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war against some terrorists
I watched one of the most amazing things online at C-SPAN — the testimony of Richard A. Clarke, the former top counterterrorism adviser for Clinton and Bush. His opening statement, at the 9-11 Commission, nailed everyone and he didn't let up for one second.
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Your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. I failed you. We tried hard, but we failed you...I ask for your understanding, and your forgiveness.
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Words fail me in describing Clarke's performance. You must watch it. It's a little over 2 hours long, but it is two hours of history. Big history.
SEPTEMBER 11: U.S. RESPONSE
The link to look for is:
"Sept. 11 Commission Hearing - Day 2, Afternoon Session
Former NSC counterterrorism head Richard Clarke (left) & Deputy Sec. of State Richard Armitage testify before the September 11 Commission."
[more]
If you don't want to watch it, the New York Times and the Washington Post have extensive coverage...
Bush Critic at Center of 9/11 Debate Testifies at Hearing
9/11 Panel Told Terrorism Initially Not 'Urgent' for Bush
daily Kos has some good comments about Clarke's testimony...
Richard Clarke, Patriot
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It's tempting to overstate the significance of what many of us watched or heard this afternoon. But it's hard to imagine anybody who followed Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9-11 commission not being moved by the man's clear and simple statements of what he says is the truth. From his opening statement of remorse to the families of those who died in the 9-11 attacks, to his blunt descriptions of the Bush administration's neglect of counter-terrorism, to his brilliant demolition of John Lehman's crassly partisan attempt to tar him as a partisan, Clarke's performance was a powerful combination of understatement and bravura.
Reading and listening to the reactions people have had to Clarke's book, his appearances in the media, and now to his stunning testimony before the 9-11 panel, it appears that we may have reached a turning point. Richard Clarke is easily believed and not easily dismissed. Karl Rove wasted his ammunition on earlier whistle blowers like John Dilulio and Paul O'Neil, who, compared to Clarke, are minor leaguers. Despite the assists of hacks like Lehman and the slimeballs at Fox News, this whistleblower will be hard to marginalize and ignore. The political heart of the Bush presidency is counter-terrorism, and their former counter-terrorism expert may have just ripped out their heart.
Richard Clarke is a hawk, appears to have been a Republican, and most balanced summaries of his career show him to have been a bit of a loose cannon too smitten by covert actions and insufficiently respectful of civil liberties. But he's the type of knowledgeable, dogged, and passionate analyst on whom every successful administration must rely for honest and non-ideological appraisals and advice. However, this administration doesn't value analysts, it values acolytes. Thus, it's not surprising this outraged insider has so effectively exposed the rank incompetence and rotten dishonesty at the center of the Bush administration. Furthermore, this administration doesn't respect people who aren't cynical idolaters of power like themselves; it's to be expected that they wouldn't heed the advice of someone whose character and motivations are so different from their own. The leaders of the Bush administration wouldn't listen to Richard Clarke because, as he proved today, he is fundamentally what they will never be. Richard Clarke is a mensch, and Richard Clarke is a patriot.
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Other pieces about Clarke...
Dick Clarke Is Telling the Truth
Why he's right about Bush's negligence on terrorism.
Richard Clarke terrorizes the White House
In a provocative Salon interview, the former terrorism czar fires back at the Bush administration, blasting its "big lie" strategy and "attack dog" Dick Cheney.
Clarke, Clinton and terrorism
Bush's brand new enemy is the truth
Clarke's claims have shaken the White House to its foundations
photography
Larry Schwarm
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thanks to Conscientious
iraq — vietnam on internet time
One down
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Back to Baghdad
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I returned to Baghdad last Monday night, six weeks after my last rotation here as a Monitor correspondent. To get here, I left Amman, probably later than I should have, with a Jordanian driver at the helm of a white GMC truck – the land-boat of choice for the runs to and from Baghdad. A delayed flight had gotten us started from Amman later than I wanted, but I comforted myself that the heavily traveled western road into Baghdad hadn’t suffered from any attacks in recent months. At least none that I had heard about.
[...]
The tempo of violence, particularly suicide attacks, quickened substantially while I was gone, something that’s immediately clear upon my return. On my second day back a suicide bomb struck the small Lebanon Hotel in the center of Baghdad, and on Thursday a smaller suicide attack hit the southern city of Basra. That was followed, again, by another small hotel bombing on Friday night. And while I was gone, foreign civilians had come under attack like never before.
On Thursday I had dinner with an old pal from Indonesia who’s now working for an nongovernmental organization (NGO) doing democracy outreach work with the Coalition. A friend of his, a young American woman working on human rights and women’s rights in the Shiite town of Hilla, was murdered by a group of off-duty police officers on a road outside town last week. Her driver and translator were killed with her. My friend had the awful duty of breaking the news to the woman’s family. He was quite shaken – as were many – by the murder of a driver for the Voice of America, along with his mother and his young daughter, in Baghdad earlier this month. Three Iraqis working for a US-funded radio station in the town of Baquba were killed in a roadside attack on Thursday.
So far, western journalists have been relatively lucky in occupied Iraq. But the feeling of threat is greater than at any time while I’ve been here, including last fall. And as for the Western road between Baghdad and Amman? On Wednesday, an overpass on the highway was dynamited by insurgents.
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[more]
thanks to Just a Bump in the Beltway
photography
Chris Faust
Boats Frozen in for the Winter
Harriet Island, St. Paul, MN 1991
[more]
thanks to Conscientious
environment
GOP split by environment strategy
Talking points rile moderates as party looks to fight with Democrats
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Republican House leaders are warning their members that "Democrats will hit us hard on the environment" this election year.
Their advice? Tell voters that global warming has not been proved, that there are no clear links between air pollution and childhood asthma and that America’s rivers and lakes aren’t nearly as polluted as the Environmental Protection Agency says they are.
Moderate Republicans fear the "talking points" in a memo from the House Republican Conference could make their party appear indifferent to the health threats of smoggy skies or mercury-contaminated fish. And that could hurt them in tight races where they must appeal to middle-of-the-road voters.
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[more]
thanks to Cursor
Could make their party appear indifferent? What could possibly lead one to believe that the Republicans give a shit about anything other than a quick buck, no matter how many die in the making of that quick buck?
photography
THE UNTITLED PROJECT
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The Untitled Project is a series of photographs of urban settings accompanied by a graphical text layout. The photographs have been digitally stripped of all traces of textual information. The text pieces show the removed text in the approximate location and font as it was found in the photograph.
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[more]
thanks to The J-Walk Weblog
bible movies
Python film to challenge Passion
Monty Python's film The Life of Brian is to return to US cinemas next month following the success of The Passion of the Christ.
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The Biblical satire will be re-released in Los Angeles, New York and other US cities to mark its 25th anniversary.
Adverts will challenge Mel Gibson's blockbuster with the lines "Mel or Monty?", "The Passion or the Python?"
Distributor Rainbow said it hoped the film would "serve as an antidote to all the hysteria about Mel's movie".
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[more]
My kind of Bible movie.
science fiction art
A Comic Book Cover Gallery
For
EC
Science Fiction
[more]
thanks to life in the present
testingtesting
The archive is up for Monday's TestingTesting with Jean Mann. Great songs. We webcast it with MP3 streaming instead of RealAudio and it sounded great. The archives are still RealAudio but I will be converting them to MP3 streaming by the end of the month. Check it out.
Jean Mann
Sharon, and everyone who supports him, have demonstrated their true colors. They seek only death and destruction. They are a menace to the world and must be removed. Here are the complete comments of two Israeli Jews with links to other articles. Be afraid.
Assassinating Sheikh Yassin
Sharon Edges Closer to World War
by Gilad Atzmon
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Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was murdered at daybreak on Monday. Israel Air Force helicopters fired missiles at the car carrying the wheelchair-bound head of the Islamic group as he left a mosque near his house in Gaza City. It also appears Ariel Sharon was in direct command of the assassination operation, not entirely surprising considering his bloody history.
For those who fail to realise, today's barbaric Israeli act is an open call for a world war. It is the final wake up call for every Muslim around the world. It is violent proof that Israel isn't only against the Palestinians but rather against Islam. Israel killed a prime spiritual leader on his way out of the mosque. I have no doubt that this Israeli act won't be forgiven. I also have no doubt that many Israelis will pay with their life for Sharon's act. Moreover I am sure that sooner rather than later many innocent non-Israelis around the world will die just for being near by an Israeli embassy, Israeli consulate, a synagogue or even an American bank...This is the reality Sharon favours the most.
This is exactly what Israel wants: to turn the entire world into a victim of terror. This might help us to realise the main difference between the Israeli left and right. While both believe in the right of the Jews to live in Zion at the expense of the Palestinian people, the Israeli right wing rely on maintaining a bloody struggle, oppressing the Palestinian people (in particular) and humiliating Arabs (in general). While the Israeli left would attempt to come up with some unrealistic righteous suggestions to appease the Palestinian people and the world community (Oslo accord for instance), the right wing Israelis will suggest that the only method to guarantee Israeli security is to maintain the conflict with the Palestinian people and to let it escalate into an international battle.
On the surface it seems bizarre considering Sharon was just recently pretending to suggest a plan of Israeli disengagement from the Gaza strip. Today he gave us a real chance to peep into his mind. The 'disengagement plan' was just another of Sharon's tricks. In fact, Sharon and the Israeli right wing need the Palestinians, they need them oppressed and humiliated, they need their terror. Israeli right wing hegemony is fed by terror. And now there is a new need emerging. Israel is facing a demographic disaster. Within five years there will be a Palestinian majority in the territories controlled by Israel (between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River). This is literally the end of the Zionist dream. Eventually Israel will have to give away its Jewish identity. While the Israeli left remains confused about this reality, the Israeli right wing is fully prepared. For years Israeli warmongers have openly discussed 'transfer': the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Considering the current world affairs and general opposition to Israel it is hard to believe that large scale ethnic cleansing would go ahead unless some colossal catastrophe was in place. Sharon is preparing the ground for such a disaster. He needs a war, a big one, something that will allow him to go wild, to go out of control, to initiate a campaign in which Israeli soldiers will become murderous squads ready massacre against the Palestinian civilians. Sharon wants to re-launch the 1948 Nakba. Sharon fully understands that this is what the Israeli public want. He is very good at reading their innermost desires.
The killing of Sheikh Yassin pushed the violence far beyond any recognisable measure. It is pushing the Palestinian masses towards martyrdom. According to the Israeli military doctrine, Israel would never be defeated by terror. But at the same time every Israeli realises that the Zionist adventure will be categorically defeated by a demographic crisis. The assassination of Sheikh Yassin is there to push the Palestinians towards acts that will allow the Israelis to impose the most murderous measures against the Palestinian civilians. Mr Sharon, a world acclaimed war criminal and serial murderer proved again that at least when blood games are concerned, he is one step ahead of the game.
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The Assassination of Sheikh Yassin
Worse Than a Crime; It is an Act of Stupidity
by Uri Avnery
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The assassination of Shiekh Admed Yassin is worse than a crime, it is an act of stupidity!
This is the beginning of a new chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It moves the conflict from the level of a solvable national conflict to the level of religious conflict, which by its very nature is insoluble.
The fate of the State of Israel is now in the hands of group of persons whose outlook is primitive and whose perceptions are retarded. They are incapable of understanding the mental, emotional and political dimensions of the conflict. This is a group of bankrupt political and military leaders who have failed in all their actions. They try to cover up their failures by a catastrophic escalation.
This act will not only endanger the personal security of every Israeli, both in the country and around the world, but also the existential security of the State of Israel. It has grievously hurt the chances of putting and end to the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Muslim conflicts.
In the early 1980s the occupation authorities encouraged the founders of Hamas, hoping that they would create a counter-weight to Yasser Arafat and the PLO. Even after the start of the first intifada, the army and the security services gave preferential treatment of Hamas. Sheikh Yassin was arrested only a year after the outbreak.
There seems to be no limit to the stupidity of our political and military leaders. They endanger the future of the State of Israel.
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[more]
Israel assassinates Hamas leader
Yassin killed in missile strike
Mass protests by Palestinians
Militants vow revenge attacks
Sharon vows to continue 'war on terror'
UN emergency talks tonight to avert crisis
Arab leaders warn of escalating violence
Mubarak: "What peace process?"
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
Founder of Hamas seen as rival to Arafat as Palestinian leader
Analysis / Hamas may be only side to profit from Yassin's death
Governments as assassins: back to the Dark Ages
testingtesting
TestingTesting returns to the web tonight at 7pm (pacific). Webcast from my living room, we will feature Seattle singer/songwriter Jean Mann. The TestingTesting House Band will be filling in as only they can. Click on in for an evening of living room music.
voting
Here are a couple of articles on the fraud of electronic voting, but first a piece about the struggle, that continues, to be able to vote.
Freedom Summer and 2004
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Today at the Los Angeles Convention Center, I registered 78 voters at a swearing-in ceremony for newly naturalized American citizens.
There was a singer from Namibia, a dressmaker from Myanmar, a mathematician from Egypt, a lawyer from Argentina, a nurse from Iran, a professional poker player from Guatemala, a chemist from Korea, a laborer from the Philippines, a computer programmer from Sri Lanka, a student from Romania, a mechanic from Lebanon, a homemaker from Honduras, a taxi driver from Eritrea.
As I looked at the colorful diversity of Americans in the queue in front of our table, I began thinking about the first time I registered voters.
It was Freedom Summer in Mississippi, 40 years ago in June.
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Death of a patriot: No more
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The subject line on yesterday’s email read: “Another mysterious accident solves a Bush problem. Athan Gibbs dead, Diebold lives.” The attached news story briefly described the untimely Friday, March 12th death of perhaps America’s most influential advocate of a verified voting paper trail in the era of touch screen computer voting. Gibbs, an accountant for more than 30 years and the inventor of the TruVote system, died when his vehicle collided with an 18-wheeled truck which rolled his Chevy Blazer several times and forced it over the highway retaining wall where it came to rest on its roof.
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thanks to Yolanda Flanagan
Video clips of secret meetings
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Texas Safe Voting reviewed the videotapes of the January 2004 closed meetings used to review voting systems for certification (the videos were acquired by open records requests).
What we saw may shock you. Here's a two minute clip, in Windows and Quicktime format. The clips show how the state of Texas examines voting machines for certification.
A group of examiners reviews voting systems, and makes certification recommendations to the Secretary of State. You might think that these examiners would conduct a comprehensive testing process, assessing the voting machines against a set of detailed critieria and discussing the underlying code.
But there was nothing on the videotapes that resembled a testing process. The examiners didn't start with a set of criteria to test against. They didn't even start with a comparison the new machines to the older versions. Instead, the Diebold representatives gave a demo. Reviewers voted on the machines and looked at the final output. A few of the committee members watched closely, while others chatted together.
The examiners found out, apparently by accident, that using Diebold’s provisional voting system, it was possible for two voters to vote using the same ID number -- or for one voter to vote multiple times. In practice, the Diebold representative explained, they give out paper stickers to make sure that each person votes only once.
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[more]
thanks to The Agonist
prints
hiroshi yoshida
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Hiroshi Yoshida was a leading figure in the 'shin hanga' (or new print) movement. He worked primarily as a painter until his late forties when he became fascinated with woodblock printing. After working with the Watanabe print shop for several years, Yoshida decided to fund his own workshop. Unlike ukiyo-e artists, he was intimately involved in all parts of the printmaking process. He designed the key blocks, chose the colors for the prints, and supervised the printers. In some cases, he even helped to carve the printing blocks. This was unusual, considering the traditional division of labor between designer, carver, and printer at that time
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"Mount Rainier"
by Hiroshi Yoshida, 1925
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thanks to plep
big brother
This is very disturbing. It's bad enough when government agencies gather information on citizens. Government agencies are accountable to Congressional oversight. Private companies are not. More and more, private companies are doing things that should be restricted to governments.
Private Eye
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Privacy and civil liberties advocates have battled the government for years over alleged violations of privacy laws and the Fourth Amendment. But those statutes never foresaw that privately run corporations would have more power to know the details of people's lives than government. Bush administration officials stress that privacy sits at the center of all of their homeland security initiatives. But they repeatedly warn of the imminent threat of terrorism, and depict likely attackers as shadowy and difficult to understand.
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[more]
thanks to Yolanda Flanagan
photography
Offer Wolberger
[more]
thanks to Conscientious
war against some terrorists
Former White House terrorism czar is spilling the beans. Here is a series of realted links.
Talking Points Memo
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People have been discussing for weeks what would be contained in the soon-to-be-released book by former White House terrorism czar Richard Clarke (who served under Clinton and Bush).
[...]
Clarke was surprised that the attention of administration officials was turning toward Iraq when he expected the focus to be on Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. "They were talking about Iraq on 9/11. They were talking about it on 9/12," says Clarke.
The top counter-terrorism advisor, Clarke was briefing the highest government officials, including President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in the aftermath of 9/11. "Rumsfeld was saying we needed to bomb Iraq....We all said, 'but no, no. Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan," recounts Clarke, "and Rumsfeld said, 'There aren't any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq.' I said, 'Well, there are lots of good targets in lots of places, but Iraq had nothing to do with [the 9/11 attacks],'" he tells Stahl.
Clarke goes on to explain what he believes was the reason for the focus on Iraq. "I think they wanted to believe that there was a connection [between Iraq and Al Qaeda] but the CIA was sitting there, the FBI was sitting there, I was sitting there, saying, 'We've looked at this issue for years. For years we've looked and there's just no connection,'" says Clarke.
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"Richard A. Clarke said in a television interview airing Sunday that Bush 'ignored terrorism for months' before the 2001 attacks, then looked to attack Iraq rather than Afghanistan, the nation harboring the terrorist group al-Qaeda, which launched the attacks."
Clarke Kent
In the Months Before 9/11, Justice Department Curtailed Highly Classified Program to Monitor Al Qaeda Suspects in the U.S.
'They Came in There With Their Agenda and [Al Qaeda] was not on it,' Says Former Counterterrorism Chief Clarke of Bush Administration
Atrios quotes this passage from Richard Clarke's interview tonight on CBS at length. But it's worth excerpting again for reasons I note below ...
photography
San Joaquin Valley & Sierra Foothills Photo Heritage
[more]
thanks to wood s lot
iraq — vietnam on internet time
Taken for a Ride
by Paul Krugman
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"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." So George Bush declared on Sept. 20, 2001. But what was he saying? Surely he didn't mean that everyone was obliged to support all of his policies, that if you opposed him on anything you were aiding terrorists.
Now we know that he meant just that.
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Welcome to the quagmire
The Bush administration invaded Iraq a year ago expecting a shower of rose petals. Today, the country is on the verge of chaos, and there may be no way to stop it.
by Juan Cole
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The Bush administration's hope for a clean, quick transition to a sovereign Iraqi government on June 30 has been dealt a series of blows by local Iraqi political forces, of which the bombing campaign by insurgents is only one. Only a year before, the Americans who planned the invasion were largely ignorant of these groups and their leaders. In their haste to hand over Iraq to someone, the Americans have ceased even trying to find solutions to the most divisive issues, creating a series of political time bombs for the future.
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[more]
Bush's War is a Financial Disaster
The U.S. won an inevitable military triumph, but political victory remains elusive
by Eric Margolis
lithographs
An American Pulse:
The Lithographs of
George Bellows
A Stag at Sharkey's, 1917
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thanks to life in the present
Esther, at Whole Wheat Radio, reminded me of this site. There is more information on it and it is always worth a return visit.
is Americans Knew
what every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine
The Unmentionable Source of Terrorism
by John Pilger
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The current threat of attacks in countries whose governments have close alliances with Washington is the latest stage in a long struggle against the empires of the west, their rapacious crusades and domination. The motivation of those who plant bombs in railway carriages derives directly from this truth. What is different today is that the weak have learned how to attack the strong, and the western crusaders' most recent colonial terrorism exposes "us" to retaliation.
The source of much of this danger is Israel. A creation, then guardian of the west's empire in the Middle East, the Zionist state remains the cause of more regional grievance and sheer terror than all the Muslim states combined. Read the melancholy Palestinian Monitor on the Internet; it chronicles the equivalent of Madrid's horror week after week, month after month, in occupied Palestine. No front pages in the West acknowledge this enduring bloodbath, let alone mourn its victims. Moreover, the Israeli army, a terrorist organisation by any reasonable measure, is protected and rewarded in the west.
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The Palestinian Romeo
by Uri Avnery
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What makes this film into an unforgettable experience is the double exposure of its heroes. Juliano filmed them when they were children, members of Arna's group. They are captivating boys and girls, full of spirit and humor. We see them on all fours, barking and attacking each other in an etude of "dogs". We see Ashraf, the most impressive boy, dreaming of a future when he will be the "Palestinian Romeo". We observe these children, living in inhuman conditions, dreaming of a life of happiness and splendor.
As the film unfolds, we meet them again, by now young men. The smiling, captivating Ashraf, the Palestinian Romeo, blew himself up on a suicide mission. As is usual in such cases, just before the action he recorded a last statement on video: a bearded youngster, solemn, determined, explaining that death is better than life in the hell of a refugee camp under occupation. Others fell - "fell" and were not "massacred" - in the Battle of Jenin.
The Palestinians treat Juliano with perfect trust, in spite of his being a "Yahudi" (Actually he is only half Jewish, but in their eyes he is a Jew). As a result, he was given an opportunity that no other Israeli ever had: he was allowed to accompany and photograph them by day and by night, until the end. Thus a really unique and invaluable document was created. It shows how those men who are described in IDF press-releases as "armed men" and declared to be "sons of death" (meaning: liable to be killed) live and die.
We see them moving in small groups, equipped with light arms, or sleeping in their clothes, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. They sit together, chain-smoking, sometimes joking with each other, as fighters do before battle. A spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie is in the air. They are, all in all, young people full of life, who know that their days are numbered. None of them is a religious fanatic.
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[more]
thanks to Aron's Israel Peace Weblog
photography
Zed Nelson
Jeannie Compton, 22, Oxycontin addict
[more]
thanks to Coincidences
haiti
Time for Kerry to Step Up on Haiti
by Stan Goff
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Perhaps the only thing more depressing about Haiti than the still-unconsolidated coup there is the refusal of the US press to even investigate the circumstances of it. I mean, said investigation would require more effort than walking a dog but less effort than mating a hamper full of socks. Google search “Haiti coup,” and you’ll get about a million hits. And I know a few journalists. They are driven, ambitious work-aholics. So laziness cannot account for their abject failure to represent this as a coup d’etat, which it clearly is, engineered by the United States government, which it just as clearly is. If it’s not laziness, then it’s either complicity with the government or plain, racist apathy – or a combination of both.
But I’m taking up the pen today not merely to lament what we all know, that the white, male capitalist press represents, well… white, male capitalists. I’m going to suggest an action, aimed not at the white, state-corporate perception managers of the press, but at a rich white man who is a candidate for President of the United States, and who cannot possibly hope to win that position without the support of the majority of the nation’s politically engaged African Americans.
It’s been some time since the appearance of a clean-cut polarization in Congress between African American representatives and Euro-Americans, but thanks to the unflinching leadership of Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel, Haiti has forced the Congressional Black Caucus to behave like a Black Caucus and confront white Republicans and Democrats with their constant rhetorical genuflections before “democracy,” when a Black democracy in Haiti has just been overthrown, again, by the white “democracy” to the north.
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fixie project
The fixie project is still moving forward. The fork is painted. A fine rattle-can paint job with Rustoleum's finest black semi-gloss enamel. The fork crown will be painted red. The other parts were on the bike (bottom bracket, seat post, and head set) or were found in boxes and bags of old bicycle parts that I have been carrying around for years. (I knew I'd need those parts someday!) That would include the Sugino Mighty Comp crank set, pedals, and brake lever. The body for the brake lever is at Blaine's being modified. Everything is now cleaned. Next is to prep and paint the frame. That should be done by the end of next week.
coming together
Toxic Shock Jock Syndrome
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In the halls of Republican K Street a question is ringing out:
"What. Went. Wrong?!?!"
For years the Democrats were screamingly furious as to why the Republicans could run on the "3G" attack - Guns, Gays and Giveaways - "The gay UN stormtrooper is coming to take your gun and give it to those laaaazy black people." It was even more offensive in practice than my description of it here.
Bush tried to start this up last summer - and it spun out of control, Rove doesn't know why it isn't working. The Democrats don't either. But after reading this, you will.
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food
The Jean-Paul Sartre Cookbook
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We have been lucky to discover several previously lost diaries of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre stuck in between the cushions of our office sofa. These diaries reveal a young Sartre obsessed not with the void, but with food. Apparently Sartre, before discovering philosophy, had hoped to write "a cookbook that will put to rest all notions of flavor forever." The diaries are excerpted here for your perusal.
October 3
Spoke with Camus today about my cookbook. Though he has never actually eaten, he gave me much encouragement. I rushed home immediately to begin work. How excited I am! I have begun my formula for a Denver omelet.
October 4
Still working on the omelet. There have been stumbling blocks. I keep creating omelets one after another, like soldiers marching into the sea, but each one seems empty, hollow, like stone. I want to create an omelet that expresses the meaninglessness of existence, and instead they taste like cheese. I look at them on the plate, but they do not look back. Tried eating them with the lights off. It did not help. Malraux suggested paprika.
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thanks to consumptive.org
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