Friday, September 16, 2005
IntoxiNation: Newsmax Continues It's Over-Spin-News, views and opinions about the dirty politics surrounding our right sided government.
IntoxiNation: Newsmax Continues It's Over-Spin-News, views and opinions about the dirty politics surrounding our right sided government.
Blogger Thoughts: Newsmax, amazing!
Blogger Thoughts: Newsmax, amazing!
n Roe v. Roberts (Krauthammer)
Update 9/17/2005
If you are a Washington Post Reader, Welcome!
Just noticed the blog that the Post linked to above the link to here. After I read part of the other bloggers post (2. "It is eerie how often Charles Krauthammer writes what I am thinking. He points out that this is all about abortion, which means it is all about nonsense."), you could have knocked me over with a feather.
End of Update
Roe v. Roberts
Blogger Thoughts: I actually thought Krauthammer was going to engage in a discussion I would find interesting, possibly enlightening. Yet again, he disappoints.
Before talking specifics, let me discuss the context in which I see the current US Government structure.
1. The US is hampered enormously by relying on the Constitution, created in a different time, in which the issues were different issues than we face today. In particular, I am referring to the whole State's Rights issues mess, about which I would commit heresy by saying: it should swept away. As an example, figuring out when the Commerce Clause does or does not apply is a exercise in futility.
It is high time that we have a Constitutional Convention for revision. However, since there is so little trust in democracy (a distrust that I share sadly), and so much suspicion that we could find ourselves worse off for the exercise, this is unlikely to happen.
2. For reasons I'm at a loss to fully explain, there seems to be a huge tendency for our Courts, like our Legislatures, to become corrupted by the most monied and powerful elites. This corruption, of course, is not a given. It must be earned with ongoing fleecing of the flock, which in concrete terms means currying favor with interest groups that will result in re-election.
Now back to the discussion at hand: Roe v. Wade.
Whether one avows that abortion rights should be determined in the Courts (and further, in the Supreme Court as the "law of the land") or should be determined by Legislators (as Krauthammer advocates) at the state or federal level, the primary consideration for any citizen who stands on the logic that it is a freedom and privacy issue is this: no legislature or court shall abridge this right.
Here I come to the fatal flaw in Krauthammer logic when he writes:
"I'm talking about the continuing damage to the republic: disenfranchising, instantly and without recourse, an enormous part of the American population; preventing, as even Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, proper political settlement of the issue by the people and their representatives; making us the only nation in the West to have legalized abortion by judicial fiat rather than by the popular will expressed democratically."
Rather than going the way Krauthammer (and evidently Ginsberg) would have it, the idea that any citizen should be "enfranchised" to use the democratic process to take away abortion rights is the injustice to be avoided.
Perhaps I agree with Krauthammer when he writes:
"In our lifetime has there been a more politically poisonous Supreme Court decision than Roe v. Wade ?"
The poisonous nature of the decision, however, is that it did not speak to abortion as an absolute protected constitutional right.
---------------------------------------------------------
Roe v. Roberts
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, September 16, 2005; A31
In our lifetime has there been a more politically poisonous Supreme Court decision than Roe v. Wade ? Set aside for a moment your thoughts on the substance of the ruling. (I happen to be a supporter of legalized abortion.) I'm talking about the continuing damage to the republic: disenfranchising, instantly and without recourse, an enormous part of the American population; preventing, as even Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, proper political settlement of the issue by the people and their representatives; making us the only nation in the West to have legalized abortion by judicial fiat rather than by the popular will expressed democratically.
The corruption continues 32 years later. You could see it played out hour by hour in the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge John Roberts. Question upon question that pretended to be about high constitutional principle was really about abortion in ill-concealed disguise.
Senators asked gravely about how deeply Roberts believes in upholding precedent. Do you think that any of the Democrats were concerned whether Roberts would uphold Richmond v. Croson , the precedent that outlawed racial quotas in municipal contracting? Or Boy Scouts v. Dale , which permitted the exclusion of gay Scout leaders?
This is all about Roe . Take the lines of interrogation about Roberts's belief in the right to privacy. They are not asking about search and seizure in your home. They are asking about the "right to choose" (a brilliant locution that expunges the ugly word abortion from all political debate about abortion) -- what Roberts in 1981 correctly termed the "so-called 'right to privacy,' " a skepticism he is now required to disavow.
Why? Because everyone knows what happened to Robert Bork when he forthrightly and honestly denied some kind of separate, newly hatched right to privacy.
And then there are the learned Judiciary Committee disquisitions on "originalism" -- the judicial philosophy by which Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas try to anchor the Constitution in something real, i.e., the meaning of the words as intended and understood at the time they were written.
Originalism is itself highly problematic, the worst judicial philosophy except for all the others, because they permit unmoored and arbitrary constitutional interpretation -- and thus unmoored and arbitrary judicial power. The learned senators, however, really don't care much about originalism, except to the extent that it would, almost by definition, make Roberts a categorical opponent of Roe . Which is why Roberts denies that he has any ideology, any "overarching judicial philosophy," and is nothing more than an ad hoc, bottom-up type of guy.
Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't. But he knows that if he dares to say otherwise, he gets Borked. If, on the other hand, he pretends to have a mind so scrubbed of theory that he is at a loss to explain gravitation itself, he gets to be chief justice of the United States for 40 years.
In 2000 Al Gore declared that he would not nominate a justice who did not support Roe. Dianne Feinstein says today that if she determines that Roberts opposes Roe , she will be compelled to vote against him. For Democrats, abortion is an open litmus test. For Republicans, it is a test of agility: Can they find the nominee who might be against Roe but has been circumspect enough not to say so publicly and who will be clever enough to avoid saying so at his confirmation hearings?
Circumspect and clever Roberts has been. No one really knows. But I predict two things: (a) Chief Justice Roberts will vote to uphold Roe v. Wade , and (b) his replacing his former boss, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, will move the court only mildly, but most assuredly, to the left -- as measured by the only available yardstick, the percentage of concurrences with the opinions of those conservative touchstones, Scalia and Thomas.
I infer this not just by what Roberts has said in his hearings -- that he supports Griswold v. Connecticut , that he deeply respects precedent and that he finds Roe itself worthy of respect. That is little beyond boilerplate. I infer it from his temperament, career and life history as an establishment conservative who prizes judicial modesty above all. Which means that while he will never repeat Roe , he will never repeal it and be the cause of the social upheaval that repeal would inevitably bring.
Not that this in any way disqualifies Roberts in my conservative eyes. He is a perfectly reasonable traditional conservative, who will be an outstanding chief justice. He is just not a judicial revolutionary. If you're a conservative looking for a return to the good old days, you'll be disappointed. And if you're a liberal who lives for the good old days because that's all that liberalism has left, tell Chuck Schumer to relax.
letters@charleskrauthammer.com
If you are a Washington Post Reader, Welcome!
Just noticed the blog that the Post linked to above the link to here. After I read part of the other bloggers post (2. "It is eerie how often Charles Krauthammer writes what I am thinking. He points out that this is all about abortion, which means it is all about nonsense."), you could have knocked me over with a feather.
End of Update
Roe v. Roberts
Blogger Thoughts: I actually thought Krauthammer was going to engage in a discussion I would find interesting, possibly enlightening. Yet again, he disappoints.
Before talking specifics, let me discuss the context in which I see the current US Government structure.
1. The US is hampered enormously by relying on the Constitution, created in a different time, in which the issues were different issues than we face today. In particular, I am referring to the whole State's Rights issues mess, about which I would commit heresy by saying: it should swept away. As an example, figuring out when the Commerce Clause does or does not apply is a exercise in futility.
It is high time that we have a Constitutional Convention for revision. However, since there is so little trust in democracy (a distrust that I share sadly), and so much suspicion that we could find ourselves worse off for the exercise, this is unlikely to happen.
2. For reasons I'm at a loss to fully explain, there seems to be a huge tendency for our Courts, like our Legislatures, to become corrupted by the most monied and powerful elites. This corruption, of course, is not a given. It must be earned with ongoing fleecing of the flock, which in concrete terms means currying favor with interest groups that will result in re-election.
Now back to the discussion at hand: Roe v. Wade.
Whether one avows that abortion rights should be determined in the Courts (and further, in the Supreme Court as the "law of the land") or should be determined by Legislators (as Krauthammer advocates) at the state or federal level, the primary consideration for any citizen who stands on the logic that it is a freedom and privacy issue is this: no legislature or court shall abridge this right.
Here I come to the fatal flaw in Krauthammer logic when he writes:
"I'm talking about the continuing damage to the republic: disenfranchising, instantly and without recourse, an enormous part of the American population; preventing, as even Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, proper political settlement of the issue by the people and their representatives; making us the only nation in the West to have legalized abortion by judicial fiat rather than by the popular will expressed democratically."
Rather than going the way Krauthammer (and evidently Ginsberg) would have it, the idea that any citizen should be "enfranchised" to use the democratic process to take away abortion rights is the injustice to be avoided.
Perhaps I agree with Krauthammer when he writes:
"In our lifetime has there been a more politically poisonous Supreme Court decision than Roe v. Wade ?"
The poisonous nature of the decision, however, is that it did not speak to abortion as an absolute protected constitutional right.
---------------------------------------------------------
Roe v. Roberts
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, September 16, 2005; A31
In our lifetime has there been a more politically poisonous Supreme Court decision than Roe v. Wade ? Set aside for a moment your thoughts on the substance of the ruling. (I happen to be a supporter of legalized abortion.) I'm talking about the continuing damage to the republic: disenfranchising, instantly and without recourse, an enormous part of the American population; preventing, as even Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, proper political settlement of the issue by the people and their representatives; making us the only nation in the West to have legalized abortion by judicial fiat rather than by the popular will expressed democratically.
The corruption continues 32 years later. You could see it played out hour by hour in the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge John Roberts. Question upon question that pretended to be about high constitutional principle was really about abortion in ill-concealed disguise.
Senators asked gravely about how deeply Roberts believes in upholding precedent. Do you think that any of the Democrats were concerned whether Roberts would uphold Richmond v. Croson , the precedent that outlawed racial quotas in municipal contracting? Or Boy Scouts v. Dale , which permitted the exclusion of gay Scout leaders?
This is all about Roe . Take the lines of interrogation about Roberts's belief in the right to privacy. They are not asking about search and seizure in your home. They are asking about the "right to choose" (a brilliant locution that expunges the ugly word abortion from all political debate about abortion) -- what Roberts in 1981 correctly termed the "so-called 'right to privacy,' " a skepticism he is now required to disavow.
Why? Because everyone knows what happened to Robert Bork when he forthrightly and honestly denied some kind of separate, newly hatched right to privacy.
And then there are the learned Judiciary Committee disquisitions on "originalism" -- the judicial philosophy by which Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas try to anchor the Constitution in something real, i.e., the meaning of the words as intended and understood at the time they were written.
Originalism is itself highly problematic, the worst judicial philosophy except for all the others, because they permit unmoored and arbitrary constitutional interpretation -- and thus unmoored and arbitrary judicial power. The learned senators, however, really don't care much about originalism, except to the extent that it would, almost by definition, make Roberts a categorical opponent of Roe . Which is why Roberts denies that he has any ideology, any "overarching judicial philosophy," and is nothing more than an ad hoc, bottom-up type of guy.
Maybe he is. Maybe he isn't. But he knows that if he dares to say otherwise, he gets Borked. If, on the other hand, he pretends to have a mind so scrubbed of theory that he is at a loss to explain gravitation itself, he gets to be chief justice of the United States for 40 years.
In 2000 Al Gore declared that he would not nominate a justice who did not support Roe. Dianne Feinstein says today that if she determines that Roberts opposes Roe , she will be compelled to vote against him. For Democrats, abortion is an open litmus test. For Republicans, it is a test of agility: Can they find the nominee who might be against Roe but has been circumspect enough not to say so publicly and who will be clever enough to avoid saying so at his confirmation hearings?
Circumspect and clever Roberts has been. No one really knows. But I predict two things: (a) Chief Justice Roberts will vote to uphold Roe v. Wade , and (b) his replacing his former boss, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, will move the court only mildly, but most assuredly, to the left -- as measured by the only available yardstick, the percentage of concurrences with the opinions of those conservative touchstones, Scalia and Thomas.
I infer this not just by what Roberts has said in his hearings -- that he supports Griswold v. Connecticut , that he deeply respects precedent and that he finds Roe itself worthy of respect. That is little beyond boilerplate. I infer it from his temperament, career and life history as an establishment conservative who prizes judicial modesty above all. Which means that while he will never repeat Roe , he will never repeal it and be the cause of the social upheaval that repeal would inevitably bring.
Not that this in any way disqualifies Roberts in my conservative eyes. He is a perfectly reasonable traditional conservative, who will be an outstanding chief justice. He is just not a judicial revolutionary. If you're a conservative looking for a return to the good old days, you'll be disappointed. And if you're a liberal who lives for the good old days because that's all that liberalism has left, tell Chuck Schumer to relax.
letters@charleskrauthammer.com
Althouse: "They will do what they think is in their interest, however they define it."
Althouse: "They will do what they think is in their interest, however they define it."
Blogger Thoughts: Not posting this for the Hillary quote, but the other stuff.
Blogger Thoughts: Not posting this for the Hillary quote, but the other stuff.
Mr. Bush in New Orleans - New York Times
Mr. Bush in New Orleans - New York Times
Blogger Thoughts: No no no, you ninnies! The Bush problem is not antipathy toward big govt. It is lying, cronyism, deceit adding up to treason, all with a strategy of manipulation of the public that is working fabulously well.
Editorial
Mr. Bush in New Orleans
Published: September 16, 2005
President Bush said three things last night that desperately needed to be said. He forthrightly acknowledged his responsibility for the egregious mishandling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He spoke clearly and candidly about race and poverty. And finally, he was clear about what would be needed to bring back the Gulf Coast and said the federal government would have to lead and pay for that effort.
Once again, as he did after 9/11, Mr. Bush has responded to disaster with disconcerting uncertainty, then risen to the occasion later. Once again, he has delivered a speech that will reassure many Americans that he understands the enormity of the event and the demands of leadership to come.
But there are plenty of reasons for concern. After 9/11, Mr. Bush responded not only with a stirring speech at the ruins of the World Trade Center and a principled response to the Taliban in Afghanistan. He also decided to invade Iraq, and he tried to do it on the cheap - with disastrous results, for which the country continues to pay every day.
This time, Mr. Bush must come up with a more coherent and well-organized follow-through.
Clearly chastened by the outcry over his slow response to the disaster and his administration's bumbling performance, Mr. Bush said last night that he was prepared to undertake "one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen." If he is sincere about his commitment to New Orleans and the other damaged localities, and to the displaced residents, he may have a fight on his hands in persuading Congress to support such an ambitious and necessary effort. Obviously, any official with even a minimal sense of responsibility would understand that this work will have to begin with a promise to give up on any more of the Republican Party's cherished tax cuts.
The speech, as good as it was, marks only a moment of clarity. Mr. Bush's problem in dealing with Katrina has been, at bottom, the same one that has bedeviled the administration since 9/11. The president came to office with a deep antipathy toward big government that has turned out to be utterly inappropriate for the world he inherited. The result has not been less government, but it has definitely been inept government.
We have already seen what happened to the Federal Emergency Management Agency when it was taken over by an administration that didn't like large federal agencies with sweeping mandates. For Iraq, the White House asserted that open-ended and no-bid contracts doled out to big corporations run by people known to government officials would mean swifter, more efficient operations. What we got was gross inefficiency, which has run up costs while failing in many cases to do the jobs required.
Given this history, it's impossible not to worry about what will happen to the billions of dollars being committed to New Orleans, especially since the Army Corps of Engineers' top man in the reclamation effort was once the corps' top man overseeing contracts in Iraq.
The administration is staffed several levels deep with officials who share their leader's distrust of large, expensive federal undertakings. But it is now faced with an unprecedented task: housing hundreds of thousands of homeless people, making sure their children are educated over the short term and eventually getting them a start on a new life. There is no way to do that without a focused federal effort.
Last night, the president was particularly strong when discussing the nation's shocking lack of preparedness for disaster, and the stark fact - obvious to every television viewer around the globe - that the people left homeless and endangered by Katrina were in the main poor and black.
The entire nation, he said, saw the poverty that "has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America." Polls show that black Americans are far angrier and more skeptical than whites about the administration's actions since the storm. Mr. Bush's words could begin a much-needed healing process. But that will happen only if they are followed by deeds that are as principled, disciplined and ambitious as Mr. Bush's speech.
Blogger Thoughts: No no no, you ninnies! The Bush problem is not antipathy toward big govt. It is lying, cronyism, deceit adding up to treason, all with a strategy of manipulation of the public that is working fabulously well.
Editorial
Mr. Bush in New Orleans
Published: September 16, 2005
President Bush said three things last night that desperately needed to be said. He forthrightly acknowledged his responsibility for the egregious mishandling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He spoke clearly and candidly about race and poverty. And finally, he was clear about what would be needed to bring back the Gulf Coast and said the federal government would have to lead and pay for that effort.
Once again, as he did after 9/11, Mr. Bush has responded to disaster with disconcerting uncertainty, then risen to the occasion later. Once again, he has delivered a speech that will reassure many Americans that he understands the enormity of the event and the demands of leadership to come.
But there are plenty of reasons for concern. After 9/11, Mr. Bush responded not only with a stirring speech at the ruins of the World Trade Center and a principled response to the Taliban in Afghanistan. He also decided to invade Iraq, and he tried to do it on the cheap - with disastrous results, for which the country continues to pay every day.
This time, Mr. Bush must come up with a more coherent and well-organized follow-through.
Clearly chastened by the outcry over his slow response to the disaster and his administration's bumbling performance, Mr. Bush said last night that he was prepared to undertake "one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen." If he is sincere about his commitment to New Orleans and the other damaged localities, and to the displaced residents, he may have a fight on his hands in persuading Congress to support such an ambitious and necessary effort. Obviously, any official with even a minimal sense of responsibility would understand that this work will have to begin with a promise to give up on any more of the Republican Party's cherished tax cuts.
The speech, as good as it was, marks only a moment of clarity. Mr. Bush's problem in dealing with Katrina has been, at bottom, the same one that has bedeviled the administration since 9/11. The president came to office with a deep antipathy toward big government that has turned out to be utterly inappropriate for the world he inherited. The result has not been less government, but it has definitely been inept government.
We have already seen what happened to the Federal Emergency Management Agency when it was taken over by an administration that didn't like large federal agencies with sweeping mandates. For Iraq, the White House asserted that open-ended and no-bid contracts doled out to big corporations run by people known to government officials would mean swifter, more efficient operations. What we got was gross inefficiency, which has run up costs while failing in many cases to do the jobs required.
Given this history, it's impossible not to worry about what will happen to the billions of dollars being committed to New Orleans, especially since the Army Corps of Engineers' top man in the reclamation effort was once the corps' top man overseeing contracts in Iraq.
The administration is staffed several levels deep with officials who share their leader's distrust of large, expensive federal undertakings. But it is now faced with an unprecedented task: housing hundreds of thousands of homeless people, making sure their children are educated over the short term and eventually getting them a start on a new life. There is no way to do that without a focused federal effort.
Last night, the president was particularly strong when discussing the nation's shocking lack of preparedness for disaster, and the stark fact - obvious to every television viewer around the globe - that the people left homeless and endangered by Katrina were in the main poor and black.
The entire nation, he said, saw the poverty that "has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America." Polls show that black Americans are far angrier and more skeptical than whites about the administration's actions since the storm. Mr. Bush's words could begin a much-needed healing process. But that will happen only if they are followed by deeds that are as principled, disciplined and ambitious as Mr. Bush's speech.
The Blog | Max Blumenthal: An Evening With Hitchens and Gorgeous George | The Huffington Post
The Blog | Max Blumenthal: An Evening With Hitchens and Gorgeous George | The Huffington Post: "Galloway tried his best, declaring, 'You may think that those airplanes in this city on 9/11 came out of a clear, blue sky. I believe they emerged out of a swamp of hatred created by us.' True or not, Galloway had severely miscalculated. He was in New York City, after all, and even anti-war audience members began to boo. "
Blogger Thought: Galloway is such the wrong man to enlist as an aid for exposing the truth.
Blogger Thought: Galloway is such the wrong man to enlist as an aid for exposing the truth.
Joe's Dartblog: Breaking News: another pretty white college girl has gone missing.
Joe's Dartblog: Breaking News
Blogger Thoughts: Joe Malchow continues his absolutely twisted logic: 1st, calling out Fox News, then as if in summary, linking to a WSJ editorial that accuses the media for being liberal. This guy must be gunning to take of for Rush one day.
Blogger Thoughts: Joe Malchow continues his absolutely twisted logic: 1st, calling out Fox News, then as if in summary, linking to a WSJ editorial that accuses the media for being liberal. This guy must be gunning to take of for Rush one day.
BlondeSense: E-Mail from John Conyers:
BlondeSense: E-Mail from John Conyers:
Blogger Thought: I know many readers may disagree with this: Hate Crime Legislation is fanfare, nonsense and discriminatory.
Blogger Thought: I know many readers may disagree with this: Hate Crime Legislation is fanfare, nonsense and discriminatory.
Fountainhead: The Immoral Presidency of George W. Bush
Fountainhead: The Immoral Presidency of George W. Bush
Blogger Thoughts: The title caught my eye. The details on this blog entry expose a very poorly written piece, that may actually hurt the cause of truth. It would be so much more productive to talk about facts and truths of 9/11 rather than getting into the mire of arguing about Global Warming.
Blogger Thoughts: The title caught my eye. The details on this blog entry expose a very poorly written piece, that may actually hurt the cause of truth. It would be so much more productive to talk about facts and truths of 9/11 rather than getting into the mire of arguing about Global Warming.
To ABC's Surprise, Katrina Victims Praise Bush and Blame Nagin | NewsBusters.org
To ABC's Surprise, Katrina Victims Praise Bush and Blame Nagin | NewsBusters.org
Blogger Thoughts: Newsbusters has a reason to celebrate. They will, of course, return to their main purpose of focusing media hints at the sad truth of kleptocracy to be followed by a write up to spin it in favor of the Bush Junta.
Blogger Thoughts: Newsbusters has a reason to celebrate. They will, of course, return to their main purpose of focusing media hints at the sad truth of kleptocracy to be followed by a write up to spin it in favor of the Bush Junta.
Humint Events Online: Professor of Physics Thinks the WTCs Were Taken Down by Controlled Demolition
Humint Events Online: Professor of Physics Thinks the WTCs Were Taken Down by Controlled Demolition
Blogger Thought: One interesting question that may remain for the ages is: Why is MIT in bed with the coverup?
This is a letter he wrote to his academic colleagues and that he e-mailed to me. He is interested in feedback on it.
"Dear colleagues:
I hope you have taken the minute required to actually look at the fall of WTC 7:
http://911research.wtc7.net/talks/wtc/videos.html
http://tinyurl.com/7drxn
To summarize from previous emails, the reasons I believe WTC collapses to be due to controlled demolition are:
1. My own analysis of the "pancaking" floors model (the FEMA/NIST model) combined with Conservation of Momentum considerations gives a much longer time for the fall (over 10 seconds) than that which was actually observed for WTC-7 (about 6.3 seconds, just over the free-fall time of 6.0 seconds). I find no evidence in their reports that government researchers (FEMA, NIST, 9-11 Commission) included Conservation of
Momentum in their analyses.
2. The fact that WTC-7 fell down symmetrically, onto its own footprint very neatly, even though fires were just observed on one side of the building. A symmetrical collapse, as observed, requires the simultaneous "pulling" of support beams. By my count, there were 24 core columns and 57 perimeter columns in WTC-7. Heat transport
considerations for steel beams heated by fire suggest that failure of even a few columns at the same time is very small. Adding in the Second Law of Thermodynamics ("law of increasing entropy") leads to the conclusion that the likelihood of near-symmetrical collapse of the building due to fires (the "government" theory) -- requiring as it does near-simultaneous failure of many support columns -- is infinitesimal. Yet near-symmetrical collapse of WTC-7 was observed. (If you still
haven't gone to the links above to see the actual collapse for yourself, please go there now.)
Note that the 9-11 Commission report does not even deal with the collapse of WTC-7. This is a striking omission of highly relevant data.
Blogger Thought: One interesting question that may remain for the ages is: Why is MIT in bed with the coverup?
This is a letter he wrote to his academic colleagues and that he e-mailed to me. He is interested in feedback on it.
"Dear colleagues:
I hope you have taken the minute required to actually look at the fall of WTC 7:
http://911research.wtc7.net/talks/wtc/videos.html
http://tinyurl.com/7drxn
To summarize from previous emails, the reasons I believe WTC collapses to be due to controlled demolition are:
1. My own analysis of the "pancaking" floors model (the FEMA/NIST model) combined with Conservation of Momentum considerations gives a much longer time for the fall (over 10 seconds) than that which was actually observed for WTC-7 (about 6.3 seconds, just over the free-fall time of 6.0 seconds). I find no evidence in their reports that government researchers (FEMA, NIST, 9-11 Commission) included Conservation of
Momentum in their analyses.
2. The fact that WTC-7 fell down symmetrically, onto its own footprint very neatly, even though fires were just observed on one side of the building. A symmetrical collapse, as observed, requires the simultaneous "pulling" of support beams. By my count, there were 24 core columns and 57 perimeter columns in WTC-7. Heat transport
considerations for steel beams heated by fire suggest that failure of even a few columns at the same time is very small. Adding in the Second Law of Thermodynamics ("law of increasing entropy") leads to the conclusion that the likelihood of near-symmetrical collapse of the building due to fires (the "government" theory) -- requiring as it does near-simultaneous failure of many support columns -- is infinitesimal. Yet near-symmetrical collapse of WTC-7 was observed. (If you still
haven't gone to the links above to see the actual collapse for yourself, please go there now.)
Note that the 9-11 Commission report does not even deal with the collapse of WTC-7. This is a striking omission of highly relevant data.
Former Green Beret Comes Clean About Mafia-Like Hit On Military Officer Who Knew Too Much About Kennedy Assassination
Articles, government corruption, freedom of speech, truth
Former Green Beret Comes Clean About Mafia-Like Hit On Military Officer Who Knew Too Much About Kennedy Assassination
Called 'Dangerous Dan' by his military buddies does an about face from being a Green Beret and military hitman to now fighting for Christ as a born again Christian. Once he found the Lord, the former Special Forces Lt. Col. says he no longer fears the assassins who have tried in the past to kill him for going public in a tell-all book.
10 Sep 2005
By Greg Szymanski
Some say once a government hit man always a government hit man. But in the case of Ret. Lt. Col. and Green Beret Dan Marvin, once solicited by the CIA to kill a military officer who knew too much about the Kennedy assassination, nothing is farther from the truth.
Once the pride of the Green Beret's during the Viet Nam era and considered one of the toughest of the bunch, "Dangerous" Dan as he was called in his military days, has replaced his M-16 and special ops killing equipment for a bible and a kind word for anyone who wants to find the pathway to Jesus.
And after finding Jesus, he decided to write a book, called the Expendable Elite, exposing the dark side of the American military and how he was used as a hired-gun, being asked to assassinate government and military leaders both here and abroad.
The killing tactics and motives have been heard a million times: kill for the honor and the glory, kill to save America from its enemies and kill in the name of freedom and democracy. And "Dangerous Dan" bought into the familiar patriotic themes, all the time thinking he was doing the right thing for God and country.
But then one day in 1984, after retiring from active duty, he listened to his daughter read from the bible on a cross-country road trip, a trip and bible lesson that changed his life forever.
After being forced to listen to the bible by his daughter who threatened to never speak to him again, "Dangerous Dan" decided to take the dangerous out of his name, deciding to repent in a matter of speaking.
Living a lie is sometimes hard to swallow, but disbelieving what was once believed is even more difficult, as Lt. Col. Marvin would be the first one to admit the incredible amount of soul searching and humility needed to make such an about face.
"That day listening to my daughter changed my whole life. I found Jesus," said Lt. Col Marvin, adding it gave him the understanding to face up to his past and to correct his mistakes by exposing the dirty side of the military. "I knew that if I spoke-out, they would try to kill me. I knew that because I was an instrument of the government for so long and understood what happened to people who tried to come forward about their killing ways before.
"But after I found Jesus, I no longer feared the government. I no longer feared that somebody just like me would now try to kill me. The only thing I fear now is the Lord. He gave me the strength and courage to write the book, a book I hope sets the record straight by telling the truth to the American people."
And the story behind publishing the book is almost as interesting as the book itself. Lt. Col. Marvin actually finished publishing the book 17 years ago in 1988, sending advance copies to the Pentagon and to none other than President George H. Bush. In response, the Pentagon, of course, sent out the attack dogs to keep the book off the shelves, but the book sent to Bush with a handwritten note attached is a story in itself worth telling.
"First, let me say the Pentagon did everything in its power to keep my book from being published and it is still trying to stop me today with the law suit and a concerted effort to keep my book off the shelves even after I finally found a publisher," said Lt. Col. Marvin, adding he nearly gave up trying after over 120 publishers turned him down until meeting Chris Milligan at Trine Day in 2003. "We still have only sold about 3,000 copies as major distribution chains have blocked the book from reaching the American people.
"Regarding Bush, I sent him a handwritten note with a copy of my manuscript back in 1988, saying I was intimately familiar with his activities in the CIA prior to the time he officially announced being a part of the agency. He knew what I was talking about and I used it in order to help Quang Van Dang, deputy to the President of Viet Nam, get into North America as our government previously had black balled him and wanted him to keep quiet about how our government actually sold out the people of South Vietnam. We basically never allowed them to win the war."
A major portion of his book talks about the inside information he obtained while working as a Special Forces Captain, stories which clearly demonstrate how President Lyndon Johnson deceived the American people by providing safe havens for the enemy in order to keep the war going, leading to the betrayal and abandonment of the South Vietnamese people.
A key chapter in his book describes how he was asked in June 1966 to assassinate Cambodia's Prince Norodum Sihanouk and how he tried to use this mission as leverage against President Johnson in order to get him to admit allowing the Viet Cong safe havens along the Cambodian border.
Asked to knock-out the Prince, he was told by his superior:
"Dan, if you take this command and accept this top secret mission, you will be on your own. When you leave this room, it will be as if we never met. We can't and won't stand behind you if you are caught doing what I am about to tell you to do. Got it, Captain?
""We want you to take care of it, 'Dangerous,' because we believe you can get the job done. We've been asked to terminate Prince Sihanouk. Your job will be to bring about his death and make it appear to have been done by the Viet Cong."
The centerpiece of the book goes on to tell how Lt. Col. Marvin aborted the mission after Johnson refused to admit to the enemy safe havens and then how the CIA orchestrated an attack his entire unit in retaliation for abandoning the assassination attempt in mid stream.
"When we were attacked by our own forces, South Vietnamese lt. Gen. Quang Van Dang came to our rescue and I have been deeply indebted to him for saving my life," said Lt. Col. Marvin. "This is why our government turned on him and why I sent the handwritten note to President Bush, finally getting Van Dang into North America.
Besides the Prince Sihanouk hit and enemy safe haven debacle, the book documents how he was involved in diabolical plots to take-out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Navy Lt. Com. William B. Pitzer, an officer who had photos of President Kennedy's autopsy and who wanted to go forward with the truth behind the presidential assassination in Dallas.
The book also describes in a vivid manner how the American government operates essentially like the Mafia, using the exact same tactics as the crime families use to get what they want, including mafia-like oaths of secrecy to protect those higher-ups in the chain of command.
And when Marvin became a reborn Christian and finally spoke out about the military hits on top political figures, he violated that sacred military oath of secrecy, himself now becoming a marked man with a target on his back, a target that still remains today even though he is 71-years-old and leading a pretty average life in Casanova, NY.
Besides being targeted for death, he also has been sued for libel over his book by six of his fellow Green Beret unit members in a Pentagon-backed federal law suit.
"Six of my men in the unit assigned to take-out the enemy safe havens and Col. William Tuttle who gave me the original order, but who vowed to deny it are suing me over the book," said Lt. Col. Marvin, adding his attorney Barry Bacrach expects to win the case as truth is a total defense and vindication for any libel action. "My men know what happened and so does Col. Tuttle. The Pentagon has got to them, but in the end the truth will prevail."
While the Pentagon also tried to stop publication of his book for more than 10 years, the libel case seeks$700,000 in damages and is set for trial in a Charleston, NC federal court on Oct. 31.
Finding the Pathway to Christ
Finding the pathway for "Dangerous Dan" was as criss-crossed and difficult as anyone could imagine since the former Special Forces operative and trained military killer started his long journey, first to the military and then to Christ, as a two-bit teenage gang member in the back alleys of the south side of Chicago.
But saying that "Dangerous Dan" was only a two-bit thug back then probably doesn't' do him complete justice since even when he was a kid, there were signs he had a heart of gold hiding somewhere behind the macho madness.
Even though he hung out with a small gang of young thugs who used cross-bows as weapons, "Dangerous Dan" said they always respected women, especially protecting the old ladies of the neighborhood who were being threatened or harassed on the dangerous Chicago streets.
Kennedy Assassination
Although he hung out with many criminal types, one by the name of Jimmy Files stuck out more than the others. Files would later play a big part in the Kennedy assassination and also tie in with the hit on Lt. Col. Pitzer Lt. Col. Marvin was asked to perform but never carried-out.
"I knew Jimmy Files in the 82nd Airborne Division," recalls Lt. Col. Marvin. "Jimmy was the guy on the grassy knoll in Dallas who put a bullet in Kennedy's head. The mafia was infiltrated by the CIA and the mob hired Jimmy to carry it out. He's still alive, admitted doing it and I still communicate with him. In fact, I emailed him three weeks ago.
"There were four shooters involved in the Kennedy assassination, two were Americans and two were from the Corsica Mafia. The "company' as they like to be called, asked me if I wanted to be a part of the team and if I didn't have a wife and children, I probably would have said yes.
"The mafia and the CIA together were involved in the Kennedy assassination. I remember looking eye ball to eye ball at one of the Don's of the mafia and he told me the CIA contacted him for the Kennedy hit. You see, Kennedy wanted to expose things, do things above board and end many of the covert operations. This is why he was killed and in my estimation, he was the last independent thinking President America has ever had."
The high school drop out who recalls being one of the last one's in the military to carry a "brass swagger stick" (tool for punishment), recalls signing up for Special Forces Green Beret duty the day President Kennedy was killed.
Lt. Col. William Pitzer's Assassination
After going through Green Beret training and becoming leader of a special atomic demolition munitions team, on Aug. 5, 1965, while at Ft. Bragg, Lt. Col. Marvin again became in contact with the Kennedy assassination, this time being asked to kill someone he was told was giving "secrets to the enemy."
"I received a call from Col. Patten at Ft Bragg and then I met with a CIA agent," said Lt. Col. Marvin. " I was told that all missions of this nature are strictly voluntary and that this one involved killing someone who was giving secrets to the enemy. I was told the man's name was Lt. Col. William Bruce Pitzer at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
"I turned it down, wanting to reserve my training for the foreign theatre, but later learned he was planning to go public with numerous original photos of the Kennedy autopsy which would have destroyed the government's story about the shooting. Later, I heard he was found dead in his office at Bethesda and it was set-up as a suicide."
Lt. Col. Marvin Says People Need to Listen Before the Bush Administration destroys America.
Lt. Col. Marvin is blunt about his feelings about President Bush and his cronies, saying he doesn't trust them and doesn't believe a word that comes out of their crooked mouths.
"I am anxious to get out my information because it relates to the oppression in America that is going on right now," he said about his boo, the introduction written by famous actress and singer Martha Raye.
Saying that America is no longer a defender of freedom but an invader of nations, he claims that America is now firmly in the hands of leaders and under the control of people who do not have America's best interests at heart.
"We are not a democracy any longer. I simply do not trust Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney," added Lt. Col. Marvin. "The entire gang of Skill and Bones are involved here and I fear they are trying to destroy our country right before our very eyes. We have no business being in Iraq. We went in their on Bush's lies and his doctored intelligence reports regarding weapons of mass destruction that never existed."
Lt. Col. Marvin said the only way to change Bush's evil direction, if it's not already too late, is to change the political system "from the bottom up," hopefully attracting honest people who will not sell out to the corporate interests controlling America today.
He's not intending a second book, saying the "first one was enough," but he is gathering information and helping another author put together another military expose due out next year called The Devious Elite.
Former Green Beret Comes Clean About Mafia-Like Hit On Military Officer Who Knew Too Much About Kennedy Assassination
Called 'Dangerous Dan' by his military buddies does an about face from being a Green Beret and military hitman to now fighting for Christ as a born again Christian. Once he found the Lord, the former Special Forces Lt. Col. says he no longer fears the assassins who have tried in the past to kill him for going public in a tell-all book.
10 Sep 2005
By Greg Szymanski
Some say once a government hit man always a government hit man. But in the case of Ret. Lt. Col. and Green Beret Dan Marvin, once solicited by the CIA to kill a military officer who knew too much about the Kennedy assassination, nothing is farther from the truth.
Once the pride of the Green Beret's during the Viet Nam era and considered one of the toughest of the bunch, "Dangerous" Dan as he was called in his military days, has replaced his M-16 and special ops killing equipment for a bible and a kind word for anyone who wants to find the pathway to Jesus.
And after finding Jesus, he decided to write a book, called the Expendable Elite, exposing the dark side of the American military and how he was used as a hired-gun, being asked to assassinate government and military leaders both here and abroad.
The killing tactics and motives have been heard a million times: kill for the honor and the glory, kill to save America from its enemies and kill in the name of freedom and democracy. And "Dangerous Dan" bought into the familiar patriotic themes, all the time thinking he was doing the right thing for God and country.
But then one day in 1984, after retiring from active duty, he listened to his daughter read from the bible on a cross-country road trip, a trip and bible lesson that changed his life forever.
After being forced to listen to the bible by his daughter who threatened to never speak to him again, "Dangerous Dan" decided to take the dangerous out of his name, deciding to repent in a matter of speaking.
Living a lie is sometimes hard to swallow, but disbelieving what was once believed is even more difficult, as Lt. Col. Marvin would be the first one to admit the incredible amount of soul searching and humility needed to make such an about face.
"That day listening to my daughter changed my whole life. I found Jesus," said Lt. Col Marvin, adding it gave him the understanding to face up to his past and to correct his mistakes by exposing the dirty side of the military. "I knew that if I spoke-out, they would try to kill me. I knew that because I was an instrument of the government for so long and understood what happened to people who tried to come forward about their killing ways before.
"But after I found Jesus, I no longer feared the government. I no longer feared that somebody just like me would now try to kill me. The only thing I fear now is the Lord. He gave me the strength and courage to write the book, a book I hope sets the record straight by telling the truth to the American people."
And the story behind publishing the book is almost as interesting as the book itself. Lt. Col. Marvin actually finished publishing the book 17 years ago in 1988, sending advance copies to the Pentagon and to none other than President George H. Bush. In response, the Pentagon, of course, sent out the attack dogs to keep the book off the shelves, but the book sent to Bush with a handwritten note attached is a story in itself worth telling.
"First, let me say the Pentagon did everything in its power to keep my book from being published and it is still trying to stop me today with the law suit and a concerted effort to keep my book off the shelves even after I finally found a publisher," said Lt. Col. Marvin, adding he nearly gave up trying after over 120 publishers turned him down until meeting Chris Milligan at Trine Day in 2003. "We still have only sold about 3,000 copies as major distribution chains have blocked the book from reaching the American people.
"Regarding Bush, I sent him a handwritten note with a copy of my manuscript back in 1988, saying I was intimately familiar with his activities in the CIA prior to the time he officially announced being a part of the agency. He knew what I was talking about and I used it in order to help Quang Van Dang, deputy to the President of Viet Nam, get into North America as our government previously had black balled him and wanted him to keep quiet about how our government actually sold out the people of South Vietnam. We basically never allowed them to win the war."
A major portion of his book talks about the inside information he obtained while working as a Special Forces Captain, stories which clearly demonstrate how President Lyndon Johnson deceived the American people by providing safe havens for the enemy in order to keep the war going, leading to the betrayal and abandonment of the South Vietnamese people.
A key chapter in his book describes how he was asked in June 1966 to assassinate Cambodia's Prince Norodum Sihanouk and how he tried to use this mission as leverage against President Johnson in order to get him to admit allowing the Viet Cong safe havens along the Cambodian border.
Asked to knock-out the Prince, he was told by his superior:
"Dan, if you take this command and accept this top secret mission, you will be on your own. When you leave this room, it will be as if we never met. We can't and won't stand behind you if you are caught doing what I am about to tell you to do. Got it, Captain?
""We want you to take care of it, 'Dangerous,' because we believe you can get the job done. We've been asked to terminate Prince Sihanouk. Your job will be to bring about his death and make it appear to have been done by the Viet Cong."
The centerpiece of the book goes on to tell how Lt. Col. Marvin aborted the mission after Johnson refused to admit to the enemy safe havens and then how the CIA orchestrated an attack his entire unit in retaliation for abandoning the assassination attempt in mid stream.
"When we were attacked by our own forces, South Vietnamese lt. Gen. Quang Van Dang came to our rescue and I have been deeply indebted to him for saving my life," said Lt. Col. Marvin. "This is why our government turned on him and why I sent the handwritten note to President Bush, finally getting Van Dang into North America.
Besides the Prince Sihanouk hit and enemy safe haven debacle, the book documents how he was involved in diabolical plots to take-out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Navy Lt. Com. William B. Pitzer, an officer who had photos of President Kennedy's autopsy and who wanted to go forward with the truth behind the presidential assassination in Dallas.
The book also describes in a vivid manner how the American government operates essentially like the Mafia, using the exact same tactics as the crime families use to get what they want, including mafia-like oaths of secrecy to protect those higher-ups in the chain of command.
And when Marvin became a reborn Christian and finally spoke out about the military hits on top political figures, he violated that sacred military oath of secrecy, himself now becoming a marked man with a target on his back, a target that still remains today even though he is 71-years-old and leading a pretty average life in Casanova, NY.
Besides being targeted for death, he also has been sued for libel over his book by six of his fellow Green Beret unit members in a Pentagon-backed federal law suit.
"Six of my men in the unit assigned to take-out the enemy safe havens and Col. William Tuttle who gave me the original order, but who vowed to deny it are suing me over the book," said Lt. Col. Marvin, adding his attorney Barry Bacrach expects to win the case as truth is a total defense and vindication for any libel action. "My men know what happened and so does Col. Tuttle. The Pentagon has got to them, but in the end the truth will prevail."
While the Pentagon also tried to stop publication of his book for more than 10 years, the libel case seeks$700,000 in damages and is set for trial in a Charleston, NC federal court on Oct. 31.
Finding the Pathway to Christ
Finding the pathway for "Dangerous Dan" was as criss-crossed and difficult as anyone could imagine since the former Special Forces operative and trained military killer started his long journey, first to the military and then to Christ, as a two-bit teenage gang member in the back alleys of the south side of Chicago.
But saying that "Dangerous Dan" was only a two-bit thug back then probably doesn't' do him complete justice since even when he was a kid, there were signs he had a heart of gold hiding somewhere behind the macho madness.
Even though he hung out with a small gang of young thugs who used cross-bows as weapons, "Dangerous Dan" said they always respected women, especially protecting the old ladies of the neighborhood who were being threatened or harassed on the dangerous Chicago streets.
Kennedy Assassination
Although he hung out with many criminal types, one by the name of Jimmy Files stuck out more than the others. Files would later play a big part in the Kennedy assassination and also tie in with the hit on Lt. Col. Pitzer Lt. Col. Marvin was asked to perform but never carried-out.
"I knew Jimmy Files in the 82nd Airborne Division," recalls Lt. Col. Marvin. "Jimmy was the guy on the grassy knoll in Dallas who put a bullet in Kennedy's head. The mafia was infiltrated by the CIA and the mob hired Jimmy to carry it out. He's still alive, admitted doing it and I still communicate with him. In fact, I emailed him three weeks ago.
"There were four shooters involved in the Kennedy assassination, two were Americans and two were from the Corsica Mafia. The "company' as they like to be called, asked me if I wanted to be a part of the team and if I didn't have a wife and children, I probably would have said yes.
"The mafia and the CIA together were involved in the Kennedy assassination. I remember looking eye ball to eye ball at one of the Don's of the mafia and he told me the CIA contacted him for the Kennedy hit. You see, Kennedy wanted to expose things, do things above board and end many of the covert operations. This is why he was killed and in my estimation, he was the last independent thinking President America has ever had."
The high school drop out who recalls being one of the last one's in the military to carry a "brass swagger stick" (tool for punishment), recalls signing up for Special Forces Green Beret duty the day President Kennedy was killed.
Lt. Col. William Pitzer's Assassination
After going through Green Beret training and becoming leader of a special atomic demolition munitions team, on Aug. 5, 1965, while at Ft. Bragg, Lt. Col. Marvin again became in contact with the Kennedy assassination, this time being asked to kill someone he was told was giving "secrets to the enemy."
"I received a call from Col. Patten at Ft Bragg and then I met with a CIA agent," said Lt. Col. Marvin. " I was told that all missions of this nature are strictly voluntary and that this one involved killing someone who was giving secrets to the enemy. I was told the man's name was Lt. Col. William Bruce Pitzer at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
"I turned it down, wanting to reserve my training for the foreign theatre, but later learned he was planning to go public with numerous original photos of the Kennedy autopsy which would have destroyed the government's story about the shooting. Later, I heard he was found dead in his office at Bethesda and it was set-up as a suicide."
Lt. Col. Marvin Says People Need to Listen Before the Bush Administration destroys America.
Lt. Col. Marvin is blunt about his feelings about President Bush and his cronies, saying he doesn't trust them and doesn't believe a word that comes out of their crooked mouths.
"I am anxious to get out my information because it relates to the oppression in America that is going on right now," he said about his boo, the introduction written by famous actress and singer Martha Raye.
Saying that America is no longer a defender of freedom but an invader of nations, he claims that America is now firmly in the hands of leaders and under the control of people who do not have America's best interests at heart.
"We are not a democracy any longer. I simply do not trust Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney," added Lt. Col. Marvin. "The entire gang of Skill and Bones are involved here and I fear they are trying to destroy our country right before our very eyes. We have no business being in Iraq. We went in their on Bush's lies and his doctored intelligence reports regarding weapons of mass destruction that never existed."
Lt. Col. Marvin said the only way to change Bush's evil direction, if it's not already too late, is to change the political system "from the bottom up," hopefully attracting honest people who will not sell out to the corporate interests controlling America today.
He's not intending a second book, saying the "first one was enough," but he is gathering information and helping another author put together another military expose due out next year called The Devious Elite.
The Gaelic Starover: �ire faoi scr�d�
The Gaelic Starover: �ire faoi scr�d�: "Reports this morning said the Government's decision to allow the US to use the airport would be scrutinised as part of an inquiry into the alleged torture of suspected Islamic militants."
Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset: Hitchens vs. Galloway
Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset: Hitchens vs. Galloway:
Blogger Thoughts: Not sure if it was the consensus that Galloway was completely out of his element. Sad to hear this.
Blogger Thoughts: Not sure if it was the consensus that Galloway was completely out of his element. Sad to hear this.
US attack on Tal Afar virtually ignored :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - ch
US attack on Tal Afar virtually ignored :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq - ch
September 15, 2005—While the world has been falling all over itself to remember the victims of 9–11 and digging deep in its pockets to aid the wealthiest nation on the planet recovering from a natural disaster, a ferocious man-made onslaught on a town in northeast Iraq is being virtually ignored.
This is yet one more example of the double standards prevalent today when the color of your passport can determine your worth as a human being.
We saw this discrepancy recently when 1,000 Iraqis—mainly women and children—who lost their lives on a Baghdad bridge were a mere footnote in the Western media.
And we are witnessing this discrepancy now as our screens fill with images of Hurricane Katrina and 9–11 commemoration ceremonies with next to nothing about the horrors of Tal Afar, a stricken town in northeast Iraq, accused of harboring insurgents.
Like the people of New Orleans, almost 90 percent of Tal Afar's residents have fled their homes. And like their American counterparts, the doors of their houses are being smashed in by military forces, there to pacify the town after weeks of bombing and shelling.
The similarities don't end there. While people of the US Gulf Coast are suffering the effects of a cocktail of chemicals and effluent in the flood waters, 170 residents of Tal Afar have fallen ill to "curious poisons," which, according to Dr. Mohammed Qassem of the Iraqi Red Crescent, could result from "inhaling gases."
But unlike the unfortunates trapped for five days in the Superdome and the convention center who have been evacuated to air-conditioned reception centers around the US, many of Tal Afar's people can be found subsisting under canvas without access to clean water, food and medicines. There is no telethon for them. There are no convoys of aid-bearing trucks and planes, stuffed with food and blankets, headed in their direction.
The difference is the pleas of American victims were eventually heard loud and clear but those of people trapped inside Tal Afar or forgotten around its peripheries are lost in the ether. The afflicted of New Orleans deemed refugees were insulted, while refugees from Tal Afar don't have that luxury. Even to be acknowledged at all would be a step up.
Not only are Tal Afar's civilians in peril and left to their own devices, their neighbors can look forward to more of the same. "We tell our people in Ramadi, Samarra, Rawa and Qaem that we are coming," said Iraq's Defense Minister Saadan Al-Dulaimi.
"We are warning those who give shelter to terrorists that they must stop, kick them out, or else we will cut off their hands, heads and tongues as we did in Tal Afar," said this nice fellow, who was speaking figuratively according to news reports. Let's hope so!
The mayor of Tal Afar says the problem is sectarian with Sunni Muslims being targeted, those same Sunnis who are being asked to vote on the country's cobbled together new constitution, which threatens Iraq's break-up. The mayor believes the ousting of insurgents could have been achieved by negotiation with Sunni tribal leaders.
In New Orleans, it was mainly poor African Americans held hostage to the deluge while the rich sped north in their SUVs and are now employing armed security guards—including those from Blackwater, a private contractor also operating in Iraq—to protect their mansions from looters.
It's a similar "strong versus weak" principle in Tal Afar where organized insurgents are said to have escaped the city via a system of clandestine tunnels leaving women, children and the elderly to their fate.
Last Saturday, the Iraqi government, no doubt prodded by their American masters, ordered the closing of the border with Syria, which they say facilitates the entry and exit of foreign terrorists.
However, local Iraqi journalist Nasir Ali told Al-Jazeera that there were very few foreign combatants in the region. "Every time the US Army and the Iraqi government want to destroy a specific city, they claim it hosts Arab fighters and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi," he said.
And just as in New Orleans where reporters have been dissuaded from taking pictures of the dead with guns to their heads, the media is unwanted in Tal Afar. The US, which discouraged independent journalists in Iraq from the outset, has learned its lesson from Fallujah when a Marine was captured on video shooting dead an unarmed, injured Iraqi on the floor of a mosque.
On Sunday, the entire world remembered 9–11. So did Iraqis. For them it was not only the day the hopes and dreams of 3,000 innocents were incinerated, it also changed their world forever. The Iraqi Girl Blogger Riverbend expresses this far better than I can. After recounting the dismay she experienced while watching the twin-towers fall, and describing her subsequent fears that her country was in danger of being targeted for something it did not do, she writes:
"For the 3,000 victims in America, more than 100,000 have died in Iraq. Tens of thousands of others are being detained for interrogation and torture. Our homes have been raided, our cities are constantly being bombed and Iraq has fallen back decades. And for several years to come we will suffer under the influence of the extremism we didn't know prior to the war.
"As I write this, Tal Afar, a small place north of Mosul, is being bombed. Dozens of people are going to be buried under their homes in the dead of the night. Their water and electricity has been cut off for days. It doesn't seem to matter much, though, because they don't live in a wonderful skyscraper in a glamorous city. They are, quite simply, farmers and herders not worth a second thought."
Lastly, to those wealthy Arab countries racing to deposit millions of dollars in US aid coffers, I would say this: How about sparing a little compassion along with a few cents for your brothers and sisters in Iraq?
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
September 15, 2005—While the world has been falling all over itself to remember the victims of 9–11 and digging deep in its pockets to aid the wealthiest nation on the planet recovering from a natural disaster, a ferocious man-made onslaught on a town in northeast Iraq is being virtually ignored.
This is yet one more example of the double standards prevalent today when the color of your passport can determine your worth as a human being.
We saw this discrepancy recently when 1,000 Iraqis—mainly women and children—who lost their lives on a Baghdad bridge were a mere footnote in the Western media.
And we are witnessing this discrepancy now as our screens fill with images of Hurricane Katrina and 9–11 commemoration ceremonies with next to nothing about the horrors of Tal Afar, a stricken town in northeast Iraq, accused of harboring insurgents.
Like the people of New Orleans, almost 90 percent of Tal Afar's residents have fled their homes. And like their American counterparts, the doors of their houses are being smashed in by military forces, there to pacify the town after weeks of bombing and shelling.
The similarities don't end there. While people of the US Gulf Coast are suffering the effects of a cocktail of chemicals and effluent in the flood waters, 170 residents of Tal Afar have fallen ill to "curious poisons," which, according to Dr. Mohammed Qassem of the Iraqi Red Crescent, could result from "inhaling gases."
But unlike the unfortunates trapped for five days in the Superdome and the convention center who have been evacuated to air-conditioned reception centers around the US, many of Tal Afar's people can be found subsisting under canvas without access to clean water, food and medicines. There is no telethon for them. There are no convoys of aid-bearing trucks and planes, stuffed with food and blankets, headed in their direction.
The difference is the pleas of American victims were eventually heard loud and clear but those of people trapped inside Tal Afar or forgotten around its peripheries are lost in the ether. The afflicted of New Orleans deemed refugees were insulted, while refugees from Tal Afar don't have that luxury. Even to be acknowledged at all would be a step up.
Not only are Tal Afar's civilians in peril and left to their own devices, their neighbors can look forward to more of the same. "We tell our people in Ramadi, Samarra, Rawa and Qaem that we are coming," said Iraq's Defense Minister Saadan Al-Dulaimi.
"We are warning those who give shelter to terrorists that they must stop, kick them out, or else we will cut off their hands, heads and tongues as we did in Tal Afar," said this nice fellow, who was speaking figuratively according to news reports. Let's hope so!
The mayor of Tal Afar says the problem is sectarian with Sunni Muslims being targeted, those same Sunnis who are being asked to vote on the country's cobbled together new constitution, which threatens Iraq's break-up. The mayor believes the ousting of insurgents could have been achieved by negotiation with Sunni tribal leaders.
In New Orleans, it was mainly poor African Americans held hostage to the deluge while the rich sped north in their SUVs and are now employing armed security guards—including those from Blackwater, a private contractor also operating in Iraq—to protect their mansions from looters.
It's a similar "strong versus weak" principle in Tal Afar where organized insurgents are said to have escaped the city via a system of clandestine tunnels leaving women, children and the elderly to their fate.
Last Saturday, the Iraqi government, no doubt prodded by their American masters, ordered the closing of the border with Syria, which they say facilitates the entry and exit of foreign terrorists.
However, local Iraqi journalist Nasir Ali told Al-Jazeera that there were very few foreign combatants in the region. "Every time the US Army and the Iraqi government want to destroy a specific city, they claim it hosts Arab fighters and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi," he said.
And just as in New Orleans where reporters have been dissuaded from taking pictures of the dead with guns to their heads, the media is unwanted in Tal Afar. The US, which discouraged independent journalists in Iraq from the outset, has learned its lesson from Fallujah when a Marine was captured on video shooting dead an unarmed, injured Iraqi on the floor of a mosque.
On Sunday, the entire world remembered 9–11. So did Iraqis. For them it was not only the day the hopes and dreams of 3,000 innocents were incinerated, it also changed their world forever. The Iraqi Girl Blogger Riverbend expresses this far better than I can. After recounting the dismay she experienced while watching the twin-towers fall, and describing her subsequent fears that her country was in danger of being targeted for something it did not do, she writes:
"For the 3,000 victims in America, more than 100,000 have died in Iraq. Tens of thousands of others are being detained for interrogation and torture. Our homes have been raided, our cities are constantly being bombed and Iraq has fallen back decades. And for several years to come we will suffer under the influence of the extremism we didn't know prior to the war.
"As I write this, Tal Afar, a small place north of Mosul, is being bombed. Dozens of people are going to be buried under their homes in the dead of the night. Their water and electricity has been cut off for days. It doesn't seem to matter much, though, because they don't live in a wonderful skyscraper in a glamorous city. They are, quite simply, farmers and herders not worth a second thought."
Lastly, to those wealthy Arab countries racing to deposit millions of dollars in US aid coffers, I would say this: How about sparing a little compassion along with a few cents for your brothers and sisters in Iraq?
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
Splash of Purple
After lots and lots of tries, finally got the milk to splash in the exact spot i was looking for.
If you're wondering about the purple flower thingy in the shot....the milk splash was done on a platter with purple flowers on it....i had to keep dropping the milk on the plate till i found the flower...then moving the drop little by little until i got it right above a flower....then of course, i had to get the timing down pat.
If you're wondering about the purple flower thingy in the shot....the milk splash was done on a platter with purple flowers on it....i had to keep dropping the milk on the plate till i found the flower...then moving the drop little by little until i got it right above a flower....then of course, i had to get the timing down pat.
Althouse: "If Katrina has laid bare the shortcomings of Bush-style conservatism, it has also exposed problems with contemporary urban liberalism."
Althouse: "If Katrina has laid bare the shortcomings of Bush-style conservatism, it has also exposed problems with contemporary urban liberalism."
Blogger Thoughts: Oh fooey! Conservative / Liberal nonsense: we are talking about something between an oligarchy and a kleptocracy!
Blogger Thoughts: Oh fooey! Conservative / Liberal nonsense: we are talking about something between an oligarchy and a kleptocracy!
Althouse: The case the Senators don't want to talk about.
Althouse: The case the Senators don't want to talk about.
Blogger Thoughts: Today's the first day I've taken the time to read Althouse. She's brighter and less partisan than I thought.
Blogger Thoughts: Today's the first day I've taken the time to read Althouse. She's brighter and less partisan than I thought.
Top CIA official to quit sooner over Goss dispute�-�Nation/Politics�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper
Top CIA official to quit sooner over Goss dispute�-�Nation/Politics�-�The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: " senior official in the CIA's espionage branch will leave earlier than announced"
THE BRAD BLOG: "* EXCLUSIVE! * A DIEBOLD INSIDER SPEAKS!"
THE BRAD BLOG: "* EXCLUSIVE! * A DIEBOLD INSIDER SPEAKS!"
Blogger Thoughts: This is just a small step forward toward proving fraud.
Blogger Thoughts: This is just a small step forward toward proving fraud.
Video: Vincent Sammartino, 9/11 WTC Pentagon, Flight 93, bin Laden
Video: Vincent Sammartino, 9/11 WTC Pentagon, Flight 93, bin Laden
The Raw Story | Like Senate, House Committee rejects independent Katrina commission
The Raw Story | Like Senate, House Committee rejects independent Katrina commission: "will give only Republicans the power to subpoena."
TCS: Tech Central Station - The Iron Law of Oligarchy, Revisited
TCS: Tech Central Station - The Iron Law of Oligarchy, Revisited
Blogger Thoughts: Would that TCS spend less time on Iron Laws and more time on who exactly is behind the corruption in today's world.
Blogger Thoughts: Would that TCS spend less time on Iron Laws and more time on who exactly is behind the corruption in today's world.
BlondeSense: It Could Happen Tomorrow
BlondeSense: It Could Happen Tomorrow: "The president said no WMD had yet been found on Bourbon Street, but the search was ongoing."
How FEMA dodged press inquiries during Katrina
TOTAL INFORMATION ANALYSIS: "How FEMA dodged press inquiries during Katrina"
Hilarious....from Eschaton
Eschaton: "The Note takes a momentary break from its non-stop Bush fluffing, and feels the need to beg for mercy:"
Disinformation :: Trial By Bush
Disinformation :: Trial By Bush: "....unique and unprecedented threat to the freedom of every American citizen."
The American Street � Blog Archive � Tom Foolery!
The American Street � Blog Archive � Tom Foolery!
Blogger Thoughts: Wonder what Dr. Cobrun sees when he watches Bush talk?
Blogger Thoughts: Wonder what Dr. Cobrun sees when he watches Bush talk?
Bush to Request More Aid Funding
Bush to Request More Aid Funding: "starting to recoil at a price tag expected to exceed $200 billion"
Blogger Thoughts: Repubs whisper into other conservatives ears: don't worry, this money mostly goes to our friends.
Blogger Thoughts: Repubs whisper into other conservatives ears: don't worry, this money mostly goes to our friends.
BLOCKING THE GRETNA BRIDGE
BLOCKING THE GRETNA BRIDGE
Blogger Thought: There are areas (such as his equating different animal species with different races in the human species) to find fault with Ruppert's analysis. The mistreatment was a real event and I'm blogging about it to bring attention for critical thought and planning a better future.
Blogger Thought: There are areas (such as his equating different animal species with different races in the human species) to find fault with Ruppert's analysis. The mistreatment was a real event and I'm blogging about it to bring attention for critical thought and planning a better future.
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