Monthly Archives: March 2003

Personal — 7 Comments
31
Mar 03

yesterday

Yesterday I felt shitty almost all day. Tired, hungover, depressed for a number of reasons I won’t go into because I do have some pride. Plus I was at work which didn’t help. At one point, during the day I went outside to smoke (I smoke at work). As I was standing there waiting for some signal to feel better, I saw a small anole lizard with his skin turned dark brown to soak up the sun. And maybe even I was looking for some sort of signal I would have found one anyway, I felt like it was an omen and a message that I should stop wallowing it whatever it is I’ve been feeling. I decided that I ‘d need to take my mind of stuff and get some real sleep, start eating and try to stay busy. When I went home I laid down still in my clothes and took a nap.

A little while later Karen and Jason brought some great early birthday presents by and when they left I tried to watch On the Waterfront. I fell asleep for a bit on my chair, then I went into my room and slept for about 13 hours. The point is, today I feel a lot better.

Military and defense — Comments Off on Afghan prisoners beaten to death
30
Mar 03

Afghan prisoners beaten to death

  • Afghan prisoners beaten to death at US military interrogation base: I guess we only care how POW’s are treated if they’re ours.
  • The “Shock and Awe” Photo Gallery
  • Bush Proposal Would End Overtime Pay for Millions of Workers
  • The Euro And The War On Iraq: If OPEC were to switch to the euro as the standard for oil transactions, it would have serious ramifications for the US economy. Oil-consuming economies would have to flush the dollars out of their central bank holdings and convert them to euros. Some economists estimate that with the market flooded, the US dollar could drop up to 40% in value. As the currency falls, there would be a monetary evacuation by foreign investors abandoning the US stock markets and dollar-denominated assets. Imported products would cost Americans a lot more, and the trade deficit would be magnified.
  • Osama is in Kunar, but the US can’t get him
    • Military and defense — Comments Off on Testing the pings
    29
    Mar 03

    Testing the pings

    For Blogs Against War.

    Military and defense — 1 Comment
    29
    Mar 03

    We just may be the bad guys this time

    Despite all of our whining about the Geneva Convention…oh the hypocrisy. This is how we treat POW’s (exhibit a, b, c, d).

    Meanwhile, Al Jazeera is still down.

    Military and defense — 3 Comments
    29
    Mar 03

    The Humanity

    American mercenaries are killing children and wrecking entire families. Bombing markets and killing innocent people. In this photo according to the caption: The four-year old girl, blood streaming from an eye wound, was screaming for her dead mother, while her father, shot in a leg, begged to be freed from the plastic wrist cuffs slapped on him by U.S. marines, so he could hug his other terrified daughter.

    In another photo, an unidentified Iraqi man is cradling the bloodied body of a young girl whose foot is clearly shredded. In yet another, family members weep near the wrapped bodies of their loved ones killed by ‘Allied’ airstrikes. I expect the Iraqi people to never forget this. We have no right to be in their country. As soon as we get rid of Saddam, I hope the Iraqi people toss us out on our ear. We bring nothing but hardship to replace hardship and subjugation to replace subjugation.

    Meanwhile US Troops enjoy ‘Operation Playmate’. Is this a screwed up country or what? While we’re destroying countless lives our soldiers are receiving signed Playboy Playmate photos.

    Military and defense — Comments Off on FoxNews, Unabashed Propagandists
    29
    Mar 03

    FoxNews, Unabashed Propagandists

    ‘Die-ins’ target war and news media:


      Aaron Unger, one of the coordinators of the protest for a group calling itself the M-27 Coalition, said demonstrators broke the law to drive home a point.

      “We believe the war against Iraq is a violation of international law,” Unger said. “And the media is not telling people the whole story. I know people see what we’re doing as a nuisance. But what’s happening to the people of Iraq is much more than a nuisance.”

      Fox News had its own response to the demonstrators. The news ticker rimming Fox’s headquarters on Sixth Avenue wasn’t carrying war updates as the protest began. Instead, it poked fun at the demonstrators, chiding them.

      “War protester auditions here today … thanks for coming!” read one message. “Who won your right to show up here today?” another questioned. “Protesters or soldiers?”

      Said a third: “How do you keep a war protester in suspense? Ignore them.”

      Still another read: “Attention protesters: the Michael Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth Avenue and 50th Street” – a reference to the film maker who denounced the war while accepting an Oscar on Sunday night for his documentary “Bowling for Columbine.”

      The protesters said Fox’s sentiments only proved their point: that media coverage, in particular among the television networks, is so biased as to be unbelievable.

    This and the ClearChannel sponsorship of pro-war rallies underscores the fact that corporate America is behind the war in Iraq and will do what it can to disinform and manipulate American sentiments.

    Military and defense — Comments Off on BBC chiefs stress need to
    29
    Mar 03

    BBC chiefs stress need to

  • BBC chiefs stress need to attribute war sources: Pentagon causing operational problems because of their war propaganda.
  • Two Israeli journalists detained by U.S. troops in Iraq
  • Eliminating Truth: The Development Of War Propaganda: The rules issued by the Pentagon were themselves part of a process of spin. They are presented as voluntary and appeared to some to offer ‘unprecedented freedom to report the facts’. But on closer inspection, a number of clauses buried in the text indicate the iron fist in the velvet glove. While the rules state that there is ‘no general review process’ of reports by the Pentagon, a later section notes that ‘if media are inadvertently exposed to sensitive information they should be briefed after exposure on what information they should avoid covering’. A security review also becomes compulsory if any sensitive information is released deliberately. In a classic passage attempting to present strict censorship rules as voluntary, the Pentagon notes that ‘agreement to security review is in exchange for this type of access must be strictly voluntary and if the reporter does not agree, the access may not be granted’.
    • Military and defense — Comments Off on Al Jazeera TV wins award
    28
    Mar 03

    Al Jazeera TV wins award

  • Al Jazeera TV wins award for battling censorship
  • Christiane Amanpour: Aid as a psychological tool: It is not just about humanitarian aid for the needy, but also as a very powerful political and psychological tool. For the British, certainly, this war is as much about heavy metal fighting as it is about winning hearts and minds. We keep getting this message every day about how they want to get the civilian population on their side and this is part of that battle.
  • Perle quits US Defence Board post
  • U.S. Lands in Middle of Afghan Feuding
    Despite Stated Policy, Force Reluctantly Being Used to Subdue Local Conflicts

  • Russia to ‘lose out on Iraqi oil’: Russia’s top oil company LUKoil, which cancelled a lucrative contract with Baghdad last December following reports that the oil firm was in contact with exiled opposition groups, is unlikely to receive any favourable treatment, Tokarev said.

    “No one is going to ask them (the Iraqi opposition) who is going to work there.

    “There will be a puppet government, and the United States and Britain will themselves carve up the cake,” he said, expressing the view that it was “obvious” the main object of the US-led war was to control Iraqi oil reserves.

  • Israelis fear Blair’s influence over Bush: But he was caught off guard by Mr Bush’s announcement that the road map would be published as soon as a Palestinian prime minister was in place, and that it would lead to the creation of a viable independent state. The Israelis blame Mr Blair for the hardening of the American president’s position.

    However, some of Mr Sharon’s aides are counting on powerful hawks in the US administration and the power of the pro-Israel lobby to offset Mr Blair’s influence once the Iraq war is out of the way. Israel’s conduct severely harms the American position. The Bush administration needs to distance itself from Israel to shrink its independent power. It is becoming a liability.

    • Military and defense — 1 Comment
    28
    Mar 03

    Pentagon Jargon

    The watchword for the day is “death squads“. The Bush government is using this to identify any armed combatants against the United States military. This is to imply that any armed opposition are murderers and predators. The implication also being that these are not the Iraqi people even though the Iraqi people reject the US invasion. I’ve heard this at least five times today. I have yet to see any Iraqi on television reporting the tactics the US ascribes to the Iraqi forces.

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