AFP From Information Clearing House

(or other news the American nets will never tell you because it might make you feel bad about our government and its brave troops)

31/01/08 - — LONDON (AFP) — More than one million Iraqis have died because of the war in Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, according to a study published Wednesday.

The highest rate of deaths throughout the country occurred in Baghdad, where more than 40 percent of households had lost a family member.

Spin it any way you want to, if we hadn’t launched an illegal and immoral war of aggression against Iraq, 98 percent of these people would probably be alive today.

Now ask the average American if they give a damn about Iraqi lives.

History will indeed judge us - at the least the history not written by Americans for American school kids.

Of course, Hillary Clinton loves the slaughter and Barack Obama cares too much about what Tel Aviv and AIPAC think to do much but sit there and stew:

“When Bush proclaimed, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, some may deny the surge is working, but among terrorists there is no doubt,’ Clinton sprang to her feet in applause but Obama remained firmly seated. The president’s line divided most of the Democratic audience, with nearly half standing to applaud and the other half sitting in stony silence.”

So here the lines are clearly drawn. In the presence of Power, a candidate who spun and twisted her own rapidly shifting position on the Iraq war is suddenly struck with an attack of wordless honesty: applauding the mythical “surge” and the war she’ll inherit and prosecute to the fullest, while her challenger sits on his hands and stares into futurity.

Ah, but she still had the presence of mind to calculate her responses somewhat, even as the truth serum worked its way through her system:

“In one instance Clinton appeared to gauge Obama’s response before showing her own. When Bush warned the Iranian government that ‘America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies, and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf,’ Obama jumped up to applaud. Clinton leaned across Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), seated to her left, to look in Obama’s direction before slowly standing.”

A kumbaya moment for the Democrats, as they all stood and saluted the main plank in the War Party’s platform: the centrality of our newly conquered Middle Eastern possessions. If Obama wins, his “New Frontier” will be a new frontier of empire, and he’s cool with that. So are his followers, or the great mass of them: they’ll follow him into battle in yet another overseas crusade to make the world safe for America’s hubris. As he enunciates platitudes as if they were profundities, his fans swoon. They’ll fall for practically anything he says, as long as he says it as if he were John F. Kennedy channeling Martin Luther King. Once in office, President Obama will be declaring that we’ll “pay any price, bear any burden” faster than you can say “we shall overcome.”

Thanks Justin Raimondo so saying it so eloquently.

Hubris and empire have a steep price and right now it’s the Iraqis who are paying the price.

Pain Dealer

Remember this story?

Somier McLaughlin thought she was fighting for her daughter in June when she fought with Sagamore Hills police. This week she was fighting for her freedom.

And a jury sided with her, acquitting her of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Police came to McLaughlin’s townhouse after midnight on June 8 to intercede in a custody dispute. She ordered them to leave and ended up in handcuffs. Her daughter ended up with McLaughlin’s ex- husband.

A three-day trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court ended Wednes day after the jury deliberated little more than three hours. That is by no means a record, but it was a decisive call by the panel because of its brevity, said McLaughlin’s attorney, John F. Corrigan.

snip

Doug Smith, her former husband, is a Summit County sheriff’s lieutenant. McLaughlin testified Tuesday that she believed the police were there to intercede on behalf of a fellow officer — not to act as neutral mediators.

Smith did not enter the townhouse, but the police did. McLaughlin swore at them in her living room, repeatedly telling them to leave.

One of them threatened to arrest her if she swore again. She did, and they arrested her. She ultimately kneed an officer in the groin as they shoved her into the back of a cruiser.

snip

Corrigan said one of the jurors hugged McLaughlin as she was leaving the courtroom. One of them told him that McLaughlin’s testimony was credible and made a difference. Others said they didn’t like what the police did, Corrigan said.

Though jurors were not allowed to hear about it, Mark Podgorski, the sergeant in charge of McLaughlin’s arrest, has a history of disciplinary problems — mainly for threatening, abusive conduct toward other officers.

Patrolman Tim Ellis, also present at McLaughlin’s arrest, was suspended in 2006 and sent for a psychological evaluation. An internal review voiced concern about his aggression and inability to de-escalate tense situations.

Ellis also was fired from the Woodmere Village Police Department in 2004 for using a Taser on a woman during a traffic stop. Ellis is fighting his firing in federal court, saying he was dismissed because he is white and the village is predominantly black.

It definitely warms my heart that a jury did not reflexively back the cops in this case as so often happens in so many run-ins where the little gods push around citizens.

And in fact, the speed in which the jury rebuked the police should be noted. But I’m sure in Sagamore Hills, as in many two-bit little burbs around here, the lesson will be quickly forgotten because, in most cases, the cops usually prevail in court. All you need is a typical lawnorder type jury who will forgive them anything.

Because God-fearing middle class white folks NEVER get abused by the police! Well, in this case, Ms. McLaughlin did.

And its certainly interesting to note that the cops involved have histories of abuse of authority and violence. In too many cases, we make the wrong people police officers because too many municipalities will simple take whomever they can get.

I especially like the part about swearing at the cop. Too many police think because they have a gun and a badge, they’re little gods, better than ordinary ‘civilians.’ In truth, most cops are about as bright as a bag of hammers.

So its good to see that, for once, justice was done for a civilian.

And I hope that one cop’s nuts hurt for a long time as a little reminder.

The latest:

Spears taken from her home in an ambulance

Let me be honest with you as always: Britney Spears is the kind of person I hated in high school.

Blessed with Goddess-given looks, a bubbly personality and some acting ability, she would have been the kind of person in my high school that my little group of war gaming misfits would have called an ‘elitist bubble head.’

But time and experience temper my observations.

This is a woman who was psychologically and intellectually ill equipped for the kind of ride that the great American whoring-out machine subjected her to. It’s the same kind of machine that killed Marilyn Monroe.

And its killing Britney Spears.

At core, can we please remember this is a human being here? Someone who was brought into this world with a unique personality and gifts. Someone who was once, perhaps for a very, very brief period, a child, with all the childlike wonder and beauty that should be a part of everyone’s experience.

She didn’t ask to have a stage manager mother who would ruthlessly exploit her looks and talent. Then came the Mickey Mouse Club and the searing light of the Giant American Star Machine that eats up and spits out so many talented beautiful young people.

And this young lady was not prepared for this. She is a victim. I know, I know, 20 years ago I would have said ‘I’ll lend you a pistol if you want to kill yourself’ but age, thankfully, has made me more sensitive to other people’s circumstances.

I actually feel sorry for her. She was hit with a train called fame and the jackals are still kicking her remains on the tracks.

I hope she gets the help she needs. I think perhaps the best thing that could happen to her is to be completely out of the public eye for quite a while.

And to rediscover her innate humanity.

Media Matters

From the January 30 edition of ABC Radio Networks’ Imus in the Morning:

IMUS: And here’s what you have to remember about Bill Clinton; you can’t forget this.

CHARLES McCORD (news anchor): Yeah?

IMUS: This is a fat, low-rent hillbilly –

McCORD: [laughing] Yes.

IMUS: – who was getting BJs from an intern in the Oval Office in the White House who was about the age of his daughter. This is a fat boy who, you know, when he sits down with Chris Wallace, Chris can’t punch him because the Secret Service is there. But the — so he’s just a, I mean, I don’t get that.

McCORD: Well.

McGUIRK: He’s been accused of rape.

McCORD: Yeah.

IMUS: He’s just a low-rent, no [unintelligible] — wouldn’t even let him live in most trailer parks.

McGUIRK: Sleazebag.

ROB BARTLETT (guest): So what’s your point?

IMUS: He’s a dirtbag.

Hey, racist alcoholic, cokehead asshole: look in da mirror, hokay?

Wednesday’s Letters to the PD

Pretty good letters in response to the Pain Dealer’s endorsement of Joseph Cimperman for the 10th district. Of course the PD has has a four decades running hate on for Kucinich, so this was no surprise at all. As for Cimperman, his ads make him seem like a playground punk looking to sucker punch a kid for his lunch money. If Cimperman wants to put that picture of himself out there, I suppose that’s his right. He pales in comparison to the long and noble tradition of public service of Dennis Kucinich.

I thought this letter said it all:

The withdrawal of Dennis Kucinich from the presidential race proves that anyone who threatens the status quo will be marginalized by the media and drummed out of the running. The media did their best to portray Kucinich as a buffoon.

Kucinich advocated: ending the war in Iraq; withdrawing from trade agreements like NAFTA; impeaching the vice president; and putting our tax money into education, jobs and green energy. He proposed a WPA-type program to rebuild America’s crumbing infrastructure. He proposed a “green” plan that would have created millions of jobs designing, manufacturing, installing and retrofitting wind and solar microtechnologies. Both programs would have created a full-employment economy and benefited the environment. Perhaps most threatening of all to insurance companies (heavy contributors to candidates), he proposed single-payer, not-for-profit, universal health coverage. What’s so crazy about that? Why would such a candidate have to fight to be included in presidential debates?

Lesley Woodward

Cleveland Heights

Lesley, whoever you are, you are my hero of the day. You have succinctly hit the nail on the head and I thank you for writing this letter. It is a fitting tribute to a great public servant who deserves better from the national and local media, the government power structure and the people of this community. A legacy in two words: Muni Light.

And that still makes the honchos at the PD gnash their teeth at his defiance so long ago.

Dennis Kucinich will always be one of my heroes.

Well, Duh!

CommonDreams

Noblesse oblige is officially dead in the United States, at least in terms of national politics.

One can hope that Barack Obama can become his own man once in office without being worn down by the lilliputian ties of the special interests he’s had to don in order to get the kind of cash needed to fight Clinton Incorporated.

But as for a guy who rose from not much to serious wealth trying to bring the dialog in this country back to issues of class, well, apparently we’re not hurting enough yet to have that talk.

So Edwards departs stage right. I love some of the comments from the CommonDreams posters at the end of the story (first six comments pretty well sum it up):

1. satr9prodxns January 30th, 2008 9:32 am
   wonderful.

   besides kucinich, john edwards was one of the only candidates offering what the people actually want. a government that works FOR THE PEOPLE.

   i gotta get the hell outta this country.

2. whatfools January 30th, 2008 9:39 am
   Nuts! Take your money with you for safe keeping.
3. dlp67 January 30th, 2008 9:43 am
   Wow. No Edwards, no Kucinich. No real need to vote now. It’s hard to imagine how much more depressing this presidential campaign could get.
4. Big_Money January 30th, 2008 9:43 am
   Every day, it gets a little worse. The “frog and the pot of water”.

   I went digging around for some information, and I discovered that there is in fact a Green Party in the US. Whodda thunk? It would appear to me that the time for talking about the un-electability of any individual who is not a corporate operative is over. Can you support the Green Party? Can you convince others to do so? There seems to be zero sense in bickering about anything else at this point. Stack the Congress, the Senate, and the White House with Greens. Or put forth some other rational alternative.

5. colleen January 30th, 2008 9:53 am
   There is an underlying flaw in the way the US government has been set up by our founders.

   Under a parliamentary system there would be a place for political parties like the Green Party.

   A leader like Bush in a parliamentary system would have been recalled very quickly and it would not have caused the kind of disruption an impeachment causes.

   Our system is dependent on a news media that will uncover corruption and will give all points of view. That news media has been compromised by the vested interests that own it. (Thank God for the internet..which has preserved freedom of the press)

6. Losertarian January 30th, 2008 9:55 am
   It’s not to late to support a candidate who can accomplish some of your goals.
   Ron Paul support bringing home ALL American troops
   He supports ending corporate welfare
   He supports civil liberties
   He has stood up for what he believes in so many times they call him crazy

   Now he’s not progressive perfect
   He’s against universal healthcare
   He’s for federalizing a number of issues that would put abortion and gay marriage questions in the hands of some very unprogressive states

   So which is more important fighting the imperial MIC or Hillarycare if the former is a bigger issu then Ron Paul is your guy if the latter Hillary or Obama but either way you should support the Greens in the general. They ARE more progressive perfect than even you think you are. Greens however have very few contested primaries and generally don’t garner attention until the general so use the primary election to fight the system from within and the general to fight it from without.

   A revolution a day keeps the tyrants away.

I tend to agree with number 5 commenter. I would prefer a parliamentary form of government where a no confidence vote could be called to make the government fall. I think it would have gotten rid of Bush a lot quicker than our system. And Canada, for instance, has at least four viable political parties under their parliamentary system. The more voices, the better, I say.

Of course fat chance we’ll ever see a viable Green Party in the United States as long as the corporations rule the political process and the media. Perhaps 50+ million out of work, 30+ million foreclosures and the formerly middle class actually wondering about how they’re going to feed their kids might actually be what is called for to wake people up in this country. Until then, change the channel and fetch the Doritos.

Robert Weissman in CommonDreams lays it out beautifully, so please read his article.

Yes, I watched our little war criminal and enemy of the people blow through his state of the union, exhibiting his little smirk that I would pay very good money to see someone roundhouse kick it right off his face.

I lost track of how many times I yelled “LIAR!!” at the screen but by the end of the speech, my blood pressure had to be racing. And I especially loved how the members of the Fascist Party (what I will henceforth call the GOP until I think of something better), leapt to their feet as Der Fuhrer shouted that the big telecoms must be protected at all costs from lawsuits arising from helping the government spy on American citizens.

If you encapsulate on of the biggest problems with this country today, that repugnant and nauseating scene perfectly captured it. A Parliament of Whores jumps like little monkeys on strings to protect their corporate masters and the American people and the Constitution be damned.

It seems that in light of the State of the Union speech, fascism (corporatism) among the right is clearly out in the open now.

One thing I know for sure - the bastards in Washington have no idea of the pain on Main Street.

It’s something I see every day lately right in front of my eyes.

We’re starting to hurt very badly out here. I know - I talk to everyone - the small business owners, the ad sales reps from local media outlets and even the postal carries. They all tell me the same thing. And I can see it in the lack of foot traffic in my own business the last few weeks.

We’re dying out here - slowly, painfully, and that bastard in the White House just stands there and smirks and thinks about helping AT&T.

Yes I hate George W. Bush. But its not an unnatural or unfounded hate.

I hate this man for what he has done to my country and what he has done to the Middle East.

I hate him for his lies and his casual decisions that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands.

I hate him for what his policies have done from Main Street to New Orleans.

I hate him for debasing the United States in the eyes of the world.

I hate him for who he is - a pampered prince of privilege who had everything handed to him from day one who seems to believe that God anointed him for his life.

He is a murderer, a liar and a master thief.

And his last State of the Union, with all its lies, its smirks and its Reichstag like fawning adulation from the traitors in the audience made me sick for my country and my children’s future.

May this man rot in whatever Hell awaits people like him and Dick Cheney and all of the neocons and assorted Satan’s little helpers that enabled him.

Media Matters

Here’s the headline:

Scarborough to Brzezinski on Morning Joe: “[D]on’t make me backhand you”

But here’s the transcript:

From the January 30 edition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe:

HARWOOD: I think, Joe — I know you were holding back, but I think that [Florida Gov.] Charlie Crist [R] endorsement might have had even more juice than a Scarborough endorsement. What do you think?

BRZEZINSKI: I think so.

SCARBOROUGH: I, actually — I don’t endorse anybody because, as you know, I’m a journalist. However, there’s no doubt, there are two things –

BRZEZINSKI: [laughing]

HARWOOD: I get it.

SCARBOROUGH: –that hurt — Mika, don’t make me backhand you. Mika is –

MIKA: Oh, lord.

SCAROBOROUGH: — in a very bad way this morning because she’s a big McCain fan, her brother works for McCain, so she’s very excited.

BRZEZINSKI: Well, I’m happy for my brother.

Now if Scarborough had actually said that to the Zbig Man, he would have simply pounded Joe. But Joe wouldn’t have made such a sexist, vulgar and inexcusable comment to Zbig. He’s a man in full; powerful and important. But to his female co-host its just a funny, funny thing to threaten to backhand her for the mistake of making an impudent remark.

So Scarborough thinks he’s Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, eh? Just exuding macho violence from every sexy pore, eh? I don’t think so.

And the sorry thing is that Mika didn’t get up and give this little pompous shit a roundhouse kick to the chops. I would have paid very good money to have witnessed that. And MSNBC, of course, won’t do a thing to one of their ’stars.’ After all, verbal threats of violence against uppity women is as American as apple pie, right?

But in any case, Media Matters needs to change the headline. And someone needs to send Scarborough back to charm school.

Paul Armentado, Alternet

At a time when we’re going down the financial shit tubes in this country, we still haven’t done ourselves a big favor and legalized marijuana because Bill O’Reilly, assorted prejudicial church ladies, and blue suited fascists don’t like the people who smoke pot.

What’s the current price for a bag of weed? According to the latest figures from the FBI, the human cost is roughly 739,000 a year.

That’s the number of American citizens arrested in 2006 for possessing small amounts of pot. (Another 91,000 were charged with marijuana-related felonies.) The figure is the highest annual total ever recorded, and is nearly double the number of citizens busted for pot fifteen years ago.

Those arrested face a multitude of consequences, primarily determined by where they live. For example, most Californians charged with violating the state’s pot possession laws face little more than a small fine. By contrast, getting busted with a pinch of weed in Ohio will cost you your driver’s license for at least six months. Move to Texas — well, now you’re looking at a criminal record and up to 180 days in jail. Or if you happen to be a first-time offender, possibly a stint in court-mandated ‘drug rehab’ (one recent study reported that nearly 70 percent of all adults referred to Texas drug treatment programs for weed were referred by the courts), probation, and a hefty legal bill. And don’t even think about getting busted in Oklahoma, where a first time conviction for minor pot possession can net you up to one year in jail, or up to ten years if you’re found guilty of a second offense. Thinking of growing your own? That’ll cost you a $20,000 fine, and — oh yeah — anywhere from two years to life in prison.

Yes, you read that right — life in prison.

Again, perhaps someday, the United States of America will become a civilized nation. Until then, remember that people who smoke this weed freely grown around the world, are EVIL - FAR MORE  EVIL than the bandittos on Wall Street that rob people of their life savings and get a few years in country club prisons. No sir, smoke the evil weed and Jesus himself cries bitter tears.

Read the whole article without getting furious if you have a heart AND a brain. I had to get up and calm down several times while reading it. And make sure you read the comments at the tail end from Alternet readers. I especially loved this one:

While serving as an active duty Army drill sergeant I was diagnosed with cancer. After surgery and radiation treatment I was placed on seven different medications, then three more to treat the side effects of the previous seven. I was depressed, losing weight rapidly and constantly in pain. A freind gave me a joint and it changed my life. No nausea, no pain, hello appetite, I was happy again. I threw away all the other meds.

You can spend your money imprisoning me but I will excercise my God given rights until my death. I spent my career defending your rights why do you deny me mine?I couldn’t add anything more to this than AMEN!

But there’s more.

There’s the corrupting influence on the police and other lawmakers which the illegality encourages.

In my little town we have someone literally operating an open air drug emporium (mostly pot from what I can see) right on Main Street - selling to high school kids (I don’t want to see this person busted for using - just selling to kids). And right under the nose of the local cops who could bust the operator with a police explorer cadet and a wire, if they wanted to. Other prominent people seem to have connections with this drug trade and allow it to continue, possibly being on the take. I see this rot consuming cops, judges and other public officials who look the other way for whatever reasons. As long as their is big money in illegality, you will continue to see law and order made a mockery of by those who are sworn to uphold it.

End the stupidity and ruined lives. Legalize it. Now.

This was a major concern during the whole Y2K buildup for different reasons. Out of the research that went into securing electrical grid networks for that event came an understanding that malevolent hackers could conceivably shut down a city’s power.

Although this isn’t being reported in the US press (yet), apparently the London Telegraph has a better source at the CIA:

Computer hackers have managed to shut down power to entire cities by breaking into the systems of electricity companies and then demanding money, a senior CIA analyst has claimed.

Tom Donahue told a utilities security conference in New Orleans all the successful hackings occurred outside America.

He did not specify what countries were affected, when the power cuts happened or how long they lasted.

A CIA spokesman declined to provide additional details, saying: “The information that could be shared in a public setting was shared. These comments were simply designed to highlight to the audience the challenges posed by potential cyber intrusions.”

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the government itself can order power cut in whatever it deems an ‘emergency.’ In any case, during the last major shutdown of the eastern grid, terrorism had nothing to do with it (a tree fell in Parma as I recall) but that was the first question on everyone’s minds.

In my time with the media in Central Illinois, then-Illinois Power spokespeople would confide that the grid was very vulnerable to mischief provided that those committing it had some inside information on the vital transfer stations and junctions where power is routed.

There has been much talk since 9-11 on safeguarding our nuclear power facilities from terrorist attack. Yet, the non-nuclear grid remains uniquely vulnerable and this story continues to point out the two avenues of approach - physically attacking the power grid and internally attacking it from the Internet.

In any case, this is a subject that should garner more attention from the mainstream media. I’m getting annoyed at reading these stories first in the foreign press.