To Start the New Year: Let's Get Some Democracy Going!

Sigh.

I should be getting ready for some cheery, bleary New Year's Eve party or other right now.

Instead, I'm checking to make sure I know where my warmest gloves and my driest shoes and all my layers of cold-weather jacketing are currently located.

Why is that, you ask? Well, it is winter here. And cold weather is scheduled to hit us hard sometime early next week.

And, unfortunately, so is something else.

There's probably something similar scheduled where you live. If not, there certainly should be. And it's not too late for you to add your own voice to those who will be standing out in the cold with me just a few too-short days from now.

Here's the email reminder I received a few days ago:

---------------

The guidelines for scheduling the day of local vigil have been changed to:
* if 3,000 U.S. deaths announced on a Sunday, vigil will be following Tuesday afternoon
* if announced on a Monday, vigil will be Wednesday
* if announced on a Tuesday, vigil will be Thursday
* if announced on a Wednesday, vigil will be Friday
* if announced on Thursday, Friday or Sat., vigil will be following Monday

Vigil venue will be at the Federal Bldg on corner of State Street and South Park Row, [redacted]. The time (4:30 to 5:30 p.m.) and other details remain the same. Here is new phone number to confirm: [redacted]. See you there!!

As of Dec. 17, 2006, the official death count was 2,946. [Now, December 30, the total stands at 2,998.]

Here is the media release for this action:

'As the majority of Americans continue their preparations for celebrating the holiday season, the Pentagon will soon be announcing the 3,000th death of a U.S. soldier in Iraq.

'The 9/11 Peace Initiative [one of many local peace-activism groups here] and its many coalition partners are preparing to mark the 3,000th death with plans for a mostly silent vigil to take place at the [redacted] Federal Building on State Street in downtown [redacted]. "With the major religious holidays upon us, we are especially concerned for the many families and friends in the US, Iraq and other nations who will be grieving those who have died in this tragic war," explained [redacted], organizer. "Our purpose is to stop the war and end this suffering."

'Members and friends of the 9/11 Peace Initiative will gather within 48 hours of the military's announcement. Beginning at 4:30 and lasting an hour, a tolling bell and peace cranes will remind downtown commuters of the suffering of the war. All are invited to participate. [A subsequent all-night candlelight vigil has been proposed as well.]

'An immediate withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq, rather than an increase in U.S. military forces, is the answer sought by the local peace movement.'

-----------------

peacemaking is not a passive verb,
Otter

Seattle, Tacoma and Everett are having Town Hall meetings for citizen input on making elections more fair and transparent - hosted by David Sirota.

There is an action Jan. 4 at Ft. Lewis, to support Lieutenant Ehren Watada, who decided the war in Iraq was illegal and refused to further participate.

Those I will try to participate with. There is also a big MLK event coming up that is worthwhile every year.

Poll: More Troops Unhappy With Bush's Course in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006Y.shtml
The American military - once a staunch supporter of President Bush and the Iraq war - has grown increasingly pessimistic about chances for victory, according to the 2006 Military Times Poll. For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president's handling of the war than approve of it. Barely one-third of service members approve of the way the president is handling the war.
{{{I bet DimWit won't be shown this poll from The Military Times....}}}

Robert Fisk | A Dictator Created Then Destroyed by America
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006Z.shtml
Robert Fisk revisits the circumstances that resulted in Saddam Hussein's rise to power, and asks, "Who encouraged Saddam to invade Iran in 1980, which was the greatest war crime he has committed for it led to the deaths of a million and a half souls? And who sold him the components for the chemical weapons with which he drenched Iran and the Kurds? We did. No wonder the Americans, who controlled Saddam's weird trial, forbad any mention of this, his most obscene atrocity, in the charges against him. Could he not have been handed over to the Iranians for sentencing for this massive war crime? Of course not. Because that would also expose our culpability."

I just went back and read the comments I hadn't read on the last thread. KJ reminded us that the purpose of the prior thread was to remind us that our votes changes the makeup of Congress and now we need to spearhead the investigations and positive legislative work they should be capable of, and to get focussed before heading into the 2008 elections.

So another action is to work closely with our elected officials, and point them in the right direction, even while we are simulateously working more globally than that narrow system, for peace and justice and reform. & whatever we do personally is in some sense political.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061230/ap_on_re_us/winter_storms
Nat. Guard aids motorists in Colo. storm
DENVER - National Guard troops in tracked vehicles crawled through 10-foot snowdrifts and whiteout conditions Saturday in eastern Colorado, rescuing motorists trapped by the region's second holiday season blizzard.
~~~~~
The Guard pulled about 20 people out of cars stranded on rural highways from Friday night into Saturday and took them to emergency shelters, said Maj. Gen. Mason Whitney, the state adjutant general.

"They're telling me it's zero visibility," Whitney said. "They'll kind of bump into something and it'll turn out to be a car with people in it."

No injuries were reported.
~~~~~
In southeastern Colorado, about 50 Guard troops operated four SUSVs, or "snow utility sustainment vehicles" — a military version of the sno-cat. The vehicles travel on tracks and can carry 12 people or supplies, Whitney said.

The troops were working around the clock through snowdrifts standing 7 to 10 feet deep, Whitney said.
~~~~~

{{{Click on link for more. So, okay. Call me crazy and maudlin and sentimental if you want, but I've been stuck in blizzards and I know precisely how life-threatening and dangerous it can be to be stuck in them - and the guard troops are endangering their own lives by searching for people in whiteout conditions. Reading about the "everyday heroics" of the Colorado guard units just chokes me up to the point of bawling. This, and other kinds of similar work, is what our guard troops should be doing - here, at home, on our own soil, helping our neighbors who are in trouble. I can't tell you how much I appreciate what the CO guard members are doing, and when they come in from the cold I hope someone is greeting them with a hot mug of cocoa and a hot meal for their efforts rescuing people....}}}

Thanks for your comments, DiAnne. It's nice sometimes to know my words, ideas and comments in the blogosphere aren't just disappearing into a vacuum. :-)

Also, maybe Dwazon will stop in and re-post the url she found to the wiki site that several dKos people put together to track any number of issues.

We stole the fire. We own the fire. We *will* clear the underbrush. We *will* plant new seeds.
Onward! :-)

Greetings from San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Center.

Otter - thanks for sharing. W's refusal to listen to people's will (and his rejoice over another execution) makes me sick. Even if the executed is a monster like Saddam.

Again, we should have never funded Saddam and his genocide in the first place. We've helped him kill, and now even in his absence, killing continues.

Posted by: DiAnne at December 30, 2006 01:48 PM

And the key to remember is that the Dems have been put back in control of Congress to get the nation working again. The people want that first, not another bloodthirsty, divisive impeachment battle.

While I fully support the impeachment of the W cabal, we need to make sure that our new Dem representatives will make America a better country first. Once they demonstrate that their agenda is working, then we can constructively start talking impeachment - by comparatively showing how things were much worse under total Republican control.

Here in San Fran, the CODEPINK/Global Exchange New Year's Eve party is tomorrow.

When I am there, I will make sure to catch up on the state-level happenings, so that I can stay informed, and hopefully participate.

Living in the reactionary part of the state back down south makes it difficult for me to keep up and stay active. So I'll make the most of what I can, while I am in the more progressive part of the state.

I'll share here some of what I find out at the party.

It's been a long walk, but I still advocate that a positive approach, using positive language, is THE way forward. I know I have irritated people by my insistence on not enabling soapbox, rant-fueled, comments and blogs. My goal has been to find the easiest, calmest, most non-threatening way to communicate with others of different mindsets, all in the hopes of giving them a chance to save face, face up to the facts, and join in community.

I came to that stance by experience. Before finding the initial Kerry blog, my on-line friends were, for the most part, die-hard rightwingers. Vitriol and rant were their preferred method of communication. I spent numberous years attempting to convey solid, fact-filled, non-rant missives. In 2003, I quit trying, found the nascent Kerry blog, and with very few exceptions, kept my comments pointed in a forward, positive direction with very little, if any, namecalling. It's still my way, it will continue to be my way, and after all these years, no one is going to change that basic, fundamental part of my on-line life.

It's nice to know and I appreciate DiAnne that you still listen, still care and still 'get' what I've been doing all these years.

Perserverance is a virtue. @;-) Ask my husband. To date, he is still the only person I know personally who lost his (considerable) position due to his stance against the war and against GWB's misAdministration. He didn't lose hope, he didn't give in to despair, and never regretted his actions.

So, namaste, and forward.
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
~~Mohandas K. Gandhi

As I promised/threatened, I will be flooding the inboxes of Congress Critters....

I want the entire MCA '06 repealed, all of it, not just the section that took away habeas corpus. No president or vice president or their appointed minions, especially the current appointed criminals, needs dictatorial powers that would upset the balance of power between the three branches of government, and NO politicians in this nation should be exempt from being tried for the war crimes they commit. That would be an atrocity of international proportions.

Additionally, we need the entire so-called Patriot Act and its amendments repealed, and we need to go back to pre-2000 laws regarding the invasion of privacy and spying on our own citizens. There was no need to relax the laws regarding warrants just to appease the dictator in the first place.

I will be pushing for more investigations of the criminal activities of the appointed idiots "leading" this country and their imeachement. If any administration needed ousting, it's this one, and we all know it.

I will also be "demanding" that guard and reserve troops be brought home and regular troops be redeployed elsewhere - and we do NOT need an increase in troop numbers which will escalate tensions and killing; that will only get more of our people slaughtered in someone else's civil war. That's just insane.

I don't think it's unreasonable to wish for spines and balls for our Congress Critters for 2007. Someone MUST stop the war insanity and bring our troops home ASAP (the sooner the better), someone MUST put the balance of power back to a position of homeostasis and restore the rights and privileges of the citizens of this country, and the war criminals "leading" this nation NEED to be ejected from office....

Sounds like a common sense plan to me....

Hmmm.... since the tab bar on my keyboard that's only a couple of years old now has a large groove in it, and several printed letters are fading fast on the keys (lucky I dont' have to look at the keys to type), perhaps I need to invest in a new keyboard in 2007....

KJ
Just stoppin' by - I guess my pet peeve is that so many people seem to use comedy shows, pundits, bloggers, movies, OpEds and tv infotainment/news as primary news sources rather than first searching out the facts. I know that the facts are purposely obscured so that even investigative reporters can't find them.

Our education should include mandatory coursework on how to consume information and use it.

In research you state the question, which if answered, should support one hypothesis or another and eventually a theory. You have to know the context (history) before you ask your question and then relate your answer to its historical context, and determine which new questions should be asked.

In a medical context, you report what appeared to happen (subjective), what does evidence show (objective), what probably did really happen (analysis), what should be done (prescription).

In neither case do you blindly take what is thrown at you.

For example, today it is bestowed upon us that all media will be focussed on Saddam Hussein. This will block out James Brown's third funeral, Gerald Ford's week of honorable repose, the fighting between Ethiopia and Somalia, and even Lindsay Lohan's pole dancing, the emerging feud between Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and the wedding party who were gored by a buffalo.

NonnyO
Beware carpal tunnel syndrome.
I agree about the Guards. I'm happy there were enough of them around to make a difference and that they weren't all shipped offshore for some stupid war.

Ally
Enjoy SF! I know you will!

DiAnne, I've heard of everything you mentioned above, all without turning on the television or seriously scanning news sites, *except* the gored by buffalo wedding party! ?!

Serious filters are needed to screen out disinformation and serious finger strength needed to find real information, as you stated above.

BTW, I nominate you for Blogosphere Person With The Most Equanimity of the Decade. lol

(I try, but for all my efforts, that Irish/Pict blood rules, you know!)

NonnyO
Save those fingers and wrists!

Notice these stories are all related? We send billions plus personnel, Saddam is executed and all the rest, the violence doesn't end, 3000 are killed now, and there are protests. Then most of the cycle repeats. The writer of lst story notes the killings are not r/t the execution. Of course not! These bombings happen every day in Iraq. Additional execution-related killings will just happen ON TOP of the usual background violence, already escalating for the last 4 months due to sectarian violence. Should be more Sunni flareups now.

Bombings Kill at Least 68 in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006A.shtml
Bombings killed at least 68 people in Iraq on Saturday, including one planted on a minibus that exploded in a fish market in a mostly Shiite town south of Baghdad. The attacks came hours after Saddam Hussein was hanged in Baghdad for ordering the killings of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail in 1982. Despite
concerns about a spike in unrest, Saturday's violence was not unusually high and there was no indication it was related to the execution.

The Independent UK | An Execution Will Not Quell Iraq Violence
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006B.shtml
The Independent UK writes: "Saddam Hussein awaited his imminent end last night, sentenced to hang for crimes
against humanity. His last hours were punctuated by the necessary rituals: the signature on the death warrant from Iraq's Prime Minister; the leave-taking from his closest relatives; the handover of his last will and testament, the release of a valedictory letter to Iraqis, and, at the last, his transfer from US into Iraqi custody, so that his own people could do the deed. That the US and British invasion of Iraq would entail the death of Saddam Hussein had a grim inevitability."

Pentagon to Request Billions More in War Money
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006C.shtml
The Pentagon is seeking nearly $100 billion for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, a request that, if approved by Congress, would set an annual record for war-related spending.

December Deadliest Month for Troops in Iraq in '06
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006D.shtml
Three more Marines were killed in battle in Iraq, the US military said Friday, making December the deadliest month this year for American troops in war-wracked nation with the toll reaching 106.

Anti-War Protests Set for 3,000th US Military Death in Iraq
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006E.shtml
In Kansas City, they will light candles and lay out more than 80 pairs of empty combat boots. In Chicago, anti-war activists will hand out black ribbons, each bearing the name of a US soldier killed in Iraq. In all, organizers say some 140 demonstrations in 37 states are planned to mark the 3,000th US military death in
Iraq.

KJ
I also absorbed all of the above without the aid of television.
I didn't actually open and read the buffalo goring or celebutante stories - but just noticed the relative pre-eminence of the titles.
I guess Paris Hilton will have to go entertain the troops if she wants to get into the news now. All Hiltons vote Republican.
I read that in Barnes and Noble.

KJ
All deaths are equal, maybe.

DiAnne
All deaths are equal.

Wowzers! Who knew? (Besides Karen, I mean...)

"Born Elizabeth Anne Bloomer in Chicago in 1918 and raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., Mrs. Ford was passionate about dance. Not long after she graduated from high school, she studied with Martha Graham in New York City, becoming a member of the Martha Graham Auxiliary Group. In 1941, back in Grand Rapids, she became a fashion coordinator for a department store and formed her own dance group.

"After a brief marriage to a furniture salesman, she met Mr. Ford in 1947 and married him the next year, two weeks before he was elected to his first term in Congress."

dancing for serenity is like writing for wisdom sometimes,
Otter

A friend sent this out - obviously took some time with it:

Ah, it went off like a Texas execution, with all the PR timing we've come to admire and love from this administration. Just in time for coffee and Saturday morning cartoons on New Year's weekend, and to drown out, one can only assume it is hoped, the 3,000th ending of human lives we care about. We don't do body counts for unworthies.

A new beginning. My eyes mist.

1. An absolute miracle of propaganda; amazing what is left out: strong US support till 1991.

The first paragraphs of the lead "news" story aren't so great, either:

"BAGHDAD, Dec. 30 — Saddam Hussein, the dictator who led Iraq through three decades of brutality, war and bombast before American forces chased him from his capital city and captured him in a filthy pit near his hometown, was hanged just before dawn today during the morning call to prayer.
The final stages for Mr. Hussein, 69, came with terrible swiftness after he lost the appeal, five days ago, of his death sentence for the killings of 148 men and boys in the northern town of Dujail in 1982. He had received the sentence less than two months before from a special court set up to judge his reign as the almost unchallenged dictator of Iraq."

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

--Julia Ward Howe, 1861

I don't expect much from the Times, God knows, but this was a new low. Of course, they must cover their tracks, too, and there are tyrants to topple before we cease.

The only moral issue, it seems, is how much of the hanging video to show.

They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

--Bob Dylan, 1965

Now, for us adults out there, some actual facts and analysis, unaccountably left out of the mass media feeding frenzy (the other side of the "Diana effect," another terrible swift sword -- that cuts both ways):

2. Robert Fisk.

3. Robert Parry.

And I believe this version of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is more apt; had we an actual paper of record, it would be extensively quoted; had we an actual education system, widely known:

Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;
He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger's wealth is stored;
He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has scored;
His lust is marching on.

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the Eastern dews and damps;
I have read his doomful mission by the dim and flaring lamps—
His night is marching on.

I have read his bandit gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my pretensions, so with you my wrath shall deal;
Let the faithless son of Freedom crush the patriot with his heel;
Lo, Greed is marching on!"

We have legalized the strumpet and are guarding her retreat;*
Greed is seeking out commercial souls before his judgement seat;
O, be swift, ye clods, to answer him! be jubilant my feet!
Our god is marching on!

In a sordid slime harmonious Greed was born in yonder ditch,
With a longing in his bosom—and for others' goods an itch.
As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich—
Our god is marching on.

* NOTE: In Manila the Government has placed a certain industry under the protection of our flag. (M.T.)

--Mark Twain, 1901

Links:
1. An absolute miracle of propaganda
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/world/middleeast/30saddam.html?pagewanted=all

2. The first paragraphs of the lead "news
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/world/middleeast/30cnd-hussein.html?_r=1&oref
=slogin

3. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/saddam_hussein/index.html?inline=nyt-per

4.http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html?inline=nyt-geo

5. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/business/media/30netw.html

6. Robert Fisk
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2112555.ece

7. Robert Parry
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/123006.html

Ron Chusid:

In this afternoon’s news, Saddam Hussain is still dead.

Three thousand American soldiers are still dead, with over 46,000 injured.

Over 600,000 Iraqis are still dead and there are over 3 million refugees.

In related news, Osama bin Laden, who George Bush promised to get “dead or alive,” is still alive.

http://www.liberalvalues.com

I just cross-posted the above commentary at his blog as a comment.

Let history march on.

December Casualty List:

This is for December from the Iraq Coalition Casualties site:

US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
UK NAME NOT RELEASED YET Basra - Basrah Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (north of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Edward W. Shaffer Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Christopher Esckelson Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Lance Corporal William C. Koprince Jr. Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
LAT dižkareivis Vitalijs Vasiljevs Diwaniyah (near) - Qadisiyah Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
LAT dižkareivis Gints Bleija Diwaniyah (near) - Qadisiyah Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Douglas L. Tinsley Baghdad (South of) - Babil Non-hostile - vehicle rollover
US Specialist Joseph A. Strong Baghdad (South of) - Babil Non-hostile - vehicle rollover
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (northwest of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (northwest of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Baghdad (northwest of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Joshua M. Schmitz Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant John T. Bubeck Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Captain Hayes Clayton Balad - Salah ad Din Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant 1st Class Dexter E. Wheelous Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Jae S. Moon Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Private Eric R. Wilkus Landstuhl Reg. Med. Ctr. - Baghdad Non-hostile
US Specialist Aaron L. Preston Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Private 1st Class Andrew H. Nelson Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Jason C. Denfrund Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Private Evan A. Bixler Hit - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - indirect fire
US Lance Corporal Stephen L. Morris Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Michael J. Crutchfield Balad (Camp Anaconda) - Salah ad Din Non-hostile
US Specialist John Barta Buhritz - Diyala Hostile - hostile fire - indirect fire
US Specialist Chad J. Vollmer Salman Pak - Babil Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Private 1st Class Wilson A. Algrim Salman Pak - Babil Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Private Bobby Mejia II Salman Pak - Babil Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Curtis L. Norris Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Elias Elias Baghdad (southwest of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Joshua D. Sheppard Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US Lance Corporal Fernando S. Tamayo Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Ryan J. Burgess Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Ryan L. Mayhan Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Hospitalman Kyle A. Nolen Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Myles Cody Sebastien Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Specialist Scott D. Dykman Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Staff Sergeant Jacob G. McMillan Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire, IED
US Specialist Robert J. Volker Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US NAME NOT RELEASED YET Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Specialist Andrew P. Daul Hit - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Joshua D. Pickard Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Captain Kevin M. Kryst Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack
US Staff Sergeant Brian L. Mintzlaff Taji - Baghdad Non-hostile - vehicle rollover
US Private 1st Class Seth M. Stanton Taji (Died in Balad) - Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Lance Corporal Nick J. Palmer Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - sniper fire
US Private 1st Class Joe L. Baines Taji - Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Staff Sergeant David R. Staats Taji - Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Matthew J. Stanley Taji - Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Staff Sergeant Henry K. Kahalewai Brooke Army Med Center, TX - Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Private 1st Class Paul Balint Jr. Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US Staff Sergeant Theodore A. Spatol Thermopolis Non-hostile - illness
US Lance Corporal Luke C. Yepsen Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US Lance Corporal Matthew W. Clark Albu Hayatt - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Major Gloria D. Davis Baghdad Non-hostile
US Sergeant Brent W. Dunkleberger Mosul - Ninawa Hostile - hostile fire - RPG attack
US Lance Corporal Budd M. Cote Khaldiyah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Matthew V. Dillon Khaldiyah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Lance Corporal Clinton J. Miller Khaldiyah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Master Sergeant Brian P. McAnulty Al Anbar Province Non-hostile - helicopter crash
US Staff Sergeant Thomas W. Clemons Diwaniyah (near) - Qadisiyah Non-hostile - illness - heart attack
US Private 1st Class Shawn M. Murphy Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Philip C. Ford Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Brennan C. Gibson Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Nicholas P. Steinbacher Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US 1st Lieutenant Nathan M. Krissoff Al Taqaddum - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Lance Corporal Brent E. Beeler Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Staff Sergeant Henry W. Linck Baghdad (South of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Micah S. Gifford Baghdad (South of) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Staff Sergeant Kristofer R. Ciraso Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Nicholas R. Gibbs Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US Lance Corporal Cody G. Watson Fallujah - Anbar Non-hostile
US Sergeant Yevgeniy Ryndych Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Private 1st Class Travis C. Krege Hawijah - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Yari Mokri Hawijah - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Jason Huffman Hawijah - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Jesse J.J. Castro Hawijah - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Joshua B. Madden Hawijah - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Captain Travis L. Patriquin Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Vincent J. Pomante III Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Dustin J. Libby Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US Major Megan M. McClung Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Jordan W. Hess Brooke Army Med Center, TX - At-Ta'mim Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Marco L. Miller Landstuhl Reg. Med. Ctr. - Salah ad Din Hostile - hostile fire - indirect fire
US Private 1st Class Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US Private 1st Class Albert M. Nelson Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - small arms fire
US Lance Corporal Thomas P. Echols Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Hospitalman Christopher A. Anderson Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant Jay R. Gauthreaux Ba'qubah (died in Balad) - Diyala Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Nicholas D. Turcotte An Nasiriyah - Dhi Qar Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US Private Ross A. McGinnis Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - grenade
US Specialist Dustin M. Adkins Haditha - Anbar Non-hostile - helicopter crash
US Captain Shawn L. English Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Joshua C. Sticklen Haditha - Anbar Non-hostile - helicopter crash
US Major Joseph Trane McCloud Haditha - Anbar Non-hostile - helicopter crash
US Captain Kermit O. Evans Haditha - Anbar Non-hostile - helicopter crash
US Private Troy D. Cooper Balad - Salah ad Din Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Kenneth W. Haines Abu Hishma (died in Balad) - Salah ad Din Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Corporal Billy B. Farris Taji - Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Lance Corporal Jesse D. Tillery Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Specialist Corey J. Rystad Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Bryan T. McDonough Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Keith E. Fiscus Taji (near) - Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Staff Sergeant Robert L. Love Jr. Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Here you can help buy calling cards for guys at Walter Reed:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/29/182554/95

DiAnne, the url to Ron's blog is: www.liberalvaluesblog.com
{{{DiAnne}}} catch ya on the fly by, sister. @;-)

Beware carpal tunnel syndrome.
Posted by: DiAnne at December 30, 2006 03:16 PM

Er... Already have, had one surgery years ago, apparently didn't take or else there's a different problem becasue I have a big knot in my right wrist that only goes down when I don't use it often.

Made fudge for Xmas, the kind that requires constant stirring. Almost screamed in agony for many hours after that because of how it irritated my right wrist. I stayed away from the computer keyboard for most of a couple of days because of that, wore the wrist brace.

But, for right now, I just don't want to take the time to do surgery again. It would take too much time away from the computer and various research projects. I just try not to irritate both wrists too much (left not as bad as right, but both are affected and I'm right-handed).

So, thanks for the warning... @;-) But too late....

Yes DiAnne - I did notice those stories are all related in one way or another...

Pentagon to Request Billions More in War Money
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123006C.shtml
~~~~~

In the supplemental request... money for ballistic missiles is being requested. Does anyone need reminding that very effective low-tech IEDs are what the insurgents are using and that there is no way a ballistic missile would work against guerilla warfare tactics...? Sheesh. Where's the logic? Yes, I know. DimWit most likely wants the ballistic missiles to launch an attack in Iran....

Meanwhile, somewhere out there, Osama Been Forgotten is probably laughing his @$$ off, DimWit probably went off the wagon to celebrate his 'successful' detour to kill the one man who did NOT have anything to do with 9/11, and I've not yet seen where any columnist has mentioned that ironic twist yet. The one man who allegedly DID have some connection to 9/11 is still free, and the one man who did NOT have any connection to 9/11 is dead. Mission Accomplished, Wrong Way AWOL Boosh...! Heckuva Job Herr Dictator...!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061230/ap_on_re_us/army_training_hawaii
Judge: Army can resume Hawaii training

Excerpt (click on link for more):

A Stryker Brigade, the Army's most modern fighting unit, had been ordered to halt training after a federal appeals court in October found that the Army had acted illegally when it decided to set up the brigade in the islands. The Army already has set up the brigades at bases in Alaska and Washington state.

The environmental group Earthjustice sued the Army on behalf of three Native Hawaiian groups who argued the Stryker vehicles and their training grounds would harm cultural sites and the environment.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra said in his ruling that his court has profound respect for Hawaii's cultural history and its unique environment. But, he said, "In this court's view, there are few things that are more important than the lives of those men and women who serve in the armed forces."

The ruling allows the Army to train with new equipment and exercise both individual Stryker soldiers and units. It must also take extra steps to protect the environment.

The decision does not mean the new unit can stay in the islands indefinitely. The Army must still consider alternate locations outside Hawaii, as ordered in the October decision.

{{{I wonder what the Goddess Pele will decide about this...?}}}

I know what my Goddess has decided about this, anyway.

She's agin it.

Kwan Yin is definitely against it.

Tired of these big brouhahas for ex-Prezes, dictators and stars.
All deaths are equal and life should at least be balancing out death. The equation is all messed up. We're gonna pay. A giant ice shelf broke off in the Arctic. That's just the beginning. Can't cheat Karma.

My Goddesses, Andrasta, Brigantia, and Frey are also agin' it....

Volanoes are going to be erupting.

A Clown Not Smiling on the Inside:

You don't know where to start mourning today, whether for noted wife beater James Brown, Nixon's BFF Gerald Ford, or torture aficionado Saddam Hussein, not to mention residual tears for Augusto Pinochet and his magical people-disappearing act. So perhaps it's best just to send in the clown (really):

"Harpo T. Clown painted on a happy face, then stood sadly Friday in front of the church where Gerald Ford, the former president he called a friend, was being remembered by family and well-wishers.

"The colorful character wore blue and white sequins, a neon green fuzzy wig and white floppy shoes and stood just beyond the police barricade near the church.

"The clown, who is mute, nodded when asked if he was sad. He pulled out a scrapbook of photographs showing him standing alongside President Ford at various charitable events and golf tournaments in the area. He also attended the Grand Rapids, Mich., opening of Ford's presidential museum in 1982.

"Harpo, who lives in Palm Springs but won't divulge his real name, nodded vigorously when asked if he was a Republican and when asked if he missed his friend, President Ford.

"When Palm Desert police officers walked up to check him out, he maintained his silence and scribbled down notes which the officers read before walking away.

"To get into the church to pay his respects, Harpo would have had to go to a public staging area five miles away for a bus escort. He chose to stay close to the barricades outside the church."

http://www.rudepundit.com

8 PM PST 30 Dec. 2006

GERALD FORD
Washington Honors A President
Ford's Casket Arrives at US Capitol ABC News
all 1,548 news articles »

JAMES BROWN
Fans bid joyous farewell to Godfather of Soul
all 2,401 news articles »

SADDAM HUSSEIN
Saddam Hussein executed
all 2,266 news articles »

JAMES BROWN IS STILL AHEAD IN THE SWEEPSTAKES OF POSTERITY

Leave your memoirs at http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com

Posted by: not my president at December 30, 2006 11:02 PM

Which proves to me that artists and musicians (many of whom we know have personality flaws) have more of an impact on our culture than politicians and tyrants....

Hah! Hopefully that means pea-brains like DimWit will have a less than memorable "legacy"!

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/12/29/osama-bin-laden-and-the-sovereignty-of-pakistan/
Osama bin Laden and the Sovereignty of Pakistan

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20061230/cx_crwiz_uc/crwiz20061230
Wizard of Id
{{{Remind you of anyone...?}}}

Posted by: DiAnne at December 30, 2006 08:29 PM

Well, in view of the enormous climate changes, it wouldn't surprise me one bit....

Mount St. Helens was coughing a few weeks ago.

There's a volcano fault running under Yellowstone that could blow.

Many other active volcanoes around the world have been either flowing or doing minor erupting for quite a while, including on HI.

Then there's the rising sea levels and many areas that are at sea level could be under water... and at the rate ice caps and glaciers are melting, it wouldn't at all surprise me if some coastal areas at sea level go under water even during my lifetime (and I'm already old)....

It really is NOT nice to fool with Mother Nature...! She may absorb massive insults and bring Earth back to life and balance, but too much abuse and she may just destroy those who are killing her at an accelerated rate as a matter of self-defense....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061231/ap_on_re_us/gerald_ford
Cheney hails Ford's pardon of Nixon

Excerpt (click on link for more):

Ford's decision to pardon Richard Nixon, so divisive at the time that it probably cost him the 1976 election, was dealt with squarely in his funeral services by his old chief of staff, Vice President Dick Cheney.

"It was this man, Gerald R. Ford, who led our republic safely though a crisis that could have turned to catastrophe," said Cheney, speaking in the Capitol Rotunda where Ford's body rested. "Gerald Ford was almost alone in understanding that there can be no healing without pardon."

{{{So, is Chinkster looking for pardons in advance for himself and his evil puppet-boss...???}}}

NonnyO
Of course Cheney approves of the pardon - it sets a nice precedent for him (potentially) - he may be pondering such things - he should be.

Posted by: DiAnne at December 30, 2006 11:50 PM

Well someone else can "pardon" those criminals all they want. In my mind, they will NEVER be pardoned - at least not by me....

Well I'm glad Al Sharpton pardoned Michael Jackson to come back from Bahrain to pay a tribute to James Brown. I know it's not PC but I am putting the music & spirit of forgiveness ahead of the allegations that have been made against any of them.

I am not going to pardon the neocons though. I have spent this week vicariously at the Apollo and in Augusta and Atlanta and I am not following the brouhaha about Saddam or Ford.

People can laugh all they want but this goes back to my teens and music saved me. Even now, I don't think I could live without music but I could easily live without all this nightmarish world of politics and war and lies.

Does it strike you as odd? The very people who are so easily terrorised are those who have committed such terror themselves. How can they live any way other than in fear? Well, I'm quite prepared to let them live the rest of their days in fear, as long as I don't have to. Provided I can live in a democracy (reclaimed of course), amongst people of all races and creeds, I will be without fear.

In just under 3 hours it will be January 1st, 2007 in Australia. My thoughts and dreams are on a much grander scale than they've ever been for the start of a new year. 2007 MUST be a peaceful year. I look forward to you reclaiming your American democracy, your constitution, your bill of rights and all of the other things that have been taken away from you over these past 6 years. I hope you are able to ensure that such precious possessions can never be squandered by the paranoid hysteria of perpetrators of atrocities wherever in the world there is wealth to be extracted.

I look forward to the dumping of those terrible hysteria-induced laws about our friends and neighbours and ourselves. And of course, I hope with all hope, and even more, that David Hicks is allowed to come home.

Hanging one man won't fix the mess
Paul McGeough
December 31, 2006
Page 1 of 3 | Single page

WHEN it came, the news was quite stunning.

Despite all the certainty that Saddam Hussein would swing from the hangman's noose, first reports confirming that he was just another of the corpses that litter liberated Iraq was a powerful reminder that justice of some kind catches up with all.

But the former dictator's execution was more a traditional revenge killing than what western legal experts like to describe as justice being done — and also being seen to be done.

Such was the violent intimidation and political interference in Saddam's trial that no appeal court in the United States, Britain or Australia would allow the verdict to stand.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hanging-one-man-wont-fix-the-mess/2006/12/30/1166895525989.html

More negative reviews for the hanging judge, G.W. Bush - who has turned losing a war of ideas into an artform.

December 31, 2006
For Arab Critics, Hussein’s Execution Symbolizes the Victory of Vengeance Over Justice
By HASSAN M. FATTAH

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 30 — As daylight broke over the Arab world and news of Saddam Hussein’s hanging spread over the airwaves and the Internet, the execution proved just as profound for what it did not change as for what it did.

Hezbollah’s supporters in Beirut woke up on Saturday morning ready for another day of protests aimed at bringing down the United States-backed government of Fouad Siniora. Even in Iran, where the Foreign Ministry called the execution a “jubilation” for the thousands who lost family members in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, officials pledged to continue pursuing their nuclear ambitions and denounced the United Nations Security Council’s efforts to curb them, Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, reported.

Throughout the Arab world, opposition movements are still on the run, many pro-democracy activists are either imprisoned or have simply given up, and the very targets of the American campaign to transform the Middle East, like Hezbollah, Iran and Syria, are more emboldened than ever.

Almost four years after United States troops entered Iraq with a broader foreign policy goal of ushering in a “new” Middle East, one built on democracy and rule of law, the execution of Mr. Hussein on one of the holiest days in Islam marked the unceremonious demise of that strategy, many Arab analysts said.

“If you compare the results to the objectives the U.S. claimed to realize, whether it was democracy or control of the region, their policies have evidently failed,” said Nawaf Kabbara, professor of political science at Balamand University in Beirut. “They were not able to spread democracy, control anything or make any serious breakthrough. It is a failure on all levels.”

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/world/middleeast/31arab.html

Thanks Cyrano - none of this is surprising is it? You cannot FORCE democracy on anyone or any region. And whatever GWB wants in the Middle East, it can't possibly be democracy. He's wiping out democracy in the US, so the rhetoric about Iraqi's wish for democracy is utterly ridiculous. Are they any freer than they were before the invasion? Do you think the choice of a holy day for the execution was deliberate?

Democracy springs from within and cannot be imposed.

Happy New Year in Australia and all geographical points forward in time for the dateline.

Iran Grants Iraq $1 bln Loan

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran announced here on Friday
that it would grant a one-billion-dollar loan to Iraq.

According to a report by the Iranian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, the loan paid in the form of credit is a further measure by Iran to help reconstruction of Iraq.

Speaking in a meeting with Iraq's Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr, Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davoud Danesh Ja'fari said the loan is aimed at assisting the Iraqi government with the reconstruction of that country in areas of mutual interest.

"The Iraqi side has undertaken to use Iranian experts and contractors for the execution of that country's infrastructural projects which should be specified through earlier coordination with Iran," he said.

For his part, the Iraqi finance minister reminded that the agreement followed the rather lengthy negotiations between the two countries' heads of state, and added, "No doubt, the two sides' negotiations would not have reached a conclusion if it were not for the strong support of the Iranian and Iraqi senior officials."

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8510090178

Iran must have faith-based programs, like we do, in the government.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hanging-one-man-wont-fix-the-mess/2006/12/30/1166895525989.html

Posted by: woz at December 31, 2006 06:43 AM

Excerpts I found interesting....

What Washington did not appreciate when it insisted that Iraq had to become the main battlefield in the so-called war on terror, was that Saddam was a product of Iraq — not the reverse.
Now, when it is too late, there is a sense in the commentary and analysis coming out of Washington that the "Iraq-made-Saddam" equation is better understood in some quarters.

But now the conceptualisation is being used to whip the Iraqis as, increasingly, they are blamed for all that has gone wrong since the US-led invasion in March 2003.

It's as though it all being "their fault" somehow justifies the rising demands in the US for Washington to quit Iraq and to leave the "ungrateful" Iraqis to "fix their own mess".

See it from the point of view of a frustrated Washington strategist — first, the Iraqis looted their own country and then they welcomed foreign jihadists who brought the Sunni insurgency to boiling point before Shiites struck back early this year.

Now they are showing their ingratitude with a numbing level of sectarian killing that makes it impossible for the US to help them.

~~~~~

And despite some contrite rhetoric, as the weeks go on there is little evidence that Bush is ready for a major policy shift or, frankly, that the new Democratic majorities in Congress will be able to move him.

"I just don't believe that this president, with this vice-president whispering in his ear every moment, is oriented to change," retired Colonel Larry Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell in Bush's first term, told reporters recently. "And even if he were, I don't believe his administration is capable of implementing change."

There was a similar view from Lawrence J. Korb, a Reagan-era Pentagon official, who might well have been talking about Saddam when he actually was assessing Bush's Iraq performance.

He said: "When it comes to Iraq, (Bush) has basically confused stubbornness with steadfastness. I think he believes that, regardless of what other people say, if he simply stays the course, he'll be eventually proved right."

Bush and his allies — and that includes Australian — have made an unbelievable mess of Iraq and their wider Middle East policies. It is impossible to see how the death in Baghdad yesterday of a man called Saddam Hussein can alter any of that.

{{{I have to wonder if the SOTU address in January, or the war "surge" [escalation] message coming up probably before that, will blame Saddam Hussein and/or blame the Iraqi people who seem to be refusing to "allow" democracy to be forced on the citizens in their country for Bu$hCo's FUBAR role in Iraq and the wider region.... Classic "blame the victim" strategy to follow, IMHO, along with the 'usual' xenophobic messages underlying the spoken rhetoric - he'll blame someone else for "having to increase troop numbers" [i.e. escalate the war and kill more people] - of that we can be sure. Dang, but the psychopath is just getting more and more predictable every day, isn't he? If it's so patently obvious to us, why isn't it patently obvious to "journalists" in Lamestream Media...?}}}

Posted by: DiAnne at December 31, 2006 01:43 PM

Hmmmm..... Bu$hCo will see Iran's loan to Iraq as meddling in what Herr Boosh sees as his conquered territory... and an added reason to escalate tensions and another false "justification" for attacking and/or invading Iran next.... And, what about Chinkster's Halliburton? As far as I know, even with sanctions imposed, Halliburton has not ceased doing business with Iran, have been doing business there for years.... I wonder if that constitutes unpatriotic treason on the part of the corporation...?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061231/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_american_deaths

U.S. death toll in Iraq reaches 3,000

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The death of a Texas soldier, announced Sunday by the Pentagon, raised the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq to at least 3,000 since the war began, according to an Associated Press count.

{{{More on link. Happy freakin' New Year to you, Herr Boosh, you chicken$h!t murdering moron....!}}}

Vigils to Commemorate 3,000 U.S. Deaths in Iraq

The number of US military deaths in Iraq has just reached 3000. To mark this sad moment, and to mourn the loss of hundreds of thousands of people killed in Iraq since the US invasion (far more than a million since the war started in 1991), please join us in a candle light vigil at 6:30-8:00 pm, Monday, Jan. 1st, on the south shore of Green Lake (Green Lake Way and N 64th st).

Even on New Years? Especially on New Years. For the people of Iraq, and for our troops--most of both groups want the US to withdraw its forces. And, of course, for ourselves and our community, to help turn America to a foreign policy of real security through international cooperation and human rights.

Because the date of this vigil was unknown until now, we need your help to get the word out to people. Please forward this email, mention the vigil to friends, and invite a neighbor.

The vigil is sponsored by Peace Action of WA, Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace Ch. 92, AFSC, FOR, and the SNOW Coalition.

In addition to the vigil at Green Lake vigil from 6:30-8:00 pm, there will also be a Die-In at Westlake Park, 4-5pm (on the same day, Monday, January 1st, 4th Ave and Pine Street in downtown Seattle).

A family I know personally was pictured in Seattle Sunday Times - one guy had so many friends and family killed by Saddam's men he pictured an entire wall with their pictures.

I just had coffee with my Iranian friend who translates Farsi for Afghans who speak that language if of Iranian descent. She has similar stories of those harassed and tortured by the Taleban.

Then we agreed there is a third group - those harassed, scared, wounded, killed, traumatized etc. by foreign occupiers from US, UK etc. and also invaded by an army of foreign contractors.

On top of this, it's been happening for centuries - marauding Ottomons, European colonialists, Russian imperialists then commies, and then the return of British and American colonialists, opportunists and occupiers.

Dwahzon
I read the Juan Cole OpEd you recommended, and the Kos diary, about "why now" re Saddam's execution timing and speculation about what could happen in the future. Very interesting.

It's at the end of the last section - I recommend others read it as it's very thought-provoking and a little scary, but realistic I think (unfortunately).

It's this:

SusanHu highlighted 2 posts yesterday in a diary: one from Riverbend of Baghdad Burning and one from Larisa Alexandrovna with a guest post on Juan Cole’s blog. Both of them speculate on what the real goal is behind Saddam's death at this time.

Here’s the diary link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/29/155724/01

It’s worth it to go on and read Larisa’s complete post and some of the comments…

http://www.juancole.com/2006/12/alexandrovna-guest-op-ed-saddams.html#comments

Posted by: dwahzon at December 31, 2006 12:58 AM

Sad story of people I know .. suffered under Saddam .. life is still complex and unsettling, to say the least. Nice photo.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003503157_saddamlocal31m.html

Lurking. Really interesting comments and articles and links.

I dread this coming week or the week after when President Bush announces the plans for Iraq that he didn't want to announce before the holidays in America.

It hurts thinking about how many families just had their final holiday dinners and celebrations with their children or siblings if he orders a massive hit in Iraq.

None the less I want to take this chance to wish everyone Happy New Year. (This is my first moment to sit and relax and get online that I have had for a few weeks now, and it's delicious!)

DiAnne,

You should see how much snow we have now! About 12 inches. Southeast of the state got 16 inches. It was so pretty yesterday watching it sprinkle down like powdered sugar. I can enjoy it now that I know I'm not going to have to be driving the state in it in Jan. and Feb. I stepped down from my management position so I wouldn't have to drive in the rural deserted areas in the freeze anymore. It can get down to -40 windchill and -20 for a regular low with a high of less than zero here in the winter. One year it was that cold for 9 weeks in a row. Just too dangerous I decided. Miss my old position but I know I will be really glad during the next two months.

I also am freer (sp?) to speak my mind politically around here now that I am not in a management position. Took a half cut in pay though and that part sucks.

Give your mom a call and tell her to be careful outside it is frozen and really slick out there!!!
And tell her hi from her southern neighbor!

Really great to read the posts and comments about all the vigils and how some are viewing the propoganda and timing of Saddam's execution.

Robert Parry | Bush Silences a Dangerous Witness
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106D.shtml
"Like a blue-blood version of a Mob family with global reach, the Bushes have eliminated one more key witness to the important historical events that led the US military into a bloody stalemate in Iraq and pushed the Middle East to the brink of calamity," writes Robert Parry. "The hanging of Saddam Hussein was supposed to be - as the New York Times observed - the 'triumphal bookend' to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. But now with nearly 3,000 American soldiers killed and the Iraqi death toll exceeding 600,000 by some estimates, Bush may be forced to savor the image of Hussein dangling at the end of a rope a little more privately."
{{{"Must Read."}}}

History of Bushes and Hussein Is Hard to Ignore
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106Y.shtml
The history of animosity between the Bushes and Hussein is hard to ignore. The relationship actually began as one of pragmatic friendship in the 1980s, when Hussein was at war with the main US enemy in the region, Iran, and George H.W. Bush was vice president in an administration that offered him help. A 1992 New Yorker article suggested that Bush, through Arab intermediaries, advised Hussein to intensify the bombing of Iran. Hussein soon became too much to handle.

William Rivers Pitt | Hussein the Rabbit
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106A.shtml
"My cell phone has been buzzing with regularity all day, alerting me to the arrival of text messages from my conservative friends. 'Saddam is dead woohoo' reads the latest one, and that pretty much describes all the others. Somehow, a lot of people are finding meaning or gratification in the fact that Hussein met his fate at the end of a rope Saturday morning. I just can't get there," says William Rivers Pitt.

Excerpt:

Hussein's fangs had been pulled years ago, and the simple truth of his demise is that he was a former ally of great value until he ceased to serve our regional purposes. His death served one last hoped-for purpose, as well. A floundering president, desperate to squeeze one last trip around the track out of the rabbit, has earned from this a few weekend hours of news stories about the bad man.

Somewhere along the line, perhaps, people may come to pause and question whether putting that noose on Hussein was worth the three thousand American soldiers killed; the 47,000 American soldiers wounded; the untold thousands of Iraqi civilians killed; the fertile recruiting ground for terrorists born of the resulting rage from these deaths, and the trillions of tax dollars poured into the sand.

Saddam Hussein was hanged on Saturday for all the acts beyond those described in the trial's final ruling, most of which were committed with the full knowledge and willing assistance of the American government - a government that propped up and sustained Hussein because he served as a useful idiot in our efforts against Iran. These facts will be buried with his body in an undisclosed location, and once again, the sand itself will swallow for eternity another glaring example of the awesome distance between words and deeds.

The rabbit, at last, has been removed from the track. We invaded his country, and things got worse. We captured him and threw him in prison, and things got worse. Now we have killed him, and things will get worse. We are still running in circles, arriving time and again at the place we just left. One wonders if we will ever get around to seeing the noose around our own necks in time, before the platform falls away beneath us and the darkness swallows us with the sound of a sickening snap.

Timing of Saddam Execution Risks Arab Backlash: Analysts
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106F.shtml
Images of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein being led to the gallows on one of Islam's most important feast days risk further alienating public opinion in an Arab world already bristling at perceived Western insensitivity, analysts have warned. Even the West's leading Middle East allies, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, publicly spoke out against the choice of the first day of the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice to put Saddam to death.

Richard A. Clarke | While You Were at War ...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106C.shtml
"In every administration, there are usually only about a dozen barons who can really initiate and manage meaningful changes in national security policy. For most of 2006, some of these critical slots in the Bush administration have been vacant. And with the nation involved in a messy war spiraling toward a bad conclusion, the key deputies and Cabinet members and advisers are all focusing on one issue, at the expense of all others: Iraq. National Security Council veteran Rand Beers has called this the '7-year-old's soccer syndrome' - just like little kids playing soccer, everyone forgets their particular positions and responsibilities and runs like a herd after the ball," says Richard A. Clarke.

DOJ Probes Interior Officials' Ties to Oil Program
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/123106E.shtml
The Justice Department is investigating whether the director of a multibillion-dollar oil-trading program at the Interior Department has been paid as a consultant for oil companies hoping for contracts.

Posted by: NonnyO at December 31, 2006 06:10 PM

I can't help but notice how fast they executed Hussein - before the new Congress takes effect.

Can't help but wonder if they wanted to have it be a done deal "already" in case any inquiries started exposing truths that could have postponed it or taken power from those guys at the O.K. Corral.

Or maybe the chaos over there is too great to contain him much longer.

All I could think of when I heard they had hanged a dictator they created then broke was one word.

Barbaric.

Things haven't changed much in the course of history.

Sickening.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at December 31, 2006 06:18 PM

All of that - and as one of those above stories mentioned, DimWit insisted on having the trial in Iraq, not at The Hague. If at the latter, the evidence would have brought out the past and all the ways the US is culpable in Saddam's crimes (not to mention the Bush family itself, and how the whole thing became a family feud).

And yet, it's reported that Junior went to bed and went to sleep prior to the hanging, slept through the whole thing, and awakened at his usual dawn hour. Remarkable.

So, Saddam is dead. Mission accomplished, the bad man is gone.

Can our Congress Critters over-ride DimWit's dictatorial unconstitutional and illegal orders and bring the troops home NOW?

Oh, and, P.S. king georgie: Where's the man you wanted dead or alive, Osama Been Forgotten?

30 million people join European Union

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/01/weu01.xml

Truth Shall Prevail

I sure do agree with your analysis about the timing and how barbaric.

I do need to call my mom before we go out - last I heard there was 8 inches and she was snowed in, had enough food though. She is pretty unsteady on the ice.

She also pretty much agreed with our general analysis here!!

3,000 US + 655,000 Iraqi Deaths = 658,000 TOO MANY DEATHS!

New Year’s Day, Monday January 1, 2007
Commemoration and Die-in Downtown Seattle

Veterans for Peace calls for 3000 people to assembleto create an image of what that number actually looks like. (Each person will represent 1 US and over 250 Iraqi lives lost.)

After a review of brief guidelines, at 4:15 PM we will spread out around downtown Seattle at arm intervals. At 4:30 PM we will begin a 30-minute silent action in memory of ALL those killed in this war and to showcase the human cost of this war. Some may hold candles, some signs, some may choose to lie down on the sidewalk such that they do not block bus access or pedestrians.

The 3,000th death should be highlighted on local and national media.

(My husband just told me the "3000th kid liked vocal trance music, and Dr. Pepper." 22 years old)

Bush Sleeps Through Execution
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2526017,00.html

nice title

If it's so patently obvious to us, why isn't it patently obvious to "journalists" in Lamestream Media...?

Posted by: NonnyO at December 31, 2006 03:59 PM

Surely it is, but there are lazy journalists, just like there are lazy politicians. Doesn't the newspaper editor have the final say over a printed article? So, journalists are excused. And the television or radio equivalent - producer - funder - owner - would have the final word on what goes to air. So reporters are excused. It seems like the bosses of most media organisations are pro Bush and intend to convince the populous that Bush is successful in everything he touches. The president with the midas touch.

The president with the midas touch.
Posted by: woz at December 31, 2006 09:14 PM

And in the original mythology, didn't Midas discover he couldn't eat food that turned to gold when he touched it...?

When push comes to shove, the one thing peasants (well, at least peasants in the minds of the ultra-rich) have over the ultra-rich is that peasants at least know how to grow and preserve food. The ultra-rich kids still think milk comes from plastic containers at the supermarket; the peasant knows how to milk a cow... and raise the calf to an adult bovine who can reproduce. Et cetera.

Georgie likes the black gold that comes from the earth and the money he can get selling black gold. I wonder how he will like black gold when he discovers it's not water and he can't drink it, nor turn it into wine - and worse, that black gold pollutes life-sustaining water...?

People in Georgie's world don't have a clue how unbalanced they've made the world. I hope 2007 will be their year of reckoning....

If I told y'all I loved you, would you respect me in the mornin'... or any other time of day for that matter?

Happy New Year to the bestest, brightest friends I never met. (well, 'cept for you Karen & Dick!)

The honor of knowing you all has been one of the true highlights of my year.

May The Blue Bird of Happiness bring droppings of Peace to your heart, mind & soul in Seven.

(Better Dead than Red)

Is the monkey having some of those yummy margaritas again for New Years Eve?

This friend has been running around like a chicken with her head cut off for at least a month getting ready for Christmas. (We finally had our "entire family Christmas dinner" Friday night.) I am spent (physically, mentally, and economically) and don't have a thing planned for tonight, New Year's Eve. So this tired little monkey's friend is heading off to bed with anticipation for oh seven and oh so much gratitude she can go to bed early tonight.

Anybody know anything about the meaning of numbers? I believe that seven is the number of the culmination and ending of a cycle or a season, and eight is the number of new beginnings.........(BTW! :-D !!)

Happy Oh Seven Everyone, and Goodnight!

Somewhere, Ronald Reagan and Saddam Hussein are turning in their graves, and Bush Sr. & Rumsfeld are drinking a bitter cup. Our actions have once again wrought what no UN diplomats could.

Iran and Iraq have forged an alliance.

Time to go sit in the hot tub with a glass of champagne and get ready to toast the new year.

I think seven is a transformative number... a number of good luck. It's been too many years since I read anything about numerology, just that seven is supposed to be fortunate. Here's hoping and wishing and I have wishes to bestow like the good fairy godmother I am.... ;-)

For all the bad that Bu$hCo and their cohorts and their ilk have done, may they receive instant karma as retribution in 2007....

For all the good that you on this blog have each done in the years past and the friendship you have shown, may 2007 bring good things to you in multiples of seven and seven times seven and seven times seventy seven....

All the best....

Margaritas are not on the menu this evening, but I just stumbled over a speed bump made of corks.

Liver long and prosper.

The Magnificent Seven
by The Clash

Ring! ring! its 7 a.m.!
Move yself to go again
Cold water in the face
Brings you back to this awful place
Knuckle merchants and you bankers, too
Must get up an learn those rules
Weather man and the crazy chief
One says sun and one says sleet
A.m., the f.m. the p.m. too
Churning out that boogaloo
Gets you up and gets you out
But how long can you keep it up?
Gimme honda, gimme sony
So cheap and real phony
Hong kong dollars and indian cents
English pounds and eskimo pence

You lot! what?
Dont stop! give it all you got!
You lot! what?
Dont stop! yeah!

Working for a rise, better my station
Take my baby to sophistication
She's seen the ads, she thinks its nice
Better work hard - I seen the price
Never mind that its time for the bus
We got to work - an you're one of us
Clocks go slow in a place of work
Minutes drag and the hours jerk

When can I tell em what I do?
In a second, maaan...o'right chuck!

Wave bub-bub-bub-bye to the boss
Its our profit, its his loss
But anyway lunch bells ring
Take one hour and do your thanng!
Cheeesboiger!

What do we have for entertainment?
Cops kickin gypsies on the pavement
Now the news - snap to attention!
The lunar landing of the dentist convention
Italian mobster shoots a lobster
Seafood restaurant gets out of hand
A car in the fridge
Or a fridge in the car?
Like cowboys do - in t.v. land

You lot! what? dont stop. huh?

So get back to work an sweat some more
The sun will sink and well get out the door
Its no good for man to work in cages
Hits the town, he drinks his wages
You're frettin, youre sweatin
But did you notice you aint gettin?
Dont you ever stop long enough to start?
To take your car outta that gear
Dont you ever stop long enough to start?
To get your car outta that gear
Karlo marx and fredrich engels
Came to the checkout at the 7-11
Marx was skint - but he had sense
Angels lent him the necessary pence

What have we got? yeh-o, magnificence!!

Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi
Went to the park to check on the game
But they was murdered by the other team
Who went on to win 50-nil
You can be true, you can be false
You be given the same reward
Socrates and Milhous Nixon
Both went the same way - through the kitchen
Plato the greek or rin tin tin
Whos more famous to the billion millions?
News flash: vacuum cleaner sucks up budgie
Oooohh...bub-bye

Magnificence!!

January 1, 2007
Rush to Hang Hussein Was Questioned
By JOHN F. BURNS and MARC SANTORA

BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 — With his plain pine coffin strapped into an American military helicopter for a predawn journey across the desert, Saddam Hussein, the executed dictator who built a legend with his defiance of America, completed a turbulent passage into history on Sunday.

Like the helicopter trip, just about everything in the 24 hours that began with Mr. Hussein’s being taken to his execution from his cell in an American military detention center in the postmidnight chill of Saturday had a surreal and even cinematic quality.

Part of it was that the Americans, who turned him into a pariah and drove him from power, proved to be his unlikely benefactors in the face of Iraq’s new Shiite rulers who seemed bent on turning the execution and its aftermath into a new nightmare for the Sunni minority privileged under Mr. Hussein.

The 110-mile journey aboard a Black Hawk helicopter carried Mr. Hussein’s body to an American military base north of Tikrit, Camp Speicher, named for an American Navy pilot lost over Iraq in the first hours of the Persian Gulf war in 1991. From there, an Iraqi convoy carried him to Awja, the humble town beside the Tigris River that Mr. Hussein, in the chandeliered palaces that became his habitat as ruler, spoke of as emblematic of the miseries of his lonely and impoverished youth.

The American role extended beyond providing the helicopter that carried Mr. Hussein home. Iraqi and American officials who have discussed the intrigue and confusion that preceded the decision late on Friday to rush Mr. Hussein to the gallows have said that it was the Americans who questioned the political wisdom — and justice — of expediting the execution, in ways that required Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to override constitutional and religious precepts that might have assured Mr. Hussein a more dignified passage to his end.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html

Saddam died to taunts of 'Muqtada, Muqtada'
BY MOHAMAD BAZZI
MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT

January 1, 2007

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- After the noose was tied around Saddam Hussein's neck, several witnesses at his execution Saturday shouted: "Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada."

It was a reference to the renegade Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who commands one of the most feared militias in Iraq today and has emerged as the country's Shia strongman. The images and sounds of the cleric's supporters taunting Hussein in his final moments were captured on video and broadcast yesterday around the Arab world.

The video, which was posted on several Web sites and aired round-the-clock on the Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya satellite channels, is likely to reinforce the notion among Sunnis that Iraq's Shia-dominated government went out of its way to humiliate Hussein and the entire Sunni community.

Hussein was executed at the start of Eid Al-Adha, the holiest of Muslim holidays, infuriating the Sunni minority that formed the core of his regime and now is driving the insurgency.

"This footage is going to antagonize Sunnis throughout the Middle East," said an Arab diplomat involved in Iraq policy. "It's one thing for Sunnis to read about al-Sadr's followers gloating. It's far more upsetting to watch and hear them do it."

- more -

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-woiraq0101,0,3647273.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

Checking in once more from San Francisco.

CodePink let me know las