Left I on the News

"Do you understand what the New York Times wants, and the far-left want? They want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure, which you're a part, and so am I, and they want to bring in millions of foreign nationals to basically break down the structure that we have."

- Bill O'Reilly, interviewing John McCain

I wonder if O'Reilly is in the habit of calling people like me who oppose the actions of the state of Israel "anti-Semitic"? I'll bet he is. A search on "Bill O'Reilly anti-semitic" certainly turns up plenty of hits of him calling all sorts of people anti-Semitic. Pretty funny coming from a self-described member of the "Christian power structure." Although that's really just wishful thinking on his part - Bill O'Reilly is a completely dispensable sycophant and hanger-on of that power structure, or perhaps more accurately a parasite, but not a member.

(Hat tip Crooks and Liars)

And now, as with the recent dropping of charges against Luis Posada Carriles, the government has decided that prosecuting "good" terrorists (or even calling them terrorists or charging them as such) isn't a priority. Federal prosecutors originally charged him with only five charges of illegal weapons possession, but last week, they went further and reduced those charges to only one -- possession of 17 firearms and one hand grenade. Ferro was certainly never charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism.

Ferro isn't a special case, however. Oh no. Another huge cache of weapons (dozens of machine guns, rifles, C-4 explosive, dynamite, detonators, a grenade launcher and ammunition) seized in the United States was seized in Miami, from two allies of Posada, Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat. Alvarez and Mitat were sentenced to prison, but are about to have their sentences reduced to time served (about a year). Why? Because they turned over some of their arsenal to the Feds. By the way, Alvarez is the one who smuggled Posada into the United States, a crime even if Posada were a normal illegal immigrant, and a major crime considering Posada is a convicted (in Panama) felon (not to mention a known terrorist). Alvarez has not been charged with any crime in that instance. Hold your shock.

Labels: Robert Ferro

Piolin (Eddie Sotelo) is a Mexican-American radio host who has the largest audience of any morning show in the country. He's one of those who has been responsible for the huge turnouts at immigrant rights rallies in the last two years. A friend has been urging me to tell people about a new (and obviously urgent) campaign he's been pushing to flood Congress with letters on the issue. You can read some discussion here, and/or click on the graphic above to add your voice to the campaign.

The U.S. military is working more aggressively to forge cease-fires with Iraqi militants and quell the violence around Baghdad... a top U.S. commander said Thursday.

"We are talking about cease-fires, and maybe signing some things that say they won't conduct operations against the government of Iraq or against coalition forces," Odierno said from Camp Victory in Baghdad.

That was funny enough. But actually what tickled my funny bone was this:

Odierno said he believes that about 80 percent of the enemy fighters — including key Sunni insurgent groups and Shiite militia — could be brought into the political process [or, are "reconcilable," according to another quote in the article].

But...I decided instead to reach into the wayback machine and go for a different song - "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" by Elvis Presley (with able assistance from the Jordanaires), from October, 1956. Interestingly enough, looking for a graphic, I found that the very first song Elvis ever released, in July, 1954, was another Blue Moon song, "Blue Moon of Kentucky." He also recorded "Blue Moon" itself that same month, but it wasn't released until 1956.

Notice the graphic. These were the days when 45s were actually released with cardboard covers with graphics, like miniature LPs. And yes, although I found the picture on the Internet, I've still got my copy sitting in its cover. Although this wasn't Elvis' first RCA record, it's entitled "Elvis Volume I," and the cover informs you that you're listening to "A 'New Orthophonic' High Fidelity Recording," whatever that is. The record is so old the copyright isn't RCA (which itself no longer exists), but "Radio Corporation of America." And here's how it sounds.

And for those who can't appreciate a song without video.

Labels: Music

The state Senate Rules Committee voted 3-2 Wednesday in favor of a non-binding resolution that would ask California voters whether President Bush should "end the U.S. occupation of Iraq."

The bill's sponsor, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, said the public needs a voice through Democratic means, or else frustration could spill into the streets, as it did during the Vietnam War.

Don't get me wrong, I not only like the idea of referenda like this, I think they're an excellent organizing tool. They provide a great potential opportunity for continuous (for a period of weeks or months, anyway) antiwar organizing and agitating - organizing meetings, passing out leaflets, etc. They aren't counterposed to demonstrations in any way, but rather perfectly complementary. But it's an interesting peek into the mind of a politician that Don Perata thinks otherwise.

Update: It didn't hit me on first reading, but I just noticed the upper-case "D" in "Democratic." Quite the interesting Freudian slip!

Update 2: A reminder of my own proposal for a California referendum, on the subject of the National Guard, from 2005 (but still perfectly valid should anyone want to take up the fight).

One furious resident, a 28-year-old police officer, said U.S. soldiers crashed an armored vehicle into his home about 2 a.m., handcuffed and blindfolded those inside and pointed lasers at their chests.

"They were hitting us, asking, 'Where are the kidnapped British?' " said Ahmed Jizani. "I told them that we are five brothers in the police force. How could we do that? They said, 'OK, then tell us where are they?' "

Local television showed video of the man's home, a collapsed outside wall and piles of rubble.

Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman, said he could not immediately confirm or deny the man's allegations. But, he said, U.S. forces "tend not to take that heavy-handed an approach."

Enjoy.

Update: A picture (courtesy of WIIIAI) of a couple of "fortunate daughters" who have found better things to do than to fight in the war their father thinks is so vital to the future of the world.

Labels: Music

As I wrote in the comments the other day, there certainly are Americans who die as a result of the invasion of Iraq who are not counted in the "official" totals. People who commit suicide (or "suicide by cop") after leaving the service. People who kill their spouses after returning from a tour. People who die years later from exposure to depleted uranium or other hazardous substances. Contractors. CIA agents. I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

But people who are wounded in Iraq and then die within some directly-attributable time frame thereafter in a hospital in the U.S. or Germany? Those are counted.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, it would seem. Although in truth, things haven't changed very much at all. Only the names.

Have a listen.

Labels: Music

And once again I ask, when will a reporter again ask George Bush how many Iraqis have died of other than natural causes since March 18, 2003? Indeed, when will I even hear a reporter mention on the air (or in print) a number, even an inaccurate low-ball number, of the Iraqi dead?

"Our children are part of a society that listens to and counts on them, a society that they help build," said Keyla Estevez, the vice president of the Jose Marti Pioneers Organization.

It seems unlikely that either the resistance in Iraq has become more efficient in terms of the killed/wounded ratio, or that battlefield care has improved that much in that period. More likely, the U.S. military has changed their standards for who they count as wounded (maybe you have to lose a body part to count now), or else they're just fudging the numbers pure and simple (more likely the first of those two explanations is the right one).

Just an observation. For sure the toll of the wounded is a major underreported story in the American media, although its cost (in money and on the lives of the affected people) is huge, larger in many ways than that of the dead.

Labels: Music

Update: I've just finished watching a very long (several minutes) piece (accompanied by melodramatic background music!) on CNN entitled "Saving the Fallen," about medics in Iraq. And the U.S. media is busy complaining about Venezuelan control of the media! Quoting Amy Goodman yet again, "If we had state media in the United States, how would it be any different?"

The Camp Casey Peace Institute is calling all citizens who are as disgusted as we are with you all to join us in Philadelphia on July 4th to try and figure a way out of this "two" party system that is bought and paid for by the war machine which has a stranglehold on every aspect of our lives. As for myself, I am leaving the Democratic Party. You have completely failed those who put you in power to change the direction our country is heading. We did not elect you to help sink our ship of state but to guide it to safe harbor.

I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called "Face" of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such "liberal blogs" as the Democratic Underground. Being called an "attention whore" and being told "good riddance" are some of the more milder rebukes.

...I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a "tool" of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our "two-party" system?

However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the "left" started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of "right or left", but "right and wrong."

Anyway, to commemorate this event, here's a song from Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe entitled, "When All Night Long A Chap Remains," which comments on the absurdity of the two-party system. The relevant line, now dated in England thanks to the addition of the Liberal Democrats to the picture since the time the song was written, is this:

I often think it's comical--Fal, lal, la! Fal, lal, la!
How Nature always does contrive--Fal, lal, la, la!
That every boy and every gal
That's born into the world alive
Is either a little Liberal
Or else a little Conservative!

When in that House M.P.'s divide,
If they've a brain and cerebellum, too,
They've got to leave that brain outside,
And vote just as their leaders tell 'em to.

Labels: Music

Labels: Music

And, aside from being "linked" to al Qaeda, what is the horrible terrorist crime committed by these "Islamic militants"? They robbed a bank, a fact you'll be hard-pressed to find in the corporate media.

Plenty of reason for the U.S. to be rushing weapons to the scene, though. Blowback? Count on this being the very definition of the word, months or years hence.

But is he [sic]? Think about the famous Stanford Prison Experiment, which proved that ordinary people can be turned into sadistic monsters almost overnight with very little effort. Now think about the effects on the minds of people who have been subjected to a lifelong barrage of pro-war, imperialist, "we're number 1," "we're fighting for democracy" propaganda, and then combine that with the effects of economic forces which provide a powerful impulse for people to join the armed forces, and then tell me "he really is to blame." Sorry, not buying it. It is imperialism, and its ruling class, which is to blame, and only by getting rid of them, and not by laying a guilt trip on the "universal soldier," are we ever going to put an end to war.

Since Universal Soldier is so well-known, I've combined it here with another song from the same album, the plaintive The War Drags On. A sentiment which couldn't be more relevant as the war and occupation of Iraq moves into its fifth year, and the war and occupation of Afghanistan nears the end of its sixth year.

For an alternative listening method, click here.

Labels: Music

Paul, in fact, is a complete hypocrite. He makes a strong statement in this discussion, and on his website, that the U.S. should "stay out of the internal affairs of other nations." That's great, except on his website you'll find him touting the fact that he voted "yes" on keeping the Cuba travel ban until alleged political prisoners in Cuba are released. Apparently he's a little hazy on that "staying out of the internal affairs of other nations" principle.

Why is the U.S. targeting Iran? I won't even attempt to summarize it, but I highly recommend an article in the latest issue of Workers World by Sara Flounders which discusses that question in detail, exploring the course of developments in Iran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. And while I'm recommending articles, another article from that same issue, entitled "The real reason Wolfowitz is under fire," outlines the role of the World Bank in implementing U.S. foreign policy, and has lots of good information.

Ron Paul, who makes a big point of how he has assigned a reading list to Rudy Giuliani, should read both articles. He might learn something.

They were unanimously acquitted.

Warning: do not try this at home if your home happens to be in the United States. Chances of an American jury reaching this conclusion? Slim. Chances you'll be packed off without charges just to rot in jail for a few years like Jose Padilla before they even are forced to bring charges against you? Not so slim.

But a great victory for sure.

(Hat tip Lenin's Tomb)

Endangered, hunted, smuggled and now abandoned, 5,000 of the world's rarest animals have been found drifting in a deserted boat near the coast of China.

The pangolins, Asian giant turtles and lizards were crushed inside crates on a rickety wooden vessel that had lost engine power off Qingzhou island in the southern province of Guangdong. Most were alive, though the cargo also contained 21 bear paws wrapped in newspaper.

A Guangdong chef interviewed last year in the Beijing Science and Technology Daily described how to cook a pangolin.

"We keep them alive in cages until the customer makes an order. Then we hammer them unconscious, cut their throats and drain the blood. It is a slow death. We then boil them to remove the scales. We cut the meat into small pieces and use it to make a number of dishes, including braised meat and soup. Usually the customers take the blood home with them afterwards."

Labels: Music

The U.S. intelligence community accurately predicted months before the Iraq war that al-Qaeda would link up with elements from former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime and militant Islamists to conduct terrorist attacks against U.S. forces in that country, according to a report released today by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Two national intelligence assessments sent to the White House and other senior Bush administration policymakers in January 2003 also predicted that al-Qaeda "would try to take advantage of U.S. attention on postwar Iraq to re-establish its presence in Afghanistan," according to the Senate report.

The long-awaited section of the committee's so-called Phase II report, which covers the pre-war intelligence assessments of what conditions would be like after the conflict in Iraq, also said that Iran would seek to influence a post-war Iraq to protect its own security interests and to demonstrate its importance as a regional actor. The assessments also said that "elements" within the Iranian government might aggressively counter the United States in Iraq by using Shiite and Kurdish contacts "to sow dissent against the U.S. presence and complicate the formation of a new, pro-U.S. Iraqi government."

Occupation of Iraq by the United States, "probably would boost proponents of political Islam" and "funds for terrorist groups probably would increase as a result of Muslim outrage over U.S. actions," the assessments predicted.

In the economic field, the analysts predicted that "cuts in electricity or looting of distribution networks would have a cascading disastrous impact" and that large amounts of outside assistance would be needed to provide basic services, such as water and sanitation, in Iraq.

I could of course make a joke, as Jay Leno and Jon Stewart may well in reaction to this news item, that the "faulty pre-war intelligence" was the "intelligence" of the President reading these reports. Funny, except you all know that, although I do actually think Bush is pretty much a moron, that his lack of intelligence had nothing whatsoever to do with the "mistake" that was made in invading Iraq, since it wasn't a "mistake" at all.

The shared pretense of the White House and Democratic leaders is that funding the Iraq occupation is somehow a program on behalf of the troops. Like a subsidy for family farmers.

[Sen. Barack] Obama calls for an urgent escalation of economic pressure on Iran, and backed this up yesterday by announcing his Iran Sanctions Enabling Act.

Obama's Iran Sanctions Enabling Act would require the federal government to publish a list of companies, to be updated every six months, with investments exceeding $20 million in Iran's energy sector. A similar House bill is sponsored by Reps. Barney Frank and Tom Lantos, with one crucial difference: Obama's bill cannot be rescinded until the Iranian government President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's calls for the destruction of Israel.

THE ENGLISH SUBMARINE
The press dispatches bring the news; it belongs to the Astute Class, the first of its kind to be constructed in Great Britain in more than two decades.

"A nuclear reactor will allow it to navigate without refuelling during its 25 year of service. Since it makes its own oxigen and drinking water, it can circumnavigate the globe without needing to surface," was the statement to the BBC by Nigel Ward, head of the shipyards.

"It’s a mean looking beast", says another.
...
It can transport up to 38 Tomahawk cruise missiles and Spearfish torpedoes, capable of destroying a large warship. It will possess a permanent crew of 98 sailors who will even be able to watch movies on giant plasma screens.
...
What a feat for the British! The intelligent and tenacious people of that nation will surely not feel any sense of pride. What is most amazing is that with such an amount of money, 75 thousand doctors could be trained to care for 150 million people, assuming that the cost of training a doctor would be one-third of what it costs in the United States. You could build 3 thousand polyclinics, outfitted with sophisticated equipment, ten times what our country possesses.
...
We must bow our heads in awe after reading the news about the English submarine. It teaches us, among other things, about the sophisticated weapons that are needed to maintain the untenable order developed by the United States imperial system.

We cannot forget that for centuries, and until recently, England was called the Queen of the Seas. Today, what remains of that privileged position is merely a fraction of the hegemonic power of her ally and leader, the United States.

Churchill said: Sink the Bismarck! Today Blair says: Sink whatever remains of Great Britain’s prestige!

For that purpose, or for the holocaust of the species, is what his "marvellous submarine" will be good for.

Posada Carriles: Terrorism Made in USA

Two weeks ago, in El Paso for one of dozens of nationwide demonstrations against the dropping of charges against notorious terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, I watched the U.S. premiere of a new film by Venezuelan filmmaker Angel Palacios entitled "Posada Carriles: Terrorism Made in USA." It's a chilling portrait of the 45-year career of a man who has been called "the Osama bin Laden of the Western hemisphere," his associates (like the equally notorious Orlando Bosch), and the CIA who has been behind them every step of the way, condoning and protecting them when not actively guiding them.

The film covers things that are fairly well-known (at least in activist circles), like the 1976 Cubana plane bombing that took the lives of 73 people, and others that are less well-known (at least in the United States), like Posada's record as a torturer and murderer of Venezuelan political activists when working for the Venezuelan political police, the DISIP. Interviews with victims and relatives of victims, combined with evidence straight from the files of the U.S. government, make this a well-researched, information-packed documentary. It's also a very watchable film, very professionally made, with an interesting sound track, lots of catchy (but not gratuitous) graphics, and more. There are a number of showings scheduled around the country at this time (with undoubtedly many more to come) and the film should also be showing up in film festivals around the country during the coming year. It will also be available for purchase on DVD within the next week from the website of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five.

War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death

Last night, I was fortunate to be able to attend the West Coast premiere (the world premiere was last week in New York) of a new film based on Norman Solomon's essential book, "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death" (some of my comments on the book from last year can be found here). As filmmaking, it's a fairly basic effort, intercutting an interview with the extremely knowledgeable and well-spoken Solomon with historical footage from wars, presidential speeches, TV "coverage" (a.k.a. "promotion") of wars, and so on, mixed in with some narration by Sean Penn. It won't win any awards for innovative filmmaking. But as an informative documentary, it's a must-see film. The book, as should be no surprise, has a lot more details (just to name one, the U.S. invasion of the Dominican Republic, one of the powerful examples from the book, isn't mentioned in the film). The book also has the virtue of being divided into chapters which Solomon uses to beautifully illustrate the 17 components which make up the "How" of the title of the book and film:

• America is a Fair and Noble Superpower
• Our Leaders Will Do Everything They Can to Avoid War
• Our Leaders Would Never Tell Us Outright Lies
• This Guy is a Modern-Day Hitler
• This is About Human Rights
• This Is Not at All about Oil or Corporate Profits
• They are the Aggressors, Not Us
• If This War is Wrong, Congress Will Stop It
• If This War is Wrong, the Media Will Tell Us
• Media Coverage Brings War into Our Living Rooms
• Opposing the War Means Siding with the Enemy
• This is a Necessary Battle in the War on Terrorism
• What the U.S. Government Needs Most is Better PR
• The Pentagon Fights Wars as Humanely as Possible
• Our Soldiers are Heroes, Theirs are Inhuman
• America Needs the Resolve the Kick the "Vietnam Syndrom"
• Withdrawal Would Cripple U.S. Credibility

At the showing last night, the film was criticized for discussing the "How" but not the "Why" - why does the U.S. want to keep fighting these wars? The book (see point six in the list above) does discuss the issue, but not at length. Solomon answered that this was simply a question of scope, both for the film and the book as well. On the one hand he's certainly right. Dealing extensively and insightfully with the things he does deal with is certainly preferable to trying to deal with too much, and losing focus. On the other hand, there's a chicken-and-egg question. To use an example from the movie (but add my own spin), there's the famous Colin Powell at the U.N. presentation. The book and movie make clear that there were some people who saw right through the presentation, even while the corporate media (at least the U.S. corporate media) were falling all over themselves in praise. But take a look at those who did see through the talk. Did they do so simply because they were knowledgeable about how the U.S. government lies to start wars and the ways the media enhances those lies, or because they understood the motivations of the U.S. ruling class to fight wars and were therefore more motivated to look closely at what Powell was saying and see it for what it was? The two factors are intertwined, but I'd say it's more the latter than the former, and in that sense, it's more important to understand the "why" rather than the "how."

But that's a quibble, criticizing something for what it isn't. What it is is an incredibly powerful movie, taken from an even more powerful book, which teaches the viewer/reader with well-documented detail precisely how "Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." And, although the title doesn't reflect it, Solomon is also one of the few who never forgets to remind his audience that it's not just "us" who are being spun to death, but millions of Iranians, Afghans, Serbs, Vietnamese, and more, as well.

See the film (you can order a copy now, it will be available in a couple weeks). Solomon is promoting the "Robert Greenwald" model, encouraging people to buy a copy of the movie and then set up a "house meeting" to show the movie to their friends. And don't forget to read the book as well.

Coincidentally, there's an article on the front page of the liberal British paper The Guardian today, whipping up the flames of war against Iran, about "Iran's secret plan for summer offensive to force US out of Iraq" (guess it's not much of a secret, eh?). Of course it's all based on the usual collection of "senior US officials," not a single actual fact in the article. Precisely the kind of thing that this film is all about.

Labels: Luis Posada Carriles

Hundreds of Lebanese troops surrounded Nahr el-Bared, staying outside in accordance with a nearly 40-year-old agreement with the Palestinians. The troops pounded the camp with artillery and tank fire, and militants responded with gunfire and mortar rounds.

On TV this morning, the perky anchor let us know that the Lebanese Army has been given permission to "finish off" the militants. How positively delightful. The word "civilians" didn't leave her lips.

One line in today's story is rather telling in that regard:

The fierce, two-day battle has killed nearly 50 combatants and an unknown number of civilians.

The Shin Bet considers itself authorized to use surveillance techniques that violate privacy, such as wiretaps, when activity that "sabotages the state's Jewish character" is carried out, even if this activity is not illegal.

And, segueing, I switch to the frivolous question, "Whatever happened to those VH1 specials entitled 'Whatever happened to [insert forgotten rock star name here]'?" One of the ones that sticks in my mind was about Sweetwater, a group whose first, self-titled album from 1968 is still on my regular play list (even more so now that I've digitized it). In their honor, we'll spin their biggest hit, "Motherless Child." Not overtly a political song, but the theme ("Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, and I'm a long way from home") is one that easily applies to political activists, as they grow up, leave the comfort (mental if not physical) and "comfort zone" of their home and go out in the world on their own, to chart their own path through life.

Labels: Music

As US, NATO forces turn to airpower, civilian casualties mount

Labels: Music

President Jalal Talabani left Iraq on Sunday for a trip to the United States that was expected to include a medical checkup.

"I will go to the U.S.A and stay nearly three weeks to lose weight and have some rest and relaxation ... away from meetings and work," Talabani, a 73-year-old Sunni Kurd, said.

Talabani was the second top Iraqi politician to fly to the United States for medical reasons in four days.

Senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim flew there aboard a U.S. military aircraft Wednesday for further tests to determine if he is suffering from lung cancer, according to members of his staff.

A major CIA effort launched last year to hunt down Osama bin Laden has produced no significant leads on his whereabouts, but has helped track an alarming increase in the movement of Al Qaeda operatives and money into Pakistan's tribal territories, according to senior U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the operation.

In one of the most troubling trends, U.S. officials said that Al Qaeda's command base in Pakistan increasingly is being funded by cash coming out of Iraq, where the terrorist network's operatives are raising substantial sums from donations to the anti-American insurgency as well as kidnappings of wealthy Iraqis and other criminal activity.

Labels: Music

One of the "winners" under this bill profiled in the article? Janet Ray Weininger, who was awarded $23.9 million. And what happened so that she "deserved" that money? Her father was a CIA pilot shot down during the Bay of Pigs invasion! So, evidently, defending your country against invasion is an act of terrorism! That is, if your country is Cuba (or Iraq or Iran or North Korea or Venezuela or any other designated country filled with "bad guys").

You don't even want to imagine how much money the U.S. government would owe if a relative of every Iraqi and Afghan and Serb and Panamanian and Vietnamese (I'll stop there, and I'm not even including the ones indirectly killed like the Palestinians) killed by the U.S. government were to get $23.8 million each. Your calculator doesn't have enough digits.

The second story describes the results of a military investigation into the deaths of three American soldiers at an isolated outpost last June. Here's the telling line: "it appears...that Iraqi security forces near the soldiers' outpost probably saw and heard the attack and 'chose to not become an active participant in the attack on either side.'" Quelle surprise!

Time (long past time) to take a hint, imperialists. You're not wanted in Iraq! Out Now!

Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, those of you who watch Keith Olbermann's "Countdown" program will know he is currently conducting a mock "D.C. Idol" contest, featuring public singing by various Washington politicians. One of those entries is Dennis Kucinich, offering up his rendition of "Sixteen Tons." If you've been unfortunate enough to listen to Kucinich's performance, you need to hear the original immediately as an antidote. Here's your chance:

Labels: Music

Salvatore Mancuso, in an explosive judicial hearing, affirmed what human rights organizations have long claimed: that Colombia's top military commanders systematically colluded with the illegal militias. He also claimed that two conglomerates paid the paramilitaries.

Mancuso and about 60 other jailed warlords ordered the massacres of about 10,000 people over a period of about 10 years, beginning in the mid-1990s, according to Colombia's chief prosecutor. They also stole millions of acres of land.

Much of Colombia's political and economic class also benefited, and the warlords have begun to point fingers.

Meanwhile, leading Democrats are asking tough questions in Washington, where Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., expects Congress to review foreign aid to Colombia in June.

"What I'm hoping is that there will be less military aid and more aid for social and economic development," McGovern said. "To be blunt, I wouldn't trust this military to tell me the correct time given what's been revealed in the past few months."

The main impact of the rocket attacks on Sderot has been psychological, with experts warning the damage would be long-lasting.

"The anxiety level with the kids is unimaginable," said Tami Sagie, head of psychological services in Sderot. "We have a whole generation that was born into the Qassams, children whose first word is 'boom.'"

Sagie spoke of teenagers wetting their beds when rockets hit. Others regularly sleep with their parents, or find it difficult to concentrate, she said.

It's not just children who are affected.

Noam Amram, 62, said he has been seeing a therapist since a rocket landed next to him four months ago. "I still haven't gotten over it. Every noise I hear, I shudder. I can't sleep. I live in fear," he said.

For today's musical interlude, I could have posted Bob Dylan's powerful song "Hurricane," which tells the tale of another prominent frame-up victim, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Instead I've chosen a much lesser-known song by the late great Ritchie Valens - "Framed." Valens, the first prominent Chicano rock and roll star, is best known for "Donna" and "La Bamba," and for dying in a plane crash with Buddy Holly (and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson), but his eponymous album (cover at right) is filled with solid songs, all recorded in 1959 while he was just 17 years old, and most written by himself as well. "Framed" was one of the few he didn't write, but was contributed by the greatest rock and roll songwriting team ever - Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. Click here to listen.

The film about Valens' life, produced and directed by Luis Valdez, is well worth seeing.

Now I'm going to write something which will anger some of the supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal - not only was double-murderer O.J. Simpson not framed, his (and Johnnie Cochran's) successful use of the frame-up defense did a tremendous disservice to those, like Mumia, who really were framed up by the cops. Some people claim that Cochran made it acceptable for juries to realize that cops do frame up black suspects. Nonsense. All Cochran "proved," as if it needed proving, is that the rich and the famous experience different "justice" than the rest of the population. The cops (and "justice" system in general) absolutely do frame up defendants, most especially political activists like Mumia and "uppity" blacks like Hurricane Carter, along with drug dealers and such who they "know" are guilty but can't actually prove without "helping" the case along. But when Cochran succeeded in getting Simpson off with the same defense, in the case of a man who was obviously guilty (and later proven so in civil court), it only discredited the use of this defense in the case of people like Mumia who really were framed.

That's my take on it, anyway. In any case, enjoy this oldie but goodie.

*Update: I should clarify. I believe, based on what I have read, that Mumia Abu-Jamal is innocent. I know, with certainty, based again on what I have read, that he was framed up. Being framed does not necessarily correlate with being innocent, although quite often the two go together.

Labels: Music

"We value the life of one as if it's the life of all, and that's why we go out for the 12-year-old Boy Scout in North Carolina when he's lost; that's why we look for the 13 miners in Sago, West Virginia, when the mine explodes; that's why we go looking for the hikers in Mount Hood, because we value life, and it's what separates us from the Islamic jihadists who are out to kill us. They celebrate death. They have a culture of death. Ours is a culture of life."

Three-quarters of a million Iraqis (and Afghans) dead, many of them thanks to indiscriminate U.S. bombing and firing on houses containing unknown inhabitants who might be "bad guys," and these f***ers have the g-d nerve to talk about a "culture of life." People who talk calmly about "enhanced interrogation techniques" (Romney) and using "every method they could think of" (Giuliani) while representing a government which has literally tortured people to death. Pompous war criminals, all of them.

By the way, the U.S. is now offering a $200,000 reward for information about the three "missing" (almost certainly dead) soldiers. They offer $2000 (maximum) in compensation for "erroneous" deaths in Iraq. That "culture of life" certainly has different values depending on which life we're talking about, doesn't it?

Labels: Music

Of course three billion people haven't died yet. But the effects are already beginning to be felt:

Corn will be scarce in Guatemala in the coming months due to the huge demand in the United States for ethanol production, which is buying and hoarding massive amounts of the grain.

In the last six months, a bushel of corn (56 pounds), doubled its price on the US market, from $4 to $8 US because ethanol producers consumed 86 million metric tons, 5 million over the figure planned.

Although to date there is no biofuel production using grains in Guatemala, the prices have also begun to increase, up as much as 73 percent.

As a result, many producers believing prices will go even higher are making huge purchases of animal fodder, which will affect the availability of corn for human consumption.

The Meso-American Food Security Early Warning System (MFEWS) alerts that high prices and shortages will affect lower-income families from June to August, when the second harvest of the year has not even begun.

For Dr. Ricardo Navarro, president of the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology, this is just the beginning of the negative effects for the region due to the massive ethanol production promoted by the United States.

"The new site reaffirms the CIA’s commitment to share as much information as we can with the American people," said Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gen. Michael V. Hayden.

I'm not in the habit of visiting the CIA website. I learned about this on Granma, which elaborates thusly:

The Nobility of the CIA, by Joaquin Rivery Tur
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is well known throughout the world, but especially in poorer countries.

When not busy organizing the overthrow of governments (Chile, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Congo), it has trained torturers from throughout Latin America, maintained secret prisons and organized all types of assassination attempts against leaders of other countries.

That’s what it has done since its inception; nothing more, nothing less. Now, thanks to the miracles of cyberspace, the agency has launched a website that tries to erase the past in minds of people in the US and elsewhere. They want to create the image of a CIA as a noble organization full of lofty goals and free of deadly conspiracies.

What’s wrong with the website is that it begins with the contagious Bush habit of lying, since, according to AFP, a message from CIA Director Michael Hayden says that "the new website reaffirms the CIA’s commitment to share the greatest possible quantity of information with the US people."

And the site expects people who read this to believe it. You would have to be pretty naïve to think that there is some truth in the official declarations from Washington.

A CIA advertisement points out: "We are the first line in the defense of the nation. We achieve what others can’t and we go where others can’t go." Those missions are organizing coups, drug trafficking for dirty operations, plotting assassinations of all kinds and training terrorists from any country (for example, Luis Posada Carriles).

How pure and noble the CIA is!

For the Pope's benefit, I'm posting a song from 1966 by Malvina Reynolds entitled "The Money Crop," from her first album "Malvina." It's not her best song musically, but it provides a nice simple lesson about the essence of capitalism for someone as evidently simple-minded as the Pope (complete lyrics to the song here).

Reminder: after you click the arrow to start the song, be patient. It can take 15-30 seconds for the song to start.

If anyone has the Pope's email address, feel free the send him the URL to this post. :-)

Labels: Music

"[Iran is] a dangerous regime with weapons of mass destruction."

Cheney spoke to several thousand mostly Army forces in a huge tent that is scheduled to be a gymnasium.

Rhonda Anderson, a lawyer for Mr. Posada, ...said Mr. Posada and other members of the team were driving the 1,930 miles from El Paso to his family in Miami because he was on the federal government’s no-fly list.

Labels: Luis Posada Carriles

Update: How much do the "powers that be" want this story to pass under the radar? On a day when a notorious terrorist has been set free, both the New York Times and the Washington Post feature only small AP stories on the release. For complete coverage, check the "Updates" section at the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, where you'll at least 18 different articles (some containing multiple articles) posted in the last two days.

For further insight into the U.S. government's attitude, consider this exchange today during a Dept. of State press conference:

QUESTION: Going back to the Posada Carriles case, what has happened with the Posada Corriles extradition request presented by Venezuelan on June 15, 2005? And also, what impacts will it have in other governments cooperating with the U.S. on the global war on terror?

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. Well, I don't think that there's any doubt about the U.S. commitment to fighting terrorism around the world. As for the extradition request, it's not something that's been acted on to this point. I know that we have done some due diligence with the Government of Venezuela. It was a process where there was a lot of back and forth requesting documentation. But it's not something, as of this point, that the U.S. Government has acted on.

QUESTION: Thank you.

Send a letter today denouncing this outrage, and protest Friday. I certainly will.

Labels: Luis Posada Carriles

A US helicopter gunship attacked a public school in Diyala Province, killing seven children and wounding another three, police said.

A spokesman for the US military said there had been helicopter activity in the area but he was not able to confirm any other details.

"WHATEVER THE future holds, the United States has not "lost" and cannot "lose" Iraq. It was never ours in the first place."

Well, at least they started out right...

"But what now? After four years of war, more than $350 billion spent and 3,363 U.S. soldiers killed and 24,310 wounded,"

And not a single dead Iraqi! Imagine that! (And by that way, that wounded number is way too low, omitting, among others, tens or hundreds of thousands of mentally wounded personnel, and of course there are hundreds of additional Americans - contractors and others - and hundreds of "allies" also dead; apparently they don't count any more than Iraqis)

"it seems increasingly obvious that an Iraqi political settlement cannot be achieved in the shadow of an indefinite foreign occupation."

Quite right, which leads us to...

"The Bush administration should convene national peace and reconciliation talks as early as possible - say June 1."

Neatly contradicting their own statement that "an Iraqi political settlement cannot be achieved etc." They don't even have the sense to say that "The Bush administration should recommend to the Iraqis that they convene...," no, it's "the Bush administration should convene."

And, for the piece de resistance...

"The precise date for completing the withdrawal need not be announced, but the assumption should be that combat troops would depart by the end of 2009."

Whoa, now, hold on, L.A. Times! Let's not be precipitous here. (And I'm sure you all caught the restriction to "combat troops", which leaves, once we include mercenaries, well over half of the foreign forces still in Iraq)

Gheesh.

Iraq’s child mortality rate has increased by a staggering 150 percent since 1990. Some 122,000 Iraqi children died in 2005 before reaching their fifth birthday. More than half of these deaths were among newborn babies in the first month of life.

It's been a long time since any reporter asked George Bush how many Iraqis have died thanks to the U.S. invasion. I wonder what he'd say now?

Of course, the excess deaths of Iraqi children, as the report makes clear, haven't been going on since 2003, they've been going on since 1990, thanks to the decade of punishing sanctions against Iraq. Back then, the U.S. used to blame the deaths on the specious claim that Saddam was diverting all the Iraqi money into palaces instead of food and health care. I wonder who they'd blame now, if anyone asked them the question?

Update: By the way, this new study points up precisely my previous criticism of the Johns Hopkins ("Lancet") study, which is that it actually underestimated the number of "excess deaths" by using as its baseline the mortality rate just preceding the invasion, a rate already degraded by the decade of sanctions.

Iran, which of course is developing nuclear power, not only has not "vowed to become a nuclear power" (which means, to everyone in the world, to have nuclear weapons, not nuclear power plants), but it has repeatedly vowed that it does not intend to do so. Indeed, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has even issued a Fatwa stating "that the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that the Islamic Republic of Iran shall never acquire these weapons."

Iran has never "vowed to wipe out Israel." It has predicted that the state (that's the political entity) of Israel will "vanish from the page of time"; at the same time, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has explicitly stated that "Iran is loyal to its commitments based on the U.N. charter and it has never used or threatened to use force against any country."

Hanson may think that Iran is lying about both of these things; that is his right. But we know that he's lying when he makes claims about what Iran has "vowed" to do.

I mean, that might be a mildly funny joke out of the mouth of Jon Stewart or Jay Leno. But considering that Muslims around the world are convinced in huge numbers that the U.S. is conducting a war on their religion, should an official U.S. spokesperson really be insulting their religion in public by ridiculing its view of women, even if that view is, from a Western point of view, ridiculous? Isn't that precisely the kind of behavior that's going to create even more hatred of America (if that's indeed possible)?

"This states so poignantly and ironically that we never thought about needing extra space. The concept of the wall is laudable, but no one wanted to think about how many more soldiers would die."

Actually, there is something worse. And that's the Iraqis and Afghans who have died either because they were in the wrong place (their own country) at the wrong time (the time when imperialism was raging around the world), or because they tried to resist the occupation of their countries. But the U.S. Congress building isn't big enough for a wall that could hold all their names.

The picture, incidentally, depicts only about a quarter of the wall. 3736 (the number of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan) doesn't seem like a large number, as numbers go, but when you look at a plaque listing all of them (or all but a few hundred), it's one hell of a lot.