Gum Returns to Singapore After 12 Years

Gum Returns to Singapore After 12 Years

"It's ridiculous that it's easier for 16-year-olds to visit prostitutes than it is to get chewing gum here!"
--Fayen Wong, 22-year old college student. [LINK]



I want to know what, if any brand, our friend Ihsan will be looking for.
(I'm fond of Juicy Fruit and Big Red.)

Tomorrow: Kerry speech on national security and foreign policy

Tomorrow: Kerry speech on national security and foreign policy

John Kerry is due to give a key speech tomorrow on national security and foreign policy. It will mark the start-off of an 11-day period focusing on his ideas for winning the war in Iraq and fighting terrorism. He will allegedly promise to craft a foreign policy that would make it unnecessary to have a conventional military draft.

While Adam Nagourney and Richard W. Stevenson claim that Kerry's Iraq views are much like Bush's , I would implore them and all Americans to weigh this question (posed by LeMoyne College philosophy professor John Schonsheck):

At this point [in the Iraq war],there may well be no good options for either a President Kerry or a President Bush. But that does not imply there are no differences between them.

One distinguishing question that comes to the fore:

"Should we continue to follow the steely-eyed leadership of the candidate who has jumped us into deep water with large rocks in our pockets? Or perhaps more accurately - who has jumped us into deep water, with anvils chained to our necks?"

[LINK]

Gore: Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet Should Resign

Gore: Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet Should Resign

In a speech at New York University today, Gore argued that officials, including several of Rumsfeld’s top civilian deputies, should step down because the situation in Iraq is out of control. He called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, CIA director George Tenet, and national security adviser Condoleeza Rice. [LINK]

TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S SPEECH

27 Rationales for Iraq War

27 Rationales for Iraq War

27 reasons...were any good enough?

See Devon M. Largio's Senior Honors Thesis titled:
“Uncovering the Rationales for the War on Iraq:
The Words of the Bush Administration, Congress, and the Media
from September 12, 2001 to October 11, 2002”

Department of Political Science
University of Illinois

Ms. Largio covers them all..including everything from the five front-runners – war on terror, prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, lack of weapons inspections, removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Saddam Hussein is 'evil', to the "also-rans" – Sen. Joe Lieberman’s “because Saddam Hussein hates us,” Colin Powell’s “because it’s a violation of international law,” and Richard Perle’s “because we can make Iraq an example and gain favor within the Middle East.” With regard to the Bush administration’s shift from bin Laden to Saddam, Ms. Largio found that Iraq was “part of the plan for the war on terror early in the game.”

A must-read.

[LINK] (pdf)

Conspiracy theories and Sibel Edmonds- Village Voice

Conspiracy theories and Sibel Edmonds-
Village Voice

Why are there so many conspiracy theories swimming around about the death of Nick Berg? At the Village Voice, Kareem Fahim explores the reasons for such skepticism. [LINK]

Richard Goldstein provides an exploration of why the news media keeps silent when rumors (like those surrounding Nick Berg's death) sweep the internet. [LINK]

James Ridgeway is trying to help us figure out why the FBI is going back in time and classifying some pretty basic information (involving 9-11 whistleblower Sibel Edmonds) that's already out there in the public sector. [LINK]

A dedicated Marine fed up with armchair hawks

A dedicated Marine fed up with armchair hawks

This letter to the editor appeared yesterday in the Syracuse Post Standard:

I am a Marine Corps officer in the reserves who was activated and deployed to Iraq in spring 2003 for the invasion phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am proud of my unit and its performance in-theatre. We were going to defend our country against what we thought was an imminent threat to our soil. Regardless, my Marines deserve the highest praise for their performance. They did their duty without exception. They are very simply the best I have ever seen among men.

I would do my duty again in Iraq, as may be the case if a new unit of which I am a part is deployed next year (it's still up in the air, I'm told).

I am a Republican with conservative viewpoints. My point, ironically, is that I am sick to death of all of the "hawks" and pro-war slogans spewed from the mouths of individuals around our country who have never had to stare down a bullet or a piece of hot shrapnel that can very easily tear bodies in half.

Unless you are a hawk who has been in combat, or you have had a loved one go into harm's way and dealt with the long, sleepless hours, not knowing if he or she is alive and well, as my beloved mother had to endure, then shut the heck up! "Send more troops . . . Go get 'em, George" - please! Give such shortsighted individuals a helmet, body armor and a rifle, drop them off in Baghdad in 120-degree heat with no sleep or shower for weeks, and say: "You go get 'em, tough guy."

I'm sorry. I needed to vent that as I watch so many troops and their families who sacrifice on a daily basis. My thoughts are truly with them. God bless them for all they put up with.

Capt. Eric R. Lindgren, USMC

[LINK]

President Bush: Fire Douglas Feith!

President Bush: Fire Douglas Feith!


President Bush needs to make himself accountable as leader of the U.S. by firing those responsible for many accounted-for errors and misleadings.

Douglas Feith is only one of those responsible for the lies and screw-ups regarding the Iraq situation, but there is no doubt he played a major role and needs to suffer the consequences.

If there are no consequences to egregious actions, then the President deliberately harbors the egregious. This would make him vicariously egregious and highly negligent.

How can any American stand for such negligence of duty?

__________

General Tommy Franks on Douglas Feith:

"I have to deal with the f*cking stupidest guy on the face of the earth almost every day."
From Bob Woodward's book "Plan of Attack"

__________

The fact that Bush is failing to clean these incompetents from his administration leads me to confirm my belief that there ARE nothing BUT incompetents in the administration...starting at the very top.

From Pharyngula:

Once upon a time, America stood for liberty, democracy, and forward-thinking confidence. At least we could tell ourselves that we aspired to those things, even if we did frequently stumble over our flaws....
[LINK]

Cicada Sings

Cicada Sings



All these were gather'd at the Scaean gate;
By age exempt from war, but in discourse
Abundant, as the cricket, that on high
From topmost boughs of forest tree sends forth
His delicate music; so on Ilium's tow'rs
Sat the sage chiefs and councillors of Troy.

--From Homer's Iliad

Gas prices: Bush gets a lucky break on public perception

Gas prices: Bush gets a lucky break on public perception

In a recent Gallup poll, one in five people blamed corporate greed for the high cost of gas, and one in five blamed the war in Iraq. Only 5% blamed President Bush, suggesting he has escaped political damage so far.

President Bush is a pretty lucky political soul. If Americans kept themselves properly informed (see NY Times' $40-a-Barrel Mistake), they would easily see how some of the President's failures in leadership have, indeed, contributed to the higher fuel prices.

Until citizens commit themselves to self-education and until they can properly "connect the dots", we are going to be sadly bilked and will never realize who's actually picking our pockets.

Iraq photos (warning: graphic)

Iraq photos (warning: some graphic)




I literally stumbled upon this website today. There is a stunning collection of photos from the Iraq war (in its early stages) on the site. Some are quite graphic and show the ugliness of war. Others are inspirational. Mr. Denne has collected the works of a gifted photographer(photographers?).

Here is the LINK.

Slice of Life at Camps Baker, Hotel, and Golf

Slice of Life at Camps Baker, Hotel, and Golf

I dreamt last night that I was in the center of war-torn Baghdad and I heard the mortar shells exploding and felt a fear I'd not known before. I awoke and knew I was safe, for it was only a nightmare. I thought about the men and women living the nightmare...the troops...and the inncocent civilians of the cities of Iraq.


AP photo

I was reading the Army Times and noticed a nicely-written piece about the soldier's life in the camps and the feelings generated by extended tours.

I saw a reminder of an American's everyday fear and hope while working in Iraq:

Phil Kosnett, a 43-year-old American diplomat who heads the CPA team in Najaf, likes to highlight the contrast between his team’s situation and the image of Foreign Service work as one elegant cocktail party after another. Kosnett, of Black Mountain, N.C., keeps a pistol strapped to his thigh and hopes the mortars that strike the camps every day don’t find their mark.

I found it an unusual lesson- knowing that certain civilians are paid extremely well while the common American soldier takes a meager portion of the civilians' pay. It is also a lesson when you understand that the common soldier is looking forward to leaving the U.S. armed forces in the hopes to strike it rich as a privately-paid warrior.

Also banking on a prosperous future are some of the civilian contractors, especially security experts. One topic of conversation among American soldiers is how much these former Navy SEALs and Special Forces veterans earn, and how the servicemen can get one of those jobs when they get out of the army. The elite among them pocket up to $1,000 a day. That’s the same amount as the monthly bonus given to soldiers whose stay was extended last month.

What is the future of the strength and integrity of the U.S. armed forces when so many are planning on passing up the opportunity for re-enlistment because mercenary work is far more lucrative?

N.Y. Times admits flawed Iraq (Judith Miller) coverage

N.Y. Times admits flawed Iraq (Judith Miller) coverage

On Monday, I had commented:

"Over the past year and a half, I've been saying how wrong these journalists have been and what a disservice they've done to the American people. Will they suffer any consequences? The N.Y. Times will eventually have to apologize to the people of America (and the world) for an inept journalist they still employ..Judith Miller."

Slate had pointed out the truth about Judith Miller's nearly criminal journalism in a May 18th article and commented on the NY Times Editor's notes on May 25.

Today, the New York Times' mea culpa appeared.

See The Times and Iraq

We need to weed out those who perpetuate false and misleading information.
I saw Laurie Mylroie on CSPAN this morning. Not only is she perpetuating the tired fallacies about WMD and the Iraq-9-11 connection, she comes off as a bit of a giggling, bitter anti-Clinton simpleton. I can hardly believe she is professionally supported as a credible academic.

Unrealistic expectations will take more American lives

Unrealistic expectations will take more American lives

Those who stand to make the most money manipulate perception of reality for capital gain

There is no way on God's earth a new Iraqi force will be ready, willing, or able within "months".

"It will be very unusual if we were not able to secure security within the next year. The multinational force [in Iraq], as much as its presence is needed, will need
over time replaced by indigenous Iraqi forces, and we expect that to happen. It [will be] a matter of months before the Iraqi security forces are properly trained and equipped. So hopefully before the end of year - and certainly before the elections for the new constitutional assembly - we should have Iraqi security forces by and large in a position to take greater responsibility for security in their own country."

--Dr. Ali Alawi, Minister of Trade

[LINK]

Prepare for the "very unusual".

Don't miss the Rebuild Iraq trade show and don't forget your civic lessons.

We Need A Hero

We Need A Hero

It isn't going to be George W. Bush. Someone needs to sit down and have a serious chat with David Brooks.

First, Brooks claims our national creed states that "our creator has endowed all human beings with the right to liberty, and the ability to function as democratic citizens".

"Ability to function as democratic citizens"? Isn't Mr. Brooks taking God-given liberty to revise old Tom Jefferson's words? When Jefferson wrote "..they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation"...the word "they" didn't mean to give future Americans the right to impose undue influence on another nation's idea for independence!

Brooks says: "Bush is putting this tenet of our national creed to a fearsome test in the worst possible circumstances."

In other words, Bush is imposing freedom on the Iraqis in the name of the American way. The very words impose and freedom are impossible philosophical bedfellows. We had a chance to create the conditions for freedom in Iraq. That's as much as we will ever be able to do, in righteousness.

I still recall, however, how the American people were LIED TO (bald-faced)about the reasons for going to war in Iraq. Before the pre-emptive strike, it was about the imminent threat to America. It was about WMDs. Lies are not honorable. This war was not waged in an honorable light.

While it may have been ultimately good for the Iraqis to be rid of Saddam Hussein, the war has done too much damage to the trust of the American people. Almost 800 American families have forever given up their sons and daughters for the imposition of freedom upon a people who never required or desired it from us.

Our American soldiers are heroes.

We need a leader who can match their courage, wit, and understanding of what it means to love your country with your last breath, if need be. That's what it means to be a hero.



Bush is not the hero we seek.

David Brooks says that if Bush succeeds, the Iraqis will "take responsibility for their future" as they begin to "regard Americans as necessary guests" and they will ultimately "feel they control their lives".

I wonder how it is David Brooks doesn't see that the Iraqis are already "taking responsibility for their future" in their obvious desire to expel Americans from their lands? How is it that Brooks doesn't see that Iraqis obviously have a strong desire to "control their own lives"?

Is he blind?

There is going to be a civil war in Iraq this summer. Many more American troops will have to die because of too many blind pundits and the chickenhawk leaders who make the word "freedom" their political whore.

The best thing that could happen for Bush (and our troops) is to have the new Iraqi interim government tell the U.S., come July 1st, to get out of their country.

People who blow themselves up and leaders who command their armies to storm into nations with bombs and guns always claim to know the 'truth' better than everybody else. They almost always claim to know what "God wants" or "what God said". None of them are acting in righteousness, which, in the end, is always love.

Using the words of the poet Hafiz, truth means having "profound courage to never relinquish love".

Let the Iraqis be the free people and the free nation God intended them to be.
It's what they want.

America is not God.

God is God.

_____________________________


The Diamond Takes Shape



Some parrots
Have become so skilled with
The human voice

They could give a brilliant discourse
About freedom and God

And an unsighted man nearby might
Even begin applauding with
The thought:

I just heard jewels fall from a
Great saint's mouth,

Though my Master used to say,

"The diamond takes shape slowly
With integrity's great force,

And from

The profound courage to never relinquish love."



Some parrots have become so skilled
With words,

The blind turn over their gold
And lives to caged

Feathers.

--'The Gift - Poems by Hafiz The Great Sufi Master'
Translations by Daniel Ladinsky

The unaccountable Bush blames it on history

The unaccountable Bush blames it on history

"In the last 32 months, history has placed great demands on our country."

In the last 32 months, Bush has placed our country where she remains today. She is disgraced in the eyes of our allies after the Neocons barreled their way into convincing the soft-headed Mr. Bush to take America to unnecessary war.

History demands nothing.

History merely watches the sages and the fools.

Perhaps Mr. Bush will blame God next. After all, t'was God who whispered in his destiny-clad ears, yes?

What do I think of last night's speech, you ask? If you've noticed I've said nothing, you may already have your answer.

____________________

*Speaking of sages, NYCO says: "..it is such a time we live in, that mere adults come off as sages." Sad, yes?

WorldNetDaily helps launch plot to steal the election

Secession looming!

WorldNetDaily: Christians look to form 'new nation' within U.S.

"The plan initially calls for at least 12,000 Christians willing to be active in political campaigns to move to the Palmetto State. "

Pay close attention to who moves where in time for our lofty election coming up. Interstate redistricting? Can not these people play fair??

anonymoses

______________________

Good one, Dave. I've noticed public pleas for people to move to swing states to vote both GOP and Dem. Politics is such a dirty game. Unfortunately, the GOP always seems to know how to play the dirty games more efficiently.

About this secession news, perhaps Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson will become the President of the nation of South Carolina. Can you imagine? How rich!

The whole scenario is deliciously reminiscent of the secessions of the mid-nineteenth century when the argument was over slavery. Gays are the neo-slaves, I guess.

I wonder how many people would fight to the death in a bloody civil war while defending the cry- "Let my people marry!"?

Yesterday we had abolitionists.
Today we have abo-swish-inists.

The silliest (perhaps scariest) part is that our own President is one of these goofball fundamentalists.

Jude

Abu Graib and the Right Wing Culture Warriors

Abu Graib and the Right Wing Culture Warriors

Timothy Noah writes about how the right-wing culture warriors blame the Abu Graib prisoner abuse on moral relativism, gays, pornography, feminists, Quentin Tarantino, the Farrelly Brothers, women in the military, the academic left, the liberal media/entertainment complex, journalists' Vietnam-bred hostility toward the military, our "sick" society...

They blame anyone but those actually accountable--starting with the Commander in Chief and the Secretary of Defense..and on down.

Who or what do we blame for this kind of attempted blame-escape?
Ignorance? Poor character? Pride? Partisanship?


[LINK]

'Nick Berg Was a Soldier of Peace' by Michael Berg

'Nick Berg Was a Soldier of Peace'
by Michael Berg, father of Nicholas Berg

..George Bush can see neither the heart of Nicholas nor the American people — let alone the people his policies are killing daily.
..Donald Rumsfeld said that he took the responsibility for the sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners. How could he take that responsibility when there was no consequence? Nick took the consequences of the policies both stated and given with a wink and a nod by the Bush administration. And, even more than those murderers who took my son's life, I can't stand those who sit and make policies to end lives and break the lives of the still living.
..George Bush's ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction and it has allowed a chain reaction of events that lead to the unlawful detention of my son.
..Many people have offered to pray for Nick and my family. I appreciate their thoughts, but I ask them to include in their prayers a prayer for peace. I ask them to do more than pray. I ask them to demand it from the politicians and leaders in the White House and in the statehouses across the world and in the mountain camps where they may hide. And let them know that if you don't get it, they aren't going to work for you as their leaders any more.

It's Monday

It's Monday

NY Times- An American U.N. resolution draft, critical to efforts to make the United Nations more involved in Iraq, is expected to call for international donations and troops. It is also supposed to define any limitations on Iraq's sovereignty after the transfer of power planned for June 30.



Thanks to Bohemian Mama for pointing me to a listing of 25 things we have learned on Fox News. Bohemian Mama also has some interesting thoughts on Atrocity Fatigue.



This photo bothers me because of the distinct resemblance of the prisoner's stance to Christ's crucifixion pose. The shit on the prisoner's back doesn't increase my joy in seeing the image.

*Note: A friend mentioned to me today that he suspected this photo was a fake. We really don't know, but if you look at it very closely, it does seem quite suspect. In all fairness, I thought I'd submit this possibility to you, my fine readers.*



"This shit has been brewing for months. You don't keep prisoners naked in their cell and then let them get bitten by dogs. This is sick. We don't raise kids to do things like that. When you go after Mullah Omar, that's one thing. But when you give the authority to kids who don't know the rules, that's another."
-An unnamed Pentagon consultant
from Seymour Hersh/ The Gray Zone



I found a lovely recipe for homemade strawberry ice cream.


In The Sun magazine's May 2004 edition, Robert Bly says the U.S. is the insane, obsessed father who took Iraq and bombed it back into childhood. The negative father has come forward almost nakedly and has beaten a country that was already on its knees. We citizens are broken in spirit upon finding out that our father has been beating all our sisters and brothers. (We are all brothers and sisters, regardless of country).



What they see.....

Fragments of musical instruments, tufts of women's hair, and a large blood stain..



Pools of blood lay inside the green-domed Sahla mosque...


What we hear......

Wedding party?! Those killed were involved in smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq and that the houses attacked were way stations for militants.



We said we weren't going to attack sacred sites in holy cities. Well, we are. Period. U.S. soldiers fought militiamen (note-it doesn't say "terrorists"-) near Kufa's Sahla mosque and then raided it for weapons after an Iraqi counterterrorism force "cleared" the site.

Democratic Détente

Democratic Détente
The party's 20-year-old fights are -- well, 20 years old. Enough already

For Democrats, E. J. Dionne lays out ten arguments no longer worth having and replaces them with ten positions he believes are worth taking.

[LINK]