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George Clooney Arrested in Protest Outside Sudan Embassy in D.C.

Pamela Leavey — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:19:04 +0000

Actor, activist George Clooney was arrested and handcuffed a short time ago, outside of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. for protesting Sudan’s blockage of “food and aid from entering the Nuba Mountains area of the country, as well as its treatment of its people.” Clooney’s father, journalist Nick Clooney, 78, was with him and was also arrested, as were Martin Luther King III, NAACP President Ben Jealous, Rep Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and former Rep. Tom Andrews (D-Mass.). They were taken away in a Secret Service van. Speaking before the large crowd that gathered to watch the protest, Clooney said the group wanted “the (Sudanese) government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them, and stop starving them.” Clooney has been in Washington. D.C. over the past few days in effort to bring more awareness to the situation in Sudan: On Thursday, the actor testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about what he saw in Sudan; then met with Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Obama in the Oval Office. The Washington Post later reported that Clooney said Obama promised to push China’s president to aid in [...]

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Tags: Activist Ann Curry Embassy In Washington Foreign Relations Committee George Clooney Hillary Clinton Innocent Men Women Jim Mcgovern Jim Moran Journalist Khartoum Large Crowd Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Iii Mountains Area Naacp President Nick Clooney Nuba Mountains Obama Oval Office protest Rocket Fire Secret Service Senate Foreign Relations Senate Foreign Relations Committee Short Time Situation In Sudan Sudan Embassy Sudanese Embassy Sudanese Government

Are Women People?

Pamela Leavey — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:02:51 +0000

Jessica Winter debates in TIME Ideas: Are Women People? Winter says, “in the past couple of months, certain powerful figures in media and politics have cracked open that certitude,” that “women are fully autonomous human citizens—who vote, even.” I can fully understand the questions Winter is posing given the recent increase in the War On Women, by members of the Republican Party and Clergy. In her article, Winters recapps “recent instances of powerful men from the fields of law, politics and literature tackling the question that has captured America’s imagination: Are Women People?” It’s a must read on this International Women’s Day. Sphere: Related Content

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Tags: Certitude Citizens Clergy Debates Imagination Instances International Women S Day Jessica Winter Law Politics Literature Media And Politics Members People Republican Party Time Ideas

Iraq and Shelley

Hart Williams — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:51:30 +0000

The Iraq War is over. Or, so we are informed. The BBC:

Obama speech at Fort Bragg marks end of Iraq war

US President Barack Obama has marked the end of the Iraq war with a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, telling troops, “welcome home!”

His address paid tribute to the soldiers who served in the conflict – both those who died and veterans who returned home after long tours of duty.

More than 200 soldiers based at Fort Bragg died over the course of the nearly nine-year war.

The final US soldiers are expected to leave Iraq within days.

The last combat troops departed in August 2010….

But, ‘midst the ticker-tape parades, the wild festivities and American celebration for a war that never should have been fought, that was never supposed to cost us anything, was supposed to be “greeted with flowers” according to a high-ranking Darth Vader, and all the rest, I can only think of Shelley:

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said—‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’

– Percy Bysshe Shelley

But I am sure that’s entirely too cynical. All that remains are those gravestones with that Official Logo™.

Hoorah.

Courage.

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Iraq: Just Another War Without an End

Walter Brasch — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:26:32 +0000

We know the names of every one of the 4,479 Americans who were killed and the 32,200 who were wounded, both civilian and military, between March 20, 2003 and Oct. 21, 2011, the day President Barack Obama, fulfilling a campaign promise, declared the last American soldier would leave Iraq before the end of the year.

We know Second Lieutenant Therrel Shane Childers was the first American soldier killed by hostile fire in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On March 21, 2003, less than a day after the U.S.-led invasion, Childers was shot in the stomach by hostile forces while leading a Marine platoon to secure an oil field in southern Iraq. His father, Joseph, told NPR that it was his dream to lead Marines into combat.

Childers, from Gulfport, Miss., had enlisted in the Marines 12 years earlier, was a security guard at the Geneva consulate and the Nairobi embassy, fought in the Persian Gulf War, and then attended the Citadel on a special program that allows enlisted personnel to be commissioned upon graduation. He was a French major and on the Dean’s List. Childers, who had wanted to be a horse trainer when he retired from the Marines, was 30 years old when he died. The Marines promoted him to first lieutenant posthumously.

On the day Childers was killed, 12 men—seven from the United Kingdom, one from South Africa, and four from the U.S.—were killed in a helicopter crash near Umm Qasr, a port city in southern Iraq. At the time, the Marine Corps called the crash of the CH-46E Sea Knight accidental, but didn’t elaborate.

About the time the helicopter crashed, Lance Corporal José Antonio Gutierrez, a 22-year-old Marine, was killed by what is euphemistically known as “friendly fire.” He was an orphan from Guatemala who had illegally crossed into the United States from Mexico, lived on the streets of San Diego and Los Angeles, was granted a temporary visa, lived with a series of foster families, graduated from high school, and began attending college, hoping to become an architect. The U.S. granted him citizenship posthumously.

On the second day of the war, three more Americans and six from England were killed. On the third day, 30 more Americans and four British were killed. By the end of March, 92 were killed.

One month before the invasion, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had declared the upcoming war, which he warned would be a “shock and awe” strategy, might last “six days, maybe six weeks; I doubt six months.”

On May 1, 2003, aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln off the coast of San Diego, President George W. Bush, decorated in flight gear, declared “Mission Accomplished.” Official military records show that when President Bush made his announcement, 172 Coalition troops had been killed. More than 4,600 American and allied soldiers would die in Iraq after that declaration; more than 31,500 Americans would be wounded, many permanently disabled, after that bravado proclamation.

We know the oldest American soldier to die in combat was 60; the youngest was 18, of which there were 34. We know that 476 of those killed were from California; Pennsylvania and Florida each had 176 deaths by the time the President announced full withdrawal from Iraq.

There are names we don’t know. We don’t know the names and life stories of the 4.7 million refugees, nor the two million Iraqis who fled the violence caused by the Coalition invasion. We don’t know the names of the orphaned children, one-third of all of Iraq’s youth. We don’t know the names of the 100,000–150,000 civilians killed. We don’t have accurate records of more than a million who were wounded. It no longer matters who killed or wounded them, who destroyed their lives and property—American, allied, Shia, Sunni, insurgent, criminal, or al-Qaeda. It doesn’t matter if they died from IEDs, suicide bombers, gunshots, artillery, bombs, or missiles. In war, they’re simply known as “collateral damage.”

In Afghanistan, 2,769 Coalition troops have been killed, 1,815 of them American, by the day that President Obama announced the withdrawal from Iraq. There are already 14,343 wounded among the Coalition forces. Between 36,000 and 75,000 Afghani civilians have been killed by insurgents and Coalition troops during the past decade, according to the United Nations. President Obama told the world that the war in Afghanistan would continue at least two more years.

You can try to sanitize the wars by giving them patriotic names—Operation Iraqi Freedom; Operation Enduring Freedom. But that doesn’t change the reality that millions of every demographic have been affected. War doesn’t discriminate. The dead on all sides are physicians and religious leaders; trades people, farmers, clerks, merchants, teachers, and mothers. And they are babies and students. We don’t know what they might have become had they been allowed to grow up and live a life of peace, one without war.

We also don’t yet know who will be the last American soldier to be killed in Iraq. As important, we don’t know how Post-Traumatic Syndrome Disorder (PTSD) will affect the one million soldiers who were called for as many as seven tours of duty, nor when the last Iraq War veteran will die from permanent injuries. And we will never know the extent of the terror that will plague the families, children, and grandchildren of those who served.

But there is one more thing we do know. A year before José Antonio Gutierrez was killed, he had written a “Letter to God” in Spanish. Translated, it read: “Thank you for permitting me to live another year, thank you for what I have, for the type of person I am, for my dreams that don’t die. . . . May the firearms be silent and the teachings of love flourish.”

[Walter Brasch first began writing about war in 1966. He wishes he didn’t have to. His latest book is Before the First Snow, a novel that focuses upon America between 1964 and 1991, the eve of the Persian Gulf War.]

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Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

Dizzy Dezzi — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:30:59 +0000

I slept the day away in hopes that I would feel better, but, today’s Ten Post Round-Up tells me I probably should crawl back into bed: 1: Shameful: US servicewomen more likely to be raped by fellow soldiers than killed by enemy fire… At War With Ourselves: Battling Sexual Violence in the Military–AlterNet 2: Not A Surprise: Teenage girls adopting eating disorders from healthy eating messages at school… ‘Eating disorders fuelled by teachers’–The Australian 3: ACLU comes out in defense of polygamist ranch… ACLU weighs in on Texas polygamist custody case–CNN.com 4: Florida fire hydrants to begin multi-tasking as spyware… Florida Gets All Stasi On Citizens–duckplops 5: Smart: Bush sneaks into New Orleans, Not So Smart (?): To discuss expanding NAFTA… José Can You See? Bush’s Trojan Taco–Greg Palast 6: Grandma’s weird Depression-era recipes are beginning to look good, now… Food Rationing Makes Unwelcome Return–The Huffington Post 7: Oh, but flip-flops are so comfy, aren’t they?…. McCain: That was then (flip). This is now (flop).–Hypocrisy.com 8: Un-frak-ing-believable… Judges deny some crack convicts legal help on sentences–McClatchy 9: Put this in perspective: The Army and Marines are recruiting individuals who would otherwise not be able to purchase or possess guns as [...]

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Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Clinton has ‘grit’ to lead

Pamela Leavey — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:36:25 +0000

Tomorrow voters will cast their votes in the Pennsylvania primary and then it’s on to Indiana and North Carolina.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was stumping in South Bend for Hillary on Sunday. She answered some questions for the South Bend Tribune after and event at St. Mary’s College.

Here’s a couple of quips from the interview:

Q: With the primary coming so closely and still a lot of people unsure who they like more, Hillary Clinton or Obama, can you give them a little more of an idea as to why they should vote for Hillary?

A: I think we have two different candidates but I think what we’ve got in Hillary Clinton is someone who knows how to get things done, and is willing to fight — for health care for all Americans, to bring our troops home, to make sure we’ll have 5 million new green jobs and 3 million jobs in infrastructure. We want somebody who’s got the grit to get down in the details and solve problems. I want somebody who knows that we are in the worst economic times since the Great Depression, who understands what that requires, and who has a grasp on how to solve these problems.

Q: So do you feel that Obama is sort of too gentle or isn’t tough enough to deal with Republicans in Washington?

A: I just think that that he doesn’t have the same experience. Give him a few years so that he knows how to get things done. Look, he’s a very good candidate. I think he has inspired wonderful numbers of young people to come into the campaign. He has been very exciting. But at the end of the day, when we have had the crises that we have now, I want somebody who has really got the grit and the fight to solve problems. [...]

Q: As far as the economy, what can Hillary do that Obama can’t?

A: Hillary can get things done. The issue of experience is, who can actually get things done? She’s got a plan for 5 million green jobs, she’s got a plan for 3 million infrastructure jobs. I haven’t heard that he has those plans. But she’s been in the Senate for a while. She’s been the first lady of the United States, the first lady of Arkansas. She is accustomed to actually seeing a problem and trying to solve it.

The bottom-line, Barack Obama “doesn’t have the same experience” that Hillary Clinton has. That fact is something that has been echoed here time and time again. Townsend is right: “Give him a few years so that he knows how to get things done.” This is a critical election. We need an experienced leader to clean up the mess that Bush has made. That leader is Hillary Clinton.

Hillary has the “grit”:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

Dizzy Dezzi — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:30:52 +0000

Maybe it’s the cold medicine, but, today’s Ten Post Round-Up has my head spinning: 1: Proof of progress in Iraq: Seatbelts!… As the Iraqis Buckle Up, We Will Stand Down–Bring It On! 2: Sometimes, doing things the old-fashioned way, really is best… Exposed: The Great GM Crops Myth–CommonDreams.org 3: Ben Stein’s movie is number 8 with a bullet! On the upside, it should be available in Blu-Ray in a couple of months!… Expelled’s Weekend Box Office–Friendly Atheist 4: To be sure, it wasn’t just television news that was taken in by the Pentagon’s Propaganda machine… A Guide to ‘NYT’ Bombshell on Military/Media Propaganda–The Huffington Post 5: In the UK, psychics will have to prove themselves… New Psychic Law–The J-Walk Blog 6: Mark Fiore has a great ad about the Presidential retirement plan… White House Life–Mark Fiore.com 7: Another reason Dizzy does not watch game shows: For any number of reasons, I find them highly unpalatable…. Dubya: Game Show Playa–Perez Hilton 8: A draft by any other name would be just as rotten… No Draft, You Say?–Reconstitution 2.0 9: The truth is, the blogosphere has been suspicious of such things for awhile now… The Puppetry of the Pentagon–Shakesville 10: Hey! At [...]

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Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

Dizzy Dezzi — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:30:10 +0000

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Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

Dizzy Dezzi — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:30:18 +0000

It’s smells like a pep rally burning out of control, in my front yard. Today’s Ten Post Round-Up might singe your eyebrows: 1: What a relief! The Cheney sunglasses mystery is solved!… Image In Cheney’s Glasses Actually Bush’s Eternal Soul–CAP News 2: Ahem–Attention American Taxpayers: You are supposed to squander your stimulus check NOT pay bills with it! Putting it away for your own benefit is not why we are sending it to you… Economic Stimulus: Good for individuals or the overall economy, not both–Colorado Confidential 3: On the upside, those stimulus checks might come just in time for you to make the massive going-out-of-business sales, sure to be all the rage this summer… More Economic Pain: Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies–The Democratic Daily 4: More “good” news…umm…the war in Iraq might come to an end, particularly if those stimulus checks don’t work out like they’re supposed to… US Financial Collapse Will End Bush/Cheney Iraq War–duckplops 5: Some conservatives like to complain about all those “liberal activist judges”. Would you like to guess who the truly “activist judges” really are (pssst…they are conservative)… So Much For The False “Activist Judges” Canard…–Firedoglake 6: Decisions, decisions: affordable food prices [...]

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Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

Dizzy Dezzi — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:30:34 +0000

(Programming note: I’m going to keep the round-up, short and sweet. But, I will continue to post a video for the day and make my usual commentary on my own crazy blog.) News gotcha feelin’ bitter? Well, today’s Ten Post Round-Up ain’t gonna make ya feel any better: 1: Iraqi Government: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?… Iraq: From One Dictator to Another?–AntiWar.com 2: American economy: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst… 12 Ways To Prepare For The Next Great Depression–Best Article Every Day 3: DNC is suing McCain for breaking campaign finance laws… No, it’s not “hamstringing” McCain, it’s about investigating an election law criminal–Brilliant at Breakfast 4: The world is definitely coming to an end… Lead Tainted Hillbilly Teeth Recalled–Bring It On! 5: Dang! I didn’t even hear the fat lady sing on that one… Is the FISA fight over?–Crooks and Liars 6: FARK said it best: $9 billion reasons why the US government is not in a hurry to deport illegal aliens… Illegal immigrants pay billions in taxes–Houston Chronicle 7: Bush admitted he approved of torture, but all the media was worried about was whether or not Americans are “bitter”… Media Priorities–Morning [...]

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