Summer means horror. In the past, we could count on a page turner or two from Stephen King for that. As he's rediscovered his inner need for deeper meaning, it sometimes seems less scary and more of a parable. With that in mind, we offer this:
K-Boy Tries To Get Back Home
K-Boy was wearing his Chuck Taylors, his jersey, all tricked out vintage style.
Speaking of vintage, he had a Marvin song blasting in his head. Bus rides were retro but he was doing it up in style he figured as he noted the heat inside the bus.
It was late and hot. He was tired. He closed his eyes and listened as the bus seemed to shake and nearly shatter with each bump in the road. While a bead of sweat formed on his forehead, it seemed the a.c. existed more to provide background noise than to cool things down.
He must have been more tired or more hot than he knew because a quick moment of resting the eyes sure enough turned into a nap.
Waking up, he opened he looked around and saw his street.
Congratulating himself on his perfect time, he rang the bell for his stop.
"Stop requested. Please watch your step," said the mechanical voice in English, then in Spanish.
K-Boy attempted to stand and make his way to the front of the bus.
But nothing happened.
He looked down at his knees and willed them to straighten, which they slowly did and he was standing. But his feet felt as though they were weighed down by a million bricks.
The stop was approaching, he had to get moving.
The bus came to a halt. The doors opened.
K-Boy was still struggling to walk.
"Get it together," he cursed himself.
One foot, then the next. Slow, sure but he was moving.
Trouble was, so was the bus. The doors were closing.
"Damn it," K-Boy cursed as the bus continued rolling on.
One foot, then the next. One foot, then the next. One foot, then the next.
So it continue, slowly. Slowly.
Finally he was standing behind the yellow line with the driver directly to his left.
"I missed my stop," K-Boy explained.
Nothing. Man, the driver didn't care.
"Excuse me, could you stop at the next stop?"
Still nothing.
K-Boy reached over and tapped the driver on the shoulder.
"Excuse me."
The driver turned around revealing the sharp lines of bones and nothing else. No cartilage, no skin. No eyes.
The mouth went wide and a ghostly rattle flew out that sounded like the laughter of the damned.
"Damn the heat," K-Boy thought as he looked around and realized he was still at the bus stop waiting for the bus to pick him up.
Heat like this could play tricks on you, mess with your mind.
He watched as two gals, in as little clothing as possible, walked up to the stop. He licked his lips and zeroed in on the the one smiling.
"Hey," he nodded.
They stepped up next to him and nodded back.
"K-Boy," he said thumbing to himself. "What's your names?"
"Don't you remember us?" asked the one smiling.
"No," K-Boy said scratching his chin. "Have we met?"
"Our village was bombed," said the nonsmiling one as the skin on her face began to melt and run in puddles.
"What, what's going on?" K-Boy asked his mouth gaping. "Get away from me, both of you. I'm just trying to get home."
"We have no home," the smiling one said as her organs began to fall out of her stomach. "We cannnot go home. We are no more."
"You killed us," said the other reaching to touch him with a hand who's flesh now began to smoulder.
K-Boy backed away quickly, eyes wide in horror.
As the two women followed, K-Boy tripped and fell on his back. Looking up, he saw the decaying, rotting bodies falling apart at the joints and begin to drop onto of him.
On top of him, covering him, was bones and organs, blood and rotting flesh.
K-Boy begam screaming.
"Holy shit!" K-Boy exclaimed as he woke up damp with sweat, lying in bed.
There had been plenty of nightmares over the years but that was one to remember.
He could smell breakfast cooking from the kitchen. His mother made the best breakfasts. When he was out of the country, the smells and sounds from the kitchen had been something that haunted him repeatedly. The egg frying, the gun shot like explosion when the toast popped up from inside the toaster, the gurgle of the coffee machine, the popping of grease as the bacon cooked in the big, black, cast iron skillet -- the same skillet, the same grease, that his mother would use later to fry up some potatoes that everyone would fight over.
He thought of his mother and how her beautiful dark skin seemed to pale when he told her where he was headed. Orders from Uncle Sam, he'd shrugged.
"He ain't you're uncle," she'd shot back.
And that had been that. She was a woman who made her point and let it go.
That seemed so long ago.
He sniffed the air and wondered what she was fixing. Whatever it was sure smelled good.
Walking down the half dark hall, he could hear music playing softly.
Once I was a soldier
And I fought on foreign sands for you
Once I was a hunter
And I brought home fresh meat for you
Once I was a lover
And I searched behind your eyes for you
And soon there’ll be another
To tell you I was just a lie
God he loved that song.
It was coming from the living room. Must be the TV. What program could be playing Tim Buckley on this Sunday morning?
The smell of hash browns stopped his wondering and he headed straight for the kitchen.
Looked a lot different. Had his mother made new curtains?
His mother . . .
The woman at the stove.
The white woman at the stove.
Not at the beat up old stove, but a shiny, new one.
The table that had some cardboard under one leg to make it set level was gone as well.
And there was a man approaching, a white man.
Who were these people?
He ran out of the house and stopped to look around. This was his block. He checked the outside of the house. It was freshly painted, but it was the house he grew up in.
Slowly, he walked to the porch and then back inside.
There was a newspaper on the table. K-Boy stared at it in amazement.
The date on it read June 26, 2005. But . . .
But it was summer of 1968. Just awhile back, he'd been patrolling the river.
Now, here he was, at last, home.
But his home was no more.
K-Boy yelled, "Where is my mother! Who are you people!"
The woman looked over to the man and asked, "Did you say something?"
"No," the man replied. "Are you going to do the crossword?"
Sunday, June 26, 2005
The Gleeful Boy (the Sue Miller type read)
Summer isn't just Jackie Collins (we were too tired to try out a Thomas Clancy). It's also some high brown literature. Along the lines of Sue Miller. Here's our version of that genre in short story form.
He Just Seemed So Gleeful
He just seemed so gleeful.
That's what stood out to her. He just seemed so gleeful.
She remembered him at seven-years old with his cat Little Bit, walking in to find him gripping a snarling Little Bit by the nape of her neck as he scraped the hissing cat roughly up and down the bedroom wall.
"What are you doing!"
"She pooped all over my bedspread!"
What had happened, she wondered then. And now.
No amount of talking had helped then.
Nor had anyone else been too concerned.
Not the boy's father who grunted without looking away from the TV screen.
Not the preacher who gave the boy All God's Creatures Great and Small and felt this was addressing the issue.
Nor, most of all, the boy himself.
"You gotta' learn them to behave, Mom," he told her with the most serious, most gave face a seven-year old could muster.
Was it all just her?
Everyone else seemed to think it was.
After awhile she started to think so as well. What she'd seen had been abusive, destructive. But this was a seven-year old boy, a kid who did not know any better.
And she was a worry wart, right? She'd always been one. Her entire life she'd never been able to grow her finger nails long because she would constantly chew them down to the quick.
Her own mother had always joked that she got test anxiety from a knock-knock joke.
So sure, she worried. She stressed. It was who she was.
And thank goodness that who were son was was a good, sweet tyke who'd grown into an upstanding, strong man.
He had sailed through high school with the usual dark moods and silences of adolescence. He had a "short fuse" on the football field. His coach had said that. But it was just the normal competative spirit, right?
Then it was off to college and he had the usual successes and problems. Nothing all that unusual.
He met Amanda. She was so sweet, nice and warm. Anne was what you wanted in a daughter-in-law and she had a smile as warm as sunshine.
There was graduation. There was marriage. There was pregnancy. In that order, not that anyone even paid attention to that much these days.
They were living several states away by then. It was mother's and father's day phone calls, birthday cards, and alternate Christmas and Thanksgivings.
Nothing too unusual from what any other family was living with.
But there was something unusual about Anne. At first she tried to pin it on the time and stress involved in raising a newborn.
Then she noticed that Anne wasn't snapping back to normal and it was a few years after. Not only did the beam of sunshine smile never return, but Anne didn't smile much or even speak much. Month after month, year after year.
And when Anne did speak it was in a whisper. She also didn't make eye contact.
The alternate holidays, it turned out, weren't being spent between the in laws.
He would come up to visit his parents but otherwise they'd spend the holiday at home. His excuse to Anne's parents was that he'd been laid off from two jobs in the last few years and, since he was always starting at the bottom, they couldn't afford to travel much.
She learned of that not from her son, but from Anne's mother who called after Anne's second miscarriage.
"She needs to take better care of herself," her son said grinning as Anne slinked by.
"I fall down a lot," Anne whispered without making eye contact. "I'm just clumsy."
She noticed how Anne's mother watched Anne. She noticed how her son watched Anne's mother. Most of all, she noticed how Anne seemed to dissolve before everyone's eyes.
Later that night, intending to surprise her grandson with a bedtime story, she went down the hall.
Through the open door she heard her grandson saying, "Tell me a bedtime story."
Through the doorway, she could see her son standing by the bed, smiling down at his own son.
"Well sport, a quick one," he said nodding. "Here it is. Once upon a time, there was a baby. It was still born. The end. Good night."
He just sounded so gleeful.
He Just Seemed So Gleeful
He just seemed so gleeful.
That's what stood out to her. He just seemed so gleeful.
She remembered him at seven-years old with his cat Little Bit, walking in to find him gripping a snarling Little Bit by the nape of her neck as he scraped the hissing cat roughly up and down the bedroom wall.
"What are you doing!"
"She pooped all over my bedspread!"
What had happened, she wondered then. And now.
No amount of talking had helped then.
Nor had anyone else been too concerned.
Not the boy's father who grunted without looking away from the TV screen.
Not the preacher who gave the boy All God's Creatures Great and Small and felt this was addressing the issue.
Nor, most of all, the boy himself.
"You gotta' learn them to behave, Mom," he told her with the most serious, most gave face a seven-year old could muster.
Was it all just her?
Everyone else seemed to think it was.
After awhile she started to think so as well. What she'd seen had been abusive, destructive. But this was a seven-year old boy, a kid who did not know any better.
And she was a worry wart, right? She'd always been one. Her entire life she'd never been able to grow her finger nails long because she would constantly chew them down to the quick.
Her own mother had always joked that she got test anxiety from a knock-knock joke.
So sure, she worried. She stressed. It was who she was.
And thank goodness that who were son was was a good, sweet tyke who'd grown into an upstanding, strong man.
He had sailed through high school with the usual dark moods and silences of adolescence. He had a "short fuse" on the football field. His coach had said that. But it was just the normal competative spirit, right?
Then it was off to college and he had the usual successes and problems. Nothing all that unusual.
He met Amanda. She was so sweet, nice and warm. Anne was what you wanted in a daughter-in-law and she had a smile as warm as sunshine.
There was graduation. There was marriage. There was pregnancy. In that order, not that anyone even paid attention to that much these days.
They were living several states away by then. It was mother's and father's day phone calls, birthday cards, and alternate Christmas and Thanksgivings.
Nothing too unusual from what any other family was living with.
But there was something unusual about Anne. At first she tried to pin it on the time and stress involved in raising a newborn.
Then she noticed that Anne wasn't snapping back to normal and it was a few years after. Not only did the beam of sunshine smile never return, but Anne didn't smile much or even speak much. Month after month, year after year.
And when Anne did speak it was in a whisper. She also didn't make eye contact.
The alternate holidays, it turned out, weren't being spent between the in laws.
He would come up to visit his parents but otherwise they'd spend the holiday at home. His excuse to Anne's parents was that he'd been laid off from two jobs in the last few years and, since he was always starting at the bottom, they couldn't afford to travel much.
She learned of that not from her son, but from Anne's mother who called after Anne's second miscarriage.
"She needs to take better care of herself," her son said grinning as Anne slinked by.
"I fall down a lot," Anne whispered without making eye contact. "I'm just clumsy."
She noticed how Anne's mother watched Anne. She noticed how her son watched Anne's mother. Most of all, she noticed how Anne seemed to dissolve before everyone's eyes.
Later that night, intending to surprise her grandson with a bedtime story, she went down the hall.
Through the open door she heard her grandson saying, "Tell me a bedtime story."
Through the doorway, she could see her son standing by the bed, smiling down at his own son.
"Well sport, a quick one," he said nodding. "Here it is. Once upon a time, there was a baby. It was still born. The end. Good night."
He just sounded so gleeful.
Summer poetry: "Filling the Well"
Summer reading does include poetry. Inspired by Alice Walker and Patricia J. Williamson of The Nation (specifically her column in the July 4, 2005 issue, "Just a Theory"), with a dash of the Mamas & the Papas "Too Late" and the Beatles "Fixing a Hole" we offer "Filling the Well." Is it good, is it bad? Which is it intended to be? We'll never tell. Take from it what you can gather.
Fixing the Well
Filling the well
Filling the well
Carrying the pail
Down I fell
Down I fell.
Bumped my head
Bumped my head
Lost my thread
Sleep the dead
Sleep the dead.
Orion shining
In the night sky
Lead me there
Lead me there.
Orion shining
In the night sky
Grant my prayer
Grant my prayer.
Got a bump on the head
It's a new idea in there
Starting to grow
Starting to grow.
Got a seed reaching outward
Sprouting, climbing, winding
Watching it grow
Watching in grow.
Fixing the Well
Filling the well
Filling the well
Carrying the pail
Down I fell
Down I fell.
Bumped my head
Bumped my head
Lost my thread
Sleep the dead
Sleep the dead.
Orion shining
In the night sky
Lead me there
Lead me there.
Orion shining
In the night sky
Grant my prayer
Grant my prayer.
Got a bump on the head
It's a new idea in there
Starting to grow
Starting to grow.
Got a seed reaching outward
Sprouting, climbing, winding
Watching it grow
Watching in grow.
Peek (the summer page turner)
What is summer without a Jackie Collins type book at the beach? Why, it's just not summer! With that in mind, we attempt to recreate an early chapter from your generic summer page turner. Picture a lusty blond woman on the book jacket (paperback, natch). She's dressed in a power suit that reveals ample cleavage. In bright red scrawl across the cover is the title, Peek.
Chapter Two
The bench was Dee Dee's least favorite piece of gymn equipment to be on. She was always afraid that she would suddenly lose control of the barbell and it would crash down on her injuring her, or worse yet, killing her. Or even worse, disfiguring her ample bosom. It made no sense, this fear, even she knew it, but the thought always crossed her mind when she was doing reps. Maybe one of the weights wasn't secured. Maybe her muscles would be exhausted.
She had a lot of similar fears. Like when she used the microwave on the maid's day off. Often she'd picture the low fat, all vegan TV dinner exploding with such a force that it would knock the door right off the microwave. But even with this fear, she couldn't help peering inside, watching the dinner heat up. Or when she was applying a fresh stick of lipstick or a new compact of powder, she'd worry that somehow in the factory a drop of battery acid had been smuggled in. As she smeared, for instance, the lipstick across her lips, she'd picture the skin bubbling up, blackening, and then falling right off her face as she howled in pain. Still she applied her lipstick. Still she looked through the glass door to see inside the microwave. Still she utilized the bench for presses. Maybe she was drawn to danger?
Right now, Adam started saying she was in danger of wasting her entire workout if she didn't start focusing. Nodding, she looked up and really thought about how attractive Adam was. He had these thin eye brows that she'd love to just run her tongue across. And his hair was this combination of blond and brown. The highlights looked natural. Possibly they were. Dee Dee could always spot an obvious bleach out. And his eyes were almost emerald green, a bit watery perhaps, but . . .
His nose. There was a piece that stuck out where it had obviously been broken. She wondered how many fights he'd been in. He could obviously take care of himself, with those broad shoulders and those massive biceps. Dee Dee liked the way his upper body seemed to be intent on tearing through the t-shirt that he almost wore.
"That's it, focus."
Dee Dee managed to scoot back a little on the bench so that she could sneak a peak at Adam's equipment. She'd heard women talk about him in the sauna, but she'd never felt brazen enough to look before. After all, she was Dee Dee Daniels, that meant she was the one looked at. But lately, Brandon has been sort of stingy with the lovin' and she could only fantasize about Orlando Bloom so much.
Besides Brandon's rants had really started to get on her nerves. Spending too much money? Like she wasn't carrying around a fun fur already? She refused to call it a "faux fur" because she never wanted to give anyone the impression that she was one of those political radicals who think it's a crime to use God's creatures in a way that showed off their natural beauty. She was all about the beauty. And she wore "fun fur" because her husband refused to buy her the real thing. Because he was cheap.
Cheap with his money, cheap with his lovin'. How long had it been?
Too long. And it was then that Dee Dee made a decision.
One little peek shouldn't hurt.
Adam was smiling at her, complimenting her and pushing her. Did he have any idea where her concentration was? She doubted it and as she once again raised the barbell while he spotted her, she glanced up and back. She couldn't believe she had just done that. Did he notice?
In her glance, she saw right up his red silk shorts. If she'd allowed her eyes to linger there what more might she have seen? Maybe she should take another look, a longer look? No, she decided that anything more would be too obvious. Anything more and Adam would surely know she was cheking him out.
And if that happened, no doubt, their professional relationship would be blown. As it worked now, Dee Dee came in, he admired her physique with a more than professional interest, Dee Dee pretended not to notice and they began the work out. If he caught her admiring his body, let alone checking out his groin, there would definitely be a strong shift in the balance of power.
"No way is a peak at his penis worth it," Dee Dee told herself.
No, she much preferred for him to salivate over her body and for him to know that she knew he did. She much preferred to treat him with haughty indifference prior to and after the workout, to dole out her small kindness and leave him hanging. It was a dance, one she choreographed. Let them want you, let them lust for you, and just when they think they'll never have you, give them a sweet grin or a kind word so they start believing there's a possibility of something more all over again. To look now would be to change all of that. Forever. So she wouldn't look.
But damned if she couldn't stop herself. Her mind was saying "Don't look!" but she couldn't listen. She was drawn to examing his crotch by something more than lust, more than curiousity even. The only thing she could think to call it was fear.
"Just like with the damn microwave," she thought.
So she looked. Obviously she looked. And she felt sure she was overly blatant in her looking. As her eyes traveled up his muscular legs into his shorts, she felt sure he knew exactly what she was doing. She could sense him puffing out his chest in pride. Even his crotch seemed to swell a little.
Too late to stop now, so she might as well look. The hairs on his legs seemed to thin out right around the point his shorts began and, contraty to what she'd thought, he wasn't tan all over. Apparently, he sunbathed or went to the tanning beds in short swim trunks. Certainly, not in a thong. As her eyes moved up his legs, she could make out the ghost bathing suit, then the hairs started again, thickening around his white jock. There was a definite bulge and it seemed to move a little. Dee Dee knew she should look away, after all, she'd stopped lifting the weight so she had now gone beyond blatant. And Adam obviously knew what was what. She noted how he seemed to spread his legs a little more in his apparent attempt to give her a better view. As he did so, his crotch came a little closer to her face.
Dee heard herself sigh like an idiot. But so what, maybe she and Adam . . . Before she could finish her thought, she inhaled and that was the deciding factor. She could definitely smell sweat, groin sweat. Maybe he had to work all day as a personal trainer but that didn't mean Adam couldn't hit the showers between clients. Disgust had killed her curiousity.
Almost racking his groin, Dee Dee sat up suddenly and hopped off the bench. Nodding to his now confused face, Dee Dee hurried off to the showers to wash her own sweat off.
Chapter Two
The bench was Dee Dee's least favorite piece of gymn equipment to be on. She was always afraid that she would suddenly lose control of the barbell and it would crash down on her injuring her, or worse yet, killing her. Or even worse, disfiguring her ample bosom. It made no sense, this fear, even she knew it, but the thought always crossed her mind when she was doing reps. Maybe one of the weights wasn't secured. Maybe her muscles would be exhausted.
She had a lot of similar fears. Like when she used the microwave on the maid's day off. Often she'd picture the low fat, all vegan TV dinner exploding with such a force that it would knock the door right off the microwave. But even with this fear, she couldn't help peering inside, watching the dinner heat up. Or when she was applying a fresh stick of lipstick or a new compact of powder, she'd worry that somehow in the factory a drop of battery acid had been smuggled in. As she smeared, for instance, the lipstick across her lips, she'd picture the skin bubbling up, blackening, and then falling right off her face as she howled in pain. Still she applied her lipstick. Still she looked through the glass door to see inside the microwave. Still she utilized the bench for presses. Maybe she was drawn to danger?
Right now, Adam started saying she was in danger of wasting her entire workout if she didn't start focusing. Nodding, she looked up and really thought about how attractive Adam was. He had these thin eye brows that she'd love to just run her tongue across. And his hair was this combination of blond and brown. The highlights looked natural. Possibly they were. Dee Dee could always spot an obvious bleach out. And his eyes were almost emerald green, a bit watery perhaps, but . . .
His nose. There was a piece that stuck out where it had obviously been broken. She wondered how many fights he'd been in. He could obviously take care of himself, with those broad shoulders and those massive biceps. Dee Dee liked the way his upper body seemed to be intent on tearing through the t-shirt that he almost wore.
"That's it, focus."
Dee Dee managed to scoot back a little on the bench so that she could sneak a peak at Adam's equipment. She'd heard women talk about him in the sauna, but she'd never felt brazen enough to look before. After all, she was Dee Dee Daniels, that meant she was the one looked at. But lately, Brandon has been sort of stingy with the lovin' and she could only fantasize about Orlando Bloom so much.
Besides Brandon's rants had really started to get on her nerves. Spending too much money? Like she wasn't carrying around a fun fur already? She refused to call it a "faux fur" because she never wanted to give anyone the impression that she was one of those political radicals who think it's a crime to use God's creatures in a way that showed off their natural beauty. She was all about the beauty. And she wore "fun fur" because her husband refused to buy her the real thing. Because he was cheap.
Cheap with his money, cheap with his lovin'. How long had it been?
Too long. And it was then that Dee Dee made a decision.
One little peek shouldn't hurt.
Adam was smiling at her, complimenting her and pushing her. Did he have any idea where her concentration was? She doubted it and as she once again raised the barbell while he spotted her, she glanced up and back. She couldn't believe she had just done that. Did he notice?
In her glance, she saw right up his red silk shorts. If she'd allowed her eyes to linger there what more might she have seen? Maybe she should take another look, a longer look? No, she decided that anything more would be too obvious. Anything more and Adam would surely know she was cheking him out.
And if that happened, no doubt, their professional relationship would be blown. As it worked now, Dee Dee came in, he admired her physique with a more than professional interest, Dee Dee pretended not to notice and they began the work out. If he caught her admiring his body, let alone checking out his groin, there would definitely be a strong shift in the balance of power.
"No way is a peak at his penis worth it," Dee Dee told herself.
No, she much preferred for him to salivate over her body and for him to know that she knew he did. She much preferred to treat him with haughty indifference prior to and after the workout, to dole out her small kindness and leave him hanging. It was a dance, one she choreographed. Let them want you, let them lust for you, and just when they think they'll never have you, give them a sweet grin or a kind word so they start believing there's a possibility of something more all over again. To look now would be to change all of that. Forever. So she wouldn't look.
But damned if she couldn't stop herself. Her mind was saying "Don't look!" but she couldn't listen. She was drawn to examing his crotch by something more than lust, more than curiousity even. The only thing she could think to call it was fear.
"Just like with the damn microwave," she thought.
So she looked. Obviously she looked. And she felt sure she was overly blatant in her looking. As her eyes traveled up his muscular legs into his shorts, she felt sure he knew exactly what she was doing. She could sense him puffing out his chest in pride. Even his crotch seemed to swell a little.
Too late to stop now, so she might as well look. The hairs on his legs seemed to thin out right around the point his shorts began and, contraty to what she'd thought, he wasn't tan all over. Apparently, he sunbathed or went to the tanning beds in short swim trunks. Certainly, not in a thong. As her eyes moved up his legs, she could make out the ghost bathing suit, then the hairs started again, thickening around his white jock. There was a definite bulge and it seemed to move a little. Dee Dee knew she should look away, after all, she'd stopped lifting the weight so she had now gone beyond blatant. And Adam obviously knew what was what. She noted how he seemed to spread his legs a little more in his apparent attempt to give her a better view. As he did so, his crotch came a little closer to her face.
Dee heard herself sigh like an idiot. But so what, maybe she and Adam . . . Before she could finish her thought, she inhaled and that was the deciding factor. She could definitely smell sweat, groin sweat. Maybe he had to work all day as a personal trainer but that didn't mean Adam couldn't hit the showers between clients. Disgust had killed her curiousity.
Almost racking his groin, Dee Dee sat up suddenly and hopped off the bench. Nodding to his now confused face, Dee Dee hurried off to the showers to wash her own sweat off.
Kooky Cokie Roberts offers up advice
What would a summer beach read (the theme of this edition) be without an advice column? We thought of doing a "Dear Third Estate" but then we got creative. What if, we wondered, one of today's teen queen's, for instance Hilary Duff, wrote an advice column for one of the teen magazines? And what if, we wondered, she had to take a break and the publisher had to get someone to fill in for her? That could be funny. But what would make it even funnier?
Oh what always makes everything funnier? Cokie Roberts!!!!!!!!!! So, what if, in our fictional account, a magazine called Tiger Beatin' had to fill space for an advice column that Hilary Duff had intended to write but Cokie Roberts ended up penning? Our sides were aching!
Here now, in the spirit of summer, is advice from the one and only Cokie Robets.
ASK DUFF! by Kooky Cokie Roberts
When the publisher of Tiger Beatin' called me and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I dialed the wrong number" of course I knew he was too shy to ask me to work on a feature. Being the kind and generous soul I am, I asked him if he was having deadline problems. Yes, he needed an advice column -- I cut him off and immediately said no. I still haven't recovered from the ten minutes I put in prepping for my last NPR piece. But then Steve walked in and asked me what was going on and said I was a fool to turn down money and that his house, his rules (he wishes!) which of course means that if I want to have more of those injections, I'm going to have to pay for them myself. (I had hoped to cut costs by doing it all "at home," you know, like a facial. But Steve looked in the fridge -- big surprise there! -- one day, grabbed my curdled cheese and threw it out.)
So with Steve screaming in one ear and the Tiger Beatin' publisher yammering on in the other, I may have missed a few key points. Like the title. Why is it Ask Duff? I live in D.C. Is that the new lingo for D.C.? It's so hard to keep up. I asked Steve and said "Guys are buff, maybe gals are duff."
Well even Steve can figure out something once in a blue moon. So as a very duff, young woman, a very young woman, I'm happy to share.
Maybe it will even pay enough to let us purchase a new summer home on Nantucket? We already have what Steve calls a summer home and I call a shack. He argues that it has "character" which must be a low class term for "eye sore" and the next time he uses the word "character" while I'm having to trek to the "big house" to use the bathroom, I may do more than grit my teeth.
Anyho, I had a point, and it's this, I'll try to be keeping it realistic and giving my propers to my peeps and tossing down some scream outs because I'm as Duff as the next girl, provided she's as beautiful as me, of course. Let's change topics. I am kind of glad to be doing this piece after all because as the great beauty of our time, I kind of owe it to my lessers to share my wisdom. Sadly, my genes are another matter.
So please, write in and I'll attempt to show you the error of your ways. Oh, I guess to avoid legal actions, I should state upfront that following my advice will not make you me. It will make you more attractive than you currently are which, in some cases, isn't saying much.
Dear Duff --
You're so pretty and smart.
I love you and I want to be
just like you. "Fly." is my
favorite song.
-- Queenie Vennum
Why thank you Queenie! Your letter is by far my favorite. However, a word of caution regarding your unrealistic goals. You seem very smart (and I hope for your sake that you are pretty because God knows what a turn off brainy can be!) but regardless of whether you're Twiggy, Lucy Johnson or Jo-Jo the Dog Face Boy, there's only so much my column can do (see legal disclaimer above). There is and always will be only one Kookie Cokie Roberts. I feel your pain and I enjoy it. Doesn't it make the world seem a little more fair? By all means strive for something better than you are, but be realisitic. Oh, and by the way, my favorite song is "Plastic Fantastic Lover." Rock on!
Dear Duff --
I teach science, so believe me
when I tell you that you are the
finest specimen biology has ever produced.
I'd like to climb your DNA chain, if you
know what I mean. You are without a doubt
the sexiest woman to take a breath. I'd like
to try a few chemical reactions with you,
if you know what I mean. Rare is the day
that goes by where I don't dream of
marrying the one and only Hilary.
-- Ray Cooley
Dear Ray --
I have no idea what you mean, but if you want to do something with the hideous Hillary Clinton, despite the wet blanket she and her husband Bill put on the D.C. social scene, why don't you write her! I'm not her answering service and, as far as I know, Hillary doesn't have any chains. I guess I should thank you for stating the obvious ("finest specimen," etc.) but you then call your personal taste into question by lavishing praise on that woman.
Dear Duff --
I just turned thirteen and I'm your biggest fan!
My mother says I should be careful when I
use make up because I don't want to
look too harsh or comical. She says nobody
likes a circus clown. What do you think?
-- Nettie Jones
Dear Nettie --
First let me say, it's always great to know that my peers appreciate my exquisite beauty. Secondly, as for your mother's remarks, is she by chance Amish?
Make up is like sex, there's no such thing as too much. I'm thrilled to be your role model because we all need good role models. My personal role models included Ivana Trump, Petulia Clark, and that madcamp scamp Tonya Harding. As for your mother's comments regarding clowns, excuse me, the clowns were always my favorite part of the circus!
Is your mother, by chance, butt ugly? If so, that could explain her hostility towards jolly clowns and her misguided grooming advice. Oh well, try to tolerate her speaking but consider the source. After all, if you weren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover, then they'd put the cover on the inside and the text on the outside. Right?
Dear Duff --
Don't you feel used and abused by a society
that rates beauty over brains? That treats women
like sex objects? That says your only as good
as you look? That perpetuates feelings of
insecurity in those society has deemed good
looking?
-- Dr. Catherine Stanley
Ugly girls ask a lot of dumb questions. Apparently, they're also now America haters.
Ugly = bitter and it's not pretty. I've included this letter just so my loyal fans can see the kind of kooks a woman of my beauty has to put up with.
Dear Duff --
Help! I color coordinated my outfit for days.
I bought a matching black bra and panties,
black silk pants and this wonderful black
pullover. Then the other day, my clod of a
boyfriend got his cigarette ash on the
pullover and it has a hole! What to do?
I've spent my entire paycheck on this outfit
and now I have nothing to wear. I'm in
a quandry. Help!
-- Confused
Dear Confused,
First let me say that I know what it's like living with a clutzy clod with no sense of style. What can you do? Steve's idea of style is to wear which ever white t-shirt has the least noticable arm pit stains. As for your quandry, what an interesting word, the answer's rather obvious.
Skip the pullover and just wear the bra. You'll get more attention that way.
Dear Duff --
There are definate sparks between you and
Chad Michael Murray. I'd like to see more
of you two together. Any chance? You're
my all time favorite.
-- Liz Thomas
Lizzie --
We've got a lot in common -- I'm my all time favorite as well. As for your question, I had trouble finding it. I managed to locate a question mark but apparently you were in the midst of asking some guy named Chance if there were any left. (Any what? I don't know. Your letter is very confusing.) I take it you think Chad Michael Murray is hot and apparently saw us together when I grabbed his little tushie. Where were you, Lizzie? Where were you? I could have used a witness when I was fighting Chaddy's restraining order.
Dear Duff --
I love your look, messy, unkempt hair and all.
-- Dick Long
Mr. Long --
Or should I say Mr. Smart Ass? I have no messy, unkempt hair. I am a naturally beautiful, naturally well coiffed sex goddess. I'm sure you found your letter rather amusing and shall we venture clever? But be forewarned, I have kept the attorney in the Chad Michael Murray matter (see previous response) on retainer and I will be meeting with him to discuss a libel lawsuit.
Finally, a note. Not another letter. This is a personal message like in Desperatly Seeking Susan -- you know, the Madonna film where she dries her arm pits with a bathroom blower? Anyway, let's just call her Desperately Seeking Cokie, okay? Attention Desperately Seeking Cokie, I don't know why you keep leaving me messages, but stop. Apparently you're in the midst of promoting a film called Herbie and someone has asked you to write some sort of advice column to fill in for "another teen queen." You say that since I've already grabbed some letters from the office, I might be able to help you pick out some to answer. I have no idea why you keep leaving me messages, but stop.
Apparently you need help writing something. Quit begging me to call you and do it yourself, it's not that hard, belive me. You say that the publisher of Tiger Beatin' called you and told you I'd be there to help you. Well forget it. I'm far too busy to do my own column let alone help you learn to write. And, might I add, that your request that I help you pick out which letters to answer sounds more like you're looking for an assistant than a co-writer. I'm no one's lacky (ask Steve!). And what kind of a last name is Loham anyway? Leave me alone, you kook!
Oh what always makes everything funnier? Cokie Roberts!!!!!!!!!! So, what if, in our fictional account, a magazine called Tiger Beatin' had to fill space for an advice column that Hilary Duff had intended to write but Cokie Roberts ended up penning? Our sides were aching!
Here now, in the spirit of summer, is advice from the one and only Cokie Robets.
ASK DUFF! by Kooky Cokie Roberts
When the publisher of Tiger Beatin' called me and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I dialed the wrong number" of course I knew he was too shy to ask me to work on a feature. Being the kind and generous soul I am, I asked him if he was having deadline problems. Yes, he needed an advice column -- I cut him off and immediately said no. I still haven't recovered from the ten minutes I put in prepping for my last NPR piece. But then Steve walked in and asked me what was going on and said I was a fool to turn down money and that his house, his rules (he wishes!) which of course means that if I want to have more of those injections, I'm going to have to pay for them myself. (I had hoped to cut costs by doing it all "at home," you know, like a facial. But Steve looked in the fridge -- big surprise there! -- one day, grabbed my curdled cheese and threw it out.)
So with Steve screaming in one ear and the Tiger Beatin' publisher yammering on in the other, I may have missed a few key points. Like the title. Why is it Ask Duff? I live in D.C. Is that the new lingo for D.C.? It's so hard to keep up. I asked Steve and said "Guys are buff, maybe gals are duff."
Well even Steve can figure out something once in a blue moon. So as a very duff, young woman, a very young woman, I'm happy to share.
Maybe it will even pay enough to let us purchase a new summer home on Nantucket? We already have what Steve calls a summer home and I call a shack. He argues that it has "character" which must be a low class term for "eye sore" and the next time he uses the word "character" while I'm having to trek to the "big house" to use the bathroom, I may do more than grit my teeth.
Anyho, I had a point, and it's this, I'll try to be keeping it realistic and giving my propers to my peeps and tossing down some scream outs because I'm as Duff as the next girl, provided she's as beautiful as me, of course. Let's change topics. I am kind of glad to be doing this piece after all because as the great beauty of our time, I kind of owe it to my lessers to share my wisdom. Sadly, my genes are another matter.
So please, write in and I'll attempt to show you the error of your ways. Oh, I guess to avoid legal actions, I should state upfront that following my advice will not make you me. It will make you more attractive than you currently are which, in some cases, isn't saying much.
Dear Duff --
You're so pretty and smart.
I love you and I want to be
just like you. "Fly." is my
favorite song.
-- Queenie Vennum
Why thank you Queenie! Your letter is by far my favorite. However, a word of caution regarding your unrealistic goals. You seem very smart (and I hope for your sake that you are pretty because God knows what a turn off brainy can be!) but regardless of whether you're Twiggy, Lucy Johnson or Jo-Jo the Dog Face Boy, there's only so much my column can do (see legal disclaimer above). There is and always will be only one Kookie Cokie Roberts. I feel your pain and I enjoy it. Doesn't it make the world seem a little more fair? By all means strive for something better than you are, but be realisitic. Oh, and by the way, my favorite song is "Plastic Fantastic Lover." Rock on!
Dear Duff --
I teach science, so believe me
when I tell you that you are the
finest specimen biology has ever produced.
I'd like to climb your DNA chain, if you
know what I mean. You are without a doubt
the sexiest woman to take a breath. I'd like
to try a few chemical reactions with you,
if you know what I mean. Rare is the day
that goes by where I don't dream of
marrying the one and only Hilary.
-- Ray Cooley
Dear Ray --
I have no idea what you mean, but if you want to do something with the hideous Hillary Clinton, despite the wet blanket she and her husband Bill put on the D.C. social scene, why don't you write her! I'm not her answering service and, as far as I know, Hillary doesn't have any chains. I guess I should thank you for stating the obvious ("finest specimen," etc.) but you then call your personal taste into question by lavishing praise on that woman.
Dear Duff --
I just turned thirteen and I'm your biggest fan!
My mother says I should be careful when I
use make up because I don't want to
look too harsh or comical. She says nobody
likes a circus clown. What do you think?
-- Nettie Jones
Dear Nettie --
First let me say, it's always great to know that my peers appreciate my exquisite beauty. Secondly, as for your mother's remarks, is she by chance Amish?
Make up is like sex, there's no such thing as too much. I'm thrilled to be your role model because we all need good role models. My personal role models included Ivana Trump, Petulia Clark, and that madcamp scamp Tonya Harding. As for your mother's comments regarding clowns, excuse me, the clowns were always my favorite part of the circus!
Is your mother, by chance, butt ugly? If so, that could explain her hostility towards jolly clowns and her misguided grooming advice. Oh well, try to tolerate her speaking but consider the source. After all, if you weren't supposed to judge a book by it's cover, then they'd put the cover on the inside and the text on the outside. Right?
Dear Duff --
Don't you feel used and abused by a society
that rates beauty over brains? That treats women
like sex objects? That says your only as good
as you look? That perpetuates feelings of
insecurity in those society has deemed good
looking?
-- Dr. Catherine Stanley
Ugly girls ask a lot of dumb questions. Apparently, they're also now America haters.
Ugly = bitter and it's not pretty. I've included this letter just so my loyal fans can see the kind of kooks a woman of my beauty has to put up with.
Dear Duff --
Help! I color coordinated my outfit for days.
I bought a matching black bra and panties,
black silk pants and this wonderful black
pullover. Then the other day, my clod of a
boyfriend got his cigarette ash on the
pullover and it has a hole! What to do?
I've spent my entire paycheck on this outfit
and now I have nothing to wear. I'm in
a quandry. Help!
-- Confused
Dear Confused,
First let me say that I know what it's like living with a clutzy clod with no sense of style. What can you do? Steve's idea of style is to wear which ever white t-shirt has the least noticable arm pit stains. As for your quandry, what an interesting word, the answer's rather obvious.
Skip the pullover and just wear the bra. You'll get more attention that way.
Dear Duff --
There are definate sparks between you and
Chad Michael Murray. I'd like to see more
of you two together. Any chance? You're
my all time favorite.
-- Liz Thomas
Lizzie --
We've got a lot in common -- I'm my all time favorite as well. As for your question, I had trouble finding it. I managed to locate a question mark but apparently you were in the midst of asking some guy named Chance if there were any left. (Any what? I don't know. Your letter is very confusing.) I take it you think Chad Michael Murray is hot and apparently saw us together when I grabbed his little tushie. Where were you, Lizzie? Where were you? I could have used a witness when I was fighting Chaddy's restraining order.
Dear Duff --
I love your look, messy, unkempt hair and all.
-- Dick Long
Mr. Long --
Or should I say Mr. Smart Ass? I have no messy, unkempt hair. I am a naturally beautiful, naturally well coiffed sex goddess. I'm sure you found your letter rather amusing and shall we venture clever? But be forewarned, I have kept the attorney in the Chad Michael Murray matter (see previous response) on retainer and I will be meeting with him to discuss a libel lawsuit.
Finally, a note. Not another letter. This is a personal message like in Desperatly Seeking Susan -- you know, the Madonna film where she dries her arm pits with a bathroom blower? Anyway, let's just call her Desperately Seeking Cokie, okay? Attention Desperately Seeking Cokie, I don't know why you keep leaving me messages, but stop. Apparently you're in the midst of promoting a film called Herbie and someone has asked you to write some sort of advice column to fill in for "another teen queen." You say that since I've already grabbed some letters from the office, I might be able to help you pick out some to answer. I have no idea why you keep leaving me messages, but stop.
Apparently you need help writing something. Quit begging me to call you and do it yourself, it's not that hard, belive me. You say that the publisher of Tiger Beatin' called you and told you I'd be there to help you. Well forget it. I'm far too busy to do my own column let alone help you learn to write. And, might I add, that your request that I help you pick out which letters to answer sounds more like you're looking for an assistant than a co-writer. I'm no one's lacky (ask Steve!). And what kind of a last name is Loham anyway? Leave me alone, you kook!
Summer means going to the beach. Kicking back. But there's only so much kicking back that can go in the world we live in. For instance, we think Isaiah's two latest comics of The World Today Just Nuts had strong points. One's worth remembering even as you "Soak Up the Sun" (Sheryl Crow). With his permission and C.I.'s we reproduce them here.
The one to the left originally appeared at The Common Ills. Why is the "fashionable" Condoleeza de Vil sporting a fur that bleeds?
If you're unclear, maybe you should check out the comic on top, the edition of The World Today Just Nuts that we've somehow managed to make repeat over and over. (But we like the look and we're keeping it.)
It originally appeared at The Common Ills as well (of course because Isaiah is the resident illustrator for The Common Ills).
In the comic that repeats on the top, Bully Boy is playing in his blood box while Laura admonishes him to come inside for dinner. His blood box? Yes, you read that correctly. Not sandbox.
If you're still missing the point, check out Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.
Blog Spotlight: The Common Ills "Dahr Jamail's 'Iraq Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation'"
Our blog spotlight this week is from C.I. Like Rebecca, we feel this is a story that should have gotten a great deal more attention. It's not a missing young (white) woman in Arub, it's not Karl Rove's latest snarky move, but we think it's actually news you should be aware of. Imagine that.
So from The Common Ills:
Dahr Jamail's "Iraqi Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation"
Dahr Jamail's "Iraqi Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation" is a report you should be aware of.
There are nine sections, it's 37 pages (pdf format) and page five tells you what you probably already feared. Surveying thirteen hospitals "in order to research how the healthcare system was faring under the US-led occupation:"
This report documents the desperate supply shortages facing hospitals, the disastorous effect that the lack of basic services like water and electricity have on hospitals and the disruption of medical services in Iraqi hospitals by US military forces.
This report further provides an overview of the situation afflicting the hospitals in Iraq in order to highlight the desperate need for the promised "rehabilitation" of the medical system. Case studies highlight several of the findings and demonstrate that Iraqis need to reconstruct and rehabilitate the healthcare system. Reconstruction efforts by US firms have patently failed, while Iraqi contractors are not allowed to do the work.
The current model in Iraq of a "free trade globalized system," limited in fact to American and a few other western contractors, has plainly not worked. Continuing to impose this flawed and failing system on Iraq will only worsen the current healthcare crisis.
Before the next Operation Happy Talk gets started (I realize that in one form or another, Operation Happy Talk is always ongoing), you should familarize yourself with Jamail's report. It notes what is needed from program changes to basic equipment. Though you won't be surprised to learn of our "broken promises" (can the Bully Boy make any other kind?), you may not be aware of how bad things are and how many promises we've broken (or how much tax payer money has been wasted) until you read the report.
You'll learn about ambulance drivers being shot by US forces. You'll learn about the military staking out hospitals, in Falluja for instance (Dexter Filkins must have missed that) with snipers. . . There's a lot here and it's not "pretty." It won't get guffaws from the morning chatters on TV. So count on them to ignore it. Make it your responsibility to read up on it.Remember Falluja in November of 2004? The prize winning story?
Burhan Fasa'a, a cameramn with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), witnessed the first eight days of the fighting. "I entered Falljuah near the Julan Quarter, which is near the General Hospital," he said during an interview in Baghdad. "There were American snipers on top of the hospital," who, he testified, "were shooting everyone in sight." The Iraqi Red Crescent would have to wait a full week before being permitted to dispatch three ambulances into the city.
The last two pages consist of Geneva Conventions. Such as Articles eighteen through twenty-one:
Article 18: Civilian hospitals organized to care to the wounded and sick, infrim and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.
Article 20: Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and administration of civilian hospitals, incluing the personnel engaged in the search for, removal, and transporation of and caring for the wounded and sick civilians, the infrim and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected.
Article 21: Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains or land. . . conveying wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected in the same manner as the hospitals for in Article 18.
Stop the Happy Talk by knowing the difference between myth and reality. Familiarize yourself with Dahr Jamail's report ("Iraqi Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation") before Matt Lauer gets another chance to do his dramatic sigh and say, "It sure is nice to have some good news to report." (This just in, he's still balding. While that would have been fine for his trained profession of weather man, it doesn't play well for "anchor." Which may explain his apparent desperate need for "good news.")
So from The Common Ills:
Dahr Jamail's "Iraqi Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation"
Dahr Jamail's "Iraqi Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation" is a report you should be aware of.
There are nine sections, it's 37 pages (pdf format) and page five tells you what you probably already feared. Surveying thirteen hospitals "in order to research how the healthcare system was faring under the US-led occupation:"
This report documents the desperate supply shortages facing hospitals, the disastorous effect that the lack of basic services like water and electricity have on hospitals and the disruption of medical services in Iraqi hospitals by US military forces.
This report further provides an overview of the situation afflicting the hospitals in Iraq in order to highlight the desperate need for the promised "rehabilitation" of the medical system. Case studies highlight several of the findings and demonstrate that Iraqis need to reconstruct and rehabilitate the healthcare system. Reconstruction efforts by US firms have patently failed, while Iraqi contractors are not allowed to do the work.
The current model in Iraq of a "free trade globalized system," limited in fact to American and a few other western contractors, has plainly not worked. Continuing to impose this flawed and failing system on Iraq will only worsen the current healthcare crisis.
Before the next Operation Happy Talk gets started (I realize that in one form or another, Operation Happy Talk is always ongoing), you should familarize yourself with Jamail's report. It notes what is needed from program changes to basic equipment. Though you won't be surprised to learn of our "broken promises" (can the Bully Boy make any other kind?), you may not be aware of how bad things are and how many promises we've broken (or how much tax payer money has been wasted) until you read the report.
You'll learn about ambulance drivers being shot by US forces. You'll learn about the military staking out hospitals, in Falluja for instance (Dexter Filkins must have missed that) with snipers. . . There's a lot here and it's not "pretty." It won't get guffaws from the morning chatters on TV. So count on them to ignore it. Make it your responsibility to read up on it.Remember Falluja in November of 2004? The prize winning story?
Burhan Fasa'a, a cameramn with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), witnessed the first eight days of the fighting. "I entered Falljuah near the Julan Quarter, which is near the General Hospital," he said during an interview in Baghdad. "There were American snipers on top of the hospital," who, he testified, "were shooting everyone in sight." The Iraqi Red Crescent would have to wait a full week before being permitted to dispatch three ambulances into the city.
The last two pages consist of Geneva Conventions. Such as Articles eighteen through twenty-one:
Article 18: Civilian hospitals organized to care to the wounded and sick, infrim and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict.
Article 20: Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and administration of civilian hospitals, incluing the personnel engaged in the search for, removal, and transporation of and caring for the wounded and sick civilians, the infrim and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected.
Article 21: Convoys of vehicles or hospital trains or land. . . conveying wounded and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases, shall be respected and protected in the same manner as the hospitals for in Article 18.
Stop the Happy Talk by knowing the difference between myth and reality. Familiarize yourself with Dahr Jamail's report ("Iraqi Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation") before Matt Lauer gets another chance to do his dramatic sigh and say, "It sure is nice to have some good news to report." (This just in, he's still balding. While that would have been fine for his trained profession of weather man, it doesn't play well for "anchor." Which may explain his apparent desperate need for "good news.")
Investigadores de la ONU acusaron a Estados Unidos de tortura en Guantánamo
We thank Maria and C.I. for permission to reprint the following in full. Democracy Now! is putting the headlines into Spanish (audio & text) and to help get the word out (and because readers enjoy it) here are 12 headlines for the week. They start off in Spanish, then below, English is offered. Do not miss Maria's comments in the middle section.
Investigadores de la ONU acusaron a Estados Unidos de tortura en Guantánamo
Maria: Hola. De parte de "Democracy Now!" doce cosas que vale hacer notar este fin de semana.
Investigadores de la ONU acusaron a Estados Unidos de tortura en Guantánamo
Estas noticias vienen de Guantánamo, ya que investigadores de derechos humanos de Naciones Unidas denunciaron el jueves que fuentes confiables les informaron sobre prácticas de torturas en la base militar estadounidense en Guantánamo. Los investigadores citaron documentos desclasificados del gobierno y confirmaron el descubrimiento de "serias denuncias de tortura, trato cruel, inhumano y degradante a los detenidos, detención arbitraria, violaciones del derecho a la salud y al derecho de un proceso judicial". Acusaron además al gobierno de Bush de ignorar múltiples solicitudes para entrar a la base y verificar las condiciones de los detenidos. Paul Hunt, profesor de derecho de Nueva Zelanda especialista en salud fÃsica y mental, indicó que querÃa investigar las acusaciones de violación a los derechos humanos personalmente. Hunt dijo que, "se supone que un equipo de médicos ayudó en el diseño de las estrategias para los interrogatorios, incluyendo privación del sueño y otros métodos interrogatorios coercitivos".
Tribunal Mundial sobre Irak inicia sesión en TurquÃa
En TurquÃa, el Tribunal Mundial sobre Irak inicia su sesión de tres dÃas. El encuentro está programado en virtud del Tribunal Internacional de CrÃmenes de Guerra que el filósofo británico Bertrand Russell formó en 1967 durante la guerra de Vietnam. El tribunal de Russell fue acusado de dirigir una 'investigación solemne e histórica' de los crÃmenes de guerra de Estados Unidos en Vietnam para “evitar el crimen del silencio'. En el Tribunal Mundial sobre Irak, hablarán el escritor de nacionalidad india Arundhati Roy, el ex Secretario General de la ONU Dennis Halliday y el periodista independiente Dahr Jamail, entre otros.
Nueva encuesta: estadounidenses se oponen a la guerra de Irak
Mientras tanto, la última encuesta realizada por CNN/USA y Today/Gallup demuestra que casi 6 de cada 10 estadounidenses se oponen a la guerra de Irak y un número cada vez mayor de personas están desconformes con la guerra al terrorismo. La encuesta fue publicada ayer y muestra que el apoyo a la guerra ha disminuido en forma significativa desde marzo y que se mantiene en un 40 %.
Hagel criticó con dureza a Bush por Irak
El senador republicano Chuck Hagel aumentó su crÃtica a la polÃtica del gobierno de Bush en Irak. En la edición de esta semana de U.S. News y World Report, el senador de Nebraska afirma que, "la realidad es lo que estamos perdiendo de vista en Irak". Luego expresó que "las cosas no están mejorando, sino que empeoran" y agregó: "la Casa Blanca está totalmente desconectada de la realidad. Es como si estuvieran improvisando sobre la marcha". Hagel criticó el manejo de la guerra por parte del gobierno, pero esta afirmación de "perder en Irak" representa su más dura apreciación hasta el momento y la realizó luego de que el vicepresidente Dick Cheney declarara que el mundo está siendo testigo de la agonÃa de la resistencia iraquÃ.
Se formó en el Congreso "Comité para retiro de Irak"
Mientras tanto, un grupo de 50 miembros progresistas del Congreso formaron un nuevo grupo denominado Comité Congresista para el Retiro de Irak. Señalan que su misión es aumentar la presión sobre el gobierno de Bush y del Congreso para finalizar el conflicto en Irak y lograr el retorno de las fuerzas estadounidenses al paÃs.
Legisladores iraquÃes piden a Estados Unidos el retiro de Irak
83 miembros del parlamento iraquà enviaron una carta al vocero del parlamento exigiendo que Estados Unidos retire sus tropas de Irak. Algunos lÃderes del movimiento pertenecen a la Alianza Unida IraquÃ, la coalición de partidos religiosos chiÃtas que tiene la mayorÃa de los 275 escaños en el parlamento.
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores británico: bombardeos ilegales en zona no permitida para vuelos en 2002
El Sunday Times de Londres informa que la oficina jurÃdica del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores británico decretó ilegal, de acuerdo al derecho internacional, el considerable aumento de bombardeos en la zona estadounidense y británica no permitida para vuelos en Irak, en el año anterior a la invasión oficial. El diario denuncia que en una primera instancia, en marzo de 2002, se asesoró a los ministros de mayor jerarquÃa. Dos meses más tarde, Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña iniciaron acciones para degradar la capacidad defensiva de Irak, en un intento por incitar el espÃritu de venganza en Saddam Hussein, otorgando a Estados Unidos una excusa para la guerra. La Oficina de Relaciones Exteriores dijo que los bombardeos no cumplÃan con normas de la ONU, a pesar de que Estados Unidos mantenga lo contrario. En el llamado Memorándum de Downing Street, se cita al Secretario de Defensa británico Geoff Hoon en julio de 2002, quien dijo que Estados Unidos ya habÃa comenzado los bombardeos.
CIA advirtió que Irak se está transformando en campo de entrenamiento para extremistas
El New York Times informa que la Agencia Central de Inteligencia advirtió que puede demostrar que Irak es un campo de entrenamiento de extremistas islámicos más eficaz que Afganistán en los comienzos de Al Qaeda, porque sirve como laboratorio para el combate urbano. Los funcionarios expresaron que la guerra de Estados Unidos en Irak probablemente genere peligrosas consecuencias, al expandir combatientes más adeptos y mejor organizados a otros paÃses. Según el Times, el informe de la CIA deja de manifiesto cómo la naturaleza urbana de la guerra en Irak enseñaba a combatientes cómo realizar los asesinatos, secuestros, explosiones de coches bomba y otro tipo de ataques que nunca fueron un elemento esencial del combate en Afganistán en la década de los 80.
Audiencia por juicio de tortura contra Donald Rumsfeld
Un tribunal federal de Washington anunció que dará curso a una demanda civil contra el Secretario de Defensa Donald Rumsfeld, presentada por ocho detenidos iraquÃes y afganos. Los detenidos sostienen que fueron torturados y maltratados mientras se encontraban detenidos por Estados Unidos.Según la Unión Estadounidense de Libertades Civiles, la demanda pretende responsabilizar directamente a Rumsfeld y a otros jerarcas por los maltratos a detenidos que se encuentran bajo la custodia militar de Estados Unidos.
Pentágono lanza base de datos para contribuir con reclutamiento
El Pentágono comenzó a trabajar con una empresa privada para crear una base de datos masiva de alumnos de secundaria y universidad que contribuya a identificar estudiantes de 16 años para el reclutamiento militar, según informó el Washington Post.El Pentágono contrató a la compañÃa BeNow, de Massachusetts, para administrar la base de datos. Se trata aparentemente de un intento por burlar leyes que restringen el derecho del gobierno de recopilar o retener información de ciudadanos.La base de datos incluirá información proporcionada por centros educativos, en virtud de la Ley de educación primaria y secundaria "Ningún niño se quedará atrás", al igual que información recopilada por corredores de datos comerciales.Según el Washington Post, el sistema proporciona al Pentágono el derecho, sin previa notificación a los estudiantes, de utilizar la información con múltiples fines, incluyendo aquellos que no sean militares. Además podrá compartir datos con autoridades a cargo del cumplimiento de la ley, autoridades de impuestos estatales y con el Congreso.Un vocero del Pentágono defendió el sistema explicando que, "este programa es importante porque promueve la eficacia de todos los servicios de reclutamiento."La nueva base de datos está siendo creada en un momento que las Fuerzas Armadas intentan incrementar el número de reclutamientos. En lo que va de este año, el Ejército no logró cumplir en ningún mes sus metas de reclutamiento mensual.Sin embargo, Chris Jay Hoofnagle del Centro Electrónico de Información Privada (EPIC por sus siglas en inglés), criticó el sistema como un "plan audaz para reclutar jóvenes de 16 años en el servicio militar."EPIC describió la base de datos como un intento del gobierno "nunca antes visto" de utilizar técnicas de marketing directo, que antes habÃan sido utilizadas únicamente por privados.El grupo de vigilancia de la privacidad también criticó el programa, porque no permite que los estudiantes opten por no figurar en la base de datos, a pesar que sà pueden optar no ser reclutados.
Diputada Maloney criticó Seguridad Social por publicar información personal
Mientras tanto, en otras noticias de privacidad, la congresista de Nueva York Carolyn Maloney convocó audiencias por el reciente descubrimiento de que la Administración de la Seguridad Social, decidió compartir información personal de miles de personas con el organismo que controla el cumplimiento de la ley tras los atentados del 11 de septiembre.
Jurado condenó a miembro del Ku Klux Klan por matanza de activistas de Derechos Civiles en 1964
En Filadelfia Mississippi, un jurado condenó al ex miembro del KuKluxKlan por el asesinato de tres activistas de derechos civiles en 1964. El veredicto contra Edgar Ray Killen fue dictado el martes, exactamente 41 años después de la muerte de James Chaney, Andrew Goodman y Michael Schwerner, quienes en ese momento se encontraban en Mississippi investigando la quema de una iglesia de afro descendientes. Los fiscales acusaron a Killen por homicidio premeditado junto a otros miembros del KuKluxKlan y por determinar que una excavadora enterrara los cuerpos. Killen será condenado el jueves y puede ser condenado hasta un máximo de 60 años de prisión. El veredicto fue solo una victoria parcial para los fiscales del estado, ya que el jurado halló a Killen culpable de homicidio culposo y no de asesinato. La viuda de Michael Schwerner, Rita Schwerner Bender, señaló que "el hecho de que algunos miembros del jurado no reconozcan que se trató de asesinatos cometidos con alevosÃa, demuestra que aún hay gente entre nosotros que decide mirar a un costado, en lugar de buscar la verdad". Los abogados de Edgar Ray Killen anunciaron que apelarÃan la decisión del jurado.
NEW FEATURE: Democracy Now! is now offering the program's daily news summary translated into Spanish. Los Titulares de Hoy
Maria: Here are twelve stories from Democracy Now! that are worth noting. Democracy Now! is providing their headlines in both English & Spanish (audio and text) so please help get the word out. I am personally making sure that ESL and bilingual teachers I know are aware of this feature. Look around you and find someone to pass on the word to. The big broadcasting Spanish channels in this country are a part of the corporate media. As important as Democracy Now! is to the English speaking community, it can be that important to those who speak Spanish. If you don't care for the twelve I picked, go to Democracy Now! and select a day of headlines you prefer and send that out. "I don't speak Spanish!" Doesn't cut it. These are translations. Find a day of Headlines from this week that you feel are important, then click on the Spanish link and e-mail that. If you're someone who thinks, "Well I don't know any native Spanish speakers" take a moment to think if you know anyone who speaks English but studied Spanish? If so, they probably know someone they can pass this on to. I am going to push this off to the members who speak English- only because you make not think you can make a difference here, but you can. In this country and outside of it, Spanish media all over the world is experiencing the same problems as our domestic media. And in this country, which you may not be aware of, Telemundo was bought by NBC. Do you really want to leave it to NBC to get out the important stories?
You know how much Democracy Now! means to you so make an effort to seek out someone you can share the news that the Headlines are now available in Spanish with. Bush woos the Spanish speaking community via broadcast media that throws him soft balls. Do not let the Bully Boy score on this, do not let spin overcome reality. I know we can get the word out on this.
UN Investigators Accusing U.S. of Torture At Guantanamo
A team of United Nations human rights investigators said Thursday they had reliable accounts that detainees were being tortured at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Citing declassified government documents the investigators said they have uncovered what they describe as "serious allegations of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees, arbitrary detention, violations of their right to health and their due process rights." The UN human rights investigators also accused the Bush administration of ignoring multiple requests for them to be given access to the base to check on the conditions of the detainees. Paul Hunt, a law professor from New Zealand who monitors physical and mental health, said he wanted to investigate the alleged violations in person. Hunt said "Reportedly medical staff have assisted in the design of interrogation strategies, including sleep deprivation and other coercive interrogation methods."
World Tribunal on Iraq Opens In Turkey
In Turkey, the World Tribunal on Iraq is opening its three-day session today. The gathering is modeled after the International War Crimes Tribunal that British philosopher Bertrand Russell formed in 1967 during the Vietnam War. Russell's tribunal was charged with conducting 'a solemn and historic investigation' of U.S. war crimes in Vietnam in order to 'prevent the crime of silence.' Speaking at the World Tribunal on Iraq will be Indian writer Arundhati Roy, former UN Assistant Secretary General Dennis Halliday, independent journalist Dahr Jamail and others.
New Poll: Americans Against Iraq War
Meanwhile, the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that nearly six in 10 Americans oppose the war in Iraq and a growing number of them are dissatisfied with the war on terrorism. The poll was released yesterday and shows that support for the war has fallen significantly since March and is hovering at about 40 percent.
Hagel Blasts Bush on Iraq
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has amplified his criticism of the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. In this week's U.S. News & World Report, the Nebraska Senator said "The reality is that we're losing in Iraq." Continuing, he said "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse," adding: "The White House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they go along." Hagel has criticized the administraton's handling of the war before, but his talk of "losing in Iraq" represents his harshest assessment yet. His comments come after Vice President Dick Cheney declared that the world is seeing the "last throes" of the resistance in Iraq.
'Out of Iraq Caucus' Formed in CongressMeanwhile, a group of 50 progressive Congressmembers has formed a new group called The Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus. They say its mission is to try to increase pressure on the Bush administration and Congress to end the Iraq conflict and bring US forces home.
82 Iraqi Lawmakers Call for US to Leave Iraq
This comes as eighty-two members of the Iraqi parliament have sent a letter to the speaker of the house demanding that the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq. Some of the leaders of this movement come from the United Iraqi Alliance, the coalition of religious Shiite parties that has a majority of the 275 seats.
British Foreign Ministry: 2002 No-Fly Zone Bombings Illegal
The Sunday Times of London is reporting that the British Foreign Ministry's Legal office ruled that the sharp increase in the US and British no-fly zone bombings of Iraq in the year leading up to the official invasion was illegal under international law. The paper says the advice was first provided to senior ministers in March 2002. Two months later the US and Britain began “spikes of activity” designed to degrade Iraq's defensive capabilities and in an effort to goad Saddam Hussein into retaliating and giving the US a pretext for war. The Foreign Office said that the bombings were “not consistent with” UN law, despite US claims that they were. In the so-called Downing Street memo, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon is quoted as saying in July 2002 that the US had already begun spikes in bombing.
CIA Warns Iraq Becoming Training Ground For Extremists
The New York Times is reporting that the Central Intelligence Agency is warning that Iraq may prove to be an even more effective training ground for Islamic extremists than Afghanistan was in Al Qaeda's early days, because it is serving as a real-world laboratory for urban combat. Officials who have read the new assessment said it made clear that the U.S. war in Iraq was likely to produce a dangerous legacy by dispersing to other countries fighters more adept and better organized than they were before the conflict. According to the Times, the CIA report spells out how the urban nature of the war in Iraq was helping combatants learn how to carry out assassinations, kidnappings, car bombings and other kinds of attacks that were never a staple of the fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980's.
Court to Hear Torture Lawsuit Against Donald Rumsfeld
A federal court in Washington has announced that a civil suit against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld filed on behalf of eight Iraqi and Afghan detainees will go ahead. The detainees claim they were tortured and abused while in U.S. detention. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the lawsuit seeks to hold Rumsfeld and others directly responsible for the abuse and torture of detainees in U.S. military custody.
Pentagon Launches Massive Database To Help Recruiting Efforts
The Pentagon has begun working with a private company to create a massive database of high school and college students to help identify students as young as 16 to target for military recruiting. This according to the Washington Post. The database includes an array of personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade point averages, ethnicity and what subjects the students are studying. The Pentagon has hired the Massachusetts-based company BeNow to run the database apparently in an effort to circumvent laws that restrict the government's right to collect or hold citizen information. The database will include data given over by schools under the No Child Left Behind Act as well as information collected from commercial data brokers. According to the Washington Post, the system also gives the Pentagon the right -- without notifying the students -- to share the data for numerous uses outside the military, including with law enforcement, state tax authorities and Congress. A Pentagon spokesperson defended the database saying, "This program is important because it helps bolster the effectiveness of all the services' recruiting and retention efforts." The new database is being created at a time when the Armed Forces is struggling to meet its recruiting goals. The Army has missed its monthly recruiting goals every month so far this year. But Chris Jay Hoofnagle of EPIC -- the Electronic Privacy Information Center --criticized the system as a "audacious plan to target-market kids, as young as 16, for military solicitation." EPIC described the database as a "unprecedented foray of the government into direct marketing techniques previously only performed by the private sector." The privacy watchdog group also criticized the program because it does not allow students to opt-out of being in the massive database although they can opt-out of being solicited for recruitment.
Rep. Maloney Criticizes Social Security For Releasing Personal Info
Meanwhile in other privacy news, New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has called for hearings over the recent disclosure that the Social Security Administration decided to share personal information about thousands of people with law enforcement after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Klansman Convicted For 1964 Civil Rights Killings
In Philadelphia Mississippi, a jury has found a former Ku Klux Klansman guilty of felony manslaughter in the killings on three civil rights workers in 1964. The verdict against Edgar Ray Killen came down Tuesday exactly 41 years after James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were killed. The three had come to Mississippi to investigate the burning of an African-American church. Prosecutors charged that Killen plotted the murders along with other Klansmen and then arranged for a bulldozer to bury the bodies. Killen will be sentenced on Thursday and faces a maximum of 60 years in jail. The verdict was only a partial victory for state prosecutors -- the jury found Killen guilty of felony manslaughter instead of murder. Michael Schwerner's widow -- Rita Schwerner Bender -- said "The fact that some members of the jury could not bring themselves to acknowledge that these were murders, that they were committed with malice, indicates that there are still people among you that choose to look aside, not to see the truth." Edgar Ray Killen's attorneys said they would appeal the jury's verdict.
Investigadores de la ONU acusaron a Estados Unidos de tortura en Guantánamo
Maria: Hola. De parte de "Democracy Now!" doce cosas que vale hacer notar este fin de semana.
Investigadores de la ONU acusaron a Estados Unidos de tortura en Guantánamo
Estas noticias vienen de Guantánamo, ya que investigadores de derechos humanos de Naciones Unidas denunciaron el jueves que fuentes confiables les informaron sobre prácticas de torturas en la base militar estadounidense en Guantánamo. Los investigadores citaron documentos desclasificados del gobierno y confirmaron el descubrimiento de "serias denuncias de tortura, trato cruel, inhumano y degradante a los detenidos, detención arbitraria, violaciones del derecho a la salud y al derecho de un proceso judicial". Acusaron además al gobierno de Bush de ignorar múltiples solicitudes para entrar a la base y verificar las condiciones de los detenidos. Paul Hunt, profesor de derecho de Nueva Zelanda especialista en salud fÃsica y mental, indicó que querÃa investigar las acusaciones de violación a los derechos humanos personalmente. Hunt dijo que, "se supone que un equipo de médicos ayudó en el diseño de las estrategias para los interrogatorios, incluyendo privación del sueño y otros métodos interrogatorios coercitivos".
Tribunal Mundial sobre Irak inicia sesión en TurquÃa
En TurquÃa, el Tribunal Mundial sobre Irak inicia su sesión de tres dÃas. El encuentro está programado en virtud del Tribunal Internacional de CrÃmenes de Guerra que el filósofo británico Bertrand Russell formó en 1967 durante la guerra de Vietnam. El tribunal de Russell fue acusado de dirigir una 'investigación solemne e histórica' de los crÃmenes de guerra de Estados Unidos en Vietnam para “evitar el crimen del silencio'. En el Tribunal Mundial sobre Irak, hablarán el escritor de nacionalidad india Arundhati Roy, el ex Secretario General de la ONU Dennis Halliday y el periodista independiente Dahr Jamail, entre otros.
Nueva encuesta: estadounidenses se oponen a la guerra de Irak
Mientras tanto, la última encuesta realizada por CNN/USA y Today/Gallup demuestra que casi 6 de cada 10 estadounidenses se oponen a la guerra de Irak y un número cada vez mayor de personas están desconformes con la guerra al terrorismo. La encuesta fue publicada ayer y muestra que el apoyo a la guerra ha disminuido en forma significativa desde marzo y que se mantiene en un 40 %.
Hagel criticó con dureza a Bush por Irak
El senador republicano Chuck Hagel aumentó su crÃtica a la polÃtica del gobierno de Bush en Irak. En la edición de esta semana de U.S. News y World Report, el senador de Nebraska afirma que, "la realidad es lo que estamos perdiendo de vista en Irak". Luego expresó que "las cosas no están mejorando, sino que empeoran" y agregó: "la Casa Blanca está totalmente desconectada de la realidad. Es como si estuvieran improvisando sobre la marcha". Hagel criticó el manejo de la guerra por parte del gobierno, pero esta afirmación de "perder en Irak" representa su más dura apreciación hasta el momento y la realizó luego de que el vicepresidente Dick Cheney declarara que el mundo está siendo testigo de la agonÃa de la resistencia iraquÃ.
Se formó en el Congreso "Comité para retiro de Irak"
Mientras tanto, un grupo de 50 miembros progresistas del Congreso formaron un nuevo grupo denominado Comité Congresista para el Retiro de Irak. Señalan que su misión es aumentar la presión sobre el gobierno de Bush y del Congreso para finalizar el conflicto en Irak y lograr el retorno de las fuerzas estadounidenses al paÃs.
Legisladores iraquÃes piden a Estados Unidos el retiro de Irak
83 miembros del parlamento iraquà enviaron una carta al vocero del parlamento exigiendo que Estados Unidos retire sus tropas de Irak. Algunos lÃderes del movimiento pertenecen a la Alianza Unida IraquÃ, la coalición de partidos religiosos chiÃtas que tiene la mayorÃa de los 275 escaños en el parlamento.
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores británico: bombardeos ilegales en zona no permitida para vuelos en 2002
El Sunday Times de Londres informa que la oficina jurÃdica del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores británico decretó ilegal, de acuerdo al derecho internacional, el considerable aumento de bombardeos en la zona estadounidense y británica no permitida para vuelos en Irak, en el año anterior a la invasión oficial. El diario denuncia que en una primera instancia, en marzo de 2002, se asesoró a los ministros de mayor jerarquÃa. Dos meses más tarde, Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña iniciaron acciones para degradar la capacidad defensiva de Irak, en un intento por incitar el espÃritu de venganza en Saddam Hussein, otorgando a Estados Unidos una excusa para la guerra. La Oficina de Relaciones Exteriores dijo que los bombardeos no cumplÃan con normas de la ONU, a pesar de que Estados Unidos mantenga lo contrario. En el llamado Memorándum de Downing Street, se cita al Secretario de Defensa británico Geoff Hoon en julio de 2002, quien dijo que Estados Unidos ya habÃa comenzado los bombardeos.
CIA advirtió que Irak se está transformando en campo de entrenamiento para extremistas
El New York Times informa que la Agencia Central de Inteligencia advirtió que puede demostrar que Irak es un campo de entrenamiento de extremistas islámicos más eficaz que Afganistán en los comienzos de Al Qaeda, porque sirve como laboratorio para el combate urbano. Los funcionarios expresaron que la guerra de Estados Unidos en Irak probablemente genere peligrosas consecuencias, al expandir combatientes más adeptos y mejor organizados a otros paÃses. Según el Times, el informe de la CIA deja de manifiesto cómo la naturaleza urbana de la guerra en Irak enseñaba a combatientes cómo realizar los asesinatos, secuestros, explosiones de coches bomba y otro tipo de ataques que nunca fueron un elemento esencial del combate en Afganistán en la década de los 80.
Audiencia por juicio de tortura contra Donald Rumsfeld
Un tribunal federal de Washington anunció que dará curso a una demanda civil contra el Secretario de Defensa Donald Rumsfeld, presentada por ocho detenidos iraquÃes y afganos. Los detenidos sostienen que fueron torturados y maltratados mientras se encontraban detenidos por Estados Unidos.Según la Unión Estadounidense de Libertades Civiles, la demanda pretende responsabilizar directamente a Rumsfeld y a otros jerarcas por los maltratos a detenidos que se encuentran bajo la custodia militar de Estados Unidos.
Pentágono lanza base de datos para contribuir con reclutamiento
El Pentágono comenzó a trabajar con una empresa privada para crear una base de datos masiva de alumnos de secundaria y universidad que contribuya a identificar estudiantes de 16 años para el reclutamiento militar, según informó el Washington Post.El Pentágono contrató a la compañÃa BeNow, de Massachusetts, para administrar la base de datos. Se trata aparentemente de un intento por burlar leyes que restringen el derecho del gobierno de recopilar o retener información de ciudadanos.La base de datos incluirá información proporcionada por centros educativos, en virtud de la Ley de educación primaria y secundaria "Ningún niño se quedará atrás", al igual que información recopilada por corredores de datos comerciales.Según el Washington Post, el sistema proporciona al Pentágono el derecho, sin previa notificación a los estudiantes, de utilizar la información con múltiples fines, incluyendo aquellos que no sean militares. Además podrá compartir datos con autoridades a cargo del cumplimiento de la ley, autoridades de impuestos estatales y con el Congreso.Un vocero del Pentágono defendió el sistema explicando que, "este programa es importante porque promueve la eficacia de todos los servicios de reclutamiento."La nueva base de datos está siendo creada en un momento que las Fuerzas Armadas intentan incrementar el número de reclutamientos. En lo que va de este año, el Ejército no logró cumplir en ningún mes sus metas de reclutamiento mensual.Sin embargo, Chris Jay Hoofnagle del Centro Electrónico de Información Privada (EPIC por sus siglas en inglés), criticó el sistema como un "plan audaz para reclutar jóvenes de 16 años en el servicio militar."EPIC describió la base de datos como un intento del gobierno "nunca antes visto" de utilizar técnicas de marketing directo, que antes habÃan sido utilizadas únicamente por privados.El grupo de vigilancia de la privacidad también criticó el programa, porque no permite que los estudiantes opten por no figurar en la base de datos, a pesar que sà pueden optar no ser reclutados.
Diputada Maloney criticó Seguridad Social por publicar información personal
Mientras tanto, en otras noticias de privacidad, la congresista de Nueva York Carolyn Maloney convocó audiencias por el reciente descubrimiento de que la Administración de la Seguridad Social, decidió compartir información personal de miles de personas con el organismo que controla el cumplimiento de la ley tras los atentados del 11 de septiembre.
Jurado condenó a miembro del Ku Klux Klan por matanza de activistas de Derechos Civiles en 1964
En Filadelfia Mississippi, un jurado condenó al ex miembro del KuKluxKlan por el asesinato de tres activistas de derechos civiles en 1964. El veredicto contra Edgar Ray Killen fue dictado el martes, exactamente 41 años después de la muerte de James Chaney, Andrew Goodman y Michael Schwerner, quienes en ese momento se encontraban en Mississippi investigando la quema de una iglesia de afro descendientes. Los fiscales acusaron a Killen por homicidio premeditado junto a otros miembros del KuKluxKlan y por determinar que una excavadora enterrara los cuerpos. Killen será condenado el jueves y puede ser condenado hasta un máximo de 60 años de prisión. El veredicto fue solo una victoria parcial para los fiscales del estado, ya que el jurado halló a Killen culpable de homicidio culposo y no de asesinato. La viuda de Michael Schwerner, Rita Schwerner Bender, señaló que "el hecho de que algunos miembros del jurado no reconozcan que se trató de asesinatos cometidos con alevosÃa, demuestra que aún hay gente entre nosotros que decide mirar a un costado, en lugar de buscar la verdad". Los abogados de Edgar Ray Killen anunciaron que apelarÃan la decisión del jurado.
NEW FEATURE: Democracy Now! is now offering the program's daily news summary translated into Spanish. Los Titulares de Hoy
Maria: Here are twelve stories from Democracy Now! that are worth noting. Democracy Now! is providing their headlines in both English & Spanish (audio and text) so please help get the word out. I am personally making sure that ESL and bilingual teachers I know are aware of this feature. Look around you and find someone to pass on the word to. The big broadcasting Spanish channels in this country are a part of the corporate media. As important as Democracy Now! is to the English speaking community, it can be that important to those who speak Spanish. If you don't care for the twelve I picked, go to Democracy Now! and select a day of headlines you prefer and send that out. "I don't speak Spanish!" Doesn't cut it. These are translations. Find a day of Headlines from this week that you feel are important, then click on the Spanish link and e-mail that. If you're someone who thinks, "Well I don't know any native Spanish speakers" take a moment to think if you know anyone who speaks English but studied Spanish? If so, they probably know someone they can pass this on to. I am going to push this off to the members who speak English- only because you make not think you can make a difference here, but you can. In this country and outside of it, Spanish media all over the world is experiencing the same problems as our domestic media. And in this country, which you may not be aware of, Telemundo was bought by NBC. Do you really want to leave it to NBC to get out the important stories?
You know how much Democracy Now! means to you so make an effort to seek out someone you can share the news that the Headlines are now available in Spanish with. Bush woos the Spanish speaking community via broadcast media that throws him soft balls. Do not let the Bully Boy score on this, do not let spin overcome reality. I know we can get the word out on this.
UN Investigators Accusing U.S. of Torture At Guantanamo
A team of United Nations human rights investigators said Thursday they had reliable accounts that detainees were being tortured at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Citing declassified government documents the investigators said they have uncovered what they describe as "serious allegations of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees, arbitrary detention, violations of their right to health and their due process rights." The UN human rights investigators also accused the Bush administration of ignoring multiple requests for them to be given access to the base to check on the conditions of the detainees. Paul Hunt, a law professor from New Zealand who monitors physical and mental health, said he wanted to investigate the alleged violations in person. Hunt said "Reportedly medical staff have assisted in the design of interrogation strategies, including sleep deprivation and other coercive interrogation methods."
World Tribunal on Iraq Opens In Turkey
In Turkey, the World Tribunal on Iraq is opening its three-day session today. The gathering is modeled after the International War Crimes Tribunal that British philosopher Bertrand Russell formed in 1967 during the Vietnam War. Russell's tribunal was charged with conducting 'a solemn and historic investigation' of U.S. war crimes in Vietnam in order to 'prevent the crime of silence.' Speaking at the World Tribunal on Iraq will be Indian writer Arundhati Roy, former UN Assistant Secretary General Dennis Halliday, independent journalist Dahr Jamail and others.
New Poll: Americans Against Iraq War
Meanwhile, the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that nearly six in 10 Americans oppose the war in Iraq and a growing number of them are dissatisfied with the war on terrorism. The poll was released yesterday and shows that support for the war has fallen significantly since March and is hovering at about 40 percent.
Hagel Blasts Bush on Iraq
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel has amplified his criticism of the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. In this week's U.S. News & World Report, the Nebraska Senator said "The reality is that we're losing in Iraq." Continuing, he said "Things aren't getting better; they're getting worse," adding: "The White House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they go along." Hagel has criticized the administraton's handling of the war before, but his talk of "losing in Iraq" represents his harshest assessment yet. His comments come after Vice President Dick Cheney declared that the world is seeing the "last throes" of the resistance in Iraq.
'Out of Iraq Caucus' Formed in CongressMeanwhile, a group of 50 progressive Congressmembers has formed a new group called The Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus. They say its mission is to try to increase pressure on the Bush administration and Congress to end the Iraq conflict and bring US forces home.
82 Iraqi Lawmakers Call for US to Leave Iraq
This comes as eighty-two members of the Iraqi parliament have sent a letter to the speaker of the house demanding that the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq. Some of the leaders of this movement come from the United Iraqi Alliance, the coalition of religious Shiite parties that has a majority of the 275 seats.
British Foreign Ministry: 2002 No-Fly Zone Bombings Illegal
The Sunday Times of London is reporting that the British Foreign Ministry's Legal office ruled that the sharp increase in the US and British no-fly zone bombings of Iraq in the year leading up to the official invasion was illegal under international law. The paper says the advice was first provided to senior ministers in March 2002. Two months later the US and Britain began “spikes of activity” designed to degrade Iraq's defensive capabilities and in an effort to goad Saddam Hussein into retaliating and giving the US a pretext for war. The Foreign Office said that the bombings were “not consistent with” UN law, despite US claims that they were. In the so-called Downing Street memo, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon is quoted as saying in July 2002 that the US had already begun spikes in bombing.
CIA Warns Iraq Becoming Training Ground For Extremists
The New York Times is reporting that the Central Intelligence Agency is warning that Iraq may prove to be an even more effective training ground for Islamic extremists than Afghanistan was in Al Qaeda's early days, because it is serving as a real-world laboratory for urban combat. Officials who have read the new assessment said it made clear that the U.S. war in Iraq was likely to produce a dangerous legacy by dispersing to other countries fighters more adept and better organized than they were before the conflict. According to the Times, the CIA report spells out how the urban nature of the war in Iraq was helping combatants learn how to carry out assassinations, kidnappings, car bombings and other kinds of attacks that were never a staple of the fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980's.
Court to Hear Torture Lawsuit Against Donald Rumsfeld
A federal court in Washington has announced that a civil suit against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld filed on behalf of eight Iraqi and Afghan detainees will go ahead. The detainees claim they were tortured and abused while in U.S. detention. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the lawsuit seeks to hold Rumsfeld and others directly responsible for the abuse and torture of detainees in U.S. military custody.
Pentagon Launches Massive Database To Help Recruiting Efforts
The Pentagon has begun working with a private company to create a massive database of high school and college students to help identify students as young as 16 to target for military recruiting. This according to the Washington Post. The database includes an array of personal information including birth dates, Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, grade point averages, ethnicity and what subjects the students are studying. The Pentagon has hired the Massachusetts-based company BeNow to run the database apparently in an effort to circumvent laws that restrict the government's right to collect or hold citizen information. The database will include data given over by schools under the No Child Left Behind Act as well as information collected from commercial data brokers. According to the Washington Post, the system also gives the Pentagon the right -- without notifying the students -- to share the data for numerous uses outside the military, including with law enforcement, state tax authorities and Congress. A Pentagon spokesperson defended the database saying, "This program is important because it helps bolster the effectiveness of all the services' recruiting and retention efforts." The new database is being created at a time when the Armed Forces is struggling to meet its recruiting goals. The Army has missed its monthly recruiting goals every month so far this year. But Chris Jay Hoofnagle of EPIC -- the Electronic Privacy Information Center --criticized the system as a "audacious plan to target-market kids, as young as 16, for military solicitation." EPIC described the database as a "unprecedented foray of the government into direct marketing techniques previously only performed by the private sector." The privacy watchdog group also criticized the program because it does not allow students to opt-out of being in the massive database although they can opt-out of being solicited for recruitment.
Rep. Maloney Criticizes Social Security For Releasing Personal Info
Meanwhile in other privacy news, New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has called for hearings over the recent disclosure that the Social Security Administration decided to share personal information about thousands of people with law enforcement after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Klansman Convicted For 1964 Civil Rights Killings
In Philadelphia Mississippi, a jury has found a former Ku Klux Klansman guilty of felony manslaughter in the killings on three civil rights workers in 1964. The verdict against Edgar Ray Killen came down Tuesday exactly 41 years after James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were killed. The three had come to Mississippi to investigate the burning of an African-American church. Prosecutors charged that Killen plotted the murders along with other Klansmen and then arranged for a bulldozer to bury the bodies. Killen will be sentenced on Thursday and faces a maximum of 60 years in jail. The verdict was only a partial victory for state prosecutors -- the jury found Killen guilty of felony manslaughter instead of murder. Michael Schwerner's widow -- Rita Schwerner Bender -- said "The fact that some members of the jury could not bring themselves to acknowledge that these were murders, that they were committed with malice, indicates that there are still people among you that choose to look aside, not to see the truth." Edgar Ray Killen's attorneys said they would appeal the jury's verdict.
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