Global
Suddenly the sky is dark with chickens coming home to roost.
Start with the amazed discovery of the White House, the Defense Department
and the U.S. press corps that nations don't care to be invaded, even if they
have been misgoverned by a tyrant for decades. How many Russians died
defending the Soviet Union from German invasion after enduring famine and
Stalin's terror? This isn't 1991, when Iraqis asked themselves, "Why die for
Kuwait?"
Basra? "Military officials," ran a Tuesday European press report, "later admitted that they had vastly underestimated the strength of Iraqi resistance and the loyalty of Basra's population to Saddam." The report quoted a British officer as saying, "There are significant elements in Basra who are hugely loyal to the regime."
Basra? "Military officials," ran a Tuesday European press report, "later admitted that they had vastly underestimated the strength of Iraqi resistance and the loyalty of Basra's population to Saddam." The report quoted a British officer as saying, "There are significant elements in Basra who are hugely loyal to the regime."
Some have asked me about Fred Phelps impending visit to Granville:
1. On April 27, the hate promoting GodHatesFags website owner Fred Phelps is coming to picket in Granville at several churches. The incident which triggered him to visit Granville is a Granville High School Junior who started a Gay Alliance at his school. When Fred finds out about God's Promise MCC, which meets in the First Baptist Church, he will undoubtedly picket here also. We are asking people not to counter picket and not to engage him in any way--he loves to start law suits with people who challenge him. Instead we're asking everyone to join us in a celebratory service at our usual service time of 3 pm. We will be affirming God's love for all people--even our enemies. First Baptist is on the corner of Main and W. Broadway in downtown Granville (30 miles east of Columbus).
1. On April 27, the hate promoting GodHatesFags website owner Fred Phelps is coming to picket in Granville at several churches. The incident which triggered him to visit Granville is a Granville High School Junior who started a Gay Alliance at his school. When Fred finds out about God's Promise MCC, which meets in the First Baptist Church, he will undoubtedly picket here also. We are asking people not to counter picket and not to engage him in any way--he loves to start law suits with people who challenge him. Instead we're asking everyone to join us in a celebratory service at our usual service time of 3 pm. We will be affirming God's love for all people--even our enemies. First Baptist is on the corner of Main and W. Broadway in downtown Granville (30 miles east of Columbus).
A few hours ago I was released from jail with the Reverend Roy Bourgeois MM
and more than 60 others including several Nobel Peace Prize winners, major
US religious leaders and directors of various human rights organizations.
We were arrested, charged and presented a May court date for "protesting
without a permit," while expressing our opposition to the tragic war
afflicting the people of Iraq.
Our group of national leaders was organized by Pax Christi USA and we gathered in prayer outside the whitehouse, believing the right to peaceably assemble is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately this right has withered away and we were carted away to jail. We prayed at the whitehouse because the Bush administration continues an unpermitted 12 year genocide against the people of Iraq.
The international community has not granted the Bush administration a permit to destroy Iraqi homes or contaminate their water. The Pope and the Dalai Lama refuse to grant a permit for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Nor today, as a citizen of this country can I not permit this unlawful administration to continue to harm the children of Iraq.
Our group of national leaders was organized by Pax Christi USA and we gathered in prayer outside the whitehouse, believing the right to peaceably assemble is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately this right has withered away and we were carted away to jail. We prayed at the whitehouse because the Bush administration continues an unpermitted 12 year genocide against the people of Iraq.
The international community has not granted the Bush administration a permit to destroy Iraqi homes or contaminate their water. The Pope and the Dalai Lama refuse to grant a permit for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Nor today, as a citizen of this country can I not permit this unlawful administration to continue to harm the children of Iraq.
Congressman George Miller (D-CA, 7th District), a senior member on the House
of Representatives Education and Workforce Committee, along with 73 of his
colleagues has introduced “The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2003” (H.R. 965).
The legislation would increase the minimum wage by $1.50 an hour. The
legislation is identical to the bill number S.20, “The Fair Minimum Wage Act
of 2003,” presented in the U.S. Senate by Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and 34
of his fellow senators. The Miller bill was introduced on February 27, 2003.
Both bills provide for an increase in two steps: they raise the minimum wage from its current level of $5.15 an hour to $5.90 sixty days after enactment and raise it to $6.65 one year thereafter.
The minimum wage has not increased since 1997 and its real value today is 30% below its peak in 1968 and 19% below where it stood in 1981. A full-time minimum wage worker earns $10,712 per year – almost $7,500 below the poverty level for a family of four.
Both bills provide for an increase in two steps: they raise the minimum wage from its current level of $5.15 an hour to $5.90 sixty days after enactment and raise it to $6.65 one year thereafter.
The minimum wage has not increased since 1997 and its real value today is 30% below its peak in 1968 and 19% below where it stood in 1981. A full-time minimum wage worker earns $10,712 per year – almost $7,500 below the poverty level for a family of four.
Dear Columbus Police:
I was disturbed to hear that the Columbus Free Press reported that the
Columbus Police Department has been harassing peace demonstrators,
including:
-telling African-American youths that white agitators were entering their
neighborhood
-encouraging pro-war activists and failing to respond to physical assaults
on
anti-war activists
-writing frivolous parking tickets to anti-war demonstrators
Though individual police officers may not share the views of the anti-war
demonstrators, I hope that the Department is stressing to officers that the
image of the CPD and the city would be better served by tolerantly
accommodating the peace demonstrations.
I hope that the Free Press article was inaccurate. However, I found the
report of police intimidation to be credible enough that I will sign myself
only,
C. Andersen
I hope the stock market gets hammered. I hope the Iraqis set fire to as many oil fields as possible. I hope oil prices in the United States surge and shortages persist. I hope the antiwar protestors become disobedient. I hope the economy never recovers. I hope Iraq doesn’t have weapons of mass destruction. I hope our troops make it home alive.
This is the only way to drive home the point that war is brutal no matter who the enemy is. After the bombs dropped on Baghdad and hundreds of Iraqi soldiers surrendered to U.S. and British troops, the pundits on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC reported that the war could end within a month.
“Nonsense,” I said.
This war would be an easy victory for the U.S. and its allies, the cable news outlets said. Kind of like watching the Los Angeles Lakers pummel the Los Angeles Clippers. Reaction here to the commentaries and the real-time images was swift. The stock market soared. Oil prices plummeted. It appears that the outcome of the war is measured by how well the Dow Jones Industrial Average performs
This is the only way to drive home the point that war is brutal no matter who the enemy is. After the bombs dropped on Baghdad and hundreds of Iraqi soldiers surrendered to U.S. and British troops, the pundits on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC reported that the war could end within a month.
“Nonsense,” I said.
This war would be an easy victory for the U.S. and its allies, the cable news outlets said. Kind of like watching the Los Angeles Lakers pummel the Los Angeles Clippers. Reaction here to the commentaries and the real-time images was swift. The stock market soared. Oil prices plummeted. It appears that the outcome of the war is measured by how well the Dow Jones Industrial Average performs
AUSTIN, Texas -- There was Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday morning
repeatedly warning the Iraqis that prisoners of war are protected by the
Geneva Convention and showing pictures of POWs is wrong. That would be the
same Donald Rumsfeld who refused to classify the POWs at Gitmo in Cuba as
POWs, instead calling them "detainees" and "military combatants."
The administration initially prepared to claim Al Qaeda fighters were not covered by the Geneva Convention, until the military pointed out that what goes around, comes around. We displayed pictures of our prisoners wearing black hoods, in chains and housed in outdoor, chain-link kennels.
If the Republican Guard surrenders, will right-wing radio talk jocks who have never been near a war refer to them as "hummus-eating surrender monkeys"?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... You need to keep an eye on the back pages of the newspapers and the brief recaps that follow, "And in other news today ..." There is stuff flying under the radar you would not believe.
The administration initially prepared to claim Al Qaeda fighters were not covered by the Geneva Convention, until the military pointed out that what goes around, comes around. We displayed pictures of our prisoners wearing black hoods, in chains and housed in outdoor, chain-link kennels.
If the Republican Guard surrenders, will right-wing radio talk jocks who have never been near a war refer to them as "hummus-eating surrender monkeys"?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... You need to keep an eye on the back pages of the newspapers and the brief recaps that follow, "And in other news today ..." There is stuff flying under the radar you would not believe.
NEW YORK, Mar 22 (IPS) - Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators across the
United States and beyond rallied against the U.S.-led attack on Baghdad on
Saturday, the first weekend since troops began bombing Iraq on Wednesday in
sharp defiance of the United Nations call for diplomacy to disarm Iraq.
Millions others remained fixated on their television sets watching in horror images of fire-lit mushrooming clouds and flying debris over Baghdad.
Though a 'New York Times'-CBS News poll taken a day after the first military strike showed a growing number of people here supported President George W. Bush's war on Iraq, organisers of protesters that erupted hours after the first bombs crashed into Baghdad warned that a sizeable population opposes war and suggested that public opinion could quickly turn, in the case of civilian deaths or high troop casualties, for instance.
They noted that while it took years for anti-war protesters to organise against the Vietnam War, the current action faced public opposition even before it started.
Millions others remained fixated on their television sets watching in horror images of fire-lit mushrooming clouds and flying debris over Baghdad.
Though a 'New York Times'-CBS News poll taken a day after the first military strike showed a growing number of people here supported President George W. Bush's war on Iraq, organisers of protesters that erupted hours after the first bombs crashed into Baghdad warned that a sizeable population opposes war and suggested that public opinion could quickly turn, in the case of civilian deaths or high troop casualties, for instance.
They noted that while it took years for anti-war protesters to organise against the Vietnam War, the current action faced public opposition even before it started.
www.booksforsoldiers.com
It's easy as pie. You can look up or add military addresses of soldiers to send books to. Or can send books to the addresses already on the site.
Books of your choice!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Books For Soldiers started in 1991 during the Gulf War I. We heard from many of our family members and friends about the long waits with hours and hours of nothing to do. We sometimes forget that our service people are alone, thousands of miles away, with nothing to stimulate them intellectually.
During the first Gulf War, we collected almost 1000 used paperback books and sent them to our friends serving in the Gulf and they passed them out to their fellow soldiers.
We received many notes of thanks, after the war, from soldiers who got one of our books, read it and passed it on. It made the time away from family pass more quickly."
It's easy as pie. You can look up or add military addresses of soldiers to send books to. Or can send books to the addresses already on the site.
Books of your choice!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Books For Soldiers started in 1991 during the Gulf War I. We heard from many of our family members and friends about the long waits with hours and hours of nothing to do. We sometimes forget that our service people are alone, thousands of miles away, with nothing to stimulate them intellectually.
During the first Gulf War, we collected almost 1000 used paperback books and sent them to our friends serving in the Gulf and they passed them out to their fellow soldiers.
We received many notes of thanks, after the war, from soldiers who got one of our books, read it and passed it on. It made the time away from family pass more quickly."
