Wednesday, August 29, 2012

6 men, 2 women

Today on Talk of the Nation (NPR), the guests were Ken Rudin, Brian Naylor, Doug Wead, Paul Glastris, Peter Robinson, Debra Gwartney, Nikki Lynette and Haley Barbour.


Now I want to recommend a story and, after the recommendation, I've got a story about the story:
This is from Shankar Vedantam (NPR):

If you're a student, you may have harbored the fantasy of learning lessons while you sleep. Who wouldn't want to stick on a pair of headphones, grab some shut-eye with a lesson about, say, Chinese history playing in his ears — and wake up with newly acquired knowledge of the Ming Dynasty?

Sadly, it doesn't work. The history lesson either keeps you from going to sleep, or it doesn't — in which case you don't learn it.

But researchers may have taken the first baby step to making the fantasy come true: In an unusual experiment published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers Anat Arzi, Ilana Hairston and others showed that people are capable of learning simple lessons while fast asleep.
 
The researchers sprayed volunteers with pleasant and unpleasant smells while they were fast asleep. Exactly like people who are awake, the sleeping volunteers took bigger breaths when there was a pleasant smell and a smaller breath when there was an unpleasant smell.

Now the story about that.  Shankar reported on that for Morning Edition yesterday and I loved the story. 

But?

I hated the presentation.  Not Shankar. 

Steve Inskeep.

Can someone please tell him he's not Jon Stewart and that Morning Edition is not The Daily Show.  He spends way too much time laughing loudly into the microphone.  And way too much time trying to tell jokes.  Badly.  Like not knowing if Shankar Vedantam was asleep or awake when he reported on that story.

It's not funny. 

Okay, some props to Condi Rice.  My father called and said, "Turn on the TV.  Condi's speaking at the [Republican National] Convention right now and she's on fire." And she was.

Not a Condi fan.  But she gave a great speech.  If there's video and/or text of it tomorrow, I'll post in when I blog tomorrow night. 

[My father is a Green.  He and my mother became Greens after I did.  He's also a political junkie and watches every political convention and every presidential speech, lives with the TV on CSPAN, etc.]

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"



Wednesday, August 29, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue, Ibrahim al-Jaafari makes an idiotic statement, 400 Camp Ashraf residents move to Camp Liberty, Osama al-Nujaifi and Massoud Barzani meet up, two prisons in Iraq are now on a hunger-strike for an amnesty law to be passed, Roseanne Barr's campaign releases its first ad, Mitt Romney talks to the American Legion and offers a great proposal for veterans who go to college, and more.

In the land of orphans and widows, Al Mada reports, the poor -- including the widows and the orphans -- labor in the heat in places such as the brick plant where their faces are saturated with smoke and they're exposed to harsh conditions, verbal abuse and worse.  Jmria Ali explains that he starts working at six a.m. and continues to four p.m. with only 30 minutes for lunch.  He says he works alongside children and that he makes 15,000 dinars to the 10,000 the children are paid.  With so many living in poverty, unemployment so high and with inflation hitting Iraq, there are serious money issues in Iraq.  Thus far, Nouri's refused to share money from the oil surplus -- share that money with the people and his Cabinet recently insisted there wasn't any money to share leading Moqtada al-Sadr to politely call that assertion a lie.   Al Mada notes a meeting of political parties and blocs in Basra yesterday in which the consensus was that 25% of the proceeds from oil should be going to the Iraqi people.  This proposal would be popular throughout Iraq. 


While Nouri clutches tightly to the money, he freely orders people to the knoose.  AFP notes Iraq has executed 5 more people today which, when combined with Monday's 21, makes for 26 executions so far this week and "at least 96 the number of people executed so far this year."  The five today were not just Iraqi, they were also foreign nationals.  Alsumaria reports 1 Syrian and 1 Saudi were among those executed and that there are approximately 50 crimes which can result in the death penatly in Iraq.  Yesterday, Human Rights Watch's Joe Stork told Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN), "Our main concern is what were these people actually convicted of?  Terrorism does not tell us very much."  Dar Addustour adds that there are at least 200 executions still to be carried out.  The news outlet notes that an Iraqiya youth leader is calling for Iraq to stop the executions at least until the much talked of amnesty bill is passed into law.  The student accused the government of rushing to carry out executions for sectarian reasons.  Al Rafidayn notes that MP Haider Mulla is stating that they will vote on the amnesty last this Monday.

The claims of voting on an amnesty bill have been put forward repeatedly leading some to doubt that it will happen which is why prisoners in Mosul began a protest yesterday.  Dar Addustour notes that hunger strike continues, with all prisoners also doing a sit-in and stating that they will continue it until the amnesty bill becomes an amnest law -- in addition, the outlet notes that the hunger strike has now spread to the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad as well and is expected to spread to other prisons. 

 Al Rafidayn notes that Brigadier General Nazim Tayeh, with the Interior Ministry, was shot dead in Baghdad as his car passed the airport and they note that a Kirkuk roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer and left another injured, a Riyadh bombing killed 3 security forces and left four more injured and another Kirkuk roadside bombing left two Peshmerga injured.   Bahrain News Agency adds that Brigadier-General Sardqader survived an attempted assassination in Kirkuk which left 3 police officers dead and another three injured.  AFP notes 1 Sunni sheikh was shot dead in Baghdad.

In addition, Dar Addustour reports that thieves dressed as police and driving apparent police vehicles robbed a car of 600 million dinars.  In a security addition, Daughters of Iraq are being brought into the system.  Al Shora reports:

 
"A decision was made to integrate members of the Banat al-Iraq organisation, the women's armed wing of the Sahwa forces that fought al-Qaeda in Diyala, into the local police force," said Amer al-Khuzaie, the Iraqi government's national reconciliation advisor.


Daughters of the Iraq were the female counterparts of the Sons of Iraq or Sahwa, also known as "Awakening."  From violence to weapons, All Iraq News reports that the US Embassy in Baghdad announced Monday that they had transferred the last 9 Abrams tanks to the Iraqi government -- making 140 US tanks (worth over $815 million) transferred to Iraq.  In related news, AKnews reports that Monday saw NGOs protesting in Erbil to register their opposition to the US government's plan to sell Baghdad F-16s and that the NGO's issued a statement which included:

The US is selling F-16 fighters to the Iraqi government while the majority of the Middle East regimes who used heavy weapons against their peoples are being pressed on to leave power and to get stripped of their heavy weapons.  The Iraqi government is not under any external threats from the air or the ground from borders.  The purchase of these fighters is not necessary.  Each of these planes have been purchased with a huge amoung of money which the Iraqi government could use on providing services to the people and reconstructing the country.  The government could buy passenger planes instead of F-16s.  Our concern and fear of the Iraqi government's purchase of those planes stems from our experience with the former Iraqi governments that used heavy weapons against their people.



On the political crisis front, Al Mada reports that Ibrahim al-Jaafari has declared that there's an open door for reconciliation between Baghdad and Erbil.  At one point, that might have meant something.  Maybe not.  But the reality is that the Kurds don't trust Ibrahim, didn't trust him in 2005, don't trust him today.  And since 2005, they've gotten additional reasons not to trust him.  So the idea that he can reach out with an olive branch is rather laughable.  After the US government, the Kurds were the biggest objection to Ibrahim getting a second term as prime minister following the 2005 elections.  AFP's Prashant Rao re-Tweeted this today:


4h
(Would you support 3rd term for PM?) Jafari: Personally I think 2 terms are enough. However, constitution places no limit on number of terms
Retweeted by
Collapse


And it's those sort of stupid comments by Ibrahim that guarantee no one outside of a small segment of the National Alliance will take him seriously. 


For the record, the press went crazy, in early 2011, over Nouri's 'promise' not to seek a third term.  They were silent for the most part when Nouri walked that promise back the next day.  The promise was made mainly because protests were taking place throughout Iraq and leaders in surrounding countries were at risk of being overthrown.  Iraqis weren't pleased that they went to the trouble of holding an election and ended up with the exact same prime minister, the exact same president and the exact same two vice presidents.  (A third vice president would be added.  At the time of Nouri's promise, there were two.) 


For months now, many have attempted to pass a law limiting people to two terms.  State of Law has very vocally opposed this; however, many Shi'ite politicians have issued public remarks indicating they supported it.  Sunnis and Kurds are opposed to Nouri having a third term.  And now Ibrahim issues his stupid remarks today which make him seem out of touch with the bulk of Iraq's political blocs.


Jalal Talabani may have a little bit more credibility than Ibrahim with the Kurds, Jalal is, after all, Kurdish;  however, he fled to Germany for a reason and remains there for a reason so maybe not.  Dar Addustour reports that Jalal is saying he'll return to Iraq in September and that he's agreed to meet with Osama al-Nujaifi, Speaker of Parliament, when he returns to Iraq.   He is also scheduled to meet with KRG President Massoud Barzani and there are rumors of a meet-up with Barzani, al-Nujaifi, Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi and Moqtada al-Sadr.


Karwan Yusuf (AKnews) reports al-Nujaifi and Barzani met today and the two addressed the issue of Nouri al-Maliki and "also discussed the repercussions of the crisis in Syria and the seriousness of it moving into Iraq due to escalating violence in neighboring country."


The UN News Centre notes that another 400 Camp Ashraf residents were moved to Camp Liberty (also known as Camp Hurriya) today and quotes Martin Kobler, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Iraq, stating, "Three-fourths of the residents, 2,400 persons, have now moved to Camp Hurriya.  I thank them for their cooperation, and call on those remaining in Camp Ashraf to act in the same spirit and start preparations for additional moves without delay, in order to peacefully complete the process."


Kobler made no mention of Monday's violence (see yesterday's snapshot) when approximately 20 residents of Camp Ashraf were left injured by Nouri al-Maliki's forces. 


Despite that legal status and the the legal obligation on the part of the US government to protect the residents, since Barack Obama has been sworn in as US president, Nouri has ordered not one but two attacks on Camp Ashraf resulting in multiple deaths.  Let's recap.  July 28, 2009 Nouri launched an attack (while then-US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was on the ground in Iraq). In a report released this summer entitled "Iraqi government must respect and protect rights of Camp Ashraf residents," Amnesty International described this assault, "Barely a month later, on 28-29 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed into the camp; at least nine residents were killed and many more were injured. Thirty-six residents who were detained were allegedly tortured and beaten. They were eventually released on 7 October 2009; by then they were in poor health after going on hunger strike." April 8, 2011, Nouri again ordered an assault on Camp Ashraf (then-US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was again on the ground in Iraq when the assault took place). Amnesty International described the assault this way, "Earlier this year, on 8 April, Iraqi troops took up positions within the camp using excessive, including lethal, force against residents who tried to resist them. Troops used live ammunition and by the end of the operation some 36 residents, including eight women, were dead and more than 300 others had been wounded. Following international and other protests, the Iraqi government announced that it had appointed a committee to investigate the attack and the killings; however, as on other occasions when the government has announced investigations into allegations of serious human rights violations by its forces, the authorities have yet to disclose the outcome, prompting questions whether any investigation was, in fact, carried out." Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observes that "since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of Camp Ashraf 'noncombatants' and 'protected persons' under the Geneva Conventions."



The residents are trapped in a kind of purgatory.  Unable to leave Iraq, they're being moved to former US military base Camp Liberty.  Approximately 2,000 have been moved so far with 400 more scheduled to be moved this week.  Why can't they leave Iraq?  During Bill Clinton's administration the MEK was delcared a terrorist organization.  Ignoring a federal court order for over two years to re-examine that classification, the Obama administration has kept the MEK labeled "terrorists."  As a result of that label, countries are reluctant to take in the residents.


AP reports that the residents are saying they were beaten and Nouri's adviser Gorges Bakoos is insisting that "we needed to search some of them by hand" -- and apparently a pat down is now done with a clenched first and possibly billy clubs?

Also avoiding mention of Monday's violence is the US State Dept.  The department's spokesperson Victoria Nuland issued the following statement this afternoon:

The United States welcomes today's safe arrival of the sixth convoy of approximately 400 
Ashraf residents to Camp Hurriya, the first such convoy in over three months. We welcome 
and are encouraged by this resumption of cooperation by the Ashraf residents in the 
relocation process as set forth in the December 25, 2011 Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) between the Government of Iraq and the United Nations. We call on the Camp Ashraf leadership to continue this progress by cooperating with the expeditious relocation of the approximately 800 remaining residents at Camp Ashraf.
The Government of Iraq has made considerable efforts to achieve a peaceful and secure resolution for the residents of Camp Ashraf, and we urge continued steps to address humanitarian concerns raised at Camp Hurriya by the residents. Recent progress includes 
the commencement of construction on a water purification station linked to an outside water source. The United States encourages these efforts and reiterates its commitment to work towards resolution of humanitarian issues at Hurriya, including sustainable means for the continued supply of water and electricity. The United States also reiterates its commitment to support the safety and security of the residents throughout the process of their relocation outside of Iraq.
As the Secretary of State said on February 29, 2012, "given the ongoing efforts to relocate the residents, the Mujahedin-e Khalq's (MEK's) cooperation in the successful and peaceful 
closure of Camp Ashraf, the MEK's main paramilitary base, will be a key factor in any 
decision regarding the MEK's [Foreign Terrorist Organization] status."



Camp Ashraf residents aren't the only targeted population in Nouri's Iraq.  Success Ucime (Ground Report) observes:



The exodus of the Christian population in Iraq has continued unstopped with the escalation of violence in the country.
This indication is contained in a report by the Open Doors (www.opendoorsuk.org) a United Kingdom (UK) Registered Charity adding that July 2012 was one of the deadliest months in Iraq since US troops withdrew in December 2011.
Quoting AFP news agency, it observed that attacks took place on at least 27 of the 31 days in July, leaving at least 325 people dead adding that in May, 20 Christian families living in Mosul received threatening letters.

As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Independent High Electoral Commission Chair Faraj al-Haidari and Commission members Karim al-Tamimi and Osama al-Ani "were found guilty of graft" and received a "suspended one-year prison" term.  Prashant Rao (AFP) obeserved, "There is bad blood between Haidari, a Shiite Kurd, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law list over the aftermath of 2010 parliamentary elections, in which the premier's list came in second to the mainly Sunni-backed Iraqiya list of Iyad Allawi."  Alsumaria recaps the long campaign State of Law has waged against the commission since April.  They leave out the fact that a new election law was supposed to have been approved by now for the Electoral Commission and that provincial elections are supposed to take place early next year.  Among the disputes is how many commissioners should be on the board.  All Iraq News reports that Iraqiya declared today that they do not support increasing the number of commissioners and believe it should be left at its present number of 15.


July 19th, Martin Kobler, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Iraq, appeared before the UN Security Council and stated:


As we speak, my political deputy, Mr. [Gyorgy Busztin], is engaged in facilitation efforts to bring about the formation of a new, Independent High Election Commission which is representative of the main components of Iraq -- including women and children and minorities.  The urgent selection of the commissioners is essential for ensuring that the provincial council elections due to take place in March 2013 can be conducted on time. I'm concerned that the ongoing political stalemate is hindering the process however.  In recent days, I have discussed with political leaders -- including Prime Minister al-Maliki -- the need for a swfit conclusion of this political process and the need for an adequate representation of women and minorities in the commission. Today, I would like to re-iterate my appeal to all political blocs to expedite the selection of professional commissioners.  UNAMI stands here ready to actively assist.  



Earlier this month came news that Parliament thought they'd arrived at a stop-gap measure: they'd tack on 35 days to the current Electoral Commission.  AK News quoted the Chair of the Electoral Commission Faraj al-Haidari stating, "A new board of commissioners was supposed to be formed because the delay creates confusion.  The required period to complete the commission's procedures after the ratification of the election law and the budget according to international standards is six months."   Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports a new problem today: Test on applicants for the next commission find them confused as to whether Iraq is a royal monarchy or a republic.  Prashant Rao (AFP) speaks to a variety of MPs who see the future commission as neither fair nor independent and an unnamed "Western diplomat" states, "This is no longer about an independependent electoral commission.  You cannot look at the IHEC issue in isolation . . . The consequences could be bigger."

Turning to veterans issues,  Sherry Mitchell (Hendersonville Star News) reports that Henderson, TN is holding a bass fishing tournament on September 15th and "[a]ll the proceeds from the tournament will be used to support veterans, returning military and their families."  Vietnam Veterans for America has (PDF format warning) the rules and entry form here.  Sabrina Wu (Patch) reports on the Walk All Our Soldiers Home parade planned for September 22nd in Darien, Illinois.  The Darien Chamber of Commerce notes that the "parade will honor our local military heroes.  Community involvement will be the cornerstrone of the event and we have invited all Darien families to participate in supporting the event by gathering pledges for marching in the parade.  A post parade fun celebration will be held at Darien Community Park." Meanwhile antiMusic notes  country music artist "Tim McGraw just wrapped his HomeFront program this past weekend in Boston, capping off a summer long campaign to award mortgage-free homes to veterans in need at each stop of his summer tour."  At the start of his tour last spring, Tim McGraw announced he'd present a veteran with mortgage-free home on each of his tour's 25 stops.  ABC News Radio reports he kept that promise and states, "Each family had touching stories and made an indelible mark on me.  From the Delucia family's amazing story of recovery and strength through physical injuries the first night in Tampa to the Connor family, who we suprised this past weekend at their new home with a puppy for their daughter Molly. . . I will never foget any of them."  The Call notes the homes were "part of a three-way partnership to recognize the sacrifices of military veterans involving McGraw, Chase Bank and San Antonio, Texas-based Operation Homefront, a non-profit program that provides mortgage-free homes to wounded soldiers. "  Country music artist Faith Hill joins her husband Tim  from December through April when the two of them headline at the Venetian  in Las Vegas.
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead notes Suicide Prevention Month is next month and among the events in North Dakota:


Resource fair, 8:30 a.m. to noon, Sept. 10. Programs will include caregiver support, health care for homeless veterans, female veterans, health promotion, disease prevention, minority veterans, suicide prevention and more.• Sept. 9, First Link Walk of Hope for Suicide Awareness and Remembrance, Fargo Civic Center courtyard, 207 4th St. N. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. For more information, call (701) 293-6462 or email info@myfirstlink.org.
• Sept. 23, Out of the Darkness Fargo-Moorhead Community Walk, Lindenwood Park, Fargo. Registration begins at 1 p.m. and the walk begins at 2 p.m. To register or for more information, visit www.outofthedarkness.org.



And Out of the Darkness notes:


In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 15 minutes, claiming more than 36,000 lives each year. It is estimated that an attempt is made every minute, with close to one million people attempting suicide annually. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. among adults 18-65, the second leading cause of death among teens and young adults, and individuals ages 65 and older account for 16 percent of all suicide deaths. This is a public health issue that does not discriminate by age, gender, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. Walk to save lives, find an event near you and register today!



Lonny Shavelson (Center for Investigave Reporting -- link is text and video) speaks to Iraq War veteran, Marine Cpl David Smith:



Smith: When I got out of the Marine Corps, I chalked everything that I was feeling up to just being normal. And I met a friend, and he happened to be a Marine. And we just kind of started talking about Iraq and stuff like that, and he could tell that I had some things that I was dealing with.
[On-screen text: That friend was Clay Hunt.]
[He also was waiting for disability benefits.]
Smith: He was the first person who I'd ever really talked to about Iraq, about, you know, some of the more tragic events or some of the more frightening things that happened.
The only way that it was going to happen is if another veteran came and got me and said, "Hey,   I've been there, too, and I know what you're going through."
Clay was just an amazing dude, but definitely had some other issues that he was dealing with.    We became extremely good friends. We'd literally go mountain biking, like, every single weekend – I guess try and clear our heads a little bit.
In March, 31st, I was asleep and my girlfriend came in, and she said, "Clay killed himself."
Clay? My Clay?
It's just kind of wild. Clay was also working on getting a claim through the VA. It's kind of     ironic – I think it was a week or two after he passed that, you know, his approved disability    rating showed up at his house.
From the time that I applied for disability to the time that my disability was finalized, it was        414 days.



Access to medical care -- and timely medical care -- is an important issue for veterans.  Karen Jeffrey (Cape Cod Online) reports:
Veterans on Martha's Vineyard are one step closer to having local medical services restored -- services that will enable them to get treated on the island rather than having to travel to the Providence VA Medical Center in Rhode Island.
U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., announced this week that a contract for veterans services on Martha's Vineyard has cleared one major hurdle: approval by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The contract must now be approved by the Providence VA Medical Center and Martha's Vineyard Hospital, where many of the services would be provided.



Over the weekend, Iraq War veteran Joshua Casteel passed away and IVAW's Jose Vasquez noted, "Joshua believed his illness was a result of his service in Iraq where he was exposed to the toxic fumes from burn pits and had submitted a compensation claim with the Veterans Administration." Across the country, hundreds of thousands of veterans -- nearly one million per the numbers the VA provided to Congress in July -- are waiting for their claims adjudicated.   Aaron Glantz (Center for Investigative Reporting via the San Diego Union-Tribune) reports:
California veterans who file with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for a war-related disability claim are waiting more than nine months on average for a decision, according to a review of VA data.
The review by the Center for Investigative Reporting found that San Diego performs better than the state's other two regional offices in terms of pending claims that have languished longer than the agency goal of 125 days.
In San Diego, the rate of such delayed cases is 66 percent, compared to 94 percent in Oakland and 96 percent in Los Angeles. San Diego claimants are waiting 291 days on average, compared to 363 days in Los Angeles and 346 in Oakland.


In the US,  the presidential election is underway.  Tom Brokaw offered (link goes to video at Huffington Post) that last night at the Republican convention, neither Iraq nor Afghanistan was mentioned despite the fact that both wars were "started by the Republican party and promoted by them in the early stages, with the assent of the Democratic Congress and Democratic Senate."  This morning, Kasie Hunt (AP) reported GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney will speak to the American Legion in Indianapolis today, face-to-face, while appearing at the Republican National Convention in Tampa via satellite to take part in a discussion of veterans' issues with Senator John McCain.  Sarah Huisenga (CBS News) reports, "Romney reiterated his desire to modify the post-9/11 GI bill so that veterans are eligible for in-state college tuition regardless of residency. He also promised to make reforming the Department of Veterans' Affairs 'a personal priority,' citing the 'reproachable failures' in swiftly processing claims, and vowed not to raise rates for Tricare, the military's health care program."  The in-state residency for veterans is a smart idea and something all the candidates for president should support.  It's so obvious now that Romney's suggested it that you wonder why it wasn't part of the original bill.  Huisenga and Hunt are two women covering the campaigns and women reporters are in the minority this election cycle.  Rachel Larris (Women's Medica Center) reported yesterday:


On Monday the Women's Media Center released the shocking statistic, calculated by The 4th Estate Project, that from the presidential primary period (January 1 to April 15) to the general election (April 15 to August 25), 72 to 76 percent of newspaper stories covering the 2012 presidential election were written by men.
The numbers come from a selection of 35 influential newspapers from across the country. Today we wanted to share some of the byline breakdowns for individual newspapers. The numbers reflect only news reports and excludes blogs and opinion columns. For any article with two bylines, the gender of the first name was coded for the entire article.


Though women appear to be fewer in the presidential election press corps, as candidates, they're making real strides.  For example, the vice presidential candidate for the Socialist Equality Party is Phyllis Scherrer (Jerry White is the presidential candidate)  and this election year there are two presidential campaigns made up of four women.  The four: Jill Stein has the Green Party's presidential nomination and her running mate is Cheri Honkala and Roseanne Barr has the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party and her running mate is Cindy Sheehan. Click here to sign a petition calling on Ms. magazine and Women's Media Center to cover her campaign and the other female candidate for president Roseanne Barr's campaign.  Over 250 people have signed onto the petition so far.  Some sign and leave comments and we noted some of the comments in Sunday's "Women Win When Women Run: The conversation Roseanne and Jill are inspiring" at Third -- and "women win when women run" is a theme that repeats in the comments with several people signing noting that theme or expanding on it.


Johnny Green (The Weed Blog) notes and posts Roseanne's first campaign video.  Here's a transcript.

OBAMA On Medical Marijuana

[Footage of Barack speaking at a Minnesota Town Hall in August 2011, via CSPAN]

Barack Obama:  You know a lot of states are making decisions about medical marijuana, uh, [long pause] as a controlled substance.  The issue then is is it being prescribed by a doctor as opposed to, uh, [pause] you know, well -- I'll - I'll - I'll leave it at that.

ROMNEY On Medical Marijuana

[Romney speaking to a man at a campaign event]

Mitt Romney:  And you have syntheic marijuana that is available.

Man:  Makes me sick.  I have tried it and it makes me throw up.  I have tried all the medications there are and all the forms that come in [inaudible] stimulators or steroids.  I have muscular dystrophy, that's completely against my DNA

Mitt Romney:  I'm sorry to hear that.

Man:  My question for you is would you arrest me and my doctors if I get medical marijuana?

Mitt Romney:  I'm not -- I'm not in favor of medical marijuana being legal.

Man:  So would you have me arrested?

Mitt Romney:  I'm sorry --

ROSEANNE On Medical Marijuana


Roseanne Barr: Dave, you know one thing I want to say is Obama is trying to take our medical marijuana  over there in California and trying to send in federal troops to get our medical marijuana and I'll tell you this, Obama, you'll get my joint when you pry it ouf of my cold, dead fingers.  That's when.  And I know -- I don't want to get Obama's kill list.  You know, I got to look out for drones on my way home now I know.

ROSEANNE BARR
Supports your right to medical marijuana

ROSEANNE BARR
The only serious comedian running for President.

Show your support
SEPT 27th, 2012
Oakland, Ca.

Montclair Womens Cultural Arts Club
1650 Mountain Blvd
Oakland, CA 94611-2258 US

6-30 - 8:30 pm
Thursday, 27 September

Roseanne Barr: I'm Roseanne Barr and I approved this message.

Barr/Sheehan 2012

Announcer: Paid for by Rosanne for President 2012

Register Peace and Freedom Party
Vote Roseanne Barr for President
Attend the 27 September event in Oakland

On Labor Day, this coming Monday, September 3rd, we recognize the past sacrifices of working people in their struggles for emancipation, and rededicate ourselves to the movement for workers power in the year ahead. Please join Jill Stein, Cheri Honkala, and the rest of the campaign team in marking this holiday by taking part in your local Labor Day events. 
We know that many of you already have Labor Day plans for tabling, marching, and flyering. Check out our revised our flyer (CLICK HERE), and also have a special Labor Day editorial (CLICK HERE) by Jill Stein which you can print out and distribute.
Please be sure to contact HQ@JillStein.org to let us know how much you spent on copies.
If you have not already made plans, and don't know where to start, here are three easy steps:
  1. What to do: Round up a few other volunteers (friends, family, coworkers, you name it) ready to help get the word out on Labor Day.
  2. Where to go: Find your local Labor Day events here: http://local.americawantstowork.org/all
  3. What to bring: Plenty of copies of our halfsheet flyers (CLICK HERE TO PRINT OUT) and of our special Labor Day editorial (CLICK HERE), as well as other campaign materials you have on hand. Please be sure to contact HQ@JillStein.org to let us know how much you spent on copies.
Let's get the word out that while the bosses may own two political parties, working people finally have at least one: The Greens.


Another place women are visible in the presidential election this year is in the protest segment.  CODEPINK is currently protesting at the RNC.  Hopefully, they'll have the guts and courage to do as they did in 2004 and protest at the DNC as well.  Jean MacKenzie (Global Post) reports on last night, inside the convention hall:

But as Santorum wound down his speech, a commotion could be heard in the upper reaches of the cavernous hall. A young woman was screaming at the top of her lungs, although her words were indistinguishable to many down below.
It was Alli McCracken, coordinator for the Washington, D.C. office of CODEPINK, a women's organization dedicated to "working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into health care, education and other life-affirming activities."
McCracken, just 23, created quite a commotion.
"I got to speak for three or four minutes before they escorted me out," she said.
Her message was simple: If you claim to be pro-life, then do things that strengthen life. Stop the wars, help women get access to quality health care. Make education affordable.
"I don't think Rick Santorum is any worse than the rest of them," said McCracken. "They are all egregiously offensive in their own way."





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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

4 men, 1 woman

Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation, the guests were Ken Rudin, David Karp, Ray Takeyh, Christopher Joyce, Debbie Elliot, --

And that's it.

On top of that, it was a snooze-fest.  So dull, so boring, so sexist.




This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Tuesday, August 28, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue,  Iraq War veteran and conscientious objector Joshua Casteel has passed away, Iraq executes 21 people (with more executions planned for tomorrow), Camp Ashraf residents are roughed up by Nouri's goons, Nouri's court finds three members of the Electoral Commission guilty, and more.
 
Iraq Veterans Against the War's Jose Vasquez notes that Joshua Casteel has passed away afte battling lung cancer.  In 2008, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy (National Catholic Reporter) noted Casteel was "an Evangical Christian" who became a conscientious objector and appeared in the documentary Soldiers of Conscience.  From the November 16, 2006 snapshot:
 
 
Starting with Ehren Watada -- the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq.  Last week, the US military announced they would move to court-martial Watada.  The court-martial is expected to take place early next year.  Last night, Watada appeared on CNN's Paula Zahn Now program.  Speaking to Zahn, Watada explained how, as late as September 2005, he was willing to go to Iraq (and had volunteered to deploy with any unit) but "then I began findout out some things about how possibly that our government could have misled, not only the Congress, but also the public, and the world as to the reasons why we were going to Iraq, and there were never any weapons of mass destruction, there were never any ties to al Qaeda or ties to 9/11.  And I just -- at that point, I personally felt very betrayed as a soldier, willing to put my life on the line and willing to order soldiers to do the same, that we were sent to go and fight a war were the reasons were falsified."
After Watada's appearance, Zahn had a panel discussion.  Joshua Casteel noted "the Uniform Code of Military Justice tells us two things.  One is that we have an obligation to obey all lawful orders, but we also have an obligation to disobey all unlawful orders, and -- which includes disobeying orders that are unlawful, even if they come from the President of the United States.  Article Six, Paragraph Two of the United States Constitution dictates that treaties that the United States signs on to are to be considered the laws of the land, including among them, the Hague Convention on Land Warfare of 1899, the Neruember Principles, which in 1953, the Department of Defense declared to be official policy.  And Justice Jackson, who's the chief . . ."  Zahn interrupts to ask if Watada's stand is "justified."  Castell replies, "He is one of the few examples of moral courage that we have in the midst of plenty of individuals who show physical courage to go to Iraq and sacrifice for their country.  But what we need right now are moral leaders.  And Lieutenant Watada is an example of the kind of leadership that reminds us of our better nature and the aspirations of the United States Constitution." 
 
Jose Vasquez notes Joshua was at his friend Ricky Clousing's side when Ricky turned himself in August 2006.  In addition to speaking up for others who took brave stands, Joshua Casteel also inspired many people like  Logan Mehl-Laituri, the author of the new book   Reborn on the Fourth of July: The Challenge of Faith, Patriotism & Conscience.  Joshua Casteel  took part in IVAW's historic Winter Soldier in March 2008 and he took part in many other truth telling events.  
 
Jose Vasquez points out, "Joshua believed his illness was a result of his service in Iraq where he was exposed to the toxic fumes from burn pits and had sumbitted a compensation claim with the Veterans Administration."  Veterans for Peace's Mike Wong notes, "I remember so well standing behind and to the left of Joshua and watching him as he spoke at Ricky Clousing's press conference.  He spoke the truth so clearly and without hesitation.  He accomplished so much in his short life and will be sorely missed.  Thank you, thank you for all you have given, Joshua."
 
 
Yesterday Joshua went home to meet his Heavenly father and to embrace again his earthly father.  We miss him with all of our hearts and every ounce of our beings.  We cling to the promise that we will see him again.  His body is healed and for that we rejoice. 
When we finalize plans for his memorial service and celebration of his life we will post more information.  Thank you all -- Rebekah
 
 
 
 
The Republican National Convention is underway in Tampa.  Today former US Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice got a little attention today.  Mike Schneider (AP) reports CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin and other members announced they were present -- brandishing handcuffs -- to arrest Rice.  Tom Pennington (Getty Images) has a photo of CODEPINK with signs here.
 

Yesterday's snapshot noted War Criminal Tony Blair:
 
 
Now Tony's off to South Africa and Money Web reports a protest is planned for Johannesburg and quotes the president of the Al Jama-ah political party Ganief Hendricks stating, "The democration is being held to support a warrant of arrest to charge him for crimes against humanity relating to the invasion of Iraq which led to the killings of millions of Iraqis."  Arrest Blair For Crimes Against Peace notes his scheduled appearance in Johannesburg at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit on Thursday and the site reminds: [. . .]
 
As Tony Blair prepares to speak at the Discovery Leadership Summitt in Johannesburg Thursday where the War Criminal will be pocketing a large sum of money for speaking, people prep for a protest and a possible citizen's arrest.   SAPA notes, "Attempts to arrest him have been made in China outside the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war and the European Parliament; and in Dublin, Ireland."  Whatever happens on Thursday, War Criminal Blair's impact is already being felt. 
 
BBC News reports, "Archbishop Desmond Tutu has pulled out of an event because he refuses to share a platform with Tony Blair.  The veteran peace campaigner said Mr Blair's support for the Iraq war was 'morally indefensible' and it would be 'inappropriate' for him to appear alongside him." Caroline Crampton (New Statesman) reports, "A spokesman for Archbishop Tutu told me that this should not be viewed as a nsap decision, saying that Tutu is 'a very prayerful man' who will have 'spent hours on his knees considering this decision'."   Free Malaysia Today quotes from the letter his office sent the ogranizers, "Ultimately, the archbishop is of the view that Mr Blair's decision to support the United States' military invasion of Iraq, on the basis of unproven allegations of the existence in Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, was morally indefensible."  His spokesperson Roger Friedman tells Reuters, "Morality and leadership are indivisible.  In this context, it would be inappropriate and untenable for the archbishop to share a platform with Mr Blair."
 
 
 
"Obviously Tony Blair is sorry that the Archbishop has decided to pull out now from an event that has been fixed for months and where he and the Archbishop were never actually sharing a platform.
"As far as Iraq is concerned they have always disagreed about removing Saddam by force - such disagreement is part of a healthy democracy.
"As for the morality of that decision we have recently had both the memorial of the Halabja massacre where thousands of people were murdered in one day by Saddam's use of chemical weapons; and that of the Iran-Iraq war where casualties numbered up to a million including many killed by chemical weapons.
"So these decisions are never easy morally or politically".
 
 
I don't get into 'moral' discussions.  I don't mind discussing ethics but never with War Criminals.  You'll note that Tony Blair's office steadfastly avoided whether "these decisions" are legal or not.  For obvious reasons.
 

AP is calling it a "scuffle," what happened at Camp Ashraf yesterday when 20 Ashraf residents were left injured.  When the US invaded Iraq, approximately 3,400 people were at Camp Ashraf.   They were Iranian dissidents who were given asylum by Saddam Hussein decades ago.  The US government authorized the US military to negotiate with the residents.  The US military was able to get the residents to agree to disarm and they became protected persons under Geneva and under international law.

Despite that legal status and the the legal obligation on the part of the US government to protect the residents, since Barack Obama has been sworn in as US president, Nouri has ordered not one but two attacks on Camp Ashraf resulting in multiple deaths.  Let's recap.  July 28, 2009 Nouri launched an attack (while then-US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was on the ground in Iraq). In a report released this summer entitled "Iraqi government must respect and protect rights of Camp Ashraf residents," Amnesty International described this assault, "Barely a month later, on 28-29 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed into the camp; at least nine residents were killed and many more were injured. Thirty-six residents who were detained were allegedly tortured and beaten. They were eventually released on 7 October 2009; by then they were in poor health after going on hunger strike." April 8, 2011, Nouri again ordered an assault on Camp Ashraf (then-US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was again on the ground in Iraq when the assault took place). Amnesty International described the assault this way, "Earlier this year, on 8 April, Iraqi troops took up positions within the camp using excessive, including lethal, force against residents who tried to resist them. Troops used live ammunition and by the end of the operation some 36 residents, including eight women, were dead and more than 300 others had been wounded. Following international and other protests, the Iraqi government announced that it had appointed a committee to investigate the attack and the killings; however, as on other occasions when the government has announced investigations into allegations of serious human rights violations by its forces, the authorities have yet to disclose the outcome, prompting questions whether any investigation was, in fact, carried out." Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) observes that "since 2004, the United States has considered the residents of Camp Ashraf 'noncombatants' and 'protected persons' under the Geneva Conventions."

The residents are trapped in a kind of purgatory.  Unable to leave Iraq, they're being moved to former US military base Camp Liberty.  Approximately 2,000 have been moved so far with 400 more scheduled to be moved this week.  Why can't they leave Iraq?  During Bill Clinton's administration the MEK was delcared a terrorist organization.  Ignoring a federal court order for over two years to re-examine that classification, the Obama administration has kept the MEK labeled "terrorists."  As a result of that label, countries are reluctant to take in the residents.

Matthew Russell Lee (Inner City Press) reported late yesterday:

Earlier today, after Ashrafis say they were left to wait three hours in temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, violence broke out. Photos of beaten Ashrafis, including an older man bleeding from the head, have been sent to Inner City Press.
  Inner City Press understands that the UN acknowledges that personnel of its mission, UNAMI, were present on the scene, and that some Ashrafis were hospitalized. This contradicts the claim by Gorges Bakoos, an adviser to Iraq's premier, there there was no violence, nor any injuries.
 
 
 
 
On August 28, Inner City Press went to the UN's noon briefing and asked about the incident.

   Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq replied that the facts were "in dispute" and that the UN needed "further details." Video here, from Minute 14:25.

   Inner City Press tweeted this response, juxtaposing it with the photo of the bleeding older man.  Subsequently the following UN response arrived by e-mail:
Subject: Answer on Camp Ashraf
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 12:42 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
UNAMI's preliminary reports confirmed that yesterday, an incident between residents and Iraqi Police led to some light injuries on both sides. However the situation returned to normal. Preparations for the relocation of the next group of 400 residents to Camp Hurriya are continuing and we hope the move will soon be completed.

 
 
Turning to today's violence, All Iraq News notes 1 military officer and 1 soldier were shot dead in Baghdad while a Ramadi roadside bombing left five people injured.  Al Rafidayn notes the roadside bombing was in Falluja and that eight people were left injured.  AP also notes the bombing was in Falluja with one of the wounded now dead and 4 soldiers were shot dead in Nibaie.
 
Today the Voice of Russia reports Iraq plans to execute "over 250 people" tomorrow.  This comes after a series of executions which took place yesterday.   All Iraq News notes that the Ministry of Justice has announced the completion of 21 death sentences with three of those being women.  Alsumaria speaks with a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, Haidar al-Saadi, who explains all the executions were carried out under Article IV of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005 and with the approval of the presidency.  Xinua also notes the Ministry of Justice stating "the death sentences were carried out after the Iraqi Presidency Council approved the penalty verdicts for all those 21 convicts."

Presidency Council.  Iraqi President Jalal Talabani refuses to sign off because he's 'opposed' to the death penalty.   So he lets the vice presidents sign off.  With Tareq al-Hashemi now residing in Tukrey, that just leaves Khodair al-Khozaei.  If Talabani were truly opposed, he would prevent the sentences from being carried out.  He can do that.  Any member of the presidency council can veto an action.  That's in the Constitution.  Tareq al-Hashemi utilized that power in the fall of 2009 with regard to the election law when he didn't feel the refugee population was being properly represented.  So Talabani, if he were really against the executions, could use his veto power and that would be it.  Only one member of the council needs to lodge the objection.

AGI adds, "The executions were carried out on Monday, raising the death sentences carried out in Iraq since the beginning of the year to 91, including the 14 carried out on the 7th of February and the 17 on the 31st of January."  Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times) reminds, "An earlier rash of executions in January was condemned by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay as 'truly shocking' in light of grave concerns about due process and fairness in Iraqi trials."
Martin Kolber is the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Iraq.  July 19th, he testfied to the UN Security Council on the status of Iraq and his comments included the following:
 
 
Mr. President, Iraq retains the death penalty for a large number of crimes.  I therefore reiterate the call by the Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] and the High Commissioner of Human Rights for the government of Iraq to establish a moratorium on all executions with a view to their abolition.  I welcome that the authorities of the Kurdistan Region continue to implement a moratorium on carrying out executions which has been in place since 2007. 
 
 
Today Parliament returned for the first session since the month of Ramadan.   Alsumaria reports that 222 MPs plus Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi attended the session.  (There are 325 members of Parliament.)  Raman Brosk (AKnews) reports 225 MPs attended the session.   All Iraq News notes that various bills were read out loud.  All Iraq News also notes the belief on the part of MPs that the long bickered over amnesty bill will be addressed on Monday.  The delay has gone on for so long that a prison in Mosul has prisoners on a hunger strike protesting the delay in passing an amnesty law.
 
Alsumaria notes one thing the MPs supposedly agreed upon today was to amend the provinical elections law.  Provincial elections are supposed to take place March 2013.  Earlier Nouri targeted Faraj al-Haidari and another member of the Indendent High Electoral Commission, having them arrested. 
 
 
 It's not as if Iraq wasn't already in the midst of ongoing political crisis. Now Nouri al-Maliki's really bringing things to a boiling point. Mohamad Ali Harissi (AFP) reports, "Key political factions accused the premier of moving towards a dictatorship with the arrest of Iraq's electoral commission chief, a charge the prime minister denied on Saturday." As noted in yesterday's snapshot, Tuesday found the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy Martin Kobler praising the Independent High Electoral Commission and discussing how important it was to the upcoming provincial elections next year and then the parliamentary elections scheduled for the year after. So news that Nouri's had two members of that commission arrested on Thursday, as reported in real time by Raheem Salman (ioL news), was startling and alarming. The two arrested Karim al-Tamimi and the head of the commission Faraj al-Haidari.
 
Al Mada reports that Moqtada al-Sadr declared on Saturday that the arrests were indications that Nouri al-Maliki might be attempting to delay the elections or call them off all together. He makes it clear that the the arrest needs to be based on eveidence and not on some whim of Nouri's and that it shouldn't be done because Nouri desires to "postpone or call of the election." Al Rafidayn explains Nouri al-Maliki released a statement today decrying those who doubted the arrests were sound. The Baghdad court that Nouri controls made no attempt to even pretend to be impartial or about justice. This system is a nightmare and needs to be called out. It's very distressing that the Western press has refused to do so. The Supreme Judicial Council announced yesterday that Faraj al-Haidari had used UNHCR money to purchase plots of land and that he will face a seven year prison term for those actions.
 
 
AFP informs that al-Haidari and two members -- Karim al-Tamimi and Osama al-Ani -- "were found guilty of graft" they each received a "suspended one-year prison" term. 
The news outlet observes, "There is bad blood between Haidari, a Shiite Kurd, and
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law list over the aftermath of 2010
parliamentary elections, in which the premier's list came in second to the
mainly Sunni-backed Iraqiya list of Iyad Allawi."  Nouri and his kanagroo court.
 
 
Dropping back to yesterday's snapshot:
 
From equal playing fields to unequal ones,  Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports the city of Kadhimiya is moving to prevent any woman from entering the city unless she is covered by a veil and that a group known as the morality police are following men and women in the city who were the hair 'differently' and that they stop women without veils and force them to put on veils -- they also force women wearing make up to remove it.  Force?  At least one woman has been beaten by the 'morality police.'  Raman Brosk (AKnews) notes that despite local press insisting this new law on the veil was passed by both the local government and the Baghdad Provincial Council, the provinice is stating, via the head of their legal committee Subbar al-Saadi, "Baghdad Provincial Council did not issue such a resolution.  A decision was issued to wear a head scarf or abaya inside the holy courtyard in the religious shrines in Kadhimiya, Najaf, Karbala or Samurra."  
 
Today, Al Mada reports that banners have gone up around Kadhimiya praising the annonced decision that women not wearing veils will not be allowed to enter the city.  The newspaper points out this refutes the claims made by the Baghdad Provincial Counil that this applied only to the area inside the courtyard. 
 
 
 
In the US,  the presidential election is underway and there are two campaigns made up of four women, two presidential tickets. The four: Jill Stein has the Green Party's presidential nomination and her running mate is Cheri Honkala and Roseanne Barr has the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party and her running mate is Cindy Sheehan. Click here to sign a petition calling on Ms. magazine and Women's Media Center to cover her campaign and the other female candidate for president Roseanne Barr's campaign.  Over 250 people have signed onto the petition so far.  Some sign and leave comments and we noted some of the comments in Sunday's "Women Win When Women Run: The conversation Roseanne and Jill are inspiring" at Third -- and "women win when women run" is a theme that repeats in the comments with several people signing noting that theme or expanding on it.
 
 
 
 
As corporate lobbyists wine and dine the Republican and Democratic national committees in Tampa and Charlotte, Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala are beating at their doors.
Right now, Cheri is in the streets of Tampa with the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and the tent city at Romneyville. Next week, Jill will arrive in Charlotte. And soon, with your help, we'll all be beating the drums of social progress together, as we launch our first major media campaign!
That's right. We may be coming to a cable channel near you. We've hired one of the most famous political advertising firms in the country. We've cut the ads. And the only question is how many millions of voters will see these ads.
We have until Thursday, September 6th, to raise at least $80,000. If we succeed in doing that, our ads will run in college town media markets from the Pacific to the Mississippi to the Atlantic. If we raise $120,000, we'll have viewership in medium sized cities of population 500,000 to 2 million. And if you help us raise $200,000, we'll be on in at least a couple major metropolitan areas.
The more money we raise, the higher chance that YOUR community will see one of these ads (you can see sneak preview pics from the shooting of these ads at right).
The timing is vital. The primary season ends on Thursday September 6th. This means that you only have until September 6th to get your contributions matched, dollar for dollar, up to $250, with federal matching funds. And this means that you only have until September 6th to donate the maximum allowable contribution of $2500.
Time is running short for another reason. We have to buy these ads now, well ahead of September 6th, so that these ads actually run in the primary season. Federal law requires that our matching funds monies be used in the primaries, by September 6th, and this means that we must reserve our cable and TV ad times right now.
See the graph below to get a sense of how many college town, medium city, and major metro media markets we can reach at each level of fundraising. And please donate right now: http://www.JillStein.org/donate
 
 
 
Ani Esmailian:  Roseanne Barr announces she's running for president.   Hey, everybody, this is Ani Esmailian for HollyScoop, Roseanne Barr, the same woman who wore a t-shirt with a giant chicken on it for nine years during her syndicated sitcom is officially running for president of the United States, for the Green Party, that is.  And this isn't a joke.  She actually registered with the Federal Election Committee late in January to run for the Green Party.  On Twitter, Roseanne lists some of the issues she plans to tackle forgiving student loans, kicking out the federal reserve, instituting single-payer health care, going after financial terrorists, reconfiguring American diets and fighting for gay rights.  Oh, and she also wants to legalize marijuanna.  A lot of you readers just got real political after that one.
 
Maybe.  But, Ani, Roseann's not running on the Green Party ticket.  Jill Stein's running on the Green Party ticket.  And, Ani, She's The Sheriff, starring Suzanne Somers, is an example of a syndicated sitcom -- a sitcom filmed for airing episodes for the first time in syndication.  Roseanne ran for 9 years on network television -- ABC, in fact -- and, like nearly every sitcom, it went into syndication with repeats of already aired episodes.
 
 
 
 
 
 
afp
on No comments:

Monday, August 27, 2012

5 men, 0 women

vouchers


Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Vouchers" is above and it's hilarious -- it's always good to call out hypocrisy. 

Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation, the guests were Eric Greitens, Chris Norton, Atul Gawande,  Sherwin Nuland and Paul Katz. 

Now for something else.  I have never once said of any of the many idiot males who tell rape 'jokes,' "He should be raped!"

That's because I was raped and it's not funny and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. 

Paul Krassner has an article at CounterPunch about the idiot Tosh and others.  I wasn't surprised the so-not-funny Dane Cook was engaging in rape 'jokes' but there was Terry Gross and capon circle's fave Louis CK in the article as well, engaging in rape "jokes."  That's disgusting and I think NPR needs to draw a line.

As a Black woman, I damn well know if a similar comment was made about attacking Blacks, it would be the end of NPR for whatever comedian, actor, what have you.  It should be for Tosh, Louis CK and the others.

This is disgusting and until they stand up to these idiots, it never stops.


This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, August 27, 2012.  Chaos and violence continue, some women are forced to wear the veil (and 'morality police' scrub the women's faces of make up), Nouri's Cabinet loses a member, Jalal Talabani remains in Germany, Julian Assange's defense needs to learn about perceptions and how to present their case to a public that's really not into all the hype and drama, Jill Stein and Roseanne Barr run on issues, War Criminal Tony Blair might get arrested in South Africa, and more.
 
 
Starting with War Criminals.  Over the weekend, PBS' Religion & Ethics (link is text and video) featured Tony Blair in what Blair probably thought would be part of the hazy gauzy comeback he's been working so hard for yet even it had to let a little sunlight in.  Excerpt:
 
SEVERSON: Unfortunately for the former prime minister, many in his own country would not say the same of him. It's been almost ten years since the Iraq invasion, and still there are newspaper stories with negative headlines about Blair's role in the Iraq war.
 
O'SHAUGHNESSY: I will never forget what he's done, and you would have to hold me over hot coals several times before you get me to vote for him again.
 
SEVERSON: Hugh O'Shaughnessy is a noted British author on developing-world issues who, like many, felt betrayed when Blair led the country into war.
 
O'SHAUGHNESSY: People still keep in their minds the way he treated public opinion. He brushed public opinion aside and launched into this illegal, cruel and lawless war.
 
 
Now Tony's off to South Africa and Money Web reports a protest is planned for Johannesburg and quotes the president of the Al Jama-ah political party Ganief Hendricks stating, "The democration is being held to support a warrant of arrest to charge him for crimes against humanity relating to the invasion of Iraq which led to the killings of millions of Iraqis."  Arrest Blair For Crimes Against Peace notes his scheduled appearance in Johannesburg at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit on Thursday and the site reminds:
 
Anyone attempting an arrest which meets the rules laid down here will be entitled to one quarter of the money collected at the time of his or her application.
Money donated to this site will be used for no other purpose than to pay bounties for attempts to arrest Tony Blair. All the costs of administering this site will be paid by the site's founder.*
The intention is to encourage repeated attempts to arrest the former prime minister. We have four purposes:
- To remind people that justice has not yet been done.
- To show Mr Blair that, despite his requests for people to "move on" from Iraq, the mass murder he committed will not be forgotten.
- To put pressure on the authorities of the United Kingdom and the countries he travels through to prosecute him for a crime against peace, or to deliver him for prosecution to the International Criminal Court.
- To discourage other people from repeating his crime.
We have no interest in people's motivation, as long as they follow the rules laid down by this site. If they try to arrest Mr Blair because they care about the people he has killed, so much the better. But if they do it only for the money, that is fine too, and we will have encouraged an attempt which would not otherwise have taken place.
 
 
TJ Strydom (Times Live) notes what can only be seen as a weak defense by the group that's asked him to speak -- Discovery Life's chief executive Herschel Mayers states, "We're not saying that we support him or that we don't support him, but he is a prominent international leader and we are glad to have him speaking."
 
 
From a former UK government official to a current US one,  Al Rafidayn reported this morning that  a US delegation will arrive in Baghdad September 3rd and that US Vice President Joe Biden will be leading it.   The Turkish Press states Biden will be discussing events in Syria and that it "will be the highest level visit by a U.S. official" in 2012.  Presumably Joe Biden will have the appropriate paperwork. Dar Addustour reports 5 British citizens were arrested in Baghdad yesterday -- they did not have passports or i.d. on them.

Moving to oil,  Seyhmus Cakan, Ayla Jean Yackley and Nick Tattersall (Reuters) report that a pipeline carrying crude oil from Iraq to Turkey has been shut down as a result of a fire and that how the fire broke out is not known at this time.  Xinhua identifies the pipeline as the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline and notes that "Turkish troops were deployed in the area" after the fire broke out.  Hemn Hadi (AKnews) adds, "The fire occured in Dorkulu village in Slopi town."  Press TV observes, "The pipeline, which carries a quarter of Iraq's oil exports, has been attacked several times in the past, sometimes cutting oil flows from Iraq for days.  PKK has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks."  Reuters quotes the Ministry of Oil's Asim Jihad declaring, "We were informed by the Turkish authorities that a blast and then a fire ignited on the 40-inch export pipeline on the Turkish side and we had to halt the crude flow.  We demand that the Turkish authorities work without any delay to repair the damage quickly and to help switch the flow to the second 46-inch alternate line to ensure no more disruption to Iraq's exports to Ceyhan port." 
The Voice of Russia reports, "The security forces in Turkey have announced that it was a terrorist attack and that they suspect it was carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party."   In addition, Dar Addustour notes Saturday a waiting room in the Ministry of Finance caught on fire due to electrical wiring.
 
Saturday kicks off September.  As August winds down, the body count continues to rise.  Iraq Body Count notes that through Thursday violence has claimed 364 lives.  Bahrain News Agency reports, "An officer Iraqi Interior Ministry border garrisons in the rank of brigadier was killed by gunmen who targeted the officer's automobile in northern Baghdad today"  and a Mosul roadside bombing targeting a military patrol left two children injured.  Bushra Juhi (AP) reports a Haditha roadside bombing claimed the life of 1 person and left four Iraqi soldiers injured.  In addition, Alsumaria notes the PKK -- Kurdish independence group seen as a terrorist group by some nations including Turkey -- has announced that they killed 10 Turkish soldiers and 1 of their own was killed in the never-ending battles between the PKK and the Turkish military that take place on Iraq's border with Turkey.
 
 
Over the weekend, All Iraq News noted that Hussein al-Mansouri, an MP for Moqtada's bloc, states that the lack of people to lead the security ministries creates problems and prevents the Ministy of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior from properly carrying out their duties.  Two weekends ago, Nouri's State of Law was insisting that as soon as  Eid al-Fitr was over, Nouri would be nominating people to head the security ministiries.   He was supposed to do that in December of 2010.  They have instead remained without leadership.  All Iraq News also reported National Alliance MP Jawad al-Bolani  was calling for the creation of a nation terrorism and crime council.  In Nouri's first term as prime minister, Jawad al-Bulani served as Minister of the Interior.   If his proposal sounds familiar, it's what's in the Erbil Agreement.  It's what, November 11, 2010, Nouri was expected to create (and agreed to when he signed the Erbil Agreement).  However, he instead announced that he couldn't do it yet, that it would take awhile.  (This prompted the bulk of Iraqiya to walk out of the session of Parliament.) 
 
 
 Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports the Communications Network Commission is denying media reports that they were used by Nouri's security agencies to spy on Nouri's political rivals.  The claim might be more convincing if the CNC didn't get caught up in splitting hairs and lost in the weeds of wiretaps.  None of the media reports I saw referred to legal wiretaps so the CDC's distraction of courts and what's needed for a wire tap is besides the point.   Further harming the CNC's messaging is Alsumaria's report that the Minister of Communication, Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, just announced his resignation.  Al Mada adds that there was conflict between Allawi and Nouri with Allawi stressing the professional purpose of the ministry and Nouri allegedly wanting to use it for "personal and partisan interests."   Mohammed Tawfiq Alawi is a cousin of Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi.  Nouri's people whisper to Al Mada that the ministry was riddled with corruption and that Allawi resigned only after Nouri presented him with charges of corruption.  Others say the corruption is rooted in Nouri who entered into illegal telecom deals with close friends.  CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq Tweeted:
 
11h
#Iraq's Communications Ministe Mr. Allawi resigned from his position in protest over political interference. PM #Maliki accepted it today.
Expand
 
 AFP quotes Allawi stating, "I resigned because Maliki refused to . . . (stop) political interference in my ministry."   BBC News points out, "Mr Allawi is thought to be the first member of the national unity government to resign since it was formed in 2010. Last year, Electricity Minister Raad Shallal al-Ani, an independent who was nominated by Iraqiyya, was sacked after allegedly authorising £1.1bn ($1.7bn) of improper contracts for power stations with foreign companies."  Reuters quotes from his resignation letter, "I present my resignation because I have become incapable of working in such an infested environment."  AP adds that he told Nouri to stop meddiling, "reinstate some officials he ordered transferred" or that he would resign his post.
AFP's Prashant Rao Tweeted:
 
9h
Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Torhan al-Mufti (Turkman-Iraqiya) to be acting Minister of Comms: Ministry of Comms official @AFP
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As Rao noted, al-Mufti is Iraqiya as was Allawi.   Trend News Agency notes, "There has been no word yet from the prime minister on the allegations."  Raman Brosk (AKnews) informs, "Political observers stated that the resignation of the Minister of Communications may deepen the gap between Iraqiya List and State of Law Coalition." 
 
 In addition, the outlet reports Iraqiya' MP Jawad al-Bolani is calling for the creation of a nation terrorism and crime council.  If that sounds familiar, it's what's in the Erbil Agreement.  It's what, November 11, 2010, Nouri was expected to create (and agreed to when he signed the Erbil Agreement).  However, he instead announced that he couldn't do it yet, that it would take awhile.  (This prompted the bulk of Iraqiya to walk out of the session of Parliament.)
Let's turn to the political crisis.  Nouri al-Maliki is the prime minister and his political slate is State of Law.  The other major players are Ayad Allawi, the leader of Iraqiya, and Moqtada al-Sadr
Yesterday, the offices of Moqtada al-Sadr were bombed.  Alsumaria notes that Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi condemned the attacks today in a statement.  Iraq has been gripped by a political crisis for over  a year.  Last summer, Iraqiya, the Kurds and Moqtada al-Sadr were calling for Nouri al-Maliki to implement the Erbil Agreement -- a US brokered contract that ended the first political stalemate -- the eight months that followed the Parliamentary elections -- and allowed Nouri to have a second term as prime minister.  Nouri has refused.  In April, various blocs met again in Erbil and decided to pursue a no-confidence vote in Nouri.  Signatures were gathered and then President of Iraq Jalal Talabani tossed it aside.  He quickly fled to Germany, claiming he needed life-saving surgery (he had knee surgery) and he's remained there ever since.  All Iraq News reports that Moqtada sent a delegation to meet with Jalal today in Germany.  This comes as Al Mada reports that Talabani met with German politicians on Thursday and declared that the crisis would be over soon.  This as State of Law MP Salman al-Moussawi is stating that the crisis can't end until Talabani returns to Iraq because the dialogue can't continue in his absence. 
 
 
As Sheikh (Dar Addustour) weighs in stating that no one denies Jalal's role in the political balance and he notes Jalal's call for a national conference.  December 21st, Jalal and Osama al-Nujaifi made the call for a national conference, Nouri blew them off with a variety of excuses over a variety of months.  At the end of March, Jalal just announced that it would take place April 4th.  To save face, Nouri went along with it and then State of Law worked overtime to torpedo it forcing Osama al-Nujaifi to announce the day of the conference that it had been called off.  This month, Jalal renewed his call for a national conference.  As Sheik notes that Jalal's saying the conference will be held and that reforms will be in place to guarantee rights and this will be done for the benefit of all but while Jalal may be serious the hopes seem to be too high in light of the reality of the political crisis. 
 
 

Turning to sports, Alsumaria reports that Baghdad is organizing the first official tournament for women in the Iraqi Federation of Weightlifting.  This will allow the athletes to participate in the Arab Championship taking place in Morroco at the end of September.  It should also hopefully lay the groundwork for Iraqi women to compete in the weighlifting of the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro. In addition, Amir al-Daghistani (AKnews) reports, "The head of the Iraqi Swimming Federation said Monday that Baghdad would host Iraq's swimming championship on the Tirgris River in Baghdad on Friday."  Mohammed Karezi (AKnews) adds, "Erbil's karate clubs championship will begin on September 10 at the karate academy hall in the city, said the head of Erbil's branch of the Kurdistan Karate Federation."
 
 
 
From equal playing fields to unequal ones,  Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports the city of Kadhimiya is moving to prevent any woman from entering the city unless she is covered by a veil and that a group known as the morality police are following men and women in the city who were the hair 'differently' and that they stop women without veils and force them to put on veils -- they also force women wearing make up to remove it.  Force?  At least one woman has been beaten by the 'morality police.'  Raman Brosk (AKnews) notes that despite local press insisting this new law on the veil was passed by both the local government and the Baghdad Provincial Council, the provinice is stating, via the head of their legal committee Subbar al-Saadi, "Baghdad Provincial Council did not issue such a resolution.  A decision was issued to wear a head scarf or abaya inside the holy courtyard in the religious shrines in Kadhimiya, Najaf, Karbala or Samurra."  
                                               
 
 
Iraq has many prisons.  Mohammed Tawfeeq Tweeted on prison statistics today:
 
 
11h
Nearly 29000 inmates in #Iraq's prisons, according to Statistics released by Iraq's Justice ministry on Mon.
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Meanwhile Al Rafidayn notes that there are 68 Iraqi prisoners in Saudi Arabia.
 
On this week's Law and Disorder Radio,  an hour long program that airs Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m. EST on WBAI and around the country throughout the week, hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Michael S. Smith and Michael Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights) topics addressed include an update on Julian Assange, a discussion of the Cuban Five with attorney Martin Garbus, a discussion on global warming with professor Eleanor Stein  and a strong conversation on the International Criminal Court with attorney Roger Wareham.  Excerpt of the Assange update.
 
Michael Ratner: But he [Julian Assange] gave, I thought, a very good talk. I particularly liked it because he emphasized the attacks on whistle blowers and publishers of secrets, of corruption articles, of criminality of governments and didn't really talk very much about himself but about others like Bradley Manning who are under the government's gun in terms of the government's suppression of secrecy and going after whistle blowers. I thought he looked courageous in doing it. He's a courageous man for what he's been able to do. But you're seeing now a reaction, particularly among the major media and others -- the Guardian, the New York Times -- which is writing some very nasty stuff both about Correa, the president of Ecuador, and Ecuador, about what should happen to Ecuador because they gave asylum. You, of course, saw the article that the British claimed they were going to attack and assault the Embassy to get Assange out of there. I think the British made a huge mistake in doing that, it backfired. Embassies are sacrosanct. The idea that the British were going to go in there to pull out Julian Assange was pretty remarkable --
 
 
The idea that the British were going to do that?  That idea came from screaming crazies on Democracy Now!, remember?  That wasn't what happened.  From All Things Considered (NPR -- link is audio and text), August 16th:
 
 
Melissa Block: I'm Melissa Block. And we begin this hour with a diplomatic standoff. Ecuador has granted asylum to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Assange has been holed up in Ecuador's small embassy in London for eight weeks trying to avoid being extradited to Sweden for questioning over allegations of sexual assault. Now, he can't leave. British authorities say they'll arrest him if he steps foot outside the embassy. They've also issued a rare warning to Ecuador. To arrest Assange, they say, they might even enter the embassy. NPR's Philip Reeves has our story.
 
[. . .]
 
Philip Reeves:  Under international law, embassies worldwide are treated as if they're sovereign territory of the nations occupying them. The security services of the host nation can't just enter and arrest someone. However, Britain is now brandishing another law that it passed in the 1980s. That says it can revoke the embassy building's diplomatic status if that building is not being used purely for diplomatic purposes. British Foreign Minister William Hague again.
 
 
 
It's time for Julian's defense to buy a clue.  It's no longer playing and hasn't been.  A UK poll found a gender gap on Assange.  No surprise, after his defenders insulted and trashed the two women and after that IDIOT Craig Murray went on the BBC this month and violated the BBC policy by naming one of the women accusing Assange of assault -- naming the woman even as the BBC host told him not to -- there's no way you're going to get women back.  You'd have to gag John Pilger and all the other idiots.
 
You've had no interest in curbing the hatred of women from your goons.  Michael Ratner is part of the defense.  He needs to be working on those issue.  He didn't.  Not only do women not support Assange, men in England don't either.
 
And lying and creating drama and trauma doesn't help the defense or sway public opinon on Julian.  At this point, the perception is that Julian Assange is a coward.  That's reality -- people see him that way.  If that's not what he is, the defense needs to work on improving his image.  They don't do that by screaming and playing high drama, they don't do that by playing like the entire world is against poor little Julian.
 
Part of being a successful defense team is knowing when to tone it down, when to reel it in.  Ratner is one member of a large defense team.  He's not responsible for the entire defense strategy.  However, when he's on his show (and Heidi's show and Michael Smith's show), he can say what he wants.  His current efforts are not helping Julian Assange.  All they're doing is piling on the drama, turning it into a tawdry soap opera.  That's not his intent.  But it's what he's doing and that's in part because Ratner and the others have apparently not sat down in months to consider what Julian Assange's image has become.
 
Here are few tips: He's a journalist or he's a whistle blower.  He can't be both.  They like to bring up the Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsberg.  Daniel was a whistle blower.  The New York Times and the Washington Post published the Pentagon Papers, they were journalistic outlets.  Supporters cannot be all over the map on this point.  It's one or the other.  Spreading themselves so thin with their arguments have allowed public opinion to punch holes through it.  It's past time the defense regroups and rethinks.
 
The current image is Julian Assange is accused of assault and Julian Assange refused to go to Sweden -- he's now broken bail -- and keeps insisting on conditions before he will submit to questioning.
 
The defense has failed to make any case to justify that.  Equally true, you may need to consider playing up 'poor Julian, his nerves.'  Because this garbage about he's so strong is only forcing people (UK mainly but it's going to bleed over to the US) to ask, "Well if he's so strong, why's he afraid to face questioning in Sweden?  And if he's going to argue he might be deported from Sweden to the US, why isn't he prepared to stand up for what he believes in?"
 
The defense team needs to grasp -- and real quick because you are losing the people on this -- that 'strong' Julian looks pretty weak in a culture where people take brave stands regardless of the cost.
 
 
Here's another take on Julian Assange.
 
 
Robin Morgan: For example, Julian Assange you know that he's been wanted for some time in Sweden for questioning on accusations of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion brought by two women in Stockholm.  So he's fled and he's been in Britain which wants to extradite him to Sweden and he fought court cases and he lost court cases and so now he has taken refuge in and been given asylum by Ecuador in their Embassy in London from whence he holds forth denouncing women in Sweden as feminists -- denouncing Sweden as feminist -- Ah, take that Sweden! -- and posturing himself as a martyr to free speech and journalism because he claims the US is vamping on him because of WikiLeaks of classified documents. But the interesting thing to me now is that this great champion of press freedom and martyr to it taking refuge in Ecuador's embassy. The current president of Ecuador Rafael Correa and his regime -- it's a leftist regime but it is authoritarian -- has been accused of persecuting and jailing journalists who criticize him and his policies. So I'd like to know what part of "no" and what part of cognitive dissonance Julian does not understand? So many troglodytes so little time.
 
 
Michael Ratner needs to figure out if he's defending Julian Assange or Ecuador?  He needs to pick one client to work for and only one.  If Julian's under assault is the talking point and suddenly you want to whine -- and whine is the word -- about poor Ecuador, you look like Chicken Little screaming the sky is falling as you insist that everyone on your side -- country or individual -- is being persecuted and threatened.  Quick, let's get Julia Roberts to whisper, "Everyone I've told about the brief is dead."  And those aware of human rights -- and we noted this two weeks ago -- are well aware of the sorry state of human rights in Ecuador. 
 
Robin Morgan's comments are from her weekly rant -- her just started weekly rant which she does at the start of her new radio program ("rant" is not being pejorative, she labels it a "rant" on air).   WMC Live with Robin Morgan debuted yesterday and airs each Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST online and on DC's WPWC 1480 AM radio.  Ava and I are planning on covering the show as part of a media mix Sunday at Third but I'll note now that Robin's already exhibited a natural radio persona that most listeners should want to check in on regularly.  The show will have podcasts and more and we'll note some more of that this week.
 
In the US,  the presidential election is underway and there are two campaigns made up of four women, two presidential tickets. The four: Jill Stein has the Green Party's presidential nomination and her running mate is Cheri Honkala and Roseanne Barr has the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party and her running mate is Cindy Sheehan. Click here to sign a petition calling on Ms. magazine and Women's Media Center to cover her campaign and the other female candidate for president Roseanne Barr's campaign.  Over 250 people have signed onto the petition so far.  Some sign and leave comments and we noted some of the comments in Sunday's "Women Win When Women Run: The conversation Roseanne and Jill are inspiring" at Third -- and "women win when women run" is a theme that repeats in the comments with several people signing noting that theme or expanding on it.
 
Today let's look at some of the issues the two campaigns are raising.  Roseanne and Cindy are running on many issues including:
 
Equal Rights for All
 
America runs best on diversity, freedom of thought and many ideas interjected from many kinds of people--collective intelligence. We need our differences! Current laws should not restrict people on whom they can love or where they can live and work. Racial or any other kind of profiling is not American and makes innocent citizens into criminals. We need to revamp our laws. Equality is what was truly intended by our nation's founders.
 
National Security / War / Peace
 
Wars make the stock market go up and are fueled by profits. Where one puts their money is where one puts their energy. The Military Industrial Complex is our shadow government. If we are going to bring on America the same things that we have done in other countries then we need to get up off our knees and fight against those who would take away our freedoms. War is already over. Let's work together to make war obsolete.
 
 
Food & Water Safety
 
Clean water and preservation of natural water sources is paramount to our survival. Those that lead us have allowed the corporations to cross over the web of life and they have destroyed the genetic code. In the process, they have befouled our food and water supply. We need real discussions and rapid action about future water sources, greening our neighborhoods and growing natural, organic food.
 
 
 
 
 
1. The right to employment through a Full Employment Program that will create 25 million jobs by implementing a nationally funded, but locally controlled direct employment initiative replacing unemployment offices with local employment offices offering public sector jobs which are "stored" in job banks in order to take up any slack in private sector employment.
   • Local communities will use a process of broad stakeholder input and democratic decisionmaking to fairly implement these programs.
   • Pay-to-play prohibitions will ensure that campaign contributions or lobbying favors do not impact decision-making.
   • We will end unemployment in America once and for all by guaranteeing a job at a living wage for every American willing and able to work.
2. Worker's rights including the right to a living wage, to a safe workplace, to fair trade, and to organize a union at work without fear of firing or reprisal.
3. The right to quality health care which will be achieved through a single-payer Medicare-for-All program.
4. The right to a tuition-free, quality, federally funded, local controlled public education system from pre-school through college. We will also forgive student loan debt from the current era of unaffordable college education.
 
 
 
 
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