Last week started out pretty good. We were pleased with the edition we'd put out. We all had the Fourth to spend as we pleased. O'Connor's announcement was weighing heavy but all and all, pretty good week. Or so it seemed.
Monday morning, Rebecca was surfing (while painting her toe nails as she noted) when she came across a post and immediately called C.I., Kat and Jess. They didn't know anything about it. None of us did.
Folding Star decided to stop blogging. A Winding Road is no more. In addition, Folding Star's deleted all posts. The only one of us who's been in any contact with Folding Star since then is C.I.
Folding Star has advised that any readers of A Winding Road that have questions should send
"questions/queries to foldingstar05@yahoo.com."
We were all surprised by the news. Readers who've asked us why we didn't mention it last week, we didn't know it was happening. We had no indication at all. We'd even spotlighted Folding Star's post on Sandra Day O'Connor.
We're all part of The Common Ills community and the news surprised us. Also made us wonder how long are own sites would last? We teased each other about that. With C.I., we teased that the increasing drumbeat of e-mails would finally lead to C.I. announcing "the community is no more, go home! Go home!" a la Tracey Ullman. With Rebecca, we joked that as the winter months gathered, she'd pack up and move to a tropical spot where she'd lie by the beach each day and tan away. With Mike, we teased that as soon as he got into his next serious relationship, he'd forget all about blogging. With Betty, we teased that Paul Krugman would say, "At last, someone else who sees how foolish Thomas Friedman truly is! Come away with me, Betty!"
With Kat, we joked that the Pink Floyd reunion would lead to her running the laser light show for them and no time for blogging. And Third Estate Sunday Review was teased about being a Fleetwood Mac about to happen with "shacking ups" and "breaking ups."
But behind the humor, we were all wondering about ourselves. (We are Ty, Jess, Dona, Jim, Ava, C.I., Mike, Betty, Kat and Rebecca.) Betty who had no time for blogging drove herself crazy trying to get a post up this week. She had already gotten a few e-mails asking if she was bailing as well and she wanted something up to show that she was "still in the game." Betty works and works and works again on each entry. By contrast, C.I. does rough drafts and posts those. Over here, C.I. will do editing with all of us and keep reworking an entry until it's as sharp as it can be. Over there, C.I. just posts what gets typed up. So it wasn't a case of being like Betty. But C.I. noted that it was a lot easier to focus on work regarding O'Connor's replacement than to focus on doing entries. Rebecca tried to stay positive. We'd all agreed to try to see if Folding Star wanted to talk about it before we made a public comment. Rebecca was upset (and says she still is) and by Friday, she blogged on it. (And no, we weren't mad at her for that.) Mike wondered what was going on because he'd never met or spoken to Folding Star and was completely in the dark. Kat, in her typical cool, didn't let it affect her. She almost posted Friday, she says, but figured, "I've already said, I'll post when I have something to say and I'm not doing a daily blog."
We'd always planned to address it here, this Sunday. We wish we had something to tell you. C.I.'s shared all that's permitted. We weren't given a heads up and we were given no notification after.
From Folding Star's post there was an e-mail that led to doubts and the decision to close down the site. We've all had doubts and we've all had our share of nasty e-mails.
We're not sure what was behind the decision, but we'll respect it and say that we enjoyed A Winding Road and our sorry that it has been shut down. Since all the past posts are gone, we've all wondered what to do about our permalinks/blog rolls?
Possibly Folding Star will decide to start it back up, we don't know. In case that happens, we're willing to leave it up. We're also willing to leave it up to note that a community member ran a blog from January to July.
And of course our highlights of Folding Star at this site remain.
We wish we had something to tell you. We don't.
A number of you have e-mailed all of us expressing surprise and disappointment. We share that.
At the end of the day, we're still here. We're still blogging. (Or doing entries, in C.I.'s case.) We're not planning to bail anytime soon.
But we do realize that with all the fun we're having, at some point it will come to an end. This site is helped out by some great folks (Kat, Rebecca, Ruth, Dallas, Maria, Mike, Rebecca, Betty and C.I.) but it's run by five journalism majors. College won't last forever. And we've long said that we might retire the site when we graduate or we might try to pass it on to some journalism students who weren't done with college yet. C.I.'s health is a topic thanks to jerks and The Common Ills would go on without C.I. (for health reasons or any other) with Ava as long as she was willing to do it. Rebecca's been working on an entry for over a week now and it's the most difficult one she's ever had to work on. ("Still working on it!") She's not really sure how it will go over or how she'll feel about it after it's posted. She may take a break after it goes up. Betty's determined to plug away but notes that it's very difficult juggling her kids, her job, her home and blogging. And we'll note again that Betty writes and rewrites and rewrites again. Mike thinks he's found his niche but admits that he doesn't know how it will feel when fall rolls around and he's doing full time classes again.
We've all been very lucky because it's mainly been fun. There have been tense moments. (And we'll never forgive or forget the attacks on C.I. and we'll leave it at that because C.I. said "Let's not go into that again.") But we've had fun swapping stories and sharing things. We've had fun with some great e-mails. We've had fun feeling that we could share something with readers (members in C.I.'s case) that they might miss otherwise. ("Tonight has not been fun," Kat said. And we'll agree with that since we lost a post.)
As a community, we tried to include other members who blogged. Maybe we didn't push hard enough to include Folding Star? Maybe "busy" really required asking again to make sure FS knew we were sincere?
But in the bad times, we've had te fact that we could share and we could discuss. And that carried us over the bumps in the road. We're not sure that Folding Star had that same feeling. (And if we weren't trying hard enough, our apologies to Folding Star.)
An e-mail is the reason cited. It seems hard to believe that one e-mail alone could cause someone to close down a site. So we're assuming there was more going on. Folding Star was working and going to college and maybe the e-mail was the last straw? We don't know.
We're as in the dark as any of you. But the point that C.I. stressed, the point that made all of us decide to start blogging, was that what we need are more voices. The mainstream media has a very narrow range. For now at least, the internet can provide a platform for other voices.
And we all try to take that to heart. Ruth covers NPR. Not from a "Cokie Roberts says it and it's true" but from a critique of wisdom that's come with age and experience and we appreciate and enjoy her contributions. Kat's covering music. And it would be really easy to be parroting what a blow hard from The New Yorker (we're all in agreement with Kat on that) has to say. Instead, she's focusing on how music needs to mean something. It needs to be something more than "beats" and "hooks" and pretty faces wearing few clothes. We're not seeing many superstar acts on tour these days, new ones. That's got a lot to do with the fact that they're not musicians. And they're not Madonnas. They tease it out and have no desire to push any limits.
So you're left with bad music and timid performers more often than not. Kat's critiques are needed in an age when a New Yorker critic feels the need to sing the praises on the product that is Justin Timberlake. Rebecca's the woman who will not be pushed around. And she's not going to be repeating news from the mainstream. Like C.I., she's going for the items that aren't being covered everywhere. (She was on the polio issue before anyone we knew was talking about it.)
And her site gets backlash e-mails because she's not going to fit into your tidy image of "the little woman." Betty's blog is a novel. Let's be honest. Those entries are like chapters. And throughout the novel is the critique of neoliberalism and imperialism and, for the matter, "misguided do-gooderism." Mike's hitting hard on the recuriting issue and answering questions that no one else is tackling (crotch rot, for one!). Like Rebecca and C.I., he's citing Democracy Now! and other independent media voices. And then there's C.I. and The Common Ills. The site that we all sprung from. (Rebecca just told C.I. to shut up and we'll write what we want on this part.)
We'll make it a whole paragraph in fact. The news of C.I.'s cancer isn't something we largely dealt with on a personal level. Jim's said if anything happens to C.I. he doesn't want to blog anymore. Other than some conversations Ava and C.I. have had, that's been the extent of our dealing with that issue. We know it's there. We know C.I.'s better. But we do worry.
And the reason we worry is personal. But in terms of the web, it also has to do with the fact that we all started because of The Common Ills. We saw a site that valued our input, shared our belief that the troops needed to be brought home now, wasn't afraid to risk attacks for taking a stand and offered news we didn't hear of elsewhere. Clamor? Didn't know of it until C.I. pushed it. LeftTurn? Same deal. Our appreciation for Democracy Now! only grew as a result of The Common Ills.
Time wasn't wasted on runaway brides or Aruba or other nonsense. And whether it's Katrina vanden Heuvel or Naomi Klein or Tom Hayden or Grace Lee Boggs or whomever, the voices for peace had a place there. And not in a "hippie" mocking tone. We're honestly bothered by the dismissal of "hippies." Not just because Jess' parents were and are hippies. But because of the sneering self-satisfied attitude. Earth to sneerers, you're not doing a lot of good tearing down a group that believed in something. Maybe you think it makes you look "mature." Or maybe you think it makes you look "moderate." We think it makes you look silly. And we've noticed that while you sneer at the hippies, you rush to prop up John McCain. We'll take one hippie over twenty John McCain's any day. And wonder about the value system of those who wouldn't?
Jess' dad works on prison reform, his mother is a public defender. Jess grew up not having Nike and other products pushed down his throat. His parents expected him to make contributions to discussions around the table -- and they ate their meals together. They have a garden that they work together. Playing music on the radio or stereo was always better than TV in Jess' house, and playing music yourself was better than playing recorded music. Taking stands was supported even if Jess' parents disagreed with the stands. (His mother especially wishes he'd go into music and forget about journalism. But she supports his decision.)
So we're not quite sure where these sneerers get off looking down on "hippies." Maybe they'd prefer to hob knob with Greg's parents instead of Dahrma's? And maybe that something about the sneerer's value systems?
But at The Common Ills, it's never, "Tom Hayden, hippie, doesn't get it!" Or "Maxine Hong Kingtson, hippie, doesn't get it!" But maybe that's because C.I.'s not trying to start the next war or support the current one? Or to be a Nicholas Kristof and tear down the left to score points with the right? (Someone should figure out what feminism ever did to Nicky K and why he hates feminists so much that he lies about them. Then they might want to figure out why his paper is okay with that?) For Rebecca, the turning moment was the post on NPR bringing on the husband of woman who worked for Dick Cheney to critique John Kerry's campaign -- and not telling the listeners that the man's wife worked for Dick Cheney. For Third Estate Sunday Review members it was that and the strong opposition to Simon Rosenberg whose first word was, no doubt, "lite." For Betty it was a number of things but what stands out was that Black History Month was noted there. Every day. For Mike, it was the "Night Letter" which he didn't hear about anywhere else. For Kat it was "everything -- going to sources that weren't obvious, taking stands and just the I'm not going to bullshit it and try to curry favor by appearing moderate."
We did a piece here on blogging. And the moral of that fairy tale was to speak in your voice. We need more of that and we need more voices. But not to run down links to ABC or a big paper. We need voices that will steer to you to our independent media. That's Democracy Now!, that's Free Speech Radio News, that's BuzzFlash, that's magazines other than Time and Newsweek.
For all the carping about the mainstream media, we don't see a lot of people using other sources.
We'll single out one person by name, Jude of Iddybud, because she does work a wide variety of resources. She'll note Pacifica in a post or feature a smaller newspaper or whatever. But Jude's an exception. We see a lot of people who want to note Cokie Roberts, not critique her but note her. "Cokie Roberts said . . ." Is that really what we need the internet for?
As journalism majors, we're concerned with the overreliance on "acceptable sources." They're only "accpetable" because so many have made them that. If for one week, and we're not trying to start a movement here -- we're just offering a thought, every left blog made a point to highlight Democracy Now! each day, think of how much good that could do?
We go to some blogs, especially new ones, and think, "You don't grasp the power that you have." ("Tear In Your Hand" by Tori Amos on Little Earthquakes.) We have a power now, who knows how long before the net gets regulated and completely absorbed by big media?
But we're all in agreement that while we're here we'll try to offer the left. There won't be any links to articles or comments by Andrew Sullivan. We'll work our resources from the left and we'll continue to criticize the mainstream media.
We got e-mails about C.I.'s stance regarding The Times and Judith Miller. Those looking for disagreement are going to be disappointed. (Rebecca remains indifferent.) Kat's opinion is they crack down on big media and then watch out in the counter culture. Betty's opposed to giving up sources. Mike says you don't rat. And The Third Estate Sunday Review has been involved in repeated debates on this topic both with fellow students and in classrooms.
We're happy to see a little bravery from The Times. ("Little" in contrast to what's gone on there for so long. We do not, however, think that there is anything "little" about Miller and the paper's stance. We think that's brave. Hopefully, it will cross over to the pages of the paper.)
We're glad that C.I. took a brave stand. And we applaud others who take a brave stand even when we don't agree with it because there are too many people in this country who just go along.
We need more bravery. And we really wanted to highlight an entry of C.I.'s on the need for courage but C.I. felt we had enough blog spotlights. (We did have a lenghty "Five Books, Five Minutes" and it's gone. We're not recreating what Blogger lost.)
A little while ago, these were very dark times. We entertained thoughts of moving to Canada. But brave voices spoke out. So to anyone blogging or thinking of starting a blog, we ask that you be a brave voice. And if you get a piece of hate mail, like Folding Star did, you find someone to talk to about it. When the death threats towards Ava and C.I. (for TV reviews!) started, we wouldn't have gotten through that without each other.
Recently Dick Durbin tried to be a brave voice but couldn't take the criticism. We've seen enough backing down, enough apologies for things that didn't require apologies. We've seen people push the myth of "red" states, we've seen people say "don't make fun of James Dobson."
We've seen enough crap.
"You don't know the power that you have." We're returning to that because we don't know that people get the power that they have. A butterfly flaps it's wings and the effects are felt. We're sorry that Folding Star's decided to shut down A Winding Road but we hope everyone realizes that they do have a voice and that their voice can make a difference. Not if it's only in your head though. You have to get it out there. And you have to know that there may be threats and flamers but if you stand your ground you can make a difference.
We wish we could tell you, "We spoke to Folding Star and the reason is . . ." We can't. We can only tell you that we hope Folding Star blogs again and that we're still here. And that a lot of you writing searching e-mails on this topic should consider blogging. More voices.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review,
You liberals and your silly talk are impossible to get through without a beer or two. Which gave me the idea that we might be able to get together over a few beers and I could set all of you straight.
Wade in Denver
Dear Wade,
There ain't enough beer in the world. Keep reading -- you might learn something.
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review,
I just saw War of the Worlds and I'm wondering how much impact the filmed explosions cause on our biosphere. Do they accelerate the green house effect? How damaging are they?
Ellen
Dear Ellen,
We're not scientists. It's a good question, but we're not scientiests. As for damaging, we'd argue that seeing Tom Cruise pose as a concerned father in an "action film" is pretty damaging. But then Dakota Fanning's not that much younger than Katie Holmes, is she?
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review,
My girlfriend is obsessed with Orlando Bloom to the point where I'm beginning to feel like a third whell. I go over there it's a Lord of the Rings or some other film the little freak is starring in. It's not that I mind her attraction to him, it's that I can't take the obsession. We go to the drug store tonight on our way to her parents where we are expected for dinner. Quick in and out to grab some aspirin she needs. Turns into two hours as she scans the various teeny mags looking for photos of Orlando. The whole time I'm reminding her that her parents are waiting and she doesn't care. She grabs three magazines, pays for them and we leave (without the aspirin). When we get to her parents, she makes up this story about how I got lost and couldn't find their house. So I'm looking like an idiot. What should I do and keep in mind that she's forty-two years old.
Gabriel in upstate New York
Dear Gabriel,
We're not sure what to tell you. One suggestion is give it a year and the bloom will have faded.
We'll also advise that just because someone tells a lie doesn't mean you have to go along. You seem especially bothered by the blame (we've deleted that passage at Gabriel's request). There's no rule that if you're blamed unfairly you have to grin and bear it.
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review,
Why are you so hard on Cokie Roberts? Won't you give her credit for anything?
Concerned in the US
Dear Concerned,
We will give Cokie Roberts credit for being the most persistent gasbag who's time and again spouted conventional wisdom that even she couldn't grasp. We'll also give her credit for being one of the more, if not most, prolific clip-job authors in the trade. Lastly, in a world obsessed with beauty and youth, we'll note that with each TV appearance, she strikes a blow in defense of jowl sporting gasbags everywhere (even if they weren't able to trade on family connections the way she was). Hope that makes you feel better. We'd hate to slight her.
You liberals and your silly talk are impossible to get through without a beer or two. Which gave me the idea that we might be able to get together over a few beers and I could set all of you straight.
Wade in Denver
Dear Wade,
There ain't enough beer in the world. Keep reading -- you might learn something.
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review,
I just saw War of the Worlds and I'm wondering how much impact the filmed explosions cause on our biosphere. Do they accelerate the green house effect? How damaging are they?
Ellen
Dear Ellen,
We're not scientists. It's a good question, but we're not scientiests. As for damaging, we'd argue that seeing Tom Cruise pose as a concerned father in an "action film" is pretty damaging. But then Dakota Fanning's not that much younger than Katie Holmes, is she?
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review,
My girlfriend is obsessed with Orlando Bloom to the point where I'm beginning to feel like a third whell. I go over there it's a Lord of the Rings or some other film the little freak is starring in. It's not that I mind her attraction to him, it's that I can't take the obsession. We go to the drug store tonight on our way to her parents where we are expected for dinner. Quick in and out to grab some aspirin she needs. Turns into two hours as she scans the various teeny mags looking for photos of Orlando. The whole time I'm reminding her that her parents are waiting and she doesn't care. She grabs three magazines, pays for them and we leave (without the aspirin). When we get to her parents, she makes up this story about how I got lost and couldn't find their house. So I'm looking like an idiot. What should I do and keep in mind that she's forty-two years old.
Gabriel in upstate New York
Dear Gabriel,
We're not sure what to tell you. One suggestion is give it a year and the bloom will have faded.
We'll also advise that just because someone tells a lie doesn't mean you have to go along. You seem especially bothered by the blame (we've deleted that passage at Gabriel's request). There's no rule that if you're blamed unfairly you have to grin and bear it.
Dear Third Estate Sunday Review,
Why are you so hard on Cokie Roberts? Won't you give her credit for anything?
Concerned in the US
Dear Concerned,
We will give Cokie Roberts credit for being the most persistent gasbag who's time and again spouted conventional wisdom that even she couldn't grasp. We'll also give her credit for being one of the more, if not most, prolific clip-job authors in the trade. Lastly, in a world obsessed with beauty and youth, we'll note that with each TV appearance, she strikes a blow in defense of jowl sporting gasbags everywhere (even if they weren't able to trade on family connections the way she was). Hope that makes you feel better. We'd hate to slight her.
Nuevo plan del Pentágono exige mayor participación a nivel nacional
Nuevo plan del Pentágono exige mayor participación a nivel nacional
Maria: Hola. De parte de "Democracy Now!" doce cosas que vale hacer notar este fin de semana.
Nuevo plan del Pentágono exige mayor participación a nivel nacional
El Pentágono adoptó un nuevo plan de seguridad nacional que exige que los militares estadounidenses amplíen su función militar. El Washington Post informa que el nuevo plan aumenta la presencia militar no solo aérea sino marítima y terrestre en Estados Unidos, y en otras zonas aéreas menos tradicionales, incluyendo compartir información con quienes se encargan del cumplimiento de las leyes civiles. Según el periódico, el documento no exige que una nueva autoridad jurídica utilice fuerzas militares en suelo estadounidense, sino que plantea la probabilidad de que tropas de combate estadounidenses actúen en caso de que civiles o fuerzas de la Guardia Nacional se vean superados. El documento también exige que los analistas de inteligencia militar formen grupos con los oficiales de la aplicación de la ley civil para identificar y rastrear a sospechosos terroristas. Afirma la autoridad del presidente para desplegar fuerzas de combate terrestre en territorio estadounidense para "interceptar y sofocar amenazas". El Post informa que en el área de inteligencia, el documento habla de desarrollar "un cuadro" de especialistas en terrorismo del Pentágono y de desplegar a algunos de ellos dentro del territorio estadounidense para que trabajen con el FBI y con fuerzas de policía locales. Gene Healy del Instituto Cato dijo "El paso de los militares hacia una capacidad de inteligencia interna genera preocupación. La última vez que las fuerzas armadas se involucraron en la vigilancia nacional en la época de la Guerra de Vietnam, la inteligencia militar tenía miles de archivos de estadounidenses que no eran culpables de otra cosa que de oponerse a la guerra." Healy agregó que "No me parece que queramos transitar ese camino tra vez".
Más de 100 legisladores iraquíes piden el retiro de Estados Unidos
Más de 100 miembros del parlamento iraquí piden oficialmente que Estados Unidos retire sus tropas de Irak. Exigen que la Asamblea Nacional adopte una resolución que cancele la solicitud realizada por el gobierno iraquí al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU para ampliar la presencia de las fuerzas multinacionales. Asimismo piden al gobierno que establezca una fecha para el retiro.
Diplomático egipcio ejecutado. El Cairo cierra misión.
Egipto anunció que cerrará temporalmente su misión diplomática en Irak y ordenó al personal que regresara a El Cairo, luego de que un grupo militante se atribuyera la autoría de la muerte del enviado egipcio en Bagdad. El Cairo asimismo solicitó al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU el jueves que tratara en forma urgente el tema de proteger a los diplomáticos en Irak. Un grupo que se identificó como Al-Qaeda en Irak dijo en un foro de Internet que había matado al embajador egipcio, que fue secuestrado en un calle en Bagdad el sábado, semanas después de que asumiera su cargo en la capital iraquí. Publicaron un video corto del diplomático mientras era interrogado, pero no mostraron el asesinato.
Tropas estadounidenses abrieron fuego contra civiles
El sábado, tropas estadounidenses abrieron fuego contra dos autos que trasladaban civiles en el oeste de la capital. Una mujer y su hijo murieron a consecuencia de los disparos. El suegro de la mujer resultó gravemente herido. La familia cristiana se dirigía a Jordania.
Embajador iraquí acusó a Estados Unidos de la muerte de su sobrino
El embajador iraquí ante las Naciones Unidas, Samir Sumaidaie, acusó a infantes de marina estadounidenses de matar a su sobrino de 21 años de edad. Según el embajador, su sobrino fue arrestado porque los infantes de marina encontraron un rifle en su casa. Luego de que lo detuvieron, el joven fue hallado sin vida con un tiro en el cuello.
Gobierno iraquí admitió haber torturado detenidos
El gobierno iraquí admitió que sus fuerzas de seguridad torturan y maltratan a los detenidos. El reconocimiento tuvo lugar luego de que un informe de the Observer de Londres, revelara la existencia de cámaras de tortura secretas y campañas de asesinatos realizadas por grupos paramilitares apoyados por el gobierno. Un portavoz del gobierno responsabilizó de los hechos a la brutalización de la sociedad iraquí bajo el régimen de Saddam Hussein. El portavoz dijo "Estas cosas suceden. Lo sabemos."
Cinco ciudadanos estadounidenses detenidos en Irak
El Pentágono admitió el miércoles que las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses tienen al menos cinco ciudadanos estadounidenses detenidos entre los más de 10.000 prisioneros en Irak. Los cinco están detenidos sin acusaciones o acceso a abogados, porque se sospecha que están vinculados a la resistencia iraquí. El Departamento de Defensa se niega a identificar a los cinco prisioneros. Sin embargo, el New York Times y el Los Ángeles Times identificaron a uno de ellos como Cyrus Kar, un aspirante a cineasta de Los Ángeles de 44 años de edad, que fue arrestado en Irak en mayo. Un portavoz de la Unión Estadounidense por las Libertades Civiles (ACLU) dijo que Kar ha estado prácticamente incomunicado durante más de 50 días y dijo que su detención es "ilegal, inconstitucional e inhumana".
Antichavista acusada
Un juez de Venezuela ordenó que una figura de la oposición que fue recibida por el presidente Bush vaya a juicio con tres colegas acusados de conspiración de derrocar al gobierno utilizando fondos estadounidenses. María Corina Machado y otros tres miembros de su grupo Sumate, que ayudaron a organizar un referéndum contra el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez hace casi un año, fueron acusados de "conspiración para cambiar el sistema republicano de Venezuela". Chavez llamó a Machado traidora luego de que el grupo Sumate recibiera financiamiento de la Fundación Nacional para la Democracia (NED, por sus siglas en inglés). El juez ordenó que los tres permanecerían en libertad hasta el juicio. Machado se reunió con Bush en la Casa Blanca el 31 de mayo.
Pinochet pierde inmunidad
Un tribunal de apelaciones de Chile le ha retirado la inmunidad al ex-dictador General Augusto Pinochet, en el caso que implica prisioneros políticos asesinados durante su severo régimen. El caso alega la participación de Pinochet en el secuestro y asesinato de prisioneros políticos durante lo que los servicios de inteligencia denominaron "Operación Colombo".
Juez peruano ordenó el arresto de 118 soldados por Masacre del ‘88
Mientras tanto, un juez peruano ordenó el arresto de 118 soldados por su supuesta participación en la masacre de campesinos en un pueblo andino en 1988. El juez decretó la orden con relación a la tortura y matanza de más de dos decenas de personas en Cayara.
Presidente de Bolivia anuncia elecciones
El presidente interino de Bolivia, Eduardo Rodríguez, anunció ayer que programó las elecciones presidenciales para el 4 de diciembre. La decisión tuvo lugar semanas después de revueltas dirigidas por indígenas que provocaron el retiro de Carlos Mesa.
La Iglesia Unida de Cristo aprueba matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo
La Iglesia Unida de Cristo es la mayor iglesia cristiana que aprueba el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. Aproximadamente un 80 por ciento del cuerpo general de la iglesia aprobó una resolución el lunes convocando a las iglesias que lo integran para considerar políticas de matrimonio que "no discriminen a las parejas basadas en el sexo". Asimismo solicita a las iglesias que consideren apoyar leyes que garanticen iguales derechos matrimoniales a las parejas homosexuales y que trabajen contra las leyes que prohíben el matrimonio homosexual.
Maria: Hello. In English, here are twelve headlines from Democracy Now! Read the headlines in English below and ask yourself "Is there anyone I can pass this on to?" Who owns Telumundo? NBC. Telumundo. Make a difference this weekend, think of one person you can alert that Democracy Now! is providing their headlines each day in Spanish and English for reading and listening to. Please get the word out.
New Pentagon Plan Calls For Greater Domestic Role
The Pentagon has adopted a new homeland security plan that calls for the U.S. military to greatly expand its domestic role. The Washington Post reports the new plan expands the military's presence not only in the air and sea at home but also on the ground and in other less traditional areas including intelligence sharing with civilian law enforcement. According to the Post, the document does not ask for new legal authority to use military forces on U.S. soil, but it raises the likelihood that U.S. combat troops will take action in the event that civilian and National Guard forces are overwhelmed. The document also calls for military intelligence analysts to be teamed with civilian law enforcement to identify and track suspected terrorists. And it asserts the president's authority to deploy ground combat forces on U.S. territory to "intercept and defeat threats." The Post reports that in the area of intelligence, the document speaks of developing "a cadre" of Pentagon terrorism specialists and of deploying a number of them domestically to work with the FBI and local police forces. Gene Healy of the Cato Institute said, "The move toward a domestic intelligence capability by the military is troubling. The last time the military got heavily involved in domestic surveillance, during the Vietnam War era, military intelligence kept thousands of files on Americans guilty of nothing more than opposing the war." Healy added, "I don't think we want to go down that road again."
More Than 100 Iraqi MPs Call for US Withdrawal
More than 100 members of the Iraqi parliament are now officially calling for the US to withdraw its troops from Iraq. They are demanding that the National Assembly adopt a resolution cancelling the request made by the Iraqi government to the UN Security Council to extend the presence of multinational forces. They also call on the government to set a timetable for withdrawal.
Egyptian Diplomat Executed, Cairo Closes Mission
Egypt says it is temporarily shutting down its diplomatic mission in Iraq and has recalled its staff to Cairo, after a militant group claimed to have killed Egypt's top envoy in Baghdad. Cairo also asked the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to urgently address the issue of protecting diplomats in Iraq. A group identifying itself as Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a posting on a web forum that it killed the Egyptian ambassador, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street late Saturday only weeks after he took up his post in the Iraqi capital. It posted a short video of the diplomat being questioned, but did not show his slaying.
U.S. Troops Open Fire On Civilian Car
On Saturday, U.S. troops opened fire at two cars carrying civilians west of the capital. A woman and her child were killed. The woman's father-in-law was seriously wounded. The Christian family was driving to Jordan.
Iraq Ambassador Accuses U.S. Of Killing His Nephew
Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations -- Samir Sumaidaie -- is accusing U.S. Marines of shooting dead his 21-year-old nephew. According to the ambassador, his nephew was arrested because Marines found a rifle at his home. After Marines detained him, the young man was found dead with a bullet in his neck.
Iraqi Gov't Admits To Torturing Detainees
The Iraqi government has admitted that its security forces are carrying out torture and abusing detainees. The admission came after a report in the Observer of London revealed the existence of secret torture chambers and murder campaigns carried out by government-backed paramilitary groups. A government spokesman blamed it in part on the brutalising of Iraqi society under Saddam Hussein. The spokesman said "These things happen. We know that."
Five US Citizens Being Held in Iraq
The Pentagon admitted on Wednesday that the US military is holding at least five U.S. citizens among more than 10,000 prisoners in Iraq. All of the five are being held without charges or access to lawyers. They are all being held on loose suspicion of being linked to the Iraqi resistance. The Defense Department refuses to identify the five. But the New York Times and Los Angeles Times have identified one as 44-year old Cyrus Kar, an aspiring filmmaker from Los Angeles who was arrested in Iraq in May. An ACLU spokesperson said Kar has been held virtually incommunicado for more than 50 days and called his detention "illegal, unconstitutional and inhumane."
Anti-Chavez Figure Indicted
A judge in Venezuela has ruled that an opposition figure who was received by President Bush will go on trial with three colleagues accused of conspiring to overthrow the government using U.S. funds. Maria Corina Machado and three other members of her Sumate group, which helped organize a referendum against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nearly a year ago, are being charged with "conspiracy to change Venezuela's republican system." Chavez has called Machado a traitor after her Sumate group received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy. The judge ruled that the 3 would remain free until the trial took place. Machado met Bush at the White House on May 31.
Pinochet Stripped of Immunity
A court of appeals in Chile has stripped ailing ex-dictator General Augusto Pinochet of his immunity in a case involving political prisoners killed during his iron-fisted rule. The case alleges Pinochet's involvement in the abduction and killing of political prisoners during what his intelligence services dubbed "Operation Colombo."
Peruvian Judge Orders Arrest of 118 Soldiers for '88 Massacre
Meanwhile, a Peruvian judge has ordered the arrest of 118 soldiers for their alleged involvement in the massacre of peasants in an Andean village in 1988. The judge issued the order in connection with the torture and killing of more than two dozen people in Cayara.
Bolivia Pres. Announces Elections
Bolivia's interim president, Eduardo Rodriguez, announced yesterday that he has scheduled presidential elections for Dec 4. This followed weeks of indigenous-led revolt that brought down President Carlos Mesa.
United Church of Christ Endorses Same Sex Marriage
The United Church of Christ has become the country's largest Christian church to endorse same sex marriage. Roughly 80 percent of the church's general body approved a resolution on Monday calling on member churches to consider wedding policies that "do not discriminate against couples based on gender." It also asks churches to consider supporting legislation granting equal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples and to work against laws banning same sex marriage.
Maria: Hola. De parte de "Democracy Now!" doce cosas que vale hacer notar este fin de semana.
Nuevo plan del Pentágono exige mayor participación a nivel nacional
El Pentágono adoptó un nuevo plan de seguridad nacional que exige que los militares estadounidenses amplíen su función militar. El Washington Post informa que el nuevo plan aumenta la presencia militar no solo aérea sino marítima y terrestre en Estados Unidos, y en otras zonas aéreas menos tradicionales, incluyendo compartir información con quienes se encargan del cumplimiento de las leyes civiles. Según el periódico, el documento no exige que una nueva autoridad jurídica utilice fuerzas militares en suelo estadounidense, sino que plantea la probabilidad de que tropas de combate estadounidenses actúen en caso de que civiles o fuerzas de la Guardia Nacional se vean superados. El documento también exige que los analistas de inteligencia militar formen grupos con los oficiales de la aplicación de la ley civil para identificar y rastrear a sospechosos terroristas. Afirma la autoridad del presidente para desplegar fuerzas de combate terrestre en territorio estadounidense para "interceptar y sofocar amenazas". El Post informa que en el área de inteligencia, el documento habla de desarrollar "un cuadro" de especialistas en terrorismo del Pentágono y de desplegar a algunos de ellos dentro del territorio estadounidense para que trabajen con el FBI y con fuerzas de policía locales. Gene Healy del Instituto Cato dijo "El paso de los militares hacia una capacidad de inteligencia interna genera preocupación. La última vez que las fuerzas armadas se involucraron en la vigilancia nacional en la época de la Guerra de Vietnam, la inteligencia militar tenía miles de archivos de estadounidenses que no eran culpables de otra cosa que de oponerse a la guerra." Healy agregó que "No me parece que queramos transitar ese camino tra vez".
Más de 100 legisladores iraquíes piden el retiro de Estados Unidos
Más de 100 miembros del parlamento iraquí piden oficialmente que Estados Unidos retire sus tropas de Irak. Exigen que la Asamblea Nacional adopte una resolución que cancele la solicitud realizada por el gobierno iraquí al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU para ampliar la presencia de las fuerzas multinacionales. Asimismo piden al gobierno que establezca una fecha para el retiro.
Diplomático egipcio ejecutado. El Cairo cierra misión.
Egipto anunció que cerrará temporalmente su misión diplomática en Irak y ordenó al personal que regresara a El Cairo, luego de que un grupo militante se atribuyera la autoría de la muerte del enviado egipcio en Bagdad. El Cairo asimismo solicitó al Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU el jueves que tratara en forma urgente el tema de proteger a los diplomáticos en Irak. Un grupo que se identificó como Al-Qaeda en Irak dijo en un foro de Internet que había matado al embajador egipcio, que fue secuestrado en un calle en Bagdad el sábado, semanas después de que asumiera su cargo en la capital iraquí. Publicaron un video corto del diplomático mientras era interrogado, pero no mostraron el asesinato.
Tropas estadounidenses abrieron fuego contra civiles
El sábado, tropas estadounidenses abrieron fuego contra dos autos que trasladaban civiles en el oeste de la capital. Una mujer y su hijo murieron a consecuencia de los disparos. El suegro de la mujer resultó gravemente herido. La familia cristiana se dirigía a Jordania.
Embajador iraquí acusó a Estados Unidos de la muerte de su sobrino
El embajador iraquí ante las Naciones Unidas, Samir Sumaidaie, acusó a infantes de marina estadounidenses de matar a su sobrino de 21 años de edad. Según el embajador, su sobrino fue arrestado porque los infantes de marina encontraron un rifle en su casa. Luego de que lo detuvieron, el joven fue hallado sin vida con un tiro en el cuello.
Gobierno iraquí admitió haber torturado detenidos
El gobierno iraquí admitió que sus fuerzas de seguridad torturan y maltratan a los detenidos. El reconocimiento tuvo lugar luego de que un informe de the Observer de Londres, revelara la existencia de cámaras de tortura secretas y campañas de asesinatos realizadas por grupos paramilitares apoyados por el gobierno. Un portavoz del gobierno responsabilizó de los hechos a la brutalización de la sociedad iraquí bajo el régimen de Saddam Hussein. El portavoz dijo "Estas cosas suceden. Lo sabemos."
Cinco ciudadanos estadounidenses detenidos en Irak
El Pentágono admitió el miércoles que las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses tienen al menos cinco ciudadanos estadounidenses detenidos entre los más de 10.000 prisioneros en Irak. Los cinco están detenidos sin acusaciones o acceso a abogados, porque se sospecha que están vinculados a la resistencia iraquí. El Departamento de Defensa se niega a identificar a los cinco prisioneros. Sin embargo, el New York Times y el Los Ángeles Times identificaron a uno de ellos como Cyrus Kar, un aspirante a cineasta de Los Ángeles de 44 años de edad, que fue arrestado en Irak en mayo. Un portavoz de la Unión Estadounidense por las Libertades Civiles (ACLU) dijo que Kar ha estado prácticamente incomunicado durante más de 50 días y dijo que su detención es "ilegal, inconstitucional e inhumana".
Antichavista acusada
Un juez de Venezuela ordenó que una figura de la oposición que fue recibida por el presidente Bush vaya a juicio con tres colegas acusados de conspiración de derrocar al gobierno utilizando fondos estadounidenses. María Corina Machado y otros tres miembros de su grupo Sumate, que ayudaron a organizar un referéndum contra el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez hace casi un año, fueron acusados de "conspiración para cambiar el sistema republicano de Venezuela". Chavez llamó a Machado traidora luego de que el grupo Sumate recibiera financiamiento de la Fundación Nacional para la Democracia (NED, por sus siglas en inglés). El juez ordenó que los tres permanecerían en libertad hasta el juicio. Machado se reunió con Bush en la Casa Blanca el 31 de mayo.
Pinochet pierde inmunidad
Un tribunal de apelaciones de Chile le ha retirado la inmunidad al ex-dictador General Augusto Pinochet, en el caso que implica prisioneros políticos asesinados durante su severo régimen. El caso alega la participación de Pinochet en el secuestro y asesinato de prisioneros políticos durante lo que los servicios de inteligencia denominaron "Operación Colombo".
Juez peruano ordenó el arresto de 118 soldados por Masacre del ‘88
Mientras tanto, un juez peruano ordenó el arresto de 118 soldados por su supuesta participación en la masacre de campesinos en un pueblo andino en 1988. El juez decretó la orden con relación a la tortura y matanza de más de dos decenas de personas en Cayara.
Presidente de Bolivia anuncia elecciones
El presidente interino de Bolivia, Eduardo Rodríguez, anunció ayer que programó las elecciones presidenciales para el 4 de diciembre. La decisión tuvo lugar semanas después de revueltas dirigidas por indígenas que provocaron el retiro de Carlos Mesa.
La Iglesia Unida de Cristo aprueba matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo
La Iglesia Unida de Cristo es la mayor iglesia cristiana que aprueba el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo. Aproximadamente un 80 por ciento del cuerpo general de la iglesia aprobó una resolución el lunes convocando a las iglesias que lo integran para considerar políticas de matrimonio que "no discriminen a las parejas basadas en el sexo". Asimismo solicita a las iglesias que consideren apoyar leyes que garanticen iguales derechos matrimoniales a las parejas homosexuales y que trabajen contra las leyes que prohíben el matrimonio homosexual.
Maria: Hello. In English, here are twelve headlines from Democracy Now! Read the headlines in English below and ask yourself "Is there anyone I can pass this on to?" Who owns Telumundo? NBC. Telumundo. Make a difference this weekend, think of one person you can alert that Democracy Now! is providing their headlines each day in Spanish and English for reading and listening to. Please get the word out.
New Pentagon Plan Calls For Greater Domestic Role
The Pentagon has adopted a new homeland security plan that calls for the U.S. military to greatly expand its domestic role. The Washington Post reports the new plan expands the military's presence not only in the air and sea at home but also on the ground and in other less traditional areas including intelligence sharing with civilian law enforcement. According to the Post, the document does not ask for new legal authority to use military forces on U.S. soil, but it raises the likelihood that U.S. combat troops will take action in the event that civilian and National Guard forces are overwhelmed. The document also calls for military intelligence analysts to be teamed with civilian law enforcement to identify and track suspected terrorists. And it asserts the president's authority to deploy ground combat forces on U.S. territory to "intercept and defeat threats." The Post reports that in the area of intelligence, the document speaks of developing "a cadre" of Pentagon terrorism specialists and of deploying a number of them domestically to work with the FBI and local police forces. Gene Healy of the Cato Institute said, "The move toward a domestic intelligence capability by the military is troubling. The last time the military got heavily involved in domestic surveillance, during the Vietnam War era, military intelligence kept thousands of files on Americans guilty of nothing more than opposing the war." Healy added, "I don't think we want to go down that road again."
More Than 100 Iraqi MPs Call for US Withdrawal
More than 100 members of the Iraqi parliament are now officially calling for the US to withdraw its troops from Iraq. They are demanding that the National Assembly adopt a resolution cancelling the request made by the Iraqi government to the UN Security Council to extend the presence of multinational forces. They also call on the government to set a timetable for withdrawal.
Egyptian Diplomat Executed, Cairo Closes Mission
Egypt says it is temporarily shutting down its diplomatic mission in Iraq and has recalled its staff to Cairo, after a militant group claimed to have killed Egypt's top envoy in Baghdad. Cairo also asked the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to urgently address the issue of protecting diplomats in Iraq. A group identifying itself as Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a posting on a web forum that it killed the Egyptian ambassador, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street late Saturday only weeks after he took up his post in the Iraqi capital. It posted a short video of the diplomat being questioned, but did not show his slaying.
U.S. Troops Open Fire On Civilian Car
On Saturday, U.S. troops opened fire at two cars carrying civilians west of the capital. A woman and her child were killed. The woman's father-in-law was seriously wounded. The Christian family was driving to Jordan.
Iraq Ambassador Accuses U.S. Of Killing His Nephew
Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations -- Samir Sumaidaie -- is accusing U.S. Marines of shooting dead his 21-year-old nephew. According to the ambassador, his nephew was arrested because Marines found a rifle at his home. After Marines detained him, the young man was found dead with a bullet in his neck.
Iraqi Gov't Admits To Torturing Detainees
The Iraqi government has admitted that its security forces are carrying out torture and abusing detainees. The admission came after a report in the Observer of London revealed the existence of secret torture chambers and murder campaigns carried out by government-backed paramilitary groups. A government spokesman blamed it in part on the brutalising of Iraqi society under Saddam Hussein. The spokesman said "These things happen. We know that."
Five US Citizens Being Held in Iraq
The Pentagon admitted on Wednesday that the US military is holding at least five U.S. citizens among more than 10,000 prisoners in Iraq. All of the five are being held without charges or access to lawyers. They are all being held on loose suspicion of being linked to the Iraqi resistance. The Defense Department refuses to identify the five. But the New York Times and Los Angeles Times have identified one as 44-year old Cyrus Kar, an aspiring filmmaker from Los Angeles who was arrested in Iraq in May. An ACLU spokesperson said Kar has been held virtually incommunicado for more than 50 days and called his detention "illegal, unconstitutional and inhumane."
Anti-Chavez Figure Indicted
A judge in Venezuela has ruled that an opposition figure who was received by President Bush will go on trial with three colleagues accused of conspiring to overthrow the government using U.S. funds. Maria Corina Machado and three other members of her Sumate group, which helped organize a referendum against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nearly a year ago, are being charged with "conspiracy to change Venezuela's republican system." Chavez has called Machado a traitor after her Sumate group received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy. The judge ruled that the 3 would remain free until the trial took place. Machado met Bush at the White House on May 31.
Pinochet Stripped of Immunity
A court of appeals in Chile has stripped ailing ex-dictator General Augusto Pinochet of his immunity in a case involving political prisoners killed during his iron-fisted rule. The case alleges Pinochet's involvement in the abduction and killing of political prisoners during what his intelligence services dubbed "Operation Colombo."
Peruvian Judge Orders Arrest of 118 Soldiers for '88 Massacre
Meanwhile, a Peruvian judge has ordered the arrest of 118 soldiers for their alleged involvement in the massacre of peasants in an Andean village in 1988. The judge issued the order in connection with the torture and killing of more than two dozen people in Cayara.
Bolivia Pres. Announces Elections
Bolivia's interim president, Eduardo Rodriguez, announced yesterday that he has scheduled presidential elections for Dec 4. This followed weeks of indigenous-led revolt that brought down President Carlos Mesa.
United Church of Christ Endorses Same Sex Marriage
The United Church of Christ has become the country's largest Christian church to endorse same sex marriage. Roughly 80 percent of the church's general body approved a resolution on Monday calling on member churches to consider wedding policies that "do not discriminate against couples based on gender." It also asks churches to consider supporting legislation granting equal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples and to work against laws banning same sex marriage.
Blog Spotlight: Pru on the bombings
Thanks to Pru and C.I. for permission to reprint Pru's response to the bombings in full. Knowing that Pru lives in London, when we heard of the bombing, she was one of the first people we thought of.
With clear eyes, Pru offers what she saw and what it means. We're happy to share her message.
Pru on the bombings
Pru: Maybe we're better informed by our media? Maybe our proximity and awareness of other nations prepared us? While yesterday's attacks were nothing like the attacks on the United States on September 11th in terms of scope or damage, they were attacks none the less. We, as a country, have suffered a great loss.
But as I looked around yesterday, I saw grief that was mature and reasoned. There was no need to question, "Why us?" It's perfectly obvious why us. We have engaged with and supported the policies of the United States not limited to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This has been done despite the large objection coming from the people of our country and despite the fact that the objection has only grown as we have been confronted with the reality that there is no "win" in Iraq, not for us, not for the States.
"Why us" does not trip off our tongues because the answer is obvious and frightening.Equally obvious has been the answer which is that we must pull out of the illegal occupation. Thursday's events make that quite clear and, all around me, that was the sentiment most often shared.
Prime Minister Tony Blair did not shirk the way the Bully Boy did. He was present and accounted for. However, what he had to offer were empty words that, while more eloquent than anything that tumbles out of the Bully Boy's smirking mouth, said very little. Terrorist attacks. Check. Empty words supposed to warm us. Check. The reasons for the attack? Silence.
All around I heard people asking the hard questions and supplying the tough answers that the Prime Minister refused to address. We've grown to expect that from him and there is a sense among some that what is in the best interest of England is not the primary concern of our current Prime Minister.
There was also a sense that for all his posturing and playing poodle to the Bully Boy, Prime Minister Blair has done very little that has truly protected our country. Possibly there is no way to protect one from the events of today; however, Prime Minister Blair has asked for outlandish powers and even those granted him have been ineffective as was demonstrated before our own eyes.
We are a determined people and the determination we share now is not one of vengeance but one of addressing the events that led to the attacks. What Prime Minister Blair clearly wishes to avoid is not being ignored by the people of my country. Our determination to withdraw from the Bully Boy's illegal war of choice has only grown stronger.
Hearing reports that the insect known as Fox News in the United States was bragging that the attacks had taught us something caused me to recoil. Then I realized that they were correct about the teaching, just incorrect about the lesson itself. What it has taught us, the lesson, is what we already knew: an illegal war of choice leaves us all at risk, an illegal occupation that provides the window dressings of success but no real improvement is as meaningless as any words our Prime Minister could muster. The lesson confirmed what we already knew. The occupation must end and troops must withdraw. Until that happens safety is a myth that will destroy us all.
With clear eyes, Pru offers what she saw and what it means. We're happy to share her message.
Pru on the bombings
Pru: Maybe we're better informed by our media? Maybe our proximity and awareness of other nations prepared us? While yesterday's attacks were nothing like the attacks on the United States on September 11th in terms of scope or damage, they were attacks none the less. We, as a country, have suffered a great loss.
But as I looked around yesterday, I saw grief that was mature and reasoned. There was no need to question, "Why us?" It's perfectly obvious why us. We have engaged with and supported the policies of the United States not limited to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This has been done despite the large objection coming from the people of our country and despite the fact that the objection has only grown as we have been confronted with the reality that there is no "win" in Iraq, not for us, not for the States.
"Why us" does not trip off our tongues because the answer is obvious and frightening.Equally obvious has been the answer which is that we must pull out of the illegal occupation. Thursday's events make that quite clear and, all around me, that was the sentiment most often shared.
Prime Minister Tony Blair did not shirk the way the Bully Boy did. He was present and accounted for. However, what he had to offer were empty words that, while more eloquent than anything that tumbles out of the Bully Boy's smirking mouth, said very little. Terrorist attacks. Check. Empty words supposed to warm us. Check. The reasons for the attack? Silence.
All around I heard people asking the hard questions and supplying the tough answers that the Prime Minister refused to address. We've grown to expect that from him and there is a sense among some that what is in the best interest of England is not the primary concern of our current Prime Minister.
There was also a sense that for all his posturing and playing poodle to the Bully Boy, Prime Minister Blair has done very little that has truly protected our country. Possibly there is no way to protect one from the events of today; however, Prime Minister Blair has asked for outlandish powers and even those granted him have been ineffective as was demonstrated before our own eyes.
We are a determined people and the determination we share now is not one of vengeance but one of addressing the events that led to the attacks. What Prime Minister Blair clearly wishes to avoid is not being ignored by the people of my country. Our determination to withdraw from the Bully Boy's illegal war of choice has only grown stronger.
Hearing reports that the insect known as Fox News in the United States was bragging that the attacks had taught us something caused me to recoil. Then I realized that they were correct about the teaching, just incorrect about the lesson itself. What it has taught us, the lesson, is what we already knew: an illegal war of choice leaves us all at risk, an illegal occupation that provides the window dressings of success but no real improvement is as meaningless as any words our Prime Minister could muster. The lesson confirmed what we already knew. The occupation must end and troops must withdraw. Until that happens safety is a myth that will destroy us all.
Blog Spotlight: Betty's "Friedman on the Fourth, Pt. I"
We laughed like crazy when we read the latest at Betty's blog Thomas Friedman is a Great Man.
In a week when Friedman disgraced himself far more than usual (simplying the Middle East issue and then urging one and all to rally round the Bully Boy), Betty's blog was just the thing to remind us that Thomas Friedman is not great. But he is a good for a laugh.
Betty titled this "Friedman on the Fourth Part I." She is working on a second part but she said it's like a James Brown song, "You don't need both to jam too. Just a desire for fun and an enjoyment of life."
We feel good! Here's Betty's latest:
Friedman on the Fourth Part I
I have to live with it. Do I also have read it's writings?We had a "roof picnic" Monday. It was a nightmare. Nicky K and Mrs. Kristof were there as well as this woman named Patti Limerick Nelson.
There was Thomas Friedman, the not so great man, up on our roof wearing a "Kiss the Chef" apron. Did I mention it was over his shorty robe?
I kept begging him to put on some clothes but he insisted on wearing the shorty robe because he wanted an "all body tan" to go with his highlights. He's had more done. Mrs. K again asked if he was getting more gray hairs and Thomas Friedman again pouted.
While he was pouting and on the ledge of the roof insisting that since no one understood him, appreciated him, valued him or even wanted him for their partner in charades (his fault, he can't keep his mouth shut even when he's acting out the clues), he might as well jump, Nicky K, probably because of the heat, launched into a version of Van Halen's "Jump."
Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump
Thomas Friedman stopped sobbing long enough to give Nicky K a good glaring.
Mrs. K tried to save the moment by launching into her own version of Third Eye Blind's "Jumper:"
I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend,
You could cut ties with all the lies,
That you've been living in,
And if you do not want to see me again,
I would understand,
I would understand.
Wiping his eyes on his the bottom of his apron, which unfortunately was caught on his shorty robe therefore leaving us all with a not so good look at his Thomases and Friedman, Thomas Friedman decided to rejoin the picnic.
But by that time the burgers had burned. And then some.
Thomas Friedman had put all the patties on at once because he knew what he was doing, he said, and we weren't supposed to go near it. And then when he was rejecting Mary J. Blige and insisting on more drama and more and more drama, they all burned.
Mrs. K didn't want any burgers anyway due to the health scare with the Mad Cow headlines. And of course, there's the fact that no one's really sure they've ever seen Thomas Friedman wash his hands. That will kill an appetite.
Thomas Friedman insisted upon putting them on buns.
We all sat down to eat.
Mrs. K said "If this wasn't a Mad Cow before, it is now!" and threw the patty over the ledge. I admire her spirit but the "ouch" from below reminded us all that they truly were like bricks.
Nicky K was staring at his burger but not eating it while Mrs. K scooped up some of the cole slaw she brought along and made a cole slaw burger. It looked good, and much better than the charcoal on a bun, so I tossed my brick burger and followed her lead.
Patti Limerick Nelson pooh-pahed Mrs. K and myself for doing that.
"One must embrace the wonders of life when one seats one's self at the banquet of adventure and fulfillment for otherwise one is not just starving, one is deprived from all that what we know as life might offer. Therefore, it is incumbent on one who sees one's self not only . . ."
She was still going on and on when I tuned her out.
Mrs. K leaned in and whispered, "Betinna, you said Patti didn't bring anything. You were wrong! She brought the hot air!"
We were laughing so hard at that we didn't notice that Thomas Friedman was still staring at Nicky K who was still eyeing his "burger."
"Well, what are you waiting for, Nicky? A goddamn UN resolution telling you it's okay to partake?" Thomas Friedman snapped.
"I, I, I" Nicky K gulped and stammered. "I was just waiting a moment to enjoy the flavor of the smell."
"Yes," Patti said chipping a tooth, "it is a wonderful stench, we must embrace the stench as my guidance counselor once told me when I happened per chance to be sitting across from him in a utalitarian object that was not quiet a folding chair but was not what anyone amongst us could call a standing chair . . ."
"Shove it, Patti," Thomas Friedman barked without looking at her, "You're only here because Nicky felt sorry for you. It's rare that he finds someone who's more of a dithering idiot than he is. Now, Kristof, are you going to eat the damn burger or not?"
Mrs. K and I exchanged a look wondering if Nicky K might stand up. But he backed down as usual, or as Thomas Friedman says, "he folds quicker than a Mormon and a liberal playing Texas Hold 'Em."
I have no idea what that means. I seriously doubt that Thomas Friedman has any idea what it means.
Eyeing the missing crowns that kept flying off Patti's capped teeth, Nicky K gulped again and appeared to shudder.
"Of course I will eat it, Thomas Friedman. You are my best friend. You are my mentor. You are my guide on this life's journey --"
"Shove it, you little candy ass," Thomas Friedman spat out. "I think Patti's served up enough crap for one meal."
"Oh goodness my. One should . . ." Patti chattered away nervously but no one was paying attention to her which, as Mrs. K pointed out, really is the story of Patti's life.
With a look of inspiration, Nicky K suddenly declared, "I was waiting for you to say grace, Thomas Friedman."
"What the hell? Are we in a red state all the sudden?"Thomas Friedman was studying Nicky K really close but Nicky K had obviously seized on what he saw as inspiration.
"Now with dear Judith facing the legal problems --"
"Do I look like Bill Keller?" Thomas Friedman asked in a manner that clearly implied he wasn't waiting for an answer. "No, because I don't have 'ass face' written across my forehead. Judy's problems ain't my problems. Eat the damn burger, Kristof."
"But, Thomas Friedman," Nicky replied quickly, "if Judy takes the fall for a source, the paper might look into all of our sources. They might look into my sources. Or even your sources. They might want to track down that wide variety of cab drivers from various nations who all speak the same when they speak to you as they all take time out of their day to praise you."
I belive that's called check mate.
In a week when Friedman disgraced himself far more than usual (simplying the Middle East issue and then urging one and all to rally round the Bully Boy), Betty's blog was just the thing to remind us that Thomas Friedman is not great. But he is a good for a laugh.
Betty titled this "Friedman on the Fourth Part I." She is working on a second part but she said it's like a James Brown song, "You don't need both to jam too. Just a desire for fun and an enjoyment of life."
We feel good! Here's Betty's latest:
Friedman on the Fourth Part I
I have to live with it. Do I also have read it's writings?We had a "roof picnic" Monday. It was a nightmare. Nicky K and Mrs. Kristof were there as well as this woman named Patti Limerick Nelson.
There was Thomas Friedman, the not so great man, up on our roof wearing a "Kiss the Chef" apron. Did I mention it was over his shorty robe?
I kept begging him to put on some clothes but he insisted on wearing the shorty robe because he wanted an "all body tan" to go with his highlights. He's had more done. Mrs. K again asked if he was getting more gray hairs and Thomas Friedman again pouted.
While he was pouting and on the ledge of the roof insisting that since no one understood him, appreciated him, valued him or even wanted him for their partner in charades (his fault, he can't keep his mouth shut even when he's acting out the clues), he might as well jump, Nicky K, probably because of the heat, launched into a version of Van Halen's "Jump."
Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump
Thomas Friedman stopped sobbing long enough to give Nicky K a good glaring.
Mrs. K tried to save the moment by launching into her own version of Third Eye Blind's "Jumper:"
I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend,
You could cut ties with all the lies,
That you've been living in,
And if you do not want to see me again,
I would understand,
I would understand.
Wiping his eyes on his the bottom of his apron, which unfortunately was caught on his shorty robe therefore leaving us all with a not so good look at his Thomases and Friedman, Thomas Friedman decided to rejoin the picnic.
But by that time the burgers had burned. And then some.
Thomas Friedman had put all the patties on at once because he knew what he was doing, he said, and we weren't supposed to go near it. And then when he was rejecting Mary J. Blige and insisting on more drama and more and more drama, they all burned.
Mrs. K didn't want any burgers anyway due to the health scare with the Mad Cow headlines. And of course, there's the fact that no one's really sure they've ever seen Thomas Friedman wash his hands. That will kill an appetite.
Thomas Friedman insisted upon putting them on buns.
We all sat down to eat.
Mrs. K said "If this wasn't a Mad Cow before, it is now!" and threw the patty over the ledge. I admire her spirit but the "ouch" from below reminded us all that they truly were like bricks.
Nicky K was staring at his burger but not eating it while Mrs. K scooped up some of the cole slaw she brought along and made a cole slaw burger. It looked good, and much better than the charcoal on a bun, so I tossed my brick burger and followed her lead.
Patti Limerick Nelson pooh-pahed Mrs. K and myself for doing that.
"One must embrace the wonders of life when one seats one's self at the banquet of adventure and fulfillment for otherwise one is not just starving, one is deprived from all that what we know as life might offer. Therefore, it is incumbent on one who sees one's self not only . . ."
She was still going on and on when I tuned her out.
Mrs. K leaned in and whispered, "Betinna, you said Patti didn't bring anything. You were wrong! She brought the hot air!"
We were laughing so hard at that we didn't notice that Thomas Friedman was still staring at Nicky K who was still eyeing his "burger."
"Well, what are you waiting for, Nicky? A goddamn UN resolution telling you it's okay to partake?" Thomas Friedman snapped.
"I, I, I" Nicky K gulped and stammered. "I was just waiting a moment to enjoy the flavor of the smell."
"Yes," Patti said chipping a tooth, "it is a wonderful stench, we must embrace the stench as my guidance counselor once told me when I happened per chance to be sitting across from him in a utalitarian object that was not quiet a folding chair but was not what anyone amongst us could call a standing chair . . ."
"Shove it, Patti," Thomas Friedman barked without looking at her, "You're only here because Nicky felt sorry for you. It's rare that he finds someone who's more of a dithering idiot than he is. Now, Kristof, are you going to eat the damn burger or not?"
Mrs. K and I exchanged a look wondering if Nicky K might stand up. But he backed down as usual, or as Thomas Friedman says, "he folds quicker than a Mormon and a liberal playing Texas Hold 'Em."
I have no idea what that means. I seriously doubt that Thomas Friedman has any idea what it means.
Eyeing the missing crowns that kept flying off Patti's capped teeth, Nicky K gulped again and appeared to shudder.
"Of course I will eat it, Thomas Friedman. You are my best friend. You are my mentor. You are my guide on this life's journey --"
"Shove it, you little candy ass," Thomas Friedman spat out. "I think Patti's served up enough crap for one meal."
"Oh goodness my. One should . . ." Patti chattered away nervously but no one was paying attention to her which, as Mrs. K pointed out, really is the story of Patti's life.
With a look of inspiration, Nicky K suddenly declared, "I was waiting for you to say grace, Thomas Friedman."
"What the hell? Are we in a red state all the sudden?"Thomas Friedman was studying Nicky K really close but Nicky K had obviously seized on what he saw as inspiration.
"Now with dear Judith facing the legal problems --"
"Do I look like Bill Keller?" Thomas Friedman asked in a manner that clearly implied he wasn't waiting for an answer. "No, because I don't have 'ass face' written across my forehead. Judy's problems ain't my problems. Eat the damn burger, Kristof."
"But, Thomas Friedman," Nicky replied quickly, "if Judy takes the fall for a source, the paper might look into all of our sources. They might look into my sources. Or even your sources. They might want to track down that wide variety of cab drivers from various nations who all speak the same when they speak to you as they all take time out of their day to praise you."
I belive that's called check mate.
Blog Spotlight: Rebecca's "bbq talk"
With Rebecca, we're never sure what she'll blog on next. Maybe she'll note the physical attributes of Christian Parenti and Darh Jamail, maybe she'll take on the male prigs who try to tell women what to write about, maybe she'll have one of her inspirational posts. or one of her sex posts, or maybe she'll just entertain with her frank lust for Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. But whether it's a discussion on Social Security or Michael Phelp's butt crack, she'll hold your interest.
This is her entry from the Fourth of July and it's a favorite of ours and one we talked about all week.
bbq talk
did ya get sunburned? did ya pig out?
did the heat knock you out?
while i was catching up with friends and family today there were 2 big topics.
1) the downing street memo
2) karl rove
i know the mainstream media seems to think the 1st 1 is going away, but it's not. my grams was talking about it and when news reaches my grams that goes beyond what 1 of the spauldings are doing on the guiding light it's not going away.
there was a great deal of talk about karl rove and whether he outed valerie plame, the c.i.a. agent. that's another 1 that's not going away.so today, the day that we celebrate our national independence, i saw independent thinking that went beyond any of the cozy comfort the mainstream media tries to shove down our throats.
my uncle had a really good point: how long can the people sit around wondering why the media will not cover the important stories before the media collapses?
it's a good question because my uncle is not what anyone would call political.
among family and friends who were political, the words were much more harsh about the way the media was not covering things.
a cousin brought up the return of 'up next! shark attacks!' and wondered where all that hollow talk from the media about how 9-11 had taught them how important it was to focus on real news went?
my nephew who is 100% behind impeaching the bully boy did a poll asking all of us what we thought?
there were 2 people out of every 1 who felt that we shouldn't impeach the bully boy.
now my nephew is a developing hottie who's going to break a lot of hearts and he is also really likeable so the poll is not scientific by any means. some people may have been humoring him.
but no 1 mounted a real defense of the bully boy.
so maybe on this independence day we're seeing that an independent people can turn on a lap dog press and form their own conclusions?
that's my happy thought today. hope every 1 had fun this weekend and got home safely.
This is her entry from the Fourth of July and it's a favorite of ours and one we talked about all week.
bbq talk
did ya get sunburned? did ya pig out?
did the heat knock you out?
while i was catching up with friends and family today there were 2 big topics.
1) the downing street memo
2) karl rove
i know the mainstream media seems to think the 1st 1 is going away, but it's not. my grams was talking about it and when news reaches my grams that goes beyond what 1 of the spauldings are doing on the guiding light it's not going away.
there was a great deal of talk about karl rove and whether he outed valerie plame, the c.i.a. agent. that's another 1 that's not going away.so today, the day that we celebrate our national independence, i saw independent thinking that went beyond any of the cozy comfort the mainstream media tries to shove down our throats.
my uncle had a really good point: how long can the people sit around wondering why the media will not cover the important stories before the media collapses?
it's a good question because my uncle is not what anyone would call political.
among family and friends who were political, the words were much more harsh about the way the media was not covering things.
a cousin brought up the return of 'up next! shark attacks!' and wondered where all that hollow talk from the media about how 9-11 had taught them how important it was to focus on real news went?
my nephew who is 100% behind impeaching the bully boy did a poll asking all of us what we thought?
there were 2 people out of every 1 who felt that we shouldn't impeach the bully boy.
now my nephew is a developing hottie who's going to break a lot of hearts and he is also really likeable so the poll is not scientific by any means. some people may have been humoring him.
but no 1 mounted a real defense of the bully boy.
so maybe on this independence day we're seeing that an independent people can turn on a lap dog press and form their own conclusions?
that's my happy thought today. hope every 1 had fun this weekend and got home safely.
Blog Spotlight: Mike's "London, Fox Pretends It's News, Pru, crotch rot and Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man
Mikey Likes It! but you love Mike. The e-mails on the interview we did with Mike read like love notes. It's as though he's the thinking person's Orlando Bloom! Monday through Friday, Mike notes a few stories of interest each day while digging into the e-mails, let's it all hang out and waves it in front of your salivating mouths. (Or something.)
While reading this entry, we all had a pause where we asked ourselves, "Did he just say that?"
May he always shock and surprise us. Welcome to the community, Mike.
London, Fox Pretends It's News, Pru, crotch rot and Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man
Good evening everybody. We're going to kick things off with some Democracy Now!
London Death Toll Climbs to 50
The confirmed death toll from yesterday's coordinated bomb attacks in London has risen to at least 50 - making it the deadliest attack in London since the Second World War. More than 700 people were injured in the attacks. A massive intelligence investigation is now under way and evidence is emerging that the attacks may have been carried out using timing devices, raising comparisons to the Madrid bombings. A previously unknown group calling itself the Secret Organization Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe claimed to be behind the attacks. In a statement posted on an Islamist website, the group said the attacks were "in revenge of the massacres that Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan."
We're staying with Democracy Now! for another piece, the Fox Pretends It's News reaction:
FOX News Hosts Celebrate London Attacks
During their coverage of the breaking news events yesterday, several FOX News hosts or reporters made comments that are raising some eyebrows. The network's Washington Managing Editor Brit Hume told host Shepard Smith, that when he heard about the London bombings, he saw it as an investment opportunity:
"I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, "Hmmm, time to buy." Others may have thought that as well."
Meanwhile, one of the network's anchors, Brian Kilmeade, said the attacks worked to the Western world's advantage and he blasted the international gathering at the G8 for focusing on global warming and African aid instead of terrorism. Here is some of what he said right after Tony Blair spoke yesterday. This is FOX anchor Brian Kilmeade talking to another FOX's Paul Varney:
KILMEADE: And that was the first time since 9-11 when they should know, and they do know now, that terrorism should be Number 1. But it's important for them all to be together. I think that works to our advantage, in the Western world's advantage, for people to experience something like this together, just 500 miles from where the attacks have happened."
VARNEY: It puts the Number 1 issue right back on the front burner right at the point where all these world leaders are meeting. It takes global warming off the front burner. It takes African aid off the front burner. It sticks terrorism and the fight on the war on terror, right up front all over again.
KILMEADE: Yeah.
FOX News hosts Brian Kilmeade and Paul Varney, speaking yesterday on FOX. Thanks to Media Matters for those clips.
Now we're going to return to the real world and get Pru's reaction to the bombings. Pru is UK citizen and a member of The Common Ills community:
Pru: Maybe we're better informed by our media? Maybe our proximity and awareness of other nations prepared us? While yesterday's attacks were nothing like the attacks on the United States on September 11th in terms of scope or damage, they were attacks none the less. We, as a country, have suffered a great loss.
But as I looked around yesterday, I saw grief that was mature and reasoned. There was no need to question, "Why us?" It's perfectly obvious why us. We have engaged with and supported the policies of the United States not limited to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This has been done despite the large objection coming from the people of our country and despite the fact that the objection has only grown as we have been confronted with the reality that there is no "win" in Iraq, not for us, not for the States.
"Why us" does not trip off our tongues because the answer is obvious and frightening.
Equally obvious has been the answer which is that we must pull out of the illegal occupation. Thursday's events make that quite clear and, all around me, that was the sentiment most often shared.
Prime Minister Tony Blair did not shirk the way the Bully Boy did. He was present and accounted for. However, what he had to offer were empty words that, while more eloquent than anything that tumbles out of the Bully Boy's smirking mouth, said very little. Terrorist attacks. Check. Empty words supposed to warm us. Check. The reasons for the attack? Silence.
All around I heard people asking the hard questions and supplying the tough answers that the Prime Minister refused to address. We've grown to expect that from him and there is a sense among some that what is in the best interest of England is not the primary concern of our current Prime Minister.
There was also a sense that for all his posturing and playing poodle to the Bully Boy, Prime Minister Blair has done very little that has truly protected our country. Possibly there is no way to protect one from the events of today; however, Prime Minister Blair has asked for outlandish powers and even those granted him have been ineffective as was demonstrated before our own eyes.
We are a determined people and the determination we share now is not one of vengeance but one of addressing the events that led to the attacks. What Prime Minister Blair clearly wishes to avoid is not being ignored by the people of my country. Our determination to withdraw from the Bully Boy's illegal war of choice has only grown stronger.
Hearing reports that the insect known as Fox News in the United States was bragging that the attacks had taught us something caused me to recoil. Then I realized that they were correct about the teaching, just incorrect about the lesson itself. What it has taught us, the lesson, is what we already knew: an illegal war of choice leaves us all at risk, an illegal occupation that provides the window dressings of success but no real improvement is as meaningless as any words our Prime Minister could muster. The lesson confirmed what we already knew. The occupation must end and troops must withdraw. Until that happens safety is a myth that will destroy us all.
The Fox insect! If you know Pru from her comments at The Common Ills, you know she's way cool.
Ma was the first online this morning and while I was scarfing down breakfast, she goes Pru has written the most sensible thing on the bombings she's read. So I knew it would be good and it was.
Now let's dip into the e-mail. Roy e-mails to say he's 17, does trick riding on horses and this time of year really works up a sweat. He read Rebecca's thing on crotch rot awhile back and is wondering if he's got that.
Roy, I think crotch rot is a medical condition. As you explain it later in your e-mail, you're talking about odor and that's what Rebecca was talking about.
So let's talk about it. Last summer, it was time to paint the house and Dad decides the middle of August is the perfect time. We were out there for hours and two and a half days. Primer and three coats. Dad's convinced when I move out I'll be like my other brothers and never come back to help with the house lol. So he wanted to get a good paint job in while he still had me under the roof and able to help.
Dude, I stunk. I never sweat so much in my life. Never in practice, never during a game. The first day I noticed I was pretty rank all over. I showered and didn't worry about it. The second day, rank again but after the shower still rank. I sniff my pits, nothing there but soap smell. Then I figure it's my socks in the hamper or something so I start to head out but it hits me. I grab the towel around my waist, take it off and take a sniff. Wanted to die. It was my crotch.
I couldn't wash that smell out. The next day only made it worse.
Friday was coming up and I did have a date. I call my buds and they just laugh at me. I call my bros and they're all "That is so gross! Don't ever tell me that kind of story again!" So I didn't know what to do. I must have showered six times Friday trying to get rid of the smell. I figured it was cancel the date or make the most of it. Cologne didn't help and it only made it burn. I'm putting on my Old Spice High Endurance deodorant under my arms when it hits me, what if I used it on my crotch?
I swipe it over my pubes and that part of the skin that's between your legs and crotch. Dude it killed the smell completely. For good. I didn't have to reapply or anything.
So maybe that would help with you? But if you try it, make sure you're using your own deodorant cause nobody's gonna want to put it to their arm pits after it's been dancing around down below.
So now let's talk about Betty who's written yet another hilarious thing at her blog Thomas Friedman is a Great Man. Have you checked it out yet? If you haven't, you need to. Here's a part of her latest:
I have to live with it. Do I also have read it's writings?
We had a "roof picnic" Monday. It was a nightmare. Nicky K and Mrs. Kristof were there as well as this woman named Patti Limerick Nelson.There was Thomas Friedman the not so great man up on our roof wearing a "Kiss the Chef" apron. Did I mention it was over his shorty robe?
I kept begging him to put on some clothes but he insisted on wearing the shorty robe because he wanted an "all body tan" to go with his highlights. He's had more done. Mrs. K again asked if he was getting more gray hairs and Thomas Friedman again pouted.
While he was pouting and on the ledge of the roof insisting that since no one understood him, appreciated him, valued him or even wanted him for their partner in charades (his fault, he can't keep his mouth shut even when he's acting out the clues) he might as well jump, Nicky K, probably because of the heat, launched into a version of Van Halen's "Jump."
Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump
Thomas Friedman stopped sobbing long enough to give Nicky K a good glaring.
Mrs. K tried to save the moment by launching into her own version of Third Eye Blind's "Jumper:"
I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend,
You could cut ties with all the lies,
That you've been living in,
And if you do not want to see me again,
I would understand,
I would understand.
Wiping his eyes on his the bottom of his apron, which unfortunately was caught on his shorty robe therefore leaving us all with a not so good look at his Thomases and Friedman, Thomas Friedman decided to rejoin the picnic.
But by that time the burgers had burned. And then some.
Read the whole thing, it's hilarious. I'm going to do at least one entry this weekend. It might be tomorrow or it might be Sunday. Hope everybody has a great weekend. Keep it cool and stay cool.
While reading this entry, we all had a pause where we asked ourselves, "Did he just say that?"
May he always shock and surprise us. Welcome to the community, Mike.
London, Fox Pretends It's News, Pru, crotch rot and Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man
Good evening everybody. We're going to kick things off with some Democracy Now!
London Death Toll Climbs to 50
The confirmed death toll from yesterday's coordinated bomb attacks in London has risen to at least 50 - making it the deadliest attack in London since the Second World War. More than 700 people were injured in the attacks. A massive intelligence investigation is now under way and evidence is emerging that the attacks may have been carried out using timing devices, raising comparisons to the Madrid bombings. A previously unknown group calling itself the Secret Organization Group of al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation in Europe claimed to be behind the attacks. In a statement posted on an Islamist website, the group said the attacks were "in revenge of the massacres that Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan."
We're staying with Democracy Now! for another piece, the Fox Pretends It's News reaction:
FOX News Hosts Celebrate London Attacks
During their coverage of the breaking news events yesterday, several FOX News hosts or reporters made comments that are raising some eyebrows. The network's Washington Managing Editor Brit Hume told host Shepard Smith, that when he heard about the London bombings, he saw it as an investment opportunity:
"I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, "Hmmm, time to buy." Others may have thought that as well."
Meanwhile, one of the network's anchors, Brian Kilmeade, said the attacks worked to the Western world's advantage and he blasted the international gathering at the G8 for focusing on global warming and African aid instead of terrorism. Here is some of what he said right after Tony Blair spoke yesterday. This is FOX anchor Brian Kilmeade talking to another FOX's Paul Varney:
KILMEADE: And that was the first time since 9-11 when they should know, and they do know now, that terrorism should be Number 1. But it's important for them all to be together. I think that works to our advantage, in the Western world's advantage, for people to experience something like this together, just 500 miles from where the attacks have happened."
VARNEY: It puts the Number 1 issue right back on the front burner right at the point where all these world leaders are meeting. It takes global warming off the front burner. It takes African aid off the front burner. It sticks terrorism and the fight on the war on terror, right up front all over again.
KILMEADE: Yeah.
FOX News hosts Brian Kilmeade and Paul Varney, speaking yesterday on FOX. Thanks to Media Matters for those clips.
Now we're going to return to the real world and get Pru's reaction to the bombings. Pru is UK citizen and a member of The Common Ills community:
Pru: Maybe we're better informed by our media? Maybe our proximity and awareness of other nations prepared us? While yesterday's attacks were nothing like the attacks on the United States on September 11th in terms of scope or damage, they were attacks none the less. We, as a country, have suffered a great loss.
But as I looked around yesterday, I saw grief that was mature and reasoned. There was no need to question, "Why us?" It's perfectly obvious why us. We have engaged with and supported the policies of the United States not limited to the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This has been done despite the large objection coming from the people of our country and despite the fact that the objection has only grown as we have been confronted with the reality that there is no "win" in Iraq, not for us, not for the States.
"Why us" does not trip off our tongues because the answer is obvious and frightening.
Equally obvious has been the answer which is that we must pull out of the illegal occupation. Thursday's events make that quite clear and, all around me, that was the sentiment most often shared.
Prime Minister Tony Blair did not shirk the way the Bully Boy did. He was present and accounted for. However, what he had to offer were empty words that, while more eloquent than anything that tumbles out of the Bully Boy's smirking mouth, said very little. Terrorist attacks. Check. Empty words supposed to warm us. Check. The reasons for the attack? Silence.
All around I heard people asking the hard questions and supplying the tough answers that the Prime Minister refused to address. We've grown to expect that from him and there is a sense among some that what is in the best interest of England is not the primary concern of our current Prime Minister.
There was also a sense that for all his posturing and playing poodle to the Bully Boy, Prime Minister Blair has done very little that has truly protected our country. Possibly there is no way to protect one from the events of today; however, Prime Minister Blair has asked for outlandish powers and even those granted him have been ineffective as was demonstrated before our own eyes.
We are a determined people and the determination we share now is not one of vengeance but one of addressing the events that led to the attacks. What Prime Minister Blair clearly wishes to avoid is not being ignored by the people of my country. Our determination to withdraw from the Bully Boy's illegal war of choice has only grown stronger.
Hearing reports that the insect known as Fox News in the United States was bragging that the attacks had taught us something caused me to recoil. Then I realized that they were correct about the teaching, just incorrect about the lesson itself. What it has taught us, the lesson, is what we already knew: an illegal war of choice leaves us all at risk, an illegal occupation that provides the window dressings of success but no real improvement is as meaningless as any words our Prime Minister could muster. The lesson confirmed what we already knew. The occupation must end and troops must withdraw. Until that happens safety is a myth that will destroy us all.
The Fox insect! If you know Pru from her comments at The Common Ills, you know she's way cool.
Ma was the first online this morning and while I was scarfing down breakfast, she goes Pru has written the most sensible thing on the bombings she's read. So I knew it would be good and it was.
Now let's dip into the e-mail. Roy e-mails to say he's 17, does trick riding on horses and this time of year really works up a sweat. He read Rebecca's thing on crotch rot awhile back and is wondering if he's got that.
Roy, I think crotch rot is a medical condition. As you explain it later in your e-mail, you're talking about odor and that's what Rebecca was talking about.
So let's talk about it. Last summer, it was time to paint the house and Dad decides the middle of August is the perfect time. We were out there for hours and two and a half days. Primer and three coats. Dad's convinced when I move out I'll be like my other brothers and never come back to help with the house lol. So he wanted to get a good paint job in while he still had me under the roof and able to help.
Dude, I stunk. I never sweat so much in my life. Never in practice, never during a game. The first day I noticed I was pretty rank all over. I showered and didn't worry about it. The second day, rank again but after the shower still rank. I sniff my pits, nothing there but soap smell. Then I figure it's my socks in the hamper or something so I start to head out but it hits me. I grab the towel around my waist, take it off and take a sniff. Wanted to die. It was my crotch.
I couldn't wash that smell out. The next day only made it worse.
Friday was coming up and I did have a date. I call my buds and they just laugh at me. I call my bros and they're all "That is so gross! Don't ever tell me that kind of story again!" So I didn't know what to do. I must have showered six times Friday trying to get rid of the smell. I figured it was cancel the date or make the most of it. Cologne didn't help and it only made it burn. I'm putting on my Old Spice High Endurance deodorant under my arms when it hits me, what if I used it on my crotch?
I swipe it over my pubes and that part of the skin that's between your legs and crotch. Dude it killed the smell completely. For good. I didn't have to reapply or anything.
So maybe that would help with you? But if you try it, make sure you're using your own deodorant cause nobody's gonna want to put it to their arm pits after it's been dancing around down below.
So now let's talk about Betty who's written yet another hilarious thing at her blog Thomas Friedman is a Great Man. Have you checked it out yet? If you haven't, you need to. Here's a part of her latest:
I have to live with it. Do I also have read it's writings?
We had a "roof picnic" Monday. It was a nightmare. Nicky K and Mrs. Kristof were there as well as this woman named Patti Limerick Nelson.There was Thomas Friedman the not so great man up on our roof wearing a "Kiss the Chef" apron. Did I mention it was over his shorty robe?
I kept begging him to put on some clothes but he insisted on wearing the shorty robe because he wanted an "all body tan" to go with his highlights. He's had more done. Mrs. K again asked if he was getting more gray hairs and Thomas Friedman again pouted.
While he was pouting and on the ledge of the roof insisting that since no one understood him, appreciated him, valued him or even wanted him for their partner in charades (his fault, he can't keep his mouth shut even when he's acting out the clues) he might as well jump, Nicky K, probably because of the heat, launched into a version of Van Halen's "Jump."
Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump
Thomas Friedman stopped sobbing long enough to give Nicky K a good glaring.
Mrs. K tried to save the moment by launching into her own version of Third Eye Blind's "Jumper:"
I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend,
You could cut ties with all the lies,
That you've been living in,
And if you do not want to see me again,
I would understand,
I would understand.
Wiping his eyes on his the bottom of his apron, which unfortunately was caught on his shorty robe therefore leaving us all with a not so good look at his Thomases and Friedman, Thomas Friedman decided to rejoin the picnic.
But by that time the burgers had burned. And then some.
Read the whole thing, it's hilarious. I'm going to do at least one entry this weekend. It might be tomorrow or it might be Sunday. Hope everybody has a great weekend. Keep it cool and stay cool.
Kat's Korner: White Stripes latest has the usual pastel boys trying to be "helpful"
Thanks to Kat and C.I. for permission to reprint her review of the latest CD by the White Stripes. Like the album, Kat's review is full of passion and sweat. We love it and we love the album. Check out the CD if you haven't already.
Kat's Korner: White Stripes latest has the usual pastel boys trying to be "helpful"
White Stripes is the loud kid in class that either delights you or irritates the hell out of you.
For a lot of people devoted to the group (Jack and Meg White), it's beyond disbelief that anyone couldn't get behind them and just give it all up to the greatness of their music. Get Behind Me, Satan is, in fact, the name of the new album.
At a time when Focus on the Fool and Pat Robertson swallow face time on TV like a binge eater left alone in the house with Sara Lees in the freezer, it takes either crafty marketing to offer an alternative to the usual "I want to give it up to God, thank you, Jesus!" award show bits or else it takes just being unable to do it any other way.
People who love the White Stripes would argue in favor of the latter and note that the two aren't very good with publicity (even the we'-re-brother-and-sister spin blew up in their face when people discovered they were actually a divorced couple). I'd agree with that because when you listen to Meg's drumming, you quickly grasp she's doing it her way, the only way she knows.
She's breaking basic rules and, in the process, rounding the "White Stripe sound." A few e-mails came in saying "Jack should dump Meg, she's a lousy drummer!" That is the popular mantra of ill informed print critics. But before you swallow their nonsense, think about this: Do you really want a Jack White solo act?
I don't. Meg's talented. She's no Andrew Ridgely or John Oates who's apparently just along for the ride. She is an architect of the sound. Drop Meg from the "group" and Jack's own deficiencies become more obvious. Put the two of them together and you've got a solid rock act.
Like Maureen Tucker before her, Meg's anchoring the sound, framing the sound and an integral part of the sound. And the little boys grown big everywhere but in their minds (hopefully, it's just their minds that are tiny) are the same ones who freaked in high school when they learned that the drummer in the Velvet Underground was a woman and quickly needed reassurance that Ginger Baker was, indeed, a man.
I'm not dismissing Jack who is the sole writer on this album, the producer, the lead vocalist (Meg also adds vocals), the guitar player and, for many, the face of the group. But if the White Stripes sound is working, and it is, credit for that goes not just to Jack but to Meg as well.
Take "The Nurse." You strip away Meg's drumming and you're left with the fact that you've got nice guitar doodles during the break and a creepy chord progression. Not creepy enough to inspire (or even entertain) Marilyn Manson, but creepy none the less. Meg's drumming is what fleshes the song out and turns it into rock.
Maybe the boys grew up on too much Narada Michael Walden in the eighties and just can't appreciate a real drummer (as opposed to a drum machine)? Or maybe the boys are doing their usual b.s. of whose cock is bigger? In the Stones, they could debate whether it was Mick, Keith, Ron, etc. In White Stripes, there are just two and, naturally, Meg's not really equipped to compete, let alone win, that contest.
We've all heard the various jokes about the drummer in any band. Apparently when the drummer's a woman, the jokes stop for some critics and it's open season on working through all the Boy's Only Club House rules.
But before you sign up for Spanky's Woman Haters Club, make time to actually listen to what the sound is. A virtuoso jazz drummer is not going to work in this band. (Unless you're wanting Jack to front LA Express.) What works is someone who's breaking the rules. Sometimes it works ("Blue Orchid" being a strong example), sometimes it doesn't. For the record, the same applies to Jack's contributions.
It's loud, it's messy and you're never quite sure where the next track will take you. In a nutshell, it's rock music.On a track like "My Doorbell" everything works perfectly. All the elements fall together and you're hearing music made by people, not by machines.
Maybe that frightens some? Or maybe it's the fact that you've got a woman who really muscles the drums for that big sound and it's not Sheila E. in a half-slip doing an R&B number? Ask the Wilson sisters (Ann and Nancy) or Stevie Nicks and they'll probably tell you that there's something very threatening to some guys when a woman wants to rock out.
"Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)" merely marks time until the drums kick in. Note to the boys, that's Meg on those drums.
The White Stripes sound is raw and messy. It's downright dangerous in a world of "beats" and "mixes."
So what's Get Behind Me, Satan like Kat?
It's like every seventies garage band in stained t-shirts pumping up the best damn music while the room drips sweat. There's not a polished, spit-shined moment here. It's raw, it's real. In an earlier time, we would have labeled it "organic" or "authentic." In these days of Disney Kids and the children of Destiny (mark the calenders on the latter), this is deviant.
So maybe these helpful boys screaming for Meg's head on a drum stick just forgot what real music sounds like? Nah, that's not it. They spend a fortune on their overpriced stereo systems -- don't ever adjust the sound unless you want to hear them screech and throw a tantrum -- and then suddenly it's all about what's coming out of this speaker and what's coming out of that speaker, which layer they can isolate and which they can't. That's why they hail Sting as a music genius when, while he's good solo, nothing he's done in years has approaced the work done with the Police. They're the ones pushing the revisionist history that Wings would be judged an amazing band if Paul's last one hadn't been so huge.
For the record, Wings was middle of the road. For the record, once Sting didn't have to butt heads with the other two, all the tension and drama left his music. It became pretty wall paper and was judged on different terms which is good for Sting because as rock it never made it. (As yet another pale imitation of Joni Mitchell, it's quite melodic.) To put it as plainly as possible, these boys are the Yokos.
Now Yoko Ono didn't break up the Beatles. But these boys are acting out their own perception of Yoko, they just can't grasp it.A solid rock band isn't easy to come by these days. The White Stripes sizzle, burn and bake.
They are the real thing.
"But couldn't Jack be a little more confessional?" they whine. They're the type of "critics" who get upset anytime Ryan Adams straps on the axe and goes to town. Though they'd never admit it, they're Madonna babies. They grew up on "Like a Virgin" and the lot and when they wanted to get "wild," they'd put on Huey Lewis and the News or maybe Power Station. The boys dreaming, creaming, for a Duran Duran comeback.
They didn't know how to judge real music in their formative years and they still don't. So they take one of the last authentic rock bands and work themselves into a lather and cream rinse over the fact that it's not polished and pristine. It's too messy and it's not easy to hear each individual part so they're in a panic. What's the point of spending half a year's salary at Circuit City or Best Buy if you can't hear each and every individual note?
They want to tear apart the White Stripes. Not to figure out how it works and then put it back together, just to tear it apart. And when, later on, a solo Jack White does a musical salute to, for instance, Tom Jones, they'll be right there saying, "This is where it's really at."
Why should you check out Get Behind Me, Satan? First reason, it has the establishment critics scared. Anything that frightens them as they scurry between Starbucks and Borders still has life left in it.
Play this one loud and be prepared to surrender to the splendid chaos. And wonder, when you get to track eleven, if possibly Jack had these "establishment critics" in mind when he wrote "As Ugly As I Am:"
Can you believe some things are not
Appealing and there's a spot
On the ceiling of my childhood bedroom
And can these dreams you can't imagine
Will never match the vision
That you had decided for me
You are to take away from me
Things that are mine and it's not your right
Out that you'd wouldn't expect to find out
Can it be that I don't want what you want?
It's only ugly if you're looking for pastels.
Kat's Korner: White Stripes latest has the usual pastel boys trying to be "helpful"
White Stripes is the loud kid in class that either delights you or irritates the hell out of you.
For a lot of people devoted to the group (Jack and Meg White), it's beyond disbelief that anyone couldn't get behind them and just give it all up to the greatness of their music. Get Behind Me, Satan is, in fact, the name of the new album.
At a time when Focus on the Fool and Pat Robertson swallow face time on TV like a binge eater left alone in the house with Sara Lees in the freezer, it takes either crafty marketing to offer an alternative to the usual "I want to give it up to God, thank you, Jesus!" award show bits or else it takes just being unable to do it any other way.
People who love the White Stripes would argue in favor of the latter and note that the two aren't very good with publicity (even the we'-re-brother-and-sister spin blew up in their face when people discovered they were actually a divorced couple). I'd agree with that because when you listen to Meg's drumming, you quickly grasp she's doing it her way, the only way she knows.
She's breaking basic rules and, in the process, rounding the "White Stripe sound." A few e-mails came in saying "Jack should dump Meg, she's a lousy drummer!" That is the popular mantra of ill informed print critics. But before you swallow their nonsense, think about this: Do you really want a Jack White solo act?
I don't. Meg's talented. She's no Andrew Ridgely or John Oates who's apparently just along for the ride. She is an architect of the sound. Drop Meg from the "group" and Jack's own deficiencies become more obvious. Put the two of them together and you've got a solid rock act.
Like Maureen Tucker before her, Meg's anchoring the sound, framing the sound and an integral part of the sound. And the little boys grown big everywhere but in their minds (hopefully, it's just their minds that are tiny) are the same ones who freaked in high school when they learned that the drummer in the Velvet Underground was a woman and quickly needed reassurance that Ginger Baker was, indeed, a man.
I'm not dismissing Jack who is the sole writer on this album, the producer, the lead vocalist (Meg also adds vocals), the guitar player and, for many, the face of the group. But if the White Stripes sound is working, and it is, credit for that goes not just to Jack but to Meg as well.
Take "The Nurse." You strip away Meg's drumming and you're left with the fact that you've got nice guitar doodles during the break and a creepy chord progression. Not creepy enough to inspire (or even entertain) Marilyn Manson, but creepy none the less. Meg's drumming is what fleshes the song out and turns it into rock.
Maybe the boys grew up on too much Narada Michael Walden in the eighties and just can't appreciate a real drummer (as opposed to a drum machine)? Or maybe the boys are doing their usual b.s. of whose cock is bigger? In the Stones, they could debate whether it was Mick, Keith, Ron, etc. In White Stripes, there are just two and, naturally, Meg's not really equipped to compete, let alone win, that contest.
We've all heard the various jokes about the drummer in any band. Apparently when the drummer's a woman, the jokes stop for some critics and it's open season on working through all the Boy's Only Club House rules.
But before you sign up for Spanky's Woman Haters Club, make time to actually listen to what the sound is. A virtuoso jazz drummer is not going to work in this band. (Unless you're wanting Jack to front LA Express.) What works is someone who's breaking the rules. Sometimes it works ("Blue Orchid" being a strong example), sometimes it doesn't. For the record, the same applies to Jack's contributions.
It's loud, it's messy and you're never quite sure where the next track will take you. In a nutshell, it's rock music.On a track like "My Doorbell" everything works perfectly. All the elements fall together and you're hearing music made by people, not by machines.
Maybe that frightens some? Or maybe it's the fact that you've got a woman who really muscles the drums for that big sound and it's not Sheila E. in a half-slip doing an R&B number? Ask the Wilson sisters (Ann and Nancy) or Stevie Nicks and they'll probably tell you that there's something very threatening to some guys when a woman wants to rock out.
"Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)" merely marks time until the drums kick in. Note to the boys, that's Meg on those drums.
The White Stripes sound is raw and messy. It's downright dangerous in a world of "beats" and "mixes."
So what's Get Behind Me, Satan like Kat?
It's like every seventies garage band in stained t-shirts pumping up the best damn music while the room drips sweat. There's not a polished, spit-shined moment here. It's raw, it's real. In an earlier time, we would have labeled it "organic" or "authentic." In these days of Disney Kids and the children of Destiny (mark the calenders on the latter), this is deviant.
So maybe these helpful boys screaming for Meg's head on a drum stick just forgot what real music sounds like? Nah, that's not it. They spend a fortune on their overpriced stereo systems -- don't ever adjust the sound unless you want to hear them screech and throw a tantrum -- and then suddenly it's all about what's coming out of this speaker and what's coming out of that speaker, which layer they can isolate and which they can't. That's why they hail Sting as a music genius when, while he's good solo, nothing he's done in years has approaced the work done with the Police. They're the ones pushing the revisionist history that Wings would be judged an amazing band if Paul's last one hadn't been so huge.
For the record, Wings was middle of the road. For the record, once Sting didn't have to butt heads with the other two, all the tension and drama left his music. It became pretty wall paper and was judged on different terms which is good for Sting because as rock it never made it. (As yet another pale imitation of Joni Mitchell, it's quite melodic.) To put it as plainly as possible, these boys are the Yokos.
Now Yoko Ono didn't break up the Beatles. But these boys are acting out their own perception of Yoko, they just can't grasp it.A solid rock band isn't easy to come by these days. The White Stripes sizzle, burn and bake.
They are the real thing.
"But couldn't Jack be a little more confessional?" they whine. They're the type of "critics" who get upset anytime Ryan Adams straps on the axe and goes to town. Though they'd never admit it, they're Madonna babies. They grew up on "Like a Virgin" and the lot and when they wanted to get "wild," they'd put on Huey Lewis and the News or maybe Power Station. The boys dreaming, creaming, for a Duran Duran comeback.
They didn't know how to judge real music in their formative years and they still don't. So they take one of the last authentic rock bands and work themselves into a lather and cream rinse over the fact that it's not polished and pristine. It's too messy and it's not easy to hear each individual part so they're in a panic. What's the point of spending half a year's salary at Circuit City or Best Buy if you can't hear each and every individual note?
They want to tear apart the White Stripes. Not to figure out how it works and then put it back together, just to tear it apart. And when, later on, a solo Jack White does a musical salute to, for instance, Tom Jones, they'll be right there saying, "This is where it's really at."
Why should you check out Get Behind Me, Satan? First reason, it has the establishment critics scared. Anything that frightens them as they scurry between Starbucks and Borders still has life left in it.
Play this one loud and be prepared to surrender to the splendid chaos. And wonder, when you get to track eleven, if possibly Jack had these "establishment critics" in mind when he wrote "As Ugly As I Am:"
Can you believe some things are not
Appealing and there's a spot
On the ceiling of my childhood bedroom
And can these dreams you can't imagine
Will never match the vision
That you had decided for me
You are to take away from me
Things that are mine and it's not your right
Out that you'd wouldn't expect to find out
Can it be that I don't want what you want?
It's only ugly if you're looking for pastels.
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