Global
Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings in this mid-summer time. It is nice to be able to communicate more frequently now by e-mail, and feel more connected with you.
This past week we have spent time looking at apartments and homes to rent, and today settled on an apartment in the Karrada area, not far from the Al Dar Hotel where I lived much of the winter in Baghdad. So, when we move on Sun. it will be like coming back home for me. It is more of a residential neighborhood, and we already know many families and shopkeepers in the area. It is also considered a safer area, and people are freer in walking along the streets and shops are open in the evenings. Another big advantage is that we will be reducing the rent we pay by two thirds the price, which will help a lot. We will have less electricity (they only have a back up generator for limited times of the day).
We are expecting two more men to come and join the team in the next three weeks, so that will expand possibilities for our work.
Greetings in this mid-summer time. It is nice to be able to communicate more frequently now by e-mail, and feel more connected with you.
This past week we have spent time looking at apartments and homes to rent, and today settled on an apartment in the Karrada area, not far from the Al Dar Hotel where I lived much of the winter in Baghdad. So, when we move on Sun. it will be like coming back home for me. It is more of a residential neighborhood, and we already know many families and shopkeepers in the area. It is also considered a safer area, and people are freer in walking along the streets and shops are open in the evenings. Another big advantage is that we will be reducing the rent we pay by two thirds the price, which will help a lot. We will have less electricity (they only have a back up generator for limited times of the day).
We are expecting two more men to come and join the team in the next three weeks, so that will expand possibilities for our work.
A half-dozen former CIA agents investigating prewar intelligence have found that a secret Pentagon
committee, set up by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in October 2001, manipulated reams of
intelligence information prepared by the spy agency on the so-called Iraqi threat and then delivered it
to top White House officials who used it to win support for a war in Iraq.
The former CIA agents were asked to examine prewar intelligence last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet. The former agents will present a final report on their findings to the Pentagon, the CIA and possibly the Senate and/or Congress later this year.
More than a dozen calls to the White House, the CIA, the National Security Council and the Pentagon for comment were not returned.
The former CIA agents were asked to examine prewar intelligence last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet. The former agents will present a final report on their findings to the Pentagon, the CIA and possibly the Senate and/or Congress later this year.
More than a dozen calls to the White House, the CIA, the National Security Council and the Pentagon for comment were not returned.
Ayatollah Pat Robertson is praying for the departure of at least three
Justices of the United States Supreme Court. And the Bush Junta continues its
relentless attack on the foundations of American democracy. The "shock and awe" of
this ever-escalating blitzkreig has been the root of Bush's strength, keeping
the opposition off balance and on the defensive.
But cracks are showing in a totalitarian assault that needs total victory. The regime has grossly overreached its minority non-mandate. Its procession of Big Lies, such as Saddam's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, are generating just the kind of blowback that can shatter a tyranny, even one in control of the mass media.
Have we turned a corner?
Robertson's "prayer" for the "removal" of three Supreme Court Justices reeks of a "fatwah"---a call to murder. Islamic Ayatollahs issued a similar death threat against Salman Rushdie, whose "Satanic Verses" they deemed blasphemous. In fact, he merely lampooned the Ayatollahs. Against all odds, Rushdie still lives.
But cracks are showing in a totalitarian assault that needs total victory. The regime has grossly overreached its minority non-mandate. Its procession of Big Lies, such as Saddam's nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, are generating just the kind of blowback that can shatter a tyranny, even one in control of the mass media.
Have we turned a corner?
Robertson's "prayer" for the "removal" of three Supreme Court Justices reeks of a "fatwah"---a call to murder. Islamic Ayatollahs issued a similar death threat against Salman Rushdie, whose "Satanic Verses" they deemed blasphemous. In fact, he merely lampooned the Ayatollahs. Against all odds, Rushdie still lives.
For the 2004 presidential race, the Green dye is cast.
“The Green Party emerged from a national meeting ... increasingly
certain that it will run a presidential candidate in next year’s
election, all but settling a debate within the group over how it should
approach the 2004 contest,” the Washington Post reported on July 21.
The Green Party promptly put out a news release declaring that Greens
“affirmed the party’s intention to run candidates for president and
vice president of the United States in 2004.”
That release quoted a national party co-chair. “This meeting
produced a clear mandate for a strong Green Party presidential ticket
in 2004,” he said, adding that “we chose the path of growth and
establishing ourselves as the true opposition party.” But other voices,
less public, are more equivocal.
Local environmental activist Chad Kister has been busy giving live and taped interviews for
talk radio shows around the country about his book, Arctic Quest: Odyssey Through a Threatened
Wilderness.
Kister has been on Alaska Public Radio for an hour-long interview and for long interviews in Detroit, Northern California, Fresno California, Dallas, Texas, Colorado, New Jersey and many more.
Kister's publisher, Common Courage Press hired a publicist who set up the interviews. This is after Kister finished a 30-day, 12,000 mile speaking and book signing tour throughout the United States and Canada by train from mid-June to mid-July. Trains get ten times better fuel efficiency per passenger mile than cars or planes.
On December 12, Kister delivered an award to Senator Michael Dewine for his efforts and votes to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on behalf of the Alaska Coalition.
Kister has been on Alaska Public Radio for an hour-long interview and for long interviews in Detroit, Northern California, Fresno California, Dallas, Texas, Colorado, New Jersey and many more.
Kister's publisher, Common Courage Press hired a publicist who set up the interviews. This is after Kister finished a 30-day, 12,000 mile speaking and book signing tour throughout the United States and Canada by train from mid-June to mid-July. Trains get ten times better fuel efficiency per passenger mile than cars or planes.
On December 12, Kister delivered an award to Senator Michael Dewine for his efforts and votes to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on behalf of the Alaska Coalition.
Photos from the Axis of Justice tent at Lollapalooza 2003 in Columbus. Not In Our Name (NION) Columbus reached many of the concertgoers with their anti-war message. Tom Morello of Audioslave (formerly of Rage Against the Machine) stopped by the NION display and thanked those volunteering. Morello signed autographs before heading to the Main Stage for Audioslave’s set.
The Cincinnati rebellion of April 2001 exposed the racist character of the
city. Police brutality, segregation and economic inequality all contributed
to
an explosion of simmering anger. City Council and Mayor Luken proved unable
or
unwilling to address the dire issues of race in Cincinnati. Grassroots
activists demanded justice and were met with beanbag guns. Segregation in
the
city has actually worsened while jobs for young African Americans are more
difficult to find. Latino and Hispanic immigrants to our city encounter a
culture of intolerance and exploitation. Arab and Muslim peoples, likewise,
live in a state of fear and suspicion that cannot continue.
The August 9th Organizing Committee aims to unite the people of Cincinnati most affected by the racist climate of the city. Our voices can only be heard when we speak together. The Rally Against Racism on August 9th is a step toward building a diverse movement for justice and respect for all peoples in our community.
Join us for the next orgainizing meeting:
Sunday July 27th 4PM
Drop-Inn-Center (Elm &12th)
The August 9th Organizing Committee aims to unite the people of Cincinnati most affected by the racist climate of the city. Our voices can only be heard when we speak together. The Rally Against Racism on August 9th is a step toward building a diverse movement for justice and respect for all peoples in our community.
Join us for the next orgainizing meeting:
Sunday July 27th 4PM
Drop-Inn-Center (Elm &12th)
ANCHORAGE -- Many and varied are the wonders, the splendors and
the peculiarities of the Other Great State. The funniest thing said by
Alaskans is, "Gonna be another scorcher" (means "could get into the 70s").
In Alaska, God is called Ted Stevens. The senior senator and chairman of the Appropriations Committee is worth an estimated $3 billion a year to the state. One of the oddest things about Alaska is the complete disconnect between its politics and its reality. Alaska is an implacably conservative state, albeit with a lovely libertarian lilt. Consequently, the right-wing radio talk show hosts bash government unmercifully, and Alaskans wander around under the impression that they are all rugged individualists who can take care of themselves and don't need no goldern govamint. That the state is painfully dependent on government is clear only to those who think.
In Alaska, God is called Ted Stevens. The senior senator and chairman of the Appropriations Committee is worth an estimated $3 billion a year to the state. One of the oddest things about Alaska is the complete disconnect between its politics and its reality. Alaska is an implacably conservative state, albeit with a lovely libertarian lilt. Consequently, the right-wing radio talk show hosts bash government unmercifully, and Alaskans wander around under the impression that they are all rugged individualists who can take care of themselves and don't need no goldern govamint. That the state is painfully dependent on government is clear only to those who think.
Short of good news ever since the end of the formal war, Bush
and Blair are naturally exultant that Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, have
been satisfactorily incinerated in Mosul, Iraq, presumably victims of
someone eager to collar the $30-million reward for turning them in.
But though Saddam's sons deserve everything they got, and more, the news of their demise should not be cause for great rejoicing in the White House and 10 Downing Street. In the event that Saddam soon follows his sons into the Great Hereafter, that would not, in anything other than the short term, be great news for Bush and Blair either.
For obvious reasons, Bush and his entourage have been eager to identify Saddam, Uday and Qusay as the instigators of the attacks on the U.S. and U.K. occupying forces, with attendant steady, demoralizing trickle of casualties.
But though Saddam's sons deserve everything they got, and more, the news of their demise should not be cause for great rejoicing in the White House and 10 Downing Street. In the event that Saddam soon follows his sons into the Great Hereafter, that would not, in anything other than the short term, be great news for Bush and Blair either.
For obvious reasons, Bush and his entourage have been eager to identify Saddam, Uday and Qusay as the instigators of the attacks on the U.S. and U.K. occupying forces, with attendant steady, demoralizing trickle of casualties.
Calls and Letters Needed Immediately!
Unexpectedly, the House of Representatives has scheduled the debate on the 2004 foreign aid bill -- which contains $600 million in mostly-military aid for Colombia -- for this week, Tuesday or Wednesday the 22nd or 23rd. An amendment will be offered to cut military aid to Colombia. The last vote in the House to cut Colombia military aid lost by only seven votes -- we are very close! Without your help, though, this amendment could lose.
Unexpectedly, the House of Representatives has scheduled the debate on the 2004 foreign aid bill -- which contains $600 million in mostly-military aid for Colombia -- for this week, Tuesday or Wednesday the 22nd or 23rd. An amendment will be offered to cut military aid to Colombia. The last vote in the House to cut Colombia military aid lost by only seven votes -- we are very close! Without your help, though, this amendment could lose.