking about three worlds of difference. These were elections where 325 seats, Parliament, and Maliki's State of Law won 89 and the Iraqiya won 91, so they're the winners. But they're contesting votes and everything else. So you can take two-two views about this. You can say, "Well that's what happens in imperfect democracies. We have seen around the world, contested democracies awhere people are clashing including in Florida." So that would be a flippant way of saying: Elections, that's the nature of democracy. The other more troublesome view, and I think more realistic view, is this is just more of the same -- a manifestation of a deadly, lethal clash, between Sunnis and Shi'ites there and is just a struggle for power and is now taking that manifestation. When that is over, they will continue to battle each other. The good news is that so far, this has not been as violent and deadly as it used to be two or three years ago.

Daniel Dombey: Yes, I would agree with a large part of that. I mean I think the interesting thing is that this exist shows the fall of US influence. The Obama administration has been very concerned about what Mr. Malliki's done to try and get the lead in the and the prospect of the next government back from Allawi. It's been very concerned about these effors to strike candidates that have already been elected from Parliament. But those are pleas that aren't backed up by anything very much. And in a certain sense that's perhaps good because these are decisions that Iraq has to make. It's not clear how keeping US combat troops would help. In fact, one of the big champions of the surge Fred Kagan, of the AEI, wrote a piece in today's Washington Post where he says 'it is really only in the most extraordianary circumstances should the US delay its plans to get its combat troops out' --

Diane Rehm: Nancy?

Daniel Dombey: -- by the end of this summer. I think that shows it is actually Iraq's problem and not a bad problem for a Middle East country to have: How to work out the results of an election?

Diane Rehm: Nancy.

Nancy A. Youssef: You know I thought it was interesting this week that we learned that there was a secret prison in Iraq that largely held Sunnis prisoners, where people were tortured and there are charges that Maliki knew about it. We're starting to see the kind of state that is emerging. It is a quasi-democracy that still sort of employs tactics that are reminescent of Saddam's regime. Who makes a good torturer? But someone who has been tortured. And we're starting to see that. What can the US do to stop that? The only thing I want to say is that there is a real practical reson why the United States can't leave and that's becauseit's committed troops to Afghanistan. That 30,000 that's being sent into Afghanistan -- is conditioned on US troops leaving Iraq And in addition, you have a US military that's really already starting to think poster in terms of how it's going to reset itself, train itself for the next kind of warfare. The military's left Iraq already and I think the Obama administration has to.
Diane Rehm: I met a young woman just last night, having served three terms of duty in Iraq headed off to Afghanistan Sunday.

Okay, the above. First off, Frederick W. Kagan didn't write a column -- he co-wrote one. If you'r colleague already publicly 'joked' on Diane's show about a "cat fight" between Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni, you probably should work a little harder to ensure that you credit women. The column was written by Frederick Kagan and Kimberly Kagan. (Column ran in this morning's Washington Post.) Second, the Kagans gave three examples of what would slow the drawdown or stop it. Or what should in their opinion. David Dombey needs to learn to read because he has completely misrepresented the Kagans column which was not 'To Drawdown Or Not To Drawdown.' It was a call for US involvement in the post-election proceedings. Third, Nancy A. Youssef left the world of facts for opinions. And that's fine but that doesn't make her right. Example: The choice is not between staying or a drawdown -- and a drawdown is NOT a withdrawal, something Diane's guests need to learn REAL DAMN QUICK. That's nonsense. That's such nonsense that the string of words I would use to describe it could not appear here.

Reality, Nouri exists -- to this day -- only because US forces have propped him up. That's not 'opinion' or at least it's not uninformed 'opinion.' That is the opinion of the bulk of Democratic Senators and they have expressed it repeatedly and publicly -- that includes former senators Joe Biden and Barack Obama who are now vice president and President of the United States.

Reality, despite the oil profits (which are not going to the people), Iraq's 'government' still depends on a lot of US tax payer monies. And they can be denied that money. There's no reason to provide money (or credits for weapons) just to help Little Nouri become the New Hussein. No reason at all. In addition, there are many other diplomatic routes and there is also world opinion which can be courted.

Nancy's spending too much time at the Pentagon and appears to believe that the only answer is kill or don't kill but every problem doesn't require a show of violence to reach a solution. In her last exchange (last quoted above), I know what she meant but I'm not in the mood to interpret her. (She mispoke.) She's also wrong. "WE" did not learn about the secret prisons "this week." If "WE" had, then it wouldn't have been mentioned on Diane's show last week. Ned Parker broke that story online two Sundays ago. Ned Parker broke the secret prison story for the Los Angeles Times ("Secret prison for Sunnis revealed in Baghdad") and Human Rights Watch issued a report this week on the secret prison ("Iraq: Detainees Describe Torture in Secret Jail "). Nouri's been laughably insisting it's all lies, made up by his enemies, and, so what, look what the Americans did at Abu Ghraib! If someone really thinks the story was breaking news this week, it goes to how little informed they are on the subject. I am aware it can be hard to think on your feet especially when the topic isn't scheduled but comes up because listeners took to the program's Facebook page. But, as with what she meant in her last exchange, I'm not in the mood to interpret her, I'm not in the mood to be generous.

A drawdown is not a withdrawal. Were I Nouri al-Maliki -- or apparently Barack Obama -- I would declare that all reporters repeating that LIE should be imprisoned. But they need to start getting their facts right. A drawdown is what may take place. A drawdown would take the number of US service members in Iraq down to approximately 50,000. Such a drawdown has not yet taken place. If and when it does, it will be a fact that reporters can toss around. At present, they disgrace themselves when they make like Miss Cleo telling us what's happening months from now. How about you stop the predicting and get your facts right? It's not that difficult and it might let you know when a story broke or who wrote a column or any number of things. But when you're in such a rush to gas bag that you can't do the facts, you're not helping anyone.

Will the drawdown take place. "I'm no prophet, and I don't know nature's ways," Carly Simon sang (and wrote) in "The Right Thing To Do" (first appears on her No Secrets album). We do know the top US commander in Iraq, Gen Ray Odierno, is due to issue a report. Community member Joan caught a problem with yesterday's snapshot -- the bulk of a sentence is missing and it's my fault because of a link I put in that I didn't close and when it was dictated around later it ended up knocking out half a line. So this is what should have appeared in yesterday's snapshot ("*" indicates it's added today):Speaking Tuesday to John Hockenberry on The Takeaway, BBC News' Gabriel Gatehouse also felt that the counting would take longer than some estimates, "That could take several weeks. Then the votes have to be certified." In addition to noting that lengthy process, Gatehouse is apparently the only reporter aware of wh*at is supposed to be coming, a report by the top US commander in Iraq, Gen Ray Odierno. Gatehouse explained, "*General Odierno is the overall in charge of US forces here, has promised to make an assessment -- another assessment of that withdrawal time table two months after the election so we're looking at about a week from now. So I think we'll wait to see what he says in about a week's time."An evaluation is due from Odierno? And it will determine and assess. Now Barack can (and may) choose not to listen to it or at least not let effect the current stated plan or 'plan'; however, until that's decided, there is no, "In August, ____ happens." And reporters need to stop claiming that there is. You are not predictors. You deal in the known. When you fail to do that, you better not whine when someone objects to your bias. In fact, when you leave the factual world repeatedly, you are begging readers, listeners, viewers to check you for your bias.

Odierno will issue a report. It's probably not going to be the only report issued between now and August. President Barack Obama's stated plan is that the number of US troops in Iraq will drop down to approximately 50,000 as summer draws to a close. That's his plan. It's spring right now. What will or will not happen will not be known until then. That's reality.

Reality is that from November 2008 through January 2009, had George W. Bush attempted to sign million and billion dollars deals, people would be outraged. He was outgoing. He shouldn't be tying the country into any deals, agreements or debt. But Nouri, whose party did not win the most seats in the March 7th elections, is doing just that. Sylvia Pfeifer (Financial Times of London) reports that Nouri's prepping a potential one billion dollar deal in which Iraq will purchase "Hawk trainer jets from the UK". What does the Iraqi Parliament say about that deal? Nothing. Their terms expired. Until the newly elected members are sworn in, there is no Parliament. Nouri's term should have expired as well. But he's pushing deals that will tie Iraq down for sometime including the five-year plan that he could never get through Parliament so he's now rammed it through his council.
UPI reports that Moqtada al-Sadr "has demanded that 'illegal' contracts signed with foreign oil companies in 2009 be negotiated." Nizar Latif (The National Newspaper) adds, "The Sadrists, fervent nationalists although they have been heavily linked with Iran, where their leader is currently based, say the deals break Iraqi laws. The Iraqi oil ministry says the contracts will result in 'more than US $100 billion' (Dh367bn) worth of investment."
Nouri rejected any notion of an interim government. Ayad Allawi is calling for one. But if Nouri doesn't control the government, then he can't get his recounts and he can't get the judges to go along with him and he can't steal the election. He also can't make any of the deals he wants to. Caesar Ahmed and Borzou Daragahi (Los Angeles Times) report Nouri al-Maliki appeared on Iraqi state TV today to declare, "We will not allow any foreign interference in our internal affairs that will breach our sovereignty." Which brings us back to Nancy A. Youssef. First, Nouri, Iraq was breached in March 2003. You weren't concerned about "foreign interference" then. No, you were cheering on an invasion. Nancy A. Youssef wants to claim that the US is present at Iraq's invation. What a load of s**t. First off, an uninvited guest who never leaves is not there on any invitation. Second, who 'invited'? Not the people of Iraq who want the foreign forces off their land. Not the Parliament as evidenced by the huge number of MPs who elected to skip the November 2008 vote. Ahmed and Daragahi report Nouri attacked Allawi in his televised statements and also of Allawi and others, "I don't know why there are parties criticizing the Iraqi judiciary. This demonstrates that there is a regional, international project against Iraq that seeks to overthrow [the government] via the ballot box." Does the idiot understand that using the ballot box to reject someone is more than allowed?

In DC today, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sabah. The two spoke to reporters in the Treaty Room (link has text and video) and took questions. In one of her replies, Hillary noted the following:

The deputy prime minister and I discussed recent political developments in Iraq and the ongoing process of forming a new government. The security and stability of Iraq is critical to the security and stability of Kuwait, but of indeed the entire region. The United States recognizes that there is still work to be done to address some of the outstanding issues related to the Iraq-Kuwait relationship, and we are committed to working with Kuwait and the new Government of Iraq and the United Nations in the months ahead.
On the post-election madness, Heather Robinson (Huffington Post) notes:

Iraqi liberal Mithal al-Alusi, who raised concerns about fraud against himself and fellow liberals after he lost his seat in Parliament in the March 7 elections, is now raising concerns about a potential lack of oversight of the Baghdad recount that he says could lead to a repeat of the fraud that prompted the recount in the first place.
"It will be a disaster if the same people who did the first counting will do the second counting," Alusi told me in a phone interview from Baghdad.
Alusi is no stranger to controversy. Iraqi-born and bred, in the 1970's he protested Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses, and was forced to flee the middle east for his life. He returned to Iraq with his two grown sons following the U.S. invasion and took a position as culture director of the de-Baathification commission in the Iraqi interim government.

We dealt with the Kagans already. (Disclosure, as noted before I know Robert Kagan, that's Fred's bother, Kimberly's brother-in-law.) But, again, their column was completely distorted. From the right (the neocon right), the Frederick and Kimberly Kagan argue in today's Post:


Washington should strongly support Iraqi leaders such as Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and Allawi, who have strongly opposed the AJC's illegal effort to manipulate the results. The United States must encourage Iraq's Presidency Council to adhere to the electoral laws and reject the AJC's manipulation. The United States must also ensure that legal processes and court decisions about the elections are not unduly influenced by political or violent intimidation. Above all, the United States must oppose any effort to exclude votes properly cast and counted.
U.S. officials must state clearly that Iraq's government should be formed by Iraqis in Iraq and encourage Iraqis to form a government that ensures real power-sharing and continued political accommodation -- rather than cobbling together a government without any genuine political settlement.
Staying silent is not the same as remaining neutral. This does not mean that Washington should choose a party or prime minister, but the United States must protect the electoral process from politicians (and external actors) seeking to manipulate its outcome.

Again, the Kagans are right-wingers. Let's get some other opinions. For example, the Toledo Blade's editorial board argues what listeners of Diane Rehm's program were wrongly told the Kagans (or at least Fred) argued:

Hints by U.S. military leaders suggest the withdrawal might be delayed if Iraqis don't assemble a credible government soon. But that plays right into the hands of Iraqi political and business interests that want U.S. funds - about $2 billion a month - to continue to flow there. Mr. Maliki and others also want to maintain the protective American shield around themselves and their government.
America's interest is to withdraw according to schedule. There is no good reason to divert from that plan.

That is consistent with the Toledo Blade's February editorial "Don't yield to Iraqi stunts." Turning to the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace. When noting that 'NGO,' we will always note that they're not as 'independent' as they'd love to pretend, they are an arm of the US government. So what are they saying? Marina Ottaway and Danial Kaysi feel the rule of law is being ignored and that the Justice and Accountability Commission is among the worst offenders:

This decision to ban elected officials has truly taken Iraq into uncharted waters, where it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate ad hoc political decisions from those based on the legal criteria. The January 2008 law that established the JAC and defined its mandate did not foresee the possibility of banning candidates after the election and no precedent exists on which to base a decision as these are the first elections under the law. Making the decision even more political -- the post-election bans will affect Iraqiya particularly hard, as did the pre-election exclusions. With twenty-two of the candidates banned after the vote belonging to Iraqiya, it could lose its slim two-seat advantage over State of Law.
There are also questions concerning the current legal status of the JAC, whose members were nominated by the council of ministers, approved by parliament, and ratified by the presidency council -- institutions whose mandate was terminated at the end of the last parliament and are operating in a legal limbo in the transitional period until a government is formed. The situation will worsen as the transitional period stretches from the few weeks foreseen by the constitution to the many months that now appear possible.


Today Alsumaria TV reports on seven candidates banned by JAC: "Al Iraqiya List spokesman Haidar Al Mulla revealed to Alsumaria News the names of seven candidates subject to the Justice and Accountability Law. Candidates include Fallah Hassan Zaydan, Iskandar Watout, Itab Jassem Nassif, Jamal Al Batikh, Adnan Al Jinabi, Mohammed Al Karbouli and Qays Shathar Hussein while an eighth winning candidate was not named."

Another view is offered by Jim Waldo in a letter to the Duluth News Tribune where he observes, "Every day it seems we read about bombs going off in civilian settings and the marketplaces in Iraq. How long will it take before exasperated citizens put a strongman in power through voting or a coup? He might stop the carnage by temporarily suspending democracy, installing a secret police, forming a republican guard and adopting repressive measures. And he might indeed success in stopping the bombings." But, Jim Waldo feels, this is how the New Saddam Hussein is created. Alsumaria TV reports that Nouri insisted today that Iraq was at risk of "a coup" from within the region and internationally and that threats are being made of a rocket attack on the Green Zone. Save us, Nouri, save us!!!! (Yes, he does trade on the fear. It's always been his only currency.)

Turning to some of the violence reported today . .

Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Garma roadside bombing injured two people and, dropping back to yesterday, reports a Heet roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left a second one wounded, a Baghdad roadside bombing wounded six people, a Baghdad car bombing claimed 8 lives and left twenty people wounded, a Baghdad sticky bombing which wounded CTO Sadoun Seyid Qassim. Xinhua notes a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed 2 lives and left nine people injured. Reuters notes that 1 US service member was injured by a Baghdad roadside bombing last night.


Yesterday, a subcommittee of the US House Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing on the "Status of Veterans Small Business." Calling the Economic Opportunity Subcommittee to order, Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin noted, "Today's hearing will provide the US Government Accountability Office an opportunity to update us on the ongoing work on veteran-owned small businesses, and brought the hearing to order and noted " This Subcommittee last held a hearing on veterans and small business on March 11, 2010. The focus was on the Center for Veterans Enterprise and the Subcommittee were informed about problems to do with verification -- how some businesses that were not VA-owned were making it onto the list while others which were veteran-owned but could not make the list. What's changed? They did a study, the Government Accountability Office did a study. We'll note this exchange between the Chair, GAO's William B. Shear and Ranking Member John Boozman.

Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: [. . .] Because we have, as it relates to contracting requirements, a goal of making sure that it's veteran-owned businesses that are getting this opportunity just as it is in terms of the restriction Ms. [Diane] Farrell described, they're jobs created here as the objective so I -- You know, in your written testimony, you stated that the VA had hired a contractor to assess the verification programs process and the contractor's report included recommendations. Again, we're a little concerned with the progress the VA's making on the verifications as it relates to those on the database who have been verified to be veteran-owned businesses to deal with the issue of sort of veteran shopping that we have had concerns about with the Subcommittee previously. Can you elaborate on what recommendations were given to the VA?
William B. Shear: Uhm, I will paraphrase in a way that, uhm, as you know we have a draft report and as I stated we have a draft report. And among those, the needs to really implement information technology in a way that allows for more efficient processing of these applications. You also need -- really it's development of people in terms of their ability of the guidance that they have to have in terms of how they verify businesses. So I'm -- I'm segueing a little bit into what's-what's-what we're reporting on. But-but basically that it's been very slow in this process. And the reason we think it's very important is because the preferences are meant to serve veterans and veteran owned small business and there's not an assurance that that is happening. And it's been delayed for some period of time, so just the fact that the consultant study, that it took so long until they kind of like moved in that direction is of concern to us.

Chair Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: Mr. Boozeman?

Ranking Member John Boozemmn: Thank you, Madame Chair. Mr. Shear, Public Law 109-461 requires VA to review contracts for compliance with subcontracting proposals. Would you share GIO's view of VA's performance in implementing the provisions

William B. Shear: Subcontracting was the one part that is contained -- will be contained in our final report. And what we observed with subcontracting requirements, there's -- there's certain issues as far as the date when that becomes effective. But what we have observed to date is that the -- with respect to subcontracting VA falls very short of its goals.


If we wanted to go deeper into the hearing, we could note that you do not appear before Congress chewing (smacking) gum. It's not a possible rule, it's a rule. Smacking your gum between and during your testimony not only distracts from your testimony, it makes it appear you really aren't ready to appear before Congress and that they might need to instead seat you at the kiddie table.


Hike for our Heroes is a non-profit started by Iraq War veteran Troy Yocum who is hiking across the country to raise awareness and money for veterans issues. He explains at the website:I am an Iraq-war veteran who is hiking 7000 miles across America to raise money for struggling veterans, and help get a national "Day of the Deployed" by getting signatures from mayors and governors across America on a custom Louisville Slugger batAnd with over 200 of the 7000 miles completed already, he has another milestone scheduled for the week: He's getting married Sunday. More information and videos can be found at Drum Hike.William J. Booher (Indy Star) reports that May is when Troy is set to be walking in Indiana and provides a list of some of the events including "a public barbecue May 7 at American Legion Post 252, 334 U.S. 31 S., between Main Street and Smith Valley Road." That is open to the public and begins at 12:30 in Greenwood, Indiana.
TV notes, Washington Week begins airing on many PBS stations tonight (and throughout the weekend, check local listings) and joining Gwen around the table this week are Naftali Bendavid (Wall St. Journal), Eamon Javers (Politico), Margaret Kriz Hobson (National Journal) and Karen Tumulty (Washington Post). And Gwen's column this week is "Washington Rhetoric: The Decoder." Remember that the show podcasts in video and audio format -- and a number of people sign up for each (audio is thought to be so popular due to the fact that it downloads so much quicker). If you podcast the show, remember there is the Web Extra where Gwen and the guests weigh in on topics viewers e-mail about. And also remember that usually by Monday afternoon you can go to the show's website and stream it there (including Web Extra) as well as read the transcripts and more. Meanwhile Bonnie Erbe will sit down with Melinda Henneberger, Eleanor Holmes Norton and Genevieve Wood. on the latest broadcast of PBS' To The Contrary to discuss the week's events. And at the website each week, there's an extra just for the web from the previous week's show and this week's it's immigration reform. For the broadcast program, check local listings, on many stations, it begins airing tonight. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes:
The All American CanalThe most dangerous body of water in the U.S. is a deep canal on the Mexican border with California where over 550 people - mostly illegal immigrants - have drowned. Scott Pelley reports. Watch Video
Chef Jose AndresPioneering Chef Jose Andres takes Anderson Cooper's taste buds on a savory tour of his culinary laboratory, featuring his avant-garde cooking technique, molecular gastronomy. Watch Video
ConanLate-night television comedian Conan O'Brien appears in his first interview since having to give back his spot on the "Tonight Show" to Jay Leno. Steve Kroft reports.
60 Minutes, Sunday, May 2, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.


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