Gaia's Tears in Asheville

Occupy the Planet

2011-10-01T09:11:00.005-04:00

Occupy Wall Street is now on day 15 as today begins Occupy Asheville. It is an amazing time in history that we find ourselves. We watch on TV as, night after night, the cable news shows show Egyptians rising against their oppressive regime, the "rebels" in Libya fighting Ghaddafi. Now after 2 weeks of Occupy Wall Street, MSNBC is finally showing coverage of Occupy Wall Street. I do not use the word "report" as even Chris Hayes' "live" report from New York last night, he said something along the lines of 'you see the typical drum circle, free hugs, etc'. After his coverage, @LastWord Tweeted 'this was recorded earlier'.
NO ONE is reporting on the actual number of cities participating in this movement. OccupyTogether.org currently lists 101 cities participating in the US and 20 International cities. On Twitter there are many feeling that this is the start of a #GlobalRevolution, an American Autumn to respond to the Arab Spring. Is this what the Mayans were predicting in 2012? A global rising in conscience? Where the world citizens are rising up against their global masters and saying ENOUGH! I do not want to buy the bullshit you are peddling! I will not longer be a consumer. I am a citizen of the world and I am responsible for the atrocities committed in the name of global financial domination and I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Crumbling Towers

2011-01-28T11:40:00.007-05:00

As I dive back into the blogging pool, across the globe the young are rising up against the powers that be. It has been well over a year since my last post. Since then, the tea party Right have become so loud in the US their voices sound like gunshots, while Progressive voices have become silent and they were driven out of the House. Few in Washington speak for Mother Earth, but many claim to speak for Jesus. The State of the Union is comfortably numb. The youth of America are amused into a stupor with either technological gadgets or pharmaceutical drugs and want nothing to do with politics.
But it now seems that the heavy handed Republicans have awakened a sleeping giant, the middle class. For weeks people of Wisconsin have kept a vigil of sorts. A peaceful demanding to maintain our only safeguard against the Right's privatization of the US. There is a person I follow on Twitter, @WomensWorkUSA that has tweeted this recently,

As long as there are CEOs who will send people out to clean up an oil spill w/out clean up gear to prevent asphyxiation, we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who live in gated communities so they do not have to mix w/any but the affluent, we need unions to ensure equity.

As long as there are CEOs who cut jobs right before Thanksgiving or Christmas to make final quarter look good...we need family values unions

As long as there are CEOs who speculate on Wall Street with your hard earned cash like it is fake monopoly money, we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who do far better moving their corporation overseas where ppl will work gladly for $1/day, we need unions in USA.

As long as there are CEOs who will send truck drivers or pilots off to work...still sleeping/sleepless...we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who hold paychecks beyond bank closing time to get another day's interest in THEIR account, we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who think dropping a stack of work on your desk at 5 pm on Friday is amusing, we need unions to determine OT.

As long as there are CEOs who are in charge of your 401K (life savings), we need unions to protect it from being cannibalized.

As long as there are CEOs who might use their power to intimidate for sexual favors, we need unions to protect from abuse.

As long as there are CEOs who penalize workers for needing to go to a child's doctor apptmt, school meeting, or to vote...we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who pay men 1/3rd more than they do a woman because she might get pregnant, we need to have unions.

As long as there are CEOs who can take out an insurance policy on you in case you die in which they profit, we need unions 2 keep you alive.

As long as there are CEOs who are not women and do not realize women care for family and elderly too and need flexible hours, we need unions

As long as there are CEOs who do not themselves spend time w/their families and do not understand why you should either... we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who think in terms of "management"/us and "labor" /them we will need unions, to bridge the gulf.

As long as there are CEOs who can afford a Cadillac healthcare plan and want you to have only emergency care not prevention, we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who think "breaks" are for the weak and would gladly have you work without any...we need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who buy equipment from the "lowest bidder" instead of what is most safe, we will need unions to ensure safety.

As long as there are CEOs who will purposefully understaff and force people to work double and triple shifts, we will need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who hire illegals so they can underpay, abuse and threaten them... we will need unions to protect US workers.

As long as there are CEOs who want to cut public service jobs to engage in nepotism w/private companies, we will need unions.

As long as there are CEOs who think it's "socialist" to care for the elderly and disabled, we will need unions to protect pensions.

As long as there are CEOs circumventing the will of the many to benefit a few wealthy donors, we will need unions to protect the middle class.

As long as there are CEOs who do not profit share with their workers and pull 350X their salaries, we will need unions to ensure equity.

As long as there are CEOs who want products delivered into wee hours of night, faster than competition, we need unions to protect drivers.

As long as there are CEOs who think of children as commodity instead of as individuals who learn at own pace, we will need teachers unions.

As long as there are CEOs who engage frackting and risk causing spontaneous fires at job site and in homes, we will need unions 4 safety.

As long as there are CEOs who will build an oil rig w/o a single working blowout preventor, we will need unions to protect worker safety

As long as there are CEOs that will send men down into a mine 2640 feet below the earth's surface w/o an escape route, we will need unions.

Dennis Kucinich addressed a crowd in Wisconsin, try not to me moved:

While the US continues to be divided...on second thought, are we divided or are the powers that be, including the Corporate State Media, manipulating us into factions? Surely we all want to be able to see a doctor when we are sick, want our children to have a good education, want clean air and fresh water. We all want food that tastes good and doesn't harm our health. We ALL want these things and we want these things for future generations.
This brings me to nuclear power. In the shadow of the ongoing nuclear emergency in Japan after the 9.0 earthquake and 30ft tsunami, the US takes a look at it's nuclear power. On February 16th,

Promising "this is only the beginning," President Barack Obama announced more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees Tuesday for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the United States in nearly three decades.
MSNBC

The videos and pictures out of Japan are truly surreal.

NY Times Satellite Photos

The nuclear reactors withstood the earthquake, but the tsunami is another story. The current situation is terrifying. It is hard to find an article that is not downplaying the crisis. Last I read, there were over 180,000 people evacuated in a 10 km perimeter around the facilities.
This is the latest out of the UK:

Japan nuclear plant: meltdown fears after explosion

Now we see the US conversation is turning to the overall safety record of nuclear. On C-Span's Washington Journal this morning they were talking as if the Japan nuclear crisis were over and they had averted a nuclear catastrophe. Again downplaying the reality of the current dangerous situation. When asked about the problem with storage of the nuclear waste, the Republican Representative did not have an answer. This is a wake up call that we need to pursue energy policies that will leave a healthy planet 100...200...500 years down the road. Renewables, solar, wind, hydroelectric, are the only way. I want a healthy planet for my great, great, great, great....grandchildren.

I have a friend that has a blog called the Village Witch. She talks quite a bit about it being "Tower Time."

The basic story of the Tower card in the tarot deck is this:

Basic Tarot Story
As the Fool leaves the throne of the Goat God, he comes upon a Tower, fantastic, magnificent, and familiar. In fact, The Fool, himself, helped build this Tower back when the most important thing to him was making his mark on the world and proving himself better than other men. Inside the Tower, at the top, arrogant men still live, convinced of their rightness.
Seeing the Tower again, the Fool feels as if lightning has just flashed across his mind; he thought he'd left that old self behind when he started on this spiritual journey. But he realizes now that he hasn't. He's been seeing himself, like the Tower, like the men inside, as alone and singular and superior, when in fact, he is no such thing.
So captured is he by the shock of this insight, that he opens his mouth and releases a SHOUT! And to his astonishment and terror, a bolt of actual lightning slashes down from the heavens striking the Tower and sending its residents leaping out into the waters below.
In a moment, it is over. The Tower is rubble, only rocks remaining. Stunned and shaken to the core, the Fool experiences profound fear and disbelief. But also, a strange clarity of vision, as if his inner eye has finally opened. He tore down his resistance to change and sacrifice (Hanged man), then came to terms with Death (Death); he learned about moderation and synthesis (Temperance) and about power (The Devil). But here and now, he has done what was hardest: he destroyed the lies of his life. What's left are the foundations of truth. On this he can rebuild himself.

People are feeling the effects around the globe, uprisings of the working class. A longing to tear down the ivory towers that the ubber rich hoard their excess in.

The working class around the world is the Fool. We are releasing our shout....hold on as the towers around the globe crumble.

Taking Back the Flag

2009-09-18T07:58:00.011-04:00

My husband, after recently "coming out" of the Facebook closet, recently left as his status "Guess what people... I'm an AMERICAN too... and I'm taking this flag BACK." This makes me ponder about what it means to be American, what are our civil rights? For that matter, what ARE civil rights? These are the just claims we should have as a society. Merriam Webster defines civil rights as "the nonpolitical rights of a citizen; especially : the rights of personal liberty guaranteed to United States citizens by the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution and by acts of Congress". But it is more than that. The world does not revolve around the US, as this definition would imply, civil rights are not something we only have in America. Wikipedia describes it more universally as 'Natural Justice'. When I think of natural justice I think that people living in a just society would have the right to basic necessities of living such as water, food, shelter from the elements, education, to be treated equally no matter the color of their skin, spiritual beliefs, sex, social status or their sexual preference. People in a just society should be treated when sick, without the greed of profit hindering the healing process. They should not be tortured nor should they be detained without a fair trial.

Now I am talking more about human rights, I guess, but what is the difference? Civil rights should include human rights. One thing I do notice different in the US. The right to make a profit seems to be way ahead of any other rights, as seen in the bill recently put out by Baucus. It is written to ensure the insurance and pharmaceutical companies make a healthy profit. But it is obvious what the majority of the public wants by hearing the crowds react to Obama's recent speech at the University of Maryland.

(It's within the first 5 minutes) Originally posted here at the DailyKos, by Jed Lewison. When he talked about Baucus' bill, the crowd was quiet and started booing him. Earlier in the speech, he mentions the public option and the crowd goes nuts cheering. Shouldn't every person in the US have access to equal health care, without regard to economic status? Should this not be a basic human right? Or does the US have it's head so far up it's ass that it cannot see it is part of a global community?

After World War II, the world came together with a global expression of rights to which all human beings are entitled. Similar to the way Americans came together after 9/11, but that became merely feigned patriotism and a distrust, bordering on hatred, of Muslims. But on December 10th, 1948, after WWII, the world came together and the UN adopted the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11

1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15

1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16

1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21

1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in their country.
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23

1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25

1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26

1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29

1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

We should make December 10, 2009 a day to take back our flag. Prove that being an American does not mean we only care for ourselves.

Take back our label of the melting pot. Embrace and live the words on the statue of liberty:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Stand up and demand basic human rights, demand Universal Health Care!!

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised!!!

2009-02-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

The Revolution will not be televised! It will be on your local low power FM station, your progressive voice of the mountains, WPVM LP, in Asheville , NC.

Listen Here!! http://www.rednailmusic.com/revolutionary_radio.mp3

Read more here!! WPVM blog

More later...

Hope and Peace

2008-12-18T22:57:00.000-05:00

As we approach the Winter Solstice, the sun will begin it's return and the promise of change is but weeks away. Obama is not exactly showing enough signs of change, per his appointments, as any true progressive would seek, but he's better than the other choice. We hope.

May the quiet of the Solstice bring us peace.

Fillin', Killin', and Drillin'

2008-10-18T08:40:00.000-04:00

As our country has quickly slipped into our second Great Depression, I have remained silent on my blog. So much is happening...so much to take in. The last hurricane to hit the Gulf (was it Ike?) caused a gas shortage in the Southeast, Asheville included. In fact, Western North Carolina may have been the hardest hit. Panic was the word of the week here, with gas rising as much as $5.50 per gallon. Although it was better that Katrina, price wise anyway. During Katrina, gas rose well over $6.00 per gallon. This time it was a bit different, an ugly species of human emerged...the hoarder. People lined up, sometimes taking over four hours to get their gas. Some pulled their boats and all the gas cans they could find. The smarter stations limited the amount of gas, $10-50 dollars worth. My husband and I avoided most of the mess. We put $20 in our car when the hurricane was hitting land. We remembered last time. We started conserving gas more, something we should have started a long time ago, and our daughter started riding the bus.
The mortgage crisis has not left us unharmed, although we are renters. Our landlord got one of those adjustable rate mortgages and has has to raise our rent or risk losing our house. I guess you could call this a trickle down crisis.
Do I have to mention the stock crash or the hate-filled presidential campaign? OK, I'll talk about Palin. I cannot fathom why any thinking person would support the McCain/Palin ticket. Especially women. I have to post this info about Palin:

As Governor, Palin offered a $150 bounty for every front left wolf paw. She thinks of them as vermin.

She doesn't want any pesky environmentalist messing with her killin' and drillin'.

How can you argue with a whale?

I am very scared for my daughter's future.

Sara Palin, Tina Fey Body Double Extraordinaire

2008-09-15T11:50:00.001-04:00

John McCain Bio

2008-09-06T18:16:00.001-04:00

The Daily Show with John Stewart

IVAW at DNC & RNC

2008-09-02T08:29:00.005-04:00

IVAW with Operation First Casualty at DNC in Denver
As they say, the first casualty of war is always the truth.

IVAW marching at RNC protest in Minneapolis.

Wake Up America!!

2008-08-27T07:53:00.002-04:00

Only Kucinich tells the truth.....if only he were our candidate.

Dead Man Walking

2008-08-21T08:45:00.004-04:00

Amy Goodman always brings stories to light that the mainstream media ignores. Today she talked about the inmate on death row for a crime he did not commit. His cousin did it, he shot the man behind the counter at the convenience store. Woods, outside in the car, heard the gunfire and ran in. The cashier died instantly and was most likely already dead before Wood even entered the store. By a draconian law in Texas, the Law of Parties, Wood is guilty by association. He was driving the "get-away car". Here is the law's wording:

THE STATUATORY BASIS OF THE LAW OF PARTIES
Section 7.02 of the Texas Penal Code outlines the following:
A person is criminally responsible for an offense committed by the conduct of another if "acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense he solicits, encourages, directs, aids or attempts to aid the other persons to commit the offense" or "If, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirators are guilty of the felony actually committed, though having no intent to commit it, if the offense was committed in furtherance of the unlawful purpose and was one that should have been anticipated as a result of the carrying out of the conspiracy."
Article 37.071(b)(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedures permits the infliction of the death penalty only if the jury believes beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant "intended to kill the deceased or another or anticipated that a human life would be taken."

PARTIES AND THE US SUPREME COURT
The US Supreme Court held that imposition of the death penalty on a person who aids and abets a felony in the course of which a murder is committed by others but who does not himself kill, attempt to kill, or intend to kill violates the 8th and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution. (Edmund v. Florida 458 US 782, 1982)
Five years after the Edmund decision the Supreme Court created an exception to this general rule for those guilty of a murder that occurs in the commission of a felony who do not kill or intend to kill, but who have major personal involvement in the felony and display a reckless indifference to human life. (Tison v. Arizona, 481 US 137, 1987)

THE STANDARD NECESSARY TO DEMONSTRATE RECKLESS INDIFFERENCE TO HUMAN LIFE
The Delaware Superior Court observed:
"Major participation and reckless indifference to human life are more likely to be found where an accomplice defendant is present at and before a killing which involved considerable deliberation and the killing is preceded by physical or psychological abuse of the victim, including assault, torture or other acts of cruelty. Such a finding is less likely where the killing is sudden or impulsive and it is unclear that the defendant actually caused the victim’s death."
The application of Texas Penal Code 7.02, in combination with Texas Code of Criminal Procedures Article 37.071(b)(2), is unjust and unconstitutional because it permits the death penalty to be imposed for complicity in a capital crime without requiring a finding that the person intended to kill or that he was a major participant in a crime where he showed reckless disregard for human life. In other words, neglecting to anticipate another actor’s commission of murder in the course of a felony is all that is required to make a Texas defendant death-eligible, thus immensely lowering the standard the US Supreme Court has set. This is allowing the death penalty to be applied in a most immoral and liberal way.

Texas loves the death penalty. Governor Dubya certainly proved that. This Law of Parties is a barbaric, shameful and horrific piece of legislation. Texas needs to rethink it's place in the 21st century. Will they continue on the path to totalitarianism? When a time for peace and harmony is so desperately needed, it is sad to see so many Orwellian laws go into effect.
Jeff wood, I will light a candle for you today and continue to call Texas Governor Rick Perry's office. If you wish to call, here is the info:

Please call the Governor of Texas at 512-463-2000

Office of the Governor Fax: (512) 463-1849

Tell the Governor to Issue a 30-day Stay of Execution to Jeff Wood

Jeff is Scheduled for Execution Thursday, Aug 21 at 6pm, THAT'S TODAY, so CALL NOW!

What Happen's When There Is No More?

2008-08-04T08:17:00.006-04:00

I've taken a few weeks to reflect on all the things going on in the world and in our town. From the watch on the 100 year old magnolia sitting on death row in our own town square (see Asheville on the Ground blog for daily updates), to the election and the two front runners, each with their own major faults, if that were the only things happening, I would be more at peace. The drumbeat to war is getting louder, and they are playing the same tune as they did in 2002-2003. War with Iran seems imminent. The push to drill for more oil continues despite the catastrophic effect on our fragile earth. The thing that makes me cry is that they are all connected.
I recently heard about this disaster in the Amazon in Ecuador. Actually I had heard but had no idea of the scope;

What Exxon/Texaco says via Faux Fox News;

While trying to talk to my brother about it this morning, I had tears in my eyes. (Sometimes talking to him is like talking to a rock.) Tears as I thought about our Mother Earth and how She is raped on a daily basis and in Her most intimate and fragile spots. Think about Tropicana and their new juice which describes in a sensuous voice about a berry from the Amazon rain forest. Think about the medicine ingredients big pharmaceutical use which some are rare and endangered.
I subbed for Cecil Bothwell for Blows Against the Empire on WPVM a few weeks ago and played the song More by Madonna. She sings about wanting more, when you have a little you just want more and more. I have added bold to the phrases that catch me;

More

Once upon a time I had plenty of nothing,
Which was fine with me.
Because I had rhythm, music, love,
The sun, the stars and the moon above,
Had the clear blue sky and the deep blue sea.
That was when the best things in life were free.

Then time went by and now I got plenty of plenty,
Which is fine with me.
'Cause I still got love, I still got rhythm,
But look at what I got to go with 'em.
"Who could ask for anything more?", I hear you query.
Who would ask for anything more? Well, let me tell you, dearie.

Got my diamonds, got my yacht, got a guy I adore.
I'm so happy with what I got, I want more!

Count your blessings, one, two, three
I just hate keeping score.
Any number is fine with me
As long as it's more
As long as it's more!

I'm no mathematician, all I know is addition
I find counting a bore.
Keep the number mounting, your accountant does the counting.
(More! More!)

I got rhythm, music too, just as much as before
Got my guy and my sky of blue,
Now, however, I own the view.
More is better than nothing, true
But nothing's better than more, more, more
Nothing's better than more.

One is fun, why not two?
And if you like two, you might as well have four,
And if you like four, why not a few
Why not a slew
(More! More!)

If you've got a little, why not a lot?
Add and bit and it'll get to be an oodle.
Every jot and tittle adds to the pot
Soon you've got the kit as well as the caboodle.
(More! More!)

Never say when, never stop at plenty,
If it's gonna rain, let it pour.
Happy with ten, happier with twenty
If you like a penny, wouldn't you like many much more?

Or does that sound too greedy?
That's not greed, no, indeedy
That's just stocking the store
Gotta fill your cupboard, remember Mother Hubbard.
(More! More!)

Each possession you possess
Helps your spirits to soar.
That's what's soothing about excess
Never settle for something less.
Something's better than nothing, yes!
But nothing's better than more, more more
(Except all, all, all)
Except all, all, all
Except once you have it all (have it all)
You may find all else above (find all else above)
That though things are bliss,
There's one thing you miss, and that's
More! More!
More! More! More! More!
More! More! More!

I have always heard this song with an environmental message rather that materialistic, but then again, they are all connected. Our "undying need to consume and create things we can consume". I believe we are at peek oil. Oil is destroying our earth, air and water. The demand for clean energy is now. I will end with the lyrics to another song. This one by Melissa Etheridge;

What Happens Tomorrow

I believe if I look hard enough
I will see
That there can be enough
I believe I can think clear enough
To conceive
A place where there's enough

If not now, when
If not today then
What about tomorrow
What happens tomorrow

I believe a woman can work hard and succeed
And we could be content
To believe that she could be in charge
Of the free
And be the president

If not now, when
If not today then
What happens tomorrow
What happens tomorrow
If you become the change
You want to see you change
What happens tomorrow
What happens tomorrow

I believe that we are waking up from the spell
That those that profit from the fear
Cast so well
And good people of the earth now can tell
There is no us and them

If not now, when
If not today then
What happens tomorrow
What happens tomorrow

All is love
All is choice
Everyone and every voice
All of life that you see
All are possibilities
As above so below
To wed the sense into the soul
This is truth I believe
I believe I believe

Truth is of the people
By the people
For the people

Peace on Earth

2008-07-16T07:35:00.002-04:00

If you have never heard this song before, this is one of my favorite Willie Nelson songs.

Whatever Happened To Peace On Earth - Willie Nelson

There's so many things going on in the world
Babies dying
Mothers crying
How much oil is one human life worth
And what ever happened to peace on earth

We believe everything that they tell us
They're gonna' kill us
So we gotta' kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier's life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

So I guess it's just
Do unto others before they do it to you
Let's just kill em' all and let God sort em' out
Is this what God wants us to do

(Repeat Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

Now you probably won't hear this on your radio
Probably not on your local TV
But if there's a time, and if you're ever so inclined
You can always hear it from me
How much is one picker's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

But don't confuse caring for weakness
You can't put that label on me
The truth is my weapon of mass protection
And I believe truth sets you free
(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth

Our Mother is Hurting

2008-06-19T08:10:00.006-04:00

I am a C-Span junkie...I admit it. But I believe it should be free, why should we have to pay to watch Congress bicker? Recently, I have been watching the Republicans push for drilling in our National Forests and on the continental shelf, as if our planet were as disposable as our culture. Even our celebrities are disposable, one day they have a hit TV show and the next they are an unknown.
The desire to drill for more oil seems futile. If we are at peek oil production, why drill for the remaining resources when we can use that money to place solar along our massive interstate highway system, invest in public mass transit making it cheaper to travel long distances. We need to move away from fossil fuels, we have seen what it does to our fragile planet. Nuclear power is not the answer either, as McInsane is touting. Nuclear waste is a major issue and should not just be swept under the rug or mountain as they want to do. Clean coal is a myth. What is clean about mountain top removal and poisoned streams? What happens once all our water sources are polluted?
Since I have been recycling for many years, the thought that others still do not recycle seemed foreign to me. I recently realized that most of my immediate family does NOT recycle. Even my sister who is Wiccan. How can she be a daughter of the earth and not even recycle! But that is the hypocrisy of organized religion. The "do as I say, not as I do" attitude.
This is all connected. This is the road to the destruction of our Mother Earth.

Kucinich the Just - A Tireless Warrior for Impeachment

2008-06-10T08:52:00.007-04:00

We can dream, can't we? Or has that been outlawed?

Kucinich, Kucinich, Kucinich....I just love that man. Who else has the balls to take over four and a half hours to read 35 articles of impeachment on the floor of the House? Although I have yet to see the story on TV, including C-Span, where last night they aired Dennis reading all 35 articles of impeachment starting at 7:30pm yesterday ending around midnight. It is one of the most popular stories on Yahoo news today. Whoever wrote the article, called his efforts basically a waste of time:

Rep. Kucinich calls for Bush impeachment

By JoAnne AllenMon Jun 9, 10:13 PM ET

Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich defied his party leadership on Monday by calling for the impeachment of U.S. President George W. Bush for launching the Iraq war -- but his move was not expected to go anywhere.

The Ohio representative outlined his intention to propose more than two dozen charges against Bush on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Kucinich, a former presidential candidate, accused Bush executing a "calculated and wide-ranging strategy" to deceive citizens and Congress into believing that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said she opposes trying to remove the Republican president who leaves office next January because such an attempt would be divisive and most likely unsuccessful.

Kucinich, an outspoken Iraq war critic who has consistently voted against funding the war and led anti-war efforts in Congress, offered a resolution to impeach Vice president Dick Cheney in April 2007. That also failed to move forward.

Many Democrats and civil liberties groups have accused the Bush administration of providing misleading information before the 2003 Iraq invasion as well as violating the rights of U.S. citizens with its warrantless surveillance program. The White House denies the charges.

(Editing by Alan Elsner)

I'm not sure why such a short article would need editing including listing the name of the editor. This is not the norm. Additionally the article was written before he even finished reading the articles of impeachment.
As one person wrote on Op-Ed News, the story cannot be found on the mainstream media. They are more concerned with the election and whatever sensational murder has occurred. But there is an even more sensational murder taking place in Washington, the demise of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Habeas Corpus. Why is this not news?
Next step, a trial for war crimes.
The 35 articles included masking global warming, lying about Iraq, 9/11 quasi-investigation, and 32 others. At least we have one Warrior for Justice in the house. I believe they ask every Representative to turn in their spine when they are elected.
Thanks Dennis, for keeping your spine.

Collateral Damage

2008-06-02T11:40:00.002-04:00

Lisa Holland
Foreign affairs correspondent
Updated:07:32, Thursday May 29, 2008

Families in the Iraqi city of Fallujah are calling for an investigation into their claims of a rise in the number of birth defects.

Three-year-old Fatima Ahmed

They have raised concerns about the weapons used by American forces in 2004 - when Fallujah suffered one of the heaviest bombardments of the entire war in Iraq.

The evidence is anecdotal because there are no records from the era of Saddam Hussein to compare their stories against.

But Hikmat Tawfeeq, deputy chairman of the Fallujah-based human rights group Alakhiyar said: "We have around 200 cases of deformities recorded by our society. Most of these cases are birth deformities which have arisen after the bombing of Fallujah."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1317448,00.html?f=rss

Campaigners say officials are reluctant to speak out publicly, but at Fallujah's children's hospital one doctor told Sky News in the past month she has seen one or two cases of birth deformities every day.

An opthalmologist said he deals with four or five cases of newborn babies every week suffering from some form of eye deformity - and that has risen in the last two years.

At one of the cemeteries in Fallujah, undertaker Mahmoud Hummadi said he usually buries four to five bodies of newborns every day and most of them are deformed.

Phosphorus over Fallujah in 2004

Fallujah today still bears the scars of a time when it represented the backbone of the Sunni insurgency - a power-base America decided it had to break.

April and November 2004 saw some of the heaviest bombardments of the war in Iraq, including the controversial use of white phosphorous.

It is a highly flammable material which ignites when it comes into contact with oxygen, causing severe burns.

In a statement to Sky News the US military said it had used white phosphorus in Fallujah but primarily as a smokescreen and not as an incendiary weapon.

US troops bombed the city

The families say doctors have raised concerns to them about what kinds of materials were used by the Americans in order to achieve their military goals.

Fatima Ahmed is three years old. Small and lifeless she barely moves, burdened by two heads on her tiny frame.

Her mother Shukriya says doctors have been unable to diagnose exactly what has caused Fatima's condition.

But her father Jassim, when asked who he held responsible for his daughter's condition, said: "It's because of the war - it's the flagrant aggression they launched against us. What they dropped in Fallujah God knows."

We showed our findings from Fallujah to Alastair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at Leeds University.

He is currently investigating injuries caused to children during the war in Iraq. He says without an independent medical study it is impossible to say for sure what has caused the deformities and how they may be linked.

But he says there has never been a study examining if there ARE links between white phosphorus and birth deformities.

Voices

2008-06-01T10:55:00.004-04:00

Although I did not finish my term of duty in the Navy, I went through the training and by definition, I am a Veteran. I am thankful I did not see war first hand as many of my fellow Veterans who work to make Veterans' Voices possible. In the core group, we have a Korean War Vet, a Vietnam Vet and an Iraq Vet. Then there's me. But successful military men and women are rare in my family, although many of us tried. My father joined the national guard at the age of 16, lying to get in. I believe he was eventually found out. My uncle was in the Army and had a very successful career. My oldest brother, inspired by our uncle's service, enlisted before he was drafted in 1970. He broke his knee during boot camp and was discharged. My other brother joined or was drafted (I'll have to talk to him about it) and served for two years. The family story is that he got hooked on heroin and overdosed and had to have fluid drained off his brain. I'm not sure how much is true. He receives a disability check from Uncle Sam every month. I now have two nephews, one recently returned from Afghanistan and the other an officer in the Navy nuclear field.
I am thrilled to be a part of Veterans' Voices on WPVM. I am proud to be a part of the independent media movement. Recently, we have interviewed Ret. Col. Ann Wright and Howard Zinn. Mike Ferrell of M*A*S*H fame arrived too late into Asheville to make the interview. We will do a phone interview with him in the near future, although I am not as excited as I was before I heard him give a talk at Malaprops. Even though he has been involved with human rights issues for most of his life, he enjoys talking about M*A*S*H more. I didn't ask him a softball question. Check out what he wrote in his Huffington Post Blog:

One woman asked about my association with the Cult Awareness Network and what I thought about this terrible situation with the kids from the polygamous Mormon cult in Texas. A really tough one. I understand that there's been a ruling holding that the kids were not molested, something I personally find hard to believe. Another person mentions reading this blog, which knocks me out! The idea that someone actually reads it (besides Shelley and my daughter Erin--and now my sister Kathy--and the folks at Akashic Books) makes me laugh.

Both these women were me. I didn't like his answer to my question, but that is the mainstream view about non-mainstream religions. What if the state did not like my religion, would it be right for them to take my daughter, too?
I also got a chance to work the board for Wally Bowen's interview with Amy Goodman. Her speech was brilliant.

I am happy to be a part of independent media, to give a voice to the once voiceless. I hope I can make a difference.

Veterans' Voices ~ Noam Chomsky interview

2008-05-20T10:09:00.002-04:00

Pictures Say 1000 Words

2008-05-12T19:25:00.003-04:00

Economic Stimulus Scam

2008-05-09T07:47:00.007-04:00

Image stolen from cartoonstock.com

You might not want to count on your stimulus check. Not if you owe back taxes, student loans, child support or other money. This whole government stimulus issue is a scam, a scam for the government to get their money, owed by the poor working class people of this country. In this time when our country is in a recession leading towards a depression, why would they just give people money? Did they think that people who actually received a check would spend it on something other than bills? The whole thing is a SCAM! Just imagine how many people are counting on receiving a check, some will spend the money before they receive it. When it is time for their check to arrive, many will receive a note from the IRS stating why they did not receive anything because they owe the government money from their student loans, which they could not make the payments on because of their ballooning mortgage payments. With the money they thought they were receiving already spent, this brings them further into the hole. This will lead to further foreclosures, worsening the recession, leading us further down the road to a second depression. Don't you find this hypocritical of our government to tell us not to spend our money on bills yet they take it for bills you owe them? Just how much money does the government receive back?
Don't get depressed about this though, remember, the government has your best interest at heart. (Yeah right) They want to you continue spending, continue to accumulate debt. The whole credit score system is based on being in debt. If you do not have much debt, this counts against your credit score. But if you have too much debt, this also decreases your credit score. This whole credit score thing is a scam, too. Where do you rank on their score card?
The government takes up to a third of what people make. When you only make $20,000 a year, a third of that is too much. When it comes down to it, we are not citizens, we are slaves to the US economy. Slaves to our capitalistic, imperialist government. Slaves to the once almighty dollar.

Death of Progress

2008-05-05T08:36:00.006-04:00

There are so many things to be concerned, pissed off, scared and sad about. Record oil prices teamed with record oil profits, glaciers melting at an alarming rate, polluted water everywhere, a culture based on the accumulation of stuff while basic health care is an afterthought, all the while our government takes away more of our civil liberties and continues it's imperialistic occupations of sovereign nations as if it were Ancient Rome. Food, water and shelter, our most basic of needs, are becoming a questionable part of our children's future.
Where does this all leave me? Anxious, crying and depressed. Maybe sometimes, not all the time. I have the soul of a revolutionary. I will not go quietly into that goodnight. But I need to focus my energies, although it is hard when every other word out of our President's mouth is a lie; "We are not in a recession, it's a slow down.", saying that the Iranian guard is supplying militants in Iraq, when Iraq says that there is not any proof.

Here is an article from the Agence France Presse:

Iraq says no hard evidence of Iran support for militia

Sun May 4, 10:43 AM ET

Iraq said on Sunday it has no evidence that Iran was supplying militias engaged in fierce street fighting with security forces in Baghdad.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said there was no "hard evidence" of involvement by the neighbouring Shiite government of Iran in backing Shiite militiamen in the embattled country.

Asked about US reports that weapons captured from Shiite fighters bore 2008 markings suggesting Iranian involvement, Dabbagh said: "We don't have that kind of evidence... If there is hard evidence we will defend the country."

Tehran strongly opposes the US military presence in Iraq, while Washington has repeatedly accused Iranian groups of arming and training Shiite militia groups in its neighbour.

Iran, whose ties with Washington have been severed since 1980, strongly denies the allegations.

US military spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told reporters in the presence of Dabbagh that the Americans fully supported talks between Iran and Iraq on curbing the sectarian violence.

"We welcome all dialogue between Iran and Iraq," Driscoll said, adding that they supported any platform that could lead to an end to violence and ensure stability in Iraq where the US has deployed over 158,000 troops.

Dabbagh said an Iraqi parliamentary delegation which visited Iran last week had held useful discussions and secured assurances of support.

"They talked frankly about the fears and concerns in Iraq," he told reporters at a news conference in the tightly-guarded Green Zone of Baghdad where the Iraqi government and the US embassy are located.

He stressed that Iraq wanted closer relations with Iran. "What happend in the past is in the past," he said referring to the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

Dabbagh said that Baghdad was keen to "reorganise" its relations with its former enemy, and that Tehran supported Baghdad government moves to curb violence.

"Iran supports the government and understands the need to eliminate all militia... and allow the rule of law," Dabbagh said, adding that the Iraqi team which went to Iran had the blessing of the government but was not "official."

Reports from Teheran on Sunday said Iran had warned Iraq against using excessive force in its crackdown against Shiite militias.

"We support the efforts of the Iraqi government to disarm the armed militia but we advise them not to confront the population," an official source, who was not named, told the student ISNA news agency in Tehran.

"The official position of the Islamic republic of Iran is to support the legal Iraqi government and we will do everything to ensure the security of the country," added the source.

Militiamen mostly loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who according to his Najaf-based office is currently in Iran, have been battling US troops in Baghdad's Sadr City.

Sadr's Mahdi Army militants have fought running streetbattles with US and Iraqi forces since late March in the district, killing hundreds of people.

But we are the nation that, after France would not go along with our unjust invasion of Iraq, changed the name of French Fries to Freedom Fries.
Looking to the election of 2008 brings hope and fear. McInsane and annihilate llery have both promised to continue our imperialistic march across the Middle East. Obama...promises are great but will he really deliver? We still have a totally ineffective Congress. But as the bumper sticker goes, "If progress is to move forward, what does congress mean?".
Back to focusing my anger/frustration/outrage...I know...Viva La Revolution!!!

For Eli

2008-04-29T23:08:00.003-04:00

A very moving poem about Iraq Veterans

The same poem set to dance and drama.

Free Christian Nation

2008-04-26T22:40:00.008-04:00

Imagine...you and your family live on 40 acre tract of land with many other families. Everyone there has the same religion and works together for the good of the group. The kids are bright and do not waste their time watching TV or playing video games. Thing are well.
Until...an anonymous call to the sheriff's department destroys everything. The caller does not like your religion and lies to the officer about sexual abuse. Without any proof, without any warning, your children are ripped from your arms and spread across the state and they are trying to get permanent custody of them.

This is modern day America...land of the free, home of the brave. Free if you are a tax-paying, reality show-watching, Christian.

Phone number in polygamist case linked to Colo. woman

By Staff Reports

Originally published 03:09 p.m., April 23, 2008
Updated 03:09 p.m., April 23, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS — A court document says a phone number used to report alleged abuse at a polygamist retreat in Texas had been used previously by a 33-year-old Colorado woman.

It's not yet clear whether authorities suspect Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs made any of the calls that triggered this month's raid of the compound.

An arrest warrant affidavit made public today says a phone number she had used previously was used to call a Texas crisis center before authorities conducted the raid and removed more than 400 children. Swinton's whereabouts are unknown.

Authorities have said a 16-year-old girl called a crisis center claiming she was abused at the compound. Authorities have not found that girl but say they have found evidence other children were abused.

Swinton was arrested April 16 on a misdemeanor charge of false reporting in a February incident in Colorado Springs with no known ties to the Texas case. She was later released.

Two Texas Rangers were with Colorado officials when they searched Swinton's home. Texas authorities said the search turned up several items suggesting a possible connection between Swinton and calls regarding compounds in Texas and Arizona owned by the sect, called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The items weren't identified.

Swinton has not been arrested or charged in connection with the calls made to the Texas crisis center, but authorities call her a "person of interest" in that case.

The document released today shows Swinton had an extensive record in Colorado Springs of posing as a troubled teen and making false claims. The affidavit connects Swinton to several reports that alerted Colorado Springs officials.

The document links Swinton to calls made throughout October from a "Dana Anderson." The caller claimed to be a young woman being abused by her pastor at Colorado Springs' New Life Church, and later as a 13-year-old student at Liberty High School who said she was being drugged and sexually abused by her father.

In February, a woman calling herself "Jennifer" called 911 from a prepaid Tacphone, claiming that her father had locked her in her basement for days, the document said.

Officers linked the calls to Swinton in March.

In mid-April, Texas Rangers called Colorado Springs Police regarding their investigation into the Yearning for Zion Ranch.

Texas Ranger Brooks Long asked about two telephone numbers, both with Colorado Springs area codes. One of the phone numbers, the document says, "was possibly related to the reporting party for the YFZ Ranch incident," and was one of the numbers police had connected to Swinton.

While Colorado Springs Police did not file for an arrest warrant until three days after hearing from Texas, Swinton was arrested April 16 in connection with the February call.

Documents related to Swinton's arrest were sealed by a judge at the request of Texas authorities. The Associated Press filed a motion to unseal the records Monday, and the arrest warrant affidavit was released today.

© Rocky Mountain News

How free do you really think you are???!!?

Even in the military, 90% of the chaplains are evangelical Christians. That's 9 out of 10. Read this story about an atheist in Iraq.

Fort Riley atheist soldier speaks out on lawsuit

John Milburn, Associated Press Writer
United States Army Specialist Jeremy Hall takes a moment to collect his thoughts at a local coffee shop near Fort Riley in Junction City, Kan., Thursday, April, 24, 2008. Hall, an atheist, has brought a religious discrimination lawsuit against the government naming Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in the legal proceedings. He has filed a lawsuit alleging his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn't believe in God. (AP Photo/Chuck France)
Like hundreds of young men joining the Army in recent years, Jeremy Hall professes a desire to serve his country while it fights terrorism.
But the short and soft-spoken specialist is at the center of a legal controversy. He has filed a lawsuit alleging he's been harassed and his constitutional rights have been violated because he doesn't believe in God. The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
"I'm not in it for cash," Hall said. "I want no one else to go what I went through."
Known as "the atheist guy," Hall has been called immoral, a devil worshipper and — just as severe to some soldiers — gay, none of which, he says, is true. Hall even drove fellow soldiers to church in Iraq and paused while they prayed before meals.
"I see a name and rank and United States flag on their shoulder. That's what I believe everyone else should see," he said.
Hall, 23, was raised in a Protestant family in North Carolina and dropped out of school before earning his GED. It wasn't until after he joined the Army that he began questioning religion, eventually deciding he couldn't follow any faith.
But he feared how that would look to other soldiers.
"I was ashamed to say that I was an atheist," Hall said.
It eventually came out in Iraq in 2007, when he was in a firefight. Hall was a gunner on a Humvee, which took several bullets in its protective shield. Afterward, his commander asked whether he believed in God, Hall said.
"I said, 'No, but I believe in Plexiglas,'" Hall said. "I've never believed I was going to a happy place. You get one life. When I die, I'm worm food."
The issue came to a head when, according to Hall, a superior officer, Maj. Freddy J. Welborn, threatened to bring charges against him for trying to hold a meeting of atheists in Iraq. Welborn has denied Hall's allegations.
Hall said he had had enough but feared he wouldn't get support from Welborn's superiors. He turned to Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Weinstein is the foundation's president and a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate. He had previously sued the Air Force for acts he said illegally imposed Christianity on students at the academy, though that case was dismissed. He calls Hall a hero.
"The average American doesn't have enough intestinal fortitude to tell someone to shut up if they are talking in a movie theater," Weinstein said. "You know how hard it is to take on your chain of command? This isn't the shift manager at KFC."
Hall was in Qatar when the lawsuit was filed on Sept. 18 in federal court in Kansas City, Kan. Other soldiers learned of it and he feared for his own safety. Once, Hall said, a group of soldiers followed him, harassing him, but no one did anything to make it stop.
The Army told him it couldn't protect him and sent him back to Fort Riley. He resumed duties with a military police battalion. He believes his promotion to sergeant has been blocked because of his lawsuit, but he is a team leader responsible for two junior enlisted soldiers.
No one with Fort Riley, the Army or Defense Department would comment about Hall or the lawsuit. Each issued statements saying that discrimination will not be tolerated regardless of race, religion or gender.
"The Department respects (and supports by its policy) the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs," said Eileen Lainez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense.
All three organizations said existing systems help soldiers "address and resolve any perceived unfair treatment."
Lt. Col. David Shurtleff, a Fort Riley chaplain, declined to discuss Hall's case but said chaplains accommodate all faiths as best they can. In most cases, religious issues can be worked out without jeopardizing military operations.
"When you're in Afghanistan and an IED blows up a Humvee, they aren't asking about a wounded soldier's faith," Shurtleff said.
Hall said he enjoys being a team leader but has been told that having faith would make him a better leader.
"I will take care of my soldiers. Nowhere does it say I have to pray with my soldiers, but I do have to make sure my soldiers' religious needs are met," he said.
"Religion brings comfort to a lot of people," he said. "Personally, I don't want it or need it. But I'm not going to get down on anybody else for it."
Hall leaves the Army in April 2009. He would like to find work with the National Park Service or Environmental Protection Agency, anything outdoors.
"I hope this doesn't define me," Hall said of his lawsuit. "It's just about time somebody said something."

The Broken

2008-04-15T07:49:00.005-04:00

I produce a radio show on WPVM called Veterans' Voices. It is a show by Veterans, about Veterans, service members and their family and friends. While listening to the moving Winter Soldier testimony to find a clip to air, I ran across the testimony of Perry O'Brien, a former Army medic who served in Afghanistan. He talked about the use of Afghani corpses for medical practice. This disturbed me greatly. My nephew also served as an Army medic in Afghanistan. I have tried to talk to him about his experiences in the war, and he only repeats Pentagon talking points; "We have to fight them there so we do not have to fight them here"..."We have to finish the job" and other similar words we have heard spew out of the mouths of this administration. Of all my sister's boys, I always seemed closer to him. He has wanted to be in the Army since he started walking, so when he signed up, I was not surprised.
I discussed O'Brien's statement about using the dead bodies of the Afghanistan people, without the consent of family members, with my sister. She says, "If he had done that, I would have known, he would have bragged about it". 'Bragged about it'! This does not sound like the loving, caring boy I once knew. What has the Army done to my favorite nephew?
He hides more from his mother than she thinks he does. He came home with shrapnel wounds, months since healed. He never told her about them, until she saw them. His brother Bob, my sister's 'Golden Child', wants to go to Iraq. He has been in the Navy for many years, an officer in the nuclear field with a new wife and baby. Jim argues with his brother, Bob about it. (Notice, they have grown up now, no longer Jimmy and Bobby) Jim has been there and knows about the horrors of war. He wants to protect his brother and his new family. (This sounds more like the Jimmy I knew) Their fates have yet to be determined. I wish I lived closer to him, so I could get to know him again and learn about his experiences.
This whole story reminds me of a guest we had on Veterans' Voices. He had been in Vietnam and returned a broken man. Then I believe it was either his cousin or brother that wanted to go enlist. He told him that he would rather run him over with his car than see him go to Vietnam.
War destroys many more lives than the body count indicates. The number reported by the Department of Defense, currently 4036, is almost insulting to the actual number. Count in those that have died months after being medically discharged from the military and those that have come home so broken spiritually that they take their own lives. These deserve to be counted. To not do so would be a dishonor.

Rescue Rusul

2008-04-09T11:49:00.007-04:00

No More Victims needs your help. You can visit IH Center and have recurring donations taken out of your Paypal account or make a single, tax-deductible donation. You can also visit NoMoreVictims.org to read more about the Asheville project to bring Rusul to Greenville.

No More Victims Asheville invites you to two events in support of Rusul Jalal, a six year old Iraqi girl, injured in a U.S. missile attack, who is coming to Greenville, S.C. for needed medical treatment:

***Saturday, April 12^th, 9-10a.m – A Loving kindness and Walking Meditation at the WNC Baha'i Center, 5 Ravenscroft Drive, Asheville. RSVP to Beth DeLap, 828-768-1145. Donations gratefully accepted.

***Saturday, April 12^th, 6-9p.m. – An Evening for Rusul at the Asheville Arts Center, 308 Merrimon Ave. At 6 PM a light dinner will be served. The program begins at 7 PM and will feature a presentation by No More Victims founder and director Cole Miller. There will also be musical entertainment from Stack Kenny on guitar, Stephen Canner on Cello, Don Pedi, Bruce Greene, Kore Loy McWhirter bringing Appalachian music, and lastly, musical comedy by Left of Center. There will also be a raffle for fine prizes donated by area businesses. A $10 minimum donation is asked at the door. All proceeds support the work of No More Victims (www.nomorevictims.org) Help needed! For more information or to help with this event, contact: tcraig@main.nc.us or call 252-4536.

No More Victims pairs communities in the U.S. with war-injured Iraqi children for medical sponsorships, while educating and advocating for Peace.

I got involved with No More Victims after Cole Miller came to town last fall with Salee, Rusul's sister, injured in the same US bombing. I'm happy to be part of something that helps Iraqis as I have opposed the Iraq war since its bloody beginning.
As the saber rattling with Iran grows, the need to do SOMETHING grows greater. How much more of a humanitarian crisis do we need before the American public gets out of their reality show stupor and wake up the the ugly reality that the people on this big blue ball of war are in danger, and need our help.

Inspiration to Wage Peace

2008-04-01T20:55:00.007-04:00

Inspiration sometimes can hit you like a ton of bricks, knocking to your senses and waking a part in you that was previously dormant. Like Melissa Etheridge's performance at Live Earth 2007 (7-7-07). If you missed it, you will not find it on the Live Earth album. She was one of the only performers with a message other than "buy my album". She inspired my husband and I to get out in the streets and do something other than bitch. What will be the inspiration to get Joe Apathetic Public off their rumps?

Could we pull something like this off in our "liberal" Asheville?

Listen to the latest Veterans' Voices show on WPVM. It is very powerful. Hopefully it will be an inspiration to someone.
I have the honor to know many inspirational people here in Asheville. I am one of six women involved with No More Victims Asheville. No More Victims pairs war injured Iraqi children with communities in the US to get them the medical care they so desperately need. Our little girl, Rusul, will be coming to the Shriner's hospital in Greenville, SC ,hopefully next month. Her sister, Salee, was brought to the US last year and visited Asheville in the fall. We need to raise about $30,000 for Rusul. I am inspired to be a part of something so important, to feel like I can do something about the destruction in Iraq and help one child.

Salee

Rusul

Benefit for Rusul

Where will you (did you) find your inspiration?

Winter Soldier 2008

2008-03-16T19:41:00.011-04:00

Some things you will not see on corporate news; soldiers' flag covered coffins, reporters embedded with Iraqis and Winter Soldier. There is terrific coverage from independent media like Free Speech TV, though. I spoke briefly with Asheville's IVAW chapter president, Jason Hurd, Friday night. He could not speak long, they were about to have a debriefing about the days events. We will air some of the testimony on WPVM's Veterans' Voices in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, here are a few of the independent media's coverage of Winter Soldier in no particular order:

Veterans groups offer different views of conflict
Winter Soldier: Military Command Failures at War, Deserting Vets at Home
Winter Soldier: Bitter truths from those who know

Excellent blogger coverage at Third Estate Sunday Review

Video:
Winter Soldier Testimonials

Audio:
Winter Soldier Testimonial from WarComesHome.org

A CNN search does not find one thing about Winter Soldier. There was more important news, I guess. After all, there was a crane collapse in NY, they are attacking Obama's church, tornado in Atlanta, abandoned puppies found a home and Paris Hilton is looking for a new BFF.
How can we get these people out of their comas?

The BBC is actually reporting about the Bleak picture of Iraq conditions.

Philly IVAW march to Valley Forge before Winter Soldier

Is this the beginning of something bigger? Some greater movement towards national consensus? Will it get uglier before we see the olive branch of peace extended? There are simply too many questions in this world gone mad.

The chickenhawks certainly have their feather's ruffled about this:

Michelle Malkin just squawkin'
This ain't hell make snide remarks

Highlights of Testimony

For the best, honest coverage, visit IVAW.org.

Governor Spitzer's Terrorist Attack

2008-03-11T09:12:00.004-04:00

Across the country, the story about Governor Spitzer is front page news. He slept with a high-priced prostitute. So what? Prostitution is the oldest profession and legal in Nevada. So once again, I say, so what? I do call your attention to a few coincidences. The story yesterday on Democracy Now! was about abortion and the bill, the same Governor Spitzer was proposing to keep abortion safe and legal in New York no matter what the supreme court may do down the road. We know these anti-choice people play very dirty. How many abortion doctors are killed and clinics bombed before they are deemed a terrorist organization? They spew Bible verses as they gun down doctors. Please tell me, in what way this is different from the "terrorists" 'ol W is out to get?

Another coincidence, Democracy Now! could not be aired this morning on WPVM. They were having "technical difficulties". I checked Democracy Now!'s website and I could not stream it either. Is AT&T blocking the stream? Is the satellite provider at the station blocking the stream?
Too many coincidences for me. I wonder who is responsible for the story that broke about Governor Spitzer? I think it's the terrorists.

Do you promise to tell the truth?

2008-03-07T09:09:00.003-05:00

Lawyers lined the side of the prosecution in the court room yesterday. Besides the DA, they had the city attorney, the state DA and a handful of others. The DA, being whispered advice from the city attorney, started with Officer Crisp, who was not so truthful. He stated that Jonas "darted across three lanes of traffic". Well this one wasn't a lie but an exaggeration. He did cross the street, but that section of the road has a light on each side of the bridge and, before 8am on the Haywood Road bridge is not exactly what you would consider heavy traffic. The "three lanes of traffic" apparently included the turning lane. He also did not indicate any specific car or pedestrian hampered by "the protester". When asked by our attorney, Bill Auman, if he questioned Jonas if he was a part of the Climate Convergence group that had protested the Bank of America just two days prior or if he was a member of Veterans for Peace or any other local activist group. Crisp stated that he did not ask him any questions. Which was a flat out lie.
When Sergeant Riddle took the stand, being a seasoned man on the force for over thirty years, he told his untruths using the "I don't recall" response. Auman asked Riddle if he said "I'm sick of this crap" and "You're gonna' get your fifteen minutes of fame, buddy". "I don't recall sayin' that". In my opinion, Riddle has been on the force too long and is overdue for retirement. A friend of ours was pulled over by Riddle one evening. Our friend had a doll holding a sign that said "Impeach Bush and Cheney" propped up to show out the back of his hatchback. He told our friend, "I like your doll" in a sarcastic tone. When asked why he was being pulled over, Riddle barked at him about having a reason and told him that his head light was out. He says that Riddle appeared agitated, as he did when he was arresting Jonas.
The circus went on, with WLOS filming everything. (How can I get a copy of that?) The Asheville Citizen-Times was there along with reporters from the Asheville City Paper and the Mountain Express. Additionally a handful of bloggers took notes and absorbed the spectacle. Our attorney had about five arguments, all technicalities, why the case should be dismissed. One by one the judge overruled our lawyer. The prosecution centered it's case on highway blogging being a dangerous distraction to motorists. But, Jonas wasn't arrested for endangering motorists, which they did not prove anyway, he was arrested for blocking the sidewalk. A fact they also did not prove.
In the end, the judge sided with justice and found that they did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jonas broke the ordinance. He was found not guilty. When Jonas was questioned by WLOS whether he would resume highway blogging he stated he would and he would bring a buddy. "Blog with a buddy". Good advise for any protester.

And now for the verdict.........

2008-03-06T22:31:00.003-05:00

Today was a beautiful day. For some. For a couple of homeless men, not so beautiful. As we awaited Jonas' case to be called this afternoon, we listened as one man was convicted of trespass and sentenced 10 days in jail along with another man found guilty of "soliciting alms". As I listened I forgot about my husband's minor city code violation charge. Yet these charges never make the papers, never are discussed during political debates and these men are never on Oprah.
But truth and justice prevailed on our side today. Today, it was a beautiful day for us. Jonas was found "not guilty" today of the charges! Our lawyer, Bill Auman, could not have done a better job.
There are already articles about it:

DailyKos
Asheville Citizen-Times
Mountain Express
Asheville On The Ground

I will write more later. I need time for this to sink in.

Local IVAW President Arrested in Alabama

2008-03-05T08:25:00.003-05:00

Local IVAW president, Jason Hurd, was arrested during a Mock Raid at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa last week. Jason said that they were detained and questioned by campus police for over five hours followed by an evening in the county jail. They were eventually released on a $2500 bond. The ACLU, the NAACP and the National Lawyers Guild are all interested in this free speech case. Jason and hundreds of thousands of IVAW members and supporters will descend on DC next week for Winter Soldier, where many men and women will testify about their experiences during their tour(s) in Iraq.

IVAW Winter Soldier PSA

Students, Iraq Vet Arrested During Mock Raid
By Chapin Gray

Tuscaloosa, AL - Four protesters from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) were arrested here, Feb. 29, at the University of Alabama for performing a mock raid meant to demonstrate the effects of the U.S. occupation on Iraqi civilians.

No one was harmed during the protest that lasted only a couple minutes, and employees were notified of the performance 30 minutes beforehand. After protesters dressed as Iraqi civilians were 'arrested' by protesters in military costume and hauled away, Jason Hurd, president of the Asheville, North Carolina chapter of IVAW - who was invited by the Tuscaloosa SDS chapter to speak on his experiences in Iraq, gave an impromptu speech, explaining that the purpose of the action was to demonstrate what life in Iraq is like under the occupation. Hurd also invited stunned and curious onlookers to his talk scheduled for that evening.

However, the talk had to be cancelled, because as four of the protesters - Hurd, Alyse Deller and Christine Jackson from Tuscaloosa SDS, and Jeremy Miller of UNC-Asheville SDS - were approached by campus police, then taken into a building on campus, where they were detained for over four hours before finally being charged with disorderly conduct. The were then hauled away in handcuffs to the Tuscaloosa City Jail. Bail was set for a total of $2,500. Hurd and Miller were also charged with trespassing and banned from campus property.

During the four-hour interrogation, police insinuated that the protesters were terrorists, and threatened to hand over their case to the F.B.I. The University had said that it plans to investigate SDS-Tuscaloosa, which was hosting the Iraq Veteran. The Dean of Students sent out a campus-wide e-mail statement following the incident, saying the University "cannot condone and will not tolerate behavior that mimics a true emergency on our campus."

The incident has sparked intense debate at the University of Alabama and in the Tuscaloosa community. Local activists from the Tuscaloosa Peace Project were outraged upon hearing of the arrests and immediately lent their support by offering bail money and facilitating contact with the Alabama chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is interested in the case and showing support for the protesters. The organization also criticized the university's actions as not only unwarranted, but also as repressive and in violation of students' rights. In addition, IVAW is considering publicly condemning the university's actions.

"The circumstances surrounding the protest made it evident that this was street theater, but with our society having been carefully crafted into a people on edge, individuals have become rife with hair trigger fear of 'the other,' especially upon seeing actors in Islamic-style clothing," said Diane MacAteer of the Tuscaloosa Islamic Society. "We believe that more than anything else, this was an ill-intentioned use of the recent campus violence in other states as an excuse to quash anti-war protests, especially those that depict the victimization of Muslim families in war zones and allow students to identify with the Iraqi people and reduce support for the war."

While many have criticized the protest, claiming it was 'too alarming,' others are appalled that students can be arrested for expressing their opposition to an unjust and illegal war, and feel as though the students' rights have been violated.

"If you are one of those people who was frightened, you had a glimpse of what it feels like to be an Iraqi man, woman or child who experience things like this and worse everyday," said J VanBolt, a University of Alabama student who witnessed the mock raid. "I think the one thing everyone - whether you agree with what SDS did or not - can take from this is that people don't like to be scared and have their lives interrupted! Try and imagine what it would be like if things like this happened to you everyday, and instead of just watching you were actually involved. That is life for people in Iraq."

To show support with the SDS-Tuscaloosa and the four arrested, you can call the University President, Dr. Robert Witt, at (205) 348-5320 and ask that all charges be dropped. You can also contact Tim Hebson, Dean of Students and Director of Judicial Affairs thebson@sa.ua.edu or Todd Borst, Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs tborst@sa.ua.edu.

"The outpouring of support that we have received has been so amazing and empowering," said Jenae Stainer, a member of SDS-Tuscaloosa. "We appreciate it all, and hope that people will continue to stand with us as we fight to protect our freedom of speech."

Poetic Torch Scorches Neocon Agenda

2008-02-23T08:38:00.004-05:00

I received this slam poem as a comment to IVAW Storms UNCA

2008 Middle East Spelling Bee Final Words: QUAGMIRE & IMPEACHMENT
Poetic Torch Scorches NeoCon Agenda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Americans think, feel, vote, and say has zero bite.
With millions of votes Diebolt stolen, accountability - so slight.
NeoRadical RepubliCons chose how to so waste our might ---
Just where, when, and why we had to go START a fight.
They'd planned for Iraq, with 30 years more oil still in sight.
Must control the price and flow into OUR gas tanks, right?
Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell - profits future sure looks bright!
Hyped bogus threats, then fanned the flames to such great height.
9/11, Anthrax, then the mushroom cloud type of fright.

Pulled the Towers, and with balled-up flags to plug their ears:
A Patriot Act panic attack => waived our rights to calm the fears.
How well a shredded Constitution wiped away our wasted tears.
Slick magic trick: lasted 800 years - now Habeas Corpus disappears.
Load the planes with C-notes, no bids please, as toxic dust clears;
Corporate warriors - No Draft! It's a private war - Three Cheers!
Fat cats, still fed by exce$$ greed, now six straight years.
Ten billion fraud, whistleblowers stalled in Justice: no one hears.
Say what, a change of plan to end war profits? Sharpen up the spears!
Another traitor to be skewered, trot out the NeoCon-tradicting seers.
From Limpbowel, O’Rlie-to-me, and their ilk, we start to hear the jeers.
Interrupting homophobic rants on "No Marriages for queers",
To deliver freshly think-tank-framed simplistic scripted smears.

Sad sight, so many flags draped over coffins never seen.
The sinister lies that filled them burried deep beneath such patriotic sheen.
Human losses well disguised, and media filtered from our collective eyes,
By corporate puppet leaders, whose agendas we must now despise.

Pity the Iraqi families, alone with blood, pain, death, despair,
Depleted uranium shells exploding - poison dust spreads everywhere,
While pompous jingo windbags fill the U.S. propaganda-polluted air,
Can spews of false praise glory, hide true neglect in veterans' care?
Fox Snooze hype NOT, as your heroes, our loved ones lost;
Their blood for oil - spent badly – much too high this cost.
Keith Rupert Murderdoch, the boss who must be tossed!

Long past his “Mission Accomplished” day in years now more than four,
One so delusional Decider is still not looking for an exit door.
An occupation, one aggressor means it never was a war!
The stench, the smell - corruption, failures everywhere,
Yet all we hear is that which plays upon our deepest fear.
A drone of platitudes preached to stretch our stay another year.

“The job is almost done! “
“Must keep them Terrorists on the run!”
“We can't abandon Iraq until we've won.”
“Another 30,000 surge, send us your brave sons.”
“ Trillion dollar debts, their kids can pay these no small sums!”
"Waterboarding works. Don't call it torture. You're just chums!"
NO NO NO! Time true Patriots stand and shout “Impeach these Bums!”

Lean hard on traitors, like Lieberman, to not just lose their parties,
But to find our Republic again, while we still have one!
Target the REAL Axis of Evil => IMPEACH Cheney-Bush!
Perhaps small justice, but at least some!

by RRLedford

Thank you, RRLedford. That was very inspiring.

Is It For Freedom?

2008-02-20T22:26:00.002-05:00

Assasinating Mother Nature

2008-02-20T08:11:00.005-05:00

I remember the commercial from childhood, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature". I can't remember what product they were hawking but I remember the saying. What is our country up to? Are chem trails poisoning us or are they harmless smoke? Is there such a thing as harmless smoke? I just have too many questions. Once you start caring, it gets overwhelming. Like Neo taking the pill in The Matrix, I begin to see how far the rabbit hole goes. I am still falling.

This link contains military, government,and scientific reports pertaining to perpetual war,space wars,military budgets,aerial spraying,arms trading,procurement,and arms control, to list a few....

Here are a few pictures of unnatural cloud formations:

Are these harmless, or are they experimenting on us?

Also, what about the genetically modified meat, fruits and vegetables? It's enough to want to become a farmer and grow your own food, feed your own cattle, after all, that's what my parents did when I was little and before I was born. In New Hampshire, we had a small farm with pigs, a cow, chickens, ducks and a big vegetable garden. Here are some guidelines for buying fruits and veggies at the supermarket:

The PLU codes on fruit and vegetables contain four
numbers (i.e. 4859), if it's organic, 5 numbers starting with a 9 (i.e. 94859).
But! if you see 5 numbers starting with an 8, (i.e. 84859),
that means the fruit/vegetable is GMO, a genetically modified organism.

Gaia is crying...

Reflections on an Ill-fated Military Stint part 2

2008-02-20T07:37:00.004-05:00

So, there I was, in front of the Navy recruiting office. I chose the Navy because I knew their boot camp was not as rough at the other branches of the armed services and also because I knew the Navy rarely saw on the ground combat. I began discussing with the recruiter what I wanted. I had not taken the ASVAB in high school because at the time, I never dreamed I would enter the military.

Within a two weeks' time, I had taken the ASVAB, chosen my vocation (based on where I wanted to go rather that what I would like to do) and was shipped off to boot camp. At the time I was just within the weight guidelines and made the height requirements because the recruiter lied and said I was 5' tall. In actuality, although I never admit it, I am 4'11 3/4". I did well on the ASVAB so I had my choice of careers and should have picked something better suited to me. I wanted to go to San Diego so I chose a training school there, Interior Communications Electrician. There was a problem, I was terrified of getting shocked. Not a good vocation for someone with that phobia.

At 22, I arrived in Orlando, Florida on an early January morning, as the second oldest in my squad. I044, that was us. If I never mentioned this, I was always a good girl and my parents rarely had to yell at me. Well in there, everyone yelled at me. Being the emotional girl I am, I cried every day of boot camp. With the exception of the day we got to shoot guns, that day I shot 29 out of 30 targets. Pretty good for never picking up a gun before. Must have been all the training at Duck Hunt on the Atari.

I made it through, lost a lot of weight and 5 inches around my waist. Looking back, my boot camp memories are a blur of pushups, running, shots and the gas chamber. Of carrying a flag, marching and writing letters. Of men yelling, rude awakenings and friendship. I was in a integrated squad. My bunkmate was a man. Although at night we (the women) went next door to sleep while their men slept in our room. Everyone there seemed to know exactly why they were there and what they wanted to do. I couldn't wait for it to be over so I could go to San Diego.

To be continued...

Video of SDS/IVAW Action at UNCA

2008-02-17T08:26:00.003-05:00

This pretty well captures the drama of the day's event. The kid who yelled out "Bullshit!" was either already signed up with the Marines (he has his high and tight cut) or his big brother was over in Iraq. He was the only opposition voice. You can see him standing near Jason near the end of the video.

My Country's Calling Me A**hole?

2008-02-13T23:42:00.005-05:00

Reflections on an Ill-fated Military Stint

2008-02-13T09:27:00.002-05:00

It was November of 1992 when I packed my '70 Ford van with all my belongings and moved to North Carolina with by soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. Within a month of our arrival, we loaded all of his belongings in the same '74 van and delivered him to his brother in Georgia. Upon returning to North Carolina, I made a for naught attempt at finding a job and making a new life. Although I was surrounded with family, all my friends were back in Florida.

On New Years Eve, I was alone without any direction, driving around Asheville. I soon found myself outside the Navy recruiter's office with thoughts of college money on my mind. After all, I was on my own in I wanted to go to college. At 22, my parents would not and could not pay my tuition. My mother was retired and my father, who had not found a job in North Carolina yet, was on his way to a deep alcoholic depression.

So, there I was, outside the recruiter's office, contemplating the previously unthinkable. I was going to enlist.

To be continued.....

Jonas goes to court...again

2008-02-08T12:47:00.000-05:00

Court has been postponed once again.

Jonas arrived shortly before 9am at District Court 1. I arrived shortly after. Clare joined Jonas near the back of the court room. Another supporter and a reporter entered next. The woman bailiff was kinder than the one there at the previous court date. She asked everyone to put their cell phones on vibrate and then went around to make sure no one needed anything. The other lady told you to shut your phone off and didn't care if anyone had any questions.

After the defendants started making their pleas, two other people, there to support Jonas, walked in the court room. We all watched with pity as some mousy disabled man was handcuffed and forced to walk past the leering crowd twice. I'm not sure what his charge was, I could not hear very well in the back of the room. Next time I will sit closer. Clare, wanting to hear better, moved closer to the front.

Once again, Jonas' charge was the most ridiculous on the docket. Of course that is our opinion. I'm sure many others there thought their charge was ridiculous as well.

At after 10, his lawyer had not arrived yet. But when he walked in, his was the next case heard. At this point, the DA tells them that the officer (not sure if he was talking about Crisp, Riddle or both) called in sick. That's right, he (they?) called in sick to court. If Jonas had been sick, it would have been considered a "failure to appear". If a civilian plaintiff had done that, the case would have been dropped.

I question if they were truly sick, or if this is some sort of tactic.

IVAW Storms UNCA

2008-02-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

I have finally calmed down. There was an action in the Highsmith building of UNCA today. I arrived to be a quiet observer and film the action. It happened a little after noon today and now, at a bit after 2pm, I have finally calmed down.
Soldiers in camo and full gear stormed the student building across from the downstairs cafe. A handful of SDS students posed as Iraqis sitting in their home. As the soldiers swept the room, they screamed, "GET THE FUCK DOWN, DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW! MOVE! NOW! MOVE IT YOU STUPID BITCH!". A crowd started to gather, as it was lunchtime anyway. The Marine recruiters who had a table set up near by, acted like nothing was happening.

Sorry the pictures are kind of blurry. My hands were shaking pretty bad.

It should be in the Asheville Citizen-Times tomorrow and I will try to post the video when I get a copy.

It's Not Easy Being Green

2008-02-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

I am puzzled as to whom I should support for president. The Republicans are out for me. They just argue over who supports the war more. As for the Democrats?......Clinton is owned by the corporate machine....Obama does not have enough experience. Besides, they just argue over who wants the troops home quicker which is contrary to what they said a few months ago about keeping forces there past 2012.
As I write this, I am listening to Democracy Now! and she is speaking with Cynthia McKinney. She is running to be the Green party candidate. Check out the movie American Blackout. She is a very inspirational speaker and would bring the needed change to our country.
But in the United States of America we only have a choice between a Republican or a Democrat, that's vanilla or vanilla bean. I like cookie dough. I want a choice. A REAL choice. Will they just "count" the votes in their favor anyway? As we have already seen in New Hampshire this year, the hand counted votes were for Obama and the computer counted ballots favored Clinton, so Clinton won.
It has come to a time in America when our votes do not truly count. It only matters what the corporate entities want. Their vote is the vote the candidates work for. The debated prove it.

I think I'm going to turn Green. Kermit was right, it's not easy being green.

Bush's Brain Involved in 9/11 Comission Report

2008-01-31T14:19:00.000-05:00

NYT's Reporter Claims Rove Influenced 9/11 Commission Report
By Max Holland
Washington Decoded
Wednesday 30 January 2008

In a revelation bound to cast a pall over the 9/11 Commission, Philip Shenon will report in a forthcoming book that the panel's executive director, Philip Zelikow, engaged in "surreptitious" communications with presidential adviser Karl Rove and other Bush administration officials during the commission's 20 - month investigation into the 9/11 attacks.
Shenon, who led The New York Times' coverage of the 9/11 panel, reveals the Zelikow - Rove connection in a new book entitled The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, to be published next month by TWELVE books. The Commission is under an embargo until its February 5 publication, but Washington DeCoded managed to purchase a copy of the abridged audio version from a New York bookstore.
In what's termed an "investigation of the investigation," Shenon purports to tell the story of the commission from start to finish. The book's critical revelations, however, revolve almost entirely around the figure of Philip Zelikow, a University of Virginia professor and director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs prior to his service as the commission's executive director. Shenon delivers a blistering account of Zelikow's role and leadership, and an implicit criticism of the commissioners for appointing Zelikow in the first place - and then allowing him to stay on after his myriad conflicts - of - interest were revealed under oath.
Shenon's narrative is built from extensive interviews with staff members and several, if not all, the commissioners. He depicts Zelikow as exploiting his central position to negate or neutralize criticism of the Bush administration so that the White House would not bear, in November 2004, the political burden of failing to prevent the attacks.
The Commission includes these specific revelations:

* Kean and Hamilton appreciated that Zelikow was a friend and former colleague of then - national security adviser Condoleeza Rice, one of the principal officials whose conduct would be scrutinized. Zelikow had served with her on the National Security Council (NSC) during the presidency of Bush's father, and they had written a book together about German reunification. The commission co-chairmen also knew of Zelikow's October 2001 appointment to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. According to Shenon, however, Zelikow failed to disclose several additional and egregious conflicts-of-interest, among them, the fact that he had been a member of Rice's NSC transition team in 2000-01. In that capacity, Zelikow had been the "architect" responsible for demoting Richard Clarke and his counter-terrorism team within the NSC. As Shenon puts it, Zelikow "had laid the groundwork for much of went wrong at the White House in the weeks and months before September 11. Would he want people to know that?"
* Karen Heitkotter, the commission's executive secretary, was taken aback on June 23, 2003 when she answered the telephone for Zelikow at 4:40 PM and heard a voice intone, "This is Karl Rove. I'm looking for Philip." Heitkotter knew that Zelikow had promised the commissioners he would cut off all contact with senior officials in the Bush administration. Nonetheless, she gave Zelikow's cell phone number to Rove. The next day there was another call from Rove at 11:35 AM. Subsequently, Zelikow would claim that these calls pertained to his "old job" at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.
* The full extent of Zelikow's involvement with the incumbent administration administration only became evident within the commission on October 8, 2003, almost halfway into the panel's term. Determined to blunt the Jersey Girls' call for his resignation or recusal, Zelikow proposed that he be questioned under oath about his activities. General counsel Daniel Marcus, who conducted the sworn interview, brought a copy of the resume Zelikow had provided to Kean and Hamilton. None of the activities Zelikow now detailed - his role on Rice's transition team, his instrumental role in Clarke's demotion, his authorship of a post - 9/11 pre-emptive attack doctrine - were mentioned in the resume. Zelikow blandly asserted to Marcus that he did not see "any of this as a major conflict of interest." Marcus's conclusion was that Zelikow "should never have been hired" as executive director. But the only upshot from these shocking disclosures was that Zelikow was involuntarily recused from that part of the investigation which involved the presidential transition, and barred from participating in subsequent interviews of senior Bush administration officials.
* Some two months later, as Bob Kerrey replaced disgruntled ex-Senator Max Cleland on the panel, the former Nebraska senator became astounded once he understood Zelikow's obvious conflicts-of-interest and his very limited recusal. Kerrey could not understand how Kean and Hamilton had ever agreed to put Zelikow in charge. "Look Tom," Kerrey told Kean, "either he goes or I go." But Kean persuaded Kerrey to drop his ultimatum.
* In late 2003, around the time his involuntary recusal was imposed, Zelikow called executive secretary Karen Heitkotter into his office and ordered her to stop creating records of his incoming telephone calls. Concerned that the order was improper, a nervous Heitkotter soon told general counsel Marcus. He advised her to ignore Zelikow's order and continue to keep a log of his telephone calls, insofar as she knew about them.
* Although Shenon could not obtain from the GAO an unredacted record of Zelikow's cell phone use - and Zelikow used his cell phone for most of his outgoing calls - the Times reporter was able to establish that Zelikow made numerous calls to "456" numbers in the 202 area code, which is the exclusive prefix of the White House.
* Even after his recusal, Zelikow continued to insert himself into the work of "Team 3," the task force responsible for the most politically-sensitive part of the investigation, counter-terrorism policy. This brief encompassed the White House, which meant investigating the conduct of Condoleeza Rice and Richard Clarke during the months prior to 9/11. Team 3 staffers would come to believe that Zelikow prevented them from submitting a report that would have depicted Rice's performance as "amount[ing] to incompetence, or something not far from it."

In Without Precedent, Kean and Hamilton's 2006 account of the 9/11 panel, the two co-chairmen wrote that Zelikow was a controversial choice
. . . [but] we had full confidence in Zelikow's independence and ability - and frankly, we wanted somebody who was unafraid to roil the waters from time to time. He recused himself from anything involving his work on the NSC transition. He made clear his determination to conduct an aggressive investigation. And he was above all a historian dedicated to a full airing of the facts. It was clear from people who knew and worked with him that Zelikow would not lead a staff inquiry that did anything less than uncover the most detailed and accurate history of 9/11.
Shenon's radically different account of the commission's inner workings promises to achieve what none of the crackpot conspiracy theorists have managed to do so far: put the 9/11 Commission in disrepute.
The Commission will be reviewed in the February issue of Washington DeCoded.

One Day in Iraq = $720,000,000

2008-01-28T23:20:00.000-05:00

How should our tax dollars be spent? Should we HAVE to pay income tax. After all, there are many other taxes we pay all the time, just for basic needs. Heating oil, property tax, vehicle tax, sales tax. And those people were pissed about tea!!

Yellow Rose Aflame

2008-01-13T18:33:00.000-05:00

I found video of the bus fire. The bus was called 'The Yellow Rose of Texas' and belonged to Veterans for Peace member, Jim Goodnow. He used it to transport many Iraq Veterans Against the War members to various events. You can keep up to date on their situation and make a donation at the link above.

Jim saw, in retrospect, some suspicious activity outside the bus, and about 20 minutes later, the entire engine compartment, and back of the bus was engulfed in flames.

IVAW Bus Torched

2008-01-12T22:30:00.000-05:00

I just received this email:

The bus in this photo, was totaled by fire, around 9:30 pm, Friday
night, 1/11/08

This bus, often mired in controversy since the IVAW 'Dirty South' tour that left Philly in June, and had Active Duty BBQ's @ Ft Meade, Ft Jackson, Camp Lejeune, Ft Benning, and other Southern Military Posts

(Including an IVAW benefit by Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, and AudioSlave, in Virginia) as well as backdrop for many a Demonstration, and Ft Drum, NY, organizing parties, has finally died.

This photo shows the huge 'Don't Attack Iran' and 'Impeach Bush'
logos, that let everybody on the highway know just how the occupants
felt about the state of the state.

Owner~Operator~Driver ( and Veteran ) Jim Goodnow pulled into a South Jersey Truck Stop, to catch a 3 or 4 hour nap. Jim saw, in retrospect, some suspicious activity outside the bus, and about 20 minutes later, the entire engine compartment, and back of the bus was engulfed in flames.

Mr Goodnow speculates that the cause could have been anything from ARSON, to ATTEMPTED MURDER. He plans to notify the ATF Arson Squad on Saturday morning.
Stay tuned....

Working To Create Change

2008-01-10T08:41:00.000-05:00

We have been busy lately...

Nothing like being waterboarded by death on a late fall afternoon.

This picture was lifted from the Asheville Citizen-Times. Check out the article they wrote about the vigil and upcoming Veterans Voices - Veterans Speak Out on WPVM-LP 103.5 FM

Death says, "Bush's health plan keeps me as busy as his foreign policy".

Busy filling goody bags. The bags were brought to Fort Bragg by two Iraq Vets Against the War members who, after handing out about 150 bags, were detained for hours. Read Jason Hurd's, President of the Asheville chapter of IVAW, account of events.

Brownies Will Get You Five to Ten:
A Boondocks Chapter Christmas at Fort Bragg

By Jason Hurd

On the morning of December 17, 2007, Steve Casey and I awoke
bright and early at the Quaker House in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Steve and I had driven nearly three hundred miles from our home-base
in Asheville, North Carolina to distribute holiday gift bags to the
wonderful servicewomen and men stationed at our nation's busiest
military post--Fort Bragg. Our friends and supporters in Asheville
stuffed nearly three hundred small lunch bags full of holiday cards,
chocolates, cookies and home-made brownies. The gift bags had a
humble feel to them: brown paper lunch sacks with the tops folded
down, green and red ribbons, a copy of our newsletter Sit-Rep stapled
to the outside and a small sticker that said, "To: A Warrior, From:
IVAW." Our mission was to ensure that these bags--each made with love
and kindness--got into the hands of our deserving soldiers.
With gift bags in hand, Steve and I drove to Fort Bragg's Mini
Mall and set up a small collapsible table to distribute the bags
from. We taped two large poster boards to the front of the table; one
said, "Happy Holidays From Your Fellow Veterans," and the other
proclaimed, "We Love Our Service Women and Men." Immediately, Steve
and I began handing the packages to soldiers as they exited the Mini
Mall. I greeted each soldier by saying, "Hello. My friend and I are
veterans and we are giving holiday gift bags to our soldiers to show
our appreciation for your service. Thank you and happy holidays."
Nearly every soldier I spoke with replied with a large smile, "Thank
you very much. I'm glad there are people like you doing this. Happy
holidays to you too!" Within an hour, Steve and I had given out
nearly one hundred and fifty bags. In that time, only one soldier
reacted negatively toward us; every one else seemed extremely
pleased.
Around one o'clock in the afternoon, a female manager who worked
for the Army and Air Force Exchange Services (AFFES) came out of the
Mini Mall and said, "Hey guys I'm glad your giving out packages to
soldiers, but you can't do this on Fort Bragg without a permit." I
replied, "Great! Where do we get a permit?" The manager explained
where we needed to go, and we began packing up shop to go get our
permit. That's when the Military Police showed up. Three MP's--SSG
Netwig, PFC Murray and PVT Garren--approached us and began questioning
us about our gift bags. SSG Netwig glared at a copy of Sit-Rep and
said, "I'm going to keep my personal opinion out of this, but you are
disrupting the order and discipline of my post." I explained that we
were on our way to get a permit for our bags and we had no intentions
of disrupting the order and discipline of Fort Bragg. SSG Netwig
replied that we had offended a lot of people with our bags (which was
news to Steve and I) and that he would not allow us to continue
distributing them.
At that moment, a Special Forces Captain (apparently one of the
people we had offended) approached SSG Netwig and spoke with him
privately. Immediately, SSG Netwig said that we were going to the
Provost Marshall's office to answer questions.
"Are we being arrested?" I said.
"No. But you are being detained," SSG Netwig replied.
At that moment, the MP's shoved Steve and I against their patrol
car, searched us, handcuffed us and placed us in the patrol car like
criminals. They drove us away leaving a box of gift bags on the trunk
of Steve's car. In the back of the patrol car, I looked at Steve and
said, "Don't worry, this is a good thing--trust me." "OK," Steve
said. SSG netwig drove us to the Provost Marshall's office where,
after being searched a second time, we spent the next four hours as
detainees. One investigator told Steve that Fort Bragg is a
conservative post and that anti-war views were in the minority. The
officers separated Steve and I and began questioning us. I asked four
times to make a phone call so that I could consult with an attorney;
the officers denied my right each time. A criminal investigator
entered my room.
"Are you affiliated with any other groups besides IVAW?" he
asked.
"No, I am not, " I replied.
"How did you and this Steve guy meet?"
"Look," I said, "I'm not going to continue answering questions
without consulting an attorney."
"But you aren't under arrest. You're merely detained and we are
trying to have a friendly conversation with you," the investigator
said.
"I feel like it is in my best interests to consult with an
attorney before continuing," I replied.
Then the investigator and officers walked out leaving me alone in the
room. Against my captor's wishes, I began text messaging the Quaker
House and IVAW members to let them know what was happening (the
officers had mistakenly left my phone). Immediately, the
investigators began receiving calls from every peace activist from
North Carolina to Philadelphia urging them to release Steve and I.
The MP's knew they had a situation on their hands.
Before we knew it, an investigator apologized to Steve and I for
the inconvenience and released us. The investigator informed us that
we just needed to get a permit for future activities of this nature.
Two young MP's escorted Steve and I back to our car and we talked
about Iraq on the way. One of the young MP's said, "Yeah, fuck Iraq.
I hate that place. I had friends die there. I don't ever want to go
back." We pulled up to Steve's car and rubbing the cuts on our wrists
from the handcuffs, we saw the perfect ending to our day. The box of
gift bags was still sitting atop Steve's trunk and some passerby had
written on it the following:
"Hi, I heard what happened. Listen up cops, politicians, and OVER
EGOTISTIC DRAMA QUEEN SENIOR NCO'S AND OFFICERS! Many friends in my
platoon DIED BRUTALLY for the First Amendment. We have the right to
peaceful protest, damn you! Why did you arrest these guys? To all
ya'll who don't believe in: freedom of speech, press, council,
religion, assembly, and petition...GO TO HELL!! Sincerely, A
concerned passerby and witness to the arrest of protesters."
So much for being the minority.

Stop Buying Bush's Wars

2008-01-07T08:38:00.000-05:00

This is our last year "shopping like Santa's zombies" at Christmas. I found myself spending way too much on presents this year. With a young child, we wanted to do the Santa thing and make sure she had a terrific Christmas. But she is starting to figure it out, the magic is over. Don't get me wrong, she will have presents next Christmas, just not as many and the majority of them may just be hand made.
We spent the Saturday before Christmas at the mall. No, we weren't shopping (not with the Raging Grannies)...it was Operation Stop Buying Bush's Wars. With more planning, we would have been able to sing more songs. We met an hour earlier to plan our action. Instead of planning, we practiced the songs. But it didn't matter how well the songs were sung. There is "no singing in the mall" as the security guard told us before he pointed us to the nearest door and before we could get through a single verse of our second song. Location was a major issue. We were standing right next to a side exit. We'll be back again with greater numbers and with a detailed plan. Unless by some amazing turn of events, the war on terror ends.

After being threatened with arrest, with we found a spot next to the road to sing our songs of a world without materialism, debt and war. Thank you, Raging Grannies.

Vote your heart

2007-12-14T08:14:00.000-05:00

They wrongly excluded Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich from the Iowa debates. Not that surprising. We did hear Clinton talking to Edwards about slimming down the pack. And as usual, the people who speak the truth are the first to get knocked out.

Here is Mike Gravel's response...

And Kucinich from December 9th, speaking truth...

"We need to let people know...if you don't vote your heart, your heart never wins."

Peace on Earth

2007-12-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

It is a burden to care. To care so much about a person, a political issue, an environmental cause, world peace. It is much easier to immerse yourself in mindless television programs until apathy oozes out of your pores. To go about...business as usual, like the world revolves around you, Britney and Paris. Real reality is much more ugly, more beautiful, more substantive. This is not a complaint. I feel lighter being a dissident and bearing the burden.

Besides, I'm in good company.

Kucinich.....Truly Strength Through Peace

2007-12-03T08:18:00.000-05:00

Kucinich, Kucinich, Kucinich...for the earth's sake

2007-11-18T23:48:00.000-05:00

Forget About the War, Shop Till You Drop

2007-11-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

Unable to travel to Georgia for the SOA rally and protest, we decided to make some waves of our own in Asheville. This weekend was the Asheville Holiday Parade and thousands of people were gathered downtown to see the spectacle. We couldn't pass this opportunity by. Although the police stopped us before we could get barely over a block up the street, the crowd gave us positive responses and we collected about 150 impeachment signatures. Many people received our special holiday message.

There is a tragic statistic of suicides for Iraq vets. Even the Asheville IVAW president, Jason Hurd, had suicidal thoughts upon returning to civilian life. When he visited the VA for help, they prescribed him some pills and sent him on his way.

120 US War Veteran Suicides a Week

From correspondents in New York

November 15, 2007 09:47am

THE US military is experiencing a "suicide epidemic" with veterans killing themselves at the rate of 120 a week, according to an investigation by US television network CBS.

At least 6256 US veterans committed suicide in 2005 - an average of 17 a day - the network reported, with veterans overall more than twice as likely to take their own lives as the rest of the general population.

While the suicide rate among the general population was 8.9 per 100,000, the level among veterans was between 18.7 and 20.8 per 100,000.

That figure rose to 22.9 to 31.9 suicides per 100,000 among veterans aged 20 to 24 - almost four times the non-veteran average for the age group.

"Those numbers clearly show an epidemic of mental health problems,'' CBS quoted veterans' rights advocate Paul Sullivan as saying.

CBS quoted the father of a 23-year-old soldier who shot himself in 2005 as saying the military did not want the true scale of the problem to be known.

"Nobody wants to tally it up in the form of a government total,'' Mike Bowman said.

"They don't want the true numbers of casualties to really be known.''

There are 25 million veterans in the United States, 1.6 million of whom served in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to CBS.

"Not everyone comes home from the war wounded, but the bottom line is nobody comes home unchanged,'' Paul Rieckhoff, a former Marine and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America said on CBS.

The network said it was the first time that a nationwide count of veteran suicides had been conducted.

The tally was reached by collating suicide data from individual states for both veterans and the general population from 1995.

Divine Women in Black

2007-11-10T10:34:00.000-05:00

The Women in Black are the most beautiful bunch of women I have ever met. They are mothers, wives, grandmothers and sisters. They are young and old. They are all lovely. In Asheville, they have been standing downtown for six years now. Every Friday, they are a moral rock standing vigilantly through rain, snow or sunny weather. They are Buddhists, Agnostics, Christians and Jews. They are all Divine. They are all women of the Goddess.

Sisterhood

I follow you
You follow me
I walk in your footsteps
You walk in mine
Round and round
We circle
A sisterhood in black
We flock together
In Madrid
In New York
In Buenos Aires
In Toronto
In Rome
Silently asking
To stop violence
To have peace

Our footsteps
Sigh
How long?
Will we learn?
We are tall
We are short
We are old
We are young
Mujeres de Negro Para la Paz
We are experienced
We are patient
We are dedicated
We want to stop violence
We want to have peace
From Bethlehem
To Belfast
To Baghdad
To Belgrade
To Beijing

I walk in your footsteps.
You walk in mine

- Carla Rodio © 2002

Join us sisters, young and old. This concerns us all. Women have been repressed for too long. The patriarchal religions have forced us down. No longer! Women rise up! Stand for the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, stand up for your sister abused, rise up for the women who cannot across the world. It is our time.

Jonas Goes To Court

2007-11-02T09:28:00.000-04:00

Court was today. It has been continued and will go to trial. The next court day is December 5th. We will need an additional $225 to give our lawyer before then. If anyone can donate, we need it now. I hate to beg but we do not have it. If you know anyone who can donate, tell them, now is the time.
Jonas said that he had "the stupidest case on the docket". He was dismissed before court even started. I guess the prosecution was not ready to try the case. The have to research what they can actually charge him with.
As a coincidence, I have jury duty the week before his court date.

Violent Radi- WHAT?????

2007-10-30T15:35:00.000-04:00

The house passed a terrorism bill with wording so vague that you may need to be concerned. Kucinich is one of the six sane members of house.

Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terror Bill Passes House

October 23, 2007 (WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Chair of the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment announced passage of H.R. 1955, the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007."

The bill creates a National Commission to examine the causes of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism and propose recommendations and legislative strategies for mitigating these threats. It also establishes a Center of Excellence for the Prevention of Radicalization and Home Grown Terrorism that will study the social, criminal, political, psychological and economic roots of the problem to provide further suggestions for action to address these dangers.

Chairman Thompson issued the following statement regarding the legislation:

"This vital legislation puts our nation on the path to addressing an emerging threat-homegrown terrorism. We simply don't know how many 'would-be terrorists' are living right next door. Now we will have the ability to analyze our and other nations' experience with this critical issue, propose and adopt recommendations for a safer America, and also protect civil rights and liberties of U.S. Citizens."

Chair Harman added the following:

"The threat of a 'Made in the USA' suicide bomber has never been greater," said Harman. "This bill, though not a silver bullet, will help develop a better understanding of the root causes of homegrown terrorism, and the steps we can take to stop it. We must intervene before a person crosses the line separating radical views from violent behavior, create an environment that discourages disillusionment and alienation, and instill in young people a sense of belonging and faith in the future."

Here is the wording of the bill
HR 1955 EH
110th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 1955

AN ACT
To prevent homegrown terrorism, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007'.

SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM.

(a) In General- Title VIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new subtitle:

`Subtitle J--Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism

`SEC. 899A. DEFINITIONS.

`For purposes of this subtitle:

`(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission' means the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism established under section 899C.

`(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.

`(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism' means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

`(4) IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE- The term `ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs.

`SEC. 899B. FINDINGS.

`The Congress finds the following:

`(1) The development and implementation of methods and processes that can be utilized to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States is critical to combating domestic terrorism.

`(2) The promotion of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence exists in the United States and poses a threat to homeland security.

`(3) The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.

`(4) While the United States must continue its vigilant efforts to combat international terrorism, it must also strengthen efforts to combat the threat posed by homegrown terrorists based and operating within the United States.

`(5) Understanding the motivational factors that lead to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence is a vital step toward eradicating these threats in the United States.

`(6) Preventing the potential rise of self radicalized, unaffiliated terrorists domestically cannot be easily accomplished solely through traditional Federal intelligence or law enforcement efforts, and can benefit from the incorporation of State and local efforts.

`(7) Individuals prone to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence span all races, ethnicities, and religious beliefs, and individuals should not be targeted based solely on race, ethnicity, or religion.

`(8) Any measure taken to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence and homegrown terrorism in the United States should not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights, or civil liberties of United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.

`(9) Certain governments, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have significant experience with homegrown terrorism and the United States can benefit from lessons learned by those nations.

`SEC. 899C. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE PREVENTION OF VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE.

`(a) Establishment- There is established within the legislative branch of the Government the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism.

`(b) Purpose- The purposes of the Commission are the following:

`(1) Examine and report upon the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States, including United States connections to non-United States persons and networks, violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in prison, individual or `lone wolf' violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence, and other faces of the phenomena of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence that the Commission considers important.

`(2) Build upon and bring together the work of other entities and avoid unnecessary duplication, by reviewing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of--

`(A) the Center of Excellence established or designated under section 899D, and other academic work, as appropriate;

`(B) Federal, State, local, or tribal studies of, reviews of, and experiences with violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence; and

`(C) foreign government studies of, reviews of, and experiences with violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence.

`(c) Composition of Commission- The Commission shall be composed of 10 members appointed for the life of the Commission, of whom--

`(1) one member shall be appointed by the President from among officers or employees of the executive branch and private citizens of the United States;

`(2) one member shall be appointed by the Secretary;

`(3) one member shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate;

`(4) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate;

`(5) one member shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

`(6) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives;

`(7) one member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives;

`(8) one member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives;

`(9) one member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and

`(10) one member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.

`(d) Chair and Vice Chair- The Commission shall elect a Chair and a Vice Chair from among its members.

`(e) Qualifications- Individuals shall be selected for appointment to the Commission solely on the basis of their professional qualifications, achievements, public stature, experience, and expertise in relevant fields, including, but not limited to, behavioral science, constitutional law, corrections, counterterrorism, cultural anthropology, education, information technology, intelligence, juvenile justice, local law enforcement, organized crime, Islam and other world religions, sociology, or terrorism.

`(f) Deadline for Appointment- All members of the Commission shall be appointed no later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this subtitle.

`(g) Quorum and Meetings- The Commission shall meet and begin the operations of the Commission not later than 30 days after the date on which all members have been appointed or, if such meeting cannot be mutually agreed upon, on a date designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Each subsequent meeting shall occur upon the call of the Chair or a majority of its members. A majority of the members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold meetings.

`(h) Authority of Individuals to Act for Commission- Any member of the Commission may, if authorized by the Commission, take any action that the Commission is authorized to take under this Act.

`(i) Powers of Commission- The powers of the Commission shall be as follows:

`(1) IN GENERAL-

`(A) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE- The Commission or, on the authority of the Commission, any subcommittee or member thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out this section, hold hearings and sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, receive such evidence, and administer such oaths as the Commission considers advisable to carry out its duties.

`(B) CONTRACTING- The Commission may, to such extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission to discharge its duties under this section.

`(2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The Commission may request directly from any executive department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality of the Government, information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics for the purposes of this section. The head of each such department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality shall, to the extent practicable and authorized by law, furnish such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Commission, upon request made by the Chair of the Commission, by the chair of any subcommittee created by a majority of the Commission, or by any member designated by a majority of the Commission.

`(B) RECEIPT, HANDLING, STORAGE, AND DISSEMINATION- The Committee and its staff shall receive, handle, store, and disseminate information in a manner consistent with the operative statutes, regulations, and Executive orders that govern the handling, storage, and dissemination of such information at the department, bureau, agency, board, commission, office, independent establishment, or instrumentality that responds to the request.

`(j) Assistance From Federal Agencies-

`(1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION- The Administrator of General Services shall provide to the Commission on a reimbursable basis administrative support and other services for the performance of the Commission's functions.

`(2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES- In addition to the assistance required under paragraph (1), departments and agencies of the United States may provide to the Commission such services, funds, facilities, and staff as they may determine advisable and as may be authorized by law.

`(k) Postal Services- The Commission may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as departments and agencies of the United States.

`(l) Nonapplicability of Federal Advisory Committee Act- The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission.

`(m) Public Meetings-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The Commission shall hold public hearings and meetings to the extent appropriate.

`(2) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION- Any public hearings of the Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the protection of information provided to or developed for or by the Commission as required by any applicable statute, regulation, or Executive order including subsection (i)(2)(B).

`(n) Staff of Commission-

`(1) APPOINTMENT AND COMPENSATION- The Chair of the Commission, in consultation with the Vice Chair and in accordance with rules adopted by the Commission, may appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director and such other personnel as may be necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its functions, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay fixed under this subsection may exceed the maximum rate of pay for GS-15 under the General Schedule.

`(2) STAFF EXPERTISE- Individuals shall be selected for appointment as staff of the Commission on the basis of their expertise in one or more of the fields referred to in subsection (e).

`(3) PERSONNEL AS FEDERAL EMPLOYEES-

`(A) IN GENERAL- The executive director and any employees of the Commission shall be employees under section 2105 of title 5, United States Code, for purposes of chapters 63, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, and 90 of that title.

`(B) MEMBERS OF COMMISSION- Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to apply to members of the Commission.

`(4) DETAILEES- Any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement from the Commission, and during such detail shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employment without interruption.

`(5) CONSULTANT SERVICES- The Commission may procure the services of experts and consultants in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code.

`(6) EMPHASIS ON SECURITY CLEARANCES- The Commission shall make it a priority to hire as employees and retain as contractors and detailees individuals otherwise authorized by this section who have active security clearances.

`(o) Commission Personnel Matters-

`(1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS- Each member of the Commission who is not an employee of the government shall be compensated at a rate not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day during which that member is engaged in the actual performance of the duties of the Commission.

`(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES- While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission, members of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of services for the Commission.

`(3) TRAVEL ON ARMED FORCES CONVEYANCES- Members and personnel of the Commission may travel on aircraft, vehicles, or other conveyances of the Armed Forces of the United States when such travel is necessary in the performance of a duty of the Commission, unless the cost of commercial transportation is less expensive.

`(4) TREATMENT OF SERVICE FOR PURPOSES OF RETIREMENT BENEFITS- A member of the Commission who is an annuitant otherwise covered by section 8344 or 8468 of title 5, United States Code, by reason of membership on the Commission shall not be subject to the provisions of such section with respect to membership on the Commission.

`(5) VACANCIES- A vacancy on the Commission shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made. The appointment of the replacement member shall be made not later than 60 days after the date on which the vacancy occurs.

`(p) Security Clearances- The heads of appropriate departments and agencies of the executive branch shall cooperate with the Commission to expeditiously provide Commission members and staff with appropriate security clearances to the extent possible under applicable procedures and requirements.

`(q) Reports-

`(1) FINAL REPORT- Not later than 18 months after the date on which the Commission first meets, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a final report of its findings and conclusions, legislative recommendations for immediate and long-term countermeasures to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence, and measures that can be taken to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence from developing and spreading within the United States, and any final recommendations for any additional grant programs to support these purposes. The report may also be accompanied by a classified annex.

`(2) INTERIM REPORTS- The Commission shall submit to the President and Congress--

`(A) by not later than 6 months after the date on which the Commission first meets, a first interim report on--

`(i) its findings and conclusions and legislative recommendations for the purposes described in paragraph (1); and

`(ii) its recommendations on the feasibility of a grant program established and administered by the Secretary for the purpose of preventing, disrupting, and mitigating the effects of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence and, if such a program is feasible, recommendations on how grant funds should be used and administered; and

`(B) by not later than 6 months after the date on which the Commission submits the interim report under subparagraph (A), a second interim report on such matters.

`(3) INDIVIDUAL OR DISSENTING VIEWS- Each member of the Commission may include in each report under this subsection the individual additional or dissenting views of the member.

`(4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY- The Commission shall release a public version of each report required under this subsection.

`(r) Availability of Funding- Amounts made available to the Commission to carry out this section shall remain available until the earlier of the expenditure of the amounts or the termination of the Commission.

`(s) Termination of Commission- The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the Commission submits its final report.

`SEC. 899D. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM IN THE UNITED STATES.

`(a) Establishment- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish or designate a university-based Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States (hereinafter referred to as `Center') following the merit-review processes and procedures and other limitations that have been previously established for selecting and supporting University Programs Centers of Excellence. The Center shall assist Federal, State, local and tribal homeland security officials through training, education, and research in preventing violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism in the United States. In carrying out this section, the Secretary may choose to either create a new Center designed exclusively for the purpose stated herein or identify and expand an existing Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence so that a working group is exclusively designated within the existing Center of Excellence to achieve the purpose set forth in subsection (b).

`(b) Purpose- It shall be the purpose of the Center to study the social, criminal, political, psychological, and economic roots of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism in the United States and methods that can be utilized by Federal, State, local, and tribal homeland security officials to mitigate violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism.

`(c) Activities- In carrying out this section, the Center shall--

`(1) contribute to the establishment of training, written materials, information, analytical assistance and professional resources to aid in combating violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism;

`(2) utilize theories, methods and data from the social and behavioral sciences to better understand the origins, dynamics, and social and psychological aspects of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism;

`(3) conduct research on the motivational factors that lead to violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism; and

`(4) coordinate with other academic institutions studying the effects of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism where appropriate.

`SEC. 899E. PREVENTING VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM THROUGH INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE EFFORTS.

`(a) International Effort- The Secretary shall, in cooperation with the Department of State, the Attorney General, and other Federal Government entities, as appropriate, conduct a survey of methodologies implemented by foreign nations to prevent violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism in their respective nations.

`(b) Implementation- To the extent that methodologies are permissible under the Constitution, the Secretary shall use the results of the survey as an aid in developing, in consultation with the Attorney General, a national policy in the United States on addressing radicalization and homegrown terrorism.

`(c) Reports to Congress- The Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that provides--

`(1) a brief description of the foreign partners participating in the survey; and

`(2) a description of lessons learned from the results of the survey and recommendations implemented through this international outreach.

`SEC. 899F. PROTECTING CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES WHILE PREVENTING IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM.

`(a) In General- The Department of Homeland Security's efforts to prevent ideologically based violence and homegrown terrorism as described herein shall not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights, or civil liberties of United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.

`(b) Commitment to Racial Neutrality- The Secretary shall ensure that the activities and operations of the entities created by this subtitle are in compliance with the Department of Homeland Security's commitment to racial neutrality.

`(c) Auditing Mechanism- The Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer of the Department of Homeland Security shall develop and implement an auditing mechanism to ensure that compliance with this subtitle does not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights, or civil liberties of any racial, ethnic, or religious group, and shall include the results of audits under such mechanism in its annual report to Congress required under section 705.'.

(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by inserting at the end of the items relating to title VIII the following:

`Subtitle J--Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism

`Sec. 899A. Definitions.

`Sec. 899B. Findings.

`Sec. 899C. National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Ideologically Based Violence.

`Sec. 899D. Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States.

`Sec. 899E. Preventing violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism through international cooperative efforts.

`Sec. 899F. Protecting civil rights and civil liberties while preventing ideologically based violence and homegrown terrorism.'.

Passed the House of Representatives October 23, 2007.
Attest:
Clerk.
110th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 1955
AN ACT
To prevent homegrown terrorism, and for other purposes.
END

What do you think?

Blackwater Let Off the Hook

2007-10-29T19:20:00.001-04:00

Blackwater apparently can do whatever the hell it wants to. Just wait 'til they are sent into a neighborhood near you.

Immunity Deal Hampers Blackwater Inquiry

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 killings and could undermine any effort to prosecute security contractors for their role in the incident that has infuriated the Iraqi government.

"Once you give immunity, you can't take it away," said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

State Department officials declined to confirm or deny that immunity had been granted. One official — who refused to be quoted by name_ said: "If, in fact, such a decision was made, it was done without any input or authorization from any senior State Department official in Washington."

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd and FBI spokesman Rich Kolko declined comment.

FBI agents were returning to Washington late Monday from Baghdad, where they have been trying to collect evidence in the Sept. 16 embassy convoy shooting without using statements from Blackwater employees who were given immunity.

Three senior law enforcement officials said all the Blackwater bodyguards involved — both in the vehicle convoy and in at least two helicopters above — were given the legal protections as investigators from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security sought to find out what happened. The bureau is an arm of the State Department.

The investigative misstep comes in the wake of already-strained relations between the United States and Iraq, which is demanding the right to launch its own prosecution of the Blackwater bodyguards.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined comment about the U.S. investigation. Based in Moyock, N.C., Blackwater USA is the largest private security firm protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

The company has said its Sept. 16 convoy was under attack before it opened fire in west Baghdad's Nisoor Square, killing 17 Iraqis. A follow-up investigation by the Iraqi government, however, concluded that Blackwater's men were unprovoked. No witnesses have been found to contradict that finding.

An initial incident report by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Iraq, also indicated "no enemy activity involved" in the Sept. 16 incident. The report says Blackwater guards were traveling against the flow of traffic through a traffic circle when they "engaged five civilian vehicles with small arms fire" at a distance of 50 meters.

The FBI took over the case early this month, officials said, after prosecutors in the Justice Department's criminal division realized it could not bring charges against Blackwater guards based on their statements to the Diplomatic Security investigators.

Officials said the Blackwater bodyguards spoke only after receiving so-called "Garrity" protections, requiring that their statements only be used internally — and not for criminal prosecutions.

At that point, the Justice Department shifted the investigation to prosecutors in its national security division, sealing the guards' statements and attempting to build a case based on other evidence from a crime scene that was then already two weeks old.

The FBI has re-interviewed some of the Blackwater employees, and one official said Monday that at least several of them have refused to answer questions, citing their constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. Any statements that the guards give to the FBI could be used to bring criminal charges.

A second official, however, said that not all the guards have cited their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination — leaving open the possibility for future charges. The official declined to elaborate.

Prosecutors will have to prove that any evidence they use in bringing charges against Blackwater employees was uncovered without using the guards' statements to State Department investigators. They "have to show we got the information independently," one official said.

Garrity protections generally are given to police or other public law enforcement officers, and were extended to the Blackwater guards because they were working on behalf of the U.S. government, one official said. Experts said it's rare for them to be given to all or even most witnesses — particularly before a suspect is identified.

"You have to be careful," said Michael Horowitz, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and senior Justice Department official. "You have to understand early on who your serious subjects are in the investigation, and avoid giving these people the protections."

It's not clear why the Diplomatic Security investigators agreed to give immunity to the bodyguards, or who authorized doing so.

Bureau of Diplomatic Security chief Richard Griffin last week announced his resignation, effective Thursday. Senior State Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said his departure was directly related to his oversight of Blackwater contractors.

Tyrrell, the Blackwater spokeswoman, said the company was alerted Oct. 2 that FBI would be taking over the investigation from the State Department. She declined further comment.

On Oct. 3, State Department Sean McCormack said the FBI had been called in to assist Diplomatic Security investigators. A day later, he said the FBI had taken over the probe.

"We, internally and in talking with the FBI, had been thinking about the idea of the FBI leading the investigation for a number of different reasons," McCormack told reporters during an Oct. 4 briefing.

Last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered a series of measures to boost government oversight of the private guards who protect American diplomats in Iraq. They include increased monitoring and explicit rules on when and how they can use deadly force.

Blackwater's contract with the State Department expires in May and there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor for diplomatic bodyguards. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said his Cabinet is drafting legislation that would force the State Department to replace Blackwater with another security company.

Congress also is expected to investigate the shootings, but a House watchdog committee said it has so far held off based on a Justice Department request that lawmakers wait until the FBI concludes its inquiry.

Street Theater - Is it the new face of dissent?

2007-10-29T13:34:00.001-04:00

I ran across this great video of street theater in Madison, WI. I only hope we can do something as good in Asheville.

Feeling a Need to Dissent

2007-10-29T13:21:00.000-04:00

As hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets this past weekend in various coordinated protests across the country, a small handful gathered in downtown Asheville, including Death himself.

Coming up in a few weeks is the protest at the gates of Fort Benning, GA with the School of the Americas Watch. I wish I knew how to make a giant puppet. Check out this video from last years events.

James McMurtry "We can't make it here"

2007-10-20T07:42:00.000-04:00

Afgani Nightmares and Dreams

2007-10-19T07:57:00.000-04:00

If you want news about Afghanistan, do not look to the mainstream media. I have not heard a thing about it since we invaded Iraq. Like everything is fine there. It's not. Poor families growing poppies just to have food and shelter, young boy slaves forced to dance and sexually abused after, bombings almost on a daily basis still.

The Dancing Boys of the North

Wealthy strongmen recruit adolescent boys for entertainment and sex, with the local authorities powerless to stop the practice.

By Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi in Mazar-e-Sharif (ARR No. 268, 10-Oct-07)
“Some men enjoy playing with dogs, some with women. I enjoy playing with boys,” said Allah Daad, a one-time mujahedin commander in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz.

He is one of a growing number of men involved in what is known as “bacha baazi”— literally, “boy-play” — a time-honoured tradition, deplored by human rights activists and clerics, that is seeing a revival in the relatively secure north of Afghanistan.

The boys are kept by powerful older men, made to dance at special parties, and often sexually abused afterwards. Known as “bacha bereesh” - literally, “beardless boys”, they are under 18, with 14 the preferred age.

“When I was young, I had a bacha bereesh who was the best in the region,” recalled Allah Daad, 44. “He danced like a flying pigeon.... Nobody could take his place afterwards. I kept him for three years, then left him when he matured.”

Allah Daad has kept many boys over the years, and says he enjoys his “hobby”. “I am married, but I prefer boys to women,” he said. “You can’t take women with you to parties in this region, and you can’t make them dance. These boys are our [mark of] prestige.”

Large halls known as “qush-khana” provide the venues for bacha baazi parties where the boys’ “owners” or “kaatah” invite their friends to watch them dancing. Late in the night, when the dancing is over, the boys are often shared with close friends, for sexual abuse.

Allah Daad explained how the boys are enticed into the arrangement. “First we select boys in the village and later on we try to trick them into coming with us,” he said. “Some of them stay with us for money; they get a monthly allowance, and in return we can have them any time we want. They don’t stay with us all the time - they can do their own jobs and then just come to parties with us.”

If a boy refuses to become a bacha bereesh, he said, there is little a man can do to make him. “We can’t force them,” he insisted. “Only the very powerful can have boys with them all the time.”

The owner will take his boy to wedding parties to show him off to other men.

“When the party starts, the boys are dressed in special clothes, called ‘jaaman’,” continued Allah Daad. “Then Mazari dancing bells are tied to their feet and they dance in time to the music.”

Several different types of dances are popular, he explained, each with its own beat. If the boy refuses to dance or performs badly, his master beats him with a long stick.

“We have to do that,” said Allah Daad. “We spend money on these boys, so they have to dance.”

Allah Dad’s current bacha, who is 16, refused to be interviewed.

Another owner forced his 14-year-old boy to speak, although he would not give his name.

“I was dancing last night,” he said, looking exhausted. “I have been doing this for the past year. I have no choice - I’m poor. My father is dead, and this is the only source of income for me and my family. I try to dance well, especially at huge parties. The men throw money at me, and then I gather it up. Sometimes they take me to the market and buy me nice clothes.”

The tradition of older men maintaining adolescent boys is by no means restricted to the north of Afghanistan, but the custom is in abeyance in the south, where the Taleban and their strict moral code act as a deterrent.

In the north, no such curbs exist, and bacha baazi has seen a massive resurgence in the past few years.

“Bacha baazi has increased tremendously lately and is still on the rise,” said Baz Gul, a resident of Kunduz. “In the past, people were ashamed of it, and tried to hide it. Now nobody is shy about it, and they participate openly in these parties.”

He explained that there were several reasons why the practice had become more common, one of which was the growing influence of local strongmen, who regard bacha baazi as status symbols.

These militia commanders are supposed to have demobilised their forces and handed over their weapons, but as IWPR has reported, many still rule the roost on the ground and retain the power to intimidate the local population.

Baz Gul said poverty was another reason why boys could find themselves ensnared, while the government had failed to do much about the problem and its police force enjoyed little public confidence.

“It used to be that only a few people had boys. Now everyone owns one and the authorities don’t care about it at all,” he said. “It’s got to the point where almost no party takes place without dancing boys. It’s seen as a disgrace if you don’t have dancing boys at your wedding. This has led to a rise in immoral behaviour among boys, and if nothing is done about it, this trend will continue.”

For some, a bacha bereesh is a status symbol.

“I am not really rich, but I am just as good as the wealthy,” said Nasruddin, known as Nasro Bay, who lives in Baghlan province. “I want as many bacha bereesh as possible, so that when I go to parties I am no worse than anybody else.”

Nasro Bay insisted that the dancing boy tradition was a good one.

“It’s a good thing,” he said. “We have our own culture. In foreign countries, the women dance. We have our own dances which don’t exist anywhere else in the world.”

Militia commanders and other men of substance buy and sell good-looking boys, using the bacha baazi parties as marketplaces.

“Commanders and wealthy men arrange parties in order to select a bacha bereesh,” said Nek Mohammad, a resident of Baghlan’s Andarab district who frequently attends dance parties, although he does not own a bacha bereesh himself. “Many of the men make their boys dance at these parties, and other men choose one and pay for him. By the end of the party, the boy has acquired a new owner.”

He said substantial amounts of money changes hands in these transactions.

Like Nasro Bay, Nek Mohammad sees public ostentation as part of the bacha baazi tradition.

“Commanders often take their boys to a market and buy them beautiful clothes, as a challenge to other commanders. Sometimes they even give them cars. That gives them a very big reputation,” he said.

Religious scholars condemn the custom, which they count as one of the most sinful acts possible.

“Making boys dance and sexually abusing them is strictly prohibited by Islam,” said Mawlawi Ghulam Rabbani, a religious leader in Takhar province. “Those who engage in it should be punished. They should be thrown off a mountain and stoned to death.”

Local officials admit the practice is prevalent but are at a loss as to how to combat it.

“Yes, bacha baazi is practiced a great deal, especially in the Khost-o-Fering and Andarab districts,” said Hafizullah Khaliqyar, head of the prosecutor’s office for Baghlan province. “Boys are forced to dance, they are sexually abused, and they are even bought and sold. Fights take place over these bacha bereesh. It’s increasing day by day, and it’s catastrophic.”

Khaliqyar said there was little that prosecutors could do. “The police and district heads won’t cooperate with us,” he complained. “They don’t send us their files, so we can’t take action.”

He said the paramilitary commanders involved were so powerful that no one – not even the police – would raise a hand against them.

“Regional commanders engage in this practice and support it,” he said. “They have money, power and weapons, and neither the district heads nor the local population dares to tell us about this.”

However, Khaliqyar said he is committed to fighting the practice and had had some successes.

“We treat this matter very seriously. It’s against the law, and the perpetrators should be punished,” he said.

Police in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan, recently raided a bacha-baazi hall and arrested 30 men. “Their case is currently with the Supreme Court. We have sent several men to prison on these types of charges,” said Khaliqyar.

In Takhar province, the head of the local security agencies, General Sayed Ahmad Saame, also complained about lack of cooperation from the public.

“We have closed every bacha baazi centre we have found,” he said. “We have forwarded seven cases to the prosecutor’s office so far this year.”

But there is only so much the police can do. “This practice has such a long history in this province that local people treat it as a respected custom, and won’t cooperate with us. This is a serious obstacle to our work,” said Saame.

General Asadullah Amarkhail, the security chief in Kunduz, agreed that public cooperation was needed if the practice was to be curbed, although to date 27 people had been arrested in his province.

Mohammad Zaher Zafari, head of the northern branch of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, bemoaned the government’s inability to take action.

“Unfortunately I have to say that this type of dancing, sexual abuse and even the sale of boys has been going on for years,” he said. “It is a despicable culture. The boys involved are usually poor, underage or orphans, and they are forced into it by their economic circumstances.

“It’s shocking from both a humanitarian and a legal point of view. The boys who do this have a very dark future ahead of them – they will always be ashamed and they grow into frustrated human beings, and, pose a threat to community. The government has taken no action on this issue, and child abuse is still being practiced.”

Khaliqyar took a similar view of the damage done to the bacha bereesh, saying it destroys their identity.

“If the United Nations and the government don’t take this issue as seriously as they do child-trafficking and drug-smuggling, and punish the offenders, it’s going to be almost impossible to prevent it,” he said.

Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR staff reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.

___________________________________________________________

Afghan Strongman’s Reign of Fear

Panicked residents of Faryab province say a local warlord is exacting tribute and abusing civilians while the government does nothing to stop him.

By Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi in Faryab (ARR No. 269, 18-Oct-07)
Shahabudin fled when life became intolerable for him in his native district of Pashtun Kot, in the northern Afghan province of Faryab. He claims that a former militia commander has taken over Pashtun Kot and is ruling virtually unchallenged.

Some commentators say the situation here exemplifies a wider pattern of lawlessness where paramilitary strongmen are effectively sidelining local administrations in parts of northern Afghanistan, at a time when attention is focused on the war against the Taleban in the south.

“Abdul Rahman Shamal reigns in [Pashtun Kot], and he roams the district on his horses just like a king. He is accompanied by armed men on horseback. Anyone who sees him coming tries to hide,” said Shahabudin. “He treats people like slaves, and no one can do a thing without his permission.

“When we marry off our daughters, we have to go to the commander, offer him 5,000 afghani [100 US dollars] and ask his permission. Otherwise the marriage will not be possible.”

Shamal was formerly, at least, a militia commander within Junbesh-e-Milli-ye-Islami (National Islamic Movement), the military faction led by Uzbek strongman General Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Dostum is a controversial figure, but he has been at least partially co-opted into government, serving as chief of staff to the commander-in-chief of Afghanistan’s armed forces. However, some of his former lieutenants are using the power vacuum in the north to exert their authority. Despite concerted drives in recent years to dismantle the numerous irregular forces across Afghanistan, such men still retain significant private militias.

In Faryab, at least, the continuing existence of illegal armed groups is no secret. In August 2006, Shamal’s forces clashed with those of another commander, Khalifa Saleh, who was aligned with a major rival of Dostum. Some 300 armed men took part in the fight, which left 14 people dead. (See IWPR’s story on this, “Afghan Interior Ministry Takes on Armed Factions”, ARR No.228, 1-Sep-06.)

Shahabudin alleged that men are forcibly levied from local families to join Shamal’s paramilitaries.

“Anyone who refuses to send his son to the commander’s militia is beaten or even killed,” he said.

He added that the militia commander extorts money to buy horses and provide food for his men. Once again, resistance is punished by imprisonment or torture.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Shamal, and both government security forces and their international allies claim to be searching for him.

But while local people seem to know exactly where Shamal and his men are operating, the commander has not been detained.

“We have conducted three operations against this commander,” said General Khalilullah Ziaee, chief of police in Faryab province.

“But the terrain favours him. He hides in the mountains, and when we approach, he sees us coming three hours before we can get to him, and he makes an easy escape. Later on, when we are gone, he comes back.”

Ziaee said that police were determined to capture the commander, but lacked the resources to do so.

“We want to save people from his evil-doing,” he said. “But he runs away when we attack him, and we don’t have the horses to chase him with.”

In the end, Shahabudin had to make his own choice. “Life became unbearable. Death and dishonour followed us. So we had to flee,” he said.

Mullah Yar Bay is another Pashtun Kot resident who fled to escape the commander’s rule, which he said involved arbitrary detention, torture and murder.

“Commander Shamal has private prisons and he arrests those who do not obey him,” he said. “Many of those who have defied him have either disappeared or been imprisoned. Our lives and everything we own belong to this commander.”

Local residents chafing under the yoke are angry that the authorities are unable – perhaps even unwilling – to find the commander.

“The government doesn’t want to catch Shamal,” said a man who still lives in Pashtun Kot. “They come into his area and leave without doing anything. I am sure that if the government does fight him, it will not win.”

This interviewee believed the authorities were allowing Shamal a free hand in Pashtun Kot to keep him from branching out into other parts of the province.

“The government makes promises, but they are just deceiving people. I’ve decided to go and live somewhere else, because as long as Shamal is alive, no one can do anything in Pashtun Kot,” he said.

Sattar Barez, Faryab’s deputy governor, acknowledged that the presence of Shamal was a problem, but insisted the authorities were taking steps to deal with it.

“It is totally wrong to say that the government is silent,” he said. “[Shamal] is a criminal who tortures and beats people. His crimes are known to everyone. We have plans to deal with him soon.”

IWPR was unable to contact Shamal, but spoke to Junbesh, the party with which he was formerly connected and allegedly still is.

Junbesh officials say their party has made the transition from armed faction to legitimate political party, and deny links with commanders such as Shamal.

Deputy party leader Kinja Kargar told IWPR that the party was fully compliant with Afghan laws, which ban political groups from maintaining links with armed groups.

“Junbesh is a powerful public party that has dissolved all of its military branches under DIAG and DDR,” he said, referring to two government-sponsored programmes, Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups and its predecessor, the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration scheme.

Critics say both programmes, which were backed by the United Nations and which cost tens of millions of dollars, were less than successful.

But Kargar was adamant that the Junbesh organisation no longer embraces armed groups.

“Anyone in possession of weaponry does not belong to Junbesh,” he said.

Faryab’s police chief told IWPR that political parties often issue such disclaimers. “[Shamal] belongs to a party that is known to everyone,” said Ziaee. “The party denies the relationship so as to avoid legal problems.”

Human rights groups are worried about the situation, saying they have brought their concerns to the authorities’ attention but little action has been taken.

“This issue is of great concern, but unfortunately we have no powers of enforcement,” he said Zaidullah Paiwand, the head of the Faryab branch of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. “We see here that commanders torture people, rob them and beat them. We have received many complaints against this commander [Shamal]. We have submitted all our reports to the law enforcement agencies, but unfortunately nothing significant has happened.”

Paiwand could not confirm the existence of private prisons, but said, “I think that every inch of the area he [Shamal] has occupied is a prison for the local people, because he can do anything he wants.”

Worryingly, some analysts see the Pashtun Kot situation as part of a much broader trend. They argue that the militia commanders who were dominant in the early to mid-Nineties are once again emerging as a powerful force in the north, taking advantage of the weakness of central government.

“The government and human rights organisations have claimed that the situation is improving, but in reality the commanders are gradually gaining the upper hand, and the government can’t do anything about it,” said Mohammad Nabi Aseer, a journalist and analyst in northern Afghanistan.

“The government is unable to combat the Taleban, and it is afraid that if it alienates the [northern] commanders, they might turn into an even more powerful enemy.”

Aseer said disarmament programmes had not worked, and that most of the factions-turned-parties retained a paramilitary wing, a factor that encouraged central government to do nothing.

“In reality, leaders of political parties obtain power in government via these military wings,” he said. “Taking action against local commanders would entail taking action against their leaders in Kabul. [President Hamed] Karzai’s government does not have the power to do this. Commander Shamal is a good example.”

Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR staff reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.

On vacation in Afghanistan

But it sure is beautiful country...

Attention Students!!

2007-10-18T07:39:00.000-04:00

Gravel Gets It, Why Can't the Rest?

2007-10-17T13:22:00.000-04:00

Owned By the Tubes

2007-10-17T13:06:00.000-04:00

This is a clip from the movie Network filmed over 30 years ago. True today.

Gore and Carter 2008

2007-10-11T20:53:00.000-04:00

I have a dream ticket for you...Al Gore and Jimmy Carter...huh? What do you think? Two (possible) Nobel Peace Prize winners running together on a Green Party ticket. I can dream anyway...
Here is an article from the AP about Jimmy Carter:

Jimmy Carter:US Tortures Prisoners

WASHINGTON - The U.S. tortures prisoners in violation of international law, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday, adding that President Bush makes up his own definition of torture.

“Our country for the first time in my life time has abandoned the basic principle of human rights,” Carter said on CNN. “We’ve said that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to those people in Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo, and we’ve said we can torture prisoners and deprive them of an accusation of a crime.”

Bush, responding to an Oct. 4 report by The New York Times on secret Justice Department memorandums supporting the use of “harsh interrogation techniques,” defended the techniques Friday by proclaiming: “This government does not torture people.”

Carter said the interrogation methods cited by the Times, including “head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures,” constitute torture “if you use the international norms of torture as has always been honored - certainly in the last 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was promulgated.

“But you can make your own definition of human rights and say we don’t violate them, and you can make your own definition of torture and say we don’t violate them,” Carter said.

In an interview that aired Wednesday on BBC, Carter ripped Vice President Dick Cheney as “a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military.”

Carter went on to say Cheney has been “a disaster for our country. I think he’s been overly persuasive on President George Bush.”

Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell declined to speak to Carter’s allegations.

“We’re not going to engage in this kind of rhetoric,” she said.

In the CNN interview, the Democratic former president disparaged the field of Republican presidential candidates.

“They all seem to be outdoing each other in who wants to go to war first with Iran, who wants to keep Guantanamo open longer and expand its capacity - things of that kind,” Carter said.

He said he also disagreed with positions taken by Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have declined to promise to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq over the following four years if elected president next year.

© 2007 The Associated Press

Jimmy Carter BBC Interview

Wolf Blitzer interview with Jimmy Carter

The spot where Jimmy Carter says he knows we torture.

If Bush Told You to Jump Off a Cliff, Would You Do That Too?

2007-10-10T09:50:00.000-04:00

Since 9/11 the propaganda machine has been running overtime. I can't even count how many times 9/11 has been invoked by our presidential candidates. It is because of that, that we are in Iraq, right? Oh wait, there was no connection from 9/11 to Iraq. Whatever the lie will be this week is yet to be told. I found an interesting article on AlterNet about the propaganda machine:

The Maga-Lie Called the "War on Terror": A Masterpiece of Propaganda

By Richard W. Behan, AlterNet. Posted September 27, 2007

The fraudulence of the "War on Terror" is clearly revealed by looking at the pattern of actions that preceded and followed its launch.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the state can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie ... The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state." --Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda in Nazi Germany, 1933-1945
Since Sept. 11, 2001, the administration of George W. Bush has told and repeated a lie that is "big enough" to confirm Joseph Goebbels' testimony. It is a mega-lie, and the American people have come to believe it. It is the "War on Terror."
The Bush administration endlessly recites its mantra of deceit:
The War on Terror was launched in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It is intended to enhance our national security at home and to spread democracy in the Middle East.
This is the struggle of our lifetime; we are defending our way of life from an enemy intent on destroying our freedoms. We must fight the enemy in the Middle East, or we will fight him in our cities.
This is classic propaganda. In Goebbels' terms, it is the "state" speaking its lie, but the political, economic, and military consequences of the Bush administration lie are coming into view, and they are all catastrophic. If truth is the enemy of both the lie and George Bush's "state," then the American people need to know the truth.
The military incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq were not done in retaliation for 9/11. The Bush administration had them clearly in mind upon taking office, and they were set in motion as early as Feb. 3, 2001. That was seven months prior to the attacks on the Trade Towers and the Pentagon, and the objectives of the wars had nothing to do with terrorism.
This is beyond dispute. The mainstream press has ignored the story, but the administration's congenital belligerence is fully documented in book-length treatments and in the limitless information pool of the internet. (See my earlier work, for example.)
Invading a sovereign nation unprovoked, however, directly violates the charter of the United Nations. It is an international crime. Before the Bush administration could attack either Afghanistan or Iraq, it would need a politically and diplomatically credible reason for doing so.
The terrorist violence of Sept. 11, 2001, provided a spectacular opportunity. In the cacophony of outrage and confusion, the administration could conceal its intentions, disguise the true nature of its premeditated wars, and launch them. The opportunity was exploited in a heartbeat.
Within hours of the attacks, President Bush declared the United States "… would take the fight directly to the terrorists," and "… he announced to the world the United States would make no distinction between the terrorists and the states that harbor them." Thus the "War on Terror" was born.
The fraudulence of the "War on Terror," however, is clearly revealed in the pattern of subsequent facts:
In Afghanistan the state was overthrown instead of apprehending the terrorist. Offers by the Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden were ignored, and he remains at large to this day.
In Iraq, when the United States invaded, there were no al Qaeda terrorists at all.
Both states have been supplied with puppet governments, and both are dotted with permanent U.S. military bases in strategic proximity to their hydrocarbon assets.
The U.S. embassy nearing completion in Baghdad is comprised of 21 multistory buildings on 104 acres of land. It will house 5,500 diplomats, staff and families. It is ten times larger than any other U.S. embassy in the world, but we have yet to be told why.
A 2006 National Intelligence Estimate shows the war in Iraq has exacerbated, not diminished, the threat of terrorism since 9/11. If the "War on Terror" is not a deception, it is a disastrously counterproductive failure.
Today two American and two British oil companies are poised to claim immense profits from 81 percent of Iraq's undeveloped crude oil reserves. They cannot proceed, however, until the Iraqi Parliament enacts a statute known as the "hydrocarbon framework law."
The features of postwar oil policy so heavily favoring the oil companies were crafted by the Bush administration State Department in 2002, a year before the invasion.
Drafting of the law itself was begun during Paul Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority, with the invited participation of a number of major oil companies. The law was written in English and translated into Arabic only when it was due for Iraqi approval.
President Bush made passage of the hydrocarbon law a mandatory "benchmark" when he announced the troop surge in January of 2007.
When it took office, the Bush administration brushed aside warnings about al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Their anxiety to attack both Afghanistan and Iraq was based on other factors.
Iraq
The Iraqi war was conceived in 1992, during the first Bush administration, in a 46-page document entitled Draft Defense Planning Guidance.
The document advocated the concept of preemptive war to assure the military and diplomatic dominance of the world by the United States. It asserted the need for "… access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil." It warned of "… proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." And it spoke of "… threats to U.S. citizens from terrorism." It was the template for today's war in Iraq.
The Draft Defense Planning Guidance was signed by the secretary of defense, Richard Cheney. It was prepared by three top staffers: Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Zalmay Khalilzad-all of whom would fill high-level positions in the administration of George W. Bush, nine years in the future.
In proposing global dominance and preemptive war, it was a radical departure from the traditional U.S. policy of multilateral realism, and it was an early statement of the emerging ideology of "neoconservatism."
The document was too extreme. President George H.W. Bush publicly denounced it and immediately retracted it. Many in his administration referred to its authors as "the crazies."
But the ideology survived. Five years later William Kristol and Robert Kagan created a neoconservative organization to advocate preemptive war and U.S. global dominion to achieve, in their words, a "benevolent global hegemony." It was called the Project for the New American Century, quickly abbreviated as PNAC. Among the founding members were Richard Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Zalmay Khalilzad, Donald Rumsfeld and Jeb Bush.
In a letter to President Clinton on Jan. 26, 1998, the Project for the New American Century once more urged the military overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime.
President Clinton ignored the letter, apparently viewing this iteration of the proposal as no less crazy than the original.
As the presidential campaign of 2000 drew to a close, the PNAC produced yet another proposal for U.S. world dominion, preemptive war and the invasion of Iraq. It was a document called "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces, and Resources For a New Century" (PDF).
Weeks later, in January of 2001, 29 members of the Project for the New American Century joined the administration of George W. Bush. Their ideology of world dominion and preemptive war would dominate the Bush administration's foreign and defense policies.
Within 10 days of his inauguration, President Bush convened his National Security Council. The PNAC people triumphed when the invasion of Iraq was placed at the top of the agenda for Mideast foreign policy. Reconciling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, long the top priority, was dropped from consideration.
The neoconservative dream of invading Iraq was a tragic anachronism, an ideological fantasy of retrograde imperialism. A related and far more pragmatic reason for the invasion, however, would surface soon.
No administration in memory had been more closely aligned with the oil industry. President Bush and Vice President Cheney were intimately tied to it, and so was National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice. So were eight cabinet secretaries and 32 other high-level appointees.
By early February, Vice President Cheney's "Energy Task Force" was at work. Federal agency people were joined by executives and lobbyists from the Enron, Exxon-Mobil, Conoco-Phillips, Shell and BP America corporations.
Soon the task force was poring over detailed maps of the Iraqi oil fields, pipelines, tanker terminals, refineries and the undeveloped oil exploration blocks. It studied two pages of "foreign suitors for Iraqi oil field contracts" -- foreign companies negotiating with Saddam Hussein's regime, none of which was a major American or British oil company.
The intent to invade Iraq and the keen interest in Iraqi oil would soon converge in a top secret memo of Feb. 3, 2001, from a "high level National Security Council official." The memo: "… directed the NSC staff to cooperate fully with the Energy Task Force as it considered the 'melding' of two seemingly unrelated areas of policy: 'the review of operational policies toward rogue states' such as Iraq and 'actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields.'"
As early as Feb. 3, 2001, the Bush administration was committed to invading Iraq, with the oil fields clearly in mind.
The terrorist attacks on Washington and New York were still seven months in the future.
Afghanistan
The issue in Afghanistan was the strategically valuable location for a pipeline to connect the immense oil and gas resources of the Caspian Basin to the richest markets. Whoever built the pipeline would control the Basin, and in the 1990s the contest to build it was spirited.
American interests in the region were promoted by an organization called the Foreign Oil Companies Group. Among its most active members were Henry Kissinger, a former secretary of state but now an advisor to the Unocal Corp.; Alexander Haig, another former secretary of state but now a lobbyist for Turkmenistan; and Richard Cheney, a former secretary of defense, but now the CEO of the Halliburton Corp.
Late in 1996, however, the Bridas Corp. of Argentina finally signed contracts with the Taliban and with Gen. Dostum of the Northern Alliance to build the pipeline.
One American company in particular, Unocal, found that intolerable and fought back vigorously, hiring a number of consultants in addition to Kissinger: Hamid Karzai, Richard Armitage, and Zalmay Khalilzad. (Armitage and Khalilzad would join the George W. Bush administration in 2001.)
Unocal wooed Taliban officials at its headquarters in Texas and in Washington, D.C., seeking to have the Bridas contract voided, but the Taliban refused. Finally, in February of 1998, John J. Maresca, a Unocal vice president, asked in a congressional hearing to have the Taliban replaced by a more stable regime.
The Clinton administration, having recently refused the PNAC request to invade Iraq, was not any more interested in a military overthrow of the Taliban. President Clinton did, however, shoot a few cruise missiles into Afghanistan, after the al Qaeda attacks on the U.S. embassies in Africa. And he issued an executive order forbidding further trade transactions with the Taliban.
Maresca was thus twice disappointed: The Taliban would not be replaced very soon, and Unocal would have to cease its pleadings with the regime.
Unocal's prospects rocketed when George W. Bush entered the White House, and the Project for the New American Century ideology of global dominance took hold.
The Bush administration itself took up active negotiations with the Taliban in January of 2001, seeking secure access to the Caspian Basin for American companies. The Enron Corp. also was eyeing a pipeline to feed its proposed power plant in India.) The administration offered a package of foreign aid as an inducement, and the parties met in Washington, Berlin and Islamabad. The Bridas contract might still be voided.
But the Taliban would not yield.
Anticipating this in the spring of 2001, the State Department had sought and gained the concurrence of India and Pakistan to take military action if necessary. The PNAC people were not timid about using force.
At the final meeting with the Taliban, on Aug. 2, 2001, State Department negotiator Christine Rocca, clarified the options: "Either you accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs." With the futility of negotiations apparent, "President Bush promptly informed Pakistan and India the U.S. would launch a military mission into Afghanistan before the end of October."
This was five weeks before the events of 9/11.
Sept. 11, 2001
A tectonic groundswell of skepticism, doubt and suspicion has emerged about the Bush administration's official explanation of 9/11. Some claim the administration orchestrated the attacks. Others see complicity. Still others find criminal negligence. The cases they make are neither extreme nor trivial.
Whatever the truth about 9/11, the Bush administration now had a fortuitous, spectacular opportunity to proceed with its premeditated attacks.
The administration would have to play its hand skillfully, however.
Other nations have suffered criminal acts of terrorism, but there is no precedent for conflating the terrorists with the states that harbor them, declaring a "war" and seeking with military force to overthrow a sovereign government. Victimized nations have always relied successfully on international law enforcement and police action to bring terrorists to justice.
But the Bush administration needed more than this. War plans were in the files. They needed to justify invasions. Only by targeting the "harboring states," as well as the terrorists, did they stand a chance of doing so.
The administration played its hand brilliantly. It compared the terrorist attacks immediately to Pearl Harbor, and in the smoke and rage of 9/11 the comparison was superficially attractive. But Pearl Harbor was the violent expression of hostile intent by a formidably armed nation, and it introduced four years of full-scale land, sea and airborne combat. 9/11 was al Qaeda's violent expression of hostility: 19 fanatics armed with box cutters. Yes, extraordinary destruction and loss of life, but the physical security of our entire nation was simply not at stake.
Though the comparison was specious, the "War on Terror" was born, and it has proven to be an exquisite smokescreen. But labeling the preplanned invasions as a "War on Terror" was the mega-lie, dwarfing all the untruths that followed. The mega-lie would be the centerpiece of a masterful propaganda blitz that continues to this day.
The wars
On Oct. 7, 2001, the carpet of bombs is unleashed over Afghanistan.
Soon, with the Taliban overthrown, the Bush administration installed Hamid Karzai as head of an interim government. Karzai had been a Unocal consultant.
The first ambassador to Karzai's government was John J. Maresca, a vice president of Unocal.
The next ambassador to Afghanistan was Zalmay Khalilzad, another Unocal consultant.
Four months after the carpet of bombs, President Karzai and President Musharraf of Pakistan signed an agreement for a new pipeline. The Bridas contract was moot. The way was open for Unocal.
In February of 2003 an oil industry trade journal reported the Bush administration was ready to finance the pipeline across Afghanistan and to protect it with a permanent military presence. Osama bin Laden remained at large.
The mega-lie, the fabricated "War on Terror" was an easy sell in the Afghanistan adventure. The shock of 9/11 was immense, Osama bin Laden was operating from Afghanistan and the "state," the Taliban, was at least sympathetic to his organization. And the signature secrecy of the Bush Administration had kept from public view its eight months of negotiating with the Taliban. The first premeditated war was largely unopposed.
Selling the Iraq invasion to the American people and to the Congress would be far more difficult.
With the Trade Towers and the Pentagon still smoldering, President Bush and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld ordered their staffs to find Saddam Hussein's complicity in the attacks. Of course they could not, so there would need to be a sustained and persuasive selling job -- a professionally orchestrated campaign of propaganda.
Soon after 9/11, fear-mongering propagandizing became the modus operandi of the Bush Administration. It began in earnest with the president's "axis of evil" State of the Union address in 2002, full of terrorism and fear. "The United States of America," the president said, "will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."
No regime anywhere was in fact threatening anyone with anything, but Bush appointed a 10-person "White House Iraq Group" in August of 2002. Chaired by Karl Rove, its members were trusted partisans and communications experts skilled in perception management. Their role was explicitly to market the need to invade Iraq. The group operated in strict secrecy, sifting intelligence, writing position papers and speeches, creating "talking points," planning strategy and timing, and feeding information to the media. This was the nerve center, where the campaign of propaganda was orchestrated and promulgated.
The group chose to trumpet nearly exclusively the most frightening threat-nuclear weapons. Rice soon introduced the litany of the smoking gun and the mushroom cloud, Cheney said hundreds of thousands of Americans might die, and Bush claimed Saddam was "six months away from developing a weapon."
In the 2003 State of the Union address, President Bush uttered the infamous "sixteen words": "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." This was typical of White House Iraq Group work: The CIA knew and had said the information was bogus.
The propaganda campaign was ultimately successful, not least because of the axiomatic trust American people extend to their presidents: Nobody could have anticipated the range, intensity and magnitude of the expertly crafted deception. And the campaign was aided by a compliant mainstream press that swallowed and regurgitated the talking points.
The Congress was persuaded sufficiently to authorize the use of military force. The American people were persuaded sufficiently to accept the war and to send Mr. Bush to the White House for a second term. But no other war in the country's history had to be so consciously and comprehensively sold.
Much of the deception, distortion and lies was eventually exposed. The link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, the weapons of mass destruction, the aluminum tubes, the mobile laboratories, the yellowcake from Niger: none of it true. Only the mega-lie, the "War on Terror," survives.
On Feb. 5, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the Security Council, waving the vial of simulated anthrax and claiming "there is no doubt in my mind" Saddam Hussein was working to produce nuclear weapons.
But the Security Council, not so easily propagandized, refused to authorize American force.
On March 14, 2003, President Bush met in the Azores with Prime Ministers Blair of the United Kingdom and Aznar of Spain. They abandoned the effort for U.N. authorization, claimed the right to proceed without it and a week later launched the war.
Four years of violence. Nearly 4,000 young Americans dead. Seven times that many maimed. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead. Millions fleeing as refugees, their economy and infrastructure in ruins. A raging civil war. Half a trillion dollars and counting.
Stopping the madness
And for what? Neither face of the war has come remotely close to success. The "War on Terrorism" has not suppressed terrorism but has encouraged it instead. The premeditated war -- for ideological dreams of world dominion and the pragmatic capture of hydrocarbon assets -- is a colossus of failure.
The Afghan pipeline is a dead issue. As the warlords and the poppy growers in Afghanistan thrive, and as the Taliban regroups and regains dominance, the country tilts ominously into chaos once more.
The Iraqi hydrocarbon law -- the clever disguise for capturing the oil fields -- is fatally wounded, its true purpose becoming more widely known. Organized resistance is growing quickly, both in Iraq and in the United States. And the factions who need to agree on the law are otherwise engaged in killing each other.
The Iraqi war has not resulted, either, in the global dominance sought by the Project for the New American Century people, but in global repugnance for what their pathetic ideology has wrought.
Clearly the involvement of the U.S. military in the Mideast must cease. Pouring more lives and dollars into the quagmire may keep alive the warped dreams of the Bush administration, but those dreams are illegitimate, indeed criminal.
President Bush and Vice President Cheney reject any alteration in their course. They ask instead for more time, more money and even -- in threatening Iran -- for more targets.
There is no apparent way to the stop madness, to end the hemorrhaging of blood and treasure, but to impeach these men and, if found guilty, to remove them from office.
The integrity of the Constitution and the rule of law are at stake as well, but the Congress continues its indifference to impeachment, effectively condoning the administration's behavior. Should this continue, thinking Americans will discard the last crumbs of respect for the incumbent legislature -- polling shows there's not much left -- and punish its members, Republican and Democrat alike, in next year's election.
Impeachment will expose the fraudulence of the "War on Terror" and liberate us from the pall of fear the Bush administration has deliberately cast upon the country. Both political parties will be free to speak the truth: Terrorism is real and a cause for concern, but it is not a reason for abject fear.
We need only compare the hazard of al Qaeda to the threat posed by the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. On the one hand is a wretched group of sad fanatics -- perhaps 50,000 in all -- clever enough to commandeer airliners with box cutters. On the other was a nation of 140 million people, a powerful economy, a standing army of hundreds of divisions, a formidable navy and air force and thousands of nuclear tipped intercontinental missiles pre-aimed at American targets.
We were a vigilant but poised and confident people then, not a nation commanded to cower in fear. We can and must regain that strength and self-assurance.
Ending the nightmare will take far less courage than the Bush people exhibited in beginning it. Taking a nation to war on distortion, deception and lies is enormously risky in many respects: in lives and in treasure, certainly, but also in a nation's prestige abroad and in the trust and support of its people. The Bush administration risked all this and more, and it has lost.
We risk far less by embracing the truth and acting on it. Our nation cherishes honesty: the fraudulence must end. But Bush and Cheney have shown themselves incapable of honesty, and we also cherish justice. They must be impeached.

This propaganda machine is most effective if a major tragedy happens like 9/11. Naomei Klein has written a terrific book called The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Alfonso Cuarón, director of "Children of Men", made a short film about it. If you have not seen it, here it is:

Hello, NSA, You Really Listen

2007-10-09T11:05:00.000-04:00

We no longer have any rights to privacy. The Democrats have stood buy and let our civil liberties continue to erode. They are expected to allow the NSA's warrantless wiretapping to continue and broaden their powers. This is in today's New York Times:

October 9, 2007
Democrats Seem Ready To Extend Wiretap Powers

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 — Two months after insisting that they would roll back broad eavesdropping powers won by the Bush administration, Democrats in Congress appear ready to make concessions that could extend some crucial powers given to the National Security Agency.

Administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess. Some Democratic officials concede that they may not come up with enough votes to stop approval.

As the debate over the eavesdropping powers of the National Security Agency begins anew this week, the emerging measures reflect the reality confronting the Democrats.

Although willing to oppose the White House on the Iraq war, they remain nervous that they will be called soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on gathering intelligence.

A Democratic bill to be proposed on Tuesday in the House would maintain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for N.S.A. eavesdropping that the administration secured in August for six months.

In an acknowledgment of concerns over civil liberties, the bill would require a more active role by the special foreign intelligence court that oversees the interception of foreign-based communications by the security agency.

A competing proposal in the Senate, still being drafted, may be even closer in line with the administration plan, with the possibility of including retroactive immunity for telecommunications utilities that participated in the once-secret program to eavesdrop without court warrants.

No one is willing to predict with certainty how the question will play out. Some Congressional officials and others monitoring the debate said the final result might not be much different from the result in August, despite the Democrats’ insistence that they would not let stand the extension of the powers.

“Many members continue to fear that if they don’t support whatever the president asks for, they’ll be perceived as soft on terrorism,” said William Banks, a professor who specializes in terrorism and national security law at Syracuse University and who has written extensively on federal wiretapping laws.

The August bill, known as the Protect America Act, was approved in the final hours before Congress went on its summer recess after heated warnings from the administration that legal loopholes in wiretapping coverage had left the country vulnerable to another terrorist attack. The measure significantly reduced the role of the foreign intelligence court and broadened the security agency’s ability to listen to foreign-based communications without court warrants.

“We want the statute made permanent,” a spokesman for the Justice Department, Dean Boyd, said Monday. “We view this as a healthy debate. We also view it as an opportunity to inform Congress and the public that we can use these authorities responsibly. We’re going to go forward and look at any proposals that come forth. But we’ll look at them very carefully to make sure they don’t have any consequences that hamper our abilities to protect the country.”

House Democrats overwhelmingly opposed the bill in August and said the administration had been forced them into a corner.

As Congress takes up the new bills, a senior Democratic aide said, House leaders are working hard to ensure that the administration does not succeed in pushing through a bill that would make permanent all the powers it secured in August.

“That’s what we’re trying to avoid,” the aide said. “We have that concern too.”

The bill to be proposed on Tuesday by the Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees would impose more controls over the powers of security agency, including quarterly audits by the Justice Department inspector general. The measure would also give the foreign intelligence court a role in approving, in advance, “basket” or “umbrella” warrants for bundles of overseas communications, a Congressional official said.

“We are giving the N.S.A. what it legitimately needs for national security but with far more limitations and protections than are in the Protect America Act,” said Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California.

Perhaps most important in the eyes of Democratic supporters, the House bill would not give retroactive immunity to the telecommunications utilities that participated in the eavesdropping. That has been a top priority of the administration. The temporary measure gave the utilities immunity for future acts, but not past deeds.

Private groups are trying to prove in federal court that the utilities violated the law by participating in the program.

A former senior Justice Department lawyer, Jack Goldsmith, seemed to bolster their case last week when he told Congress that the program was a “legal mess” and strongly suggested that it was illegal.

The House bill would also require the administration to disclose details of the program. Democrats say they plan to push the administration to turn over internal documents laying out the legal rationale for the program, something the administration has refused to do.

In the Senate, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, is working with his Republican counterpart, Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, a main proponent of the August plan, to come up with a compromise.

Wendy Morigi, a spokeswoman for Mr. Rockefeller, said that retroactive immunity for the utilities was “under discussion” but that no final proposal had been developed.

The immunity issue may prove to be the crucial sticking point between whatever proposals the House and Senate ultimately pass. Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who was among the harshest critics of the temporary bill, said in an interview he would vigorously oppose any effort to grant retroactive legal protection to telecommunications utilities.

“There is heavy pressure on the immunity, and we should not cave an inch on that,” Mr. Nadler said.

Mr. Nadler said that he was worried the Senate would give too much ground to the administration in its proposal, but that he was satisfied with the bill to be proposed on Tuesday in the House.

“It is not perfect, but it is a good bill,” he said. “It makes huge improvements in the current law. In some respects it is better than the old FISA law,” a reference to the foreign intelligence court.

Civil liberties advocates and others who met House officials on Monday on the proposed bill agreed that it was an improvement over the August plan but were less charitable in their overall assessment.

‘This still authorizes the interception of Americans’ international communications without a warrant in far too many instances, and without adequate civil liberties protections,” said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, who was in the group that met House officials.

Caroline Frederickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said she was troubled by the Democrats’ acceptance of broad, blanket warrants for the security agency rather than the individualized warrants traditionally required by the intelligence court.

“The Democratic leadership, philosophically, is with us,” Ms. Frederickson said. “But we need to help them realize the political case, which is that Democrats will not be in danger if they don’t reauthorize this Protect America Act. They’re nervous.

“There’s a ‘keep the majority’ mentality, which is understandable,” she said, “But we think they’re putting themselves in more danger by not standing on principle.”

I stumped for the Democratic party last fall in hopes of change. Where is the change? It is politics as usual in DC. There is a definite need for term limits in Congress. With Bush's expansion of who is deemed an enemy to include any person they feel is hampering the war effort, does that mean that people, like us, that stand up against the war are under surveillance? Here is a message for them:

Bit my left tit, NSA!

Columbus Day Must Be Stopped

2007-10-08T13:32:00.000-04:00

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue with the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria and discovered America...or so the story goes. There is a problem with what we were all told as kids. People were already here, the Native Americans. It is they who were betrayed, slaughtered and herded onto reservations where they are still being repressed to this day. Why then do we still celebrate Columbus Day? Did Columbus do anything we should celebrate? He began the genocide and slavery of our native peoples and any indigenous tribes he came across.

In his journal he wrote of them, "It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion." He also wrote of them, two days after landing, "I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased."
While Columbus had always given the conversion of non-believers as one reason for his explorations, he grew increasingly religious in his later years. He claimed to hear divine voices, lobbied for a new crusade to capture Jerusalem, often wore Franciscan habit, and described his explorations to the "paradise" as part of God's plan which would soon result in the Last Judgment and the end of the world.

Why are we still celebrating this first trans Atlantic slave trader? This failed captain? This delusional religious zealot? Hugo Chavez has came out against the continuation of celebrating Columbus Day. He has blamed Columbus for leading the way in the mass genocide of the Native Americans by the Spanish. It is amazing how many issues I agree with Chavez about.

Culpability is sometimes placed on contemporary governments and their citizens for the hardship suffered by Native Americans during the time of Christopher Columbus. Columbus myths and celebrations are generally a positive affair, making less room for this concept in history books. Ward Churchill, an associate professor of Native American Studies at the University of Colorado and a leader of the American Indian Movement of Colorado, has argued that
"Very high on the list of those expressions of non-indigenous sensibility which contribute to the perpetuation of genocidal policies against Indians are the annual Columbus Day celebration, events in which it is baldly asserted that the process, events, and circumstances described above are, at best, either acceptable or unimportant. More often, the sentiments expressed by the participants are, quite frankly, that the fate of Native America embodied in Columbus and the Columbian legacy is a matter to be openly and enthusiastically applauded as an unrivaled "boon to all mankind." Undeniably, the situation of American Indians will not—in fact cannot—change for the better so long as such attitudes are deemed socially acceptable by the mainstream populace. Hence, such celebrations as Columbus Day must be stopped."

The continued celebration of Columbus Day must end. It is nothing more than a reminder of genocide and slavery.

Lancaster Woman Responds

2007-10-05T07:41:00.000-04:00

I received a comment on my last post titled 'Bush Faces Opposition in Pennsylvania'. It was from Sherry Wolfe, the woman who removed her jacket (and blouse) to reveal a pink shirt that said, "George Bush, your war killed my friend's son". Here is her comment:

Hi, I'm Sherry Wolfe, the protestor who wore the t-shirt to a Bush event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania,Oct. 3, 2007.I am responding because it seems there is a theory appearing on a few blogs that I was in collusion with the Bush Camp, that they staged it to polish their image, and I was not really a protestor.Total baloney.I am most definitely real ,and most certainly not working for George Bush's goons. For those wondering if the President saw me wearing the shirt; YES INDEED he was looking right at me as I took off my blazer , then unbuttoned and removed my blouse revealing the t-shirt. I was so close I saw his eyes move up and down reading the words.My friend ,Gerry Beane was sitting next to me and was chosen to ask the first question. I absolutely could not believe it was really happening.I never expected to get in the place, let alone have a question answered.When Bush called on Gerry I was in total shock.(I must say ,I am far,far from a perfect Catholic, barely go to Mass any more,but I have seen the pain and grieving the Adams family is going through, and that morning I kept saying over and over and over " please god, please god,please god, let me get that letter to the president.Just let me get the letter to the President.I don't care if I'm arrested, just PLEASE GOD LET ME GET THE LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT."I am telling you, and you can laugh , but something happened that day that I truly believe was meant to be.The opportunity was
PERFECT, ( I can see why someone might think it was staged,I couldn't believe it was happening myself. I am actually still running on adrenaline, and have barely slept. )So ,as Gerry stood up to talk and the cameras focused and the crowd turned to listen to him...BINGO. After the shirt was exposed I kept my hand on my cell phone ready to hit the number of my attorney, in case I got hauled out of there.( I was actually stunned that I managed to make it through 3 security checkpoints. Even though I had a valid pass, I figured the secret service would scan the guest list and block me ,seeing as I have been involved in many anti-war events. )Well after I made it inside everything unfolded so smoothly it was surreal.I am a member of the Lancaster Coalition for Peace and Justice. We are a small group, but we are VERY organized.A legal team was in place outside, we completely anticipated that once that t-shirt was visible, I would most certainly be removed and arrested.To my knowledge no protestor has ever managed to stay, so I was in shock, on auto pilot when I realized what was occuring. Because Bush had just finished expounding on religion and prayer and forgiveness; telling the crowd "Christian values were his first priority", ( yeah, right ...sure George ... you make a better stand up comedian than President of the United States.) Here's why they refrained from tackling me:It was a very small Town Hall setting.All the seats were in very close proximity to the Pres. I was about 20 feet away from him, in the second row of the left hand bleachers. The Nickel Mines Amish families who lost children in the school house shooting last year,were lined up ,sitting in front row vip seats .We figured he didn't want to look like a hypocrite in front of them, ( even though he is one), and drag a woman out of the room, after trying to impress the crowd with his "good 'ol boy-homespun-regular-heck-of-nice-guy " spin. There was no way they could have discreetly removed me . So, the secret service crowded in a corner near me.But as Gerry was talking they cut his mike and for the duration of the meeting ,WGAL, the local news station did not broadcast video of us or much of the crowd. Just kept the camera on Bush. What a laugh, security had no idea if there were more people planted in the audience.The snooty members of the Chamber of Commerce were seething. Afterwards,as the reporters swamped me, a woman ran up and started ranting and raving, getting in my face, saying we need to be in Iraq. She made a fool of herself.They had been so proud to meet their esteemed dictator .Apparently I had spoiled the lovefest. Just wanted to share these details, but please remember
this action at the Chamber of Commerce Bush Town Hall Meeting was not
about me. The imperative was to hand deliver a letter from a good friend
whose son Brent Adams died under mysterious circumstances in Ramadi
Iraq, Dec.1, 2005. The family has had no co-operation from the military ,and
wants and DESERVES answers, and some measure of closure.
Not only was the letter given to Bush, the White House called the Adams
family 3 hours after the meeting, saying the president had read the letter,and is ordering an
investigation into the death of Brent.
(We will try to make sure he keeps his promise.)
If wearing a t-shirt that most guests attending the meeting considered obnoxious, then
so be it. You do what it takes to get the necessary attention of the
press,hence the attention of the President.
I pray in the future the Adams family finds some peace of mind, if that is even possible. God bless them.

Sherry Wolfe
Lancaster, Pa

I am very happy to hear from her. I was just so surprised that they did not get arrested. Her comment explains alot. Well we can mark one for our team.

(Sherry, if you read this, please email me. I would love to talk to you.)