Added. Community bloggers participating in a theme post on snacks did the following: Rebecca's "pudding," Kat's "Fudge," Ruth's "Graham crackers," Betty's "Popcorn," Mike's "Cold pizza," Isaiah's "Heck Of A Job (Snow Cones)," Elaine's "Sea Salt and Vinegar," Trina's "Junior Mints and nachos," Marcia's "Cracker Jacks," Stan's "Pickles" and Ann's "Marshmallows."
I hope you caught all the post already.
Thank you to Julia. This topic was the question she asked in her e-mail.
"Gravity."
I love Sandra Bullock.
Here's Isaiah's illustration for Third's "Truest statement of the week" of Sandra.
If you don't remember, "The Proposal" was supposed to flop.
Critics were mocking it before it came out. They said it would be another flop. Supposedly Sandra's career was over. I reviewed "The Proposal" here.
And this is from Ann's "2009 in DVDs" and my's"DVDs of 2009" look back:
Like the action-adventure film, the romantic comedy manages to rip at your heart.
That's Sandra Bullock and 2009 was her year. She gave amazing performances but don't think that The Proposal was a lesser performance than her big football drama just because it was comedy. The Proposal was an amazing comedy with an amazing performance from Bullock.
And we think Ryan Reynolds may be the first co-star she's had chemistry with since Keanu Reeves. (Hugh Grant is entertaining but always self-amused. If she had chemistry with Benjamin Bratt, who could tell? The shock from that body scarring, self-mutliation the actor apparently does in real life -- revealed when he's in a shirtless scene -- pretty much nullifies any chemistry.)
This is a movie that has you laughing, that has you rooting and that really touches you. It's the biggest film so far of Sandra's career and if you don't understand why, it's only because you haven't seen it. And credit to Anne Fletcher who directed this wonderful comedy.
The ones predicting the film would flop were wrong. The film opened at number one, did huge box office over the summer and was the year's biggest (money wise) romantic comedy. As summer ended, another film came out. "The Blind Side." It also starred Sandra, also was a huge hit and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for that film.
Her career was not over. But there are a lot of Sandra haters. They're Anglo White, by the way. Sandra's really popular in the African-Amercian community. Jada Pinkett wanting to see her (start of "Scream 2") got laughs from me and other African-Americans because we've been there. Out on a date night movie and we better see Sandra or our dates will be mad. I caught some show early Saturday morning. It's a bunch of radio programs being video recorded. And they were talking about what movies to see. If there was a Black man in the radio group (each show had four or five people), the Black man (or men) said see "Gravity." And they praised Sandra. (There was only one African-American woman in all the shows' different crews. She also said "ticket" not "skip it" for Sandra.)
So I saw "Gravity" and really wanted to love it.
I strongly like it. Maybe even weakly love it.
Sandra's great. This should be an Acadmey Award nominated performance -- even a second win for her -- she's that good.
The sun and the moon also do a great job.
Sadly, George Clooney's also in the cast.
Is he that bad?
Maybe not.
But who can tell with that face?
He looks like a pekingese dog with that face.
Like Mickey Roarke, he's had way too much plastic surgery.
(Yes, I know the lie: Mickey's face looks like that because of boxing. It's a lie. He started having plastic surgery in the 80s and went overboard like Michael Jackson.)
Is Clooney pleased with that pulled back face?
Yeah, it took away a lot of wrinkles and character lines. It also made him look like a very ugly woman.
Watching him on the screen, I kept thinking, "Why didn't they hire Tyne Daly for his part?"
She could have barked out orders just like him and probably also created a character.
That's the other thing about the feminized Clooney. His little tricks don't work anymore.
Where before, say in "One Fine Day," he'd look at Michelle Pfieffer a certain way and it would seem like he was flirting (like the character was supposed to), with his new ugly woman's face, he has less facial agility and mobility and he can't pull off his old facial tricks.
He really is awful.
If this was his first film, he'd probably be amazing.
But instead, you're left with the fact that he's f**ked up his face beyond repair and you just can't get past it.
I hope the film's a hit for Sandra. She's great in it.
If you liked Clooney in anything before (I thought he was great in "One Fine Day," good in "Perfect Storm" and near great in "Solaris"), you will be disappointed.
If you hate Clooney (and many do), go see the film to enjoy the rich performance Sandra offers and also to laugh at George Clooney.
Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, October 4, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, the election law
is still not passed, the white wash of the birth defects in Iraq is
called out, American professor Noam Chomsky offers some truth about
Iraq, US House Rep Tim Ryan drives his BMW to Congress (Bitch, Moan and
Whine), a new rumor about Iraqi Christians (which comes from an Iraqi
Christian), and more.
Yesterday, things really got shrill on the floor of Congress as US House Rep Tim Ryan screeched:
I was against the Iraq War! The Iraq War was unaffordable! The Iraq War was unpopular! 58% of the American people were against the Iraq War! Democrats didn't shut down the government! Use the political process! Which we did and won the House back in '06 and won the presidency in '08 and we wound down the Iraqi War!
KPFA played Little Coward Tim Ryan shrieking over and over yesterday and today.
Tim Ryan is offended that some against ObamaCare are willing to stand up for their beliefs.
If Little Coward Tim Ryan isn't a liar, he's just a little coward who can't take a stand, he's confessed to how worthless and useless he is:
I was against the Iraq War! The Iraq War was unaffordable! The Iraq War was unpopular! 58% of the American people were against the Iraq War! Democrats didn't shut down the government!
Unaffordable?
Try criminal. It was criminal.
And notice how he can't speak of the human costs of that war. His own guilt shames him into silence on that. He has blood on his hands and wants to attack Republicans for doing now what he was too damn cowardly to do?
As the American people are seeing right now, with ObamaCare, what you could have done to stop the Iraq War but refused to do. Because Tim Ryan was a coward.
How many people died -- and continue to die -- because of the cowardly, worthless Tim Ryan?
He threw a shrill tantrum on the floor of Congress yesterday that basically confesses to his own worthlessness and cowardice. If he had the same convictions the ObamaCare opponents do, the Iraq War could have cost a lot less lives. (Maybe even been averted. He started serving in Congress in January 2013.)
Tim Ryan: Democrats didn't shut down the government! Use the political process! Which we did and won the House back in '06 and won the presidency in '08 and we wound down the Iraqi War!
No, they didn't shut down the government. Nor did they end the illegal war as they promised they would if they got even one house of Congress in the 2006 mid-terms. They did nothing. They threatened. They got the White House benchmarks -- and then refused to use them. (US House Rep Lloyd Doggett was the only one in 2008 raising those benchmarks in hearings.) They betrayed the people of America. And, as Tim Ryan's shrill act should have gotten across, they could have stopped it in 2007 or 2008. But they chose not to.
Tim Ryan's proud moment is really just another example of the spineless and cowardly behavior Congressional Democrats displayed throughout the Bully Boy Bush years. In the Barack years? They can't show strength now either. They can only whine and bitch.
Today Noam Chomsky Tweets:
The Tweet comes on the same day The Lancet publishes Paul C. Webster's article questioning the ridiculous report the World Health Organization and and the Iraqi Ministry of Interior 'published' (released in nonsense form) last month on the birth defects in Iraq. Excerpt:
The War Criminals are trying to cover their crimes. The US government put heavy pressure on WHO over this report. Bully Boy Bush isn't in the White House anymore. Meaning, the War Crimes continue. And, in the US, you have to pin the continuation on someone other than Bully Boy Bush. Can you do the math on your own? Every day children are born in areas of Iraq with birth defects that are a direct result of the illegal war, covering up a report, hiding it, delaying it, will not change that fact. As Michel Chossudovsky (Global Research) noted last month, "Furthermore, recent revelations by Hans von Sponeck, the former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, suggest that WHO may be susceptible to pressure from its member states. Mr. von Sponeck said that 'The US government sought to prevent WHO from surveying areas in southern Iraq where DU had been used and caused serious health and environmental dangers'."
People covering for a War Lord in the White House currently are not people who are helping the children of Iraq. As the Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk Christopher Busby (RT) pointed out last week, "Since the outcome is intended to exonerate the US and UK military from what are effectively war crimes, and since the result will be employed to defend the continued use of uranium weapons, all concerned in this chicanery should be put before a criminal court and tried for what they have done. Their actions are responsible for human suffering and death and cannot be forgiven. This is a human rights issue." The Center for Constitutional Rights' Jeena Shah notes at Huffington Post:
This week, one of the world's most renowned and respected medical journals, The Lancet, joined the chorus of epidemiologists challenging the credibility of a recently-released report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Iraqi Health Ministry. The report contradicts consistent reporting of high rates of birth defects in Iraq following the U.S. invasion in 2003. The WHO's defense of the study despite the critiques from many corners raises questions as to the independence of the international body tasked with monitoring and addressing public health crises around the globe.
Doctors across Iraq report that cancer rates, birth defects, and other environmental health problems have skyrocketed since 2003. In the words of Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist based in Michigan who has been studying the rise in congenital birth defects in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion, "Iraq is poisoned."
Among the toxic munitions used by the U.S. military, depleted uranium, also known as "DU," is known to lead to cancer and genetic defects from exposure to its radiation and carcinogenic chemical properties. Scientific studies also strongly suggest that DU can interfere with the pre-natal development of a fetus.
Please note that US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have recently developed an interest in chemical weapons. As the Iraq Solidarity Association in Stockholm has pointed out:
Weapons with depleted uranium were previously used during the first Gulf War in 1991. The city of Basra suffered harshly. In 2004 the US carried out two big attacks against the city of Fallujah. Uranium weapons as well as white phosphorus were used against the civilian population. Many deformed children have been born in Fallujah at the General Hospital since then. In Fallujah, Basra, Najaf, Bagdad, Hawija and other cities children suffer from deformities, cancer and other illnesses.
We have previously encouraged the Swedish government to both nationally and internationally support independent, international investigations about the children and the causes of their serious genetic disorders and the increasing frequency of illnesses. You now have an excellent opportunity to encourage President Obama to reveal the systems and quantities of weapons the US used in Fallujah. This would be of enormous assistance to the research.
President Obama´s Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the US condemns the use of chemical weapons. In order for this statement to be able to be taken seriously President Obama must account in detail for the US use of chemical weapons and demand legal responsibility for the crimes committed. Instead President Obama´s Justice Department has demanded immunity for his predecessor George W Bush and five of his close conspirators for war crimes. No responsible person on a high level in the US administration may be charged with war crimes!
Iraq War veteran Ross Caputi was in Falluja during the second US assault (November 2004). In a 2011 column at the Guardian, he noted:
I do not see any contradiction in feeling sympathy for the dead US Marines and soldiers and at the same time feeling sympathy for the Fallujans who fell to their guns. The contradiction lies in believing that we were liberators, when in fact we oppressed the freedoms and wishes of Fallujans. The contradiction lies in believing that we were heroes, when the definition of "hero" bares no relation to our actions in Fallujah.
What we did to Fallujah cannot be undone, and I see no point in attacking the people in my former unit. What I want to attack are the lies and false beliefs. I want to destroy the prejudices that prevented us from putting ourselves in the other's shoes and asking ourselves what we would have done if a foreign army invaded our country and laid siege to our city.
I understand the psychology that causes the aggressors to blame their victims. I understand the justifications and defence mechanisms. I understand the emotional urge to want to hate the people who killed someone dear to you. But to describe the psychology that preserves such false beliefs is not to ignore the objective moral truth that no attacker can ever justly blame their victims for defending themselves.
The same distorted morality has been used to justify attacks against the native Americans, the Vietnamese, El Salvadorans, and the Afghans. It is the same story over and over again. These people have been dehumanised, their God-given right to self-defence has been delegitimised, their resistance has been reframed as terrorism, and US soldiers have been sent to kill them.
History has preserved these lies, normalised them, and socialised them into our culture: so much so that legitimate resistance against US aggression is incomprehensible to most, and to even raise this question is seen as un-American.
He has made a documentary entitled Fear Not the Path of Truth. His organization, The Justice For Fallujah Project, notes:
Events
November 18th
Premier screening of Fear Not the Path of Truth
At the Paulist Center
5 Park St. Boston, MA
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
The screening will be followed by a reception with free food and drinks (no alcohol allowed).
November 19th
Screening of Fear Not the Path of Truth
At the Old Oak Dojo
14 Chestnut Place, Boston MA
In June, Alsumaria reported that congenital malformations and rates of cancer are extremely high as a result of the uranium munitions the US military used. It's no longer unusual for a child to be born with two heads or with just one eye, the report explains, and the health statistics are much worse than in Japan in the aftermath of the US using the atomic bombs. In Falluja, children born with deformities account for 14.7% of all births. The report notes that although Iraq has a population estimated at 31 million, there are only 20,000 medical doctors and just over 100 psychotherapists in the country. Dr. Mozhgan Savabiesfahani also penned a column for Al Jazeera last March:
Our study in two Iraqi cities, Fallujah and Basrah, focused on congenital birth defects. In both cities, the study revealed increasing numbers of congenital birth defects, especially neural tube defects and congenital heart defects. It also revealed public contamination with two major neurotoxic metals, lead and mercury. The Iraq birth defects epidemic is, however, surfacing in the context of many more public health problems in bombarded cities. Childhood leukemia, and other types of cancers are increasing in Iraq. Childhood leukemia rates in Basra more than doubled between 1993 and 2007. In 1993, the annual rate of childhood leukemia was 2.6 per 100,000 individuals and by 2006 it had reached 12.2 per 100,000.
Multiple cancers in patients (patients with simultaneous tumors on both kidneys and in the stomach, for example), an extremely rare occurrence, have also been reported. Dr Jawad al-Ali, a cancer specialist at the Sadr Teaching Hospital in Basra, discussed the issue of multiple cancers with Der Spiegel last December. Familial cancer clusters, described as the occurrence of multiple cancers throughout an entire family, were also disclosed in that Spiegel report.
These observations collectively suggest an extraordinary public health emergency in Iraq. Such a crisis requires urgent multifaceted international action to prevent further damage to public health.
She's right, this is a crisis. It needs to addressed immediately -- not denied, not covered up. Cleaned up? Yeah, as much as it can be, the toxic areas need to be cleaned up and the US government is the one who should be footing the costs. Former United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Denis Halliday (Global Research) observes, "This tragedy in Iraq reminds one of US Chemical Weapons used in Vietnam. And that the US has failed to acknowledge or pay compensation or provide medical assistance to thousands of deformed children born and still being born due to American military use of Agent Orange throughout the country. The millions of gallons of this chemical dumped on rural Vietnam were eagerly manufactured and sold to the Pentagon by companies Dupont, Monsanto and others greedy for huge profits.’
"The US Has Left Iraq With An Epidemic Of Cancers and Birth Defects." That's the number 12 censored story in Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories From 2012 - 2013 which is released (in print and digital formats) this coming Tuesday. (Mickey Huff and Peter Phillipsdiscussed the book today on The Morning Mix on KPFA -- each Friday Project Censored hosts The Morning Mix -- eight am to nine am PST).
Censor is what Nouri al-Maliki tries to do to the Iraq media. Ali Musa (Al Mada) reports that Nouri's forces shut down the local radio in Balad -- the last station -- accusing it of being a mouthpiece for the poor. (Yes, the police really said that and, yes, they seem to think there can be no greater horror than giving a voice to the poor.) For this 'crime,' the radio station was surrounded after the sun went down by the police who quickly took over the station and shut it down. This is the country, Ali Musa reminds, where over 360 journalists have been killed since 2003. The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi journalist organization, noted in this year's report that 2012 was the worst year for Iraqi journalists since Saddam Hussein was overthrown (by foreign invaders).
Protests took place today. Iraqi Spring MC notes protests took place in Baghdad, in Tikrit, Najaf, Ramadi, Falluja, Samarra, Baquba, Balad Ruz, Jalawla, among other sites. Protests have been taking place non-stop since December 21st. Of today's protests, NINA notes:
Preachers of Friday-prayers called on the sit-inner in their sermons to continue the sit-ins as are the only way to get rid of injustice and abuse policy.
They said in the common prayer which held in six regions of Diyala province : " Iraqi government must not deal with the demands of the protestors in a double standard . Urging worshipers to unify their stand until getting the demands, release innocent prisoners and detainees from prisons.
Kitabat reports that Sheikh Mohammed al-Dulaimi spoke at the Falluja protest and accused the government of supporting militias who target and kill Sunnis. The Sheikh said that instead of implementing the demands of the protesters, the government would rather target or ignore the protesters. National Iraqi News offers the Sheikh said, ""The Iraqi government rather than implement the demands of the protesters and adopt genuine reconciliation with people, it tracking and embarrassing the protest leaders, since 9 Months ago claimants the usurped legal rights."
Sheikh Mohammed al-Dulaimi is correct in his accusation: Nouri al-Maliki (prime minister and chief thug of Iraq) is supporting Shi'ite militias. Tim Arango (New York Times) broke that story last week -- but somehow the US Congress and the rest of the media missed it. (The media may be playing dumb. Members of Congress actually missed it, I spoke with several yesterday about Tim Arango's report.) Arango noted:
And the protesters were targeted today. NINA notes both the Falluja and the Ramadi sit-ins were targeted with sound bombs.
That wasn't the only violence. NINA notes a Tikrit bombing claimed 2 lives and left seven people injured, a Falluja sticky bombing killed 1 person and left another injured, an Anbar Province bombing ("on the road between Hadeetha and Rutba") claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left two more injured, and "One officer and one soldier killed and six police and military men wounded in a suicide attack on Friday, Oct. 4, in a suicide attack against joint military and police checkpoint at the entrance of Heet district, western Anbar province."
The Associated Press reports the targeting of a Sunni mosque in Umm al-Adham with a bombing ("hidden inside an air conditioner) which has left at least 33 people dead and at least forty-five injured.
The Iraq Times reports that Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi declared Nouri al-Maliki must be stopped from wasting the Iraqi people's money. Chalabi is complaining that Nouri has earmarked $15 million for Somolia. Chalabi demands to know what gave Nouri the right to give these funds? Chalabi points out that, in Iraq, many families currently go without food and poverty is widespread. What does it mean? Every four years, Chalabi offers criticism of Nouri. Campaign season is beginning in Iraq. Musrafa al-Kadhimi (Al-Monitor) reports today:
Iraqi politicians are obviously unwilling and probably incapable of offering any consensual solutions to the exacerbating Iraqi crisis before the Iraqi parliamentary elections likely to be held in the middle of next year.
The main reason for this conviction is that the various parties are still hoping the elections will solve the crisis. This is not based on a firm conviction that elections are a democratic means for changing power, but rather on the hope that elections will change the current political map in favor of one party or another, allowing it to impose its vision of the solution.
The truth is, while elections represent a suitable track for venting political tensions, they are not sufficient as an end goal to a crisis, such as the one currently faced by Iraq. This is a country that remains unable to overcome its transitional phase, and is embroiled in conflicts over the foundations of its political processes and the dispute over the method of the state administration, in addition to major security collapses.
For an election to be held, the Parliament must pass a law. NINA reports:
Rapporter of the parliament MP, for IS coalition , Muhammad Al-Khalidi said " adjorning of today's parliament session to next Monday represent the last chance to vote on the election law.
Khalidi pointed out at a press conference today that "differences on the paragraphs of the election law are still ongoing between the political blocs," adding that "the Presidency of the House of Representatives has given the political blocs the final chance to reach an agree on the electoral law on next Monday.
al-Khalidi is with Iraqiya (IS stands for "Iraqiya Slate).
Thursday at the State Dept press briefing, spokesperson Marie Harf was asked about the visa program for Iraqis who helped the US military.
QUESTION: The other question is related to the mention that the Congress approved the program --
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: -- or the funding of the program for the Iraqi visas or those Iraqis who work for U.S.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: In the same time, I mean, the other budget allocation is not done for the other activities. I mean, how you can explain that? I mean, it’s like you can spend money for that program but you cannot spend other money for some essential activities?
MS. HARF: Well, to be clear, they voted yesterday to extend the program. I’m not sure about where the funding for it exactly lies, what bucket of money that comes out of. We thought it was an important step that they did come together to vote to extend it. But clearly, we believe that all of our programs are important, and we believe that we shouldn’t have to make difficult choices between competing priorities that are very important to our foreign policy. So I was giving, as an example, of a way Congress has been able to work together on an important priority for us.
Al Bawaba adds:
When the five year old visa plan ended on September 30, it threatened to halt the visa processing for thousands of Iraqis who had helped the American military during the near decade long war. The 2,500 odd interpreters whose visas are awaiting approval are often at risk from extremists who consider them traitors for having helped American forces.
“These are the interpreters, the guides, drivers, people who performed a myriad of functions that were essential for American operations,” said Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who introduced the first legislation on the program six years ago. “Last night, the United States sent a signal that we are not going to leave them behind.”
The program gets re-instated as Iraq's own visas are called out. Alsumaria reports:
Iraq ranked second in the world’s worst passports list due to the problems its carriers face to acquire visas, according to Henley & Partners’ Visa Restrictions Index 2013.
Afghanistan came first, followed by Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Occupied Palestine, Eretria, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Lebanon.
However, one Iraqi politician feels that visas are being given out too easily -- to one segment of the population -- by the US. Alsumaria reports:
Member of Parliament Imad Youkhana, affiliated with Al Rafidayn Bloc, accused the American Embassy in Iraq of working on making all the Christians leave Iraq, urging it to cease giving them visas. He also urged the Iraqi Government to intervene quickly and solve this problem.
“The American Embassy in Baghdad and Arbil are working on making all the Iraqi Christians leave by offering them facilitation and visas to the United States under different pretenses”, said Youkhana in a press release of which Alsumaria got a copy. He warned against the dangers of allowing Christian Iraqi families to travel away, namely voiding Iraq of one of its most important component. This is a negative and inacceptable phenomenon.
“Giving visa to entire families is considered a masked ethnic cleansing that uses the pretext of protecting minorities from terrorism”, he revealed, pointing out that “this aims to hide their political failure in Iraqi after they couldn’t take the moral blame of the instability in Iraq post-occupation”.
These charges, true or false, are coming from a Christian MP. Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) identified him as such last year (last paragraph of article).
Joan Wile, the author of Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace and one of the Raging Grannies, will be among those taking part in the following action on October 7th:
DATE: Monday, Oct. 7
Added. Community bloggers participating in a theme post on snacks did the following: Rebecca's "pudding," Kat's "Fudge," Ruth's "Graham crackers," Betty's "Popcorn," Mike's "Cold pizza," Isaiah's "Heck Of A Job (Snow Cones)," Elaine's "Sea Salt and Vinegar," Trina's "Junior Mints and nachos," Marcia's "Cracker Jacks," Stan's "Pickles" and Ann's "Marshmallows."
Iraq
alsumaria
noam chomsky
iraqi spring mc
national iraqi news agency
kitabat
the new york times
tim arrange
grandmothers for peace international
joan wile
Yesterday, things really got shrill on the floor of Congress as US House Rep Tim Ryan screeched:
I was against the Iraq War! The Iraq War was unaffordable! The Iraq War was unpopular! 58% of the American people were against the Iraq War! Democrats didn't shut down the government! Use the political process! Which we did and won the House back in '06 and won the presidency in '08 and we wound down the Iraqi War!
KPFA played Little Coward Tim Ryan shrieking over and over yesterday and today.
Tim Ryan is offended that some against ObamaCare are willing to stand up for their beliefs.
If Little Coward Tim Ryan isn't a liar, he's just a little coward who can't take a stand, he's confessed to how worthless and useless he is:
I was against the Iraq War! The Iraq War was unaffordable! The Iraq War was unpopular! 58% of the American people were against the Iraq War! Democrats didn't shut down the government!
Unaffordable?
Try criminal. It was criminal.
And notice how he can't speak of the human costs of that war. His own guilt shames him into silence on that. He has blood on his hands and wants to attack Republicans for doing now what he was too damn cowardly to do?
As the American people are seeing right now, with ObamaCare, what you could have done to stop the Iraq War but refused to do. Because Tim Ryan was a coward.
How many people died -- and continue to die -- because of the cowardly, worthless Tim Ryan?
He threw a shrill tantrum on the floor of Congress yesterday that basically confesses to his own worthlessness and cowardice. If he had the same convictions the ObamaCare opponents do, the Iraq War could have cost a lot less lives. (Maybe even been averted. He started serving in Congress in January 2013.)
Tim Ryan: Democrats didn't shut down the government! Use the political process! Which we did and won the House back in '06 and won the presidency in '08 and we wound down the Iraqi War!
No, they didn't shut down the government. Nor did they end the illegal war as they promised they would if they got even one house of Congress in the 2006 mid-terms. They did nothing. They threatened. They got the White House benchmarks -- and then refused to use them. (US House Rep Lloyd Doggett was the only one in 2008 raising those benchmarks in hearings.) They betrayed the people of America. And, as Tim Ryan's shrill act should have gotten across, they could have stopped it in 2007 or 2008. But they chose not to.
Tim Ryan's proud moment is really just another example of the spineless and cowardly behavior Congressional Democrats displayed throughout the Bully Boy Bush years. In the Barack years? They can't show strength now either. They can only whine and bitch.
Today Noam Chomsky Tweets:
-
Invading Iraq was the kind of crime for which Nazi war criminals were hanged at Nuremberg.
Noam Chomsky
The Tweet comes on the same day The Lancet publishes Paul C. Webster's article questioning the ridiculous report the World Health Organization and and the Iraqi Ministry of Interior 'published' (released in nonsense form) last month on the birth defects in Iraq. Excerpt:
Researchers in Iraq, the UK, and the USA who
have probed congenital birth defects and have published recent
peer-reviewed studies also express concerns about the methodology
employed by the Iraqi MOH and WHO.
Although
WHO says that “at this point no effort to neither substantiate nor
negate the findings of other studies can be employed because the study
is not aiming to establish cause-effect associations between [congenital
birth defects] prevalence and environmental risk factors”, the study
issued by the Iraqi Government states that “in recent years there have
been several anecdotal reports of geographical regions with an unusually
high prevalence of congenital birth defects in Iraq. Most of the
reports did not meet the norms for an objective study of birth defects,
and a review of the published literature could find no clear evidence to
support their findings.”
Samira Alaani, a paediatrician in Fallujah, Iraq, who copublished a 2011 study
utilising hospital records to conclude that congenital malformations
accounted for 15% of all births in Fallujah since 2003, says the new
study cofunded by WHO and the Iraqi Government should have employed
hospital records more comprehensively.
Muhsin Al-Sabbak of the Basrah Medical School in Basrah, Iraq, who copublished a 2012 study
reporting a 17-fold increase in birth defects in the Al Basrah
Maternity Hospital since 1994, warns that the data from Basrah in the
new study does not match local hospital records.
Alison Alborz is a specialist on learning disabilities in children at the University of Manchester, UK, who published a 2013 study
presenting data from a 2010 survey of 6032 households in four Iraqi
governates including data for more than 10 000 children and young people
showing a prevalence of congenital birth defects more than 2·5 times
higher than reported in the Iraqi Government study. She says the new
report gives little information about sampling and does not offer any
discussion of whether the districts chosen for analysis “reflect the
characteristics of the governorate as a whole”.
The War Criminals are trying to cover their crimes. The US government put heavy pressure on WHO over this report. Bully Boy Bush isn't in the White House anymore. Meaning, the War Crimes continue. And, in the US, you have to pin the continuation on someone other than Bully Boy Bush. Can you do the math on your own? Every day children are born in areas of Iraq with birth defects that are a direct result of the illegal war, covering up a report, hiding it, delaying it, will not change that fact. As Michel Chossudovsky (Global Research) noted last month, "Furthermore, recent revelations by Hans von Sponeck, the former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, suggest that WHO may be susceptible to pressure from its member states. Mr. von Sponeck said that 'The US government sought to prevent WHO from surveying areas in southern Iraq where DU had been used and caused serious health and environmental dangers'."
People covering for a War Lord in the White House currently are not people who are helping the children of Iraq. As the Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk Christopher Busby (RT) pointed out last week, "Since the outcome is intended to exonerate the US and UK military from what are effectively war crimes, and since the result will be employed to defend the continued use of uranium weapons, all concerned in this chicanery should be put before a criminal court and tried for what they have done. Their actions are responsible for human suffering and death and cannot be forgiven. This is a human rights issue." The Center for Constitutional Rights' Jeena Shah notes at Huffington Post:
This week, one of the world's most renowned and respected medical journals, The Lancet, joined the chorus of epidemiologists challenging the credibility of a recently-released report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Iraqi Health Ministry. The report contradicts consistent reporting of high rates of birth defects in Iraq following the U.S. invasion in 2003. The WHO's defense of the study despite the critiques from many corners raises questions as to the independence of the international body tasked with monitoring and addressing public health crises around the globe.
Doctors across Iraq report that cancer rates, birth defects, and other environmental health problems have skyrocketed since 2003. In the words of Dr. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist based in Michigan who has been studying the rise in congenital birth defects in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion, "Iraq is poisoned."
Among the toxic munitions used by the U.S. military, depleted uranium, also known as "DU," is known to lead to cancer and genetic defects from exposure to its radiation and carcinogenic chemical properties. Scientific studies also strongly suggest that DU can interfere with the pre-natal development of a fetus.
Please note that US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have recently developed an interest in chemical weapons. As the Iraq Solidarity Association in Stockholm has pointed out:
Weapons with depleted uranium were previously used during the first Gulf War in 1991. The city of Basra suffered harshly. In 2004 the US carried out two big attacks against the city of Fallujah. Uranium weapons as well as white phosphorus were used against the civilian population. Many deformed children have been born in Fallujah at the General Hospital since then. In Fallujah, Basra, Najaf, Bagdad, Hawija and other cities children suffer from deformities, cancer and other illnesses.
We have previously encouraged the Swedish government to both nationally and internationally support independent, international investigations about the children and the causes of their serious genetic disorders and the increasing frequency of illnesses. You now have an excellent opportunity to encourage President Obama to reveal the systems and quantities of weapons the US used in Fallujah. This would be of enormous assistance to the research.
President Obama´s Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the US condemns the use of chemical weapons. In order for this statement to be able to be taken seriously President Obama must account in detail for the US use of chemical weapons and demand legal responsibility for the crimes committed. Instead President Obama´s Justice Department has demanded immunity for his predecessor George W Bush and five of his close conspirators for war crimes. No responsible person on a high level in the US administration may be charged with war crimes!
Iraq War veteran Ross Caputi was in Falluja during the second US assault (November 2004). In a 2011 column at the Guardian, he noted:
I do not see any contradiction in feeling sympathy for the dead US Marines and soldiers and at the same time feeling sympathy for the Fallujans who fell to their guns. The contradiction lies in believing that we were liberators, when in fact we oppressed the freedoms and wishes of Fallujans. The contradiction lies in believing that we were heroes, when the definition of "hero" bares no relation to our actions in Fallujah.
What we did to Fallujah cannot be undone, and I see no point in attacking the people in my former unit. What I want to attack are the lies and false beliefs. I want to destroy the prejudices that prevented us from putting ourselves in the other's shoes and asking ourselves what we would have done if a foreign army invaded our country and laid siege to our city.
I understand the psychology that causes the aggressors to blame their victims. I understand the justifications and defence mechanisms. I understand the emotional urge to want to hate the people who killed someone dear to you. But to describe the psychology that preserves such false beliefs is not to ignore the objective moral truth that no attacker can ever justly blame their victims for defending themselves.
The same distorted morality has been used to justify attacks against the native Americans, the Vietnamese, El Salvadorans, and the Afghans. It is the same story over and over again. These people have been dehumanised, their God-given right to self-defence has been delegitimised, their resistance has been reframed as terrorism, and US soldiers have been sent to kill them.
History has preserved these lies, normalised them, and socialised them into our culture: so much so that legitimate resistance against US aggression is incomprehensible to most, and to even raise this question is seen as un-American.
He has made a documentary entitled Fear Not the Path of Truth. His organization, The Justice For Fallujah Project, notes:
Events
November 18th
Premier screening of Fear Not the Path of Truth
At the Paulist Center
5 Park St. Boston, MA
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
The screening will be followed by a reception with free food and drinks (no alcohol allowed).
November 19th
Screening of Fear Not the Path of Truth
At the Old Oak Dojo
14 Chestnut Place, Boston MA
In June, Alsumaria reported that congenital malformations and rates of cancer are extremely high as a result of the uranium munitions the US military used. It's no longer unusual for a child to be born with two heads or with just one eye, the report explains, and the health statistics are much worse than in Japan in the aftermath of the US using the atomic bombs. In Falluja, children born with deformities account for 14.7% of all births. The report notes that although Iraq has a population estimated at 31 million, there are only 20,000 medical doctors and just over 100 psychotherapists in the country. Dr. Mozhgan Savabiesfahani also penned a column for Al Jazeera last March:
Our study in two Iraqi cities, Fallujah and Basrah, focused on congenital birth defects. In both cities, the study revealed increasing numbers of congenital birth defects, especially neural tube defects and congenital heart defects. It also revealed public contamination with two major neurotoxic metals, lead and mercury. The Iraq birth defects epidemic is, however, surfacing in the context of many more public health problems in bombarded cities. Childhood leukemia, and other types of cancers are increasing in Iraq. Childhood leukemia rates in Basra more than doubled between 1993 and 2007. In 1993, the annual rate of childhood leukemia was 2.6 per 100,000 individuals and by 2006 it had reached 12.2 per 100,000.
Multiple cancers in patients (patients with simultaneous tumors on both kidneys and in the stomach, for example), an extremely rare occurrence, have also been reported. Dr Jawad al-Ali, a cancer specialist at the Sadr Teaching Hospital in Basra, discussed the issue of multiple cancers with Der Spiegel last December. Familial cancer clusters, described as the occurrence of multiple cancers throughout an entire family, were also disclosed in that Spiegel report.
These observations collectively suggest an extraordinary public health emergency in Iraq. Such a crisis requires urgent multifaceted international action to prevent further damage to public health.
She's right, this is a crisis. It needs to addressed immediately -- not denied, not covered up. Cleaned up? Yeah, as much as it can be, the toxic areas need to be cleaned up and the US government is the one who should be footing the costs. Former United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Denis Halliday (Global Research) observes, "This tragedy in Iraq reminds one of US Chemical Weapons used in Vietnam. And that the US has failed to acknowledge or pay compensation or provide medical assistance to thousands of deformed children born and still being born due to American military use of Agent Orange throughout the country. The millions of gallons of this chemical dumped on rural Vietnam were eagerly manufactured and sold to the Pentagon by companies Dupont, Monsanto and others greedy for huge profits.’
"The US Has Left Iraq With An Epidemic Of Cancers and Birth Defects." That's the number 12 censored story in Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories From 2012 - 2013 which is released (in print and digital formats) this coming Tuesday. (Mickey Huff and Peter Phillipsdiscussed the book today on The Morning Mix on KPFA -- each Friday Project Censored hosts The Morning Mix -- eight am to nine am PST).
Censor is what Nouri al-Maliki tries to do to the Iraq media. Ali Musa (Al Mada) reports that Nouri's forces shut down the local radio in Balad -- the last station -- accusing it of being a mouthpiece for the poor. (Yes, the police really said that and, yes, they seem to think there can be no greater horror than giving a voice to the poor.) For this 'crime,' the radio station was surrounded after the sun went down by the police who quickly took over the station and shut it down. This is the country, Ali Musa reminds, where over 360 journalists have been killed since 2003. The Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an Iraqi journalist organization, noted in this year's report that 2012 was the worst year for Iraqi journalists since Saddam Hussein was overthrown (by foreign invaders).
Protests took place today. Iraqi Spring MC notes protests took place in Baghdad, in Tikrit, Najaf, Ramadi, Falluja, Samarra, Baquba, Balad Ruz, Jalawla, among other sites. Protests have been taking place non-stop since December 21st. Of today's protests, NINA notes:
Preachers of Friday-prayers called on the sit-inner in their sermons to continue the sit-ins as are the only way to get rid of injustice and abuse policy.
They said in the common prayer which held in six regions of Diyala province : " Iraqi government must not deal with the demands of the protestors in a double standard . Urging worshipers to unify their stand until getting the demands, release innocent prisoners and detainees from prisons.
Kitabat reports that Sheikh Mohammed al-Dulaimi spoke at the Falluja protest and accused the government of supporting militias who target and kill Sunnis. The Sheikh said that instead of implementing the demands of the protesters, the government would rather target or ignore the protesters. National Iraqi News offers the Sheikh said, ""The Iraqi government rather than implement the demands of the protesters and adopt genuine reconciliation with people, it tracking and embarrassing the protest leaders, since 9 Months ago claimants the usurped legal rights."
Sheikh Mohammed al-Dulaimi is correct in his accusation: Nouri al-Maliki (prime minister and chief thug of Iraq) is supporting Shi'ite militias. Tim Arango (New York Times) broke that story last week -- but somehow the US Congress and the rest of the media missed it. (The media may be playing dumb. Members of Congress actually missed it, I spoke with several yesterday about Tim Arango's report.) Arango noted:
In supporting Asaib al-Haq, Mr. Maliki has apparently made the risky
calculation that by backing some Shiite militias, even in secret, he can
maintain control over the country’s restive Shiite population and,
ultimately, retain power after the next national elections, which are
scheduled for next year. Militiamen and residents of Shiite areas say
members of Asaib al-Haq are given government badges and weapons and
allowed freedom of movement by the security forces.
And the protesters were targeted today. NINA notes both the Falluja and the Ramadi sit-ins were targeted with sound bombs.
That wasn't the only violence. NINA notes a Tikrit bombing claimed 2 lives and left seven people injured, a Falluja sticky bombing killed 1 person and left another injured, an Anbar Province bombing ("on the road between Hadeetha and Rutba") claimed the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left two more injured, and "One officer and one soldier killed and six police and military men wounded in a suicide attack on Friday, Oct. 4, in a suicide attack against joint military and police checkpoint at the entrance of Heet district, western Anbar province."
The Associated Press reports the targeting of a Sunni mosque in Umm al-Adham with a bombing ("hidden inside an air conditioner) which has left at least 33 people dead and at least forty-five injured.
The Iraq Times reports that Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi declared Nouri al-Maliki must be stopped from wasting the Iraqi people's money. Chalabi is complaining that Nouri has earmarked $15 million for Somolia. Chalabi demands to know what gave Nouri the right to give these funds? Chalabi points out that, in Iraq, many families currently go without food and poverty is widespread. What does it mean? Every four years, Chalabi offers criticism of Nouri. Campaign season is beginning in Iraq. Musrafa al-Kadhimi (Al-Monitor) reports today:
Iraqi politicians are obviously unwilling and probably incapable of offering any consensual solutions to the exacerbating Iraqi crisis before the Iraqi parliamentary elections likely to be held in the middle of next year.
The main reason for this conviction is that the various parties are still hoping the elections will solve the crisis. This is not based on a firm conviction that elections are a democratic means for changing power, but rather on the hope that elections will change the current political map in favor of one party or another, allowing it to impose its vision of the solution.
The truth is, while elections represent a suitable track for venting political tensions, they are not sufficient as an end goal to a crisis, such as the one currently faced by Iraq. This is a country that remains unable to overcome its transitional phase, and is embroiled in conflicts over the foundations of its political processes and the dispute over the method of the state administration, in addition to major security collapses.
For an election to be held, the Parliament must pass a law. NINA reports:
Rapporter of the parliament MP, for IS coalition , Muhammad Al-Khalidi said " adjorning of today's parliament session to next Monday represent the last chance to vote on the election law.
Khalidi pointed out at a press conference today that "differences on the paragraphs of the election law are still ongoing between the political blocs," adding that "the Presidency of the House of Representatives has given the political blocs the final chance to reach an agree on the electoral law on next Monday.
al-Khalidi is with Iraqiya (IS stands for "Iraqiya Slate).
Thursday at the State Dept press briefing, spokesperson Marie Harf was asked about the visa program for Iraqis who helped the US military.
QUESTION: The other question is related to the mention that the Congress approved the program --
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: -- or the funding of the program for the Iraqi visas or those Iraqis who work for U.S.
MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: In the same time, I mean, the other budget allocation is not done for the other activities. I mean, how you can explain that? I mean, it’s like you can spend money for that program but you cannot spend other money for some essential activities?
MS. HARF: Well, to be clear, they voted yesterday to extend the program. I’m not sure about where the funding for it exactly lies, what bucket of money that comes out of. We thought it was an important step that they did come together to vote to extend it. But clearly, we believe that all of our programs are important, and we believe that we shouldn’t have to make difficult choices between competing priorities that are very important to our foreign policy. So I was giving, as an example, of a way Congress has been able to work together on an important priority for us.
Al Bawaba adds:
When the five year old visa plan ended on September 30, it threatened to halt the visa processing for thousands of Iraqis who had helped the American military during the near decade long war. The 2,500 odd interpreters whose visas are awaiting approval are often at risk from extremists who consider them traitors for having helped American forces.
“These are the interpreters, the guides, drivers, people who performed a myriad of functions that were essential for American operations,” said Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat who introduced the first legislation on the program six years ago. “Last night, the United States sent a signal that we are not going to leave them behind.”
The program gets re-instated as Iraq's own visas are called out. Alsumaria reports:
Iraq ranked second in the world’s worst passports list due to the problems its carriers face to acquire visas, according to Henley & Partners’ Visa Restrictions Index 2013.
Afghanistan came first, followed by Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Occupied Palestine, Eretria, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Lebanon.
However, one Iraqi politician feels that visas are being given out too easily -- to one segment of the population -- by the US. Alsumaria reports:
Member of Parliament Imad Youkhana, affiliated with Al Rafidayn Bloc, accused the American Embassy in Iraq of working on making all the Christians leave Iraq, urging it to cease giving them visas. He also urged the Iraqi Government to intervene quickly and solve this problem.
“The American Embassy in Baghdad and Arbil are working on making all the Iraqi Christians leave by offering them facilitation and visas to the United States under different pretenses”, said Youkhana in a press release of which Alsumaria got a copy. He warned against the dangers of allowing Christian Iraqi families to travel away, namely voiding Iraq of one of its most important component. This is a negative and inacceptable phenomenon.
“Giving visa to entire families is considered a masked ethnic cleansing that uses the pretext of protecting minorities from terrorism”, he revealed, pointing out that “this aims to hide their political failure in Iraqi after they couldn’t take the moral blame of the instability in Iraq post-occupation”.
These charges, true or false, are coming from a Christian MP. Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) identified him as such last year (last paragraph of article).
Joan Wile, the author of Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace and one of the Raging Grannies, will be among those taking part in the following action on October 7th:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lionelle Hamanaka, 212-662-5011; Vicki McFadyen,646-8245506; Joan Wile, 917-441-0651
CAN WE GO HOME NOW?
PROTESTERS TO ASK ON 12TH ANNIVERSARY OF AFGHANISTAN WAR
On Oct. 7, 2013, a number of NYC peace
groups will mark the 12th year of our invasion of Afghanistan by
rallying at Union Square to demand an end to the war, to ask the
question, "Can We Go Home Now?"
Names of the 2,272 fallen U.S, military killed in Afghanistan will be read.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to capture Osama bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group Al Qaeda.
Mission accomplished!
· Osama bin Laden is dead
· There are fewer than 100 Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.
The protesters believe there is nothing more to be gained by remaining in Afghanistan.
- The government we installed after overthrowing the Taliban is hopelessly corrupt;
- It is clear that some in the current Afghanistan government are in cahoots with the Taliban and are undermining NATO efforts ;
- Prolonged occupation inevitably creates anti-U.S. resentment, just as we would resent a foreign occupation force within our borders; Our attempts to "nation-build" a country we don't understand has cost U.S. thousands of casualties and tens of thousands of Afghan civilian deaths, which has only served to radicalize more of the population;
- The cost of the war is now $120 billion per year, money that should fund new priorities reflecting urgent human needs.
DATE: Monday, Oct. 7
TIME: 4:30 - 7 p.m.
LOCATION: 60 E. 14th St., opposite Union Square
SPONSORED BY (partial list): Military
Families Speak Out (Metro), War Resisters League NY, Code Pink NY,
Granny Peace Brigade, Brooklyn For Peace, Grandmothers Against the War,
Manhattan Peace Action, Peace Action NYS
Added. Community bloggers participating in a theme post on snacks did the following: Rebecca's "pudding," Kat's "Fudge," Ruth's "Graham crackers," Betty's "Popcorn," Mike's "Cold pizza," Isaiah's "Heck Of A Job (Snow Cones)," Elaine's "Sea Salt and Vinegar," Trina's "Junior Mints and nachos," Marcia's "Cracker Jacks," Stan's "Pickles" and Ann's "Marshmallows."
Iraq
alsumaria
noam chomsky
iraqi spring mc
national iraqi news agency
kitabat
the new york times
tim arrange
grandmothers for peace international
joan wile
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