Monday, December 31, 2007

Public radio and the Mamas and the Papas

What did we get today on radio? Not a whole lot. Standouts include Democracy Now!'s first part of a look back at 2007 with the second part airing tomorrow and Law and Disorder. We caught Connect the Dots on KPFK and avoided Uprising which was doing "Cult of Bhuotto." We should have avoided both. Connect the Dots was offering the paid lobbyist for the Kurdistan region of Iraq and he was, no surprise, pushing for the partitioning of Iraq. He droned on. It was a guest host on Connect the Dots and hopefully Lila Garrett would not have forgotten to inform listeners that the man was on the payroll of the Kudristan government. There was no problem mentioning other "credits" the man he had.

What was the best feature article in 2007? I was curious when I saw today's snapshot. I clicked on the link and it actually was the best. Rebecca wrote about it last month but it was not online then. The article is from Vanity Fair, Sheila Weller's "California Dreamgirl" about Michelle Phillips:

When Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty spoke on January 18, they did as they'd done for 40 years: "We made it a point to keep things very professional and not ... slip back," Michelle says in that arch, bemused way of hers. "Slip back” into talking like lovers, she means. Denny was about to undergo surgery for an abdominal aneurysm, and she'd called with moral support, her reliable compassion delivered with its usual frankness. "I was gung-ho and positive.'If it has to be done, just get it over with!'"
The Mamas and the Papas had always remained a family--a shadow of the old, clamorous family, to be sure ("It was two and a half years of total melodrama," Michelle fondly recalls), but touchingly close, even through the decades of Sturm und Drang that postdated their breakup. Early on, their ranks had been thinned from four to three (in 1974, Cass Elliot died, at a tragically young 32, of a heart attack); then, much later, from three to two: in 2001, John Phillips, 65, finally succumbed, after decades of drinking and drugs, to heart failure. And so, by last January, only Denny, 66, and Michelle, then 62--like the little Indians in the children's rhyme--remained standing, their old, red-hot affair, which had nearly torn the group apart, self-protectively excised from their frequent reminiscences.
That two people in the seventh decade of their lives would need to try to bury several months of ancient lust is a testament to the mystique that has long outlived the group's thin songbook and brief domination of the pop charts. The Mamas and the Papas were cannon-shot onto the airwaves when the country was still shaking off its post-Camelot conventionality; girls were wearing go-go boots, and boys were growing out their early-Beatles haircuts. No group had ever looked like them--a magnetic fat girl, a pouty blonde beauty, two sexy Ichabod Cranes in funny hats--or sounded like them: Cass's wry-beyond-her-years alto and Denny's aching choirboy tenor lacing through that creamy, 1950s-prom-worthy close harmony, kissed with all those ba da da das.
The Mamas and the Papas were the first rich hippies, stripping folk rock of its last vestiges of Pete Seeger earnestness and making it ironic and sensual. They made the rock elite part and parcel of Hollywood. (Michelle's eventual serial conquest of its three top young lions--Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, and Warren Beatty--nailed for her its femme fatale sweepstakes.) And then, just as fast as they’d streaked across the psychedelic sky, they burned out in some unseen solar system.


The Mamas and the Papas will always be one of my favorite groups. I loved this article (it was in the Vanity Fair with Julia Roberts on the cover) and I am really glad it is now online.

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

Monday, December 31, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, 2007 winds down, and the illegal war? Hit it, Donovan, and the war drags on.

"I went in for financial reasons, I wanted to attend college but couldn't,"
Ghanim Khalil explains to Courage to Resist in an audio interview. Khalil joined up in the 90s and was in IRR before switching over to the reserves.

Ghanim Khalil: In February 2003, I had contacted Citizen Soldier. The director is Todd Ensign. He's someone who's been working with military people and vets for a long time and between me and him we thought the best option was for me to have a press conference because I tried to solve it in the military You know -- I went to my chaplain, I went to my staff N.C.O.s. and the best thing, the most safest thing for me, and I really, really care about the principles here, the safest thing for me was to have a press conference to let the military know how I feel, to let people -- the American people -- know how a soldier feels -- how a former Marine feels, and then see what happens from there. And that's why I held a press conference because I thought I can't keep silent and I knew the war was going to happen. I wasn't one of those people who thought, you know, maybe this thing is going to go away, that diplomacy was going to win out, I knew the war was going to happen because the war had started six months prior before with the bombardment had already started -- and people knew that -- and so that's what led up to the press conference and the press conference is where I said, you know, 'These are my reasons 1-2-3, A-B-C why I think this war is illegal and immoral and I don't want to be a part of it. I think it's unconstitutional.' That's why I had the press conference.

The press conference was held before a rally at the United Nations February 15th with Khalil declaring, "I have objections to this war. I believe that this war is for material gain. I believe that this war will lead to security problems for the American people and that our children will be endangered in the future." At the rally itself, he declared, "Today, I am in a position to make a difference or remain silent. Will I participate in a war which could lead to hundreds of thousands of civilian dead, endanger the safety of the American people and create chaos in the Middle East, all to benefit a few powerful and wealthy people? This war will spread hatred between America and the Muslim world. It is the duty of educated groups on both sides to put down our masks and weapons, so that there can be a dialogue -- not a clash -- of civilizations. Today, I'm making my choice and it's to make a difference."

Khalil discussed his book Contemplating Dissent: Why Saying No To The War In Iraq Was The Right thing To Do From a Muslim Perspective. The book is currently not available at Courage to Resist; however, added to
the books, DVDs, postcards and clothing they do offer is Michelle Mason's must-see documentary Breaking Ranks featuring war resisters in Canada. And on that topic . . .

On November 15th, the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of war resisters
Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey? Does he even care? Judging by his column, the answer is no. An over hyped voice of the 'left' gives the greatest gift of all in 2007: The reality of how little the alleged 'left' cares about ending the illegal war. (Give to the DNC! Give to two presidential candidates who refuse to promise, that if elected in 2008, they would pull out the troops by 2013!) That just about sums it all up. In the real world, the Canadian Parliament has the power to let war resisters stay in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26.

Iraq War resister
Ehren Watada is the first officer to publicly refuse to deploy to the illegal war (June 2006). Phil Tajitsu Nash (Asian Week) mentions Watada and others (such as US House Rep Mike Honda) as he selects his choice for APA Person of the Year (attorney Michael Yaki who currently sits on the US Commission on Civil Rights). Meanwhile videographer Joseph La Sac cites Watada to Stacey Mulick (Tacoma's The News Tribune) who notes that "while filming at a rally related to Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, two military police officers told La Sac that he had to erase footage of military police and the gate at Fort Lewis. Not knowing any better, La Sac said he compiled. 'It's just heightened my awareness and other people's awareness regarding issues of freedom of the press,' La Sac, now a senior at the University of Puget Sound, said last week." La Sac now carries a card listing "the rights of photographers".

Watada went public in June of 2006. In
August 2006, an Article 32 hearing was held. Following that it was stated that the military intended to court-martial Watada. The court-martial took place in February 2007. At that point, Watada's service was up (December 2006) but the military was keeping him to court-martial him. The Feb. court-martial was presided over by Judge Toilet (John Head) who refused to allow Watada to present a defense (not being allowed to explain motive is being refused a defense) and who, in the end, refused to obey the Constitution. On Monday, February 5th, Watada's court-martial began. It continued on Tuesday when the prosecution argued their case. Wednesday, Watada was to take the stand in his semi-defense.Over defense objection, Judge Toilet ruled a mistrial thus ending the court-martial. In doing so, the legal reading should be Watada walks. Double-jeopardy should take care of that.

Judge Toilet stated Watada would be court-martialed again in March of 2007. Didn't happen. Judge Toilet said it was coming, just you wait.
November 8th Judge Benjamin Settle, a US District Court judge, put Head's planned court-martial on hold where it currently remains. Repeating, Watada's service contract ended in December 2006. He continues to report for assignments on base. The military should have released him long ago. He has now been extended a year just to court-martial him. Watada needs to be discharged immediately. Watada's story was one of the important ones in 2007 and had many victories. But, outside of Asian-geared media, see who mentions him. (Don't worry, we'll get there in this snapshot.)

There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb,
Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at
The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Meanwhile
IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.

On Saturday,
Stephen Farrell (New York Times) reported that the central (puppet) government in Baghdad had reminded South Korea that those contracts they drew up with the Kurdistan region of Iraq were no good. Reminded. The central government has made the point before. It was difficult news for the government of South Korea having just voted last week (146 in favor, 104 against) to continue their minor involvement in the illegal war thereby giving the illusion that Bully Boy's war of choice had international backing. The vote means that 600 South Korean troops will be kept in Iraq in 2008. Apparently not enough to share the spoils of illegal war. On Sunday Farrell collaborated with the paper's Solomon Moore and the US government to report on hand outs and charts the US military prepared and to repeat numbers that cannot be verified. The three-some also informed that rumors abounded puppet of the occupation Nouri al-Maliki was in England for medical treatment of an unspecified ailment.

Over the weekend,
Missy Comley Beattie (CounterPunch) observed, "Perhaps Bush's greatest coup has been as a 'uniter, not a divider,' one of his campaign promises. Certainly, he has united Congress so tightly that we no longer have a two-party system. George W. Bush has neutered the Democrats with surgical accuracy. No matter how loudly they bellow that they will challenge him, that he will receive no more blank checks for war, they capitulate." And it does them no good and only makes them weak. The point was made clear on the front page of Saturday's New York Times where Steven Lee Myers and David M. Herszenhorn reported that despite pressuring the Democrats (who collapse under the gentlest breeze due to their defect of being born without spines) to do his bidding on again funding the illegal war -- which the Dems did and then some only to learn that Bully Boy intends to veto the bill. For chuckles, Bully Boy declared on his radio address Saturday:

You expect your elected leaders in Washington to address these pressures on our economy and give you more options to help you deal with them. And I have put forth several proposals to do so.In the last month, Congress has responded to some of my initiatives. They passed a good energy bill, they passed a temporary patch to protect middle-class families from the burden of the Alternative Minimum Tax, and they passed a law that will help protect families from higher taxes when their lenders reduce their mortgage debt.But this is only a start. Congress needs to do more to decrease America's dependence on oil. Congress needs to pass legislation that will help make health care coverage more affordable for small businesses and workers who buy their own policies. And Congress needs to act quickly on the rest of my proposals to help families struggling with rising mortgage payments keep their homes.Most of all, we need to set a good example in Washington by being careful with your money.

Bully Boy was wasted billions and billions, no question. But this is where Bully Boy steps into the 2008 elections and begins using his Bully Boy Pulpit to make the case to the American people that the reason they live in economic uncertainty and worse is because of the Democratic-controlled Congress. Having done exactly as he told -- without getting the money upfront like a good hooker -- the Dems are now left to puzzle over how they combat this 'surprise' development. (It was totally expected. He does this over and over and with his party suffering due to him, he'll be making many more 'speeches' throughout 2008 attempting to influence the elections.) To his (small) base, what he says make sense. To others, the Dems have aided Bully Boy by funding the illegal war and -- with the veto -- he's sending a message to the country: "It takes a Republican to whipe Congress into shape." Congress will most likely give him all the visuals for that talking point because instead of saying, "Veto? Well forget it," they will rush to appease him, cower and tremble and look like fools and weaklings to the entire nation. It's not too late to stand up to him but they've done nothing to indicate that there's even a body memory of that they could call up.

Over the weekend, violence continued in Iraq thanks to the Democrats fully funding Bully Boy's illegal war. Among the violence reported, Saturday
Laith Hammoudi (McClatchy Newspapers) reported, "The media officer of Mosul police Ahmed al Jobori survived from an assassination attempt when gunmen attacked his convoy in Al Qadisiyah neighborhood northeast Mosul city today afternoon. One of al Jobori guards was killed and another was injured while two gunmen were killed in the clashes." Part of the continued trend in targeting officials and collaborators with the US. On Sunday, Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reported, "Basra police chief Abdul Jalil Khalaf survived two assassinations attempts in two hours today. The first was when two roadside bombs targeted his convoy as he was heading to a tribal conference in northern Basra. On the way back another two roadside bombs exploded causing damages to one of the convoy's cars and injuring one bodyguard." Reuters noted that this was the seventh known attempt on Abdul-Jalil Khalaf's life and that it was the "first since the Dec. 18 handover of security in the city to Iraqi forces." Left unstated is the current issue in the UK Parliament, about a British based mercenary group who allegedly knew the Basra police force was being inflitrated but refused to turn that information over to the British military. The Guardian of London covered that in multiple reports on the British based company AmorGroup. In the continued targeting of educators, Reuters reported three teachers were shot dead on Sunday in the Maysan Province.

In some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing that left 3 police officers wounded, a truck bombing "north of Baghdad" that claimed 9 lives, a woman who apparently exploded herself in Baquba and wounded seven other people, an Iraq-Iran border bombing targeting "Iraq borders guards" that claimed the life of 1 as well as the life of 1 Iraqi soldier and left six more wounded. Reuters notes an Iskandariya car bombing that claimed the life of the driver and 1 security force while leaving three people wounded. CBS and AP report the truck bombing took place in Mishada and claimed the lives of "at least 12 people" and they also note a Baghdad mortar attack the injured three.

Shootings?

Reuters notes 2 people shot dead in Rashad, a police officer shot dead and a nurse shot dead in Mosul, while an armed clash in Baquba resulted in 4 Iraqi soldiers dead and 16 unidentified people killed (they were not identified independently). CBS and AP note a Khalis clash that resulted in 1 police officer dead as well as 1 member of an 'Awakening' Council.

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 2 corpses discovered in Baghdad.


2007 winds to a close.
AP notes that 2007 "was the deadliest for the U.S. military since the 2003 invasion, with 899 troops killed." Democracy Now! began the first of a two part look back at 2007 today "2007 in Review: Power, Politics and Resistance Pt. 1" Click here for the first part (watch, listen or read) and the second part airs tomorrow. DN!'s part one is among many lookbacks at 2007 and two others worth noting domestically (but text only) are CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin's "Let's Toast to Ten Good Things About 2007" and Alexander Cockburn's "Goodbye 2007 and Good Riddance!" (CounterPunch). All three are US pieces. We have to leave the US to get any war resisters? Apparently so. Canada's The Rabble's "2007: the Good, the Bad and the Mulroney" notes this on their look back at the year: "The Supreme Court turned down an appeal by U.S. war resisters seeking to stay in Canada." Part two of Democracy Now! airs tomorrow and maybe it'll note Watada but don't count on it. War resisters lost ground in terms of media attention in 2006 and they really lost ground in 2007. We'll note this more tomorrow in our year-in-review. Elsewhere, the best feature article of 2007 can be found here. It's not about Iraq but, novel concept, it's not about someone sitting down to push a new CD or film release. That allows it to actually be about something and, once upon a time before the advent of People magazine, feature writing offered more than hype. Outside the US, an Iraqi correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers offers "One Year Ago Today" (Inside Iraq):

Picking up the news paper I saw the strangest headline of all."The Ministry of Electricity announces that the hours of lack of electricity will be increased as a result of scarcity of fuel and some technical issues."This is something I cannot undestand. How less electricity?? How fuel scarcity??We have one hour of electricity in every twelve - How can it be less? And how in any scenario could there be a scarcity of fuel in Iraq ? !We have despaired of warm homes.We have despaired of hot water.We have forgotten how to sit relaxed in our homes. I walk into the living room looking for my son and couldn't find him. I looked for him in the other rooms, but he was nowhere to be seen.

And today an Iraqi correspondent offers "
2007 --- 2008" (Inside Iraq):

Its already more than three years and a half had passed since the MNF invaded Iraq. I don't how long they intend to stay but they already lost three years and 9 months. 45 months passed without real progress. 45 months passed without achieving the main goal of the invasion, creating a democratic Iraq.
45 months passed without fulfilling the minimum level of the Iraqis needs. We have electricity for less than two hours a day. We never stop using the water pump because we would never have water without it. The administrational corruption reached the top to the extent that it became the rule, no one can finish any work in the governmental establishment without paying a bribe to that or this employee. The most important thing that both the American and Iraqi governments failed to achieve is security. They failed because they couldn't persuade Iraqis that they came to help them. Now, we live in the middle of unannounced civil war.











Saturday, December 29, 2007

PBS' NOW and Carole King

PBS' NOW with David Branccacio explored the issues of preservation and usage this week. If it has already aired in your area and you missed it, you can check it out online where it streams and there are excerpts.

I told Ava and C.I. I would note the program because I know what they are planning to tackle and would urge you to check The Third Estate Sunday Review tomorrow.

NOW focused on Idaho which still has significant amounts of natural land. A three wheeler crowd wants to be able to ride their motorized tricycles where ever they please. This group, sadly, is not a young one. That was my biggest shock. That it was middle-aged punks. Had the people been under thirty, I would not call them "punks." But punks, in the non-music sense, was all this middle aged crowd was. Looking at the lot of them, you wondered if they'd ever heard of walking?

Their argument is that the wilderness must be opened to paths for them to go zipping up and down on their three wheelers. One woman insisted that this was the only way to expose people to the wilderness because otherwise only a few would even bother to walk through it.

If you doubt her argument, you need only look at her. She is not going anywhere her three wheeler or Little Rascal will not take her.

Watching the out of shape, middle-aged crowd whine that they had to have these paths to zip up and down in order to 'enjoy' the wilderness, I realized just why the country is facing an obesity epidemic.

Two women spoke for the other side, one of which was Carole King.

I used to love Carole King. She's Jewish and there was something about her music that always felt like "home" to me. I am referring to her music, not her lyrics. But maybe it was just seeing a Jewish woman make it in the music business? For all the barriers Barbra Streisand broke, it still remained gentile on the female side.

But Ms. King always reminded me of several young women I knew growing up. They would discover rock and roll and put aside their Bethoven to begin rocking out at the upright. They were creative so it was only a matter of time before they stopped playing Little Richard and Fats Domino and started composing their own songs. None of the women I knew had Ms. King's gift for composition. I also do not believe any tried to become professional songwriters.

That was a really brief window of time. Rock and roll was freeing and, for a few years, it was okay to think maybe you would do something other than marry and have children. Had they Ms. King's talents, a few of them might have gone the route she did. (Which was professional songwriter as well as a wife and mother.)

It may not be remembered by many now but the "No" African-Americans sign often also included "No Jews." I do not remember now if the word was "Negro" or "Colored" that was on those signs but they were everywhere spewing their hatred. Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and many others in the sixties would become huge stars and tear down the walls. The walls were in place and allowed a Chuck Berry or a Fats Domino to only go so far. They would be rocking up the charts when suddenly it was time for some Gentile to re-record their song and a lot of stations would stop playing the original and spin the watered down version instead. Ms. Ross, Mr. Robinson and others really put an end to that which, along with some great music, remains part of their historic legacy. On the Jewish side, we would have Neil Sedaka, Barbra Streisand, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Probably a great deal more, but a lot of Jews' passed or, like Bob Dylan, went out of their way to distance themselves.

When rock and roll, and we called it "rock and roll" then, came along, a number of girls my age could pound away at the piano and, after hours and hours, see themselves as a songwriters. They could not see themselves as singers. Girl singers had upturned, small noses, Gentile noses. So, by the mid-sixties, I would never be surprised to see Jewish names pop up on the 45s as songwriters. 45s were singles and they were smaller than vinyl albums which were 33s. The labels on them would note the song length, the title, the artist, the record label and, in parenthesis, the songwriter. So when Carole King finally achieved stardom as a singer in the seventies, it seemed like she had followed the progression so many of my friends might have pursued with a little encouragement and far less barriers.

I know she is a legend and intensely popular but in terms of Jewish people my age, we tend to say her name with a sense of pride. She is always just "Carole." The same way Ms. Streisand is always just "Barbra" and Mr. Simon is always just "Paul." It is like you are talking about a member of your family who did something so amazing even you have to pinch yourself to believe it.

With Ms. Streisand, she was just a superstar from the beginning, not unlike Lena Horne. Both women probably inspired a lot of pride but I am not sure how relatable they were because they were so glamorous. With Carole King, she came alon, as a recording artist, at a more casual time and her look was relatable.

The illegal war began and I have found Ms. King far less relatable. Her songs of peace are a thing of the past. She has refused to explore this war in song and I honestly feel she is either a liar or hypocrite having recorded so many songs referencing peace between Vietnam and today.
So it was good to see her standing up for the ecology. I was honestly about to start suspecting she was a neocon prior to the broadcast.

She still needs to write and record a peace song and I will not consider her a 'voice' until she does. Considering her age, she does not have a great deal of time to 'get right' on this issue and her silence today negates a huge number of previous songs.

So, if like me, you wish you could still feel good about Ms. King, you should check out the broadcast. They also have an extended interview with her online.

It will not take away her silence on the illegal war but it will remind you why you once liked her and cared about what she might say.

Her live album has caused a lot of ill will and she has brought that on herself. Kat attempted to grapple with it when it came out and then, almost a year later, perfectly translated the problem:


The Living Room Tour is a piece of crap. It goes beyond her screwing over classics to please/appease politicians. It goes beyond her vague statements that can be read as "Rally 'Round the Bully Boy" or "Well, we're there now." All the more embarrassing when even Paul McCartney has stopped drinking the Kool-Aid.
The problem with The Living Room Tour is you realize Carole King may be desperate for a buck (or attention) and willing to sell out everything she believed in. (Or too scared to sing of what she so often did in other times.) She does record "Peace in the Valley" on The Living Room Tour and offers an embarrassingly bland comment. And that's really it. She's trotting out the love songs (hits and misses) and if she thinks anyone's fooled that "Being At War With Each Other" is a 'statement' on the war she's the fool because those of us who remember the song when it first appeared know exactly what it's about (racism in this country).
Carole King spent the 60s churning out hits for others. She didn't take a serious stab at recordings (forget "It Might As Well Rain Until September" and other one-offs) until 1968 with The City. That group's album features a New York City woman trying to act like a hippie. Which is probably why Lou Adler, of the Mamas and the Papas fame, produced it and her solo work for years. If you're hoping to find a peace song on the album, forget it. She's high . . . on the land.
For years, I'm a long time Carole King listener, she's been trashed by some critics as a "Pollyanna." I never saw it that way but understood the position that critics were trashing. I don't know that she still maintains that position. Or, in fact, if she ever really did.
Yes, she made generic statements that could be read to be about Vietnam and the mood of the country on her first solo album Writer (1970). On the break-through follow up (Tapestry), "Smack Water Jack" could be read as a statement against the bullies Nixon, et al. She campaigned for George McGovern. But 1973's Fantasy contained no real statement on the war. It did allow her to pretend to be someone else.
That's key to the type of writer King started out as. She wrote for others. (With her husband, lyricist Gerry Goffin.)
They would try to figure out a way to write the next Drifters' hit based on the last hit they'd had. It was pretend time. Some great work came out of that period.But what Living Room finally drives home is that the whole thing, the entire career, may have been pretend. That's why I hated it so much. 1975, when it would have been safe for our peaceful, easy feeling King to make a statement regarding Watergate or Vietnam, she's off doing a children's album (Really Rosie). Before that, when record buyers had turned against the war but elites and pols still hadn't in large numbers, she was offering her "Been to Canaan" type songs (toss in "Brother, Brother"). They gave the appearance of someone with beliefs. But maybe someone with real beliefs would have actually written about what was going on in the country? So the army withdrew from Vietnam and suddenly King had a lot to say. Nothing specific but more on the mark than anything she'd written (or recorded in cases where she recorded others' lyrics) while the war was raging.
This is the "One to One" period. The "One Small Voice" period. The "A Time Gone By" period. She was being called Pollyanna constantly. I wonder now if I was wrong to defend her -- and think others might have been wrong to attack her as a Pollyanna for different reasons than I had thought at the time. Now it looks like it may have all been an act.
"What will the kids buy?" she and others who wrote songs in the 60s would ask and then try to write that in the style of a popular group. I'm now wondering if she wasn't doing that her entire damn career.
In 1993, when it was cool to be political for some in music, she beefed up her sound on Colour of Your Dreams and actually had some concrete statements (such as in "Friday's Tie-Dye Nightmare"). Our Queen of Peace continued her reign in song as late as July 2001 when she put out Love Makes The World ("go round," if you don't know the title track off the album).
So let's be really clear, Carole King sat out the sixties (chronological sixties) and when the seventies rolled around, there she was a solo, writing non-specific evocations of peace, brotherhood (never sisterhood) and the like. She continued that throughout her career. Stopping only after 9/11.
I guess it really did change everything. It certainly changed a Carole King recording as mealy mouth statements cancelled out anything a live version of "Peace In the Valley" might have offered (however weak). That's really it for the piece of crap, double disc Living Room. King would be smart to figure out what happened? Was she too scared to offer one of her peace songs? (This is, after all, the woman who rarely performs songs by others but went all over California in the nineties singing Patti Smith's "People Have The Power.") Was she, not scared, but afraid it wouldn't reach her perceived market? (Don Kirshner would be so proud if she instilled that.) Did she decide war was the answer after all? Or was she pretending (and therefore wasting everyone's time) with all those musings on the state of peace and the state of man (after we withdrew from Vietnam)?

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" from Friday:

Friday, December 28, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the lies of Bambi Peace King continue, the 3900 mark still remains largely unnoted and a peace organization decides to start a petition and do a tribute . . . to a media circus, all those disappointments and more.

Starting with war resistance,
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress is a collection of Howard Zinn's essays and "Soldiers In Revolt" (pp. 173 -177) deals with war resistance within the military ranks:

It is undoubtedly the nature of this war, so steeped in deceptions perpetrated on the American public -- the false claims that Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction" and was connected to 9/11 -- that has provoked opposition to the war among the military. Further the revelations of the country from bombardment, foreign occupation, and sectarian violence, to which many of the dissenting soldiers have been witness, contribute to their alienation.

Zinn notes Jeremy Hinzman's remarks to CBS News (
60 Minutes) "I was told in basic training that, if I'm given an illegal or immoral order, it is my duty to disobey it, and I feel that invading and occupying Iraq is an illegal and immoral thing to do." Zinn also notes Jimmy Massey testifyng "that he and his fellow marines shot and killed more than thirty unarmed men, women and children, and even shot a young Iraqi who got out of his car with his arms in the air."

In early 2005, Naval Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes refused to obey orders to board an assault ship in San Diego that was bound for the Persian Gulf. He told a U.S. Navy judge: "I believe as a member of the armed forces, byond having a duty to my chain of command and my President, I have a higher duty to my conscince and to the supreme law of the land. Both of these higher duties dictate that I must not participate in any way, hands-on or indirect in the current aggression that has been unleashed on Iraq."
For this, Paredes faced a year in the brig, but the navy judge, citing testimony about the illegality of the Iraq War, declined to give him jail time, instead gave him three months of hard labor, and reduced him in rank.

As Zinn draws his essay to a conclusion, he quotes IVAW's Kelly Dougherty speaking to "an audience at Harvard" where she explains that her experience in Iraq led her to see, "I'm not defending freedom, I'm protecting a corporate interest." Again, that's Zinn's
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress.

On November 15th, the Canadian Supreme Court refused to hear the appeals of war resisters
Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey? Does he even care? Judging by his column, the answer is no. An over hyped voice of the 'left' gives the greatest gift of all in 2007: The reality of how little the alleged 'left' cares about ending the illegal war. (Give to the DNC! Give to two presidential candidates who refuse to promise, that if elected in 2008, they would pull out the troops by 2013!) That just about sums it all up. In the real world, the Canadian Parliament has the power to let war resisters stay in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use. Both War Resisters Support Campaign and Courage to Resist are calling for actions from January 24-26.


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb,
Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at
The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Meanwhile
IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.

Yesterday's snapshot noted: "The US military announces 11 people were killed in Al Kut and states they were 'terrorists' which required 'fire, and . . . supporting aircraft'. The US military also announces 12 'kills' from December 22 to 25th in Diyala Province and, again, tosses around the term 'terrorists'. AFP notes, 'Iraq officials said the dead included two civilians'." Today Solomon Moore (New York Times) quotes eye witness Jameel Muhammad explaining, "The American helicopters shelled our neighborhood for three hours. Dead bodies were scattered here and there. Houses and cars were set on fire, and people were scared and running all over the place." Moore also quotes Hassan Jassim who saw "three bodies lying in the street near his house" and he declares, "American helicopters fired on our houses." A press that could explore the assault? Thankfully Moore did but there's a media circus going on, in case you didn't notice.

In some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 8 dead from a Baghdad car bombing, a Baghdad mortar attack left 1 dead and another wounded and a Zighaniya roadside bombing that claimed the life of 1 "child and injuring another." Reuters notes the number dead from the Baghdad car bombing is now 10.

Shootings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a police officer shot dead in Baquba and a home invasion (the assailants were dressed as Iraqi soldiers) in Sadaa village that claimed the lives of 2 men and ejected a woman from the home which they then planted with bombs (which were defused) -- both men killed were members of the so-called 'Awakening Council'.

Corpses?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 3 corpses discovered in Baghdad

Free Bilal. Bilal Hussein is the Pulitzer Prize winning AP photo journalist who has been imprisoned by the US military since April 2006. On Sunday, attorney Scott Horton (Harper's magazine) walked readers through the latest on Bilal and we'll note this section:

The Pentagon was particularly concerned about the prospect of Bilal Hussein getting effective defense from his lawyer, former federal prosecutor Paul Gardephe. The judge was told to refuse to allow Bilal Hussein's U.S. lawyer to participate in the case. The judge accepted this advice. Consequently, the U.S. military has a five-man team to press its case, but Bilal Hussein's lawyer is silenced and not permitted to participate - and all of this has occurred as a result of U.S. Government intervention with the court. The irony of course is that under Iraqi law, the U.S. military has no authority or right to appear and prosecute, but Bilal Hussein's chosen counsel has an absolute right.The U.S. military continues to keep Hussein in their custody and will not allow his lawyer, Gardephe, access to him to conduct interviews or trial preparation without having both a U.S. military representative and an interpreter in the room at all times. Under international norms, this means that Bilal Hussein is not permitted access to counsel: a serious violation of his trial rights. And note that the violator is not the Iraqi authorities, who have no control over Bilal, but the United States Government.

The US military & government have repeatedly changed their stories since taking Bilal a prisoner on April 12, 2006. Now they're refusing to let him meet with his attorney and they occupy the country he will supposedly receive a 'fair' trial in. Never forget his 'crime' was reporting.
Free Bilal.

Turning to presidential candidates because the LIES are getting to be too much. Monica Davey (New York Times) reported July 26, 2004 in "
A Surprise Senate Contender Reaches His Biggest Stage Yet:"

He opposed the war in Iraq, and spoke against it during a rally in Chicago in the fall of 2002. He said then that he saw no evidence that Iraq had unconvental weapons that posed a threat, or of any link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.
In a recent interview, he declined to criticize Senators Kerry and Edwards for voting to authorize the war, although he said he would not have done the same based on the information he had at the time.
"But, I'm not privy to Senate intelligence reports," Mr. Obama said. "What would I have done? I don't know. What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made."

Do you get that, do you grasp it? Barack Obama told the New York Times in 2004 that he didn't know how he would have voted on the resolution HAD HE BEEN IN THE SENATE.

Now let's go to the
June 3rd 'debate' in New Hampshire. The topic is the illegal war, we're picking up with John Edwards

But I have made very clear from the outset that the way to end the war is for the Congress to use its constitutional authority to fund. They should send a bill to the president with a timetable for withdrawal, which they did. The president vetoed. And then it came back. And then it was the moment of truth. And I said throughout the lead-up to this vote that I was against a funding bill that did not have a timetable for withdrawal, that it was critical for the Congress to stand firm. They were given a mandate by the American people. And others on this stage -- Chris Dodd spoke out very loudly and clearly. But I want to finish this -- others did not. Others were quiet. They went quietly to the floor of the Senate, cast the right vote. But there is a difference between leadership and legislating.BLITZER: You want to name names?EDWARDS: No, I think it's obvious who I'm talking about. BLITZER: It is to me, but it might not be to some of the viewers out there.EDWARDS: Senator Clinton and Senator Obama did not say anything about how they were going to vote until they appeared on the floor of the Senate and voted. They were among the last people to vote. And I think that the importance of this is -- they cast the right vote, and I applaud them for that. But the importance of this is, they're asking to be president of the United States. And there is a difference between making clear, speaking to your followers, speaking to the American people about what you believe needs to be done. And I think all of us have a responsibility to lead on these issues, not just on Iraq, but on health care, on energy, on all the other issues.BLITZER: I'm going to give both of them a chance to respond to you. Senator Obama?OBAMA: Well, look, the -- I think it is important to lead. And I think John -- the fact is is that I opposed this war from the start. So you're about four and a half years late on leadership on this issue. And, you know, I think it's important not to play politics on something that is as critical and as difficult as this.

"I opposed this war from the start"? The public record shows Obama gave a speech calling it a "dumb" war before it started. Then it started. He went on to then tell the New York Times that he wasn't sure how he would have voted had he been in the Senate.

He DID NOT oppose all along. He made some weak-ass statements before the illegal war started and then he got on board with the illegal war. "Dumb" war is not a position a lawyer should take. "Dumb" war might play well as a faux folksy talking point for Fred Thompson, but, as Patti Williams can't stop gushing, Barack Obama was the president of the Harvard Law Review. "Dumb" war is a "dumb" thing and a weak thing for a legal mind to state. And he admitted, in 2004, he didn't know how he would have voted if he'd been in the Senate in 2002. But that didn't stop him from calling out John Edwards and saying Edwards was "four and a half years late on leadership" in the New Hampshire debate this year.

And here's the thing, Bambi didn't just make the "I don't know how I would've voted in 2002 if I'd been in the Senate" statement once. And he was still making it in late 2006. Speaking to David Remnick (The New Yorker, November 2006), he was asked about differences between himself and Hillary Clinton.
He responded:
I think what people might point to is our different assessments of the war in Iraq, although I'm always careful to say that I was not in the Senate, so perhaps the reason I thought it was such a bad idea was that I didn't have the benefit of U.S. intelligence. And, for those who did, it might have led to a different set of choices. So that might be something that sort of is obvious. But, again, we were in different circumstances at that time: I was running for the U.S. Senate, she had to take a vote, and casting votes is always a difficult test.

The conversation with Remnick is also
available as an audio download. Casting a vote can be 'difficult.' Chicago's WBEZ reported (link has text and audio) last week that Obama "missed more than 160 votes on the Senate floor" as a result of "campaigning" and that "Obama's missed more than a third of the Senate's votes this year, about the same tally as two other senators running for the president: Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. Hillary Clinton has missed significantly fewer votes than Obama, while Republican John McCain has missed far more." Bernie Tafoya (WBBM) narrowed it down, "During September and October, Senator Obama missed 71 -- or nearly 80 percent -- of the 89 votes that have taken place in the Senate." That included the Iran resolution, the one Bambi wants to hiss, "Bad Hillary! You voted for it!" But he was a member of the Senate and he knew about the vote and chose not to show up. He says Iran says something about Hillary Clinton. It says a great deal about him: He didn't vote one way or the other. Is that what he would have done in 2002? Ducked the vote?

Or as US House Rep and Democratic Party contender for the presidential nomination
Dennis Kucinich declared today in New Hampshire, "Senators Clinton, Edwards, Biden and Dodd voted to give the President the authorization to go to war in Iraq. Their judgment was wrong. They and Senator Obama have voted to continue funding that war. Their judgement was wrong."

We've gone remedial because Democracy Now! twice (
here and here) offered Barack Obama's campaign spokesmodel David Axelrod's statement on today's show: "Barack Obama had the judgement to oppose the war in Iraq. And he warned at the time that it would divert us from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, and now we see the effacts of that . . . Sen. Clinton made a different judgement. Let's have that discussion." Obama's position on the Iraq War has been all over the map. (Tariq Ali demolishes the other points from Bambi's spokesmodel.) Last night we noted the large number of Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls rushing in to offer their thoughts on the thug and crook Benazir Bhutto. They should all be ashamed of themselves. We took media to task last night and yesterday as well. Add another group that's got some explaining: CODEPINK. Bhutto died yesterday. For Bhutto they can rush to offer a "tribute" and offer a "Petition." What was our complaint about media and the candidates? What were they not noting?

Today,
Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!) notes it, "In Iraq, the U.S. death toll has topped 3,900. Two soldiers were killed on Wednesday in Mosul." And that's it from Democracy Now! For those wondering, the 3900 mark prompts nothing from our peace groups. We didn't call them out yesterday, they're volunteers and they're not news outlets or running for votes. But when CODEPINK has time to create a tribute (for someone who doesn't deserve it) and to start a petition, they DAMN WELL have time to note that 3,900 US service members have died in Iraq since the start of the illegal war. As we noted last night, "'Independent' media (broadcast and some print) largely offered us state propaganda. Meanwhile the candidates for both major parties telegraphed just how little American deaths mean to them." And, again, US presidential wanna-bes are running to become the President of the United States, not the Prime Minister of Pakistan. A peace organization that has time to weigh in on breaking news has time to note the 3900 dead and, if they don't make that time while they rush to note some 'hot' topic, they send a message -- intentionally or not, they send a message.

Since we've noted Democrats running for president, the Green Party has an upcoming debate.
Kimberly Wilder (On the Wilder Side) notes that January 13th, 2:00 p.m., Herbst Theater (410 Van Ness) in San Francisco, there will be a Green Party Presidential debate featuring Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Elaine Brown, Jared Ball and Kent Mesplay. For a list of candidates -- from all parties -- that may be running, see Kimberly and Ian Wilder's candidates page.


Today
Naomi Klein will be on PBS' The Charlie Rose Show. Klein's new book is The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism. Also today on PBS, NOW with David Brancaccio, the program "investigates the partnership of a Republican congressman and the Idaho Conservation League to protect a vast swath of the state's natural environment. Does their compromise legislation come at too high a price? The legislation, the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA), transfers some public land -- land Americans across the country pay for -- to private local ownership in exchange for protection of nearby wilderness. It also leaves land bordering the wilderness open to further recreational use, especially involving off-road vehicles." Among those speaking out on the program against the sell-out of public lands is Carole King -- King of Goffin & King in the 60s (chronological sixties), writing the music to more charting hits than may be humanly possible, easing into a group at the tail end of that decade (The City), going solo in the seventies, releasing the landmark album Tapestry, etc., still writing, still performing and working on the issue of the ecology for many, many years. Check local listings for the times both programs will be aired. Sunday on NYC's WBAI (streams online) from 11 a.m. to noon EST, The Next Hour will offer: "Author/actor/racounteur Malachy McCourt hosts his brothers Frank, Alf and Mike in what has come to be an annual McCourt family radio reunion." While Monday on WBAI's Cat Radio Cafe, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm EST, "In an epilogue to WBAI's recent 'Celebration of Norman Mailer' (The Next Hour, December 16, 2007, 11 am-1 pm, archived at www.catradiocafe.com), legendary actor Rip Torn weighs in on his old friend and fellow improvisor, along with an encorse airing of Joyce Carol Oates' observations on Mailer; and political satirist Will Durst with the Top Ten Comedic Stories of 2007. Hosted by Janet Coleman and David Dozer."






democracy nowamy goodman


Charlie Rose Show



Thursday, December 27, 2007

Takes a lot of media to create a saint

I would suggest that you listen to the first hour of tomorrow's broadcast of The Diane Rehm Show to get the white-washed view of Benazir Bhutto but with independent broadcast media today already having given you conventional wisdom on 'Saint' Benazir, I cannot imagine that anyone needs more pablum.

When U.S. interests are at play, it appears all media -- Big and Small -- sign up to enlist in the campaign.

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

Thursday, December 27, 2007. Chaos and violence continue, the 3900 mark is reached and the bulk of All Things Media Big and Small drops the ball, and more.

Starting with war resisters.
Brett Clarkson (Ottawa Sun) notes that the "growing community of Iraq war resisters who've fled to Canada from their native U.S. are hinging their hopes on a motion to be introduced in Parliament in February by NDP MP Olivia Chow. Chow, who fiercely opposes the Iraq war, is the last hope for the 50 or so deserters, who face deportation after the Supreme Court refused to hear a final bid by former U.S. soldiers Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey to be given refugee status in Canada. With all their legal avenues exhausted, the deserters are hoping enough politicians in Ottawa will vote in favour of Chow's motion to allow them to be granted refugee status in Canada." Among the war resisters in Canada is Brad McCall. Anthony Lane (Colorado Springs Independent) explains the basics of McCall's story, "lured into the Army by a recruiter's slick pitch and the promise of a $20,000 signing bonus. After joining, though, his bonus only came to half that amount, he says, and he soon realized he could not support the Army's mission in Iraq, nor could he stomach the thought of having to kill a person. With his inquiries to get out of the Army as a conscientious objector seemingly facing long odds, McCall made plans to hit the road instead, speaking nonchalantly with the Indy about his travel plans the night he left."


There is a growing movement of resistance within the US military which includes James Stepp, Rodney Watson, Michael Espinal, Matthew Lowell, Derek Hess, Diedra Cobb,
Brad McCall, Justin Cliburn, Timothy Richard, Robert Weiss, Phil McDowell, Steve Yoczik, Ross Spears, Peter Brown, Bethany "Skylar" James, Zamesha Dominique, Chrisopther Scott Magaoay, Jared Hood, James Burmeister, Eli Israel, Joshua Key, Ehren Watada, Terri Johnson, Carla Gomez, Luke Kamunen, Leif Kamunen, Leo Kamunen, Camilo Mejia, Kimberly Rivera, Dean Walcott, Linjamin Mull, Agustin Aguayo, Justin Colby, Marc Train, Abdullah Webster, Robert Zabala, Darrell Anderson, Kyle Snyder, Corey Glass, Jeremy Hinzman, Kevin Lee, Mark Wilkerson, Patrick Hart, Ricky Clousing, Ivan Brobeck, Aidan Delgado, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Blake LeMoine, Clifton Hicks, David Sanders, Dan Felushko, Brandon Hughey, Clifford Cornell, Joshua Despain, Joshua Casteel, Katherine Jashinski, Dale Bartell, Chris Teske, Matt Lowell, Jimmy Massey, Chris Capps, Tim Richard, Hart Viges, Michael Blake, Christopher Mogwai, Christian Kjar, Kyle Huwer, Wilfredo Torres, Michael Sudbury, Ghanim Khalil, Vincent La Volpa, DeShawn Reed and Kevin Benderman. In total, at least fifty US war resisters in Canada have applied for asylum.
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at
The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline [(877) 447-4487], Iraq Veterans Against the War and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters. Tom Joad maintains a list of known war resisters. In addition, VETWOW is an organization that assists those suffering from MST (Military Sexual Trauma).


Meanwhile
IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC event:
In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.
Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.
Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.
Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.
In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

March 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation.


First up, who sent the message today that Iraq is not important?

A great many. Here's reality for Media bound and determined to make themselves useless on the topic of Iraq: 3900.

That's the number ICCC reported this morning before anyone started broadcasting, before anyone started scribbling. It's the number of US service members killed in the illegal war since it started. (It leaves out those who died from injuries -- physical, mental and emotional -- after returning to the US from Iraq. As well as those who kill themselves on R&R in the MidEast -- but we're not supposed to note that detail either.) ICCC is the Defense Department's count of 3898 plus the two (see yesterday's snapshot) deaths that Multi-National Forces announced on Wednesday. Which, once the families of the two are notified, will bring DoD's count to 3900.

Somehow that's not news to many in media. It's shameful. But pimping a US backed leader's death is apparently more important than noting the non-leaders sent into an illegal war by the White House to die. Well, we always care about the famous -- or at least All Things Media Big and Small does.

The 3000 mark was reached December 31, 2006. And, in one year's time, a thousand more have died. The 2007/110th Congress held their first session on January 4, 2007. At that point the number dead was 3006. There was a huge shake-up in the Congress, for any who've forgotten. Democrats promised a lot with regards to Iraq and they delivered nothing. In the November 2006 elections, they had a sweep. They had hoped to win control of one house. They won control of both houses of Congress. Since their first session, 894 US service members have been announced dead in Iraq. Since the Democrats were handed control, Byron W. Fouty and Alex R. Jimenez went missing. They were part of a group that was slaughtered. (By Iraqis waived through checkpoints, for those who've forgotten.) Hopefully, they are still alive. But they went missing May 12th. (They are two of four missing since the start of the illegal war. Keith M. Maupin went missing April 16, 2004 and Ahmeda Qusai al-Taei went missing right before the November elections, October 23, 2006. Ahmeda Qusai al-Taei is the US soldier who married an Iraqi and was captured while visiting her in Baghdad, outside the Green Zone.) The count doesn't include the deaths from physical wounds following the departure from Iraq. Five service members are known to have died after returning to the US, died from the physical injuries they received in Iraq. The number is probably higher. This year three died, from physical wounds received in Iraq, after leaving Iraq: Jack D. Richards (July 29, 2007), Gerald J. Cassidy (September 25, 2007) and Anthony Raymond Wasielewsk (October 8, 2007). In addition there are the many who have come back with mental traumas and have taken their own lives. They aren't included in the count either.

3900 is the number. And anyone thinking of themselves as being a journalist damn well should have noted it today. A century from The Progressive can put it on a calender for one of their Hidden History of the United States: "December 27, 2007, the 3900 mark was reached for the official number of US service members killed in the Iraq War. A year prior, when the 3,000 mark was hit on New Year's Eve, consumers of so-called independent media wondered whether it was the holiday or the lack of giving a damn about the illegal war. Fate decided to clarify for them in 2007 by allowing the mark to be reached on a non-holiday." For those wondering, Associated Press is covering it. The Seattle Times has attached it to a Washington Post report as a sidebar: "The U.S. military said two soldiers were killed in fighting Wednesday in Ninevah province in the north. As of Wednesday, at least 3,900 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war." There are other examples. Where's Little Media?

3900 thrice betrayed. Betrayed by the executive branch of the federal government that sent them to die in vain in an illegal war based on lies. Betrayed by the Democratic leadership in Congress who took over control of both houses in January 2007 but did nothing to end the illegal war. Betrayed by so much of Little Media which just doesn't give a damn and, besides, they've got an election to 'win' for Barack Obama.
Michael Schwartz (US Socialist Worker) observed this month of the illegal war, "So the U.S. is trying to coerce the Middle East into pumping the oil far more quickly than it would do if left alone. That coercive process isn't going to end with a war in Iraq. They're going to have to coerce Iran, they're going to have to coerce Kuwait, they're going to have to coerce Saudia Arabia. The Democrats and Republicans have signed on for a long-term project of international bullying by the United States, which will involve small and large wars, gutting our economy in order to maintain the huge military presence, and then all the consequences of global warming. This is the numb of the disaster -- the real consequences of the American presence in the Middle East. Fortunately, the people of Iraq are doing a fairly good job of resisting right now, but the people of the United States have to force a change in American foreign policy at its very base."

Noting the Baquba bombing yesterday,
Damien Cave (New York Times) notes the death toll increased to four dead (three was the number in the snapshot yesterday) and that the collaborators' deaths follow "Tuesday, [when] several members of an Awakening group were killed by a suicide truck bomber near a checkpoint outside the Baiji oil refinery, in nothern Iraq." On the Tuesday car bombing, Anne Penketh (Independent of London) also notes that the Sunnis collaborating with the US were targets and observes, "Although the US has trumpeted its success in Anbar province and Baghdad, where al-Qa'ida has been marginalised by the US military 'surge' and local tribal chiefs turning on the insurgents, US officials say the network is regrouping in the north."

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?


Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports two Baghdad roadside bombings that claimed 1 life and left eleven wounded and five Diyala Province roadside bombings -- "a health care center, market area, the mayor's office . . . a house in town" and "a police vehicle".

Shootings?

The
US military announces 11 people were killed in Al Kut and states they were "terrorists" which required "fire, and . . . supporting aircraft". The US military also announces 12 'kills' from December 22 to 25th in Diyala Province and, again, tosses around the term 'terrorists'. AFP notes, "Iraq officials said the dead included two civilians." Some of the dead are thought to be conected to the Mahdi Army (but estranged from Muqtada al-Sadr in various reports -- and we used "thought to be," nothing is known). CBS and AP ponder the effects the deaths could have on the "six-month freeze on activities that the Mahdi Army leader -- radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- called in August and has signaled in the past week he might extend."

Kidnappings?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports an attack on two min-buses that led to "22 passengers" being kidnapped.

Corpses?

Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy Newspapers) reports 4 corpses discovered in Baghdad.


Friday
Naomi Klein will be on PBS' The Charlie Rose Show. Klein's new book is The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism. Also Friday on PBS, NOW with David Brancaccio, the program "investigates the partnership of a Republican congressman and the Idaho Conservation League to protect a vast swath of the state's natural environment. Does their compromise legislation come at too high a price? The legislation, the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA), transfers some public land -- land Americans across the country pay for -- to private local ownership in exchange for protection of nearby wilderness. It also leaves land bordering the wilderness open to further recreational use, especially involving off-road vehicles." Among those speaking out on the program against the sell-out of public lands is Carole King -- King of Goffin & King in the 60s (chronological sixties), writing the music to more charting hits than may be humanly possible, easing into a group at the tail end of that decade (The City), going solo in the seventies, releasing the landmark album Tapestry, etc., still writing, still performing and working on the issue of the ecology for many, many years.

In reality based humor,
The Christmas Coup Comedy Players (CCCP)'s latest broadcast aired on WBAI yesterday featured CCNN (Christmas Chaos Nostradamus Network) predicting ten events that will happen in 2008 which included, at number four, "President Bush will announce every day next year that we are winning in Iraq and that we need more troops in Iraq to keep winning." The program is archived at WBAI and featured Janet Coleman, David Dozer, John McDonagh, Marc Kehoe, Scooter, Moogy Klingman and (Wally's favorite) Will Durst.


Turning to the topic of getting rich off the war, on this week's
Law and Disorder (which airs first at 10:00 a.m. EST on WBAI Mondays), Prison Legal News' Paul Wright, co-author Prison Profiteers: Who Makes Money from Mass incarceration spoke with hosts Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith (Dalia Hashad and Michael Ratner are also co-hosts of the program)

Heidi Boghosian: There's a chapter on how prison labor supports the military. Can you briefly explain that?

Paul Wright: Yes, UNICOR is the trade name of Federal Prison Industries and Federal Prison Industries was originally set up during the 1930s as a job-training program for federal prisoners -- also to give government agencies items at a lower cost than they'd otherwise get. It was supposed to be a win-win benefit: prisoners got job training earn a little bit of money -- and when I say a little bit we're talking fourteen-cents to I think their salary maxes out at a dollar, a dollar and five cents an hour, so "little" is the operative word. Government agencies are able to buy products at below market costs. As things have evolved, it turns out the Department of Defense is one of the biggest buyers of UNICOR made products and federal prisoners make everything for the military from uniforms to helmets, to retro-fitting Humvee jeeps with blast armor, to the cables for . . . missile launchers, to cluster bomb casings and a whole bunch of other stuff. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have kind of ramped up sales from UNICOR to the Department of Defense have increasingly gone up and we're talking 700, 800 million dollars a year in sales of items made by federal prisoners to the Department of Defense.

Michael Smith: Paul, that's really extraordinary, what you've described: So they're exploiting prison labor at home to make arms for soldiers to exploit colonial people abroad at the same time they're cutting back on education so they can use money to build the prisons where they exploit the labor. So what you have really is a system that you could only call a decadent system. And it reminds me, really of --

Paul Wright: (laughing) You're being too generous!

Michael Smith: (laughing) If you've got a better word, I'd like to hear it. We interviewed Marnia Lazreg who wrote a book called Torture and the Twilight of Empire in the light of I think what you've been telling us about the whole prison industrial complex and who profits from it is just another chapter in the decline of empire.

As Boghosian and Wright noted, Prison Profiteers is on sale now at
Prison Legal News and will be available starting next month at bookstores and online at book dealers. The book is published by The New Press and Wright co-wrote it with Tara Herivel. Lazreg was a guest on the program that began airing December 17th (Law and Disorder airs throughout the week on many stations and you can see the website if you're interested in getting the one-hour, weekly program on the air in your area) and was noted in the December 17th snapshot.


Also featured on this week's broadcast is co-host Michael Smith's speech at the
Brecht Forum on the police state. Not noted on the broadcast but of interest in terms of Iraq is 1992's Notebook of a Sixties Lawyer: An Unrepentant Memoir and Selected Writings by Smith -- Michael Steven Smith -- which has significant portions on the GI Rights Movement during Vietnam that can be applied to today.









Charlie Rose Show